Woohoo! Chapter 25 and counting! I implore everyone to read and review!
Chapter 25: Betcha Didn't See This Coming
Why did I have to run off like that. . .?
Jenna was now starting to regret her hastiness. She was lost. Very lost. She couldn't even tell what kind of game land this was. Jenna had drifted over to a coastline, a very rocky coastline, and the fog coming from the sea was a bit dense. She followed it for what seemed like hours, possibly so, as the sun sank into the horizon. A glow came from up the coast. A lighthouse.
The sea became very rough, and Jenna had stopped a while to recollect her thoughts, within the lighthouse's beam. She sat there, still tearing as she had hours ago. She was hungry, too, but it didn't matter at the time. She was just worried now. Who would come after her? Phil or Skye? Did either of them die? Jenna shifted her glance toward the horizon of the coast.
Something obscured the lights. Houses? On the coast? There were several of them, in. . . a circular formation. If there was a residential block this close the the rocky seashore, something was defintiely wrong. And Jenna really had to do something about it, if for no other reason than to get her mind of the mistake of running. Maybe something good would come of it. . . it can't really get much worse than this, could it?
It started to rain again. Hard. Jenna ran to keep from getting too wet before she got to the buildings in the distance. As she got closer, the fog lifted enough to see that the objects were indeed houses, and oddly, the street lights around the circular drive were on though she hadn't seen them. She walked into the middle of the drive.
It couldn't be.
It just couldn't be.
This was her old neighborhood! The Harmonic's house, Phil's,. . . the Pikanne's, hers and Robert's,. . . the Collins's, Ben and Sean's,. . . the Fisk's, Danielle's,. . . all of them were here! What was going on?
Jenna walked up to her house, and surprisingly, the door was unlocked. She stepped inside to see what was once her home. Using the term, 'Once her home', because the entire place was clean. Not a Pepsi can anywhere. No papers nor wires, not a bit of clothing nor various plastic wrappers. Someone had the place cleaned up.
Or was this her place? Jenna wasn't really expecting this to happen. Could it be a trap? A magical illusion set to ensnare, and kill her? Jenna didn't want to think about that anymore. . . who could possibly be hunting her?
But. . . this was undoubtedly her house. A very clean version of her house, but her house nonetheless. Jenna had wandered between the rooms. Her bedroom was still there. And. . . she opened a dresser drawer. . . her Gameboy was in there. Jenna picked it up, and flicked the switch on. The Pokémon Yellow game pak was still working, and had her save file in it.
That was just too weird for her. She flipped the toggle, and sat down on her bed. For some reason, she started looking at the bedcovers.
Something was wrong with them. They didn't seem. . . real. Sure, it was 'real', but it wasn't. . . Jenna's thoughts drifted back to the magical trap. . .
"Who's in there?"
Jenna gasped. Someone was in the house! She had to get out, fast. Jenna sprinted out of the room back to the stairwell she had first climbed up. Almost leaping down the stairs, she made her way to the door.
"Someone down there?"
Jenna tried the handle to the front door. She couldn't find the strength to turn it. All strength had fled from her in fear, leaving her helpless. Jenna staggered a few feet to the living room, where she crouched in to fetal position, wrapping her arms around her legs. She was done for. . .
"Who are you?" The voice was right behind her now, and although it was in more shock than hate, Jenna still feared the voice. She sniffled.
"I asked. . ." the person tapped her on the back, and in surprise, Jenna spun around to face her assailent.
". . . who. . ." The person was in fact not a person, but more like her. A pokémon hybrid. A sandslash hybrid, with a build and grid to match. . . to match. . .
"Dad?"
"Jenna? Is that you?"
"Dad. . ." Jenna threw her arms around her father. He responded likewise.
"Jenna, I thought we'd lost you."
"What happened, dad?"
"I don't know, Jenna. I don't know."
The two were now on the living roomcouch, Jenna's head in her father's lap, still crying. He was messing with her hair a little bit with his long claws.
