Chapter Twenty-Five: The Mystery

           They took the torches and started exploring the cave.
"This is scary you guys we don't know what might be in this cave." Dessi whispers.
"I know but at least we found a place to stay in. I think we should just settle here and spend the night."Aries suggests. They all agree and decide to rest for a while.
"When will the fog stop?"Sam asks.
"Reldi didn't know for sure. But he said we should stay here for about 24 hours."Marvin answers calmly. An hour passes by and they all fall asleep. Suddenly Sam hears something and jumps up. She looks around and notices that Marvin is gone. Dessi and Aries were sleeping peacefully so she did want to disturb them. Instead she decided to go look for Marvin alone. She heard sobbing in the distance and decided to follow the noise. There she found Marvin crying on the floor. For a minute it seemed like Marvin didn't even notice that Sam was next to him. It was like he was talking to someone but no on was there.
"You don't understand I just can't do this anymore." Marvin was whispering.
"Marvin?" Sam gets closer trying to calm him down.
"Sam why are you here?" He gets up looking alarmed.
"I woke up and you were gone, I came to look for you. Are you okay?"
"It's nothing really. Did you hear anything?"
"Who were you talking to?"
"No one I don't know what you mean." Sam knew he was lying and she wasn't going to let him go before he told her the truth.
"Marvin I'm not an idiot." Marvin hesitated for a while.
"I can't tell you Sam. I wish I could."
"Hey you can trust me, you know that."
"This is not about trust. What you don't know won't kill you. You just have to trust me now."

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Emergency

        Aries and Sam ran over to Marvin and Dessi.
"You guys Reldi has a message for us." Marvin says.
"What happened?" Sam asks worried.
"He was trying to warn us about a fog. We don't have a lot of time he said its deadly." Messi says while packing her bag." He said there's a cave somewhere here we must find it in less than an hour." Less than an hour that was impossible Sam thought. They were surrounded by desert with nothing and no on in sight. But they trusted Reldi and they all packed and left.
"How far exactly is this cave and what does it look like?" Aries asked.
"What do you think it looks like? A cave." Marvin said sarcastically. Sam noticed that Marvin and Aries were not the best of friends but since the talk she had with Aries, Marvin was different. More sarcastic, meaner towards Aries. She did not quite understand why until later. They were all clearly thinking how it would be possible to find a cave in the desert. But they decided to stop questioning anything. After everything thats happened this was not a big surprise.
"Guys we have fifteen minutes left." Dessi says.
"Lets hurry." Sam worries. They keep walking and walking when all of a sudden they see it. The cave. But it wasn't a normal cave. It was like an underground pathway. They all follow Sam inside where they find four torches on the cave wall.
"Isn't it weird that someone would just leave torches out here for us?" Marvin asks.
"It's almost as if someone is waiting for us." Sam answers.
"Someone? Are we sure its not something?" The truth is that none of them were completely sure this wasn't a trap. But why would Reldi lead them into a trap? He was on their side right?

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Talk

        Sam and Aries walked for a couple of minutes without saying a word. When all of a sudden Aries stopped.
"Hey Sam listen I really don't know how to say this." Sam got closer looking confused.
"I-I have feelings for you." Sam looks at Aries for a while not believing what he just said. Year ago all that Sam wanted was for Aries to like her back. But did she want that now?
"It's okay if you don't feel the same way. I just had to tell you, I couldn't hold it in. All I ever think about is you."
"We have some history Aries."
"Look I was an idiot for breaking our friendship for popularity. The truth is I've had feelings for you since the beginning. Since before we were friends. I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same so I thought that leaving would be the right thing."
"Aries I've always liked you." Aries quietly looks at Sam not breaking eye contact.
"Liked?" He whispers getting closer to her. At that point Sam froze and she had no idea what to do or what to say. As Aries gets closer she suddenly feels her heart racing very fast. She hadn't realized she still had feelings for him. She liked him more than she thought. But how could she resist? He was so caring, sweet and handsome. Everything a girl would ever want. Aries gently brushes his thumb over Sam's cheek making her crave his touch. His touch was soft and gentle Sam couldn't resist.
"So do you think there could ever be an "us"?" He smiles knowing the way he makes Sam feel.
"This is really bad timing Aries. We are trying to save humanity."
"Exactly so why wait?" Sam thought Aries had a very good point and she nodded. But Marvin crossed her mind. Why was she thinking about him? Their lips almost touched when they hear Dessi shout: " Aries, Sam come back right now. It's an emergency." The quickly pretend like nothing happened and go back to their tents. What was the emergency?

