1 The Awakening Portraitis a collaborative writing project. The contributors are; • Bhavana Sathyamurthi • Ruby Croxton • Hannah Pirie • Naomi Pepper • Aaiza Nadeem • Laila Rashid • Nimra Nasur • Tolu Okeowo • Faheema Malik • Haniah Hussain with cover design by Kyle Brown and Greg Westfall. The project was overseen by Joe Reddington and Yvonne Skipper. The group cheerfully acknowledges the wonderful help given by: • Miss Boone • Mrs Donnellan • Mrs Smith • Miss Foulkes • Ruby-Leigh Tonks • Owain Groves • Nicola Ralph • Miss Simpson • Nick Garnett • Richard Seymour 2 And a big thank you goes to Stoke Reads who funded this wonderful project. It’s been a wonderful opportunity, and everyone involved has been filled with incredible knowledge and enthusiasm. Finally, we would like to thank all staff at Waterside, St Marks, Etruscan, Forest Park and Oakhill Schools for their support in releasing our novelists from lessons for a full week. The group started to plan out their novel at 9.30 on Monday 20 June 2016 and completed their last proofreading at 14.00 on Friday 24th June 2016. We are incredibly proud to state that every word of the story, every idea, every chapter and yes, every mistake, is entirely their own work. No teachers, parents or other students touched a single key during this process, and we would ask readers to keep this in mind. We are sure you will agree that this is an incredible achievement. It has been a true delight and privilege to see this group of young people turn into professional novelists in front of our very eyes. The Awakening Portrait Tim Cooks 2 Contents 1 Takeoff 5 2 The Divided Soul 9 3 The Artist 11 4 The Awakening 15 5 The Bully 19 6 The Scientist 21 7 South America 23 8 Quarantine 27 9 The Spy Catches The Kids 31 10 The Escape 33 11 The Landing 39 12 Adults Vanish 41 13 The Spy Finds the Astronaut 43 14 The Spy Gives Her Report 47 15 Astronaut finds kids 51 3 16 The Confrontation 53 17 The Failed Attempt 57 18 Spy Changes Sides 61 19 Villain Gets Redrawn 65 20 The Children Reappear 69 21 Epilogue 71 + 4 Chapter 1 Takeoff ‘ Location: Spaceship, USA Time:10:30 This was the day.... The day where Lilli goes in a rocket and fulfills her dream! Lilli ran downstairs and ate breakfast. She was apprehensive. “My dream is finally becoming a reality!” Lilli said to herself ecstatically. “Dear, I am so happy for you, go and make me proud” Lilli’s mum said whilst tears were running down her damp eyes. She was overjoyed that she was finally going to the Moon, she carefully slipped on her pale grey uniform, that included her delicate peaked space helmet. Lilli was overwhelmed that her lifelong fantasy was finally coming true! She ran outside and looked at the faded Moon that she would be on in only a few hours. “I can not wait!” Lilli squealed happily “In less than a hour, I will be on that Moon” When Lilli headed out, her mum quickly stopped her and gave a her a luck charm which said Mum’, which melted Lilli‘s heart, she 5 then gave a huge, warm hug then, Lilli gave a kiss to her baby sister, she loved her family and she is now making her family’s dream come true. Entering the rocket, Lilli clutched the charm that her dear mum gave her, she wondered what the past few days would be like without her mum. She turned around and waved goodbye to her special family. Wiping the tears away from her wet eyes, Lilli started to feel overwhelmed and scared, on the other hand, she was overjoyed that she would finally get to see the Moon! Buckling her seatbelt nervously, Lilli shivered hysterically, as she heard mumbles in the distance, she whipped her head around and realised it was the countdown. “Five, Four, Three, Two, One blast off!” shouted the Mission Controller. Lilli‘s body shuddered, she quickly gripped her lucky charm, given by her Mum. Finally, the rocket took off, Lilli‘s stomach turned, like a washing machine and she started to get butterflies. Suddenly, she felt the harmless rocket turbulence. “What is that, is the rocket descending?” questioned fearful Lilli “Don’t worry Lilli, it‘s a technical difficulty” stated the Mission Controller. Lilli was relieved by the gentle voice of the Mission Controller. Looking out the window, Lilli visualized the precious Earth distancing away from her. She started to feel her heart racing and her mouth getting numb. Lilli missed her Dad and a tear dropped from her eye and fell on her uniform, she remembered the tragic event that took place. “I miss you Dad....” Lilli whispered sorrowfully Whilst waiting, Lilli took out her dad’s diary and opened the very first page, one by one, a tear fell from Lilli‘s eye onto her damp space suit, and she started to wail into a pool of sadness. As she wiped the tears away from her eyes, Lilli closed the diary and looked outside to analyze the amazing view, to calm herself. 6 . The time has arrived, the space ship opened and Lilli climbed out as careful as a kitten, one by one, her foot touched the rocky globe. Before she knew it, Lilli was halfway on the Moon. “Wow” Lilli stammered “th..this is amazing”. Approaching the USA flag, Lilli took out her new modern camera and shot a fabulous photo. She then stretched her boney fingers and brushed it through the sacred flag. Lilli then placed her hand onto the rocks and retrieved them into a bag for safe keeping. Smelling the earthy, musty scent of the round globe. She turned around and saw her dad ”Dad?...Dad?” Lilli said “You have made me proud Lilli, don’t stop being you” breathed the imaginary figure. She then realised that her Dad was nothing but an imaginary person. She felt betrayed and upset, but she knew that it was just her mind playing tricks.Instead of sobbing, Lilli got to her feet and enjoyed the beauties of the Moon like she had planned to. 7 8 Chapter 2 The Divided Soul Location:The planets Time: midnight ; A planet, just floating in space, which is the exact opposite of Earth: no people so no friendly chatter, no sun meaning no light, no water so no leaves or trees, no spring so no lovely flowers, just everlasting winter that will never stop with a dark cloud of snow, ice, hail and sleet overhead, creating the torrential weather, no water or food and no means of warmth. It is a dead planet that one would die just stepping foot on it.Its existence is unknown by astronomers or any other life form. The jagged rock had an eerie glow which no one knew of except for the ancient one, that no one dared speak of. Just looking at this rock may turn you into stone, freeze you to a block of ice and if you touched it, your existence would be forgotten and no one would know when, where or how you disappeared .They wouldn’t even remember you. When the soul does come out of its hiding place and finds prey, no one shall be safe for all life forms shall die under the rule of this horrid spirit.The nature of this soul is inhuman, the soul can possess life forms with a single touch and can duplicate itself into pieces. The second part of the soul is hidden on a fiery ancient volcanic 9 planet that has stood in the solar system for millenniums. Earthlings have dubbed it to venus.Venus is a crucial planet in the solar system it is right next to the sun which means that is is one of the warmest planets .Because it is in the solar system it means that astronauts could one day reach it but because of the heat people may die if they tried to venture further than 400, 000 miles away. Just how the universe is endless, the divided soul’s soul is endless and it lives on forever. The Divided Soul is on eight different planets, just waiting to come back to Earth and get revenge for it’s evil bullying during its youth. It may be an evil soul or a mysterious spirit, but Only time will tell... 10 Chapter 3 The Artist Location:Earth Time:12:25 Catnyse was bored. She didn’t know what to do. She stood with a sigh and began to amble around the room to find something, anything to do. She headed to her dresser and took out her art equipment from her drawers, and walked towards their living room. Feeling uninspired, she starts to draw casually, as if this was a hobby and not something to take seriously. She got her pencil and started to draw a villain, a spy, and two gargoyles .The villain’s name was Veronica and beside her she had a glossy, black cat called Nightshade. She had violet eyes and long, black hair. Veronica’s purple eyes gleamed through the dark, as if she was planning an evil plan. Gemma, the spy, who is also eighteen, was painted with assorted T- shirts and jeans. She has purple eyes and purple hair also, she has pale skin and burgundy wedges. 11 She added detail, like an artist, to the cave: it has large boulders and the spy was wearing lots of black which meant she blends into the background slightly, the stone gargoyles gave an effect of fear and terror and the villain had a large ragged dress that had been ripped and torn in battle. . Suddenly, the villain the spy and the gargoyles that she painted all slowly started to come to life in the cave as magic flew across the room. The villain’s soul had a long trip from space so it needed to rest so Catnyse painted a coffin for the soul to rest in. All the painting that Catnyse had just painted looked so real and she was so proud of herself she thought she ought to have a break. She went into the kitchen to get a snack but little did she know that the minute she turned away everything started to come alive. From the rocky cave to the Villain and the two gargoyles to the spy. As the drawings come alive Catnyse comes back from her break, she is shocked to see that her drawing have completely disappeared.Meanwhile the villain and the spy and the gargoyles were hiding but they don’t know who created them they thought they could never come back But clearly they were mistaken.”Finally I have came back I can now get my revenge on those people.” The villain, the gargoyles and the spy are confused they are wondering who created them and how they came alive. ’But how, after all these years I have tried to get the formula to get back to life but now someone Has done it I need to know how it happened and how it was made and then I will never die.” Meanwhile Catnyse is still wondering where has her paintings have vanished to. The villain was confused and happy as she can do lots of new things with her new body. They all start to look at themselves and see what they could do first with there new bodys.Veronica 12 didn’t know what to do now she had a new body.She thought of lots of new things to do. They were all screaming (well not Veronica of course) they were all worrying and were curious On where they are.Years of being stuck in the dark the they were not used to the light so They kept squinting because they thought they were going to be blind.In the corner of their eye they saw Veronica. They ask her how they got here.She told how they were painted. Veronica was thinking who painted them and why they did. She thought that the person that made them was cunning indeed well obviously they created her.When I find the person, who painted me, I will lock them up then I will put the painting in a very safe place. “Now I am alive I can finally get revenge on those bullies, who used to tease me.I’ll make a potion And then all the children will go away and I will never be bullied again.The annoying children won’t ever come again not one child...” 