Hey, I'm back! I haven't finished my Circe's Revenge number two yet(not even close) cuz I got a little writers block. But this story was in my head so I thought why the heck not. I think that a lot. Also, I've decided I'll post my Circe's Revenge story chapter by chapter instead of the whole thing.
Also I made Leo a girl cuz I was booooreeeed.
—Alex
Chapter I
WILL
Something jostled me, and my eyes shot open. I was in some kind of weird vehicle, like a carriage, but I couldn't see any horses. It was really wide and long, too. The horseless carriage was filled with kids wearing strange colorful clothes. They all looked the same age, maybe sixteen or seventeen? A shiver went down my spine. I don't know how old I am, I thought.
The carriage jostled again, and I looked out the window. We were driving through a desert. I don't live in the desert, I thought instinctively. A short memory hit me suddenly. I was riding through the forest on a horse, and there was an old log cabin in the clearing up ahead. Then…nothing. I took a sharp breath.
I didn't even realize someone was next to me until they squeezed my arm.
"You alright, Will?" The person said. It was a girl, with curly jet black hair and skin the color of coffee with a lot of milk. She had light brown eyes, elvish features, and a mischievous smile—basically the kind of face that would make you want to keep your valuables close. Her other hand, the one that wasn't on my arm, was constantly moving—patting her leg rhythmically, fiddling with the buttons on her cloak. She was wearing a green rough-clothed cloak—with no cowl—with pockets and buttons, an orange-and-red mottled shirt underneath that, pants that appeared to be made out of a stiff blue fabric, and laced leather boots. I realized I'd been staring.
"What?" She asked.
"Uh—I'm sorry, I don't…" Her mischievous grin faded. A voice carried from the front of the strange vehicle.
"Alright cupcakes, listen up!" A man called. There was some kind of weird upside down cloth bowl on his head, pulled low over his hair, so you could only see his beady eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like someone had fed him something moldy. His buff arms and chest bulged against his brightly colored shirt. His baggy pants and shoes were stark white. A whistle hung from his neck, and some weird tube-y thing that widened immensely at the bottom hung on his belt. He looked pretty intimidating, even though he was only about a meter and a half tall.
When he stepped in the aisle, one kid yelled, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!" Coach? I thought. What in the world…?
"I heard that!" He snapped. He scanned the rows, looking for the offender, until he laid his eyes on me, and his scowl deepened.
Another shiver passed down my back. I was sure the "coach" knew I didn't belong here. I was sure he was going to call me out—but I would've had no clue as to what to say.
But instead of calling me out, he turned away and cleared his throat. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes cause any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."
He picked up his bat and made a swishing movement.
"Does he always talk to us like that?" I said, grinning. I didn't know why, but something about the threat seemed familiar and light.
"Yeah," the girl behind us piped up. I turned around. She wore pants of the same material of the girl next to me, with a weird materialed sheepskin cloak, with no cowl, like the girl next to me, and had boots, not as tall as the other girl's, though, made of a thick, tough-looking material. She had choppy coffee-brown hair, with thin braids down the sides. She, apparently, had multicolored eyes, sometimes brown, sometimes blue, sometimes green. "It's the Wilderness School," she said, like it was obvious. "'Where kids are animals'." She said it like it was an old joke.
"Um, I don't—" I started, but the girl behind me cut in before I could form a sentence.
"Are you feeling okay, Will?" She asked, her face riddled with concern.
"I—" I stopped. "I'm not supposed to be here."
"Yeah, right, Will. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Piper didn't steal that BMW." The girl next to me laughed. BMW? I thought. What on earth is that?
The other girl blushed. "I didn't steal that car, Leo!"
"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story again? You 'talked' the dealer into giving it to you?" The girl, Leo, said, raising her eyebrows at me like, Can you believe her?
"Anyway," Leo carried on, "I hope you have your worksheet, 'cause I lost mine days ago. Why are you looking at me like that? Did someone draw on my face again?"
"I don't know you," I said simply.
Leo gave me a large grin. She reminded me vaguely of someone…"Yeah, right. I'm not your best friend. I'm her evil clone!"
