Chapter 20 "Shattered"

Kari was packing her suitcase for the trip to Bridgeport, which they were leaving for the next day. They had it all planned out: Kari and Adrian would be a group, Travis and Marisa would be a group, and Jenna would be alone, while Jamie stays at the house and take care of Liza. 

It was late at night, and Kari procrastinated with packing. Everyone else was already asleep, and Kari thought about a lot of things while she packed. What if she sees the killer? What if Kam is there? Will she be able to save him, and the rest of her friends if they came into danger?

Thinking about these things, she slipped a fairly large knife with a rubber cover into her jacket pocket.

As Kari got done with her packing, she changed into her sleep clothes and sat on the bed.

That night, she had the strangest dream she has ever had in her life.

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Kari was tied up to a chair in a strange room. The dream was foggy, but Kari could make out some details. She saw her, and Kam, who was also tied up, and... Another Kari?

Four people burst into the room, breaking a wall, and there was some fighting between them and the duplicate Kari. The duplicate Kari was concentrating on something, and she mumbled a word.

Suddenly, there was a flash, and the real Kari felt lighter. After the four people were beaten, the woman got out a gun. There was some yelling between the two Karis, and then there was a gunshot.

"NO!!!" Kari yelled. She wasn't hurt, but someone else was. "Kam!!"

And then there was a big, white glow. The real Kari got up out of her chair, adorned in white clothing, and stretched out her hand, and the other Kari screamed and crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The four people ran over to Kari, who was cradling Kam in her arms.

The dream faded.

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Kari woke up in fear. It was early in the morning, and everyone was already up and ready to go. Kari quickly got dressed and opened her door.

"Woah, Kari!" Travis was standing outside her door, just about to knock.

"Hi, Travis." Kari smiled a weak smile, obviously tired from the early morning, and shaken up by her dream last night.

"We're leaving now," Travis said, then noticed that she wasn't connected to the conversation. "Hey, you okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Kari snapped out of her trance. "I'm fine..."

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They drove, and flew, to Bridgeport in silence.

When they got to the airport, they saw that someone had hired two taxi's for them. One of the drivers handed Kari a note.

"Someone said to give this to you." The man handed the note over.

Plasma 501, 6 o'clock.

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When they got to their hotel room, they went over the plan.

"Remember, stay in your groups, and act natural." Jenna said. "We don't want to alarm anyone."

"And if you see anyone suspicious..." Adrian said. "Just yell. We will all be able to hear you."

"Okay, well, let's go explore the town." Jenna said. "In our groups, of course. Meet at Plasma 501 at 5 p.m."

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Kari and Adrian walked to the famous Bridgeport Bridge, while Marisa and Travis went to a small diner they  heard about and always wanted to go to while they were dating, and Jenna stayed in the hotel room, waiting for the afternoon so she could see the city lights before it got really dark.

When 5 P.M. came around, everyone arrived at Plasma 501.

"Ready?" Travis asked.

No one answered; they didn't need to. 

They walked in, and got dressed into their fancy clothes inside.

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Marisa and Travis took the elevator to the top floor, and saw something.

"Karaoke!!" They both screamed, and ran up to the machine. Travis and Marisa loved doing Karaoke when they were in highschool. Travis let Marisa choose the song.

After some of the song played, "Everytime I hear your name" by Cascada, and after the intro played, Travis and Marisa started singing one of the verses that it skipped ahead to.

"Now I'm sure you found a girl to fill my empty space..." Marisa knew this song by heart.

"But I'm stuck with the love that we shared that time just cant erase..." Travis sang the lyrics on the screen

"I have tried to forget" Marisa sang, feelings rising in her

"Get you out of my head..." Travis sang the following lyrics

"But the memories won't fade..." Both sang together

"I can run" Marisa sang

"I can hide" Travis sang immediately after her

"From the feelings inside, but the pain wont go away!" They both sung at the top of their lungs.

"Cause everytime I hear your name, the world stops for a moment, yeah, baby with a single word, I can see your face again... And I'm taken back to what we had, everytime I hear your name..." Marisa turned to look at Travis now, and in a rush of emotions, they kissed.

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Jenna was sitting at the bar, drinking her girly drinks, and watching out for anyone suspicious. After about half an hour, the bartender gave her a note.

"Hey, someone told me to give this to you at this exact moment in time..." The bartender looked kind of creeped out, but continued to work.

