A Final Choice

I stared in complete shock at one of the second story windows, drops of rain dribbling down my face. In the window stood a man, light radiating from his muscular…transparent body. Long red hair flowed from his head and he wore…was that…a kilt??

This couldn’t be McNeil….why would he be glowing? I really hope this muscular ghost-dude isn’t another enemy we need to take care of before all of this can be ended…

“Who is he?” I asked nervously. “A guardian?”

“I don’t remember one being mentioned in the book…”Allie muttered.

Dilyn gasped. “He’s beckoning to us!”

I looked up to see the figure’s spectral arm quickly motioning to us. I turned to Tarra. “Do you think he’s on our side?”

She bit her lip and stared up at the window. I noticed that the figure’s face appeared worried, and that he kept squinting at the horizon behind us. Instinctively, I spun around, imagining the worst, but nothing was there. I glanced back at my sister.

“I don’t know if he’s on our side or not, but we need to get inside that castle, complete your ritual, and get out of here before McNeil arrives,” she finally said.

I clinched my fists. “Let’s go.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

                The huge wooden doors of the castle slowly creaked open as we pushed hard against them. With one final shove, the doors slammed back against the stone walls. Thunder rumbled overhead as we stood on the threshold, gazing uneasily down a long stone hallway which ended at a narrow staircase which curled upwards out of sight. An occasional heavy, wooden door lined the walls. Streaks of lightning revealed the brackets for torches along the walls.

Rhys took a step forward to continue down the corridor, but something at the end of the hall made me reach out a hand and stop him. “Rhys, wait. Look.”

We all stared in growing trepidation as a light began slowly emerging from where the steps disappeared out of our view. Before long, the figure we had seen in the window stood on the bottom step. A deep voice rumbled down the hallway towards us: “Greetings, Rhys Stengle, Dilyn Cutter, and companions.”

“Who are you? How do you know who we are?” Rhys commanded. “Are you for us or against us?”

“I am Peter de Berewick, your ancestor.  And of course I’m for you. The real question is: Will you be for me?”

I saw that Tarra had laid a hand at her hip, on the gun that she had taken from Roy. “What is that supposed to mean?” she called.

“I have a little job for you, Rhys.” He laughed, the noise sounding cold and harsh against my ears. A shiver ran down my spine and I remembered that we were dealing with the ghost of a madman. A very powerful madman. “But first,” Peter continued, “I believe there’s a ritual that he needs to complete. On the top of the tower.” We all glanced at each other. Then Rhys began striding down the hall towards Peter.

“Lead me where I need to go,” he ordered.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rain poured over me as I stood on top of the taller of the castle’s two towers, the wind whipping at my clothes and hair. Tarra, Allie, Dilyn, and Peter were in the room below me, shielded from my view and the reach of the savage elements.

I closed my eyes and raised my arms, turning to face the east. On the way here, I had read the words which I needed to say over and over again, memorizing them perfectly. Now was my chance to take full ownership of my power.

I began chanting the words, softly at first, but I grew louder and louder, my voice rising above the noise of the wind and rain. Thunder boomed overhead and lightning flashed almost continually, but still I pressed on, not faltering in my speech. The words were in a language unfamiliar to me and at first felt strange on my tongue. But soon I discovered that they were rolling smoothly off of my tongue almost without any mental prompt from me. Partway through, I turned around and faced the west for the rest of the chant. Finally, it was finished.

I lowered my arms and stood waiting, my head bowed, eyes closed. It seemed as if all creation was waiting with me. The thunder and lightning ceased and the wind died. Only the wind continued lightly. All seemed still.

Suddenly, electricity began coursing through my body. I slowly willed it to come to my hands, marveling at the ease. Electricity hissed at my fingertips. In a moment of pure triumph, I let loose a stream of electricity into the night sky and held it there, watching it snap and crackle above me. A loud cry of victory escaped my mouth. I had conquered my power. I could finally control it. And no one else could.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Rhys dropped from that trapdoor back into the room, not bothering to use the ladder, no smile in the history of smiles could have possibly been bigger than his. In seconds, Dilyn and Tarra and Rhys and I were all jumping up and down and crying and whooping ecstatically and hugging each other.

After a few minutes, a gruff cough penetrated the celebration. Peter stood there stiffly, looking a bit awkward. “I believe there’s still one more ritual to complete. Dilyn?”

Dilyn’s eyes shone as she ascended the ladder, her hands shaking slightly. She reached the top and pushed the trapdoor open. For a moment, she paused to look down at us, the moon shining on her long brown hair. Then she was gone, the trapdoor falling down heavily. We waited.

A few seconds went by and we strained our ears for any sound. All we heard was deafening silence. But then we began to hear Dilyn’s sing-song voice sweetly reciting the words that would set her free. She reached the end and we waited again. A few minutes later, although it felt like hours, the trapdoor squealed open and we stared up in amazement.

A bright light shone down on us and we had to shield our eyes with our hands! Finally, it began to die and we could see Dilyn standing there. She climbed quickly down the ladder.

“Sorry about that,” she said. “For a sec, I was worried that it wouldn’t stop.”

Still stunned by how brilliant her light had been, it took us a couple of seconds to come back to our senses. But when we did, our response to Dilyn’s obvious success was just as loud and wild as ours had been to Rhys’s. Finally, the din ceased, and there was silence. Dilyn broke it after a few moments.

“I can’t believe this is all over. We’ll never have to go back to the Lab again. We can stop running.”

“It’s not finished yet, Dilyn,” Peter said, instantly sending a cloud over our jubilant faces as we remembered.

“McNeil!” Tarra gasped. “Rhys, Dilyn, we all need to get out of here as soon as we can before he arrives!”

“Why?” Peter questioned calmly. “If you don’t face him now, you’ll be running from him for the rest of your lives. I thought you wanted to stop running, stop hiding.”

“We do…”Dilyn admitted reluctantly.

“You may now have full control of your powers, but that won’t necessarily stop McNeil. He is a very slippery, cunning man with almost inhuman skills at tracking people down.” This comment made us more than a little uneasy. Peter continued, “If this is to end, it must end now.”

“He’s right,” Rhys said, glancing around at all of us girls.

