OKay, this is the second time I'm writing this, and I just wanted to say, I know everyone was expecting this chapter and the second one, and everyone was mad that I haven't updated for a while. I'm sorry, and it's not right to say I was busy, because it's almost been a year, but I felt like I needed to take a break from this story. The reason for that was because I was having overflowing ideas on others. But I have lots planned for Addy and Dora, and the next chapter is in progress. :)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed on 'The Secret to Survival'. I know it wasn't so good at the beginning, but I'm going to fix it up. This one will be much better, I hope. :)

Oh, and the writing in bold is from a year before, an expert from Addy's diary, telling how she saved Andy and how she is going to save Dora.

I know some things will be off with this story and the 39 Clues series, but nothing went the way we all expected it to go. But that's what makes the series good. The unexpected happens.

So, here it is:

Chapter One: Prologue

Dora's Birthday and…

.

My name is Pandora. I know you probably already read about my cousins, Andy and Addy. I don't think I'll be as interesting as they are. I have to face it-I'll never be as good as they are, or as attractive as they are.

My mother loved the story of Pandora's Box, and how when all of the world's problems flew out, all she was left with was hope. That was what she always wanted me to remember. Have hope, Dora. That's why your name is Pandora Hope Cahill - so you will always remember...

I never knew how much that would help me in the future.

I think that I'm pretty much one color – a sort of orangey-yellow. My hair is dark blonde, which I get from my dad, but I didn't get those beautiful jade eyes like what Addy has. Or those stunning amber-jade eyes like what Andy has. I got stuck with just stupid, plain brown which is occasionally amber, depending on the light. My mom and uncle look amazing with amber eyes, but - it really doesn't really suit me, especially since I've got dishwater blonde hair.

Sure, I have my mother's face, which should make me gorgeous, but I have my dad's peachy skin. My mom has forever tried to get me to wear 'girly' clothes, like the ones that Addy wears. She doesn't understand that I don't want to try to be her, because I know I will never be her. She's beautiful, and I'm just Dora. The only thing that I suppose I'm better at than Andy and Addy are video-games. Addy is quite easy to beat, because she is so much like her parents, but Andy seemed to inherit the competitive gamer spark from my dad. I have it too, and when we're playing each other, everyone stops to watch.

I wonder if Andy's little son, Ivan, will be a gamer too. That would be fun. Andy's wife, Minnie, is quite good at video games. Hopefully, Ivan has gets that 'gamer gene' from one of them.

It's about ten months since Addy saved Andy - with the help of Amiens, of course. He visits once in a while, and caught up to all of the Cahill business. Whenever he's here, though, Addy locks herself in her room for hours. She doesn't even talk to him much when he's here. I know that must hurt his feelings. I wish I knew what happened between them (since without him, Addy wouldn't have found Andy, and I KNOW she's grateful for his help) but Addy refuses to tell. She and I are the one of the closest family members in the...well, family. Right after her mom and my dad, and they're siblings.

So there I was, on my birthday, sitting on a pillow with a controller in my hand, Andy beside me. I know that both of our faces were scrunched up, gazing intently at the television in front of us. Addy was behind us, leaning forwards. For a second, her dark-red hair blinded me. That second was what Andy used to get ahead. But, he was temporarily distracted by little Ivan's wails. Something that occurred to me once that Ivan's name could be Eye-van, and Minnie's name is Min-E, Addy's name is Ad-D, and Andy's name is An-D – and mine was just Dora. Well, anyway, however you want to pronounce his name, I was thanking the Lord for Ivan as I won the game. I smiled smugly at Andy who in return sent me a death glare.

Thank God for Ivan! I cheer in my mind as I win the game. I smile smugly at Andy, who in return sends me a deadly Lucian glare.

Addy grinned at me, and rested an elbow on Andy's head, using her strength to try to push his head down. It's surprising how much they look different.

Andy has short, black hair and light caramel-coloured skin. His eyes are jade green with flecks of amber-brown in them. His mom once said that they were even more beautiful than her eyes - which both my dad and Addy took as an insult, seeing as they all have the same eyes with a slight difference in Addy's.

Addy however, has long, red hair. I have no idea who she got it from, since Aunt Amy's is red-brown. Her skin is lighter than Andy's and her father's, but not as light as my dad and Aunt Amy's. Her eyes are magnificent jade, only a tone or two lighter than Dad's and Aunt Amy's. They are both very beautiful, in my opinion.

Amiens was here too, and so were Sabrina, Aunt Nellie and Uncle Caleb. They said that it was due time they all came for a visit. They all look so much like family.

Uncle Caleb has dark brown hair that's a little on the long side. His eyes are almost identical to Amiens' - a marvelous dark blue like the midnight sky. (I'd love to have those eyes.) Uncle Caleb is also quite the cook. He has many different nationalities, too. His mother was from France, his father Italian, and his grandmother was born and raised in Greece. His accent is mostly French, as he spent his whole life there before he moved to America, and in the process, meeting Aunt Nellie. He's also very distantly related to one of Nellie's ex's. What's his name again? Cleo? No, that's definitely not it.

