Encyclopika
The Queen
I'm glad everyone loved my story...and...like all stories...it has an end, and here it is. Thank you all for reading! This is where is gets REALLY weird.
*************
Chap 9 – May
“Almost warm enough to go swimming!” May said cheerfully.
A small breeze brushed through her hair and made tiny ripples upon the stagnant pool ahead of her that branched off from the main river.
“Really?” Drew said, starting already, “I would have never noticed.”
May kicked his ankle. She was sitting up and he was lying down under a large willow tree. Its branches were in full bloom, all fluffy and white. It sent patterns of shadow across the two as they relaxed on the cool grass. The sun was bright and happy…though…it was deceiving. And it was so quiet. A breath could send echoes.
May looked at Drew. He was napping on his back under the thick shadow of their willow. To May’s right was the bridge that led to the ocean, in all its manmade glory. It sparkled under the sun’s white light, but still remained in its dark composure.
“You think the flowers are in bloom now?” May asked, keeping as cheerful as she could.
“Don’t see why not,” Drew answered, his eyes still closed.
The month was coming to a close. Soon spring would be on its way to summer and then it would be autumn all over again. And then the snow. Secretly, May hoped she wouldn’t have to see the snow again. Getting off the island and finding their Pokemon was the main priority for the two of them. But still, May would argue, the island had much to offer. Staying would be alright, and unlike Drew, she didn’t find the strange occurrences weird, she found them good.
The breeze rustled her hair again. Something about it seemed promising to her, but on the contrary, Drew didn’t notice it.
***
“How’s it going, dear?” Norman asked as he handed Caroline a bottle of water.
“’Sokay,” she said quietly.
“I know it’s been long, but, Dr. Spenser says any day now,” Norman tried to comfort her, and for a second, it seemed to work.
Caroline brightened a bit, which was all he wanted. May was not maimed nor brain dead. She was just sleeping, for lack of a better term and she would awake from her peaceful dream soon.
Miss Bates looked on. Her hands trembled at her sides. She brought them up to her chin and clasped them together to stop the shaking. Dr. Spenser had no idea when May and Drew would awake…she did. And she knew it would be that very day. Victims always awoke soon after the tingling in her bones began. She hoped for the best. Usually the outcome wasn’t the best and she prayed…yes, she prayed that no one would have to suffer.
In a few plastic chairs in the hallway, Max, Ash, Pikachu, Brock, and Misty sat, all looking at the white tile floor with the same faces full of agony. How many more days would this take? Max fiddled with his hands uncomfortably.
Suddenly, there was a loud gasp from inside the room.
***
May stirred in her sleep and opened her sapphire eyes. She stared at the wooden ceiling of the tree house and sighed the sleep away. The brown coveres fell by themselves as she sat up and yawned. It was bright outside – too bright to say the least; unusually bright. May didn’t notice though. What she did notice was that Drew was no where to be found. She looked to the bathroom, but the door wasn’t closed and it was vacant. She scanned the floor, but he wasn’t sitting anywhere. May cocked an eyebrow. Since when did he wake up before her? Especially after nights like last night? May found it weird, but then shrugged it off. Perhaps it was late in the day – she didn’t know. The island never gave them a clock.
May collected her clothes which were scattered across the floor. As she clipped on her bra, she noticed something black on the floor…as well as something aquamarine and purple. May lifted her red blouse off the black cloth and raised her eyebrows again. Her face turned red.
“Okay,” May breathed, “Why are Drew’s clothes here? You think you know a person…”
She put on the rest of her clothing and lifted his black turtleneck, just to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Indeed it did belong to Drew, and with lifting it, something fell from it. May followed the falling object down to the floor were it silently collided with the wood work.
It was a white flower with green rims on the petals and purple bleeding up those petals from where the stem was attached. Its stem was a mint color and littered with thorns. May dropped Drew’s shirt and picked the plant up. She frantically dropped it a second later, remembering how she could burn flowers on the island. As it fell to the floor, it didn’t burn and it didn’t shrivel. May tilted her head and lifted the flower once more for closer speculation. It wasn’t dying in her grasp and she smiled.