I knew Peter was right, but I didn’t want to stay.

How could we possibly stand up to McNeil and his men? What if something went wrong and everyone was killed? Including me? Maybe I could sneak off and hide somewhere…

I instantly realized how selfish my thoughts were. The chances of something happening to Rhys and Dilyn and Tarra were high, whether they stayed or left. I didn’t want anything to ever happen to them. Whatever occurred, I knew I needed to stand by them. These were my friends. My only friends. I wasn’t about to leave them.

As I decided this, I realized that everyone was looking at me. Rhys repeated his question.

“Do you want to leave or stay?”

“What’s currently the majority vote?” I asked.

“Tarra and Dilyn and I all are staying,” Rhys answered slowly. “But don’t base your decision on that. McNeil doesn’t necessarily want you. If you stay, something could happen. But you can avoid all of this by leaving. The town of Settle is just a couple miles away. If you cut through the park, avoiding the roads, you should be able to make it there safely.  You can wait there for us to…to come back after all of this is over.”

I looked Rhys squarely in the eyes. “I’m staying.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I wasn’t sure whether I was pleased or annoyed by Allie’s decision. I really didn’t want anything to happen to her. But I did appreciate her stubbornness in standing by us.

“Alright,” I began, “we need to come up with a good plan as to how we can solve this and leave here alive.”

None of us had noticed that Peter had left, but we all saw when the door creaked open and Peter entered, a gleaming sword in his hand. I stared at the weapon warily.

“What’s that for?” I demanded.

“Rhys, I mentioned earlier that I had a little job for you. You should find it rather simple. This sword if for McNeil and his men. It had magical powers and is capable of completely disposing of your opponents without any assistance from you. Just a single point at the opponent and the utterance of the word which controls it will end it all for you in a matter of minutes.”

I found my hand slowly reaching for the sword but I quickly drew it back. I spoke quietly, inwardly fighting the urge to take the sword. “Peter, my goal for today is to leave here with the deaths of as few people as possible. I don’t believe that sword will help accomplish this. I can’t accept it.”

Peter’s eyes burned. ‘The Magmans must die! All of them! I can’t finish the job myself, Rhys. You can. It is your duty as an Ilvan to completely eradicate all Magmans.”

“But why?” I asked. “Why do we need to kill them?”

“Because they are evil!” He shouted furiously.

“I could think of a really evil Ilvan, too,” I heard Allie mutter under her breath.

‘How? What makes them anymore evil than us Ilvans that they must be destroyed?”

‘Rhys. The Magmans. Must. Die.”

I could tell that we weren’t going to get anywhere. Suddenly, we could all hear the sound of a motor. Tarra looked out of the window and I followed her gaze. A sleek, black car was racing up the road, its tires squealing as it recklessly turned the corner. The vehicle slid to a crazy stop by our rental car.

As the first person emerged from the car, I instantly knew it had to be McNeil. Red hair fell to his shoulders and a thick mustache covered the grim mouth. He rose up like a giant, broad-shouldered and intimidating; his brawny figure almost bursting the seams of his spotless black suit. I stared in uneasiness at a large bulge on his hip. McNeil removed his dark shades, glanced at our car and then looked straight up to where we were staring out of the window. He held my gaze for what seemed like an eternity. But then he looked away and motioned for his five burly Scottish sidekicks to head inside. I felt myself gulp.

Peter laid a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see the sword held out to me.

I don’t want to kill anyone! I thought.

But we don’t have any protection, said a little voice in my head. Did you see how burly the men McNeil has with him are?! You know they all are going to have guns. I heard the heavy doors of the castle slam open.

But maybe I can reason with him. Show him how needless this all is. That he can’t blame us for something our ancestors did that we had no part of.

Good luck with that. You’ll probably be shot before you have a chance to say anything.

I realized that Peter wasn’t another enemy. It was his sword. It was Peter’s magical sword which creating this conflict within me between my conscience and my desires and concerns.

I can’t kill anyone. I won’t.

I pushed the sword away. “Keep your sword, Peter.” Ignoring the heavy scowl on the man’s face, I stepped through the door ad began the descent down the narrow stone staircase.

We met in a long wide hallway with tall stone pillars lining the walls. I stood at one end. McNeil and his men grouped at the other.

“At last we meet, Rhys Stengle,” McNeil called menacingly, his thick Scottish accent evident.

“It’s a pleasure, I’m sure,” I responded, my voice dripping sarcasm.

“Do you like my suit, Rhys? I like to wear this to funerals. Like now.”

“Nobody’s died yet, and I aim to keep it that way. McNeil, this isn’t necessary. No one has to die.” I heard the others run up behind me and stop at the sight of our opponents.

“But many did, Rhys!” McNeil cried angrily. “Your ancestor, Peter de Berewick, incited his followers to one of the greatest massacres in the history of the world: a massacre of my people, the Magmans. You and Dilyn and Tarra must die to pay for their acts. You will die.”

Dilyn stepped up next to me. “Why must we die for something our ancestors did?” she questioned. “Only a few days ago, we didn’t know exactly who we were, much less what our ancestors had done to your people!”

“But you have found out, and one day you will turn just like them and come after us. We can’t have that now, can we?”

“We have no intention of killing anyone,” I replied.

“Maybe not now, but the future is almost always uncertain. I intend to make my future-and yours-very certain.”

Randy McNeil is no saner than de Berewick is, I realized. Suddenly, without warning, McNeil yanked out a pistol from under his coat and fired. I heard something clatter to the floor behind me and I spun around. Tarra stood there, stunned. Her fingers were bloodied from a slight scratch by the bullet. The gun lay at her feet.

“Don’t try anything else,” McNeil ordered. “The only shots will be fired by me and my men.” The five other Scots raised their guns and cocked them, following their leader’s example. “You. Will. Die.”

Then came the gunfire. Bullets whistled through the air towards us, strong and deadly. But they never reached us. I opened my eyes in astonishment to see that Dilyn and Allie and Tarra and I were all still standing! Ahead of us, McNeil and his men lay crumpled on the floor, wounded. Four Scottish police officers stood above them with their guns drawn and smoking.

