Here you have it , the fifth chapter for the story im very proud of myself because i kept getting off track , but here you go
another year passed , Leena was off to collage so everything was louder than usual , Myka and Helena keep trying and failing to keep the peace, Pete was the next in line to help Artie with whatever he always works on and Steve and Claudia were watching tv in Claudia's room
"So Claud what do you want to do , other than watch T.V. that is "Steve said
"What's wrong with T.V ? it has all the best shows and everything "Claudia replied not taking her eyes off the T.V
"Well , how about we Get ready for school in a couple weeks , or take Trailer for a walk "He said
"Well (1 im always ready for school (2 Artie said we couldn't go outside and besides Artie has Tray anyway so there's no point in that , best we could do is annoy Myka and Helena " just then Trailer came bounding into the room and jumped right on Claudia's bed knocking the remote off
"Well looks like Artie is back after all which means we can go outside" He said standing up "And no more T.V "He said picking up the remote and turning it off
"HEY i was watching that , you could have at least let me finish the episode "She said reluctantly standing up and getting her shoes on
"How many times have you watched that in the past week?" He said chuckling "Come on we can go to town and i will buy you food"
"You do know how to bribe me don't you Jinks?"She joked putting on her glasses . as they got older Artie gave them a little more freedom with Steve being 16 now he was granted the privilege of taking Claudia and Helena to the hardware store when they needed , Leena used to do it , Pete did it sometimes but Myka did it rarely "Come on we can get Trailer's stuff and go "He said walking down stairs
As they got down they could see Artie and Pete talking about something but only caught the end of the conversation "Maybe i should just ask Mrs. Fredrick if i could tell the other Four so we don't have to Come home every time you get hungry , just keep an eye on the Artifact please i will go ask her "Artie said in a huff and nearly walked right in to them
"Hey Papa Bear , Steve and i are going to take Trailer for a walk into town we will be back later "She said as he turned around to look at them
"Ok just call me if you smell Fudge "He said as he walked away
"Why does he always ask that when we go to town "Steve asked
"I don't know but its weird "She said as they walked into the kitchen to grab Trailer's orange Harness , since he didn't need a Leash Steve liked to give it to him to make sure they know where he is
As Claudia put on her Short sleeved Jean jacket vest she saw an old looking bottle top pin on the counter "Hey who's is that? "She asked
"I don't know Myka's maybe? go ask " he said finishing with the harness
"Nah im going to see how long it takes for her to notice "She said pinning it to the collar of her vest "Lets go "
Just as they left Pete and Artie came into the kitchen
"She said to do it one at a time , i figured since Myka and Steve are older we would start with her and then we would... where did the pin go? "Artie asked looking at all the counters
"I left it right here , who would you think took it? What if Trailer ate another Artifact?" Pete said remembering the time he ate an apple from the Bowl of golden Apple's turning him back into a puppy when Pete first started at the Warehouse
"Well did you spill anything on it when you made your sandwich ? other wise he wouldn't have eaten it "Artie said sitting down
"Oh i know we could ask Myka or Helena ? maybe they saw it and thought it was one of Theirs ? i'll go ask" He said running from the room and up the stairs
Five minutes later he came back down "They said they haven't been out of their rooms since we left , who would have taken the pin?" Pete asked defeated as he sat down
"Ouch what the heck? , Claudia left her spike bracelet on the chair again , CLAUDIA " He yelled
"She's not here , her and Steve took the dog to Town... Claudia's not here .."Artie said
"Yea Claudia's not here you said that "
"No , Claudia's not here , who do we know that would take something old looking and not ask about where it came from?"
"Claudia took it " they said at the same time
"Claud thats the third time you've tripped on our walk , you are not this clumsy even with your glasses on , are you ok?" Steve asked concerned
"Yea in fine just off balance i guess i Don't know whats wrong " she said as she hiccupped
"Are you sure you're ok? you aren't normally like this "Steve said putting a hand on her shoulder
"Yes im find , Find , finnnnnd "She said "Hey i can't say find " Just then Trailer barked at her
"Tray you know better than to bark "Claudia said as turned around faster than she thought she would and fell down dropping her bag as she went "Woah i don't feel good right now "
"Ok lets get you home , forget the Walk , im calling Artie , Trailer here boy " Steve said helping her up and putting one arm under her arms to hold her up and the other to get his phone out when he was hit with a strong scent of Fudge
"No don't call Artie , he'll be mad and send me away again i don't wanna" Just then a weird glint went over her eye's" leave i actually like it here , please Douglas don't tell miss "Claudia said starting to cry
"Claud? who's Douglas? I'm Steve Claud remember I'm Steve , something is wrong " He said dialing Artie's number as she started mumbling something under her breath
"ring-ring-rin. Hello?
