Night fell very quickly, I looked at my watch and it read 6:30pm.
"We better start moving or we will miss our flight out of earth,"I said.
Jiang and Melana nodded in agreement.
We walked up towards the ticket entrance gates.
"We have to go around,"Melana said.
"Yea, I can get through but you guys will have to sneak around,"Jiang said. We nodded.
As Jiang walked through the entrance gate, we crept around the side and as fast as we could, we jumped the fence. Thankfully, no one saw. We walked up to Jiang like nothing ever happened.
We didn't say a word as we walked down Main Street because we didn't know what to expect when we get to our destination. We know that it was going to be bad. As we walked into Fantasyland, people gave us odd stares at our uniforms and such, but got use to it after a quick glance. We stopped in front of the Peter Pan's Flight attraction.
I sighed.
I remember that I couldn't wait to get in line when I was little, but now, I am dreading of what's to come once I get inside. I could sense Melana was stricken with fear too.
"The entrance got to be here. It has to be since it's giving off strong signals and bad signals at the same time," Jiang said, nonchalantly as she walked in line.
It went relatively good paced. Not fast but not slow.
In mid way of the line, I decided to pray that God will give us the strength and courage to go through this mission. I looked over and saw Melana praying too. Jiang wasn't paying much attention since she was looking a lot at her watch.
When we got to the entrance, it was 7:13.
"Ready?" I asked, nervously as we got on the ship. They nodded.
As we slowly passed the flight controller, I noticed something odd.
The college guy looked fazed or being controlled by something. He stared at us a we 'floated' up into the Darling's room.
"There is something wrong with that guy," I pointed out to Jiang.
"Yea, he is controlled by a Other,"Jiang said, sounding like it wasn't a big deal. Can't she show a little bit of appropriate emotion?
We all had one hand on the pod as we passed by Big Ben wich shown 7:15. I check my watch, it was 7:15.
Just as we turned away from London and started to enter Neverland, whiteness surrounded us.
I couldn't see Jiang or Melana next to me but I could sense that they were still there because I heard Melana screaming. Of course, Jiang didn't say anything. I was screaming too because I felt like I was on a roller coaster going hundreds of miles a hour.
Then the whiteness slowly cleared but I was still blinded. When my vision cleared, I looked down and I saw Neverland with lite snow falling over it. Neverland looked like a ghost island because I could see no speck of life from my view. Well, probably because I was too high in the sky.
Then I noticed that I was seriously floating in the sky and I saw Melana and Jiang floating too. We slowly descended to the slightly frozen Mollusk Sea. When my legs surged into the water, I gasped. It was freezing cold! I was still expecting warm, Hawaii waters. Well, back when Neverland was still good and functional.
"We got to swim,"Jiang whispered.
I looked around and saw Skull Rock nearby. I pointed towards there.
Without a nod, we all started swimming as fast as we could. We didn't care where we going to go in Skull Rock, we just wanted to get out of the cold waters. Finally my touched a rock. I looked up and saw a cave wall and a few scattered rocks.
I pulled myself up and sat on the ground, trying to catch my breathe, freezing. Jiang and Melana pushed up after me.
"Where do we go? I am freezing,"Melana whispered through her chattering teeth. Jiang looked up and we looked in her direction, a cave.
"Up there,"Jiang said.
Without a word, we started climbing up the rocky wall. It was like rocky climbing, except the rocks weren't smooth. Jiang levitated behind us, in case we fell.
We finally reached the cave. I peeped inside with my flashlight and it was pretty spacious with a few holes in the wall to let in a little light and air.
"Pretty nice room you got us here, Jiang,"Melana commented.
"Yup. I like to choose comfortable spots that I can nap comfortably in."
I opened up my pack and pulled out two airtight jackets. I tossed one to Jiang because Melana was already pulling her's on. I ripped the plastic and it puffed into a bubble jacket.
"Neat,"Jiang said as she opened her's.
We slipped on our jackets while Melana set up a pop up tent that was also stored in her pack. We crawled inside the tent and huddle together for warmth. The ice slowly defrosted from my face and I could finally feel my nose again.
"What do we do now?"Melana asked.
I pulled out three energy bars.
"We eat, then rest,"I said.
We opened up our power bars and ate quietly.
Then I heard a rock move behind our tent.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Chapter 8: Plan
The bus slowed to a stop when I saw the crowds of people in between the entrances of California Adventure and Disneyland.
"We're here,"I said, bumping Melana to awake her.
She groaned as she got up, eyes dazed from sleep.
As we got off the bus, she said,"Wow, it's 2:40. The bus ride only felt like ten minutes."
"Come one, sleepyhead,"I said.
I saw the long line to the check in area. My eyes strayed towards our backpacks and I already knew that we wouldn't get through because we had no authorization to enter. I grabbed Melana's wrist and walked briskly to the sidelines.
The second the cast members didn't look towards out direction, we ran. As J.U.S.S. trainees, we were taught to run silent so that no one could hear us.
When we were far enough, we slowed to a stop.
"Now what?" Melana asked, panting a little bit.
"We wait for the person I called," I said.
A person then called from behind me,"I am right here."
I turned and saw Jiang. She handed me the pod.
"When I got here, your dad and a couple of starcatchers already left to Neverland. The remaining catchers went home,"Jiang said.
"Good. Here's the plan. First, we need to get past the entrance and enter the Peter Pan ride as quick as possible," I said.
"But the pod only works when the miniature Big Ben says so,"Jiang corrected.
"Don't worry. I just checked google and it read 7:15pm," Melana said.
"Great," I commented.
"So, what are we going to do?"Melana asked.
"We wait. But when the time comes, we will wait near the ride and try to get in line by 6:50. Hopefully, we will reach Big Ben by that time. I don't know where the entrance is but as a long as we have the pod, we will be fine. After that, I don't know what to expect,"I said.
"Has anyone been to Neverland?" Melana asked out of nowhere. We all shook our heads.
"Well, it was worth a shot."
"We should probably get in,"I said.
"Wouldn't it be better if we do it at night?"Jiang said.
"Yea, because they won't be able to see us,"Melana added in.
"You both got a point," I said.
"So, do we just chill here?" Melana asked.
"Yup,"Jiang and I replied at the same time.
-------------------------<>--------------------------
"King,"said the Skeleton as he ran into the King's cave, overlooking the ghostly Mermaid Lagoon.
"What is it?"The King asked.
"We are getting strange power signals from the Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels are kept."
"Why?"
"We do not know. It is a starstuff related because no one can get close to the source. Three men died from overexposure."
"Curtana, eh?"
"The Sword of Mercy?"
"Remember when you tried to reach some hidden starstuff, you used Curtana."
"Yes, but that boy broke it again."
"From my knowledge, myths have it that the person who owns the tip can only reach it and possibly summon it when it gives off powerful signals."
"The boy."
"Yes."
"We need to get him."
"Yes, as soon as possible. The Curtana is a great help to my conquest. Bring me the tip and if you are lucky, the boy too."
"Yes, sir."
The Skeleton rushed out of the room.
The King whispered to himself,"You think you can hide from me, Peter. You can't. Once I obtained the power of the Sword of Mercy, I will be undefeated for the rest of my reign. No sword will ever cross my path without being destroyed when I have both the Sword of Mercy and the Blade of Death. Ha ha . . . show yourself and fight like a man."
Friday, April 5, 2013
Chapter 7: First Apollo
An Apollo is a fancy way of saying a "mission". We like to call it that because most of our missions are more serious then anything else. My first Apollo was assigned a week after I met up with Kaoru. I was finishing up some homework when I got a call from the Director (pre-recorded of course),"The president is coming to the Walt Disney Concert Hall to see a live symphony. We are detecting major bomb threats, possibly nuclear from Korean radios. We want you to inspect or disable anything related to a bomb." I hooked up a airline.
------------------------------------------------------
The doors opened to the Amtrack station. Melana got off with me.
"I feel like we are lonely without Chelsie," Melana said.
I nodded. Chelsie is the oldest of us and she barely failed in the test but she still failed.
"Yea, now where are we going to get practically perfect jokes?" I commented.
I looked around and spotted a couple of agents that our part of our group in uniform.
The group was made up of Melana (102), Glenn (53), Kira (98) and me. Kira and Glenn were the combat agents. Melana is the floater. I am the techy person. We all made a pretty good team.
When we approached our team, I got a good look at the others. Kira was a tall, skinny blond girl. Glenn was a short Asian kid with sport sunglasses. They looked way more professional then Melana and I who only wore our green uniform and brim hats.
"99 and 102 reporting for duty,"I said.
"Good,"Kira said without any recognition that she was glad that we came. She then looked at Glenn.
"We are off schedule thanks to you guys by 5 minutes and 3 second,"Glenn announced.
I rolled my eyes, a on schedule weirdo just what I was craving for right now.
"First off, we need to check in the Kawada Hotel. We are planning on staying her for two days, today to complete our mission and then we leave for home tomorrow," Kira explained, looking into her notebook.
I was impressed a little bit by her straight to business style. Maybe they are not so bad if they are efficient. But one thing bothered me that I just had to bring up.
"Do we have to check in the hotel now? If the bomb is expected to blow tonight, shouldn't we be scouting the area by now? It's better safe then sorry,"I said.
Glenn slowly nodded his head in agreement.
"Sure. So we are detecting a signal from under the orchestra pit,"Kira said, not wasting any time.
"Do you know where the bomb is?" Melana asked.
"No."
"Do you know what kind it is?" I asked.
"No."
"Well glad we are scouting."
"Yea, who knows when it would blow,"Melana added.
"Here is what we need to bring: first, we all have to be approved by the guards which I think would be easy; second, Elysea gets the Lockism in case the bomb is locked; Third, the rest of us cover the perimeter,"Glenn said.
"Sounds like a plan,"I said.
As we started to walk in the entrance, my phone rang. The caller i.d. was my dad. I immediately picked it up.
"Hello?"I said. But then the connection dropped when I was fully inside the building.
"Damn,"I muttered.
"Who was that?" Melana asked.
"My dad,"I replied. She just looked at my sadly.
"You still haven't heard from him yet?"
I shook my head.
"Wait, Disneyland is a hour from here. Maybe you can go and search for your dad in the remaining time left."
