#shadowchronicles

Ten Years Later

Brian walked down the stairs of his house to his living room. Elizabeth was sitting on her favorite chair by the window, drinking hot cocoa, and watching the snow fall outside. It was Christmas Eve. Brian and Elizabeth were sharing their first Christmas alone as a married couple.

“Brian, I really miss Kathy,” Elizabeth said, “I know it’s been thirteen years, but I still don’t understand how she just disappeared.” Elizabeth had that sad look in her face again. She rubbed her belly where the two twins Kathy and David had just stirred.

“Elizabeth, it was just her time to go,” Brian said in return, trying to cheer his wife up. “I’m sure she is with the Lord. Perhaps He had a reason to take her without letting her die. I don’t know. I’m sure she is in a better place though.” Brian sat on the floor at Elizabeth’s feet and put his hand on her leg.

It had been ten years since he had killed Cassandra, and Kathy had sent him home with David, Ben, and Eliot, but he still remembered it as if it were yesterday.

“David, Eliot, and Sam are coming over in the morning and bringing their families,” Elizabeth said, and she got that sad look again, and then she said, “Too bad Billy died in that car wreck. Well, I guess it was for the best. Without Kathy he was never the same happy boy we used to hang out with. He was always so distant. As if he was somewhere else. Somewhere we couldn’t go.”

She looked at Brian, and he reached down to his leg and felt the spot where the scar from his fight with Cassandra in Elizabeth’s basement would have been, but the skin there was smooth and unmarked. It was as if it had all been a dream…

Breaking In

Brian called the others into the dining room. They all took seats around the table. Even Cassandra took a seat. Brian sat at the head of the table. When everyone was seated, Brian stood and said, “I have decided to lead an attack on Lord Kavak’s castle.”

There was a strong silence in the room for a long time. Brian looked around at the others, and he noticed that almost everyone had a grim expression. All except for Kathy, who was smiling at him, showing how proud she was that he had finally taken his place as the leader. After a few minutes, David stood and said, “I will be by your side to the end Brian.”

Eliot stood beside his brother and said, “I will follow my brother.”

Then Ben stood and said, “Lord Kavak tried to use my father to take over this world. He will pay for that. Count me in.”

Kathy stood, her smile now gone. “Brian Heartly,” she said, “Your parents died trying to save me. I will protect you to the best of my ability, to repay the favor. Plus I am the only one here that knows how to get into that castle.”

Brian nodded to Kathy, and then he turned to the others and said, “The rest of you must stay here. This is too dangerous, and I can’t risk any of you getting hurt.”

The room exploded in noise as Eliot, David, and Ben objected to Brian not wanting them to go.

“Alright! ALRIGHT!” Brian yelled, “You can all come. But should I tell you to run you are to do so. If I tell you to go back, you do so. I am not going to have any of you getting hurt because of my mission.”

Ben, David, and Eliot all looked at each other with triumphant looks on their faces. Brian put a hand on his face in defeat. Kathy put a hand on Brian’s shoulder, and said, “I’ll help you protect them. I promise.”

Brian pulled his hand away, and said, “Thanks Kathy. This is my mission though, and I am the one that is responsible for everyone’s safety.”

Kathy smiled and said, “Let me share some of the burden. Besides, I have fought Lord Kavak before. I know how he thinks, and what he might do.”

“Alright,” Brian said, and he put his hand on Kathy’s shoulder. “We should probably set out as soon as possible.”

“Why not set out right now,” Cassandra said. Brian and the others had forgotten about Cassandra being in the room. “I packed you all enough food for the journey. You just need to go to the basement and get your equipment.”

“Equipment?” David said.

“Yes,” Cassandra said, “I got together all of the old armor I had left over from the castle I used to live in long ago. It will shrink or grow to fit your bodies perfectly. There are also some weapons down there you may use also.”

“Thanks Cassandra,” Brian said, and he walked over to Cassandra and hugged her. Her whole body tensed when Brian hugged her, but he did not notice. Kathy however noticed, but she did not say anything, because she thought that Cassandra just was not expecting a hug from Brian. Kathy hugged Cassandra next, and then Eliot, David and Ben followed suit.