"Steve ? Whats wrong, where's Claudia?" Artie asked
"She's right next to me begging me not to tell the Miss about whats wrong " Steve said "I need you to come get us , i dont think i can get us to the house "
"Alright thats ok Pete and I are already on our way , but we know whats wrong with her don't panic and whatever you do don't let her out of your sight , We'll be there in 5 minutes-" He said hanging up
"Its ok Claudia Artie will come and everything will be ok "He said reassuringly
"no it wont doug nobody has me in their houses for very long its always 'that girl has caused enough problems ' or 'that girl is a handful more than my most troubled charges " She said crying harder
"No Claud Nobody here would let you get taken away Artie loves you more than anything and the rest of us would stay with you " Steve said trying to stop her crying
"Your Lying , for someone who can tell when others are lying you sure suck at it , Let me go i Wanna walk home by myself , With out Stupid chester to try and lie to me again "She said shrugging out of Steve's hold
Steve went to take her hand so she can't wander "Claud its ok lets just go to the house together and explain what happened to..."
"No please don't Hit me again , leave me alone " She begged as she turned around and took off running into the woods Trailer running with her
"CLAUD " He shouted as he ran after her
As Pete and Artie were on their way to find Steve and Claudia
"Pete are you looking on the side of the road for them , Steve said that's where they were " Artie said as he occasionally checked the side of the road
"Yes Artie , and besides nothing bad could happen , the pin only works if you have a deep fear of something and this is Claudia we're talking about what could scare her " He said as he looked for his two siblings
"This is Claudia we're talking about Pete , she was the one in the system the longest and lived on the streets , she lost her family at a young age all of them by artifacts that i was responsible for i need to make sure she's ok at least " he said seeing something out of the corner of his eye had slammed on the car brakes
"Woah Artie warn a guy before you do that i could have died " Pete said looking at the map of this town
"Do you see that?" Artie asked as he backed the car up
"No what am i looking for? "Pete said unbuckling
"That's her bag , i remember because she made me buy it for her " He said picking it up "Where's tray he could find them with her scent . TRAILER " Artie said walking up the the edge of the woods
Just then Trailer came bounding out of the woods barking circling Artie and Pete and ran into the woods and back repeating it over again
"Artie i think he wants us to follow him " Pete said watching Trailer walk up to him and run away
"Yea i think your right "Artie said as they started walking into the woods
she was just talking to steve
"No don't call Artie he'll be mad and send me away again , "All of a sudden Steve turned into Douglas Fargo " Dougie? what are you doing here? , shouldn't you be back in Eureka with all the others? "
"Claudia what are you talking about we are in Eureka , your doing it again spacing off and not listening" He said "Im going to have to tell the Miss's about this "
" What? no you can't tell her , she'll send me away and i don't wanna leave you guys will be hurt again and i don't want that, Please doug don't tell the Miss's
that's when Chester Page came over from the house , "Whats on your face ? "
"Umm my glasses?" she said confused because she doesn't remember having glasses here
"you don't need glasses , your just faking so you can go to eye appointments with four eyes over here " he said pointing to Fargo "And besides whose going to adopt you , the screw up , the cursed child , who ever ends up taking you in is going to die just like your other family because your a curse " when he finished she could feel wetness on her face
"Hey Chester just go home , leave us alone alright , Hey Claud its alright , everything is going to be just fine trust me "
"No it won't Doug , nobody has me in their houses for very long its always 'That girl has caused enough problems ' or 'that girl is worst than my most troubled charges ' " She was crying harder now
"No thats not true Claud , i'll be here for you , no matter what i promise" Douglas said
"Your lying , for someone who can tell when others are lying you sure suck at it , just let me walk home by myself without stupid Chester trying to lie to me all the time " She said shrugging out of Doug's grip
"What have you done now wretched child ?"
