Writing Beyond the Stars and Sky

[Shinmaru]

This is sort of a "side project" that I'm working on right now...it's a six-chapter story, not that long, but not really short, either. I'm expecting it to be about 45-55 pages long (by Microsoft Word standards) when it's finished. Anyway, I had started this story about two months ago, and then I abandoned it because I wasn't sure how to progress. However, the inspiration bug bit me again after I read the parts of the story that I had already completed and I knew that I would have to finish the story, so that's what I'm trying to do right now. So, yeah, I hope people enjoy it, heh.

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[center][i]?Heh. I see you?re still in the dark about everything.?[/center][/i]

[center][i]?What are you talking about??[/center][/i]

[center][i]?Michael?I?m not from around here??[/center][/i]

[center][b][u]Prologue[/center][/b][/u]

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I could barely see a thing in the city. The streetlights were off, darkness had enveloped the area and, on top of that, it was raining pretty hard. I ducked, twisted and evaded the sporadic bullets that the men shot at me and squirmed my way across the streets and in between cars for cover. I was running on pure adrenaline; it was all that I had left. My heart was pounding into my chest like it was trying to burst out of my frontal cavity and escape my doomed body. My mind was swirling and buzzing with what seemed like a million thoughts, but they all related to the same thing: [i]How the hell was I going to get out of this situation?[/i]

My legs were quivering, my breath was shaking and my mouth was thick with the taste of blood. I wasn?t sure how much longer I could run, but I was determined to keep away from them until I finally gave out. I turned a corner and sped across another crosswalk without paying any heed to whether or not a car was driving across my path. When I made it across the street, I forced my way through the small group of people who were, presumably, making their way home after a night of partying. I tried to explain my situation as best as I could to them to get them to move out of the way.

?Hey, get the hell out of the way!? I screamed. ?I need to keep moving!?

?Buzz off, you little bastard,? one of the people replied snottily. ?This sidewalk doesn?t belong to you, you know.?

After some more pushing, I made my way through the crowd and into the open. After I took a couple of steps, I felt a massive burning pain in the side of my leg. I tripped up and fell straight into the ground, my arms breaking my fall slightly before my head banged against the sidewalk. I looked over my leg and saw that my upper thigh was bleeding slowly; I had been shot. I could feel blood dripping slowly down the side of my head, so I knew that I had been cut due to the impact of the fall. After a few seconds, I blacked out.

I woke up strapped to a chair, a bright light glaring into my face. My pupils contracted sharply and I forced my eyes shut in order to keep a hold of my sight. After a few moments, my eyes adjusted slightly to the bright light and I was able to keep them open without sustaining too much damage to my sight. I felt a sharp pain in my ribs and in my head and I tried to move my arms in order to give myself some comfort, but I had forgotten that I was tied to a chair.

?You?ll be okay,? a voice said from behind me. ?We were able to remove the bullet from your thigh, stitch up the wound and wrap it up. We stitched up the wound in your head and bandaged that, as well.?

?Where am I?? I asked, trying to determine exactly where I was.

?You?re not at liberty to ask questions,? a different voice said. ?You?ll just be answering them.? The two men stepped in front of me. They were wearing dark dress suits, the color of which was impossible to tell in the glare of the light. Their hair was neatly trimmed and combed, their appearance totally professional. They both pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of the table where I was situated. They glared at me ominously and the second man to address me took out a cigarette and a match. He struck the match against the table, lit his cigarette and began to smoke it.

?Are you both with them?? I asked.

?What?s your name?? the first man asked, ignoring my question.

?My name??? I muttered, mostly to myself. The hit on my head was still affecting me; my memory was slightly fuzzy. I struggled for a few seconds, my facial expression not betraying the sense of struggle that I felt and I finally managed to remember my name. ?My name is Michael.? The second man took out a manilla folder and peered at a paper inside. He nodded his head and snapped the folder shut.

?Good,? he said. ?You?re definitely the one we?ve been after.?

?What do you want with me?? I asked.

?We want you to tell us a story,? the first man said smoothly.

?A story??? I slurred.

?Yes,? the second man nodded. ?You?ve been through some peculiar events over the past couple of days. I think it would be for your benefit to tell us all about them. After all, you?re just dying to tell somebody, aren?t you?? I turned away from him. He was right, I did want to tell somebody, but I didn?t want to tell these two anything at all.

?Not being cooperative?? the first man asked. ?That?s okay?I?m sure that other people will be cooperative.? I perked my ears up at this. ?Perhaps your accomplice?? I closed my eyes tightly and hissed through my teeth softly. I had no idea where she was, so I couldn?t toss aside the possibility that these two had captured her as they had captured me. I bowed my head and muttered something under my breath.

?What was that?? the second agent asked.

?I said I?d tell you everything,? I said, a bit louder, choking back tears.

?Excellent,? the first agent said. ?You may begin whenever you wish.?

?Fine,? I said. ?I?ll tell you everything??

[i][center]End of Prologue[/i][/center]

[b][u][center]Part One: The Principal?s Office[/b][/u][/center]

My name is Michael. I?m eighteen years old and I?m a senior in high school. I wasn?t really different from the average person: Short black hair, brown eyes, and average height. I was never really good at making friends, though. There was just something about certain people that made them unapproachable to me. And, of course, being the stubborn person that I am, I couldn?t really bear to hang around these people, even at an early age. I was a loner from the time I started school until the time I finished school.

