Rise of Dawn

Whisked Away

[Let's be straightforward, and get this part all over, shall we?] 

 I am River. River Corde. 

 [Hmm...that was a tad too formal. Oh well. That should do for now.]

I don't know who you are, but if you can connect to this book, you're one of us. Perhaps you take this piece of knowledge cheerfully. Whatever the situation, I recommend being grateful that you have a choice. Unlike me. Either gather a bit of experience from me, or try to ignore it all. Personally, I'd consider the second choice. Don't blame me if you realize it's too dangerous for you, late. Still, if this warning doesn't daunt you, we'd enjoy your presence.
You're most likely a reader searching for an adventurous series, since not many of us are out in the world, so I encourage you to read on! Spread the word. I appreciate reading books myself. (Fine, mostly.) Now, on with my story. You would be completely clueless if I don't explain events from the beginning. Okay, okay, I'll finish the speech. Let us eat lettuce!

In school, kids stared at me, like if I had dropped from Pluto. My only best friend was, and still is, Jade Keer. Now, Jade was well respected, but she didn't really have any close friends, until I came. Taking interest in me, we began to meet up at recess in a corner of the school, next to an entrance, and behind the basketball courts. From there we would race to either the field or playground. Other kids tried to avoid me as much as possible. Though my name isn't exactly common, it does fit me. River. Kind of unique, don't you think?
I heard the idiom "time flies" used before, but I never experienced it more than this end of the school year, 5th grade. Maybe it was because I would go to a new middle school in September. Anyway, summer approached us soon. And yes, Jade and I continued doing millions of activities together. Cranberry picking, baking, sewing, even camping, you name it. I still remember the conversation while gazing at the starry sky, before nodding off to sleep. We had found a perfect opening between the trees. Seems like a lifetime ago.
"I bet I can find the most constellations," Jade challenged me. It was probably true, considering she had read more books about them than me, but no way I was going to go down without a fight!
"Oh, really? Yes, really! Boom, really!" I retorted. At least, that's what I started saying after playing a game on her trampoline. We had to dodge the ball that was bouncing around. "Bring it on!"
Many constellations looked repeated, so we never knew which were the real ones. We even made up constellations of our own. Or tried to find our Zodiac birth sign. My birthday is February the 3rd, so it was the Water Bearer, or Aquarius, for me! Actually, Jade is also Aquarius. Her birthday is February 21st. Finally, the laughing decreased. "It would be super cool if the sky was like this back home. I wish people would quit polluting all over our own planet," Jade sighed. I admit, I was perfectly frustrated at those polluting people. Don't they want to survive? The pollution would wipe plants and animals off the face of Earth. We the people of Earth won't be spared. Unfortunately.
Once our heads hit the pillows inside the tent, we were in Dreamland. Let's fast-forward to the middle of summer.
~~~
Jade and I had just gotten permission to go to an aquarium, with our trusted adult to supervise us, Kenneth, of course. We call him Kenny for short, and he approves. He's light-skinned, tall, and has brown hair. I dragged myself over to Kenny's white car.
"How long are we going to be squashed in here?" I asked, folding my arms and looking out the window. Jade just shook her head. She didn't get carsick or extremely bored. Good for her.
"I thought you knew!" Kenny answered sarcastically. "By the way, it's only a few centuries or so." As you can see, he isn't a serious kind of person. Instead, he's quite friendly. My response? I kept glaring at the sky fiercely.
About 45 minutes later, we arrived at our destination. The building was round in the front, but strait in the back, so it was a semicircle. The brown wood-colored doors were not round. They were normal ones. The aquarium had different shades of blue with a bit of sea green in it. After all, it did have sea and ocean animals. It even says it in the name, aquarium. Aqua means water in Latin. A huge lake was in the back. Canoes and other small boats were floating in it.
Though the building may look small on the outside, you wouldn't believe how enormous it was inside. A magician must have built it. I could hear our jaws hit the floor when we opened the fancy doors to step inside.
