Disclaimer: I don't own PO5, AH does, yada yada yada…
Matt POV
I looked down at the phone in my hand. I was actually quite surprised that it was still working, to be honest. But right now I was more concerned about Scott. He'd been taken, I was sure of it. I still didn't know where he was, I didn't know where any of the others were, I'm sure the Old Ones must've overheard me saying where we were, I am about to pass out any minute, and I'm sure Lohan doesn't like me.
Maybe the last one isn't so important, but it sure wasn't helping.
"What happened?" asked Lohan. Demanded is really a better word. He sat down on the ground, watching around us. It was getting darker, because we had waited for the sun to set behind the distant mountains to start moving, so we wouldn't have the heat from the sun on our backs.
"It was Scott. I don't know what happened. I think someone took him. And I just told him where we were." I sat down a few feet away from Lohan, not looking at him, because I know he would blame me for being stupid.
"It wasn't your fault," Lohan said, surprising me. "It would probably help us to be captured, because we're not going anywhere anytime soon." Lohan glared at the surrounding nothingness before turning back to me. "If the Old Ones, or anyone else for that matter, took us, we'd always have a chance of escaping. They aren't going to kill us, you at least. Because then they'd have to start looking for you all over again. You have powers, I have a gun."
"So we wait for us to be captured?" I asked, not sure if the man was right in the head.
"We wait." Lohan repeated, lying down and closing his eyes.
It wasn't the best plan I'd ever heard, but before I could argue, I passed out.
Scarlett POV
Ughh… I was sooo… to be honest I'm not sure what I was. I was dizzy, spaced out, hungry, and definitely not in the middle of a typhoon that I myself caused in Hong Kong.
"Ah, Carly dear, I'm glad to see your up," said a voice. My eyes sprang open to a painful white light. Squinting, I looked round to see a bustling old lady dressed like a nurse. A nurse? Oh, I was in a hospital. That would explain it.
"Wha'?" I asked, and my voice was all crackly and horrible. I tried to sit up but all my arms were connected to wires and stuff, so I gave up.
"Your uncle has been very worried about you, Carly," She told me.
My uncle? Carly? Was I going mad?
Just then a blonde guy came sprinting into the room.
"Oh, thank God you're all right, Sca- Carly," he panted, sitting down in the chair next to me.
"What happened? You're not my uncle! Are you?" I demanded, starting to believe anything was possible.
"You're confused, Carly," he said sadly. That was very true. But I noticed him giving me a warning look before glancing at the nurse. "Some time to talk in private?" He asked the nurse.
"Of course," she said sympathetically, and shut the door quietly behind her.
"What's going on? Who're you?" I demanded, quite rudely, but I didn't care.
"My name is Richard Cole, and to you it's Uncle Richard," He told me, equally rude. "What's going on? Well, how much do you remember?"
"I got shot," I suddenly remembered. A loud bang, then the most horrible pain I'd ever experienced. Then nothing. I recognised "Uncle" Richard now. He had caught me before I collapsed onto the floor.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Hospital, and don't worry, it's safe. There are people keeping us safe," but even he didn't look convinced, glowering out the windows at the pattering raindrops. Then he turned businesslike. "So, you are Carly Anderson. You are the adoptive daughter of my sister and her husband. They're flying in from Australia as we speak. We were going out to dinner and decided to take a shortcut. This being central London, we ran into a few neds, who were armed. And here we are." He concluded.
"Okay," said Scarlett, trying to absorb all this information. "What do we do now?"
"Now we wait." Said Richard, settling into his chair and opening a magazine.
Pedro POV
I was lying in my bed. In my own bed. Lukman had provided me with everything I needed: food, shelter, clothes and safety. He told me about all of the legends about the Old Ones and the Five that he knew. And also about the history of Egypt, and the pyramids.
It turned out we were actually inside the pyramids, or rather, underneath them. He had been waiting for me. Lukman and his friends were actually connected to the Nexus, and they had found Scarlett and Richard. They had thought it would be better for me to stay here, because it would be safer. Scarlett is going to fly out here with Richard when she is well enough.
But they didn't know where Matt or the others were. I knew Richard would be worrying about him too. And then Scott. He still hadn't fully recovered, and I was worried that he was more vulnerable than the rest of us right now.
