HELLO EVERYBODY! I'D LIKE TO THANK MY READERS FOR THE SUPPORT. HERE IS CHAPTER 2! I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY IT. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
I DON'T OWN WRECK IT RALPH OR TANGLED.
Chapter 2
The rest of Punzie's birthday wasn't the same without Penny, though there was no way Punzie would let her mother know that. After being given a hearty breakfast she'd had to force a smile and act like she was having a good time. Truthfully, by the end of the day she could barely remember the details; her thoughts had constantly drifted back to her little sister locked up in the bedroom. Her mind was chained to the sight like Penny was chained to her bed.
It wasn't the first time Penny had been punished in that manner. She'd been a wild and reckless child from the day she'd been brought to the tower, growing more rebellious than a teenager starting puberty every day, and Gothel was a woman with very little patience. It was, however, the first time Punzie had been dragged into an argument like that.
At the time it had been completely unexpected, but now as Punzie ascended the tower stairs, plate of leftover cake in hand, she wondered if perhaps she should have seen it coming. Penny had gotten quite on the offensive when Punzie had scolded her. "But still," Punzie's mind reminded her, "that was no reason to be called weak, or a puppet."
Punzie would not deny the accusation of being a Momma's girl. But that was because she saw nothing wrong with that. In fact, from what she'd read and interpreted in books, listening to your parents was encouraged. It taught respect. Parents were the people who brought you up, so naturally seemed sensible that they would know best and should be listened to. So why was Penny so adamant in always fighting Mother? She always ended up the one that lost and suffered the consequences, yet instead of deterring her, every punishment seemed to be fuel for her fire.
Despite summer drawing near, it was a cold spring, so the world darkened quickly, making anything in the already dimly lit staircase almost impossible to see. This was the excuse used when the door appeared inches away from Punzie's face and she almost ran into it. Startled, she jumped back, but once the initial shock wore off, she gave her head a shake. Clear-headed, she again approached, but before grabbing her mother's key hanging from a silver chain around her neck, she hesitated, and carefully leaned her body against the door with her ear pressed to the smooth wood.
The grandfather clock in the room chose that moment to start its booming count to her irritation. She tried to listen past that, but it wasn't until the final, tenth gong that she got results that made her eyebrows crease. Positive she was hearing things, she pressed her ear harder to the door, but that didn't take away the sound of bare feet scuffling around the room.
"Penny?" Punzie barely whispered the name, and was answered by a sudden dead silence. Moments afterward a sound like little hammers being pounded on the floor could be heard, and she was unsure if it was her now racing heart, or the footsteps quickening. Her breathing turned into difficult to control panting as she pulled the room key off and slid it into the lock. When it turned, the inevitable click made her cringe, but she pushed herself forward. The doorknob twisted easily, and she found herself almost falling into the room as the door swung open.
Instead of being asleep at the late hour, Penny was pacing slowly beside her bed. She was muttering incomprehensibly under her breath to herself, not even looking up when Punzie entered. Punzie found herself impressed by the fact that while she was lost in thought, she was subconsciously remembering her body's limits so she wouldn't get yanked back uncomfortably by the chain. But then Punzie mentally scolded herself for feeling impressed, because that was only a stronger reminder of the numerous times Penny had been punished in this manner.
Swallowing once to get rid of the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, Punzie spoke again. Her voice came out louder than before, but still quite soft, as though she were talking to somebody whose brain wasn't working properly. "Penny? What are you doing up? It's late."
Penny stopped walking and lifted her head up in Punzie's direction. Her eyes appeared hollow, like she'd just broken out of a daze, and she held her chained wrist in her other hand. "I couldn't sleep. The chain hurts."
Seeing her standing there looking like a lonesome puppy melted Punzie's heart and fears, and the whimpered confessions only made it worse. "Oh," she cooed, rushing up to the bed. The cake was set down so she could lift Penny up and sit her down on top of the thick comforter. Offering a small smile that she hoped looked reassuring instead of pitiful, she then sat herself down on a pile of lumpy pillows beside Penny. One arm stretched around her shoulders to pull her in close, and the other was used to reach for the treat. "Here. This might help."
Being so close to Punzie, Penny's body gave off heat like a radiator, but at the sight of junk food, her face produced a weakened smile, just as Punzie had known it would. It wasn't enough to take away the discomfort, but at least it was cheering her up a bit.
"Thanks." Penny reached up with both hands extended to grab the small plate. But before she could touch it, a metallic shifting was heard. An unnatural chill ran down Punzie's spine as she watched the shackle around Penny's wrist. It slid down her arm, only to break apart and completely fall off, landing hard in Penny's lap. While her wrist was white from being tightly held, there was no sign the skin had been rubbed raw, or any other signs of anything that could cause physical discomfort.
