Welcome to the Prologue for this new story. Please note that this story will be put on hold for the moment until I finish my other projects. Expect Chapter 1 to arrive when my other PnF fanfic 'What Happened to Us?' is complete. Until then, I hope you enjoy this teaser for; 'The Girl of Warehouse 5'.
Isabella sat down on the dining room chair and crossed her legs. She began to rub her hands with anxiety. Upstairs was her husband, talking to her daughter. It was her first day of school today and, like any young kid, she was scared. It wasn't unlike how she felt on her first day of school in Danville. As she was deep in thought, Phineas descended the stairs.
"How is she?" said Isabella, shooting up from her chair.
"She's scared. She doesn't want to go."
"I'll have a talk with her."
"Call me when you have. I don't like seeing her like this."
"Of course I will." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck at work dear."
"Thanks" Isabella kept her faux smile until he walked out the door. She ascended the stairs and entered Marie's room slowly and saw her lying on her bed, crying. She closed the door behind her and walked gently up to her.
"Marie? Honey?" She reached out her hand to console her daughter when she spoke up.
"I don't want to go, mommy" she said sobbing.
"Why not?" said Isabella now sitting on the side of her bed.
"I'm scared"
"Honey there's nothing to be afraid of. Everyone has to go to school"
"But I don't wanna"
"I was scared once. When I went to school I was much like you. I didn't want to go." Marie turned around and looked her mother in the eyes. "It was the scariest thing I had to do. Not so much the idea of school, but the idea of a new town and a new school. I didn't know anyone. Then I met your father and uncle and it changed my life forever. You won't be alone like I was honey. You have your cousins Thomas, Xavier and Fred and I hear your uncle Baljeet's daughter is starting this year too. You lot just stick together and you'll be fine." She began to stroke her daughter's hair as her head rested in her lap.
"But… what if people don't like me?"
"Honey, come on. I'm sure everyone will like you." She didn't look convinced. "But… if anyone doesn't like you, it's not your fault. Anyone who doesn't like you doesn't deserve your time. Just stick with your friends and you'll fit in." She still looked unconvinced. "Would you feel better if I picked up your cousins before you go to school?"
"M… maybe" she replied.
"Right." Marie got up off her mother's lap as Isabella headed for her door. "Come on." Marie unwillingly got up off her bed and followed her mother downstairs. Marie then sat on the sofa and turned the channel on the TV to a kids show. Meanwhile, Isabella picked up the household phone and called her uncle.
"Hello? Ferb?" No reply came. "Ferb? Hello? Ferb, it's been twenty years and you still don't talk? You know it doesn't really work when you're on the phone!"
"Hello?" asked a voice from the other end of the line.
"Hello? Ferb?"
"Yeah sorry, Thomas picked up the phone. He's not exactly 'excited' to start school."
"Yeah, mine too. She's more scared than bored though. I was wondering, can I take the kids to school today? It's for her benefit really. I just want her to know that Thomas, Xavier, Ferb and Jasmine are all there for her."
"You gonna pick up all the kids in Danville?" he asked sarcastically.
"Erm… no. I just want them to support her, you know."
"I know. Alright, I'll tell Thomas."
"Oh, and could you let Candace and Baljeet know to?"
"Anything else?" he replied sarcastically again.
"Nope, that's it Ferb" she said politely. Ferb sighed before hanging up on her. She smiled and put the phone down herself. "Marie, get your coat on." She frowned, as it was in the middle of her favourite cartoon, and hopped off from the sofa. As Marie got her coat on, Isabella helped her do it up. "We're going to Auntie Candace's first, then your Uncle Baljeet's and then your Uncle Ferb's. If Ferb has worked his magic, Thomas, Xavier, Ferb and Jasmine should be coming with us. Is that okay, honey?"
"Yeah" she replied dimly. She took her mother by the hand as she led her outside to the car. Isabella buckled Marie in the front passenger seat and then got into her side to drive. The drive to Candace's was pretty quiet. Marie didn't say much the whole trip there. Isabella knew that she would become more talkative around her friends. As she pulled up outside Candace's house, Candace opened her front door and led Xavier and Fred to the car. As she opened the door and let them get buckled into the back seats, she came around to the passenger window where Isabella lowered it.
