Auni.. A retarded title, but can't think of anything else

Chapter 1:Lights
Writers Notes: Please post your opion! Even if it is to tell me that this story stinks! post please! I'm "desperate"...
Their arms linked, Auni and her best friend Eligantia's heads were touching as they shared all the new secrets of the day. Wrapping her coat around her body more tightly as the snow powdered her hair, Auni wished that she didn't have to walk home from school. But it wasn't long before she was smiling again. Mom would have some hot cocoa and cookies ready for her when she got home. Looking back to see Baker's Private School fade into the landscape, Auni frowned.

"Do you see them again?" Eligantia asked when she saw Auni's grimace.

"Yes, but that's not what's bothering me." Auni replied.

"Then what is it?"

Auni started to speak, and then stopped, swallowing as she collected her thoughts. After a short pause, "Why me?" she asked.

"Why you what?" Eligantia's face twisted in thought.

"Why am I the only one to see them? After the schoolyard fight I got into two months ago,

they’ve been following me from school. Oh, I wish you could see them! Sometimes I think my mind is playing tricks on me and I feel like I'm going crazy..."

"What do they look like?" Eligantia asked, ignorant of how deeply Auni was troubled.

"You’ve never told me before. I'd like to know; it might help me understand."

Resolutely, Auni turned towards the school and began to walk backwards.

"They must be about six feet tall.” she said. “They wear black coats that go to their knees and

hats that cover their faces. And the pants are black slacks."

"That's all you can see?"

"They've always been a little blurry. And I hope they will disappear one day."

"I don't know why you want them to disappear. They might be angels watching over you so that

you don't get in another fight."

"I highly doubt it, Eligantia. I’ve never heard of angels stalking a person and wearing entirely black."

"Just because you've never heard of it doesn't make it not true."

Auni shrugged and pivoted back toward Eligantia, running to catch up to her and, in the process, warm her own freezing body. Then abruptly a sharp feeling went up her right arm and she

collapsed, gripping her wrist with her left arm. Not pain, exactly, but something...unnatural.

Making a fist, she squinted her eyes shut. Eligantia ran to her side.

"Auni! What's wrong?!"

"I don't know, my arm, there's something there. It's starting from my hand."

"Open it up, see if there's a knot."

Slowly Auni opened her hand. Her eyes widened at the blue-glowing symbols shimmering from her hand.

"Eligantia! Do you see that?" Auni asked, her voice tense with fear.

"What? I don't see anything." She said, perplexed.

"How can you not see it?! My hand is glowing!"

"There is nothing there, Auni."

Eligantia was confused and unsure of what was going on. Auni never showed this much fear and agitation.

Rapidly, the feeling subsided until the symbols faded to a brown tattoo similar to the henna tattoos she had seen at her Indian friend’s wedding. Trembling, Auni stood up, her face pale with fright and uncertainty.

Auni's eyes were huge.

"Are you okay?" Seeing that Auni's scared eyes did not calm down, Eligantia continued. "I'm sorry I couldn't help."

Auni said nothing and walked in silence until they got to her house.

"See you later, okay?" Eligantia inquired.

"No, Eligantia!" Auni's trembling fingers grasped Eligantia's coat. "I need you to come with me!

You gotta help me find out what is going on!"

Auni and Eligantia dropped their backpacks next to the door in the hall. When they went past the hall, they entered Auni's room, which she shared with her little sister, Madoline.

"Looky, looky, looky, Auni!" Madoline said. "I made picture of you playing piano."

"I don't play a piano, Mad. And you need to get out, I don't feel good."

"Then why Eli here?"

"I'm going to help Auni get better, okay," Eligantia stated.

"Okay, bye-bye." As Madoline skipped out the room, she called out her mother's name to show her the picture. Despondently, Auni threw herself on her bed and gazed at her hand, still showing some of the symbols.

"Do you think it might have anything to do with the guys who follow you?" Eligantia asked.

"Maybe... but how can you not see my hand glow? The light was so bright, how could you have missed it?"

