AUTHOR's NOTE: Sorry for taking so long! I've been testing: MEAs, NEWEAs, NECAPs, OWLs, NEWTs. Nah, just MEAs, but NEWEAs are coming up... grrr. I'm so happy about the reviews! I got 5 of 'em! That's pretty good for my first story. I really want to thank Alexa S for her comments that got me up and writing this chapter! Review please, the more reviews, the faster I'll write! The best commenter will get mentioned in my author's note (yay for them)! Anyway, to the story!
DISCLAIMER: I forgot to give credit in my last chapter! These characters belong to Rachel Roberts (except for Lauren Mills, who I created). Thanks!
Emily
Emily was packing up her flute after band practice when she felt it. The blue and green healing jewel that was fastened around her wrist by her silver bracelet had begun to pulse with bright red light. She jumped up and ran to the door as quickly as she could. She knew what that red light meant, what the searing pain that had shot up her arm stood for. Somewhere nearby, maybe right under her nose, an animal was hurt and needed her help.
Emily followed the light, somehow knowing how to interpret the pulses to help her find the injured animal. Eventually she came upon an abandoned alley and she peered inside cautiously. She heard ragged breathing in one of the far corners and crept slowly toward the sound.
She thought that there was nothing there at first, the creature was so transparent, but after a couple of seconds she saw the outline of a figure. It looked like a tall girl in dark clothes, but she was ghostly. See-through. There was nothing left but a shimmer of what once was. She was facing the wall and she was panting heavily. Emily approached the girl as quietly as she could and the girl didn't seem to hear her. "Are you alright?" Emily asked.
"I'm fine," the girl said quietly, as if her voice was just an echo. "Really, I am. Just a bad dream, that's all. Go back to sleep,"
Emily stopped, puzzled by the girl's words. "What?" she asked.
The girl flickered, and the heavy breathing stopped abruptly. "Where am I?" she asked suddenly, spinning around, but she stayed in the shadows and Emily couldn't make out her face.
"You're–" Emily took a deep breath, "You're in Stonehill, Pennsylvania. I'm Emily. What's your name?" The healer tried to sound friendly as she said this, but the introduction came out in a scared tone. The ghost girl didn't answer. She turned her head slightly to each side as if looking around and then she stepped further into the alley and Emily saw her face clearly for the first time.
Emily let out a loud gasp as the girl's features came into focus. Although she was thin and pale and looked more like a skeletal figure than a girl, it was the same face she'd known for months. The girl looked past Emily, squinted as if she were trying to see something far away, and then walked past Emily and through the wall on the other side of the alley.
"Adriane?"
Emily stared at where her spectral friend had disappeared, the fear in her heart growing by the second.
Kara
Kara Davies shook her long, blonde hair out of her face and took a deep breath. She ran forward as fast as she could and jumped into the air, spinning and flipping. She landed and completed a cartwheel before finishing in a split. Kara's unicorn jewel lit up in a bright flash and the other girls in the gymnasium gasped in surprise. "What a finishing touch!" one complemented, "How'd she get it to do that?"
Kara simply smiled and glanced at the head cheerleader, Lauren Mills, hope in her eyes. Lauren sighed heavily. "You were okay," she said slowly, "But your form was sloppy and your finish was much too flashy. You need to remember who the focus should be on when we're performing, and that was obviously not on your mind. Sorry, maybe next time," The girl smiled in a spoiled, stuck-up way, and called for the next performer.
Kara got up from the floor and jogged over to her friends Tiffany Barron, Heather Wilson, and Molly Reilly, who were waiting for her at the edge of the gym. "That was totally unfair!" Tiffany cried. The other girls nodded sympathetically.
"It's okay. Lauren has a lot on her mind," Kara told them.
"Yeah," Heather agreed, "Lauren has a lot on her mind, such as her wants, her needs, her hair, her makeup, and her clothes. So yeah, just herself in general," Molly and Tiffany laughed, but Kara had frozen, her jewel had started throbbing like crazy. It glowed bright red and pulled her in the direction of the door.
"I've gotta go guys," Kara said, "Emily and Adriane need help at Ravenswood. It's super important. Like, some of the animals are, like, diseased, and they need my help with the medicine and stuff, so...bye!" Kara left before her friends could protest and she fled from the school, following her jewel.
After running for some time, Kara found herself at the entrance to an empty alley. Her jewel suddenly stopped and she looked around. "Seriously?" she asked the alley, "You seriously had to lead me, like, all the way here from school for nothing?"
"Kara!" the blazing star heard a familiar voice yell from the alley. She squinted a bit to see in the darkness and spotted Emily running towards her. Kara smiled and waved happily.
"What's up Em?" Kara's smile dropped, "You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"Have you seen Adriane recently?" Emily asked, her face was pale and she was shaking. Kara shook her head, which caused Emily to groan. "I think I just saw her, but she wasn't her," Kara raised an eyebrow.
"Thanks for the details. Could you explain a little more?"
Emily swallowed loudly, "She was–well–I think she was dead,"
AUTHOR's NOTE: OooOOOoOoOooh cliff hanger! I'll try not to be super long on the next chapter, but motivate me with reviews! Thank you! :D
