The Broken Doll

Chapter Two

Lily's pov

I was gone again, in this world of darkness, in this silent void. I can't move or talk. This world, I've decided to call it the Inbetween. The Inbetween is in between light and dark, night and day, reality and dreams, life and death. There's nothing here but me, it feels like I'm floating in a pool of darkness. I can't swim and I can't see. There are breaks in the darkness, when I can hear that man talking. The one who told me his name was Chance. I can hear Chance's voice clearly here and it's the only thing I can hear. His voice breaks through the darkness to me and pulls me towards the surface but I never break free from the pool. When Chance isn't talking to me, it's like I sink back down into the darkness as if I'm drowning in a pool and his voice is the only thing keeping me from drowning completely. Chance reminds me that there is a world and a life outside the Inbetween. Since I can't break free of the Inbetween, I just wait for Chance to pull me back.

"Hey Bunny, I'm back," Chance says and I feel myself being pulled towards him but not all the way. It's like I'm just under the surface of a pool, waiting for someone to pull me up.

"Lily, I brought some people who really wanted to see you," Chance continues,

"Hey Lily, it's James," Another unfamiliar voice says,

"And Julian," Another voice states,

"And Henry and Liam," 

"I'm Nolan,"

"Hi, I'm Ella!" This time a girl speaks.

"So, here we all are again, for the first time in  years," Chance said. As he speaks, I feel a hand on my forehead,

"I can't believe she's real," Ella said,

"Yeah Kitty, she's real," Chance said,

"Why is she sleeping? She's been asleep for hours," Ella said, 

"I told you, she's hurt so she has to rest to get better so we can take her home," Chance said, 

"Yeah, but she needs to wake up soon so we can be twins," Ella said, 

"You're already twins," James said, 

"No, I mean like real twins that do stuff together," Ella said, 

"Soon, Bub, soon," Chance said.

They talked amongst themselves and I went sinking down into the darkness again. This darkness began to feel like a friend the more time I spent in it. It felt nice to be here away from the world, away from my mother's world. Mother's world was full of rules and expectations that I couldn't reach. It was like climbing Mount Everest every day. Everything I did and was was planned by Mother. I wore my hair in a bun everyday, I dressed in simple neutral colors, black, gray, white, and brown, I walked with a completely straight back, I sat with a straight back also. I was to keep my hands folded a certain way at all times. I was to keep a completely neutral face at all times, no smiling, no scowling, no making faces. I was to speak using proper words and not fall into the grammer of "common people" as Mother put it. I was to call her Mother at all times, never Mom, Momma, or Mommy. My life was boring, school, homework, piano lessons, ballet lessons, bedtime. Every day. No tv. No movies. No video games. No fun. "Mother knows best," She always said. Anytime I questioned her she'd answer with "Mother knows best," That meant the discussion was over. I wonder why I haven't heard my mother's voice yet. I'm surprised she isn't there yelling at me to get out of bed and get to school because "Nothing is more important than school," and "Being sick isn't a reason to be lazy," In her mind, there was no reason to miss school, ever. I've been to school even when I was puking my guts out, I had to hide it so I could be at school so Mother wouldn't punish me. So, where is she?