Cool

Thanks, should I post them on the forum here (they’re kinda long…)?

Sure

This is Spies, a standalone book that I began years ago and just kept writing. I haven’t edited anything in it, and I like it that way because it shows my growth in writing. I personally don’t think the ending turned out very good, but this is mostly just me stretching my wings and doing something completely original.

Rated 8+
————
Mild crude humor, drama, fantasy, fear, mild romance, violence

Prologue

“Jinny? Jinny where are you?!” Carol cried. Her and her older sister, Jinny were going into the forest that was behind their house to search for animals, but then they’d somehow gotten separated when Carol had spotted a rabbit and ran after it. When she’d lost its trail and given up, she found out that she had lost her sister, too.
“JINNY!!” Carol called out again. And, again, no answer.
“Carol,” came a strange, raspy voice...it wasn’t Jinny’s.
“W-who’s there,” asked Carol in a soft voice. Everything suddenly went black...

Chapter 1: Endless Searchings

Jinny was in the forest again. Even though it had been four years since her sister, Carol’s disappearance, she would still go out and look for her. Every day. For hours. Until finally she could look no more. Today, being the anniversary of Carol’s disappearance, Jinny was looking for much much longer than normal. So far, for six hours. Her parents forbid it of course, any trip into any forest in fact, but she still went anyway. She would skip classes and wake up before dawn to search. It was easy really considering that both of her parents worked full time.
“Carol!!” Jinny yelled out into the endless greenery. “Carol! Are you out there?!”
Every time she would see a girl that looked about twelve, with light red hair and brown eyes, at the store or walking her dog down the street, she would always get excited. Hoping that finally, she will find her. But no such luck every came.
“Carol!” she called again. “CAROL!!!” But, as usual, she didn’t answer.

Chapter 2: The Boy and the Girl

Jinny stepped over a small log as she started to make her way back to the house. Her mom would be home from work soon and would probably be in a panic if she found the house empty. Just then, Jinny heard a noise. The snap of a twig. She looked over her shoulder just in time to see a hand reaching for her...and then all went black...

“She’s not dead!”
“You sure about that?”
“Yes I am! Why else would she be breathing?”
“Well, ok you’ve got a point.”
Jinny woke to the sound of these two voices but kept her eyes closed to listen.
“What do we do with her?” said the one that sounded like a girl.
“Well, we’ll see if she wakes up and when she does we’ll find out if she’s a spy or not,” said the voice of the boy.
“If she wakes up,” muttered the girl.
“I told you, she’s not dead!” the boy said.
Jinny wanted to listen more but couldn’t resist opening her eyes. What she saw when she opened them surprised her. A boy with glasses who looked a little younger than her was standing above her looking nervous. And in the background, a girl of about her age that looked similar to the boy but without glasses was watching with interest. The room they were in was small, with wooden walls, floor, and ceiling and a few chairs. It seemed she was lying on the floor.
“Who are you both?” Jinny asked groggily, sitting up.
The boy and girl looked at each other before the boy said, “I was about to ask you the same question...”

Chapter 3: The Spies

“Well, tell me who you are first since I asked first,” said Jinny, now standing up.
“No, we can’t do that,” said the boy again.
“Why not?” Jinny asked.
“Just because of reasons.”
“Well that’s helpful,” Jinny muttered.
“So, who are you?” asked the girl this time.
“My name’s Jinny.”
“And?”
“And what?!” Jinny was getting frustrated. These two were impossible.
“And, are you a spy?”
“Maggie! We weren’t supposed to give that away!” the boy said, angrily at the girl.
“Well you just gave away my name so it doesn’t really matter then does it?” the girl named Maggie snapped.
“Spies?!” Jinny asked, now scared. ‘What am I getting myself into?’ she asked herself.
The boy sighed. “Well, it’s pretty obvious that you’re not a spy, so, my name’s Jake and this is my sister Maggie.”
Jinny flinched at the word ‘sister’ but then thought about what else he said. “So, why would you think that I’m a spy?”
“‘Cause it seems like everyone is now,” said Maggie.
“So you guys are-are spies?” Jinny was shocked.
“Yep,” the boy Jake puffed out his chest proudly and Maggie rolled her eyes.
‘So,’ thought Jinny. ‘I’m talking to spies, great.’

Chapter 4: Escape from the tunnels

“But, wait, here’s what I don’t understand, how can you both be spies? I mean, your my age! Teenagers!” Jinny asked Jake and Maggie a few minutes after she got over the shock.
“First though, we need to get out of here,” said Maggie right before Jake began to speak. “We’ve already been here way too long, they’re watching us and we need to move before they move in.”
“Who? What? What’s going on?!” Jinny was confused.
“No time!”
Maggie and Jake hurriedly gathered up all of the papers on a small table and emptied the drawers. Stuffing everything into two backpacks and clipping other things onto their belts. Jinny saw with surprise that they both put long, curved knives on their belts. Just then, a noise sounded above them. Footsteps.
“Oh no! They’re here!” Jake paled.
“Hurry!” yelled Maggie, grabbing the flashlight that was illuminating the room and wrenching open a door.
“Didn’t expect that,” Jinny mumbled to herself, surprised, when she saw that behind the door was a tunnel, carved into the dirt.
“Come on!” Jake and Maggie took off down the tunnel with Jinny right behind.
The tunnel began to curve upward after a minute or two of running and Jinny saw a ladder that was also going upward. She then heard a shout behind her and turned around to see what it was, but Jake grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her over to the ladder that Maggie was beginning to climb. They started up it after her and it led them through a trap door, which Jake locked behind them, and into a dark forest that was lighted only by the half moon and Maggie’s flashlight. They ran for a while longer before finally stopping and gasping for breath in a small clearing.
“W-who were they?” asked Jinny after catching her breath.
“They,” said Jake, still panting. “Are the Darkness.”

Chapter 5: The story of the Darkness

“The Darkness?!” Jinny was overwhelmed, spies, Darkness, getting chased underground...it was just too much. Not to mention her sister’s disappearance.
Maggie nodded sadly. “I guess it’s time to tell you the story. In the ruins of a lost city-“
“Atlantis?” asked Jinny.
“No,” Maggie rolled her eyes. “Drimenagen.”
“Drive again?”
“No! Drim-en-agen, a city on a sunken island that was never seen again.”
“Weird,” muttered Jinny.
“Now, continuing, in the ruins of Drimenagen there was a power source that kept the island stable and whole. But one day, a long long time ago, that source was stolen by-“
“How can you steal a power source?” Jinny questioned.
“I don’t know! However they did it!” Maggie snapped. “No more interruptions! Continuing, the people who stole it though, didn’t know it’s true power and lost control of it. Then, it turned the people into pure evil and continued to live inside of them years and years later. The people were known as the Darkness because of how awful they were, attacking anyone that they could. We have been trying to stop them ever since.”
“But, does that mean you two are the only spies?”
“No way!” Jake spoke up finally. “We’re just a small part in the even bigger Spy League!”
“What’s that?” asked Jinny, feeling like that’s the only question she’s been asking.
“We’ve already said too much, and you will be in grave danger if you know more,” Maggie said, firmly.
“What’s that sound?” whispered Jake.
They listened, then heard it. The sound of someone breathing right behind them.

Chapter 6: The stranger

The three of the whipped around and saw a person a little shorter than Jake standing there, dressed in all black with a helmet and mask covering their face. Carrying a very long silver sword.
“Is that another spy?” Jinny frightfully whispered into Maggie’s ear. But Maggie wasn’t paying any attention, she was watching the person, with clinched fists and squinted eyes.
“Who are you?!” Maggie asked the stranger. “And are you who was chasing us?”
The person only stood there. Unmoving like a statue.
“I asked you a-“ but Maggie was cut short when the person suddenly lunged at her, sword flashing.
“AHHH!” Jinny screamed. Jake pulled her away as the person with the sword and Maggie with knives fought.
“Stay here!” Jake told Jinny when they made it behind a tree. He ran back to help Maggie.
Jinny sat down and brought up her knees, hugging them to herself as she heard the sounds of fighting on the other side of the oak.
The fighting lasted for another few minutes when Jinny heard a BOOM. She looked around the tree, heart pounding like a hammer, and saw that the person held in their hands glowing blue balls the size of snow balls. The person then threw the little blue balls at Maggie and Jake. They dodged them, and when they hit the ground they made a sound like an explosion, but nothing was damaged.

Chapter 7: Good and Bad

Jinny was freaking out. The stranger and Maggie and Jake were still fighting even though it had been almost 30 minutes, Jinny didn’t know what to do. She looked again from behind the tree and saw with fright that both of Jake’s knives were on the ground and so was he. “Jake!” she couldn’t help but yell.
“Jinny! No!” Maggie turned around and the person seemed frozen as they started at Jinny, who was now stepping out from behind the tree.
“Leave them alone!” Jinny said with surprising bravery. “What do you want from them?!”
“They are enemies of the Darkness,” the person spoke for the first time, still looking slightly perplexed. There was something strangely familiar about their voice, but Jinny couldn’t place it.
“S-so does that mean, your part of the Darkness?” Jinny was surprised, she’d expected them to look more...creepy.
Just then, the sound of a horn blowing from the distance caught the person’s attention, and they looked again at Jinny, Maggie, and Jake before darting off in the underbrush. But, just before they did, Jinny had noticed something. A strand of hair peeking out from under their hood. It was red. And Jinny then knew who it was.
“CAROL!!!”

Chapter 8: Dark or Not?

Jinny began to run after her sister, but Maggie grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.
“What’re you thinking!” she yelled at her as Jinny struggled to get free. “And who’s Carol?”
“Carol is my sister!” Jinny stopped struggling, knowing it was a lost cause and leaned up against a tree to steady herself as Maggie helped Jake to his feet. It looked as though he had a sprained ankle. “I lost her a few years ago when we were exploring the forest. She ran after a rabbit and I didn’t. That was the last time I saw her.”
“So,” said Jake, barely able to stand up. “Does that mean you’re part of the Darkness?”
“No way!” Jinny was surprised, how could he think that?
“Well, your sister is at least,” Maggie looked upward. “They’ll be coming back, that horn blow was to regroup.”
“Where can we go?” asked Jake.
“Where else? To the Hidden Safe.”
“The, um, the what?” Jinny felt like they were speaking a foreign language.
“No more questions until we find out what side you’re on,” Maggie said. “But if you are on ours, you’re now in grave danger.”

Chapter 9: The Outhouse

Jinny trudged along behind Maggie and Jake, half asleep. So much had happened to her in the past day than she could ever remember in her entire life. She was on the point of a break down, most likely from that or lack of sleep. Maggie was not using her flashlight so the moon was the only thing lighting their path, they wanted to make they weren’t being followed through the dark forest.
“Not much farther,” Maggie whispered to Jake who was looking slightly pale from his sprained ankle. “We’re almost there.”
But where ‘there’ was, Jinny wasn’t sure. She knew it was called The Hidden Safe but whatever it meant she didn’t know, it felt like there were a lot of things she didn’t know.
Jinny looked back after hearing the snap of a twig, hoping to see her sister behind her. But it turned out to be a hedgehog making its way along the leafy ground, nose twitching.
“We’re here!” exclaimed Maggie suddenly.
Jinny glanced to where Maggie was pointing and wasn’t impressed. Why, the only thing in front of them was a small, moldy, crumbling shack with it’s only door hanging off it’s hinges. But Jake was smiling at it as though it held the greatest treasure in the world.
“This?” Jinny asked. “Is The Hidden Safe?”
“You’ll see,” said Maggie mysteriously.
They carefully walked in through the rotting door and Jinny then realized that this was not a shack, it was an outhouse.
“Yuck!” Jinny revolted.
“Just wait,” Jake weakly said.
They approached the hole in the floor that Jinny was avoiding and Maggie reached inside it, Jinny flinched, and pulled up a ladder. A clean, recently used, ladder.
“Start climbing,” she said, putting the ladder back in.
Jinny held her breath and stepped up to the hole, peeked inside, and saw the most surprising sight she’d ever seen.

Chapter 10: Memories Lost

Crescent Moon sat on her bed twirling and shaping the blue energy she cast from her fingers. She was lost in thought about the girl who was with the two Spies, they called her Jinny. The name and face were extremely familiar to her, as though she had known this Jinny for all her life. But that wasn’t possible because four years ago when she was known as Carol her memories were wiped by The Darkness. They said it was for the best and that she would live better and happier without them. She was then called Crescent Moon and was trained up to become a part of The Dark Army to help bring order and peace to earth. Only facing the memories taken from her would she ever remember her past.
A knock sounded at her door and she concealed the blue energy inside her palm before saying, “Come in.”
Her trainer, Star Blade entered. He wear all black like she did but no mask was over his face which was covered in scars. “Crescent Moon, I thought I told you you have no reason to hide your face within these walls. You are safe here. You’re with your family.”
“I know,” she said softly. She never liked to wear the mask, but it made her feel more secure. When it was off, she felt vulnerable.
“Take it off,” ordered Star Blade.
She did as he said, revealing the freckled face of a twelve year old girl and light red hair.
He nodded his approval, then must have noticed something because his expression changed. “Why don’t you open your hands?”
Crescent Moon gulped and unclenched them, showing him the blue light inside.
Star Blade grew angry and said, “Do not ever! EVER! Use your powers in The Dark Lair! Don’t you know how dangerous it is? One drop of that energy could wipe an entire army’s memories, including your own!”
Oh, she knew all right. For she had experienced it first hand, and hated it.