"I can't do that." Is she nuts? A agent is never to leave her group without given permission.
"Why not? You have the gear," she said, nodding towards my backpack.
She did make a point because I was carrying 'the works' backpack. I had all that I needed in it.
"You gotta point," I said. Melana beamed.
Once we past security, we put our plan into action. We covered areas that we thought the signal came from but then we found it coming from a floor vent. Glenn and Kira covered the perimeter near the vent. Melana stuck with me, I was glad. I crouched near a good three-foot wide vent. I pulled out my flashlight and shined it inside. I saw a dusty floor with a few boxes.
"I think it's okay to go inside,"I whispered to Melana.
I radioed Glenn and Kira saying,"Going in."
I took out my screw driver and unscrewed the screws. I pulled the vent cover out and climbed in the hole. I slowly let myself down to the floor. Once I was on the ground, Melana threw the Lockism down. The Lockism is a special computer that can disable bombs but only in emergencies. I grabbed the case and ran towards the middle of the basement. I looked around quickly, trying to find the bomb. I flipped on my bomb detector on my watch. I walked slowly towards the walls.
"Come on,"I muttered,the watched shown noon.
Then I heard a beep. I waved my wrist over that section of the wall again and it beeped again. I knelt to the ground and the beeping sped up a lot. I looked towards the lower all and saw a crack. I got out a durable pocket knife and started scraping away at the linings. The slab of rock fell to the ground. I put my knife away and pulled out a flashlight and shined it inside the hole. I saw a Macbook Pro with a timer, marking 60 minutes exact.
"Okay, here it goes,"I said.
I felt around the laptop, no wires.
I carefully pulled the laptop out and looked around it. There was no way, from what I could see, to get to the computer hard drive without accidentally blowing it up. I opened the Lockism and connected the USB wire to the laptop. The info of the bomb popped up.
"Woah,"I mumbled.
It was all tech. It was made that if anyone would touch a wire it would ignite a minor bomb. Enough to blow up the person who touched it. Glad that I didn't touch it.
I clicked the disable button and the Macbook powered down. Very nasty system, but easy to shut down.
I felt my phone vibrate when I started to shut down the Lockism. I reached in my pocket and looked at the caller i.d., it was my dad. I flipped my phone open.
"Hello?"
"Elysie,"said my dad. The reception was so bad that I could barely hear a thing.
"What's wrong?"I asked.
"Elysie . . . ,"my dad started but there was a eruption of loud noises and groaning.
"Sorry dad, I can't hear you. You got to speak louder."
"DISNEY! FLIGHT! RIDE! POD! NOW!," my dad yelled into the phone and the call dropped.
"Dad?" I yelled into the phone. All I heard was a drone tone. Oh no, I am not losing you.
I vigorously packed up my things and climbed up the vent.
"You shut it off" Melana asked.
I screwed the vent cover shut, got up, and handed her the Lockism.
I radioed Kira,"Disabled bomb. Call security to location."
I turned to Melana and said,"When Kira gets here, give the Lockism to her."
"Where are you going?" Melana asked, confused.
"To the Happiest Place on Earth."
Confusion lingered on her face, but then realization.
"Trouble?" Melana said.
I nodded.
"I am going with you."
"No, Melana. It's too dangerous."
"If I was going to a battle, would you come with me too?"
I thought of that for a second. Only a second.
"Yea, okay let's go."
As we passed by Glenn I yelled,"Assigned to another Apollo! Nice working with you!"
I didn't look back to wait for a answer.
We ran to the bus stop and the bus read that it was heading to Harbor Blvd.
"Come on,"I said to Melana.
We hopped inside, payed our ride, and the bus drove off. I looked through my backpack frantically.
"What are you looking for?" Melana asked.
"The pod. But I didn't bring it," I said.
Then I remembered Jiang. I opened my J.U.S.S. phone and Jiang's number popped up. Whenever some one types in my number in any electronic device, my phone scans the number or brand.
I dialed the number.
By the first ring, Jiang answered.
"Elysie?"
"Not time to chat. I need you to head to my apartment, grab the pod, and meet me at the Disneyland entrance ASAP," I said.
"Got it." Jiang hung up.
I sighed and slipped my phone inside my pocket.
"Who was that?" Melana asked.
"Just a friend, running a errand for me,"I said.
"So, your friend is going to go to your house, which is up north, then bring the pod to you; which you are in the south."
"Yea. She's kinda fast."
Melana just stared at me confused.
There was a silence between us. Traffic started to clog up the highway.
"Hey, um, do you believe in God?" I asked.
"Yup. My parents go to church every Sunday so I just tag along," Melana replied.
"Yea, but, do you believe it?"
"Yea. Who can't? I mean, all the proof is in front of your eyes, you just have to clear the fog to believe it."
"Okay, got a little quotey there."
"Haha, my dad told me that quote. I thought that you might like it."
"Yea."
I stared out into the traffic and into the driver's faces. I saw different faces. I see content and happy, sad and stressed. Then my eyes landed on a SUV with a dad talking to two little girls, all laughing. Looking so darn . . . merry.
I sighed.
I really wish I can be with my dad right now.
Then a light bulb flashed.
"Hey, Melana, can astronauts call people from space with cell phones?"
"Maybe."
"What if they are a universe away?"
"That's is definitely impossible. Theres no service."
I thought hard.
If my dad said that he was in Neverland, he's a wormhole away! That's not possible that the call got through.
"Uh, Melana. My dad called me back at the concert hall and he said that he was in Neverland and that he needs help. The reception wasn't all that great, but I could still hear him."
Melana thought long.
"I don't know. That's impossible . . . what if it's a miracle?"
"Miracle?"
"Yea, from God. Think abou it. What happened if you never heard that call? No one will go to your father's or his friend's aid. I think God let that call go through to call you to your duty."
"What's that?"
"I don't know. Maybe he wants you to help save your father and a mystical island."
"Seriously?"
"I don't know. That's just a random guess. Wake me when we get there."
Then Melana tipped her hat and fell asleep. Leaving me thinking, hard.
Can God really call me to do this? Is there even a God?
I decided to do one thing; pray.
I clasped my hands and closed me eyes.
Uh, hi God. I never exactly prayed to you before so I don't know how it goes. Well, to make story short, my dad is in trouble along with his groupie to save some island. I don't know what to do so can you please help me . . . us with this mission. Please. Um . . . Amen.
I opened my eyes and everything was still the same outside. I wonder if my prayer got higher than the ceiling.
I looked out at the traffic. It was still a long way. I closed my eyes, tipped my hat, and fell asleep.
---------------------------------------------------
I heard jingling.
I woke up and saw the bus, empty.
I stood up.
"Where's everybody?" I muttered.
Then a bright light floated towards me.
"Tinkerbell? Oh good, this is just a dream."
She smiled, then all went white.
The bus around me was getting swallowed by light. Fear gripped my chest. The floor was no longer under me, I looked down, terrified, then I felt like I was falling. I screamed as I fell into the darkness.
Elysea!
I heard a voice above me and I looked up. I saw a bright, golden kingdom. Paths paved of gold. I saw a man standing there, wearing pure white clothes that were so bright, holes in his hands and feet. I couldn't see his face though because I was too far away.
"Who are you?" I yelled.
Come.
I looked down and I saw a lake of flames with people inside of it.
Hell.
I looked up and tried to stop my falling.
"I can't come! I can't stop!"
Come, the man said again.
"Help me!" I yelled, tears streaming down my face as I felt the heat of the fire.
Then a hand grabbed me.
I saw the man in white pulling me towards the opening.
Once my feet landed on firm ground, I immediately hugged him.
"I am so happy that you saved me. I am so sorry that I denied you my entire life. Please forgive me, Jesus,"I blurted out, through tears.
The man hugged me tighter.
Your sins are forgiven.
I cried uncontrollably.
Go and save the lost souls in the Mollusk Island. I will watch over you.
Then the dream faded.
I woke up and saw the Matterhorn in the distance.
"99 and 102 reporting for duty,"I said.
"Good,"Kira said without any recognition that she was glad that we came. She then looked at Glenn.
"We are off schedule thanks to you guys by 5 minutes and 3 second,"Glenn announced.
I rolled my eyes, a on schedule weirdo just what I was craving for right now.
"First off, we need to check in the Kawada Hotel. We are planning on staying her for two days, today to complete our mission and then we leave for home tomorrow," Kira explained, looking into her notebook.
I was impressed a little bit by her straight to business style. Maybe they are not so bad if they are efficient. But one thing bothered me that I just had to bring up.
"Do we have to check in the hotel now? If the bomb is expected to blow tonight, shouldn't we be scouting the area by now? It's better safe then sorry,"I said.
Glenn slowly nodded his head in agreement.
"Sure. So we are detecting a signal from under the orchestra pit,"Kira said, not wasting any time.
"Do you know where the bomb is?" Melana asked.
"No."
"Do you know what kind it is?" I asked.
"No."
"Well glad we are scouting."
"Yea, who knows when it would blow,"Melana added.
"Here is what we need to bring: first, we all have to be approved by the guards which I think would be easy; second, Elysea gets the Lockism in case the bomb is locked; Third, the rest of us cover the perimeter,"Glenn said.
"Sounds like a plan,"I said.
As we started to walk in the entrance, my phone rang. The caller i.d. was my dad. I immediately picked it up.
"Hello?"I said. But then the connection dropped when I was fully inside the building.
"Damn,"I muttered.
"Who was that?" Melana asked.
"My dad,"I replied. She just looked at my sadly.
"You still haven't heard from him yet?"
I shook my head.
"Wait, Disneyland is a hour from here. Maybe you can go and search for your dad in the remaining time left."
"I can't do that." Is she nuts? A agent is never to leave her group without given permission.
"Why not? You have the gear," she said, nodding towards my backpack.
She did make a point because I was carrying 'the works' backpack. I had all that I needed in it.
"You gotta point," I said. Melana beamed.
Once we past security, we put our plan into action. We covered areas that we thought the signal came from but then we found it coming from a floor vent. Glenn and Kira covered the perimeter near the vent. Melana stuck with me, I was glad. I crouched near a good three-foot wide vent. I pulled out my flashlight and shined it inside. I saw a dusty floor with a few boxes.
