Okay- I know I said I would update on Thursday, but I was really busy the last two days, having pretty much no time AT ALL to upload ANYTHING! But it's here now...so be happy! This one's long! And because only one person reviewed, but didn't get the question right, she will not get the specail prize...The question was, who do you think will be elaborated in this chapter. The answer was....Fist let's do this.
Sleepthoughthestatic- You were really close on the Rose's brother thing, but it was kinda a trick question because in reality there are TWO boys that I will go into detail. One of them is my own brother, in this story (Remember, everyone's name is changed, so yeah) and Kyle is the boy u like 2? Wow, but like I said before, Kyle isn't really the boy's name that I like...
Okay, so the answer to the question was 1) My brother Jackson, and 2) Erik....so let's begin!
Chapter Four: First Raid "We're out of food!" I growled, staring at the feeble pile of cans stacked before me. Dexter stood beside me, scratching his head with disbelief. "I never calculate wrong on purpose." He murmured quietly, and furring his eyebrows in concentration. I rolled my eyes, and crossed my arms. We were three days behind, and already out of food. This was just great. I sighed, at first we were all ready to go- everything counted and everyone carrying something. But apparently, there was a secret door inside the computer room as well as my Soc. Studies room. To make carrying the inventory easier, Danny had brought his stuff through the door. But sadly, one of Anna's friends had been exploring and Danny had scared her half to death….literally. The poor kid was knocked out cold for 24 hours. Already, we had to waste half a day. I debated with my friend workers whether to wait for her to wake, or for Dylan to carry. Dylan and Rose wanted to carry her, while Kenzie and Jasper voted to stay here. Effie and I were undecided. We combined our fights in the end, deciding to make a moving bed- well one with wheels. We set the girl, named Mogie, down and carefully had to wheel her around. That was what set us nearly three days behind. Because when she did wake, she was far past disoriented, dizzy, and we found she had bashed her head on a rock, and had a scar forming on her head. It took awhile to get everyone moving as a group-nearly the first whole night. Some were trying to goof off (Uh…like Erik, Danny, and Mark); some littler kids were ridged with fear that they would get caught like their parents. I never thought that having to do this even would ever be so hard! Like we had decided, we traveled only by night, which was hard enough. By now we had about five or six people resting injuries with Mogie because of some stupid move they pulled- or just tripped. "Well, it seems you did, accident or not." I rebutted at Dexter. My patience was thin…I had already calculated that we were just over half way there, to my condo…that is. "I'm sorry, Alex." Dexter whispered. I sighed. "Oh, it's not your fault…we're a few days behind anyways." I assured him, although I knew he had calculated wrong… "Can I do anything for you?" He asked, backing out of the tightly packed bushes that made my room. "Yeah," I said, not bothering to turn around. And then I made a spilt second decision that might be a bit reckless, "Get my council." I told him. The 'council' was the group of five people who helped me. I could feel Dexter's hesitation before he scurried away. I sat down on my makeshift bed of leaves, the double set, and strong logs, twirling a strand of my hair around my finger. I was to talk to them about something very risky, my reckless decision. But it was almost the only way to get more food. "Alex?" Jasper asked, and I turned around to see him standing in the threshold. His face was tired, and he gave a yawn. Dylan stood behind him. I motioned for them to sit down. Jasper groaned and lay down, covering his eyes. Although it was sunny outside, the middle of the day, we were supposed to be sleeping now. Surprisingly, it hadn't taken long at all for our bodies to adjust to the schedule of an owl. "Sorry to wake you guys, but I need you're opinion on something." I apologized. "Of course you do." Jasper grunted. Dylan whacked him over the head. Just at that moment Kenzie, Effie, and Rose walked into the room. They didn't look sleepy at all, like me and unlike the boys, but in fact looked like they had been up. "Hey Alex, Dylan!" Rose said happily. Jasper set up. "Ahem?" He asked, looking at her. Rose made a face of disgust. "Dog…" she acknowledged. He rolled his eyes. "I thought we were over the insults." He sighed. I tapped my foot impatiently. At this point, they looked up. "Sorry!" The said in unison, before giving each other a hard glare. "What's the problem?" Kenzie asked, ignoring Rose and Jasper. "This is the problem." I said waving my hand toward the meager pile of food. Effie cocked her head. "Where's the rest of the food?" She asked. I flinched. "You mean this is all that's left!" Dylan