I DO NOT OWN KANE CHRONICLES.
HI, SINCE YOU ARE READING THIS CHAPTER, I WILL ASSUME THAT THE STORY IS OK SO FAR. HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING IT!
ANNA'S POV
I went up to my room. My parents said that they will explain everything over dinner. Great, another thing that will make me lose my appetite. First, my sister, now my parents. I wasn't sure whether to be happy, or just plain annoyed. Probably both. After finally getting better at Pre-Algebra, this comes up? This is probably the worst of the consequences. Will I get used to this new life? I hope so.
I decided to continue my routine, even if it was messed up. I took a bath, and changed out of my school uniform. My school uniform was just a white shirt with a plaid blue skirt and black shoes. I was glad to change out of it. My home clothes, on the other hand, were much more comfortable. A worn out shirt, pair of worn out pants, and no shoes. I checked the clock. 5:00 PM. Perfect. 30 minutes to study, then my sister comes in and annoys me. 30 minutes to get her out. Then, dinner.
I flopped down on my bed, grabbed my English notebook, and started studying. However, 15 minutes later, I saw a shadow at the window. I put down my English notebook and made my way to the window. I opened it. Looking left and right, I saw nothing. I was about to close it until I saw a shadow on the other building. It looked like the person or thing casting it was somewhere high up. I took a risk. I looked back at the clock. 5:20. Ten minutes to check who or what was casting the shadow. I'm a rather curious person. I stepped out, making sure the emergency stairs were still stable. It was black, and rusting. By the looks of it, it was probably a hundred years old. But, it was still stable. I put my other foot on the supporting rung. Then, I made my way up. I didn't know what to expect. A bird? A plane? A package that will make all my problems go away? (Fine, the last one was too much to hope for. But still, I can dream right?) On the last rung, I made a sweeping motion with my leg to bring myself up. I hauled my body up on the roof of my house with all my strength. Hopefully, my little sister, Elphie, wouldn't go into my room, find out that I'm not there, and scream at the top of her lungs, "Mommy, daddy, Anna's gone! She ran away because she failed her History exam!" or something equally embarrassing. When I got up, I didn't see anything. I turned around, and saw it. A griffin. From Egyptian Mythology. I gaped at it, but only for a moment. And then I remembered that I had to get back to my room before my parents called the cops. I hurriedly made my way down, looked inside my room, and made my way inside. I ran to my bed, picked up my English notebook, and tried to go back to studying.
It was hard for me to study, after what I saw. A griffin. A griffin, the sacred animal of Horus, the war god. From what I can remember, the griffin was twice the size of a normal lion, with reddish-gold fur. Its wings stood straight up on its back. Its tail was covered in dagger like feathers. From what I can remember from Egyptian Mythology, the tails served as weapons, hard and strong enough to easily break stones. The wings, when in motion, beat so fast that they are only a blur, not unlike a hummingbird. And from what I can remember from reality, there is no such thing as a griffin. I looked at my clock. 5:30. Any time now, my sister would come in. I sighed. No use in studying if you can't focus. I put my English notebook in my bag. I grabbed for my book, until I saw something at the corner of my eye. I looked at my table. No. I wasn't going to open the drawer. I wasn't going to look at the things inside that changed my view of the world. But part of me said, I need to see if it wasn't a dream. I went to my table. I opened the drawer. Inside were three tape recordings, and an amulet. A djed. Ever since I got that last month, I have been worrying. They said that I have blood of the pharaohs. They said to go to Brooklyn House. But the thing that worried me the most, was the fact that I wasn't supposed to be in Manhattan. In the second recording, they mentioned a griffin. Just like the one I saw. I glanced at my clock. 5:35. Weird. My sister should be here by now. I opened my door a little. I heard a sound. I strained my ears to find out what the sound was. Then, I recognized it. It was what I did every night. It was what helped me go to sleep. But most of all, it was what I did ever since I was eight. Cry.
oOo
I made my way to my sister's room. I put my ear on the door. It was coming from my sister. The girl that added to my problems. The girl that annoyed me to no end. The girl that laughed at the face of danger, was crying. I opened the door quietly. I found my sister on her bed. When I saw my sister like that, I remembered that she was only seven. When I looked at her before, the first word that came to mind was strong. Now, it was the complete opposite. The first word that came to mind was vulnerable. "Elphie, are you okay?" I know, stupid question, but I couldn't really find the words to say to her, so I started simple. She looked at me with those big, brown eyes that I always hated. They were red. Bloodshot. Those big brown eyes that always stared me down defiantly. Those big brown eyes were red. Her room was fancier than mine. The walls were blue. Her bed was white and blue. Her desk was a fancy mahogany desk. She had a shelf that was full of movies, video games, and toys. She had a big flat screen TV that I always wanted. Elphie looked at me.
