Chapter One
…ooo000O000ooo…
Rachel Dare and Her Unbelievable Story
Central Park, New York, 4:00 in the afternoon
"It's good to see you again, Artemis." Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police (LEP for short) greeted her human friend, Artemis Fowl, with a traditional punch on the shoulder. "You too, Butler," she said to the giant man beside him, again with a punch.
"Likewise," replied the boy. Artemis was a pale-faced, raven haired, blue-eyed Irish boy. From a distance, you could mistake him for a vampire, due to the fact that he had pale white skin, a vampire-like smile, and a naturally sinister demeanour. Though if you would take a better look, you would notice that the frown lines had begun to fade away, and his expression looked closer to a fourteen-year-old boy's than a that of a middle-aged, successful businessman—or a powerful crime lord.
"It's been a while since I saw you," said Butler. He was a big burly man with a shaved head. He also had been trained to protect Artemis without getting emotionally attached, but all the same, he had grown quite fond of his charge and his Elfish friend.
"What are you doing here?" Holly asked, her face an expression of mock confusion.
Artemis rolled his eyes. "You should know. I was very surprised when you called; I had never thought that you would go all the way to New York for a vacation."
"I wouldn't," Holly said with a grin. "I didn't. It's just that if I don't go to a place that is far away from home, the LEP would call me for another mission, even if it is my R and R time. Coming here is a precaution, just to be sure that I get my well-deserved break."
"Yeah, of course," muttered Butler. The real reason that Holly had gone all the way to New York for a vacation was because there were rumours that a troll was on the loose in the area. And every body knew that Holly did not want breaks, she wanted adventures. She probably came to check it out.
Artemis agreed with his friend. "Am I right to assume that you want information on the troll?"
"Can you?" Holly challenged, although her excitement was plainly written on her face, all pretence of coming to New York for a vacation lost. "I hope it's not too much to ask…"
"Is there such a thing as too much? Nothing is ever impossible for the great Artemis Fowl." Yes, so Artemis was on the legitimate side, but that didn't mean that his ego deflated at all. If possible, people can say it had even increased.
"Really, now?" Holly said with a teasing smirk.
"Of course, Holly," Artemis said, yet his face revealed that there were a few things troubling the boy. "It's just that—the troll, well, I'm not sure it is a troll. People who saw it reported that it had very large horns, too large to be a troll's. But humans usually tend to exaggerate their tales, if it will get them more attention. But there's also the fact that only some people were able to give a description of it. Others merely stated that the "troll" was just a large man with a baseball bat."
Holly was just as confused. "And those who were able to give a description? What did they say?"
Artemis looked at her. "What did she say, Holly. There was only one person who was able to give an answer."
"She said that it was huge," the boy continued. "At first she thought that it was a man that wore a blanket over his head, but then she realized that his hands were swinging at his sides. It had very huge horns, as I said before. Its upper body was bulky and fuzzy, but that was what she saw from a distance."
Artemis brought out a sheet of paper and read aloud. "This is an excerpt of the e-mail she sent me. 'Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein- webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear—I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms—which would've looked funny, except the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.
" 'His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.' "
"That's it?" Holly asked incredulously.
"What do you mean 'that's it'?" Butler's voice was full of surprise. "Holly, don't you realize that the girl saw something that she wasn't supposed to see? She could expose you and the People. You're lucky that she thought she was delirious; she said something about 'always being able to see things that other people can't'."
Holly bit her lip. She was so caught up on catching the monster that she had forgotten about the secrecy.
"And you're not even wondering how we met this girl," Butler continued.
Holly rolled her eyes at that one. "Let me guess, Artemis hacked into the LEP files again, didn't he?"
"No, of course not," Artemis said with a fake-hurt look on his face. "This girl found me online and e-mailed me. She said that I'd be the only one to believe her, since a few years ago I put out an Internet feed informing everyone that I'd pay for information concerning fairies. She didn't care about the money, her parents are as rich as the Fowls, but she wanted someone to talk to."
"Artemis Fowl, child prodigy and a psychologist? That does sound—erm—interesting," Holly laughed.
The prodigy rolled his eyes. "Holly, this is serious."
"Yeah, but knowing you, you found a way to convince her that magical stuff doesn't exist."
Artemis bit his lip, suddenly nervous about Holly's gun and her skills being too fast for Butler to block. "Not really…"
Her laugh stopped short. "You mean she still thinks that we exist? Artemis, why didn't you do something? Some child prodigy you are."
"I haven't done anything—yet."
