AlecReyes19: Nope, no she has not.
A-Plus Cassiopeia: Yep, Brenda's one of the heroes now. I had it planned since the story started.
BookMast3r: Not RIGHT now, we have some exposition to get out of the way first. Isn't that fun?
I see nobody's been able to guess what the second twist is. Whelp, it's coming up VERY soon, at the end of the chapter, so brace yourselves.
Janet was in her room, reading one of her picture books to pass the time. In the back of her mind, she was really worried about David, and Sam, and Isabella, even if she didn't like her. She just had a feeling something bad was going to happen.
As it turned out, she was right.
A bright blue flash flashed from outside, coating the entire room with a blinding flash of light, knocking Janet off her bed and causing her to drop the book. Scrambling to her feet in shock, she raced outside and stared out at the street below her.
What she saw astonished her. The house next door to her own was being zapped by a blue ray, and it was spreading over the house. As she watched, the ray began to spread over the streets. One unlucky rabbit happened to hop by and stepped into the ray as it was spreading onto the streets. Instantly, the rabbit was engulfed in the ray and froze in place as if it were stuck in a block of ice.
Janet didn't know exactly what was happening, but she bet it had something to do with Mirror Isabella. Somehow, she had managed to target the whole neighborhood, and maybe even the city. And that meant everyone could be in danger.
She didn't waste any time. Leaping out the window, Janet landed on her parents car with surprising accuracy and landed on the driveway. Immediately, a black cat sprinted towards her. It was Ballard.
"Hey, kitty!" Janet greeted, then remembered the situation at hand. Picking the cat up in her hands, she said, "I have to get you out of here."
Suddenly, a blast of blue fire was shot at Janet, narrowly missing her. Gasping in surprise, Janet looked up to see the mirror woodpecker soaring towards her, its mouth hanging open as it cawed threateningly at her. Another blast of fire was shot out of its mouth, this time aimed at Janet. Before Janet could move, Ballard's eyes glowed icy blue and a ray of ice was fired out, freezing the fire before it could burn Janet.
"Oh gosh, you're a mirror cat!" Janet cried out in disbelief. "That's so cool!"
Ballard craned his neck around to stare at Janet, and she then remembered the ray that was covering the neighborhood. "Oh yeah, that! Mirror cat, show me where David and Isabella went."
Before Janet could set Ballard on the ground, the cat forced itself on the ground before Janet could let go. Then, with Janet clinging to him, Ballard made a mad dash down the neighborhood, the mirror woodpecker following close behind. It was an awkward sight, seeing a cat carry a girl five times his size, but at the moment, it didn't matter.
David raced after Isabella on the sidewalk, not caring for the people he came close to bumping into or running over. The two preteens had entered the center of the city, and Isabella still was unaware that David was following her.
David still had no idea where Isabella was going, but he intended to find out. He found his answer as Isabella stopped at an abandoned building, which was mar taller and wider than the other buildings in the area.
It was the orphanage, the one Sam and Isabella had lived at two years prior.
Without pausing to look around, Isabella easily opened the door and snuck inside the abandoned building. David began to tiptoe as quietly as he could while wearing his roller skates, making his way to the front door after him. He was secretly wondering why Isabella had chosen to go to the orphanage, but he dare not say it. He didn't want to alert Isabella to his presence, not yet.
Quietly opening the door, David slunk inside and closed the door. The orphanage was unbelievably dark, and David could barely see where he was. He wondered to himself how any of the orphans who used to live there had managed to put up with it. But, in spite of this, David continued with his objective.
Removing his roller skates, David held them both in one arm and felt his way through the hallways with his other arm. As he did so, he couldn't help but feel frightened. Outside, there were dozens of bystanders. Inside, he was totally alone, and he knew nobody could help him if he was put in danger.