They walked out of the dining room, through the kitchen and down into the basement. They found the equipment and armor that Cassandra had told them about, and they got suited up. The armor was especially peculiar. It grew and shrank to fit their bodies as Cassandra had said, and it fit them all as snug as a glove. The weapons were also excellent too. Each weapon adjusted its weight and grip to each individual’s touch.

Once they were all suited up with armor and weapons, they turned to Cassandra who was holding a golden silk sack. She smiled when they looked at her, and she reached into the sack and pulled out a beautiful polished helmet that looked like it was made of a pink bronze. There were roses embroidered around the rim of the helmet. There were also small white wings that rose from the temples. Cassandra held it out to Kathy, and Kathy took it. Next Cassandra took out a bright white helmet with citrines around its rim so that it looked like a crown. This helmet also had small wings at the temples, but these were gold. She held it out to Brian and he took it and put it on his head. Immediately, his head felt clear of all distractions. The next helmet was for Eliot, and it was a deep blue with waves engraved around its rim, and small silver wings that looked almost like fins. David’s was golden yellow, with rubies and bronze feathery wings. Ben’s was the most humble of all the helmets. It was a reddish bronze color, with small arrows and black feathery wings.

They each put on their helmets, and they all fit perfectly. “Those helmets will allow you to be instantly transported to any location,” Cassandra said, “All you have to do is think of where you want to be, and start walking and you will be instantly transported there. The helmets have other powers too, but you will know what they are when you need to use them. They are not something I am allowed to divulge. They are for the wearer to know and only for the wearer to know.”

“Okay,” Brian said, “So, to Lord Kavak’s castle?”

Cassandra nodded. Brian turned on the spot, thought of Lord Kavak’s castle and started walking. Darkness enveloped him, and there was an instance of extreme cold, but he did not stop. Brian appeared on a large rock overlooking a large pool of water at the base of a waterfall. There was a concaved wall that was over a hundred feet tall on the other side of the pool. There was a crack that ran from the top of the wall to the base of the wall. There were trees growing all around the waterfall, so Brian assumed that they were in the mountains. Suddenly, Kathy said from behind him, “Do we climb up the waterfall?”

Brian spun around and almost fell into the pool, but Kathy grabbed his hand. Eliot, David, and Ben were standing behind Kathy looking at the pool.

Brian caught his breath, and then he said, “I don’t know what we should do.” He turned back to the waterfall, and then a small voice in his ear said, “Reach in your pocket.” Brian did as the voice said. By this time, he was used to being told what to do by mysterious voices. In his pocket, he felt a smooth ball about the size of his palm. He pulled it out and saw that it was a deep blue glass ball that glimmered although the sky was overcast. Brian saw a shimmer out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw that the crack on the other side of the pool was glowing with the same shade of blue as the ball was. He knew what he must do. He took the ball and threw it straight at the crack. It sank into the crack and sank out of sight. The rock wall started to crumble and fall into the pool. The fallen rock made a sort of bridge. Brian crossed the bridge first, and Kathy and the others followed a few seconds later. When Brian passed through the jagged arch that had been the wall, there were a few moments of ice-cold darkness, and then he emerged into dazzling warm sunlight. Brian shielded his eyes until they adjusted to the sudden light.

When he looked out across the landscape, he saw that they were standing on a cliff hundreds of feet from the ground. Brian looked out and he saw a gigantic castle on the next ridge. It was magnificent. Beautiful white walls and green tiles on the roofs. His mind went into overdrive, as he considered how he could get over to the front gate. The little voice spoke in his ear again, and it said, “Jump and you will land on the other side of the front gate.”

Brian took a few steps back, ran forward and launched himself into the air. He soared through the air, and landed in the grassy, well-kept castle courtyard with a slight thud. A few seconds later, four more thuds joined his own. Brian looked behind him, and he saw the others crouched on the ground in front of the black outer gates.

“Let’s go inside and end this,” Brian said, looking at Kathy.

Kathy nodded, and they headed toward the doors that led into the castle. The door was not barred, so they just walked inside. The walls consisted of white marble, with black marble pillars. The doors were also black

“He must be expecting us,” Kathy said.

ANOTHER MISSION

Brian looked at Kathy in amazement. Cassandra had never asked them to do anything like this before.

