Clay watched Jade as she accessed where she had brought her to , her eyes travelling speedily over everything she could lay her eyes on .
Her already large eyes were almost popping out as her eyes travelled around the open space , she gripped her backpack tighter and took an unhesitant step backwards before sharply looking back at her ." Clay? Where on God's green earth have you brought me ? " ,She questioned apprehensively .
Her face was strangely drained of colour and her ears were straightened and pointed like a deer caught in headlights .
Her voice was higher and much more strained than usual and she was doing the language thing , reverting to how certain people from the books she read usually talked .She was definitely anxious , there was no two ways around it ." Isn't it obvious ? It is the largest and most popular theme park in the city ",she tried to sell it with as much excitement as she could muster .
When she still remained silent and only gripped her bag tighter, cutting off all of the bags life support , Clay grabbed her hand and intertwined it with hers .
She looked up at her again ,her eyes large as she observed her carefully .
Her eyes were moist with barely hidden fear , she did not move and smiled Instead , she did not want to let her know that she was aware she was scared .If she grabbed and hugged her now , she would only balk at Clay and deny having ever been scared .Taking care of a child as smart and hard to predict as Jade was sometimes very hard and could be challenging especially on times like this when she could not even think of anything to do .
Clay said the first thing that came to her mind when she could no longer stand the fear in her sister's eyes any more ." You love theme parks baby . Remember how you said that you could be any one you wanted to be here , for a while at least ", she said in hopes that she let go of her fear .
She hoped reminding her would work because she did not have a lot of aces up her sleeves .
She looked away from her and looked around the park once more , observing Everything again and slower as if with new eyes .Clay had always thought parks were only for children but she had been very wrong as that was most definitely not the case .
The park was chocked full with every age group , every gender and almost certainly every species and they were all dressed to represent another age group , another gender or as extremely as another species .It looked....fun.And carefree .Jade was probably thinking of the right words to express how dissappointed she was with the whole theme park idea ." We could leave if ..."
She stopped talking when she took a step forward , fitting her hand into Clay's and pulling her along with her .
" It is just like I have always imagined .You are right , I absolutely love theme parks ".
Her misty eyes cleared off soon after and the mischief seeped Into her eyes as she looked around , searching for something.
" Come on loser , find me an empty bench ", She yelled , gaining the attention of a couple of people around them who turned and looked at her strangely.
She skipped forward , her hair bouncing behind while Clay jogged after her , keeping her eyes peeled for empty benches that were comfortable and possibly under a shade .
They found a bench soon after and they settled down to watch everything that their eyes could not quite take in at once .
She watched a woman pass them and shook her head in disdain ." Very basic , if not tragic portrayal of Hermione".
Jade was currently guessing what people were dressed as , so far she had insulted all of them .
" Hmmm Katniss , handcrafted bow and arrow included , awesome ensemble . Yeah , a two over ten ".
The lady in question seemed like she had put a lot of effort into becoming theme park hunger games lead .
" Is that supposed to be Charlie Chaplin ?"
" This man ought to be burned for not even having the capacity to develop an IQ ".
He looked like a pretty regular Charlie to me but I nodded in agreement with Jade's judging when she turned to look at me .
She gasped softly as a lady dressed as Dorothy , except if Dorothy had been extremely impoverished." Judy Garland as Dorothy ".
She breathed the name with reverence causing Clay to take another look at the woman's clothes .
Clay drew a blank , yeah , the only garlands she could think of were Christmas decorations .
Jade slowly turned to her like an enchanted doll .
" You have to be kidding , there is no way you do not know who Judy Garland was .
She was named the Elvis of Homosexuals , Dorothy in the 1939 rendition of Wizard of Oz , the Star in A star is born , She and Gene Kelly acted The pirate in 1948 and Summer stock in 1950 ", her voice was shallow as she described this .She looked at me with desperate hope , as if she expected her ramblings to jolt something in my memories .
I didn't even remember what I had for breakfast .A flyer with a breakfast advert flew past me , a giant plate of pancakes was on the flyer.I shrugged , I had caught myself in a lie , one of those jokes you could never explain without seeming out of it." Sorry baby , I have no idea who any of those women are ", she said as lightly as she could .
This was honestly all Clay's fault , she had stopped paying for cable so , her sister only watched old movies on crusty tapes.
She scoffed.
" It is just the one woman , Judy . She is a lot like me , You know ? "
I did not see how an actress from 1935 was in any way similar to my seven year old sister but I would bite .