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Desert

               It was hard for them to believe Aries actually used his strength to move a mountain. But what they saw on the other side was not what they expected. It was the desert. There was no sign of any living creature, no water, and nothing to hunt. At first everyone was alarmed and scared but they all decided to keep walking before it got dark.
"Okay we have enough food for about two more days. But the water supply is running very low." Dessi explains.
"Where are we going to find water out here. Incase you haven't noticed we are in the middle of the desert." Marvin laughs. It seemed like the walked for hours. It was too hot to think or even breathe but they had no choice.
"This really isn't funny Marvin." Aries complains. "What I don't understand is how is it possible for us to be in a forest and the next minute we are in the desert." Out of nowhere Aries pointed towards something in the distance.
"I see something out there." Sam says running towards it. They all follow her and see a lake in the middle of the desert.
"This is insane. A lake in the middle of the desert? This is impossible and where did it even come from?" Dessi asks.
"Right now I am too thirsty to think about anything else." Marvin smiles while quickly drinking some water.
"Are you sure its not poisoned?" Aries asks.
"Well I'm drinking it and I'm not dead so." Marvin answers still drinking. "We should just rest here tonight it's getting pretty dark." They all surprisingly agreed with Marvin's idea and decided to set up the tents once again.
"Hey Sam do you mind if we have a walk? I want to talk to you about something." Aries asks.
"You want to have a walk in the desert?" Marvin chuckles.
"You're not Sam."
"Um sure we can talk." Sam responds while getting up. What did Aries want to talk about? I guess she just had to wait and find out.

Chapter Twenty-one : Moving A Mountain

        "You guys I'm getting really tired." Dessi complained.
"Don't be such a big baby." Marvin laughed. "This is nothing. We've been walking for only two hours."
"Only two hours! Are you insane!"
"Guys, guys there is a red dot very close by." Sam stops. They all look at each other knowing that meant it was the first obstacle. How deadly was this obstacle going to be? The had no idea. Sam starts walking slower and slower.
"Guys look" Aries points in the distance. They all turn to see something very unexpected. A huge mountain was standing between them and the other side.
"Are we expected to move this mountain?" Dessi laughs not believing.
"Not you guys, just me." Marvin answers.
"Marvin that's impossible." Aries looks at him.
"Not with my quality I can do it." He actually thinks he can move a mountain? Sam thought. There was nothing normal about that. But then again everything that was happening to them was weird. They all looked closely at Marvin as he started pushing the mountain. To their shock it was actually moving. They could see Aries' struggle but it was working.
"Aries you're doing it!" Sam yells happily. They all start cheering him on. He actually moved a mountain.

Chapter Twenty : The next morning

        The next morning Sam woke up with a feeling of emptiness inside. After she read that letter from her mom everything was different. She realized that all her life was just a big lie. And instead of her mom telling her the truth she kept it all a secret. But at the same time she understood how hard it must have been for her mom all those years. All she wanted know was to find her and let her explain everything face to face.
"Everyone out of their tents! Randi sent us a message." Dessi yelled from outside. Sam and the others quickly gathered around Dessi to listen to Randi's video message.
"Hello everybody. I hope you had a good rest. Today you will go through the first obstacle. On this high technology iPad I will send you all a map of your journey. Follow it very carefully and beware of the red points on the map. That's where there's danger. Also remember to just keep going. It's all for a greater purpose, we believe in you." Randi's voice slowly trailed off. There was nothing but silence for a couple of minutes. That silence was broken when Aries got up and said:
"Okay I guess we better start getting ready. Everyone get dressed and start packing up the tents." They all did that. The tents were easy to pack so that was a plus.
"Who will be holding the map?" Marvin asked
"I think Sam should. I mean she has all of the qualities after all." Aries smiled. Sam agreed and gently grabbed the map. She had never seen a map like that. But somehow she knew how to read it and she had no idea why. It was definitely because of her qualities. She never realized that before, how interesting the qualities were. Mainly because she always viewed them as being something negative, but maybe they were actually not that bad.

