Sketch Chapter 1

*Authors note:* Sketch is about superheroes! There will be mild violence! Enjoy! :)

Sketch

Chapter 1:

Every superpower has a catch. One problem: I can’t catch. Here I am, Katie Rien, Sketch, superheroine to Chicago, handcuffed with a zip tie, and without a pencil. I’m always losing pencils. And pens, crayons, markers, and virtually anything you can draw with. Today I found a pen, drew a belt with a pouch, and stashed supplies inside. Just my luck the pen ran out of ink! Drew, my crime-fighting partner, sits across the room, blindfolded. His real name is Andrew Gillam, AKA the Seeker. Hence the blindfold. He can tell where something is, which is handy for when something is stolen, but honestly, he spends most of the time looking for pens.

I met him after drawing myself getting a new friend in second grade. Sure enough, a new student from St. Louis showed up within a week. I didn’t create him or anything; just put an idea in his head, I guess. He lives on his own, in a little shed in Jackson Park that nobody else can find. Every time I visit, I draw a bridge or whatever to get across the ditch. It’s not very deep, but I’d rather not jump nine feet. Good thing is, nobody else can or even wants to get across. Drew really lives in the basement, though. It’s like our secret hideout. Complete with computers, Wi-Fi, and a “magically” refilling pantry, I practically live there myself.

After Drew showed up in class that first day, I just thought it was coincidence. back when I was six, I made a crayon drawing of getting a puppy.  When I was ten, I drew a comic of our teacher giving everyone easy homework for a week. The list goes on, and when I finally realized I had powers, you can imagine who I told.

Seeker and I don’t use our powers for money. Unfortunately, Colossus does. He’s the only other person I know with powers. His are classic: super-strength. Also, unfortunate, he isn’t dumb. Colossus is smart enough to keep Drew and I apart. Well, sort of apart. We’re in the same room.

This is all my fault. If only I’d packed an extra pen! But I didn’t. Or if I’d caught that Sharpie Seeker threw at me! But I couldn’t. I’m awful at catching. So instead we’re here, wrestling with zip ties in a muscle-man’s study.

Colossus enters the room. A heavy-looking bag he carries jingles as he walks. He squats near me.

“Hey, girl. Draw me a car,” he tosses me a pack of colored pencils and paper. They’d have been useful earlier. He breaks my restraint with a single tug. “No funny business.” I open the package. Better to stall, however.

“A sports car? Or just a getaway car?”

“A truck. Shiny, new, runs perfectly smooth. If it breaks down, I’ll know whose fault it is.” He points to his hand, then Drew. Never mind, then. That’s a threat enough- I start drawing.

“Hurry up already.” I stop drawing and glance up at him.

“Cars are hard.”

“I don’t care. Be done soon, or you’d better hope your boyfriend’s skull is hard.” I ignore the boyfriend part. I don’t really care; but Seeker does.

“I’m not her boyfriend.” He needs to stop talking- “We’re just partners.” Stop, Drew! “So why don’t you just-” I hurriedly finish the truck.

“Can we go now?” I ask quickly, holding the page up.

“With money on his hands?” Andrew I-Don’t-Know-Your-Middle-Name Gillam...!

“Shut up.” For once I agree with Colossus, as his calloused hands lift me. “I’m coming back for you boy. If you do anything, I’ve got your girlfriend.”

I should’ve made the floor cushioned. I’m short enough not to be seen from the window, on the floor. Unfortunately for him, Drew is seen from the window, so he’s forced to ride in the trunk. But the music Colossus listens to is so bad, I envy him.

There are two reasons I’m thankful for the smooth drive. The obvious is that Drew would get punched otherwise.

But also, my hands are untied. And I still have the art supplies. Ten minutes later, Colossus is in prison, and the money is returned.

I drew a phone, gave the police a head up on our location, and they showed up in less than three minutes. It was the usual- The Chief thanking us, but asking us to “please be careful, you’re only kids after all,” some “maybe leave this sort of thing to the adults,” and “enjoy your childhood in peace.”

Then of course they asked who we are, who our parents are, and where we live. Obviously, we don’t want them to know that stuff, so we just bow our heads in mock shame, mumble stuff like ‘we’ll be careful!’ And leave as fast as we can.

“If you want,” Drew offers as we walk, “I can walk you home.”

“No, I can walk by myself.” We were almost at that curb between my house and Jackson Park.

