The dark teenager shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, I just wanted to see what it was like."
"Right..." Marianne rolled her eyes doubtfully. They advanced towards the comvee, but then stopped in their tracks. They somehow knew something was wrong. Something was very wrong, indeed. Marianne peered closely at the door, and was surprised to see it completely shut. "Nigel, who closed the door?"
"Maybe Elizabeth did."
"No, she never closes the door." Debbie added. A thought crossed their mind.
"It must have been Eliza!" Nigel growled. "I told her to stay out of the comvee."
Marianne scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe she only wanted to close the door for us." But she too was starting to believe that Eliza had indeed gone inside against their warnings. Nigel knelt on the floor and noticed something red and sticky. 'Blood.' He moved his finger in some of it, and sniffed it.
"Fox blood, if I'm not mistaken. There's a trail of it lead right there." He pointed towards a trap. It was the one Eliza had been holding. Marianne dashed over and picked up the trap. There was nothing on it, but there were some pieces of fox hair plastered on it. She narrowed her eyes. "There's only one person who could have done this. Only one person who knows where we are would free one of our animals." Everyone knew instantly who it had to be. They all looked at each other, and they each had the some thought in mind. Find Eliza.
"Eliza!" They shouted angrily in unison. They ran into the comvee, and Marianne instantly took the wheel. She turned on the comvee, and started to drive it in one direction.
"We'll find Eliza. Maybe she's taken Elizabeth captive!" They didn't say anything after that. They were too intent on finding Eliza, and making her pay big time.
"Ooh...Ooh....Where are I?" Murmured a drowsy Eliza as she lifted her head up. She noticed she was sitting on a black chair, and the room was a bit small. It wasn't that small, but it was the size of a school office room. She looked around as she tried to stand up. Surprisingly, she was able to. 'The last thing I remember is being dragged off by Kip and Biederman.' At first she displayed a thought of fear. Perhaps Kip and his partner were kidnapping her. Well, of course they were, but maybe they were good guys. 'What a stupid idea.' She remarked herself. But still, it would make a lot of sense. Her family was the bad guys here. Wouldn't it make sense that Biederman and Kip were good? Maybe even Sloan and Bree were good. But Eliza didn't want to take any chances. She walked towards the door, which had a window, and peered through. She could see Sloan standing there, looking in the opposite direction. He had a pen and piece of paper out, and seemed to be writing something.
"Hmmm..." He sighed, and looked in Eliza's direction. She quickly ducked down, but the man had spotted her already, and narrowed his eyes. "Looks like the child is awake." He looked at this watch, which read 10:00 AM, and started to walk towards the door, and looked in. 'What?' He saw no one. 'Don't tell me she...no..she's hiding beside the door.' He smiled to himself. The child was smarter than he had anticipated. He backed up from the door, and slowly unlocked it. He opened it up, and stepped inside.
"Eliza, no use in hiding." He looked around the room, and failed to see that Eliza was standing right behind him. She pressed herself against the wall, too scared to make a move. "Eliza? I only want to talk." Eliza remembered too well the last encounter she had with Sloan. He had tried to murder her! Her heart started racing when Sloan started to step back in her direction. "Eliza?" He asked again, his patience started to go away. "Just come out!" He finally sensed something, and turned around quickly. Eliza's eyes were wide with fear. "Hello, Thornberry."
"Sloan Blackburn?" She asked silently. Sloan smiled. "Glad to see that you still remember who I am. Now, Thornberry, where are your family members?"
The small girl cocked her head to the left and was rather confused. "I don't know..." She replied back. 'Well, my real family is in Australia, but that's another dimension. I've still no idea where my alternate family is.' She watched as the man straightened up, but his glare still locked on her. He leaned in closer.
"That is not an answer. WHERE ARE THEY?!" He screamed in her face.
She backed up in total fear. She breathed quickly as her heart went even faster. She backed herself against the chair behind her. "I'm telling you, I don't know!"