"Is she mental?!" Brian shouted, after Kathy finished explaining their new assignment. "She expects us to shift realities, and go to her dark master's castle, break through the barriers around his castle, break in and kill him?!"

"Yeah," Kathy said, "Isn't this exciting?"

"Kathy," Brian said, almost at the breaking point, "Have you gone mental as well?"

"No," Kathy said, with a smile on her face, "We'll have help, and in case you have forgotten, you can't die; not in this dimension. You can only die in your own dimension. Plus, you will have all kinds of power-ups."

Kathy smiled, but Brian looked at her as if she were insane. "Power-ups?!" Brian said, "Kathy, you aren't making any sense. I'm not supposed to be here. In fact, the last time I left, you got left behind. I'm sorry for freaking out, but all this seems a little insane. How are we supposed to shift realities, anyway?! The only times that I have ever shifted realities, was purely by mistake."

"Your sword," Kathy said, smiling, and when Brian acted as if he didn't understand, she went on to explain, "Your sword is enveloped in magic. Why do you think it was in that cave? You put it there, over a hundred years ago, but before you went back there, you traveled back here and told me that you were placing it there, so that you could find it later, and use it to save the world. You told me that you had put enchantments on it, which would make it powerful enough to kill the dark king. Even though you had come from the future, you looked as young as you do now."

Brian looked at her in amazement, and he let it all sink in, and then he asked, "Then how did Cassandra know where to send me?"

"When she knocked me out, she must have accidentally looked at my memories."

"How did she do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe something about the physical contact. Maybe that was at the tip of my thoughts when she touched me, and somehow it got transferred to her."

"That's just weird," Ben said.

"Welcome to my world," Kathy said.

Brian looked at her with a confused expression, because he sensed a hidden meaning in her words. "What do you mean by 'my world'?"

"I wasn't born in your world," Kathy explained, "I was born here, and when my parents were killed by the dark master, I decided to take my revenge. I was nineteen at the time and as I was fighting him, I somehow got sucked into your world. When I arrived in your world, I noticed that I was in a younger person's body, so I made some living models to be my parents, to convince the people of your world that I was a regular human. I couldn't let anyone know that I had special powers. Over my life here, I have learned to use every part of my brain.

"To tell the truth, you and I, Brian, are actually related."

Brian's face froze in confusion, and then he said, "Then am I from this world, too?"

"No, actually. Your great, great grandparents found this realm, by accident, and then one of their sons and his wife, decided to stay in this realm, to make sure that the darkness didn't escape. They were my real parents. They found that they didn't age in this realm, and they also found out that they were stronger here, but they weren't quite strong enough. They tried to destroy the dark king, and they were defeated. So, that's the story of my life."

Brian, David, Ben and Kathy sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Kathy broke the silence: "I'm afraid that I have another confession to make. The night that I arrived in your realm, I landed right in front of your parent's car. Brian, they died trying not to kill me. I think that the Dark Lord wanted me to appear right in front of them, so that they would wreck and die. I think he thought that if they died, then you would never have the strength to defeat him; the strength that you could only get from your parents. I think that they passed their powers on to you shortly after you were born, because when I first met you, I could see your power. You have the power of the ancestors."

Brian snorted. "That sounds like some sort of Indian thing."

"This isn't a joke, Brian! This is serious," Kathy exclaimed. "You are the only one that can defeat the Dark Lord, and bring peace back to this world."

“Where did he come from anyway?” David said. “I thought he was banished from this world a long time ago.”

“He was,” Kathy said. “He was banished into the mind of a boy named Jacob Faber.”

REUNION AND ANSWERS

Brian ran over to Kathy's lifeless body. David was right about her hair, which now only reached down to the top of her neck, whereas it used to reach down past her shoulders.

"It's definitely her," Brian said, as he gazed down at her.

Ben walked over, and when he looked at Kathy, he said, "Is she dead?"

"No," Brian said, "She's just in a very deep sleep."

"How do we wake her up?"

"We have to get Cassandra to do that."

"How," David asked.

"When I see her, I'll know," Brian said.

Just then, the TV flickered into life, and Cassandra's head appeared on the screen. "Brian," Cassandra's head said, "I know you're there. The only way that you will be able to wake your friends, is by completing one small task for me."

"What are we supposed to do?" Brian said.

