A/N: So sorry guys! I know I've practically been on the hiatus, and I don't know what to say. I feel better, but my inspiration is at a record-setting low. You guys are major confidence boosters, though. And in case anyone is confused, a basic recap of what's happened:
Basically what happened is 8 years after the first story, Dan and Natalie got married. Natalie secretly went to see her mother, Isabel, who was committed to an Insane Asylum after the "Blue's Clue's Kabra" incident. Natalie and Isabel did each other's makeup, which is when Isabel stole Natalie's tweezers and used them to escape. She spent the next seven years gathering followers and plotting and such. Then she sent one of her goons after Amy and Ian's kids: Hope, Madeleine, and Lukas. After that Amy, Ian, Natalie, Dan, and their kids moved to a small town, where the adults decided to never tell the kids about the Cahills. However, Hope was traumatized and didn't know why, so she ended up Goth. We then find her four months before her 16th birthday, where she is having dreams about that time in the limo. At school she gets weird texts about the limo which causes her to have a panic attack and pass out. Hope this helps!
39 clues lover (with L and S): Thanks, glad you liked the chapter. Can I be there when you scare Fifi? Thanks. Aahh Fifi... doesn't even know what's coming to her...
Reader277: Yeah, that's where I got the "hottest supernatural creature" argument came from: my sisters and Twilight. Glad you liked the chapter.
Epic Books: Ugh. Dang Harry Potter fanfics stealing my Fifi from me. Grrrrr. Not quite. If you remember correctly Hope and Madeleine have a little brother named Lukas and Rebecca has a sister named Maria. They are both mentioned briefly in Chapter 2. I'm posting a list of all my OCs on my profile after I publish this so if anyone gets confused they can look there. Oooh! My friends and I are going to see the Conjuring. I can't wait! XD I love scary movies... I kinda like Gothic colors, too. Not on me, mind you. But on decorations and other people they look fine.
justarandomname: I hope I can live up to "Who Says the Sixteenth Birthday Can't Be Sweet"'s standards. And try 226 reviews, again since SOMEBODY *cough* Fifi, K, L, and S *cough* made a chat room out of my story. But thanks for the compliment.
Demi: Don't worry, you will. You'll actually get a glimpse into Jonah's future life today.
KatnissCahill: Hope the explanation helps!
39clueslova4eva: Yet again I have failed you. Once I figure out where the next chapter is going...
Tris: It's okay, I totally understand school and stuff. Let me just say thank God it's summer break for me, or else the updates would be even more scarce. I'M SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE SOON! But I'll try... Sweet 16 stuff will start happening soon, I promise.
CarrotTopsHateRed: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and hope you like this one.
ILoveThe39Clues: I know, I am a psycho. But what kind of person would I be if I didn't let Isabel ruin everything? A SANE one? I don't think so. I'm psyched you liked my chapter that much :D.
panko17O_o: Me too. I'm glad it makes sense now. Hopefully the recap helps.
Well, here goes nothing. Not a great chapter, but an update nonetheless.
Disclaimer: You know the drill. Blah blah... don't own the 39 clues blah blah blah.
Hope POV
I wake up in the middle of... a field? No way, this can't be right. I'm missing school. Oh, God. My parents are going to kill me. A small breeze is blowing around me, blowing the grass around.
Why the hell am I in a field? I thought I was at school. Okay, Hope. Calm down. Let's think this through, I think. Okay, I was at school, talking to Rebecca and... Heather maybe? Yeah, that sounds right. We had ditched first period and Heather was bringing us our schedules...
Crap. What happened then? I searched through my memory, looking for any hints as to what had happened. Something about Devin? Holy crap! I forgot about Devin! He's gonna be worried sick. God, I feel like such a bad girlfriend.
Woah, Hope, focus. What happened next? I got a text... right? Yeah, okay, a text. What did it say? Something about the Cahills? But the only Cahills I know are Rebecca, Dan, and Natalie. Well, our parents used to work for the government... And Mom used to be a Cahill... Hmmm.
