NaNoWriMo tomorrow!

Gah, I'm really, really excited for the beginning of NaNoWriMo tomorrow. It's going to be an interesting month to say the least.

So, basically, I'm finding myself a little handicapped, because I'm a little behind schedule, and I haven't finished DYRM. Because tomorrow is the start date that I'm supposed to be writing Forget.

Oh well, I'm planning on going to the library on Saturday for a write-in, just to catch up on what I've missed out on. I'm going to be uploading the last bits of my book into the counter, just so that I don't miss out on that aspect.

It's going to be a really long and hard month. I'm definitely going to need to be more organised with my time, as there's not going to be a lot of it.

So, here's the next chapter of DYRM

Chapter 35

“Ah, Danny Istari. What a pleasure.” Nicholas greeted as I stepped out of the portal.

“I know where it is.” I said, looking him straight in the eye.

“I’m sure you do.” Nicholas said, “but I’m sure that is not the reason why you came to me.”

“No. I want my friends back.”

“I’m afraid, without giving me what I want, I can not give them back.” Nicholas said, his voice was deep, a strange mix of accents. “Get him!”

“What?” I shouted as my hands were caught from behind me. Something hit me from the behind and my world fell to darkness.

I woke up in a cell. Well, what I could tell anyway, it was pretty dark in here, the only light coming from small lamps around the room.

“Danny?” A female voice spoke to me.

“Who is it?” I asked hesitantly, my eyes taking their time to adjust to the light.

“It’s me. Hayley.” Hayley replied, though there was a tone of confusion underlying her voice.

“Oh, right.” That was the best I could think of, I’d been so obsessed with getting to them, that I hadn’t really thought about what I was going to do when I got to them. I was stumped.

“What did they do to you?” A male voice asked, Jesse I guessed.

“What do you mean, what did they do to you?” I replied hesitantly.

“You’ve been gone for a long time man, we thought they’d killed you.” He said. So they’d lost hope that I’d returned. They didn’t even know that I’d gotten out of here.

“Did you tell them?” Jesse asked.

“Tell them what?” I asked.

“God, Danny, what did they do to you? Knock your head a little too hard? Can’t you remember anything?” Hayley joked. At least they had humour.

“No. I don’t” I replied after a pause.

“What?” It was their turn to ask now.

“I don’t remember anything. It’s only recently that I remembered about here, and coming back to get you was my first priority.” In the dim light of the cells I could see that both of them had their mouths wide open like fly catchers.

“So, where have you been?” Jesse asked, breaking the silence.

“At home.”

“Home?” Haley asked. I’m sure she didn’t want to believe that I’d gone home. Forgot about her, and not attempted to save her any sooner.

“With Maggie, Jim and Jamie.” I replied.

“So, how did you get back here?” Jesse asked. He didn’t seem that bothered that I’d been home at all.

“That’s not exactly something I can talk about, not when they could be listening.” I replied.

“Okay, so how do you plan on getting us back out?” Hayley asked, she seemed upset.

“That’s another thing I can’t talk about.” I replied.

“You’ve changed.” She said to me. I could feel her look more than see it.

“I know. Memory loss does that to people apparently. You’re not the first person to say about it.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jesse asked.

“God, will people stop asking me that? That’s all I’ve had. First it was Maggie, then Jamie, the therapist. The police. Court. When do I get a chance to keep things for myself?” I snapped.

There was silence.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s okay, man. Sounds like it’s been pretty rough.” Jesse sympathised with me. He sympathised when he’s been locked up here for all the time I’ve been gone, whining about how I couldn’t get to them because I couldn’t remember where they were.

“Probably not as rough as it’s been here. I’ve been really worried.” I attempted to smile, though, I’m pretty sure it didn’t creep on my face.

“They haven’t really done anything to us. They’ve fed us decently. They haven’t even touched us.” Jesse said.

Phew, I guess that’s one worry off my back.

“Danny, you know that this was probably a trap, right?” Hayley whispered.

“Yeah, but I had to get to you.”

“Why? Why would you bother if you couldn’t remember us?”

“Because I couldn’t just leave you here, I didn’t know what was happening to you. Jamie said we were the best of friends. I couldn’t just leave you guys here.” I replied, looking in her direction.

There was a silence after that.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner. I would have if I could have, it’s only recently I knew how to get here.”

