Facing your Fears
Okay, so I was bored and decided to write this- an idea I've had in my head for a while. It wont be written like the actual books (speech marks instead of colours, chapters instead of entries) but I hope all you Stalkerwans out there like it!
TIAJNAD.
Set between The Big City and Bob and No Place to Run. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter One
So, I was sitting in the cafeteria at HQ when I spotted an old friend of mine.
"Hi, Indah!" I yelled, waving him over. Next to me, Jenette groaned.
"Did you have to invite him to sit with us?" she complained. I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, no offence, Amy, but Indah's kinda a wimp."
I glared at her. "He is not!" I defended hotly. I don't know why I was so riled up, but I was. Pete frowned at me from across the table, taking my hand and smiling soothingly.
Oh, if you didn't know, Pete is my boyfriend. Yeah, that's right! Who on earth would've thought that me, shy, clumsy, stupid, cowardly Amy would have a boyfriend- let alone one like Pete! He is a knight in shining armour- and I mean literally. He calls himself 'Sir Percival'. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it's not so surprising I ended up with him...
Anyway, Indah had reached our table by now and sat down with his tray of food. I glanced at it longingly.
"Is that mac and cheese?" I asked wistfully. Indah nodded, but Jenette poked me in the ribs.
"Oh no you don't!" she scolded. "If you're gonna be a secret agent, you have to get into shape!"
"But I don't eat rabbit food!" I complained, poking at my slightly wilted salad with my fork. Jenette glared at me.
"It's not rabbit food, it's salad, and it's good for you! Now shut up and eat it!" She glared at me, and I ate it. I don't eat salad, but Jenette is scary!
"So, Indah," Pete asked, "What've you been up to?"
Indah mumbled something, which I'm pretty sure was 'Cauliflowering'. Jenette shot him a withering glance, and he started to eat his mc and cheese. Speaking of mac and cheese, I'm so hungry! I hate Jenette's diet-plan that's she's got me on! She also makes me do sports- sports!
"So what are you guys doing after lunch?" Pete asked, swallowing a chunk of his steak.
"Well, I was going to take Amy abseiling..." Jenette said. I gulped.
"Abseiling?" I gulped. "That's not a good idea, Jenette... Actually, now that you mention it, I think I had something planned..."
"No you don't," Jenette scoffed. "Come on, it'll be fun, and it'll get you in shape!"
"I can't!" I blurted. "I'm scared of heights and I hate this plan and I-"
"Amy, shut up, you sound like Flower!" Jenette snapped. I shut up. "You have to face your fears some time," Jenette told me. "You'll never get anything done if you're scared to be alive."
"She's right," Pete told me seriously. I groaned.
"Doesn't anyone agree with me?" I wailed.
"I do!" Indah offered. "I don't like heights either, they're scary." He shuddered. I frowned.
"Wasn't your bedroom in the secret castle at the top of a tower?" I asked.
"Yah. Why?"
"That was high up... weren't you scared?"
"Oh... I never though of it that way," Indah admitted. Jenette rolled her eyes.
"What does that have to do with anything? Amy, you're facing your fears, and that's that!"
"If you're taking me Abseiling, Indah is coming too!" I protested.
"Why?" Jenette asked. "He's not even an agent."
"If I face my fears, then he faces his, too!"
"I'll come along as well," Pete offered. Jenette scowled, but Pete smiled at her. "Come on, Jenny, it'll be fun! Besides, Amy will need moral support..."
Jenette sighed. "Alright then... Also, don't call me Jenny!" Pete winked at me and I laughed.
"Abseiling here we come!" he joked.
Chapter Two
"I don't like this..." I looked down over the edge of the cliff, the shrank back, closing my eyes. It was such a long way down! What if we fell? We'd die and our guts would splatter everywhere! Our bodies would be all mangled- maybe they wouldn't even be recognisable! Then nobody would know it was me and nobody would come to my funeral, and-
"You'll be fine!" Jenette yelled. She knotted the rope around the tree once more and stepped back with a nod. "That should do it." She turned to us. "Everybody got their harnesses on?" she asked.
We all agreed. Jenette walked over to the edge of the cliff.
"I'll go first," she told us. "Then Amy, then Indah, than Pete."
I had to go second?!
"Jenette, this isn't such a good idea..." I started. She shook her head.
"Nonsense, it's perfectly safe."
Then she turned and disappeared over the edge. I closed my eyes, sitting down and groaning.