13 14 Chapter 4 The Awakening Location:Cave Time:middle of the night Slowly a cave ( the same cave from the painting )emerged, the first room that was created was a magical lair, with spell books and wands there were dark bedrooms and other ecentric rooms.Just after the appearance of the last room a hard rock ground formed.On top of the rocky ground a log fire lighted .A hard iron gate with a rusty lock appeared.By the side of the gate two hard stone creatures the about 2 feet were wakeing .In the spell room a girl lay still just as her face appeared she sat her self up, she looked like a very powerful girl .By the side of her was another young girl, who was forming hands it looked as though she was reporting information .The scene looked very dull except for the sunrise on its way. The young girl in the bed rose up she had a long violet dress on, her eyes were a soft purple colour. As she looked around she saw a dirty and dusty cave .Around her spellbooks and wands littered the floor. She thought to herself “Where am I, this doesn’t look like Egypt!” Veronica looked around her in confusion but with a look of incredulity on her painted face. 15 “But if I’m somewhere else, this means that the bullies won’t be able to bully me any longer, ” she added. A smile stretched out from one painted ear to another painted ear. “Well, I don’t care where I am; anywhere’s better than living with those evil bullies.” As she looked around she saw the younge girl standing next to her. The first book she saw had a picture of light she used her painted hand to pick it up.She opened the page she could somehow read picking up the nearby wand she read aloud, ”Light light let me see the nearby sight.”Suddenly a flash of light shone across the sky.Morning had arrived. Looking around she saw magical wands and books, even a young girl about her age was standing next to her.The young girl helped her up and said “At your service mistress.” Veronica asked, ”Who are you?” She replied, “I am a spy. My name is Gemma and I was sent to serve you.” Veronica started walking towards the exit, Gemma following. The gate outside the cave’s entrance was a large steel gate and on either side were two gargoyles. They were alive and were already following their mistress, Veronica. Veronica, Gemma and the gargoyles, Emerald and Amethyst were all side by side, following each other out of the gate, to the real world; they couldn’t wait. The gate had already been opened, so Veronica pulled open the steel gate and started to walk outside. In a few minutes, they had arrived at the town. They could smell cakes and pies being made.The townsfolk thought that they were dressed up so they didn’t say anything. The gargoyles went to mischief, as always, and jumped on top of the baker, making him drop the pies. The man yelled, “Get of my pies!” I could make a lot of money with them!” Of course the gargoyles didn’t listen and instead of letting the pies go, they started to aim them at everyone.The gargoyles had created utter chaos and everyone in the village was covered in pie and were screaming at each other. They didn’t want to get into trouble so they quickly left the place and went to look at some shops.They 16 went into a shop that had the name “best phones” they went in the gargoyles were jumping all over the cabinets; luckily they didn’t get in trouble because no one was at the till. The owners were all getting phones ready to be sold.Gemma and Veronica went mad throwing the phones around.The owner came in and by this time the gargoyles were sitting on a sofa.The owner started laughing, he saw Gemma and Veronica staring at the background, a picture of a few fish swimming around.Veronica said to the owner “It’s amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it before.” The owner started laughing.The gargoyles started running around with the floating phones. The owner screamed, “You’ll break them! Get out of this shop!” so they did as they were told - for once! Walking out of the shop, people shouted angrily at them. They must have been angry with the gargoyles for creating the fuss. They talked about the shops and what they had done. They thought to themselves we didn’t have phones before, our bread would be mouldy. They didn’t say it aloud; they wanted some quietness. Parents were collecting their children from the nearby school. Veronica looked amazed that no one had actually bullied anyone, calling them names like beetle’. Veronica didn’t know that the children were coming out from school so she walked onwards. Children started running past.Veronica started to sweat and become scared of them.There was laughing coming from children nearby. It was a group of girls.They were pointing at her and then laughing.Tears ran down her face. One of the girls was extremely rude and said “It is not Halloween!” Veronica ran off as fast as she could, her tears stinging her eyes. On the way home she saw a boy getting picked on but she didn’t help him; she just couldn’t, not that she had got picked on herself and that had made her extremely weak. 17 18 Chapter 5 The Bully Veronica remembers when her Dad told her about the Nazca lines and she saw lots of people do magic using the Nazca lines like for making crops grow magically and for making the sun shine; things like that. Veronica knew that they were powerful and thought one day she would use the Nazca lines for herself. Walking outside she sees lots of beautiful flowers. She stops, smells them and sees a girl playing on the street, and she is reminded of from when she was young, and bullied.Her happiness is replaced by anger. She comes up with a plan with the two gargoyles and a spy and makes a plan to make the children disappear with the help she’s got. She has a flashback about when she was little and when she lived in Ancient Egypt. She walked across the sandy floor of her ancient Egyptian temple, a little girl follows, Veronica into the room of sacrifices and tells her that she is stupid and looks like a beetle so consequently Veronica runs out crying. Two other girls are waiting for her by the exit, they laugh at her and follow her; they mimic her until the original bully comes out and they throw a scarab beetle at her. These girls would do this every day; it was sort of like a routine; they would throw different things at her each day to see which caused the most pain. 19 “I shall create a plan to annihilate all children so I will never be bullied by anyone anymore. Instead I will bully other people. There will be nothing that anyone can do when I have rid the world of children. Everyone will have me to thank when they find that children don’t exist.” Veronica wants to make children disappear as she thinks all children are: bad, mean and bullies. Veronica remembers something that makes her heart thump with trepidation. What if the bullies who bullied her right now keep bullying before the spell comes into action? No, Veronica couldn’t let that happen. For the time being, Veronica would have to stay hidden, even if she was going somewhere Veronica sits down and uses her new computer to search for an expert to help her with the Nazca lines. She quickly searched and found a professional who has had lots of professionalism on the Nazca lines called Dr. Vidia Blackburn and Veronica, getting very excited, quickly searched for her address. As soon as she found the scientist’s address, an evil grin stretched across the painted face. It was time to find out about the mysterious Nazca lines... 20 Chapter 6 The Scientist Location: The scientist’s laboratory Time: Preferably midnight As the villain got more and more excited, she realised that she had no means whatsoever of actually getting to the scientist. Veronica, being the evil, reckless delinquent she was used powerful magic to steal it from a scrapyard. Veronica grinned evilly. “No one can beat me now!” she thought. Once I get the information I need from that Vidia, nothing and no one can stop me now she exclaimed, hahaha!!! Veronica summons her despicable minions, the gargoyles Emerald and Amethyst. As the seat belts buckled, Gemma, on her mistress’s orders, grabbed the steering wheel and swerved very recklessly on the road (not that Veronica even cared ). The only thing she had in mind was getting to the scientist and learn about the mysterious Nazca lines that she had heard on the news only that morning. Maybe living in modern times isn’t so bad, Veronica thought. Well, it’s better than that old life and those bullies Her eyes filled with angry tears as she remembered her lousy youth with so many harsh things and without a single luxury such as having friends, something 21 that Veronica desperately desired. Unfortunately she, as normal, took the wrong path as she was to discover in a short while. ’Hey you!” Veronica shouted over. Vidia, who was working on a complex mechanism, whipped around and in an instant, Vidia was under Veronica’s power. ’Now tell me about these Nazca lines.” When Vidia didn’t answer, Veronica used her magic to force Vidia to tell her. ’The Nazca lines are a series of lines that allow the user to use powerful magic and and change the world as we know it, ” Vidia recited robotically.”They are situated in South America.” Veronica, looking pleased, released the spell and Vidia fell to the floor with a THUD! Veronica’s purple eyes glinted evilly and mysteriously as she brooded over what she had just learned from Vidia. After Veronica received the news she was bursting with excitement she finally did it. Veronica left with the information she had and needed and left vidia on the floor all alone while veronica carried on doing her mission. Veronica bounded out of the scientist’s lab and called out into the darkness. “Gemma! Emerald! Amethyst! Here!” Like little dogs, Gemma, Emerald and Amethyst appeared in the van. “Gemma, we’re - that is to say me, you and those silly gargoyles - are going to South America. “Buckle up!” she called menacingly. Veronica’s magic was already getting very, very strong as she was getting closer to the Nazca lines, which could actually just change the world into the way Veronica wants and not how we want it to be. An hour later, Veronica and her obedient minions had reached the Nazca lines. There wasn’t anything special about them; they were just the ordinary electricity lines but to Veronica they were like gold. She - Veronica - closed her purple eyes and let her magic flow around her. As impenetrable darkness loomed over, Veronica opened her eyes and magic came out of her hands. Gemma, Emerald and Amethyst looked on worriedly with concerned looks on their faces.little did they know, children all around the world was vanishing slowly... 