In front of us was the place to get membership and to pay without membership. The Help desk, with a green question mark to tell you, was in there, too. Behind that cluster was an archway entrance to the actual animals, and even that was big. To our left were the restrooms. A fish with a hat marked the men's. A fish with a dress marked the women's. Light brown benches and more fancy windows were on our right.
I was the first one to snap out of the shock. "Why are we just standing here waiting for other visitors to run over us? Come on already!" I said, moving ahead.
Suddenly, I heard an evil chortle. If this impresses you, then what shall you think of me? You mortals are amusing. Apparently it's no exaggeration. Hrm... I was frozen in fear. Glancing back, I realized Jade had heard the voice by her wide eyes, but not Kenny and the other visitors. A concerned staff member asked kindly, "Are you all right?"
Barely, I thought. Instead, I told her I was fine, and casually jogged back to Jade and Kenny. This time, I didn't have the happy and excited mood that Kenny still had. He hadn't heard the voice. Still, I tried to convince myself it was my imagination.
Jade heard it. The voice is real. Take cover!
No, of course it isn't, silly. She was probably staring at another "shocking" detail.
But she was looking straight at you.
Still.
You know it's real. Pretending it's not won't help.
Finally I gave up. I had to talk to Jade without anyone, even Kenny, listening. It wasn't going to happen anytime soon, because now Kenny was dragging me along. I would have to wait. Meanwhile, I should enjoy the trip. After all, that's why we were here in the first place. Not to let spine-chilling voices scare us away.
"Sure. Where's the map?" Kenny had already put the money down on the marble counter. Jade, however, was studying my face carefully. She and I had this in common: we could know a person's feelings, and sometimes almost guess their thoughts, by only watching their face. It encourages silent conversations sometimes.
Although this has been passed along my family, not Jade's, her face-reading abilities were stronger and more accurate than mine. Instinctively I turned away, realized the face-reading as an advantage, and turned back, but she was gazing at something else now.
Anyway, the aquarium was a maze. Various activities popped up all over the place, like weeds. There was one where you had to name as many fish as you can. In another, you had to match the picture of the sea creature to the name of it. You get the idea.
It wasn't super crowded, but there was a good amount of people around. We walked through the fish section with lots of "Ooo, sparkly!" Jellyfish were also admirable, but I never liked crabs or lobsters. I spent a grand total of a millisecond there. Past that... the shark/stingray tunnel! I mixed the names and came up with sharkray. Many people were taking photos in it. Sharks stealthily swam above me, while it seemed as if the floor (in the water part) was moving, because of the stingrays. I have to say, that tunnel was crowded compared to other parts of the aquarium, besides the penguin area. Oh, yes, don't forget the penguins. I knew a first-grader whose favorite animal was a penguin, but he pronounced it as pin-gy. He still spelled it the same way, though.
Now, after Kenny stopped staring at the tuxedo penguins, and Jade finished reading penguin facts (don't ask, she would read everything from top to bottom), we came upon a rectangular passageway with circular windows that were connected to the sharkray tunnel.
With Jade on the bottom left, myself on the right, and Kenny on top of both our heads, we managed to fit into a window that was open. The others were occupied. There was one detail that made me alert and wary. I also sensed Jade hesitate. This window had a deadly, endless, black outline around the window. Something was different about the shark that was swimming to our window, too. Its eyes had been normal before, but now they were the same infinite black around the window. Those eyes made me want to panic and run away, but I couldn't take my own eyes away from the shark's eyes. Kenny and the other visitors hadn't noticed at all, but when Kenny touched us, he saw what we were seeing.
Closer the shark came, until it touched our window. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Kenny open her mouth with fear in a silent scream...and suddenly, we weren't there anymore.
Darkness surrounded us like a tornado. As fast as it happened, it ended. No, we were not in the window. No, we were not in the aquarium. We were on a ship, which was still tied to the dock.
