Sunny looked at a stony ceiling. It was unfamiliar and unsettling. What was far more unsettling, of course, was the fact he was tied to what appeared to be the medieval torture device known as a rack. Sometimes, it is more colloquial known as a stretcher.
Sunny looked around. It just seemed to be a stereotypical dungeon. The kind you'd see in any old movie set in the dark ages. Some chains on a nearby wall, an oversized axe, the works.
Loud footsteps echoed from behind the door Sunny's device was facing. It appeared someone was approaching. Sunny sighed. Looks like it was gonna be one of those nightmares.
A hooded figure slammed the door open and stomped to the controls on Sunny's table. He heard him breathing inches away from his face. He punched him in the face. It felt a lot less real than the breathing. Unfortunately, the not being real part didn't stop it from hurting.
"Ugh." Sunny groaned with irritation. Sunny was a lucid dreamer but retained practically no control over his dreams. Sunny tried thinking about the executioner dying or exploding or something. Did not succeed.
"Scream for me, scum." The executioner commanded in a gruff voice. He pulled a lever on the table, causing the stretching. It felt real-ish. The sensations simulated a stretcher accurately. His hand felt a strange sensation for but a moment, but it was kind of hard to tell over the screaming pain of his arms. His legs also should have hurt, but they always felt numb in dreams.
Sunny grunted as the pain continued. The executioner pushed the lever down farther, prompting Sunny to scream in pain. His arms separated from his body, as though dislocated. His legs probably were also doing that, but were still numb.
"Louder!" The executioner voice boomed. The lever pushed down farther, and Sunny's arms ripped off. Sunny screamed at the extreme pain. The executioner got close to Sunny again. "Good boy." He whispered in a hushed voice. A feminine one. The distortion made it difficult to tell, though.
Sunny then heard what sounded like scissors cutting something next to his head.
A short moment of darkness later, Sunny woke up to his alarm. A lovely CD-based alarm clock that let him play his favourite song when he woke up.
It was a song by a British band. He couldn't understand the lyrics, but he could still sing along. It was called "我们屋" when translated to Chinese. At least according to an online English to Chinese dictionary. Sunny couldn't be bothered trying to figure out how all the lyrics were spelled in English to translate them.
He just tried to sing along to how it sounded as he woke up and got his socks on. He decided to comb, too, since his hair looked a bit greasy this morning.
"Er haoz, en ta middul ovaur steet." Sunny sang along as he combed his hair a bit into his preferred styling. He noticed part of his hair was oddly shorter than the rest. Odd.
He shrugged. It wasn't time to start overthinking things like hair. He could never pronounce the little quiet parts too well, other than the first two. He chose to just sort of mumble along.
"Ne ge, na na de de de..."
Sunny walked over to the alarm and turned it off.
"Ah, good morning, Sunny! You're awake..!" Mari had a look on her face. One Sunny couldn't read. He felt frustrated by his lack of ability to read expressions.
"Good morning, Mari." Sunny looked at his phone on the dresser and picked it up. "Looks like Basil called. Probably wants a do-over of last time. He had something he wanted to tell us."
"Oh! Well, I'm all free today, so that's great!" Mari smiled. Sunny noticed her hands were behind her back.
"Whatcha got there?" Sunny asked nonchalantly.
"Uh... nothing!" Mari showed her hands to Sunny. Empty, obviously.
"Alri-" Sunny was interrupted by the sound of nail clippers falling to the floor right behind Mari.
"Damn it! I thought it'd stay up!" Mari stomped her foot as she looked down at the pair of clippers laying on the ground.
"Mari, c'mon, your nails aren't even that long yet." Sunny pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah, I know... just... I, uh... they get in the way when I'm playing piano. Makes me mess up all the time. Plus, I wanted to try a new look with them." Mari justified.
"I guess. Maybe wait for them to grow in a little more before cutting, though. Seems a bit risky cutting now." Sunny shrugged.
"Yeah, the new look can wait, I guess. You know me, always early!" Mari laughed awkwardly.
"Yeah." Sunny replied. He proceeded downstairs. It was time to eat, not time to chat with your sister in your room. He heard some odd sounds after he left. Like the dresser moving. Whatever his sister did wasn't really at the forefront of his mind at that time. He was too hungry to care.
"Heymomwhatsforbreakfast?" Sunny asked excitedly. Even if his face didn't show it.
"Would you prefer toast with Nutella or a bagel with Nutella?" Sunny's mom asked, disrespecting Nutella's reserved trademark.
"I'll take the bagel." The mention of toast reminded Sunny of the old treehouse. The toaster has always remained.
It was a fancy four slot toaster, too. Sunny always wondered how he got that. And also why he didn't bring it to his house. To this day, Kel's parents only have a two-slotted toaster. No custom settings either. Just a bagel mode, and that's it.
Sunny took the first bite of his bagel when a loud knock came at the door. Sunny's mom answered the door to about who Sunny expected.
Kel, obviously. "Ohh, hello, Kel! What brings you here... again..!" Sunny's mother greeted cheerfully.
"Ah, I don't have to do any babysitting school today, so I'm gonna be able to hang out with Sunny all day today!" Kel responded with a smile. Sunny continued eating his bagel.
"All day? I better get the sunscreen ready. Sunny's just having breakfast. Do you wanna come in, sweetheart?" Sunny's mom offered, "He shouldn't be much longer now."
"Thanks, Miss Whitbaker!" Kel smiled his wide, goofy smile.
"Please, it's just Magnolia, you don't have to be all formal with me, hon." Sunny's mother laughed politely.
"Oh, okay, Miss Magnolia!"
Sunny took the last bite of his bagel, wiped his face just in case of any Nutella which had remained, and stood up. "Alright, let's go, Kel."
"Sunscreen first, Sunny! Arms out!" Sunny's mom said, picking up the sunscreen spray bottle.
Sunny internally groaned and lifted his arms.
YOU ARE READING
A Cage with No Key
Fanfiction- AU - Sunny has been making his way through school as Mari has started her success as a pianist, playing for national events and concerts. throughout it all, she hasn't moved out, though. She says it's for Sunny, but it couldn't be for him alone, o...