Sabrina takes after her mother. She loves to dye her hair all different colours. When they were little, she and Addy didn't get along much, but now they are very close. Sabrina used to be a snobby girl, who was a few months younger than Andy - and I suspect she had a crush on him, just like a surprising number of girls did - but now she's very bubbly. Addy tells me she suspects that Sabrina's found that 'special someone'. Right now, Sabrina's hair is dark with blue streaks. She has brown eyes. She is quite pretty with high-cheekbones like her father and a wide smile that shows off all of her white teeth.

Aunt Nellie's got dark hair that falls into some wacky-hairdo that she styled it in. It really suits her. Aunt Nellie never grew out of her punk side, and sadly, passed that onto Amiens. She and Sabrina have the same dark-chocolate eyes. Aunt Nellie was a very good friend of my dad's and Aunt Amy's. She took care of them when they were younger, and she also saved them countless times. I've always loved Aunt Nellie.

Amiens was born around the time that Nellie was just getting over her obsession over Shakespeare, but she hadn't been over it completely. She named the poor boy after one of Shakespeare's characters, Amiens. That prompted a series of bullying that started from a young age. Addy met Amiens a year ago, while on a mission to save her 'dreadfully idiotic older brother', as she put it. Well, I have to hand it to her; it was a stupid idea to go after Vespers when you just found out that your wife was pregnant. It makes sense how Andy is not an Ekaterina. Aunt Amy swears that he got his 'quick thinking' from my dad, his Uncle Dan. Of course, my dad's 'quick thinking' mostly always left Aunt Amy and him into very sticky situations, and she says that it's thanks to her quick thinking that got them out. Amiens is someone whom we Americans call 'emo'. I taught Addy that word, and I regretted it. He had already tried to end his life once, but thank god that he failed.

Addy told me she once that she now hates all Owens in the world and begged Andy not to name his son that. Andy really wanted to name Ivan that, but changed his mind after Addy 'nicely' shrieked at him and nearly beat him up with her high-heeled shoe. Don't ask. She hadn't explained why she hates the name Owen.

The second time that Amiens nearly died, he swore was an accident. There, Addy learned that in America, the number was nine-one-one.

And then Sabrina blamed Addy, and somehow they were friends after that. I found it strange.

Why did Addy keep avoiding Amiens? Maybe it had to do with an 'Owen'?

I have to ask Amiens what's going on, I decided.

So I went after him. I swore I saw him enter the maze. I knew that Sabrina and Amiens loved the maze. They said it was a good way for them to test their Ekaterina knowledge. So I ran after him.

How was I supposed to know that he was long gone, already finding a shortcut in which he followed, resulting on him already being in the middle of the maze while I had just started? How was I to know that Vespers were inside that very maze, trying to find him, but found me instead?

I didn't.

And I realized, as I was knocked unconscious, that I had walked right into their trap.

"I hate you," I spat at the person before me.

"All Cahills hate Vespers," Slasher answered.

I glared, then thought of a good comeback.

"Well, my grandfather Arthur was a Vesper, and he fell in love with my grandmother Hope," I said. "She loved him too, and they had my father and his older sister Amy." Then I thought of something else. "My other grandmother was a Vesper too, and I don't think that she hated her children."

Slasher looked like he wanted to hit me, but thankfully, he wasn't allowed to.

"I don't know why we have to keep you alive," he growled, "or why we can't just duct-tape your mouth closed."

I grin. "I know why. Because your boss gave you strict orders. Keep me alive."

He smirked then. "But then again, he said nothing about duct-taping your mouth."

I bet that Addy and Andy wouldn't have my luck. Andy would know when to keep his mouth shut, and Addy would talk them out of it.

So here I am - in a cage like the pandas at the zoo, with my mouth taped shut and metal cuffs around my hands and feet. Dirt is on every inch of my body, and my hair is a mess.

I am a caged panda. But I am not without hope.

You know about me. You know my name, and who my parents are. My life - but that does NOT mean you know who I am. What I would do. You do not know me.

I wish I could say that to these Vespers. Most of all, to Slasher.

I hate him.

I hate him.

I hate him.

Maybe even as much as Addy hates Owens for a remarkably unknown reason because Addy cannot keep secrets unless they are really important.

I am Dora though. I am stupid. I am NOT brave.

Just plain, ugly, video-game obsessed Dora, stuck in a cage. Like a caged Panda that you can see in zoos. Like that. Just like that.

…Addy In America

10 Months Before

Hello Big D,

It's Addy. In America. I never thought that I would go here without anyone with me. Sure, I planned to...in the future, but NOT to save my idiot of a brother Andy.

He's SOOO stupid!

