Chapter 19
No offense Gareth, but I'm bored. We’ve been walking around for like, three hours. Is there anything fun to do in Britain? Or wherever we are.
“Well no offense Eloise, but we aren’t here to have fun. We have to look for Dr. Conners, remember? We have to prove that magic is real. Which should be easy with Wren here.” Gareth looked over uneasily at Wren, caution wearing him down.
Didn’t Wren say he knew where the Doc was? Was I imagining that or…
“No Olban, you did not imagine it. Wren said that he knew and he did. He said He locked him up in a warehouse. A gray warehouse that was two stories. The only problem? Well there are a million warehouses! It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack!” Gareth turned around and glared at Wren. “Couldn’t you have put him in, I don't know, a pink warehouse? Or one’s with stripes? Something ordinary, not a gray one.”
“I didn’t think I had to! I made a map and kept it somewhere safe. I didn’t want to draw attention to it!” Wren said in a deep voice.
Then where is the map?! Eloise cried.
Everyone was silent for a moment as they waited for Wren to reply.
“Oh, Eloise wants to know where the bloody map is!” Gareth Clenched his hands together so tightly his hands began to hurt.
“I already told you,” Wren said angrily, “I forgot! I apparently am too good at hiding things because I forgot where I put it. I have already told you this.”
Yep, mindless idiot who lost our doctor. Hes so stupid, who hides something and than forgets where they hid it. Olban said.
Its not that stupid, i’ve done that sometimes. Like when someone gives you something, but then someone else gives you something, and then both people come over. So then you have to hide the things because you don’t want them to know they got you the same thing. But then when they leave you realize you can’t find either of the things. I’ve done that before. Eloise said, offended.
Well yeah because you're a mindless idiot who can’t take care of anything or anyone. Olban cried impatiently. Finally realizing how much of a hassle it was to be around Eloise. And that he was going to have to do it twenty-four-seven if he didn’t want her to immediately die when they went back to his world and she had her own body.
“Can you two shut up and stop bickering like an old married couple? Gosh Olban, I'm starting to realize how annoying it is for people to bicker inside your head! I can’t think!” Gareth hissed under his breath.
To Gareth's surprise, Olban actually shut up. He didn’t take Olban for one to actually do what people told him to do unless it was Master Stell. Then he realized why. After the whole fiasco with stopping the baddies, Olban and Eloise technically could get married because they would be in the same world together. As Gareth thought about it, he wondered how in the world Eloise was gonna survive in Olbans world. It was completely different from the world that she used to live in. Gareth was gonna have to have a word with Olban about keeping his eyes on Eloise. She might have been annoying as heck but he didn’t want her to die.
Gosh, you guys are making me realize how much I miss my other personalities. As Eloise said this Gareth rolled his eyes at the term. They are way less annoying than the two of you. Even Olban can be tolerable at some points but Gareth just kills my brain every time he talks.
“Excuse me?” Gareth immediately regretted caring if Eloise got hurt or not. For all Gareth cared, Olban could push Eloise off a cliff. “Whose body are you in? Who is feeding you? Who is the one who has all the experience? If we weren’t in Olbans body when we were in his world, you would have died fifty times. Oh and who was the one who trusted Wellek who was shapeshifted into Bobby your, what, boy-friend?”
Guys? Olban said, quietly.
Boy-friend? Gareth are you five? He’s more of a brother to me than anything, and way less annoying than you. Eloise said, emphasizing the way.
Guys? Olban said a little louder.
“Yeah you have mentioned that he’s less annoying than me, about a thousand times. Oh, and you want to know who else is more annoying than me? You.” Gareth said, emphasizing the more.
Guys! Olban screamed.
“Gosh Olban what's with all the screaming?” Gareth asked.
While you two were too busy arguing, we arrived at the next two story, gray, warehouse. Olban said impatiently.
Ughh, remind me again which number we were at and how many we have left? Cause, i'm starving. Eloise asked.
“Well Eloise, this is the seventeenth warehouse that we have searched and there are thirty-five more in the area. It would surprise you how many warehouses can fit in one area but apparently, it's a crap ton.” Gareth said as he checked his notepad.
Look, I don't care which number we are on! We have to check this warehouse and hope that Dr. Connors is in it.
