Well. Here's another chapter. Still haven't caught my muse yet. If I get enough reviewers, I might send out my crowd of characters on a search party.
For being the first reviewer on my crappy chappie, ShadowHex gets a very intimate hug from Jaden. (Don't worry, his skin will not touch you. That'd be such a crappy prize.)
And plus I like Shadow's profile picture. It inspires me.
ShadowHex: I hope this is soon enough for you. Much thanks for the review. C:
kshrimp: Thanks for coming back! :D I'm much obliged. I hope you like this chapter too. C:
coloringbooks: Thank ya thank ya. :) Thanks you for coming back also!
EvilPurpleCookiePenkeyMonguin: I'm working on that 'more' as fast as I can. :D
xxNewMoon29xx: I had Jaden throw a ten dollar bill on the table to pay for it. My Chinese restaurant only takes about seven bucks from me so I thought that would be sufficient. I actually didn't think about him paying until I was done with the chapter so I was like 'CRAP!' and threw that in there. ^^; And yes. I think I'm recapturing her slowly but surely. Hopefully this chapter is more up to my regular quality.
yarrowbadrabbit: Thank you. I need all the luck I can get. My muse was created with wings. D:
Natie: I can't wait either! And yes, yes. Boy toy forever locked away in the basement. Lol.
I didn't get to all my reviewers in this one author's note, I apologize, but I've already typed up my replies to you for the beginning of chapter 6.
So don't worry, I'm not ignoring you, just saving you. C:
In other news, 2-1 by Imogen Heap drove me to start this chapter. Sleepsong by Secret Garden helped me finish it. I'll be doing that from now on, inserting songs that help me write. Check them out, my taste isn't completely horrendous. c:
Don't own SkyHigh. Fml.
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It was dark.
'What time was it?'
"Amelia…"
'Who's there?'
"Amelia…"
'Don't call me that. It's not my name. Jaden is my name now.'
"Oh, Amelia…"
There, to the left. A streak of white in the darkness. It was a dress, a white dress…but who…?
"Amelia, my beautiful baby girl…come to me…"
'Mother. It's my mother. The mother I never met. The mother I killed.'
And then there she was.
A slender, petite woman much like Jaden himself in stature. She was clad entirely in white, like she always appeared to Jaden in his dreams. A white flowing dress reaching down to her bare feet. A white daisy, pinned to hold back her long blonde hair. She was pale, with delicate hands, a delicate mouth, and a delicate nose. Yes, Jaden took after her a lot. But when ever Jaden came to his mother's eyes…they should be blue, blue like his own. But in his dreams.
They were always pitch black.
"Amelia…don't run away. Let mama hold you."
Jaden backed away. He knew how this part always ended.
'No, I don't want you to hold me.'
The black eyes flickered to white momentarily, then to black again. Her arms stretched towards the boy.
"Why not, baby…? Why won't you let your mother hold you?"
'Because you hate me for killing you.'
His mother's form began to twist and break apart, little pieces flying into the air like…white ashes.
"That's right my dear girl…I hate you…"
The writhing mass began to spread along the edges of her dream like oil until a small spark ignited the fluid like substance. Her mother had become fire now and another form was manifesting itself in the flames. A tall, slender shape.
Aiden.
He stepped away from the fire, tendrils of flame wrapping themselves lovingly around his limbs, body, and face. His eyes, like his mothers, were black pits. Some flames would near these holes of darkness and be sucked into it, never to reappear again. He would always get close enough to Jaden for tendrils to get brave and eventually jump onto the smaller boy. They would always fizzle out and die before they reached him though. Jaden used to think the fire would burn him but this fire was cold. Cold like death.
"Little sister…come give your big brother a hug." Jaden shook his head, backing away from this creature as well.
'No.'
"I don't hate you for killing me, little sister…it was an accident…"
Jaden swallowed over a hard lump in his throat. This dream replayed in his head everytime he fell asleep and he still never got used to what these dreams made him realize. The truths hurt so bad.