Chapter 11: Darkness Never Wins

Jinny gasped. Inside the hole was a cavern, but not just any cavern, this one was big. Like really big. Like the size of a football field big. The ladder was about thirty feet tall and stretched from the top of the hole all the way to the rocky gray floor of the cave. From Jinny’s view, she could see tall stalagmites coming up from the ground.
“Hurry!” Maggie said, gesturing for Jinny to go first. “Jake and I will be right behind you.”
Jinny hesitated for a moment, wondering if it might be a trick, before grabbing hold of the top rung of the ladder and lowering herself inside. Immediately she got chill bumps, the air below was freezing cold even though it was the middle of summer, her thin orange T-shirt was not enough. She shivered and began climbing down, thankfully she wasn’t afraid of the hight.
Once reaching the bottom after about ten minutes Jinny got a better look around. Stalactites reaching down from the ceiling, large gray rocks in piles, and only one wall was completely flat.
Maggie and Jake arrived at the floor and Jake wasn’t looking so good. “I’m fine,” he said, seeing Jinny’s look. “It’s just my ankle.”
Jinny was skeptical, but let it go. “So this is the Hidden Safe?” she asked, still a little confused.
“Not yet,” said Maggie.
They walked, footsteps echoing loudly, toward the one smooth wall. Once they reached it, Maggie glanced behind her then put her fingers inside a crack in the wall and simply pulled out a small chunk of rock, revealing a hidden keypad inside. She smirked at Jinny’s baffled face and typed in the sentence, Darkness Never Wins. A light turned green on the pad and Maggie put the rock back into place. Suddenly, everything rumbled and shook, and then the entire wall started sinking into the ground.
“AHHH!!!” Jinny screamed, wondering if the whole cave was about to collapse. But then, the wall was completely gone. Just like that.
“This,” said Maggie, grinning. “Is the Hidden Safe.”
Jinny stepped through the opening in wonder.

Chapter 12: Mr. Opal

Inside was a circular room, a little larger than the one they were in, with high ceilings and torches lining the rock walls and three long wooden tables were in the center that could seat hundreds. But what surprised Jinny the most were the people. There was at least 50 of them, walking, sitting, or talking, but the odd thing about them was that they were kids. Not young children, these were more around Jinny’s age. They all wore what looked like white flight suits, but Jinny didn’t think they really were made for flying. Most likely it was just for looks.
As soon as the three of them stepped into the room, all eyes were on them, some seemed happy to see them while others looked serious or puzzled.
“Maggie! Jake! I’m so glad you arrived safely.”
Jinny turned to her left to find the owner of the booming voice. A man with completely white hair who looked very out of place with the teenagers stepped up to them. He too was wearing the same white suit.
“Mr. Opal!” Jake exclaimed and Maggie smiled at the old man.
“Well now, we’ll need the nurse to take a look at that ankle, Jake, I’m afraid it might be sprained,” said the man who’s name must be Mr. Opal.
“Yeah, we figured that out,” said Maggie with concern.
Mr. Opal asked one of the people to get the nurse and someone else that Jinny didn’t know. They walked off and he then turned to Jinny with a confused face. “Now, I trust you both completely so I know this person must not be part of the Darkness, but I would like to know who she is.”
Jake and Maggie looked at each other, then at Jinny, and then at Mr. Opal. “We found her,” said Maggie, seeming hesitant. “She was headed toward the Dark Lair and was just on the edge of the fumes when we were able to reach her. She fainted, like everyone does when the get close enough, and we tool her back to one of the Mole Caves and-“
“Mole Caves?” asked Jinny, another thing she didn’t know.
Maggie rolled her eyes. “An underground room that’s considered a safe area for us Spies, they’re scattered around but the Darkness knows about a few of them so it’s becoming more risky. Anyway, we stayed in there for a couple of hours while the affects wore off and then ran into some trouble...” she then told about their fight and how Jake got his sprain. “So after that, well, it turned out that that Dark One was, um, Jinny’s sister, Carol. So we brought her here hoping you’d know what to do because it seems like the Darkness has overtaken Carol.”
Mr. Opal turned on Jinny and grabbed her. “We need to keep her in the dungeon until we find out more.”
“NO!” yelled Jinny.

Chapter 14: Jake The Inventor

Jinny lowered herself into the hole and found out that it was only six feet deep. “Where’d this come from?” she asked and peered down the downward sloping tunnel.
“It’s been here forever actually,” Maggie informed her, putting the pickax on the belt of her white flight suit.
“Ok, and who are you?” Jinny asked the smaller boy.
“I’m Chris,” said the boy with a smile.
“He’s also our little brother,” said Jake.
“I’m not that little,” muttered the boy named Chris.
“Well, your eleven and the youngest of us three so yeah you are little,” Maggie said.
Jinny could tell that Chris wanted to counter back, but Jake said to Jinny first, “Here, it’s for protection and flight if you need it,” he handed her a white suit that was identical to the ones they had on. “And these could come in handy, too,” he then gave her two curved knives, just like the ones they had. “They also block the Darknesses blue energy and sometimes seem to have a mind of their own.”
“A mind of their own?” Jinny repeated.
“Yep!” Chris spoke up.
“Who invented these? They’re awesome!” Jinny asked them.
Maggie grinned at Jake who gave a sheepish smile. “I did,” he said.
“Really?” Jinny couldn’t believe it.
Jake nodded with a shrug.
“Well, you did a great job,” Jinny told him.
Jake blushed. “Anyone coulda done it.”
“You know that’s not true,” Maggie playfully shoved him. “Now, lets go before they notice Jinny’s not here anymore.”
They had to go single file because of the tunnel’s tight squeeze. Maggie in front, holding the flashlight, Jake behind her, Chris behind him, and Jinny in last, still holding her flight suit and the knives.

Chapter 15: What Could Get Worse?

Jinny, Maggie, Jake, and Chris had been walking through the underground tunnels, which were now going upward, for about twenty minutes when they heard muffled voices coming from behind them. They couldn’t figure out what the voices were saying, but could tell that they sounded very @ngry.
“HURRY UP, THEY FOUND US!!!” Maggie yelled and began to run.
“Yay!” Jake said sarcastically and ran after Maggie, with Chris and Jinny right behind him.
All Jinny could hear was the pounding of their footsteps on the stone floor so she didn’t know how far behind - or close - their pursuers were. Or what their intentions would be if they caught up to them.

After a while, when Jinny was long since tired, Maggie said, “Ok, I think we lost them.”
Jinny sighed and bent over, panting with the others. After they caught their breath, Jinny asked, “So how much farther,” she took a deep breath, “Do we have to go before we can finally get outta this dump?”
“Not much longer, really,” said Chris, looking ahead of them. “I’ve been through these tunnels so many times-”
“No you haven’t!” Maggie snapped at him. “This is only the second time you’ve been down here and don’t get me started on why we had to come here the last time...”
Chris rolled his eyes and said nothing.
“But, you are right,” Maggie was slow to admit. “We’re close and I think the other Spies went down a wrong turn, so we’re pretty well safe now.”
Jinny looked around and noticed that Jake wasn’t with them. “Uh, do you guys see Jake anywhere?”
Maggie and Chris panicked. “No!” Chris gasped. “He must’ve taken a wrong turn, too!”
“That’s just great,” Maggie groaned. “Now he’s missing! What could get wo-”
“Don’t say it!” Jinny cut her off.
“Oh, yeah, it would then,” Maggie weakly smiled.
Jinny felt defeated. Everything seemed to be going wrong and she had to agree with Maggie, what could really get worse?

Chapter 16: In The Dark Library

Carol, mask off, entered the library in The Dark Lair. The library was built the same time the lair was constructed many many years ago to hold all of the Darkness history books. They told of how the Darkness came to be, how to control their powers, and how to cure the memory loss of the blue energy. And she was determined to find that out. The only reason she had waited so long before searching, was because she had only recently earned the title, Crescent Moon. Before then, she was just a trainee in the Darkness, but now she is trusted among the others and is able to go freely about the lair and do almost anything she wishes. Almost.
“Crescent Moon,” greeted another Dark One with a small bow, her name was Crimson Sapphire, or at least that’s how Carol knew her. But everyone has a true name.
Carol bowed back and went to search the selves in the Blue Energy section. “Controlling The Blue...Magic or Reality...The History of the Blue Energy...How to Earn the Darkest Power...” Carol muttered aloud the titles of the thick, leather bound books as she scanned through them. She had always loved to read and couldn’t help herself, so she grabbed How to Earn the Darkest Power off its self and began to read.

The only way to get the majestic Power of Darkness, is to truly feel its sting and full power by being hit by it by another Dark One. It comes, though, at a high price for when the person is hit, they will no longer be able to remember their past. Some call it amnesia, others call it The Bite of the Blue.

Carol smirked, she knew all too well about The Bite of the Blue. But how to cure it was another story. She put the book back on the self and continued looking, but had to stop after going through a couple of titles when she found her path blocked by a boy a couple of years older than her with dark brown hair. She didn’t know is name.
“So, you’re Crescent Moon?” he asked her.
“Yes,” said Carol, her voice still calm but her pulse quickened.
“I’m Crystal Shield,” he bowed, surprising Carol. She had half expected him to attack.
She bowed and said, “Nice to meet another fellow Dark One.”
Crystal Shield grunted. “A ‘fellow Dark One?’ You’re not fooling me.”
Carol stiffened. “And why not?”
“Because, I’m in the same dilemma. I too want my memory back.”

Chapter 17: Alone

Jinny ran faster than ever before up the tunnel. Maggie and Chris had gone back for Jake but told Jinny to go on without them. Jinny didn’t want to, but they were really firm on this decision. She had also changed into the white suit, it was tight, but overall fit her well.
Thump!
She tripped over a rock and face planted on the hard floor. “Ouch!” she gasped. She put her hand on her head and felt blood. “Great,” she mumbled sarcastically. Luckily she was wearing black gloves because if not, her hands would most likely be scraped up pretty bad, too. She stood up and kept going.

About ten minutes later, Jinny made it to a ladder. “What is it with Spies and their ladders,” she muttered, climbing up and appearing in a moonlighted forest. She ran a ways through the trees before stopping to rest, laying down, she thought of all the things that have happened. First, Carol went missing, then four years later Jinny was rescued from the Dar Poison Gas by Jake and Maggie, she almost got kîlLēD and found out that Carol was a Dark One, Jinny was lõcked up because the Spy League thought she was part of that too, and then Maggie, Jake, and Chris came and broke her out and now they’re all somewhere most likely in dâNger and Jinny is back to being alone. Again.
Snap!
She sat straight up. Someone was there.

Chapter 18: Smith Carter

The person was a little younger than Jinny, he had shoulder length red hair and a large scaron his face, he also carried a white staff and looked very very angry. Fantastic.
“Who are you?” asked Jinny, standing up to face the stranger.
“I’m Carter, Smith Carter,” he said with a smirk. “And you’re coming with me.”
“Um,” Jinny was at a blank. “I don’t think so.”
“Well that’s not your decision to make!” and Smith ran toward her and hit her on the head with the staff, knocking her out.

Jinny woke up a little while later tied to the front passenger seat in a pickup truck. It was late in the night and the headlights lit up the forest around them.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked Smith, who was driving. “And aren’t you a little young to be driving a car?”
“Hey, I can drive!” Smith said, glaring at her before looking back at the road. “And where we’re going? You’ll just have to find out.”
Jinny strained against the ropes, no luck. How could she have gotten captured and why? What was Smith wanting with her? She sighed and looked out the window at the passing trees, wondering if Maggie and Chris found Jake and were now looking for her.

A while later, when the sun was beginning to rise, they pulled into an alleyway in a small town.
“Here we are, uh, Janice right?” said Smith as he untied her.
“It’s Jinny,” Jinny stared into the dark alley and rubbed her free wrists.
“Come on,” Smith grabbed his staff and jumped out of the truck.
“So,” Jinny climbed out. “Any heads up on what’s waiting for me?”
Smith scowled and walked behind her as they went down the alley, luckily Jinny’s knives were still in her pockets in case she needed them.

Chapter 19: The Betrayal

Maggie and Chris had made it back to where they broke out Jinny, when they realized that the hole they had made in the floor was sealed back up!
“Um, ok, this is weird,” said Chris.
“Just a little bit!” Maggie panicked.
“Let’s just go back to the start of the tunnels,” suggested Chris. “Maybe Jake went that way.”
“Yeah, maybe,” but Maggie wasn’t really paying attention. She was still pondering over how someone could have done these things so fast. There was only one person who could’ve - but no. He couldn’t have done something like this. Could he? No. Definitely not.
“Uh, Maggie, we’ve got a problem,” Chris tapped her on the shoulder.
“What?” she asked, then looked behind her. “Oh no!” the two people who were there put bags over their heads and Maggie and Chris could no longer see.

About thirty minutes later, Chris and Maggie’s bags were taken off and they could see that they were now in a cell, tied to two of three chairs. And tied to the other chair was...
“Jake!” exclaimed Chris, Maggie sighed with relief.
“So,” said a voice.
All tree turned their heads to look at none other than Mr. Opal standing in between the two Spies that had caught them.
“YOU!” Maggie yelled, her hands curled into fists. “How could you-”
“Oh,” Mr. Opal sneered. “I can do a lot more than you think. Like maybe make your pathetic friend, Jinny, a wanted girl.”
“What!” Jake turned pale.
“Yes!” Mr. Opal said. “I hired a bounty hunter to catch her and take her to a friend of mine who will make sure she NEVER gets to find her sister or cause anymore trouble with the Darkness.”
“Wait a minute,” Maggie couldn’t believe it. “You’re, a part of the Darkness!”
“I am,” he admitted. “I’ve been right under the Spies noses the whole time! And even was able to get a few on my side,” he gestured to the two Spies that were with him.
“You-you betrayed us!” Chris said.
“Now now, let’s not get into a mess. I am the leader of the Spies, I control what goes on, so I’m planning to make an announcement saying that you three turned to the Darkness and helped Jinny, also a Dark One escape. So, say goodbye, to your memories,” he conjured up the Blue Energy in his hands and prepared to blast them.

