A Life of Danger

I turned around quickly thinking, again, that I had heard someone following me. It had been going on for a week now, everywhere I went, everything I did, it seemed like I was being watched. My life is normal, sort of. My parents disappeared when I was five, and three days later, their bodies were found at the bottom of a pond. They had been choked, not drowned, the police told my mom's cousin, calandra.
I live with Katrina now; she was the only family who would even take me. Every night, she sneaks out carrying a file case, but she won't tell me where she goes. I wondered if it had anything to do with my parents, but I tried not to think about my parents, and I tried not to think of the weird things that have happened to me. Instead, I bury myself in books.
"Jenny," my friend Alia yelled, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Hey girl," I said back, "I'm on my way to the library, do you want to come," "sure," she said. As we walked I tried to listen to her but I couldn't concentrate, I was too busy thinking.
When we got to the library I walked over to the juvenile section. At thirteen, I usually read from the teen section, but I wanted to re-read my favorite series. The 39 clues. I felt a connection to the books, one I couldn't understand. Maybe it was because Amy and Dan had lost their parents at a young age just like me, I just didn't know. I picked up my favorite book in the series, into the gauntlet, and walked over to a very secluded part of the library and began to read.
I had finished the first chapter of the book when I felt a cold hand close over my mouth. "Shhhh," I heard a girl's voice whisper, she sounded close to my own age, she spoke again, "I'm not here to hurt you, but to help you. If you promise not to run or scream or anything else like that then I will uncover your mouth. Deal?" I nodded my head and she uncovered my mouth.
" I am Calandra," she began, "I am the person who has been following you for the last week, but the vespers have been following you for longer. I am a Cahill agent, a madrigal actually. You are a Janus, and we need your help to defeat the vespers. You see, for the last month we have been recruiting Cahill that didn't even know they were Cahill's. Katrina has been giving us full reports on you ever since your parents were killed by the vespers and she took you under her wing. Your parents were Cahill's, your mother a Janus, your father a madrigal. They never stopped going on missions, but they were short ones so that they wouldn't have to leave you for long. Now we must go, the vespers have been watching you because they wanted to kill you before we got to you, and now they will try even harder to kill you.
I was a Cahill, half Janus half madrigal. Was being a Cahill good or bad? It wasn't safe, I knew that. What was ahead for me? I would find out, and sooner than I thought.

Calandra took me to the airport.
"so, where are we going," I asked, " to your cousin Jonah wizard's house, umm, you have any hard feelings toward him, do you?" calandra replied. A practically squealed with joy, "Jonah's house! Oh my goodness! He is one of my favorite characters! He's my cousin? Sweet," I said.
the flight was deadly boring, calandra refused to tell me anything, saying the airplane wasn't safe, I knew she was right, but I still wanted to know more. It felt as though I had just fallen asleep when calandra said, "we're here... Are you awake?" "I am NOW," I said grumpily. "We'll get a taxi," calandra said, "NO WAY, no taxis," I said, I had read one too many 39 clues books to feel safe with taxis.

We walked through the door of Jonah's mansion and my jaw dropped.
"This place is amazing," I exclaimed, and then I heard a famous voice.
"Yo wassup!" it was Jonah wizard, "drop the act Jonah," said another voice I didn't recognize,
"its calandra and the Janus/madrigal girl we've been watching." Jonah wizard came in from another room.
A minute later 2 girls descended the stairs, one looked about 11 with silky black hair that had streaks of gold
throughout it, she looked Asian and had amber eyes, and her ears came to the slightest point.
After her came a girl that was equally beautiful, she looked about 13 and had long fiery red hair that was naturally curly
with almost no frizz and reached her knees, her eyes were a piercing blue, she had the fair skin of
the Irish and, unlike the dark haired girl, had rounded ears.
The girls introduced themselves, "hello," said the girl with black and gold hair, "my name is misty,
I am 11 years old and I am NOT a madrigal, I am I Janus!" the manner in which she spoke
reminded me the slightest bit of Natalie kabra.
"My name is Melissa, but you can call me lissa," the red haired girl said, I recognized her voice as being the same I had heard reprimanding Jonah. I knew from the moment she smiled at me that we would be friends.
"What branch are you part of," I asked, "full-blooded madrigal," She said, "my mom and dad was both full madrigals!" "I guess," I said, "everyone already knows who I am and what branch and, basically everything about me. Huh?"