"Hi Marie. Ready for your first day of school?" said Candace as Marie ignored her and turned around to Xavier and Fred.
"She doesn't want to go" said Isabella.
"Every first day is hard. She'll learn to enjoy it, I'm sure."
"So…" began Marie, "What do you do at school?" she asked Xavier and Fred.
"I sit under the tree in the schoolyard" said Xavier.
"I sit next to him" said Fred. Marie looked at them like she had never seen them before. She never really played with them before, not for any extended time. Somehow she thought they were… well, broken.
"Mommy, Xavier and Fred are broken" stated Marie
"Marie, that isn't very nice" said Isabella.
"Don't worry about it. Marie, Xavier and Fred… aren't very complicated. There not broken just… look, you don't have to worry about them, okay dear?" Marie nodded her head and Candace waved them goodbye as the headed to Baljeet's house.
The drive there was as quiet as the last one. Marie kept herself to herself while Xavier and Fred just sat smiling to themselves. Isabella began to feel uncomfortable with the silence in the car, no matter how loud she had the radio on. Fortunately, they arrived at Baljeet's house before Isabella would feel compelled to make her daughter talk to her cousins. She hated family being split apart. Baljeet emerged from his house and walked towards the car while Isabella rolled down her window.
"Hi Baljeet, is she ready?"
"I'm sorry Isabella, Jasmine wanted to take the school bus. Ferb did not call me until she had already left."
"The school bus, really?"
"Yes, she could not wait to get to school. She is very eager to learn. I'm sorry if this has spoiled your plans."
"Oh, no problem. I still got to pick up Thomas from Ferb's. So, how's the missus?"
"You know, being herself. She is being a bit of a pain today with school and all but she will be better after Jasmine's first day. How is Marie?"
"Shy. She'll pluck up after her first day too. Well, I gotta go or this lot will be late." Baljeet waved them goodbye as they headed to Ferb's house.
Another long and silent trip later, Isabella pulled up outside Ferb's house. Ferb emerged from his house with Thomas in tow. Vanessa stood at the doorway and looked on as Ferb led Thomas into the car. He went to plug in his seatbelt but Thomas stopped his dad and buckled himself in. Ferb smiled and went around to Isabella's window.
"No Jasmine?"
"Already at school."
"Defiantly takes from her father." The two shared a laugh until an alarm came from Thomas. Thomas looked at his watch.
"Aunt Isabella? We gotta go now if were gonna get to school."
"Sorry Tom, see you later Ferb" Isabella rolled up her windows as Thomas muttered to himself.
"It's Thomas." Both Ferb and Vanessa waved them away.
As Isabella approached the school, she noticed Marie was becoming more talkative. Thomas was now being the quiet one. He would usually respond by shrugging his shoulders or with a: 'I dunno'. Isabella felt relieved that she had finally reached the school. Outside, teachers were helping students, old and new, inside. Isabella took them out of the car and towards the school. As Xavier and Fred wondered into the building, Isabella led Marie and Thomas to a teacher.
"Hi, Miss Mathers isn't it?" she asked.
"Why yes and who are these little guys?" the teacher replied with a Canadian accent.
"This is Marie and Thomas; they're cousins and only children."
"I see. We better keep you two together, eh?" Both Marie and Thomas didn't reply. Marie was too scared and Thomas didn't feel like saying anything. "Well come on you two. I'll take you where you need to go." Before the two departed with Miss Mathers, Isabella pulled Thomas aside.
"Thomas, just keep an eye on Marie will you. I know you might feel like it's a waste of time but, she's your cousin. She's the closet thing she has to a brother so, could you make sure she has a nice time today? Please?" Thomas shrugged.
"I suppose." She tussled his hair and let him go back to Miss Mathers. As she waved them goodbye and Miss Mathers led them into the school, Marie broke away and ran to her mom. Isabella, instinctively, knelt down and gave her daughter a huge hug. She kissed her daughter on the forehead and Marie ran back to Thomas and Miss Mathers. Isabella smiled and got back in her car. As she sat in her seat, she let out a huge sigh of relief. She had got her daughter to school. Her mission was complete. She sat in her car for about half an hour before she decided to make her way back.
