Disclaimer: If I owned the 39 Clues...guess what? I don't. So it doesn't even matter.
Ian grabbed my wrist and started running, dragging me along. Soon enough, I was running too- I have no idea what from, though.
But my question was answered in seconds.
I saw something, huge and fiery, heading close to us. Ian pulled me even more, but I was frozen in spot. "Come on, Amy!" he yelled.
All I could think about was how this always happened, how fiery things had to come and ruin our day and make Dan and me run when I remembered- "DAN!" I shrieked.
Then Ian had no choice but to sweep me into his arms and run. I would have noticed certain things- like how he could run so fast with me in his arms, how he smelled so good, how his shirt was unbuttoned just right- but all I could think about was Dan. I kept screaming and looking, but I couldn't see anything but smoke.
This went on for a long time, Ian running and me screaming, till Ian slowed to a walk and my voice was hoarse. Then tears were streaming down my face, and he was wiping them away, telling me it was okay, then rubbing my back till I drifted asleep.
I woke up in a warm, comfy bed in a quiet room.
Déjà vu, anyone?
I was wondering what hotel this was and where I was singing and what I should wear when I remembered what had happened. I was in London, fell down a staircase, got kidnapped with Dan, Ian, and Natalie, walked down a giant tunnel of blackness, got a giant ball of fire thrown at me, and…had no idea where Dan was. I looked around the elegant hotel room I was in, as if he might pop out of nowhere and go "Doritos, anyone?" But he didn't. Then, the bathroom door flung open and Ian walked out, wearing good-fitting jeans and an unbuttoned crème shirt that showed off his gorgeous skin nicely. He saw that I was awake, and went red. But he regained his cool quickly. "I see Sleeping Beauty's awakened," he said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and got up. "Good morning to you, too," I replied. I felt his gaze on me as I walked to him, and felt it on my back as I walked past him to the bathroom.
I shut the door and looked in the mirror. I looked like a mess. My hair was unruly and messy, and my clothes were dirty and wet. I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, simple. Thank god I wasn't wearing any makeup- that would've sucked. I washed my face and brushed my teeth a million times, showered, then went over to the giant closet that was in the hotel bathroom. There had to besomething to wear.
"Oh, wow," I said to myself. Just my luck. After trying on millions and millions of clothes even Natalie Kabra would die for, nothing seemed to work. The jeans were too big, the shirts were too small. The skirts were too short or too long. The dresses were too fancy or too long. Even the capris didn't fit! This closet was made for anyone but me.
I dug through the piles of clothes, then finally found a pair of short jean shorts. It was November, but they were better than nothing. I put on a plain white button down-mens, obviously,- over a leaf green tank top. Not exactly my style, but, it would do.
I combed my hair, put it into a loose ponytail, put on some lip gloss, and walked out of the bathroom, to find Ian looking at a map he found. "Amy, you won't believe where we are," he said. He looked up at me. If it had been anyone else, I would have said he, you know, had his breath taken away or something. But this was Ian Kabra, so I totally doubt that.
"Where are we?" I asked. He looked up at me, as if he forgot I could speak or something.
"Aberdeen," he finally replied.
"What? But we were just in London, like, yesterday!"
Ian looked grim. "Well…actually, it wasn't yesterday. Amy, it's December 2nd."
My jaw dropped to the ground. "That's means we've been gone- 4 days, counting today."
Thoughts racing through my head a mile per hour, I glanced over at Ian. He shifted his hand quickly and hid something behind his back. "Ian, what are you hiding?" I asked, the words tumbling out of my mouth.
He didn't do anything. I counted to five in my head, then pounced. Ian didn't expect it. I jumped almost on top of him and reached for the thing he was hiding. But his reflexes were as good as mine. "Give"-breathe-"it"-breathe-"to"-breathe-"me."
After much effort, I pulled it out of his hand. It was a newspaper article:
Amy and Dan Cahill, and Ian and Natalie Kabra, 18 and 16, have been reported missing. Amy Cahill was most recently at the Kabra Manor in London, when she supposedly fell down the staircase, minor injuries. However, it is most likely that Ian Kabra pushed her down, as they both were in a clues competition, which Cahill won. Sources which choose to remain unnamed report that Kabra might have kidnapped Cahill, while Natalie Kabra captured Dan Cahill. This is questionable, but evidence points to Kabra, for he might still harbor a grudge towards Cahill on the issue of the competition. The whereabouts of both Kabras and Cahills are unknown.
It was so quiet in the hotel room we could hear the slow drip of the faucet in the bathroom. I was about to say something when we heard a knock on the door. That was when I realized I was sitting on Ian's lap, and his arms were around my waist. I don't know which one of us was more red, as we both mumbled "sorry" to the other. Though, it was quite comfortable, sitting there…
Ian reached the door first. On the floor was an envelope, white, simple, no address, with nothing but our names on it. After closing the door shut, he walked over and opened the envelope. A piece of paper, that said:
They are in The Isle of Skye. Come alone, disguised. Tell no one. You have till midnight tomorrow.
Short. Sweet. Simple, right?
No.
But Ian and I knew what this meant. We had to save our siblings, no matter what the cost. It didn't matter if this was a trap, it was our only lead. I looked him in the eye, and for the first time, I saw something else. Not an enemy, a heartbreaker, a rich snob. I saw Ian Kabra, a real person, who had goals, a friend. And I knew what we both were thinking. Whoever-ahem,
Jake- had kidnapped our siblings was going to get it, and get it good.
It was on.