Chapter 20: The Cucumber Gangster

Jinny and Smith finally made it to a building at the end of the alley. It looked like an abandoned wear house. They entered and, even in the dark, Jinny could make out many empty shelves and could smell something very strange.
“Cucumbers?” she looked at Smith, perplexed by the smell.
“Yep,” Smith clicked on a flashlight. “You’ll figure it out.”
Jinny wasn’t sure what to make of it, but decided to keep her mouth shut. They continued walking for a little longer when they came upon another door, after going through it, Jinny saw that it was more of an office than a room in a wear house. And there were three people in it. One was behind the long desk, he was balding and wore a suit and tie, but looked menacing. The two other people were large men, also in suits, that looked like they could be wrestlers. Jinny was intimidated. It didn’t help that the room smelled entirely of cucumbers.
“There’s my prize!” the man behind the desk leaned forward and grinned at Jinny, showing only half a set of teeth.
Jinny jumped back. “Why does everything smell like cucumbers?” she asked to get off of a probably not very good topic.
The man frowned. “Surely you know who I am?”
Jinny shook her head. “Should I?”
“OF COURSE YOU SHOULD!” he bellowed. “FOR I AM THE CUCUMBER!”
Jinny looked at Smith who was smirking at ‘The Cucumber.’
“I am the gangster of all gangsters!” The Cucumber said. “And I am taking you as my prize,” he smiled menacingly.
“Why do you want ME?” asked Jinny with a cringe.
“Because,” he was practically beaming. “Someone would pay a high price for your head.”

Chapter 21: Wanted

Carol and Crystal Shield, who she was still a bit wary of, had searched though the Dark Library late into the night before finally realizing that the library had nothing to offer that would help them get their memories back. The two of them regrouped in an empty hall outside the library.
“The Darkness must have rid the library of all those books!” Crystal Shield said, gritting his teeth and glaring at the library’s closed door.
“They had to,” Carol considered. “If not, we would’ve found at least one by now.”
“So, how long have you been trying to get back your memory?” he asked.
“Today was the first time,” Carol gave a dry laugh.
“I have for half my life, 7 years,” Crystal Shield glanced back at the door, then at her, a defeated look in his eyes.
“Oh! Crystal Shield, I’m-I’m sorry it’s been so long,” Carol wished that she could help him.
“Call me, Lynn.”
“And call me, Carol,” they shook hands. “So, where should we search next?”
“The only place I haven’t looked, is in the girls rooms,” Lynn grinned at her. “That’ll be where you’ll come in.”
Carol was shocked. “Is that the only reason you wanted to help me search? Is so that you could have me sneak around the Dark Lair? In places that I shouldn’t be?!”
“No!” Lynn cringed. “I mean, that was part of it. Look, I need help, I can’t do this alone and neither can you. It will be better if we work together.”
Carol squinted at him. Should she trust someone who might just be using her? What if he didn’t even want her help? Was it really a trap? She couldn’t know, but for some reason, she wanted to trust him. “Ok,” she spoke slowly. “But if I think for one second that you might be using me - or worse - then I will not help you. Same for you if I turn out to be that way. Deal?”
He nodded, looking relieved. “Deal.”
As they headed off toward the girls’ area, Carol spotted something on the wall.
“What’s the hold up?” Lynn asked, seeing that she had fallen behind.
But Carol was too absorbed in the picture. It was a newspaper clipping, showing all of the wanted people in the area. The Darkness does this in case they needed new Dark Ones, these would be good candidates. But one of pictures, was of the Spy girl Carol had seen the other night. Her long hair, pulled back in a ponytail was very recognizable. And the name underneath read Jinny. She was crossed off with a red line. Which meant, she was dead.

Chapter 22: A New Ally

Jinny gasped. She saw only one way out of this, and it was not the way she wanted to go.
But before she could do anything, Smith spoke, “Wait just a minute, Cucumber! You said that you were going to turn her in to the police and get your reward, not kill her!”
The Cucumber cackled. “And when have I ever made deals with the law enforcers? You should just be thankful I’m still going to give you part of the cash I get from The Melon.”
Jinny had to bite her tongue in order to keep from bursting out with laughter.
Smith glanced at Jinny, then back at The Cucumber. “And, um, when are you going to, uh, behead her?”
“When I deliver my prize to The Melon, my men will do the, hmm, messy work. Now, time to go,” The Cucumber snapped his fingers and his body guards stalked up to Jinny, their bald heads grazing the ceiling.
Almost as though they had planned it, even though they didn’t, Smith and Jinny both made some fast moves. Jinny yanked the twin knives from their holsters and slashed the men’s hands that were about to grab her. Smith whipped out his staff and brought it down over the closest guard, knocking him out and he tumbled to the floor.
The Cucumber roared, practically, and jumped out of his chair, pulling a gun out of his pocket and aiming it at Smith.
Jake was right, the knives really did have a mind of their own. Even though Jinny was in control of them as she slashed and fought the conscience guard, the knives seemed to do the work themselves and blocked his attacks without Jinny needed to do much more than just hold on.
Smith twirled his staff and ran at The Cucumber, who had his finger on the trigger ready to pull. Smith hit the gangster with the end of his staff right on his forehead. The man dropped his gun, swayed on the spot, and fell in a heap on the floor. Smith then rushed over to help Jinny fight the guard and with one smack of the staff, the guard fell as well.
For a moment, the two of them panted and stared at the unconscious men lying on the floor. Then Jinny asked Smith, “Why did you help me?”
“I’ve done many jobs for The Cucumber, but never has he killed one of the people I’ve brought him. I couldn’t let this this be the first time,” was Smith’s reply.
“Well, thank you,” said Jinny.
“You’re welcome. Now let’s get out of here before they wake up,” he hurried out, and Jinny followed without a backward glance. ‘Now it’s time,’ she thought. ‘It’s time to get back my sister. But we need more people to help, and I know just the three,’ she grinned.

Chapter 23: A Questionable Past

Jinny and Smith got back in his (probably stolen) truck to discuss tactics.
“So,” Jinny began, but she stopped short.
“So...what?” Smith stared at her, questioningly.
Jinny thought for a moment. She was going to invite him along with the hope that he would help her, but she was still wondering whether or not she should trust someone that might backstab her. She decided to take a different approach. “Tell me a little bit about yourself. That away I know I can trust you.”
“Oh, uh, er,” Smith spluttered.
“Suit yourself then,” Jinny gestured for him to get out.
“No! I mean - that’s not what I meant - I don’t think - you know -”
“No, I don’t know,” Jinny was especially anxious now.
“Look,” Smith sighed. “My past is...odd. I don’t think you’ll understand and -”
“Try me.”
“Oh!” now he looked surprised. “Ok then, here it goes. I was stolen from my parents at three years old, and for seven years was raised by criminal mastermind, Lord Brownwell, The Silent One. When I was ten years old I escaped and went to find my parents, sadly I never did. But I did need to make a living so I became a bounty hunter. I usually take orders from a band of gangsters known as the Vegetables, I think they were short on names or something. Most of the time I work for The Cucumber, who’s sorta their leader, and catch people for him. Lately though, it’s been harder to please him and now there’s no way for me to get my job back. I’m kinda relieved to be honest.”
Jinny waited for a minute, pondering over his words, then spoke, “I’m sorry. Would you like to turn around your life though? Do some good in the world?”
“Well, yeah obviously! But how?”
“You could help the Spy League.”
“The what?”
Jinny smiled, thinking of all the questions she had asked Maggie and Jake. After telling him all she knew of the Spies and Darkness, including a bit about her and losing Carol, Jinny asked him, “So, will help me get back my sister and, possibly, save the world?”
It took Smith a while to consider, then a grin spread across his scarred face and he said, “Where do I begin?”
Jinny grinned back. “Let’s start with getting a few more allies before we do anymore. Are you ready to go back to school?”
He looked puzzled. “School? I’ve heard of it, but nobody seems to like it.”
“Well, you’re about to find out,” Jinny said as he started up the engine. In the back of her mind she thought of Maggie, Jake, and Chris. Will they be alright? Or has the Darkness already found them?

Spies chapter 24: No Where to Go

“So, say goodbye, to your memories,” Mr. Opal conjured up the Blue Energy in his hands and prepared to blast Maggie, Jake, and Chris.
Chris squeezed his eyes shut and braced for the impact...but nothing happened. After a few more moments, he carefully opened his eyes and saw Jake, freed, with his twin knives at Mr. Opal’s throat. The ropes on Jake’s chair were cut.
“YOU SNAKE!” Mr. Opal roared. The Spies—turned Dark Ones on either side of him advanced on Jake, their hands now holding swirling Blue Energy.
“Look out, Jake!” yelled Maggie, straining against the ropes.
But Jake was too fast for them, he hit them both with the hilt of the knife. They fell, sprawled out on the floor and one started snoring.
Mr. Opal had enough. He kicked Jake in the stomach, sending him toppling over, and grabbed the knives out of his hands with a snarl. “You Spies are relentless!”
“That,” Jake sat up, breathing hard. Maggie strained harder and Chris watched, wide eyed. “Is because we’re fighting for more than just ourselves.”
Mr. Opal sneered and leaned forward and whispered, “And that, is why you will lose,” and he punched Jake hard in the face, making him go unconscious.
Maggie, with an angered shout, finally broke free of the ropes and charged at the traitor with her knives. Mr. Opal wasn’t expecting that and tried to block her endless slashing.
“Get him, Maggie!” Chris encouraged her, trying to escape the ropes and join in.
Maggie hit him on the head with a well timed strike of her fist, and he too lost consciousness. Panting from the fight, Maggie quickly turned to Jake and felt for a pulse. “He’s alright,” she informed Chris, who sighed with relief. She untied her youngest brother from the chair and they looked around at the floor full of unconscious people.
“What now?” Chris asked her.
“We don’t have anywhere to go,” Maggie said. “No way will the other Spies believe that Mr. Opal would betray us. Besides, who knows how many more are secretly Dark Ones? We just need to help Jinny.”
“But if what Mr. Opal said is true, then she’d be a long ways away by now.”
“I know,” Maggie mused. “But that just means that she’s even farther from her sister.”
“So what’re you saying?”
“I’m saying, we need to go to The Dark Lair.”

Chapter 25: Steven, Lavender, and Henry

“...And then Thomas Jefferson was elected as the 3rd president of the US on March 4th 1801 where he was in office for 8 years...” the history teacher, Ms. Lake, said in a very uninteresting voice, thankfully class was almost over.
Steven stared, bored, at her with his brown eyes, taking in absolutely zero of what she was saying. He was wondering where his classmate, Jinny, might be. She had been missing for about three days now and it was surprising how unnerved her aunt, Ms. Lake, was.
“Psst! Steve!”
Steven glanced over at his friend Lavender, her eyes behind those wide purple glasses watched him, the teacher was never paying any attention to her students so this was the perfect class to talk in.
“Yeah?” Steven said in almost a whisper.
“Have you heard anything about Jinny?” Lavender knew that with Steven’s popularity in the school, he was able to find out things that other students couldn’t.
“Nope,” he looked at the empty desk that used to accommodate one of his best friends. “Do you think she’s ok? I mean, she’s been gone for three whole days.”
“If I know Jinny, she’s probably just looking for her sister,” Lavender remarked, twirling the blue half of her hair around her pencil. “So I’m sure she’s alright.”
Steven glanced at Henry, their other friend, who was busy taking notes. Henry hadn’t spoken much since Jinny left.
BRING!
The bell sounded (“Remember to have your essays on Jefferson ready by tomorrow!” yelled Ms. Lake over the noise, though no one heard her) and all of the high schoolers gathered their supplies and headed into the halls.
“Hey, Henry, wanna go to the rink after Biology?” Lavender called to him as they left.
“No, thanks,” he said, not making eye contact. “I’m going to archery practice afterwards.”
“Oh?” Lavender’s hopes sank.
“Don’t worry about him, Lav,” Steven told her. “He’ll come around. He just needs time to get used to it.”
“Get used to what?”
“Life without Jinny.”
“What?!” Lavender halted suddenly. “You can’t be serious?!”
“I am,” Steven said grimly. “She’s missing, and we have to except that.”
But before Lavender could think of something to say, they were being pulled by the current of the crowd over to a window. The teenagers were all crammed around one window and Steven and Lavender had to elbow their why through to even get a glimpse out of it.
Steven got to the front first at stared at the old truck that had just pulled into the parking lot. A red headed girl got out of it. “Jinny?!”

