Chapter 5- Magic Isle

Sarah was stuck in the huge metal tube for 13 hours straight. It was driving her crazy. Alan kept on offering her peanut butter and oreos (which he was weirdly addicted to for some reason) but Sarah kept on turning them down because she was too nauseous.

From time to time, Mathew would glance at Sarah, as if she might blow up any second. Which in fact she would have at some point if she was forced to be cooped up in the weird metal contraption longer. Fortunately for her, the plane started descending slowly at some point. She leaned in and looked outside. Below, a bright blue ocean sparkled along for miles like a glittering blanket till it linked with the sky. Sarah could just make out a green island with a snow-capped mountain in its center.

The plane started losing altitude rapidly and came down on the tarmac with a loud screech that made Sarah's ears pop. Why does this place have a runway?, Sarah thought once the plane halted.

Mathew lead her dad and rizwan down the steps and out of the aircraft. Alan stood up and gestured Sarah to follow.

"come on, I will show you around. As much as I hate it, I am sure you'll love it.", he said without even glancing at her.

Sarah was already too confused and dazed, but she felt a huge sensation in her gut that told her to comfort her best friend.

She snapped from her trance and said, " I know you hate doing all this, Alan. Maybe once this is all over, I'll convince your dad to let you stay with me."

"that's sweet of you Sarah, but there is no ending this. I have seen Thomas. And I have spend enough time here to know that the dude wont stop until he gets his revenge. But, no pressure.", he smirked, and returned to his old self again. "enough whining. Come on,'brownie'."

"don't call me that!",Sarah exclaimed, smiling. But she didn't mind in reality.

They went down the steps. Sarah looked around. No sign of her dad or rizwan.

"where are they?". Sarah asked, worried.

"Mathew must have taken them to settle down. I guess he left you with me because he knew that I would show you around. ", Alan said.

He started walking. Sarah followed him. A couple of distance to the right of the plane was a beach. To the left, a huge jungle spread on. Alan walked straight into it, sticking to a dirt path. They walked on without much walking; Alan knew that Sarah liked the peace and quiet when out in the open.the surroundings was like a tropic rain forest. It was Sweltering hot and Sarah could also here the gentle trickle of a stream. As they kept on walking, Sarah noticed that the humidity started to decrease slowly and the greenery around them started to change. The lush tropical trees merged slowly to form woody trees. The air suddenly filled with the heavy scent of eucalyptus.

"ummm...is it just me or does it feel like we are walking through different time zones?", Sarah asked.

"there's a reason this place is called the "Magic" Isle, genius.", Alan said, putting air quotes around the word magic. "our entire world's magic originates from this very island. Its kinda like the nexus of magic. so this island morphs itself to meet the needs of its inhabitants. We can find all types of fruits,vegetables and spices known to mankind on this island. Kind of like a food bar in the form an island.", he smirked.

"so this place is like yggdrysil?",Sarah asked.

" egg what now?", Alan asked, stopping abruptly.

" yggdrysil. The world tree. You know, from the Norse myths. They say that it's the nexus of all nine realms."

"you read too much.", Alan said, and continued walking.

"I take that as a compliment.", Sarah smiled. " so, tell me more about this island. And also about the camp. And magic.", Sarah said, curious. She couldn't help but feel relaxed when she's around Alan. She forgets all her worries when she strolls with him in the woods.

"whoa there...calm down now. If I tell you too much, that little brain of yours will explode.",Alan said.

"oh please. I can never have too much information about magical islands and camps. And my brain isn't little, I am the topper at school unlike you.", she joked.

"fine nerd. This island is really old. The Mathews found this island. My foster great-great-great-great-great-great –"

"I get it! Continue.", Sarah said, throwing her hands in the air.

"well that guy found the island. He was a great sorcerer who heard rumors about this place and embarked on a quest to find it. When he did, he kept it a secret because he knew evil dudes will exploit the island's magic for power. he soon saw that the world was forgetting about the extraordinary powers of magic and people soon started to fear it. So he started gathering people with magical blood and brought them here to train them, so that magic still prevails in the world. After he died, his son took over. And so on, and so forth. "

"but why did he train people with magical abilities? Wouldn't it still be there if people don't use it or believe in it?"

"magic is like a machine, Sarah. If you don't use it for a long time, it rusts over and no longer be of use. And plus, he might have thought it would be fun to torture teenagers.", he smirked.

" meh. Cant blame the guy. All adults like torturing kids. So how does this camp thingy work?"

