Chapter 20 Melody awoke with a harsh pounding in her head. 'I'll never drink again. What even happened last night to cause this?' Sitting up, a wave of dizziness washed over her. Quickly, she closed her eyes and tried to recount the night before. She met only darkness and jumbled memories. A flash of lights erupted behind her eyelids and everything came back. In chronological order to boot. The prom. The drink. Benji. Pen. Pat. Rya. Jeff. That weird guy with Rya. Toby. Lance. Lance looking cute in a suit. Lance in the mask. Lance with that girl in the hidden alcove. Melody felt her heart shatter again. Lance with that girl. The pain. Her tears. Her screams. Her friends. Dear gracious. Her friends. What they looked like. She remembered whispered conversations. They were all talking. With her dad. He spoke to them all? He knew them all? Getting angry, she got out of bed despite her pounding head and rushed downstairs. The sight she saw shocked her slightly. They were all there. Her friends and her dad. Eating breakfast. No. Brunch by the glance she gave the clock. They all looked up at her varying looks on their faces. The boys made to get up but she stopped them with a slight wave of her hand. "Stop. I have a lot of questions. I want answers. Start talking." She hissed. "What is going on? With all of this? With all of you?" "Can I start please?" Lance asked. "About last night I'm-." "Sorry? Save it. I'm still angry, no, furious at you. Say one more word and I will hit you in the face until my anger is soothed. You'll go last. Anyone else want to explain?" "I'll go first then." Benji starts. "After all you've threatened my "brother" with violence." "Alright. Get along with it." She says impatiently. Benji drags his cup closer to him cradling it. "I'm dead. Your dad gave me a chance to...continue...Uhm....working. Now I'm in front of you as Benjamin or Benji for short. But I'm not always Benji." He slips away from the table and returns moments later, masked and ready. He doesn't say a word, just stares intensely at them all. Pat smiles a little. "You already know mine. Pyromaniac over here." Toby twitches. "Toby Rogers. You know mine as well." Jeff smirks. "Jeff the killer. Also known as Jeff Woods." Rya never answered. Penelope looks away. "I haven't told anyone mine so..." "I was born Penelope...Grace but my nicknames were always derived from my first. The most common one was Penny. But I'm straying away from the point. For eighteen years I lived with my mother but after my...transformation I drifted. I was the last of four children; twin brothers and a sister." She stopped, tears brimming. "My brothers and father died in an accident. It was never revealed how exactly but we suspected foul play. But no matter, for speculation leads nowhere. I had applied for a scholarship and had been rejected. I fell into depression but a silver lining comes to everyone who waits. I was allowed to opportunity to work in a place where I'd be comfortable. A bookshop. Well to make a long story short I was a victim of arson but somehow my books saved me. I became one of them." "I've never considered myself as a part of this house Melody dear. My story is of my own accord. I should say my revealing it is of my own desire not because I'm obliged to tell you. Please feel free to be annoyed at my curtness." With that Penelope sweeps out of the room, a measure of tension left in her wake. Toby sits. His body vibrating with anger. Slamming his hand on the table, he gets up from the table and follows Penelope out. Melody sits, slightly shocked at the conversation. What just happened? "That right there was not Pen." Pat says loftily. "I haven't a clue who that could be." Melody startles realising she'd been thinking aloud. "Boss. We'll leave you to it." 'Benjamin' says. "Let's give them some privacy." 'Boss' sits at the table looking closely at Melody. "The things you've read, seen, heard and even experienced yourself are because of reasons unknown." She feels rather than hears. "It's a mystery but it's true. You know it is." Slowly a knife is raised by some inhuman appendage and swings towards Melody's neck. Opening her mouth she screams, shattering the blade. She hears footsteps distantly. Feeling him smile, she stop, finally noticing that she's changed too. Feeling dizzy, she sees the group of her misfits standing at the door each one in their battle stance, weapons ready and then darkness. "She's asleep." The group 'feels' after the Boss put his daughter to bed. "Take this is your 'day off' everyone." Nodding in the affirmative they disperse.
