Between Good and Evil

by Hillary

Ellimist and Crayak find a way to bend their age-old rule; get someone to interfere FOR them...

Here's a newer fanfic… it's really weird, though, I'm warning you. Part Two is currently being written. (PG-13 for some swearing)

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Between Good and Evil

Chapter 1

"And that is the reason why the colonists--"

BRIIIIIING!!

Twenty-six half-asleep kids woke up, leaped up out of their desks, grabbed their books, and raced for the door.

"Wait!" the teacher shouted desperately-- and futilely. "Ally isn't done with her report yet!"

"That's okay, Ms. Henderson," a voice could be heard from the classroom. "They weren't listening anyway."

Jay Parker wove his way through the crowded hallway of the Junior High School. He lived in a small town, but for some really strange reason, his school was almost overflowing with kids. Probably because it was considered a very nice school, and many parents requested for their kids to go there.

Jay was a pretty average 14-year-old. He had dark brown, almost black hair that was cut very short, way above his ears. He had dark brown eyes, too. Some of his friends said they looked like puppy-dog eyes, which he hated. Jay was an average-sized guy; not as big as a football player, not as tall as a basketball player, but not short, either. He was on the track team, and was probably their fastest runner. He was an average student, making A's, B's, and the occasional C. Just enough to keep him on the team.

"Jay! Hey! Over here!" Jay's best friend, Patrick O'Connell called to him. Jay spotted Patrick standing by their lockers, which were side by side at the end of the long hall, the two closest to the cafeteria.

Patrick also had brown hair, but lighter, with a kind of red tint, and messy. He was part Irish, his mother being a native of Ireland. Jay loved her accent, and knew Patrick also had a hint of that accent in his voice. Patrick had sky blue eyes and slightly tanned skin. Sometimes he wore glasses, but he was one of those people who managed to look good in their glasses. Patrick didn't think so, though, because he was very modest and self-conscious. Even though he was a straight-A student and almost all his teachers loved him, he never thought he was doing well enough.

"What's up, Patty?" Jay wondered. Then he grinned mockingly.

"Yeah, funny, Jay-bird," he replied. He had a concerned look on his face, so Jay decided to become serious.

"What's wrong?"

Patrick reached into his locker that was hanging open. Jay was surprised all the crap in there didn't fall out in an avalanche on top of them. Patrick pulled out a couple of stapled-together sheets of notebook paper. He stared at it, then frowned.

"What?" Jay asked again.

Patrick handed him the paper. Jay took one look at it, and his mouth dropped open.

"An F?" he cried. Patrick shot him a warning look, and Jay quieted down. "Damn, boy. What'd you do?"

"I don't know," Patrick replied, still frowning. He was leaning on Jay's closed locker, brows furrowed, arms crossed. "I-I guess I've kind of been… well… distracted… for the past few weeks."

Jay paused for a minute. "Distracted how?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

Patrick looked hesitant. "Well…"

Just as Patrick was talking, a female voice shouted, "Hey!" The voice could be heard over all the noise in the hall. Jay whirled around to see what was going on. Right across the hall from him and Patrick was the girl he'd heard. Of course, he could have recognized that voice anywhere. Ana.

Ana Byrd was probably the most popular girl in school. She was beautiful, of course, with shoulder-length hair and a hair color that constantly changed once she discovered the wonderful world of hair dye. In the beginning of the school year, her hair was a sandy blonde. About a month later, it was auburn. When she got sick of that color a few weeks later, it became black. Of course, that wasn't cool enough for her, so a week and a half later it was brown. Then it went back to blonde for a few months (except for the couple of days around Halloween it was orange). About a week ago, she made her hair brown with blonde streaks running through it. Nobody knew her original hair color anymore.

She also had these icy blue eyes that could look very creepy if you pissed her off. Ana despised anyone who she considered uncool, which was many but a select few. Jay wouldn't have been surprised if she had a list. He also knew that the reason she hated him was because he did something no other guy had ever done to her before. When they were in seventh grade, Jay and Ana were a couple. It was only for a few weeks, though. For one thing, the whole "Jay Byrd" joke was getting very old. Also, he was starting to realize that beneath all that makeup and nice, fashionable clothes (and hair dye), Ana was just a self-centered snob. So he broke up with her. Which, of course, shocked the entire school. Now some people thought he was the coolest guy in the world, while others gave him the evil eye in the hall.

Ana was standing in front of a locker, wearing a short black skirt and a dark purple, long-sleeved shirt with a small black butterfly on the left side. The usual following of loyal worshippers (of course, only the ones she considered cool enough to be in her presence) stood behind her, glaring at someone. Jay peered through the crowd, which was beginning to lose its flow and gathered around the scene.

Sitting on her butt on the ground he saw another girl. He recognized her from some of his classes. She was pretty geeky, with these huge glasses that had a thick black frames and masking tape holding it together in some places. She had on a long blue skirt (kind of like a poodle skirt) and a blue and white striped, short-sleeved shirt. Her brown hair was in two messy braids on either side of her head.

"Um… I'm sorry… I didn't know you were there…" the girl stuttered. She wobbily stood up, but as soon as she did, Ana just reached out and shoved her shoulder so the girl fell right back down on her butt again.

"Now, wait a minute, little girl," she said in her snooty voice. "You bumped into me. And now look. All my books and-- oh! My purse! They're all scattered all over the ground." She put on a very fake sad expression. "Oh, what's a girl to do?"

"Well…" the girl remarked hesitantly. "You could… pick it up…"

Jay snickered. The girl had guts.

Ana's face twisted into an angry grimace. Then she sneered. "Oh, no. You bumped into me, little girl. I think you should pick it up." She turned around to face her flock. "Don't you guys think so?"

The guys and girls in the group had mean smiles on their faces. They readily agreed with her.

"I-- I need to… catch… my bus…" the girl mumbled fearfully.

As the girl attempted to stand up again, Ana took her black platform-shoed foot and put it against her shoulder. "Uh-uh-uh," she replied, waggling her finger. "Not until you clean up this horrible mess you've made."

"Jay," Patrick's voice suddenly murmured from behind him. Jay turned around. "Maybe you should help her out."

"Me?" Jay replied, a trifle angry. "Why not you, Mr. Knight in Shining Armor?"

A hint of fear passed through Patrick's eyes. "Because," he said, "Ana hates me--"

"So? She hates me too!"

"You didn't let me finish," Patrick said, putting his hands up. "I was going to say, look at those football players over there. I mean, come on dude, the QB is there! He's the biggest guy in school."

Jay thought for a minute. "So. You're saying if it comes down to a fight, you'd rather have my ass kicked than yours."

"No. I'm saying they wouldn't even touch you. You're the star of the track team. Without you, our team would probably always lose. They wouldn't want to ruin our school's athletic integrity by hospitalizing you, Mr. Popular. Me, on the other hand, I'm just a worthless piece of dog crap no one would mind smearing."

Jay considered the thought. Patrick was probably right-- well, the part about them not beating him up, at least.

"Quit beating up on yourself and maybe other people will stop beating up on you," he said lamely. Patrick knew Jay was going to do it.

He took a deep breath, then marched on across the hall (which was not a very long walk). Jay shoved his way through the crowd. He stopped at the front, with Ana in front of him on his right and the other girl on the ground at his left.

"Hey, Ana, what's going on?" he asked casually.

Ana turned to him, and her face dropped. "What do you want, Jay?"

He shrugged, seeming not to care.

"Oh, nothing really. Just wondering why you're being so rude to this girl here."

"Go away, Jay-bird," some guy from the group said mockingly.

Jay turned his head toward the speaker's general direction. "Well, I'm sorry if I would rather think for myself than follow this snobby--"

"Jay," Ana interrupted, her eyes flaring with anger. "Stay out of this. It's none of your business."

Jay tilted his head to the side and said innocently, "It isn't?"

Ana just stood there, glaring at him.

"It isn't," he repeated, "my business when you hurt yet another person without a single care?"

"No," Ana replied simply.

"Well, see, I think it is." But just as Jay was about to say something else, an authoritative voice shouted, "Excuse me!"

The 30-odd kids there turned to look toward the direction of the voice. As soon as they found out who it was, half of them scampered off quickly, not wanting to get in trouble.

"What is going on here?" the assistant principal, Mr. Chapman, demanded.

"Well sir," Jay began. "W--"

"They started it!" the whole crowd behind Ana chorused, pointing toward Jay and the girl.

Chapman peered at Jay. "They did, did they?"

Jay shook his head fervently. "No, Mr. Chapman. No. I-- we didn't start anything. You see, Ana and her friends--"

"Jay Parker," Chapman said warningly. "The last thing you want to do right now is try to dump the blame on someone else…"

"But Jay is right, Mr. Chapman," Patrick piped up from behind Jay. He breathed a sigh of relief. Teachers always listened to his best friend. "Ana and her friends were bullying this girl here when Jay tried to stick up for her."

Chapman regarded Jay with his eyebrow raised. Then his gaze turned to the girl, still on the floor. "Young lady?"

She nodded her head up and down quickly. "Yes-- yes sir. Yes… he's right."

The vice principal was quiet for a minute. "Fine," he finally said. "Ana, Tony, Lisa, Timothy, Omar, Kara, all of you, go home, or to practice, or wherever you have to be, and if this happens again, Ana, I won't let you off so easily."

Ana opened her mouth to say something, but realized she was beaten. She glared at Patrick, the girl, and Jay, one by one. Her eyes said, "This isn't the last you're gonna hear from me." Jay wasn't frightened, though. He was used to it by then. Ana turned around and stalked away.

The crowed soon dispersed, and Chapman disappeared without another word.

Jay offered his hand to the girl. "Need some help?" he asked kindly.

The girl took his hand and he helped her get up. When she looked at him, Jay got his first look at the girl's eyes, and it almost made him reel in amazement. She had the brightest, most shocking gray-green eyes he had ever seen. Her eyes seemed to pierce at his soul. Jay stood staring at them, transfixed.

"Um…" Patrick suddenly cut in. "I'm Patrick. This is Jay," he said, indicating me. "And you are?"

"Ally," the girl replied.

"Ally," Jay repeated, shaking out of the trance. He returned to his usual self. "Well, nice to meet you Ally. Um… you ride a bus?"

"Yeah," she replied shyly.

"No offense, but I think you missed it," Patrick said, glancing out the door near them.

Ally looked down at the floor and started cursing. Jay grinned in amusement.

"Look… Ally… where do you live?" Jay asked her.

"Yellow Creek subdivision," she muttered, sounding upset.

"Well, Ally, today is your lucky day. Because today you will be escorted by two very handsome young men all the way to your home," Jay announced, grinning.

When Patrick opened his mouth to protest, Jay cocked his head and gave him a look. Patrick snapped his mouth shut and rolled his eyes.

