Oh, good grief. Summer camp?? Uh, I would've been overjoyed at that fact a few months ago, but, uh, that ship has sailed. I mean, now I have something way more exciting and pressing on my hands.
"Christi, so we're going to the same one, right?" I ask Christi through the phone.
"Yep, thank the cheeses." She sighs.
I can't help but laugh.
"Cheese!" I exclaim. I can practically hear Christi's disapproval, but I mean, come on. It's cheese we're talking about! Or at least I'm talking about it. But whatever.
"Sabrina, we need to focus here! We have a serious crisis on our hands!" She's basically shrieking through the phone.
"Okay okay. But the solution is simple!" I inform her. I flop onto my bed, exhausted from all the excitement. But now we have another problem. Can a girl ever get some rest around here?
"How is any of this simple?!?!" Christi, I can tell, is very stressed about this.
"Well, most of it isn't. Just this part. We just don't get on the bus! Simple as that," I tell her, pretty proud of myself for coming up with this amazing solution.
"I suppose. But what if our parents want to see us off? And what about the people at camp. They'll notify our parents when they realize we were never there!" Christi points out.
"Well, maybe Lupo and Skifter can help? I mean, they're Soul Animals. They must have some tricks up their sleeves," I muse.
"Oh, sorry, gotta go. Text you!" Christi suddenly signs off. I sigh, and set my phone down. We really didn't solve anything, did we.
I need Lupo. But my necklace, I don't have it. Dang it! Now how do I contact him?
"Sabrina Waller!" I hear my dad's voice from downstairs. Great, now he's home too. Mom already gave me a huge talk about blah blah blah. I gulp, and try to tidy up my room. You never know how far a cleanish room can take you!
"Uh, hey dad! You're home!" I come downstairs, hoping to possibly distract him from my, yet another disappearance.
"Hi sweetie!" My dad is in the kitchen with my mom, eating a banana. Oddly enough, I think bananas are kind of weird. Although, that might be because in sixth grade, we had to mash up one for banana bread or something. My partner mashed it up so much, it looked like liquid boogers. Yeah, that's why.
"Why'd you stay at work? Shouldn't they have let you come home?" My mom asks him, checking the calendar absentmindedly.
Dad laughs wryly.
"Funny story. So I was in the middle of a meeting right? Well, Jeremy thought that—" My dad begins his story. Usually I love to listen to my parents' stories, but this is a perfect opportunity to flee. So I take that opportunity.
I try to sneakily scamper back upstairs. Maybe Christi has left a message by now? But my luck is down the drain by now.
"Sabrina..." My mom warns, as she listens to whatever Jeremy thought. I Groan, and plop myself down on a nearby chair, and rest my head on one hand. If only they knew about what I was doing. Then they might give me some more slack.
I blink and remind myself that I can't. Of course, I can't. They would probably just think I was lying anyway, trying to get out of trouble.
"So, do you want to talk about where you were this afternoon?" My mom turns to me, the 'I don't care if you want to, you will anyway' glint in her eye.
"Uh, not really..." I trail off, but then quickly note mom's expression. "But, uh sure, why not?" I force a laugh. They just sit there calmly, even though I can practically see the lava in them.
"So, well, I was, uh, I was. You know? I need to use the bathroom, be right back!" I dash upstairs to the bathroom. I snatch my phone from my bed first, however. I need to see what cover story Christi told, so we get our stories straight.
But, I have no texts. I sigh frustratedly and quickly text her my plan. I just hope she looks at her phone in time.
I slowly, oh so slowly, plod back downstairs to my demise.
"Care to explain?" Mom asks, crossing her legs. I fidget with my hands. I hope I can pull this off.
🎔
Oh boy. This is nerve-wracking. Both of our parents are gone, due to work things, so Christi is meeting me at my house. Soon. I just hope our plan works. It better. I mean, we stayed up really late last night, trying to figure this whole thing out.
I can't even think of the consequences if my parents found out. I would be in even more trouble than I was when I disappeared.
"Hey Sabrina!" Christi calls, walking over to my house, a backpack in hand. I wave.
Christi and I both thought that since we would need to pack a bag for summer camp, and we aren't going, we can just use that stuff for our stay at Klenouzlo. Perfect, right?
"I really hope this works," Christi says nervously. I have to agree. I really do hate lying, but in this case, I kind of have to.
Yesterday, I managed to not get killed by basically the most powerful man ever, and now I'm terrified of not going to summer camp. What is wrong with me?
"Christi, we're going to the library portal, right?" I question, for about the hundredth time. She rolls her eyes.
