Book that I will Probably Never Finish...

[Silver Pandorica]

So...I started this book with some inspiration from Rise of the Gaurdians and it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now...I've kind of worn the idea out. It just seems like so many other stories that I probably won't finish it. I love writing, but I usually get bored or stuck XD Anyways, enjoy the first four chapters...

Oh and please don't steal any of my characters or ideas. Thank you! Feel free to post friendly comments or constructive criticism.

[Silver Pandorica]

CHAPTER ONE

Caleb walked around the store, glancing at the rows and rows of toys. He went down the action figure isle and paused to look at the shiny new figurines. He couldn't resist grabbing them and pretending they were fighting. He heard someone coming around the edge of the isle and he quickly put the toys down. A little kid and his mom came in his direction. Caleb breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he was too old for toys. He was thirteen! Nonetheless, he took them and walked up to the check-out area. "Uh...their for my little brother's birthday," he said as he handed them to the cashier.

The cashier, who's name tag read Carl, raised an eyebrow. "Your never too old for action figures," the man said as he bagged the toys. Caleb handed him the money and took the bag. "Wish your brother a happy birthday from me," Carl said, winking.

Caleb nodded and rushed out of the store. That was weird, he thought. He hated buying toys in public. It was embarrassing and he always had to make up some excuse. But ever since he was little, he'd loved toys. He's never grown out of it. Hearing footsteps, he turned to see his friends running up to him.

"Hey! What's up?" one of the kids called.

"Yo Jim! 'Sup?" Caleb said, hiding the bag behind his back.

"Not much. We were thinking of heading to the skate park."

"Sounds great!" Caleb replied.

"Alright, let's go then. Uh, what's that?" Jim asked, pointing to the bag behind Caleb.

Caleb clutched the bag tighter. He couldn't let the guys know he still played with toys. He'd be the laughing stock of the century! "Um...it's a...birthday present. For my little bro. Yeah. His birthday is in a few weeks."

Jim looked at him for a few seconds before replying. "Cool. Now let's go man!" He turned, got a running start, then hopped onto his skateboard. Caleb exhaled a breath he'd been holding in, then got on his board and raced after them, swerving around a fire hydrant.

***

Cameron skipped happily through the school hallways, her long blonde hair flowing behind her. She waved to people as she passed them and stopped at her locker, near her friend. She grabbed her books and went over to her. "Hello Mitzi!" she said.

"Oh, hey Cameron!" Mitzi said. "How are you?"

"Me? I'm great! It's a new day, and that's enough for me!" Cameron replied. She meant it. Today was a beautiful day. Too bad they had to spend it inside. The bell rang and people started crowding the halls, rushing to their next class.

"Well, I'll see you after school!" Cameron said.

"We still on for the mall later?" Mitzi asked.

"Yup!" Cameron said before being washed away by a wave of kids.

She reached her English class and was about to walk through the door when she noticed a man she'd never seen before standing in front of the board, writing something. She walked up to the man. Good morning," Cameron said cheerfully.

He turned around to face her, his thick glasses reflecting the light in the room. He was very young, probably in his late twenties. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. "Hello there. I'm Mr. Carson, and I'm your new school counselor. I'll be speaking to your class today.

Cameron grinned. Mr. Carson seemed nice, and she loved it when she met a friendly teacher. "Can't wait!" she said. Then she walked over to her desk, sat down, and waited for class to start.

***

Alexsat under the shade of a tree in the grassy courtyard. His dark hair blew in the breeze and he brushed it out of his face. Lunch was his favorite part of the day, but not for the reasons most kids would think. This was the time of day where he could escape from the rush of the school and relax. He watched as people chatted over their food, enjoying the warm sunshine. Alex preferred to be alone, and would rather watch people from a distance then actually talk to them. He heard someone behind him and turned around to see a dark-haired girl standing in front of him. Bella Fox, he remembered. He knew her. Well, not personally. Alex knew everyone's names.

"Hi. I'm Bella," she said, smiling.

"I know-I mean, uh, I'm Alex." Alex bit his lip, hoping she didn't notice his mistake. She leaned against the tree, her brown hair flowing in the wind. What was she doing over here talking to him? "Um...did you need anything?"

"Well, actually, I just wanted to say hi." she replied.

