Chapter One

The introduction of the characters.

       As the subway pulled away from the station, the short girl dressed in yellow began to weave her  way through the crowds that accompanied the 9:00 rush hour. Her yellow dress and umbrella made her stand out against the sea of drab gray business suits and fading beige walls. She click-clacked her way so briskly and with such purpose through the subway station that she might have been mistaken as a very, very short adult. Upon further observation, however, her height and an alarming amount of baby fat clinging to her cheeks gave it away. She looked like a little girl, and was that way to the people who had not had the pleasure to make her acquaintance.

       She approached the exit with a stern look, and, sweeping her gaze amongst the crowd of bewildered adults, shook her head in indignation.  She glanced at her watch, its color perfectly matching the rest of her canary outfit, and sighed. 7:05, and Marley was already five minutes late. The girl grimaced. Old habits die hard, I suppose, she thought, taking another annoyed look at her watch. She scoffed, looking around the boring station. Typical, she thought, that they call me to a meeting so suddenly that I have to use public transportation.  She looked around at the dirty subway station, wrinkling her nose at the bland, neutral, colors. She began picturing the subway shades in shades of pinks, and strawberry reds, with maybe some sky blues as lining. The girl looked at the faded pink gum fossilized on the subway wall. And maybe a maid, she thought. She continued to daydream about re-decorating the subway when she was snapped out of her reverie by someone calling her name.

     "Lydia!" A warm voice called out. Lydia snapped her head up, looking around the crowd until her eyes rested on a gruff looking man who was grinning from ear to ear. He wore a pair of pink sunglasses perched on his nose, obscuring his eyes completely. Lydia frowned at the approaching figure. 

     "You're five minutes late, Marley, as usual." Marley chose to ignore Lydia's sharp comment, instead replying with his own.

     "Wearing yellow today, I see." he grinned, his eyes crinkling in the corners. Lydia swept her eyes over Marley, taking in his rough appearance.

     "Still wearing old band shirts and tattered jeans, I see. Get a haircut, you old hippy." she bit back. Marley only chuckled, taking her yellow suitcase in hand. He gestured towards the exit and started walking, Lydia followed him, almost having to run to keep up with his long, easy, strides. They exited into the loud bustle of the city, Lydia blinking against the harsh white sunlight. It was a sunny day, and the city was alive and buzzing with human activity. Lydia heard cars honking in the background, and she wrinkled her nose at the amount of noise that was currently blasting her ears. The unlikely pair walked down the street, getting more than a few stares from the people passing by. They finally approached a banged up truck parked in front of an overdue parking meter. Marley swore under his breath, and snatched the ticket off the dashboard, almost breaking the windshield wipers off. Lydia stared at the rust covered truck in front of her.

     "I have to get in that?" she wrinkled her nose, looking accusingly at Marley, who was still huffing about the ticket.

     "Yeah, that's my truck," he said,"What's wrong with it?" He had apparently settled the issue by shoving the ticket in his pocket and pretending he hadn't seen it. Lydia stared at him, aghast.

     "It's practically falling apart." she shrieked, her voice rising several octaves in indignation. Marley sighed, rolling his eyes in exasperation. He opened the passenger door, taking a deep bow as Lydia stepped in, hair flouncing behind her. She sat straight, looking at the tattered interior of the car. It perfectly matched Marley's  gruff, familiar, personality. Marley opened the door, and sat down in the driver's seat. Lydia pulled out a neat, yellow little handkerchief and began wiping down the dashboard. Marley grimaced and slapped her hand away.

    "Leave my car alone," he sniffed, placing his big hands on the wheel. Lydia hmmphed and sat a little straighter in her seat, but she tucked the little handkerchief back into her coat pocket.

     They drove on in silence for a while, Marley playing his psychedelic music the entire time. When they had finally left the city, Marley cleared his throat.

     "So, how's the antidote going?" Marley asked, keeping his eyes steadily on the road, his voice gentle. Lydia sighed, rubbing her temples.

     "Not very well, clearly, seeing as I'm still alive," Lydia snipped, but the insult was weak, and meant to be taken as a joke (Which, as you might guess, did not come very easily for her, so any effort is appreciated). Marley smiled, and looked over at the little girl.

     "Glad to have you back, teach," he grinned, and turned the radio up until it was blasting in Lydia's ears. Lydia, pondering the fact that she would probably be deaf or anti-vaccine by the time they reached the Order, grinned anyways, her cheeks dimpling. She sighed and stared at the long country road ahead of her, trying to undo the knots that kept tangling in her stomach.

