Chapter One: Down The Drainpipe
'The future belongs to the insane, because only we will be able to survive there. The rest of you? Think of it as punishment for the insults you spat. The normal will never be good enough.' ~ A quote from me, The Author, just because I can.
Alix Bryars, your not so average thirteen year old girl, sighed loudly as she saw her best friend literally drop past her from the sky. Note that Alix was currently on a roof. For reasons not even the two girls knew they'd been invited to the birthday party of Corman Hallow, a guy who was extremely popular in their school and just so happened to own a mansion. A freaking mansion. His parents were obviously filthy rich, which only prompted Alix to wonder why they sent their son to TKC, a public secondary school which was pretty much home to the insane half of the entire population of Somsbery, where they lived.
Both Alix and Sophie Jones, Alix's best friend, had been invited to their class'mates' thirteenth birthday party, along with the the rest of the students in their year, as well as a couple of Corman's out of school friends. It shouldn't be that bad; massive house, great food -except the caviar. Sophie absolutely hated caviar- halfway decent music and thank god there were no adults to spot the snuck in alcohol. Problem was that Corman was a massive prick and only invited them to embarrass them, insult their fashion sense and generally make their lives a living nightmare. Yeah, nobody liked them very much if you couldn't tell by now. As in they'd both been told to die not very much.
Unfortunately for Corman they'd found that 'secret' bookshelf that slid right to reveal a staircase that led up, and now they were on the roof and nobody could figure out how to get to them. The mansion was ridiculously large, the party taking place near the back by the annoyingly huge garden, which had a hedge maze somewhere in it it was so big.
Now, see what I meant when I said this place was massive?
The place they were in kinda resembled a courtyard, a massive square of the house that was like one giant half a mile by half a mile room. There was a big ass pool in the middle -Corman had supplied quick dry swimsuits- a non alcoholic bar on the left, which was currently unarmed, people coming up an refilling their champagne glasses as they wished. The bar was also where the alcohol was currently being hidden, but we're not supposed to talk about that.
On the right was a smallish stage where a massive karaoke thing was set up. There was a microphone in the middle, nobody singing at that current time, on the right was a box with a computer rested on it so people could choose the songs. In the front of the stage was a small machine where the words would appear for the singer to read. Behind the stage the wall was painted black, a projector screening whatever video went along with the song, whether it be lyrics or the video of the original performers.
The rest was just the tiled floor, the room lit up by professional disco lighting that seemed to be installed as an actual feature to the room rather than just rented for the night. Music was pumping through the room due to the fact that nobody was currently singing at the karaoke; when somebody sang the music would be paused so the person performing could be heard. The two friends were perched atop the edge of the wall surrounding the courtyard slash party room, looking down on the party that was pretty much a private club as far as they were concerned. Screw the host inviting the entire year group, Corman had seemingly invited the entire school, considering the fact that there were year tens doing... Stuff in a corner -were those drugs? Sophie was pretty sure they were drugs- and some Six Formers taking shots in the pool. Guess that would explain who brought the alcohol, eh?
Well now that I've given an ordinance survey worthy description of the room, where were we? Oh, yes, Sophie had just jumped off the top off the roof. That.
Alix rolled her eyes as her friend ran past her, jumping off the edge of the wall as easily as if it were a springboard. Sophie had mentioned something about doing this, but of course the smaller of the two never believed her friend was actually serious. Looks like she was. Sophie had brought her own two piece swim suit, having anticipated the pool. (Meaning she'd broken in and explored the area, taking photos for Alix) It was black and sparkly and more importantly black. Sophie liked black. As well as death and knives and violence in general. She was kinda emo like that.
So Sophie launched herself off the roof, everyone's eyes immediately drawn to the vaguely sparkling blob of black and skin that was currently plummeting from the sky at like a billion miles per hour. The thought that if Sophie hit the water the wrong way she might die flitted across Alix's mind; she thought she should be slightly concerned, but... Nah. Sophie could handle this, and hey, if she did die it'd just mean Corman would have to do a loada paperwork. Hehehe...
After a few flips the tall girl hit the water feet first, plunging into the pool and making a massive wave, which proceeded to swamp all the other swimmers. The girl resurfaced, grinning ear to ear as she climbed out the pool, everyone staring at her. There was shocked silence for a few moments as Sophie made her way towards the right side of the room, heading for the corridor that led towards the bookcase. That's about when Corman spoke up.
"Hey! That areas off limits, you can't go over there!"
