Here's chapter two! Hope you like it! Thanks for all of the Reviews!
Chapter 2: Discovery
Sara suffered though another day of school. Luckily, it was Thursday and the fact that the weekend was coming held her through. And considering how bad the day was going, the thought was a good thing.
She cut herself in shop class, causing half of the kids to start screaming bloody murder. She didn't think she did so hot on her History test. She was hit in the head three times with a volleyball in Gym and got caught passing notes to Zoë in study hall. By Geometry class she was ready to lie down and die.
By some miracle, Mrs. Alen was absent, and the substitute actually was able to keep their attention. She helped out a lot showing the sub where everything was and the sub said she would mention the good behavior to Mrs. Alen; a little sucking up never hurt.
However, as she left her class, her mood immediately plummeted. Zoë was squaring off with Jeremy Banks. Most likely he made some perverted comment and Zoë got ticked. Sara sighed and pushed though the thong of kids finally reaching Zoë.
"I'd like to see you try," Zoë said, obviously answering a threat. Sara grabbed her shoulder.
"It isn't worth it. You've got soccer tryouts tomorrow; don't waste your time on that jerk," Sara said, trying to sooth her agitated friend. Zoë had almost been suspended for a fight two months ago against Jeremy; she didn't need another black mark on her record.
With a heavy sigh Zoë turned and stalked away. Sara heard Jeremy call something out to Zoë, who promptly turned and gave him the finger. There were gasped and laughter; aimed at who, Sara didn't know, nor did she care. All she cared about now was getting Zoë out of there before she lost her temper.
"Thanks," Zoë said as they sat down at their table.
"No problem," Sara replied, taking a bite out of her sandwich. "You couldn't afford another fight." Zoë nodded and started to dig through her food, not taking any interest in any of it.
"Sara… you know how you were telling me about your grade in math?" Sara grunted in reply. "Well, would you want me to tutor you?" Sara coughed nearly chocking on her food.
"Um…I… uh…" Sara stuttered. She didn't think anything or anyone could help her in that subject. Not only that, Zoë was in one of the most advanced math classes in the school. Sara had never considered the idea, not wanting to butt in on Zoë's schedule. "Well, if you want to, you could."
"Sure, we can start next week, on Wednesday. Sound ok?" Zoë asked. Sara nodded and continued to eat, wondering what pushed Zoë into coming up with the idea of tutoring her. Whoever it was, Sara made a mental note to thank them; maybe summer school wasn't inevitable after all.
The rest of the day when quick and well until Sara was walking home. She heard them before she saw them. The entire football team was walking to one of the fast-food restaurants after practice. Most of them were ok, some even nice, but with Jeremy around, Sara felt as though there was an army bearing down upon her.
Glancing left and right, looking for an exit, Sara realized she was stuck; until she saw the alley-way. She quickly slipped into the alley and ran down the narrow corridor trying to keep as big of a gap between her and those guys as was possible. She wasn't one for fights and she knew that because of her assistance to Zoë earlier, Jeremy would be looking for someone to vent out his feelings; who better than Zoë's best friend?
Once she felt she was at a safe distance she quickly took a few turns that she thought would put her on her regular path. After walking for awhile, she finally realized that she was not going in the right direction. Sara cursed; she must have taken a wrong turn. From the looks of things, she was about a half an hour from her apartment. She knew that from the construction site right ahead of her. There had been some gas explosion or something and the whole place was being rebuilt.
The residents of Oakwood had actually been happy with the explosion to a point, no one was injured, and being the area destroyed was an old, abandoned part of town. This was only the outskirts from what she had heard. The site was about ten or twelve blocks from the epicenter.
"Man," she thought, "that was one hell of a gas explosion."
Sara turned to walk away when something caught her eye, lying near a pile of dirt and rubble. She couldn't exactly make out what it was; some sort of box, but it stood out relatively well being that it was the only thing there that looked like it was still intact.
After glancing around to make sure no one was looking, Sara hopped over the flimsy, orange, plastic fence and made her way toward the item.
Sara picked it up and was surprised at its lightness. It was definitely made of metal, a weird black metal. Maybe some type of steel or iron. But before she could scrutinize the box further and construction worker came running over, yelling at her to get out of there. Sara tucked the box in her jacket, jumped back over the fence and got out of there as fast as she could.
Sara studied the box on her desk. It was a four by six inch box at an estimate and it had strange markings and designs all over it. The strangest marking was in the center; it was circular with the picture of some creature wearing a mask and holding a spear high above its head.