Well, that?s not exactly true. I [i]did[/i] have one friend who stood by my side for all those years. Her name was Maria. I didn?t know what it was about me that made her want to be friends with me, but I never questioned it, mostly because I knew, deep down inside, that all I really yearned for was a companion. I don?t think I could have asked for a better one than Maria. She was extremely intelligent (far more than I), very friendly and very humble. She was serious most of the time, but she had a subtle sense of humor, as well.

She was very pretty, too. What was so great about Maria was that she wasn?t one of those beauty queens who might have been beautiful but only cared for their looks; Maria wasn?t really into that sort of thing. Maria?s beauty was more?understated, I guess would be the right word. You wouldn?t really notice her if you were walking on the street, but once you did notice her, her beauty enraptured you. She had a fair complexion, straight, shining brown hair and soft, intelligent brown eyes. Her eyes were what got to me the most. When she looked at you, it was like she could read your mind, but it wasn?t an unpleasant feeling; you were more than willing to share your innermost feelings with her. You felt safe with her.

I always appreciated the fact that Maria stuck around with me, especially since I knew that she probably could have been part of any social group that she wanted to be with. When we were kids, Maria had no troubles making friends, mostly because she had the same effect on everyone; you just wanted to be friends with her. But, out of anyone she could have chosen, she chose to be friends with me. That really meant a lot to me. As each year passed by, I appreciated our friendship more and more, especially since as time flew by, the people at school began to alienate and scorn her as much as they did me. She never seemed to notice, though ? I doubt she even really cared.

Maria was invaluable to me when it came to coping with school, as well. None of my teachers really cared for me too much, despite the fact that I gave an honestly hard effort in class, did all my schoolwork and got decent grades in all my classes. I guess I was just born to be disliked by people. I could never get too down about things, though, because Maria was always there to comfort me and to talk to me. She seemed to understand everything and she always knew the right thing to say to make me see life in a different light and resolve all my problems. She was amazing.

As what happens to most boys when they begin to grow up, I started to get interested in girls. There was a literal cavalcade of women that guys were able to choose from (though, not all girls were dumb enough to get mixed up with us and our hormones), but I knew that there was only one girl who interested me. Maria had been a great friend to me for a long time and I had wanted to take the next step with her. When I told of my feelings for her, she blushed lightly and told me that she could not engage in a relationship with me. I was heartbroken, of course, but she took me aside and explained that she was not ready for a relationship. Her logic, which she explained very eloquently, made perfect sense and set my fears at ease. Perhaps there was still a chance with Maria, after all.

As we both got older, I would always ask if Maria was ready for a relationship but she would always respond with a light ?no?. She would always say that she was flattered that someone could like her as much as I did, but that she didn?t want to ruin our friendship by forcing a relationship to work. Again, her reasoning made lots of sense to me, so I chose to bide my time until she was ready. She was definitely worth it, in my mind.

High school went by in the wink of an eye. It seems like just yesterday that I was a dumb freshman trying to get into Maria?s pants. I had matured considerably, though I still yearned for that unattainable relationship with Maria (though, my wants and desires had evolved to being emotionally based rather than simply sexually based). Ever since I underwent the maturation process, I was able to quell my needs and keep our friendship much the same as it had always been. Maria and I still talked, we still shared secrets and we still experienced life together. In a way, we were already a couple, just without me realizing it. I think that?s what Maria wanted all along.

Unfortunately, during senior year, we didn?t have any classes together. Lunch and after school were the only times that we were able to see each other, which meant that I was prone to random torment from people during my classes. Luckily for me, most of the students in my classes had matured as I had and simply opted to pretend that I didn?t exist. I didn?t care for the feeling of loneliness that I had in my classes, but it was far preferable to being made fun of day in and day out.

I was sitting in the back of my first class, English. Since it was so close to the end of the year, we were free to coast through the rest of our classes until finals. I opted to keep my usual seat in the back of the class, which was an ideal observation point. I looked outside. The sky was gray and gloomy, and it was sprinkling a bit outside. The weather would most likely graduate to a full-on storm by the time I got out of school. I took a pencil into my fingers and waggled it up and down, trying to find some way to alleviate the boredom that was overtaking me.

The phone rang at the front of the classroom. The teacher picked up the receiver and listened to what was being said. After a few moments of scattered conversation, the teacher hung up the phone and turned to my direction. She pointed a finger at me and beckoned me to come to her. I got up and walked over to her, a bit embarrassed. I could feel everyone peering at me from all directions. It made me very uncomfortable. I reached the front of the teacher?s desk and she addressed me.

?Michael, the principal wants you in his office,? she said.

?I?m not in trouble, am I?? I asked.

?I don?t know,? the teacher admitted. ?But from the principal?s tone, I can assume that this is urgent business.? I left the room aware of the irony that I had been wishing for a way to alleviate the boredom that I had been feeling mere moments earlier. That feeling of boredom was now replaced by a feeling of dread and fear. Why was I being called to the office? Surely I had done nothing to incur the wrath of the principal. I assured myself that nothing would be wrong and I walked into the principal?s office.

