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Chapter 2
The two girls sat in silence for a moment before Anna forced herself to stand on her feet again. She made up her mind to go back to the ancient tree in the middle of the forest; the one Jake led her away from. He seemed to be trying to protect her from something that was nearby the tree.
"Where are you going?" asked Krista, looking up at Anna with large green eyes. Anna looked back down at her friend, lying on the bed. She smirked before replying.
"Back to that forest. I want to see what Jake was trying to hide from me," Anna said as she disappeared out the door. She leapt down the stairs, landing noiselessly at the bottom. Anna was reaching for her coat, which was hanging on the doorknob, when she heard Krista yell out.
"Hey, wait up!" called Krista, climbing to her feet as well. She reached under her bed for her sneakers before grabbing a pair of socks from her dresser. Krista went into the hallway and prepared to chuck her shoes down the stairs. "Watch out below!" Anna looked up just in time to see Krista's blue sneakers come flying towards her face.
"Come on! Hurry up!" complained. Anna from the front door. Her friend came bounding down the stairs pulling a sock on in the process. Krista yanked on her shoes when she got to the bottom of the stairs. She stood up and grabbed her own coat from the hall closet.
"Ok, I'm ready to go now," Krista said stating the obvious. Anna sighed and shook her head. She pulled the front door open and back stepped out into the cold winter air. "Bye Mom!" called Krista over her shoulder into the house. "Anna and I are going outside for a while!" Before Mrs. Lestrang could answer, the two girls were out the door and halfway to the forest.
Silently Anna led Krista through the forest. The afternoon sun faded as the girls walked deeper into the forest. The leaves were blocking out most of the sunlight. Birds no longer sang gaily, as if trying to tell the girls something was wrong. Neither girl spotted the white figure as they trekked over the rough land. After a few minutes, Krista and Anna reached the large, ancient tree in the middle of the forest.
"Right around here, that white figure I told you about earlier, disappeared," Anna said, reaching out and placing both hands on the trunk of the enormous tree. Its solid weight seemed to reassure the girl of its existence. Anna sighed, closing her eyes. It seemed as if forever had passed since she was here, when it had only been ten minutes since Jake led her out of the forest, away from the ancient tree, and to Krista's house.
Krista walked around the ancient tree once. "What's so special about this tree anyway?" she asked.
"I don't know Krista!" said Anna exasperated. "This is just where the white figure vanished and Jake appeared."
"Well," said Krista. Just then a flash of light startled the two girls. Standing in front of them was Anna's white figure; its back was to them. Krista pulled Anna behind the ancient tree. Peering around the side of the trunk, the two girls watched as the white figure stepped through a space between two young trees and vanished into thin air.
Startled, the two girls glanced at each other, then back at the spot where the figure vanished.
"Ok, this is too freaky for words," said Anna, sitting on a large tree root.
"Yeah, no kidding. I mean, how can someone just vanish like that?" asked Krista. She leaned against the trunks. Sighing deeply she turned to look at her best friend.
"Anna?" peering around the tree trunks, Krista saw Anna gaze at the two young sapling trees.
{What's so special about these trees?} Anna though. She reached out a hand towards the empty space between the two trees.
"Anna! Don't!" Krista called, leaning out from behind the ancient tree. Anna looked back over her left shoulder at her friend. Her right hand, which was suspended in front of the saplings, dropped down to her side once more.
"What?" asked Anna. "I wasn't doing anything wrong."
"You were about to mess with the space between those trees," Krista accused. She strode out from behind the tree and walked over to stand next to Anna.
"Was not," Anna retorted.
"Was too."
"Not."
"Too."
"Not." Anna folded her arms across her chest.
"Be quiet you two," came a third voice. It was soft and silky sounding. Startled, both girls spun to face the space between the saplings. Suspended there was an image of a strange woman from the waist up. Anna and Krista's jaws dropped a couple of inches.
"That's her, the white figure. I'm sure of it," whispered Anna.
"How in the world is that possible?" cried Krista grasping Anna's arm tightly.
"I don't know," whispered Anna faintly. She just stared, astonished, at the floating image.