"Have you ever seen the nurse? About what you see?"

"Yes, but she just said if anyone else sees them that I should tell my parents or the principal."

"Oh."

Auni wiped her tear-filled eyes. Because she couldn't understand what this was all about, she was so upset. It hurt being the clueless one. Clenching her hand into a fist to hide the markings from her own eyes, she sat up. This was unfair, and it made her feel like she was different from the world. Was she?

It was about 10 o'clock; Eligantia had left hours ago. Everyone was asleep, except her. As she lay on her bed, pondering why she was so different, a intense blue light shone down through her window and blinded her. A fleeting memory of her glowing hand flashed through her mind before the ground started pulsing, making her bed shake. What's happening?! Terrified, she wanted to scream, but fear held her mouth shut. She threw the blanket over her head, hoping to get rid of the light, but it was too fierce. Through her blanket she could see a figure. Through her fear, Auni could hardly understand its words, yet it persisted and kept on speaking, its voice becoming more and more urgent for her attention. Who is this person? Then suddenly a hand was upon her and Auni threw the cover off her head. There standing before her in place of th edark person was Madoline.

"I had a bad dream, Auni."

come on... i know someone must have an opinion!

I liked it. I'm not really the best critic, but I don't like writing that is amateurish, and yours is not. You write dialog well, and that is difficult, and there's a mystery here, which I like. The question is, can you develop that as something interesting, fairly novel, while developing the characters, and bringing it all to a resounding, thrilling, yet believable conclusion? Have you written any more of this story?

qimissung... first off, your name is difficult to write. lol.
i'm glad you don't find it amateurish, defently something i was hoping for. and yes, i have written more of the story. in fact, i have written the whole thing!!!!

Will you be posting it? I am interested in finding out who Auni is seeing.

yeah... here is the next chapter....


Chapter two...
“That’s weird,” Eligantia said after Auni told her of the last night's happenings.

“You can say that again. It’s starting to freak me out... A lot! This has never happened to me. Weren’t the strange men following me enough, not to add the fact I was the only one who could see them. Then my hand, the symbols are still there. If you could just see them! Then I wouldn’t feel so different.”

“We are all different, Auni.”

“True. But to what extent? I have a strong feeling that glowing bedrooms; symbolic hands; men following me-no one being able to see this; is far from just being ‘different’.”

“You need to be more optimistic, Auni. Goodness, that just might be your problem, you’re so negative in life that your brain is trying to show you that life isn’t as bad as you think.”

While walking with Eligantia to school that day, Auni cursed her stupidity for forgetting her gloves. Her freezing hands had already lost the feeling in the tips of her fingers. Putting her hands under her arms, she pushed forward against the fighting wind. Her hair whipped out of her cap.

“Come on, Eli. Let’s hurry, my fingers are numb.”

Not needing to reply, Eligantia quickened her speed to match Auni’s long quick strides. Even in snow, Auni moved agilely and lightly. On the court she was fast and unpredictable to the other team. In dance she glided across the floor like air. She was tall and well built for a girl. Her upper body was nicely even with her lower, but she wasn’t overly muscular. In spite of her physical build, Auni was insecure. It showed in her eyes and in the way she positioned herself.

Suddenly a giant shake sent Auni flying forward. The world dimmed and blackened. She was alone.

"Eligantia!" she screamed. A faint glow began to lighten the surrounding area as a soft tune, oddly both soothing and haunting, drifted to her ears. Slowly, the figure became more distinct and resolved itself into a human form. A man.

Glancing backward, Auni realized that he wasn't one of the men who had been following her.

"Auni," he spoke with tender force, "Auni, listen to me. Don't run. I must make this short. These things are happening for a reason. You must listen!"

"Leave me alone!" she screamed.

Too afraid to listen, she squeezed her eyes shut as he rushed up to her. Just as he went to grab her arms a blue force began jetting from her hand, wrapping around her body. Before he knew it, the young man was in the air, crashing into fence. He landed on his feet and ran back to her, making sure not to get too close.