"What? " Then the scene changed and she was back at that god forbidden house where she made sure everyone in it was removed and replaced in a different house Douglas no where in sight then the voice started again
"So i hear you were picking on Chester in the garden again? what have i told you about doing that , no one will want a child who bullies other people's children , your the worst child i've ever had and i can't wait for you to leave my house "
'She knew that voice. it was Rebekah Page the person who claimed to love each and every one of them and would put on a show every time there was someone over or out in public but would always favor her actual child Chester
"he was making fun of me " Claudia said
"and what is on your face where did you get them?"
"Artie gave them to me , he says i need glasses to see the world clearer "
"you stole them didn't you ? of course you did , you always have to do something that makes me look bad "
'Claudia wasn't sure what was happening , it was like a lucid dream , she could see everything that happens , but couldn't do anything that references real time , like mentioning Artie, but the more she remembered the more everything became foggy
"Well child come here to receive your punishment "
"No please don't hit me again , leave me alone"
'She could do nothing as she watched herself slowly walk forward to the woman who was going to hit her , again and again till she blacked out ,
"What time is it ,? i have to get down stairs before Artie and Everyone starts worrying "she said groggily as she sat up
"Claud are you ok? "said a familiar voice
"Yea steve , im just peachy lets go get breakfast im starving "she said sitting up
"Who's steve?" said the voice
"Well that would be yo-..."she stalled , she was still in that house her body remembering what happened started to ache and hurt , maybe the lady broke a few ribs this time looking around for Doug and finding the voice but she wasn't looking at Doug she was looking at Joshua , her big brother , "Josh what are you doing here? i thought you were dead "
"i know i did too , i think im stuck in an Interdimensional time portal or something , listen you have to get me ou -" but he couldn't finish his sentence as he quickly disappeared
Claudia jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs and into the living room
" Child i would like you to meet Mr. Nelson "the old woman spat
" Neilson .Hello , what is your name "he asked 'Claudia's mind didn't remember this being in her memory, but she didn't want to give her real name " Um , my name is uh um Sara"
"Sara huh? , thats a very nice name , now im looking for A girl named Claudia , are there any children here with that name? " he said trying to get a good look at her
' it was her , but she didn't know why he wanted her ' "No sir there are no children by that name " just then Doug came around the corner
"oh hey , its time for Chores and we have room duties " He said as he handed her the broom "Lets go so we could try and fix your glasses after " grabbing her hand and pulling her towards their rooms , Claudia didn't even realize her glasses were broken maybe thats why the man looked fuzzy
Artie and Pete had been walking for a good 10 minutes "CLAUDIA " Artie yelled
"STEVE" Pete shouted and Trailer was Barking running ahead and waiting for them and running again
"Pete you did bring a bag right?" Artie asked "Oh uh yea i got one don't worry we'll find them "Pete said "Hey Trailer stopped "
The dog had stopped at the edge of a very big rock next to a tree "CLAUDIA , STEVE " Artie yelled walking around it
"ARTIE? " Came Steve's voice from above " How did you find me? "
"Well what are you doing way up there?" Pete asked getting on the rock "Well Claud wasn't feeling good , so i called you and she was mumbling something , called me Douglas and asked me not to hit her again , ran off and i followed her , she climbed this rock and disappeared ive been looking ever since , i though she was in this tree but she's not " Steve said as he climbed down
"Well , if she's not here , did you maybe think she ran away when you climbed the tree?" Artie said and he walked towards where Steve was "Well , maybe she has a hideout here somewhere , i do but its near the house so i can get there easily " Pete said getting down from the rock and stepping on something making a crunch sound " I think i found something " He said holding up a pair of crushed glasses "Well , now she can't see so she can't be far from here" Pete said sheepishly
"Pete she could also be lost wait a secret hideout , she would have one of those but like Pete said near the house which way is home?" Artie asked looking at Pete and Steve who both looked at each other and pointed to the left "Then Left we go , i'll drive home and you guys search the woods , take Claudia's Bag and Trailer so he can help find her , if you do , don't approach her just keep an eye on her . Call me when you find her " Artie said going in the direction of the car
after chores Claudia and Fargo were in her and two another girls' room. he had a repair kit and was working on her glasses "You know , you should be more careful if you break break these you can't get another pair until you have enough money " He said
"I know Dougie , but Josh always made sure i dont break them , when i was younger he had a rubber band strapped to them so they wouldn't fall off " Claudia said chuckling at the memory
"Yea , i only ever lost my Mom , i don't know what its like to lose all your family " Douglas said putting down his screw driver "What? my whole family isn't dead" She responded
