assassin
By: Kelly Criswell
Chapter one a day of leaving home
Waking up, knowing it was the day it could all end. The first term of assassin starts today and I haven't even trained the amount I wanted to. I haven't even started training with hand guns or throwing knives, I'm such a goner. I'll probably last the first hour and die, or hid myself, then die. My older brother said it wasn't as scary as I made it seem. His team wins every year and his trophies line the shelves in our living quarters.
Moon blue eyes, blond curly hair, and thin tall legs. My brother is known as the champion of assassin, nineteen year old Mac Sullivan. And then there's me, Lilly. Same blue eyes but, shorter and thinner. I can't say I have the same color hair as his, last week I dyed it dark blue. He insisted to be like everyone else, but I told him differently, I said I just wanted to be different.
I sat up from my bed and looked around my room, watching the sun rise into my window. I lay back down, thinking what kind of beast lie behind the walls of the town.
A few months ago Mac told me to read the rule book for assassin, he wrote all the insights I should look out for right next to words. Last year, the towns' woods were filled with Brusers, big hairless ugly beasts with huge claws doused in venom that can kill you in two minutes or less. It is a painful death and quite ugly. Soon enough Mac and I will be on the train to face something as hideous as that. The rules, of this so called game, are to survive the woods that are filled with monsters and creatures of sorts that are deported from all over the worlds. Most from different planets, so we don't know anything about them until it is too late. We are just clueless people going into an unknowing game. The teams are created by the head leaders: my brother, Sten, Nate, and Milo. Four on each team. You are to live in a village with the villagers and try to blend in, so the other teams don't recognize you. The teams buy weapons and food for their long journey into the deep woods of the game and try to find the object that they have to retrieve. The team that makes it there first, with all their members' wins, the only person that can die and the team still wins is the team leader, not so comforting when my brother is that person. What made me the most comforted though, was, not everyone dies; if you decide to stop playing just raise your hands up and say, "My Broken heart has set in." and you will be swooped away. But if you say that your team loses and you become a failure, in my brother's eyes.
Chapter two a new hair due
I role over on my side. Everyone expects me to be just like Mac, to put on a show like he does, creating drama and action. Almost like a movie, I think to myself. I'm only a fifteen year old girl, how do they expect me to be muscular and powerful like him? Luckily for me, he is my brother and he has already chosen me to be on his team. I stop thinking; I let it all run out of me, like a waterfall. But, suddenly I heard a noise. My door slams open, and in comes jolly ole' Trell the skeleton. He is the one that cleans the house, cooks, and takes care of us. After my mother and father died of the plague, tragic I know, the law enforced "A creepy bag of bones" to live with us. At first Mac and I felt uncomfortable. But now, after four years, we are practically family. And one more thing you should know about him, Trell does wear cloths, usually.
"Trell! Please I'm trying to sleep." I say acting like I just woke up "Oh, is that so? I didn't know my little Lilly slept in till ten o'clock, on the most important day of her life!" he laughed. "It's your first Assassin games! And besides there is something I have needed to give you and now seems like the right time to do so." He left the room, and returned with a beautiful wooden carved box.
"Th-this, was your m-mothers." He stuttered while sitting down next to me. He gave me the box and I gently lifted it open to reveal a golden locket with a carving of an owl on it. "I looked at her will after she passed away. And this was one of the many things she has left you. I thought you might want to wear something of your mothers' in your first game. So you know that she is there with you." He said grabbing the tissue box from my side table.
"No, I don't need those, if I want to win assassin, I can't sob over my mother," He nods, "thank you so much. I will cherish this locket while I'm fighting." I say while I turned and gave him a big hug. Then Trell began to tear up which I don't know how that is possible, because he is a skeleton. "I'm sorry, he said. I just can't see you fighting, and dying. "Don't worry, you big bag of bones, Mac will be there by my side the entire time." I laughed. "Alright, well get yourself ready. Your bags are already strapped to the eagle." He said leaving my room.
The eagle, of course he wants to take the eagle. It will make a huge commotion and everyone will turn to look at us when we arrive. The first champion and his little sister. I scrambled out of bed and stood up, but only for a moment before I crashed to the floor clutching my mothers' necklace and sobbing. I opened my hand and watched it sparkle from the sun that poured in from the window. My door slowly opened. I didn't know who it was until I felt the warm flesh and strong arms wrap around me.
"You know, mom and dad are always with you. You don't have to be sad about that. They watched you grow just as much as they saw me grow. Look at you! Your first game and you have me to guide you through it. I didn't have anyone but myself. Every moment when I was fighting those wacky Googallays and Blankouts I was thinking of you. How scared you must have been thinking about how your older brother might not be coming back." Mac sighed. "Trell made breakfast for us, and you might want to start thinking about getting yourself ready. We only have an hour before we need to leave." I said ok and he gave me a hug then he left the room.
