Galaxy
Book 2: The secret
Ever wondered how to travel through space. Of course Cody and Kristen did, it was just the simple term of teleportation. The device to teleport contained the operator called the tele drive and a simple object within the planet (or star) that will be used as the transportation. The first book is only but the beginning of there adventure through the universe. There is more than the naked eye could see. Though the universe looks like it never ends, as if it goes on and on and on and on... But there has to be an end somewhere out there. Of course everybody questions of what is out there beyond the universe... nobody knows. That is why Cody and his friend (or partner) Kristen are out to see what is beyond that point. Is it just darkness, is it heaven, or is there just a giant wall of some sort. The adventure is questionable for most humans, but for some reason Kristen decided to except this crazy adventure with Cody. But there is also something else out there to find, there is a secret that Cody has, and not even Kristen even knows about. Soon the secret will be revealed to Kristen, and the secret will slowly start to reveal to her bit by bit. And that is when a new adventure begins.
Chapter 1- The messenger
Kristen sat on the couch drawing the house plant across the room. She didn't have anything to do, drawing was her thing but she had drawn this plant a dozen times. She would have had things to do if only she didn't go home. As soon as she got home Cody had left her without saying good bye. She didn't understand. He just left, maybe he went home himself, or maybe he just left her to continue on his adventure without her. Now she sat on her couch drawing a plant with nothing to do on the planet called, Earth.
Kristen sighed and got off the couch to grab her backpack. She had meant to use her backpack during her trip through Triton Galaxy but she hardly used it. She was hoping to draw things and explore more, but it was just constant adventures that kept her back from observing things more closely. She tried to remember things from the other planets and tried to draw them but it never really looked right. She wanted to go back and draw more often, try to find the right times. Her backpack still had the stuff from her trip a couple of weeks ago and didn't want to get it out. She thought that maybe Cody will come back and she can already have her stuff with her.
While Kristen stared into her backpack she got thinking of her family. When she had returned back to Earth she came to her home to find a note. The note said: Went to Asia for Liana's family orchestra tour. Kristen, you have been missing for over three days and we didn't know what to do, if you are reading this we are sorry. If you somehow came home from a kidnapping or just to run away we were truly watching out for you, the police could not find you and we had to go to help your sister, once again I am so very sorry. We will be back in a month, I really hope to see you. Love, mom. Of course Kristen was not very happy to find something like that on her door. Why would her family leave her like that, even if she had gone missing. Her family wasn't going to be home for another three weeks. She literary has to provide her own food, and care for the house all by herself.
She wasn't even old enough to drive or find a job. She was thirteenyears old and it was in the middle of the summer. What was nice was her parents had an emergency jar in the basement that provided money, she had used it to buy all the needs she needed. She couldn't even call them unless she burrowed a neighbors. One time she had burrowed a phone from her friend and her family would not answer. Multiple times she tried this and they never answered the phone.
It was getting dark now and the plant was getting more difficult to see. Kristen yawned, not realizing how tired she was when it was only about nine o'clock at night. She started heading towards her room until suddenly she heard somebody whisper her name. She looked around, but there was nothing. She went down into the basement and was about to open the door. Kristen. She heard it again. She ran into her bedroom and slammed the door shut, hoping the voice would stop. She quickly got into her PJ's and laid in her bed, grateful she did't hear it again. Kristen.
Kristen put the pillow on her face, the voice echoing in her head. Kristen help us, you are our only hope! She sat up and looked around. A small girl was standing at the doorway. Kristen backed into the corner of her bed. The girl just stood there, her face innocent and merciful. Her blond hair was down to her waist as if she had never had a haircut in her life. She had grey eyes and rosy cheeks, but she seemed almost like a dream.
"W-who are you?" Kristen asked.
"I am not what you think I am to be. I am as you see opposite of the shape I am inside. I am but a creature in child form with no hint of human inside me. Therefore I come in peace and come with an urgent message from a friend of what is known of your kind." The girl said in a voice of an adult.
"Cody?" Kristen wondered.
The girl nodded.
"I am but a shape shifter of what your kind shall call me, I come from a distant planet many galaxies from your star." The girl stepped into Kristen's room, "My message to you from what you beings call him, Cody, is urgent indeed. Therefor your being is in danger, he is imprisoned within a ship from afar. He hast told me to give you an artifact from this world, and put it inside a small object of which will help you come to him. He needs you being now or soon it may be too late, be of good cheer for fear brings grief and sorrow to your kind. I give you courage if ye choose to go towards the direction I hast given to you. Therefor if ye hast chosen the other path, then I shall leave you and give your male kind the sorrowful news of the acceptance declined. Now do you not accept my message or do you decline?" The girl said.
Kristen stared at the girl for a few moments, unsure really what to say. She was good at saying how sad it will be if she said no, but she really didn't want to go back. Especially how Cody had left her the way he had. She wasn't even sure if the girl was telling the truth or not, she could have been a spy and was bringing her into a trap. Or maybe she really meant it, she seemed a bit young to be a messenger. Though she could be older than she looks, especially if she came from a different planet.
"I'll go." Kristen said.
The girl walked closer to her and brought her hand out. She was keeping something clenched into her tiny hand. She hadn't changed her face, she wasn't smiling, nor was she sad. She opened her hand and there sat the glimmering blue flash drive that started it all. The girl placed the tele drive into Kristen's hand and put her fingers around it.
"Be the most very careful with him female being of this weak world. Take care of your kind and keep it going, good luck." the girl said and then she added, "Though I have something else for you to keep, for it is something that the future shall give to you later on in your short life." The girl pulled out a beautiful necklace with a large, bright blue gem. She nodded, then she backed away, closed her eyes and suddenly disappeared out of Kristen's room.
Kristen stared at the teleportation drive wondering if she should still do it, then she looked at the necklace around her neck. She looked around her and snatched her bank. She opened up the bottom and dropped the drive inside it, and then placed it on the ground. While it charged up, she walked out of the room and returned with her travel pack. She slipped it on and knelt down in front of the piggy bank. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
"I really shouldn't be doing this." and she touched the bank.
She was suddenly going into a blurr of color, then suddenly blackness. She was going so fast she couldn't breathe, she was going faster than the speed of light, faster than the speed of sound, and even faster than the speed of color. It was overwhelming and risk taking to go through such a thing, and for some reason Kristen had the ability to take her chances.
Of course this isn't natural for all humans. For some reason Kristen chose to go, it didn't take that long like what all humans do when they decide whether to travel through galaxies or not. You may think that you would go by the snap of your finger, but when you have the chance you start to hesitate, and then don't want to go any more.
Kristen landed hard on a hard ground, some many galaxies away from her own. She closed her eyes, the impact too much for her. She had never gotten used to it, and it seemed to hurt her more than it hurt Cody. Her least favorite part was to go through the teleportation portal, it made her dizzy and sick to go through such a thing. But she was already there and she might as well go on with her quest the unusual child creature gave to her.
Minutes later, Kristen woke up in the dark room she had come into. It had little light that she wasn't sure where the light source came from, and the walls were so dark that she wasn't sure if there was even a doorway somewhere. Suddenly something bright came from the wall, and it just so happened to be a doorway. Two blubbery creatures walked into the room with black jackets on.
They stood about nine feet tall with bulging black eyes, and a sour face. Each one grabbed Kristens elbows and dragged her out of the room. Outside of the room wasn't much brighter than the one she was just in, it had no color whatsoever. She got dragged down the dark hallway until they got into a doorway. They lifted her up and placed her on a seat in front of a grey desk. Another one of the blubbery creatures sat at the desk, he wore a nicer black jacket and seemed even bigger than the others.
"Blocome Tobloo Hablay cheeblay efblah?" The creature asked.
Kristen shook her head.
"I-I don't s-speak your language s-sir." She stuttered.
The blubbery creature grunted and sat back in his chair. He opened up a drawer in the desk and pulled out three collar like objects. He stood up and put one on the two guards at the doorway, then put one on his own.
"Good, now do you understand us human?" He asked.
She nodded.
"What I meant to say was we were wondering why you are here on our ship."
"I am here for an important task sir." She said, trying to sound as serious as she could.
"Of course, that is what the other human said a couple of weeks ago. Now according to your face you know what you are doing and don't want to share your news to us. So I am guessing it is something I will probably not like. Guards." the leader called up to the guards.
Kristen felt something pierce into her neck and she fell into unconsciousness. The two guards nodded and dragged her out of the room.
A couple of hours later they returned to the captains office without Kristen. They were holding an odd looking object with a computer screen on it. On the screen was a list of stuff.
"Okay sir, we have used it on her and this is what we found. Of course you know that this only detects her likes, dislikes and needs. Her likes are to do draw and read, she also likes lasagna and rocky road ice cream (whatever that is). And there was also other things too, but one of them we must keep it with just the three of us. We have found out that she is in love with a human boy within our ship, we are wondering if that was the reason why she was here sir."
"That is a big possibility. But that human boy disobeyed our orders and he ended up imprisoned. But of course we do not know much about human girls. Treat her like a visitor for now, and once if she disobeyed than she shall be sent as well. Make sure she is always occupied and enjoying it. Now go, she should be waking up by now." He said, and the guards nodded and left his office.
Kristen opened her eyes, she was feeling perfectly fine besides her neck. It felt soar as if something had pierced it. Though why was her neck hurting so bad, she knew the blubbery aliens were only but a dream. She was in her bedroom, everything just how she left it. It seemed so real, but she knew it was just a stupid old dream. The dream was probably because she missed being out there to explore. But she felt the breath taking trip through the teleportation and she felt the gentle hands of the child place the drive in her hand, and she even smelled the nasty breath the aliens had that made her want to puke.
She sat up and looked around her, she felt dizzy and was about to go back to sleep, until she spotted something. Her mom came into her bedroom, she knew they weren't going to be back for another two weeks. Kristen stood up, even with the headache she had.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"I came home early sweety, we knew it was bad for us to just leave you here if you ever returned, and so we came to check. Where did you go, how did you go missing. I understand it was probably hard for you but I would like to know." Her mother said.
"I-I went on an adventure with a friend out of town somewhere. I am so sorry I didn't tell you." She choked, she didn't want to burst out crying.
"Where did you go?" She asked
"E-everywhere." Than Kristen gave in, she ran towards her mother to get a hug.
But something unusual happened. Her mom stopped her, she backed away as if not wanting a hug.
"Sorry sweetheart. I have this really contagious sickness and I can't touch anybody, that was one of the reasons why we came back. Sorry, I didn't tell you." She said.
"Kristen was about to say something until her mother walked out of her room. Kristen really wanted to hug her mother, even if she was ill. She wondered why her mother had walked into her room then, doesn't her room have it too now? She carefully walked out of her room and came upstairs where the rest of the family was. Her whole family was sitting at the table, breakfast already served of there plates. She sat down at her chair, wondering if her brother would let her give him a hug of some sort.
"Micheal, can you hand me the syrup please?" Kristen asked her brother.
Micheal nodded and handed Kristen the bottle of syrup. Though as she grabbed the syrup Micheal tried to keep his hand as far away from her grasp. She placed a pancake on her plate and had a wonderful breakfast, but she hadn't touched a single person.
After breakfast she decided to just read in the front room. She didn't understand why none of her family wanted to touch her, did they think she had something contagious too. She was even expecting her brother to come into the room and start teasing her and teasing her, but she was alone in the front room. She did this for quite a while until she secretly spotted Micheal come into the room. He came over and snatched her book.
"Give it!" She ordered, sitting up.
Micheal moved it away from her.
"Come and get it." He teased.
Kristen stood up, happy that her brother finally had the guts to tease her. She chased him around the house, trying to snatch her book back. She knew that she could somehow touch him if she chased for a while. Finally she was able to corner him inside her parents bedroom. Micheal tried lifting it as high as he could, enough that Kristen could not reach.
She jumped up and tried grabbing it, but failed every time. She was a high jumper and both of them knew that she could reach the book, but she just let the tease last longer. After a while she was starting to get tired of this game, and did her real jump. She jumped up and Micheal dodged the book and she fell on top of Micheal. Though she also didn't.
It was like she was on top of nobody, but just the ground. But Micheal was right there, underneath her. He actually was more inside her, as if she had fallen into a ghost of her brother. She grabbed her book and backed away. Her brother's smile had long gone away and was standing in front of Kristen. Kristen backed away a little more unsure what to say about what she just did and saw.
"Your not real. You and everybody else is all fake, all a hallucination. Your not-" She stopped as she
felt sudden drumming and screaming in her head. Everything around her looked like it was twitching, as if the the room had a really bad glitch or virus. She got down to her knees, plugging her ears. Micheal was starting to look more like a hologram than an actual human now and the room looked like she was in a video game.
High screeching was reacting in her head making it unbearable, and her head was pounding. She was feeling suddenly ill and wanted to faint in shock. It seemed like hours until it all was over and long before it ended she was already passed out on the ground. The computerized version of her room was now gone and she was back on the ship, with two of the aliens in charge of her standing close by.
One alien wobbled over to her and shook her awake. She took a gasp of air, looked up at the alien and screamed. The guard backed away. Kristen sat up and was now hyperventilating, her face as pale as a ghost. She looked down at the ground, trying to calm down. After a good half an hour she had calmed down and was now looking at the aliens, unsure what to say.
"You know this place has no color, not one bit." She said, looking around the grey room.
"What is color anyway?" One of the aliens asked.
"It is what brings joy to your eyes, without color its nothing. Everything just makes you feel sad and dark without color in the world. Color is the best thing in the world. You guys must be color blind I am guessing." She said, keeping eye contact on the two green guards.
"We must be then, because everything looks just the same. Can we see color some time?" The other guard asked.
"Well, when you are color blind it is pretty tricky to see color. In fact it could be impossible over here without the right stuff for it." She mentioned.
The guards smiled at each other and one of them stood up.
"Matter of fact we do. Over two billion years ago one of our people had invented this color mechanism, he had made it after a good friend told him about color. And I believe we know where it is, right Boblah?" The creature said, nudging Boblah in the side.
Boblah nodded.
"Well lets go find this color mechanism then." Kristen said.
Boblah and the other guard led Kristen out of the room and down the hallway. After a while down the hallway they got to a skinny doorway that Kristen can't even fit inside.
"This is the closet." Boblah mentioned to Kristen.
"How will you get in?" She asked.
"Simple." the other guard said.
Boblah nodded, then he pulled off his short black jacket. He then wiggled his arms, slime flying everywhere. He did this for quite a while until his arms were suddenly bony, pale arms. They were even skinnier than hers. She hadn't realized that all that blubber was all slime piled over each other. Kristen stared in disgust, but Boblah just made an ugly grin. She was covered in the slime from head to toe, she wasn't even sure if it was even slime at all.
Boblah reached both of his arms inside the tiny door without hesitation. You could hear clinks and clashes inside the closet as Boblah's arms rumaged through the closet. After a few minutes Boblah grinned as he felt something useful. He pulled it out and observed it. It wasn't dusty like how all objects do in a place for a long time, in fact it still looked brand new. The object looked like a mini laser, or like one of those red lights that you use in presentations.
Boblah turned it on and pointed the red light on his naked arm. His black pupils were suddenly changing colors. He blinked several times and looked around. He grunted, he looked up at the grey ceiling.
"It's useless. Everything looks the same." Boblah complained.
"Kristen looked at herself to find she was still wearing her black and white pajamas. She pulled her backpack off and rummaged through it. She had packed some embroidery floss for friendship bracelet making in one of the pockets of the backpack. She pulled out the floss and held it out to Boblah.
"Here, come look at these. I am holding color." She said.
Boblah looked over at Kristen and stared at the embroidery floss in amazement. His eyes sparkling with excitement.
"It is beautiful. Can I touch the colors that I see?" He asked.
Kristen nodded and Boblah slowly touched the strands of string. He quickly touched it, and then jumped up as if he was trying to touch an oven. He made the ugliest grin you could probably find in the universe. The other guard came up and tried to look at the floss. He snatched the laser from Boblah and stuck it inside the slime (Or whatever it was). His eyes had done the same thing when he had used the color machine and he peeked over at the strings again. He quickly touched the strings and jumped up in joy. Both of the aliens looked at each other in surpsrise and they looked back over at the strings.
"Okay, well I will show you what each of these colors are." She said, pulling the blue string out of the clump.
"This is blue... and this is yellow... and this is green..." She showed them each of her twenty four colors she had.
After Kristen had explained every single color she had the aliens started to get very fond of her. Boblah and the other guard led her back to her room and they left to go tell the captain about the cool things they just saw.
Kristen waited on the grey bed and started making a quick friendship bracelet out of the rainbow colors.
A few minutes later two different guards came into her room, holding something that looked somewhat like handcuffs. They stormed over to her and placed the handcuffs around her wrists.
"Orders from the chief for brainwashing two of our most trusted guards. You are coming with us." One of the guards said sternly.
They kicked her out of her room and led her down the hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door almost like an elevator door. The guard led her inside and she realized it was an elevator. Though it didn't just go up and down, it went right and left and even diagonal. A couple of seconds later it made a sudden halt and she was led out into a dungeon area. He led her down the solid jail doors.
As she walked by each one she could hear shreiks and howls, some peircing her ears. Some cells seemed completely empty or the creature inside didn't make noise. They turned a few corners until she ended up being stopped in front of a cell door at the end of the hallway. He opened the door and kicked her inside, before she could try to escape he slammed the door shut. Inside was pitch black, the cracks of the door didn't even give light inside. She pulled her backpack off and blindly rummaged for her flashlight.
After finding the cylinder like part of the flashlight she felt around for the button and turned it on. She moved the yellow light around the dark room and spotted something move close by. She came back to it to find a boy shading his eyes from the light. Kristen crawled over to him and gave him a grateful to find Cody. His bright blond hair didn't look as bright in the fading light she had, he put his hand down and looked at Kristen. His sweet smile came back to him.
"I knew you could come." He said.
Kristen slapped him in the face. Cody rubbed his red cheek of where she slapped him.
"Friends are supposed to watch after each other." She snapped.
"I am sorry. It was an emergency I had to go immediately, I didn't have time." Cody apologized.
Kristen scooted next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. You could tell that she had already forgiven him.
"I really am sorry." He repeated.
Kristen didn't respond but just nodded. She knew that Cody knew that she had already forgiven him. For a few moments they stared at the black wall until Kristen drifted off to sleep. Cody waited for her to be fully asleep, then pulled the drive out of her pocket. He didn't want her to see the screen so he had to do it when she was asleep.
When he finished he grabbed a dusty cup from his last meal and dropped the drive in the cup, then waited for it to charge. He didn't wake her up but just grabbed her hand, touched it and they both disappeared from the cell they were imprisoned inside.
Chapter 2- Boys rule, girls don't exist
Kristen got woken up by a powerful impact. She then realized that he wasn't in the dark cell any more, but in a dark room with a white floor. Cody was close by looking around for something. Kristen stood up and walked over to him, he was feeling around on the white ground. Then she realized something else, she was on top of a ship. The air around her was pure outer space, but she wasn't sure how she was breathing.
"How do we breathe?" She asked.
"It's an atmosphere. But the world is blocked over with a powerful force field." He said, his eyes fixed on the ground.
"I wonder why." She said, looking around for any bad guys.
She started to get questions coming at her. This is a planet, how? Why is the atmosphere thicker than normal atmospheres this high? Why is this planet blocked? Is there bad guys around...? She stayed close to Cody, hoping she could get inside the planet before finding what was out here.
Suddenly, a door opened close by and a head peeked out. It looked like a spaceman, he waved his arms towards him. He seemed rushed so they quickly came over to get inside. As soon as they got within the force field, he quickly closed the door and locked it. They were on some kind of open elevator. The elevator started going down, going so fast it dropped there stomachs. They looked down into the valley and saw an entire city even bigger than the biggest city in the world.
The elevator came into a nearby building just below them. By the time they hit the main floor of the building, the short spaceman led rushed them out of the elevator. He brought them into an airtight room and shut the door, without doing anything else. The air tight room didn't have anything but Cody and Kristen. It was pure white with white vents on the walls. Cody sat down against the wall, Kristen sat next to him. She didn't understand why they put them in there, the man in the space suit acted and seemed like a human. Why would they just send them straight to the dungeon or whatever they called it.
A few minutes later the hissing sound of the door opened and they left the room. A boy that looked just a year or two older than Cody closed the door and led them down the corridor.
"Where are you taking us?" Kristen asked.
The boy stopped, then turned around.
"This boy has a pretty high voice. what part of Malone are you from?" He asked.
"Well, can you answer our question first, where are you taking us?" Kristen repeated.
"I am taking you to the president, he has some words for you." He said and continued on.
At the end of the white hallway was a wide, wooden door. The boy opened it and they stepped into the presidents office. The desk was empty, the room was in fact vacant. The boy closed the door behind them and they offered themselves a seat. A few minutes later and another boy about in his nineteens sat down at the desk.
"Hello boys, do you realize what you just did?" He asked.
They shook there head.
"Oh goodness. Well, you just got yourself into a huge mess. Outside the force field is toxic gasses that could kill any boy in just days if he is out there long enough. That is why we have it, so the gasses don't get into our safe non-toxic world. Now how did you two get out there, we don't even allow gay boys to even get out there to work?" the president was staring at her when he said 'gay'.
"Excuse me, I'm not gay. I am a-" Cody stopped her, Kristen didn't know why but sat down anyway.
"Um, we are travelers from a different planet. We didn't really now anything about this planet until we got here." Cody responded.
"Well, I see that you guys made it here safely. Just a few minutes you had to get contaminated so you are now safe to explore our city. But if you decide to stay here for long you need to know that by age 23 you have to leave the city. Don't ask why because I really don't know why, I will soon be going myself. So now that you know a little bit about the city, I will just say that I am President Joshua and what will your names be?" He asked.
Cody leaned over to Kristen and whispered something in her ear.
"Don't say anything, I will tell you why." Cody said, Kristen nodded.
"I am Cody, and this is Kris." Kristen nudged him, trying to bite her tongue.
"Oh, well Kris and Cody, nice meeting you. You two boys are now excused." He said.
So Cody and Kristen left the building and ended up standing in the streets of the large city. Nobody was any older than twenty, and there was not a single girl around. Though they didn't understand why boys older than 23 would have to leave the city. Cody led her down the street and he stopped her in an alleyway close by.
"Why did you stop me when I was going to say I was a girl?" She whispered harshly.
"Look out in the streets." Cody pointed out in the streets and she looked over, "Do you see any girl? NO. This planet either imprisons women or don't have female at all. They don't know what you are, so if you say you are a girl you may be taking a huge risk. I mean there is not even mothers, I don't even know how they are born. So lets just not take our chances with calling you a female. So just stick with Kris and act as much as a boy as you can. OK? " He snapped.
Kristen nodded.
They walked out from the alley and standing in front of them was a little dark skinned boy. He looked about six years old and the outfit he was wearing seemed a bit too big on him. He made a big white smile, his teeth glowing on his dark face.
"Hi, how can I help you?" He said in a Southern accent.
"What do you work for?" Cody asked.
"I help with helping new faces. Would you like a hotel room to stay in, or a coupon for The best restaurant in the world, or do you just need a tour around town." He said.
"I think we just need a place to stay in at least." Cody told the boy.
The boy nodded.
"Well come with me, I have the prefect place for you two." The boy led them out of the alleyway and down the street until they turned off at a huge inn. The boy just walked them up the stairs in the hotel without going to the check in and showed them there room. He opened the door and showed them around the sweet. It had a nice half kitchen and a large bathroom, but it only had one bed.
"I tried to find the best suite in the city. Now enjoy." The boy bowed in his little suit and walked out the room.
The bright lights on the white ceiling of the city were starting to fade to show it was getting dark. They walked into the bedroom and looked at each other, there faces saying there was no way they were sharing a bed. Kristen pointed at the bed and Cody started for a run towards the bed. He stopped beside it and pulled the comforter off.
"ladies first." He said and left the room for Kristen to take.
That night Cody slept on the couch and Kristen slept on the bed, they didn't talk to each other the rest of the night. When morning came the got room service and ate at the tiny table in the half kitchen.
"I think we found ourselves a case to solve." Cody said while tossing the food in the garbage.
"And what is the case?" She asked.
"They don't have a mother. They would have to be born somehow, and we have to figure out why they only keep children in this city. It is probably confusing me as much as it is confusing you. So we probably should leave this city pretty soon and see if there is any other city to find anything useful." Cody mentioned.
Kristen agreed to it and they both decided that they were going to go that day.
"So why did we come here?" Kristen asked before they left the hotel room.
"Well, I thought you wanted an adventure." He mentioned.
Kristen shrugged her shoulders and they checked out of the hotel. As they walked out into the streets they noticed the oldest kids in the city were gathered around a bus stop. They looked at each other and nodded, they wanted to know where they were going. They ran over and squeezed in with the crowd of twenty three year old kids trying to blend in as much as they can. The bus came around the corner, the words on it saying: Grown up alley. That 's a cheesy name to have a street named. Kristen thought as they hopped on the bus with the other kids.
Inside the bus didn't feel like a normal bus you would normally go into in America. It had no windows, though they were positive they noticed clear windows outside of the bus. They could see the bus driver perfectly through the windows. They sat on the back on the bus, knowing they can't fit in very well with tall twenty-three year old adults. They weren't even sure how long it will take to go to the next city with how large this one was.
After long hours Kristen had fallen asleep on Cody's shoulder, the bus heating up and the air getting dryer. They didn't dare ask the bus driver, because they knew they could get caught easier that way. A couple of hours later and the bus finally went to a halt. The adults rushed out of the bus and Cody and Kristen were being pulled in with them. Once they got out of the crowded bus the rushing crowd of twenty three year old's split apart to do there own thing.
The city was so much different than the city with the kids. The city they were last in was simple and looked like a big city like in the United States. Though this city looked like the future compared to the city they were last in. It was all tall and glittering in silver, with hover cars, and twisted buildings. The bus seemed old and craggy compared to the buses in the adult city. A young man in his early thirties walked up to them and shook there hands.
"Do you two need a job, because I got one just for you." He said.
Cody turned to Kristen and she shrugged her shoulders. He looked back over at the man.
"Sure."
The man pointed at a silvery white building further down the street.
"Meet me at that building over there in an hour if you would like an instant job." He said and walked off.
The bus was now long gone. They decided to look around town and then go and see this guy over at that white building. They waited on the side of the street and saw a hover taxi cab stop in front of them. The window unrolled and a man in dark shades poked his head out of the window.
"Need a ride?" He asked.
"We don't have any money." Cody told the cab driver.
"It's alright, get in. I can take you anywhere you would like." He said.
The cab driver pressed a button and suddenly the back door opened. They got into the cab and the driver shut the door with the button.
"Thank you." Kristen said.
"No problemo, so where would you two like to go?" He asked.
"We just want to look around town." Cody said.
"Town, now what is that? Are you guys from here?" He asked.
"No, we are tourists from a different planet." Cody exclaimed.
"Okay, well lets start from downcity then." The cab driver said and he started driving downtown.
After they had explored the city and had there fun, they asked the cab driver to take them to the silvery white building. The silvery white building didn't seem to match the rest of the city. All the other buildings were silvers, and silvery blacks, and even the silvery blues, but no white. The cab driver stopped in front of the building and turned to them.
"Now I have to warn you two. The owner of this place was the great, great, great, great, great grandson of the creature of this world, and that very great grandpa was not a very nice man. Good luck." The cabby suggested and opened the doors.
They climbed out and looked up at the building. They started to debate whether to really apply for this kind of job or not. They needed money to get around town, but how are they going to do that? They looked at each other, then walked into the large silver doors. A man in a black suit came over and greeted them, then he brought them to an elevator of which brought them up to the top floor. He led them down the white hallway until he came to a doorway at the end of the hallway (Like how all the doors they had gone to were). The man walked off and they entered the room. It was a white office with the man they saw an hour ago standing in front of the desk.
"You came, great!" The man said, walking up the them.
He walked up to the door, shut it, then locked it. They were starting to feel even more uncomfortable when he shut the blinds and covered his coat over a camera in the corner of the room. He then sat down on his white chair.
"Have a seat, I have a few things I have to talk to you two about." The man said, weaving his fingers together.
Kristen and Cody sat down on the chairs in front of his desk.
"I am sorry to scare you two, but this is more private than just applying for a job." They started to feel a bit confused, "You don't need any reviews, but I can only have Cody work for me."
Kristen pushed forward.
"Okay, how do you know our names and why only him?" She barked.
"It is for your safety Kristen. What we do here is advertising and if anybody finds out about you, then it could be putting you into danger." He said.
"What do you know about me?" She asked harshly.
"Not much really, just that you are a girl. But that secret is stuck with me, nobody else in the city doesn't even know what a girl is. How I know what a girl is, is because my mother told me."
"Wait, you have a mother?" Cody asked.
"Well, yes everybody does."
"How much do you know about this world?"
"That is why you are here. For one thing, my great, great, great, great, great grandfather built this society. His secret about this world has been passed down until it got to me, my two brothers, and my oldest brother, the governor of this world. The reason why I want to share it with you two is because we have a girl here in this all boy society. All these boys on this World come from a different planet. Many years ago my very great grandfather had discovered this world, he wanted to make a Utopia but he would first have to make a population. So he made a deal with a planet called, Kronashon, to send twenty thousand toddler boys every year to this new planet. But my very great grandfather had created this world and then went to live on Kronashon so he can have his own children."
"How I am here today on this planet is because of my father. He had come to this planet to check up on us and he ran into the only woman in the world. She was sent here by mistake and eventually started living in a hidden cell at the governors house. Well, my father married her, and decided to stay on this planet. They had us and I am now here, with my own business and living a good life."
"The man got off of his chair and came up to them.
"My mother, she is still trapped inside that cell and I am not allowed to go inside it. Another reason why I have you here is because you are also the first children in history that have been in the adult city before. And since you two are smaller than most of us, you can get into the governors house easier and save my mother. Can you please do that for me." The man pleaded.
"But doesn't the governor know about girls too?" Kristen wondered.
"Yes, but he hasn't even seen his own mother for over twenty years now. He wouldn't know you were a girl if you disguise yourself." The man mentioned.
Cody looked at Kristen and she looked at him. Then Cody turned back to the man.
"We'll do it. But let us have a few days to look around and then we will."
"Good. Well, Cody you are hired then for these few days. Kristen, I am sorry you can't work for me. Good luck you too, meet me for the rescue in seven days then. Kristen you are excused now, Cody it is time for some training for your job." The man said.
Kristen made a wry smile and walked out of the office.
Chapter 3- master of disguise
In a nursery a few blocks down from the white building, a boy worked in the gardens. Or that was what it was supposed to seem like, in fact that boy was a girl. Kristen knew there would be no chance of suspicions unless the person knew there was such thing as a girl. She tried not to talk to anybody and tried to hide her face from anyone passing by, but it was hard. She couldn't do anything even close to a girl, though she didn't have the experience of being a boy she had the chance then. She decided to keep the name of Kris and if anybody asked her what her full name was it would be Kristopher.
Though it was defiantly hard to act like a boy with no experience as a boy, she did have some troubles. And she just seemed to put her keeping her act on a boy working in the nursery too. His name was Gareth Qwest. He just so happened to be just a couple years older than her, he had secretly climbed into the same bus Kristen had. Gareth knew from the beginning that she was just a visitor and was too young to be in the adult city, but he stayed cool about it. He promised not to tell anybody about her secret and she promised not to tell anybody about his. She seemed to trust this guy more than any of the other boys in the city.
"Have you ever heard of a girl before?" She asked without really thinking about it.
"Girl? I don't know, it somehow sounds familiar to me. Is it an alien?" He wondered.
"Well, not exactly. A girl is a human but a different type of human." She exclaimed.
"Interesting. So are you a girl than? Because you don't quite seem like the rest of us." He asked.
Kristen didn't know what to say about that. Should she really answer his question or lie about it. She trusts him but should she really tell him that she is a girl? For a while she was speechless, trying to think of how to phrase this.
"Yes, yes I am a girl." She said quietly.
But she should have said it more secretly. Just about five feet from where they were was a man that both of them didn't know about. This man was a security guard from the governor's home and came over to the nursery to take Gareth back to the children's city. The whole time he was listening to there conversation. When he heard that Kristen was a stowaway too he decided to start paying attention to her too. That was when he heard about how she was a girl. As soon as she said that, he walked out of the nursery and went straight to the governor's home to tell the surprising news. Though neither Kristen nor Gareth knew that he was listening to them the whole time and when he left the nursery.
"A girl sounds so familiar to me for some weird reason. So from your planet there is almost as much boys as there is girls?" Gareth asked.
"Yes, in fact girls and boys in my world join together and produce more children."
"How do they do that?"
"Well, it will be hard to understand. But a boy and a girl can join together called marriage. Once they are married they can be together for the rest of there life and have there own children."
"That is amazing, I like your world. So do you choose who you marry?"
"Yes,"
"Can I visit your world some time? It sounds very interesting."
"Maybe."
Kristen wasn't sure what she was saying now. She had totally lost it, she was now showing her identity to a boy she hardly even knows. she told him what love was, what a family is, how you can have your children have children, and how life was out on Earth. Then she asked how he ended up on this planet.
"Well, I came to the children's city when I was four. Or that was what the caretakers told me. None of us really remember what city we were in before of where exactly we came from. We just came here, they don't seem to tell us anything behind that."
"Maybe there is women on this planet, you just haven't met them."
"I have been traveling all around this planet ever since I ran away five years ago. I have not seen a single city with girls. But I have noticed something unusual."
"Unusual?"
"Yes. In a tiny part of the children's city, even further than downtown was a large building. The building was only a couple of stories high, but there was helicopters up on the roof. Dozens of them, I watched as they landed on the roof and came out with half a dozen toddlers. Then a bus would park in front and the men would put the toddlers into the bus to be taken to the children's city. Then I noticed the white sky would open up and more helicopter's would come in to deliver the toddlers. What I don't understand is where are they taking the toddlers?"
Then it all clicked.
"I think I know where they came from."
"Where?"
"From a different planet. The planet must have the mothers give birth to children and any boy that is born is sent to here."
"Well girls seem a lot smarter than boys then. Because I couldn't have figured that out."
"You figured it out pretty quickly." A voice said behind them.
They both turned around and noticed a man with black shades and a black suit was standing. Gareth backed away and another man in a black suit got a hold of him. Kristen began to run off but another man popped out of nowhere and got a hold of her, covering her mouth. The man in the black suit that was standing behind them, walked up to Kristen and Gareth.
"So now that you figured out part of it, I guess you want to here the rest of it." The man said, "Over five generations ago a man of the name Carter James discovered this planet. He found out about the gasses and covered it with a atmospheric dome, that way he could build a society. He decided he wanted to split the cities between age, so the adult city and the children's city. Then he thought about the people. He wanted all boys to live in this society, so he made a deal with another planet. The planet was going to give the society five thousand boys each year to live here for the rest of there life, once they turn four years old. James did not want the boys to find out that they had a mother, nor did he want them to know what a female is. So we had to give a shot to each boy to make sure they don't remember behind the age four. Now that Gareth knows what a girl is you are required to work as a security guard in the governor's home-"
"But I don't want to!" Gareth blurted out.
"It is a requirement sir. Now as for you Kristen Malecoy, you are to be sent to the cells underneath the governor's home."
Kristen tried to decline but the hand covering her mouth didn't let go, and his tight grip made it hard for her to struggle. The main guard led the other two guards out of the nursery and they pushed Kristen and Gareth into the black SUV. They had now handcuffed them and kept them on opposite ends of the car. It was about thirty minutes until they parked in the parking lot of the governor's home. The guards got hold of Kristen and Gareth, Gareth was taken to the governor to be trained, and Kristen was taken the opposite way.
they led her down a narrow hallway until they came to a long staircase down to the third floor underneath the ground. The basement third floor was dusty and grey, she was expecting multiple cell doors but there was only one door at the end of the room. The door was solid and as grey as the rest of the area. the guard opened the metal door and pushed her inside. It seemed surprisingly bright. It had a mattress on the floor with a bright green comforter and a purple pillow, the carpet was full of bright colors, there was a white desk on the side of the hot pink wall, a rainbow colored dresser in the corner of the room, a mini television on a tiny table on the same wall as the dresser, and a cool looking yellow chair close to the bed. The room was large but looked a bit empty, it kind of looked like your bedroom when you first move into your house. Though Kristen knew someone had made a living there for sure.
But there was someone there that she didn't realize. She didn't notice a door that probably led to the bathroom, and a woman in about her forty's came out of it. As soon as she spotted Kristen she stopped short and glanced at her. Kristen did the same thing, just staring at the woman. the woman seemed somehow familiar, as if she had seen her before some years ago. She had dark hair and soft brown eyes, her face gentle and loving. The woman then got out of her trance and walked over to her desk.
"Would you like a snack or anything, I have chocolate." The woman offered.
"S-Sure." She stuttered.
The woman handed Kristen a small silver package. She opened it to find a little bar of milk chocolate inside. The woman sat down on her yellow chair and offered Kristen a seat.
"I haven't seen a girl for over thirty years. It is so amazing to see one once again after all these years. I am Marsha Qwest what is yours?" She asked.
Kristen nearly choked on her chocolate.
"Are you Gareth's mom?" She asked.
"Yes, I am also a mother of four other children. three of them are boys one was a girl." As she said girl she looked down at her feet.
"A girl? What happened to her?"
"She is gone."
"I'm sorry."
"No it's not like that. When my youngest child was born it was a girl. The Governor didn't want to end up having another girl be raised in his society so he was going to kill it. I cried and asked for help all that day, hoping for something to help my baby. Then that night a man came to my room, he wore ordinary clothes unlike the guards in there black suits. He exclaimed to me that he came from a different planet and that he had teleported here. I told him about my baby and he told me that he could take the baby to his home planet and she can be cared for there. He made that promise clear and I agreed to it. So my girl is gone, she is starting a new life on that other planet."
"So who was the man?" Kristen wondered.
"The man was named Christopher Shortz. He mentioned to me that his wife just had a son of the name Cody."
"Cody?"
"You know him?"
"I have been traveling with him, in fact he could be coming down the stairs to save my life right now."
"Really? Oh, I would love to meet Cody. His father was such a good man, is Cody with his father?"
Kristen looked down at her feet, unsure if she should really say that Cody's father had died.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Well, it is great to find you and Cody here." she said, quickly changing the subject.
"So how did you end up here?"
"Well, my mother sent me here. She signed the contract to say she will send her first born to this society. Then she found out her first born just so happened to be a girl. She didn't really want to keep me so she kept pretending I was a boy, she cut my hair. Dressed me up in boy clothes, though she still taught me how to be a girl but be a boy at the same time. When I was sent to the children's city I kept my master of disguise for many years, then when I was about ten years old I got caught as a girl and was sent here. That was when I met Mr. James fifth great grandson and secretly married him. That was when I got my five children."
"Your cell is pretty cute how did you get away with this?"
"Well, after living in a cell for so many years they gave me a chance to decorate my cell." She said.
For a while they talked to each other and then they both soon realized what time of night it was. Marsha let Kristen sleep on her bed and she pulled out an extra blanket for herself to sleep on, on the floor. The mattress seemed worn and old as if it has been used for lots of years. Kristen slept good that night besides the fact that she was locked in a jail cell with the only woman in the whole planet. Marsha seemed to take care of herself pretty well, she kept her hair tidied up, and her clothes nice and clean, and she hasn't seemed to go crazy yet after all the years she had been there. And with Marsha around she knew she would never go crazy.
. . .
Cody worked in the office taking phone calls and writing down notes. He found out the man was named James Qwest. He was going to meet Kristen at a restaurant called Carl's place that night at nine. He had been working at the business for three days now and Kristen had been successfully working at the nursery down the street. Mr. Qwest made a discount on a hotel just across the street since they couldn't quite afford it.
Cody waited to dinner break than was going to work for a couple more hours, and then finally go back to the hotel. A few minutes later and James told him to go have his dinner break. After his dinner of barbecue chicken and bow-tie noodles he finished his shift and walked straight to Carl's. He entered the the restaurant and waited for his table. He felt awkward to tell them for a table for two, so he said a party for four instead. He didn't exactly have a crush on Kristen, nor did he want this to be a date, just a meeting. He knew Kristen liked him, especially when she looks at him.
Cody checked his watch and realized it was twenty after, then thirty, then forty, and suddenly it was ten o'clock. Cody left the restaurant wondering where Kristen had gone, the first place was the Nursery. He ran down the street to the nursery and slammed open the door. The manager stood close by just about to put the closed sign on.
"I am sorry, visiting hours are closed sir." He said.
"No, I am not visiting. Do you know where Kris is?"
"Kris? Well, he was working just a couple of hours ago. And then suddenly three of the governor's guards barged into my nursery and took them away, that was the unusual thing."
"Them? You mean there were two boys taken away?" Cody asked.
"Yes, Gareth Quest and Kris Malecoy. I overheard them saying something about him finding out what a girl was and that he was going to be taken to be trained as a guard. Though he really didn't want to be a guard."
"What about Kris?"
"Oh, they said they were going to take her to some underground cell in the governor's home."
As soon Cody heard about where they took her he darted out of the nursery. He looked around him and called for a taxi. A red taxi parked in front of him and he hopped inside. The man had large sunglasses on and a goatee, and his hair was long and grungy. He turned over to Cody and pulled his sunglasses down to his nose.
"Where to dude?" he asked.
"To the governor's house." He said in a rushed tone.
"Whoa, whoa. Slow down dude, what is with all the rush?"
"I have a special appointment with the governor." He lied.
The taxi driver nodded and drove on. So far none of the buildings looked like it would be the governor's house. Cody imagined the governor's house to look like the white house or a castle or something, but he just had to wait and see. The taxi driver started driving downtown where all the skyscrapers were and then turned off into a small neighborhood. It was now eleven at night and still no sight of the governors house. The taxi driver drove out of the small neighborhood and drove into a city what looked like it fit for the elderly. The city wasn't as large as the adult city or the children's city, but it was fun to look at it. It was made like an old western town. The only things that kind of made it more modern was the oxygen tanks, the metal walkers, and the telephone lines.
Then after checking out the old elderly town they got out to a dessert area. Though there was not a living thing or living plant in the desert. he tried looking ahead to see if he could see the governor's house but it was so dark he couldn't even see the road ahead of him by ten feet. The desert never seemed to end, and the road never turned off or anything. It was now almost midnight. Cody was starting to wonder if he could see the stars but as he looked up through his window all he saw was just a big dark sky of which was the dome. As the taxi drove on it finally hit midnight and he was starting to fall asleep. He didn't realize the governor's home was so far away, he thought it was within the city.
thirty minutes past midnight and the car finally stopped. Cody woke up with a jolt, the taxi driver didn't look at him as he asked for his change and had him get out. Outside was so dark he couldn't see through the window. He opened the door and stepped out to find it felt like he was standing in a desert. He didn't really figure that the governor's home would be two and a half minutes and out in the middle of nowhere. He looked around him wondering where to exactly go for the governor's home. Before Cody could ask for where the house was, the taxi driver turned around and drove off. Cody looked around him and suddenly something got a hold of him and covered his mouth.
