Believe

by Katie Holland

  “And what’s that?”

  “You agreed to be my girlfriend,” he said with a huge grin.

  Alix had to laugh at his enthusiasm. “I don’t know how I forgot that one,” she said laughing. “Now, can we try some of this food that your mom made?”

  Ben laughed. “You got me; mom helped. But yes, we can eat. Leave room for dessert though.”

  They each grabbed a sandwich and some chips.

  “This was a really great idea Ben,” Alix said a little while later.

  “Thank you. Are you ready for dessert?”

  “I think I’m always ready for dessert,” Alix said with a laugh.

  Ben grinned at her. “Hang on and I’ll be right back.” He got up and left the room. When he came back, he had two bowls of ice cream with him. “And dessert is served,” he said re-joining Alix on the blanket.

  Alix took a bite. “This is from Lyla’s,” she said smiling.

  “Only the best for my girl,” he grinned at her.

  “Did you go get this yourself?” Alix asked.

  “Yeah, just before I came to pick you up.”

  “Did you say hi to Sara? I know she works on Sunday.”

  “She wasn’t there,” Ben told her.

  “That’s strange, I know she just started and there’s no way she’d miss work already. Maybe she’s sick. I’m going to give her a call.”

  Alix got out her phone and tried Sara. No answer. Then she called Lyla’s.

  “Lyla’s Café, this is Karin how can I help you?”

  “Karin, it’s Alix.”

  “Oh, hi Alix, what can I do for you?”

  “Did Sara come in to work today?”

  “No, that’s why I’m here helping out. I know Lyla tried to call her, but she didn’t answer. Is everything okay?”

  “I’m starting to think that maybe it’s not. She was here last night but never texted me when she got home, and I haven’t heard from her since. I need to call Kris. Let me know if you hear from her.”

  “I will. Good luck Alix.”

  “I only caught part of that, but can I assume that we don’t know where Sara is?” Ben asked.

  “Yes. I’m going to call Kris.”

  Alix dialed his number. He picked up right away. She told him everything she knew. He was going to get the Warriors to check it out and was coming straight over to the house. Alix hung up.

  “I’m worried,” she told Ben.

  “We need to tell everyone here what’s going on. I’ll go get everybody and you call Shay. Meet in the kitchen.”

  “Okay,” Alix said.

  She called Shay and explained the situation. Alix was going to send a Warrior to go get Shay. Under no circumstances was she going to let Shay out of the house by herself. Alix went to the kitchen to wait for everyone. She was pacing when Ben got there.

  “I should have known something was wrong when she didn’t text me last night,” Alix said to him.

  “This is not your fault,” Ben said hugging her. “We don’t even know what happened for sure. Let’s just wait until we hear from Kris and see what the Warriors learn. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Alix relaxed a little into Ben’s arms.

  Shay was the last one to arrive in the kitchen. Alix told everyone the situation. No one said a word. She was pretty sure they were all thinking the same thing. The Grynn.

  “Kris and the Warriors are going to investigate and then we’ll know more. So, until we know what’s happening no one leaves this property,” Alix told them.

  They all agreed. Rick started checking in with the other Nykara in Sunset Creek they knew. So now all they could do was wait.

  “Before you even say it, you hate waiting,” Shay said to Alix. Despite the situation Alix had to smile at her. “You know, baking is always a good way to pass the time.”

  “I think that you two only want me around for my skills in the kitchen,” Alix said trying to hide her smile.

  “Well that and your superior popcorn popping abilities,” Shay said with a straight face.

  Alix couldn’t hold back her smile any longer. “I love you Shay. You can always make me smile no matter what is going on.”

  “I love you too,” Shay said. “Now get to work and start baking.”

  Alix needed something to occupy her until they knew more about Sara, so she took Shay’s advice and started making her Alix Cookie. As she was taking the first batch out of the oven Kris and a couple of Warriors walked into the kitchen. Everyone stopped what they were doing. It was Kris that spoke to them.

  “We checked the house. There’s no sign of her car and the house was empty. As you know we have trackers on everyone’s phones. We tracked where her phone went. After she left here, she went back to the house and stayed there all night. It appears she left early this morning and went to Bozeman. Her phone signal shows that she’s still there. I have a team on the way as we speak. They’ll let me know the minute they get to where the signal is coming from. They should be there in the next thirty minutes.”

  Alix was not liking the direction this was headed. She could understand why Sara might have needed to go to Bozeman but the fact that her phone signal was still in Bozeman made her worry a lot. She tried to focus on making the cookies, but she had a really bad feeling about Sara.

  Was it her fault for getting closer to Sara and asking her to move to Sunset Creek? Maybe it would have been better if she’d never offered to help her. Then at least she’d be safe and away from the Grynn.

  “Stop it,” Ben whispered in her ear.

  “Huh?”

  “Whatever it is your thinking, stop it. None of this is your fault.”

  “But …”

  “No Alix. If anything has happened to Sara, it will not be your fault at all. And it could be nothing. Maybe she had a date with someone from school.”

