Hello~ everyone! Here is the next 'official' first chapter of volume 2! And boy, I will say that I'm happy with my decision on prewriting four chapters in advance since chapter 5 is giving me a slight problem. It's not writers block that I have...more like a lack of motivation that I'm having. Which sucks giving that the chapter is roughly 83% done. Well in any case I'm hoping to have it done maybe by Monday and I can start working on chapter 6.
Well enough rambling, hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!
"…forecast. As you can see it'll be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain later in the afternoon."
"Sure, has been raining a lot lately." I said to myself tossing the towel on my bed. "Last I checked raining season is normally in spring." Going to the closet I continued to listen to the news. Sitting on the bed I bent down to put on the knee compression sleeve, pausing for a moment as I took in the scars litter on the left half of my knee. "..." Defiantly not looking forward in retelling what happen. With a small sigh, pulling the sleeve fully up I bent over to grab my shorts and put them on, standing up I grab my top but paused upon seeing my back in the reflection.
"…" It's nothing new, seeing the scars on my back and leg. However, with what today's topic is going to be…
'Shit! Where is he?!'
'I-I don't know, I can't see him!
'Then—AAHH!'
'LILY?!'
"…Can't be helped." I sigh pulling my shirt on, before fixing my hair. Double checking that I have everything I turn off the TV before walking out of the room.
Heading into the living room/kitchen area, I can hear the sounds of the TV playing some cartoon. A quick peak over to see some of the toys watching a show. With a smile upon seeing them doing well I went over to the kitchen to turn on the coffee machine. Opening the fridge, I took out my lunch that I premade and setting it to the side.
Moving around the kitchen making sure I have everything; I began to pack up my stuff before putting it in my bag. Turning off the machine and poured the coffee in my to-go cup I called out to the others.
"Okay guys, I'm getting ready to head out. Make sure to not leave any mess behind while I'm gone."
"Okay!" I heard them responded.
"Do you know when you'll be back?"
I paused looking over to them "Probably the same time from before." I answered, walking over to the closet to grab my coat "If anything changes I'll give a call."
"Are you not going to eat, Lily?"
"No. I plan to pick something up along the way." Grabbing my bag, I look over to Ace. "Ace, you coming?"
"Ye!"
"Then let's go!"
Walking to the front door, bending down to get my shoes on, I felt Ace jumping on my back. "Okay…" Standing back up to open the door, I turn around "Please remember to behave yourselves and try not to burn the house down!" I told them, opening the door. "And remember there is a chance it'll rain again. Make sure to either stay inside here or at the warehouse with the others if it does!"
After hearing the confirmation from the others, I closed the door behind me and walked down the porch to my jeep. Unlocking the passenger side, I put the bag on the floor as Ace jumped off my shoulder to sit in the seat. Closing the door and moving to the other side, I happen to look up and spotted a familiar figure standing in the distance."
"…What is she?" Opening the door, I lean in to start the Jeep before looking at Ace. "Hey, I'll be right back, okay."
"Ke!" Ace said leaning up to grab the seatbelt, getting buckled before looking at me. "Ply pho?"
"Sure." I handed him my phone before leaning back. "You can also pick what music we should listen to on the way down."
"Ye!" He cheered.
With a chuckle, I closed the door and made my way down the path to the figure that I had spotted in the distance. The location they were at is in a more secure location almost away from everything on the property. A big wooden shack…well almost more similar to a storage one would put firewood in. Surrounding the shack is the forest of tress that surrounds the property, some floors and a mixture of toys. In the shack is a giant rock.
"…" I paused next to the figure staring at the rock.
In The Memory Of The Lost Souls
A rock that is carved with all the names of the children and the innocent people that have lost their lives in the Playtime factory.
I reached a hand out to rub against the rock, feeling the indents from the carved names. It was impossible to give them a proper burial so, when we found this rock we turn it into a grave stone. The others tried their best to remember every name that was lost and some still get added to this day. The only names we've never added were the people who knew and approved of this cruel experiments and never done a thing to stop it.
I looked over to the figure to see them having their hand claps together in a prayer. "…" Every now and then I and the other toys would bring flowers or gifts to this grave and talk about random things that have happened. However, there is one toy that comes here every month to take care of the site and pray.
"It's been almost ten years since the fall of the factory…" I sigh looking over every name carved into the stone. Removing my hand and putting it in my pocket, I looked over to the tall pink figure. "Thanks again for helping to clean up the site, Kissy."
Kissy open her eyes before looking down at me, giving me a small nod. Then she made a questioning noise.
