FicWad

I found out it's over,

I'm a fallen soldier,

lost in all the madness,

trampled by the last kiss,

woke up with the first tear,

watching as the smoke cleared.

Leave me where you've found me,

the world falling around me.



Wave goodbye,

watch it die.

I'll pretend I knew it.

Honestly, I believed

in and out and through it.



Stood until the last day,

waiting for the life change.

If the fight is over,

forget just what I told you.

Thought that we could pull through,

but I already lost you.

Leave me where you found me,

the world falling around me.



Fallen Soldier - God or Julie





My eyes slowly opened, blinking a few times before being able to maintain themselves fully open. For a second, I forgot where I was, what had happened the day before, even the people I knew. Then it all hit me like a hammer square in the chest. In that second of ignorance, I was joyful; Iwas in a world of full bliss. My face of happiness at facing a new day disappeared and was replaced by a worried frown.



Today was the day we would find out about The Great Escape. Yes, in capital letters; to successfully escape from the Ruins deserves nothing less.



You would think I wouldn't have been able to sleep well, that I had probably tossed and turned all night; well, I slept like a baby. I guess it was because I was mentally exhausted. I yawned loudly, not worrying about waking anyone else because I was alone. Since Alyssa had taken over my bed and was now asleep in Gerard's room just two feet from his bed - exactly two feet - I was moved back to my room where I had never spent a night, until last night, that is.



A bed from another spare room was taken a put into this one, which was a pretty dumb thing to do considering this room was only mine by name; I had no clothes or other personal belongings here, all of that was in Gerard's room. I couldn't decide if I preferred being in this room across the hall from Gerard or in another one much farther away. Too late to worry about it now.



I got out of bed and stretched up high, yawning once more. I needed a shower to wake me up, and that calls for some clean clothes as well. I had to cross the hall for that.



Wearing only boxers, I cautiously opened my door and looked down the hallway in both directions; the coast was clear. Not that I cared about anyone seeing me in boxers. I just didn't want to wake my neighbors. It would make things easier for everyone if they kept sleeping while I snuck in to grab some clothes.



I carefully opened Gerard's door, taking great care in not making a sound. I walked in crouching and found Gerard wide awake, sitting on his bed and watching Alyssa sleep with the help of a candle resting on the nightstand. From the dark circles under his large eyes, it was obvious he hadn't slept at all. I stood up straight when I saw him and he did the same in his sitting position.



"Clothes,"I stated simply, slightly above a whisper, as I headed over to his closet where I had my suitcase and clothes.



He didn't say a word but turned to watch me as I made my way over to the closet. As Iquickly picked something out and closed the closet doors shut, he asked, "Did... did you sleep well?"



I turned and looked at him surprised. It wasn't really a question,it was more of a way to break the ice. "Listen, Gerard, I'm sorry about... a-about yesterday. I didn't mean to be a total ass about all of this... I was just a little shocked about it."



"Tell me about it - we all were," he said a little too forcefully. Sighing, he then said in a softer tone, "I'm sorry I almost - I went at you like that. I'm just under a lost of stress... we were already having problems, and now this..." he said, looking at the sleeping girl. Looking back at me with regret on his face, he continued, "I'm so sorry, Frank... I never asked for this to happen - it just did. And I... I'm so lost..."



I shook my head. "Don't, Gerard. Just... for now, just take care of her."With that I left the room. Before closing the door behind me, I stole one last glance of him; he had his head down, his raven hair hanging down in front of his face, covering it. The candle light shining off his pale skin and black hair made me wish I had a camera in that moment.



I took my shower, enjoying the 10 minutes of it. Water pouring over your head always seemed to have a relaxing effect and I absolutely loved it. After that I had breakfast with Aileen; the others had already had theirs. We didn't say much, really, just a few words about how bizarre it was that Alyssa was back. Bizarre but wonderful, oh yes. Wonderful indeed.



The day seemed to drag along as we all waited for Alyssa and Gerard to come out of their room - his room. We all just sat or stood around outside with nothing to do. Not being able to do anything or think about anything else except the Great Escape. I was dying to hear it.



A little after 4PM, according to Ray's watch, Gerard appeared in the doorway followed by a still limping Alyssa. He was holding her arm and carefully guiding her to the table. Aileen quickly got up from her seat and ran over to them both to help, holding Alyssa's other arm and receiving a thankful smile in return. No one said a word but offered sympathetic smiles instead as Gerard sat in his chair motioning for Alyssa to sit next to him in what had been, until that moment, my seat. Maybe it had been hers before me. I didn't really care.