22 Chapter 7 South America “I have been plotting this for a long time you know and know I have finally come to the conclusion where I do it.”the ancient lady, Veronica said. “Do what, master?”asked Gemma, the loyal servant of Veronica .Gemma was a spy but not the kind of spy you would think she was.She wore jeans and tops of assorted colours and had bright lavender hair and her shoes, they were burgundy coloured wedges ;Who would think she was a spy?Pacing up and down, Veronica replied, “Plan revenge and once we have planned it, we will put it into action.Do you want to know what my ingenious plan is?”she asked slyly.Most fascinated, Gemma quickly said, ”Yes, yes!”Still pacing up and down, Veronica went through her plan:she was going to tamper with the Nazca lines. “Pack my secret spell book and wand, I want us to get there as soon as possible.”demanded Veronica.The cheeky gargoyles jumped up and down finding the objects that their mistress wanted.At the end, all the spell books and other treasures were all over the floor.The gargoyles finally returned to their master.”You are time wasters just come and give them to me!”Veronica bellowed.They obeyed her and gave her the “objects”.Veronica shouted “Ahhh! What is this.”Removing the cloth that was covering the items, she found a 23 brick covered in snails and slugs and a long thin worm.This was funny to the gargoyles so they blabbered foolishly, ”These are your secret items master, a worm wand exclusively a rare species of worm and a brick book with insects shaped as letters.”The spy and gargoyles laughed.Suddenly, Veronica threw the disgusting objects down then casted a spell, “Books and wand from secret store, come to me I i I need no more.”The book and wand appeared in front of her.She gave her servants- the gargoyles- the secret objects and then thinks about revenge. Veronica walked around the room thinking, if she tampers with the na zca lines then her fear would be gone.As well as this she knew that all the kids would dissapear and life would become easier. Her past would not matter to her anymore.She knew that it was the right thing to do.Happiness was churning inside her and she felt joy.then out of nowhere the gargoyles jumped up in front of her, they were ready to party! “Amethyst, Emerald pack everything up we are about to leave” “Masters such a spoilsport.”whispered Emerald to Amethyst. “I heard that Emerald.”said Veronica. “Heard what?” the gargoyles asked. “Don’t be cheeky with me!” “Get ready everyone, Emerald, Amethyst grab the book and the wand, Gemma follow onwards.” “Yes mistress mmmmm you don’t need me to hold anything do you.”asked Gemma. “Of course I do grab the invisibility powder.” “Yes master.”she quickly obeyed.the gargoyles were having a powder fight. They were throwing powder on each other and were aiming at their master and spy friend, shoot they were covered and in their invisibility form.They all covered the items in invisibility powder.In a puff of dust they were all invisible.They were ready to leave so off they went. 24 They went across the streets and saw loads of new items in shops and even saw a circus act.the gargoyles couldn’t stand it any longer, they simply went on the stage and tampered with everything:the unicycle, the juggling balls even the clowns nose Luckily they were invisible and no one saw them but they did see their acting.they thought it was a magician act.Veronica and Gemma had to go and get them before moving on, this took at least half an hour.After the delay they were back on the move and only twenty three minutes away.the gargoyles of course went to mischief again and this time were playing a game of tag, when one of them dropped the book in a puddle.“Uh oh.” they whispered to each other.Even though the book was invisible it didn’t mean it wouldn’t get soaked .The large figure towered over the gargoyles and angrily said “uh oh indeed.Gemma added in “if the book is soaked then doesn’t it mean that we have to walk slower?”Veronica sulked and nodded her head.Yet even though they were more than half way through their journey it took them another thirty minutes. They were all out of breath when they arrived but Veronica wanted to start straight away.She demanded the gargoyles to give her the book and wand they obeyed her. The silly gargoyles started dancing around crazy and getting things gathered to have a party, of course Veronica did not approve “Are you crazy? Our plan has not worked yet stop it this instance!”yelled veronica. The gargoyles would not listen so Veronica turned them into statue using the spell”turn them into stone make it as hard as bone.” “Let’s get started shall we.”said Veronica. “Yes master we should.”replied Gemma. They both went around the nazca lines and started chanting”all children of this world disappear in a swirl.”they danced around and chanted the same verse over and over again.They could feel the power whizzing through.They were sure that they would win and their worries would be over. Strange things start to happen as the spell is cast mysterious 25 magic flew across the nazca lines As the last verse was finishing, powerful wind was blasting across the nazca lines.A storm was casting over .sand whizzed over them.it was a mysterious sight to be seen.They both laughed wickedly hoping, that the world would change.Veronica was the one who was praying most she didn’t want to see a single child in her life. Just as the wind stopped blowing they were keen their spell would work.Veronica said aloud. “Wait for it, wait for it.”she paused and walked around wishing it would work, hoping it would work. “mmm. Master I don’t think it worked .”She said with a puzzled look.Veronica stayed silent she knew it would work.she simply gave up she screamed “Why does this have to happen to me why?”She fell on the floor clutching her dress.She was outraged.She yelled”Whhhhhhyyy?” Suddenly a gust of sand blew across her face Quickly, she opened her book and found the page on looking at the earth.She found it.She read the spell “Let me see the child nearest to me, let me see.”she looked in the mirror she saw a child and a puff of smoke gone.The child had disappeared.She was so happy she cast a spell on the gargoyles so that they would wake.She danced around and around and in the end let the gargoyles party. 26 Chapter 8 Quarantine The next morning, Vidia was laying calmly thinking of a new potion to make and was watching television. A soft breeze entered and swirled around Vidia and a scent of fresh roses walked in .All of a sudden, Vidia’s special ball glimmered and swirled fiercely, that was a bad sign... Something strange.... “ The Nazca lines! But what about the Nazca lines?” Vidia thought puzzled. Two hours later, Vidia was making herself a cup of eucalyptus leaf tea to remind her what about the nazca lines she was thinking about. “oh I know!”Vidia screamed.Vidia remembered the meeting she had with Veronica. She started to panic and ran to the basement. Vidia ran as fast as she could whilst her heart was thumping quickly. Vidia went to the hospital she cleaned the quarantine and made it safe for human habitation .After hours of cleaning she made the quarantine safe for 4 children to live in.Then, she took the children to her basement. Vidia was trying to save lives but she did not know she was giving a huge loss to humanity. Sadly, Vidia fed all the children some food and read a story and they fell asleep. With a guilty look, Vidia locked the door and ran towards her bedroom. Some of the children were upset they were distanced from 27 their friends at the orphanage. Whilst Vidia tucked herself in bed, she wondered if she did the right thing. “ Of course I did the right thing, now the nazca magic won’t affect the children and they are safe” Vidia thought with a sigh of relief. Then, she fell asleep. The following morning, Vidia was still in guilt. She raced downstairs and opened the lock. A creak sound came from the door and the children were in deep sleep. “ What have I done...” Vidia whispered to herself sadly. “ why are you so worried Vidia” came a sound that sounded like Vidia.” It was Vidia’s imaginationary voice. “ Wh.. who are y..you?” Vidia whispered with fright. “ I’m you Vidia, don’t worry I’m here to ask you ...why are you so worried?” replied Vidia’s replica. “ I.. too...took chi..children fr..from the orp...orphanage I’M A BAD PERSON... .”sobbed Vidia. “ You aren’t a bad person, you are saving lives .... now you have to make sure they are safe.” Vidia’s replica faded away. “ Children... wake up please. I can’t tell you why you are here...because it would make you a target.but just know it’s to protect you!” said Vidia All of the children woke up and hugged Vidia whilst crying... “ I miss my friends .” cried a voice. “ I miss mum!” sobbed a voice sorrowfully. “Okay.” Vidia said gently. The older children told Vidia that all of them were orphans and they all miss their parents dearly. Every single child was confused to what had happened, but understood At night, Vidia tucked the children in bed and was relieved the children were okay. 3 days later.... “This is news reporter Joanne colodra reporting on the recent mass disappearance of children in the world. The number of Fatali28 ties’ today is 398, 706, 457. The total for the last week is 1.2 billion and counting. We are facing the end of the human race if we don’t stop this. Scientists are blaming a disease, and conspiracy theorists are blaming cults, but with the reality we are facing, we may never know.” 29 30 Chapter 9 The Spy Catches The Kids The kids are sitting in Vidia’s room on a football shaped bean bag having a conversation about why they are there. Rose said, “Maybe the scientist picked the wrong children, ” then she said, “No, that can’t be possible, she seemed so certain when she took us.” A foot step broke their uninterrupted conversation;they stopped talking, “What was that?” asked Luna. “Shut up Luna, ” said Rose “I‘ll check by using my map app on my floaty phone”. Gemma was looking for the children with renewed vigor. She was determined to show Veronica that she was loyal to her in every way. She had been in the forest for days, trying to locate the exact pinpoint of the girls. Veronica not only wanted them because they were descendants of her bloodline, but because they were