She walked from room to room, door to door. Not finding a single soul, she ran to a dull-painted door and unlocked it. Even through the slightest crack, bright light streamed out. She shielded her face with her hand and slipped into the room. Once inside the room, she couldn't see because of the light. She dropped to the floor and took a yoga position. ************************* Zack slicked back his wet hair and flexed his muscles, ready for more dancing. After he had danced half the night away already, one could wonder how he had enough energy to continue. It was the third quarter of the annual Rockport Dance Competition and Zack was in the semifinals. As he slowly began dancing, he found himself zapped with electricity ************************* She had to warn them of the coming danger. ************************* About a minute later, he found himself sitting upright on the carpet in his own room. His sister burst into the room smiling, although Zack face was a deep shade of red, clashing with his light blond hair. ''Ash, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOIN?!?!?!?!'' Ashley looked at him, joyful, but confused. ''Are you not wondering how i managed to bring you home, brother?'' Zack looked at her disgustedly..... ''Oh yeah, I know how... y'know, just 'cos you're *chosen* doesn't give you the right to magically transport me home'' Zack then instantly regretted saying that. Ashley's serious grey eyes searched his own pale green ones, the kind of stare he especially detested. He knew her game, trying to find the slightest tinge of guilt or jealousy in him. He stared back at her, with his well-practiced blank expression. '' Zachary... do you still feel uncomfortable when I practice my gift of magic?'', Ashley happily trilled. Zack grimaced, he knew this game as well, try and MAKE Zack jealous. Ashley playfully toyed with his tangled hair, which (as Zack noticed) had dried somehow. ''You can't just pull me out of an dance contest y'know... people'll look for me'' protested Zack. Ashley calmly smoothed down her skirt and smiled at him divinely. Zack suddenly realized that that wasn't a good thing to say, because she'd take it as a personal insult. Ashley conjured upapack of gummy bears and offered it to Zack. He looked at the pack disgustedly and didn't touch it. She shrugged and ate it herself when he didn't touch it. ''Zachary... if you seriously wanted magical powers equal to those of my own, you should have just accepted the offer of the Xphets... I did'' Zack looked at her even MORE coldly than usual, if that was possible. ''Unlike you, sister dear, I wasn't willing to give up half my life to some wierd alien-type species from another planet'' Ashley's constant smile faded as a grimace stole over her face. ''It isn't half as bad Zary, they only take over your mind when you are asleep'' Zack looked at her astonishedly. She'd stopped calling him 'Zary' when she was six, which was eight years before she had allowed the Xphets into her mind. Perhaps this was that old, nice sister he used to have before the extra-terresstrials showed up. Zack sat down heavily on the bed and started rubbing his sore temples. He took a quick glance at his watch. 1:23 AM Ashley had no clue as to what the Xphets did with her when she was asleep. Zack did. Zack knew. Zack had seen her doing THINGS. But he dared not tell her, in fear of getting captured himself. He told no-one of the aliens in Ashley's brain. No-one. Infact, Ashley and himself were the only people who knew of this. That was the reason he was the only guy in town who spent more time with his sister than his friends. Ashley had a choice, that was true, but she was, as Zack had said before, *chosen* as well. The Xphets had a strange way of working things. If she hadn't chosen to let them in her brain, they would've invaded her brain anyway. Zack often dreamt of being all macho and becoming a crusader against aliens. Kiddish, yes, but with all the new movies coming out, they inspired him even more. He snorted ignorantly at his sister and trudged downstairs, making a beeline for the fridge, in the kitchen. He scrounged out a soda and a bag of peanuts. Gulping down his soda, he strode outside the house, and sat down on the porch. ''Why, hello Zack... '' A heavily accented voice broke through the silence. Zack groaned and cradled his pounding head with his hands. ''Go away mum'' ''You just got back now? I didn't hear you come in... I only heard you shouting at