"Yea they are Claud , im sorry if your mad at me for bringing it up " He said continuing his work "But Joshua's not dead , hes alive , he visits me " She said getting up
"thats not possible hes dead , he died in an experiment ,i have to tell the miss if your seeing things , thats not good " He said handing her glasses to her
"No don't tell her , i'll be fine i promise i just need more sleep thats all " Claudia said as she put her glasses on "So Cursed girl is seeing things huh? guess mom has to know now maybe she'll send you away again and i'll never have to deal with you again" Chester said walking away from the door towards the room the Miss and Mr. Nelson were in "Chester no , she's just playing , we were just talking about weird dreams we had , right Claud?" Doug said nervously " Um , Yea i was just talking about a dream "
"Well , too late , whose my mom going to believe some foster kid or her only son ? im going to think me " Chester said walking away Claudia and Douglas running after him , by now Mr. Nelson had left and the Miss was just glaring at where he was sitting
"Mom , Claudia said she was hearing and seeing things , then started saying what she would do to me after i fell asleep , i'm scared " Chester lied just as Claudia and Doug got in the room
"I did not , i was just talking to Doug about a dream i had ,while he was fixing my glasses , i swear i didn't say any of tha- " She was cut off
"What are you saying? that my precious child could lie? he could nor would he ever lie to me , Fargo! , was she telling you a dream she had?" The Miss said as she turned towards him
"Well , uh technically no , it was a day dream if that counts about her brother coming to take her home" Fargo said
"So , She was the one lying then? , and my dearest sweet boy was the victim , like always , maybe you need help for your delusions get your things we are going to a special place " The miss said " Chester keep an eye on the rest of the children " The Miss said before walking towards Claudia grabbing her arm and leading her towards the car
Steve and Pete had started walking towards the house , at least what they thought the direction of the house was , they would check every tree stump , cave hole they found , Trailer looking everywhere he could constantly smelling Claudia's bag and then the ground searching for her "Steve , do you think maybe , it might be my fault she's like this? " Pete asked "I mean she is like my younger sister if its my fault i swear i will hunt her down and bring her back "
"Pete , its not your fault , remember when she tried to run away after her arm was healed , how she tried to grab everything we had gotten her but she was too slow and Artie just ended up bringing her home to her favorite dinner then watching all the Harry potter movies ?" Steve said "If she wasn't feeling good , she wouldn't tell any of us if she was sick she's probably got the flu or something "
"Yea , got the flu , we should be near the house by now , lets go check in with Artie-" Pete started but was cut off by a scream in the shed , Looking at each other Steve and Pete ran towards the sound just as Artie came around the corner "What was that? " He asked
"I think it was Claudia in the shed " Steve said approaching it and opening the door to find her curled into herself in one of the corners "Hey Claud , we uh found your glasses " He tried as quietly as he could , she just looked at him with deer in the headlights eyes and tried backing away more
"Steve , we are trying not to frighten her so much , maybe she's terrified walked a mile back into the shed " Artie said pulling Steve out of the Shed
"Claudia , sweetheart? , its me Artie Neilson , im not sure you remember me , i was your brothers Professor " He said getting closer than Steve did
"No , no Joshua's dead , and he's not coming back i know this , i've been taking my medicine and i dont need any more treatments , im ok Doctor i swear" She pleaded
"Claudia , listen to me , you need to give me your jacket before this becomes worse ok? im just going to take this one pin and you'll feel better i promise " He said getting closer
"No , i dont need it , im better i can leave , the Miss doesn't have to know you let me go , just please let me go" Her pleads were getting more childish , Artie grabs the pin and drops it in the bag
She's been in the hospital for 2 months now , she knows the schedule when to take medicine , and pretend she doesn't see her brother in the night because she knows if she does mention him , its back to the treatment room with the doctor and electricity
"So Claudia , how are you feeling today? have you seen Joshua at all?" Dr. Michener asked as she came into the exam room
"Yea , i saw him last night again , but i swear ive been taking the medicine im good i swear i dont need the treatment " She said quickly
"Well , im afraid its not up to you Ms. Donovan its up to me now lets prepare for this " He said as he left the room . As Quickly as she could she threw open the door and ran for her room , gathered her things and escaped out the door
As she lived on the streets it was hard , stealing from people and trying not to be killed or robbed . a month later she wanted to check up on Doug since he was her best friend and went to the foster home , as she went up to the door she saw the Miss talking to someone she walked in and found herself in a room with two police " What happened? " She asked getting worried
"Excuse me little lady , what is your name?" One of the officer's asked looking her over " i have no clue who that is , get out of my house little girl " The Miss started
"Excuse me , but i was asking her , not you so if you please sit down " He said "Now , what is your name?"