"It's time for you to come with me," the image said. Just as the image said that, Anna felt an irresistible feeling that she should walk towards the figure. Unable to resist, Anna walked forward, dragging Krista along. Krista, feeling scared, tugged backwards on Anna's arm. Ignoring her friend, Anna reached out with her other arm towards the image. Her hand went right through it. Continuing on, she plunged the rest of her body through the image. All around her, Anna could see a blanket of stars.
"Where are we?" Krista demanded after having been pulled through the image as well.
"I dunno," said Anna. She looked down at her feet. "eep!" she cried. Below their feet was nothingness.
"What's holding us up?" squealed Krista looking down as well.
"I dunno," said Anna again.
"It's time for you to learn of your true destiny," said the soft, silky voice. Before either girl could do anything, a warm, blindingly white light surrounded them.
Anna moaned as she sat up. She looked around at her surroundings. Not too much different. The only thing missing were the trees. A sound alerted Anna to a presence behind her.
She spun around to see her best friend sprawled across the grass, face down.
"Krista! Are you ok?" Anna asked as she reached out to Krista's arm.
"Dunno," Krista mumbled. Her voice was muffled in the long grass. Anna pushed her friend onto her back. "Thanks. It's better to breath clean air as opposed to the dirt." Anna sat back on her feet.
"What's wrong? Why don't you sit up?" asked Anna reaching out a hand.
"I can't," whined Krista. Anna could easily tell Krista was struggling to raise herself up. "My muscles won't pay attention! It's like every nerve in my body, from the chest down, is completely numb."
"Not fun," said Anna. Krista nodded slightly. Anna pulled at Krista's arm until she was sitting up.
"There is a reason for her not moving on her own free will," said the soft, silky voice from earlier. Anna's head snapped around, looking for the source of the voice. She made sure to keep Krista braced up against her.
"Is there anyway to help her to move again?" asked Anna, still looking around for the voice. A bright shimmer appeared in front of the two girls and grew in intensity. Krista closed her eyes while Anna watched interestedly. Much to her surprise, a being formed with in the bright light. As the light dimmed, the being came into focus.
"The only way is for her to return to her own world," the figure said, still shroud in dim light. Anna looked down at her best friend then back up at the new figure.
"But how come I can still move? I come from the same world as Krista?" asked Anna.
"You, child, are not of that world." Anna's brow furrowed in confusion. "You are from the Astiler System-"
"Where?" interrupted Anna. She shifted Krista's weight off her hands and onto her legs, allowing her to stand.
"The Astiler System. It's 500 interstellar slugs from here. As I was-"
"What's a slug?" Anna interrupted again. The strange figure glared at her. "eep!" she muttered under her breath, cowering a little before the figure.
"A slug is approximately 50 earth light years," Krista piped up. Anna stared down at her. "I remember hearing it somewhere."
"She is correct," the figure said. Anna looked up confused. "As I was saying, you are from the planet Balicker in the Astiler System. You were sent to Caister as a young child to protect you from terrorists."
"Where's Caister?" Anna asked, clearly puzzled.
"The place you call home."
"Caister is their name for Earth, Anna," Krista murmured, piecing together what the figure was saying. This time, Anna's eyes never left the figure.
"The girl must go home if she is to continue to live. She would not survive long on Balicker; her home planet and ours are very different-"
"Then how come I survived my childhood on Caister if I'm really from Balicker?" Anna interrupted. The figure sighed heavily, causing both girls to feel as if they had suddenly been dumped into a tub of ice water.
"Your genes allow you to survive on any planet, girl. Now she must return to Caister," the figure demanded softly, pointing at Krista. Krista's body started to fade.
"You better come back soon," Krista said to her best friend before disappearing completely.
"Time for you to return to Caister as well. Trouble is brewing there and you are needed," said the figure, raising a finger to point at Anna.
"Wait!" Anna cried, flinging her arms over her face.
"Is there a problem?" the figure asked coolly, her arm at a forty-five degree angle to the ground.
"What do I have to do?" Anna asked lowering her own arms so she could see the figure.
"You have to figure that out for yourself."
"One more thing!" The figure's finger was nearly level with Anna's face. "I might need to talk to you sometime, how can I get in touch with you?"
"Call out 'Estaline' when you need me."
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Please review! I'd love to hear your questions, comments, concerns. Even flames if they're not horrible..
Peace! ~Tiara