L i v e - E v e r y - M o m e n t -

[Mario]

Posting to mark, great story so far. ^_^

[oakdenugg]

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

----- That night I couldn't sleep.
----- I slipped out of my bed, my feet landing softly on the floor. I quickly looked at a snoring Thomas, the tip-toed past his bed, and into the living room.
----- I quickly opened the back door, and the cold air filled my lungs, and made me more alert.
----- I closed the door behind me, and started running. I had no idea where I was going, I just needed to clear my head. I tried taking off, but I quickly understood how hard it was.
----- I skidded to a stop, my sneakers the only sound in the middle of the night. I looked around, and felt the air get cooler. Then the guy with the long, black, emo hair appeared out of nowhere. I took a step back, and eyed for an escape route. The he smiled, and two very familiar shapes walked out behind him.

----- Jay and Akino!

----- The boy stepped back, and Jay walked up to me, took my hand, and put something cold into it. Then he closed my hand around it, and patted it.
----- "Wait until we're gone," he whispered into my ear, then went back and stood next to the mysterious boy.
----- Akino came up, and sniffed me. I almost cried, but I held myself together. I bent down, and patted his head, but my hand went through. It was like waving your hand through smoke, but after his figure shimmered, it went back to it's regular form.
----- His eyes looked up at me sadly, and I couldn't even muster up a sad smile. I was on the verge of tears, and my throat was choking. Then I saw he had something shiny in his mouth. He dropped it on the ground, wagged his tail slowly, then walked past Jay and the boy, and dissapeared. I picked up the present Akino gave me, and held it to my heart, thinking of him.
-----The boy appeared infront of me, as if he had transported infront of me. He hadn't even moved. He blinked slowly, as if thinking, and I felt something metallic fall against my neck softly. I felt around, and it was a neacklace.
----- I wanted to ask a lot of questions, but Jay and the boy shimmered into the air, and I was left alone, with my three ghostly presents.

----- I didn't realize that I'd fallen asleep where I had been standing until someone roughly shook me awake. I looked up, and saw a teenage girl standing over me, her light brown hair cut short. She helped me up, and I realized I was still holding on to Jay's present tightly. I quickly bent down and took Akino's too without looking at it, and shoved them both in my front pocket.
----- The girl was about 14, and she had light brown hair, with neon pink streaks. She had dazzling green eyes, and a silver lip ring, three cartiledge peircings on the left, and only one on the right. They were all rings. Both earlobes were peirced once, and she had put in little skull and crossbone studs. She was wearing a dark red T-shirt with a black skull on it, "dripping" down her shirt as if bleeding. She was wearing black jeans, and was barefoot.
----- Her eyes looked cold and angry, and they didn't change when she looked at me.
----- "You okay?" she asked, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She didn't ask it to be nice, probably checking to see if I was a threat.
----- "Yeah," I said. I wiped my hands off on my jeans, and blew my bangs out of my face.
----- The girl's expression didn't change. "I'm Spark," she said. "I picked it out myself," she said, looking proud.
----- I nodded. "I'm Lane." The girl didn't smile, but looked up at the sky, as if calculating the time. I looked at her curiously.
----- "How old are you, uhhh, Spark?" I asked.
----- "Why would I tell you?" she snapped, and turned the other way.
----- I ignored her coldness, and asked another question. "Who are you with?" She didn't even move. "Are you alone?" And with that, she whipped around, and pointed her finger right under my chin, lifting my head up. "What makes you wanna know?" she snarled, and pulled her finger back. She shoved her hands into her front pockets, looking at me coldly.
----- Then, she was looking me up and down, as if calculating if she could win in a fight between us. Then, when she saw my neck, she stopped, and looked at it like she didn't believe what she was seeing.
----- Her big green eyes softened, and she blinked thoughtfully, and took a step towards me, holding her hand out to my neck.
----- I almost recoiled, but I remembered there was that necklace that boy had given me last night!
----- I looked down, and it was a small silver music note on the end of a thin silver chain.
----- Her hand brushed the music note lightly, and she looked at me. "Where did you get this?" she asked quietly, her bottom lip quivering.
----- I had to lie. "I found it," I said, trying not to look into her big sad eyes.
----- "Riley..." she murmured to herself. "Can I have it?" she said looking at me with those, big, cute green eyes.
----- "Sure..." I said confused. I unhooked it, and put it in her hands. She looked at it, and put it around her neck. For the first time since I saw her, she smiled.
----- "Can you tell me about... Riley?" I asked.
----- She sniffed. "Yeah..." She rubbed her nose, then looked at me, beginning her story. "I have an older brother..." she looked ready to cry. "Had." she corrected herself. "Anyway, his name was Riley. He was eighteen when he died. We were best friends, and he always looked after me." She stopped. "Well, when I was 12, weird things started happening. Like whenever I was to lazy to get the remote to change the channels, it came towards me. I was scared and confused when crazy things like that started happening. So I never told anybody. Not even Riley." She wiped away a lone tear from her cheek with the heel of her palm. "Well, one day, Riley came home, and he wasn't his usual self. He was being mean, and when I tried to talk to him, he pushed me away. I kept trying to talk to him, and to be with him, because our parents... weren't that great of parentss. They drank, they smoked, and sometimes they hit me. Riley would always protect me though. But anyway, that day, I guess it had been a bad day, beacuse after he'd told me to go away a few times, I did. But then our parents came home, and they were drunk. I was scared, so I ran to Riley's room, but he wasn't there. I heard my parents coming, so I hid under his bed." She took a deep breath, as if it was painful. "They walked past, not even looking in his room. Then I heard shouting coming from the kitchen. So I snuck back out, and peeked at what was happening." She rubbed her eyes, and sniffed again. Her eyes were watery. "Riley was on the floor, and my dad was standing over him, smiling crazily. I guess my dad had seen Riley come home, and he decided to teach him a lesson. Then I got so mad. My head felt hot, and the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by fire." She started crying.
----- "Hey, it's okay Spark," I said soothinly, scooting towards her and putting my arms around her small figure. Her whole body shook, and tears streamed down her face like waterfalls.
----- "It's okay Spark," I said.
----- "No," she said sniffing. "I didn't finish!"
----- "You don't have to-"
----- "Yes!" she shouted. "After the fire... I found my parents. they were burned, and... dead. I also found Ethan and... and... he was dead too." She cried some more, then took a long, deep breath. "I found in his hand this necklace," she said pointing to the one on her neck. "But I didn't know it was for me. The fire hadn't hurt it... or me. That was just a week ago."
----- I took this all in. Her brother had been that creepy emo-ish dude that I was seeing. He gave me this necklace, to give to his little sister. I hugged her tight. "It's okay Spark. I'm here. I have a bunch of nice friends, and you can come with us." She sniffed, and I wiped the tears off her face with my worn, grey jacket. I gazed around, and realized one problem.