Ashley'' ''Sorry about the noise. I got carried away'' Mrs. Riviére-Parker gave Zack one of her amazing warm smiles. Zack was half French- half American . His mother was a typical sophisticated french-woman from Paris and his father a surfer-dude from L.A.. Zack never got to see his father much, for Mr. Parker's international job kept him on his toes day and night. A trip to Japan from their little neighbourhood in New Jersey seemed like a walk down to the local grocery for him! Zack returned whatever fraction of a smile he could churn out. His mother daintly lowered herself onto the porch, in a position that clearly told Zack that he was going to talk with her for at least an hour. He twisted his body around so that he could talk with his mother but his voice'd be muffled. Mrs. Parker anticipated that, and moved closer to him, pretending to be immensly interested in his hair. ''So, tell me, Zack... why do you let Ashley get under your skin so often? She is a nice polite girl, and I HAVE raised her well, just as a decent young lady should be. Surely, she hasn't done anything SO bad that you'd have to raise your voice'' Zack frowned at her. She didn't know the half of it. Ashley never DID care much for family... well, not for her mother anyway, which disappointed his mother quite a bit. Zack felt annoyed whenever he thought of that, his mother was a wonderful woman, a mother to be proud of, and here was Ashley, not giving a damn about her. Ashley always seemed like the adopted one, even though Zack was the real adopted one. Their family had always tried to set that aside and act as normal as a family could get. Mr. and Mrs. Parker had gone to an adoption centre after Ashley was born. They had wanted a sibling for her, and now was the perfect time to adopt a child because Ashley would grow up with the sibling and treat him as a true brother. When they had entered the room where the babies were kept, Mrs. Parker had felt an immediate pull towards a particular baby. The baby had mischevious green eyes and two amazingly sweet dimples. Mrs. Parker picked the baby up, and instantly knew that the child was meant for her. She took the baby home with her and called it Zachary Apollo Parker (since the greek world had always fascinated her). Zack had grown up with Ashley peacefully enough, which pleased the Parkers, but Zack never felt particularly attached to Ashley. As far as he was concerned, Ashley never felt attached to him either. ''Zack?'' Zack blinked. He had gone silent for an entire minute. ''I'm sorry'' Mrs.Parker looked at him, confused. ''For what?'' ''For not being close to Ashley, that's what you brought me for, wasn't it? And I didn't do it...'' Mrs. Parker laughed at Zack lightly. ''Mon cher fils... my very dear son... I brought you to be loved by us, not to love us'' Zack nodded. ''Yeah... whatever'' ************************ Xerxes lit the candle and settled down into his easy-chair. *Ah... how relaxing... these humans have an inexplicable way of devising items for their sheer pleasure... we should introduce these notions back home, at Silxth* A semi-transparent orb materialized beside Xerxes. It gradually took the shape of a tall, lean human. It opened it's now-human mouth and replied. ''So, these bodies are comfortable too. They are a bit strange, this whole thing about two of everything... but they are satisfactory'' Xerxes flexed the palm of his fifth hand. * I still prefer our normal bodies, Xaht. I warn you, do not get too close to these humans.* *********************** She had broken through.... now for the message *********************** Ashley's stringy hair lay spread out over her fluffy, pink pillow. She had been reading a book called 'The Enchanted Powers', but had eventually fallen asleep. She sprawled over the carpet in her room, clutching the book in her arms. Gradually, she slipped into a muddled up dream. She stood in a green field, not alone though. A dozen cows surrounded her, but they were odd-looking. After all, how many cows have you seen that are polka-dotted? Ashley focused on a sparking rainbow and waved her hand in the sky. She waited. Nothing happened. She frowned and tried again. Again, nothing happened. *I must be asleep* she thought. *That's strange... I've never had a dream before...*. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. *...and if people call these dreams, I'm glad I'm not missing out on anything great.