said to have been saved by the scientist because they were unique. They had special powers.And her mistress said it would benefit them greatly on how to stop them disappearing. She didn’t want to disappear.She wanted to live and fall in love and all those wonderful things. And her mistress would help her achieve that.If she stayed loyal she knew she would become the most powerful woman in the world right after her mistress.Sure, she didn’t enjoy trying to capture children, but.. 31 she was too deep to back out now, heh? The more she thought about it, the more she doubted herself.Was it right to kidnap children? Was her moral compass gone? Was what she was doing right? The gargoyles were running around crazy.They started to chase the animals that were hunting for food.They kept on climbing up trees and jumping off the branches.At one point they jumped of a branch and fell with a thud on the ground, a badger had woken up.They knew this as a badger came out of its burrow.Further on they both stuck their heads inside a hole in a tree, they startled an owl and both came out with pecks on their nose.For fun they both chased each other and then chased a squirrel. Gemma, meanwhile, had broken into the hospital. Dulcie had heard an intruder and stealthily ran and attacked Gemma.The kids hear the screams and yells and run as fast as they could to see what all the commotion was about. They ran to find Dulcie attacking the intruder and made her run away. The kids all cheered and Dulcie ran to Rose. Rose stroked Dulcie affectionately. “Good girl, Dulcie!” Rose crooned. But this was very short because the spy had caught them sneakily from behind... Gemma had been too sneaky now! She tightened the rope and kicked aside Dulcie so the cat couldn’t get up and help. “Mistress will be very pleased with me!” she said. The children, struggling to breathe, exchanged worried glances. Who was this intruder and who was this mistress she was talking about? They started to worry and had full confidence in Lilli, the astronaut and Vidia, the scientist. They would definitely find someway to help Camilla, Catnyse, Rose and Luna. They would, no matter how long it takes 32 Chapter 10 The Escape Location: Inside the quarantine Time: 9:00 Day after day, The sound of laughter ceased, the street quietened Then the noise disappeared completely. The noise had been the only hope for the children. In a world where they were completely isolated from the outside, the noise was a single lifeline indication before, it was filled with sounds of happiness and joy. For the first few days it echoed from the ground above, everywhere but nowhere at the same time. But even though it was quiet, the noise never really left. But today was different. The noise had completely and utterly disappeared. The noise had been the only hope for the children. In a world where they were completely isolated from the outside world, the noise had been a single lifeline indicating that hey, not all hopes lost from the world. People are still out there. The world can’t be completely gone if children are still happy and laughing right? But now that the noise had gone, the last dregs of hope they held that everything was fine had disappeared down the drain. They were alone. 33 Rose stood up. Now that they were alone, they would take matters in their own hands. She was pretty sure that they were all pretty sick of being isolated day and night. It was her own personal hell polished to perfection. The only human contact they had (if you could even call it that) was a a a gloved hand three times a day sliding four meals through a flap on the door that might have been big enough for Catnyse to fit through. The plates were slid through a letter box. But that wasn’t the worst bit.The worst bit was sameness of every day. They would get up, get dressed and a bowl of soggy cornflakes would be handed out to them at nine. At twelve, a slab of ham, green beans, mash and gravy would also be delivered to them along with a large carton of apple juice and a yoghurt. Tea would be some roast pork, roast potatoes and broccoli with another large carton and a small piece of chocolate cake. It was driving her nuts. It was 10:. The thought stopped her short. She didn’t even know the day even more. Anyway, it was 1 hour and 45 minutes until lunch time. Plenty to time to escape. She was peering through the letterbox when a meow startled her. “meow” purred a cat that was now curling itself around Rose’s legs. She rubbed the cat’s head affectionately. The fluffy, little cat (whose name was dulcie) was something of a morale booster for all of them. She shooed her away and walked away from the door, only to do the stupidest thing ever . Shed ran at it and collided with the locked door. “she clutched her injured shoulder. She had at least made one deduction, she thought sarcastically. The door wasn’t budging any time soon. OOOOOOOOOOO WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!” Rose howled as But Rose had an idea. Even though you can’t get out of the vents, you can still look down the ducts. She shared this deduction with the other children and they responded in different ways. “It’s a stupid idea!” Said Camilla “you could get caught!” 34 “Well I think it’s a great idea.” argued Catnyse “We need to know what’s out there so we know what’s happening!” “Just NO!” Fumed Luna “I am SICK of your stupid schemes to get out of here. It’s never going to happen, Face it. Just face it Rose, we are going to be stuck in this place until we DIE!” At that, the room descended into complete and utter pandemonium. Rose looked around and sighed. She took a deep breath and screamed, ”SHUT UP” They looked at her shocked. She only really screamed when she was angry. “Listen, I am going into that vent whether you like it or not. NO! It is not up for discussion!” she said when Luna opened her mouth. “Goodbye.” she said and turned on her heel and ran. She climbed onto a table and crawled into the vent. The cover wasn’t screwed on, something they must have overlooked when making their prison. Rose looked down each and every individual vent until she found a yellow room with teddy bears painted on the walls. This was certainly the children’s ward. She peered through the grate and saw that every single bed was empty and the room was covered in a fine layer of dust. It hadn’t been used in a while.It gave her a strange feeling. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t natural. Or this just could be an unused one. With a renewed inkling of hope, she continued her journey throughout the vents. She must have crawled through the entire duct. There was multiple children’s wards, but each was the same as the first. This isn’t right, she thought, what has happened to the children? And with that thought, she crawled back to their prison. With a heavy heart, Rose returned to the prison that had held her for months. And with an even heavier one, she imparted the news upon her roommates’- more like inmates. “The wards are empty. Every Last one.” she said, cutting to the point. She looked around and surveyed their reactions. Camilla looked shocked. Catynse 35 looked angry. Dulcie was curled up in her basket, oblivious to the world. But Luna? Luna looked devastated. “What’s happened to them?” she whispered. “They can’t be all gone.” putting her head in her hands, she began to cry. “No!” shouted Rose “We will find a way out from this place!” “But first-” she said, pausing to pick up Dulcie “We need to figure out where the children have gone.” Everyone looked at each other, waiting for one of them to step forward and speak. Rose pulled her ginger hair and scanned the room. After a brief pause of awkward silence, Camilla came forth. “Rose.” she said tiredly “just stop being so optimistic. We’re stuck here until we die.” “ NO! We WILL make it out if its the last thing I do.” Rose said, her voice rising higher with every syllable. “Rose, that’s the problem!” said camilla “You’re so determined to get out and you’ve made so many plans, but none of them have worked.” I DON’T CARE!” Shouted Rose “I AM SICK OF YOU TRYING TO STOP ME GETTING OUT. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS THE POINT IN TRYING, YOU ASK ME EVERY SINGLE DAY. YOU THINK I DON’T THINK THAT CONSTANTLY? YOU’RE ALL SUCH PESSIMISTS, I JUST WANT TO HOLD ON TO HOPE, BUT NOOOOOO! I CAN’T HAVE THAT!” The girls were taken aback by Roses outburst, and even more taken aback that she was glaring at them! “I am getting out and when I do, i’m taking dulcie with me and were going to find out what happened. But you can stay behind and live here for the rest of your lives cramped in your tiny prison.” “Look Rose we’re sorry.” said Catnyse “ We all want to get out of here!” “Yeah.” said Luna “Yeah, we can do it!” “Come on we can do it!” said Camilla “We will get out of here!” Catnyse was bored. They had been discussing ways to escape for 36 hours and it was driving her absolutely nuts. If only she could just draw a exit and they could escape. She took out her sketch pad (one of her few luxuries) and drew a grand door. It was made of white marble with fine, intricate carvings. It was one of her finest works. Oh, how she wished with all her might it could all be true. But alas, it would forever remain a drawing. And with that thought, she slept, still fully clothed on top of her bed. In the morning they just spent the day talking on top of their beds. They talked about what they wanted to do when they escaped, where they wanted to go and how they were going to live. It was almost breakfast and they decided to go to the small room in which they ate.They were shocked to what stood in front of them. There stood a large, white marble door with fine, intricate carvings. Catnyse gasped. That was her drawing from last night. She ran to show the others her drawing.They were shocked with what events had just occurred. They were shocked to say the least. Did they all have these powers or was it just Catnyse? “Well, once i wrote about how in history class the teacher brought in a cake for his birthday, and it actually happened.” said Rose “And once i was super far behind someone in a race and I really wanted to get far ahead and it was almost like i was flung across the room!” said Camilla “And when i just know how to play any instruments instantly.” admitted Luna “Well, as wise man once said, carpe diem!” said Rose before rushing through the doorway.the girls quickly followed. They were out. They were free. But now they had to decide what to do. “Well, i think we can all say the first thing we need to do is find some children as quick as we can.” said Rose. Everyone agreed. And on that thought, the quartet journeyed through the hospital and children’s ward. They almost get caught . They had been looking at the board detailing where the wards 37 were on in reception, when an intercom had announced Can doctor Jeffrey and doctor Murphy please come to reception, thank you.’ The children quickly hid under the receptions desks as the squeak of leather shoes echoed through the room. One man hung his pass up on a coat hanger and began to chat with the other man. It was mostly nonsensical things like asking how that patient was with a nasty bout of flu, but as they walked out of the room, Rose noticed something. The man had left his fob on the coat peg. Lilli quickly grabbed the fob and said to the other members of their little group, “Guys, we have a way out! We have a way out!” she whisper shouted. They all let out a quiet, cautious little cheer as they didn’t want anyone to hear them. She opened the door and walked out, feeling the wind on her face for the first time in months. They were free from the prison that they once thought they would die in, they were FREE! And with that joyus thought, they ran into the night. 38 Chapter 11 The Landing The final day has came and Lilli was exhausted, she looked at the Earth and realised how unique and beautiful it was, .Lilli missed her family dearly and all she wanted was to be in her mum’s house and enjoy a cup of warm hot chocolate.All she did for the remaining of the day was ask Mission Control when they were going back to Earth.To pass the time, she opened her dad’s diary and analyzed it.As quick as a cheetah, Lilli closed the diary, as she knew that it would reduce her to tears. Climbing into the pod, Lilli had an unusual feeling, however, she ignored it.She tied her seat belt and made herself comfortable.Suddenly, there was a huge “Crash, Bang, Plop” and within a minute, Lilli was halfway across the pod.The Mission Control bravely went out and announced that they had landed in the sea. Luckily, a boat caught them, and it carried the pod back to shore Driving back home (in her floating car), the only thing Lilli could think about was the terrifying crash.Arriving home, she crawled out of her car, put the keys on the hook and collapsed on the sofa”Whoa” she sighed.No more than a second later, Lilli was reminded of the children. She zoomed outside and found not a single child. Lilli started to get seriously suspicious. Groaning heavily, Lilli found a photo of her and her sisters in 39 a spiral picture frame on the floor, she slowly picked it up and looked at it.She then realised that her only sister was fading away. Confused, Lilli wondered why her sister was disappearing. She then sat down and thought for a minute.Lilli was extremely puzzled and could not think of a reason why her sister was gone. Realising what had happened, Lilli searched and searched for at least one child. At this point, Lilli had had enough, she got into her car and sped to the police station.The police had thought she was crazy they teased her and said horrible things like “you’re mad!” and “Crazy old hag!” Lilli was determined to bring back children but the police definitely were not, as they thought she was insane they detained her in a straitjacket for one night “UGH!”Lilli sighed in annoyance. After one agonizing night Lilli trailed home and banged on her house door, only to realise that she had the keys.She then noticed the remote control on her coffee table and decided to watch some TV. Lilli then had a brilliant idea, she got out her tablet and looked on the internet for missing children, however, she had no luck. 40 Chapter 12 Adults Vanish Gemma was confused. Missing reports were flooding in for people, left right and center. This wasn’t the plan! She thought. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to be safe from the magic, Veronica promised! She ran the few short miles to where she and veronica resided for the moment and started a stream of accusations of betrayal at veronica’s face. Veronica was amused at first but her face quickly grew more and more panicked as the situation grew clear to her.The adults were supposed to be safe. Only the little brats were supposed to disappear and this means the magic had backfired. This was not good. Not good at all. “Why is this happening!” Veronica said, every ounce of pride was gone. “Those horrible little monsters should be disappearing, not me!” she then switched on the news and saw the new headline : Breaking news, Mass disappearance of adults occurring across the world. Veronica was in a state of shock. Her plan went perfectly at first with the children disappearing in small groups, then large groups. Then, the adults started forgetting that children ever existed, which was the effect of the ritual coming in at full force. But what could have possibly caused the adults to disappear? The ritual was successful, clearly. It was supposed to be perfect.Veronica 41 thought for a moment “what’s happening, why are adults disappearing?” A startling realization hit Veronica. If there was no children ever, the people today were never born and that means that they would start fading out of existence, but at a reduced rate than the children as the adults were only an indirect effect of the ritual. But eventually, the earth would be completely empty of the human population, adults and children alike. “What will happen to me?” asked Gemma “Will I disappear too?” . “I know” said Veronica a tone of sad realisation in her voice “ if all children disappear then all babies disappear and every one was a baby once so everyone will disappear oh no what have I done” Veronica realized that she might disappear too “I.I....I...I I have to bring everyone back I don’t want to be alone” She starts to think that her and a couple of others will be the only ones left on Earth after everything has finished happening “What if I am going to be the only one on earth?”whispered Veronica. Veronica realised that Gemma wouldn’t go so she told Gemma: “Gemma you weren’t born, you were painted so you won’t disappear!” said veronica happily, ” we shall live and rule forever, ” she thought. 42 Chapter 13 The Spy Finds the Astronaut “ ARGHH”! Veronica screamed. Veronica found out that the astronaut knew that she was a villain She pushed the tables and broke the windows and was really enraged. “It’s all because of you!” screamed Veronica at the Gargoyles “ What? We did not do anything blasta“ said the Gargoyles with a mouthful of crisps Veronica looked at the Gargoyles with a ferocious look. Suddenly, Veronica had a great idea.... “Gemma!” Veronica screamed with her loudest voice.Gemma ran downstairs and asked what is wrong. “ I’ve got a mission for you and the prize is a new gun!” A new gun! Gemma you better accept this offer.Gemma thought. “ Of course” Gemma said. Veronica told Gemma that she had to become friends with the Lilli and win her heart . She needs to find Lilli’s deepest secrets in order to get a new gun! Veronica had to make the Gargoyles go as well so she gets a little alone time. The next day, when Gemma and the Gargoyles went out for the mission, Veronica was biting her nails and rubbing her unpleasant 43 smelly feet constantly on her purple bed. “They better do well” she said anxiously. Gemma entered in her car with the Gargoyles and drove to Lilli’s town. “You disgraceful little monsters!” screamed Gemma.The Gargoyles were eating chocolate dip with crisps. “ What’s wrong blasta we are just eating.”said both Gargoyles. Gemma ignored the Gargoyles. Two hours later, Gemma fell asleep and the Gargoyles, Emerald and Amthyst, were eating a chocolate cake. “ Num Num blasta!” the Gargoyles screamed. All of a sudden, Gemma woke up... “ That’s it! I’m leaving, you two are such a disgrace.” “But blasta who’s going to give us food!” shouted Emerald. “Yeah blasta!” screamed Amethyst. Gemma stormed off ignoring the Gargoyles.... The Gargoyles were silent for 5 minutes, whilst Gemma layed in the sunlight, she stood up and started to go for a little walk, she was having fun until she lost her way . Gemma pushed the bushes and started to feel like she was completely lost. “Help, anybody there...help please” Gemma screamed. Whilst losing hope, Gemma sat and waited for somebody to help. After eating 10 bags of crisps mixed with melted chocolate, the Gargoyles realise Gemma wasn’t there. “Gemma?” Emerald questioned puzzled. Amethyst Screamed. “You said her name!” Jubilantly dancing “ Oh yes ....Yay!” Emerald shouted with joy. “Back to the point, we have to find blasta” Amethyst shouted bravely. Both Gargoyles headed off to find Gemma... Gemma was shivering with fear and was really afraid of the murky dark. 44 “If i wouldn’t have been with the Gargoyles i would have been by Lilli and won her heart and got that shiny, black gun!” stated Gemma furiously. “ How was i made?” Gemma asked herself. Before Gemma knew it the sun started to fade away Gemma started to fall in a deep sleep. When the Moon was lit up like a lantern, the Gargoyles were finding Gemma, the gargoyles pushed the green bushes and all of a sudden.. “ Gemma! “ Shrieked Emerald. Gemma had leaves all over her and she was covered in mud. “ haha she is like us now!” Amethyst said with a smile. All of a sudden Gemma woke up... “ what are you doing ..... ah mud yuck.” yelled Gemma. Gemma and the Gargoyles headed off to find Lilli... The next day, Gemma and the Gargoyles were driving in their car and all of a sudden they saw a glimpse of Lilli. “Lilli, I found her, stop the car, go after the white car!” demanded Gemma. Lilli’s car was too fast but after this incident Gemma knew how Lilli looked like...... . 45 46 Chapter 14 The Spy Gives Her Report The spy went to talk to the astronaut. She was sent by Veronica to get information on what Lilli is planning. She thinks she is planning something to make her go back into the painting. Veronica was meaning to get her revenge. Gemma was not sure to tell Veronica because she thought Lilli will not be her friend. Instead, she decided to go back to the lair and make up something, ANYTHING to divert Veronica and then quickly change the subject. Meanwhile Veronica was wondering where Gemma as she was getting fed up with the stupid gargoyles; they kept being silly. Gemma was on her way back to the villain’s lair. The spy didn’t have a choice and had to tell Veronica everything. However she thought that she could be brave for Lilli and the children. She creeped in: half hoping that the villain wouldn’t be in there. No such luck and the first thing that she heard was the villain’s voice. “Where have you been Gemma? You left me with the gargoyles.” Gemma, getting very nervous she had a big decision to make: should she tell Veronica about the unsuccessful plan or not? “I’m so sorry that I left you with the gargoyles yet I thought that they were right behind me all the way. I will indeed have some words to them. You also asked me where I was. I was at Lilli’s and 47 received valuable information.” Gemma started to recount the fake facts. 