ryder was floating in the darkness yet again. 'i really got to stop coming here. its freaking me out'. he opens his eyes.
"is this normal for you?" a voice spoke out of the darkness.
"who is there?" ryder looks around. he was more confused.
"i am someone that has been watching you for a while." the voice felt like a grandfather. warm and conforting, but ryder kept his guard up.
"stalker..." ryder muttered and the voice laughed.
"i can only watch over from where i am." the voice spoke out.
"and where would that be?" ryder was getting impatient.
"somewhere we will meet soon enough. now, wake up." the voice became distant. ryder felt he was falling. he screams out. it felt like forever.
-in a dark room-
Ryder woke up with a gasps but notices a few things wrong. 1.) he was in a chair tied up. 2.) the room was glowing with strange symbols. 3.) he met face to face with a multi-colored rear end.
"what the!?" ryder outburst startled a baboon. Khufu barked out and was going round the room like if it was freaked out. the baboon got a basketball out of nowhere and lobbed it at Ryder. he tilted his head a bit and the ball missed him, but it rebound of the fall and got him on the back of the head.
"oof!" ryder kept quiet about the pain. the door opened and two people came in. one he recognized from the library, and the other from the building he busted out. he guessed he must have been the leader.
"Ryder white." the one with curly hair spoke out.
"who is asking?" Ryder said bluntly.
"My name isnt importain, right now i want to know who are you working for?" he spoke as the other one just looked at him.
"my mommy said never to talk to strangers, stranger danger" Ryder made a mocking innocent smile but that got him hit in the face.
"where did you recieve the mark of Isfet! who are you?!" the leader spoke at him again with much irritation. he wasnt the joking type.
"is this the part where you ask me 'Maison! what do the numbers mean?' like from that black ops game?" ryder joked and that got his another punch in the face.
"Dont play games with me!" the leader was now in rage. the other kid, julian was getting irritated.
"does it look like i am into cheap fancy pants parlor games? for all we know, there will be tea and biscuits later today?" Ryder was feeling pissed off and sarcastic. he goes for another punch but he pulled his head back to avoid the hit. his chair fell back along with ryder. julian picked him up and held ryder's head. the leader hits him in the face. ryder was bleeding from his nose. the leader flicked his wrist.
"your a lost cause." he said to ryder.
"you too, is this anyway to treat a guest.?" he countered quickly. the leader kicked him in the chest and ryder tried hard not to yelp in pain. the whip lashes were still there. the leader left along with julian. he sighs.
"the trouble i always get into, happens to fall faster within 2 days. what the hell..." Ryder sighs.
-with carter-
"man, that guy is stubborn." julian yawns. he was tired.
"he is hiding something. i know it." carter was in a really bad mood. he thought for sure he could crack him, all he did was hear his crack jokes.
" was it really safe to bring him hear? for all we know he could be plotting our deaths. i mean ya see how he just killed those guards without hesitation." julian shiver at the small flashback. carter was worried as well. someone who bears the mark of isfet and is a cold blooded killer can make someone very nervous. he walked back into the library where zia and sadie were there. they were looking over cleo. Jaz was walking out.
"how is she?" Carter asked Jaz.
"she is okay, the poor girl needs rest." Jaz responded and carter nodded. he dismissed her and he and julian went into the library.
"how did the 'interrigation' go?" sadie made quotation marks with her hands. Zai didnt meet carter's eye.
"Dont tell me..." Carter looked at zia and sadie.
"why brother dear, you know us so well." she gave a sarcastic applause. "you went a bit overboard."
"we brought a killer, into the nome. how do you think i feel. i dont want him to stay longer than we have to." Carter looked at Zia for support.
"... he is right ... some of the inmates here are a bit afraid... but maybe you should have waited for Amos." Zia tried to remain neutral which did work for a bit.
"i have to agree with her, the chief has a way with words than fist. no offense." julian looked at carter and carter sighs.
"i am just worried. thats all. the sooner we know about who he is and why, the sooner we can part ways with him for good." carter sighs. someone poke through the door.
"yo, where is the restroom?" the person asked.
"down the hall, to your left, now leave us be." sadie waved him off and he nods, he goes to the restroom.
cleo begins to stir awake. everyone looked at her.
"huh? where am i?" cleo looks around. she was stil sleepy. she rubs her eye.
"Back home. your safe." carter's expression soften a bit. Zia smiles a bit. at least she saw carter with a bit of Ease.
"And Ryder?" cleo looked around.
"in the interrigation room." julian looks at cleo.
"why, he has nothing to hide, if he did, you think he would have come back for me?" cleo voice sounded sleepy.
"she does have a point." sadie pointed out the obvious. Zia nodded.
"it makes the perfect cover up." carter looked out the window. the same guy peaks out of the door.