Meet me on the roof.

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Marisa and Travis rushed off the stage after the kiss, and looked awkwardly at each other.

"Travis, I... I'm sorry, I don't know what happened..." Marisa tried to apologize.

"No, no, it's fine, really." Travis thought about Kari. "Let's just not mention this to Kari... Or Jamie."

"Agreed." Marisa laughed.

The piano started to play.

"I heard that you settled down, that you found a girl and your married now. I heard that your dreams came true. Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you..."

Travis turned around when he recognized the voice.

"Mia?"

The woman disappeared.

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Kari and Adrian were on the basement floor, underground, searching for suspicious people. Kari had a lot of time to think doing this, and really started to think hard about Adrian...

He found the body.

He found the bloodied couch.

He was always home.

He never, ever liked Hollie.

He didn't talk to Kari much since the events started happening.

"Oh my god..." Kari turned around to face Adrian. "It's you..."

"What? Kari..." Adrian looked surprised. Kari didn't care.

"It's you. It was ALL you." Kari was angry. She didn't even think about the possibility that she got her facts wrong.

"Kari, what are you---" Adrian was interrupted by the fact that Kari plunged a large knife into his stomach.

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Jenna was standing up on the roof, looking at the city, waiting for the man who slipped her the note. She was scared to death; which was why she hadn't talked much since they got on the plane. 

"Glad you could make it..." A deadly serious voice said behind her.

"Why are you doing this..." Jenna said, still looking at the city.

"Ehe, the woman asked me to..." He said. "Say your goodbyes now."

"I will..." Jenna screamed, alarming her friends.

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Kari was in the basement, in shock after just stabbing her friend Adrian without thinking about what she was doing. She heard Jenna scream, and looked at Adrian with fear on her face.

"Just... Go..." Adrian said, gasping with pain.

"Al... Alright..." Kari ran up all 70 flights of stairs while calling Adrian an ambulance.

Kari got to the roof, and burst through, seeing Jenna and a man, and Marisa and Travis burst through right after her.

"W-Wheres Adrian?" Jenna asked.

"Erm... In an ambulance..." Kari replied, nervously, with a ping of regret.

"What!?" Jenna started to cry.

"He will be fine, I promise!" Kari said, then noticed the man in front of her.

"She told me specifically not to kill you." He looked at Kari.

"Oh my... You're..." Kari was at a loss for words. "You killed Hollie! And Mia!"

"Yeah, I did." The man looked calm.

"You... Evil... PERSON!" Kari screamed.

"Oh, so hurt." He still was aloof.

He walked over to Jenna, getting ready to push her.

"Goodbye, Jenna."

Jenna knew what she had to do. She grabbed the man, and making the biggest sacrifice, jumped off the roof, bringing the man with her.

"No, Jenna!" Kari screamed. Marisa and Adrian seemed shocked, and the man and woman fell to their dooms.

Until two friendly faces appeared and saved Jenna, leaving the man falling.

"Mia..." Travis gasped.

"Hollie..." Kari said, in a shocked tone.

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They were all in a state of shock that their two dead friends saved Jenna from death. Mia walked up to Travis, and started singing him a song.

"I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited, but I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it. I hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded that for me, it isn't over..."

Travis started to cry, and hugged Mia, holding her for half an hour.

"Just let them have their moment..." Hollie said to Kari. "We visited Adrian, healed his wound. I mean, it's not all the way gone, but he won't. you know, be dead."

Jenna perked up at this. Kari knew she would be really mad at Kari when she found out what happened.

After half an hour of talking, Hollie and Mia seemed to fade.

"I have to go." Hollie said.

"No, wait, Hollie!" Kari didn't want her sister to leave.

"Kari, listen. There's something I have to tell you." Hollie rushed. "You are never safe, you are the charm."

Kari was startled by this, and only her and Marisa seemed to realize what she meant by this.
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At the hospital, the police questioned Kari.

"I just recently watched a scary movie, and Adrian thought it would be funny to scare me..." Kari explained. "I overreacted, freaked out, and stabbed him."

"And what about the other man? Jacob Newman?" The police asked.

"Didn't know him." Kari said.

"My Baby! My Baby!" A woman ran in screaming and crying. Kari looked at her, and almost cried. She didn't feel bad about what happened with Jacob, but she felt bad for the woman, obviously her mother.

