Chapter III

"How long have we been hiking?" Cari complained.

"About ten minutes," Cody said, looking at his wrist-watch.

"Really?" Brianna said, staring at her cousin. "Feels longer than that." To her it felt like they've only been hiking for twice as long. It was weird how time went slower when you were reading or doing something quiet. But if it was something you enjoyed, time came by with a jet pack on and really flew by. For now, everyone had their different opinions of how the time was going for them.

"I want to go swimming already!" William whined. He wanted to go swimming so bad he could almost feel the water consuming his body. What he would give if he was a marine animal. As for Andre, he would, as he claimed before, sprout some wings and fly the rest of the way. But there was no chance he was going to have anyone with him when he takes off.

"I'm hungry!" Logan complained, riding piggy-back on her mom.

"We'll be done soon," Jami said. "Just a half of a mile more."

A few groans were spread out through the group of kids and the two adults stuck with them rolled their eyes. Why couldn't Monica, William and Andre's mom, come with them? And their husbands? The only man power they had at this point were those three little boys--and their whiny little mouths.

Two minutes later on the trail, Brittany stopped and looked to her left while the others kept going forward. Cari noticed that her favorite cousin had stopped and was standing still, staring at…something. She walked over and looked in the same direction. There was a dirt trail, leading off to who knows where.

"There's something there," Brittany whispered. Cody noticed Brittany stopped as well, an soon everyone was looking at the trail. Well, almost everyone.

"What are you kids staring at?" Jami said.

"It's a road," Logan said. The four-year old pointed in the direction everyone was looking at.

"I don't see anything," Pam said. Brianna looked at her mom.

"A dirt road, Mom," she said. "The trees are like walls, so it's like it could lead into a labyrinth. And you don't see that?"

Pam shrugged. "Sorry, I don't. Come on, we got to get going."

Nobody moved. William whispered something to Andre and he passed it around. The two moms were confused. Did it finally happen? Were their kids crazy now?

"One…Two…" Brianna counted down. Pam was the only one who figured out what they were doing.

"Don't you dare-"

"THREE!" all the children shouted together. Cari held on to Logan's hand and they all ran off into the road. But what Pam and Jami saw was the kids running straight to some trees and basically phased through them. Jami's jaw dropped.

"Do we report missing kids, or do we go about our business?" Pam said in a joking manner. She always had a sick sense of humor crawling around in her body somewhere.

*

They ran for about three minutes until Brianna and Cody couldn't take any more. They were sprinters, not marathoners. They could run fast, but not far. For half a minute, Brittany kept teasing them about their speed. Brianna reminded her sister that she should not even be saying anything, considering all the times she's beaten her in a footrace.

"What's that?" Logan said, pointing down the road where everyone could clearly see it was a dead end.

"It's done," Brianna said. "That's as far as it goes."

"No wait," William said. "I see it too." He walked to the trees and bent down. He clawed through some dirt until the group of kids behind him saw the front of his body glowing, due to something on the ground.

"Come look at this!" he said. Andre was brave enough to walk over and look. His eyes glowed in wonder and he helped his older brother tear away whatever dirt was keeping the object there. Brianna walked over to see their progress.

"Guys, I don't think we should really do this," she said. "We don't know what that is and we need to get back."

"Come off it, Bri!" Andre said. "We're camping! It's supposed to be fun!"

Right when Brianna took a step closer, she tripped over a root and fell towards the glowing object and her hand rested on top of it. The thing glowed brighter and the two boys took steps back to the rest of the family.

"Brianna, let go!" Cody shouted.

"I can't! It's stuck!" Brianna shouted back. Sure enough, her hand refused to move. Beams of light shot out from the object and flew around the small area they were in. William and Cari stood up straight, afraid to move, while the others had their hands over their head, trying to keep the light from touching them. At some point, the beams stopped and each one was in front of at least one kid. They started to take shape and formed into small, blue, glowing animals.

"What is this?" Brittany whispered.

Before anyone tried to answer her question, the lights quickly flew into the kids' bodies. Everyone of them fell down to the ground and passed out. Brianna, however, had her eyes wide open and glowing sky blue.

In her mind, everything was cold. She was standing there in a dark void, nothing around, cold as the Arctic, and for some reason, she didn't have any clothes on. She curled up into a ball, thinking that would make her better. But she got used to the cold and started becoming her warmth instead. Ahead of her, a white shape lumbered towards her, towering over her. Once it was in front of her, it reared up on his hind legs, outspread its wings, and gave out a mighty roar.

*

It must have been a few hours. Yes, it was, the sky was already dark and stars littered the atmosphere. Andre was the first to wake. He got up slowly, feeling a little light-headed. Heck, his whole body was light. It was like a breeze could tip him over any second. He looked around to see his cousins and his brother still sleeping. What just happened. Last thing he remembered was himself trapped…somewhere, and something, like an eagle, flew straight at him! After that…nothing. Just what on God's green and blue Earth happened?

xXx

Author's Note: They say that kids are the ones that wish the loudest. But they also say "Careful what you wish for; you'll get it all". Well, we're about to get a truck load, I'll tell ya that!