"That… that really isn't necessary…" Ally mumbled, embarrassed.

"No," Patrick said, beaten. "We insist."

Ally looked at him. "Well… okay…"

"Well then, it's settled," Jay shouted, clapping his hands together. The sound echoed through the now-empty hallway. "Let's go!"

Chapter 2

Patrick could not believe his best friend. Yellow Creek was nearly a mile away from where they lived! But of course, being the flirt Jay was, he probably couldn't resist. Not that Patrick thought much of his choice. Now, Patrick was not one of those shallow people that judged right off. He did not believe that first impressions should be your first and last chance. But the vibes this girl set off… it was like, "Take my lunch, flush my books down the toilet, and make me do your science homework. But other than that, stay the hell away."

He guessed what got Jay into the girl was her eyes. For God's sake, the boy stood there for about five minutes just gaping at her with his mouth hanging open. But Patrick had to admit, those were the most shocking and beautiful eyes he had ever seen. They seemed to draw you toward them. It was almost creepy.

The only advantage was that Yellow Creek was closer to the school. It wasn't the nicest subdivision in the world, being built decades ago and not well kept. Graffiti covered everything, from fences to lampposts to houses, even cars. Patrick began to have second thoughts of walking Ally to her house. He'd heard stories about people getting their throats slit, or being shot in the back, or kidnapped-- in broad daylight. And he really didn't think today was a good day to die.

"So," Patrick began, his voice shaking a little. He scolded himself, and stopped trembling. "Where do you live, exactly?"

"Oh…" Ally replied. "Far into the subdivision. Really far. Probably further than you want to go…"

That was good enough for Patrick.

"Well, it was nice walking with you. I guess I'll see you in school tomorrow. Bye!"

"Now, wait a minute," Jay said, grabbing Patrick's shirt collar before he could take another step away. Damn. "Patrick, it's rude to just walk her this far. We have to go all the way to her house."

"No, that's not really necessary," Ally began.

"Are you sure, Ally? It'd be kinda lonely walking all that way by yourself," Jay said.

"Yes, Jay, the girl is sure. Can we go home now?"

Jay considered him for a moment. Then he looked at Ally.

"It's okay," she said. "I'm used to being alone."

Ouch. Okay. That made Patrick feel guilty.

"If you're sure…" Patrick started to say.

"It's okay," Ally said again.

"Well, see you tomorrow, Ally," Jay replied. "Bye."

"Bye," Ally muttered. She began walking down the street into her subdivision.

Jay turned to Patrick. "There Patrick. You happy now?" he snapped, then turned and began walking briskly back the way they had come. To get home Patrick and Jay had to head back to the school, then the opposite direction that they had taken to Ally's subdivision.

"I'm sorry, Jay. Okay?" Patrick shot back, running after him. Jeez. Even walking quickly, this guy was really fast. Patrick caught up to him briefly, huffing and puffing. "I'm sorry. I feel bad. Okay?"

Jay slowed down his pace. Not much, but enough so Patrick could stop running.

"What gets you so into that girl, anyway?" Patrick finally asked after he caught his breath.

Jay stopped and stared at his best friend. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Well, you know, walking her home and all…"

Jay rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Patty, Patty, Patty. Give me some credit. Walking her home was the polite thing to do--"

"Polite?" Patrick sneered jokingly.

Jay cocked his eyebrow. "Besides. She's just not my type."

Patrick stood there staring at Jay for a minute. Then, suddenly, he burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jay demanded, grinning.

"Nothing, Jay-bird. Nothing," Patrick replied. After that, the conversation was light, just like normal, all the way home.

***

We need your help… a voice repeatedly whispered. Patrick tried to find the source of this voice. But it seemed to echo from all around him. Suddenly, he was whisked out of the complete and utter blackness and dropped into a stone hallway. Brian… Jay… Ana… Nikole… and someone else… shocking green eyes… the glint of a sharp, bloodstained blade… a ruby that seemed to have a fire burning within it… traitor… don't die… crying… help us… die… help… the darkness seemed to engulf him all of a sudden… Patrick couldn't see… he couldn't hear, couldn't feel… it was dark… all dark… help us…

"No!" Patrick cried out.

"Patrick! Patrick!" a hushed but worried voice floated in through the darkness. The voice was a lovely female voice, with a strong Irish accent.

"Patrick, lovey, are you alright?" his mother asked him, concerned.

"Yes. Yes, mum. I'm okay," Patrick mumbled.

His mother wasn't so willing to believe him.

"You've been doing this a lot lately," she reminded him.

"I know," he admitted. "I don't understand why…"

"Are you being bullied in school? Or is it your grades? It's okay if you make one F, Patrick. People make mistakes…"

"No, mum. I honestly don't know what's wrong."

Patrick's mother hesitated. He hated having to worry her. She tried very hard to be a good single mother, and did a wonderful job…

"Okay, Patrick, honey, if you're really alright. Go back to sleep now. You still need to go to school tomorrow.

Patrick nodded. He gave his mother a kiss goodnight. Then he grinned at her. "G'nite, mum."

She gave him one of those horribly sad "you remind me so much of your father" looks, and Patrick laid down and soon slipped into a guilty but dreamless sleep.

***

"Hey Patty. You look like crap this morning," Jay greeted me cheerfully at the door.

"Hello Jay," Patrick's mother called from inside the house.

"Hello, Mrs. O'Connell," Jay called back politely.

"You know, Jay-bird," Patrick remarked. "That 'Patty' name of yours is really starting to grind my nerves."

Jay good-naturedly punched Patrick in the shoulder. "Yeah, you should be talking."

"So… looking forward to seeing Ally today, hm?"

Jay cocked his head and raised his fist warningly.

"Okay, okay. Just a joke, Jay-bird."

Jay and Patrick walked toward the school, talking and laughing as always. The morning was chilly, with the sun just coming over the horizon. Dew dripped off the leaves, glinting in the morning sun and getting the boys' shoes soaking wet whenever they walked across the grass.

When they were almost to the school, Patrick yawned enormously.

Jay chuckled. "Tired?"

Patrick shut his mouth with some trouble. Then he grinned and nodded. "Yeah. I had this stupid nightmare last night."

Jay leaned against the fence suddenly and stared at Patrick, head tilted quizzically. Patrick noticed Jay seemed to do that a lot lately.

"A nightmare, huh?" Jay said after a minute or two.

"Yeah," Patrick replied. "Hey, Jay, don't you think we should get onto school grounds before we stop and talk?"

"No, wait," Jay said suddenly. Then he looked at his watch. "We have time."

Patrick wondered what was up with his best friend. So he asked.

"Well…" Jay began hesitantly. "What kind of nightmare?"

"Huh?"

"What kind of nightmare?" Jay repeated forcefully.

"Okay, okay," Patrick replied. "It was really funky. I was in this really black place… and someone kept asking me to help them… and I heard these names. I saw… like… a dagger or something… and a ruby necklace… and something about traitors and dying and green eyes…"

"Green eyes?" Jay questioned.

"Yeah. Look Jay, it was just a dream. Can we go to school now?"

"What were the names?"

"Huh?"

"Patrick, how many times do I have to ask you; what were the names?"

"I don't remember…" Jay glared at him. "I don't! Well… wait… I think there was your name… some kid named Brian… Nick something… And something starting with A…"

Then Patrick noticed Jay was staring into space. "Uh… Jay? Jay-bird? Loverboy? Flirt? JAY!!"

Jay jerked his head toward his friend. "Oh. We have to get to school."

"Ya think?" Patrick remarked sarcastically. Jay just made a goofy face at him and pretended like their previous conversation didn't happen.

In second period that day, Patrick sat in the science lab, bored as ever. Just as Mr. Grenvelle was about to begin explaining why one certain chemical should not be mixed with another, the school counselor walked in.

"Mr. Grenvelle," she announced loudly. "You have a new student."

"Joy," a kid whispered from next to him. Patrick grinned.

"Class, this is Brian Schmidt. He comes from an Air Force base in Germany. Isn't that exciting?" the counselor asked in a sappy, way-to-cheerful voice.

For some reason, that name rang a bell. Patrick couldn't quite remember right then, but he regarded the new kid. He was a little bigger than Patrick, and had blonde hair just a little longer than Jay's. He had hazel eyes and pale skin.

"Okay, Brian, take a seat… Patrick, Derrik, raise your hands. In between those two. Thank you Ms. Falin."

The boy walked past the tables and took the stool next to Patrick.

"So," Patrick whispered. "You're from Germany, huh?"

Brian just nodded.

"Cool." Patrick tried to think of something else to say. "Uh… I'm European too. My mother is Irish."

"I'm not really German," Brain replied quietly. "I'm American. My dad is in the Air Force."

"Oh."

"Patrick," Mr. Grenvelle suddenly said. "Do you have something to share with the rest of the class?"

"Um… no sir."

"Then quit bothering Brian and open your book."

Chapter 3

Ana was running through a jungle. Suddenly she stopped, wondering why she had to run. Then she turned around… "Ana, NO!"… it all went black… then a voice whispered to her from the black void, that seemed to echo from all around… help us… another voice… trust me… Jay?… green eyes… STOP!… traitor… help us… no don't--

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"Ana! Shut up!" Ana's stepsister, Felicia, cried. "I'm trying to sleep!"

Ana shot up into a sitting position. She was breathing hard. Then, trying to make up for her fear, she returned to her usual snooty manner.

"'Scuze me. Maybe some of us don't need as much beauty sleep as you."

"Just go back to sleep," Felicia moaned, her voice muffled by a pillow.

Ana rolled her eyes and laid back down. Stupid dream, she kept repeating to herself. Just a stupid dream.

***

"So, Ana, what do you think?" Lisa asked hopefully.

"Huh? What?" Ana snapped back into reality. She looked across the lunch table at the girl.

"Should I drop the guy or stay?" Lisa repeated.

Ana scowled. "I don't know. Think for yourself. I can't do everything for you."

Lisa looked hurt. "I'm sorry… I just wanted your opinion…"

Ana sighed. "No, sorry for snapping at you. I didn't get any sleep last night. And my bratty stepsister…"

"Poor Ana," Renee said sympathetically.

Ana just shook her head. "Forget it."

Kara started up the conversation again. "So anyway…"

Ana didn't pay attention to the conversation. It was obvious what they were talking about anyway. The usual. Cheerleading, fashion, makeup, guys, how much this person was a loser or how cool this person was-- of course, never as cool as Ana.

As she looked around the cafeteria, she spotted the person she was looking for. There was Jay, with his little friend, Chadwick or whatever, and some other kid she didn't know.

"Ana? Are you okay?" Kara suddenly said.

Ana turned to look at her. "Yeah, I'm okay. But I'll be right back."

All the girls at the table looked at her, then looked at each other and shrugged.