?The principal will see you in a few moments,? the principal?s secretary said to me. ?He?s busy talking to another person right now.? I was slightly annoyed that the principal had called me up to his office while he was still busy with another appointment, but I kept this to myself and sat down on the bench near the principal?s room. I looked up at the clock that was hanging over the secretary?s head. It was one of those goofy cat clocks with the huge eyes and the dangling tail. This clock ticked and tocked with every passing second. At first, it was easy to ignore, but after a while the ticking started to annoy me. Each soft click got louder and louder and forced itself into my mind. The constant pounding of the noise was infinitely grating to my ears. I clapped my hands over my ears, trying to make an impenetrable wall to keep the noise out, but my actions were in vain. Just when I felt I could not take the noise any longer, a loud buzz rang through the room. ?The principal will see you now.?

I sighed heavily, got up and walked into the principal?s office. The principal was nowhere in sight, however. In his stead was a man in a dark suit sitting in the principal?s chair. He leaned backwards slightly, took out the cigarette that he was smoking and smashed it into the ash tray on the far right side of the principal?s desk.

---

?Hold on,? the second man said. ?Are you saying that you came into contact with one of our agents before now??

?Yeah,? I replied. ?That?s exactly what I?m saying. And are you saying that you?re connected with him?? The second man stayed silent. The first man smirked to himself and waved off the question. Then, he addressed his partner.

?Shut up and let him tell the story,? the first man said, though not without a suspicious look of his own on his face when he peered back at me.

---

?You?re Michael, correct?? the man asked.

?Yes, I am,? I replied.

?Are you aware of who I am?? the man asked me.

?No, sir,? I said. ?I don?t know who you are.?

?I don?t want to alarm you,? the man said. ?But I work with the government. There have been some?strange happenings, shall we say, related to your school.?

?I haven?t done anything, have I?!? I said, justifiably afraid.

?Oh no,? the man said. ?Of course not. We?re just questioning you and your peers in order to get an idea of what?s going on at the school. This has nothing to do with you or any one person, I can assure you.?

?Well, that?s good,? I said.

?Yes,? the man nodded. ?Now, have you noticed any strange events happening around here??

?No, not really,? I replied.

?No unexplained events, strange activity or?less than normal circumstances?? the man asked.

?No, I haven?t,? I said.

?Okay then,? the man said. ?You may take a seat if you wish.? I hadn?t noticed that I had been standing the entire time. I sat down in the chair in front of the principal?s desk as the man shuffled through a few papers in a manilla folder.

?What?s that?? I asked.

?That?s none of your business,? the man replied. He closed the folder and slipped it back into the pocket of his suit jacket. ?Now, I have a few questions to ask you about some certain people?? Before the man could ask me any questions, however, the principal burst into the room.

?I need to talk to you quickly,? the principal said to the man, with a hint of impatience. The man stood up and glared at the principal.

?Not right now,? he said. ?Can?t you see that I?m busy??

?It?s urgent,? the principal said. ?This boy can wait until later.? The man sighed and walked around the desk and left the room with the principal. I sat back in my chair and waited for a bit. The smell of cigarette smoke had fully pervaded the room and I coughed a bit. I went over to the window to get some fresh air, when a rock banged against the glass. I gave a start and retreated from the window a few steps. As soon as I was certain that approaching the window would be safe, I went over to it and opened it. A rock flew from the ground, hitting me between the eyes.

?Ow!? I shouted, falling against the ground, clutching the spot where the rock had hit me. My head was pounding with pain and my vision blurred considerably. I managed to stand up after a few seconds and I groped my way over to the window. I blinked my eyes a few times and regained control of my sight enough so that I could see who was outside. It was Maria.

?I?m sorry!? Maria shouted with a worried look on her face. ?I wasn?t sure whether you had heard the first rock, so I threw a second one!?

?It?s okay,? I said, glad to see a familiar face. Then, something dawned on me. ?Shouldn?t you be in class right now, Maria?? Maria frowned for a second, then looked up at me.

?They took me out of class to question me,? she said.

?You too?? I asked. She nodded. ?Do you have any idea what they?re questioning us about??

?I don?t have a clue,? Maria said. ?This whole thing is really fishy to me?but we can?t worry about that right now. We?re obviously involved in this in some way or another, no matter how much those men try to say that we aren?t, so we need to hide from them until we can be sure of what they really want.?

?Where are we going to hide from them?? I asked. Maria appeared thoughtful for a few seconds.

?We could always go to the city,? Maria suggested.

?The city?? I asked. ?How are we going to get over there??

?You still have your car, don?t you?? Maria asked.

?Yeah,? I replied. ?But it?s in the front parking lot. Do you think that we?ll be able to make it over there without anyone seeing us??

?I don?t know,? Maria admitted. ?But we have to try. I don?t like the looks of those men?something tells me that they?re extremely dangerous.?

?Yeah,? I said. ?I agree with you there. Wait, how am I going to get out of [i]here[/i]??

?Climb out the window,? Maria said. ?And grab onto the vine.? I reached outside and felt for the vine on the left side of the principal?s window. I felt it in my hands, grabbed it and climbed on top of the window sill. As soon as I knew that I had a good grip on the vine, I started to climb down it, using the soles of my shoes to keep a good hold on the wall. I rappelled slowly down the wall and made it down after a few seconds, since the principal?s window was only about thirty feet above the ground.