“Danny, it’s okay. Stop worrying. We’re still alive, right?” I guess she’s right. There’s not much I could have done. There’s really not much I could do now, I just have to wait for the right opportunity.

“I’m sorry for this too, but you might have to wait a while yet. I’ve got to wait.” I said vaguely.

“For what?” Jesse asked curiously.

“It’s okay. I know what I’m doing.” I replied confidently. In truth, I was 50/50 on what I was doing. I had a general outline of what I wanted to do, and how I was going to do it.

I’d been here a few hours now. Nothing much has happened. I could feel my energy slowly coming back to me. I hadn’t realised when I’d first gotten here, but the teleportation had really taken its toll on me. That was point one on why I couldn’t get us back right now, otherwise I’d have us all back there by now.

“Are you alright, Danny?” Hayley asked.

“Yeah, just a little tired.” I replied, looking at the ceiling. I thought that they’d actually do something with me the second I’d come in, instead they’ve stuck me in a cell, it’s a different cell than the ones Hayley and Jesse are in. Hayley and Jesse are in the same cell as each other.

Now that I’ve been here for a bit, I’ve looked around the room, trying to look for possible ways of getting to them. There are bars between us, a bed on one side of the cell, well; it’s a mattress on the floor with nothing else on it. There’s nothing else around here. It’s a similar case with Hayley and Jesse. It’s just there’s two mattresses for two people. There’s also an empty tray, presumably from this morning. I haven’t really been all that bothered too ask.

The door leading to the hallway with the cells in creaked open. I looked up, and instantly regretted it. It was Nicholas.

“Ah, Danny, remember now. We have to uphold on both ends of our agreement.” He chided at me.

“There seems to be a problem here. I told you that I’d tell you if you freed my friends.” I told him defiantly.

“Well, I can’t trust you enough to tell me if I let them go.” He replied smoothly.

“Well, I guess I can’t tell you then.” I replied smugly.

Nicholas walked smoothly into my cell, and instantly fear gripped at me. I stared up at him, his eyes changing from the cool blue a few moments ago, to the intense red. He gripped at the collar of my shirt, and pulled me up so I was eye-level with him. He slammed my back against the wall.

“You will do what I say. You will not escape me again.” He shouted in my face. Pulling me off the wall and slamming me against it against. I moaned in pain. This was what I had been expecting. Though, I’m not sure I was expecting it to be this painful.

Nicholas had left shortly after that. I’d stayed silent, so I guess he’d understood that I wasn’t planning on giving him any information anytime soon.

“What deal did you make with him, Danny?” Hayley asked.

“I told him, that if he set you guys free, I’d tell him what he wanted.” I told them.

There was a silence.

“Do you even know what he wants?” Jesse asked, leaning on the bars. My back was on the wall; I was sitting down against it. I couldn’t find the energy to move from there.

“Somewhat.” I replied. It was the tome he was looking for. I just didn’t know what the hell this tome was…

That might be a problem later on…

“Danny, how long did you think he’s going to fall for this?” Hayley asked.

“Well, I’m hoping that he won’t figure it out until we’re long gone from here. Surrounded by people and have more of a chance to stand up for ourselves.”

“We couldn’t stand up for ourselves the last time, what makes you think now will be any difference. He’ll hunt us down. He won’t rest until he has what he wants.”

“I know that. But things have changed back home.” I told them, though, in all honesty, I didn’t really have a clue what was different seen as though I don’t remember anything from what it was like before hand.

Maybe I should have given this a little more thought before jumping into it.

I think it's okay. There's definitely a lot to be changed about it, though currently, I'm just whinging it, I don't really have a suggested plan, though I do know what way I'd like for this to go. It'll probably be a lot better after editing...

Hopefully!

Anyway, see you all tomorrow. I hope you all enjoyed it...

Night!

Chapter 33 + Chapter 34

Just because I have no life, I have actually written two chapters tonight. Though, I'm considering just bunching the two together to get one chapter.

It's getting close to the end now!

Gah!

Hope you all enjoy...

Chapter 33

We got home relatively quickly after the trial. I was just silent all the way through. I did not know what to expect, what to do, or how to act. The houses passing by were just a blur. I didn’t’ feel like I was exactly there.

This would have been a perfect opportunity for me to go and have a smoke. I’m not allowed though; I’m still under surveillance.