* As she walked over to the cows, she noticed that one of them had a horn growing out of it's head. She laughed at the thought of that ugly beast being a beautiful unicorn. She rubbed it's back gently. ''You poor thing... you musn't like that horn... Let me have it'' As she spoke those words, the horn came off the cow and rolled on the grass. Delighted, she picked it up and marvelled it. It was a gleaming white and very, very smooth. As heavy as it looked, it was as light as a feather. She smiled and looked for a small area where there was no grass. Having found a small patch of dirt, she scratched out a drawing of herself, with sparks coming from her fingers. She really loved magic, it was all she had in this world. Suddenly, she felt a pulling sensation. Something was trying to pull the horn away from her. She scowled and tugged at it, but the pull was much stronger than hers. Her eyes widened as she saw it pick itself up and scratch these words on the ground: You love your powers, but not enough, The others are coming, and they are rough. Take my warning, and leave earth fast, For otherwise, you may be killed in one big blast. She gritted her teeth and kicked at the dirt bitterly. Why wouldn't people leave her alone? This was HER dream, after all. She spat at the place the message had been and ran away from it. She ran past the field, into a desert. There, she sat and sobbed. As her first tear hit the ground, it swelled into a huge bubble, a bit smaller than Ashley herself. The bubble fixed itself around Ashley and lifted her off the ground. It carried her away, away from her dream. She shrieked, she screamed, she kicked the bubble violently, but all this had no effect. She was still hurtling towards a dark sky. Then, with a huge jolt, the bubble popped. Ashley tumbled to the ground (or what she THOUGHT was the ground, did it have a ground? She didn't know, it was too dark to see). ********************** Xerxes smiled... the plan was working, now she would enter Silxth. ********************** She gasped in horror. NO! They had snatched the girl away from her!! ********************** Zack sighed as he thought of the coming day. It was only 4:37 a.m. He wondered how time could move so slow lately, maybe the Xphets had altered it somehow? He turned over on his bed and thought of his friends. Noone would believe him if he said anything about aliens from outer-space invading his sister's mind, but his mind ached with all the pressure he had put on it, he had to tell SOMEONE. Then he thought of Katie... Katie... Katie HAD to believe him somehow. Katie Myres was his best friend in the whole wide world. She had come to be his best friend when she had saved his life (practically). He had been cycling down Lombizde hill (the steepest one in Mawaké ), when his training wheels had suddenly come loose. Eventually, they dropped off, and Zack whizzed down the hill with no control over the bike whatsoever. As he rushed down the hill, he headed towards a dangerous crossroad, where cars zoomed by at tremendous speeds. Little Katie had seen that happening and did something that saved Zack's life. She ran up to the traffic light box and poked the little red button that very few people knew about. All the lights instantly flicked to red, and all the cars screeched to a halt. Meanwhile, little Zack rolled past, unhurt. Running as fast as her little legs could carry her, Katie caught up with Zack and shoved herself, Zack and the bike onto the grass alongside the sidewalk. From then on, Zack look at her with more respect than ever. When that had happened, she was only seven, and him, five. Now Zack was seventeen, and she was nineteen. She was in university, one just two blocks away from their block. It just happened to be one of the best universities in the state. Zack was still in high school, just about to enter college. Ashley was always the baby, now fifteen. Also, in their little merry band, there was Will Shake (a corny name, yes, but he was actually very distantly related to the original William Shakespear, which made him British), there was Yvonne Cronovich(a Russian beauty, who had shifted to Mawaké just a couple of years ago) and there was David Carter (a pure-bred slob of an American). There were quite a few others, but they weren't worth mentioning (well, maybe with the exception of Pheobe Willows, whom Zack purely detested for her interest in the supernatural). As he turned his thoughts back to Katie, he wondered if she'd think that he'd gone bonkers after all these years. Katie was a little