Author's Note: It's time for a quick recap. After sealing the Stop Card, Sakura, Li, Madison, Meilin, and Kero are set to head into the San Bernardino Forest to find the final American Card. But what they don't know is that the two agents looking for them is in their hotel at this very moment.
Cards captured so far: Vision, Heat, Vine, Bell, Sleep, Wind, Angel, Sludge, Multiple, Silence, Smoke, Memory, Chain, Fire, Tornado, Earth, Split, Water, and Stop
CCS: The American Cards: Part 25
It was early in the morning. The sun was just beginning to rise, but Sakura couldn't sleep. Everyone else was sleeping soundly, but not Sakura. She checked the clock and saw it was six in the morning. She carefully got out of bed, put on a robe, and walked over to the door. She walked outside the door of Room 6 and headed towards the vending machine right in front of her. Maybe she could relieve her tension with a pack of Oreos. When she put her dollar in, however, the machine jammed.
Sakura groaned and headed back inside. She knew that if she could put another dollar in, she might get another pack and that loose one.
Carter was dead tired, yet he couldn't sleep. In fact, he decided to get up. Carter got his sweat pants on and walked outside the door of Room 7. He sighted the nearby vending machine and was in the mood for a pack of Oreos. He could see that there was a pack already stuck there. Hoping to loosen it, Carter put his dollar in and punched the numbers in.
Sure enough, Carter got two for the price of one. The loose pack fell and another pack was pushed out. Grinning, he took the two packs and wandered back into his room, just as he heard the door from Room 6 open. If those people wanted that loose pack of Oreos, then they were out of luck.
Sakura had her dollar and went back to the vending machine. To her dismay, the loose pack of Oreos was gone. This machine had eaten her dollar…and someone got a free pack of Oreos. She assumed it was the guy who just walked into Room 7. That jerk.
Groaning, Sakura put her dollar into the machine again. And the second time wasn't any different. The machine jammed on her again, and once again, the Oreos were stuck. Sakura gave up. She just made her way back into her room and decided to shower before everyone woke up.
It was time to check out. Sakura and Li were waiting outside the Holiday Inn exit for Madison, Meilin, and Kero to come back with that rental car. It would be a long day. They would have to find the San Bernardino Forest and look for the final American Card there.
"Are you all right?" Li asked. He could see the concerned look on the face of Sakura.
"I'm just trying to think about what American Card could be hiding in the forest."
"We'll find it, Sakura."
"But it bothers me, though. Usually, the Vision Card shows me what I'm up against, or at least gives me a faint idea. This time, it didn't show me anything. I don't know what we're about to face."
Li sighed. "Whatever it is…we'll face it together."
Finally, after a long wait, the rental car pulled up. Madison waved from outside the window. Sakura and Li picked up their luggage and headed outside.
Carter was heading for the lobby to check out, but he gasped at the sight outside. It was them. The two kids were outside, getting into a rental car. Carter tried to run outside, while making a call to his partner.
"Cole! Get out here! I found them!"
That was all Agent Arnold Cole had to hear. He immediately rushed towards the lobby, but he was just in time to see the rental car pull out and drive away. Cole let out a roar of frustration before walking over to the front desk.
"Who just checked out?!" Cole demanded.
"Who wants to know?" the clerk shot back.
Carter pulled out his badge. "FBI, that's who. Who just checked out?"
"What are you doing?!" Cole asked angrily. "They aren't…"
"We don't got time for this cover-up nonsense!" Carter interrupted. He looked back at the clerk. "Who just checked out?! I'm not asking again!"
The clerk looked around nervously. "They checked in under the name 'Madison Taylor'. They aren't…dangerous, are they?"
"Let us worry about that," Carter answered. He turned to Cole. "Let's go. They couldn't have gone far."
Carter started walking out, but the clerk suddenly called out.
"Wait! I might know where they're going!"
Carter's ears were burning. He calmly walked back to the front desk. "What do you know?"
