The Flash Arrow

Chapter 4; Olivia

I can't wait to tell Jayla the legend. I'd never told it to anyone before, and Jayla is eagerly listening. Breanna probably is, too, but she already knows the legend, so she doesn't have to pay full attention.

"Ok, so," I begin. "Hundreds of years ago, Mandy was using her full power to try and take over the world. The original Justice League was to battle her..." They're listening very closely, so I don't wanna mess this up. "After a lot of trying, the league was finally able to lock Mandy away in a statue, and in the statue is where she stayed for centuries more, until the next person was to touch the sword in the statue's hands, she was to be released."

"Was that person me?" asks Jayla.

"It certainly was," I reply.

"OMG, what have I done???" She sounds frantic now.

"Can I please continue?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Ok, but no more interruptions. Promise?"

"Promise!"

"Ok, where were we?" I really don't want any more interruptions, because when people interrupt me, I often lose my place in whatever I was saying before the person interrupted me. Anyway, "So, when Mandy is released, her powers shall be stronger, and she shall seek revenge on the original Justice League for locking her away in the statue in the first place. Legend has it that she will place an ancient curse. No one knows, or has known what it is, but everyone has been dreading it for years. Guys," now I get a slight worried tone in my voice, "I think today is the day it comes."

"Is that it?" asks Jayla, as if this was just some regular old classic story that everyone knows about. I can't help but feel slightly offended by it. Seriously, something about Jayla just rubs me the wrong way. I can't figure out what it is, though.

But before I have a chance to reply, I hear what sounds like a great, big, loud, roaring beast. OMG, THE TRAIN! IT'S HERE! I can't believe half an hour has gone already gone by! Wow, time really does fly.

"Let's go!" I shout over the banging engine.

"How?" asks Breanna frantically.

"JUMP!" I'm practically landing on top of the train's surface as I yell. Breanna follows me, and jumps just as I had.

Jayla is next. She almost makes it, but she just misses and grabs onto the edge. At that moment, I suddenly feel a pang of care for her.

"Jayla!" I yell over the roar and clickity-clackity of the extremely fast-moving train. "Jayla, grab on!" I'm holding out my hands for her to grab. She puts her cold hands into mine, almost pulling me off as well, but I barely manage to pull her up just in time.

"Phew! That was close!" I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hey, thanks!" she says gratefully.

Then the extremely loud, almost deafening, ear-splitting whistle of the train blows, and we all jump.

"Oh, shoot," says Breanna.

"What is it now?" I ask.

"Dark shadows," she replies, pointing to the right. "They're coming for us."

Sure enough, two black blurs are now standing right in front of us. I assume they're working for Mandy, since her full name is Mandy, Queen of the Dark Shadows.

"What do you want?" I ask them blankly as I pull back the string of my bow, getting ready to shoot an arrow at one of them.

They don't answer right away, so I guess I have no choice but to shoot. When I do, the one I shot it at ducks.

"Nice try, amatuer," he laughs. He charges at me, but Breanna uses her super speed to block the space between me and the dark shadow just in time. "Hey, get out of the way!" he yells at her, but she doesn't budge.

"There's no way you're hurting my best friend," Breanna defends me. Seriously, I could not ask for a better best friend. She winks. "Hey, I have an idea," she whispers to me.

"I'm listening."

"What if we put both of our powers together?"

"Whatever do you mean?" I ask. Seriously, what could she mean by 'put both of our powers together?'

"I mean," she continues, "we could have a flash arrow."

I take that information in for a second, then I figure it out. "THAT'S BRILLIANT!" I yell, almost forgetting that we're being watched by two incredibly bad dark shadows.

"What are you people talking about?" the other one asks.

"Oh, we're done talking," I say confidently.

"Give me your bow," whispers Breanna.

I hand her my bow, just as she told me. She gives it a bunch of power, then hands it back to me.

"Here," she says, "try it now. I think you'll really appreciate this." With that, she winks at me again. Then I turn my full attention to my bow and arrow, and my targets, each of the dark shadows.

"Sayonara, shadow," I say as I fire my, well, Breanna's and my super speedy arrow at one of them, and it hits him square on. He falls to the ground hard, clearly in horrible pain, despite being a shadow. Then I do the same to the other dark shadow, and he falls to the ground in horrible pain, just like the other one did.

After I'm done doing my little thing, I high five Breanna. "Yeah!" we both cheer triumphantly in unison, and then I remember something, something very important. My happiness and triumphant behavoir suddenly stop as I remember...

"Jayla!" I yell. I can't believe I had forgotten about her. I mean sure, my mind was preoccupied with the dark shadows, and the flash arrow and all, but still, I feel really stupid forgetting. Jayla has been really quiet lately, almost too quiet. So quiet that it's unusual. It worries me. Even if she is a little too arrogant for my taste, I still care about her.

"I'll help you look," offers Breanna.

"Thanks," I reply, "I could really use the extra help."

We look all over the top of the train on which we are standing. We look all over. We look high, we look low, but Jayla is nowhere to be seen.

"There's only one reasonable explination for this," I say to Breanna. We share another worried glance, and I know we're thinking the same thing. "I think she's gone."