"How can you NOT know?" He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. 'This girl should know where her family is.' He waited for an answer from her. Eliza Thornberry seemed to be thinking of a possible answer. 'What can I tell him? I could tell him I'm from an alternate dimension. That might work...I hope.' She turned to him, and he was expecting an answer from her.
"I'm not the Eliza you know." Was her quick answer.
Sloan Blackburn blinked a few times. 'Not the Eliza I know? What does she mean?' "What do you mean?" The small girl smiled. It wasn't an evil smile as he had expected, but a friendly and understanding one.
"I mean I'm from an alternate dimension." She smirked, but knew she would have to provide proof of this. She could tell right away because Sloan rolled his eyes in disbelief.
"Right. Can you PROVE it?" He demanded. She backed up a bit, and sat down in the chair.
Smiling, she nodded her head. "I hope I can."
Sloan sighed, and backed away from the child so that she wouldn't feel so intimidated. "Go on."
"Okay, would poachers know what animal you saved in the Serengeti close to the time when you supposedly saw me?"
Sloan was taken aback at this. 'Yes, I do remember. Bree and I moved the rhinoceros away before we saw the child. But how did she know?' "How did you know there was an animal? Were you hiding?"
The girl shook her head. "No, I wasn't. You see, in my dimension, I was the first one to the rhinoceros, and you were the ones who came by second."
Sloan backed away in shock. "You got there first? Then that must mean..."
The girl slowly nodded her head. "Yes, it means that the rhino didn't make it, but not because of me." Her voice lowered almost dangerously. She pointed at Sloan almost accusingly, and continued, "You were the reason for its death. Well, your counterpart anyway."
By now Sloan was feeling rather nervous now. 'She knew of the black rhinoceros...But why did she say that I'm the one who killed it? I didn't do it!' He growled at the girl, and Eliza stepped back in surprise.
"What? It's the truth!" She protested, and waited for Sloan's outburst. Sloan Blackburn was about to yell when he realized something. 'Perhaps she isn't lying. There are so many animals in Africa. How could she have possibly known exactly what animal I encountered before I met her? She must be telling the truth. But...how did she get here if it's true.' He lowered himself to Eliza's level. She stared at him. The look in her eyes was proof enough. They were not full of darkness, but rather full of genuine, and friendliness. Life. He smiled halfway and asked, "Just how did you get here, young girl?"
Eliza Thornberry scratched her head, and replied, "It's a long story, Sloan. A long story it is...."
She thought for a moment, and tried to think of what was one of the first things she'd tell him. Sloan narrowed his eyes slightly, and then asked, "Would you mind telling me what happened in Tembo Valley?"
She blinked in confusion. "Sorry, I'm just…curious to know." She nodded quickly, and looked to the ground. She wasn't sure if she should tell him what had happened.
She looked up at him. "Are you sure you want to know this? It might leave you scarred for a while." The man before her nodded his head once, and told her that he can handle almost anything. She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well…." She opened her mouth, and began to retell everything to the Blackburn.
The scene shifted into the other dimension around 2 months back or so, whenever the solar eclipse occurred. A young girl was running through the elephant herd, and shouting things like, "Stop!" and "Go back!" She grabbed onto one of the bull elephant legs, but he was too strong for her, and he lifted her up off the ground with him. When he stopped his foot in, it cause her to fall into the muddy banks of the landscape as the elephants continued walking along, unaware that they were headed straight into a trap. She watched, horrified, and then grabbed onto the tail of a bull elephant with a broken tusk. Despite the foul smell, she was able to bring herself to climb up the elephant's behind and onto his back. Eliza Thornberry grabbed onto the back of his neck, and watched as the elephants gotten closer and closer…
Up in the skies, two people were watching as the elephants were getting closer and closer to the fence that they had helped set up. Sloan smiled darkly, and then knew it was time to set off the explosives. "SET OFF THE FIRST ROUND OF EXPLOSIVES NOW!!!" He screamed into the radio he held in his hand. The poachers looked at each other, and nodded. They pulled the rope, and then…nothing happened. Nigel and the Colonel pressed their backs against the side of the cliff, Colonel holding a pair of scissors.
