« Miss ! Wake up ! Can you hear me? Miss! Hello?"
"Mum! Don't wanna wake up! Le'me sleep..."
"Miss! She's awake! Miss, open your eyes! Are you alright?"
"Mum, I have just had an horrible nightmare. The train you were in derailed, and it crushed Pete, Ed and Lucy under it."
"Oh mine! I'm sorry, I'm just so sorry!"
At this moment, Susan realised two things: first it wasn't her mother who was talking to her, but a man's voice. Then, she wasn't in her bed in her parent's house, but on a cold hard floor. She abruptly opened her eyes, and at first saw only a blur. Then she started to distinguish the face of a man who was looking at her with concern, and a somewhat horrified expression. She quickly sit up in realisation, but her head spun, and she had to lay down, and the man caught her before she hit her head.
"Hey! Hey! Be cautious! You..."
He stopped when he saw the tears who were starting to run down the young woman's face.
"Miss..."
"No! How could it be possible! I can't believe it!"
"Miss, I'm sorry but the people o the platform are..."
"No! Don't say it! I don't want to ... it's just a stupid joke! A joke! Please Peter come back! Lucy, I'm sorry! Ed, stop to hide! That's not funny! And where are Mum and Dad? There were in the train!"
"I'm sorry, but a lot of people are dead or badly injured. Maybe your parents are ok, I don't know."
"Bring me there please! I know they are alright! They can't be...please!"
"Alright! I'll take you there...can you walk?"
"I...I'll try to"
The guy , who was taller than her, and quite strong to, helped her on her feet, and offered his shoulder for her to lean on it. She chucked off her shoes, because she wasn't able to walk properly, having broken the heels. They reached an employee of the station, and the young man talked to him, as Susan had difficulties to express her thoughts properly.
"I'm sorry, sir, but can you help us. This young woman had family in the train, and she would like to know what happened to them."
"Naturally! May I ask your name, miss?"
"Pe...Pevensie. Susan Pevensie."
"Alright. I'll take you where someone will answer you. And what about you, Mr ..."
"Mac Aton. James Mac Aton. I found her on a platform where she fainted."
"Well, thank you Mr Mac Aton. I'm going to take care of her. If you want to let your address to that young lady, she might want to thank you later."
"Alright."
He tried to let go of Susan, but in her state of shock , she didn't want to let go of him, her only current support. So, the employee, just shrugged.
"You can come to if that doesn't bother you."
"No, I was just here to say goodbye to a friend."
The guy showed the way around the station, and Susan and James found themselves in a small waiting room, where an other guy brought shoes to her.
"You should put those on Miss. There are bits of glass everywhere, you could cut your feet."
"Alright."
Susan put the shoes, that were almost the good size, on, and they were led to an other room, where all the safe and injured were being either healed or comforted. Susan searched the room, but didn't see anyone that she knew. She started to panic.
"Oh no! Don't tell me... no they can't ...please..."
"Do you want to see the...dead, Miss? You don't have to go on if you don't want!"
"No! I need to know! I..."
She was quivering so hard, that James feared that she might faint again. So he put one of his arms around her shoulders, and took one of her hand in his free one.
"Don't worry, I'm here with you!"
Susan felt slightly less afraid at his words, and she gripped his hand hard, not wanting to let go of any support. Then they followed the guy in an other room, were about twenty corpses laid. She looked at one side of the room, and didn't recognised anyone to her relief.
Then she turned to the other side, and stared wide-eyed, at the first body. James and the employee looked at her, and the latter asked.
"I guess that you know this person?"
"I... I think I do."
She came closer to the body, and her suspicions were confirmed. There, partially burnt, but still easily recognisable, was someone that she knew quite well.
"That's... that's my cousin, Eustace. And I believe that that girl," she turned to the body closest to him "is one of his friends, Jill. She was friends with my siblings too."
"Alright! We'll ask you to gave their names and address later, so that we "will be able to warn their relatives. But for now, do you know anyone else?"
" She rounded Jill, and looked at the person next to her. She looked shocked once again, and seemed to talk to herself for a while... or maybe to the corpses?
"Oh mine! Professor Kirke! No! He was so kind! And Mrs Polly! How can it be possible?"
Then she raised her gaze, and seemed petrified on the spot. There, thought three quarters burnt laid an all to recognisable persons. Two actually. She ran to the first, and take his hand in hers.
"Oh no! Dad! Not you! Why did it happen to you?"
She went on babbling, tears striking her face, while she was stroking her father's hand. Then , still crying, she threw herself on her mother's body, her knees not able to carry her anymore. She staid there for a while, until it seemed that she hadn't anymore tears.
"Hum miss... there are other bodies over there... could you..."
Susan reluctantly let her mother, but not before retrieving the small pendant with a picture of the whole family that a mother always carried. 'When I die, you will be the oldest woman of the family. I want you to take care of this, because in here laid a magic that will allowed our family to be always as one, this is the core of our love for each other.' That's what she had said to the little girl who had asked her mother what was the nice pendant that her father offered her, the Christmas following the Lucy's birth. So Susan took it with her, and followed the employee to the farthest corner.
At the sight in front of her, she almost fainted. There was her three siblings, their bodies broken, crushed by the train when it fell on them. But the worst (and strangest), was their faces. Their were looking so peaceful, as if they were having the best dream they ever had... or like says the phrase, they had "left for a better world", which was true, but Susan didn't know it.
She run to Edmund who was the closest, and hugged him crying, "No, no! Ed! I didn't even tell you how much I loved you."
Then she turned to Peter, his face carrying the expression that he had when looking at his subjects when he was king. "On no! Peter! Why you? I need you so much big brother! Come back, please! Tell me it's only a dream!"