?Okay,? I said, after leaping a couple feet off the wall and landing onto the ground. ?Let?s go.? Maria and I snuck off, half-walking, half-running to the parking lot where all of the students parked their cars. My car was on the far-off side of the parking lot. We snuck over there using the cover of the various cars that students drove over to the school. We had to keep low to the ground for the most part, since students, including myself, could not afford large cars.

After a couple of minutes, we made it over to my car. I peered out from the car next to it to make sure that nobody was watching. I crept over to my car and unlocked the door.

?One more time,? I said. ?Are you absolutely sure that we should do this??

?Yes,? Maria said, nodding resolutely.

?Okay,? I answered, getting into the driver?s seat of the car. Maria got into the front passenger?s seat and buckled her seatbelt. I did the same and, after adjusting the mirrors a bit and getting comfortable, I put the key into the ignition and turned on the car. I looked around, pulled the car out of the parking space and drove out of the school.

---

And there's Chapter One. I hope the story catches on a bit, though I'll likely finish it off even if it doesn't, because I just want to write the story for myself, heh. Questions, comments and critique of any sort are welcome.

[eleanor]

[color=firebrick] Oh, wow. I loved it. :D

I think the best thing about your story is how you immediately drawed your reader into the story. It's a talent, that is. Anyways, after that point I was hooked and it flowed very nicely. *rants about the goodness of this story* One problem I encountered was the dialogue between Michael and his teacher & principal.

[i]?Michael, the principal wants you in his office,? she said.

?I?m not in trouble, am I?? I asked.[/i]

[i]?I don?t want to alarm you,? the man said. ?But I work with the government. There have been some?strange happenings, shall we say, related to your school.?

?I haven?t done anything, have I?!? I said, justifiably afraid.[/i]

[i]?What?s that?? I asked.

?That?s none of your business,? the man replied. He closed the folder and slipped it back into the pocket of his suit jacket. [/i]

This is just drawing off of my own personal experience...but give it a chance, eh? Your description of Michael's personality fit me in many ways, and I know if I was called to the principal's office I wouldn't be able to work up the nerve to ask if I had done anything wrong. I would just [i]go[/i]. Teacher make me nervous for some reason. ._. And if it were me, I wouldn't ask a man in a dark suit what a bunch of folders were. I'd sort of be too scared to ask anything.

It's trivial though, since it depends on the natures of Michael's personality.

Awesome story, though. :)[/color]

[Rachael]

first i loved the begining very nice i was immediatly captured in the story. Though i thought that you should have mad e more of an emphasis on how it was strange that the black suited guy was there and not the principal. If it were me i would've thought nothing of it and just waited there. I'd say make the black suit dude ask more personal questions or something like that....make it seem i little odd that hes there.......other than that great story!!!

[Inuyasha311]

WOW thats turning out to be a good story. I can't wait for the 2nd chapter. Its like what happens next? what did they do? Who are the men? I can't wait to see the next chapter. but anyway good story I liked the first part alot.!!

[Shinmaru]

Thanks for the feedback, thus far ^_^ I've had Chapter One written for a long time; it took me ages to finish Chapter Two. I think I was just dreading all the action that would go on in this chapter, heh. I don't consider myself very adept at writing engaging action. I'd like it if someone would tell me whether or not the action parts of the chapter read well lol.

Anyway, enough of that, here is Chapter Two. Note that it'll probably take me a few days to write out Chapter Three, because I'm going to be getting back into my other story soon, too. We'll see how everything goes.

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[b][u][center]Intermission One[/b][/u][/center]

?Okay, so you went with your girlfriend to the city,? the second agent said. ?So what?? I blushed slightly.

?She?s not really my girlfriend,? I said.

?It doesn?t matter what she is,? the first agent said. ?And keep your patience. He?ll tell the story the way that he wants to tell it.? I looked over at the first agent gratefully, and then realized that he was not on my side. He just wanted to keep me happy so I would tell my story with no problems. I wasn?t very happy about this, but I really had no choice in the matter; these two men had all the power and I had none. So, I continued my story.

[b][u][center]Part Two: Back Home with a Bang[/b][/u][/center]

I drove out into the street and entered the flow of traffic. The traffic around the school was slightly busy, but it was free flowing, for the most part.

?Where should we go first?? I asked Maria.

?We should go to the mall,? Maria replied, after a few seconds of thought. ?There will probably be a lot of people there, so we can hide out, and blend in. There?s also lots of stuff to do there.? She smiled at me.

?That?s a good idea,? I said, changing lanes so that I could make the turn in the direction of the mall. I pulled into the parking lot, and was pleasantly surprised to find that, while there were many people at the mall at the moment, there were still a few parking spots available. I drove to one that was located near the front of the mall and parked my car. Maria and I got out of the car, and with a couple of glances around the area to ensure that nobody was following us, we walked into the mall.

The mall was buzzing with activity. The escalators connecting the first and second floors carried constant droves of people, and groups of people criss-crossed the middle of the first floor, walking from one store to the next. Maria pointed out a book store and pulled me in its direction. We stepped inside and we were met with a blast of fresh, cool air. A few customers were strolling nonchalantly around the store, and others were sitting in the chairs scattered throughout the area. A teenager was manning the cash register, not really paying much attention to anything else that was happening at the moment.