"thank you, ill be on my way back to my cell." he smiles and carter was not in a mood for wise cracks. he goes back and carter waves him off.
"carter, i am glad you let Ryder go." cleo smiles a bit.
"i didnt..." carter looks back at cleo with a bad mood. everything was quiet.
"WHAT!" everyone except cleo outburst. carter and julian burst out the room with wands ready to roll. zia and sadie brought up the rear. they ran into the interrigation room only to find a cold blooded murder settled in a corner with a book in his hands and his backpack agaisnt his back.
"what?" he looks as if nothing was happening.
"how did you escape, those were enchanted vines!" carter raised his wand but it was knocked out of his hands. As if some force smack it off his hand
"Aiden! return his wand. we are only here till i recover." Ryder looks up. sadie thought he was nuts. carter thought it was another one of his wise cracks but thee strangest thing that his wand returned to him. carter grabbed the wand but out of his pocket slipped out Ryder's dog tags and slip back on to ryder's neck.
"what trickery is this?!" Zia looks at Ryder.
"my ally" ryder responded. cleo thinks for a while.
"did he help you fight those creatures?" cleo asked with a bit of excitement.
"yup, my combat partner" Ryder smiled but cleo knew he wasnt telling everything. walt peeked out the door.
"carter, Amos is here." he looked at carter and he nodded. he looks at sadie and zia. they both nod. carter looks at julian.
"Wait outside make sure he doesnt escape." carter gave orders and julian nodded. they left out thee door. Zia pulled out her wand and spoke an incantation. sadie brought out a laptop. she had full survallince of the room.
"let see if Amos can break him." carter goes off with walt and Zia. Sadie gives the laptop to julian.
"if you break it, i take your plasma T.V." Sadie said in a serious but joking voice. julian laughed a bit.
-with cleo-
she was left all alone with Ryder. it was all quiet. she didnt know how to "break the ice", so to speak. she looked at Ryder and noticed the book he was reading.
"is that maximum ride? the first book?" cleo asked and ryder smiled.
"yup, you a big fan?" Ryder looks at her. she nods.
"i have read all of them except for the beginning...sorry i sound like a geeky or awkard girl." she puts her head down. 'no! no! no! what am i thinking! he will think i am weird!'
"i like that." cleo looks up fast and looks at Ryder. he chuckled a bit as he looked up to the glowing glyphs. "it makes you unique. Different. alot of people try to look the same to keep up with this world. but being a bit different is better. it is who you are." as he finished saying that cleo's face was red. a question popped in her head.
"why did you kiss me?" cleo looks at him.
"well...one i needed to calm you down. two, i knew you were a stubborn one…" he decided to gamble it a bit again like last time, "… and three, i am a thief. it is not everyday that i get to steal a kiss from a beautiful girl." Ryder finished saying this and cleo was speechless.
"no one every called me beautiful." cleo mutters but ryder hears her.
"they should. here, you can borrow the book." ryder hands her the book and cleo reaches out. their hands meet. cleo looks deep within his different colored eyes. she moves in close to Ryder. their lips were an inch apart. Ryder was going to say something but she cut him off with her lips on his. he kisses back and held her close.
'boy. i am a sucker. i am madly in love with a prisoner. bloody ironic.' she thought with giggle. 'but i am happy.'
.
.
.
"thank you for coming uncle…I mean chief." Carter looks up to his uncle amos. He smiles and ruffles carter's hair which he allowed him to.
"im glad there weren't any losses, but give me the full report." Amos looked at carter through his tinted glasses. Carter began to give his full report. From cleo going missing to him getting out the interrogation room. Amos nods. A killer yet a mischievous one who bares the mark chaos itself. I bet seth would like to see this for himself. He looks a bit out the open window, expecting seth to laugh like he always does when a new strange player was in play.
"I shall talk to him myself. You all take the rest of the night off. You deserve a good rest." Amos looked at carter and he was about to protest but a yawn escaped from his mouth. He couldn't argue.
"please be careful uncle. Have a good night uncle amos." Carter leaves to his bedroom. Amos walks to the interrogation room. Julian was there guarding the door. amos told him to get some shut eye, Julian didn't want to leave him with that killer but he trust the chief. He opens the door and calls out cleo, she waves goodbye to the prisoner and says goodbye to amos and Julian, she walks away a bit dreamly. Julian looked at cleo confused and heads to his room. Amos surpresses a chuckle. She was lovestruck and she had it bad. He seen it on someone who had it a lot worse. His brother when he set eyes on the love of his life. He walks into the interrogation room. The first thing he notice was a dark shadow above the prisoner it was more like a cloud of darkness. He couldn't make out of it even if he lowered his vision into duat but the second thing he notice was that the prisoner was just a silhouette. This one was an interesting one. His vision became normal and sat down on the chair. Third was the eyes he had one eye purple and one eye red. An interesting prisoner that was held captive by the umborors coporation.