“Are you sure?”

“Um, yes. Why are you so concerned?”

“I-I’m not.” He shifts uncomfortably. “It’s just . . . what if. . .What if something happens? Like, if somebody knew who we are, and tried to, like . . . threaten us.”

“I can take care of myself, you worrywart,” I elbow him. He frowns, and looks at me.

“I-I know that. And don’t call me a worrywart. But what if-”

“Enough with the what-ifs! Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t protect myself.”

“That is not what I’m saying! I-” Drew stiffens, his eyes widening. “Behind us.” He whispers, “on the count of three. One, two,”

“Three.” Heavy hands clasp our shoulders. “You’re coming with me."

Time Watch Chapter 4

**Authors note* I was going to make the chapter longer, but I had left the previous one on a cliffhanger, and my friends were asking me to hurry up, so please enjoy this, even if it's short.*

 

I whip around to face the guy from the horse. His eyebrows are raised with mischief, impishly grinning, with a scar climbing the left of his chin. A sparkle in his eyes glows like a sharp piece of glass. He has brown hair with a scruffy look; As if he dressed up for a western movie. He’s even wearing boots, jeans, a red shirt, and vest. Also, he’s got a pistol. Pointed at me.

“I’m looking for something, too! I’m looking for a girl, who, hmm yes, about your height and age, with green eyes like yours, and oh, maybe strawberry-blonde hair, who is feeling cooperative and will get on Dunes here nice and quick. Have you seen her around?”

“She was looking for trouble, wasn’t she?”

“Oh, yes. Please hop aboard to begin your ride with Mr. Sparks.” No choice. I climb onto the horse, and we ride through the desert.

Hours later, we finally stop.

“Off you go,” Sparks says playfully. Pushing me off Dunes is not my kind of playful, (OW) but I see him grinning anyway as I pick myself up. “Hands behind your back, please.” He handcuffs me tightly.

“What are you? Time police?”

“In a way, yes. Quiet now.” He lifts me back on the horse. Riding is more tiring than you’d realize. My legs are sore.

Soon, we stop again. Sparks warns me not to speak, before blindfolding me. I can still hear sounds anyway. The ringing of a phone. Mumbled voices. Then, finally, a ringing in my ears. My head throbs, like every time I time-travel. Then the blindfold is ripped away, and what I see makes my head throb even harder. Seriously, I might pass out. Because what I’m seeing? It doesn’t exist. Like, it’s impossible; but there it is anyway. It’s a building, completely white, but it’s twisted. It’s shaped in an infinity circle, except square at the same time, somehow. I glance at Sparks, and nearly get a heart attack. He’s wearing a suit of white armor, like a Storm Trooper, but without a mask. Quickly glancing down, I’m relieved to find that I’m still wearing my own clothes.

I open my mouth, just to ask something along the innocent lines of HOW WHY WHAT, but Sparks waves me off, texting on his phone. Now I understand why my mom calls them anti-social.

“Are the handcuffs even necessary?”

“I can’t even trust you to stop talking. Why would I trust your hands?” He had a point. Sparks finished texting, and put away his anti-social device. He holds up the stupid blindfold.

“Did you take that off just to show off?”

“Yes. Yes, I did.” Now that I’m blinded, we ride towards the building (I think). The rest of the day went like this:

We get off the horse, Sparks yanking my arms to lead me.

I hear somebody whispering, probably Sparks and a guard.

I try not to walk into a wall.

The blindfold is taken off again, and I’m shoved into a small room, approximately the size of a walk-in closet. I think it is a closet. And that’s it. Because even though my mind was racing, as soon as I touched the floor, I fell asleep.

“. . . and, if you don’t wake up, we’ll assume you're dead and we’ll throw your corpse out.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, Fred,” the familiar sound of Sparks’ voice finds its way into my ears.

“Like she’s valuable?” A laugh, between the two males. I sit up.

“Did you have a good rest, Sleeping Beauty? You’ve kept us waiting for a while now.” The other man (Fred?) said. I cross my arms.

“It wasn’t my choice.” More stupid laughing.

“Choices will be rare for you, here. Follow us,” says Sparks. We walked down the hall, upstairs, through another hall, went right, right, left, downstairs, another right, and then I lost track. They probably went the long way on purpose.

“You’re going to interrogation,” Fred tells me, “and if you do it right, you get breakfast.”

