Fan Fiction ❯ The Power Within ❯ Strange Occurances ( Chapter 1 )

I never really thought of magic as something real. It was always that intangible power I read about in Fantasy books. And that's where I liked it. So what does my best friend do? He finds an old book that's written in two different languages. That was during our freshman year. Then for the rest of our high school time my friend deciphered one language, which he found out was Latin, and began reading it. That's when he found out it was a book of Archaic spells. He toyed around a bit with the smaller stuff. But then something happened that made me truly believe in the magic. I have to say, nothing ever happens in the small town of Selt, Colorado. So it was big news when an earthquake split the town right in half. After that chasm was created Josh put the book away never to use it again. That was two years ago…

Rick Dillar thought immediately of his friend Josh when he had heard the disturbing news of the strange earthquake in the middle of Russia. The only reason the broadcast caught Rick's eye was the fact that it was the exact same incident that happened to his town of Selt, Colorado. In Russia the earthquake centered on a point that was nowhere near a fault line and it split the earth making a seemingly endless chasm.

Rick turned left down a new street. When his car had straightened out he adjusted the heat entering into his car. It was cold outside and the noonday sun was hidden behind a thick grouping of clouds. The defroster was up full blast and the heat was getting there. Rick was thankful he was wearing an overcoat that was heavy yet also slim. The overcoat kept him warm enough. Of course, Rick should have expected this cold since Selt sat right in the middle between the actual mountains and the foothills. So it could be sixty-some-odd degrees in Denver and still only be at thirty-some-odd in Selt. Plus, it snows all winter here. Which tourists seem to like.

Rick flicked his turn signal on to indicate he was turning right. When he came to the street he wanted Rick turned the wheel. Josh's house was the fourth one on the right. It looked like a normal, everyday house. Rick saw an empty snow covered spot in the driveway. Josh hasn't shoveled the driveway. Why am I getting that bad feeling? That spot had been dubbed "Rick's Spot." Rick had kept his car there often enough.

When Rick turned to pull in he saw that the garage door was open. Inside, the garage was a mess. There were old boxes sitting all over, dust covered objects of all sorts occupied spaces left by and on top of the old boxes. In the center was an old, beat-up reclining chair. Josh was sitting in the chair wearing only a T-shirt and jeans and wiping sweat from his face even though snow was falling outside. It was the middle of December and my friend is sweating, Rick thought. This did not look good.

Rick finished pulling his '95 Cavalier into Josh's driveway and shut the car off. Josh realized exactly who was pulling up and immediately jumped out of the old chair. Rick was out of his car, and wincing because of the sudden transfer from warm and comfortable to cold, by the time Josh had reached him. Already Josh was making excuses, which was evident from the puffs of visible breath due to the cold, for the incident in Russia.

"Hey, it wasn't me," Josh was saying. "I haven't touched that book in two years. I swear!"

Rick began to laugh, but cut himself short saying, "Yeah, right. I believe you."

Josh's hands went up in the air in a defensive posture. "I swear I have never touched it since our incident. That's why I'm here. I'm looking for the book to show you."

"There is no reason I should believe you, " Rick said, knowing what Josh had been like during high school. "But for some reason I do believe you."

Josh took his hands out of the air with a shiver. Relief took over the features of his friend's face. Rick moved past his excitable friend to get a closer look at what was happening in the garage. Josh followed.

"All I was doing here," Josh explained, "was trying to find that book."

Rick shrugged and stepped into the garage and out of the falling snow. The garage was actually warmer than the outside, though the concrete floor looked cold. Josh had begun rummaging through a desk that had been sitting there. Rick began to wander around the maze of junk. He swept his finger across a cardboard box. The finger came back a slate gray due to the inch or so of dust that had accumulated on it. Rick wiped his finger in disgust. EW!

Josh had moved to a spot next to where Rick was standing. He looked at the box that Rick had marked. He studied it closely. Rick shook his head and moved on. He ran his fingers through his dark red hair and matted it back down over his ears. The snow had practically destroyed the style he was going for. Oh, well.

Rick was looking at an old bookcase that almost seemed to hold his attention captive when he heard the sound of a car pull up. He twisted around to see who it was. The car was unfamiliar, but the woman who got out wasn't. She let her dark hair fall to the small of her back as she shook her head. Rick fully turned around and walked towards the new arrival. He had not seen this woman in at least two and a half years. She had left in the middle of the school year to "study abroad" as she put it. Rick unconsciously straightened out his overcoat and again ran his fingers through his hair.

