Hiya everyone! I'm back ready to bring you another exciting chapter of my Narnia fanfic. Sorry for my temporary hiatus. I don't post for a while because I had to sit on my ideas for a while. Not to mention the fact that I've been conditioning for soccer conditioning for the past three weeks... But anyway, I've been going through a MAJOR writer's block stage. Please forgive.
Like you guys care about this anyway... back to the fanfic!
(Cue for everyone to shout: "Yes! Get on with it!")
Chapter 2: Go Back While You Still Can
"Where's he taking us?" asked Bri, leaning in to Chris and Natalie.
They both replied with a shrug of the shoulders when suddenly Mr. Maxwell boomed, "Children--"
'A little old to be called children,' Chris glared.
"Now, I have some very important artifacts that I'd love to show you. First, we've got my private collection of--"
But he was cut off by a small ringing in his back pocket. He paused and quickly grabbed his cell phone. "Excuse me a minute," he said, smiling.
Briskly walking away, the group could hear him answering sharply. "What is it now? I told you not to ca--..."
There was a break.
"Handle the situation yoursel--"
Another pause.
From what the 'children' saw, Mr. Maxwell's tense shoulders suddenly relaxed. His ringed hand holding the phone up to his ear was visibly shaking.
"Are-- Are you sure you've found it? The machine is ready!" he whispered, barely audible.
After a reply from the other end, Mr. Maxwell looked over his shoulder at the four teenagers and sidled away into a separate room; out of sight and out of earshot.
"What was all that about?" asked James, raising an eyebrow.
"Probably excavating a new dig site..." Chris said, turning his back to the direction his father had just left. "Maybe he found some sort of priceless Etruscan snood."
"Snood?" Natalie asked, cocking her head to the side.
Chris paused, then smiled. He turned to Nat and said, shaking his head, "Forget it."
"Listen, let's go explore by ourselves," Chris continued, turning again to the long hall in front of them. "Anything to get away from that looney," he added, muttering.
But as if his prayers were heard, his father came around the bend once more. He was sweating slightly and had a strange look in his eyes. A similar look of someone who had just won the lotto.
"Sorry, kids. But I'm going to have to leave you. Important business. Can't be missed," he said, walking briskly over to Chris and giving him a noogie once more.
Chris pushed his hand away and his dad said, "You know how it is, urgent call--"
"Yeah... just like old times," he said, watching his dad leave.
"It was nice to meet all of you!" he said, disappearing around a corner.
"As well as you, sir!" Natalie called back, being polite.
Once his rapid footsteps diminished, Chris said, "Let's go."
The rest agreed and followed him.
Meanwhile, back in Narnia...
"Sir,... we've tried contacting Witherwillow, but no such luck. It seems he has disappeared from Narnia," Seyonne said. "He was supposed to meet a group of dwarves with a message but never returned. We've searched everywhere for him."
Aslan didn't say anything at first and instead turned to face the centaur.
"Seyonne," said the great Aslan. "You might want to cover your ears..."
Seyonne quickly did so and stepped back.
At that, Aslan straightened and raised his noble head into the air and let out a tumultuous roar. It echoed throughout the land; rebounding off the trees, rivers and fields. It carried itself through the mountains and through the forests.
Aslan released a second follow up and let it echo over the water of the ocean below him.
The roar left Aslan's mouth and he returned to his peaceful state.
Seyonne uncovered his ears and said, "Are they coming, sir?"
"We shall find out soon enough..." Aslan replied, turning and walking back down the slope.
"And we mustn't worry about Witherwillow. He's loyal to us. He's probably lost his way, knowing the chatterbox."
Chris led them through the numerous corridors of ancient furniture and art. He pointed out all of the famous and not-so-famous artists and painters as well as their artwork.
"This painting is of St. George Fighting the Dragon... hence the title, by Raphael Sanzio. It was made in 1505--"
Suddenly, Chris was interrupted by a strange noise unfamiliar to his ears, only on the television.
It was the roar of a lion. Distant, but distinct.
"What was that?" Bri asked, jumping away from a statue of the Venus De Milo.
"I-- I don't know..." Natalie said, looking to the ceiling. She strained herself to hear the noise again but couldn't.
Suddenly, a second roar followed the first and the others tensed up. The noise was frightful but strangely enough it gave them a mysterious feeling of hope and courage. As if they'd be frightened and terrified of whatever the noise was created from.
Chris's eyebrows furrowed and James stared at the paintings. Bri squirmed, looking wildly around herself.
