Annie and Hannah: Persuasion and Deception
The Seventh Chapter in Hannah's Chronicles
Only a few miles from home and two kids, Leo and Annie, were fast asleep. They drove along the countryside and reached a point were their home town could be seen. Leo was painfully awakened by a speed bump in the road. He jerked up, but he realized that Annie was asleep on his lap so he tried his best not to make any other fast motions. Annie wiggled around in Leo's lap for a bit, then continued her slumber. Leo was thinking about how his friends were doing. He thought that they would be having a great time, but it's not his fault that he really had no idea what was happening. At long last Annie opened her eyes. Leo didn't seem to notice until she spoke up.
"Leo?" Annie whispered. Leo looked down to see his sister getting up. "Where are we?" she asked while rubbing her eyes. Because she was just getting up, she was a little disoriented for a moment.
"We're home Annie!" Leo answered. Annie jumped up and looked over Leo to see out his window. Very clearly she could see them pulling up into their home town. She was overwhelmed with happiness to finally be able to see her friends again. She began to think of June and Quincy and all the great times they had and were going to have together. But then a negative thought crept into her mind. She thought about Hannah. She did not like Hannah, she hadn't liked her from the moment she saw her standing outside of the Rocket Room. Annie tried to forget about her. But the more she tried, the harder the thought came back.
Meanwhile, Hannah was waiting for the children to arrive home. She was in her back yard waiting to hear the car come past. She sat on a swing and focused only on her plans. As far as she knew, everything was in place. The last thing that she needed was time to hurry up. She had changed what she was wearing too. She was wearing similar clothes to Annie now. She thought maybe if her attire was more like Annie's, Annie would be more willing to talk to her. If Annie wouldn't talk to her, then this whole idea would go down the drain.
In a third party, June and Quincy were waiting anxiously in front of June's house. They needed to talk to Leo and Annie quickly, before Hannah could get to them first. June still wasn't entirely sure that she would be correct about Hannah's plans. Quincy wanted to occupy himself to pass time by play his Silver Flute, but he was too nervous to play. June was very positive that she was correct about Hannah's plans. She still wondered one thing though: Why on Earth did Hannah want to get to Leo so badly?
Back in the car with Leo and Annie, the two kids had been silent for the duration of the trip. They were just gathering all of their things so they would be ready when they arrived at home. Leo was so excited to see June, Quincy, and Rocket again. Annie was excited too, but she was just to tired to do anything. She was going to get home and take a nap. But finally, they were on their home street! Their house was in plain sight and the were almost home. Quincy and June was the car and ran towards it down the sidewalk. Hannah heard the car coming and so she peeked her head over the fence to see what would happen and find a good time to begin the first steps in her plan. Although they didn't know it, all the kids were now part of one big thing here. The car pulled into the driveway. Hannah had a prefect view. Leo saw his friends running to him and he thought that they were running because they were happy to see them. Although they were, just not in the way he expected. Once they got closer he could see the distress in their eyes. "Hi guys!" Leo said reaching his hands up. "Is everything okay?" He asked curiously.
"Leo," June cried, "Quincy and I need to talk to you!" June was tugging on Leo's arm. "This is urgent!" She yelled, loud enough for even Hannah to hear all the way across the street.
"Okay, let me put my things inside real fast," Leo said, and ran up to his room to drop his stuff off. Annie was still extremely sleepy and so she when she got out of the car she took one big yawn and turned around. When she turned around, she could see Hannah barely peeking over her fence. She squinted to see her better, and Hannah dove down out of sight when she saw that she had been seen. Annie disregarded this and took her stuff inside. She walked into her room, tossed and threw her bags in a corner. She plopped down and her bed and grabbed a pillow. The feel of her own bed was very comfortable and made she even more sleepy. Leo walked in to see if Annie wanted to go with him to talk to Quincy and June. When he saw that she was almost asleep, he went up to her ear and quietly whispered, "I'll be with June and Quincy." Annie giggled and nodded and Leo graciously left her room and left her to sleep peacefully.
Leo walked out of his house to see June and Quincy still waiting outside of his door. "Okay I'm ready!" he said enthusiastically.
"Where's Annie?" Quincy asked. He seemed to think that he had invited Annie to, although they had forgotten to.
"You didn't tell me to bring her along." Leo stated. "Right now she is taking a nap. In her room." He wondered why this was so urgent.
