Chapter 3A Chapter by Katie de LavaniThe room, the decorations, the people, all went blank. The candles had been extinguished. Faint gray wisps of smoke, trailing off of the red embers, were breathlessly whispering the echoing laughter.Chapter 3 A scene faded from black, deep sleep
into a colorful dream. Laughter
skipped and danced about the room, fluttering like birds through openings in
chairs and into half filled water glasses set on the table. The walls, coated
with a buoyant cream, light as a layer of sweet vanilla frosting, radiated soft
rays of delight among the gathered company. All that was held captive on their
faces were pictures of excitement and joy, no sign of fear or pain in the
curves of their smiles or the movement of their eyes. There
was a single thought filling the room, a seventeenth birthday; a celebration of
a sister, a daughter, a friend. Her name, known to most, was Abby. Red layers
of hair fluffed about her heart shaped face as her eyes reflected the candles’
illumination on the chocolate cake. The festive party was small, but not
lacking entertaining jokes and stories. Jenny’s mother and father were watching
Abby make her seventeenth birthday wish. Jenny and Sophie, Abby’s twin sisters,
were sitting across from Abby, ready to help blow out any remaining candles
after the first blow. Cassie
and Emily, two best friends of Abby’s, were also sitting at the dining room
table, bathing in happiness just as the rest of them. It was a Friday night,
the beginning of the weekend and Abby’s birthday, March 19th. Jenny
was home once again, back to the way things were. This was her world, family
close, smile lines bunching at the eyes. But, even as this was a joyous
occasion, there had been something troubling Jenny for almost a week. At
the table, colorfully wrapped gifts were being handed to Abby. Jenny, deep in
thought, was not paying any attention to the birthday proceedings and, thus,
was not aware when she was supposed to be passing over the iTunes card she
bought for her sister. Jenny’s
mind had been elsewhere for almost a week. While signing on to chat with her friends, an unlikely fried had mistaken her email address for another's. She had seemed just the normal, bubbly teenager, but there
remained the question of who her friend was. When
Jenny had first chatted online with Sara, the girl had mentioned that she was
in the hospital, looking after her injured friend, Quijano. He had apparently
been attacked by a “gang” which Sara believed he was no longer associated with. Slashed across the throat, almost losing his life, and barely managing to escape, he was unable to speak for probably for the rest of his life. Jenny
rubbed her forehead and left her eyes drift off as her thoughts progressed. The
giggles erupting from Abby’s friends and her sister were piercing her ears,
making it harder to concentrate. This feeling of happiness was unsettling her
stomach. Who could possibly be happy when these fears were rolling like a
twenty pound bowling ball through her mind? She tried to mute the sounds and
smiles as her reflection of the recent past continued. Jenny
had been given a chance to talk to Q, a name which Sara had stated many called
him because his Philippine, Quijano, was too much for others to remember. She
observed that he was just a normal, quiet young man that wasn’t too interested
in socializing. She
remembered very time of day when things had begun to grow stranger; as Q’s
friend Pyro, or P, took over on the computer while Quijano went out for
a walk. The
fact that Pyro had called Q “Boss” and that his excellent grammar and manners
preceded anyone near his age, ignited Jenny’s curiosity and she had been swept
away by the questions popping up in her head. She
had coerced Pyro to explain to her what this whole business what about. It
turned out, Pyro and his friend Ace had been assigned to Q to assess whether or
not he was planning to leave the Crew, a worldwide, secret organization. The
word “Crew” sparked Jenny’s curiosity once again. Pyro, for some insane reason,
had blurted out everything he knew about the Crew. Later, Jenny discovered that
the information she now had could prove to be fatal to her and to Pyro. Jenny’s
stomach grinded as she thought of being killed because of her knowledge. She began to feel almost sick. Jennifer hadn’t told anyone
about these new discoveries because one, she was sure people wouldn’t believe
her and two, she did not want her parents to worry. More
presents, bows and ribbons placed on top, were passed down to Abby. The room
began to spin, clockwise then reverse, up then down. Jenny’s tongue began to
move to the side, as if she was about to throw up. The candles on the cake
seemed to grow brighter, too bright to see. Her hands began to tremble subtly
under the table. But, tried as she did, Jenny could not stop thinking about
what had happened. It
turned out that Q did indeed wish to be rid of the Crew, but not just for
himself. Q wanted the entire organization to be brought down, and he had to
start by disposing of one who could easily prevent this; his brother, K88. The
friends and parents had begun to sing the “Happy Birthday” song. Jenny followed
mindlessly as her thoughts dragged her violently back into the folds of her
memory. Pyro
was not cognizant of the fact that Q was a Pure or what his plans were. All he
knew was that Q planned to leave the hospital. “Happy
Birthday, dear Abby. Happy Birthday to you!” Everyone except Jenny clapped as
Abby prepared to blow out her candles. What
everyone did not know was that- The
room, the decorations, the people, all went blank. The candles had been
extinguished. Faint grey wisps of smoke, trailing off of the red embers, were
breathlessly whispering the echoing laughter. © 2011 Katie de LavaniAuthor's Note
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5 Reviews Added on May 29, 2010 Last Updated on April 12, 2011 Previous Versions AuthorKatie de LavaniCAAboutHi. Nothing much to say about me. I'm always looking for a good story in my life and sometimes base the stories I write on real life experiences. I love to read others writing to see just how horrible.. more..Writing
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