Gate To Perpetual Mysteria

Chapter Three- Lily

     "Wow," I said as I pulled myself up on my elbows. I ended up not remembering anything at all except some directions to go to a gate. But I was too tired to think about it. I laid back down and fell into a dreamless sleep.

***

     The next day, I woke up and looked at my clock. 7 A.M. Wow. I normally don't get up til around nine or so. I put on some jean shorts and a tee-shirt with Kim Possible on it kicking Shego's rear-end. Not in the literal sense. I slid into my bright  green socks to match Shego and my zebra converse. I sneaked down the stairs skipping the one step that always squeals. Before I walked out of the house, I grabbed a banana and ate it quickly. I gulped down some water and quietly opened the door.

     I stopped to think for a second. I had a feeling I wouldn't be back for a while. I felt a strange urge to go hug my parents and tell them it would be ok, but I knew I couldn't. A voice in the back of my head told me it would totally and completely ruin everything and I've learned from past experience to listen to that voice. Before closing the door behind me, I looked around the house one last time. I saw the dining room where we rarely ate. I could remember from the few times we had that we had had a good laugh or two. My eyes traveled to the den where we had lazy Saturdays, family game nights, and Friday movie nights.

     I started to drift off into neverland but snapped myself out of it and quietly shut the door making sure I didn't make too much noise. I turned around and looked at the sidewalk. It looked foreign; almost evil. Like, if I walked on it, it would take me away from my parents forever.  Which, it could but I wasn't going to think about that right now. I had other things to think about.

     I reached the sidewalk and started walking towards the abandoned house. It felt as if some force was controlling me; pulling me towards some unknown fate. I walked to the end of the street and stopped in front of the house next to me. I looked in the window and saw something that darn near broke my heart (Happy Feet! lol BEST.MOVIE.EVER.)

     The family had just woken up. They were all in the kitchen except for the dad who was shuffling down the hall rubbing the sleepy out of his eyes. The kids were running around fixing poptarts and making the general mess associated with the morning routine. The mom was propped up on the counter by her elbow sipping on a cup of coffee with a far-off look in her eyes. The perfect family. Jeez, I was going to miss my parents. Sure, they were dorky and, annoying even, but they are my parents.

      I turned and continued down the side walk getting closer and closer to the gate. Every step made me more and more nervous. I mean, you would be nervous too if you got a dream telling you to go through a gate and you followed the directions without wanting to. The gate looked like a shark's jaws. Like it could chomp down and swallow me hole any second. I shivered.

     I suddenly got dizzy. My vision blurred as spots crept into the corners of my eyes. Everything started spinning and turning purple. I blacked out for about a second and when I opened my eyes, I was at the gate. Wow, this got creepier and creepier. I slowly opened the gate. It creaked loudly telling me that it hadn't been opened lately. The only people that came in here were the teenagers who were triple-dog-dared to go in there. From outside, it looked like any regular backyard. Except for the over-grown grass. But I knew better than that.

     I stepped inside and found myself in a different world completely. It seemed like it was once a very beautiful place. There were tall pinetrees stretching up to the clouds. Their branches were in a position where they looked as if they had just awoken and were stretching their stiff limbs. As if they hadn't awoken in a long time. Like.... a breath of fresh air. That's how I felt. I felt like a different person.

     The sun glistened on the early morning dew resting on the grass. There were hundreds of flowers and other plants. It looked like Noah's ark had thrown up because there were two of each kind of plant. It was beautiful all right but the thing was, the plants were all wilting and there was a strange chill about the place. It made me want to go home and curl up in bed. It took all of my willpower not to lay down right then and there and doze off. I could tell there was something wrong with this place and I couldn't do anything until I figured out what it was.

     I walked forward some more and out from behind a tree walked a boy. I jumped because he had some up as silently as a cat. I could tell he had practice at that. He looked about my age and had light brown hair and hazel eyes. You know how your parents always tell you not to talk to strangers? My parents were very enforcing of that rule and yet here I was, about to talk to some boy who had nearly scared me out of my skin. Except, I could tell he was different. This was no random teenager playing a game in the woods with his friends.

     He smiled at me and said, "Lily, you've arrived!"

     I stared at him in shock with my mouth so wide I probably looked like I had a loose jaw. It was the voice I had heard in my dreams. "You're-Ehh-dreams-voice-how?" was my oh-so-intelligent answer.

     He looked at my with a funny grin on his face. It made him look kinda cute. "My name is Cody. I'm your brother. I got trapped in here when you were little and have been trying to get you to come for quite a while. I was able to establish a link where I could talk to you when you fell asleep."

     "EWEWEWEWEWEW!" I thought to myself. To think I thought my own brother was cute. Disgusting. I made a face at the thought.

     "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" he asked. He had a concerned look on his face.

     "Oh-huh?" the face must have been bad. I wrapped Cody in a bear hug and almost started crying. "Why didn't mom and dad ever tell me I had a brother?"

     "Come," Cody started, " come to my treehouse and I will explain everything- err I mean, what I can." He took me by the elbow and led me away from the gate with a somewhat frantic look in his eye.