Chapter 1: The Plan And Action
"So, which book should we read first?" pondered a teen boy.
"Isn't it obvious?" said his cousin, pointing at the image of a blue book with scattered skulls and bones with a big THE 39 CLUES coat-of-arms that was floating in mid-air by a projection from the table. "We let them read the first book. A big dduuuuuhhh!"
The boy scowled to his left, where his female obnoxious cousin was seated, as he pushed a small black button that closed the projection. The scowls, growls, and grumbles are normal reaction from him, so the girl was not affected.
But, the girl on his right was another story. She crossed her arms and gave the two a disapproving look. "Didn't you two promise me when we started this not to fight anymore? Not even a simple insult?" Saying this, the girl gave a cold stare at the other. The boy's close relative cringed by the look but slowly masked her fear by a sly smirk.
"You can't help it, you know," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "This dweeb and I are natural born competitors. Cahills, in fact,"
"I'm a Cahill," the disapproving girl copied her tone, "and I don't have a competitive nature."
The other girl snorted and said, "You could have fooled me." Then, she harshly patted the back of her cousin. "Or Mike here, in reality."
"Could we change back to the matters at hand, perhaps?" the boy, Mike, grunted from the hit.
"Sure," the girl on right said in enthusiastically.
"Whatever," the girl on left said blankly.
Mike, the leader of the week leaned over the glass like table top and pressed the small black button in front of him again. Pictures of several colorful books appeared out of nowhere, floating at mid-air. Technology is like that, in their time.
They were in hiding, somewhere underground (below the ocean floor, to narrow it down). The place they were currently in belongs to family friends, who were on a mission like the cousin's parents. So the adolescence boy and the two pre-teen girls used this as their home base.
"Let me explain once more, Jade," he hissed, summoning the image of the blue book with his out stretched hand. When the image landed on his palm, it materialized into the real book. He held it out so his cousin could see. "This book or the rest of the series does not explain about the Vespers or the ring."
"Every story should start from the beginning," Jade complained.
"It would take too long," Mike retorted. "They only have 5 days to stay in this realm. Cross that limit and the time in their realm will continue. Someone will bound to notice their disappearance. It will change the fabric of their reality as they know it. Did you even check the risks of what we're planning of this very moment?"
"No!" she cried, standing up to tower over her cousin. "Do you think I would think of the risks? I'm still worried about Dad, you know. And you, a good-for-nothing prat, act like you have no parents at all. Aren't you worried about . . . if . . ." She sat back down, her grief stricken face was streaming with tears.
Mike's grip on the book loosened and his mind focused more on Jade. She's been like that since she and Mike's parents are lost in the battle. There's nothing they can do but to wait for a report if they're alive or dead.
A hand touched his shoulder gently. He turned around to see his friend, Gabby, clutching her purple oval amulet with unbearable pain in her eyes. He almost forgot that her mother was murdered 3 months ago by the Vespers.
"It can't be helped," she said softly, as if she read his mind.
"I know," Mike and Jade said in a low chorus. They looked at each other in surprise, though they quickly turned away. The two relatives were used to saying things simultaneously but it was still strange. They're just first cousins, not siblings. But, recent events in their lives tell them they might as well be brother and sister.
But I'll never admit it, he thought. He cleared his throat and straightened his back, regaining his composure.
"Changing the future is one of the major risks in this mission," he pointed out, getting the attention of his comrades. "Revealing other universes and the future itself is another. That's why I propose we let them read—" His hand reached out towards the book in the middle of the floating line of books. It was covered in red with a V smoke formation behind the 39 CLUES coat of arms. "The Vepers Rising. Does anyone have objections?"
Nobody said anything, so he took it that the girls agreed on what he said. For once.
"Now all of this is straightened out," he clapped his hands, "it time to take action." He stood up, followed by the girls. Sometimes, he feels like a babysitter rather than a leader.
"Voice command," Jade shouted across the room, looking like her normal self. Or normal as she'll ever be. "MT76529. Shut all power until further instructions."
On cue, the lights and the projection turned off, leaving a faint hum in the background.
"Are you ready for the extraction, Gabby?" asked Mike, handing the book to her silhouette in the pitch black. "Have you prepared what you'll read out?"
"I'm ready," she said in a ghostly whisper (bad pun), taking hold of the chosen book and the boy's wrist. Mike stiffened by the touch of her cold fingers, but realized she was only doing it for security purposes. She's afraid of the dark, after all.
Though it's strange from someone from her parentage, he thought wistfully.
Mike felt another hand gripping on his other wrist. Jade grunted at his side.
