Molly
When my eyes opened the next morning, or whatever time it actually was, I was looking straight at a brown dirt ceiling. For a second, I was surprised, and a little nervous. While I had been asleep, I forgot what my brother and I had done. I forgot that we had jumped down into this pit universe and found Elsie alive and well.
Then it hit me. I remembered everything and jumped out of bed, my head barely missing the top of the cavern. I pushed aside the blanket posing as my door and ran into the middle of the hall. I scanned the doors, looking for the blanket that covered her door. When I finally spotted it, I hurried over and pushed the curtain aside.
Elsie wasn’t there.
I was immediately filled with worry. I wanted to be able to spend some time with my sister. I knew she had to be fairly safe, but after what had happened, I wasn’t going to be too careful.
“Looking for the little one?” a male voice called from behind me. I didn’t recognize the tone, so I didn’t respond at first. “Er, sorry,” the voice then said. “I mean, looking for Elsie?”
“Yes, actually. Where is she?” I asked him quietly, turning around.
A boy with dark hair and a dirty, torn t-shirt stood there by the wall, his arms crossed. He had a crooked grin on his face, and looked a bit more fun loving than Neil did. “She’s with Shailene. She’s been helping her find something to do while she’s down here. You know what the first thing she asked for was?”
“What?” I asked as I closed the curtain behind me.
“She asked if there were any good books down here. She said that she wanted to read while she fell and was sad when she didn’t have her favorite picture books,” the boy said, a smirk playing on his lips. “That little girl is adorable. How old is she anyway?”
“Seven,” I answered. “She’s seven years old, and the best little sister a girl could ask for.”
“She’s your sister?” The boy looked a bit surprised, yet curious at the same time. “Really? You two look nothing alike.”
“What? Just because she and I have different hair colors? Mom’s got dark hair and Dad’s got blonde. Easy enough to explain. I’m her older sister, Molly. Thomas, her brother, is somewhere around here,” I told him, glancing around after I said the last sentence. Where could he be anyway?
“Does he like sleeping?” The boy laughed a bit at his suggestion, but it actually was a pretty decent one anyway. Thomas did like to sleep, after all, and I knew it.
“Honestly, that’s probably where he is actually,” I smiled a bit. “Anyway, what’s your name?” I said. “I don’t think you told me.”
“I’m Ethan. Nice to meet you Molly,” he said with a smile. “So, how’d you get down here?”
“I jumped with Thomas. When Elsie fell, we were going to jump to find her and then figure out a way to get back up. Well, that’s probably not going to be as easy as we expected it to be,” I admitted and sighed. “You know any way to get back up there?”
Ethan shook his head. “I don’t really want to go up there, so I never really looked for a way up,” he admitted.
“Why not? Why are you down here anyway?” I quickly add another part to the end of my question. “If you don’t mind me asking of course.”
He just sighed. “It’s a long story,” he said softly and turned away slightly.
“I’ve got time,” I said, walking over and leaning against the wall beside him.
Ethan looked a little uncomfortable, but he spoke. “I, well…I wasn’t really accepted up there. I was different, a reject from everybody else. So, I had to get out. I couldn’t leave the Isle. They wouldn’t let me even if I asked. So, the only option I had was the Zipper. I jumped.” He frowned a bit and looked at his hands. “I was fourteen.”
I was silent for a minute, unsure of what to say to him. He must have had a hard childhood. I felt so sorry for him. “I…I’m sorry.”
“It’s been four years. I’m over it,” Ethan said plainly, not meeting my eyes.
“So it’s okay here now?” I asked.
He nodded quickly and smiled faintly. “Yeah. Neil told me that this was basically the Restless Isle reject pile, and everyone is accepting around here of people’s differences. If only up there could be the same way,” he said with a frown.
“Maybe someday it will be, and then you’ll go back and be the most well-liked person in the whole place,” I said with a small smile in his direction.
“Maybe…” was all he said.
I looked at him. “So, Ethan, where do you think my sister is?” I asked him.
“I can probably find her. Follow me, Molly,” he answered. He stood up straight and walked off towards the other hallway. I followed close behind, knowing I’d get lost around here if I didn’t do it.
“Thanks,” I told him with a small smile as we walked.
“What, for showing you where your sister is? No problem,” Ethan answered. He messed his hair up slightly and kept walking. He made a turn or two before reaching an open space. Shailene was sitting in the middle, facing away from us as she looked at the wall. But, there was no Elsie around. “Hey Shay!” Ethan called to her, cupping his hands to make a mini megaphone.
Shailene’s head spun around and she faced him. “Ethan? Oh, hey. What’s up?” She asked softly and curiously. “Need anything?”
“Well, where’s little miss Elsie?” Ethan asked. “Molly’s looking for her. She’s feeling deprived of sisterly love,” he teased, to which I rolled my eyes.
“I just want to spend time with her, that’s all. Where is she?” I asked, giving her a small smile to be nice as I stood in the doorway.
“Well, I let her go off to the bathroom a few minutes ago. I got lost in my thoughts, though, so I’m not sure how long ago it was. Sorry. We were hanging out in here for a while though before she left. We had grabbed something to eat for her. She really likes to eat though,” she added with a laugh.
“I think that’s her favorite pastime,” I smiled and laughed a bit. “Thanks for the help though Shailene. Where’s the bathroom, out of curiosity? Just so I know where she would be around here.”
Shailene just smiled. “I’ll show you. Ethan, you go do something fun. I’ll help her find her sister,” she said and stood up, looking at my previous guide.
“Yes, ma’am. See you later Molly,” Ethan said and walked off after giving me one of those two finger salutes.
“Thanks again for the help, Ethan!” I called after him with a smile. Then I turned to Shailene. “Thanks for helping. Lead the way,” I said softly, giving her a smile instead.
