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

Chapter 48: A text on the phone

Lily led the others to her apartment home. Her mother didn't even blink as they passed by her, into Lily's room. As soon as Oneida shut the door Jake pulled a tiny cannon out of his pocket. "If Theresa's gone wild with her sister, there's only one solution," he said. He handed the cannon to Lily. "Fire the tracker out the window." Lily yanked open her bedroom window and fired a small sphere outside. Instantly, it sparked and dissolved into dust that blew away in the wind.

"Okay ... apparently Theresa knows our location," Jake muttered. "She's been here before," Lily replied.

Ding! Ding! Everyone froze and looked at Lily's bed. Lily walked over and pulled her phone out from under her pillow. "Someone sent me a text," she said. She opened her phone and frowned. "Guys, take a look at this." The text (actually, there were two texts) read:

August 4th, 2037

Ugh! Lily, I am bored! Hurry up! I am WAITING.

#TheresatheQueen

August 10th, 2037

Sophie is after me and I am not running away. That is how BORED I am! So HURRY UP!

#TheresatheQueen

"What in the world? When did Theresa get a phone?" Stacy demanded. "She doesn't need a phone," Tara answered. Lily threw her iPhone back on her bed in disgust. "Guys, whatever. Let's get on with this." She dug a map of New York City out of her nearby backpack (a souvenir from geography class) and spread it on her desk, sliding a small bucket of paper pins towards her. "So, what do we know?" Oneida reached over and stabbed a pin into the Statue of Liberty. "We know that the Statue of Liberty came to life and vanished afterward. That was where we first saw Sophie."

Lily nodded. "Very good." "But we need more information," Jake said. "Where will Sophie strike next?"

They spent the next half hour decorating the map with pins, color coded for possible targets. Finally, they speculated that Sophie and her sister were most likely to strike at the Empire State Building, the NYSE building or Central Park.

Lily stepped back and pointed at the Empire State Building on the map. "Sophie will most likely attack there. I'm sure of it." "I don't know," Jake said. "I mean, she could be anywhere. For Sophie and Theresa, transportation isn't a problem."

Tara kicked the table. "We should stop them from transporting. I say we launch an attack." "But what about our families? I think we should find the others, and then attack," Stacy protested.

"Lily! It's dinnertime! Come on down," Lily's mother shouted. Lily sighed and carefully put the map on top of her dresser. "We'll work on this later. Let's go." Five minutes later, Lily watched her friends board a bus and drive away. Oneida, who was going to stay for another night, squeezed Lily's hand. "We still have hope. Theresa can't have a plan already." "She doesn't," Lily replied. "We all know that Sophie is chasing her, trying to capture her sister and imprison her again. When I looked into that sapphire in the grass, its center was gray. You were right, Oneida. Sophie is more powerful than Theresa. But not in the way you would have imagined. Sophie is sapping Theresa's magic."

Oneida paced back and forth. "Lily, do you recall how strong Theresa's powers were in the elfin world? And now she's so weak on Earth." "So you're saying that Theresa was so used to the elfin world that she's actually weaker on this planet?" Oneida nodded. "Fifty years in prison can do that to a person."

"Dinnertime!" Lily's mother shouted from the kitchen. "I'm coming, Mom!" Lily yelled. "I hope that my mom didn't turn dinner to charcoal. She's that bad at cooking." Oneida smirked.

Turns out, dinner wasnot charcoal, but it was prettyclose. Lily crunched her way through the last of her plate of blackened chickenand brushed her teeth. She headed to bed without further conversation. As shelay down, she thought of Sophie chasing themand shuddered.