He reached the garage door and said, "Hello there, stranger."

She stopped a foot or so in front of him, "Where the hell have you been?"

"Nice greeting," he grinned. True he had also been away.

"Answer my question then I'll greet you." She was serious and she stared deep into Rick's gray eyes.

Rick stared back with equaled intensity while saying, "I've been in California for the past two years pursuing my dream of becoming a filmmaker."

She blinked then said, "Hi, my name is Alisa. Who are you and what did you do with my friend?"

Rick was taken aback at her reaction, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"When I left the gang you were not an ambitious person at all. You weren't even going to go to college. So what changed?"

Rick grinned at her, "Many things. One of them was Marie."

"Ah yes, your one true love. So how is she?" At the mention of his love's well being Rick's shoulders slumped. Alisa stepped closer and whispered, "What is it?" Concern had replaced the contempt that had filled her eyes.

"I only got to see her once and that was about ten days ago. She had to leave with her family."

"Oh," Alisa couldn't take it anymore, and with this other news and what was implied by it, she embraced Rick in a deep friendly embrace. Her body was warm Rick could feel that even through her thick gray sweater, it was a wonderful contrast to the bitter cold outside. She said in to his chest, "I'm sorry."

Rick was perplexed, "Hey, it's alright. What's the matter?" He was stroking her hair by now. He could tell she was holding back tears for some reason.

She looked at him. Her eyes were red around the edges, "I've had a tough time." She left it at that for tears fully welled up in her eyes and she began crying into Rick's chest.

They just stood there. Rick had forgotten about Josh and his quest for a book. He had forgotten the reason why he was here at all and just held his dear friend, Alisa. There was hurt in her eyes. It was evident even in that brief moment she had looked up. He wondered at what it could have been yet he knew that Alisa was the type of woman to tell you what she wanted to when she wanted to. Who had put her through that hurt? Why?

"I found it!" Josh yelled out.

Rick shook his head, "What have you found?"

Josh raced to Rick's side displaying an old familiar book. "'The Book of the Ancients'! I found it."

Indeed he had. Rick noticed that dust had not even touched the book. Rick turned to glance behind himself to see where the book had been found. The old bookcase he had been inspecting when Alisa had driven up stood open. Was that why you called to me? He did not expect the bookcase to answer, but he did wonder.

Rick turned to his friend and looked at him thoughtfully. The book Josh now held in his hand was the cause of all the problems of Rick's high school life. Josh was looking at him, Rick realized, with an eager look in his eyes. Rick's friend was clutching the book with a seemingly iron grip. Rick almost laughed when he really looked at his friend. Josh had dust graying his dark brown hair much of the dust had mixed with sweat giving a dirty look to the man's face. With the eager look and the iron grip on the book Josh looked like an old hermit holding on to his sole possession.

Alisa stirred at his chest. Rick let go of her. She stepped back with surprise in her eyes. "Why, in God's name, did you pull that book out again?"

Josh jumped back from the echo of Alisa's voice in the garage. Rick was actually asking the same question in his mind. He had said he wanted to find it to show Rick that he had not used the book. Yet now Rick could see that there was no sign that it had just been sitting somewhere. I do believe him. I know he did not touch that book since the quake.

Rick suddenly realized something else was amiss. Josh was saying something but Rick wasn't listening to him at all. What was that strange feeling? Where was it coming… He had it! A strange tingling had appeared in his heart. It wasn't the type of tingling that one got when one's foot fell asleep. It felt more like some sort of… power or magic. But how could Rick tell? He had never felt magic before. He had never known what it would feel like. The only thing he knew about magic was what he had read in fantasy novels.

Rick stopped his probing of the strange feeling when he realized he had two sets of eyes staring at him. Rick looked at Josh and Alisa in turn. "Do you guys feel that?"

They both looked at him, "Feel what?" they said in unison.

"I don't really know how to explain it. It's this strange tingling in my heart. I was wondering if you both felt it."

Josh was looking at the book. Alisa was the first to speak, "I feel something, but it's not in my heart per se. It feels like it's around it. Josh?"