'But you do hate me…you tried to kill me with yourself in that building. You knew I wouldn't leave you. And you wanted me to die too.'
The dream Aiden's eyes flickered like his mother's had. To a sickly white, to a deathly black. The change always made Jaden cringe.
"That's true, little Amelia…aren't you such a smart girl…" he cackled, throwing back his head so his laughter could echo through the darkness of the dream. Jaden flinched away, his feet taking him even farther back. Aiden turned to look at him as he tried for some kind of escape. The young man's face twisted into a menacing grin, flames licking around his teeth and lips.
"You should have died with me…" he growled, his body beginning to melt away from the unfelt heat of the cold flames. He became a pool at the bottom of Jaden's feet. A silver pool. Jaden could never stop himself from looking into the pool at his own reflection.
He examined the two streaks of white in his hair. The two lives he had taken. And his blue eyes. They turned pitch black in his reflection, like his mother's and brother's. His mouth curved into a devilish smile. And then his reflection began to break free from his pool. Jaden gasped and leapt away, his twisted face erupting from the pool and twining itself around his neck, giggling maniacally.
"Oh, Amelia…" a thousand voices whispered in unison, though Jaden's reflection's lips never moved. "Come with us into the darkness…."
'NOO!'
But he never got to choose. Blackness blotted out his vision and all he could hear was the whispers of those voices and the chuckling of some man, somewhere he could never reach.
Jaden jolted awake, his brow plastered with sweat. His whole body seemed to be covered in a fine layer of moisture and that didn't include the tears slipping slowly down his cheeks. His chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. He couldn't help but to release a small whimper.
And then the whimpers became wails.
Jaden's arms wrapped around his knees, pulling them close to his chest.
'I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe-'
He sucked in a gasp of air.
His chest hurt so badly.
His heart always felt like it was breaking after these dreams.
Another breath of air.
The painful cries he was releasing began to lessen. After several minutes, they became sniffles.
Jaden buried his face in his hands, his mind flicking back to remember the dream unwillingly.
"I hate this…" he whispered. "Every time…every time I close my eyes…"
He sighed and glanced at the small clock to his left. 2:37a.m. "Crap."
He wouldn't be able to go to sleep tonight again.
Stretching his arms gingerly upward, the healing skin tearing bit by bit. Jaden winced.
"It didn't seem to hurt that much when I was fighting those ninjas…" Well of course. Hell taught you to forget pain in the heat of battle. You'd never lose that way. Fight until the death. He shivered and rubbed at his eyes.
Two minutes later, the boy was dressed and sitting in a swing on a playground not 200 yards away from his tree house. Back and forth, back and forth he swung, his feet not even touching the ground. Jaden had been doing this the last two nights he had been in Maxville. He had discovered that he enjoyed swinging. Sometimes he would go slide too. But swinging had to be his favorite.
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Warren tossed and turned in his sleep, his dreams plagued by odd images.
He was walking through a wooded area. Great big Spanish oaks surrounded him and the sunlight dappled the mossy ground. He had heard laughter a few hundred feet back and had started in this direction in an attempt to find the source of it.
A giggle.
He turned right.
A laugh.
He sped up his pace.
He emerged into an open area, covered in wild grasses and flowers alike. A figure in white seemed to be dancing in the middle. No,wait, make that two figures, roughly the same size.
"Hello?" he called out to them but they didn't seem to hear. Warren could see that they were female from here. One was a platinum blonde and the other had long black hair. They were clothed in long white cotton dresses. The two girls twirled round and round, dancing in the meadow.
He walked closer, just a few feet away now, until his foot crunched down upon a particularly loud branch. They paused in their play and turned to look at him. Warren froze. He could see their faces clearly now. He hadn't realized that his eyes had been glued to the black haired girl the whole time and when her face tilted away from the blonde to stare at him he gasped.
She looked exactly like Jaden. A white streak on either side of her face and everything.