"Uh , its Claudia , Claudia Donovan , why whats going on?" She asked getting worried again
"We got a compliant from a teacher at a school about children getting abused here , and another one missing , but it appears to only be a charge of abuse since the missing one is right in front of me , now Miss Would you like to explain to me , why i was called here?" He asked "Sweetheart why don't you go up stairs and gather your things , while we sort things out " He said going to stand in front of the Miss's . Nodding Claudia ran upstairs and started looking in each room to find all but two were empty hers and Douglas's carefully walking in she saw Doug laying on his bad , tears in his eyes staring at the ceiling "Dougie? " She asked as she saw his broken Arm and Leg "Claud?" he said getting up and wobbling over to her
"What happened to you? i swear im going to kill her " She said starting for the door " Wait , it wasn't her this time , it was Chester after she took you to where ever she did , he cornered me in the living room and started calling me all kinds of names , after i kicked him and ran he caught me and just started wailing on me , im ok though because Mrs. Hammond asked what happened i told her and she called the police now were here , i didn't want to leave until they found you , all the other kids are already moved " He said Grabbing her Arm
"Well i guess , i better pack " She said walking into her room
After the Police finished with the Miss , they arrested her . Douglas was adopted my Mrs. Hammond and Claudia was assigned to the lively house where she spent the next couple of weeks until she was moved after her arm was Broken by the foster father , her case worker Promised she would like this house and she wasn't aloud to run away until her arm healed
"Artie its not working ,we need to bring her back to the present , Claudia do you remember the B&B? or Myka? Helena?" Pete tried " Artie we have to help her before she ends up like everyone else "
"Ok , we need something to make her remember Steve go get Helena and Myka , and bring down some of her things "Artie said getting into his back " Quickly please "
Five minutes later everyone was taking turns trying to get Claudia who was in the yard now to remember " Artie we have less than 10 minutes before the memories start to erase " Pete whispered "I know that Pete , what haven't we tried ? , Myka call Leena maybe she can help " just as Trailer started barking
"Trailer stop" Claudia said every one turned to look at her as Trailer was nudging her hand for pets
"Trailer here " Artie said "Thats it , we can't just show her stuff and ask her to remember , we have to show her how to use them too " Artie said triumphantly
"What? no , my head was just foggy i must be sick or something Trailer woke me up...why is my stuff on the lawn ?" She asked sitting up rubbing her head
"Oh thank God your ok , We were all worried about you , you and i were walking and you started tripping then you were crying asking me not to hit you and ran into the woods , here Artie picked up your bag "Steve said handing her bag to her and helping her up
"Wow thats a lot to happen , can i go inside to lay down for a bit my eyes are pretty foggy " She said going inside then as everyone was picking up her stuff they heard from inside "PETE WHAT HAPPENED TO MY GLASSES"
Here you go , im not sure if these chapters are related anymore , im just going to say no , so if the next one either doesnt come or make sense just warned you , also to the one or two people reading this , comment hi because im lonely and could use a friend who doesn't pretend i don't exist