"Yeah, I'm getting ready to head out for my next appointment."
"Gr?"
"…It…helps a little, I guess." I said rubbing my neck. "It does feel good to some degree to talk to someone about this." I let out a tired sigh, looking back at the rock "I just don't like remembering the bad stuff though."
Kissy slowly nods lifting an arm to touch the rock. "Grr…"
"I know, I know." I told her "Doesn't mean I have to like it though…"
Kissy chuckled before looking down at me. "Gr?"
"Oh…" I blinked before looking over to the warehouse in the distance, home to all of the toys. "It's about our time in Playcare. That's the next part of the story."
"…" Kissy was silent for a moment before a small grunt of surprise escapes me when I felt her lean down to hug me. "Grrr."
"…I'll be fine." I told her, lifting my arms up to hold her arms. "In any case, can you make sure the little toys don't cause to much trouble?" I felt her squeeze her arms for a moment and slowly let go as she stood back up, looking down at me with a nod. "Thanks." I told her, turning around to go back to the jeep, however…
"Alert! This machine orders 1160: Boxy Boo, to release them at once!"
"Huh?" The two of us look over to the sound and spotted not too far into the distance is one of the security androids currently having their head being chewed on by Boxy Boo.
"Alert! This machine orders 1160: Boxy Boo, to release them at once!" The android cried out wailing it's arms around as Boxy kept a tight grip on them.
"…" I can feel one of my brow twitching as I stared at the scene. A frustrated sigh leaves me as I slapped my palm to my face and let out a groan. "Oh, for the love of…Boxy!" I cried, getting ready to run of and help the poor android out.
However I was stop by the feeling of a hand on my shoulder, I looked over to Kissy with a confused look. She shook her head and pointed at my jeep. "Grrr…" Then pointed to the others. "Gr."
"You'll take care of them, then?" She nods, and I let out a sigh. "Alright, just be careful though." She smiles down at me and patted my head one last time before walking over to the two. "Good grief. Today is going off with a great start." I mutter running back over to the Jeep and hoping in.
"Ke?"
"I'm fine Ace, just feeling a bit tried is all." I told him, as I buckled up. "So, did you find what you wanted to listen to?"
"Ye!"
"That's good." I said pulling out the AUX cord and handing it to him. "Alright let's get this meeting done and over with." Putting the Jeep in drive, I look up into the review mirror and spotted Kissy playing tug of war with Boxy in trying to free the android.
I'll need to make a mental note to check of the machine if there's any parts that needs fixing…if it's still in one piece.
With a slight chuckled, I pulled out of the driveway and down the road, leaning over to press play on the phone and hearing the song 'Born This Way' playing through the speakers.
I lightly huff upon hearing it, not feeling to surprise by Ace's song pick. I cranked the volume up a bit as Ace began to jam out to the song, singing along.
"So how was your drive down?" Dr. Smith asked as she closed the door behind me.
"It went smoothly." I responded, sitting down on the couch putting the bag on the floor by my feet. "I was surprised by the lack of traffic, which is why I got here a bit early. Hope that didn't cause to much problems for you."
"None at all." She said walking over to her desk to grab her things. "I was merely going over everything we talked about last time, so there was no trouble."
"That's good." I said, bending down to open the bag so Ace can jump out and climb on the couch.
"I see your friend will be joining us today, again."
"Yeah, the others really hate for me to go by myself. So, one of them has to tag along."
"I see…"
"Anyway, I hope you don't mind if Ace plays on an iPad." I said reaching back down to pull of the device and headphones for Ace to wear. "I'm hoping with this, he'll be less likely to cause some trouble if he'll get bored."
"Or eating your lunch?" She asked with a smile.
I chuckled at that. "That too!"
"Well, I have no problem with it. It really depends on you and how comfortable you'll be." Dr. Smith said leaning back in her seat.
"My thanks." I said handing the stuff to Ace, who happily took it. Once I got comfortable in my seat I look back over to Dr. Smith. "I want to thank you again for letting me take Tuesday off to recuperate."
"No thanks is need, Lily. I do understand how hard some of this might be. If you ever need to make a session short or need a day or two to recover, please don't hesitate to ask."
"…" I look down at my lap seeing the knee compression sleeve and the bandages wrapped around my right arm. I lifted up my left arm to grip at my right arm as I let out a deep tired sigh before looking back up. "Still…I wanted to give my thanks." I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts. "This next part…is a bit rough. A lot of things were revealed and even though almost ten years have passed…I'm still having some trouble processing everything that was revealed to me."