"hello" he greeted the prisoner.
"you the higher up who is going to break me. Cus let me tell ya, the other one hits like a sissy." He raises an eyebrow and amos stood calm. It looked like carter tried to make him talk. If he only response for violence, then he should try a different approach.
"no, I came to talk to you. My name is Amos kane." Amos introduce himself.
"im…ryder white." The prisoner introduced his name.
"you sound uncertain of your name?" amos asked.
"hey it's a good name…I think." Ryder sounded skeptical.
"tell me, if that is your fake name, then what is your real name." amos looked at ryder's dog tag around his neck.
"i…I don't know." Ryder looked at his dog tag. "trying to make me talk. I wont spill anything." He quickly added. Amos almost had him open up. he spoke and incantation and one of the glyphs disappeared. In the other room, carter, Sadie and zia were watching the laptop when it said loss of video carte thought he was going to break him badly. So he wasn't complaining, not like Sadie who wanted to hear the conversation.
"I disabled the camera feed. We can talk freely and nothing leaves this room." Amos was hoping this would make him open up a bit.
"how can I trust you?" ryder looks at him and amos smiles.
"you are feared in this place. Carter will be glad to dispose of you for the safety of it. I can promise you he wont hit you or touch you until you are recovered from you injuies." Amos looked at ryder and ryder looks to the side and whispered something. He nods at the non existing person he was talking to.
"fine, it's a deal." Ryder nodded and amos was satisfied.
"tell me, where are you from?" amos began with a simple question.
"in a cell." Ryder stated bluntly.
"no real home?" amos looked curious.
"not that I remember, you see. I woke up in a cell with strange writing. I don't know who I am or where I come from. This is all that's left from what I can tell. This dog tag was hanging from the bed. So I thought it was mine. I couldn't read the strange writing…it was in hieroglyphics. But it pointed at a snake in a hexagon, three white three red." Ryder began.
"hmm…was It like this?" he made an image appear in front of him. It was the same as the drawing but with more color.
"that's it!" ryder nodded.
"it's the logo of the umboros coporation. They are a research and development company that is benifitted for the better of mankind. But their research has taken a dark turn. Tell me, what do you know about magicians?" amos asked him and ryder took a minute to think.
"you mean in parlor games or something more that revolves around you guys and this place?" amos thought he was going to make another wise crack but this caught him off guard a bit. He took off his glasses and with a special cloth began to clean his glasses.
"we are magicians of magic that has been past down since the dawn of Egyptian times. There are many Egyptians gods that we are able to choose the path we choose to follow. We are protectors from the forces of all evil that threaten to throw this world out of balance and into chaos." Amos explained and added a bit of history. Ryder looked a bit lost.
"im sorry…but its kinda hard to take in." ryders voice sounded skeptical. Amos nodded.
"I know, since what you been through its like cramming down everything for a history test." Amos gave a smirk and ryder laughed. amos noticed a warm feeling of his aura. He saw a black cloud the size of a soft ball. It went close to its ear and ryder was listening. He looked offended.
"what? I can be nice! I can laugh can i?" ryder laughed.
"who are you talking to?" amos asked and ryder stopped laughing. He looks over his shoulder where the black cloud was. He whispers something and nods.
"my ally, aiden." Ryder answers amos. Amos wonder why carter or Sadie didn't notice the entity.
"how does he look like? It seems you can only see and hear him." Amos pointed out.
"I cant see him. I can hear him yeah." Ryder thinks for a second. "hey, how come I cant see you but I know where you are and can hear you. Aiden?" ryder ask his ghost partner but there was no response. Ryder sighs. "great…he is asleep."
"asleep?" amos raises an eyebrow.
"what he told me when we became partners in crime. He is able to use and manipulate inanimate objects. Like picking up a pencil waste no energy at all. While holding something still like a person, creature or any prokectile takes half of his energy. He is also able to posses anybody but his energy depletes complety. It may take aiden 2-3 days for a full recharge. The last fight took a lot of energy, but sometimes he can talk to me or give me a warning if there is any immediate danger. The rest I have to rely on instincts and reflexes." Ryder finished explaining. Amos nodded. Indeed this young one may be a valuable asset. He has to have something he wants. Amos thought of his options and found the perfect one.
"one more thing. After you recover, where will you go?" amos asked the final question and ryder was lost in deep thought.
"I don't know, I been looking for clues on who I am or where I came from, but no luck. I keep reading these dog tags over and over but it doesn't make sense." Ryder looks at his dog tags. It said only 'ryder white. Subject marionette. Location bosomur.'
"may I see that?" amos asked for the dog tags. Ryder hesitated a little bit but nods and gives it to him. Amos inspects it carefully. He feels something electric. Something in the dog tags. Amos let some magic run through his finger and there was a sound of a short circuit. The dog tag pops open and reveal a burned chip.