4 The fake facts were received and Veronica was the happiest that she could be. “Good effort Gemma, keep up the hard work.”said Veronica. “Yes Veronica.”replied Gemma “Yippee yippee hooray hooray this is the best day.”she repeatedly sang. She couldn’t wait for the plan to be put in action.She was dancing around and singing.Gemma was watching her the whole time and burst into laughter.Veronica blushed pink and told Gemma to go out and let her plan her plot in peace. Veronica used the chalkboard to draw her plan.she drew the gargoyles and what their part was. She wrote down their main parts.she told them that she was planning to lock the astronaut up.”you two have got the main part emerald amethyst are you listening to me .”she asked “Yes we have got the rain part.”said emerald. “The rain part you weren’t listening to me were you!”questioned Veronica. “He meant the same part that’s what he meant.”said amethyst “No no no you’ve got the main part.”shouted Veronica. “OOOOOHHHHHHHHHH.”they both said at the same time. She explained what they had to do. “You two have to go and keep an eye on Lilli and make sure you don’t get distracted by anything.” “What do we get if we succeed ?”asked amethyst. “Nothing really you are just doing it for fun.”said Veronica in a sweet voice. “We will only do it if we are allowed to have a party, ”Emerald said “Alright you can but only if you succeed, ” she said.they both 48 marched up and down before lift off and off they went for their mission. They both flew high up in the sky, before flying back down they looked above the ground and looked at the small houses.they landed back on the ground. They looked around in search of someone called lilli.They couldn’t find anyone, so they stopped for an ice cream.In the que there was lots of children .However they all ran away when they saw the gargoyles .they must have been scared.a little girl ran to the que and her mum called her “Lilli come back we have got ice creams at home, ”she returned to her mum .Both gargoyles dropped their ice creams and instead they followed the little girl.They secretly followed her home.Thet stayed their the whole day. Meanwhile, Lilli the astronaut searched all over to find the children. Lilli went over to people and asked but they thought she was crazy. She did not give up.knowing that they were the only kids on Earth she climbed up every hill searched through every house and stayed focused. She had to find all the children of the world... The astronaut is looking for the children so everyone doesn’t think he’s out of his mind. ‘ 49 50 Chapter 15 Astronaut finds kids Searching for the children, Lilli walked to the park and searched for many hours, she finally realised that there was no sign of any children. She then decided to check the school to see if any of the children were hiding, just when she thought she seen a child, she turned and realised it was a mouse hunting for some food. Eventually, she decide to check the library, however she had no luck. “I can’t believe this! While I was in space, all the children on Earth have disappeared! This can’t be happening. And everyone thinks I’m mad. It’s like there’s some sort of spell over everyone apart from me” Lilli paused, turned over her shoulder and realised that there was some sort of spell on them, but Lilli wasn’t affected because she was in space! But who could put a spell over everyone? That was the mystery “While in space, many of the children started to disappear one by one” Lilli wailed sadly. She wiped a tear away from her eye and looked angry. “Humanity has forgotten about children and everything is going haywire!” she yells. “Lilli, an astronaut. Who are you?” Lilli added, finally calming down “ I’m Rose, ” said the redhead. “And I’m Catnyse, ” added the honey haired girl. “My name is Luna, ” said the brunnette. 51 “And my name is Camilla, ” said the hazel haired person of the female variety. “Those are very pretty names.” said the astronaut “And where are you from? Where are your parents?” “They’re dead.” said Rose bluntly “we’re from the orphanage.” “Ah, ” Lili “That...explains alot, actually.” “For the last couple months we’ve been stuck in a few rooms and not been allowed out, ” Rose said, “ We have a few Skills that we used to our advantage.” “What skills?” the astronaut persisted. “Well, Rose can-” began camilla, but she was stopped by Rose clamping her hand around her mouth with a nervous smile. “Pick locks very well! You know, hehe” “So you can pick locks on a heavily locked area now?” the astronaut said with a bemused smile, showing that she didn’t believe them “And what did you pick it with?” “ A bobby pin?” she offered. “O..K” she said, not believing them, but letting it drop. Vidia decided that today she would let the children out. No one would be able to see them and it would be pretty lonely as all the other children were gone. But the other adults would be able to see them when they were 18 and they could get a pet and have a job and Have more than the children that were lost. She knocked on the door to see if anyone would respond. When no one did, she opened it and realized that the room was completely and utterly empty. Vidia stepped in the room. The room was empty and the cat basket deserted. Even the cat had escaped! How incompetent did the doctors have to be? She put the hospital on lockdown and began to search every nook and crany. 2 hours later After searching for what felt like forever, she could only make one conclusion- They had escaped. She had to find them before they fell in too less desirable hands. 52 Chapter 16 The Confrontation Suddenly, Veronica, stormed into the room, which had dark blue curtains, violet walls and an indigo coloured carpet.She wiped her feet on the blue mat and started marching quickly towards the children. The children looked terrified of her and fearfully started to walk backwards, however Veronica pulled out her wand ... Her dusty, black wand, covered with thorns and vines, was in her bony hand as she gave a conniving grin.Then, she chanted a spell, “Vanish those children I can see into that empty, old cave, no one dares to misbehave!”In seconds, the children got knocked off their feet and they vanished in thin air.The children’s faces dropped and Luna screamed, ”What’s happening to us!” “Be quiet, children do not speak in this room and especially not to me!” bellowed Veronica.The rest of the children sat there silently and stayed as still as statues. “You, Gemma, sit down, you’re making the room untidy!”Veronica shouted, “Ok, ok, calm down!”Gemma replied.Gemma still looked furious.”Sorry Gemma, I didn’t mean to have a go at you, I was just so angry with those horrible children!” “I understand but that doesn’t mean you talk to me the way you did then!” 53 “Ok, I am really sorry. Do you mind looking after the ugly children?” “Sure no problem, looks like someone is here to see you There, standing in the doorway was a tall girl with black hair and glistening purple eyes.”I’m here to see her, Veronica!”the girl said in an australian accent, ”My name is Lilli, I am here for the children!” Gemma stood there with a straight face. “Why, what is so important about these children?”Gemma asked with interest, “Well these children are very good, they don’t misbehave or be disrespectful, instead, they are highly intelligent.”Lilli answered, “Really, I don’t believe you!” “They are and they have been through hard times, they don’t even know their parents!” “Oh, ok.” “Therefore., I think it is unfair if they have to go through another horrid time don’t you?” “I agree, ” Veronica was listening to the conversation so in her head, was flashbacks from when she was a child. Tears started to run down her face and her fists were clenched .She was feeling both angry and upset but tried not to show it so she tried to think about something happier but it didn’t work, she just wanted to tell everyone about her childhood, so she did... She started telling everyone in the crowded room that when she was younger, three kids, all aged eleven years old used to tip her bag upside down so all of her all of her books would have been all over the floor for her to pick up.Veronica also had to do some children’s homework as she was very clever and always got her own homework all right. All of these things that she had to do made her very upset therefore, every night she used to run up to her room and cry so much.At this moment, when Veronica had finished talking, she had 54 tears in her eyes! “Are you ok Veronica?” Lilli requested, “I suppose so, ” Veronica replied, giving her a horrible look, “Would you like a tissue?” “NO, I am fine! Leave me alone!” From then on, Lilli didn’t speak, neither did Veronica.Both of them looked angry but more so Veronica as her eyes was scrunched up and her hands were on her head. Vicious Veronica, who was a very independent woman, didn’t have many friends and didn’t want friends which was why she was so mean and cruel. Lilli tried to be her friend but she didn’t succeed as Veronica liked to think and be alone when she was angry or upset . In the end, Veronica and Lilli weren’t friends, however Lilli didn’t know. Therefore, she was still eager to be her friend so she started to do things for Veronica such as; get her drinks and snacks, give her good nail tips, but it didn’t last long as Veronica was sick of it! Out of nowhere, she ripped her wand out of her pocket and shouted: “Get the girl away from me!” Lilli got swept off of her feet and flew straight into the street. 