"I am not the enemy, but am trying to protect you. AUNI! Listen to me! You are in grave danger. Don't run!"

But Auni did not listen and ran for her life, the strange voice following her.

But then there was a familiar one... Eligantia, was calling her.

"Auni, what's wrong?"

Auni finally opened up her eyes to see Eligantia and her boyfriend standing in front of her. Curling her fingers into Eligantia's jacket, she started to cry terribly. She was lying in the snow but she couldn't feel the cold.

“He was calling me. He was calling me. He was calling me.”

“Who was? Who was calling you Auni?”

“I don’t know, but he kept saying not to be afraid, to stop running, he was here to help."

“What did he look like?”

Trembling, Auni dusted her snow-covered legs off as she began to stand.

“I don’t know. He was blurred, just like the men who follow me. He just didn't look like those that were trailing me.”

Eligantia looked to her boyfriend for help. He nodded his head and went to go get a nurse.

“Come on, Auni. Your lips are blue, you need to get to the school. Jacky’s gone and got someone, so you’ll only have to walk part of the way.”

Auni clung unto Eligantia and hobbled toward school once again.

Auni sat in her chair in the second to last row, far to the corner. Looking out the window, she had her chin resting on her fisted hand. Some red cardinals sat on the chain link fence, and she wanted to be able to go fly away with them, leaving all her troubles behind. Suddenly a rolled up paper was thrown at her and her mind raced back to reality.

“Auni, what is the capital of Andorra?” Mr. Baker asked.

“What? Oh, Andorra la Vella. Right?”

“ Correct... Though try not to have a piece of paper thrown at you every time you need to answer a question.”

Auni nodded her head and Mr. Baker went back to teaching the class. But Auni knew that that wouldn’t be the last time she would have rolled up paper thrown at her.

Auni was afraid of the unknown; she didn’t know when she would fall back into the dark place with the young man, if she would fall at all.

The familiar walls and rooms of the school comforted her and made her feel more secure. It was better than not knowing where she was. But what was worse than that was not knowing who she was.

When she went into that dark place, her fragile sense of security crumbled. Who was she...there? She felt unarmed and vulnerable to anything that might change her mind.

But the young man sounded so desperately insistent... Auni almost felt bad for not listening to what he had to say. I No, I don’t want to have anything to do with whatever’s happening. /I So she began to concentrate on taking notes, just to keep her mind off the subject. Looking downwards at her paper, she couldn't escape seeing the symbols on her hand. How she hated them! Even if her mind could escape the things that happened, her hand was always a hideous reminder that something weird was going on. I From this day on, I shall forever wear gloves, so that I can never be reminded of my hand, /I she resolved. I And then I’ll never have to see them glow again. /I She smiled at the thought and carried on taking notes, just waiting to go to the store to get the gloves.

“You sure you want to spend your money on this?” Eligantia asked.

“I don’t ever want to be reminded of my hands and what they can do.” Auni replied as she picked out her favorite pair of white gloves. Budget matters. She frowned at the white cotton gloves as she brought them to the counter. If it wasn’t for the shortness of money, she would have bought black leather.

“No, keep them out of the bag.” Auni said when the clerk was about to put them in a bag. She took them off the counters and put them on. They fit almost perfectly, but that had to be expected for the price she paid. “Thank you.”

Eligantia and Auni walked out into the cold snowy sidewalk and headed to Auni’s house in silence.

The alarm shone six A.M. as she rolled over to turn off her alarm clock. She put the pillow over her head and then slowly rose when Madoline jumped up and down on her bed.

“I’m up, I’m up.” mumbled Auni.

“Time for school!” proclaimed Madoline.

“I know.”

Auni slipped out of her bed and grabbed the clothes that had been laid on the chair. She rubbed her eyes and went to the bathroom to take a shower. After about twenty minutes, someone knocked three times.

“Hurry up, honey,” her mom said. Making a face, Auni rinsed out the last of the soap in her hair, turned off the water, and came out. She dried herself off and put on her school clothes.