Ana stood up and walked past all the long tables to the other side of the cafeteria. She stopped at the end of one table, where Jay and his best friend were sitting across from each other, and a couple of other guys whose names she couldn't remember or didn't recognize were there, too.

"And I was like-- what?" Jay stopped talking. He looked at his friends, who were all staring at Ana. Then he craned his head to look up at Ana. He frowned.

"Can we help you?"

"Jay," Ana began. Then she realized how stupid she sounded, and started again. "Jay, I need to talk to you."

Jay sat there staring at her for a minute. "Why?" he finally asked.

"Please?"

Jay looked at all of his friends again. Then he looked back at Ana. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Jay," Ana said again.

He sighed. "Fine, fine." He stood up. "Patrick, if you touch my food, then… Brian can beat you up."

Some blond boy Ana didn't recognize grinned at Patrick.

"What food?" Patrick replied innocently. He looked around the room. "I don't see any food here."

Jay just made a face at Patrick. Ana took the time to glance back at her table. Everyone there was staring at her. She turned back around.

"Well?"

Jay followed Ana to an empty table. Amazing. An empty table in their school.

"What do you want, Ana?" Jay asked her again, glancing around. He probably expected some football players to jump out at him or something.

"Well…" Ana began. "I was… um… just thinking, you know…"

"Really?" Jay remarked in mock surprise.

Ana glared at him. "Would you just shut the hell up for a minute and let me talk?"

Jay shut up.

"I've just been thinking, Jay… you know, we've been hating each other for nearly a year now…"

Jay raised an eyebrow.

"And I was just…" Ana paused. What was she doing, exactly?

"Are you apologizing?" Jay suddenly asked her.

"Apologizing?!" Ana cried, incredulous. "For what? You're the one who dumped me!"

"I don't know. It sounded like an apology to me."

"Well it wasn't," Ana snapped. Truthfully, though, she wasn't sure what it was.

Finally, Ana got fed up.

"You know what, Jay? Just forget it. Just go back to your little friends for all I care. I'm leaving." Then Ana cursed herself, because her voice was trembling. She stood up quickly.

Suddenly she felt a hand grip her wrist, not hard, but enough to make her stop and look back at Jay. His face looked a little guilty.

"Okay, Ana, sorry. Look, I don't really hate you, okay? I don't know about you, though…"

Ana considered Jay for a minute. "No," she finally said. "I don't hate you." Then she yanked he wrist away from his hand. "But don't grab my wrist like that again."

He grinned. "Okay."

Ana walked away. Behind her, she heard the scraping of chair legs as Jay got up. Then she heard an "Oof!" and the clatter of a tray falling.

"Oh, Ally, hey, sorry," Jay said. Ana paused to listen.

"It's okay," a girl said. That girl from yesterday!

"Here ya go," Jay said. Being Jay, he'd probably helped her pick up her stuff.

"Thanks," she replied. "Oh, and by the way, thanks for walking me home yesterday. I really appreciate it."

Walking her home?? Ana bristled, a twinge of jealousy twisting her stomach.

"Sorry Patrick was being such a jerk…"

"No, it's okay. Really."

Ana couldn't take anymore of this. Another girl was talking to her Jay. She stalked all the way back to her table and sat down hard.

***

Crayak watched through the eyes of a nearby human. It saw her talking to the boy.

"Yes," it thought gleefully. "Wonderful job, my child. Get to them before they know. Get to him."

It watched, and waited…

Chapter 4

After lunch, the students were allowed to just hang out, right outside the school cafeteria. Brian sat with Patrick, Vince, Jay, Kyle, and all the other guys on the concrete steps. He was glad that he'd actually made friends so fast. Well, actually, Patrick kind of pushed him into his group, but that was okay. Better than sitting alone at lunch.

"So, Jay," Kyle was saying. "What was that all about?"

"What?" Jay replied.

"Duh, Jay-bird," Patrick laughed. "That little talk with Ana."

Jay rolled his eyes. "That was nothing."

"Yeah, sure," another guy said.

"I think she still likes you," Patrick told Jay.

"Shut up, Patty. That was a long time ago."

"Right."

"So Brian," Jay suddenly said. He looked at me.

"Huh?" Brian replied. Yeah, good one, Bri.

"How do you like the U.S. so far?"

"Ah… well… I haven't been here since I was like five, but… yeah, it's fine."

"Different from Germany?"

"Pretty much."

The guys talked for a little bit. Then, suddenly, something happened. Something that would change a lot of lives forever.

The gentle breeze started blowing a little faster. Not much, just barely enough to be noticed. Brian shuddered.

Help uuussss…

Jay suddenly stopped talking. "Uh… guys? Did you hear something?"

"Like what?" Vince wondered.

"Like… uh… well… nevermind." Jay shook his head and started talking again.

But Brian kept looking around. He did hear something. He could have sworn. He glanced over at Patrick, who also had a confused look on his face.

Help uuussss…

This time, the whisper sounded more forceful. The wind got a little faster, and started whipping Brian's shirt about his body.

Patrick spoke up. "Okay, now I heard that."

"Heard what?" Kyle asked.

"Someone whispering," Patrick replied.

"Whispering what?"

"Uh-- it… oh, nevermind. I'm insane."

Jay was staring at Patrick. So was Brian. But the other guys seemed not to notice.

Then Brian realized it wasn't a warm, sunny, beautiful day anymore. Clouds had suddenly filled up the sky, making it gray. All of a sudden, a loud rumble echoed from the clouds. Lightning tore them apart, and rain suddenly came pouring down in buckets.

"Oh crap!" Trey, one of the other guys, shouted. "We gotta get inside!"

Brian noticed all the kids were running for cover. He and his friends were sitting under a porch roof, but the wind was blowing so hard now it wasn't a very good cover. All the guys jumped up and ran inside. All except Brian, Jay, and Patrick.

"Hey guys," Kyle called, stopping and turning to them. "Get inside!"

"In a minute!" Jay called back.

"Why are we staying out here?" Patrick demanded, his voice raised over the howling wind.

"I don't know!" Brian replied. "You tell me!"

"Hello?!" someone shouted suddenly. Through the sheets of rain, Brian could just barely see a figure racing toward them.

"Ana?" Jay cried. "What are you doing?"

Soon that girl that had talked to Jay earlier was standing with them. Every part of her was soaked except her face and the top of her hair. She held a textbook over her head.

"I'm glad this thing is good for something!" Ana shouted in a joking voice.

"What's going on here?" Patrick demanded again. "Why are we out here and not inside. It's raining, for God's sake!"

"I don't know," Brian repeated. "But I don't think we're supposed to go inside."

Three surprised faces turned to him. "Why?" they all asked simultaneously.

"Be-because… I'm not sure. Didn't you hear the voice?" Brian offered pretty lamely.

Jay, Patrick, and Ana all glanced at each other. Their looks seemed to say, "I think he's right."

Suddenly, Brian felt drawn toward something. He ran down the steps, grabbing the rail after he nearly slipped and cracked his head open. But that didn't stop him. He just kept running. Down the steps, across the pavement…

"Brian!" Patrick shouted. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know," Brian shouted back.

"You NEVER know!" Jay replied loudly. Then he heard soggy footsteps following him. So Brian kept running. Past the trees… over the grass… he leaped the fairly low fence easily, ran around the corner of the shed on the other side of the fence, and… stopped.

"Brian! Hold up!" Jay shouted. Then, suddenly, he crashed right into the boy. Patrick crashed into Jay.

"What are you guys doing?" Ana could be heard yelling. "We could get pneumonia out here!" Then she crashed into Patrick.

"In there," Brian whispered.

"What?" Jay demanded loudly.

"In there," Brian repeated. He pointed to the door of the metal shed.

Jay laughed. "What are you talking about? That's just a janitor's shed. All that's in there are some tools and maybe some rats or spiders. Unless you're looking for shelter from the rain, which you could have easily gotten by just turning around and walking into the school…"

"Why the hell are we out here?" Ana suddenly demanded. "We could get busted off of school grounds!"

"Brian wants to take shelter in the shed," Jay replied.

"That thing?" Ana asked incredulously. "That nasty, dirty, disgusting, rodent-filled…"

"Let's go!" Patrick suddenly shouted urgently. "Open the door, Brian!"

Brian opened the door, half expecting to see the tools. But when he swung the door open all the way, there was… nothing. It wasn't just an empty shed. It was complete and utter blackness. No wind or rain or light penetrated it. Brian didn't realize he was standing there, frozen.

"Brian, what's wrong? Go!" Patrick shouted. The rain got harder, the thunder and lightning got louder, and the wind blew so hard Brian almost felt like he was going to be blown off his feet.

"Yeah, really!" Jay agreed. "It's turning into a damn monsoon out here!"

Brian took a deep breath. Then he took a step forward. He heard someone say, "Where'd he go?" then he was falling. It was dry, but still cold. There was no ground, no walls, no ceiling. And it was completely dark. Brian just kept falling… falling… falling… Then he stopped. And he heard a whispering voice. Just like in the dream.

Help uuussss…

Suddenly, Brian hit a dirt floor. He heard three other thumps. And some moaning and groaning. Then, suddenly, before he could pull himself together, he saw a glint of metal. Then two hard thumps. Brian turned around to see a large piece of wood coming at him…

THUMP!

Chapter 5

Jay woke up. As soon as he did, he regretted it. His head was pounding, like Thor himself took his hammer and started slamming it into his head. His thoughts were cloudy for a minute or two, but soon they cleared up. He groaned.

"Jay?" a voice whispered.

He opened his eyes. For a minute he thought he was dreaming. He was in a room with stone walls, moss almost completely covering the surface. The ceiling was also stone, and the floor was tightly packed brown dirt. A large wooden door with a barred window was bolted shut on the far side of the room. Jay glanced around, and saw about twenty ropes hanging from the ceiling. Five of these ropes were occupied. There were Patrick, Brian, and Ana, all with their hands tied to the ropes. The four of them were dangling by the ropes from the ceiling, a few feet above the ground. Jay realized his arms were completely numb, and wondered how long he'd been hanging there.

"Jay? Are you awake?" the voice whispered again. He searched around the room. Then he realized it was Patrick.

"Patrick? Where are we?" Jay demanded.

"Sshh!" Patrick hissed. "Those guards out there will knock you out again if they find out you're awake." Then he groaned. "Believe me. I know."

"Is anyone else awake?"

"I don't think so," Patrick replied. "But look over there." He jerked his head over to Jay's right side. He turned his head quickly, which made him swing back left, then right, left, right, left…

"I just said look, Jay-bird. Not swing."

"Yeah. Funny." This time Jay turned his head slowly. He saw a girl he didn't know hanging there, unconscious.

"So?"

"Don't you recognize her, Jay?"

"Uhh… no?"

