Secretly Wanted: A Chronicle of Narnia

Hello everyone whose reading this! So this is it, the second chapter. For those whose following my story I just want to clear up a few things. First, I do not own the world of Narnia, C. S. Lewis does. Second, you might notice a change of personality in Cari. Just keep reading, make you own opinion and I'll let you know why at the end;) oh and please Review

Chapter One: The Impossible Gate

"So how was it?" Mag asked as the girl next to her as they walked down Yonge Street. "And tell the truth." Cari had just returned. She was tired. Her two and a half month vacation was fun, but hardly relaxing. What made matters worse was that course, she had to work the next day. She yawned and rubbed her tired face. Cari realized with a grimace that she was losing her battle against jet lag. London was beautiful…despite being a tad rainy. Cari's heart had ached at having to leave so soon. In England she had finally met some of her mother's relatives and had made great friendships with her four previously unknown cousins.

"I was being truthful when I told mom I had fun." Cari defended herself. "I don't know why she can't just swallow her shame and visit. Everyone missed her."

"Well you know how proud she is. I suppose sixteen years is still not enough time to get some courage." suddenly Mag's face reddened. "Sorry Cari, I didn't mean it that way."

"What? Oh hey, no problem. I really don't care, I mean I didn't even know him right?" Cari faked a nonchalant expression, but she had lied. She didn't want to tell Meg, that deep down it hurt to not have any idea to how her father looked like. In fact, she rarely got to meet any of her mother's family. Cari suspected that it was still too soon for her mother to face England. There was too much shame. However, the fact that her mother had not wanted to visit hadn't stopped Cari. For the past seven years she had begged her mother to visit England and her Great-Uncle Digory. Cari's mother thankfully always had a great relationship with her uncle. In fact it was the stories her mother used to tell her about him that made Cari want to meet with him. When she had first visited him, she found him both strange and wonderful. He was definitely weird, but this only made Cari like him more.

"How was your Uncle? Did he have anymore wild stories to tell you?" she snickered. Cari playfully smacked her arm, and then laughed.

"Of course!" they walked a bit more in silence, "I also met four of my second cousins, the Pevensies."

"Really?"

"Yeah they were really cool. They knew the same stories as Uncle Digory Either he told them or..." Cari paused to think, "I'm not sure if they were serious or just putting me on." A loud honk made her jump, jolting her from her thoughts. She whipped around to see a car whiz by. A teenager stuck his head out the window.

"Hey cuties! Looking good!" Cari's faced burned and she quickly turned away in anger. Mag merely laughed and waved before Cari grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Why do you always act like that when this happens?" She almost yelled at her step-sister. She looked at her in annoyance.

"And I don't know why you hate it! It's supposed to be flattering!" she retorted hotly and began walking ahead of her. Cari held her breath and tried desperately to bit back her retort.

"It is not flattering to be watched and judged like a piece of meat while you're on the streets. Don't you feel exposed?"She finally said calmly with a touch of exasperation. She really hated it when situations like this happened. Whenever Cari would walk down a street or in a store and feel the eyes of lustful men watching her every move. It was disgraceful! And made her feel almost dirty. Of course Mag would feel differently. Cari wondered why she didn't share her opinions. She supposed it was because of her mother and how she would constantly remind her of the perverts who wandered the streets. However annoying those speeches were, Cari understood why she would feel like that and be so protective. After all, she was the product of a rape.

"Well thanks for walking with me." She said to Mag when they both finally reached the clothing store where she worked.

"Cari, you look so tired, why don't you ask for the day off or something?"

"Can't." She replied and shrugged her shoulders, "I need all the money I can get for college." Mag shook her head and gave her a quick hug. A college that she truthfully wasn't so sure she would belong to.

"Well I'm off; if you see anything cute make sure to put it aside for me ok?" Mag winked and bounded back up the street to catch the streetcar. Cari sighed and straightened her pencil skirt before entering the store.

~*~

"Well what do you think?" A voice asked before the changing room door swung open and a woman walked out. Cari bit her lip to keep from laughing. The woman wasn't exactly slim and had managed to squeeze into a skirt that was obviously two sizes too small. The green blouse she had chosen did nothing to flatter but rather made her complexion appear sickly. She coughed before answering.

"Well... honestly I-"

"A-hem!" Cari's manager almost yelled. She glanced back at him and begged him with her eyes, wanting to tell the truth. He only shook his head. She sighed in defeat and turned back to the waiting customer in pity. This was, in her opinion the worst part of the job…having to lie…to say anything to get the people to buy.

"It looks...nice" she finally manages to say. The woman smiled and turned back to the mirror to admire herself. "But, if you want, I have another blouse here that I believe would look even nicer." The woman turned to face her, hands on her hips.

