It has been a month since discovering the past of 15 and 18, figuring out they were from a different dimension. It was of course hard to believe at first, I eventually did. They both told me not to tell the others, that they would tell when they found fit.
So now, we continue to walk through the Emptiness, trying to find a place we could call our home. Our sanctuary. As I've said before, it is quite difficult considering that most places were crumbling and were not safe to walk into. But soon enough we found a place that seemed fit. It was a very big house. Big even for humans. There would be plenty of space for us that was for sure.
This big house still stood, not too many holes in the walls. A few doors were falling off the hinges but otherwise, it good. The house stood about, I would guess, three stories tall. It was a fading white with some curling lines on the outside. Surrounding the perimeter was a small, crumbling brick wall. There was only two trees. Dead ones at that. They held no leaves on their branches, of course, and looked as if the branches were creepy looking hands trying to grab at you.
"What do you think of this place?" I heard 16 ask. I turned to him. He was looking at the building with interest.
"Well, we'll have to check and see if there are any CMPs, Lynxs, or anything of that sort in there before actually deciding whether it's safe or not," I looked back at the house.
He sighed. "And with our luck, something will be in there. 14, go and scout the building with 13."
14 threw a warning glare at 15 and 18 before following after me. She was still very suspicious of them, even more now than usual. Ever since I had passed out from having that vision, she's kept an even closer eye on the two. I'd tell her it's nothing to be suspicious of, but she'd just ignore what I'd say.
When we reached the front door, we already took notice to a few holes in the floor. I told 14 to stay down here and search the first floor, while I go to the second and third.
The stairs, which didn't seem to have any holes except at the bottom, took forever to climb, even if I did have the help of my spear. I noted we'd have to build a lift or something instead of having to use these dreaded stairs. When I finally made it too the second floor, I began to explore. There were two main rooms, it seemed, up here. And five different hallways connecting to different places.
The first hall had four doors. The first was something like an art studio. Lots of ink, paper, pens, pencils, etc. I figured 18 would like this room very much. The second room just a bedroom. The size was big(mainly by human standards) with pink and white walls. There were many dolls, a few doll houses, and a pink, yellow, and white bed. This room must have belong to a little girl, I thought. The third room was a sewing room, as I would call it. There were many needles and different colors of thread to choose from. Another part of this room had different types of cloth, all different colors and patterns. I'd need to remember to use some of that cloth. The fourth and last room was a music room. There were multiple different instruments, such as a piano, a violin, a cello, a mandolin, a double bass... Lets just say that there were a lot.
The next hall had only two doors. They were both bedrooms. One had dark walls and random posters hanging around. The other had blue walls and, well, everything was blue. Nothing real interesting here.
The third hall had two rooms like the second. One of them was very dark. It had photos hanging on stings that stretched across the room. I never got a good look at the photos but decided to think about it later. The second room was a room with a lot of metal. And by a lot, I mean they had a whole bunch of metal weapons hanging off the walls. Two wooden crossbows seemed to be the only thing in here not made of metal.
And I finally made my way to the last hall of the second floor. There were only three rooms, thank God. The first wasn't even really a room. It seemed to be a not at all hidden passage way. Might as well put a neon sign above it saying "SECRET PASSAGE WAY HERE! ANYONE IS WELCOME!" Anyway, the second room another bedroom. This one wasn't as decorated as the others, just plain white walls. Must have been a guest room. The last one was the most unsettling of them all. It was a bedroom. White walls, black trimming, black and white bed. But what was on the bed kreeped me out. I couldn't get a good view of it but lying on the bed was a human. It was dead, of course, but it didn't seem like it. more like it was in a peaceful sleep. I decided to just leave it be and warn the others about the room.
I walked out the room and to the other staircase which went to the third floor. "I hate stairs," I mumbled under my breathe, but nonetheless started to climb them.
I finally made my way to the third floor. It was smaller than the second, only having one main room and three doors connecting to it. Behind door number one was a room with a lot of tools. It was like a room where someone would make new inventions or something. The next room was another bedroom. Another guest bedroom that is. Nothing too special. The last room was the part of the room with the hole in the ceiling and part of one of its walls. There were two platforms that were pressed against the remaining wall.