Clone? I thought. What's with all of these words?
"Leona Valdez!" Coach Hedge called. "Is there a problem back there?"
Leo winked at me. Oh, boy. "Watch this," She turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?" I mentally added 'megaphone' to my list of strange words.
Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the tubular thing—the megaphone, apparently—from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out raspy and with really heavy breathing. For some reason, the other kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time it blared: "The cow says moo!"
The kids howled, and Coach Hedge slammed the megaphone. "Valdez!"
Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"
Leo slipped a tool from her sleeve. "I'm a special gal."
"Guys, seriously," I pleaded, "what am I doing here? Where are we going?"
Piper knit her eyebrows together. "Will, are you joking?"
"No! I have no idea—"
"Aw, yeah, he's joking," Leo said, "he's trying to get me back for the shaving cream and Jell-O thing, aren't you?"
I stared at him blankly. Shaving cream and Jell-O?
"No, I think he's serious." Piper tried to put a hand on my shoulder, but I pulled away.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't—I can't—"
"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled. "The back row just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"
"That's a shocker," Leo muttered.
But Piper kept her eyes on me. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"
I shrugged helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who I am."
«~~~~~»
The carriage dropped us off at a red stucco building, in the middle of nowhere. A cold breeze blew across the desert, but it didn't bother me. I hadn't paid much attention to what I was wearing before, but then I got a good look. I was wearing a long-sleeved green shirt, a leather vest, breeches, knee-high soft leather boots, and the strangest garment: a mottled green-and-grey cloak with a heavy cowl. I guess it was a little strange, considering what the others were wearing, but it seemed so familiar, just right.
"So, crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said, in a helpful tone that made me doubt its veritability. "We go to the 'Wilderness School'"—She made air quotes with her fingers. "Which means we're 'bad kids'. That means, your family, the court, or whatever thought you were too much trouble and sent you to this lovely prison—sorry, 'boarding school'—in Armpit, Nevada, where they teach you valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through cacti, or weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat, we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"
"No." I glanced curiously at the other kids: twenty boys, maybe half that many girls. None of them looked like hardened criminals, yet it's always hard to judge a person by their looks. What did I do to belong with these people? I thought.
Leo rolled her eyes. "You're really gonna play this out, huh? The three of us started the semester together. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your desert and do my chores—"
"Leo!" Piper snapped.
"Fine. Ignore that last part. But we are friends."
"He's got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."
Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Will by whacking him upside the head."
The coach was at the front of the group, yelling and blowing his whistle to keep kids in line; but every so often he'd look back at me and scowl.
"Leo, Will needs help," Piper insisted. "He's got a concussion, or—"
"Yo, Piper," One of the guys dropped back to join us as our group entered the building. The new guy wedged himself between me and Piper and knocked Leo down. "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. I'm your partner, remember?"
The new guy and dark hair, tan skin, and teeth so white they should've come with a warning label: DO NOT STARE DIRECTLY AT TEETH. PERMANENT BLINDNESS MAY OCCUR. He wore a numbered shirt, pants like Piper and Leo's, and boots, and he smiled like he was a gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. I hated him immediately.
"Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."
"Ah, that's no way to be. Today's your lucky day!" Dylan hooked his arm through hers and dragged her towards the entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, HELP!
I gave Leo hand, and she got up and brushed herself up. "I hate that guy." She offered me her arm, like we'd start skipping inside together. "'I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!'"
"Leo," I said, "you're weird."
"Yeah, you tell me that a lot." Leo grinned. "But if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all of my old jokes. Come on!"
I figured if Leo was my best friend, then my life must be pretty messed up; but I followed her into the building anyway.
«~~~~~»
We walked through the building, stopping here and there for Coach Hedge to lecture us with his "megaphone", which alternatingly made him have really heavy breathing or blare out random comments like "the pig says oink".
Leo kept pulling various things out of her cloak, like she had to keep her hands busy at all times.
I was too distracted to pay much attention to the writing on the wall, but it was something about a canyon and some tribe, which owned the building.