“Let’s go find Drew and show him what we can do,” May spoke to the flower, as if it would nod in agreement.
She lifted the floor door by its metal handle and jumped down to the ground. As soon as she hit the dirt, the sky became cloudy and dark, as if its clouds would burst with water. Thunder rumbled far away. May found it strange, but all in all, rain would be good. They hadn’t had any in a long while.
May walked on the path to the flower field, certain that’s where Drew would be, according to last night’s conversation before the action began.
The sky rumbled again, but May didn’t slow down. She was too excited to notice or care.
As she ran, it began to drizzle. Tiny drops of rain plopped on her head and wet her clothes. As she got closer to the field, the rain came down harder and harder, as if trying to stop her.
The forest began to darken, and, if May knew she was seeing clearly, losing all of its color. The sienna browns of the barked trees started to fade and their leaves began to turn gray, as if it were a photograph growing older. She crossed the brook, which was now dried up, despite the torrential rain coming down at that point.
May gasped as she felt herself almost slip on the log bridge. She regained her posture, and then continued onward. The wind blew and whistled loudly, like a warning of some sort, but May refused to listen.
May bursted through the great hedge the separated the field from the world, almost. It used to be a lush green…but now it was a dark, vapid gray that seemed endlessly tall.
She stopped her running. She looked ahead and her eyes grew wide. Drew was there all right, but he was a ghost of his former self. Ridden of all his pigment, he sat at the top of the field’s hill with his knees brought up to his chin. He didn’t seem to notice her presence. A small, colored flame raged upon his bare skin, and he did nothing to put it out. He didn’t seem hurt by it, although it attempted to engulf him.
May looked down at the flower she had brought. Like herself, it was still in color, but now it too was burning. May’s eyes welt up in tears.
“I don’t understand,” her voice cracked.
She dropped the flower, but it didn’t help anything. The fires still raged and now the entire island was engulfed in them. Trees burned, but they didn’t fall down. The rain poured and the wind howled. Thunder cackled like laugher.
There was a roaring in the distance, like giant waves crashing upon a beach. May looked in that direction just in time to witness the black ocean rise in a tidal wave. It came down hard on the island, like a hand slapping a face, washing away everything. May was caught in the riptide and went under the water.
She opened her eyes. Below her was dark and murky. Around and above her though, was white and clear. Bubbles rose up form the black depths, rising her to the surface.
Something in the darkness below caught her eye, though. It was Drew, not struggling, though, to make it to the surface. May swam against the bubbles and toward him. She couldn't understand what he was doing, but she would do anything to help him. She grabbed his hand and began to pull him toward the surface.
The more she kicked and struggled to make it to the top, the darker it became, and the light above slowly disappeared. She felt as though she were going backward; sinking into the bottomless black.
She stopped for a moment, and looked down. Drew was struggling now to get out of her grasp. He twisted his wrist quickly and her hand opened, letting him go.
May gasped, letting a lung full of water in. She looked back at Drew and tried to reach him again. She tried to catch him again. But he wouldn't let her. He spread his arms open and paddled backward, sending bubbles up that pushed her to the surface.
May held her throat and looked away from him. She had to get to the surface; she had to get help. She choked on the water she had swallowed. She kicked and flailed to reach the top. It got brighter. She broke the surface.
***
May sat up straight in her hospital bed and with her head arched back, gasped loudly for air. She choked and wheezed, as if she had been drowning and held her throat.
“May! Oh my goodness!” Caroline smiled and rubbed her daughter’s back to help her, though she didn’t understand why May was choking.
“Get in here! May’s awake!” Norman called to the kids outside, and they all bustled in, happy as ever.
Miss Bates strolled in, though, with no expression of happiness. She was glad May was awake, but very angry with the island. It still refused to change its ways.
“Oh, May! We were all so worried!” Caroline said as she hugged her daughter.
“How long were we gone?” May asked, still taking in deep breaths, “And when are going to get the main land?”