Patrick sighed. Then, suddenly, the girl opened her eyes. She lifted her head up slowly, and was obviously taking in her surroundings, when she turned to look at Jay. His heart did a flip-flop.

The girl was wearing a lot of black. And a lot of leather. Black leather pants, black leather boots, a white shirt that exposed her flat stomach, and an open, black, leather, long-sleeved shirt over that. She had long, very straight brown hair. Jay thought she was very pretty. Then, when she looked at him, the realization dawned on him. Those same, gray-green eyes…

"Ally?"

The girl stared at him for a moment, puzzled. Then he saw the recognition in her eyes.

"Jay… Patrick? Hey…"

"Uh… you look…"

"Different." Patrick finished for him.

Ally grinned. "Really? I didn't even notice." Then she looked up, at the door, and at the wall right next to her. "Hey, Patrick? Jay? Could you guys do me a favor?"

"What?" Jay asked.

"Shout," Ally replied. "Shout as loud as you can at the guard."

Patrick blinked. "Why? They'll just come in and whack us in the head with their clubs again. I think if it happens to me one more time, I'll get permanent damage… if I haven't already…"

"No, they won't," Ally replied. "I have a plan. Besides, there's only one guard out there right now."

"How do you know?" Jay asked skeptically. He was starting to wonder if this was really Ally. She looked and acted very different.

"Trust me," she said, grinning.

Jay and Patrick exchanged glances. They heard Brian moaning then.

"Hey Brian, help us!" Patrick suddenly yelled. He started shouting at the door. "Hey! Dude out there! Yeah, you! The meat head! The one without a neck! Get in here! I want to have a word with you!"

Jay stared at his best friend. "Patrick, did you know that you are completely insane?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Just making sure." Then Jay began shouting as well.

Soon, the boys heard a banging sound, and the door swung open. A humongous, muscled man walked in. He could probably have reached up and untied all the people in the room without even getting on his tippy-toes. Not that Jay expected the guy to get them down. He also had scars all over his body, including on his face, squinty blue eyes, a blunt nose, and a small tuft of orange hair in the middle of his otherwise bald scalp. Jay immediately shut up, intimidated. But Patrick kept yelling, his face almost purple.

"Shuttup," the huge guard grunted in a gruff voice. "All of ye. Just shuttup." He heaved his club into a ready position, walked over, and conked poor Brian, who was just waking up, over the head. Brian's head dropped back down into a sleeping position. Then he headed toward Jay.

Soon, Ally, who had been pretending to be asleep, was right behind the guy. She started swinging. Back, forth, back, forth… he grunted as he heaved the heavy wooden club into position again, but just as Jay was shrinking back and the guard was about to swing, Ally had gathered up enough strength to carry out her plan. She swung back, pushed off of the wall behind her, stuck her feet out, and slammed into the back of the guard's head at full force. For a minute it seemed as if the man hadn't felt a thing. Then, suddenly, he dropped the club, rolled his eyes into the back of his head, and collapsed to the ground with a giant THUD. Ally used the momentum to reach the wall again, she pushed off, and kicked her legs over so she could wrap them about the rope that was holding her arms up. In a movement so quick Jay almost didn't see it, she grabbed a knife from her boot and, still swinging back and forth since she had no control over whether the rope stopped, she started sawing at the rope. When it finally came apart, she fell, and landed on her feet, bending her legs to absorb the shock.

Patrick and Jay hung there, staring openmouthed at Ally in amazement.

"Whoa," Jay finally said. Patrick nodded in agreement. "You know, Ally, I'd clap if my hands were free. Could you do that for me too?"

Ally stood up straight, dusted herself off, and walked across the room, completely ignoring him. She walked over to the wall, and stuck her knife in between two stones. She began prying one of the stones out of the wall.

"Uh… Ally?" Patrick said. "What are you doing, exactly?"

"Yeah," Jay replied. "Are you gonna help us or what?"

Finally Ally answered them. "Welp, sorry boys," she grunted in between yanks at the stone. "No can do. See--" the stone fell away from the wall, and revealed a hole. Ally reached in and pulled out a necklace. Then she slipped it onto her neck. Patrick gasped. The pendant Ally wore, held around her neck with a thin golden chain, was a ruby, red with orange glinting through it whenever it moved. A fiery ruby…

"See," Ally began again. "I don't play well with others. I don't watch out for anyone's back but my own. So, Patty, Jay-bird, I guess you're screwed." She said that last part with mock sweetness, then whirled around, her brown hair twirling around her head. She headed toward the door.

"Wait!" Jay cried. Ally stopped and turned around. "Can't you at least do something, Ally? Anything?"

Ally considered that for a moment. Then she shrugged. "Well, I guess I could send for some help. But this is doing a BIG favor to you, so be grateful."

Jay and Patrick both breathed sighs of relief. Ana moaned from her corner as she woke up. Ally turned around again and walked toward the door. Suddenly she stopped again, as if seeming to remember something. She turned her head to the side.

"Oh, and, boys? Just for your information-- the name's Alyssa, not Ally."

With that, she walked through the door and was gone.

Chapter 6

Thud!

Patrick groaned as he sat on the dirt floor, gently touching his wrists that had been rubbed raw.

"This is gonna scar," Jay complained. "I know it is."

"You can rub some of our salve on it to make it feel better," one of the girls that had come to "rescue" them said. This girl had black curls that framed her pale face, and soft gray eyes, nothing like Ally-- Alyssa's. She wasn't as rough as some of the others.

"Really? Can it make my headache go away?" Patrick said. The girl walked over and felt around his scalp.

"Ouch," she said. "Those are some pretty nasty bumps."

"Bumps? Plural? Ohhhh man," he groaned. Then he spotted Jay grinning stupidly at him, and pulled away from the girl. "Forget it. I'll be okay."

The girl looked at Jay, then rolled her eyes. She grinned back at Patrick.

"By the way, my name's Nikole. With a K, not a C."

"Nice to meet you, Nikole-with-a-k-not-a-c," Patrick replied. He heard Jay snicker, then heard him clear his throat and cough, "Corny! Corny!" Patrick just glared at him.

"Uh… what's your name?" Nikole asked.

"Patrick," he replied. "And that idiot over there is Jay-bird--"

"Jay," he corrected.

"The girl over there is Ana. And the guy who's still unconscious is Brian."

"Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on here?" Ana demanded for the thousandth time.

"Well--" Nikole began.

Then another boy interrupted her. He was Asian, with jet-black hair and almond-shaped black eyes.

"We're taking you out of the dungeon."

"Yeah, we noticed," Jay said. "And then what?"

"We'll figure out what to do with you."

"What do you mean by that?" Patrick demanded.

"Well, for one thing, none of us have ever seen you before. We don't know which side you are on. Plus you knocked out Jim pretty bad. Looks like violent tendencies to me…"

"Oh, come on, Arin," Nikole urged. "He was about to slam them in the heads with that huge hunk of wood of his. Look, this boy over here is still unconscious. They had to stop him somehow."

"But, then, how did they have the skill to--"

"Kick him in the head?" Nikole finished for the guy. "It's not that hard to kick a person in the head, Arin."

Arin scowled at Nikole.

Another girl spoke up. "Hey, name's Kris. What we're going to do first is take you to meet Dominick, who is kind of our leader. We want to find out what you're doing here. If you're with… him," she said him with quite a bit of rancor, "or us. Or you just stumbled into a hole and fell all the way here…"

"Kind of like Alice in Wonderland," Patrick suggested. Nikole, Arin, Kris, and the two other boys just stared at him, puzzled. "Nevermind."

Jim, the huge guard who had knocked Brian and Patrick out earlier, walked into the room.

"Need any help?" he asked in his gruff voice, the accent sounding suspiciously British.

"Yeah, Jim. Could you help us carry that blonde boy over there?" Nikole replied.

Jim got a guilty look on his face. "I didn't mean ta hurt him bad. I was just followin' orders…"

"It's okay. I'm sure they forgive you. Right?" Nikole gave Jay and Patrick looks.

"Sure," Jay replied amiably. Patrick wasn't so quick to agree until everyone in the room glared at him. "Yeah, yeah, sure."

Suddenly, Arin spoke up again.

"Get up, guys. You're going to meet Dominick."

***

Crayak was not pleased.

"He is not dead," it hissed, the sinister voice echoing through the empty black corridors.

"I couldn't get close enough," she replied. "Besides, it was not the right time."

This made Crayak angry. It hissed and growled, and the world began to swirl, a deep, utter blackness mixing with the shiny black metal. Wind blew from a nonexistent source.

Still, the girl stood, unafraid.

"It was not the right time," she repeated, then added with an evil grin, "Yet…"

The world stopped swirling abruptly. The wind was gone, and the room returned to normal. Then, the amused sound of whispery laughter emerged from the walls of the room.

He knew the girl would do her job. He knew…

***

"So you just walked through the door and ended up in the dungeon?"

"No," Jay replied for the hundredth time. "We landed… somewhere… and someone knocked us all out. When we woke up, we were in the dungeon."

"And what about Jim?" the boy, Dominick, asked. "Can you explain why he was on the floor unconscious when Arin and his group walked into the cell?"

"Yes," Jay said again. He was being the spokesperson of the group. "We didn't knock him out--"

"Who did?"

"A girl," Jay said, "named Alyssa. I know her--"

"Wait a minute," Dominick interrupted. He put a dark hand up. "You say you know this Alyssa girl?"

"Yes…"

"Green eyes, brown hair, keeps a knife in her boot, with a holier-than-thou attitude?"

"Well… yeah…"

"And she's your friend?"

"I guess so," Jay answered. "Sort of."

"Sort of," Dominick repeated. He had been pacing around the room, and sat down in his chair again. Then he leaned back, and crossed his arms over his chest.

Patrick noted that this Dominick guy was probably about two years older than him and his friends. He was African-American, and had very thoughtful brown eyes that were currently narrowed skeptically.

"Yes," Patrick spoke up. "In our-- in school, when we first met her, she seemed like a totally different person. She was kind of… well…"

"Nerdy," Ana supplied.

"And she didn't go by Alyssa. She said to call her Ally."

"How long have you known her?"

"Only two days," Jay said. Then he paused for a minute. "Unless we've been out for a really long time…"

"No." Dominick shook his head. "We found you approximately six hours ago."

"Oh, well, only six hours," Jay retorted. "I guess that's not too bad…"

Patrick touched his wrists again, which was becoming a habit. Nikole had rubbed a yellowish salve on it that instantly numbed the pain. Now it was dried, and starting to crack off.

"I don't think now is the time to be making jokes," Dominick said solemnly. "I don't believe you're a threat, but you're in hot water with some of the guys here."

"Why?" Jay demanded.

"Well, because," Dominick replied. "You've been associating with the enemy."

