Radical-9

CHAPTER 27: I Am A Spark

February 24^th, 2022

11:45 pm

It's gotten really dark outside and Jen still hasn't woken up. It's been hours and I'm worried as all hell. We've taken her inside the small farmhouse that was just sitting outside of the barn. It too stands completely abandoned, yet it is fully outfit as if it's been lived in. Of course, that could just be chalked up to it being a game and everything being pre-filled.

Jen is in the upstairs bedroom, just across from the bathroom. Why would we even need a bathroom here? We're in the living room downstairs, all worried and all tense.

“These visions, what do you think causes them?” Klein asks. “And how come I don't get any? Talk about a rip off!”

“I don't recall having them out of here, so maybe it is just something with how we came in?” I ask.

“Jen knows,” Sam says, pointing up.

“You think she knows what's up?” Athena asks him.

He nods.

“Well, maybe that means that is what she's seeing. Maybe it is something about what is so special about us three, and who knows who else. Maybe there are others out there like this too,” I say.

“Maybe,” Klein says. “I dunno, I'm thinking I'm going to retire for the night. If she wakes she'll see us here and know to get some proper rest, I say.”

“Sounds like a good idea, we're closing in on the end here, we only need two more keystones.”

“Oh yeah, we have six, right?”

“Yep”

“Can I go up with Jen?” Sam asks.

“Oh, of course Sam,” Athena says.

“Great! Thank you!” He says, racing up the stairs in the back of the room.

“There are two rooms left, there's another upstairs and one down here. If you two want I can take the other one upstairs,” Klein says.

“That should work, thank you Klein,” Athena says.

He nods his head and then walks up the stairs, following Sam past the corner and heading out of sight. I look at Athena and smile, she regards me back with a warm smile that melts my heart. We walk in the opposite direction of the stairs and past the dining room, down the hallway is a single bedroom. In a flash of movement we're both falling onto the bed, praising whatever soft sheets greets our faces. I'm looking directly into her eyes, they seem to be bluer than ever before, they're absolutely gorgeous.

“Well, it sure has been a long day,” she says.

“It has, and I'm glad I got to spend it with you,” I say.

“It's had its ups and downs,” she says, cradling her arms over my shoulders.

“May the ups continue forever,” I say, and we kiss. As soon as our lips touch I feel a familiar burning in my mind, and my eyes open wide as the world around me turns dark. I'm back here, back inside this place. I can see the bubbles of light that hold both Gregor and Ben's memory, and now there is a third one to join it. A part of me feels like I shouldn't look inside, like it is a breach of privacy, but I think I have to, I don't think I can leave this state any other way. I peek my head through and instantly get washed away by the light. Everything is bright and begins flashing even brighter.

Voices surround me from all directions. They fade in and out repeatedly.

“No, please don't! Not again!” A higher pitched voice yells out, I'm going to assume it's Athena.

“Get over here!” A deeper voice says, I don't recognize it.

“I don't want to!”

“Get over here now!”

Images flash all around me and begin shifting and changes so fast before my eyes. Bodies move and I can't process it all. I hear a scream all around me, moving from right to left and then all throughout my body, the vibrations shaking me to my core.

The world around me then paints itself in, I'm looking through Athena's eyes it seems. I'm in her bedroom, it is rather small, about half the size of my own, and mine isn't particularly big either. The world around her speeds up and it keeps speeding up so much that the world around me begins to distort. She closes her eyes and the world grows dark, “Please stop! I'll tell Mom!”

“Your mother isn't going to find out,” The deep voice says.

“Mom! Aaron!” Athena screams out.

The scream cuts me back into reality, I'm staring straight into her eyes as she sits right beside me.

“What...was that?” I ask.

“You...saw it. Please don't hate me,” she says.

“Hate you? How could I ever hate you?”

“I'm dirty, impure. My...my father he...” She cuts off, sobbing.

“Hey, it's okay. Look, I am really sorry that you had to go through that. I can't even begin to understand how that feels.”

“I...I didn't want you to see this side...this weak side of me,” she says.

“It's not weak, not at all,” I say. “...the complete opposite.”

She buries her head into the blankets.

“I have to ask...is he still...a problem?”

“No. After the last time Aaron found out,”

“Your brother, right?”

“I loved him so much, when he found out what had been happening he protected me from our dad.”

“What happened?” I ask.

“He was kicked out, quite literally. They started fighting and I got so scared. It got to the point where Aaron broke me out of my room and we took off.”

“Just the two of you?!”

“Yes, my mom's a whole other can of worms, so she's been out of the picture for a long time. After that it was just Aaron and Me.”

“Where did you go?”

“There was this run down apartment complex a town over from where my father lived in Monument. We didn't want to be too close, but at the same time we couldn't walk across the entire state, so we walked as far as we could. The place we found was in trashed, but it had no landlord. Neither of us had any money so we couldn't pay rent. I was fine with staying in a place that didn't need rent. We had to drop out of our schools, high school for me and college for him.”

“Couldn't risk your dad finding you there, right?”

“Yeah, this was when he got into Elysium. I guess he felt like he-”

“Needed an escape?” I finish.

She nods her head.

I take in a deep breathe, “I know the feeling.”

“I'm so sorry,” she says.

“Don't be, you were forced into a shit situation. But you know what? Things are different now. I'm here, Klein, Jen, and Sam are here. We're here for you. And when we get out of this game I'm coming to find you,” I say, placing my hand on hers.

“What if...we don’t go back?”

“What?”

“If I stay in here I don't have to be in the same world as him, I don't have to be scared anymore,” she says.

“You could die in here.”

“People die out there all of the time! At least in here there's no blood and no mess.”

“I’m afraid I can’t abide by that. I can't sit around and pretend like everything is okay here, there are hundreds of players in here that want to get out.”

“You know that things will never be right out there, right, with how the country is fucked?”

“Things can get better, they will get better,”

“How are you so certain?”

I look back into her eyes, I caress my hand against her cheek. “Do you remember in the old cartoons where they'd always bring out that large stick of TNT?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

“They'd always focus in on the little spark that lights the fuse. That teeny-tiny little spark that causes the huge explosion. That spark is me.”

“You?”

“I guess I haven't thought on it much recently, I was too down in the dumps to, but yes. I am that spark, I want to be that spark that ignites the bomb that changes our world. I remember a time when it wasn't the way it is now, and I want to bring it back to that point again.”

“You really think that you can make a difference?” She asks me.

“I do.”

We're both staring into each other. Athena turns towards me and leans in close and whispers, “I want to join you. I want to make a difference with you,” she says.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll follow you anywhere.”

I smile, and move in to kiss her, she stays and we connect.

“Hey Andy?” She asks me as she pulls away.

“Yeah?”

“I want you to know...my name. It's Lindsey, Lindsey Berrant,” she says.

“Lindsey...I love it,” I say, hugging closer to her. “I absolutely love it.”