"I'm telling you." He said darkly. "I didn't do anything to Eliza, and neither did Bree. How could we have? We were in jail!"
Marianne grabbed Debbie and desperately pulled her back. "Debbie, settle down."
Nigel, although never taking his eyes off of Sloan, had no choice but to agree. "I have to agree with this, Deborah. Sloan and Bree were still in jail when Eliza disappeared. They couldn't possibly be responsible."
Sloan smiled wickedly at Debbie, and said, "I told you so!"
"Oh, shut up." She muttered, then turned to Marianne and Nigel. "Do you think we'll find her soon?"
"Oh, I hope so. Eliza's never been gone this long." A thought came to her mind. "Never mind, she HAD been gone this long before. But I am getting worried."
In the sea
The fish have learned to fly
On a moonlight night
On wings of silver as the enchanted stars
Sail serenely by
Do they know
Where did unicorns go?
Where winged horses fly?
Narwhals lost at sea
And never seen again
"I don't blame you, Marianne." Nigel said. He placed an arm on her shoulder, a weak attempt to comfort her. "We'll find her, don't you worry."
The blonde woman looked up at Nigel, tears threatening to come out of her eyes. "Yes, but when?"
"I'm not sure...not sure..." Nigel sadly looked to the ground.
Debbie couldn't help but feel bad, too. 'Oh, this is all my fault. Why didn't I follow her? I could've been able to stop her from whatever happened to her. Oh, Eliza, where are you?!' She felt a nudge from behind her. She turned around, and could see Darwin looked at her through worry-filled eyes. "Darwin....we still hadn't found Eliza." She knelt down and gently patted him on the head. "But we'll keep trying." She straightened up again, and Darwin chittered something. 'I wish I knew what he said.' She looked up at the sky, and a determined look registered on her teenaged face. 'Eliza, whatever you do, don't give up. We'll find you...even if it takes an eternity.' She noticed that her parents were started to leave. She grabbed Darwin by the hand and ran after them. She didn't want to be left behind accidentally. The search for Eliza resumed moments later.
"Gone? Gone?"
Asked the Magpie
Where did unicorns go?
Grogginess over came Eliza's mind. In the crack of dawn, the light started to rise over the forest. It bathed everything in its bright light, and the small girl tried her best to shield her eyes from it. 'Man is it morning already?' She asked herself grumpily. She outstretched her arms and flexed out their muscles. She yawned and crawled out of bed. She straightened her back, and then her legs. She yawned again, and looked towards the comvee. She narrowed her eyes a bit, then relaxed them. The lights in the comvee were off. She assumed that they were still sleeping. She walked a bit closer, and though she couldn't tell from a further distance, the door was open, but only slightly. 'Hmm...maybe they're awake.' Eliza walked right beside the door, careful not to look in, and knocked on the door softly. She stood there a couple of seconds, and realized no one was coming to the door. 'That's strange...' She knocked again, this time louder. "Hey! Anyone there?" She called out. Still nothing happened.
In the trees
The birds have learned to speak
Gaily colored
They keep their secrets
In a parade of clouds
Playing hide-and-seek
Do they know
Where did unicorns go?
Where winged horses fly?
Narwhals lost at sea
And never seen again
She seemed more and more confused. Where would they have gone this early in the morning? Or maybe they had gone somewhere at night and still hadn't returned. If they did, why didn't they tell her? Eliza looked at one part of the comvee, and saw that one hatchet was open. She recognized that hatchet. 'They must have gone somewhere in the Mini-Com.' She told herself, and then looked towards the comvee itself. Temptation was started to overwhelm her mind, but she shook the thought out. 'No. I was told not to go in there!' She growled to herself and started to move away. She glanced back at the slightly open door, walked back a little, and her eyes still locked on that open door. She whined a little, as though confused on what to do. She turned to look around the campsite area. She didn't see anyone coming back, nor did she hear anyone coming back. The only thing she could hear was the gentle breeze in the wind, and some twigs snapping. There was probably some small animals nearby.
Does myth and mystery lie
Where the unicorns go?
Eliza closed her eyes tightly and thought for a moment. Should she go in..or should she stay out and wait? She looked at the comvee again. She wanted to know what was so secretive in there. She also wanted to know what was different about her family and this one. There had to be another difference. But what Eliza Thornberry was most worried about was what that difference was. 'It can't be that bad.' She sighed, and walked closer to the door. 'I'll only be in a minute.' The others may be gone for quite sometime, so this gave her the chance to explore before they get back. She could just say she was waiting for them outside, and didn't notice the door was open. She smiled, and grabbed the door handle. She breathed in deeply. 'This is it.' She let out that breath, and tugged on the door. It opened up automatically, and it was very very dark inside. She couldn't see anything, but could faintly make out the stairs. She slowly but surely walked inside the comvee, and gently closed the door behind her.
