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DISBOUND

chapter 19

slow motion daylight

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Theme song: It's Just Love; Gundam Wing

The redhead wandered idly into the bedroom, bright morning light bursting in from the open door behind her. On his bed nearby, Brock lay in an epitome of neatness, his starched sheet not even remotely wrinkled over his sleeping form. On the other side of the room Gary slept, curled up into the foetal position, almost unrecognisable due to the long brown locks that had amassed around his face without half a tub of hairgel to keep them up and under control.

            Parallel to the door was the third bed in the room, upon which Ash was sprawled on his back, limbs at all angles and his sheet only covering one leg of his practically bare form (Misty was relieved Mia seemed to have left him with one pair of boxers at least). Misty dithered a second, watching him sleep peacefully to the nearby sound of the morning tide approaching.

            "GET UP KETCHUM!" she bellowed, whipping the sheet off the bed for good measure. Unfazed by his personal alarm clock, Ash merely turned over and shoved his head under his pillow, which Misty soon grabbed and hugged close to her, away from his sleeping grasping hand.

            "Whaaadoowant?" Ash grumbled, conceding defeat where the possession of the pillow was concerned, and swinging his legs around the side of the bed as he rubbed his eyes irritably.

            "We, are going shopping," Misty informed him, tossing his pillow to one side, "don't tell me you've FORGOTTEN?"

            At the mention of the last word Ash froze.

            "No, ehehe, how could I forget such a thing?" he blagged, heaving himself wearily from the bed and moving towards his bag.

~*~

The group of five made their way down the carpeted staircase, chatting excitedly. Trish was almost crying with joy at the prospect of finally getting rid of Delia's loaned, frilly-collared white blouse. Rachel was almost crying with joy at the mere prospect of getting to indulge in shopping once more - the hustle! The bustle! The price-tags! The smell of the fitting rooms! The snooty shop assistants! She sighed ecstatically.

            Michelle blinked as the group approached the reception desk to find the owner, Celestine, sprawled over it, snoring with her mouth wide open. At a bit of a loss at what to do, she pressed the attention bell. Celestine sprung up immediately, looking none the less for wear after her impromptu nap. Obviously not a condition of this dimension, Michelle thought wryly, glancing at Ash who was still in a state resembling that of the undead, although he had been awake for nearing half an hour.

            "Going out?" Celestine asked, perkily, manoeuvring her glasses back into place.

            "Er, yes…" Trish replied, surveying the young woman warily. "Did… you sleep here last night?"

            "Yes," Celestine answered plainly, with a smile. Trish decided to refrain from commenting on the absurdity of it and pointedly asking the number of bedrooms in the building.

            "Ah. Well. How many minutes walk is the town centre?"

~*~

"I can't spend too much money you know," Ash grumbled to Misty, now seemingly secure in his friendship once again, "this particular adventure is eating up our funds so quickly it's disturbing…"

            "OmiGOD isn't that just the CUTEST HAT?" Rachel squealed, stopping dead and pointing her finger at a window display. Michelle and Trish were next to her in a flash, each adding their own, squealed opinion of the garment in question. Ash sighed.

            As the group continued down the street Michelle turned one eye to scrutinise her reflection in the wall of glass. She smiled; her heart felt light. Something good was going to happen today!

~*~

"Okay, now you have absolutely nothing to worry about son," the doctor said kindly. "This is a simple and easy procedure-"

            "Is it a procedure or an operation?" the boy interjected, looking accusingly out at the sweatdropping medical team from under his navy spikes of hair.

            "All operations are procedures," the doctor soothed, hooking the boy up to the anaesthetic machine, "but not all procedures are operations."

            "How is that supposed to-" began the teenager, until his eyelids drooped and his neck fell slack against the operating table. The doctor smiled as he replaced his mask over his jaw.

            "Sweet dreams, Travis," he murmured as he readied himself. "Alright, scalpel!"

~*~

Todd lay on his back, staring up at the shadows on the whitewashed ceiling as the branches outside his window swayed rhythmically with every touch of the breeze.

            He frowned slightly. He felt… bad. He had awoken with a cold, leaden feeling in his stomach that would not leave him. Something bad was going to happen today.