asked, his face hard set like stone. "Exactly!" I said, nodding to Dylan. "So what are we going to do? We're still a while away from the condo…we already are on rations for food…" Rose fretted worriedly. "I think I have a solution…it's defiantly risky…but if it works-then a whole new freshly painted door will open up for us." I said, a smile tugging on my lips. "OHHH! Is the door painted orange?" Jasper asked. Rose smacked her head. "Err…yeah…" I agreed. "What's the plan?" Effie asked. "That's confidential…I just wanted your opinion on if you're willing to something risky." I asked. The room fell ominously quiet. "Are we?" I asked, whispering. "How risky?" Effie asked, closing her eyes. "What will it risk?" Dylan asked. "It could take everything from us away…" I hinted quietly. "Do we have any other options?" Jasper asked, his already squeaky voice higher than usual. "Starvation." Rose hissed. Jasper looked at me, and I nodded gravely. He let his jaw hang slack, and pursed his lips together. "I say we try." Dylan whispered and for once in her life, Rose didn't jump to agree. "Yeah, to come all this way and die of starvation?" Jasper said and then shook his head, "We're worth more than that." "But what if we come all this way and then get caught…we're worth a lot more than that as well!" Rose argued. "We're going to take a silent vote. Close your eyes and give me a thumbs up if you want to try and an a thumbs down if you don't." I said; my crew closed their eyes. "Dylan?" I asked. Dylan didn't think to give me thumbs up. I smiled…although I know Rose would have killed me for it though. "Rose?" She didn't hesitate to give thumbs down. I frowned. She knew what Dylan would vote…but then again, I couldn't guess how her mind worked. "Kenzie?" Kenzie gnawed a strand of hair before agreeing with Rose. Even before I had asked Jasper he gave me a thumbs up. Now it was up to Effie. She was the tiebreaker. And Effie was a smart girl, and she knew that she was the tiebreaker too. I gave her a long time to think…and then she voted. I stood before my people, my hands clammy. It was mid-morning, and people had been roused from their sleep. They didn't know why they were standing in front of me in their pajamas…but in the end it would be worth it. "Uh, I have made a shocking discovery." I started. A few people rolled their eyes. It made me a bit angry that people cared so little for the problems. "We are nearly out of food!" I yelled, plowing into the problem. The few people that had been joking were now looking at me intensely. "How much out of food?" a sixth grader named Camden called out. "Like one bite per person." Rose called out, taking charge. I pushed her back. People looked at me fearfully. A strong sense of leadership pulsed through me. "But, I have an idea! Risky, yes…but it just might work." "What is you're idea?" Camden asked. I rubbed my hands together. Finally, my plan would be revealed! "We could go on a raid!" I called out, "Raids usually take a few weeks, but we would go on a trail raid. Raids are when we steal from souls! If you want to be the first to go on a raid with me, you can stay behind." I said. Many people gave a sigh of relief and wandered back to their beds. Only a few people stayed. There were only boys, except for the three girls in my small group. I considered each boy that was offering. There was Jasper, jumping up and down. I tossed him out of my mind quickly. No offense to him, but he was a bit too small. Jordan, the 9th grader was raising his hand, but I didn't know him too well. Dylan was offering too, but I decided no to him as well because he was doing enough already. Camden, I considered for a spit second but he didn't have the best history with me. I finally decided on Erik. I choose him because to do a raid, we would need skill…and Erik's skill was acting, a very good skill to fool a soul. "So…just you and me?" Erik asked, looking over my written instructions carefully. "Yeah," I answered, "You know…as a test run." He nodded, his eyes grazing over me to the door. "So why can't we show our eyes again?" he asked lazily. "Because when a body has a soul in it, you can see a faint ring of silver around the pupil." I said and shoved THE HOST's book cover to him, "See?" I asked, tracing my fingers around the silver lining. He nodded. "Got it!" Then he rubbed his hands together, "This will be awesome!" He said. Just then, there was a fake knocking sound outside my room. "Yeah?" I called. "Hiya sis!" my younger brother Jackson called, as he strolled in. I rolled my eyes. "What is it Jackson," I asked tartly, "Erik and I have a raid to plan." "I have solved that problem easy!" Jackson told me, his blue eyes radiating a light. I scoffed to myself silently. "Oh really?" I asked sarcastically. He gave a hard nod. "Mmmhm!" He said, seeming not to pick up on my sarcasm, "I was wandering around and I found these!" He said. I hadn't noticed him clenching his hand, but he brought is hand up and gingerly opened them to reveal