The girl turned around, the material of her swimsuit already drying off in the warm summer air as she looked Corman dead in the eyes with the cold brown of her own. The boy had every reason to be terrified at that moment.
"Or what?"
Sophie suppressed a smirk as Corman gulped, the room dead silent as they looked at the supposedly insane girl who'd apparently broken someone's arm once. Both the rumours were true, and nobody particularly wanted to get in a fight with her; sure, they'd insult her a lot, send her death threats and try to play mind games with her. But a full on fight? No thanks.
"Er... Or I'll kick you out! Yeah, don't go up there or I'll make you leave!"
The audience were scared as they saw exactly who Corman was challenging, but as she threw her head back and laughed they were absolutely terrified.
"You? Stop me? Jeez, Corman, I didn't think you'd want an ambulance to be called into your birthday party, but if you're sure..."
Sophie was already grinning madly at this point, so she didn't have to suppress the smile as she saw her cousin, Ano, give her the thumbs up from one corner. Ano was in year ten and she knew Sophie wouldn't actually do anything to put Corman in hospital... Probably. The entire crowd actually took a step back as Sophie took a step forwards, mad smile still in place.
"Corman, I challenge you..."
The entire school thought they knew what the girl was going to say next; she was going to challenge Corman to a fight, and he would come out of it dead, or at least with a few less limbs. Fortunately for the birthday boy that's not what happened.
"To a rapping challenge! Choose the fastest rap you can think of at that karaoke... Thing, and see who wins! I'll let you go first, seeing as it's your birthday and all that."
Corman was shocked to say the least. Everyone knew that Sophie was more a violent person than anything else, none of them imagined she could sing, let alone rap. Besides, the stereotype made it seem as though only boys were good at rap, right? She didn't stand a chance, especially considering Corman's infamous rapping skills.
"What's in it for me?"
"Winner gets bragging rights. You win and I'll kiss your ass, loose and I'll kick it."
"You're on, but... Ladies first?"
"Get on that stage now or you're as good as dead."
That was all it took, and a minute later Corman was on the stage rapping like his life depended on it, which it pretty much did at this point, seeing as who he was up against and all that.
" Negative b plus or minus the square root of
b squared minus four ac over two a
That's insane, that's absolutely insane
they made me learn that over basic first aid?
Or how to recognise the most deadly mental disorders
Or disease with preventable causes"
Sophie looked to her left as Alix popped up besides her, having made her way down from the roof in a much more sensible way than her friend; she'd taken the stairs rather than jumping off. Booriiing.
"What do you think, Sophie? He's pretty good."
The taller of the two and also oldest by a few months shrugged, crossing her arms as Corman's voice continued to fill the room.
"Hn. Amateur, good choice of song though, never would have thought he'd know about BIAB."
"So... What song are you going to choose?"
Sophie looked over to her best friend, a slight smile still on her face.
"I'm gonna do Party By Myself."
"But Sophie! That's the fastest song there is, you can't possi-"
"Sped up."
"Or how to buy a house with a mortgage
If I could afford it
Because abstract maths was deemed more important
Than advice that would literally save thousands of lives
But it's cool because now I can tell you if the number
Of unnecessary deaths caused by that choice is prime."
Once Corman was done the room burst into applause, cheering and whistling blah blah blah. The boy grinned at his guests for a couple moments as Sophie made her way towards the stage, coughing a couple times. She had not only chosen one of the fastest raps ever but she was going to be singing to the karaoke of the nightcored version, which basically means the sped up version. She rolled her eyes as Corman spoke into the microphone before handing it to her.
"Beat that, Jones! No way can you win now!"
"Uhu. If that head of yours grows any more it's gonna burst, you know that?"
A few snickers sounded through the room as the brunet made her way over to the computer, clicking a few buttons before she found herself on YouTube, searching up the right clip and stretching, twirling the microphone in her hands a couple times as she waited for the advert to finish. The song she had chosen was pretty appropriate because they were at the party, half the guests were insane considering they went to TCK, the boys were taking any chance they could to get a girlfriend and the sixth formers were still taking shots. Add that with the fact neither Sophie nor Alix particularly wanted to be there and the scene went with the song perfectly.
The song mixed between rap and actual singing, but the rapping part was ridiculously fast. It was widely known as the 'impossible song' in their school because nobody had managed to sing it, and the second the opening played everyone was immediately laughing.
"You're never gonna sing this!"
