"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man thinks himself to be a fool." –William Shakespeare
Phase 2:
Teaming Up
10:55 PM, London, England, the Neptune Sister's apartment
Sara was in her room, tapping her pencil on her desk by the eraser's used tip. She couldn't stop thinking about what Skye said…the cruel things that she would say about her fascination into fairytales.
"What can I do to prove that fairytales are a wondrous thing?" Sara whispered to herself, because she knew that her twin sisters needed a lot of sleep for working around the house. Sara could've gone to bed at 9:30 PM, but instead she stayed up with a flashlight in her hands, and in front of her a pile of blank papers. She had to prove to her sisters that her obsession could actually be good. So far, she had written no excuse, which means no good ideas. Then, she had an idea. She got out of her chair and went over to her small chest. She opened the chest up and pulled out old books and printed papers from the Internet. Fairytales. She read each one carefully, writing down stuff on the pieces of paper. It took her 45 minutes to complete each story…and wrote down the same thing for each. "All these protagonists have some sort of adventure." Sara said softly. Sara stood up and sat on her bed, clutching onto a rabbit toy with a "Whatever" face.
"Problem, though…what can I do to make that change around my sister's attitudes?" Sara sighed, that 45 minutes was nothing more than a big waste of time, she first thought…until she remembered the report on television. That was it! If she could go there and try to solve the mystery of the Village of the Dead, her sisters, especially Skye, would look up to her. "And mum and dad wouldn't know, and they don't have any cell phones to contact us…so I'll be on my own without anyone but my sisters knowing that I am gone." Sara got off her bed and got out her green messenger bag, packing it with a green zip-up hoodie, gray sweatpants, and extra socks and underwear. She also packed her favorite green plaid cap and put in her favorite strawberry hair clip. She grabbed her flashlight and also packed two packs of batteries. She quietly opened the door and tiptoed over to the front door where her shoes were. She tried not to wake up her sisters the best she could…but Skye's door opened up. Sara tried not to shriek as she hid in the small crack between the fridge and the kitchen counter. Skye walked over to the kitchen…and opened the refrigerator door…and the light from the refrigerator was shining right down on Sara's hiding place.
A bead of sweat was forming on Sara's forehead as Skye still didn't notice anything…and her younger sister was a foot next to her. Skye was too asleep to see anything though and she grabbed a milk carton, pouring it into a small glass. She drank it, and set the glass down near the sink as she put the milk carton back. Sara was very relieved once Skye closed the fridge and went back to her bedroom, not suspecting a thing. After three minutes of feeling claustrophobic in a small crack, Sara managed to squeeze herself out of the crack and tiptoe to the shoe rack. She grabbed her beaten up tennis shoes that she moved swiftly in and didn't bother tying them in her home. She opened the door slowly and closed it behind her, tiptoeing through the somewhat dark hallways of the apartment. She reached to an elevator and it came up, making a loud bell sound. Sara covered her ears because of the sound…it never sounded so noisy when she went up and down many times before. She stepped into the elevator and closed the door, pressing the first floor button. While going from the eighth floor to the first floor, Sara tied her shoes tightly and waited for the doors to open. It did on the first floor, and Sara crept out swiftly and silently and out of the main entrance.
"Well…there's no turning back now." Sara said as she heard cars go by in the streets. She patted a part of her messenger bag, which had Lily's Visa card in it. "Sorry Lily, but these come in handy." Sara then looked both ways as she crossed the street…alone.
…
8:13 AM, Neptune Sister's Apartment
Lily woke up at 8:00, energized and excited. Today was another shopping day, and she had to go to mall early before it got extremely crowded like it did all the other times she came.
"I really feel bad for Sara's little argument with Skye yesterday…I should make her a special breakfast this morning." Lily grabbed pancake mix and some chocolate chips…deciding to make a delicious batch of chocolate chip pancakes, Sara's favorite. Skye woke up at 8:10, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"Does it have to be so bright?" Skye mumbled loudly.
"It should. I'm still angry with you from how you treated your younger sibling yesterday." Lily said in a disappointed tone of voice. Skye shrugged.
"Whatever. Speaking of, where is Sleeping Beauty?" Skye said, drinking another glass of chocolate milk to begin her day. Lily flipped a pancake over and sighed.
"Address her as Sara, like a normal person would." Lily said.
"Yeah, but she really isn't normal…" Skye said, walking over to Sara's bedroom door. "Huh, weird, Sara always keeps her door closed at night." Skye noticed that Sara's door was slightly open. She walked over to Sara's bed.
"Hey, you've had enough sleep already, get up." Skye said a little loud. Nothing. Skye sighed. "I know you're still upset with me from yesterday, but can't we put the past behind us already, now get up you—." Skye removed the covers…pillows. "LILY!" Skye shrieked. Lily came into the room, noticing the pillows.
"She ran away!?" Lily asked frantically.
"I don't know. There's no note!" Skye exclaimed. Lily then noticed something next to Skye. A piece of paper…she picked it up and uncrumpled it…
"Skye…Sara's going to the Village that news guy said on TV!" Lily alleged.
…
8:13 AM, London Bus Station
"Excuse me, Sir. Could I have one ticket to the Village of the Dead please?" Sara asked a bus ticket salesman. He nodded his head.
"Not many people around that area; except the people from the news. Is that really where you want to go…alone?" The ticket man asked. Sara nodded.
"Uh…yes…my father is a cameraman there. I was told to deliver something to him." Sara lied. The salesman nodded.