“Randy McNeil, you’re under arrest for robbery, attempted murder, and a whole lot more,” one of the officers stated.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“I still can hardly believe that all of this is over.” Rhys said, running his hand over his arm. He looked up and grinned. “No more needles.”

“No more needles,” I repeated, smiling. “I’m so glad Tarra decided to move the two of you into the house next to us after the Taylor’s left. I was worried I was going to lose another friend.”

“Oh, after seeing how you stuck by Dilyn and me, I don’t think you would let that happen.”

We laughed and it felt great! McNeil and his men were in prison, Peter's ghost had disappeared, and Dilyn was pleasantly situated in England with her grandmother. I was very happy that everything was alright, that everything was back to normal.

The End

Story Endings

Hello Readers!

Well, our story "The Boy *Ahem* Next Door" is finally coming to an end. =(

So that you will not be terribly confused by these next few posts, I thought I'd let you know what's up. =) Each of us will be writing our own ending to this story! We hope you enjoy these!

And do not fear, we are not planning on stopping the blog after this story. If any of you are interested in joining us on the next story, let us know!

Thanks,
~Emily Miles

Beware of Scotland

Dilyn's words still tumbled around my mind, with no pause in sight. “Beware of Scotland.” 

What was waiting for us? Would it be worse than what we had left back in the United States? Is this something we can defeat? Can we defeat it without losing anything?

I glanced at Dilyn, seated by the hotel window, staring out with a concerned expression. I had pressed her for more back on the airplane, but she knew nothing more. She had told me everything that Alex had uttered before his death. 

Was she strong enough for whatever was waiting for us? Allie had told me about what had happened in the plane: the light spreading over us, healing our wounds. Indeed, Dilyn had become miraculously better, and the cuts and scrapes that I had on me had disappeared. But Dilyn still seemed rather tired. All of us were. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't just jet-lag. So much had happened to Dilyn and Allie and I in the past couple of days.

I turned to look at Allie. She was lying on the bed with her back to me. Ever since Tarra and Dustin had rescued us, she had hardly uttered a word to me, or anyone else. I sighed. I truly regretted her coming with us. I just didn't want anything to happen to her!This was so dangerous!

Why did she have to follow me? If she had minded her own business, she wouldn't be in this mess!

But that's not what a true friend does, a little voice told me. If a friend appears to be in danger, it's only natural that if they were really their friend, they would try to do something.

A wave of guilt swept over me. Other than Alex and Dilyn, Allie's really the only friend I have. I should be grateful for her coming to warn me, I mentally berated myself. If she hadn't, well, I might not be in Scotland right now.

I remembered her hurt face as she asked me why I had lied to her about my identity, and my response. “If I'd told you the truth, would you have believed me?”

You did the right thing, I told myself. She wouldn't have believed me or understood at all. It was better that I didn't tell her. But I knew that wasn't true. If anyone would have believed me, it would have been Allie. If I had told her, would things have turned out differently? 

I didn't even know if she still considered me her friend or not. I'd hurt her pretty badly. All I knew, is that we needed to end this once and for all, and go back to our normal lives, if that was even possible anymore. I didn't even know if the Taylors were still alive or not. I gritted my teeth until it hurt.

This was going to end.

I lay on the bed, trying to rid myself of my exhaustion. I was so tired. Tired from being in the Lab. Tired from the excitement of our rescue. Tired from the long plane ride here to Scotland. Tired from all of the lies. Rhys's lies. How could I know who to trust anymore?

My leg still hurt from the snake bite. It did seem to be getting better, though. Tarra had given me some medicine to help dull the pain, and it was helping a lot. 

Dustin and Tarra were seated at a table together near me. Tarra was staring into space, thoughtfully drinking a soda. Dustin was doing something on his laptop. I couldn't tell what it was. He was facing all of us, with his back to the wall. Suddenly, he closed the top of his laptop and stood up.

“I'll be down in the lobby,” he stated. “I need to make a phone call.” Tarra nodded, hardly looking up from her soda. As soon as the door shut behind Dustin, I swung my legs off of the bed and stood up, wincing at the pain in my leg.

“I'm, uh, gonna go get some fresh air. I'll be back in a little bit.” I hurried out of the room, not waiting for an answer. As I stepped out into the hall, I saw Dustin beginning to descend down into the stairwell. I waited a few seconds before following. But as I reached the top step, I hesitated.  

Should I really be spying on him? But how do I know if I can trust any of these people? Yeah, Tarra is Rhys's sister, and Dustin is Tarra's partner, Dilyn is some friend of Rhys, and Rhys is, well...

It's absolutely necessary, I told myself. I need to check these people out.

My mind made up, I continued on down the stairs. At the bottom of the flight, I stopped and carefully peeked around the corner into the hotel lobby. Dustin was standing in the center of the room with his back to me. He was dialing a number on the cellphone in his hand. He held the phone up to his ear and then suddenly turned around. I slipped back behind the wall, my heart beating loudly. Had he seen me? I waited. But nothing happened. All was quiet. Then a voice abruptly broke the silence.

“MacNeil? Allen.” I sighed with relief. Dustin must not have seen me, and must now be talking to whoever he had called. Dustin continued talking, and I listened carefully from where I was, not daring to peek around the corner. “We're in Glasgow at the Babbity Bowster on Blackfriars Street. Everything has been going smoothly. I don't think any of them suspect anything yet.” He paused, listening to the other end. “Got it. Tonight at 7, the Cafe Crepe on High Street.” Dustin paused again. Then, “Yes, Sir. Goodbye.” As soon as I heard him end the conversation, I bolted back up the stairs as quietly as I could. As I neared the door of our hotel room, I slowed down and slipped as casually as possibly back inside the room. Everyone was just as I had left them.

As I lay back down on the bed, Rhys looked over quizzically from his seat on the couch. “Get enough fresh air?” he asked. “You weren't gone very long.”

“I got enough, thank you,” I replied coolly, before turning my back to him. Just then, Dustin re-entered the room and sat back down across from Tarra. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. The conversation that I had overheard swirled around in my mind. Especially that one line.

 “I don't think any of them suspect anything yet.”

