Hello, all. Legend is back with a new story! I really hope you've heeded my request and checked my profile regularly for updates. And if you have, you've probably seen this coming! Yay! You get an imaginary cookie!
Anyway, I will be updating this story regularly, every other Friday. ( I'm sorry that I didn't actually get the first chapter out on Friday. You can read my profile for my explanation.) I'm saying every other Friday instead of every Friday because I think that I will soon be receiving a busy schedule, and I don't want to disappoint anyone with empty promises. And I'm pretty sure that I can handle one chapter in two weeks.
So here I go- the first 39 Clues brainwash fanfic! (I think…)
Chapter One
A car made its way up a hill. At the base, it rolled over a large rock, rocking the entire car and waking its sleeping passengers.
Amy Cahill jerked her eyes open and quickly looked around before she remembered and slumped back into her seat. She looked over on her right to her little brother, Dan, who was also awake and was now staring out the window at the passing hills and trees.
"Dan?" she called softly.
Dan turned around to reveal a longing look on his face. "Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"…as okay as I'll ever be."
"Now, now, don't be feeling too sad," interrupted their mother, Hope. "Soon we'll all be settled in and you'll have new friends and a new life!"
"If I'm lucky," mumbled Amy. Amy was a shy girl. So shy, in fact, that she tended to stutter when she talked to other people. She was not the type to make fast friends.
Hope's expression softened. "I know this is hard on you two, starting over. But trust me, these things work out. You just have to keep going and not give up."
"And pretty soon, you'll be glad that we moved," added Arthur, their father, from behind the steering wheel.
"Maybe," grumbled Dan. He turned to his sister. "I miss Ohio."
"Yeah," Amy replied softly, "Me too. I miss how we always went over to Holts'."
"Everyday," agreed Dan. "And we'd play football with Hamilton and Madison and Reagan."
Amy nodded. "And you always had to remind me how to hold the ball. Or we would play with Arnold."
"Tug-a-war," Dan confirmed, "Arnold versus the rest of us."
"And we somehow always ended up in the mud," smiled Amy. "No matter what we did."
"Mr. Holt would always tell us how we need a daily dose of mud," Dan remembered.
"Mrs. Holt would always make us something delicious," said Amy dreamily.
"And when we got home, Mom would always just look us up and down, all dirty and red in the face, and she'd just say-"
"'Been with the Holts again?'" Hope finished with a smile.
They all burst into laughter. It felt good. Amy felt as if she hadn't laughed in a long time.
When the laughter died down, Amy still felt sad about moving out of Ohio, but not as much as before.
"I don't blame you for missing Ohio," Hope said, "but it's not good to dwell on things that have already happened. You can't change the fact that we've moved. But what you can do is accept what's happened and make the best of it."
"Okay. I'll try," replied Dan, who was looking slightly less despondent than before.
Amy smiled to herself. Her mother was right. She had to move on. Maybe she would make new friends. Maybe she would like Boston better than Ohio.
The Cahills were moving because of the family business, the Madrigal Company. It had been a family responsibility for centuries. Grace, Amy's and Dan's grandmother, had owned the company, and she had handed the responsibility down to Hope, and when Hope could no longer handle it, she would hand the responsibility to Amy. It had always been that way.
The Madrigal Company's purpose was to keep the good in the business world. They achieved peace between conflicting companies. They maintained fair working conditions for the employees. They tried to keep prices fair and quality high. And perhaps most importantly, they kept monopolies and trusts down.
The responsibility caused Arthur and Hope to move around a lot and go on lots of business trips. But one parent had always stayed behind to take care of Amy and Dan. However, a big project had come up, one that needed both Arthur and Hope together for as long as a few years in Boston, Massachusetts. They couldn't leave their kids for such a long time, so as a result, the entire family was moving to Boston.
Amy already missed her old life in Ohio, but her mother was right. She needed to move on. Besides, she could always write to the Holts or they could visit each other over school breaks.
Before long, the car pulled up into the driveway of a small, familiar mansion. The Cahills got out and started pulling their bags out of the trunk.
Amy walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. To her surprise, when the door opened, she saw not Grace or Fiske, her great-uncle, but a boy who looked as equally surprised as she felt.
A flash of realization crossed the boy's face. "Oh! You must be Amy Cahill! I've heard a lot about you from Grace and Fiske and my parents. I'm Nikolai." He stuck out his hand.
Of course! Amy remembered the name. Her parents had told her all about "Aunt" Irina and "Uncle" Alistair, as she was supposed to call them, and their son, Nikolai, who was only a year older than herself. She'd never actually met any of them before, however, and she hadn't really expected that Nikolai would look so...
Amy blinked the thought out of her head before she could start blushing and shyly shook Nikolai's hand. "H-hi, Nikolai," Amy replied, trying to keep the stutter out of her voice. "I-I've heard a lot about you, t-too."
