Parker/Googz's P.O.V.
Whew! That was a close one. No way was I letting Austin find out I still have his little sister's old ring. What would he think? What would everyone else think? I know it's pretty stupid and all but you try letting go of the fact that your best friend(/secret crush) is dead for a year.
Well, assumed dead since there were no bodies at the crime scene. So there is a possible chance she could've ran away with her father, but there is no way that between getting trapped in the garage and the garage's roof collapsing inwards, they would've escaped and not be caught by the authorities.
Right?
As he calmly walked away, I turned my back to him and exhaled, letting out all the nerves inside of me at the moment. I was glad that my mini-project of Austin trying to investigate our teammates to find their fatal flaw worked. Well, he still seemed suspicious but at least he didn't ask any questions about my suspicions.
I decided to actually check the live video feed of the Matrixs' digital neighborhood. I watched as little Enzo Matrix was learning how to use the hoverboard, his father Bob right by his side. Clicking a few things, I zoomed into them to see their progress, seeing Enzo's mother Dot had the same intention.
Then, I saw another figure sitting on the side, watching little Bob. She looked like the spitting image of him, only with pigtails and in a skirt. I think they were brother and sister. Just like the Carters...
I sighed internally and sank back into my seat. Is it possible that Jane is just stuck in my memory and I can think of her in any situation? That is something I do not want to test or know.
Well, since I'm talking about her so much, I might as well tell you how we 'lost' Jane Carter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two years ago...
"Woah, everyone look! I'm snowboarding!" Austin exclaimed.
"Brother, we can't see it," Jane giggled. "You're the one wearing father's virtual reality goggles."
I turned to the brilliant engineer, who was chuckling from his work seat. "Is it possible for us to see his view, Mr. Carter?"
He smiled and stood up. He strode on over to his son and pressed a button on his goggles. The large movie screen then lit up and showed a first person perspective of someone who is snowboarding. "There you go, kids," he replied.
Jane fake pouted. "We're not kids! We're teenagers!"
"And we hold first place in the game Cyber Guardians, so we aren't ones to be considered kids," I backed up, doing a fake karate pose in my seat.
"Oh come on!" Austin laughed. "I'm the only one of us who actually looks like a teenager. You both have a reputation of being pretty short, especially you Jane."
"Austin, don't say that about your sister," his father warned.
The girl next to me threw her head back; she almost worried me as laughed in her seat, looking like she was going to fall off. "He's right, father! Have you seen me in class pictures?"
"Kids, it's time for lunch!" Ms. Carter called from outside the garage.
Austin took off the virtual-reality helmet and set it aside. "Yes, all that virtual snowboarding made me hungry!" He happily sighed, jogging out the garage doors.
"Yeah," Jane agreed, following him. "Come on Parker."
I jumped of my seat and went after my two best friends. We went around through the back gate and across the backyard. Waiting for us on the other side of the screen door, Judy Carter, their mom, stood smiling. Her children ran up to the screen door, dragged it open, and each gave her a quick hug. I followed in right behind them to the kitchen.
Three sandwiches each sat on separate paper plates, with napkins underneath, all on one side of the rectangular marble table. Each sandwich had different contents and fillings, matching what we like. I went to the sandwich with ham and cheese and pulled up a stool to sit in. Austin plopped himself in front of the PB & J sandwich right next to me, and Jane hopped on a stool before taking a bite out of her grilled cheese.
"So what did you kids do today in the garage?" Judy asked as she grabbed three glasses from the dishwasher.
"Oh!" Austin jumped to the opportunity. "I went snowboarding at Source Adventures! And nearly boarded off a cliff!"
"But you couldn't' since it was virtual reality," his sister butted in, taking another bite out of her sandwich. He glared at her and she just shrugged it off. I smiled to myself at her witty remarks. Even rude, I still think she's awesome.
All of a sudden, Jane blinked really hard and inhaled sharply. A pint of blood left her face and her hazel eyes seemed to flash gold for a second. Strange...
As her mom placed a glass of ice cold water next to each of our plates, she slipped off her seat. "Austin, I'm going back to the garage. I think I forgot to plug something in," she said, reaching up to the back of her neck suspiciously.
Before Austin in could reply, I asked, "Isn't your dad in there work-"
"Which is why he wouldn't have noticed something unplugged," my best friend interrupted quickly. He turned back to his sister. "You may wanna hurry before it runs out of power." Jane nodded before dashing out the door. "I'll be right back."
