HDA - Classified Secrets by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

Vanessa Bender found herself in the presence once again of the limo driver who, apparently, had taken on multiple roles. Who WAS this guy, anyhow? Was he a servant, a driver, the right hand man of this "Prince Charming" guy? Vanessa didn’t know, but she certainly knew that she didn’t like him a bit. As the door opened, Vanessa was immediately spoken to.

"Ah, Miss Vanessa. Don’t you look LOVELY today? I’m glad to see that you have decided to dress in a manner that is pleasing to the Prince. Truly, you look stunning. Now, shall we go? The Prince awaits. You have a very special evening together. This, my dear, is your chosen night."

Vanessa took a deep, if ragged, breath. As much as she wanted to cry, or to lash out, she knew that neither choice was really a viable option. Silently, she closed her eyes for a moment and thought of her friends and her family, and of the long life she had always hoped would dawn so promisingly in front of her. Above all, though, she thought about Joe. Although he had treated her badly, she loved him still, and she knew, deep down, that Joe couldn’t have forgotten her so quickly, either. So, as Vanessa prepared for what truly might be the end of her life, she asked God not to protect her, but to protect those she loved, especially Joe. When they had first met, she had still seen the pain in his eyes of the loss of Iola. The thought that he, again, would be consumed with guilt if something should happen to her was unfathomable. After all, she thought, if you really love someone, you always want him to be happy. Holding back tears, she added to herself, whether it’s with you or without you.

"Miss Vanessa?" Vanessa was brought back to reality by the sound of the driver’s voice.

Bravely, she responded, "I’m coming."

He led her through a series of what must have been back hallways, because she wasn’t privy to seeing any windows or what lay beyond them. The halls were, indeed, grand. There were beautiful pictures and paintings of lovely foreign men and women. Shaking, Vanessa was trying to be as observant as possible, while, at the same time, not really appreciating the beauty and grandiose nature of this mansion.

She did manage to note the various rooms and tried to peer inside each one as they passed by. Some were glorious, others were smaller; each one, though, looked almost surreal—a child’s paradise in an adult world. As Vanessa tried to peer into a nearby room, she almost went flying as she tripped over her dress with the stupid high- heeled glass slippers. She was instantly caught by Mr. Smiles, from whom she recoiled at once.

"S… sorry.." she muttered under her breath.

"It is quite all right, Miss Vanessa. Grace and elegance are sometimes hard to come by in princesses. Fortunately for you, you will not be doing much walking this evening. Nonetheless, your beauty is inspiring, and your posture is formidable, both of which are excellent signs. You must be, with heels, over six foot tall, eh?"

Vanessa wasn’t in the mood for chitchat, yet she was torn between wanting to delay her inevitable meeting with the Prince, and wanting to meet him to try and get answers. Slowly, she responded, "Yes, you’re right. I guess with these heels- I’d be about 6’2" or 6’3". A bit tall for Cinderella, don’t you think?" Vanessa didn’t want to get herself in trouble, but maybe she could get this guy on her side. It was not a good idea.

"Oh, Miss Vanessa. Stop with your futile attempts to sway me, and your fear is really quite unnecessary. It will soon enough be over, anyway. The many other women who have come here have left quite pleased, never knowing what lay in store for them. Your "final" outing, so we say, shall be far more glorious. Besides, in truth, by the time any one figures out the "secret chambers of the heart" as they have thus far been unable to do, we will have accomplished out goals. Relax."

"What on earth are you talking about? Why do you always speak in codes?" Vanessa was frustrated and perplexed.

The driver merely laughed. "Don’t worry, Miss Vanessa."

Finally, she was led to a huge oak door. It was opened by the smiling man. Vanessa gasped as she looked in. It was a huge dining room, with one of those long oak tables that people saw only in movies. It was decorated similarly, too, with candles in the middle and the chairs at either end of the long table. She froze.

"Miss Vanessa, have a seat, please." Her seat was pulled out for her and, having no choice, Vanessa did as she was told.

"Your Prince will be with you momentarily."

Vanessa shuddered. "Yeah," she said softly to herself, "Like I’ll ever eat any of his stuff. It’s probably poisoned." Still, she continued to look around the room, feeling absolutely ridiculous dressed up as she was. One thing that she did take note of was the fact that this room seemed to be half a dining room, and half a library. She was drawn to the titles of the books, many of which, she noticed, seemed to be related to the medical profession. There were also various books where the titles were written in some sort of foreign language. She was about to get up and look at them when the doors on the other side of the room opened. She gasped. It was the Prince!!!

