I was bored. Seriously bored. The pair had been going at it for over 30 minutes already. Zero, Blaze and I, we were sitting on the bottom of the stairs with out chins resting in the palms of our hands and our elbows were on top of our knees. So bored.
Turning my head slightly I asked Zero, "Do they always argue like this?"
Zero was quiet for a while as he pondered an answer. "Not normally, it usually only lasts for about five minutes. That's when Geode ruffles her hair –which she hates- and walks off so that automatically ends the argument."
"Maybe Ah shouldn't 'ave woken her up then," I moaned.
"FINE!"
"GOOD!"
I flinched as their argument started to escalate. Since I'm in my mid-teens, everyone would expect me to listen to rock bands and listen to them at the highest level on the stereo. Except I don't. Thanks to Doctor I never even listened to the radio or came anywhere near something with loudspeakers apart from the PA system. Which meant I would much rather listen to silence then to have my ears blown off. I mean, the names of some rock bands are kind of weird. As far as I can remember, there was some rock bands with things like biscuit, nickel or soup in it for some reason. Come to think of it, how could I know these names if I've never listened to the radio…?
"Finally!" I heard Blaze mutter.
Looking up, I saw Geode and Talon walking towards us with smiles on their faces.
Again I was slightly unnerved by the sudden mood change. In a way I was used to it. And in another was I wasn't. I was used to it because Doctor changed his personality every so often. I wasn't used to it because his personality changed every couple of days, not a couple of hours (or minutes as it seemed the case with Talon.)
"You guys ready to go out then?" Geode asked with just a little bit of sarcasm.
When he asked us that, both Zero and Blaze simultaneously rolled their eyes and glared at him. After that, we heaved ourselves off our backsides and trouped up the stairs to get our shoes on, wishing we'd thought of that sooner.
By the time we had gotten back down the stairs Geode was standing outside feeling the warmth of the sun.
"So where will we go today?" Geode wondered out loud. It was silent for a few minutes as everyone thought of where they wanted to go for the day. Except for me. I stayed silent because I had no idea of any of the places here, also because I generally never spoke about what I wanted.
As if Talon had read my mind she said, "Since Shadow doesn't this area, why don't we take him on a tour?"
All their eyes turned to me as they waited for my approval. I nodded.
Geode clapped his hands once with delight. "Okay, so now that we've got that sorted out, let's go."
* * *
They took me around the back streets, the quiet streets, the busy streets, where they normally hung about when they weren't in the warehouse, every single place that they could think of with an added commentary of Talon. I'd tried to memorise everything but it was impossible as it was a bit much to take on at the one time. It looked like they didn't know how the place they lived in was so vast either. By the time the tour finished, half the day had already gone.
Although, call me paranoid but I kept on having a feeling that we were being watched and followed. I had always seemed to know when someone was watching me when I was with Doctor. Or it might have been the opposite. Maybe it was just that I was so used to being watched that it felt weird to not be watched.
I nearly walked right into Blaze before I knew she had stopped.
'How come Ah always nearly walk or run into somebody?' I thought irritably, ' …Oh wait, that's already happened.'
"Shadow? Do you know where we are?"
I turned around to look at Talon and saw that she and Zero were looking expectantly. "Wha' d'ya mean?" I asked.
"Well, do you recognise anything?"
I stole a quick glance around me. Behind us was a semi quiet street and in front of us was a road. Past the road was some sort of grass meadow with tall trees lining the edges. Almost directly in front of us was a well-trodden dirt road that continued into the distance that also had trees lining it. Since it was barely beginning to turn into fall, the trees were still bushy and the leaves were only just turning into the intense colours of reds, oranges and yellows. But through those colours there were still some hints of pale greens still clinging on hidden amongst them. Apart from the occasional car that passed by it had the air of tranquillity and peace. It seemed strange to have stone buildings behind us since it seemed like the road was the barrier for them and kept the grass meadow to the other side. A sudden gust of wind blew past us, swirling around us and shaking the drying leaves whilst also making the sound of a light and short shower. It looked slightly familiar but I couldn't place it.
I shook my head, "No. "Ah've ne'er been here before." If I had looked back at Talon instead of continuing to stare at the grass meadow I would have noticed her shoot a look to Geode. But since I didn't, that moment passed me by.
