Book 2: Revenge of the Giant Grasshoppers

Chapter 8: Eyes (Lillia)

Shady Grove is a really weird town, though its weirdness can be helpful. To prove this point I cite the fact that I rode on a Ferris wheel inside the stomach of a guinea pig.

Actually.

What is happening?

"You see this is what happens when we follow Clamron's advice!" Mervince yelled. "We end up riding a Ferris wheel in the stomach of a guinea pig."

"How was I supposed to know this would happen?" Clamron retorted. "When I said we should wait at the bus stop I assumed Shady Grove would have mildly normal busses."

"This is Markus' home town! Why would you assume anything about this place would be normal?"

Clamron begins to sputter and curse but is cut short when an old lady interrupts him.

"That's odd. We don't get too many outsiders around here."

My head spun around and I realize there is an ancient looking woman sitting next to me. I then realize that she doesn't have any eyes.

"We were visiting from Poli," I said, keeping my composure. "Then this jerk Markus blew up our bus and threw one of our friends into the fire."

The old woman reaches into her purse (which appears to be made out of fingernails) and pulls out a single eyeball.

"Is the Markus you know from Shady Grove?" She asked.

"Yeah." I respond. "What of it?"

"I know him quite well. Many years ago Markus tried to bring Shady Grove into the outside world, which almost ended everything."

Markus almost destroying the entire universe. For some reason that didn't surprise me.

The old lady continued with her story. "And since that was the third time he almost destroyed the entire universe, he was exiled from Shady Grove. Forever."

"But... he came with us into Shady Grove."

The old lady looked genuinely surprised.

"We were on a field trip to Shady Grove."  I explained. "Markus is in our class so he came with us."

The old lady's jaw dropped.

"FIELD TRIPS! THOSE HAVE BEEN ILLEGAL SINCE I WAS YOUR AGE."

She breathed heavily before continuing.

"That can only mean one thing... the Field Lord has found a new host."

"Who or what is the Field Lord?" I ask.

The old lady pulls a second eyeball out of her purse and put it in the same hand as the first.

"The Field Lord is the most powerful field to ever exist."

I make an attempt to look scared.

"The Field Lord," the old lady continues, "has the ability to break down the barrier between Shady Grove and the outside world. It uses this ability to manipulate people into coming into Shady Grove so that it can eat them."

I go over what the woman has said in my head.

"So you have a giant human-eating field that controls people's minds and forces children to go on field trips so that it can eat said children."

"Exactly." The old lady says, pulling a third eyeball out of her purse. I can't help but notice the fact that Zach has appeared next to us.

"Shouldn't you guys be keeping an eye on the Field Lord." I asked.

"It's invisible."

Of course it's invisible.

"But that still doesn't explain how Markus got in here after he was banished."

The old lady put her head in her hands."Markus had been kept out by the magic barrier that surrounds Shady Grove. This magic barrier keeps Shady Grove inside Shady Grove and everything else outside. But you see the Field Lord gained magic powers after eating a magic wooden frog. Those magic powers allow the Field Lord to bypass the barrier that separates Shady Grove from the rest of the world. The Field Lord must have manipulated the barrier into letting Markus and you people in here. The Field Lord must have manipulated someone on the outside into scheduling a field trip to go to Shady Grove, then that person must have let Markus in on their plan. Then the Field Lord must have overpowered the barrier so as to let you guys and Markus in, allowing the Field Lord to feed, but also allowing Markus to come back to Shady Grove. "

This lady was definitely crazy, but she was only as crazy as the rest of Shady Grove, so I believed her.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion and the Ferris wheel groaned to a halt. Markus had appeared, naked and holding a bazooka.

"GOD DANGIT MARKUS CAN YOU PLEASE WEAR CLOTHES!" I yelled, temporarily forgetting he was trying to kill us.

"I am!" He yelled back. "Skin is clothing!"

"No it's not!"

"Shut up."

Markus pulled the trigger and fired the bazooka at us. Thinking quickly, I grabbed the old lady and jumped off of the Ferris wheel. We plummeted to the ground and just as we were about to land the old lady opened her mouth and a flock of bats flew out and floated us down to safety.

I didn't even ask.

Markus shot another rocket at the center of the Ferris wheel and it hit, causing the whole apparatus to explode, suddenly we were outside, surrounding the exploded body of a guinea pig. Markus discarded the bazooka and pulled a ten foot long sword out of his left nostril.

"I can already feel my powers returning!" He yelled. "It's been too long, Shady Grove."

What kind of powers did he have?

He pointed his sword at me and prepared to slit my throat.

"Any last words, Lillia?"

Thinking fast, I responded.

"We know about the Field Lord."

His eyes widened, but just for a second,

One second, however, was all it took for Zach to ambush him from behind.

"Run!" Zach yelled. "I can hold my own against him."

So we ran.

We ran and ran and ran and ran and ran.

Good luck Zach.