Nikolai grinned widely before he stepped out to help Amy's coming parents with their bags.
When they were all inside, a woman came, walking toward them with a smile on her face. She looked to be middle-aged, with wrinkles on her face and short, light brown, almost blonde, hair. She wore a dark gray suit and Amy could see that her fingernails were painted red. She decided that this woman must be Irina.
"Irina!" Hope cried out as she stepped forward to give the woman a brief hug. "How long has it been?"
"Many years," Irina agreed. "This is first time I've seen your children, though." She turned to me. "You must be Amy. And you must be Dan," she said, turning to look at Dan.
"I saw Nikolai once before," Hope added, "but that was before he could walk or talk! You've grown into a handsome young man, Nikolai."
Nikolai laughed and thanked her.
"Well, why don't we all go to kitchen, then?" Irina suggested. "I'm sure Grace, Fiske, and Alistair would be glad to see you."
They all walked together to the kitchen, where Amy was met by two familiar faces.
"Grace! Uncle Fiske!" Dan cried as he ran throw his arms around his great-uncle.
"Amy! And Dan! It's so nice to see you again," Grace smiled. "I wasn't expecting you for another half-hour!"
"We decided to come a bit early, since we were ahead of schedule," Arthur answered her.
"Well, let's all sit down now," boomed Uncle Fiske. "You can take your bags up later. Amy and Dan, you've already met Irina and Nikolai. This is Irina's husband and Nikolai's father, Alistair." He turned to gesture to a middle-aged Asian man who stood up and walked around the table to them.
"Alistair Oh, inventor of the microwavable burrito and proud owner of Ekat Cuisine, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance," he said as he shook Amy's and Dan's hands.
"Microwavable burrito? Ekat Cuisine?" Dan looked a little confused.
"Yes, Ekat Cuisine," Alistair repeated. "'Enjoy a hot burrito whenever you want' is our slogan."
"Whoa, wait!" Dan looked excited. "You're the inventor of the microwavable burrito? No way! Dude! I'm, like, the biggest fan of your teriyaki burritos!"
Alistair laughed. "Why, thank you, my boy! Actually, the teriyaki burrito was my son's idea. Brilliant, wasn't it? That's why he's the co-manager and future owner of Ekat Cuisine!"
"Whoa! Really?" Dan looked about ready to burst.
"Yeah," Nikolai chuckled. "Don't worry; I'll give you free samples and coupons all the time."
"Sweet!"
Amy smiled to herself. Dan had found himself a new hero.
They all went on talking for a while, and by the time the Ohs had to leave, Amy found that her stutter had all but disappeared.
"It was great to finally meet you," Amy told Nikolai as he was about to step out.
"Same here," he said softly. "I'll see you again." And with that, he stepped out into the night.
It took an hour for the Cahills to get their things up to their new rooms and settle in and another hour before everyone was ready to sleep.
"Good night," Grace called.
This started a long chorus of "good night" and "see you in the morning".
"Get plenty of rest now," Hope reminded Amy and Dan. "You'll be going to school first thing, tomorrow morning."
"Already?" Dan stared at them in disbelief.
Arthur chuckled. "No sense in wasting valuable time that you could be using to learn new things."
Dan groaned. "But we just got here!"
Amy silently agreed, but she dragged Dan into their new rooms and ordered him to sleep. "Night, Dan."
Dan stuck his tongue out at her, but said "Night" before closing the door.
Amy went into her own room, but she just laid on her bed for a while, thinking.
A new house, a new life, a new school. Amy couldn't help but wonder what was in store for her in Boston. She was nervous about meeting new people so soon after her arrival, but she had visited Grace in Boston several times before with Dan, and she knew the layout of the city fairly decently. Especially with Nikolai, maybe her new life wouldn't turn out to be so bad after all.
Amy was still thinking of Nikolai as she fell into a deep sleep.
Well? What do you think? Sorry, no Ian yet. What do you think of Nikolai? Actually, personally, I think he's sort of Gary-Stu-ish here... T.T However, that will be fixed in later chapters. (Hopefully.)
And in case you are wondering, this will be a long story, containing at least 10 chapters, maybe even 20. Yes, it will be an Amian story. No, it will not be a fangirl-y fanfic built on a sudden desire to see Amy and Ian together, as was "Brought Together". (Yes, for you real authors and critics out there, I have finally realized how cliché and overdone my story is.)
Please! Review! I'll be doing something new, too. At the end of this story, I will post another chapter, recognizing different reviews and reviewers, such as those who reviewed every chapter and the most helpful critique! Maybe I'll add in some kind of reward. So that's something to look forward to. Remember, I'll be posting replies to reviews on my profile, so keep checking.
Legend Out! ~`'~