"What have you done, then?" The elf looked at the boy suspiciously.
"I—I arranged for her to meet us here. See if you can mesmer her into forgetting."
"Butler just said that she's been seeing things no one else could her whole life," Holly protested. "I can't erase that many memories. With the proper equipment, maybe I could let her mind fill in the blank spots, but as of now I cannot erase a whole life's worth of memories."
"Then you could make her believe that magical stuff doesn't exist," Butler quipped. "Make her think that she was just imagining it."
"Yes, but she probably left files on it at home. If I do manage to make her believe, her memories will jut be triggered once she opens them. And besides, all those memories are probably embedded deep onto her mind. Trying to make her forget might make her go crazy."
Artemis just looked at his friend curiously. "Holly, don't be so negative. It's almost like you want the people to be exposed."
She glared at him. "I'm not thinking negative, I'm just thinking rationally and logically."
"You're just thinking of the worst-case scenario. Think positive. From all her e-mails, she believes things easily."
"'From all her e-mails'?" she echoed, catching the key word. "Sounds like you've been emailing her for a long time."
Artemis mentally slapped himself. What was it about Holly that made him so…inattentive? Not alert? He's already let slip the things he promised he wouldn't say. A few more and he'd loose his title as the world's child prodigy.
"She first emailed me a little over a year ago, when we were still in Hybras. I replied to her when we returned, and after that we just kept replying back and forth."
"You've kept that secret for a year? Do you know how much damage she could have done because you didn't tell us?" Holly's screeches brought many stares from people.
"Relax, Holly." Artemis did his best to downplay the situation. "From what I have gathered, she won't tell anyone because she thinks no one would believe her."
"You better be right, Mud Boy, otherwise you're dead to me," Holly growled.
"When am I not right?" 'Mud Boy' protested.
Holly chose not to answer that one. It was hard to admit, but he was right. "So she's coming here?"
"Yes; she might be able to tell us more about the troll."
She thought about that for a moment. "What did you say her name was, again?"
"I didn't say. Her name's Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She's fourteen years old, and she goes to Goode High School."
"And how do you propose we get her to change her mind about magical stuff?"
"I haven't figured that part out yet. But I have a feeling this will turn out well." Artemis' eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought.
"Again, you better be right, Mud Boy," Holly repeated her previous statement, emphasizing each word with a jab in the chest. "And hurry up with your thinking, that girl might be here soon."
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!"
"Well, you better think of a solution immediately, because here she comes." Butler nodded in the direction of a girl. Holly didn't bother asking how Butler knew it was her; he probably ran a security check over and over until he memorized every detail of her face.
She was petit, with pale skin, green eyes, and reddish blond hair. She wore a plaid, button-up shirt over a t-shirt with the words "Made in Brooklyn" down the front, faded skinny jeans, bright green headband, and combat boots. If Artemis didn't know her family status, he would say she was just one of those kids living in the suburbs. Unlike him, she dressed to look middle-class, where as he dressed to let people know his family's high status.
"Are you Artemis Fowl?" She didn't walk; rather, she skipped, towards them gaily. "Hi, I'm -"
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," Artemis cut in smoothly and shook her hand. "Rachel, this is my friend Holly Short, and my body guard Butler. They, like me, don't think you're crazy."
"Pleasure to meet you," she said, shaking both Butler's and Holly's hand warmly. She stared at Holly's ears. "Are those elf ears?"
"Yes, for a school play," Holly replied.
"School play in the summer?" Rachel's tone was skeptic.
"Yeah, to raise money for our fund-raiser. They might cut out Literature this year because of budget cuts, and that's my favourite subject."
"I understand," Rachel said. "They might cut Art in our school, and I'm also doing fund raisers."
Artemis intervened. "So, you said you've just returned from Hoover Dam? How was it?"
Rachel's eyebrows went up a bit, then after a moment she relaxed again. "It was great. The water from the turbines was so loud! I could barely hear myself think! And all those tourists, they were so friendly! And you should have seen the angel statues! There's a rumour that it was tribute to the Greek god, Zeus. But you can't see it anyway now."
"What do you mean?" Holly asked, out of curiosity.
Rachel looked around, as if to check the area for anyone who might eavesdrop. She leaned in, like she was sharing a secret. "Well, when I went with the tour group to see the turbines, the angels were there, and the tourists were rubbing their toes. I think the tour guide said it was for good luck. But when I went out, people said that there were two girls and two boys screaming at the angels, and then, the angels moved and carried the kids away."
"What? You're kidding."