June realized that she really only needed to talk to Leo. "It's fine Quincy," June said grabbing Leo's wrist. "We only need Leo." She never let go of Leo's wrist and the two guided Leo over to June's backyard. Leo didn't know why June was holding his wrist so tightly. After all, he did know where June's house was. The arrived at June's house and they brought Leo to her backyard. Leo never fought for his wrist, he just didn't know what was going on.
Hannah watched this from her own yard and waited for the next opportunity. Hannah was thrilled that Annie didn't come along. She overheard Leo say that she was taking a nap and realized that her plan just might work. She needed to get Annie alone, which she currently was. Hannah looked around to make sure Leo, June, and Quincy were out of sight. After clarification, she tip-toed quickly across the street to the abode of Leo and Annie. She looked through all of the available windows to try and see which room might be Annie's. Most of the rooms she could see on the first story were just living rooms, with nobody in them. Hannah then tried to look through to the ceilings through the windows of the second story rooms. The first ceiling she saw was blue, and she could see an Albert Einstein poster on the wall. She assumed this room must be Leo's. The next room she could see was facing the back yard. It was all pink. Nothing much, just pink. Hannah considered it, and assumed this was Annie's room where she was sleeping. Hannah was going to take her chances. She picked up a small rock on the ground and tossed it at Annie window to wake her up. Hannah then quickly ran behind a tree before Annie would see her.
The click on her window made Annie jump up and off of her bed. She was a little concerned with what it was. She looked out her window to her back yard and did not see Hannah hiding behind a tree. She just ignored it and tried to fall back asleep. Hannah waited to see if she would come out side to investigate. After a minute or two, Hannah tried again. She threw another pebble at the window. To Hannah's dismay, she had actually put a crack in the window this time. Hearing a cracking noise again made Annie squeal. She didn't notice that her window was actually cracked, but now she was going to go see what was going on. She slipped on her new sandals and went out side.
Hannah applauded herself for finally getting Annie outside with alone. Hannah stepped from behind the tree as if she were very depressed. Seeing Hannah appear the way she did made Annie jump a good foot in the air. "Please," Hannah said holding out her hand, "I need to talk to you." She pretended to be full of sorrow and guilt. Annie ignored her and turned to face the door to go back inside. "I'm sorry!" Hannah spoke out rather loudly. Annie stopped and turned around to face Hannah again.
"For what?" Annie asked with caution. She took a step closer to Hannah.
"I should never have done what I did to you and June when we first met." Hannah tried to tear up. She was successful, as a stream of tears came running down her cheek. "I have something for you," Hannah said.
Annie genuinely got excited because she loved surprises, but did her best to not show her joy to Hannah. "What is it?" Annie asked taking one more step closer to Hannah. She wasn't totally sure if she could trust Hannah or not.
"I don't have it with me. It's back in my yard," Hannah whispered as if telling Annie to keep it a secret. "Will you come with me?" She held out her hand.
Annie rejected Hannah's hand. "Tell me first," Annie demanded. Hannah knew that Annie had reached a conclusion. She wouldn't change her mind. Hannah really was prepared for Annie's questioning and so she really had prepared a surprise for Annie. "You like balloons, right?" Hannah asked nervously.
Annie lit up. "I love them!" Annie hiccuped. She hit her head for not being able to deny Hannah. She truly loved balloons, but she didn't want Hannah to know that she was excited. "Do you have balloons?" Annie asked rubbing her chin with three of her fingers.
"I have rooms filled with balloons!" Hannah answered anxiously. Ironically, this what not a lie. She had prepared a couple hundred balloons for Annie. Hannah turned around while waiting for Annie next sentence. It was then that Annie noticed the bow in Hannah's hair. It was identical to the one that tasseled her own hair! There were totally identical. Hannah of course knew about this. Annie just thought it was coincidence.
"Okay then," Annie surrendered, "I'll go with you." Annie did not even consider danger. All she wanted was the balloons. For as long as she could remember she had loved balloons and loved getting them. Annie never took the time to remember that just a few weeks again Hannah was the enemy. Although she was still the enemy now, nobody but June knew that.
Back in June's yard, Quincy and June had come to a place to sit. June never realized that she hadn't let go of Leo's wrist. She had completely forgotten. It was when Leo wiggled for his arm back that she let go of it, rather embarrassed. Besides that, June and Quincy had explained to Leo everything that had happened while him and Annie were gone. They told him about Hannah interrogating them about him and Annie. They even explained to him June's final, unproved, theory. Leo was stunned to hear about everything that happened while he was away. He then led a conference with Quincy and June about what they should do. They came up with one solid conclusion: Avoid Hannah. Don't talk to her, don't play with her, or don't anything with Hannah. They all agreed but still remained talking in June's backyard.
