Disclaimer: I only own Isa, Peyton, and the plot. All other rights go to Stephenie Meyer

Author's Note: I'm sorry it took me so long to get the next chapter up. I'm not even going to list all my reasons, because there are far too many of them...

I've made a few changes in the first chapter. None to important, but considering it's been so long since I posted the story, it might be wise to re-read the first chapter either way.

Chapter 2:

I woke up laying on some sort of a cot, like the ones in hospitals, but I hoped my senses were betraying me. In these times, hospitals were usually dangerous, and I had Peyton to take care of. It took me some time to realize that I was not alone, but there were three, maybe four, voices talking.
"Shouldn't she be awake by now?", a female voice asked.
"Don't worry. It won't be long now." That one was male.
"And you're sure she's healthy, Doc?", asked another male voice, sounding worried.
"Dehydrated, and nearly starved, but she'll be fine." It sounded like the first male voice, but I couldn't be sure.
"Kid still not talking, Jamie?" That was a female, but again, I wasn't sure whether it was the same as before, or if it was someone else.
"No. She seems really scared." Definitely a new voice: a young male. Might be my age, might be a bit older. It wasn't the voice of a child, yet it wasn't the voice of a grown man either.
Wait, 'Kid'? They didn't mean Peyton, did they?
Abruptly, I sat up and opened my eyes.
"Careful there, Kid!" the man I now recognized as Jeb exclaimed. He reached out a hand to touch me, but I automatically recoiled. The movement was all too familiar, and it usually lead to a punch.
My eyes scanned over the rest of the people who were crowded around me, and they all seemed surprised by my actions. There was the girl from outside, Melanie, and a tall and lanky man. I assumed he was this 'Doc' who was mentioned before. In a corner of the room was a boy around my age, possibly this "Jaime", and Peyton sat leaned against the wall, her face in her knees.
She looked so scared...

I rushed over to her, embracing her.
"Are you hurt?" I asked quietly.
She shook her head, yet I turned to the boy who was beside me now, sending him a burning glare that made most people cower in fear.
"I swear, if there's even one single scratch on her, you're all dead!" I hissed.
"Don't talk to my brother like that!" Melanie snapped, and I turned my glare to her.
I was about to give her a few choice words, but Peyton snapped me out of it by gently squeezing my hand, and I immediately softened.
"I'm not hurt, though" Peyton said gently, and I sighed.
"Well, how about we take the introductions over again, eh? We didn't exactly get to finish the first time around" Jeb said teasingly, obviously trying to ease the tension.
Just as he opened his mouth again, four people entered the room, two males and two females. I quickly noticed that the girls were souls, but my eyes didn't linger on them, instead being drawn to the two men.
"Ah, just on time for introductions", Jeb smiled. "Well, as you might remember, my name is Jeb Stryder, and this here is my place", he started off. I had a feeling he was signalling for someone to go next, but my eyes were still glued to the newcomers.

My hand unconsciously went to the locket hanging around my neck, and I started playing nervously with it. My brothers had found it in some of our parents' stuff. Apperantly it had been in our family for generations, way back to some of our Irish ancestors. The locket was round, and silver. The edges had a floral edged frame, and the center sported a celtic symbol. A few generations back, someone had also added a single emerald in the middle.

"I'm Doc, and I'm the doctor of the group."
"Melanie Stryder", Melanie said shortly, and I could feel her glaring at me.
"I'm Jamie. Mel's my sister", the boy next to me told me, his voice genlte and relaxed.
"My name is Wanderer, but you can call me Wanda", one of the souls said, and I was already guessing that the other soul was next.
"Sunlight Passing Through The Ice", she murmured softly. "Sunny for short." I stiffened slightly, recognizing her voice, and turned to look at her in surprise. Recognition flickered in her eyes. "Don't I know you?" she asked softly. "Well, Jodi did, I think."
This had all eyes turning to either me or Sunny with confused looks. I shook my head quickly, still playing with my locket. "You must have me confused with someone else."
"Oh, sorry", she murmured with an apologetic smile.
"Kyle", one of the males said gruffly, and I faintly recognized him as the guy who put me down with chloroform, but I didn't think much about that. I was more focused on the fact that his name was Kyle. And I recognized him.
It's probably just a coincidence, I thought to myself. Kyle is a common name. And I haven't seen him in nearly ten years, there is no way I could recognize him.
I fought the urge to open my locket so I could compare my pictures with this guy.
"You must excuse my brother, he's not very good at socializing", the other man interrupted my thoughts. "I'm Ian O'Shea."
I froze. There it was. O'Shea. It really was them. After all this time... But they didn't even seem to recognize me. That's a good thing, I told myself.
Peyton stood up a bit uncertain, trying to be as polite as possible. "My name is Peyton Isaac", she smiled shyly.
My mouth had gone dry, but I realized it was my turn now. "Isa", I simply said.
"That your full name?" Jeb asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, probably wondering why I didn't give him my last name. I shook my head in answer.
"Don't take it personally", Peyton said, coming to my rescue. "I've been with her for two years now, and even I don't know more of her name than Isa."
Jeb nodded thoughtfully. "Well, dinner will be ready in not too long. Jamie, why don't you give our new guest a tour before then?"
Jamie stood up and nodded with a smile plastered on his lips. "Sure, Uncle Jeb", he answered, before turning to Peyton and I. "Come on", he encouraged. "This place is really cool."
Glancing at the Jeb I realized that the tour wasn't exactly optional.

