Chapter 2: Assistance
"What's wrong?" Subject 21 asked. "You have been staring at that page for at least five minutes."
Ashley looked at the first page of the book in complete shock and silence. She flipped through the book numerous times to make sure that her eyes were not playing tricks on her, but she received the same result each time.
"I've had about enough of this malarkey!" Subject 21 shouted. "Ashley, what's wrong with you?"
"The pages—they are blank," Ashley replied.
"That's absurd! I can see the words from here!"
Dr. Edwin burst into the room. "What's going on in here?" he demanded. "I heard shouting from across the street!" Neither one of the girls said anything. "Ashley, how much have you taught her?"
"Why do you want to know, you ingrate?" Ashley snapped.
"Speak to me like that again, and you will face dire consequences."
"Do whatever you want to me. I honestly don't care anymore."
Edwin's shock soon turned into rage. He grabbed both girls by the collars of their shirts and dragged them to a small colloquially.
"You will remain in this room until you learn how to show some respect," Edwin strictly said. He slammed the door shut, locking it behind him before quickly walking away.
Subject 21 turned to Ashley. "This is all your fault!" she yelled. "If you hadn't come here, this would not have happened!"
"I did not choose to come here, you know," Ashley corrected.
The sound of footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door. Sweat began trickling down Subject 21's forehead as her breathing quickened.
"You've got to get out of here, now!" she said.
"How can I do that when we are in a locked room?" Ashley asked.
Subject 21 pulled Ashley to the back of the room. She closed her eyes and touched the wall lightly. Her hand suddenly began to glow a bright shade of purple.
"Um, what's going on?" Ashley wondered. What seemed to be a large door appeared in the room. "What in oblivion is that?"
Subject 21 opened the door. "Through here," she said.
"But I—"
"Just go!" Ashley gulped and did as she was told, with the door vanishing behind her.
***
It was a busy afternoon in the city. The restaurants were crowded as usual; in fact, every business was booming. The streets were almost empty, while all the stores were filled to the brim with eager customers.
The city was known as Evergreen, named after its first mayor about two centuries ago. The city in particular was quite a pleasant little place, though numerous families inhabited it. The sky, for some apparent reason, was always red, although no evil lurked there—that Andrew Hollingsworth knew of, anyway.
Andrew was the little brother of the current mayor, name of Daniel. Though Andrew was severely poor, the mayor refused to give him any money, wanting to keep it all to himself. Now Andrew had to resort to selling graphic novels.
Andrew, much like his brother, always wore a black tuxedo, but his suit was beginning to fade in several places. His brown hair was falling out due to lack of relaxation.
A young adult wearing a black cloak—the hood was covering his face—noticed Andrew and approached the novel stand. "Hello there," said the stranger. "Can I buy a graphic novel?"
Andrew was thrilled at receiving his first customer of the day. "You certainly may," he said in response. "They are fifty cents each." The newcomer gave fifty cents to Andrew, who handed over a graphic novel. "Here you go."
"Thank you ever so kindly!"
The stranger held the graphic novel in his hands and lit it on fire, using a lighter to do so. He then took off the cloak he had been wearing, revealing himself to have dark skin and black hair that reached his shoulders. He wore clothing similar to that of a sorcerer.
"Who are you?" Andrew whimpered, hiding behind the stand.
"Who am I?" the unsettling man repeated. "Why, I'm the evil Valestrom, master of all elements and destroyer of worlds! Now watch as I destroy this precious city of yours. Dave, get over here!"
A fairly short boy wearing nothing but overalls approached Valestrom; their features were identical to one another. The boy couldn't have been much older than twelve.
"Yes, Master?" the boy asked.
"Install the pycnometer into the ground," Valestrom instructed. Dave did as commanded and stuck a small contraption into the ground. "With this machine, I will be able to conquer not only this world but other worlds as well!"
"I must do something about this," Andrew murmured. He touched the pycnometer, only to be slightly electrocuted.
"Sorry, but the pycnometer is off limits," Dave said. "Anyone who touches it after it has been installed will either be electrocuted or burned and will become cursed."
"Cursed, you say? I shall believe no such nonsense!"
Andrew accidentally bumped into a nearby cage that contained two pet pythons, and the cage somehow exploded. The two giant snakes proceeded to chase the city's inhabitants.
Andrew, now in a state of worry, turned around to see that the pycnometer was already in full effect. "This doesn't look good," he said. "I should warn the others. But how?"