"Oh. Okay," Alex replied. This was getting awkward.

"Well, I'd better go. See you around," Bella said as she waved at him and walked back over to her friends. They frowned as she sat down and shot Alex weird looks. Bella said something to them and they glanced at him one more time, then started chatting.

Alex looked away. He was used to people thinking he was weird. Sighing, he wondered why Bella had come over here in the first place. Probably a dare from her friends or something. He leaned his back against the tree and closed his eyes.

***

The bell rang and kids started talking immediately. Laughing, yelling, and chatter happened all at once. Lockers slammed shut and feet stomped down the hallway. Rainee heard none of it. She walked through the hallways, people pushing by her. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of jet black hair, a purple dress, and high heels. Vanessa. One of the popular girls and her cronies. They walked right up to her. Rainee tried to walk past them, but they blocked her. She could hear nothing, but could tell they were laughing by the way their faces scrunched up.

"Hey, it's deaf girl," Vanessa said. Rainee was glad she could only read Vanessa's lips, because she bet her voice was really annoying. Vanessa grabbed Rainee's notebook and flipped through it. Rainee grabbed at it, but Vanessa only pulled it away. "What's this?" she asked, stopping on a drawing of a griffin.

Rainee was about to try and squirm past them again when the janitor walked up. He must have been new, because she'd never seen him before. His name tag read 'Sam' in shiny letters.

"Why don't you girls give this young lady her book back and let her through, eh?" he said.

Vanessa snorted and did what she was told. Then she flipped her hair and walked away, her girls following her. Rainee turned to the janitor and did the sign language for 'thank you.' The janitor nodded and said, "Hey, they'll end up like me when they're older if they don't get their heads out of the clouds." Rainee laughed silently and the janitor smiled a toothy smile and walked down the hallway, his mop dragging behind him.

[Silver Pandorica]

CHAPTER TWO

Cameron ran down the steps of the school building, glad to be out. She and Mitzi had agreed to meet right beside the green lamp post next to the sidewalk. She was about to skip over there when she heard someone yelling in a mocking voice. She followed the sound and walked around the corner to see that popular girl Vanessa teasing another girl. The girl wasn't saying anything back. Cameron marched over and stood right in between her and Vanessa. "Just what do you think you're doing? Give her notebook back!"

"Who are you? Another loser?" Vanessa laughed.

Cameron snorted. What a jerk! She grabbed the book out of the Vanessa's hand and gave it back to the girl. Vanessa gaped at her. "Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah. Your Vanessa McGuire and you're a rich little brat who thinks you can get whatever you want." Cameron retorted. They shot insults back at one another, the girl who was picked on shrinking back behind Cameron. Suddenly a firm voice said, "My office. Now!" The three of them turned to see Mr. Carson standing in front of them.

"But-" Cameron started to protest.

Mr. Carson shook his head. "I don't care. I want all three of you in my office now!"

Reluctantly, Cameron followed Mr. Carson to his office, Vanessa and that other girl behind her. New counselor huh? Maybe he wasn't as nice as she thought. He opened the door to his office. Cameron walked in and glanced around. The office had been completely remodeled since the last counselor left. There were dark, wooden benches against the walls with soft cushions. Huge floor-to-ceiling bookshelves covered the left wall, and leafy green plants were spread around the room. Mr. Carson walked over to his desk and sat down.

Vanessa started speaking immediately. "Mr. Carson, please. I didn't do anything! I was just walking out of the school when these two came up to me and-"

Mr. Carson cut her off. "I know what happened. You may leave, Ms. McGuire." Cameron's mouth hung open.

Vanessa batted her eyelashes and said "Thank you very much." Then she turned, smirked at Cameron, and walked out of the room.

Cameron was furious. "Are you kidding me? You saw what she did! Why on earth would you just let her leave?"

Mr. Carson raised an eyebrow and Cameron stopped, realizing she might have gone too far. She was too mad to care. She was just about to say more when a boy walked into the room. He had dark hair and brown eyes, and he didn't look happy. He came in, skateboard in hand, and walked right up to Mr. Carson. "I promise you, whatever it is, I didn't do it. I swear!"

"Didn't do what?" Mr. Carson asked.