"Enemy?" Patrick repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Dominick said. "Enemy. This 'Ally' of yours, Alyssa, is one of the bad guys. Many people refer to her as 'The Assassin'. She works for Crayak."

"Bad? Assassin? Crayak?" Jay repeated incredulously. "Uh… Dominick? No offense, dude, but you've got some explaining to do."

Suddenly, Dominick looked past the three. "I think here is someone who can explain for you."

Ana, Jay, and Patrick turned around to face… a man. Well, sort of. He was humanoid, with the form of a human, but with skin that seemed to pulsate with a blue glow. He had a long, sweeping, snow-white beard that touched the floor, and long white hair. His eyes were probably the creepiest part of him. They were black, but if you really looked at them, you could almost see little sparkles, like outer space. And the eyes didn't curve out, like eyes usually did, but were sunken in, and it looked as if they were just two holes in his head, windows to a miniature universe.

Jay tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow. "Father Time?"

The man chuckled. It was a rich, baritone voice, and seemed to echo and reverberate through the room.

"Good guess, Jay."

Jay froze. "Wait a minute… how do you…"

"Know your name? Well, Jay, I know a lot of things." Patrick opened his mouth to speak. "I'll get to that in a minute, Patrick. First things first, of course. You can call me Ellimist. Some people consider us all-powerful." Then he chuckled. "Some consider us simply fairy-tales. Many who know we are real fear us…" Then this "Ellimist" creature seemed to sadden. And when he saddened, the whole room saddened. Things seemed to appear darker, with almost a blue tint. Patrick even felt a wave of sadness wash over him. "And there are those who hate us." Suddenly, they weren't in the stone room with Dominick anymore. They were standing in a dark, perfectly square room. The walls, ceiling, and floor were metal, and were all black. Ana, Jay, and Patrick were taking in their surroundings. Then Patrick turned around.

"AAAAAAAHH!!" he screamed, leaping back about five feet.

Jay and Ana turned to look in the same direction. Ana screamed shrilly and Jay yelped.

"Wha-what is that?!" Patrick demanded, trembling. What he saw was a large throne, miles high. And on top of that throne sat what was probably one of the ugliest creatures Patrick had ever seen. It looked half machine, half… something else… it had long, mechanical tentacles coming out of each side, constantly waving, as if it were searching for something to grab… maybe to wrap around and squeeze, just like a python… Patrick shuddered. But the creepiest part of it was the head. It was one single, roving, bloodred eye, with metal reaching up through it, like veins. The eye kept turning this way and that, watching… searching… Patrick shuddered again… then, the eye turned and looked right at him…

"AAHH!" he yelped. Then, as quickly as they had entered the room, they left. Now they were back in the uneven stone room, Dominick still sitting in his chair, arms crossed, as he had been doing right before they had left.

"What was that?" Jay demanded, a mix of fear and anger on his face. Patrick continued trembling.

"That," the Ellimist replied, suddenly appearing again, "was Crayak."

"Yuck." Ana put the complex mix of emotion and thoughts of the three of them into one word.

A grin appeared on the Ellimist's strange face. "Yes, Ana, you could say that." Then the grin went away. Patrick got the impression that the Ellimist really didn't like this Crayak dude. "Crayak has been an enemy of mine for many years. A long, long time ago, we constantly fought with no regard for other creatures. We manipulated these species, made them fight wars through us, and ruined so many things…" a sigh escaped his "lips". "We eliminated species… ruined worlds… destroyed galaxies… then suddenly, we both stopped, realizing what we had done and regretting it. So we made a deal: we would never interfere with other creatures, no matter what. So far, this promise had been kept well, and the universe is back to normal."

"Normal?" Jay muttered glumly.

"But," the Ellimist continued, seeming to ignore Jay, "despite this, Crayak has still managed to continue his devastating mischief. And how? By getting other people to do it for him." Suddenly, another creature appeared in the room. Yet another nightmare winner. This one had two legs and a stubby tail. It was naturally bent forward, like people who have to use walkers. The dark flesh covering its body was pruny. It had flimsy, multi-jointed arms and a head that did not go with the rest of its body at all. It had a somewhat human shape, a narrow lower jaw, and wide-set eyes. These eyes had a flicker of intelligence, and were rimmed in green, as was the mouth.

"That is Drode," the Ellimist explained. "He is one of Crayak's creations, as well as the Howlers. Crayak used them to do his interfering for him. And I realized, if he could bend our rules, so could I."

"So, is that why were here?" Patrick suddenly said. "Because you're going to make us do your interfering for you?"

"No one is making you do anything," Dominick chimed in. "You have the choice to turn down the offer and leave right now."

"Leave?" Jay repeated. "What do you mean, leave? As in go back home?"

"Yes," the Ellimist replied. "If you choose not to help me, I will send you back where you came from. Of course, you will have no memory of this encounter. Everything that happened after the rainstorm will be forgotten. The dreams as well. And…" the Ellimist paused, almost as if he were hesitating.

"And what?" Jay asked. He sounded fairly uncertain.

"One loved one of yours that has perished will be returned to the living world."

Jay gave his best friend a quick look, and Patrick caught his breath. Jay spoke for him. "Why?"

"Sometime during your lifetime, a close loved one died. Am I correct?" The Ellimist asked this, but, of course, he knew he was right. "This happened for your advantage--"

"Advantage?" Patrick suddenly demanded, outraged. Jay shot him a look to be quiet for now.

"Yes. I'm terribly sorry. I apologize for the pain it has caused you. But you needed the experience to toughen up. We didn't want you to come here and experience death for the first time, then, as you young humans tend to say, 'lose it'."

"You apologize," Patrick repeated in a low, quivering voice. "Are you saying that YOU killed my father?"

"I am very, very sorry," the Ellimist repeated.

A chair suddenly appeared right behind Patrick, and he fell back into it. He put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe it. His mind suddenly kept going back to that night nearly three years ago… he'd just come back from a really awesome day. He'd been worried in the morning, because he had a test in every class but one and all of them were supposed to be really tough, plus two reports, and he was nervous for Jay, who was trying out for the track team for the first time. But he aced all the tests, the teachers applauded his presentations, and Jay made the team without a moment's hesitation from the coaches. So Patrick was in a good mood. And he couldn't wait to tell his parents.

That is, until he came home to find his mother on her knees by the phone, which was hanging off the hook. Her head was in her hands. She was crying. He asked what was wrong, and where was dad? She looked up at him, slowly, and her face was red, her eyes were puffy. "Patrick," she'd said with that accent of hers. "Patrick, your father… there was an accident… and… he's… he didn't survive…"

But Patrick didn't wait for his mother to finish. He ran upstairs, slammed his door, threw his backpack down, and fell onto his bed. And he cried. He cried himself to sleep. All he could think of for the next three years was why… why did his dad have to die? How could an 18-wheeler have swerved and fallen over on his dad's nice, new, shiny black car? Why couldn't he have had a better doctor? Why, why, why, why?

"Patrick," a gentle voice said suddenly, snapping him back to the present. It was Jay. "Patrick. Hey, are you okay?"

"No," Patrick muttered through his hands. "I'm not."

He took his face away from his hands and looked up. Then paused. Wait a minute… he wasn't in the right place. This was another stone room, but with a window, sunlight filtering into the room. There was a bed, and Brian was there, propped up on pillows. His face looked flushed, and he appeared to be kind of tired.

Ana was sitting on a chair right next to Brian's bed, and Jay was kneeling in front of Patrick, who was also sitting on a chair.

"What happened?" he asked.

"The Ellimist brought us to Brian's room. He put us all together so we could decide what to do."

"All of us together?" Patrick repeated. "Does that mean it has to be a unanimous decision?"

Jay nodded. "All of us stay or go, or none of us do."

Patrick sighed. "Ohhh… dammit, Jay, what am I supposed to do?"

Then Ana spoke up. "How come Patrick's the only one that's upset? Shouldn't we all have had some painful experience? That's what the Ellimist said."

Jay shrugged. "One of my favorite aunts died from heart failure. I was upset, but nothing like what happened to Patrick."

"One of my cousins died," Ana replied. "It was sad… but I don't really have a favorite relative, so…" She shook her head.

Then the three of them looked at Brian expectantly. He hesitated for a moment.

"Uhh… well… I… I had a dog once that ran away and got hit by a car…"

"A dog?" Patrick repeated incredulously. "A dog. My father dies, that's my painful experience, and your dog gets hit by a freaking car. ARGH!" he cried out in frustration.

"Sorry," Brian replied weakly.

"No, Brian, it's okay." Patrick sighed. "I just don't understand this Ellimist dude."

"I don't think anyone does," Jay muttered. Suddenly, Brian broke into a fit of raspy coughing. For a minute, Patrick was worried. Brian was doubled over, his face red, right hand in a fist over his mouth. But then the coughing died down, and he grinned meekly.

"Sorry guys. I'm okay," he said in a raspy, exhausted voice.

"I told you guys someone would get sick, running through that freezing cold rain like that," Ana said, sighing.

"It probably didn't help that that Jim guy was whacking him over the head with that huge hunk of wood," Jay remarked.

"Hey, I got whacked as many times as Brian," Patrick noted. "You don't see me sick in bed."

"Yeah," Jay laughed, "but you have a really hard head."

Patrick grinned. He knew Jay was trying his best to make him feel better, so he decided to humor his friend.

"So what are we going to do?" Jay asked.

"Well," Ana said. "What real reason do we have to stay?"

The three boys looked at each other.

"Well," Jay said. "We-- uh…"

"We don't," Brian replied in his currently stuffy voice.

Patrick's heart skipped a beat as he realized Brian was right.

They didn't have a good reason to stay. When the choice was either to help two quarreling creatures to fight each other by doing their dirty work, or to come back home, where his dad would be waiting… where the accident didn't happen… a total no-brainer, right?

Nope, as Patrick was about to find out. Wrong.

The Ellimist suddenly appeared in the room again.

"Have you decided?" he asked. Of course, he knew what had been going on the whole time. Patrick realized it creeped him out that someone could know everything he'd done and said. Every single one of his secrets…

"We-- we're not exactly sure," Jay said, giving Patrick a look. "But we're leaning more toward going back home…"

The Ellimist nodded. "Very well. But there is a catch."

Patrick groaned. "Does there always have to be a catch for everything?"

"I apologize. But before you go back, I must show you what your most probable future will be after taking this path."

"Show us?" Jay replied skeptically. The Ellimist just nodded.

"How do you mean to--" a hot wind blew across Patrick's face. The sun beat down on the top of his head. "Do… that…" he finished lamely.

"Uh…" Jay said slowly. "Would it be safe to say, where the hell are we?"

Three heads nodded slowly in agreement.

Chapter 7

Ana took in her surroundings. It was strange… but familiar…

"Hey," she finally said. "I think this is our neighborhood."

