Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 Clues. PS: Sorry about the late update, I tried to get this on about a million times but it wouldn't let me!

Like many times in my life, we were in blackness- other than the tall, paneled windows at the tops of the buildings, but that wasn't enough light to see what was going on. Then, a voice rang out.

"Ah, Amy, Ian. I have been expecting you, you know. What took you so long?" I couldn't quite place the voice, but I had certainly heard it somewhere before. Or, someone with a similar voice…

All of a sudden, the lights flicked on. It wasn't very bright, but I could tell we were in a huge, warehouse/ garage kind of room. There were stairs leading up to each window, probably for cleaning and opening purposes. Then I took a look at the figures in the room.

A tall man stood in the center of the room. He had sandy blond hair speckled with gray, and dark blue eyes. Another person stood behind him, not as tall- Jake. My blood boiled at the sight of him. I'd never hated anyone as much as I did Jake, not even Ian. I don't think I really hated Ian, just……um, anyways, back to the main topic.

Obviously, the tall man was Jake's father. But next to both of them sat two people in two chairs, tied up, blindfolded cloth over their mouths- the works. I glanced at Ian when I caught sight of our siblings, and both relief and worry flooded through me. Relieved that we hadn't been tricked, and worry about how we were going to get them out. Ian's perfect features wore the exact emotions I was feeling.

"Who are you?" I asked, more confident than I felt. Isn't that always the case?

"I am Carter McGuire, head of the Cabrio Madrigals. And you, Amy Cahill, along with your brother, are also Madrigals."

It wasn't as shocking as I thought it would be, hearing that. I could tell he wasn't lying, the way he said it so bluntly, yet trying to hold back his laughter to the reaction and commotion I was sure to make. But I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

"You said Cabrio Madrigals," I noted coolly. "So, is there another type of Madrigal?"

Carter's smile went down a notch. "Yes," he said. "The Fabrio Madrigals. You see, along with Katherine, Jane, Luke, and Thomas, there came another, named Madeline. She was kicked out by her siblings because, while she had no obvious ability like Thomas, she had a knack of winning races and competitions first- including the 39 clues competition, in which she had more clues than her brothers and sisters. The siblings kicked her out, and she gave up the hunt, choosing to settle down and live a normal life. She had two twins, Cabrio and Fabrio. She told them the truth about their family, that they were Cahills, but asked them not to go in search of the clues. Of course, the twins had other plans.

"They went in search of the clues, but there came a time when there was only one clue left, and both the brothers wanted them just as bad as the other. They fought a long, hard, cold war, which may not be in your history textbooks, but is known in Cahill history as The Madrigal War. Fabrio and Cabrio both had children by that time, but the brothers themselves were killed in the war. You dear grandmother, Grace, was Fabrio's granddaughter, making you and Daniel his great-great grandchildren. I am Cabrio's great grandson. And, seeing as you, Amy, are the oldest living descendant of Fabrio Cahill, you are the Fabrio Madrigal branch leader."

Since the "You are a Madrigal" thing Carter sprang on me didn't work, he decided to try the "You are one of the Madrigal branch leaders" story. He couldn't be making up such an impossible story like that on the spot, but…how could that possibly be true?

I decided to play the Okay, whatever, I believe you, and I'm cool card with him again.

"Okay…so, as a fellow Madrigal branch leader, I demand you give me my brother and Natalie to us, right now."

He smiled. "Amy, dear, you have so much to learn. You can't honestly think I've wasted all of this time, energy, and talent to bring you here and just give you Daniel. I demand you give me the 39 Clues."

I sighed inside. OF COURSE. What else would anyone kidnap Dan for? But…why capture Natalie?