And he had to say, Jaden looked good as a girl.
"Jaden?" he asked but it was the blonde who responded. On closer inspection, her hair appeared to be white. The ivory haired beauty was much older than Jaden's twin but had the same piercing blue eyes.
"No," she replied, "Her name is Amelia." And the meadow suddenly faded from his view along with newly dubbed Amelia. Warren and the snow haired woman were now surrounded by nothing but white.
"Who are you?" he asked the woman, stepping back. The woman smiled warmly, stretching a hand out to him.
"My name is Ami," she said, "I'm Amelia's mother." Warren gingerly reached his hand out to shake hers. Her hands looked like Jaden's.
"I don't really get what you're doing in my dream…I don't know an Ami or Amelia," he mumbled, scratching the back of his head. Ami nodded in understanding, her eyes closing as she took a deep breath.
"I'm just introducing myself to you, Warren. You're going to help me save my daughter."
Warren merely blinked in response. His mouth dropped open slightly in astonishment and he took a stumbling step backwards.
"What the hell is going on?" he whispered shaking his head. He did NOT get this dream at all. Ami smiled, revealing a perfect set of pearly whites.
"That's easy to answer. A Revolution," she said her pinks lips curling up into what resembled a smirk.
"W-what?" he stammered, he suddenly felt enclosed, trapped. Ami laughed and slowly backed away, her form fading.
"You asked what was going on, Warren. There's your answer. A Revolution is beginning and you, my friend, are a part of it," she said, her body disintegrating into mist like particles leaving behind the ghostly impression of her smile. A Cheshire Cat's grin, always having the last laugh.
Warren jerked awake in his king sized bed, his damp sheets entwining themselves around his legs. He coughed, gasping in some much needed air and glanced around his dim bedroom. A streetlight outside flickered, causing his room to lapse into temporary darkness. He combed back his sticky bangs with his fingers, a scowl plastered to his brow.
"Seriously…what the hell was that?" he mumbled, sitting upright and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Sweat covered his bare back in a thin layer, small droplets running down the length of his spine. He kicked his tangled legs free, his sheets crumpling into a pile on the floor. He stood, shaking his head. "Seriously…what kind of mental illness is harboring itself in my subconscious? What a freak dream…"
He stretched his arms to the ceiling, bones snapping like an arthritic old man. "Since I'm awake, I guess I could do that homework that was due last month…nah. I'll go work out." Warren leaned down to snatch up his gym shorts and tug them on. Not very gracefully either. He strutted from his dark bedroom and into his living room. Taking a comfortable position on the couch he picked up the TV remote and pointed it at the bookcase. He then pressed the number combination 3743 and the bookcase slid to the side. The couch produced wheels and shot forward into the gaping hole that the bookcase had previously covered. A metal track led Warren about 60 feet down, underground, into a large cavern like space. The room was currently pitch black but when lighted, it would reveal a large gym, much like the one at SkyHigh. It contained both fitness equipment and obstacle courses. His mother had installed it over the summer when she realized Warren wasn't completely protected from villains at his school. It was to prepare him more thoroughly for challenges that would surely lie ahead.
It was his sanctuary.
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Beep. Beep. BEEP. BEEP. BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP.
The incessant noise startled Jaden out of his daydreaming.
"What the…? GOD. How I loathe alarm clocks!" he groaned, swiping at the little blue box. He succeeded in hitting the snooze button but he also succeeded in knocking the clock down the hole in the floor and onto the grass beneath the tree. Jaden sighed and put a hand over his face. 'Why do I always do that? Why can't I just lightly tap it instead of sweeping my arm at it? Geez, you are such an idiot.'
The boy peered over the edge of the gaping hole in his floor that acted as the entrance to his arborary home. The little box was silent now. It also appeared to be in two pieces.
"I sure as hell hope that the back just popped off."