" How so , Fair Lady ?"
She smiled faintly .
" She had a great , powerful voice that drew people in yet she was in pain, suffering from depression and addiction to alcohol and drugs ".
" You're in no way like her ".
I commented hurriedly because it was true, Jade was no way like that woman.
" We both die at the peak of our lives , She from an overdose and I , from a medical condition that I detest ".
Clay blinked , she was at a loss of words.
" You are not dying ".
Clay's words reverberated all around them.
" I know the doctor told you already ".
" She only explained the condition of your heart . She said nothing about you dying".
Clay watched her sister's eyes almost pop out for the second time that day .
" Oh shit , thank Goodness . I got all mushy and pretended to be nice for a second thinking I would actually die ".
She wiped a non existent tear .
" Learning of your impending death definitely makes you a better person for a moment ".
She laughed , the colour suddenly returning to her cheeks .
" All of that for the past ten minutes , was that you deliberately giving out niceties ?"
Jade had yelled at a woman that her costume was about as decent as cat piss .
" Yeah , I wanted to make a good memory for you before I turned non grata on this waste filled planet ".
She giggled and went back to making fun of costumes and people in general .
Clay apologized with his eyes and hands and heart , was this how parents felt when they watched their children prepare to go down the wrong path?Jade's face soon began to lose its colour and her voice became more and more raspy.
Clay didn't want to tell her , she would stop in her own time ." Doesn't he know ....know that Faes are .... always.... always t..tall ? "
She was gasping now and had promptly stopped talking , she fell back on the bench and into Clay's arms , her eyes were closed .
Clay smiled at her scrawny arms and legs and stroked her hair out of her face .
" What did the Doctor say to you then ? I thought she had told you that I was dying , hence , the theme park ".
" She said you must have been in a lot of pain and that you needed surgery ".
She used her thumb to trace her little face, pulling at her ears and nose .
" Surgery sounds more painful and expensive".
Clay began to nod but stopped when she realized that her eyes were still closed .
" You will be placed on injections that make you feel numb , leave expensive to me ".
" It's called general anesthesia , idiot ".
She opened her eyes and frowned up at her , even her frowns were so cute .
Clay refrained from mentioning that though ." It probably costs a whole lot more than we can afford ".
" Leave that to me to worry about ".
Her cell beeped .
Clay pulled it out of her pocket , it was Tommy .He had sent a text that read ;Landlord outta u hair . Safe to come home.
She pocketed her phone back.
" Who was that ?"
" It's just Tommy ".
" Why is he texting you ?"
Clay did not reply her and just continued to stroke her hair .
" Don't make this some sad movie where you become a prostitute to get me another heart ,that is too cliche for my heart to take ".
" Your heart can't actually take anything".
Clay regretted it the moment it fell out of her lips , dark humor on hee baby sister? Really ?
Just how low had she fallen ?Jade jumped off of her legs and punched hee arm , she was smiling brightly , almost like she was proud of her.
"What's up ? what's up bruh ?"
Clay grimaced at her attempt to play gangster , she finally sobered up and studied her face.
" You have plans already and you don't intend to tell me ".
Clay nodded , there was no use lying to her .
" Are they dangerous ? ",she asked testily .
She shook his head .
Jade came forward and rested her forehead on hers,she sighed softly ,her skinny frame heaving as she did so.
" Nothing dangerous please ".
" There ls no use having a new heart if you won't be there with me "." I promise , nothing dangerous ", she promised softly .
Clay chuckled and she kicked hee.
" And nothing that gets you incarcerated , I love you but I do not intend to ever grace the four walls of the American Judicial criminal dollhouse with my celestial presence ", She said with a grimace on her face .
It took a second for Clay to realize that she meant she wouldn't visit her in prison .
She laughed and pulled her to her chest , the kind of hug that felt like it could fix anything.