Shailene nodded and motioned for me to follow her. “This way,” she said and walked off and out of the room.
“So…” I said softly, ready to ask the awkward question that was on my mind now.
“What?” Shailene asked, looking at me as she led me off.
“You’re underground…so how do the bathrooms work?” I asked softly, chewing on my lip.
Shailene chewed on her lip and sighed. “Oh, right. Well, you’ll find out what happens when you get over there,” she said, her nose wrinkling.
“No, just tell me,” I said with a sigh. “I need to be prepared.”
Shailene sighed. She was about to open her mouth and tell me when Neil spotted us heading in that direction. “Hey, what are you looking for Molly?” he called over to us.
“We’re looking for Elsie. Apparently she went to the bathroom, so we’re heading in that direction,” I answered, turning around to face him. “Unless you know where she is and she isn’t in this area,” I then added.
“Well, even if she was there, I’m not forcing you to go over there. I’ll go and check for you,” he said. “Nobody should have to go there unless they really have to go.” Neil started to walk towards us to walk past.
“Where were you when I said I left something behind around there?” Shailene complained, a frown on her face.
“You’re my sister. I don’t help out my sister,” Neil teased before leaving the room, a small smirk on his lips as he walked.
“Your brother,” I said softly when she was gone, smiling a bit.
“He’s annoying as heck, but still,” Shailene shrugged with a small smile. She stood by the wall and waited for her brother, humming softly.
I leaned against the wall beside her. “So…” I asked softly, looking for the right conversation topic. What could I say to her?
“What’s it like up there?” Shailene asked softly and curiously.
“Huh? Oh, it’s fine. Everything is pretty plain and simple up there. Every once in a while somebody is sent down here for crimes against the government, but I don’t understand what the heck that means. I mean, those people are nice people who I can’t come up with a single time they’ve done something wrong, you know what I mean?” I start to ramble about things, not realizing what was coming out of my mouth. Then, I finished off once I caught myself. “So, do you know what they’re doing then to get sent down here in the first place?” I asked softly.
Shailene sighed. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later, okay? It’s easier that way.”
I nodded in understanding and gave her a small smile. “Okay, that’s fine.” I looked in the direction Neil had gone. “So, how far away is this?” I asked curiously and softly, just trying to make a bit more conversation so we weren’t standing there awkwardly waiting for her brother to show up with my sister.
“Not that far. You’ve got nothing to worry about. He’ll be here soon, and he’ll find Elsie,” Shailene assured me and gave me a small smile as we both leaned against the wall.
I nodded in understanding and looked around. This time, I was silent and stood there.
Neil ran back after a while, a bit out of breath, and without my sister. I chewed on my lip at the sight. Where was she?
“She wasn’t there,” Neil said, stopping in front of us. “I held my breath the whole time and looked around for her, but I had no idea where she was. She wasn’t anywhere near the bathrooms.” He frowned. “I’m really sorry Molly. I looked everywhere around there. I’ll help you look around here if you want.”
“Thanks, Neil. That means a lot,” I said sweetly with a smile. “So where do we look first?”
“Well, did you check her room?” Shailene asked me softly.
I nodded. “Yeah. That’s where Ethan found me, actually. I was checking up on her in her room, but she wasn’t there. He led me to find you,” I explained, looking between the two and motioning to Shailene at the last point.
“Okay. Maybe we should check there again,” Neil suggested. “It wouldn’t hurt, would it?” He then added, to prove his point.
I shrugged a bit and nodded. “Okay, why not? Let’s go,” I said with a small smile. “Can one of you two lead the way? I don’t know which way to go. This place is pretty confusing.”
Shailene just laughed a bit. “I’ve got you,” she said. “Follow me Molly.” She started off in the opposite direction Neil had come over from, and Neil and I followed close behind.
After a while, we reached the door of the room Elsie had been in yesterday. I looked at the two of them. “So, you think she’ll be in there?” I asked softly.
“Yeah, of course,” Neil said. He walked to the door and pushed the curtain aside, peering in. After a second, he poked his head out. “She’s in there, Molly. Go ahead and head in,” he directed and held it open for me to go in.
I slipped in beside him and stood by the door, frozen in place. Elsie was lying in bed, her eyes closed. She was probably asleep again, like the last time I had seen her. But that wasn’t what had caught my attention, and had caused me to freeze up like this.
There was a young man sitting by her bed, facing away from me. He had brown hair and was much taller than most guys I had seen. But he seemed so familiar. Where had I seen him before? I didn’t even look at his face and I knew that I knew him.
He pulled her ragged blanket up over her body and tucked her in affectionately, like a loving parent would do for his kids. He then brushed a lock of her blonde hair out of her face as she slept on the bed, completely fast asleep. Whoever he was, he really cared about Elsie, and I couldn’t be happier that there was someone else to take care of her besides her family, as well as Shailene.
Shailene came in after me and smiled when she saw the guy. “Looks like Elsie’s fine. Thanks for bringing her back to bed,” she said to the young man, standing beside me.
The guy turned around to face us, and my heart stopped for a split second. “Huh? Oh, no problem. She looked tired outside of the bathrooms, so I just brought her back. It wasn’t a problem at all.” Then he noticed me standing beside her and he gave me a small smile. “Hey there, Molly. Good to see you. But what the heck are you doing down here?” He asked, but I wasn’t able to make a single comment. What was I supposed to say anyway?
I should have come to the conclusion sooner that he’d be here. After all, if Elsie survived it, and she’s a small, fairly weak seven year old, a guy like him should be able to survive the fall. But it still had gone over my head. It was him. It was actually him, alive and well in front of me.
Mitchell Oliver was the one who had taken care of my sister.