by Rue Volley
All the lights started to flicker on and off. I looked up at them. Come on…really? I thought, I have to do this; I have to go around the corner now. If I don’t, I am going to drop to the floor and curl up in a ball. I gripped my death fork and stepped around the corner. I looked down the hallway and no one. The lights kept flickering on and off and I thought ‘’stop it’ and they did. I looked up and sighed. Awesome.
I looked down and a girl stood in front of me. Dressed in white, with what looked like blades in her hands. Her hair was in her face, so I couldn’t see who she was. Not like I would recognize anyone anyway. It’s a miracle that I remember Holly and Blake. I sucked my breath in and she laughed. I tilted my head and swallowed hard. This had to someone who’d escaped. I gripped my fork in my hand and slowly lifted it up in front of me.
“Listen, I don’t want any trouble,” I said to her.
She sighed and tilted her blades in her hands. I just knew I was screwed seven ways from… well, from where I am now. She took one step towards me and I almost dropped my fork. I grabbed it with both of my hands, like it would be any defence to the bad ass looking weapons she has.
“I mean it… Listen, my name is Rue Volley… What is your name?” I asked her.
I felt like Holly, trying to talk me down from the crazy ledge I always stand on. She tilted her head and gripped her blades tighter. I looked at them and took another breath. Can’t forget to breath. How bad would that suck to just pass out from forgetting to do that?
“I have been here for two years. How long have you?” I said.
“Forever,” she whispered back to me.
Awesome, we are making progress now. I thought.
“Well forever is a mighty long time,” I said as I grinned, quoting some old song I had listened to. I thought maybe I’d try some humor, but no… she didn’t react to that.
“Okay… ummm. I am going to go back to my room; it was nice talking to you,” I said as I slowly started to back up.
She started to look up at me and my heart fluttered in my chest. I tilted my head as I stared at her. It was me. She looked just like me… only it can’t be, right? I mean I was standing right there... I don’t have that outfit. I don’t have those weapons... I don’t. My eyes started to roll in my head. She came at me with her teeth showing and her hair flying behind her… I fell to the floor, hitting my head harder than I ever had. The crack of it hitting the floor, echoed through the hall.
***
Johnathan pried a door open with his fingers. He peeked in and looked at stairs. He pushed his body in the crack he created and grunted as he pushed his back against the doorframe to open it up. Sam came flashing up behind him and pushed on the door too. They opened it together as they both yelled out. Johnathan fell forward and Sam stumbled on top of him. She pushed herself up, pressing on his stomach. He “ahhh’d” and looked up at her.
“What...? You deserve that,” Sam muttered to him.
Johnathan shook his head and pushed himself up.
He walked over to the stairs and leaned over the railing. They went on forever… up and down.
“What the hell is this?” he asked.
Sam leaned up behind him and looked to.
“Looks like some funhouse crap,” she said.
“Well… time to climb,” Johnathan said as he started to walk.
Sam followed him closely behind.
“You know that we should have gone through the mirror,” Sam said.
Johnathan grinned. “Yea… sure do,” he said all nonchalant.
“Well… just so you know... Kai and Brooke went through.”
“Good… great,” Johnathan muttered as he picked up his pace.
“Hey,” Sam said as she grabbed his arm and stopped him from climbing.
“What?” Johnathan said, just waiting for her to bitch him out.
“I understand… I am not mad,” Sam said to him.
Johnathan sighed and smiled at her. “Thanks.”
Sam cleared her throat.
“You are still an idiot.”
Johnathan laughed and started to run up the stairs ahead of her.
“You sound like your brother,” he yelled back to her.
Johnathan finally came to a door and stared at it. He looked back as Sam ran up behind him.
“Well, this is the only door I’ve seen so far… guess we can give it try,” he said.
Sam cracked her fingers and Johnathan looked at her.
“You were a tomboy, right?”
She grinned and pulled her blades.
“You kick it in and I will kill,” she said.
Johnathan grinned and backed up. He slammed his foot against the door and it popped open. Sam smiled at him.
“Nice kick,” she said.
“Thanks,” Johnathan said.
Sam stepped through quickly and rolled to her side, crouching down with her leg out to her side. Johnathan just stepped in and looked around. He looked at her and shook his head.
“This is the same floor we were on,” he muttered.
“Damn it,” Sam said as she stood up and looked down the hallway.
“I can’t believe it. I mean, we ran up like fifty flights of stairs right?” Johnathan asked her.
She stood up and gripped her blade.
“Yea… more like 48,” she muttered.
“Okay… sorry,” he said.
“No… sorry, I am pretty specific,” she said.
“It’s okay, I just don’t understand,” Johnathan said as he sighed.
Sam touched his arm.
“We are not going to give up yet, okay?” she said.
Johnathan looked at her and grinned.
“Okay… lets hit the stairs again.”