As she was driving along the main road, she glanced at the time on the dashboard. She slowed down and closed her eyes for a second before taking a wrong turn to get back home. The longer she drove, the further away she was from home. She had a look of remorselessness on her face as she made her way out of Danville. She kept driving at the same speed and every time she had to slow down or stop, she clenched her hands on the well and gritted her teeth. As she continued to drive into the middle of nowhere, she drove up to an industrial estate. She left the car outside and headed into the industrial estate. She walked down the path, past numerous companies who had offices there. As she continued down the path, she suddenly took a right turn, down a small alley way between two of the buildings. This led her to the back of the estate where there were a series of warehouses stood in a row. She looked at all of them before focusing her attention to the fifth warehouse which had an appropriately painted '5' on top of it. As she walked towards the tall structure, she took a moment to marvel at the size of the place. While it didn't hold the technology of Phineas' S.H.E.D, it was sturdy, tough and out of the way. She walked over to the left side of the warehouse where a swipe card terminal was located. She pulled out a black card from her pocket and swiped it through the machine. As she put the card back in her pocket, the metal shutter began to rise. She quickly made her way back to the front where the shutters revealed nothing. Nothing of value to anyone at least. Inside the warehouse were a few stacks of cardboard boxes, an old worn out bed and a lot of cobwebs. Isabella stepped inside the warehouse. She didn't step far though as she reached another swipe terminal. She took out her card again and swiped it through the machine which caused the metal shutters to close. As they did, Isabella took a deep breath and closed her eyes. As the shutters completely closed, Isabella was bathed in darkness, for a short while at least. Suddenly, light filled the room as the dull, old and dirty room vanished into pixels and then into nothing, revealing a clean, bright and high tech room filled with computers. One feature stood out though. A large glass box. The box stood in the middle of the room, connected to the computers through the wires on the floor. Inside this box was something that Isabella had been hiding from her friends and family. Something she had been hiding since the start of her adult life.
Inside the box… was a woman. A woman with tattered brown and black clothes and dark black hair. Her face was hidden by her hair as she hung her head low. She was chained up in the box, restraints at her hands and feet. Isabella walked slowly to some monitoring equipment and began to flick numerous switches and pull numerous levers. While she was doing this, she was also keeping her attention on the woman in the box. She moved away from the computers and walked over to the side of the box where a large metal door stood. Again, she swiped her black card through another terminal located on the door and, after the door began to hiss, the door opened slightly. Isabella pushed the door open and checked the restraints holding the woman captive. After checking all four, she walked out of the box and over to a small refrigerator located in the corner of the room. There, she picked up a small plate covered with cling film. She ripped off the cling film, revealing a small portion of lamb, potatoes and carrots and shoved it into a nearby microwave. She turned around and leaned on the side of the table, keeping an eye on her captive. After two minutes, she took out the plate and re-joined her captive in her cell. She put down the plate on the floor and began to remove her arm restraints. She removed the one restrains and her captive's arm flopped down. She was weak. She removed the second one and her captive fell to the floor with a hard thud. Isabella stood back and crossed her arms. After a few seconds, the woman began to stir. Isabella kicked the plate in front of her and stood back once more.
"Eat up" she said. The woman, her hair still covering her face, sat up. As her hair surrounded her like a veil, she coughed, moving her hair out of the way for a few brief moments. Her eyes were a deep blue, like Isabella's. Her eyebrows were thin and delicate, like Isabella's. Her hair was pitch black, long and flowing, like Isabella's. Her frame was tall and slender, like Isabella's. The woman looked up at her captor, her hair moving off her face and flowing behind her. For both women it was like staring into a mirror.
"Hi Isabella" the woman said sarcastically in Isabella's voice. "So, what'cha doin?" Isabella uncrossed her arms and began to walk towards her captive as the chained Isabella grinned.
So, Isabella's secret is that she holds another Isabella captive. What does this mean? Where did she come from? Which is the real Isabella? The origins of this 'Other Isabella' will be explored when the story starts in Chapter 1. Remember to leave a review if you enjoyed this and… who knows, if there's enough demand, I might get Chapter 1 out before I finish my other fanfic.