Memoirs of a RAFian

[redtailedsaffa]

Okaaay. Suddenly creepy.

[Cloak]

Eh, it's suppose to be.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER FIVE:
Strict Dress Code

"But we're not st--" Ricky began.

"Wonderland, you say, mister?" Rollo said. As may have been established before, he hadn't much good sense and tended to act without thinking.

Ricky, however, overthought everything and had a fair bit of good sense that was usually overturned by peer pressure from Rollo. Ricky didn't have too many friends, due to his shy and almost secretive nature, due to the fact the other kids in his class just saw him as "that weird kid".

"Yes, that I did," Jervis said. "It's Mad Hatter, by the way. You may call me simply 'Hatter', if you prefer."

"So it's okay if we hang here for a while?" Rollo said.

Ricky was certain this was a bad idea, but Rollo wasn't about to listen to him or reason. Ricky was trying to devise a way to do it, but hesitated when he decided the only way was to be upfront. He didn't want Rollo to be angry with him.

"But, of course," Jervis said, permissively. "This Wonderland I've painstakingly built is a refuge for young, disenfranchised youths, such as yourself."

"Cool!" Rollo said.

Ricky thought it was anything but cool. But he said nothing.

"But there's just one thing," Jervis said, with a rather apologetic tone. "My Wonderland has a dress code. I'm afraid it's rather strict."

"Dress code?"

Ricky was wondering how Rollo could not have seen this coming. Ricky though it was rather obvious what the conditions of staying was. The other kids were already demonstrating it, and the blankness of their faces disturbed Ricky a great deal. Rollo was so interested by his own needs that he could realize what Ricky had already.

"I'm afraid so," Jervis said, in the same semi-apologetic tone.

"Rollo, perhaps we should go." Ricky said.

The angry glint in Jervis's eye did not escape Ricky's notice. But Rollo remain so very oblivious to it all. It couldn't be possible that Jervis was being that subtle, could it? Ricky began to doubt himself. Maybe he was misinterpreting the situation. Probably not likely, but still plausible . . .

"Don't worry, my poppets," Jervis said, with a note of eager urgency. "I can provide the appropriate dress to meet the requirements."

He said it a little too eagerly, Ricky thought. His fight or flight response was leaniheavily towards flight, but he couldn't bring himself to abandon Rollo. He didn't know how to convince Ricky how this was a bad idea, and he suspected they were pass the point of no return, as Jervis had cut off the only possible exit to get the "appropriate dress requirements".

A Cheshire cat costume, without a mask and a simply furred hood, and some child-sized period clothing. Ricky narrowed his eyes at this, and wondered sarcastically just why this guy would have said costumes just lying around.

"I'm not wearing that," Rollo said. "Neither of them!"

Ricky spoke in front of Jervis for the first time, "Me either."

"Tsk tsk tsk," Jervis clicked his tongue, while shaking his head. He pulled out two blank cards from his pocket and fanned them out. "Pity, that."

Now Ricky and Rollo were on the same page. Unfortunately, it was too late.

[theyoungphoenix]

. . . He is really scary. Yikes.

Oh my gosh your on book 80 something now. I remember back when you were on like book 30. Ahaha

[Cloak]

Oh, there are scarier characters in future books, I think.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER SIX:
Missing Children

"Jaden White, age eight."

The photo showed a boy of stout stature, with some baby fat, who seemed to always be preoccupied with being prim and punctual.

"Harrison 'Harry' March, age eleven."

The photo showed a boy whose brown hair looked like one great, big tangle. He was never seen not smiling, if their information was correctly accurate.

"Duncan and Lincoln Gan, twins, age six."

The photographs showed two boys, Duncan being slightly pudgier than Lincoln. They both possessed sandy hair and crooked, mischievous smiles.

"Alicia Landers, age nine."

A picture of a pretty young lady with long, blonde hair who wore a black Alice band in it. She a blue blouse and blue jeans in the picture.

"Ruby Hart, age twelve."

A picture of a young, regal girl in red with her hair pulled back into a severe bun. She looked as if she was twelve going on thirty, if her haughiness was correctly interrupted from it.

"Dorian Avellanarius, age four."

The kid was adorable personified, with his mousey golden-brown hair and pointed face.

"And then the two newest ones," Aquilai proceeded, "Richard 'Ricky' Melbourne Edwards, age ten, and his paternal cousin, Rollo Vernon Edwards, age eleven. All missing for the pass three days and counting."

"This is interesting and all," Saffa said, "but, at the risk of sounding heartless, what does this have to do with us? This sounds like the jurisdiction of the police. Wouldn't we be overstepping our bounds, our authority, if we interfere with this case?"

"We can't be overstepping our bounds, because Commissioner James asked us to help out personally." Aquilai explained.