The boy looked surprised, but then immediately hid it. "Uh...nothing." he said quickly before turning around and sitting on the other bench. He turned towards Cameron, reaching out his hand. "I'm Caleb."

Shaking it, she replied, "Cameron."

Caleb turned towards the other girl and reached his hand out to her as well. The girl looked at it, nodded, and then opened her notebook and started writing. Caleb looked offended, but before he could look away she turned the notebook towards him. He read it out loud, "Rainee." She took his still outstretched hand and shook it.

Cameron watched the whole scene, confused. Then she remembered that she'd overheard some of the teachers talking about a new student that had recently come to the school. It hit her so hard she almost jumped. "You're the new student aren't you? The one that's deaf?" Rainee nodded. "So you know sign language and can read lips and stuff?" Another nod. "That's so cool!"

Rainee grinned. Cameron was about to ask more questions when yet another person came through the door. It was another boy with dark hair, except this one had icy blue eyes. He said nothing, but instead quietly sat down on the opposite side of the bench as Caleb, as far away from them as he could possibly be.

"Welcome, Alex." Mr. Carson said to the kid. Alex didn't even look up. He stared at the floor, like the wood patterns were really interesting. Mr. Carson cleared his throat and moved on. "Now, you're probably wondering why you're all here."

Everyone nodded, and he continued. "I'd like to inform you all that you are not in trouble." Caleb was about to say something, but Mr. Carson kept going. "You are here because you have been chosen for a very special...program. This is nothing like you've ever heard of before and it is a once in a life time opportunity."

Cameron couldn't help but interrupting. "What do you mean by 'special program?' Because I never signed up for anything."

"Me neither," Caleb added. "This isn't some honors class thing, is it? Because the last thing I need is more homework."

Mr. Carson held up his hand for silence. "No. In fact, this has nothing to do with school at all. It is something much more important.

Caleb looked relieved, but Cameron was just more curious. Something about what Mr. Carson had just said didn't sit right with her.

"You four are very special, each in your own way. Let me ask you something, Caleb." Caleb looked up. "You still play with toys, am I correct?"

Caleb's face reddened. "How did you...no. No. Of course not."

"Interesting." Mr. Carson went on. "Rainee, you like to draw, right? Rainee nodded. "Mmhmm. Cameron, you are very intelligent and are also a positive person. Very good combination."

Cameron stared at him, unsure what to say. Where was he going with this?

"And you, Alex." Alex looked up ever so slightly. "I'm not sure why, but Frost is absolutely positive about you." Alex furrowed his brow, seemingly in deep thought.

Cameron had had enough. "How do you know all of this? And who's Frost?"

Mr. Carson got up from his desk and walked over to the bookshelf. Placing his hand on a book, he answered, "You shall see for yourself soon enough. But before we go, I have one more question." He pulled the book off the shelf and Cameron watched in awe as the entire shelf disappeared, revealing a shimmery blue wall that looked half liquid, half solid. "Do you believe in legends?"

[Silver Pandorica]

CHAPTER THREE

Looking back, Caleb thought he'd had a pretty good life. Sure, he had some regrets, but overall, he was fairly happy with it. Now, he was positive he was going to die. The new school counselor who knew his deepest, darkest secret had made the bookshelf disappear, and now there was a swirling blue wall right in front of them. Mr. Carson smiled at them. "This trip is fairly quick. You'll come out from the other portal within a second or two. Once we get there, I'll explain everything." No one moved. Did he actually want them to go through that thing? There was no way Caleb was going anywhere near that wall. "Are you nuts?" he asked. "You want us to walk in there?!"

"Who are you?" Cameron asked.

"James Contreras." Mr. Carson replied simply. "But please, call me James. Now, I will explain everything when we get there, but I need you to trust me."

Trust him? They'd just met the guy, and he wanted them to jump into some liquid wall? Caleb backed away a few steps. "Look man, I got to get to the park. I promised my friends I'd go skating with them. And uh...this is getting weird."

James shook his head. "I can't force you to come, but the door will remain open for ten minutes. If you don't come, it will close and you'll forget this ever happened. If you do, I promise you, you won't regret it." With that he turned around and walked through the wall.