I half expected her to yell at me to get out of her room, and the other half expected her to spill. Luckily, she told me what was wrong. "We're moving . . . to Brooklyn! I don't want to move. I have friends, and I am already acing all my subjects!" My sister is practically the complete opposite of me. I have black hair, she has light brown hair. She has brown eyes, I have dark brown eyes. She's acing all her subjects, I am trying. She's friends with everyone in school, I'm friends with the other losers. Sometimes, I wonder whether my sister has the better life. Most of the time, I know my sister has the better life. I closed the door behind me and sat down on her bed. I realized that I had to do what I haven't done in a long time. Comfort my sister.
"Elphie, I'm sure mom and dad have a good reason for doing this. It probably has something to do with work. And besides, when we move, when we get used to the new lifestyle, it will be like we never left Manhattan. The only difference would be our surroundings." I assured her. The only problem was, I didn't believe it. I couldn't help but put one word in my mind. If. If we get used to the new lifestyle. At least my little sister bought it. She looked up at me and stopped crying.
"You really think so?" she sniffed. I smiled. She smiled back. I thought I would have to fake a smile. Turns out I didn't need to.
"I know so." I told her. "Now come on, let's clean you up." I couldn't help but wonder whether she got the recordings and the djed. Probably not. She would have cried before today. And, she's too young. She still has about a year. I decided not to tell her about the griffin. If I told her about the griffin, she'll ask me what a griffin is. And I don't want to launch into an explanation. I brought her to her bathroom. It was white with black tiles. I brought her up to the sink. I grabbed a towel from the cabinet. I wet the towel, then brought it up to her face. "Close your eyes." I advised her. She did. I washed her face. I decided to do her eyes last, since it would hurt. When I finished, I told her to open her eyes. She did so reluctantly. I washed the outer part. She cringed. When I finished, I set her down. We went back to her room. I checked the clock. 6:00. Time to cook dinner. "I'm going to cook dinner." I announced. I opened the door and was going to step out, until my sister said, "Wait."
I turned around. My sister was there, looking more like her old self. She looked at me accusingly. "Just because we had this little 'episode' don't expect me to stop annoying you." I smiled.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Then, I walked out of her room, ready to cook dinner, with a smile on my face.
oOo
I went to the kitchen. I grabbed a cookbook, and started skimming through the pages. I found a recipe for lasagna. We had all the ingredients, so I wouldn't have to go out to the grocery. I pieced it together, then put it in the oven. I went back to my room. It would be ready by 7:00. No rush. I was about to go back to reading, until I remembered. I went to my bookshelf. I looked for 'Egyptian Mythology'. When I found it, I started reading. Might as well get to know what else is real in this world.
oOo
I looked at the clock. 7:00. I was relieved to stop reading. Most of the things in the book scared me out of my mind. I went downstairs to the kitchen. I got the lasagna out of the oven. I set the table. I went upstairs to call them. First, I went to my sister's room. I opened her door, and said "Time to eat!" She was playing on her PS2. She nodded her head, too absorbed in her game to care. I shrugged it off. I made my way to my parents' room. I was about to knock until I heard something interesting. "We can't hide it from her forever. We have to tell her eventually." The voice came from my mom. I'm not much of an eavesdropper, but this was just too interesting. I put my ear on the door. "She can wait for a few more years. I don't want her to know the reason we are moving just yet. After all, she has her studies to worry about." I could tell that the voice that just spoke was my dad's. That last sentence made me very sure that they were talking about me. I'm the one in the family that's worrying about her studies. I felt uncomfortable eavesdropping on my parents. I'm not very used to it. I decided to wrap it up. I backed away a few steps, then casually (as casual as you can get when you just realized your parents were talking about you) walked up to my parents' door. I knocked on the door three times. A voice from inside said, "Come in!" Probably my mom's. I went inside. My dad was sitting on a chair near the window. My mom was sitting on the bed. I cleared my throat.
"Dinner's ready." We all made our way downstairs. I couldn't help but notice my parents' intense stares at my back, as if they expected me to drop dead any moment from now.
oOo
We were all silent. None of us dared to talk. Everyone just ate their lasagna quietly. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. It was too much. "Mom, dad, why are we moving?" My dad didn't answer. Obviously. My mom looked at me as if I grew two more heads. Then, she regained her composure.