'Everything is so dark in here.' Eliza stepped a little forward, and tried to make out something that she saw on the wall. She felt around for something like a switch. Her hand touched something soft, cold, and hard all at once. Her eyes widened a little. 'What is this thing?' She felt around more on the object, and felt something sharp as well. Strangely enough, all the sharp things were located in the same spot. Eliza thought that that was unusual. This was no ordinary decoration or whatever it was hanging on the wall. She ignored the item, and continued to search for a light to turn on. She finally felt something that felt like a switch.
"Found it." She whispered, and then flicked the light up. The lights above her flickered a little, and then flashed. Light illuminated the area. Eliza quickly turned to see what it was she had felt, but terror struck her heart when she saw what it was. It was an animal's head.
"Ahhh!" She yelped in surprise. She fell back towards the steps, her fear-filled eyes locked on the animal head.
'It's not real...It's not real...' She kept telling herself, and picked herself off the ground. She moved closer. The animal that was there looked to be a Snow Leopard. She could tell because it was whitish blue. It looked to be an adolescent. It wasn't large enough to be an adult. But if this was supposed to be her alternate family, why would a stuffed animal's head be located in the comvee. 'And right over the dinner table, too.' She commented sarcastically. But she didn't find it very amusing. She raised her head to take a good look around. If they had anymore heads like that, they probably hid it someplace. Eliza failed to notice some animal skin poking out of a door at the floor.
Eliza started to feel uneasy. She noticed a lot of weapons inside the comvee. A lot of them were rifles, and still others included knives, swords, and spears. 'Why would they need all this stuff?' She then noticed a room. It appeared to be her alternate's room. She could tell because the clothes she wore yesterday were lying on the bed, folded up. Eliza Thornberry sighed, and walked towards the room. The light was off, so she didn't notice anything strange about the room. Narrowing her eyes, she felt for a light switch, and turned on the light so she could see. When she did, though, she wished that she hadn't. If seeing that animal head was bad enough, this was worse! The girl felt her breath quicken, and a horrified look plastered on her face and wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried. All around, she saw the outstretched skins of all sorts of animals, most of them endangered or nearly extinct. She panted quickly as she looked left to right, and saw tiger skin, cheetah skin, leopard skin, crocodile skin, just about any endangered animal's skin was in this room. 'This...this can't be...' She felt tears come to her eyes, but she held them back.
But it was true. She knew it in her heart. Her heart knew all too well. Those skins on the walls..the rifles...they were...She couldn't finish. Her mind reeled to the time that she was attacked the other day. She remembered the shots that were fired. She remembered that the alternate family was the only people nearby. She suddenly knew the truth. 'They were the ones who shot me.' Her face went pale as she realized the truth of what had happened. She looked back up at the room she was standing in. It was sickening her to see all these stuffed animals and skins. She even noticed a couple of gorilla paws placed beside Elizabeth's bed like ornaments.
"This is terrible.." She murmured. She looked around over and over again. She noticed a spare rifle lying next to Elizabeth's bed, and some bullets were lying on the floor. She looked around on the roof, and was horrified to see posters up there, promoting poaching. Eliza wanted this to be a nightmare...She wanted to wake up...But she knew, deep inside, it was no dream. It was real. It was happening...
She ran outside of the comvee, no longer able to control herself or hold back her tears. When she was out of the comvee, she ran towards one of the trees, and leaned against it. "Why? Why?" She kept asking herself. She started to cry, and doubt was filling her heart rapidly. She pounded against the tree with her fist. She didn't want this to be happening! She turned back and looked at the comvee. It was then that she noticed that there was another difference. Faintly, she could see folds hanging from beneath it. 'Camouflage.' She thought. That was also proof that this alternate family...was poachers. It was a terrible thought. Eliza could feel the horrible truth sink into her heart. It was an overwhelming feeling. She started to shake visibly. The ground below her seemed to shake, too. 'I-I got to get out of here..but how?'
She looked up, and suddenly heard some footsteps. She tensed. It could be one of the alternate Thornberrys! She crawled to her feet. They didn't know that she had gone inside. She turned to the door, and noticed it was wide open. She gasped, and ran to it, and slowly closed it. She heard the bushes part, and she jumped back from the comvee, and back to the ground. She waited, and saw that it was indeed her counterpart, Elizabeth that was coming through. She had a bag with her, but it appeared to be empty. Elizabeth herself didn't seem too happy.
