Part 01: A Dream and a Nightmare
A table sat in the soft glint of the moonlight. The stars were brightly shining on the balcony on which the snow white table and two chairs sat, overlooking a beautiful ocean that seemed to be twinkling perhaps even more brightly than the stars overhead. The sound of the waves lapping against the shore coupled with the smell of the salt water flowing in on the soft ocean breeze made the scene as perfect as it could be. Wrapped in nature like the twelve-year-old girl had never been before.
Megan leaned back in her seat, her sparkling purple dress glittering in the moonlight until she looked over to see a taller boy walked out of the cozy restaurant with a smile on his face. His formal black tuxedo almost made him look like a disembodied floating head in the dark night as he moved toward her, taking the seat right next to hers and setting a plate in front of her.
"For you, Megan." Lee told her with a gentleman's smile. He whipped the lid off the platter, revealing the biggest salad she'd ever seen drenched in ranch dressing. "The finest meal for the fairest lady."
Megan blushed daintily and stabbed several pieces of lettuce with her fork, shoveling it into her waiting mouth. "It's wonderful, Lee." She smiled over at him happily. "You've made me the happiest girl in the world tonight."
"Good… because you make me the happiest man in the world every night." Lee took one of her free hands, clasping it ever-so-strongly in his own as he stared deep into her eyes. The moonlight shone off of his wet orbs, almost making him look mystical. "You would make me even happier if you would be mine forever."
"Oh Lee… of course! I'll always be yours…" Megan told him with a deep blush and a broad grin. "Yours in every way imaginable…"
Lee slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her up close against his side. "And I am yours… together as one… forever…" She felt his lips touch her own, a gift she accepted and returned with such eagerness she just could not get enough. His strong arms wrapped around her body, pulling her up against his strong barrel chest as his hands stroked her back through the thin cloth of her dress. She felt a tingle run down her spine.
It felt like this must surely be a dream.
The bedroom was dark as the slender girl shot straight up into a sitting position, the bed sheet being flung off of her body from the force. Her breath came in deep gasps under the thin cloth of her pajama top as she stared at the wall in front of her, lit up by the soft silver moonlight that came from the nearby window. What was she thinking? Did she really just have that dream?
"That was just… freaky…" Megan gasped and raised one hand to her head, trying to sort out the wave of confusion that was washing over her. After a moment she gave up, and laid back down on the bed to stare at the ceiling in a vain attempt at sleep.
XXX
"Go long bro!" Lee leaned back and heaved as hard as he could, sending the football careening across the sky towards his smallest brother, who whirled to dart across the pavement after it. He leapt into the air, soaring over the corner of the community pool as he extended one scrawny arm to the sky. He just barely managed to catch it and land on the other side in a heavy crouch, clutching the ball against his chest like he'd just caught the world's biggest diamond.
"Oh yeah!" Tony flipped the ball into the air with a broad grin on his face. "Who's got game?"
"Nice one!" Lee flashed him a thumbs up. "I couldn't have done better myself!"
"Yes, risk your life to catch the ball. That makes sense." Marc rolled his eyes from the comfortable lawn chair set up a safe distance from the poolside as the three brothers lounged beside the otherwise unused community pool in the center of their neighborhood. His fingers had been tapping the keys of a laptop sitting on his legs, but were now paused as he looked at his two brothers over the top of his monitor. "You know there's a good reason not to run beside the pool, right?"
"Because parents say so? Please!" Tony huffed mockingly. "You don't have to do everything parents tell you to!" He whirled to run around the pool back towards Lee, but as he rounded the corner his foot slid out from under him on the wet cement and he slammed hard into the ground. "GAH! MY HIP! I BROKE MY HIP!"
Marc sighed as Lee rushed to help his smallest brother up with an amused look on his face. "Well, that's one lesson learned, I suppose." Marc blinked and looked over his shoulder when he heard the sound of flip flops walking up to the pool behind him. He saw his sister approaching in her own violet bathing suit, with a strange look on her face. "Good morning. We tried to wait for you, but you never came down this morning."