The TV seemed to hear him, and it said, "You have to retrieve something for me. It is a time piece, which keeps time by the hour, but don't drop it, or it will shatter, and spill its dry blood all over the floor."

"An hourglass?"

"Not just an hourglass; the Hourglass of Time. You will find it in the depths of a cave in Germany. I find the quickest way to travel, is by television."

The TV switched off, and Brian, Ben, and David stood there, gaping at the TV screen.

"How do we travel by television?" Ben asked.

"A few years ago," David said, "We actually had to live a game, inside this very TV."

Ben looked amazed at David. "You mean to tell me that you actually went inside the TV and lived a game?"

David nodded.

"So how do we get to Germany by traveling by television?"

"We need to find a channel that is having a special on Germany," Brian said, as he walked over to the TV. He pushed the power button, and the TV came to life. On the screen was 'Teutoburger Forest', and a man was talking in English about the forest. "In the middle of the forest," the man was saying, "There is a cave that many of the local people consider to be haunted by evil spirits." The screen switched to the mouth of the cave, which was in the side of a hill. The cave was called 'the haunted cave'. Brian immediately reached out and touched the TV screen. He was sucked into the TV, and a few seconds later, he was lying on the ground at the mouth of the cave. A few seconds later, Ben and David landed beside him. They got to their feet, and they looked into the cave.

"Let's go," Brian said.

"How far in do we have to go?" David asked.

"The hourglass is at the edge of the black lake. I don't know how far in that is."

"Well then," Ben said, "Let's get going. This place gives me the creeps. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

They walked into the cave. It was dark and damp, and the ceiling was riddled with holes. They walked for about thirty minutes, before they got to the lake. In the lake room, there was only one hole, right above the center of the lake. The light that came in from the hole didn't do much in lighting up the room. Brian could just barely make out the path that went all around the lake, and he could see a slight shimmer on the opposite side, as if there were something over there.

"Do you see that?" Brian said, indicating the shimmer.

"Yeah," David said. "Let's go see what it is."

They slowly made their way around the lake. When they got to the opposite side, they could see the hourglass and three swords lying on the ground. Above the swords and hourglass, there was a piece of paper that read: 'Brian, I thought that you might like to have an old friend back, and I also have gotten some new friends for David and Ben, Sincerely, Cassandra. "These are for us," Brian said, indicating the swords. David and Ben gawked at the swords, and then they each picked up their swords, and Brian took the hourglass.

"Let's get out of here," Ben said.

"I agree," Brian said.

They made their way back around the black lake, and out of the cave. When they were out of the cave, David voiced the question that was on Brian's mind: "How do we get back to Cassandra's?"

"I don't know," Brian said. He turned around, and he noticed that there was a TV sitting by the mouth of the cave. He walked over to it, and he touched the screen. Immediately, he was spinning through nothingness, and then he came to a halt, standing beside Ben and David. Ben and David were holding their swords, and Brian was holding his sword and the hourglass. Kathy and Eliot were still lying on the floor, unconscious.

"Well," Ben said, "That was easy."

"Yeah," David said, "Too easy. Are you sure that that was all that we were supposed to do?"

"That's what Cassandra told us to do," Brian said. "Let's go upstairs and see if she's here. Cassandra is a woman of her word. She wouldn't just leave Kathy and Eliot here. She would want to be here to revive them, when we got back."

They walked over to the stairs, and they ran upstairs, and into the kitchen. The kitchen was in complete disarray, and there were claw marks on the cabinet doors. Brian walked up to a cabinet, and he examined the claw marks.

"These look like squirrel marks," Brian said. He cautiously opened one of the doors, and out jumped a slimy, gray, squirrel-looking creature. The creature was about the size of a cat, it had sharp claws, long teeth, a long whip-like tail, and no hair. The creature looked at Brian and it hissed so threateningly that without a second thought, Brian chopped off the creature's head with one swipe of his sword. The creature’s body writhed on the floor, and then it went limp.

"That was easy," Brian said as he stooped down to examine the dead creature.

"Do you think that there are more?" David said.

"I don't know. Let's search the rest of these cabinets; just to be safe."

They opened the rest of the cabinets.