55 56 Chapter 17 The Failed Attempt Lilli ran as fast as she could to go and see the children. Tears started to run from Lilli‘s eyes and she felt guilt. With sadness, Lilli told the children what had happened. “ I’ve failed to change Veronica’s mind. ” Lilli announced whilst sulking. All of the children started to cry, as they knew that every child could vanish and they could possibly be the only ones left on Earth. “I have failed to succeed, ” Lilli sobbed, “You may rip up the painting.”To start with, Catnyse ripped a corner off the canvas and then broke a piece of the thick, sandy coloured wood that was coated in a wonderful display of art. Then, a few minutes later, she teared the painting up. Bit by bit, Veronica vanished! First, her fingers disappeared, then her whole hands were gone.”What is happening!” Veronica screamed whilst she shed a couple of tears. Veronica was distraught, she didn’t want to die! She tried to think that everything would be alright but deep down she knew it wouldn’t be. In Veronica’s mind, all she was thinking about was what was going to happen next however she didn’t know. On the other hand, Rose started to think about a way to protect them all so, as she is such a good writer, she wrote a story. Her 57 story was about a man called Robert who was a good fighter and wore a lot of armour. He was very strong therefore he could protect anything and anyone so in Rose’s story, Robert protects the children. When she had finished writing the story, she read it and wished that it would come true.Not long after that, all of the children decided to go into a house so they could be safe from the evil, Veronica! Whilst they were in there, they locked the doors and windows to be extra safe, put the painting in the living room and then ran up the stairs to hide in the biggest room. The room had light blue walls with paintings of different animals on them. Also, there was a king sized bed in there and a bedside cabinet by the side of it which had two drawers.”Let’s hide under here!”Camilla whispered, pointing to the king sized bed. “ok, ”the rest of the children agreed.One by one, each of the children crawled under the bed and hid in the top left corner, shaking with fear. Over time, Veronica’s body was nearly gone. All that was left was her waist down, minute after minute, it was going.However, Catnyse just left the rest of it as she thought it was all gone by then but it wasn’t. So instead of it being ripped, it dried up!Finally, after half an hour, Veronica’s body was gone! All of a sudden, in the house that the children were in, came a loud bang! The children were terrified and had no idea what to do so they just sat there in silence for a couple of seconds but then they heard voices! “What should we do?”Rose asked, “Let’s just stay here for a couple more minutes.”Luna replied, “Ok, good idea Luna.” From then on, they just waited and waited . All they could hear was two people, well that’s what they thought, messing around and calling each other silly names such as; banana heads and stink bombs. They were actually the gargoyles who had come for Veronica’s painting.Luckily for them, they had found exactly what they were looking for in the living room.”Ha ha ha, we got what we 58 wanted!”one of the gargoyles laughed. “I know you you banana face!”the other one said.They then left the house whilst giggling and being stupid.The children all went downstairs together and they had a good look around but nothing was broken.”Where’s the painting?”Camilla requested, “I left it in the living room, I’m sure!”Catnyse shouted. “It isn’t here though!”Rose screamed, ”Those people must of took it!”Then, they all just stayed in the upstairs room and talked. When the gargoyles got back to their home, they got some extra strong super glue and started to stick the painting back together.”What are you doing?”Emerald asked, “I’m sticking it together you dumbo!” Amethyst snapped.All in all, Amethyst wasn’t sticking it together properly at all, but Emerald was.”This is how you do it!”Emerald ordered, “Ok, ok, smarty pants!”Amethyst joked. Half an hour later, the painting was finished! “Let’s put it in here!”Emerald shouted, “Ok!”Amethyst agreed.They both, actually being careful for once, placed the painting into a huge golden chest and checked that all of the corners were nice and straight.They also locked the chest with a padlock and made sure it was secure.They then left the chest under the old stairs to keep it safe and hidden.After they had finished, they went into their bedrooms and joked around. er 59 60 Chapter 18 Spy Changes Sides Suddenly, Gemma felt a strange sensation in her stomach. Something was telling her that Veronica was evil, really evil and that was what she was doing was wrong. Gemma had stole information and had been very cunning just for Veronica. But Veronica had not treated her right. Gemma had risked everything for Veronica and Veronica had not done anything for Gemma. It was clear that Gemma’s mistress was actually very selfish, despite her magical powers and skills, not to mention her underhanded cunningness. “I’m so sorry that I did all the evil things I did. I just wanted to get revenge for all those vile bullies that bullied me when I was at school. I wanted revenge. I just got so angry that I was mocked. I’m pretty sure that if you were in my place, you would have done the exact same thing. Luna agreed and said to her, “It’s ok, as long as it doesn’t happen again.” It was clear that Gemma was nearly in tears because of what had happened to her. Gemma learned something new that not all kids are bullies: some can be bullies but you have to live with it and that doesn’t mean you hurt everyone because of one child that bullied you in the past. “I understand that what I did was wrong and I’ve owned up. I am ever so sorry.” Gemma sobbed. Then, Gemma left to go and see the children. 61 “You know, I’ve been thinking. Why don’t I act as a double agent?” Gemma suggested to the children? It means that I’m going to change sides so I’m on your side but pretend that I’m still on Veronica’s side and whatever she says, I’ll report back to you. But I’ll also make up what you say in case Veronica asks. What do you say?” Gemma’s big, purple eyes seemed so honest and eager that Catynse, Camilla, Luna and Rose decided to forgive her and take up her offer. “Well, first things first.” The girls looked puzzled but understood that Gemma, willing to help the children, went around in turn and helped all the children lean up of the soft pillows. She helped the children with whatever they needed: food, water, extra blankets etc. The girls, appreciating all of the help, still suspected Gemma. Could this be a trick? Well, they wouldn’t be sure if they didn’t give Gemma a second chance. Suddenly, while all the children were settling down with Gemma helping them, they all heard a series of strange noises outside. Gemma, getting anxious for the children’s safety, went out and saw that the gargoyles were making the silly noises. “I guess you have a reason for making silly noises?” she asked sarcastically though she knew the answer already. “Yeah! Veronica told us to!” they replied in unison. “Oh, no, no, no! The children!” Gemma murmured softly. She looked at the gargoyles and said, “Okay, you can go now.” The gargoyles, angry to be told what to do with a colleague, protested. “You can’t tell us what to do! Only Veronica can!” (Veronica would have definitely liked that). Gemma, not wasting anytime, replied, “Fine. I’ll go and tell Veronica then.” Emerald and Amethyst, the gargoyles, flew away in sky, looking disgruntled. “Girls, please get up and quickly pack your belongings. The gargoyles, Veronica’s minions, were the ones making the noise and now they know where I am which means that they know where you are as well.” Gemma said. “But where will we go?” asked Camilla. Gemma was already one 62 step ahead. “You are going to be camping out in a cave until I find some other place for you. Is that okay? Take that straight route which should lead you to the cave.” After the children had agreed, packed and said their goodbyes to Gemma, Gemma decided to go to the gargoyles and persuade them to change sides. When Gemma had found the gargoyles, they were up their usual pranks.”What are you doing here?” asked Amethyst, when she saw Gemma. Gemma recited at top speed about Veronica and how the gargoyles should change sides. “Veronica was using us? And she doesn’t care if we get killed in an attempt for her? Right, we’re changing sides!” Emerald and Amethyst replied. “Yes, thank you! But don’t tell Veronica what just happened. Just agree with her for everything. Just act like how you were before and you’re also going to be telling Veronica lies that she will actually believe.” Gemma told them. “If you think that you can win, then think again, Veronica!” Gemma thought to herself. Veronica would have a huge surprise once she had realised that her that her minions had swapped sides... 63 64 Chapter 19 Villain Gets Redrawn Location: A desert Time: 16:00 As Catnyse gathered her pitiful collection of art supplies, she began to paint. She paint a tall, blond woman with maroon eyes. She wore a clean cream dress and her eyes sparkled with happiness. She was perfect. It would never get old seeing her own creations blossom to life in front of her eyes. It held a sense of beauty, seeing something unique become real and living. It would never fail to make her feel awestruck, but at the same time insignificant. . Even though she was happy, there was still something missing. She realised for the first time in months that she had been separated from her sisters in all but blood. They had formed a bond, all of them, when they had spent months on end in that room. In a way, that could have been seen as a blessing in disguise. They had formed strong bonds in there and lived together as a family. A family, was more than they had at the orphanage. Catnyse was thinking that she needed some inspiration, She set off to the library. As she was walking in the town she saw a box 65 that was covered in fluff, it said kitten here to die. Catnyse opened the box but to her surprise she saw a stuffed animal. She finally arrived at the library where she went to the kids section to find a book with cartoon characters. She casually flicked through all the books area she found the perfect one. She ran back home. She got her paintbrush and started painting on her canvas. Catnyse starts to paint the background. Under a lot of pressure Catnyse started worrying if she gets it wrong. The whole world is depending on her if she gets it wrong the children will never come back. Again she starts painting; she was doing the maroon eyes. Very carefully, she starts the body with the knee length dress and the black leggings. After that she does the glistening gold hair. When Catnyse finished the painting she felt like something is missing she tried to figure out what Went wrong. She tries adding more hearts and flowers but it still feels wrong. She does not know what is happening she puts more details in the hair; it still feels the same. Under a lot of pressure she still can’t quite figure out what is wrong. She tried all sorts of things but it still doesn’t feel right. She sits down, sighing. “Maybe there isn’t anything wrong with this painting after all, ” she thought. Catnyse, unable to concentrate, takes a break from painting and has a snack. She goes outside to play and starts to do some gymnastics to help calm her. After that she starts to run and she sees the sky turn dark like it was about to thunder. She ran back in her house and slammed the door shut just as it was about to rain. Catnyse was gasping for breath as she ran as fast as she could. As she came back feeling more relaxed she took off her trainers and got a glass of water. She sat back down on the soft sofa when at the corner of her eye she saw the