The next morning , Clay woke up earlier than usual which was honestly by a whole lot , she had barely slept .She looked over to her sister's end of the bed where she lay curled in a little ball and stripped bare of bed coverings , like she usually was five minutes after every time that she covered her up .She was sure that she had folded the blanket into two to make it thicker and heavier and placed it on her sometimes during last night .The blanket was now nowhere to be visually noted .After they had arrived home , it had taken them a while to go to sleep because the landlord had apparently waited somewhere for them .He had come knocking and yelling as soon as they entered the apartment .Clay had ignored him at first .When he had just kept on knocking and ranting , she had gone out and promised to have the money to hil by the next day .They had then heated the remnants of an apple pie and eaten it before they retired for the day .She left the bed and went to the other end of
Clay and her sister were quiet , not by choice though .Although , Clay could tell she had a lot she wanted to say judging from how her brows had temporarily assumed a new shape since they got here and had just kept rising for a while now . After the butler or whoever he was supposed to be had brought them into what appeared to be a lounge for receiving guests that were to be turned away after sixty seconds , he had pointed out chairs as if Clay and Jade were blind and then promptly left without a word .That was ages ago and he still was not back .Jade was now staring intently at the painting that had been placed on the wall opposite them .It was dull and monochromatic and just generally sad to look at ." It is probably a ploy , you know ?" , She said as she nodded at the painting.Jade was whispering loud enough for anyone that was interested in hearing to actually hear , Clay did not feel like telling her to keep her voice down ." Yeah , how so ? ", she asked , Interested in w
Clay moved heedlessly as Jade pulled her to her feet and out of the study .She noticed faintly that there was no one this time to guide them as they left the dimly lit residence , the butler could not bear to hustle them out ? Or he simply had better things to do ?It seemed they trusted them not to steal or vandalise their properties .Clay was still not conscious of herself but her surrounding was suddenly larger , clearer , almost too large and clear , it seemed lethargic .Clay was noticing things she hadn't noticed when they had walked by earlier .The cameras , the doors to the passages on the walls for the servants so they would not be seen and lastly , the prickly feeling that came from knowing someone was definitely watching you .That was probably why they had not thought they needed any escort as they left .Clay had detected all of this irregularities but her head had decided to process one thing at a time .She had long since packed topics concerning the house aside , un
Clay held Jade closer .Jade's one weakness was horror movies and their characters but she had still loved to watch them .She only watched the older ones with their horrid make-up and effects and this man in front of them looked like he had stepped out of The phantom of the Opera , the 1943 adaptation. " Jade , it is just someone in a black coat , he is no phantom ", she hurriedly tried to explain , scared that she would get a panic attack .Jade stopped screaming and moved around Clay to peek at the man that had still not taken off his coat .Clay was beginning to wonder if the man was a highway robber and this was a robbery ." You are right . I thought for a second that he was some grim reaper here for my soul , I was going to tell him that was it too early to be picking me up already", Jay whispered with a giggle .Clay drew a blank to the reference , she would have to filter her books and movies once again .The stranger took a step forward and Clay took a step backwards , pull
When Clay still did not react to her cousin's announcement , her cousin cleared his throat and shifted forward , his mouth almost resting on Clay's earlobe as he whispered yet again and with more theatrics ." Actually I am here to help you save your sister's life ".Clay stared at James who was supposed to be her cousin .He was smiling like an unhinged mad man and Clay knew that she should be running the other way and not listening to what this madman had to say .Clay did not like this one bit but if it could help Jade in any way , she would listen to it ." How do you intend to help me save Jade ? Your mum refused to help and you do not particularly seem like you are willing to whip out a million ", Clay stated the obvious .It finally clicked , the reason she was so unsettled with the look on Jame's face .He looked like the junkies that lined the way to their home .They looked depressed every second of their lives and only changed their expressions when they realized where the
JamesJames watched as his cousin settled back in her seat without asking further questions about what she had just agreed to or what consequences were attached to them . When she had even signed the papers , James had expected her to protest when she read the clause on bodily harm or loss of body parts but she had just read through and signed , she had asked James no questions when he had been prepared to practically dish out answers .He sighed , he was in no place to be showing empathy , especially after getting his poor cousin to sign it .He had not approached his cousin out of the goodness of his heart .He knew why he had come for Clay .Clay was his only chance of getting Westbrook if he wanted to ever do .The car stopped moving and the partition came down .Saul's voice came through the small Telecom device ." This is the stop the child asks to be let down", he announced .James watched as his cousin's eyes lazily opened , her eyes shocking him again .It was like looking
