Nikki and the Shadow Men

About five kids on a futuristic planet who's parents suddenly disappears. One of my earlier works so writing quality moght not be as good. :S

            Nikki was a 14 year old girl. She had short blond hair and blue eyes. Nikki lived on the planet Lycon. Lycon was a planet consisting mostly of large trees the size of redwood trees and it followed the same solar ring as Earth. A large clearing was made so that the town could be built. Since only one large town could be built on Lycon, the builders had to make sure that they included all the necessities of a proper town along with some added entertainment. The town was built almost 20 years ago.

            Nikki was one of the first people born on Lycon that has adapted to its slightly different atmosphere. I didn’t say Nikki was an average girl because she could do something that no one else could do. She could climb trees like Spider-man. 4 other people, besides Nikki have, also adapted to Lycon. Their names are Lily, Nicoli, David, and Sandy. The 5 were all friends; Lily was 17 and had short brown hair and blue eyes. Nicoli was 16 and had short brown hair and blue eyes. David was 15 and he had short black hair and green eyes. Sandy was the youngest of the group, she was 9 years old and she had long brown hair with brown eyes.

            It was early the next day when Nikki woke up, it was Saturday. The night before, Nikki and her parents had the talk about being normal. Nikki argued that she was not normal, but her parents had argued that she was normal. When Nikki got dressed, she headed down the stairs to breakfast.

            “What’s for breakfast, Mom?” she asked, but when no one answered she said “Mom?”

            Still no one answered; Nikki went back up the stairs and checked in her parent’s room, no one was there. Nikki walked outside to the driveway, the car was still there. When Nikki got back in the house, she plopped on the couch ‘where are they?’ she thought. Just then the phone rang, Nikki answered it.

            “Hello?” she said.

            “Nikki! I can’t find my parents!” came Sandy’s frantic voice. She was so loud; Nikki had to pull her head away from the phone.

            “Calm down Sandy, I can’t find mine either,” Nikki said calmly. “Pack some things and I’ll go over and bring you back to my house”.

            Nikki heard Sandy sniffle, “okay” she said and hung up.

            As Nikki hung up her end, the phone rang again, Nikki answered it.

            “Nikki?” it was Lily.

            “Hi Lily, what’s up?” Nikki asked.

            “Are my parents there?” Lily asked, ignoring Nikki’s question.

            “No, Sandy called a second ago, her parents aren’t home either,” Nikki explained.

            “Sandy is home alone! Okay, you go get her and I’ll get the boys, we’ll meet at your house,” Lily said and hung up.

            ‘The never ending life of my phone’ Nikki thought and walked out to her garage. Sandy lived a couple of streets away from Nikki, normally her parents would drive her over to Sandy’s, but Nikki’s parents were missing so she was resorted to walking or bike riding. Nikki pulled her bike out of the garage and started riding to Sandy’s house.

            When she got there, Sandy was on the porch sobbing. Nikki watched as other kids started walking out on the streets, they were crying to. Sandy stood up and put her backpack on, when she saw Nikki’s bike, she went into the garage to get her own. In a few minutes, the girls were on their way back to Nikki’s house.

            When they got back to the house, Lily, Nicoli, and David were waiting on the porch for them.

            “The door is unlocked,” Nikki said as she and Sandy took care of their bikes.

             When Sandy and Nikki got in the house Lily motioned them to the couch.

            “Apparently all the parents on all of our streets are missing,” Lily began as the phone rang.

            Nicoli answered it then hit the speaker.

            “Hello, this is the president of the United States, I am calling you from Earth,” a voice said. “I am aware that the adults on your planet are missing, are you familiar with a group called the Shadow Men?” the president asked.

            The 5 kids shivered, they were all too familiar with the Shadow Men. The Shadow Men were a group of people that came out at night. They wore hooded black cloaks and kidnapped people and forced them to become Shadow Men themselves. The only way you can become a Shadow Man is if they gave you a special injection that changes your genetics so that you’re evil.

