The Secert World Beside Us

Chapter 1: Kidnapped in Broad Daylight

Artemis Fowl glared at his reflection in the filthy bathroom mirror.

He knew certain precautions had to be taken so that no potential assassins or any other criminally minded individuals did not recognize him, but still, this was too much.

He should have never agreed to let Juliet give him a makeover.

The wrestling obsessed young woman had truly outdone herself (and that was not meant in a good way).

Artemis could not even recognize the boy who stared back at him in the cracked mirror, provided by the by the cheap hotel they were currently residing in.

Instead of the one blue eye and one hazel eye he was used to seeing, Juliet had forced him to wear contacts. And she just had to choose contacts that made his eyes a stunning emerald green color.

His hair was worse. Instead of being well combed back like it usually was, Juliet had more or less dumped an entire jar of hair gel on his head and spiked it in different directions, expect for one part that covered his forehead.

He now looked as though he had never even heard of a comb.

But in Artemis’s opinion, the clothes were what were compelling him to kill Juliet.

When Juliet had presented him with the clothes, Artemis had stubbornly stated that he would never be caught dead in such an outfit, which was exactly why she had chosen those clothes.

She reasoned no one would ever recognize Artemis in such clothes.

Artemis reasoned she had only chosen them to annoy him, and it was working.

Instead of his usual neat suit, Artemis was now dressed in old looking, ripped jeans and a baggy, too-large black sweater with a black t-shirt on underneath. On his feet was a pair of scuffed filthy trainers.

He scowled.

He looked like a street urchin.

But, he had to admit; no one would be able to recognize him now.

Butler was worried.

That was the first thing Artemis noted as they left the cheap hotel.

The Caucasian bodyguard rarely worried, but now he did have a good cause too.

Ever since Artemis had returned from his latest saving the world adventure, things had changed incredibly.

Artemis was now the brother of two extremely bright and mischievous twins, Myles and Beckett.

They adored him. He managed to tolerate them.

Actually, Artemis had grown fond of the twins, but he wasn’t used to children and if the twins ever found out that he actually liked them, he would never hear the end of it.

His parents had been beside themselves with joy at Artemis’s return, but he had been unable to accurately tell the truth behind his disappearance.

So, he simply settled on saying he had been kidnapped.

Immediately, Butler and his sister had been rehired and put under careful supervision.

Normally, Artemis would not bother with all the new rules and overprotection of his parents, but an event occurred that forced him to change his mind.

Actually, it was several, twenty-two to be exact, events that all had the same goal.

Kidnap Artemis Fowl II.

Fortunately, Butler and pure blind luck had saved him but now extra precautions had to be taken whenever he traveled.

Like, for instance, their trip to Britain. They had come here in order to meet Artemis’s parents and the twins who had left a week earlier than Artemis for a family vacation.

But so far was running smoothly.

Except for the small fact that Juliet had lost the location of the restaurant they were meeting Artemis’s parents at.

As they walked down a busy street, Artemis wondered why they had let Juliet carry the slip of paper with the address of the restaurant written on it.

Perhaps she wished to redeem herself for the pudding fiasco, he thought, smiling slightly at the memory. It had been funny.

Messy, sticky, and entirely out of control, but undeniably funny.

However, he couldn’t help but wish that he had brought his laptop or at least a cell phone with him.

But his mother had made it quite clear that no work and no electronics would be allowed on this vacation. The Fowl family would relax and spend quality time together. Artemis could go back to being a distant teenager after the vacation.

Butler scanned the block nervously. His bodyguard instincts were prickling; something was wrong.

“Don’t worry too much, Butler,” Artemis said in a carefully casual voice.

“On this street only every second building is a restaurant and the restaurant we’re searching for is within a thirty black radius, so that leaves us with only sixty different possibilities…”

His voice trailed off as he realized just how truly lost they were.

“Nice, Artemis,” Juliet snickered, looking as the latest fashions in a nearby shop window.

“I’m sure Dom feels so much better now.”

Artemis sent her a glare that clearly said ‘At least I’m trying so you’d better stop that or else…’.

Taking the hint, Juliet abandoned the fashions and turned towards her brother.

“Lighten up, Dom. We’ll find them. After all, we’ve got a genius to help us.”

Butler frowned at his sister. Yet here was another reason why Juliet would never make a good bodyguard. She rarely took anything seriously. The only reason she had agreed to be Artemis’s bodyguard was because she was truly worried about the boy genius.