But nothing happen, and she was forced to admit that her older brother would never again lecture her when she was acting like a fool, or comfort her when she was sad, or just talk to her about... anything. Her already broken heart tore in a million more pieces.
But that was nothing compared to the moment she finally resigned to look at her sister. Lucy. Her darling. Her baby. The person she loved the most in the world. The only one who could make the stubborn woman changed her mind, with her so cute pout.
But left was the pout, the smile, and the life of the so living teenager. Instead was just left a peaceful girl, who seemed to be sleeping, and who looked much older than 14.
Contemplating her sister, Susan was way beyond tears. She walked to her, as in a trance, took the smaller hands in hers, and sit in a chair that someone placed under her. She staid there for a while. Just holding her sister's hands and looking at her, replaying in her mind some of the good times they shared, then the accident. She closed her eyes to prevent tears from falling, but she just was unable to accept the truth, and they didn't come.
James was looking at her with pity, and also sympathy, wanting to comfort that young woman, but not knowing how you do to console someone who just lost her whole family so suddenly. The employee looked at him in wonder, but James just shrugged his shoulders. After all, he didn't know that woman, how could he help her?
Policemen who have been until then in the room of the injured ones, came to this room, in hope to identify the bodies and warn the families. So when they saw a woman holding one of the bodies, one of them went by her to ask her the identity of the dead girl.
"Miss?"
She didn't answer.
"Miss?"
Still nothing. He put a hand on her shoulder. She slowly turned to him, reluctant to left her sister, even by the eyes. The policeman stared shocked at the young woman.
"Susan? Susan Pevensie?"
Susan looked at the man as she was looking at the void, then recognized one of her friend's father.
"Mr Skyelard! Oh, if you just knew! I ... I just... I can't..."
"Susan tell me, do you know who this girl is? You seem to know her..."
"Oh yes I do! It's... she is... she..."
She didn't managed to say more before she finally broke in tears for a sister, but the man understood what she was about to say and couldn't stand to do so.
"Susan, don't tell me... Is she... family...?"She gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Is she...your sister?" She gave an other nod, then cried even more, if possible. He tried to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off, and he let go, she needed to face her loss alone.
One of the railmen came by Mr Skyelard, and whispered
"She also talk about those two being her parents", he pointed at her mother then at her father, "this one her cousin", he showed Eustace, "this one his friend, these one a certain Professor Kirke and Mrs Polly. As for those two", he pointed at Edmund and Peter, "they are her brothers." Through the horrified silence who followed, the only sound that could be heard was Susan crying. Everyone in the room had just realised that that young woman was most probably left alone in the world, and none of them had the heart to broke this moment when the remaining ones need silence to cry the dead. Those who believed prayed, the others stood in respect.
Finally, the chief policeman remembered his duties, and asked the others to searched the bodies not yet identified for anything that could learn them the identity of the dead, and asked Mr Skyelard to tell him about the Pevensie family and their friends. However, he knew very little about them, not even knowing that "Ed" was named Edmund actually. So he walked by Susan, and gently asked some details about her family. But she just carry on crying.
James, who felt responsible of Susan because he was the one to find her on the platform, walked by her and encircled her shoulders from behind. The gesture would have seemed quite daring at any other time, but then it was instinctive for him to give her all the comfort he could bring. Indeed, it worked, only a bit, as she grabbed one of his hand forcefully, and she gradually stopped crying. Then she was able to answer the policeman questions, and tell him all she could about the dead. She nearly broke down when he asked about the full names of her family, but she leaned on James, and she felt comforted by his presence, enough to hold back her tears. She didn't knew much about Jill, but when it came to Eustace, she had a sad face while saying that his parents wouldn't probably be really upset at the news, instead blaming it on him.
She signed the papers presented to her with a trembling hand, and got up with the help of James. Then after a last look at the dead, she felt like suffocating, and ran out of the room,
Taking James off with her, never letting go of his hand. Once outside, she threw herself in his arms, and he awkwardly hugged her, as she was crying on his shirt. Mr Skyelard exited the room too, and he came by them.
"Look, Susan, we have all we need for now. I don't know what you want to do, but if you want to leave, I can call you and tell you what you'll have to do in due time."
"All... alright... I think I need to... Bye..."
She ran once more, still with James, as fast as she could, with a sudden need to put as much as she could between her and her family, her dead family, the ones that she loved the more in the world, the same that would never be with her. It was much to her, and denial was the only option for a survival, at that time.
A/N:
Hello again!
Wow that was hard to wrote this one, I hate to make characters suffer like that!
I hope you like it anyway, and that you'll want to read the rest of the fic.
I must say that I was really pleased to see already 4 reviews for the first chapter. To answer the reviewers:
To Jscho: Thanks to you, you know, I am always trying to be original, so if you think it is, that's a great compliment to me. As for it being fast, this story will be held on a few years, so it will be fast at times, slower at others, but I hope it won't become boring.
To AutumnLeavesFalling : I'm glad you like it, and that you find it original too.
To islington bus no. 199 : Hey nice name! I'm sorry it was a bit short, but as you can see, the second chapter is already much longer. Thank you, I'm glad to know I'm not so bad in English.
As for your question, well, just read the next chapters, you'll have your answer.
To Asian-Novelist: I'm pleased you like it too. As for the religious theme, That's not really what I have in my head. Of course, as I am European, my education has been influenced by the Christian culture, so this fic will be too, but not so plain obvious as in the books. Actually, the main themes will be family and love, and generally life itself, but that you will see later.
To all of you, thanks for having reviewed, and to everyone; review, I accept praises and critics, but the latter only if they are constructive, of course!