Chapter 26: A Mission

“It’s Jinny!”
“That’s the girl who went missing a few days ago.”
“Who’s that with her?”
“He’s too young to be here.”
“Jinny is Steven’s friend, did you know that?”
“This is gonna cause some BIG gossip!”
“What’s with the old truck?”
Those were the murmurs that met Steven and Lavender’s ears as they made their way fast through the halls to get outside, along with the whole school. They even saw a few teachers in the flow, while the other teachers tried (and failed) to bring order. They finally burst through the front doors, leading the teens into the parking lot where the rundown truck and two odd looking characters waited.
“Jinny! What’re you doing here? And what’s with the flight suit?” questioned Steven as the other students closed in around them.
“I’ll answer all of your questions, I promise,” said Jinny, cringing when she saw the crowd, “but we need to get somewhere more quiet. Where’s Henry?”
“He’s probably here somewhere,” Lavender scanned the pack of people. “HENRY! ARE YOU OUT THERE?”
“Is she always this loud?” Smith asked with a wince.
“Not all the time,” Steven informed him, “I’m Steven, and your name is...?”
“Carter, Smith Carter,” he told him, smirking slightly.
“Nice to meet you,” Steven said, nervously glancing at Smith’s staff.
The crowd parted and an anxious looking boy made it to the front, his blue eyes on Jinny. “Jinny?” he asked, not daring to believe it.
“Hey, Henry,” said Jinny, smiling, “Now come on, into the truck. It’s less distracting in there.” The five of them clambered inside the truck, earning angry looks from the group.
“What’s going on?” Steven questioned when they were settled in the truck.
So Jinny told him and Lavender and Henry everything. About her meeting the Spies, the Darkness and how her sister is part of it, escaping from the Hidden Safe, her run-in with The Cucumber, and then her befriending of Smith.
The three were quiet for several moments, letting everything sink in, when Lavender pushed her glasses up her nose and said, “so you want our help to find Carol, I assume.”
“Your friend’s observant,” Smith muttered in Jinny’s ear.
Jinny winked at him, then turned to Lavender. “Yes. It seems you guys are the only ones that I can trust right now.”
“Whoa whoa whoa,” Henry said, “I’m not going into a Dark Lair where people can wipe my memory!”
But before Jinny could speak, the truck was suddenly filled with the aroma of cucumbers and watermelons.
“Oh no,” Jinny jumped up, “they found us!”
“Who?” Steven asked her.
“The Cucumber!” she gulped.
“Not just The Cucumber,” said Smith, grimacing, “The Melon’s with him, too. He’s the one who wants your head.”

Chapter 27: The Melon

An old sports car and a limousine pulled into the parking lot, making the crowd mutter among themselves. Jinny, Smith, Steven, Lavender, and Henry got out of Smith’s truck and turned to face the newcomers. The Cucumber and his two bodyguards, now wearing large bruises on their heads, got out of the sports car, while a clean cut man in a suit and tie stepped out of the limousine with six bodyguards.
“The dude in the suit’s The Melon,” Smith whispered to Jinny.
“Figured as much,” Jinny said, her hands near her pockets that held the knives.
The Cucumber strutted over to them, snearing. “You think you can escape The Vegetables that easily?”
“Kinda,” said Jinny.
Before The Cucumber could say anything more, The Melon spoke up in a British accent. “You did well, but not well enough. For The Melon always finds his prey.”
The group of students and teachers slowly crept back inside the school and watched from the windows, but Steven, Lavender, and Henry stayed with Jinny.
“Come with me, Jinny,” The Melon said, “and no one will be hurt. Fail to cooperate, and we will have to use force to achieve our goals.”
“Not happening!” yelled Lavander.
The Melon gave her a smirk then turned back to Jinny. “Your friends are loyal, and rather stupid.”
“We are loyal, but not stupid!” Steven told him. Henry looked too scared to speak.
“Ha!” The Melon gave a short laugh, “you amuse me. Men, get Jinny’s head and please don’t make a mess when you detach it.”
Jinny felt like she might throw up, but decided that can wait. She watched The Melon’s bodyguards walk toward her, their faces had zero emotion. Then, when they got close enough, Jinny pulled out the knives and Smith his staff and they both charged at the large men.
Smith ducked as one of them made to grab him, then jumped up behind him and k!cked him from behind. The man was angry now and tried to smack Smith across the face, but he was blocked by the white staff. Smith then tripped the wrestler like man and hit him on the head with his staff. One down.
Jinny was glad now that she took karate in 6th and 7th grade. She tried one of the moves she had learned on one of the men, a sort of move that Black Widow might do, and it worked! Two down. She then used her knives to cut another bodyguard’s eyes, he howled with pain and Jinny punched him to knock him unconscious. Three down.
Sirens were suddenly wailing all around them, blue and red lights flashed, and a voice shouted, “Hands up, Veggies!”
Jinny and her friends turned to see a middle aged police officer with shoulder length blonde hair and green eyes with a gun aimed at The Melon and The Cucumber.
“Ah,” The Melon smiled his evil smile, “Ann, long time no see.”
The officer, Ann, smirked. “Guys, get these gangsters locked up. I’ll take care of the kids.”
Several more police officers showed up and handcuffed The Vegetable Gang. Ann turned to Smith and said, “So, you’re the bounty hunter we’ve been trying to catch, you’re coming too.”
“Wait, no!” Jinny said, running up to Ann.
“And why not miss...”
“Jinny,” she replied, “and please don’t put Smith in prison! He’s not a bounty hunter anymore anyway.”
Ann seemed thoughtful as she studied Smith and Jinny. “I’ll need more than just that. So tell me what’s going on, because I doubt you just happen to have a flight suit in your closet.

Chapter 28: Intruders

“Eh, Carol?” Lynn asked, “you still here?”
“What?” Carol said, “oh, yeah, I’m here. I was just looking at this picture of Jinny.”
“Who’s Jinny?” Lynn questioned.
“Someone I think I used to know.”
“You think?”
“Yes. When I saw this Jinny, I felt like I knew her, like she had a big part in my life.”
Lynn squinted at the small, crossed out newspaper clipping. “She does kinda look like you. Is she your sister?”
Carol’s brown eyes grew wide. “She can’t be.”
“What if she is?”
“I couldn’t find her anyway, she’s a Spy, the others would capture me before I could get anywhere close to her,” Carol’s hopes sank, “besides, since she’s crossed out, she must be dead.”
The two of them stood in silence for a long moment, then Lynn said, “Well, we’d better continue searching before-”
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
“INTRUDERS HAVE BEEN SEEN ON THE PREMISES!” came a female computer voice from the speakers.
“Oh no!” Carol gasped.
“Crescent Moon, Crystal Shield!” Carol’s mentor, Star Blade hurried up to them with a scowl on his heavily scarred face, “accompany Griffin Shadow and I as we go take care of these intruders.”
“Yes, sir,” they both said reluctantly.

“How much farther?” asked Chris.
“Not much,” Maggie replied.
“I’m just glad I missed the first half of our journey,” Jake smiled weakly.
“Only because Mr. Opal knocked you unconscious,” Maggie reminded him.
It was very late and dark and creepy as the three siblings trudged through the forest toward The Dark Lair. After the incident with Mr. Opal, they had gotten out of The Hidden Safe as fast as they could and started walking to their worst enemy’s lair. They’d been at it for almost 4 hours without stopping.
“We should be nearing the place where we have assumed The Dark Lair might be,” Maggie stopped and pulled out the large map, “you’d think they’d have made this smaller, or better yet, digital,” she complained under her breath.
Jake sniffed the air, then held out his hand to stop Chris from going any farther. “We’re close,” Jake said, “I can barely smell the sleeping gas.”
“Gas mask time!” Chris said, him and the others pulled out their gas masks and put them on.
“We sound like Darth Vader,” Jake laughed.
They had only walked a little bit farther, when all of a sudden a loud beeping noise came from below them.
“Uh oh,” said Chris.
Maggie groaned and yanked out her knives. “Expect to have company, guys.”

Chapter 29: Friends Turned Foes, Foes Turned Friends

After hearing their story about the Spy League and The Darkness, without a word Ann drove Jinny, Smith, Steven, Lavender and Henry to the police base and asked them to get inside a real helicopter.
“It’ll be a long flight, so I recommend that you all get comfortable,” Ann said, getting into the copter.
“Where are we going?” asked Henry, looking around the helicopter amazed.
“Where else?” Ann turned to look at them like it was obvious, “to find this girl’s missing sister.”
“Are you serious?” Jinny said, surprised, as she sat down in one of the helicopter’s seats.
“Yes, it’s my job after all,” Ann put on her headphones, “now buckle up.”
Everyone buckled quickly and excitedly. The helicopter started up and the teenagers looked out the windows at the blades as they started spinning. They were off.
“This is a first for me!” Lavender grinned.
“Me, too,” the others said in unison, they smiled at each other.
“Well,” Ann said through the coms, “I’ve done this a few times.”
“Thanks so much for helping us, Ann,” said Smith, “I know I’m not exactly your favorite person in the world.”
“I think,” she said slowly, “you’re really an ok person, but one wrong move and you’re out.”
“Understood,” Smith muttered.
Jinny stared out the window as they continued gaining altitude. She was lost in thought about her sister and the Spies. Are they ok? Did the Darkness get them? Is Carol too far gone to bring back to the good side? Does she even remember me? Does she even want me to find her? Jinny sucked in her breath when she thought that. Was all this all just a waste trying to find her if she doesn’t like me anymore?
They were high in the air now, so high that the ground looked millions of miles below them. All of a sudden another helicopter, this one white and black, came into view.
“Look,” Steven pointed out the new copter.
“Who’s flying it?” Ann squinted out the window.
“It’s,” Jinny gasped, “Mr. Opal!”
“Who?” Lavender questioned.
“He’s the leader of the Spies,” explained Jinny.
“Are you talking about,” Ann suddenly looked frightened, “Jeramy Opal?”
Jinny looked curiously at Ann. “Could be, why?”
“We have to get out out of here!” Ann suddenly spun their helicopter in the opposite direction of the other.
“Why?” Jinny asked, surprised.
“Because he used to work for The Vegetables!”
“WHAT!?” Jinny exclaimed.
“It’s true,” Smith told her, “I knew him. He was The Blueberry.”
“The Blueberry?” Jinny raised her eyebrows.
BOOM!!!
The copter jerked wildly and Lavender screamed.
“They’re coming after us!” Ann yelled, “and they just hit us with a bomb!”
“On no!” Henry shrunk in his seat.
“This is why we always come prepared for any situation,” Ann grinned and pulled a leaver, and their helicopter suddenly flew off at a thousand miles per hour in a cloud of smoke.
“Too fast!” Steven gasped, “too fast, too fast, too fast, TOO FAST!”
“Would you be quiet,” Smith winced, “you and the roaring of the engines are not helping my ear drums!”
They slowed back down to normal speed and looked for Mr. Opal’s helicopter. No where in sight.
“Whew,” said Jinny, “we lost him.”
“I doubt that.”
They all looked around in shock, trying to locate the owner of the voice, but their was no one there. It was coming from their coms.
“Who-who said that?” Henry nervously asked.
“It’s me, Mr. Opal,” came the voice out of their coms. Everybody flinched.
“Not creepy,” mumbled Steven.
“I have hacked into your helicopter’s communication system,” Mr. Opal laughed, “I’m here with a little message to anyone who might be trying to find the sister to Jinny, Carol I think. Do not aid them, because we are coming.”
After that, all they heard was static.
“What do ya think he means by that?” asked Jinny.
“Nothing good,” Ann sighed in frustration, “this won’t be the last we’ll see of him that’s for sure.”

Chapter 30: No One To Trust

Carol, Lynn, Star Blade, and Griffin Shadow pulled on gas masks and climbed up a metal ladder out into the darkness of the forest.
“Be on guard,” Star Blade barked through his mask at the younger Dark Ones, “do not underestimate the Spies.”
Griffin Shadow, a large 15 year old boy with sandy blonde hair and a scowl nodded curtly at Star Blade. Carol remembered training with this brute. He was skilled with a blade and his fists. He never had any mercy on his competitors.
Star Blade halted suddenly, crouched down in the underbrush, and held up a fist. The others stopped, not a sound was uttered among them. Then, Carol’s ears picked up voices on the other side of their hiding place. She gripped her katana and breathed hard inside her gas mask, glad for the protection it gave her from the sleeping gases.
“ATTACK!” Star Blade leaped out from his bush and the others followed suit.
The three Spies, gas masks over their faces, were bombarded by the four Dark Ones. But they were just as skilled. Maggie fought both Carol and Lynn, Chris was battling Griffin Shadow, and Jake was fighting Star Blade. Because of their masks, no one knew who was who.
Jake took a hard blow from Star Blade and tumbled on the ground. He spit out leaves and rolled over, wincing. He still hadn’t recovered from his fight with Mr. Opal.
Star Blade towered over him. “You’ve been hurt. I wish you hadn’t, I like a challenge, but this one is,” he kicked Jake in the ribs once more, “Pathetic.”
But Jake wouldn’t be taken down that easily. Ignoring the tremendous pain, he stood back up and wiped blood from his nose. He lunged back at Star Blade with energy the Dark One did not expect. They continued their battle, both of them now evenly matched.
“A little kid like you shouldn’t be fighting someone like me,” said Griffin Shadow, pushing his katana against Chris’s twin daggers.
“Watch who you’re calling little,” Chris ducked under his opponent’s blade and kicked him in the chin, then backflipped overtop Griffin Shadow and cut a large gash in his shoulder.
Griffin Shadow clutched his shoulder with one hand and with the other, tried as hard as he could to slice the young Spy in half, but he was unsuccessful.
Carol and Lynn were fighting Maggie halfheartedly, but Maggie sure wasn’t. She jumped high and sent a powerful kick at Lynn, barely missing him. Maggie then turned quickly to stab her daggers right into Carol, but she was blocked by the Dark One’s katana.
This girl is tough, Carol thought to herself, blocking yet another blow from Maggie, but I need to find out something very important from her.
“Do you-” Carol twisted around the daggers, “know who-” she summersaulted over the next attack, “Jinny is?”
Maggie stopped mid punch. “What did you just say?” she kept her fist in the air, ready to strike at any moment.
“I said,” Carol breathed hard and glanced at Lynn’s surprised face underneath his gas mask, “do you know anyone named Jinny?”
“What does it matter to-” then Maggie gasped as realization dawned on her, “you-your Carol, aren’t you?”
Carol squinted at her. “Yes, how do you know that?”
Maggie lowered her fist a millimeter. “I know your sister. She’s looking for you.”
“You mean,” Carol sucked in a breath, “Jinny’s my-my sister?”
Just then, a the beating of a helicopter’s blades could be heard overhead. Everyone froze and jerked their heads upward as the police helicopter came into view.
“STAND DOWN, EVERYONE,” came a woman’s voice on a speaker from the helicopter.
But only one of them did not obey her command. Lynn grabbed Carol and held his katana up to her neck. “No. You stand down, or I slit Carol’s throat.”
“NO!” a girl’s voice cried from the helicopter, “CAROL!”
“Lynn,” Carol gasped, barely struggling, “what are you doing?”
Lynn’s lips curled into a menacing smile. “Why did you ever trust me, Carol? No one trusted you. Star Blade ordered me to keep an eye on you after we figured out you weren’t truly loyal to the Darkness. See what trust and friendship can do to a person?”
Carol felt a lump rise in her throat. “I see that know,” she whispered.
“So,” Lynn yelled up to the hovering copter, “what’s it going to be?”

