*WHAT, PRAY TELL, IS A PREYTELL?*
The deep woods of Sudden Bluff had seemed foreboding as of late. With the strange shadow form seen darting about, and the unidentified sloshing and clicking noises; the once familiar and even soothing forest exhibited a certain menacing vibe. The gang could use the weirdness in the woods to their advantage, and slowly creep up on the twins.
Hopefully, the Halloween masks would be convincing enough. If all went as planned, Lucas and Link would freak out long enough for Paksha to film said freak-out. Then, perhaps the twins could be blackmailed into being nice. The plan needed to work, but even if it didn't, at least they had tried.
Izzian flinched when he saw his friends don their grotesque Halloween masks. Eliza's mask resembled a cannibalistic clown; certainly not a clown he'd ever like to see walking around the woods on a dark night. The mask sprouted vibrant orange-red hair, shooting up in all directions and its teeth were filed to bloody points. She completed her gory look by wearing a dark jumpsuit, stained with what he hoped was fake blood, and wielding a plastic knife.
"This one is my favorite costume," Eliza said. She twirled to give Izzian a look at her completed ensemble.
Her voice hissed through the mouth hole of the mask when she spoke and a chill made its way up Izzian's spine.
"Izzy," the clown girl hissed, "I haven't forgiven you for lying and spying. But I know you were trying to tell me something before that girl ran out of the woods. Why didn't you tell me you had a Klesian girlfriend, anyways?"
"She's not my girlfriend," Izzian snapped, backing away from the clown's sharp teeth. "Besides, I had to lie to you. I didn't like it, but I had to do it. We have rules about the Goodwill Project. If I break the rules, I fail the assignment. Then, I'd have to stay on Klesia Moon Prime instead of passing to equidistant school on the main planet…if the planet is even there anymore."
"Still," Eliza said through the clown's maliciously formed mouth. "You should have mentioned the lil' alien."
"Her name is The-lil-lee-ann, not The-lil-alien," he spoke it slowly so she would understand, but he had an inkling that Eliza knew perfectly well how to pronounce Thil's name. "Can we please have this discussion another time, when I don't feel like I'm about to be murdered by a clown?"
Eliza pulled off her mask and said, "I've been thinking about everything you've said lately, about us being friends and all, and I have something to tell you too."
Izzian was relieved. She was finally going to talk about the alien scribbles in her journal and how she knew he was watching her with the Al203 Telescope.
Paksha and Thil stopped bickering, sensing another person was about to make yet another confession.
"Laddie is the only person that knows this about me. As you may know, Laddie can speak to spirits and read minds," said Eliza.
"Laddie from SnowCone Haven?" asked Paksha.
"No, the other Laddie who runs around Sudden Bluff reading minds and chatting with ghosts," Eliza snapped sarcastically. Paksha nearly received a thump for his stupidity, but Eliza stopped herself. She needed to say something important and a thump would have lessened her confession.
"We have the same…abilities. Laddie calls me a sensitive. And for God's sake, Paksha, if you say anything about me being some sappy cry baby, I will thump a hole in your head. I'm a sensitive because I can sense certain things, not because I cry at sentimental television commercials," Eliza rolled her eyes. Paksha cowed.
"Izzy, you asked how I could have possibly known you were spying on me from your planet? Well, I just somehow sensed it. I knew when you were there. I knew when you were gone.
"I knew it as easily as I know my own name. I started having these dreams. I'd wake up and see strange symbols scribbled all over my journal. I know that was your alien language. I don’t know how I learned it."
Izzian was clearly astonished and amazed at the girl's linguistic skills. He exclaimed in wonderment, "I saw it, Eliza! I've been waiting for you to talk about it. You wrote in Klesianeese- very difficult for a human to learn. It's nearly impossible, in fact. It's…amazing. It's fantastic, it's-"
"It's rude," Thilillian said, surprising the whole group. "She's a Preytell, like Mrs. Kleevox."
"Wait, Mrs. Kleevox is a Preytell?" Izzian asked. "That explains so much."
"I can't believe you didn't know that, Izzian," Thil said. "Our teacher back home, Mrs. Kleevox, is like you, Eliza. On Klesia, we have a colony of citizens with special abilities and telepathic powers. They even have a special school just for Preytells.
"Sometimes they can really hone that ability and become stronger. It's pretty normal where we live. It's nothing to be ashamed about and it’s considered rude to keep it from people. I mean, I'd want to know if I were hanging out with a mind reader. Wouldn't you?" Thil stared at Eliza accusingly for keeping her ability a secret.
For once, Eliza was dumbstruck. She had no snarky comeback or explanation. Eliza had just learned that the secret she had been hiding her entire life was commonplace on Klesia.
Eliza finally found her voice and said, "Well, don't worry Thilillian. I'm not very good at being a Praline, or a Preytell…whatever you called it. One thing I do know is that this plan of ours isn't going to play out like we all think. Something will change things…I just can't figure out what or how. Sorry. I have no control over this thing. And I'm sorry for not telling you guys. I didn't know."
"Okay Eliza. Just don't read my mind, please. That's freaky. You're not freaky," Paksha recovered quickly, hoping to avoid a thump, "But I like to think my mind is my personal space, okay?"
"I can't read minds, Paksha. Maybe if I could go to that school on Klesia I could develop this thing. But Paksha, I must agree with you. There is something abnormal in the forest; I've sensed it for a while," Eliza said, happy to be able to express her hunches instead of hiding them.
Since almost everything seemed to be out in the open, Izzian offered a suggestion. "Later we'll work together and hunt down the unknown monster lurking in the forest. For now, let's focus on the monsters we do know. Let's try to get some sweet revenge on Lucas and Link."
"Sounds like an awesome plan," Eliza said. She replaced her frightening clown mask and her words carried a certain chill. "It's time to go hunt down some twins."
Every other masked face nodded in agreement. It would be light out very soon. The group needed to work quickly to scare the pants off the evil twins.
After agreeing to meet back and hunt the weird thing in the woods another time, they stood together. They had a feeling that together, they could face down anything, even Lucas and Link.
"Operation Torture Twins has begun!" Paksha yelled with fists raised into the night sky.
The fearsome foursome stood in formation, looking vicious, ready to attack. A sense of solidarity had come over the group, and they each took a proud stance, as warriors should.
Just then, Paksha's phone rang and for a moment, the warriors paused, listening to the song about the boy who wanted to be prince of Bel Air. It was a ridiculous scenario. The four masked avengers stood in a row, as the prince whistled for a cab. They had a theme song at least.
"Excuse me," Paksha pulled out his phone and turned off the ringer. "It's my mom. She knows I've snuck out. I'll probably be grounded for the rest of my life."
Paksha paused and resituated his mask. He yelled, "It will all be worth it! Here's to believing in aliens! Here's to gaining two new alien friends! Here's to destroying Lucas and Link! And here's to saving Koala-see-ya…I mean Klesia!"
***