I awoke to find myself laying down. I kept my eyes shut, just listening. I heard voices all over the place. People were throwing out instructions from all the stories. I felt a cool cloth press down on my face, and my eyes snapped open when it did.
I looked up to see Erin. Her hair was all messed up. There were tangles everywhere, and she had a little pink scratch on her face, streaking across her right cheek. She studied me wearily as she pushed the cool cloth on my forehead.
I shifted my eyes. We were in an open room, on base floor. The room had no doors. It was just connected to the kitchen. There were no boundaries indicating the separation between the rooms. A gasp escaped my lips as I focused in on what I was seeing.
Papers were everywhere. Books had been thrown off their bookcases and on to the floor. Battle plans had been swept everywhere. This place looked like a tornado had hit it.
I blinked. "What happened?" My voice was hoarse, and I wondered how long I was out. I cleared my throat.
Erin sighed. "We were attacked."
"By what? "
"I told you not to talk," Erin spit suddenly.
"What?"
She looked at me, her blue eyes fuming. "I told you to stop asking who Malevolo worked for!"
I gawked at her, my mouth wide open. "What- How was I supposed to know that we were going to get attacked?"
"Ugh, you are so irritating!" Erin tossed the wet cloth over her shoulder and covered her face with her hands.
I said nothing, just watched as she gathered herself together.
A few moments later, she uncovered her face. She looked away from me, staring at the floor. "Now everyone is going to think it's my fault."
I laid back. "No, they're not. You had nothing to do with it."
"But I was with you when it happened. I should have warned you about what you say. Words are very powerful here. They can cause real damage." She looked around the room, indicating what she meant. "That should have been the first thing I told you." She covered her face again and shook her head.
I was about to pat her on the shoulder to comfort her, but I decided against it. "Hey. Look. You didn't mean it. If anybody's to be blamed, it should be me. If Deon accuses you, I'll hold him hostage until he takes it back."
Erin uncovered her face. She looked at me like I was the stupidest person on earth. And then a reluctant smile spread across her face. She lightly punched me.
"Hey, you're not bad for a really irritating, really dumb, really stupid guy," Erin said.
"I'm not sure whether to take that as an insult or a compliment."
"Well, coming from me, I guess that's a compliment," Erin told me. "But don't think that changes anything between us," she warned me.
"Wasn't planning on it."
Erin stared at me for a moment. I suddenly felt self-conscious, but I ignored it. She cocked her head slightly, her blue eyes studying me. I stared dumbly back. Her hair, even thought it was tangled, looked amazingly pretty to me. I thought I would start drooling pretty soon, so I adverted my eyes. Erin cleared her throat and looked away also.
Suddenly, she stood up, facing the opposite direction. I tried to see around her body. I caught a quick glimpse at Billy. His hair was tangled like Erin's, but not so much. He had no marks on his body, unlike Erin again.
Billy eyed us curiously. He directed his gaze to Erin. "What are you doing?"
"Deon told me to watch over Samuel," she answered.
"Sam," I muttered.
"Whatever."
Billy nodded. "How is he?" He shifted his eyes to me.
"He was running a high fever earlier, but I cooled him off with a wet cloth. He might still be a little feverish, though."
"I'm fine," I protested.
"Shut up and let me do my business," Erin snapped.
"It's his business, too," a new voice said.
We all moved our attention to the sound of the voice. Deon was leaning on a couch a few feet away from Billy. He had a hard expression on. "He was brought into this mess, and now he's a part of it, just as much as each and every one of us."
Billy straightened. "Deon."
"How much damage did she cause?" Deon asked.
"She?" I questioned. "Who's she? "
No one answered. They all looked down at the floor.
"That thing that attacked us was a she? "
Erin turned and glared at me. "Why is it so surprising that it was a girl?"
I blinked. "Huh? Oh- No! I didn't- It wasn't meant to be like that-"
"That's the least of our troubles," Deon cut in. "That was only a fraction of what Malevolo has in store for us." He eyed all three of us. "Come. We have work to do. And we must hurry."
***
Halfway up to the planning room (the room where Billy had brought me when I first came here), I noticed something.
I stopped on the stairs. "Uh... Why is there a ginormous hole in the ceiling?"
Everybody looked at me like I was crazy. I looked up to see dark storm clouds swirling up ahead. A cold draft blew through the headquarters, making me shiver like crazy.
"The one who attacked us isn't very neat on entering a building," Deon answered.
"But it's like, HUGE!"
Erin pushed me. "Keep moving, Smartie."
We made our way to the planning room. People in the hall eyed us curiously, but then shrugged and moved on. Once inside, Deon shut the door. Billy took a seat next to the door. Erin went to stand by Deon's side at his desk. That left me in the middle of the room, which was very awkward for me. I just plopped down from where I was standing.
"So what's the plan?" Billy asked, leaning forward.
Deon's chair let out a groan as he sat. He leaned forward on his desk, a worried look on his face. "This was very much unexpected. Very much indeed."
"So does this mean Malevolo knows where we're located now? If he sent her over here, then he must know where we are." Erin furrowed her brow in worry.
Deon hesitated. "Not necessarily. You see, I've been meaning to mention something to you guys." He looked a little sheepish. "I just wanted to wait for the right time."
Billy shifted on his chair. "What is it?"
"She's branched off," Deon said.
"What do you mean, Deon?" Erin looked confused.
"I mean, she has branched off. She decided to work alone. She doesn't want to be a part of Malevolo's army. She wants to find The Necklace of Time herself."
I piped in. "You guys are referring to her as the thing that made the hole in the roof, right?"
Erin rolled her eyes. "Yes, Sherlock."
"I still don't see why you guys don't just say her name," I muttered.
"Do you not see what the result of talking about her has caused us?" Erin shrieked. "There's a hundred foot hole in the ceiling!"
I could feel my face heating up. "Oh yeah? Then how come she's not attacking us now? We're talking about her right now, aren't we?"
"That's what I don't get," Deon said. "That's been puzzling me. If you speak a name, something's guaranteed to happen. We're speaking of her now, yet nothing is happening."
The room was silent except for the distant sound of Cassie cooking downstairs. I could hear people shuffling around in the rooms next to us.
"Deon's right," Billy finally said, breaking the ice. "Something's up. I think she's planning something. Now all we have to do is find out what and why."
I groaned. "Great. So now we have even more enemies to worry about."
Deon nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid you're right, Samuel. That is why I have come to my final decision."
All three of us looked at Deon curiously. "What do you mean?" I asked.
Deon stood up from his desk. "We must send out an expedition team. This sudden attack has proved that we are but a little off track on information on the enemy. We need to find out what Malevolo's planning, quick."
Erin looked drawn back. "A quest? So sudden? But we would- That would take days to prepare for! We would have to gather food, extra supplies, clothes, remedies-"
"Which is why we must hurry," Deon cut in calmly. "I'm afraid we don't have much time."
"But who are we going to gather?" Erin asked.
Deon studied us. "I'm not completely positive," he said, his eyes landing on me, "but I know Samuel is going."