Lawrence Kinderson's Story

Lawrence walked down the busy Seattle street, dodging people as they walked by. Everywhere he looked, at least one spirit walked among the living. Cities were so haunted, yet no one paid the poor souls any attention. No wonder they usually snapped and haunted people. Lawrence smirked at this, as he knew he was the only one that could talk to the dearly departed. At least, he believed he was. No one believed him when he said he could talk to ghosts. But lately, it wasn't limited to simple commands any more. Last week, Lawrence had an old woman's spirit cook dinner for him, in exchange for taking a message to her granddaughter. Lawrence never minded doing simple things like that for the spirits. They tended to be the only company he liked to keep.

After daydreaming, Lawrence jolted back to reality, realizing why he was walking. He had to get some things for dinner. Lawrence quickly made his way to the Asian market that was nearby, as his family was having stir-fry that night. He steps inside, taking in the exotic smells and spices, one of the reasons he loved coming here. A ghost or two floated around in here as well, and waved to Lawrence. He didn't know their names, but he'd seen them quite often here. Lawrence grabbed some noodles and seasonings, paid, and made his way back home. Miles appeared about halfway there.

"Hey, how's it goin' Whispers?" The spirit asked. Lawrence shot him a look. This was their routine to talk in public, and since it was Miles' idea, Lawrence thought it was stupid. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear. "Hi Miles." Lawrence said, not an iota of enthusiasm in his voice. "Oh come on, cheer up. I see you've got stuff for dinner tonight." Miles said. His ghostly form was that of a young man, which was because he died in a fraternity hazing. Something Lawrence didn't really approve of. "Yes, Miles, I do have things for dinner. Now, my arm is going to cramp from holding this phone to my head. So, I'm going to talk to you later, okay, bye." Lawrence said quickly, not giving his ghostly time to respond. Lawrence walked through the door of his apartment, leaving Miles out in the hall. "Man...whenever I'm bored, he always blows me off..." Miles said to himself before fading away.

Lawrence placed the groceries on the counter, and headed to his room. His parents would be home in about an hour, and he wanted to get some work done for school before they came home.

Horauk had just entered the grocery store, until a woman crashed into him! The two fell on the floor, but then he was helped up. His vision was still a bit blurry from the fall, but then his vision clears up as he stood in front of...the girl! She was exactly as she looked in his vision, blonde hair and yellow eyes! He then stares at the girl, shocked. Until he then snaps back into reality. "Err, um, thanks. Hey, I just flew here by plane, do you have any where I can stay? I have the last of my yen to the taxi driver" says Horauk. He then smiles as he looks at a child running away with a cowboy hat. He then ignores the child and looks back at the other girl he was talking to. He then makes a snap behind his back as a little light fairy forms at his fingers. The fairy then makes a silent whistle and flies towards the child's hat and grabs it, obviously at light speed.

In the center of the earth, Void was being busy. He now lived in the world of the underground. It looked like a giant cave under there, with more miniature cave systems around it. The Void Elementals lived here, but they where angry for being imprisoned. Void himself stood in the center of this huge cave. There where lava rivers, all leading to where the core of the world SHOULD be. Void was a large being, obviously grew stronger over the millions of years. The Betrayer stood near the giant being as the smaller Voidlings scurried around, getting ready for their attack. The Betrayer was the largest of the Voidlings, but he was no Voidling. He was the Pain Elemental, the last of his kind since the war. All the Voidlings stood in front of Pain as he stood on a ledge as the large Void stood behind Pain. Void then looks up as he smiles. "Minions. It is time for our release. You all must go to the surface world and destroy the Elementals. With those fiends on the surface world, I can also be imprisoned...again! Also, try to weaken the surface if you must, so I may follow you all to our rise to POWER!!!!" says Void. All the Voidlings then all cheer, both male and female, like barbarians. They then starts climbing the walls of the giant cave system as void punches the ceiling, making cracks. Light seeped through the cracks, which slightly blinded the Voidlings. The minions then scurry through these cracks into the surface world. Although, the cracks only appeared in Seattle, and seemed like earthquakes to the humans. But, the Voidlings crawled through the cracks and terrorized any thing near them. It was a bad day for Seattle.