Ever heard of a ghost town? That's what the town behind us looked like and felt. The only place full of life was a colorful building in the distance. It stood out like yellow among black. Actually, one of the wall's colors really was yellow; however, the rest of the town was mostly made up of black and other miserable colors.
"W-what-wait-"Jade started to say. I was in turmoil, too, not to mention that I was also really confused and frightened, but I think 'turmoil' describes it all. It's not every day you visit some aquarium, and then congratulations, you're in the middle of nowhere.
Scanning the ship, I saw Kenny's hands and feet tied to the floor, with a pole for him to rest behind him, on the middle of the ship. As for his expression, he was so stunned that he just sat gaping at the ship. I don't think he would run even if he were free. On the front left, Jade was recovering slowly from her shock. She was somehow holding a larger version of a fishing pole. I didn't notice the enormous fishing net I was holding until I noticed her tool. A thousand fish could fit in there. Plus, I was on the front right, which was still not close enough to Jade. A man, wearing a coat as black as space between us, was in the middle of the triangle we had created.
"GET TO WORK! YOU, FISH FOR FISH! GIVE IT TO THE OTHER PERSON! I DEMAND A THOUSAND FISH IN THERE!" he roared. Er, just forget what I said about the thousand fish.
Did we time travel? Why is this happening? Who was this person that's yelling his head off? All these questions fought to be listened to, but I couldn't afford drowning in my sea of wonders. I had to focus. This was certainly going to get interesting. Just one more thing.
Let's experiment with humor. Experiments are good, right? That's what the science teacher tells us, at least. Turns out it doesn't apply to this sticky situation! "Sorry, you said it so loud that I didn't hear," I muttered under my breath.
The reward was a creepy glare. Jade frantically pointed to her hand holding the net, cautioning me from doing any other of my reckless 'experiments'.
Thankfully, my hand grasped the fishing net by their own accord. I blinked. We could play along, and then escape quickly. We also had to distract the man from Kenny.
Kenny seemed to have different plans, though. Instead of keeping quiet, he indignantly asked the man, "Are you serious? What about me? Look, I'm not chopped liver over here."
He began to struggle with his ropes, but he was drawing attention to himself! The man would surely notice.
It became as clear as day for me. The man didn't need Kenny; he desperately
wanted Jade and I. He only put Kenny there for the fun of it. The fun of watching Kenny suffer, as if it was only an amusing show! How dare he.
In fact, his face twisted into such a cruel smile that I wondered for a moment if he was some type of monster. "Your job? Hmm, let me think...how about watching your friends in pain? Oh wait, isn't that the opposite of your job?"
Kenny's face paled. Only the fact that we needed to escape prevented me from pushing the man off the ship. Otherwise, I would have, but I have a feeling that we couldn't get close to him. So, I merely put my fishing line in the water, and brought a lot of fish out. This was the routine: Pull the fish out, hand it to Jade with the net, repeat. All that time, the man stood with his arms crossed, staring at us.
Finally, to my relief, he called a halt. Tossing Jade a bag, he ordered her to put half of the fish in it, and to tie it up. She did exactly as she was told. She also had to make holes in the bag to slice the fish up. Yuck. The inside spurted out. I was actually curious to know what the bag was for.
Strangely, the man looked at the bag and ocean greedily. "Now, the last step. Drop it in the ocean," he finished.
The water roused below us. I peered over the edge. A massive great white shark emerged from the churning waters.
My heart stopped beating. This could be the shark with the endless black eyes at the aquarium. I looked... and it had normal eyes. Not that they weren't terrifying either. They certainly were, but I still sighed in relief.
Also, this company is just one more person - sorry, imprisoner - to escape from. Great. How awesome was this?
I suppose the fish was to attract this shark. Yay. Now what will happen next in our plan? We'll have to adjust it one teeny bit, that's for sure.
"So. Your Majesty, the shark is here. We did your job for you, and, um, s-send us back right now!" I insisted, hoping that my voice didn't squeak.
Though I may easily be able to cover my emotions when I choose, this situation needed me to show what I felt. He should know that I was angry.