"I think it's okay to go inside,"I whispered to Melana.
I radioed Glenn and Kira saying,"Going in."
I took out my screw driver and unscrewed the screws. I pulled the vent cover out and climbed in the hole. I slowly let myself down to the floor. Once I was on the ground, Melana threw the Lockism down. The Lockism is a special computer that can disable bombs but only in emergencies. I grabbed the case and ran towards the middle of the basement. I looked around quickly, trying to find the bomb. I flipped on my bomb detector on my watch. I walked slowly towards the walls.
"Come on,"I muttered,the watched shown noon.
Then I heard a beep. I waved my wrist over that section of the wall again and it beeped again. I knelt to the ground and the beeping sped up a lot. I looked towards the lower all and saw a crack. I got out a durable pocket knife and started scraping away at the linings. The slab of rock fell to the ground. I put my knife away and pulled out a flashlight and shined it inside the hole. I saw a Macbook Pro with a timer, marking 60 minutes exact.
"Okay, here it goes,"I said.
I felt around the laptop, no wires.
I carefully pulled the laptop out and looked around it. There was no way, from what I could see, to get to the computer hard drive without accidentally blowing it up. I opened the Lockism and connected the USB wire to the laptop. The info of the bomb popped up.
"Woah,"I mumbled.
It was all tech. It was made that if anyone would touch a wire it would ignite a minor bomb. Enough to blow up the person who touched it. Glad that I didn't touch it.
I clicked the disable button and the Macbook powered down. Very nasty system, but easy to shut down.
I felt my phone vibrate when I started to shut down the Lockism. I reached in my pocket and looked at the caller i.d., it was my dad. I flipped my phone open.
"Hello?"
"Elysie,"said my dad. The reception was so bad that I could barely hear a thing.
"What's wrong?"I asked.
"Elysie . . . ,"my dad started but there was a eruption of loud noises and groaning.
"Sorry dad, I can't hear you. You got to speak louder."
"DISNEY! FLIGHT! RIDE! POD! NOW!," my dad yelled into the phone and the call dropped.
"Dad?" I yelled into the phone. All I heard was a drone tone. Oh no, I am not losing you.
I vigorously packed up my things and climbed up the vent.
"You shut it off" Melana asked.
I screwed the vent cover shut, got up, and handed her the Lockism.
I radioed Kira,"Disabled bomb. Call security to location."
I turned to Melana and said,"When Kira gets here, give the Lockism to her."
"Where are you going?" Melana asked, confused.
"To the Happiest Place on Earth."
Confusion lingered on her face, but then realization.
"Trouble?" Melana said.
I nodded.
"I am going with you."
"No, Melana. It's too dangerous."
"If I was going to a battle, would you come with me too?"
I thought of that for a second. Only a second.
"Yea, okay let's go."
As we passed by Glenn I yelled,"Assigned to another Apollo! Nice working with you!"
I didn't look back to wait for a answer.
We ran to the bus stop and the bus read that it was heading to Harbor Blvd.
"Come on,"I said to Melana.
We hopped inside, payed our ride, and the bus drove off. I looked through my backpack frantically.
"What are you looking for?" Melana asked.
"The pod. But I didn't bring it," I said.
Then I remembered Jiang. I opened my J.U.S.S. phone and Jiang's number popped up. Whenever some one types in my number in any electronic device, my phone scans the number or brand.
I dialed the number.
By the first ring, Jiang answered.
"Elysie?"
"Not time to chat. I need you to head to my apartment, grab the pod, and meet me at the Disneyland entrance ASAP," I said.
"Got it." Jiang hung up.
I sighed and slipped my phone inside my pocket.
"Who was that?" Melana asked.
"Just a friend, running a errand for me,"I said.
"So, your friend is going to go to your house, which is up north, then bring the pod to you; which you are in the south."
"Yea. She's kinda fast."
Melana just stared at me confused.
There was a silence between us. Traffic started to clog up the highway.
"Hey, um, do you believe in God?" I asked.
"Yup. My parents go to church every Sunday so I just tag along," Melana replied.
"Yea, but, do you believe it?"
"Yea. Who can't? I mean, all the proof is in front of your eyes, you just have to clear the fog to believe it."
"Okay, got a little quotey there."
"Haha, my dad told me that quote. I thought that you might like it."
"Yea."
I stared out into the traffic and into the driver's faces. I saw different faces. I see content and happy, sad and stressed. Then my eyes landed on a SUV with a dad talking to two little girls, all laughing. Looking so darn . . . merry.
I sighed.
I really wish I can be with my dad right now.
Then a light bulb flashed.
"Hey, Melana, can astronauts call people from space with cell phones?"
"Maybe."
"What if they are a universe away?"
"That's is definitely impossible. Theres no service."
I thought hard.
If my dad said that he was in Neverland, he's a wormhole away! That's not possible that the call got through.
"Uh, Melana. My dad called me back at the concert hall and he said that he was in Neverland and that he needs help. The reception wasn't all that great, but I could still hear him."
Melana thought long.
"I don't know. That's impossible . . . what if it's a miracle?"
"Miracle?"
"Yea, from God. Think abou it. What happened if you never heard that call? No one will go to your father's or his friend's aid. I think God let that call go through to call you to your duty."
"What's that?"
"I don't know. Maybe he wants you to help save your father and a mystical island."
"Seriously?"
"I don't know. That's just a random guess. Wake me when we get there."
Then Melana tipped her hat and fell asleep. Leaving me thinking, hard.
Can God really call me to do this? Is there even a God?
I decided to do one thing; pray.
I clasped my hands and closed me eyes.
Uh, hi God. I never exactly prayed to you before so I don't know how it goes. Well, to make story short, my dad is in trouble along with his groupie to save some island. I don't know what to do so can you please help me . . . us with this mission. Please. Um . . . Amen.
I opened my eyes and everything was still the same outside. I wonder if my prayer got higher than the ceiling.
I looked out at the traffic. It was still a long way. I closed my eyes, tipped my hat, and fell asleep.
---------------------------------------------------
I heard jingling.
I woke up and saw the bus, empty.
I stood up.
"Where's everybody?" I muttered.
Then a bright light floated towards me.
"Tinkerbell? Oh good, this is just a dream."
She smiled, then all went white.
The bus around me was getting swallowed by light. Fear gripped my chest. The floor was no longer under me, I looked down, terrified, then I felt like I was falling. I screamed as I fell into the darkness.
Elysea!
I heard a voice above me and I looked up. I saw a bright, golden kingdom. Paths paved of gold. I saw a man standing there, wearing pure white clothes that were so bright, holes in his hands and feet. I couldn't see his face though because I was too far away.
"Who are you?" I yelled.
Come.
I looked down and I saw a lake of flames with people inside of it.
Hell.
I looked up and tried to stop my falling.
"I can't come! I can't stop!"
Come, the man said again.
"Help me!" I yelled, tears streaming down my face as I felt the heat of the fire.
Then a hand grabbed me.
I saw the man in white pulling me towards the opening.
Once my feet landed on firm ground, I immediately hugged him.
"I am so happy that you saved me. I am so sorry that I denied you my entire life. Please forgive me, Jesus,"I blurted out, through tears.
The man hugged me tighter.
Your sins are forgiven.
I cried uncontrollably.
Go and save the lost souls in the Mollusk Island. I will watch over you.
Then the dream faded.
I woke up and saw the Matterhorn in the distance.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Chapter 6: New
Two weeks later, I made the mistake on tuning in to my town's local news.
There was a big announcement of five men missing for two weeks. My dad's name was listed.
I felt really worried because if the "starcatchers" families were freaking out, something bad must have happened. Why wasn't I informed? Probably because I am not part of their group. Sheesh, make me feel like a outsider.
I finished my entire reading of the Starcatchers series. It seemed to be more like a fictional fantasy then a true story. How can 'heavenly' bodies from space crash on earth with no official recored witnesses? It makes no sense.
The only thing that made sense is the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. There had been many rumors in the scientific world that there is a bridge connecting earth to a certain wormhole. It is stabilized by a unknown power source so it might be starstuff. But, how can you move it?
Is there like a communicator to the bridge? If there was, why doesn't the Disney Parks know about it? Weird . . . .
I turned back to the TV and saw a picture of my dad and his groupies. I felt a pang of guilt.
Where did he go?
I knew the mission meant a lot to him, but I kinda wish he never went. The apartment has been really lonely and fish aren't the greatest "man's best friends" you could have.
I sighed as I swung my backpack on my back and locked the front door behind me.
As I neared the school grounds, Chelsie and Melana came to meet up with me.
"Elysie! Did you hear that we have a new transfer student?" Chelsie said.
"Uh, hello? Yes, I just got here," I pointed out.
"Oh, well sorry."
"They say she a international student from Japan!" Melana said.
"She?" I asked.
"Yup."
Hmmm, maybe I could add her to the J.U.S.S.
We walked to our lockers, threw our stuff in our packs, and headed towards homeroom. As I slid to my seat, my teacher sounded the Aflac duck toy. (to announce that class is in, in the most annoying way possible)
"You all probably already know, but we have a new transfer student from Hokkaido, Japan," our teacher announced.
A girl walked out with medium length hair with perfectly cropped bangs across her face.
"Class, this is Kaoru Tamura."
Kaoru gave the class a shy smile.
Yup, definitely got to see what kind of skills she got up her sleeve.
After torturous hours of pure bor-learning, the lunch bell finally rang. At lunch, I decided to sit net to Kaoru. Just to interrogate her, of course.
"Uh, konnichiwa," I said, unsure if it meant "hello" or something else.
Kaoru giggled and said,"あなたはにほんごおはなせますか”
"Huh? No no, you got it all wrong. That is the only Japanese word that I know of. Well, besides sushi, sashimi, ramen . . ." I rambled.
"I knew that. You didn't sound Japanese at all," Kaoru reassured.
I felt stupid that I fell for it.
After a few minutes of munching and close observing, Kaoru broke the silence.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Elysea Pan, but you can call me Elysie," I replied.
"Pretty name. You can call me Ka-chan."
I nodded, still observing her closely.
"You name is funny though," Kaoru said.