"Ah!" Ben yelled. Brian and David spun around, just in time to see Ben stab at something inside the cabinet, only to bring out his sword, with a cereal box stuck to the end of it. "False alarm," Ben said, shakily. They continued looking in the cabinets, but all they found were pots, pans, bowls, plates, and such things.

When they were finished looking, David said, "Well, I guess that that thing was the only one in this room of the house."

"Yeah," Brian said, "Let's go search the rest of the house."

They left the kitchen, and they went into the foyer. No sooner were they in the foyer, than a door upstairs slammed shut with a bang.

Brian's head jerked towards the source of the sound. He turned his head so fast, that he almost broke his neck, and it was sore for the next two hours. "Ouch," Brian said, as he rubbed the back of his neck, "What do you think that was? Do you think that was Cassandra, or do you think that was another one of those squirrel things?"

"I don't know," David said, "Let's go check it out."

They ran up the stairs. Only one of the doors was shut. "Gee," Brian said, "I wonder which door could have slammed shut."

Brian walked over to the door, and as he did so, he noticed that this door led to the chair room. A shiver ran down his spine, when this thought occurred to him. He walked up to the door, it won't be unlocked. He turned the doorknob and the door swung open slowly. This sent another chill down his spine, but he walked into the room nevertheless. The room was ice cold. Their breath crystallized in the air, when they breathed. There was a cold blue light coming through the window, which reminded Brian of ghosts. The room was once again furnished with the single chair set in front of the closet, but now there was frost on the arms and back of the chair. The cold air seemed to be coming from the closet, which was standing wide open. Brian looked into the closet, and what he saw confused him. He was looking at the top of Mount Everest.

"What's this," Ben said, “Is this another mission?"

"I have no clue," Brian replied, but as he looked at the mountain, something occurred to him: he wasn't cold. Not in the least bit. In fact, he felt quiet warm, but still, his breath was crystallizing in the air, when he breathed. "I think I know what we have to do. I'll go first."

"What?!" David said, "You mean to tell me that we have to walk into the closet? Where will it take us?"

"Nowhere that anything will be able to harm us," Brian replied. He put his hand on David’s shoulder, and he looked him in the eyes, trust me, Brian's eyes said. He faced the closet, and he walked straight in. There was a very short moment of agonizing pain from the sudden cold, but it was only for a moment. When he got across the threshold of the closet, he found himself in the basement. Cassandra was standing beside Kathy's lifeless body, smiling, and looking just as beautiful as ever. When Brian stepped into the basement, she walked over to him, and hugged him, like he was an old friend that she hadn't seen in over ten years. She didn't let him go, until David walked into the basement, and she hugged him too. When Ben walked in, Cassandra shook hands with him, as if to welcome him graciously to her home, and then she hugged him as well.

Brian looked at Cassandra, and he asked in a cold voice, "What do you want with us? Do you have another mission for us? or are you going to wake Kathy up and let us leave?"

"I am going to wake her up, but then the four of you must do something else for me," Cassandra said, "She already knows what it is that I want you to do, so I will let her explain it to you, when I wake her up." Cassandra waved her hand at Kathy, and she started to move, as though she were waking up. Cassandra turned to the stairs, and started climbing them. She was gone before Brian could call her back.

THE LAKE HOUSE

Ben, Brian, and David walked all day, and by sunset, the tracks turned to the left, along a narrow path. They turned onto the path, and before long, they came upon a large hollow. In the middle of the hollow, there was a two-story white house. This was the house that belonged to Lady Cassandra.

Brian looked up at the house in horror. Brian recognized the house immediately, and some questions started bouncing around in his mind. How did this house get here? If the house was here, then was Cassandra here?

“Do you think that they have Eliot and Chris?” David said.

“I don’t know,” Brian replied.

“What should we do,” Ben asked, “Do we go inside?”

At these words, the door swung slowly open, as if to invite them in.

“I think that if we are to save Eliot and Chris, then we will have to go inside,” Brian said.

They walked up the steps, and into the house. Brian noticed that the house looked exactly as he remembered it. It looked brand new. Just like it had, when Brian had set foot in it last. There were two doors; one to the left, and one to the right. The door to the right led to the kitchen, and the door to the left led to a dining room. In the middle of the foyer, there was a flight of stairs that led to the upper level.