Walking into the house, Maggie let out a long sigh of relief, she was either being really uptight about what just happened, or she was happy that I didn’t have to go to prison. I don’t really want to analyze her that much.

“Jamie, I need to talk with you, remember?” I said, turning around to look at Jamie.

“Okay, let me go and get changed, we can talk then. Why don’t you get changed to then I’ll call for you when I’m done.”

“Alright.” I walked up the stairs methodically and reached my room, grabbing the first load of clothes that I could get my hands on and was changed within five minutes. To be honest with you, I was quite glad to get out of that suit. It was really uncomfortable.

“Danny!” Jamie shouted from her end of the hall and I got up to go and explain things to her. I never thought about how much I’d now have to involve her in my life.

“I’m really glad he’s not going, Jim.” Maggie said, looking her husband straight in the eye.

“I’m glad too, he is our son, and I don’t think I can bare loosing him again.” Jim sighed, inside, he was truly happy to see his son off with such a small sentence. The shame of bearing what he’s done. He knew it would not be people would hold against him for long. He trusted the good in people.

“I don’t like to think that we could have lost him again.” Maggie whispered.

“Don’t think about it anymore. He’s here. He’s fine. He’s going to be okay.” Jim reassured.

“I’m not so sure.”

“And why do you say that?”

“He’s different from our Danny –”

“Maggie, we’ve been over this.” Jim sighed, Maggie had brought up this subject a lot since they’d gotten Danny back. It didn’t seem to quite sink in to her that Danny would never be the Danny before. Heck, the Danny they’d had before had begun changing way before he’d been kidnapped.

“It’s not just that, Jim. He’s become obsessive. He won’t let go of his friends. It worries me how much he blames himself for it.” Maggie said.

Jim stayed silent.

“It’s like he’s living on a completely different universe to us. He’s not our son anymore.”

“If it’s anyone that’s become obsessive, it’s you, Maggie. You constantly talk about how he’s not your child anymore. How he’s not the same. Look at what you’ve become! You can’t accept that you’re Danny isn’t coming back! He was tortured for Christ sake, Maggie, what? Did you expect him to come back all fine and dandy? You had you’re hopes set too high. There’s still hope for this Danny though, he’s here. We’re managing. You’re going overboard!”

This time, it was Maggie who stayed silent.

“You’re lying.” She finally answered.

“Blinded by your own obsession. At least Danny knows that he has problems. That’s what sets him apart from you. He knows what’s wrong and he wants to fix it. You’re just willing to sit there and watch him as his world crumbles because he’s not getting love from his mother!” Jim shouted.

I heard them fighting over me. I guess I should have expected something like this to happen. Maggie didn’t want me, she wanted Danny, her Danny, not the Danny that was returned to her.

“Don’t listen to them, Danny, what did you want to talk about?” Jamie asked, touching my arm. I flinched at the contact. I looked at her eyes; she’d noticed I flinched.

“Uh, I’m not sure how to ask it.” I replied hesitantly.

“Go on, I’m sure you can’t surprise me anymore.”

“I remember.”

She was silent.

I guess I can surprise her.

She still hasn’t spoken to me. It’s been nearly ten minutes now. Maybe I should get her a drink?

“What do you remember?’ She finally whispered.

“Just being captured.” I answered equally as quiet.

“Oh, Danny. I’d hoped you’d never get those memories back. Some memories are just better left forgotten. How are you dealing with it?”

“Is there another dimension, purely for magicians? Or someplace where they all gather and hide from each other?” I asked suddenly.

“Well, I don’t know much about it, you, Hayley and Jesse kept me pretty out of it, and from what Hayley and Jesse told me, you kept them really, really out of the know on what really happens in that place.”

“So it’s a place, not a dimension?”

“Hang on, it’s strange. It’s a dimension. An old one. Only really, really powerful magicians can open a gate on their own.” Jamie answered.

“So how do less powerful magicians get through it?”

“There are natural opening gates. They open randomly, anywhere, but only for a few seconds.”

“So, they get locked in or out if they’re not in the right place at the right time?”

“Basically.”

“So, could I create a gate of my own?”

“Not that I could remember.” Jamie sighed, “why?”

“Well, I know where Hayley and Jesse are.” I said, “I’m going to go and get them.”

It took a moment to process in her head.

“Do you know how dangerous that is?” She shouted.

“Yes, but I know where they are, if I can get in, I can get out.”