Walking out, she went over to her side of the room to finish getting ready. She brushed out her hair and put it in a half pony tail. She blow-dried it and fluffed it with her hands, giving her straight hair more of a bounce. Putting on her stockings, she hopped into the kitchen and sat down to eat. It took about another ten minutes to eat, and by the time she was done she had no time to do anything else. She slipped on her shoes and gloves, and grabbed her back-pack as she raced out the door. Eligantia was there at the steps, just about to walk up them. She looked up when Auni opened the door and smiled brightly.

“Jacky is going to meet us part way.” She said.

“Okay.”

The girls ran as fast as they could to warm up their bodies.

During school, Auni walked up a flight of stairs when suddenly Eligantia was at her side.

“Do you see those men following you?” she asked her.

“What men?” she turned, her mouth dropping open. “Eligantia, those are the men who follow me from school, they’ve never been I in/I the school before.”

And as she studied them she realized she wasn’t the only one seeing them. Every one saw them! Unexpectedly, a teacher walked out of a classroom.

“Can I help you two men?” he asked.

One looked up, and for the first time Auni saw the face of one of the men who followed her. Her blood went cold and she couldn’t move.

“We want Auni.” he said. Auni swayed and felt like collapsing.

“Is this an emergency? She’s in school.”

The men smiled wickedly.

“Just let me have Auni.” He said.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t just let you do that. Who are you, anyway?”

“Let us have her.” he said again and went forward. The teacher stepped in front of them but immediately knew that was a mistake. The first man face changed into an indescribable color and thrust his arm forward. A jet of dark light burst out of his hand, grabbing the stunned teacher, picking him up, and throwing him across the room. Somebody screamed and Auni felt Eligantia’s breath hot against her ear.

“Run, Auni!” she whispered.

Auni erupted into a run and fled up the stairs.

“Get her!” she heard from behind her.

The school was a blur as she dodged everyone she could. She ran down the hall and up the third flight of stairs. Suddenly she slipped on a wet floor. When she rose from her hard landing, she saw the men next to her. The second man threw something at her. Auni flinched when her right hand, now brightly shining, moved forward on its own, stopping the object. Her hand jerking, the object flew back at the man, stabbing him in the arm. The man started but just pulled out the object.

Auni took off running again. At the fourth flight of steps, she threw a garbage can down, hoping to distract them.

Then a terrible thought came into her mind: once when she hit the fifth flight of stairs she would go to the roof. But she had no choice. Her lungs were bursting from the strenuous run, but she couldn't stop because the men were gaining on her. Swinging on the pole that led to the fifth flight of steps, she sped forward. Another sharp headed her into the hall that guided her to the roof. Following behind, one of the men grabbed her leg, and tripped her, making her fall painfully on the steps.

"Let me go!" she yelled, kicking her leg as hard as she could.

The man laughed wickedly and Auni wanted to cry. He slowly pulled himself up closer. But when he bent over her, Auni's hand, as before, alighted and sent the man flying into the other man. They both stumbled down the stairs as Auni made another run for it. She ran up top and stopped abruptly. I Where can I go now? /I Her mind whirled when she saw the men coming back up. Running to the edge, she looked down the building. Jump? But she pushed the thought out of her mind. She'd die in the fall. The men surrounded her. One lunged from the left. Her hand went out again, and as he had before, the man flew back, almost off the building but he landed softly on his feet and smirked at Auni. She could almost smile when she saw the cops pull up in the drive way. But suddenly a gust of wind crushed every thought of getting away. The tempestuous wind whirled and howled, presenting a giant air craft, not of this earth. Auni couldn't tell what propelled it off the ground, but it was huge and looked like death. Knowing immediately that it was for her, she panicked, and without thinking jumped off the building. The wind blocked out the screaming of the crowd below and kept her own tears from falling. But three stories before she hit the ground someone’s arm wrapped around her viciously. She looked up and saw that it was one of the strange men. She hated that she was falling into the arms of a man she had been running from.

“Let me go!” she shrieked.