"Keep still. We know who you are Cody Shortz." The man whispered harshly in his ear.
He released his hand to allow Cody to speak.
"What do you want with me?"
"We knew you were after the girl and the woman. We made sure that whoever asks to go to the governor's home get sent here. What we want with you is just to keep you away from them, so we are sending you to a different place."
"Where are we?"
"In the middle of nowhere, the Governor's house is the other way. Now come on, we have to go."
Cody's mouth was covered again and he was starting to see a black SUV hiding about ten feet away from him. Cody didn't want to be sent somewhere clear across the society. He had only one chance, he took a big bit into the mans fingers and the man jerked it away. Cody then twisted his wrists to release the mans grip. Then without doing anything else, he started for a run for it.
"There not a single life for miles Cody, you won't be able to survive the heat!" the man shouted out to him.
Cody didn't care, he was going to find Kristen and Mr. Qwest's mother as well. He didn't understand why the man wasn't chasing him, but he had his chance. He ran as fast as his legs could carry and kept going even with his feet getting tired. The man was right about life, as he ran he never ran into bushes or tree's, and even animals. He tried running away from the street, just in case they come down the street by surprise. He kept running until he couldn't bare it any longer. He started to slowly walk, feeling his lungs stinging. He kept on walking, knowing that taking a break would only make his long trip back to the city a lot longer.
He never thought about how late in the night was, because he knew he would fall asleep easier that way. He knew he hadn't even gone half a mile though he had ran the whole time. He knew he would have to eventually take a rest, maybe for the rest of that night. But as he walked on he then realized something, he was going the opposite way of where the next city way. How he found that out was when he ran into a wall. He stumbled into the ground and blinked multiple times to figure out what he ran into. He made sure he wasn't dreaming by feeling it and it was defiantly a wall. He had made it to the wall of the dome, and that just meant he could not go any further than where he was. It was now one o'clock in the morning and his last few nights he hadn't slept well.
He leaned against the wall and almost instantly fell asleep against the wall of the vast dome.
Daylight was streaming through the white sky. James sat up in his bed, hearing things. He looked around him but nobody was around. James, James. Get in your car. It said to him. He looked around him but the voice came from nowhere, it was as if coming from his own head. Get in your car James. The voice ordered. James got up out of bed and decided to follow the order the voice in his head told him. He was about to get dressed and get ready for the day until he heard the voice once again. No time to get ready, get in your car. James nodded to himself and went out to the car with his pajamas.
The voice in his head seemed rushed but calm at the same time. He climbed into the car and started it wondering what other instructions the little voice in his head would say. The Elders town, James. Go to it. James started driving downtown to reach the Elders town. Thirty minutes later and he had reached the town center of the Elders city. Follow the road, James. Follow it.
"But that leads out to the desert." James told the voice in his head.
Follow it James. Follow it. James hesitated, hoping this voice wasn't bringing him into a trap. He drove on out of the Elders town and was now driving into the lifeless desert. Today was a hot day, a day where even in the adult city was in the high 90's. He knew that the desert would be way over the hundreds by now, even this early of morning. He drove on, taking the voices word for it. He knew the road just ended, it ended right where the wall of the dome was. Though he kept on driving, watching out in the desert for anything the voice wanted him to see.
A couple of hours past and he was sure he could see the wall of the dome a few miles miles down the straight street. He kept on driving until he heard the voice again. Stop James. This is it. James stopped right when the voice told him and climbed out of the car. There was nothing in sight from where he could see, it was just the white desert. The dome was still too far away to walk right where he was, but he could still see it. Look to your right, James. James looked more to his right and looked around. He noticed something lying not far from where he stood. He ran over to it to find a boy with his hair so blond it was almost white. He knew who this boy was, and he was hoping he wouldn't meet him out in this situation. James took Cody into his car and lied him in the back seat.
"I have to take him to the hospital, I don't know how long he has been out here." James told the voice.
No time, James. The Governor's house, go to it.
"But he could be dehydrated and maybe even had a heat stroke. These kind of situations need a doctor, we need to go to the hospital."
The boy will be fine, James. Go to the Elders town and get water. James sighed at the disagreement with the voice in his head, but he turned around back towards the elders town. A couple of hours later and he was seeing buildings of the elders town. He drove to the closest store and asked the cashier for an ice cold water bottle. The cashier gave him the water bottle, he paid for it, and he darted back to his car. Kiss it, James. Kiss the water.
"Why?" He wondered
Kiss it, James. You will find out. James grumbled, wondering what a stupid thing the voice in his head was saying. So far he realized the voice was bringing him to save someones life, so this water bottle must go along with it. He sighed and gave a quick peck against the plastic of the water bottle. Now give the water to the boy. James knew water would defiantly help him, but why kiss it? He opened the cap and fed some of the water to Cody. Suddenly Cody's bright blue eyes snapped open. He sat up choking on the water James had put in his mouth. He looked around and then looked up at James. Good work. James smiled, happy to find out that Cody was okay.
"Mr. Qwest, what are you doing here?" Cody asked.
James didn't know how to answer that.
"I had a good feeling to go out to the dessert and I found you." He told him.
"No, but that water. What did you do that?"
"I don't know."
Don't lie to him, James. He knows about your kind.
"My kind, how does he know?" James shouted to the voice in his head.
Cody seemed confused, unsure why James was yelling at himself. James turned back to Cody.
"A voice led me to you." James told Cody.
"A voice? Wait, what about the water? How did you do that?" Cody asked.
"The voice told me to... kiss it." He said, as he said 'kiss' he seemed to say it in disgust.
"Oh, you must be a Halix then." Cody said.
"A Halix, how? I have never heard of such a thing before."
"A Halix is a humanoid who have certain abilities. I don't know them all, probably because a Halix can only use them if he or she knows about how to use them. It can't just come to you suddenly. The voice told you to kiss it, because it turned the water into a healing potion. The bad thing about a Halix, is they can't bare to have strong technology. It hurts them. To prove it that you are a Halix is there is a tiny mark in the back of your neck that represents you as a Halix." Cody told him.
James thought about what Cody told him. He never really liked the strong technology in the adult city because it gave him a bad migraine, now he knows why. Then he thought about the mark in the back of his neck, his caretakers always told him that, that mark was just a birthmark. But it was more than a birthmark, it was a sign to prove he wasn't human. He had a hard time putting this all together, he never thought he could be that different from everybody else in this society.
"So I am not human?" He asked
"No. But you are not the only Halix in this society. You have your family too that is also Halix." Cody told him.
"But that can't be, I never thought I would come from a different planet."
"Well, now that you know. I would keep on following what that voice is telling you." Cody suggested.
James nodded and waited in his drivers seat to see if he could hear the voice again. Now you know, James. You have the boy conscious. The governor's house now, James. Go to it. James started the car again and drove on towards the adult city.
"what did the voice tell you?" Cody asked.
"He told me the governor's home."
Cody grinned as he heard that. James started getting into downtown and then he turned off towards the governor's home. He kept driving until the house was coming into view. Cody unbuckled and hopped to the front seat to have a better look. The governor's house looked like the mixture of the white house and a castle. It was a building Cody wouldn't ever have imagined. James parked the car a block away from the building, hiding it behind the tree's. He climbed out of the car and Cody came right after him. James and Cody started heading to the front door until the voice said, Not the front door. James told Cody to follow him and he started heading to the side of the building.
barbed wire blocked off the sides of the buildings but James knew the building enough. He walked over to a gate going into the side of the governor's house and easily typed in the password for the gate to open. The gate beeped saying it is now open and they got through the gate.
"How did you-"
"The governor is my brother." He whispered to Cody.
"But why is your brother keeping your mother imprisoned?"
"Because he has no other choice, he is not the only one in charge. There is someone in a higher level than him."
James led Cody to a side door and he typed in the password to get into the doorway. the door clicked open and they were inside the building. The marble hallway was empty, not a single guard around. Even though they didn't see anybody, they didn't dare to make a single peep. James led Cody to the elevator. He was about to press the button to go down to the third level down, but the voice said, the stairs, James. The stairs. James nodded and led Cody down the hallway to the stairs. He typed in the password and the stairway door silently clicked open. He softly closed the door and they started down the stairs, trying to be as quite as they could. Further down they suddenly heard voices. They looked down and noticed the governor was there with his two highest guards.
They were starting to head up the stairs to the main floor. James started to panic though he couldn't tell if Cody was or not. He led Cody down a couple more flights of stairs and quickly typed in the password to the second floor down. They were coming from the fifth to the bottom floor so they were almost to where they were. James was such in a hurry trying to get through the door the password declined. James sighed, his forehead getting sweaty. He typed in the password again and it finally clicked open. James and Cody ran into the door and quickly closed it right when the governor and his two men got to that floor. they started to run down the hall, hoping not to get caught by any of the guards on the floor.
They reached the end of the hallway and tried opening the closest doorway. It was locked, James looked around for the keypad but it needed a key to get inside. He sighed and started to hear voices down the hallway. He pulled out some pic lock supplies and started to pic lock the door. The men had spotted them and they had no choice but to go through the door they were pic locking. James finally was able to pic lock the door and he ran into the room. He quickly grabbed a chair and blocked the doorway, making sure they won't go through.
James turned around and a big smile came over his sweaty face. A boy about fifteen or sixteen was roped against a chair with duct tape over his mouth. James came over to the boy and started untying the ropes. After he was loosened, the boy pulled off the duct tape.
"Gareth, what are you doing here?" James asked the boy.
"I know what a girl is now James. But that is why I am here. Since I know what a girl is now, they wanted me to be a security guard. But I didn't want to. So I ran for it and so they tied me up." Gareth said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, now we have to save your mother." James told him.
"Well Kris is down there too." Gareth added.
"Is that where that girl went?" James asked.
Both Cody and Gareth nodded at James' question. Gareth put his ear against the door, listening for anybody close by. He put a thumbs up.
"I know exactly where they put them, follow me." Gareth whispered to Cody and James.
James moved the chair from the doorway and Gareth slowly opened the door. Gareth peeked over and noticed nobody in sight. He made a thumbs up and he led them back towards the stairs. The governor and his two guards were already long gone probably already to the main floor. they piled out of the doorway and silently went down the one flight of stairs to the third to bottom floor. On the underground third floor was just a large grey room. At the furthest wall was the big metal door. They ran over to it and James then realized there was no keypad, but the door was locked. there was no doorknob, which just meant there was no keyhole to pic lock.
Look up, James. Look up. James looked up above the doorway and noticed a keypad up above. Now James was a short man and the keypad was way above his reach. He turned to Gareth.
"Gareth, I need a lift." James told his brother.
Gareth nodded and got down on his hands and knees. As for Gareth he was tall for his age, in fact he was taller than James. So it just so happened that Gareth's older brother was actually lighter than him. James hopped into his back and started to type in the password but it declined. He typed it again and it still declined, he did this multiple times but it just declined. He was sure it was right, he even typed it in nice and slowly, making sure he got exactly what he was typing in. After time after time of not getting the password right James pounded against the keypad and got off of Gareth's back. All three of them stared at the doorway wondering how else to get through it.
"It's Femalecell." a voice said behind them.
They turned around to find the governor standing behind them, his hands reached into his pockets. There were no body guards around him, it was just him alone.
"But Mason, I thought you can't let us into the cell." James told his Governor brother.
"No, but she is my mother. It is not the governments choice this time... it's mine. I can't bare to have my own mother and another girl stuck inside that cell in my house for the rest of there lives. I might as well loose my job to save my own mothers life." He told them.
At first they just stared, wondering really what to say. James smiled and ran over to give his older brother a hug.
"Thank you brother." He said to Mason.
As James hugged Mason, Gareth quickly typed in the password and the door clicked open. They stopped hugging each other and walked into a surprisingly bright colored room. The two girls were sitting on the colorful floor playing a game of chess of what looked like Kristen was winning. The four of them ran into the room and the girls stood up with bright smiles on there faces. Marsha gave her three sons a hug of gratitude and Cody walked over to Kristen. Kristen ran over to Cody and gave him a grateful hug for saving her. A few minutes later and the hugging and kissing was over and the boys led the two girls out of the cell.
"Oh my sons, thank you for saving my life after all these years. Now where is our fourth son?" She asked.
"Yah, where is our little brother Steven."James wondered.
"Well, Joshua is probably still over at the children's city doing his job as the president." Mason said.
"Wait, we know Joshua. We met him while we were in the children's city." Kristen mentioned.
"Yep, that's our brother. So, should we go see him after all these years mother?" Mason asked his mother.
There mother nodded and they started heading upstairs to the main floor.
"The guards don't know I am releasing my mother and the girl. I had them all go for there dinner break, so follow me to the car and we can drive over to the children's city." Mason told the others.
Mason led them out of the side door and out to a fifteen passenger van out in the parking lot. Mason took the drivers seat and the rest took the back seats and he started driving out of the parking lot.
"Buckle up ladies and gentle men, we have a long drive to the city." Mason told them.
Both Kristen and Cody knew that after the long bus ride. They buckled up taking Mason's (or the governor's) request and Mason drove on towards the Children's city. This time Kristen and Cody could see out the windows as they drove back to that other city. While on the road, Marsha told her sons about the secrets they never knew. Then everybody(except for the driver of course) fell asleep as Mason took them to the children's city. A few hours later and Mason was getting into the city. They all woke up as he mentioned they were there. They looked out the window and noticed not a single person out in the streets. Not one of the cars were driving down the streets, most of the stores said 'closed', garbage blew everywhere, and not a single sound.
"What happened to everyone?" Gareth asked.
"Don't know." Mason said.
"Now I thought you were the governor of the entire society, wouldn't you know why?" James asked him.
"I am afraid not, it seems like the city was abandoned just recently. As if an hour or two ago." Mason said, driving slowly down the abandoned street.
Though not a single soul was seen through windows or streets, Mason still drove on towards the Town building of which they expect Joshua to be in. Once they parked into the town building, they piled out of the van and looked around. James walked over to the door and quietly rung the buzzer. Nobody answered. He did it again. Still no answer. they waited a few minutes but they didn't even hear voice inside the building.
"I know he is here." James said.
"Why is that?" Gareth asked.
"Because I know."
James went over to the message box and held down the button.
"Joshua, its us. It's your brothers, can you open the door." James said through the message box.
There was no reply.
"Joshua, we know you are there. Please, let us in."
Still no reply.
"If you think we are bad guys then why would he tell you that your mother is with us too."
James waited a few moments to let his brother think about it. Suddenly, the doors swung open and they entered the building. James led them down the hallway until they got to the familiar door of Joshua's office. Mason opened the door to find Joshua, standing at the doorway, holding a pistol. As soon as he saw them, he put the pistol down on the ground.
"J-just h-had t-to make sure." He said walking back over to his desk.
"Joshua, why is the streets empty." Mason asked his younger brother.
Joshua pointed at Marsha.
"I-is t-that my m-mother?" He asked, not paying attention to Mason's question.
"Yes son, but can you answer your older brothers question." Marsha told him.
"The f-federation ordered all the p-people to evacuate because the Governor had gone missing and also the female prisoners. I s-stayed b-because I didn't want to l-leave. Now I k-know that it was j-just the governor was just p-put back together with h-his family. I am g-guessing you came for me so I c-can finish the l-link." Joshua stuttered.
"Yes, you have figured it out my brother. Our family is back together." Mason agreed to his conversation.
"No." Marsha told them.
They looked at her, confused of why she said no.
"My daughter, she is not here. Your father isn't either. They are both not even on this world, if not dead." She said.
"So we don't have all of us together right now?" Gareth rephrased.
Marsha nodded.
"Well, I need to go tell the federation that the governor is safe and he will be returning soon." Joshua told them.
"No Joshua, I quit. Tell them we found the governor, but he is no longer going to be it any more." Mason said.
Joshua nodded and quickly called the federation. When he finished he smiled.
"The children are coming back. They are going to elect a new governor next week." Joshua said.
"Well now that we have everything put back together, I think it is time for Joshua and me and go now." Kristen mentioned.
Cody looked at Kristen as if he was forgetting something. Cody had already programmed the tele drive but it just needed to be charged in an item first. Kristen pulled out his drive and placed it inside a mug on Joshua's desk. She placed it on the ground and waited for it to charge up.
"Kristen, I have something to tell you before we go. And if we could stay a little longer." Cody said, his voice a bit worried.
"Come on Cody, we got an adventure to catch. You can tell me when we get there." She said patting him on the back.
"But-" Then before Cody could finish she grabbed his hand, touched the cup and they dissapeared from the office.
"I never got to know her name." Marsha said, looking down at her feet.
Meanwhile as they landed on a planet on the other side of the galaxy, Cody crawled up to her. Kristen sat up and smiled, now hoping for what Cody was going to tell her.
"Kristen," Cody sighed, "that was your family."
Chapter 4- the box of Goshenta
"Why didn't you tell me that was my family. My mother was standing right next to me, I talked to my real brothers. And oh, does that mean I am a Halix too? I mean I thought I was human. But I am not. Oh yes, she told me all about Halix's besides there power they have to be trained for." Kristen complained
"Kristen I'm sorry." He apologized.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry means you will never do it again. And this only happens once in a lifetime and you just wasted your sorry." She barked.
"Kristen, that was why I wanted to stay. So you can be with your family and get to know them better. " Cody said.
Kristen started to calm down. She sat down in front of him.
"Oh, you mean you didn't mean to just leave my family behind without telling me until we left?" She asked
Cody nodded. Kristen looked around her, regretting what she was so angry about. It was her fault, she made them leave. She even left without saying good bye to her family.
"You were adopted weren't you?"
"You already know the question. But, I don't like to talk about it."
"My dad let your adopted family take care of you. They promised to love you as there own until he finds you again and takes you to explore and find out on your own what your real family is. After he died I took his promise and when I landed in your backyard I knew you were the one my dad was looking for."
"Is that why my family left me?" Kristen asked, tears streaking down her cheek.
Cody nodded.
"I had to do as promised. So I let you have a few adventures to get used to it, then I took you here. I was hoping you would find out for yourself, but it seemed like you needed a little help."
"Well. I know now. I found my family after thirteen years, and found out something new. I am not a human." Kristen looked around her and leaned forward, "Now about the technology thing. How come technology on Earth doesn't hurt me nor does your teleportation?" She asked
"Technology is wimpy compared to other technology out of our solar system. In fact it is so wimpy it doesn't hurt you. Now for the tele drive, it is the drive itself that is technological, not the teleportation."
"Now why didn't you let me see the screen when I first met you?"
"Because I didn't want you to find any suspicions once you see it. I didn't want you to find out too soon."
Kristen nodded they were done with the conversation. Now that they were done talking, they started to look around more. They were in a small village, it felt to Kristen and Cody like they were in the middle ages. The roofs were made of layers and layers of straw, the houses themselves were made of wicker and gravel. Every home was candle lit by the most unusual looking candles, the streets were just dirt roads, and then the handcarts and wheelbarrows instead of cars. They both stood up and looked up at the sky. There were six moons in the sky, each one a different size than the other. Around those moons were the most stars Kristen had ever seen even on Earth. While they stood out into the sky watching the millions of stars up in the sky, an old man rushed out of his home towards them.
"Close your eyes children! We can't let the curse get to you." the man said.
Cody and Kristen looked at the old man wondering what was happening.
"Why?"
"Just close them, and I will lead you into my house." He said grabbing there hands.
Both Cody and Kristen didn't understand fully, but they closed them and the man led them into his house. He led them through the hallway and into a small room.
"Now you may open them." He said.
They both opened there eyes. The old man offered them a seat. He looked around him and rushed around the room, grabbing boxes and squares.
"Don't look at the boxes. The curse is poisoning out village and we can't let newcomers have it too."
"What curse?" Kristen wondered.
The man stuffed the boxes in a cupboard and locked it. He rushed over to them and sat down on the ground in front of them.
"The curse. The curse has been known for over two thousand generations. It is called the Box of Goshenta, it is indeed a very serious curse. The box of Gushenta has been closed for those many generations until just a few days ago a man had opened it. This curse has spread throughout the village going into your eyes, and once it is in your eyes it won't leave until you are done for. How you know you have the curse is when you see the box."
"How do you know what box it is?" Cody asked.
"You know it once you see it. It happens right when you catch the curse. Once you see the box of Goshenta then you are now threatened of a deadly curse."
"Wait, you didn't tell us it was deadly." Kristen mentioned.
"You don't die instantly." the old man made a wheezy cough, "The longer you have the curse the worst it will get, and then soon it becomes too much and-" He stopped.
Kristen and Cody both knew what the answer was and they didn't want to answer it for him.
"What do we do?"
"I brought you in to... protect you." The old man seemed to have a hard time.
His eyes started rolling back and he was starting to black out. Cody kept him sitting up.
"Are you alright?"
The man shook his head, his pale skin going paler by the second.
"You have the curse." Kristen said.
The old man nodded.
"I... was... the first one... who got... the... curse. Leave me... children, I-I am... dying."
Kristen started crying, not wanting the man to die. The man coughed again and placed a folded piece of paper in Kristen's hand and closed her fingers around it. Kristen made a wry smile, unsure what to say. She placed it in her pocket, hoping to find out what it has when it was a good time.
"Leave me!" He coughed.
Kristen stood up, her hands cupped over her mouth. The old mans dying grey eyes were looking up at Cody, then they closed, and he died. Kristen was choking in tears, unsure what to say while seeing a man die from a curse. Cody walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her, his eyes full of sorrow. They didn't know what to say, they didn't want it to happen to him, and they don't want it to hit them too. Though the curse had already overwhelmed the sweet old man. They couldn't leave the village now, they entered the village and they now probably carried the curse at least now. Kristen left the room and Cody followed her out, then they walked out of the house and Kristen burst of out in more tears at the mans doorstep.
Sunrise was coming in opposite directions and starting to brighten up the small village. A tall woman came out of her house and waved her arm towards her to show to come towards her. Kristen had stopped crying. They walked over to the woman. She had little round glasses around her light brown eyes, you could see her as a librarian. She offered them to go inside and to have some breakfast. They followed her into the kitchen and noticed a bunch of children sitting at the table. They all had glasses on, and none of them looked like each other. There was two seats probably for Kristen and Cody, the woman said those seats were for them. Once they sat down the woman stood at the table and folded her arms.
"We are grateful to find two more children uncursed since this has started. I have gathered all of the children of this village who have no curse upon them. We now are going to give our two gods a vote of thanks." She said.
"Are you cursed?" Kristen asked the woman."
"Oh goodness me, no. I am one of the few adults who hast not receive this unfriendly curse. Now let us pray."
All the children clasped there hands together and put there heads down. The woman did the same.
"Dear goddess's of our village. Help us to keep this dreadful curse from these innocent children at this table. Help us also to find a way to bring the curse back into it's box, and that the rest of our people may be saved. We thank thee goddess's of our village, we thank thee for saving these children from this curse. We praise you goddess's and we now end our prayer to you. Amen."
In unison the children said amen together and they opened there eyes. Right after they said amen, they started eating. Kristen and Cody sat at the table, feeling awkward and not hungry. Cody ate little bites but Kristen just played with her breakfast the woman offered.
"I'm Liliana by the way." The woman said as she sat down at the large table.
Cody nodded but Kristen wasn't really paying attention. She pounded her fork against the table and stood up.
"Wheres the bathroom?" She asked unlike herself.
Liliana pointed towards the hallway. Kristen ran over to the hallway and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Kristen sat down and leaned against the bathroom wall, light was streaming through the tiny window up above. She started crying again, she had too much going on in her mind. That day was too full of surprises and it wasn't helping what she was going through. She wasn't expecting to find her real family, then find out she was not human, then can't leave the village without taking the curse with her, finding out that she had landed in a cursed village, and then being with a dying man who died in Cody's arms. She didn't like how that day was going.
At the table the children finished there breakfast and went outside to play. Liliana knew what they were going through and didn't bother, so she went outside with the children also. He felt bad that Kristen never got the chance to see her family as Cody told her that it was her family to begin with. He knew with how he handled the situation with Kristen he would just have to leave her alone for a chance. So he went outside to play with the rest of the children. They were playing ball in the empty yard. He noticed all the box looking objects were all dumped into a pile on the corner of the yard. None of the children payed any attention to the pile of boxes and he didn't blame them.
It started getting later in the day. The two suns from the west and the east were now starting to intercept each other. He watched the two suns as they looked liked they joined together to make into one sun. Then he watched as they departed and then go down on the West and the East, just like how they came up. Of course the children didn't play outside the entire time, though Kristen had been in the bathroom all day, and Cody had been looking at the intriguing suns all day. Liliana tried to feed Kristen food by sliding underneath the door, but she would push it back. She wouldn't talk to anybody who is asking her anything, and wouldn't eat. It seemed a bit harder for her to understand than what Cody thought.
That night Liliana showed Cody to his room which shared with four other boys. She tried getting Kristen out of the bathroom but she would just say to go away. After Cody had gotten on the pajamas that Liliana had handed to him, they went over to the front sitting area to have a small meeting. The sitting area wasn't much, it was in fact empty except for a couple of plants and mats to sit on. It was meant for a sitting area, but not a sitting area with couches and chairs. The children, Cody, and Liliana sat down in a circle in the sitting area and Liliana started the meeting.
"Well, it sure has been quite a day for both you Cody, and your friend. I have never seen such an upset child before, she must have gone through a lot."
Cody nodded at her opinion.
"But the day is now over. Hopefully she will come out of her hiding place tomorrow, or possibly even tonight. But we should still give her a chance, as long as she doesn't starve herself in that bathroom." Liliana then straightened up, "Now children, I thank you for welcoming in our newcomers.Cody has told me a little bit about him, he is from an Earth from afar. Now it sure has been a first to find a human come to our planet-"
Cody then inturupted surprised,
"Wait, you guys are not human?" He asked.
"Why no, hasn't you figured that out yet. We are Stillkans, people who come from the Carshians. Is it because of our body shape being so close to yours?" Liliana asked.
Cody nodded.
"Of course, the difference between you and us is our fingers, have you seen our fingers yet?"
Cody shook his head. Lilian showed her fingers to him, they were webbed. They were webbed fingers, but they were still skin color. Cody understood. So the meeting continued on, they talked about the curse, the children, the history, what was there plan for that week, and who was going to get some food from the farmlands for tomorrow. Suddenly, the door down the hallway squeaked open. They peeked over to find Kristen walking down the hallway, her face as pale as a ghost, and her lips purple. She slowly walked down towards them, her hands shaking at her side. She came into the sitting room. Then saying under her breath, she said:
"I saw the box." and she collapsed on the ground.
. . .
The children began to panic, knowing that the curse was now running around in there home. Cody had run over to Kristen and Liliana helped in take her to a bed. He didn't know what to do, Kristen had the curse. He didn't want her to die or they'd have to stay on this planet forever. He wasn't sure what to do, he needed to get rid of this curse and everybody else's curse in this village. Though he didn't know a lot about the curse he knew some of what it does, and he was seeing it with his own eyes. He needed to know how the children in the room were immune to it, and he was having a feeling that maybe he wasn't immune to it.
While it got later and later in the night, the children were now finally sleeping in there beds. Cody laid there, thinking of how to get rid of the curse and save most of the village. For hours and hours of the night, he lay there not sleepy and full of questions and wonders. Then it clicked, he sat up in bed and ran over to Liliana's room. As soon as he opened the door of her bedroom she snapped awake and sat up in her bed.
"Liliana, I think I am starting to figure it out!" Cody said.
Liliana got off her bed and lit up a candle. She led him to the kitchen so they could sit down on the chairs.
"What is your thoughts?" She asked.
"Your glasses. All of the children who are immune to this curse have glasses including you. Your glasses must use as a force field or something and keeps the curse from getting to your eyes. Neither Kristen or I wear glasses and I am probably going to get it sooner than later. And I also figured something else out, I think I know how to get rid of the curse."
Liliana started getting full of excitement, she looked around her and put a finger up, saying she will be right back. She left the room and returned with a pair of reading glasses. She handed it to Cody.
"This is all I can do. They are just reading glasses, and are probably too strong for your eyesight, but they will do." She smiled.
"Thank you." He put the reading glasses on, "What I figured out was that the box of Goshenta was opened and the curse was let out. Well, what if we close it? What if we close the box, the curse would have to leave because its source would be closed down."
"That is brilliant Cody, but here is the problem. There is only one man who knows what the box is, and that is Hans Manktrot, and he died just a couple of days ago."
"Do you mean that man that we saw when we first got here was the man who opened the box?" He asked.
"By accident. He was a good man, he just didn't know that he was setting out a deadly curse once he opened it." She cried.
Liliana then yawned and the conversation was over. They had a plan and she was going to discuss it tomorrow with the rest of the children. The next day she did as she promised herself, but didn't mention about how the curse couldn't be stopped. The children were quite excited when they found out about the glasses and being immune and it brightened up the day a little bit more. Cody knew how the two suns worked and decided to stay inside that day. He came to Kristens bedroom every once in a while to check on her. Then when the two suns were just departing meaning the beginning of afternoon Kristen gained consciousness. Cody ran over to her and she sat up in her bed, her face still pale.
"I... have something... for... you." She said, trying to speak.
Kristen's hands shook as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper from her pocket. As she placed it into his hand Cody could feel her hand icy cold as if she touched the snow for a very long time. Cody clenched on the paper, knowing this could be important. He didn't really see the man put the paper in Kristen's hand the other day, but he knew wherever it came from it was probably important. He left the room and sat down at the kitchen table. He unfolded the piece of paper to find what looked like a small drawing. He couldn't figure it out, then he noticed words on the top. It read: Note: Keep is under town square. Cody looked at the picture and realized that the picture was a map.
Without telling anybody, Cody ran out of the house and came up to the town square. He looked around him, and felt around for a door. All the lime Stone looked intact and unmovable. Cody tried looking for larger cracks in the lime stone, but they all looked like they were pasted together pretty well. Then he started knocking, hoping to hear something hollow. He crawled around the town square trying to listen for anything hollow. Suddenly, as he got to the middle lime stone of the square, he heard a hollow opening. He looked around for a crack or latch but still couldn't find the one or the other. He looked around him, looking for something useful to break open the lime stone.
Then he noticed a wheelbarrow leaning against one of the empty houses. He ran over and grabbed the wheelbarrow and wheeled it to the town square. Grabbing the two handle bars and having the wheel facing straight down, he started hitting the wheel against the lime stone. It made a small crack in the stone, but not big enough to break with your hands. He hit the wheel hard against the stone multiple times, getting only a little crack at a time. After getting a good size crack in the stone, but still not enough to break through all the way, Cody put the wheelbarrow down and took a rest. His arms were exhausted from the weight of the wheelbarrow, and needed a long break. As soon as Cody sat down to take a rest Liliana ran over to him.
"Cody, what are you doing?" She asked.
Cody pulled off the reading glasses and looked up at Liliana. He got up too his feet and put his hands on his hips.
"Just.. I... I think I know where the vault is." He told her.
"But there's not a door there Cody. I have looked for it multiple times, and it is not there." She said.
"I know, but underneath this stone is hollow." Cody mentioned.
Liliana sighed.
"You must be just hearing things than, because it is not hollow."
"Try it than, knock against the stone." Cody said.
Liliana sighed again, but bent down. She put her ear to the stone and started knocking. She looked back up to Cody with a face saying she believed him now. Then she took her elbow and pounded it against the stone. Suddenly the stone shattered and there was an opening in the stone. Cody hadn't realized how strong you would have to be to have broken the stone. He stood in shock as Liliana brushed the lime stone off her elbow. She smiled.
"Well, it looks like we have a passage way now." She said looking down into the dark hole.
Cody looked down too and nodded. He wasn't even sure if he should really jump, he couldn't even see the bottom with how deep it was.
"So I guess I am coming with you to find the box than." She said pushing a hair from her face with her webbed hand.
Cody nodded. Than before he could say anything else the woman jumped into the hole. He looked around him to make sure he wasn't being watched, closed his eyes, and then jumped into the hole. For a while it felt like he was falling, until the hole curved and he was going down like a slide. He went sliding down the hole and landed hard on a large pule of sticks or something like that. He looked down from the pile to see Liliana lighting a torch. Then as the room lit up he realized that he was sitting on a pile of bones. Cody quickly hopped off the pile of bones and landed at first feet first, and then falling flat faced against the ground.
Liliana helped him up to his feet and he looked around him. There was a deep hallway close by and not a single torch was lit in there.
"I would put those glasses back on you Cody, this is probably the wrong time to not protect yourself." She said, keeping eye contact on the dark hallway. Liliana led the way out into the hallway, Cody grabbed a torch she had lit and followed behind. The hallway seemed to last forever as they walked down it. Then after they thought it was the end of the hallway, it turned off to another never ending hallway. They continued down the hallway and then it turned off once again. This hallway wasn't as long and it then opened into a vast room. At the corner of the room was an open wooden box. The box had beautiful designs on it and it looked almost like a mini treasure chest. The open box had streams of yellow fog coming out of it and going down the hallway.
Liliana came up to the box and looked into it, suddenly the fog started coming up towards her. Cody tried to stop her but the fog climbed into her mouth and she collapsed on the ground. Cody ran over to her and asked if she was okay. Suddenly her eyes snapped open, her eyes were yellow and creepy. She stood up her webbed hands clenched.
"I am Goshenta, goddess of the third moon." Liliana's voice sounded nothing like her own, it sounded foggy and screechy.
"Give Liliana back Goshenta, this is wrong." Goshenta turned over to Cody and seemed to fly over to him.
"How dare you speak out of turn Human. For I am free from that box, all I needed was a body to overcome, and I have received my wish. You are now my slave Human, so bow before me." She ordered.
Cody shook his head.
"I will not." He said strongly.
Goshenta hissed at him.
"BOW! Or you shall receive the consequences." She shrieked.
Cody stood up, staying confident. Goshenta screamed a blood curdling scream and cast her arm at him. Cody went flying across the room, hitting the wall hard.He heard a crunch and the pain ran up his left arm as it hit the wall. He cried in pain, and tried to get his breath back. Goshenta paid no attention to him, but was saying some ancient language looking up at the ceiling. Cody sat up, resisting the pain in his arm. He started crawling with his one good hand over to the box. Goshenta then stopped and blinked multiple times.
"What are these things on my eyes!" The screamed.
She pulled the glasses off and threw them on the ground, one of the lenses falling out. Cody slowly kept coming closer and closer to the box, stopping whenever the woman stopped speaking. He was getting closer to the box, but Goshenta was starting to finish her speech to the goddesses. He could almost touch it, but he was too low down. He started to stand up and was ready to close the box until Goshenta stopped and turned to him.
"NO!!!!" She cried, flying over to him.
Cody quickly slammed the lid shut and Goshenta starting cackling.
"Though the curse is now gone, I am already out of my prison." She said, cackling some more.
Cody didn't know what to do, he never thought about Goshenta staying out. Then he noticed a small opening in the wall, too small to fit a person, but big enough to bring light to a certain spot in the room. He then realized it was almost midnight, which meant the three moons will be joining together. Cody slowly walked over to the light and looked up to see the moons almost to there positions for midnight. Goshenta shrieked discovering Cody getting away from her.
She flew over to him and he took a step back from the light. Goshenta was now sitting in the moonlight. She was standing right in front of him but couldn't move. It was as if someone, or something was strangling her. She looked up and noticed the three moons were now together. Goshenta screamed trying to get away from the grasp of her two moon sisters. The yellow fog was coming out of her mouth and going up to the sky, and then she fell on the ground. Cody looked up at the two moons who were now departing once again to there own ways.
He then ran over to Liliana, unconscious. She took a gasp of air and her eyes flickered open.
"I guess your more than I thought you were." She smiled.
Cody helped Liliana up to her feet, she looked so much different without her glasses. She looked around her and noticed the box closed.
"You closed the box Cody, the curse is broken." She cheered.
"Yah we got that, but how are we going to break out of here?" he wondered.
Liliana looked around her. That was the question, the entrance was only a one way entrance.
"Well, how did Hans Mankrot get out of here?" She asked.
That was a good question. Then Cody remembered the map. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the map. He found the entrance, and followed it down the snaking hallways to the room. There was a room down the hallway that he hadn't realized. He starting to figure that, that must be the exit than. He showed this to Liliana and she nodded. They started running down the hallway until they noticed rocks had fallen and blocked the way. Cody hadn't noticed that while Goshenta was calling up to the goddesses, it was shaking the ground and breaking the rocks.
"Is there another exit?" She asked.
Cody looked back at his sheet of paper. He shook his head, there really was no way out. They walked back to the room and leaned against the wall. The moonlight had long since gone from the crack and the room was pitch black. When they entered the room the fire had burnt out on both Cody's and Liliana's torches. The rest of the night they slept against the wall of the vault, unsure what else to do.
daylight then started to stream in the hole in the ceiling. Cody woke up and looked up at the cloudless sky, it was nearly noon already. Liliana woke up and walked up to notice the time too. She turned to Cody and nodded.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Cody asked, wondering why she just nodded at him.
"Move out of the way." She said backing away.
Whatever she was doing, Cody knew he should follow what she told him to do. He backed away to find Liliana running up to where he was before. She ran up to the spot and was suddenly doing a hand stand kicking the ceiling around the hole. She kept kicking until suddenly there was a large hole, big enough to fit a human. Liliana was a tall woman, but Cody never thought that she could reach that hole with here feet.
"H-how did you do that?"
"I'm stronger than you think." She said coolly, she seemed like a different person without her glasses.
"So how did you know where to go, you don't have your glasses on." Cody wondered.
"The glasses are just to show I am harmless and naive. I can see without them." She smiled.
Cody was glad she told him that. Because back on earth, woman who look like librarian's normally look harmless and naive. Liliana helped Cody up to the ceiling and he climbed out. Outside looked unfamiliar to him, it seemed like they were miles away from the village. He was standing in a meadow with dozens of flowers and long grass. Liliana easily climbed out of the hole, as soon as she came up on top she brushed the dirt off her dress and started walking towards the village.
"How did we end up clear over here?" Cody asked.
"Well, if you added the long slide to the vault, and then the snaking and very long hallways, and then to add the giant room, than we had traveled a few miles from town square by now. " She said, not keeping eye contact.
Cody couldn't argue with that, it did seem like miles for him to get to the room with the box. They continued down the meadow heading towards the small village. Though it was a long walk and hunger was coming to both of them. Liliana looked around for any food but all there was, was just flowers. Even though there hunger was increasing, they continued on for the village. Hours later and they spotted the village ahead.
A few minutes later and they entered the village. People were buzzing around doing there normal work and the village seemed to be filled with more joy. It was almost after six, for the suns were almost setting behind the mountains. They walked over to Liliana's house to find none of the children there, they were probably back with there families. Kristen was sitting at the table, eating her dinner. When she saw Liliana and Cody and got up and gave Cody a hug.
"There's dinner on the table by the way. The children made it and then left right after they ate." Kristen said, taking a bite of the odd food on the table. Liliana and Cody both smiled, for they hadn't ate all day. They sat down at the table and ate with there own enjoyment. After they ate, Liliana went to her bedroom and came back wearing another pear of glasses . Liliana then suggested that it would probably be good to go now. So Liliana bid Kristen and Cody farewell and they left her house.
"Cody, I want to go back." Kristen said.
"Go back, go back where?" He asked.
"I want to go back to the other planet, where I met my family for the first time." Kristen told him.
Cody nodded, not arguing for not going back to see her family again. For that was his secret he had kept ever since he met her, his secret was that she wasn't human. But he also had another secret that he hadn't told her, and he wasn't sure if she was quite ready for it yet. He pulled out his drive and starting his normal programming and then looked around for an object to put it inside. He then pulled out the piece of paper that Kristen gave to him, and he wrapped the drive around it. He place it on the ground and it began it's normal charging glow and they both touched it.
As they landed on the atmospheric white shell, they looked around for the door. Knowing what being outside of the shell does to you. Cody stood up and looked around, but they were supposed to be pretty close to the same spot they were when they first got there. Suddenly there was a shrilling whistle, for a while they didn't know what it was. Then they noticed a huge asteroid, nearly the size of a house come towards the shell. In fact it was coming towards them, at first they just stared at it and then Cody got hold of Kristen and started running. Kristen got up to her feet and started running with him across the slippery dome.
The asteroid was still coming towards them, coming quickly. As it came closer it now was looking like a small village. Kristen slipped and she couldn't get back up. Cody tried getting her to her feet but instead he slipped too. The asteroid was now too close, so close that moving out of the way wouldn't make a difference. They both closed there eyes, knowing this would be a quick death. Suddenly they felt the shell tremble and heard it breaking, and then hearing the loud thud as the asteroid hit the ground down below. Cody opened his eyes and noticed the asteroid had just barely missed them by inches, in fact almost centimeters to his body.
Chapter 5- Shooting star
Kristen started crying with joy that they hadn't died yet. Cody got down on his belly and looked down into the vast hole it had created. The asteroid had landed in the lifeless desert, and a large dust cloud and swarmed around it. the asteroid was tall and was tall enough for Cody and Kristen to just jump on. Cody waved his hand to signal Kristen to come here. She got on her belly and noticed the asteroid too. Cody then sat up, having his feet dangling over the sharp opening.
"Are you going to jump?" She asked.
"Yep" and he jumped.
As he landed feet first on the asteroid he yelped in pain. Kristen quickly jumped off and asked him what had happened.
"The side of the hole scratched the back of my legs." He said, sitting down on the rutty ground.
"I was going to warn you about the sharp edges, your legs were technically on the sharp parts of the hole." She said, her hands on her hips. Cody looked up at the hole and looked back over at Kristen.
"Why didn't you warn me than?" He asked.
"You jumped too soon." She mentioned, shrugging her shoulders.
Cody and Kristen looked down off of the asteroid to find it a long way down. About just a fourth a mile away, the downtown of the children's city was and about five feet from the elders village. As Kristen stared down at the two cities, Cody looked up to find the streams of gasses coming into the dome. He turned back to Kristen to find her climbing down from the asteroid. Surrounding the asteroid was the city people wondering what had just happened. Kristen was already halfway down when Cody started taking a step on the rocks.
As he and Kristen and Cody climbed down they suddenly starting hearing screams and cries from down below.
"THERE'S SOMEBODY UP THERE!!!!!!!!!!!" a boy screamed (for there was no woman on this planet).
Kristen looked down and Cody started to notice her sweating.
"Don't look down Kristen!" Cody hollered.
Kristen looked back up at Cody, she looked frightened. She took steady steps down the asteroid, knowing a single slip would bring her death. She resisted to cry or scream as the rocks got harder to grasp on with her sweaty hands. She stepped down on a wide flat surface and waited a couple of seconds to take a small break before continuing down. She looked down, even though Cody gave orders not to to find someone nearby calling on there cell phone for help. She continued down, feeling the chemical from the air around the dome hitting her. She blinked several times, her eyes watering. Even in the height she was in, the air was hot and made her feel more tired.
As she took another step on the rocks one of her hands slipped and she quickly grasped against another one. Her heart pounded in her chest, and goosebumps started forming on her arms. Soon she started to see fire trucks coming towards them and one of them parked below Kristen and they hauled up the ladder. One fire man came climbing up the ladder and he cupped his hands around his mouth.