"But why?" Abby asked, perplexed.

"Just a hunch."

"Well, that's not vague or anything." Faerie said.

[Cloak]

Oh, and Abby? I remember when the chapters that I planned out were all in a single notebook. I'm nearly to the sixth one now.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER SEVEN:
Unusual Compliance

The children and the Hatter sat around the table. Ricky was in period clothing and Rollo was in the Cheshire Cat costume, which hid the card lodged behind his right ear. His mind was wiped blank and his body moved about seemingly on its own accord.

However, Ricky's card did not seem to work. He still retained his faculties, his mind was still his own. His body still responded to his commands, and his commands only. But he was smart enough to know that he had to pretend that it had worked.

It wasn't easy. Ricky didn't consider himself much if an actor, but he didn't know what this Hatter guy would do if he found out the truth. Ricky forced himself to keep his face blank, forced his eyes to be stationary.

He couldn't help to wonder in the back of his mind as to just why his card -- a mind control card -- tucked behind his left ear wouldn't work. Was it faulty? Was there some delay installed in his? If that was true, why was the Hatter waiting to activate it? Did he want a witness? Then why not call Ricky out as a charlatan?

He would have to pretend. He would continue to have to pretend to be a mind slave. But he allowed the back of his mind to wonder. Why was the Hatter doing this? Why was he taking in all these runaways? They were essentially just living dolls. Empty and without conversation of their own. Is this what he considered good company to him?

"Ah, enjoy your tea, my poppets," Hatter said, grandly.

Puppets. He wanted to say puppets. Ricky thought. He was smart enough not to say it, though. He didn't want to give away that the mind control card wasn't working properly. But he didn't know how long he could keep up this pretense.

"Now, now, poppets. Don't be shy. Drink up." the Hatter said.

Yes, he knew that it was mind control. Somehow the Hatter was dominating the will and minds of the other runaways. He must have the controlling device on his person somewhere, but Ricky dared no to rake the Hatter with his eyes. Even that would be too much of a giveaway.

This was only a temporary lease of survival. Ricky was all too well aware of this. He would need to plan out a contingency for this, he knew. But he was ten years old, and had all the failings and trappings of a child that age, no matter how perceptive or intelligent as he may be. He would mess up eventually, as all kids are apt to do.

Only this time, he might not survive to learn from this failure.

[redtailedsaffa]

Ricky is the Chosen One!

[Cloak]

It's actually a bit more mundane than that.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER EIGHT:
Loose Lead

"According to the information we have, all of the missing children appear to have gotten into big fights with their families," Yarin noted. "They ran away."

"Figures," Faerie said.

"They haven't been seen since." Yarin said.

"Foul play suspected, I suppose?" Parker said.

They were already en route, looking for some legitimate leads. It was rather a poor decision as they didn't really have much information to go off of. They just had the one: the homes of all the kids seemed to circle one area.

"They are still believed -- hoped -- to be alive." Yarin added.

"Why wouldn they want to return home?" Helen asked. "What could have been possibly said to make them feel in such a way?"

"In my experience," Cloak said in a quite voice that nonetheless carried, "plenty."

Silence.

No one argued. Those words, those four words, carried plenty of weight behind them. They knew of Cloak's past. He was as much of a runaway as these kids were. He could really understand what they were feeling. He certainly had a dysfunctional family life as a child, he knew the need to run to escape the pain incurred. As if distancing yourself from the source of the hurt, the hurt itself would be distanced.

This was a fallacy. Cloak knew this firsthand, though. He tried to ignore the pain, the neglect, the abuse, the sheer mental torture . . .

"Cloak, are you okay?" Helen asked after a few moments.

"Reasonably okay," Cloak said, repressively. But it was obvious that he was being less than truthful. "Let's find these kids --"

"Wait a minute," Parker said, with sudden inspiration. "Tyr, do the missing children's homes have some common location between them, some point that all have easy access to?"

A beat of silence.

"You cannot be serious."

Another beat of silence.

"Okay, okay. No need to get all hostile and snippy." Parker said. Then he addressed the others, "Sewers."

"You can't be serious." Faerie said.

"That's what I said," Parker observed.

[redtailedsaffa]

It's always the sewers.

[Cloak]

Well, not always.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER NINE:
Facade Failing

"Poppet, you're not drinking up," the Hatter said. He spoke genially enough, but it didn't reach his shrewd, searching eyes.

Ricky knew it was just a matter of time before he made a noticeable error. He forced himself not to jump at the Hatter's addressing tone. But he was ten and unaccustomed to sitting so still and stiffly for long periods of time. Ricky forced himself not to panic. He had to. If only for his survival.

This wasn't to say that he wasn't scared. He was terrorized and terrified.