Josh was still looking at the book. He had a wild-eyed look about him. Rick yelled his name and Josh snapped his head up saying, "It's the book! This thing is releasing the power within us."

Could that be it? Was it the book? "That's nonsense, Josh!" was what he said. "It couldn't be the book. It has to be something in the air. It was some sort of ionization. We are in the mountains anything can happen."

"No," Josh was waving his hand, palm toward Rick. "It's the book. I know it is. It has to be!"

There was sudden movement and a flash of light. Then, Rick was picking himself up off the garage floor. "What happened?" He stuttered out.

Josh was still standing in the same place. "Alisa tried to get the book from me. Something arced from it and hit her knocking both of you down."

There was something in his voice. Rick turned to see the fate of Alisa. She was sitting up, but she was staring at nothing. Her eyes had a glazed over look. She's stunned! There was a black spot on the front of her sweater. It was centered above her heart. Rick moved over to where she sat. When he approached she snapped her head around to look at him. Rick moved closer to her and took her face in his hands. Alisa's eyes bored into his own.

The tension in Alisa's face lessened. She realized who it was in front of her and started to come out of her shock. Rick let go of her face and helped her get off the floor. They were both a little shaky, but Rick knew they'd live.

Alisa finally got her voice back and asked, "What was that?" Rick turned his head toward Josh.

Josh looked at both of them in turn. "Alisa, you tried to get the book from me. That's when some strange lightning arced from the book and hit you. The force knocked both of you down."

Alisa shook her head to clear her thoughts. Rick was perplexed at what just occurred. The book seemed to protect Josh. Or could it be…? Rick had an idea. He quietly told Alisa to head to her car. She was to stay there and not to do anything no matter what happened. Alisa nodded and walked away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Josh asked.

"She just remembered she had things to do," Rick answered for her. "So, where did you find that book again?" Rick had to stall and not look obvious.

Josh motioned with his head toward the bookcase Rick had been inspecting, "That old bookcase. Why?"

"Anything else in there that might be worth looking at?" Rick moved closer to his wild-eyed friend.

"Not really, this was the only interesting thing I wanted." Josh didn't seem to expect anything.

Rick was right next to Josh when he said, "Can I see the book a second?"

Josh suddenly became suspicious. "Why?" he said warily.

Rick showed innocence, "I just want to see if it says anything about quakes."

Josh looked at Rick with untrusting eyes, yet he reluctantly gave up the book. Rick calmly took the book and set it down on a sturdy box and opened it. The first half of the large volume was written in Latin while the other half was written in a language unknown to anyone Rick or Josh had talked to. Rick had actually wanted to look up a topic in the ancient volume. He wanted to know what the quakes had to do with this book if anything. Knowing only a little bit of Latin, Josh was the one who took the Latin class for his Sophomore, Junior and Senior years, Rick looked for anything that had to do with earthquakes of any kind.

Josh queried what Rick was looking for, "I'm trying to find anything that could link this book to those earthquakes." Rick replied. Josh said nothing and let Rick search. After several searches through the narratives the author had written at the beginning of each spell and between the different types of spells Rick thought he had found something and asked Josh to read a passage.

Josh read the passage to himself so that he could translate it with better understanding. Once he had read it several times through he then said he could translate most of it. The parts he could not translate Josh improvised: "Hidden from the world for millennia to come, this will be. Upon it's finding the world for which it was written will begin The Change. This change has been described in the latter half of this book. The first worldly significance of The Change's beginning will be many wounds opening up in the soil itself. What will follow can only be described in the Ancient Text of the latter half of this book. I fear what will come when this has been found again and read from…"

Rick looked at his friend. Josh was just staring at the page. That passage had an apocalyptic tone to it. The impact of what that passage just stated was great. Rick was so engrossed with the message the book had given that he failed to notice until now that the closer he had gotten to the book the greater the tingling sensation became in his heart. He finally recognized where he had felt the tingling before. When Josh was using the book constantly during their high school years.

Rick calmly grabbed for the book and was closing it when Josh stopped him. "What are you doing?"

Rick showed innocence again, "All I want to do is take it and study it closely to see what I can find out."

Josh sent force through his arms and began to pull the book away saying, "NO! It's my book I won't let you have it!" Rick had expected this. He began to use force to pry the book away from his nearly insane friend.