James's car was already packed around the block .Had he even left in the first place ?Clay stopped to look at the car for a few moments , deep down , she felt a reluctance to walk further to the car but Clay felt guilty for even feeling reluctance to a means that could save her sister .She sighed softly and brought her hands to run through her hair , she looked at the sky and inhaled before she began to walk , blanking her mind because thinking of anything would cause her to consider turning around and going back to her sister .She reached the car and wondered if James could see her but she had no time to consider that so she raised her hands to the window .Clay rapped gently on the window and heard the smooth click of locks opening before she opened the door .She entered to find that almost nothing had changed , she took another look at James though and realized that everything about him had changed .He was seated exactly where he had sat earlier but he had left alright .His
Clay was in a state were she was awake enough to feel her body and the cool air on her face but she wanted to enjoy the bliss of sleep for a bit longer , so she still kept her eyes closed and her body lax.It had actually been a nice rest for Clay .Usually , hee dreams were plagued with her parents and how their faces had looked when Clay had been called to identify their bodies or on worse days , he was plagued with Jade's face joining her parents in that cold room .But today had been different , maybe because her sleep had been drug induced , she had dreamt of absolutely nothing .She had to remember to thank her cousin for that .A loud siren went off , jarring Clay from her lax state .She opened her eyes and sat up , she shook her head to clear the remainder of the sleep from her eyes .She was on a makeshift bed in a small room that looked like a cabin .Where the fuck was she ?She wanted to pay more attention to what lay around her but the siren was buzzing in her head , lou
She could hear it all .She had heard everything that had happened from all of them but for some reason , she just could not wake up ." How is she doing ? Is she any better ? ", Saul asked Jade .He had learnt the hard way that she hated to be spoken to like a child ." No , the doctor says she is perfectly fine , I am beginning to think she is using this as an excuse so that she does not have to face me and everything I have to say to her and trust me , I have a lot ", She said sneering ." Yes , I do trust you ", Saul told the child who turned to glare at him too .They had all thought that getting a heart transplant would slow her down or at least keep her quiet for a few days but that was not the case .She claimed to be waiting for her sister to wake up so she could give her a very hot piece but she was here every second , holding her hands when she thought that they could not notice , it was obvious that she missed her sister the most .She had been asleep now for two weeks and
Clay was bereft with emotions as she looked at June's face .She was too young , too young to have ever been exposed to such a harsh life , too young to be here but most of all , she was too young to be getting cold in her hands .She was too young to be dead , a tear slipped out of Clay's face and on to hers .Strangely , when she thought of June , there were no sad moments , thinking of her only brought smiles to her face .CLAY !!!The automated voice thundered behind Clay once again and she came back to the situation on ground .She remembered Jared and the autobots and the people that were still taking cover behind the ledge .June had died to protect them , she could not let any harm come to them and foil June's sacrifice now .Clay carried her gently and put her in Saul's arms , patting Saul's shoulders as she stood on her feet and turned around to look at Jared .She almost grimaced as she watched Jared limp his way out of the autobot's face .The autobot had done quite a numb
Saul was weeping softly as he caressed her face , not even noticing that Clay had joined them until Clay pulled her out of his arms to wrap her again in her own vest .She opened her eyes when she felt the jerk and saw that it was Clay , her eyes were glassy and unfocused like she was blindly doing whatever it was that she was doing.June held up her arms and Clay looked at her , realizing that she was conscious before grabbing her fingers ."Why ? why ? why would you come out , you knew it was dangerous ", she cried softly , unable to control herself .June smiled , sputtering softly ." Yes , I knew but he was going to blow all of us up and I could not allow that , I wanted so badly to be your deputy and a little sacrifice should not have been scary to me ", She told her , her voice lower than a breath ." I never made you my deputy , you are lying ", Clay cried out , short of words ." Does it hurt ? ", She added a second later , hoping that the adrenaline her body was providing wa
