Cluster 1

Chapter 1: Rilyn

Hi my name is Rilyn , I am 14 years old and this is the story of how I died.

I was walking in the woods behind my house with my twin brother Cole. We did this everyday, just to sneak away from our mom Melayna. She didn't even care about us, and wouldn't even realize we were gone.

My mom told Cole and I we were accidents. She hated us. Tried to give us away when we were baby's. But my dad, Roger, wouldn't let her.

They went to court about it, and eventually got divorced. I think signing that paper was one of the best things he ever had done. So, Cole and I lived with dad. Until tragedy struck.

One cold, Thursday evening, an earthquake hit. It was so unexpected. My dad had us sit in the empty guest room, but as he was walking past a bookcase, it fell on him.

The bookcase crushed his skull and hit his brain, killing him instantly.

So Cole and I were sent to live with our bat crap crazy mother. In a small town in Montana. Cole was fine. But after dad died I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

But anyways, Cole and I were walking through the woods, and we came across am unusual tree. It was smaller than the others, but it looked like it was done growing. And as I looked farther down the trunk, I saw some words carved into to bark.

"Help. Save. Cluster 1. Only you 2. "

Those words were marked into the tree. After I read them, I gave Cole a confused look.

"What do you think these mean?" I asked him.

"I don't know, and don't care," Cole stated blankly.

Sometimes, Cole and I, even though we were identical twins, we thought extremely different.

I kept staring at the tree until Cole grabbed my wrist and dragged me back to the hellhole we call our house. My anxiety started to flare up. I didn't know what, but there was something weird about this tree.

Chapter 2: Cole

After taking Rilyn home, we went upstairs and I sat her down on her bed. She scowled at me.

"What!" Rilyn said blankly.

"Rilyn Kay Smith. Don't give me that crap." I retorted. "It's just a tree so you can calm down!"

" I am calm! Stop acting like I'm crazy!" Rilyn yelled back.

"Hey! Shut up brats!" My mom screamed from downstairs.

I sat down next to Rilyn. I saw a tear fall down her face. I hated to see her like this. She was my best friend, my rock, my little sister. Rilyn was everything to me. I could never imagine a life without her.

"Hey. How about tomorrow, we go back to the tree, and you can look at it all you want. For however long you want." I said trying to comfort her.

She nodded her head, looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back and then she fell over sleeping. I laughed. Rilyn had always been a soft sleeper. I walked out of her room and closed the door quietly. As I walked into my navy blue room, I could feel my eyes starting to close as I drifted asleep.

Chapter 3: Rilyn

I woke up at 6, ready to start the day. I got out of bed and looked outside. It was raining, and the sky was greyish-purple. I got up, went to the bathroom, and brushed my teeth. When I was finished I went back into my room. I stripped off my pajamas and picked out a pair of dark jeans, a green tank top, and my black leather cropped jacket. I put that on and then slipped on my black combat boots.

I walked into Cole's room to find him sleeping. I grabbed the cold glass of water on his nightstand and dumped the ice cold water on the back of his head, soaking his dark hair. He awoke with a start as I put the glass down and started braiding my hair over my shoulder.

"What are you doing!!" He screamed at me.

"Wake up we're leaving now" I said

"Ok fine get all the stuff you need while I get ready."

"Thank you" I said turning on my heels and walking back to my room. I grabbed a plain backpack and started packing.

Flashlight, water, some little snacks, a blanket, and extra batteries. I didn't know what we would be encountering so I just packed whatever seemed fitting. I heard footsteps and found Cole standing at my door.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Absolutely." I said back.

We walked out of my room and down the wooden staircase. We sneaked out the back door making sure to not wake our mother for if we did we would probably get smacked on the back of the head.

We walked outside and turned into the woods on a dirt path. I kicked rocks while we walked and Cole whistled like he always did. We walked for about 20 minutes before coming across the tree.

"There it is" I said walking towards it. As I walked closer, I saw the writing again. It made me feel uneasy. I ran my fingers against the engraving feeling the wet, rotting wood. The forest smelled of pine and fresh berries. I ran my finger across it one more time and it started vibrating. Like the entire tree was a cell phone going off on vibrate. I looked back at Cole to see his alarmed face.

"You have to put your fingers on the words!" I said coming to a realization.

"Why?" Cole yelled coming back to his senses.

"Just do it!" I cried. Cole put his left index finger on the words and the vibrating stopped. You would think that would be good, but it was not. The while tree split in half, opening to reveal a glowing cavern.

"Don't you dare..." Cole started. But I cut him off my taking his hand and stepping into the glowing pit.

We swirled around for what seemed like forever until we landed on hard solid ground. But it smelled faintly of cider and apple. My eyes opened and all I saw was green.

Chapter 4: Sizzle

I tuned when I heard a thud. What I saw was strange. 2 people. One boy, one girl. They both had dark brown hair and green eyes. The girl looked fine, but the boy had a small cut on his wrist. I walked over with a bandage ready.

"Here, put this on the cut." I said handing the boy the bandage. He smiled and thanked me. It was a cute smile. Like he was an adorable little dork. No. What am I thinking.

"I'm Sizzle." I said smiling back.

"I'm Cole. And this is my sister Rilyn."

"Cole? That's an unusual name." I was confused. I had never heard that name.

"Well Sizzle isn't something you hear everyday." He retorted.

"Yes, there are 4 Sizzle's in my grade alone." I said. How did he not know that Sizzle was so popular.

"Um can I ask where we are?" the girl named Rilyn said annoyed.

"You are in Cluster 1. Home to the tree spirits, and people. I am just a regular cook. Obviously" I said pointing to my chefs hat pin.

"What is Cluster 1?" Rilyn asked.

"The land of trees." I said like they were asking me what 1+1 equaled.

"Okay." Rilyn said like I was completely insane.

"Your not from a cluster are you?" I asked folding my arms.

"No we're from Montana." Cole said.

"Well then you must see the oldest." I said. "Come with me"

We started walking and Cole took my hand. I felt like 1000 butterflies had just entered my stomach. We kept waking until we reached the oldest tree spirit in all of Cluster 1.