“How do I do it right?”

“By answering the questions correctly, not talking back, not stalling, and not being sarcastic.”

“But I like being sarcastic.” Sparks shakes his head.

“At this rate, you’ll get breakfast when everybody else is eating lunch.” That was probably true. We walk down a few more hallways before stopping at the interrogation room. I expected it to be painted white or gray, entirely empty, with a window in the middle, and a chair on either side. Instead, it’s painted sky blue, with a neon green carpet, and multicolored couches. The wall is covered in crayon drawings, and preschool-style holiday crafts.

I honestly think it’s offensive. What am I, five? This is completely unprofessional. Fred must’ve seen the look on my face.

“It’s psychology.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“What did we say about talking back and being sarcastic?” Sparks says, shoving me into the room with a scowl. I’d totally step on his foot or give him a nice kick, but he has his pistol with him. I’d rather not deal with that.

The men lock the door behind me, and I’m left alone in the play room.

Triple A & Marie J Art

Some art I made a while ago, that I thought you guys might wanna see.
Have art for any of my stories?
Please tell me in the comments!

Triple A & Marie J Art

Time Watch -Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

So here I am; stuck, waiting forever. Actually, even though I’m outside, the sun hasn’t moved at all. Maybe it’s just a ceiling with a super-hot light bulb? Who knows.

“Grace!” ...Who was that? Am I hearing things? There’s nobody around!

“We’re coming for you!” Is that a threat? I stand up. Or, wait, it sounded like-

Thump! A girl in a pink dress with her hair up in braids falls from the sky and lands on her butt. For some reason, she looks like Elizabeth, but I know that Elizabeth would never be caught wearing a pink dress. A dress, maybe, or a pink shirt, maybe; but telling her to wear a pink dress? Death wish.

“What happened to you?” Elizabeth just stands up and waves at the sky. Then, like Rapunzel’s hair, a rope falls down. What’s the weather like today, Mike? Oh, some random ropes falling out of nowhere, with a ninety percent chance of climbing them. After we start climbing, which is really hard in Egyptian clothes, she answers my question. Her voice sounds groggy, like she hasn’t used it in a while. Or like she’d been crying.

“Same thing that happened to you. Banana. Unconsciousness. Then a death trap.”

“A princess-worthy death trap?”

“What? Oh, the dress. Haha. No. The hem was caught on a branch, and the trunk of the tree was covered in barbed wire.”

“Because you couldn’t just tear the dress and walk away.”

“Did I mention that I can’t fly? I was on an island, like, three feet long, and surrounded by hot water.” She looks down from her spot above me suspiciously. “No jokes.”

“Uh, no, you didn’t mention that.” We continue climbing. I can almost see where the rope came from, a small square in the middle of the sky. Maybe I was in a room? “So, how’d you escape?”

“. . . I can’t tell you.”

“Why-”

“No. We can’t talk about it.” So we continue to climb. We reach the trapdoor thing, and Abby helps us climb out. We come in from the window, which gives me some mild vertigo. Ally is there, but Rebecca is yet to be seen. The room we’re in is- my room, actually. What? Ally looks at me with big eyes so sad, the back of my throat hurts. Abby looks sullen too, and now that I look at her, so does Elizabeth. She’s just hiding it better.

“So,” I ask in a funny-confused voice to brighten the mood, “I just went from Ancient Egypt to my modern-day bedroom. Wanna share how? Also, where on earth is Rebecca?” Abby rubs at her eyes. Elizabeth mumbles something about her leaving already. “Okay, um, I guess I’ll just take Ally ho-”

“NO!!!” Their combined scream makes me take an involuntary step back. Okay, two.

“Um, never mind..?”

“Sorry,” Abby says through her hands, “that's a bad idea. I’ll go with you.” So apparently they don’t trust me on my own. Even though I’m older than Abby.

Everybody else left. They obviously don’t trust me, so I’ll have to make it up to them. I’m in my room, trying to make sense of what happened. Problem is, nothing makes sense. It’s a big problem. A watch sitting on my desk, one of Becca’s, makes me curious. Sure, curiosity killed the cat, but I don’t have a cat. So there.

Before I can think anything else, I pick up the watch and strap it on my wrist. I scroll the time setter, but without pushing it in, nothing happens. Soon a little thing pops up on the clock face.