“The longer Artemis stays out in the open like this, the better target he is for potential assassins and kidnappers.”

Juliet slapped Butler slightly on his back.

“Don’t worry. Artemis, don’t you dare get yourself kidnapped or I’ll kill you myself, understand?”

Artemis rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched slightly.

“Wonderful choices you’ve given me Juliet, stay with my kidnappers or get killed by you.”

He turned towards Butler who was once again scanning the street.

“Butler, seriously, everything will be fine. I can take care of myself now a little. Some of what you and Juliet have been attempting to teach me must have sunk in a little.”

Butler smiled slightly, feeling immensely fond of the two younger individual’s attempts to cheer him up. It was kind of them, but he would only cease worrying when Artemis was safe with his parents.

Though Artemis hid it carefully, Butler could tell the young boy could not wait to be reunited with his family for a relaxing vacation.

For the first time in years, the entire Fowl family would be spending quality time with each other.

Artemis scanned the street again for the two hundred eighteenth time. None of the names of any of the restaurants appeared to be familiar.

Then he spotted a small shop on the far left on the other side of the street called Fabled Haven.

Something stirred in his memory. The name appeared to be familiar; was it the restaurant they were searching for?

“I’m going to check that shop.” He said.

He was across the street, weaving skillfully through the cars, before Butler and Juliet could stop him. A sudden rush of traffic prevented them from following their charge.

Oblivious to the fact that Butler and Juliet had not followed him, Artemis studied the shop.

It was quite old and badly in need of a new coat of paint, preferably in a different color.

There was a sign in the window proclaiming the day’s special: Monkey Brain Soup.

This cannot be the meeting place, Artemis thought, turning away from the building.

The cardboard boxes next to the door exploded.

Startled, Artemis fell backwards, staring numbly at the burning debris.

A bomb? he thought dazedly.

No, a bomb would have caused more damage, blown off a limb or two at this distance.

Then he was aware of Butler’s and Juliet’s shouts and two men in long black coats, carrying sticks, running towards him.

“Artemis, run!” Juliet shouted desperately as Butler attempted to find a way through the heavy traffic

Blindly, Artemis got up and ran, away from the advancing men and away from Butler and Juliet.

Pushing gaping people aside, he ran, faster than he had ever run before, mentally making a note to thank Juliet later for choosing such sensible shoes.

The streetlamp exploded as he passed, causing many nearby people to scream.

An increasing number of people had realized that something was wrong, but instead of helping him, they were hindering him by standing dumbly in his way.

“Move it!” he snapped, shoving two individuals out of the way with his elbows.

Ignoring their curses and protests, he looked back hoping against hope that he was just being paranoid and no one was chasing him.

No such luck.

The men were still after him with murderous expressions of their faces and their sticks held out in front of them.

There was a flash of light and the glass of a nearby window shattered, showering him with thousands of tiny pieces of glass.

Ignoring the glass, Artemis ran on, hoping the men would give up the chase before he ran out of energy.

He turned right into an alley, hoping that he would be able to lose his pursuers in the darkness.

But the alley led to a dead end.

Trapped, he stared hopelessly at the huge brick wall blocking his way.

The sound of pounding footsteps altered him to the arrival of his pursuers.

Artemis whipped around just in time to see one of the men, the fairer one, point his stick at him and shout a strange word, possibly in Latin.

“Expelliarmus!”

Artemis felt himself fly backwards and hit the wall, hard. He slid to the ground dazed and unable to protest when his shoulders were roughly grabbed by one of the men.

“We got Potter!” a gruff voice said gleefully.

Potter? Artemis thought, disoriented.

Who’s Potter?

“Let’s get out of here before the bloody Order arrives.”

Order? What Order? What is going on?

Artemis’s stomach sank even more with dread.

“Don’t squirm, Potter,” the first voice snickered.

“Or you’ll accidentally get splinched.”

Splinched?

The hand on his shoulder tightened and suddenly Artemis felt a jerk around his navel. Panicking and unable to breathe, Artemis was just about to scream when the feeling suddenly vanished.

Opening his eyes (he hadn’t even realized that he had shut them) he saw that he was in some sort of room, not the dark alley.

Stomach drooping to what felt like the core of the earth, Artemis gulped.

He had been kidnapped in broad daylight and had no idea how it had happened.

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I have the next 3 chapters done, but too lazy to post them right now Please tell me what you think. Thanks!