"It's faster, too! The normal versions insane, this is impossible!"
(I changed the lyrics of the song because the original is completely not appropriate even for this story. If any of you have innocence left, I wanna help you preserve it)
The girl ignored the comments, rolling her eyes and beginning to sing the opening lines.
"I'm fresh to death, I'm in the zone
I checked my head, but no one's home
The mood is right, the party's on
Looks like tonight, I'll be drinking alone
Screw everyone else, I'mma party by myself
Do this shit all night, I don't need nobody else
Screw everyone else, I'mma party by myself
Higher than a kite, with nobody but myself"
Compared to Corman's song this one fit the theme of the party because his was child friendly, and hers? Sophie's song was most definitely not child friendly. At all.
"By myself
By myself
By myself
By myself
By myself
By myself
By myself
By myself"
There was silence as everyone waited for the rapping verse to start. Would she make it? Could she? Nobody believed this weird girl they loved to pick on could possibly pull it off, she'd never be able to do it. Not possible. If they couldn't, then she definitely couldn't. No way.
"One more shot, then it's time to roll
Smoke these crops and I'm out the door
Chug some rock, but I sip Patron
Reload my glock till you explode
You died? I'll go out alone
Bitch you must be out your dome
Fresh new kicks, I cut off the floor
Ludacris, I throw them 'bows
Life of the party, got the bitches laughing
Funny on-point, my joke's cracking
Dance on my own just to get some action
Looking in the mirror like I'm Michael Jackson
Cause this is risky, don't try to diss me
I get more shit than a bowl of Friskies
I roll solo, can't keep up with me
You go home early like you're flipping sixty
You're amazed the rap is peaking
I think you're having trouble speaking
You a freak and I like freaking
Me, myself, and I've been drinking"
People actually started cheering as Sophie pulled off the rapping verse, without a single slip up or mumble. It was clear that she'd won now; Corman didn't stand a chance. They went through the singing verse again, the crowd joining in, then they all stopped as they got to the second rapping verse, which was even faster than the first one and had gained the song the title of impossible.
"Picked myself up in my Mitsubishi
Said "What's up? It's nice to meet me"
Never met someone so damn freaky
Who, at the same time, is such a sweetie
So when everybody else is being such a puss
Doesn't mean you can't straight get off the hook
I don't need another gun to blow up dem books
I can party all night yeah aim and shoot
So I'mma go out and do some thrashing
Show everybody what the hell is cracking
Cause this badass gun can do some damage
If you don't think so, you can screw a rabbit
I don't need no static when I feed my habits
So don't be combatant when I wreak some havoc
From these drugs I'm having; where's my keys, goddamnit?
I should be out having shots not standing here rapping
In my Nissan, blacking out, I need some action
Like a peon tapping from this heat I'm packing
My mind is lagging, let me see what happens
When you kids are clapping, Sophie. J is rapping!"
Sophie launched into the singing verse right again, Alix watching with a wolf like grin as she picked up on the fact that Sophie had tweaked the original lyrics. She'd replaced 'Charles.P is rapping' with Sophie.J is rapping, and the shorter of the two best friends couldn't help but be slightly impressed. How the hell could Sophie even think whilst rapping that fast? It was nuts. Well, at least this party wouldn't be as boring now. Heh.
A while later found both Sophie and Alix walking through the streets of Somsbery, both the girls drunk off vanilla extract. Long story.
"She kicked us out and everything! It was so funny!"
"You were trying to kill Edmund with a kitchen knife, Alix. It's really no wonder Corman's Mum kicked us out after that."
"But he deserved it! He called me a freak!"
"You are a freak, Alix."
"That's not the point!"
The taller of the two rolled her eyes, stretching widely as she looked up at the dark blue of the sky. The two had snuck into the kitchen, and on finding the two bottles of vanilla extract in the cupboard had proceeded to down them, thinking they were rich people lemonade. Turns out that posh vanilla extract is 80% alcohol. Fun. The reason Sophie wasn't now acting like a complete idiot -well, even more of an idiot than usual- was because she seemingly had a higher alcohol tolerance than Alix. Even longer story involving a Halloween party, a bottle of sprite and some vodka. Let's just say Sophie never wants to get a hangover again. Ever.