Please pick a date it reads. So I do. Where? It shows a list, which I pick from. Scroll up for day, down for night! I scroll up.

Should I really be doing this? I mean, I don’t know if I can get back. . . The bubbles appear, my choice made. OW, this time traveling hurts. Slowly, as I get my vision back, the lands appear. The lands of sand, hot, fiery sand. I’ve made it to Egypt, again. This is my second chance. I’ll find out where that banana came from. Maybe I can’t stop Abby, but this is the best I can do. Looking around, I can see the convenience of my destination.

From a shady area, next to a building, I can see Ally sitting, and next to her is. . . me. I guess I hadn’t really thought of that. Yeesh. Did I glance this way? If I see me, then would that change what I do? This is not helping my head throbbing. I carefully press up on the nearby wall. Which way will the others come from? I can’t be seen. Soon, Abby, Rebecca, and Elizabeth show up.

“This is so good,” Becca tells them. Wow. Major Deja Vu. I watch as I (the past me) reaches into the basket. Abby snatches the Banana of Doom, and they all pass out. Okay, this is what I’m here for. A rider and his horse pulls up soon, and jumps off near the girls. Oddly, his clothes are almost modern, with a longsleeved shirt and pants. He reaches into his pockets, and pulls out a silver rectangle. The way he holds it, it almost looks like he was looking through it. And- what on earth . . . is that a phone?! No way, he has a phone. Ohhhh, boy. This is bad. Yea, he’s definitely taking a picture. I sneak closer to see the screen. Apparently finished, he opens a text contact and sends them the pictures. Then the modern guy climbs back on his horse, and spurs it away.

Why’d he do that? How could he do that? Did he have a watch too? Or maybe a different kind of time machine, if that even existed. Maybe it existed, and he was from even further from the future. Like, 2186 or something. If that was true, how did he know we were here. . .?

Wait. Bubbles start appearing around us, and getting bigger, before engulfing our unconscious selves. Except, these aren’t the pink-orange ones that I’ve seen before. These are a dark blue. Soon, Elizabeth and her bubble disappear, then Ally’s, then mine, and finally Abby, too, disappears, leaving me, alone, and very confused.

What am I supposed to do with this info? Just leave? Maybe it isn’t too late to follow that guy with the phone. Who am I kidding? I can’t even see him anymore! Ugh. Okay, just go. I look at my- wait. Where’s my-

“Looking for something?”

Time Watch -Chapter 2

I remember why I’m stuck here. Surprisingly, it’s not only Elizabeth’s fault. I can also blame the banana.

---

“Grace, where’re we going?” Ally asks me, jumping over every crack in the sidewalk.

“Elizabeth’s house,” I say, trying not to think about who’s house it is.

“Who-”

“My new neighbor. She’s annoying. You can probably play with her little sister.”

“Why’re we going to her house if she’s annoying?”

“Um, good question.”

“But-”

“Stop talking and I’ll let you ring the doorbell.” She nods, going along with it. This morning Rebecca told me to come over, even though she knew I was babysitting Alison. It’s a good thing her parents are flexible enough to let us walk to. . . her house. Ally runs up to a doorstep, so we must’ve arrived. The tall, azure-blue house with a wrap-around porch certainly put mine to shame. I could see lace curtains peeking out from behind windows, except for one, which had navy blue curtains. That must be David’s room. Ding-dong. A loud groan ensues, and the door is thrust open by David, remote control in hand. He takes one look at us, points to some stairs in the back of the house and walks away, grumbling about bad timing. A grand welcome.

“YOU'RE HERE!” Abby is the first to greet us, squealing with all her might. She squeezes us tightly, waiting for us to combust. “I got here first, and was all like, where are they? And now you’re HERE!”

“MMM” Ally says, twisting in Abby’s grip. It probably meant “help” or “SOS” or something. Either way, it worked, and I am now free.

“Hi, um, Abby? I’m Grace, and this is Ally. Where’s Rebecca..?” I needed to demand- er, ask her some very important questions. Now.

“She’s over there somewhere. Ally come look at this!” Abby is very energetic. Extremely. I walk over in the general direction she pointed. Only a table with watches laid out on it. What is with all these watches? The basement is fully decorated, and they only just moved in. I don’t know anybody who has a finished basement! Okay, I guess I do know somebody. . .

“You made it,” Rebecca calls from behind me. I have no idea where she came from, but the grin spreading wide across her face means something happened.