Olban, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what, because you are acting like a grouch. Eloise said, matter of factly.
“Guys! Stop arguing, I'm going to the front door.” Gareth approached the thick metal doors that led to the interior while quickly saying a prayer to Jesus.
Gareth took a crowbar out of a bag. They had gone up to the first warehouse and realized it was metal so they went and got a crowbar that was in Gareth's closet which Eloise had greatly questioned. After opening a few of the other warehouses they realized they could have just asked Wren to knock them down. They all decided that they would just use the
crowbar because they didn’t want to make a ruckus.
When Gareth broke the lock and broke in, they heard a voice. It was coming from one of the few rooms in the warehouse. Gareth told Wren to stay where he was unless he made a sound. Gareth put his ear up to the door to listen to what was being said.
“If you don’t tell me where the f!@#ing drugs are, i'm going to put a bullet into your head. You have ten seconds to talk.” A harsh voice said from inside the room.
Gareth, get the heck out of there! Olban said, calm as a cucumber.
NO! Don't wait to see what the other guy says. If that guy dies it would be on us. Inside Gareth's head he could hear the panic in her voice as she said each word.
“I swear I gave it to someone. If you give me a month I will get all your money and double! Just don’t kill me!” A girl's voice screamed. She sounded so terrified that it reminded Gareth of someone else he knew that passed.
“I'm going in.” Gareth whispered.
Wait for Wren! Olban screamed but it was too late. Gareth pushed the door, which was, luckily, unlocked.
There were two people in the room who both looked equally scared. The first was a grown man, maybe forty. He had a gun in his hand and it was pointed at the head of a girl. She looked maybe eighteen. She must have made one mistake and gotten herself in this life changing position.
The guy with a gun pointed the gun at Gareth and let off a shot right as Gareth shut the thick metal door, as he ran for his life to get Wren.
Are you stupid!? Eloise yelled.
RUN! Olban yelled louder.
Gareth couldn’t see a thing. The fear was making him dizzy and not being able to see very well. In his head Olban was yelling battle strategies while Eloise was frantically praying to God for anything that would help them.
They heard the door open and gunshots were fired but none of them hit. The guy was probably drunk.
When I say go, turn left into a room. Don’t lock the door. Olban said.
Olban, you’re going to get us killed! Eloise yelled.
I wasn’t the one who wanted to save the day, Eloise. I'm just trying to get us out of this mess that you got us into.
“Shut up! I'm going into the room.” Gareth took a sharp left into the empty room Olban pointed out. He quickly shut the door but was careful to not lock it. “What now?”
The guy definitely saw us, so he will come into the room. Sense we’re behind the door, we will get a jump on him… hopefully. Olban tried his best to keep calm. Olban had faced many foes before but none when Gareth was in control.
The door slightly opened and a barrel to a gun peeked in. Then the door was kicked open and hit Gareth with full force.
Even in a time like this Eloise had to try not to laugh.
After Gareth had recovered and before the man had found him, Gareth jumped and kicked the guy square in the face knocking him out.
Wow Gareth how did you do that? Eloise gawked.
Great job Gareth. Olben said impressed.
“I took a few Karate classes, Eloise. Wow, I didn't think I would remember that move.” Gareth smiled to himself.
Okay but we should really find the Doctor now Gareth.
“You’re right Olban, let's go.” Gareth said, jogging over to Wren.
What about that girl? ELoise asked.
She Probably ran away.
When they found Wren, Dr. Connors was fast asleep right next to him.
“What happened where was he?” Gareth integrated Wren.
“I checked some of the closer rooms and he was in one of them. See I can be helpful. He’s asleep so you might want to wake him up.” Wren answered.
Gareth bent down next to the doctor and shook him awake.
“Gareth? Is that you? Where am I? What happened?” Dr. Connors stood up and rubbed his eyes.
“You were kidnapped. Long story short we saved you. Now look behind you.” Gareth pointed to Wren who was now in his original form.
“What the f-” Said Dr. Connors, right before he fainted.
Chapter Fourteen
“Where are we going Olban? I thought we were supposed to be working on our teamwork skills.” Gareth asked, confused.
“That’s exactly what we are going to do. When I was younger, me and a few of my friends had this game we would play. It was a different version of a very popular game of those times. Depending on who you ask, it still is popular. Basically, each team has a king, and the first team to get the other team's king to their side, wins.”