Jay looked around. "Hey, you're right." Then he glanced behind Ana. "But… uh… maybe you shouldn't turn around…"

Naturally, Ana turned around.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" she screamed. "My house!"

Patrick, Ana, Brian, and Jay were standing in front of Ana's house. Or, at least, what was left of it. It was really nothing more than a burnt pile of wood, pieces of the wall still standing in some places. The houses on either side of it were burnt on the sides that faced Ana's former house.

"What happened?" she asked in quivering voice. She was almost in tears.

"I-I don't know," Jay stuttered. He straightened himself up. "Maybe we should look around a little more."

The four of them turned around, Jay determinedly walking down the street, while Patrick, a still-quivering Ana, and Brian walked a little slower, their gazes lingering on the burnt remains.

They walked down abandoned streets. Some houses stood as they always had, looking forlorn, and there were even some homes that Ana didn't recognize. Probably more recent additions. Other former homes were now burnt piles of lumber. Cars were parked in the driveways and along the road. Who knew how long they'd been there? Where was everyone, anyway?

Off in the distance, Ana could hear the roaring of… well, of something off in the distance. Frankly, it scared her. Not only the sound, but the fact that she didn't know what was making the sound.

Suddenly, Ana heard someone groan behind her. Frightened, she whirled around. Then someone fell onto her. She screamed.

"What?!" Jay shouted, turning around. Patrick did the exact same thing. They saw… Brian, leaning on Ana.

"Get him OFF me!" Ana growled.

"Uh… Brian?" Jay said. No answer. "Brian?" Silence.

"BRIAN!" Ana screeched. Even after this shrill sound that could have broken glass (Patrick checked his glasses to make sure they were still in one piece), Brian still didn't answer.

"You think he's unconscious?" Patrick asked, putting his glasses back on.

"Naw," Jay replied sarcastically. "He just doesn't feel like talking right now." He walked over to where Ana was desperately trying to keep upright, since Brian was larger than her. Well, he was big enough to be a football player. He and Patrick lifted Brian away from her. Ana could finally get a good look at his face.

Brian was deathly pale. Ana shuddered. His blonde hair fell over his closed eyes, with lines under them. Ana thought he looked kind of cute, come to think of it… but then again, he was really sick, and she was probably just feeling sorry for him.

"Is- is he ok?" Ana asked softly.

Jay looked at her, another sarcastic remark about to come out of his mouth, but he obviously decided against it, because he said, with honest concern, "I don't know."

"Why did he do that?" Patrick suddenly wondered.

"Huh?" Jay and Ana both asked at the same time.

"Why did the Ellimist do this? If he's so all-powerful, why didn't he make Brian better? Or at least keep him in bed instead of bringing him with us?"

Jay considered that for a moment. "I don't know," he finally said, followed by a huge sigh.

"Oh come on," Patrick said. "We just met the guy. I wouldn't feel too good if he died on our hands after just two days."

Jay glared at Patrick. "Who said he's going to die?" he demanded. Before Patrick could say anything, Jay spoke again. "No one, and I mean, NO ONE, is going to die as long as I'm around. Do you hear me, Patrick O'Connell?"

"Yes mother," Patrick muttered.

"We need some kind of shelter," Ana said. "Maybe some water, if we can find some." She felt Brian's forehead. It wasn't hot anymore. It was cold. Too cold. She shuddered.

"Look," Patrick said, sounding a little guilty. Ana wondered if Jay felt any remorse for making his depressed best friend feel any worse. But when she looked at him, all he had was a determined look on his face as he and Patrick carried Brian. "We're going to reach a gas station right around the corner. Remember, Jay?" Jay just nodded. "So we can stop there. Maybe there will be blankets. And… uh… food or water… or something… we'll just have to see."

Jay nodded again. Silently, grimly, the three of them walked down the street and around the corner, where, sure enough, there was the gas station. Abandoned, just like everything else.

They pushed through the glass doors. The little bell tinkled, a surprisingly normal sound after all that had happened, and Patrick, Ana, and Jay jumped in surprise. The boys almost dropped Brian.

Ana walked around to the back of the counter. She knelt down, and found tattered rags and blankets on some dusty shelves under the cash register. Why they kept those in a gas station, Ana wasn't sure, but at that moment, she didn't care. Her friend needed them.

She paused. Her friend? That caught her by surprise. Ana had not considered anyone her friend in quite a while. Sure, she was the most popular girl in school, but that seemed to be the only reason why people wanted to be her "friends". All the past events had brought a change of heart in her. She actually cared this time. And she wasn't about to let this friend of hers die.

"Ana?" Jay almost shouted. "What are you doing back there? Taking a nap? We need the blankets, Ana. NOW."

Ana stood up quickly. "Oh. Sorry." She found a corner of the room, and was about to set the blankets down…

"Uh… Ana?" Patrick noted. "Not there. That's right next to the freezers."

"Oh." She gathered up the blankets she had dropped, and carried them across the store. "Maybe he'd be better back behind the counter?"

Jay snapped out of a trance and looked at her, disoriented for a second. "Oh… uh… yeah, behind the counter."

Patrick and Jay dragged Brian behind the counter, where Ana had laid out enough blankets to make a fairly soft "bed". They laid him down on it, then used the rest of the rags and blankets to cover him up.

"Do you think that's healthy, all those nasty dirty rags and stuff? Who knows where they have been?" She started wringing her hands with worry.

"It's the best we can do," Jay replied, irritated. "If you can find something better, than I'd be happy to hear about it."

"Touchy, touchy," Ana mumbled. Suddenly, Jay was right in her face.

"Do you have a problem, Ana?"

"Yeah," she snapped angrily. "You. What the hell is with you?"

Jay seemed to puff up like an angry cat. "Gee, Ana, I don't know. First I'm running through a storm when I really want to be inside, then I suddenly fall into some place where someone decides to hang me by the arms and use me as a punching bag, then when someone finally frees me, some Ellimist dude decides to come along and tell me I can go home, but hey, wait a minute, first I have to throw you and your three friends, one of whom is very sick at the moment, into some place, where, I don't know, and now we have to take care of him, how, I don't know, and find out where the hell we are at the same time." Then he breathed out, and seemed to deflate, almost. Like a balloon. He sighed. "I don't know what to do, Ana."

She stared at him, surprised. She'd never seen Jay like this before. It almost scared her, that funny, confident Jay Parker could suddenly become another scared, helpless kid.

"Jay," Patrick finally said gently. "You're not the only one, you know. We're all scared and confused. But we're all in this thing together. And we're all going to figure out what to do. As a team." Then, in an almost comic gesture, he stuck out his hand. "Deal?"

Jay stared at it. Then, suddenly, he grinned, nearly looking like the old Jay again. He took his friend's hand and shook it. "Deal."

Ana breathed a sigh of relief. For a minute, she thought he might've taken the cash register and started bashing her over the head with it…

Then she realized both the boys were looking behind her. So she turned around. And saw…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Chapter 8

"Uh… would it be safe to say, where the hell are we?"

Brian nodded in agreement. This action made him feel woozy, so he put his hand to his head. He didn't even pay much attention when they noticed the house, but he still stared on in amazement.

Jay decided to keep walking, so Brian, along with Ana and Patrick, followed him. Suddenly, he felt like he was going to throw up. He'd been feeling like that for a while, but now a wave of nausea passed over him. But instead of throwing up, he just groaned. The world spun around him, and he became dizzy. Then he saw Ana turn around, and open her mouth as if to scream… and the world went black…

Briaaan… a voice kept calling to him. But he didn't want to answer. He was too exhausted… he just wanted to sleep… Brian… BRIAN!!

His eyes fluttered open. But only for a second.

"…some Ellimist dude decides to come along and tell me I can go home, but hey, wait a minute, first I have to throw you and your three friends…"

He shut his eyes again. Hey, that was Jay. But what was he talking about? Brian giggled giddily to himself. Throwing them? Who was throwing them? No one. They had to be pretty big. What a funny picture. Some big giant blue dude throwing the four of them across the room. Blue? Why was he blue? Probably that genie from that Disney movie. Brian didn't like the TV show or that movie where Robin Williams didn't do the genie's voice. He had to watch all those things anyway, because his 8-year-old sister loved them. He wondered what she was doing right now…

Wake up Brian… someone whispered to him. Why? He was having fun…

We need some kind of medicine or something, I think.

Taking medicine that isn't prescribed to you is bad…

Just let him sleep. All he needs is some rest…

Suddenly, another voice whispered to him. Not one of the familiar voices of his friends. Some gnawing thought in the back of his head told him he was going insane.

You have to watch… listen…

Suddenly, he was seeing a large, black room. Four walls all around him. The ceiling loomed miles overhead. He saw that strange, half-mechanical, half-organic creature sitting on top of the throne…

And there was that girl. The one he got a glimpse of in the dungeon before that huge guy knocked him unconscious again.

"Is he here?" the girl asked.

"Yes. He is watching."

She grinned. "Brian?"

Whoa. She knew his name.

"Are you listening, Brian?"

Yes.

"Good. I have a deal to make with you."

A deal?

"Yeah. You know you're ill, right?"

I have a fever…

"No." She shook her head solemnly. "It's worse than that. You have a terrible illness. It's very likely you'll die… unless, of course…"

Unless…?

"I can cure you. We can. Crayak can."

Crayak? Brian thought about that. Wait a minute… he was the bad guy…

The girl chuckled. "How are you so sure?"

Brian realized he wasn't…

"So do we have a deal?"

What do I have to do?

"Oh yes. See, we need a little help. Your friend. What's his name?"

Patrick?

"No… Jay, that's it. See, Crayak wants him. Dead or alive. Preferably dead."

Brian's heart almost stopped. …Why?

The girl frowned. "He's going to be trouble."

Jay? No, he wouldn't do anything bad…

"How do you know?" the girl asked him. "You've only known him for a day. How are you so sure?"

Well…

"He will be trouble," she repeated. "Killing hundreds of people is trouble enough, don't you think?"

Killing… hundreds… people…?

"We are losing him…"

The girl started to speak quickly. "We need to stop him, Brian. You need to stop him. Join us. We'll cure you. And you'll save so many people… Brian, help us. Please…"

"He's coming to…"

"Help us…" Then, more voices joined her. All young. Kids around his age.

"Help uusss…" they hissed. More forceful.

"Brian?"

Heeeelp usss…

"Brian!"

Heeelp--

Brian shot up into a sitting position. He grabbed his head.

"Agh!"

"Whoa. Are you okay?" It was Patrick. Brian looked up. He was in a bed. Again. Patrick was sitting across the cream-colored room, watching him. Ana was right next to the bed. Jay was leaning against the wall, facing him.

Brian stared at the boy. Would he really kill all those people? He didn't look like a murderer…

What are you talking about, Brian? he scolded himself. It was just a stupid dream. Probably something he made up in his delirium. He was sick, after all.