The text called me Hope Cahill, instead of Hope Kabra. It called us Hope Cahill and Rebecca Kabra. Why would it flip our last names like that? And who is Isabel? Is she a Cahill, too? Maybe she's Mom and Uncle Dan's mother, since they seem so reluctant to talk about her. Yeah, that made sense.
Okay, so we have Isabel Cahill who sends her regards and my parent's old government jobs. Okay, that makes no sense. Whatsoever. What exactly did the text say? Hope Cahill. We know who you are.
Right, right. That sounds familiar. Okay, so what is there to know about me? I lived in
Attleboro for the first seven years of my life before moving to a tiny town in Ohio. I have one brother, Lukas, and a sister, Madeleine. I have a best friend named Rebecca, who has a sister named Maria. We're filthy rich, but live like middle-class citizens. What is so interesting about that?
Okay, the second text: Oh. Hello my dear Miss Rebecca Kabra. You and Miss Cahill haven't forgotten about us, have you? You were already seven years old, after all. Luke and Madeleine would be so disappointed.
Oh, by the way, Isabel sends her regards.
Okay, what does that mean? Luke and Madeleine are my siblings, so why would they be disappointed? Okay, something happened when I was seven. Uh, I ate sushi for the first time (not pleasant, by the way), we moved to Ohio, I got my ears pierced (also not pleasant), I saw my first PG-13 movie, and I started wearing dark colors a lot. Not much happened.
Wait, I have a little flicker of a memory there. Something about some chick named Morgan? Or a guy. I guess it could be both. I was sitting in a limo, and someone pointed a gun to my head, Maddie stabbed him, and Dan came and got him? Nah, that can't be true. That would be traumatizing. I would need therapy and stuff if that happened.
Okay, scratch that. What happened after I got the text? I passed out in the middle of school. So why am I stuck in the middle of a field with nothing to do but contemplate why everything that happened in my life happened?
Oh, crap. I must be dreaming. Yeah, okay, that makes sense. I'm just dreaming...
I sat straight up, looking around anxiously. "Hope! Oh thank God you're awake!" I heard my Mom gasp. "Hey, Mom," I croaked, "how long was I out?" She gave a small smile as tears ran down her cheeks, "A few hours. The doctors assured us everything was fine, but we insisted you stay here until you woke up."
I nodded. That was so my parents. Make the doctors keep me in the ER when I only passed out. Wait, speaking of my parents, I had some questions for them. "Who's Isabel?" I asked.
Amy POV
Amy snapped her head up, fear in her eyes. "W-w-what do you m-mean? I've n-never m-m-met anyone n-named Isab-b-bel," she stuttered. Hope rolled her eyes, "Mom, you're lying. You only stutter when you lie."
She opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it and simply shook her head, "I d-do not." Hope gave her a pointed look. "Honey, you're tired. Go to sleep," Amy ordered. Hope crossed her arms in protest, "I'm not tired at all! Answer the-" Then she passed out again.
As soon as Hope was out she whipped out her cell phone and called Ian. "Yes, love?" he answered tiredly. "Ian, are you at the house?" she asked urgently. "Yes, unfortunately. I don't see why we had to check Lukas and Madeleine out early from school. Now I'm stuck at home, watching them instead of going to see my daughter in the hospital!"
"I know, Ian," Amy snapped, clearly irritated, "but that's not the point. Hope was asking about Isabel." Silence. "Are you sure she wasn't just delirious?" Ian asked, a hint of desperation in his voice. "Ian! She sat straight up and said the words 'Who's Isabel?'! Ian, she can't know about them!"
"Shh, love, I know! Fine, we'll talk about what to do." Amy sighed, "Ok, see you in a bit." Then she hung up. Placing her phone on the table, she ran out the door to find the nearest nurse.
Hope POV
As soon as Mom was gone I snapped my eyes open. Sucker, I thought. As if I would actually pass out again. Besides, now I knew. Mom was hiding something big from me, from all of us. I silently hopped out of bed and over to her phone, opening it. Her password was easy to crack: 1130, my birthday.
I scrolled through her contacts. Random people... random people... Jonah Wizard... random people... Wait. Jonah Wizard? As in the Jonah Wizard? The guy that owned the huge record company that signed Jaden and Jada Wizard? What the hell?