“Last time, we had to go upstairs, and into a room with a chair in the middle of it,” Brian said.

“Didn’t you say that this house looked old when you first found it?” David said.

“Yeah,” Brian said.

“I have no clue, whatsoever what you two are talking about,” Ben said.

Brian and David realized that they had never told Ben of their adventure in the other world. “Sorry,” Brian said, “We’ll fill you in, when we get back out of this place.”

“So . . . where to?” Ben asked.

“Upstairs, to the chair room.”

They ran up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, they turned right. The room that used to have the chair in the middle of it now looked quite different. Instead of a chair in the middle of the room, there was a rug that almost reached all the way across the room. There were pictures on the walls now; pictures of colorful landscapes. There was a full sized bed with a lace bedspread, against one wall. The walls were painted sunshine yellow, and it did not look like it did the first time that Brian had been in here.

“Wow,” Brian said.

“What,” David asked.

“This room doesn’t look a thing like it did the last time that I saw it.”

“Well, I guess that Cassandra still wants her house to look inviting.”

“Yeah.”

“What are you two talking about,” Ben asked.

Brian and David looked at Ben, with surprise. Then they realized, once again, that Ben had not been here last time.

“Don’t worry,” David said, “I promise that we’ll fill you in, when we get out of here.”

“Last time, we had to walk into the empty closet,” Brian said.

They walked over to the closet, and Brian opened it. It did not look like he had thought it would. Instead, there were clothes hanging in there.

“Oh, well,” Brian said, “We could always look in all of the other closets; who knows, we could get lucky.”

“Okay,” Ben and David said together.

They went out of the room. When they got out of the room, a door slammed downstairs.

Without a word, they all ran downstairs, and into the kitchen.

"I think that this is the place where the door slammed," Brian said, as he strode over to the basement door. He wrenched the door open, and a foul smell wafted out of the doorway.

Coughing and gasping, David said, "Close that door, before we choke to death."

Brian slammed the door shut. "This is definitely the door that was slammed," Brian said.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, this is definitely the right door," Brian replied. "I recognized the sound. Whoever's down there, they have something dead down there with them."

"There's something dead down there," David said.

"I don't think that I've ever smelled anything that bad," Ben said. "Are you sure that who we're looking for is down there?"

"Yes," Brian said.

"How?"

"I have a really strong feeling."

Without another word, Brian walked over to the drawer that had napkins in it, he took out three napkins, and he handed David and Ben both one and he kept one for himself. They all covered their mouths, and Brian opened the door. The napkins didn't help much. The smell was horrible. Brian gagged, and he thought that he was going to pass out. They started walking down the stairs, and suddenly, Brian noticed that the awful smell was gone. He turned around, and he saw what was left of a dead squirrel (that is, what the maggots hadn't already eaten) nailed to the ceiling. At the sight of the squirrel, he felt a new wave of nausea flood over him. Brian heard something pouring onto the stairs, and he turned around to see that David had puked all over the stairs.

"Sorry," David said, as he mopped his face clean. His face was very pale.

"That was obviously meant to keep people out," Brian said. He turned to David, and he said, "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, just as long as I don't look at that squirrel again."

They walked the rest of the way down the stairs, and when they got to the bottom of the steps, they noticed that the room was very dimly lit. The room was the size of the dining room, and along one wall, there were shelves, which were packed with games. On another wall, there was a huge theater-sized TV. The floor was concrete, and so were the bare walls. There were two people lying on the floor. David ran over to the two figures, and he shouted, "Its Eliot!"

"Great," Brian said, "Who's the other one?"

THE RETURN OF DANGER

David ran to Eliot and Chris. Brian, however, walked over to the cabinets that were over the counter. Written on the cabinet doors, in drying blood was “Lady Cassandra and the Master are back.”

“This can’t be happening,” Brian whispered.

“What did you . . .” but that was as far as David got. The words died in his throat. “This is not good. I thought that we stopped them.”

“So did I. I wish that Kathy and John hadn’t started this whole mess.” Brian said.

“What are you talking about ‘Kathy and John’? Eliot and I started all of this.”

“You and I would have never met, if John hadn’t asked Eliot and me to help stop Cassandra and the Master. Also, Eliot and I wouldn’t be in this dimension, if Kathy and Billy hadn’t stayed in the other dimension.”

