Here is the final chapter! I always intended this one to be quite short and sweet, so this chapter will wrap things up nicely fairly quickly. If you read all the way to the end, thank you and an overall review of what you thought would be very nice :)
Additionally, at the end there will be a special sneak peek into my next Inside Out fic: "Comatose", which you will definitely want to read if you enjoyed this. It will be set in Riley's mind, will be much longer and adventure based and will focus on the emotions. Give it a shot; I'm sure you'll like it.
Jack Montgomery couldn't have been happier. His plan had worked perfectly, and the frightened young girl he had terrified was now running away at incredible speed, as fast as her legs could carry her. Despite this, Riley stayed admirably silent, not wanting to experience the embarrassment of being discovered. The same was not true for her emotions. Anger was yelling. Disgust had run to a corner before promptly vomiting. Sadness was bawling and Joy was cowering beneath the control panel. Only the buttons that had been pressed by Fear, who was still lying unconscious, kept Riley running. She had no sense of direction and no idea of where she was going, but she kept running regardless, desperate to escape whatever primal danger had chosen to attack.
Riley never found out how long she had been running for before she burst from the gloom, back into the warmth and safety of the tourist crowds. Despite her relief she had never much liked crowds, but was surprised now to find herself accepting the swarms of people gratefully.
"Okay" Joy said slowly. "Time to find our way b-". She was silenced by a sharp "clunk" as a memory orb fell into place. The five turned their heads and gasped as a glowing purple, red and green orb rolled down a track, through the floor and into the core hub.
"A core memory!" Sadness exclaimed as the whole of Headquarters came alive. The very floor glowed with radiance as a golden bridge extended from the tower, across the Memory Dump and towards the Islands of personality. Finally a structure materialised across the abyss. Adjacent to Family Island, a new Island had appeared, with dark, gothic towers and dramatic crimson lighting. The name of the Island was soon displayed on the monitor for all to see: Horror Island! Joy and the others stood in stunned silence for what seemed like an eternity before finally Disgust spoke.
"Well that was unexpected… But let's get something clear. We never speak of this, understood? Our reputation would be ruined if anyone found out". With that, Disgust pressed another button on the control panel and Riley began to briskly walk forward. No-one mentioned what had happened, it was clear that the subject was best suited for another day, after they had all had adequate time to recover. In less than five minutes, Riley's whole world had been turned upside down, and to say the emotions didn't know how to react was an understatement.
Five minutes later Riley had re-joined her classmates, and only three hours later the visit was over. Her teacher had noticed Riley's uncharacteristic silence but said nothing. For girls her age, there were dozens of explanations for her abnormal behaviour, and as far as she was concerned it was none of her concern. This behaviour continued as Riley left the Island, boarded the school bus and walked home. Her mother and father were waiting for her when she got home. In the mind of Riley's mother, her emotions were raring to know how their daughter's day had gone.
"So…" Mrs Andersen asked. "How was the visit?"
"Yeah…" Mr Andersen added. "Was it creepy? Did you meet any ghosts?" In Riley's mind, Horror Island started to animate, with Honesty Island quickly following suit.
"Well" Riley began…
So there it was! If you enjoyed, please favourite me on fanfiction! It would mean a lot and would support my future fics! Reviews are also greatly appreciated. Now as promised, here is the synopsis and some of the characters of "Comatose", my next Inside Out fic.
When Riley is involved in a car crash, her world is turned upside down. But with brain activity continuing, the emotions realise they have a responsibility to help. With no way to wake up, Riley's fate now rests in the hands of five unlikely saviours. Can they reach The Core, the centre of Riley's brain to reboot her universe in time? Join the five on an adventure that takes them beyond Headquarters, the personality islands and long term memory as they fight to keep Riley alive.
This story will be longer, at least 10k+ words strong and will have a different location for each chapter. It will be released within 2-3 days with the first two or three chapters complete. Initial ideas for characters include "The Alternates", a backup set of emotions reserved for emergencies, and "Love" and "Regret", two emotions that exist in Riley's mind but are not yet ready to be put into action. Please tell me what you think!