by Talia Haze
Chapter Three
The Cellar
Uncle Harrison sat hunched on the steps as we entered the park. I looked quickly to my basket, silently tallying the items. He never before waited for our return when we went to market. I had to be in trouble. But what did I do? I couldn’t think of a thing. Aunt Beth rarely complained to him, even when I was outright defiant. Even so, she had no quarrel with me; I was obediently returning with the food she asked for. Ryan’s brown eyes met mine.
“Perhaps he has a present for you,” he said, smiling weakly. Sean’s face just became concerned. Uncle Harrison rose as we approached. He clutched something small and blue in his hand. I couldn’t tell what it was.
We stood uncomfortably at a distance, so he stalked towards us. At first, I thought he was smiling, but no. The large scowl on his face made my heart thump in my chest.
“What’s this?” Uncle Harrison tossed the object at me. I fumbled but caught the bowl. Was it a trick? It was just a bowl. I rubbed my fingers over it. It wasn’t even one of Aunt Beth’s nice ones; just a simple bowl that Anna used for me...
Uncle Harrison watched my face fall. “Your supper bowl, perhaps? After I specifically told you last night that your punishment was no supper.” Uncle Harrison smacked the bowl from my hands, and it shattered on the stone path. I hung my head in shame. Did he have to reprimand me in front of the boys? A few tears fell upon the ground below me, but Uncle Harrison wasn’t finished.
“Where do you suppose I found this bowl, Gabriella?”
My old room!
I turned to run, but a moment too late. I cried out as the back of Uncle Harrison’s hand came into hard contact with my face. The force from the blow knocked the basket from my hands and spun me around. Sean and Ryan jumped between us, but they were so much smaller than he was. Uncle Harrison simply pushed Ryan into the dirt and grabbed Sean by his collar, tossing him into the step.
“In a room where I told you specifically not to go!” Uncle Harrison picked me up by my hair, pulling me into the house. I walked quickly alongside him on my toes, trying to relieve the stress on my scalp. “What will it take for you to learn respect?”
Aunt Beth stood by the door, summoned by my screams. She jumped aside as Uncle Harrison pulled me up the steps. “My food!” she cried, upon seeing the contents of my basket spilled in the dirt.
Uncle Harrison was relentless. The loss was his fault, but blind rage completely consumed him. He smacked me again, sending me skidding into the house. I fell just out of his reach and my shaky hands searched for the floor as I tried to regain balance. Jessica stood at the top of the staircase, pale and trembling. The whole family was in danger with Uncle Harrison in a temper.
I found my footing, but Uncle Harrison found my hair. I cried out and pulled desperately at his strong fingers wrapped around the strands. “You are so ungrateful for everything I give you! For everything I have sacrificed…!”
He raised his hand once more, but Sean was close behind. He reached around Uncle Harrison’s raised arm, holding fast and using his weight to bring it down.
“Stop!” he demanded. “You’ll hurt her!”
Uncle Harrison was infuriated. Releasing me, he struggled with Sean for only a few seconds before freeing himself from Sean’s grasp. I crawled backwards on my hands and feet towards Ryan. Sean stood tall before him, glaring into his eyes, but Uncle Harrison was not the least bit intimidated. He grabbed Sean by the collar and pulled him close.
“You wish to stand before me, Monster?” Uncle Harrison asked in a guttural tone. “Are you feigning to be a man?” Sean’s face contorted in alarm, but he held eye contact. “Then, brace yourself like one.”
Uncle Harrison drew his fist back and sent it quickly into Sean’s stomach. I closed my eyes and leaned into Ryan at the sound. Sean bellowed, falling over his knees in pain. Uncle Harrison reached around him, opening the cellar door. With a strong kick, Sean fell down the stairs. “Remember your place, Beast!”
Ryan’s grip around me tightened and I looked up. Uncle Harrison wasn’t yet finished with me. He pulled me from Ryan’s hands, and smacked me down again. I crawled on my knees towards the stairs. Uncle Harrison’s foot connected with my side and I rolled, the back of my head smacking against the doorframe. My heart skipped in panic as I started to tumble. Ryan quickly scrambled around Uncle Harrison and jumped over me on the stair, turning and stopping my fall.
“You will stay in there until the end of time!”
Uncle Harrison slammed the door, the sound echoing against the walls. Soon after sounded the hard slam of the iron bar. I slowed my breath, listening to Uncle Harrison’s heavy footsteps fade deeper into the house. Then, stillness.
I breathed in deeply and trembled uncontrollably. The anxiety running through my veins kept the pain at bay. It was going to be a good day. It was supposed to be a good day.