"Alright yo, here's the deal." said Jonah, "even though you're new and have no trainin, the madrigals got a mission for ya already. You're gonna go undercover with me, we'll be at a concert, see, you sing a solo then you go do some sneakin around, you sing with me, we leave. I hope that's all good with ya cuz, cause that's what the madrigals told me was the plan, and, I don't argue with the mads!" "Oh my gosh," I said practically screaming with joy, "I get to perform with YOU! I, I'd be honored...but... am I good enough?" "Well sure cuz! You got Janus blood in those veins! And besides, we got a video of you singin once, I should be worried you'd steal my fame," Jonah replied. "Wow, thanks," I said, "so... When is it?" I could see Melissa smiling like, hehe Jonah, you are really in for it now, so I got all worried and stuff, "Jonah," I said with a bit of worry in my voice, but I was demanding all the same, "WHEN IS IT?" Jonah cleared his throat,"uh, it's uh, tonight cuz," "TONIGHT!" I fairly screamed, "I'm supposed to learn 2 duos AND a solo in a few HOURS!" Jonah cleared his throat again, "says the mads," he said. I sighed, "what do I sing?"
An hour later, I knew all 3 songs perfectly and lissa (Melissa said to call her that) and misty were helping me figure out what to wear. "So, shouldn't I wear something like, gangster-ish or something," I asked, "no," said misty, "something beautiful, something fancy, something that is in conflict with Jonah's clothing. It will help both of you to stand out more and, if we get the color, it will still go with Jonah's clothes, trust me!" I looked at her attire and decided I most certainly should trust her. An hour later, we came back from the designer clothes store, which was INSANELY expensive, and had my dress, it was beautiful! "Come on cuz," said Jonah, "we gotta be there in a few mins," I stepped into the limo and we started toward the concert hall.

Jonah put a hand on my back, "hey cuz, it'll be okay, just breathe, and pose, and you have to look glamorous, like you do this every day!" I smiled, "yes, "he said, "and smile like that! You look good cuz! Keep up like that and you'll be as famous as me!" I laughed uncontrollably because of nervousness, "I will try, and I will sing, I'm so glad I get to sing 'oh, how the feuding hurts' and 'love's labors won'!" "You'll be great yo! Don't worry, you're related to ME, "Jonah said. I laughed again.
I stepped out of the limo smiling confidently, the cameras flashed and people held microphones out to Jonah and me. I smiled some more and answered their questions. The attention felt glorious! After all this time, people cared who I was, wanted to know my story! We finally got inside and went backstage to get ready for the performance. When we got onto the stage, I wasn't nervous, I felt as though I belonged there!
The singing went by in a breeze; it felt glorious to sing among millions of cheering fans!
Then, I went backstage and began to snoop. I went out the back door and next thing I knew,
I had my back against the cold brick wall, they had me cornered, who, you ask? Three figures clad in black.
I knew they must be vespers, they found me, I didn't know what to do, and so I prepared to lie.

"Great," I thought, "my first day on the job and I get caught by vespers! You aren't caught yet," my brain said back to me," but I may as well be. Stop thinking about whether you are caught or not and figure out how to get away!" I knew my best chance was to stall them until halfway through Jonah's performance, which was when he would take a break, realize I was gone, and get me outta here! "What do you want?" I hissed venom in my voice, "I think you know," said the middle vesper so coolly it was creepy, I realized that the middle vesper was female, she couldn't be much older than me! Maybe I had a chance, then I looked at the other too vespers, burly males, and all hope faded away. "I'm sorry," I said not sure where I was going with this, "unless you mean you are looking for my makeup bag, I don't think I know what you want. I'm a singer, a cousin of Jonah Wizard, and I don't share secrets with people who corner me when I'm coming outside for fresh air." "don't play stupid Cahill," the girl spat, "I know who you are, I know you are dangerous and clever, which is why," and this is when her voice got sweet, "I'm afraid we will have to... dispose of you permanently (sp?)," then with her voice singsongy she said, "just like we did your parents, I wish I would have had the pleasure of being there, but I was young. So sad you know, first your parents, now you, it would be a pity if your dear cousin Jonah were to be accidently killed. Don't you think? Of course, that can be avoided if you give us what we want!"
that's when I heard it, the breathing above me, quiet enough that only I could hear. "I wish someone would save me from these vespers," I said just loud enough that Jonah should easily be able to hear, "quiet girl!" the vespers hissed. A few minutes later a voice I had been hoping to hear said, "Oh, fans! I'm over here!" then Jonah ran to me, a mob of fans following. The vespers had slipped away because of the crowd. It had been close, too close. I couldn't help it, I clung to Jonah sobbing. I had almost died, I had to be more careful, had to watch my back. We finally managed to escape the crowd, and drove back to Jonah's mansion. I dragged myself up to my room and collapsed on my bed, exhausted.

I woke up to someone knocking on my door, I groaned, "who is it?" "It's me," a perky voice said, "lissa! Are you coming down for breakfast? The Cahill kids are here." the Cahill kids? Dan and Amy?" I jumped up and threw my clothes on, racing down the stairs. I ran into the dining room, out of breath. I sat in a seat next to lissa and realized a handsome boy my age was sitting across from me, it was Dan Cahill!

