Chapter 7
Change

Get ready people I'm going in!!!!
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Jen woke to the morning sun gleaming over her. She was completely drained, no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't move. She tried to speak but could only manage a grunt. She stared at the ceiling. How had she gotten here? The last thing she remembered was… SAKURA! Was she okay? She must have blacked out, but…
Just then Sakura walked in. Jen quickly pretended she was sleeping.
Sakura walked up to the bed and nudged Jen a little. A surging pained ripped through Jen's body and she shrieked with pain.
"Jen!" cried Sakura in surprise and shock.
Jen tried to sit up with all her might, but collapsed backward. She smiled weakly at Sakura.
"Are you okay?" she said her voice with a thread of worry.
"Yeah," croaked Jen, "But for some reason I feel totally exhausted."
"You should stay home today," said Sakura worriedly.
"Yeah, I guess…" said Jen.
Sakura sighed.
"Sakura, I've got a question," said Jen.
"Ya what is it?" asked Sakura gently.
"What happened yesterday, the last thing I can remember was you and Li and…something else but I can't seem to put my finger on it," said Jen with a frustrated frown.
"Well uh…," began Sakura, "We were in Penguin Park and we met Li, and then you fainted."
"Oh," said Jen.
"Ya well, I hope you feel better tonight, I gotta run or I'll be late," said Sakura, "See ya!"
With that Sakura dashed out the door.
Jen sighed, it was going to be a long day.

Little did Sakura know but as she left for school she was being watched.
"Status."
"Our last attempt failed, but we intend to proceed with the same plan," said the other voice.
"Excellent. I presume you mean to take out all possible threats?"
"Yes we've located five threats so far. But we've managed to located a center point. If the center point falls, the rest will too."
"Excellent, proceed as planned."

Madison wasn't at school that day. Sakura sighed at the empty desk where her best friend used to sit. She used to be able to tell Madison everything but now…now Madison was gone, and Sakura had to find out what happened to her and why. And when she did she was going to make whoever did this pay and get Madison back in the process.

It was almost noon when Jen awoke again. She squinted her eyes hard as she forced her hands to help her sit up. Every part of her body screamed with pain, resisting every move Jen tried to make. She panted hard and beads of sweat dripped down her face, she was exhausted, but at least she was standing. Her legs and arms shook until they could hold her no longer, her legs collapsed beneath her and she fell to her knees. She stared at the floor her eyes burned with tears she forced back, with all her might she hit the floor with her fist in frustration.
Why was this so hard? Why was she so exhausted? What had happened last night? Why didn't she believe Sakura was telling the whole truth? Her head burned with questions and her frustration didn't seem to be helping.
"WHY!" cried Jen in frustration. She leaned backwards using the bed to support her back.
Kero had been quietly watching Jen. Ever since he had, had that vision about Jen when he touched her he had sworn to keep an eye on her.
"She's determined, I'll give her that," he said.
After a few more pants she tried again, 'I'll never give up never! That's it!' Suddenly the room began to spin and everything went black.
Kero flew out from his hiding place and sat in front of Jen.
"She's determined alright," he said, "But she pushed herself too far."
He grabbed her by her shirt collar and carefully placed her back in bed. He smiled, 'she may have pushed herself too far, but it's that determination that sets her above the rest.'
He floated back to Sakura's room. Just as he opened the door his ears pricked up and he turned around.
"There's something here, I can sense it, its kinda like what I sense around Jen when she loses control, but what is it?" he said, "I guess I'll have to wait and see. I just hope this doesn't go from bad…to worse."