When the door shut, I got up immediately, rubbed my eyes clear of tears and put on the locket. It didn't really matter what I wore because as soon as we got to the town, we would change looks to blend in. so I slipped on a hunter green turtle neck and some straight leg pants. When I got enough courage to leave my room Trell stopped me outside the door. "Hey little missy, orders from Mac, he told me long hair in the games is like being caught in a bear trap. He has seen it many times before. It's up to you, of course, I do know someone very well at cutting hair." He said pointing at himself. I pulled my hair from the back of my head and looked down at it. "I guess he's right, and I think it's time for a new style anyway." I whispered. "Well come on then we don't have much time before you get on that huge bird and fly off, now do we?" Trell rushed me. He brought me to the bathroom and pulled a chair from the kitchen, "sit down Lilly, and trust me." He said confidently and placed a towel around my neck. At this point my eyes were shut and my hands covered them. I was so nervous but, I would rather get it cut off then be killed. "Alright sweetie, here we go. Now remember, you are doing this for your life." He slowly said. I could only hear the first cut of the scissors into my thick blue hair. I peeked a little bit and saw how it was turning out, and to my surprise I actually liked it. Twelve more snips and it was all over, side bang and a cute bobbed hair cut. I opened my eyes completely now, and my facial expressions changed from nervous to excided in a split second. "Well?" Trell laughed "Oh my god, Trell! I love it, I never thought I would, but I absolutely love it!" I squeaked out over my excitement. I stood up from my seat and turned around, giving Trell one last hug before I left the room to get myself ready.
Chapter three a call from mort
"Mac!" I screamed. "Come look at my hair! I can't belie-" I walked into him talking on the phone in his room. He had a serious voice and put his finger to his lips, and smiled at the sight of my hair. "Mhm, well what are you going to do about that?" Mac said responding into the telephone. "Alright, don't worry we can give you a ride. I wouldn't want you to miss out on all the fun we are going to have at this game." He smiled "Alright, see you soon." He said and hung up the phone.
"Look at you! Wow, I honestly thought you would look horrible with short hair." Mac joked "Oh Mac shut up." I teased running into him pushing him on his bed. I sat down next to him. "Who was that on the phone? If I'm aloud to ask." I said. "Oh, that was Mort Fobbs on the phone, his mother decided she didn't want him going to this year's game. So he asked if we could sneak in and pick him up." He said "Mort-Fobbs?" I asked "Who is that?" "Mort? He's that kid I always talked about after I came back home last year, Mort, you know" Mac laughed "Oh! Mort, you called him your best man, always by your side. He seems special, like you. Brave and mysterious." I said dreamily. "Mort is brave and very mysterious if you say so." He laughed and looked at the clock on his bedside. "Looks like we ought to start flying. We don't want to be late now that we have to pick up someone else." Mac said standing up and pushing me out the door.
"Trell, we are on our way. Now don't you worry I'm going to keep this little girl safe." Mac said smiling at me. "Be safe Mac, I will be thinking about you two every moment of every day." Trell turned to me, I felt tears starting to form but I held them back down in my throat. "Now you listen to me, whatever happens I know you and your brother are going to be coming home safe. Ok?" he said "Oh, and whatever you do, don't open your locket until you really need to, there is a secret inside that will change your life, promise me you won't." He whispered. "I promise Trell." I whisper back, giving him one last hug before Mac pats me on the back saying we had to go.
Chapter four flying high
Outside, Blaire, our red tailed eagle was perched on her stand ready to take flight. Magnificent creatures they are. She is the size of two horses maybe larger. She has to be at least two hundred years old, a wise bird she is. Blaire used to be our parents back then. They had to hide her away because a war started here in America and the military wanted as many red tailed eagles they could find. So my parents sent her away to live in a special place where no one can find except our family, it's located out in the sea, a small island undetectable to anyone. If someone did come across it, the island would disappear making everything on it invisible. After the war, they called her back with a whistle in a shape of a bird. We still have that whistle because we let Blaire come and go as she pleases.
"Up you go." Mac said locking his fingers together and pushed me up with my feet. Blaire has huge red and brown feathers that cover her whole body. She is soft and plush, like velvet. Her voice is beautiful, loud enough to shatter glass but soft on the ears, and feeling her heart beat feels like a rhythmic tune played on the radio.
After helping me he jumped on her back and she started running, she extended her wings to catch air, flapping them faster and faster until she was smoothly gliding in the sky. He guided her up out of the trees higher into the clouds, I was afraid of falling off so I wrapped my arms around Mac's waist so tight, I tried to relax but I couldn't trust myself.
"Lilly, you're going to have to loosen up, I can hardly breath, relax and open your eyes it's beautiful up here." Mac shouted calmly. I gently pulled back my arms and opened my eyes slightly and immediately I fell in love with flying for that time. I could touch the pink clouds and look on forever, we went above the clouds at one point, and it was a dark blue sky filled with glistening stars. It was weird though because it was daytime under the clouds. I did not dare to look down, even though Mac tried to make me. I did once or twice but I got dizzy every time. Mac said he would be more pleased when we picked up Mort if I sat in the middle so he could catch me if I get dizzy again. I wasn't really listening because I closed my eyes and rested my head on Macs back letting the wind blow through my hair. "Lilly, you asleep back there?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm just resting my eyes, relaxing before we get to Mort's house." I said "To be honest I'm kind of excited to meet him." I said smiling.
Chapter five meeting mort
We landed in his back yard, I didn't know because I had fallen asleep. But Mac woke me up. He had to get off Blaire to go get Mort. His house wasn't big like our house, apparently only the leader who wins gets the grand prize. Unless, he decided to save the money for something better than a larger house. We got to the front door and Mac knocked. About three seconds later, a handsome not much taller than Mac and I boy opened the door. At first he looked at Mac then looked directly at me and smiled. "Mac! How's it goin' bro?" He said giving Mac a friendly hug "Pretty good Mort. Oh excuse me for not introducing you, this is my little sister, Lilly. This is her first year but she's just as brave as you and I combined." Mac smiled. "Lilly, I heard great things about you while Mac and I weren't fighting." He said with a smile and guided us inside.