over sensible at times... she refused to believe in things which were in the least bit strange. Pheobe spent half her time trying to convince Katie of the supernatural. Katie had always dreamt of becoming a big-time singer, and now it looked like she had finally gotten her big chance. Unfortunatly for her, her manager had seemed to think that she needed a fresh-new image. As the easiest solution was to set her off as a mystical princess, she was stuck casting spells on television. Pheobe, ofcourse was overjoyed with the thought of her having to train Katie in her favourite field. Katie, as much as she disliked it, had to dye her hair jet black. It used to be a strikingly fluorescent shade of pink, and even further back, it used to be dazzling shade of white (originally her hair was auburn). She wasn't allowed to cut her hair, but was forced to wear long extensions. Her name was now changed to Crystal Eye, she couldn't eat more than three apples and a glass of juice a day, she wasn't allowed to run, swim, skate, cycle.... anything that might hurt her. She was seriously thinking of giving up because of these rules. Zack smiled into his pillow. Thinking of Katie always cheered him up. She was now engaged to a guy in Chicago. She was currently living across the street from Zack. After three months, she'd fly to Las Vegas with Zack to meet her fiancé. After the marriage, she'd return with her new husband and reside in Mawaké again. Zack was secretly a bit disappointed that Katie was getting married. Now he'd have to share her with this new guy. When they were kids, they had sworn to each other that they'd be best friends forever and ever, even when they got married and had kids. Zack rubbed his eyes and rolled over to check the time again. 5:13 a.m. He sighed... might as well give up trying to stay awake. He groaned and heaved himself off the bed. He opened his closet and squinted at his clothes. He grabbed an 'Adidas' t-shirt and a pair of shorts and pulled them on. Doing so, he quietly climbed out his window and down the drain-pipe. He reached the ground and ran across the empty street. He sprinted over to Katie's house and climbed up the tree that led to her bedroom window. As usual, it was wide open. Katie was inside, but much to his surprise, wasn't asleep. She sat awake, staring blankly at the window. ''Hey, watcha doin?'' She kept staring at the window. Zack frowned. Katie never, NEVER, ignored him. He waved his hand in front of her face and whistled softly. ''Kat? Crystal? Katherina Kate Myers? Yoohoo!'' Katie finally moved. Unfortuanatly, it wasn't a very responsive action; she blinked. Zack fixed his jaw and narrowed his eyes to slits. He pulled a chair out and straddled it. He continued looking at her while she continued looking at the window. Now he was blocking her view. She closed her eyes. Suddenly, she snapped them wide open, and looked around, dazed. It was as if she had been in a trance. ''Zack? I need to tell you something important...'' ******************* Xerxes stood in front of the entrance to the ship. The bubble with Ashley safely inside came closer every second, it had picked her up after she had dropped a couple of metres. Xerxes streched out his longest arm (that protruded from his forehead) and towed the bubble in. Ashley's eyes burned with hatred. She had only met a Xphet once before, when it had appeared in her room, asking her if she would allow them to use her. She had quickly learned to hate the sight of them, though. Xerxes smiled at his prize. Now he would have complete and total power over her. ****************** Zack looked at Katie nervously. She usually wasn't so grave. Something very bad must've occurred. ''W-w..'' he cleared his throat. ''What?'' She clasped his hands. When Zack looked at her, he was surprised to see tears streaming down her cheeks. He gently wiped them away with his hand and hugged her tightly. ''What happened?'' Katie buried her face into his shoulder. ''Someone died'' Zack clenched his jaw. He had known it was coming. ''Who?'' he asked gently. Katie brought her face to meet his anxious one. ''I..I...I don't know!'' She dissolved into tears again. He looked at her helplessly and hugged her tighter. ''How do you know someone died?'' ''I heard mum talking on the phone with dad...