Tuesday, April 6, 2010

MR Fanfic (MPOV) Chapter 39

I looked around frantically for whoever it was that was talking to me. I determined that the voice was either a boy or a really boyish sounding girl, so it definitely wasn't Jasmine. (Unless she could make her voice sound way different than it was...) Plus, I thought I detected a slight lisp.

"Who's there?" I called out into the darkness. I thought I was facing the direction where the voice had come from, but I didn't know for sure.

"I can assure you I'm not your enemy, Maximum." he said, sounding like he was behind me.

"And how can I be so sure? For all I know, everyone's my enemy." I said defiantly.

"You and I both know you don't believe that, Maximum. While there are people who would prefer your existence to be a short one, there are people who love you very much and would do anything to protect you." his voice was calm, light, and his way of talking was waaaaay different than anyone else's I had ever met. So, basically, I had no idea who he was.

"Who are you?" I asked, stopping short of a yell.

"Calm down, Maximum. I only wish to speak with you." his sounding so calm made me want to strangle him, whoever he was.

"Who are you?" I repeated, yelling this time.

"You don't recognize me? I'm hurt."

"Trust me, when I'm done with ya, you will be hurting." I growled. I heard him chuckle. There was a moment of silence where I scanned the dim building, trying to see him. It was like he was invisible or something, because no matter how hard I looked, he wasn't there. "Who are you?" I screamed, hoping my persistence would pay off.

"I'm known as N1C01_43 to the scientists, but you call me by many names." he paused as I tried to figure out who it was. It didn't sound like Jeb or Fang or Iggy or...well, I guess it could have been Gazzy playing a trick on me, but I never remembered anyone calling him N1C01_43... "The most common name you use when referring to me is 'The Voice'," my breath caught in my lungs. If this was Gazzy playing a trick on me, I was going to pound him to within twelve inches of his life. I heard him chuckle again and regained my composure.

"No, Maximum Ride, I am not the Gassman." Okay, so I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised when he read my mind, since if he was The Voice, he did it all the time. I took a deep breath then began speaking.

"You have 3 seconds to explain a lot of things," I said, still trying to find him. If this was what he really sounded like, I had to know what he really looked like.

"I shall answer all the questions I can, Maximum." he said. It sounded like he was on surround sound so I didn't know where to look for him.

"Is that how you really sound?" Yes, that was my first question. Why? Don't ask.

"Yes, Maximum Ride, this is my true voice." he replied with yet another chuckle.

"Then why don't you sound like that in my head?"

"Because I didn't want you to know how I really sound until we spoke in person."

"How come Jeb can do The Voice voice?" I wondered if that question made any sense.

"Jeb has always been able to use the same voice I used when speaking to you telepathically."

"Then why did you sound that way in my head?"

"I thought using his voice would make you feel less apprehensive about it. Apparently you didn't know about Jeb's other voice at that time, though, so the effort was a bit in vain, I suppose." I was wishing he would talk normally, because all of those large words were making my brain work too hard when it was already reeling.

"Why have you been in my head?" I asked probably the biggest question yet as loud as I could. There was a pause before he answered.

"That question has a much longer answer than the others, Maximum." he said softly.

"I have time." I folded my arms over my chest and glared around the room. Whether that was a lie or not I wasn't sure, but I really wanted the answer to this question, and I was going to get it. One way or another.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter is not just about the candy, people

Maggie looked around in awe. She didn't think it would actually work, but it had. "Jon? Stephanie? Hannah?" she called out, trying to see through the crowd. No one answered, and that fact troubled her. She took a deep breath and took in her surroundings a bit more. She was on a busy road with people and animals all around her. The air smelled like a farm with too many people working on it mixed with a sweet smell she couldn't identify. Upon further inspection, she realized she was in an outdoor market of sorts.

"Out of the way, child!" a woman yelled, pushing Maggie towards a stand with some sort of pastry being sold on it. It was then that Maggie realized she was hardly dressed for the time and place she was at. She was wearing her t-shirt, shorts, and Crocs, while everyone here wore a long coat over what she thought to be a very boring dress. She knew where she was, she just hadn't expected to be there.

"Baklava, child?" a voice asked her from behind. Maggie turned around to look and realized the speaker was a rather round man with a beard and hair that shrouded his whole face. Maggie glanced down at the pastry he was holding out to her and shook her head.

"No, thank you," she said softly. She began moving down the street, keeping an eye out for her friends. Eventually, she walked far enough to come to a quieter part of the city. She stopped and sighed, thinking about how hot and thirsty she was here. There were trees here and there, but mostly the surroundings consisted of brick houses (and not the type of brick she was accustomed to) and sand.

"So, this is Israel, huh?" Maggie murmured to herself, looking around again. Suddenly, two women came running down the road towards her. Following them a little ways was a young girl...wearing a pink tank-top and shorts. "Hannah!" Maggie yelled, running past the two woman and up to Hannah.

"Maggie, I just saw the COOLEST thing EVER!!" Hannah exclaimed. She was easily excited, so Maggie didn't think whatever it was could possibly be that spectacular.

"Yeah, what was that?" Maggie asked as the two continued walking in the direction Hannah had been running.

"An angel! A real, live angel!" Hannah exclaimed and Maggie stopped right in the middle of the road.

"What?" she asked, unable to comprehend this piece of information.