“So, it’s like capture the flag. Except instead of flags, its kings. But how is this going to help with teamwork? And I thought you were supposed to be working on your armband.” Eloise asked.
“Well, I was going to work on that, but right now Master Stell is looking at it. Plus, he suggested we do this. Each team has four players or more. Both teams elect a king, and the teams fight each other.
“Do they hurt each other? Or what because I’m kind of confused on how this is going to help us with our teamwork skills?” Gareth asked, cracking their knuckles.
“Well, they have wooden swords that they hit each other with. I mean you don’t get that hurt compared to other games.”
What other games do you play? Never mind forget I asked that. Eloise forced every bit of curiosity out of their mind.
I'm still confused about a lot of things. Like how are you going to get a bunch of adults to play a child's game? Because I do not like the idea of beating up a bunch of children. Unless they did something to me. Gareth pointed out.
“Okay, still not a good reason. Well, in this verson we would have real swords and we would need five people, that's all.
Five? We need three more people on our side and four on there's. That's seven, not five. Eloise said mentally counting out each roll.
Yeah Olban, for once I agree with Eloise. You need to go back to school if I'm being honest. Gareth chuckled to himself. Mentally.
“Except we already have three people on our side. The three of us. It wouldn’t be fair if we had six brains instead of four. We only need our king.”
But there's only one body! We will have a huge disadvantage. It would be completely unfair to us. Eloise basically screamed.
“Exactly, teamwork.”
Did you say real swords? Gareth nervously laughed.
*******************************************************************************************
Okay, remind me of who is on our side again? Gareth asked.
Oh my goodness, we have to remind you like every two seconds. There’s Naga, Goliath and Siren as the defenders on the opposing team. Their king is the guy in the red cape who looks super into it for some reason, Leofric. And then there is Godlin on our side. Eloise said very frustrated
“Godwin, not Godlin. And their king's name is Maiko. Where the heck did you get Leofric, Elois?”
I don’t know, you guys have really weird names like Olban and Gareth. Eloise said, trying to come up with a quick excuse.
At least we don’t have generic names like Jack or Karen. Our names are unique. But I guess uniqueness isn’t something you are familiar with, is it Eloise?
“Guys! Stop arguing! We need to figure out a plan on how we are going to capture their king. How are we even supposed to come up with a strategy, if you two can’t even get along? It’s like Master Stell always used to say, “the key to friendship is teamwork.” Now stop arguing and help me come up with a plan!”
See, you are only mostly right Olban. I don’t want to be friends! The only thing I want is to get back into my own body. Where I have control. Eloise snapped.
What Olban is saying, Eloise, is that the only way for you to get back into your own body is if we master teamwork and another few steps. Believe me, neither of us want to share a body with you either.
Okay Olban, you’re the one who’s always talking about how you learned from the best and how your master is so wise. So, what do you suggest? Eloise asked.
“Okay, so first the guy on the left, Goliath, well… he's going to be tricky to get past.”
Chapter 10
“Tell me again, how far are we from this portal? Eloise asked out of breath.
“A few miles or so, not so far.” Bobby tossed his hand in the air, “And then we will arrive at our… destination.”
“Bobby, we have been walking for eight miles! How many is a few?” Eloise said with frustration.
“Tell me about it, you're not even the one walking Eloise,” Olban said as he poured the last of his water into his mouth.
“I can still feel it, you know.” Eloise attempted to roll her eyes.
“Bobby, are you sure we are going the right way? I’ve spent a lot of time in these woods and I’ve never found a portal. Maybe you're… forgetting.” Olban reached out and grabbed Bobby's arm, stopping him.
Bobby looked back and glared at Olban. “I'm sure it's this way. Why would I lead you the wrong way Olban? Don’t you trust me?”
“I am cautiously optimistic.” Olban let go of Bobby's arm but trailed behind a bit.
You can trust Bobby Olban, he’s one of my best friends, he would never trick me. Bobby Is a friend, not an enemy, I’m beginning to wonder if you're losing sight of that.
I agree with Olban on this one. You might trust him, Eloise, but Olban and I have never met the guy. Olban and I have never gotten help from an outside force before. We don’t know how they’ll react.