A familiar flash of light passed between the two men and soon Rick was picking himself up off the ground. The cold had reached the inside of the garage so the exertion Rick was using after the lightning was evident through the visibility of his breath. Rick stopped trying to get back up, Josh was laughing. The laugh almost sounded… insane. Rick also noticed that the spot where the lightning would have hit wasn't hurting at all. In fact he was not hurt anywhere. Rick had been thrown several feet yet he had no aches or pains from the landing.

Rick smiled, so that was why Alisa's sweater was not torn or seared just a little burnt. Rick realized Josh was still laughing. He decided he should get up looking like he was hurt badly. With grunts and a few groans Rick pushed himself off the ground. When he held himself erect he clutched at his chest.

"Next time," Josh said. "Think before you act."

Rick nodded and winced at the movement. I have to keep the charade up until I get to Alisa's car. Rick slowly turned his back to Josh and started to walk away back into the cold. Rick glanced back at his poor friend. Josh had pulled a chair up to the box they had used and was thumbing through the Book of the Ancients. Rick turned back and finished walking to Alisa's car.

She had already unlocked the passenger side door. Rick opened it with ease and welcomed the sweat warmth that emanated from the interior of the car. He quickly stepped in, sat down and closed the door.

Alisa looked at him and said, "Ok, will you tell me what that was all about?"

Rick looked straight ahead with a smirk on his face saying, "Start driving then I'll tell you."

Alisa rolled her eyes but started the car and put it in gear. Rick would come back for his car later it would be an excuse to see Josh again. Soon they were heading down the road Josh lived on. Both were quiet and reflecting on what just happened.

The silence lasted for a while when Alisa finally said, "What was that all about? Tell me."

Rick had stifled a laugh as he said, "I think I know why the book did what it did."

Alisa looked at Rick when he paused. When he showed no sign of continuing she said, "Are you going to enlighten me or are you going to leave it there."

Rick's mirth was not because he was happy or because he was excited, but because he was having a bit of hysteria. What had just been read in the book was just too much. What it suggested was impossible to comprehend. Though Rick said, "The book was not protecting Josh at all. It was protecting us from Josh."

"What?" Alisa had soaked the word with incredulity.

"Yes. When we tried to take the book from Josh forcefully it let out a shock that knocked us back. It did that to protect us from what Josh would do if the book were ripped out of his hands."

"But it burned my sweater!"

Rick looked at his friend sitting next to him, "Did you feel any pain?"

She thought for a second then said that she hadn't.

"It shocked me too. Yet, I think what it really did was send out that spark and made it flash to look spectacular to Josh. That `burn' is nothing more than burnt air and will probably wipe right off."

"Are you serious?" She didn't sound convinced.

"Try it."

Alisa left her right hand on the wheel while she wiped at her gray sweater with her left. The blackened area actually started to come off just as Rick had stated it would. It would definitely have to be washed but it was coming off. Rick just grinned at her. Alisa finally noticed that he was and stopped what looked like fidgeting.

"Alright," She said after a beat or two. "Where are we going to go?

Rick looked at her and said, "Wherever you want, I'm buying."

"Well, in that case…" Her tone had some mischief hidden in it.

Rick lost his grin when he heard her say that. I get the feeling that I'm going to be breaking out the debit card on this trip. Alisa turned on to a street that would lead to the pitiful excuse that was Selt's downtown.

Night had fallen around Pakistan's capitol city of Islamabad. It was cold here. Jade could feel that even through her body suit. The international thief was in town to help out an old friend with some enemies. Jade would not kill, but she would enact some kind of thievery… if the price were right, that is.

Jade sat on the terrace of her preplanned staging area. Her lover and life partner, Mia, was sitting beside her. Both of the thieves wore Infrared Goggles. Jade was staring across the alley between their building and their primary objective. This would be quick and hopefully painless. Yet, Jade and Mia knew it would be very dangerous if one single, tiny thing went wrong. Though, if everything went well, this would be one candidate for the upcoming election that would be out several million Rupees and one lavish piece of jewelry.

Jade smiled. This will be easy. She could feel it. Mia informed Jade of the time. They had two minutes till the action started. Jade checked her tranquilizer. Something she had had specially made for her. The gun looked like any Gloc 9mm. It even loaded like one. But it was less powerful so the darts that it used only pierced the skin to put the target to sleep and didn't fly through the body. Jade made sure the gun was clean and placed it in the holster that was attached to her thigh. Mia had a similar weapon, which she had checked and confirmed it was ready. Hopefully we won't have to use them. Jade proceeded to check the other countermeasures she wore. All was in readiness.