"Yeah, sorry, I… had to deal with something." Megan replied softly.
"Huh? Is something wrong?" Marc asked worriedly.
Megan shook her head vigorously, then flashed him a confident smile. "Nah, just a weird dream I had shook me up a little, I'm fine. Looks like Tony decided to teach himself a lesson."
"Yes, it seems some people don't learn lessons until they see the consequences firsthand." Marc noted in a dull tone of voice. "And you know some psychologists believe dreams can be windows into the subconscious."
"I really don't want to hear that right now." Megan noted as she watched her other two brothers by the side of the pool. Lee was wearing his usual swimming trunks, his bare and well-formed chest clearly visible in the afternoon sunlight. It was a sight Megan had seen frequently, but now her mind began to flash back to the dream she'd had just a few hours before. She couldn't stop a heavy blush from creeping across her cheeks.
"There you go." Lee pulled Tony to his feet and patted his shoulders. "Your hip's not nearly as broken as your brain is." He rubbed his fist on the top of his little brother's head.
"Heeeyyyy!" Tony complained and batted Lee's arm away from his head. "Anyone can slip and fall once in a while."
"True, but there are ways to minimize the possibility." Marc pointed out sensibly. "Like not running on wet cement."
"Bah, whatever." Tony folded his arms over his chest. "Anyone would have slipped there running or not. It was really, really wet!"
"Are you okay, Megan?" Lee asked curiously when he noticed her staring at him with a strange expression on her face. "Is something wrong?"
Megan's face flushed even brighter red and she whirled away from him. "No! Go away! I'm going home!" She moved to stomp away, leaving the three boys to stare after her in stunned silence.
"Sheesh… must be that time of the month." Lee grumbled.
"What time of the month?" Tony asked curiously. Marc and Lee exchanged a glance, then both abruptly turned to leave.
"Oh wow, we've been here a whole thirty minutes, I have so much to do." Marc commented.
"Yeah, really, no time to loaf around here." Lee echoed.
"Heeeyyyy!" Tony growled and chased after them. "Come on, what time of the month! Is it Tuesday!"
Their voices faded into the distance behind Megan as she made her way down the sidewalk back toward the house, her face feeling hot and uncomfortable. She couldn't believe what she was thinking. How could she? It wasn't right, it wasn't natural. He was her brother, she couldn't really… no way, Megan told herself with a deep breath. It was just a stupid dream, and now she was only nervous because of the dream. That was the end of it. Then again, Marc had said dreams were a window to her subconscious.
She stopped when she reached her house and reached for the doorknob, but her fingers were only inches from it when she found herself suddenly standing over empty air. It felt like she floated there for a good three seconds before she suddenly found herself plummeting at high speeds down a winding metal tube. She couldn't help a reflexive scream as she felt her body slide helplessly down along the polished metal, shortly coming out on the bottom of the tub straight toward a comfortable looking sofa in a dark metal room.
She landed on her butt on the back of the couch, striking a confident pose as her three brothers landed around her, all sitting comfortably on the sofa as they looked across the room at the aging man standing behind a large metal desk.
"Good afternoon, spies." Their boss, Jerry, said with a broad smile. "It's good to see you remain on your toes even during your relaxation time."
"We just have good reflexes." Lee commented with a grin, still clad in his loose swimming trunks. "What's up, Jerr?"
"There has been a rash of unusual robberies in a small town in the Southern part of the United States." Jerry told them. "Your mission is to investigate them."
"Uh…" Lee scratched the back of his head. "Not to question you Jerr… but isn't this a little beneath us?"
"Yes, our expertise is international espionage. Local robberies seem like a problem for the local authorities." Marc agreed.
"Normally you'd be one hundred percent correct, but these particular robberies aren't exactly armed men with ski masks. They seem to be perpetuated by the local wildlife."