Corman's Mum had come to the kitchen to get some midnight tea or something. Yeah, the two girls really didn't have a clue how rich people work, but hey, midnight tea sounds better than smoked hamster. She'd caught them putting the now empty vanilla bottles back, and Alix had immediately made the assumption the woman was a thief due to the fact her brain was being controlled by the alcohol she'd just consumed. Sophie had only just managed to stop her friend from beheading the owner of the house, and consequently Alix had ran into the party room yelling about spaceships and trying to shank anyone within five meters.
To put it lightly the two were no longer welcome in the Hallow family mansion -as in they'd get arrested if they set foot on the premises again. Corman's Dad was a cop- so the friends had left, and were now wandering around Somsbery at one O'Clock in the morning with no visible way to defend themselves. I say that because neither of them would hesitate to rip someone's head of.
They walked for a few minutes longer until Alix brought up the topic of her favourite book, Rangers Apprentice. She read that series like a bible, and due to her constant talk of the matter Sophie pretty much knew what the series was about. She didn't know the extensive plot or anything, she'd never actually read the books herself. Although she did know the main character was a guy called Will and that Alix absolutely despised him. She was a Halt fangirl, seemingly.
"And then Halt came in, and he was like 'I'm a King's Ranger, everybody freeze! And then-"
Alix was rendered silent as a hand was suddenly slapped over her mouth, Sophie letting go after a few moments, knowing her friend wouldn't talk again. She pushed the smaller down, crouching next to her behind the wall, signalling at her to shut up.
"Gaki... There are some guys over there that we better avoid."
"What did you do this time, Sophie?"
Alix turned and two pairs of brown eyes met, Sophie's slightly darker than her friends.
"Hey! Why assume it was something I did? Okay so admittedly it was this time, but still!"
Alix just rolled her eyes, then both girls tensed, silent as they heard voices. Getting closer. Talking about 'murdering that annoying brat that had thrown rocks at their car'. At this point Alix glared at Sophie, the taller just raising an eyebrow as if to say 'you should have expected me to do something like that by now'. Unfortunately Alix didn't have time to punch her best friend in the face because they'd just been spotted.
"There she is! Get em!"
"What is this? A sixties movie? Seriously, 'get em' is so overuse-"
Sophie was promptly shut up by Alix grabbing her arm and running, forcing Sophie to follow or trip over her own two feet. The taller twisted round, immediately setting off at a fast sprint, Alix a few paces behind her as they ran. Sophie wasn't really that worried about the guys chasing them until she heard the all too familiar sound of a bullet pinging off metal. She stumbled but managed to catch herself, continuing to run even as she moved a hand up to her mouth to keep the contents of her stomach inside her body rather than out. Yet the hand ended up freezing half way to her mouth as she saw that it was dripping with blood. Coated in it. So much blood...
"Sophie? Are you okay!?"
Sophie's head snapped up to look at her best friend, the taller girl continuing to run numbly as she squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head roughly to clear the fog that had settled over her mind. The older brunet looked down at her hand which was now free of blood, then back to her friend.
"Y-yeah... I'm fine, we just need to get the hell out of here before we get shot."
Alix nodded, both girls picking up their pace as they heard the crack of a gun once again. The smaller looked over at her friend, concerned as she saw Sophie flinch particularly hard at the sound of bullets pinging on metal, but she didn't go into shock like she looked like she'd been about to do just a few seconds ago. They continued running, somehow faster than the sixteen or seventeen year olds chasing them. How the heck did those guys even get their hands on guns, anyways? Meh, it was Somsbery, you could get pretty much anything around here if you knew how.
The girls vaulted benches and fences, running through puddles and mud, even cutting through one old ladies back garden at one point. Let's just say that poor woman's fence has more than a few holes in it now. Oops. The chase continued for a little while longer till Sophie and Alix found themselves running down an alleyway, having just dodged the spray of bullets that would have ended their lives otherwise. When they got to the end of the alleyway, however, they found themselves face to face with a set of stairs they really didn't want to see right now.
"Shit... These are the... The Jacks, aren't they?"
Alix nodded, both girls panting as they took a second to get their breaths back.
"We won't be able to make it up, it's way too steep. Nobody's made it up there, remember that guy that was in the year above us that died trying?"
"Yeah, that kid called Thomas Oblivion. He was nice, I think we would've gotten on well if he hadn't died."
"We would have gotten on well with Nasia if you hadn't broken her arm."
Sophie looked over at Alix, staring at her for a moment before:
"No we wouldn't."
"True. She insulted Rangers Apprentice."