What is it that we haven't begun to suspect yet? Can he be trusted? Who's side is he really on? Ours or the Lab's? And what about Tarra? Is she with him on whatever side Dustin's on?? My thoughts were interrupted by Tarra.

“Are any of you hungry?” she asked, standing up and tossing her empty soda can into the trashcan.

“A little,” Dilyn's soft voice replied. Rhys voiced his agreement as well. I still hadn't moved from my position or said anything.

“Allie?” Tarra questioned. “What about you? Are you hungry?'

I opened one eye. “I guess.”

“Alright,” Tarra replied, gathering up her purse and keys from the table. “I'm going to go see if I can find anything to eat. I'll be back in 45 minutes or so.”

“I'm going to head out as well,” Dustin said as he rose from his chair. I glanced at the clock. It read 15 minutes to 7pm. “I'll be back in about an hour,” he added.

I remained still on the bed until both Dustin and Tarra had left. Then I sat up and got off the bed. Dustin had a briefcase standing up against the wall. I went over and knelt down in front of it. As I began undoing the buckles, Rhys noticed and said, “Hey! What are you doing?” I turned to face him.

“How much do we know about this Dustin?” I asked.

“Not much, really.” Rhys replied.

“What we're in the middle of isn't some child's game, Rhys. This is reality, with real lives at stake. We can't afford to trust just anyone we come in contact with, without finding out something about them that gives us a good reason why we should trust them. How do we know that Dustin isn't a spy for someone back at the Lab? How do we know he's been telling us the truth about this castle in Scotland?” I was silent for a minute, then I decided to tell him about the conversation that I had just overheard. “Rhys, there's more to this Dustin than meets the eye. He's hiding something. Something that might be very important. I overheard a conversation he was having on his cellphone down in the lobby. At one point, he said something like, “I don't think they suspect anything yet.” A big red flag in my mind. Right now, he's meeting with somebody at a cafe on High Street. I don't know why. We need to get some more info on this guy before anything happens.”

Rhys was quiet for a minute, his head bowed. Dilyn just sat there, her gaze flickering from Rhys, to me, and back to Rhys again. Finally, she spoke.

“Allie's right. There's no sure way to tell if we can trust Dustin or not, since we know nothing about him. Or about Tarra, either.”

Rhys looked up. “But Tarra's my sister...”

Dilyn looked at him long and hard. Then, “Maybe. But she might not be telling the truth either.”

Rhys sighed. “Alright. Allie, you can look through his briefcase. Dilyn, we'll look on his laptop.”

“How will you get past all of the passwords?” I asked doubtfully.

Rhys grinned. “Dilyn and I have a little bit of experience with this type of stuff under our belts. Just leave it to us.”

I shrugged and turned back to the briefcase. As I rummaged through it's contents, I didn't find much. Just several personal items, and a bunch of papers which made no sense to me at all. “Nothing in here,” I notified Dilyn and Rhys as I closed the briefcase and refastened the buckles.

“Well, Dilyn was able to hack into his email. Want to come take a look at this?” Rhys motioned for me to come over. He pointed at the screen. “This email is registered to someone named Roy Allen.”

“Dustin's been lying to us about his name, then,” I said. “He identified himself on the phone with 'Allen'.”

“Looks like that's one strike,” Rhys admitted reluctantly. “What was the name of the guy who Roy was talking to on the phone?”

“Um...I think the name was MacNeil.”

“Dilyn, search for anything from someone named MacNeil,” he ordered.

“On it,” Dilyn replied as she typed the name in and clicked 'Search'.

Several messages appeared in the results. “There's a bunch of messages from a 'Randy MacNeil',” Dilyn announced. “He could be the one Roy was talking to. I don't see any other first name associated with 'MacNeil'. The most recent message has a subject line which reads: “Waiting for you”...”

__________________________________

Dilyn clicked to open the email and I began scanning its contents. The message was short and read:

“Good work on busting out the kids. I will be waiting in Settle, Scotland. Alert me when you arrive as to where you are. Grisham will meet you with more instructions. Thanks to you, my time for revenge is short in coming. MacNeil”

We all began looking at each other, each thinking the same thing.

Revenge? For what? And to whom? Us??

Dilyn closed out the message and opened another entitled: “Back in the Game”.

“Allen, Thank you for the alert about Rhys Stengl now being in Stevens' hands. We shall proceed as we had planned before he had escaped. Contact his older sister, Tarra, and give her the information necessary to help her brother and Dilyn escape. You should still have Tarra's information from the first attempt, before Rhys escaped on his own. Try to contact her and free Rhys and Dilyn within 24 hours. Make it quick. Bring Tarra, Rhys, and Dilyn to Scotland immediately. I want them all. And bring Rhys's friend that you mentioned: Allie. She might be useful. MacNeil”

Allie voiced the concern all of us were now facing. “This Roy isn't to be trusted. And neither is the guy he's working for, MacNeil. I really don't like the sound of these emails.”

Dilyn shook her head. “Neither do I.”

“It sounds as if Tarra knows nothing about this,” I said. “So we can trust her, right?”

“I still don't know, Rhys,” Allie replied quietly. “I don't think we can afford to trust anyone, at this point.”

We were all quiet. Then Dilyn started typing something into the Google Search engine.

“What are you looking up?” I asked, peering over her shoulder at the screen.

“I think we should try to get some more info on this MacNeil guy,” Dilyn replied. “See if we can find any clue as to what he might be after.”

The Google Search finished loading and we stared at the results. There, at the top of the page, was a link to an online article. The title read: “Searching for the Magman Descendents”. The snippet beneath the link read:

“Randy MacNeil has been searching for the last remaining Magmans for most of his life. “It's very important,” he said once in an interview. “There's a family matter that needs to be settled. A matter between the Ilvans and the Magmans.” Sounds like he's looking for the end of a long family squabble between two very old Scottish clans...”

We didn't need to read more, but just sat there in complete shock.

“He's an Ilvan?!” Allie exclaimed. “Sounds like a really friendly relative!”

“Beware of the highland where two clans fought',” Dilyn murmured. “'The winner lost, the loser won'. The Magmans won, and the Ilvans lost. But if things go as this MacNeil plans, the winner may lose...and the loser may win. This must be what Alex was talking about. He knew there was a third party was after us: the Ilvans.”