"Yeah, okay, I'd call that worth checking out." Megan agreed.
"They weren't using weapons were they? A Cheetah with a gun could do some damage… and be totally awesome." Tony admitted.
"Not that we know of, but we'll keep an eye out." Jerry smirked.
"Do we know what was taken?" Marc asked inquisitively.
"This is one of the more puzzling things. Most of what's been taken thus far are regular household items. Lamps, rugs, toilet seats, even perishable foods. Here's a complete list." Jerry lifted several clipboards off his desk and tossed them to the spies, who caught them out of the air with ease.
"Hmmm, he's right, I'm not sure what someone could do with all this stuff. They're just household commodities." Marc wondered with a finger on his chin.
"Maybe we're dealing with an evil interior decorator." Megan suggested.
"Or an evil hobo. All he needs now is an apartment." Tony clapped his hands together. "Get a list of empty houses in the area, we can stake them out!"
"I'm thinking not." Lee informed him. "Why would he take something if he didn't already have a place to put it?"
"Huh… okay, good point…" Tony grumbled.
"Who says it's a guy? It can't be an evil girl?" Megan asked snappishly.
"What! I didn't say that!" Lee insisted.
"Hmph!" Megan crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him. "Whatever."
"Geeze… chill out a little will you?" Lee said nervously. "We have a mission to focus on."
"That's correct." Jerry told them. "And for that mission, you will need gadgets." He reached down to press a button on his desk, which flipped the top out of the way so several rows of shining metal things could rise up out of the desk in front of them. "You may select whatever you think you'll require. You have ample experience at this, after all."
"Yeah!" Megan raised her arms into the air in excitement. "I love it when we pick our own gadgets!" Moments later the spies used their MP Coms to flash into their spy uniforms and raided the gadgets on the table until there wasn't much left sitting on it. Megan reached for the Double Agent camera sitting in the center of the desk, but blushed when she felt Lee's intercept hers.
She snapped the gadget off the desk and whirled away from the boys to avoid showing them her slightly reddened cheeks. "We should get going!"
"Okay, seriously sis, did I do something to you this morning? I really don't remember doing anything." Lee demanded.
"Off you go." Jerry interrupted moments before the four spies found themselves sliding down another long metal tube, only to land inside the massive WOOHP jet they usually used to cover distance quickly. Megan's breath caught in her throat when she found herself pressed up against Lee on the way down, but the moment they touched ground and shoved him away and leapt to her feet. "Ewe! Get away from me! Perv!" She whirled to march to one of the back seats.
"Wh-wha? What did I do!" Lee demanded while Tony burst into mischievous giggles.
"Forget it bro, you should focus on flying." Marc told him with a calming hand on his shoulder, glancing back at Megan as she plopped down into the rearmost seat in the spacious cockpit of one of WOOHP's largest, and fastest, jets.
Lee grumbled something under his breath, but only cast Megan one more annoyed glance before turning to head towards the pilot's seat, with Tony rushing along beside him to hop into the copilot's position. Marc watched them for a few moments more before turning to head into the back instead, sitting himself down in the seat right beside Megan, who was pointedly staring out the window as the jet began to move towards the runway.
"It doesn't take a high IQ to see that something's bothering you." Marc told her in a soft voice so the two boys in front couldn't hear. "Did Lee do something to you?"
"No, I'm fine." Megan snapped back irritably without looking, mostly wanting to hide the warmth spreading across her cheeks.
"You know I can keep a secret, just please, you won't be any good to the mission if you're like this the entire time… and I'm starting to get worried." Marc told her. Megan didn't look back, but she didn't argue, just staring at the half-visible reflection of her blonde brother in the window as he stared at the back of her head with a genuine look on his face. "You have my word I won't tell anyone, if it's something you want to keep secret."
Megan took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself. "Okay… the truth is… I had a sexy dream last night…" Megan whispered in a low breath with red cheeks.