It was dusk when Sakura returned home. She had been so deep in thought that she had taken four wrong turns and ended up in Penguin Park. By the time she got home she was exhausted and went straight to bed. Meanwhile Jen had spent the entire day regaining her strength and could stand it no longer she had to get up! She ripped off her covers and sat up causing a blood rush to her head. She fell backwards back onto her bed. This time she slowly sat up, and got out of bed. She stretched. She was still a little sore, but it was better than being stuck in bed.
She looked at the clock.
'Seven Ten,' she thought, 'That's plenty of time before Tori gets home, but I'll leave a note for Sakura.'
Jen grabbed a pen and quickly scribbled a note. She grabbed her blades, dropped the note on the kitchen counter, and ran out the door.
Jen skated down Cherry Blossom Street. From the moment Sakura had showed it to her, she had fallen in love with it. She looked up at the pink covered trees that now had an orange tinge to them thanks to the setting sun. As she made her way down the street a cool almost whispering breeze, made her stop. She didn't know why but it felt as if someone was watching her. She looked around, but there was no one to be seen. As if an unseen electric bolt had shot through her, her head snapped up to the branches of the cherry tree above her. A dark figure loomed above her, and dropped to the ground in front of her.
At once she recognized the figure as a boy about her age. He had short dark brown hair and wore jeans and a blue T-shirt, but the rest of his features were hidden in the shadows of the setting sun.
"Never could fool you," he said.
"Who are you?" asked Jen suspiciously.
"Wow that's right I forgot, you don't remember anything," he said.
"What are you talking about? Who are you?" cried Jen.
"Not now, I can't say. All I can tell you is stay away from your new friends, the darkness is growing nearer," he said.
"What are you talking about?" asked Jen in disbelief, this guy had to be nuts.
He smiled a toothy grin.
"Always knew how to flatter a guy, Jen," he said.
"Who are you and how do you know my name?! You better start making some sense!" she said.
"Well maybe you haven't forgotten everything," he said grinning wickedly.
By this time Jen's patience had just about run out. This guy was playing with her head and it was pissing her off. Her hands gripped into fists, she'd give the guy three seconds to stop and start answering or she was gonna jump him!
"I better get going, no sense in letting you get caught by unleashing all that anger on me," he said and with that he jumped back in the tree tops and disappeared.
"Wait!" cried Jen, but he had gone.
She sighed, it was getting late and she had better start heading back.

Little did she know but she was still being watched.
"You shouldn't have done that," said a voice.
"Ya I know, but honestly, how many times am I gonna get to do that, especially when she finds out," said the boy.
"Ya but you realize when she does she's gonna kill you right?" said the voice.
"Yup, but it was worth it," he said with a grin.
"So by read how long?" said the voice.
"I'd give her a week, and then the fireworks will begin," he said.
"Good, just make sure you make yourself scarce when they start," said the other voice with a laugh.

When Jen returned home, she found a rather angry looking Tori waiting for her.
"Sorry," she said.
"Sorry! I nearly went nuts! Something could have happened to you!" he cried as she walked past.
"I'm really sorry! I just needed to get out, I've been in bed all day an-
"I know, Sakura told me, that's why I was so worried, when she told me you couldn't move this morning, I was worried that something horrible had had happened to you," said Tori solemnly.
"I know, I left a note, but I am really sorry," she said looking at her feet.
"It's ok, but next time, tell someone, face to face," he said.
"Okay," she said, her eyes staring straight into Tori's.
At that very moment Tori felt as if her eyes were bearing into his soul, searching for the reason he cared so much about her and why a complete stranger meant so much to him. He confidently stared back at her, as if those searching eyes were just stubbornly looking at him with a promise.
"Anyway you seem well enough to go school tomorrow so you should get to sleep," he said dismissively.
Jen nodded and headed upstairs, she peeked into Sakura's room to see her fast asleep. She tiptoed to her own room, but no matter how hard she tried, sleep just would not come. She just could not forget what that boy had said. Who was he? How did he know her name? Did he know who she really was? What was the darkness he spoke of? A huge amount of questions joined the now swirling ones from the this morning in her head, and still she could find no answers.
Desperate, she grabbed the book on Egyptology that she had borrowed from Sakura's father's library in the basement. Maybe, just maybe if she read enough the answers to the ancient questions from long ago could drown out the ones that trapped her mind now.