Some girls kept looking at Piper and Dylan and snickering. I figured they were bullies. They wore matching clothes and their faces were slathered in colors.
One of them said, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"
The other girls laughed. Even Piper's so-called partner Dylan suppressed a smile. Piper's sleeves hid her hands, but I had a feeling she was clenching her fists.
"My dad's Cherokee," she said. "not Hualapai. 'Course, you'd need some brain cells to tell the difference, Isabel."
Isabel widened her eyes, so she looked like an owl that flew head first into a wet painting. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was your mom in this tribe? Oh, that's right. You never knew your mom."
Piper charged her, but before a fight could break out, Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll break out my baseball bat!"
The group shuffled on, but the girls kept calling out little comments to Piper.
"Good to be back on the rez?" One asked in a sweet voice.
"Dad's probably too drunk to work," another said with fake sympathy, "that's why she turned klepto." I didn't know what "klepto" meant, but if it landed her in this school, it couldn't be good.
Piper just ignored them, but I was ready to punch them myself. I may not have remembered her, or even who I was, but I knew I hated mean kids.
Leo caught my arm. "Be cool. Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if they found out about her dad, they'd all be bowing down to her screaming, 'We're not worthy!'"
"Why? Who's her dad? The king?" I'd just said that instinctively, but as soon as I said it, it felt right.
"The king? Will, are you sure you're not kidding?" Leo laughed in disbelief. "You really don't remember that your best friend's dad—"
"Look, I wish I did, but I don't remember you guys, much less your dads."
Leo's face twitched when I mentioned her dad, but she quickly composed herself and whistled. "Whatever. We have to talk when we get back on the bus."
We reached the far end of the hall, where some big glass doors led out to a large balcony.
"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other off the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."
What's a jet? I wondered. Well, if they're jumbo, and there's seventy of them…those things must be pretty heavy.
The coach opened the doors, and we stepped outside. The Grand Canyon lay ahead of us, live and in person. Extending over the edge was a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.
"Man," Leo said. "That's pretty wicked."
I had to agree. Despite my lack of memories, I couldn't help being awestruck.
We were up so high that birds circled below our feet. Over a hundred meters down, a river snaked across the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had gathered while we were inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. As far as I could see, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like…A piercing pain erupted between my eyes. Argh! I thought. Something was there, a memory. What was it?! I'd got the feeling I was close to something, something important. I also had the familiar feeling of danger approaching.
"You alright?" Leo asked. "You're not gonna throw up over the side, are you?"
I grabbed the railing. I was shivering and sweaty, but it had nothing to do with heights. I blinked, and the pain subsided.
"I'm fine," I managed. "Just a headache."
Thunder rumbled overhead. A cold wind almost knocked us sideways.
"This can't be safe," Leo squinted at the storm. "Storm's right over us, but it's clear all around. Weird, huh?"
I looked up and saw Leo was right. A dark circle of clouds had parked themselves above the skywalk, but the rest of the sky in every direction was perfectly clear. I got a bad feeling about that.
"All right, cupcakes!" Coach Hedge called. He frowned at the storm like it bothered him, too. "We may have to cut this short, so get to work! Remember, complete sentences!"
The storm rumbled, and my head started throbbing again. Not knowing why I was doing it, I reached into my cloak to my side, and pulled out a knife. It had a thick, heavy leather grip, and was thick on one side, and extremely sharp on the other. The metal had a bluish tint, like sunlight on a river. I got the feeling that it was immensely strong.
"Dang, what's that metal?" Leo asked. "You've been holding out on me!"
I sheathed the knife, wondering how I came to have it, and why I felt I was going to need it soon.
"It's just a knife, Leo." I muttered.
Leo shrugged. Maybe her mind had to keep moving as much as her hands. "Come on," she said. "Dare you to spit over the edge."
«~~~~~»
We didn't try very hard on the worksheet. For one thing, I was too distracted by the storm and my jumbled up—well, the lack thereof—memories. For another thing, I didn't know how to "name three sedimentary strata you observe" or "describe two examples of erosion".
Leo was no help. She was too busy building a shape out of fuzzy, bendable sticks.