“Becca, where were you? How do you know Elizabeth? What is going on, and can I leave now?” The grin fades when I say this last part. She looks guilty, and that's when I notice the watch on her wrist. “What is with all these watches? Is it some kind of theme? Wait. What did you do when you, ahem, ‘messed around’ with them?”

“Grace- I, uh. . . It’s fun! Um, my mom knows her mom from college or something. Hey, Abby, come over here, ‘kay?” She shrugs her shoulders. “Elizabeth might be here soon. She went upstairs a while ago.” Rebecca grabs the watches off of the table. “But I’m telling you, this is the coolest thing ever!” I’m just standing here, watching. No pun intended. Is that a pun..? Elizabeth must’ve decided to show her face, ‘cuz there she is, walking down the stairs with a full bag of Doritos in her hand. “Grace, Elizabeth, Abby, and um, Alison, let me show you all a world-changing invention.” Rebecca holds up her wrist. “May I present. . . The first-ever Time Watch!” . . .She’s kidding, right?

“Um, ‘Becca, watches have already been invented.”

“You don’t get it. This is a Time Watch. It can do more than meets the eye!” I watch as Elizabeth eats a smaller chip whole, and passes the rest to Abby. I can’t help looking at the chips hungrily -I didn’t have lunch yet- but not obviously. No, stop. I need to focus. On Rebecca, not the Doritos.

“. . . We can’t change anything from the past, guys. Anything at all. So, with all of that in mind, where, or when should we go?” Uh-oh. I must’ve missed something, but was it important?

“Hey, let’s go to Egypt! I’ve always wanted to go there,” Elizabeth says, in between chips, “please?” What? Do the watches give us free plane tickets or something?

“Ooh! Can I have a watch, pwease?” Ally gives us those puppy-dog eyes. “For my very own?!” Becca says yes to both girls, and I try to figure out what they were talking about.

“Uh, Rebecca? I’m not, um sure-”

“Grace, chill. It’s not gonna hurt anybody,” she says, strapping a watch onto my wrist. “Well, as long as we look the part. And if the Egyptians think we’re trying to steal something. . . Hey, do you have any money?”

“What? Um, I have a dollar bill. . .” I hold a crumbled green wad. Poor George Washington.

“Thanks!” Taking it out of my hands, she opens a small door on the back of her watch, squeezes George in, and taps a few buttons. In about twenty seconds, the door pops open on it’s own, and some copper shapes fall out. Ancient Egyptian currency.

“Woah,” breathes Abby, who’d snuck up on us. “That’s cool.”

“It is, isn’t it? I figured the feature would come in handy. Here, let me set your watch for thirty seconds.” She set everyone’s watch to do something, making sure to make mine fifteen seconds, Elizabeth’s nine, and so on, until we were all set. Only two seconds left. Ally reaches for my hand. “Ready?” And that’s when the bubbles appear. As they swirled around us, my head started throbbing. No one else seems to notice them, and before I can ask anything else, the world turns white.

Ow, ow ow. My head is throbbing loudly enough to be a drum solo. I try to blink away the pain.Slowly, my vision returns, and I can make out a dirty gold color, and in place of a gray basement ceiling, is a vast blue sky. In the distance, tall buildings with pointed tops peek out of the horizon. Pyramids? What!? I turn full circle. There’s Ally, thank goodness, Elizabeth, I’m thanking nobody, Abby, and Rebecca. Ally runs over and gives me a bear hug so tight my head throbs harder. (OW)

“Best day ever,” she whispers, almost making up for the head throbbing. Then everybody but Alison and I leave to buy lunch. Why didn’t the Doritos time travel with us? Except when they come back with a basket piled high with food, I forget about nacho-cheese chips. The nuts, grapes, cooked fish and bread were delicious.

“This is so good,” Becca tells us between bites. Everybody licks their fingers in agreement. I look in the basket for seconds, but the only thing left was a yellow crescent.

“A . . . banana?” Bananas were tropical fruits, so how did it get here? Abby leans over and snatches it out of my hand, and begins to unpeel it. “Wait! It’s not-” but it was too late. Some kind of dust flew out of the fruit, and the last thing I remember as my eyes closed is my head hitting the sand.

Time Watch- Ad

Here is an ad for Time Watch that I worked hard on. Think it needs some work? Comment below!