Continued in next post (apparently it’s too l

Chapter 31: Reunions and Executions

Jinny couldn’t bare it. She had to do something. But what could she do 20 feet above the ground in a helicopter? She painfully watched as her sister, the one Jinny had been trying to find for years, was about to be killed by some Dark One. Whoever he was, oh boy would he pay for this. She balled her hands up into fists and glared down at him through the window.
The others in the helicopter were frozen. They had no idea what to do at this point. Ann closed her eyes and tried to form a plan. These kids were counting on her, she couldn’t let them down.
“Ok,” Ann said through the microphone, looking sadly at the teenagers in her copter, “we yield.”
“Good,” Lynn called up, “then hurry up and land and be prepared for boarding.”
Maggie, Jake, and Chris were suddenly pounced on by Star Blade and Griffin Shadow. They squirmed and tried to get away, but were captured and handcuffed.
Jinny let out a breath as the helicopter slowly landed. All of them held up their hands as Star Blade and Griffin Shadow entered, shoving gas masks onto their faces and handcuffing them. Everyone, except for the three Dark Ones, were lead by force down the trap door’s ladder and into the Dark Lair.
“Nicely done, Carol,” Lynn hissed into Carol’s ear as he lead her, a katana still at her throat, “now we’ve captured all of the Spies. You’ve been very helpful.”
Carol did not reply.
After walking a ways through hallways, getting curious and angry glances from passing Dark Ones, their cuffs were taken off and they were pushed roughly into a cell.
“You can take off your masks,” said Star Blade, locking the cell door, “you’ll be in here for a bit of time while we decide your fate.”
After the Dark Ones left, everyone inside the cell took off their masks, which revealed their identity to each other.
“Jinny!” exclaimed Maggie, running up to pull her friend into an embrace. Jake and Chris grinned widely and joined in on the hug.
“Maggie! Jake! Chris!” Jinny let go and smiled at the siblings, “I never thought I’d see you again!”
“Us either,” Jake replied, adjusting his glasses.
Jinny introduced them to Smith, Steven, Lavender, Henry, and Ann, telling the three Spies of the run-in with the Vegetable Gangsters.
“The Cucumber?” Chris said, “seriously?”
“Seriously,” Smith told him.
“Well,” Maggie said with a frown, “guess what? That no good rat, Opal betrayed us! Him and probably half of the Spy League are secretly part of the Darkness! Can you believe that? We’d been infiltrated, and didn’t even know it! If I ever see that rat again, I’m going give him a long, colorful piece of my mind!”
“Easy, sis,” said Jake, giving his fuming sister a pat on the back, “now isn’t the time to go chopping peoples limbs off.”
Maggie just rolled her eyes while Chris and Steven burst out laughing.
Jinny watched her friends, new and old, as they talked and laughed with each other. But she felt like she was being watched herself. Jinny turned around slowly. There was someone watching her. Someone very familiar.
“Carol,” Jinny breathed out, not able to say anything else. Her twelve year old little sister was different than she remembered. Very different.
Carol’s hair was longer and a darker red, she was much taller, and her clothes were all black. But that wasn’t what bothered Jinny. It was Carol’s face. Her brown eyes had less life in them and her expression was very dark, so dark, as though she had seen many terrible and depressing things in her life. Her time as an assassin had changed her.
Carol started to speak, but closed her mouth. She didn’t know what to say to a sister she didn’t remember.
Jinny began to walk forward, but stopped mid step. She didn’t know what to do with a sister she didn’t know anymore.
Just then, Star Blade stepped in front of the cell door and began to unlock it. “Your time is up, Spies. Prepare for your execution.”

Chapter 32: Key Keepers

Carol and the others were handcuffed again and pulled from their cell by Star Blade. None of them resisted. All of them were distraught. Lavender especially, and she began sobbing as they were lead once again through the hallways, which were now empty.
Carol was surprised to hear an oddly familiar voice whisper in her ear, “Whatever happens, Carol, I’m glad I did find you. I was searching for years, but I never expected our reunion to end as soon as it began.”
“I’m glad, too,” Carol said to Jinny, looking up at her sister’s face, “even though I don’t actually know you.”
“I just wish we had more time to get to know each other again,” Jinny replied softly.
Carol nodded and quickly looked away. Her heart was pounding in her ears as her emotions changed from happiness to confusion to relief and then to fear. She had never felt so vulnerable in her life.
Star Blade led them into a large round room. About one hundred people, Dark Ones, filled up all of the space, all except for a sort of stage area with chains on its flat, stone wall.
“YOU!” Maggie suddenly screeched.
Jinny jerked up and looked toward the front of the crowd, where none other than Mr. Opal stood. No longer in is white Spy suit, he now had on black robes.
“Hello,” Opal beamed, “so wonderful to see you all again!” Jinny noticed a fresh scar on his face she hadn’t seen before. No doubt it was created by Maggie.
Maggie glowered at Opal as they were brought onto the stage. Lynn approached them and Star Blade walked to Opal.
Carol’s expression stayed blank as Lynn chained each one of them up to the wall. Lavender was still crying, but the others seemed to have excepted their fate. Even Henry looked calm, though he was absolutely terrified on the inside.
Lynn walked off the stage and Star Blade stepped back on it with an grin. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the crowd looked excitedly at him, “it gives me great pleasure to say, after tonight, the Spy League will be no more!”
Every Dark One filled the room with loud cheers, which was when Carol noticed something. On the stage floor, just a foot or two from her, was a key.
Star Blade continued, “All of these people are traitors, who never had any respect for our cause or vision of the future.”
Carol eyed the silver key and slowly extended her foot.
“If only they had let us change this world for the better.”
She glanced at the crowd; they weren’t paying any attention to her.
“But the future is still in our hands.”
The key was only inches away.
“No more will the Spies confine us to this cave.”
Carol slid the key toward herself with her foot.
“Because soon, we will have our world domination.”
She flipped the key over and it landed on top of her shoe.
“And we’ll do it together.”
She tossed the key up and caught it in her hand.
“But it’s time for the Spies to pay.”
She fitted the key in the lock and turned it.
“And then, it will be time for The Darkness to rise.”
Carol then passed the key to Smith, who was on her left.
“So, let’s get on with this execution, shall we?”
The key was passed around to each of them.
Star Blade turned from the wild crowd and smiled evilly at the Spies. “Your time is up.”
“No,” said Carol, hardly containing a smirk, “yours is.”

Chapter 33: Enemy of My Enemy

The Spies were running for their lives, and The Darkness wasn’t making it very easy for them. As soon as Carol had announced that The Darkness’s time was up, the ten of them made a mad scramble to the door of the Execution Hall. But of course, the Dark Ones weren’t going to let them go without a fight.
“Ann!” shouted Jinny through the loud stomping of feet behind them.
“Yes?!” Ann jumped over a stray katana on the grey, stone floor.
“Do you have anything that can slow them down?!”
“Afraid not, Jinny,” replied Ann, “they took all our weapons, remember?”
Jinny grumbled under her breath as she ran from the ever gaining Dark Ones.
“I’LL GET YOU, SPIES!” Star Blade roared from somewhere behind them.
The hallways eventually started to get less complicated as they dashed to the trap door in the ceiling of the Dark Lair. Jake, who was the last to have the key, scrambled up the ladder and fitted it into the lock.
“Hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry,” Jinny muttered, wringing her hands and watching the Dark Ones’ shadows quickly creep down the hall behind her.
The old, rusty key turned in the lock with a satisfied, click.
“GO!” Jake yelled to the other Spies as he pushed the trap door open.
All of them held their breath and hurried up the ladder and out of the trap door, which Jinny closed behind them, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them through the sleeping gases.
After making it out of the gas, checking to see if The Darkness was following them, and they weren’t, they all collapsed on the grass.
“That,” Jinny gasped for breath, “was a close one.”
“You could say that again,” Chris said, panting like a dog.
Jinny was suddenly blinded by a bright light shining right in her face. She threw her hands over her eyes and groaned. After a few moments, she was able to look as see what it was.
“Wow,” Jinny whispered. The sun was slowly peeking out from behind the trees. She hadn’t realized it, but Jinny had been awake all night. She stood up, tears in her eyes, as the sky turned orange. Carol walked over to her sister and they stood in silence, watching the colorful sunrise together.
“Someone helped us,” Carol said after awhile.
Jinny looked down at her sister, who was practically glowing from the light of the sun on her face. “What do you mean?”
“That key I found,” Carol looked at the sky, avoiding Jinny’s gaze, “someone wanted me to find it.”
“How do you know?”
“I know how the world of allies and enemies works. A Dark One left it for me, and me only, to find and use how I wished. There are only three people who could’ve had the chance to leave it.”
“Star Blade, Mr. Opal, and that kid who betrayed you,” Jinny curled her hand into fists as she thought of the Dark Ones.
“Yes,” Carol didn’t want to believe it herself, “it was one of those three.”
“So,” Jinny shook her head, “we have an enemy of our enemy?”
Carol nodded.
“Jinny,” Maggie’s voice entered Jinny’s thoughts, “can I talk to you for a moment?”
Jinny walked away from Carol and sat down in the soft grass next to Maggie, who was several feet away from the others.
“So,” Maggie frowned and smirked at the same time, “we need to go back to the Hidden Safe.”
“What? No, we can’t!” Jinny glanced back to where she knew the trap door was, took a deep breath, and lowered her voice to a whisper before saying, “Maggie, The Darkness had infiltrated The Spy League. We can’t trust anyone.”
“The Dark Ones would’ve left the cover of the Spies by know,” Maggie said grimly, “they would be long gone from there. The only ones left would be true Spies. But they’ll be very skittish. The Spies know what The Darkness is capable of. And we’ve been betrayed by Opel, the only adult we’d ever trusted. That’s why they won’t trust us.”
“Then why are we going there, of all places? Wouldn’t it be safer to lay low in the city somewhere?”
“We’re not going there to lay low,” Maggie looked back at the trap door, hidden perfectly in the grass, “we’re going there to get reinforcements. We’re going to bring down The Darkness.”

Chapter 34: Welcome to Oak Branch

It was a strange sight for the residents of the town known (to a very small about of people) as Oak Branch. Four kids wearing white flight suits, three regular looking kids, although, one had blue hair, a rough looking boy with a white staff, a police officer, and a girl who was obviously a Dark One walked down their street. Each person in this group looked as though they had just went through a tsunami.
“I don’t like this,” Jinny whispered to Maggie, “why couldn’t we have just gone to The Hidden Safe? Why the detour?”
“Because,” Maggie said, ignoring the growing crowd of people watching them, “we haven’t eaten anything for almost 48 hours. And there’s no way we could make it back to The Hidden Safe without starving first.”
“She does have a good point,” Steven spoke up from behind them.
“Fine,” grumbled Jinny, “but I don’t like the way these people are looking at us. Are you sure they’re not cannibals?”
“Most likely,” Maggie replied.
“Most likely they are, or most likely they are not?” but Jinny didn’t get an answer.
The ten of them walked inside of a small, rundown restaurant. All of its occupants immediately put down whatever it was that they were doing and turned to stare at the newcomers. None of them bothering to hide their anger, curiosity, or small bit of pleasure at having visitors.
After a long, uncomfortable minute, the residents stopped staring and went back to eating their breakfast.
“Friendly group,” Jinny muttered when they sat down at a large table, empty except for a small spillage of whiskey on one of the chairs.
“I don’t know if you kids should really be in a place like this,” Ann looked nervously at the bar area, where some men sat, cursing loudly and taking long swings of their drinks.
“Relax, police lady,” Chris leaned back in his seat and winked at a passing man, who was covered in tattoos, “this is were Maggie, Jake, and I grew up.”
“Really?” Ann’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline.
“I will admit,” Jake pushed Chris’s feet off of the table when the waitress arrived, “it is a rougher place. But these people have seen more action and destruction than probably any other town. This is the birthplace of the Spy League after all.”
“Really?” Ann repeated herself.
After telling the waitress to give them all the special that day, Maggie replied to Ann, “Yes. Being the town closest to the Dark Lair,”—Carol flinched—“you’d imagine that it’d be the one to rise up in resistance first. But that didn’t go very well. Half of the population was killed. Including our parents.”
“Oh,” said Ann, looking down, “I’m very sorry.”
The three siblings shrugged in unison.
“That’s how the Spies got started,” Maggie explained, “when all of the kids’ families died, we took action. It was only supposed to be a small organization, but then it grew to what it is today. Well, was, I guess,” she looked away with anger and sadness.
The waitress came back with some delicious smelling food, no matter how hideous, mushy, slimy and gooey it looked.
“Enjoy,” the waitress said flatly, in a gruff, scratchy voice.
“Thanks,” said Chris, digging into the food, even though the others looked hesitant.
Jinny tried a very small bite of the gloppy stuff that was supposed to be eatable. “It’s,” she choked, “not as bad as I thought. I’ve, eh, had better.”
“Eat it,” said Maggie, taking a large bite and gulping it down with water, “‘cause it may be all the food you’re gonna have for awhile.”
“You know,” said Smith, who didn’t seem to mind the food, “I kinda like this place.”
“You would,” Jinny sighed and ate a bit more of the food, “this seems like a kind of place that a bounty hunter of the Veggies would enjoy.”
Smith stayed silent.
“Alright,” Maggie stood up, her plate somehow empty, “if we leave now, we might make it to The Hidden Safe before sundown. Now that would be a huge accomplishment.”
“What’s so important about getting there before dark?” Steven questioned.
“There are a lot of things that come out at night. And you don’t want to meet any of them. Let’s move, people!”