I officially abhor the way my enemies- or anyone, really- makes this face: eyebrows raised, thin smile, satisfied malicious eyes. [Oh wait, that already happened a while ago. My mistake.]
It means trouble is coming. Worse news was yet to come.
Wearing that expression, the man sauntered towards me, in order to mock me, "Oh, no, I rather enjoy your fabulous company here. Please, stay for a vacation. I-" He tripped.
Yep, a tiny nail on the ship that stuck out of the wooden floor defeated the most wicked man on Earth. Under other circumstances, I would have fallen over laughing, but this was serious. I only stifled giggles. It was purely in vain.
Since even the great white shark showed signs of shock, this was the perfect time to make a getaway. I threw the fishing rod in the shark's open mouth- ouch- and oversaw that Jade was doing something with her net of fish.
Ha! She was done throwing a heavy bag on top of the man, which I not surprised at. She's speedy, but I can run long distances without being too tired. Put both of us together, and we could beat every single living person on this planet.
Jade assisted Kenny with taking off his ropes. He already had one off, so they worked double-time. By the time I got there, Kenny was free. We ran to the joyous building to the left. The distance seemed miles away. I couldn't run well in these uncomfortable jeans. How could we reach it in time? Maybe the man wasn't fast.
Just then, as if my thought of the man had summoned him, he cried, "No one escapes Maddox!" So that was the shark's name. Nice to know.
The speaker's very words made me feel like frigid wind was at my back. I could not resist glancing back. A gasp escaped my mouth. Maddox looked immensely irritated. He was on the ship.
That got you thinking, didn't it? He. Was. On. The. Ship. Drumroll...the shark became a man! His image was blurry, though. Maddox was basically a shark-man, because when you look at him, his form changed rapidly. Besides the fact that his skin color was an unnatural pale white-gray, the man part seemed like a normal person.
So now that he could be on land, he pursued us.
"Um, you might not want to look back," I assured my group. Then I regretted my words, since their humanly instincts directed them to do just that. The screams urged the shark-man to put on a burst of speed. "I said, don't!"
After some tense moments, we came upon the vivid-painted structure. Where to hide? Kenny, obviously, knocked on the neon green door. I think he was about to break it down out of panic until a lady came out to greet him. I was too far to hear, but I'm pretty sure he asked for a tour of the building. I guess Kenny could be creative in some situations.
As for Jade, she noticed a narrow crack along the spotless white fence. I bet she heard it creak. It turned out to be a secret door inside the fence. I'll worry why any building would have that later.
My turn. I ran to the other side of the building where Maddox couldn't see me anymore. Quickly but quietly, I found a trapdoor. Even though I was breathless, my sharp eyes found fake grass, so I became suspicious, and unfastened the door. I forgot to tell you: my eyes are extremely sharp. I tend to find many things that others don't see as well. Jade's hearing is sharp, like a cat's.
A bellow filled the air. It was Maddox, coming to either torture or eat us. Neither sounded like something I was eager for.
Gasping for breath, I flung myself inside the trapdoor. I landed on my knees painfully, inside a room with light coming from everywhere, and nowhere. But not a second could be wasted. It took all my willpower to keep going. Past the books. Past the clothes. Past the weapons. I stopped short. Wait, what kind of day care had weapons in their basement? Despite the situation, I halted. They were mixed in with the usual products, but as I've said before, I have sharp eyes. Strolling down the aisle, I inspected the weapons carefully. Some were shiny and new; others were not. I suspected that they had been collected over time. I almost forgot the main question: what were the weapons doing here?
There was some larger, more powerful force out in the world. Probably evil, depending on how things were going now. I thought this event would be temporary and quick, but that hope has vanished. My life altered in the blink of an eye. Literally. It took one not-so-innocent blink, and everything transformed. Although I can read problems like these well, I still do not understand what the problem is! I intend to figure it out.
