The Presidential Assasination Attempt

The Gatekeepers and I sometimes communicate in a type of dream world.  It’s a strange place that only we can access.  Right before I left ancient Lesser Malling, Matt told me that the dream world sometimes sends us messages and signs.  Today, I received one.  The original dream I had a while ago involved a man saying “He’s gonna kill him.  And you have to stop him.” I thought this meant that Scott was in danger, but I realized that this wasn’t the case.  On a TV news show, a picture of a statue in Auburn came on.  The statue was the same man from my dream.  When the reporter announced that Trelawny will be having a hometown birthday parade in Auburn, I knew realized that Trelawny was going to die.  Also, one last thing confirmed my suspicions.  When I was reading Banes’s mind at the Nightrise office, I noticed countless signs showing support for Charles Baker, the other presidential candidate.  As readers, you can probably guess that Nightrise would kill a presidential candidate to make their preferred candidate win.  After all, Nightrise employees have killed a lot of people.  Alicia drove me to Auburn, and we barely made it in time to stop the assassination.  My heart broke when I saw Scott with Susan Mortlake, a member of Nightrise.  I knew right away that he was controlling the mind of a Secret Service agent to make him kill Trelawny.  I tried to make Scott stop, but his power was too strong.  He was brainwashed by Nightrise.  My only option was to move the gun away from Trelawny.  Using my powers, I commanded the Secret Service agent to shoot Susan Mortlake.  This saved Trelawny’s life and ended the life of Susan Mortlake, the woman who wanted the presidential candidate dead.  I made a quick escape with Alicia, but I had to say goodbye when several police cars noticed us.  Scott and I ran into a cave.  We’re safe now.

-J.T.

The Old Ones

The King of the Old Ones, with an enemy knight nearby.

Something very strange happened after getting shot.  When I “woke up” in a strange new world, I lived through around two days.  It seemed like an eternity.  I was suddenly in the area now known as Lesser Malling, England, 10,000 years in the past.  I was one of the Five, just like Feather said.  Everyone knew me as Sapling, and they called my brother Flint (he is also part of the Five).  Matt, another Gatekeeper, explained everything to me.  The Old Ones are the evil spirits that the Five must defeat to save humanity.  Their main goal is to destroy humanity and make humans suffer in the process.  Somehow, I was living in an alter ego that was still me.  It’s hard to explain, but the Five of us existed 10,000 years ago and still exist-just with different names.  One day after arriving in the past, we set out to defeat the Old Ones in an epic battle.  Aside from me and the other four Gatekeepers, a small army made up of local citizens joined the fight as well.  The Old Ones were hideous to say the least.  There were many absurd species combinations that fought against us, including man-scorpions.  There were also giant creatures such as a monkey that fought against us.  It seemed stupid to fight the massive army of the Old Ones after their king offered surrender, but we didn’t want to go down as a species without a fight.  If I were still in the 21^st Century, I would have stayed away from such violence.  Saplin, though, was a warrior in his time.  Part of him became part of me, and before I knew it I was killing Old Ones with skill and precision.  I almost died, like many of our fighters did, but the Five thankfully stayed together.  With our combined power, we were able to kill the King of the Old Ones.  It was an unbelievable feeling, having almost too much power running through us. I still can’t put into words how amazing it felt when we touched our swords and stabbed the King.  Afterwards, the sky changed from its eternal gray state to blue, and Earth was at peace again.  After saying goodbye to the Gatekeepers, I woke near Daniel McGuire and Joe Feather.  After such a heroic and bloody experience, I learned what my role is in life.  I am a Gatekeeper, and I must defeat the Old Ones again.  For now, I’ll focus on finding Scott.

-J.T.  

