HDA - Classified Secrets by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

Vanessa Bender finally calmed down a bit when she felt the limo pull to a stop. Trembling, she realized that she’d have to hold herself together if she was going to have any chance at all of making some sense out of what was happening to her. As terrified as she was to leave the limo, she was almost as terrified to stay in it. One thing was certain, however. No matter how she had arrived here, her predicament was not good.

At last, she saw the door to the limo slide open and the smiling chauffeur open it. With hesitation, Vanessa allowed herself to be let out of the door. She wanted to run, to scream, to do anything to get out of there. However, as she looked around, reality set in; she had nowhere to go. She was literally trapped.

"Miss? Aren’t you forgetting something?" The sound of the driver’s voice brought Vanessa back to reality.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Vanessa managed, "W.. What?"

"Well, your prince has left you a little package. Surely, you wouldn’t want to disappoint him now, would you, by forgetting it?"

Vanessa was utterly confused. It took her a few moments to realize that he meant the dress, or costume, whatever you’d call it. Vanessa involuntarily shuddered. She’d been trying to block out any thoughts of having to wear that, or the implications that wearing it intrinsically brought with it. Suddenly, she realized that if she was going to be able to escape eventually, she had to arm herself with as much knowledge as she could.

Taking a deep breath, she bravely inquired, "Listen. Can you please tell me where we are? Please? This is too much!"

Again smiling, the driver stated, "No, Miss Vanessa. As I told you, all inquiries into location are being kept a secret as the Prince’s discretion."

Vanessa felt her temper rise. Who was this guy? "I said to tell me!"

The driver looked surprised. "Ah, you ARE feisty! I don’t know how the Prince would like that. Remember, civility, manners, and class are the key elements to being a Princess. And I have a feeling YOU will be the FINAL one." He chuckled at some unknown meaning in his own words.

Vanessa had just about enough. "Look, mister, I don’t know who you are, but I’m being kidnapped here. If you let me go now, I swear I won’t say anything. No one will get any details." At that moment, she meant those words, too.

The driver just laughed. "Kidnapped? My dear, YOU chose to come. This was your desire. Remember- the Prince specializes in areas of the heart- "special chambers of the heart" as he refers to them."

"Who is this guy? He’s not a real Prince, right? He can’t be!" Vanessa was beginning to get nervous again.

"He is, my dear, in charge of a Kingdom of sorts. You’ll soon find out."

Vanessa fought back tears. She desperately wanted to fight this guy, to try any means necessary to escape. The other part of her wanted to be protected, and she wished badly that Joe was there to help her. He’d protect her, somehow. At least, he would have, not too long ago.

"Well…" Vanessa choked out, "If you’re going to kill me, at least tell me. Please don’t hurt me." Never in her life had Vanessa uttered such simple words with such powerful meaning. Shaking, she backed up against the car.

Then, the strangest thing happened. The driver looked at Vanessa’s fear-filled face and started laughing, in a strange, maniacal sort of way. Vanessa was terrified. He kept laughing, even wiping the tears from his eyes, as he struggled to keep his composure. Vanessa was shocked. What was going on here?

After a few moments, he regained some semblance of control, and would have seemed normal except for that constant, unearthly grin of his. Speaking evenly, he surmised, "Miss Vanessa, you’re not going to be killed, maimed, or kidnapped. You can go home in three days, isn’t that what the Prince told you? And when you get back, life, as we say, shall seem more precious than ever to you."

Vanessa, confused and stunned, only listened.

"You see, you are the FINAL Princess, the one who shall be remembered through the ages."

Vanessa managed to stutter, "W… wait. There have been others? I thought he was looking for one girl. I…"

"Oh, sure, there have been others, but our goals have been achieved. Understand, Miss Vanessa, that it is only the final princess who counts—the Cinderella, if you will. All others are belles of the ball- but you- you own the glass slipper. You see, Cinderella was an ordinary girl for most of her life, and then she was called. She was chosen, for a very special purpose. No one could stop her destiny. And sometimes, her evil step-sisters were necessary to make Cinderalla’s ultimate purpose even more shining and clear. Here, though- there is no magic wand and wishes to come true, no pumpkins turned into coaches, no fairy god-mothers to guide and to protect. You see, in our magic kingdom, we made the magic; we laid the plans; we have set the stage for the final ball, and the creation of a new – class--so we say. And so, while preparations for the final ball are being made, the ball that will catch the world’s attention, you, Miss, will be a friendly reminder to your own home that they could have prevented the midnight hour if only they had been watching the clock tick."

Vanessa tried to make sense of the words, but they came out jumbled. Was she alone? Was she with others? Was this innocent fun, or someone’s sick idea of entertainment with deadly consequences? She felt dizzy.

"Come now," he said, contentedly, "For it is time to meet your Prince."