"Now, we must be quiet, my mother doesn't know that I'm leaving. She's asleep in the back room." Mort said. His house was old fashioned, nice though with dark wood flooring and a warm roaring fire. He snuck back into his room, and grabbed his backpack. There was something about him that I liked. He was good looking definitely. But I think it was his eyes, they were different. When he looked at me outside we stared at each other in the eyes. They are light coffee colored with red flecks that sparkled in the morning sun. When he came back out with his things he stopped for a moment, turned around and said "Alright, all clear." And turned back around, only seeing his mother sitting in the kitchen staring directly at him. "Oh, shit" he whispered. "Mom! You can't stop me from going to this game" Mort yelled "I know, I was just out here to say goodbye." Ms. Fobbs stood up and walked to her son giving him a very long hug. "Mom, quit it, you're embarrassing me." He whispered. "I'll be back" he promised, and gestured all of us to leave immediately.
"Wait just a minute mister, why don't you introduce me to your friends." She demanded. Mort rolled his eyes. "You met Mac before, he was in my group last year. But this is a new member to our group. Lilly, Macs lil' sis." "It's a pleasure to meet you. And Mac! Oh it's so good to see you again, I could hardly recognize you. You are what, nineteen now?" Mac nodded being engulfed with a hug from Ms. Fobbs. "They grow up so fast." She said with a smile.
"It's nice to see you to Ms. Fobbs, but we really need to get going." Mac said. "I'm so glad Mort is on your team again this year. You protected him so well last year. Just be safe Mort, I don't want to lose my baby." Ms. Fobbs said with a tear. "Mom, I said not to worry, I'll be fine." He sighed and then said with a hard voice. "I'm sorry that Kin decided to leave when dad left. You can't hold back people from doing what they want." Mort said giving his mother a warm hug. "I know, but it's just so hard seeing you leave, I don't want to lose you like I lost him." She said this time crying. Mort kissed his mother on the cheek and said "love you mom, I will return." Ms. Fobbs stopped crying and kissed him back. "Just the other day I heard Mr. Bronk, the one down the street kicked his girlfriend out of his house, maybe you could catch up with him. You're still young you know." Mort laughed being smacked by his mother. "Go have fun. And good luck" she laughed back. "And you don't know maybe we will chat a bit." She said as we were walking out the back door.
Chapter six to the train
Not thinking about anything that went on back there we got back on Blaire, Mac in front and Mort behind me holding my waist. "Are you excited for your first game?" Mort whispered in my ear. "I'm not sure what to expect, I'm a little frightened." I said back. "Alright you two, hold on to each other, if we want to make it there in time, we are going to have to fly fast." Mac demanded. We took off again, and my stomach turned into mush, but after we got level with the sky I started to calm down.
Like before I kept my eyes shut and drifted off into a light sleep, and right before I fell asleep completely I heard Mac scream back to Mort, "Make sure Lilly doesn't fall off, she almost did a few times coming to get you." he laughed, then I could feel mort tighten his grip around my waist as I fell asleep.
I could still feel the wind rushing passed me, and I think that's what woke me up. "Mac?" I said sleepily. "Are we almost there?" "You're awake, good, I almost made Mort wake you up, and yes, we are actually here." Mac said anxiously. "Look down and you will see the train station right beyond these clouds." Mort pointed out. "Don't worry, I got you." I looked straight down and felt woozy but I knew Mort wouldn't let go of me so I felt a rush of joy. "How beautiful." I giggled. Red blue green and yellow stripped steam trains all lined up for each team. Not large though, maybe only three cars on each, I couldn't tell really because I was flying so high. We gradually started to fly downwards, about to land.
It was a pain, the feeling of dropping twisted my stomach up even more, and when we landed I jumped off quick because I was completely done with being stuck in the air for so long. Unfortunately tripped and fell on the hard platform and knocked myself out.
I really can't remember what happened after that except I saw Mort's beautiful red flecked eyes staring into mine again. I was carried to a nearby bench next to our train. When I opened my eyes again, having a full on head ache, he was there by my side. I sat up slowly. "Take an easy Lilly. You must have been over excited to be getting on that train or something but you fell and hit your head on solid concrete." Mort explained. "Where's Mac?" I asked. "He's readying the other team member Jill, she should already be on the train." He said. "You should probably be getting on the train as well." I looked over to where I fell and Blaire wasn't there anymore. "Mort?" I asked "Yeah, what is it?" he answered "What happened to Blaire?" I said in confusion and before he could answer I asked another question. "How long was I out?" "Calm down, calm down. Mac took everything off her and put it on the train, and sent her back home, everyone was happy to see you except they were all worried about what happened, Mac said you would be fine. You were only out for a couple of minutes." Mort took my hand. "Now come on, this train won't wait all day."
He scooped me up and carried me into the train. He carried me to the third car where one large room was. And set me down on one of the beds. Then he lied down in the bed next to me with his arms behind his head staring at the ceiling. "You don't have to worry. Your brother and I won't let anything happen to you. You are too important to all of us. We need you on our team to fight, to win." He paused for a moment. "Not only that bu-" Mac came running in disrupting Mort. "Mort, come out here please." Mac said sounding displeased. Mort got up from the bed and walked sternly over to him. Behind him Mac slammed the door tight, and I heard the both of them move down the hallway.