He was handsome, in an odd sort of way. He had olive skin and dark hair, with dark eyes as well. He was not the type of person one would ordinarily pick out in a crowd in an everyday setting. However, as he stood now, there was no way one could miss him. He was dressed from head to toe in glistening white, and was wearing what looked to be either an original suit or a military uniform. He had the brass on his right lapel that obviously signified something, and Vanessa couldn’t help but to notice that all up his sleeves, which were interwoven with gold, were small heart insignias. Now, she was truly frightened.

He instantly smiled at her. "My dear, we finally meet." He came up to Vanessa and lifted her hand, kissing it gently. Vanessa could only stare.

"How are you? I trust that all accommodations have been to your satisfaction. MY! Your picture did not do you justice. You really are quite lovely. To be honest, I originally wanted a red-head for my final production, as the real Cinderella was, but your letter—it spoke to me. You were from the right town, you dated the right boy—Hardy, isn’t it? Yes, we leave no stone unturned. His father and our organization have crossed paths a few times, although he’ll never remember it, as our names, each "chamber", if you will, have changed throughout time, Nonetheless, I am quite amazed. You are lovely."

He spoke with the faintest trace of an accent, and, although smiling and pleasant, there was something of an insincerity to his words. Vanessa picked up on this right away; like Joe, she always had good instincts for character.

She finally found her voice, and could only ask what was on her mind. "W.. What are you planning to do with me?" she stammered.

The Prince smiled. "Ah, I see you’re not one for small talk. Very well, then." He walked to the other side of the table and sat down.

"Okay, Vanessa," he began. "You are different from my other girls. You are an American Princess, and your final destination will not be home. Tonight, we are going to celebrate a huge victory for- – well, that’s for me to know. Still, it is good to have your company. Please, eat and enjoy. Whatever you will like, we shall make. Then, we are going to Disney World. Well, you are, and some of my associates. You will be paraded into your castle, where you will be on display for all to see. Then, my dear, at the stroke of midnight, you will become the stuff of legends and dreams. You will be the focus of a very special, shall we say, "Parade of Lights" that will be the catalyst for a new world order. You will be forever remembered. There is no need to thank me. Rather than having you return to high school, where you would eventually slip into memory, although you would bring about some—endings of your own—you will be here, in your REAL home. Your Castle. How does that sound?"

Vanessa stared in horror. "I.. I don’t understand!" she cried.

"Ah, you don’t need to. Now, hurry. It is 9:30. In an hour , all preparations must be made."

"But…" Vanessa sobbed.

"Just sing happy songs when you’re sad, my Princess. With that, he began singing softly. It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears. It’s a world of hope, and a world of fears. There’s so much that we share, that it’s time we’re aware, it’s a small world after all."

Then, he began laughing, his face twisting into almost a maniacal grin. He took his fork and knife and began pounding it into the table, trying to regain control of his senses.

Vanessa, trying to back away in terror, just screamed…

*****

In the meantime, Callie again looked at her watch. It was getting late, and they’d never make the 10:00 show. As she was walking with Iola, she was suddenly hit with such a wave of pain going through her head that she felt like she would collapse. In fact, she did reach for a nearby bench, which happened to be unoccupied at the moment, and sat down. Placing her hands over her eyes, she struggled to regain her composure and to fight back the nausea that was coming over her. Not again, she prayed silently to herself.

She felt Iola’s arm around her. "Callie? What’s the matter? What’s wrong?" Callie could hear the panic in Iola’s voice.

Callie just waived her off, and it took her a good five or six minutes to actually breathe normally again. She felt her eyes well with tears. In the last months, she had more and more frequently suffered from these headaches. At first, they had been nothing, although they had made her a bit uncomfortable. Then, gradually, they had become more and more severe. Sometimes, she had to just go to bed and shut off all the lights, since she couldn’t see them without seeing spots. Generally, the spells passed quickly enough, but they were enough to weaken her for most of the day. Callie had never been one for going to doctors, so she hadn’t bothered to mention it to her family or friends. She wouldn’t have even told Frank, had not he borne witness to one of her episodes.

With tears streaming down her face, Callie remembered how concerned Frank had been. He had taken care of her, getting her pillows and blankets, and any medicine he could find. He had also stayed with her, holding her hand, and not expecting her to talk. After that, she had been forced to confess her occasional migraines to him, and she had promised to visit a doctor about them. Frank told her he’d go with her, too, which had made her feel better. Although Callie was really quite sure it was nothing, these increasingly more frequent invasions into her life were becoming a royal pain. She knew that this probably had to do with stress. On her last case with Frank and Joe, her body had really been run down. Now this case was doing the same thing to her. She had no idea how much weight she had lost, but she could see it, although she managed to hide it well. Slowly, so slowly, the pain began to subside. Callie felt a little better, but when she went to stand, he legs were so wobbly she could barely do it. She felt Iola grab her and help her to sit down.

