Hey all! I know that I said I wouldn't be able to be as active as I have been, but I still can sneak onto the computer to post up my story as it moves along.
So, having looked back and seeing that I haven't really added to the story for over two weeks, I felt bad. So, I made sure that I had the enxt chapter ready to go, hence, here it is! I've been brainstorming a lot, Red, don't worry! >.<
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Chapter 10: Knowing Almost Everything
John opened the door and walked into his dark house. Alone in the house, he started to head for the stairs carefully; the only light helping him make his way safely was the clock blinking “10:00” every other second. Catching himself from tripping on the last step, he crawled into his room. “
Great, I guess I’m the only guy that can say that I almost fell up stairs…”
He leaped onto his bed, not bothering to change his clothes or wash his face. His head burrowed into the white pillow while his legs found the sheets by the end of the bed. He felt like he had no control of what was happening, just his body acting for him. The only thing he could do was think of that night and feel the steady pulses coming from his nightstand drawer. He couldn’t feel anything other than those two things, and as the night went on, the Vibes seemed to drown as he focused more on Lauren. He tried to brush it off and get some rest, but his thoughts still wrapped around Lauren, and they weren’t ready to let it go. “
…Poor girl…I wish there was something I could do for her than just talk about it…I mean, what good is that when it doesn’t solve anything…”
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“Well, it seems like someone got a good night’s sleep.” Ross snickered at his own satirical joke as John went to sit down next to him in the cafeteria. John had overslept, leaving no time to neaten up or have breakfast. Ross reached into his bag and pulled out bagel. “Here. Have this.” He tossed it to John, who dropped it trying to stay alert.
“I thought you couldn’t read my Vibes anymore!”
“I know I can’t. Your stomach’s growling at me…”
“Good morning, everyone!” Sarah sat down next to John, her voice sounding the usual overjoyed, high pitched cheer when she was in public. She looked over to John, noticing the messy hair and circles under his eyes. “Jeez, you don’t look too good…You okay?”
“Terrific.” John had caught Ross’ disease of sarcasm as he bit into the fresh bagel that was thrown at him. “I had a hard time getting to sleep last night.”
“Stayed up too late with Lauren last night?” Ross howled in hysterics, finding too much amusement from his pathetic innuendo. When he realized no one was joining in on his fun, he quieted down, feeling slightly out of place. “Fine, ruin the mood. I’ll be in 109. Gotta do some things before the big day…” He picked up his bag and headed out. Sarah shook her head in slight disappointment, but focused back on John.
“Let me guess: without Ross’ stupid innuendo, it’s the truth?”
“Yeah…I just couldn’t help it last night…I just feel bad, that’s all…”
“Ah, well, cheer up. She’s a strong girl. She can handle it. After all, she has been handling it fine for a while now. I’m sure she’ll come around.”
“Hey guys…” A weak voice was followed by Lauren’s presence as she sat down across from them. Her energy was completely gone, opposed to her usual state of mind. Sarah put her head on her hand, her arm supporting her weight, and muttered under her breath:
“…Well, maybe not this soon…” She directed her attention to Lauren. “Hey, hun! How’s it all going?”
“Just fine.” A small silence fell afterwards, making Sarah want to fill in the blanks.
“…You had a good night’s sleep?”
“Yup. Just fine, thanks.” The same silence fell over them, making both Sarah and John wondering what to do now.
“Well, I’ve got to fill John in on a few things…You know, the usual newbie stuff…” No response had followed. “…Aw, c’mon, cheer up! Everything is fine…And think of it like this: In two days, you’ll be away from here, just surrounded by your friends and beating up a bunch of people…Just like old times, right?”
“Sure, of course…” She sighed, and plopped her head onto her arms that were resting on top of the table.
“…Well, I better go and show him the ropes…You just hang tight, alright? I’ll come back for you in a few…” She tugged at John’s arm, and they both left her there on her own. John looked back to see if she had moved at all, maybe looking up at them to see if they were looking at her, but she hadn’t moved an inch. He looked towards the other side of the cafeteria to see Todd making his way to the table. He didn’t feel too bad leaving her with him. “
It’s better than being alone, I guess…”
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Sarah had reached Room 109 in a hurry. John followed in a few seconds to just barely here Sarah yelling at Ross to get out of the room.
“Oh yeah? And what for?”
“Because all you’re doing is sleeping here! I actually need it to tell John what to do when the time comes!”
“Aw, c’mon! He gets to know before us?! That’s just cruel!”
“GO!” Ross rushed out of the room, fearing for his life in case if Sarah really was angered by him. Sarah took a deep breath and let it all out. Her eyes were slightly faded than her usual piercing blue color, almost giving the impression that they were grey. “I’m not mad at you, John. You can stop feeling defensive.”
“…How come everyone can read me!? I CAN READ VIBES, TOO!”