"How so?" I asked, a little annoyed.
"Pan is bread in Japanese."
I thought for a second, then asked,"You are not pulling my leg, right?"
She shook her head.
"Hmm, I didn't know that. Well, in Spanish class, my teacher called me 'wonder bread' because of my last name. Totally not funny," I confessed.
Kaoru laughed.
"It's not a laughing matter," I said.
"Sorry," she said, while fighting bad small giggles. This girl giggles a lot.
"Is your father, by any chance, named Jon?" she asked.
"Yea, why? Do you know him?" I said.
"I saw the news."
A cloud of silence fell over me.
"You and your mother must be really worried," Kaoru said, trying to break the silence.
"She died when I was little."
"Oh, you are by yourself then?"
I nodded.
There was another awkward silence. There are too many of them to be honest.
"Before my dad disappeared, he told some thing that I thought was nuts. When he left to go on some vague mission, I wonder if it actually real, what he said I mean. But I don't know where he went exactly," I confessed.
"What did he say?"
I hesitated a bit, but firmed up and said," He said that he was . . .going to Disneyland."
"Interesting. Maybe you should go look for him."
"Why? The place that he is going to doesn't even exist! I will never be able to find him unless he has a GPS tracker."
"Probably you won't need a tracker," Kaoru said in a suspicious voice. First she was the hunted, by I think now she is hunting the hunter (i.e. me).
"What do you mean?"
"Listen close and listen well."
"Um, okay."
"You think that any chances of finding your father is futile, well in your mind, right?"
"Yea."
"You think that your judgement will never pull you through"
"Yea."
"I know someone who can you help you with all of that."
"Who?"
"God."
"God? You mean that "one and only god" that people learn about every Sunday at church? Sorry to break this to you but I don't go to church and I am not planning to in the future."
"It doesn't matter if you go or planning to go."
"Say."
"God is the creator of the universe! The Almighty God! He can do anything because made everything! But at the price."
"What price?"
"You have to give your life to Him and believe in Him."
"That's the second time that I was told to believe in something. There are so many thing people want me to believe in!"
"Whoever told you to believe in something probably didn't deliver the message in a right way."
"You got that right."
"Hmmm, how should I put this . . ."
There was a long silence of hard thinking from both sides. Who is this 'God'? I heard about Him from all the Christians, but have they ever seen Him?
But then I thought about the video; the men in black. What if my dad is facing them right now? My dad has no capabilities of using firearms and sucks at self defense. I shivered just thinking about it.
"Elysie?" Kaoru said, pulling me away from my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yea. Wait. . . . Ka-chan, are you a Christian?" I asked.
"Yes I am."
"Why do you believe what you believe?"
"I believe in Him because he has done many great things in my life," Kaoru said confidently.
Hmmm, no sign of denial.
"What has He done in your life?"
"It's a long story."
"I have the entire period."
"My mother and father died in a car crash when I was nine. I was in the car too. It was dark and rainy and the car slid of the road and into a ditch. I thankfully made it out alive. I was in that dark place for three days, staying close to my parent's cold dead bodies. Cried my eyes out and prayed a ton for God to get me out of there. Thankfully, He sent two hikers to find me and I was safely transported out of there. It was God who watched over me through that dark time."
"So, you are a orphan?"
"If you want to put it that way, yes. But I am not a orphan but a child of God."
"But, aren't you angry that God let them die?"
"Nope, I know that when they died, that God was in control. Besides, they are in a more better place than Earth."
"I can't believe that you are okay with that whole scenario. I wouldn't."
"Why?"
"I don't want to lose my dad because he is the only one that I have left since my mother is gone."
"Is that your reason?"
"Why . . . yes." What is it with this girl?
"Elysie, you are not in control of what's going on to your dad. God can give and take away."
"Hasn't he taken away enough?"
"I don't know. You can ask."
"Ask who?"
"God. If you knock, the door will open."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Positive."
Then the lunch bell rang.
"Well, gotta go. See you sometime soon." Kaoru said, and ran off.
"That was weird," I murmured to myself.
There was a big announcement of five men missing for two weeks. My dad's name was listed.
I felt really worried because if the "starcatchers" families were freaking out, something bad must have happened. Why wasn't I informed? Probably because I am not part of their group. Sheesh, make me feel like a outsider.
I finished my entire reading of the Starcatchers series. It seemed to be more like a fictional fantasy then a true story. How can 'heavenly' bodies from space crash on earth with no official recored witnesses? It makes no sense.
The only thing that made sense is the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. There had been many rumors in the scientific world that there is a bridge connecting earth to a certain wormhole. It is stabilized by a unknown power source so it might be starstuff. But, how can you move it?
Is there like a communicator to the bridge? If there was, why doesn't the Disney Parks know about it? Weird . . . .
I turned back to the TV and saw a picture of my dad and his groupies. I felt a pang of guilt.
Where did he go?
I knew the mission meant a lot to him, but I kinda wish he never went. The apartment has been really lonely and fish aren't the greatest "man's best friends" you could have.
I sighed as I swung my backpack on my back and locked the front door behind me.
As I neared the school grounds, Chelsie and Melana came to meet up with me.
"Elysie! Did you hear that we have a new transfer student?" Chelsie said.
"Uh, hello? Yes, I just got here," I pointed out.
"Oh, well sorry."
"They say she a international student from Japan!" Melana said.
"She?" I asked.
"Yup."
Hmmm, maybe I could add her to the J.U.S.S.
We walked to our lockers, threw our stuff in our packs, and headed towards homeroom. As I slid to my seat, my teacher sounded the Aflac duck toy. (to announce that class is in, in the most annoying way possible)
"You all probably already know, but we have a new transfer student from Hokkaido, Japan," our teacher announced.
A girl walked out with medium length hair with perfectly cropped bangs across her face.
"Class, this is Kaoru Tamura."
Kaoru gave the class a shy smile.
Yup, definitely got to see what kind of skills she got up her sleeve.
After torturous hours of pure bor-learning, the lunch bell finally rang. At lunch, I decided to sit net to Kaoru. Just to interrogate her, of course.
"Uh, konnichiwa," I said, unsure if it meant "hello" or something else.
Kaoru giggled and said,"あなたはにほんごおはなせますか”
"Huh? No no, you got it all wrong. That is the only Japanese word that I know of. Well, besides sushi, sashimi, ramen . . ." I rambled.
"I knew that. You didn't sound Japanese at all," Kaoru reassured.
I felt stupid that I fell for it.
After a few minutes of munching and close observing, Kaoru broke the silence.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Elysea Pan, but you can call me Elysie," I replied.
"Pretty name. You can call me Ka-chan."
I nodded, still observing her closely.
"You name is funny though," Kaoru said.
"How so?" I asked, a little annoyed.
"Pan is bread in Japanese."
I thought for a second, then asked,"You are not pulling my leg, right?"
She shook her head.
"Hmm, I didn't know that. Well, in Spanish class, my teacher called me 'wonder bread' because of my last name. Totally not funny," I confessed.
Kaoru laughed.
"It's not a laughing matter," I said.
"Sorry," she said, while fighting bad small giggles. This girl giggles a lot.
"Is your father, by any chance, named Jon?" she asked.
"Yea, why? Do you know him?" I said.
"I saw the news."
A cloud of silence fell over me.
"You and your mother must be really worried," Kaoru said, trying to break the silence.
"She died when I was little."
"Oh, you are by yourself then?"
I nodded.
There was another awkward silence. There are too many of them to be honest.
"Before my dad disappeared, he told some thing that I thought was nuts. When he left to go on some vague mission, I wonder if it actually real, what he said I mean. But I don't know where he went exactly," I confessed.
"What did he say?"
I hesitated a bit, but firmed up and said," He said that he was . . .going to Disneyland."
"Interesting. Maybe you should go look for him."
"Why? The place that he is going to doesn't even exist! I will never be able to find him unless he has a GPS tracker."
"Probably you won't need a tracker," Kaoru said in a suspicious voice. First she was the hunted, by I think now she is hunting the hunter (i.e. me).
"What do you mean?"
"Listen close and listen well."
"Um, okay."
"You think that any chances of finding your father is futile, well in your mind, right?"
"Yea."
"You think that your judgement will never pull you through"
"Yea."
"I know someone who can you help you with all of that."
"Who?"
"God."
"God? You mean that "one and only god" that people learn about every Sunday at church? Sorry to break this to you but I don't go to church and I am not planning to in the future."
"It doesn't matter if you go or planning to go."
"Say."
"God is the creator of the universe! The Almighty God! He can do anything because made everything! But at the price."
"What price?"
"You have to give your life to Him and believe in Him."
"That's the second time that I was told to believe in something. There are so many thing people want me to believe in!"
"Whoever told you to believe in something probably didn't deliver the message in a right way."
"You got that right."
"Hmmm, how should I put this . . ."
There was a long silence of hard thinking from both sides. Who is this 'God'? I heard about Him from all the Christians, but have they ever seen Him?
But then I thought about the video; the men in black. What if my dad is facing them right now? My dad has no capabilities of using firearms and sucks at self defense. I shivered just thinking about it.
"Elysie?" Kaoru said, pulling me away from my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yea. Wait. . . . Ka-chan, are you a Christian?" I asked.
"Yes I am."
"Why do you believe what you believe?"
"I believe in Him because he has done many great things in my life," Kaoru said confidently.
Hmmm, no sign of denial.
"What has He done in your life?"
"It's a long story."
"I have the entire period."
"My mother and father died in a car crash when I was nine. I was in the car too. It was dark and rainy and the car slid of the road and into a ditch. I thankfully made it out alive. I was in that dark place for three days, staying close to my parent's cold dead bodies. Cried my eyes out and prayed a ton for God to get me out of there. Thankfully, He sent two hikers to find me and I was safely transported out of there. It was God who watched over me through that dark time."
"So, you are a orphan?"
"If you want to put it that way, yes. But I am not a orphan but a child of God."
"But, aren't you angry that God let them die?"
"Nope, I know that when they died, that God was in control. Besides, they are in a more better place than Earth."
"I can't believe that you are okay with that whole scenario. I wouldn't."
"Why?"
"I don't want to lose my dad because he is the only one that I have left since my mother is gone."