"Alright, guess we're done." The policeman was done "Your friend Adrian decided not to press charges, so you'll just have a fine for carrying a knife."

"Alright." Kari said. It wasn't as bad as what could have happened.

They flew home that night, and Jenna went straight to the nursery, and held Liza for hours. Marisa and Jamie sat on the couch, watching TV and cuddling all night. Adrian was in bed rest, and Kari and Travis lied in bed, not saying a word to each other, but having everything that was needed to be said implied by their crying.

Chapter 19 "Legends"

Kari is outside playing with the other kids. She runs around, playing tag, like all other 8 year olds during the summer-time.

She looks over to her the end of her drive-way, to see a strange woman standing there, watching her and her best friends Jenna, Adrian, Marisa, Travis, Mia, and her twin sister Hollie play tag.

She gets curious, so she walks over to the strange woman.

"Who are you?" She asks.

"No one." the woman says.

"Then why are you here?" The naive little girl asked her.

"No reason." The woman kneeled down. "One day, you are going to be VERY special."

"Come on, Kari!" Jenna yelled, causing Kari to turn around for a second. "Come play tag!"

"Okay, just a..." Kari turned around to look at the woman, and she was gone.

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Kari woke up from her dream, startled and scared. It all seemed so real, and she realized it was a memory that she had long since forgotten.

Kari looked around the dark room, wondering what that dream was about. Maybe it could have been the stress, bringing up forgotten memories, or it could have been something more...

Either way, she knew that she had to go talk to Jenna's mom about the story she heard yesterday.

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"OHMYGOD, KARI!?"

Marisa woke with a scream, which consequently, woke Jamie up beside her.

"What!? What's wrong!?" Jamie got scared, and Marisa and Jamie both got out of bed.

"Nothing, but..." Marisa looked anxious and rushed.

"But? But what?" Jamie looked scared, thinking that Marisa had a terrible nightmare and was scarred for life or something.

"I have to talk to Kari..." Marisa rushed out of the room.

"Wait, now!?" Jamie chased after her, and into Kari's room, where she was already awake.

"Kari, we need to talk." Marisa said angrily.
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"Wait, what?" Kari was genuinely confused. "You think... That I caused your wreck?"

"Well, I don't know, maybe..." Marisa said. "All I know is you were the last thing I saw before I swerved, actually the reason I swerved."

"You were talking to Travis on the phone, I was with him when you asked, you can ask him... Wait..." Kari thought a little bit. "Maybe this might have something to do with my dream..."

"What dream?" Marisa asked, even more curious now.

"I'll tell you when Mrs. Rose comes over." Kari said as she dialed a number into her phone.

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"Hey, Mrs. Rose, come in" Kari let Jenna's mom, Lisa Rose, into her room.

"It sounded urgent, what's going on?" Lisa said, walking into the room silently.

"I had a dream..." Kari continued to tell her about her dream, and told her that she thinks it might be connected to the story Lisa told her. "So, can you finish the story..?"

"You have heard it before, haven't you? It's a legend famous in America, and I know your parents told you about it when you were a child..." Lisa looked at Kari, then just continued the story. "Well, you heard the part about the charm, yadda yadda yadda, here are the parts I cut out as to not scare baby Liza: That some speculate that the legend is real, and that she is still looking for the charm, but that the charm might actually be a person, and that the cursed woman needs to cast a spell, which she has yet to learn, then kill the person to gain her mortality, while the charm gains the cursed woman's immortality. But while the spell is cast, the charm gains immense power, so that they can protect themselves from the woman that is trying to take the mortality. But there is also a tomb in Starlight Shores, a very dangerous obstacle, that leads to a room that tunes out all magic, and that the woman will take the charm there, and cast the spell and kill the charm, while the charm has no way to defend itself..."

Kari stood there, scared by the story, but still not knowing why. Kari let Lisa out of her house, and discussed the travel plans with the rest of the house afterwards, as to not wake up Liza.

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"So, we're really going to go to Bridgeport?" Jenna asked.

"Of course, I mean, do we really have a choice?" Kari looked at Jenna "I mean, they said Hollie, what else do we do?"

"Well, maybe it was a coincidence..." Jenna replied.

"Nothing is ever a coincidence, Jenna." Kari said, when she was interrupted by Marisa's phone ringing. Marisa walked downstairs into the bar and game room, and Jamie followed her.

