An unexpected friend

[Invader]

An unexpected friend part one

I own no one here but myself, and have permission from Julie to write them in.



Julie Justice was in the basement laundry room half way through a weeks worth of laundry. She had had no time to catch up on it, till now and was quietly singing to herself while folding the latest load. Out of nowhere her cell phone went off, and she quickly checked it. Apparently there had just been a heist at the museum of Cairo, and a Pectoral with a winged scarab from King Tutankhamen collection had
gone missing.

"Not again." Julie sighed. "Well I guess I will have to finish this later."

Julie leaves the room wondering when she will be back to finish her laundry. In the storage room next door a figure has been listening, and this is a person they are most unfamiliar with. Upon hearing them leave, invader crept out and saw the laundry had not been finished. With a sense of happiness she spent the next few hours finishing the laundry for the unknown person. As a finishing touch she set a candy bar on top with a note, then she scurried back to the empty storage room to sleep.

Upon returning Julie found the laundry finished and neatly folded with a envelope on top. Puzzled she opened it and found a formal letter that was hand written. This was written on the plain lined paper.

To whom it may concern:
Greetings I am the ghost of the laundry room and hope you do not mind I have taken the liberty of finishing your laundry. I do hope dear stranger that you will write back to me, as I am a tad bit lonely.
Sincerely yours
L.R.G.(laundry room ghost)

Reading the note she thought it was some sort of prank, though there was the possibility that this really was someone trying to make contact.Tucking the note away, she proceeded to gather up her laundry and take it upstairs. Once in her dorm room she put the note away, and went to work on the latest crime in progress. Over the next few days there are several more heists, she forgets about the letter, opting to fully concentrate on the case. By the end of the week arrests had been made, and Julie could finally take a breather. Unfortunately Carmen had gotten away once again as usual. On a whim she opened, her dresser drawer and found the letter she had forgotten about.


Elsewhere Invader was listening intently for the sound of familiar footsteps. There had been a lull for a few days, and her letter had gone unanswered. This made her rather disappointed, but it was something she was used to. In fact she was very used to being solitary most of the time, loneliness was abundant as dandelion flowers in her life.



"Oh well it was worth a try." She thought.


Sense Invader had first set foot here, she had become more relaxed and the nightmares were moving into a more manageable state. Everything in her mind had begun to stabilize thought there were still plenty of rough edges to manage. At long last a lot of pent up guilt and anger had finally been released. Although as friendly as she was becoming, there were still things that she felt needed to be kept locked up both in heart and mind. Within was a sort of persistent darkness that was not exposed yet, nor properly dealt with.

Upstairs in her room Julie decided to sit down, and write back to the mysterious laundry room ghost on a whim. There was the possibility that the letter was from an actual person and not a prank being played on her. At that moment there was a knock on the door that disrupted her thoughts. Getting up she opened the door to find chase standing there, who wore a slight smile.


"Do you know about the basement laundry room ghost?" Inquired Julie. " I got a letter from them."

"Yes." Responded Chase. " I found them in the back alley, they are a bit nervous around people and I suggested they write letters if they are not comfortable talking."

"What were they doing there?" Inquired Julie. " How did they wind up here?"

"From what they have told us."Informed Chase. "They are an escapee from a lab of some sorts, however they don't go into any great details due to memory loss."

"Well that explains why everyone thinks the room is haunted!" She laughs. "Well I do hope I can meet them."

"It may take a while till you will be able to meet them." Replied Chase. "She is a bit people wary, and does not trust easily."

"I am sorry to hear that." Sighed Julie. "However I can understand why , though I do hear they were responsible for a few pranks. "

"Yes if she takes a liking to you." Chuckled Chase. "That is there way of saying you pose no threat."

To be continued....

 

[Julie Justice]

Hello Invader. This is an an awesome story. I was going to write a story with a sightly different beginning, and very similar ending, I just haven't had the chance to do it yet. Now I don't have to. LOL!! Thanks.

 

[Julie Justice]

(OOC: I am continuing this story here, instead of in the Journal of "Julie Justice" so that I can look back at the first part of Invader's story as I write this. )

An Unexpected Friend, Part 2

Julie Justice says to Chase,"Do you have any idea where I can find this "Laundry Room Ghost" if she's not in the Laundry Room?"

