Chapter 6 - Tuned

Sunny-

Burns' was still looking at me expectantly. When I didn't say anything, he sighed. "I'm really sorry about your friend, wish I could help, but you have to understand we can't let you go."

Stupid apologetic face, he's not sorry at all! Jodi was stubbornly trying to read his cool mask of a face. She was a nice human being; she needed a reason to hate people.

Jodi, he's just being courteous, he doesn't know Lily, so obviously he doesn't feel any sorrow, but at least he feels guilty.

She didn't reply; too busy wondering what life would be like back in the caves, with a healthy Lily, with a happy Kyle… Without me, I realized, understanding what my kind have done to this species. We had taken over a world that was capable of change, sure there was war and famine, but there was love in their hearts… And we had wiped nearly all of them out. I felt guilty, ashamed, I've never felt this way before and it stung- hard.

No, not without you, I'd never let them send you away… She was thinking about Ian and Wanda, seeing if it could fit out situation. Before I could reply, Burns had cut through my train of thought.

"Sunny? Sunlight, hey are you okay? You look kinda… preoccupied, with something. Did I say something wrong?" He gently took hold of my hand, and it jerked me back to the present.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine… really…" I stammered, pulling my hand away, trying to nonchalantly look like I'm brushing away my hair with it. Looking across the cellar/ hall I could see Rachel smiling at me widely. Tom looked uninterested, and Blake was looking at the ground, his eyebrows furrowed. Nate was eyeing Burns; I could tell that they were silently communicating.

"Come on now, potatoes don't grow and pick themselves you know," he joked, leading the way over to where the crowd was. Everyone stared at me as I walked past. Some were angry, some were distrustful and some were just plain furious. The hall was instantly quiet; you could hear a pin drop in this cellar.

I wonder how the chores work here. I wonder if they have tight 'security'… I read Jodi's plan, she was planning a runner when everyone was sleeping.

I doubt they'd let me out, do you think they have underground showers, or lavatories? With that thought, my body's physical needs took over. I realized it's been two days since I've been to the bathroom.

Crap, if I ask them, they'd think I'm trying to pull a blanket under their eyes, just great. But I followed Burns to where Nate and the others were waiting.

Just ask them! We really need to go!

I finally got there. Burns ushered me over to join their group. Rachel grinned at me encouragingly and Blake was just thinking to himself.

"Sunny! - err. What's wrong?" Rachel was examining my face. I don't reply, I was in too much pain. "Is it the people here? Because when they get to know you they'll understand." I shook my head quickly.

"What's wrong?" Nate asked in a monotone, without as much interest.

Screw him! I just wanna slap him in the face!

I hushed her. No need to be rude! "I really, really need to go to the bathroom!" I said quickly, saying about a word in a second.

Nate raised his eyebrow. Blake looked up and half-smiled at me, his emerald eyes mesmerizing. Rachel giggled. "Of course! Silly us, how could we forget? I'll take her daddy." She said, smiling at me gently. She reached out, waiting for my hand.

Burns' shifted slightly. Nate looked like he might burst a vein in his forehead, and Tom looked really alert when I took it uncertainly.

He cleared his throat, but it was Blake who spoke for the first time. "Rachel can take… Sunny… and I'll watch over Rachel. You guys go ahead to the fields, we'll catch up."

He was looking at Nate, but Burns was staring at him. Rachel squeezed my hand gently. "Dad's really protective." She whispered, but not quiet enough, as everyone heard it in this silent room. I couldn't help but smile, and Nate looked uncertain. He shifted slightly.

"I'm… not sure, yes, Blake you take her. In fact, take Burns too." He said hurriedly, looking apologetically towards Rachel.

Hey! That's rude!

"Dad!" She hissed, "Sunny is not a monster- I don't need Burns, or Blake!". I squeezed her hand tightly before letting go. Something jerked my body to life, swaying me towards Nate's direction. I suddenly felt very angry.