Chapter 35: In the Dark of the Night

“Hurry up,” Maggie jumped on top of a log and turned to glare at the others as they slowly made their way through the trees, “we have all day, but not all night. We can’t be out here after dark.”
“Does she always boss everyone around like this?” Carol asked Jinny, ducking under a branch.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Jinny looked behind her and smiled weakly at her sister. To her surprise, Carol smirked back. Maybe there was still some small amount of hope for them.
Maggie stared up at the sky, the breeze blowing her bushy brown hair out behind her, waving like a flag. It was almost five o’clock in the evening. They didn’t have much time before night fell.
“Guys...” Lavender’s soft voice, even softer than usual, made Jinny turn around to see her friend bent over and breathing hard. Then she collapsed to the ground.
“Lav!” Steven was to her side in a flash. He held her wrist and felt her pulse, which was beating slower than normal.
“Is she ok?” Ann peered over Steven’s shoulder.
“Yes,” he replied, relief obvious in his voice, “she just passed out.”
“Did anyone see her eat anything?” Maggie questioned, leaping off the log and over to Lavender and the others.
“I didn’t,” Jake said, and everyone else shook their heads.
“Honestly,” Henry laughed shakily, “I can’t blame her. That food was—”
“No! No no no no no no!” Maggie cried. Her eyes were fixed on the setting sun. Night was coming. They weren’t at The Hidden Safe yet.
“This is not good,” Chris got in a fighting stance.
“Will someone please tell me what the cheese is up with nighttime?!” Jinny blurted out. These people were paranoid.
“No time,” Maggie grabbed Chris’s arm, “hide! Everyone! Move!”
Jinny, Carol, Henry, and Smith clambered up into a the strong branches of a tree. Maggie, Chris, and Jake dove into the underbrush, causing a raven to fly out of it, screeching. Ann pressed herself up against a large rock. And Steven crawled into the hollow log that Maggie had stood on, dragging Lavender in behind him.
No sound was heard except for the far away cawing of the raven.
Then, the sun’s final rays disappeared entirely behind the distant mountains. Stars brightened the black sky.
A full moon rose in place of the sun. The raven was silent.
Craaaaaack
Jinny tensed.
Grooooowl
She gulped.
Out of the shadows of the forest, crept the outline of skeletal creature. Its arms dragged the ground as it limped toward the rock where Ann was hiding. From her
advantage of being up highest in the tree, Jinny was the only one who could see that the creature’s black outline was getting uncomfortably close to Ann’s hiding place.
Ann sucked in a breath when she heard the snap of a twig behind her. The beast was right on the other side of her rock. It slowly limped around the boulder. Ann could smell its vaporizing breath. She turned her head, fear ripping through her every nerve, and saw the creature outlined in front of the low moon.
AAWHOOOOOO!
It let out a bloodcurdling howl, which caused Ann to gasp. It quickly snapped its head back in her direction. She could see its face now. It was like a wolf’s, but much much thinner, with sunken in eyes and patches of fur missing. It stood on its hind legs and had unnaturally long arms that grazed the ground with unnaturally long claws.
AAWHOOOOOOOOOOO!
The screeching howl came again, and Ann couldn’t help but clap her hands over her ears and wince.
It heard her. And it lunged.

Chapter 36: A Cursed Forest

Ann leapt out of the way just in time. The growling beast, with saliva dripping down its stretched neck, set its yellow eyes on Ann’s scared face. She backed up against a tree, looking left and right, but there was no where to go. Her breathing was ragged and she closed her eyes as the creature creeped toward her on all fours.
Maggie, Jake, and Chris jumped from the underbrush and attacked the creature with everything they had. Their daggers sliced into it, spilling red blood that glistened in the moonlight. The beast howled in pain and desperately tried to fend off the Spies’ attacks, but failed. Maggie lunged her dagger into its chest, and it breathed no more.
“Th-thank you,” Ann stumbled forward and Jake helped her to stand.
“It was our pleasure,” Chris smirked and threw his dagger up in the air, catching it again.
Maggie kicked the creature and rolled it over on its back, its eyes were now solid white. She looked at it with disgust and said, “The Darkness doesn’t just effect people. They also effect the forest animals, too.”
“How?” Ann asked.
“The animals smell the stench of the Darkness. They can tell when something’s wrong. But when they venture too close to the Dark Lair, where the Darknesses’ black energy is kept, they go completely insane,” Jake answered, pushing his glasses up his nose, “then they turn into zombie like creatures. Only able to show themselves at night. And they’re appetites are never fulfilled. They tear through villages, raiding them of all their occupants.”
Ann shivered and hugged herself. “That’s a bit... Gruesome.”
“We need to get into the trees,” Maggie said. She sheathed her daggers and grabbed a branch, pulling herself up.
Jinny watched them climb up safely into a tree across from hers. She gripped her branch tightly and looked around, a bead of sweat slipping down her face.
“Jinny,” Henry climbed up higher to sit on a limb next to her.
“Yes, Henry?” Jinny looked at her best friend, her voice squeaky from fear.
“Steve and Lav are still down there,” he hissed into her ear, as though afraid the creatures would hear him.
“And they’re not safe,” Jinny finished his thought. She looked down at the log where she knew they were hiding. She had to get them to safety.
“Wha-what are you doing?” Henry said, watching her begin to climb down.
“I’m going to save them,” she replied.
“Well,” he jumped from his branch down to the one she was on and met her brown eyes, “I’m coming with you.”
Previously on Spies: after Ann was attacked by a zombie like wolf, Jinny and Henry are leaving the safety of their tree to save Steven and Lavender, who are vulnerable on the ground.

Chapter 37: The Dart Shooter

Jinny and Henry landed on the ground, Jinny a bit more gracefully than her companion.
“Stick close,” Jinny said, crouched low to the moonlit forest ground.
Henry nodded and followed Jinny as she crept forward. He wasn’t used to this ‘life or death’ kind of situation, so his heart beat fast and his hands were sweaty. He jumped at the sound of a twig snapping, but it was only Jake. Wait, Jake? Henry blinked and stopped walking, tapping Jinny’s shoulder with his finger while watching Jake hurry up behind them.
Jinny spun around, daggers out and ready to slice into her attacker, but it was only Jake. Jake? Jinny sheathed her daggers and stood up straight. “What are you doing?”
“I was going to ask you the same question,” Jake said, adjusting his glasses and squinting at Henry. They made eye contact for a moment, but Henry quickly broke it.
“We’re going to save Steve and Lav,” Jinny replied. She bent over again and snuck toward her friends’ log that they were hiding in.
“I didn’t realize they were in peril,” Jake quirked an eyebrow at her and followed. Henry had to creep along the ground at a fast pace to keep up with the two of them.
“We don’t have time for this!” she hissed. She approached the log, peering into it. Steven was asleep and held an unconscious Lavender in his arms, his head resting on hers. Jinny smiled.
“She gets cranky when she’s set her mind on a goal,” Jake said to Henry. They we keeping guard outside the log while Jinny got Steven and Lavender.
“Yeah,” said Henry, squinting at Jake. A bit of competition was flashing in both of their eyes. “I’ve known her for six years.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, really! How long have you known her?!”
“A, uh, few days.”
Henry crossed his arms and smirked with satisfaction at Jake.
“Are you two done having your staring contest?”
The boys jumped up and spun around, looking embarrassed at Jinny. “Sorry,” they said in unison, then glared at each other one more time before scrambling over to help Jinny.
“Kind of an odd time to go to sleep, don’t you think?” Jake said.
“Well,” Henry’s skinny form strained to pull Steven’s muscular body out of the log, “Lav was about starved and Steve-”
“Had plenty to eat,” Jinny finished for him, hurrying to aid Henry. “I agree with Jake.”
Jake shot Henry a smirky grin, who had fallen over, either at those words by Jinny or Steven’s weight.
Jinny ignored the boys’ antics and rolled Steven over. He was still asleep. Jinny was concerned for him. He was fine early, but wasn’t now. Something was not right here. She could feel it.
“Uh-oh,” Jinny winced. She just noticed something. Steven had a dart in his neck.
“What’s, ‘uh-oh’?” Henry kneeled down and squinted at Steven, then saw the dart. “Ok. Definite uh-oh.”
All of a sudden, a quick and quiet swoosh sounded behind Jinny. She whipped around and yanked her daggers out just in time to block a dart that was speeding toward her. It landed silently on the ground. She picked it up and looked at it from all angles. Nothing unusual. Just a regular dart.
“There!” Jake yeIIed, pointed high in a tree.
Jinny and Henry both saw him at the same time. It was Opal. He was just loading up another dart to shoot at the Spies, but a dagger was sent by Jake and flew toward him, burying into his right arm. The Dark One cried out and fell from the tree, smacking and breaking many branches on his way down. He collapsed in a heap on the dead grass with a groan.
Jinny stood protectively in front of Steven, Lavender, and Henry with her daggers at the ready. Jake wrenched out his dagger from his enemy’s arm and mercilessly dragged Opal Into the light of the full moon.
“What are you doing way out here?” Jake asked, kicking an already bruised Opal over.
“I,” he said in gasping breaths, lying on the ground and cradling his wounded arm, “came to eliminate you scum from ever trying to stop the Darkness again.”
“Who sent you?”
“No one,” Opal coughed.
Jake growled and looked as though he was about to hit Opal again, but Jinny stepped between them.
“We don’t want to be like them,” she whispered to Jake, and he sighed, taking a step backwards while looking at the ground.
By now, all of the others, except for Carol, had come down from their trees to see who was making all of the commotion. Maggie glared at Opal with hatred that was only matched by her brothers.
“Was anyone accompanying you?” Jinny asked Opal.
“Not a soul followed me here,” he said. His horse voice was filled with zero emotion.
“When will the Dark Ones attack us?” she became braver with her questions.
He acted as though she had never said a word, but lay there, trying to stop the bleeding of his wound.
Jinny repeated her question to Opal, but still, he said nothing. Meaning he knew something and wasn’t telling them.

Chapter 38: Return to the Hidden Safe

Maggie went ahead of the others, scouting out the best route. Chris came behind her. Jake drug Opal behind his brother. Smith and Ann came next, carrying the unconscious Steven. After them, Jinny and Henry carried Lavender. Carol silently brought up the rear. The Spies were finally approaching the Hidden Safe.
When they made it to the shack, which well concealed the base of the Spies, Smith, who hadn’t been there before, spoke, “This is the famous Hidden Safe?”
“Oh,” mischievousness played in Jinny’s eyes, “you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“This place can’t hold all of us, so we’ll go in small groups,” Maggie said. Her and Chris went in first.
A couple of minutes passed, then Jake pulled the tied up Opal in with him. After awhile, everyone but Jinny, Henry, and Lavender were inside.
“You take Lav in first, I’ll help Carol,” Jinny said to Henry, who nodded.
“Come on,” Jinny turned to Carol. But Carol didn’t move. She just stood there, frozen like a statue. Jinny walked over to stand next to her sister.
Carol looked off toward the rising sun coming up behind the sisters. It surprised her how much beauty was still in the world, corrupt as it was.
“Carol, why don’t you come with me?”
“I don’t belong with the Spies. I’m a Dark One, Jinny, a Dark One. And even though I’m now a traitor to them, I still wear their armor and wield their weapons. I still have the Power of Darkness, the Blue Energy is coursing through my veins right now. I am still Star Blade’s apprentice. And I still don’t remember my life before four years ago. Sister,” Carol finally looked up to met Jinny’s eyes, which were identical to her own, “I am not worthy of the title, Spy. I am an assassin. I am a tyrant.”
“No you are not,” Jinny said firmly. “You are none of those things. You are-”
“Jinny,” an echo of a call came from the shack, “are you coming?”
Jinny brushed a tear off her sister’s face with her hand then ran to the shack. “You don’t have to come if you want to, Carol. But just know, I’ll be disappointed if you don’t.”
She burst into the shack and slid, with more agility than last time, down the ladder and into the large cavern below. Jinny found the rest of her mismatched company waiting for her at the only flat wall in the cave.
“You were right,” Smith said when she jogged up, “I had underestimated this place.”
“So did I the first time,” Jinny winked at him.
“Where’s Carol?” Maggie asked.
“She,” Jinny looked behind her at the vacant metal ladder, “will join us later.”
Maggie frowned, still not fully trusting Carol. Sure, she was Jinny’s sister, but she was still a Dark One all the same.
Chris took out a small rock from the wall and punched in the code, ‘Darkness Never Wins’, which made a red light flash green. He replaced the rock and motioned for everyone to step back.
The smooth rock wall, just as it had at Jinny’s previous visit, rumbled and slid to the right into the rock. A huge opening was now in front of them. They walked through it.
Now they were in a circular cavern even larger than the other. It had long tables that could seat a hundred people. Torches lined the domed walls and provided light for about twenty Spies that sat in the room, looking very small compared to the size of the gigantic underground chamber.
“Hey!” one of the Spies cried, seeing the intruders. Now every head in the cavern turned to stare at Jinny and her friends standing in the doorway.
The same Spy, a tall boy wearing the usual white flight suit, came forward while the others remained seated. “What are you doing here?” he asked, not in an unkind voice, but not friendly either.
“Jesse,” Maggie said in the same plain tone as the boy, “I hope you see that we, wearing the attire of the Spy League, are not your enemies.”
Jesse glanced at everyone standing before him. He seemed to recognize Maggie, Jake, Chris, and Jinny. But when his eyes fell on a captured Opal, he steamed with rage and shrieked, “DARK ONE!”
Suddenly, every Spy that was sitting peacefully at the tables shouted in anger and stomped their feet. They made such a ruckus that their screams not only filled the cavern, but traveled outside to Carol’s ears.
Before anyone had a chance to do anything, one of the Spies whipped out a bow and nocked it with a silver arrow. They pulled back the bowstring and released the arrow. It didn’t miss its intended target. The shining arrow was now placed in Opal’s heart.
It all happened so fast, a blur in slow motion. Jinny watched it soar and hit Opal. Yet she did nothing. That is, until it had already happened. She cried out, but the damage was done. Opal was dead.
All of the Spies now crowded around Opal, so Jinny and her friends were shoved to the side, no longer an important matter.
The enraged Spy League was now chanting. “Kill the Dark Ones! Kill the Dark Ones! Kill the Dark Ones! Kill the Dark Ones! Kill them! Kill them all!”
Carol heard everything. Her trained ears caught all the words, all the screams, and all the hate. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. She felt as though the Spies’ hate toward the Darkness was aimed specifically at her. Just like an arrow. Carol will have to disappoint Jinny. There was no way she could make the Spies understand.
Previously on Spies: Carol didn’t go into the Hidden Safe to meet the Spy League. Now we find her running away.