a pile of gleaming red berries. They were slightly shushed, but in perfect condition. They did look good, but something deep down in my stomach made me sick. I glanced away. "What are those?" Erik asked, picking a berry from Jackson's palm. He studied the berry. "A berry-I'm not sure what kind though. But there's lots on the bush…enough to last us awhile!" He said. I sighed. If there was enough on the bush…maybe the raid wouldn't happen-but I was a bit excited to do it. "Okay, but what do these berries taste like?" I asked. Jackson shrugged and looked around. "I haven't tried 'em yet…" He mumbled, then shoved his palm in my face, "Wanna be the first to try them?" I gave him a look of disgust. The berries were giving off a revolting stench, and they looked so very unappetizing. "No, I think I'm okay." I said. Jackson gave a wide smile. "Cool! I'll be the first one to try them." My brother exclaimed. And then, like some one had hit the 'slow-motion' button everything seemed to fall into place-and I saw it happen right before my eyes. First, my brother lifted a shining berry to his face, and Rose appeared in the doorway. I saw her face change as she watched the berry rise in Jackson's hand. There was a look of sheer terror plastered to her face and she lunged. Right before the berry reached my brother's mouth, she swatted it away from his hand-and smacked the bunch of berries from his hand. Like a broken pear necklace, little red berried rolled around the dusty ground. Jackson looked at her angrily. "If you wanted to be the first to try, you could have just asked!" Jackson grumbled, shoving Rose on the shoulder. Then, he bent down to pick the berries up but Rose stomped on all of them, making a pile of mush. Jackson brought his head up slowly, his eyes burning with anger. "Idiot! That was food!" He yelled at her, and the lunged. Well, tried to lunge more like. Erik and I had seen it coming and jumped up, pushing Jackson back although he swiped and tried to get through our guard. Rose's face was set like stone, cold and calm. "Jackson- those berries weren't good." She explained quietly and Jackson stopped struggling. "Weren't good?" He asked, very confused. Rose nodded. "Yeah…I read about them somewhere- their poisonous berries. A few of those eaten and…" She stopped abruptly. Jackson's face became ashen. "Oh!" He whispered, looking down at the pile of mashed berries with full-blown disgust. "Did you eat any?" I asked my brother. He hesitated. "No…I don't think so…" He answered, and I could tell it was the truth. I nodded. "Rose, take Jackson down to the stream and makes sure he washes out his mouth." I ordered. Rose gave me a look that clearly asked why torture her- but another looked and she rolled her eyes before leaving. "Now that that's done." I muttered with an annoyed snort. Erik didn't answer. Instead, he was chewing anxiously on the tip of his eraser. "One question…" Erik spoke up, ignoring my comment, "Why do you an I have to be 'partners'?" He asked. I sighed. My definition of partners- the same that souls thought- was the equal to being husband and wife. "You know it's just pretend Erik? Acting?" I asked him and the chuckled, "Something I would think of anyone would be the best at." In our school, Erik was known best for his acting skills. "Yeah, yeah- I get the acting part." Erik sighed, and then looked at me, "What I want to know is why are we? Why couldn't we be siblings or…" He trailed off, not knowing what else to say. "Because!" I said, slightly exasperated, "Siblings are hard to come by when you're a soul. It's sooo much more easier to say we're partners. That also eliminates other souls flirting. Kay?" Erik looked a bit surprised. "Souls flirt?" He asked. I shrugged. "I would expect," I answered, "I mean- although they're all 'save the world' and 'no violence' and such- they still do have feelings." I pointed out. Erik seemed to grant this acceptable because he nodded and put on a pair of darkened sunglasses. "Let's do this." The sun was sinking below the horizon. Erik and I sat behind a bush, our eyes watching a Piggly Wiggly store that had been renamed just Wiggly- the 'Piggly' part just shadows on the bricks. "Of course, their anti- animal cruelty." Erik said with a snort, but I could detect fear. Erik looked fearful and afraid and I didn't blame him. I was too because there was always that nagging fear that the souls would catch us… I shook the thought away. For this to work- we had to be souls. Think like souls, act like souls, and defiantly souls were not afraid to walk into a Wiggly! "You ready?" I whispered to Erik. He gulped and I couldn't even see his eyes beneath his darkened sunglasses. That was good. "As ready as I'll ever be." He whispered, his voice beyond shaky. My hands were trembling and my stomach was doing summersaults. "Hey…if this goes well- you'll officially be part of my council and get the title 'master raider', huh?" I asked him, trying to lighten the mood. He smiled slightly, but didn't answer. I