“You've got to be right,” I agreed. But something wasn't quite right...then it hit me. “But in our family book, it says that the Ilvans all died off! How could this guy be an Ilvan?!”

“The book could be wrong, Rhys,” Dilyn said. “Some could have been missed.”

“Dilyn, open up that article. Maybe there's something in there that would explain this,” I responded quickly.

When Dilyn opened the article, I scanned it quickly. The article had begun with the snippet that we had already read a few minutes before, and then went on to tell about the war that Tarra had already told us about. None of the details caught my attention. But then it moved onto a different part of the story.

“Hey, look at this. There's more to the story!”

“After the war, the king of the Magmans awarded a man, Peter, who had saved his life in battle and shown extreme bravery, with special powers (parts of which would be passed down to his descendents. But as the years went on, Peter lost control of his special powers and went insane. MacNeil guesses that is was the stress of bearing the sheer weight of the incredible power at his fingertips that he had to keep under control. Eventually, an irrational, burning desire to exterminate the Ilvans grew in him, and he set out to do so with a band of loyal followers, some of which were his own descendents. Even after Peter's death, the Ilvans have continued to be hunted down by the Magmans, for no reason other than that Peter, a man who they respected highly, had wanted to get rid of them. The Ilvans were thought to have all died off by the late 1800's, but then Randy MacNeil emerged from his hiding spot in Norther Scotland in March of 1968, as a young man. Five other Ilvans were with him. He has been searching ever since for the last remaining Magmans, hoping to settle things between their families and make peace.”

“Make peace??!!” Allie squawked, outraged. “From the emails, it sounds like he's out to crush the peace between your two families!”

“Well, he can't exactly tell the press he's out to kill us. He'd immediately be arrested,” I replied.

“So, he's out to get his revenge on us, because of something our ancestors did? But we didn't even know about them until, like, less than a week ago!” Dilyn exclaimed.

“Yeah, this guy seems kinda messed up,” I replied.

“So...what are we going to do?” Allie put in.

“About what?”

We all spun around. Tarra was standing in the doorway with a couple boxes of pizza in her arms. 

“And what are you doing with Dustin's laptop?” she asked, the accusation thick in her voice.

“Actually, it's Roy's.” Allie stated. Tarra just looked genuinely confused.

“Um...” I started. “Tarra, you might want to sit down. There's a lot we need to tell you.”

A couple minutes later, we had laid all of our findings “out on the table” in front of Tarra, and she sat there astounded. The room was quiet for several minutes. Then Tarra stood up.

“The castle's ruins are located inside the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a couple miles east of Settle, which is where this MacNeil is. It'll be about a 3 and a half hour drive. We'll continue on by ourselves, and try to avoid MacNeil once we reach Settle. Let's leave now, before Dustin-I mean, Roy-gets back.”

“A little late for that.” Roy stood in the doorway, his gun cocked and pointed right at us.

Chapter 9: Confliction

The waves lapped at my feet. Sand speckled my toes. The salty breeze ruffled my hair.

Rhys' voice interrupted my daydreaming. " . . . never win. The Lakers have too good of an offense. Allie? Am I that boring?"

I flashed him a smile. "Of course you're not. I'm just trying to remember something. Something important. Had to do with . . . with. . . ugh, I can't remember."

Rhys glanced with concern at me. "You'll do fine. You'll probably ace it. If you're still nervous we can study some more."

"It's not about the test." I assured him. "I know that I'll do fine. The only problem I'll have will probably be remembering the benefits and-" Suddenly a jolt of pain raced up my leg. I gasped, what was that? 

Rhys merely sat still. A ghost of a smile whispered across his lips.

I was confused. But fresh waves of pain continued to rack my body. My breath came in short, ragged breaths. I collapsed onto the sand. I curled into a tight ball, wishing that the pain would stop. "Rhys!" I called out. "Help me!"

He didn't answer. But I heard laughter. Cruel laughter. It echoed through my head. I peeked out through my legs at Rhys. He was leaning back on his hands, laughing. I stared, hurt. Horror pulsed through me as thousands of possible reasons spun through my head. The pain was gone, but what replace it was worse. Betrayal. I buried my head in my arms, trying to drive away the sound.

Abruptly the laughter subsided. I peeked out again. Rhys regarded me with a sly smile. With surprising speed he turned his wrist so that I could see his watch. The watch face was hidden behind a disturbing image. A large red eye. The detail was surprising. Every eyelash was in perfect clarity. I couldn't turn my eyes away. It slowly began to fill my vision. I wanted desperately to cry out. 

Suddenly it blinked. I screamed in pure panic. All I could see was the red eye. It studied me with an intensity that seemed to see my deepest secrets. I felt exposed. My throat was raw from screaming. Just as I felt that I could not continue to resist this invading power anymore . . .

* * * *

I woke up in a sweat. Suddenly it all came back to me. The white room. The equipment everywhere. The bright light. Most of all, the expected decision. I almost cried. My leg felt like some crazed person was dropping 10-pound weights on it. I winced.

The dream had definitely shook me up. If a doctor had listened to my heart rate at this moment, he probably would have fainted. That is, after the stethoscope exploded.

I started to control my breathing. It came down quite a bit. I was able to ignore the pain in my leg for the most part. So now I needed to do some serious thinking. I had who-knows-how-much time left to make the biggest decision of my life, so far.

 

I had two choices, or did I? I could escape and go protect them. But how?

 "Hello, officer? I would like to request some protection for my parents. Why? Because they have been threatened. By whom? By some crazy Britain. How do you know? Because he kidnapped me and told me so. But I escaped so that I could come protect them. . . Hello? Officer?"

So I have only two choices. Protect Rhys and allow them to hurt my parents. Or protect my parents and allow them to hurt Rhys. I was torn. My best friend or my parents. How can I make that kind of decision. Wait a minute, what do I know about Rhys? Uh, he is my best friend. He has a secret potion.

 

Pain stabbed my leg again and I shifted to another, more comfortable position.