----- I had no idea where Dean's house was.

[oakdenugg]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

----- I tried to hide that fact from Spark that I had no idea where I was, but she could sense right away.
----- "What's wrong Lane?" she asked, her voice whispery. I didn't answer. Then, I remembered the two other gifts I had received from Jay and Akino. I dug in my pockets, and found the one Jay gave to me. It was a piece of paper, folded into a small little neat square. I unfolded it, and Spark watched me intently.
----- It was a letter!
----- Here's what it said:

Dear Dr. Glass,

Our experiment is working. Our experiment of that boy Thomas's father is working, walking, and talking like the original one. Even though his father really died, he still believes it's his father! Hopefully the experiment will remember what he was made for, and kill that boy soon!

Oh, and we still haven't figured how to become ressistant to that disease yet, but hopefully we will! We only have two months left before evryone is dead!

Sincerely,

Ethan Granga

----- Two months? I thought Thomas had said six! And speaking of Thomas, we need to find him now!
----- I let Spark read the letter. "Who's Thomas?" she asked.
----- "No time to explain!" I said hurridly. I popped open my wings without thinking, then realized my mistake. Spark went wide eyed, then she extended her own wings! The top of the wings were red, and they faded to orange the closer they got to her shoulders. They seemed to glow warmly, and emitted heat. I was surprised, then got over it. "Cool wings!" I said, then grabbed her hand, and jumped straight into the sky. I grunted, and Spark started flapping, and soon we were both flying over the town. I hoped with all my existence that I could find Thomas in time.

