Soundtrack: 'Clocks' by Coldplay. Awesome, even if not just for the story. :)
"So, this is the place," Dai announced quietly to her acquaintances, hand grasping the door knob of the huge house in front of her.
It had taken the four about an hour to cover the five mile trek. At the end of the journey was an enormous home overlooking a ravine. It had to be at least three stories tall and was built like boxes stacked at odd angles. A tall, whitewashed and chipping brick wall ran around the house, and a metal gate guarded the cracking cement driveway. Tall grass and untamed bushes grew wildly, some weeds poking through the crevices in the cement. The sun beginning to set in the background cast shadows around the property, giving off an ominous vibe.
"Yeah, yeah," Fania snorted, eyes never leaving her phone's screen. "just get on with it."
Gael rolled his eyes and stepped into the opened doorway. He was immediately greeted with a dusty slap to the face. The inside of the house was impressive, albeit a little dated. A kitchen was bare to the front of them, and some cloth covered furniture stood in the center of the room. Stairs stood to the left, presumably to the above levels.
"Well, this isn't at all what I expected." Ever commented, running a finger across the dust covered furniture. A few millimeters had collected on the fabric. "I was thinking more along the lines of warehouse and creepy old dude or something."
"Yeah, me too." Dai agreed. She turned to Gael. "So what are we looking for, exactly?"
He shrugged, taking in the expanse. "I don't know, but I don't think it's in here. Let's spread out."
Twenty minutes brought no discoveries. By the time they had reached the third floor, the four were sweating profusely. It seemed no fresh air had circulated in the house in years, and the spring heat had turned it into a stiff oven. The dust only added to the misery, and soon their search had turned from clues to some form of paper – preferably Kleenex.
In the end, the search was put on hold and the party crashed on the dusty couches in the living room.
"Well, this was a complete waste of time." Fania groaned, still on her phone.
"I don't get it," Gael mumbled as he turned the map in his hands. "it pointed us here."
"Yeah, well it was wrong. So we'd probably better head home and face the music." Ever grunted.
"I say we look around some more." Gael countered. "We could have missed something."
"Yeah, we could have. But my mom's not going to be too happy we sneaked out. I say we just head home or whatever and come back another day."
Gael sighed. "Fania's got a point. Let's just come back some other time."
Dai consented and Ever disappeared for a second to grab his sweatshirt. The remaining three re covered the sofas.
"Hey, has anyone else noticed this picture?" Ever asked curiously while examining one of the hanging frames in the hallway.
"No. Why?"
"Well, this one has a few people in it. One of them is my dad."
"And that's my mom," Gael pointed as the teens crowded around the picture. It was a shot of many people, all sitting on the couches they had just been on.
"My mom and dad." Dai gestured.
"And my parents." Fania looked up from her screen.
"But you know what's most interesting? The fact that this is a really recent photo. Can't be anymore than a few months old at the most."
"Well, maybe there's a date on the back." Gael reached for the dark frame and lifted it off the hook. But instead of the coffee colored wall, there was a doorbell. "What the. . ."
"Maybe it's to mess with the pizza guy?"
"Really, Ever?"
"You never know!"
"Yeah, you never really do." Fania put in dryly.
"What do you think it does?"
"Let's press it!"
"NO!" two pairs of hands grabbed Ever, restraining him from pressing said button. Unfortunately, Dai's elbow hit Fania's hand, causing her to drop her phone. The cheap fashion case did nothing to protect the glass screen from the linoleum floor. There was a crack as it shattered, followed by a beat of silence as Fania knelt to retrieve her phone.
Which was then broken by the cry of a raging teenager.
"Y-You . . . . moron! Of all the stupid things! How dull are you?!" the girl ranted on for a handful of seconds, proceeding to step closer to Dai's shocked/horrified/amused face, continuing on her rant without stopping for breath.
Dai had half a mind to cover her ears – and not just because of the pitch.
"That was a brand new iPhone 27! It took me, like, two days in line to get it! Do you know how many geeks I had to rub shoulders with?!"
While the show continued, the boys thought it wise to step back. Gael checked his watch, only to find it about 7:45. Great. The moms were about due to find them in just a little bit.
"Girls."
No answer.
"Girls."
The shrieking continued.
"Girls!"
Fania swiveled angrily. "What?!"
"If you don't mind me asking, how many times has your mom tried to get a hold of you?"