"I thought Artemis said you didn't think I was crazy," Rachel said, smile was still in place, but a master of reading expressions would have noticed that her face tightened.
"Would you like a cup of coffee?" interrupted Artemis before Holly could reply, seeing Rachel's expression. "Perhaps somewhere a bit more secluded?"
Rachel bit her lip, and then nodded. "Sounds good. Where to?"
"Well, I was thinking that we could go to my hotel; we can order room service."
"Sure."
…ooo000O000ooo…
Plaza Hotel, New York, 4:30 in the afternoon
"Wow, this place is great!" Holly admired the hotel room, looking at everything in the suite with interest. Artemis was on the phone, ordering food for all of them. "You should invite me here more often."
"It is very nice," conceded Rachel. "I wish I could go to places like this more often."
"Don't you go to hotels when you travel?" Artemis asked, hanging up on room service. "Where do you go, then?"
Rachel made a face. "I don't travel a lot. My parents are always out, or too busy to go with me. So since I'm always alone on the rare occasions I do travel, I don't go to big hotels much; it'd just be a waste of money, spending so much on just me."
Artemis' heart went out to the redheaded girl in front of him.
"So, Rachel," Holly said, before Artemis could say anything. "Our school play is about fairies and monsters and magical creatures and stuff. I called Artemis to ask whether he knew anything about them, and he said that you might be able to help me with how the monsters looked like."
Rachel made a face; her expression became a cross between annoyance and fear. "So in short, you want me to help you with the costumes?"
Holly was confused. "Is that a bad thing?"
"I don't know," Rachel murmured. "Lately, I've been thinking that maybe I have an over-active imagination. I mean, trolls and all those magical stuff don't exist, right? And maybe it was just a man wearing something really fat and thick, like a fur coat or something. After all, people imagine things to suit them right? Maybe I was imagining a troll because I wanted to know if magical things really existed. But they can't, right? Even if it were a troll, why would I be the only one to see it? Why couldn't the other people around me see it, too? I mean, no one can miss a thing that big. And if there were such a thing as magical stuff, then people would have found out about it by now. News and secrets that huge can't be kept forever. Heck, they even can't be kept for two seconds. Also–"
"Hold up there." Artemis scooted over and covered Rachel's mouth. "Slow down, motor mouth."
Holly scowled. Motor Mouth? Artemis never covered her mouth. He never did any thing that looked so – so casual.
Rachel smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's just that – I have a feeling that deep down, you still don't believe me, no matter what you say. Also, I'm nervous, admitting these things to people I hardly even know. And I talk a lot when I'm nervous."
"I get it," Artemis said. "Most people talk when they're nervous."
"Artemis is not counted in the 'most people' category," Butler teased.
"In fact, he's hardly a person at all," added Holly. "I think he's part vampire."
"Well, you look more elfish than he looks vampire," Rachel observed. "But aren't elves supposed to be shorter than that?"
"Yeah, well, if you can find a person who can read and memorize lines, still goes to middle school, and is three feet tall, let me know."
"Touché," Rachel replied, smiling. "I could still help you with your costumes, if you still need me. But, I'm trying to think logically and rationally. I'm trying to convince myself that trolls – or any magical creatures – don't exist."
"That's okay," Holly assured Rachel. "My, uh, sister was offered to help, too. Nothing really needs to be done, just a bit of sewing here and there, nothing big."
"Oh." There was silence while they all stared at each other.
"Room service," some one outside said, knocking on the door of the suite.
Artemis stood up and opened the door. A girl, around twenty-one years old, stood there, and beside her was a trolley filled with different trays, plates, cups, and bowls.
"Right this way," Artemis said, moving aside so the girl could bring in the trolley. He waited patiently while the girl set up the food on the breakfast table, handed her the tip, and then watched as she left.
"Okay," Butler announced, holding the scoop for the ice cream. Usually, the room service people did it for them, but for Fowl they didn't. When ever he stayed here, he'd request for the food just to be brought in, nothing else.
Rachel and Holly exchanged uncomfortable glances. Artemis laughed.
"Alright, I'll go first, he said." Vanilla and chocolate with strawberry syrup." Butler quickly scooped the ice cream into a glass bowl and handed it to Artemis.
"Any one else?"
Rachel looked at Holly, and then shrugged. "What the heck. I'll have chocolate with marshmallows, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup." Butler gave her the ice cream.
"And you, Holly?" Butler turned towards the elf.
"No thanks, Butler, I'd rather not."
He shrugged. "Suit yourself."