----- "Look!" Spark called. We've been searching for two hours, and the sun's close to setting. "What?" I shout back. Spark circles in the air. "Is this the house?"
----- While we were in flight, I'd tried to tell her exactly what Dean's house looked like.
----- I looked at where she was pointing. "Yes!" I shout, my body tingling with excitement. I spiral downwards, and she follows. We land in the alley behind the house, and Spark peeks in the window of Dean's back door. "Someone's in there!" whispers Spark over her shoulder. I come behind her and stand on my toes to see over her shoulder. Dean was in there! I hoped we weren't too late!
----- "On three, we barge in.... one..... two..... THREE!" We rush into the door with our shoulders, and it shatters, and we enter the living room. I tackle Dean, knocking him to the ground, and trying to pin him down. He has at least 90 pounds on me, and is a foot taller too. Dean pushes me off, and I crash into the wall. The world spins around, and I see Dean charging towards me. I shut my eyes, and hold up my hands, as if they'd protect me. Then I hear a shout, and Dean's on the floor, a broken vase near his head, and Spark standing over him. She holds out her hands, and spreads them, and in each palm erupts a small fire! It doesn't hurt her, and she puts her hands on the ground, igniting the shaggy carpet. Dean gets up, his forehead bleeding from a cut, and leaps on Spark from behind. Dean yelps, and he jumps off of her as quickly as he jumped on. Spark smiled, and threw the fire in her hands at the ground. It erupts, and the fire burns my eyes. I get on the ground, and try to breath the fresh air on the floor. Spark reaches over to me through the fire, and pulls me through.
----- I felt nothing, and we sprint up the stairs. I lead her into Thomas's room, and Thomas was on the floor, his limbs sprawled awkwardly. Me and Spark each grab a hand, and we crash through the window, and we both flap our wings aggresivly, trying to bring Thomas into the air.
----- He's knocked out, but that's all I can see wrong with him. Besides the fact that he's deadweight, and me and Spark can't hold him up much longer.
----- We land on the roof of an apartment building, and lay Thomas down. I spread his black-green wings out on the concrete, and feel his head. He's not hot. I lay down beside Spark, and watch her fall asleep. But I can't. I'm worried about the end of the world, about never seeing Brad, or Tess, or Dakota, or even Onico ever agian. I think about my mom, and how her blue eyes sparkled, and her dimples when she smiled, or even the little dog, Maggie. I stare at the stars, and wait for morning.

----- I wake up to shouting. My eyes flash open, and in an instant I'm up on my feet, looking for the danger. Then I see Thomas holding Spark off her feet, his fists clutched around the neck of her skull T-shirt. He has the other hand balled into a fist by his ear, ready to attack. "Stop!" I shout, and Thomas and Spark both look at me. I race over and oush Thomas away, grabbing Spark and putting her behind me, away from Thomas. Thomas looked at me like I was crazy. "Thomas! This is not an ememy! This is my friend, Spark." I say.
----- "Oh." Thomas replies. "Sorry Spark."
----- "You better be," she growls from behind me.
----- "Now Thomas, I'm guessing you're wondering why you're here..." and I explain everything. The letter, Dean, Spark, Riley, and the world ending in two months.
----- Thomas nods after I'm finished, his face grim. "I see..." he says, thinking. "I know where the others are." he finally says after a long silence. I jump up to my feet. "Great!" I say, pulling up Spark with me. Thomas gets up too, and walks to the edge of the building, then jumps, spreading his large wings out, the sun glinting off the glossy black feathers, turning them a shimmery green color. I jump, and my wings catch the air, and Spark follows, and we follow Thomas, back to our friends.

----- Two weeks. That's how long it takes us to travel to the place where Brad and everyone else is. I figure It'd be easy to find them, because of Dakota, but it's not. We land, and Thomas tells us to be quiet. He leaves with Spark, and I'm here all alone. I look around, and I can already see a difference in the plants, animals, and everything else. The grass that used to be the common grass that'd you see everywhere is now up to my waist. The giant trees loom far above the ground, their branches touching the sky. The flowers that grow are almost as tall as me. I feel small, and defenseless. I look at my surroundings. I'm in the middle of a forest, lots of grass and trees. I've seen a few animals here, all huge. The sun almost blocked out by the giant trees, making it dark and cold. I sit down, and huddle in the soft grass, breathing in its sweet scent. I feel peaceful, but then the sun is completly blocked out. I lok up, and see a giant looming far above me, almost as tall as the trees. I try to shrink in the grass, but it's not that tall yet. The giant gets on it hands and knees, and looks at me.
----- Dakota!
----- I leap up, and Dakota stands up again. He's grown so much! I used to reach up to the middle of his calf, and now I'm only up to his ankle. I have to crane my neck way back to see him, and he laughs, then plops down on the ground near me, almost making me fall. I go over to him, and hug his arm tightly, closing my eyes and breathing in his warm, earthy scent. "Have you gotten a little shorter?" he said teasingly.
----- I smiled. "You've grown so much Dakota!" I say, looking at his giant hand, bigger than me. He chuckles, then brngs his hand up in front of me. I don't even reach the middle of his fingers. He turns his palm up, and I crawl into it, feeling safe. He brings me up to his face, and I gasp. "Dakota! I've got something new!" and I show his my wings. He smiles. "They're pretty!" I tuck them back in, and get comfortable in his hand, leaning aainst his fingers that are curling towards his palm. "I've missed you Dakota." I say.
----- "Missed you too Lanie" he replies smiling. He puts me down, and lies on his stomach so he's closer to his. I sit infront of his face, and we talk. I tell him everything that happened. The boy, the wings, Dean, Spark, Thomas, the necklace...
----- Then I remember my present from Akino! I take it out. It's a bracelet, with bones, and colorful glass. It's beautiful, and I expain it to Dakota where I got it. I put it on, and it glints off the sun, creating a rainbow of colors all around. Then Dakota tells me what happened when I was gone.
----- When the boy had turned him into mist, he had gone back to Brad, and Tess, and Onico. They didn't trust him, but they were scared of him too, so they let him come with them. Brad wan't to look for me, but they said they would never find me, so Brad reluctantly went with them. Then they came to a meadow, and they had to cross it. So Dakota went in his little size. Then while his was exploring the meadow in the night while the others made a camp, he saw Max. Max was 10, and he has bright red hair. His eyes don't look human, they look wild, kinda like Tess's. Dakota took Max back to the camp, and everyone let him join. Then they moved on. That was about all the exciting stuff.
----- "Can I meet Max?" I asked. Dakota nodded. "Yeah, but he's back with Brad and the others. Speaking of those, where are Thomas and... Spark, right?" I nodded.
----- "They went looking for you guys," I said. "Thomas knows where they are though... Somehow...." I said pondering that.
----- Dakota sat up, and picked me up by my waist, his big fingers being careful. Then he stood up, and had to bend his head down so he didn't hit it on the branches above him.

