Into the Dark

Chapter Five

Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.

-Allen Klein

The wind lifted me up above the floor, and within a flash, we had teleported out of Headmaster Dillingham's office. I took in my surroundings.

There were sky scrapers towering high above us, and neon lights on bill-boards flashed all around us. Taxi-cabs and cars raced down the road, and pigeons pecked at the sidewalks.

New York.

I had never gone to New York, but I dreamed of it day and night. Mother drew a picture of New York, with every little detail perfectly in place, and hung it on my bedroom wall.

"One day, you will visit this wonder of a city," she said. "I promise." I sighed as I felt a wave of home-sickness wash over me.

"Um, hello!" Jasmine said, waving her hand in my face. "Quit daydreaming and get back to reality!" She turned to face Josh.

"I told you she was useless. I don't get what the Headmaster sees in her," she said bitterly.

"Oh, come on, Jasmine, you haven't even known Lydia for an hour and you're having unreasonable opinions against her," Josh said. He gave me a sympathetic look.

"And you have known her for an hour? Oh, please, I know a failure when I see one," she said. "Didn't you hear? She set someone's pants on fire!" Josh sighed, as if knowing that it was no use in arguing with Jasmine. 

"Headmaster Dillingham told me that you nearly burned the whole school down with your potion," I retorted. Her cheeks got darker, and I could tell that she was blushing.

"I-it was just an accident!" she defended. "I accidently put rosemary instead of an olive!"

"Okay, let's get on with the mission before you rip each other's hair out," Josh said, stepping in between us. Jasmine huffed and I focused on staring at a bill board off in the distance.

"Erm...okay...well...we should go see Mr. Fraudman in his apartment," Josh said. "Let's get a cab." He put his hand out and waved like a madman. "Over here! Come on! We really-" I stifled a chuckle, and Jasmine veiled her laughs with a fit of coughing. Josh turned to face us.

"If you think you can do better, be my guest," he said. Jasmine came up to the curb of the sidewalk.

"We need a ride!" she said, but no taxi-cabs showed any sign that they had actually heard her. She stomped off. "Stupid taxi drivers and their laziness," she muttered.

I decided to give it a try. I held out my hand when a taxi-cab came into view. It came to an abrupt halt.

"You need a ride, miss?" the taxi-driver asked, his voice filled with a British accent. I nodded, and got in along with Jasmine and Josh.

"Where to?" the taxi-driver asked.

"32 Hazel Street, Apartment 3," Josh said. The driver turned around in his seat and faced me.

"Where to?" he asked once again, his voice containing slight irritation.

"Uh... Apartment 3 on 32 Hazel Street," I said. The driver nodded and drove down the road. Josh looked confused that the driver didn't acknowledge him.

We pulled into a street with small houses and apartments.

"Here we are, miss," the driver said once we pulled in front of Apartment 3. "That will be $7.98, please." I handed him a ten-dollar bill and got out of the cab.

"Keep the change," I said, and the taxi-driver smiled and drove out of sight.

"Keep the change?! What do you think we are, billionaires?" Jasmine hissed.

"Give it a rest, Jasmine," Josh said. "How come the taxi-drivers didn't notice us when we were much louder than Lydia? And how come the taxi-driver didn't hear me say the address?" Jasmine snorted.

"Only she can talk to those savages. Know why? 'Cause she is a sav-"

"Just shut up, Jasmine," Josh said. Jasmine's face contorted as if she had been slapped, but she stayed silent.

We entered the apartment and began to climb the stairs.

"Room 31 should be right around...here it is," Josh said, standing in front of the door. He knocked loudly three times.

A man popped his head out of the door. He had white streaks in his hair and looked to be in his fifties. There were bags under his icy blue eyes, clearly from lack of sleep.

"I don't want any cookies," he said, and attempted to close the door. Josh blocked him from doing so.

"We would like to see Mr. Fraudman, please," I said. He looked at me and smiled, revealing rows of pearl white teeth.

"Do come in," he said, opening the door all the way to let us pass through. He closed the door gently behind us.

"Let me guess- the headmaster sent you," the man said. We nodded. He sighed. "I am Mr. Fraudman, dear children." Jasmine muttered something under her breath and Josh elbowed her.

"I am assuming that you came here for supplies," he said, rummaging through some cardboard boxes in his closet. "And I have the perfect things for you." He pulled out a large, funky-looking gun.

"This freezes anything in its path," he said, and handed it to Josh. He took out a lipstick and gave it to Jasmine. My mouth formed a small o. Had technology really made it this far?

"This will make you invisible once it touches your lips," he said, and continued rummaging through the boxes.

"And this is for you." He handed me a yo-yo. I bounced it up and down, but nothing happened.

"What does it do?" I asked. Mr. Fraudman shrugged.

"Nothing, really. But you can have fun with it," he said. Jasmine bent over and her face was darkening from stifling her laughs.

"The heck?" I muttered. I bounced the yo-yo off of Jasmine's arm, making sure to add extra force. She stopped laughing and clutched her arm.

"Ow, what the crap was that for?" she asked. I smirked.

"Looks like I can use the yo-yo for something," I said. She glared at me and continued to rub the spot where I hit her.

"Um, I think we should go now," Josh said, obviously eager to get going. "Thanks Mr. Fraudman." He smiled.

"Tell the Headmaster that I would like to visit sometime."

****

Josh sat juggling the giant gun in his hands and contemplating at the lights of the city. We sat on the flat rooftop of a building where Josh teleported us to.

"Headmaster Dillingham hasn't sent any telepathic messages yet," he said. "Should I send him one?" I shrugged.

"Whatever," Jasmine said. An ugly, purplish bruise was starting to form on her arm from where I had hit her with the yo-yo.  

"Hold on a sec," Josh said. He closed his eyes in a way that made him look like he was sleeping. After a few moments, his eyes fluttered open.

"Change of plans," he said, packing the gun into the backpack he had bought earlier in the day. "We need to go to Los Angeles before we go to Lydia's old school."

"Wait, what?" I asked. "Why is that?" Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"Because we need to find something important there, duh," she said. "It'll probably help us with our mission."

"For once, Jasmine is right," Josh said. Jasmine shot him a deadly glare. "Another friend of the Headmaster, Mr. Leto, has important information that could make it easier."

"Ready to teleport again?"