The Collaboration Files

Ready for anything, or not. . .

Stella here. Enjoy!

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     We sat down in a corner and started to devise our plan. It would be easy. I hope.

     "So, I say we need to get back at Artemis. We have to hit him with everything we got!" I told her. She sighed and shook her head at me.

     "There ya go, Liz. You run into things without thinking. We need to be sneaky about this. First, we need to go back to normal. Act like we don't care about him. Then, when he's least expecting it, we hit him where it hurts. Got it?" She asked. I laughed. "What are laughing about. . . YOU HAVE A DIRTY MIND!!!" She yelled at me. We laughed, acting as if we have no care in the world.

     I sighed and went limp in my chair. We hadn't slept sense. . . I don't know when. It felt good to laugh, knowing that you wouldn't get shot in the back with a dark gun. I stopped laughing and sat up, looking around.

     There was a flash of neatly combed hair in the crowd. It disappeared as fast as it came. I looked at Syd, wondering if she had seen it also. She nodded, knowing my question before I said it.

     "Do you think?" I asked.

     "How? I mean how could he?" We didn't say what we new was all to real. Some how he had found us. But how?

     I nodded. "Yeah, it's impossible he could have found us and is over there somewhere. Watching us, listening to our every word. . . " I stopped talking. The more I said, the more real it became. Someone passed by and I saw him, just for a second.

     "Syd! I saw him! He was sitting at a table, not paying us any attention. He was talking to a really short person with auburn hair. Very sharp facial feathers." I explained. She nodded. I looked at Syd. There was something about the girl. It was like I. . . "Knew her!" I shrieked.

     Syd looked at me. "Do you think that she's one of them?" She asked. I nodded.

     "We have to get out of here. Now! If they catch us, we're dead." Syd nodded. We grabbed our stuff and got to the front doors without him noticing. We ran out the door. It was about noon-ish and the sun was hot. We ran to the street and waved down a cap.

     "Ay! Kids, where your parents?" The driver asked with strange ascent.

     "Sr. We just need to get out of here. We are meeting our parents at Waverley House Hotel. We will pay you. Cash. As much as we need. Now, are you going to turn down a costumer?" Syd asked. I could tell she wasn't using the thing she did at the storage place.

     The cab driver shook his head and we got in. Right as he hit the gas, Artemis and the auburn hair appeared at the doors. I read Artemis's lips and I could tell he was cussing. In gnomish. Wait, what? I shook my head and looked ahead.

     We arrived at The Waverley House Hotel and payed the driver. He told us to 'Hav a ood day' And we went inside. We got a room and went upstairs. I groaned as I jumped onto my freshly made bed.

     "I should probably call my parents. They might want to know where I am. I'll just tell them I went on a vaca with my friend Abigale. She is here in London." Syd nodded and I went to my bag. I dug through and finally found my cell. Syd stopped me.

     "He might of put a tracker on it. We can bye new ones tonight. For now, throw it out the window, crush it, just get rid of it. Kay?" I nodded and set my phone on the floor. I heard a sharp crunch as my foot made contact. I looked at the pieces and found a small red chip.

     I took the chip and went to the toilet. I quickly flushed it and went back out. I grabbed the room's phone and plopped on my bed. I dialed the number and waited.

     "Hello? Who is this? Honey, is that you?" My mother asked. She sounded worried and I knew the friend thing wasn't going to work.

     "Hey, mom. It's me. I need to explain something to you. I'm in London. One of Syd's family members is horribly sick and she needed me to come with her. I'm sorry I didn't call you, we just landed and checked into the hotel." I told her. She let out a relived breath.

     "Well, I'm glad to hear that you're okay. Tell Syd that I'm sorry about her family. It's late and I have to work tomorrow. Love you honey. Good-night." I heard the click and I set down the phone. Well, that was easy.

      Too easy. . .

     "Syd, I think there's something wrong at my house." I said. "I think Artemis might be there. My mom seemed rushed and like she didn't want to talk to me. Maybe you should call your mom." I suggested. She nodded and took the phone.

      "Hello? Hi mom. Yeah, I'm fine. Did you get the note? Okay good. Liz and I are here, we decided that we needed to get out of the house and Liz wanted to see Big Ben. Okay. Love ya, bye." She hung up and looked at me. 

     "She did seem really rushed. I have an Idea. Remember the cameras we hid in our housed?" I nodded. "Well, I can still access them. I just have to get out my computer." I nodded again and she went to her bag. She hooked it up and sat next to me.

     We waited for it to load. I groaned. This was taking to long! It finally was done and we looked at my house first. My room, fine. brothers room, fine. Parents room, fine. Kitchen, fine. Living room. . .

      "HE'S IN MY HOUSE! IF HE DOES ANYTHING TO ME I AM GOING TO SLIT HIS THROAT!!!" I screamed, standing. I ran into the bathroom and ran back out, pacing. I grabbed my pillow and pressed it to my face. I screamed and screamed until I couldn't breath. I took the pillow away, throwing it on the floor.

     The room started spinning. Everything was red. I felt my back hit the ground but didn't feel anything but rage. I saw Syd's face and everything went black.