I took aseat next to Ray at the other end of the table. I felt a bit alone as I looked at the empty seat in front of me. My eyes rose up meeting Aileen's, who offered a tentative smile; I didn't smile back.



Alyssa looked around the table with a weak smile on her face. Her eyes swept across each of the faces full of anticipation, stopping on mine.



"That's Frank," Gerard said motioning across the table, his eyes focused on Alyssa."He's pretty new down here, but he knows about... everything."



Alyssa glanced back at Gerard, who nodded at her. Her eyes quickly switched back over to me, studying me. After what seemed like too long to me, she smiled and said,"Nice to meet you, Frank."



I smiled falsely back and mumbled a "You too."



"How are you feeling?" Kat asked worriedly from in front of her.



"Much better today. My muscles are still sore and my head is killing me... but much better."She smiled, trying to show she meant it, but her expression was obviously amask of the real pain she felt.



Looking around the table once more, she said, "Well I'm sure you all have a million questions swimming around your heads," and laughed weakly. "About where I've been the last three months and all..."



Raising ahand suddenly to stroke her wavy black hair, Gerard said, "You don't have to explain anything; we're just happy you're back."



Unable to help myself, I rolled my eyes. The hell she didn't! We all wanted to know what happened.



Thankfully, Alyssa waved him off. "Of course I do, Gerard. Everyone has a right to know... however hard it may be for me to say..." The last words caught in her throat as if she were trying not to cry. Gerard grabbed her hand and kissed it. She smiled and squeezed his back, thanking him.



Damn it... she's good, Ithought as she looked up at the ceiling trying to control herself. I wanted to see a flicker of a lie in her eyes, an evil smirk, anything that would prove this was all a lie, but saw nothing.



"I know you all thought I was dead, and the truth is I would have been better off dead."Gerard brought a hand to his face, covering his eyes, as Alyssa continued.



"The Ruins... they wanted it to look that way. At one point in the war, I was all alone. They took advantage of that. Four of them came running over to me hysterically; Ithought I was a goner, but then they tore my necklace off," then looking at Gerard she clarified, "the one you gave me. They just, yanked it off and threw it on the ground. Then they knocked me out. I fought as best as I could but since I don't have any real attack powers... I was easy prey."



"I should've stayed with you the whole time... I don't know how I let you out of my site..." Gerard regretted, still covering his face.



Squeezing his hand again urgently, Alyssa pleaded, "Don't say that, Gerard, it's no ones fault... we were at war! It's impossible to keep track of everyone..." Gerard shook his head not forgiving himself.



I felt uncomfortable as I watched the little scene. I couldn't see his face since his back was turned toward Aileen and I, but just hearing the agony in his voice was enough to make anyone's heart tighten in compassion.



"I should've realized something was wrong..." Aileen said unexpectedly, making everyone turn to look at her. Leaning over the table to be able to look at Alyssa well, she said, "You were right next to me, and then the next second, you were gone. I should have known something bad had happened..."



Shaking her head frantically, Alyssa told her, "No, you couldn't have known. It's impossible: a thousand things could have happened. It's not your fault or anyone else's, it just... happened." Aileen silently wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye.



"Where'd they take you, Aly?" Kat asked her with a worried expression on her pretty face.



"When Iwoke up, I was in cage type thing. It actually looked like a jail; there was abed, a toilet and a sink. The cage room was inside a bigger room, locked away from the rest of the Ruin world."



"But why did they capture you? What did they want?" Bob asked, confused.



"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, smirking sadly. "The Stone of Life.It's what they're always after; they want it so desperately... Mauritius would come see me every day with a few Ruins... they would... torture me... kick me, punch me, throw me around the room... he even used his power a few times when Ireally pissed him off..."



I could tell even from behind that Gerard's whole body had tensed up. "The psionic blast? He used it on you?"



She nodded grimly, avoiding Gerard's intense gaze. "He wanted to know about the Stone... where it was hidden, how to use it-"



Just as Iwas about to ask exactly what that psionic blast thing was about, Gerard banged his fist on the table, cutting Alyssa off and making most of us jump in our seats. "I'll kill him," he muttered menacingly under his breath. "I really will."



Alyssa brought a hand to his face and caressed his cheek sadly. Gerard gave no type of response.