"Fine! Let them follow! But I can't wait to see your face when you found out you were wrong about us!"

The whole cellar was silent. Every single pair of eyes was on me.

Jodi! How- how did you that? I spread myself out towards all my muscles and tendons- they were mine again.

I-I don't know, he just made me so angry! And I just wanted to smack him!

Well I'm glad you didn't- that could've gotten us shot.

"Uhh, sorry, I mean me. I do mind, though about you talking about me like an animal." I said, embarrassingly trying to cover up my self-dug up secret.

Rachel was looking at me with understanding; however Nate was staring at me like I'm a bear who has rattled her cage for too long. Burns cleared his throat, and chatter started up again as people began to move about, heading towards their morning chores. I could hear some of it too;

"Total nutcase!"

"Nate was treating her like an animal! She is unwelcome, but that was no means of hospitality!"

"Wow, Seeker's have rage?"

" But I don't want to plant carrots!"

"I hate it how after you dig it up, you have to fill it up!"

"I. Hate. Farming. Sprouts! Argh!"

Tom cleared his throat. "Well, so be it then, I'll see at the carrots' field honey." I liked Tom. He wasn't interested in chit chat, he knew what needed to be done, and just got to it.

Reminds me of Jared.

Mmm, he seems like quiet the trooper- unlike Nate. She hissed angrily.

"Come on Sunny! I bet you really need to go now." Rachel happily grabbed my hand and headed for the right hallway.

Blake cleared his throat. "You first." He gestured for Burns.

"Take care!" Nate called as he went towards the left stairs, following the crowd.

The nerve of that man.

Yes, I've never felt the feeling hatred before. It burns funny.

She sighed slightly. I felt her sorrow.

Yes, I miss him too.

I loved Kyle just so much….

I didn't reply. She was silent as I quickly followed in Rachel's bouncing footsteps. The hall was full of mis-shaped doors of all colors. In front of each door was little carvings, we moved so fast I couldn't distinguish it from anything.

The men were silent from behind us. That made me remember something. "Hey, Rachel? Don't I need, like a blindfold?". That took her by surprise.

"Huh?" She asked, slowing down to look at me. "Blindfold? What? No. Why?"

I shrugged.

They are making this just too easy. I don't trust it. I only trust Rachel.

Me neither. Who doesn't blindfold their kidnapped person?

Blake and Burns finally caught up. I realized that even if Burns' was taller, Blake would still catch up. He stopped by Rachel's side and ran his pale fingers through his jet black hair, staring at the ground forcefully again.

What's up with that?

I could see her shrug from inside my mind. Burns' answered my question. "You don't need a blindfold because this little hideout is surrounded by kilometers of woods. Even if you do … escape. You'd surely just get lost and starve."

Well. That changes a lot.

Did you HEAR his tone? It was like he didn't even care! Well, about me anyway, he'd probably just cut you out and save you. You know, that is if we were starving to death.

I ignored her.

"So you're only way of survival is here. With me." He continued, this time gentler.

Rachel nodded, but Blake looked up, staring hard at Burns'. "With us." Blake corrected tightly, and walked ahead of us.

"Oh, geez Louise, right-o, you must be feeling awful, lets get going." Rachel pulled me forward once again, running this time. As we neared the end of the hallway with all the doors we can to a fork, the middle and left corridors both had stairs heading downwards. Blake headed up through the right corridor, and me, Rachel and Burns followed quietly behind.

The air smelt different in this corridor. Back at the caves everything smelt musty and stagnant, back in the cellar it smelt of wood pine. Here, it smelt of pine too, but different, it smelt ventilated, fresh; it also had a different exotic smell you can only pick out if you strain your nose. When we got there, he let Rachel and me pass by, to walk with Burns.

The higher we headed up, the better the pine and that exotic smell smelt. It also had a different sent, like bark- or upturned soil. I could hear different things too, aside from our breathing, I could hear rustling, and distant chirping, echoes of wind forces against a rough wall and a strange rumbling sound.