A few seconds later I heard footsteps stop right in front of my door. They opened the door and came in. It was an older looking girl but younger then Mac. She had long curly blond hair, with piercing yellow eyes.
"Are you ok? I heard you hit your head pretty hard on the concrete." She said "Oh, and by the way, I'm Jill. It's finally nice to have another girl on the team, you must be Lilly." "Concrete is defiantly a solid substance, I will probably have a huge welt there by tomorrow. But it is nice to meet you." I said in a friendly voice. "Nice to meet you too, Lilly" she said coming over to my bed. "I like your hair, it's cute and different, the dark blue matches your light blue eyes, and I wish I had the guts to try something crazy like that." Jill laughed. "Thanks, Mac made me cut it all off this morning, he said long hair would get caught, and slow us down." "What!" she screamed. "I'm sorry, Mac is a little crazy when it comes to this game. You see this?" she held up her beautiful long curly hair. "I would never cut this off even if it meant my life. Besides you could have tied it up in a pony tail, that's what I plan on doing." She said smartly.
I felt so dumb, I didn't know why I hadn't thought of that earlier. "But, hey! You look super cute with short hair, and no one is going to judge you on the way you look, trust me." She giggled. "By any chance, do you know why we haven't started moving?" "No, no I don't. I wish we were there already, it's real boring on this train." I said sounding tired already of being on this locomotive. "Trust me, things get interesting on this trip, you won't be bored after we start moving." Jill explained. "I think I'm going to go see what the holdup is, you stay here and get some rest then, you'll need it for practice when we arrive. They are giving us two days of extra time with any weapons we want. But anyway I'll see you later tonight." she said leaving my bed and closing the door behind her.
Chapter seven first look
I got up from my bed, Mac or Mort never came back. I was right, only three cars plus the engine. The bedrooms, the dining car, and the living quarters. Apparently we were in the green striped train because the platform outside had a sign saying "the green train, team one."
I sat down in the living quarters' sofa, dark blue, maybe purple velvet, very plush. That's when I started thinking about home, and my locket. What Trell said "there is a secret inside." What does that mean? But I promised not to open it unless I needed to. My eyes started to glaze over a bit, staring out the window at nothing but a bunch of people. My eyes felt so heavy and I got tired of keeping them open, so I closed them and feel asleep sitting up.
I woke up where I was. The train still in the station, but Mac was sitting on the other couch across from me. "You feel better?" He asked. "Just a sore head, that's all." I paused for a moment. "Where's Mort? And, why did you yell at him." I said. "Oh, I wasn't yelling, I just didn't want something to slip his mouth about things you don't need to worry about. We are fine, he understood." Mac answered. "Well, what don't you want me to worry about?" I asked "Things that you will learn later when you are older, I promise you will find out soon." He smiled and looked over at the door. I looked too and there he was, wet and steamy out from the shower. "Sorry, was I interrupting?" Mort said courteously. "No, we are done, and does anyone know why we haven't started moving yet?" Mac demanded. He got up at left the room probably the same place where Jill went to.
"You look sick, no offence. Maybe you should go lie in bed and go to sleep, we should be leaving soon." Mort explained. "Well I just took a four, maybe five minute nap. I just want to go and start this battle." I said back. He came over and sat down next to me, and put his hand on my forehead. It felt cool and made the pain go away. He turned and looked at me directly in my eyes. "I've never seen that color eye before, it's the perfect shade of blue, with silvery blue flecks." Mort said flirtatiously. I blushed and my cheeks turned a light pink. "I've never seen red in anyone's eyes before." I flirted back. We stayed silent for a while and then Jill and Mac came into the living quarters.
"Can you believe this? The conductors said they wouldn't start the trains because they didn't think they had enough coal, so they had to wait for the coal to get here." Jill mocked "we waited here this whole time for stone?" Mort chimed in. "Dumb, right?" She screamed. "Calm down Jill, look we're moving now." I said pointing out the window. She sat down next to Mac. "Why do you two look so happy?" Mac asked smiling. "Uh-uh, because we are finally moving and on our way to the village." Mort quickly answered, and I agreed with a head nod. "Mhm, sure." Mac smiled again.
Chapter eight the dream
As the day went on, I watched out the window as the large fields and mountains flew by in hues of light greens and darks. I fell asleep a few times but woke up to every bump the train made. It started to get dark out, and night fell fast. I wasn't tired at all because of all the times I fell asleep during the day. I did get hungry around five o' clock. Our dinner was perfect. Delicious shrimp scampi with golden brown garlic bread and any drink you could imagine. I was so stuffed after all of that food, I had to go lie down, in fact, everyone did.
I was only lying down for a few minutes before I was out cold. I was freezing that night because I forgot to bundle up in my blankets. I woke up, and everyone was asleep. It had to have been midnight. It was pitch black out and for some reason I couldn't seem to pull the covers out from the bed. I lied back down facing sleeping Mort. I tried not to shiver but I couldn't help it, summer nights are cold. I shut my eyes, but then felt warmth hit my skin. I opened my eyes quickly to see Mort standing over me. "Sh, you don't want to wake the others." He whispered. "Scoot over." He said. I slid my body over and he curled up next to me. "You really are something." He laughed in a hushed tone. "Why do you say so?" I asked. "You have champion blood in you, and you don't act like you're all that." He answered. "That's what I like most about you, you're not arrogant." He smiled, and then I smiled back. He pulled me close into his body, warming us up together with our body heat. "Warmer?" he asked "Much, thank you." I replied. We stared at each other the longest time. And now I think I have feelings for him. He ran his fingers through my short blue hair and kept pulling back the pieces that fell in front of my face. And that's when I drifted off into a deep sleep in the arms of Mort Fobbs, the one I think I might be in love with.