"We got you, come down towards us!" The firefighter told them.
Kristen started to slowly come down and the firefighter got a hold of her. Quickly the firefighter handed her over to another firefighter, who brought her down off the truck. Cody's legs were aching him and it was hard to climb down. He looked down at his legs to find the two large rips in the back of them, with two large, bloody, gashes in both of his legs. He winced in pain as he took another step down the steep asteroid, Kristen seemed to get down better than he did. Soon his legs were hurting so much he couldn't take another step. One of the firefighters hollered for him to come a little closer but Cody said he couldn't. One of the firefighters started climbing up the asteroid and hooked a rope inside the asteroid, then he got a hold of Cody, and repelled him down to the ladder.
Another firefighter came over and brought Cody down with Kristen. An ambulance was parked next to the truck and Kristen was sitting on the bed, while they checked her blood pressure. They took Cody over to the ambulance, picking him up with his soar legs.
"How on earth did you get up there." One firefighter asked Cody.
"Long story." Cody told him.
The firefighter was checking on how Kristen was doing, and then came up to the other firefighter.
"There both have breathed in the gasses pretty well, and it looks like the gasses are coming into the dome." He said.
The other firefighter nodded and the ambulance took them to the hospital. When they got there Kristen was taken to be contaminated. The doctors wrapped cloth around Cody's legs and helped him to the contaminating room. Then Cody stopped them.
"It's no use to have me contaminated, the gasses have already gotten inside the city." Cody mentioned to the doctors.
"But leaving you without contamination will make you ill." One of the doctors said.
"Yes, but it looks like you need to be in with me than, because I am sure the gasses have already gotten in here."
The doctors but ignored his request and put him inside the airtight room. Kristen was sitting against the wall, humming some song in her head. Cody crawled over, unable to walk very well, and sat next to her. She didn't look at him, but looked up at the ceiling as if he still wasn't there.
"Do you think we are going to find your family?" He asked.
"Maybe," She said lolly, still looking up at the ceiling.
Suddenly she snapped out of her trance and glanced over at Cody.
"Oh hello Cody, when did you come in?"
"I have been in here for a while." he said.
Kristen nodded, and then closed her eyes. It was as if she had laughing gas kicking in her. Cody sighed, unsure if talking to her would really help what was going on. He didn't expect it to happen like this, he was hoping just for Kristen to see her family again and then they leave. But instead it happened where a huge asteroid crashed into the giant atmospheric shell and brought in deadly gasses in with it. He waited for the doctors to open the door again and let them out.
About fifteen minutes later and the door open with a loud hiss. A doctor let them out and another once suddenly injected a needle in both Cody and Kristen's arm.
"Sorry, we just have to check if the gasses you breathed in are stabilized." One of the doctors said.
The next day they let them out. Cody wrapped his arm around her shoulder since they didn't have the money to buy crutches. Cody was able to get a taxi and the driver asked them where they wanted to go.
"Can you take us to the presidents office please?" Cody asked.
The taxi driver nodded and starting driving downtown where the presidents house was. He stopped in front of the large building and they climbed out. They quickly entered the building and was stopped by one of the president's guards.
"We need to speak with the president please, it is kind of urgent."
"What for?"
"Private business, please let us see him." Cody said, getting a bit inpatient.
The security guard let them into the doors and they were walking back towards the president's office. As they walked into his office and the guard shut the door, they noticed the president was a different man. He turned to them and offered them a seat.
"Do I know you?" He asked.
"No, we are wondering where president Joshua and his family had gone." Cody said.
"Well, they said that they went off to explore."
"Explore?"
"Yes, he said that this person called his mother had somehow created this teleportation device taking you around the universe. He said he wasn't going to be back for a while." He told them.
Cody looked at Kristen who didn't know what to say.
"Than we should go find them than." Kristen told Cody.
"Whoa, whoa, the universe is a big place. There would be a bigger chance of running into them, than looking for them." he stopped her.
The president leaned back against his chair.
"Well, I gave you what you wanted to ask. I am a very busy man and I have some paper work to do, you are excused now." He said, with an unwelcoming smile on his face.
Cody and Kristen nodded and they left his office. As they opened the door the guard ran in, pushing the two of them out of the way. He was holding a gas mask in his hand and was just putting on one himself.
"The hole the asteroid broke in is now bringing in gasses. We cannot let us breathe in the air, put this on." the guard said, handing the gas mask to the president.
Kristen and Cody stepped out of his office and walked out of the building. They could hear coughing as everybody was breathing in the gaseous air. A man walking down the street was holding bunches of gas masks handing them to people passing by. He came up to Kristen and Cody handing them a gas mask.
"We don't want one." Cody told the boy.
"Oh but you need to , this is serious of what is going on out here." He said.
Cody sighed and put the mask on. everybody looked creepy with the gas masks on, and it was hard to see through it. Cody looked over at Kristen, wondering what they really should do. They took a cab back over towards the asteroid to find that the police had blocked it off. Up above men from the adult city were working on the hole, trying to seal it up. They knew that once the hole was sealed back up, the air would already be intoxicate with the gasses. So far they hadn't got far in the hole and the asteroid hadn't moved. The people in the elders town were now evacuated and running to the children's city, unsure what else to do. Cody looked around him, unsure himself of how he and Kristen could help. They were only about thirteen and couldn't even drive a car yet. Kristen hadn't quite learned how to be a Halix and Cody was just a very smart human boy.
They decided they were going to stay at a nearby hotel. The taxi driver took them to a hotel and since the last time they were there, they had gathered some change to pay for the hotel. Of course they asked for separate rooms to keep there privacy. As Kristen and Cody went into there separate rooms they both thought about how to get rid of this toxic gasses coming into the community.
It was in fact been a few days they have been inside this hotel wondering what else to do. Now everybody was wearing gas masks and they stopped bringing the children to be raised here. The dome had still not gone far to be sealed up. But that day people started to give up, thinking there was no hope. Some would pull off there masks and weep, for they thought this society was going to die. They all thought wearing a gas mask for the rest of their lives will be unbearable.
Kristen and Cody visited the asteroid many times, trying to figure out how to help. They were going to leave as soon as Kristen meets her family, and her family had not returned. So maybe the hopes would be no family so they go look for them than and leave the planet as soon as possible. Though it didn't work this way, this planet now needed there help whether they wanted it or not. Though many men around were a lot older than the both of them, Cody has gained a lot of experience, and Kristen had almost as much.
Then after being inside there hotel rooms, with nothing else really to do, Cody came out without Kristen struggling down the stairs with his injured legs. The taxi driver took him to the asteroid and he looked up at it, and something started to click. Cody looked up at the dark sky within the hole. Time and space, that was what he was thinking. He wanted to have a closer look at the hole. One of the police officers had noticed he had been there a lot and walked up to him.
"If you tell me how you got up there, sir that other day. Maybe I will tell you where I think that asteroid got here." The officer told him through his gas mask.
Cody glanced over at the curious officer, it was a pretty good deal he made there. Cody led him over to lean against a building of one of the elders buildings so his legs would stop hurting. He told the officer about how they are travelers, he told him about how they had been here before, he told him about them returning here, and then seeing the asteroid coming down and barely missing him. The officer seemed very interested and then when he finished his story the officer agreed to tell him what he knows about the asteroid.
"So according to our sciences, that asteroid was broken off of a sun. It was at first burning and then it cooled down until it was a solid rock. How it cooled so quickly was because it was shooting so fast through the sky. It was like a shooting star coming towards us. If there would have been any obstacle in that stars way, than it wouldn't have gotten to our planet. It would have either barely missed us, or went a complete different direction. Though it had a straight pathway right to us to crash into our world." The officer explained.
Cody seemed to agree on the officers theory. It seemed right, for if you looked up at the sky you can see a small sun miles and miles away. Cody stood up, the answer to his questions getting closer and closer by the second. It was a shooting star, and it had landed in the wrong spot. He thanked the officer and the officer left to do his duties. Cody walked back over to the outer space, staring at the biggest light out there, the sun. That sun was the reason it brought bad luck to this planet. He then got the thought "What if time can be changed.", he had never thought about it. What if he could change time and move the asteroid?
The only question was, how is he going to change time? His drive only moves to places, but it doesn't move to different times. He sat down and needed some time to think. He closed his eyes and tried to remember some useful memories he could use for what was going on. He scanned through his memories and suddenly stopped as he saw Kristen's face when she came to rescue him. She was wearing something he had ever seen before, it was a necklace with a light blue gem. He opened his eyes, unsure what to say. He had once seen a similar necklace before. The necklaces created bridges through time, each necklace according to the color had something different contained of time.
The necklace Kristen had, only went seven days in the past. He had seen ones that go millions of years in the past, or millions of years in the future. Some even gave you false futures and pasts, things that seem unreal but also not. Some even brought you a few minutes earlier from the present. Cody got back up to his feet and starting running back towards the hotel. He quickly called for a taxi and the driver took him back to the hotel. He quickly checked back in and darted towards Kristen's room. He quickly knocked impatiently and she opened the door paranoid.
"What is it Cody?" She asked.
Cody was staring at her necklace, just wanting to just snatch it from her neck.
"I need your necklace." Cody said, a bit rushed.
"What for, I got it was a gift." She said.
"A gift, from who?"
"From that little girl you sent to me, she gave it to me and said that it will be of great use in your future."
Cody didn't know what to say, he never recalled shape shifter's giving gifts.
"Well, I think the time is now. I figured out how to get rid of the asteroid."
Kristen jumped up, her eyes getting wider. She was starting to get excited, she wanted to leave so badly.
"What is it then with my necklace." She asked.
Cody told her about the necklace and what it does and about the history of the asteroid. He than also mentioned something else that he hadn't thought about until now. It was that the portal only takes one person in and out, and whoever goes in has to be the one who creates the portal to get out. Kristen understood, but she wanted to be the one who goes out there.
"But I know what to do." Cody argued.
"But the little girl, she said it is for MY future. Not yours, it is my quest." She argued back.
Cody sighed, he really didn't like to argue. He nodded his head, knowing that she was right. Kristen pulled off the necklace and held it in her hand.
"Now, in order to open the portal. You need to rub the sign in the back of the gem, than release the necklace and it will create a portal for you to climb through." Cody instructed.
Kristen flipped over to find a small sign that she hadn't realized before. She took her index finger and started drawing circles over the sign. She started to feel the necklace vibrating, she released it and it was suddenly hovering in the air. It starting spinning, making a circle getting larger and larger. Kristen turned to Cody but he just nodded for her to go on. She nodded, grabbed the necklace spinning around the opening, and then entered the portal. The portal closed shut and she was standing in a space suit on a large vacant planet.
There was no life, it was just dust. The planet looked like it had never been touched. It wasn't that big, though it was bigger than the asteroid. She looked up to find the burning ball of gas come closer to her. She thought about the straight path it went, and if anything got into its way. It would move off course. She didn't know what to do, this planet was probably just barely off. As she stood there, she than noticed a huge space ship come towards her also. It stopped and another space man came out. He held out his hand to her, wanting her to come into the ship.
"Where did you come from?" He asked, closing the ships door.
Kristen pulled off her helmet.
"I came from the future, and that asteroid is coming straight to a populated planet." She said, pointing at the distant planet miles away.
The man pulled off his helmet and placed it on the floor. In fact he wasn't much of a human, the whites of his eyes were black. Kristen started to feel frightened to see the mans scary eyes.
"It is all right Halix, I am a Sparr from a harmless planet. Though our eyes look scary, we mean no harm to anyone." Kristen understood.
"Can you help me figure out how to move this asteroid out of the way?" She asked.
The Sparr nodded.
"Our ship is vast and very strong. If we put enough power to it, we can push the planet to block the falling star. Of course it will destroy the entire planet, but it will move it off course and it will save that populated planet." He said, impressed with his theory.
"I like it, so should we try it?" She asked.
"But of course Halix." He said bowing.
"Well, my real name is Kristen actually." She said.
"Mes." He introduced bowing down swirling his hand.
Kristen nodded thinking what a different name it was to hear. Mes led her to the control room where all the other Sparr's were. Mes started talking in some kind of foreign language and the Sparr's were suddenly back to work. Kristen stood at the doorway wondering what else to do, she could see out of the large window the asteroid getting closer and closer to the planet. She suddenly felt the ship moving away and she jerked back, not used to flying in space. She felt like she was in Star Trek or something.
The ship got farther enough to push the planet. She was starting to get used to the moving of the ship as it flew back towards the planet. But as it hit hard against the planet Kristen and all the other Sparr's fell over feeling the sudden impact. The captain ordered the others in her odd language, and they got back to there feet and started on the controls again. The ship was now making high, ear piercing screeches and trembling accessibly. Kristen held onto the railing, staying down on the ground. The planet was moving and starting to move towards the asteroids path. The ship started to increase in trembling, then it starting shaking. Mes went sliding out of the room as the ship starting tilting, he hit hard against the hallway wall and Kristen was dangling from the railing she had been holding on the whole time.
The floor leveled out again the trembling suddenly stopped. The captain got up on her feet, she seemed to be cheering for joy.
"The planet is now in stars way!" The captain cheered.
"Well now that we have that, we better get out of here."Kristen suggested.
The captains smile went away and she started making more orders to the others. The ship started to turn around it started to fly as far as it can. One Sparr was counting down from ten as the asteroid came closer and closer to the planet. When the ship got far enough she turned in around and they all watched as the asteroid hit the planet.The entire planet blew up into tiny pieces and the falling asteroid broke up into large chunks and flew off course.
Suddenly Kristen was standing beside Cody in front of Liliana's house. The event never happened so neither Cody nor Kristen remembered what just happened.
"Cody, I want to go back." Kristen said.
"Go back, go back where?" He asked.
"I want to go back to the other planet, where I met my family for the first time." Kristen told him.
Cody nodded, not arguing for not going back to see her family again. For that was his secret he had kept ever since he met her, his secret was that she wasn't human. But he also had another secret that he hadn't told her, and he wasn't sure if she was quite ready for it yet. He pulled out his drive and starting his normal programming and then looked around for an object to put it inside. He then pulled out the piece of paper that Kristen gave to him, and he wrapped the drive around it. He place it on the ground and it began it's normal charging glow and they both touched it.
As they landed on the atmospheric white shell, they looked around for the door. Knowing what being outside of the shell does to you. Cody stood up and looked around, but they were supposed to be pretty close to the same spot they were when they first got there.They waited there for quite a while until suddenly a door opened about fifty feet off. The same boy that had saved them last time was there in his space suit. He brought them down the elevator and they were in the presidents house once again. The boy led them to the president so they can have a talk with him.
As they walked into his office and the guard shut the door, they noticed the president was a different man. He turned to them and offered them a seat. "Do I know you?" He asked.
"No, we are wondering where president Joshua and his family had gone." Cody said.
"Well, they said that they went off to explore."
"Explore?"
"Yes, he said that this person called his mother had somehow created this teleportation device taking you around the universe. He said he wasn't going to be back for a while." He told them.
Cody looked at Kristen who didn't know what to say.
"Than we should go find them than." Kristen told Cody.
"Whoa, whoa, the universe is a big place. There would be a bigger chance of running into them, than looking for them." he stopped her.
The president leaned back against his chair.
"Well, I gave you what you wanted to ask. I am a very busy man and I have some paper work to do, you are excused now." He said, with an unwelcoming smile on his face.
Kristen grumbled and they walked out of his office. The boy took them into the air tight room for a few minutes and then let them out to go freely throughout the city. As they walked out Kristen sat down on a city bench and sighed. A tear fell from her cheek.
"My family is not here, they left me." She cried.
Cody wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Her family had gone and they had to go look for them, and that meant they now have a new goal to reach besides looking for the unknown planet. There was no reason for staying there now, for the asteroid never happened.
Chapter 6- Right side upside down
Kristen and Cody landed on a cement, plain white floor. Cody than noticed that there was a light bolted to the ground next to him. It was in fact a light bulb dangling by its cord up. She didn't understand why the room felt so weird. He than noticed the doorway was supposed to be used to go in and out if you are on the ceiling. She looked up to notice a full bedroom with furniture and everything on the ceiling. Cody shook Kristen's shoulder.
"We are upside down." Cody said, as Kristen looked up at the bed on the ceiling.
"How?" She asked.
"Not sure. Lets go find out." Cody said taking a step towards the upside down doorway.
Just as he took a step towards the doorway he felt himself fall and hit against the carpet of the room. Cody rubbed the back of his head and looked around him. Kristen looked a bit confused, her hair wasn't dangling like it was supposed to up on the ceiling, and Cody wasn't either. She than stood up and jumped and she landed comfortably on the soft bed. She rolled off of it and came up to Cody.
"Okay, what is going on?" She asked, getting frustrated.
Suddenly, a scaly creature with large black eyes and a large mouth came into the room. When he saw them, the creatures large eyes grew even wider and it ran off. Cody went after the creature and noticed the creature go out the front door. He came up to the door to notice a long wooden bridge with instead of water underneath it, there was the bright blue sky. He looked up to notice the green ground with grass and flowers coming out of it, it didn't make any sense. Was he upside down, or were they. They sky was down instead of up, and the ground was up instead of down. He started to feel dizzy and approached Kristen again.
"You have to come look at this." He said.
Kristen followed him to the front door and nearly screamed as she noticed the messed up world they were in.
"Artificial gravity I should say eh?" A gurgle- like voice said behind them.
They both turned around to find another one of the odd creatures, though this creature seemed older than the other one.
"I am Jancha, I come from the Achabakalee's. This is our home planet, though this may confuse you about the artificial gravity. I would like to explain why." He exclaimed.
They both nodded, knowing that saying no would just make this world more confusing.
"For to us we see this as right side up, for to you, you see this as upside down. So lets just call this a right side upside down world. For there was no gravity when our ancestors first settled here, so we had to make some. Our world is not perfect, but all the other Achabakalee's think this as down instead of up. The reason you were up on the bottom of the house was because the artificial gravity didn't work on you until you took both feet off of the ground. You are now here right side upside down with no way to get back to the ceiling." Jancha explained.
It seemed confusing but also made sense as he told this to them. It seemed to weird to be walking right side but also upside down. Jancha showed them around his house and than brought them to the outside bridge to see the city around. The entire village was upside down, bolted to the ground. Many were tall and very large, interesting to find everything look so confusing outside. Jancha showed them the different buildings and the different homes and showed them how they traveled to places. How they traveled was with flying cars, for there was no ground to drive across, or they would just take the bridge of what they actually called the sidewalk.
"Well, I have some business to do, so go do whatever you like. The others won't mind." Jancha said and walked back to his house. They were on the bridge when he left and all the other buildings didn't seem to interest them as much as looking down at the sky. They got into there bellies and looked down into the sky, seeing the clouds slowly move, and the bright sunlight glimmer. It felt so odd to see the sun down below and experience shadows that you would never see naturally on Earth. Their shadows in fact showed on the ground in that odd position.
After staring at the ground and the sky they started to continue down the bridge. They had long lost interest of the buildings and started walking out of the village. There was a lake, on the ground staying perfectly still up above. The lake had dark water, difficult to see down above (Below).
"Hey Cody boost me up, I want to touch it." Kristen said, smiling. The water was perfectly still, as if nothing had touched it or nothing was living in it.
Cody nodded and he boosted her up. She reached up to the water and just did a light tap against the water with her finger. She got a little excited when she had touched water up above. Cody brought her back down and she looked up at the water. The light tap had made tiny waves go across the small lake. She and Cody than walked back into the village to look inside the buildings again.
Meanwhile as the tiny waves stopped at the end of the lake and the lake became still once again. The tiny waves started coming back to the middle, the waves getting bigger and bigger. As the waves hit the middle they had created a whirl pool. The whirl pool spun faster and got bigger and bigger until you could hear a shriek and a roar as something started clawing its way out of the water.
Kristen and Cody sat at the Achabakalee ice cream parlor. They had the most peculiar flavors, and many other Achabakalee's around them has said the different flavors are the best. It was hard to decide, until they just randomly chose a flavor. Cody got this flavor called "Panchlee" and Kristen got this flavor called "Charmlik". As the Achabakalee came over to serve them the flavors they chose Cody found out his "Panchlee" ice cream to be maroon, and Kristen's "Charmlik" ice cream looked mustard yellow with brownish green spots scattered everywhere. Cody took a small lick of his maroon Panchlee ice cream, and devoured the rest. Kristen at first didn't even want to take a lick with its disgusting colors they chose for the ice cream.
Cody had long gone devoured his ice cream for it to taste so different but so good, as for Kristen she still stared at her ice cream. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a quick lick at the puke looking ice cream. She than opened her eyes and smacked, trying to decide if she really liked it or not. She took another lick, this time a little bigger, and smacked it over and over and than smiled.
"It tastes better than it looks." Kristen mentioned, taking an even larger lick than the last one.
Eventually she had finished her ice cream, and she and Cody chatted at the table. As they sat there unaware of what was going on, a giant claw and crashed right through the wall of the parlor. Chairs and tables were whipped across the parlor and the black claw closed in and out giving a warning. Than suddenly the other black hand burst into the parlor. Many of the costumers and employees were now hiding behind the counter, crying for dear life. Kristen sat in shock as she noticed the black claws just ten feet from her. Cody was watching too, slowly trying to slip away.
Suddenly a third clawed hand burst behind Kristen. Kristen stayed still, hoping the claw in reach now would not get her. The third clawed hand started closing in and out giving another warning and than got closer to Kristen. Her heart beat faster and faster as the claw felt around, looking for her. Then all three clawed hands got out of the parlor, leaving three vast holes in the walls. The villagers peeked out from behind the counter to find the creature long gone. Kristen stood up and peeked through the hole, the creauture was not there. Her and Cody quietly crept out of the parlor, walking slowly back to Jancha's home.
"That was close." Kristen cried, taking deep breathes.
The creature was nowhere in sight, and none of them had ever seen the entire body yet. Kristen followed behind as the bridge narrowed a bit for not being as busy coming towards Joncha's house. Suddenly Cody heard an ear piercing scream right behind him and turned around to see if Kristen was okay. In fact, he couldn't ask that because she was not there. He looked around him, but she was nowhere in sight. He started hollering and instead of Kristen coming towards him the Achabakalee that had run away from them earlier came up to him.
"I am sorry for my run away earlier today Earth man. I was frightened of your presence to our planet, my father I see has helped you see what we see. Now it is my turn to help you." He said in his gurgle like voice.
"Can you help me find Kristen?" He asked.
The Achabakalee nodded.
"Do you mean that Earth girl who just got carried away by the Canchabanlok?" He asked.
"The Cancha what?"
"The Canchabanlok, she had awakened him from the waters of Chonk. He is never to be disturbed, and anybody who touches the waters of Chonk is the person who will risk the consequences from the guardian of this planet." He explained, expecting to see him catch his breath.
"Well, where do you think he took her?"
"His lair of course, under the waters of Chonk... oh yah, I forgot to say who my name is. I am Marnch." He introduced.
So Cody and Marnch ran off towards the waters of Chonk to find Kristen.
. . .
Kristen gained consciousness and didn't understand how she was strapped on a chair in a dark room. She couldn't remember anything past looking around town. The lake and the creature was all a big blur to her, as if someone or something wiped part of her memory out. As soon as she started getting used to the dark a bright light switched on and she was blinded. She squinted her eyes through the bright light to see a huge, black furry creature reaching over twenty feet in height. It looked down at her with its glaring red eyes and its razor sharp teeth. She looked at the three black paws and suddenly she remembered the ice cream parlor and the claw almost grabbing her. The creature had three arms and two furry legs, it was most unusual.
Her eyes started to get more fixed into the light and she could now see the creatures entire body shape. It crouched down as it started to see Kristen's eyes open wider. You are a Halix are you not? A growling voice cried in her head.
"Yes matter of fact." She said with courage.
Good, you understood me. For I have a Halix gene somewhere inside me that can make me communicate with my people. Kristen started to get confused, she didn't know she could do that. You have to understand Halix, that whoever touches the waters of Chonk shall receive the consequences. For a single touch of a humanoid finger against the water disturbs my slumber. Then it started coming back to her, she remembered touching the water and running with Cody back towards Joncha's house, but she still couldn't remember being taken away by the creature.
"Why is it that you don't want to be disturbed so badly enough to kidnap the victim? She asked gaining more courage.
I slumber because I am not needed, for I am the creator of this world. I have created artificial gravity, I have built these wonderful homes for this kind, I have created nature and sky, and I have created a living on what this planet is supposed to be... a junk yard. For these waters keep my keep hidden for a good reason, I only come out when I am needed. But when someone touches of these waters without no reason, than they shall receive what you shall have... a consequence. He barked.
Before Kristen could answer back, the creature made a monstrous roar in the large room. His roar was so large it was bringing rocks form the ceiling down, falling around Kristen until suddenly he had created a wall around her. She didn't understand how, it was as if he had used some kind of magic to do so. She was now surrounded in a wall of rocks around her, stranded in a chair with nothing else to do about it. Now I shall give warning to my people, for this world shall be flipped over! For I have strengthened my power and can make this world PERFECT!!!! He roared inside her head. Another roar came out of the creatures mouth, but this one was different. It was like a warning.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble and she could hear more rocks falling around her. She could feel herself falling down onto the ceiling, or what is now the floor. The wall of which was around her built up towards the ceiling and as she fell towards the ceiling it kept her pathway straight against the floor. She shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to know how this is going to end.
But she hadn't felt the bottom yet, in fact she had fallen in a soft mass of fur. She opened her eyes and realized the creature had caught her, he lifted her up to get eye contact. She looked up to find he was further away from what is now the ceiling, as if he was shrinking. She watched as he shrunk the giant fluffy fur she had fallen on getting smaller. Than suddenly the creature was about the size of an average bear. Kristen was now sitting on the ground, shocked to find the creature so much smaller. She stood up and stared at the creature, unsure what else to say.
"I am sorry of my attitude Halix, for my goal was to gain as much power as possible to make this world perfect. For this world is so much different with the sky being below and the ground being above. But as I met you I was able to gain more power..." the creatures voice was no longer growls but just a deep voice, though as he stopped he than started to realize what he had done. Kristen hadn't realized that she was weakened from her Halix power that she had never quite learned yet and she fell into the creatures arms.
"This is all my fault, I weaken you to use it up for something selfish and greedy. For the people never needed the world flipped over, they were already used to this kind of life. What have I done." He began to realize, a tear falling from his black cheek.
"I never really learned how to use my power." She cried weakly.
The creature started to feel more guilt build up inside him, he didn't know why he had just done that. Suddenly a bunch of water came into the vault as a Achabakalee and Cody came into the large room. They both had diving gear on, and they pulled it off. The Conchanbanlok looked over to them and he sat down and cried. Cody ran over shocked to find the Conchanbanlok so small and Kristen in his lap.
"What have I done!" He cried again.
"What happened to our world?" Mornch asked the Conchanbanlok.
"I have flipped it over to its right side, but I have made a mistake." He told Mornch.
"Put us back to our normal position, for we live that way." He suggested.
The Conchanbanlok stopped crying and looked up at Mornch.
"I have made a deep mistake and I have to do the two things to make it right, though this may be the last two things I do." He said.
"Don't, you don't need to. We don't want to risk your life." Kristen cried.
The creature set Kristen on the ground and stood up.
"But I have had a very crucial life, I might as well end it well." He said.
Before neither of the three could stop the creature, he roared the loudest his little body could do, and the ground was suddenly shaking as it flipped over to the other side. As it flipped over and all of the creatures and people down there started falling, the ceiling or what is once again the floor starting opening up to the water. They all landed through the water and softly on the bridge below it.
Once they had landed the Conchanbanlok crawled over to Kristen and hugged her weak body and suddenly disappeared. Kristen tried to reach for the creature, wanting him not to leave, but she knew it was too late.
"Our people could have easily lived with a change." Marnch said, looking down at the sky.
"He did it because he thought he had been the bad guy, and wanted to make up for it." Kristen said, desperately wanting the creature to come back to her. Cody patted her on the back, it was too late.
"I am sorry Marnch, I have a feeling we better go now. We are looking for someone and so far we have no succeeded." Cody apollogized.
"Well, whoever you look for good luck for it. I need to go see my father anyway, good bye." Marnch said and walked off back into the village.
"Wrong time." Kristen said gloomily.
"Kristen its more than just a want to leave, I have this feeling. It is a feeling as if we are needed right now. As if we have to time to spare." He explained to her, not making it too hard for her to understand.
Kristen stood up, her smile coming back.
"Well, than lets go find out where that feeling is coming from than."
Chapter 7- Bird cage
Kristen landed on a hard tile ground, but half of her body was on the edge of a staircase. Suddenly, before she could move over she felt herself rolling down the spiral staircase. Hitting posts, bonking her head on the walls, and landing hard on the bottom of the long and spiral staircase having her left unconscious. But as she hit the bottom Cody came bursting in from the portal and landed just barely from the edge of the staircase.
He sat up and realized Kristen was not around. He got up to his feet and took a step down the staircase. As he took the next he suddenly ran into an invisible object and fell backward back on the ground. He rubbed his nose, wondering what that was. He reached his hand over to where he smashed his face and discovered there was something there, but there wasn't at the same time. It was as if the object was invisible or clear. He felt around, trying to find how big the object was but it seemed like it covered the entire area. As if it was a force field of some sort.
Cody decided he was going to try the floor he was on. He got back up to the top step and realized another one of the invisible objects just a few more steps up the stairs. He couldn't find any way out of the objects, it was as if he was in a box with no way out. He sat down on the carpet, wondering if he was ever going to ever find a way around the objects, or force field or whatever it was. Suddenly a blond girl came over to him and slammed her face against the invisible wall, as if he didn't know it was there. The girl rubbed his nose and glanced at Cody. Cody stood up and put his hands on the invisible wall.
"Can you help me?" He asked.
The girl didn't understand, she shook her head and suddenly ran off. Cody slammed his fist against the wall and sat back down. Where is Kristen? He asked himself. He than realized on the second to the top step, right before it blocked off was Kristen's backpack. She hadn't used it much at all, but Cody knew it was hers. He quickly snatched the small backpack, but didn't look inside it. It must of slipped off of her shoulders when she rolled down the stairs. Cody placed the backpack next to him and sighed, he didn't know how long he was going to be stuck in here.
. . .
Kristen opened her eyes to find herself on the bottom of the stairs. Her entire body felt soar, she sat up feeling the blood rushing to her head. She blinked several times and than realized a man was standing nearby. He was carving something with a curved knife and a chunk of plywood close by. It looked like he had just pulled up a chair, when Kristen sat up he put his wood and knife down and stood up.
"So, it looks like you just got lucky there." He said, helping her up to her feet.
"Why?" She asked.
"Well, for one thing those stairs are the worst staircase you can roll down on uncontrollably. Especially since they are granite, and spiral, and the railing is unfinished so it still needs sanding. And guess what, it looks like you haven't hurt yourself too bad." He said, smiling.
Kristen's lip was bleeding, her knee was scraped badly, her arm had a long bloody gash across it, three of her fingers were cut, she had a few cuts on her back, and the top of her head close to the forehead was bleeding. So it could have been worse, and it could have been better at the same time.
"The other thing is that you just barely missed the closing of the bird cage. It closed as soon as you hit the bottom step." He said
"Bird cage, what bird cage?" Kristen asked, trying to see the top of the staircase.
"Sit, I will explain exactly what is going on." He said.
Kristen sat down with the man at a nearby couch. The man sighed.
"Well just a few months ago we had bought a new product to capture birds and then it will open on its own so you can have it as a dish for dinner-"
"You eat bird?" She asked, unsure what kind of bird he is talking about.
"Yes, that is what we eat. As for you, I am sure you only eat certain types, though we eat every kind." Kristen started to feel a bit disgusted, "Well anyway, this bird cage is made to be invisible so not even ourselves see what the cage looks like. Our bird cage just seemed to have a glitch. Every bird that we trapped the cage got bigger, and the cage moved at its own will. Than months later it is suddenly big enough to fit a live human being, and it is now roaming around my house swallowing up my visitors and trapping them until it opens again."
"Wait, so how long does it take until it opens up again?" She asked.
"Well, it used to be every day. Now it only opens once a week." He said.
"So does it only open when someone or something goes inside it and it closes after it catches its prey and than releases it the next week?" Kristen asked, trying to think this through.
"Yes exactly."
"Can I see this bird cage... well, I mean go to this bird cage?" She asked.
"Of course, it seemed like this week it moved to the top of the stairs." He said, starting to walk up the long staircase. As they reached the top the man put his hand in front and finally felt on of the walls. Kristen caught up to him to realize Cody was inside. Cody crawled over and put his hand on the wall, he mouthed something that she couldn't understand.
"I don't understand you Cody." She yelled.
"You know this lad?" He asked.
"I travel with him." Kristen told him, then switched back to Cody, "I will get you out!" She hollered.
Cody put his hand on his ear as if he couldn't hear her either.
"I also forgot to tell you that it is also sound proof."
Kristen looked like she was going to scream, but she just sat down on the white staircase. Folding her arms. Than she noticed her backpack next to Cody, how did he end up with that? Kristen looked around her, and than reached into her pocket to find a mini pencil and a small note card. She wrote a message on it explaining that he can use her backpack, and about what he is inside. She slapped the not card against the invisible wall and Cody read it carefully. He nodded, his smile starting to come back to him.
"Its not going to open until next week." H reminded.
Kristen didn't know what else to do, she walked back down the stairs and the man followed. Cody was on his knees his hands on the invisible wall, how did he get himself into this mess. He turned around to the backpack and opened up, after finally getting allowed to get into it. He opened it up to find empty sheets of paper and pencils, with none of them drawn on. She must have kept on forgetting that she even had a backpack, so she could draw, for she was a brilliant artist. Cody rummaged further into the bag to find other supplies that he didn't care much about, then he found a zip-lock bag full of food on the bottom of the small backpack.
He pulled it out and noticed some protein bars, some hard candy, some dried fruit, and than there was a small bag full of beef jerky. Cody than started to realize how hungry he was since the last time he ate, but he also had a week to preserve the food she offered him and he had to choose wisely. Cody pulled out the beef jerky and just took a small piece to eat for now. He had seven days to preserve these three days worth of food, so he was going to do it wisely.
Going back down the stairs Kristen started to notice that this was just the main floor, so Cody was blocking the second floor. She glance up the stairs to find a blond haired girl about her age looking down at her. She looked sad and frightened.
"Can you get my father please." She asked Kristen.
Kristen nodded and went over to the man. She told him about the girl looking down and he rushed over to see up above the top floor.
"Dad, the bird cage. It is blocking the staircase and I can't get down. Am I trapped up here?" She asked.
"I'm afraid so Stasina, all of the windows in the upstairs have bars on them for safety reasons you know because of the bad people who live here. I never really thought about someone getting stuck up there, I am so sorry."
"Daddy, So does that mean I am as trapped as that boy over there?"
Her father didn't respond. Stasina pouted, she didn't like how he didn't respond, a tear came down her cheek.
"Don't worry too much Stasy, I am going to get you some dinner real quick so you won't starve up there."
Kristen followed Stasy's dad over to a large kitchen, a woman who must have been the mother and the mans wife was making dinner. He came up to her.
"The bird cage has moved and is now blocking the upstairs," His wife didn't seem to care much about that, "And Stasy is trapped up there."
His wife almost tipped the pot of noodles over and dropped the bowl she was holding. She put the bowl down and cupped her hands around her mouth. But she didn't respond to her husband, instead she quickly grabbed a small container from the cupboard. Than she scooped up a large mass of weird squiggly like noodles into the bowl, dumped some kind of unusual herbs inside it and tomato's and then put the lid on the container. She handed it to her husband, still not saying anything. Her husband took it and nodded.
Kristen followed him back to the staircase.
"She doesn't ever talk to me nor anybody else when something wrong happens, she normally doesn't talk to anybody until the problem is resolved." He told her looking up to Stasy who was patiently waiting.
"Mother made you an herb salad." He said, holding up the container.
Stasy held her hands out so she could catch the container. But before her father tossed up the container, he rushed back into the kitchen put an odd looking fork into the container with the food and returned back to the staircase. He threw up the contained and she quickly got it. She smiled at her father.
"Thank you father." She hollered down and left the railing.
Kristen was starting to think, no Stasy wasn't in the same position as Cody. She had all of upstairs, she had a bed to sleep on, food can still be brought up to her, and she still had plenty of elbow room. As for Cody he was in a box no bigger than a wardrobe packing box, and maybe even the size of a half bathroom. She sat on the staircase, at least glad that she left her backpack up for him to use. For she had food and needs for him.
The man offered Kristen to dinner, but she didn't like to find her self feasting with Cody starving. She shook her head and said she wasn't hungry. He led her into a bedroom that she can sleep in, and he went to eat with his wife. Kristen sat on the bed, unsure what to do for the week she is going to have with Cody stuck inside. She knew the drive could teleport through galaxy's, but she knew it probably wasn't strong enough to get out of the trap the bird cage company did. In fact she did ask Cody in the not card she showed to him, but he didn't answer to that. So she figured it was probably a no.
Than she started thinking about the company. Who could have invented such a thing? What if it wasn't a glitch, what if they did it on purpose? And who is running this company that created this bird cage? She didn't like how this bird cage was going and she wanted to find out about this bird cage.
The next day Kristen came up to the man. He was sitting at the table eating breakfast talking to himself, since his wife wasn't talking to him.
"Do you know where they run this factory?" She asked.
The man shrugged his shoulders.
"Well lets find out then"
He stood up and Kristen hadn't realized that they had computers. Through her past experience of technology in other worlds out of her own, she stayed out of the way as the man looked up where the factory was.
"Hey sorry, I forgot to introduce my name. I am Roncal, but just call me Ron." He shouted through the room.
"Kristen."
A few minutes later the man returned. He reached over on the counter and grabbed his black leather wallet.
"Well, lets get going Kristen." He said and he led her out of the door.
Outside there was just a small cold-a-sac with houses similair with this one. It was like Arizona with the burning heat and the red iron dirt. The sidewalks looked like they were roasting in heat, hot enough to roast eggs on. Ron led her towards his car which looked like a long black Volkswagen. She got in the passenger seat and he drove out of the neighborhood heading towards the factory.
Kristen never really thought that he would actually take her to the factory, she just thought she could just find out about it. She also hadn't realized that the factory would be this far. A few hours later through what looked like cities you would see on Earth, Ron turned off of what on Earth was the interstate. He drove down the main street until he parked into the parking lot of a large brick building. They hopped out of the car and Kristen followed him out to the building. The doors were two large golden doors and in front of them had a sign that said:
Black Birdy
Basic bird cages for your home.
"Well that's sort of a cheesy company name." Kristen said, reading the sign.
"Well, they sold the product for a good price. Lets go ahead and check this place out then."
Ron was about to open the door until Kristen stopped him.
"Do you think we should sneek in instead of walk right in? We can probably get further into the factory sneaking in."
"Good plan, but we are still taking the front door."
Kristen wasn't sure if that would much help of sneaking inside, but she didn't argue about it. Ron slowly opened the door a crack to find not one of the factory workers around. He waved his hand for Kristen to come and they walked into the entryway. The inside wasn't much but a grey room with a black metal desk in the middle. They walked past the empty desk and came up to the closest door. Ron put his ear against the door, than Kristen did the same thing.
Inside the doorway they could hear motors running, scraping, and clunks as they worked in the factory.
"This must be the factory part." He whispered to her.
Ron opened the black door a crack and quickly shut it before Kristen could have a look. He blocked the doorway, making sure Kristen couldn't see. Kristen made a face telling him what is going on? He shook his head.
"It's nothing, l-lets get going." He said slowly walking away from the door.
"Oh come on Ron, what is in there that can make you so scared?"
Kristen opened the door and walked into the room before Ron could stop her. He sighed and came in after her. Kristen stood against the wall her face in shock. For these weren't normal factory workers making these products. They were dark creatures, something that was only a faded nightmarish memory to Kristen. They were creatures that can freeze you right on the spot. For one creature was close by, so you could see blood was dripping from his head to his ghost like toes, his eyes showing nothing but black indents on his face. He had no teeth but its mouth opened wide like it was going to suck away your soul. His fingers were long and threatening, as if a single touch would bring you instant death. His body stood taller than nine feet tall, with a body slimmer than even the thinnest man could bear. Thin black strands hung over the bottom of the creature like stinging tentacles on a jelly fish.
For the room being dark, except for red lights that hung on the tall ceiling. The making of the bird cages didn't catch Kristen and Ron's attention anymore. Ron slowly walked back to the door, ready to open the door and flee. But as he grabbed the handle he realized that the door had locked. He turned back to Kristen who was facing the door, getting more frightened to find the face Ron had. She didn't like how the face he showed her showed that they have no way of escape. Than his face changed to deathly frightened. He backed into the doorway and with a shaking finger pointed behind Kristen.
Kristen turned around to find the creature right behind her, one of its dripping hands rising up. Kristen backed into Ron, unsure what to do. The creature got closer than stopped.
"Why... are.... you here?" The creature said in a foggy voice.
"C-curiosity." Ron said, shrugging his shoulders.
The creature stared at them with its empty sockets, they weren't sure if he was standing there or was doing something. Than suddenly it pointed at the lock and a loud click sounded, saying he unlocked it. Than the creature went back to work. When the creature left them out of sight, Ron quickly opened the door and left the room. Kristen followed behind. As they were about to leave the building Kristen started hearing small pounding noises, but not from the factory. She looked around the grey room to see a small closet door, that was where she was hearing the small knocking. She walked over to it, before Ron could stop her. She could defiantly tell where the knocking was coming from she grabbed the handle and opened the closet door to find a human man inside.
"I'm telling you, I have been in there for three days now." The man said in a shaky voice.
"But why were you in there?"
"Those ghoul-like creatures took over my factory over a month ago and has been messing with my products. Now they have killed all my employees and kept me chained to a chair by my desk." He pointed at the black desk in the room, "Than I escaped and they still wanted to keep me so they locked me in that closet." The man explained.
"Sir, you need to stay calm. You just-"
"I have been eating toilet paper and cans of beans that I stored in there for spare lunches, for three whole days. THREE! I'm telling you, THREE!" He said, holding up three fingers with his index finger, his thumb and his pinky.
"Please sir, we will get you home. Just calm down." Ron tried.
"Calm down, after being in a tight cupboard with the light burning out and little food to eat, WHY SHOULD I CALM DOWN!!!!!!!" The man was starting to hyperventilate.
Ron put his hands on his shoulders.
"Just take deep breaths, just calm down. It is alright."
The man took a deep breath and relaxed. After that he stopped talking. Ron and Kristen brought the manager into the car and they took him to the hospital. Than they drove back to Ron's house. When they parked into the parking lot of Ron's home Kristen darted out the door, came into the house and went upstairs to see Cody. Cody was sitting on the floor taking little bites of a granola bar and staring blankly up at the ceiling. Kristen had been writing something for Cody while in the car towards here and she had the letter ready to show Cody in her hand.
Kristen tapped on the wall and Cody looked over to find Kristen's letter on the wall. It read: We went to the factory and realized what had gone wrong. Some kind of ghoul- like creatures took over the factory, but I don't know why they did. My thought was maybe they did it because they wanted to trap people for there own convenience. But what do you know about creatures like these? Underneath the note card she had drawn a picture of the ghoul- like creauture and showed it to him.