~*~

Michelle jumped at the loud sound. The stereotypical gangster-movie loud sound. Loud, wailing sirens followed by random blasts of gunshot. It was nothing to do with her, she reassured her palpitating heart, but nevertheless, pressed herself back against the shop window behind her, and met Misty's worried look with one equally so.

~*~

Attempting to shake the grey feeling off, Todd stretched leisurely, and stalked to the bedroom door. He was started to find Sarah standing outside it, her fist poised to knock, her expression equally surprised.

            "I, I, er…" she began, searching for the appropriate words. Todd sighed. Something bad was definitely going to happen today.

            Damn girls and their shopping.

~*~

The swarm of police cars were in view now, tearing around the corner and heading down the long strip that was the parade of shops, rubber wheels screeching on the hot tarmac. The congregation of shoppers all rushed forwards to the edges of the pavement, craning their necks and pushing to the front to catch a piece of the drama.

            The horde of black and white vehicles raced on, following what appeared to be an ordinary red car. Several drove up and over the sand-dunes in an attempt to cut it off, but only succeeded in throwing up a blinding cloud of sand and debris.

            Michelle scrunched her eyes shut and turned her head as she felt the wave of dust scrape past her exposed cheek. She jumped and choked back a sob as the erratic gunfire began once more.

            Nothing to do with you, nothing to do with you, nothing to do with you.
            She whimpered, her eyes stinging with both unshed tears and dirt and pressed herself backwards harder, wanting to get as far away from possible from the dangerous road.

            Nothing to do with you. Harder and harder she pressed back, relishing in the cool, calming feeling of the glassy surface on her cheek, the palms of her hands, the back of her neck…

            An image flashed in her mind and it was hard to stop herself from opening her eyes in a shocked reaction.

            Bright colours. Tents. Pools. Mirrors. Funhouse mirrors.

((A layer of dust seemed to shake itself off the surface, and Michelle recoiled in shock when she saw the reflection.))

Michelle gasped, feeling the remnants of the furious sand-cloud suck deep into her lungs.

((The glass shattered into a thousand angry pieces. The terrified wail echoed all around her and Michelle fell into an eternity of sharp glass.))

Glass. Glass. Michelle remained frozen to the spot, as if the chill from the cold surface behind her had seeped deep into her bones and blood. Although it had seemed as if the cars had been racing down the strip for years, they were only just passing in front of her.

A passenger from the police car nearest the object of the pursuit leant out of the door, and took aim with his gun, aiming straight through the driver's window at his head.

~*~

Todd looked up from the sink and watched the reflection of the frightened brunette who was standing behind him. Drops of water dripped down from his chin into the porcelain bowl beneath.

            "I'm worried. I feel it. I know you do too. We can't just ignore it," Sarah repeated, in a monotone as she stared vaguely at Todd's back. Todd sighed, and reached for the hand-towel to dry his face.

The bathroom mirror splintered.

Sarah screamed.

~*~

The policeman shot, seconds before the car he had been riding veered off the road and violently came to rest with its bonnet in a sand-dune. The single bullet flew true, shooting straight through the car's window. It missed the head of the occupant by mere inches and proceeded to fly through the window adjacent and then to hit the window of the shoe-shop opposite.

            The display window of the shoe-shop cracked cleanly as the bullet shot through, with a small, anti-climactic tinkle. Michelle barely had time to exhale in relief; she felt the angry split snake behind her back as it continued to make its childish noise - champagne glasses clinking together, boots crunching through ice.

            And then suddenly, there was nothing behind her.

            In reality it happened so quickly that Michelle was already falling backwards by the time Trish had followed the bullet's trajectory and had turned to face her. The glass fell in on itself, and a large pane of it came apart from the bottom and fell inwards to the shop's display where it shattered once more - serrated shining pieces coming to rest inside red stiletto shoes.

            The bottom of what had been the window was now left in jagged angry peaks from where it had snapped. Trish gasped and reached out an arm for Michelle's flailing hands and she slid backwards into the shadows of the shop.

            A point of glass impaled her as she instinctively turned to protect her spinal cord. She felt nothing but heat as her weight pushed her soft form further and further down, blood as red as the stilettos it washed around pouring from the hole above her pelvis.

            "No!" was all Trish could scream as she desperately tried to grab something to pull Michelle back, being unable to reach the arms of the girl who was now as limp as a ragdoll. Scrambling nearer, Trish slipped in the puddle of blood, and managed to snag the hem of Michelle's teeshirt. The fabric pulled, and the lining gave out under the stress, allowing Michelle to become even more impaled.