= I'm sure Charlie would have recognised this place. If he doesn't, then what's he been doin'? It's beginnin' to look like he hasn't been outside of 'The Modern Castle' for a long time, if ever. I've never seen someone so pale either, it's like he hasn't been in the sun for years! And if he can't seem to recognise this bit then it's probably true…=
I started as I began to hear Talon's thoughts. I frowned faintly by both what Talon was thinking and the fact that it looked like my power was starting to fluxuate again. I was also worried about what was happening. 'Should Ah recognise this place?' I wondered. I looked closer at what was in front of me but I had no recollection of any of this. ' Ah guess 'The Modern Castle' is where she found meh. But what's this place gotta do with me no' goin' out? An' why is my power beginning to fluxuate again?'
'Ah thought it only did that after you had an injection?'
'Yeah, Ah don't need them anymore anyway so why am Ah doin' this?'
'Maybe you're more sensitive to Talon than other people perhaps?' I could literally feel Trilox shrugging.
'Ah don't know. Abou' wha' Talon said, do you recognise this? 'Coz Ah don't an' she's pre''y worried abou' it.'
'Ah don't think Ah've seen this either,' even as he said it, I felt Trilox was hiding something or at least refraining from saying something. I didn't ask him about it because we still wanted a little bit of privacy now and then.
"Shadow?" Geode's deep voice wandered into my head while I was still thinking.
"Yeah?" I answered absentmindedly.
"Do you want to be left alone to look around yourself?"
"Wha'?" my attention snapped onto Geode as soon as he said it.
"I said," he pressed, "do you want to be left alone to look around?" he repeated.
"Um …" I looked down to stare at my trainers, out of habit. I was so used to being told what to do, that I basically didn't do anything until I was told to do it. And I mean that in a literal way.
"Charlie, you remember how to get back to the warehouse right?" Blaze asked.
I silently nodded while still staring at my trainers.
"Well, as fun as it may be having us to talk to, you seem to be a bit of a loner. So you'd probably find your way better if you didn't move in a big group" she said bluntly.
"I…Ah guess." I stuttered.
"Shadow, we'll meet you back at the warehouse then."
"Yeah…sure."
"Shad." I started as Talon whispered in my ear. "Come back before dark, kay?"
"Um…" why did she always have to do this? "Ah'll try to."
"Okay."
As she walked off to watch up with the others I felt a weird sort of detachment. Even though they have accepted me, it was obvious that I hadn't been truly accepted by them. I had only been accepted because of my beyblading skills and I was in the right place at the right time. If I hadn't, then I'd either still be in 'The Modern Castle' or I'd be wandering the streets. Another thought crossed my mind. I could have escaped but then was caught again by Doctor and been punished … or I was still being punished. I shivered at that thought. So many ifs and ors that could result in a good outcome or a horrific one.
'Don't be so negative.'
'Ah can't help it. Ah'm a'ways thinkin' tha' somethin' bad is bout t'happen.'
'* Sigh * Ever think about not thinkin' about the future? Ever think about being optimistic?'
I shrugged. 'It depends on wha' the thing is, donnit?' (A.N translation= doesn't it?)
'Ah s'pose. So do you want to go an explore like they wanted you to?'
Again I shrugged. "If you want." I must have looked kind of weird just standing with my hands shoved in my trouser pockets staring into space and muttering something every so often. I got that impression when a guy in a grey suit stared at me as he walked past.
Shrugging it off, I crossed the road and started to walk along the path. The wind seemed to pick up as soon as I walked underneath the trees. It seemed weird, to have something close to complete silence inside the city where you normally heard cars screaming past. The only sound that broke that silence was the breeze that shook the leaves above and below me. It was like I was totally alone here, I couldn't see a single person or hear anything. I walked along the track not taking note of where I was going, just letting my feet take over, I also didn't realize that what was happening was something that had happened before. I heard a rustle of leaves above my head but was a bit confused when I didn't feel the cold breeze suddenly blow into my face or anything.
"It must've just been a squirrel." I muttered underneath my breath.
Another rustle.
I was starting to feel a little uneasy. Whatever it was, it sounded a tiny bit bigger than the common grey squirrel. Looking up, all I could see was the deep colours of the bright leaves with the sun passing through them, making them look a little like a stained glass window.
Another rustle.
Yet again, there was no hint of the breeze that would have disturbed the otherwise stationary leaves.
Suddenly there was a flurry of leaves as something jumped out of the foliage; I tensed as I tried to look at what was there through the falling leaves. I heard it before I saw it. Sighing, I loosened up.
