Chapter Seven: A Time to Tell Truth, andA Time to Lie
December 4, Time of day unknown
Wally groaned and put his hand to his head. He couldn't remember anything after Kuki screamed. Only a laugh. A cold, chilling laugh. It had sent shivers down his spine. Where was he? A cage? He looked down. He was about four feet off the ground in a cage. This was too weird. Where was Kuki? What happened?
Kuki's eyes opened slowly. She sat up so suddenly that her vision went blurry and she felt dizzy. She was laying on a bed, alone in a room. She remembered this room. She had played with them in this room. The boys used to tease Kuki and the girls for playing with dolls. Then...that horrible day.
They had become enemies when Kuki joined the Kids Next Door. Yes. She remembered being a part of the Kids Next Door. She had been decommissioned but that hadn't changed anything. The memories weren't going anywhere. Immedietly she'd began fighting her old friends. It hurt her, and she tried as hard as she could not to really fight them. To only do things to stop them from doing wrong deeds. But never hurting them. And yet they seemed to love to pick on Kuki. They had become known as the Delightful Children From Down The Lane. To Kuki, they were old friends.
Then...that day...that horrible day...the day the truth came out.
Wally grabbed the lock and tried working on it. It looked as though he wasn't going anywhere. He had to get out. There had to be some way out. Suddenly, he thought of something. He wasn't very big. Wally slipped his head through the bars, then his arm, his leg. He tried to push his body through. Oh crap. This wasn't how he had planned it! Wally pulled in his leg, his arm. His head wouldn't go back through.
"What!?" Wally cried out in frustration. He pulled back, but his head didn't move. He was stuck. Wally knelt in defeat and groaned. He wasn't going anywhere. His stupid big head.
"Poor, poor Wally." came five emotionless voices in unision. "How can someone have such a big head yet such a small brain?" They chuckled at their joke. Wally gasped.
"You!" he stared at the Delightful Children From Down The Lane in shock. "What are you doing here!?" They stared at him with amused expressions.
"Why, dear Wally, we live here, of course." they said matter-of-factly. Wally's mouth hung open. How could he not have known? The Delightful Children loved picking on Wally when they were in school. He had been to their house a few times when he was playing serious pranks on them. He still remembered the time he filled the toilet with fake blood and ruined their room by ripping the curtains and putting drops of fake blood everywhere. He hooked the room up with a camera so he could see their faces when they walked in.
"But...but..." Wally stopped himself. "Where's Kuki!?" They laughed and walked away without answering. Wally yelled in anger and kicked the bars. To his delighted surprise, three of the bars fell off, his head was unstuck and there was enough room to get out. Wally hopped out of the cage and quietly followed the Delightful Children, hoping they wouldn't realize he'd escaped...
"Please!" Kuki screamed, "Let me go! I didn't tell them! They don't know!" Tears ran down her face, "Give me back my daddy!"
They laughed. "Never. It doesn't matter if you didn't tell them. They do know." Kuki let out a small moan. "Now then, little Kuki, let's talk."
"Not until you let me go!"
They stopped laughing and looked angry. "Fine." they said and walked out of the bedroom, locking the door behind them.
"No!" she screamed, slamming the door wit her fists, "Let me out! Give me my daddy! I want my mommy! Daddy! Mommy! Mushi!" Kuki let out a small cry and said softly, "Wally..."
Kuki sat straight up in the bed. It was just a dream. Where was she? Oh yeah...they'd captured her...again...
The door to the bedroom opened. They walked in. She caught a glimpse of blonde hair behind them but she decided it was just her imagination. The last time she'd been in this room was when they'd captured her and taken her father...taken him forever...
"Hello Kuki." they said. "We hope you are feeling well?" They really did look concerened but Kuki knew better than to trust them. They didn't care. It was all an act. Kuki clenched her teeth and looked away, blinking back angry tears.
"Come now, Kuki." they said, their voices full of kidness, "We only want to help you. We want to...set you free..." Kuki turned back to them and glared.