“I’m done with this, Sean,” Ryan complained as he collapsed at Sean’s side. Sean closed his eyes as he winced. “It’s time.”
I sat on the other side of Sean. “Time for what?” I asked. “At least down here, he can’t get us.”
“Because a door is so safe?” Ryan retorted. His eyes traveled the room, stopping on the tunnel to the crypt. “And pray, Bittersweet! What will we do if our mighty door should fail us?”
“I don’t want to go in there,” I objected. Why would he make such a cruel suggestion? He knew I was afraid of it.
Ryan was just as annoyed and rolled his eyes. “I’m more afraid of Uncle Harrison than your imaginary spirit friends...”
“Come on, Gabby.” Sean finally intervened, opening his eyes. He turned to me and gently pushed my hair from my eyes to check my face. A pit formed in my stomach when he quickly looked away. I wondered what made him so distraught. I didn’t feel much pain in my face; the pain in my arms and knee from the tumble distracted me.
“Ryan’s right. He might come back when Aunt Beth starts up about her dinner party food. At least there will be places to hide in the crypt.”
They were all too right. The iron bar suddenly rattled. My heart thumped, but Sean was instantly to his feet. “Run!”
I had no choice. Sean gripped my hand tightly and he led us into the blackness of the tunnel. Ryan and I couldn’t see a thing, but Sean’s dragon eyes carefully navigated us through the darkness. Uncle Harrison’s torchlight soon faded from the walls. The air became thin and the wind blew my hair back. The tunnel opened up. We were in the crypt.
I clutched Sean tighter. He quietly led us deeper inside, steering us around or over obstructing objects. Finally, he pulled us to a sit, leaning our backs against a wall.
“Be still.” I could barely hear Sean’s quiet voice. “I doubt Uncle Harrison will come this far looking for us, but if he does, he won’t find us unless we make noise.”
We sat in the cool for several minutes before light broke the darkness. We were alert in an instant. The light became stronger, brighter. Soon, it filled the room. I shifted.
The crypt was much less frightening when it was concealed with darkness. In the light, the stone tombs were menacing. Some were open, others were cracked and broken. Pieces of tattered clothes lay scattered about among several bones.
The crypt soon became the least of my concerns.
“Gabriella!” Uncle Harrison appeared, holding a torch in one hand and wielding a whip in the other. I pressed my hand hard over my mouth. Sean tightened his grip around us. He had placed us between an overturned tomb and the crypt’s wall. The tomb’s bottom was eroded in places, but the entirety was covered with sheer grave linens. Decent, Sean. Because Uncle Harrison was lit, we could see him through the tiny holes easily. But because we sat in darkness, he wouldn’t be able to see us through the corroded bottom.
“Gabriella! Sean! Ryan!” Uncle Harrison searched around the tombs and under the rotting wooden tables. “You cannot hide forever! Come out, this instant!” After a few more minutes of searching, Uncle Harrison turned back down the
tunnel. “You’ll get hungry sometime! Be assured I will be waiting when that happens!”
With that, he stormed down the tunnel, leaving us again in a blanket of darkness. We sat in the silence for nearly half an hour before Sean pulled us to stand. “He’s gone. Wait here.” Sean put my hand into Ryan’s, who immediately began to push and pull my arm in the darkness, trying to scare me.
Sean’s quiet footsteps faded as he wandered around the dark crypt. My eyes searched the blackness for his shape. They were adjusted enough that I could make out the tombs nearest to me, but nothing further in the room. I feared a face other than Sean’s suddenly emerging from the gloom. I feared him suddenly crying out or not answering all. Or even worse – Uncle Harrison hiding in the shadows…only pretending to have left.
“Oi!” Ryan suddenly remarked, pulling his hand from mine. I didn’t realize how tightly I gripped it. “Let go then, if you mean to break my hand!”
Sean inhaled deeply behind us. I spun around as he blew fire to the torches he made from old grave linens. I sighed with relief as the light slowly illuminated the room. Sean handed Ryan the other torch, and the two explored.
“We can only stay down here for so long,” I whispered. The boys didn’t even turn to me. I rubbed the edges of the tomb I leaned on, scratching my palms on the stone. “The longer we stay, the angrier he gets.” I paused, replaying each mistake in detail. Hannah called me. I left the bowl. I didn’t even close the door. It was my fault. I had been so careless! Oh, if only I had just gone to my servants’ room to begin with!
“I am so sorry! This is all my fault!”
“Don’t you be sorry, Gabby,” Ryan replied. “We should have done it a long time ago.”