"No, now don't call back!" Jamie heard Marisa yell.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Um, my college..." Marisa said nervously. "They're asking when I am going to come back, and I told them I am going to drop out."

"It's okay, Risa" Jamie saw her eyes tearing up. "We've all had to make sacrifices in this situation. Kari, Travis, Jenna, and Adrian all have told me that they had to drop out of college when these problems arose."

"I know..." Marisa said, "It's just... I really liked college, and..."

Jamie hugged her and comforted her. "I know, it's okay, Risa... You'll be able to go back, once we get everything sorted out."

"I know..." Marisa started to cry. "I love you, Jamie..."

"I love you too, Risa."

Chapter 18 "Congratulations!"

"When was the last time you saw him?" The police officer asked Kari, after asking everyone else in the house, and causing her mother to cry.

"Um, earlier today. It was my birthday party, we had pizza and cake, and he was laughing and was happy..." Kari started to cry, she loved her brother and didn't want to see him hurt.

"So, he wouldn't have just run away?" the police woman said.

"No, he wouldn't have just RUN AWAY!!" Kari yelled. "God, are you STUPID!"

"Ma'am, that comment could get you thrown in jail." The police officer argued.

"I-I'm sorry, ma'am..." Kari was worried about Kam, he must be scared. "He's only 14, he's missing, and you aren't being that helpful!"

"We're doing everything we can!" The police woman, Krystal Spencers, argued with her.

"No, you aren't!" Kari yelled at her.

"Alright, I think I'm done here." Krystal got in her car and drove off.

Kari sat down on the ground and cried. "I'll rescue you, Kam..."

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Jenna drove her and her friend's parents to their house that Jenna bought for them.

"Well, guys..." Jenna said outside the house. "This is where you will stay."

"Oh, Jenna..." Jenna's mom, Lisa, said. "It's so fancy and expensive... We can't stay here."

"No, mom, it'll be fine." Jenna said. "Just go and unpack, I'll check on you tomorrow."

Kari's mom, Lila, came up to Jenna before she left.

"Hey, Mrs. Summer." Jenna said, trying her best to sound happy. "How are you?"

"Stop with the chit-chat, Jenna." Lila said. "I want you to make sure my baby boy comes back safe..." Lila started to cry.

"Of course I will, Mrs. Summer." Jenna got in her car and drove off.

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Kari walked up to her room that night, sat in her bed, and cried for hours.

And suddenly, her phone rang.

"H-Hello?" Kari answered.

"Congratulations! Your nice friend Hollie won a trip to Bridgeport City, but decided to pass it along to you! Congratulations! Will you accept the invitation? You can take as many friends as you would like!"

Kari was shocked. "Y-Yes..."

Chapter 17 "A Birthday Blaze"

"Happy Birthday!"

"Oh... Guys!" Kari smiled, and genuinely was surprised.

"Here, we got cake!" Jenna said excitedly. "Strawbanana." she winked.

"Really!" Strawberry cake with Banana Icing, Kari's favorite cake. "W-Where is it?"

Jenna looked around, confused. "I dunno... Look out into the entrance-way."

"That's a wierd place to put a cake, Jenna." Kari looked at her, suspiciously.

"Oh, just do it!!" Jenna urged her.

Then Kari opened to door to the stairway and front door.

"Oh... Oh my GOD!" Kari screamed when she saw the people standing there. "Mom! Kam!"

"Hey, sweetie." Kari's mom smiled.

"You're back from your trip!?" Kari was so excited; Jenna sent all of their family, Jenna's mom and dad, Kari's brother Kam and her mom, and Travis' dad, on a year-and-a-half long cruise, with no way off the boat, so they haven't seen them in a year.

Unfortunately, Adrian's parents died in a car crash when he was 11, and Kari's dad and Travis' mom were also in the car. Adrian then moved in with hid grandparents, and when they died at 16, he got emancipated and moved in on his own.

Since before Hollie died. Of course, they got the news, and they were videochatting at the Funeral, but it still wasn't the same.

"Kam..!" Kari ran over to her teenage brother. "You've gotten so BIG!"

"Kari! I'm 14!" Kam looked away, embarrassed, and blushed.

Kari hugged Kam. "But still!"

"Sigh, hello, Kari." Kam reluctantly said.

Kari looked over to Jenna's mom and dad, and Travis' dad. "Hey!" She went and shook their hands, and unfortunatly, they said they were 'sorry for her loss'.

