A Journey To The Clouds, History Of Heros - Book Three -

Chapter Four

No. This cannot be happening. Instead of on a quest to defeat the enemy, we are now the prisoners of our enemy. I sigh as I slump against the door. Ally and Melinda trot over and sit by me while Connor moves to keep watch by the window.

"Guys, they're coming to the door," he warns quietly. We all become silent.

I cup my palm on my ear and place it gently on the old rusty flooring of the attic. Footsteps. We scramble away from it and lay on the ground where we were when we woke up. A few seconds later, the door jiggles roughly before it cracks open.

"We need the boy downstairs. Now," One of them growls at us and Connor stands up, looking scared and frightened. He trembles as he walks forward and out the door. His footsteps echo through the hall before they slowly fade away.

A few minutes go by. They then turn to hours.

Conner ends up not coming back up.

Melinda gets called down a few moments later from a gruff voice down the hall.

She ends up not coming back either.

What's going on? I ask myself.

Ally and I huddle closely. I can tell she wonders the same thing.

"Do you know what's happening?" I whisper. Ally looks at me with a hard look.

"No, but I am sure I know who took us here."

"Who?"

Ally looks at me, her eyes glistening with fear.

"The Crew Of Doom."

For the next few minutes, Ally tells me about the Crew Of Doom.

And when I say everything, I mean everything.

Her list included their destruction, the kidnapping of their mothers, the fairies and mermaids, the potential demonizing possession of Ally and Connor's mothers, and much more. She also includes the tale of how the Crew Of Doom even came to be.

Long story short, an unhuman- like boy found a group of cyclops on a journey and befriended them. It seemed unnatural to him, considering the fact that he was humanly trained by a kingdom who took him in when he was young.

He persuaded the whole village where the boy was from and with time, they all turned evil. They concocted a potion to turn the humans into cyclops and giants and apparently it worked. Now their final plan is to take over the world.

My nervousness turned into fright in just a fraction of a second. Right now, Melinda and Connor's lives could be in danger. Right now, they could be possessed, beaten, or locked away someplace. It's scary to think about.

Just then, a dreaded moment arrives when a scruffy, giant body bursts through the wooden door of the room.

"Allison Green. Lord Asher would like to kill- I mean torture you. Did I say kill? I apologize." He mocks. A tuft of hair on his head roughly gets pulled back with his large, meaty hand.

He doesn't sound sorry at all.

"Torture?" Ally asks shakilly.

"You heard what I said. Torture. You either get up, or stay here, sure to starve yourself or meet your end the hard way. Then, I'll be sure to use the K word. I am one hundred percent positive you know which word that is. . ." he grins maliciously.

"You don't have to repeat it-" Ally mutters quietly.

"Good." The Giant says with a toothy smile.

Ally stands up shakily and walks towards the exit. The giant sneers at me before slamming the door closed, shaking the lock before it finally clicks.

Now, I'm completely alone in this room. This cold, dusty, cramped attic, with no one to hold onto, nothing to keep me protected, and nothing to keep me productive. No puzzles to solve, nothing. Just a bunch of junk and loneliness.

I suppose I do have a puzzle to solve - the puzzle of getting us out of here.

Hope. I need to have hope that we will finally be able to be together as a group again. To get out of this place, to escape captivity, and to fulfill our true destiny - to save the Fantasy world from destruction.