"Man....what a day." She said, but noticed Eliza sitting there. A scared look was on her face. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in slight concern. "Eliza? What's wrong?" She put the bag down, and stepped a few inches forward. The counterpart moved back in fear. The dark girl seemed confused right away. "What's wrong with you?"
Eliza's eyes were wide at first, and then they narrowed. Anger was filling her mind. No, not anger. Wild rage. She shot straight up, and pointed an accusing finger at her darker counterpart. "HOW COULD YOU?!" She screamed. The other girl's eyes went wide open, and she stepped back.
She raised her hands up and motioned them into a shrug. "What are you talking about?" She asked, her eyes still wide from shock. Eliza narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"Don't play dumb with me. I saw what you had in your room!" Elizabeth blinked a little, and then narrowed her eyes as well. She got into a slightly defensive pose, believing that Eliza might try and attack.
"So what?"
Eliza growled, and formed fists with both her hands. "How could you do that to the animals? They never did anything to you!" She closed her eyes tightly, and fought back tears that were forming. She was still hoping this was all just a dream.
Her counterpart sneered, "What is it with you, anyway? They're just animals. Nothing more."
That hit Eliza like a Mac Truck. Her eyes snapped open instantly, and she gaped at her counterpart. How could she say such a thing? "Just animals?" She questioned.
Elizabeth smiled darkly, and nodded her head two times. She placed her hands on her hips, and answered Eliza back. "Just."
That one word was enough. Eliza felt wild rage fill her mind up. It blinded her judgment. She gritted her teeth. She growled dangerously. "Why you..."
That was all she could manage to say. Her body shook as more rage filled her mind. She glared at her counterpart. Then, suddenly, without warning, she dashed towards her. Elizabeth was too shocked to move, and Eliza suddenly slammed her into the ground. Elizabeth tried to get up, but Eliza kept pushing her down. Then the two were suddenly wrestling with each other, and rolled across the campsite. Elizabeth was trying to get away, but Eliza kept trying to pin her counterpart down. She couldn't let her counterpart get away with what she's done!
"I can't believe you would do such a thing!" Eliza shouted, and delivered a punch to her counterpart. Elizabeth screamed in pain, and then kicked the other girl in the stomach. The other girl grunted in pain, and fell backwards. Elizabeth took this opportunity, and lunged at Eliza. Eliza opened her eyes, and saw her counterpart jumping towards her. Her eyes snapped open in shock, and she attempted to move backwards. She got far enough so that the dark poacher slammed into the ground instead. She coughed a little in the little dust that had flown upwards into the air, and glared at her light self.
"I can't believe you care about these animals. Why should anyone?"
"Because animals are people, too!" Was Eliza's only reply as she tackled Elizabeth from behind. 'Animals are people? What planet is this girl from?' Elizabeth wondered. The sudden attack, though, surprised her so much that she felt her medallion start to glow. Eliza was thrown back by a sudden force, and looked up in horror.
Her counterpart started to glow deep red. Her face seemed twisted in pain and shock. 'What's happening to her?' The light girl stepped back as the glowing intensed. She couldn't tell exactly, but it seemed like Elizabeth's body was started to mutate rapidly. She was. Her mouth got longer, fangs started to grow. Her legs got longer, and her arms morphed into legs. A tail sprouted out. She slightly grew in size, but not so much. The light and wind died down, and Eliza could finally see what had happened. In front of her was a medium sized fox with red hair. It was her counterpart! 'So, this is her power...' She stepped back in surprise. The fox in front of her, a swift fox, smiled darkly. She arched her back, and leapt forward, her claws outstretched. Eliza was too scared to move...
In an instant, the swift fox pinned Eliza to the ground. She snarled in her face, and she growled. She was talking to her in fox language. Elizabeth thought that Eliza could also transform, but left her medallion behind. She thought that gave her the advantage. Eliza, however, understood just what she said when she growled. Her eyes snapped open and narrowed in anger. Elizabeth had said, "Are you ready to die, little one?"
Eliza struggled to push the fox off of her, and shouted in fox language, "No I am not ready to die!" Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock, and she temporary released the other girl from her grasp.
"What? You can understand me?"
Eliza slowly nodded her head. Since she was in another dimension, it wouldn't hurt to tell of her powers, even to her counterpart. "Yes, I can talk to animals."
'This is quite interesting...' The dark fox believed. She looked at Eliza more carefully, and then attacked again. This time Eliza was prepared and quickly grabbed a stick. She swung hard, and hit Elizabeth on the head. Yelping, the swift fox jumped back, and rubbed her head with one of her front paws. She snarled at Eliza.