Sara touched the carving feeling the smooth details. She wondered if there was a museum there or something; maybe this was some Aztec or Egyptian artifact that they missed and somehow survived the destruction of the building that held it. She gently pushed down on the carving and, with a pop, two hidden latches on the side of the box snapped open. Sara lifted the lid unsure if some bug or snake was going to jump out.
Once she fully opened it she peeked in, her hand poised to slam the lid back down if she didn't like what she saw. Reaching her hand in, grasped the item, and pulled it out.
It was a crystal. More of a shard of crystal actually, being it was in the vague shape of a triangle, with a small ridge sticking out making one side resemble a lighting bolt in shape. It was very light weight, being about a pencil width thick and about the size of a computer mouse. It fit comfortably in her hand and seemed warm to the touch.
Suddenly, Fuzz jumped on her desk, startling her. Sara nearly dropped the shard. With a sigh she set the shard down and began to stroke Fuzz. Fuzz walked over to the crystal, intent on figuring out exactly what this new item was.
Fuzz sniffed the crystal curiously. Suddenly, he began to growl and hiss at the crystal backing away from it as if it was alive.
"What's up with you?" Sara asked Fuzz. What was so scary about a piece of pretty rock? Fuzz ignored her and continued his hisses and growls, eventually jumping off the desk and racing under Sara's bed, only his glowing eyes visible as he stared at her.
"Cats," Sara muttered, turning back to the crystal. It had no blemishes within it, surprising for a gem that size, and acted like it was almost mirror. She put in closer under the light of the lamp on her desk. Rainbows shined all over the room, lighting it up considerably.
Sara set the crystal down and turned to the box that held it. There was nothing in it; no letter or map or instruction list. She turned it over and looked at the front of the box again. Sara saw another symbol that seemed to stand out, this one looked like some symbol you'd see in a tomb with graceful, curving loops and sharp, angled turns. Sara tried pressing it as well seeing if it opened some other chamber in the box. Nothing happened; only a little blinking light started flashing.
Sara set down the box quickly, hoping she didn't set a bomb or something off; after a few minutes of watching a red blinking light, Sara figured that it didn't really mean anything.
Well, the light ruled out the fact that this was some sort of Ancient relic. It had to have been made recently; probably some kid's toy, but what about the crystal? Sara opened her desk and set the box inside, turning to examine the crystal further.
Meanwhile, deep in space, an alien ship received the hidden message sent out by the containment devise, naming the planet and coordinates of the crystal.
Illi'thus ducked his opponents' swiping hand and countered with a punch to the shoulder. His opponent caught his outstretched arm, with hopes to bring him to the ground. However, with both of his hands holding on to Illi'thus's arm, he was unable to fend off the other fist that hit his muscled stomach.
Illi'thus pulled away quickly taking hold of the situation. His opponent was bulkier than him, but his speed and agility kept him safe; however he knew that eventually Ven'tise would get his claws on him and the fight would be lost.
Illi'thus dodged another charge, trying to trip Ven'tise as he raced by. It worked… kind of. Ven'tise went down but turned and charged back, pushing off from the ground using his sheer build to try and crush his opponent.
Illi'thus dropped to the ground as Ven'tise flew at him, catching his stomach with his feet and assisting Ven'tise in his flight over him, off the kerite, and into a wall. Cheers rang out as Illi'thus stood, rightfully named winner of this particular fight.
Ven'tise stood and bowed his head respectfully; he always seemed a good sport when it came to fights. The Leader, Draka, dismissed the students to their own activities and left the room. The students went off to their own business taking about lessons, future hunts, and fights.
"You know that I let you win," Ven'tise said to Illi'thus as he approached.
Illi'thus laughed, "From my position, it didn't look like you purposely flew into the wall."
Illi'thus and Ven'tise were friends, although when you'd look at them, they looked pretty different. Ven'tise was heavily muscled and relatively short, his skin a deep green and brown tinting.
Illi'thus, however, was tall, but a lot thinner than any other Yautja, with paler, almost white skin, along with green and black markings; some, when they first met him, though that he was seriously ill or had been recently. Also, he had dark green eyes, which were rare for a Yautja.
Suddenly, one of the blooded warriors, Sek'lett, ran into the room, looking shaken. He turned to the two. "Where is Leader Draka?"
Illi'thus and Ven'tise were taken back by the urgency of the blooded's tone. "He just left," Ven'tise said, "He was probably going to his quarters." Sek'lett nodded to Ven'tise and raced out of the room.
"Why did he seem…frightened?" Illi'thus asked Ven'tise who shook his head in confusion.
They would find out soon though, for within five minutes, Draka roared a summoning that called all of the students to him; they were going on an unexpected hunt.
Oooo! Cliffhanger! Hehehe… Review and I'll update faster!