The more we traveled, the louder the rumbling got. It was also accompanied with little splashy sounds. Jodi put two and two together faster than I did. "It's a stream! Water!!" She called out happily, and for a moment we forgot whatever physical pain we were in.

How did you do that? Again? You weren't even angry Jodi… I'm losing my grip… My mind wandered away. Maybe I was getting too used to the idea that this mind was no longer my own. The more I grow to understand her, the more my hold on this body weakens..

We'll think about it later, don't let it bother you Sunny- but a stream- that could be good!

"Yeah, it's a river actually; it runs downstream, through the forest. At the edge of a cliff just up here is where the water flows away, we made a little shack to use as the outhouse just before I moved in." Blake said matter-of-factly from behind.

Well that explains the wind, so… we live near a cliff in a forest with a river. Beats me, I was more of a science person- not geography.

I laughed humorlessly in my mind. I didn't even know this planet before I moved here. All I knew was that it was one of those warm planets. You know, with warm-blooded life.

Rachel gripped my hand even harder as we went further up. Little rays of light were shining through from ahead. My knees and ankle hurt so much- from as far as I could remember after leaving the caves, all I've been doing was running or walking. The chirping slowly got louder and the exotic smell divided itself. First it was just exotic and now there was much more scents from the one- like frangipani, and roses, pine and grass… and cherries.

Finally, we saw the opening. It was a cave mouth, made entirely of wood and clay, it looked really sturdy too, and whoever made it was delicate with their work. The wood stuck to the clay, as I noticed, made little patterns, forming shapes; of little moons, suns, flowers, and houses. I stroked the bark and clay gently; it felt smooth and rough at the same time.

Rachel stepped out first, into a forest opening. I couldn't see much from behind her. In my rush to get outside, my foot missed the last step, and I fell backwards. "Whoa, hey!" A surprised voice said from behind me. Strong arms caught me mid-fall, and they pulled me back into his chest. I peeked out from under my lashes, Blake was looking down at me, smiling an annoyingly, painstakingly beautiful smirk kind of smile.

"Watch your step," he joked as he put me back onto my feet. "That's the second time I had to catch you from falling." My face heated up, and I could tell everyone could see the color rising in my cheeks. So he was the guy in the van…

"Thanks." I stuttered, looking back into his jade eyes. Burns was also there, he walked between me and Blake, blocking him entirely from view.

"You okay?" He asked, his silver eyes worried. I nodded quickly. Rachel tugged at my hand again, and I was so sure I heard Blake sigh.

"Come on now!" She chirped happily. Pulling me up, she stepped aside and watched my reaction as I saw the surroundings. The pine trees rose up around 2o meters tall, with long thick braches that sprouted leaves. Surprisingly enough, they didn't block out any light, the forest floor was just as sunny as the sky itself. Surrounding the trees, and sprouting from the ground were thick dark green bushes with little red and purple splotches, of when later I found out was cherries.

The grass was green and tall, the birds were happily chirping from ahead, flowers blooming from the ground… It was beautiful. I just stood there and watched the beauty. This was the most beautiful thing on this plant I have seen so far. Except for Kyle. The rushing of the nearby river reminded me of why we were here in the first place- and Rachel read my mind.

She gently tugged me along before turning around and staring the boys down. "You stay here. If you move an inch closer I'll tell dad- and Tom." She was serious about them staying there but the last part was only a joke.

"Yes ma'am." Blake laughed as he saluted her. Burns just looked at me, it was kind of uncomfortable, his silver eyes felt like a probe.

She pulled me into the forest until I thought we were walking right besides rushing sound. The forest opened up again to reveal a majestic river. It was huge, with little sharp rocks and pristine water. I watched the sun rays reflect of the brilliant silver-blue-transparent color that the water was.

"Okay, I'll wait here, but see that shack all the way down there?" Rachel pointed behind me, sure enough there was a cute little shack made out of wood right on the edge of the water. And on the land too, as far as I could see.