“Yes, but the people who kidnapped you in the first place can get in and out too!”

“Didn’t it occur to you that they could have already come and get me if they wanted to?” I asked. I hadn’t realised it either until I was thinking about it in the car on the way back.

“No, honestly, no the thought had never even crossed my mind.”

“Well, think about it. They’re not coming back for me because they’re waiting for me to go to them.”

“No. I will not let you go back to them.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“Danny, this is your life you’re playing with. You can’t just waltz back in there, get Hayley and Jesse and waltz back out.” Jamie stated, her voice all matter-of-fact.

“I know that.”

“So, what were you planning on doing?” She asked, sarcasm in her voice.

“I was going to let them think I’d fallen for their trap. I need your help.” I said determined.

Chapter 34

“Okay, so, we know the plan?” I asked Jamie.

“Yes, I don’t like it though.” She replied, a grim look on her face.

“You don’t have to like it. Okay. I’m ready.” I said.

“It’s only been a week, maybe you could wait a moment. Practise more. Make sure you know what you’re doing. You said you could only just about do it.”

“Yeah, well, I’m kinda hoping for a miracle.”

“Well don’t go! Practise more. Please, Danny, just listen to reason.”

“No! Everyday I sit here wasting time practising; the longer they’re there with him. I can’t let that happen any longer, especially now that I know where they are.” I nearly shouted. Maggie and Jim are downstairs watching TV.

“Danny, they’ve been there this whole time, I’m sure their alright.”

“I don’t think they’re alright. He wasn’t alright with me.”

Jamie was silent. I hadn’t exactly told her what happened in my memories. I don’t want to…

“He wasn’t hurting them. But I’m not sure if he’s still not hurting them since I’m gone. I just need to get to them. I need to save them.”

“Don’t you think it’s weird though, that there have been hardly any attacks since you’ve remembered?”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to worry about it for now. I’m focusing on getting to my friends.”

“What am I supposed to say to Mom and Dad?” Jamie asked.

Damn, I did not think this part through.

“Start and argument with me.” I said suddenly.

“What?”

“About anything. Just start an argument.”

I don’t think she’s caught on why I want this argument…

“You don’t need them, Danny. You’re better than that!” Jamie shouted. Jim and Maggie’s ears twitched slightly at this, they’re sensitive parent ears picking up on the brewing argument.

“I can’t help it! It’s not as easy as it looks, you know!” Danny shouted. Maggie and Jim moved their heads to stare at the top of the stairs.

“You should be able to do it. Look at what you’ve lived through, dealing with something as small as a drug addiction should be nothing!” Maggie and Jim walked towards the stairs, curiosity lining their eyes.

“I can’t, okay? It helps me. It’s not my fault.”

“Of course it’s your fault. No one forced you to take drugs.”

“And how the hell would you know? You know nothing about me!”

“Kids!” Maggie shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

“WHAT?” Danny and Jamie shouted at the same time.

“Come here.” Maggie ordered. There were thumps as Danny and Jamie walked out of the room, and walked down the stairs to Maggie and Jim’s waiting eyes.

“What’s going on here?” Jim demanded.

“Uh, nothing!” Danny replied defensively.

“It’s not nothing, Mom, Danny was trying to sneak out to get drugs again.”

“Was not!” Danny replied immaturely, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh yeah? So why the sneaking?” Jamie replied, confidence leaking from her voice.

“I wasn’t sneaking anywhere!”

“Yeah? That’s why I caught you climbing out of your bedroom window. I asked you nicely to come down, and you told me to shut my know-it-all mouth, Maggie and Jim couldn’t stop you from going and neither could I. How’s that for evidence?”

“Danny!” Maggie shouted.

“She’s lying!” Danny whined, inside though, he was smirking at the great acting job Jamie was portraying.

“You know you’re not allowed out without someone there.” Maggie scolded.

“Stop treating me like I’m four!” Danny yelled. “I seriously don’t need to be babied.”

“Well, judging from the attitude you’re giving now, you need to be babied as obviously you’re not mature enough to deal with things on your own.” Maggie said.

“So, a drug addiction is a immature thing now?” Danny asked, glaring at Maggie.

“Calm down, Danny, Maggie. Lets just talk about this.”