?Come on,? Maria said, tugging me forward more.

?What exactly are we doing here?? I asked.

?We needed a place to hide out,? Maria said. ?And there are a couple of books that I need to buy for school, anyway.? I shrugged my shoulders slightly and followed her into the fiction section of the book store. I looked through some of the books hoping to find something that might have struck my fancy, but I didn?t find anything very interesting among the books that I was looking at. I stepped out from the bookshelf and took a glance at everyone in the store. Just about everyone had left. Only the teenager at the front was still there.

Maria emerged from behind a bookshelf with two novels in hand ? H.G. Wells? [u]War of the Worlds[/u] and J.D. Salinger?s [u]The Catcher in the Rye[/u]. She seemed very pleased to find these novels in the store and she walked eagerly up to the front desk to pay for them. The teen at the front brushed her long, fuchsia hair apathetically from her face and rang up the novels that Maria wished to buy.

?That?ll be $17.26,? the teenager yawned. ?Would you like a bag with that, or are you capable of carrying them on your own??

?I?d like a bag, please,? Maria said, ignoring the teen?s overt sarcasm. ?It?s a bit more convenient.? The teen rolled her eyes, reached under the counter and produced a small plastic bag. She slid the novels into the bag and handed it to Maria, who handed her a $20 bill in exchange. The teen rang up the change, handed it to Maria and went back to being extremely bored. I went up to the front door, held it open for Maria and stepped through after her. We walked side by side for a few moments until she stopped at a small table near the food court. She pulled out a chair, sat down and I followed suit. Maria put her bag onto the ground and fanned herself a bit.

?Today?s been kind of strange, hasn?t it?? Maria asked.

?You?re telling me,? I replied. ?What do you think is up with them??

?I?m not exactly sure,? Maria said, contemplating this. ?What did that man say to you??

?Nothing much, really,? I told her. ?He kept asking if I had noticed anything out of the ordinary happening at the school?oh, and he mentioned that he worked with the government.? Maria looked up at me, her expression one of slight surprise. ?What do you suppose they want?? I asked.

?I don?t know,? Maria said. ?But I?m sure that it?s nothing good. Do you?do you suppose it has anything to do with that large building on Lookout Hill??

?That building?s been there for years,? I replied. ?Even before we were born. If that were the case, why would they be doing something now??

?Maybe something?s gone wrong,? Maria said. ?Something out of their control.?

?I don?t know,? I replied. ?It?s a guess, but it sounds more than a bit like a conspiracy theory to me.?

?Maybe,? Maria said, her tone of voice not exactly one of agreeance. I was about to speak up again, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. A few moments of awkward silence passed, and I opened my mouth to speak up. However, Maria cut me off before I could say anything.

?Why don?t you like school?? Maria asked. I tilted my head to the side and considered this question for a moment. It had come completely out of left field and stumped me.

?What makes you think I don?t like school?? I asked in reply.

?You always seem bored,? Maria told me lightly. ?You used to care about learning a lot, and now you don?t. Why is that??

?I do care about learning!? I said indignantly. ?It?s just that?? I let myself trail off, because I honestly didn?t know how to finish that. It was true that I had been extremely apathetic towards school; my apathy grew as I became older. I didn?t even know [i]why[/i] this had happened, all I knew was that the apathy was there. I didn?t particularly like school, but I didn?t hate it, either. It was just there. Maria did not seem to mind my lack of a real answer, and I was starting to grow slightly annoyed at her. However, I didn?t have time to dwell on this, since her next question took me even more by surprise.

?Why do you want us to be a couple?? Maria asked. I was totally dumbfounded by this question, so dumbfounded that I almost laughed in response. Somehow, I managed to avoid that extremely idiotic response and instead told her the first thing that popped into my mind.

?Well?that?s what people who like each other [i]do[/i],? I said. ?They become couples.? Somehow, this seemed less idiotic in my mind.

?But why?? Maria asked politely.

?I don?t really know how I can explain that,? I replied. ?Don?t [i]you[/i] know why??

?No,? Maria said. ?I honestly don?t. Can?t you like someone without having to show off and declare to the world that you like someone? It seems a bit?weird, to me.?

?Why would it seem weird?? I asked incredulously.

?It seems to me,? Maria said. ?That the only reason that people become ?official? couples is because everyone else does it. Look at us; we like each other a lot, we do everything real couples do and we aren?t really an ?official? couple. I think that it just places unnecessary stress on people.?

?Why is that?? I asked.

?Because people aren?t going along with what they want,? Maria replied. ?They?re going along with what other people want, only they?re turning it into what they [i]think[/i] they want.?

?What do you want?? I asked her.

?I just want to be friends,? Maria said, smiling. ?That?s enough for me, especially with a friend like you.? She put her hand on mine, and that made the irritated feeling that I was going through at the moment go away. My thoughts were jumping around everywhere at once. I had already been thinking a bit about what had happened at school, and now I was thinking about this strange question and answer session that Maria just put me through. What was the purpose of all that, anyway? I didn?t have much time to ponder that, though, as Maria stood up out of her seat in the middle of one of my thoughts.