He jumped down, skipping the climbing route altogether and poked the remains of his timepiece. It was in two pieces alright. And not in the way he had hoped. 'Dammit. It appears my clock can only survive about 3 falls. After that. Game over.'Sighing again, he scooped up the remains, deposited it in a nearby trash can and made his way back up the tree.
Jaden grabbed a change of clothes, a small towel, and a small traveling kit out of his duffel bag. Leaping down the length of the tree again, he made his way to the local pool a few blocks away. It was a little too close to buildings for his comfort but at five in the morning, he assumed not many would be out and about. Besides, the local pool had a locker room, complete with showers and everything. Jaden glanced around before leaving the cover of the trees and shrubbery for the cover of pavement and brick walls. Which weren't much cover at all. He skirted around the backs of buildings until he came to the rear of the locker rooms. A chain link fence closed off the pool and entrance to the locker buildings but a fence was nothing to Jaden. He threw his stuff over, then himself, and was on his way again. He checked again for spying eyes before entering the girls' locker room. He would go into the boys' but…the urinals put him off. Too foreign a concept for him to embrace.
He relieved himself, bathed, and brushed his teeth. Even on the run, even in hiding, Jaden could never abandon his need for cleanliness. Unless it was, well, absolutely necessary.
He enjoyed how easy his visual upkeep was now since he had short hair and didn't wear make up anymore. Though he still wished for a bit of eyeliner every now and then.
He clothed himself in another pair of ripped boys' jeans and a black tank top. A black hoodie with white angel wings on the back completed his look. The wings were kind of girly but Jaden hoped since the hoodie was so baggy, no one would pay that much attention. Plus, he really liked the angel wings. They were cute. COOL. He meant they were cool. Guys don't say cute.
He was missing his gloves but he didn't have a spare. The one thing he probably REALLY needed a spare of. But he assumed Principal Powers would have something lying around her shopping center of an office.
He stopped by the tree house to pick up his backpack and started the two mile trek to Layla and Will's neighborhood. When reemerging from the park he repeated his duck-and-cover, dive-and-roll, look-over-shoulder routine. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of eyes did see him even with all his safety procedures.
Warren watched the ebony haired boy suspiciously from his apartment window. Like Jaden, he hadn't been able to go back to sleep after his dream. Unlike Jaden, who sat in a daze after swinging for an hour, Warren had spent his time working out, then researching on the internet. He was going to decipher his dream and figure what the hell was going on with his world lately.
He was also going to figure out why the hell Jaden was headed towards the suburbs when the closest bus stop was just two blocks away in the opposite direction. And why he was acting like James Bond. 'Weirdo.'
Jaden ran into Will and Layla just as he turned onto Ashe Street. Layla smiled and waved at him while Will gave him a look quite close to…well. Loathing would be the word.
"Hey, Jaden! Good morning! How'd you sleep? Doesn't it look like it'll rain? I think it'll rain. Don't you?" she said, by way of greeting. Jaden inwardly groaned and didn't reply to the way too hyper girl. It was like the words just formed and bubbled out of her mouth. Jaden received a sudden mental image of the alphabet trapped in bubbles, being released from Layla's mouth, nose and ears. The boy had to suppress his laughter. He quickly replaced the small smile creeping onto his face with his signature scowl. "Jaden! Jay! You awake?" Layla asked, clearly not understanding that the world did not entirely consist of 'morning people'. Jaden glanced at the beaming girl, shrugged and turned away, waiting for the bus to appear. Before he knew it, a hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"Hey!" Will said, glaring at the boy, "What is your problem? Layla is constantly trying to talk to you and you're always blowing her off. Get off your high horse, be polite and respond at least!" Jaden's eyes flickered to Will's brown orbs, his arm reflexively shooting up to swipe away Will's. While his mouth said 'talk to her' his eyes said something else. What was it…?
"Jealousy..." mumbled Jaden. A hint of it at least.
"What?" Will said, squinting down at him.
"I said, you don't want me talking to her any more than I want to talk to her," Jaden replied, adding a 'hmph' at the end for effect.