“No, I’m sick of talking! That’s all everyone wants from me is talking. I’m done here. You’re caging me. Just let me go.” Danny shouted, successfully escaping the house. A grin stretched across his face, though for a split second, the grin was sad. He was sad to go on such a bad note. He didn’t know whether he’d be coming back or not. He hadn’t given Jamie the entire truth of the plan. She never would have accepted doing it if she had known the true extent of what he was planning.

“Okay, focus.” I whispered to myself. Determination seeped through my body. Hayley and Jesse were so close now. I could just feel it. The butterflies coursing through my body, the nervous excitement. This was the calm before the storm.

Looking around the area, I carefully noted that I was alone. I did not need my secret to be revealed.

Sighing. I started what I’d run away for.

Connecting my thumbs together, I concentrated on the flow of energy inside my body. I felt the magic pumping through my veins. I felt the cold sweep of my body transforming to Danny Istari, I focused on what I needed.

A black portal appeared before me. It looked remotely similar to a black hole appearing, circular in shape, but none of the suction.

“I’m coming, guys. I hope you’re okay.” I quietly said, walking through the portal.

“Oh, coming you are, Danny Istari. But be prepared. It’s not exactly as you’d expect.” A maniacal laughter followed in the dark room, red eyes shining in the darkness.

An experience it would definitely be.

Night!

Thinking about entering writing competitions.

So, I figure, since I seem to be unable to get some sort of job, why don't I enter competitions to win money? It also helps me in the future with getting a writing career if I win any of them.

To be honest with you, I want to enter the writing competitions just to get second opinions on my writing. I know my writing isn't the best, but it's a great way to find out if I'm good enough to get anywhere in a writing competition.

Some of them are free to enter, and I have a lot of them bookmarked for further reading. So, I'm thinking of asking my mum to open a bank account for me, where I can put my pocket money, and then I can apply for competitions when and as I want.

It's not just that, it just comes across to me, that the less money I have in my purse, the less likely I am to spend it.

I do have a spending problem.... mainly on books.

Anyway....

I'm up in Bangor tomorrow, so I'm going to bed early.

I mean, it's 22:35, so it's not really early, but whatever.

Speak to you soon. I'm going to try and write more for DYRM tomorrow. There's like what? Two days before NaNoWriMo starts. I might finish the story as part of NaNoWriMo, then start the story. Oh, God, I never realised how much of a task this was going to be.

Be prepared blogger, because it looks like for the next month, that's all I'm going to be posting is new chapters or what I've written for NaNoWriMo. I guess I got more reader traffic when all I was doing was publishing chapters to my book, so... it's not really a lose-lose situation because apparently, my stories are more interesting than my life...

Of course, I knew that before, but... one can dream....

Night!

So, every time I watch

Cirque du Freak: The Vampires Assistant, I find myself thinking, 'God, how did this film get such bad reviews'. I admit, the film is nothing like the original book trilogy, but I tend to view it as something entirely different than the book series.

I just love the obvious effort put into the film. I mean, the sets are amazing, the acting is okay. I mean, it could be better, but you can't have everything, right?

One of my favourite things about the film is the music. I just love the soundtrack to the film. I find it really nice to listen to (to the point where I actually bought the films OST, which was £16 in HMV. I wanted to make sure I bought this one.).

One a whole, I'd love to see them finish the series, but I know it didn't do all that well in the cinemas, and it kinda made up for it in DVD's, but it still didn't make a profit.

Which isn't usually a good start for making sequels.

Anyway,

So, I've been writing the next chapter of DYRM, and to be honest, now that I'm like that much closer to the ending of the book, I really don't know what to do with it anymore. I know it needs to end. But it's the thing of getting it through my head that it needs to be finished it my problem. I don't want to let it go. I've never actually finished writing a book before and it's really, really nerve-wracking.

Anyway, I should probably finish it quite soon. It's quite scary to know how little of the book I have left to finish.....

So I'll speak to you soon.

It's going to be a long day tomorrow.

I promised to clean the house....

Night!

For some reason...

My blog posts don't seem to be showing up in my 'stream' so to say, you know, on the dashboard where all of the blogs I'm following show up. Mine used to show up there, but suddenly they've stopped. Is that a fault of the site? I don't know.