"I'll show you. Come on!", he took off at a run, Sarah following at his heels.

They soon reached a huge clearing. It had three huge mansion-like cabins. In front of them, was a huge bonfire, surrounded by logs. Many assorted kids were milling around the place, doing various chores. A few stopped to wave at Alan.the clearing extended on more, but Sarah couldn't quite understand what lies ahead.

"holy-", Sarah began.

"like it? Wait till you start training. I wont be so sure you'll like it then.", he grinned.

Sarah was too awestruck to reply. She actually felt like things could be better now. She and her dad and rizwan could live here together where they were safe and content. But she was still doubtful if they were really safe from Thomas here. Sure, this place scares him for some reason, but that doesn't mean he cant have someone here who's on his side. Whoa...aren't you a little ray of sunshine, Said the small part of her brain that was still a kid. She chuckled.

"oo..kaayy... youre laughing to yourself, not weird at all.", Alan said

Sarah almost forgot he was even there. "sorry, just thinking. Are you going to just stand there or are you gonna show me around?", She said, smiling.

"right this way,milady", he said cheekily.

They went to the bonfire, which currently just consisted of black coals and unburned wood particles from the previous night,Sarah presumed. Then they went to the training grounds.the first thing that caught Sarah's attention instantaneously was the archery section. Rows and rows of different kinds of targets stood at one part of the place. Some were standing, some pressure- sensored, some hanging from trees. Next to the targets were various kinds of bows; manual and crossbows. beside them, was a stack of quivers filled with arrows. The thing that disturbed Sarah was that there were no kids practicing in the archery range. Absolutely deserted. Sarah pointed it out Alan.

"well, none of the kids here actually learn archery. Most of them have magic,of course. And almost everyone thinks that it is for the weak."

"excuse me?", Sarah exclaimed, burning hot with anger.

"whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't agree with them, of course. Archery is awesome. And you are definitely not weak.", He said, putting his hands up in defense.

"thought so. Continue.", Sarah said, with a bleak smile. She seriously didn't get why no one has put such a cool place into good use.

They went on with the tour. Next, was the sword arena. The sounds of metal clanking as the kids parried and thrusted each other filled the arena. Alan picked up a small silver knife from a nearby table filled with swords and knives and other deadly weapons and handed it to Sarah.

" you might need that sometime.", Alan said, passing her a black leather holster for the knife.

Sarah shrugged and slipped on the holster onto the belt loop of her jeans and slid the knife in place. She didn't know why she would need a knife, but she didn't ask Alan as she was sure the answer wouldn't be pleasant.

They moved on to the next section; the wrestling arena. It was in a small building and was filled with sweaty guys rolling in mud trying to take out their opponent. Sarah wrinkled her nose; the place smelt like it wasn't cleaned since it was built.

"Why do it in the mud, why not on mats? That would decrease the smell by at least a 300%.", Sarah said.

"well, my dear-old dad says ,"you wont be fighting on mats when you are out there fighting for your pitiful lives!"", Alan said, in an excellent imitation of Mathew.

Sarah laughed. They started exiting the arena because both of them agreed that they would faint if they stood a second longer there. The smell was so overpowering that Sarah was reminded of Amir. She totally forgot about her pathetic,drunk and extremely smelly uncle.

"hey, what did you do about Amir?",Sarah asked Alan once they were out in the open.

" oh, Mathew took care of it. He'll be out in about a day or two.", Alan said, expressionless.

"oh, but what about him and his family? You do know that he is jobless. They cant survive if I am going to stay here.", Sarah said, worried.

"god, Sarah! Why so you care about them? They gave you a really hard time, remember?", Alan said angrily.

"yes, but they are my family. And auntie and the kids were actually nice to me, when they weren't weeping or getting hit by Amir.",Sarah said, unaffected by Alan's changing composure; by now, he looked like a ripened tomato.

" I really think they deserve to be on the streets for all the terrible things they did to you. But you are right, they are your family, as much as I hate it. I'll tell Mathew to arrange a small job for that wayward uncle of yours."

"sounds good to me. What's next?", Sarah asked eagerly.

"my favourite place in the world, the kitchen", Alan said ,smiling, forgetting about their argument.

The kitchen was ginormous. It was filled with dozens of refrigerators, ovens, deep friers, stoves, pans, pots, cutlery, plates and more.The place smelled heavenly. Various smells of vegetables,spices and meat greeted Alan and Sarah. The kitchen at magic isle was a hotspot of all things tasty. Kids were milling about the place, cooking dinner. Sarah's stomach grumbled. She realised the last thing she had was a slice of dry bread for breakfast the day before. Alan must have heard the growl, too.

