As the birds were chirping in the early morning, I awoken from a long restless night to find Allen….Gone; even his clothes were gone.
"Allen? Allen...? Where are you?" I was yawning and stretching my arms, trying to adjust myself for this new day.
I decided to get up and figure out where Allen has gone off into, and as soon as I got close to my bedroom door; I heard someone humming. And it was indeed coming from the kitchen downstairs.
"I wonder who that could be that is humming, this early in the morning? I hope its Allen…. Better check it out….for myself."
But before I was about to go downstairs, I realize that I was completely exposed, "Wait a go, genius. You know you can't out there in the nude…. What are you a hippie, Max?"
I immediately gather my things that are needed for me to shower with, and to be fully ready for the day. "Well! Nothing but a nice shower to freshen my day. And see if Allen is downstairs."
Afterwards, I immediately made my way downstairs to the kitchen. Approaching it with precaution, I spotted Allen. All dressed and wearing an apron as he prepares….what looks to be homemade waffles. The textures of these waffles look nice and puffy. Not to mention how good they smell, as the sweet aroma of cinnamon fill my nostrils. I was indeed drooling, until Allen notice me standing there.
He smiled warmly at me, "Good morning, Max. Slept well?"
"Why yes! I have indeed slept well, and what about you, Allen?" I said while resting my back on the edge of the entryway, and giving him a bright warm smile.
None of us spoke, and until he broke the silence, "….Um, Max? Last night was indeed epic….to say the least."
I regretted my actions last night, and proceeded to apologize. "Allen, I am truly sorry for what I did to you. I don't know what got over me? Please don't be mad at me…."
Allen stopped me mid-way, and wasn't able to meet my gaze…. "Max, it's ok. I am not upset…. In fact, I am surprised to have experience this sort of relationship for the first time in my life. I never thought about getting my V-card stamped by someone beautiful and courageous as you….. So, thank you."
We both blushed at the same time and we jotted our eyes away from each other until, Allen gesture me to have a seat, "I hope you don't mind, but I am making one of your favorite breakfast meal that I heard from Ms. Wallace called….Belgium Waffles. And they are the fat free ones filled with nutritious vitamins and proteins; giving them a well balance sweetness of cinnamon to them. So please have a seat, breakfast is ready."
I can hear my stomach growling as I made my way to the table. "Why….certainly, don't mind if I do."
As the minutes rolled by, I got curious and wanted to ask Allen another question, while we ate. "By the way Allen," I said while swallowing my waffle piece, "What was that humming sound that you were humming recently?"
Allen, as he finished sipping a small glass of milk, looked up to me and gave me his response, "Oh, that! I was humming to a tune that I heard a while back as I was passing by Haven Springs, a couple of months ago. The song was called 'Alabaster Daydream by Think of the Children'"
"Amazing, I heard of that band before, and they indeed play good music." I replied, while taking another bite of my waffle.
We enjoyed our breakfast for a while, and in that moment I wanted to ask Allen of whether or not he had heard of any odd urban legends that this town held.
"So, Allen?" I'd ask, as I finished swallowing the last piece of my waffle
He lifted his head up, as he met my eyes, "What is it Max?"
"Have you ever heard of any odd Urban Legends related to this town called 'The Omny Tribe'?" I replied, with a curious look.
Allen froze for a minute and jolted back to give me his unique response, and what he told me got me all on edge; as we proceeded with this conversation.
He cleared his throat, and started to tell me what he knew about this urban legend, "As a matter of fact, I am aware of this towns Urban Legend. I actually stumble upon this so-called Urban legend of the towns past history, while I was studying at the abandoned library."
"Wait, another town had stories related towards Arcadia Bay? And in their old abandoned Library?" feeling anxious to know more about Allen's findings.
"Stories of this old Town have sparked many urban explorers, but all came up empty….until recently. When I stumble upon the old abandoned town, I came upon an old Archive Room that was located underneath the basement of the abandoned library. It was locked away, and inside where pictures of old relics that dated back close to 400 B.C. The handle lock was broken, and it peak my interest so I went in wanting to read something and hoping to keep my mind fully occupied…." Allen said, as he paused to catch his breath.
"Well? What is it that you found out on those archived books?" I replied, as I pressed on for more about his discovery.