Pov: ~Pen and Toby~ Toby stands around for a bit, wondering what to do, before noticing Penelope going outside, a book clutched tightly in her hands. Making up his mind, he follows. Penelope walks into the forest, her feet swift in the grass. Her gaze fixed she walks determined to reach her destination, not noticing her tail. Toby follows, curious and slightly worried. Where was she going? Penelope walks for another two minutes and then abruptly stops. The way she stopped made Toby think there was some barrier. Sneaking closer, he sees her sit on a stump, cross her bare feet and begin to silently read. Confused, he walks closer. Stopping behind a huge tree Toby notices the trunk. Some one had carved on the tree. Remembering Lance and his brother's words he realised where they were. The middle of the forest. Slowly, Toby shifts stepping on a twig alerting Penelope. "I know that you are here Tobias. Come on out my dear." Toby walks forward, stumbling slightly at the sight before him. Penelope turns toward him. Her face holds a tired smile. But that isn't what makes him stumble. Her hands are outstretched to him and to make matters weird they're made of paper. Walking closer he sees that the paper is torn into neat strips, crisscrossing to appear like flesh when carefully covered. She stands and closes the distance between them, gently resting her hands on his shoulders. The sound of rustling paper in the still air unnerves him, causing him to shrink away from her. Penelope's smile drops, a cold sneer replacing it. "Have you ever wondered why I never told anyone about me?" She questions, her voice a cold whisper. "It's due to my current appearance sweetheart. It scares people." She steps away, the sound of rustling paper louder. "Ask me." She demands. "I know you would like to know. Ask me." "What are you really?" Toby asks softly. Slowly she turns to him and disappears. A cloud of pages flutter past him, into the air and slowly float to the ground behind him. Toby watches as the paper takes form. Legs first, the torso and arms and lastly the head. Slowly the finer details form. Fingers and toes, eyes and ears, nose and lips. Like a human jigsaw puzzle. Clothes form. A simple dress, looking like it was taken from a history book. Colour falls in, covering the necessary strips the perfect hue. A mop of black braids fall from the humanoid's head. Details continue to be drawn in until Penelope stands in front of him again. Blinking slowly she looks at him confused, until realisation kicks in. "T...Toby? Wh...What...? But I..." She wonders aloud. "What did you see?" Toby looks at her, shell shocked. Didn't she remember? He looked at her carefully before answering. "I didn't see anything." "No. You saw something." She hissed. "What did you see?" Toby frowns. Suddenly Penelope's face darkens. "She was here, wasn't she?" She spat, her eyes wild. "She surfaced again." Whipping her head around, she glared at Toby. Unsure, he hesitantly walked toward her. "We're friends aren't we?" He asked soothingly. "Friends?" She scoffed, arrogance coming off of her in waves, "No. We aren't." Toby paled. "I really thought we were." He whispered. "I thought we were more than that." Penelope says softly. "I should rephrase. She thought so."
Pov ~ Pen and Toby part 2 Penelope turned away and disintegrated into the strips again. A gust of wind picked up and blew them away. Toby sat heavily on the stump Penelope had seated herself upon and sighed. His vision blurred as tears silently made their way down his cheeks. Looking around he saw the book Penny had left. Leather bound and clasped with a gold clip. The key slot had been adorned with semi precious beads. He watched the book and smiled. He had to return it of course but on remembering their conversation he decided against it. Angrily he threw it with all his might. It hit the tree he'd hid behind with a loud thud. Feeling full of regret, he walked over to the book and picked it up. Closely examining it for damage, he noticed the clasp had come undone. Returning to his seat on the stump, he read the faded writing on the first page. Penelope had just returned to the house with a heavy heart. Standing on the back porch she stared unseeing at the door. Bitter tears fell as she relived the conversation. 'Why would you do this to me Penn? Aren't we one and the same?' she thought. 'Sacrificing my happiness for your preservation is cruel." She felt the subtle shift. 'And you'd have been hurt in the process even if I hadn't stepped in.' Penn supplied. 'Do you think he'd love you if he knew the truth? Poppycock. He'll find someone...better.' The drawl in her voice made Penelope feel sick. "I can't fight myself." she whispered to her reflection in the door's glassy surface. Watching the reflection shimmer, she saw Penn arrogantly staring back at her. Smirk in place, the reflection replied cheekily, "Of course you can't." Just as she'd finished saying that Penelope felt sharp pain flood her body. Swooning with the intensity, she saw the world tilt but didn't feel herself hit the ground. Someone had caught her. "T...Toby?" her voice called out. Vision swimming, she heard the disembodied voice say, "No Penelope. It's... Ric."