"That shack is on the edge of the cliff, it's kind of the outline of where you're not supposed to walk over, because then we'd never see you again." She shrugged the last part off because, "I know you wouldn't want to run away. You're not dangerous like that." I nodded my understanding and walked quickly over to the shack. Peering at the river beside me, I saw plenty of sharp rocks down the bottom, which tells me that the water isn't very deep, probably just over half a meter off the ground.

The shack loomed over me like a tower. It had a door, mad out of a rather thick piece of wood, which surprised me, because considering the location, I'd thought the shack would be washed away or at the bottom of the cliff in a wooden mess. When I moved the makeshift door open, I realized that it wasn't very heavy, it just looked so.

The shack was built on the edge of the cliff, halfway on and off the river. All its side walls, that didn't face the river, stood three meters tall, and there was no roof. The other wall, facing the river was only a meter tall, so we could look out as we did our business. It bothered me, but I realized, the river was so wide, even if you were on the other side, you couldn't see me very well. The light shone in and I realized that it wasn't so bad; it was designed to have the waste flow directly downstream, so we wouldn't even have to see it.

After I was done, I walked out and peered off the cliff. It was really high up, maybe about 200 meters, and the end of the river formed a light water fall. You could just distinctively see the pool of water down the bottom. The trees also grew wild down there, and all you could see from up here was the river and the bushy green tops of trees. No land, whatsoever. The earth began to swim a little bit, and I could feel my body swaying.

Cut that out! I had forgotten, Jodi had really bad vertigo.

Quickly, I pushed myself back towards land and nearly ran towards where Rachel was waiting for me on the edge of the forest. When I reached her, I could see her examining my face. "You don't look real good Sunny, want a rest for today?"

I shook my head quickly. I wanted to see the grounds of my new 'prison'. "No, it's just nausea, really. Bad. Fear. Of. Heights." I could feel the eggs and bread I had this morning come up. I keeled over onto my knees and put my head in my hands, breathing hard. I don't like the feel of nausea, hope it never comes back.

Rachel kneeled beside me and stroked my back, but nothing came out. It was just a brief swing of nausea and dry heaving in my mouth. I pulled myself us slowly, and looked down at her. "I'm fine. Really."

She raised her eyebrow at me as she pulled herself up. "Are you sure? I'll let daddy know you're resting."

Once again, I shook my head firmly. "No, I'll be able to plant those potatoes," I said, laughing as I remembered it has been months since I have tried any vegetables fresh.

Rachel nodded and smile at me encouragingly, "Come on, the boys will be waiting."

When we got back to the clearing, there was a different feel in the atmosphere. It was colder. Blake and Burns refused to look at each other, and had both their faces set in hard lines. Burns looked kind of funny, as his face was usually used to gentleness, and Blake still looked as striking as he did before- only angrier. They were facing in different directions with their arms crossed.

Rachel and I stared at the two stubborn men before making our way back into the cave headed for the cellar.

"What's up with Blake and Burns?" I whispered to Rachel when I heard them entering from behind us. She shrugged.

"They don't usually argue. It's probably the stress of having another soul here. You know how protective Burns can get. He and dad, well Richard and dad, have been besties since grade 3, and when Burns came into the group, he took over as second dad here."

I nodded. This place has a history of its own.

___________________________________________________________________________

Lilly-

My head really did hurt. My side was numb and I felt like I was floating inside a dimension of radio waves. Sometimes, just sometimes- I swear I'd hear my friends talking. They'd just tune in and out. Just yesterday I heard Doc. He said something like this; "….raiders, I hope they're alright. We really need that Deep Heal; she keeps on having little seizures."

Who's having little seizures? What's going on?

And out of nowhere, just a couple of hours ago today, I heard Candy, the doctor, talking to herself about Sunny, and how she's really scared about her.

What's wrong with Sunny? Where am I?