A poacher picked up the rope, and examined it. Frustrated, he shouted, "The wires have been cut!"
Sloan was no less angry. But there were still more explosives, so there was still hope for him yet. "Set off the second round!" As soon as he said that order, the poachers on another part of Tembo Valley pulled their wire, and this time the Colonel and Nigel couldn't do anything stop it.
Huge explosions that shook the ground and irritated Eliza's ear set off, and the elephant she was on, as well as the others, reared on their hind legs and trumpeted in pure terror. The sudden movement was enough to jerk Eliza around the bull elephant, and she desperately grabbed onto his truck. She dangled above the ground as the elephants stampeded across the ground, the earth trembling in their wake. She began to lose her grip, and knew she couldn't hang on long. She held her breath, and let go, and the elephant ran over above her. She turned around quickly, and grabbed the tail of another elephant. She wasn't going to let the elephants die! She just couldn't let that happen! She got on top of the elephant once again, and viewed her surroundings. "I've got to get to the front of the heard." She told herself, and she readied herself to leap across.
She held her breath, and then made a fateful leap to another elephant, and then to another, and another. Soon the Thornberry girl found herself at the front of the herd. She found herself on the back of an old elephant, who didn't seem to notice the young girl. She was too busy running for her life. Eliza looked ahead, and gasped. They were so close to the fence! She could hear the crackling sound of electricity, and see sparks flying randomly. She closed her eyes, thought for a moment. "Think of something! Think of something!" She then remembered something. She reached into her shirt and pulled out the medal that her father gave her. She could see the words "Awarded for bravery" carved in it.
'This has to work.' She pulled her arm back, and thrusted the medal as hard as she could, and it went sailing into the air. The medal hit the electric wire, and then bolts of electricity sprang all over the place. The horrified elephant stopped in her tracks, and reared up in fear. Eliza looked behind her, and could only hope that the elephants would understand, and stop. "Please…" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Stop."
The elephants, eyes widened with confusion, stopped dead in their tracks. They looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Eliza smiled, and yelled softly, "Yes!" Suddenly, another round of explosives set off. Apparently, Sloan had more tricks up his sleeve that Eliza had expected. The elephants, except the lead one, panicked and started running towards them. They trumpeted several times, as if they were asking questions. Eliza closed her eyes tightly and searched her memory banks for another way to stop them. The locket one didn't work for long. "What did Phaedra tell me?" She thought for a moment, then it all came back to her. "Behind the ear!" She positioned herself, and gently pushed her foot into the back of the lead elephant's right ear. She seemed confused at first, and then suddenly reared on her hind legs. Eliza struggled to hang on. The elephant hit the ground with her front legs, and then slowly turned around. 'She understood!'
Eliza couldn't help but smile, and she said, "We did it! Let's get out of here!" The lead elephant trumpeted a command to the other elephants, and they slowly turned around away from the fence.
From inside the dark green helicopter, Sloan watched the scene with disgust. "They're turning around! Start shooting!" He ordered into his radio.
A poacher by the name of Olaf was standing by the edge, witnessing the elephants turning away. He was also one of the many who had witnessed Eliza's sudden bravery. "But there's a girl there."
He winced as Sloan shouted, "I DON'T CARE!! Take down those elephants!" Sloan thought for a moment. 'Eliza…you'll pay.' His mind said dangerously. "I'll take care of the kid." He added in, and then he turned and looked towards the elephants. Sure enough, there was Eliza riding on one of them. He ordered his wife to go low. Eliza, of course, was unaware of this. She was too happy with the fact that she had saved the elephants from certain death.
"Everything's gonna be alright! We're almost out of here!" She shouted gleefully. She never noticed the helicopter behind her, until it was too late.
She suddenly felt something grabbing her. She looked up, and saw a very angry Sloan Blackburn, hanging front a rope ladder. He snatched her by the right arm, and lifted her high into the air. Eliza whimpered a few times, and could only watch as she was helplessly dangling above the ground, being pulled in tow by the poacher.
Sloan looked in the direction that they were going, and then growled, "You WILL regret this!"