(Katie's parents were divorced)... Mum was crying but she didn't tell me who it was. Zack... I have this really bad feeling it's Laura... '' Zack bit his bottom lip. Laura was Katie's older sister, who was twenty-six. Zack had only seen her about thrice. She barely came to visit the Myers. Zack tried to cheer her up. ''How do you know it's Laura? I mean, it might be the postman for all you know!'' Katie made a face. '' ZACK! Honestly, why would mum cry and call and tell dad because of the POSTMAN??'' ''Uh... I dunno.... my family's really close to the postman... I know THEY'd cry and call up relatives!'' Katie managed a watery smile and punched Zack lightly on the arm. ''So... watcha doing here?'' ''Talkin to ya'' ''No, seriously...'' Zack hesistated. She would be the first one to know... and possibly the last. Should he tell her about Ashley and the Xphets? He rubbed the back of his neck. ''I wanted to tell you something, but I don't think this is the right time...'' Katie nodded her approval. She flopped onto her back and rested her head on Zack's lap. She stared up into his face. ''Watcha gonna do when I get married?'' Zack shrugged uselessly. ''Sit around all day vegetating in front of the tv'' Katie gave him a real smile this time. *************** Ashley woke up and looked around. She felt strangly dizzy. *Where am I? Please... please let me be home!* *No such luck, sweetums* Ashley spun around to see where the voice came from. ''Go away Xphet... I need not your bitter presence, you have no right to communicate with me. The agreement was that you may use my body only on cold nights, when I sleep peacefully, sound asleep'' Xerxes gave a spine-chilling laugh. He threw his head back, and his whole body shook with laughter. *You are too dedicated to life. You know not of the vicious steps ahead, after life. Child, I have been there, I have lived as a human for an entire year, but my body died that year. I travelled through time and space, searching for endless nights, the perfect body. Now my soul is contained in this monster, and I am powerful, for this monster is an important creature in this universe.* Ashley protectively wrapped her arms around herself. She wished so much that Zack or Katie were here at this moment. She was defiant and strong, yet very, very nervous and frightened deep inside. *Oh, dear human, have I caused you fear...? Do not fear me, for the worst is yet to come. I have arranged for you to meet Ghaoure* ************** Pheobe woke up to sunlight streaming through her window, into her bedroom. She smiled, streched out her foot pulled the small window curtain to a close with her toes. Her dog, a cute little Bulldog called Angel, snored away softly, on the edge of the bed. Pheobe rolled over to Angel and gently fondled her. Angel was pure white and had only two black dots, one behind each ear. Angel stirred gently and opened her squashed-up looking eyes. She looked at Pheobe beeseechingly, begging her for food with one look. Pheobe grinned and jumped out of bed. She squirmed into a tiny, miniscule halter-top and a faded pair of jeans (which looked very worn out). She jogged down the stairs from her room (which was originally an attic) and into the kitchen, stopping only at the front door to pick up the morning paper just as the paperboy flung it out. She then continued into the kitchen, where she started making a cold turkey sandwich for herself. She peered out the kitchen window as she slapped mayo onto her sandwich with her knife. She had a clear view into David's kitchen from there, Zack's bedroom from her room, and a bit of Katie's room as well. David sat at his kitchen counter, reading the tabloid, wearing his ridiculous looking reading glasses. Pheobe put her finished sandwich down and opened the window to yell out to him. ''Yo, Dave! It's Pheobe!'' David took off his over-sized reading glasses and smirked at Pheobe. Pheobe waved with her knife hand. ''How's it goin'? Need any help?'' Pheobe shook her head. She waved goodbye and shut the window, and the blinds. She simply hated it when people asked her if she needed any help. She lived alone, but was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, or she liked to think so. Her parents lived in Texas, with her aunt and uncle. They used to live in this house, but had felt more attached to Texas than New York. Pheobe, however, couldn't bear to shift, so they left her behind after much argument. She was very safe though, she had plenty of loyal neighbours who always offered to take care of her. Pheobe grabbed her sandwich and settled onto the couch in the sitting room. Angel bounded into the room and leapt onto her