            “I want you guys to go and find them and confront their leader, Lord Darkness,” the president finished and hung up.

            Nicoli slowly hung up the receiver and absorbed their mission. That night, Nikki and her friends camped out in the rooms. The boys slept in Nikki’s parent’s room while the girls slept in Nikki’s room. Nikki was sound asleep with Sandy curled up next to her when Nikki suddenly felt a hand grab her shoulder. Nikki jumped up, causing Sandy to wake up.

            “Ssshh! Nikki, it’s me,” Nicoli whispered.

            Nikki stood up. “What’s wrong, did you have bad dreams?” she teased and grinned.

            “Don’t speak too loud, the Shadow Men are outside,” Nicoli hissed.

            Nikki became aware of the screaming outside and cautiously walked to her window and looked out. The neighborhood kids were running in terror as the Shadow Men caught them and carried them away. Though the kids were scared, they worked together and made sure the little ones got away. Nikki felt somebody pulled her from the window.

            “We have to go,” Lily whispered calmly.

            Nikki followed her friends into the backyard and into the woods. Once in the woods, Lily motioned then to stop. Almost immediately they heard the screams of children as the Shadow Men carried them through the woods, not too far away.

            “The president wants us to talk to Lord Darkness, then we will follow them to their lair,” Lily stated and climbed the nearest tree and started leaping from branch to branch.

            The others quickly followed with only the light of the full moon to guide them. After awhile the kidnapped children stopped screaming and were now crying. It was another hour before Nikki could see a large building in the center of a small field; the Shadow Men were taking the kids inside the building. Nikki watched helplessly as the kids started kicking and screaming again. After a few minutes of waiting until all the kids were inside, Sandy sat next to Nikki.

            “Why don’t you and Sandy go see if it’s safe?” Lily suggested.

            Nikki and Sandy reluctantly climbed down from the tree and walked towards the building. All of a sudden, Nikki felt somebody wrap its arms around her and lift her off the ground. Nikki heard Sandy shriek in terror and run up the nearest tree. Nikki looked up and stared into the dark hood of a Shadow Man. Nikki began thrashing wildly, trying to get away.

            “Come down here!” another Shadow Man yelled.

            “No!” Sandy cried back and sobbed.

            Nikki felt a hard hit in her head and passed out. When Nikki woke up, she felt her head throbbing. Nikki looked around, she was in a metal cage that reached the ceiling. The cage was surrounded by Shadow Men. One Shadow Man stepped forward and held up a shot that was filled with a black liquid. The Shadow Man entered her cage and laughed evilly.

            “You’re next,” he said and held out the shot.

            For the first time in a long while, Nikki started to cry.

            “I don’t want to be a Shadow Man,” she sobbed and crouched down in fear.

            “Too bad,” the Shadow Man said and they all started to laugh.

            Nikki closed her eyes and felt the Shadow Man yank her arm out from under her. Nikki felt her muscles tingle as the sharp needle drew closure to her skin. All of a sudden a loud BANG! The Shadow Men started to go out to deal with the noise, even the Shadow Man with the needle ran out. Nikki continued to sob for a few minutes then she felt a tap on her shoulder.

            “Nikki we have to hurry and go confront Lord Darkness.” It was David.

            Nikki looked up and saw that Sandy was with him. Nikki slowly stood up and followed her friends out the door. After about 10 minutes of wandering the empty halls, they finally found Lord Darkness.

            “Well, you kids are braver than I thought,” he said when they’d entered the room.

            Lord Darkness looked like any regular Shadow Man only he wore a silver crown on his head. David stepped forward.

            “Where are our parents?” he asked.

            “You think I have them? You are stupid like I expected,” Lord Darkness said and shook his head.

            “You didn’t kidnap them?” Sandy asked sweetly.

            “No, but I will warn you,” Lord Darkness stood up. “An evil greater than the Shadow Men took your parents and the only way you’ll find them is to retrace your steps back in time,” he said and sat down.

            Nikki, Sandy, and David looked at each other. If the Shadow Men didn’t take them, then who did?