Clay had realized one minute into her struggle with Jared's new sleek autobot that the autobot had not been built for a fight .It was slower than all of the autobots that Clay had fought before and since it had opted to struggle with Clay Instead of whirring out one of its famous weapons from its hands , it was safe to assume that its arm was probably just a normal bot arm that was incapable of transforming .Clay realized that the Autobot was infact only there to keep her busy and away from the two other autobots that stood in the middle of the field .They stood still and did not bother to go after June and the others .They also could not approach it seeing that its hand was a frigging shotgun .The other two autobots that stood in the middle of the field felt like some part of a sinister plan to Clay because he had no idea when they would begin to shoot or if at all they would shoot , she could imagine that June and the others were also ill at ease ." What do you want with them
AND THEN THERE IS VASQUEZ , I COULD NOT EVEN BRING MYSELF TO HATE HIM BECAUSE HE WAS JUST TOO GULLIBLE AND PITIFUL , TRICKED INTO A GAME , TRICKED INTO A LIFE , DISRESPECTED BY June AND Jared , OHH , THE LIST IS ENDLESS BUT I WILL END HERE FOR NOW !I HAD MIXED FEELINGS WHEN I FOUND OUT ABOUT JUAN'S BOMB BECAUSE I KNEW HE DID NOT INTEND TO OF COURSE KILL YOU ALL , I THOUGHT ABOUT TWEAKING THE BOMB TO KILL YOU GUYS BUT THEN I REALIZED THAT THE REST OF THE GAME WOULD BE TOO BORING SO I JUST ADJUSTED THE POSITION OF THE BOMB .HONESTLY , I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT ALL THE THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU DYSFUNCTIONAL LOT BUT I AM HERE TO KILL YOU ALL AFTER ALL .CLAY , I AM SURE YOU MUST HAVE NOTICED THE BOMB RESIDING IN THE CHEST OF THAT AUTOBOT YOU ARE CONTROLLING , I SHOULD THANK YOU FOR THAT , BUILDING THE BOMBS ARE USUALLY THE HARDEST PARTS OF MY JOB HERE BUT YOU MADE IT SO EASY WITH ALL OF NUGGETS OF INFORMATION YOU WERE WILLING TO DROP .THE BOMB IS SET TO GO OFF AS SOON AS THE GAMEMASTER
They all watched as the Autobots began to fall to the ground.June had run out from behind their cover while Clay worked and had released the people that were being held and began to scream commands to everyone that was gathered there along with them , including the ones that were not their teammates."Go to the autobots and make sure that they stay down , we can not afford for the Gamemaster to gain control of them again!!!", She was yelling as she ran.The people seeing as Dean had taken the initiative and now June, also trying to make sure that they survived, ran out to help .The ones with guns shot at everywhere they knew to shoot at to prevent the autobots from returning to their feet while Saul shared grenades so that they could easily spread out and maim as many autobots as they could reach .This was going on smoothly when another whirring began.They all turned to where the whirring was coming from and watched as another autobot came from behind them .This one was different
Clay turned around and beckoned for the others to come closer ." Okay everyone , we have no foreknowledge of what we are literally running into , but we need to stick together as much as possible ,like I said earlier there will be a bomb or most likely several that have been positioned in different places , they will all be self made bombs which means that they will not have much in terms of range but it also means that we might be unable to disarm them without Jared doing so himself . So, when we get there , depending on what the situation looks like , we will be splitting ourselves up to effectively locate the bombs . Lastly , we know nothing about Jared's plan so , when we can try to remain as alert as possible incase there are autobots lying in wait ", Clay said , wondering if she had gone through everything she needed to ." Ricky and Alberto lead the way , we are running down to the arena , all the way .Everyone , please stay safe ", Clay told them and stood back for Alberto an
As soon as Clay made her point,the others froze and paused all the movements they were making like they were being held at gunpoint while their eyes followed all of Clay's movement .Clay had immediately gotten on her feet after she spoke and had proceeded to run to the middle of the church where she had left her bulletproof vest and the rest of her stuff earlier.She began to dress in a hurry , tucking her guns into her vest and swinging the satch that contained her arrows over her back in record speed,it almost seemed like she had been doing that all her life.The rest of the team watched her in perplexity while she dressed and when she was done , she turned to look at them, get eyes fleeting over each one of them that was staring at her ." Why aren't you guys preparing ? We need to be out of here as soon as possible or do we not? ", She asked as she looked at their faces .Juan finally stepped forward ," You said it was a trap and he is going to release the bomb in the arena , if
Saul could hear voices .Of course, he was surrounded by people so hearing voices was not such a big deal but the voices he was hearing were too harsh for whatever he was hearing to be okay.Saul jumped on his feet and turned around." Do you hear that ? ", Saul asked the others to be sure he was not the only one hearing the voices as he turned around to the doors of the church ." Hear what ? " June asked as she looked around , looking for what was supposedly making noise and confirming that it was indeed just Saul that was hearing these voices.She could hear nothing but she also knew just how sensitive to sound Saul was so she followed him when he stood up and began to walk towards the doors after him.The others also turned to see what Saul and now June were up to .Saul threw his hands forward and opened one of the large doors of the church that led to the room that the others were in and the sound of Clay shouting immediately filled the air .Saul immediately rushed inside,follo