Maddox would be on me any moment now, so I seized a brown bow from behind brown dresses. I happen to have a great aim. No way I as about to go shopping, but I might wear the dress. No more dresses besides that. I changed rapidly. I had transformed into a hunter, surviving in the wild. My soft dress would match the savannah breeze, lazily traveling across the brown grass. Plus, I was technically living in the wild now, since all of this territory was brand-new to me.
The important thing was that I could now stalk this basement. I almost forgot the arrows. Oh...where were they? Seconds passed. I heard the floor above me tremble. Aha. I clutched a quiver of arrows. It was camouflaged in well with the same colored belts. Then, I slung both items over my shoulder and ran for my life.
Deciding that I had to know the basement well if the shark-man came down here, I zigzagged it. After all, this was the most obvious place to hide. Gulp. How lucky I was!
I reached the back wall. I'll let you guess what was in front of it. More books. Hey, you never know when you find a book that teaches you how to defeat a Maddox monster. Problem is, there were quite a lot of trillions of books, all over the wall. The basement was gigantic! Uh, I sort of forgot to mention that.
I paced the shelves restlessly. I refuse to stand here waiting to be eaten. Next step: form a plan.
Finally, I inspected the books. I selected a random book and opened it to a random page. It was full of lines and squiggles. By that, I mean that it was written in a different language. Fine, I learn languages quickly for some reason, but this one was unknown to me. Well, all the books couldn't be foreign. Soon enough, I had two stacks of books: one English, one non-English. The score was 2-5 when I stopped. I admit I barely knew what the English ones were about.
"For centuries, the ______ have been searching ceaselessly for the Moon's source of power," I read. ______? Moons? Source of power? Words floated around in my head. If all the English books were like this, then they might as well be in another language. I should find out.
Recipes...healing and medicine...and more things I haven't heard of. Until now, that is. I stomped my foot in frustration. The sound echoed in the basement, breaking the eerie silence.
I remembered the shark-man. He didn't catch up to me yet! The other option was that he was harming my friends. No way I would let him do that.
At the same moment, I felt tempted to explore into this magnificent basement. It had everything. I could live here forever. What about my friends? They could wait until I came out. In the meantime, the supplies in here would support me.
I stroked the shelves. The books I had glimpsed in near the entrance should turn out to be entertaining books. Leaning against the side of a shelf, between two of them, I thought of what I wanted. Certainly it would be here.
Surprisingly, the shelf seemed to bend slightly. I was so startled that I actually racked my brain to remember what shelves, walls, or doors had this particular behavior. You see, I studied architecture in 3rd grade.
Shelves: any normal shelf? Nope. Walls: any shelf-sized wall? Nope. Doors: any door that slides sideways? Possibly. It could be a sliding door, but they aren't shaped like shelves. It could be a pocket door, but this door doesn't slide into some kind of "pocket" or wall. It could be a hidden door, but, wait, nothing! Finally! I solved the mystery after an eon!
Now what? I could open the door, though it might be an entrance to outside. Outside = Shark. My curiosity overwhelmed my fear. The decision was made.
"Oh gods," I breathed. The scene before me, well, a thousand words couldn't describe it. This was yet another layer of The Everything Store. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a sign that read, "Buy One, Get All Free".
I shouldn't have to be in a hurry to get my needs from the previous section - the stores must have kept going! And there are a ton places to hide.
With all the arrogance and confidence I could muster, I continued meandering down The Everything Store. No worries. I just choose anything I want, and there I have it. I really couldn't resist whatever magic lure was pulling me in.
Then there it was. Laid on a table with white covering. A gemstone. Many gemstones, to be exact.
Birthstones were on the table, too. Garnet, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Diamond, Emerald, Pearl/Alexandrite, Ruby, Peridot, Sapphire, Tourmaline/Opal, Citrine/Topaz, Zircon/Tanzanite/Turquoise. 12 groups, one for each month.
Next to them, there were other gemstones. What actually had caught my eye was a metamorphic rock. Green was swimming inside. Jade, the stone with an emerald hue.