Neither of the Cahill's looked as I expected, Dan was handsome. And Amy? She was gorgeous! I hadn't expected that, I expected ragged kids who had just come from their last escapade (sp?). My jaw dropped at the sight of them but quickly pulled myself together in a very Janus way. "So you are Amy and Dan Cahill," I said smoothly, "good," I thought to myself, "don't act so amazed, you have to look ready for anything." Amy's eyebrows raised at my coolness, Dan shivered, "are you sure you aren't, like, related to the Kabras or something," he asked, before I could reply, Jonah did, "she's got Janus talent! But Madrigal is obvious in her too yo! She's like whoa mysterioso!" I laughed, "I not that mysterious," I said, "You stalled the Vespers for half an hour last night!" he replied, "wait," Amy broke in, "Vespers? When did you run into Vespers?" I filled her in on last night. Amy sucked in a breath and let it out, "they are getting bolder, coming after more people, and they were trying to stop you before you could really help us! They're attacking us from all sides, thinning our numbers." "so, it's more serious than you thought," I asked, " yes," she replied, "much more serious, they have captives and are using them to manipulates, they are killing those who could be, or already are, promising agents to us." everyone fell silent, then there was a knock on the door and a rough, " open up! Or else!"

I looked around the table, everyone wore the same expression I knew I must be wearing, one of shock, and worry. We all gathered together whatever weapons we could in the short amount of time we had. I had a cast iron skillet, misty had spoons and forks, not usually a promising sight, but I knew she could make those deadly weapons, Melissa had 2 sauce pans, Dan, uh, Dan was in crazed ninja pose, Amy had kitchen knives and Jonah was holding a can of pepper spray (I had no clue where that came from). We stood in the main hall, ready for action.
The door was kicked down and 2 vespers ran in, they were Casper and Cheyenne Wyoming. "Aren't you two supposed to be stealing a diamond right now?" Cheyenne sneered at Amy and Dan. "We were just about to when your ugly faces stopped us," Dan responded, Cheyenne's hands flew to her face as if to make sure her face wasn't scratched up or something. Just the opening I needed! I feigned going left toward Casper and ran to the right instead, I tripped Cheyenne and hit her on the back of the head with the skillet before she could react, seeing his sisters mistake, Casper was a bit more careful. Amy and Jonah surged forward Jonah spraying pepper spray at the same time that Amy landed a kick to Casper's stomach, Casper doubled over and Misty did something with the silverware that was so fast I couldn't even see it, but it must have hurt, then Melissa came over and banged the pots on either side of Casper's head saying, "THAT is what you get when you mess with Cahill's! Oh yeah!" Dan and Melissa tied Cheyenne and Casper up and we bribed a taxi driver to take them far away and not utter a word of this to ANYONE. We went back to Jonah's mansion and discussed where I would be sent, it was arranged that I would go check out some suspicious activity in Greece with Lissa and Misty. The three of us went to our rooms (which I had JUST gotten situated in my room) and packed, 1 backpack and 1 suitcase each, we hoped it would be enough, who knew how long we would be in Greece.

The plane ride to Greece was the boring experience of my life. And I used to have a pretty boring life!
I tried to fall asleep on plane, but I couldn't. I tried to read, but I couldn't concentrate. So, since lissa and misty were sleeping, I talked to some random girl named piper, at least I thought she was just some random girl.
About halfway to Greece she said she wanted to rest, so I turned around and tried in vain to rest too. 2 minutes later I got bored and looked behind me where piper was. She wasn't sleeping, she was texting on her iphone to a... EKAT BRANCH LEADER! The text said, "sry couldn't txt earlier. On way 2 Greece. Random girl talk to me. Told her had to rest. What am I lookin 4 in Greece?"
"So," I thought, "she's an ekat on a mission; I'll have to talk to her about that!" 'Hey piper," I said, "she literally jumped, she was so shocked!"w-what?" she asked, "I really like cats, especially ekats... I'm gonna go get snacks, you wanna come?" I said. Her eyes widened with realization, she nodded her head.
We spoke in whispers while walking to the snacks, I was glad so many people were sleeping so we didn't look suspicious. I told her about my parents and how I found out about my cahillness. Her bright green eyes widened and when I was finished she shook her head in wonderment, her waist length black hair swinging from one side to the other. "So, what branch are you?" "Oh yeah, I totally forgot to tell you!" I said, "I'm half Janus, half Madrigal!" "No wonder that picture you were drawing was so good!" she said, "thanks!" I replied. We grabbed a few snacks and went back to our seats and talked for the rest of the plane ride.