  “You don’t really believe that, do you?” Alix asked.

  “No. But I can still hope.”

  The kitchen was quiet. The only sounds were Alix finishing the cookies. When Kris’s phone rang everyone jumped. He didn’t say much and ended the conversation with “Gather everything you can and meet me back at the safe house.” He turned to the group and said, “They found Sara’s car at the University. Her purse and backpack were both inside, as well as her phone. The Warrior team is going to search the area, but it doesn’t look good. I’m sorry Alix.”

  Chapter 7

  Alix took a few deep breaths and tried to clear her mind. Feeling any strong emotion wasn’t going to help her right now. She pushed back her worry and fear and focused on looking for a solution. Once she could focus, she had an idea.

  “I need to go to the Map room,” Alix said to the room.

  She didn’t wait for a response and practically ran to the stairs. In that moment, she wished the room of rooms was a lot easier to get to. She made the door and went down the stairs to the brown door. When she was in the Map room, she took a moment to breathe. She closed her eyes and thought about Sara. She was hoping she could locate her, because if she couldn’t it would be bad.

  Alix focused on Sara and sent her magic out hoping it would locate her. It felt like a wave flowing out from her. She concentrated on Sara’s voice and face. Her magic was picking up hints of other Nykara but not Sara. Alix expanded her search to the whole state of Montana and beyond but there was still no sign of Sara.

  “I’ve got nothing,” Alix said, pulling her magic back. “We need to call Ruth and see if anyone else has gone missing. I have a really bad feeling about this.”

  As soon as they got back to the second floor, she called Ruth.

  “Hello,” Ruth said.

  “We have a problem. Sara is missing. For some reason she drove to Bozeman early this morning. We had a team go look for her. They found her car with her purse and phone still inside. I’ve tried searching for her with my magic, but I can’t find her. Have there been any other disappearances?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. But we need to find o
ut. I’ll call Shelley and have her start making more calls. I have a feeling we’re not going to get good news on this.”

  “Let me know as soon as you hear something,” Alix told her.

  “You as well Alix.”

  “Will do. Bye.” Alix hung up looking grim. “Rick, have you checked in with everyone in Sunset Creek?”

  “Yes, everyone is accounted for except Sara,” he told her.

  “Okay, so we need to brainstorm and try to figure out what Sara was doing. Kris, when is the team going to be back here with Sara’s car and phone?”

  “Most likely within the next hour.”

  “I’ll want to inspect everything with magic when they get here. I’m sure they’ve already done that, but it’ll make me feel better if I can do it myself,” Alix said.

  “I understand,” Kris said. “I’ll let you know the minute they get back here.” Kris left to make a call.

  The rest of the group broke up. Alix, Shay, Ben, and Logan went to Ben’s room to wait.

  “What good is it to be the Chosen One when I can’t even find my friend?” Alix said, pacing the room.

  “If your magic can’t locate her then the Grynn must have taken her to a place like the island, right?” Shay asked.

  “I guess,” Alix said. “Or maybe, they’ve found a way to cloak individual people. I wish we knew more about them.”

  “Alix, maybe there is a way,” Ben said. “The white room you just discovered.”

  “Of course. You’re a genius,” Alix said excitedly.

  “What’s the white room?” Shay asked.

  On the way to the room of rooms, Alix told Shay about her night and learning about the white room. When they opened the white door, Melodie was there just like before.

  “How can I help the Kaelneth and her friends?” she asked them.

  “Melodie, we need to learn some more information about the Grynn. Is there a section here dedicated to them?”

  “Of course. Follow me.”

  The four of them followed her to a space that was almost a separate room.

  “This contains all the books and scrolls pertaining to the Evil Ones. Alix, you know what to do. It will work for your friends as well. Just call if you need me,” she said and disappeared.

  “Okay guys, all you have to do is think about what you want to know. The more specific you can get in your thoughts the better it will work. The magic will guide you. Remember, we’re trying to learn more about the Grynn and what hidden places or abilities they might have. Any questions?”

  They shook their heads, so Alix closed her eyes and thought about what she wanted to know. She was most interested in if anyone had ever documented any hidden locations like the island, so that’s what she concentrated on. She felt the instant her magic found something for her to look at. When she opened her eyes, she saw the same glow on a book as last time. She took it off the shelf and went to the table that was just steps away. She looked at the book in her hands and it appeared to be another journal, but this one had no name on the outside and didn’t look as old as the last one.

  Opening the cover, she saw a name on the inside, Joyce Barney. She flipped to the first page and found out it was a journal for sure.

  ****

  Aug 15, 1975 - Texas

  I decided to start writing down all the things I’ve been learning and seeing. I recently joined an elite team of Warriors that have been tasked with finding secret Grynn locations. We’ve been at it for a month and have yet to find one. We’re currently in Texas on the trail of one of the upper levels Grynn. No matter where we track him, we can’t ever get ahead of him. It’s like he just disappears into thin air. Tomorrow we’re going to follow up on another lead. We’re determined to find and stop them.