Cody pulled out a piece of paper from her backpack, he pulled out his flash drive popped it up to the laptop and looked up something. Than he wrote the letter and showed it to Kristen : predicting from the picture, I believe they are Dreadmine Devils. Dreadmine Devils have been the top worst nightmare in the universe. According to what the tele drive says is that the Dreadmine Devils will find different ways to harass human kind, so yes you were right about that. And it also said that over a decade ago the Dreadmine Devils had a war against the Sparr's and the Halix's. The war was one by the Halix's, it say's the Sparr's fled for their lives and they lost the battle.
After the war ended, the devils were than scarred for life and have been wanting for revenge over the last ten years. Kristen, I don't understand why they let you go. You are a Halix, but they didn't seem to notice. I guess they didn't pay any attention. But those creatures, don't go near them again. You are a Halix, the one kind that they fear the most and want to kill first. I also read that they do death touches, a single touch of there finger can pass you out if you are strong enough of what Halix's are born with, but if you get touched by all of its tentacles at once, it is for sure that even Halix's die because of that.
Don't go back there again Kristen, you have learned that what had trapped me here is just for pure harassment from the Devils. When I get out of here, maybe we can figure out a way how to stop this company from the devils, but do not return. I don't want them finding out that you are a Halix.
Than Cody finished there. Kristen didn't know what to say, she didn't know about all this. She started to think about her family, her real family that she was looking for. Hopefully they didn't get caught by the Devils, and hopefully they are safe. Cody put the card down and Kristen looked down at the stairs. She stood up and walked down, going over to Ron to tell him about the Dreadmine Devils.
"You know, I think I have heard of these... devils before. I heard that when they do things like this they just do it for a temporary time before getting tired of it and leaving." Ron mentioned.
"So do you think they could be leaving any time now?"
"Yes in fact, so lets not worry about stopping them. They will eventually stop anyway."
Kristen knew to follow Cody's promise, he said stay out of the way from the devils. She agreed to the fact of not making of big deal about the devils.
While going back over to Cody he sat in his invisible box, reading short stories that Kristen had packed in the bag. He still knew it would be a week before getting out of there, so he made sure he kept himself sane. As he read the stories Stasy came towards him. She had a piece of paper and a pen in her hand and she quickly wrote something on it: I'm sorry that you are trapped, our family had learned that just in case we get stuck in there we keep a backpack full of food and supplies at all times. You got lucky to find that your friend left one for you.
Cody smiled, though the food and supplies didn't cheer him as much as Stacy intended it to be. He didn't have that good of food and supplies, though he still had some. He ripped a piece of paper: Thank you. Stasy smiled. This was the first time he got to talk to Stasy, for most of the time she ran off or peeked, and when he saw her she ran away. But after that time she actually came up to him to talk, they did that for the rest of the night.
It had been a week and Kristen and the family waited for the box to open. For it was supposed to open. Ron figured out a way to get upstairs by the laundry shoot that they had completely forgotten about. Now Stasy was down with her family, though her mother still didn't talk until Cody was out. So they waited on the staircase wondering if it would ever open.
Cody's food was now gone and he seemed like he had been starving to death all week. He was as impatient to get out as they did. As the day went by and it came dark, the family and Kristen started to think it wouldn't open. They went to bed for the night, and waited some more the next day.
Cody leaned against the wall making a large sigh, his hunger making him think he was going to die hungry in there. The family and Kristen were sitting at the staircase waiting for it to open still.
"I am never going to get out of here, never." Cody told himself, "The water bottle is gone, the food is gone, the paper is already chewed on, the carpet tastes like stinky feet, the-" Suddenly the wall seemed to light up and Cody stumbled out of the box falling over in front of Kristen.
Kristen and Ron caught him before he ended up rolling down the stairs. Cody got up to his feet and Kristen gave him a grateful hug.
"Well, looks like the devils have finished there April fools for the year. The box is not around the house anymore, I normally see the faint light showing where it is before disappearing." Ron's wife finally said after a week.
"Now she talks." Ron gratefully said.
They all laughed, the box now gone and Cody saved.
Chapter 8 - Remember me?
Going back to book one, the climax was about this ship called Pigeria that was connected to Earth by doors. Each door led to every single room in the entire world. To get into a different room you could only get in it if you need it not a want, sometimes a want would be an exception. Though anybody who disobeyed was sent through the wall of the large room where they kept the doors, and ended up in a cell. That was what happened to Kristen. For what they also did, was kidnap people from Earth to live in this ship forever. So Kristen, Cody and a couple of others they were able to get escaped back to Earth. But there was a man that Kristen had met, who was the creator of the ship, who was the captain. He had the name of Starvius. But this ship still lies in space, still taking humans, still growing in size, and still growing in power, and there was nobody around to stop them. So where are they now in this deep and never ending space? Nobody knows, the only way to find out is if you just simply run into it...
"Okay, we are at setup for..." An old man looked down at his notebook, "Oh this must be a mistake, it looks like this person is well, from a different planet."
"Um, can we get to the scene already." A blond haired girl impatiently said.
"Of course, yes. The person we shall be playing today is, well her name is... Kristen."
. . .
Kristen shook her arms out after waiting so long for the drive to charge, and than landing on a different planet. Kristen had gone alone to this planet, but she had for a good reason. The place they were at was in fact infested with more of those dreadmine devils. They knew that now that the devils knew about two children roaming different planets, but they don't know what they look like. So there plan was to split up and teleport to different parts of the planet of which the devils were not infesting.
That way they can still explore the planet, but also not getting caught as two teenagers partnered up at all times. For they knew by now that the dreadmine Devils were looking for them, but it would make it a whole lot harder when they are split apart. So Cody quickly dropped her off on one end of the planet, as he left to explore the other.
Kristen blinked several times for she wasn't used to the light. Than she started to realize that it looked like she was in her backyard. She kept blinking, unsure if this was really what she was seeing. Than something even more wicked her brain out as she saw herself at the picnic table on her familiar porch. She ran over to the red porch and came up the stairs to find her self in fact drawing at the table. She walked closer and realized that what she was drawing was in fact a portrait of her backyard.
Than she felt a large gust of wind and saw her picture blow off towards the playground, and get stuck inside. She watched as herself got up from the seat and started after the paper, going up the playground to snatch it. Herself slid down the slide, stopped at the end of it and Kristen came back down the stairs. Herself looked like she was trying to look at her picture at a different angle. Kristen turned around to find that Cody was on the ground unconscious and things started clicking into place.
This was a memory, it must have been a dream about her memory. Herself ran over to Cody and waited for him to wake up. Than Kristen saw as herself backed away as Cody's bright blue eyes opened, and than Cody stood up. "I am so sorry to intrude, I don't know what has gone with me. It must be just the travel sickness that is making me making it awkward." Cody said
"Where did you come from?" Herself asked
Cody pointed at the ground, and Kristen laughed at that memory of Cody's teasing.
"I came from there." He teased.
Kristen shook her head.
"No, I mean you just popped out of nowhere unconscious in my backyard, where did you come from?" Herslef asked.
"Well, it's quite an interesting story that I am not sure you would understand." he exclaimed.
"I want to hear it, I'll totally believe you. Everything odd here is different everywhere else." She said.
Cody rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, alright. I came from a different planet, I have been traveling and ended up by accident here." he said.
Kristen saw her own face change. She almost laughed at the fact how she didn't believe him and is now suddenly across the galaxy.
"How do you travel?" She asked, Kristen knew herself enough that she was just being a smart alack.
Cody reached into his pocket and pulled out his blue Tele drive.
"This is a teleportation drive, you have to connect it to a local object within the galaxy and it will take you to the place you program it to." He exclaimed.
Kristen nodded with herself remembering this well, than herself put her hands on her hips.
"So do you have any more proof?" She said.
"Matter of fact I do. Do you not believe me or something?" he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I am not sure exactly. I want to believe you but I also don't, the reason why I want to is because I told you I believe you for one thing, and I like to find things that sound abnormal and nearly impossible. But if I believe you, maybe I just made a fool of myself and got tricked into believing you." She said without taking a breath.
Cody twirled the flash drive in his hand.
"So you want more proof so you know you are not a fool correct?"
She nodded, putting her hands behind her back. Cody grinned and stuffed the flash drive back in his pocket.
"Well, then lets show you an adventure. Where would you like to go?"
Herself looked around her and shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, China maybe?"
"All right, lets just program this to China and we will be off then." he said looking around the yard for an object.
"Yah right, like he is going to take me to China right this minute" Kristen said out loud, remembering what the thought about China. Cody grinned as he spotted Kristen's old, wooden birdhouse that was hidden behind the leaves and vines. He pulled it out and observed the rotten wood structure as if it was a rare antique.
"I'm Cody by the way." Cody said, still keeping eye contact on the bird house.
"Kristen. What are you doing with my birdhouse?" She asked.
Cody looked up at Herself and held it out in front of her.
"Is it all right if I use this?" Cody asked her.
Herself nodded, Kristen even right now didn't care much about the rotting, old bird house that not even the birds liked. Cody sat down on the green grass in the shade of the trees and observed the birdhouse a little more. Than he pulled up to laptop form and Kristen watched as her own face went into total shock.
"This is far more than just a USB drive you know." Cody mentioned.
"Yah..." She said googly eyed.
"Yep, the Flash Drive is the computer. It is quite nice, so you can hook this computer up with another computer with no problem, and right now I am just programming the Drive to China." he said, concentrating hard on the tiny screen.
Kristen knew the rest, she was expecting things were going to be a little different in a dream. Like change a scene suddenly, or add something weird like a cursed vampire slash gnome monkey that eats pepperoni's off of pizza's. Kristen looked around her, thinking if she could fly if this was really a dream. Though everything felt real for some reason. Kristen jumped up but nothing happened. She looked around her to find Cody and Herself gone, probably out in China right now.
But suddenly herself was in the rice fields too. She turned to find Cody and Herself talking to the Chinese lady that she had already forgotten the name of. Than she chased after them as they ran towards the Chinese ladies car. Once they got inside, Kristen was suddenly at the temple with Cody and herself observing the beauty of the gate. Kristen followed them to the back and herself was already sitting at the pond with her feet in the water.
Than Cody started programming back home until suddenly his elbow accidentally jabbed into Herself's side and she went crashing into the pond. Kristen started to wonder how this happened, this never happened in real life. Why in her dream? Suddenly the scene around her looked like it was getting computer-like streaks and suddenly she was standing in a large blue room with Herself soaked close by and Cody.
An old man came barging in the room coming up to Herself and Cody.
"You just messed up the scene Cody, this was supposed to be an extra special one for her." He yelled at Cody.
"Wait, I'm confused." Kristen said, unsure how this all coordinated.
The old man turned to Kristen and walked up to her.
"I don't think you know what is going on." He said, eyeing her.
Kristen shook her head.
"Well we technically took your memories and acted out a good memory that you have."
"But how, for humans it takes us days to practice and act out. we even have to try to memorize a script and all that."
"But we are not human, we take someone else memory and puts in in our mind like a television, and we can memorize the entire thing in just seconds. We are called The Kronolon. So that is what we do as a living."
"You live like this, acting out the memories of other people?"
"Exactly, our kind also shift shapes into the character we chose them to be, and we have special technologies to change scenes through holograms."
"Okay, now it is starting to make sense. But why do you live like this?"
"We just simply do, none of us knows why. We believe that their is a man who made this for our enjoyment, for we also believe that this man has done many other things in the universe also."
"Can I ever meet this man?"
"It is highly unlikely, for not even myself have ever met this man before."
Kristen sat down on the ground, Herself came over and sat next to her. Her clothes sopped in pond water.
"You know Kristen, you have quite an adventure. I like acting as you, but as I looked through your memory I noticed that you had met this man named... Starvius just about a month ago. And for some reason I myself as an actor have a bad feeling that I have once seen this man also in my life. " Herself said.
"I don't know..." Kristen stopped, unsure what to call Herself.
"Margaretta." Herself said.
"Well, I don't know Margeretta. I don't know much about you as an actor or know much about Starvius." Kristen said, and Margeretta walked off.
Kristen knew Margeretta wanted to start a conversation, but she hoped she would never hear the word Starvius again. Suddenly the scene came back to her backyard but it was night time. Margereta had gone into the holographic house and the actor of Cody was standing in the back door, wanting her to come out. She remembered this, when Cody brought her to the first planet. When she got to meet Rinitsa and this weird creature called the Ganganguan. Kristen thought it was so funny to find Rinitsa calling Cody, Coditsa.
Suddenly, Kristen spotted Margeretta and Cody outside and they teleported to there first stop. The scene ended and the room turned into its normal shape. The old man ran over to Kristen.
"I'm sorry if you wanted to see more, but someone is trying to contact you. Come with me."
The old man led Kristen out of the room to find there was multiple rooms that they used for scenes, not just one. He led her down the hallway and into a small room with a large circular mirror on the floor. The old man switched on the light and Kristen sat down in front of the mirror.
"Your contact is already online." The old man said and walked out of the room.
Kristen just saw herself in the mirror or computer, how could the contact be on. She tapped on the mirror to find the person in the mirror wasn't doing the same thing. Kristen tilted her head to the side but the person on the other side didn't. She waved her hand and the other Kristen waved back in a delayed start.
"Hello." Kristen told the person of herself in the mirror.
"Hello Kristen." Herself said, Kristen backed away.
"Are you Margeretta?" She asked.
"No, why would I be contacting you than. She was right there to talk to you." Herself said.
"Than who are you than?"
"Why don't you ask yourself?"
"Because you are not me for one thing and you are not helping me at all."
Herself sighed and crossed her legs to get more comfortable. She than pulled out a pair of fake nerd glasses that was only used as decoration, it looked like the nerd glasses were put back together with just glue. They looked like they went through a lot, and totally fell apart in pieces.
"Where did you get those?" Kristen asked.
Herself showed the glasses, than she hit them against her hand and the entire thing fell apart again. Than it started to look familiar. Kristen had once seen those nerd glasses when she was on that ship. She had tricked Starvius unto thinking she can't see, and went to get her fake nerd glasses.
"How did you end up with my glasses?"
"Oh, don't you remember putting them in your pocket and than forgetting about it? Well the reason you forgot about it is because you couldn't feel the glasses in your pocket any more."
Kristen's eyes grew. She didn't know how to go with this.
"Starvius."
"Oh you smart girl. Oh look," Starvius showed his nails to Kristen which looked short, "My nails are getting shorter."
Suddenly from being Kristen, Starvius turned into his normal self. Starvius's eyes turned into its grey color, and all the hair disappeared from his head. His clothes started changing, and his hands started growing to size, and after that the rest of his body grew to his adult size. Starvius sighed, shaking his hands.
"Oh that's a lot better." He said.
Kristen shook her head, and began running towards the door. She didn't want to meet Starvius again, and she didn't want to see his face any more. She came to the door to find it locked, being locked only on the outside. She pounded on the door, hoping someone would hear but there was no answer. Kristen sat down in front of the door, wanting to get out of the dreadful room.
Than she crawled back to Starvius who had his chin resting on his hand. He smiled when he saw Kristen come back. He than brushed fluff off his shirt and sat up. For a long time Kristen glared at Starvius with none of them saying a word to each other.
"Remember that one time when I brought you into my office and had a good old story about my wife freaking out as I dissapeared from the bed, or that time..." Starvius stopped.
Kristen didn't understand, whatever he was saying sounded familiar somehow.
"Mr. Strauss was you?" She asked shamefully.
"Of course, I had to play his part just to get you into that cell. Until you escaped, worst mistake you will ever make."
"But, you acted just like him."
"Of course don't you know about the Kronolon's. They get the memories too." Starvius tapped his head.
Kristen shook her head and backed away, she couldn't believe that she trusted a fake friend.
"Or remember when... I brought you to the Devil's that other day?"
"You can't have been Ron, I trusted him!"
"That is what I intended you to suspect. His wife didn't even know that her husband was locked in the attic feeding on ten year expired cans of food left up there, and sleeping on dust bunnies."
"Why didn't the devils get me, you brought me there why didn't they get me?"
"I told them not to, I just wanted you to meet them. For that wasn't going to be your last time seeing them, now that was only the first time and the first time only."
Kristen hit her fist against the mirror, shaking it. Starvius backed away, seeing how threatening she was beginning to be to him.
"YOU WORK FOR THEM!!!!!"
"But of course Kristen, I humiliate human's as much as they do, and we both have our mortal enemies... The Halix. We have a lot alike, so we decided we were going to work together, and we work quite well."
Kristen stood up, looking like she was ready to bite his head off through the mirror. She was about to scream at him until his kept going on his talking.
"Or rememeber that one time when I opened that box. Oh wait you don't, you just thought it was the old man, hahaha. No you stupid Halix, why would the man do such a thing, he only followed me. I actually gave the curse to you Kristen, and was going to do it to Cody too until he wore those stupid glasses. Than that other time when I burnt the entire planet down until it was just ashes. You two were stupid enough to think it was star, but that was a planet and the star was actually not far from the planet. Stars don't turn into ashes, they turn into white dwarfs. You think Cody knows enough science already, no. But you were smart enough to jump in a time portal and save those people, but you couldn't save the planet. How sad. "
Kristen sat down, wanting to listen to his jabbering, but at the same time wanting to ignore him completely.
"Oh you two are both enemies to me though. It's just you as a Halix makes you even more hated by others, than you go to Cody who knows everything more than a normal human being should know. And since he is like that, he always figures stuff out and it frustrates his foes and turns them into enemies, if not they are already an ememie. As for me, I hate him because he is a boy friend of what the future is expecting the most power fullest Halix in the world."
Kristen stomped back over to the mirror, her face turning so red you could see smoke coming out of her ears.
"I have two things to tell you mister. One is CODY IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND, he is just a good friend. Number two is what do you mean about the most power fullest Halix in the world, I just learned I am one."
"Oh did I say too much, oopsey daisy." Starvius put his hand on his mouth, acting like a little girl at a tea party.
Kristen slapped her hands on the mirror and looked Starvius straight in his eyes with her angry scowl.
"Why do you hate us so much, what made you hate my Kind?" She growled.
Starvius looked up at Kristen, waiting for her to at least calm down a bit. But after a while she still looked deep into his eyes with her anger.
"We had a war..." Kristen sat down, but still glared at him, "We were in the same war with the Devil's, the Sparr's and the Halix's, but all the stories people have told have never mentioned the Devils henchmen, the Kronolon. We had lost long before the Devil's did and that is why the story was never shared, but after that the Kronolon have stayed out of the way from the Halix's afraid that things may go wrong. We wanted to have peace with the Halix but whenever we tried it never worked. A couple of years later and we had a war with the Kronolon and the Halix, the people here never participated in the war. That is why they are so naive. As for me I was in that war, and it only last for three months before we lost. I was the last soldier standing, and I managed to escape before your kind killed me. My life has been scarred and will never heal again, for the Halix is always going to be my mortal enemy."
Kristen didn't like the story he had told, she hadn't known much about the Halix to begin with but she was starting to learn them the wrong way.
"Let me out of this room Starvius!" She screamed.
"And do what?"
Kristen paused, she didn't know how to answer that. She had no way of communicating with Cody.
"Well, but I am on a tight schedule. So that means I get to go," Starvius stood up, "Good bye Kristen."
The mirror suddenly started showing dozens of black and white dots. Kristen punched the mirror in her anger, putting a small crack. She screamed and kicked the mirror making the crack bigger.
"WHERE ARE YOU CODY WHEN I NEED YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed, pounding on the door.
Kristen rested her head on the door and cried, for it was useless to throw fits in an inescapable cell.
. . .
Cody's eyes snapped open. He felt sick and realized that he was up side down. He looked up to find his legs strapped around two ropes. He tried to attempt untying the ropes around his legs but he was already feeling weak. He couldn't remember how he ended up like this, and how he did.
He remembered appearing in a nicely cut lawn of the backyard of a welcoming blue Bungalow. Than he remembered breathing in something of what smelled like saw dust, and he was suddenly dangling upside down with the blood rushing to his head. He looked down to find that, that was the green lawn he was on and not far from him was the blue Bungalow. The ground seemed a long ways away, though it was only about five feet from his head. He noticed he was roped on a tall swing set and his legs were strapped on a swing.
Cody than spotted a boy about a couple of years older than him. He swung the swing back and forth, trying to catch his attention, though it was making him sicker.
"hello," he managed to say.
It felt like his lungs moved up to his head, making it hard to breathe and talk. The boy looked up, smiled, and than walked off.
"Please, can you help me!"
Suddenly Cody felt himself getting closer and closer to the ground until his face was smashed against the wood chips. The boy came up to him holding a knife, Cody closed his eyes hoping the boy wasn't going to do what he was expecting to find. But instead the boy cut the ropes and the rest of his body fell onto the pokey wood chips. Cody sat up the blood rushing from his head. He felt extremely light headed and was couldn't stand up with how dizzy he was.
"I'm sorry, I just wasn't sure if you were one of them or not." The boy said.
He seemed frightened.
"Who's them?" Cody wondered aloud.
"Do you now know about the Kronolon?" He asked.
Cody nodded, but he didn't find much bad about them. they tried to be peace makers to the Halix.
"They are every where, hiding there identity proving what they are not. I wasn't sure if you were a spy on me, so I roped you up." he said shaken.
"Are you a Kronolon?"
"Why would you t-think that, I am h-human unlike everyone else on t-this planet." he cried.
Cody stood up catching himself. He put his hands on his shoulders, trying to calm him down and at the same time steadying his dizziness.
"Don't worry, I am as human as you are. I just came here to explore, why are you on this planet to begin with anyway?"
"I was abandoned here a few years ago, my family were traveler's too until they left me here because they wanted to protect me from some war. So far none have-have returned for me." He started to cry.
It was odd to find a fifteen year old boy crying, for he must have been going through a lot. The boy wiped the tear from his cheek and helped Cody off of the wood chips.
"I-I'm Ryan by the way." he stuttered.
"I'm Cody." Cody introduced.
Ryan sat down on the green lawn and Cody sat in front of him. Cody started picking a piece of grass and tying it in knots. Ryan stared up at the blue sky, his eyes showing that he was missing too many things. He glanced over at Cody and than looked back up at the sky making a big sigh.
"If you were a spy or just a Kronolon, I would just have a little feeling that would say of distrust. But for some reason, I feel like you are telling the honest truth about you. Like I should trust you, that is why I let you go from the ropes." Ryan said, still staring up at the sky.
Cody smiled, he liked how Ryan trusted him. Ryan glanced back over at Cody and smiled back at him. For a while they chatted and got to know each other a little bit more. As they talked suddenly they started hearing rustling in Ryan's bushes. They stopped talking and slowly approached the shaking bushes. Cody glanced over at Ryan and he nodded, than he quickly pushed some of the leaves away to find Kristen hiding behind it.
"Kristen, what are you doing here? And why are you hiding?" Cody asked.
"I couldn't find a way to find you, so some guy let me come with him to this city. I asked dozens of kids and stuff while going through this neighborhood and than heard your voice behind someones house. I came back here to find you talking to him, and I didn't want to disturb you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." Kristen apologized.
"It's alright Kristen, but how did you know I was in this neighbor hood in this part of the world. It could have easily taken you days if not years to find me for an average human... but I guess you aren't human."
"I sensed you here Cody, and it helped me more when I found your voice." Kristen said.
Ryan introduced himself and Cody introduced Kristen for him. After that Ryan offered them inside and he let them sleep in the living room, for it had gotten dark by now. There were two couches in the large living room, one across the room of the other. Kristen chose one couch and Cody chose the other, knowing to stay as far away as possible while sleeping.
As the night went on and the house became still and dark, Kristen sat up in bed. She rested her head on her hand, feeling the pounding in her head. She couldn't sleep with her bad head ache, and couldn't lay down without it getting worse. She managed to escape that horrid cell, and managed to get here in just a couple of hours. But now she couldn't sleep well because of the terrible head ache that was pounding in her head.
The next day came and Kristen had finally fallen asleep. Cody and Ryan tried waking her, but she was too tired to even open her eyes. She mumbled something that meant I'm too tired to get out of bed. So Cody and Ryan went out to get some breakfast at a nearby cafe, as Kristen slept in. Kristen than managed to open her eyes and sit up. She still had the head ache, it just wasn't as bad as that night. Cody and Ryan had already left a few minutes ago and she was expecting them to come in about fifteen twenty minutes. She than checked the clock on the living room wall and sighed.
"Well, I guess it's time." She said reaching into her backpack and pulling out a bottle of pain reliever from her backpack. It said after six to eight hours she could have more, and she had, had a pill before she went to bed. Though it didn't help much of getting rid of her bad headache she had, she still hoped it would help her today just a little bit. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water and quickly swallowed the tiny pill. She sighed, hoping the pill would kick in soon.
The boys returned a few minutes later with hot chocolate and donuts for them to eat. They sat at the table and had there breakfast.
"Well, what is nice is that Starvius probably doesn't know where we are." Ryan mentioned, while taking a bite off of his triple chocolate chip, chocolate doughnut.
"Kristen is a person you can trust as much as me, I have been with her and have known a lot about her to find her a good Halix." Cody said, patting Kristen on the back.
As soon as Cody finished his sentence, Ryan stood up. He looked surprised, as if he said something that he shouldn't have.
"Halix? She's a Halix, oh now I am in big trouble. There is only one thing that this world cannot bare without attacking them, and that is the Halix. If they find out I have a Halix in my house, I may be done for good to add to being an unwanted human too." Ryan said, as if he wanted to kick Kristen out.
"We can leave Ryan, I can leave with you, Kristen and me from this planet and we don't even need to worry about it any more after that." Cody said. Ryan sat down, calming down.
"Well, if we can leave lets do this somewhere more private then. Because I know some people around here that know how to hunt people down even if they teleported." Ryan said, tossing his doughnut in the trash can.
"Okay, well take us there than." Cody said, making a small smile.
The three of them stood up and walked over to the doorway. Ryan opened the door to find two largely built men in the doorway. One of them pulled a sheet of paper from there pocket and showed it to them. On the picture showed a bald man with grey eyes, he didn't look that friendly. It claimed that he was wanted.
"Have you seen this man." One of the men said sternly.
"No-" Cody said, than Kristen interrupted.
"Yes, I have seen him. He is in the neihgborhood. His name is Starvius." She said, noticing that the sign said name unknown.
"Thank you, we shall be going now." The man next to the man holding the sign said and they walked off.
"When did you see Starvius?" Cody asked.
"It is a long story, I think we better go now." She said impatiently.
Ryan led them to his car and he drove them to what he thought was the safest place. It didn't seem that far, they were driving towards the dump where they had all of the trashed metal and plastic that was of no use to anybody. Ryan parked the car in front of the large fence. They climbed out of the car and Ryan approached the lock of the gate. He somehow knew the code, because he was able to open the gate to the dump.
"When did you find the code to the dump?" Kristen asked.
"A man had told me one time when I tried to get inside. He was the owner of the place and gave me permission to go to it anytime of the day I want to." He said.
They entered the dump and he led them further into it until you started to see what looked like a miniature home made out of junk. He led them to the junk house and they walked inside to find it wasn't a house to live in, it was more of a hide out.
"This is my hide out guys, nobody knows where it is, not even the owner." Ryan said, proud of his hut made out of scraps of metal.
"Like it." Kristen said with a thumbs up.
Cody was already starting with his progamming. He than found a can of what used to be a can of green beans and put the drive inside. He placed it on the ground and it did it's normal glow. Ryan backed away, frightened of the fact of the glowing can.
"Don't worry, it is just the teleportation drive charging inside the can. Just wait a few minutes and I will give the cue to grab hold of the can." Cody explained.
After the can showed it's normal rusted color. Cody gave the cue and the trio touched the can and ended up in a dead world with dark clouds hovering over.
"You know Kristen would have liked a place a little bit different than this one." Kristen said,
Both of them turned to Kristen, who started to grow an evil grin on her face.
"But Starvius is glad that you chose this place."
Both boys stood up, they couldn't believe that they just let a betrayer with them. Kristen showed her fingers to them.
"Oh look, it looks like my nails are getting shorter." She said.
Suddenly she turned into her real form, or now we should say his form. For Starvius had done the most wicked trick you can do. They backed away, but Starvius just slowly followed them.
"You know Cody, I have had many times when I was actually you and did some pretty bad things to your friends. But since I am but a Kronolon, I now all of your memories." He said, his dark cloak whipping in the unpleasant breeze.
Cody shook his head, he wasn't expecting Starvius to betray his friends and make them think it was him. They hadn't realized that a cliff was close by, with a narrow bridge going across it.
"Well Cody, remember seeing those movies called... oh yes Star Wars. 'In a Galaxy far, far away...' oh I love that quote. Or when this evil black guy who breathes through a mask and makes odd noises, and on the fifth movie of Star Wars Darth Vador says to his son... 'Luke... I am you Father." he laughed.
Suddenly, Starvius pulled out a sword out of his pocket and twirled it with his finger.
"Well since a Light Sabor is no such thing to begin with, this was all I could get." He said.
Starvius laughed again and pushed Cody out of the way. He was coming towards Ryan for some reason. When he approached Ryan he threatened the sword at him and he ended up crawling on the ground, with the point at his neck. Ryan crawled back as Starvius kept walking, not wanting the point accidentally cutting his throat. Suddnely, Ryan was on the narrow stone bridge, the sword still at his neck. Then Starvius stopped walking. He moved the sword from his neck and swung it around, feeling how cool it was to hold a sword. Than he pointed it back to Ryan.
"Ryan, you need to listen to me. Come join me and you will be with your family again." Starvius said, putting the sword down.
"What, are you my father or something?" He asked confidently, though teasing a bit.
"Ryan... I am your father!" He said.
"Okay... w-well h-hello father." He said, teasing still but also frightened.
Starvius sighed.
"You are supposed to do what Luke did in Star Wars... noooooooooo." He said, frusterated with his act hitting him back.
"Well father, you left me for ten years, and then you turn evil on me. You should be the one saying no." He said, standing up more confident. His father stared at him, not sure what to say. Cody sat far off, running towards them. Ryan kicked his sword off of the bridge. Starvius than made another evil grin. He looked down at the bottom of the cliff of which lava flowed. He rose his hands in the air as Cody approached him holding a knife.
Of course this wasn't normal for Cody to threaten someone, in fact he had never in his life done such a thing. Starvius slowly turned around to Cody, who was shaking as he held the knife threateningly in his hand. Starvius laughed again, and put his hands down.
"Your too scared to kill me Cody, your just a boy. You had never held a knife in your life like that, why don't you put that knife down. For I am trapped anyway, I have nowhere else to go." He said, walking closer and closer to Cody.
"I'm not afraid to use it." Cody shook.
"Oh come on Cody, yes you are." Cody held the knife to Starvius's chest.
"I'm warning you." He said.
Suddenly Starvius turned back into Kristen and Cody dropped his knife. He backed away, but Starvius just followed him. They were now in the middle of the bridge.
"I guess Cody can't kill someone who looks so much like his girlfriend."
"She is not my girl friend, she is just... just a friend." Cody stuttered.
"Oh, but I feel it inside you... love. Love is a powerful trick Cody, it can be a man's weakest point." Starvius said, whipping his brown wavy hair. Starvius was now looking down at Cody in his normal form, than suddenly he transformed into his father. Cody stopped breathing, he couldn't believe what he just saw.
"It's me son, I am here now." he said holding his hands out.
A tear streaked down Cody's cheek, than without thinking about it he ran over to give him a hug. But this only lasted a few moments before Cody backed away, wiping his tears.
"YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!!!!!!!!" He barked.
Cody's dad turned back into Starvius. Starvius smirked and looked down at the lava.
"You are strong Cody, a little too strong." He said.
Suddenly Starvius jumped off of the bridge. Ryan and Cody ran over to him but he was already too far to reach. Than before they knew he was going to sink into the burning lava, a giant eagle soared underneath and scooped him up. It curved back up and was now up in the sky.
"Good bye son!" Starvius said to Ryan as he flew off into the dark clouds.
A tear streaked down Ryan's cheek, for he saw his father in real life unlike Cody.
"Does that mean I am one too?" he asked Cody.
"What do you mean?"
"A Kronolon, my father is a Kronolon. So must I." he looked Cody into his eyes.
Cody paused for a second, unsure how to answer that.
"Yes Ryan, you are."
Chapter 9: Kristen's quest
It was quite easy to fetch Kristen with Cody's drive. They were able to get to her cell as easily as teleporting outside of it. The mirror was now in pieces on the ground, useless now. Though none of them cared much about it. Cody than dropped Ryan back off at his house, for he thought it would be best if he stayed there after finding out who he really was. So Cody and Kristen went off to another planet.
This planet was supposed to be the resort planet. Cody and Kristen landed in on a grassy field, with six doors surrounding them. It was weird to find them connected to no wall, and standing in the middle of the field. Suddenly a white robot that was shaped as a human walked up to them.
"Hello Kristen and Cody, welcome to Pangelica the resort planet. I am to be your host in this tour, my name is Antony." The robot said.
"What are these doors?" Kristen asked.
"These are the six places you may go for your tour. Your choices are.... The Garden,... The Beach,... The Jungle,... The Arcade,... Amusement park, and... The Mall." The robot said in it's female voice.
Kristen turned to Cody, he shrugged his shoulders.
"How about the Beach." Kristen said, smiling.
"The Beach." The robot said and suddenly one of the doors opened and showed a sandy beach. Cody and Kristen entered the doorway with the host to find a large beautiful beach.
"The beach is known for it's white sandy shores, and the crashing waves perfect for children to play in. The beach has sounds of relaxation, with birds and sounds of the water hitting the sand. The Beach also has a nice resort that has a view of the beach in every room, and also to add with a soothing hot tub and a great spa. Dozens of life is in The Beach and if you like animals and life try the Jungle as your next tour." The host said, standing beside the doorway.
Kristen grabbed Cody's hand and they ran into the sandy beach. As they ran, Kristen kicked off her shoes and ran with the water, feeling the sand tickle between her toes. Cody stopped and sat down, feeling the warm sun on his face. The host remained next to the doorway, keeping perfectly still in his position. After basking in the sun, the host returned to them.
"Would you like to try our special at our gourmet restaurant inside the resort?" The host asked.
They both than realized how hungry they were. They both nodded, and the host brought them ove tto the resort. Inside the resort a lady came over holding two menu's. She led them to two seats in the dining area. There was a decent amount of people there, perfect time to be there. Kristen ordered the special which was a gourmet cheese souffle, and Cody got stuffed Lobster with fries.
There meal was served just a couple of minutes later and they enjoyed a wondrous dinner at a gourmet restaurant for free. After they had there fill, the host showed them to there rooms which were both separate for there comfort. The host was defiantly right about a perfect view of the beach no matter what room you were in. That night they both slept well with full stomachs and no stressful enemies coming after them.
But as Cody lied in his bed he was awoken by some kind of buzzing. He opened his eyes and noticed it was the drive that was making the noise. He had put the drive on the night stand, because he felt comfortable enough to take it out of his pocket. He got out or the master bed and grabbed the glowing drive. He flipped it to the laptop and noticed someone was trying to send him a message. He turned on to screen and saw the person who needed to talk to him, it was a message from a Halix.
The next day Cody and Kristen went to the amuzement park and tried out the fun rides. The food there was free, so they got pretzels, nacho's, Churro's , ice cream, and a bunch of other food that would be too expensive back on Earth. They did this all day, until they went back to the beach where they decided they were going to have there hotel be for the rest of the time they were there.
Than the third day came.
"So where do you want to go today?" Kristen asked while eating her gourmet pancakes with fruit toppled on top.
"Well, you have been wanting to go that mall the whole time we have been here." Cody mentioned.
"How did you know that?" She asked.
"Isn't it obvious, ever since we got to the lobby you have been eyeing that door. But you knew I wouldn't enjoy it as much as you would."
Kristen rolled her eyes.
"Your good." She said, nudging him on the side with her elbow.
"Well, I will will go to the arcade, and you go to the mall. How about that?" Cody asked.
Kristen agreed on it and they left the breakfast room. The Host went with Kristen,and Cody went alone to the arcade. He didn't want to go to the arcade because of the games, he had a meeting with the Halix. He walked into the large arcade building, hearing all sorts of noises as other kids played the games. He walked through the crowd of busy kids and sat down on a soft brown couch at the end of the room. He folded his arms and waited, he was supposed to meet the Halix soon.
About fifteen minutes later and a nineteen year old boy walked up to him. Cody scooted over leaving him room to sit down.
"You're late." Cody told him.
"I was fashionably late, I'm Joshua by the way."
"Thank you for telling me, because you didn't even mention your name with your short message that other night."
"Yah I know, I was just on a tight schedule. I just had to tell you everything you had to know, and than cut it. They only gave me ten minutes to explain it all to you." Joshua explained.
"So do you have it?" Cody asked, making sure he didn't come here for nothing.
Joshua reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny, red flashlight key chain with a silver border. He placed the flash light in his hand and Cody put it in his pocket.
"You just have to remember that Kristen can't loose this. If she does I would not be here and this will not work. So give this to her as soon as possible, for she has to be there by next week Tuesday at exactly three forty seven. Good luck." Joshua said and walked off.
Cody sighed and pulled out the flashlight back out. He stared at it as it rested in the palm of his hand.
"Our adventures never stop to they?" He asked himself.
Cody than placed the flashlight back in his pocket and he walked out of the arcade.
Kristen was trying out new sunglasses as Cody came up to her in the mall. She already had two sacks full of stuff she got. When she pulled off the sunglasses to grab a new pair she spotted Cody in the mirror. She put the sun glasses down and ran over to him.
"Cody look what I got. I got a new hat," Kristen pulled out a black hip hop hat with a red ribbon, "I also got this really cute outfit, I got a new pair of shoes, actually a few, I got this adorable dress..." Kristen continued showing Cody her cute outfits that really didn't interest Cody much.
After Kristen showed him everything she got, Cody was going to bring her back to the resort but she wanted to keep on shopping. So Cody said he was going to meet in the gardens where they hadn't seen yet. So Cody left the mall and Kristen continued on trying on the sunglasses. He turned to the gardens and the host came back to him.
"You are not to be alone, this is a resort with friends and family. Would you like me find your friend?" The host asked.
"But didn't I just went to the arcade by myself?"
"Of course we let you have one time of being on your own, but once you leave that area you are to be back with the person you were vacationing with."
"But this is supposed to be a relaxing resort where we can do whatever we want, we have the choice of being alone or not." Cody said, frusterated how the vacation was starting to get a little frustrating.
"Yes we want you to relax, but also be happy with others. Please go to the gardens with your friend."
"I am going to meet her there, I am just having a head start."
"You have had one chance on your own, you are now to be with your friend."
"NO."
After that answer the host suddenly started burning up. It's head started shaking and the fingers were going all bizarre. Cody didn't mean to hurt the host, he just didn't want it to boss him around. The host than fell over, smoke coming out of it. Suddenly the doors were blocked by bars and he was surrounded by dozens of angry hosts.
"You have committed a crime, this is a resort and we don't allow people disobeying rules." The hosts said in unison, "You are to come with us, for you are not welcome here any more."
Cody shook his head, he didn't mean it to turn it into this. He just wanted it to keep the way he had it planned, he didn't want to end up disobeying and getting kicked out. The hosts than came up to Cody and got a hold of him. Suddenly another door showed up between the mall and the arcade, they brought Cody inside it to find it was a large white room.
"Thank you for your cooperation at out resort." The hosts said and they left the room.
Suddenly the door disappeared and Cody was sitting in the white room alone with no doorway to get back to Kristen. Though this didn't worry him for long, he reached into his pocket and looked for his drive to find it wasn't in there. He got into his other pocket to find it wasn't in there either. Cody sighed and sat down, trying to think where he misplaced it. Than he thought about the arcade, his drive wasn't in the same pocket at the flashlight. He sighed, knowing that he had forgotten it at the resort. He leaned his head against the white wall, wondering if Kristen would ever find out that he was trapped in some kind of jail, with no way out.
A few hours later and Kristen had bags and bags of clothes and stuff she wanted. She now was ready to go back to the gardens to meet Cody. She came up to the door to find a host at the doorway, the host stopped her.
"Everybody needs to go back to there hotel or resort, there is no worry. Everybody needs to go back to there hotel or resort." The host told her.
Kristen didn't understand, but she knew that if she had to go back to the resort, Cody probably was too. She got out of the door and went straight to her resort at the beach. The first room she went to was going to be Cody's, to see if he was doing okay for her being gone so long. She knocked at his door, but nobody answered. She started to think he didn't like how she was that long if he never answered. She knocked again, but still no answer.
Kristen continued knocking but still no answer. Finally, Kristen just opened the door to find nobody was in there. She went over to the door that connected hers with Cody's and she noticed he wasn't in her bedroom either. Kristen sighed and sat on Cody's bed wondering where he was. He wouldn't be at the cafe, or the buffet. It was mid afternoon. She laid on Cody's bed, hoping he would return soon.
Suddenly she heard a buzzing. She sat up and realized it was coming from the dresser. She came up to the dresser and looked through the drawers, trying to find where the buzzing was coming from. Than she realized it was coming from the top of the dresser and noticed Cody's tele drive. She grabbed Cody's drive and it automatically popped up to the laptop. She screeched as she saw the screen, feeling the pain as she saw the strong technology.
She squinted at the screen, trying to ignore the intense head ache she was getting. She noticed it was a message from Cody. It read: Help! Kristen than noticed underneath it, it explained that it tracked down the location as the seventh door in the lobby. Kristen couldn't read any more, she quickly shut the laptop. Her head pounding so hard after seeing the screen. She lied back down, rubbing her temples.
After a while, she sat back up. Though her headache was still bad, she was going to help Cody right now. She walked out of the room and thought, Cody must have done something bad to end up trapped. She came up to a host as she went downstairs, keeping herself level by leaning against the wall.
"Move... you freak I need to get to the arcade." She said, struggling to speak without her headache getting worse.
"You are to stay in your resort. You don't seem so well, why don't you go to the nurse?" The host said.
"No, I need to go to the arcade!" She said, standing up a little bit more straight.
"I am afraid we are having some problems in the lobby, your illness must be messing with your attitude, please go to the nurse." The host ordered.
"No." Suddenly the host started shaking and it fell over.
Suddenly all of the hosts in the room came up to her.
"You have committed a crime, this is a resort and we don't allow people disobeying rules." The hosts said in unison, "You are to come with us, for you are not welcome here any more."
Kristen backed away, but the Hosts got ahold of her. They took her to the lobby where a seventh door appeared. She clenched the drive in her hand, hoping to find Cody there. When they brought her inside Cody was sitting in the corner of the wall, mumbling something to himself. Kristen ran up to him and Cody smiled as he saw her.
"You got my message." Cody said.
"Yes Cody, how did you do that?" She asked
Cody pulled out the red key chain flash light. He dangled it in front of her face.
"I used this." He said.
Kristen snatched the flashlight from his hand and observed it closely.