She stepped forward. "Very impressive child, but can you dodge this?" Instead of pouncing, Elizabeth started to run towards the smaller girl. Eliza looked surprised, and once again attempted to strike her counterpart. But her counterpart learned too fast. With a swipe of the paw, Elizabeth Thornberry knocked the stick away from Eliza Thornberry's hand, and then struck her. Eliza screamed as she slid backwards and hit her back against a tree. She slipped down, and winced and shook in pain. Her eyes closed tightly, and one of them slowly opened. A glare was still on her face, and she glanced at the swift fox, which was advancing on her, a hideous and evil smile stretching across her face.
"Looks like this is the end of the line." She spoke in a darkened voice. She stalked closer and closer to the girl, and her teeth seemed to grow more and more menacing in Eliza's eyes. 'I've got to do something!' She was now starting to panic. Her evil counterpart was getting closer and closer. Each step produced more and more pressure. She looked to her side, and saw the sleeping bag that Elizabeth had lent her. 'I hope this works...' Suddenly Elizabeth launched an assault.
Thinking fast, Eliza quickly grabbed the bag, and flipped it towards the attacking swift fox. Elizabeth was so surprised that she didn't even defend herself. The bag collided with her, and she screamed. Eliza watched as the swift fox flew backwards and hit the ground hard. She skidded across the camp area, and finally stopped near the comvee. Eliza slowly picked herself up, and anticipated Elizabeth to try and attack her. Elizabeth slowly crawled to her feet. She folded her ears back against her skull, and gave a warning growl. Her body tensed up, and she prepared to attack again. She took one step forward. She realized too late the mistake she just made. Faster than the speed of sound, something that looked like a bear trap snapped shut. Elizabeth howled in agony as the device clamped into her leg, drawing out blood. She whimpered and jumped backward, and tried her best to escape.
Eliza walked a few feet forward. "See what it feels like to be trapped in traps like that?" She asked the fox. The fox only snarled, but was too worried about getting herself loose. She ignored Eliza as she walked even closer. The light girl didn't know what to do. Part of her wanted to leave Elizabeth like that. But if she did, she would only be as bad as she is. 'It is tempting to leave her like that...But if I do, what kind of person would I be?' She slowly shook her head. She stopped walking by the time she was right next to Elizabeth. Elizabeth's eyes were closed tightly in pain, so she didn't notice when Eliza slowly put her hands on the trap, and tugged hard.
The trap finally released it grip, and Elizabeth fell down as her leg swung up free. She quickly overlooked her leg to see if it was all right. She then remembered something, and looked towards Eliza. Shock registered in her mind. 'She saved me. But why?' She started to shake visibly, just like Eliza had earlier. She moved back, and lowered her head towards the ground. This didn't make any sense. If Eliza hated her, then why did she save her? Eliza raised her hand and said something, but the dark alternate never heard it. She had dashed off into the jungle alone, too confused to even talk.
"WAIT! COME BACK!" Eliza shouted towards the fox, but she disappeared into the brush before she could finish her sentence. "Aww...man...." She mentally slapped herself. But what did she do? Sure they fought for a while, but all Eliza had done was free Elizabeth. So why did that alternate version just take off like that? Why was she so surprised? 'It must be because she's not so used to kindness from other people. That might be it.' She nodded to herself, and then picked up the bloody trap. 'Wonder what I'm going to do with this...' She stared at the trap intently, studying it, and wondered where she should put it. She continued to look at it, and didn't even know that someone else was coming towards the camp area. The two figures, one tall and one short, quickly hid behind some foliage, and kept an uneasy eye on the girl.
"There's that Eliza child." The short one pointed towards the girl holding the trap. "But where's her family?"
"They must be out." The tall one answered back. The light revealed that these people were none other than Kip and Biederman! They looked at Eliza Thornberry with a look of slight hatred. They knew what they had to do. "Come on, we have to capture her while her family's still away."
Kip looked slightly different from the other Kip. He lacked the scar on his eyes, and didn't have the dark shades. He still had glasses, though. He wore a white uniform consisting of a white shirt and dark blue pants. The new Biederman had the same dressings as Kip had. However, Biederman did have dark shades, but also had a scar in the same place as the evil Kip did. Biederman nodded at his partner.
"Okay. Let's do it." With that, the two crept up behind Eliza, careful not to make a noise.
"Huh?" Eliza perked her head up. She sensed that someone was watching her. "Who's there?" She asked quietly, and timidly looked at her surroundings. She never looked behind herself, though. She started to back up. "Whoever you are, show yourself!" She shouted bravely. Kip narrowed his eyes in anger. Faster than he could count, he wrapped his arms around the small girl and held her tightly. Eliza let out a loud scream of distress, but Kip's hand clamped on her mouth.