"Briefly enough, let's just say that the towns original founders didn't chose to settle, but instead got anxious to find out more of the Omny tribes old mechanisms and knowledge that they wanted to use for world domination. Also they were greedy and hungry for Gold, to say the least….as it turns out one of the Omny Tribe members who broke away from the main tribe had shared forbidden secrets to the settlers in exchange for them to gain safe passage to another land far away from the main area. However, before the Settlers got a hold on the tribe's technology. A mysterious storm came out of nowhere and shocked the coastlines completely wiping out everything in its path….." Allen paused briefly as he continued to take this topic more serious than ever.
"Once the storm settled, other settlers arrived to see the aftermath of the commotion, but when they arrived they found that the foundation of the ancient town, in which we are standing on, was wiped clean off the map. So many chose to rebuild and form the new colonies and others chose to settle on a nearby town. Those towns are what we known them to be Evergreen town, and Arcadia Bay."
I was in denial since, what I heard from Selene was a different side of the story, but according to Allen's case there is another reason as to why 'The Omny Tribe' disappeared while others chose to leave and form new colonies elsewhere. However, he mentioned another town that isn't far from here, called Evergreen. This abandoned town has indeed peak my interest and was willing to explore this place, and hopefully get some good quality shots to add towards my portfolio work.
"Wow, another town that I am not aware of and it's also abandoned? That's amazing and scary at the same time. But, I am so eager to go there and explore myself." I said, as it peak my interest. "So you are aware that some of their old structure has indeed survived, but was kept well hidden. And one of these devices that is ancient happens to be a weather device that also acts as a communication link to the spirits?"
He smiled and gave his reason, "That is why I am here, I heard as well that if one where to get a hold of the grand spirit itself, than it is most likely that it will grant one's own desires."
I saw Allen shifting his gaze to the image that I had placed near the fireplace, which was gifted to me by Charlotte herself. I pushed further this interesting conversation we were having….
"So, Allen, what is your desire if you where to meet this so-called grand spirit? If anything, what is it that you desire to do for yourself?"
Allen met my gaze one's again just as he was about to give me is honest opinion, "Well, what I do desire, if this legend is true…. I want to know who I am, and whether or not I still have a family and a home I can go to. Other than that, I just don't know Max…."
He was fiddling with his food and asked me the same thing, to which I replied as well,
"As for me, if the legends were true, than I would desire anything of bringing back hopefully the people of Arcadia Bay; people that I cared for such as: Joyce Price, Brooke Scott, Warren Graham, Kate Marsh, Juliet Watson, and many more. I want to put this past behind me for good, and hopefully this desire does come true."
I reached across the table and held his hand, gesturing him a sign of hope….
"Don't you worry about a thing Allen, we are going to get to the bottom of all this together, and we aren't going to do this alone. So, let's get ourselves ready, for we are indeed going to need a lot of hands on approach."
"So, how are we going to do that? And where do we start?" Allen said looking all worried.
"You leave that to me, we are actually going to have a group meeting this Saturday Morning. So please, I really want you to be there. We are definitely going to plan all of this, and also solve the mystery of who was that young man that tried to ran me over. Not only that, everyone might be eager to want to know who you are; as we figure out more clues about this old town of mine and have a chance to go exploring that old abandoned town called Evergreen. As for you, you will need to be ready for your first interview tomorrow with Ms. Fayyad at 11:30am and I know you will get the job….right there and then.
As Thursday rolled by, Allen finally got the job as a school Maintenance worker. At first we were worried that Yasmin wasn't going to even going to consider giving Allen a chance to prove his worth, of whether or not he is qualified for the job. However, as we were in her office at the new Academy, Yasmin had a hard time trying to figure out why her computer software was running very slow; and this had gotten her irritated….
"I should assume that what Ms. Chase had told me about your skills and requisites…. Mr. Zellosky…. However, based on what I read here on your background, there is a chance that I might not be able to give you the job…." Yasmin said, giving us that serious tone; similar to that when she was president of Caledon University.
But, we notice Yasmin's annoyances as she tried to click on something, only to have her wait for the loading mechanism to clear out. "Darn, these computers that the Chase foundation had received are indeed faulty, and are outdated. This is why I have too much on my hands…."