  ****

  Sept 2, 1975

  We finally had some success. We located a hidden Grynn base. We’d been watching a building in Dallas for the last week. It appeared to be an ordinary business in the middle of an industrial complex, but it was some kind of home base for their soldiers. We knew there were Grynn coming and going and it took some careful investigative work to learn what was going on. One of my teammates was able to cloak himself and slip inside. It was like a full military base contained in one building. Once we had the intel, we coordinated an attack on the building with our fellow Warriors. Luck was on our side and we captured almost fifty Grynn. Unfortunately, the leader escaped us. We are questioning all the prisoners and are hoping to get more information as to other locations.

  ****

  Oct 25, 1975 – Argentina

  One of the tips from the Dallas raid has led us to the province of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. We are currently on the very tip of the country. It’s very isolated here. There are no towns and only a handful of small villages. We have to be extremely careful not to be seen and must remain cloaked at all times. Our Commander has been using a Map room to help us locate the Grynn base, but they are coming up with nothing. It’s as if it should be here but it’s as cloaked as we are. The team is spread out searching for any sign of Grynn activity.

  ****

  Oct 30, 1975

  The team located and destroyed the base we’d been searching for. The Grynn have found a way to conceal buildings from our sight and our magic. We only discovered it after tracking a lone Grynn and watching him disappear into the trees. There has to be a better way to find these hidden places. We need to get ahead of them and not always be one step behind.

  ****

  Alix wanted to keep reading but her phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Alix, the team has returned,” Kris told her. “We’ll be in the garage.”

  “I’ll meet you there,” she said, and hung up. “Guys, they’re back with Sara’s car.”

  Everyone closed the books they were looking at and left them on the table. They went up the stone staircase and down to the main floor. The garage was located at the far end of the house, so it took them several minutes to finally get there from the room of rooms. Kris and about six Warriors were waiting for them when they got there.

  Alix had never searched an object for Grynn magic before, but she was going to approach it the same as when she searched for their traps. Her magic flowed from her and touched every piece of the car, both inside and out. She concentrated on anything that might feel like the Grynn.

  After a good five minutes she found nothing in the car. She did the same for Sara’s belongings and again came up with nothing.

  “There has to be a way to find out something,” Alix said frustrated. “The Map room is useless since my magic can’t find her and there’s no clues from her car. What are we going to do?”

  No one had any idea at the moment which was even more frustrating.

  “I think we should go back to the white room,” Logan said. “And I think we should bring something to write down what we learn. I was just starting to get into what I was reading when we had to come up here.”

  “I agree,” Ben said. I think there’s a lot of potential information we can get from the white room.

  “Okay,” Alix agreed. “Kris, let me know if anything changes. You and your team are more than welcome to stay here or do whatever you need to do.”

  Kris nodded and they left the garage. After a quick stop by their classroom, they were back in the white room. Alix opened Joyce Barney’s journal and started where she left off.

  ****

  Dec 4, 1975 - Canada

  We’ve been able to locate two more cloaked and hidden Grynn buildings, but unfortunately, they were only storage places. But on a good note, Captain Hines has figured out how to find them if we are within a few miles of the building. Our magic can be sent out in small rapid bursts that can temporarily disrupt the cloaking magic they use. By doing that we can pinpoint where the building is, getting rid of all the guesswork and with a lower chance of being seen while tracking a Grynn. The last one we found was in Northern Ontario. It was even trickier to navigate with all the
snow. We had to find a way to conceal our footprints in the snow as we walked. I came up with the idea of making the snow fill in each footprint even as your foot was stepping to the next spot. It did nothing to hide where you were currently standing but at least we couldn’t be followed. I don’t know where we’ll be heading next.

  ****

  Feb 27, 1976

  Our last mission was a complete failure. Somehow the Grynn found us without our knowledge. They ambushed us and only three of us survived. The Commander has put us on desk duty, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to the field. Even after a month we don’t know how they found us. It was terrible. I saw my friends reduced to ashes right in front of me. The only reason the three of us survived was because we were the best at making the strongest shields. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have your protective shields at maximum strength when hunting the Grynn.

  ****

  Alix closed the journal and made a couple of quick notes about what Joyce had learned. The part about the trick to finding the hidden buildings was particularly interesting. She put the book back on the shelf.

  As she was reading, she’d realized that she needed to shift her focus and see if there was anything in the books that would help her find Sara. She walked to a different section of the white room and found a tiny leather book that was glowing. She grabbed it and returned to where the others were. There was no date in this book, but it didn’t seem really old. In fact, it looked like something she would get at a dollar store but nicer. She looked for a name, but she couldn’t find one. She started reading.

  ****

  If you are reading this then greetings Kaelneth, for only the Chosen One could find this book when the time was right. I see you have discovered the wonders of the white room. I have personally placed this book there for you alone to find. What you are about to read is a detailed description of a vision I had that is meant for you. I pray that you find this in time to find your friend.