Sorry about the formatting....somehow it turned out really weird :P But no matter, here's the new version! Enjoy!!
XOXO
Chapter 2: Lassie.
They are all staring at me, with their dagger-like eyes. I mutely curse Lucas, the only person I actually know here in “Abscond” for leaving me. Stupid Lucas. But it was not like I would actually say something as cliche as 'Don't leave me'.
“What is your name, miss?” the guy asks. He seems slightly older than me. He has dark, short, spiky hair with obsidian colored eyes to match. He is of slight build, tall, and very muscular.
“I do not know,” I answer, knowing that they will least expect to hear such a thing. “I have no memory of anything.” Others gasp and blink, eyes wide in surprise. I roll my eyes. They were being overly dramatic. But the boy who asks this question does not react. In fact, he seems disbelieving.
“Lucas told me that he would call me 'Lass',” I mutter quietly, strangely saddened by his suspicion.
“Lass?!” he scoffs, “Do you expect all of us to just accept a girl who is clearly ot strong enough to do work in Abscond? A girl that has no memories of her past whatsoever?” I stay silent, continuing to listen to his rant. He is a bit sexist, what with the 'girl-this, girl-that...'
“Nobody believes you, 'Lass',” he sneers. Anger boils and churns inside of me. To get back at him, I decide to idolize Lucas.
“Don't,” I mutter. Don't call me Lass! It's Lassie! Lassie!” I say.
“But you said-” he starts.
“Lucas calls me that. Call me Lassie,” I tell him. He glares at me, or at the mention of Lucas's name at least, as he angrily grits his teeth. I flinch but brace myself for the outburst that was sure to come.
“Well, it's a pleasure to meet ya, Lassie,” someone says from behind me. I whip around to see who it is. “The name's Jonah Williams,” he drawls. I recognize the drawl being a southern country accent. The same accent that called me and Lucas to this room. With freckles, blond, wavy hair, and ivy green eyes, he looks to be a nice, friendly person.
He gives me a dashing smile. “Sorry I was so late,” he says,” But I heard that there was a pretty, young lady present in the Chamber Room and what a pretty, young lad we have here, do you not agree, Stefan? Why interrogate her so? She deserves a good rest for now.”
“You're late, Jonah. Do you think this allows you to actually get a say in our decisions?” Stefan growls, his face twisted into a menacing scowl. I frown. I am freezing my butt off in the water and he is still arguing?
“Does your pride mean more than your humanity, Stefan? Because you ain't acting the right way at all,” Jonah continues, matching my thoughts exactly. I break out into a small smile. He was the only guy so far who seemed to actually care about the way I felt.
Stefan steams with anger, his face flushed red with irritation.
“I've had it with you people! Just do whatever you want!” Stefan yells as he loudly splashes and leaves the room. Jonah sighs.
"Sometimes, he fergets that he’s not the one in charge ‘round here…" he mutters to himself. He then looks up and gives me a questioning glance. "Did ya get anything to eat?" I shake my head.
"She does now," announces Lucas as he pushes a platform across the water, his muscles straining, visibly shown under his tattered shirt. The platform was covered with an assortment of fruits.
"Thank you," I say gratefully as I look at the broad assortment of food he had chosen. Lucas wraps a small shawl around me and I thank him again. Maybe he is not as bad as I had made him in my mind.
I notice him glare at Jonah as well and I give him a curious look. But he avoids me and glances away.
"We’ll give you a Warm room and you can rest up. We can’t have a lady going cold, now can we?" he drawls.
Speaking of cold, I look down at my feet, which were still in the water. My knew were already turning purple.
"Get on, get on," he says, ushering me onto the platform, carefully sliding the platter of food out of the way. I slowly get on, vigilantly making sure to balance my weight, slightly afraid that everything would tip over and fall. Luckily, it does not and I smile as he and Lucas push the platform out of the Chamber Room and towards the supposed direction of the Warm room.
"I really appreciate the wonderful hospitality you have given me, unlike some people, so thank you," I remark while the two tread through the water. Lucas opens his mouth as if to speak; no doubt a haughty reply of some sort, but I quickly beat him to it and finish off my statement, "Jonah, for helping me out." Jonah nods to show that he understood.
Lucas glares at me and I pity him for a moment. But before I say anything to him, I hear a large squeaky but loud scraping noise as the platform is pushed to a point where there is no water. I get off the platform and I revel in the fact that I am standing on dry land. Finally!
"Over here, milady," Jonah says in his gentlemanly manner.
We walk down a narrow hallway, that has many small rooms on my left and right. It reminds me of a hotel, having separate rooms on both sides of a hallway. He stops at a door marked L987. I am curious about the number but I say nothing, deciding that it best to ask later. Jonah grabs the strange light emitting lantern, opens the door, and enters as I peer through the darkness, trying to make out distinguishable shapes with my eyes.
"Get in there already," Lucas mutters, slowly pushing me past the door.
"Okay, okay," I reply, caustically rolling my eyes, continuing to walk.
Jonah walks over to a small corner and puts his hand over something. I smile, reminiscing the thought of a magician putting his hand over his hat and saying the magical words ‘Abracadabra, Kalamazoo’, and having a bunny rabbit popping out of the hat that once held nothing. As Jonah does this, the whole room goes ablaze with the shiny blue light, blinding me for a second. I rapidly blink a couple of times until my eyes are focused enough to see the room.
The room is very similar to a hotel room, having a large, comfortable looking bed, with some small decorations such as the small decorative drawings on the wall behind the bed. There is a little closet off to the left wall and a little dresser on the other side of the wall. All of the items are made out of the obsidian-colored substance. And most importantly, there is not a drop of water to see.
"This is wonderful!" I shout pleasantly.
"It sure is quaint and serene, ain’t it," Jonah agrees. I turn toward him.
"I can really stay here?" I ask. Compared to the other places in Abscond, this place - this room - was amazingly cozy.
"Why yes, you are a lady,"
I smile and continue looking around, in awe of everything I see.
"Stefan will be your guide, since I will be too busy. He is basically second in command, by the way. But he'll more than likely tell you about it later," Jonah says.
I whip around to face him in surprise. I did not want Stefan of all people to be my guide. Of the three people I have spoken to, he is definitely the one I disliked most. I deeply sigh, feeling very fatigued all of a sudden.
"All right," I whisper, glancing at Lucas for a second. His lips are pursed and has a look of defiance.
Jonah’s lips turn into a wry smile, attempting to encourage me, no doubt.
"It’s gonna be alright, Lassie," he says, winking, "It’ll be nice having a woman around no doubt but for now, you should get some sleep. Lucas, come on."
Lucas trudges out the door as Jonah quietly says good night and leaves, closing the door behind him, the dim light from outside of the room disappearing. I walk over to the bed and put the covers over me. The bed is as comfortable as I thought it would be and with my head on the soft pillow and warm covers, my mind slowly drifts off into the dream world, away from Lucas, Jonah, Stefan, and the magical hell they call ‘Abscond’…
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XOXO always.
~Midnight.