Some people say I'm too young to know what love is, or to feel love. But I do know what the word means. Yeah I'm only fifteen, and yeah he is two years older than me. But that is not bad I'm aloud to like someone older, I have no parents to tell me I can't do something, even if that does sound sad, it's true. I only have my brother and Trell telling me what to do.
Chapter nine the secret
Everything was wrong when I woke up. I tried feeling for his body, but he wasn't there. I opened my eyes and realized that I didn't have a blanket on me and Mort was sleeping in his own bed. It was morning and I could smell the food; eggs, bacon and maybe pancakes. I sat up and looked out the window, seeing the trees fly by as the train speeded down the track. What happened last night? I had no clue, it felt too real to be a dream but, it could have been. I slowly made my way to the bathroom door, I needed a nice long shower to think about things. The hot steam filled my nose and warmed my body, and the pouring rain water from the shower slid down my blue hair sticking it to my face. The heat washed away everything that happened down the drain.
When I got out, Mort was still sleeping and Jill was also, but Mac was already up and eating. I walked calmly and slowly over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Good morning Mac." I said with my eyes shut. "Hey sleeping beauty, did you sleep well? I heard you tossing and turning in your sleep." He asked. "I slept pretty well, but I had a really weird dream. Mort was in it." I replied. "Mort?" he paused for a moment. "In your dream? That must have been one silly dream." Mac said staring off into the distance thinking intently of what I said. "What were you two doing?" "If I tell you, you mustn't say anything." I whispered in his ear. "I swear." Mac promised. "Ok, I don't really remember the beginning but he kept me warm in his arms because I was freezing cold. That's all I remember." I blushed a little. "Oh really? I'll be right back I need to go check on few things." He said smiling at me, then leaving the room.
I got up right after he left, sneaking behind him to see where he went. He lunged into the bed room. He shut the door violently, probably waking everyone up. I crept over to the door and pressed my ear against the wall. "Woah, what the hell?" I heard Mort scream. "Why did you freakin' wake us up? He hissed. Then I heard Mac yell back "I know what you did last night and don't do it again. Stop going into other peoples' minds while they are asleep. She doesn't need to know about any of this, she is too young to know." "Wait Hun, Lilly doesn't know who she really is yet? Why not tell her, she'll hate you for keeping this a secret." Jill Exclaimed.
"Hun?" Why did she call him hun?" I thought "Lilly told me about her dream last night. Mort, I know you too well, that was your doing and I know it. If I ever find out about this again, I wil-" Mac started, but I ran back before he opened the door and came walking back out.
Chapter ten the rules
I calmly sat back down and began eating banana pancakes for breakfast. "Sorry for leaving you, I wanted to get everyone up because later tonight we will be arriving." Mac said. "You alright? You look a little stunned." "Yeah, yeah, I'm ok." I said I shook my head getting up and leaving him just like he left me. I walked back to the door bedroom but before I could enter I bumped into Mort, shirtless and stunning. "Oh, sorry." I stuttered. "It's alright kiddo, did you sleep moderately well, aside from the bumping around of the train?" He asked pulling me in for a morning hug. "I think so." I was unsure of what to say. "I'm so glad we are getting off this train later tonight." I said "I'm feeling a little motion sickness." "Ah, you are probably also scared of meeting the other teams." He teased. "What! I didn't know that. Oh my god, now I am freaking out." I said with bugged eyes. "That's not the worst part. Personally the worst part is, getting to meet them and then later seeing how different they are when you get to fight them, but remember you don't have to worry because our team is the best there is." Mort said confidently. Jill came running out from behind him laughing, gave me a hug and said "Get a load of this guy!" pointing to Mort and skipping out into the next car. "What was that about?" I asked. "Who knows, maybe she had a good night?" Mort laughed as well. Things were getting a little weird, and I wanted to find out what.
I let Mort get dressed and cleaned up. While he was doing that Jill, Mac and I all sat in the car with the couches. "Does anyone want to tell me how this game is really played?" I broke the silence. "Lil, you never read that huge book on the rules I gave you, like a month ago?" Mac said. "What don't you understand, the huge part or the book part?" I laughed. "You really should have read it, it would have explained a lot." Jill told me. They looked at each other, then at me, and then back at each other. "Look, this isn't just a game for survival and fun. People die for their country. Each team of people from earth that play the game are from different countries. We are from America, correct?" he said and I nodded my head. "We are sent from our country into a village on a different planet. If we win, we take over that planet. Most of the planets rout for America because we are very civilized and take care of our planets well. In all my years playing assassin, I have never heard of one planet not cheering for America. They love us, and they all want to be a part of America." Mac explained. "Really? So this is a game for the government, to win over other planets?" I asked. "Mhm, assassin is made up by the governments." He said. "But we are in a train, how are we supposed to get there if the planets are outside of our sky?" I asked, but Mac didn't answer. All he did was laugh a little with Jill. "Well tell me more about assassin." I asked. "Alright, so each team is set out in the village given money to buy their cloths and makeup to blend in, also to buy food and weapons for the voyage out in the woods beyond the village gates. When you get out of the village you are faced with those hideous creatures. You are given a map to follow to get to your Tracker which will lead you to the item that you must find, usually a flag. To take over that planet, you must raise your own flag. That's how you win. Did I miss anything?" he turned to Jill. She shook her head no. "That sums it up I guess." Jill assured.