Chase says,"Well..like I said, she has trouble trusting people..and she has memory problems..so we still don't know a lot about her yet..where she comes from..or if there are others like her...somewhere. But I think you might be able to find her in the Library, or outside, walking around the grounds here, in the Gardens too."

Julie says,"Good. I'll look for her in those places. I just feel a bit better, knowing that it's not a trick. You know I'm a nice person. I don't want to be so skeptical of things like that, but you never know, you know? !!"

Chase says,"It's OK, I understand. That's part of what makes you a good agent, Agent Justice."

Julie smiles a little, and says,"Thank you, Director Devineaux."

Chase says,"Well, I'm glad I could help help you. Anything to get a break from the paperwork, and everything else that goes along with being the Director of ACME."

Julie chuckles a little, and says,"I understand. Thanks again." Chase leaves and goes back to his office.

Julie quickly puts her laundry away, because she knew that if she didn't do it now, she would forget, and be too tired to do it later. Besides, it gave her a chance to think about what she wanted to write in her note.

Julie goes back to her desk, and sits down. She gets out a notebook of her desk drawer, and writes a note that says:
"Hello Laundry Room Ghost,

From what I understand, you are not
really a "ghost" but it would be OK if
you were. I like ghosts, as long as they
are friendly, which I am told you are.
No-one here really knows that much
about you, except that you have been
thru some very bad things, which
makes you very shy around strangers.

Thank you for finishing my laundry
for me. Even though it's a bit of a
long walk, I normally like doing
laundry, it's very peaceful. But the
life of an ACME Agent is never really
peaceful. Sometimes, I have to leave
at a moment's notice, to chase Carmen
and her gang. That is why I didn't
write this note to you sooner. I see that
you are responsible for leaving fresh
snacks out here, which is a nice thing.
Thanks for that too.

I see that you like writing notes on
lined paper, too, so I'm giving you
one of my notebooks. I have many note
books like this. My short-term memory
is not very good, so I write all my
"Carmen" clues, and possible answers
down in notebooks like this. I am also
giving both a pen and pencil to write
with. I am also giving you a bag of one
of my favorite snacks Clover Valley
Tropical Fruit Dried Fruit Mix, to try.
If you like it, I have a whole case of it.
I have a hard time finding it when I
go shopping, and I can't find it on-line,
either, so I ordered it from the store
I buy it from in Ohio, and have it
delivered wherever I am. For some
reason, this snack is harder to find
than Carmen Sandiego herself!! LOL!!

I was in the ACME office in NYC for a
year or so, I am getting to know every-
thing and everything in San Francisco
again. If I'm not in one of the dorm
rooms, or in my office. If I am having
some type of problem with my ACME
phone or lap-top computer, you will
find me in the Library, doing research
or sometimes you will find me in the
Cafeteria.

Anyway, wherever I see you, I hope I
see you soon,

Julie Justice."

Julie puts the items in an old shopping bag from the Golden Gate Market. She folds the note in half, taping it to the bag. She goes back down to the laundry room, and leaves the bag on top of one of the empty washing machines, where hopefully, the Laundry Room Ghost will find it.

 

[Invader]

Hello Invader. This is an an awesome story. I was going to write a story with a sightly different beginning, and very similar ending, I just haven't had the chance to do it yet. Now I don't have to. LOL!! Thanks.

I am glad to hear that, I can't wait to see where this one goes.

 

[Julie Justice]

Hello Invader. Yes, I think this will be an awesome story. I think we will work well together. But, the reason that what I wrote was so good, is cuz what you wrote was so good!! I'm trying to re-work part of that story I originally wrote (cuz I usually writhe my stories down before I post them here) and combine it with some of the things I know about you, so that I can make a story that is really good. Ttys.

 

[Invader]

An unexpected friend part 3
I own only myself here, and this will be an ongoing co witten story.