"Cal? Are you okay now? Oh, don’t cry!" Iola said to her.

With a start, Callie realized that she HAD been crying. Was it the pain, the stress, or the tiredness? She honestly couldn’t tell. Weakly, she reached over to Iola.

"I’ll make it, don’t worry." She tried to smile, but found she couldn’t. "Iola? We can still see the parade of lights, but I think I need to lie down, maybe just for an hour or so. Then, I’m sure I’ll be better. I’m just—tired, that’s all. If we go now, we can still see the midnight show. We’ll get there around 11:00. You can go and get dinner, if you want. I really can’t eat."

Iola felt terribly. This was all HER fault. "Oh, Callie! I’m so sorry. Do you want to leave? I mean, we can."

"No, no, that’s okay. I just need to rest," Callie replied softly.

"Oh. Okay, then. Well, since the parade is around the Castle, I happen to know that the Castle is just kind of empty-- a walkway, if you will."

Callie looked up at her friend, wondering what the point of this was.

"Well, it’s just that seriously, right next to the Castle, there are not only the bathrooms, but the lost and found, and the infirmaries as well. I guess people figure that is they get lost or are sick, everyone will be able to find them. Plus, it should be great, because the Castle is right there. Believe me, if anything goes on there, we’ll know about it."

With that, she leaned down to help Callie. "Let’s go."

Callie, leaning against Iola, looked up at the night sky, and wondered, for an instant, where her place in the world should be at that very moment. Somehow, she had a bad feeling that this wasn’t supposed to be it.

*****

Joe Hardy stared in horror at his father as he related the news from Frank. It took him a moment or two to clear his head and make sure that he had heard correctly. Also, he tried to control his heartbeat, which he felt pounding in his chest. Taking a deep breath, he turned to his father as his dad continued to speed towards Disney World.

"Dad? Don’t tell me you said what I just think you did," he sputtered out.

Fenton glanced sidelong at his son. He was used to driving, talking on cell phones and talking to others in the car with him, but it was always difficult to drive and speak with someone who was upset. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pull over, as time was of the essence.

"Yes, son, that’s right. Not only is Vanessa quite possibly the next victim of Meningitis, but she’s likely to be somewhere around here. She left a code on Frank’s voicemail, which I let you listen to. Surely, you picked that up. It’s too bad she didn’t tell us where she was. " Fenton’s face was stony. "But we’ll find out."

"And…and…." Joe couldn’t find the words, but Fenton knew what he was getting at. "Yes, Joe. And Callie Shaw and Iola Morton are, for some reason or another, there, too."

Joe felt himself tremble. Oh, God. Not Iola and Vanessa again! He really didn’t think he could take this. "We need to get there, dad, hurry!"

"Fifteen more minutes, Joe. I’m going as fast as I can."

"Dad? Did you- find out any more information? What’s going on there? What have you called for? Did Frank get through?" Joe was desperate for any answers he could get.

Fenton sighed. "Son, first of all, your brother does not sound well. I hope he doesn’t get any crazy ideas to come down here. But… he might, knowing Callie is in danger. This is a real mess."

"Yeah," Joe muttered, fighting back his emotions.

"They’re calling in police officers and the FBI and CIA that are located here. The Park is officially being closed, in that no one else is being let in. The problem becomes panic. How do you evacuate an entire park without mass chaos? How do you know there aren’t more bombs placed throughout? I think they’ll continue with daily routines, like this parade they have every few nights. This is bad for us, of course, since it makes it one of the more crowded nights of the week. Let the authorities worry about moving the people inside. We’ll meet up at the entrance with some agents, officers, bomb -sniffing dogs, bomb squads, of course, and the like. Joe?" he looked at his son. "I know you’re worried. I… I’d really like it, though, if you stayed here, away from all of this. If we’re not fast enough…. Well, I want you safe. I need you safe." Fenton’s voice trembled on the last sentence.

Joe looked at his father. All of a sudden, he felt like a little kid again. "Dad? I can’t do that. Two people I care about very much are in serious danger, and I have to do whatever I can to help. I’m not afraid of danger."

Fenton shook his head. "I know who you’re referring to—let’s not forget Callie is there, too."

Joe bit his lip. "Yeah, she’s … well, she’s something else, too. Of course, I want her to be safe."

"Son?" Fenton reached over to Joe, just like when he was a child, and grabbed his hand tightly. "If anything should happen tonight, you know I love you, right?"

Joe tried not to cry. "I know. I love you, too."

As they pulled into Disney World, Joe hoped that the Magic Kingdom, where dreams could come true, would live up to its slogan. He definitely needed some sort of magic to pull this off. "PLEASE, Vanessa. Iola. Be okay," he whispered to himself. He looked at his watch. It was almost 11:00.

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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.