So, anyway, I went to the Selection Academy in Lloyds TSB today. Well, tonight really, and I hope I did well there. Though, by now, of course, I've learnt to not get my hopes up. Nothing ever seems to work out for me. I've got to look on the positives though, I mean, I thought the interview went quite well, I mean, I can't really think of anything I'd change. There are some things I'd have done differently in the role playing part of the game. I kinda got stuck and didn't know what to do.

Anyway.

Hopefully things went okay. I'm really hoping that they did....

So, I'll speak to you soon.

I haven't typed any more for DYRM. I've just been really tired today....

Night!

The 300th Blog Post + Chapter 32.

So this is a very special blog today, eh? I've posted 300 blog posts, something that doesn't happen all too often, then I've got my new chapter for my story. And I've also gotten through to the next round of the recruitment process in Lloyds TSB. I have an interview in something called the Selection Academy tomorrow night at 5 and finishes at 8:30. It's basically a getting the feel of the job, taking a tour of the bank call centre. Having a one to one interview about he bank. Hopefully, I'll do well in it. Fingers crossed.

But yeah, I can't really think of a way to celebrate he fact that I've  now reached the massive three hundred blog posts. It's truly an honour. And I never actually thought I'd make it this far. I actually thought that I'd have given it up months ago. But thus, we are reaching the end of the year. Though, I'm pretty sure that my  New Years Resolution for next year will probably be the same as what it was this year. Finish all my stories, blog every day, finish my fanfiction. I think Fanfiction is the only one I haven't completed yet. I might give it a lot of attention over the Christmas holidays, because I hopefully won't be writing as much of my original stories as I am now.

So, here's the next chapter in hopes that everything works out in the end!

Chapter 32

My eyes snapped open. I was breathing heavily. My heart was pounding. That was definitely a memory. In dreams you don’t feel everything so thoroughly. I felt the slap of my skin against the cold, hard walls, the flesh of his fist connecting with my body.

I shuddered.

I don’t need to think about stuff like that now. I need to get to Hayley and Jesse. I will get to them soon.

“Danny, are you ready?” Jamie shouted from the other side of the door.

“Ready?” I asked in return.

“Your trial. It’s today.”

“Today?”

“Yes, did you forget or something?”

Forget, how could anyone stupid forget something like this? Of course, this categorises me below stupid.

“What should I wear?” I asked her.

“Are you decent?” That was the second time someone had asked me that now.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’m coming in.” Jamie came into the room, dressed in a formal, dark blue dress. It fell to the knees and loosely fit around her thin, shapeless form. She rummaged around in my wardrobe at the side of my room for a big, before grabbing something and throwing it at me.

“I’m not wearing that.” I said, staring at the clothes in front of me. She was going to make me wear a shirt, tie, and trousers. It looks so uncomfortable!

“You don’t have a choice.” Jamie replied. “What happened to your hand?”

“Uh, nothing, it’s fine.” I said looking down at my hand.

“Yeah, I bet, magician attack?” Jamie asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“Uh… yeah, kinda, didn’t aim my punch right and smashed the mirror instead.” I attempted to smile, but I knew it fell flat.

“Oh, right, we can talk about it later.” She said and walked out of the room, leaving me to get dressed alone.

I walked down the stairs nervously; I hadn’t been too long getting ready. The shower had stung, mainly because of my cuts. But I sucked it up and got ready. It was going to be a long day. I could feel it.

“Ready?” Maggie asked. She was sitting in a formal looking blouse and skirt; Jim was similarly dressed to me

“Not really.” I replied.

“Good, you’re not supposed to be.” Maggie said and walked towards the door. I was not looking forward to this, though, from the way things are looking at the moment, I don’t think I should be looking forward to anything.

We arrived at the courtroom; I wouldn’t have thought that something seemingly as small a case as attempted theft would get such a full courtroom.

“Do they usually get this full?” I asked Jamie curiously.

“Not usually. It’s probably because of who you are.” Jamie replied, glancing around the courtroom.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“It’s because you returned even though no one else thought you would. They’ve got nothing to be harsh to you over. Answer them as honestly as possible. Don’t let anything slip about you know what.” Jamie warned and we started to make our ascent up the stairs towards our seats in the room.

“All rise!” A sheriff shouted from the bottom of the room, the room stood. I followed quickly, not wanting to stand out more than I already did. Everyone was staring at me; I’m not sure how to decipher their looks. Some are looking at me with hate, some with curiosity, some with concern. I don’t understand why they’re looking at all. I don’t even know why half of them are even here….