"I see…here you go." The salesman handed Sara ticket as he swiped Lily's Visa card through a machine, and handing it back to Sara. "The bus will be here at 8:15, so you're right on time." He gave Sara final smile as she said her thank you to him. She walked over to a bench and sat on it, holding her messenger bag on her lap. She then noticed that there was someone sitting next to her. She glanced over and saw a small boy with a white bunny outfit on. He had beautiful blonde hair and emerald green eyes.
"Hello there, little one." Sara smiled. The boy looked up and gave her a weak smile back.
"Hello." He replied. God, Sara wanted to cuddle with him for…forever! He was just too cute!
"Um…are you with your mommy and daddy?" Sara asked.
"No…I'm all by myself." The boy said softly.
"You're not alone…I'm all by myself, too." Sara said. She felt like the boy liked being talked to, and he felt awkward all alone. "So, where are you going exactly?"
"Village of the Dead…I need to…return something there."
"Really? What do you have to return?" Sara asked.
"This." The boy held up a leather book.
"Wow…looks like it has seen some action, huh?"
"Um…a little…I have had for a very long time, though." He said.
"Wow, that's pretty neat. Well, I'm going to the Village of the Dead, too!" Sara smiled. "I'm going to try and solve the mystery of the Village and prove to my older twin sisters that I'm no fool who believes in make-believe."
"Make-believe? Like what?"
"Fairytales. I'm attached to those wonderful short stories. I've always understood the moral of the stories more than anyone else I know of." Sara sighed. "Including my sisters."
"What's the matter with your sisters?" The boy asked.
"Well…one really puts the weight down on my shoulders, trying to get me to like stuff other than fairytales. And the other one tries to treat me right, but she only makes me feel sorrowful." Sara replied. The bus came to a halt in front of their bench and they stood up, handing their tickets to the ticket man on the bus. They sat in a seat in the back, and they were the only ones on the bus.
"Where are your parents by the way?" Sara asked the little boy.
"I…really don't know." He sighed. "What about yours?"
"They're out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean." Sara replied. "Oh, sorry for my bad manners, my name is Sara. What's your name?"
"Suzune." The bus door closed and it started to move ahead.
…
8:18 AM, Bus station, London, England
"Come on! When is the next bus coming?" Lily complained to bus ticket salesman.
"I'm sorry but it doesn't come back until 9:00. Why do you really need to go on the bus at this time, ladies?" The salesman asked.
"We're looking for our little sister! She's going to the Village of the Dead! Is there a girl around twelve years old that asked for a ticket?" Skye asked.
"There was a girl about twelve, but she is the daughter of a cameraman on the news set, are you daughters of that cameraman, too?"
"Um…yes." Skye lied. Lily glanced over at Skye, but then turned back to the ticket man.
"It's an emergency! Please!" Lily exclaimed.
"Till 9:00, ladies!" The salesman walked away and the two girls sighed.
"What are we gonna do?" Lily asked. Skye rubbed her chin and then brought her head up.
"I guess we have no other choice…we have to drive ourselves." Skye said softly.
"Drive? We don't even have our permits yet!" Lily exclaimed.
"I've been studying driver's theory at school for a bit, so I think we'll be fine…hopefully." Skye said.
"Hopefully is right." Lily sighed. "But where are we gonna get a car?"
"The car that my friend Alexis gave to me, remember? It's still in the parking lot." Skye said, running over to the same direction where the girls stayed at the apartment.
…
8:47 AM, Bus to Village of the Dead Site
"We have about thirteen minutes till we get to the site, okay Suzune?" Sara said. Suzune nodded.
"You're my best friend now." He smiled. She beamed at his cuteness and smiled.
"Same here. No one at my school really understands my liking to fairytales. I really hate sixth grade, especially when you have to study for middle school exams."
"Exams? What are those?"
"Big old questions they ask to see if you're good enough for middle school." Sara sighed.
"Oh dear, that sounds terrible to do." Suzune said.
"Yeah, it totally is a bummer." Sara said. She looked down at Suzune's neck and saw a string around it. "Are you wearing a necklace?" Suzune nodded.
"Um, here, be careful with it, though." Suzune lifted out the entire pendant from his rabbit cloak. Sara was enchanted by the gem hanging from the center…it was almost completely white and shiny.
"Wow, it is so pretty. Where'd you get it from?" Sara asked.
"Erm…I got it…from my family and friends." Suzune said. Sara then looked at the book Suzune was holding.
"What does that book have in there anyway?" Sara asked.
"Oh, this? It was my mommy's, and I have to give it back to her." Suzune replied.
"Hey, wait a second, didn't you say that you didn't know where your parents were?" Sara asked.
"I just know she's there…" Suzune said. "Along with everyone else from that night."
"Huh?"
"Oh, nothing, it's nothing." Suzune said. The bus came to a slightly sharp halt.
"Village of the Dead! Village of the Dead!" The bus driver said loudly.
"This is it." Sara said, helping Suzune up from his seat. They got off of the bus and it drove away as Sara and Suzune looked at the site.
"It has changed so much." Suzune mumbled to himself.
"Here we go. Time to solve a mystery!" Sara said excitedly, taking Suzune's hand. They walked in the dusty, dirty place and ahead of them was the same reporter man from yesterday on the television. "I can't go on TV. My sisters will know where I am." Sara said. Suzune shook his head.
"They don't understand. They can't solve a mystery." Suzune mumbled. Sara had a questioned look. Suzune then ran into the nearby forest, letting go of Sara's hand.
"Suzune! Come back here! Suzune!" Sara ran after Suzune in the forest…what was he doing?
To be continued.
Is this the Suzune from the 1800s? If so, why is he still alive and still looking in the appearance of age 5? And what is little Suzune up to? And will Lily and Skye ever find there younger sister Sara in time? Find out next chappy!