Caleb's jaw dropped, but he quickly closed it again. He looked around to see the others were just as surprised as him. Well, he wasn't going to stick around here. "That was interesting. I have to get going now. See you all later." he said, saluting them. But before he could walk out the door, someone grabbed his wrist. He whipped around to see Cameron.

"Wait," she said. Wait for what? He wanted to get out of this creepy office. "What if...we went through?"

Caleb stared at her. "Are you kidding? Through that?"He asked, pointing towards the wall. "This could be a trap!" That girl Rainee got a worried look on her face.

"A trap? He's the school counselor. What do you think he's going to do? Kidnap us?" She asked skeptically.

"Maybe!" Caleb exclaimed. He didn't seem like a school counselor to him. More like a nut job.

"I'm serious," Cameron continued. "James said something about us being chosen. Being special."

"He's a counselor. He's supposed to tell us we're special." Caleb blurted out. Now he was frustrated. Why didn't the others see this was all just some big misunderstanding! He couldn't explain the wall, but it was probably just some trick to make everyone think that the new counselor was cool.

"But, what if she's right?" A quiet voice said. Caleb realized it was Alex, speaking for the first time since he came in. "I mean, you guys all saw him walk through that wall, right? James said he would explain it to us on the other side. We can always come back through."

Caleb saw his point. James said it would be open for ten minutes. "So what are we waiting for?" he asked, suddenly excited.

Cameron rolled her eyes. "We're waiting for you genius."

Caleb ignored her and walked across the wooden floor towards the swirling blue portal. He looked at the others, grinning. Clapping his hands together, he said, "Who wants to go first?"

Cameron came over to him. "How about you, since you're so eager to go?"

"You're the one who wanted to-" he stopped, seeing Cameron's glare. He held up his hands defensively. "Alright, alright. I'm going." With his heart pounding in his chest, he grabbed his skateboard, turned around, and stepped into the wall.

[Silver Pandorica]

CHAPTER FOUR

As soon as Alex entered the wall, he was consumed. It felt like he was underwater, but he could still breathe. Not to mention the icy cold that enveloped him. He fell out of the wall right on top of Caleb. Quickly he rolled off him. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Nah, it's cool man," Caleb replied. He attempted to get back up, but he immediately fell on his butt. Cameron laughed, then she fell too. Alex looked down and realized the floor was covered in ice. Rainee was on the ground too, but she was smiling, tracing her fingers in the ice. She slid around on her stomach like a penguin, obviously enjoying herself. Alex got up slowly, and navigated towards the railing. He grabbed hold of it, then let go at once. It was covered in snow. He saw Caleb and Cameron looking at him.

"Dude, how'd you get over there?" Caleb asked as he slipped again. Cameron had given up and was sliding around with Rainee, laughing.

"Just get up really slowly and walk over here. Try to keep your shoes flat on the ice." Caleb did what he instructed, and as soon as he was close enough, Alex reached out his hand and pulled Caleb to the railing. Alex looked behind him and did a double take. They were on a ledge, and there was a huge factory below them. The floor the four of them were on was built in a circular form, so they could openly see down below. There were elegant staircases on either side leading down to the first floor. On the level below them there were tons of people in colorful outfits, working. Were they building...toys? Alex was in awe. Where were they? This place was...amazing! Something moved out of the corner of his eye and he turned to his right to see James gliding towards them on ice skates. That was one weird counselor. Then again, Alex was starting to think he wasn't really a counselor at all.

James skidded to a stop in front of them. "Glad you came," he said, his breath making clouds of steam in the cold. Chuckling, he watched Rainee and Cameron sliding around on their stomachs. "If you would follow me please, I think I owe you all an explanation."

Cameron sat up on the ice. "You bet you do." Rainee nodded along with her. Alex was still wondering about where they were, but he had a feeling they would find out soon enough. Holding onto the cold railing, he followed after James, the others close behind.

"Now," James began, ice skates in one hand and his other on the icy railing as they started down the stairs. "You're probably wondering where we are. Well, let me start off by saying-" A figure whipped past them, almost knocking Alex over. What the... he thought as the person stopped a few steps below them. It was a boy that looked about in his teens. He was wearing a long blue robe and was carrying a crooked wooden staff. The other thing Alex noticed was the boy's frosty white hair and icy blue eyes, similar to his eye color.

"I swear Frost, one day, you're going to slip and fall on your face, and you know what? I'm going to laugh." James said, shaking his head.