…ooo000O000ooo…
The Plaza Hotel, New York, 7:00 in the evening
"—used to study there with my parents. But now my dad wants me to move to this ladies academy to be one of those prissy socialites wearing those heinous dresses and scandalous heels."
Artemis laughed at the mental picture he created; Rachel wearing a tie die dress and those shoes rock star used to wear back in the eighties – platform shoes, elevator shoes, he never really paid any attention to those kinds of things.
"And? What did you tell your dad?"
Rachel sighed. "I told him I'd think about it. I'd hate it there, but I don't think I really have a choice."
"To quote one of those Disney movies, 'Every body has a choice.'" Artemis laughed, only half-serious.
"Not the daughter of the owner of the Dare Enterprises. She doesn't even have a say in what time her curfew is – " Rachel looked at the time and gasped. "Oh, gods, the time! I was supposed to be at one of his stupid dinners! Sorry, guy, I have to go. My dad will kill me when I get back."
"At least let me call our limo driver," offered Artemis, helping Rachel with her coat. He dialed the concierge and ordered a limo for her. "It'll be waiting for you in the lobby."
Rachel barely expressed her gratitude before she ran out the door, her red hair flying behind her.
Holly blinked; all that had happened in a matter of minutes. "That was – refreshing."
Artemis nodded. "To say the least. She's an interesting person, don't you think? She seems to contradict herself all the time. She says she believes in one thing, then she changes her mind."
"That's a good thing," Butler commented. "The other option would be to mesmerize her."
"But that still doesn't solve out troll problem. How are we going to find it now?" Holly sat on the edge of a couch, deep in thought.
"Let's not worry about that now," Artemis said. "You can spend the night here; tomorrow, let's concentrate on finding the beast."
Holly nodded. Artemis led her to the guest bedroom.
"Good night," he said before closing the door. "Sleep well. Tomorrow, we'll look for that troll of yours."
…ooo000O000ooo…
Central Park, New York, 6:00 the next morning
At four' o 'clock in the morning, Artemis had woken Holly up by shaking her, and the three of them went back to Central Park to look for the troll.
And now it was six' o' clock, and they were still looking for any signs of the paranormal.
"Remind me again why did we have to come so early?" Holly asked, yawning.
"Simple. It's early in the morning," Artemis replied. "The less people around, the easier this is."
Holly nodded, but not quite listening.
"You do know that Rachel could have seen it, but she just didn't want to be thought of as a crazy person, right?" Butler asked Holly while he double-checked his holster to make sure his gun was fully loaded.
Holly looked at Artemis. "Well, I did think of that, and if I thought of it, Artemis probably did, too. And if Artemis thought of that and isn't worried about it, I figured we wouldn't have to worry about it, either."
The Irish boy smiled. "Correct."
Butler grunted and looked straight on. Holly activated her helmet, and searched the area with her thermal scanner. They repeated this process every twenty feet or so, making sluggish progress, at least by Butler's standards.
Suddenly, something cracked in the bushes behind them. Artemis swiveled around, pointing the scanner towards the bushes.
"What do Americans say? I think it goes like, 'Bingo, we have a match.'" Artemis smiled, looking at his thermal scanner. There was a huge, humanoid shape hiding behind the bushes shown on the screen. From what he could see, this was the troll they were looking for.
"Aren't you scared? The first time you met a troll, you almost died." Holly looked sideways to Butler, her eyebrows raised high under the helmet.
"Yeah, but that was when we didn't have LEP technology on our side," Butler replied. He focused most of his attention toward the direction of the sound, and the rest toward Artemis. He was, after all, Artemis' bodyguard. The boy should be his top priority, except he was too intent on finding this troll, therefore making the troll one of the priorities.
"Let's get this show on the road, people," Holly said, her impatience getting the better of her when nothing came out of the bushes. She picked up a small rock, about the size of her fist, and threw it with all her might.
A horrible, roaring sound came from the bushes. The three of them backed away as a huge, ugly humanoid shaped creature came out of hiding.
It's exactly as Rachel described it, thought Artemis.
…ooo000O000ooo…
I've had this story waiting in my USB for a long time, since July, I just never got around to publishing it. I'm only posting this because my friend's nagging me to.
Don't expect quick updates; I'm way too busy right now. The soonest I can update is maybe during the Holiday break. Provided I can get internet in America.
I haven't edited this. I will, then I'll repost this, but for now, please enjoy.
And please recommend nice books—or fan fictions—that I can read. I have absolutely nothing to read anymore.
XOXO, Thea
By the way, there might be an Artemis/OC romance in this story. If you're against it, leave now.