"I like this one thank you very much." she replied curtly, "if I want your advice, I'll ask for it... okay?" Cari was taken aback by her rudeness and felt the pity turn to annoyance. Fine! She thought to yourself Buy it you ugly troll, sheesh I was trying to help!

"Cari, phone for you!" her boss called out. Cari let out a breath and smiled, silently thanking and forgiving her boss for earlier. She went back to the counter to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Cari? Oh thank God, you need to come to the hospital." Mag's frightened voice sounded. Cari immediately paled.

"Mag? What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No, not my...it's mom! I don't know what happened. I came home an hour after we parted and found her on the floor in the kitchen, phone in hand. She was unconscious and I didn't know what to do!" Mag's voice was frantic; Cari could almost see her shaking violently as she struggled to tell the story. "Please just come, the doctors say she doesn't have much time!""Of course, just stay calm. Which hospital is it?"

"St...St...Michaels" Mag started crying as Cari quickly hung up the phone. She ran to the back room and grabbed her jacket. An angry voice called out as she ran out the door.

"Cari, where the hell are you going?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Sironi, but I have to go...You can dock my wages if you want I don't care!" She yelled behind her shoulder and quickly jogged up the street. The hospital was a good half-hour walk from the store so she would have to take the side streets to get there faster. It was just her luck that she was broke and had no money for a cab. Cari looked up at the darkening sky and took a deep breath. How many times had her mother warned her about staying on main well lit roads at night? Dismissing the warnings Cari turned down a small residential street. There was alley she was almost sure she could use as a short cut.

She hated these small streets. Most were well kept and the people friendly, but the closer you were to the heart of the city, the more sketchy some of these areas became. The street Cari was on was definitely eerie but she did her best to keep focus and walk in a fast pace. Cari knew that if she appeared confident, the chances of being approached were smaller. Too late did she notice a small group of men lounging on the porch of a slightly run down house. Too late did she realize that they had begun to follow her.

"Hey wait up!" one called out to you.

"Yeah, slow down, we want to...talk with you." this was followed by sounds of laughter. Cari's checks flared and she turned around to face them, but kept walking so she was now walking backwards. They were closer then she would have liked.

"Back off guys, I'm not in the mood!" She yelled at them, face red in anger. Cari glanced at her watch in frustration. This was wasting time. They laughed and quickened their pace. Turning around again, Cari quickened her pace.

"Oh come on, don't be like that! We only want to get to know you!" Cari couldn't help but let out a laugh as she yelled behind her shoulder.

"I don't have the time to get to know slime balls like you, now please go bother someone else." this was met by angry voices and her heart dropped as she heard their footsteps begin to change. Realizing that they were running towards her, she cursed and broke into a sprint. Cari was usually pretty fast, but the tight pencil skirt she wore for work limited her normally fast speed.

"She's faster then she looks guys!" She heard one of them laugh behind her, so she hiked up her skirt up a bit so she could run faster. The alley was now in view so she slightly changed her course. Her legs were beginning to tire. She could feel the pain starting to form in the back of her calves and thigh. A lump formed in her throat when she realized that she would have to stop soon. If she however, got onto a main street there would be too many people. The men knew this too and their shouts turned to anger when they realized where she was headed.

Cari's eyes widened when she finally reached the alley. The 'short-cut' had not become her saviour, but her demise. It had been blocked, and turned into a dead end. She could see construction machines behind the fence at the end and piles of boxes and crates were stacked up around it. There was no way she could hop the fence with what you were wearing. With desperation, she whipped her head around looking for a place to hide.

Running to the very end, Cari looked around for a good place to crouch. Noises behind her alerted her to the undesired presence. They approached slowly, knowing that she had nowhere else to turn. Knowing that she was trapped. Hot tears ran down her face as she leaned against a wall to steady her breathing. Looking up, Cari sent a call of help up to the heavens, praying that someone would hear. With that, she prepared to resign herself to her fate.

Suddenly her arm slid and she winced as it hit a latch. Glancing at the wall, she noticed that it was in fact a large metal door. Knowing that the chance of it being unlocked was slim, it was a feeble lifeline. Grabbing the latch anyway she pulled. To her surprise it swung open. Without another thought, she leaped inside quickly, shutting the door behind her. Cari collapsed on her knees in relief, but quickly sprang up. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at miles and miles of sand.

Thanks for reading! So if you were wondering at the change in personality in Cari, remember that when she was with her cousins she's able to forget that's basically an adult. Now that she's back, she feels as if she's back to reality. Well stay in touch and check back for more ;)