sighed and put on my baseball hat backwards, making sure my bangs were in front of my eyes. "Can you see my eyes?" I asked Erik. He looked at me. "Nope!" He answered. I gave a thin smile. My eyes were hidden, except I couldn't see a thing… Erik must have sensed this because be grabbed my hand so he could lead me…which was strangely ironic because to fool the souls I was supposed to be the one leading him. The warmth of his hand sent bolts of lightning through my body- luckily Erik didn't seem to notice it. We started out into the daylight. My instincts were telling me to run…it was scary being out in the open like I was. All the souls around us… A car drove past us and I felt Erik stiffen like he was about to hightail, but I clamp my hand around his harder making him stay put. I saw a soul talking to another one right outside, and I wanted to cower and run. This time, Erik looked at me, his mouth pressed into a thin line. We passed the souls easily and I had to push my hat down farther so I couldn't really see a thing. But my eyes were hidden. Erik could tell I was still uneasy that I had nothing to cover my eyes. "If you want you can have the sunglasses." He offered. I refused. "You need it much more than I do- I'll manage." I assured him. He clearly didn't like my reasoning too much but knew better than to argue. The Wiggly was bright and cheerful and a sudden hope soared through my body as I saw the neatly stacked rows of food. I hadn't been to a store in such a long time- silly recall to expect this but- it was welcoming. "Here's a cart- we'll each take one actually." I told to him, grabbing two. He nodded and took one. "Plan?" He asked me. I looked around. "You take that half of the store- and I'll take this half. We'll meet back in," I glanced at the watch Kenzie had lent me- Erik had one on as well, "In about 45 minuets." Erik nodded and I started to leave, but Erik stopped me. "Uh, Alex…" He started rather hesitantly, his face beet red, "Does every thing in our cart HAVE to be food?" He asked me. I didn't answer and watched his eyes stray to a pile of stacked stuffed animals. "No…but why?" I asked, my hand indicating to the plushies. "Oh, nothing…I just think that pink bunny is cute." He answered hotly. I giggled; knowing there was more to the story but didn't push. "Right…" I murmured and as he walked away, "Forty-five minuets!" I called after him. He raised a hand to show he had heard me. I smiled and started down the isles. They weren't very packed- that was for sure- but there was an occasional soul once in a while, forcing me to cover my eyes. The rest of the time, I made sure I could see what I was idly grabbing. I got lots of food- mainly healthy things to travel but I knew my friends wouldn't be too mad if I grabbed a couple bags of Doritos, Cheetos, and Goldfish Crackers and some crates of soda. I was sure to grab a few (or a lot) of packets of gum for Effie, some Red Hots and Wint-o-Green mints for myself, some sour candy for Jasper, Chocolates for Dylan, Milky Way bars for Kenzie, and a variety of little candies for Rose. Also, I threw some things in my bag that weren't food related. A new shark-tooth necklace for my brother (his had fallen off in our journey), a stuffed animal for me and my sister, some smaller pillows and throw blankets for the hurt, and just little bolts and screws and such for all those little annoying things. By the time the forty-five minuets was up, my cart was nearly overflowing with stuff. Erik's was as well, when I met him by the registers. I noticed that he had put aside the pink bunny, a rose, and a box of chocolates had been set aside as to not be crushed by his towering food and stuff. "What's with that?" I asked pointing to his pink stash. We pushed our carts slower to an open register. "Okay Erik," I started in a hushed voice, "This is were you're real acting comes in- this is where we have to fool the soul. They will talk to you- you know what to answer right?" I asked him. He nodded. He stopped his cart about a foot away. "Just wait, Alex- one question." He said. I sighed. "No Erik, souls to not hit other souls over the head with baseball bats." I said, eyeing a baseball bat sticking out from his cart. "That wasn't what I was going to ask." Erik said, "But thanks for the tip. I was just wondering how we're going to pay for all this?" "Then why do you have to go through a register?" He asked. I hesitated a moment. "Inventory." We said in unison. He nodded. "Act one, take one." He murmured, pushing his cart to the soul. The soul behind the counter was looked friendly. She had short ginger hair and bright blue eyes. Her smile was sincere and didn't waver as we started to unload our things from the carts. "Hi there!" He welcomed happily. I wanted to desperately to see more than what I could- but I couldn't. But raising my head slightly, I could just make out her nametag. "Hi…uh Gracie." I replied, making out a bolded G-R-A-C-I-E. She didn't say anything else as we kept unloading. "Wow- that's