Invader decided to creep out into the laundry room to do some basic cleaning when she spotted the bag on an empty washer. Picking it up she ran back to the safety of the room she was staying in and decided to read the note attched to it. It was rather long but she did not mind in the least. She was estatic, this was the first response in a very long time. On top of that the person was very pleased with the laundry being done, and had left a few things as a gift. Now that they had made contact with somone, they eventually would have to meet them at some point. They took a few notes , then decided to head upstairs to the research libary to look up the person who replied to her letter.


Upstairs in the library all was quiet when invader arrived and she made herself right at home in the furthest corner. Looking up the person, she found that they had an office on the floor above and took a good look at the floor layout. This was a habit that she employed when moving about, it was something that just stuck with her from life in a laboratory. After shutting down the computer she hastily wrote a note , and rummaged around a bag she always carried with her. Invader pulled out a praying mantis figure and hurried to the floor above, hoping that Julies office was open. Finding the office open and deserted, invader set down the note with the figure in the middle of the desk.

Looking around she found the office quite comforting , and nearly decided to take a nap in a nearby chair. Though she knew at some point she would have to meet this person who was kind enough to write back. However there was the chance, that this person could be the one to help her open the memory box. East wind had finally come back for a brief visit and brought along invader's memory box. It was a box she had set aside long ago , in case she ever forgot whom she was. The box itself was ordinary looking, but inside there were many things that could ultimately lead invader back to herself. The box secretly fallowed her from world to world , and she never knew exactly where it would wind up. How east wind had found it was beyond her , and she did not question such things.

Lingering in the quietness she did not notice, till it was too late the sounds of footsteps entering the room. Dashing under a desk , she huddles there expecting the worst and tries to figure a way of leaving the room without being detected. The footsteps stop at the front of the desk and invader can hear them picking up the note and walking towards a window. Creeping out from under the desk she manages to make it to the door, but at the last moment is stopped by the sound of a voice.

To be continued.....

 

[Julie Justice]

An Unexpected Friend, Part 4

After getting some lunch at the Golden Gate Market, Julie Justice returns to her office, to finish some work. She is always so careful to lock the door to her office when she leaves, but now it seems to be unlocked. If she didn't do it, maybe someone else did. Maybe one of the rookie detectives were looking for her, or Ivy, or Chase. Julie's office was very close to the dorms.

When she lived in Ohio, she found an on-line ACME Detective course, given by the Midwest Office. She did so well, she was given the opportunity to come to the San Francisco to take a few courses that could not be given on-line, like Self Defense, and this also meant that she was at ACME HQ to receive her diploma.

Julie spent a few months in San Francisco until she was given an assignment. At the time, the newer dorm area had not been built. So, she was given an office at headquarters, with a kitchenette area, and a small closet, a small bathroom with a shower, and room for a daybed and one extra recliner chair.

Julie had originally wanted to be assigned to the Midwest Office, but was sent to the New York office instead She was there for the past 2 or 3 years before being asked to come back to San Francisco.

When she got back headquarters, she was happy to find that her office was sill available. It was considered "small" in comparison to the other offices and the dorms that were there now. But that suited her just fine.
On her desk is a small globe, a computer, some reference books for research, and drawers for all her notebooks, pens, and pencils, and the figure of the Greek Goddess of Justice with Sword that a friend gave her when she officially became a Detective, which she uses as a paperweight.

Julie goes over to her desk, and and puts down her lunch. It's one thing if someone really needs to come into her office for some reason, but someone has was definitely in here, and whoever it was had left the widow open. She sees a small preying mantis figure on her desk, and it startles her at first. Then, she sees the note next to it. The handwriting seems familiar, but who is Invader? !! Ohhhh...The Laundry Room Ghost!! She had almost forgotten about that!!

Then, suddenly, Julie hear a noise under her desk. She looks under the desk, and says,"Invader? Is that you?"

 

[Invader]

An unexpected friend part 5

I own only myself here, I have permission to write Julie in.


"Invader? Is that you?" Julie calls softly while looking under the desk.


Invader had already made it to the door when she heard the figure and noticed they were looking under the desk. Quickly the figure sprang up and locked her gaze on Invader who stood in the doorway. Invader stood there frozen, but stared at the ground refusing to make any eye contact.