The place was in fact rather impressive. Jamie told us that a lot of the more modern parts were new, that for a while they had no real technology here, and considering these were caves, it wasn't to hard to believe. I was impressed they even managed to get electricity in here, and every time I spotted a socket I was just as surprised as the first time. Apparently, two years ago an electrician had joined their society, and he had immediately started thinking of ways to improve the living conditions in the caves.
It turned out pretty well, if you ask me.
The tour was coming to an end as Jamie showed us to our new bedroom. It wasn't much, simply a cave hole with two mattresses laid on the ground, but it was enough. There was a small hole in the roof, letting us watch the sky, and the thought comforted me. I had always felt trapped whenever the sky was not in sight.
Someone had already moved our stuff in, and my duffel bag and guitar stood in a corner of the room. I automatically reached for my guitar, carrying it with me as I turned to leave the room. Jamie shot me a questioning look.
"I try to keep it with me at all times", I told him. "Sentimental value." I didn't say anything about why the old guitar had sentimental value, but he understood I didn't want to talk about it.
"Alright", he simply said, before changing the subject. "Let's head to the common rooms. Dinner's probably ready by now."

On our way there, Jaime explained about the common rooms. Two common rooms were close by each other, and one of those were connected to the kitchen. They were used as forms of dining room and living room, but were really just some of the biggest rooms there were. The dining room - or "mess hall", as Jaime said we could call it - was where we were headed now. It was rarely used for something else than meals, since they also had the living room. All working was done by the time of dinner, and so most nights they had some form of a gathering in the living room after everyone had eaten.
Tonight, Peyton and I were obligated to attend, as we would be officially welcomed to the society in the caves.
I didn't know how I felt about becoming a part of their group so soon. I wasn't sure if I could trust these people, and I could simply not understand how they could trust me so soon, but I didn't voice my doubts.

Silence ensued upon us entering the mess hall. All eyes were on either me or Peyton, and I have to admit it made me nervous. There were a lot of people here, at least about 50, if not more. Jamie ignored them all, leading us to the queue in front of the kitchen where we would get our food. The woman in control of handing out portions smiled gently at us.
"What size?" she asked, and I looked to Jamie, confused. He grinned.
"I think they could both do with Kyle-sized tonight. From what I gathered, they haven't really eaten a proper meal in a while."
This only increased my confusion. 'Kyle-sized'? What was that supposed to mean?
Before I had the time to ask, the woman handed Peyton a huge portion of food, and she was already getting ready one for me as well.
"Oh, no I can't eat that much", I said frantically, and she stopped mid-action, looking at me.
"Why not, dear? There's plenty of food."
"Well, I-" I interrupted myself. "I haven't had anything to eat in a week", I started explaining. "I have to eat a little at the time, so my body can adjust to food again. If I ate that much, I would probably just throw it back up."
Silence.
Stares boring into me from all sides.
Peyton tugged at my sleeve. "Does that mean I shouldn't eat much either?" she asked innocently.
I smiled down at her. "No, I think you'll be alright. You ate those crackers yesterday, remember?"
She nodded, scrunching up her nose. "They didn't really taste all that good, though. Why did I have to eat the whole pack, anyway?"
I sighed weakly, bending down to her height. "You remember what I told you two years ago, when we first met?" I asked her, only letting her nod in response before continuing. "Well, that's still true. I promised you that I would take care of you. You're my priority now, Pey. That means you're the most important out of us, okay?"
Peyton didn't answer. Instead she pulled me into a tight embrace.
"But who's gonna sing me to sleep if you die?"
I let out a weak chuckle. "I'm not gonna die, Pey. I'm right here."