The plate of cake dropped from Punzie's grip and into a gooey mess, but nobody noticed or cared. Silence filled the room as Punzie and Penny both stared at the unlocked device before looking to meet each other's eyes. Punzie looked as though she had just witnessed Penny losing a hand, while Penny was scared and wide eyed for a different reason. She appeared to be waiting in anticipation for Punzie's reaction. When nothing happened, her eyes darted to the floor and she began mumbling, and though Punzie strained to hear, it was too rapid to be understood.
"Penny," Punzie was again trying to get her attention, but this time her gut told her it was much more urgent, though she had no idea what was going on. "Penny. Talk to me."
She reached out to shake Penny by the shoulders. At the contact, one of Penny's run-on sentences cut off short abruptly. She turned to stare at Punzie again, and the blonde was unable to hold back a gasp. No longer did Penny look like a puppy. Now, with a stony unrevealing expression and narrowed wild eyes, she seemed more like a wolf or wild dog.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to do this. But you weren't supposed to find out until tomorrow."
Though her sentences were directed towards Punzie, she couldn't help but feel like Penny was talking as much to herself as she was to her. The ominous tone was too dark to be heard from a child, and there was nothing to prevent Punzie from whispering, "Find out what?"
Punzie waited for Penny's response. At first there was nothing, and Punzie feared her sister would never speak again. Then, in a flash, a fist lunged directly toward her, with enough power to knock her out cold. With a shriek, Punzie's hands flew up to protect her face. They moved just in time to block the punch, leaving them throbbing. But Punzie had no time to stop and look at them, because as soon as Penny realized her first hit hadn't worked, her other fist was racing in for the kill. Now prepared for it, the blow was more easily blocked, and this time, as soon as Punzie felt the contact she took action. Her own hands folded closed around the deadly fists and held them in place in tight grips. Trapped, Penny started pushing forward, but Punzie was bigger and naturally stronger. By pushing back, she was able to force Penny on her back, though the child kicked and squirmed, groaning the entire time from the strain.
Penny had never lashed out at Punzie or Gothel violently before, and this made the encounter even more horrifying. With more desperation than she'd ever felt before, Punzie demanded, "Penny, why did you lie to me? Tell me what is going on right now!" She felt tears of fear rolling down her cheeks at the thought of what might possibly be possessing the innocent girl she had grown to love. Right then she couldn't recognize the beast in front of her with the wild look in its eyes.
"I CAN'T!" Spit from the wretched thing's mouth flew up and hit Punzie's face as it shouted. Its voice could have broken a window, but Punzie was so beyond belief at this point, she did not even make a move to wince.
"Why not?"
"BECAUSE I KNOW YOU'LL TELL GOTHEL!"
In the instant after the shrill declaration, Punzie's body froze up entirely, and she weakened. The thing took the opportunity to thrust up with its last bits of strength and tear away. Once free, she twisted her abdomen so Punzie was staring at her shoulder and held her fists up close to her chest protectively. Both of them panted to catch their breath watching each other cautiously. A flash of regret was caught in the burning hazel infernos in front of Punzie, allowing her to realize she was looking at no monster. This was just a child driven by insane desperation.
"You were trying to leave." It was not a question.
Penny made no move to deny or agree to the claim, just continuing to stare into Punzie's face.
"Wh…When would you come back?"
More silence was all that was needed to know the answer.
Betrayal stung like an angry wasp, and it was stronger even than what Punzie had felt that morning. Her heart and stomach started moving in opposite directions inside of her, one plummeting to her toes, the other rising up, making her feel as though she were about to lurch. Every inch of her felt uncomfortable. As she feebly shifted on the pillows, something poked her from inside a pillowcase. In acknowledgement of the pain, she stood up and picked up the source. But as she shook the case, instead of a goose-down pillow, food, (most of it was candy) utensils, and bathroom supplies tumbled out. In the next pillowcase she shook an entire wardrobe, each piece of clothing folded excruciatingly small for maximum space usage.
Punzie could barely breathe as she struggled to process everything she had seen thus far. How could Penny be so willing to pack up and leave everything behind? To leave her behind without even saying goodbye? "Penny…I know Mother's punishments can be a bit harsh, but-"
Penny was shaking her head before Punzie had even finished speaking. "It's not just that Punzie. There's more things out there. Things to see, things to do, things to explore…I can't repeat myself for the rest of my life. It's getting boring. I didn't want to leave you, but we both remember how horribly it went when I said you could come to the grass around the tower. You've convinced yourself that what we've got here works for you. I figured there was no way I'd be able to convince you to leave and go God knows where."
