I stifle a yawn, running my fingers through my hair. I plant my hands firmly on the ground and push myself up into a sitting position. My eyes take a quick sweep of the room, slowly but surely adjusting to the dim light that is streaming in through the open windows. Wil, Key and Aries are still sleeping, not that I would blame them for it as it’s still relatively early in the morning.

I smoothen out the creases on my shirt, stifling yet another yawn. My eyelids are so heavy and it is taking all my willpower not to fall asleep. Even so, I don’t want to fall back asleep. I don’t want any more of those nightmares to come back to haunt me.

I stand, stumbling towards the exit, feeling slightly disoriented, deciding to go out for a walk, partly to try to clear my head as well as to gather my thoughts, partly because I am mildly curious of the ruins, wanting to see it for myself up close.

A cool breeze sweeps past me and I shiver, wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to warm myself up. As I walk, I take a good, long look at the sky above. The sky is still dark, though there are hints of dark red and orange, indicating that the sun is about to rise soon.

A smile tugs at my lips. No matter how many times I may witness a sunrise or a sunset, it will never cease to amaze me. It is just such a breath taking and spectacular view. I guess there still are couple of things in this world that are worth seeing.

I continue walking, the gravel, pebbles and loose tar crunching under the soles of my shoes. For some reason, the sound it produces gives me a satisfied feeling, perhaps that, for a change, something is actually real.

I stop when I reach a rundown building merely a couple of blocks away from the one Key, Aries, Wil and I are taking refuge in. I reach out to touch it, feeling the rough bricks under my skin.

Most of the paint has already peeled away, leaving the orange clay bricks and dried white cement in all its glory. The building is not particularly tall; perhaps around three to four storeys high, at most.

Nearly all the windows have been smashed, the curtains drawn, almost as if someone had been hiding inside. The door has been kicked down, the rusted hinges still in place. An old sign that has the letters ‘O’, ‘U’, ‘A’ and ‘T’ – the rest of the letters must have faded away over the years – hangs precariously above the doorway, looking as though it’s about to fall.

I step into the building, expecting to see a sight similar to that of the one we are taking refuge in. Never have I been so wrong.

Admittedly, the damage is as bad as the building we were in, if not worse. However, I can’t say that it doesn’t look more spectacular. Sometimes, damages look more gorgeous than an item that is in perfect condition. It makes a person wonder why.

A shattered chandelier hangs from the centre of the room, catching whatever little rays of light that are streaming into the room, sparkling in the poorly lit space. It reflects the light to all parts of the room, making it seem magical.

Cobwebs hang lazily from the corners of the room, as if waiting for someone to dust them off. There is a spiral staircase further up to the left and an unused fountain right in the centre of what seems to be a lobby of some sort.

The dark red carpet lines each stair, leaving a small space of marble floor on each side. Thick white dust has settled on the carpet, giving it spots of white. The rest of the floor is marbled, just like that of the stairs. Black marble.

Just like everything else in the room, the old, three layer fountain is dusty. It is large, taking up one quarter of the space in the room. The edge of the bottommost pool is wide enough for people to sit on. The small tiles are covered with so much filth that it is almost impossible to see what the colour of the tiles are.

It may not be much, but to me, it’s as much as I am going to get. And I might as well treasure it.

I let out a tired sigh, running my fingers through my hair, trying to figure out what we should do next. Our situation is pretty much… Well, I don’t know what the smartest move is. I don’t even know what is going on anymore.

I just wish it would all stop. That everything will just stop being so complicated. Why can’t life be easy? Maybe, maybe what I really wish is for time to come to a standstill. I just want to be able to figure things out though, to be entirely honest, I am not too sure what needs figuring out and what doesn’t. Everything is just a huge jumble in my head.

I head out of the building, not wanting to explore the rest of it. I walk through the abandoned streets of what was once a city. I wonder how is used to be, when people populated the city and when life is abundant, back when the city was flourishing.

It must have been nice.

I wonder if it is anything like the cities that we still have now. Or is it entirely different?

An eerie quiet fills the air and, for some reason, I like it. It soothes my mind, silences the screaming voices in my head. I suck in a deep breath of air, savouring the moment. I don’t get to be alone with my thoughts a lot, what with all the running and escaping. Being locked up back in the facility doesn’t count.

I take a sit in the middle of what once used to be a road, taking in the scene. The sun is slowly but surely rising behind all the abandoned buildings, behind the ruins of this city. I don’t know what happened to this city, but I do know that it was destroyed. The question that keeps returning, though, is will the city ever be rebuilt?

I always believe everyone deserves a second chance, a new beginning, another chance to start over. They had their chance – I’ve given it to them countless times throughout my stay at the labs – and it was blown each time.

Even so, no matter how bad someone has done, they still deserve a chance to repent, to start anew. Maybe, one day, someone will give this city that chance too.

Once the sun has fully risen, lighting the nearly cloudless blue sky, I decide to head back to where the others are at. There’s no point staying out here anymore, after all. It’s bound to get too hot soon.

“How was your morning walk?” Key asks the moment I return.

I shrug. “As good as it will ever be,” I reply, not wanting to elaborate.

She nods, acknowledging my reply.

“Where’s Aries and Wil?” I ask, after realising they’re not there.

“Out. Looking for a stream or anything nearby where we can clean ourselves and get some fresh water.” She pauses. “On another note, while you were out alone with your ‘thoughts’ or whatever, we were here discussing what the wisest next move will be.”

Ah, the discussion. The discussion we have over and over and over again.

“What have you come up with?”

“Remember the reason to your failure is that you have connected with the Data Tree?”

I nod.

“We figured that the reason we keep on getting found is because they have somehow managed to tap into the system and use the connection with the Tree to pinpoint your exact location. Well, other than Aristelle, of course. Besides, I sincerely doubt they relied on here alone.”

I wait for her to continue. “Your point being?” I ask, prompting her.

“I want to try to tap into the system as well. If they can do, there has to be a way we can too.”

I raise an eyebrow, failing to catch her drift. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

She sighs. “I know it is not foolproof, but we are going to the Data Tree to try and disconnect the both of you from the Tree. Maybe, that way, they will stop finding us.”

I open my mouth, intending to reply, but realise that I don’t know what I am supposed to say. I don’t even know what to think about this plan.

“Umm…”

“So?” she asks, prompting me to answer, almost making me believe that she needs my approval on the matter. I’m rather sure that even if I say no, she will go ahead with the plan anyway. Perhaps it’s more on being polite than anything else.

“I guess it’s as good an idea as any,” I mutter, sighing.

I just hope that it works.

I know that this isn't the best chapter ever (I'm still trying to get my creative juices flowing so give me some time) but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless :)

Tbh I'm kinda lazy to do a song of the week or anything so I'll do that for the next chapter. :) Follow me on Twitter at @angelyntjf and we could hang out and chat and do all the cool stuff. Tweet me and I'll follow you :)

I'll try to get another chapter up some time this week. Until then guys!