I chose to ignore their suspicious behavior and took a swig of water, feeling its chill slide down my throat. Austin told Judy about what happened in school the other day, like when the student council announced there would now be 'Tech-Tuesdays', and how his father might be the surprise guest. I practically zoned out; no Jane here meant no one to crack another one of my crappy jokes just to see her make that cute little giggle. I know it's weird to be thinking of such a thing at the age of twelve but according to science and polls online, we're one of the few kids who mature a little quicker than normal-
"AAAHHH!"
My eyes widened. As soon as the scream was launched, I leapt out of my seat and ran out the back door. I heard Austin scramble to follow me but I didn't care. Faint smoke smells entered my lungs and I pulled to a stop to start coughing a little. I looked up, only to find the garage engulfed in flames, surrounding it entirely.
I hurried to the front of the burning garage, my best friend close behind me. Weirdly enough, the only place that wasn't on fire was the front door. Austin - being the stronger one of us two - grabbed the door handle tightly and pulled on it with all of his might, but no avail. Jane continued to scream her lungs out for help.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed something roll on the ground out of the garage. My gaze fell on the small object, not so much larger than a bottle cap. I immediately recognized it as Jane's ring from her birthday and plucked it up from the ground. Before Austin could notice what I was doing, I slipped it onto one of my fingers and tried to find a way to open the door.
Conveniently, a crowbar was laying right there in the open. I grabbed it and brought the tool over to Austin. He wedged it in between the doors and began to push. I held onto the crowbar as well and used whatever strength was in my little body. We just continued pushing, and pushing, and pushing...
... until one of the doors crashed inwards, and caused the whole garage to collapse.
I felt Austin use his arm to push me back, along with him. I watched as the roof fell and the flames rose higher into the sky.
The urgent shouts from Jane disappeared with the smoke in the sky. The only thing we heard were the firetrucks' sirens blaring and the fires crackling. I felt someone pull me back, and when I looked up, I met the sad, tear filled eyes of Judy Carter. I gazed at the boy next to me, who also looked like he was about to collapse at the moment and cry.
But for me, I had no idea what to do. I was a flood of emotions; shock, anger, sadness.
For on August 18th, 2014, at 2:35 p.m., I had lost my best friend and the love of my life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My gaze fell onto my electric green smart watch. My eyes widened at the time.
I turned around in my swivel chair, grabbing my backpack. "Guys, second period's gonna start in a minute," I warned my friends as I stood up and tossed my backpack on my back.
Tamra stood up as well. "Yeah, I have an coding test to pass," she responded, slinging her bag over her shoulders and walking out the room.
"I promised I'd help the Code Breakers to practice their 'skills'," Trey chuckled before following Tamra upstairs. I smiled as well; we all knew that our school's basketball team aren't the best at basketball. They only win at games because of their super star, Trey.
Austin came up to my side. "V.E.R.A. has a free period, so she's staying down here. We have class to get to." (A/N Sorry if high schools don't have free period on second period. I've never been to high school, yet.)
The two of us walked upstairs and held a mini-conversation about random stuff. When we got up to the main floor, no one else was in the halls, so I figured all of the other students were already in class. Practically everyone in Alan Turing High loves to be early to class-
A figure from outside caught my eye, and apparently Austin's as well. We both swiveled our heads to see what was outside. The figure wasn't just standing right in the middle of the field or anything, but she seemed to analyzing our school in fascination. I could tell she was a girl due to her small-ish frame, her magenta flowing shirt, and high-heeled boots. Her dark blonde hair was tied loosely in a ponytail, some sort of black masquerade mask glistening in the little sunlight the clouds let in. Weirdly, I wasn't able to see her eyes, not the color nor the shape. In her leather-gloved hand, she slung some sort of shoe over her shoulder. Unlike those 'analyzers' from video games or movies, she didn't appear to have any high-tech devices on her.
"Who is that girl?" I wondered aloud, not able to tear away my eyes from this suspicious stranger.
"I don't know," my best friend replied cluelessly. "But what I wanna know, is why is she staring at our school?"
Out of no where, the girl did a spin in her spot and she was no longer holding anything in her hands. Upon her feet, she wore a pair of black-and-white rollerblades, but something inside me told me that they weren't normal ones.
Her head turned towards us and she supposedly stared right at us.
"Who are you?" I couldn't help but ask through the doors.
A smile played upon her pale pink lips. "Call me 'Bionic Blade'," she sang. Right before she vanished into thin air, right before our eyes.