"I blinked the light three times to show I needed help. What it does is it sends messages through to my drive, so the light is a signal."
"That's really cool Cody. Where did you get it?"
"Someone gave it to me... well, it is actually supposed to be for you."
Kristen pointed at herself.
"For me?"
Cody nodded.
"I was going to give it to you earlier until I got us into this mess. But I don't just have that to give to you Kristen, I have a quest for you."
"A quest, but don't you have to be with me?"
"No Kristen, this is a quest you have to do on your own. You just have to trust me on this."
Chapter 1- The messenger
Kristen sat on the couch drawing the house plant across the room. She didn't have anything to do, drawing was her thing but she had drawn this plant a dozen times. She would have had things to do if only she didn't go home. As soon as she got home Cody had left her without saying good bye. She didn't understand. He just left, maybe he went home himself, or maybe he just left her to continue on his adventure without her. Now she sat on her couch drawing a plant with nothing to do on the planet called, Earth.
Kristen sighed and got off the couch to grab her backpack. She had meant to use her backpack during her trip through Triton Galaxy but she hardly used it. She was hoping to draw things and explore more, but it was just constant adventures that kept her back from observing things more closely. She tried to remember things from the other planets and tried to draw them but it never really looked right. She wanted to go back and draw more often, try to find the right times. Her backpack still had the stuff from her trip a couple of weeks ago and didn't want to get it out. She thought that maybe Cody will come back and she can already have her stuff with her.
While Kristen stared into her backpack she got thinking of her family. When she had returned back to Earth she came to her home to find a note. The note said: Went to Asia for Liana's family orchestra tour. Kristen, you have been missing for over three days and we didn't know what to do, if you are reading this we are sorry. If you somehow came home from a kidnapping or just to run away we were truly watching out for you, the police could not find you and we had to go to help your sister, once again I am so very sorry. We will be back in a month, I really hope to see you. Love, mom. Of course Kristen was not very happy to find something like that on her door. Why would her family leave her like that, even if she had gone missing. Her family wasn't going to be home for another three weeks. She literary has to provide her own food, and care for the house all by herself.
She wasn't even old enough to drive or find a job. She was thirteenyears old and it was in the middle of the summer. What was nice was her parents had an emergency jar in the basement that provided money, she had used it to buy all the needs she needed. She couldn't even call them unless she burrowed a neighbors. One time she had burrowed a phone from her friend and her family would not answer. Multiple times she tried this and they never answered the phone.
It was getting dark now and the plant was getting more difficult to see. Kristen yawned, not realizing how tired she was when it was only about nine o'clock at night. She started heading towards her room until suddenly she heard somebody whisper her name. She looked around, but there was nothing. She went down into the basement and was about to open the door. Kristen. She heard it again. She ran into her bedroom and slammed the door shut, hoping the voice would stop. She quickly got into her PJ's and laid in her bed, grateful she did't hear it again. Kristen.
Kristen put the pillow on her face, the voice echoing in her head. Kristen help us, you are our only hope! She sat up and looked around. A small girl was standing at the doorway. Kristen backed into the corner of her bed. The girl just stood there, her face innocent and merciful. Her blond hair was down to her waist as if she had never had a haircut in her life. She had grey eyes and rosy cheeks, but she seemed almost like a dream.
"W-who are you?" Kristen asked.
"I am not what you think I am to be. I am as you see opposite of the shape I am inside. I am but a creature in child form with no hint of human inside me. Therefore I come in peace and come with an urgent message from a friend of what is known of your kind." The girl said in a voice of an adult.
"Cody?" Kristen wondered.
The girl nodded.
"I am but a shape shifter of what your kind shall call me, I come from a distant planet many galaxies from your star." The girl stepped into Kristen's room, "My message to you from what you beings call him, Cody, is urgent indeed. Therefor your being is in danger, he is imprisoned within a ship from afar. He hast told me to give you an artifact from this world, and put it inside a small object of which will help you come to him. He needs you being now or soon it may be too late, be of good cheer for fear brings grief and sorrow to your kind. I give you courage if ye choose to go towards the direction I hast given to you. Therefor if ye hast chosen the other path, then I shall leave you and give your male kind the sorrowful news of the acceptance declined. Now do you not accept my message or do you decline?" The girl said.
Kristen stared at the girl for a few moments, unsure really what to say. She was good at saying how sad it will be if she said no, but she really didn't want to go back. Especially how Cody had left her the way he had. She wasn't even sure if the girl was telling the truth or not, she could have been a spy and was bringing her into a trap. Or maybe she really meant it, she seemed a bit young to be a messenger. Though she could be older than she looks, especially if she came from a different planet.
"I'll go." Kristen said.
The girl walked closer to her and brought her hand out. She was keeping something clenched into her tiny hand. She hadn't changed her face, she wasn't smiling, nor was she sad. She opened her hand and there sat the glimmering blue flash drive that started it all. The girl placed the tele drive into Kristen's hand and put her fingers around it.
"Be the most very careful with him female being of this weak world. Take care of your kind and keep it going, good luck." the girl said and then she added, "Though I have something else for you to keep, for it is something that the future shall give to you later on in your short life." The girl pulled out a beautiful necklace with a large, bright blue gem. She nodded, then she backed away, closed her eyes and suddenly disappeared out of Kristen's room.
Kristen stared at the teleportation drive wondering if she should still do it, then she looked at the necklace around her neck. She looked around her and snatched her bank. She opened up the bottom and dropped the drive inside it, and then placed it on the ground. While it charged up, she walked out of the room and returned with her travel pack. She slipped it on and knelt down in front of the piggy bank. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
"I really shouldn't be doing this." and she touched the bank.
She was suddenly going into a blurr of color, then suddenly blackness. She was going so fast she couldn't breathe, she was going faster than the speed of light, faster than the speed of sound, and even faster than the speed of color. It was overwhelming and risk taking to go through such a thing, and for some reason Kristen had the ability to take her chances.
Of course this isn't natural for all humans. For some reason Kristen chose to go, it didn't take that long like what all humans do when they decide whether to travel through galaxies or not. You may think that you would go by the snap of your finger, but when you have the chance you start to hesitate, and then don't want to go any more.
Kristen landed hard on a hard ground, some many galaxies away from her own. She closed her eyes, the impact too much for her. She had never gotten used to it, and it seemed to hurt her more than it hurt Cody. Her least favorite part was to go through the teleportation portal, it made her dizzy and sick to go through such a thing. But she was already there and she might as well go on with her quest the unusual child creature gave to her.
Minutes later, Kristen woke up in the dark room she had come into. It had little light that she wasn't sure where the light source came from, and the walls were so dark that she wasn't sure if there was even a doorway somewhere. Suddenly something bright came from the wall, and it just so happened to be a doorway. Two blubbery creatures walked into the room with black jackets on.
They stood about nine feet tall with bulging black eyes, and a sour face. Each one grabbed Kristens elbows and dragged her out of the room. Outside of the room wasn't much brighter than the one she was just in, it had no color whatsoever. She got dragged down the dark hallway until they got into a doorway. They lifted her up and placed her on a seat in front of a grey desk. Another one of the blubbery creatures sat at the desk, he wore a nicer black jacket and seemed even bigger than the others.
"Blocome Tobloo Hablay cheeblay efblah?" The creature asked.
Kristen shook her head.
"I-I don't s-speak your language s-sir." She stuttered.
The blubbery creature grunted and sat back in his chair. He opened up a drawer in the desk and pulled out three collar like objects. He stood up and put one on the two guards at the doorway, then put one on his own.
"Good, now do you understand us human?" He asked.
She nodded.
"What I meant to say was we were wondering why you are here on our ship."
"I am here for an important task sir." She said, trying to sound as serious as she could.
"Of course, that is what the other human said a couple of weeks ago. Now according to your face you know what you are doing and don't want to share your news to us. So I am guessing it is something I will probably not like. Guards." the leader called up to the guards.
Kristen felt something pierce into her neck and she fell into unconsciousness. The two guards nodded and dragged her out of the room.
A couple of hours later they returned to the captains office without Kristen. They were holding an odd looking object with a computer screen on it. On the screen was a list of stuff.
"Okay sir, we have used it on her and this is what we found. Of course you know that this only detects her likes, dislikes and needs. Her likes are to do draw and read, she also likes lasagna and rocky road ice cream (whatever that is). And there was also other things too, but one of them we must keep it with just the three of us. We have found out that she is in love with a human boy within our ship, we are wondering if that was the reason why she was here sir."
"That is a big possibility. But that human boy disobeyed our orders and he ended up imprisoned. But of course we do not know much about human girls. Treat her like a visitor for now, and once if she disobeyed than she shall be sent as well. Make sure she is always occupied and enjoying it. Now go, she should be waking up by now." He said, and the guards nodded and left his office.
Kristen opened her eyes, she was feeling perfectly fine besides her neck. It felt soar as if something had pierced it. Though why was her neck hurting so bad, she knew the blubbery aliens were only but a dream. She was in her bedroom, everything just how she left it. It seemed so real, but she knew it was just a stupid old dream. The dream was probably because she missed being out there to explore. But she felt the breath taking trip through the teleportation and she felt the gentle hands of the child place the drive in her hand, and she even smelled the nasty breath the aliens had that made her want to puke.
She sat up and looked around her, she felt dizzy and was about to go back to sleep, until she spotted something. Her mom came into her bedroom, she knew they weren't going to be back for another two weeks. Kristen stood up, even with the headache she had.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"I came home early sweety, we knew it was bad for us to just leave you here if you ever returned, and so we came to check. Where did you go, how did you go missing. I understand it was probably hard for you but I would like to know." Her mother said.
"I-I went on an adventure with a friend out of town somewhere. I am so sorry I didn't tell you." She choked, she didn't want to burst out crying.
"Where did you go?" She asked
"E-everywhere." Than Kristen gave in, she ran towards her mother to get a hug.
But something unusual happened. Her mom stopped her, she backed away as if not wanting a hug.
"Sorry sweetheart. I have this really contagious sickness and I can't touch anybody, that was one of the reasons why we came back. Sorry, I didn't tell you." She said.
"Kristen was about to say something until her mother walked out of her room. Kristen really wanted to hug her mother, even if she was ill. She wondered why her mother had walked into her room then, doesn't her room have it too now? She carefully walked out of her room and came upstairs where the rest of the family was. Her whole family was sitting at the table, breakfast already served of there plates. She sat down at her chair, wondering if her brother would let her give him a hug of some sort.
"Micheal, can you hand me the syrup please?" Kristen asked her brother.
Micheal nodded and handed Kristen the bottle of syrup. Though as she grabbed the syrup Micheal tried to keep his hand as far away from her grasp. She placed a pancake on her plate and had a wonderful breakfast, but she hadn't touched a single person.
After breakfast she decided to just read in the front room. She didn't understand why none of her family wanted to touch her, did they think she had something contagious too. She was even expecting her brother to come into the room and start teasing her and teasing her, but she was alone in the front room. She did this for quite a while until she secretly spotted Micheal come into the room. He came over and snatched her book.
"Give it!" She ordered, sitting up.
Micheal moved it away from her.
"Come and get it." He teased.
Kristen stood up, happy that her brother finally had the guts to tease her. She chased him around the house, trying to snatch her book back. She knew that she could somehow touch him if she chased for a while. Finally she was able to corner him inside her parents bedroom. Micheal tried lifting it as high as he could, enough that Kristen could not reach.
She jumped up and tried grabbing it, but failed every time. She was a high jumper and both of them knew that she could reach the book, but she just let the tease last longer. After a while she was starting to get tired of this game, and did her real jump. She jumped up and Micheal dodged the book and she fell on top of Micheal. Though she also didn't.
It was like she was on top of nobody, but just the ground. But Micheal was right there, underneath her. He actually was more inside her, as if she had fallen into a ghost of her brother. She grabbed her book and backed away. Her brother's smile had long gone away and was standing in front of Kristen. Kristen backed away a little more unsure what to say about what she just did and saw.
"Your not real. You and everybody else is all fake, all a hallucination. Your not-" She stopped as she
felt sudden drumming and screaming in her head. Everything around her looked like it was twitching, as if the the room had a really bad glitch or virus. She got down to her knees, plugging her ears. Micheal was starting to look more like a hologram than an actual human now and the room looked like she was in a video game.
High screeching was reacting in her head making it unbearable, and her head was pounding. She was feeling suddenly ill and wanted to faint in shock. It seemed like hours until it all was over and long before it ended she was already passed out on the ground. The computerized version of her room was now gone and she was back on the ship, with two of the aliens in charge of her standing close by.
One alien wobbled over to her and shook her awake. She took a gasp of air, looked up at the alien and screamed. The guard backed away. Kristen sat up and was now hyperventilating, her face as pale as a ghost. She looked down at the ground, trying to calm down. After a good half an hour she had calmed down and was now looking at the aliens, unsure what to say.
"You know this place has no color, not one bit." She said, looking around the grey room.
"What is color anyway?" One of the aliens asked.
"It is what brings joy to your eyes, without color its nothing. Everything just makes you feel sad and dark without color in the world. Color is the best thing in the world. You guys must be color blind I am guessing." She said, keeping eye contact on the two green guards.
"We must be then, because everything looks just the same. Can we see color some time?" The other guard asked.
"Well, when you are color blind it is pretty tricky to see color. In fact it could be impossible over here without the right stuff for it." She mentioned.
The guards smiled at each other and one of them stood up.
"Matter of fact we do. Over two billion years ago one of our people had invented this color mechanism, he had made it after a good friend told him about color. And I believe we know where it is, right Boblah?" The creature said, nudging Boblah in the side.
Boblah nodded.
"Well lets go find this color mechanism then." Kristen said.
Boblah and the other guard led Kristen out of the room and down the hallway. After a while down the hallway they got to a skinny doorway that Kristen can't even fit inside.
"This is the closet." Boblah mentioned to Kristen.
"How will you get in?" She asked.
"Simple." the other guard said.
Boblah nodded, then he pulled off his short black jacket. He then wiggled his arms, slime flying everywhere. He did this for quite a while until his arms were suddenly bony, pale arms. They were even skinnier than hers. She hadn't realized that all that blubber was all slime piled over each other. Kristen stared in disgust, but Boblah just made an ugly grin. She was covered in the slime from head to toe, she wasn't even sure if it was even slime at all.
Boblah reached both of his arms inside the tiny door without hesitation. You could hear clinks and clashes inside the closet as Boblah's arms rumaged through the closet. After a few minutes Boblah grinned as he felt something useful. He pulled it out and observed it. It wasn't dusty like how all objects do in a place for a long time, in fact it still looked brand new. The object looked like a mini laser, or like one of those red lights that you use in presentations.
Boblah turned it on and pointed the red light on his naked arm. His black pupils were suddenly changing colors. He blinked several times and looked around. He grunted, he looked up at the grey ceiling.
"It's useless. Everything looks the same." Boblah complained.
"Kristen looked at herself to find she was still wearing her black and white pajamas. She pulled her backpack off and rummaged through it. She had packed some embroidery floss for friendship bracelet making in one of the pockets of the backpack. She pulled out the floss and held it out to Boblah.
"Here, come look at these. I am holding color." She said.
Boblah looked over at Kristen and stared at the embroidery floss in amazement. His eyes sparkling with excitement.
"It is beautiful. Can I touch the colors that I see?" He asked.
Kristen nodded and Boblah slowly touched the strands of string. He quickly touched it, and then jumped up as if he was trying to touch an oven. He made the ugliest grin you could probably find in the universe. The other guard came up and tried to look at the floss. He snatched the laser from Boblah and stuck it inside the slime (Or whatever it was). His eyes had done the same thing when he had used the color machine and he peeked over at the strings again. He quickly touched the strings and jumped up in joy. Both of the aliens looked at each other in surpsrise and they looked back over at the strings.
"Okay, well I will show you what each of these colors are." She said, pulling the blue string out of the clump.
"This is blue... and this is yellow... and this is green..." She showed them each of her twenty four colors she had.
After Kristen had explained every single color she had the aliens started to get very fond of her. Boblah and the other guard led her back to her room and they left to go tell the captain about the cool things they just saw.
Kristen waited on the grey bed and started making a quick friendship bracelet out of the rainbow colors.
A few minutes later two different guards came into her room, holding something that looked somewhat like handcuffs. They stormed over to her and placed the handcuffs around her wrists.
"Orders from the chief for brainwashing two of our most trusted guards. You are coming with us." One of the guards said sternly.
They kicked her out of her room and led her down the hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door almost like an elevator door. The guard led her inside and she realized it was an elevator. Though it didn't just go up and down, it went right and left and even diagonal. A couple of seconds later it made a sudden halt and she was led out into a dungeon area. He led her down the solid jail doors.
As she walked by each one she could hear shreiks and howls, some peircing her ears. Some cells seemed completely empty or the creature inside didn't make noise. They turned a few corners until she ended up being stopped in front of a cell door at the end of the hallway. He opened the door and kicked her inside, before she could try to escape he slammed the door shut. Inside was pitch black, the cracks of the door didn't even give light inside. She pulled her backpack off and blindly rummaged for her flashlight.
After finding the cylinder like part of the flashlight she felt around for the button and turned it on. She moved the yellow light around the dark room and spotted something move close by. She came back to it to find a boy shading his eyes from the light. Kristen crawled over to him and gave him a grateful to find Cody. His bright blond hair didn't look as bright in the fading light she had, he put his hand down and looked at Kristen. His sweet smile came back to him.
"I knew you could come." He said.
Kristen slapped him in the face. Cody rubbed his red cheek of where she slapped him.
"Friends are supposed to watch after each other." She snapped.
"I am sorry. It was an emergency I had to go immediately, I didn't have time." Cody apologized.
Kristen scooted next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. You could tell that she had already forgiven him.
"I really am sorry." He repeated.
Kristen didn't respond but just nodded. She knew that Cody knew that she had already forgiven him. For a few moments they stared at the black wall until Kristen drifted off to sleep. Cody waited for her to be fully asleep, then pulled the drive out of her pocket. He didn't want her to see the screen so he had to do it when she was asleep.
When he finished he grabbed a dusty cup from his last meal and dropped the drive in the cup, then waited for it to charge. He didn't wake her up but just grabbed her hand, touched it and they both disappeared from the cell they were imprisoned inside.
Chapter 2- Boys rule, girls don't exist
Kristen got woken up by a powerful impact. She then realized that he wasn't in the dark cell any more, but in a dark room with a white floor. Cody was close by looking around for something. Kristen stood up and walked over to him, he was feeling around on the white ground. Then she realized something else, she was on top of a ship. The air around her was pure outer space, but she wasn't sure how she was breathing.
"How do we breathe?" She asked.
"It's an atmosphere. But the world is blocked over with a powerful force field." He said, his eyes fixed on the ground.
"I wonder why." She said, looking around for any bad guys.
She started to get questions coming at her. This is a planet, how? Why is the atmosphere thicker than normal atmospheres this high? Why is this planet blocked? Is there bad guys around...? She stayed close to Cody, hoping she could get inside the planet before finding what was out here.
Suddenly, a door opened close by and a head peeked out. It looked like a spaceman, he waved his arms towards him. He seemed rushed so they quickly came over to get inside. As soon as they got within the force field, he quickly closed the door and locked it. They were on some kind of open elevator. The elevator started going down, going so fast it dropped there stomachs. They looked down into the valley and saw an entire city even bigger than the biggest city in the world.
The elevator came into a nearby building just below them. By the time they hit the main floor of the building, the short spaceman led rushed them out of the elevator. He brought them into an airtight room and shut the door, without doing anything else. The air tight room didn't have anything but Cody and Kristen. It was pure white with white vents on the walls. Cody sat down against the wall, Kristen sat next to him. She didn't understand why they put them in there, the man in the space suit acted and seemed like a human. Why would they just send them straight to the dungeon or whatever they called it.
A few minutes later the hissing sound of the door opened and they left the room. A boy that looked just a year or two older than Cody closed the door and led them down the corridor.
"Where are you taking us?" Kristen asked.
The boy stopped, then turned around.
"This boy has a pretty high voice. what part of Malone are you from?" He asked.
"Well, can you answer our question first, where are you taking us?" Kristen repeated.
"I am taking you to the president, he has some words for you." He said and continued on.
At the end of the white hallway was a wide, wooden door. The boy opened it and they stepped into the presidents office. The desk was empty, the room was in fact vacant. The boy closed the door behind them and they offered themselves a seat. A few minutes later and another boy about in his nineteens sat down at the desk.
"Hello boys, do you realize what you just did?" He asked.
They shook there head.
"Oh goodness. Well, you just got yourself into a huge mess. Outside the force field is toxic gasses that could kill any boy in just days if he is out there long enough. That is why we have it, so the gasses don't get into our safe non-toxic world. Now how did you two get out there, we don't even allow gay boys to even get out there to work?" the president was staring at her when he said 'gay'.
"Excuse me, I'm not gay. I am a-" Cody stopped her, Kristen didn't know why but sat down anyway.
"Um, we are travelers from a different planet. We didn't really now anything about this planet until we got here." Cody responded.
"Well, I see that you guys made it here safely. Just a few minutes you had to get contaminated so you are now safe to explore our city. But if you decide to stay here for long you need to know that by age 23 you have to leave the city. Don't ask why because I really don't know why, I will soon be going myself. So now that you know a little bit about the city, I will just say that I am President Joshua and what will your names be?" He asked.
Cody leaned over to Kristen and whispered something in her ear.
"Don't say anything, I will tell you why." Cody said, Kristen nodded.
"I am Cody, and this is Kris." Kristen nudged him, trying to bite her tongue.
"Oh, well Kris and Cody, nice meeting you. You two boys are now excused." He said.
So Cody and Kristen left the building and ended up standing in the streets of the large city. Nobody was any older than twenty, and there was not a single girl around. Though they didn't understand why boys older than 23 would have to leave the city. Cody led her down the street and he stopped her in an alleyway close by.
"Why did you stop me when I was going to say I was a girl?" She whispered harshly.
"Look out in the streets." Cody pointed out in the streets and she looked over, "Do you see any girl? NO. This planet either imprisons women or don't have female at all. They don't know what you are, so if you say you are a girl you may be taking a huge risk. I mean there is not even mothers, I don't even know how they are born. So lets just not take our chances with calling you a female. So just stick with Kris and act as much as a boy as you can. OK? " He snapped.
Kristen nodded.
They walked out from the alley and standing in front of them was a little dark skinned boy. He looked about six years old and the outfit he was wearing seemed a bit too big on him. He made a big white smile, his teeth glowing on his dark face.
"Hi, how can I help you?" He said in a Southern accent.
"What do you work for?" Cody asked.
"I help with helping new faces. Would you like a hotel room to stay in, or a coupon for The best restaurant in the world, or do you just need a tour around town." He said.
"I think we just need a place to stay in at least." Cody told the boy.
The boy nodded.
"Well come with me, I have the prefect place for you two." The boy led them out of the alleyway and down the street until they turned off at a huge inn. The boy just walked them up the stairs in the hotel without going to the check in and showed them there room. He opened the door and showed them around the sweet. It had a nice half kitchen and a large bathroom, but it only had one bed.
"I tried to find the best suite in the city. Now enjoy." The boy bowed in his little suit and walked out the room.
The bright lights on the white ceiling of the city were starting to fade to show it was getting dark. They walked into the bedroom and looked at each other, there faces saying there was no way they were sharing a bed. Kristen pointed at the bed and Cody started for a run towards the bed. He stopped beside it and pulled the comforter off.
"ladies first." He said and left the room for Kristen to take.
That night Cody slept on the couch and Kristen slept on the bed, they didn't talk to each other the rest of the night. When morning came the got room service and ate at the tiny table in the half kitchen.
"I think we found ourselves a case to solve." Cody said while tossing the food in the garbage.
"And what is the case?" She asked.
"They don't have a mother. They would have to be born somehow, and we have to figure out why they only keep children in this city. It is probably confusing me as much as it is confusing you. So we probably should leave this city pretty soon and see if there is any other city to find anything useful." Cody mentioned.
Kristen agreed to it and they both decided that they were going to go that day.
"So why did we come here?" Kristen asked before they left the hotel room.
"Well, I thought you wanted an adventure." He mentioned.
Kristen shrugged her shoulders and they checked out of the hotel. As they walked out into the streets they noticed the oldest kids in the city were gathered around a bus stop. They looked at each other and nodded, they wanted to know where they were going. They ran over and squeezed in with the crowd of twenty three year old kids trying to blend in as much as they can. The bus came around the corner, the words on it saying: Grown up alley. That 's a cheesy name to have a street named. Kristen thought as they hopped on the bus with the other kids.
Inside the bus didn't feel like a normal bus you would normally go into in America. It had no windows, though they were positive they noticed clear windows outside of the bus. They could see the bus driver perfectly through the windows. They sat on the back on the bus, knowing they can't fit in very well with tall twenty-three year old adults. They weren't even sure how long it will take to go to the next city with how large this one was.
After long hours Kristen had fallen asleep on Cody's shoulder, the bus heating up and the air getting dryer. They didn't dare ask the bus driver, because they knew they could get caught easier that way. A couple of hours later and the bus finally went to a halt. The adults rushed out of the bus and Cody and Kristen were being pulled in with them. Once they got out of the crowded bus the rushing crowd of twenty three year old's split apart to do there own thing.
The city was so much different than the city with the kids. The city they were last in was simple and looked like a big city like in the United States. Though this city looked like the future compared to the city they were last in. It was all tall and glittering in silver, with hover cars, and twisted buildings. The bus seemed old and craggy compared to the buses in the adult city. A young man in his early thirties walked up to them and shook there hands.
"Do you two need a job, because I got one just for you." He said.
Cody turned to Kristen and she shrugged her shoulders. He looked back over at the man.
"Sure."
The man pointed at a silvery white building further down the street.
"Meet me at that building over there in an hour if you would like an instant job." He said and walked off.
The bus was now long gone. They decided to look around town and then go and see this guy over at that white building. They waited on the side of the street and saw a hover taxi cab stop in front of them. The window unrolled and a man in dark shades poked his head out of the window.
"Need a ride?" He asked.
"We don't have any money." Cody told the cab driver.
"It's alright, get in. I can take you anywhere you would like." He said.
The cab driver pressed a button and suddenly the back door opened. They got into the cab and the driver shut the door with the button.
"Thank you." Kristen said.
"No problemo, so where would you two like to go?" He asked.
"We just want to look around town." Cody said.
"Town, now what is that? Are you guys from here?" He asked.
"No, we are tourists from a different planet." Cody exclaimed.
"Okay, well lets start from downcity then." The cab driver said and he started driving downtown.
After they had explored the city and had there fun, they asked the cab driver to take them to the silvery white building. The silvery white building didn't seem to match the rest of the city. All the other buildings were silvers, and silvery blacks, and even the silvery blues, but no white. The cab driver stopped in front of the building and turned to them.
"Now I have to warn you two. The owner of this place was the great, great, great, great, great grandson of the creature of this world, and that very great grandpa was not a very nice man. Good luck." The cabby suggested and opened the doors.
They climbed out and looked up at the building. They started to debate whether to really apply for this kind of job or not. They needed money to get around town, but how are they going to do that? They looked at each other, then walked into the large silver doors. A man in a black suit came over and greeted them, then he brought them to an elevator of which brought them up to the top floor. He led them down the white hallway until he came to a doorway at the end of the hallway (Like how all the doors they had gone to were). The man walked off and they entered the room. It was a white office with the man they saw an hour ago standing in front of the desk.
"You came, great!" The man said, walking up the them.
He walked up to the door, shut it, then locked it. They were starting to feel even more uncomfortable when he shut the blinds and covered his coat over a camera in the corner of the room. He then sat down on his white chair.
"Have a seat, I have a few things I have to talk to you two about." The man said, weaving his fingers together.
Kristen and Cody sat down on the chairs in front of his desk.
"I am sorry to scare you two, but this is more private than just applying for a job." They started to feel a bit confused, "You don't need any reviews, but I can only have Cody work for me."
Kristen pushed forward.
"Okay, how do you know our names and why only him?" She barked.
"It is for your safety Kristen. What we do here is advertising and if anybody finds out about you, then it could be putting you into danger." He said.
"What do you know about me?" She asked harshly.
"Not much really, just that you are a girl. But that secret is stuck with me, nobody else in the city doesn't even know what a girl is. How I know what a girl is, is because my mother told me."
"Wait, you have a mother?" Cody asked.
"Well, yes everybody does."
"How much do you know about this world?"
"That is why you are here. For one thing, my great, great, great, great, great grandfather built this society. His secret about this world has been passed down until it got to me, my two brothers, and my oldest brother, the governor of this world. The reason why I want to share it with you two is because we have a girl here in this all boy society. All these boys on this World come from a different planet. Many years ago my very great grandfather had discovered this world, he wanted to make a Utopia but he would first have to make a population. So he made a deal with a planet called, Kronashon, to send twenty thousand toddler boys every year to this new planet. But my very great grandfather had created this world and then went to live on Kronashon so he can have his own children."
"How I am here today on this planet is because of my father. He had come to this planet to check up on us and he ran into the only woman in the world. She was sent here by mistake and eventually started living in a hidden cell at the governors house. Well, my father married her, and decided to stay on this planet. They had us and I am now here, with my own business and living a good life."
"The man got off of his chair and came up to them.
"My mother, she is still trapped inside that cell and I am not allowed to go inside it. Another reason why I have you here is because you are also the first children in history that have been in the adult city before. And since you two are smaller than most of us, you can get into the governors house easier and save my mother. Can you please do that for me." The man pleaded.
"But doesn't the governor know about girls too?" Kristen wondered.
"Yes, but he hasn't even seen his own mother for over twenty years now. He wouldn't know you were a girl if you disguise yourself." The man mentioned.
Cody looked at Kristen and she looked at him. Then Cody turned back to the man.
"We'll do it. But let us have a few days to look around and then we will."
"Good. Well, Cody you are hired then for these few days. Kristen, I am sorry you can't work for me. Good luck you too, meet me for the rescue in seven days then. Kristen you are excused now, Cody it is time for some training for your job." The man said.
Kristen made a wry smile and walked out of the office.
Chapter 3- master of disguise
In a nursery a few blocks down from the white building, a boy worked in the gardens. Or that was what it was supposed to seem like, in fact that boy was a girl. Kristen knew there would be no chance of suspicions unless the person knew there was such thing as a girl. She tried not to talk to anybody and tried to hide her face from anyone passing by, but it was hard. She couldn't do anything even close to a girl, though she didn't have the experience of being a boy she had the chance then. She decided to keep the name of Kris and if anybody asked her what her full name was it would be Kristopher.
Though it was defiantly hard to act like a boy with no experience as a boy, she did have some troubles. And she just seemed to put her keeping her act on a boy working in the nursery too. His name was Gareth Qwest. He just so happened to be just a couple years older than her, he had secretly climbed into the same bus Kristen had. Gareth knew from the beginning that she was just a visitor and was too young to be in the adult city, but he stayed cool about it. He promised not to tell anybody about her secret and she promised not to tell anybody about his. She seemed to trust this guy more than any of the other boys in the city.
"Have you ever heard of a girl before?" She asked without really thinking about it.
"Girl? I don't know, it somehow sounds familiar to me. Is it an alien?" He wondered.
"Well, not exactly. A girl is a human but a different type of human." She exclaimed.
"Interesting. So are you a girl than? Because you don't quite seem like the rest of us." He asked.
Kristen didn't know what to say about that. Should she really answer his question or lie about it. She trusts him but should she really tell him that she is a girl? For a while she was speechless, trying to think of how to phrase this.
"Yes, yes I am a girl." She said quietly.
But she should have said it more secretly. Just about five feet from where they were was a man that both of them didn't know about. This man was a security guard from the governor's home and came over to the nursery to take Gareth back to the children's city. The whole time he was listening to there conversation. When he heard that Kristen was a stowaway too he decided to start paying attention to her too. That was when he heard about how she was a girl. As soon as she said that, he walked out of the nursery and went straight to the governor's home to tell the surprising news. Though neither Kristen nor Gareth knew that he was listening to them the whole time and when he left the nursery.
"A girl sounds so familiar to me for some weird reason. So from your planet there is almost as much boys as there is girls?" Gareth asked.
"Yes, in fact girls and boys in my world join together and produce more children."
"How do they do that?"
"Well, it will be hard to understand. But a boy and a girl can join together called marriage. Once they are married they can be together for the rest of there life and have there own children."
"That is amazing, I like your world. So do you choose who you marry?"
"Yes,"
"Can I visit your world some time? It sounds very interesting."
"Maybe."
Kristen wasn't sure what she was saying now. She had totally lost it, she was now showing her identity to a boy she hardly even knows. she told him what love was, what a family is, how you can have your children have children, and how life was out on Earth. Then she asked how he ended up on this planet.
"Well, I came to the children's city when I was four. Or that was what the caretakers told me. None of us really remember what city we were in before of where exactly we came from. We just came here, they don't seem to tell us anything behind that."
"Maybe there is women on this planet, you just haven't met them."
"I have been traveling all around this planet ever since I ran away five years ago. I have not seen a single city with girls. But I have noticed something unusual."
"Unusual?"
"Yes. In a tiny part of the children's city, even further than downtown was a large building. The building was only a couple of stories high, but there was helicopters up on the roof. Dozens of them, I watched as they landed on the roof and came out with half a dozen toddlers. Then a bus would park in front and the men would put the toddlers into the bus to be taken to the children's city. Then I noticed the white sky would open up and more helicopter's would come in to deliver the toddlers. What I don't understand is where are they taking the toddlers?"
Then it all clicked.
"I think I know where they came from."
"Where?"
"From a different planet. The planet must have the mothers give birth to children and any boy that is born is sent to here."
"Well girls seem a lot smarter than boys then. Because I couldn't have figured that out."
"You figured it out pretty quickly." A voice said behind them.
They both turned around and noticed a man with black shades and a black suit was standing. Gareth backed away and another man in a black suit got a hold of him. Kristen began to run off but another man popped out of nowhere and got a hold of her, covering her mouth. The man in the black suit that was standing behind them, walked up to Kristen and Gareth.
"So now that you figured out part of it, I guess you want to here the rest of it." The man said, "Over five generations ago a man of the name Carter James discovered this planet. He found out about the gasses and covered it with a atmospheric dome, that way he could build a society. He decided he wanted to split the cities between age, so the adult city and the children's city. Then he thought about the people. He wanted all boys to live in this society, so he made a deal with another planet. The planet was going to give the society five thousand boys each year to live here for the rest of there life, once they turn four years old. James did not want the boys to find out that they had a mother, nor did he want them to know what a female is. So we had to give a shot to each boy to make sure they don't remember behind the age four. Now that Gareth knows what a girl is you are required to work as a security guard in the governor's home-"
"But I don't want to!" Gareth blurted out.
"It is a requirement sir. Now as for you Kristen Malecoy, you are to be sent to the cells underneath the governor's home."
Kristen tried to decline but the hand covering her mouth didn't let go, and his tight grip made it hard for her to struggle. The main guard led the other two guards out of the nursery and they pushed Kristen and Gareth into the black SUV. They had now handcuffed them and kept them on opposite ends of the car. It was about thirty minutes until they parked in the parking lot of the governor's home. The guards got hold of Kristen and Gareth, Gareth was taken to the governor to be trained, and Kristen was taken the opposite way.
they led her down a narrow hallway until they came to a long staircase down to the third floor underneath the ground. The basement third floor was dusty and grey, she was expecting multiple cell doors but there was only one door at the end of the room. The door was solid and as grey as the rest of the area. the guard opened the metal door and pushed her inside. It seemed surprisingly bright. It had a mattress on the floor with a bright green comforter and a purple pillow, the carpet was full of bright colors, there was a white desk on the side of the hot pink wall, a rainbow colored dresser in the corner of the room, a mini television on a tiny table on the same wall as the dresser, and a cool looking yellow chair close to the bed. The room was large but looked a bit empty, it kind of looked like your bedroom when you first move into your house. Though Kristen knew someone had made a living there for sure.
But there was someone there that she didn't realize. She didn't notice a door that probably led to the bathroom, and a woman in about her forty's came out of it. As soon as she spotted Kristen she stopped short and glanced at her. Kristen did the same thing, just staring at the woman. the woman seemed somehow familiar, as if she had seen her before some years ago. She had dark hair and soft brown eyes, her face gentle and loving. The woman then got out of her trance and walked over to her desk.
"Would you like a snack or anything, I have chocolate." The woman offered.
"S-Sure." She stuttered.
The woman handed Kristen a small silver package. She opened it to find a little bar of milk chocolate inside. The woman sat down on her yellow chair and offered Kristen a seat.
"I haven't seen a girl for over thirty years. It is so amazing to see one once again after all these years. I am Marsha Qwest what is yours?" She asked.
Kristen nearly choked on her chocolate.
"Are you Gareth's mom?" She asked.
"Yes, I am also a mother of four other children. three of them are boys one was a girl." As she said girl she looked down at her feet.
"A girl? What happened to her?"
"She is gone."
"I'm sorry."
"No it's not like that. When my youngest child was born it was a girl. The Governor didn't want to end up having another girl be raised in his society so he was going to kill it. I cried and asked for help all that day, hoping for something to help my baby. Then that night a man came to my room, he wore ordinary clothes unlike the guards in there black suits. He exclaimed to me that he came from a different planet and that he had teleported here. I told him about my baby and he told me that he could take the baby to his home planet and she can be cared for there. He made that promise clear and I agreed to it. So my girl is gone, she is starting a new life on that other planet."
"So who was the man?" Kristen wondered.
"The man was named Christopher Shortz. He mentioned to me that his wife just had a son of the name Cody."
"Cody?"
"You know him?"
"I have been traveling with him, in fact he could be coming down the stairs to save my life right now."
"Really? Oh, I would love to meet Cody. His father was such a good man, is Cody with his father?"
Kristen looked down at her feet, unsure if she should really say that Cody's father had died.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Well, it is great to find you and Cody here." she said, quickly changing the subject.
"So how did you end up here?"
"Well, my mother sent me here. She signed the contract to say she will send her first born to this society. Then she found out her first born just so happened to be a girl. She didn't really want to keep me so she kept pretending I was a boy, she cut my hair. Dressed me up in boy clothes, though she still taught me how to be a girl but be a boy at the same time. When I was sent to the children's city I kept my master of disguise for many years, then when I was about ten years old I got caught as a girl and was sent here. That was when I met Mr. James fifth great grandson and secretly married him. That was when I got my five children."
"Your cell is pretty cute how did you get away with this?"
"Well, after living in a cell for so many years they gave me a chance to decorate my cell." She said.
For a while they talked to each other and then they both soon realized what time of night it was. Marsha let Kristen sleep on her bed and she pulled out an extra blanket for herself to sleep on, on the floor. The mattress seemed worn and old as if it has been used for lots of years. Kristen slept good that night besides the fact that she was locked in a jail cell with the only woman in the whole planet. Marsha seemed to take care of herself pretty well, she kept her hair tidied up, and her clothes nice and clean, and she hasn't seemed to go crazy yet after all the years she had been there. And with Marsha around she knew she would never go crazy.
. . .
Cody worked in the office taking phone calls and writing down notes. He found out the man was named James Qwest. He was going to meet Kristen at a restaurant called Carl's place that night at nine. He had been working at the business for three days now and Kristen had been successfully working at the nursery down the street. Mr. Qwest made a discount on a hotel just across the street since they couldn't quite afford it.
Cody waited to dinner break than was going to work for a couple more hours, and then finally go back to the hotel. A few minutes later and James told him to go have his dinner break. After his dinner of barbecue chicken and bow-tie noodles he finished his shift and walked straight to Carl's. He entered the the restaurant and waited for his table. He felt awkward to tell them for a table for two, so he said a party for four instead. He didn't exactly have a crush on Kristen, nor did he want this to be a date, just a meeting. He knew Kristen liked him, especially when she looks at him.
Cody checked his watch and realized it was twenty after, then thirty, then forty, and suddenly it was ten o'clock. Cody left the restaurant wondering where Kristen had gone, the first place was the Nursery. He ran down the street to the nursery and slammed open the door. The manager stood close by just about to put the closed sign on.
"I am sorry, visiting hours are closed sir." He said.
"No, I am not visiting. Do you know where Kris is?"
"Kris? Well, he was working just a couple of hours ago. And then suddenly three of the governor's guards barged into my nursery and took them away, that was the unusual thing."
"Them? You mean there were two boys taken away?" Cody asked.
"Yes, Gareth Quest and Kris Malecoy. I overheard them saying something about him finding out what a girl was and that he was going to be taken to be trained as a guard. Though he really didn't want to be a guard."
"What about Kris?"
"Oh, they said they were going to take her to some underground cell in the governor's home."
As soon Cody heard about where they took her he darted out of the nursery. He looked around him and called for a taxi. A red taxi parked in front of him and he hopped inside. The man had large sunglasses on and a goatee, and his hair was long and grungy. He turned over to Cody and pulled his sunglasses down to his nose.
"Where to dude?" he asked.
"To the governor's house." He said in a rushed tone.
"Whoa, whoa. Slow down dude, what is with all the rush?"
"I have a special appointment with the governor." He lied.
The taxi driver nodded and drove on. So far none of the buildings looked like it would be the governor's house. Cody imagined the governor's house to look like the white house or a castle or something, but he just had to wait and see. The taxi driver started driving downtown where all the skyscrapers were and then turned off into a small neighborhood. It was now eleven at night and still no sight of the governors house. The taxi driver drove out of the small neighborhood and drove into a city what looked like it fit for the elderly. The city wasn't as large as the adult city or the children's city, but it was fun to look at it. It was made like an old western town. The only things that kind of made it more modern was the oxygen tanks, the metal walkers, and the telephone lines.
Then after checking out the old elderly town they got out to a dessert area. Though there was not a living thing or living plant in the desert. he tried looking ahead to see if he could see the governor's house but it was so dark he couldn't even see the road ahead of him by ten feet. The desert never seemed to end, and the road never turned off or anything. It was now almost midnight. Cody was starting to wonder if he could see the stars but as he looked up through his window all he saw was just a big dark sky of which was the dome. As the taxi drove on it finally hit midnight and he was starting to fall asleep. He didn't realize the governor's home was so far away, he thought it was within the city.
thirty minutes past midnight and the car finally stopped. Cody woke up with a jolt, the taxi driver didn't look at him as he asked for his change and had him get out. Outside was so dark he couldn't see through the window. He opened the door and stepped out to find it felt like he was standing in a desert. He didn't really figure that the governor's home would be two and a half minutes and out in the middle of nowhere. He looked around him wondering where to exactly go for the governor's home. Before Cody could ask for where the house was, the taxi driver turned around and drove off. Cody looked around him and suddenly something got a hold of him and covered his mouth.
"Keep still. We know who you are Cody Shortz." The man whispered harshly in his ear.
He released his hand to allow Cody to speak.
"What do you want with me?"
"We knew you were after the girl and the woman. We made sure that whoever asks to go to the governor's home get sent here. What we want with you is just to keep you away from them, so we are sending you to a different place."
"Where are we?"
"In the middle of nowhere, the Governor's house is the other way. Now come on, we have to go."
