Adventures in Diviniand

by Nancy Olawale

  “How do you think we could use you as bait, Neenee?” Jess asked, trying not to look as disappointed as she felt.

  “Well, everyone knows now that I’m on the run as well, so they would know that you would be nearby! But since they need me in prison before they can search for you”—she winced at the word ‘prison’ but carried on—“I would sadly be one of their priorities.” Neenee was clearly excited to be using her plan, but Jess felt hollow. How could she possibly save three of her friends? Not one, not even two, but now three! They could be in different places for all she knew! She was determined to make sure Neenee didn’t see her depressed like this. She didn’t want to have an inspiring talk with her. All she needed to do was believe in herself. But today, that was harder than normal.

  “Jess!”

  If only she could have someone to…

  “Jess!” …She might’ve had a chance with at least someone to help her…

  “JESS!”

  Jess realised that Neenee was trying to talk to her. She bounced back into reality and looked at the diveel. “What is it, Neenee?” Jess asked with a convincing enough fake smile on her face.

  “I wanted to know if we are going to do my plan,” the diveel said, slightly irritated.

  “Oh, sorry about that, Neenee! Of course we’ll do it. I mean, it is the only way in!”

  Neenee clearly missed the slight sarcasm in Jess’s voice because she sounded very excited. “Okay, then! Let’s do this!”

  Jess just realised that the diveel looked a bit frightened and was terrible at hiding it. But she’s still doing it. She wants to save her friends! Jess then knew that she wasn’t alone. She could do it and would do it. “Because no matter what, Neenee, we will save our friends.”

  Chapter 17

  Take a deep breath, Neenee. You can do it. Look at Jess! She looks calm. You can do it. You are totally not a silly little diveel with no important powers. You will save your friends, Neenee. Please save them, Neenee. They’re the only friends I have ever had. But what will I do if they’re gone? Stop being selfish, Neenee…

  Neenee had no friends at all growing up. All she ever was was a “pointless little diveel with no anger at all!” her mother would always say. “You’re no more than a human with a kind heart!” Neenee normally liked being called a human. She thought they were very interesting and nice creatures. She didn’t tell her parents this, though. Actually, she didn’t tell her parents anything. Maybe, just maybe, if she had told them about her hearing powers, she wouldn’t have been forced out of her home. But then again, she wouldn’t have found her new friends if it weren’t for her mother. The thought of her mother always made her angry. Even if she didn’t like anger, she couldn’t help feeling it. So when she was told she had a tracker on her, she felt like she had ruined everyone’s lives. She had never felt that feeling before, but it felt like she couldn’t do anything anymore. That’s when she noticed that she was starting to look duller. Oh, that’s what I felt! I felt sad! Thanks to Jess, though, she knew that she could do it, and she was back to her normal colourful self. So now, Neenee wanted to show that courage to Jess. She was going to prove that even the smallest of things can make a difference. Even if it meant breaking her amazing record of being an abnormally kind diveel. None of that mattered at the moment, though, because she knew what she had to do. The prospect of doing it was a bit frightening, but if it meant proving that she wasn’t a “pointless diveel,” then so be it. So when she heard Jess say “Because no matter what, Neenee, we will save our friends,” she knew that she was doing the right thing to save her first and only friends.

  Neenee walked into the open and made sure Jess was in her position. Then she made sure that a guard was there. One guard suddenly appeared, and she walked up to him. Like she expected, she was quickly arrested. It seemed to happen in quick motion. She was at the place they were seeing where a door could possibly be. Wait, how could she be there so quickly if she was ten meters away before? Neenee didn’t bother to ask questions, though. All she hoped was that Jess was watching. She hoped that this wasn’t a stupid idea. And most of all, she hoped that Jess, Olivia, and some guy called Harry found their way back home. And in a blink of an eye, Neenee felt as if darkness had swallowed her up.