I climbed onto the first platform and looked out the hole. From where I was, I could see the others. 15 and 18 were off away from the others. 16 was laying on the ground staring at the sky, as usual. Then 20 and 21 were just talking to each other. They all seemed extremely bored. I pulled myself up to the second platform. From here I got a better view of my friends and the Emptiness. I turned away and looked over the room making sure nothing was there.
Nothing. So, I walked out of the room and back towards the stairs.
"I wonder how much it would hurt if I just tumbled down," I said to myself. I looked around to see if there was anything I could use to get down quickly without getting hurt. There didn't seem to be anything. I looked back at the stairs and up at its rail. I smiled to myself, "Now to find a way up there."
Soon enough, I found myself balancing on the top of the railing. I had broken off a small piece of wood from the floorboards. It was too short to slide down the stairs on, but the rail was perfect.
"Okay, 13," I began to talk to myself, "All you have to do is keep your balance and have good timing." I began to look down. "I think I'm developing a fear of heights. That'll be fun to tell the others."
I look back at the staircase railing, carefully got on the small piece of wood I had broken off, and set it down carefully stepped onto it. Before I was even ready, it started to slide, bringing me with it. It didn't take long before I was gaining real speed and the railing was about to end. I didn't panic since this railing connected to the one that went down to the first floor. All I had to do was change my direction and then figure out how to stop.
I waited till I reached the end before using my spear to make me turn and go down the other rail. I kept a constant speed, making it not so long till I reached the end. Might as well jump.
There was no fancy pole thing at the end of it to stop me, just a slight curve up. Running out of rail! RUNNING OUT OF RAIL!! Now is the time to panic. Should have thought about it more, I guess, but no turning back now. This is gonna hurt.
I finally ran out of rail, gravity yet to take control. I laughed at the stupidity of my whole situation. I think my groups recklessness was finally getting to me. Oh, look! Floorboards!
"OW!" I landed headfirst on floor, bounced and rolled a few time too. "Most. Stupid. Thing. I've. Ever. Done. I think I have what the creator would call brain damage now."
"13! Are you alright?!" I heard 14 yell.
I turned to see her running over to me. "What makes you think that?"
"Well, considering the fact I saw fly through the air from the stairs and you landing on your head, I just assumed."
"Wow, that's a long sentence. Where am I again?" I asked as I sat up, feeling quite dizzy.
She silent for a moment. "I think I should get 16."
"Right good idea!" I smiled for a moment before putting on a completely confused look. "Who's that again?"
"Oooh, joy," she didn't sound too happy. "I really need 16 right now. Okay, you stay right here. Got it? Here. No wondering off. Okay?"
I stared at her strange for a moment before nodding. "Okay, whatever you want."
"Good, I'll be right back with some help." She took off running towards a doorway. Who was she again? Oh, god my head hurts.
"Stay here she says," I began to stand from where I was, "I don't feel like staying here. Wow. My patience is very small. Wasn't I carrying something a minute ago? Oh! There it is!"
My spear was not to far from where I was. It was sticking out of the splintered floorboards. I walked over and pulled it out of the wood, figuring it would help me walk around. Regardless of what's-her-face said, I felt like walking around, no matter how much my head hurt.
The closest thing to me was something like a dresser, only smaller. There seemed to be something up there, though I couldn't see what it was. Deciding to taking a closer look, I walked over to it and started figuring out how I could get up there. Finally figuring out the most easy way up, I made my way up; it being me using my spear to stab the half way point of the drawer, climb up, pull myself up to the top part of the drawer, somehow pull my spear out and repeat until I reach the top.
When I finally reach the top, all I saw was pictures. That and dust. There were five different pictures, each one evenly lined up.
The one on the far left had two girls. One of them looked to be around... 17? She had long, dark brown hair that went off the frame, and sparkling emerald green eyes. I could only see she was wearing a light blue shirt. The other girl had dark green eyes, short blonde hair and wore a dark blue shirt. She looked to be either 14 to 16. They both looked happy for whatever reason. At the top of the frame, the names 'Alice and Erin' was carved into it.
The next framed picture was of a boy. He only looked slightly younger that the girl. He was barely smiling but it didn't really matter since the scars on the sides of his mouth made it looked like he was smiling big. He short, sandy colored hair and light brown eye. He was wearing a dark grey shirt. At the top of his frame read the name 'James'.
The middle picture was a group picture. Losing interest very quickly in it, and not really wanting to ruin the 'surprise', I moved on to the next one.