"hold that tiger inside of you, if it gets out, I wont save you, princess",He joked.

Sarah laughed sarcastically. "I am hungry. Can we stop for snack",Sarah asked, pulling on a puppy face.

"don't do that! You know I love that face.lemme try to sneak a few apples.", Alan said and moved on to talk to a pretty blonde girl carrying a huge basket of red- blood apples.

Sarah hung back around, thinking where her dad and rizwan were. She didn't exactly trust Mathew. The guy was old and had an extremely big head. Literally. She would have to look for her family once she was done with the tour.

Alan returned with two apples. "here you go. We shouldn't stick around here more."he gestured to the blonde girl. " Sophie, the head of the kitchen, does not like when people snoop around here before dinnertime. I had to beg for just these two apples."

Sarah didn't respond. She snatched the apple and took a large bite. It was a fight between sweet-as-honey and painfully sour. She kept on devouring the apple as they continued the tour.

Alan pointed out park benches where they have food. He showed many gardens filled with luscious fruit and vegetables.

He stopped in front of one of the log cabins; the hugest of them all. "this is the cabin where the Mathews live. Though I don't. the cabin at the far right is the girls'. The left is for the boys. I live there, most of time. When I am not living in the real world, you know."

"uhm-mm", Sarah responded, her mouth full.

"I will take that as a "okay Alan, you are awesome. Lets continue"", he smirked.

Sarah gave him what she thought was a disgusted look, but she wasn't sure as her mouth was still full. She finally finished chewing her mouthful . Alan climbed up the stairs leading to the cabin and swung the door open. Or tried to at least. As Alan swung the door forward, someone was pulling it from the inside, so as a result, the door smashed into the forehead of whoever was on the other side.

"oww man!That hurt.", the man grumbled.

Sarah immediately realised that it was Rizwan. She hurried forward, and after checking that he was okay, she burst out laughing.So did Alan.

"ugh, shut up guys!", Rizwan snapped.

Sarah receded her laughter into short fits of giggles. She finally got it under control.

Alan said, still smiling,"you should have seen your face". he giggled like a second grade girl.

Sarah grinned and said, "where's dad?"

"right here.", came the deep,but elegant voice of her dad, Firhan Mohammed.

He embraced her; it was comforting. Warm and cozy,just like she remembered.

"aww... isn't this precious.", came the mocking voice of the camp head, Mathew. Give it to Captain Control- Freak to destroy everything.

Her dad pulled away. Sarah glared at Mathew.

"you better not lose that glare, Miss Sarah. It would be more effective on our common enemy,Thomas.",Mathew said, glaring back at her." I am not the villain here,Sarah. Don't forget that."

Sarah opened her mouth to retort but Her dad , eager to change the subject, sighed and said, "would you look at the time? I don't know about you guys, but I am starving." He addressed Mathew and said, " would you be kind enough to give us some dinner, John?"

"my pleasure. Right this way", Mathew replied.

"ugh, I hate when he tries to act all nice", Alan whispered to Sarah and Rizwan as they walked towards the kitchen.

"yeah, its like a lion trying to act like a kitten", Sarah whispered.

"or a wild boar trying to act like a pig.", Rizwan said quietly.

"oh wait! He's both!", Alan exclaimed.

The three of them started giggling silently. For some stupid reason, they all found it funny. Sarah felt exhilarated. She loved these two idiots more than anything.

They approached the kitchen, took plates and loaded them with bread, grilled chicken and salad.

Alan, Rizwan and Sarah sat at a park bench near the bonfire. Mathew and her dad sat in the shade of a huge oak tree; even though there was no sunlight.

They started digging in to their food. It was heavenly delicious. It was way better than Sarah's aunt's cooking.

Sarah stared into the fire. Golden sparks were being thrown from it at random. People were sitting wherever they found place; on benches, on logs or even on the grassy ground itself. Sarah was amazed by the sheer number of people in the place. Maybe 100. Or even more, she wasn't sure. But everyone was happy; they were fed after a hard day of training. She decided she liked Magic Isle. It was much better than what she had where she came from. She removed her hijab and tied it around her neck. She didn't need it here; it felt like home.

They stayed there for a while, talking. Slowly, people started turning in for bed. Dad approached them.

"well, I'll be sleeping in john's cabin tonight. He says he's got a spare room for me. You two will be good by yourself?", he said.