This little radio connectivity world I was living in was a brilliant shade of purple; my favorite color of Lilac. It glowed, but not as brightly as Wes' world did. No, this Lilac world had a different glow. It was a cold glow. Everyday it got colder. With the cold, I felt dread, like all the happy glow that I took with me from Wes' world was being replaced by this cold Lilac glow.

There was only one more thing with me in this brilliant Lilac world. It was a gate, down at the far side. It was a beautiful gate. Carved and made from the most brilliant gold, it was old fashioned and elegant. From the other side of the gate, you could see nothing., no light, no darkness. It was just the end of the Lilac. I've never been close to it though. That was where it had been the coldest.

Sometimes, the radio would tune in really, really loud and I would hear lots and lots of voices. One time I heard Trudy. She didn't say much, except for "Tell Lucinda I'll be here all night." I could hear her crying. It was weird though.

The Lilac world was never-ending except for the side with the gate. When I head Trudy cry, I floated towards the sound, but I never got closer or further, it was like I wasn't moving at all.

I just wanted to scream, "Trudy! What's wrong, don't cry!", but even then, I don't think she'd hear me.

There was this one time though. I was really sad and alone, I started calling Wes' name. It got too cold here and I needed him. Instead of hearing Wes' I tuned in to the others.

"Did you hear that?" I think it was Candy.

"She said Wes! Lily? Lily, honey?" Trudy, definitely.

"Check her pulse, then the bandages. Lily, can you hear me? Open your eyes Lily, everyone is so worried." Doc, I was pretty sure.

But after that I got no transmission. None, nothing, it was like I had no connection.

Then I realized, Was I dead? Where am I? In the in-between?

Sometimes, when I got really cold, and I could feel nothing else, the gold doors would swing open. But only half-way. When I got closer to the cold area, I'd hear either Doc, or Trudy, or Lucinda or even Candy call my name.

They'd always say something like;

"Don't give up!"

"Hold on Lily!"

"Please, please don't go!"

And when I'd stop to listen, I'd turn around again and find out the gold doors have closed.

One time, that Stryder kid came into connectivity range.

"Lily? Are you okay? It's Jamie here. I was just wondering how you were doing. You don't look to well. But I know you Lily, you're a strong person, just hang in there, Mel and Wanda will be back soon. I made you a Get Well card in class today. The drawings are real ugly, but I want you to wake up and see it. Doc says I have to go now, but I'll check on you later."

I felt really happy when I heard his voice. He was real nice. When I heard it, the gold doors disappeared! It did, but it came back. When my side started to ache and numb.

It came back real clear and close too. The gold even shines mockingly from afar.

I don't know what the doors mean, but I could sometimes feel Wes' presence from the other side, even if I'm nowhere near it.

I've been thinking, next time they open, I'm going to cross over. I hated this world.

I was in pain, and I had lost everything. I just wanted to be with Wes.

The only thing that kept me from floating over there at Olympic speed and climbing the gold gate was the random tune-ins.

Everyone would leave really sweet messages. They were so close, but I could never reach them. Close, but out of reach.

I don't know what I wanted more, my friends or Wes. They were really important to me.

....It was getting cold again. I ached and ached at the side. My head felt heavy, and my limbs were weighed down by invisible chains.

Wssshh.

I turned my head, and this time the gold gates have fully opened, and I've made up my mind.

I felt peaceful, I knew I had made the right choice…


Shout out to all my reviewers so far, who have all helped me develop this story (:

ivamp3, siramad21, TopKat90,LissaLang, , Princess Skye & xxMarxbbyxx

Yay! Round of applause lol :P


The holidays are coming teehee!

My assignments are finally dwindling so I'll have more time to write.

Lol, anyways, I just thought well, we havn't

Heard much of Lily, so I'd add a little Lily snippet in so,

Enjoy! And keep the reviews coming!

Ps. there will be more on how Mel and Wanda are going soon :)

Kate xx