Dear reader,
I have been waiting a long time because I wanted to be sure, but here goes:
I'm discontinuing this fanfic.
Believe me, it makes me feel guilty, as a writer, to do this. But I just don't have the time or emotional investment to continue this anymore. I've considered deleting the fanfic altogether, but I think I'll leave it up for any curious eyes and because regardless, it was good writing experience.
For those of you who still remember the plot and want to know what happens, I leave for you my plot outline and a few snippets/scenes that had been floating on my desktop.
PLOT POINTS
Delun Long-Hollingswoth lied about working for Vikram Kabra. Unknown to Ian, who had been out of contact with his father for years, Delun had turned against Vikram for the Vespers. The Vespers were the ones who sent Delun as a messenger to Ian. They wanted Fiske Cahill dead, but they wanted to pin the blame on Vikram Kabra.
The Vespers were starting to hack into Cahill strongholds, with the goal of gathering all the Clues to build the serum, as well as make it even more powerful.
Vikram Kabra and Fiske Cahill were working together. Near the end of Chapter 5, Fiske had been calling Vikram to ask him about what was really going on. Vikram had turned double agent for the Vespers and was sending information back to Fiske. In return, Fiske was concealing Vikram's location, as Vikram was a fugitive from the law due to his involvement in the murders of Arthur Trent, Hope Cahill, and others.
Amy Cahill had started an undercover group with the intention of killing the Vespers, one by one, to eliminate the threat to the Cahill family.
Gideon Cahill (who would have appeared much later in the fanfic) did not die in the fire. The secret of the serum is that it grants immortality to its users. However, Gideon was cautious of unleashing immortality into the world and faked his death so that his children would not know. His mission was to destroy all the Clues to ensure that the serum would never be made again, so that the world would never have to live under the threat of someone like Isabel Kabra taking the serum and becoming unstoppably powerful.
Isabel Kabra was still alive, due to her usage of the serum. She was slowly regrouping her strength. She was a wild card, because she hated the Cahills, but also hated the Vespers, who had abandoned her after her defeat by the Cahills.
Livia Tranc was a direct descendant of Gideon Cahill. She was aware of the Clue Hunt before she met Amy and Ian. She had been sent by Gideon to befriend Amy and keep a close eye on what she was doing.
SCENE: Amy's confession
Amy started the group because she was afraid for Dan.
At that time, the Wyomings had been acquitted of all charges. Sandy Bancroft had been sentenced to two years at a community service prison.
"Not everything works out perfectly in the end," Fiske had told her when she complained about it. He told her to focus on the fact that most of the Cahill hostages had been saved and the Vespers' Doomsday plan had been defeated.
And yet the Vespers were still out there.
After Damien Vesper was defeated in the Rocky Mountains, everyone seemed to forget about the Vespers and work instead on rebuilding the branches and as usual, hunting for the 39 Clues. Amy felt like she was the only one who was concerned that Sandy Bancroft was still out there, as were the Wyomings and other Vespers of the same greedy, power-hungry, ruthless type. Just as the Cahills were rebuilding, the Vespers would rebuild too.
Isabel might have told the other Vespers about the Cahill serum and the fact that Dan had the formula perfectly memorized. Any of them could come for her brother at any moment, and Amy had no doubt that they would do whatever they needed to get the formula out of him.
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that there was no escape from the Vespers and the more determined she became to protect her baby brother.
So she decided to form a group to combat the Vespers. After all, Grace had always told her that the only way fear could be overcome was if it was confronted.
She contacted those who had been with her during the Cahills vs. Vespers fight: Dan, Jonah, Hamilton, Sinead, and Jake. Each had been enthusiastic and agreed that the Vespers had to be stopped. The first order on the group's agenda had been to find out more about the Vespers.
What was the group's goal? To uproot the Vespers out of the world for good. To kill them, once and for all.
SNIPPETS
1. Amy/Ian
It was fascinating to watch Ian lie, Amy thought. His lies were simple, believable, and were uttered with absolutely no hesitation. It made her a bit wary. After all, anyone who was good at anything had had lots of practice, and that included liars.
2. Amy
She could feel the familiar thrill, the burning curiosity that hadn't been there since the end 39 Clues Hunt or the fight against the Vespers. Was there something wrong with her, that she could still get a kick out of something that had driven her brother to depression and would probably get them all killed?
3. Amy/Ian
"We're your family."
When she saw Ian's face, she immediately wished she could shove back the words she had blurted out, the words of a naïve girl who had never been truly alone in her life.
"I have no family anymore."
4. Amy/Fiske
"Do you remember Grace's funeral, when you had been asked to choose between a Clue and a million dollars?"
Amy's chest tightened. "Of course."
"There was something we should have told you from the beginning," Fiske said. He looked old, beyond his fifty-eight years. "When you choose the Clue, you don't just lose the million dollars. You lose your chance at a normal life…but of course you already know that, now."
5. Ian
"Being alone isn't really a choice. It's something that's forced onto you. After a while, you get used to it. But no one actually likes being alone."
6. Fiske/Ian
Fiske's words suddenly floated into Ian's mind. We're family. The sentiment had made Ian feel uncomfortable and yet it also gave him a light, floating feeling that warmed him.
Ian would do what he could to save Fiske and millions of innocent lives. And maybe, along the way, he would find a way to save himself.
Thank you for reading.