4 years later...
Chapter 1:
Manhattan, NY
Caroline Priestly was excited, very excited. Opening the door to the townhouse she ran up the stairs and to her sister's room, "Cass! Look! It's all over the internet! Kenzie Mitchell has another book coming out next week!" she said bouncing over to her sister who was sitting at her desk.
"Really? I love her books! They are so cool! I love how in The Battle for Cantha the twins get to ride the dragons they found in The Hidden Door to fight the Charr and the Hydras! It was so wicked the way Jazmyn set the bridge on fire and destroyed the leader!" Cassidy said her eyes lighting up with excitement.
Caroline nodded and glanced at the paper in her hand, "According to this, the next installment is out next Thursday, just in time for the trip to Dad's. We have to tell mom, she can get her assistant to get them while we're at school so they don't sell out! You know it will be another good one. We'll have something to do while Dad is out with Susie or Sally or whatever her name is."
They sat quietly together as Cassidy pulled up the author's webpage, "Look Carrie, it says here that there are two being released. She has a companion book too giving a history of all the different races and lands within Vanguardia. Jazmyn and Jaylen are so lucky... could you imagine being in a world where anything is possible. I wish we could go to Elona and visit all the different lands there. I want to visit Kryta... like they did in the second book."
"Yeah," Caroline said dreamily, "it would be so awesome. Seeing the land that the first battle took place on... to see the mountains that never touch the ground and are covered by the clouds and snow... I can just imagine. It would be so beautiful."
Cassidy smiled at her sister and shook her head, "You know... Jaylen said the same thing almost when they first got there. It was a world plagued by war and she, like you, loved it. All the morbidness... beauty in its own right but you make it seem like it's a paradise. Now Elona, the land of the 3 Golden Suns... That's a beautiful place. So bright and airy... full of mystical beings and the human-like droids. It would be paradise." she said with a soft sigh.
The girls giggled and Caroline went back downstairs to grab her school bag so that she could start on her homework. Cassidy watched her sister leave her room and turned back to her computer. Staring blankly at the screen she let her mind continue to linger on the Cole Twins Adventure series that she and Caroline had been so addicted to. She could still remember the first one they had read a few years ago. No one knew where they had come from, her mom told them she didn't send them and so had their father. They just arrived in the post with autographs from Kenzie Mitchell in the front cover and no return address. Cassidy had her theories but she wasn't brave enough to voice them, she was just excited that she had been thinking of them. After the first paragraph she was fascinated and quickly became a loyal fan. The way Kenzie described the twins in her book was a perfect description of her and her own twin, it was that which brought about the theories she had about the sender of the first book. Sighing softly Cassidy pulled out her math assignment and decided to get it done now so that she could do more research after dinner.
Knoxville, TN
700 miles away in a secluded cottage surrounded by open land and mountains, Andrea sat in her living room listening to the calming sound of Johann Bach coming through the Bose system on the entertainment stand behind her. A soft smile played upon her lips as she sat peacefully waiting for her agent to arrive with the latest offers that she would have to decide on. Her life had changed drastically over the last four years and she was extremely proud of herself for not giving up. It was hard after she left Ohio the second time around. She had received word from the eighth publishing company she contacted that she had a great talent and they were interested in talking with her about publishing her work. She jumped on the offer and was quickly making flight plans and arrangements. Four years, five books, and one companion piece later she was extremely glad that she didn't let the actions of her former boss ruin her life.
The knock at the door ended her random musings and signaled the arrival of her agent Kaydence. She quickly stood and made her way to the front door to let her in. Kaydence's smile was radiant and the light in her eyes made Andy's stomach jump with excitement because she knew that light, "What's up?" she asked moving to the side so the other woman could enter.
"Alright, so you know how everyone has been just in a riot over the Cole Twins' Adventure series?" she said excitedly as they made their way to the kitchen for coffee.
Andrea nodded and turned on the percolator before gathering the sugar, cream and two mugs and laying them on the counter top.
"Well, everyone still wants you to do a TV interview but I've already told them that that is out of the question due to private matters. After that we got into discussing the dates of the European book tour and a few others here in the states. Everything for that is ready except for one store in NY that really wants to have you; the only thing is they want you to allow your picture to be taken. Now Andy I know how you feel about that, but do you truly think there is anything she could do to you at this point? The world wants to know who you are and they should know."
Andy sighed and shook her head, "Honestly it's not even about Miranda anymore," she said glad that it wasn't a lie. She had gotten over the fear of Miranda long ago, after losing everything she'd loved she realized that Miranda could not do the same amount of damage to her that she could do to herself. She was her biggest critic and for the longest time she was her own biggest disappointment. "I've gotten so used to being invisible and having my seclusion... I go out when I want to and it's peaceful. No one knows who I am; no one cares who I am. As soon as the world knows what I look like, that's gone. In addition to that I really don't want to take the chance of Miranda seeing me around NY book stores doing book signings and putting 2 and 2 together."
"I am confused" Kaydence said pouring them both cups of coffee, "how would she put 2 and 2 together? What is there for her to figure out?"
Andrea laughed and shook her head, "Do you remember what I told you when you first read The Hidden Doorway?" she asked. Kaydence nodded and she continued, "I started writing it just after what I referred to as the 'Harry Potter Disaster'. Miranda has two children, which you should know, and they wanted the unpublished Harry Potter novel, I ran all over the place looking for some way to get that book. I finally did and kept my job..." she laughed and moved to sit at the table.
"So you started writing the book while you were at Runway? Wait... Miranda has two daughters right?"
Andy simply nodded.
"So... oh my god... She has twin daughters... redheads! Andrea Sachs I cannot believe this... Jazmyn and Jaylen are based on them!" Kaydence exclaimed finally putting it together, "But why?"
Andy sighed and twirled her coffee mug around staring out the glass door to the patio, "Miranda may have driven me crazy but she had a soft spot for those children." she laughed, "The little monsters. After the book incident they took a liking to me... Cassidy would email me almost every day just asking me for assistance with difficult assignments, checking on her mother, asking me about my life, anything her little mind could come up with. Caroline had a different approach, she would wait for me to deliver The Book to the townhouse and we'd talk for a minute or so every night before I left. They grew on me... I grew to love and care about them. So when I sat in the office at night waiting on them to finish up the printing I'd write little adventures that turned into long length novels... I changed their names of course."
Kaydence's only response was a smile and nod. They sipped their coffee silently enjoying the beauty of Andrea's home and the peace for a few minutes before Kaydence spoke again, "There was something else I wanted to ask you about..." she said softly.
Andy looked over at her and raised a questioning brow, "What is it?"
"Would you ever consider allowing them to turn the series into motion pictures?"