  Chapter 18

  Jess quickly faced the fact that Neenee was gone. She was on her own. She swallowed the huge lump that was in her throat. The only good thing that came with it, though, is that she knew how to get in. Like Neenee guessed, it was a secret door that seemed to open with a kind of button, right next to the door. It was what she felt and thought was a handle. Jess looked around before she stepped out of her hiding place and then walked to the door. First, we randomly come to this stupid place. Then we try to get home, but noooo. We get caught by the Divinament! I wonder what’ll happen next? Probably staying here for the rest of my life. This would not be happening if my parents just bothered to tell me about Crazyand. I would have got everyone out of here safely! This place is driving me ABSOLUTELY CRAZY! Probably why this place should be called Crazyand.

  Jess snapped out of her thoughts and took deep breaths. Then she recited where the button was in her head so she wouldn’t forget it. Jess pressed the button with a shaking hand. Swooosh! She closed her eyes, hoping it worked, and surprisingly, it did. Jess smiled. Maybe some things do work here! She stood up and expected to see a door appear from the ground like most things in Diviniand, but when she was least expecting it, she got sucked up into the doorlike wall as darkness surrounded her. She felt as if she were going to keep on falling until suddenly, she was standing in what looked like a prison. Bingo! Jess looked around to see if she could make herself look different, and then she saw a huge coat with a massive hood. Wow, luck is actually on my side today! Oops! I better not jinx myself. She quickly put the item on and made sure she looked convincingly different. She then headed off, but then she realised that she would have to be more careful than she’d thought. If she wanted to see where Olivia, Neenee, and Harry were, she would probably need the licence thing. What could I do to get to them? I mean, whatever I do, it will be harder since everyone knows who I am. Thank goodness for this coat! Maybe I could go through the vents. Jess, stop thinking about all those good books you read at home! This is real life! You can’t possibly fit in a vent! What. Can. I. Do? Jess kept on thinking of ideas of how she could get in, but it was no use. Then she thought of her vent idea from earlier on and decided that she should at least try. She climbed up on a chair and opened up a vent. Creeaaaakkkk. She hoped nobody heard the noise, so she quickly looked around. Phew! Jess climbed into the vent and considered if this was actually a good idea. What other choice do I have? Jess sighed and started crawling away.

  Chapter 19

  Jess realised that she must be claustrophobic, which was very irritating to be happening whilst she was in a very tight vent that was just wide enough for her. How on earth do characters in my books do this? The vents had different openings, and every once in a while, she saw a fan blocking her way, so she had to find another route. She often heard voices that sounded like Harry, Olivia, and Neenee, but they were always somewhere where she couldn’t find an opening. Jess felt like she had been in those vents for hours until she finally thought she heard her friends. She was very relieved that she’d found them! This was a step closer to home! But then she thought about Neenee. What was going to happen to her? It didn’t look like she had had any friends before Jess and Olivia (and maybe Harry). A huge wave of sympathy washed over Jess. She knew that she was going to have to ask Neenee sooner or later about her vague history.

  Since Jess had found an opening, she peered through the bars to see if it was actually her friends. She was relieved to see that it was, but they weren’t looking too happy. Their hands were chained to the wall, and wrecking balls were tied to their legs so they couldn’t move. Jess scanned the room to see if she could see a key to unlock the chains, and there it was, temptingly at the other side of the room. Jess hoped that
the guards forgot about Neenee’s hearing or they just couldn’t find how to block it, but then she realised that Neenee wasn’t in the room. She was going to have to alert Harry and Olivia another way. But where is Neenee? Harry and Olivia will probably know…She started to make slight noises from the vents but not too loudly since she didn’t want to alert the guards. Jess thought for a moment that Olivia looked up, but it must have been her imagination because then Olivia looked just as bored as she was a few seconds before.

  Silently alerting them clearly wasn’t working. She was going to have to quietly go in. Jess silently opened the vent door, and she slid down and landed a bit louder than she would’ve liked.

  “Je—” Oliva’s voice was muffled up once Jess put a finger on her mouth. The room was quite bland. There were no bars in the room. All there was were chains. Jess took note of the glass windows. She would have to be extremely careful and quick.