Within that moment she stood between fleeing in terror, and allowing the figure to approach her. Time seemed to slow down, while the desire to flee built up, Invader could sense that the person in the room was curious, but not hostile in any way. They were regarding her as one would regard a frightened animal. Slowly the desire to flee vanished, leaving invader transfixed where she stood.



"I ....I ....hope you...don't ..." She mumbles as if her mouth is full of gravel. "Mind..that..I..am here, I was not...."

"Expecting, someone?" The figure laughed. "Neither was I, nice to finally meet the laundry room ghost."

"Nice..to meet you.. as well." Invader said feeling nervous.

"Please don't be afraid, I am rather nice." The figure reassured. "My name is Julie."

"That is a nice ...name." Invader replies. "I don't remember my real name, it has been so long...."

"So what do you remember?" Inquires Julie.

"That I come from a certain world , and that I was on a mission of some sort. Invader muses.

"A mission?" Asks Julie intrigued now.

"I had to find someone important, I finally did, but it was at the wrong time." She recollects.

"Hey are you ok?" Julie asks of the figure who is now standing before her with a dazed look.

"I am tired...very...tired...the golden sands are calling." Replies Invader staring into space.


Zombie like invader makes her way to the recliner, flops into it, then curls upon herself. Closing her eyes invader feels as though she is slowly falling and there is the sound of a faint wind billowing. When she lands she sees a desert, but not just any desert. The place is the golden desert of her home world and she is on the southern vanishing road. All around her is golden sand and silence that echos of loneliness. Wordlessly Invader summons a certain creature that guards the southern road. There is a fluttering of vast wings and an old friend comes into view. The friend is a lynx like animal named the many feathered wind, who stands near her.

"I herd you calling." The beast murmurs. "I came as fast as I could."

"Home for but a time." Invader replies. "Muninn gave me memory's key."

"So it has begun, the returning to yourself, do you know your name yet?" The creature asks.

"No I can't recall my name, though the fire fish gave me something." Invader replies.

"Ahh the amulet of letters." He replies. "That will spell out your forgotten name."

"How do I use it?" Invader ponders.

"You need to break it in half." The beast answers in a soft voice. "When you do so, letter like parts will fall out, only then can you puzzle out your name."

"How long will that take?" Questions Invader.

"Short as a moment, long as eternity." He replies sphinx like. "Now you must return, to whence you came."

The creature departs in a flurry of wings, a single feather falls down that touches her causing Invader to fall into a dreamless slumber. Later on Invader wakes to find Julie hovering over her in a concerned manner, there is a blanket draped over her. She is in a most unfamiliar room and that startles her at first, but she quickly adjusts to her surroundings. It seems as though she has been moved to some sort of medical ward in the building. Why she was brought here puzzles her, visiting her home world in the spirit is frightening to watch, but not harmful in the least.

"Don't scare me like that!" Julie exclaims.

"Did I frighten you?" Invader remarks calmly. "I was only being called to my home world."

"Home world?" Questions Julie. "So you are telling me you are an alien of sorts?"

"If that is the best way of putting it then yes." Replies Invader. "After all I am not of this world."

"So where exactly is home?" Julie inquires.

"I am not certain, it could be close by or very far away, depending on where the door is." Invader sighs.

"So I take it you can't go back yet?" Julie remarks.

"I have been unable to go home for 13 years." Invader sighs. "I was a prisoner, I still have nightmares of the place." "Besides I cant find the door till certain conditions are met."

"A prisoner?, I am sorry to hear that." Julie murmurs. "If you don't mind me asking what kind of nightmares? and what conditions?"

"Could we go back to your office?" Invader Inquires. "I would be far more comfortable talking there."

"I don't see why not." Offers Julie.

To be continued.

Note: Muninn is one of the legendary ravens of the Norse god Odin, the birds name translates as memory. For some reason I dreamed of this bird and was given some sort of key to unlock memories of mine.

 

[Julie Justice]

An Unexpected Friend, Part 6

Agent Justice says to one of the medical students in the medical office,"Thank you for your help." Then she and Invader leave, and walk back to Julie's office.

Julie says,"Make yourself comfortable. You already know all the good places to sit in here."