"I think I'm going to be sick," I whispered. Pete came over and took my hand, smiling at me soothingly.
"It'll be alright," he told me. I leaned against him, my eyes closed.
A very LONG TIME later, Jenette's voice yelled up, "Alright, I'm down!"
I stood up, and Pete kissed me. "You'll be fine," he told me. "Now go down there and I'll see you in a bit."
"Alright," I croaked. "Love you, Pete." Then I turned and climbed down over the edge.
Looking down was terrifying. Looking up was nauseating. Looking forwards caused me to graze my nose on the rock wall. Slowly, I turned my head to the left.
"Woah."
Miles and miles of forest spread out across the land. From here I could see the carpet of green, the way it surrounded the hills and was cut out by the sparkling streams. I could see a road cutting through the trees, tin cars glimmering in the sunlight.
Turning to my right, I saw another breathtaking sight. A hill was dotted in pretty, pastel-covered cottages, all the way down to a beach. Then, as far as the eye could see, was that always shifting blue blanket known as the ocean. I let out a shaky breath of laughter. Who knew you could see so much? You could never see this from down on the ground!
That doesn't mean that heights are any less scary- no siree!- but they were bearable.
Slowly, I abseiled down the cliff face, the rappel device clicking and whirring. As I descended, the view grew smaller and smaller, before I was down on the ground and could only see a ring of trees beside me.
"See? It wasn't that bad, was it?" Jenette asked, helping me take the harness off.
"I guess not," I said truthfully.
"Anyway, as a treat, when the others get down we'll go for a picnic in the woods," Jenette told me. I grinned.
"Yay!"
After a long, long while, Indah reached us, sobbing and shaking. I sighed.
"Indah," I told him, poking his fur as he curled into a little ball on the floor. "Indah, stop it- it wasn't that bad."
"I-It was!" he sobbed. I rolled my eyes at Jenette, and she cracked a smile.
By the time we managed to calm down Indah and take the harness off, Pete had reached the bottom. The three of us tidied up while Indah recovered from his 'ordeal'.
"So, picnic then?" Jenette asked. We all agreed. Pete held out his arm for me and I took it, smiling like a crazy person.
"You are a crazy person," Jenette snapped. I turned to see her reading over my shoulder.
"Hey!" I yelled. "And don't read my diary!"
"That's not your usual diary," Pete said, pointing at it. I shook my head.
"Nah, I decided to let Bob go on a bit of annual leave. He deserves it!"
Jenette and Pete rolled their eyes at each other. I frowned.
"What did I say?" I asked.
"You- never mind," Jenette sighed. Then, Jenette in front, Indah trailing behind, me and Pete- sorry, pete and I (had a Jenette moment)- arm in arm, we walked forward into the forest, laughing.
Oh, if only I knew what we were in for.
A/N: just remembered that Amy is scared of beaches (and therefore wouldn't find the sight that pretty)... oh well xD
Chapter Three
We found a clearing in the woods near a babbling brook (hey, try saying that ten times fast!). Jenette spread out the checkered picnic rug on the floor and spread out the food in the middle. I looked over it, my mouth watering. I swear my eyes must've been bug-eyed.
There were sandwhiches, chicken legs, strawberries, chips, fries, assorted cakes, lemonade, biscuits, jam tarts, sausagerolls, grapes, apples, ice cream, and a gigantic, shiny, wibbley-wobbley jelly.
"Hey, no salad!" I cheered. Jenette laughed, shaking her head.
"No, you deserve a treat every now and then." She beamed around at all of us. "Dig in!"
So, that being said, we ate. And ate. And ate. And then- we ate. We talked and chatted and generally had a great time. Then Jenette stopped, holding up a finger for quiet. We fell into an uneasy silence.
"Did you hear that?" she asked, ears pricked. We shook our heads. Jenette frowned, her head turning towards the trees on the other side of the brook.
Crack. I sat up straight. Even Indah had heard that, and we were all alert, staring towards the source of the sound. The bushes rustled and then... out they stepped. My jaws dropped open in surprise.
"Sugar! Twila! Delilah!" Jenette cried, jumping up to greet them. The four girls ended up in one squashy group hug, squealing excitedly. Jenette stepped back, grinning. "Guys! It's been forever since we last met!"
"Good to see you too Jenette," Twila greeted. Then she peered round and looked at me. To my astonishment, she smiled- at me! "Hi, Amy." Then she turned back to Jenette. I blinked in surprise.