He walked to the nearest telephone booth. He grabbed the phone, but the cord snapped off. He walked to the nearest person: a teenage girl.
"Who are you?" the girl asked. "Where am I?"
"My name is Andrew," replied Andrew. "You must be new here. Welcome to Evergreen, dear child."
"I have...never heard of such a peculiar place. Tell me—is something troubling you? You appear to be tense."
"You're not going to believe me."
"I doubt it."
"Well...a man named Valestrom claims he is going to unleash evil upon this world and many countless others. Now I am cursed, thanks to that wretched pycnometer!"
"Pycnometer?"
"It's too much to explain right now. Will you help me?"
"What do you need me to do?"
Andrew handed the girl a white sheet of paper. "This lists the names of all my comrades. It also says where they should be right now; I wrote that down so I would remember. Find them and tell them to meet me in the park. I realize you are not familiar with this place, but can I trust you to take care of this task?" The girl nodded. "Thank you so much. What's your name, by the way? You have yet to tell me."
"Just call me Ashley." The girl quickly walked away.
***
Ashley's first destination was, strangely, a pink bounce house with dozens of gleeful children inside. A female teenager was suddenly thrown out, looking toward the bounce house angrily. Ashley helped her back up, and she could see the girl's features more clearly.
The girl had blonde hair that was tied in a ponytail. Her green eyes sparkled in the sunlight. Her skin was a light shade of brown. She wore a white T-shirt, blue trousers, and white sandals.
"Thank you," said the girl, dusting herself off. "The name's Cindy—Cindy Parker. What is yours?"
"Ashley," said Ashley. "What happened?"
"Those blasted children threw me out because I'm 'too old to have fun.' You don't think that's true, do you?"
Ashley shook her head. "Not at all." She looked at the list she had been given. "Andrew wants you to meet him in the park."
"Whatever for? And how do you know Andrew?"
"There's no time to explain. Let's just say he isn't having the best time right now."
Cindy headed for the park, while Ashley went to her next destination: a hospital. She saw a boy writhing in pain on the ground, with a woman tending to his needs.
"What happened here?" Ashley asked.
"Fred here thought it would be a great idea to go skydiving without a parachute," the woman explained. "I am quite surprised he isn't severely injured."
"Is his last name, by any chance, Fernandez?"
"It is indeed. Why?"
"He has been asked to go to the park."
"I'm afraid he won't be going any time soon. Just to be sure he will be okay, we first need to take him inside the hospital."
"I'm fine," Fred groaned. He tried to stand up, but to no avail. "...See?"
"The only way I will allow you to go is if you are in a wheelchair. You can't walk in this condition!"
Fred was soon put into a wheelchair and was able to roll himself to the park. Meanwhile, Ashley went to a hotdog stand, where a burly man—probably about the age of twenty—could be seen waiting for his food to be served.
"Hurry up!" the man hollered.
When his hotdog was finally ready, the man ate it in one gulp. Ashley approached him with caution, afraid that she would anger him in some way.
"Um, excuse me," she nervously said. "Are you...Caleb Parsons?"
"You bet I am," the man said. "What do you need?"
"Andrew wants you to meet him in the park. Said something about being cursed."
"Cursed, eh? That will never do. I shall go to the park immediately."
Ashley went to her final destination: a show that featured a snapping turtle performing various tricks. Most of the audience began to throw popcorn at it.
"People can be so cruel," Ashley said, shaking her head in disgust.
"You can say that again," said a woman that was standing beside her.
The woman looked as though she was in her early twenties. She was dressed just like a cowgirl, and she even spoke with a Southern accent. A little boy beside her dressed as a cowboy waved at Ashley, grinning widely.
"It appears as though Vincent is already fond of you," the woman said. "Forgive me if I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Penny, and this is my cousin, Vincent. What might your name be, young lady?"
"Ashley Thomas, ma'am," Ashley politely replied. She looked at her list and saw Penny and Vincent's names, wondering why their last names had not been written. "Listen, Andrew wants you two to meet him in the park right away."
"It's not like him to ask us to meet him somewhere like this. Did something happen?"
"I'm sure he will explain everything. Now you must go."
Penny and Vincent obeyed and went to the park, Ashley following them. Everyone had met in the park as instructed.
"For those of you who don't already know, this is Ashley," said Andrew, who pointed at Ashley. "Now that that is out of the way, I have grave news for you all..."
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