Invader goes back and sits in the recliner chair again. Julie says,"I don't know about you, but I'm a bit hungry. I'm going to make a little food."

Julie goes into her kitchenette area, and few minutes later, returns with a tray with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, on ACME Bread that she gets from the Golden Gate Market (she*chuckles* to herself every time she gets a new bag) some of the trail mix that she and Invader seem to like, and 2 bottles of water.

Julie walks over to Invader, who is sitting in the recliner and says,"I don't know if you like peanut butter and jelly? But at least have a little bit of trail mix and some water."

Invader says,"Well..it has been a wile since I've eaten..." and does take a little bit of the trail mix and water. Julie walks over to her daybed, and sets the tray down, and sits on the daybed. She says,"Now I might have to get a "coffee table" in here. I don't have guests very often."

As they begin to eat their snack, Julie turns to face Invader, and says, "Please let me explain about before. I have epilepsy. I'm OK, it's well controlled with medication. But I didn't know if you were having a seizure, and if you would "come out of it" eventually, or if you were really having some kind of problem, and since we had a medical office nearby, I called them, and them bring you there."

Invader nods and says,"It's alright. I can understand why you did that. But I assure you, I'm alright. I was having a kind of dream."
Julie is intrigued, and asks,"What kind of dream?"
Invader says,"Well, like said earlier, I'm what you might call an alien, of sorts, and when I have a dream like that.." Invader hesitates for a minute, trying to find the right words...She asks,"Do you believe all living things have a "spirit" something in them that exists after their body dies?"

Julie says,"Yes, I do."

Invader nods, and says,"Well..when I have this kind of dream, my spirit is able to go back to my home-world for a short time, and talk to creatures who give me clues to my past."

Julie is intrigued, and also a bit excited. She asks,"What is your home-world like? !! What kind of place do you visit in your dreams? !!" What kind of creatures live there? !!"

Invader says,"Well..in some ways, it is like Earth, but in other ways, it is very different. The place I usually go to is a desert with very golden sands. The creatures I usually see there are a winged lynx called the Many Feathered Wind and a raven called Munin. But I don't think they live there. They know my thoughts. I don't need to "call" them. They just seem to appear when I need them."

Julie gets up, goes over to her computer, and does a little quick research. She nods and says, "Yes, it says here that both the raven and the winged lynx are associated with foretelling the future. And the lynx is associated with knowing secrets, clairvoyance, and sometimes speaking in riddles, like a sphynx."

Invader says,"Yes. When I was there just now, I told the lynx creature that I haven't been able to open the amulet that the fire fish gave me, that will help me spell out my name. And when I asked it how long it will take, it said, "As short as a minute, as long as an eternity." If only I could open it..I'm so close to finding all the answers."

Julie says,"I'm sorry. That sounds frustrating. You have an amulet that will help you find out your name? !! Where is it? !! Is it here? !! Is that something I can help you with? !!"

Invader says,"Well..it's the most valuable thing I have..so I don't just walk around with it all day. I Have to keep it in a safe place. I guess it would be alright to show you sometime. But please remember, you are the only person here that knows about this. I don't know if you would be allowed to help me. I think I have to figure it out myself."

Julie says,"I understand. And I promise won't tell anyone what we talked about."

Invader nods and says,"Thank you." She gets up from the recliner. She says,"Thank you for everything. But it late, and I really do have to take a nap before I go back to work."

Julie says,"Well, if you're really tired, stay here, and sleep in the chair, or on the bed..and now that I know what your dreams are like, I won't wake you up."

Invader is tempted to sit back down in the chair, and curl up, and maybe this time, it will be a dreamless sleep. But she says, "Thank you, but I feel like a need to be alone for awhile and think about things."

Julie says, "Alright, I understand. Please be careful on the long walk back downstairs. If you need anything, you know where I am. Maybe we can get together again soon."
Invader thinks for a minute,"Yes, maybe we can" and she leaves Julie's office.

 

[Invader]

( OOC) This has been most fun, thanks Julie.

 

[Invader]

I do hope to have another story soon. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

 

[Julie Justice]

( OOC) This has been most fun, thanks Julie.

Yes, It was. Thanks, Invader.