Marc blinked, then chuckled and shook his head. "Megan, we're growing up, that's to be expected. As your body prepares itself for adulthood and romance, it's only natural that the added hormones will prompt your mind to have… thoughts, as well." Marc pointed out.
"I know what puberty is." Megan hissed, her blush deepening. "It's just… the dream… was about Lee."
"About…" Marc trailed off, his eyes going wide after another moment. "O-oh… I see…"
Megan glanced at Marc out of the corner of her eye, gulping down her nervousness. "You have to promise not to tell him, Tony, or anyone else."
"I already gave you my word, and you know I can keep a secret. I'm just a little… stunned, I suppose. Why would you-"
"I don't know." Megan interrupted him. "I can't control my dreams, it just sort of HAPPENED."
"Of course, of course." Marc put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "I must admit, psychology really isn't my forte, so I have no idea how to take this."
"You and me both." Megan shook her head. "I don't like him that way, not when I'm awake, why would I have a dream about it?"
"Well, after this mission is over, I'll try to do some research and see what I can come up with, alright? I'm sure someone knows what this sort of thing means." Marc nodded solemnly.
"Really? Wow… thank you!" Megan smiled and reached over to pull her middle sibling into a tight hug. "That's so sweet of you."
"Hey, don't mention it sis." Marc patted her back with a gentle hand. "You've helped me out plenty of times, it's the least I can do."
"We're coming up on the town… slash hovel." Lee spoke from the front of the plane. Megan and Marc moved away from each other, then stood to make their way back to the front of the plane where Lee and Tony were staring blankly out the front windshield. 'Hovel' certainly seemed like an appropriate word for it. Megan hadn't thought there were any towns left in the country where the buildings all seemed to be made of real wood planks and the roads were made of dirt and rocks. There didn't seem to be any people on the streets, strangely enough. The place looked completely deserted.
"Yeesh, where the heck did you guys bring us?" Megan asked.
"These are the coordinates Jerry gave us." Marc looked down at the radar on the dashboard. "This must be the place."
"Well then, I guess we can begin our investigation." Lee shrugged. "Guess we'll find out what's going on when we get down there." He reached forward to grip the controls and turn the plane into a slow spiraling descent.
Megan Leaned against the back of his chair, gripping it for balance as they circled downward. Her gaze turned upward outside the windshield as the ground came into view on their side, full of trees surrounding the broken town as far as the eye could see. She blinked when she noticed a beautiful, snow-white bird gliding through the air at their side. "Wow… it's so beautiful…" Megan smiled appreciatively… moments before the bird was suddenly sucked into the massive jet engine on the wing. Megan gasped as a plume of white feathers exploded out the back. "Gah!"
"Okay… THAT was one of the most awesome things I've ever seen!" Tony cackled.
"Awesome! That thing just nearly blew up the wing! I've lost control!" Lee grunted and yanked on the flight stick as hard as he could, but still the jet continued to careen around sideways, spiraling ever more quickly towards the ground.
"Lee! Get this thing under control!" Marc and Megan clung for dear life to the backs of the seats before they could be hurled into the floor or one of the walls, their legs kicking at the air around them. Through the windshield they could see fire pouring out of the left wing, sending plumes of pitch black smoke into the air.
"No good! I can't right us without the wing! We're going down here, we've got to abandon the jet!" Lee screamed.
"We can't! We're spinning too fast! If we leave the seats we'll be pummeled against the walls!" Marc shouted above the sudden blaring sirens and flashing red lights.
"I don't think I like flying anymore!" Tony screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Gah! Guys!" Megan's fingers suddenly slipped away from the seat, and the hands of all three of her brothers shot out for her… but they were spinning too fast. She quickly hurled out of reach and looked up just in time to see herself hurdling towards one of the sturdy steel walls nearby… and impending darkness.
To Be Continued in Chapter 2: Fight the Forest