It triggered a faint memory in the back of my mind.
Jade...I heard that name before, but I never encountered this strange shining rock. Since it couldn't be a what, maybe it was a who.
Oh.
Jade.
Jade!
My friend. Trapped in a fence. That's one way to think of it.
Also, there's the "how-could-I've-forgotten-her-now-she'll-come-in-to-save-me" way. Unless Maddox was still there, waiting for the right time to pounce on its prey. Hmm... sharks don't pounce. Let's say they do now. Weird, but necessary.
So, I'll have to get out. Such a simple statement, with such a difficult challenge. Easier said than done, right?
I've gone through quite a lot of Everything Stores, there's no way I could get back in a day. Besides, there aren't any underground windows, so I can't see the time of day, and the watches/clocks are all over the place.
We'll have to do it manually, and check the sky when I get back.
~~~
I trudged through the stores. I wished they were smaller now. The only thing I could focus on to keep me going was Jade. Kenny too, I suppose.
A few minutes later: my eyelids started drooping. I would be better off with sleep. There are tents up ahead.
Soon, I reached it, but I may as well be asleep. I brought pillows, and set them up along the bottom, so it's soft.
Then I promptly collapsed on top.
Hours later... Yawning, I look around, and suddenly the situation comes running back to me. Hopefully I hadn't been sleeping long, but fat chance of that.
Against my protesting will, I get on the path again, closer and closer to Jade. I think the sun may have been beginning to set when I reach my destination, because I spot a trapdoor similar to the one I came through, above me. I need a sturdy ladder.
A red one, leaning against a shelf. I place it near the trapdoor. With a fishing rod and hook, I carefully unhinged it. No shark-man monster. Good.
Question: how will I pull myself up without falling down, down, down - to my death? This room is tall, you know.
A bunch of beanbags should do. I stacked them below the door, and put them as high as I could. Wincing, I pulled myself up. I've never been great at doing pull-ups.
Where's Jade and Kenny? Certainly they need food and water. Fences don't have that. I don't think the building will give that for free either. I suppose I had the best hiding spot, since at least I had, well, everything.
It's possible that they'd gone without me, but... the monster man. Is Maddox still lurking around? Really, I rescue myself and get eaten? That doesn't sound like a nice ending for a fairy tale.
Cupping my hands around my mouth, I called out, "Jade, Kenny! Where'd you guys go?" My question echoed around the ghostly town.
Out of the eerie silence, a faint crash sounded. I cocked my head, eager to meet whatever made the disruption.
Scuttling was also heard. I stalked towards the noise, looking around boxes. But! But a few strides ahead, a couple of boxes shifted slightly. It wasn't much movement, although my eyes caught it all. It was enough. A smile creeped over my face soon enough. My dirt-colored skirt allowed me to hustle over to the suspicious boxes. A sudden clanking. Behind the boxes must have been the key; armor was positioned there. I chortled lightly as the armor twitched uncertainly. "Jade, seriously? Gods, you wouldn't believe how obvious you were. Out of all places! You could have hidden in the stores. Or there," I rambled on. "Get out of there already, it's just me!"
Satisfactorily, a red-faced Jade slipped out of a crack that held the armor front and back apart. The next silver armor piece produced a series of clicks inside. Stumbling Kenny rolled outside, spitting and sneezing pollen. "Dude -" he coughed up dust, "you almost gave me a heart attack... Jeez, warn us before the evil maniacal laugh, kay?"
Jade snorted in amusement. She rapidly piped up to inquire where we were going. For once, I had no answer, only a smart reply to Jade's idea of hiding in armor. Apparently, Kenny had been blabbering information of what he'd seen on TV.
I crossed my arms on my chest, sighing, watching the maze of filthy buildings. And without a second thought, I marched off to the overly large plate full of bones.
You may think, 'Every single horror story has bones, arghh!' Except this time, there really was bones.

<~>

From the Author: The "_____" means that I haven't settled on a name just yet.