Prison Break

I am very thankful to have so many kind people on my side.  Joe Feather, a supervisor at Silent Creek, was nice enough to help me escape Silent Creek.  The reason for this is he knows that Scott and I are two of the Five Gatekeepers.  It turns out that Daniel McGuire was sent to Silent Creek for his ability to predict the future.  Feather knocked out a guard and shut down the prison’s generator for me, which let me walk right up to Daniel’s cell and open it.  Things are never really that easy, right?  Unfortunately, the power came back right away and the prison went on alert.  However, the real chaos started when Feather’s fellow Native American tribe members began an assault on the prison.  I could tell right away that this attack was well planned.  Two holes were blown in the fence to allow fighters through.  Using bows and arrows and guns, the Feather’s Native Americans killed several prison guards.  When our jeep arrived, we ran and jumped in.  Without hesitating, the driver stepped on the gas pedal and we were off.  The battle was in full swing, though, and bullets were being fired near us.  Apparently, Banes was waiting for me because he shot me in the shoulder.  Although the pain didn’t last long, it was still the worst I’ve ever experienced.  I still can’t believe I recovered and am alive to tell about it.

-J.T.  

To Silent Creek

You know things are going your way when a Presidential candidate stops his campaign work to help you.  That’s right; Senator John Trelawny has agreed to help me find Scott.  Alicia told me that she used to work for the senator before Daniel went missing.  Due to this connection, Trelawny didn’t hesitate to help us.  Before talking to Trelawny, though, I had to at least try to find Scott’s location.  I went about doing this by walking into one of Nighrise’s offices with a package that was supposed to be for Colton Banes.  This excuse helped me reach his office.  Once inside, Alicia called Banes and asked “Where is Scott Tyler?”  My mind reading abilities helped me find what I was looking for:  Silent Creek, a correctional facility.  When I had the location, Trelawny arranged a way for me to enter Silent Creek.  I was given a false identity and a fake crime bad enough to land me in Silent Creek.  To get in the prison, I became Jeremy Rabb, a drug-dealing teenager.  After a long bus ride, I stepped out and saw Silent Creek’s sign.

 If only I truly knew back then what I was getting myself into.

-J.T.



http://www.used-buses.net/bustypes/prison_transport_bus.asp

The Nightrise Corporation

Alicia McGuire.  I don’t know what I would have done without her.  She literally tracked me down with the intention of saving Scott and me from Nightrise.  She told me that she was lead to me by her search for her son, Daniel.  Before Nighrise kidnapped him, he had premonitions (predictions of the future).  One time, he predicted a bus crashing into a kid’s home and kept him away from it.  Daniel quite possibly saved his life by doing so.  The newspaper wrote about this amazing story, and Nightrise had Daniel six months later.  According to Alicia’s research, Nightrise has been behind many similar kidnappings.  The victims all had one thing in common:  a supernatural or extraordinary ability.  Scott and I can read each other’s minds.  Colton Banes said he works for Nightrise during our last show.  I seriously think Alicia is on to something here.  I really hope this lead beings me closer to Scott.

-J.T.

Life as the Telepathic Twins

Not counting the early years of childhood where I was still being moved from family to family, my entire life has revolved around Reno.  Reno, Nevada, the place I’ve spent most of my life in. But I’ll never call it home.  I was trapped in a monotony that never ended- constant performances in front of audiences that didn’t really care.  To make my life worse, something awful happened: Nightrise took Scott away from me.  Scott Tyler, the only person I’ve truly ever cared about.  Although we are twins and basically the same age, he was always like an older brother to me.  I remember that horrible night vividly.  When I saw two strange men- I now know were Colton Banes and Kyle Hovey- for the second show in a row, I immediately felt uneasy.  One mistake led to others on stage.  The audience was laughing at my mistakes more than they were cheering, it seemed.  Afterwards, the men opened fire with dart guns.  After getting hit with a dart, I thought I was going to be caught for sure.  Miraculously, a woman named Alicia McGuire rescued me and drove away while taking fire.  Scott, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky.  I saw him lying on the ground with a dart in his cheek as we drove away.  Strangely, I wanted to be lying next to him.  As the drugs from the dart kicked in, I felt the need to face Nightrise with my brother.  I realize now that it’s my responsibility to find him and rescue him.   As my search progresses, I’ll keep you all posted.

-J.T.

Anthony Horowitz Book Talk