Chapter two -- It's Always the Wrong Door...
~*~
Li sighed as she heard a hissing sound, reassuring her that the door had securely closed. She'd never imagined that one simple glow out in the middle of the woods could get her in THIS much trouble... "I guess curiosity CAN kill the cat," she muttered to herself. "But I guess I should be glad I'm not a cat, in that case..."
The girl glanced around at her new surroundings -- a long, narrow hall with a number of doors scattered in sundry places along either sides of the hallway, all in similar appearance to the one she'd just stepped through. She shrugged and walked off to her right in search of anything that had nothing to do with needles.
~*~
It wasn't long before she'd come to the end (even though it had seemed impossible to do) of the long hallway, and found a small elevator that opened as she stepped forward. "This has SO got to be a dream..." Li told herself firmly. "You actually DId fall asleep. You only dreamed you got up to take that walk. This... IS... a... dream." She somehow managed to convince herself of this, while stepping into the elevator. The door slid shut behind her. "Now, how does one work this thing..."
Li pressed a button in curiosity, causing the elevator to genly move upwards. "Whoa, I'm good!" Upon pressing another button, she stopped moving and the door opened again. "Short ride. Oh well..." the girl slowly stepped out into a hallway very similar to the one she'd just left, and began her exploration.
Suddenly, a large crowd of people in the black uniforms came rushing past her, nearly knocking her over. Li squeaked in surprise and dodged most of the people that came towards her, trying not to be run over. The girl made her way to the nearest door and dashed in, plastering herself against the inside wall and gasping for air. 'This is a WEIRD dream,' she thought, calming down from her panic-attack.
Incidentally, Li had stumbled into someone's room, or so it appeared...a small room at that. A small table sat in the middle of the room, covered with all sorts of machanical odds and ends; three or four chairs were scattered around, one close to the foot of a bed. Li let out a relieved sigh and sat down in the chair, glancing around the room a little more. A second bed was next to the first, though the bedcovers were fixed in a strange fashion. It almost looked as if someone had stuffed pillows underneath the covers in a vertical line...sort of like a body. The girl laughed at her misconceptions. There was no way that was a body, it was too---
The "pillows" sighed quietly and shifted positions. Li's eyes bugged near out of their sockets with surprise, restraining a scream with all her might. Slowly, she stood and started backing towards the door, refusing to take her frightened eyes off of the bed for an instant. Unfortunately, she didn't see a stray piece of scrap metal on the floor, which lay directly in her path. The object slipped out from under her foot, which caused her to cry out and fall backwards...straight into the table.
As Li fell to the ground (after knocking the table's contents on top of herself, including a large pot-like part that had ironically landed on her head and now covered her eyes), she cringed at the sound of a yell of surprise coming from the bed. 'I'm dead', she thought miserably, though remarkably dazed. 'I'm WORSE than dead -- this dream isn't much fun anymore...' But to her surprise, a few moments after the shout, she heard laughter coming from the same direction. Her face flushed a bright shade of red with embarassment, while the heat from under her collar gave the inside of the pot a humid feeling.
Soft footfalls sounded, coming towards her -- or so she imagined. Trying to hear while having a pot on your head is difficult. Past the edge of the pot, Li could see bare feet stopping in front of her and the body attached to them squatting down to her level. Another laugh escaped the person as they lifted the pot off of the dazed girl's head. Her vision was still a bit blurry, so she couldn't quite focus her eyes on the person in front of her.
The person laughed again, then spoke in a somewhat amused tone. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Li shook her head slowly and fought her nervous feelings for her voice. "I, uh...would you believe they threw me in?" She managed to glance at the person in front of her, though her head was spinning, and saw a teenage boy squatting in front of her, his short dark brown hair proving that he had indeed been sleeping. A merry grin was spread across his face, while his chocolate brown eyes twinkled with mischief and mirth. Li blushed a much darker shade of red and looked down at the mess around her, trying not to look at him again.