"Is that your reason?"
"Why . . . yes." What is it with this girl?
"Elysie, you are not in control of what's going on to your dad. God can give and take away."
"Hasn't he taken away enough?"
"I don't know. You can ask."
"Ask who?"
"God. If you knock, the door will open."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Positive."
Then the lunch bell rang.
"Well, gotta go. See you sometime soon." Kaoru said, and ran off.
"That was weird," I murmured to myself.
Chapter 5: The Test
I wouldn't call the sixth grade a happy thing to go through. Especially when people treat you like a piece of trash since you are a under class men. Like who really cares about that? I thought those kind of grudges were over. But eight hours of intense school work and social life is just the start . . . well, for me.
I arrived at the J.U.S.S base more tired than usual because all my teachers decided to throw pop quizes in my face. Not literally but close.
"Hello Elysea, how was your day?" asked Heather Downy, who is the registration person for the J.U.S.S.
Signing in my name, I said,"More tiring than usual."
"Really?" Heather said, while giving me a sheet of paper with a number on it and a safety pin.
"We are having testing today?" I ask confused. I am totally not prepared.
"Why of course. We have tests every month."
"Completely forgot. Can they give me grace?"
"No, get moving." Then she went back to her computer.
I walked off into the locker room and changed into my J.U.S.S uniform. The uniform is a dark green heavy duty polo shirt with lots of pockets and badges that I earned. Plus trusty durable khakis, also in dark green. I laced up my combat boots then threw my school clothes into my locker. I started to pull my hair into a ponytail when I heard someone mutter,"Afternoon,Elysie."
I turned around and saw Chelsie sulking by. I let my shoulder-length strawberry blond hair drop to my shoulders and walked over to her.
"I am really sorry about yesterday, Chelsie. I was just mixed up inside that I decided to get mad at you," I said. Chelsie turned around and said,"Yea, you are sorry,I get that. But what are you going to about your dad?"
I just stood there, looking straight into her eyes because I had nothing to say.
"Well, a couple of paranormal things has been happening and I don't know why these things are appearing to me," I said.
"Like what?" Chelsie asked.
I looked around the locker room and saw more girls coming in.
"Um, I don't think this is a good place right now to talk about it. I will tell you later in a emptier place," I said. Chelsie nodded and started fixing her hair. After we both pulled and gelled our hair into neat ponytails (J.U.S.S dress code), we went to the assembly room that looks like a super high tech vault. Pretty modern even though we are a old training facility. (We like to keep up to date)
" I don't see Melana anywhere," I whispered to Chelsie, while she was pinning my number to my back. Then someone tapped my shoulder and I jumped.
"My my, number 24 and 18 are getting along today, eh?" Melana said, in a deep voice.
"Melana!" I said, happily.
"Man, I gotta say, you can break some serious ice," Chelsie teased.
We all started to silently laugh until the executive director of our base walked to the podium.
"Greetings, everyone. Today is our level testing. Since we saw a lot of improvement last month, we are very intrigued on what's going to appear this month. I hope you are all prepared with tech device knowledge and combat skills. This month we will only promote the top five Junior Elites. Be prepared and good luck," the director said.
"Well, we shouldn't be too worried about promotion because we are still young," I said.
"For you, you are way under the age limit," Chelsie said, grumbling. She always has had a hard time trying to pass testings. Mostly because she freaks out halfway through.
"When is your birthday,Elysie?" Melana asked.
"July 4th. I can't wait until I turn 13, when you get all the awesome opportunities," I replied.
"You might past the test before your birthday," Chelsie grumbled.
"Yea, you are one of the most talented people I know in this division," Melana said.
"Ha! As if. I failed three tests," I said.
"Like the time when you did dagger combat testing and you completely lost your grip in offense?" Chelsie teased.
"That was a slip up, my hands were sweaty," I said. I never liked the idea of swords, they were too scary . . . I rather use a gun.
"Well see you guys back here later!" Melana said. Then we split up.
First up was technology. We are tested in hacking into files and killing bugs or viruses manually. We then have to write a report of what we we did, how we did it, and what you found. If you passed above 90%, you get tested raw on Air Force monitors that we are never trained on. Usually only one person passes it every six months. Its just to see if we can guide ourselves through unknown systems. Sorry if I am bragging but I am the genius at tech.
I sat in front of a computer and picked up the paper that was given to me.
Hack into a Bank of America account without being traced.
Username: roLickney
Writ down description on what is in the account, once hacked.
I looked simple, so I started hacking.
I worked on various passwords but could not find the right one. Growing desperate, I clicked on history. I smiled when "roLickney" used his account yesterday. I clicked on it and it seemed that he put the 'remember my password' mode because for a millisecond, I saw the real password.
I typed in the password: canada.
The account information showed.
"Woah," I muttered.
The person had 45,000,000 dollars in his bank account. I wrote on the paper.
45 million dollars in account. No account usage tracked. Very fishy.
Password: canada
I x'd out of the window, got up, and walked over to the supervisor to turn in my paper.
He throughly read my paper and lead me towards the hall.
"You will go to the third floor and report to the supervisor in the head of AF monitor section," he said.
I nodded with a mischievous grin. I am ready to tackle this one.
I reported in and walked to the waiting room at the end of the hall. A few kids were already waiting. I sat down next to some girls. The supervisor walked in and called our the pairs in which you are partnered with. I was paired up with a girl named McKenna.
"Hi! I am Elysea Pan. You can call me Elysie," I said, giving her my hand.
"McKenna Anderson," she said, shaking my hand. McKenna was a somewhat tall, skinny girl with mouse blonde hair and stormy gray eyes.
"Are you good at technology?" I asked.
McKenna just shook her head. I nodded.
"If you need any helo just ask me. I am the genius at tech," I said. She grinned sheepishly.
The read light above the monitor entrance door turned green, a group of kids walked out with defeat in their eyes.
"Tough?" I asked.
"You won't be so happy when you get in there," one of the boys said.
I laughed sarcastically, of course McKenna stayed silent. I walked in and took a seat in front of the far side monitors. The radio came on when we all settled in our positions, saying,"All jets are go for launch. Check your monitors and signal a go."
"McKenna, are you good to go?" I asked.
She gave me a thumbs up, looking nervous. I put on the earpiece and said,"We are go for launch. Ready when you are," I said.
Then my earpiece sounded a sound of a jet taking off. "They took off," I said to McKenna.
She just smiled nervously.
I shot my eyes to the radar. No MIGs in range so far. I glanced at McKenna, her eyes darting back and forth.
"Your supposed to watch the radar and the jet body system, to make sure everything is okay,"I said.
"Okay," Melana mumbled.
Mysteriously, engine 1 went out. Looks like it may have been shot.
"MS13, your engine 1 is down,"I said.
I checked the radar again. Something is fishy . . . there are no signals of any other MIGs in the air space.
"I see 5 MIGs. Coming fast and firing,"said the radio.
"It could be ghost jets,"McKenna muttered.
"What?"
"Ghost jets. They have some special system that makes them completely invisible, virally."
I nodded with a impressed face.
I went back to the radio and said,"MS13, you have permission to fire."
"Roger that."
I started working on engine 1.
"I am going to see what's wrong. You just keep your eyes on the jet body," I said. McKenna nodded.
I started clicking engine 1 and a new window popped up. Engine 1 had serious internal damage, far from fixing. Darn, another destroyed not to add, expensive American weapon. I probably be fired right away.
"Too many. Retreat?" suggested the radio.
I thought hard. Retreat means that I failed.
"Um, I got a procedure. Just try to slow them down." I said.
"You got one?" McKenna asked.
"Well, if we retreat we fail the test. I am not failing another pointless test that wasting time out of my day,"I said. I then thought hard for a long minute. Only a minute . . . or more, I don't exactly keep track of time.
"I want you to get them off your tail and uh, get in front of them and fire your missiles, steer clear," I said.
"How?"
"Death fall,"I said. Death fall is when a jet rises high, then falls back, going upside down.
"Are you crazy?" McKenna said.
"What if it works?"
McKenna shook her head, clearly does not want to trust me and thinks that I am blithering idiot, well I am not.
"Roger that," the radio said.
I waiting impatiently. This is like doing Cheep Cheep Chance in a Mario game.
"How's the body?" I asked.
"It's fine, so far," answered McKenna.
We waited for several more long minutes . . . or seconds. Probably it was a bad idea.
"Left wing is banged up, but it's still workable,"McKenna said.
"All down. Retreat. It was a pleasure flying with you," radio said.
I gave a McKenna my 'I told you' grin.
"All students out,"announced the overhead.
The other students got up looking defeated. Me? I beamed the entire way out. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"I need you in my office, Pan," said a gruff voice.
I turned around an I saw the Director. We have not name for him, well actually I never bother finding out so he is just called the "Director".
I followed the almost 7 foot tall man in a black suit that need to grow hair.
We walked into a well kept business office.
"Sit down, please," the Director said, gesturing to the chair opposite of him.
I slowly sat down. Why did the Director ask me in the middle of a test, not to mention Rotation 1.
"You have shown tremendous progress this month. We are very impressed by all your skills and learning abilities. Quite rare since you are at such a young age," said the Director.
I nodded, trying to figure out what he was going to say next.
"Pan, we will like to promote you to the Elite Secret Service as the youngest official agent," said the Director.
I completely blanked out and unable to speak.
"I know you are quite surprised since you only been in the Junior Elite level for six months. But your amazing way of handling technology is very useful," he continued.
"But sir, I am not the best at combat,"I said.
"We have many agents in that area, but we are putting you in the tech area."
I nodded.
The Director reached under his desk and pulled out a badge with a recent Junior Elite picture of me. He stood up and gave me his hand.
"You are officially Agent 99," the Director announced.
We shook hands and I took the badge.
"You are done for today," the Director said, returning to his desk.
" I am not done with testing," I said.
"You no longer need testing," the Director said.
I smiled and walked out. No more testing! I, Elysea Pan, Agent 99 of the U.S. Elite Secret Service.
I couldn't help but smile.
I arrived at the J.U.S.S base more tired than usual because all my teachers decided to throw pop quizes in my face. Not literally but close.