"Don't even think that I'm holding you because I'm scared," the girl warned in a cool, yet deadly tone.
"It never crossed my mind," he said with a non-visible, amused smile.
Gabby tugged his sleeved and asked, "Are we going to use your way or my way to get to your house?"
He thought for a moment and answered with slightly weary tone, "Your way."
The girls' grips tightened. He closed his eyes and braced for what came next. A powerful force closed in on the three and swallowed them with no other uttered sound.
A second ago, the rectangular room was deserted with its colorful furniture and white walls. The next second happened and the room was filled with very confused people in their respected seats.
"Where are we? Dan, are you alright?"
"I'm not alright. I didn't get to save my Ninja Gaiden!"
"What the bloody—"
"My purse! Where's my purse?"
"Dan-o, what's going on?"
"Ham, we were walking Arnold—"
"—now we're here!"
"I can't see. Ned, where are you?"
"I'm right beside you! You don't have to yell!"
"I thought you two were in the clinic."
"Yo, who owns this place?"
With that question, the only red-head in the group stood up from her seat to observe her surroundings, despite the chaos her relatives are making.
She and her brother, Dan, were sitting on a black-white, curved, leather couch a second ago. From her right, there were four other identical couches but with different colors: Green, Blue, Yellow, and Red; and three tall metal stools on the left. It made a circular formation. She stared at the ceiling, walls, and floor. They're the ones giving off light. There were also no windows nor doors. There was no chance of escape.
They were being held captive.
Maybe there's a switch, she thought, that could open the doorway.
And as if they read her mind, all of them scrambled to find an egress. The Cahill siblings followed suit to the Holt children, who were punching the walls for freedom.
"Team work. Team work! TEAM WORK!" they chanted, powerful fists hurtling towards the solid barrier in a motion of a torpedo. The youngest of the three, Reagan, withdrew her hand in pain, followed by her twin Madison and then the oldest one, Hamilton.
Dan gave a sympathetic pat to Hamilton. "You tried, man, but that thing is stronger than steel."
"We . . . didn't even . . . dent . . . wall," Hamilton panted, wiping the sweat that was dripping from his shark fin-like blonde hair. Even one of his sisters collapsed and the other tried to help her up.
"The other's are working on it, too," the red-headed on reassured, glancing around to her distant relative's activities.
The Lucians, Ian and Natalie Kabra, were checking the walls and floor for any cracks or levers. And obviously, Ian was checking the floor and Natalie was checking the walls. She'll never risk her nails for an easy escape, Natalie once told her in a family reunion.
The Ekaterinas were just the Starling triplets: Ned, Ted, and Sinead. They're on the couch area, searching for a switch or button or some kind of mechanism that opens a way out. But from the identical weary looks on their face, they had no luck.
Lastly, the famous gangsta Janus named Jonah Wizard. He was strangely singing for help.
"Jonah, will you shut up! Some people are trying to escape, unlike you," Natalie snapped, tapping her foot with her fists on her hips.
"I'm hoping that someone outside can hear me. You're just rubbing your considerable little hands on the wall," Jonah countered, making jazz hand movements.
Before Natalie responded, Sinead spoke up. "It's no use. From my observation,"—she pointed at Hamilton's sore red knuckles—"the walls are made from an unknown material that's super sturdy. It's probably sound proof, too. Never seen anything like it . . ."
"It must open from the outside. Am I correct, Amy?" a male British voice purred in her ear. She flinched and took a step back, facing none other than Ian Kabra. She nodded hastily and went to her brother's side.
"You okay?" asked Dan, glaring at Ian. "Did Cobra bite?"
All Amy did was look down on her feet and shake her head in disagreement. "He just said this place must open from the outside," she muttered, looking up to her dweeb of a brother's face. Curiosity filled his expression.
"Who brought us here, then?" he asked to himself in a fake sophisticated tone, while rubbing his chin like he had a goatee. "And how did he put us all in here?"
She shrugged at Dan's questions and took a risky glance at Ian, who was discussing with Ned about the interior of the circle. Ned flinched and clutched his head, moaning about too many principles of geology. She turned back to her feet, with closed eyes, and sighed.
I thought I got over him, she thought. It's already been a year since the Hunt. Can't I just have a normal life?
She opened her eyes and noticed something totally preposterous. Under her feet, there was no shade casting from her body.
"Dan, look what happened to—"
"My shadow!" he cut Amy off with yelp of surprise. "It's gone."
Like there was infestation of rats scattering in their way, the rest of them all looked down and jump in astonishment. There was faint chill in the air.
Probably just an open window, she thought.
Then she remembered there were none.