 

What if the weird doctor guy was lying? What if it really is a potion? Who can I trust? I've known Rhys for longer. I should be able to trust him more. But he is strange, and he obviously hasn't told me everything. But a connection to the electromagnetic force? Really? Is that even possible?

 

Suddenly I began questioning how well I knew Rhys. Sure, I thought that I knew him. But how much was he really hiding?

Questions swirled through my mind. I tried to defend Rhys, but my gut kept telling me that the weird doctor was right. I told myself that I was only trying to find fault with Rhys so that I could betray him. Chaos ruled in my thoughts.

* * * *

I slowed my progress as I neared land for multiple reasons. One, someone might see me glowing like a nightlight in the middle of lake. Two, I also might crash into the shore. Thank goodness I had figured out how to use the electromagnetic pull to "float" me to shore. I had almost drowned from arm fatigue before I realized I could use my gift to get me safely to shore. I did regret having to use it, though. Every time I used it, I lost a month of my future life. I grimaced at that unpleasant rule to my special power. When Grimst had explained it to me, at first I was terrified to use it. Even now, I used it with a measure of caution. Whenever my anger caused me to release it without thinking, like 

on the boat with Allie, I cursed the crazy rule.

Thinking of Allie just made me mad all over again. Helpless. That's what I had been. Me, the kid with more power available to him than a couple hundred atomic bombs, was helpless. I gritted my teeth. I remembered her cry as she went under. No matter how I had tried, I couldn't locate her. Helpless. Helpless.

I hauled myself out of the water with a slow sigh. I had been in the water for too long. I was shivering and my arms and legs were numb. Nothing except trees, bushes, and telephone poles were in sight for a good mile. I welcomed the lack of human population. Curling up in a water-soaked ball, I closed my eyes. Sleep rushed towards me and I gratefully accepted it's embrace.

* * * *

The man approached. My time was up.

Self-reproach rose up in me as I prepared to make my choice. He merely watched me, laughter dancing in his eyes.

"Are you prepared to make your choice? Time's up, cupcake."

With evident reluctance I forced the words out. They tasted even worse than I had imagined.

* * * *

"Rhys! Rhys! Wake up, sleepyhead!"

I snapped awake. That was Allie's voice! "Allie? Where are you?"

"Over here. Hurry!"

I scrambled to my feet. The morning sun had peeked over the horizon a good few hours ago. By now it was well on it's way to the top of the sky. Stepping out of the bush that I had been sleeping in, I looked cautiously around me. Allie was nowhere in sight. Off to the side of me I heard a small noise, like an engine starting. I spun in that direction, but I saw nothing.

"Over here!"

The voice came from a small clump of trees to my left. I slowly advanced. "Allie?"

"Yes. Hurry. I don't have much time."

I dashed across the distance in a heartbeat. There she was standing among the small group of trees. 

She flashed me a smile. I could only gape.

 "But I saw you . . . go under! How . . . I mean, I'm so glad that you're okay." I managed.

She smirked. "Does it matter? I'm alive and okay so let's leave it at that. Besides, I'd rather not remember that terrifying incident. Do you mind?"

I realized that I was still gaping. Abruptly I shut my mouth.

7"I didn't come here just to shock you. I have something for you." She grinned. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands."

I grinned in response and closed my eyes, holding out my hands.

Immediately something very, very cold and hard clamped onto my hands. My eyes shot open from the cold. Allie was laughing. My hands were encased in two glass orbs.

Suddenly Allie began flickering. Abruptly she disappeared. I tried to summon my power to burst them, but nothing happened. Somehow the orbs were interfering with the electromagnetic force. I gritted my teeth. Whenever I tried to summon the power the orbs constricted. I couldn't believe my gullibility. I had been tricked by an illusion.

As if by command of thought, my enemy appeared beside me. Mac Stevens laughed at the pained expression on my face.

"Hurting, my boy?" he mocked. "How does it feel to be as weak as the rest of us? Not that I care, but I just thought I'd ask."

I glared at him defiantly. "Defenseless, huh? We'll see about that!"

I suddenly swung my orb-encased fist at the side of his head. He stopped laughing and easily avoided the slow blow. His face became dangerous.

"Now I don't think you want to play this, R-"

Then my other fist slammed into his side. Bone crunched and Mac's face contorted.

If you think that a plain fist would hurt, try to imagine getting slammed by around five pounds of hard glass. I'm talking about excruciating pain.

I barely had any time to savor his expression because the back of my head was slammed with a large object and I lost consciousness.

Chapter 8: True Colors

Water splashed upon my face as I surged through the lake. A blood curling scream split the air! I turned to see Allie struggling for air as something began to drag her underwater. Mac wasn't far behind her. My eyes widened in horror.

"RHYS!" Allie cried.

"ALLIE!" I screamed as I watched her head sink down into the murky water. Suddenly, Mac stopped swimming, his eyes bore a wild look as he raised a knife into the air. And then, everything happened in slow motion. My body completely froze. I saw him dive into the water with his knife. He seemed to be struggling against something. Allie? And then I saw it. Blood. Thick, dark blood soon began to spread in the water towards me. I still couldn't move. My body was filled with rage and disbelief.

"ALLIE!" I tried to speak, but the words couldn't come out of my mouth.

Bubbles began to form as Mac reached the surface. As he coughed out water, he looked me straight in the eye with a menacing glare.

"You're next, kid," he nearly growled.

My heart stopped beating. Complete silence filled my ears. Even the lake seemed to become still as he uttered these words. I couldn't breathe. Allie was gone. Murdered. 

All because of me.....

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

Karl Myers paced his office angrily. The "Smasher" watched him as he continued to walk back in forth in front of him. In a moment of fury, Karl suddenly knocked the items off of his desk. Documents, pictures, and pencils flew everywhere, and his frappuccino spilled all over.

"This is all your fault, Shane! If it weren't for your clumsiness, we wouldn't be in this stinknin' mess!" he yelled at "The Smasher".

"My fault, huh?! I wasn't the one who let him get away from the Lab in the first place!"He shot back. Karl, not wanting to admit his mistake, went on.

"Well how do you plan to fix this problem then? Huh?! The government isn't the most patient client--"

"You think I don't know that?!" Shane retorted. Then he sighed and said, "Listen, we'll figure this out."