Mia started to countdown the seconds.

"T-minus twenty"

Jade placed a medium sized gun on the ledge of the terrace.

"Nineteen"

She started to strap it tight so it wouldn't buck itself off.

"Eighteen"

Jade continued securing the strange looking weapon.

"Seventeen"

Jade finished securing the weapon.

"Sixteen"

She moved to a large pile of rope.

"Fifteen"

Jade picked up a rather large piton.

"Fourteen"

She began walking to the gun holding the piton with the rope trailing behind.

"Thirteen"

Jade began attaching the piton to the gun.

"Twelve"

The piton was now ready.

"Eleven"

Jade looked down the sights of the gun.

"Ten"

She adjusted the pitch….

"Nine"

…then the altitude.

"Eight"

A little to the left.

"Seven"

Move it up slightly.

"Six"

Perfect.

"Five"

Both Mia and Jade grabbed their sliders.

"Four"

Jade took hold of the trigger.

"Three"

Mia moved so she was just behind Jade.

"Two"

One last check of the sights

"One"

It's now or never.

"Now!"

The gun bucked in Jades gloved hand. The piton shot towards the bureaucrat's palace. The arrow hit its mark right beside a fourth floor balcony, which was two stories down from the roof. As soon as the piton hit its mark the two women were in action. Jade would go first. She clamped her slider on the thin rope that had trailed off the piton. The rope was tied to a sturdy pillar that was holding up the terrace above.

As Jade locked her slider she held on tight and pushed off the ledge of the terrace. There was a slight zipping noise as she did so. It let Jade know things were stable. She heard the same zipping sound a split second after she pushed off. Mia was on her way as well. Jade slide the length of rope feeling the wind whip her body. The long hair she usually has down was up for the mission or it would be trailing behind her.

As the master thief neared the railing of their target balcony she started to prepare her body. Soon she swung out and grabbed the railing with her ankles straddling the wrought iron railing. Using that momentum, Jade let go of her slider and swung over the railing. When it was clear she wouldn't fall four stories down she let go of the railing. The landing was a quiet one that ended up with Jade in a push up position. A split second later Mia was landing just as quietly on Jade's left.

Mia whispered, "Begin insertion." That was their code of action.

The two women were up quickly. Jade had moved to the door that led inside. It would be locked, but what thief couldn't pick a lock. Mia was reaching over the railing to cut the rope. She caught the two sliders as the rope swung back across the alley.

Jade was pulling out her kit to pick the lock when she stopped herself. The lock was attached to an alarm. Oh, right! Damnit. The glass on the door, however, was not as secure. Exactly one minute later the glass was cut and the alarm was disabled. Then exactly ninety-three seconds after that the lock was picked and the door was open.

It was dark inside the palace. Every respectable person in Pakistan was asleep. The darkness didn't slow the two thieves down one bit. Their IR Goggles made sure of that. The room was unoccupied, but it was a guest room. Jade thought it over as Mia secured the area. They would head out the door and down the hall past two other doors to a staircase. They then head up the staircase to the fifth floor were they would have access to where Mr. Sharif kept his valuables (though most people kept important items in a locked safe in the basement, the Mr. Sharif hid his up top were no one would look). They would find the safe, crack it, and remove its contents. Easy!

"Area secure," Mia said in her sweet Persian dialect. Both women had ties to ancient Persia. Jade's family tree included one of the most influential noble houses in ancient Persia. Mia, on the other hand, was from that houses rival. Somehow the two ended up falling deeply in love with each other.

Jade moved to the door that would lead out to the hallway. This door was sure to be lined with security. Once she reached the wall Jade knelt down and found her thoughts to be true. Mia was quickly to the other side of the doorframe and knelt. "Simple motion sensor, I can't see what kind of light they are using, " Jade said to her lover.

Mia examined the other end of the motion sensor set-up. "Maybe it's U.V.?"

Jade nodded. The thief brought her hand to her Infrared goggles and tapped the left side close to her ear. There was a slight, almost inaudible, mechanical hiss as another lens dropped down in front of Jade's eyes. Once the lens was in place and activated Jade saw that her partner's suspicions had proven true, a violet stream of light passed between the two devices.