Gareth, he is my best friend, he would never ever hurt us.
Olban nearly bumped into Bobby as they came to an abrupt stop. “Why are we stopping?” Olban peered over Bobby and caught sight of a huge cliff.
“We are not, we have just come to… a bump in the road.” Bobby sidestepped so Olban, Gareth and Eloise could see.
“I thought you said you knew the way? Why so surprised? It’s almost like you’re unfamiliar with this path.” Olban chuckled and turned to face Bobby.
“Trust me Olban, I just expected to see this later. I miss calculated the distance that’s all.” Bobby took out a fifty-foot-long rope and started tying it to a big rock.
Perhaps we could go around the cliff. It seems like it would be the more logical thing to do, don’t you think Eloise?
Is Gareth scared of heights? I thought you were a big strong man who could do things by yourself. Also, it would not be logical to go around the cliff, for that would take much longer.
It’s not that I am scared, I just don’t trust my life in Olbans hands. He seems to be the one who would purposely let go of the rope.
“We can go down one at a time. I’ll hold you Olban and then I will come down. I am not a fan of heights but I’ve done this before.” Bobby finished tying the rope and handed it to Olban.
“And if you’re tricking us?” Olban refrained Eloise from grabbing the rope.
“There is no reason for me to trick you.” Bobby put the robe in Olbans hands, “Tie it around you, I can just climb down.”
“If you insist.” Olban tied the rope around his waist and tugged to make sure it wasn’t loose. Olban peered over the edge to get a better look at what he was doing. Olban took a deep breath and started climbing down. He slipped a few times but the rope caught him.
Please Olban, do not fall. Gareth tried to shut his eyes but Olban refused.
After a long time, Olban finally came to the bottom of the cliff. Bobby landed right behind Olban.
“It should be just around here.” Bobby led them around a boulder into a huge wheat field. In the middle of the field, there was a small cave.
“Where is the portal?” Olban asked, hand on his sword.
“Portal? Ah yes, just. Down. Here.” Bobby grinned.
Short story one: The bad boy
“Hey Fang, taste this.” Max put the fork full of lasagna into Fang’s mouth.
“It’s great baby,” Fang lied. “It’s just...”
“It’s just what?” Max asked impatiently.
“It’s just, I think you should reread the instructions.” He put his hand on Max’s shoulder.
“Maybe I should just leave the cooking to Iggy.” Max looked down.
“If it gives you more free time.” And with that, Fang swooped her up and walked into their room. Fang placed his soft lips onto Max’s. Max held the back of Fang’s head.
Oh, Max, I love that you’re happy with Fang. Max stopped kissing Fang and froze. Fang felt her stop and pulled away.
“What’s wrong?” He asked concerned.
“Angle’s reading my mind.” Max looked at the ground embarrassed.
“Shoot,” Fang muttered.
“What?” Max asked.
“Do you think she read my mind?” Fang asked worriedly.
“Wha... why?” Max raised her eyebrows.
“Umm... because, I don’t know.” Fang scratched the back of his head embarrassed.
Nock, nock, nock, Iggy came in. “I hope I’m not intruding on anything.” He wiggled his eyebrows, “Anyway Josh is at the door.”
“Who’s Josh?” Fang asked.
“Iggy,” Max hissed. “He’s no one, just my science partner.”
“I didn’t know you had a science partner, why didn’t you tell me?” Fang asked.
“It didn’t seem important. He just asked if I wanted to be his partner so I-”
“He asked to be your partner?!” Fang roared.
“What’s wrong with that?” Max put her hand on her hip.
“He obviously wants to steal you.” Fang narrowed his eyes.
“Fang you sexist piglet. I’m not yours, and he’s not trying to steal anyone. Are you seriously going to make a big deal about this?” Max asked.
“I’m gonna go,” Iggy said.
“Max you have to admit that he obviously likes you,” Fang said.
“No, he doesn’t, he just needs a partner!” Max crossed her arms
“Max, he wants to be a different kind of partner,” Fang said.
“Fang your not going to stop, and I have a project I have to do. Love you, Fang.” Max stepped out the door. Fang couldn’t deny that whenever Max said I love you, his heart melted.