?I think we should move to a different spot,? Maria suggested. I swiveled my head around, trying to see what had made Maria so jumpy just now. Then, I spotted them, two men staring suspiciously at us. One was over by the hot dog stand. He was about my height, with shaggy blond hair and sunglasses. He was wearing a tank top along with blue beach shorts and sandals. I looked in the opposite direction and spotted another person in the sporting goods store. He was wearing a golf shirt, slacks and dress shoes. He also had on the same pair of glasses as the beach man.

?Yeah, I think that we should get going, too,? I said. We averted our gazes from the two men and tried to walk over to the mall?s exit. However, out of the corners of our eyes, we saw the two men walking subtly towards the exit in order to cut us off. We quickly abandoned any hope of making it safely to the exit for the time being, and made our way over to the escalator. We got on and it took us slowly up to the second floor. The two men hesitated a bit in following us; apparently, they were still under the delusion that they had not yet roused our suspicions. As soon as we reached the second floor, we ducked down low and quickly made our way into a nearby candy store. We barely made it inside before the two men reached the second floor.

However, our victory was short lived. As we slowly crept backwards further into the store, we bumped into someone. This person was wearing a black dress suit and tie, shiny black dress shoes and he had a black gun pointed directly at my head.

?Hello, children,? he said, his voice a low whisper. ?Why don?t you come with me?? I was too paralyzed with fear to do anything, but Maria slowly grabbed the closest object, a solid chocolate rabbit, and threw it at the man?s face. The rabbit hit him square in the nose, and his arm flailed skyward. His finger squeezed the trigger of his gun, but since his arm was now in the air, his bullet sailed harmlessly into the roof, spreading debris across the floor. Maria grabbed my arm and pulled me along. We ran outside and immediately spotted a group of agents, similar in look to the one whom had just tried to kill me, chasing us from our right side. The two men who were following us earlier emerged on our left side, so we broke into a run straight ahead and down the escalator.

Our initial plan was to run straight for the exit, but again, our plan was thwarted, this time, in a great surprise, by another group of agents who were now guarding the exit. Maria stopped, turned on her heels, and pulled me along into a run. We ran past the hot dog cart and into the middle of the mall, where a long strip of water was surrounded by large tiles of marble. A few of the agents let off some shots from their pistols, which hit the marble surrounding the water. Chunks and bits of marble flew out from the sides of the marble wall as we ran on top of it, barely avoiding the bullets fired from behind us.

We got close to the large department store, so we jumped off and ran in there, rushing past the customers gathered near the front. They stared at us like we were crazy, but we paid no attention to that. Soon afterwards, several agents ducked in the store after us and a feeling of insanity spread through the store like wildfire. Every patron in the store flew into a panic and ran for their lives. Luckily for us, there were plenty of hiding spots in the large store. We went through the clothing section, ducking and twisting our way through the racks of clothing. Shots fired intermittently above us, but none came close to actually hitting us.

The toy section also provided ample shelter from the rain of bullets, with its long lines of shelves carrying the latest in popular children?s toys. By now, the store was totally evacuated and the police would surely be on their way to the mall, which meant that we would have to get out of there as soon as possible.

?I?ve got an idea,? Maria whispered.

?What is it?? I asked. She whispered in my ear for a few seconds. My first thought was that her plan was completely insane, but I had nothing better to offer, myself, so I chose to go along with her. There was a movable rack of clothing near our hiding place; Maria snuck behind it and I followed suit. We ran along with it for a few feet, our hands clutching the metal tubing of the rack, and we let it fly forward by letting it go. The agents shot at it, causing it to crash into one of the glass cases, but it was enough of a distraction to give us a decent head start out of the store. We ran as fast as our legs could carry us, dodging bullet after bullet, nearly tripping over ourselves a million times over.

Knowing that this would be our only opportunity to escape, Maria and I ran faster than we had ever run in our lives. Bullets ricocheted off the walls, random debris flew in our faces and everything seemed to rush at us at a one thousand miles a second. I had a million thoughts in my mind, and yet I had none at all. I was thinking about everything at once, but I wasn?t really thinking at all. We ran past the hot dog stand, leaping over it and kicking back at it after we landed upon the ground. The stand, which rammed head on into the group of men running after us, proved to be a good distraction enabling us enough time to open the door and get out of the mall.

We ran over to the car, and jumped inside. We scarcely had time to buckle ourselves in, when the glass doors of the mall exploded open with gunfire and the agents came pouring out. I jammed my car key into the ignition, praying that my car would start right away, while agent after agent emerged from the mall in a sea of black suits. The car started up, I let out a cry of joy and pulled out as fast as I could. I turned out of the parking space, the tires of my car squealing and smoking, and drove madly out of the mall?s parking lot and onto the main street.

?Okay, I need to calm myself down,? I muttered to myself, my heart pounding harshly in my chest. ?Just calm down?calm down?calm down??

?We have a few following us right now,? Maria pointed out. I took a quick peek into the rearview mirror. There were about four or five cars tailing us at the moment, and it looked like that was just the beginning of our troubles.

?This is just fantastic,? I growled. ?How are we going to get out of this??