"I see…" Dr. Smith said sitting up a bit in her seat and opening her notebook. "Well…we can start whenever you're ready, Lily."
"…" I nod and took a deep breath in before slowly exhaling.
"I honestly don't know how to explain this…but after the train had crashed. I had this weird memory. It…didn't seem real to me at first and yet it did at the same time."
"…ugh…" My head, I groaned.
Tap
Tap
"…" My whole body hurts. What happened?
Tap
Tap
It was a struggle in getting my eyes to open. When I did all I could see was the floor moving beneath me and some purple clawed hands moving with every step.
"…" I blink sluggishly, trying to stay awake. I can feel that whatever is holding me, it's making some kind of purring sound.
With every step it takes it becomes even harder to keep my eyes open and trying to remember what happened. God…my whole body is killing me right now.
Creak
Huh?
Opening my eyes—when did they close again? —I saw some rusted circle door was open. And with another blink something white was tossed into the hole with a screech.
"W…ho…?" I whispered trying to force myself to wake up. Was that Ace?
Not giving a moment to process what happened as whoever is carrying me moved from the door. "…" I blinked trying to will my body to move, but then the next thing I know. I'm placed down on something soft. Now being able to look up at whoever was carrying me. I see a purple figure with a smiling grin and white glowing eyes.
"Who…are…you?"
The ears twitch on its head as it looks down at me. Then with a hissing sound, something red spills out of its mouth.
"Remember…"
…That was the last thing I heard before my vision went dark with a floral like smell.
The chirping of birds fills the air of a nice summer day, inside a two story house a young girl ran around the building.
"Where is it…?" She whined opening up one of the closet doors, digging around the bins. "Aha! Found it!" She cheered pulling a ball out before closing the door. She ran back over to the kitchen to see her elder sister grabbing some plates from the cabinet. "Sally I found the ball!"
Sally blink before turning her head to her younger sister. "That's great, Lily! We can play, once I give these to dad."
"Okay!" Lily said turning around to run to the front door. Opening it and stepping out on the front deck she look over to see her dad standing at the grill flipping some burgers. "Hey dad!" She called out walking up to him.
The man flipped a burger one more time before looking down at Lily with a smile. "Hey there, Lily, I see you found the ball."
"Yeah!" She said holding up the ball as she heard the front door open as Sally stepped out to put the plates on the outdoor table. "It was in one of the bins in the closet."
"Really?" He said with a raise brow and looked up scratching his chin. "I could have sworn I had left it in the playroom."
"Nope." Lily shook her head. "Guess not."
"Guess not indeed." He chuckle bringing a hand down to ruffle his daughter hair and letting out a laugh when she whined at him to stop.
"Okay, dad, I brought the stuff out!" Sally called out before she ran down the stairs to the front yard. Lily turn around and ran after her sister yelling at her to wait up.
"Thank you, Sally!" He called out before focusing back on the grill. "Lunch will be ready soon!"
"Okay!" The girls called out as they ran over to the net that their dad had set up moments before so the can toss the ball back and forth.
As the girls played their little game, some neighbors walked around with their dog, calling out their greeting when they passed the house.
"Evening, Mr. Ludwig!" A woman called out as she held the leash to her dog, waving at the man.
He look over at the couple and wave back to them. "Evening to you as well, Mrs. Harper!" He waved before going back to the grill, picking up the cheese to put on the burgers.
"Crap!" He heard Sally cry out, looking up just in time to see the ball go flying across the yard and into the road rolling across the street till it hit the curb on the other side of the road.
"I'll get it!" Lily said running across the yard.
The man put the pack of cheese down, turning the grill off as he yelled out to his daughter, getting ready to go after her. "Lily, be careful!" He yelled at her as he made his way across the deck. "And please look both ways before crossing the street!"
"I will!" She yelled back, stopping at the end of the driveway, looking both ways and seeing that the road was clear before she ran across the street.
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The sound of a car blowing it's horn blared into the summer day, followed by a loud crashing sound. A scream shattering the nice summer day rang across the field.
Though this chapter is a bit smaller then I would normally write, however the future chapters are pretty much back to my normal 10k+ chapter lengths...well besides chapter 4 that chapter is around 5k, and that's before I go back and edit. Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Next update will be April 1 3:30 pm est!
I make zero promises but if depending where I'm at posting wise, like if I just posted chapter 3 or 4 and I'd currently finish either chapter 10 or 12 I might switch over to bi-weekly updates instead of monthly updates. Though this depend how well things go on my end. So fingers cross that I could do that instead!