Saving Jacob

Saving Jacob
By Liana Calabro

My name is Annie, and I am a 12-year old girl. However, I am not at all normal. Not even in the slightest way. You see, I can read the minds of others. And although that may seem like a super awesome power to have, it does have its disadvantages. The other kids at school make fun of me for it, which causes me to be pretty unpopular. The only time people ever pay any attention to me is to either make fun of me, or read someone else's mind. And that really isn’t the kind of attention I’m seeking. It also probably doesn’t help that I’m super shy and quiet all the time. So yeah, I’m pretty much incapable of making friends. On the other hand, my home life, well, is pretty much the same. My parents are embarrassed to have me as a child, and have absolutely no idea how I have my mind-reading powers, since they are both pretty much as normal and basic as they come, at least, super power wise. There is really only one person that I feel like really appreciates me for who I am, and that’s my little brother, Jacob. Just to get to know him a little bit, Jacob is a 4-year old who loves nature, animals, and me. It’s obvious that my parents favor Jacob over me, but I don’t care. And as far as I know, Jacob has no mind reading powers, which is a relief. I mean, at least one of us could be normal.

One day, I was coming home from school, like usual. Pretty much everything was normal. I was coming home from a long day of getting bullied, and getting used to reading people’s minds, as usual. But when I opened my front door, something didn’t seem quite right. There was no bursting happiness and hugs as soon as I opened the door, no little joyful voice telling me about his day, no feeling of liveliness throughout the house, no Jacob.

“Where’s Jacob?” I asked.
“ Oh, he’s at his friend Mason's house.” Mom said.
“What time did he leave?” I asked.
“At about 9:30.” Mom said. It was currently 3:30 P.M.
“ He left at 9:30!?” I yelled.
“ Oh stop overreacting, it’s only been an hour or two, or maybe 3.” Mom said. She was clearly too wrapped up on whatever was on Facebook to check the time.
“ Try 6.” I said.
“ 6!? Your brother’s been gone for 6 hours”!?! She exclaimed.

Yes”! “And knowing Jacob, he probably tried to come home himself, and Mason’s house is really far away. Now we better go out there and start searching, or else Jacob will be gone.” I yelled. Mom said nothing as she ran out the door saying some kind of prayer under her breath. I stormed out the door with tears stinging in my eyes. I was mad at my mother for forgetting about Jacob, and just sitting there looking at her stupid Facebook like there was nothing wrong, and I was mad at the world. At this point I was crying. I just wanted my little brother back.

As I was searching for Jacob, I looked in all his favorite places: the parks, the zoo, and pretty much everywhere else where there was any kind of nature or animals. I was searching in Golden River Park, looking at a tree, when I noticed something weird. There was a glowing, purple, aura around the trunk of the old tree. Then the tree started doing something crazy. It was almost like it was unraveling into some kind of portal. Once the tree was fully transformed, a very deep, and distorted voice began to speak.

“Anna Elizabeth Hunter,” the voice boomed. “I have what you’re looking for.” I had no idea how this voice knew my name, but I had bigger problems to worry about.
“ You mean Jacob?” I stuttered, barely being able to finish my sentence.
“ Yes, and in order to find him, you need to come through this portal, or else he will be mine forever.” the voice threatened. I was frozen with shock and fear. But I knew what I had to do. I mean seriously, what do I have to lose? I hopped into the portal, and all I could do was pray.

Once I was inside this so-called underworld, I felt really weird. Like a really creepy and empty kind of weird. This place was eerie, creepy, and it made me feel an odd feeling of emptiness that I’ve never felt before and hope I will never have to again. I was frozen with fear and shock for the second time today, when I saw a figure approaching me. I was about to pass out when the figure approached me. I realized that there was really nothing to be afraid of, and that this figure was really just a regular, human boy who actually looked about my age. He was wearing a red baseball cap, jeans, and a yellow sweatshirt. He wore smudged glasses and his clothes couldn’t be filthier. He was shivering and at the same time looked thrilled to have some kind human interaction. “Hey”, he said “My name is Marcus, and you have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

“As you can probably tell there’s really no showers here in the underworld, so sorry if I smell.” he said trying to laugh. I forced a chuckle so he wouldn’t feel bad and introduced myself. “ Hi, my name is Annie,” I said awkwardly.

“ But how do you know all this? Do you know where he is? Do you know who is keeping him? Do you know anything else about this at all”? I yelled so fast I had to catch my breath.

“ Ohhhh I’ve heard of you. You’re that girl who’s little brother got lost here in the underworld.” he said.“ Wait, quick question.” Marcus said. “Are you a human?” I nodded. “ Oh my gosh. Really”?! He practically screamed. I nodded again. “ I will do absolutely anything to help you find your brother. And I mean anything. Just please talk to me and stay with me”.

“ Yeah, sorry. It’s really the first thing I’ve heard about my brother in hours.” I said, calming down.

“ Whoa, calm down, he said soothingly.“ I mean I guess if my little sister got lost I would be like this too, so I can’t exactly blame you”, he said.

So about your brother, all I know is that there is some kind of king creature guy keeping him captive, and that they are on Volcano Mount.”Marcus reported.