The girls conversation was quickly brought to an end as a bullet hit the wall right next to Sophie's head. The girl flinched violently, thanking whatever holy force was out there that these guys were terrible shots, not needing to look back to know they had just entered the alley and so were right behind them.
"Sophie, you can't seriously be thinking of going up there, it's pretty much suicide, especially in this weather!"
Sophie shrugged, starting to run up the ridiculously steep steps that only got narrower the further up you went, and it was a half hour run to the top. They were in for it.
"Adrenaline can do wonderful things, Gaki. Die and I'll drag you back to kill you again. Now let's go!"
Sophie bit her lip as she continued running, each step she took putting her life in danger. The gun shots had stopped a little while ago, but she could tell the men were still following from the sound of heavy footfall and laboured breathing a little way behind them.
Three men were chasing them, two of them armed and the other one making up for the lack of a gun in body power. Sophie had been minding her own business, making her way home from school and kicking rocks as she went. One went astray and hit a car. Yeah, turns out that was not a fun car to kick rocks at, and next thing she knew she was getting chased by these three guys. She'd lost them somehow, but now they obviously wanted revenge.
It was currently winter, meaning the steps were even more slippery and perilous. One slip would most definitely be fatal, but then again turning back would be too, so they carried running up the Jack And Jill steps, also known as The Jacks. After half an hour of running and two almost fatal accidents on Alix's part the top of the steps seemed to be looming ahead of them. The girls darted forwards in a burst of energy, not looking back. If they looked down now it would all be over.
The two best friends practically leapt up the last stair, looking around wildly at what was the top of the Jack and Jill steps. It was a circle with concrete walls built up around it, not letting anyone climb over. Meaning it was a dead end. They were trapped.
The sound of yelling behind them caused the girls to scramble into the cover of the trees, which dotted the edge of the circle. It would do a terrible job of hiding them, but hey, it was better than nothing. They pressed themselves flat against the wall, hoping the thin pieces of wood would somehow grant them their safety.
"Where the hell are they!?"
"They gotta be somewhere! Nobody can just disappear!"
Sophie decided a comment about how in fact Harry Potter could do that and more wasn't really the best idea right now. Both girls held their breath, not even blinking as they pressed themselves as far back into the wall as they possibly could, wishing they could melt into the hard concrete. The taller of the two's eyes flitted around the small circle of space, frantically searching for anything that could possibly help them. Her eyes latched onto a man hole cover, nothing out of the ordinary except for the fact that the top seemed kinda loose.
"Come out! We know you're there!"
Sophie knew she had to make a choice. Get her and Alix down that storm drain or die trying, or they could just wait here. If they just stayed still there was a chance the guys would leave, but she seriously doubted that. Besides, this place was tiny, it was only a matter of time before they were spotted. It all hinged on whether or not that manhole cover -which, now Sophie was looking at it closely, had a design engraved into the top that looked a lot like a flower- was properly secured to the floor or not. If it was they'd most likely end up dead, but if it wasn't... Well, the brunet didn't particularly like the idea of jumping down into a sewer, but if it came to it...
In a split second decision she grabbed Alix, lunging at the manhole cover and yanking on the handles hard, almost dislocating her arm as the rusty metal holding it down broke to pieces, the decorated cover coming off as yells filled the clearing.
"There they are!"
"Get them!"
Sophie hesitated for a split second, a second that would have gotten them killed if some wind of some sort hadn't then blown, the force of the magical cliché wind sending them tumbling into the hole, Alix first and Sophie a split second after. The taller girl squeezed her eyes shut as the darkness pressed in on her, seeming to fill even her closed eyes and ears and mouth, almost as though it was trying to suffocate her. Sophie couldn't control the fall at all, the thought that they might die just from the impact prominent in the front of her mind as bullets whizzed past her head.
Of course she had no idea they were going to get spat out into another world. It really wasn't her lucky day today, was it?
A/N: Hello everybody. I'd say that this is my first fanfiction, but then I would be lying so I won't. I usually post all my stuff on Wattpad, and nearly a year ago now I wrote Rangers, a story in which me and my best friend Alix go to the Ranger's Apprentice world.
However I decided that story was rubbish, so I've been rewriting. I'm onto chapter seven of the rewrite, but I need to see what people think of it. I'm keeping it a surprise for the people waiting to read it on Wattpad, so I decided hey I might as well just post it on fanfiction.
So yeah, you're feedback is especially crucial right now, so please leave a review even if it is to just say this is trash and I should delete it. Thanks so much to anyone who's bothered to read this,
~Zero