I still looked for them in my dreams, of course, but the dreamworld had changed since the Old Ones had gotten stronger. There wasn't any physical change, nothing that you could see, but it was in the atmosphere. It was too cold and the air tasted sour in my mouth.
Tomorrow Scarlett would arrive, and we would be starting to regroup already.
Jamie POV
I have to say, Meg did make the best food I'd ever tasted in my life. I was surprised how she and Rabbie let me stay with them, just like that.
I had told them everything I knew. And they had believed me. They had believed it! I could hardly believe it myself. But Rabbie had told me he had been waiting years for something like this to happen again, while Meg nodded wisely at his side.
"Always knew somethin' was goin' tae happen soon anyway, son, I did. There's a bin load o' stories floatin' aboot fer years. All o' them were different, an' nobody knew wit tae believe. I guess we know now, then, don't we?"
"But you'll let me stay with you?"
"What else is there tae be done? Hand yeh over tae yeh're Old Ones? Naw, I don't think so, son. Yeh're stayin' with us." Rabbie told me firmly.
I found out some more about them. Like they were descended from the Macbeth clan, and had distant relatives all over Scotland who would help me when the time to fight came. Rabbie had already phoned some people, who phoned more people, who phoned more people… Now I've lost count of how many people know.
The annoying thing is this snow stuff is starting to disappear. That might seem like a good thing, but it's being replaced by stuff called sleet, which is like snow and rain all mixed together.
The really annoying thing is I don't have a clue where the others are. I've tried searching for them in my dreams, but I can't seem to get there. I either have completely dreamless sleeps, or dreams that are totally useless.
And I'm still worried about Scott. I have these weird bruises down my arms and legs, just like if someone hit him, they would appear on me. So that means someone's caught him, and they're hurting him.
I've told Rabbie about the Nexus, and he's tried to find a way of contacting them but he can't find anything. Not that I've been much help.
I think they can see me getting tenser by the day, but they aren't the kind of people who ask questions.
So for now, I practically inhaled my game soup while Meg and Rabbie choked on theirs for laughing at me.
Scott POV
It took days to reach here. Though I wasn't sure where here was exactly. It was still scorching hot, so I guessed it was still in the Middle East. I wasn't sure if we were still in Saudi Arabia, because I didn't know if it was big enough to take more than a few days to cross.
My room was bare with a stone wall and floor, and chains attaching me to the wall. There was a window with bars across it but no glass, and no ceiling. At midday the sun was directly overhead and the stone floor heated up so much I had burns all over the place. Though I managed to keep my hands and feet ok in case of an emergency.
I was a bit freaked out when I first saw them. That was an understatement. They, the Old Ones, didn't try to look human any more. They were just… things, I don't know. But they were usually deformed in one way or another and oozing out blood or something. Some had scaly skin or some didn't had skin at all. You could see right through to its internal organs and muscles and veins and stuff.
But worse than that were the… I don't know what to call them. They're just like insects. Normal little flies, but they can all go together and form something else. Sometimes they would hover above my room and just watch me. It was really weird.
They seemed genuinely surprised when I decided to not co-operate with them, which was kind of funny.
But then they decided to hit me. It wasn't too bad, but there were never any bruises on me. That meant they were on Jamie. Which meant they were hurting him, too.
I didn't know what was going to happen to me, or the other four. But one thing's for sure.
They are going to be sorry they ever messed with my brother.
Hey guys and gals, thanks for your reviews Sorry it's been so looong…
This is longer! 1,816 words!
I might be slow uploading because I've got my Standard Grades coming up and I REALLY want to pass, so I have a lot of studying to do. Sorry, but not really my fault.
To MadCatta: I probably wouldn't have kept writing this if it weren't for you! You were my first reviewer
To Aevany Storm: Thanks so much for the website! And I'll try to include more of Jamie.
To the-ice-cold-alchemist: thanks! They're so cool!
Oh yeah I was thinking about some Matt and Scarlett romance, but I think it'll be really slow if there was so… yeah. Tell me what you think.
Anyway, stop reading my crappy speech thing and REVIEW!!!