"Check it out," she launched the shape. I figured it would just plummet, but it actually flew. Like a bird. It made it halfway across the canyon before it started plummeting.
"If your mouth's open any longer, your gonna catch a fly," Leo teased. I realized my mouth was hanging open.
"How did you do that?" I asked incredulously.
Leo shrugged. "Would've been cooler if I had some rubber bands."
"Seriously," I said. "Are we friends?"
"Last I checked."
"You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?"
"It was…" Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD, man. You can't expect me to remember details."
"ADHD?" I raised an eyebrow at him. Another pain exploded between my eyes, but I ignored it. "What is that?"
It was Leo's turn to raise an eyebrow at me. "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder," she said, like I should know what that was. "I'm hyper, can't sit still, forget things, can't focus, etc."
"Ah." I picked up our previous conversation. "But I don't remember you at all. I don't remember anyone here. What if—"
"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"
A little voice in my head said, That's exactly what I think.
But it sounded crazy. Everyone here took me for granted. Everyone acted like I was a part of the class—except for Coach Hedge.
"Take the worksheet." I handed Leo the paper. "I'll be right back."
Before Leo could protest, I headed across the balcony.
Our group had the place to ourselves. The Wilderness School kids were spread out in pairs across the balcony. Most were joking around or talking. Some of the guys were dropping little copper coins over the edge. About fifteen meters away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet, but her stupid partner Dylan was hitting on her, putting his hand on her shoulder and flashing her that bright white smile. She kept pushing him away, but when she saw me, she gave me a look like, Throttle this guy for me.
I motioned for her to hold on. I walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his bat and studying the storm clouds.
"Did you do this?" Coach asked me.
I took a step back. "Do what?" It sounded like the coach was accusing me of creating the thunderstorm.
Coach Hedge glared at me, his beady little eyes glinting from under the brim of his cloth bowl-thing. "Don't play games with me, kid. What are you doing here, and why are you messing up my job?"
"You mean…you don't know me?" I said. "I'm not one of your students?"
Hedge snorted. "Never seen you before today." I was so relieved. At least I'm not going insane, I thought. I am in the wrong place! "Look, sir, I don't know how I got here. I just woke up on that thing." I waved in the general direction of the horseless carriage.
"You mean the school bus, kid?" The coach raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here."
"Got that right," Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret. "You've got a powerful way with the Mist, kid, if you can make all these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling monster for days now. I know we have an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood. So—who are you, and where'd you come from?"
Most of what the coach said didn't make sense, but I decided to answer honestly. "I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've got to help me."
He studied my face like he was trying to read my thoughts.
"Great," Coach muttered. "You're being truthful."
"Of course I am! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"
Hedge narrowed his eyes. I wondered if the guy was just nuts.
"Look, kid," Hedge said. "I don't know who you are. I only know what you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect three of you instead of two. Are you the special package? Is that it?"
"What are you talking about?"
Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the balcony.
"This morning, I got a message from camp." Hedge said. "They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The two I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why the camp is so frantic to pick them up. But then you pop out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"
The pain between my eyes got stronger than ever. Camp. Monsters. I still didn't know what Hedge was talking about, but the words were giving me a massive brain freeze—like my mind was trying to access information that should've been there, but wasn't.
I stumbled, and Coach caught me. For his stature, he had a grip like iron. "Woah there, cupcake. You say you got no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you, too, until the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out." He stopped. "By the way, kid, what's your name?"
"Will," I said hesitantly. Something told me to be careful of who I gave my name to.
"Just Will? No last name?"
I shook my head. "But what director?" I asked. "What camp?"
"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before—"
Lightning cracked overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the canyon, and the entire balcony shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.
"I just had to say something," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his microphone: "Everybody inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"
"I thought you said this thing was stable!" I shouted over the wind.
"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed. "Which these aren't. Come on!"
3795 words! Good job, Rick! It took me forever to write this. Hmph. I think I've got a better technique. Is it different enough from the real tLH? I tried to put my own spin on it, I really did. See ya, readers!
—Alex
