A/N: Hmm...I'm starting to come up with a plot line, which is a good thing!
Phi's eyes blinked open and she sat up in bed, looking around sleepily. What had woken her up? She rubbed her eyes, yawned and looked at her alarm clock, it was three o'clock in the morning. She was about to go back to sleep when she heard a noise from down stairs. She froze and her heart started to pound, who was in her house in the middle of the night?
Phi inched out of bed, fell quietly to the ground, and slowly turned her doorknob. She opened the door gently and flinched as it let out a long, high-pitched squeak. She held her breath and listened but everything was silent again, until she heard someone opening the front window and pulling out the screen. She walked with her back against the wall trying to convince herself that it was just Alex playing a practical joke or one of Tom's college friends that followed him home.
She slowly opened Tom's bedroom door and tiptoed over to the side of his bed, "Tom...wake up..." She poked him several times, wishing that their parents slept in the third upstairs guest bedroom instead of the one downstairs.
Tom brushed her hand away and yawned, "What's the matter?"
Phi sighed with relief and whispered, "There is someone downstairs..."
He sat up in his bed, "What?"'
She crept over to his slightly open door, motioned for him to be quiet, and pointed down the stairs. He nodded and followed her down to the bottom of the stairwell to spy on whoever was in their house.
Tom strained his hearing and caught a few words that the person was saying. Only there wasn't only one person, there was two, "Are you sure...right house?"
"We followed...like he said...turn on...lantern!"
Tom's heart stopped as he realized that something was wrong. He forced his brain to think but it seemed to be frozen. What was wrong? He turned to Phi and looked her straight in the eyes. She seemed to be having the same problem. They didn't know the voices...he was sure if that were the case Phi would recognize them immediately.
He turned back around and jogged quietly up the stairs to his room. He ran in and grabbed the tape recorder on his desk that he used when he was experimenting with things and ran back down to where Phi was still standing and turned it on. She looked at him and grinned, racking her brain for any hints to help her realize what was going on.
Just as suddenly as they had come, the two voices left, and Phi and Tom were left looking curiously at each other from the bottom of the staircase. Phi waved a shaky goodnight to her brother, then went back into her room, locking the door behind her, and settled in for a restless night.
When the sun rose, Tom hopped out of bed and walked quickly down the stairs to see what had happened while his parents had been sleeping. He peered around the corner and, seeing nothing that looked potentially dangerous, crept into the family room, which was at the bottom of the staircase and where the people had been. Tom looked curiously around for anything out of place, but found nothing. He turned around and almost died of a heart attack when he found his father staring curiously at him from the opening of the room, "What in the world are you looking for Tom?"
"I uh...er...well," he sighed and handed his dad the tape recorder, "Do you know who this is?"
His father pressed play then after listening for a few minutes pressed stop and looked down at Tom with an odd look in his eyes, "No, I don't, but I can't make heads or tails of what they're saying either..."
Tom frowned and pressed play, listening carefully to what was recorded, "The person is telling the other about how they hope they got the right house..."
His father's forehead creased with worry and he walked into the room, "Son, all I can hear is a bunch of gibberish..."
"No, they're speaking in English! Phi could understand it too! And if we both know it then...what...else...could...it...be..." His voice trailed off and he suddenly he sprinted past his dad, leapt back up the stairs, and launched himself into Phi's room.
She fell out of her bed when her door was slammed open and glared at him. Tom hoisted her up and threw some pants at her, "Get dressed! We're going over to Alex's now!"
She grimaced at being ordered around, but shoved the pants over her PJ shorts and followed her brother out of the house and down the street a block. Tom ran up to the corner house and banged on the door, "Alex! Wake up! It's us, and there is something very weird and potentially dangerous going on!!"
Phi ran up to the porch just as Alex whipped open the door, gasping for breath, unused to having worked so hard physically just after waking up. Their friend looked curiously at the two and led them inside his house, closing the door and locking it behind them.
Tom walked up to him and handed him the tape player, "Play it and tell me if you can understand them..."
Alex looked from Tom, to Phi, to the tape player, gave Tom this I-hope-you- know-I-think-you're-crazy look and pressed play. The voices came up again and he turned to Tom, "Ya I can understand them, but...something about it...it's not right, but...I don't know what..."
He handed the tape player back to Tom who sat down on his friend's couch. He stared at the machine thoughtfully for a few minutes before looking up at Phi and Alex, "I know what's wrong, and so do the both of you...You just haven't realized it yet."
They looked at him curiously, urging him with their eyes to go on. He sighed and held out the tape player, "These men aren't speaking English..."
