I can tell that it's gonna be a little bit before I can get back into the full swing of things, but don't give up on me! I've got a concert that I'm putting on this weekend, so most of my time is being spent working on that! You see, folks, when you have a job as easy as mine, you end up with a lot of free time to do extracurriculars. Oh well, that's life, I guess…
chyp: Hey! Haven't heard from you in a while! I'm glad you're still sticking with me! But what happened to your story? I see that you took it down…aww! In the words of my students, 'never give up.'
Raya: My girl! Long time, no…write…? That sucks about college, but as long as you keep your head up, you'll be able to get to anywhere you wanna go. It happened for me, and it will happen to you. Just in case, though, I'll light a candle for you tonite! A friend of mine always did that for me for some reason…
"James Armstrong!" James yelled over the phone.
"Jane Arthur?" the operator on the other side asked.
"No!" James said. "I said…James Armstrong! You know, James! J-A-M-E-S."
"James," the operator confirmed.
"Right," James said. "And Armstrong. A-R-M-S-T-R-O-N-G."
"Oh, Armstrong," the operator said.
"Yes," James said, obviously annoyed, "like Neil Armstrong."
"Who?" the operator asked.
"You don't know who Neil Armstrong is?" James asked, rubbing his hand in frustration. "You know what? Never mind. Okay, bye."
He slammed the phone down and let out an exasperated sigh of utter annoyance. He pretended to pull out his dark blond hair and walked into the kitchen to get a snack. After being on the telephone with an inept operator for over an hour, he needed something to eat…and drink. He threw a sandwich together and grabbed a beer and walked to the table in the living room of the huge house that had been left to him and his brothers.
Shortly after coming into contact with his actual birth parents, James found out that he had two younger siblings and that the three of them were the Complete. That same day, he was a first hand witness to a demon killing his parents, taking away his only chance to get to know them. He had graduated from Oxford College three months ago and was about to begin his junior year at the larger and distant Emory University, where Oxford graduates automatically matriculated. However, after discovering his magical destiny, he and his brothers, who were still sophomores at Oxford, had decided to all move into the house their parents had willed to them. It was somewhat midway between the two campuses, which provided some sort of compromise.
"Matt!" he shouted. "Matt are you in here somewhere?"
He had been asking the same question for quite a while, but it had clearly been proven that Matthew was not anywhere around. He needed a car to get to the power company and taking the required highly intricate series of buses would take so long, the place would be closed way before he got there. Matthew should have been home a long time ago, he thought as he kept looking at his watch.
Matthew drove down the highway very slowly; he used his knees to steer the car while he changed his shirt and fixed his tie. He thought that it was very impressive that he had been able to change clothes while driving, but was slightly annoyed that no one else could bear witness to it. He didn't include the many drivers who constantly honked their horns at him, willing him to speed up.
As he combed his dark brown hair, he exited off the highway and turned onto a smaller street, Burdett Street. He glanced at the directions he had printed and later turned onto an even smaller street, Peony Way. It was only two lanes; one going and the other coming. Somehow, he had gone from an overcrowded highway to a tiny road where he was the only one on it.
He was on the verge of being late, so he pushed a little more on the gas, but had to slam on the brakes as the upcoming traffic signal turned red. No one else was on the road; why did the light have to turn red? As he impatiently waited for a green light, something he saw out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He saw a woman, no, a little girl, running from a rather shady looking fellow. What caught his attention was the fact that the two of them seemed to come from nowhere in particular; they just appeared! In fact, the little girl seemed to be "zipping" from place to place, moving in small blurs, while the man was constantly strolling casually towards her.
Matthew took this as a sign for help and quickly parked James' truck on the side of the road. He made his way towards the girl, but she zipped away from him as well, not knowing if he was a friend or a foe. He turned his attention to the man, who seemed uninterested in him at all. He walked right past Matthew as he continued toward the girl. Matthew dashed at him and tackled him to the ground; it took a lot more strength than he had thought, and the impact caused him to roll off of the man and onto the ground, dirtying his interview clothes. The man stood up and stared at Matthew, who was busy brushing his clothes. He made a slight nodding motion with his head and Matthew was suddenly cast high into the air, landing hard on the ground next to the girl, who had turned to watch everything. The man began to advance once again, but Matthew threw his hands around the girl and carried her back to James' truck with him.
"Come with me," he panted as he ran as fast as he could back to the truck.
"Who are you?" the girl asked, frightened.
"Don't be afraid," Matthew assured her. "I'm the good guy. We need to get away from here."
"We can't," she replied. "He'll find me. He won't stop 'till he gets me."
"Do you know who he is?" Matthew asked.
"Just that he…" the little girl began.
Forgive me; my cliffhanger ability is a little rusty, but I think this might pass for one! Coming up next chapter…Another showdown with this mysterious man! And what does he want with this girl, this innocent little girl?