painting. She had forgotten all about it and now she remembered that she needed to finish the painting. A few minutes later Finally the painting was complete. As she finished the portrait she went to wash all her painting supplies supplies she felt a breeze go down her neck. Frightened, 66 she thought someone was in the house with but that’s impossible the door was locked because when she ran back in She locked the door. She ran up the stairs and went into her room. She goes back down stairs and Stood next to the door because she thought that’s where it was coming from . She op 67 68 Chapter 20 The Children Reappear Location:park Time:2:00pm The swings swung in the cool fresh breeze of the summer air, the rusting metal shone in the sun light., the seesaw creaked and tipped from side to side slowly like scales with a constant sound creeping in the silence.The sky changes colour. the soft blue sky slowly changed to a dark, coral pink, soft breeze flew around the silent park. The glorious sun lit up the world and searched for the children. Laughter filled the empty park, as well as shrieks of happiness. People sliding down the slide, swinging on the swings and tipping the seesaw side to side.The children were back! All the happy chatter that was there before the children had disappeared had come back. The magic had reversed! However, the strange thing was that the children had no idea of their strange disappearance ; they had no idea that their what had happened to them was was caused by an ancient soul that was painted; they had no idea that their heroine was actually an astronaut. The silence started to break and the laughter began children started to appear one by one and the park was eventually the same again. 69 “ Where’s my child?” Called a mother. “ Here she is.” Replied another parent. Parents were kissing and hugging children and everything was back to normal! Lilli was shocked, but happy she could not believe it “What ...the children are all back I...I...I can’t believe it we did it we brought the children back, hooray, we did it yay! “She cheered “Yaaaaay” shouted little children on the slide and the swings “Wow I should write a recount of this!” said Rose excitedly as she swung her legs back and forth on top of the slide “No”said Camilla, Catnyse and Luna simultaneously “We don’t want another version of us all or for any of this to happen again!” Lilli picked her sister and hugged her tightly! Gemma changed sides because she new what was right and that working for Veronica was the worst decision in her life, everyone who was involved promised to never let this secret out . The best thing was Veronica turned good! Veronica learnt from her mistakes and apologised to all the children and Lilli. She tried apologising to the Gargoyles but they had one condition .... A life supply of food. So Veronica did that..., The End.... 70 Chapter 21 Epilogue After discovering that the four sisters in all but blood were all orphans, Lili made a potentially life-changing decision to take them all in. They now live with lili and are one big, happy, dysfunctional family. And they loved it. Ten years later Lilli Lilli is now known as the best astronaut to ever grace the earth. She raised the children after kindly taking them in. Lilli lives in Oklahoma with her golden labradors. She is signing up to be one of the first people to colonise planet 7x, which after the revolutionary space voyager is actually reachable as it is a different solar system. As it has a extremely young sun, scientists plan to slowly relocate planet earth there before the sun explodes in 5 billion years. The planet is similar to earth in every way. Veronica After turning good, she decided to be a teacher to get over her wariness of children. It (miraculously) worked and the children love her. She is leading a campaign to stop cyber bullying called lol, not troll. Camilla 71 Camilla is currently training for the Japan olympics this summer. She is in for running and gymnastics. She is she proud owner of 6 gold medals and is known as one of the most talented athletes to ever live. Rose Rose lived with Lilli until she was eighteen and studied science and maths at Oxford. She now lives in Australia with two cats and a dog. She works as a lead scientist at RLS Lab in Brisbane . She is currently attending a week-long conference in Adelaide about carbon dating in the natural history museum. She is also currently leading a campaign to stop animal testing and cruelty. Dulcie Turns out that dulcie is actually a highly intelligent spy cat, who would have knew? And because of her insane intelligence, it turns out that she has the lifespan of a human. She still lives with Rose in Australia and is the most spoiled cat in the world. Catnyse Catynse being a painter, also studied at Oxford with her friends, but learned about painting and drew amazing portraits that she had left school early and decided to live with Lilli until she had got somewhere of her own. She started to give painting classes and to help other young minds achieve something that Catynse did. She soon became very famous and her name was known all around the world. Luna Luna lived with Lilli until she was eighteen and studied science and medicine at Oxford University then became a doctor for 2 years. She then became a futurologist and has 2 wonderful dogs called Sydney and Fleur. She also volunteers at an animal shelter each week.Luna was an independent young woman who was very smart and would often give lectures at oxford, cambridge, london, keele, harvard and staffordshire university . Luna lived in australia when she was older. She is now neighbours with rose in Brisbane australia 72 . Vidia Vidia continued to be a scientist and found out lots of research, most of them about the Nazca lines. She popped round regularly to check on the children and to have a chat with Lilli. Vidia then became a professor in Oxford and Cambridge, wrote a recount about what happened with Veronica and also started different laboratories all around the world. Vidia is currently attending a month - long conference about the history of the Nazca lines and the magic behind it. Vidia now lives in Alaska or the Last Frontier. Gargoyles Emerald and Amethyst both stayed stupid . For once they both actually liked their futures .Do you want to know what they ended up being in the end? I‘ll tell you but I’m sure you would’ve found out by now. They grew up to beee .clowns in a circus act. You know what, they actually earned quite a lot! Everyone thought they were hilarious.They now live in london .They are now became famous clowns in their own type of act a reality pie throwing show!! Gemma The government took an interest in Gemma, and recruited her for MI6. She has quickly flew through the ranks due to her extraordinary talent and has the George cross. She lives in Washington D.C. Conclusion Everyone had a happy ending and everyone became friends in the end. All the characters ended up with a nice life and are enjoying a wonderful life at the moment. This just comes to show that the key for anything is friendship and not that she shouldn’t let something as small as a bully let past you but you should just hold your head up high and enjoy your life with your friends. THE END Tolu is 10 years old, his best hobby is playing football also his favourite subject is science and he likes reading, his favourite book is Percy Jackson and the last Olympian. 73 Naomi is eleven years old and she loves to read. Her favourite hobby is sports, especially running and her favourite subject is maths, which she is very good in. She really enjoys school and her favourite movie is Matilda. Her favourite books are the Harry Potter books as they are full of different adventures. Laila is a 10 year old female who loves maths, Harry Potter and English. She also enjoys swimming, as she is extremely good at it. Laila‘s favourite book is Harry Potter, as they are adventurous and mysterious. Her favourite author is J.K Rowling. However Laila is not like an average child, as she loves school. She is also brave, intelligent and courageous. Furthermore, her favourite movie is Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets. Nimra is ten years old and she is a sporty person and enjoys swimming. As well as sports she has got a huge interest for maths and literacy. She likes to communicate with other people and is a cheerful person. Her dream job is to be a doctor. Her favourite author is Jacqueline Wilson. Her specialties are writing and maths and enjoys any subject in school. Also, her favourite movie is Jurassic World! Bhavana is ten years old and one of the authors to this brilliant book and also loves to read and write. Her favourite hobbies are reading, writing and playing tennis. Her favourite subject is Maths which she is incredibly good at. Bhavana loves Harry Potter - her favourite characters are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger (though her all - time favourite character is Hermione Granger) - and when she grows up, she wants to be a doctor, author and tennis player. Bhavana’s favourite author is J.K. Rowling. She is very intelligent, brave, a good leader and very adventurous amongst other qualities. Hannah is 10 years old and loves books her favourite place to be is either on her laptop or in a book shop she is obsessed with Harry Potter and memes. Hannah is very intelligent and is a book nerd. She was very excited when she got the opportunity to write 74 this book. Hannah absolutely love love love love loves J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter she is a mega fan.Hannah lives in Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, England. She lives with her brother, mum, dad and adorable dog sydney. Ruby is 10 years old and lives in Stoke-on-Trent, England. She lives with her Mother, step dad, 3 sisters, 2 brothers and adored cat, Dulcie. She loves Harry Potter, Maze Runner and Reindeer. She REALLY loved writing this book. She loves math, Science and Literacy, And would like to thank you for reading the book :-) Aaiza is 10 years nearly 11. She lives in Cobridge in Stoke-onTrent. She lives with her dad, mum 3 sisters including me 4. Her favorite hobby is reading and writing. Her favorite movie is...Harry Potter. I enjoyed writing this book. Haniah is 8 years old her favourite movie is Maleficent she loves to play and having fun with her friends and lives with her brother mum and dad. She lives in Stoke-on-Trent in England and she is happy to be a part of this book. Faheema is eight years old she likes to read and her favourite movie is Zootropolis.She loves to play on her sister’s phone.She lives in Stoke-On-Trent.She lives with her mum her dad and her six sisters. 75
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