Cody's mouth was covered again and he was starting to see a black SUV hiding about ten feet away from him. Cody didn't want to be sent somewhere clear across the society. He had only one chance, he took a big bit into the mans fingers and the man jerked it away. Cody then twisted his wrists to release the mans grip. Then without doing anything else, he started for a run for it.
"There not a single life for miles Cody, you won't be able to survive the heat!" the man shouted out to him.
Cody didn't care, he was going to find Kristen and Mr. Qwest's mother as well. He didn't understand why the man wasn't chasing him, but he had his chance. He ran as fast as his legs could carry and kept going even with his feet getting tired. The man was right about life, as he ran he never ran into bushes or tree's, and even animals. He tried running away from the street, just in case they come down the street by surprise. He kept running until he couldn't bare it any longer. He started to slowly walk, feeling his lungs stinging. He kept on walking, knowing that taking a break would only make his long trip back to the city a lot longer.
He never thought about how late in the night was, because he knew he would fall asleep easier that way. He knew he hadn't even gone half a mile though he had ran the whole time. He knew he would have to eventually take a rest, maybe for the rest of that night. But as he walked on he then realized something, he was going the opposite way of where the next city way. How he found that out was when he ran into a wall. He stumbled into the ground and blinked multiple times to figure out what he ran into. He made sure he wasn't dreaming by feeling it and it was defiantly a wall. He had made it to the wall of the dome, and that just meant he could not go any further than where he was. It was now one o'clock in the morning and his last few nights he hadn't slept well.
He leaned against the wall and almost instantly fell asleep against the wall of the vast dome.
Daylight was streaming through the white sky. James sat up in his bed, hearing things. He looked around him but nobody was around. James, James. Get in your car. It said to him. He looked around him but the voice came from nowhere, it was as if coming from his own head. Get in your car James. The voice ordered. James got up out of bed and decided to follow the order the voice in his head told him. He was about to get dressed and get ready for the day until he heard the voice once again. No time to get ready, get in your car. James nodded to himself and went out to the car with his pajamas.
The voice in his head seemed rushed but calm at the same time. He climbed into the car and started it wondering what other instructions the little voice in his head would say. The Elders town, James. Go to it. James started driving downtown to reach the Elders town. Thirty minutes later and he had reached the town center of the Elders city. Follow the road, James. Follow it.
"But that leads out to the desert." James told the voice in his head.
Follow it James. Follow it. James hesitated, hoping this voice wasn't bringing him into a trap. He drove on out of the Elders town and was now driving into the lifeless desert. Today was a hot day, a day where even in the adult city was in the high 90's. He knew that the desert would be way over the hundreds by now, even this early of morning. He drove on, taking the voices word for it. He knew the road just ended, it ended right where the wall of the dome was. Though he kept on driving, watching out in the desert for anything the voice wanted him to see.
A couple of hours past and he was sure he could see the wall of the dome a few miles miles down the straight street. He kept on driving until he heard the voice again. Stop James. This is it. James stopped right when the voice told him and climbed out of the car. There was nothing in sight from where he could see, it was just the white desert. The dome was still too far away to walk right where he was, but he could still see it. Look to your right, James. James looked more to his right and looked around. He noticed something lying not far from where he stood. He ran over to it to find a boy with his hair so blond it was almost white. He knew who this boy was, and he was hoping he wouldn't meet him out in this situation. James took Cody into his car and lied him in the back seat.
"I have to take him to the hospital, I don't know how long he has been out here." James told the voice.
No time, James. The Governor's house, go to it.
"But he could be dehydrated and maybe even had a heat stroke. These kind of situations need a doctor, we need to go to the hospital."
The boy will be fine, James. Go to the Elders town and get water. James sighed at the disagreement with the voice in his head, but he turned around back towards the elders town. A couple of hours later and he was seeing buildings of the elders town. He drove to the closest store and asked the cashier for an ice cold water bottle. The cashier gave him the water bottle, he paid for it, and he darted back to his car. Kiss it, James. Kiss the water.
"Why?" He wondered
Kiss it, James. You will find out. James grumbled, wondering what a stupid thing the voice in his head was saying. So far he realized the voice was bringing him to save someones life, so this water bottle must go along with it. He sighed and gave a quick peck against the plastic of the water bottle. Now give the water to the boy. James knew water would defiantly help him, but why kiss it? He opened the cap and fed some of the water to Cody. Suddenly Cody's bright blue eyes snapped open. He sat up choking on the water James had put in his mouth. He looked around and then looked up at James. Good work. James smiled, happy to find out that Cody was okay.
"Mr. Qwest, what are you doing here?" Cody asked.
James didn't know how to answer that.
"I had a good feeling to go out to the dessert and I found you." He told him.
"No, but that water. What did you do that?"
"I don't know."
Don't lie to him, James. He knows about your kind.
"My kind, how does he know?" James shouted to the voice in his head.
Cody seemed confused, unsure why James was yelling at himself. James turned back to Cody.
"A voice led me to you." James told Cody.
"A voice? Wait, what about the water? How did you do that?" Cody asked.
"The voice told me to... kiss it." He said, as he said 'kiss' he seemed to say it in disgust.
"Oh, you must be a Halix then." Cody said.
"A Halix, how? I have never heard of such a thing before."
"A Halix is a humanoid who have certain abilities. I don't know them all, probably because a Halix can only use them if he or she knows about how to use them. It can't just come to you suddenly. The voice told you to kiss it, because it turned the water into a healing potion. The bad thing about a Halix, is they can't bare to have strong technology. It hurts them. To prove it that you are a Halix is there is a tiny mark in the back of your neck that represents you as a Halix." Cody told him.
James thought about what Cody told him. He never really liked the strong technology in the adult city because it gave him a bad migraine, now he knows why. Then he thought about the mark in the back of his neck, his caretakers always told him that, that mark was just a birthmark. But it was more than a birthmark, it was a sign to prove he wasn't human. He had a hard time putting this all together, he never thought he could be that different from everybody else in this society.
"So I am not human?" He asked
"No. But you are not the only Halix in this society. You have your family too that is also Halix." Cody told him.
"But that can't be, I never thought I would come from a different planet."
"Well, now that you know. I would keep on following what that voice is telling you." Cody suggested.
James nodded and waited in his drivers seat to see if he could hear the voice again. Now you know, James. You have the boy conscious. The governor's house now, James. Go to it. James started the car again and drove on towards the adult city.
"what did the voice tell you?" Cody asked.
"He told me the governor's home."
Cody grinned as he heard that. James started getting into downtown and then he turned off towards the governor's home. He kept driving until the house was coming into view. Cody unbuckled and hopped to the front seat to have a better look. The governor's house looked like the mixture of the white house and a castle. It was a building Cody wouldn't ever have imagined. James parked the car a block away from the building, hiding it behind the tree's. He climbed out of the car and Cody came right after him. James and Cody started heading to the front door until the voice said, Not the front door. James told Cody to follow him and he started heading to the side of the building.
barbed wire blocked off the sides of the buildings but James knew the building enough. He walked over to a gate going into the side of the governor's house and easily typed in the password for the gate to open. The gate beeped saying it is now open and they got through the gate.
"How did you-"
"The governor is my brother." He whispered to Cody.
"But why is your brother keeping your mother imprisoned?"
"Because he has no other choice, he is not the only one in charge. There is someone in a higher level than him."
James led Cody to a side door and he typed in the password to get into the doorway. the door clicked open and they were inside the building. The marble hallway was empty, not a single guard around. Even though they didn't see anybody, they didn't dare to make a single peep. James led Cody to the elevator. He was about to press the button to go down to the third level down, but the voice said, the stairs, James. The stairs. James nodded and led Cody down the hallway to the stairs. He typed in the password and the stairway door silently clicked open. He softly closed the door and they started down the stairs, trying to be as quite as they could. Further down they suddenly heard voices. They looked down and noticed the governor was there with his two highest guards.
They were starting to head up the stairs to the main floor. James started to panic though he couldn't tell if Cody was or not. He led Cody down a couple more flights of stairs and quickly typed in the password to the second floor down. They were coming from the fifth to the bottom floor so they were almost to where they were. James was such in a hurry trying to get through the door the password declined. James sighed, his forehead getting sweaty. He typed in the password again and it finally clicked open. James and Cody ran into the door and quickly closed it right when the governor and his two men got to that floor. they started to run down the hall, hoping not to get caught by any of the guards on the floor.
They reached the end of the hallway and tried opening the closest doorway. It was locked, James looked around for the keypad but it needed a key to get inside. He sighed and started to hear voices down the hallway. He pulled out some pic lock supplies and started to pic lock the door. The men had spotted them and they had no choice but to go through the door they were pic locking. James finally was able to pic lock the door and he ran into the room. He quickly grabbed a chair and blocked the doorway, making sure they won't go through.
James turned around and a big smile came over his sweaty face. A boy about fifteen or sixteen was roped against a chair with duct tape over his mouth. James came over to the boy and started untying the ropes. After he was loosened, the boy pulled off the duct tape.
"Gareth, what are you doing here?" James asked the boy.
"I know what a girl is now James. But that is why I am here. Since I know what a girl is now, they wanted me to be a security guard. But I didn't want to. So I ran for it and so they tied me up." Gareth said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, now we have to save your mother." James told him.
"Well Kris is down there too." Gareth added.
"Is that where that girl went?" James asked.
Both Cody and Gareth nodded at James' question. Gareth put his ear against the door, listening for anybody close by. He put a thumbs up.
"I know exactly where they put them, follow me." Gareth whispered to Cody and James.
James moved the chair from the doorway and Gareth slowly opened the door. Gareth peeked over and noticed nobody in sight. He made a thumbs up and he led them back towards the stairs. The governor and his two guards were already long gone probably already to the main floor. they piled out of the doorway and silently went down the one flight of stairs to the third to bottom floor. On the underground third floor was just a large grey room. At the furthest wall was the big metal door. They ran over to it and James then realized there was no keypad, but the door was locked. there was no doorknob, which just meant there was no keyhole to pic lock.
Look up, James. Look up. James looked up above the doorway and noticed a keypad up above. Now James was a short man and the keypad was way above his reach. He turned to Gareth.
"Gareth, I need a lift." James told his brother.
Gareth nodded and got down on his hands and knees. As for Gareth he was tall for his age, in fact he was taller than James. So it just so happened that Gareth's older brother was actually lighter than him. James hopped into his back and started to type in the password but it declined. He typed it again and it still declined, he did this multiple times but it just declined. He was sure it was right, he even typed it in nice and slowly, making sure he got exactly what he was typing in. After time after time of not getting the password right James pounded against the keypad and got off of Gareth's back. All three of them stared at the doorway wondering how else to get through it.
"It's Femalecell." a voice said behind them.
They turned around to find the governor standing behind them, his hands reached into his pockets. There were no body guards around him, it was just him alone.
"But Mason, I thought you can't let us into the cell." James told his Governor brother.
"No, but she is my mother. It is not the governments choice this time... it's mine. I can't bare to have my own mother and another girl stuck inside that cell in my house for the rest of there lives. I might as well loose my job to save my own mothers life." He told them.
At first they just stared, wondering really what to say. James smiled and ran over to give his older brother a hug.
"Thank you brother." He said to Mason.
As James hugged Mason, Gareth quickly typed in the password and the door clicked open. They stopped hugging each other and walked into a surprisingly bright colored room. The two girls were sitting on the colorful floor playing a game of chess of what looked like Kristen was winning. The four of them ran into the room and the girls stood up with bright smiles on there faces. Marsha gave her three sons a hug of gratitude and Cody walked over to Kristen. Kristen ran over to Cody and gave him a grateful hug for saving her. A few minutes later and the hugging and kissing was over and the boys led the two girls out of the cell.
"Oh my sons, thank you for saving my life after all these years. Now where is our fourth son?" She asked.
"Yah, where is our little brother Steven."James wondered.
"Well, Joshua is probably still over at the children's city doing his job as the president." Mason said.
"Wait, we know Joshua. We met him while we were in the children's city." Kristen mentioned.
"Yep, that's our brother. So, should we go see him after all these years mother?" Mason asked his mother.
There mother nodded and they started heading upstairs to the main floor.
"The guards don't know I am releasing my mother and the girl. I had them all go for there dinner break, so follow me to the car and we can drive over to the children's city." Mason told the others.
Mason led them out of the side door and out to a fifteen passenger van out in the parking lot. Mason took the drivers seat and the rest took the back seats and he started driving out of the parking lot.
"Buckle up ladies and gentle men, we have a long drive to the city." Mason told them.
Both Kristen and Cody knew that after the long bus ride. They buckled up taking Mason's (or the governor's) request and Mason drove on towards the Children's city. This time Kristen and Cody could see out the windows as they drove back to that other city. While on the road, Marsha told her sons about the secrets they never knew. Then everybody(except for the driver of course) fell asleep as Mason took them to the children's city. A few hours later and Mason was getting into the city. They all woke up as he mentioned they were there. They looked out the window and noticed not a single person out in the streets. Not one of the cars were driving down the streets, most of the stores said 'closed', garbage blew everywhere, and not a single sound.
"What happened to everyone?" Gareth asked.
"Don't know." Mason said.
"Now I thought you were the governor of the entire society, wouldn't you know why?" James asked him.
"I am afraid not, it seems like the city was abandoned just recently. As if an hour or two ago." Mason said, driving slowly down the abandoned street.
Though not a single soul was seen through windows or streets, Mason still drove on towards the Town building of which they expect Joshua to be in. Once they parked into the town building, they piled out of the van and looked around. James walked over to the door and quietly rung the buzzer. Nobody answered. He did it again. Still no answer. they waited a few minutes but they didn't even hear voice inside the building.
"I know he is here." James said.
"Why is that?" Gareth asked.
"Because I know."
James went over to the message box and held down the button.
"Joshua, its us. It's your brothers, can you open the door." James said through the message box.
There was no reply.
"Joshua, we know you are there. Please, let us in."
Still no reply.
"If you think we are bad guys then why would he tell you that your mother is with us too."
James waited a few moments to let his brother think about it. Suddenly, the doors swung open and they entered the building. James led them down the hallway until they got to the familiar door of Joshua's office. Mason opened the door to find Joshua, standing at the doorway, holding a pistol. As soon as he saw them, he put the pistol down on the ground.
"J-just h-had t-to make sure." He said walking back over to his desk.
"Joshua, why is the streets empty." Mason asked his younger brother.
Joshua pointed at Marsha.
"I-is t-that my m-mother?" He asked, not paying attention to Mason's question.
"Yes son, but can you answer your older brothers question." Marsha told him.
"The f-federation ordered all the p-people to evacuate because the Governor had gone missing and also the female prisoners. I s-stayed b-because I didn't want to l-leave. Now I k-know that it was j-just the governor was just p-put back together with h-his family. I am g-guessing you came for me so I c-can finish the l-link." Joshua stuttered.
"Yes, you have figured it out my brother. Our family is back together." Mason agreed to his conversation.
"No." Marsha told them.
They looked at her, confused of why she said no.
"My daughter, she is not here. Your father isn't either. They are both not even on this world, if not dead." She said.
"So we don't have all of us together right now?" Gareth rephrased.
Marsha nodded.
"Well, I need to go tell the federation that the governor is safe and he will be returning soon." Joshua told them.
"No Joshua, I quit. Tell them we found the governor, but he is no longer going to be it any more." Mason said.
Joshua nodded and quickly called the federation. When he finished he smiled.
"The children are coming back. They are going to elect a new governor next week." Joshua said.
"Well now that we have everything put back together, I think it is time for Joshua and me and go now." Kristen mentioned.
Cody looked at Kristen as if he was forgetting something. Cody had already programmed the tele drive but it just needed to be charged in an item first. Kristen pulled out his drive and placed it inside a mug on Joshua's desk. She placed it on the ground and waited for it to charge up.
"Kristen, I have something to tell you before we go. And if we could stay a little longer." Cody said, his voice a bit worried.
"Come on Cody, we got an adventure to catch. You can tell me when we get there." She said patting him on the back.
"But-" Then before Cody could finish she grabbed his hand, touched the cup and they dissapeared from the office.
"I never got to know her name." Marsha said, looking down at her feet.
Meanwhile as they landed on a planet on the other side of the galaxy, Cody crawled up to her. Kristen sat up and smiled, now hoping for what Cody was going to tell her.
"Kristen," Cody sighed, "that was your family."
Chapter 4- the box of Goshenta
"Why didn't you tell me that was my family. My mother was standing right next to me, I talked to my real brothers. And oh, does that mean I am a Halix too? I mean I thought I was human. But I am not. Oh yes, she told me all about Halix's besides there power they have to be trained for." Kristen complained
"Kristen I'm sorry." He apologized.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry means you will never do it again. And this only happens once in a lifetime and you just wasted your sorry." She barked.
"Kristen, that was why I wanted to stay. So you can be with your family and get to know them better. " Cody said.
Kristen started to calm down. She sat down in front of him.
"Oh, you mean you didn't mean to just leave my family behind without telling me until we left?" She asked
Cody nodded. Kristen looked around her, regretting what she was so angry about. It was her fault, she made them leave. She even left without saying good bye to her family.
"You were adopted weren't you?"
"You already know the question. But, I don't like to talk about it."
"My dad let your adopted family take care of you. They promised to love you as there own until he finds you again and takes you to explore and find out on your own what your real family is. After he died I took his promise and when I landed in your backyard I knew you were the one my dad was looking for."
"Is that why my family left me?" Kristen asked, tears streaking down her cheek.
Cody nodded.
"I had to do as promised. So I let you have a few adventures to get used to it, then I took you here. I was hoping you would find out for yourself, but it seemed like you needed a little help."
"Well. I know now. I found my family after thirteen years, and found out something new. I am not a human." Kristen looked around her and leaned forward, "Now about the technology thing. How come technology on Earth doesn't hurt me nor does your teleportation?" She asked
"Technology is wimpy compared to other technology out of our solar system. In fact it is so wimpy it doesn't hurt you. Now for the tele drive, it is the drive itself that is technological, not the teleportation."
"Now why didn't you let me see the screen when I first met you?"
"Because I didn't want you to find any suspicions once you see it. I didn't want you to find out too soon."
Kristen nodded they were done with the conversation. Now that they were done talking, they started to look around more. They were in a small village, it felt to Kristen and Cody like they were in the middle ages. The roofs were made of layers and layers of straw, the houses themselves were made of wicker and gravel. Every home was candle lit by the most unusual looking candles, the streets were just dirt roads, and then the handcarts and wheelbarrows instead of cars. They both stood up and looked up at the sky. There were six moons in the sky, each one a different size than the other. Around those moons were the most stars Kristen had ever seen even on Earth. While they stood out into the sky watching the millions of stars up in the sky, an old man rushed out of his home towards them.
"Close your eyes children! We can't let the curse get to you." the man said.
Cody and Kristen looked at the old man wondering what was happening.
"Why?"
"Just close them, and I will lead you into my house." He said grabbing there hands.
Both Cody and Kristen didn't understand fully, but they closed them and the man led them into his house. He led them through the hallway and into a small room.
"Now you may open them." He said.
They both opened there eyes. The old man offered them a seat. He looked around him and rushed around the room, grabbing boxes and squares.
"Don't look at the boxes. The curse is poisoning out village and we can't let newcomers have it too."
"What curse?" Kristen wondered.
The man stuffed the boxes in a cupboard and locked it. He rushed over to them and sat down on the ground in front of them.
"The curse. The curse has been known for over two thousand generations. It is called the Box of Goshenta, it is indeed a very serious curse. The box of Gushenta has been closed for those many generations until just a few days ago a man had opened it. This curse has spread throughout the village going into your eyes, and once it is in your eyes it won't leave until you are done for. How you know you have the curse is when you see the box."
"How do you know what box it is?" Cody asked.
"You know it once you see it. It happens right when you catch the curse. Once you see the box of Goshenta then you are now threatened of a deadly curse."
"Wait, you didn't tell us it was deadly." Kristen mentioned.
"You don't die instantly." the old man made a wheezy cough, "The longer you have the curse the worst it will get, and then soon it becomes too much and-" He stopped.
Kristen and Cody both knew what the answer was and they didn't want to answer it for him.
"What do we do?"
"I brought you in to... protect you." The old man seemed to have a hard time.
His eyes started rolling back and he was starting to black out. Cody kept him sitting up.
"Are you alright?"
The man shook his head, his pale skin going paler by the second.
"You have the curse." Kristen said.
The old man nodded.
"I... was... the first one... who got... the... curse. Leave me... children, I-I am... dying."
Kristen started crying, not wanting the man to die. The man coughed again and placed a folded piece of paper in Kristen's hand and closed her fingers around it. Kristen made a wry smile, unsure what to say. She placed it in her pocket, hoping to find out what it has when it was a good time.
"Leave me!" He coughed.
Kristen stood up, her hands cupped over her mouth. The old mans dying grey eyes were looking up at Cody, then they closed, and he died. Kristen was choking in tears, unsure what to say while seeing a man die from a curse. Cody walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her, his eyes full of sorrow. They didn't know what to say, they didn't want it to happen to him, and they don't want it to hit them too. Though the curse had already overwhelmed the sweet old man. They couldn't leave the village now, they entered the village and they now probably carried the curse at least now. Kristen left the room and Cody followed her out, then they walked out of the house and Kristen burst of out in more tears at the mans doorstep.
Sunrise was coming in opposite directions and starting to brighten up the small village. A tall woman came out of her house and waved her arm towards her to show to come towards her. Kristen had stopped crying. They walked over to the woman. She had little round glasses around her light brown eyes, you could see her as a librarian. She offered them to go inside and to have some breakfast. They followed her into the kitchen and noticed a bunch of children sitting at the table. They all had glasses on, and none of them looked like each other. There was two seats probably for Kristen and Cody, the woman said those seats were for them. Once they sat down the woman stood at the table and folded her arms.
"We are grateful to find two more children uncursed since this has started. I have gathered all of the children of this village who have no curse upon them. We now are going to give our two gods a vote of thanks." She said.
"Are you cursed?" Kristen asked the woman."
"Oh goodness me, no. I am one of the few adults who hast not receive this unfriendly curse. Now let us pray."
All the children clasped there hands together and put there heads down. The woman did the same.
"Dear goddess's of our village. Help us to keep this dreadful curse from these innocent children at this table. Help us also to find a way to bring the curse back into it's box, and that the rest of our people may be saved. We thank thee goddess's of our village, we thank thee for saving these children from this curse. We praise you goddess's and we now end our prayer to you. Amen."
In unison the children said amen together and they opened there eyes. Right after they said amen, they started eating. Kristen and Cody sat at the table, feeling awkward and not hungry. Cody ate little bites but Kristen just played with her breakfast the woman offered.
"I'm Liliana by the way." The woman said as she sat down at the large table.
Cody nodded but Kristen wasn't really paying attention. She pounded her fork against the table and stood up.
"Wheres the bathroom?" She asked unlike herself.
Liliana pointed towards the hallway. Kristen ran over to the hallway and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Kristen sat down and leaned against the bathroom wall, light was streaming through the tiny window up above. She started crying again, she had too much going on in her mind. That day was too full of surprises and it wasn't helping what she was going through. She wasn't expecting to find her real family, then find out she was not human, then can't leave the village without taking the curse with her, finding out that she had landed in a cursed village, and then being with a dying man who died in Cody's arms. She didn't like how that day was going.
At the table the children finished there breakfast and went outside to play. Liliana knew what they were going through and didn't bother, so she went outside with the children also. He felt bad that Kristen never got the chance to see her family as Cody told her that it was her family to begin with. He knew with how he handled the situation with Kristen he would just have to leave her alone for a chance. So he went outside to play with the rest of the children. They were playing ball in the empty yard. He noticed all the box looking objects were all dumped into a pile on the corner of the yard. None of the children payed any attention to the pile of boxes and he didn't blame them.
It started getting later in the day. The two suns from the west and the east were now starting to intercept each other. He watched the two suns as they looked liked they joined together to make into one sun. Then he watched as they departed and then go down on the West and the East, just like how they came up. Of course the children didn't play outside the entire time, though Kristen had been in the bathroom all day, and Cody had been looking at the intriguing suns all day. Liliana tried to feed Kristen food by sliding underneath the door, but she would push it back. She wouldn't talk to anybody who is asking her anything, and wouldn't eat. It seemed a bit harder for her to understand than what Cody thought.
That night Liliana showed Cody to his room which shared with four other boys. She tried getting Kristen out of the bathroom but she would just say to go away. After Cody had gotten on the pajamas that Liliana had handed to him, they went over to the front sitting area to have a small meeting. The sitting area wasn't much, it was in fact empty except for a couple of plants and mats to sit on. It was meant for a sitting area, but not a sitting area with couches and chairs. The children, Cody, and Liliana sat down in a circle in the sitting area and Liliana started the meeting.
"Well, it sure has been quite a day for both you Cody, and your friend. I have never seen such an upset child before, she must have gone through a lot."
Cody nodded at her opinion.
"But the day is now over. Hopefully she will come out of her hiding place tomorrow, or possibly even tonight. But we should still give her a chance, as long as she doesn't starve herself in that bathroom." Liliana then straightened up, "Now children, I thank you for welcoming in our newcomers.Cody has told me a little bit about him, he is from an Earth from afar. Now it sure has been a first to find a human come to our planet-"
Cody then inturupted surprised,
"Wait, you guys are not human?" He asked.
"Why no, hasn't you figured that out yet. We are Stillkans, people who come from the Carshians. Is it because of our body shape being so close to yours?" Liliana asked.
Cody nodded.
"Of course, the difference between you and us is our fingers, have you seen our fingers yet?"
Cody shook his head. Lilian showed her fingers to him, they were webbed. They were webbed fingers, but they were still skin color. Cody understood. So the meeting continued on, they talked about the curse, the children, the history, what was there plan for that week, and who was going to get some food from the farmlands for tomorrow. Suddenly, the door down the hallway squeaked open. They peeked over to find Kristen walking down the hallway, her face as pale as a ghost, and her lips purple. She slowly walked down towards them, her hands shaking at her side. She came into the sitting room. Then saying under her breath, she said:
"I saw the box." and she collapsed on the ground.
. . .
The children began to panic, knowing that the curse was now running around in there home. Cody had run over to Kristen and Liliana helped in take her to a bed. He didn't know what to do, Kristen had the curse. He didn't want her to die or they'd have to stay on this planet forever. He wasn't sure what to do, he needed to get rid of this curse and everybody else's curse in this village. Though he didn't know a lot about the curse he knew some of what it does, and he was seeing it with his own eyes. He needed to know how the children in the room were immune to it, and he was having a feeling that maybe he wasn't immune to it.
While it got later and later in the night, the children were now finally sleeping in there beds. Cody laid there, thinking of how to get rid of the curse and save most of the village. For hours and hours of the night, he lay there not sleepy and full of questions and wonders. Then it clicked, he sat up in bed and ran over to Liliana's room. As soon as he opened the door of her bedroom she snapped awake and sat up in her bed.
"Liliana, I think I am starting to figure it out!" Cody said.
Liliana got off her bed and lit up a candle. She led him to the kitchen so they could sit down on the chairs.
"What is your thoughts?" She asked.
"Your glasses. All of the children who are immune to this curse have glasses including you. Your glasses must use as a force field or something and keeps the curse from getting to your eyes. Neither Kristen or I wear glasses and I am probably going to get it sooner than later. And I also figured something else out, I think I know how to get rid of the curse."
Liliana started getting full of excitement, she looked around her and put a finger up, saying she will be right back. She left the room and returned with a pair of reading glasses. She handed it to Cody.
"This is all I can do. They are just reading glasses, and are probably too strong for your eyesight, but they will do." She smiled.
"Thank you." He put the reading glasses on, "What I figured out was that the box of Goshenta was opened and the curse was let out. Well, what if we close it? What if we close the box, the curse would have to leave because its source would be closed down."
"That is brilliant Cody, but here is the problem. There is only one man who knows what the box is, and that is Hans Manktrot, and he died just a couple of days ago."
"Do you mean that man that we saw when we first got here was the man who opened the box?" He asked.
"By accident. He was a good man, he just didn't know that he was setting out a deadly curse once he opened it." She cried.
Liliana then yawned and the conversation was over. They had a plan and she was going to discuss it tomorrow with the rest of the children. The next day she did as she promised herself, but didn't mention about how the curse couldn't be stopped. The children were quite excited when they found out about the glasses and being immune and it brightened up the day a little bit more. Cody knew how the two suns worked and decided to stay inside that day. He came to Kristens bedroom every once in a while to check on her. Then when the two suns were just departing meaning the beginning of afternoon Kristen gained consciousness. Cody ran over to her and she sat up in her bed, her face still pale.
"I... have something... for... you." She said, trying to speak.
Kristen's hands shook as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper from her pocket. As she placed it into his hand Cody could feel her hand icy cold as if she touched the snow for a very long time. Cody clenched on the paper, knowing this could be important. He didn't really see the man put the paper in Kristen's hand the other day, but he knew wherever it came from it was probably important. He left the room and sat down at the kitchen table. He unfolded the piece of paper to find what looked like a small drawing. He couldn't figure it out, then he noticed words on the top. It read: Note: Keep is under town square. Cody looked at the picture and realized that the picture was a map.
Without telling anybody, Cody ran out of the house and came up to the town square. He looked around him, and felt around for a door. All the lime Stone looked intact and unmovable. Cody tried looking for larger cracks in the lime stone, but they all looked like they were pasted together pretty well. Then he started knocking, hoping to hear something hollow. He crawled around the town square trying to listen for anything hollow. Suddenly, as he got to the middle lime stone of the square, he heard a hollow opening. He looked around for a crack or latch but still couldn't find the one or the other. He looked around him, looking for something useful to break open the lime stone.
Then he noticed a wheelbarrow leaning against one of the empty houses. He ran over and grabbed the wheelbarrow and wheeled it to the town square. Grabbing the two handle bars and having the wheel facing straight down, he started hitting the wheel against the lime stone. It made a small crack in the stone, but not big enough to break with your hands. He hit the wheel hard against the stone multiple times, getting only a little crack at a time. After getting a good size crack in the stone, but still not enough to break through all the way, Cody put the wheelbarrow down and took a rest. His arms were exhausted from the weight of the wheelbarrow, and needed a long break. As soon as Cody sat down to take a rest Liliana ran over to him.
"Cody, what are you doing?" She asked.
Cody pulled off the reading glasses and looked up at Liliana. He got up too his feet and put his hands on his hips.
"Just.. I... I think I know where the vault is." He told her.
"But there's not a door there Cody. I have looked for it multiple times, and it is not there." She said.
"I know, but underneath this stone is hollow." Cody mentioned.
Liliana sighed.
"You must be just hearing things than, because it is not hollow."
"Try it than, knock against the stone." Cody said.
Liliana sighed again, but bent down. She put her ear to the stone and started knocking. She looked back up to Cody with a face saying she believed him now. Then she took her elbow and pounded it against the stone. Suddenly the stone shattered and there was an opening in the stone. Cody hadn't realized how strong you would have to be to have broken the stone. He stood in shock as Liliana brushed the lime stone off her elbow. She smiled.
"Well, it looks like we have a passage way now." She said looking down into the dark hole.
Cody looked down too and nodded. He wasn't even sure if he should really jump, he couldn't even see the bottom with how deep it was.
"So I guess I am coming with you to find the box than." She said pushing a hair from her face with her webbed hand.
Cody nodded. Than before he could say anything else the woman jumped into the hole. He looked around him to make sure he wasn't being watched, closed his eyes, and then jumped into the hole. For a while it felt like he was falling, until the hole curved and he was going down like a slide. He went sliding down the hole and landed hard on a large pule of sticks or something like that. He looked down from the pile to see Liliana lighting a torch. Then as the room lit up he realized that he was sitting on a pile of bones. Cody quickly hopped off the pile of bones and landed at first feet first, and then falling flat faced against the ground.
Liliana helped him up to his feet and he looked around him. There was a deep hallway close by and not a single torch was lit in there.
"I would put those glasses back on you Cody, this is probably the wrong time to not protect yourself." She said, keeping eye contact on the dark hallway. Liliana led the way out into the hallway, Cody grabbed a torch she had lit and followed behind. The hallway seemed to last forever as they walked down it. Then after they thought it was the end of the hallway, it turned off to another never ending hallway. They continued down the hallway and then it turned off once again. This hallway wasn't as long and it then opened into a vast room. At the corner of the room was an open wooden box. The box had beautiful designs on it and it looked almost like a mini treasure chest. The open box had streams of yellow fog coming out of it and going down the hallway.
Liliana came up to the box and looked into it, suddenly the fog started coming up towards her. Cody tried to stop her but the fog climbed into her mouth and she collapsed on the ground. Cody ran over to her and asked if she was okay. Suddenly her eyes snapped open, her eyes were yellow and creepy. She stood up her webbed hands clenched.
"I am Goshenta, goddess of the third moon." Liliana's voice sounded nothing like her own, it sounded foggy and screechy.
"Give Liliana back Goshenta, this is wrong." Goshenta turned over to Cody and seemed to fly over to him.
"How dare you speak out of turn Human. For I am free from that box, all I needed was a body to overcome, and I have received my wish. You are now my slave Human, so bow before me." She ordered.
Cody shook his head.
"I will not." He said strongly.
Goshenta hissed at him.
"BOW! Or you shall receive the consequences." She shrieked.
Cody stood up, staying confident. Goshenta screamed a blood curdling scream and cast her arm at him. Cody went flying across the room, hitting the wall hard.He heard a crunch and the pain ran up his left arm as it hit the wall. He cried in pain, and tried to get his breath back. Goshenta paid no attention to him, but was saying some ancient language looking up at the ceiling. Cody sat up, resisting the pain in his arm. He started crawling with his one good hand over to the box. Goshenta then stopped and blinked multiple times.
"What are these things on my eyes!" The screamed.
She pulled the glasses off and threw them on the ground, one of the lenses falling out. Cody slowly kept coming closer and closer to the box, stopping whenever the woman stopped speaking. He was getting closer to the box, but Goshenta was starting to finish her speech to the goddesses. He could almost touch it, but he was too low down. He started to stand up and was ready to close the box until Goshenta stopped and turned to him.
"NO!!!!" She cried, flying over to him.
Cody quickly slammed the lid shut and Goshenta starting cackling.
"Though the curse is now gone, I am already out of my prison." She said, cackling some more.
Cody didn't know what to do, he never thought about Goshenta staying out. Then he noticed a small opening in the wall, too small to fit a person, but big enough to bring light to a certain spot in the room. He then realized it was almost midnight, which meant the three moons will be joining together. Cody slowly walked over to the light and looked up to see the moons almost to there positions for midnight. Goshenta shrieked discovering Cody getting away from her.
She flew over to him and he took a step back from the light. Goshenta was now sitting in the moonlight. She was standing right in front of him but couldn't move. It was as if someone, or something was strangling her. She looked up and noticed the three moons were now together. Goshenta screamed trying to get away from the grasp of her two moon sisters. The yellow fog was coming out of her mouth and going up to the sky, and then she fell on the ground. Cody looked up at the two moons who were now departing once again to there own ways.
He then ran over to Liliana, unconscious. She took a gasp of air and her eyes flickered open.
"I guess your more than I thought you were." She smiled.
Cody helped Liliana up to her feet, she looked so much different without her glasses. She looked around her and noticed the box closed.
"You closed the box Cody, the curse is broken." She cheered.
"Yah we got that, but how are we going to break out of here?" he wondered.
Liliana looked around her. That was the question, the entrance was only a one way entrance.
"Well, how did Hans Mankrot get out of here?" She asked.
That was a good question. Then Cody remembered the map. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the map. He found the entrance, and followed it down the snaking hallways to the room. There was a room down the hallway that he hadn't realized. He starting to figure that, that must be the exit than. He showed this to Liliana and she nodded. They started running down the hallway until they noticed rocks had fallen and blocked the way. Cody hadn't noticed that while Goshenta was calling up to the goddesses, it was shaking the ground and breaking the rocks.
"Is there another exit?" She asked.
Cody looked back at his sheet of paper. He shook his head, there really was no way out. They walked back to the room and leaned against the wall. The moonlight had long since gone from the crack and the room was pitch black. When they entered the room the fire had burnt out on both Cody's and Liliana's torches. The rest of the night they slept against the wall of the vault, unsure what else to do.
daylight then started to stream in the hole in the ceiling. Cody woke up and looked up at the cloudless sky, it was nearly noon already. Liliana woke up and walked up to notice the time too. She turned to Cody and nodded.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Cody asked, wondering why she just nodded at him.
"Move out of the way." She said backing away.
Whatever she was doing, Cody knew he should follow what she told him to do. He backed away to find Liliana running up to where he was before. She ran up to the spot and was suddenly doing a hand stand kicking the ceiling around the hole. She kept kicking until suddenly there was a large hole, big enough to fit a human. Liliana was a tall woman, but Cody never thought that she could reach that hole with here feet.
"H-how did you do that?"
"I'm stronger than you think." She said coolly, she seemed like a different person without her glasses.
"So how did you know where to go, you don't have your glasses on." Cody wondered.
"The glasses are just to show I am harmless and naive. I can see without them." She smiled.
Cody was glad she told him that. Because back on earth, woman who look like librarian's normally look harmless and naive. Liliana helped Cody up to the ceiling and he climbed out. Outside looked unfamiliar to him, it seemed like they were miles away from the village. He was standing in a meadow with dozens of flowers and long grass. Liliana easily climbed out of the hole, as soon as she came up on top she brushed the dirt off her dress and started walking towards the village.
"How did we end up clear over here?" Cody asked.
"Well, if you added the long slide to the vault, and then the snaking and very long hallways, and then to add the giant room, than we had traveled a few miles from town square by now. " She said, not keeping eye contact.
Cody couldn't argue with that, it did seem like miles for him to get to the room with the box. They continued down the meadow heading towards the small village. Though it was a long walk and hunger was coming to both of them. Liliana looked around for any food but all there was, was just flowers. Even though there hunger was increasing, they continued on for the village. Hours later and they spotted the village ahead.
A few minutes later and they entered the village. People were buzzing around doing there normal work and the village seemed to be filled with more joy. It was almost after six, for the suns were almost setting behind the mountains. They walked over to Liliana's house to find none of the children there, they were probably back with there families. Kristen was sitting at the table, eating her dinner. When she saw Liliana and Cody and got up and gave Cody a hug.
"There's dinner on the table by the way. The children made it and then left right after they ate." Kristen said, taking a bite of the odd food on the table. Liliana and Cody both smiled, for they hadn't ate all day. They sat down at the table and ate with there own enjoyment. After they ate, Liliana went to her bedroom and came back wearing another pear of glasses . Liliana then suggested that it would probably be good to go now. So Liliana bid Kristen and Cody farewell and they left her house.
"Cody, I want to go back." Kristen said.
"Go back, go back where?" He asked.
"I want to go back to the other planet, where I met my family for the first time." Kristen told him.
Cody nodded, not arguing for not going back to see her family again. For that was his secret he had kept ever since he met her, his secret was that she wasn't human. But he also had another secret that he hadn't told her, and he wasn't sure if she was quite ready for it yet. He pulled out his drive and starting his normal programming and then looked around for an object to put it inside. He then pulled out the piece of paper that Kristen gave to him, and he wrapped the drive around it. He place it on the ground and it began it's normal charging glow and they both touched it.
As they landed on the atmospheric white shell, they looked around for the door. Knowing what being outside of the shell does to you. Cody stood up and looked around, but they were supposed to be pretty close to the same spot they were when they first got there. Suddenly there was a shrilling whistle, for a while they didn't know what it was. Then they noticed a huge asteroid, nearly the size of a house come towards the shell. In fact it was coming towards them, at first they just stared at it and then Cody got hold of Kristen and started running. Kristen got up to her feet and started running with him across the slippery dome.
The asteroid was still coming towards them, coming quickly. As it came closer it now was looking like a small village. Kristen slipped and she couldn't get back up. Cody tried getting her to her feet but instead he slipped too. The asteroid was now too close, so close that moving out of the way wouldn't make a difference. They both closed there eyes, knowing this would be a quick death. Suddenly they felt the shell tremble and heard it breaking, and then hearing the loud thud as the asteroid hit the ground down below. Cody opened his eyes and noticed the asteroid had just barely missed them by inches, in fact almost centimeters to his body.
Chapter 5- Shooting star
Kristen started crying with joy that they hadn't died yet. Cody got down on his belly and looked down into the vast hole it had created. The asteroid had landed in the lifeless desert, and a large dust cloud and swarmed around it. the asteroid was tall and was tall enough for Cody and Kristen to just jump on. Cody waved his hand to signal Kristen to come here. She got on her belly and noticed the asteroid too. Cody then sat up, having his feet dangling over the sharp opening.
"Are you going to jump?" She asked.
"Yep" and he jumped.
As he landed feet first on the asteroid he yelped in pain. Kristen quickly jumped off and asked him what had happened.
"The side of the hole scratched the back of my legs." He said, sitting down on the rutty ground.
"I was going to warn you about the sharp edges, your legs were technically on the sharp parts of the hole." She said, her hands on her hips. Cody looked up at the hole and looked back over at Kristen.
"Why didn't you warn me than?" He asked.
"You jumped too soon." She mentioned, shrugging her shoulders.
Cody and Kristen looked down off of the asteroid to find it a long way down. About just a fourth a mile away, the downtown of the children's city was and about five feet from the elders village. As Kristen stared down at the two cities, Cody looked up to find the streams of gasses coming into the dome. He turned back to Kristen to find her climbing down from the asteroid. Surrounding the asteroid was the city people wondering what had just happened. Kristen was already halfway down when Cody started taking a step on the rocks.
As he and Kristen and Cody climbed down they suddenly starting hearing screams and cries from down below.
"THERE'S SOMEBODY UP THERE!!!!!!!!!!!" a boy screamed (for there was no woman on this planet).
Kristen looked down and Cody started to notice her sweating.
"Don't look down Kristen!" Cody hollered.
Kristen looked back up at Cody, she looked frightened. She took steady steps down the asteroid, knowing a single slip would bring her death. She resisted to cry or scream as the rocks got harder to grasp on with her sweaty hands. She stepped down on a wide flat surface and waited a couple of seconds to take a small break before continuing down. She looked down, even though Cody gave orders not to to find someone nearby calling on there cell phone for help. She continued down, feeling the chemical from the air around the dome hitting her. She blinked several times, her eyes watering. Even in the height she was in, the air was hot and made her feel more tired.
As she took another step on the rocks one of her hands slipped and she quickly grasped against another one. Her heart pounded in her chest, and goosebumps started forming on her arms. Soon she started to see fire trucks coming towards them and one of them parked below Kristen and they hauled up the ladder. One fire man came climbing up the ladder and he cupped his hands around his mouth.
"We got you, come down towards us!" The firefighter told them.
Kristen started to slowly come down and the firefighter got a hold of her. Quickly the firefighter handed her over to another firefighter, who brought her down off the truck. Cody's legs were aching him and it was hard to climb down. He looked down at his legs to find the two large rips in the back of them, with two large, bloody, gashes in both of his legs. He winced in pain as he took another step down the steep asteroid, Kristen seemed to get down better than he did. Soon his legs were hurting so much he couldn't take another step. One of the firefighters hollered for him to come a little closer but Cody said he couldn't. One of the firefighters started climbing up the asteroid and hooked a rope inside the asteroid, then he got a hold of Cody, and repelled him down to the ladder.