Eliza showed her bravery once again, and pounded her fist into the poacher's hand. "I DON'T CARE! What you're doing is awful!" She closed her eyes tightly in pain as the poacher pulled her closer to him.
"And what you're doing is stupid!" He yelled in her face. He then observed the river below. 'That's how I'll get rid of her…No one would be able to survive.' He turned back to Eliza, an evil smile on his face. "Shame you won't be here to help me carry out the ivory!" He snarled in her face, and he pulled her back, and, with all the strength he had, threw her down towards the river below. He smiled darkly as he watched Eliza scream at the top of her lungs as she plunged into the raging river below…
"STOP!!" The scene shifted back to the room where the good Sloan and Eliza were chatting. Sloan couldn't stand another word about it. It may have been different, but something about it was making him uneasy.
"Sorry, Sloan…too much for ya or something?"
The man looked at her curiously, and lowered his head. "I just can't believe that in another world, I'm such a…."
"…monster?" The young girl suggested, but then cleared her throat. "Never mind about that. Everything turned out fine in the end, I think." She scratched her head, and looked at the naturalist. It was time to tell him what happened to make her come to this world. 'But I don't even know how it happened…' But she knew she had to tell. How else could he help her? "Well," She said, "I suppose you want me to tell you how I got here…" Sloan nodded his head. "I don't remember much," Eliza told him as she began pacing around the room. "But I will tell you what I remember." And so she began to tell Sloan everything that had happened right before she found herself in this parallel dimension.
Elizabeth Thornberry ran. She ran as far away as she could. Confusion and overwhelmingness started to overcome her mind. She just kept running away from it all. There was no use staying back at the camp. Eliza rescuing her baffled Elizabeth. 'Why did she save me?' That was the question she kept asking herself. The swift fox finally stopped running, and sat down on a nearby rock to think about the things that had happened. As a poacher, she was not as experienced with the gratitude of being rescued. She was grateful this time, but why? Why was she grateful? But more importantly, why did Eliza save her even after she found out Elizabeth was a poacher?
'And why didn't I pull out the gun on her?' Elizabeth was confused about that, too. She had the opportunity to kill Eliza, but she didn't take it. There were more things on her mind than just those things. She also wanted to know why Eliza loved animals so much. What was there to love?
"As far as I can tell, they're just lower creatures put here to serve us superior humans." Elizabeth muttered to herself, and looked up at the bright sun. She shielded her eyes, and lowered her gaze to the ground, and saw her shadow casted on the dirt surface. Elizabeth felt her mind become lost in a sea of thoughts. 'What am I to do now?' She sighed, and watched the breeze blow through the nearby trees. She found herself smiling at this display of Mother Nature at work, but shook herself out of that thought. 'What am I thinking?! I can't become like THEM!' She growled involuntarily.
She looked away from the trees, and worried that her mind would wander off like that again. Her brown eyes narrowed to almost slits, and she felt her fur bristle. But she didn't know if that was from anger, or from the wind. "Eliza is such a crazy kid." She heard herself say out loud. She knew she couldn't be too loud, or her family would spot her. They wouldn't know it was their daughter, so they'd shoot. Elizabeth sighed. She never told anyone about her power, and Eliza was the first one to witness a transformation.
If I were a bird then I'd be free
Free to leave this place slowly
I don't know it all around
Get away without a sound
Silence awakening my soul
Nothing left, nothing left to make me whole
To try again and start anew
To make the change to help me through
She got up and walked towards a nearby lake. It was started to dry up. 'It's close to that dry season my dad talked about.' She squinted her eyes against the bright sunlight. She felt her paws burn as she stepped onto the dry land. 'This is what I get for picking an animal not suited for this type of condition.' She mocked herself. She smiled faintly, but didn't know why. She walked right by the lake, and lowered her head towards the pool of water, and started to lap up water. Being a swift fox at the moment, she had to drink like a real fox would, or the animals would become suspicious of her. She hated drinking like an animal, but in this form, she had no choice.