Now I was conflicted. My common sense was screaming at me not to do it, but my anger and curiosity got the better of me. I pushed the button.
The guy answered on the second ring, "Ames? Is that really you? No way! Have you all decided to drop back on the face of the Earth? That's awesome, yo!" I had to stop myself from having a heart attack. This guy was, like, legend.
But I managed to remain calm and say with my best Mom impersonation, "Oh, um, yes, Jonah. I have a feeling we'll be getting back to you all very soon." Please, please don't get suspicious, Jonah, I silently begged him.
"That's great, yo! So, have you and the Danster told you're kids 'bout the Cahills yet?" he asked. I let out a silent that you to the universe and replied with, "Not yet. What should I tell them?" "Well, when we told J&J, we started off with telling them 'bout Luke, Jane, Katherine, Thomas, and Madeleine and the serum and all that stuff. Then we went on about the clues."
"Uh, okay. What exactly did you tell... er... Jaden and Jada...?" I asked uncertainly. "Ya know, the serum story. About Gideon? What'd you expect?" he asked. I snapped my fingers disappointedly, "Uh, never mind." "Well, Ames, I gotta go. You know, record company and stuff. You might wanna ask Hammer about telling your kids."
Then he hung up. I groaned. Back to square one. And who the hell was "Hammer" anyways? I was about to scroll through her contacts, but then I heard footsteps. Quickly I deleted the call to Jonah from her log, put the phone down, and crawled back into bed.
"Okay, sweetie. Time to wake up," I felt a small nudge in my back. I turned and "woke up". "Oh, hey mom," I groaned, making sure to sound extra pained. "Uh, do you have any questions?" she asked awkwardly.
I clenched my teeth, "No.. what questions would I be asking?" She sighed in relief and shrugged. "Hope, we got you released. Let's go home." Mom helped me up. "Ok. Can Rebecca sleep over tonight?" I asked. She smiled, "Sure."
"Okay, let's go," I said. She led me to the car.
"OMG! Hope! You're alive!" Rebecca burst into my room. I rolled my eyes, "Becks, I just passed out." "I know but still! I freaked out!" She was about to say more, but I put my hand over her mouth.
"Becca, I love you like a sister, but you need to shut up for a minute." She looked confused, but nodded. "Okay, so I tried to ask Mom who Isabel was, but she totally clammed up. So I pretended to be asleep so I could listen to her talk on the phone. When she talked to Dad she said, and I quote, 'Ian, she can't know about them!' Okay, so then she left the room and I broke into her phone-"
"Wait, you broke into your Mom's phone? Impressive," Rebecca interrupted. I rolled my eyes, "Please, like you've never done that. Anyways, she has a lot of contacts. Some of them are filthy rich and famous. For example, Jonah Wizard is on her speed dial and calls your Dad 'the Danster'. The Danster, Rebecca!"
"Wow! Amy knows Jonah Wizard? Do you think she could get me Jaden's autograph?" Rebecca asked, eyes glazed over in a dreamy way. "Rebecca! This is serious! Our parents are hiding something huge from us and all you can think about is getting Jaden Wizards damn autograph?!" I screamed.
She nodded apologetically, "Sorry." I sighed and pulled out my laptop, "If our parents aren't going to tell us, then we're gonna find out for ourselves."
"Find out what?" We both jumped and turned to find Maria and Maddie standing in the doorway. Rebecca and I did that silent communication thing our American parents did.
Hope: Say nothing, Rebecca.
Rebecca: Hope, this concerns them too.
Hope: But-
Rebecca: No buts. It's their parents, too.
Hope: Fine, but Lukas gets left out of it.
Rebecca: Deal.
"You guys know I understood all of that, right?" Maddie asked, putting her hands on her hips. Rebecca and I blushed, "Sorry, forgot. Ok, so here's the deal..." I gave them a brief recap of everything I told Rebecca. When I finished they were gaping, eyes wide.
"So, our parents are, like, spies or something?" Maria asked. The twelve-year-old looked exactly like her mother, with long black hair going down to her waist, slightly darker skin that the rest of us, and brilliant amber eyes like Rebecca and Lukas' (A/N: Grammatical error...?). Maddie was basically a mini-mom with red hair and jade-green eyes like mine.
