A/N: Hey! Not much to say... so yeah, here we go! Enjoy chapter 2!
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Kids Next Door Mission...
Operation: F.O.R.G.E.T.
Fragments
Of
Recovery
Gradually
Enable
Team reunion
CHAPTER 1 – Mistakes I
Abby POV
I sorted through the contents of my cluttered schoolbag, opening cases, tossing out papers, ripping open zippers to find the keyring that granted entrance to my home.
Then it hit me.
"Darn it, girl!" I kicked myself mentally, face palming, as I remembered lending my keys to my sister the day before.
"You've used those things every day for the past 4 years! How is it possible to forget them!"
An idea popped into my head, and I looked up at the door that wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Mom wasn't going to be home until 5PM at least, and dad even later. my watch read 3:45. And it was cold outside. Looked like that was my only choice. I sighed, and zipped up my bag, slinging it over my shoulder and trudging off around the side of the house. Thank caramels I left the window open. Even if it was the second storey.
I climbed gingerly on top of the trash cans, eyeing off the gutter, a reluctant determination filling my chest. I wondered why I was making such a big deal out of sucha small affair. With a deep sigh to steady me, I bent my legs and hoisted myself up over the edge with a strange professionality and ease. Hopping lightly over the tiles that covered the roof, I reached my window and turned around with satisfaction and a proud smile. The view was amazing. I took in a deep breath and soaked up all the radiance of the pinkish sky. Tossing my bag in through my window, I stepped cautiously yet with a weird sense of routine. I don't remember ever being up here, but then...
I'd always found it weird how I could never remember anything before my 13th birthday. What had I done that made sneaking off for an early morning walk at 3am so natural? What had happened to me before junior high that made me love the commando feeling of games like paintall and lazer tag so much? I felt exhillerated every time I did something I wasn't supposed to without anyone else knowing. It even happened out on a dodgeball court at school. It was like a pre-programmed routine; dodge, duck, roll, aim, fire. It gave me such a satisfied feeling, just to have the upper hand; to get what I wanted in that way that makes the opposition reconsider their thoughts on you. It was strange, but the battlefeild called me, like I was an old friend.
I stood there, looking out at the clouds. There were none of the usual sunrays around the edges. In a similar way, there was no emerging explanation for the mysteries of my life, before and after my thriteenth birthday.
Suddenly, I felt dizzy. I tried to stand up, to get back to the window, but I lost my balance and slid down until I was nearly on the gutter. My vision clouded and I saw stars.
~(*)~
"What're you doing, numbuh 5?" came a perky, light voice.
"Numbuh 5's going on a candy run. You comin'?" It was my voice but... younger.
"Nah. I'm gonna stay here and have a tea party with hopsy-mopsy and my Do-you-want-sugar-with-that rainbow monkey. Oh! Could you get some chocco-sprinke munchies for my party?"
"Sure, numbuh 3"
A small 10-year-old girl walked down a flight of rickety wooden stairs, eyes hidden under a red cap that looked like mine except less worn. The next picture I saw was of a large open room, with a huge TV screen and two young boys playing video games.
"Hey guys, numbuh 5's doing a candy run, any you wanna come with?" The title screen flashed to "P2 WINS!" One boy cheered while the other groaned.
"Why is it so 'ard ta beat you!?"
"Coz' I'm the master!" The other one announced, raising a fist to the sky. "And, Abby, wait up, I'll come with you!" The chubby boy got up and jogged over to me.
"'Kay then, Hoags, let's go!" I felt happy. Something had just gone my way.
~(*)~
My name is Abigail Lincoln.
I am an ordinary 16 year old girl.
I attend high school like any other normal teen.
I have friends and enemies like any other teen.
I try to keep my grades up, like any other teen.
But normal people don't have the dreams.
Normal teens don't see and hear the voices and images in their minds.
And normal teens don't feel so strange around people that they thought they'd never met before. Those few people... some more than others, some not at all, four people stronger than most, and one boy more than any.
Why do I feel like someone made a mistake?
Why do I feel like I should know something I don't?
And why is it that I feel so connected to these people?
I feel so wrong...
They feel so right...
They made a mistake, I know. But who are 'they?'...
