A/N: Original characters in this story (those not seen in the Artemis Fowl universe) belong to me, Renata Swift. Artemis Fowl, the universe, and all its characters belong to Eoin Colfer. Not to me. Sadly.

The inspiration for this story came to me in class (as most do). I really can't say what it's basis is, because I don't know myself. This will be my first proper story with chapters, but updates might be late. R&R, please!


House of Cards
Chapter One – All Fall Down

Location: Sharjah, The United Arab Emirates

It was hot, sticky, and a Friday night, and this was reason enough for the citizens of the humongous suburb of Rolla not to venture out of the cool air conditioning of their homes, even though most of them wanted to relax after a long and arduous week at work. The roads to Dubai, the next city, were usually clogged by six p.m., and absolutely unbearable after seven. The parking problem was an epidemic, and nobody was willing to lose the parking spaces they had fought for after returning from work.

Sharmista Varma hated Friday nights in Rolla for a different reason. The area in which she lived was home to a massive number of supermarkets and department stores, all selling goods at surprisingly cheap prices, and the thousands of labourers from the hundreds of construction sites in the region came by the busload to do their weekly shopping. These were mainly workers from the Indian subcontinent, long away from their families, and women, for that matter. Needless to say, they were good gropers, and Sharmista was a favourite target, or so it seemed.

That particular Friday night, however, Sharmista was alone at home, much to her relief. After a heated debate between her parents, her mother had won out, and they had decided to go to the huge Ikea store in Dubai's Festival City to buy a much-needed dining table. Grabbing the opportunity, she had packed a duffel bag full of the items that were necessary for the little adventure she was embarking on that night. She stuffed her house keys in the front pockets of her khaki pants, and after locking the front door, caught the building lift, and headed off to the abandoned power station on the corner of her street.

However, the power station did not seem very abandoned that night, thanks to the Emirates News van parked in front of it. A large crowd had gathered around the power station to catch sight of the pretty reporter and the object of her attention. The fact that they might be on TV was an added bonus, too. Sharmista wriggled through the crowd and soon was able to stand directly behind the cameraman, who was taping the reporter for her segment on tomorrow's late night news programme.

"This is not the first time a hole of this kind has been found," she said. Apparently she was halfway into her fifteen minutes of fame. She gestured to the twenty-five metre hole in the ground next to her. "Only last week, two holes exactly like this one were found in a Santiago backstreet and in the middle of a Chicago street. This will be the sixteenth hole internationally to arouse interest. Causes are still uncertain, and geologists the world over have been stumped. Studies are being conducted, and tomorrow, a team of experts form Abu Dhabi will arrive to examine this latest one. Aida Al Ghurair, for Emirates News." She adjusted her hijab with a smile, and the cameraman yelled, "Cut!"

Slowly, the crowd began to disperse. The news team packed up as well, until Sharmista was the only person left on the scene. In the midst of the taping and all the confusion created by it, she had managed to sneak into the back lot and hide in the shadows until everyone had left. The night watchman came around the corner just as she put her bag down, causing her to inhale sharply and duck into the shadows once more. Whistling a popular Bollywood tune, he turned the corner, unlocked the main door into the power plant building, and shut the door behind him. As Sharmista slowly came out of the darkness, she heard him turn on the radio and sing tunelessly along to a song. She crept closer to the hole, and peered inside. This was going to be a lot of fun, she thought.

Zoning out for even a few seconds can be dangerous, as Sharmista soon discovered. She felt a rough had push her lightly from the back, and she let out a high-pitched scream as she tottered dangerously on the edge of the dark abyss. The same hand pulled her back, however, and Sharmista angrily turned around to find another dark skinned girl grinning at her.

"Ghabra gayi, na?" the grinning girl asked. Got scared, right?

"Saali! Andar pad jati toh?" Idiot! What if I fell in?

"Oh, come on, Misty, like I'd let you fall!" The girl put down the bag on her shoulder – identical to Sharmista's – and began pulling out rope from it. "Besides, isn't today's maha-plan to climb down the hole?"

"With safety equipment, stupid," Sharmista snapped. She grabbed the rope from the other girl, then suddenly gazed wide-eyed at her. "Laila, did you bring the glow sticks?"

"Five bucks, from Daiso." Laila pulled two transparent plastic sticks out of her bag, which were filled with a faintly coloured liquid. "Mamma was asking me what I wanted to do with them." She threw one stick to Sharmista, who caught it easily.

"What did you tell her, then? Jhoot to bola hi hoga." You must've told her a lie.

"Phir kya? Accha reason kya hai?" Then what? What is a good reason?

"Wo bhi sahi hai…" That is also true…Sharmista trailed off. She looked into the hole.

"Nervous much?' Laila stared down the hole as well. "We have taken classes, you know."

"You're right. Let's check the depth." Sharmista bent her glow stick, which glowed a fluorescent yellow, and threw it down the hole. Then the strangest thing happened.

The stick landed at what seemed to be the bottom of the hole, but then slid off to the left. The hole was engulfed in darkness again.

"What the hell just happened?" Laila said, bewildered.

"I have no idea!" Sharmista replied, a little scared by now. She peered into the hole, but couldn't see anything at all. The only streetlight was metres away, a muted orange colour that lit up only an area around it. Laila pulled out her own stick, and bent it. "I'm throwing mine in," she announced. Sharmista said nothing to stop her. Laila bent over and threw the stick in. This time, the stick landed with a soft plop and stayed put.

"There," Laila cried triumphantly, only to be silenced by Sharmista, who was still aware that the watchman was on the premises, and could come out at any sudden noise. "You should've thrown it right."

"Alright, then," Sharmista tied the rope around her waist. She threw the other end to Laila. "Hold me tight. I'm going in."

"Only to retrieve the stick. Don't try for yours, okay?"

"Obviously! Like there's anything else to do at the bottom of a hole!"

"Okay…go." Laila grabbed the rope tightly as Sharmista lowered her self into the hole. She could see a few broken pipes here and there, and the occasional cockroach scurried past across the walls. Sharmista blanched. Still, this was better than sitting at home and watching reruns of According To Jim.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sharmista realized that the hole was way deeper than she had presumed. The opening of the hole was almost half its original size from where she was, till she finally felt her feet touch the base. "Found it!" she cried triumphantly, and she could hear Laila's muted response, along with a wave of her hand. The stick was barely inches away from her, and she was making her way towards it carefully, when she felt the ground give way beneath her. Her rope became slack, and she realized that Laila had let go.

Screaming loudly, she fell through the inky blackness until she felt clawed hands holding her. Opening her tightly shut eyes, she muffled a shriek at a sigh that she would not forget for the rest of her life. If she lived to have one, that is.

The six red eyes smiled evilly back at the whimpering teen.


Will be continued...I love cliffhangers.

Renata Swift