Chapter 66: A storm is coming…

I woke up groggily. My vision was blurred. My head felt like somebody had whacked it repeatedly with a brick. I stood up, and fell back over. I tried to rub my eyes, but by hands wouldn't budge. Once my vision had cleared up slightly, I looked down. My body was completely covered in rope! I struggled, but the rope was tied up too tightly. I surveyed my surroundings.

I was in a rather small room. There were no windows, and one filthy wooden door. Green fungus dripped from the ceiling. The floor and walls were made from a dirty wood. It was freezing in this room. The whole place felt damp. There were a few chairs in this room. I was lying on the floor, and nearby on the floor was….

"Amy11!" I yelled. She was unconscious. Her pale, heart-shaped face was smudged with dirt, and her usually full red lips looked blue. She seemed to be moaning and crying in her sleep. My cry echoed eerily around the cold, empty room. She stirred, and sat up, looking groggy.

"Where am I?" she asked sleepily. "Last thing I remember is being attacked by a man in a grey cloak….." At the memory of that, she bounced up, looking alert. She then fell back, yelling, hitting her head on the wall. I stood up, and bounced towards her awkwardly, since I was tied up.

"Amy11!" I yelled again. She turned her attention to me, and gasped. She bounced towards me, and she fell over again.

"Where are we?" she asked, sounding panicked.

"I don't know," I replied, trying to remain calm. I eyed the door, and just as I was considering bouncing towards it to try and open it, it burst open, making me fall back.

Madrey1 walked in, looking triumphant, with Phantom, the highwayman, and the ever-so-beautiful Rogue following. She shot me a wicked grin, and closed the door behind her. I glared at them all.

"So you're behind this all!" I yelled. Madrey1 nodded, smiling.

"I finally have you both trapped like mice," he answered. "I got this highwayman to help us. We kidnapped and knocked out Amy11, trying to capture your attention specifically, and we left a note. It worked too! We stationed this highwayman in the party room, where you, or someone else, would go to meet him. Little did you noobs know it was a trap. Here we are now!" The highwayman gave Madrey1 an oily grin.

"Now, your promised payment…" the highwayman said slowly. Madrey1's triumphant smile vanished into thin air.

"You've already been paid 100, 000gp," Madrey1 snapped. The highwayman grimaced.

"That money was for my services," the highwayman replied coldly. "You haven't paid me for my silence yet. I could go to the white knights right now and spill all the beans, reveal all the plots. That is, if you don't pay an added extra 10,000gp."

Madrey1 thought for a moment, and seemed to come to a conclusion. He pulled out his sword, and with a swift motion, sent it right into the highwayman's gut. The highwayman screamed in pain as scarlet blood splattered all over the floor.

"There's your payment," Madrey1 said curtly. "Phantom, destroy him. We don't need him any more."

There was a massive struggle as the highwayman, still bleeding profusely, tried to escape. Phantom jumped up, and landed on the highwayman's head with a sickening crunch. The highwayman fell back, and within seconds he was dead. Madrey1 grabbed his head, and slammed it against the wall, to make sure.

"I've wanted to do this since I met you two noobs," Madrey1 chuckled. He pulled out his dragon sword, and hit me across the leg. A large scar remained there, leaking blood. I screamed in pain. He did the same to Amy11. I watched with misery as she screamed in pain. I couldn't stand this!

As I was hit repeatedly with the dragon sword, I was desperately searching for ways of escaping with Amy11.

"Right, I'll be back later to continue this," he said. "In the meantime, I suggest you lay there and shut up." At that, he left the room, followed by Phantom with Rogue at the end, who gave me an apologetic-but-sinister look before closing the door. I stared uncomfortably at the dead body of the highwayman which lay nearby. There was going to be a disgusting stench in the room later.

Just as the door closed and I was about to give up, I heard a voice.

"Hey….." the voice whispered. I was about to say something when the voice shushed me. "Be quiet! They'll hear us if we make too much noise." A figure walked out from behind the door.

It was the man from the Thanksgiving feast! It was the man with a dead look and gaunt eyes. He wore the same baggy black clothes that he'd worn that day. He took a knife from his pocket, and with two swift motions, we were free from our ropes. He smiled. He ran out the door, and I and Amy11 followed.

We were in a chilly, long wooden corridor with a door on the other end. We were faced with a furious Madrey1. Rogue and Phantom were elsewhere.

"You escaped!" he spat. He turned to the black-clothed stranger. "You helped them!"

"These people are innocent," the stranger snapped. "Just because you're a very naturally angry person, it doesn't give you the right to kidnap youngsters you dislike and torture them. You may have had a horrible childhood. You may have been abused. It shouldn't reflect on your personality years later." Madrey1's mouth fell open.

