My Sister, Skylar

Fifteen

It smelled like vomit and sweat. Dark and cold, then hot. Bright orange light, and sweet-smelling moss. A pretty voice. Leigh pulled herself out of the dark hole that had become her thoughts, and sleep. She stared up at a smooth stone roof. The sound of waves crashing into rocks sounded peaceful. The crackle of a fire made flickering shadows dance across the stone walls. She pushed herself onto her elbows, blinking away that annoying blurry dot. 

"Leigh," breathed a soft voice, relieved. 

She turned her head, looking straight into Six's grey eyes. His hand clutched Leigh's. 

"You're ok." He smiled. Something was off. His face was tinged a light grey, and he looked absolutely exhausted. 

"How are you?" He asked, squeezing Leigh's hand. 

"I'm -" A hacking cough fought its way up her lungs. It quickly turned to vomit. She turned over and spat it out, then wiped her face. "- ok. What happened?" 

"We found you in your cell, completely drugged out. Before that though, I heard Nine's voice. She used her powers to lift the suppressant, so I could escape. Then I found the other cells. I had to fight Thirteen, but he's gone now," he explained. 

"Is Maddy ok?"

Six didn't answer. Instead, he stared at a spot on the wall. 

"Six!" She demanded, her face contorting painfully. 

"I don't know..." He whispered. 

"What do you mean you don't know?" She pressured, feeling heated. 

"We... we got separated." His words were ice. A deafening silence filled the cave. 

Leigh felt a whole world crashing into her. They were separated? Were they ok?

"Get some sleep, yeah? We'll get going tomorrow." Six patted Leigh's shoulder, moving off towards the corner of the cave. 

Leigh feigned sleep for a while. She couldn't even move her body. Eventually, she did fall asleep.

When she awoke, there was a delicious scent wafting through the air. She propped herself up on her elbow. The light outside the cave was like a thick blanket pushed against the opening, the fire flickering and pushing against it in vain. Two rabbits were turning on a spit over the flames, hissing softly. 

"Good, you're awake." Six looked sick. "Come eat." 

Leigh forced herself up and ate with Six. She gulped down three glasses of water after each other, nearly throwing up. Both stayed silent until it was time for rest. Even with all the sleep she had already gotten, Leigh felt exhausted. 

"For the record, I do not snore. So if you hear a loud noise, it's either you or something dangerous. Wake me up. If you want to hear someone snore, listen to my cabin mate. Not only does he snore like a rhino, but he farts like one too. The fresh air never tasted sweeter than when I finally went outside. I swear that boy shat himself at least three times in his sleep - and rolled over it too," Six said. 

The laughter felt good, and it filled the cave. To improve her mood, Six launched into a whole comedy speel, telling jokes and funny stories about his life. Leigh was crying by the time he was done talking about the one where a boy dropped his trousers in the middle of the cabin and farted. Unfortouently for him, it was a little more solid than expected. They called him Dumper after that.  

Finally, the cave fell silent, and deep breaths soon filled the small space. Leigh's nightmares lit up her sleep like fireworks. The minute she closed her eyes, another horror flashed before her eyes. It was like a blessing when Six woke her up, but that quickly faded when she remembered the rest of the group wasn't here. Her friends... 

"How did we get separated?" Leigh asked as they carefully picked their way from the cave on a treacherous goat trial. Six stayed silent for so long, Leigh didn't think he heard. 

"I had to fight Thirteen." His voice was quiet. "It got messier than I would have liked. Madelaine was wounded - as you know - so I told Oliver to take her out of there. Ash was supposed to stay with you... I don't know what happened," He said tightly. His shoulders were tensed. Leigh stayed silent. 

Finally, they made it back to the city. She had no idea what to do, and it almost seemed like Six didn't either. He stood still at the roads edge, staring at his feet. His black hair was growing back in a little, but it wasn't long enough to hide his expression. 

"Six?" She asked, placing her hand on his shoulder. 

"What do we do now?" He asked her, looking up. His eyes were pooled with emotions, but his face showed none of it. Leigh stayed silent for a minute. How would they find her friends? Where were they anyway? Had Thirteen teleported them far?

"Fist off, where are we?" She asked, looking around. Nothing looked familiar. But it was still cold. Six shrugged in response. 

They wandered around for a bit, Leigh's arm wrapped around Six's. A few people gave them odd looks, but neither cared. Finally, they found out they were in Nova Scotia. Leigh bit her lip. How would they find their friends? How would they find Sky? Two whole days were already wasted. They couldn't afford to waste anymore. Exhausted, the two friends sat down on a park bench. Six had his hands in his pockets, looking at nothing. 

"We could..." His voice trailed off. He still refused to meet her eyes. 

"Do what?" She asked, staring up at him like a little kid would. 

"We could just get Nine out by ourselves. I mean, I have a plan, if you'll hear it." He turned to her then, his face still etched with the shadows that never seemed to leave. Leigh shook her head fast. 

"No! I mean, yes. I'll listen. But I won't leave behind my friends. Not unless it's an emergency," She replied, looking up at him again. He nodded. 

"I thought so. Ok, here's my plan. I know this girl, Hundred. She's always moving around, but she has kids, kids with Twists. I think they'll be more than willing to take the Facility down. Plus, her parents were in the military. She's a born leader. If we can get her to help, then it will become a lot easier to take it down. And get all the kids out. We just need to find her," Six said. 

Leigh thought about that. Then she thought about her little sisters face. Ollie's plan would be safer, that was for sure, but this one was more likely to work. It was risky, invading the Facility. On the other hand... 

She thought about Six. The dark clouds that seemed to follow him, chained to his ankle. She thought of Skylar, the haunted look in her eyes. Finally, she thought of all the other kids, the other kids who would be the same. She smiled. 

"Let's do it."