Then he heard it again.

Remember, Brian…

***

"We lost him."

She grinned. It didn't matter. He was convinced.

Crayak spoke. "Good job. But we have to make certain."

"How?"

"Go there," Crayak said. "I want to be sure."

She nodded, and clutched her ruby…

Chapter 9

Brian woke up and clutched his head, crying out.

"Whoa. Are you okay?" Patrick asked.

Brian looked up. He glanced over at Patrick, then at Ana, then at Jay. Jay noticed that Brian's gaze lingered on him. There was an almost suspicious look in the boy's eyes, which creeped him out.

"So," Jay finally said, trying to make conversation. "Have a nice dream?"

Brian shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, you know. The usual. Weird delirious stuff." He grinned. Jay laughed. "So," Brian continued, "anyway… where are we?"

"Duh, Brian," Ana replied. "What does it look like?"

Brian raised an eyebrow.

"A hospital," Patrick answered, giving Ana a look.

"You're probably wonder how the hell we went from an abandoned neighborhood to a hospital, huh?" Jay asked, grinning. Brian nodded. "Well, after you blacked out, we managed to make our way to a gas station--"

"After you almost crushed me to death," Ana muttered.

"--and that's where we met Bek."

"Bek?"

Jay nodded. "Yeah. See, he's a Hork-Bajir."

Brian coughed out a laugh. "A what?"

"Was that a laugh or a cough?"

"Laugh."

"Oh. Ok. Well, they're like… well… they're aliens…" Jay stuttered. He realized he wasn't sure how to describe Bek.

"Aliens?"

"Yeah. Um… why don't I just start at the beginning?"

"Yeah, okay."

So Jay told Brian what had happened.

After that outburst of his at Ana (which was one thing he did not mention to Brian), someone had walked into the gas station. Patrick, Ana, and he came face to face with a seven-foot-tall bladed monster. Of course, Ana screamed her ass off. Patrick and Jay just kind of sat there, gaping. Then, to everyone's shock, it spoke. English, too.

"What are you doing here?" it had asked in its gruff voice.

"We-- uh… we're trying to--"

"Why are you not with the other humans?" it had demanded.

"The other…" Jay trailed off. He desperately tried to come up with an excuse. "We got… ah… lost."

"Lost?" it repeated. "Now is not a good time to be lost." Then the creature narrowed his dark red eyes suspiciously. "Are you Yeerk?"

"Uh.. Y-Yeerk? No… I don't think so…"

"What's a Yeerk?" Patrick had whispered. Jay shrugged.

"No matter. You will die if you are." Jay shuddered. The creature had said this last thing as casually as someone would say, "Hi, how are you doing?" Then he looked at Brian. "What is wrong with your friend?"

"He's sick," Ana replied truthfully.

"Sick?" The creature regarded the four for a moment. Then it said, "Come with me."

Jay, Patrick, and Ana all looked at each other, then stood up, lifting Brian with a bit of trouble. Then the creature just walked over and lifted Brian with his powerful arms, careful not to have his blades touch the boy.

He led them down the street, occasionally asking or answering questions. What's your name? Mine name is Bek. Your names are weirder than mine. You'll see when we get there. Tree bark. What is carnivorous? Of course not, I wouldn't think it. The conversation went on like this.

Eventually, the buildings started to become scarce, giving way to forest, and the concrete road wore out. Still, they continued walking. This creature-- Bek-- seemed to know his way perfectly. Jay noticed the sun was beginning to set as they came to the bottom of a rocky hill.

"It may be hard to keep your eyes on the opening over there, but just follow me and you can make it in," Bek said.

Patrick knitted his brows. "Yeah," he breathed. "You're right." Ana nodded in agreement.

Jay raised an eyebrow. He didn't have any trouble at all seeing the jagged, narrow opening in the rocks. Why would it be hard to see that big gap?

Bek squeezed his way through the opening, Ana, Patrick, and Jay following. As soon as he got through, Jay took in the scene in front of him.

They were standing on the top of a high slope. It gave an excellent view of the valley that lay before them. Surrounding this valley were mountainous rock walls, reaching up so high they seemed to touch the bright blue sky. On one side of the valley were caves, hole after hole poked into the rock. People, humans and more of these "Hork-Bajir", were milling around the caves like ants. Some were working, building steps or sowing seeds in gardens at the foot of the caves, and some, mostly younger ones, were lounging around, or playing.

The valley itself had a long river winding down the lowest part of the valley and ended in a waterfall that fell into a crystal clear lake. Small forests of tall trees were scattered along the large valley, and expanses of very green grass lay in between them. Various animals were scattered here and there. It was the most beautiful thing Jay had ever seen. And the valley stretched far beyond his line of vision. He wondered how he could have ever missed this place. Well, it could have partly been because he almost never went to the forest anyway.

"Wow," Patrick breathed in astonishment. Jay and Ana nodded in agreement.

"This is the Hork-Bajir Valley. The remaining free Hork-Bajir and humans live here," Bek explained.

"Remaining?" Jay asked.

"Yes. I will explain later. Right now we must get your friend to a hospital, hm?"

Jay regarded Bek with surprise. A hospital? The idea of the white walls and doctors with stethoscopes hanging from their neck and nurses and lobbies with telephones and operating rooms in this place seemed so alien. Then again, this whole day had been full of surprises. Whoa, Jay thought. It's really only been a day? Yeah, he realized. It had been.

"Yeah," Ana answered when Jay just stood there staring at the Hork-Bajir. "First things first."

Bek led them down the rocks that seemed to be makeshift steps on the side of the grassy slope. They walked along a trail that went through a forest and across a grassy plain, ending at the foot of the cave complex. It was higher than Jay had originally thought. The caves were piled on top of each other, so it actually looked a lot like a termite colony. The funny thing was, there were actually welcome mats in front of some of the caves.

A Hork-Bajir ran to greet us. It had two horns on top of its head, whereas Bek had three.

"Hello Bek," the other Hork-Bajir greeted. It waved its large clawed hand. "And who are these people you have brought with you?"

"This is Toby Hamee," Bek explained to us. "She is a seer."

"What's a seer?" Patrick whispered to Jay. He shrugged.

"Toby, these are some humans I found out there." He put his arms forward a little, indicating Brian. "This one is ill."

Toby frowned. Or, at least, it looked like a frown, the way the corners of her beak mouth turned down and her slit eyes narrowed slightly.

"Where did you find them, Bek?"

"In a building."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

Toby finally turned to us. "What are your names?"

Jay noticed that the way Toby and Bek spoke was fairly different. They both knew English very well, but Bek seemed to speak in a halting, accented, and somehow innocent type of way, while Toby spoke perfectly, sounding almost like a human scholar.

"Uh… I'm Jay. This is Patrick, and the girl is Ana, and the guy Bek is carrying is Brian."

Toby nodded. "Come with me."

She led us up some stone steps and down a walkway in front of the caves. We walked all the way to the second-to-last cave and led us inside. Jay noticed that there was some kind of metal thing lining the opening of the cave that was constantly beeping and had little lights on it that were blinking.

"What's that?" Jay wondered.

Toby answered him. "It scans you to see if you have a Yeerk in your head. If you do, you will immediately be either captured or destroyed." She shot a frightening grin at Jay. Oh. What humor.

That's when he noticed the armed guards positioned right by the door and realized Toby wasn't kidding.

She led them past what looked like a desk, and gave a brief nod to the woman sitting there. Then she went through a curtained doorway and entered a fairly dark hallway.

Jay looked to his left. There was a long, dark stone hallway, with a faint light at the very end.

"What's down there?" Jay asked Toby. She looked to the right.

"Quarantine. Don't go down there."

Jay nodded and looked to the left, where there was also a long hallway, but it was better lit, with lights installed in the stone ceiling and curtained doors all along either side. Toby led them to the nearest one. The room was white all over. The stone walls were painted white, the wooden bed on the far side of the vaguely square-shaped room had white sheets, blankets, and pillows, the chairs were white, and the small wooden nightstand was white. The walls were much smoother than the irregular walls outside except for a few rough spots here and there. Patrick helped pull the covers down the bed, Bek set Brian down, and Patrick put the covers over him. Bek and Toby left soon afterward.

"Then we waited for you to wake up," Jay finished.

"Whoa. All that happened while I was asleep?" Brian asked, amazed.

"Yup." Then a girl a little younger than them walked into the room, carrying a tray with a steaming bowl on it. She set it down on Brian's nightstand, shot him a smile, and wordlessly left the room.

"What's that?" Brian asked, eyeing the bowl.

Patrick grinned. "It's called soup, Brian."

"Yeah," Jay agreed. "See, first they boil water…"

"Okay!" Brian interrupted. "I get it."

Ana helped Brian put the tray on his lap, and he ate it in silence. In fact, the whole room was silent. And it made Jay edgy.

"So… uh…" He attempted to start a conversation.

"I still don't understand what's going on," Patrick finally said. "What point is this Ellimist dude trying to make?"

"He's trying to show us our future if we don't say yes to him?" Ana offered.

Patrick shook his head. "Oookay. Aliens invade the world. Since when? I know it can happen, so I can change the future now, right?"

"Maybe," Jay replied. This was pathetic. He didn't think they even knew what they were talking about. He only knew one thing for certain: all of them wanted to go home. Now.

Suddenly Brian spoke up from over his soup. "I think we should try to get out of here."

Everyone, Patrick, Jay, and Ana, all turned to look at him. "Get out of here?" Jay asked, puzzled. "Why?"

He shrugged, still looking at his soup. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to stay in this place any longer. I want to go home."

Jay nodded. Exactly. It was almost like Brian read his mind. Great minds think alike, huh?

"But Brian, you're still sick in bed," Ana pointed out.

Brian looked up from his soup and looked Ana in the eye. "Nah. I feel fine now. Really."

"You feel fine, huh?" Patrick remarked. "Well, then, give me that soup. I'm starving."

Brian set the tray on the nightstand, pulled off the covers, and stepped off of the bed. Then he wobbled, and his legs gave way. Ana jumped up and draped his arm over her shoulder while supporting him with her arm. Brian looked a little puzzled.

"You feel fine, huh?" she reprimanded him.

Brian just pulled away from her and started walking toward the door, a bit shakily, like a toddler dead-set to learn how to walk. Jay noticed he had a very fierce look of determination on his face. Then, suddenly. Brian was out the door.

"Brian!" Patrick shouted. "Wait!"

Soon, even before they knew what they were doing, Jay, Ana, and Patrick were following Brian down that dark hallway Jay had seen earlier.

"Isn't this place quarantined?" Patrick asked Jay. Jay nodded, frowning.

Brian turned a corner, leading to an even darker hallway, with no light at the end. On the walls were spray painted in red, "CONSTRUCTION. DO NOT ENTER."