     They drove through the countryside at a mind-numbing pace, and Lydia was certain that if they didn't make it to Headquarters before lunch she would chew everyone out for making her drive, and in Marley's car at that. She was also quite certain she would break Marley's radio. It would be doing both of them a favor. It seemed as if the road went on for miles, vast fields and cow pasture stretching on forever, with no buildings in sight. Lydia thought she was going to lose her mind, when she saw a gas-station appear on the horizon.

     "There it is," said Marley, barely containing his excitement in his voice,"That's the portal," the car swerved to the left as Marley pointed to the run down gas-station. Lydia clutched the sides of her seat.

     "It'll be of no use to us if we crash! Eyes on the road, man!" she said. Marley righted the vehicle just in time to turn into the gas-station, and they came to a screeching stop in one of only three parking spaces. The gas-station was covered in filth and grime. It looked as if it could collapse at any second with age. Graffiti was sprayed all over the now-gray brick walls. One of the windows was boarded over. Lydia sighed. It was going to be a long day. Marley stepped in front of Lydia and opened the door for her, the handle screaming in protest at being pulled on. Lydia stepped into the dark interior. The air was musty and smelled like cigarette smoke. Sunlight attempted to break in from the few dirt covered windows. The atmosphere felt thick and dead, and it hung around Lydia's shoulders like a thick cloak of dread. Not a sound could be heard. 

     "Well, that was an annoyingly long car ride," Marley stomped in like a horse, his voice echoing against the walls. Lydia jumped. "Well, at least we got here. Gee, this place is weird. C'mon, let's go," and he traipsed off towards the back without a second thought. Lydia could do nothing but follow behind him. She'd never used this portal before, so she had no idea where she was going. She could vaguely make out the back of Marley's head, his brown mop of hair poking over the tops of shelves every so often. She cursed inwardly. It was annoying to be so short. Marley finally stopped at a small corridor in front of a grime covered door. He stepped back, gesturing towards the door.

     "After you," he said.

     "No," Lydia said, crossing her arms. Marley looked at her in annoyance.

     "Why not? That's where to portal is,"

     "Marley, there's just lines you can't cross. I am not going into the men's bathroom," Marley huffed, and stepped into the restroom. The door swung shut with a loud thud. Lydia sighed. It was indeed going to be a long day. She pushed open the door and stepped in, her shoes clacking on the cracked black and white checkered tile. She did her best not to look around to much. Marley stood in the middle of the bathroom, grinning.

     "I knew you couldn't hold out forever,"

     "Shut up," Lydia crossed her arms, eyes on the ground,"So where the hell is the portal Marley? Are we going to go, or are you just going to stand there," Lydia huffed. Marley grinned, and Lydia didn't like the smug look in his eyes. He pointed to a urinal.

     "Right there," he snickered.

     "You piss-face, you knew, didn't you?"

     "Yeah, the whole time," He laughed.

     "You brought me here on purpose!"

     "Yeah," he doubled over, chuckling. Lydia rolled her eyes, exasperated. She pushed Marley lightly on the shoulder. 

     "Alright, shut up you idiot," she forced herself to look at the urinal,"How does this portal work?" Marley gasped, tears streaming down his face.

     "How should I know, I'm just a-a piss-face," he roared with laughter, clutching his sides. Lydia flushed, and pointed her umbrella at him. 

     "Marley, I swear if you don't tell me how to work this thing right now, so help me God I will turn you into a hyena," Marley stood, wiping his eyes, still chuckling. He stepped in front of the urinal, and for a very frightening moment, Lydia felt certain he was going to use it. Instead, he tapped the brim of his sunglasses twice, and thorns grew on the sides, pricking his finger. He squeezed his finger over the urinal until a single drop of blood squeezed out. He took off his sunglasses, revealing his dark blue eyes, and held them out to Lydia.

     "I swear Marley, if this is a prank you will live the rest of your days as a hyena, I'm serious," she threatened as she pricked her finger.

     "I wouldn't doubt you would or a second, Lydia,"He said as her blood plopped next to his. Nothing happened.

     "You have to do the next part. The password is Nutcracker," Marley said as the thorns shrank back into his sunglasses. He put them back on. Lydia held out her umbrella, and, wrinkling her nose, tapped it on the urinal three times.

     "Nutcracker," she said, and the urinal seemed to fold in on itself corner by corner, until only a wall was there. Then the wall began to slowly slide downwards, creaking every inch it moved. Dust erupted as the wall disappeared into the wall, and Lydia covered her mouth with her handkerchief. The wall rumbled as it sank into the ground, revealing an old wooden door with a shiny brass 23 hammered onto the front. As the dust settled, Lydia wiped off the tip of her umbrella with her handkerchief. Marley stepped next to her and opened the door. They stepped into the doorway, and the bright lights on the other side nearly blinded Lydia. they had made it to headquarters.