When she was drinking, she opened her brown eyes and looked at her reflection. She didn't think much of it at first, but when she looked again, she saw something she hadn't noticed before. She stopped drinking and raised her head up. Her wide dark eyes locked onto the eyes of her reflection. She may have been in animal form, but what she didn't notice until now was what was reflecting back from those animal eyes. It was life itself. She stepped back, but still looked at her animal reflection. She noticed whenever she breathed, the animal breathed. Her heartbeat pumped the same rate as the animal pumped.
As the rain begins to fall
Casting shadows on the wall
I close my eyes and dare the thunder
Break the spell that I've been under
She lifted her gaze and looked at the animals around her. There were some cheetahs, lions, and elephants all coming down for a quick drink at the watering hole. She looked left to right, scanning the entire area. She watched the animals' stomachs move in and out as they breathed in and breathed out. 'I never saw this until now.' She blinked, and stared. Why hadn't she noticed this before? Elizabeth Thornberry watched as a couple of lion cubs ran around the plains. She watched as they jumped on top of one another, and playfully bit each other. She understood that they were playing now. Elizabeth felt her heart warm up as she witnessed a mother elephant help her young one up off the ground. She saw cheetah moms cleaning their cubs thoroughly, and finally Elizabeth understood what Eliza had meant when she told her that animals were people. "Animals care...like we care." The dark girl looked to the ground, and suddenly felt shame overcome her heart.
"They may be different, but they're family." She whispered lightly. She narrowed her eyes and lifted her head up. Her ears and fur swayed in the wind. 'Eliza Thornberry, I understand now.' She took off back towards the camp to look for Eliza Thornberry.
Escape the world, they cannot see
That all that's empty lies in me
To try again and start anew
And make the change to help me through
She ran back as fast as she could and finally came to the clearing. "Eliza! Eliza!" She shouted loudly, and hoped to get the light girl's attention. But she stopped and froze in horror. 'My family's comvee...it's gone!' Indeed it was. She saw the tire tracks leading away from the camp area. The tables and such were still set, but everything else was gone. Her family was gone. She lowered her ears, and glanced at the dried grass. "Hmm?" She noticed something red in the grass. She leaned closely to it, and noticed it was her blood. She sniffed the area.
"My dad was here. So was my mom." Uh oh...That only meant one thing. Her parents thought that Eliza Thornberry let loose one of their trapped animals, and were after her. 'But where is Eliza?' Elizabeth sniffed around a little more, and found the spot were her counterpart's scent was the strongest. Her eyes snapped open in shock. It wasn't just Eliza she smelled. Kip and Biederman were there, and there was a whiff of knockout gas. It almost made Elizabeth sick. She saw tracks leading away from camp. "Oh, no, Eliza!" She started to run towards the way of the tracks. She had to find Eliza. She had to!
Makes me want to fly away
No reasons left to make me stay
To quit before I even start
To leave this darkness in my heart
"Next thing I knew, I was here." Eliza finished her sentence with relief. She gave a few pants, and looked at Sloan. She awaited a response. 'I wonder if he'll believe me.' She anticipated a bad answer. Sloan on the other hand was wondering if he should believe her. After all, Eliza was one of their worst enemies. What good will it do listening to this child? It may be a trap.
The man slowly glared at the girl, but then got some second thoughts. "Okay, child. I'll believe you...for now." He slowly climbed to his feet.
The girl smiled heartily. "Thanks!" She said brightly. She also climbed to her feet, and waited for Sloan to say something. He looked at her, and then motioned towards the girl.
"Come with me. We have to talk to Bree about this." He said simply as he walked out of the door.
Eliza Thornberry stood there for a few moments longer, but recollected herself and ran off after him. "Hey wait!" She called as she left the door and ran out into the hallway. Sloan stood beside the wall.
He had stopped to wait for Eliza to catch up. 'This is another proof she can't be the same Eliza. She's not as fast.' Sloan watched the girl catch her breath as she slowly walked towards him, a small glare on her face. She stopped and stood by him. She didn't look too happy, but she calmed down before she could do anything bad. Sloan gave a sigh. "Bree! Come over here!" He knocked on the door they were standing in front of.
