Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Wherin I Become Completely Incredulous

**Brinnng! Brinnnggg!**

My hand swung out and slapped down on top of the alarm clock sitting on the table beside my bed, trying to find the off button. Finally I found it. But by then it was too late. I was fully awake and there was no way I was going to be able to go back to sleep.

Why in the world did I set my alarm for 6 o'clock in the morning?!

Suddenly, I remembered and sat straight up. Mr. Roscue was taking Rhys and I to the baseball game today and we needed to leave by 9am! As I swung my legs out of bed and touched the floor, a strange smell slithered into my nose. It smelt like burning wood....A few faint wisps of smoke drifted past the windowpane as I ran to the window and opened it. The wisps seemed to be coming from the roof of our house! A look outside the window and up at our roof confirmed it: another good-sized hole had been burned in our roof.

I wonder who could have done that, I though sarcastically. It's a good thing he's my friend now. Otherwise he might be in serious trouble with me. 'Cause how many people want the pleasure of sharing a fence with neighbors who seem to be making a habit of destroying their home?

 I sighed and glanced over at the Roscues' house. All seemed quiet. But as I ducked back inside my room, the low hum of a car's engine caught my attention. Peering back out the window, I saw a sleek, black car pull up in front of the Roscues' house.

Who could that be this early in the morning?!

The “who” was a man dressed in a dark business suit. A very menacing-looking, heavily-muscled man. Wait, no. There were two of them! A second man also emerged from the car!

They look too similar to that other gorilla I had the pleasant encounter
with a couple of weeks ago...

Together, the two of them walked up to the Roscue family's door.

This doesn't look good...

I remembered when Rhys' was explaining about himself a couple of weeks ago.

About a month ago...I was kidnapped by a foreign aircraft manufacturing company who wanted me to give them the formula. It took the government a week to find and rescue me. They captured most of the people involved in the kidnapping, but two got away: the Smasher and his employer, Karl.

His employer, Karl...They never mentioned him being captured! And if the Smasher found out where Rhys was, no doubt Karl knows! Maybe it would be a good idea to just check out what's going on over there, and make sure it's not him. If it is him...I suppose I'll call the police.

Dear bathrobe, I apologize for ripping you off your hook so fast, but I was in a hurry. This was possibly my new friend's life on the line! 

As I padded quietly across the Roscues' front lawn, I saw that the men were no longer on the front porch. Moving as stealthily as possible, I crept up to the front window and peered inside. Through the lace curtains, I could see those two gorilas sitting very stiffly on the couch. Across from them were Mr. and Mrs. Roscue, still in their pjs and looking rather nervous. Thankfully, the window was opened slightly, and I could understand what was going on. One of the men, the most menacing one and who reminded me slightly of a bulldog, was speaking.

“Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, where is Rhys Stengl?”

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor? But their name is Roscue! And Rhys' last name isn't
Stengl!

“Rhys Stengl? I'm sorry, but I don't know who you're talking about.”

Duh, of couse not. Rhys's last name isn't Stengl and you and your wife don't look like the "Taylor"-type...

The first man didn't seem to agree.

“Really?” The man had risen and strode slowly over to Mr. Roscue until he was standing right in front of him. The second man followed. Suddenly the second man smoothly pulled a very sharp knife from his pocket and held it to Mrs. Roscue's throat. “Are you sure?” the first man asked again. Mr. Roscue stared helplessly at Mrs. Roscue who was shaking her head
desperately at her husband.

“I-I-I...I don't know.” Mr. Roscue finally said.

The first man scowled. “I sincerely doubt that, Mr. Taylor. Do you have any idea how powerful I am? I have connections all over the world who will give me any information I happen to want. Karl Myers is an incredibly powerful name.”

Karl Myers! It is him!! 

“Mr. Taylor. If I say that I know where someone is, I know that that person will be there. With no doubt. And if that person happens to move from that place before I reach him, my contact will alert me. And no such alert has reached me. Rhys Stengl is here. Where. Is. He.”

My suspicion had been confirmed. And now it was time to act. I turned to run back to my house to call the police, but stopped. First, I needed to check if Rhys was aware of Karl's presence! As fast as I could, I changed direction and sped to the gate leading into the Roscues' backyard. I latched onto the top of the gate and hoisted myself up. As I perched
precariously on top of the gate, I listened for any sound indicating that I had been heard. Nothing. Softly, I dropped to the ground and entered the side yard. A few paces led me to the trellis underneath Rhys' bedroom window. If I could reach the top of the trellis, I just might be able to reach the ledge of the window...

I'm not exactly a fan of getting pricked by a bunch of roses, but I don't really want to draw any attention to myself by shouting or throwing rocks...