“…No need to get angry…you just looked offset…sorry that I overanalyzed…” John walked towards Sarah and put a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay…I guess we’re all not in the best shape today.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.” She turned to face him, noticing that his eyes were giving off their emerald glow. “But anyway, I do need to talk to you about the plan…but you need to keep it a secret from everyone...understand?” John nodded, and Sarah took another deep breath. “Before I tell you everything, I need to ask you…Have you ever doubted me ever since I first told about the war?’
“What? Well…I did doubt that there was actually a war…but you convinced me otherwise…” John had no idea what to expect from her now. “
…Is there something that I should suspect?”
“Well, now I need your trust and loyalty more than ever. Do you think you could give me that?”
“Of course!”
“Good…”
“I guess that settles that…so I hope…” She walked over to the window and gazed at the clouds moving towards the sun. “…So, here’s the plan then. In a nutshell, you will be ahead of the front lines…literally.”
“Wait…wouldn’t that make me the front line then?”
“Well, they won’t know that, but you will. This plan is only meant for your ears. If they know about it, then it could alter the results I’m looking for. Understand?”
“Yeah, I suppose so…”
“Great, so here’s what you’re going to do. You will be our distraction while the others are fighting in the neutral zone. You will be behind enemy lines, infiltrating their headquarters in hopes of retrieving something for us. You see, usually there isn’t too much of a goal for us to chase after, so typically we try to steal from each other vital artifacts and the likes to try to show that we’re the dominant force. What we need you to do is locate them and cause some type of a distraction that will force them to focus on their headquarters.”
“…But don’t we want them spread out and be disconnected? I mean, I don’t mean to shoot down your plan, but wouldn’t it make more sense to get them completely spread out?”
“Well, if we follow your plan, they can still regroup, and possibly faster than we can. However, if we follow my plan, then we gain more territory, thereby protecting our land while keeping pressure on them at the same time.” Sarah began to show a smile as she continued to ramble on. “If we can get them to feel so pressure that they have no choice but to attack us, then a few of us can slip by and help you out. If we can be reunited inside of their headquarters, then we have practically won. I don’t think they would stand a chance of protecting an inside threat and an outside threat at the same time!” She gave off an overjoyed sigh, feeling like she had just accomplished something that no one has ever done before. “So, are you in?”
John’s mind was racing with many different feelings.
“This is genius! ...But wait, what if I’m caught before I can meet them up, or worse: What if I get killed in there!...But Sarah’s depending on me…no, everyone is…I can’t let them all down…” John gave a final nod of approval, and Sarah leaped into the air.
“Yes! I knew I could count on you!” She raced over to him and squeezed him into a hug. “Thank you so much! We can finally win!”
John tried to push her away to breathe. “That’s…great…no…problem…” Sarah finally released him, her mouth stretching one of the biggest smiles John had ever seen. “But there’s one problem…how am I going to defend myself?”
Sarah calmed down and her smile slumped back into its normal look. “Hmmm…well, if I remember correctly, Todd said he’d help out…”
“Todd?...Oh wait! The sword?!”
“Well, yes…” John imitated Sarah’s ecstatic jump for joy, finally getting to learn how to handle a sword at last. “…well, you can’t use one.” John froze in midair, crashing down to the ground, shocked by her tease.
“What!? You just said that I was!...”“Don’t worry, you’ll get to use one…you just can’t go in with one. If they happen to see you, and you have a sword, then they’ll pick you off immediately. You’ll have to get one from within their headquarters.”
“Alright, understood…I guess…”
“Good. Now, Todd will meet up with you later today for your final day of training, and then you can take tomorrow off. Just be sure that you don’t say a word to anyone about this, got it?” John opened his mouth, but he was cut off. “Good. You’re dismissed. Go and talk with Todd to find out exactly what time you two will begin.”
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I need to finish some things up. You go ahead and run along.”
“…Alright…See you later!” He bolted out of the room, excited that he was going to start his sword training. Sarah remained in the room, looking out the window into the partly cloudy sky. The sun was hiding behind a cloud at that moment, but the light still shined in the blue sky.
“As long as he doesn’t know what’s at stake, nothing will go wrong…I feel bad for not telling him everything, but again, no one can know the whole plan…This is a huge risk I’m taking. I could lose everything in one battle…John had better prove to be obedient, or we’re all screwed…” A small ladybug drew her attention away from her gaze, crawling slowly up the window. Sarah held out her finger to let the ladybug crawl onto it, but the bug flew away, sensing a lot of tension in Sarah.
“Hmm…I wonder if ladybugs can feel Vibes, too…”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you all enjoyed it! Have a great Easter for those of you that celebrate it, and I will try to be back online soon!
P.S. to Thalia: Yes, I know some grammer issues are here, but that's just because I usually write it all up on a first impulse. I find that if I take too much time to edit it, then the meaning that I'm trying to portray gets lost in translation. So, in one big summary: I'm afraid to completely edit it.
Oh well, I am trying harder to remember! Thanks for your criticism!