His foot hit a doorstep. It hurt, but he didn't make a noise. Instead, David slowly begin to walk up the staircase, holding the railing. As he did so, he was tempted to turn back. Tempted to run outside, return to his house, and pretend none of this had ever transpired. But he knew he wasn't going to do that.
Minutes rolled by, and David finally reached the top of the stairs, and found himself in another hallway. Breathing softly, David continued down the hallway, feeling a cold breeze wisp down the back of his neck. It was like a ghost was rubbing its palm down his neck, and it chilled him to the spine, but he continued.
David heard soft crying coming from inside one of the many rooms he was passing. It was Isabella, of course, but David still felt uncomfortable. He'd never heard Isabella cry before, so if was so alien to hear her do so.
David turned to stare at a half-open door, where the source of the crying was coming from. As stealthily as he could, David slipped inside without further opening the door. There, he saw Isabella, holding a small picture in her hand, facing the window. Small drops of tears fell down onto the floor.
David breathed in and out and set the rollerblades on the ground and felt for his mask. Once he had it, he put it on his face, and snuck up on Isabella. Then, he lunged and grabbed her shoulders.
"Ah!"
Isabella's scream of surprise spooked even David. She spun around, her fist clenched as she prepared to punch whoever had startled her, then froze when she saw the face of the monster mask lock eyes with her. Isabella was stuck in place, too scared to move.
David instantly removed the mask. "Izzy, it's me! David!"
For a few second, the two stared at each other, not making a sound. David dropped the mask onto the ground, ashamed. He wished he'd never brought it with him in the first place.
Isabella dropped her fist and stared at David, her expression changing from shock to anger. She bared her teeth at him like an animal would do, before turning and walking past him. Slowly, she set the picture down on the table, then turned to face David, covering the picture.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice icily cold.
"I followed you here when you passed by my house," David answered, trying to remain stoic, though he was inwardly intimidated. He'd never admit it, but Isabella scared him when she got really angry. However, he had a self-given agenda, and he intended to accomplish it.
"I have a few questions, and you're going to answer them," David said defiantly, staring Isabella in the eyes. "And the first one is, what are you doing in this rotten, abandoned orphanage?"
Isabella stared at him, folding her arms across her chest, trying to look strong. She was hoping she could intimidate David into backing down, but it was no use. She found herself in the same position as when David had cornered her in the forest and exposed her true identity. Now, she was at a loss for words.
Slowly, Isabella moved aside, showing the picture. "Here's your answer," She said bluntly. David slowly moved up to the picture to get a good look at it.
The picture showed five people. Isabella, Sam, Mirror Isabella, Mirror Samson, and a little girl with Venetian blonde hair and hazel eyes.
Amanda.
In the time that had passed, Sam and Brenda had arrived at the orphanage themselves. Sam had been flying across the sidewalk so fast that Brenda felt she was going to go flying off. She had to do a swerve on her scooter to avoid crashing into a garbage can.
Sam stopped flying and stared up at the orphanage. "Wow, I never thought I'd see this place again," He mumbled to himself. With that, he strode inside the building, Brenda following close behind, setting the scooter down next to the door.
"You know, for someone that was so secretive about your powers, you sure had no problem FLYING in front of all those pedestrians," Brenda said, waving her arms in the air once the two children were inside.
"Well, after I met David and Janet, I don't feel so protective anymore," Sam said in a tone as if he couldn't believe it himself. "I mean, my sister always told me that people would revile me as a freak of nature, but, I don't know, I think she might be wrong."
Before Brenda could reply, the two heard the ground creak a few feet away, and they spun around to see a figure, concealed in shadows, sprint off in the opposite direction.
"Oh, no you don't!" Sam shouted and his transparent arms shot out and grabbed the figured, pinning her to the ground. The figure struggled and screamed, but it was no use. Sam had her totally overpowered.
"Bring her here," Brenda suggested. Sam obeyed and dragged the person towards the two so that they could see her.
Once she was in view and the two could clearly see her, Sam nearly screamed out loud.
Who do you think it is?