lap, sniffing her sandwich eagerly. Pheobe shoved Angel off and reached for the remote. Before she could do so, Harley (her very fat, male, black cat) jumped onto the sofa too and snatched the remote away with his claws. She glared at both of them and trudged back upstairs gloomily. The reason that she didn't use the actual bedroom was because her parents used to live in that bedroom, she was forced to live in the attic. She didn't mind it, though. She didn't feel like shifting downstairs to the bedroom once her parents left. On the second floor, there was the bedroom, a guest room, a tiny 'view' room (which consisted of just a chair, a table and ofcourse, a window) and a big bathroom. When you travelled downstairs, there was the kitchen, a small bathroom and the sitting room. There was a basement too, which only held a game-room and a workshop. She had made good use of the spare bedrooms; One she had turned into a little playroom, for the little tykes she so often babysat for. The other, she had turned into a beautiful guestroom, with fluffy pink pillows and beautifully coloured quilts. She hardly had guests, though. When there WAS someone staying there it was usually her friends from England who rarely came to visit. She never felt lonely in that house, for she had FIVE pets. There was Harley and Angel, then there was a hamster called Twiggy, a turtle called Mugs and a yellow canary called Hunny. By the sounds of it, she was a great animal lover, but she wasn't. Every single one had been given to her as a present! Most people gave them to her so that she wouldn't feel lonely. And she didn't. ************* Yvonne blew at the stray strands of hair that fell over her eyes. She narrowed her eyes in concentration and bit off a chunk of chocolate from her chocolate bar. She was studying her English, not that she was bad at it, it was just that living in America required a higher level of the language. She had lived in Moscow for most of her life and had just shifted to Mawaké recently. Her parents tried learning fluent English, but failed miserably. They could only say broken fragments of sentences, all jumbled up, and bits and pieces of phrases. So they mainly depended on Yvonne to translate everything. Her father was retired but her mother was still working as a secretary for the Russian ambassador. Yvonne had quickly picked up lots of friends as soon as she had arrived. Her English wasn't that great, but her charm was. Standing five feet two inches, she had the most amazing hair, blondish-gold at times, strawberry-orange at others. Her eyes were a soft hazel and shadowed by keen eyebrows. Her nose continued down, long and dead-straight. The shape of her face and mouth often gave her that certain 'pixie' look. Cute as she was, she had an outstanding IQ level of 138. She had taken an IQ test recently (in Russian) and had scored way over the average level. She looked down at her shirt and dusted off the bits of chocolate that had flaked off. It was her favourite shirt, dark blue with maroon blotches, with three-quarter length sleeves. Her taste in clothes was a bit classy, but she still favoured the infamous t-shirt. She liked to be seen as high-class, but not snobby, and that was the hard bit. She enjoyed being regarded with awe and admiration for her beauty, but couldn't help feeling that she was unwanted. She knew that there were definately a certain number of people who thought bad of her and she intented to shut them out of her life. Yvonne Cronovich was certainly not poor. You wouldn't call her rich either, but you had to admit that they were pretty well off. Wealthy enough to own four cars, two maids and have chauffeurs. She had an unlimited supply of candy, shoes and, naturally, an extensive wardrobe. But she wasn't that type of person... she rather preferred books and art classes over those. Indeed, she was a budding artist at heart. She was often made fun of back in Moscow, for being such a bookworm, and those unkindly jeers had followed her all the way to Mawaké. Her parents were mildly concerned, but mostly thought that she should be able to stand up for herself. She liked her life quite a bit though. ************* Katie delicately lowered her lashes to protect her eyes from the glaring sun. She looked up at the cloudless sky and gave a sigh of exasperation. ''How am I s'posed to run in this heat, Bill?'' William gave her a weak grin. He towered a good six inches over her. His long brown hair covered his shy eyes