"Hello Elysea, how was your day?" asked Heather Downy, who is the registration person for the J.U.S.S.
Signing in my name, I said,"More tiring than usual."
"Really?" Heather said, while giving me a sheet of paper with a number on it and a safety pin.
"We are having testing today?" I ask confused. I am totally not prepared.
"Why of course. We have tests every month."
"Completely forgot. Can they give me grace?"
"No, get moving." Then she went back to her computer.
I walked off into the locker room and changed into my J.U.S.S uniform. The uniform is a dark green heavy duty polo shirt with lots of pockets and badges that I earned. Plus trusty durable khakis, also in dark green. I laced up my combat boots then threw my school clothes into my locker. I started to pull my hair into a ponytail when I heard someone mutter,"Afternoon,Elysie."
I turned around and saw Chelsie sulking by. I let my shoulder-length strawberry blond hair drop to my shoulders and walked over to her.
"I am really sorry about yesterday, Chelsie. I was just mixed up inside that I decided to get mad at you," I said. Chelsie turned around and said,"Yea, you are sorry,I get that. But what are you going to about your dad?"
I just stood there, looking straight into her eyes because I had nothing to say.
"Well, a couple of paranormal things has been happening and I don't know why these things are appearing to me," I said.
"Like what?" Chelsie asked.
I looked around the locker room and saw more girls coming in.
"Um, I don't think this is a good place right now to talk about it. I will tell you later in a emptier place," I said. Chelsie nodded and started fixing her hair. After we both pulled and gelled our hair into neat ponytails (J.U.S.S dress code), we went to the assembly room that looks like a super high tech vault. Pretty modern even though we are a old training facility. (We like to keep up to date)
" I don't see Melana anywhere," I whispered to Chelsie, while she was pinning my number to my back. Then someone tapped my shoulder and I jumped.
"My my, number 24 and 18 are getting along today, eh?" Melana said, in a deep voice.
"Melana!" I said, happily.
"Man, I gotta say, you can break some serious ice," Chelsie teased.
We all started to silently laugh until the executive director of our base walked to the podium.
"Greetings, everyone. Today is our level testing. Since we saw a lot of improvement last month, we are very intrigued on what's going to appear this month. I hope you are all prepared with tech device knowledge and combat skills. This month we will only promote the top five Junior Elites. Be prepared and good luck," the director said.
"Well, we shouldn't be too worried about promotion because we are still young," I said.
"For you, you are way under the age limit," Chelsie said, grumbling. She always has had a hard time trying to pass testings. Mostly because she freaks out halfway through.
"When is your birthday,Elysie?" Melana asked.
"July 4th. I can't wait until I turn 13, when you get all the awesome opportunities," I replied.
"You might past the test before your birthday," Chelsie grumbled.
"Yea, you are one of the most talented people I know in this division," Melana said.
"Ha! As if. I failed three tests," I said.
"Like the time when you did dagger combat testing and you completely lost your grip in offense?" Chelsie teased.
"That was a slip up, my hands were sweaty," I said. I never liked the idea of swords, they were too scary . . . I rather use a gun.
"Well see you guys back here later!" Melana said. Then we split up.
First up was technology. We are tested in hacking into files and killing bugs or viruses manually. We then have to write a report of what we we did, how we did it, and what you found. If you passed above 90%, you get tested raw on Air Force monitors that we are never trained on. Usually only one person passes it every six months. Its just to see if we can guide ourselves through unknown systems. Sorry if I am bragging but I am the genius at tech.
I sat in front of a computer and picked up the paper that was given to me.
Hack into a Bank of America account without being traced.
Username: roLickney
Writ down description on what is in the account, once hacked.
I looked simple, so I started hacking.
I worked on various passwords but could not find the right one. Growing desperate, I clicked on history. I smiled when "roLickney" used his account yesterday. I clicked on it and it seemed that he put the 'remember my password' mode because for a millisecond, I saw the real password.
I typed in the password: canada.
The account information showed.
"Woah," I muttered.
The person had 45,000,000 dollars in his bank account. I wrote on the paper.
45 million dollars in account. No account usage tracked. Very fishy.
Password: canada
I x'd out of the window, got up, and walked over to the supervisor to turn in my paper.
He throughly read my paper and lead me towards the hall.
"You will go to the third floor and report to the supervisor in the head of AF monitor section," he said.
I nodded with a mischievous grin. I am ready to tackle this one.
I reported in and walked to the waiting room at the end of the hall. A few kids were already waiting. I sat down next to some girls. The supervisor walked in and called our the pairs in which you are partnered with. I was paired up with a girl named McKenna.
"Hi! I am Elysea Pan. You can call me Elysie," I said, giving her my hand.
"McKenna Anderson," she said, shaking my hand. McKenna was a somewhat tall, skinny girl with mouse blonde hair and stormy gray eyes.
"Are you good at technology?" I asked.
McKenna just shook her head. I nodded.
"If you need any helo just ask me. I am the genius at tech," I said. She grinned sheepishly.
The read light above the monitor entrance door turned green, a group of kids walked out with defeat in their eyes.
"Tough?" I asked.
"You won't be so happy when you get in there," one of the boys said.
I laughed sarcastically, of course McKenna stayed silent. I walked in and took a seat in front of the far side monitors. The radio came on when we all settled in our positions, saying,"All jets are go for launch. Check your monitors and signal a go."
"McKenna, are you good to go?" I asked.
She gave me a thumbs up, looking nervous. I put on the earpiece and said,"We are go for launch. Ready when you are," I said.
Then my earpiece sounded a sound of a jet taking off. "They took off," I said to McKenna.
She just smiled nervously.
I shot my eyes to the radar. No MIGs in range so far. I glanced at McKenna, her eyes darting back and forth.
"Your supposed to watch the radar and the jet body system, to make sure everything is okay,"I said.
"Okay," Melana mumbled.
Mysteriously, engine 1 went out. Looks like it may have been shot.
"MS13, your engine 1 is down,"I said.
I checked the radar again. Something is fishy . . . there are no signals of any other MIGs in the air space.
"I see 5 MIGs. Coming fast and firing,"said the radio.
"It could be ghost jets,"McKenna muttered.
"What?"
"Ghost jets. They have some special system that makes them completely invisible, virally."
I nodded with a impressed face.
I went back to the radio and said,"MS13, you have permission to fire."
"Roger that."
I started working on engine 1.
"I am going to see what's wrong. You just keep your eyes on the jet body," I said. McKenna nodded.
I started clicking engine 1 and a new window popped up. Engine 1 had serious internal damage, far from fixing. Darn, another destroyed not to add, expensive American weapon. I probably be fired right away.
"Too many. Retreat?" suggested the radio.
I thought hard. Retreat means that I failed.
"Um, I got a procedure. Just try to slow them down." I said.
"You got one?" McKenna asked.
"Well, if we retreat we fail the test. I am not failing another pointless test that wasting time out of my day,"I said. I then thought hard for a long minute. Only a minute . . . or more, I don't exactly keep track of time.
"I want you to get them off your tail and uh, get in front of them and fire your missiles, steer clear," I said.
"How?"
"Death fall,"I said. Death fall is when a jet rises high, then falls back, going upside down.
"Are you crazy?" McKenna said.
"What if it works?"
McKenna shook her head, clearly does not want to trust me and thinks that I am blithering idiot, well I am not.
"Roger that," the radio said.
I waiting impatiently. This is like doing Cheep Cheep Chance in a Mario game.
"How's the body?" I asked.
"It's fine, so far," answered McKenna.
We waited for several more long minutes . . . or seconds. Probably it was a bad idea.
"Left wing is banged up, but it's still workable,"McKenna said.
"All down. Retreat. It was a pleasure flying with you," radio said.
I gave a McKenna my 'I told you' grin.
"All students out,"announced the overhead.
The other students got up looking defeated. Me? I beamed the entire way out. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"I need you in my office, Pan," said a gruff voice.
I turned around an I saw the Director. We have not name for him, well actually I never bother finding out so he is just called the "Director".
I followed the almost 7 foot tall man in a black suit that need to grow hair.
We walked into a well kept business office.
"Sit down, please," the Director said, gesturing to the chair opposite of him.
I slowly sat down. Why did the Director ask me in the middle of a test, not to mention Rotation 1.
"You have shown tremendous progress this month. We are very impressed by all your skills and learning abilities. Quite rare since you are at such a young age," said the Director.
I nodded, trying to figure out what he was going to say next.
"Pan, we will like to promote you to the Elite Secret Service as the youngest official agent," said the Director.
I completely blanked out and unable to speak.
"I know you are quite surprised since you only been in the Junior Elite level for six months. But your amazing way of handling technology is very useful," he continued.
"But sir, I am not the best at combat,"I said.
"We have many agents in that area, but we are putting you in the tech area."
I nodded.
The Director reached under his desk and pulled out a badge with a recent Junior Elite picture of me. He stood up and gave me his hand.
"You are officially Agent 99," the Director announced.
We shook hands and I took the badge.
"You are done for today," the Director said, returning to his desk.
" I am not done with testing," I said.
"You no longer need testing," the Director said.
I smiled and walked out. No more testing! I, Elysea Pan, Agent 99 of the U.S. Elite Secret Service.
I couldn't help but smile.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Chapter 4: Watcher
I dreamed a very odd dream.
I saw a dark cave with a light at the end. Then I saw something bright fluttering near me.
"Tinker Bell?" I guessed.
The bright but oddly transparent fairy nodded.
"What's happening?"
Tinker Bell then bursted to many angry sounding bells.
"I can't understand you."
Tinker Bell rolled her eyes. Then she took my hand and pointed towards the end of the tunnel.
What am I dreaming about?
Then I stood at the end. The white light changed suddenly and showed a dark grey island that looked like Florida with a hurricane over it.
"Neverland?"
Tink nodded sadly.
The image then changed to Mermaid Lagoon. I looked closely.
A well suited man who wore a black suit and dark sunglasses was talking to a group of other men. They seem to be in a deep discussion. Like a spy group would do.
"What are they?"
Tinker Bell bursted to a bunch of urgent, for which I could not comprehend.
"Forget I even asked. Let's just say that they are bad guys."
As I looked a little more closely, I saw a boy hunched over something.