----- When I saw Brad, he had grown a bunch too! I tried to wiggle out of Dakota's grasp, so he put me down, and I raced towards Brad. I used to be up to his hip, but now I was just a little taller than his knee. I hugged his leg, and he bent down and hugged me so tightly I could barely breathe. Thomas and Spark were already here, and Thomas was showing Dakota his wings, while Ms. Cool was trying not to freak out with a giant standing over her. She was backed up against a giant tree, with Thomas standing next to her, and Dakota looming over both of them. Her eyes were wide, and she was pale. I wondered what was wrong. Then Dakota put his hand out to her, ad I guess he scared her, because she burst into tears. Dakota looked very confused, and so did Thomas. I came over to her.
----- "What's wrong Spark?" I asked quietly.
----- "H-he looks like my dad..." she said sobbing. Then I recalled she had said her dad beat her, and I hugged her tighter. "It's okay. Dakota's nice. He won't hurt you..." And she gradually stopped crying. Dakota still was confused, so he leaned down to her. "I'm sorry," he said, but she backed away, her eyes wide. I turned to Dakota. "Her dad used to beat her... and she said you look like him." I looked over at Spark, who was sitting on the ground, her arms over her head. "Spark," I called softly. She looked up, her eyes red and her face wet. I went over to her. "No-one's going to hurt you Spark. Dakota's nice. Brad's nice. Even Onico's nice." I smiled, and she sniffed. She stood up, and slowly walked over to Dakota. He was standing up, just thinking. She took a step back, and looked over at me. I urged her. Dakota saw her, and he went into his small form, which wasn't as small as it used to. He was a head and shoulders and a bit more taller than Spark, and she carefully approached him, not looking as scared.
----- She held out her hand. "I'm...." she looked at him, and shuddered. "Spark," she finished. He shook her hand. "I'm Dakota," he said softly, trying not to scare her. She looked at her hand that he shook, then at him, and smiled. Dakota did too, and he grew back to his normal size, and she looked up at him in fear again, then blinked. He smiled at her, then crouched down and held his hand out. She looked at him, then at his hand, and climbed in. He lifted her up, and I stopped worrying.
----- Then I saw Max. He had curly red hair, fair skin, and dark brown eyes. He did have a feral look to him. Something about his eyes, and his shape. He was lean, but muscular, and his eyes were large, and had small pupils. He was talking to Tess, and I waved at her, and she waved back, her pretty long black hair falling over her left shoulder. I walked over to them. "Long time no see," I said causually to Tess. Max looked at me, his eyes narrowing. "Hi, I'm Lane." I said to him. Tess nodded. I looked over at Dakota, and he had set Spark in a very tall branch of a tree. She was smiling, and opening her wings. Then a large shadow fell over me, Tess, and Max and when I looked behind, I saw the largest animal I've ever seen. It was about three times taller than me, looking like a huge, muscular tank. It was bear like, but it had dark red eyes, long saber teeth, and wolf-like ears. It roared, and lunged.

[littlemoosie]

I just started reading this today & have finally caught up. MAN I love this story!

[tbow.]

Wow! Two chapters in one day! Awesome. c: Can't wait for more on that monster animal thing. 8D

[Bugmo33]

You re-captivate me in every chapter Oak <3

[oakdenugg]

awwwwwwww! <3

you guys make me feel so special!

@teddy- thanks! i'm really glad you like it! ^^

@tbow- you're like the best stalker EVER! i love how you tell me what you liked after every chapter! c:

@bugmo- awwwww! C: thank ya buggy! <3333 love ya!

[gizmo,]

I really like it. It leaves me wondering

One thing though: you use a lot of explanation points and short sentences. It may just be me, since those are some of my pet peeves, but other than that, I like it

[Bugmo33]

I luv u too Oak! <333

[eternalglitch]

This looks awesome, posting to mark. :3