Another firefighter came over and brought Cody down with Kristen. An ambulance was parked next to the truck and Kristen was sitting on the bed, while they checked her blood pressure. They took Cody over to the ambulance, picking him up with his soar legs.
"How on earth did you get up there." One firefighter asked Cody.
"Long story." Cody told him.
The firefighter was checking on how Kristen was doing, and then came up to the other firefighter.
"There both have breathed in the gasses pretty well, and it looks like the gasses are coming into the dome." He said.
The other firefighter nodded and the ambulance took them to the hospital. When they got there Kristen was taken to be contaminated. The doctors wrapped cloth around Cody's legs and helped him to the contaminating room. Then Cody stopped them.
"It's no use to have me contaminated, the gasses have already gotten inside the city." Cody mentioned to the doctors.
"But leaving you without contamination will make you ill." One of the doctors said.
"Yes, but it looks like you need to be in with me than, because I am sure the gasses have already gotten in here."
The doctors but ignored his request and put him inside the airtight room. Kristen was sitting against the wall, humming some song in her head. Cody crawled over, unable to walk very well, and sat next to her. She didn't look at him, but looked up at the ceiling as if he still wasn't there.
"Do you think we are going to find your family?" He asked.
"Maybe," She said lolly, still looking up at the ceiling.
Suddenly she snapped out of her trance and glanced over at Cody.
"Oh hello Cody, when did you come in?"
"I have been in here for a while." he said.
Kristen nodded, and then closed her eyes. It was as if she had laughing gas kicking in her. Cody sighed, unsure if talking to her would really help what was going on. He didn't expect it to happen like this, he was hoping just for Kristen to see her family again and then they leave. But instead it happened where a huge asteroid crashed into the giant atmospheric shell and brought in deadly gasses in with it. He waited for the doctors to open the door again and let them out.
About fifteen minutes later and the door open with a loud hiss. A doctor let them out and another once suddenly injected a needle in both Cody and Kristen's arm.
"Sorry, we just have to check if the gasses you breathed in are stabilized." One of the doctors said.
The next day they let them out. Cody wrapped his arm around her shoulder since they didn't have the money to buy crutches. Cody was able to get a taxi and the driver asked them where they wanted to go.
"Can you take us to the presidents office please?" Cody asked.
The taxi driver nodded and starting driving downtown where the presidents house was. He stopped in front of the large building and they climbed out. They quickly entered the building and was stopped by one of the president's guards.
"We need to speak with the president please, it is kind of urgent."
"What for?"
"Private business, please let us see him." Cody said, getting a bit inpatient.
The security guard let them into the doors and they were walking back towards the president's office. As they walked into his office and the guard shut the door, they noticed the president was a different man. He turned to them and offered them a seat.
"Do I know you?" He asked.
"No, we are wondering where president Joshua and his family had gone." Cody said.
"Well, they said that they went off to explore."
"Explore?"
"Yes, he said that this person called his mother had somehow created this teleportation device taking you around the universe. He said he wasn't going to be back for a while." He told them.
Cody looked at Kristen who didn't know what to say.
"Than we should go find them than." Kristen told Cody.
"Whoa, whoa, the universe is a big place. There would be a bigger chance of running into them, than looking for them." he stopped her.
The president leaned back against his chair.
"Well, I gave you what you wanted to ask. I am a very busy man and I have some paper work to do, you are excused now." He said, with an unwelcoming smile on his face.
Cody and Kristen nodded and they left his office. As they opened the door the guard ran in, pushing the two of them out of the way. He was holding a gas mask in his hand and was just putting on one himself.
"The hole the asteroid broke in is now bringing in gasses. We cannot let us breathe in the air, put this on." the guard said, handing the gas mask to the president.
Kristen and Cody stepped out of his office and walked out of the building. They could hear coughing as everybody was breathing in the gaseous air. A man walking down the street was holding bunches of gas masks handing them to people passing by. He came up to Kristen and Cody handing them a gas mask.
"We don't want one." Cody told the boy.
"Oh but you need to , this is serious of what is going on out here." He said.
Cody sighed and put the mask on. everybody looked creepy with the gas masks on, and it was hard to see through it. Cody looked over at Kristen, wondering what they really should do. They took a cab back over towards the asteroid to find that the police had blocked it off. Up above men from the adult city were working on the hole, trying to seal it up. They knew that once the hole was sealed back up, the air would already be intoxicate with the gasses. So far they hadn't got far in the hole and the asteroid hadn't moved. The people in the elders town were now evacuated and running to the children's city, unsure what else to do. Cody looked around him, unsure himself of how he and Kristen could help. They were only about thirteen and couldn't even drive a car yet. Kristen hadn't quite learned how to be a Halix and Cody was just a very smart human boy.
They decided they were going to stay at a nearby hotel. The taxi driver took them to a hotel and since the last time they were there, they had gathered some change to pay for the hotel. Of course they asked for separate rooms to keep there privacy. As Kristen and Cody went into there separate rooms they both thought about how to get rid of this toxic gasses coming into the community.
It was in fact been a few days they have been inside this hotel wondering what else to do. Now everybody was wearing gas masks and they stopped bringing the children to be raised here. The dome had still not gone far to be sealed up. But that day people started to give up, thinking there was no hope. Some would pull off there masks and weep, for they thought this society was going to die. They all thought wearing a gas mask for the rest of their lives will be unbearable.
Kristen and Cody visited the asteroid many times, trying to figure out how to help. They were going to leave as soon as Kristen meets her family, and her family had not returned. So maybe the hopes would be no family so they go look for them than and leave the planet as soon as possible. Though it didn't work this way, this planet now needed there help whether they wanted it or not. Though many men around were a lot older than the both of them, Cody has gained a lot of experience, and Kristen had almost as much.
Then after being inside there hotel rooms, with nothing else really to do, Cody came out without Kristen struggling down the stairs with his injured legs. The taxi driver took him to the asteroid and he looked up at it, and something started to click. Cody looked up at the dark sky within the hole. Time and space, that was what he was thinking. He wanted to have a closer look at the hole. One of the police officers had noticed he had been there a lot and walked up to him.
"If you tell me how you got up there, sir that other day. Maybe I will tell you where I think that asteroid got here." The officer told him through his gas mask.
Cody glanced over at the curious officer, it was a pretty good deal he made there. Cody led him over to lean against a building of one of the elders buildings so his legs would stop hurting. He told the officer about how they are travelers, he told him about how they had been here before, he told him about them returning here, and then seeing the asteroid coming down and barely missing him. The officer seemed very interested and then when he finished his story the officer agreed to tell him what he knows about the asteroid.
"So according to our sciences, that asteroid was broken off of a sun. It was at first burning and then it cooled down until it was a solid rock. How it cooled so quickly was because it was shooting so fast through the sky. It was like a shooting star coming towards us. If there would have been any obstacle in that stars way, than it wouldn't have gotten to our planet. It would have either barely missed us, or went a complete different direction. Though it had a straight pathway right to us to crash into our world." The officer explained.
Cody seemed to agree on the officers theory. It seemed right, for if you looked up at the sky you can see a small sun miles and miles away. Cody stood up, the answer to his questions getting closer and closer by the second. It was a shooting star, and it had landed in the wrong spot. He thanked the officer and the officer left to do his duties. Cody walked back over to the outer space, staring at the biggest light out there, the sun. That sun was the reason it brought bad luck to this planet. He then got the thought "What if time can be changed.", he had never thought about it. What if he could change time and move the asteroid?
The only question was, how is he going to change time? His drive only moves to places, but it doesn't move to different times. He sat down and needed some time to think. He closed his eyes and tried to remember some useful memories he could use for what was going on. He scanned through his memories and suddenly stopped as he saw Kristen's face when she came to rescue him. She was wearing something he had ever seen before, it was a necklace with a light blue gem. He opened his eyes, unsure what to say. He had once seen a similar necklace before. The necklaces created bridges through time, each necklace according to the color had something different contained of time.
The necklace Kristen had, only went seven days in the past. He had seen ones that go millions of years in the past, or millions of years in the future. Some even gave you false futures and pasts, things that seem unreal but also not. Some even brought you a few minutes earlier from the present. Cody got back up to his feet and starting running back towards the hotel. He quickly called for a taxi and the driver took him back to the hotel. He quickly checked back in and darted towards Kristen's room. He quickly knocked impatiently and she opened the door paranoid.
"What is it Cody?" She asked.
Cody was staring at her necklace, just wanting to just snatch it from her neck.
"I need your necklace." Cody said, a bit rushed.
"What for, I got it was a gift." She said.
"A gift, from who?"
"From that little girl you sent to me, she gave it to me and said that it will be of great use in your future."
Cody didn't know what to say, he never recalled shape shifter's giving gifts.
"Well, I think the time is now. I figured out how to get rid of the asteroid."
Kristen jumped up, her eyes getting wider. She was starting to get excited, she wanted to leave so badly.
"What is it then with my necklace." She asked.
Cody told her about the necklace and what it does and about the history of the asteroid. He than also mentioned something else that he hadn't thought about until now. It was that the portal only takes one person in and out, and whoever goes in has to be the one who creates the portal to get out. Kristen understood, but she wanted to be the one who goes out there.
"But I know what to do." Cody argued.
"But the little girl, she said it is for MY future. Not yours, it is my quest." She argued back.
Cody sighed, he really didn't like to argue. He nodded his head, knowing that she was right. Kristen pulled off the necklace and held it in her hand.
"Now, in order to open the portal. You need to rub the sign in the back of the gem, than release the necklace and it will create a portal for you to climb through." Cody instructed.
Kristen flipped over to find a small sign that she hadn't realized before. She took her index finger and started drawing circles over the sign. She started to feel the necklace vibrating, she released it and it was suddenly hovering in the air. It starting spinning, making a circle getting larger and larger. Kristen turned to Cody but he just nodded for her to go on. She nodded, grabbed the necklace spinning around the opening, and then entered the portal. The portal closed shut and she was standing in a space suit on a large vacant planet.
There was no life, it was just dust. The planet looked like it had never been touched. It wasn't that big, though it was bigger than the asteroid. She looked up to find the burning ball of gas come closer to her. She thought about the straight path it went, and if anything got into its way. It would move off course. She didn't know what to do, this planet was probably just barely off. As she stood there, she than noticed a huge space ship come towards her also. It stopped and another space man came out. He held out his hand to her, wanting her to come into the ship.
"Where did you come from?" He asked, closing the ships door.
Kristen pulled off her helmet.
"I came from the future, and that asteroid is coming straight to a populated planet." She said, pointing at the distant planet miles away.
The man pulled off his helmet and placed it on the floor. In fact he wasn't much of a human, the whites of his eyes were black. Kristen started to feel frightened to see the mans scary eyes.
"It is all right Halix, I am a Sparr from a harmless planet. Though our eyes look scary, we mean no harm to anyone." Kristen understood.
"Can you help me figure out how to move this asteroid out of the way?" She asked.
The Sparr nodded.
"Our ship is vast and very strong. If we put enough power to it, we can push the planet to block the falling star. Of course it will destroy the entire planet, but it will move it off course and it will save that populated planet." He said, impressed with his theory.
"I like it, so should we try it?" She asked.
"But of course Halix." He said bowing.
"Well, my real name is Kristen actually." She said.
"Mes." He introduced bowing down swirling his hand.
Kristen nodded thinking what a different name it was to hear. Mes led her to the control room where all the other Sparr's were. Mes started talking in some kind of foreign language and the Sparr's were suddenly back to work. Kristen stood at the doorway wondering what else to do, she could see out of the large window the asteroid getting closer and closer to the planet. She suddenly felt the ship moving away and she jerked back, not used to flying in space. She felt like she was in Star Trek or something.
The ship got farther enough to push the planet. She was starting to get used to the moving of the ship as it flew back towards the planet. But as it hit hard against the planet Kristen and all the other Sparr's fell over feeling the sudden impact. The captain ordered the others in her odd language, and they got back to there feet and started on the controls again. The ship was now making high, ear piercing screeches and trembling accessibly. Kristen held onto the railing, staying down on the ground. The planet was moving and starting to move towards the asteroids path. The ship started to increase in trembling, then it starting shaking. Mes went sliding out of the room as the ship starting tilting, he hit hard against the hallway wall and Kristen was dangling from the railing she had been holding on the whole time.
The floor leveled out again the trembling suddenly stopped. The captain got up on her feet, she seemed to be cheering for joy.
"The planet is now in stars way!" The captain cheered.
"Well now that we have that, we better get out of here."Kristen suggested.
The captains smile went away and she started making more orders to the others. The ship started to turn around it started to fly as far as it can. One Sparr was counting down from ten as the asteroid came closer and closer to the planet. When the ship got far enough she turned in around and they all watched as the asteroid hit the planet.The entire planet blew up into tiny pieces and the falling asteroid broke up into large chunks and flew off course.
Suddenly Kristen was standing beside Cody in front of Liliana's house. The event never happened so neither Cody nor Kristen remembered what just happened.
"Cody, I want to go back." Kristen said.
"Go back, go back where?" He asked.
"I want to go back to the other planet, where I met my family for the first time." Kristen told him.
Cody nodded, not arguing for not going back to see her family again. For that was his secret he had kept ever since he met her, his secret was that she wasn't human. But he also had another secret that he hadn't told her, and he wasn't sure if she was quite ready for it yet. He pulled out his drive and starting his normal programming and then looked around for an object to put it inside. He then pulled out the piece of paper that Kristen gave to him, and he wrapped the drive around it. He place it on the ground and it began it's normal charging glow and they both touched it.
As they landed on the atmospheric white shell, they looked around for the door. Knowing what being outside of the shell does to you. Cody stood up and looked around, but they were supposed to be pretty close to the same spot they were when they first got there.They waited there for quite a while until suddenly a door opened about fifty feet off. The same boy that had saved them last time was there in his space suit. He brought them down the elevator and they were in the presidents house once again. The boy led them to the president so they can have a talk with him.
As they walked into his office and the guard shut the door, they noticed the president was a different man. He turned to them and offered them a seat. "Do I know you?" He asked.
"No, we are wondering where president Joshua and his family had gone." Cody said.
"Well, they said that they went off to explore."
"Explore?"
"Yes, he said that this person called his mother had somehow created this teleportation device taking you around the universe. He said he wasn't going to be back for a while." He told them.
Cody looked at Kristen who didn't know what to say.
"Than we should go find them than." Kristen told Cody.
"Whoa, whoa, the universe is a big place. There would be a bigger chance of running into them, than looking for them." he stopped her.
The president leaned back against his chair.
"Well, I gave you what you wanted to ask. I am a very busy man and I have some paper work to do, you are excused now." He said, with an unwelcoming smile on his face.
Kristen grumbled and they walked out of his office. The boy took them into the air tight room for a few minutes and then let them out to go freely throughout the city. As they walked out Kristen sat down on a city bench and sighed. A tear fell from her cheek.
"My family is not here, they left me." She cried.
Cody wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Her family had gone and they had to go look for them, and that meant they now have a new goal to reach besides looking for the unknown planet. There was no reason for staying there now, for the asteroid never happened.
Chapter 6- Right side upside down
Kristen and Cody landed on a cement, plain white floor. Cody than noticed that there was a light bolted to the ground next to him. It was in fact a light bulb dangling by its cord up. She didn't understand why the room felt so weird. He than noticed the doorway was supposed to be used to go in and out if you are on the ceiling. She looked up to notice a full bedroom with furniture and everything on the ceiling. Cody shook Kristen's shoulder.
"We are upside down." Cody said, as Kristen looked up at the bed on the ceiling.
"How?" She asked.
"Not sure. Lets go find out." Cody said taking a step towards the upside down doorway.
Just as he took a step towards the doorway he felt himself fall and hit against the carpet of the room. Cody rubbed the back of his head and looked around him. Kristen looked a bit confused, her hair wasn't dangling like it was supposed to up on the ceiling, and Cody wasn't either. She than stood up and jumped and she landed comfortably on the soft bed. She rolled off of it and came up to Cody.
"Okay, what is going on?" She asked, getting frustrated.
Suddenly, a scaly creature with large black eyes and a large mouth came into the room. When he saw them, the creatures large eyes grew even wider and it ran off. Cody went after the creature and noticed the creature go out the front door. He came up to the door to notice a long wooden bridge with instead of water underneath it, there was the bright blue sky. He looked up to notice the green ground with grass and flowers coming out of it, it didn't make any sense. Was he upside down, or were they. They sky was down instead of up, and the ground was up instead of down. He started to feel dizzy and approached Kristen again.
"You have to come look at this." He said.
Kristen followed him to the front door and nearly screamed as she noticed the messed up world they were in.
"Artificial gravity I should say eh?" A gurgle- like voice said behind them.
They both turned around to find another one of the odd creatures, though this creature seemed older than the other one.
"I am Jancha, I come from the Achabakalee's. This is our home planet, though this may confuse you about the artificial gravity. I would like to explain why." He exclaimed.
They both nodded, knowing that saying no would just make this world more confusing.
"For to us we see this as right side up, for to you, you see this as upside down. So lets just call this a right side upside down world. For there was no gravity when our ancestors first settled here, so we had to make some. Our world is not perfect, but all the other Achabakalee's think this as down instead of up. The reason you were up on the bottom of the house was because the artificial gravity didn't work on you until you took both feet off of the ground. You are now here right side upside down with no way to get back to the ceiling." Jancha explained.
It seemed confusing but also made sense as he told this to them. It seemed to weird to be walking right side but also upside down. Jancha showed them around his house and than brought them to the outside bridge to see the city around. The entire village was upside down, bolted to the ground. Many were tall and very large, interesting to find everything look so confusing outside. Jancha showed them the different buildings and the different homes and showed them how they traveled to places. How they traveled was with flying cars, for there was no ground to drive across, or they would just take the bridge of what they actually called the sidewalk.
"Well, I have some business to do, so go do whatever you like. The others won't mind." Jancha said and walked back to his house. They were on the bridge when he left and all the other buildings didn't seem to interest them as much as looking down at the sky. They got into there bellies and looked down into the sky, seeing the clouds slowly move, and the bright sunlight glimmer. It felt so odd to see the sun down below and experience shadows that you would never see naturally on Earth. Their shadows in fact showed on the ground in that odd position.
After staring at the ground and the sky they started to continue down the bridge. They had long lost interest of the buildings and started walking out of the village. There was a lake, on the ground staying perfectly still up above. The lake had dark water, difficult to see down above (Below).
"Hey Cody boost me up, I want to touch it." Kristen said, smiling. The water was perfectly still, as if nothing had touched it or nothing was living in it.
Cody nodded and he boosted her up. She reached up to the water and just did a light tap against the water with her finger. She got a little excited when she had touched water up above. Cody brought her back down and she looked up at the water. The light tap had made tiny waves go across the small lake. She and Cody than walked back into the village to look inside the buildings again.
Meanwhile as the tiny waves stopped at the end of the lake and the lake became still once again. The tiny waves started coming back to the middle, the waves getting bigger and bigger. As the waves hit the middle they had created a whirl pool. The whirl pool spun faster and got bigger and bigger until you could hear a shriek and a roar as something started clawing its way out of the water.
Kristen and Cody sat at the Achabakalee ice cream parlor. They had the most peculiar flavors, and many other Achabakalee's around them has said the different flavors are the best. It was hard to decide, until they just randomly chose a flavor. Cody got this flavor called "Panchlee" and Kristen got this flavor called "Charmlik". As the Achabakalee came over to serve them the flavors they chose Cody found out his "Panchlee" ice cream to be maroon, and Kristen's "Charmlik" ice cream looked mustard yellow with brownish green spots scattered everywhere. Cody took a small lick of his maroon Panchlee ice cream, and devoured the rest. Kristen at first didn't even want to take a lick with its disgusting colors they chose for the ice cream.
Cody had long gone devoured his ice cream for it to taste so different but so good, as for Kristen she still stared at her ice cream. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a quick lick at the puke looking ice cream. She than opened her eyes and smacked, trying to decide if she really liked it or not. She took another lick, this time a little bigger, and smacked it over and over and than smiled.
"It tastes better than it looks." Kristen mentioned, taking an even larger lick than the last one.
Eventually she had finished her ice cream, and she and Cody chatted at the table. As they sat there unaware of what was going on, a giant claw and crashed right through the wall of the parlor. Chairs and tables were whipped across the parlor and the black claw closed in and out giving a warning. Than suddenly the other black hand burst into the parlor. Many of the costumers and employees were now hiding behind the counter, crying for dear life. Kristen sat in shock as she noticed the black claws just ten feet from her. Cody was watching too, slowly trying to slip away.
Suddenly a third clawed hand burst behind Kristen. Kristen stayed still, hoping the claw in reach now would not get her. The third clawed hand started closing in and out giving another warning and than got closer to Kristen. Her heart beat faster and faster as the claw felt around, looking for her. Then all three clawed hands got out of the parlor, leaving three vast holes in the walls. The villagers peeked out from behind the counter to find the creature long gone. Kristen stood up and peeked through the hole, the creauture was not there. Her and Cody quietly crept out of the parlor, walking slowly back to Jancha's home.
"That was close." Kristen cried, taking deep breathes.
The creature was nowhere in sight, and none of them had ever seen the entire body yet. Kristen followed behind as the bridge narrowed a bit for not being as busy coming towards Joncha's house. Suddenly Cody heard an ear piercing scream right behind him and turned around to see if Kristen was okay. In fact, he couldn't ask that because she was not there. He looked around him, but she was nowhere in sight. He started hollering and instead of Kristen coming towards him the Achabakalee that had run away from them earlier came up to him.
"I am sorry for my run away earlier today Earth man. I was frightened of your presence to our planet, my father I see has helped you see what we see. Now it is my turn to help you." He said in his gurgle like voice.
"Can you help me find Kristen?" He asked.
The Achabakalee nodded.
"Do you mean that Earth girl who just got carried away by the Canchabanlok?" He asked.
"The Cancha what?"
"The Canchabanlok, she had awakened him from the waters of Chonk. He is never to be disturbed, and anybody who touches the waters of Chonk is the person who will risk the consequences from the guardian of this planet." He explained, expecting to see him catch his breath.
"Well, where do you think he took her?"
"His lair of course, under the waters of Chonk... oh yah, I forgot to say who my name is. I am Marnch." He introduced.
So Cody and Marnch ran off towards the waters of Chonk to find Kristen.
. . .
Kristen gained consciousness and didn't understand how she was strapped on a chair in a dark room. She couldn't remember anything past looking around town. The lake and the creature was all a big blur to her, as if someone or something wiped part of her memory out. As soon as she started getting used to the dark a bright light switched on and she was blinded. She squinted her eyes through the bright light to see a huge, black furry creature reaching over twenty feet in height. It looked down at her with its glaring red eyes and its razor sharp teeth. She looked at the three black paws and suddenly she remembered the ice cream parlor and the claw almost grabbing her. The creature had three arms and two furry legs, it was most unusual.
Her eyes started to get more fixed into the light and she could now see the creatures entire body shape. It crouched down as it started to see Kristen's eyes open wider. You are a Halix are you not? A growling voice cried in her head.
"Yes matter of fact." She said with courage.
Good, you understood me. For I have a Halix gene somewhere inside me that can make me communicate with my people. Kristen started to get confused, she didn't know she could do that. You have to understand Halix, that whoever touches the waters of Chonk shall receive the consequences. For a single touch of a humanoid finger against the water disturbs my slumber. Then it started coming back to her, she remembered touching the water and running with Cody back towards Joncha's house, but she still couldn't remember being taken away by the creature.
"Why is it that you don't want to be disturbed so badly enough to kidnap the victim? She asked gaining more courage.
I slumber because I am not needed, for I am the creator of this world. I have created artificial gravity, I have built these wonderful homes for this kind, I have created nature and sky, and I have created a living on what this planet is supposed to be... a junk yard. For these waters keep my keep hidden for a good reason, I only come out when I am needed. But when someone touches of these waters without no reason, than they shall receive what you shall have... a consequence. He barked.
Before Kristen could answer back, the creature made a monstrous roar in the large room. His roar was so large it was bringing rocks form the ceiling down, falling around Kristen until suddenly he had created a wall around her. She didn't understand how, it was as if he had used some kind of magic to do so. She was now surrounded in a wall of rocks around her, stranded in a chair with nothing else to do about it. Now I shall give warning to my people, for this world shall be flipped over! For I have strengthened my power and can make this world PERFECT!!!! He roared inside her head. Another roar came out of the creatures mouth, but this one was different. It was like a warning.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble and she could hear more rocks falling around her. She could feel herself falling down onto the ceiling, or what is now the floor. The wall of which was around her built up towards the ceiling and as she fell towards the ceiling it kept her pathway straight against the floor. She shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to know how this is going to end.
But she hadn't felt the bottom yet, in fact she had fallen in a soft mass of fur. She opened her eyes and realized the creature had caught her, he lifted her up to get eye contact. She looked up to find he was further away from what is now the ceiling, as if he was shrinking. She watched as he shrunk the giant fluffy fur she had fallen on getting smaller. Than suddenly the creature was about the size of an average bear. Kristen was now sitting on the ground, shocked to find the creature so much smaller. She stood up and stared at the creature, unsure what else to say.
"I am sorry of my attitude Halix, for my goal was to gain as much power as possible to make this world perfect. For this world is so much different with the sky being below and the ground being above. But as I met you I was able to gain more power..." the creatures voice was no longer growls but just a deep voice, though as he stopped he than started to realize what he had done. Kristen hadn't realized that she was weakened from her Halix power that she had never quite learned yet and she fell into the creatures arms.
"This is all my fault, I weaken you to use it up for something selfish and greedy. For the people never needed the world flipped over, they were already used to this kind of life. What have I done." He began to realize, a tear falling from his black cheek.
"I never really learned how to use my power." She cried weakly.
The creature started to feel more guilt build up inside him, he didn't know why he had just done that. Suddenly a bunch of water came into the vault as a Achabakalee and Cody came into the large room. They both had diving gear on, and they pulled it off. The Conchanbanlok looked over to them and he sat down and cried. Cody ran over shocked to find the Conchanbanlok so small and Kristen in his lap.
"What have I done!" He cried again.
"What happened to our world?" Mornch asked the Conchanbanlok.
"I have flipped it over to its right side, but I have made a mistake." He told Mornch.
"Put us back to our normal position, for we live that way." He suggested.
The Conchanbanlok stopped crying and looked up at Mornch.
"I have made a deep mistake and I have to do the two things to make it right, though this may be the last two things I do." He said.
"Don't, you don't need to. We don't want to risk your life." Kristen cried.
The creature set Kristen on the ground and stood up.
"But I have had a very crucial life, I might as well end it well." He said.
Before neither of the three could stop the creature, he roared the loudest his little body could do, and the ground was suddenly shaking as it flipped over to the other side. As it flipped over and all of the creatures and people down there started falling, the ceiling or what is once again the floor starting opening up to the water. They all landed through the water and softly on the bridge below it.
Once they had landed the Conchanbanlok crawled over to Kristen and hugged her weak body and suddenly disappeared. Kristen tried to reach for the creature, wanting him not to leave, but she knew it was too late.
"Our people could have easily lived with a change." Marnch said, looking down at the sky.
"He did it because he thought he had been the bad guy, and wanted to make up for it." Kristen said, desperately wanting the creature to come back to her. Cody patted her on the back, it was too late.
"I am sorry Marnch, I have a feeling we better go now. We are looking for someone and so far we have no succeeded." Cody apollogized.
"Well, whoever you look for good luck for it. I need to go see my father anyway, good bye." Marnch said and walked off back into the village.
"Wrong time." Kristen said gloomily.
"Kristen its more than just a want to leave, I have this feeling. It is a feeling as if we are needed right now. As if we have to time to spare." He explained to her, not making it too hard for her to understand.
Kristen stood up, her smile coming back.
"Well, than lets go find out where that feeling is coming from than."
Chapter 7- Bird cage
Kristen landed on a hard tile ground, but half of her body was on the edge of a staircase. Suddenly, before she could move over she felt herself rolling down the spiral staircase. Hitting posts, bonking her head on the walls, and landing hard on the bottom of the long and spiral staircase having her left unconscious. But as she hit the bottom Cody came bursting in from the portal and landed just barely from the edge of the staircase.
He sat up and realized Kristen was not around. He got up to his feet and took a step down the staircase. As he took the next he suddenly ran into an invisible object and fell backward back on the ground. He rubbed his nose, wondering what that was. He reached his hand over to where he smashed his face and discovered there was something there, but there wasn't at the same time. It was as if the object was invisible or clear. He felt around, trying to find how big the object was but it seemed like it covered the entire area. As if it was a force field of some sort.
Cody decided he was going to try the floor he was on. He got back up to the top step and realized another one of the invisible objects just a few more steps up the stairs. He couldn't find any way out of the objects, it was as if he was in a box with no way out. He sat down on the carpet, wondering if he was ever going to ever find a way around the objects, or force field or whatever it was. Suddenly a blond girl came over to him and slammed her face against the invisible wall, as if he didn't know it was there. The girl rubbed his nose and glanced at Cody. Cody stood up and put his hands on the invisible wall.
"Can you help me?" He asked.
The girl didn't understand, she shook her head and suddenly ran off. Cody slammed his fist against the wall and sat back down. Where is Kristen? He asked himself. He than realized on the second to the top step, right before it blocked off was Kristen's backpack. She hadn't used it much at all, but Cody knew it was hers. He quickly snatched the small backpack, but didn't look inside it. It must of slipped off of her shoulders when she rolled down the stairs. Cody placed the backpack next to him and sighed, he didn't know how long he was going to be stuck in here.
. . .
Kristen opened her eyes to find herself on the bottom of the stairs. Her entire body felt soar, she sat up feeling the blood rushing to her head. She blinked several times and than realized a man was standing nearby. He was carving something with a curved knife and a chunk of plywood close by. It looked like he had just pulled up a chair, when Kristen sat up he put his wood and knife down and stood up.
"So, it looks like you just got lucky there." He said, helping her up to her feet.
"Why?" She asked.
"Well, for one thing those stairs are the worst staircase you can roll down on uncontrollably. Especially since they are granite, and spiral, and the railing is unfinished so it still needs sanding. And guess what, it looks like you haven't hurt yourself too bad." He said, smiling.
Kristen's lip was bleeding, her knee was scraped badly, her arm had a long bloody gash across it, three of her fingers were cut, she had a few cuts on her back, and the top of her head close to the forehead was bleeding. So it could have been worse, and it could have been better at the same time.
"The other thing is that you just barely missed the closing of the bird cage. It closed as soon as you hit the bottom step." He said
"Bird cage, what bird cage?" Kristen asked, trying to see the top of the staircase.
"Sit, I will explain exactly what is going on." He said.
Kristen sat down with the man at a nearby couch. The man sighed.
"Well just a few months ago we had bought a new product to capture birds and then it will open on its own so you can have it as a dish for dinner-"
"You eat bird?" She asked, unsure what kind of bird he is talking about.
"Yes, that is what we eat. As for you, I am sure you only eat certain types, though we eat every kind." Kristen started to feel a bit disgusted, "Well anyway, this bird cage is made to be invisible so not even ourselves see what the cage looks like. Our bird cage just seemed to have a glitch. Every bird that we trapped the cage got bigger, and the cage moved at its own will. Than months later it is suddenly big enough to fit a live human being, and it is now roaming around my house swallowing up my visitors and trapping them until it opens again."
"Wait, so how long does it take until it opens up again?" She asked.
"Well, it used to be every day. Now it only opens once a week." He said.
"So does it only open when someone or something goes inside it and it closes after it catches its prey and than releases it the next week?" Kristen asked, trying to think this through.
"Yes exactly."
"Can I see this bird cage... well, I mean go to this bird cage?" She asked.
"Of course, it seemed like this week it moved to the top of the stairs." He said, starting to walk up the long staircase. As they reached the top the man put his hand in front and finally felt on of the walls. Kristen caught up to him to realize Cody was inside. Cody crawled over and put his hand on the wall, he mouthed something that she couldn't understand.
"I don't understand you Cody." She yelled.
"You know this lad?" He asked.
"I travel with him." Kristen told him, then switched back to Cody, "I will get you out!" She hollered.
Cody put his hand on his ear as if he couldn't hear her either.
"I also forgot to tell you that it is also sound proof."
Kristen looked like she was going to scream, but she just sat down on the white staircase. Folding her arms. Than she noticed her backpack next to Cody, how did he end up with that? Kristen looked around her, and than reached into her pocket to find a mini pencil and a small note card. She wrote a message on it explaining that he can use her backpack, and about what he is inside. She slapped the not card against the invisible wall and Cody read it carefully. He nodded, his smile starting to come back to him.
"Its not going to open until next week." H reminded.
Kristen didn't know what else to do, she walked back down the stairs and the man followed. Cody was on his knees his hands on the invisible wall, how did he get himself into this mess. He turned around to the backpack and opened up, after finally getting allowed to get into it. He opened it up to find empty sheets of paper and pencils, with none of them drawn on. She must have kept on forgetting that she even had a backpack, so she could draw, for she was a brilliant artist. Cody rummaged further into the bag to find other supplies that he didn't care much about, then he found a zip-lock bag full of food on the bottom of the small backpack.
He pulled it out and noticed some protein bars, some hard candy, some dried fruit, and than there was a small bag full of beef jerky. Cody than started to realize how hungry he was since the last time he ate, but he also had a week to preserve the food she offered him and he had to choose wisely. Cody pulled out the beef jerky and just took a small piece to eat for now. He had seven days to preserve these three days worth of food, so he was going to do it wisely.
Going back down the stairs Kristen started to notice that this was just the main floor, so Cody was blocking the second floor. She glance up the stairs to find a blond haired girl about her age looking down at her. She looked sad and frightened.
"Can you get my father please." She asked Kristen.
Kristen nodded and went over to the man. She told him about the girl looking down and he rushed over to see up above the top floor.
"Dad, the bird cage. It is blocking the staircase and I can't get down. Am I trapped up here?" She asked.
"I'm afraid so Stasina, all of the windows in the upstairs have bars on them for safety reasons you know because of the bad people who live here. I never really thought about someone getting stuck up there, I am so sorry."
"Daddy, So does that mean I am as trapped as that boy over there?"
Her father didn't respond. Stasina pouted, she didn't like how he didn't respond, a tear came down her cheek.
"Don't worry too much Stasy, I am going to get you some dinner real quick so you won't starve up there."
Kristen followed Stasy's dad over to a large kitchen, a woman who must have been the mother and the mans wife was making dinner. He came up to her.
"The bird cage has moved and is now blocking the upstairs," His wife didn't seem to care much about that, "And Stasy is trapped up there."
His wife almost tipped the pot of noodles over and dropped the bowl she was holding. She put the bowl down and cupped her hands around her mouth. But she didn't respond to her husband, instead she quickly grabbed a small container from the cupboard. Than she scooped up a large mass of weird squiggly like noodles into the bowl, dumped some kind of unusual herbs inside it and tomato's and then put the lid on the container. She handed it to her husband, still not saying anything. Her husband took it and nodded.
Kristen followed him back to the staircase.
"She doesn't ever talk to me nor anybody else when something wrong happens, she normally doesn't talk to anybody until the problem is resolved." He told her looking up to Stasy who was patiently waiting.
"Mother made you an herb salad." He said, holding up the container.
Stasy held her hands out so she could catch the container. But before her father tossed up the container, he rushed back into the kitchen put an odd looking fork into the container with the food and returned back to the staircase. He threw up the contained and she quickly got it. She smiled at her father.
"Thank you father." She hollered down and left the railing.
Kristen was starting to think, no Stasy wasn't in the same position as Cody. She had all of upstairs, she had a bed to sleep on, food can still be brought up to her, and she still had plenty of elbow room. As for Cody he was in a box no bigger than a wardrobe packing box, and maybe even the size of a half bathroom. She sat on the staircase, at least glad that she left her backpack up for him to use. For she had food and needs for him.
The man offered Kristen to dinner, but she didn't like to find her self feasting with Cody starving. She shook her head and said she wasn't hungry. He led her into a bedroom that she can sleep in, and he went to eat with his wife. Kristen sat on the bed, unsure what to do for the week she is going to have with Cody stuck inside. She knew the drive could teleport through galaxy's, but she knew it probably wasn't strong enough to get out of the trap the bird cage company did. In fact she did ask Cody in the not card she showed to him, but he didn't answer to that. So she figured it was probably a no.
Than she started thinking about the company. Who could have invented such a thing? What if it wasn't a glitch, what if they did it on purpose? And who is running this company that created this bird cage? She didn't like how this bird cage was going and she wanted to find out about this bird cage.
The next day Kristen came up to the man. He was sitting at the table eating breakfast talking to himself, since his wife wasn't talking to him.
"Do you know where they run this factory?" She asked.
The man shrugged his shoulders.
"Well lets find out then"
He stood up and Kristen hadn't realized that they had computers. Through her past experience of technology in other worlds out of her own, she stayed out of the way as the man looked up where the factory was.
"Hey sorry, I forgot to introduce my name. I am Roncal, but just call me Ron." He shouted through the room.
"Kristen."
A few minutes later the man returned. He reached over on the counter and grabbed his black leather wallet.
"Well, lets get going Kristen." He said and he led her out of the door.
Outside there was just a small cold-a-sac with houses similair with this one. It was like Arizona with the burning heat and the red iron dirt. The sidewalks looked like they were roasting in heat, hot enough to roast eggs on. Ron led her towards his car which looked like a long black Volkswagen. She got in the passenger seat and he drove out of the neighborhood heading towards the factory.
Kristen never really thought that he would actually take her to the factory, she just thought she could just find out about it. She also hadn't realized that the factory would be this far. A few hours later through what looked like cities you would see on Earth, Ron turned off of what on Earth was the interstate. He drove down the main street until he parked into the parking lot of a large brick building. They hopped out of the car and Kristen followed him out to the building. The doors were two large golden doors and in front of them had a sign that said:
Black Birdy
Basic bird cages for your home.
"Well that's sort of a cheesy company name." Kristen said, reading the sign.
"Well, they sold the product for a good price. Lets go ahead and check this place out then."
Ron was about to open the door until Kristen stopped him.
"Do you think we should sneek in instead of walk right in? We can probably get further into the factory sneaking in."
"Good plan, but we are still taking the front door."
Kristen wasn't sure if that would much help of sneaking inside, but she didn't argue about it. Ron slowly opened the door a crack to find not one of the factory workers around. He waved his hand for Kristen to come and they walked into the entryway. The inside wasn't much but a grey room with a black metal desk in the middle. They walked past the empty desk and came up to the closest door. Ron put his ear against the door, than Kristen did the same thing.
Inside the doorway they could hear motors running, scraping, and clunks as they worked in the factory.
"This must be the factory part." He whispered to her.
Ron opened the black door a crack and quickly shut it before Kristen could have a look. He blocked the doorway, making sure Kristen couldn't see. Kristen made a face telling him what is going on? He shook his head.
"It's nothing, l-lets get going." He said slowly walking away from the door.
"Oh come on Ron, what is in there that can make you so scared?"
Kristen opened the door and walked into the room before Ron could stop her. He sighed and came in after her. Kristen stood against the wall her face in shock. For these weren't normal factory workers making these products. They were dark creatures, something that was only a faded nightmarish memory to Kristen. They were creatures that can freeze you right on the spot. For one creature was close by, so you could see blood was dripping from his head to his ghost like toes, his eyes showing nothing but black indents on his face. He had no teeth but its mouth opened wide like it was going to suck away your soul. His fingers were long and threatening, as if a single touch would bring you instant death. His body stood taller than nine feet tall, with a body slimmer than even the thinnest man could bear. Thin black strands hung over the bottom of the creature like stinging tentacles on a jelly fish.
For the room being dark, except for red lights that hung on the tall ceiling. The making of the bird cages didn't catch Kristen and Ron's attention anymore. Ron slowly walked back to the door, ready to open the door and flee. But as he grabbed the handle he realized that the door had locked. He turned back to Kristen who was facing the door, getting more frightened to find the face Ron had. She didn't like how the face he showed her showed that they have no way of escape. Than his face changed to deathly frightened. He backed into the doorway and with a shaking finger pointed behind Kristen.
Kristen turned around to find the creature right behind her, one of its dripping hands rising up. Kristen backed into Ron, unsure what to do. The creature got closer than stopped.
"Why... are.... you here?" The creature said in a foggy voice.
"C-curiosity." Ron said, shrugging his shoulders.
The creature stared at them with its empty sockets, they weren't sure if he was standing there or was doing something. Than suddenly it pointed at the lock and a loud click sounded, saying he unlocked it. Than the creature went back to work. When the creature left them out of sight, Ron quickly opened the door and left the room. Kristen followed behind. As they were about to leave the building Kristen started hearing small pounding noises, but not from the factory. She looked around the grey room to see a small closet door, that was where she was hearing the small knocking. She walked over to it, before Ron could stop her. She could defiantly tell where the knocking was coming from she grabbed the handle and opened the closet door to find a human man inside.
"I'm telling you, I have been in there for three days now." The man said in a shaky voice.
"But why were you in there?"
"Those ghoul-like creatures took over my factory over a month ago and has been messing with my products. Now they have killed all my employees and kept me chained to a chair by my desk." He pointed at the black desk in the room, "Than I escaped and they still wanted to keep me so they locked me in that closet." The man explained.
"Sir, you need to stay calm. You just-"
"I have been eating toilet paper and cans of beans that I stored in there for spare lunches, for three whole days. THREE! I'm telling you, THREE!" He said, holding up three fingers with his index finger, his thumb and his pinky.
"Please sir, we will get you home. Just calm down." Ron tried.
"Calm down, after being in a tight cupboard with the light burning out and little food to eat, WHY SHOULD I CALM DOWN!!!!!!!" The man was starting to hyperventilate.
Ron put his hands on his shoulders.
"Just take deep breaths, just calm down. It is alright."
The man took a deep breath and relaxed. After that he stopped talking. Ron and Kristen brought the manager into the car and they took him to the hospital. Than they drove back to Ron's house. When they parked into the parking lot of Ron's home Kristen darted out the door, came into the house and went upstairs to see Cody. Cody was sitting on the floor taking little bites of a granola bar and staring blankly up at the ceiling. Kristen had been writing something for Cody while in the car towards here and she had the letter ready to show Cody in her hand.
Kristen tapped on the wall and Cody looked over to find Kristen's letter on the wall. It read: We went to the factory and realized what had gone wrong. Some kind of ghoul- like creatures took over the factory, but I don't know why they did. My thought was maybe they did it because they wanted to trap people for there own convenience. But what do you know about creatures like these? Underneath the note card she had drawn a picture of the ghoul- like creauture and showed it to him.
Cody pulled out a piece of paper from her backpack, he pulled out his flash drive popped it up to the laptop and looked up something. Than he wrote the letter and showed it to Kristen : predicting from the picture, I believe they are Dreadmine Devils. Dreadmine Devils have been the top worst nightmare in the universe. According to what the tele drive says is that the Dreadmine Devils will find different ways to harass human kind, so yes you were right about that. And it also said that over a decade ago the Dreadmine Devils had a war against the Sparr's and the Halix's. The war was one by the Halix's, it say's the Sparr's fled for their lives and they lost the battle.
