Disclaimer: I still don't own Abarat…darn lol.

Chapter 1: Strange Meetings

"Candy Quackenbush are you paying attention!"

Ms. Schwartz's voice awakened Candy from her daydream. She blinked, startled. Ms. Schwartz had just slapped a paper on Candy's desk that had a huge red F written on it. Candy started to heave a big sigh. I'm not in the mood for her bitching, Candy thought to herself as Ms. Schwartz jammed her fists into her hips and gave Candy a strict look. Deborah Hackbarth and her clique started giggling. They loved to see Ms. Schwartz torture Candy. They all thought she was a weirdo and had done horrible things to her ever since Kindergarden.

"This—this THING that you have turned into me is nothing but a work of pure fiction and—"

Candy immediately cut her off, "It's NOT fiction, I checked my sources and everything."

Ms. Schwartz was taken aback. Candy had never spoken out of line before, but she immediately regained her composure and said very loudly, "This is nothing more than gossip! I asked for facts, Quackenbush. Do I need to remind you what FACTS are?"

Candy just rolled her eyes and pleaded with the Lord for patience. Maybe if the assignment wasn't so stupid then she probably would've done a better job. The assignment was to collect ten FACTS about Chickentown, Minnesota, where there was more chickens than people. Chickentown USA, the place she unfortunately happened to live in. She had gone to every library in town for any interesting information but found the same stuff. Then her mother suggested she go visit Nora in the hotel on Lincoln Street. Candy went off reluctantly; the woman may have been nice but she was kind of a nutcase. Nora had showed her one of the abandoned hotel rooms and told her that Henry Murkitt had stayed there. She told her about how Chickentown was originally named after him and after his wife left him and the town ended up changing its name to Chickentown, Henry Murkitt had killed himself, leaving red stains all over the walls. Nora also showed Candy Henry Murkitt's sextant, which Candy thought was odd that he had kept it, since there was no sea for miles in Chickentown.

Ms. Schwartz continued her assault on Candy, "Look at Ruth Ferris's work!" She then grabbed Ruth's report and shoved it in Candy's face. "Look at these charts and graphs!" She then flipped the pages so Candy could see the "oh-so-lovely" charts and graphs on the wonders of the chicken factory.

Oh please, Candy was growing tired and she wanted the day to end already. Not like she was going to go straight home. After school, her father would always be on his recliner with a beer in one hand and a remote in the other, yelling at everybody to piss off and let him enjoy his peace and quiet. Several times he had beat Candy, leaving bruises all over her arms and face. Deborah Hackbarth would tell all her friends that Candy's father was a raving lunatic and deserved to be fired from his job at the chicken factory and she always said this while Candy was near. Candy had to resist the temptation to slap Deborah's stupid face and throw her into a wall.

Candy just started daydreaming while Ms. Schwartz was blah blah blahing…Ruth Ferris this, Ruth Ferris that…yadda yadda yadda…She saw waves in her mind, and they were crashing on the shore. She didn't know why she was thinking of this, probably because she was thinking of the story she heard about Henry Murkitt with his sextant, waiting for his ship to come in…

She then rose up out of her seat and proceeded to walk out of the classroom, down the hall, out of the school, and down the street. Candy knew she was going to have hell when she went back to school (or if she was allowed to go back at all) and tried to command her feet to stop, but her mind was blurred with waves. Bright blue waves crashing on the sea shore…

She went past Lincoln Street, past the hotel, and down an empty street where she came across a sign that said: "Street Ends". Well, duh! Candy thought as she went past the sign and onto the grass. She spotted an old building that looked as though it would collapse any second. She wondered what the building was and was going to go get a closer look when she stepped on something that crunched under her foot. She bent down to inspect it and saw that it was fish bones. Fish bones? Here? Impossible.

As she kept walking, she spotted other strange objects. Seashells, more fish bones, and strange pottery. How did these things get here? Before she could think of any possiblities, an object fell out of the grass and lay at her feet…

John Mischief woke up in a grassy area. He looked around to figure out where he was and spotted the lighthouse. The Hereafter. He stood up and looked around and spotted someone. Quickly, he ducked down and cursed himself. How the hell did I end up in this mess! He thought. You know how…A voice in his head replied. Mischief shook these thoughts away and kept hidden. He then remembered that he had stolen a box from being delivered to Carrion and found it hidden behind his jacket which was worn out. He took it out for a minute and looked at it, wondering why Carrion wanted this ordinary looking box. He heard something crunch right beside him and was so startled that he dropped the box and reached out to grab it…

Candy went to grab the box when she saw a hand peek out from the tall grass. She quickly drew back her hand and started to get up, coming face to face with a strange creature that looked like something from a bad horror flick.He had orange skin and antlers growing at the top of his head. She was speechless for a few minutes, but then found her vocal cords and screamed. The creature screamed too and soon Candy stopped and backed up. Oh my God am I hallucinating? Am I having a bad acid trip? What the hell is going on? Candy thought as the creature stepped closer with a look of shock on its face.

"Stay back!" Candy warned. "I know umm….karate!" That was so lame…Candy thought regretfully.

"Huh?" The creature said, his face having a puzzled expression.

"Stay back!" Candy said after the creature took another step toward her.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I just got..err…sidetracked, that's all." The creature put his hands up in defense.

Candy brought down her guard. "Ok…so…wha---I mean…who are you?" She thought asking him what he was would be a little rude.

"John Mischief." He tugged at the collar of his jacket with both hands in such a cocky way that Candy had to roll her eyes. Oh please.

But after she heard the name she suddenly had an image of flowers. Flowers? And she had an urge to reach out and hold this…John Mischief's hand. That's stupid, why would she want to do that to somebody she just met?

"And your name is?" John Mischief asked interrupting her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh…my name's Candy."

Candy.

He was kind of disappointed. But what did he expect? That she would come back from the dead? She was gone, gone forever. His heart was thumping against his ribs hard. When he saw her he instantly thought that some miracle had happened and that she was alive…

So that's the end of chapter 1. Many more chapters to come! Hope u guys enjoyed this. Yeah I kno it's not my best writing, but it will hopefully get better! Remember to R&R!