"I was just at the tomb, and the stone was all rolled away, and there was an angel there that told the women to go and tell the disciples that He's risen, just like He said!" Hannah was practically bouncing with excitement, now. "We have to keep going, come on!" Maggie began running along side her friend, wishing she had been there to see such a thing.

"Hey, have you seen Jon or Stephanie?" Maggie asked, panting, as they turned a corner.

"Stephanie stayed behind with the other Mary, but I haven't seen Jon." Hannah replied quickly. They caught sight of the two women just as they entered one of the many stone buildings. They ran up to one of the windows and crouched outside of it.

"The stone was rolled away, and an angel was there, telling us that He's risen!" one of the women said.

"What?" the voice of a man asked in disbelief.

"I saw it too, I did!" the other woman exclaimed. There was the sound of people and things moving around before the door burst open again. A man ran out and down the street where the women had just come from, followed shortly by another man, who was followed by a boy in shorts and a t-shirt.

"Jon!" Maggie gasped. "Come on!" she said, chasing after them. She and Hannah followed the two men until they came to a stop in front of a cave with an enormous stone next to it. Jon stood behind the two men, staring up at the tomb. Maggie couldn't help but stare as well. Hannah bent down to the ground and picked up a small rock. She threw the rock at Jon's back, hitting him.

"Ow!" the two girls heard him say as he spun around. Jon saw Maggie and Hannah and ran over to them without the men noticing. They were going into the tomb, anyways.

"I wondered where you two were..." Jon said, frowning at them.

"I was thinking the same thing, big brother." Maggie said with a smile. "Now all we need to find is-"

"Psst!" the three kids turned to see another girl standing behind a tree a ways away. Their faces lit up as they dashed towards her.

"Stephanie!" Hannah said, hugging her older sister.

"Yeah, nice to see you too," Stephanie said, untangling herself from the hug. "You are not going to believe what I saw!"

"An angel?" Maggie asked.

"Who said Jesus had risen from the dead?" Jon finished. Stephanie's happy expression faded for a moment.

"Guess what else I saw..." she said, lowering her voice. The three other kids leaned in a little closer. "I saw Him! Jesus!" she whispered excitedly.

"No. Way." Hannah said, her eyes widening. Stephanie nodded so hard it looked like her head just might fall off of her shoulders.

"He is risen..." Jon breathed. Maggie's mind spun. She wanted to see the angel, the look on the disciple's faces when they heard the news, but most of all...she wanted to see Jesus. Instead, she had been saying no to baklava, whatever that was... She blinked her eyes a few times to hold back the tears she suddenly felt there.

"Are you okay, Maggie?" Hannah asked. Maggie nodded quickly, looking away. The two men were now exiting the tomb and running back to the city from where they had come.

"Should we go back with them?" Jon asked.

"I guess so," Stephanie said in reply. The group began following after the two men, but Maggie lagged behind. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed. Why did she always miss the exciting things?

"Worry not, child," Maggie heard a voice behind her for the second time today and wondered if she was about to be offered more baklava. "You are blessed, because even though you do not see me, you still believe I am here." Maggie's eyes widened and she spun around. No one was there. She glanced down and saw, on the ground, a square of baklava sitting on a small piece of paper. She picked up the two things and put the paper in her pocket, then proceeded to put the baklava in her mouth. As she began tracing the footsteps of her friends, she decided she liked baklava...

And she most certainly liked finding out that He had, indeed, risen from the grave.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

MR fanfic (MPOV) Chapter 38

I stood out on the sidewalk and looked around for Jazz. Apparently she was faster than I had given her credit for, because I didn't seen any sign of her. "Great..." I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest. "What am I supposed to do now, Voice?"

Follow the signs, Max. I was a little surprised that I actually got an answer from the Voice to a question I asked it.

What signs? I thought back, less annoyed than before. I looked straight ahead and saw a green road sign that I hadn't seen before that said simply, "TURN LEFT" I turned left and saw a four-way intersection. I walked quickly to the intersection and sighed.

What now? I thought.

Maybe you should try the road less taken. The Voice replied with what sounded like a small smile. (I may have been imagining that, though.) I thought for a minute then wondered if the "TURN LEFT" sign would apply here, too. So, I turned left again. On the road that led left there was a yellow diamond sign that had "Dead End" written on it in black letters. It didn't look very traveled to me. I marched towards the dead end and came to an old run down building that looked like it hadn't been used in years. "Road less taken..." I mumbled to myself and jogged towards the door. I smiled a little as I thought about how good I was getting at solving the Voice's riddles. Then I got a little worried about starting to understand the voice in my head...

The door was half-open, so I was able to slip in without opening it anymore. The building was dark with only a little bit of light coming in from the windows. It was a couple stories tall with two staircases. One that ran up one end and another that ran up the opposite end of the building. Now, even though the building was tall, it didn't have floors. Just partial ones. But it looked like it was built that way. I couldn't tell what it had been used for, but there were things hanging from the ceiling that looked like they could be pretty good weapons in a fight.

Suddenly, I got that feeling that I always got when I was being watched. I spun around and peered into the darkness. My eyes can see better than the average human because, well, I'm not the average human. "Hello?" I called out into the open (but stale) air. I was hoping it was just Jasmine sitting up there somewhere.

"Hello, Maximum Ride," I was greeted by a voice I couldn't remember hearing before but sounded oddly familiar. It was calm, soft, and seemed to float through the air like a feather caught on an updraft. "I've been expecting you."