Chapter 1:
One Week Earlier
“Hey! Alicia!”
I turned to see my best friend, Leanne Farfeld, summoning me to her locker.
“What’s up Leanne?”
Without preamble, Leanne shoved a photo in my face.
“Look at this!”
I could tell she was really excited. I looked down at the photo. It was old, wrinkled and worn, but the girl in the photo was clearly distinguishable. She was pretty, with long, dark, wavy hair and a proud face that had - were those stripes? - her lips were full and her teeth white and perfect, but faint grey stripes crossed her face, almost like a tiger or a zebra. Even though it was obvious she was wearing no makeup, she glowed as if possessed by an inner light and, looking closer, I could see small, furry ears sticking out of her hair.
"Where did it come from?" I asked. It almost looked like a picture from a movie, or something someone had edited with a computer program.
"No idea, I found it near that fort in my backyard yesterday."
I remembered the fort. It seemed just yesterday that Leanne and I had been building it, finding the sticks, lugging mud from the stream to use as mortar, sleeping out under the stars. Those were the good times, times that high school life had destroyed due to homework, homework and more homework.
"But why were you down there? I thought your brother and his friends used it as their hideout now."
"Oh, I was just down at the stream, killing some time, relieving stress, all that jazz... not finishing my Algebra."
"Nice, sounds just like you," Because when had Leanne ever done her Algebra homework? "Do you know where it might have come from?"
"No, but I think it might have blown down the stream. I've never seen a lady like that before, not even in a movie. Maybe she lives over the mountains."
"Don't be ridiculous! No one lives over the Windrias, what with all the wild animals, ten feet of snow and..... him." I knew I didn't need to explain. It was obvious to both of us who I was talking about. The Tinkerer.
The Tinkerer had been around since before my parents had been born, before even their parents. Every year he and his henchmen snuck into the valley of Galaciale and took kids, anywhere from three to six children, right from their beds. It was rumored that even the most stringent security measures wouldn't deter him. Whatever he wanted, the Tinkerer got without too much trouble.
One year it was rumored he had even whisked ten of them off to his lair in the mountains. Usually the victims were between twelve and fifteen, but Becky Egleburg had been ten when she was taken away. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the kidnappings. There was nothing in common with all of them. Boys and girls, popular kids and unpopular,the smart and the not-so-smart. The only thing that was known about what happened to them is that they are never seen again.
Leanne broke the awkward silence "Well, I've got to be getting to math class. See you later, Alicia!"
"Yeah, see ya."
"Going to the game later?"
"No, Mrs. Leftgart gave assigned us a major essay due tomorrow. I love her, but she gives out tons of homework! Are you going?"
"Nah, I promised the Poels I'd babysit their little boy, Trevor while they went out. So, see you tomorrow I guess."
"See you tomorrow."
We went our seperate ways, both thinking deeply. Soon however, our minds (or at least mine) were filled by the business of school. It was nearing exam time and some of the teachers were getting antsy about whether they'd taught everything or not. My science teacher, Mr. Grundwold, was cramming information into our brains like nobody's business and my brain couldn't focus on anything else.
Finally, the school day was over and I walked the usual four blocks back to my house. As usual, it was completely deserted, since both of my parents were working. My mom was a worker at the appliance factory in the city and her father was a scientist at SAGEA, the Space and Galaxy Exploration Agency. I unlocked the front door, grabbed some strawberries out of the fridge and plopped on the couch, starting my studying for my Spanish II test the next day.
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But later that evening, laying in bed, I couldn't help worrying. It was mid-May and my sixteenth birthday was on the fifth of June. The conversation with Leanne that morning had awakened a lingering fear in my heart. I was so afraid of being taken, of being stolen away from my family by mysterious kidnappers who seemed to have no consciouns.
It was only about two weeks until my birthday and until I was [most likely] safe from being kidnapped. Even though I'd tried to not think about it, the Tinkerer's minions usually came down to the valley around when school got out. I was more nervous that I cared to admit, and as each day passed without the Tinkerer coming, the fear deepened, anticipation not helping in the least.
And finally I drifted off to sleep, the culmination of all the rumors and truths I'd heard about the Tinkerer and his men swimming in my head.
Images flew past me, scattering their disjointed colors and memories around the air in front of my face. I could feel strong grips on my arms, pulling me away as my mom and dad screamed for them to leave me be. I kicked and screamed for release, but my legs and voice weren't working. I felt fear rise in my chest, a hungry lion crying out, ready to rip me apart. A disembodied voice spoke out of the darkness : "Now that she is here, proceed with experimentation..." I tried to cry out again, but still nothing came out. They dragged me to the edge of a cliff and pushed me off. I was falling, falling, falling into nothingness. And somehow I knew I'd never hit the bottom.
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Chapter edited.***