"Yeah?" Karl asked sarcastically, "How?"

"We've still got Dylin," Shane replied cooly. 

"Well let's hope he comes for her," Karl replied with a sigh of frustration. "Oh. What's the word on that other girl?"

"The "Lewis girl"?" Shane asked. "She wont be bothering us anymore."

"Yeah? How's that?" 

"That man at the dock took care of her."

"That man...wait, did you find out who he was?"

"I checked the boat house. Looks like his name is Mac Stevens." Shane replied casually.

Suddenly Karl's face grew red with anger. He lunged at the smasher and grabbed him by the collar.

"YOU IMBECILE! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO HE'S WORKING FOR?"

"No..." He answered timidly.

"RAYMOND PARKER, YOU IDIOT! The government told us that if we took too long they would send in some more 'assistance'!" He roared, throwing Shane across the room. His breath came in furious huffs as he began to pace the room again. Raymond Parker and Karl Myers had been enemies ever since they joined the business of doing the government's dirty work. There was no way Karl would let Raymond get this prize. Not this time. Suddenly, Karl's cell phone began to ring. He picked it up and looked at the number curiously. Putting the phone to his ear he pressed the button to receive the call.


"Hullo, Karl," was the saucy greeting. "How are you, old chap?"


"Well I was fine, till' I answered the phone," Karl replied coldly. Raymond's  laugh echoed loudly through the receiver.


"I'm a bit sorry to hear that, my friend. But just a bit, so don't worry."


"I'm a busy man, Raymond. What do you want?" Asked Karl impatiently.


"Oh yes! You must be very busy right now, trying to find that wonder boy who seems to always slip through your careless fingers. But no need to worry, chap! I'm on duty now so you can just 'sit back and relax' as you Americans, put it." 


"You forget Raymond, that we Americans, don't like to be bossed around by you Brits. So thanks for the offer but I'll have to decline," Karl said, spitting out the words with contempt. Raymond laughed again but this time it was more to cover up that he had been insulted.


"Come now, Karl. There's no need to fuss, so. You've had your turn, so now its my turn." he said, lacing his voice with even more arrogance.


"Well there's just one thing, Parker," Karl said, letting a pause sit in. "I don't play fair." Raymond broke into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. But Karl was not swayed by this. He could hear the uneasiness in Raymond's voice. When Raymond became calm again, he finally spoke.


"Well then, Karl," he said slow and deliberately, "If its a challenge you want, then a challenge you shall get, my boy." There was a beep, as Raymond hung up. Karl smiled. The call had revived him, and he relished the idea of beating Parker. The Smasher walked up to Karl curiously. Karl's smile deepened and he laid a hand on Shane's shoulder.


"Let's get moving, Shane."He ordered. "Looks like things just got a little more interesting....."
                                                         --------------------


Beep-beep......beep-beep......beep-beep....


Something kept making noise. 

Beep-beep...beep-beep!

"Go away, Go away...." I groaned.


The noise continued. Slowly, my eyes began to open. Where...was... I? I turned my head and took in my surrounding. Almost everything around me was white or a shiny silver. There was a bright light shining down on my face. My eyes squinted, from its strength. I tried to move my right hand. I was stuck! My legs were bound too. I tried sitting up, but there was some kind of weighted strap on my chest. And for the first time, I began to feel the pain in my right leg. It was an awful, stinging pain, and it grew worse as the seconds ticked by. I felt so light headed. I turned my head slowly and saw where the beeping noise was coming from. To the left of me, there was a monitor that was checking my heart rate. As I looked down at my left arm, I saw there was something injected into my forearm. It was red. I gasped in horror! Connected to the needle there was a container that was half-way filled with blood. What was happening to me?! For the first time in a long time, I felt like a baby. I couldn't think of anything else I could do to comfort myself. It was the most logical thing to say in that situation.  I'll admit it wasn't the most mature thing to say, but hey! I'm pretty sure you'd say stupid stuff too, if you were in my shoes!


"MOMMY!!!" I cried, then groaned as my head began to buzz. Even talking hurt. My words seemed to echo and pound their way back into my ear drums. Something was wrong with me. Not just mentally, for that matter. How did I get here? I tried to remember but my thoughts were so jumbled. ....Rhys! He...he was in trouble! We were on the boat and.... I sucked in my breath as I began to remember. Did Mac take me somewhere? Is Rhys here too? I had to get out of these bonds! Suddenly, there was another sound. It was far away from me but it still seemed to echo loudly in my ears. I tried to cover them with my hands, but the straps held fast to my arms. The noise grew louder. They....they were footsteps. And then the door opened. A man dressed in a long white coat came into the room. He came and stood near my right leg.


"Oh! So you're awake now," he said. His voice naturally was probably very low, but it sounded like a noisy drum in my ears.


"Let's take a look at that bite now," he said as he slipped on a pair of gloves. As he peeled off the bandage on my leg, I moaned in pain. It was a bite? But when did I--?


As if he had read my mind the man answered, "That snake got you pretty good. Wouldn't swim in that lake again if I were you."


I tried lifting my head up. I could just barely see the bite. It was swollen and had a ring of a blue-purplish color. My body shivered at the sight. I laid back down again. Finally I tried to speak. My words came out slow and painful. Each word seemed to take so much energy. "Wh-who...are...you?"


The man looked at me with a queer sad smile. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, sweetie."


I looked at him quizzically. "W-why--?


"--Because it's classified information," a British voice interrupted me as a another man came sauntering into the room. His eyes were shielded behind his classy shades. Who was he? He wasn't Karl Myers. Karl Myers didn't have a British accent. Were there other people after Rhys? Judging by the way he was dressed, he looked like a model in a men's fashion magazine, not a government agent.

"So, Miss Lewis. I want to know where our little friend is," Raymond began.

"Our friend?" I asked sarcastically, then winced from the pain. The doctor had poured some ointment onto my leg that began to sting.

"Yes..."he continued. "Be a dear and tell us where he's headed." 

'Be a dear', huh? HA! My foot! 