"Listen Thornberry. We're going to be taking you someplace. Don't try anything funny, or we'll be forced to take...extreme measures." He started to drag Eliza backward. She widened her eyes in terrible fear, and started to struggle against Kip's grasp.
"Oh, she's a feisty one." Biederman noted.
"Get out the knock-out gas, Biederman." The tall man commanded.
"Yes, sir." He pulled out a can of something from his pocket, and then pulled out a cloth. He sprayed on the cloth so that it had a nice fine coat of scent, and pressed it against Eliza's nose and mouth. Her eyes widened in fear, then slowly she felt dizzy, and passed out....
Back in Eliza's own dimension, tension and worry started to increase as search parties were starting to give up. Eliza Thornberry was just no where to be found. Marianne tried to hold back a sob, and Nigel kept insisting that they keep trying. "Hey, we can't give up." He was talking with an Australian officer. The officer, dark-skinned and having a tattoo on his arm, shrugged.
"I'm sorry, sir, but she's just no where on this continent. If she were, one of our officers would have found her by now. We searched the whole island."
Nigel's face displayed a look of emotional pain. 'Oh, Eliza...where are you?' He couldn't help but feel a bit angry with the man. But he did try.
Debbie walked up to her parents, and was expecting the worse. "Well? Any luck?" She asked hopefully and yet at the same time doubtfully. Marianne shed a couple of tears, and wiped her face. 'Uh oh.' Debbie told herself. 'That's not good.'
She looked at her father, who gave her a similar look. "I'm sorry, Deborah, but they still haven't found Eliza." The teenager's eyes registered in strong shock. Her dad continued, "They're even planning on calling off the search. She's just not on this island."
Debbie backed up a little. "No...that can't be. She has to be on this island!" She raised her arms up in the air. "Where else could she be?"
Marianne answered, "I'm not sure. But it appears that the officers can't find her anywhere in Australia."
A thought crossed Debbie's mind. "Maybe Sloan lied to us!" She accused.
Marianne slowly shook her head. "No, dear, remember? He was in jail, and had guards with him. There's no way he could be responsible."
Debbie crossed her arms. She glared at her mom, and asked, "Are you sure?" She cocked an eyebrow upwards. Marianne was a little taken aback by this. She placed a hand on her other arm, and motioned for Debbie to continue. "I mean," Debbie added in, "How do we know he's not lying? How do we know he was guarded that whole time?"
Nigel shook his head in disbelief. "Deborah, you know very well that the guards had told us they were with him." His eyes then widened. 'Maybe Debbie is right.' He looked at his wife, who also seemed to understand what Debbie was trying to say. Nigel pointed towards the comvee. "Maybe we should have a talk with those officers."
Sloan, the good one, was pacing back and forth in his office. Bree seemed to be a little worried herself. It had been several hours when they sent Kip and Biederman on their little errand. "Where are they?" He asked dangerously. He looked at Bree, and expected an answer. She didn't reply. Instead she moved back a little to keep out of his way. He shifted his gaze towards the door. He heard footsteps coming their way.
"Oh? Maybe that's them." Bree said calmly, and opened up the door.
Sure enough it was Biederman and Kip. They seemed to be carrying something. It was a small girl. "Sloan, Bree," Kip spoke with respect, "Here's one of the Thornberrys. Eliza Thornberry." He placed the small child on the floor. She was still out cold, and seemed a bit frightened.
Sloan raised an eyebrow. "Good work, gentlemen." He walked towards the girl, and looked at her face closely. "When she wakes up, she'll have a lot of explaining to do." He straightened up.
Bree walked towards him. "Sloan, what should we do with her?" She looked at the child. 'What are we going to do? How are we going to use this child as bait?' She got a concerned look on her face.
Sloan turned to Bree. "Lock her up in the room. You know where it is." He tossed her the keys, and she caught them.
"Yes, sir." She called back, and walked towards Eliza. 'She won't be of any harm to us in this condition.' The woman noted to herself, and she slowly lifted the child up. She carried the small girl towards the room in front of her, and put her down in the chair provided. She walked out of the darkened room, and locked the door.
Biederman walked up to her as she put the keys in her pocket for safekeeping. "Hey, you sure that Thornberry child can't get out of there?"
The woman rubbed her head. "Listen, Biederman, how can a mere child get herself out of that room?"
"Well," He scratched his head, "You do have a point there." Bree grumbled in frustration. 'He's hopeless.' She walked out of the hallway.