"Why are you here, Dad?"
"Here. . . I though I was still there."
"In. . . the real world?"
"That what you call it?" Jenna's father looked down at her for a moment, then looked up again, "I thought I was the only one that changed. Silly. . . until I saw the coast out the back window not but an hour ago."
"So. . . how long have we been gone?"
"Only six days. . . almost seven." He checked the clock on the wall, now nearing midnight, "The police came. . . they looked everywhere for the kids around the neighborhood. . . are they all. . . 'here'?"
"Yeah, Dad. Phil, Robert, Ben are here. I'm assuming Sean and Danielle are here, although I haven't seen them yet."
"Well. . ." Jenna's father looked down at her again, "How'd you come to that conclusion?"
"I didn't. Ben did."
"Bright young boy. You really should marry him instead of Phil. . ."
"Dad!"
"What? What'd I say?"
Jenna started crying again, and her father decided it best not to mention that again, "Look, honey, I'm sorry." He gave her another hug.
"It's not you, exactly, Dad." Jenna gave another sniffle.
"As I was saying. . ." He continued, "The police were over, not to mention the county police, the state police, and the FBI branch that handles missing children, and they sweeped the neighborhood from top to bottom looking for clues. Everyone had to evacuate. This was one of the biggest cases in a long time. . . six kids dissappearing at once. Once they gathered up what little evidence they could. . . they didn't have any suspects."
"But. . . I thought that they usually looked toward family members and friends in kidnapping cases."
"They usually do, but not everyone was related, and there's too many missing persons and too little clues for it to be a coincedence."
Jenna paused for another long while. "Dad. . . How'd the divorce go?"
"Your mother was uptight about the entire thing. . . If you were still around she would have gotten custody of you for sure."
"So it went through?"
"Only yesterday."
"Oh. . ." Jenna had been around for six months hearing about the divorce, and she had come to accept it. Robert had come to deny it, on his hand. . .
"So what is 'here' anyway?" Jenna's father wanted to change the subject. He was cool about the entire thing, but only on the outside. Inside, he was still depressed, as if a wound had been cut directly on his heart.
"Here. . ." Jenna started, "It's kinda hard to explain. It's like a world where the video games are real. . . only they're not, exactly."
"Video Games?" Her father looked thoughtful, "That reminds me. . . What do you call. . . um. . . this body I'm wearing?"
"It's a Sandslash, Dad." Jenna now had a slight smirk on her face, "I was going to get to that part."
"I see."
"So as I was saying," She contintued, "There's the Zelda Games, you know, the ones with the man wearing the green jerkin. . ."
"Is that Zelda?"
"That's Link, dad. I told you you should really play games more often. Then there's Pokémon, and Mario, Kirby, Metroid, and um. . . Star Fox, I think."
"It this what normally happens it those worlds?" Jenna's father said, noting his hybrid self again.
"No. . . No, this is actually a representation of the current worlds ten years in the future after something had gone horribly wrong." Jenna concluded as well as she could, "At least that's the hypothesis so far. We know. . ."
"We?"
"All of us that are together so far." Jenna stated, "For one, there's the pokémon Hybrids that seems to be a strange disease of some sort, Mario went mental, and King DeDeDe from the Kirby games is extremely evil now."
"Isn't he supposed to be the villan?"
"No, not really. You play Kirby's Adventure, you get enough story about how it's supposed to go."
"So what about the Zelda games?" Her father stated, surprising her with a memory for these things.
"I don't know yet. . . Phil hasn't told enough about it. . ." Jenna started to tear up again.
"What's wrong?" Her father asked, abut instead just held her in his arms once more as she started crying. Few words were exchanged for the rest of the night.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, Jenna?"
"Phil and I broke up."
"It's alright sweetheart. I'm here."
----
Shocking? Confusing? Both? What's going to happen to them tomorrow? I'll reveal this answer in Chapter 26! Until then, Ciao!
