CHAPTER 37: The Dream Battle
I woke up in a dark room. The current of air had disappeared, and that left me in a dark room.
"Hello? Hello?" I yelled.
"Would someone mind turning on the lights at least?" I shouted.
And just like that, the darkness turned into light. But I wasn't holding Peater's leaf; I was in an irritatingly bright room with white walls and white floors. I briefly wondered if I was dead, or waiting for death to come. As I entertained these thoughts, I was sent hurtling into another room. But this time, there was blood everywhere. I then saw ten other plants, at least seven of them looking bigger and stronger than me.
"All right! Now that you all have arrived, it's time to explain the rules!" an overly enthusiastic voice chirped through the room.
"You all are here to represent your home province in Canada. And the rules are simple: fight, and the last one standing gets a special . . . surprise."
We all looked at each other in shock. All, that is, but the Cactus, who was looking off into the distance.
"Wait . . . where the hell is this?!" I asked.
"Just another part of the dream realm, Elyssia. Where else?" the voice laughed.
Knowing that it was do or die, I started shooting my peas at the Sunflower on my left, who quickly fell to my blows. Then the big burly Chomper tried to tackle me, but I rolled out of the way just in time. The Chomper proceeded to paint the walls red by chomping down on plant after plant.
"Well, that leaves I, the representative of Yukon . . ." he drawled. " . . . And you, Miss Ontario." With that, he started firing his saliva at me, hither-thither. I then jumped on top of the Chomper.
"Stop! You didn't ask for this . . . Renaldo." I gasped.
"H-how did you remember me, Elyssia?" Renaldo sputtered as his unseen eyes supposedly darted to the top of his head, where I was precariously perched.
"I never forget the faces or the names of those who could have been my saviours, Ren-Ren." I answered.
"You still remember that . . . time?!" Renaldo gasped. "Yes, and I remember that time just as much as the time when you said words so cruel that . . . that . . . THAT I TRIED TO KILL MYSELF!" I replied, the last part coming out as a bellow. "Elyssia . . . really? I actually . . . hurt you that much?" Renaldo wondered aloud. "Yes, really!" I yelled in response. "But remind me . . . how exactly did it happen?" Renaldo asked, tapping a leaf onto his chin. Still sitting on his head, I started to tell the sorry tale.
"I was alone, on the schoolyard, up in a tree. I watched the plants play with each
other, happy to be in their own little circles of friends. Finally, I could hear some whispering as Ellen and her lackey ― considering the fact that I hadn't maimed them to death at the time ― called at least five sixths of the schoolyard to their attention. The only plants that couldn't be coaxed out of their activities were Renaldo and twenty other plants, who blinked once, twice, three times before they went right back to kicking a soccer ball on all sides of a field. With my sharp ears, I could hear the slightly nervous whispers of Ellen Ignatius, the girl who might've as well been the devil's sister or cousin.
"Guys . . . this is what you've been waiting for! We're gonna kill Elyssia right there in her tree. Then we'll decide what to do with her dead body." she whispered, eyes shining as bright as hell.
"Well, how do we kill her before she takes out our eyes?" a young Marigold asked, a bandage over one eye.
I shuddered as I remembered how I took out her eye back in the first grade, and earned my gruesome tattoo. Now, all that was left of her right eye was a bunch of blood and pus.
"Ah, buddy . . . I don't know how to do this, other than stone her to death." Ellen answered.
Élana, the girl whose eye I had so wrongfully maimed, rubbed her leaves together, eyes ― or, if you'd rather, eye ― shining brighter than a diamond. I gasped. Are these students kidding me?! And in a civilized country where they could get thrown into juvie? But then again, this generation of plants has gone wildly insane, what with losing family members to the zombies, sprouts in particular being affected for some unknown reason, considering the fact that they don't know how to do anything but count the veins on their leaves.
Turning my attention back to the attack that the plants were planning, I decided to climb higher and higher up in the tree, until everything looked like toys. "Ha!" I hissed as I started shooting peas at the students who planned to antagonize me, which only drew attention to myself. Before I knew what had happened, I was hanging from a branch by one leaf. I then called to the Chomper that I knew could save my life . . .
. . . if he cared.
"RENALDO! PLEASE . . . COME ATTACK THESE MOTHER F-ING SAVAGES AND SAVE ME! I'LL HONESTLY DO ANYTHING FOR YOU!" I screamed.
Renaldo turned and stared, but he didn't make any other movements, which meant that I was toast. This thought became reality as I fell from the tree with a shriek. I managed to land on my roots, and then pick up a stray pocketknife. I then proceeded to torture every student by carving the words BLOODY TRAITOR on their leaves and foreheads, if they couldn't escape in time.
"TEACHER! TEACHER!" Ellen yelled, signalling the attention of a teacher in a classroom.
As the teacher came out to deal with the bleeding students and with me, I completely lost it. In a flash of white, I had killed Professor Urbana."
Renaldo gasped, and started sobbing, which forced me to cling onto the spikes on top of his head to prevent myself from falling and potentially turning myself into prey.
"I-I'm so sorry, Elyssia! I wish that I had intervened and saved my teacher's life . . . I'm so sorry . . . I wish that I didn't make you try to kill yourself." Renaldo snivelled.
"SHUT UP!" I yelled. "IF YOU GOT NOTHING NICE TO SAY, THEN DON'T SAY IT AT ALL! IF YOU'RE TOO STUPID TO REMEMBER THAT, THEN I'M SO SORRY! YOU'RE GOOD FOR NOTHING, AND CHANCES ARE PRETTY DAMN HIGH THAT YOU'LL DIE A TRAITOR AND A BLOODY DAMN COWARD, YOU CRAPPY, MESSED UP FU ―"
That was all I managed to yell at Renaldo before the world started to dissolve.