Alex frowned, "What?! Of course they are! I can understand them just as well as I can you or Phi!"
"But my dad couldn't. He didn't understand them at all..." He looked directly at his sister, then at Alex, "Think about it. What language do we know that no one else does? What language would sound as normal as English to us, but isn't?"
Phi's eyes grew wide, "There is no way..."
Alex finally understood what Tom had figured out, "Oh my god...they were speaking Tortallian!"
Tom turned to him, "Exactly..."
Phi interrupted him, "What are we going to do? What person do we know from Tortall that would break into our house in our world, have a conversation in our family room, and then leave without even waking us up? For that matter, who do we know besides Numair that can do trans- dimensional travel things?"
Tom shrugged, "No one, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough..."
Alex sat down next to him, "What do you mean?"
"It seems kind of silly for two people to travel who knows how far through space to the exact place and time where we are living, and not want to do something with us..."
Phi stared out the window, "Ya, but are they our friends or not..."
"That is the real question..."
Alex stood up, "This is ridiculous! The only enemy that I remember having when we went to Tortall was Dausael, but he's dead Tom! I know he died, so don't go telling me he didn't! "
"I know he's dead Alex, but there are other people besides him!"
Phi turned to her brother, "Like who?"
"Like every Scanran that was in any way connected with Dausael and his troops. Do you realize that by being captured and rescued we three probably helped to destroy the only real foothold that the Scanrans had in their war against Tortall? Any of them who are mages could have accidentally discovered a way to travel through dimensions, just like Numair did, and now they are out in revenge or something?"
Alex looked nervously at Tom, "That is a pretty far-fetched idea you know...there's like a one in a million chance that it is true. Besides, don't you think that if the two people in your house last night were really Scanran mages bent on revenge, that they would have just left you two alive? Maybe if they had tried to kill you..."
Tom rested his forehead on his hands, "I don't know what to think anymore...All I know is that people from another dimension that only we know about are stalking us and we can't tell anyone about it in our world because they'll think we've gone insane..."
Phi sat down heavily next to her brother and sighed, "And all I wanted was a nice Christmas break away from the pressures of school..."
Alex looked at her from over Tom's head, "I don't think that is going to happen...not this year anyway..."
A/N: OK...sigh another chapter written...hmm...what should happen next?
Phi's eyes blinked open and she sat up in bed, looking around sleepily. What had woken her up? She rubbed her eyes, yawned and looked at her alarm clock, it was three o'clock in the morning. She was about to go back to sleep when she heard a noise from down stairs. She froze and her heart started to pound, who was in her house in the middle of the night?
Phi inched out of bed, fell quietly to the ground, and slowly turned her doorknob. She opened the door gently and flinched as it let out a long, high-pitched squeak. She held her breath and listened but everything was silent again, until she heard someone opening the front window and pulling out the screen. She walked with her back against the wall trying to convince herself that it was just Alex playing a practical joke or one of Tom's college friends that followed him home.
She slowly opened Tom's bedroom door and tiptoed over to the side of his bed, "Tom...wake up..." She poked him several times, wishing that their parents slept in the third upstairs guest bedroom instead of the one downstairs.
Tom brushed her hand away and yawned, "What's the matter?"
Phi sighed with relief and whispered, "There is someone downstairs..."
He sat up in his bed, "What?"'
She crept over to his slightly open door, motioned for him to be quiet, and pointed down the stairs. He nodded and followed her down to the bottom of the stairwell to spy on whoever was in their house.
Tom strained his hearing and caught a few words that the person was saying. Only there wasn't only one person, there was two, "Are you sure...right house?"
"We followed...like he said...turn on...lantern!"
Tom's heart stopped as he realized that something was wrong. He forced his brain to think but it seemed to be frozen. What was wrong? He turned to Phi and looked her straight in the eyes. She seemed to be having the same problem. They didn't know the voices...he was sure if that were the case Phi would recognize them immediately.
He turned back around and jogged quietly up the stairs to his room. He ran in and grabbed the tape recorder on his desk that he used when he was experimenting with things and ran back down to where Phi was still standing and turned it on. She looked at him and grinned, racking her brain for any hints to help her realize what was going on.
Just as suddenly as they had come, the two voices left, and Phi and Tom were left looking curiously at each other from the bottom of the staircase. Phi waved a shaky goodnight to her brother, then went back into her room, locking the door behind her, and settled in for a restless night.