"I overheard them talking about the San Bernardino Forest. I think that's where they might be going."
"You're sure about this?" Cole asked firmly.
"It's all I heard," the clerk responded.
"Thanks," Carter sighed. He started to walk away, but he looked back one more time. "Don't tell anybody about this. Nobody has to know FBI was here. Don't let me find out you told."
The clerk nodded nervously. Carter and Cole made their way outside the Holiday Inn and to their car. This was it. These four kids were finally going to be cornered. And Carter would finally be able to end this…and get some long-awaited answers.
"Wait, guys. I need a break."
Sakura was always the athletic type with a lot of endurance, but even she was tired after this long walk. She looked around her to see that she was surrounded by trees. They had all gone deep into the snow-covered forest. She couldn't see the road anymore.
"I hope we're not lost," Meilin pointed out. "Does anybody know where the road is?"
Silence.
"We'll find the road later," Kero finally said. It was probably his way of saying they were lost.
Sakura sighed as she realized that now wasn't the time to take a break. She pulled herself together and kept on walking, right beside Li, through the forest. That's when it finally occurred to Li to take out the Lasin Board.
"Force, know my plight! Release the light!"
The light shot out and it pointed out into the sky. That was definitely unusual.
"That's never happened before," Li said grimly. "The Lasin Board's always pointing at a card."
"We should regroup," Madison suggested. "I need to sit down."
"Me, too," Sakura agreed. "We've got to think about where to go next."
She sat on a nearby log and began to think. They couldn't have hit a dead end now. They were so close. Where could they go?
"Let me try the Lasin Board again," Li said. "Force, know my plight! Release the light!"
This time the result was different. The light started shooting out, but it also started flickering.
"It's pointing this way!" Kero shouted. "Let's go!"
Everyone got up, but Sakura was already off and running. She stopped once in a while when the light flickered, but Sakura had a general idea of where to run. The adventure was coming to a close.
At the same moment…
Carter brought up the rear as the two agents wandered the forest. There was no sign of the four kids yet and they had searched the forest for at least an hour. Carter turned around and looked back. The road was no longer visible and Carter had a bad feeling that they were now lost.
"Any idea what we're doing?" Carter asked.
Cole wandered over to a nearby cave. "We'll search in here."
"A cave?" Carter scoffed. "Why would they be in a cave?"
"Oh, trust me," Cole said assuredly. "You never know where we might find them."
Cole ran into the cave, leaving Carter outside. Carter was about to give chase, when his cell phone rang. Groaning in frustration, Carter answered it.
"Carter. What's up?"
"It's Chris. Where are you?"
"San Bernardino Forest. We're on the trail of those four kids. We're ready to…"
"Is Cole there?"
"Cole ran into some cave. Why? What happened, Chris?"
"Make sure he isn't around. Carter, there's something you should hear."
Carter felt skeptical. He looked around and made sure no one was around. Then he walked over behind a tree.
"Go ahead, Chris."
The next thing Carter heard came as an unbelievable shock to him. He started to feel confusion, anger…and fear. He didn't know what to think next.
"Say that again?"
"Sakura! Wait up!"
Sakura didn't heed Kero's call. She continued following the light…until it finally faded. Sakura then saw a cave…and began to sense the card's presence…just as she did when she used the Vision Card. She was just about to run in, when she thought she heard someone. It sounded like a very distant voice coming from behind one of the trees. But she shook that off. It might have just been Li or Kero…but they never had voices like that.
Sakura dismissed that and ran into the cave. She quickly pulled out her key.
"Key of Clow. Power of Magic. Power of Light. Surrender the wand. The force ignite. Release!"
Sakura took her wand and continued walking through the cave. Then Li, Meilin, and Madison, who was carrying Kero, ran into the cave.
"Is it in here?" Kero asked.
"The light stopped," Li said grimly. "I don't know why, but it has. Either way, though, I sense it's in here."