"what the…" ryder got up. amos picked up the chip carefully and inspect it. On the other side of the chip had a logo. The umboros logo.
"a tracking chip?" amos asked and looked at ryder.
"that's how they tracked me." Ryder mumbles.
"so, the umboros coporation might have on something about who you really are. I have a proposition for you. If you are interested sit back down and take your dog tags back. if not do not take them back. it is your decision." Amos looked at ryder and he growls. He sits back down and take his dog tags back. amos smiled.
"the nomes need a spark of hope. Now we are living in fear of the umboros coporation because the ones that get taken away never comeback fully or they comeback dead. You want something that they have, and we want something they have. Our fellow magicians." Amos explained and ryder grew irritated.
"please get to the point." Ryder told amos.
"we are assembling and off-the books task force. A rust crew if you will. Mercenaries magicians and mortals. To liberate the magicians from the coporations all across the globe. If you join them and help them. we can extract sensitive document files that may contain who you are." Amos finished and ryder thinks for a while. He was about to answer when they heard some running and out came in an angry carter.
"you were followed." Carter hands amos a letter. He looks at the letter. Amos had a calm face and hands ryder the letter. Ryder read the letter. It read that they have kidnapped some young magicians, and they request a trade. The children for ryder white. Until midnight. They gave the coordinates for the trade off. Ryder overheard them that It was twelve blocks north from here. The children were 8 -10 year old magicians. Ryder felt a heavy heart filled with disgust and dread, But he also felt rage. How dare they do this. Weaklings! Ryder pulled up his hood. His chest glowed with the mark isfet. Carter looked at ryder and gets his wand. Amos tried to stop him but not before he cast a spell.
"ha-wi!" carter pointed his wand at ryder and the hieroglyphics burned brightly above the wand. Ryder ran forward and ducked around the strike. He leaped forward and landed with a roll. Julian was in front of him and ready his fist in an orange glow. Ryder ducks and julians fist went through the wall and was stuck. Ryder ran out and out the balcony. He landed on the patio and jumped on a white floaty that was an albino crocodile. He jumps over the fence and drops into the ocean. He began to swim to shore. He had work to do.
.
.
.
Carter was pacing around the room. Amos had a calm face as he checked his watch. 6 minutes till midnight Julian was getting ready with a small recue force to save them.
"I knew we shouldn't have save him, we gave a big risk bringing him here. And now they want a trade off and we got no leverage.i should has chained him, I should have drop him off outside." Carter was pissed off. Sadie was chewing her bubble gum. She was leaning against the table with her arms folded.
"he will be back." amos calmly said to carter.
"how do we know. We couldn't listen because you cut off the video feed." Carter looks at amos then looks a bit guilty. Sadie laughed.
"speak for yourself, you thought he was hurting him in order to break him. He didn't talk did he?" Sadie looks at amos and he gave a small smile.
"he talked." Amos said that and just stood quiet. Sadie and carter looked at his uncle.
"how?" the siblings said in unison.
"I promised him nothing leaves out of that room, and second. He will be back." amos was sure of it. Julian came in.
"the rescue unit is ready on your go." Julian told carter and he nodded. Before he gave the word cleo came running in. she was out of breath.
"the magicians are back. the little ones are back!" carter ran out and Sadie looks at amos.
"what did you say to him?" she raises an eyebrow and amos smiled.
"what he wanted the most." Amos got up and followed into the living room. Some of the magicians were checking the young ones to see if they were alright. They nodded and were saying how this guy kicked the bad guys butt and saved the day. That's when ryder walked it. Everyone stood quiet and backed up. amos saw him. He was bleeding from a couple of bullet wounds on his left arm. His sweater full of bullet was bleeding from the eyebrows and going down his left eye. Ryder had the left eye closed. He walked weakly to amos but he stopped when a small girl gave him a flower.
"thank you for saving me and my friends." She had brown hair and pigtails on her hair. She was wearing a white sweater with a red skirt. Ryder tooked the flower and smiled a bit. Only for her to see. He looks at carter. Carter was going to apologize but ryder beat him to the punch.
"learn to aim. You couldn't hit the side of the barn even if you wanted to." Ryder walked to amos and carter held his tongue not to curse him out, with real curses and language curses. Sadie suppress a laugh. Ryder looked at amos.
"fine. But after all this, I request a house where I can finally be at peace. If that's in it, we have a deal" He held out his right hand and amos took it.
"ill pick you up in three days, now go to the infirmay. I cant have ya dying now." Amos nodded and smirked. Ryder nods and jaz helped him to the infirmary with cleo. Carter looks at amos.
"what deal?" carter raises an eyebrow.
"the last member of the rust crew." That was all amos said.
