Out The Trapdoor

Liam walked up to Cristy, followed by the others. He kneeled down in front of her dying body and accidentally stepped on the pool of blood. "Go" she whispered.

Tears filled Liam's eyes, and trickled down his cheeks. He wasn't aware he was crying, He gave Cristy a light hug and walked away, letting the others say goodbye to her one last time. She refused to talk to the others and hummed the tune of "I shall watch you resting from the Moon". Which was a lullaby you sang when people were tired and had to Rest.

The lyrics of the song rang in Liam's mind. He started singing, His voice choked like he was stuggling in battle of choices.

"Its time to rest…

Cause even the brightest moon closes his eyes

I know your tired, your eyes tell it all"

Just then, Liam heard the others join in; Their voices didn't match but it brought a wry, bloody smile to Cristy's face. Liam smiled back at her, his tears dripping into his mouth.

"Its black spots won't affect you,

Even when I'm not around,

I'll ensure your safety,

And protect that smile on your moonlike face"

'I'll ensure your safety, and protect that smile on your moonlike face' That verse was nothing to Liam now, if only he protected Cristy. If only he was allowed to go outside. If only he could reverse back time, he'd warn Cristy not to go outside. He listened to his friends sing the rest of the song.

"If I'm gone,

I'll ensure that you rest from the moon

Because the moon watches you sleep

When the moon isn't there,

I will make sure you and the moon get rest"

Liam couldn't sing the song anymore so he stopped singing and hummed with dying Cristy. Suddenly, Cristy stopped humming, she clasped Liam's sleeve and said her final words.

"Go..." He could feel Cristy blood soaking his sleeve. "T-take... them w-w-with you be-be...fore the..y g-get you"

She Closed her eyes and smiled. Within no time, her fast breaths stopped. Cristy was dead. The only thing everyone inside the Quiverna had close to a Mother was dead. Liam held Cristy's hand by the wrist and placed it down on the blood stained white carpet beside her head.

"Thanks for everything, Cristy" He muttered. He walked over to the storage, and grabbed the first cover he could find. He took out a paintbrush from Jess's jar of supplies, he found a half-empty can of cherry-blossom pink paint- Which was Cristy's favourite color since as long as he remembered. He picked it up; which made Jess's mouth open, probably to protest. He was shushed by Liam, who was walking towards the art table.

"Shut up dude, This is for Cristy, you need to fucking co-operate with me." Liam hastily wrote 'Cristy, the closest thing we have to a mom; lies here, dead.' at exactly in the middle of the blanket. "Jess, I need you to paint a cherry- blossom tree on the cover. For Cristy"

Jess nodded and immediately went to his computer. He was typing Hastily and scrolling down every two seconds. "Yep, we found the perfect reference" He said with a slight smirk.

He snatched the covers from Liam, who still held his arms the position the way he held the blanket. At first, he didn't notice Jess snatching the cover, he was completely clueless. Maybe he was too busy mourning over Cristy's death. He finally noticed when he felt the sheets brush past his scrawny arms.

"I'm done with the painting." Jess muttered a few minutes later. He glanced at others, who were still singing 'I shall watch you resting from the moon.' They gave them no response. He looked at Kate and Lanny-hoping that they would break the silence- he saw a glint of tears in Lanny's eyes. Lanny, according to Liam, was a person who never cried even in the toughest of times. Liam always admired Lanny for that, but seeing Lanny almost about to right then had washed out the embers of hope that were within him.

Liam felt the need to turn invisible. He wanted to sink into the walls of where he stayed from when he took his first steps on. He wanted to avenge Cristy, but couldn't. He remembered the time when he learnt that his parents left him with their riches when he was a little kid. He had a feeling he was stuck into the metal floor, his mind reminding him about Cristy's words to him. He also wished she could hear Liam say sorry to her if he was ever rude to her.

He took the sheets and covers carefully, trying to not touch the half-dry, half wet parts of the paint. He walked up to Cristy's lifeless body, and put the sheets and Covers over her.

"I know that you're gonna watch me from the moon" He murmured. Wiping his tears, he went to the kitchen and pulled out a 6 pack cans of coke and gave one to everybody.

He popped open the lid and yelled, "To Cristy!"

Everyone else followed Liam's steps. He went back into the storage room, and searched for backpacks and caught six. The backpacks were kept inside the quiverna if they needed a sudden getaway. well, it came useful… for now at least.

He placed the bags on the kitchen table, and peeled each bag from its stack, which each pack felt like it was stuck to the other with industrial Adhesive. He called out to everyone and told them to collect their quota, consisting of a bag. "Fill it with everything that feels useful, and you can actually use…" he paused and glared at Jess, who put his arms up in surrender.

"Okay. Fine. You're saying no paints?" He asked Liam, while flaring his nostrils. Liam nodded in response.

"You can keep a small sketchbook and a pencil, just in case we need references."

Jess started howling in happiness. "But…" Liam said, smirking. He was a buzzkill. Jess' howling stopped and was replaced with an unpleasant scowl.

"You Can't draw anything in the sketchbook without our permission."

Liam forced Lanny and Lenna to go get all the canned food they could find, while he started showing things into the backpacks; heat absorbing sweaters and water bottles filled with enough liquids to last them about a month. As Liam was tossing things into the backpacks. He felt something like a paper swish past his skin. He emptied the pack; and to his surprise, he found a worn down picture of who Liam's parents stood with the Lady-In-Power and a few others who Liam suspected to be Jess, Lanny and Kate's parents. Cristy was in the corner. Barely about Liam's age.

He felt the need to ask Cristy what all of that was all about. But he knew he couldn't; he quickly showed the picture in his pocket, not afraid to crumple it. It was of no worth to him. He first wanted to throw it into the nearest trash-can, but he had hope of finding his parents. He also had the urge to tell the others about this. But he didn't, he would show them the picture when the time was right.

Lenna and Lanny arrived with about a duffel-bag full of canned-food and chips. He didn't say anything, instead refilled the pack of its contents. He glanced at Jess, who seemed to be picking out which artistic tools he would bring along with him. Jess turned his head to look at Liam; who mouthed "Come on, dude! Hurry!"

Liam then averted his gaze to Kate. Kate was the only person in the Quiverna with the love for music. She brought a flute; which was made by Lanny, along with her. Liam didn't need to object to her the way he did with Jess. It was a weightless piece of bamboo reed carved and gifted to Lenna by Lanny on her 13th birthday. Liam held the pipe so many times- to help Kate set herself to practice- that he could himself confirm that he didn't even feel that the flute was in his palms.

"Are y'all done with packing?" Lenna asked impatiently. Liam and the rest nodded in response.

"Yes. Now let's fuckin' go!" Liam yelled out the strange battle cry while handing out packs to each of them.

"Let's fuckin' go!" The others echoed.

Liam felt excited, yet scared. Wanting to go out when Cristy Was there was different. Wanting to leave without her was different. With Cristy there, there was a special hope that they would live if they went outside. Without her, all the embers of hope were turned to nothing but ash.

They climbed the ladder one by one and stepped outside. Instead of finally seeing the sun rays and the blades of grass. They were surrounded by ruins of what used to be a mansion.

"They navigated their way through cobweb manifested rooms and halls. They finally saw a door which would probably lead them outside. Liam tossed the duffel bag into Kate's arms and opened the metal door. He took a step outside, he felt his eyes blinded by the sun's rays. He pressed his eyes closed, and clenched his jaw. He took a deep breath, instead of smelling fresh air and the scents of flowers, he sniffed in a horrible smell of rot.

He opened his eyes, only to see the Power's Pawns surrounding them.