"Yes, Sabrina," she says, checking her bag once more. I know that we're close to the library, but it's not like we can just walk into our houses and grab more stuff. I shoulder my yellow backpack, and make sure I have my water bottle still.
I know that the Soul Animals will have water there, but I like my water bottle. It has a cool spout!
"Ready?" I ask, checking my phone, just in case my parents are coming.
They are.
"Christi, move faster! My parents are coming home, right now!" I hiss. She looks up alarmed, and jumps up with her backpack.
"Well then, let's move!" She panics, already halfway to the street.
I hurry up to her, and we both quickly look both ways, before streaking across the pavement. It's a fairly hot day, so I was hot to begin with. But when I ran across the asphalt, I could feel the heat rising up from it.
"How far away are they?" Christi calls, a few feet ahead of me. I glance at my phone again.
"My mom is seven minutes, my dad is three!" I shout to her, picking up the pace.
We're just a few yards from the library, when I see the bus puttering down the street. To pick us up.
They can't see us, but they will soon. My breath is catching in my throat, and my lungs wheeze, from such little running in the past. I need a break.
The library isn't that far from my house, maybe a mile or so. But who can sprint a mile? Most definitely not me.
I slow down, wheezing so hard I might just wheeze my lungs out. Christi stops, gasping as well.
"We have to keep going!" She pants, looking like I feel. Awful.
"I can't!" I say, still wheezing quite hard. She jogs over to me, and yanks me up.
"You have to. Do you want to stay at camp, while Zaraho destroys this town looking for us? No, I don't think so." She narrows her eyes. I so badly want to run, and be in the library, but I just can't, I can't.
The bus stops at Christi's house, and it almost looks like the bus itself is confused. But then it continues onward. To my house.
"Christi, Sabrina!" Someone calls. I turn my head, and there stands Kase, running to us. If he is confused on why we are standing in the middle of the field next to the library, looking horrible, he doesn't show it.
As he gets closer, I can see my Soul Animal, running behind him, tongue lolling out, almost looking happy, because he gets to run.
I'm so relieved that they are here, I don't ask any questions, as I get on Lupo's back with Christi. We must be fairly heavy, but if we are, Lupo doesn't seem to care. He also doesn't seem to care about the fact that if someone saw us, they would be so confused, and probably tell others. And others. And others.
I mean really though, three kids, two on a wolf's back, running at a library. Not weird at all.
We streak through the rest of the field, and make it to the entrance. Lupo unceremoniously drops us, and runs back the way he came, not wanting to be seen. Kase stays though. I'm not sure whether to be happy or angry about that, but there's nothing we can do now. Plus, I trust him a tad bit more now.
I actually don't even know why, I mean sure he told us he wasn't Zaraho, but he did say he was working with him. Actually, now that I think about it, why would Lupo trust him then? Is he a double agent?
I shrug off my annoying thoughts, and walk up the steps to the large library. Heheh, get it? Large, and library? Whatever.
"Uh, Christi?" I stop, a sudden thought penetrating my mind.
"What?" she asks, glancing at Kase every now and then.
"Do you remember where the entrance is?" I almost bring back my terrible habit of biting my nails, but I quickly stop. That was not a fun experience trying to stop.
"Uh oh. No, I don't remember. But how could I? It was dark in there!" Christi adds defensively.
"I know I know. But now how do we get in?" I muse, frantically checking my phone. My dad is home.
"Well, the worst thing we can do right now, is to stand in the open. So lets go inside!" Kase suggests, ushering us both through the double doors.
The receptionist barely glances at us, before placing her gaze back on her screen, presumably playing some game. She does look fairly young.
"Christi! Your necklace!" I exclaim, in a burst of brilliance.
"What about it?" She asks, completely clueless on why I'm implying.
"Maybe it can take us there!" I say, motioning for her to try. She nods, and clasps her hand around it, and closes her eyes.
🎔
An alarm sounds. It's loud, and blaring in my poor unsuspecting ears. I turn to Christi, but she just shrugs. Automatically, my gaze turns to Sateen Klenot. It's light entrances me. All of the gems seem to shimmer in the light, and I gaze in awe. After all, it is only my second time seeing it.
Then, I realize that we've brought Kase with us.
Intruder, intruder. Zaraho affiliation. The alarm is apparently speaking now. Lupo, Skifter, and a few other Soul Animals come rushing out. Lupo and Skifter relax slightly when they see us, but they quickly tense up when they see Kase. Which is kind of odd, because Lupo was fine with him a second ago.
Kase raises his hands in surrender, even though I can see that fighting glint in his eye.
He is prepared to fight.
"I am not who you think I am. I have turned over a new leaf," is all he says...
Before he lets a few drops of water, run down his face.