I dont know, but something deep inside me, something that's been dormant for far too long, tells me I'm going to find out soon...
I really hope I'm right..
~(*)~
Hoagie POV
"So, you can get those spotlight slides in for me by next week?" I asked through the phone.
"Sure, Hoags. They'll be at your place Tuesday at he latest."
That was Mr. Matthews, the man who owned the hobby shop Hoagie worked at. He also supplied AV equipment to the school for the various things they were needed for. Right now, I needed blue and yellow spotlight slides for the school musical, Beauty and the Beast.
As head of the AV department, I am looked to for all their tech. needs. I'm not classed as a nerd, but I'm definitely not a jock. Everyone knows me, and unlike some other AV club members, I'm not bullied or isolated, because obviously, if you tick me off, I can make bad things happen to you an your clique.
'Coz I have connections.
"Thanks, Mr. Matthews, I appreciate it." I disconnected the call and tucked my phone into my back pocket. I'd kinda tricked-out my phone, adding a high-quality, 10 megapixel camera and voice recognition software, upgrading the internet system to a faster, more reliable carrier. I'm not even sure if that's legal, but it sure makes things more convenient.
I strolled out of school and into the parking lot, swinging my keys around my finger casually. I reached my car; an old faded blue pickup truck, and slotted the keys in and turned them, smiling satisfiedly at the mechanical 'click.' I had gotten the truck for my 16th birthday 3 weeks ago. It wasn't new at all, and frankly a little run down, but my mom knew that was how I liked them; rusty and in need of a workshop. That was exactly what I did. I upgraded the engine and tricked out the inside, fighting the strange urge to gather junk from around the house and turn it into a hover car. What was up with that, anyway? I told my mom about it over dinner, as a sort of joke, thinking that it would be funny, but she didn't take it that way.
"Why, Hoagie! Don't you remember? You used to do that sort of thing all the time with your little friends! Oh, I recall you spending hours up in your little treehouse, tinkering away with your tools and whatever else you could find around the place!" She ranted, making no sense to me whatsoever.
"Uh, mom, what are you talking about? I'm pretty sure that wasn't me," I said, though, come to think of it, I really wasn't sure. I really couldn't remember anything before middle school. It was strange...
"Don't you remember?" mom asked, frowning. "You used to play with your little friends... oh let's see now, there was little Abby, and that british boy Nigel and the Beatles' son, Wally... Oh! And Kuki Sanban. Oh, she was always so nice!" Those names... I knew those names! Wallaby "Wally" Beatles, the captain of the football team, who, oddly, didn't seem to have much interest for the game at all. Kuki Sanban, the head of the drama department who everyone liked (and who liked everyone), and... Nigel Uno, the new English transfer student... Who was bald.
For some reason.
But he just moved here, I couln't possibly have known him before the start of this year!
And... and Abby Lincoln.
Abby Lincoln, journalist for the school blog. Abby Lincoln, the only one who could pull off the grades she does without being classed as a nerd. Abby Lincoln, with those deep brown eyes and in-control smile. She hung out with Kuki, and Nigel sometimes. They- I didn't know them as kids... did I? I didn't think so, but then if I couldn't remember... it was possible, wasn't it?
Suddenly, I didn't feel so good.
"Uhm, mom? I'm feeling kinda sick," I blurted. "I think I'm gonna go to bed early." Mom gave me a worried look.
"Well, okay then, Hoagie. Hope you feel better in the morning. Goodnight!"
"Goonight," I murmered, heading up the stairs to my room.
Another bout of sickness hit me halfway up the staircase. A quickened my pace and headed into the bathroom to splash water on my face. When the pulsing knot in my stomach died down, I grabbed a glass of water from the sink and retreated to my star-covered sheets.
After around 5 minutes, I began to drift off. But in the midst of my half-asleep half-awake phase, I saw something. Oddly familiar pictures wound through my head of rockets, flying school buses, wooden gun-like things and other seemingly impossible devices. I tried to convince myself it was a dream, but they felt too much like memories, solid memories that I actually possesed... but I didn't. I had no idea what those things were. Something else floated into my mind, an parked it directly in the middle of my view. A treehouse beyond epic proportions. A room, a large, open room... bluprints... experiments... flying...