“But Billy was at Elizabeth’s house when I came back.”

“The Billy from the other dimension was pretty much just like Billy’s personality. He wasn’t chosen to be in the other dimension. The only reason that you saw Billy, Eliot, and Sam in the other dimension, was because the other dimension was made to be like this world, so if someone is alive in this dimension, then they will be in that dimension. The same with dead people.”

“So who created the other dimension?”

“We have been led to believe that Cassandra and the Master started that dimension, but there is also evidence that that dimension has been around since the beginning of time.”

“So just when did you two get sucked into the other dimension?”

“We were taken three years ago, yesterday. Eliot doesn’t remember anything that’s happened in the last three years in this dimension.”

“Why not?”

“Because he hit his head on the way back to this dimension, and he lost all of his memory about this world through the last three years.”

Brian and David walked into the living room, and they sat down on the couch.

“And just how did I get back. You two came back of your own free will, but Kathy made me come back,” Brian said.

“That,” David said, “We haven’t figured out yet.”

“Great,” Brian said.

Just then, there was a loud BANG in the back yard. Brian and David ran to the back door. They threw the door open, and they ran out onto the back porch. They were just in time to see two dark figures disappear into the night sky, flying out along the lake.

“If they’re really back,” David said, “Then Eliot should have his memory back in about a week; when the moon becomes full.”

They stood there for about twenty minutes. When they turned back around, Eliot and Chris were gone.

“They took them,” David said, “They took them, so that they can test us again.

8

DINNER

After an hour of walking, they were back at Cassandra’s house.

Once they got into the clearing, they saw Cassandra standing in the doorway of the house, beckoning them into the house. They walked up to the front door of the house, and when they got there, Elizabeth said, "I thought that you wanted us to come back in a week to have dinner with you."

"Well," Cassandra said, "When you left, I started feeling lonely, so I decided to call on you. I hope you don't mind. I've already got everything ready, and I would rather it not go to waste."

At that moment, they all realized that they were all starving. "I'm starving," Kathy said, and the others agreed with her.

"Well then," Cassandra said, "Follow me." They followed Cassandra into the dining room, where there was a long table, heavily laden with food. They each took a seat, and then Brian noticed that there were two empty seats, but he did not comment.

"I have one more guest coming," Cassandra said, "But I don't think he will be here for a few more hours. Well, dig in."

They didn't need telling twice. They each grabbed some food and started eating. Cassandra struck up a conversation, and before long they were all talking and laughing. They talked about things they had done, things they had seen, and things they wished they could do.

Through most of the conversation, Cassandra was silent, preferring to listen to the others talk, than talk herself. After a while, the conversation died down, so Cassandra started telling them about herself. She told them that she used to be a servant in a dark castle, but she escaped from there, and came to this dimension, but when she escaped she was punished with ugliness, and when she got to this dimension, she started making herself at home in an abandoned house. That was when Brian and his gang came into the story.

"If we would have known you had escaped from a castle, we never would have bothered you," Brian said.

Cassandra smiled. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known that I lived here. This house was abandoned when I found it. You would have been curious of course."

By this point, everyone had finished eating, and Cassandra turned to Kathy and said, "Kathy, dear, I know how much you enjoy playing video games. I’ve moved the videogames and the television into the basement. You may go down and Play a game, if you should like."

"Really!?" Kathy exclaimed.

Cassandra smiled, and said, "Yes."

Kathy jumped up from the table, and when she reached the dining room doorway, Cassandra called, "Kathy!" Kathy turned around. "Whatever you do, don't touch the TV screen."

Kathy had a puzzled look on her face, and she said, "Got it," and then she took off toward the basement.

"What will happen to Kathy if she touches the TV screen?" Elizabeth said.

"She will be sucked into whatever movie, show, or game is playing," Cassandra explained with a smile.

A few seconds later, they heard a scream from the basement, and they all jumped up and ran off toward the basement.

When they saw the TV, they noticed a forest scene on the screen, and a group of people gathering around a girl (Kathy) lying on the ground.

They all stood there and stared at the screen for a moment in wonder, and then Eliot said, “How do we get her back out?”

“You have to go in after her," Cassandra said.