Chapter 39: The Last Stand

Carol sprinted through the trees, a black blur and a flash of pale red. The wind dried her tears. But she was still sobbing all the same. She had no idea really, where she was headed. She was going on instinct.
The sun was moving just as fast as Carol. Without stopping, without even catching her breath once, Carol ran for the entire day. Night had fallen on the young Dark One yet again. She gasped and fell to the ground. Her eyes closed. She felt no emotion anymore. She was hollow. Empty. Her heart was split. Her soul felt as though it no longer existed.
Footfalls. The sound of breathing. Carol’s instincts once again overtook her. She was suddenly on her feet with her katana at the ready.
Star Blade approached her, scarred and angered as always. That’s when Carol realized, her instincts had taken her back to The Dark Lair. She also found it peculiar that the sleeping gases were not effecting either of them.
“My apprentice,” Star Blade stopped a foot away, “you come back to me.”
“I’m not your apprentice,” Carol spat out.
“Yes, you are,” his sly smile unnerved her. “Your soul was for sell, so I bought you. You are my puppet. My creation. You are mine.”
“No!” Carol cried. “I won’t just be another one of your plays. Your the pretender, I will never surrender!”
“Oh, but you will. I’m pulling all the strings.”
“There are no strings on me,” she tried to charge at her former master, but his eyes suddenly lit up with the Blue Energy.
Star Blade shot the Energy at her, and it knocked her katana out of her hand. The swirling Blue then slithered up her legs and body like a constricting snake. It curled itself around her arms and then tightened at her neck. Carol was lifted off the ground and she hung there, bound in his control.
“You. Are. Mine!” Star Blade grasped the Solid Energy in his hands with menace. He yanked her to the ground, and she fell with a thud. The Energy retracted into his hands and Carol was dragged to him.
“Now,” he carried her to a tree, “your Spy friends will come for their ‘victory battle.’ And they will be met with forces they could never imagine. Their numbers are little, while ours are hundreds!” Star Blade, using the Energy again, tied Carol to the tree. “I really wish that you had come to join the winning side, but I guess you have fallen too far to be brought back to me. So I will just have to make the rest of your days miserable. Starting with you watching all of your friends die while bound to this tree.”
Carol didn’t even try to struggle. She knew how powerful the Solid Blue Energy was. Their was no escape unless she could be freed by another Dark One.
Star Blade walked away from her and down the trap door into the Dark Lair.
She had no more hope. Hope was a distinct memory that could never come back to her. But all of a sudden, someone leapt from a tree just in front of her.
“Hello, Carol,” Lynn stood before her.
“No,” she croaked, “no, not you, please, I can’t take anymore.”
His eyes now glowed blue, just as Star Blade’s had. “Carol, I could never hurt you.” He shot Blue Energy at her bonds. They exploded in a blinding flash. Carol fell to her knees, now free.
“Why did you rescue me?” Carol asked in a quiet voice.
“Because,” Lynn helped her to her feet, “I am an enemy of your enemy. I gave you the key to escape your execution. I gained the Dark One’s trust, so that I could learn their deepest secrets.”
“What secrets?” Carol was shaking.
“I’ll show you,” he turned to run off, but Carol grabbed his arm to hold him back.
“Wait, Lynn,” her voice broke. “I can’t trust you. You’re probably walking me into a trap.”
“I could be, but it’s better than being tied to a tree. Now hurry, before they come up and see that you’re gone.”
Carol matched his quick pace and they ran side by side. The two Dark Ones ran into the forest behind the Dark Lair. Then Lynn stooped down and found a trap door, which was completely invisible in the underbrush just minutes before. He pulled it open and jumped into the darkness below. Carol, taking a deep breath, dove in behind him.
Falling. Echoing screams.
Splash.
They landed in an icy, natural underground pool. Carol swam to the rocky shore, wet and shivering. She found Lynn already on land, staring at their light source. A massive, clear column swirling with bright Blue Energy inside it was before them.
“This is what sources their power and keeps the Dark One’s memories from them,” Lynn said quietly.
Carol was even in awe. “How do we destroy it?” she questioned.
“Well,” Lynn turned from the Energy to look at Carol, “it’s a two person job. One must stab it with their katana, to release the Energy, while the other absorbs all of the Energy into themselves. Then the other person…” he hesitated, “must stab the one that absorbed the Energy. Only then, will we defeat the Darkness.”
“I’ll sacrifice myself,” said Carol, without a hint of fear.
“I’m sorry to say, but that spot is already taken,” Lynn smiled, though a tear slid down his face.
“No,” Carol shook her head, trying to get rid of the emotions, but a cry escaped her lips. “I can’t kill you.”
Lynn continued to smile. He pushed his katana’s hilt into Carol’s hand. “Don’t cry. Your sister needs you. Do it.”
“All of the mistakes,” Carol sobbed, “all of the heartbreak. A-and this is how it will end? Your sacrifice?”
“This is our last stand, Carol. Let’s make it worth it.”
Previously on Spies: our small group of Spies have made it to the Hidden Safe, but after a random Spy killed Opal, Carol was suddenly no where to be found.

Chapter 40: Preparations

Jinny sat, hugging her knees to her chest, in the tall grass that surrounded the shack. She was scared. Angered. Disappointed. But mostly sad. Sad that the Spies killed a defenseless man. Sad for her friends. But mostly, Jinny was sad because of Carol’s sudden disappearance.
“Hey,” Jake came up behind her, wearing a solemn expression.
“Hi,” Jinny said in reply.
Jake sat down next to her and closed his eyes, feeling the sun on his face. When he opened them again, Jinny was quietly sobbing into her knees.
“It’s gonna be ok, Jinny, whatever is bothering you, it’ll be ok,” he put his arm around her and tried to make his voice seem cheerful.
“What if it’s not ok?” she sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“Then you’ll get through it.”
“What if I never get through it? What if it never gets better? What if I never see my sister again? What if my life is never happy again?”
“I don’t think, after all you’ve been through, things will be exactly the way they were before the war of Darkness,” said Jake, truthfully. “But even so, you must move forward. I must. We all must.”
Jinny didn’t really feel better, but she had no more tears left to cry, so her sobbing ceased. She leaned into Jake’s embrace with a ragged sigh.
Suddenly, Henry climbed out from the shack and approached them. “Jinny—oh there you are. Maggie said she’s ready to…” he saw Jake holding Jinny and blinked a few times before continuing. “She said she’s ready for you both to come down and start making preparations.”
Before either of them had a chance to respond, Henry was already gone back down into the Safe.
“Why did he leave so quickly?” Jinny questioned.
“Because he saw us hugging,” replied Jake.
“Why should that matter?”
“Maybe because he likes you… And he might have assumed that I like you, too.”
“Oh,” she pulled away from Jake, all of a sudden very hot. “Well, we should go.”
“Agreed,” he was going to say more, but she had left as quick as Henry.
Jinny, blushing and flustered, walked into the large common room in the Hidden Safe where Maggie and the entire Spy League stood.
“So, why are we all here?” Lavender asked. She was still weak and had to be seated in a chair, but over all doing much better. Steven however, had already made a full recovery and was standing behind her chair.
“Because we need to mount an attack on the Dark Lair,” Maggie paced in front of the crowd with her hands clasped behind her back. “They know we’re coming, of course, but this time we have something knew. Something we didn’t have the last time. We have—”
“Me!” Chris shouted, fist high in the air.
“No,” Maggie facepalmed. “We have hope! Hope in a future! We have been revived during our betrayal, because that’s when revival comes, when we are at our all time low. Now, Spies, wear your new flight suits with hope!”
The Hidden Safe thundered with the Spies cheers. Everyone grabbed a flight suit from the table in front of Maggie and yanked the armor on over their regular clothes. Unlike the usual plain black and white suits they used to have, Maggie had painted them all with new colors and patterns. Jinny beamed at the green on hers.
“I, well, I dunno what to say,” Smith stared at the orange and white suit in his hands. “I’m not a Spy.”
“Of course you are,” Jinny elbowed him. “You’re one of us now.”
Smith smiled, as much as the serious and snarky teenager could. “Thank you. Truly, I mean that.”
“Now,” Maggie motioned for another Spy to join her at a map on the table, “Jesse will inform you all on our plan.”
“We’ll have two teams going out on the battlefield,” Jesse spoke with such authority that it was hard for the enthusiastic Spies to lose focus. “The ground team will get the jump on the Dark Ones by riding in with the air team, then using their flight suits to glide right into—”
“Wait,” Steven cut in, “you mean, these flight suits are actually real? They work?”
“Of course they work,” Jesse said, as though this was obvious to everyone. But the majority of Spies in the room just gawked at their suits in disbelief, including Jinny.
“Anyway,” Jesse coughed, “the ground team will glide right into the the clearing here,” he pointed to the map, “and advance on the unsuspecting Dark Ones, who will be waiting for us to come in a different direction.
“That team will consist of,” he named several Spies, including Jinny, Maggie, Jake, Chris, Steven, Smith, and himself. “The air team however, will fly in on our supersonic helicopters, carrying the ground team as well the archers, who will remain on the copters and shoot from above,” Jesse then named the archers, one of them Henry, who was quite skilled with a bow. He also called out the pilots, Ann was included and very happy to be flying a familiar helicopter.
“What about me?” Lavender was puzzled.
“Since you’re still weak, you’ll be staying back at the Safe while watching us through a drone and informing us of incoming Dark Forces,” Jesse explained. “Any more questions?”
There were none, although Jinny felt like she could easily think of hundreds. She was so nervous. This would be it. The final battle between the Darkness and Spies. She believed the Spies would win, as good always prevails, but would they? Not everything has a happy end.