Chapter Nineteen: With love, mom

       Dear Samantha,

You will probably read this letter when you are older. I truly hope you will never have to read this letter you don't deserve what you are going through. But this is your destiny. We ll have our own destiny. The truth is in this letter and the answers to most of your questions. I knew about your qualities and I knew you were chosen. I just never found the right time to tell you this. When I married your father I knew he was different. He believed in the RLE and I just thought he was crazy. When you were born we were both incredibly happy. But even the doctors noticed something special about you. You were stronger, smarter than many people. Your dad was convinced you were one of the chosen ones. He researched day and night to find out about the RLE, your qualities and if he could cure you. He became so obsessed with everything that it scared me. He stopped helping me with your brother and he neglected his family. I guess he thought he was doing the right thing. He was right about everything. The RLE, your qualities but I called him crazy and I made him feel crazy. I didn't know what to do so I left. I wanted to give you and your brother a normal life. But I don't think it will be normal for much longer. I'm sorry for hiding all of this from you. I hope you will forgive me. Now go out there and defeat them. Make me proud. I know you have it in you. Don't underestimate yourself, you are stronger than you think. You are my daughter after all.

                                                                                                                 Love, Mom.

Chapter Eighteen: The Letter

        "Sam wait up before you leave I need to give you something." Mr. Anderson called. Sam stopped walking and walked towards him.
"Look I know you hate me but this letter is very important. I want you to open it when you get to the oak tree where you guys will rest. Please this is all I ask from you." Sam just nodded and left before she said anything wrong. She kept wondering what the letter was about and who it was from. The four of them made their way out of the building starting the long awaited mission.
"I will hold the device with the map." Marvin stated. Everyone seemed to be okay with that. On that device Reldi would tell them where to head to.
"Are you alright?" Aries asked.
"I'm trying to be." Sam answered. She noticed Dessi walking further away leaving the two of them alone.
"I heard about Mr. Anderson being your dad."
"Wow does everyone know?"
"I won't say anything. You know you can trust me right?" Could she? They continued walking in silence. The roads were empty it was like no one was ever there. The houses around them were completely ruined and empty. The world was empty. It was getting dark so they decided to camp out under the oak tree Mr. Anderson told Sam about. They took out the two tents and arranged them. Sam tried falling asleep but she remembered the letter. She left the tent and sat down beneath the oak tree. Sam took a flashlight out of her bag and opened the letter.

                                                             

Chapter Seventeen: The Thoughts

Sam's point of view.
        I'm very scared. But I guess that's pretty normal right? I mean I am going on this mission that I might not even survive. The only thing that keeps me going is saving my family and friends and doing something good for the world. But knowing that so many people are counting on you makes you doubt yourself. It makes you question if you really are capable of achieving your goal. What will they think if you fail? What will they do if you fail? Knowing that you have the power to impact so many people's lives is a really scary thing. Power is a scary thing. This whole terrible incident could've been avoided if power was not this important to many people. Thinking about it makes me understand this is not just an incident it's something more. It's war. It's a war between people who crave power, that will hurt anything or anyone to get it and people like you and I who are just bystanders to this whole mess. If we were not chosen then what would've happened to the RLE? What would've happened to the world? There's no time for questions right now. It's time to find answers. I'm tired of asking and I'm ready to be the one answering. If you asked me one month ago what I see myself doing in a couple of weeks I would've never guessed this. Going on a mission to stop a power craving society that want to own the world. But hey life is very unexpected and we sometimes don't realize how important it is. I guess all I'm trying to say is to enjoy the life and freedom you have because once it's gone you will have nothing and that's when life will have no meaning.