I gasped. It was Peter Pan. Except he wasn't his usual self. He was transparent, like a ghost almost ready to diminish, and what was in his hands, was the dull, lifeless form of Tinker Bell.
I stood, frozen in my spot. Fear was filling my mind. I stared at Tinker Bell.
She just stared at me back with a ghostly expression.
She was a ghost.
Why couldn't I figure that out sooner?
My eyes darted to the men approaching Peter and the image went black.
"No!"I ran up to the dark opening and tried to push through. But I couldn't. The darkness was too strong for me to push through. I pressed my ear to the barrier and willed to hear something.
Why is everything so . . .dark?
Just as I thought that, I heard yelling. That pushed me over the edge.
"No . . .no, this is not supposed to happen. No . . . get me out of hear!" I said, clamping my hands to my ears.
Tinker Bell then said (weirdly I can understand); It's all your fault! You won't believe. Everything is being destroyed because of you, Elysea Pan!
"Shut up, shut up! Get me out of here!" I screamed.
That's when I woke up. I sat up immediately, panting from fear, my chest in knots.
Why? Why do I have to mess everything up? I did nothing wrong!
I looked around at my empty living room. I looked at the clock and it read 6 AM.
I grumbled. I trudged over to the kitchen to find something to eat. I heard a rustle in my dad's office. I jumped up and reached for my handgun, which is hidden under the sink.
I held it in front of me and slowly walked towards my dad's office. The rustling stopped.
So did I.
A intruder.
Then I kicked the door open. No one inside.
That's odd.
Then I looked up and saw a Asian girl wearing a short sleeved blue turtle neck with skinny jeans, lying flat on the . . . ceiling.
"What the . . ," I muttered.
The girl pushed off the ceiling and floated to the floor. She was surprisingly pretty and had her hair in a short ponytail, looking to be in her early teens.
"Who are you? What do you want?" I said, pointing the gun towards her, not letting my guard down.
The girl just stared and then she held up a gold locket. I recognized it immediately.
"You are a Starcatcher?" I asked.
"Starwatcher to be exact. But you are close," she said.
"Sorry," I muttered. Man, this girl had a smart mouth.
She put her locket down and gave me her hand.
"Jiang Chen Pan," she said.
I lowered my gun and asked,"You are a relative?"
"Adopted."
I place the gun on the desk and shook her hand.
"I never heard of you," I said confused.
"Probably because I was adopted two years ago," Jiang replied.
"Okay, why were you adopted so suddenly?" I asked.
"Because I have somewhat strange abilities. I can sense starstuff falls and levitate," Jiang said.
"Levitate?"
"I can rise of the ground without starstuff."
"So you can fly."
"Don't you even know what 'levitate' means?"
"Yea."
"I don't think so, because if you did you wouldn't say 'fly' off the bat."
Then Jiang started to walk around the office.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"To warn your father about something. Is he here?" Jiang asked.
"Nope, he left with some Starcatchers to Disneyland. Why?"
Jiang stopped in her tracks, then said,"They already left?"
"Yea. So what?"
"Oh no. I have to find them," Jiang said urgently, then headed towards the window.
"What? Why?"
"They are heading straight into a trap and I am supposed to warn them."
"Aha! So it is a trap. You know, two great minds think alike. From the moment I heard of this Peter Pan gibberish it was all just a set up by some crooked person."
"What?"
"You know, they believe in something that isn't real."
"I think you got the wrong idea. They are going into a trap that is set up but the King and once they are stuck there is no way to get out."
"Oh, well um okay. So this stuff is true huh. Aah, I am so stupid to say that."
"No hard thoughts."
"So you are some kind of messenger?"
"Messenger if you want to call it. I prefer Watcher."
I threw my hands up in the air sarcastically.
"Good. Nice talking with . . . um, what's your name?"Jiang asked.
"Elysea Pan but you can just call me Elysie," I said.
"Right." She started to climb the window sill when I said,"Can I come and help?"
"I think this is too dangerous for you to be involved with," Jiang replied.
"But I am a trained in this type of stuff. I feel like I am being pushed to the sidelines in this whole situation. I want to help and be part of the action."
"These forces that your father and I are dealing with cannot be contained by guns and bombs."
"Then I will just have to help you without 'guns and bombs'."
Jiang just shook her head,"You may be trained for justice, but you have never been trained to defeat immortal demons. You need to believe in something or you will be easily manipulated. Until then, you don't have a chance to even slow these demons," Jiang said.
"Fine. I didn't sign up for Camp Half-Blood but at least I just apply," I said.
Then I rebound saying,"But if you do need help, I can come and bring some of my good friends who believe in your cause to help you guys out."
I saw Jiang's face break into a grin.
"You are very brave. We may need that,"she said as she jumped to the window sill.
"What's your number?" she asked.
I grinned and said,"Well I won't give you my cell because those dark forces may track your help calls so I will give you my other number that is super secured."
"Your J.U.S.S. number," Jiang said.
"How do you know that?" The J.U.S.S is a secret agency so no one should know about it.
"As a Watcher, I have to keep up to date with the Catchers and their families," Jiang explained.
"Whatever, forget that I even asked or kept it a secret. It's (800)198-6280," I said.
Jiang punched it into her cell phone.
"Well gotta go. See you some time in the near future," Jiang said and jumped from my window. She slowly floated to the ground and then started running . . . at the speed that I think is light.
Woah, she is fast, I thought.
I decided to call up my dad. It was only 7AM.
The ringing seemed to go on forever. Then he finally picked up.
"Hello?" my dad said.
"Hi dad, this is Elysie,"I said.
"Oh,Elysie. I hoped you read my note so I won't have to explain it on my own."
"Where are you?"
"We are in front of the Disneyland entrance with the other Starcatchers, waiting to get in."
"Stay where you are. Don't move not a foot towards the entrance. It's a trap. Tell that to the other Starcatchers."
"What? Elysie, we have to get in there before the Others set their plan more into play."
"It's not my decision to tell you to stay. A Star Watcher came to my house, Jiang Pan. She told me that she wanted to warn you and the catchers that you are walking into a trap set up by the Others."
There was a awkward silence.
"You mean, Jiang the Watcher? How did you get in contact with her?" my dad finally said.
"She just popped up at your office window. I don't know exactly where she came from though. Why?" I asked.
"Jiang rarely appears to Starcatchers, especially ordinary people like you."
"I am not ordinary, just to put that out there. Why can't she talk to people?"
"Watchers tend to be kept hidden. They have the powers to predict star falls and have unique abilities. The Others always hunt for Watchers so that they can get to the starstuff first. Jiang is the only Watcher left on this planet. My brother discovered her in a Chinese orphanage because they were going to terminate her for paranormal actions and behavior. My brother saw her and found out that she was a Watcher. Jiang is not a ordinary Watcher though. She knows the exact location of any starstuff material. She knew about the starstuff infused sword in the Crown Jewels, the Keep in the White Tower, and the bridge to Neverland in Disneyland which we learned that the bridge moved. So my brother adopted her. Jiang lives a normal life but she is homeschooled and away from any type of civilization. She is also kept as a secret from the rest of the family. Only senior Starcatchers know about her."
"Woah, so I completely met a sacred person. Neat."
"Well, we will just have to wait till she gets here. It shouldn't be too long. Sorry that I misunderstood you. Thanks for giving me the heads up."
"Okay,um,dad?"
"Yea?"
"Can I go with you?"
"Elysie, I can't let you in on this. Not right now."
"Why not? I am not scared of anything. Why should I be afraid of Neverland?"
"It isn't Neverland anymore."
"What can I do?"
"Go to the library and borrow the Starcatcher series."
"There are books?"
"Yep, bizarre and I don't like it but true."
"Okay. But if I don't see you on Sunday I will go."
"We will see."
"Is there anything else that I can help you with?"
"Just pray, a lot."
"Dad, I don't think my so called prayers go any higher than the ceiling. Religion is a stupid thing that people believe on so that they feel important."
"Don't ever say that, Elysea. Never say that ever to me or anyone again. Got it?"
"Jeez, okay."
"Gotta go."
"Okay."
"I love you a lot, Elysie. You know that right?"
"Yea, dad. I love you too."
"I will see you really soon."
"Okay dad. Bye."
The call ended.
I checked the clock. It was 7:30 am on a typical Tuesday morning in January.
"Time for school,"I muttered.
------------------------------------------------------
Jon flipped his phone. And turned to his fellow Starcatchers who was eating their breakfast.
"Well guys, I am going inside, I can't wait any longer."
"But didn't your daughter say that Jiang is on the way," Kevin, Jon's friend said.
"I don't care. Some of you can stay but I need a couple of you. We are going to fulfill our mission."
"But it's a trap!" The other Catchers nodded in agreement.
"Are you chickening out? Trap or no trap. We are going to to try and avoid it. The long we wait, the more the chance that the Others will do unspeakable evil. Who's in?"
A couple of Catchers raised their hand.
"Okay men, come with me."
"What will we tell the Watcher?"
"Tell her exactly what we are doing. Tell her not to stop us."
Then Jon turned with his fellow Catchers, Kevin and Luke, and ran off towards the entrance of Disneyland, and entered.
The Catchers all sat in silence as they ran down Main Street. They are supposedly in the Happiest Place in the World but ti looks like their friends are running courageous into their deaths.
----------------------------------------------------
He saw them surround him and he knew that all hope was lost.
"Nice to see you again, Peter. You missed me?" the man in a black coat known as the Skeleton said. His skin was a pale gray and he had yellow cracked teeth and bloodshot eyes. He looked like a dead man literally back from the dead.
Peter just glared at him. Ombra then jerked his arms behind his back and said,"If you make any moves, I will end your pitiful life."
Peter then saw a man in a crisp tux walked to him, his hat tipped over his face. He wore gloves and from Peter's view, you couldn't see his skin at all.
"Are you Peter Pan?"the man asked.
"Why do you care?" Peter answered defiantly. The man let out a low chuckle.
"You really think that you are all that. Ler's face it, your not."
"Who are you?"
"I am the King. I am here to rule over your Neverland."
"What? How did you get here?"
"A little persuasion and hole traveling."
"Leave or you will regret it."