"I honestly wouldn't," he admitted lightly. "But I'd still like to know who in their right mind would manage to get in here, especially in the middle of the night when people are ASLEEP." He emphasized the last word somewhat jokingly.
Li let out a small groan. "I'm lost, that's who I am," she moaned. "I don't know where I am, or who the heck YOU are, for that matter." She stopped and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about the mess...I'll clean it up, I promise---"
The boy stopped her in mid-sentence. "It's alright, don't worry about it." He hesitated and cocked an eyebrow at his captive. "...but you STILL haven't told me who you are."
"I'm...ah...Li. Li McCeahn." She replied quietly. "Or, at least, I think I am."
"You don't know who you are...?"
Li was taken aback. "No, no, I AM Li McCeahn...but in this dream, I might be someone else and I don't know that I am...but none of this is real, and in a matter of seconds I'll wake up in my bed and wished that this WAS real." She sighed. "Dreams are so complicated..."
The boy laughed again. "This IS real. And I'm as real as you." He extended his hand towards her, which she accepted and shook twice. "I'm Wesley Crusher. It's nice to meet you...even though I would've preferred to have met you standing up."
"Oh sure, rub it it, why don't you?" Li grumbled. "Just because I'm not as coordinated as most people..."
Wesley frowned. "I didn't mean it that way, and you know it."
The girl shrugged and managed a small grin. "Hey, when the world is spinning, don't I have a right to misinterperet things...?" She watched the boy stand, and let him help her stand.
"So, your name is...Li, right? Is that a nickname?" He asked.
Li hesitated. "Yeah. So?"
Wesley cocked his eyebrow again. "So...what's your real name, if I could be so curious?"
"Ha, NO." She grimaced and shook her head. "I hate my name..."
"Why? It can't be THAT bad," he said with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.
Li sighed before replying. "It's Elizabeth," she growled.
Silence hung in the air for a moment before Wesley finally said something. "Why are you ashamed of it? Elizabeth's a nice name, compared to some I've heard."
"Yeah, sure..."
~*~
Li sighed as she heard a hissing sound, reassuring her that the door had securely closed. She'd never imagined that one simple glow out in the middle of the woods could get her in THIS much trouble... "I guess curiosity CAN kill the cat," she muttered to herself. "But I guess I should be glad I'm not a cat, in that case..."
The girl glanced around at her new surroundings -- a long, narrow hall with a number of doors scattered in sundry places along either sides of the hallway, all in similar appearance to the one she'd just stepped through. She shrugged and walked off to her right in search of anything that had nothing to do with needles.
~*~
It wasn't long before she'd come to the end (even though it had seemed impossible to do) of the long hallway, and found a small elevator that opened as she stepped forward. "This has SO got to be a dream..." Li told herself firmly. "You actually DId fall asleep. You only dreamed you got up to take that walk. This... IS... a... dream." She somehow managed to convince herself of this, while stepping into the elevator. The door slid shut behind her. "Now, how does one work this thing..."
Li pressed a button in curiosity, causing the elevator to genly move upwards. "Whoa, I'm good!" Upon pressing another button, she stopped moving and the door opened again. "Short ride. Oh well..." the girl slowly stepped out into a hallway very similar to the one she'd just left, and began her exploration.
Suddenly, a large crowd of people in the black uniforms came rushing past her, nearly knocking her over. Li squeaked in surprise and dodged most of the people that came towards her, trying not to be run over. The girl made her way to the nearest door and dashed in, plastering herself against the inside wall and gasping for air. 'This is a WEIRD dream,' she thought, calming down from her panic-attack.