"yeah, sure dad.", Rizwan said.

Sarah tried with all her might to resist asking it, but she couldn't.

"do you trust him,dad?", she asked in a low voice.

"with my life, Sarah. He was my best friend growing up till we had to part ways. He was always like a big brother to me. I know he doesn't look all that welcoming, but I am sure you two will warm up to him soon. We all had a crazy day,didn't we? Lets just go to bed. Good night.", he said smiling.

"goodnight, dad", she replied.

And with that, he turned on his heels and left for the huge cabin in the middle.

Alan got up and told the pair of them to follow. He walked to the boys' cabin and swung the door open. Alan and Rizwan went inside. Sarah decided to stay at the doorway; the stench of feet and socks and...other gaseous anomalies were just as overwhelming as the smell in the wrestling arena.

Someone at the back of the cabin called dibs on the 'new pretty damsel'. Sarah looked behind her,confused. It took a moment for her to realise that he was talking about her. She could feel her cheeks brightening by the second.

"oh yeah? You wanna meet her brother instead?", Rizwan said, being the overprotective brother he was.

No one responded. Alan scoffed and showed Rizwan his sleeping space. He then walked to Sarah.

"lets just get you to your cabin before it gets any more awkward, alright?", he said, smiling nervously.

"yea, you're right", she said, without looking at him. She want to get out of there as soon as possible. She quickly bade good night to Rizwan and followed Alan to the girls cabin. The clearing was abandoned, creepy and quiet.

Alan hung back at the foot of the steps this time.He bade goodnight to her and started walking back to his cabin. Sarah swung the door forward. Inside, were rows of beds lining either side of the walls. To her right, a wooden staircase led to the top floor, presumably to more beds or living space.

A girl about Sarah's age rushed forward and greeted her gracefully. She had long black hair and her eyes shifted colours when it caught the light.

"hi! You must be Sarah. Mathew said you would be coming soon. My name is Andrea, welcome to the girls cabin at Magic Isle.", She said. She talked extremely fast that it was almost impossible for Sarah to catch what she said.

"uh..hey, yea I am Sarah. So...", Sarah trailed off. She wasn't exactly amazing at making new friends.

"hey,its ok. I remember my first day, I almost fainted. But trust me, this place is awesome", Andrea said comfortingly. Sarah realised that Andrea was studying her intently, like she had met her before.

"yeah, its cool.", Sarah mumbled.

"follow me then, its pretty late, you must be exhausted. Most of us already turned in for bed, so try to be quiet.", Andrea said and started walking up the wooden stairs; Sarah following.

They reached a landing filled with couches and squishy bean bags. Andrea crossed it and swung open a door to reveal a bedroom complete with 2 beds, dressers, and shelves.

"its pretty small, but it has privacy, you know.",Andrea said.

"its great. So are you staying here?", Sarah said.

"yup. It was pretty boring by myself,but it would be great to have a roomie.", Andrea grinned.

Sarah smiled. She was starting to like Andrea, she was pretty cool.

"you can take the bed beside the window. The bathroom' s on your right,you can freshen yourself.", Andrea said,smiling kindly.

Sarah nodded and headed for the bathroom. She took a quick shower, wrapped herself in a towel and came out. She was going to ask Andrea for clean clothes, but she was already prepared with a pair of pyjamas. Sarah realised that this girl thought of everything. Sarah smiled and took the clothes and changed in the bathroom.

She stepped out and went to sit on her bed. Andrea sat on her bed across from her.

"so, what's your 'magical ability'",Sarah asked Andrea.

"this", Andrea said and opened her hand. On her palm,a white rose shimmered into existence, roots and all.

"whoa... gardening, that's pretty cool",Sarah said.

Andrea put the rose in a vase filled with water on her bedside table. "yea, I guess. Its pretty cool to grow vines on guys who come way too close to me.", Andrea joked, laughing.

Sarah chuckled.

"what's your "superpower"", Andrea said, putting air quotes around superpower.

"naah...I don't have any. I am just here because some random dude decided to destroy my peace and family"

"aah,I know how that feels. Damn villains", Andrea smiled. "we should get to bed, getting pretty late." ,Andrea said, switching of her bedside lamp.

Sarah did the same, said goodnight and settled in her new soft bed. She refused to think of anything depressing and enjoyed the comfort and safety of the island. She slowly drifted away to a peaceful sleep.

*******************

It felt like only seconds had passed when a deafening scream woke her up with a start.