***
Theodore sat there watching the mirror. Suddenly it started to wave like water and he stood up, all excited. Kai rolled through and Brooke fell from his arms and rolled across the floor. She ‘woo-whoo’d” as she came to a stop. Theodore flashed to her and turned her face to him. She grinned big and waved her hand at him.
“That was Sweeeet,” she said all slurred.
Theodore smiled and stood up as he looked at the mirror.
Kai stood up and brushed himself off. He looked up at Theodore and shook his head.
“I take it that my sister stayed behind,” he said.
“Yea… Johnathan darted out of the elevator and she followed him.”
“Well, just perfect,” Theodore said as the mirror slowed and then solidified.
Kai walked over to Brooke and grabbed her arm, helping her to her feet.
She swayed and laughed.
“I think you need to zap her or something,” Kai said as he looked at her.
Theodore flashed back to her and closed his eyes as he chanted. He placed his hand on the side of her head and she sucked in her breath. He looked at Kai and shook his head.
“I will have to do more than ‘zap her’ as you so eloquently stated.”
“Perfect,” he said.
Theo smiled at him and took his hand from her face.
“Seems that Rue has built a fortress,” he whispered.
Theo stood up and looked around the room.
“Where is Johnathan?” he asked.
Kai looked at him and then at the mirror.
“He stayed with Sam,” he muttered.
“Oh my,” Theodore said as he stepped towards the mirror and stared at it.
***
I woke up and the fountain started to come into focus. How I got here I had no idea. I could hear the water flowing in it, making those fish happy. I looked up and Blake stood there grinning.
“What happened?” I asked him.
He leaned down to me and held out his hand.
“Nothing… You fell asleep here and I just didn’t have the heart to wake you up,” he said.
“What...? I was in the hallway. I swear that I…”
A splitting pain went through my head as the vision of that gi
rl… who looked just like me came running at me, weapons drawn. I grabbed my head and hissed.
“Rue...? Are you okay?” he asked me.
I looked up at him. He looked concerned. I guess he should be, right?
I looked around at the beautiful atrium and tried to grin. I should keep it together; he said we could go to his house… and I wanted to go, badly. He touched my arm and helped me up. I looked around the atrium and the sun was starting to set. The day was gone again… another glitch in my mind.
I smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear as I moved towards the fountain. I leaned over the side and a fish looked up at me. I made a funny fish face back at it and Blake watched me. I looked at him, lips all fish-like still. He grinned and touched my nose. I blinked and laughed a little.
I am okay, right? I mean it had to be a dream… some messed up dream.
He leaned over to my ear.
“Holly said it’s okay for you to have a pass,” he whispered.
I sucked in my breath and stood up.
“Really?” I asked him.
“Really,” he said.
I stepped back and put my arms out to my sides. I threw my head back and looked up at the skylight. I tilted my head as I watched the blue and black mix together as the sun started to fade. I lowered my arms and stared at it; I closed my eyes and felt a hand on my side. I turned to face Blake. I could get used to him. He cared for me. I mean he didn’t drive me crazy… I didn’t need crazy. I needed to feel safe and normal… normal is good.
I opened my eyes and it was that boy… you know the one.
I sucked in my breath and looked around the atrium…no Blake.
“Looking for Blake?” the boy asked me.
“Yes I am,” I said as I backed away from him.
“Well, he is not here… I am,” the boy said to me.
“I can see that… What did you do to him?” I asked him.
He laughed and I could see his teeth. I looked away.
“I didn’t do anything to him… I am sure he is around here somewhere, trying to get into somebody’s pants.”
I grinned… I had to. It was funny. He was such an ass.
He grinned too. I looked at him and placed my hands on my hips.
“So what is it today...? You wanna get naked and jump in the fountain? Or no wait, we could just do it in foliage,” I said, as sarcastic as I could.
He sighed and sat down.
I was completely confused. I mean he is here to grab my boobies, right?
He shook his head at me and bit his lip, like he was holding back whatever he was thinking. I started to unbutton my shirt and he jumped at me so fast, I swear I didn’t see him move. He grabbed my hands and stopped me. He took both of my hands and pressed them his mouth. I stood there staring at him, wondering what this was. A new trick, maybe? I didn’t know. He closed his eyes and I could feel his breath on my hands. I cleared my throat and he looked at me with those eyes. The ones I could swim around in forever… like a fish. I bit my lip.
“Okay, listen to me… I wanna try something new,” he said.
I tilted my head.
“What?” I asked him.
“I want to talk… about feelings and stuff,” he said to me.
I held back a laugh. He looked sincere enough, this imaginary boy. I waited for him to move the first chess piece. He held my hands and led me over to the fountain. I sat down and then he did. I glanced over at him, wondering what was taking so long. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
“I like the way you smell,” he said.
I giggled. He looked at me.
“Sorry, I just… okay,” I said.
I mean do you say ‘thank you’ to that or what?
He took a breath and touched his chest.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
He shook his head.
“Yea, I think I am having a reaction or something,” he said.
I crinkled my eyebrows at him.
“Too what...? Acting like a girl?” I said to him.