“What?” Caroline raised her eyebrows, “You were out for nine days. And you’ve been on the main land the whole time.”
“Out for nine days? What are you talking about? Drew and I were stranded on a crazy island! Aren’t we on a boat?” May asked.
“Uhhh,” everyone said in unison as they turned to Miss Bates.
She just shook her head in an “I told ya so”. She actually couldn’t wait until Spenser got to the scene.
“I’m so glad you guys could find Drew,” May didn’t wait for a response, “Some really scary stuff went on…but I think it was all a dream now.”
May got out of her white sheets and leaned over Drew. He appeared to be sleeping.
“Right, Drew?” May asked cheerfully.
Caroline covered her mouth with her hands.
“Um, May will be right down,” Norman told Max and the others, and scooted them out of the room.
Miss Bates walked up beside Norman and Caroline, arms crossed. May continued to be oblivious to the other people in the room, and gently shook Drew. He wouldn’t stir, though.
“Drew?” May wasn’t cheerful anymore, “Please, wake up.”
She knew deep down what was going on, but she refused to believe it.
“This always happens in this room,” Miss Bates muttered quietly, “Two go to the island, only one comes back.”
“That’s nonsense!” May shouted as she whipped around, her eyes tearing.
The three adults stood dumbfounded by her sudden outburst.
“Drew’s gonna wake up!” May said, “He’s just -”
She dropped to her knees, “sleeping.”
Norman, Caroline, and Miss Bates watched May wimper. They didn't know what to do, nor did they know how to correctly break it to her.
Tear drops rolled down her cheeks and she spoke again, now in a voice of realization, “If only…
I didn’t
pick up
the flower.”
********************
Well...that's it. I know...I killed the Toast! I'm such a *****. But anyway, hope you liked the story. I know I did. ^^
And now you can all go "Ohhhhhhh! How come I didn't see it coming!?" 'Cause ya know what, if you read the story over again, you'll see I practically blew the ending for ya a million times. I bet the cover art makes sense now, huh?
I'm fabulous.
Heehee...look what I made:
*************
Chap 9 – May
“Almost warm enough to go swimming!” May said cheerfully.
A small breeze brushed through her hair and made tiny ripples upon the stagnant pool ahead of her that branched off from the main river.
“Really?” Drew said, starting already, “I would have never noticed.”
May kicked his ankle. She was sitting up and he was lying down under a large willow tree. Its branches were in full bloom, all fluffy and white. It sent patterns of shadow across the two as they relaxed on the cool grass. The sun was bright and happy…though…it was deceiving. And it was so quiet. A breath could send echoes.
May looked at Drew. He was napping on his back under the thick shadow of their willow. To May’s right was the bridge that led to the ocean, in all its manmade glory. It sparkled under the sun’s white light, but still remained in its dark composure.
“You think the flowers are in bloom now?” May asked, keeping as cheerful as she could.
“Don’t see why not,” Drew answered, his eyes still closed.
The month was coming to a close. Soon spring would be on its way to summer and then it would be autumn all over again. And then the snow. Secretly, May hoped she wouldn’t have to see the snow again. Getting off the island and finding their Pokemon was the main priority for the two of them. But still, May would argue, the island had much to offer. Staying would be alright, and unlike Drew, she didn’t find the strange occurrences weird, she found them good.
The breeze rustled her hair again. Something about it seemed promising to her, but on the contrary, Drew didn’t notice it.
***
“How’s it going, dear?” Norman asked as he handed Caroline a bottle of water.
“’Sokay,” she said quietly.
“I know it’s been long, but, Dr. Spenser says any day now,” Norman tried to comfort her, and for a second, it seemed to work.
Caroline brightened a bit, which was all he wanted. May was not maimed nor brain dead. She was just sleeping, for lack of a better term and she would awake from her peaceful dream soon.