?We?ll just have to find away to get away from them,? Maria said reassuringly, patting my shoulder. ?Somehow.?

?But where will we go?? I asked.

?I don?t know where we?ll go right now,? Maria said. ?But we could always go to your house afterwards.?

?Won?t they be expecting that?? I asked her.

?You live out of the way,? she noted. ?Plus, you know the best route there, and they do not. I think that is the best bet for evading them.? I nodded in reply, filled with new resolve. We were going to escape from these creeps no matter what. I slammed my foot down upon the pedal and my car raced forward, with a slight groan coming from the engine. Mind you, my car is not exactly a Ferrari, but I?ve kept it in decent condition?

---

?What are these tangents you keep going on?? the second man snapped, slamming his fist on the table. ?Who cares about all this? Who cares about your girlfriend asking you questions, who cares about your stupid car?!?

?I care about them,? I replied. ?Which is why I?ll continue to talk about them, so I?d like it if you would stop interrupting me.? The second man glared at me, while the first man rolled his eyes.

?If you want to talk about that crap, then go ahead,? the first man said. ?Just don?t waste too much time on the petty details.?

?They?re not petty details,? I said. ?But, fine, I won?t ?waste too much time? on them, if you wish.?

---

Luckily, the traffic was still sparse at the moment, giving me enough room to swerve from lane to lane without too much fear of getting into an accident. That?s not to say that I wasn?t scared out of my wits, because I was. Every time I turned, I did so with a nervous jerk and wide, frightened eyes. My vision darted from one place to another, from the road ahead of me, to my mirrors and to Maria, who was trying to stay as calm as possible despite our dire situation. She was sitting with her hands folded in her lap, breathing softly and steadily with a look of intense calm on her face. Her grace under fire helped me calm myself down a bit as I continued to maneuver between the cars on the road.

I turned the steering wheel hard and jerked my car over to the far right lane in order to make a turn. As I drifted through the turn, my tire clipped the curb slightly, throwing us off balance a bit. I counter-steered harshly in order to correct this and barely got back control of the car. I looked straight ahead and knew that I had made the wrong decision.

?Hold on tight, Maria,? I warned. She nodded and grabbed hold of the door handle tightly. I turned the wheel sharply and accelerated as fast as possible before roaring down the street. About twenty or so cars had been barreling down both lanes of the street I had just turned onto, and they were now all bearing down on my car. Further complicating matters was the fact that more civilian cars were now driving on the streets, making it that much harder for me to shift my way around the streets and away from our hunters.

Maria shook me on the shoulder. I ignored this, trying to keep my full concentration on the road so that I wouldn?t make any unnecessary mistakes that would lead to our demise. Maria shook my shoulder again, so I addressed her.

?What is it?? I asked nervously. ?I?m trying to pay attention to the road!?

?I think I see a potential escape route,? Maria said.

?Huh?? I asked. Maria pointed ahead. There was a small construction site ahead. The construction workers were working on a building. Near the building was a ramp. The cogs began turning in my head, but there was one niggling problem in the back of my mind.

?What would jumping the ramp do?? I asked Maria. ?They?d still be on our tail.?

?Look further ahead, still,? Maria told me. I looked further ahead and I suddenly got the gist of her plan. Ahead of us, about fifteen or so cars were roaring towards us, the same make as the cars that were coming at us from behind. I now knew exactly what Maria was planning, and though I did not want to go through with it, I knew that it was our only shot at survival. I pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor, loudly revving up the engine. My car?s tires emitted a fresh squeal and I could smell the smoke emanating from the burning rubber. I knew that by the end of this, my car would likely be useless, but none of that mattered to me; I just wanted to [i]live[/i], no matter what.

I continued straight ahead, trying not to give any indication of what I was about to do. If the men who were chasing us had any inkling of what was going to happen, the plan would fail miserably. I narrowed my eyes and gritted my teeth, mentally preparing myself for the leap of faith that I was going to go through. My forehead was damp with sweat and any previous calm that I had been feeling only seconds earlier had all but vanished. Maria reached over and placed her hand upon my shoulder.

?It?s okay,? she said. ?I believe in you.?

At that moment, I turned sharply to my right so that I was in front of the ramp. I barely had enough time to center the car before I was on top of it. The momentum that my car had been carrying was just enough to launch us into the air and just over the horde of cars that had been ready to overtake us. The driver?s stared dumbfounded at us, not realizing that they were still careening forward. Once they recognized the dire danger that they were in, it was too late. Each of the cars that had been chasing after us crashed into each other in a mass of metal and glass. A small explosion rocked the area, but I was far too afraid to look back at the mess that Maria and I had caused. I was close to tears, but Maria?s comforting hand on my shoulder kept me strong. I continued to drive until I made it to my home.

My home was a bit out of the way, as it was in a secluded, forested area of the town, but it was within busing distance of the school, so I did not fret much when I stopped my car and found that my engine was shot. There was no way that I would be able to drive it again. However, I was simply glad to be alive and rid of our chasers, so I let out a relieved sigh, unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed out of the car. Maria had done the same by the time I was out of the car.