Max opened the door to find Josh leaning against the house. “Finally, I’ve been waiting for like, hours,” he said in a bad boy tone. He smoothed back his greasy black hair. “You gonna let me in Max?”
“Oh no I thought we could do it at your house.” Max tried not to look into his electric blue eyes.
“Okay, hop on.” He smirked and gestured to his motorcycle.
“Nevermind. Let’s just do it here.” Max threw her hands up.
“Maximum Ride, I never took you for a scaredy-cat.” He raised his eyebrows at her.
“You think I’m a scaredy-cat!?” Max slammed the door.
“Oh no.” Gazzy gaped.
“Yep, and it’s true.” Josh got closer to her.
“Really?” Max spat.
“Really. One look at my motorcycle and you run away.” Josh began to close the gap between them.
“I didn’t run away, I just don’t want to be found anywhere near you. It would ruin my reputation. That’ll happen to you if you hang out with an arrogant, clean-cut, disgrace of a biker. So I suggest you shut your mouth when you are around me.” Max smirked.
“And why is that?” he scoffed.
“Because I will put you in your place before you can say, bad boy.” Max gave him a sarcastic smile and sat at the table.
“You think you can beat me?” Josh smiled and raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, why not?” Max stood up trying to intimidate him.
“Well, no offense but you’re a girl.” He gave her a too-bad look.
“WHAT!” Max lunged forward, but Iggy and Gazzy held her back.
“Yeah, you need guys to help you,” Josh muttered.
“Can we just let her?” Gazzy said struggling to hold Max back who was still trying to kill Josh.
“No!” Iggy, Angle, and Nudge yelled in unison.
“Can we just do the project and get it over with!” Josh yelled.
“Fine!” Max snarled.
“Oh, and Max it’s going to be really difficult to work with me so just put your feelings aside.” Josh grabbed his backpack and sat at the table once again.
“Yeah well, I’m sorry I hate you.” Max rolled her eyes and took out her notes.
“Yeah hardly,” Josh muttered.
“Excuse me?” Max raised one eyebrow.
“I mean you are obviously in love with me, so I’m sorry but I’m not interested. It’s not that I think your ugly altho you could use a makeover.” Josh pushed his hair out of his eyes.
“I’m am officially ignoring you.”
Three hours later
“Ok, we’re done.” Max pushed all her leftover clay into her backpack.
“It doesn’t look very good.“Josh blurted out.
“You try modeling the Ifel tower out of clay.” Max pushed the structure into the center of the table.
Fang had come out once to get milk, he basically lunged at Josh when he called Max hot. He went to bed after that. An hour later everyone else went to sleep. It was now midnight and Max and Josh were both exhausted.
“Bye,” Max said.
“Oh I’m not leaving,” Josh said matter of factly.
“Yeah, you are.” Max laughed.
“You kept me up late I’m sleeping on your couch.” Josh got up.
“You’re not sleeping on my cou-” Max gave up and went to bed. She crashed into her bed. She looked over to find Fang sleeping on the bed next to hers. Max quietly got up and went over to his bed. She laid down next to him and whispered, “I love you Fang, It's been a really long day huh. See you in the morning Fang."
"Goodnight Max."
Nia’s perspective
Just keep your head down. Don’t look up. Someone will come soon. Nia brushed her hair out of the way. She looked up to see a jungle surrounding her. Light hit the ground below her. Is that a body under that tree? Nia approached the shape but realized it was only a shadow. Just a shadow. A shadow of… a person?
Nia shot up to see no shadow at all. Was I imagining it? Is it all just … fake? Nia looked up at a big tree. She slowly reached out to touch the bark. As Nia’s hand came close to the tree, there was a sudden howl.
At that moment Nia froze. She cautiously pulled her hand away. Nia bit her lip in astisapasion. The howl suddenly stopped. Nia slowly turned to face it. The white wolf that stood in front of her slowly raised his lips.
The wolf howled again and again. Nia slowly bent on one knee and put her hand up. She closed her eyes and pushed her hand to the wolf. The wolf froze and started snarling. Nia scratched behind its ear. She opened her eyes to see the wolf coming closer. Nia jumped up and backed up. Her back hit the tree, but the wolf was making ground. The wolf got on his hind legs and jumped at Nia. Nia shut her eyes and pushed the dog off of her. She turned to run but another wolf appeared. She pinched herself. The first dog tackled her. The second wolf approached snarling.
