A String of Hope

Chapter Ten

When the window broke, Lime was the first to scream. Everyone was forced to the ground by an invisible force. It was like gravity was pulling them down, tugging at their limbs and heads, calling them down to the Earth.

Then the people came in. One man, with a long scar on his face and two different colored eyes, ran around and tapped tier backs. The strangest thing happened. It was like they had lost a sense as soon as the man touched them. They felt their power draining, disappearing with a pop.

All of a sudden, they were human.

Another man, with bright green hair, ran around in a blur, taking all things dangerous. The Hope no longer had any defense. Only Lime wasn't affected by the gravity. But she couldn't fly, either. That was quickly solved, because the green haired man grabbed her quickly.

Chuck cried out colorful words, and a girl with purple eyes had to hold his mouth closed.

Lilly looked around for Jenna, but she, Will, Daniel, Charles and Dayanara were nowhere to be seen. Only Crosby remained.

"LET US GO!" Jacob shouted. He struggled to get up, but it was like a rubber band kept snapping him to the ground again.

"I'm sorry," a woman with a long black braid said. "I can't do that. I'm Amya Dilla. But I was never good at introductions. That was always Giovani's thing."

The man with green hair grinned and waved. What a nerve.

"Hai guys!" Giovani smiled. He waved, holding tight to Lime with one arm. "I'm Giovani King. We're The Regals! Hai, nice to meet you!"

Jacob growled. It was a growl to rival Dayanara's.

"Nice to meet you too, Bryne. So, we're not on a first name basis, m'kay? Call me King when you address me. This is Tessa Jade and Jax Valleron. You already met Amya. Say hai, guys!"

Tessa, Jax and Amya all said 'Hi' with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE!?" Marty shouted. No one had realised that he wasn't in the room when the invasion started.

"That's him!" Amya shrieked. Jax was on the Tabby cat in a second. Not that he needed to be. Amya dropped him with her gravity in a millisecond. "That's Marty. I bet he doesn't even recognise me. Hm. Too bad for him, I guess. Let us move on! Tessa, I believe this is your area of expertise?" Amya flipped her braid and stalked off.

"Marty?" Agnes said quietly. "You know her?"

Marty looked confused. "I've only heard about her... In my..." he was stuttering to cover up his slip about the insider. "Visions that all cats get."

Amya narrowed her eyes, but she let it go. "Tessa!" she barked. "Move, move, come on!"

Tessa scrambled to her feet, and put her arms out. She closed her purple eyes, and all of the members of The Hope were lifted off the ground. Oh, and Crosby, too.

"Time to take a little trip across the ocean," Amya smiled.

***

The trip across the ocean was very draining, not only for Tessa, who threw up the second she touched solid ground. Everyone was exhausted from kicking and flailing, or trying to control that. The Regal's hideout happened to be on an island as well, except this one was smaller, with cliffs on all sides. A single, long, concrete building sat in the middle. That's where The Hope was led.

Inside was just as bleak as outside. There were no pictures, no carpet, no furniture. Only doors on the left and right.

They stopped outside one of the doors, and Amya pushed it open.