?Rough day, huh?? I asked uneasily, trying to bring some humor into the situation. Maria nodded weakly, then embraced me in a tight hug. I felt a large lump in my throat and coughed a bit. Maria let go of me, smiled awkwardly, and started walking towards my house. The relief I had been feeling dissipated slightly, as I felt something wrong, something pricking at me. I then noticed that one of the windows of my house was broken.

?You don?t think??? I asked, more to myself than anyone else. Before Maria could say anything I bolted towards my house, threw open the door and ran inside. The front room was completely empty. Nothing had been moved from its place, no signs of a struggle. I was completely unnerved; something definitely was not right.

?Mom!? I called, cupping my hands around my mouth. ?Dad!? Maria entered the house and started looking around. ?You stay down here and look around, Maria, and I?ll check upstairs.? Maria nodded resolutely and I ran up the stairs. My first instinct was to check my room. I opened my door, expecting some horrible sight, but there was nothing wrong in there. All of my things had been left in their proper place and it was as clean as could be. I closed my door and went into my parent?s room. The quiet ambience was definitely getting to me, and I couldn?t shake the feeling that my troubles were far from over.

I didn?t see anything wrong as I walked into my parent?s room. Their bed was made, their shelves were still in place and their windows were open. However, as I turned around to walk out of the room, I noticed a dark red stain on the floor near their closet. My heart skipped slightly and I extended a shaking hand towards the closet doorknob. I opened the door slowly, and almost fainted dead away when the sunlight streaming in from outside illuminated the sight from within the closet. My parent?s dead bodies had been shoved into the closet. My dad?s shirt was streaked with crimson blood; his throat had been slashed and there was a deep wound in his chest, near his heart. Both of his legs had also been broken. My mom had not fared much better ? her hair was matted with coagulating blood, one of her eyes was missing, and she had a very wide, deep wound in her stomach. Both looked as if they had been dead for a while.

---

I choked up slightly while I was telling this part of the story.

?You sure you want to go on right now?? the first man asked. ?We can stop for a few moments, if you like.?

?No,? I replied. ?I think that if I stopped, I wouldn?t be able to continue later. It would be best if I just pushed through.?

?Your call,? the first man said, handing a lit cigarette to the second man.

---

I dropped to my knees in front of the closet, unable to believe that I was facing reality at that moment. I closed my eyes tightly hoping, praying, that when I opened them that this would prove to have been a simple mirage and that everything was really okay with the world.

Of course, it wasn?t.

I opened my eyes and the dead bodies of my parents were still stuffed in the closet. Tears welled up in my eyes and I buried my head against the floor, sobbing harshly. I heard the sound of someone running up the stairs and then Maria entered the room. She saw the tears streaking my face and looked very confused.

?What?s wrong?? she asked. Then, she turned her gaze towards the closet and let out a short, high-pitched scream. She collapsed on her knees next to me, her hands placed onto the carpet. ?Oh my gosh?I?I don?t know what to say?? At that moment, my sobbing continued, and the dam keeping my tears in broke down and water flowed steadily down my face. I cried for what seemed like an eternity, even though it was only a couple of hours.

I calmed down enough later on in the night to create a makeshift grave for my parents. It made me angry that I would not be able to give them the burial that they deserved, what with the events of the past day weighing down on Maria and me, but I took what I could get. I shoveled the last bit of dirt onto my mother?s grave and patted it down so that it curved into a short, smooth lump. I walked over to the rose bush that grew in front of my house and plucked two roses from the bush, pricking my hand slightly on the thorns. I gathered up the courage to approach their graves without breaking into mass hysterics again, and I placed a rose on each of their graves. I swallowed a lump in my throat and stayed silent, my hands folded in front of me, my eyes closed and my head bowed.

I looked up after my moment of silence and noticed that Maria was looking off to the side at a grove of trees.

?What?s wrong, Maria?? I asked, trying to blink back a fresh batch of tears.

?I thought I saw someone over there,? Maria said, her eyes narrowed.

?Just let it go right now,? I said. ?I don?t really feel like chasing after anyone right now. I just want to go to bed.? Maria appeared discouraged for a few seconds, then nodded.

?Yes, I suppose that?s for the best,? Maria said. ?Um?maybe now is not the best time to ask for a favor, but do you mind if I sleep over tonight??

?No, not at all,? I said. ?I could probably use some company?considering??

?Then it?s settled,? Maria said. ?You?ll probably need someone to drag you to school tomorrow, anyway.? Maria accompanied me to the front door, opened it for me and followed me inside. I trudged slowly up the stairs and into my room.

?You can use my bed if you want,? I said. ?I have no problems with sleeping on the floor.?

?Don?t be silly,? Maria said. ?I couldn?t possibly ask you to sleep on the floor. Just give me a pillow and a blanket, and I?ll be able to sleep.?

?If you want,? I said. I walked over to my closet, opened it up and reached up to the top shelf. I pulled down an extra blanket and pillow and handed them both to Maria. She thanked me and waited until I climbed into bed to fix up her sleeping spot. I turned off the light and pulled my covers close. Maria got up, walked over to my bed and planted a soft kiss on my forehead.

?Hang in there,? Maria said. ?Everything will be okay.? A few seconds later, I drifted off to sleep, forgetting all my troubles, yet remembering them all the same.

[Inuyasha311]

WOW chapter 2 was good I can't wait for chapter 3 good work I think its a great story so far!!!!