"Oh, I don't know. Why don't I check my broken phone?"
He sighed. "Really."
She scowled. "Called two times and texted once before I told her I was with friends. I've never told such a big lie in my life!"
"Really? I would've thought you've lied tons of times before." Ever commented.
"No, the fact that I told her I was 'with friends.' That's a big stretch, considering I'm with you."
"Oh."
Dai rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks."
"We still haven't made up." Fania reminded her with a growl.
"So, all in favor of pushing the button?" Gael chose to ignore the little exchange.
Ever ignored him and simply pushed the doorbell.
"Why the heck did you do that?!" Fania stepped menacingly toward him as an electric whirring began.
"Oh, come on! Don't tell me a little part of you didn't want to."
He got a slap in the face for a reply.
A blue glow appeared on the wall in the kitchen, morphing into a gray elevator with three red circles. The doors hissed open. Silence reigned yet again for a few moments as the four took in the sight of the elevator.
Ever took a step forward, but was stopped by Gael. "Don't you dare."
"I pressed a button, and an elevator appeared. Don't you want to explore a little?"
"No."
"Well," Fania sniffed, "my phone got broken over the stupid thing. I'm at least going to see where it goes."
"And what it if doesn't go anywhere? The machinery's so old it could give out!" Gael argued.
"Actually, I think it looks pretty safe." Dai added from in front of the elevator.
Ever nodded vigorously. "Let's do this!"
With Gael trudging behind them, they entered the contraption. Ever enthusiastically pressed a random button and the machine raced downward at a stomach lurching speed. It hissed to a stop as the gleaming doors peeled open to reveal an art vault.
"Wow. Not what I expected to be hidden." Dai muttered.
"Think this is, like, worth anything?" Fania asked uninterestedly from the elevator doorway.
"Ah!" Gael disgustedly turned away from a cluster. "My eyes . . . I think they just threw up!"
"I don't know." Ever inspected a painting with a bowl of fruit. "This is a pretty good – WHOA. Never mind." He stuck his tongue out as he saw the face.
"And no, Fania. I don't think these are worth anything more than week old newspaper." Gael stood beside the girl in the doorway.
"Okay then. Next floor." Dai herded Ever into the elevator and the machine once again lurched downwards.
When the doors opened again, bright light shot out from seemingly everywhere at once. Arms shot up to shield faces. Fania squinted through the moment of brightness to view the most amazing thing she had ever seen.
"It's a room full of mirrors!"
The remaining three frowned glumly as Fania stepped into perhaps the best room she had ever seen.
"Don't I look great?" she fluffed and rearranged her brown hair whilst looking at her reflection.
"No," Gael muttered under his breath.
"I'm sorry?" Fania swiveled to look at him.
"Beautiful." he lied through his teeth.
She smiled flirtatiously and went back to her reflection. Gael made a gagging face to the snickering Dai and Ever.
"So, you guys have got a thing?" Dai grinned at him, speaking in her quiet manner.
Gael turned a bright shade of red. "No way! I can't even stand being around her."
"That's what they all say," Ever smirked, to which Gael returned with a weak punch to Ever's shoulder. The three stepped into the elevator. Ever studied the buttons for a moment.
"There's no more buttons." He announced to the other two. "Well, except for that one." Ever gestured to a lone, unlabeled button.
"Well, let's see where it goes." Dai turned to face the mirror room. "Come on, let's get going!" she called to Fania.
Fania begrudgingly obliged, and stalked over to take her place in the elevator. Ever pressed the button. For a moment, nothing happened.
Huh, must not go anywhere, Gael thought, but he was proved wrong as the machine shot downward even quicker than before. The four occupants could hear the rattles of the machinery just beyond the metal walls. Fania was yelling. Ever looked a tinge sick, and Dai had her eyes clenched shut. Gael just tried to keep his feet flat on the ground. It was pretty much a lit equivalent of the Tower of Terror.
The elevator car came to an abrupt stop, with the doors hissing open once more. This time, however, a glowing blue lab was the destination.
Dai stared in shock. This was, well, not what any of them had expected. Computer screens covered the walls, desks with screens on them stood throughout the room, and four tall, blue capsules stood to the far wall.
"Okay, I've done a lot of strange things today, but I am not getting into one of those." Fania stated, lifting her nose a bit at the sight of the capsules.