"Ms. Fayyad? If I may…..I could take a look at it? If you don't mind?" Allen replied as he noticed Yasmin's irritation of her tight schedule; due to her computer software not fully up to date.
Yasmin gave an odd look at Allen, as she stood trying to figure out what she can do to make her computer load faster…. "By all means, be my guess. Show me what you got young man."
I was sitting next to him, as I was focused on the artwork displays that where set up in this room. And one of them happens to have a well drawn image of someone I am mostly am familiar with. The image itself lays hung up behind Yasmin herself, a picture of Safi reading a book near the statue of the old Caledon University's founder. As I looked at it, it made me smile; realizing that Yasmin still misses her daughter to this day. Hoping for her safety return, and maybe….just maybe they can reconcile their differences.
As I remained deep in thought, Yasmin finally gave a sigh of relief; shaking me off my concentration. "Mr. Zelonsky! I say, how did you do that? I mean, these computers look brand new, but the software was outdated."
"Well to be precise Ms. Fayyad, there was a bug in the software system and whoever designed this software was doing it in a hurry. Thankfully, I kept track of how to reboot and give the system a jump start without having the need of a new software improvement. Other than that, your system should be fine." Allen said, giving Ms. Fayyad a thankful smile as he retreated back to his chair.
Thankfully, this gave Allen a jumpstart of getting hired on the spot. But, will be monitored by another expert who happens to know little bit more about computers and the usage of technology. Moses is that person, who will be Allen's mentor and will be the one to work with him as he settles down on this new position as the new Maintenance worker.
As we left Yasmin's office, I saw tears of joy in Allen's eyes, and wanted to shake my hand. However, I pulled him in for a strong hug. And now that this issue of Allen needing a job was settled….we decided to prepare ourselves for the group meeting we are all going to have in my house this Saturday morning.
…..As Saturday rolled by, everybody, except for Allen who had to work at the new school, all came by on time for us to discuss about the mystery of the town, and the incident that nearly got me killed; just like what had happened to Lucas Colmenero. But, Victoria who came by 30 minutes late was shocked to hear the news of what had happened to me at the town square, not to mention telling her my secret of being able to reverse time, and how it evolved of me being able to freeze time.
Victoria was shocked to hear me say such nonsense….but, ended up believing me for one's for she has indeed witness strange events that surround me looking all weird and out of line during our high school years.
"I say, Max, I don't know what to say."
"Believe it sister, you have no idea how much we had to go through just for Max to finally reveal her secret." Gwen said, feeling irritated but was eager to get to the bottom of who was the one trying to have me killed.
"Yeah, I too was shocked and scared. But, learned to accept her for who she is….Max, is my friend and I will not turn her away just because she different to say the least." Moses replied, as he was giving his honest response.
"Same here, Max is indeed someone I care for, and let's face it. We been through a lot, and we got very close to say the least. And I considered her as my sister in crime." Amanda replied also, with Selene nodding in silence.
"That explains why you were against Nathan. And how you warned me about the dangers to come, only for me to fall into the hands of another danger….which is that of Mark Jefferson. But now my question to all of you is….What is it that you want from me?" Victoria asked, as she scouted her surroundings and at us with a curious glance.
"Well we noticed that your family or the Prescott family may have found secret info related towards the old town's foundations, and maybe some ancient artifacts that can help us resolve the issues of my powers and that of the ancient one they called 'The grand spirit'." I asked, while trying to comfort Victoria; who looked all panicked at our request.
Victoria hesitated, but finally gave in; however, we heard the front door burst open…..
"MAX! Hurry I need your help…." Allen shouted, hearing his panicking voice.
Gwen who was closes to the hallway intervenes, and to her shock ran to give Allen a helping hand.
"What the hell? What happened to her?" Gwen asked, while giving Allen a helping hand.
"She passed out, after she was attacked by this mysterious hooded figure." Allen replied, with panic in his voice.
We all stood there quiet, as Allen and Gwen carefully where carrying someone into the living room. It was a young woman, and just as I got a clear visual of who she was….my eyes widened in disbelief, I finally realize who she was….
"No way, Chloe....."
Note: End of volume 1. Max will proceed in her journey with friends. More of Arcadia Bay's mystery stories to come.