"How did you guys get off early?" Kari asked eagerly.

"We stopped at the Carribeans and got on a plane early." Kam said.

"Uhm, sorry to be so eager, but..." Jenna's mom said. "Where's my granddaughter?"

"C'mon, mom." Jenna took her mom and dad towards the stairs. "She's in the nursery."
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Later that night, Kari walked in to Liza's nursery, where Jenna's mom, Lisa Kruse, the inspiration of her granddaughters name, was telling her a bedtime story.

Oddly, it intrigued Kari.

"Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a girl. She was a pretty girl, able to choose any suitor she wanted, and quite wealthy, too. On her 19th birthday, she got a visit from a couple odd people, who claimed to be witches. They wanted to try casting a spell, to see if it would work, so she let them. They cast a spell, and it worked... The girl would stay the same forever. She would never age, never get hurt, but she would get tired and hungry. She didn't like this spell, so she went back to the witches, and asked for them to cure her, but they made a deal. They created a charm, and hid it. They told her that if she could find the charm, she could cure this spell. She searched and searched, but she couldn't find it. Legend has it, that hundreds of years later, to this very day, she still searches for this charm and a way to cure her curse..."

Kari was troubled by this story, but she did not know why. It's like her mind was saying, "It's just a story", but her soul was saying, "It's all true"...

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"Kari!? Kari!?" Kari's mom, Lila, yelled.

"What, mom, what!" Kari ran downstairs.

"It's Kam." Lila said. "He's missing."

Chapter 16 "A Restless Nightmare"

10 months later

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Jenna woke up to hear crying on the baby monitor. She ran through the house, a beautiful 5-bedroom modern condo that their friend Jamie Nelson owned and invited them to live in.

On the way down the stairs and into the nursery, Jenna woke up the white puppy they adopted and named Lilly Pup. Luckily, the dog is quiet and lazy, so she didn't make any noise and nobody woke up.

Well, no one except Adrian.

Liza, Jenna and Adrian's daughter, stopped crying as soon as Jenna walked in.

"Looks like she just wanted your attention." Adrian smirked

"How did we make something so... Beautiful?" Jenna stared at her daughter, and looked at her in amazement. Even with her boyish preferences-apparent even as a baby-Jenna could see that they shared a great deal of genetics. They each had blonde hair and light blue eyes, and pale skin.

"Easy," Adrian hugged Jenna from behind. "You're her mother."

Jenna smiled and turned her head away. After all this time, he still treats her like a queen. "Adrian, I love you so much."

"I love you too."

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Jamie woke up to see Marisa standing next to the bed, staring at the wall.

"Risa," he said. "You okay?"

She just stared at the wall.

"The nightmares are back, aren't they?" Jamie walked over to her. "It'll be okay, Risa. We will get through it again. We always will, and always do."

"I'm so scared, Jamie..." Marisa started to cry, and just hugged Jamie tight.

"It's okay, Risa." Jamie kissed her forehead. "It's okay to be scared."

"I don't remember anything from that night..." Marisa started staggering her crying, making it even worse for Jamie. He didn't like seeing Marisa scared and sad.

"C'mon" Jamie led Marisa to the couch in the living room right outside their room.

They just sat there and watched T.V.. Jamie and Marisa often did that in the middle of the night when Marisa couldn't sleep. It helped them forget about the crash, and the 3 months when Marisa was in a coma, her fate unknown to Jamie...

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"Kari?" Travis walked outside in his sleepwear, to find Kari, also in her sleepwear, sitting on a lounge chair.

"Oh, hey Travis." Kari smiled. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I would come out here and watch the sun rise."

"I couldn't sleep, either." Travis walked up to Kari, extremely nervous. "Kari, I..."

"Yeah..?" Kari got up out of her seat, confused. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no!" Travis rushed to say. "Look, Kari, you know I love you..."

"Oh... Oh my god..." Kari came to the worst conclusion of the situation: He was breaking up with her. "Are you...?"

Travis got down on one knee, and Kari suddenly went from crying, to shocked, to smiling. "Kari Summer, will you marry me?"

"Yes! Yes..." Kari hugged Travis and put on the ring. "Yes, I will, Travis Cross..."

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Jenna and Kari woke up at the same time that night, and went into the living room. They both complained of hearing a knock on wood in that area, and saw a note on the Coffee Table.

"The stakes are higher than ever now."