When the sun rose, Tom hopped out of bed and walked quickly down the stairs to see what had happened while his parents had been sleeping. He peered around the corner and, seeing nothing that looked potentially dangerous, crept into the family room, which was at the bottom of the staircase and where the people had been. Tom looked curiously around for anything out of place, but found nothing. He turned around and almost died of a heart attack when he found his father staring curiously at him from the opening of the room, "What in the world are you looking for Tom?"
"I uh...er...well," he sighed and handed his dad the tape recorder, "Do you know who this is?"
His father pressed play then after listening for a few minutes pressed stop and looked down at Tom with an odd look in his eyes, "No, I don't, but I can't make heads or tails of what they're saying either..."
Tom frowned and pressed play, listening carefully to what was recorded, "The person is telling the other about how they hope they got the right house..."
His father's forehead creased with worry and he walked into the room, "Son, all I can hear is a bunch of gibberish..."
"No, they're speaking in English! Phi could understand it too! And if we both know it then...what...else...could...it...be..." His voice trailed off and he suddenly he sprinted past his dad, leapt back up the stairs, and launched himself into Phi's room.
She fell out of her bed when her door was slammed open and glared at him. Tom hoisted her up and threw some pants at her, "Get dressed! We're going over to Alex's now!"
She grimaced at being ordered around, but shoved the pants over her PJ shorts and followed her brother out of the house and down the street a block. Tom ran up to the corner house and banged on the door, "Alex! Wake up! It's us, and there is something very weird and potentially dangerous going on!!"
Phi ran up to the porch just as Alex whipped open the door, gasping for breath, unused to having worked so hard physically just after waking up. Their friend looked curiously at the two and led them inside his house, closing the door and locking it behind them.
Tom walked up to him and handed him the tape player, "Play it and tell me if you can understand them..."
Alex looked from Tom, to Phi, to the tape player, gave Tom this I-hope-you- know-I-think-you're-crazy look and pressed play. The voices came up again and he turned to Tom, "Ya I can understand them, but...something about it...it's not right, but...I don't know what..."
He handed the tape player back to Tom who sat down on his friend's couch. He stared at the machine thoughtfully for a few minutes before looking up at Phi and Alex, "I know what's wrong, and so do the both of you...You just haven't realized it yet."
They looked at him curiously, urging him with their eyes to go on. He sighed and held out the tape player, "These men aren't speaking English..."
Alex frowned, "What?! Of course they are! I can understand them just as well as I can you or Phi!"
"But my dad couldn't. He didn't understand them at all..." He looked directly at his sister, then at Alex, "Think about it. What language do we know that no one else does? What language would sound as normal as English to us, but isn't?"
Phi's eyes grew wide, "There is no way..."
Alex finally understood what Tom had figured out, "Oh my god...they were speaking Tortallian!"
Tom turned to him, "Exactly..."
Phi interrupted him, "What are we going to do? What person do we know from Tortall that would break into our house in our world, have a conversation in our family room, and then leave without even waking us up? For that matter, who do we know besides Numair that can do trans- dimensional travel things?"
Tom shrugged, "No one, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough..."
Alex sat down next to him, "What do you mean?"
"It seems kind of silly for two people to travel who knows how far through space to the exact place and time where we are living, and not want to do something with us..."
Phi stared out the window, "Ya, but are they our friends or not..."
"That is the real question..."
Alex stood up, "This is ridiculous! The only enemy that I remember having when we went to Tortall was Dausael, but he's dead Tom! I know he died, so don't go telling me he didn't! "
"I know he's dead Alex, but there are other people besides him!"
Phi turned to her brother, "Like who?"
"Like every Scanran that was in any way connected with Dausael and his troops. Do you realize that by being captured and rescued we three probably helped to destroy the only real foothold that the Scanrans had in their war against Tortall? Any of them who are mages could have accidentally discovered a way to travel through dimensions, just like Numair did, and now they are out in revenge or something?"
Alex looked nervously at Tom, "That is a pretty far-fetched idea you know...there's like a one in a million chance that it is true. Besides, don't you think that if the two people in your house last night were really Scanran mages bent on revenge, that they would have just left you two alive? Maybe if they had tried to kill you..."
Tom rested his forehead on his hands, "I don't know what to think anymore...All I know is that people from another dimension that only we know about are stalking us and we can't tell anyone about it in our world because they'll think we've gone insane..."
Phi sat down heavily next to her brother and sighed, "And all I wanted was a nice Christmas break away from the pressures of school..."
Alex looked at her from over Tom's head, "I don't think that is going to happen...not this year anyway..."
A/N: OK...sigh another chapter written...hmm...what should happen next?