The boy laughed and walked with them. Except he was walking backwards...down the stairs...without slipping. Alex heard Cameron speak up behind him. "You're Frost?"

"Ahh, you've heard of me," Frost said, smiling. He held out his hand. "Jack Frost. But you can call me Jack."

Alex stared at him. "Jack Frost. Like, Jack Frost nipping at your nose?" This couldn't seriously be the mythical Jack Frost of the songs and poems. He wasn't real, just like the Easter bunny and Santa Clause.

Jack burst out laughing. "Nipping at your nose? Ha! That's hilarious!" He bent over and held his stomach like he couldn't begin to imagine how ridiculous that was. Alex didn't see what was so funny. Jack straightened up again and did a motion like he was wiping a tear from his eye. "Ohh, that was a good one. Anyway, Alex, I'm glad you decided to come. You had me worried there for a second, but I knew I'd chosen correctly!" He said, jabbing him on the shoulder.

Alex frowned. "What do you mean 'chosen correctly'?"

Jack got a weird look on his face. "You haven't told them yet?" he said to James, poking him with his staff.

"No, I haven't. We were on our way to meet the others when you came along." James replied defensively.

"I was just heading there myself. I thought I was late, but you aren't even there yet." Jack turned around to face the bottom of the stairs. He hopped off the second to last stair and landed on the ground, bare-foot and all. "Well, I'll meet you there slow-pokes!" With that, he ran off.

"He's cool," Caleb said.

"Ha. Not once you get to know him. Than he's a pain in the butt." James replied. He looked at his wrist, which wore a fancy black watch, the second hand working its way around the white face of the clock. "But he's right. We're late. Follow me." He led them around the factory. Upon closer inspection, Alex realized that the people building the toys were kids. Well, they looked like kids. He wondered if they had been kidnapped and brought here to be forced to work in those silly outfits. Shaking his head, he glanced behind him to see if the others had noticed. They were all staring too. Caleb looked like he desperately wanted to go and explore the place, but they had reached a giant set of double doors. There were detailed markings carved into the wood. Swirls, probably representing wind, blew snow over a vast landscape of a frozen lake. In the top right were carved butterflies fluttering around, every now and then there was one perched on a flower. A sleigh pulled by reindeer flew over the entire scene. Alex wondered what it all meant while the others gaped at it. James opened the door and stepped aside to let the others through. Alex hesitated, took one last glance at the carvings, then walked in. Too late to turn back now.

The smell of hot chocolate and peppermint overwhelmed him as he entered the large room. To his right there was a huge desk with papers strewn across it, like the wind had blown through and messed them up. To his left there were large, comfy looking couches and a coffee table with a plate of cookies on it. Various people were lounging on the couch. One of them was a fairly big man with a white beard and a red suit. Sitting next to him was an African-American guy in orange pajamas, looking like he was fighting to stay awake, but wasn't doing very good at it. At the end of the couch was a beautiful woman with long brown hair, wearing a green and blue dress. On top of the armrest, Jack was sitting with one knee up and his staff leaning against the couch.

The man in the red suit spoke,"Eh! James! We were wondering when you would get here! Even Jack got here before you." He chuckled and Jack smirked.

James replied, "I tried to get here on time, but-"

"Bah, no worries," the man said with a wave of his hand. "We must begin." He turned towards Alex and the others and motioned towards the couch across from him. "Come, have a seat."

Alex slowly walked over to the sofa and sat down. The others did the same. No one said anything, then the man in the suit spoke again. "Let me tell you why you are all here." Alex looked up. Would they finally get an explanation? Cameron looked eager as well.

"Let us introduce ourselves first," the man continued. "I am Nicholas, more commonly known as St. Nick, or Santa Clause."

Alex stared at him in disbelief. Was this guy for real? First Jack Frost and now Santa Clause. What was next, the Easter Bunny?

Nick jabbed the guy sitting next to him in the arm and he quickly sat up,"I'm awake!" He looked around. "Oh, did we start?"

"Yes," Nick replied. "We're introducing ourselves."

"Oh, wonderful! Well, I'm the Sandman. More commonly known around here as Sandy." His head lopped to the side and he fell asleep again. Rainee giggled silently.