a lot of stuff you have." She observed. I was about to answer, but Erik beat me to it. "Yeah, I'm hosing a party." Erik answered. Gracie nodded. "So what are your names?" She asked, trying to make small talk in between the BEEP as she scanned the items. "I'm Dark Wing beats at Dawn," Erik said using the name I had supplied for him, then he extended his hand, "And this is my partner…" He trailed off when he realized I hadn't given myself a name. I cursed silently, knowing that I had forgotten something. "Ellen." I said, flashing a grin at the lady- thinking of the first name that popped into my head. Gracie smiled. "I decided to take on my human's name." I explained after a moment's hesitation. The girl behind the counter nodded. "And I take it you are from Singing World?" She asked Erik. Erik smiled. "Yes, I am." He said and then taking on his character, his face became downcast, "I came here about two years ago. I had lived all my past lives in Singing World and I loved it. But one of my best friends sadly past away in this world. But when he was a bat with me, he would rave about how much he loved it so…it was the least I could do to try it out here. Not soon after, I met Ellen." Erik explained. "Well, Dark Wing beats at Dawn," Gracie said her smile vanishing, "It is always a sadness that one of us dies-but It is very kind of you to switch Singing World in honor of him." "Thank you." Erik said. The beeping still continued. "Not to be rude or anything," Gracie started hesitantly, "But aren't' you two a bit young to be partners?" She asked, "But that's probably none of mine concern." "Oh that's okay," I said uneasily. We didn't talk. Soon the beeping stopped and in total we had around ten or twelve bags. We took a cart. Gracie waved goodbye and we left the store. Once in the bushes we looked at each other and burst out laughing. I sat in my room with my friends around me as we feasted, celebrating our first raid. I took a giant slug of Dr. Pepper and grabbed some mints. Beside me Rose was in heaven as Dylan offered her a piece of candy. She took it gratefully and smiled. Jasper was sitting on my bed, gorging himself with food. Kenzie and Effie were gossiping about how Erik liked Mindy or something like that and that she liked him back. I chuckled. I stood up and brushed myself off. "Hey, where you going, Alex?" Jasper asked, picking up a piece of his candy. "Just something I need to do." I said vaguely and brushed out of the room. The air was cool and moist, no moon in the sky. People were just waking from their sleep or they were eating some of the food we had brought. I passed Mindy and Demi in the hallways, giving a side-glance at them, I saw something interesting. They were sitting on the grass. A rose was tucked in Mindy's hair and a pink stuffed bunny rabbit was sitting on her lap. Between the two girls was a box of pink chocolates. I couldn't help but to smile a bit, Erik sure knew how to impress a girl. I continued on, stopping outside Erik's door. Then I knocked on a hollow piece of wood. "Come in!" Erik called. I walked in to find Erik lying on his bed, a can of Mountain Dew beside him. He lifted his head to see my come in. He was sitting up before I could even sit down. "Hey Alex." He said lazily, a yawn escaping his mouth. "Hey, you should be out celebrating." I said, and then jokingly, "Or does all your friends envy you now?" I asked. He shook his head. "No, it's not that." He said, "I was going to go over to Josh's in a second. I was just- resting…" "Mindy liked what you got her." I threw out. Erik's face turned bright red and he opened his mouth to counter, but he couldn't formulate a sentence. "But that's not what you came to tell me." Erik murmured finally, looking down. I shrugged. "Nope- what I DID come to saw is 1) the raid was a success…" Erik cut me off. "Obviously…" He snorted as Jackson and his friend Noel passed munching on cheetoes. "And because it did go well- you are now official part of my council, holding the title "Official Leader Raider." I told him. Erik smiled. "Things are going good." He said with a smile. I and smiled back and agreed, because well simply they were…for now.
"I told you! I liked the bunny, to rose is for decoration, and the chocolates- well I like chocolates!" He snapped. I backed away from the subject.
"Souls don't make you pay." I explained simply. He got a funny look on his face.
Okay, dokie! How'd you like that? Yeah, not much action like a raid SHOULD Have, but trust me, next chapter will have a lot of action...hehehe....I was just going to origanally going to leave it when Erik and Alex started laughing, but I thought I should tell what happened after the raid a bit. And the part in there with my brother and the berries...that was his own idea! I also read my brother this story and he gives me haliarious ideas for his character Jackson. And you know where Rose insulted Jasper, that was an actual insult she used on him the other day! Okay, if you want the next chappie, REVIEWWWWWWd
