Chapter 1
“Hey Izzy, what do you suppose our new assignment might be? Do you think it might be something awesome?! (Gasp) Maybe it might be something to do with kicking those bad guys butts!” James said energetically.
I smiled at my partner, and started to laugh.
“You know, we can always just ask. Who knows, maybe the boss might have something for us,” I told him.
“But the boss hasn’t called us to her office, since forever … and I’m starting to get bored just being in here,” James answered.
“Aren’t you tiered of the last battle we had, though? I mean, those bad guys did do serious damage to both of us,” I told him.
“No pain, no game. Bring on the pain. Let me have it! Bring it on!” James shouted excitedly.
“I’ve got to admit, you’re right about that. Sometimes I do ever wonder how you do it, though,” I said, puzzled.
“Because of my coolness, I have no intentions of paying attention to the pain,” James answered with a proud smile.
“You don’t say. But then, I do have a question that leaves me wondering,” I said in a soft tone.
“What is it?” He asked.
“If you’re not scared of bad guys, and don’t care much about the pain that you receive from them … then, why do you run away from Aaron so often?” I asked.
James looked at me for a moment. Then, he opened his mouth and spoke.
“Your brother is another story. He’s scary. But at the same time, not exactly,” He exclaimed.
“Interesting,” I said.
“We’ve battled the bad guys more than what I’ve known your brother. To be honest, though, I find him just as cool as my brothers,” James said with a gentle smile.
“As mischievous as you are, Jamie, you really are something,” I told him.
“That’s why I’m your BBFF!” He shouted happily.
“Ssh!” I told him.
“There you two are,” Familiar voices said behind us.
James and I quickly turned around and noticed our trainers standing before us.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked them.
“Instead of reporting to the boss, you two will be reporting to us, and we will be giving you your assignments,” Dimitri said.
“Why?” James asked.
“The boss has put you two under our supervision,” Cornelius replied.
“No more questions, you two have an urgent task, that is a bit risky, but we believe in the both of you,” Dimitri told us, handing over a folder.
James took it, and I looked it over with him.
“Where are we going, exactly?” I asked puzzled.
“Human realm, so you, Izzy, will be connecting to your human form,” Dimitri told me.
I looked at him stunned in the response, and backed away shaking my head.
“No, no. You know I can’t put my friend in such danger like that. I’m not careless, you know that!” I told him, resisting the assignment.
“You’ll do fine, you have our word. Besides, you’ll have your partner by your side to help you, so there is nothing to fear,” Cornelius said.
I sighed deeply and nodded, knowing that I didn’t have much of a choice anyway.
“C’mon, let’s go,” James said, tugging me towards the portal he’d open.
Once we had gone through it, it disappeared. We had stepped onto the nighttime streets in downtown Napa. Time is very different here than in Dreamland. It’s a lot slower, but with the sun down, it made our job not only dangerous, but easier as well.
“Come, let’s go find our guy,” James said, pulling on my arm.
I followed him down the emptied streets and passed over the bridge. As I breathed in the air, I gagged and turned away from the horrible scent.
“Do you smell that?” I asked him.
James sniffed the air and covered both his mouth and his nose.
“What’s that smell? It smells like dead meat,” He said.
I turned back around and looked at the ground to see a trail of fresh blood, looking up again I noticed a figure leaning against the light post, and I quickly ran up to them.
“James, come here!” I told him.
James ran over to where I was, and we tried to help the wounded person, only for them to disappear into nothing, almost as if they had never existed. I jumped in surprise, and when I turned around, the trail of fresh blood was gone. It disappeared, leaving absolutely no stain, just like it was never even there.
“What? What’s going on?” James asked, freaking out.
“I-I don’t know,” I replied.
“There was a body right here, and the person was still … alive. They were breathing, but now … th-they’re gone!!” He said.
“The blood trail has disappeared as well,” I told him.
“It’s almost as though it was never here,” James said quietly.
An Evil laugh echoed in the mist of the air, and the wind started to pick up furiously and just as I was about to turn around, I was thrown off balance, and fell into the arms of my partner.
“Careful,” He said in a gentle tone.
I looked up at him and he smiled. Then, I turned around and quickly straightened up, I readied myself for anything out of the ordinary.
“Did you actually think this mission would be easy as pie?” Asked a familiar voice.
My partner leaped in front of me, and gripped my wrist tightly, probably to make sure nothing bad happened, or I’d disappear, being misplaced by someone else.
“Stay behind me,” He said softly.
“Aww, how sweet. You’re protecting your partner, making sure I don’t take her away from you again?” The voice said, drawing nearer.
James began to back up, so I backed up as well to make sure he didn’t over trip me.
“What did you do?” James asked.
The voice laughed joyfully, but decided not to respond.