Chapter Sixteen: The Goodbye

           Maybe it would be better than Sam thought. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to track down the RLE.  All five of them gathered outside the huge building where they were told to stand up on the stage. Slowly many people gathered around the stage. A few minutes Mr. Anderson came and stood on stage holding a microphone. Sam could still hardly look at him after all the lies he told her, she was done.
"I would like to tell you all that all of our years of hard work will pay of. These five teenagers will save us all. They will find and destroy the RLE. We all believe in you." Mr. Anderson turned and smiled at them. Sam suddenly felt a lot of pressure. All of those people and more were counting on her and the rest. What if she disappointed them? She was determined not to let that happen.
"Reldi will be staying here sending directions to all of you. He will help you all break in. There will be many obstacles on the road but you must never stop fighting. The goal is to get to the RLE headquarters and destroy them from inside. Once you get inside you will try to blend in and find the main room where they control everyone and everything. You must destroy whatever is in that room."
"So you don't even know what's inside?" Sam stands up.
"No one knows." Marvin whispers and pulls Sam's hand making her sit back down. Sam thought about it for a minute. Every one stood silent.
"You are sending us on a death mission."Sam says standing up again. If no one knew what was inside how were they supposed to know what to expect.
"We never said this would be easy." Mr. Anderson responds.
"You also never said you were sending us to die."
"Sam don't make a scene in front of these people." Aries stands. But Sam would not listen to anyone. Reality hit her hard. She might never return from this mission.
"With all your qualities dying is not likely."Mr. Anderson states.
"But you don't know that. You know nothing." Before Sam said anything else she sat back down.
"We believe in you. It's all going to be okay." Dessi smiles. Mr. Anderson continues the speech but Sam shuts everyone out. She just wants to run away from everything. A couple of minutes later everyone starts clapping for them, shouting out "congratulations" as if this was something anyone would be lucky to be a part of. This was not about what Sam or the others wanted. It was about what had to be done. They said their goodbyes and headed out starting their mission.

Chapter Fifteen: The Day

       "Okay everyone I would like to tell you all how proud I am of you. These past few weeks with all the training were not very easy. But we are all proud of what you have accomplished. The day has finally come. The day that you will begin your mission will be tomorrow. We packed each one of your bags with essentials. Now please return to your rooms and have a good sleep, you will need to be well rested for tomorrow." Mr. Anderson announced. Sam felt ready or at least that's what she thought. All week she tried to avoid Mr. Anderson and she tried to stop thinking about him. Instead all she wanted right now was to get her family and friends back. She quietly returns to her room where she finds Desi crying.
"Hey, what's wrong." Sam rushes to her.
"I'm scared Sam. What if we don't make it? What if we die?"
"Don't think like that. We are going to be okay."
"Do you promise?"
"I promise." Sam wanted to be right but she wasn't very sure herself. That night Sam could not sleep very well at all. She tried very hard but all her thoughts were racing all at once.
        In the morning Sam was woken up by a loud knock at the door. The door swings open and she sees Morris place an outfit on the bed. "Quickly, quickly wake up, get dressed and eat something. You have an hour." Morris tries smiling but Sam knows he feels bad for them. She gets out of bed and looks at the outfit Morris left her on the bed. She saw a pair of long, black jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. It was the day everyone had been preparing for. But now that it was here Sam could not believe that it was real. It felt like a dream. She still hoped it was a dream but she knew better than to have unrealistic dreams.

Chapter Fourteen: The Break

       Sam's point of view.
Why is this happening to me? I keep wondering that. First I find out I have important qualities that I need to use in order to save the world and now the leader of the organization is my father the one I never even knew was alive. I keep thinking about my mom and my brother. Are they still alive? Will I ever get the chance to tell them how much I love them ever again? I try to stay positive and think they are alive and okay. But there is just a voice in my head that keeps trying to make me think otherwise. As if I don't have enough problems Marvin and Aries both have to be here. I can not be thinking about my crushes right now I have to think about the real problems here. I just can't help it.
"Hey Sam." Dessi says as she was through my bedroom door. "Can we talk?" I nod and invite her to sit next to me.
"It's really stupid but you know Aries well right?" She asks blushing.
"Um I don't know him that well." I reply smiling.
"Well I think I like him like a lot."
"What since when?" I ask surprised.
"We kind of started talking alone and he's really nice. But I'm not supposed to be having crush right now with everything that's going on."
"Sometimes you just can't help it." Is it bad that a part of me wished Aries would like me instead of Dessi?
"Tell me about that guy Marvin who is totally into you."
"He's not stop it." At least I hope he's not.
"Enough boy talk I've seen you being down the past few days." So I tell Dessi all about how Mr. Anderson is my father and how he's been hiding it from me this whole time. I know what I need right now. I need a break. A long break where I can be alone and think about everything that's been happening. But I know that will not happen. Now that we are all done training we will be starting the mission very soon. I should be scared. But what I feel the most is not fear, it's hatred. I want them to pay for everything they did to our world. Oh and trust me they will definitely pay.