"I don't want to be set free. I want my daddy back and to be left alone!" Tears ran down her cheeks, Kuki couldn't hold them in any longer. Their faces were impassive. They didn't say anything, just stared at her for a long time. Finally, the short, blonde boy reached out and put his hand on Kuki's forehead in a comforting manner.
"It is time for you to come back." he said. Only the shortest spoke. Not all at once, just him. Kuki stared up at them. Her eyes were soft, full of warmth, and...love. The moment was lost as Wally kicked down the door and came running in yelling, "It's okay Kuki! I'm here!"
Kuki swallowed the lump in her throat and looked away from the blonde boy and turned her attention to Wally.
"I think I should tell you the truth about me Wally. The whole truth. And...some stuff about you too."
They didn't seem to mind. They sat in a chair and looked intently at Wally and Kuki.
Wally looked confused but also sat down. Kuki took a deep breath.
"Okay." she said, trying to calm herself. "When you were ten years old, you were part of a secret organization called the Kids Next Door. There were twenty-six sectors. I was in your sector, sector-V. We were really good friends...I think you had a crush on me, I know I had one on you." A blush creeped up both of their faces as they looked down. "Anyway, these five," Kuki motioned to them, "were our arch enemies. The Delightful Children From Down The Lane. And everything was pretty cool.
"But...I never told the Kids Next Door something very important." Kuki looked sad. "I...I was once a Delightful Child From Down The Lane. I still am. These five...they are my brothers and sisters." Kuki let out a shaky breath. She'd never told this to anyone before. "I...was a spy. I told the Delightful Children everything. That's how they always seemed one step ahead of us. But somehow we beat them every time.
"But they are only my half-brother and sisters. We share the same father. Their mother died a long time ago so they lived with a bunch of servants. They refused to move in with Daddy and Mommy, me and Mushi. Mushi's only my half-sister as well. She comes from my mother's first marriage, so Mushi has nothing to do with this.
"One day, I came home. And Daddy was gone. So was Mommy. And Mushi. I found a note from the Delightful Children, telling me to come to their house if I wanted to see my parents again. So I went. It was a trap. They told me that Mommy and Mushi were out shopping, Daddy was eating with the servants, he'd paid a surprise visit to them. The Delightful Children wanted me to leave the Kids Next Door and come back to them.
"I couldn't do it. I had come to love the Kids Next Door, Abby, Nigel, Hoagie...and especially...you, Wally. So they told me I had a choice. Leave the Kids Next Door and join them. Or lose my father. They would brainwash him against me. I couldn't do it. I loved you all so much. And my father...they gave me a day to choose. I found a way out. I escaped, hoping I could save my father and stay with the Kids Next Door at the same time. It didn't work. They got him brainwashed before I could do anything.
"But he remembers me as his daughter, so I'm safe. They can't harm me because he won't let them. I stayed with the Kids Next Door until I turned thirteen, when I got decommissioned, along with the rest of the sector, because we were teenagers. But Daddy...they still have him..." Kuki started to cry. Wally stared at her in shock. How could these people do this to her...she was their sister for God's sake.
He reached out to put his hand on her shoulder, but the blonde boy stopped him.
"Don't touch her." the boy ordered. Wally glared at him but listened anyway.
"Yes we still have him." they said, "And now we have you. We will kill Wally and brainwash you. Then we will be together again." Kuki shook her head and cried.
"No! Please! Just let me go!" Kuki said softly. The words were all too familiar. Kuki realized that this time...she wouldn't be so lucky...
A/N: Okay! Just to point this out, I only put "they", "them", etc. in italics when Kuki thinks or speaks about the Delightfuls, or Mrs. Sanban or Mushi, because they mean more to her. That's why it isn't in italics when Wally is speaking or thinking about them. I just had to make sure you all didn't think it was a mistake or anything. Anyway, that was chapter seven, a VERY important chapter, lol. So review, review, and review!!!