It seemed like I had voiced my thoughts out loud, because Jake, of all people, said, "Why capture Natalie? For Kabra here, of course. He was so helpful in all of this. He was the perfect person to frame as the bad guy, and when we take the 39 Clues and give you Dan, we'll easily frame Ian for the kidnappings, too. And, once I rat him out, I'll be the hero. Not to mention, Ian needed some excuse to come. It's so obvious, the way he looks at you-

Ian and I went red, and Carter told Jake to shut up. "Give it all away, will you?"

Carter turned to me. "Now, Amy, about that offer…"

"I think you know the answer to that," I growled.

"Then, I suppose we have no choice," he said softly, motioning to Jake.

It all happened so fast sometimes I wonder if it really happened. Ian and I started running away from the guns before they were pulled out. The whole time, Dan and Natalie were cutting off their ties with a pocket knife Ian had managed to slip to them- so they were on their feet, too. We all ran, and Dan and Ian took Carter down. "Madrigal leader, my butt," said Dan.

I pushed Jake down till I was on top of him. He was still struggling. "To think I thought you were cute," I murmured so only he could hear. "Sorry about this, cousin." I grabbed his gun and hit him on the back of his head. He went out, cold.

I saw that Carter was out, too. The four of us tied the two up, tight, and pushed them to the corner. Dan was alright, for the most part, but Natalie was limping ever so slightly. We checked her foot; it was only sprained a little, so she'd be alright in a few days.

Dan went over and checked the door. "It's locked," he said. Oh, just my luck. We got so far, but of course, we just- then I had an idea. I looked at the window. Ian followed my gaze.

"You're bloody joking," he said, at the same time Dan said, "You have got to be kidding."

"We can do this," I said strongly.

"But what about Natalie?" asked Ian.

"I can do this, Ian," she said, just as strong. "It's not broken or anything.

"No way, dude, you'd, like, die-

"Never, Natalie, Mum would murder me-

"Either way, someone's going to die, I say we go for it," I said sarcastically. Natalie smirked, and gave me a look that said, Brothers. I smirked back at her and said, Tell me about it.

Wow. I think I just had a moment with Natalie Kabra. That should be in the Guinness.

Natalie and I walked towards the window, the boys trailing behind us. We climbed up the stairs wordlessly. When we reached the top, we stood there in dead silence.

"So, who's going to-

Suddenly we heard someone stir. Our heads whipped around. Carter was moving.

"No time for chitchat," Dan said. He took the gun he stole from Carter and threw it at the window.

The window shattered; glass glittered and sparkled in the air and all around us. Dan jumped.

Natalie was next. She took a deep breath, squeezed her hands, ran out, and went down. I was next.

It was a pretty high drop, but nothing that I couldn't handle. I gulped, and glanced at Ian. He was looking right at me. His impeccable face had an implacable expression. I didn't, couldn't read the look that was right in front of me, but before either of us could say anything, a strong gust of wind blew and brought us back to reality. I couldn't remember who was going to go next, all I knew was that we both jumped, and went down, down, down- together.

Whew. That was long. Three pages on Word. Sorry about the lack of romance and the sappy stuff at the end, but I had to clear the "boring" details out of the way. Now, a few things:

No, the story is not almost over. Well, it is. There's going to be around, maybe 3 or 4 more chapters, and I'm trying to work fast. I'll try updating again sometime this week, but no promises.

I made a couple outfits for Amy, if you've read my story Faded Memories, then you might have seen them. Go to my profile page, the link is there. Feel free to comment on that page, review this story, or PM me about your opinion on them. (Oh, and while you're on my profile, PLEASE check out my new poll…I really want some opinions)

I know I've been really bad at updating- not just this story, but all of them, and I apologize. I'm just like that. I love publishing new stories at random times, but I absolutely suck at updating.

And, totally unrelated, but: Did anyone watch the Olympics? (yes I know it's over, I'm just slow) Did you see Apolo Ohno (sorry for any misspellings) get disqualified? AHH!!! I screamed at that. WHY?!? He was my favorite! GO USA!!

Um, yeah. Long AN. Hehehe…

Until next time.