Chapter 25: Betcha Didn't See This Coming
Why did I have to run off like that. . .?
Jenna was now starting to regret her hastiness. She was lost. Very lost. She couldn't even tell what kind of game land this was. Jenna had drifted over to a coastline, a very rocky coastline, and the fog coming from the sea was a bit dense. She followed it for what seemed like hours, possibly so, as the sun sank into the horizon. A glow came from up the coast. A lighthouse.
The sea became very rough, and Jenna had stopped a while to recollect her thoughts, within the lighthouse's beam. She sat there, still tearing as she had hours ago. She was hungry, too, but it didn't matter at the time. She was just worried now. Who would come after her? Phil or Skye? Did either of them die? Jenna shifted her glance toward the horizon of the coast.
Something obscured the lights. Houses? On the coast? There were several of them, in. . . a circular formation. If there was a residential block this close the the rocky seashore, something was defintiely wrong. And Jenna really had to do something about it, if for no other reason than to get her mind of the mistake of running. Maybe something good would come of it. . . it can't really get much worse than this, could it?
It started to rain again. Hard. Jenna ran to keep from getting too wet before she got to the buildings in the distance. As she got closer, the fog lifted enough to see that the objects were indeed houses, and oddly, the street lights around the circular drive were on though she hadn't seen them. She walked into the middle of the drive.
It couldn't be.
It just couldn't be.
This was her old neighborhood! The Harmonic's house, Phil's,. . . the Pikanne's, hers and Robert's,. . . the Collins's, Ben and Sean's,. . . the Fisk's, Danielle's,. . . all of them were here! What was going on?
Jenna walked up to her house, and surprisingly, the door was unlocked. She stepped inside to see what was once her home. Using the term, 'Once her home', because the entire place was clean. Not a Pepsi can anywhere. No papers nor wires, not a bit of clothing nor various plastic wrappers. Someone had the place cleaned up.
Or was this her place? Jenna wasn't really expecting this to happen. Could it be a trap? A magical illusion set to ensnare, and kill her? Jenna didn't want to think about that anymore. . . who could possibly be hunting her?
But. . . this was undoubtedly her house. A very clean version of her house, but her house nonetheless. Jenna had wandered between the rooms. Her bedroom was still there. And. . . she opened a dresser drawer. . . her Gameboy was in there. Jenna picked it up, and flicked the switch on. The Pokémon Yellow game pak was still working, and had her save file in it.
That was just too weird for her. She flipped the toggle, and sat down on her bed. For some reason, she started looking at the bedcovers.
Something was wrong with them. They didn't seem. . . real. Sure, it was 'real', but it wasn't. . . Jenna's thoughts drifted back to the magical trap. . .
"Who's in there?"
Jenna gasped. Someone was in the house! She had to get out, fast. Jenna sprinted out of the room back to the stairwell she had first climbed up. Almost leaping down the stairs, she made her way to the door.
"Someone down there?"
Jenna tried the handle to the front door. She couldn't find the strength to turn it. All strength had fled from her in fear, leaving her helpless. Jenna staggered a few feet to the living room, where she crouched in to fetal position, wrapping her arms around her legs. She was done for. . .
"Who are you?" The voice was right behind her now, and although it was in more shock than hate, Jenna still feared the voice. She sniffled.
"I asked. . ." the person tapped her on the back, and in surprise, Jenna spun around to face her assailent.
". . . who. . ." The person was in fact not a person, but more like her. A pokémon hybrid. A sandslash hybrid, with a build and grid to match. . . to match. . .
"Dad?"
"Jenna? Is that you?"
"Dad. . ." Jenna threw her arms around her father. He responded likewise.
"Jenna, I thought we'd lost you."
"What happened, dad?"
"I don't know, Jenna. I don't know."
The two were now on the living roomcouch, Jenna's head in her father's lap, still crying. He was messing with her hair a little bit with his long claws.