Miss Bates looked on. Her hands trembled at her sides. She brought them up to her chin and clasped them together to stop the shaking. Dr. Spenser had no idea when May and Drew would awake…she did. And she knew it would be that very day. Victims always awoke soon after the tingling in her bones began. She hoped for the best. Usually the outcome wasn’t the best and she prayed…yes, she prayed that no one would have to suffer.
In a few plastic chairs in the hallway, Max, Ash, Pikachu, Brock, and Misty sat, all looking at the white tile floor with the same faces full of agony. How many more days would this take? Max fiddled with his hands uncomfortably.
Suddenly, there was a loud gasp from inside the room.
***
May stirred in her sleep and opened her sapphire eyes. She stared at the wooden ceiling of the tree house and sighed the sleep away. The brown coveres fell by themselves as she sat up and yawned. It was bright outside – too bright to say the least; unusually bright. May didn’t notice though. What she did notice was that Drew was no where to be found. She looked to the bathroom, but the door wasn’t closed and it was vacant. She scanned the floor, but he wasn’t sitting anywhere. May cocked an eyebrow. Since when did he wake up before her? Especially after nights like last night? May found it weird, but then shrugged it off. Perhaps it was late in the day – she didn’t know. The island never gave them a clock.
May collected her clothes which were scattered across the floor. As she clipped on her bra, she noticed something black on the floor…as well as something aquamarine and purple. May lifted her red blouse off the black cloth and raised her eyebrows again. Her face turned red.
“Okay,” May breathed, “Why are Drew’s clothes here? You think you know a person…”
She put on the rest of her clothing and lifted his black turtleneck, just to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Indeed it did belong to Drew, and with lifting it, something fell from it. May followed the falling object down to the floor were it silently collided with the wood work.
It was a white flower with green rims on the petals and purple bleeding up those petals from where the stem was attached. Its stem was a mint color and littered with thorns. May dropped Drew’s shirt and picked the plant up. She frantically dropped it a second later, remembering how she could burn flowers on the island. As it fell to the floor, it didn’t burn and it didn’t shrivel. May tilted her head and lifted the flower once more for closer speculation. It wasn’t dying in her grasp and she smiled.
“Let’s go find Drew and show him what we can do,” May spoke to the flower, as if it would nod in agreement.
She lifted the floor door by its metal handle and jumped down to the ground. As soon as she hit the dirt, the sky became cloudy and dark, as if its clouds would burst with water. Thunder rumbled far away. May found it strange, but all in all, rain would be good. They hadn’t had any in a long while.
May walked on the path to the flower field, certain that’s where Drew would be, according to last night’s conversation before the action began.
The sky rumbled again, but May didn’t slow down. She was too excited to notice or care.
As she ran, it began to drizzle. Tiny drops of rain plopped on her head and wet her clothes. As she got closer to the field, the rain came down harder and harder, as if trying to stop her.
The forest began to darken, and, if May knew she was seeing clearly, losing all of its color. The sienna browns of the barked trees started to fade and their leaves began to turn gray, as if it were a photograph growing older. She crossed the brook, which was now dried up, despite the torrential rain coming down at that point.
May gasped as she felt herself almost slip on the log bridge. She regained her posture, and then continued onward. The wind blew and whistled loudly, like a warning of some sort, but May refused to listen.
May bursted through the great hedge the separated the field from the world, almost. It used to be a lush green…but now it was a dark, vapid gray that seemed endlessly tall.
She stopped her running. She looked ahead and her eyes grew wide. Drew was there all right, but he was a ghost of his former self. Ridden of all his pigment, he sat at the top of the field’s hill with his knees brought up to his chin. He didn’t seem to notice her presence. A small, colored flame raged upon his bare skin, and he did nothing to put it out. He didn’t seem hurt by it, although it attempted to engulf him.
May looked down at the flower she had brought. Like herself, it was still in color, but now it too was burning. May’s eyes welt up in tears.
“I don’t understand,” her voice cracked.
She dropped the flower, but it didn’t help anything. The fires still raged and now the entire island was engulfed in them. Trees burned, but they didn’t fall down. The rain poured and the wind howled. Thunder cackled like laugher.