"I wonder if that was an alarm or something..." James said.
"Don't be stupid," Bri said, her voice squeaking.
"I'm not! That was a legit speculation for your information Ms. Mona Littlemore," James retorted.
Bri stuck out her tongue at him and Chris said, "Shut up, you two."
Natalie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. That sound. What was that sound?
'That was a lion, obviously. But a lion... in the Louvre... That makes no sense at all.' Natalie thought. 'But we're never going to find out if we don't investigate.'
Natalie opened her eyes and looked around. Behind them, there was a door squished in between two larger paintings. If there weren't large red letters on the door saying "Authorized Personelle" it would have been completely missed.
Natalie back tracked and jogged over to the door. "It sounds like it came from here," she said, honestly.
"But Na-aat! We're not supposed to go in there!" Bri pleaded.
"Aw come on, Bri! I know you want to know what that noise was as much as I do!" Nat said, resting her hand on the metal push bar.
Bri bit her lower lip and wrung her hands. She let out an exasperated sigh, "Augh,... you guys are going to get us into so much trouble..."
"Lighten up, Bri," James said, grinning, "What's the worst that could happen?"
"I could name a few things right now..." Bri muttered, following the first three.
The metal door shut with a clang! behind them; leaving their view in complete darkness.
Bri grasped onto James's arm and stared wide eyed ahead. James blushed and was thankful for the darkness.
Shadows could only be seen to determine who was where.
"Oof... James, that was my foot," Chris said, his voice echoing down the corridor.
"It wasn't my fault! Bri knocked into me!" James said, louder.
"I did not!" Bri squeaked.
"Shut up!" Natalie hissed, looking ahead of them, "We'll be caught if you don't."
Just in their line of vision, they could see a break of golden light illuminating from a door and overflowing into the hall.
The four pressed against the wall when they heard urgent voices from inside. It was lucky that their position hadn't been noticed at that moment.
Chris pushed the others against the wall further with his arm as two men rushed out of the room and in the opposite direction of the group.
Everyone held their breath as the two men talked to each other in raspy voices, "But if it's true! I mean... all the stories! The legends! It's just..."
"Impossible. I know," said the other. "But we must get down to the main room. Mr. Maxwell wants the full report. The creature should be safe in there for now."
Chris stepped forward cautiously and peeked around the door frame. His eyes were illuminated by the light and Natalie saw them grow wide and then narrow with curiosity.
She too stepped out from behind him and looked over his shoulder.
Before them, they could see an enormous room. A room that was obviously some sort of laboratory. Lining the walls were numerous doors. Doors of every kind; metal, wooden, glass. Also of every color and texture.
"What the--" Natalie said, stepping into the empty room.
"Natalie, wait--" Chris said, trying to grab her arm, but missed.
"Curious..." she said, approaching a door and touching it with her hand.
Bri groaned and chased after her, "Nat, we shouldn't be here. We should go. What if those men come back?"
Chris and James followed the other two. Bri backed away and stood in the middle of the room, avoiding to touch anything. James and Chris, on the other hand, began opening each door and finding that there was a solid wall on the other side.
Natalie walked down the row of doors and then back again towards the entrance they had come through. On the wall beside their original entrance was a counter of kitchen appliances, a desk and two unmade beds.
On the stove was a kettle of water, boiling for tea. Obviously, people were living here. But this place was a very odd place to be living, let alone this was a very odd place to begin with.
"Hey! Look at this!" James said urgently from the far side of the room.
Naturally, the rest followed and saw to their horror another room. But this room was definitely different than the previous.
It was much darker and melancholy, with a peculiar smell of pine surrounding them. The lab contained several counters littered with vials and boiling cylinders with a curious purple liquid contained inside.
"I don't like this... I don't like this at all," Bri said, backing away from a row of needles filled with an odd and unfamiliar clear liquid.
There were strange tables with hand and ankle latches connected to them. Large bright lights hung over top of them. It was almost as if the four had walked into a weird Sci-Fi operating room.
"You guys, we need to leave. Now," Bri said, getting uneasy.
Suddenly, fluttering wings could be heard smacking against a metal cage. The four jumped and whipped around to look at the thing that had made the noise.
It was a small yellow finch with a metal wire wrapped around it's beak. It fluttered helplessly in the cage, trying to escape. It was the only animal on the premises although a number of cages surrounded it.
The bird itself didn't look too healthy. It was missing patches of feathers on it's wings and body.
The first over to the creature was Bri. She was such an animal lover.