Lawrence is doing some trigonometry when he feels the ground shake. The reports said they weren't supposed to have an earthquake anytime soon. Lawrence goes to the window, something he isn't supposed to do during quakes, and is shocked my what he sees. Dark creatures running about, attacking the people of Seattle. "Miles. Here. Now." Lawrence commands, his eyes illuminating in a pale blue. Miles' misty form appears. "What is it-" Miles cuts his sentence short as he sees what is happening outside. "What the hell is going on?!" The spirit asks. "No clue. But I'm not staying here. I'm going to call mom and dad, get my stuff, and get out of here. Watch the door and windows, and if anything comes in," Lawrence's eyes glow bright, and his voice echoes as he issues a command, "kill it with anything you can.". Miles didn't want to kill anything, but he couldn't disobey Lawrence's orders. He simply nods and moves to the main room.

Lawrence grabs his phone, and dials his mom's number. After a few rings, she picks up. "Hello?" His mom's voice says. "Mom, where are you?" Lawrence asks hurriedly. "We're on our way back from the Mount Olympus park. Why?" Lawrence's mother asks worriedly. "Do not come home. Don't even come to Seattle. I can't explain it, but there are these dark...things everywhere. They're crawling out of the ground, and attacking everyone. I'm leaving, and boarding a plane with the emergency funds in the safe. I advise you do the same." Lawrence says, not really showing fear. His mom falls silent. "So they're here. Honey, you're right. You need to get away, get far away. Take what you need, and don't worry about us. We'll be fine. And once you get away, call me. I'll tell you everything then. Just remember, your father and I love you. Be safe, Lawrence." After that, his mother hangs up. She knew something, that's for sure. But Lawrence didn't have time to ponder it.

He races to his parents' bedroom, and finds the safe in the closet. Quickly, he spins the combination lock and pops the safe open. Inside was his passport and enough money to get anywhere he needed to go, as long as it was one way. Lawrence takes his portion. Next, Lawrence grabs his bow and arrows out of his closet. These were used when he went out to practice archery outside of the city, but it looks like they'll be needed to make it out. Just then, Miles shouts, "Stay in your room!", and the front door is busted open. The Voidling comes in, and Miles attacks it's back with two kitchen knives, both quite large. He constantly stabs it, and tries to slow it down. It stops eventually, after Miles stabs it as much as he can. "C'mon, we're going." Lawrence tells Miles, as two more Voidlings enter the room. They corner Lawrence, and for once, he begins to panic. Lawrence closes his eyes tight, ready for the worst, when a strange sensation takes over his body, and he finds himself falling into a dumpster. Lawrence lands in the full dumpster, suffering some bruises.

He rolls out, and is somewhat bewildered. "Did I just...phase through the wall?" He says in disbelief. He tries to do it again, but to no avail. Not wanting to get killed, Lawrence and Miles run down an alleyway, looking for a way out.

Lawrence runs down the street, bow and quiver on his back and Miles floating silently next to him. Chaos envelopes everything in the vicinity, Voidlings destroying whatever they could, and Lawrence feels that it can only get worse. A Voidling jumps out in front of the end of the path, and Lawrence stops. The beast hadn't noticed him yet. Lawrence pulls his bow from his back, as well as an arrow, and pulls the bowstring taut. He releases, planting the arrow in the small of the creatures back, causing it to screech, but not die. Lawrence didn't hit his mark, but he tried to not complain. No one was perfect. The duo turns tail before the creature can get them, and Lawrence notices two girls: One with red hair, the other raven.

In a small moment, Lawrence feels something off about the pair. Against his better judgement, he decides to go up to them and hurry them along. "Hey, ladies. Not to be a jerk or anything, but don't you think it'd be smart to book it to the airport or out of town?" Lawrence advises, a chill in the air due to Miles' presence. Lawrence's breath even fogged a little bit, but he didn't notice.

Ember turns to the guy who had just walked up, a bow and arrow on his back. Interesting... I have a bow, too. (Crap, totally forgot about weapons!) She just saw this guy wail on some voids! He says 'Hey, ladies. Not to be a jerk or anything, but don't you think it'd be smart to book it to the airport and out of town?' Ember smiles a bit. "I'm here for the same reason you are... to destroy Voidlings." She motions to the bow and flammable arrows on her back. "I'm-er-a descendent of Fire Elementals..." she rubs the back of her head a bit self consciously. He would have to be part Elemental, right? she thinks. Just as a demonstration, she forms a bit of fire on her finger tips, then extinguishes it. "Are you an part elemental, too??"

