Kayla narrowed her eyes slightly at the small house before her. It was just a typical brown house, nothing special; a small tree in the front yard, tall hedges hugging the house's perimeter. Glancing up the street, Kayla saw that basically each house was identical. She sighed out of a mixture of muted feelings, and resituated the backpack of her idea of essentials over her shoulder. Reaching back into the car, Kayla pulled out two bags: one containing her clothes, and the other a laptop and a quite a few programs, most of which she'd designed herself.
She slowly approached her father fumbling with the lock. Ambling lazily up the drive-way, Kayla allowed her photographic memory to soak up all the details she could- the convictions of a talented TEA operative. After leaving TEA (Training In Espionage and Academics) not long before, she found that it was hard to get out of her old habits. Although it wasn't as if this was something new....
The acronym for TEA was really an understatement. It was a gathering of prodigies from all over the world, even though there were bases in most major countries. Kayla had spent 8 months in New York perfecting every skill possible- hand-to-hand combat, sword-fighting, fire-arms, investigation, forensics- TEA had it all. Kayla was involved in a lot of hands-on training, including a commanding roll in the S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Squad.) One of the most talented agents on field and off, Kayla had been well on her way to becoming a legend.
Of course, the legendary title comes with a price. There were so many memories....
Kayla always pushed them aside. After leaving Ireland almost 3 years before, she realized that everything Artemis had said was right- no emotion, no pain. At this point, she couldn't deny it. That was the rule she lived by, her code of conduct. Always the emotionless actress, Kayla was little more than a mask- containing memories and emotion, but never showing it, never speaking of it. It was easier to get by if she lied by the day and not in the past.
When the thick brown door finally permitted them entrance, Kayla continued idly up the stairs and into the bedroom to the left. Inside, the room was plain- a dark sort of neutral color donning the walls and floor. Her black and neon bedspread would fit in perfectly.
Kayla smiled and rolled her eyes at the idea. Deep in the pit of her stomach, Kayla quelled the feeling of anxiety. This small suburban dwelling was not far from Fowl Manor. While she had little intentions of heading for the home of the infamous Artemis Fowl, the idea was tempting. She just kept thinking back, despite her better judgment, to the hollow, aching feeling in her gut after she'd left so many years before. And even with the broken strings of predicted outcomes skipping across her psyche, she still meant to ignore any sign of Artemis. Hardly a problematic task; Artemis wasn't exactly an extrovert.
Dropping her bags in a corner, Kayla walked over to the window. It was when she noticed the car she realized what she'd forgotten- her guitar. Still waiting patiently in the back seat. Hurrying back downstairs and outside, Kayla grasped the guitar and froze as she began to straighten up. She was having another episode....
Slowly, Kayla rose and looked around her, imprinting all the details of this moment into her mind. This was real, with real people and real lives....See the world seems flat to us since we've been staring at it for so long, but once you see something from an angle, from all angles...it becomes...alive. Kayla had quite a few of these episodes, but this was the first in a while. There was a tricycle purposely rotating in its spot on the front lawn across the street in her imagination, as she gripped every feature of its being....
She stared at it for just a moment more, trying to hold on to the state of mind- but it was gone. Turning in a somewhat exanimate fashion, Kayla trudged back up into the house, tossing her red and black electric guitar on to the bed before resting her head in her fists on the window sill. There was still a late spring breeze tumbling over the white puffs accenting the cerulean sky, pleasant but unfamiliar.
Kayla closed her eyes against a pain in her stomach. The phrase, however, was familiar. "Pleasant, but unfamiliar...." It went something like that anyway. Underground when Artemis's school clothes were gratefully returned to their original, cleanly state, he'd used the phrase- as he had with the water- "...unfamiliar. Not unpleasant, but...." Kayla sighed impatiently. She wasn't sure if she'd remembered the expression quite right, but she wasn't going to worry herself over it- she wouldn't think about it.
Kayla glanced over at her guitar on the bed. She remembered something she'd seen coming into town, a pub-like business that was teen-oriented, with an open-mic for blossoming talent. Kayla aspired to become much more than a week-end spot on the pub's stage, but all great stars had to start somewhere. She'd been off to a magnificent start back at TEA- or at least she thought so- with her own designated time slot on stage at Electric Rave, a teen night club just off campus. It'd started out as a quest for tuition, it ended up with writing songs for real record-name stars- either way, it made ends meet. Kayla frowned thoughtfully as it occurred to her she never bothered to discover the name of this pub. That might make things a bit harder than planned....
Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Kayla rolled off her heels and lay herself smoothly on the ground, tucking her arms behind her head. This might actually be her only chance to be...well, a kid. Finally. Just a kid....
Wooo, that was a terrible first chapter. I promise it will get more exciting. There are a few things I should probably let you know now before you go on:
I do NOT in any way own ANY Eoin Colfer characters. I can only take credit for the supporting characters I'll be making up soon. And I say Eoin Colfer only because I intend to use another character of his from another book. ...w00t! Please R&R! I have an Artemis chapter coming up soon, by the third chapter probably. And you know what that means!
Okay, maybe you don't. Anyway....er....go have fun!