"Oh no! The poor thing!" she cried. Immediately, she flung the cage open and untied it's beak.
"Bri! Stop! He's not ours! That's someone's bird. We can't just set it free," he said, standing next to her.
"Nonsense," she said, tears in her eyes. "How could they be so cruel! Hurting a defenseless animal..."
But once she took the copper wire from it's beak, there was a surprise for everyone standing in that room.
The bird began to talk. And quickly, at that.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! My dear lady! Thank you! You saved me! You saved me!" it cried.
Bri's visage of sympathy turned into one of surprise faster than you can say pig. Her mouth dropped, as well as everyone else's.
But the bird paid no heed and kept blabbering on and on.
Natalie, Chris and James all took one look at the talking creature and all screamed in unison, their eyes wide with horror.
The bird flew out of Bri's hand and hovered above the rest, fluttering it's wings. "My dear friends! Why must you shout?"
But this made them all scream louder.
Bri, getting the picture, quickly came over and stood in front of them. They stopped screaming and instead stared up at the shocking sight.
"Why... How is it that you can talk?" Natalie stammered.
"Well,... that's how we all are in Narnia," the bird admitted happily. "Then again, my second cousin Willie was never much of a talker. Of course, my mother always told me that silence is golden--"
The bird continued to chat on and on and James leaned in to the others asking rhetorically, "Is it just me, or are animals like this one much better off not talking..."
"Narnia?" asked Chris.
"Yes! Narnia! And this is no place in Narnia that I've ever seen," the bird said, looking around himself.
"Err..." Nat started, "You're in Paris... France."
"Pair iss?" The bird asked, cocking it's head to the side curiously.
"Yes, Paris," Bri said.
"Strange," the bird said.
"Listen," Chris said, "We should probably go now..." he backed out, pulling Nat's and James's shirts.
"No wait!" the bird said, swooping in front of his nose. "You must help me get back to Narnia! I have an urgent message to deliver to the dwarves, then to Aslan!"
"Ehh..." Chris said, walking backward. He was unsure about what to say to a talking animal. None the less, one that wouldn't keep quiet.
But no sooner had those words left his lips, four security guards stepped into the room from the hall.
Everyone froze.
The guards stared at the four kids and, almost as one, pulled out their guns. "Arrêtez!" they said in French. These guys did not look friendly at all. In fact, anyone wouldn't look friendly if they were pointing the barrel of a gun at your face. Although they couldn't understand them, the teens figured that they were not happy.
Instinctively, the four kids raised their hands above their head.
The bird flittered around their heads.
"Obtenez sur le sol maintenant!" one shouted.
Bri stepped forward and said, strangely defiantly, "You are cruel human beings! How could you do such a thing to a helpless animal! It's inhumane! Ghastly! Malevolent--"
The nearest guard grew tired of her yelling and promptly hit her across the face with the back of his hand, "Silence."
"Bri!" James and Chris shouted, jumping forward and catching her as she fell backwards. She clutched her cheek and tears poured down her cheeks.
Natalie grew furious. It would have been easy enough to just listen to what they were saying; but then again, they just hurt one of her best friends.
Natalie's eyes darted over to the counter she had noticed before and saw the kettle. It began whistling as the steam shot out of the openings. The noise was the only sound heard except for the heavy breathing of our heroes.
She looked at the guards again and then back at the kettle.
One particular guard, a beefy man with a thick neck, stepped forward and said, "Vous n'êtes pas autorisé d'être ici. Obtenir sur le sol ou nous tirerons."
Natalie looked over to the kettle which was only an arm's length away.
The man saw where she was looking and surprisingly or not, pulled the trigger to his hand gun.
Natalie lunged toward the kettle as the bullet whizzed past her left leg.
She grabbed the kettle and flung it towards the men. The top fell off at the hot water poured all over them. They screamed in pain as the boiling water splattered on their face and torso.
"RUN!" Natalie shouted, pushing a guard aside.
James and Chris helped Bri to her feet as Natalie kicked one of them in his 'sensitive parts'.
The four kids ran into the hall and ducked as gunshots echoed through the hallway. The talking bird flew overhead, leading them to an unknown destination.
But what was for certain, their lives would be forever changed from that moment on.
Review please! You don't know how important it is for me to get some helpful critics who can give me advice on what I need to do to improve. P.S. The French in the story is not totally accurate. Although I've been learning the language for a while, I forgot my book at school so please bare with the computer translation of English phrases.
Hopefully I'll see you all in Chapter 3!