Lawrence is visibly impressed by the fire the girl produced. So they were indeed strange. "Well, my mother acted like she knew what these things were, and I command ghosts. So I could be one of these "part-elementals" you speak of." Lawrence says, eyes glowing briefly and causing Miles to come into view. However, he'd be quite blurry and his speech would be terribly muffled. "I do hope you don't mind the company I keep. This here next to me is Miles. He's a cool dead guy." Lawrence motions to the space next to him, and the blur waves. "Now, I have to get out of town. What do you say we all just go together, hm?" Lawrence suggests.

Ember nodded at him, then lurched back as an apparition appeared at his side. "This is Miles. He's a cool dead guy." Lawrence said, obviously proud of himself. The apparition was blurry, but caused Ember to become entranced. She'd never seen the dead like that before. Lawrence suddenly added, "Now, I have to get out of town. What do you day we all just go together , hm?" Ember smiled at him. She loved his immediate hospitality. She agreed. "Yes, id love to." She bounced a bit, her red curls starting to get out of control. She turned to Zaphyrine. "Would you like to come with us three?" Ember asked, including Herself, Lawrence, and Miles.

Zephyrine didn't mind she travelled a lot but these were elementals like her.
"Yeah, umm, sure,"she said uneasily looking at the ghost,"sorry but your ghost it kinda creeps me out."
Something caught her eye. Behind the ghost. Realising it was a void minion.
"Guys we may have a shadow."
She nodded towards the minion. She waved her hand and it began being dragged towards them by the air. Her long black hair blew behind her as the she pulled at the air. She smiled at the others.
"Who wants to handle this one?" She asked.
To make it easier she pushed the minion on the wall.

Ember smiled. "Let me handle this." She took an arrow. Took a breath, and suddenly the tip lit on fire! In a quick second she notched the arrow and pulled the string back. When she released it, she saw it fly outward and right into the stomach of the void. He was instantly set on fire. "How was that?" Ember asked funnily. Then they heard the voice of the Betrayer, promising peace for the Elementals capture. "We should go." Ember suggested, "I think it will be too dangerous to stay here. Anyone know where we should go?"

Zephyrine thought for a moment. She knew a few places. Not many. There was her old house. Legally it still belonged to her but could she face going back there after all that happened. She decided it would be the safest place to go. But would the others agree.
"I may know a place. My old house in Ireland. It's away from any major cities and it has some secret passageways, in case of an emergency,"Zephyrine suggested.
She knew all the tunnels, secret doors, trap doors, etc. they had all been installed by her sister. How to get there would be the problem. They couldn't take a public jet. So maybe they could just take one for the time being.
"We could borrow a private jet. I can fly planes. It's no good using a public jet it would be too obvious."

"It sounds as good as we're going to get. Except, one problem. Where are we getting a private jet?" Lawrence asks. Miles pipes up. "We could, uh...steal one? You could get some ghosts and-" Lawrence cuts him short. "No, Miles, we aren't stealing a damn plane." He says in annoyance. The boy looks at Zephyrine. "Were you thinking of stealing it? We aren't exactly above the law." Lawrence questions. While he did want to get away, he didn't want to be a criminal.

After the roaring of the Pain elemental, however, it seemed as though their options were limited. If they didn't get out soon, they'd be dead. And apparently, there were ten others like them. "Okay, fine, if we have to "borrow" a plane, I can help get one. We just need to get to the other ten of us that supposedly exist." Lawrence advises, causing Miles to get a little giddy.

Ember nodded in agreement. "Yes, you're right." She thought for a moment. "Finding the others, though, could be nearly impossible... hmm" After a moment, she added. "We might have to just go now, to Zaphyrine's house and lie low for a little bit. After that, we can try and figure out where they are-maybe even have one find us." Ember picked tightened a small backpack fastened to her back, and picked up her bow. "Well, all that's left to do is "borrow" a jet plane. So...where are we going to go to get a plane? We would probably get seen at an airport and that only leaves rich guys as jet plane owners... wait, can anyone of you turn invisible?" Ember gave a small laugh. "Do any of you have an idea on how to get the plane?"

"Were you thinking of stealing it" Lawrence asks in shock.
"No, I was thinking of asking a pilot, could three people, with no pilot licences, take your jet and fly to Ireland in it," she said in sarcasm. She was really letting her real self out. There was no point in trying to be the nicest person, if she was going to invite these people into her house. Zephyrine's way of getting on a plane was easy. Fly over the building to the plane and take off. Do all the flight checks in the air.
"I have no idea. I usually just fly to it. Though I can't take extra baggage," she added.
She looked at the others for any ideas.