"How….how do you know about what happened years ago?" he choked. The stranger raised his eyebrows.

"Madrey1, I know everything about your past, present, and your future," he said. Madrey1 stumbled back, breathing heavily. There was a puff of smoke, and I was dragged through smoke, Madrey1's screams following me.

I and Amy11 appeared in the middle of Varrock. It was dark, and the sky was rumbling. I looked up, and dark clouds swirled above us unnaturally. The stranger was gone, and I was clutching a card with a picture of a mouse wearing a highwayman's mask. A message was scrawled on the card, which said 'a storm is coming.' It looked like that too-lightning rumbled above me, and a raindrop fell on my head. I gave the card a confused look. I guess it answered the mystery of who sent me the rusty key at Christmas, but why? What for? Plus, what was that place that we were tied up? It was a horrible place. It was so cold, so damp, so eerie. How did this stranger know about madrey1's childhood?

Amy11 looked like she was going to say something. I put my finger to her mouth. "We'll talk in a minute," I whispered.

We ran towards Capablanca's house, and bounced inside. The place was deserted-where was everyone?

"Can I talk now?" Amy11 grinned. I nodded meekly. She stepped forward, and took hold of my hands. Her blonde hair fluttered behind her like spun gold. "Thank you," she whispered. I stared sadly at her smudged face. I felt a pang of hatred towards Madrey1- what was he playing at, kidnapping an innocent young lady like this?

"What are you thanking me for?" I stuttered. "It was that stranger who saved us from unimaginable tortures!" She gave me a wink.

"You're correct there," she said. "But you tried to save me. You risked your life in the face of the unknown by meeting up with a weirdo, and you've proven to me how much you care." She bent forward, puckering her lips. I felt awkward. Was this what I really wanted?

Just at that moment, the door flew open. We jumped, and flew apart. It was Capablanca and Aaron, who had arrived home. They stared at us both, and cheered.

"We thought you were dead!" Capablanca cried, running forward, giving Amy11 a hug and me a hearty pat on the back. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," I said. "I'll tell you tomorrow. Where is everyone?" I added.

"They're all at the white knight castle with Sir Amik, discussing your disappearance," Aaron explained, sounding relieved. "I'll go tell them now." He ran out of the door.

"You ought to see the winds out there," Capablanca said conversationally. "I wouldn't be surprised if a storm is coming." I read the stranger's card again. 'A storm is coming'. Was it just a coincidence? My head was hurting from the happenings of today. I walked up to my room, and lay down on my bed. After a minute or two, I fell into a deep, deep sleep.

There was a flash of thunder overhead. It was dark- so dark three figures were barely noticeable. A scream was heard.

"Leave her alone!" a male voice cried. There was another scream, and an evil cackle.

"You're the idiots here, walking into out midst," a sinister, different male voice said. "You've been recognised too; from what you and your friends did a year or so ago." There was another cackle.

"You heard me!" the other male yelled. "Leave her alone!" A flash of thunder illuminated the area, revealing two males and a female. One male was clutching the female by the wrists. There was another scream, and an unpleasant crack. There was a masculine yell of agony.

"Listen, idiot," the sinister male voice warned. "You're going to listen to me. You know this boy? I want you to find him, and take him here. We've been paid to find him. I'll fill you in with more details later." There was the sound of crinkling paper. There was a gasp.

"I will NOT do your bidding! That boy is innocent!" the non-sinister male shouted. There was another cackle.

"Oh yes you will," the sinister voice cried gleefully. "Or you may find this girl hanging from the roof on a meat hook." There was another cackle, another scream, and rain began to pour.

I woke up, yelling. What a horrible dream! I didn't understand fully what was going on. Who were these three people?

I peered out the window. It was pouring down with rain. My clock told me it was 10:00pm. The house sounded quiet. Everyone must be sleeping.

It was one surprise after another. It was like being the pin in a game of bowling. First Amy11 was kidnapped, then I was kidnapped along with her, then the mystery man comes and saves us, and now this dream! My life on RuneScape kept getting more and more mysterious.

Hope you liked that thrilling conclusion to last chapter's cliffhanger! it was an introduction to two key characters, the stranger, and a person from mainiac's dream. That dream Mainiac had might not make much sense now, but there is one person, apart from me, who would understand it- Haseo the Terror of Death!

I'm doing a shared universe thingy with him. His story is based one year before mine. Basically, his plot started a year before my plot started. The non-sinister guy in the dream is Dream Decay, from his story, a year older. I know it's complicated. To understand more about Dream Decay's past, and the shared universe, read 'The sphere of Varrock'. I highly suggest it! The whole shared universe was organised between us.

Expect a romantic chapter next chapter-just in time for valentine's day! *whistle*

Until next time, toodles!