By now, Annie and Hannah had arrived in Hannah's backyard. Hannah stopped right in the middle of it. Annie was a little confused because there was nothing where Hannah had stopped, not even a rock or anything! "Stand back," Hannah warned. Annie heeded her warning and stepped back quite a few feet. Hannah began to sing a song. Annie was at first annoyed at Hannah singing, but then she was confused again. Hannah's song was not in English. As a matter of fact, it wasn't in any language whatsoever. It was just mumbling gibberish. She continued with her song for about thirty seconds, before Annie heard a loud, irritating noise. She recognized it as well, for it was the roar of Big Jet's engines. She looked around and she could see Big Jet coming straight for Hannah's backyard.
Over in June's yard, the kids there could also see and hear Big Jet arriving in their neighborhood. June got very quiet, as Quincy got rather nervous. Leo on the other hand, got very suspicious. "I should go check on Annie," he said getting up. The other kids did not try to stop him. They just followed him out of the backyard.
Shortly after Hannah had sang her song, Big Jet was landed right in front of them! Annie was standing right next to Big Jet! She began to feel a little sheepish about this whole thing. Hannah walked closer to Big Jet as it opened his door, acting as a ramp which was very similar to Rocket's door. She walked in and waved Annie in. At first Annie didn't want to, but from the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a bright red balloon. It was then that she ran onboard to get the balloon. As soon as she took a step inside Big Jet, Annie felt like a traitor to her friends. Neverminding, Annie reached for the balloon that she saw. It was now in Hannah's grasp. As a matter of fact, it the only one she saw. "You only have one balloon!" Annie whaled. Hannah handed Annie the balloon and shook her head. She walked over to a wall a pressed a thin, pale blue button on the wall, opening the door to a backroom in Big Jet. Annie looked inside and almost started to drool like a toddler. In the room there were hundreds upon hundreds of bright, multicolored, multi shaped balloons! Every color Annie could name, and every shape she knew was there in the form of a balloon! Annie ran excitedly into this party like room without even thinking. Once she was inside, Hannah pressed the blue button again and sealed the door shut. She then pressed a nearby yellowish button to lock it. Annie didn't know that she was now locked inside Big Jet. She just played and bounced around with all the balloons she was obsessing over. She called for Hannah, but when Hannah never answered her she knew that she had been tricked. It was now that she looked for a way out of this bright, balloon filled room. She looked for buttons and switches and pressed or pulled one whenever she saw one. She took into notice that Big Jet was very similar to Rocket on the inside. It had the same buttons and bright lights. But unfortunately, there was no way out of this room from the inside. She was stuck
Back in the front of Big Jet, Hannah took her seat in her chair. She in fact was the only person that flew Big Jet. She pulled back two levers, pressed a small red button, and started Big Jet's engines. Annie in the back room, knew what was going on an burst out into tears. She began banging on the locked door and shouting, "Hannah? Hannah? What are you doing? Let me out of here!" Annie fell to the floor crying, in fear that she would never see her big brother again. Hannah shouted back to Annie, "Sorry Blonde! I can't let you out of there yet!" Hannah quickly opened the window that was at her side as fresh air flooded the room. She drew back another switch and the next thing anybody knew was Big Jet was airborne. Slowly hovering a good fifty feet above the ground, Hannah had a clear view of Leo and his friends going to Leo's house to check on Annie. They stopped and watched Big Jet in fear. Hannah hovered right over Leo and his friends. She pulled the bow out of her hair. She looked at it pleasurably remembering that it was an exact replica of Annie's bow that tasseled her hair. Hannah took the bow and tossed it out of the open window down to Leo and his friends and then quickly flew in another direction.
Leo immediately recognized this as Annie's bow. Leo was speechless for a second but he then flared off! "HANNAH," he burst into the air. June could see fire in Leo's eyes. Quincy's could see Leo's heart beating so quickly. And both of them could see Leo's herculean anger. With fire in his heart, Leo charged to the Rocket Room. Quincy and June hurriedly followed him, unable to keep up with the retaliating child. Under his breath Leo whispered, "Hannah, We will beat you again!"
-Chapter 8 will be out shortly-