Chapter eleven the vortex
It began to drizzle outside, but then became a down pour. I felt glum and the atmosphere became gloomy. Hopefully we are getting to where we needed soon, which I'm not really sure where we are going because how are we going to get there? Mort and Jill were in the dining car while Mac and I were in the living space.
"Who was kin?" I asked. "I knew you would ask about him. Last year I learned a lot about the Fobbs family. Before Ms. Fobbs was divorced she was called Mrs. Lewis. She had two sons, Kin, the oldest, and Mort. Kin was very fond of his father. But soon after Mort was born Mr. Lewis got rough with him, ramping on about how Mort was a piece of dirt, and Kin, how he was the best son he had ever had. Ms. Fobbs didn't like the way he was acting toward Mort so she asked him to leave, but he didn't.
When Mort turned seven Kin was fourteen that was the year Mr. Lewis decided he no longer wanted Mort, just his favorite son. He took Mort out back to the river along his house and dunked his head in trying to drown him. Ms. Fobbs saw what was going on and ran out there with a kitchen knife cutting into his face. She told him she called the cops but before they ever got there he fled to who knows where.
When Kin turned seventeen he told his mother that he no longer wanted her hospitality and left too. He said it was because she kicked his father out. She tried to explain that she didn't, but he didn't listen." Mac took a breath. "They don't talk about Kin much because of what happened. But Mort still remembers his father trying to kill him." I sat there in silence. "If you ask him he might tell you more, he told me he was very fond of you." he smiled. I never would have guessed that Mort was an outcast but stranger things happen.
"It's almost time to go through the vortex." The conductor hollered and went back to his station. "What's the Vortex?" I asked Mac. "That's how we get to our planet. It's quite a trip." He laughed. "Did you hear? We are about to enter the Vortex." Mort yelled coming into the other room. "Shut up Mort, you're so loud." Jill came in behind him. "Why don't you look out the window? It is really a site to see." I turned to look out but all I saw was a huge black tunnel up ahead. "That's the vortex?" I asked. "Yep. That tunnel up ahead is where we enter our new home for a week or so." Mort said jumping on the couch next to me, putting both hands on my shoulders and shaking me back and forth excitedly.
As we slowly entered the tunnel the lights went completely out. It almost sounded like the train turned off. But a sudden jerk of the cars and we accelerated into a tunnel of colors, twisting and dancing we tumbled upside down and side to side, like a roller coaster. I was screaming with laughter enjoying the moment with everyone else, suddenly the train thumped back on tracks and we seemed to be in a whole different environment. Sand desserts on one side and a vast grass land on the other.
Never thinking about what could happen next, I realized I couldn't turn back from death now.
Chapter twelve the men in black suits
The train started to pull in to a large station with huge stained glass windows, almost like a church. It was clean and filled with similar looking aliens, very close to what we look like. The only difference was they wore weird outfits, tight to their body and they had face paint on, all different. The Train came to a halt and the conductor came out and said, "Give us a few minutes to prepare you to leave the train." We all sat back down on the couches.
Two large men boarded the train, both with large muscles and bald heads. Like the aliens they wore tight black suits and crazy colored masks of paint. "Hello team one," one said with a different kind of accent. "We are on planet Mehroon, the Deskert planet as you call it. Half grass half sand. The village you will be playing in is Hunroo, very popular, it will be easy to blend in but watch out for the town dwellers, they are just as nasty as your components. If you succeed in blending into their society they will take you in as one of their own and leave you be. But if you disrupt them in any way, they will turn against you and kill you on the spot." He began. "The woods are filled with creatures you are unknown to and are very dangerous. Who is the team leader?" he asked. "I am sir." Mac said stepping forward. The man gave him a manila envelope. Mac pulled a slip of paper out showing directions to where our Tracker is located.
"We will escort you to the center of town where you will be for the next two days, and then we will let the games begin. We already have your belongings in your transportation vehicle. This way." The man showed the way off the train. We all followed him onto the platform but I was so excited and so in awe that I almost got lost. I saw signs saying "welcome to Mehroon" and things I couldn't read because it was in a different language. The large archways where many doors hung were so large that the aliens going in and out of never let them close. Luckily Mort saw me lose myself and came to my rescue. He took a grab of my hand and laughed, "We can't already lose you Lilly." Just the way the light was hitting his face he looked like an angel. I blushed a little when he wasn't looking.
We carried on with the rest of our group up the stairs and outside. There was a car waiting for us, commonly used on our planet as well. It looked like a taxi of some sort but not yellow, it was black. The sign on the top said Hunroo town central. Mort's fingers slipped into my fingers locking hands, almost like a couple would do. He looked down and smiled at me, staring into my big blue eyes. Something strange happened with his eyes pupils, they started getting larger and smaller without any light change. He looked away immediately and took his hand from mine.