Dropping her hand back on the table, she continued. "I didn't tell him anything, so they just kept me there, hoping one day I would give up and tell them."



"Why would they pretend you were dead?" said a voice.



Everyone turned and looked at me with curious expressions on their faces. Had Ireally just said that? Shit.



"I mean," I said, trying to fix it, "wouldn't it have been a smarter idea to let us... I mean all of you know that the Ruins had you, and then try and make a trade or something - you for the Stone." I had meant it as a question but it didn't really turn out that way.



Alyssa studied me with absolutely no expression on her face. She silently chewed her lower lip as she digested what I had said. It made my skin crawl, for some reason.



A smile suddenly appeared on her face - much too quickly and forcefully, for my liking."Of course, that would have been a brilliant idea, but do you really think Iwould be traded for the Stone of Life? It's too important."



"Yes," I stated simply.



Frowning slightly, she asked, "Yes what?"



"Yes, Ithink they would have traded you for the Stone. Anyone here would have, I'm sure."



She seemed a bit exasperated. "Well I wouldn't have let them! The Stone isn't something you can just trade... it's much more valuable than a single life. It means the life or death of all human kind."



Gerard lifted his head and stared at her, studying her. I thought her answer was a bit odd, but let it go anyways.



"How did you escape?" Ray asked cautiously.



"Every night two Ruins would come to my cell with a plate of food and water, but the night... not last night but the one before, only one came; I don't know why. When he had his back turned putting the plate on my bed, I quietly picked the ceramic lid off the toilet... you know, the back of the toilet? Well, I picked it up and hit him on the head with it. It actually didn't break, which was pretty lucky for me, so I just dragged him to my bed, put him in there and covered him with the blanket so it looked like I was sleeping. Then I transformed myself to look like him and walked out, locking the cell behind me with his keys."



"That's your power? You can steal people's appearances?" I asked, interested. I had always liked that power. It would be awesome to change your face and body and start a new life whenever you wanted.



She forced a laugh. "That's kind of a harsh way of putting it but yes, I can transform. It's called shape shifting. I can change into any appearance I've seen."Turning back to the others, she continued. "Once that was over, I had to knock out the guard that was outside of the room where my cell was in... after that all I had to do was walk around until I found the exit. It was hard to do that without limping though..."



"Where's the entrance to their hideout?" Bob asked with a stern look on his face.



Alyssa moved her hand in the air, making a confused gesture to match the look on her face. "I really don't know... I mean, I just got out of there as fast as I could, and when I finally got out, I changed my appearance again to some guy I had seen another day and just... walked. All I know is that the door was a huge rock and that it was in the middle of a forest. It wasn't a place I had been before so I just walked until I arrived here... it's like my legs knew the way. It took me a day to get here because of my limp; I had to stop and rest many times, too..."



HA. There you have it. The Flaw. Yes, this also deserves to be in capital letters. Of course it did. Thanks to it, everyone will see what Iknew - and hoped - all along; she's a liar. Her whole story was fiction, belonging in a book and not in the real world. As I looked at the faces around the table with a look of triumph on mine, I saw how wrong I really was; they were all smiling and nodding their heads. Believing what she had said. The Flaw... wasn't a flaw at all.



"Well, we'll just glad you're back," Kat said grinning while reaching out across the table to squeeze Alyssa's hands.



Alyssa smiled apologetically. "I really wish I knew where it is... I should know, I was there, but all I wanted to do was get away from that awful place..." she subconsciously touched her shoulder where she had a large black bruise.



"The important thing is that you made it out of there," Ray told her, offering acomforting half-smile.



Alyssa nodded, pressing her lips together as she tried to control her emotions. Her eyes filled with tears of happiness. She opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out. Everyone smiled at the look of pure joy on her face. "It's good to be home," she finally managed, making us all, including myself, grin. Iwiped the grin off my face as soon as I realized what this meant.



I was screwed.



A cup of coffee, anyone?









Do you remember back then when we met,

You told me, "This gets harder",

Well, it did



It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish - MCR






There you have it, The Great Escape. So, what do you all think about her now? Believable… or not?

Sorry for the loooong lyrics, but I love that song… and that group. They have beautiful songs and lyrics… go listen. They’re on myspace, too, like the rest of the bands of the world.

Rate and review please, you know how much I love it. I’ll try and get the next chapter up ASAP, but it’s hard with all the work I have lately.

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