Sakura cautiously walked around, with her friends following behind her. She tried not to make any noise, because there might have been an off chance that there could be bears inside. Of course, if there were, Sakura couldn't see them. She wandered off to one side of the cave, while her friends searched on the other side, leaving Sakura practically alone.
It was very quiet inside that cave…until Sakura heard a voice bellow out.
"Hold it right there!!"
Sakura gasped when she saw a handgun being pointed at her. She saw it was being held by a man in a black suit and shades. He looked like a government agent…who was poised to fire.
"Sakura?!"
It was Li. He heard the agent and started running towards Sakura. Then, in what had to be the scariest moment of her life, the agent fired…at Li…leaving a bullet in his upper arm. Li fell to the ground, clutching his left arm.
"Li!!" Sakura shouted in agony. She tried to run towards him, but the agent pointed the gun back at her.
"Don't move!!" he boomed. He looked at the rest of Sakura's friends. "One step and she dies!!"
Sakura didn't make another move. She just stood still…fearing for her life. She couldn't understand what was happening. And what made matters worse, was that there was still an American Card lurking in this cave.
But just then, someone else walked into the cave. It was another government agent in a black suit. He had the same angry scowl as the one that was threatening Sakura and he also pulled out a handgun. Except he had it pointed at the other agent.
"Put the gun down, Cole!!"
"Carter, what are you doing?!" the one called Cole demanded. "We have them!"
Carter was unshaken. "You heard me. I ain't playing!! Put the gun down!!"
"These four are a threat to national security," Cole growled. "We went over this! They are to be taken down by any means necessary!"
"This ain't about national security," Carter said solemnly. "It never was. From day one, I knew there had to be a piece of the puzzle I was missing. If four kids were sighted in the White House…and two of them were chasing away what WAS probably a threat to national security, then why would they be such a threat? To be honest, I still don't know. But now I know a lot more about you, Cole…if that's your real name."
"What are you talking about?" Cole asked nervously.
"I just a got a call from FBI headquarters," Carter explained. "They told me that…a few weeks ago, a body was found near the Delaware River. The body was slaughtered, but there was still enough to make out an autopsy. The results just came back today, and…the body was identified as one Arnold Cole.
"Now I'm only going to ask once. Who are you?"
Sakura had no idea what was going on. But out of the corner of her eye, she could see Li struggling to reach for the Lasin Board with his good arm.
"Force, know my plight! Release the light!"
The flickering light shot out of the Lasin Board once more, but this time, it found its card. The light was pointing directly at Agent Arnold Cole.
Carter looked on in awe. "What the…"
His disguise was discovered. Sakura now knew what this truly was…and Kero confirmed it.
"It's the Fake Card!"
Sensing impending defeat, the Fake Card, with the gun still pointed at Sakura, pulled the trigger. But to everyone's relief, the gun was empty.
"No!" the Fake Card shouted. "It just HAD to be empty!" Then he grinned sinisterly at Sakura. "Well, you're the chosen one. It took me a lot longer than I thought to find you, but nonetheless, I have. Now you can either surrender the cards, or suffer the consequences."
Carter cautiously approached the Fake Card. "Ok, so far I've got an imposter, a weird light, and…a talking stuffed animal. I don't know what's going on here, but nobody's going anywhere…until I get some answers!"
"Fool!" the Fake Card sneered. "You really don't know what you're doing, do you?"
With lightning speed, the Fake Card wrestled the gun away from Carter and threw him down. Then he picked him up and threw him to the other side of the cave, right next to Madison and Meilin. Then the Fake Card picked up Carter's gun and pointed it at Sakura. Then he shed his disguise. The Fake Card transformed into a vicious alligator-like creature and was set to pull the trigger.
"Time for this to end, Mistress of Clow."
Cliffhanger alert! This is where it ends until next time. In the meantime, review below and tell me what you think. And don't forget to come back!