They all looked at her as if she were insane.

Just then the doorbell rang, and Cassandra said, “That will be my other guest. You all get ready to go into the game, I’ll get the door.”

Cassandra ran up the stairs, and out of site.

“We need to plan how to save Kathy,” Elizabeth said, and then she picked up the game box and started to read the description of the game to herself.

Just then, Cassandra came down the stairs, with a short blonde boy walking beside her, and she said, “You shall have some help saving Kathy.”

6

THE RESCUE COMPLETED

As they approached the next room, they heard a voice from inside: “. . . your friends will never come for you.”

“You're wrong!” Eliot said, as they burst through the door.

What they saw was astounding. Instead of the ugly creature, there was a beautiful woman, standing over Sam, who was sitting in front of a large TV, playing a video game. The room was very elegant and bright, with big armchairs sitting in a circle in the middle of the room. The lady turned to face them, when they came through the door. The lady was wearing an emerald green dress that covered her feet. She had golden blonde hair, and her nails were painted blood red. The lady smiled at them, and she beckoned them forward. "I was just telling Sam that you might never come for him. You took such an awful long time." The lady's voice sounded like music, and it was almost hypnotizing.

“You are so beautiful!” Elizabeth said.

“Why thank you,” the lady said, blushing, "I was going to ask for Sam's help earlier, but I was under orders then."

“What orders?” Brian asked.

“Orders from my master . . . the lord of the dark realm,” the lady said.

"Why do you need Sam to play a video game for you," Kathy said.

"Well," the lady said, "I wanted to test his skill."

"Why didn't you get one of us to do it?" Brian asked.

"Well, I've already tested you. I've tested all of you in different ways, but you didn't even know about it. Oh, how rude of me. I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Cassandra."

Cassandra shook hands with Brian, Eliot, Kathy and Elizabeth, and then they all stood in silence, and watched as Sam played the game. Sam played for about twenty, and then, 'The End' flashed on the screen, and there were cheering sounds coming from the TV.

"You may leave if you like, but please come back by sometime and stay for dinner," Cassandra said.

"Okay," Brian said. "We'll come back in a few days."

Cassandra walked over to Brian, and she hugged him. She then hugged Sam, Eliot, Kathy, and Elizabeth. They said goodbye, and they walked out of the house, and down the path that led back to Brian's house.

On their way out of the woods, Brian tripped over a root that was sticking out of the ground, and he passed out before he hit the ground.

Brian awoke on his bed in his room.

Elizabeth was asleep in a chair beside the bed. Brian looked over at her, and then he gently shook her, and she woke. Once she was awake, she looked around a few times, and then she looked at Brian, and said, “The doctor told you to sleep.”

“What happened?” Brian asked.

“You fell down the stairs a few days ago,” Elizabeth replied, “Don't you remember?”

“No,” Brian replied, 'it was just a nightmare, then,' he thought to himself.

Elizabeth told him everything that had happened to him after he had fallen down the stairs. When she finished, he suddenly remembered everything, as if it had just happened. He even remembered talking to Elizabeth for the last three days. Then, he got out of bed, amidst Elizabeth's complaints that he should stay in bed and rest, and then he went downstairs to see the others.

The day after Brian woke up in his bed at his house, he went back to school. During the last study hall of the day, he wrote down all that had happened in his dream. After school, they went to Elizabeth's house, which was their other main meeting place. When they got there, he gave the sheets of paper to Sam, who read them and passed them on to Elizabeth, who passed them to Billy, and then the papers went to Kathy, who took them thankfully, because she was very anxious to read it.

After Kathy read what Brian had written, she said, "It makes me look like an idiot. Is that the way you see me?"

"No way," Brian said.

Just then, Sam said, "I sure do." Kathy gave Sam a death stare, and Sam ran out of the room and Kathy followed, slamming the door behind her. Elizabeth opened the door, stuck her head out, and yelled, “Have fun, you two!”

“Should we go after them,” Billy asked, with a hint of concern in his voice.

“They'll be back,” Elizabeth said, “But you can go if you want to.”

“No thanks,” Billy said.

Thirty minutes later, they did in fact come back, with Sam in the lead, and Kathy twisting his arm behind his back.

“Kathy,” Elizabeth said, “Let go of his arm!”