A man entered the room; he was obviously the leader of the room.

“Sit.” He ordered and everyone followed his order.

“Who’s he?” I asked to Jamie in a whisper.

“You’re judge. Sam Holloway.” She replied.

“Is he nice?”

“Not really. You’re going to have to be lucky to get away with community service and rehab. He’ll want to throw you into a youth offenders prison.” This didn’t exactly set faith into me. I was doomed. I now knew that.

“We are all here today on behalf of the court trial of Daniel Smith, whom is being trialled for attempted theft, drug use, and assault. Is that true?”

“Yes.” Answered one of the people in the front row. Maybe I should have looked up more on court cases and trials before coming here. I have no idea what’s going on.

“I am Jeff Richards, and I am standing on Danny’s behalf. I am fighting to protect his innocence.” Shouted Jeff. I didn’t even know there was something standing for my innocence. I’m sure he should have come to me for statements or something, shouldn’t he have? Gah, maybe I should have put at least some focus onto this trial. I might know what the hell is going on now.

“I am George McKinley and I am standing on behalf of the people. Daniel Smith is a menace that should be locked up for his deeds. He should be treated as we would treat every other person that walks through these doors.”

I am now double doomed.

“Okay, okay. Can we call Daniel Smith down to the stands please?” I stood wearily; I felt the stars of every person in the room stabbing into the back of my neck. I didn’t look back towards them. I didn’t want to know what their faces looked like just yet.

I stood where I was told to, and I was told to raise my hand into the air, and put my other on my chest. He said something about it binding me to tell the truth. I hope it isn’t some kind of magic. I can’t tell all the truth. I’m sure instead of a prison, I’ll be sent to the nearest psychopathic ward.

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the honest truth and nothing but the truth?” The sheriff asked, looking at me expectantly.

“Uh, yeah. I do.” I answered, my throat suddenly feeling very dry.

“Would you like a drink of water?” He asked my kindly.

“Yes, please.” I answered and he got me a cup and filled it with water.

“So, Danny, how much of your life do you remember now?” Jeff asked.

“Nothing, sir, the first thing I remember is waking up in that ranch house.” I don’t actually know how much they know about what happened, so I figure, that I’d better put as much detail in as I know. Just to be safe. I don’t want to go to a Youth Offenders Prison or whatever it’s called. It probably won’t be the best experience I’ll have in my recognisable memory.

“Okay, so how did you end up with the drugs?” Uh, now that’s a hard one. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to mention John…

“Uh, well, I was wandering around the streets around the ranch house and some guy, George I think his name was, picked me up and drove me to the bus station just out of town. I wandered the streets here for a bit, people in the park attacked me. I was saved by a man.”

“Who was this man?”

“Uh, um, he was the one who got me onto drugs.” The fear of telling was coming back. John is a threatening person, he’s dirty, and knowing him he’s probably got people in the room, spying on me. They’ll kill me if I said anything. I can’t say anything. He’ll come for me. I have to save my friends before he can come for me.

“That’s not the question I asked you.”

“Uh, I’m not exactly sure how to answer your question.”

“It’s not all that hard, you only need to tell me his name.” Jeff said assertively.

“He’ll come for me. My life’s hell as it is, I don’t want him in it too.”

“Just say the name you knew. It probably wasn’t his real name.”

“He knows where I live.”

“It’s fine. We’ll get someone to protect you.”

“It’s not me that I’m worried about. I don’t want Maggie, Jim or Jamie to get hurt because of what I’ve done to them.”

“Well, we’ll make sure their protected too.”

“He’ll get past your defences.” I stated bluntly, I definitely didn’t want Jamie to get hurt; she’s been there for me since the beginning.

“Do you not believe that we could protect them? That we would save them from harm.”

“You’re tactics obviously didn’t work for me.” I said, “I mean, my friends are still missing and you’re not doing anything.”

“Order!” A voice boomed. I looked up started. The judge was staring down at us, his nostrils flaring. “Tell us the name of the man.”

His voice was fearful, injecting a cold serum into your veins just purely by speaking directly to you.

I said nothing.

“Defy me, and your punishment will be worse than anything you have ever experienced.”

“Uh, um, … John,” I mumbled.

“What? I didn’t quite hear you.” The judge said in a voice that if I were talking to someone else I would have counted as a taunt.