as he uncomfortably shuffled around. Katie pouted and planted an old, grey 'Chicago Bulls' cap on her head. She slid on her sunglasses and looked at William, annoyed. It was near lunch-time and William and herself were supposed to meet Zack behind the old graveyard at noon. William had sprung up the brilliant idea of meeting up and jogging there together. Zack had mysteriously beckoned everyone in their group to the meeting. Finally, after two minutes, they were warmed up and running towards the old graveyard. Katie always scoffed at people who got creeped out at graveyards and William just happened to be one of those people. As they approached the graveyard, panting and sweaty, William's eyes grew large. Katie smirked when she saw the effect of the graveyard on William. He'd gone pale and was sweating even more. William slowed down and halted at the stone steps leading in. He sat down to catch his breath and wipe the sweat off his face. He blew out and then inhaled, then gave a whoosh of air out again. Katie impatiantly fidgeted with her hair. ''Do we HAVE to meet them?'' Katie answered shortly. ''Yes'' ''Are you sure he said behind the graveyard?'' ''Yes'' ''*sigh* Come on then....'' They had to cross through the graveyard to get to the back of the graveyard. It was impossible to get to it from outside, since the lanes were blocked on either side. Katie loved the old graveyard. It gave her a certain sense of belonging that she felt in very few other places. It delighted her when she l had learnt that a new graveyard was to be built, for that meant she had total access to the old one, since no-one had offered to take care of it. Her ancestors weren't buried there, yet she felt attached to it. She loved coming on afternoons, when everyone else was at lunch. She would walk along, stopping at one grave each day. Then she would read the message on the tombstone and think about that particular person for the rest of the afternoon. Then she would take out a piece of paper and draw what she thought the person looked like, according to their names; for example, Hannah Burrow would have soft fair hair and lively blue eyes. This she had continued for years and years, going over the same people dozens of times. The graveyard's layout was a very good one. The stone steps leading in, widened as you went on. Then you came to solid looking gates, made of iron. Nothing fancy, just a loop or two with three spikes on the top. Stone walls continued past the gates, nearly covered with creepers and graffiti (compliments of the city-kids). The gates had been locked for four years, and if you wanted to get in, you had to either climb the gate, or squeeze through the bars. Once inside, the graveyard was divided into two parts, with a cobbled path between the two. One side had the graves of the richer people, and the other, the graves of the not so rich people. Either side was just as interesting, though. Little garden gnomes were set around the graveyard, evenly spaced out. Once they had looked beautiful, but now they were covered in ugly scribbles by the neighbour-hood children. Walking on, there was an old angel-fountain which no longer worked. That was funny, because the drinking-water fountain (barely five feet away) still worked fine. At the back of the graveyard was a marble statue of Eden Wallace (a famous writer who had died in Mawaké) and the walls. Katie and William climbed over the wall using the long tight creepers as ladders. They finally landed at the back, where there was one solitary street-bench and some old junk thrown out by people. The area was hidden by large overhanging trees and there now were walls blocking either side, which enclosed the area safely. Zack was sitting on a crate someone had thrown out. Everyone was there already, Pheobe, David, Yvonne and David's girlfriend, Miranda. They looked up as they saw Katie and William coming down the wall. ''Hi...'' Zack gloomy voice greeted them. Katie nodded at him and settled down beside Miranda while William sat down on a tire. Zack cleared his throat importantly. ''I have summoned you all here together on this-'' Pheobe interrupted him. ''Cut the crap Parker'' Zack glared at her and continued, in a normal mode. ''As I was saying, I called y'all here 'cos of Ashley...'' David frowned. ''What about Ashley?'' Zack threw his hands up in exasperation. ''PEOPLE!!!!! Let me continue!!!!'' Everyone sat straight and gestured for Zack to continue. ''So.... As you might have