*****

Callie Shaw returned to back to her hotel room a few hours later. She was exhausted, upset, and feeling terribly guilty about what had transpired. Her instinct had been to run; and, in the past, she would have. She had learned, though, from the last case involving Lazarus, that sometimes, honesty and facing your problems was the only thing to do. Just as she had wanted terribly to tell Frank about what was happening in that case, she wanted to talk to him now. She missed him, a lot. However, she knew that Frank was still weak from his ordeal, and that she couldn’t put undue pressure on him. Besides, what would she say? Joe had been right, and the last thing she wanted to do was to create tension between the two brothers. As she opened the door of her room, she held back tears. Maybe it would be easier if I was out of the picture. Maybe Frank is better off without me. Maybe so is Iola, and Vanessa, and… well, Joe went without saying. Fighting back these thoughts, Callie entered the room, just wanting to sleep away her problems.

That, however, was not to be. As soon as she walked through the door, Iola jumped up and threw her arms around Callie. "WHERE have you been? I’ve been so worried about you! I heard a little bit of the fight that you had with Joe. I thought you ran away1 Are you okay? Are…"

"IOLA!" Callie countered. "Shh! I’m fine. Really. I.. I’m just tired and upset. Don’t worry about me. You should be with Joe right now. He probably needs you."

Iola looked with concern at her friend. "No, he doesn’t. He’s with his dad and Frank at the hospital Then, I think, they’re either staying there or coming back here later. I think it’s a family thing to work on the case."

Callie smiled sadly. "Yeah, well, it’s an important case." She looked at Iola, and decided to tell her the truth, and why she was concerned about Vanessa. "Iola? Do you have a few minutes? Because there’s something I want to tell you."

Iola nodded. "Of course!"

With that agreement, Callie launched into her story, telling Iola everything, up to her argument with Joe. She concluded with, "And so, I’m worried about Vanessa. Joe hates me. I want to help, but I can’t. That’s it."

Iola took all of this in silence. She was concerned, too. Iola was caught between wanting to help and being scared to death to get involved. With a sigh, Iola thought about how, if given the opportunity, even though she was scared, she probably would try to help Vanessa if she honestly thought that she could make a difference. The truth was, though, that she had been so hesitant in getting involved in the first place that she really hadn’t paid any attention to the case. Now, she regretted that decision.

Iola looked at Callie. Rarely had she ever seen her friend so dejected.

"Cal? You know this is kind of awkward for me. I know you think that I’d try not to help Vanessa. She is my boyfriend’s girlfriend." Iola grinned. "That sounds ridiculous, huh?"

Callie laughed weakly. It was kind of funny.

"But I WOULD. She helped me out, and never asked questions. I just really don’t know what to do. Frank, Joe, and their dad are the experts. I’m sure they’ll crack the case. And besides, Vanessa might be fine after all- you’re kind of assuming a lot."

Callie listened quietly. This was her best friend from a long time ago, the caring, funny, and practical person she knew had taken Joe’s heart. She couldn’t fathom what Iola must be going through even uttering these words. She tried to comfort her. "Thanks, Iola. I guess you’re right. Things do tend to work themselves out."

"I have an idea!"

Callie looked up, and brushed her long blonde hair back behind her ears with her fingers. This had to be good.

"Let’s have some fun!"

"What?!" Callie couldn’t believe it. "Iola, Vanessa may be hurt. Joe may possibly kill me. My boyfriend needs me to help him now. How can I have fun?!"

"Because! What else can we do? You’ll be more of a help to everyone if you’re well- rested and relaxed. Maybe fun will clear your mind for new ideas. And don’t worry about Joe- He’ll get over it."

"Ummmm…. Iola? You don’t know my relationship with Joe."

"Callie! I’m serious."

Callie flopped back on the bed, her head spinning. She couldn’t believe this. SLEEP. That was her idea of fun right now. What did Iola have in mind? Clubbing? Going to the beach? Shopping? Somehow, all of these ‘normal’ activities seemed not only abnormal, but somehow morally wrong. Still, she looked at Iola’s eager face, and knew Iola was only trying to help. She also knew that Iola’s only tangible way of helping anything right now was to try and make her happy. Callie didn’t have the heart to say no, though she knew her mind would be far away.

"Okay," she replied at last. "As long as we’re back not too late. When the boys get here, I want to be here, even if it’s just to lend Frank moral support. I’ll stay out of Joe’s way."

"All right!" Iola exclaimed, her face lighting up. "Have you ever been to Epcot Center? I hear it’s great!"

Callie couldn’t believe this. "Um, no, but…"

"Then let’s go!" Iola cried joyfully. "Come on! What else could make you happier than the happiest place on earth?"

"Well…."

"Come on!" She grabbed Callie’s purse and sunglasses from their dresser. "We’ll have fun, and we won’t tell Frank and Joe."

"Shouldn’t we- leave a note or something?"

"Nope! Girl’s day!"

Callie exhaled slowly, feeling her headache slowly return with a vengeance. "I really do want to be back when they get back, in case they need me."

"Oh, Callie!" Iola said, exasperated. "Let’s go! We’ll be back. What could go wrong?!" She bounded out the door.

Callie followed slowly, thinking of Vanessa, and of Frank. "Never ask that," she muttered under her breath.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation, The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without express permission of the authors.