"We don't know. But they're hiding something," Rebecca answered. "So, what should we do?" Maddie asked. I gestured to my laptop, "We use what we know to find out more." They nodded and we all gathered on my bed.
First I tried to search "Isabel Cahill", but that came up with too much. "Hmm, try 'Isabel Kabra'," Maddie suggested. I shrugged and tried it. There were several links, all about some whack-job named Isabel Kabra. "Hey, check Whack-Jobs Caught on Tape. I love that show," said Maria.
I shrugged. The link was to some video called, "Blue's Clues Kabra". Basically it was some woman wearing a torn up party dress smashing a window because she saw her hideous reflection. Then she started screaming about the Cahills and the 39 Clues.
"What the hell is the 39 clues?" Maria asked. We all gasped and turned to her. "What? You can say it but I can't?" she asked. We all shrugged. I searched "39 clues", but nothing came up. "We can come back to that," I said as I searched "Isabel Kabra" again. An article came up:
It is official: a patient has escaped from the McKinley Asylum for the Criminally Insane. On December 4, 2028 clinically insane patient Isabel Kabra escaped using tweezers that were somehow smuggled in to her. After brutally murdering four guards, Isabel ran for the hills.
A search party is being set up to find her. If you have any information regarding her whereabouts, we strongly urge you to call the number below.
"Okay, you know what? This is freaky," Rebecca said. "Yeah, I mean if she's, like, a Kabra then that means that she's, like, our grandmother," Maria put in. "Maybe we should just stop this and ask our parents in the morning," Rebecca suggested. The other girls nodded. That was when I snapped.
"YOU KNOW WHAT?! WHY DON'T YOU GO DO THAT RIGHT NOW! YOU THINK THEY'LL TELL US ANYTHING?! NO, THEY'RE LYING, CHEATING, MESSED UP PEOPLE WHO PROBABLY ARE, LIKE, ESCAPED CRIMINALS OR SOMETHING! IF YOU ARE SO DAMN SCARED THEN WHY DON'T YOU GO TO SLEEP WHILE I FIGURE OUT WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" I screamed.
They all stared at me with wide eyes. "Hope? Is everything okay?" Mom called. "Yeah, everything's fine!" we all yelled back. "I'm going to bed. Call us in here when you're done with your tantrum," Maria said, walking out the door with Maddie and Rebecca behind her.
"Fine. I'll figure this out on my own," I growled, turning back to my computer. They all left. I started to type, but then stopped. Why didn't I think of this before?
I grabbed my phone, turning it on as fast as possible. I went straight to my messages and sent the text:
Me: Can you tell me what's going on?
The response was almost instant.
Unknown: Yes. Meet me in the forest, near the old lake house. Come alone.
I smirked and sent back a text:
Deal.
There. I was finally going to get some answers. I should've felt relieved, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that I had just made a deal with the Devil.
Meanwhile...
"She's agreed to meet, ma'am," said the same minion from before. Isabel smirked, staring at screens with images of Hope, Madeleine, Rebecca, Maria, and Lukas and what they were doing, "Brilliant. All according to plan. But send someone else to meet her. Wolff maybe? He's a good candidate." The girl nodded and ran out of the room to get Wolff, while Isabel threw her head back and let out a wild, cackling laughter.
A/N: Yes, Hope says "what the hell" a lot. It's kind of her thing. And yeah, I know I'm totally rushing. I promise thing will slow down in the next chapter. Ooh and you get to meet Devin. I bet you're all like, "What? Who the heck is Devin?" So... yeah...
Oh, before I forget: OH MY FREAKING GOD WILL AND KATE HAD THEIR BABY! I'M SO EXCITEEEEDDD! *cough cough* Sorry, but I've obsessed with England forever, and I've been waiting for the baby to be born for weeks. So... any ideas or inspiring words for me? Because my inspiration level is low. Other than that reviews with questions, comments, CC, predictions, etc. are appreciated! Hmmm I guess flames are allowed but I'd prefer the other stuff...
-Emory (or SpontaneousSugarRush, but I find Emory easier to type)