"What is going on?" I asked out loud. All the images swirled into one big cloud in my mind, combining and creating new pictures, places, faces that seemed so, so familiar. As I drifted off that night, one last thing came to surface. I murmured, seconds before my eyes fell shut;
"I don't think it worked."
~(*)~
Kuki POV
I left the schoolgrounds in early evening, enjoying the radiant blanket the sunset threw. I had stayed back late to help paint the sets for the school play. It was fun, and some of the boys there had even started a paint fight. I would have joined in too, if Ms. Callanan hadn't chosen to walk through the art room at that very moment.
I walked happily down the sidewalk, smiling slightly.
I'm not really that special, but I like my life. I am head of the drama department, and even though that means putting in a lot of after-school hours, I loved every moment of it. Even Abby sometimes stayed back to help out, when she doesn't have a deadline for the school blog to meet. I stopped in the middle of the pathway, frowning slightly in thought. Was this the way home? I didn't usually walk home, but because it was such a nice evening, I had decided to make the most of the atmosphere and had called to tell my mom I'd be home a little late.
I couldn't tell which way lead to my house. I checked my watch. 6:00pm. Dinner was usually at 6:30, and mom liked me to be on time.
There was a rustling in the bushes, and I turned around quickly to find a little kid standing there, looking up at me defiantly, pointing some gadget thing at me like I was the enemy.
"Uhm, hi?" I said giving a small smile. "Can I... help you?"
"Can it, teen!" the little blonde boy retorted in a thick accent that sounded familiar, spitting out the word 'teen' like it was an insult. I tilted my head and frowned slightly in confusion.
"Uh, wh-"
"Shut it! I'll ask the questions around here!"
"That wasn't a question. But here's one; do you know how to get to 12 Sycamore street from here?" The boy was clad in a white long-sleeved shirt with an orange Tee on top and jeans stained at the knees from some large... game? He stared up at me, as if deciding whether or not I should be considered a threat.
"Look, ya cruddy teenager, I d-" he was cut off by a loud beeping from his back pocket. Tensing suddenly, he reached into his pocket, retreiving some gadget that looked like an old house phone with a screen and a can-opener knob. Pressing a large red button, he turned his back on me and began speaking into a hole on the end of the- whatever it was.
"Numbuh 121, sir! We 'aven't found anything yet, but somethin's come up.'
Silence, as the person on the other end of the receiver spoke.
There's a teenager inside the perimiter of tha sheild. Requesting backup, sir!"
Another pause. I listened hard, and could just make out the faint humming of the person the boy was talking to.
"Okay, thanks numbuh 121. Over and out," he finished, tucking the device safely back into his pocket.
"Ya plans ain't gonna work, teen! Ah've got the rest of ma sector on the case, and we'll kick your sorry butt outta here before you can say 'Like, totallyyyy!"
I was a little insulted by that comment. Completely and utterly confused, but insulted.
"Hang on a second..." I said, the familiar accent fitting itself into my mind as I realised where I'd heard it.
"Are you Wally Beatle's brother?"
He looked up, a shadow casting over his golden-blonde fringeand hiding his eyes from view.
"Ya know my brotha?"
"Well, yeah, everyone knows him! He's the captain of the football team."
He 'hmph'ed at me.
Before I could say anything else, two other kids sprung from the bushes, with more strange weapons made from discarded houseold items.
"Joey, what's the situation?" one girl said.
"This girl just showed up and started asking questions. She acts like she doesn't know anything but Ah'm not so sure. And Ah'm not Joey. Ah'm numbuh 404!" He shot back. I just stood there, while the other kid scanned over me with another little... thing of their's.
"Look, I just wanna get home. Where is Sycamore street?"
"She's clean. Let's move out guys!" The boy with the scanner said, beginning to run off down the road. The others followed. The little girl looked up at me then said;
"Your house is that way," pointing in the opposite direction before sprinting off to join her friends.
That was just strange. But all the while, I was left with such a strange mixture of sadness and deja vu...
A/N: * shrug* uh, I dunno. You tell me. Please R&R if you want, tips and anything else is welcome. BYE!
-Numbuh 25