He shot me a look and mumbled something about an idiot.
I shook my head at him and leaned forward, trying to watch his face.
“Listen, we can just jump to the grabbing and stuff if you want to,” I said.
He laughed and stood up. He started to pace back and forth in front of me. All of a sudden he was having a conversation with himself. I watched him, my head going back and forth. I didn’t want to laugh, but it sounded funny.
“I told that ass that this was a bad idea… But no… he was all like ‘Get in touch with your girl inside’ and shit. I swear to god I am going to kill him,” he said.
I stood up and looked at him, while I fidgeted with my hands.
“Maybe you need meds,” I said, being as compassionate as I could… like I could diagnose anyone correctly… right.
He stopped and looked at me.
“I don’t need meds,” he said.
I shook my head and looked around, no Blake… crap. Maybe he was real, maybe I saw him in there and he had been in my room… I don’t know. I just had a fight with me up on the third floor, looking all warrior and stuff. Oh god… I am crazy. I thought to myself.
“I just want to go back to my room… You can go and... I don’t know, go to your room… Or if you aren’t real, which I suspect is the truth… just fade into the floor.”
“I am real… you are real. I need you to believe in me… Remember me, Rue… I need you to remember me; I cannot do it for you. You have to escape this place, find it in your heart to love me,” he said.
I sucked in my breath to the point that my lungs hurt. My heart flipped inside my chest. I was having a panic attic …I just knew it. My hands started to tingle, like the blood was leaving me. I looked at him and opened my mouth, but nothing came out. It was like my vocal chords were paralyzed.
He looked at me and shook out his hands. He took a breath and stared me down.
“I am nothing without you,” he said.
The room started to tilt a little. Did I just hear him right?
I blinked and reached behind me for the fountain bench.
“Rue Volley, did you hear me? I am nothing without you,” he said a little louder.
I sat down and felt my hands vibrating. I looked at them and a color started to swirl on my skin. This was it…I was breaking apart. I just knew it.
He knelt down on his knee and touched my face. I looked at him and tried to grin but everything was swirling, like oil in water. I reached up to him and stared at his face. His perfectly formed face, like he was made for me. Perfect and mine.
“I hear you,” I whispered.
“Do you really, Rue…?”
He took my hand and placed it on his heart. I could feel it beating; my heart started to match the rhythm. I looked up and the air started to swirl… color started to dance all around me. I was really going downhill. I was sitting there with my imaginary boy and everything was lighting up. I looked in his eyes and they started to swirl. Black rolled in his pupils like water. I leaned up and “ohh’d” as I touched his face. He watched me, like I was the only thing that he ever wanted to see.
“Rue… I love you,” he said.
I tilted my head back and watched as sparks started to slowly fall in the atrium. Tiny blue sparks of light, landing slowly on everything around us. He held his hand up and one fell on his skin. I felt it touch him and absorb into his body. He stood up and pulled me up with him. I looked at him as he held my hand out and the color swirled from his skin to mine. It danced across the surface of my skin like oil, felt warm and safe.
Safe… Safe. Warm and safe. Safe like home.
I closed my eyes and looked at his face.
“I think I know you,” I whispered to him.
He grinned.
“You do know me better than anyone ever has. You are the only being in the entire world that I would sacrifice anything for. I would kill for you, die for you… I would move heaven and
earth to find you and keep you here with me… without you the world has tilted sideways…”
He placed my hand on his heart and a blue ring started to pulsate under my hand.
I watched it move in rhythm with our heartbeats. I touched his face and leaned up to him.
“Kiss me,” I whispered.
I closed my eyes and waited.
I felt him leave me. It tore at my heart like a pain that I could not bear.
I whispered, “Please don’t leave me,” in all hope that he would never leave, even if he was not real; they could just lock me in a room as long as I had him by my side.
I opened my eyes and looked to see Blake walking towards me. I shook my head and looked around. All the blue lights had disappeared, but I could still hear his heartbeat in my ears, feel his touch on my skin. I sighed and held my hand to my chest. Blake looked at me and smiled.
“Are you ready?” he asked me.
“Ready for what?” I asked him.
“To go outside for real… today is the day, Rue.”
I blinked and looked up at the domed skylight.
The sun was now shining… Where had the night gone?
“Outside,” I whispere
Chapter 8
Blue Demon
I sat there in my room and I… Wait, why do I keep calling it “my room”? I was in an asylum. You would think that I would say that I was renting… Anyway, I got completely off subject. I sat there and I’d gotten up seven times already. I kept walking to the window and looking out at the garden. The sun was shining; the birds were doing whatever birds did. Bird stuff, I guess. I don’t know.
I was scared. I wanted to go out with Blake. I wanted to see the world. Would I recognize anything? God, I hoped so. I closed my eyes and thought about my imaginary boy… Just as crazy as ‘warrior Rue’ I ran into. I didn’t really run into her, right? I mean I woke up in the atrium. It had to be a dream, bad one… but a dream, none the less.