But he didn't, and what stunned Auni the most was that she wasn't falling anymore. She was actually going upwards...to the air craft! Kicking even more ferociously, she screamed and shouted and fought with all her might, but to no avail. He held on to her like she was nothing more then a squirming new born kitten. A larger shaft was opening on the bottom of the air craft. For just a second Auni wished that her hand would go into action...but it wouldn’t, and in fact her whole body seemed to be fading into darkness. Why? The thought only had a brief time to pass through her mind before unconsciousness overwhelmed her.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shurtugal

come on... i know someone must have an opinion!

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Far too much dialogue and not enough narative.

too much dialogue. really? now what makes you say this. i never thought it really mattered how much they talked.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shurtugal

too much dialogue. really? now what makes you say this. i never thought it really mattered how much they talked.

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It doesn't matter how much they talk but line after line of dialogue without a break becomes tedious after a while.

I'm okay with the dialogue, but Mr. Bean has a point.:D The narrative can use a little more work. The storyline's nice, it piqued my interest...:D But I think you should work on your diction a bit more. The right choice of words can make all the difference.;) Over all, it's a fine piece of writing. I enjoyed reading it.:D Keep up the good work!:D

oh, just had a thought... the names of the characters reminded me of unicorns!:D LOL!

unicorns? lol. :D
so you are saying that my choice of words could be better? how so? example?

You have a knack for cliffhangers. But what was Madoline's dream? And will the young man who told her not to run return to help her? Your characterization is pretty good. Don't forget to make the Auni's character grow and to show her depths. It's what makes good writing great, in my opinion.

Chapter 3
Auni stirred and blinked her eyes open. Blocking her eyes with the back of her hand, Auni sat up and looked around. The bed she lay in, a white lamp and table, and a large window were the only things in the blazing white room. Even the door was a perfect white, making it almost impossible to see. Pulling the white covers off the bed, she put her feet on the cold floor and stood up. To her surprise, she was no longer in her school uniform but in a long, loose white gown with long sleeves that fanned out at the end. Wiping her eyes, she walked over to the window that drew her attention, but before she could really study the strange outside world the door opened. In the doorway stood an Asian-like woman in her late thirties. Her bleach-blond hair pulled into a tight bun at the top of her head accented her blue dress that hugged her securely, flaring where it reached her high-heeled shoes. Her silver blue eyes were distinct in her pale face.

“Who are you?” Auni asked timidly though not fearfully.

“I am Miss Aadile.” The lady said. “Welcome to O.T.B. Are you hungry?”

Though Auni looked at her with suspicion, she nodded her head slowly, nervousness showing through her eyes. The lady, Miss Aadile, said something softly as she pulled out a white clipboard and wrote something down.

“I’ll be back soon.” said Miss Aadile as she shut the door.

Letting out a sigh, Auni turned back to the window. She had never seen so many different colored stars before -- blue, yellow, red, white sparkles filled the sky. And at the corner of the window was a huge star. That looks familiar. Studying the star closely, her breath caught in her throat. It’s the sun! There, so much farther away than what she was used to, the sun was shining just as if nothing was different. Which it wasn’t. Except I’m in a space ship. She wrapped her arms around, hugging herself for comfort. A tear or two slipped down her cheek. What’s going on?

Isn’t it obvious? You’ve been kidnapped. Something said in her head.

“Who is that?” Auni said, her hair standing on end.

There is no reason to speak, unless you want to have people take you as crazy. You are the only one who can hear me. It replied.

What have they done to me? /I Auni was just about ready to scream.

Fine, seeing that I’m scaring you to pieces, I shall leave till you are ready to listen.

Suddenly, the door opened. Startled, Auni almost attacked on the blond lady. Shocked at Auni’s jumpiness, Miss Aadile set a platter with empty plates on the lamp stand. Waving her hands over the plates and muttering something, a whole meal popped up out of nowhere. Auni’s mouth dropped open. Miss Aadile looked up at her and smirked.

“Come eat,” she said, “After you are through, the director wishes to see you. There are things he wants to discuss.”