"Coming!" Eliza heard Bree's voice, and then the door opened.
The woman stepped out of the door, and grumbled. "What is it Sloan? Can't you see I'm....huh?" She stared at Eliza, and gasped. "Sloan, you let her out?" She stared at him with disbelief.
The man simply smiled, and said, "She seems to be an alternate version. A good one." Bree blinked her eyes, and turned her attention to the little girl named Eliza Thornberry. Eliza nodded her head, expressing the fact that Sloan Blackburn was indeed telling the truth. The woman turned her head to the side, then back and knelt down in front of the girl.
"You had better hope you're telling the truth, young lady." She warned. She didn't fully believe her yet, but if Sloan said she could be trusted, then she could trust the child, as well.
"So, what do we do now?" Sloan asked Bree, who stepped back in surprise.
'What is this guy talking about?' She swallowed and asked the question. "What are you talking about?" Sloan smacked his head.
"Of course! I didn't tell you!" He motioned forward. "Bree, this child says that Elizabeth's parents are looking for her. This may be our one chance to have a clear shot at catching them."
Eliza nodded to Bree, but then gasped. "Oh no!" She breathed in, her hands against both sides of her head. She shook her head, and shivered a few times. Bree and Sloan widened their eyes in surprise.
"Eliza?" Sloan walked towards her, and dropped to his knees. "What is it, child?"
"Elizabeth! She ran off before I was kidnapped! She's still out there." She looked up at Bree worriedly. "What'll we do now?"
Sloan and Bree's minds were registered in horror. "This is not good." Bree said to herself. "This is not good." They heard footsteps to the left of the hallway. Then they heard the sound of a door opening and then closing. 'Kip! He must be leaving his office!' Sloan smiled slightly. A shadow casted on the walls. Eliza stepped back, but the shadow took shape. She squinted her eyes, and slowly recognized the figure.
"Kip?" She said almost happily. 'I never thought I'd be happy to see him!' She told herself excitedly.
Kip might be their best chance of getting out of this mess. "That Biederman, always making such a mess of things." They heard Kip say as he angrily marched out of the room. Apparently, Biederman did something to annoy Kip. He turned the corner, and froze in his tracks when he saw Eliza Thornberry standing there. But everyone stared at him, too. All over this face was green toothpaste, and a few dirty feathers was stuck in his dark hair. Sloan smacked his face, and slowly shook his head. Bree choked back a chuckle, and Eliza couldn't hold back her laughter for long. She let out a few loud laughs, falling to her knees as she giggled. Kip growled at this. "Yeah, yeah...this is soooo amusing!" He glared daggers at Bree and Eliza, and slowly picked the stuff out of his hair and wiping his face. "Now, as I was trying to ask before I was so rudely interrupted," He glared at Eliza and Bree again, "Why is Eliza out of the room? I thought that she was to remain there."
Sloan nodded his head slowly. "Yes, she was. But we found out we got the wrong girl."
Kip narrowed his eyes. "What? What do you mean we got the wrong girl?"
Sloan placed his hand gently on the other man's shoulder. 'It'll be too long to explain it all.' The man thought. 'I'll tell him later. Right now we have to prepare for the Thornberrys' arrival!' "It's a long story. I'll tell you it all in detail later. But right now the other Thornberrys are coming! We have to prepare!"
Now Kip was rather more confused, but he didn't want to question Sloan's orders. He nodded his head, and saluted Sloan. "Yes, sir!" He turned and walked away, but took one last look at Eliza Thornberry. 'I sure hope he knows what he's doing.' He went to another door. It was red, unlike the other doors, which were either white, black, or green. Above the red door, it read AUTHORIZED ENTRANCE ONLY.
Eliza scratched her head. 'Now that's unusual to say.' What did they mean by authorized entrance only? Eliza thought that she had the right to know, but also knew that now wasn't the time. She thought that she didn't need to know, and just wanted to get back to her own dimension. The sooner the better in her case.