***

     Mom still hadn't come home. Max looked at the clock hanging on the wall. 11:57. Max sighed. She wouldn't be home until early in the morning, and he had school tomorrow. He slammed shut his Calculus textbook, and rubbed his eyes blearily. His siblings were still watching cartoons in the living room, and they giggled every once in a while. Max stood up and stalked over to the living room, and poked his head through the door.

     "Cassidy, Peter, James," he yelled over the loud TV. James grabbed the remote and paused it. "Ya'll need to go to bed. It's midnight," He was met by groans and tearful arguments. Max rolled his eyes, silently counting to ten.

     "But why?" Cassidy whined, sliding off the couch until she was laying on the floor. Her big brown eyes looked up at him from the carpet.

     "Because," Max stooped down and grabbed Cassidy. He picked her up and swung her over his shoulder. She giggled, and kicked her legs, nailing Max in the chest a few times, "You have school tomorrow," He headed towards the kids bedrooms, and Peter bounced up immediately from the couch to follow him. Only James stayed behind, shoulders hunched up in anger. Max sighed. He'd deal with him in a second. He quickly tucked Cassidy and Peter in. He closed the doors the twins shared and headed back to the living room. James still sat there, changing the channels on the TV. 

     "James," Max said, "Go to bed. Now," James glared at him, and crossed his arms.

     "You're not the boss of me," he snapped. Max sat down on the couch next to him.

     "Actually, if I remember correctly, Mom put me in charge. And I say we go to bed," James scowled at the TV, and began flipping through the channels again. Max snatched the remote out of his hands. James swore at him, reaching for the remote, but Max held it just out of his reach. "And watch your mouth," James gave up.

     "Why can't we wait for Mom to get home?" he said, "Why can't I stay up with you?" James sank down into the couch's green cushions. 

     "Because, I'm not waiting for her to get home," Max lied. James rolled his eyes.

     "Yeah, right," he said. Max sighed. "You always wait for Mom, so why can't I? We could watch a movie," he suggested, grasping at straws. Max laughed.

     "You have to go to bed, because you have school tomorrow, too,"

     "And you don't?"

     "That's different," Max said, slowly getting irritated, "I'm the oldest." James sat up, his fists clenched at his side.

     "I'm second oldest," he cried. Max shushed him, pointing towards the younger kids bedroom. James decided to ignore him. "You're only 16, Max- you barely even have a driver's license," Max rolled his eyes. "I could call in sick tomorrow, and just not go to school anyways,"

     "You're going to school tomorrow," Max snapped, "Mom would kill both of us if she found out," James visibly sagged down further into the couch. Max rolled his eyes, rubbing his hands over his face. 

     "I swear, you're going to make me go prematurely gray," Max whined, flopping on top of James's lap. He shoved his head uncomfortably close to James's face, and pointed dramatically towards his black curls. "Look, see! Already gray," James pushed him away, and attempted not to laugh. He ultimately failed. 

     "You're so stupid," James sighed rolling off the couch, and stomped off towards their room. Max followed after him, exhausted. James collapsed onto his bed, burying his face in the old sheets. Max sat on the bed across from him. They were only separated by a few feet, as that was only the amount the small room would manage. Max rubbed the car duvet he'd had since he was six, and reached for the nightstand in between the beds to turn off the lamp.

     "Max," Max scowled and glared at James. He was tired of talking. "Can you..." James trailed off, waving his hands in increasingly outrageous motions. Max sighed. With a determined scowl, he glared at the stray pencil lying on the floor. With controlled hand motions, he waved up, and the pencil followed, levitating. James's eyes grew wide, and he stared at the pencil in awe. "Do you think you could try levitating me?"

     "No,"

     "Why?" Max sighed, and the pencil dropped to the floor with an unsatisfying clack.

     "Because I can't," In truth, he was scared, but he couldn't tell his little brother that. James frowned, and flipped over. The new covers wrapped around his shoulders. Max switched off the lamp, and flipped over. He shut his eyes, and began to drift off to sleep when he heard a quiet voice break through the darkness.

     "I miss Dad," he heard James mutter under his breath. Max opened his eyes.

     "Shut up,"

     "Why can't you just talk about it for one second, Max," Max glared at the light blue wall in front of him.

     "We're not having this conversation at 12:30 in the morning. Go to sleep, James," He shut his eyes, and clamped the pillow over his head forcefully.

     "We're never going to have this conversation, because you're just angry," James mumbled. Max buried himself under the covers, and said a quick prayer.

     "Good night, James," He waited in the dark for a long time after that, but James had already fallen asleep.