Ember was thinking, then said "Well, maybe we do have to literally steal it." She waited a few seconds. "What? Maybe it is as simple as sneaking into an airplane hangar at night and just...taking it? Yes, it would be nearly impossible. Could Miles sneak in? He obviously can't normally be seen by other people, so could he perhaps get us through the gate?"

For a moment Ember pondered. This was going to be a lot harder than expected. "We could rent a plane...people do that sometimes. Though it would cost thousands of dollars. If we could just pay for, like, 10 minutes of flying, we could just fly away and not bring it back. Still it would cost a lot...I have about 250$, but that's it..." Sighing, Ember leaned against a wall.

Suddenly she had a thought. "Zephyrine, if you can fly, could you maybe...hijack an in-flight small, passengerless, private jet? Then maybe we could convince the pilot to bring us to Ireland?" Ember laughed. "Nope, a pilot would probably freak out and call the police...unless we, like, knocked him out?" Ember took a moment and shook her head. "wow, I have some crazy Ideas...most of which are risky and will probably result in death or arrest...." She looked at the others.

"Oh, I'm sure Miles would love to help. I guess stuff like that makes him feel...alive." Lawrence chuckles a bit. Miles just kind of huffs. Lawrence then ponders something. "Earlier, I got attacked by one of the shadow creatures in my apartment. When I got cornered, I phased through the wall, and fell into a dumpster in the alley by my complex. I guess that must be part of my elemental abilities. That could come in handy then." Lawrence suggests.

He shakes his head at the whole hi-jacking idea. "If we survived, we would be labeled terrorists, and then it'd be easier for these dark creatures to kill us. Fun idea, though." Lawrence begins to believe that his future was going to get far more interesting from here on out. He'd always wanted to go to Ireland. Now, he'd get to go there while running from evil creatures from Hell in a stolen jet. It was like an action movie.

Suddenly Ember was slapped with cold reality. "Wait, what the Hell are we doing talking about hijacking a plane, when all we have to do is buy a plane ticket to Ireland? It's not like we are easily recognizable and I doubt Void's are on airlines." Ember nodded, thinking. "If we scrounged up enough, we could at least a ticket for me and Zephyrine, then have you phase through a wall into the plane!" She though t of pros and cons "The only problem is that it's not as fast as a jet would be, but we could probably get a ticket on to a jet too." Ember couldn't help but like her idea, accept for the fact that action sounded funner. She knew that getting to Ireland the most ordinarily would be best, though.

Zeph thought for a minuet. It was a good idea. The voids would think that they would be going on a public plane. Therefore they would suspect that we already knew that so they would think we would go with the most unlikely thing. They would cancel out the most likely thing. Going on a public plane.
"You do have a point, they would think we would do the most unlikely thing. So it would be better to do the most likely thing. I know it sounds confusing but think about it," she replied,"but the tickets... I'm broke my money was all spent on my car... Which happens to be in Ireland."
She thought about the lotus. She missed it. She missed the sound it made. The way she drove it, the power it gave. She missed the... Orangeness of it. She actually doubted orangeness was a word but what the hell. She turned her mind to the matter at hand.
"So?"
(Occ: I decided to put a pic of the car in my char sheet so you could have a look.)

"Well, I have 300$," Ember started, "but that definitely isn't enough..." She thought for a moment. " Couldn't we just pick-pocket some travelers to Ireland? We could go to the gate the plane, steal three tickets, and get on." Ember received worried and critical looks at the idea of stealing. "Were doing it for good, right? We're like trying to save the world, so people not getting to where they want when they want seems like a small price to pay." She looked to Zeph, Lawrence, and Miles to see what they would say.

She thought about is still she would have to forge passports which would take a long time. Surely the tickets would have some sort of ID on them.
"We may need to forge passports, usually tickets have their names on them... Don't they? But anyways I should be able to do this. I just need some passport pictures of you then I need some stolen passports but we can sort this all out at the airport. I'll be right back."
She walked to a more private street and switched on her blackberry. First she the person that lived next to her appartment and told them to leave the bags outside her appartment in the taxi that would be there soon. Then she called the taxi and told the driver her appartment and once he picked the bags up to come here. Of course she told him where they were.
She walked back to the others.
"Ok I called a tax-, i mean cab and he is picking up my bags now. Anyone else have any luggage? Now I would suggest you get it," she told them.