Ever rolled his eyes. "How do you know they're for us? They could just be decor or something."
"Because there's four of us, and four of those . . . things!"
Dai ignored the small exchange and instead decided to look around. To the left was a table and some inventions, and then there was a rock wall to the left and front of the capsules. An exit was directly to the left, which Dai took careful note of.
But on the right side of the rock wall, on its own wall, was a blue glow. Warily, Dai approached it. The glow was coming from four pads, all in a row. There was a faint outline of a human hand on the rectangular plates. And on the bottom of each pad was a letter. On the first was a 'D', the second 'E', then 'F' and 'G'.
"Guys . . ." she trailed off as the lump in her throat grew. The nervousness and coincidence of this was getting to her.
The other three came immediately at the tone of her voice, stepping carefully around a few rusted objects on the concrete.
Gael knew in that moment that life as he knew it was about to change. Dai, Ever, Fania and himself. D, E, F and G. It was no coincidence. Their parents had laid out this path, and now they were at the end. They were about to discover something – albeit great or horrid.
Fania was a mix. Would her mother approve of this? No, of course not. She was probably at home, worried. But if her father had had something to do with this . . . wouldn't she know where to look? Wouldn't she be here already? Unless . . . she was at peace. Perhaps she knew what was going on right now, and was okay with it. Fania pushed all doubt out of her mind. She had come this far – there was no turning back. She was ready.
Ever knew it was time. He had an idea of what this was about. But he had kept his abilities a secret from the others. He had mentioned it, but never gone into detail. Now, he was ready to see who he was – or what. It was time.
"On the count of three?" Gael asked, barely above a whisper. The others mutely nodded, each turning in their own thoughts. "One . . . two . . . three."
And their lives changed, starting with a spark.
The screen crackled, sending a small shock up Dai's arm. She gave a small yelp in surprise. Static electricity . . . static electricity! Dad, please let it be static! But, that was not to be.
The shock repeated itself. And that's when the pain began.
Dai screamed as an electric burn began in the back of her neck. It poured through her veins and climbed to her fingertips. She fell to her knees, then the ground. She vaguely felt the coolness of the concrete as her body curled into a ball.
She had only screamed once before – in fourth grade when she had broken her arm playing soccer. The pain now was something like that, only everywhere. It numbed all other senses.
Her vision flashed with the unnatural white glow of electricity. It was all she could see. The feeling of the energy that flowed through her veins. She could faintly make out the cries of agony from her companions in the background, but couldn't hear anything beyond the muffled sounds.
"Dai," a voice flickered. It faintly resembled someone she knew. But her mind was foggy, her eyes now scrunched tight from the pain. She couldn't focus; it was simply beyond her grasp.
The white raced across her vision, keeping her in the blind state. Her body was surging with the energy that flowed through her veins. Suddenly, the pain was a distant memory – gone as quick as the bat of an eyelid. Then, it was replaced with a wave of strength. The weak state she had been in moments before was gone. Dai felt powerful, as if nothing could touch her.
That was the last feeling she remembered before the world turned black.
Wow. O.O I don't think I've ever written something quite like this, but I must say I'm a tinge proud. I'm sorry the beginning was suckish. I had a GREAT chapter all written out, I'll admit I was proud – having stayed up till one AM, who wouldn't be? - before I let my mom borrow my laptop. When I got it back . . . all my drafts were deleted. I don't know how, but it happened. So that's my excuse. :D
I'll start shoutouts next chapter. I didn't update this past Monday because these HORRIBLE storms were ripping through Michigan. We were CAMPING. Our county was in a Tornado Watch for most of the night, and the wind was so bad it was literally shaking our camper. Now, I may seem sissy-ish, but that's my main fear. TORNADOES. FREAKY. Next to cougars . . . If you can't tell yet, I'm EXAUSTED. And yes, I know it's only like ten PM my time, but I'm still tired.
Oh, one more thing! The next chapter is a big thing – and I'll post it on Monday if I can get four reviews :) That would give this story the largest ratio of reviews to chapter :) I'm pretty excited – thanks to all the people who have reviewed so far!
The reason I otherwise won't post is because I have a boatload of relatives coming over . . . crazy because I'm organizing an Avengers themed parade float – at a camp ground in a super small camper that may or may not sleep us all. Sorry, I'm ranting . . . *yawn*
Good night! Reviews would be much appreciated. :)