There was a roaring in the distance, like giant waves crashing upon a beach. May looked in that direction just in time to witness the black ocean rise in a tidal wave. It came down hard on the island, like a hand slapping a face, washing away everything. May was caught in the riptide and went under the water.
She opened her eyes. Below her was dark and murky. Around and above her though, was white and clear. Bubbles rose up form the black depths, rising her to the surface.
Something in the darkness below caught her eye, though. It was Drew, not struggling, though, to make it to the surface. May swam against the bubbles and toward him. She couldn't understand what he was doing, but she would do anything to help him. She grabbed his hand and began to pull him toward the surface.
The more she kicked and struggled to make it to the top, the darker it became, and the light above slowly disappeared. She felt as though she were going backward; sinking into the bottomless black.
She stopped for a moment, and looked down. Drew was struggling now to get out of her grasp. He twisted his wrist quickly and her hand opened, letting him go.
May gasped, letting a lung full of water in. She looked back at Drew and tried to reach him again. She tried to catch him again. But he wouldn't let her. He spread his arms open and paddled backward, sending bubbles up that pushed her to the surface.
May held her throat and looked away from him. She had to get to the surface; she had to get help. She choked on the water she had swallowed. She kicked and flailed to reach the top. It got brighter. She broke the surface.
***
May sat up straight in her hospital bed and with her head arched back, gasped loudly for air. She choked and wheezed, as if she had been drowning and held her throat.
“May! Oh my goodness!” Caroline smiled and rubbed her daughter’s back to help her, though she didn’t understand why May was choking.
“Get in here! May’s awake!” Norman called to the kids outside, and they all bustled in, happy as ever.
Miss Bates strolled in, though, with no expression of happiness. She was glad May was awake, but very angry with the island. It still refused to change its ways.
“Oh, May! We were all so worried!” Caroline said as she hugged her daughter.
“How long were we gone?” May asked, still taking in deep breaths, “And when are going to get the main land?”
“What?” Caroline raised her eyebrows, “You were out for nine days. And you’ve been on the main land the whole time.”
“Out for nine days? What are you talking about? Drew and I were stranded on a crazy island! Aren’t we on a boat?” May asked.
“Uhhh,” everyone said in unison as they turned to Miss Bates.
She just shook her head in an “I told ya so”. She actually couldn’t wait until Spenser got to the scene.
“I’m so glad you guys could find Drew,” May didn’t wait for a response, “Some really scary stuff went on…but I think it was all a dream now.”
May got out of her white sheets and leaned over Drew. He appeared to be sleeping.
“Right, Drew?” May asked cheerfully.
Caroline covered her mouth with her hands.
“Um, May will be right down,” Norman told Max and the others, and scooted them out of the room.
Miss Bates walked up beside Norman and Caroline, arms crossed. May continued to be oblivious to the other people in the room, and gently shook Drew. He wouldn’t stir, though.
“Drew?” May wasn’t cheerful anymore, “Please, wake up.”
She knew deep down what was going on, but she refused to believe it.
“This always happens in this room,” Miss Bates muttered quietly, “Two go to the island, only one comes back.”
“That’s nonsense!” May shouted as she whipped around, her eyes tearing.
The three adults stood dumbfounded by her sudden outburst.
“Drew’s gonna wake up!” May said, “He’s just -”
She dropped to her knees, “sleeping.”
Norman, Caroline, and Miss Bates watched May wimper. They didn't know what to do, nor did they know how to correctly break it to her.
Tear drops rolled down her cheeks and she spoke again, now in a voice of realization, “If only…
I didn’t
pick up
the flower.”
********************
Well...that's it. I know...I killed the Toast! I'm such a *****. But anyway, hope you liked the story. I know I did. ^^
And now you can all go "Ohhhhhhh! How come I didn't see it coming!?" 'Cause ya know what, if you read the story over again, you'll see I practically blew the ending for ya a million times. I bet the cover art makes sense now, huh?
I'm fabulous.Heehee...look what I made:
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