Jade opened one of the many pockets on her left thigh and pulled out what she knew would be the tool for the job. The device was a black box with a retractable arm that had a frosted square of plastic at the end. The device would find the signals of the transmitter and duplicate them. The arm would be extended to the suit the thieves and the square of plastic would catch the other end of the beam of ultra-violet light. The box would then begin acting as the motion sensor. So, Jade and Mia hoped. This was something new they had not worked with yet.

Jade crossed her mental fingers as she activated the device. To her joy the thing came alive. She carefully placed the device on the transmitting part of the alarm sensor. Once the box was locked in place Jade waited for confirmation of that the device had captured the signal and duplicated it. A second passed by then it had the signal. Jade extended the arm to just a few centimeters from the box and rotated the arm down into position.

Mia was in motion the moment she heard the click saying it was ok to move. Jade saw that the square captured the U.V. beam and held it there perfectly. But now is the moment of truth. Jade thought as Mia pushed the door open slightly to see who might be lurking outside the room. Jade's lover gave the all-clear signal and moved across the hall. Jade followed her out the door, but she stayed on the side she was already on.

The two silently, but quickly moved down the hall toward the stairs. Using the elevators would be suicide, for any unauthorized movement by the elevators would immediately call guards in from every crevice of the palace. No the stairs were safer. There was no patrol of the stairs so there was little chance they could get caught. If only our contractor had found the secret passages, Jade thought to herself.

Though that was neither here nor there at this moment in time. The fact was he hadn't. They had to make do with what information they had. So onward to the stairs they went. Something was strange, though. They hadn't seen any guards, but that could just be luck. Now would I have gotten this far relying on luck? As Jade thought that, her ears picked up the tone that signaled the arrival of an elevator car. She motioned to Mia to hide. Luckily they both had come to a matched pair of large plants.

Jade knelt behind the pot holding the large fern. She had a small opening between two of the stalks. It was just enough to see the elevator door. Two armed men stepped out as the door opened. The armaments were old Soviet AK's. Jade couldn't get a good enough look at them to see exactly what model they were. And she wasn't about to go up and ask them. The guards walked to the middle of the hall and turned to each other. After speaking to each other they both turn a hundred-and-eighty degrees around and marched off into their respective directions. Jade hoped against hope that the guard heading their way would not be so alert.

Jade and Mia would learn whether or not the guard was alert in just a few seconds. Those seconds were excruciatingly slow. The guards' footsteps had a deafening echo that was mirrored by his partner. Jade glanced at her lover. Mia was completely hidden by the shadows there was no way the guard could see her nor would he hear her. Mia had been trained by the best. Though she would never admit it, Mia was better than Jade, who is considered one of the best "infiltrators" in all the Middle East. If either were ever caught there would be countries starting wars just to prosecute them.

So the trick was not to get caught. Which was fairly easy with the guard that just passed by them. That's when Jade remembered the trip wire capture they used. The door had closed behind them, but that didn't necessarily mean that the guard wouldn't go into the room and inspect it. In that case Jade and Mia would have to abort and that meant failure, which as they say, was not an option. Jade saw that the point was moot as the guard walked past the door and on to the turn at the end of the hall.

Mia was the first to take the risk of standing up to see if the other guard had done the same. She gave the "all clear" signal and started to move toward the stairs again. Jade followed. They both moved silently down the hall. They made the stairs in good time. The table they had set up for time allowed for guards to pass by occasionally. The door was well oiled, but that's to be expected in a palace of this size.

Started up the stairs. Mia reminded Jade of a lithe cat running in the shadows. They were both watching for any trip wires that may be hiding in the stair well. At the landing of the next floor there were two IR motion sensors. Since Jade was using UV Mia guided her lover over both of the sensors. That was too easy. They started up towards the next floor and their target. The next landing was just the same. Two IR sensors, both easily avoided. I'm getting nervous this shouldn't be this easy. Once Jade stepped through the door to the sixth floor the palace began to shake. It was just a slight rumble at first, but it grew into a violent shaking.

"Is this an earthquake?" Mia asked aloud.

"I have no idea," Jade replied. "There shouldn't be one here."