"Your father and I have both been promoted. The promotion, though, is in another place. Brooklyn. We leave the day after tomorrow. Your teachers are already aware of the sudden move." My mom explained. After my mom explained, I knew immediately that something was bothering her. She didn't add any unnecessary details. Whatever was bothering my mom, it must have been pretty bothersome. She rarely gets this nervous. When everyone was done, I brought the plates to the sink and started washing. While I was washing the plates, I couldn't help but wonder whether my parents know something about me that I don't. I was pretty sure that the reason we were moving wasn't because of their work. While they were talking, I think I picked up a tone that I never expected from my parents. Fear.
oOo
I looked up at my new school. It has already been a week since the move. A week since I saw the griffin. I decided to leave the tape recordings and the amulet behind. Everyone in my family were back to being themselves. Elphie being the same annoying Elphie, Mom being the same talkative mom, dad being the same strict dad. I was starting school today. Elphie wouldn't start school until next week. My new school had dark walls and graffiti on it. The windows were clean, square, normal windows. The only thing that bothered me was the people. They all had dark, shadowy faces as if the life had been sucked out of them. As if they never experienced fun. Imagine the saddest looking person you have ever seen. That was exactly how they looked like. In my new school, we were allowed to wear whatever we wanted. I was wearing my black hair into a high ponytail. I had a plain white shirt on, jeans, and rubber shoes. My bag was slung over one shoulder. I read the name of the school:
MIDDLE SCHOOL OF BROOKLYN
I took a deep breath, and stepped inside the school.
oOo
I walked inside. The school wasn't much. The floors and walls were black, and the lockers were grey. All around me, students were walking to their lockers, going to their classes. The weird part was, no one was talking. They all just trudged along. Since I didn't know my locker number or combination, I decided to go to my homeroom. Room 3. I walked around for a long time, but couldn't find it. I walked up to a girl who was about my age. She had long brunette hair, and blue eyes. She would've been pretty if she didn't have the same expression as everyone else.
"Um, excuse me, I'm lost. Do you know where Room 3 for Homeroom is?" I asked. She looked at me with those sunken eyes, and I couldn't stop a chill from shivering down my back. She pointed down the hall. I was pretty spooked out, because I didn't say thank you. I went to my Homeroom, trying my best not to run.
oOo
I stepped inside and was immediately greeted by a musky scent. I looked around. It looked like any other classroom. The only difference was the people inside the classroom. The students looked like the ones in the halls. The teacher, on the other hand, wore bright clothes that looked out of place. She looked cheery, and smiled a lot. She looked harmless. I walked up to her, and was about to tell her that I was a new student, until she trained her eyes on me, and then I froze. They were black, and there was no white at all. She still had that smile on her face. But there was no humour. I mustered all the confidence I still had, (which wasn't much) and walked up to her.
"Hi, I'm Anna Sunter. I'm a new student. May I please have my locker number and combination?" I said. I was surprised I didn't stutter. She said, in what seemed like how you would sound like if you were in a trance, "I'm Ms. Judy. I will be your Homeroom teacher for the rest of the school year. Here is your locker number and combination. You may go now." I walked out of the room, and found no one in the halls. I looked at my locker number while walking. 305. I looked down at my paper and froze. The locker combination was 13/32/33. That was my locker combination back in Manhattan. That locker combination helped me get closer to getting those tape recordings. That locker combination was the same one in the first recording.
I ran through the hallways and looked for my locker. 305. I put in the locker combination and found those three tape recordings again. I thought I left those behind in Manhattan. I thought I left behind the djed in Manhattan. But they were back, taunting me. It was as if they were telling me, You can't run forever. Soon enough, you have to face the truth and come to Brooklyn House. We're waiting. Then, I heard something outside. I looked at the things in my locker, and stuffed them inside my bag. I ran outside. I could've ignored it. I could've just went to my next class. But my curiosity got the better of me. Little did I know that I would never walk those hallways again. That I would never see my family again. That I would never be the same ever again.
DONE! SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, AND IF THIS CHAPTER WASN'T VERY GOOD. I WAS RUSHED! ANYWAY, I DON'T HAVE A PATTERN WHEN I WRITE. I JUST WRITE WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT. DON'T EXPECT CHAPTER 3 TO COME OUT SOON. CHAPTER 3 IS IN CARTER'S POV, SO YEAH. HAVE A NICE DAY!