When the first started licking Nia, her jaw dropped. She tried to push the wolf off but it just kept licking her. She closed her eyes to keep the slobber out of them. When Nia peeked she saw trees. Where did they go? They were here a second ago. Nia turned a corner but there was no one there. Nia slumped to the ground. She started to cry. No one is here. I'm all alone. I'm all alone. She kept repeating the same thing in her head.
She let out a scream that shook the trees. She screamed and screamed but it didn’t matter. Nobody could hear her. Nobody visible could hear her. She started to run forward, but a tree appeared in front of her. She fell to the ground. Ow. That hurt. What the heck is… OW! A tree stump appeared below her.
She flew into the air. Nia fell face first onto the ground. Ew! She swallowed dirt, blood, and a tooth. Nia rolled out of the way just as a bush sprouted up. Nia jumped up and got ready for a boost. Another tree stump boosted her up as a tree hit her in the face. Nia got back up and whipped her face.
“To the left!” A voice called out to Nia. She immediately dove to the left. A cactus rose from her previous position.
“Again to the left!” A different voice called out. As Nia jumped to the left, an apple fell from the tree and hit her hard on the head.
“Ow!” Nia called out. This time all she got in return was being tackled. A man her age stood in front of her.
“Where did you come from?” Nia was too busy whipping the dirt off of her face to realize who was in front of her.
“Hey, I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” A man’s voice said sarcastically.
“Oh…” Nia got up and recognized the face.
“Hello Lolly.” The man started to snicker.
“Lolly? Oh I get it now.” Nia smiled awkwardly. He must only see me as Eloise.
This man's name was Aiden, he was a bully in fourth grade, that’s when Eloise went through her insecure stage a.k.a Nia. He would always pick on Nia because she was gullible and wouldn’t say anything. He would call her names and beat her up. After a while, Harley came to play, she beat the guys butt. He couldn't speak for weeks because she went for the jaw. He never ever talked to them ever again.
“You didn’t think you got rid of me did you Lolly?” Aiden pushed on her shoulder.
“I didn’t care. Honestly did you think I would, I mean I’ve grown up. I'm not gullible or vulnerable anymore.” This was the first time Nia ever stuck up for herself.
“Look I'm so sorry for what I said in fourth grade, I just want to be friends.” Aiden raised his eyebrows.
“Sure I mean I don’t see why we can’t be friends.”
“And you said you weren’t gullible.” Aiden laughed his head off. “LIke I would ever want to be friends with a stupid, insacure, idiot, who I think is disgusting. Oh and not to mention the only mistake God has ever made.”
“I'm not a mistake, ok I'm worth it.” Tears came into Nia’s eyes.
“You are not worth it. No guy will ever like you, or think you're pretty. They’ll take one look at you and say ’Hey If i'm going to go for her, why don’t I just take a pig.”
Nia turned around as tears fell down her cheek. “Just leave me alone.”
“Just leave her alone Aiden.” Bobby’s voice boomed behind him.
“Bobby.” Aiden growled.
“Aiden, go find someone your own size.” Bobby walked over to Nia and put his arm around her. When Aiden would be mean to Nia, Bobby is the one who would let Eloise cry on his shoulder or pour out her heart too. He would always walk her home from school or beat up anyone who insulted her.
“Look Bobby, just stay out of my way and no harm will be made.” Aiden put a smile on his face.
“How about this Aiden, you walk away and no blood will be shed.” Bobby put on his mean face.
“Guys, I'm fine. Just go away.” Nia whipped her teary eyes.
“Nia you don’t understand, we're not real. Were in your imagination. If you want to get rid of us, you have to be the one to do it.” Bobby said soothingly.
“Nia is not strong enough to do that, she is a failure. You're wasting your time Bobby, If you want to get rid of me do it yourself.” Aiden pushed Bobby backward. Bobby immediately suckerpunched Aiden.
“Guys stop it.” Nia tried to pull Bobby away. Bobby gently moved Nia back, Aiden took that moment and punched him in the jaw. “Guys stop it!”
Aiden tackled Bobby to the floor and started pummeling him. “GUYS STOP IT!” Nia fell to the floor as. Everything started to fade away, including Nia herself.