Chapter 2 -- Next Level

The plans and the first followings of the main character in day-to-day format.

"Would you like to escape this prison and come with me?" Her note said. I was surprised by this. I'd never thought about leaving this place. The books I had read contained all sorts of worlds within them. Lush green lands; War scarred plains; Cities and noises that are loud; The councils laws; The simple but complex structure of this world. Nothing ever seemed so appealing to me, except for the warmth of the sun I had read about. The way it warms your skin and can burn it if you aren't careful. It's gentle yet rough personality. The artificial sun and artificial moon don't hold any of the appeal I read about. But everything is here. My bed, my instruments of silver, and the daily necessities, not to mention the notes between Tahlna and I.

But the appeal of meeting -finally meeting- Tahlna and of feeling the rays of the sun and the coldness of the moon eclipsed this globe. So I wrote to Tahlna "Yes."

The next day, she wrote "Okay. I'll get you out of here in 2 days. Wait for me." And I waited.

The first day went by in a blur, but, on the second day, something felt off in the air. It was like there was a tangible anxiety in the air. I was waiting for the lift up into the second level, but it seemed late. I leaned against the wall and tapped my fingers on my legs nervously. When it did show up, it didn't go up at its usual speed.

When I reached the second level finally, I noticed none of my instruments were there, which scared me. There was always an instrument waiting for me. However, this time, in the middle of the room stood a music stand with sheets on it.

I walked over to it cautiously, and found it was a music sheet filled with bars and line after line of words. Today, the council wants me to sing. But I've never sung before. I haven't even spoken a word in my life since my screams as a child. I had no idea how to read this sheet music.

As I stood and starred at the sheet music, my hand reached forward and trailed the edge of it, as if afraid it would jump out at me. The moment my finger barely touched it, the entire sheet seemed to start to glow a soft blue. The notes of several instruments started to play inside my head, and I started to get scared. Then the words came off the page and started to flow towards my chest.

I jumped backwards and started scrambling to the lift, unsure of what was happening. The music got more intense in my head, and when the lift doors didn't open, I started to panic. Pulling my knees to my chest, I shoved my hands over my ears and squeezed my eyes shut. A second later, I heard someone banging on the outside of the globe. Then another person was banging. Then another.

Soon there were at least a hundred fists pounding it, some sounding frenzied, others angry. I started to curl more into myself before I noticed a slight tremble underneath me. Three seconds later, a part of the floor 5 feet to my right fell away. I scrambled even further back until I was on the opposite side of the dome, the walls moving slightly behind me from all of the fists hitting it. I hid myself into my knees again and wished it would all stop, vaguely noticing that the floating words and the music had suddenly disappeared and the sheet music was fluttering to the ground, blank.

I stayed like that for several moments until I felt something fall beside me and wrap around me. I slowly lifted my head and opened my eyes to find arms around me, holding me to a chest three times my size. My gaze drifts higher and I see gentle blue eyes looking me in the eyes. I look at her face and reddish brown long hair that reaches her shoulder blades. I feel fingers on my face as she moves her hand to catch something. When she pulls her hand away, I see a tear her finger had caught. She looks at me with a lot of concern.

"Are you okay?" The woman asks. Her voice was smooth and gentle, sounding like the description of a brook I had read about. When I nod, she smiles and pulls me into her arms again. "It's me," she says. "It's Tahlna, Strain. I'm here, just like I promised." I bury my face into her shoulder and she hugs me even tighter. After a moment of this, I hear a throat clearing itself.

Tahlna pulls back and says, "Are you ready to leave?" I wipe my eyes with my hand, and nod my head. Suddenly, I feel arms scoop beneath me and lift me up.

"She's really light!" I hear a voice above me say. I look into a face with one blue eye and one brown eye. A young man who looks about Tahlna's age. When he looks at me, he gives me a gentle smile. "Hello there. My name's Pollis. I'm person number 2 who's here to get you out of here. Nice to finally meet you."

Tahlna grabs my untrimmed long hair off of the ground, then throws it over Pollis' shoulder. She then grabs my hand and squeezes it. She doesn't let it go, and they both start to hurry to the hole across the globe. When they stop at the edge of the hole, I see a blonde haired, black eyed boy looking up at me. He opens up his arms, and Pollis sends me an apologetic look at the same time that Tahlna lets go of my hand.

Suddenly, I'm dropped down the hole and into the blonde haired boys' arms. I had squeezed my eyes shut and, when I was caught, I opened them to now look into the blondes' face. He flashes me a toothy smile, then holds me tight as Pollis and Tahlna fall on both sides of us. Then he starts running through a hole in the wall in the shape of a doorway I had never noticed before in my life.

"Hey there," the boy says. He was about the same age as the other 2. "I'm Healon. Rescuer number 3. How're you today, pretty girl?" I stare at him until he looks down at me with a curious look. I give him a very tentative smile, and he chuckles a little. Tahlna is at his side and she reaches over to grab my hand again.

Having her hand in mine calms me down a lot. This is the hand she had written to me with. Her words and feelings were put onto those pieces of paper with these fingers that wrap around my own. I pull her hand up and snuggle my face into it. The last thing I hear is the pounding of fists in the distance and the sound of their feet hitting the floor before I pass out in Healon's arms with Tahlna's hand pressed into my face.

Author's Note

I seriously am writing these all in one go. Please put personal opinions, notes, and thoughts into your reviews!