The shaking grew increasingly violent. Soon the palace alarms began to sound. Jade and Mia looked at each other. Both seem to think the same thing and just as they turned around to run back down the stairs they heard the unmistakable sound of boot soles echoing up the stairs.

"Shit!" cried Jade. "We have to hide."

"Yeah, but were?" Mia retorted.

Jade turned to her lover and said, "Now don't ask tough question at times like this." Jade saw a door behind Mia. "That looks like a good place to hide."

Mia turned to go were Jade indicated when they heard someone yell, "STOP! You there stop immediately."

"Love, the elevator now!" Jade cried to Mia.

Mia changed directions in mid-stride heading toward the elevators. Jade followed her just as gunfire erupted from the stair well. The two thieves hit the wall between the elevators right when the guards emerged form the stairs. One elevator was already on this floor. The thieves darted in and selected the fourth floor. As for the guards, the leader pulled out a walkie-talkie and radioed a message to look for two thieves.

Jade and Mia were surprised that in all this shaking the elevator was still working. They reached the fourth floor and the door opened to reveal two guards standing there with guns ready. Jade yelled at Mia to duck and did the same just as the guards opened fire. Jade pulled her Gloc out and shot at one of the guards. The dart hit the target in the arm. The drug was quick the man should be down in less than two seconds. Jade saw this was true and her partner had also gotten a shot off. Both guards fell on the floor sound asleep.

"Let's go." Jade said. As they darted out the elevator car the doors began to close, yet they were stopped short due to lack of power.

The palace was crumbling around them. The plants that had given them shelter were now strewn about the floor. The various decorations were either on the floor and damaged or about to become that way. This earthquake had to be at least a nine on the Richter scale. The thieves reached the room and just as Mia was opening the door guards began running down the hall towards them. They were through the door and heading to the balcony when the heard a loud CRACK coming from somewhere in the palace.

Mia was first on the balcony so she began to set up their escape. Jade had to remove the motion sensor disruptor they had placed. Both heard the sound again only this time Mia saw what was cracking. The balcony itself was being wrenched from the palace structure. Jade had no idea what her lover had just discovered. She was trying to lock the door to the room when she heard Mia cry out. Jade headed to the balcony forgetting the door. Yet she was not fast enough. As Jade reached the door to the balcony, the entire thing was breaking away with Mia on it.

"Jump to me," Jade cried.

"I won't make it!" Mia said.

"I'll catch you, trust me!" Jade said desperate to save her only love.

"Alright, but you had better catch me." Mia tried to steady herself and then leaped as the balcony finally let go. Jade reached out as far as her arms could go and just barely grabbed a hold of Mia's arms. Mia's weight pulled her towards the ruined side of the wall. Jade nearly lost her grip when she saw what was once the balcony was falling into. A chasm was opening up and getting wider by the second.

"Uh, Mia, don't look down, " she said. "Just look at me, ok?"

"Why?" Ask Mia. "What's beneath me?"

"Something you'll never be able to climb out of." Jade began pulling Mia up when more of the palace started to fall. The chunks pummeled Mia.

"I can't hold on, Jade!" Mia cried out.

"You must babe," Jade cried back. "What would I do without you?" She tried to sound light hearted but ended up sounding hollow.

Mia's hand began to slip from Jade's. She was the losing the battle to hang on. The rocks were too much for the young thief. Jade was losing strength to hold on to her friend and companion. She looked into Mia's eyes they had gone cold. She had the look of someone who knew they were going to die and knew they were powerless to stop it. Jade couldn't let this happen. Yet just as the door to the room flung open Mia's hand slipped entirely from Jade's grip.

Mia plummeted past the four stories and in to the chasm below. Jade's soul went cold. The fire she had in her was doused. Mia had been the only one to understand her, the only one to love her. She was lost to Jade forever. Guards swarmed into the room with guns pointed at the broken thief. Jade didn't care what happened to her now. She didn't even flinch when one of the men grabbed her and began placing handcuffs on her. She didn't even notice that the quake had stopped. She didn't notice that anyone was saying anything to her. Jade's body had gone numb. Her mind was locked on that last moment with Mia and the cold, accepting look of death in her eyes. All she could do was look at the place where her lover's life ended.

As guards took Jade away she just stared into nothingness. Her eyes welled up with tears and began to overflow. What is left for me now?

The Power Within

Erik Mahlum

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