  How did she know it was me in my disguise? Is it that bad? She ran as fast as she could to the other side of the room and grabbed the keys. Then, she went back to Harry and Olivia and tried to unlock their leg chains. “It’s got to be one of these keys,” she muttered angrily when two of the keys weren’t working on Harry’s chains. CLICK! Finally! Harry’s leg chains unlocked. She found the keys for his arms quicker than his legs, and soon enough, Harry was free.

  I thought he would’ve started complaining by now because I wasn’t quick enough. He has a lot more patience than normal…

  “Jessica,” Harry asked whilst she was trying to unlock Olivia’s chains, “how are we going to get out of here?”

  Since when has he ever called me Jessica?

  “Well, we’ll go in the vents, but before we plan on going anywhere, we need to find Neenee,” Jess replied. “Talking about Neenee, you haven’t happened to see her?”

  Harry and Olivia shook their heads. CLICK.

  Olivia’s being a bit more quiet than usual. I thought she would be more worried about Neenee than this!

  “Wow! My legs feel really numb!” Olivia said.

  Stop being silly, Olivia! Getting out of here and finding Neenee is way more important than your stupid leg!

  “We can talk about that later. We need to go,” Harry said calmly. Olivia just shrugged.

  How come there is no type of alarm system? This is kind of suspicious…They must have something in store for us sooner or later. But surely they would’ve known I would try and rescue them. And Harry and Olivia would normally be a squabbling pair right now. Why did Harry agree with me? Very peculiar indeed. What if these aren’t actually the real Harry and Olivia…?

  “Harry, what did you say about Olivia’s plan earlier yesterday?” Jess asked.

  “She’s got a plan that might end up killing us, hasn’t she?” Harry replied.

  “You’re not Harry,” Jess said as she started backing away. “If you were Harry, you would’ve said that it was today, this morning! Not yesterday!” Jess started to break her walk into a run. It’s a trap! Of course it’s a trap! They knew I was by the bush! They knew me and Neenee were watching them! They always knew the bag was a trap! They just wanted me to be surrounded by security since it would be easier to catch me. By myself! Of course they knew Neenee wanted to sacrifice herself! I would definitely be weaker without my friends to help me! They misled me, and I fell for it. Just for a necklace! How dare they! Jess tried to climb back up but was stopped by the fake Oliva as she held her leg.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Jess,” she said tauntingly. “The real Diviniand police are going to be coming any second now to put you with your poor, poor friends.”

  “Olivia” was pulling her back with great strength now that Jess was trying her hardest not to scream with pain. “You’re supposed to be my friend!” Jess screamed as she tried to pull herself free. The weather was demonstrating her emotions very well. The soft breeze of the afternoon had turned to rain splashing loudly on the floor. Jess kicked “Olivia’s” face with anger, and she fell flat on the floor. Jess jumped up, and her hands were now tightly on the opening bit of the vent, which was already open. Before she could feel triumphant, the fake Harry replaced “Olivia” in a heartbeat.

  “You can’t run away forever, Jess!” he said with an insane smile on his face. “You will be caught soon, no matter how hard you try.”

  Jess couldn’t help thinking that he was right. But she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of her giving up. “No, you’re wrong! I’m not hiding in the shadows! I’m trying to find my friends!” She kicked him hard in the head as well, and she swung up into the vent and crawled as fast as she could.

  Chapter 20

  Jess regretted a lot of things from that day and the day before. Like how she didn’t close the vent door. She shouldn’t have left any evidence of how she narrowly escaped Harry and Olivia’s clones. Now she had a problem. She had no idea where Harry, Olivia, or Neenee could be. Unless they were here! They could be hidden in this building but where I would least expect it! Maybe I will be going home after all!

