"Yeah, I'm definitely dead, right?" I said out loud, with my eyes closed, knowing that I was in heaven already. I could practically feel the white clouds, and flying.
"Stop daydreaming, Chaden." A voice says. It's Jordyn! She's definitely dead too, we'll be spending the rest of our dead-lives flying and sleeping on white clouds.
A gush of cold air slaps me on the face. My eyes snap open and I sit up, well awake. The others were looking at me confusingly. I rub my eyes.
"I'm not dead?" I ask everyone and I look around me. No fluffy clouds, and no sign of me able to fly. Yep, not dead. Heila stifles a giggle and Clyde manages a grin.
I take out the sketchbook from my bag. My eyes water as I picture my loving-mother, and her cheery smile when I come home. And I think of her baked cookies that she's famous for, in my family. I try to push the thought away but I can't. The thought of her warm smile fades into her wearing a white coat, wearing glasses, and holding up test tubes, and sketching monsters.
"Chaden, don't force yourself," Jordyn says softly and she rubs my back. Heila and Clyde are confused. I guess they don't know about my mother yet.
"My mother is causing all of this. She created all of this, the monsters..." my voice trails off, and I clutch the sketchbook tightly.
"What if it's not your mother? What is someone is trying to frame her?" Clyde says in a dark tone, which makes me shudder, His voice seems like it can make the most cheery sentences sound harsh.
I look at Clyde, the first time of thinking of this idea. Maybe this isn't her? it makes my spirits lift, but not enough. With a heavy heart, I flip open the cover of the sketchbook and it brings tears to my eyes immediately. Jordyn covers her mouth. I guess she was sad too, since she was so happy to come over to my house all the time, because my mother would make the best doughnuts that Jordyn was in love with.
The front page read, "This belongs to..." And in bold, it says, "Sydney Allaband." Allaband was Chaden's last name and the truth was uncovered. His own mother, the kindest mother ever, was a monster. She created monsters and demons that killed all the people in Chaden's city.
"You know what, I'm so done with this. Whatever, I'm going to be finding the truth. Why did she do this to all of us? Why does she want her own son to suffer? I don't get it! I don't! I really don't!" I sigh and I look at the sky.
"Don't worry, Chaden. We'll find out what made her do it." Heila confirms and she sits on the ground next to me. Jordyn takes the sketchbook from my hands and flips through the book It's full of different monsters, demons, and scary-looking creatures, each different from the next. Clyde crosses his arms and he perches on a metal pole, clinging onto every word.
"Well, well, well, look at these children! They might as well be our heroes at this difficult time." a hoarse voice behind them said. Honestly, we literally jumped 10 feet in the air.
"Um, who are you?" Jordyn's voice is uneasy and she backs away. An old man steps forward, with a stick as his cane. He hobbles toward us and his hair is gray.
"Children, I'm just an old man. I have been waiting for this moment for years! Please come to my home, you are welcome to it anytime." The old man says and he turns and starts walking in another direction.
I give the others a confused glance, but somehow, I find myself trusting this man. Jordyn grabs my arm.
"Chaden, what are you thinking? We can't follow him! He might kill us!" She whisper-screams.
"Jordyn, he's an old man, he might be the only way of finding out what this place is. And why is he calling us heroes?" I answer back, clenching my teeth. Jordyn releases her hand and rubs her chin.
"I'm finding out what this place is, and where are you guys going to sleep anyway?" my words are stretched like tight rubber bands. The anger inside boiled and I couldn't hold it. I wanted to know the truth, no matter what. No matter what it took.
Now I barely remembered anything after that because I fell to the floor and went into the future dream again. I saw fuzzy images flashing at once, which made me feel woozy. A silver sword, a huge lollipop, demons, and lots of papers. Words flowed into the dream, interfering with the images, and it made me feel dizzy as heck.
"Ugh, I feel horrible." I grumbled and sweat dripped from my over-heating forehead. It took me about 10 seconds to regain my eyesight, and trying not to pass out.
"Are you okay?" Heila says and crouches next to me. I nod, and I looked at the old man, who was looking at me the whole time. He smiled, and he seemed to be communicating with me, but not with words. I could tell he was trustworthy and so I stood up and bowed.
"Hi, I'm Chaden." I tried to be polite but I still needed someone to help me walk. Jordyn brings my arm around her neck and we make our way between the giant machines around us. Clyde walks like an adult, and he didn't even slouch. I swear, add some sunglasses and he would like a professional spy. Heila was walking next to Jordyn and I couldn't even believe what I saw. This place seemed like there wasn't any form of animal life, or even trees. All around us was heavy, and big machines. I saw a huge whirring machine that was like an enormous fan that could suck up anything and turn it to shreds. We made our way through the everlasting maze of machines and we came out to a clearing...which was a forest.
"My house is just over there, it's not too far." The old man wobbles and Clyde steps in to help him. I manage to smile at him and he shrugs. The old man smiles at Clyde as he helps him steady himself.
His house was no mansion, no palace, or factory. It was a wooden house that was tattered, but I didn't mind. I went in and found a little kitchen, a rug, a sink, and numerous tall boxes stacked up at the wall. I sat on a wooden chair and he offered us some tea.
"I want to let you know how pleased I am to meet you heroes. I promised myself, I wouldn't die unless I found the right heroes, to help us defeat the Harplei Lab," he tells us, and we're following each word he says.
"You keep calling us heroes. Why is that?" Jordyn asks and she slips a pink doughnut in her mouth, I don't even act surprised.
He walks over to his little shelf of books and takes out a big book that is covered with velvet. He shows us the title that is in gold, "Harplei's History." He sits on the rug and flips the book open to the first page. "Let me tell you why, you'll be fascinated," he said.
Let the history begin...
YOU ARE READING
breaking the charm
AdventureMurders have been occurring in each coming day. People say it is not a human being that is causing all of this, but a monster. But who knows who is the next victim? Chaden finds this weird, as if there's a pattern happening, through all of these mur...
