Timeline: Set just after the Wimbledon events in Skeleton Key. The Big Circle Gang is still after Alex, offended that he's outsmarted two of their members. AU from that point, mostly.

Disclaimer: No affiliation with Anthony Horowitz, Puffin or Walker Books. You're shocked, I can tell.

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T h e . L o t u s . D i a r i e s

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Chapter One: The Island

"Some thro' wavering lights and shadows broke,
Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below...
From the inner land: far off, three mountain-tops,
Three silent pinnacles of aged snow...
They sat them down upon the yellow sand,
Between the sun and moon upon the shore."

-- Lord Alfred Tennyson, "The Lotus-Eaters"

The island stood, the definition of enigma.

For Alex, one moment the sea was an endless blue; the next, it was the backdrop to a single atoll - coral reef, gold sands and three distinct purplish mountain tops, sugar coated with a layer of snow.

Alex almost laughed, wondering if he'd stumbled upon Neverland. It was more likely the product of delirium.

He hadn't drank anything for hours. It felt like years. The emptiness in his stomach was a distant ache, but his throat scratched as though clogged with the prickly ends of a cotton bush. Worse than the hunger and the thirst was his confusion. One minute, he was a ball boy at the games in Wimbledon, and the next he was tied to a chair in some kind of abandoned warehouse on China's west coast. He'd had enough with being tied to chairs already, a permanent groove now lining his wrists from the sheer amount of times it happened.

While he didn't remember the events, Alex assumed the man who cornered him at the stadium was a member of the Circle Gang and had taken him to his Big Brothers for interrogating. How Alex managed to remain unconscious for the entire trip from south-west London to China was beyond him, but it mattered little at this point. From what Mrs. Jones had said about them, the only way he'd make it out of the clutches of the Circle Gang alive was to escape.

So he did.

Being a fourteen year old kid gave Alex one frequent advantage: he was always underestimated. Despite knowing his history with MI5 and the CIA, the villain-of-the-week could not help but take one look at the child (albeit a very fit, acerbic child) in front of him and let his guard down. And once his opponent's guard was down, Alex would find an advantage. It might get dirty and push him beyond what he thought he was capable of. But he would do it. He had to.

After the initial we're-going-to-scare-you-and-leave-you-to-think tactic, the Big Brothers left one member to guard Alex. It was a crucial mistake. Alex couldn't overpower the man - he was built like a wall - but he could outwit him...

A grenade exploded two feet from his jet ski, sending a deluge of pressurized salt water onto his face. It stung like mad. But he didn't have time to rub his eyes. Or even blink, for that matter. The man chasing him would have no sympathy for momentary delusions; he'd use any chance to run him down.

Alex heard the roar of the man's speedboat -- a lion-like vrooom against the crashing waves.

He needed a plan, quick.

If that mysterious island wasn't real, he didn't have a chance. If it was, he had a slight greater chance.

With sudden decisiveness, Alex made a run for the island - a seemingly straight line towards its mark.

Alex would have known the man was following him, even if a spray of bullets hadn't streamed by him to confirm it.

There were ripples in the waves below him and Alex wondered if the man could now see the island too. Was he surprised?

Alex hoped so, using that moment of utter confusion to twist his water bike towards the boat, on a course to meet it head on.

Then, Alex jumped. Head first, he dove into the piercing cold water, a hundred shards of ice seeming to rip into his skull.

He moved his arms in front of him, resisting the urge to go towards the surface. He had to stay out of sight as long as possible.

Kicking the water, he willed the island closer.

When he could hold his breath no longer he came to the surface. It was just in time to see a cloud of orange and white debris as the two boats collided.

Then, as though neither vessel had ever been there - they vanished. Zapped away.

Alex gasped.

He looked towards the island again. Yes, it was there, unfazed by the scene so near its shores. It called to him...

Alex went to it.

As he stumbled about the shore, the ground felt strange to his limbs. It seemed like he'd wrestled with the sea for hours. In reality, he had no clue how long it had been.

Alex looked about, not sure where to go from there. He felt the urge to collapse but made himself stand upright. He looked again to the horizon line, searching for any sign of the boats or their wreckage.

Lost in the view, he didn't hear the footsteps approaching behind him.

Before he could turn, something hard struck him in the head. He fell forward, onto the sand, the grit of salt and sand between his teeth a final sensation before succumbing to blackness.

To be continued...

Author's notes, exploding bombshells and the like: I made a few revisions to the first and second chapter. They needed to be polished up. Still, you might find a few fantastical elements in this piece (fantastic -- as in 'over-the-top,' not 'oh, my work is wonderful'). I think I really like when things are a little 'out there,' but tell me if you ever feel it's too much. I would love to have your feedback on character development, writing style, tone, pretty much anything... So, cookies for reviewers!