This one had two kids in it this time, both seemingly identical; one being a girl and the other a boy. They both had jet black hair, though the girl's was a bit longer. They both had pale skin and looked about 12 or 13 years of age. The girls eyes were both a sea blue. The boy had one sea blue eye and one red eye. At the top of their frame read 'Zaru and Zora.'
The last picture was of a little boy who looked no older than seven. He had long-ish brown hair, that slightly covered his dark chocolate eyes. He was smiling really big. He was wearing a green shirt. At the top of his frame, it read 'Tommy'.
Then deciding to go back to look at the group picture, I obviously went back. It had all the kids from the other frames along with three other people. The Alice girl was standing beside one the others, the only woman, who stood beside an old man, who stood next to a younger guy. The woman had short dark brown hair, and emerald green eyes like Alice. She was wearing a lab coat, with a blue and black striped shirt and black pants. The old man had gray hair sticking out and tired hazel-gray eyes. He also wore a white lab coat, a white shirt, and black pants. The younger man had jet-black hair. His right eye was hazel while the other was amber. He was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. James stood beside the young man. The twins and Tommy were in the front row, doing some random pose. Everyone in the photo was smiling, everything seemed so happy and peaceful. Too bad they were all dead.
Oh, there's someone else. It was far up in one of the windows. It was and old lady sitting in a wheelchair. She had a very sad face, looking like she was in pain. She was so pain, almost as if she were a ghost. It was a scary sight, really.
Wait a minute, I thought to myself. I know that woman... She's my creator... Ow, my head hurts...
I stumbled a little backwards. I regained my balance again right as I stepped on the edge. Right when I thought I was safe, the headache came back, though it was more painful. Unable to control any of my movements, I fell over the edge.
It didn't take too long before I made contact with the floor, breaking the fall with my head. As soon as I made the contact, I passed out, unable to feel the pain anymore.
Damn. I'm still alive. I thought that fall killed me.
I slowly opened my eyes, reluctant to even be awake. Everything was blurry at first, but cleared soon enough. I propped myself up on my elbows, trying to get o real view of where I was.
"13! You're alive!" I recognized the voice of 20.
"Apparently, I don't die all too easily," I laughed slightly.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," 16 smiled at me. "Or rather, land of the walking souls."
"Whatever. Did I miss anything important?" I asked, sitting up the rest of the way.
"Well," 14 started, "after you fell and hit your head the first time, I ran to tell 16 and the others. We of course come running back, only to see you lying on the floor, unconscious. 20, 21, and I thought you were dead until 16 went over and checked your body. He said you would live and soon enough wake. So, now here we are, five days later, and you're awake!"
"Only five days?"
"Yep," 16 came over and nudged me in the side as he sat down beside me. "Aren't you the lucky ducky?"
"I know who use to live here," I said randomly.
"Would it really matter if we knew?" 21 asked. "I mean, no offence, but all the humans are dead. What the point of knowing?"
"Well, it would help, cause we might find something in this house that might help figure out what to do next."
"What?" 20, 14, and 16 asked in unison, slightly sounding confused.
"Ours creators lived here at one point," I said. "We might find something that tells us what to do, or point us in some direction."
"So we're supposed to search the house for information that might not even be here?" 16 asked.
"Well, I did find this room with a hole bunch of books and writings and stuff," 14 pointed out.
"We could start there," I looked over the group. "Who here can read?"
15 and 16 raised their hands.
"So, that's three of us, counting myself," I said. "Now that we have that solved, lets figure out a plan to make an easier way of getting up to the second and third floor."
"We could make a bucket lift," 15 suggested.
"Oh! And I saw this giant circular bouncy thing out back," 14 said. "We could use some of that material to cover some of the holes and use it somehow to get up the stairs."
Everyone was silent as we stared at her.
"Go, 14! Knuckle touch!" 20 said bring her fist to 14. She brought her fist to hers, forgetting about the spikes. "Ouchies! Evil spiky knuckles!"
Okay, maybe not the best- I mean, not the best at all- way to end this chapter, but my brain is becoming mush. Personally, I blame school. I don't absolutely hate it, but it's not the best place in the world. Tends to get really confusing at mine.
Anyway, I would like to thank eve94 for reviewing my story. And I will try to keep up this good work you say I write! 8D ... I'm trying my best not tear my face to shreds with my nails. No idea. Anyway, thanks again.
I do not own 9 or anything from it. I only own my characters and blah blah blah.