Don't Look Back! Part 2

Chapter Sixteen: Risen from the Dark

"How can it be?" Aris rose from the edge of the fountain and had a look around.

All around the three, buildings rose from the ground, high, broad, blocking the invisible sun that lit the eternal space they walked through. All around the park more buildings shot into the sky, so many, Lucy could not look fast enough for them to surround the three.

"Beautiful" she let out at the sight of the plant covered buildings. All over the sides of the houses and taller buildings grew ivy and other plants, moss and trees in between or on top of the buildings in direction of the light that shone so bright from above.

Mesmerised by the beautiful view, Jack stepped onto the road that led in between the nearest buildings. "Just like I imagined" he whispered as he followed the road towards a round park that had a massive tree in the middle which grew bright red apples.

A smile on her lips, Lucy followed him and grabbed his hand. "That is the tree you drew once" she cheered as she reached out to grab one of the lowest apples. As if called by her motion, the tree lowered its branches for her to take one of the apples she then handed to Jack.

Laughing, Aris run around and had a look at the many buildings and whenever he opened one of the doors, he found what seemed like another world inside. Bright interiors, chairs, like living rooms, then stairs that led to higher levels, he jumped around, all the energy returning to his body as he discovered new places, bright, filled with plants. "Look at all this" he called out and when Lucy and Jack appeared beside him, he pointed into the building.

Inside the tall building, on the ground level, the three stood in the middle of a round room. All over the walls grew flowers and at the end of the room, opposite to the door, the three spotted a small waterfall and a stream that led through the room and towards a hole in the wall next to another door. Following the water, Lucy opened the door along a corridor that then led them into another similar room, full of fruit trees, plants with the most amazing smells, and so many herbs, Lucy could not remember seeing that many at the WICKED facilities, however these grew on green patches of grass inside a glass dome that protected them from rain.

"This is remarkable" Lucy said as she stepped over to the small bed of flowers and watched as a tiny creature, yellow with black stripe flew from one flower to the next. Cheering she watched as the tiny thing dropped onto another blossom. She had read about them in books, yet never had she seen one before in real life, not in her world anyway.

His head spinning around, Jack chewed on the apple Lucy had handed him. "What do you think this place is?"

Continuing their walk through the building, they encountered several rooms on the upper level. Each with their own bed and bathroom. In one of the rooms, Lucy stopped in front of a wall and sat down. "I think we created this" she pointed at the two handprints on the wall beside the bed.

Darian and Lucy it said written underneath the handprints. A smile on her face, Lucy turned to Jack who gestured towards another room. Inside, they found a teddy bear that Jack took off the bed and grinned. "I remember him. My dad found it when I was young"

Their eyes followed Aris as he inspected room after room, not seeing anything he might remember. Soon they moved on to another building to find it similar to the one they had seen before. In each room they found a bit of memory, not their own but from other people, at least Lucy thought so, and Jack recognised a toy car he had seen another child carry with him when the military picked them up.

Together, the three continued to walk through the city that grew the farther they walked. More trees, fresh air, even wind blew through their hair and clothes. Though bright, the buildings had different colours, and so did the trees, the leaves in shimmering blues, greens and oranges, just like the flowers, and in the potential middle of the city, they found themselves upon a square. High stone figures circles the square and in the middle of it all, they found another tree, the roots standing high enough to walk beneath them, twisted into strange shapes.

Jack halted in front of one of the shapes and had a look to the other side. His eyes widened at what he saw and when he turned to see Lucy and Aris, their faces mirrored his expression.

People. Many of them, walking about in the city, just as their parents had told them once. All happy, dressed in colourful outfits, chatting as they walked amongst the trees, took fruits and sat around in the bright sun, enjoying the day.

"Look at them" Lucy let out, just as she spotted a young man, who looked more than familiar. "Luke!" At once Lucy jumped forward and her hand reached the image between the roots, but before her body could glide through the veil into the other side, Jack held her back.

"Don't. What if it is only a memory, and you won't come back?"

"I don't think it is" Aris walked around the tree a small object in hand. "See?" The box he held in hand had the symbol on it, they knew very well. W.I.C.K.E.D. As Aris opened the box to show its content, Lucy and Jack wrinkled their eyebrows.

"What is that?" Jack took out the small gem that lay inside the box and lifted it into the air, against the light from above. It shimmered bright and threw colourful shadows on the ground, but other than that, it did not do much. "Hey, there are more of those" His fingers shot through the air towards a small hill farther off the square and there they found more of those gems, laying about untouched, their colourful shadows leaving patterns all over the ground.

Biting her lip, Lucy glared at the gems, then at Jack. "I don't remember imagining these, or seeing these, I thought we created this place"

"What if that is what they injected you with?" Jack pressed out, the gem so close to his face, his skin took the bright red colour, even after he removed it from his face, his skin kept glowing. "Here" He handed Lucy one of the blue gems and at once it burst into light, flew into the sky and shimmered bright as it patterned down like soft rain on a sunny day.

Laughing, Lucy picked another one that did the same, and the more gems she picked, the more her skin tingled until she could not stop laughing. The bright lines on her skin returned and grew brighter the more gems she touched.

Jack as well picked up more of the red gems and chuckled as they tickled his skin. No lines built on his skin, but Aris and Lucy could feel the heat radiating from Jack as he stepped closer.

Hesitant to take a stone himself, Aris stood there, watching as Lucy threw some more gems into the sky and watched as they patterned down on her. Then at last, he grabbed a green one that burst in his hand and turned into fine lines of green silk that spun around his hand and lifted off to fly through the air and settle on the tar ground, busting it open to plant another green spot on it.

Gleeful, Lucy took a red and a blue gem and threw them into the air to see what happens and in that moment, the sky made a terrible noise, split into darker sections and soon water fell from the skies onto the three.

Her face turned to the sky, Lucy stood in her spot, held out her arms and let the rain touch her skin. Never had she felt such sensations in her life. The shower had similar effects, but it did not feel as free and light as the rain here.

His arms wrapping around Lucy, jack lifted her off the ground and spun her around in circles while the rain drenched their clothes, but it did not bother them in the least as the heat from Jack's body kept them warm and cosy while they danced around, through the city, followed by Aris who tossed green gems wherever he deemed necessary.

At last, they reached the park where they had first found each other. It had grown brighter with plants that shot into the sky and enjoyed the rain at least as much as Lucy did as she ruffled through her hair and jumped around. "We have to get the others here, it is fantastic"

"And how will we do that?" Jack held her hand as she spun around, his eyes on Lucy as the lines on her body moved with her.

His arms crossed before him, Aris stared at them. "How will we even get back? And what if we can't go back?"

Halting in her dance, Lucy smiled at Jack, then at Aris and looked up into the sky. "We made all of this, we, not WICKED, not any adult. We did. So we will find a way"