  She started crawling faster at the prospect of hope. As she was crawling, she found an alarm sound off. Probably because of me escaping. WITHOUT CLOSING THE VENT DOOR! Seriously, Jess! How stupid could you possibly be? Jess kept on crawling and didn’t dare look back until she found what looked like a basement trapdoor. I’m probably not meant to be here, which I think is a good thing. She felt her pockets until she found the golden key. Hmmm…Maybe this key doesn’t just work on lockets, but if it did, why didn’t we think of using it when we were trying to unlock the door? Then Harry wouldn’t have had to go to the police station! I guess it’s just another thing I regret…

  She held the key tightly and hoped that it would work. She crawled until she found a vent door for her to slip down. I saw the place west, but I’m east! I need to turn left. She ran as fast as she could, avoiding the nosy guards, until she found the door. She bent down and looked for a keyhole. It took her a few minutes to scan the door until she found what she was looking for. She placed the key inside the hole and the key changed form to fit into the hole. Jess turned the key clockwise, and luckily, it opened the trapdoor. She took the key and placed it in her pocket.

  There was no ladder, so Jess had to jump down, but before that, she had a hand on the door so she could close it so the Divinament would have no proof she had been there. When she landed, the room was so dark that she accidentally tripped over something. Jess remembered her key and the glow it always brought. She took it out and could finally see. The room looked quite similar to the one where the clones were. She looked around and used the light from the key to guide her until she heard someone shriek, “Who are you?”

  Jess remembered her disguise and realised that it looked rather scary. That’s when she recognized the voice. “Neenee? You’re here!” She looked down and saw the diveel. “Where are Harry and Olivia?”

  “Oh, it’s you, Jess! For a moment I thought you were one of those creepy guards…”

  “Where are Harry and Olivia?” Jess repeated.

  “Oh yeah! Right. They’re over there.”

  “You know I can’t see you or hear Harry and Olivia,” Jess said, thinking that Neenee could hear them both, which is how she knew where they were.

  “Point that glowing thing at me, then!”

  Jess did as Neenee said, and soon enough, she saw the little creature smiling at her.

  “Okay, so sadly, we don’t have time to say our hello’s since we’re pretty late on schedule!” Neenee said as she started to climb onto Jess’s hand. “Harry and Olivia are there.” Neenee pointed right, and Jess started to run, clutching Neenee tightly so she wouldn’t fall.

  Even though the light was guiding her pretty well, there were still some things she couldn’t see, which made her occasionally bang her head or trip over something. Jess had never known walking could be so hard apart from maybe when she was one year old and learning how to walk. At last she got to Harry and Olivia, with a few sc
ratches and aches, and decided it would be sensible to ask Harry and Olivia questions, just to be safe. “Olivia, what flower did you originally think was in Neenee’s hair?”

  Neenee looked at Jess as if she were mad, and Olivia replied, “A daisy…Who’s there?”

  “It’s me! Jess!”

  She shone the key light at them, but Olivia still didn’t look convinced. “Look, if you’re one of those creepy clones, then don’t bother tricking us. We’ve already had one, so don’t even try. Besides, Jess has a way better dress sense than you. Seriously! That coat is terrible!”

  “I can’t be bothered hearing you talk anymore, Olivia. Can we just see who this person is?”

  “If you don’t believe it’s me, then ask me a question. Any question at all!” Jess pleaded. They needed to get out of there, now, and if this was the only way, then so be it.

  She could see Olivia and Harry in a huddle. She felt like she was standing there forever until they said, “We believe you, Jess!”

  “Finally! Anyway, I had this coat on for a disguise, but I keep on forgetting I have it on. Also, you guys have seen Neenee here. Right?”

  “Neenee was here?” Olivia cried.

  “Yeah…”

  “Hi!” Neenee said.

  “Okay, nice reunion and all, but we need to get out of this stupid place!” Harry complained. Olivia started laughing, and so did Jess when she realised what was funny.

  “What’s so funny?” Harry and Neenee asked, almost simultaneously.

  “Well, Neenee, I’m pretty sure Harry knows, but you won’t since you weren’t there. I’ll explain. When we first arrived here yesterday, Harry went missing somewhere. He came back earlier today and said that this place was amazing and stuff like ‘Who wouldn’t want to come here?’” Olivia explained.