"Why are you here, Dad?"
"Here. . . I though I was still there."
"In. . . the real world?"
"That what you call it?" Jenna's father looked down at her for a moment, then looked up again, "I thought I was the only one that changed. Silly. . . until I saw the coast out the back window not but an hour ago."
"So. . . how long have we been gone?"
"Only six days. . . almost seven." He checked the clock on the wall, now nearing midnight, "The police came. . . they looked everywhere for the kids around the neighborhood. . . are they all. . . 'here'?"
"Yeah, Dad. Phil, Robert, Ben are here. I'm assuming Sean and Danielle are here, although I haven't seen them yet."
"Well. . ." Jenna's father looked down at her again, "How'd you come to that conclusion?"
"I didn't. Ben did."
"Bright young boy. You really should marry him instead of Phil. . ."
"Dad!"
"What? What'd I say?"
Jenna started crying again, and her father decided it best not to mention that again, "Look, honey, I'm sorry." He gave her another hug.
"It's not you, exactly, Dad." Jenna gave another sniffle.
"As I was saying. . ." He continued, "The police were over, not to mention the county police, the state police, and the FBI branch that handles missing children, and they sweeped the neighborhood from top to bottom looking for clues. Everyone had to evacuate. This was one of the biggest cases in a long time. . . six kids dissappearing at once. Once they gathered up what little evidence they could. . . they didn't have any suspects."
"But. . . I thought that they usually looked toward family members and friends in kidnapping cases."
"They usually do, but not everyone was related, and there's too many missing persons and too little clues for it to be a coincedence."
Jenna paused for another long while. "Dad. . . How'd the divorce go?"
"Your mother was uptight about the entire thing. . . If you were still around she would have gotten custody of you for sure."
"So it went through?"
"Only yesterday."
"Oh. . ." Jenna had been around for six months hearing about the divorce, and she had come to accept it. Robert had come to deny it, on his hand. . .
"So what is 'here' anyway?" Jenna's father wanted to change the subject. He was cool about the entire thing, but only on the outside. Inside, he was still depressed, as if a wound had been cut directly on his heart.
"Here. . ." Jenna started, "It's kinda hard to explain. It's like a world where the video games are real. . . only they're not, exactly."
"Video Games?" Her father looked thoughtful, "That reminds me. . . What do you call. . . um. . . this body I'm wearing?"
"It's a Sandslash, Dad." Jenna now had a slight smirk on her face, "I was going to get to that part."
"I see."
"So as I was saying," She contintued, "There's the Zelda Games, you know, the ones with the man wearing the green jerkin. . ."
"Is that Zelda?"
"That's Link, dad. I told you you should really play games more often. Then there's Pokémon, and Mario, Kirby, Metroid, and um. . . Star Fox, I think."
"It this what normally happens it those worlds?" Jenna's father said, noting his hybrid self again.
"No. . . No, this is actually a representation of the current worlds ten years in the future after something had gone horribly wrong." Jenna concluded as well as she could, "At least that's the hypothesis so far. We know. . ."
"We?"
"All of us that are together so far." Jenna stated, "For one, there's the pokémon Hybrids that seems to be a strange disease of some sort, Mario went mental, and King DeDeDe from the Kirby games is extremely evil now."
"Isn't he supposed to be the villan?"
"No, not really. You play Kirby's Adventure, you get enough story about how it's supposed to go."
"So what about the Zelda games?" Her father stated, surprising her with a memory for these things.
"I don't know yet. . . Phil hasn't told enough about it. . ." Jenna started to tear up again.
"What's wrong?" Her father asked, abut instead just held her in his arms once more as she started crying. Few words were exchanged for the rest of the night.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, Jenna?"
"Phil and I broke up."
"It's alright sweetheart. I'm here."
----
Shocking? Confusing? Both? What's going to happen to them tomorrow? I'll reveal this answer in Chapter 26! Until then, Ciao!