After the war ended, the devils were than scarred for life and have been wanting for revenge over the last ten years. Kristen, I don't understand why they let you go. You are a Halix, but they didn't seem to notice. I guess they didn't pay any attention. But those creatures, don't go near them again. You are a Halix, the one kind that they fear the most and want to kill first. I also read that they do death touches, a single touch of there finger can pass you out if you are strong enough of what Halix's are born with, but if you get touched by all of its tentacles at once, it is for sure that even Halix's die because of that.
Don't go back there again Kristen, you have learned that what had trapped me here is just for pure harassment from the Devils. When I get out of here, maybe we can figure out a way how to stop this company from the devils, but do not return. I don't want them finding out that you are a Halix.
Than Cody finished there. Kristen didn't know what to say, she didn't know about all this. She started to think about her family, her real family that she was looking for. Hopefully they didn't get caught by the Devils, and hopefully they are safe. Cody put the card down and Kristen looked down at the stairs. She stood up and walked down, going over to Ron to tell him about the Dreadmine Devils.
"You know, I think I have heard of these... devils before. I heard that when they do things like this they just do it for a temporary time before getting tired of it and leaving." Ron mentioned.
"So do you think they could be leaving any time now?"
"Yes in fact, so lets not worry about stopping them. They will eventually stop anyway."
Kristen knew to follow Cody's promise, he said stay out of the way from the devils. She agreed to the fact of not making of big deal about the devils.
While going back over to Cody he sat in his invisible box, reading short stories that Kristen had packed in the bag. He still knew it would be a week before getting out of there, so he made sure he kept himself sane. As he read the stories Stasy came towards him. She had a piece of paper and a pen in her hand and she quickly wrote something on it: I'm sorry that you are trapped, our family had learned that just in case we get stuck in there we keep a backpack full of food and supplies at all times. You got lucky to find that your friend left one for you.
Cody smiled, though the food and supplies didn't cheer him as much as Stacy intended it to be. He didn't have that good of food and supplies, though he still had some. He ripped a piece of paper: Thank you. Stasy smiled. This was the first time he got to talk to Stasy, for most of the time she ran off or peeked, and when he saw her she ran away. But after that time she actually came up to him to talk, they did that for the rest of the night.
It had been a week and Kristen and the family waited for the box to open. For it was supposed to open. Ron figured out a way to get upstairs by the laundry shoot that they had completely forgotten about. Now Stasy was down with her family, though her mother still didn't talk until Cody was out. So they waited on the staircase wondering if it would ever open.
Cody's food was now gone and he seemed like he had been starving to death all week. He was as impatient to get out as they did. As the day went by and it came dark, the family and Kristen started to think it wouldn't open. They went to bed for the night, and waited some more the next day.
Cody leaned against the wall making a large sigh, his hunger making him think he was going to die hungry in there. The family and Kristen were sitting at the staircase waiting for it to open still.
"I am never going to get out of here, never." Cody told himself, "The water bottle is gone, the food is gone, the paper is already chewed on, the carpet tastes like stinky feet, the-" Suddenly the wall seemed to light up and Cody stumbled out of the box falling over in front of Kristen.
Kristen and Ron caught him before he ended up rolling down the stairs. Cody got up to his feet and Kristen gave him a grateful hug.
"Well, looks like the devils have finished there April fools for the year. The box is not around the house anymore, I normally see the faint light showing where it is before disappearing." Ron's wife finally said after a week.
"Now she talks." Ron gratefully said.
They all laughed, the box now gone and Cody saved.
Chapter 8 - Remember me?
Going back to book one, the climax was about this ship called Pigeria that was connected to Earth by doors. Each door led to every single room in the entire world. To get into a different room you could only get in it if you need it not a want, sometimes a want would be an exception. Though anybody who disobeyed was sent through the wall of the large room where they kept the doors, and ended up in a cell. That was what happened to Kristen. For what they also did, was kidnap people from Earth to live in this ship forever. So Kristen, Cody and a couple of others they were able to get escaped back to Earth. But there was a man that Kristen had met, who was the creator of the ship, who was the captain. He had the name of Starvius. But this ship still lies in space, still taking humans, still growing in size, and still growing in power, and there was nobody around to stop them. So where are they now in this deep and never ending space? Nobody knows, the only way to find out is if you just simply run into it...
"Okay, we are at setup for..." An old man looked down at his notebook, "Oh this must be a mistake, it looks like this person is well, from a different planet."
"Um, can we get to the scene already." A blond haired girl impatiently said.
"Of course, yes. The person we shall be playing today is, well her name is... Kristen."
. . .
Kristen shook her arms out after waiting so long for the drive to charge, and than landing on a different planet. Kristen had gone alone to this planet, but she had for a good reason. The place they were at was in fact infested with more of those dreadmine devils. They knew that now that the devils knew about two children roaming different planets, but they don't know what they look like. So there plan was to split up and teleport to different parts of the planet of which the devils were not infesting.
That way they can still explore the planet, but also not getting caught as two teenagers partnered up at all times. For they knew by now that the dreadmine Devils were looking for them, but it would make it a whole lot harder when they are split apart. So Cody quickly dropped her off on one end of the planet, as he left to explore the other.
Kristen blinked several times for she wasn't used to the light. Than she started to realize that it looked like she was in her backyard. She kept blinking, unsure if this was really what she was seeing. Than something even more wicked her brain out as she saw herself at the picnic table on her familiar porch. She ran over to the red porch and came up the stairs to find her self in fact drawing at the table. She walked closer and realized that what she was drawing was in fact a portrait of her backyard.
Than she felt a large gust of wind and saw her picture blow off towards the playground, and get stuck inside. She watched as herself got up from the seat and started after the paper, going up the playground to snatch it. Herself slid down the slide, stopped at the end of it and Kristen came back down the stairs. Herself looked like she was trying to look at her picture at a different angle. Kristen turned around to find that Cody was on the ground unconscious and things started clicking into place.
This was a memory, it must have been a dream about her memory. Herself ran over to Cody and waited for him to wake up. Than Kristen saw as herself backed away as Cody's bright blue eyes opened, and than Cody stood up. "I am so sorry to intrude, I don't know what has gone with me. It must be just the travel sickness that is making me making it awkward." Cody said
"Where did you come from?" Herself asked
Cody pointed at the ground, and Kristen laughed at that memory of Cody's teasing.
"I came from there." He teased.
Kristen shook her head.
"No, I mean you just popped out of nowhere unconscious in my backyard, where did you come from?" Herslef asked.
"Well, it's quite an interesting story that I am not sure you would understand." he exclaimed.
"I want to hear it, I'll totally believe you. Everything odd here is different everywhere else." She said.
Cody rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, alright. I came from a different planet, I have been traveling and ended up by accident here." he said.
Kristen saw her own face change. She almost laughed at the fact how she didn't believe him and is now suddenly across the galaxy.
"How do you travel?" She asked, Kristen knew herself enough that she was just being a smart alack.
Cody reached into his pocket and pulled out his blue Tele drive.
"This is a teleportation drive, you have to connect it to a local object within the galaxy and it will take you to the place you program it to." He exclaimed.
Kristen nodded with herself remembering this well, than herself put her hands on her hips.
"So do you have any more proof?" She said.
"Matter of fact I do. Do you not believe me or something?" he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I am not sure exactly. I want to believe you but I also don't, the reason why I want to is because I told you I believe you for one thing, and I like to find things that sound abnormal and nearly impossible. But if I believe you, maybe I just made a fool of myself and got tricked into believing you." She said without taking a breath.
Cody twirled the flash drive in his hand.
"So you want more proof so you know you are not a fool correct?"
She nodded, putting her hands behind her back. Cody grinned and stuffed the flash drive back in his pocket.
"Well, then lets show you an adventure. Where would you like to go?"
Herself looked around her and shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, China maybe?"
"All right, lets just program this to China and we will be off then." he said looking around the yard for an object.
"Yah right, like he is going to take me to China right this minute" Kristen said out loud, remembering what the thought about China. Cody grinned as he spotted Kristen's old, wooden birdhouse that was hidden behind the leaves and vines. He pulled it out and observed the rotten wood structure as if it was a rare antique.
"I'm Cody by the way." Cody said, still keeping eye contact on the bird house.
"Kristen. What are you doing with my birdhouse?" She asked.
Cody looked up at Herself and held it out in front of her.
"Is it all right if I use this?" Cody asked her.
Herself nodded, Kristen even right now didn't care much about the rotting, old bird house that not even the birds liked. Cody sat down on the green grass in the shade of the trees and observed the birdhouse a little more. Than he pulled up to laptop form and Kristen watched as her own face went into total shock.
"This is far more than just a USB drive you know." Cody mentioned.
"Yah..." She said googly eyed.
"Yep, the Flash Drive is the computer. It is quite nice, so you can hook this computer up with another computer with no problem, and right now I am just programming the Drive to China." he said, concentrating hard on the tiny screen.
Kristen knew the rest, she was expecting things were going to be a little different in a dream. Like change a scene suddenly, or add something weird like a cursed vampire slash gnome monkey that eats pepperoni's off of pizza's. Kristen looked around her, thinking if she could fly if this was really a dream. Though everything felt real for some reason. Kristen jumped up but nothing happened. She looked around her to find Cody and Herself gone, probably out in China right now.
But suddenly herself was in the rice fields too. She turned to find Cody and Herself talking to the Chinese lady that she had already forgotten the name of. Than she chased after them as they ran towards the Chinese ladies car. Once they got inside, Kristen was suddenly at the temple with Cody and herself observing the beauty of the gate. Kristen followed them to the back and herself was already sitting at the pond with her feet in the water.
Than Cody started programming back home until suddenly his elbow accidentally jabbed into Herself's side and she went crashing into the pond. Kristen started to wonder how this happened, this never happened in real life. Why in her dream? Suddenly the scene around her looked like it was getting computer-like streaks and suddenly she was standing in a large blue room with Herself soaked close by and Cody.
An old man came barging in the room coming up to Herself and Cody.
"You just messed up the scene Cody, this was supposed to be an extra special one for her." He yelled at Cody.
"Wait, I'm confused." Kristen said, unsure how this all coordinated.
The old man turned to Kristen and walked up to her.
"I don't think you know what is going on." He said, eyeing her.
Kristen shook her head.
"Well we technically took your memories and acted out a good memory that you have."
"But how, for humans it takes us days to practice and act out. we even have to try to memorize a script and all that."
"But we are not human, we take someone else memory and puts in in our mind like a television, and we can memorize the entire thing in just seconds. We are called The Kronolon. So that is what we do as a living."
"You live like this, acting out the memories of other people?"
"Exactly, our kind also shift shapes into the character we chose them to be, and we have special technologies to change scenes through holograms."
"Okay, now it is starting to make sense. But why do you live like this?"
"We just simply do, none of us knows why. We believe that their is a man who made this for our enjoyment, for we also believe that this man has done many other things in the universe also."
"Can I ever meet this man?"
"It is highly unlikely, for not even myself have ever met this man before."
Kristen sat down on the ground, Herself came over and sat next to her. Her clothes sopped in pond water.
"You know Kristen, you have quite an adventure. I like acting as you, but as I looked through your memory I noticed that you had met this man named... Starvius just about a month ago. And for some reason I myself as an actor have a bad feeling that I have once seen this man also in my life. " Herself said.
"I don't know..." Kristen stopped, unsure what to call Herself.
"Margaretta." Herself said.
"Well, I don't know Margeretta. I don't know much about you as an actor or know much about Starvius." Kristen said, and Margeretta walked off.
Kristen knew Margeretta wanted to start a conversation, but she hoped she would never hear the word Starvius again. Suddenly the scene came back to her backyard but it was night time. Margereta had gone into the holographic house and the actor of Cody was standing in the back door, wanting her to come out. She remembered this, when Cody brought her to the first planet. When she got to meet Rinitsa and this weird creature called the Ganganguan. Kristen thought it was so funny to find Rinitsa calling Cody, Coditsa.
Suddenly, Kristen spotted Margeretta and Cody outside and they teleported to there first stop. The scene ended and the room turned into its normal shape. The old man ran over to Kristen.
"I'm sorry if you wanted to see more, but someone is trying to contact you. Come with me."
The old man led Kristen out of the room to find there was multiple rooms that they used for scenes, not just one. He led her down the hallway and into a small room with a large circular mirror on the floor. The old man switched on the light and Kristen sat down in front of the mirror.
"Your contact is already online." The old man said and walked out of the room.
Kristen just saw herself in the mirror or computer, how could the contact be on. She tapped on the mirror to find the person in the mirror wasn't doing the same thing. Kristen tilted her head to the side but the person on the other side didn't. She waved her hand and the other Kristen waved back in a delayed start.
"Hello." Kristen told the person of herself in the mirror.
"Hello Kristen." Herself said, Kristen backed away.
"Are you Margeretta?" She asked.
"No, why would I be contacting you than. She was right there to talk to you." Herself said.
"Than who are you than?"
"Why don't you ask yourself?"
"Because you are not me for one thing and you are not helping me at all."
Herself sighed and crossed her legs to get more comfortable. She than pulled out a pair of fake nerd glasses that was only used as decoration, it looked like the nerd glasses were put back together with just glue. They looked like they went through a lot, and totally fell apart in pieces.
"Where did you get those?" Kristen asked.
Herself showed the glasses, than she hit them against her hand and the entire thing fell apart again. Than it started to look familiar. Kristen had once seen those nerd glasses when she was on that ship. She had tricked Starvius unto thinking she can't see, and went to get her fake nerd glasses.
"How did you end up with my glasses?"
"Oh, don't you remember putting them in your pocket and than forgetting about it? Well the reason you forgot about it is because you couldn't feel the glasses in your pocket any more."
Kristen's eyes grew. She didn't know how to go with this.
"Starvius."
"Oh you smart girl. Oh look," Starvius showed his nails to Kristen which looked short, "My nails are getting shorter."
Suddenly from being Kristen, Starvius turned into his normal self. Starvius's eyes turned into its grey color, and all the hair disappeared from his head. His clothes started changing, and his hands started growing to size, and after that the rest of his body grew to his adult size. Starvius sighed, shaking his hands.
"Oh that's a lot better." He said.
Kristen shook her head, and began running towards the door. She didn't want to meet Starvius again, and she didn't want to see his face any more. She came to the door to find it locked, being locked only on the outside. She pounded on the door, hoping someone would hear but there was no answer. Kristen sat down in front of the door, wanting to get out of the dreadful room.
Than she crawled back to Starvius who had his chin resting on his hand. He smiled when he saw Kristen come back. He than brushed fluff off his shirt and sat up. For a long time Kristen glared at Starvius with none of them saying a word to each other.
"Remember that one time when I brought you into my office and had a good old story about my wife freaking out as I dissapeared from the bed, or that time..." Starvius stopped.
Kristen didn't understand, whatever he was saying sounded familiar somehow.
"Mr. Strauss was you?" She asked shamefully.
"Of course, I had to play his part just to get you into that cell. Until you escaped, worst mistake you will ever make."
"But, you acted just like him."
"Of course don't you know about the Kronolon's. They get the memories too." Starvius tapped his head.
Kristen shook her head and backed away, she couldn't believe that she trusted a fake friend.
"Or remember when... I brought you to the Devil's that other day?"
"You can't have been Ron, I trusted him!"
"That is what I intended you to suspect. His wife didn't even know that her husband was locked in the attic feeding on ten year expired cans of food left up there, and sleeping on dust bunnies."
"Why didn't the devils get me, you brought me there why didn't they get me?"
"I told them not to, I just wanted you to meet them. For that wasn't going to be your last time seeing them, now that was only the first time and the first time only."
Kristen hit her fist against the mirror, shaking it. Starvius backed away, seeing how threatening she was beginning to be to him.
"YOU WORK FOR THEM!!!!!"
"But of course Kristen, I humiliate human's as much as they do, and we both have our mortal enemies... The Halix. We have a lot alike, so we decided we were going to work together, and we work quite well."
Kristen stood up, looking like she was ready to bite his head off through the mirror. She was about to scream at him until his kept going on his talking.
"Or rememeber that one time when I opened that box. Oh wait you don't, you just thought it was the old man, hahaha. No you stupid Halix, why would the man do such a thing, he only followed me. I actually gave the curse to you Kristen, and was going to do it to Cody too until he wore those stupid glasses. Than that other time when I burnt the entire planet down until it was just ashes. You two were stupid enough to think it was star, but that was a planet and the star was actually not far from the planet. Stars don't turn into ashes, they turn into white dwarfs. You think Cody knows enough science already, no. But you were smart enough to jump in a time portal and save those people, but you couldn't save the planet. How sad. "
Kristen sat down, wanting to listen to his jabbering, but at the same time wanting to ignore him completely.
"Oh you two are both enemies to me though. It's just you as a Halix makes you even more hated by others, than you go to Cody who knows everything more than a normal human being should know. And since he is like that, he always figures stuff out and it frustrates his foes and turns them into enemies, if not they are already an ememie. As for me, I hate him because he is a boy friend of what the future is expecting the most power fullest Halix in the world."
Kristen stomped back over to the mirror, her face turning so red you could see smoke coming out of her ears.
"I have two things to tell you mister. One is CODY IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND, he is just a good friend. Number two is what do you mean about the most power fullest Halix in the world, I just learned I am one."
"Oh did I say too much, oopsey daisy." Starvius put his hand on his mouth, acting like a little girl at a tea party.
Kristen slapped her hands on the mirror and looked Starvius straight in his eyes with her angry scowl.
"Why do you hate us so much, what made you hate my Kind?" She growled.
Starvius looked up at Kristen, waiting for her to at least calm down a bit. But after a while she still looked deep into his eyes with her anger.
"We had a war..." Kristen sat down, but still glared at him, "We were in the same war with the Devil's, the Sparr's and the Halix's, but all the stories people have told have never mentioned the Devils henchmen, the Kronolon. We had lost long before the Devil's did and that is why the story was never shared, but after that the Kronolon have stayed out of the way from the Halix's afraid that things may go wrong. We wanted to have peace with the Halix but whenever we tried it never worked. A couple of years later and we had a war with the Kronolon and the Halix, the people here never participated in the war. That is why they are so naive. As for me I was in that war, and it only last for three months before we lost. I was the last soldier standing, and I managed to escape before your kind killed me. My life has been scarred and will never heal again, for the Halix is always going to be my mortal enemy."
Kristen didn't like the story he had told, she hadn't known much about the Halix to begin with but she was starting to learn them the wrong way.
"Let me out of this room Starvius!" She screamed.
"And do what?"
Kristen paused, she didn't know how to answer that. She had no way of communicating with Cody.
"Well, but I am on a tight schedule. So that means I get to go," Starvius stood up, "Good bye Kristen."
The mirror suddenly started showing dozens of black and white dots. Kristen punched the mirror in her anger, putting a small crack. She screamed and kicked the mirror making the crack bigger.
"WHERE ARE YOU CODY WHEN I NEED YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed, pounding on the door.
Kristen rested her head on the door and cried, for it was useless to throw fits in an inescapable cell.
. . .
Cody's eyes snapped open. He felt sick and realized that he was up side down. He looked up to find his legs strapped around two ropes. He tried to attempt untying the ropes around his legs but he was already feeling weak. He couldn't remember how he ended up like this, and how he did.
He remembered appearing in a nicely cut lawn of the backyard of a welcoming blue Bungalow. Than he remembered breathing in something of what smelled like saw dust, and he was suddenly dangling upside down with the blood rushing to his head. He looked down to find that, that was the green lawn he was on and not far from him was the blue Bungalow. The ground seemed a long ways away, though it was only about five feet from his head. He noticed he was roped on a tall swing set and his legs were strapped on a swing.
Cody than spotted a boy about a couple of years older than him. He swung the swing back and forth, trying to catch his attention, though it was making him sicker.
"hello," he managed to say.
It felt like his lungs moved up to his head, making it hard to breathe and talk. The boy looked up, smiled, and than walked off.
"Please, can you help me!"
Suddenly Cody felt himself getting closer and closer to the ground until his face was smashed against the wood chips. The boy came up to him holding a knife, Cody closed his eyes hoping the boy wasn't going to do what he was expecting to find. But instead the boy cut the ropes and the rest of his body fell onto the pokey wood chips. Cody sat up the blood rushing from his head. He felt extremely light headed and was couldn't stand up with how dizzy he was.
"I'm sorry, I just wasn't sure if you were one of them or not." The boy said.
He seemed frightened.
"Who's them?" Cody wondered aloud.
"Do you now know about the Kronolon?" He asked.
Cody nodded, but he didn't find much bad about them. they tried to be peace makers to the Halix.
"They are every where, hiding there identity proving what they are not. I wasn't sure if you were a spy on me, so I roped you up." he said shaken.
"Are you a Kronolon?"
"Why would you t-think that, I am h-human unlike everyone else on t-this planet." he cried.
Cody stood up catching himself. He put his hands on his shoulders, trying to calm him down and at the same time steadying his dizziness.
"Don't worry, I am as human as you are. I just came here to explore, why are you on this planet to begin with anyway?"
"I was abandoned here a few years ago, my family were traveler's too until they left me here because they wanted to protect me from some war. So far none have-have returned for me." He started to cry.
It was odd to find a fifteen year old boy crying, for he must have been going through a lot. The boy wiped the tear from his cheek and helped Cody off of the wood chips.
"I-I'm Ryan by the way." he stuttered.
"I'm Cody." Cody introduced.
Ryan sat down on the green lawn and Cody sat in front of him. Cody started picking a piece of grass and tying it in knots. Ryan stared up at the blue sky, his eyes showing that he was missing too many things. He glanced over at Cody and than looked back up at the sky making a big sigh.
"If you were a spy or just a Kronolon, I would just have a little feeling that would say of distrust. But for some reason, I feel like you are telling the honest truth about you. Like I should trust you, that is why I let you go from the ropes." Ryan said, still staring up at the sky.
Cody smiled, he liked how Ryan trusted him. Ryan glanced back over at Cody and smiled back at him. For a while they chatted and got to know each other a little bit more. As they talked suddenly they started hearing rustling in Ryan's bushes. They stopped talking and slowly approached the shaking bushes. Cody glanced over at Ryan and he nodded, than he quickly pushed some of the leaves away to find Kristen hiding behind it.
"Kristen, what are you doing here? And why are you hiding?" Cody asked.
"I couldn't find a way to find you, so some guy let me come with him to this city. I asked dozens of kids and stuff while going through this neighborhood and than heard your voice behind someones house. I came back here to find you talking to him, and I didn't want to disturb you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." Kristen apologized.
"It's alright Kristen, but how did you know I was in this neighbor hood in this part of the world. It could have easily taken you days if not years to find me for an average human... but I guess you aren't human."
"I sensed you here Cody, and it helped me more when I found your voice." Kristen said.
Ryan introduced himself and Cody introduced Kristen for him. After that Ryan offered them inside and he let them sleep in the living room, for it had gotten dark by now. There were two couches in the large living room, one across the room of the other. Kristen chose one couch and Cody chose the other, knowing to stay as far away as possible while sleeping.
As the night went on and the house became still and dark, Kristen sat up in bed. She rested her head on her hand, feeling the pounding in her head. She couldn't sleep with her bad head ache, and couldn't lay down without it getting worse. She managed to escape that horrid cell, and managed to get here in just a couple of hours. But now she couldn't sleep well because of the terrible head ache that was pounding in her head.
The next day came and Kristen had finally fallen asleep. Cody and Ryan tried waking her, but she was too tired to even open her eyes. She mumbled something that meant I'm too tired to get out of bed. So Cody and Ryan went out to get some breakfast at a nearby cafe, as Kristen slept in. Kristen than managed to open her eyes and sit up. She still had the head ache, it just wasn't as bad as that night. Cody and Ryan had already left a few minutes ago and she was expecting them to come in about fifteen twenty minutes. She than checked the clock on the living room wall and sighed.
"Well, I guess it's time." She said reaching into her backpack and pulling out a bottle of pain reliever from her backpack. It said after six to eight hours she could have more, and she had, had a pill before she went to bed. Though it didn't help much of getting rid of her bad headache she had, she still hoped it would help her today just a little bit. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water and quickly swallowed the tiny pill. She sighed, hoping the pill would kick in soon.
The boys returned a few minutes later with hot chocolate and donuts for them to eat. They sat at the table and had there breakfast.
"Well, what is nice is that Starvius probably doesn't know where we are." Ryan mentioned, while taking a bite off of his triple chocolate chip, chocolate doughnut.
"Kristen is a person you can trust as much as me, I have been with her and have known a lot about her to find her a good Halix." Cody said, patting Kristen on the back.
As soon as Cody finished his sentence, Ryan stood up. He looked surprised, as if he said something that he shouldn't have.
"Halix? She's a Halix, oh now I am in big trouble. There is only one thing that this world cannot bare without attacking them, and that is the Halix. If they find out I have a Halix in my house, I may be done for good to add to being an unwanted human too." Ryan said, as if he wanted to kick Kristen out.
"We can leave Ryan, I can leave with you, Kristen and me from this planet and we don't even need to worry about it any more after that." Cody said. Ryan sat down, calming down.
"Well, if we can leave lets do this somewhere more private then. Because I know some people around here that know how to hunt people down even if they teleported." Ryan said, tossing his doughnut in the trash can.
"Okay, well take us there than." Cody said, making a small smile.
The three of them stood up and walked over to the doorway. Ryan opened the door to find two largely built men in the doorway. One of them pulled a sheet of paper from there pocket and showed it to them. On the picture showed a bald man with grey eyes, he didn't look that friendly. It claimed that he was wanted.
"Have you seen this man." One of the men said sternly.
"No-" Cody said, than Kristen interrupted.
"Yes, I have seen him. He is in the neihgborhood. His name is Starvius." She said, noticing that the sign said name unknown.
"Thank you, we shall be going now." The man next to the man holding the sign said and they walked off.
"When did you see Starvius?" Cody asked.
"It is a long story, I think we better go now." She said impatiently.
Ryan led them to his car and he drove them to what he thought was the safest place. It didn't seem that far, they were driving towards the dump where they had all of the trashed metal and plastic that was of no use to anybody. Ryan parked the car in front of the large fence. They climbed out of the car and Ryan approached the lock of the gate. He somehow knew the code, because he was able to open the gate to the dump.
"When did you find the code to the dump?" Kristen asked.
"A man had told me one time when I tried to get inside. He was the owner of the place and gave me permission to go to it anytime of the day I want to." He said.
They entered the dump and he led them further into it until you started to see what looked like a miniature home made out of junk. He led them to the junk house and they walked inside to find it wasn't a house to live in, it was more of a hide out.
"This is my hide out guys, nobody knows where it is, not even the owner." Ryan said, proud of his hut made out of scraps of metal.
"Like it." Kristen said with a thumbs up.
Cody was already starting with his progamming. He than found a can of what used to be a can of green beans and put the drive inside. He placed it on the ground and it did it's normal glow. Ryan backed away, frightened of the fact of the glowing can.
"Don't worry, it is just the teleportation drive charging inside the can. Just wait a few minutes and I will give the cue to grab hold of the can." Cody explained.
After the can showed it's normal rusted color. Cody gave the cue and the trio touched the can and ended up in a dead world with dark clouds hovering over.
"You know Kristen would have liked a place a little bit different than this one." Kristen said,
Both of them turned to Kristen, who started to grow an evil grin on her face.
"But Starvius is glad that you chose this place."
Both boys stood up, they couldn't believe that they just let a betrayer with them. Kristen showed her fingers to them.
"Oh look, it looks like my nails are getting shorter." She said.
Suddenly she turned into her real form, or now we should say his form. For Starvius had done the most wicked trick you can do. They backed away, but Starvius just slowly followed them.
"You know Cody, I have had many times when I was actually you and did some pretty bad things to your friends. But since I am but a Kronolon, I now all of your memories." He said, his dark cloak whipping in the unpleasant breeze.
Cody shook his head, he wasn't expecting Starvius to betray his friends and make them think it was him. They hadn't realized that a cliff was close by, with a narrow bridge going across it.
"Well Cody, remember seeing those movies called... oh yes Star Wars. 'In a Galaxy far, far away...' oh I love that quote. Or when this evil black guy who breathes through a mask and makes odd noises, and on the fifth movie of Star Wars Darth Vador says to his son... 'Luke... I am you Father." he laughed.
Suddenly, Starvius pulled out a sword out of his pocket and twirled it with his finger.
"Well since a Light Sabor is no such thing to begin with, this was all I could get." He said.
Starvius laughed again and pushed Cody out of the way. He was coming towards Ryan for some reason. When he approached Ryan he threatened the sword at him and he ended up crawling on the ground, with the point at his neck. Ryan crawled back as Starvius kept walking, not wanting the point accidentally cutting his throat. Suddnely, Ryan was on the narrow stone bridge, the sword still at his neck. Then Starvius stopped walking. He moved the sword from his neck and swung it around, feeling how cool it was to hold a sword. Than he pointed it back to Ryan.
"Ryan, you need to listen to me. Come join me and you will be with your family again." Starvius said, putting the sword down.
"What, are you my father or something?" He asked confidently, though teasing a bit.
"Ryan... I am your father!" He said.
"Okay... w-well h-hello father." He said, teasing still but also frightened.
Starvius sighed.
"You are supposed to do what Luke did in Star Wars... noooooooooo." He said, frusterated with his act hitting him back.
"Well father, you left me for ten years, and then you turn evil on me. You should be the one saying no." He said, standing up more confident. His father stared at him, not sure what to say. Cody sat far off, running towards them. Ryan kicked his sword off of the bridge. Starvius than made another evil grin. He looked down at the bottom of the cliff of which lava flowed. He rose his hands in the air as Cody approached him holding a knife.
Of course this wasn't normal for Cody to threaten someone, in fact he had never in his life done such a thing. Starvius slowly turned around to Cody, who was shaking as he held the knife threateningly in his hand. Starvius laughed again, and put his hands down.
"Your too scared to kill me Cody, your just a boy. You had never held a knife in your life like that, why don't you put that knife down. For I am trapped anyway, I have nowhere else to go." He said, walking closer and closer to Cody.
"I'm not afraid to use it." Cody shook.
"Oh come on Cody, yes you are." Cody held the knife to Starvius's chest.
"I'm warning you." He said.
Suddenly Starvius turned back into Kristen and Cody dropped his knife. He backed away, but Starvius just followed him. They were now in the middle of the bridge.
"I guess Cody can't kill someone who looks so much like his girlfriend."
"She is not my girl friend, she is just... just a friend." Cody stuttered.
"Oh, but I feel it inside you... love. Love is a powerful trick Cody, it can be a man's weakest point." Starvius said, whipping his brown wavy hair. Starvius was now looking down at Cody in his normal form, than suddenly he transformed into his father. Cody stopped breathing, he couldn't believe what he just saw.
"It's me son, I am here now." he said holding his hands out.
A tear streaked down Cody's cheek, than without thinking about it he ran over to give him a hug. But this only lasted a few moments before Cody backed away, wiping his tears.
"YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!!!!!!!!" He barked.
Cody's dad turned back into Starvius. Starvius smirked and looked down at the lava.
"You are strong Cody, a little too strong." He said.
Suddenly Starvius jumped off of the bridge. Ryan and Cody ran over to him but he was already too far to reach. Than before they knew he was going to sink into the burning lava, a giant eagle soared underneath and scooped him up. It curved back up and was now up in the sky.
"Good bye son!" Starvius said to Ryan as he flew off into the dark clouds.
A tear streaked down Ryan's cheek, for he saw his father in real life unlike Cody.
"Does that mean I am one too?" he asked Cody.
"What do you mean?"
"A Kronolon, my father is a Kronolon. So must I." he looked Cody into his eyes.
Cody paused for a second, unsure how to answer that.
"Yes Ryan, you are."
Chapter 9: Kristen's quest
It was quite easy to fetch Kristen with Cody's drive. They were able to get to her cell as easily as teleporting outside of it. The mirror was now in pieces on the ground, useless now. Though none of them cared much about it. Cody than dropped Ryan back off at his house, for he thought it would be best if he stayed there after finding out who he really was. So Cody and Kristen went off to another planet.
This planet was supposed to be the resort planet. Cody and Kristen landed in on a grassy field, with six doors surrounding them. It was weird to find them connected to no wall, and standing in the middle of the field. Suddenly a white robot that was shaped as a human walked up to them.
"Hello Kristen and Cody, welcome to Pangelica the resort planet. I am to be your host in this tour, my name is Antony." The robot said.
"What are these doors?" Kristen asked.
"These are the six places you may go for your tour. Your choices are.... The Garden,... The Beach,... The Jungle,... The Arcade,... Amusement park, and... The Mall." The robot said in it's female voice.
Kristen turned to Cody, he shrugged his shoulders.
"How about the Beach." Kristen said, smiling.
"The Beach." The robot said and suddenly one of the doors opened and showed a sandy beach. Cody and Kristen entered the doorway with the host to find a large beautiful beach.
"The beach is known for it's white sandy shores, and the crashing waves perfect for children to play in. The beach has sounds of relaxation, with birds and sounds of the water hitting the sand. The Beach also has a nice resort that has a view of the beach in every room, and also to add with a soothing hot tub and a great spa. Dozens of life is in The Beach and if you like animals and life try the Jungle as your next tour." The host said, standing beside the doorway.
Kristen grabbed Cody's hand and they ran into the sandy beach. As they ran, Kristen kicked off her shoes and ran with the water, feeling the sand tickle between her toes. Cody stopped and sat down, feeling the warm sun on his face. The host remained next to the doorway, keeping perfectly still in his position. After basking in the sun, the host returned to them.
"Would you like to try our special at our gourmet restaurant inside the resort?" The host asked.
They both than realized how hungry they were. They both nodded, and the host brought them ove tto the resort. Inside the resort a lady came over holding two menu's. She led them to two seats in the dining area. There was a decent amount of people there, perfect time to be there. Kristen ordered the special which was a gourmet cheese souffle, and Cody got stuffed Lobster with fries.
There meal was served just a couple of minutes later and they enjoyed a wondrous dinner at a gourmet restaurant for free. After they had there fill, the host showed them to there rooms which were both separate for there comfort. The host was defiantly right about a perfect view of the beach no matter what room you were in. That night they both slept well with full stomachs and no stressful enemies coming after them.
But as Cody lied in his bed he was awoken by some kind of buzzing. He opened his eyes and noticed it was the drive that was making the noise. He had put the drive on the night stand, because he felt comfortable enough to take it out of his pocket. He got out or the master bed and grabbed the glowing drive. He flipped it to the laptop and noticed someone was trying to send him a message. He turned on to screen and saw the person who needed to talk to him, it was a message from a Halix.
The next day Cody and Kristen went to the amuzement park and tried out the fun rides. The food there was free, so they got pretzels, nacho's, Churro's , ice cream, and a bunch of other food that would be too expensive back on Earth. They did this all day, until they went back to the beach where they decided they were going to have there hotel be for the rest of the time they were there.
Than the third day came.
"So where do you want to go today?" Kristen asked while eating her gourmet pancakes with fruit toppled on top.
"Well, you have been wanting to go that mall the whole time we have been here." Cody mentioned.
"How did you know that?" She asked.
"Isn't it obvious, ever since we got to the lobby you have been eyeing that door. But you knew I wouldn't enjoy it as much as you would."
Kristen rolled her eyes.
"Your good." She said, nudging him on the side with her elbow.
"Well, I will will go to the arcade, and you go to the mall. How about that?" Cody asked.
Kristen agreed on it and they left the breakfast room. The Host went with Kristen,and Cody went alone to the arcade. He didn't want to go to the arcade because of the games, he had a meeting with the Halix. He walked into the large arcade building, hearing all sorts of noises as other kids played the games. He walked through the crowd of busy kids and sat down on a soft brown couch at the end of the room. He folded his arms and waited, he was supposed to meet the Halix soon.
About fifteen minutes later and a nineteen year old boy walked up to him. Cody scooted over leaving him room to sit down.
"You're late." Cody told him.
"I was fashionably late, I'm Joshua by the way."
"Thank you for telling me, because you didn't even mention your name with your short message that other night."
"Yah I know, I was just on a tight schedule. I just had to tell you everything you had to know, and than cut it. They only gave me ten minutes to explain it all to you." Joshua explained.
"So do you have it?" Cody asked, making sure he didn't come here for nothing.
Joshua reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny, red flashlight key chain with a silver border. He placed the flash light in his hand and Cody put it in his pocket.
"You just have to remember that Kristen can't loose this. If she does I would not be here and this will not work. So give this to her as soon as possible, for she has to be there by next week Tuesday at exactly three forty seven. Good luck." Joshua said and walked off.
Cody sighed and pulled out the flashlight back out. He stared at it as it rested in the palm of his hand.
"Our adventures never stop to they?" He asked himself.
Cody than placed the flashlight back in his pocket and he walked out of the arcade.
Kristen was trying out new sunglasses as Cody came up to her in the mall. She already had two sacks full of stuff she got. When she pulled off the sunglasses to grab a new pair she spotted Cody in the mirror. She put the sun glasses down and ran over to him.
"Cody look what I got. I got a new hat," Kristen pulled out a black hip hop hat with a red ribbon, "I also got this really cute outfit, I got a new pair of shoes, actually a few, I got this adorable dress..." Kristen continued showing Cody her cute outfits that really didn't interest Cody much.
After Kristen showed him everything she got, Cody was going to bring her back to the resort but she wanted to keep on shopping. So Cody said he was going to meet in the gardens where they hadn't seen yet. So Cody left the mall and Kristen continued on trying on the sunglasses. He turned to the gardens and the host came back to him.
"You are not to be alone, this is a resort with friends and family. Would you like me find your friend?" The host asked.
"But didn't I just went to the arcade by myself?"
"Of course we let you have one time of being on your own, but once you leave that area you are to be back with the person you were vacationing with."
"But this is supposed to be a relaxing resort where we can do whatever we want, we have the choice of being alone or not." Cody said, frusterated how the vacation was starting to get a little frustrating.
"Yes we want you to relax, but also be happy with others. Please go to the gardens with your friend."
"I am going to meet her there, I am just having a head start."
"You have had one chance on your own, you are now to be with your friend."
"NO."
After that answer the host suddenly started burning up. It's head started shaking and the fingers were going all bizarre. Cody didn't mean to hurt the host, he just didn't want it to boss him around. The host than fell over, smoke coming out of it. Suddenly the doors were blocked by bars and he was surrounded by dozens of angry hosts.
"You have committed a crime, this is a resort and we don't allow people disobeying rules." The hosts said in unison, "You are to come with us, for you are not welcome here any more."
Cody shook his head, he didn't mean it to turn it into this. He just wanted it to keep the way he had it planned, he didn't want to end up disobeying and getting kicked out. The hosts than came up to Cody and got a hold of him. Suddenly another door showed up between the mall and the arcade, they brought Cody inside it to find it was a large white room.
"Thank you for your cooperation at out resort." The hosts said and they left the room.
Suddenly the door disappeared and Cody was sitting in the white room alone with no doorway to get back to Kristen. Though this didn't worry him for long, he reached into his pocket and looked for his drive to find it wasn't in there. He got into his other pocket to find it wasn't in there either. Cody sighed and sat down, trying to think where he misplaced it. Than he thought about the arcade, his drive wasn't in the same pocket at the flashlight. He sighed, knowing that he had forgotten it at the resort. He leaned his head against the white wall, wondering if Kristen would ever find out that he was trapped in some kind of jail, with no way out.
A few hours later and Kristen had bags and bags of clothes and stuff she wanted. She now was ready to go back to the gardens to meet Cody. She came up to the door to find a host at the doorway, the host stopped her.
"Everybody needs to go back to there hotel or resort, there is no worry. Everybody needs to go back to there hotel or resort." The host told her.
Kristen didn't understand, but she knew that if she had to go back to the resort, Cody probably was too. She got out of the door and went straight to her resort at the beach. The first room she went to was going to be Cody's, to see if he was doing okay for her being gone so long. She knocked at his door, but nobody answered. She started to think he didn't like how she was that long if he never answered. She knocked again, but still no answer.
Kristen continued knocking but still no answer. Finally, Kristen just opened the door to find nobody was in there. She went over to the door that connected hers with Cody's and she noticed he wasn't in her bedroom either. Kristen sighed and sat on Cody's bed wondering where he was. He wouldn't be at the cafe, or the buffet. It was mid afternoon. She laid on Cody's bed, hoping he would return soon.
Suddenly she heard a buzzing. She sat up and realized it was coming from the dresser. She came up to the dresser and looked through the drawers, trying to find where the buzzing was coming from. Than she realized it was coming from the top of the dresser and noticed Cody's tele drive. She grabbed Cody's drive and it automatically popped up to the laptop. She screeched as she saw the screen, feeling the pain as she saw the strong technology.
She squinted at the screen, trying to ignore the intense head ache she was getting. She noticed it was a message from Cody. It read: Help! Kristen than noticed underneath it, it explained that it tracked down the location as the seventh door in the lobby. Kristen couldn't read any more, she quickly shut the laptop. Her head pounding so hard after seeing the screen. She lied back down, rubbing her temples.
After a while, she sat back up. Though her headache was still bad, she was going to help Cody right now. She walked out of the room and thought, Cody must have done something bad to end up trapped. She came up to a host as she went downstairs, keeping herself level by leaning against the wall.
"Move... you freak I need to get to the arcade." She said, struggling to speak without her headache getting worse.
"You are to stay in your resort. You don't seem so well, why don't you go to the nurse?" The host said.
"No, I need to go to the arcade!" She said, standing up a little bit more straight.
"I am afraid we are having some problems in the lobby, your illness must be messing with your attitude, please go to the nurse." The host ordered.
"No." Suddenly the host started shaking and it fell over.
Suddenly all of the hosts in the room came up to her.
"You have committed a crime, this is a resort and we don't allow people disobeying rules." The hosts said in unison, "You are to come with us, for you are not welcome here any more."
Kristen backed away, but the Hosts got ahold of her. They took her to the lobby where a seventh door appeared. She clenched the drive in her hand, hoping to find Cody there. When they brought her inside Cody was sitting in the corner of the wall, mumbling something to himself. Kristen ran up to him and Cody smiled as he saw her.
"You got my message." Cody said.
"Yes Cody, how did you do that?" She asked
Cody pulled out the red key chain flash light. He dangled it in front of her face.
"I used this." He said.
Kristen snatched the flashlight from his hand and observed it closely.
"I blinked the light three times to show I needed help. What it does is it sends messages through to my drive, so the light is a signal."
"That's really cool Cody. Where did you get it?"
"Someone gave it to me... well, it is actually supposed to be for you."
Kristen pointed at herself.
"For me?"
Cody nodded.
"I was going to give it to you earlier until I got us into this mess. But I don't just have that to give to you Kristen, I have a quest for you."
"A quest, but don't you have to be with me?"
"No Kristen, this is a quest you have to do on your own. You just have to trust me on this."