Mum says that I have to be the one to look for him in America. She or Uncle Dan would go, but Dan wants to stay to protect his daughter if the Vespers become a threat to her. He wants us all to stay together, so Dan, Dora and Natalie are currently staying in our guest rooms in our London home. Mum is depressed over losing Andy. She can't go anywhere. Liz Jacobs has gone to help her out. They used to be quite close when Minnie and Andy were kids.

Dad doesn't feel good leaving her, or letting me go in his place, but Nellie swore she's make sure no harm came to me.

Yes, Nellie. Nellie Gomez, now Parks.

Oh right. And now that Minnie's pregnant, she needs Mum and Liz even more, AND Andy, but the git-boy was too frightened at the aspect of becoming a father, so he got Langley to send him on a mission, in hopes of clearing his mind. He didn't plan on getting kidnapped, but hey, no one ever does, do they?

So I called Langley. I ordered him to give me information on the whereabouts of my brother, but he didn't know where he was.

What good is that boy these days?

He did tell me something useful though. :) That's my Lucian grin. (I wish I was a Lucian instead of a Madrigal. But since Andy's got the serum, HE gets to be the Lucian in the family.) Well, anyways, the useful thing he told me was: Open up Andy's 'The Secret to Survival' and READ!

So I did.

I hacked into his computer. The password was easy to break (GET-AWAY-FROM-MY-COMPUTER-ADDY!). I opened up his Word Documents, and sure enough I saw 'The Secret to Survival' by Alexander Cahill. And I read.

I don't understand HOW the baboon (Andy) saw me, that's for sure. I'm magnificent, but I regrettably must say I cannot go back in time. Insert Lucian sigh here.

When I was done reading, and I was about to exit out of it, a message popped up.

DONE READING ADDY?

I blinked, and clicked 'yes'.

Another message popped up:

GOOD. IF YOU'RE READING THIS, THAT MEANS I'VE DISAPPEARED OR DIED. RIGHT?

There were two choices, 'RIGHT!' or 'LEFT!'.

Andy was so weird. I clicked 'RIGHT'.

OH. WELL IN THAT CASE, TELL EVERYONE I'M SORRY.

There was no choice for that, but the next message popped up soon after.

ESPECIALLY MINNIE!

I grinned.

WELL ADDY, MY LAST MISSION WAS TO FIND THE SERUM HOLDERS. I MUST TELL YOU I CAN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING YET...IN CASE VESPERS ARE READING THIS TOO. SO, SORRY ABOUT THIS.

A blinking red message showed up.

VERIFY THAT YOU ARE ADRIENNE GRACE CAHILL! THREE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED CORRECTLY OR NO INFORMATION WILL BE GIVEN.

I started to panic. What type of questions were these?

Sorry Big D, but I can't tell you any of the questions because they were VERY embarrassing and were about what I did when I was young. No need to embarrass myself. :)

I answered all of them correctly, and the message was:

GO VISIT AMERICA, WOULD YOU? YOUR ENEMIES' MOTHER SHOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU.-ANDY

I sure knew what he meant. My enemies were Amiens and Sabrina Parks. It's a long story, so it shall be considerably shortened.

Amiens thought it would be funny to lock me in a closet. So he got Sabrina and Langley in on it, and they together locked me in a closet for five hours until my parents saw I was missing. I was six years old. My parents were cooing over Andy and Minnie's relationship (I thought it was disgusting at that time.) so they didn't notice that their angel was gone for quite a long time.

I was LOCKED in a EXTREMELY small room, for FIVE HOURS, in the DARK, with a strange ANIMAL! I still have no idea what that animal was.

I was screaming my lungs off, and banging on the door as Sabrina, Amiens, Langley and my family stuffed their faces with food and forgot all about me.

Until beautiful, kind, amazing Dora cried for her cousin to come play with her.

Thank God for Dora, because as soon as my parents noticed that I was not playing with the butler, or the cook, or the maid or any of the people who worked for us, Sabrina broke and told them where they had locked me. The (insert inappropriate word here) had TOTALLY forgot that they had locked me up in a CLOSET for FIVE freaking hours!

And from then on, I was claustrophobic.

Now enough about my past. Here I am, just getting off of the plane, waiting to see Aunt Nellie for the first time since that 'incident'. She and Sabrina know everything about Andy being missing, but... :}-my Lucian SMIRK.

Little Amiens Parks has NO CLUE.

This is the perrrr-fect time for my revenge.

Excuse my evil talk. Jet Lag has finally gotten the better of me.

Before I start to sound like Isabel Kabra, I'd best go.

--ADRIENNE

Who is Slasher? you wonder.

Well, he's an idiot. And a Vesper. And also a disgusting, old man.

Okay, maybe not that old—maybe around his forties—but he's evil. EVIL, I tell you!

He really enjoys his knives. And he has scars on his face and hands that I just assumed came from them. He's pretty good at handling them too. He's better than any Cahill I've seen at them.

Did I just say that? I practically complimented a Vesper!

Maybe sitting alone in this cage is getting to me.

So, the second chapter will arrive in about two weeks time. ;) Sorry again for the delay.

HunterofLight123