"Oh really. Who the one who is weaker? You or me?"
Peter's mind raced. This guy thinks that he's all that. I gotta get out.
He fingered his back and felt the hilt of his dagger. Oh yes.
Peter jumped to his feet and slammed his head into Ombra's chest and jammed his fists into his stomach.
Ombra groaned in pain and Peter's hands were free.
"GET HIM!" the King commanded.
Peter saw the Skeleton and Ombra rushing towards him. He ran.
Peter ran as fast as he could but then he was corned. He just saw a rock wall and no way to clear it without flying. Peter turned back to his foes who were catching up pretty fast. Darn, here goes nothing.
Peter braced himself, his sword stretch in front of him.
"I am not going down with a fight," Peter yelled.
"Well," Ombra said unsheathing a sword from his suit,"I will be glad to fight."
Peter stormed at Ombra's sword and clashed his dagger on Ombra's. Ombra quickly regained balance and slashed at Peter. Peter ducked and rolled quickly and kicked at Ombra's legs, bring him to the ground. The Skeleton reached his hand towards Peter's neck but Peter slashed his dagger across the Skeleton's arms. Leaving a vacant slit. That's just sick and wrong.
Peter then jumped over Ombra and ran ask fast as he could. He couldn't see where he was going but he tried to get as far away as possible.
"Levitate?"
"I can rise of the ground without starstuff."
"So you can fly."
"Don't you even know what 'levitate' means?"
"Yea."
"I don't think so, because if you did you wouldn't say 'fly' off the bat."
Then Jiang started to walk around the office.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"To warn your father about something. Is he here?" Jiang asked.
"Nope, he left with some Starcatchers to Disneyland. Why?"
Jiang stopped in her tracks, then said,"They already left?"
"Yea. So what?"
"Oh no. I have to find them," Jiang said urgently, then headed towards the window.
"What? Why?"
"They are heading straight into a trap and I am supposed to warn them."
"Aha! So it is a trap. You know, two great minds think alike. From the moment I heard of this Peter Pan gibberish it was all just a set up by some crooked person."
"What?"
"You know, they believe in something that isn't real."
"I think you got the wrong idea. They are going into a trap that is set up but the King and once they are stuck there is no way to get out."
"Oh, well um okay. So this stuff is true huh. Aah, I am so stupid to say that."
"No hard thoughts."
"So you are some kind of messenger?"
"Messenger if you want to call it. I prefer Watcher."
I threw my hands up in the air sarcastically.
"Good. Nice talking with . . . um, what's your name?"Jiang asked.
"Elysea Pan but you can just call me Elysie," I said.
"Right." She started to climb the window sill when I said,"Can I come and help?"
"I think this is too dangerous for you to be involved with," Jiang replied.
"But I am a trained in this type of stuff. I feel like I am being pushed to the sidelines in this whole situation. I want to help and be part of the action."
"These forces that your father and I are dealing with cannot be contained by guns and bombs."
"Then I will just have to help you without 'guns and bombs'."
Jiang just shook her head,"You may be trained for justice, but you have never been trained to defeat immortal demons. You need to believe in something or you will be easily manipulated. Until then, you don't have a chance to even slow these demons," Jiang said.
"Fine. I didn't sign up for Camp Half-Blood but at least I just apply," I said.
Then I rebound saying,"But if you do need help, I can come and bring some of my good friends who believe in your cause to help you guys out."
I saw Jiang's face break into a grin.
"You are very brave. We may need that,"she said as she jumped to the window sill.
"What's your number?" she asked.
I grinned and said,"Well I won't give you my cell because those dark forces may track your help calls so I will give you my other number that is super secured."
"Your J.U.S.S. number," Jiang said.
"How do you know that?" The J.U.S.S is a secret agency so no one should know about it.
"As a Watcher, I have to keep up to date with the Catchers and their families," Jiang explained.
"Whatever, forget that I even asked or kept it a secret. It's (800)198-6280," I said.
Jiang punched it into her cell phone.
"Well gotta go. See you some time in the near future," Jiang said and jumped from my window. She slowly floated to the ground and then started running . . . at the speed that I think is light.
Woah, she is fast, I thought.
I decided to call up my dad. It was only 7AM.
The ringing seemed to go on forever. Then he finally picked up.
"Hello?" my dad said.
"Hi dad, this is Elysie,"I said.
"Oh,Elysie. I hoped you read my note so I won't have to explain it on my own."
"Where are you?"
"We are in front of the Disneyland entrance with the other Starcatchers, waiting to get in."
"Stay where you are. Don't move not a foot towards the entrance. It's a trap. Tell that to the other Starcatchers."
"What? Elysie, we have to get in there before the Others set their plan more into play."
"It's not my decision to tell you to stay. A Star Watcher came to my house, Jiang Pan. She told me that she wanted to warn you and the catchers that you are walking into a trap set up by the Others."
There was a awkward silence.
"You mean, Jiang the Watcher? How did you get in contact with her?" my dad finally said.
"She just popped up at your office window. I don't know exactly where she came from though. Why?" I asked.
"Jiang rarely appears to Starcatchers, especially ordinary people like you."
"I am not ordinary, just to put that out there. Why can't she talk to people?"
"Watchers tend to be kept hidden. They have the powers to predict star falls and have unique abilities. The Others always hunt for Watchers so that they can get to the starstuff first. Jiang is the only Watcher left on this planet. My brother discovered her in a Chinese orphanage because they were going to terminate her for paranormal actions and behavior. My brother saw her and found out that she was a Watcher. Jiang is not a ordinary Watcher though. She knows the exact location of any starstuff material. She knew about the starstuff infused sword in the Crown Jewels, the Keep in the White Tower, and the bridge to Neverland in Disneyland which we learned that the bridge moved. So my brother adopted her. Jiang lives a normal life but she is homeschooled and away from any type of civilization. She is also kept as a secret from the rest of the family. Only senior Starcatchers know about her."
"Woah, so I completely met a sacred person. Neat."
"Well, we will just have to wait till she gets here. It shouldn't be too long. Sorry that I misunderstood you. Thanks for giving me the heads up."
"Okay,um,dad?"
"Yea?"
"Can I go with you?"
"Elysie, I can't let you in on this. Not right now."
"Why not? I am not scared of anything. Why should I be afraid of Neverland?"
"It isn't Neverland anymore."
"What can I do?"
"Go to the library and borrow the Starcatcher series."
"There are books?"
"Yep, bizarre and I don't like it but true."
"Okay. But if I don't see you on Sunday I will go."
"We will see."
"Is there anything else that I can help you with?"
"Just pray, a lot."
"Dad, I don't think my so called prayers go any higher than the ceiling. Religion is a stupid thing that people believe on so that they feel important."
"Don't ever say that, Elysea. Never say that ever to me or anyone again. Got it?"
"Jeez, okay."
"Gotta go."
"Okay."
"I love you a lot, Elysie. You know that right?"
"Yea, dad. I love you too."
"I will see you really soon."
"Okay dad. Bye."
The call ended.
I checked the clock. It was 7:30 am on a typical Tuesday morning in January.
"Time for school,"I muttered.
------------------------------------------------------
Jon flipped his phone. And turned to his fellow Starcatchers who was eating their breakfast.
"Well guys, I am going inside, I can't wait any longer."
"But didn't your daughter say that Jiang is on the way," Kevin, Jon's friend said.
"I don't care. Some of you can stay but I need a couple of you. We are going to fulfill our mission."
"But it's a trap!" The other Catchers nodded in agreement.
"Are you chickening out? Trap or no trap. We are going to to try and avoid it. The long we wait, the more the chance that the Others will do unspeakable evil. Who's in?"
A couple of Catchers raised their hand.
"Okay men, come with me."
"What will we tell the Watcher?"
"Tell her exactly what we are doing. Tell her not to stop us."
Then Jon turned with his fellow Catchers, Kevin and Luke, and ran off towards the entrance of Disneyland, and entered.
The Catchers all sat in silence as they ran down Main Street. They are supposedly in the Happiest Place in the World but ti looks like their friends are running courageous into their deaths.
----------------------------------------------------
He saw them surround him and he knew that all hope was lost.
"Nice to see you again, Peter. You missed me?" the man in a black coat known as the Skeleton said. His skin was a pale gray and he had yellow cracked teeth and bloodshot eyes. He looked like a dead man literally back from the dead.
Peter just glared at him. Ombra then jerked his arms behind his back and said,"If you make any moves, I will end your pitiful life."
Peter then saw a man in a crisp tux walked to him, his hat tipped over his face. He wore gloves and from Peter's view, you couldn't see his skin at all.
"Are you Peter Pan?"the man asked.
"Why do you care?" Peter answered defiantly. The man let out a low chuckle.
"You really think that you are all that. Ler's face it, your not."
"Who are you?"
"I am the King. I am here to rule over your Neverland."
"What? How did you get here?"
"A little persuasion and hole traveling."
"Leave or you will regret it."
"Oh really. Who the one who is weaker? You or me?"
Peter's mind raced. This guy thinks that he's all that. I gotta get out.
He fingered his back and felt the hilt of his dagger. Oh yes.
Peter jumped to his feet and slammed his head into Ombra's chest and jammed his fists into his stomach.
Ombra groaned in pain and Peter's hands were free.
"GET HIM!" the King commanded.
Peter saw the Skeleton and Ombra rushing towards him. He ran.
Peter ran as fast as he could but then he was corned. He just saw a rock wall and no way to clear it without flying. Peter turned back to his foes who were catching up pretty fast. Darn, here goes nothing.
Peter braced himself, his sword stretch in front of him.
"I am not going down with a fight," Peter yelled.
"Well," Ombra said unsheathing a sword from his suit,"I will be glad to fight."
Peter stormed at Ombra's sword and clashed his dagger on Ombra's. Ombra quickly regained balance and slashed at Peter. Peter ducked and rolled quickly and kicked at Ombra's legs, bring him to the ground. The Skeleton reached his hand towards Peter's neck but Peter slashed his dagger across the Skeleton's arms. Leaving a vacant slit. That's just sick and wrong.
Peter then jumped over Ombra and ran ask fast as he could. He couldn't see where he was going but he tried to get as far away as possible.
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