I waited a few moment, I’d never known how much confidence it would be to say just one simple name. “John,” I said at last, but instantly a great fear was instilled into me. Why couldn’t I have just said a random name that came to mind? It much has been that binding thing I was forced to take when I got here. If that’s the case, then none of my secrets are safe! I need to think fast. I have nothing. I don’t even know how to use my powers properly.

I was questioned for what seemed like hours. And as every moment passed, a new sense of dread crept through my body. They questioned me on everything, ranging from my drug habits, to the attack in school, to the attempted theft.

It all just led up to the one thing.

There is no hope for me at all. I might as well just ship myself off now.

No one was trialled for the attempted robbery. There was no one to witness, the people that were there with me had somehow broken out of the cells that were keeping them there and haven’t been seen since. Of course, Simon came up and said how I had started the fight, how he was the victim, and how I should be put somewhere special until I got my memories back and learnt how to act like a civil person.

Unfortunately for him, Holly was nice enough to testify for me and she backed up my story. She avoided me though during the recess. Well, avoided would be the wrong word. She told me she was sorry she couldn’t stay to chat, but she had some things to do at home and needed to be there as soon as possible.

I’d forgotten that I’d made plans to find out what was wrong with her. Why she was being so secretive with me. I’ll have to find out as soon as all this mess it over with.

There’s something in the air. Something’s gone wrong. I’m not sure what it is, but I can tell. It’s sorta like a gut instinct. Recess is just about coming to a close, where they’ll tell me if I’m guilty or not. Of course, I’m expecting to be found guilty. There’s not really much I can do about it. I admitted to what I’d done.

We walked slowly back into the room. I didn’t face Jamie, Jim or Maggie as I walked back into the courtroom. I didn’t want to see their faces. I guess they’d be happy to be rid of me. They wouldn’t want me in their house much longer. I’m not mentally their son. Their Danny would never attempt to rob someone. Their Danny wouldn’t get addicted to drugs. Their Danny wouldn’t attack someone to the point that they had to be rushed to hospital.

“Court is in session.” The sheriff shouted. That’s all he seems to be good for is shouting some randomly obvious things out. I was lead towards the front of the room again, where I would be stood like something under a microscope, with people watching me squirm from all angles.

“Daniel Smith, you have been charged with assault, attempted theft and drug use. You understand this, right?” The judge began. Something was different about him. His voice was different. I was looking around the room; no one else seemed to notice the sudden change. Maybe this is what he’s like after the court session, he leads them to false beliefs before smashing them down and telling them their going to burn in the depths of hell or something for the rest of their lives.

“I do.” I answered.

“Jurors do you have your verdict?” He asked them. I looked over to the one side of the room where the jurors were sitting. I hadn’t really paid all that much attention to them, but something was off. I’m not sure how I could tell though.

“We do.” A woman sitting in the middle of the group replied.

“Bring it here.” The judge ordered, and the woman got up and scurried over to where the judge was, handed him a piece of paper and then went and sat down on her chair again.

“We, the jurors, hereby find Daniel Smith guilty of all charges. His punishment will be to…” the judge looked up. My heart stopped. “There’s no punishment.”

“We, as a jury thought that no punishment was needed as he was not, and is not, of the right mind, and had no control of what he was doing or saying. Though the conviction will always stay with him. His punishment will be the shame he feels as he grows, knowing he attacked an innocent soul, and attempted theft, and got addicted to something illegal.”

The woman finished her speech by staring at me; her eyes flashed purple for the briefest of moments by I caught it.

Something was definitely not right here.

Something told me that wasn’t the end to my problem.

Nothing is ever the end of my problem. Someone out there must love watching this. Now I have another thing to find out, what would this person gain from keeping me free? It just didn’t add up in my mind.

So, I wasn't too keen on this chapter, but oh well, anyway....

Hope to see you tomorrow,,

I'm not going to watch the film Dream Boy. I see to be into the whole Gay films at the moment.

Night!

Not much time

For blogging. I completely forgot about blogging, I'm really sorry!

Anyway, I have a telephone interview tomorrow with Lloyds TSB. I'm actually quite nervous as I've never done a telephone interview before.

But yeah,

fingers crossed that everything goes alright. I think I'd cry if it didn't.....

Speak to you tomorrow where I'll probably be crying because I messed up the interview...

Night!

Gosh, this wasn't a long post, was it?