Incidentally, Li had stumbled into someone's room, or so it appeared...a small room at that. A small table sat in the middle of the room, covered with all sorts of machanical odds and ends; three or four chairs were scattered around, one close to the foot of a bed. Li let out a relieved sigh and sat down in the chair, glancing around the room a little more. A second bed was next to the first, though the bedcovers were fixed in a strange fashion. It almost looked as if someone had stuffed pillows underneath the covers in a vertical line...sort of like a body. The girl laughed at her misconceptions. There was no way that was a body, it was too---
The "pillows" sighed quietly and shifted positions. Li's eyes bugged near out of their sockets with surprise, restraining a scream with all her might. Slowly, she stood and started backing towards the door, refusing to take her frightened eyes off of the bed for an instant. Unfortunately, she didn't see a stray piece of scrap metal on the floor, which lay directly in her path. The object slipped out from under her foot, which caused her to cry out and fall backwards...straight into the table.
As Li fell to the ground (after knocking the table's contents on top of herself, including a large pot-like part that had ironically landed on her head and now covered her eyes), she cringed at the sound of a yell of surprise coming from the bed. 'I'm dead', she thought miserably, though remarkably dazed. 'I'm WORSE than dead -- this dream isn't much fun anymore...' But to her surprise, a few moments after the shout, she heard laughter coming from the same direction. Her face flushed a bright shade of red with embarassment, while the heat from under her collar gave the inside of the pot a humid feeling.
Soft footfalls sounded, coming towards her -- or so she imagined. Trying to hear while having a pot on your head is difficult. Past the edge of the pot, Li could see bare feet stopping in front of her and the body attached to them squatting down to her level. Another laugh escaped the person as they lifted the pot off of the dazed girl's head. Her vision was still a bit blurry, so she couldn't quite focus her eyes on the person in front of her.
The person laughed again, then spoke in a somewhat amused tone. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Li shook her head slowly and fought her nervous feelings for her voice. "I, uh...would you believe they threw me in?" She managed to glance at the person in front of her, though her head was spinning, and saw a teenage boy squatting in front of her, his short dark brown hair proving that he had indeed been sleeping. A merry grin was spread across his face, while his chocolate brown eyes twinkled with mischief and mirth. Li blushed a much darker shade of red and looked down at the mess around her, trying not to look at him again.
"I honestly wouldn't," he admitted lightly. "But I'd still like to know who in their right mind would manage to get in here, especially in the middle of the night when people are ASLEEP." He emphasized the last word somewhat jokingly.
Li let out a small groan. "I'm lost, that's who I am," she moaned. "I don't know where I am, or who the heck YOU are, for that matter." She stopped and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about the mess...I'll clean it up, I promise---"
The boy stopped her in mid-sentence. "It's alright, don't worry about it." He hesitated and cocked an eyebrow at his captive. "...but you STILL haven't told me who you are."
"I'm...ah...Li. Li McCeahn." She replied quietly. "Or, at least, I think I am."
"You don't know who you are...?"
Li was taken aback. "No, no, I AM Li McCeahn...but in this dream, I might be someone else and I don't know that I am...but none of this is real, and in a matter of seconds I'll wake up in my bed and wished that this WAS real." She sighed. "Dreams are so complicated..."
The boy laughed again. "This IS real. And I'm as real as you." He extended his hand towards her, which she accepted and shook twice. "I'm Wesley Crusher. It's nice to meet you...even though I would've preferred to have met you standing up."
"Oh sure, rub it it, why don't you?" Li grumbled. "Just because I'm not as coordinated as most people..."
Wesley frowned. "I didn't mean it that way, and you know it."
The girl shrugged and managed a small grin. "Hey, when the world is spinning, don't I have a right to misinterperet things...?" She watched the boy stand, and let him help her stand.
"So, your name is...Li, right? Is that a nickname?" He asked.
Li hesitated. "Yeah. So?"
Wesley cocked his eyebrow again. "So...what's your real name, if I could be so curious?"
"Ha, NO." She grimaced and shook her head. "I hate my name..."
"Why? It can't be THAT bad," he said with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.
Li sighed before replying. "It's Elizabeth," she growled.
Silence hung in the air for a moment before Wesley finally said something. "Why are you ashamed of it? Elizabeth's a nice name, compared to some I've heard."
"Yeah, sure..."