observed... Ashley's been actin' a bit wierd ever since she turned fourteen, right?'' Everyone obediantly nodded. ''Well.... I have to tell you something about that...but you HAVE to believe me!'' Zack paused for a minute to look at their expressions. Everyone was leaning forward, clearly interested. ''What would you say if I told you that it's not Ashley who's actin wierd...'' William snorted loudly. ''So you're tellin' me that you're livin' wi' an 'mposter?'' Zack pursed his lips and nodded tightly. ''Not an imposter exactly... I'd say... She's CHANGED'' Miranda finally spoke, stunning everyone... for she hardly ever spoke. Her voice was small and tiny. ''Zack, she's been taken by the Xphets, am I right?'' Zack looked at her, dumbstruck. Then his face flushed and his mind was flooded with words. ''Yes, yes... how d'ya know?! Oh this is fantastic! I won't have to waste my time convincing y'all! But how d'ya know?? They've taken over some'un y'know as well?'' Miranda gave a tiny smile and pulled her legs up close to her. Pheobe tossed her hair and it caught the wind, blowing out behind her, making her look angelish. Pheobe winked at Zack and put on a fake pirate accent. ''Oi, Zack, we got yer trail... Yeah... Yeh see, we all been captured by the aliens from outer space yeh see!'' Zack gaped at them with his mouth open. Not one of them believed in the Xphets. Pheobe started chuckling and lightly punched Zack on the arm. ''Ashley told us Zack... hilarious, but let's get serious, you dragged us all out here to pull that stupid prank?'' Zack's face reddened and he felt his own face warm up. ''Uh... what'd she, exactly, tell you guys, huh?'' he casually inquired. David rolled his eyes. ''She TOLD us about you and the whole alien thing... That you were goin' 'round tryin' ta convince everyone that these *aliens* were invading her mind, and that they were called the Zefees or somethin'...'' ''Xphets'' Zack corrected him. David rolled his eyes again. ''Yea, whatever'' Zack pondered this. He hadn't seen Ashley for the last twelve hours, how had they? He asked this. ''Er- we saw her a coupla hours ago...'' Zack ground his foot into the ground while thinking hard. ''Sorry to do this guys... but I gotta go...'' Everyone glared at Zack, ready to beat him up. He cautiously backed away from David's balled up fists and waved bye to everyone meekly. He scrambled over the wall and sprinted off towards his house. ************* Ashley sat near the fire exit of the public school, chucking peach pits in the bin. She had found herself lying against a TOMBSTONE in the new graveyard. The caretaker had been baffled about how she had gotten through without him noticing her. Nevertheless, he gave her the boot. Literally. She had then come to the school, feeling bored. The school was usually open on weekends as well. It allowed students to use classrooms for studying or reading in the school library. She had come to the school library, sitting and reading quietly. Then she had met Pheobe, David and Miranda, who were looking for Zack. They explained that he had arranged for everyone to meet at noon. Ashley had assumed an innocent expression and asked why. They had told her that he wanted to tell them something important. Ashley didn't know why, but she had said the following to them: ''Oh... he's in one of his wierd moods again... going around trying to convince people that little green men from mars are invading my mind. Seriously, I 'ave no clue as to what has gotten into him. He's gone barmy if ye ask me. I don't know what he gains from these childish games...'' They believed her and thanked her for her helpful pre-warning. Nearly four hours had passed since then, now she was sitting near one of the fire exits in the west wing of the school. She had gone home and gotten some peaches for lunch, then returned here. Now that she had finished the peaches and saved the pits, she chucked them one by one into the bin. Several people had passed her, most of them informing her that Zack was looking for her. She didn't care. She threw the last pit in and forced herself to rise up. Surprisingly, her body didn't follow her instructions. *C'mon Ash, ol' girl... Pick yourself up... nice and easy now... Come on Ashley! Get up! Move!* Ashley started to panic. Her body wasn't responding. She tried moving her hand again. I remained limp. She tried screaming, but her voice didn't come. Suddenly, her right hand clutched hold of her right hand and forced her to get up.