My would-be attacker was a grey squirrel.
I guess I was too paranoid. The squirrel scurried down the dark cracked bark and then sat up onto its haunches, just staring at me. It looked like it was studying me like I was studying it. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared up another tree as though something had scared it away.
Looking around, there still wasn't anybody around to be able to do that so I guessed it didn't like being in the open too much.
I continued to walk along and out of habit, I started to trace the edges and grooves of Trilox's 'blade. It felt somewhat comforting to do that.
@Charlie, you shouldn't have assumed that everything is over. And you shouldn't have assumed I was a squirrel either. @
I stopped dead in my tracks and took a wild glace around me, frantically trying to find who had thought that. It couldn't have been Doctor, thankfully, as it didn't feel like it was his thoughts but it sounded like him though…
Another rustle. Just behind me.
Whirling around I caught sight of a brown cloak before the person kicked me so hard in the chest that I crashed into one of the trees behind me. It felt like I couldn't breathe. He or she had knocked all the air out of my lungs and I was struggling to fill them up again. The person was wearing a brown cloak complete with a hood completely covering his or her face. I was about to slide down the tree to stop my cramp but the other person stopped that. He or she pinned my left shoulder onto the tree with his or her right hand, holding me up. Looking at the hand didn't help with the gender of my assailant as it didn't look it belonged to a definite male or female. The person leaned up close to mine –still with his or her face hiding in the shadow of the hood- and hissed, "The person who's paying me wants you very, very badly." the voice didn't give anything away either: no accent and it wasn't too high to be a girl nor was it too low to by a guy. "Don't tell me why, I don't want to know why. Just know this, once I get a mission, I never stop until it's finished. Got it?" s/he tightened his/her grip on my shoulder.
My eyes wide with terror and pain, I gulped and nodded. I tried to use my power but it was no use. I needed to concentrate to do that and I certainly wasn't going to be able to do it here.
"Good." S/he said. S/he tightened his/her hold even more. I squeezed my eyes shut to stop my head from spinning. He'd found me. He got someone to find me and they have. "Open your eyes!" s/he snapped.
Obediently, I did as I was told. S/he had shifted his/her position while my eyes were closed. Now, his/her left hand was raised at shoulder level and curled into a ball. I barely had time to comprehend to what s/he was going to do before the fist was ploughing into my gut.
I felt the tears form in the corners of my eyes without my bidding as all the air in my body rushed out for the second time in what seemed like 2 minutes. This time s/he let go of my shoulder and I dropped heavily onto the ground, panting.
S/he crouched next to me as I strained to breathe and tried to move away from him/her. This time s/he used his/her left hand to make me stay where I was. That's when I heard the approaching footsteps of somebody else. When I heard them, I felt a twinge of hope arise. If that person comes maybe s/he'll scare this person away? Or it could be another person to help this one?
As the footsteps became more apparent I became disheartened, as s/he didn't make a move. That means it's someone to help him/her.
When the person walked up, I saw a lady walk by, glance our way and then carried on walking. I heard my attacker chuckle. I looked fearfully into the dark abyss of the hood. "No one's going to help you. They'd just think that I'm an older sibling and carry on, just like her."
That's when I knew that I would never get away. Not a hope in the world.
"See you next time. And of course, I'll be the first to see you as you don't know what I look like do you?"
I jerked my head up in surprise. "Wha'?"
"You're slow aren't you? I'm leaving."
After s/he said that, s/he jumped up and ran off, his/her clock flapping behind him/her.
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Yey! I'm happy now! I've finished my chapter (finally) and I've finished my Prelims! And it's the Christmas hols! Yey!!!!!! The only thing what will bring me down is if the italics and bold doesn't work again. * Sigh * More Charlie bashing…
Were you guys able to get my hints about the rock bands?
So, to my reviewers:
Dudems: I'm glad that you liked my switch of P.O.V's every so often. Just wait, there's going to be a chapter coming up (I don't know when) when there's going to be a lot of switching of P.O.V's. Sorry for the long update but I had the prelims. Which I didn't particularly enjoy.
Wingcanine: * laughs * yeah that's pretty much everyone …apart from * counts off fingers * Doctor, Adam, Beth, Jade, Catherine…you get the idea. And you got them all right as well.
Priestess Aeria: I don't mind if it takes you a while to review as long as you do. And those brownies were b e a utiful!
And finally a bit more action! I hope you guys enjoyed it so if you did, please review!