 "What's the matter, Allie?" he snickered. "Snake got your tongue?" he laughed at his joke. It was a weird laugh, mixed with disgusting snorts.


A smile crept upon my face. 


"Ah...a smile, eh? So you think I'm funny. Well that's nice to know. Not that I don't already know I have a good sense of humor," He said with a prideful air, bending to sit in the seat next to my bed.


Despite my pain, I managed to play along with his "game". 


"Quite the contrary, my dear," I began in a mocking tone. "I was just thinking that you were cool before I heard you laugh. And as for your joke, well lets just say you should leave it to the pros."


The smile vanished from his face, and I relished the sight. His body grew stiff as he rose from the chair. 


"We have... our ways Miss Lewis, about finding things we want to know..."he stated flatly, getting back to the subject. "So if you're not feeling up to it right now, I'm sure we can find something that will help encourage your assistance..."


"Don't count on it," I declared with a quiet stubbornness.


"Oh? Well then, why don't we go and have a little visit with your parents?" he asked reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a gun and cocked it. My breath caught in my throat. 


"If you dare touch them--" I started.


"--I might," he cut me off. "Or, we could just let you stay here and let that bite take its course. If...if we were to not treat it anymore, "he mused,"  you'd be gone in about ...oh...twenty four hours or so. It was a rather poisonous snake I'm afraid." He smiled maliciously, as he watched my reaction. 

Why was this happening?! Why do I have to choose between Rhys and my parents?! I couldn't do this! I almost started to cry, but I wouldn't let myself. Not in front of that man. I looked to the doctor for help. Sympathy was written all over his face. He tried to speak up, but the British man cut him off. There was no other way out of it. 

"May..." I began with awkward politeness, "May I have...time to..to..think about it?"

His smile deepened. "I'll give you an hour." In a flash, he quickly yanked out the needle injected into my arm. I cried out in pain. Then grabbing the shaken doctor, he strode out of the room.  The slamming of the door banged loud in my ears. But I tried to ignore the pain. I had to get out of here--FAST! 


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


Dr. Mac Runnel stared at Raymond Parker uneasily. He didn't want to be dragged into this job in the first place, but now that girl's life was in danger. Raymond had used her parents as a threat, but he didn't even know where they lived--yet.


"Don't you dare go back in that room unless I say so," Raymond barked.


"Sir, if she doesn't get enough treatment she could die before the day is over. She's lost a lot of blood," he pleaded angrily.


"It doesn't matter," Parker replied. "If we can't get answers from her, we'll get them elsewhere. You're to follow my orders, do you understand?" 


The doctors jaw hardened as he replied the affirmative. Raymond began to walk away as he saw Mac Stevens approach. 


"Go back and get me her address, immediately!" he hollered as he made his way down the hall. 

The doctor's fist clenched into a ball. He couldn't take it anymore. He knew what he had to do.


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


My breath came in uneasy patterns. Panic began to overtake me. I was starting to not feel my right leg anymore. I tugged at my bonds but I was so weak. The heart monitor's monotone beep rang in my ears. Beads of sweat already began to form puddles upon my forehead. The light above me seemed to fry my body. I had to get out. My parents and Rhys were in danger because of me! Suddenly, the door began to open very quietly. It hadn't been an hour already, had it? I couldn't tell. The time seemed to drag on and my head ached badly. As the figure drew closer, I saw the kind face of the doctor. He looked worried and uneasy. He placed a hand to my forehead and his eyes nearly popped as he realized how warm it was. He looked around cautiously. By his body language, I could tell he was scared of something. He gently held my hand and whispered softly.


" I know this may be hard for you, but you must tell them where your friend is. Your health is in critical condition and your parents may be in danger as well. You must tell them!"


I tried to speak, but the pain was terrible. I shook my head slowly. He stared at me sorrowfully. 


"You must! You don't understand how serious this all is. Your friend isn't a normal person! He has an extraordinary ability," he persisted.


I stared at him wonderingly. 'Extraordinary ability'? Well... I guess the potion is extraordinary...


"He's dangerous," he went on, "If he were to unleash his full power he could harm many people."


"You...don't...know...him," I breathed.


"I'm afraid I don't need to. Look what has happened to you because of him."


I wouldn't waver. Rhys wasn't a bad person. He was my friend! The only one I had.....


The doctor sighed. He wanted to help me, I know, but I couldn't endanger Rhys. I couldn't. But, mom and dad.....


The throbbing pain in my head grew worse and I began to moan. The doctor quickly walked over to the sink. Turning on the water he grabbed a cloth and soaked it. He walked back over to me and gently placed it on my head. The coolness of the rag was so soothing and refreshing. I closed my eyes. 


"I can't help you, if you don't tell them what they want," the man said wearily. 


My eyes opened, which were now filled with tears. My parents or Rhys? This wasn't just a simple case of "eeny meeny miny mo". These were the last three precious people in my life!


"I wont....tell them...anything!"I said defiantly, between my hard breathing. "Rhys.... isn't trying to hurt anyone....he just made a potio--"and thats when I clamped my mouth shut, realizing I might have said too much.


The doctor looked at me curiously. "Potion? This isn't about a potion! Well, not exactly anyhow...."his voice trailed off.


I stared at him, completely confused. "Isn't....isn't that why..... all of you.... are after him?!"I asked angrily.

"So then he's been lying to you this whole time, hasn't he?" He asked quietly.

"What?!"

"Rhys Stengl, as I said earlier, is not your average teenager. He's a very dangerous person. His body is somehow strangely connected to the electromagnetic force."


Suddenly, a memory formed into my mind. While we were in the boat, something strange had happened. Electricity began to flow towards Mac Stevens and Rhys wasn't shocked about it.  At all. He wouldn't even give me eye contact. And even my bedroom! How could a potion possibly make a huge hole in our roof? Twice! And why was everyone calling him "Rhys Stengl"? And even his parents! Was their last name really Roscue? Or were they lying, too? But it couldn't be true! Rhys wouldn't lie to me! He wouldn't! 


"You must listen to me before its too late," The doctor was saying.


I didn't want to. I couldn't believe it. But deep down, my heart ached with betrayal. My physical pain couldn't even compare.


Rhys....who are you--really?