            Having no other choice, Trish frantically tugged at the material once more, and this time it held. Michelle's form came apart from the now stained glass with a sickening sodden noise and she fell forward, landing heavily on top of Trish on the pavement.

            Trish winced as she felt Michelle's hot blood seep in through her clothes. Rachel fell to her knees by Trish's head, sobbing and shaking as she bit her fists. Violently shaking himself, Ash carefully turned Michelle onto her back and Trish gulped in a breath of the warm, tropical air.

            Pedestrians had now formed a circle around where the unmoving girl lay, calling out words that Trish couldn't distinguish as she continued to lie a little way away from Michelle. A gasp went up around the crowd as Michelle shone all over with a brash pink tinge, and seemed to fade, her image flickering and distorting like a bad television signal.

            And the increasing puddle of blood reflected the cerise light as it crept slowly along the paving slabs.

~*~

If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself…

~*~

The line of pale faces matched the pale, tope walls of the hospital corridor. Todd's hand was shaking so much that drops from his styrofoam cup escaped and slid icily over his knuckles. Trish picked distractedly at the browning and crusted over bloodstains that soiled her white blouse. She almost smiled at the irony - she definitely needed new clothes now.

            Ash stared blankly at his red-stained palms. Maybe by concentrating on them really hard he could stop them shaking. Sarah paced up and down, her brown hair flicking sharply with each sudden change of direction.

            Ash jumped as Misty clapped her hand gently on his shoulder. He looked at her questioningly with his wide chocolate eyes and Misty could see the trauma in them.

            "Let's find somewhere for you to wash your hands," she murmured and he nodded.

            Erin didn't even notice as the two walked past her. She sat with her heels on the edge of her seat, her face mostly obscured by her loose hair and her knees, which she had her arms wrapped around, pulling them close to her chest. Duplica and Richie were one thing, she thought selfishly, but Michelle was real. Michelle was her classmate. Michelle was her friend.

            Twelve pairs of eyes darted up as the doctor strode towards them, his expression concealed by a clipboard.

~*~

The girl craned her neck to look up at the entire height of the stately building. One minute she had been in her bedroom, the next outside a building she had never seen before in her life. It was a balmy evening and a humid wind teased a lock of her chocolate brown hair around her pale cheek.

            She had no idea where she was. She had no idea what was going on.

            But for some reason she felt calm. And for some reason, she knew to walk into the building, and also what floor to take the lift to.

~*~

"That was quite a nasty scrape wasn't it," chuckled the doctor, his eyes twinkling as he saw the group of young people visible relax upon seeing his cheerful expression. "We're moving her to the recovery ward now."

            "Remember, we paid for a semi-private room!" Todd interjected.

            "Semi-private?" echoed Mia, with her hands on her hips. Todd sweatdropped.

            "It was all I could afford, what with the bed and breakfast fees…"

            "She was touch-and-go for a while, I won't lie to you," the doctor continued, his tone becoming more grave. "But she's through the danger area and expected to make a full recovery in time. I hope you don't have any urgent plans for the next week!"

            "Oh, thank God for this screwy world's healing thing," Erin breathed in relief.

            "Yeah, you seem to get battered up to a point where you die, but if you don't reach that point," Karlie shrugged, "you go back to how you were before the battering began."

            "There may be a time we won't find that a blessing," Sarah frowned, uncomfortable with the unnatural 'all-or-nothing' concept.

            "Can we see her?"

            "No, I'm afraid not yet. And she's still unconscious anyway. We've got the number of your residence, we'll be sure to call you if there's the slightest bit of change."

            Chatter and colour returned to the group as they made their way towards the lift, feeling lighter and more optimistic. With good timing, the lift they called to travel down with turned out to be the lift that Ash and Misty had been traveling back up in.

            "Er, guys," Ash attempted to say something while as many of them as possible poured into the lift on top of him.

            "Hey, listen," Misty tried, "there's someone-"

            Erin, one of the half waiting for the next lift, searched through the throng of bodies to find Misty.

And she found her. Standing next to a figure, new and familiar at the same time. The figure's eyes also lit up in recognition as Erin stared in almost disbelief.

            "Jacqui… What-"

The lift doors closed between them.