Now, back before I was a secret agent, Jenette, Twila, Sugar and Delilah were undercover at our school. They bullied me to protect me (still not quite sure how that works), though I hadn't seen Jenette's minions ever since.
"So what are you doing here?" Jenette asked.
"There's a dog we were sent out to aprehend. He's been avoiding capture for years now, and we haven't caught him yet."
"What did he do?" Pete asked, abandoning the meal to stand beside Jenette. I took one last spoonful of the jelly before going to stand beside him.
"Running away, murdur, kidnapping, jailbreak, robbery, and that's just for starters," Sugar listed.
"Who is he?" I asked.
"His name is Rhubarb," Delilah told me. I stared at her in astonishment.
"No way!" I yelled. "Pie-face?"
"You know him?" Twila asked.
"Yurp," Jenette said. "We had a run-in with him a couple weeks back. He's working for Suzi, one of her top luteniants."
"Well, seeing as you have experiance, would you like to come along?" Delilah asked.
"Sure!" I agreed. Everyone turned to stare at me in surprise. "What?"
"It'll be dangerous," Jenette warned.
"Risky," Pete added.
"Not to metion scary!" Pete put in.
"Dangerous, risky and scary aren't really your elements..." Jenette reminded me.
"I know," I sighed. "I just have a feeling that if we don't go, we'll just end up in the middle of it anyway."
"Why'd you say that?" Pete asked. I shrugged.
"It's all one big conspiracy, isn't it?" Jenette and Delilah excghanged smirks. Then Sugar held out her hand.
"Partners?" she asked.
"Partners," Jenette agreed, and they shook. I grinned.
"Let's go kick ol' pie-face's butt!"
A/N: Yes, I just had to add Rhubarb in there! And the question 'What happened to Sugar, Twila and Delilah?' is answered!
Chapter Four
"You idiot, Amy!"
"Well, excuse me! I was just trying to-"
"Trying to what? To what!?"
"Actually get somewhere! We always get lost when you have the map-"
"I always get us lost?!"
"Yes! Remember the quest to find the pearl? YOU GOT US LOST!"
"And I suppose YOU can do better?"
"YES!"
Jenette glared at me and I glared back. So, Jenette had the map, and last time Jenette had the map... well, that didn't go down too well. We ended up in a cursed forest. So I tried to grab it off her... and it RIPPED.
"Are they always like this?" I heard Twila mutter to Pete.
"Yup," Pete replied.
"Oh, brother." Twila rolled her eyes. "Okay, you two, listen up! I have a spare map, and I'm reading it. That clear?"
"Yes," I muttered, kicking Jenette's ankle. She turned and glared at me...
OMW she just karate flipped me! She flipped me!
"Never do that again," she growled, then helped me up. I backed up, eyes wide.
"C'mon, guys, let's go," Sugar said. "We're losing time."
She was right- the sun was slowly sinking down.
xxx
We trekked through the woods until the light had disappeared altogether. Indah whimpered. Twila rolled her eyes and turned on a flashlight. I turned mine on also (yup, I still always carry one!).
"We should keep going," Twila said, examining the map.
"But I'm tired!" I moaned. "I'm falling asleep on my paws!" Jenette glared at me.
"You know, a nighttime hike was next on our list..."
"NO!" I yelled. "I'm tired! I want- to- sleep!"
"Tough cheese," Twila snapped, and led the way forwards. I fell behind, until Pete grabbed me and pulled me forwards. I leaned against his arm. Did you know that metal armour is surprisingly comfy?
Mmm...
Hey, when'd it get so bright?!
"Hey, you're awake!" I looked up to see Jenette glaring at me. "You fell asleep on Pete- he had to carry you back up here, you know."
Wait, I fell asleep?! Told you I was tired.
"Oh, sorry!" I squeaked, seeing Jenette's glare. She's been glaring at me an awful lot lately. I sat up and looked around.
We were on a hilltop. Behind us was the forest, and in front of us a beach. I gulped. I hate beaches. THEY TERRIFY ME!
Anyway, in the middle of the hill was an unlit campfire. Around us were several sleeping bags- Indah, Pete and Sugar were asleep. Jenette, Twila and Delilah were doing work, tidying up stuff. Delilah was making a crossbow.
"So where to next?" I asked with a yawn.
"We spotted a campfire down there last night," Jenette said, pointing at some rocks on the beach. "We're going to check and see who's there."
D