Chapter Thirteen: The Secrets

          Sam practiced many days and hours without stoping. She developed her qualities and she was getting really good at controlling them. Each day she got better and learned many new things. Mr. Anderson was a great teacher and she loved working with him. She felt as if she knew him but she could not figure out how yet.
"Sam I am very proud of you." Mr. Anderson smiled." You learn very fast, I'm not surprised. I think you and the others are ready."
"Wow Mr. Anderson I don't know what to say but I feel ready."
"Please call me Adam. But before I can send you on this mission I must tell you something very important. I am supposed to keep this from you but I just can't help it anymore. You might want to sit down for this." Sam looks at him surprised. She tries ignoring the fact that her heart is beating really fast and sits down. Mr. Anderson sits next to her.
"Please don't hate me for this. Sam I am your father..." For a second Sam just sits there staring not comprehending what Mr. Anderson said to her. She has many feelings and thoughts going through her mind but the thing she feels the most is hate.
"Oh god Sam please say something."
"How could you keep this from me? You did not care about us you left us."
"I had no choice Sam I was working on finding the RLE and when you were born I knew you were one of the chosen ones. When I told your mother she didn't want to hear it. She thought I was crazy, that I was making it all up. I let my obsession on finding them affect your mother and I could see how much I was hurting her so I decided to leave."
"You just decided it would be better if I lived a lie. A life where my own mother said my father was a mistake and that he walked out on us because he was a coward. Do you have any idea how hard life has been for mom? No of course you don't. You didn't care about your own family and you chose your work over us."
"Sam I'm sorry and I know what I did was wrong. But you have to understand I didn't want to hurt you."
"Well guess what you did." Sam stormed out before he could say anything else. She felt like her whole world was falling apart. It slowly but surely was falling apart.

Chapter Twelve: The Practice

       "Sam, Sam wake up." A distant voice whispered. Sam slowly opened her eyes to see Morris and the others stare down at her. She was back in her room but something was different.
"You have been asleep for about 12 hours, are you okay?" Aries asked. Sam slowly started getting out of her bed.
"I feel different." She stated.
"It's the serum. It affected many parts of your brain. Test it out and see if it worked." Morris smiled.
"Start by trying to pick up the bed." Sam did as she was told and to her surprise she managed moving it with no struggle.
"Wow." Sam whispered with shock.
"It's pretty cool isn't it?" Marvin laughed "Now test camouflage."
"How do I do that?" Sam wondered
"It's easy just think about it hard enough." Dessi said. Sam thought long and hard when suddenly she saw pure shock on their faces. They all started laughing.
"It works!" Morris cheered happily. "Next is the brains. Come to the computer I want you to try decoding this code that no normal human can." In just two minutes Sam managed decoding it.
"Good job and lastly immunity. I don't want to alarm you but I will stab you with this knife." Aries stared with a straight face. Sam started laughing but before she noticed the knife was already in her chest.
"But how I feel no pain."
"That's the beauty of having immunity babe." Aries smirked.
        "We are very glad the serum worked on all of you kids." Mr. Anderson announced." You will soon be going on your first mission but before that we have to make sure you handle your qualities well. You will need some practice." They assigned everyone a specific teacher for each quality. Dessi was assigned to a teacher named Mrs. Jolly who has been studying camouflage for a long time. Marvin was assigned to someone named Mr. John, Aries got a teacher named Mr. Blake and Reldi had a teacher named Mrs. Clover. Sam needed the most practice considering she had all four qualities. She imagined having to work with each teacher individually but to her surprise she had a special teacher.
"Hello Sam. I am you teacher, you will be practicing your qualities with me. I know you are wondering why me and you will find out sooner or later. But let's just try to focus on developing you qualities and controlling them." Mr. Anderson explained. Mr. Anderson was her teacher? She had many questions.