I groaned. I was sitting at the kitchen table with my sister Mae in the chair across from mine. "But why? I'm already on chapter thirteen of Timecrest and it's just getting good." Mae shook her head. "That's exactly why. You are playing that video game too much. This is literally your third time playing it in a row." I shrugged my shoulders. "So, it's a very good game." "Well you need some fresh air and exercise. Sitting on your phone all day long isn't exactly good for your health." "I could play it in the garden," I said; hoping that this would convince my sister to change her mind. I really didn't want to go to England. I knew that it would be freezing there at this time of year and I was far from fond of the cold. I stared down at my unfinished dinner. The spaghetti was already getting cold and I slowly picked up a forkful.

Mae was staring at me disapprovingly. "No. You are going on this trip whether you like it or not, young lady." I looked up and glared at my sister. "You are not my Mother. You can't force me to go if I don't want to." "Well actually, Mom has agreed to let you go so you are going no matter what you do." I jumped to my feet so fast that I nearly knocked over my chair. I turned and stormed to my room, slamming the door behind me.

I flopped down on my bed. My sister could be so annoying sometimes, no make that most of the time. One minute she would be all nice. She would take me shopping and by me little gifts every once in a while. The next minute she would be springing something like this trip on me. I sighed loudly. How was I going to get myself out of this one? I had managed to get out of my sisters "special plans" a few times before. Like when Mae had gotten Mom to start packing me cucumber sandwiches for lunch even though she knew that I hated cucumber, I had simply fed the sandwiches to the dog and stuffed apples in my pockets to bring to school instead. I still hadn't gotten caught, though eating apples every single day was getting quite boring. Another time Mae had somehow convinced Mom to make sure that I was in bed before nine o'clock on school nights, because apparently that was when kids under sixteen were actually supposed to go to bed. I knew that there was no freaking way that this was actually fact. My sister probably just wanted me out of the way so that she could have the house to herself in the evenings. Even after this conclusion I had still been astonished and dismayed to hear the news that I would have to get all tucked up like two hours before my usual bed-time. I wasn't four years old. What sensible fourteen year old ever went to bed before nine o'clock p.m.? However this problem had been pretty easy to solve. I had just snuck my phone or a book into bed and read or used it after Mom left. That had worked out great but now it was this trip. I thought about my options. I could tell Mom that I had a sleepover planned with a group of friends, but then I shook my head. Since when would I ever go on a sleepover? I wasn't extremely shy or anything in school, it's just that I was scared that kids would start bullying me if I made too many friends. My school wasn't very good and kids often got bullied just because they had more friends in their friend groups than the bullies had in their gangs. Because of this I only had two good friends at the moment, Felice and Airell, but I preferred hanging out with them at school. I had never asked either of them if I could go to their houses and I knew that I never could or would. I didn't have enough courage to do it in front of my classmates. I racked my brain, trying to think of anything else that I could say. Then my phone pinged. It made me jump and I reached over to pick it up. I saw that I had received a notification from Timecrest. A smile lit up my face as I opened my favourite game in the whole world. I watched the messages flash across my screen and my smile widened. There would be enough time to worry about the trip problem later. For now, Luthor and Riley needed me.

After about ten minutes there was a knock on my door. I looked up idly as my Mum entered and sat down on the edge of my bed. "Well, honey, are you ready for your trip to London?" I nodded absently. I was on a really good part of my Timecrest story and I didn't want to miss a single second of it. My MUM frowned. "Westlyn, put the phone down." My finger swiped across the phone screen and the faint music from the game floated across the room. Mum touched me on the shoulder. "Put the phone away." I frowned. "Why?" Mum looked irritated. "Just do it. I am talking to you and besides, I'm sick of seeing you walking around with it and bumping into things. I swear, my pot plant is probably scarred for life at this point." I reluctantly placed my phone carefully on my dresser. "Why are you here Mom?" I asked. I knew that my Mum was here for a reason. She never did anything without a good reason to do it. She wouldn't come into my room just to have a little chat, no, no. She only entered my room to talk about important stuff. "Well?" I pressed impatiently, "what about the trip?" The Timecrest music had changed from a calm piece to an urgent soundtrack that told me that something important was taking place. The sooner this talk was over, the better. "I just wanted to talk about the trip. Did Mae tell you when you are going?" I shook my head. Mum sighed. "You might not be too happy to hear this then. You are going off to London, tomorrow." I sat up. "Tomorrow, but I have barely started chapter thirteen. I am not even at the interesting bit. Luthor is just about to ..." "I don't care what this Luthor character is about to do," Mum said exasperated, "he isn't real and it is about time you got that fact into your head, Westlyn. These people aren't real, they are probably made up by some ten year old kid, sitting in his mother's basement with nothing better to do. You have to focus on reality, on me, on your sister, anything but that stupid game." I glared furiously at my mother. "It's not a stupid game, it's important to me." "Westlyn, listen to yourself. Just please put your phone away for a few hours," Mum said more gently, but I was angry. I was angry that she would ever suggest such a thing. "I can't Mom. If I'm going on that stupid trip that I never even asked to go on in the first place, then can't I at least have my phone until I leave?" "Westlyn, no," Mum stood up; hands on hips, "that's it! I was hoping it wouldn't come to this but, your grounded until you get back from England!" My eyes widened. "What?" Then a look of absolute fury crossed my face. I stood up as well and turned to my mother. "You know what? That "stupid game" is important to me, in fact, it is way more important than you will ever be!" With that I grabbed my phone and fled from my bedroom.

I ran to the garden and sat down behind a cherry-blossom tree at the very back where my Mum and Mae would never look for me. There had once been a wasps nest behind this tree. Mum and Mae had been stung several times so they had learned to stay far away from this tree. The wasps had all long since flown away and I decided that this was the perfect spot for me. I spat at the grass in front of me. I was still enraged by what my mother had said. Couldn't she see how much I loved Timecrest? I sighed and quickly unlocked my phone. I stared at the screen in front of my eyes but I was ignoring the messages. I frowned. "I wish I could just live in Alyncia. I bet life there would be way better than on Earth." Right after my words my game seemed to freeze. My eyes focussed on the phone's screen and I narrowed them. I tried to restart the application but my phone was unresponsive. Suddenly a red message flashed across the screen. "Very well, Westlyn Kenley." My dark green eyes widened in shock. "A-Alvin?" I stuttered. I blinked at my screen. It appeared to still be frozen but as I watched, it slowly started turning black. As I realised this I suddenly felt like my body was fading away. Frantically, I tried to stand up but my legs would not support my weight; and I slid to the ground. I was still gripping my phone. I tried to drop it onto the grass but my fingers stayed locked around it. Desperately I reached for a leaf lying beside me, aiming to hold it, to touch it, anything that would show me that I was in control of my own body but my hand wouldn't move. I stared in terror as my screen went blank and at the same time, blackness fell over my vision.