The Collaboration Files

We Crash

This is the second attempt at this story... THE SECOND ATTEMPT!!! My stupid computer shut down while I was working on the chapter. Stupid.... *Grumbles*

Sick today. Writing tenfold.

So happy!

Enjoy, mudmen.

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Before I could open my mouth to speak, a memory struck.

“This is stupid. You shouldn’t trust this guy. I mean, you met him on Havenslist for Frond’s sake! I’m sure this is a trap,” I was telling Stella. She had already gone badass on the situation, strapping a dagger to her ankle, holstering about ten guns on her belt, and I only just stopped her from wearing a black ski mask and her black ninja outfit. “This is madness.”

“This is Sparta,” Stella quoted, then grinned. “Don’t worry. You can snipe whoever tries to kill me.”

“Whatever,” I tried to look sullen, but the prospect of shooting someone cheered me up.

Was that a bad thing?

“What the hell?” A woman yelled.

Those were the words that woke me from my memory. I had fallen against the wall in the corner, so no one noticed the sudden faint. The vehicle was tilted to one side, like it was falling off a cliff, and it’s contents, us, were being smashed against one wall. Namely my wall.

“SON OF A BANSHEE!!” I tried to push all the people off of me, but when you’ve got an Irish genius, your sister, a Spanish guy, your best friend, a fairy, and a giant Eurasian dude pressing you against a wall, there isn’t a lot of elbow room. ”I can’t breathe!”

“Suck it up! Butler’s crushing my legs!”

“Den’s foot’s in my hair!”

“I'm stuck!”

I managed to crawl over to the dashboard and pull Den out from under the Captain’s chair.

"What was that?" Jenevieve was pulling Butler and Holly off of Liz.

"A Mare Bestiam. Sea beast, in Latin." Artemis stood and brushed some nonexistent dust from his suit. "Obviously they live off the coast of Ireland."

"How do you know we're in Ireland?" All I could see was water out of the scuttle.

"GPS," Liz groaned and rolled to a sitting position. "Saw him take it out of his pocket before we crashed."

"Observant, I'll grant you that," Holly helped Butler to his feet. "We're almost to land. Another sixty feet or so."

The dashboard was all in nature-like letters. "It's all Greek to me," I shrugged.

"Gnommish!" Holly corrected.

There was a rough jerk, and my stomach dropped. We were probably going up. Finally, the ascending ceased, and a violent bump rattled my skull. My guess is we had landed.

The group filed from the vessle, and as Jene stepped off, the vehicle went pop, and turned into a tiny floppy disc. Artemis picked it up, and there was a moment of silence as we surveyed our surroundings. There were trees parting around a circle-shaped bay, and we were standing on a thin strip of beach lining the indent of water. A tiny, dirt road stretched off to who-knows-where in front of us, and the only sounds were water lapping the sand and birds chirping.

"So what now?" I growled. "We're in the middle of nowhere! What, are you going to call a limo to take us to a hundred-year-old manor where we drink tea and eat crisps by a roaring fire? Maybe discuss a battle plan on how Stella and I can defeat Gale? Maybe Den can call his mother? Maybe our lives can turn NORMAL so I don't have to be a FAERIE!?"

Silence resumed for a moment, then Holly stepped in.

"Do you want to be a fairy?"

"YES!" I snapped. "I do! More than anything! I'm just so... confused! And tired! And hungry! Mostly confused! We've been travelling halfway around the country, chasing and being chased, and I think I need... SOMETHING that's more than just 'You're a fairy' or 'No comment' or 'Trust me, I'm a genius'!"

Butler chuckled at the genius comment.

"AND FOR THE LOVE OF SCOTT, WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK I'M ARTEMIS' GIRLFRIEND?!" I yelled into the sky, then flopped to the ground and into the water.

"Syd," Liz seemed cautious. "Are you okay?"

"I'm tired. I dunno if I can keep up with all of this, the memories, the betrayals, our lives," I told Liz, facedown in the sandy mud.

Then I noticed Artemis, who seemed to be talking into his hand, as if it was a phone. He was looking around a but nervously, but when he caughy my gaze, he 'hung up'.

We milled about for about five minutes, until a honking made everyone's head turn toward the road. There, sleek and black, gleamed two limos, sparkling against the dull brown of the dirt. Yet this looked ugly, a nasty man-made pustule against the beautiful picture of the enviroment.

The group split. Liz, Artemis, Holly, and I herded into the front limo, while Jene, Den, and Butler got into the second limo. As soon as I was in the stretched car, I sank into the seats. I wasn't going to pass up an invitaion to sleep, but I had to ask Artemis something before I dozed off.

"Artemis," I mumbled. "Do you trust Den and Jene?"

And before I slipped into sleep, he answered.

"I don't trust Den."

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And it ends! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm mad that I went crazy. I don't like that part at all, but my book self is tired and hungry (We havent eaten in at least four days!), so I think this blowup is well needed.