"That's not what you said…"
"But it's my reply and it's true."
Will's eyes narrowed and he took a step back.
"You're such a little jerk," Will said.
"Will!" Layla gasped. Will grabbed her hand and dragged her several feet away.
"We'll wait over here," was his reply to her.
Inside of Jaden, a smirk was growing and a maniacal giggle was bubbling up in his throat. 'What the hell is going on with you, Amelia? You are getting crazy. Sleep deprivation is taking its toll on your mental health.' The boy rolled his eyes at the couple and instead focused on the steadily increasing mass of yellow coming down the street.
When boarding the bus, Jaden had decided the night before to just suck it up and sit with Emily Snow. She once dated Warren, so she can't be that bad right? Jaden passed the only other available space he knew of, the space beside Warren, he chanced a glance at the pyrokinetic. The bruise still marred his jaw but what caught Jaden off guard were his suspicious eyes. They watched his every move with precision. When Warren realized that Jaden was quite aware of his staring, he blinked and swiveled his gaze to the window.
Jaden's eyes reduced to slits and he shuffled on by the staring boy to the back where a very blue girl was bouncing up and down.
'What is up with these chipper morning people? Ugggghhhh.'
Emily grinned at Jaden and immediately scooted over to make room.
"Come back for more, huh shorty?" she said, giggling. Jaden gave her the once over.
A turquoise mini dress (v-cut), white studded belt, and white pumps. All and all. Still skanky. Bleh.
"I like your shoes and belt but why don't you wear something a little…covering?" Jaden advised, his hand under his chin as if he was pondering Emily's outfit, which he was. "Or a sweater to go over the dress. Something." The blonde merely blinked, presuming, she was shocked into silence.
"Thanks. I think. I had no idea boys paid such close attention to what I wore," she murmured, shifting uncomfortably.
"Please. You do too know. The only reason to wear those kinds of things would be to show off what you've got to the boys," scoffed Jaden.
"I know that. Sheesh. I mean. Paying attention to the assemblage of the actual outfit. You're like a g-…"
"Girl?" Jaden guessed, mentally slapping himself in the process. 'Don't give her clues, you dope!'
"Actually," Emily said with a perked brow, "I was going to say 'a gay'."
"A gay? What am I? Some kind of animal?"
"So you're gay?"
"Wait-what?"
"You admit you're gay?"
"What-NO. I'm not."
"It's okay, you can trust me."
"But I'm not-"
"Wow, who would have thought…actually. It makes sense really. You're kind of small. And clean. And you're such a pretty boy."
"I'm NOT-wait. What do ya mean I'm a pretty boy?"
"You're not handsome really-"
"Gee, thanks."
"-you're cute, dainty, pretty.
"But I'm…God. Just forget it." Jaden shook his head in frustration and glanced out the window as SkyHigh came into view. He would be getting off soon anyway, no point in arguing until the bus ride home. Emily beamed and snatched at the bare hands hidden in his hoodie pockets. Jaden's immediate reaction was a hiss of disapproval and the yanking of his limb away. Emily's fingers brushed against his naked skin briefly, causing her eyelids to flutter sleepily. He stuffed his hands back into pockets and glared at the girl. She shivered, as if cold and stuck her lower lip out in a pout.
"I was just going to say you could be my gay best friend," she grumbled.
"Sorry. All my friend slots are filled," he replied as he and the other students ambled off the bus and crowded into the courtyard.
"But you don't have any friends!" she cried, as Jaden disappeared into the mass of people.
"Exactly," he said, smirking.
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Well. That's it.
Some interesting developments, huh?
Tell me your thoughts.
:D
Pleeeease?
And your guesses too. C:
Chapter 6 will be up soon, promise.
Read. Review.
Still not as good as my regular chapters I think. I do hope I'm improving. Kind of dull, kind of vague. Blegh.
Advice? Mojo enhancers? Something?