He sipped his teacup primly as he could, trying to prevent his hands from trembling. He held the saucer in his other hand beneath the teacup. He gritted his teeth unseen by the Hatter, keeping his face blank. Keeping his face blank as if he was up against Koh, the Face-Stealer.

To top it off, the tea was a disgusting, watery sludge. Ricky thought this was very good evidence that the Hatter was trying to poison them. It churned his stomach, this hot leaf juice. Ricky was really starting to believe that it could be foul-tasting deliberately, but he had no real evidence of that.

But what this this whackjob want with them? What point did this serve? Why was it so important to him to indulge in this little fantasy of his? It all seemed so pointless, so useless.

"That's better, poppet." the Hatter said, thoughhis intense, cold stare did not leave Ricky. "It's almost time to shut the storybook for the night."

This guy had problems. Even a naive ten-year-old could see it.

"Yes. Yes, I do believe its time to turn in for the night." the Hatter decided firmly. "Off you go, my poppets."

Ricky followed the others' lead, following them to what amounted to a cold stone floor that was damp to the touch. It was more like a dungeon. Ricky was wondering if it was intentional.

He wanted to scream, but he had to settle for a mental scream of frustration, anger and exasperation.

[redtailedsaffa]

hot leaf juice

[Cloak]

 

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER TEN:
An Unheard Cry is Heard

"I hate being down here again," Faerie said.

"There's nothing to fear," Yarin said, with Nyac pragmatism.

"Hey!" Faerie snapped like a bear trap. "You weren't down here with . . . with that . . . that thing. Sucking out peoples souls as if they were smoothies . . ."

"The Spirit-Drinker is dead, Fae." Parker said.

"Yes, that one is. That one." Faerie said. "Considering you had yours sucked out through your armor, I would think that you wouldn't be so flippant about it!"

"What?!" Helen said, her low, flat tone indicating that Parker wasn't exactly that truthful with her.

"Parker didn't tell you?" Cloak asked, already knowing the answer.

Helen's eyes bored in Parker so much that, despite being in armor, he quelled and squirmed a bit. "And just what did Parker not tell me?"

"Ooh, Parker's in trouble!" Faerie said, in a loud, carrying whisper as they stopped traversing the sewers momentarily. Despite herself, she couldn't help herself but grin. "I'd advise you to pick you next words very carefully, now, Parker."

He scowled at her, but weighed his next words.

"Uh . . ."

"Well?" Helen said, hands on her hips in a most authoritative, parental-like way.

While Parker tried to tell the story, spinning it so that he wouldn't make the situation worst or have her "ground" him (which wasn't what you may think it was), Yarin's six eyes fluttered. He heard something without really being able to hear it. It took him a moment to realize it was a mental scream of rage, frustration, and helplessness.

He lost interest in Parker's figurative tap dancing around the subject and Helen's calling him out on it. Yarin tried to locate the location of the mental scream, which was profoundly harder to do telepathically than by sound.

Cloak quickly noticed this, not finding the argument between Helen and Parker particularly interesting. "Yarin, what's up?"

"I telepathically heard a mental scream of despair," the Nyac replied.

This gave Parker a momentary reprieve, and he seized upon it. "Where did it come from?"

"That's what I'm trying to discover discern," Yarin said quietly.

"Don't think you're off the hook, Parker." Helen said, severely. " We'll finish this later, and until then, you're cut off, pal."

[redtailedsaffa]

Now why wouldn't you tell your girlfriend about your very own near death experience?

[Cloak]

He didn't want to worry her. Or something like that.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
First Contact

Ricky was completely unaware that someone heard his silent scream. He was beginning to lose hope of ever get out of this place alive, much less with Rollo in tow. He still didn't understand why Rollo got so bent out of shape about being called that. It wasn't so offensive . . . and his father only said it out of frustration from Rollo's previous interaction from that other kid, the tattletale.

All his because Rollo refused to admit that he may have been wrong. His pride and arrogance led them both here. And just what exactly did they have to show for it? Rollo's very mind stolen from him, turning him into little but a living doll. His own fate was more unsure. Ricky knew that this whole facade hinged on his ability to act, to play a part,which he never saw himself as particularly good at. His mother always saw through him easily. Ricky surmised it was only because of the Hatter's deteriorated state of mind that he managed so far.

<Who are you?> came a voice.

Ricky was very lucky that the Hatter wasn't looking when he jerked very un-mind controlled-like. The boy was very certain that the thought was not his own. He fighting very hard against the impulse to panic.

<Calm yourself,> the voice said. Easier said than done. <I'm a friend.>

A likely story.

<Believe me on this, young human,> said the voice. <I'm a Nyac. And a RAFian.>

Yeah, right. He was ten, not stupid.