Cautiously, I put a foot on the trellis and began climbing. It felt like it took forever, but I finally made it.

“Rhys! Rhys, you...Rhys?” I stood in his room panicking. There was no sign of him anywhere! Had the men reached his room before me?! Suddenly, heavy footsteps began pounding up the staircase.

Maybe not! Maybe he escaped! Or else why would they still be coming up here? But where??!!

A thousand questions whirled through my mind as I lowered myself out of the window as quietly as possible and dropped to the ground. I heard the door to Rhys' room smash into smithereens as I fled out the gate.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

“C'mon, really?! I just need a quick ride down to the other side! I'll pay you! I promise!”

I stood on one of the several boat docks close to our town, arguing with the owner of a very fine motorboat. I was hoping to get a ride to the other side of the lake, but it wasn't looking like that was going to happen. By this time, I could have easily gotten a taxi and taken the long way to the
other side. But I didn't want to take the long way. I needed the shortest route possible. My time was running out. I could feel it. But that horrible man just stood there, arms crossed, refusing my every offer.

“No,” he replied for the hundredth time. “And that's final. I've got a lot of work to do today, and I don't have time to take some crazy kid across the lake.”

“But-”

“No buts! I'm not taking you, kid.”

 As I racked my brain for another offer, a flash of blue metal at the beginning of the dock caught my eye. Allie. I turned my head all the way, and saw her blue bike with, yes, Allie, riding it.

Oh, greeeat! I can't let her see me! 

“Hey, um, let's discuss this in here, shall we?” I asked quickly as I ducked inside the door of the boathouse.

“There's nothing more to discuss, kid,” the man growled as he grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me out of the boathouse. In the process, he knocked my leg against a stack of small metal cannisters piled next to the boathouse door. The noise of the cans crashing out of formation and all over the ground exploded in my ears.

The sound of a shout alerted me that Allie had seen us. I looked up and saw her speeding towards me on her bike. 

Well, isn't that nice. I'm feeling very grateful to you, Mister.  


“Please, sir!” I cried as politely as possible. “This is incredibly urgent! I have to get out of here!”

“What's so urgent?”

“I-I have people after me!”

“That girl?!”

“Sir, I need to get on that boat and reach the other side!!!!!!” I was practically shouting now. A glance over my shoulder told me that Allie had now dropped her bike and was running towards me with the speed of a superhero. Desperate to get away from Allie, I leaped as hard and as far as I could off the dock and out over the water, trying to reach the boat. But a hard hand clamped itself on my neck and I found myself suspended in the air over the water instead of safely on the motorboat.

“Rhys!” Allie had arrived.

“Are you looking for this kid?” the man asked.

“Yeah, um, would you set him down, please?”

The man placed me none-too-gently back down on the dock. I would have preferred being dumped in the lake much better. Anywhere away from Allie would be perfect.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I breathed hard, trying to recover from my mad dash. “Rhys!” I repeated. “I've been looking all over for you!”

“Why?”

“Rhys, there are men after you! Karl Myers and some other guy! They were at your house this morning not two hours ago!”

Rhys' face turned pale. “Allie, I-I need to go. I need to go now.”

“I'm coming with you!”

His face darkened. “No! You can't! It's too dangerous!”

“What's so dangerous that I can't come?!”

“Let's just say that I've got to rescue a friend from a group of people who I hope you will n ever happen to meet. Incredibly dangerous people who will stop at nothing until they get what they want.”

“The potion?”

“Huh?”

“The potion. For the indestructible metal. That's what they want, right?”

“Oh, yeah, right. Look, Allie, you need to let me go! I don't want you to get hurt!”

“No.” I stepped closer. “I've already had to let go of two friends. And I'm not letting go of another. I'm coming with you, Rhys.”

Rhys looked away for a few seconds. And then he said, very quietly and without looking at me, “Fine.”

- - - - - - - - - -

I really didn't want Allie to come. It was so dangerous. Even I didn't know what to expect along the way. For all I knew, I could end up back at The Lab. I shuddered. All of a sudden, Allie grabbed my shoulder.

“Rhys! It's the car that I saw in front of your house this morning! It's got to be Karl Myers! We need to get out of here! Fast!!”

I looked where she was pointing and saw a sleek, black car slowly pull to a stop at the beginning of the dock.

I spun around to face the boat man who had been just standing there the entire time looking on. “Dude, will you just help us out??!! Those men are out to get us!!!”

The man glanced over our shoulders at the men who were now climbing out of their car and striding towards us. I recognized one of them as Karl Myers himself! Allie had been right!! And there was no place for us to run. We were trapped.