There it was again: another implication that Punzie was weak. Not only that, she was being called a liar again too. Why couldn't Penny accept that she was perfectly satisfied listening to their mother and leaving the outside to her dreams?
She wouldn't deny it; she sometimes found herself daydreaming about what it would be like out there. The books she read described the outside as a majestic place, filled with adventure, surprises, and, the most beautiful word Punzie had ever heard, romance. But behind all of the wonder, another word was always present: danger. The only place she knew to be untouchable by this wicked force was the strong, immovable tower. So there was nothing wrong with staying where it was safe and letting the dreams stay dreams.
"If you're bored, then we can get some more books," Punzie gently suggested, reaching forward to gently hold Penny's hand again. There had to be something she could do or say to get Penny to drop her mission. "We can ask Mother in the morning…"
"Why?" Penny backed away from the open hand and tried to make herself impossible to touch by grabbing her warmest sweater and pulling it on over her head. As soon as her hands and head popped out of the proper spots, she pointed out the window, which looked like it had been covered in black paint from the night sky. "So she can continue to mock me by going outside to get them while we're still stuck in here?"
Her first feeble attempt shot down, Punzie opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted again. "Besides, reading about something and actually doing it are two entirely different things. When we read, we're learning about someone else's experience. The book tells us what to feel. But when we actually get to try it, our own emotions take over, and they're stronger. It's incredible how special and empowering an experience can feel just because it's your own."
The pillowcases had started getting repacked while she spoke, but once she'd started describing trying new things, she'd stopped. Her hand, which was holding a draw string bag with contents that smelled of peppermints, froze above an open pillowcase. She was looking down into the bag, but the familiar dazed gleam in her eyes told Punzie she wasn't seeing it. It was recognized as the one she'd donned while talking about running.
If Penny had been speaking the way Punzie was used to hearing, with light humor and occasional name-calling thrown in that didn't mean anything, she wouldn't have thought much of what was going on. But her little sister was speaking with such seriousness, using words Punzie didn't even know that she knew. It made the speech seem genuine. For a moment, just one single moment, she found herself wondering what falling in love would feel like. But then the moment was gone, and she was back to thinking about Penny. Her speech was yet another out of character move that made Punzie realize Penny was serious about all of this. It wasn't just a dream for her. It was a deep, heart-felt yearning, the strongest Punzie had ever seen in the child. Though Punzie didn't know a lot about yearnings, she did know that they never left. That meant that this couldn't be stopped from happening.
"Where would you go?"
Penny's head bobbed up again, and the shine in her gaze dimmed away to nothing. Once returned to reality, she scrunched her face up in thought and eventually shrugged nonchalantly. "Wherever my feet lead me, I guess. I don't really know where to start. There's a lot out there."
If that was true, that meant there was also a lot of threats. Punzie felt sick just thinking about all the ways her sister's life could be endangered. Penny was only twelve, with no real knowledge of how to protect herself. It would be a suicide mission to try living alone in a universe she knew next to nothing about.
"I'm coming with you."
Penny stared in question as if unsure whether she'd heard right or not. She was utterly speechless for several seconds, and when Punzie didn't repeat herself, a single word drawled out, making her sound as if she'd been hit in the head or drugged. "Whaaaat?"
"I'm not letting you go out there alone," Tone firm, Punzie set her hands on her hips to show she meant business. The idea of losing her little sister, whether by her leaving and never coming back or meeting an untimely death was unacceptable. With a note explaining what was going on, Mother would be fine on her own. Penny would not. There must have been some unwritten rule that older sisters had to look after their younger siblings. Despite what she was about to do, Punzie was a rule follower.
Penny's stunned expression did not leave. "Are you serious?" she barely managed to squeak. Her eyes were close to popping out of their sockets and so wide that Punzie could see individual veins and arteries. It was such a sight that Punzie almost started laughing. But she didn't want Penny to think she was leading her on, so she bit her bottom lip and nodded.
The reaction was explosive. Penny's frozen muscles broke through the ice holding them in place, and she became a jumping, dancing, whirling twister. Hoots and hollers filled the room, echoing in every crevice. It made the entire tower seem like it was celebrating, and the excitement was infectious. Punzie could no longer hold in her laughter as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.
Soon she was further involved, as Penny crashed into her like a truck and hugged her legs so hard it should have hurt. "Thank you," she could hear mumbled into the folds of her favorite dress.
Wrapping her own arms around Penny, Punzie pulled her in even closer. Stroking her ivory hair, she mumbled, "I love you Penny. Do you hear me? I'm never going to leave you. I promise you'll never be alone."
The only response was a tightened squeeze.