Auni stepped over toward the table, but stopped abruptly, her knees shaky and her body weak. Not caring that someone was in the room, she let herself collapse on the bed. She could hear the voice of the lady talk into a receiver and someone reply back. Then she heard more foot steps come in and felt the presence of someone leaning over her.

“... she is still going to take the test.” one said. It sounded like Miss Aadile.

“Yeah, she seems well enough. She’s not used to the air...” another voice said, much deeper and younger.

Auni drifted off back to her own world. It was blurred and fuzzy around the edges, but she could see someone approaching her house. It was a young man, about her age, ringing the doorbell. But someone shook Auni and she woke up instantly; blinking once more at the painful whiteness of the room.

This must be the house. said Kioshi as he walked up the steps of Auni’s light green house. He had finally made it to earth, breaking the portal completely in spite of its declaration that it wouldn’t open.

Kioshi's dark outfit was made of black pants with a black top, sleeveless on the left side but with a shield on the right covering just his upper arm. On his chest was a metal bear with a ring through its mouth, resembling a door knocker. His black top opened up in the middle of his chest reveling a dark, smoky-blue top. He rang the door bell and took off his sunglasses. A small girl opened the door and looked up at Kioshi. She frowned slightly then smiled.

“You must be a friend of Auni?” she said. Kioshi easily heard her youth through her voice. He smiled tenderly at her.

“Yes, I am a friend of Auni. Is she here?” said Kioshi. The little girl frowned again.

“No. Something happened to her.”

Kioshi’s jaw tightened but he didn’t let the little girl see his anger. Trying to hide all his emotions, he asked, “What happened?”

The little girl shrugged, “I don’t know. No one told me that something happened. I just know.” She checked behind the door then looked at Kioshi with concern. “ I can see through her eyes.”

Kioshi’s breath was lost for a moment. Did he just hear right? If this was true, then there was no doubt who Auni was.

“Are you Auni’s sister?”

“Yeah,” her eyes brightened. “ My name is Madoline.”

“How long have you been able to see through her eyes?” Kioshi asked.

“Um.. just lately. ‘Cept the other day. When I was looking through, it went all black and I couldn’t see anything.”

Kioshi suppressed a grin.

“Madoline, what was the thing you saw that makes you think Auni’s in trouble?”

Madoline’s eyes surrendered to fright.

“A ship.”

Curse O.T. Kioshi set his jaw tight . If Madoline wasn’t there, he would’ve punched his hand into the wall. O.T. was just another problem in his way to reach Auni. Suddenly Eligantia came running up the sidewalk, looking worried and scared.

“Mad! Where’s your mom?” she shouted, completely blind to Kioshi.

“Mommy went to the store.” Madoline replied, her whole face a sudden frown.

“Is Auni with you?” Kioshi asked, hoping his anger didn't show through his voice. Finally Eligantia noticed him, looming tall and large in the doorway.

"She's been kidnapped."

“Then it is time to rescue her.” Kioshi said, his voice smooth. “Eligantia, Madoline, you must come with me if you wish to save Auni.”

Eligantia’s mouth fell open. What, is he crazy?

“Who are you?” she finally thought to ask.

Kioshi looked at her with understanding in his heart. He put a hand on her arm, “A friend.”

With those simple words Eligantia knew she could trust him. She pulled her shoulders back and smiled with a hidden courage. Though no words were spoken, they set off running back to the school. Within moments, Kioshi was yards ahead. Eligantia was running out of breath and poor Madoline was hopeless. Kioshi looked back at his helpers and frowned.

“Wait here,” he said and with one jaw-dropping leap, he was gone. Eligantia looked at Madoline and shrugged her shoulders. They waited there for about a minute when an abnormal roar drifted to their ears. It became louder quickly and soon, Kioshi was in some kind of vehicle pulled up in front of the girls. Dialing on some kind of buttons, Kioshi pulled on his handles and the vehicle came to a stop. He swung his leg over and looked at the dazed girls. “Get on.”