"Wait." I demanded. "Come back here." "What is it?" he tried to play cool. "I know something's up, spit it out I want to know, now." I said deeply. "Nothing's up, I have no idea what you mean?" he joked. I just stared at him with my hands on my hips in disbelief. "Alright, alright." He whispered. "There is something up, but you brother said I shouldn't tell you. It would change things between us." "Oh, well we don't want that." I said blushing. "Are you two 'chatter bugs' done chatting up a storm, we have to go remember?" Mac yelled. We ran off into the taxi car and drove off into the place where we could possibly die.
Chapter thirteen taxi ride
The ride wasn't too bad. The seats were nice leather and it was very roomy, the outside of the vehicle looked small but inside was like a limo. The man driving the "limo", if that's what you want to call it, was separated from us by a foggy piece of glass, almost like ice. There was nothing else to do but look out the window and see the aliens walking on the street.
People dressed in tight uniforms all different colors, but mostly blue or black. Walking their, pets? These hairless dog things with two legs and large floppy ears were walking along with their owners. The signs I couldn't read, and there were many buildings with tall antennas.
"Why would America ever want to be this?" I bluntly said and everyone turned their heads at me. "What do you mean, 'why would America ever want to be this?' this is all we want!" Mac exclaimed. "America wants to be the biggest county out there. We live to be big. And people want to be a part of this because we are so successful." He answered.
I looked back outside, and craned my neck upward toward the sky. The sun was out, but so were the stars, they were brightly glistening and strong like the sun. "Weird." I whispered but I was heard by Mort who was sitting close to me. "What is it?" "Look," I pointed up. "The stars and sun are out at the same time." Mort just laughed. "That's not a sun. That's artificial. The sun already went super nova and had to create a fake sun. It's night time lil'." Mort laughed some more. "What's so funny about their sun exploding, that's a horrible thing to be laughing about." Jill said sternly, and Mac and I agreed by shaking our heads. Mort's smile slowly faded into a straight face, he had nothing else to say but sit there and be in an awkward position.
I pressed my face back up to the window and stared at the sun. It slowly dimed now and eventually turned night. The stars now lit up the sky with three moons and didn't show any mercy to turn down their lights.
"How are the moons so bright if there is no sun?" I asked hopping for no laughing this time. "Those aren't moons lil" Mort said again. "Those are artificial too." He said this time without laughing. "We will learn more about Mehroon when we arrive at the village center." Mac said. "You can ask all the questions you want there." He said smiling.
The ride grew quiet. We all ended up falling asleep just because it was dark out. Back on earth, in the train, it was only four o' clock. Here it's ten. Mort and I fell asleep together, my head on his shoulder and his head on my head. It was quite comfortable until the car slammed on its breaks and we both woke up.
We were finally there in the village center. It was so close to game time, and my nerves gained stronger. I was no longer fearless, I became fearsome.
Chapter fourteen the center of town.
The tower was gigantic. You couldn't see the top because it reached pass the white cotton clouds. Each step was hideous. My body became tense and I was unable to relax. The aliens gathered around us staring with disgust in their eyes as if we were criminals being put in the slammer. They booed and spat at us like a bunch of mutts readying to pounce.
The two men who escorted us off the train rushed us into the building before it became a riot outside. A gunshot sound right as we entered the doors and a loud grunt from one of the men. He fell right next to my feet and I jumped with disgust. The other man fell right next to him, but not dead. He was sobbing, stocking his bald head and said "He was such a good friend, my only friend." He went on but Mort pushed me to the back and I really didn't see what was going on after that.
It was a sad moment, even though I didn't really know that man I still felt sorry for him because I know what it's like to lose someone you love. We just carried on, still able to hear his sobs and cries another employ came over to us and escorted us to the 49th floor.
Not saying I'm afraid of heights, but now, I think I might be. When we got to our room, there were two beds with dark purple comfitures and black pillows. The room was bright though with all the lights, one was tall, like a tube of orange and reds that eliminated in those colors. Another was just an ordinary light with a lemon yellow shade. But what really struck me was the color of the walls, lime green. I loved it and I was happy I was staying here for a night.
We all unpacked, I didn't have anything to unpack because all Mac told me to bring was a back pack with an extra shirt for sleeping. He had all the things, even things I didn't know we had.
Everyone was tired, but Mac didn't want to go to sleep, and neither did I. "I'm just going to go see what I can muster up down in the library of Mehroon." Mac said. "I'm coming too." I said quickly. He just looked at me in a way I knew he didn't want me going. He just shook his head and we began out the door.
He ran out as I just stared at him, and then slowly walked after him. We were many feet away, without talking. But I soon broke the silence.
"Stop." I spoke. But he didn't stop. "Stop!" I said louder still walking. "Mac stop right now!" I yelled at him so loud this time. He stopped turned around and had a blank expression. "What?" he gawked. "What the hell was all of that, why were those people so angry with us being here? I thought you said you have never seen any planet not want to be a part of America." I said. "Yeah well, I can't be right with everything. Listen, I must have gotten something stuck in your brain that this will be easy. Now that I've seen the way these villagers act, the best way to win is to not be in the town much longer. I need to know more about this planet, if you want to help go back to the room. I don't need you." he said turning away and walked down the hall. I didn't keep my eye off him until he pushed the button for the elevator.