<I know its hard to believe that -- you're very right not to be so trusting, very wise for one of your age -- but we want save you and the other missing kids.>

<How do you know there are others? Unless you are in cahoots with that Mad Hatter guy!> he spat in thought. He was subconsciously venting all the pent-up aggression and frustration now that he had an outlet. <Stop trying to use me. If you know that the stupid mind control card doesn't work, why don't you just out me to your master?!>

<Makin' a lot of assumptions here,> the mental invader said. <None are true.>

<You can't fool me!>

<We are RAFians, and we have been working on the missing children case for quite skme time now, and I heard your scream. It was impossible not to hear it.>

[Cloak]

I think Saffa must be in exams.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Objective: Find Missing Kids

"What is it, Yarin?" Cloak said, at once.

"A psychic scream, to put it bluntly." the Nyac said, distractedly.

"Like a symbiote?"

"No," he answered. "Not like a symbiote. Nor like a telepath, or you'd be able to 'hear' it, too. Not like private thought-speak either."

"So . . . what? What is it?" Faerie said. Her anxiety was still apparent. She really didn't like being underground like this, especially in this particular spot.

"The kids?" Parker guessed, with a subtle note of hope in his voice.

"One of them," Yarin said, his upper right hand touching his temple. "I can't seem to find the minds of the other children."

"I hope that doesn't mean what I think it does," the Realm Walker RAFian said.

"Me, too," the Nyac said.

Time passed as Yarin communicated with the kid.

"The kid is wise -- he doesn't believe things on face value." Yarin said. "He also is making a lot of rash assumptions . . ."

"Kids tend to do that," Cloak said.

"Mentioned something about someone called the Mad Hatter. And mind control cards -- which would explain why I can't find the minds of the other kids." Yarin said. He paused for a moment. "This kid refuses to be convinced that we're here to help. He staunchly believes we're in league with this Hatter guy."

"Unsurprisingly," Parker noted, "if you started hearing a disembodied voice from nowhere, would you just blindly follow it?"

A brief pause.

"Other than the Ned Flanders of the world, that is." he clarified.

"We can still follow the quote-unquote 'sound' of his mental voice to locate him," Yarin said. "At least, until we get Cloak within Earthsight range."

"Sounds like a plan " Cloak said.

[Cloak]

Many new book ideas.

• Book DCXVII: "New Management" -- Two enemies take over two others and discover Weapon-Plus data cards.
• Book DCXVIII: "A New Savior" -- A new being called Elysium causes the RAFians to fall out of favor.
• Book DCXIX: "False Recollections" -- The RAFians must contend with Weapon XCVI, an humanoid energy creature.
• Book DCXX: "Energy Osmosis" -- The RAFians must contend with Weapon XVI, a dragon-like Leviathon.
• Book DCXXI: "Ship of No Return" -- The RAFians must contend with Weapon L.
• Book DCXXII: "Regitech" -- The RAFians must contend with Weapon XVI.
• Book DCXXIII: "Let It Burn" -- The RAFians must contend with Weapon LXI.
• Book DCXXIV: "The Impaler" -- The RAFians must contend with Weapon XI.
• Book DCXXV: "Grundy" -- The RAFians must contend with Weapon XXII.
• Book DCXXVI: "Invulnerability Bug" -- The RAFians must contend with Weapon LVI.
• Book DCXXVII: "Lightning Chaos" -- The RAFians must contend with Weapon XCI.

Titles are subject to change. Yes, this is sort of a "Weapon-Plus Arc".

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
Closing In

"Oh, my dear poppets," a voice said, as the kids were laying down, mind controlled to sleep. While Ricky pretended to be under the Hatter's thrall, he was still lucid and well aware of his surroundings.

When the Hatter came in, he had to surpress a shiver of revulsion. He didn't know what the Hatter wanted with them. They wouldn't stay children forever. Would he lose interest in them then? And what was his obsession with "Alice in Wonderland"? And he never took off that hat . . .

<Where are you? We can't help you if we don't know where -->

<Shut up!>

<Ricky -->

<How'd you know my name?> he asked quickly. Yarin didn't reply immediately, but the boy was very quick on the uptake. <You're prying into my memories?! You don't have a right to do that!!>

<Ricky, we need to find -->

<That doesn't make it right!>

<Ricky, you need to calm down.>

<I will NOT calm down!> he roared mentally. <You are not the good guy! You are as bad as the Hatter jerk!>

That hurt the Nyac. Yarin knew he had to explain himself.

<I didn't paw through your memories. I read your file. Well, briefed on it.> Yarin said, gently. <As well as the files on Rollo, Jaden, Harry, Duncan, Lincoln, Alicia, Ruby, and Dorian. I took an educated guess on your identity.>

<An educated guess?> he asked, skeptical.

<Yes. I supposed that since you were the only one of the nine that had . . .>

<That I had what?> he said, defensively hostile.

<That you had Asperger syndrome.>