The woman at the end of the couch spoke up. "Hello. I am Lily, the Tooth Fairy." Alex raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

"We've already met, but since we're playing the name game, I'm Jack Frost." Jack said from the armrest.

There was an awkward pause until Alex finally decided to break the silence. "Is this some kind of joke? Because it isn't funny."

Jack's smile faltered. "Hey, I'm all for a good joke, but we aren't kidding."

"Oh yeah?" Cameron asked. "We'd like to see some proof."

"The portal wasn't enough proof for you?" Jack asked.

"Calm down Jack. Look where they've grown up. Of course they don't believe." Nick said, shaking his head. "Parents are always ruining it for their children, saying we don't exist."

Alex didn't know what to believe. When he was five he'd figured out the whole 'Santa' thing. He'd snuck downstairs at midnight to watch for Santa, but found his parents putting presents under the tree instead. The next year they revealed the big secret, but he already knew. Now he was thirteen, sitting in front of some guy who claimed he was the big man himself. "So...where are we, and why are we here?" he ventured.

"This is the North Pole of course!" Nick said, chuckling. "And you are here for a very special reason. Each of us have been looking for an apprentice to train. To be our successors. We looked everywhere. I couldn't find one kid who fit the job. I searched the entire nice list! And maybe the naughty one too. Then I found Caleb." Alex watched as Caleb looked up.

"Me?" he asked. "What did I do?"

Nicholas chuckled again. "Oh Caleb. You still love toys, even though you're thirteen! I'm always curious to see what you'll want for Christmas next. You always make
sure to have as much fun as possible no matter where you are or what you're doing."

Caleb looked super embarrassed, but he didn't protest. Rainee waved her hand and pointed at herself. Nick jabbed Sandy in the arm again and Sandy jolted awake. "W-what? Sorry, I must have dozed off again." Nick pointed at Rainee, and realization spread across Sandy's face. "Ahh, right. Yes, I chose you, Rainee. You struck me as the creative, daydreamer type. And I love dreamers. You and me are going to have a lot of fun together!" Sandy barely finished his sentence before his head fell on Nick's shoulder and he fell asleep once again. Rainee smiled and seemed satisfied with that statement.

"Well, I guess it's my turn. Cameron, I chose you to be my apprentice." Lily began. "You and I are going to have so much fun! I just love leaving children gifts after they lose their teeth. It makes them so happy, and that makes me happy! It's just so wonderful!" She had begun to hover in the air, her sparkly wings fluttering behind her. Cameron looked up at her in awe, a huge smile across her face. Jack guessed that was enough proof for her. Wait. If Nicholas had found Caleb, Sandy had chosen Rainee, and Lily had picked Cameron, then that meant...

"Well, I think you know what comes next Alex," Jack said, grinning. Alex stifled a groan. "You and me, man!"

"Why did you pick me?" Alex asked. He was a little curious why Jack had chosen him. They were nothing alike.

"I just felt it. I know that locked up somewhere inside that stubborn, quiet guy is a fun-loving, happy kid, waiting to be let out," Jack said, poking Alex in the chest with his staff.

Alex furrowed his brow. Jack 'just felt it.' Great. He felt really special now. Suddenly a thought came to his mind. "But, aren't you guys, like, immortal or something?"

"Well, technically, yes," Nick started. "But, well, Mother Nature decided it was time for us to begin training you four. We don't know why. She didn't tell us. But, she knows what's best, so..." He trailed off, seemingly sad.

Jack piped up. "Hey, she never told us we had to quit. Maybe she just thinks we need some sidekicks or something."

"Sidekicks? This isn't a game Jack," Lily replied. "But you have a point. Maybe she just wants us to have some help. Or in case something ever happens to us, they can-"

Jack shook his head, his white hair getting even more tussled. "I'd rather not think about it. Why don't we just do what she says? Everything will be fine then."

Nick nodded and Caleb leaned forward. "So does that mean we become immortal too?" He asked. Cameron glared at him. "What?"

"That's what you got from a that?" She said accusingly. Caleb shrugged and Cameron rolled her eyes.

Trying to keep things moving, Alex asked, "What now?"

Nicholas stood up and trotted over to the wooden doors, happy agin. Opening them, he motioned outside. "We give you the grand tour."