Two Worlds (Written by a 10-year-old author, 62,000 words, 72 chapters)

Chapter 52: Theresa again

Lily caught up with yet another hoverbus and dropped Oneida and Parker at the hotel before going back to Theresa's hideout. She stomped to the door and banged on it. She and the others waited on the porch, until the door finally swung open, revealing Theresa. She glared at them, her once beautiful face pale and weary. She looked over at the six people standing in front of her. "This better be good." Theresa stepped aside, revealing a dark and tidy house. "Come in."

Everyone ended up seated in front of a television. The screen showed the news: buildings demolished, an airport badly damaged, reports of a robot dinosaur melting into a smoking piece of metal after being hit by a missile. Funny how fast news can spread. "Why did you come?" Theresa asked. Jake sat forward. "We would like to discuss something with you," he said. He shut off the television. "Your sister. Where is she?"

Theresa sighed. "I wish I knew, but sadly, I don't." She wrung her hands. "Sophie had my location in less than a day. She left me in this house, stole my magic ... but I have hope." Theresa held up a small sapphire. "This is my backup. Only for emergencies." Lily noticed that her voice held no humor. She realized that Theresa's magic was the only thing that made her happy.

"But we are going to find Sophie," Stacy said reassuringly. Theresa stared at her until Stacy squirmed. "A foolish idea - a very dangerous mission. I will take my backup and go myself after you leave. The sapphire can be quite explosive when opened." "Theresa, you know it isn't safe," Lily said. Theresa looked at her. "I know, Lily. But it isn't safe for you, either. Your friends can't stay on this planet for long. Sophie would find them in a heartbeat if she wanted to. They aren't human." "So you mean ..." Lily's worst fears were confirmed as Tara nodded. "Lily, we have to go back without you, before Sophie finds us. We'll leave around the coming spring the latest. It's the best for everyone's safety. We need to stick to our plan." "What - so you were planning to leave all along?" Lily demanded. "It's not like that. We didn't know Sophie was here until the last second. We had to improvise ..."

Suddenly the house rumbled, and Theresa whipped around. "Sophie is here," she said. The doorbell rang a pleasant ding. Everyone froze, staring at the door. Was Sophie staying outside on purpose, taunting them to come out into the open? The doorbell rang, louder. When the knocking began, Theresa slowly approached the window and peeked out. The next thing Lily knew, the sorceress was coming at her, pushing her and the others back, away from the door. "What? What's going on?" Lily asked. "Stay down," Theresa muttered, "she's going to break in."

But Sophie didn't break in. At least, not through the door. What really happened was as the knocking on the door stopped, the house gave a tremendous shake and groan. Plaster from the ceiling rained down like paper. The floor and walls cracked. "Go! Get out!" Theresa screamed. Jake and the others stood, frozen in shock, as the roof partially caved in. "GO!" Lily yelled. Tara was the first to respond. She gave Jake a hard shove, and he stumbled forward, ducking to avoid falling debris. Still in the collapsing room, Lily saw Theresa leaning against the sofa, cupping the sapphire in her hands and murmuring something under her breath. What had she said only five minutes earlier? The sapphire can be quite explosive when opened. If that meant what Lily was thinking, the results wouldn't be good. "Darn, now we have to run," she whispered.

Lily grabbed Stacy's hand and sprinted after her friends into the kitchen. "Keep running and don't stop!" she shouted. "What's happening?" Stacy said. "Why are we running away from Sophie? We should be fighting her." But it wasn't Sophie Lily was worried about.

A loud BOOM shook the house. Glancing over her shoulder, Lily saw a shockwave of gray racing towards them, breaking walls apart like tissue paper. "Crap. Just go! Go!" she replied. She and Stacy managed to catch up with Jake and Tara. "Listen up. In a while, we're going to reach a certain destination. When I say jump, jump," Lily said to everyone. "Can't we duck?" Jake asked. "Shockwave's too big. But I know just the place," she answered. They scrambled over a hole in the wall as the house fell apart. Lily and her friends ran down the street. Now that the shockwave was outside, it expanded into a fifty-yard line of glowing destruction. "Lily, we're going nowhere!" Tara yelled. Lily was too out of breath to answer.