Chapter 21 Penelope woke to the feel of a damp cloth on her forehead. Cracking open an eye, she saw Melody looking at her worriedly. "Penny. You're awake sweetie. Had me worried for a bit." She gave her friend a tired smile. "After you went total dark side and stuff I sincerely was worried. What happened?" Penelope opened her lips but a sharp feeling in her side shut her up. Melody looked at her. "I'm asking about the bruises Penny. They're all over. Did Toby do that to you?" Penelope started. Melody thought that Toby'd do something as horrible as that? Geez. What was her view on boys now? Melody looked at the warring expressions on Penelope's face and sighed. "I got warped. I don't trust Lance or dad or anyone else for that matter." She smiled wryly. "You, Pam and Rya are on my blacklist too. I'm only helping because I want more answers." Penelope gestured to the cup on the nightstand. Melody gave her the cup, waiting patiently as she drank from the cup. Penelope held the empty cup in her palms and worried it. Looking up, Penelope audibly sighed. "Well. I guess I owe you for all this so I'll try to answer all of your questions as honestly as I can." Melody got up and walked to the window. Slowly she turned and faced Penelope's bed again. Leaning against the window sill she looked at Penelope closely. "I can't remember last night. What happened?" Penny chuckled. "That's all? Well. We went to prom and everything went south." Melody frowned. "You can't remember much either can you?" Penelope frowned too. "Not much." "We'll have to jigsaw I guess." Melody said tiredly. "All I remember was I saw Lance with that girl. I only remember needing to find him. It was like I was under a spell or drugged or something." Penelope started. "That happened to me too. The need to find Toby and when I found him and that girl, I flipped." Melody laughed. "I remember everything going to dust when I screamed. I never knew paper could be so dangerous." Penelope chuckled herself. "To be honest...neither did I. I almost killed people. I'm so ashamed." "You weren't yourself. It's okay." Melody calmly assured her. "Since you're up and at 'em I'll get you something to eat." Penelope grinned her thanks and returned to resting as Melody left the room.
Chapter 21- part 2 Melody skipped down the stairs, slightly better than she'd been earlier. But there were things she was still unsure of. What had made them all flip out the night before? Why were huge chunks of the night still missing? She hadn't drunk anything alcoholic so how...? And not to mention everyone's messed up behavior this morning. Still mulling over the night's events, she barely noticed Lance sitting at the table, his mask on the table beside him. Looking up at her she could see the distant look in his eye. He returned his focus to the table watching the cup of coffee he had in his hands. Melody frowned deeply. Something wasn't right. Still ignoring him she set about making Penny soup and a sandwich. It would be easy enough. She just opened the can of chicken noodle soup when Lance spoke. "I'm sorry." She almost dropped the pot she'd been holding. She gently placed it on the stove, holding it securely to prevent it from falling. "I'm sorry." he said again, sounding hollow. She gripped the handle of the pot tighter and heard it creak. "Sorry? You're sorry?" She turned away from the stove furiously. "Sorry? That's it?" He looked up at her, the same far off look in his eyes. "I am sorry. Truly I am." She felt herself shaking with anger. "Just stop Lance. Just. Stop." She looked at him again, the same glazed, glassy look in his eyes. "I'm s-" She raises her hand to silence him. "Apologies will get you no where." She heard rather than saw him take a sharp breath. "You can forgive Penelope or Rya or Pat or Toby or your dad for that matter and he withheld way more than the rest of us so why not me?" Melody snapped. "They didn't ask to be in a relationship with me and then go off and snog some random girl from the party now did they." Lance visibly balked. Melody felt the memory come back unbidden fresh and clear. Nothing else as pristine as that one memory. She snarled. "You think I wanted to remember that." she said more to herself than anyone else. Lance looked at her, the same dead look in his eyes. "I'm sorry to have caused you discomfort. I'm sorry. I will leave. And our current arrangement is considered void. I will take my leave now." He slid the mask on silently and walked away, a new air about him. A closed off one. She replayed the conversation. She'd been dumped. And she could almost tell herself it didn't break Lance's heart had she not seen the glimmer of tears sparkling in his eyes before he'd finished his speech. She sunk to the floor. Her heart ached so much. Stubbornly she refused to cry. At least he had admitted his fault and left. But that made it hurt more. He was just so noble. Holding her breath, she forced the tears down and stood up. Penny's soup had warmed sufficiently so she put it in a pretty bowl and placed it on the tray along with her sandwich. She finished it with a some juice in a mug, balanced the tray and made her way slowly up the stairs.