“Kid, look. I told you. I'm not taking you out! How do I know you're not trying to run away from some place where you're supposed to be, huh?”

Before he could continue and I could protest, a gunshot rang out. Blood drained from the man's face as a bullet whistled past his ear.

“Rhys! They're running towards us!!” Allie's voice was panicked and high-pitched. “Please, sir! Let us use your boat!!” Two more bullets whistled past us and Allie screamed.

“Get in the boat!” the man barked. He grabbed our arms and practically dragged us down into the boat. “Stay low!”

The gunshots were coming quick and fast now. We lay huddled by the side of the boat as the man ripped apart the knot of rope holding it to the dock and started the motor. With agonizing slowness, the motorboat began sliding away from the dock. I stole a quick look over the side of the boat. The men had reached the end of the dock and now stood there glaring after the fleeing boat. Karl raised his pistol again and held it pointed at our boat.

“Rhys Stengl!” His deep voice came over the water, clear and bold. “We will find you. You can't escape. And neither can Dilyn.”

Allie glanced at me. “Who's Dilyn?” she whispered.

“A friend,” I replied, darting back down behind the safety of the boat's side as a final gunshot sounded. As I stared at the back of the boat guy who was steering the boat farther into the lake, I could feel anger rising inside of me.

How dare he disbelieve me! He wasted precious time of mine and because of him, I may arrive too late to save Dilyn. Or he could have gotten us killed! One of those gunshots could have finished Allie or I off for good! 

As thoughts of rage whirled like a deadly storm inside my head, I hardly noticed the electricity's movement or Allie's cry of astonishment. Before I knew what had happened, a stream of electricity shot from my hands and out into the ocean barely missing the man. He slowly turned and stared at me. I tried to avoid both his and Allie's astonished looks. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the man turned back to the controls.

How could I have been so stupid!!

I watched as the man slowly pulled a cellphone from his pocket and dialed a number. A couple seconds later, someone answered on the other end. The man spoke softly, so I could just barely make out what he was saying.

“Raymond? This is Mac Stevens. I believe I have something you may want. A boy about 14 or 15 with-" He was interrupted by Raymond. "Yes, that's who I'm talking about. I've got him on
my boat right now. ”

My eyes grew wide and I stared at Allie in horror.

“I didn't realize who he was when he showed up, but the description you gave me a couple days ago matches perfectly." He paused for a moment, listening to Raymond on the other end. Finally, "He's not going anywhere. Meet me at my dock in five minutes and I'll hand him over.”

Oh yeah? We'll see about that.

I made a diving motion with my hands at Allie and pointed over the side of the boat. Her eyes widened.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I couldn't believe what was happening! We had fallen straight into a trap! Rhys began making urgent hand motions at me. And his intended message didn't appeal very well to me.

There is absolutely no way I can dive into that water! Who knows what kinds of dangerous creatures might be swimming around in there! But we have no other choice...where else can we go?

I glanced over my shoulder at Mac, and then back at Rhys. I nodded. We quietly got to our feet and Rhys began counting on his fingers...

1...2...3...!

With a humongous splash, Rhys and I landed in the water. Mac spun around, dropping his cellphone on the floor of the boat.

"Swim for the opposite side!" Rhys yelled. Already, he was several yards in front of me. I began frantically swimming after him as I heard Mac hit the water. But I knew it was hopeless. There was no way I could make it. I had never been a strong swimmer, and we weren't even close to halfway across the lake.

Does Rhys really think that we can make it??!! 

Mac's strong strokes sounded close behind me. I began swimming even faster, but at this pace, I knew that I would quickly run out of energy.

All of a sudden, something touched my foot and I screamed. Ahead of me, Rhys turned. "Rhys!!" I screamed. Then I felt something slither between my legs. Something cold and scaly. That's when I completely lost it. Rhys' call to me slightly registered in my brain as everything went black.

8 comments:

  1. Em!
    This is SO Amazing!!! I'm on the edge of my seat, I can't wait to see what happens next!!

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  2. Emily....Wow! I don't even know how I will be able to continue this! you did a fantastic job! :)

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  3. Well done, Em!
    Ewwww . . . my worst fear is being in water and having "something" touch me. Totally engrossed in this plot and wondering where it will go.

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    1. I TOTALLY second the motion!! *shudders!!* I have had that happen to me before.... worst feeling in the WORLD! O.O

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  4. Okay, I have to admit: that was pretty good! Can't wait to see where it will go. =D

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  5. Ahh!! amazing!! I can't wait for the next part!! ... which I have opened on another tab. =) I am reading it RIGHT now!! =D

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    1. Haha, thanks! =) You must be very talented, Hope-reading and typing comments at the same time. ;) lol!

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