"Uh… Brian?" Jay called at him. "Brian! We can't go down here!"

Brian didn't answer. Soon the four of them were in pitch-blackness, Brian a few feet ahead of the three, Jay in front of Patrick and Ana.

"Brian!" Jay shouted again. "We can't go--" Jay suddenly ran into Brian. He shoved Brian away. "Dammit, Brian, what the hell are you trying to pull?"

Then he heard the sound of metal scraping against… something… leather? He heard a hard thump, then a groan that sounded like Patrick, and a thud. He whirled around. But it was completely dark. He couldn't see what it was. His stomach twisted into a knot, and the adrenaline began flowing.

"Oh Jaaaay," a voice drifted through the darkness tauntingly. "Guess who?"

"Alyssa!" he shouted, furious. Then he realized something. "Patrick? Patrick! Are you okay?"

Jay heard Alyssa giggle. "Patrick went sleepy-bye, Jay-bird. Hey Ana, where are you?" she called sweetly. "I want to see how loud you can scream when I shove this knife of mine through your back."

Suddenly, two hands clutched Jay's arm tightly. He yelped and jumped about three feet into the air. He was about to pull away, thinking it was Alyssa, when he heard Ana whimpering.

Then a fiery light flooded into the room. Jay cried out and shut his eyes, then opened them and let his eyes adjust to the orange light. A few feet in front of him was Alyssa, grinning like a predator preparing for the kill. Behind her he could see Patrick, lying unconscious on the floor. Blood ran from a wound somewhere on his scalp onto his forehead. Heart thumping, he looked behind him. There was Brian, who didn't take his gaze off of Alyssa for even a split second. Ana was right by Jay, gripping his arm so tightly the circulation was cut off. Then he looked back at Alyssa. The light was emanating from her ruby.

"What do you want?" he growled.

Alyssa smiled at him. Her face looked ghoulish in the orange light. "To kill you, of course."

A cold feeling washed over Jay. "What?" he managed to whisper.

"I said, to kill you." Then she seemed to consider something for a moment. "Of course, I could just take Brian with me and leave you alone for the time being."

"I'm not letting you kill any of my friends."

Alyssa chuckled. "How are you so sure your little friend Patrick isn't dead already? Besides, I'm not going to kill Brian. He's my friend. Aren't you, Brian?" She looked over Jay's shoulder.

Jay and Ana both turned to look at Brian. He was still staring at Ana, his eyes wide.

"Well, Brian? Whose side are you on?" Alyssa pressured. Her voice had suddenly turned serious. She shifted the position of the sharp, bloodstained blade in her hand.

"I… uh… I…" Brian stammered.

"Brian," Ana said, obviously fighting to keep her voice level. "What's that bitch talking about?" Jay looked at him expectantly.

Brian swallowed, then took a deep breath. He suddenly started walking, brushing past Jay and going to Alyssa's side. Traitor.

Alyssa grinned again. "Well. Look at that. Guess you don't know who your true friends are, huh Jay-bird?" She moved back a little, stepping over Patrick's body. She looked down at him. "Oh, yeah, and you should probably clean this up. Remember, you're not supposed to be here." She looked Jay in the eye. The coldness in her piercing gray-green eyes petrified him.

Suddenly, Brian and Alyssa were gone, and the room was filled with darkness once again.

Chapter 10

Patrick woke up, but didn't open his eyes. His head was pounding even worse than when that big guy kept hitting him with the club.

"Hey, are you awake yet?" someone whispered to him. Patrick realized he heard beeping in the background and some voice that sounded like it came from over an intercom. Where was he?

"Yeah, I think so," he mumbled. He could barely get his lips moving. What was wrong with him? He tried to force open his eyes, but they seemed to be glued shut.

"I can't open my eyes," he said, lips still feeling like lead.

"It's okay," the voice, Jay, replied. "You're supposed to be resting anyway."

"Where are we?" Patrick asked.

"A hospital," Jay told him. It sounded like he was grinning.

"Again?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Jay was quiet for a minute. Finally, "You don't remember?"

"Not really, no."

"You were--" Jay paused for a minute, then started talking again more quietly. "You got hit over the head. Remember the hallway?"

Suddenly a flood of memories rushed into Patrick's head. He remembered how Brian just ran out of the room, and he, Jay, and Ana followed him, and how dark it got, and sensing a figure behind him, and turning around to see the glint of metal, then… nothing. Just extreme pain and then blackness.

"Yeah," Patrick whispered. Then he thought of something. "Where's Brian?"

His friend was quiet again. "That's right. You were unconscious, weren't you?" His voice sounded grim. Then Jay continued. "Brian lured us to Alyssa. Then he ditched us and decided to go party with her."

It took a minute for Patrick's still-waking brain to register what his friend meant.

"Traitor," he growled.

"Yeah."

"How did we get here, anyway?" Patrick asked after long stretch of silence.

"Well, after Brian and Alyssa left, I told Ana to get help. Before she could go anywhere, though, we were in that room with Dominick. He was telling us stuff about how you had a cracked skull and we had to go back home. He also said the Ellimist wanted to apologize for sending us there with Brian sick and all, and that he couldn't do anything when Alyssa caught up." As he said this last part, Patrick could hear the anger in Jay's voice. Of course. Jay was big with loyalty. He'd rather kill himself than ever betray his friends, and expected everyone he knew to be the same way. "Then suddenly we were here again. Home. Ana and I were standing on the porch right outside the school, and you were lying on the steps so it looked like you fell and hit your head. It was still raining like hell."

"And Brian?"

Jay snorted. "He wasn't with us. They're still looking. His parents are freaking. He's about to be considered missing. They're getting the police involved."

Patrick had a feeling they wouldn't find him.

Suddenly, a slight breeze touched Patrick's face. He thought it was just an open window, until he realized the pain in his head was completely gone. He could open his eyes without any trouble. He licked his lips with a tongue that was not too far from being sandpaper. And he heard Ana swearing because she didn't want to be there.

Patrick looked around. He was in a regular white hospital room, no stone walls, and a big window overlooking the city below. There was a curtain separating his half of the room from whoever was sharing it with him.

"Hey, Ana, nice to see you," Jay said, grinning. Ana just made a face at him.

"Yeah, whatever. I was just enjoying regular life again when I was suddenly here."

"Ah, pigging out on a bunch of fat-filled, high-calorie junk foods, huh, Ana?"

Ana rolled her eyes. "Just don't talk to me, Jay-bird."

"Hey! Who gave you permission to use that name?"

Patrick chuckled and was about to make some wonderful sarcastic and witty remark when the Ellimist appeared.

"Whoopee," Jay muttered.

"I've come to receive your answer," he replied, seemingly ignoring Jay yet again.

Patrick thought hard. Why not? He had nothing to lose…

Jay sighed. "I know that I can't let what happened go. And I don't like how Alyssa was saying she wanted to kill me. I figure if she's really wanting to go through with that, I might as well try to get rid of her first. Of course, it has to be a unanimous decision, so I don't know about Patrick…"

"Sure," Patrick said confidently. Jay gave him a surprised look. "What?"

"But, you—what about—" Jay stopped. Patrick saw the Ellimist pointing to his head subtly, like he was trying not to let Patrick see. Jay got a comprehending look on his face.

"What?" Patrick demanded. "What about me?"

"Well," Jay explained. "I thought you might… uhh… well, not want to be part of this. You know, wanting a normal life and all that…"

"Hey," Patrick said, grinning. "What's wrong with a little variety?"

His best friend gave him a funny look, but shrugged and nodded his head. Then he looked at Ana.

"Hey, I'm not going to be the little wuss that ruins everyone else's fun," Ana said defensively.

"Huh. Turning over a new leaf, Ana?" Jay replied grinning. He was in a pretty good mood.

Ana glared at him. "New leaf my—"

"So I guess you know what our answer is," Patrick interrupted. The Ellimist nodded.

"Very well."

Okay. Now then… Patrick thought. The room was quiet. No one knew what to do next.

"Okay," Jay said slowly.

"When Patrick gets out of the hospital, I will give you your first assignment…"

***

Brian and Alyssa arrived in a black room. There seemed to be no door or windows. He swallowed, nervous. Alyssa just grinned at him.

"Don't worry, Brian. You just have to meet Crayak."

"O-okay." This room was starting to creep him out.

Suddenly, a robed figure appeared. The robe was black, just like everything else in the room, and the lighting was so dim the person looked like a moving shadow. It walked right up to Brian. No, it didn't walk. It was almost like the robe was floating with no person inside. The face was concealed by a large hood. The only thing Brian could see were two glowing red eyes, and only if he looked very hard. No hands were visible from the sleeves.

"Brian, meet Crayak."

"Uh…" Brian was trembling. Evil seemed to just emanate from the creature. It was frightening. Brian bit his lip. Bad idea. He was shaking so bad he bit his lip too hard and cut it. He could taste the blood in his mouth. But he wasn't thinking about that. He was wondering if this was really such a good idea…

He felt Alyssa put an arm on his shoulders. She chuckled. "I told you, don't worry. You're with us. Everything's going to be okay now."

Another voice spoke, whispery, but deep. It was almost like he could feel the person talking. Like if you were sitting on a speaker in a room full of speakers and a deep voice was talking. Strangely, it almost sounded amused. "Yes. Everything will be okay. You've made the right decision, Brian." A pale hand appeared from the sleeve, holding a dark blue sapphire hanging from a thing gold chain. Almost like Alyssa's.

"This is it. Your final decision," Crayak continued. Brian was so interested in how the color of the jewel shifted whenever it moved that he wasn't trembling anymore. "This jewel will give you power. Power that the Ellimist is afraid to give you. He thinks you cannot handle it. But I know you can. I give one to all of my helpers. If you take it, it is yours forever. You must never give it back."

Brian stomach twisted. This is it, Crayak had said. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then, wordlessly, he reached out a hand and took the jewel. He slipped the chain over his neck.

He saw Alyssa grin happily. The air around Crayak seemed to be amused. It was strange, but true. Brian realized that as soon as he slipped the golden chain onto his neck, a feeling rushed into his body. He wasn't sure what it was, but he suddenly felt calm. Coldly relaxed. And he finally smiled, for the first time in a while.

"What do you want me to do, Crayak?" he asked. He wasn't scared anymore. It was almost like this was something he'd wanted for so long but never knew it. And he liked it.

Crayak chuckled, the sound filling the room.

"Don't rush things, Brian. You must train, first. Alyssa is the best I have. She will be your mentor. But you will be ready." Again he chuckled. "Soon, you will be ready."

The robed figure disappeared, and Alyssa and Brian were alone in the dark room. Alyssa took her arm off his shoulders, and stepped back, eyeing him, but smiling.

"And the training begins…"