Chapter 41: In Battle

With their blades beating loud and hard, the helicopters hovered above the fog which concealed the enemy below.
“In this fog, there’s no telling how many Dark Ones could be waiting for you,” Ann yelled from the pilot seat.
“We’ll take our chances,” Jesse turned to the ground team to say, “the flight suits can be tricky, but you all must trust that they will guide you safely through this fog and to the ground.”
Jinny gripped the handle hanging from the helicopter’s ceiling with white knuckles. She peered into the haze below, feeling queasy. She did not want to think about this approaching battle. Her breathing was ragged and her unoccupied right hand shook. She may die in a few moments.
“Jinny,” Henry shouted over the noise of the copters. “You-you and I might not ever see each other again.”
“Don’t remind me,” Jinny gasped out.
“So if that comes true, if we both… If we both die, then I want to say a proper goodbye.”
Jinny wasn’t looking at Henry, but she could still vividly hear the fear in his voice. “I don’t like goodbyes, so how about, see you later?”
“Ok. See you later,” Henry gulped down the lump that was rising in his throat. He was never going to see the one girl he had ever loved again. The words he had spoken were lies.
“On three, we jump,” Jesse said. “One.”
Jinny squeezed her eyes shut.
“Two.”
She let go of the handle.
“Three!”
Jinny, with many other Spies behind her, leapt from the helicopter. For a moment, they hung there, suspended in the air with nothing to save them from the mile drop to their death. But all of a sudden, as though in slow motion, every Spy held out their arms and flicked their wrists, engaging their white wings. They sped blindly into the mist. Ground was suddenly visible. A hundred or more Dark Ones were also visible.
“WHOOHOO!” Chris yelled, disengaging the wings to drop and roll right in front of the enemy.
“Chris!” Maggie groaned and disengaged her wings at the same time as the others.
The Spies landed. They stood and stared into the black hoods of the Dark Ones. Fog encircled their legs and clouded the sky. The only one who had their hood down, was Star Blade. He was in the front and his eyes were fixed on Jinny.
“Attack!” Star Blade cried. The Dark Ones obliged.
Smith was met suddenly with a blow by the Dark One directly in front of him. He wiped blood from his nose and growled at the enemy, who now unsheathed their katana. “Is that the best you’ve got?” Smith smirked, and charged him with his white staff.
Maggie, Jake, and Chris fought back to back. They had formed a circle and were constantly swinging their daggers to fight off advancing Dark Ones.
Steven sliced the nearest enemy off of him and flipped his hair out of his eyes, looking up. A drone hovered above him. “How’s it going, Lav?”
“Good,” Lavender’s voice came out of his comm, but Steven knew that she could see him through the drone.
Jinny was locked in close combat with Star Blade, who had singled her out as his main target. She was mostly just blocking the blows of his jagged katana blade with her sharp daggers.
He noticed how clean her weapons were and said, “Your first time in battle?”
“Not exactly,” Jinny used his momentary distraction to her advantage and jabbed him in the shoulder with a dagger.
He wrenched it out with a wicked smirk, but Jinny could see some blood. “That was a mistake,” said Star Blade, and he suddenly threw the knife back at Jinny. She wasn’t expecting it, and her own weapon’s blade cut deep into an unarmored area of her arm. She winced and pulled it out, red glistened on its tip.
Out of the mist, an arrow whizzed to Star Blade’s neck. He caught it in his hand, looking at the point that was a millimeter from the exposed skin. He snapped the arrow in half and glanced upward with a glare. The helicopter was barely in view.
Jinny jumped up and kicked Star Blade in the stomach. He toppled over, but whipped up quickly. He scowled at her for a second and then turned to a nearby Dark One and held up two fingers. They nodded and ran off.
“Smart move,” Star Blade laughed and slowly approached Jinny, favoring his left leg. “But I have another trick up my sleeve.”
“Guys, something is advancing at you through the trees,” Lavender informed the Spies through their comms.
“What is it?” Jake asked, driving his dagger into the heart of an enemy.
“They appear to be… Animals,” she replied.
The forest surrounding the battlefield grew alive with the corrupted wolves, bears, and other slaves of the Darkness. They attacked the Spies
“This is your doing,” Jinny said to Star Blade, who was circling her.
“Yes,” he smiled evilly, and then raced at Jinny with his katana.
She blocked him with her twin daggers. The katana’s spiked blade inched closer to her neck. Jinny strained with every muscle in her to push back the weapon. Suddenly, a possessed bobcat ran past the two of them, which caused the Dark One to lift his attack for a spit second. Jinny took the opportunity to grab the hilt of his katana and flip it around. With no support, he fell forward.
Star Blade was no more.
Previously on Spies: as the Spies mount an attack on the Dark Lair, they are met by more forces than anticipated. Carol and Lynn prepare to end the Darkness.

Chapter 42: Endgame

“Look out!” cried Lavender, desperately watching the drone’s footage on the computer. But a wolf had taken out the drone before she could warn them of the second assault of Dark Ones coming. Static was all that remained of her communication with them.
“What happened?” asked a younger Spy, coming through the door and into her room.
“Nothing,” she shook her head. “Go back to the others.”
The Spy shrugged and walked out.
Lavender’s forehead fell into her hands. “Be strong, Spies,” she whispered. “The world is counting on you.”

Jinny and Jake were on there own, backed into a corner with slain Spies and Dark Ones piled at their feet. But with very alive Dark Ones advancing toward them. Jake was down one dagger, while Jinny’s strength was spent. They had been battling for hours throughout the night.
“Is this the end of our story?” Jinny murmured to him.
“Most likely,” he replied. “We’re alone and our backs are against these trees, oh, and the Darkness is coming. At least we’ll die in battle.”
“Well then, let’s make this such an ending that it will be told in bestseller books,” said Jinny with valor in her voice.
“Let’s,” Jake stood his full height, which wasn’t very tall, as Jinny still had to look down at him. But she smiled anyway.
Jinny was the first to leap into the cloud of Darkness. Her daggers cut down the first opponent, but another took their place and proved a greater challenge. Jinny ducked under their swing of their katana, then came up behind them to kick them down.
Jake attacked the enemy with a yell. His dagger however, was quickly cut from his hand. He cried out as blood spilled from his hand and the Dark One towered over him with their katana at the ready. Jinny flew in just in time to put an end to them instead of Jake.
“Thanks,” Jake said, cradling his left hand.
Jinny threw him her second dagger, and he caught it with his right hand. “Come on, we still have more Dark Ones’ behinds to kick.”
The ground gave a shudder. No one thought anything of it, until the second shudder felt more like a quake. All of them, Dark Ones and Spies, looked at the ground. It was glowing with blue light. A bobcat was suddenly blasted upward with a shock of The Blue Energy.
Jinny helped Jake get to his feet. They both stared as the misty forest floor cracked and Energy spewed up from it. Dark Ones fled, but the Spies stayed. They were all too much in wonder to think of their safety.
“What’s happening?” Jake asked.
“I-I don’t know,” Jinny was as much in awe as he was. But she felt something, something that she couldn’t explain. It was like someone had whispered it into her ear. It was real and she knew it. Her sister did this. And her sister needed help.
All of a sudden, Jinny sprung away from Jake. “Where are you going?” he called after her.
“Not sure,” she hollered back.
The Dark Ones Jinny sprinted past did nothing to stop her, they all were in a mad race, trying to avoid the Blue Energy. She ran and ran until her vision was completely blurred with the Blue. Adrenaline pumped through her body and she was able to fly like she never had before. Jinny had no fear of the Energy, because it had no reason to quarrel with her. She couldn’t explain how she knew this, but she did. The Darkness’s own weapon was aimed against them. But what did the Energy want with them? What was its endgame?
She raced into the forest with no knowledge of where—or what—she was headed to. The trees parted and Jinny halted. This was the spot. She could see signs of a trapdoor beneath the leaves. With a deep breath, her nerves returned, and she felt fear for the first time in quite awhile. She opened the door with no hesitation. A cavern opened up below her and so did a hundred foot drop into a black abyss.
Jinny leapt into it.
The water she was met with after the fall was ice cold, but she didn’t care. She drug herself out of the pool and onto the rocky underground shore. There, the quakes were worse. She was nearly knocked over multiple times. A giant clear pillar full of Blue Energy rose in front of her. The Blue vibrations issued from its base. But that wasn’t the only thing there.
“Carol!” Jinny hurried to where the red headed girl was knelt and wrapped her arms around her. But Carol was in tears. A blood stained katana lay in her lap.
“It’s done,” Carol sobbed. “I stopped the Darkness. The memories are back. My memories are back. It’s over.”
“How?” asked Jinny.
Carol buried her face in her right hand and pointed in front of her with her left.
The body of Lynn was sprawled out in front of them. He had a bloody katana wound through his stomach. Jinny clapped a hand over her mouth. She didn’t know the whole story, but she knew that Carol had just stabbed an ally. A friend.
Jinny folded Carol into an embrace once more. “You did it. I saw for myself the Dark Ones above. They can’t escape the Energy, it will grab them and give them their memories. This was the endgame. And a happy one, too.”
“It’s not happy for me,” Carol broke away from her sister. Jinny didn’t know what this had cost her. Carol closed her eyes and the tears still steamed down her face. She placed her hand on Lynn’s chest. But then she gasped and her eyes opened in wonder.
Previously on Spies: the battle with the Darkness was won, but at the terrible cost of Lynn.

Epilogue

1 week later

Carol was impatiently awaiting the end of school. It was math, the last class of the day, and she had been absentminded during the entire day. Her mom was supposed to send a text at any moment. But when? Carol snuck a glance at the old fashioned, roman numeral clock hanging on the wall. Only one more minute… 59… 58… 57… 56… The minute droned by.
The bell rang. Carol’s phone dinged.
She and the rest of the class ran out as fast as they could, but Carol stopped in the hall to check messages. A text from her mom. Her heart skipped a beat and she held her breath as she read the text.
‘The surgery went well. Lynn will be ok.’
Carol yelped and grinned until her face hurt. She had a small and unnoticed skip in her step as she left the school.
Steven drove up in his white Jeep Wrangler. “Did you get your mom’s text?” he asked, almost giddy.
Carol was too happy to say anything, so she just nodded forcefully and got into his car. They drove far and it was just about getting dark when they made it to the hospital. Carol, with thrilled butterflies in her stomach, leapt from the Jeep and was already inside the cold building before Steven even had a chance to turn off the car. She found Jinny, Lavender, Smith (who had a bandage on his forehead), Maggie, Jake, and Chris waiting together for her as soon as she was through the front door.
Jinny was the first to stand and she ran to Carol, grabbing her in a quick hug. “Lynn’s ok!”
“I know,” laughed Carol, returning the hug. “Can I see him?”
“Yeah, come on,” said Jinny, glad to see her sister was becoming more like her old self every day. The sisters, with their friends trailing behind them, practically ran through the halls to Lynn’s room.
Mr. and Mrs. Lake greeted the teens when they arrived. “He’s groggy, so they’re only letting in two at a time,” explained the girls’ father. “But if you two,” he pointed to his daughters, “would like to go to him, you can.”
Jinny led Carol inside and they found Lynn lying in the bed with half closed eyes. Carol was a little shocked to see so many wires hooked up to him, but his smile, although through pain, reassured her enough to come farther in the room.
“H-how are you?” she asked shyly.
“Better now that you’re here,” he replied, which made Carol blush.
It was in that moment that Jinny realized something special about the two of them. As she stayed back and watched them talk about random things, she saw the bond. It was such a bond that even she couldn’t describe it. But Lynn knew Carol. He really knew her. And she knew him. Because of the Darkness’s brain sweeping of them, they were able to talk freely about things that Carol wouldn’t share with her sister. Jinny smiled at this.
Carol had talked to Lynn for almost an hour, with Jinny silently watching, until he finally fell asleep to the sound of her sweet voice. She watched him lie there for another minute, then stood and went to the door.
“He needs rest now, we should go,” she said to Jinny.
Jinny nodded and led her sister out. Their parents drove them home. Carol drifted off to sleep with her head on Jinny’s shoulder during the car ride.
Saturday morning dawned swiftly for Jinny, but allowed for Carol to sleep in with pleasant dreams she would not remember.
“What are you plans this morning?” asked Jinny’s mother at their breakfast. They always ate first as Dad and Carol were late sleepers on the weekend.
“Well,” Jinny spoke between bites of her cereal, “I’m going to meet up with Henry soon, he asked me to come to the park with him early today.”
“Just be sure to come back before lunch,” her mom got ‘the look’ that moms get when they’re being overprotective. “I don’t want you to have another insane adventure with Skies and Blackness, or whatever you told me happened last week.”
Jinny simply rolled her eyes.
After breakfast ended, Jinny walked to the park, which wasn’t to far away from her home. She saw Henry’s unkept hair and slouching form before she even got a yard from him. He was sitting on a bench overlooking the playground.
“Hey,” she said, sliding onto the unclaimed area of his bench.
Henry changed his glance to her. When they were sitting, they could look at each other eye to eye.
“So, what did you want to ask me about?” Jinny questioned.
“This may sound weird,” he began, “but I wanted to talk with you about a talk you had with someone else a few days ago.”
“That does sound weird, but please continue,” she said.
“I didn’t mean to watch your and Jake’s conversation, but I just… Did. Anyway, when you both finished talking, you sorta, uh,” Henry was completely red in the face.
“Kissed him on the forehead?” suggested Jinny with a small smirk.
“Yeah, that. I just, well, I don’t want to be fighting a loosing battle here.”
“You’re not loosing,” Jinny chuckled at Henry’s suddenly baffled expression. “Quite the opposite, in fact, you’re winning a battle that never begun. I never wanted either of you guys as friends. I got Jake as my brother, and I was hoping you might be… Something more.”
Henry smiled.

Tis long indeed… (o_O)

Daaaaaaaaaaang. I like that you didnt edit Anything. Its cool to see the overall growth shown in your writing skills through the story. Like how towards the end of the story it had more of what the characters are thinking and feeling whereas the beginning was almost all dialogue. (Unfortunately with the thing i have been writing for… 2 and a half years, i have edited and deleted a LOT so now reading this i kinda wish i didnt.) Overall i thinks its quite a cool story.

WSS: Indeed 😛

NCATZ: Thank you very much! But even though I don’t edit my stuff very much to see my growth, that doesn’t mean you have to do the same thing! Every author has different styles in which they write, so yours might be editing constantly until you find your writing groove 😉

Hello and welcome LFA and Why! @LFA- Nice! Really good writing. @Why- Excited to see it!

LM: Thank you!

When I have completed chapter one of my dystopian novel. (If I’m still here) then I will post it on here.

@LFA- Yeah, I’m one of those authors who edits everything as I go along. It’s probably not the smartest decision. Also, question for everyone. Would you consider yourself a Pancer or a Planner?

I’m definitely a planner, but I’m flexible to change my writing whenever it’s needed

Oh, ha ha no. I do NOT plan Anything. Ever. Not that smart but it kinda works.

Yeah, I try to be a planner but I’m pretty sure I’m a panzer.

Alright, now who’s ready to read the cheesiest book ever written? 😂

Me me! Pick me!

Alright, just gimme a second to dust it off and then you will get to read Marvel: Dragon Rider!

YAY!!! XD I’m excited though.