Chapter 22 She came to Penny's room and placed it on her lap gently. Noting her silence, Penny looked up at her. "Mel? You okay?" Melody opened her mouth so but instead a pained sound escaped. She felt the tears come and her voice left. She wordlessly and soundlessly sobbed while standing at the foot of Penny's bed. "Mel? Oh no." Penny got up, but not before moving the tray, and hugged her. "It's okay." she whispered into the shorter girl's hair. They both stood in the room Penny comforting and Mel sobbing uncontrollably. Guiding her to sit, Penny watched the girl's tear stained face closely. "I see." was all she whispered. Looking up at her quizzically, Melody furrowed her eye brows. Lowering her eyes, Penny smiled wryly. "Toby and I as well sweetheart. I had to. He didn't deserve that and neither did I." Melody fell onto Penny's shoulder, sobbing harder. "I-It i-isn't f-fair" she hiccups. "It's j-just n-not. Where'd h-he g-get off being s-so noble a-after that? Why d-didn't he g-give m-me the c-chance to hu-hurt him too?" Penny laughed until her sides hurt only stopped by the look of absolute bewilderment on Melody's face. "I'm losing my mind. Or rather what's left of it." Penny states, tears of "merriment" flowing down her face. The two girls sit side by side sobbing softly, each one trying not to intrude into the others moment of grief. Penny sits her hurt finally beginning to flow freely and enjoying it until she feels the numbing feeling in her heart. All of her tears are cried out for now. 'New plan of action' her mind supplies. She turns to Melody and sees a look of determination on her face. "At one point in my life" Penny interjects "I promised myself that I wouldn't be a girl with my emotions. If I ever got my heart broken I'd never like or love again. Easier said than done." Melody listens to the strange wording but pays little mind to it. "I still want him to hurt." Melody says grimly. "I need that for some sick reason. Nothing dangerous. Just for him to feel like I did." Hearing the rumbling of their stomachs, the girls giggle. Spying the tray, Penny brings it over for them to share. Using a portable camp stove in Penny's room, they reheat the soup. "You had camping supplies in your room all this time and didn't say anything?" Melody asks. "I could have avoided that whole awkward session in the kitchen had you told me earlier." Penny laughs a little. "It would of happened sooner or later. Thank goodness it was sooner." She stirred the soup and adds some more canned foods to the bubbling pot. "Why do you have this here anyway?" Melody asks, her curiosity getting the better of her. Penny looks at her, gauging if she should tell her or not. The girl's face is an open book. Sighing, she begins her story. "Your dad had found me in the forest. I had been wandering for days maybe. He brought me here. I stayed for a while then left again. When I came back, he had you. The other girls were here too. I decided to stay then. You needed help." Grabbing a bowl, she ladles some of the soup into it. The remainder she tips into the other bowl. The girls sit cross legged on the sleeping bag, the tray between them. They sit in relative silence filling the void in their stomachs. After tucking away the soup, sandwich halves and their respective drinks, they sit enjoying the satisfied feeling in their stomachs. Penny smiles and continues her story. "I hid what I was from everyone until one night Rya saw me go to pieces. Literally." She paused to pack the dirty dishes, then continued. "I'd planned that if anyone found out I'd leave, though better prepared than I was last time. I worked and bought supplies. The night, Rya found out I planned to skip out but then your dad found me and told me that I was safe. Call me paranoid but I had my stash replenished every year since then just in case any or every thing went South." Melody snorted. "Last night for example?" Penelope shuddered. "That and also Toby and my little, how should I say, "heated discussion"? She furrowed her brows. "I'd planned to leave tonight to be honest before things got even more out of hand." She bit her lips and pursed them softly. "I've said too much. But really. I'm not good with confrontation, conflict or people for that matter. I prefer books. They don't judge."
Great chapter and a great story I really like how you guys delivered it and it's really interesting ^_^ good job and keep it up