I walked slowly back down the dark blue rug staring at my feet. My shoes made me smile a bit, I remember when we went to a board walk once by this lake, I can't remember which. We were walking up and down, and then I saw them, these shoes in the window, only twenty five dollars too, what a steal. They were sky blue with white clouds on them, reminding me of all the dreams I had of flying. I just had to have them.
He bought them for me that day. I was so excited that I couldn't wait until I got home to put them on. Too bad things weren't as happy as that now. They aren't that pretty shade of blue anymore but now a musty coating of brown stained on them.
I walked sternly back in to the door, closed, of course. I knocked because I didn't have the keys. Jill opened it and gave me a very concerned look. "What happened?" Mort shouted from behind. Jill stopped me by the door she obviously could tell from my expression that I wasn't happy, not one bit.
"Why aren't you with Mac? I thought you were going to help him research?" Jill asked. "I was, until he lashed out and said he didn't need me and to come back here." We all looked away from each other.
I don't know why he is acting like this. Maybe it's the pressure of his little sister being in this so called game with him, and every move could be risky. He has to learn I'm not just a little girl anymore, I'm not defenseless. I know how to protect myself and better yet I know how to kill.
Back home just about a year after my parents' deaths, I was still young, but I was strong. One night it was almost eight o clock and Mac called me in for bed. I didn't listen. I wanted to watch the sunset go down and see the stars come up, I remember those stars, and it was like someone poking tiny holes into a cardboard box letting little slivers of light come in. unfortunately some creepy guy, probably drunk, crossed paths with me. He smashed his bottle on the ground and started at me with it. I was more brave then afraid, so I grabbed his wrist and bent it down toward his stomach, surly enough it sliced into his stomach and he bled to death. Mac said it was self defense and I wasn't going to be sent to jail, even though I was self conscious with it for months.
One thing I remembered clearly was, when that broken glass penetrated his skin, and my hands got covered in blood, I screamed for Mac, never once did I shed a tear. To this day I think I was meant to be a killer.
Chapter fifteen next chapter
He has been gone for hours, and I'm beginning to get worried. What if he went on a rampage and got kicked out? Surly we would be notified. What if he got in a fight with another team? Surly we would be notified then too.
"Chill out! You walking in circles, it's making me dizzy. Take a seat." Mort said while patting the bed he was laying on. I finally sat down on the bed but not for long. Mac came storming in.
"What is it? What happened?" Jill demanded an answer. She practically dragged him from where he was standing to the seat next to the kitchen table.
"There wasn't anything on this planet in that library. I've never seen so many empty spaces in my life." His voice was filled with rage. "What do you mean? Did someone take them out? Maybe another team took them?" Mort asked. "No! They don't want us to know anything! I think they know." Mac said. "They know what?" I asked in confusion.
Mac just looked at me, his face softened and his voice calmed down. "Let's all get some sleep, we'll need it for tomorrow." I knew they were hiding something from me, since the train and that whole yelling spree at Mort for I don't even know what! I hate them not telling me I would like to know.
I climbed into the bed with Jill and Mac clicked the lights out while sliding in under the covers on the sofa. It was a silent night, no dreams or disturbances. It all changed when morning came and Jill got sick.
Chapter sixteen Jill sick
At first she just said she felt sick, but then she had to run to the bathroom and vomit. It smelt horrible but Mac was there rubbing her back the whole time. I still can't tell, are they a couple? Great more secret. How am I ever going to trust any of them with my life if they can't just tell me what's going on?
"Will they disqualify us for a team member being sick?" I asked Mort. We were both looking at the closed door down a small hallway hearing Jill throw up. "if she is this bad tomorrow I don't think we will be going, but they let us make the decisions, or I'm pretty sure." Mort began. I just nodded.
He walked slowly down the hall way and knocked. Mac opened the door, I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I'm sure he asked Mac if we should go down to the breakfast.
"Let's go Lilly." Mort said guiding me out of the room. "Is everything ok? I mean, is she ok?" I asked being shoved into the elevator. "Yeah, it could have just been the food on the train." Mort said hesitantly.
He pressed the number one and we shot down, and in less than five seconds, we were at the bottom all shaken up. I felt wobbly from how fast we were going on the elevator, and it felt like I was going to get sick like Jill. But we both pressed on practically carrying each other.
I started seeing the other teams, and I began to feel sick again. Mort must have felt the same way because he looked green as well, although he did get the first word in, "Good to meet you, I'm Mort, from team one." He said to Milo, or I think was Milo. "Nice to meet you to, I'm Milo Ventimi; this is my fiancé Riley, and her best friend Linda, and my best man, Matt." He said.
I was shocked that he had a fiancé already; he looked the same age as Mac. "Our whole group isn't here yet. One of our team members got ill, but we are all sure it's going to pass over. But this is Lilly Sullivan. She's new to all of this." Mort introduced. "Well it's nice to meet you as well." Milo said. "Your hair is marvelous, in fact, my older sister dyed her hair hot pink, and I loved it!" everyone seemed nice and everyone seemed to get along well.
The emotion in the air changed when Matt asked "Did you guys try going to the library last night? They wouldn't let us in for some reason. They said we weren't allowed to enter ever!" he said it in more of a whispered tone so he didn't draw attention to the group. "Yeah, Mac said the same thing, he got all worked up about it, and he was really pissed. I wonder what's in there?" Mort said.
"who knows? We will never find out because tomorrow we start the competition, good luck to your team, we hope we see you in the arena." Milo said waving off. His whole team followed and we just stood there.