Story of My Unfortunate Life – Chapters 5 & 6

Chapter 5: My Horrible Sleep
—————————————-
I woke up from the same nightmare for the fifth time In a row, the one with XANA taking control of my body and making me nearly kill Ulrich. I looked at my alarm clock, which said 4:40 AM APRIL 24th. Yawning due to my lack of sleep, I decided to give up the possibility of going back to sleep. After checking the hallways for Jim, I snuck my way to the bathroom for peace and freedom from my mind.

After finishing my morning routines, I went to go get breakfast as it was nearing 7:00 AM. Sometime later, Jeremie, Odd and Ulrich sat at my table with my new boyfriend to my left and the other couple sat opposite of us. Jeremie decided to say something since he noticed my half-opened eyes and groggy expression.

“Are you okay Sero? You look like you haven’t slept for a week.” Jeremie said with worry in his voice. He placed his hand on my shoulder, trying to help me become aware of my surroundings.

Looking around before speaking, I decided to tell the group. “I’ve been having nightmares… About XANA controlling me. I haven’t been getting any sleep for the last five days. I just don’t know what to do guys.” I said while trying to hold back a tear, I wasn’t sure what else to say my friends.

After a short pause, Jeremie decided to speak up. “Well, I DO have one possible solution in mind and I think you may like it.” He said with a smile.

“Einstein, are you thinking what I’m thinking? Odd said with a grin while Ulrich gave a similar look.

“Get over here, before someone sees us.” Ulrich said, motioning his hand to me in the middle of the night. Before moving out of the bush, I took a mental note of the area in the likely case that I got lost in the forest. “What are you waiting for? Hurry up before Jimbo catches us.” Odd said, looking around the forest.

“Down here.” Ulrich said, pointing at the slightly rusted manhole cover. “I swear this thing gets heavier each time we get here.” He added with a small groan as he heaved the cover off of the manhole. After going down into the sewers, Odd pointed towards two skateboards and one scooter. “So which one do you want to take?” Odd asked me.

“Will ‘None of the above’ work as well?” I said with a smirk as I tapped the tip of my shoes on the ground, releasing the wheels from my shoes.

“I don’t normally allow off-paper answers, but that will pass for now.” Odd said with a bit of a surprised look on his face.

“Come on guys. Aelita and Yumi are waiting at the factory in case of a XANA attack.” Jeremie said while he grabbed his scooter while Ulrich got on his skateboard. Odd and I looked at each other before he grabbed his skateboard while I started to gain speed on my roller-shoes.

As we exited the elevator, I looked around the room. “Wow, this place looks so… so…” I couldn’t find my words as I looked at everything. My nervous personality forces me to look at every detail of a place I haven’t been to.

“Awesome?” Aelita said to me as I continued looking around, noticing a computer attached to the ceiling and a hologram of what I assumed was Lyoko in the center of the room.

“I… I guess so.” While I didn’t doubt the existence of Lyoko after my… Experience, I still found the mental picture in front of me breathtaking. “So, how do I get into Lyoko?” I asked Jeremie.

“Take the elevator down to the scanners. Aelita and Ulrich will join you after you get virtualized.” He said back.

Once the elevator door opened, I noticed three pod-like things that I assume are the scanners. “What do I do now Jeremie?” I said, trying to shout but due to my quiet nature, it was like normal speech to everyone else.

“Get in a scanner, the supercomputer will virtualize you into Lyoko. You will go first if something happens.” Jeremie said from above.

“Transfer Sero.” Jeremie said. Once the scanner doors closed, I started breathing rapidly as my throat tightened in fear; I’ve always had a fear of close spaces.

“Umm Jeremie, is it a bit late to say that I’m claustrophobic?” I said between short breaths.