Eligantia jumped on and Kioshi gently picked Madoline up and placed her behind Eligantia. That accomplished, he jumped back on and started the engine. The vehicle was a type of motorcycle, at least, so it appeared. The wheels were hidden in the much wider than average motorcycle body. The dash board had many buttons and gears never seen on any earthly type of motorcycle. Kioshi fingered the handles and the vehicle roared to life. As he reared it back, Madoline gasped and grabbed Eligantia, who was just about ready to throw her arms around Kioshi himself. The motorcycle landed and they went speeding forward. He made sharp turns around the corners. The vehicle seemed like it would run into the sidewalk, but it breezed by it. Then Kioshi pressed more buttons and the vehicle pulled off the ground but it landed down again. Darn! This world wont let me get off the ground. I’ll just have to go faster! He pressed the gas peddle harder and smiled as the motorcycle sped even faster. In seconds, they were in front of the school where Auni had last been seen. Letting go of the gas peddle he shifted the brake and the vehicle made a perfect skidding circle.

Cop cars and fire trucks surrounded the school. Several of the cops noticed Kioshi’s strange motorcycle and walked over to him. Impressed yet suspicious, a tall, scrawny cop walked up to Kioshi, and inspected him as he helped Eligantia and Madoline get off.

“I’m sorry, sir,” He had a slight slur which made Eligantia’s hair stand up on her neck.

“But this is an investigation. No one but the people who were at the scene of the crime can be here.”

“Then why are you here?” Madoline asked innocently. “You don’t go to this school.”

Eligantia smiled and so did Kioshi mentally. The cop frowned and became slightly angry.

“Miss, I am a registered police officer of this city and of the United States of America. I don’t have to go to-”

“She does.” Kioshi interrupted, nodding his head at Eligantia, whose stomach dropped. “In fact, she’s Auni’s best friend.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

Eligantia pulled out her school I.D. and then showed the cop a picture of her and Auni hugging. She wanted to run away and hide; she just hated being under the spotlight.

The cop nodded his head, “What’s your name then?”

“Don’t tell him, he’s a stranger.” Madoline whispered in her ear making her giggle.

“It’s okay, he’s here to help.” Eligantia whispered back then looked at the cop. “My name is Eligantia Med.”

The cop nodded his head again and wrote it down on his notepad. Then he turned to Madoline.

“What’s yours? And do you know who Auni is?”

“She’s my sister. And I’m not allowed to talk to strangers.”

Red-faced, the cop walked away calling to another person, Eligantia started to laugh as she lead Kioshi up the steps to the school. Inside, backpacks, books, and papers were every where. She stopped laughing when they came in. Auni had been kidnapped; why was she able to laugh? Shouldn’t she be crying like other kids? Even kids who didn’t know her were crying. Suddenly a small hand slipped itself into hers. Madoline was scared. Looking back at Kioshi, Eligantia saw him examining the room. He had no expression on his face. Madoline was between them and she sensed something that Eligantia couldn’t. So she slipped her other hand into Kioshi’s. A quick expression of surprise flashed on his face but faded again into its impassivity. It somewhat annoyed her, but Eligantia couldn’t really pay attention to it.

This whole room looks just like it has been swept through by men from O.T., and it keeps getting worse as we go farther up the stairs. Coming to a complete stop, Kioshi looked at a light blue wall. Kioshi brushed his free hand against the wall. The blue came off and he lifted it to his nose to smell it. Cointa. He hurried another two flights of stairs until he was standing in front of the door that led to the roof. The walls too were covered with dust of Cointa. Auni is much more powerful then they realized. He smiled in his mind at the thought of the men who were trying to kidnap her when they got their first blast of her. They must have been stunned. Kioshi was on the roof and walked around the building. He crouched down to study the marks on the floor. They showed not only more Cointa but also the landing marks made by the man she had hit. He frowned. Eligantia and Madoline were standing over him wondering what he was doing.

“Meet me down stairs.” He said and before they could reply he bounded off the building. They heard the exclamation from the people below.

Auni's okay for a title. :)