Her head rotated to where she felt cool blowing in her cheek. The shadows of all the solid objects inside the room were all gathered in one corner, swirling like a black hole. Two figures materialized from the vortex and tumble straight into the floor, with heads facedown.
"Well, that was . . ." the figure with a pinstriped suit grunted, "lovely." He got up and stared right into Amy's eyes with his own ambers.
"Ian?" she muttered. He said nothing. He just looked intently with no emotion in his face.
Then, he broke the staring contest by helping up his companion. A girl with raven hair, grey zip-up hoodie and denim pants. And it seemed that everyone just started to notice their presence.
"Whoa," Dan yelled, pointing at the Ian that was with them and the Ian that just appeared from the shadows, "Ian has a clone!" Dan's brows furrowed, looking between the two. "Or maybe it's vice versa."
They all were in shock when they saw the new comers, excluding the Kabras and the Starlings.
"Wrong, Daniel," said the Ian look alike with the exact same voice as his counterpart, looking over the skeptical Ian. It was very identical. "I'm not Ian. My name is Mike and, frankly, I could understand why you would mistake me for the Kabra heir. I'm bloody gorgeous."
He received a punch on the shoulder from his female friend. The punch didn't seem to have much force, but the boy rubbed his sore shoulder while flashing a sheepish grin. Amy clenched her fists.
"How come you look and sound like him, yo?" Jonah loud voice echoed around the room.
Mike just shrugged. "It's genetics, of course. But I'm not related to him," he said, directly looking at Ian's eyes. The Kabra boy glared back at him.
"If you want proof, ask the Ekaterinas over there," he shouted, gesturing to the Starlings, who were stunned to be called. "They can let me have a blood test with Sinead's emergency first-aid kit, after my friend leaves." He looked over at the girl, which made her blush.
"Wait, how'd you know about—" Mike silenced her with a swift hand motion. He stared coldly at all of them.
"I know all about you. Every single Cahill in this room."
The said Cahills tensed. Amy and Dan were looking at each other and knew they're thinking the same thing.
Vesper.
But they need proof.
"Come on, Gabby," he whispered to the girl. "It's time for you to get back. Bring my cousin here in an hour from now."
She nodded and ran towards the vortex.
"And be careful," he yelled as she was enveloped by the darkness. After a minute or two, the shadows went back to their owners. Amy lifted one foot warily, thinking the ground might swallow her as well.
"Now, everyone to your seats and I'll explain," Mike instructed, taking a seat in one of the stools.
Still looking at the corner where he first appeared, they reluctantly followed his orders. He smiled at them with a happy glint his eyes as they did what he said. Then, shook his head and brought out a red book.
"Before the Starlings start taking my blood and I explain what's going on, this book is why you're all here," he said, lifting it high so everyone could see it. "It's called the Vespers Rising."
Everyone froze, white-chalked, especially the Cahill siblings. Amy shuddered at the thought of Switzerland.
So, he's not a Vesper, she concluded her head, putting the pieces together.
"You are here to learn more about them," he continued. He slouched and examined the room. "Now, I will answer some questions. But they're all limited, mind you. If I tell you lot everything, what's the point of bring you all here?"
Natalie raised her hand. He pointed and said, "Yes, what is it?"
"Are you a Cahill?" Natalie asked, folding her arms over her blouse.
For a moment, he was caught off guard by that question. Then, he narrowed his eyes and nodded at the stylish girl.
"What branch are you, then?"
It was Ian who asked this. Mike tapped the heel of his loafers on the thick supporting bar of the stool with a small grin plastered in his face.
"My parents are from two different branches," was his only reply.
Amy could see that Ian was satisfied with the answer. She wondered how that answer could narrow it down his Cahill branch.
"If you don't mind, I'll start the first reading. Maybe the Ekats would test me later, because you'll find this starting very interesting," he said, opening the first page.
Mike cleared his throat and said, "GIDEON CAHILL; 1507"
Now, everyone was practically on the edge of their seats.
A/N: Okay. First off, this is my first "reading the books" so please give me some advice about the dialogue so it won't go OOC.
Second, I didn't copy this from the current fanfic with the same idea of reading the Vespers Rising. I've had this idea for a long time from constantly reading fics about reading the books (most of them are reading the Maze of Bones and The Sword Thief). Seriously, they need a good reason to read a book. It just can't be because Amy and Ian. It has to the Cahill family, the clues, and most importantly, the Vespers. (But, of course, there's still some fluff so it won't be so bad.)
Third, if you know me, you'd know these OCs. That's all I'm going to say. For now.
Please enjoy,
~Violet911
I do not own anything you've seen or heard in real life.