I started. His tone never sounded so harsh. “Done what?” I repeated. Ryan didn’t answer. “What are you talking about?”
“We think we should just leave in the middle of the night, like Angel did,” Sean replied, not turning to me. “Just leave.”
“Just leave?”
The words sounded so strange leaving my mouth. Leave? I held my hand to my throat. My heart beat so violently I could feel it in my neck. He wanted to leave our home? How could we survive? Who would take care of us? Where would we stay?
“We can’t!” I cried out. I was so upset that my voice sounded strange. “We can’t just leave!”
“You’d rather stay here with him then, Bittersweet?” Ryan snorted, kicking at a rusted bar. “We’re already working; at least we’ll get paid if we go elsewhere. We’ll be fine.”
Would we? We certainly could. Sean could always burn the cellar door down. We could always dodge Uncle Harrison, and we could certainly outrun him. But then what? What would our benefactor think?
He didn’t watch. He wouldn’t know. Would he be sad to have lost his friend’s children? Perhaps not. He didn’t even know that Angel was gone. Kisses to the seraphs. Why give us kisses if he didn’t care? We couldn’t leave!
I wouldn’t leave. It was my home. I wouldn’t leave my family, however flawed it was. I daydreamed a lot, certainly, but I had no fancies of escape. No outlandish prayers of being rescued ever escaped my lips. If I was obedient, I would be content. I understood that. I knew if I just did it, I would be happy. I didn’t want to go. I wanted Aunt Beth to love me, I wanted Jessica to play with me and I wanted Hannah to take me places. But I didn’t want to go. Couldn’t that be an option?
“But what about Angel?” I searched for an excuse. The boys only briefly turned to me.
“What about her?” Ryan asked. “She was the smart one. And remember? Uncle Harrison only looked for a few hours after she left. If life were so terrible out there, why has she been gone for near four years?”
“But what if she came back while we were gone? She’d be all alone here!”
“Just imagine you’re in one of your tales, Gabriella,” Sean encouraged, still not facing me. I pulled my hair before my face, trying to cover the bruises that must’ve formed. He hadn’t looked at me since we were locked inside the cellar. “We will leave this horrible place, go on an adventure, and find our own happily ever after.”
And what was happily ever after? Could I not have one at home? Leaving was certainly not what I had in mind when I made myself the heroine in my own tales.
Ryan glared at my hesitation. “We are leaving, Gabby. And we promised to stay together. That’s that. Make your peace.”
I collapsed to a sit. What a time to throw that in my face. It was true, if they left, I would follow. I had to, they were all I had. I thought about when Angel left. Sean had taken us to the crags in an attempt to console me.
“I won’t leave you,” Ryan had said. I was so upset and couldn’t be convinced.
“Ever?” I replied. “So, we will always be together always?”
Sean just laughed. Ryan reached across Sean and grabbed my hand. “Always,” he confirmed. “We should never ever split up.”
“Listen,” Sean put his arms around us, “we each have our own path, but we shall always be together, here.” Sean touched our chests. “In our hearts. Always.”
“Always?” asked Ryan.
“Do you promise?” I demanded. Sean sighed but his smile didn’t vanish.
“I promise.”
Chapter Four
The Empty Blackness of the Unknown
I jumped with a start when Ryan tugged my arm. “Hey Gabby,” he repeated. “Look what Sean found!”
Sean stood against a tomb with a leather packet that was full of papers and parchment. It looked nearly identical to the one Aunt Beth kept upstairs for her letters. Ryan and I sat on either side of him as he read.
“Look here!” Sean handed me a sketch. The man’s eyes were dark and piercing. It was like he stared right at me. The woman seemed lifelike as well, only her eyes were more forgiving. “These were your parents.”
“Renard and Syrah of Tashin.” I brushed my fingers over the page. Such a strange feeling...I couldn’t remember them, but they felt so familiar. I could feel my father's square hand on my back, I could feel my mother combing her hands through my hair. I could hear his voice; her laugh...
“Oh, Gabby.” Sean’s face suddenly went white as he read the next scroll silently. I gave a quick glance to Ryan. Sean crumpled to the floor, the paper in his hands shaking violently because he trembled so much.
“Sean…?”
“Let me have it, then!” Ryan held his hand out, but Sean pulled the paper away.
“Just…just give me a moment,” he said. I had never seen Sean so unsettled. So, we sat and waited in silence. Sean kept squeezing his narrow eyes tight as he read, trying to regain his composure. Ryan shifted impatiently as Sean read the paper silently over and over.
“Gabby,” he finally said. “This is a record.”
“Of what? Good news or bad?” Ryan demanded. Sean looked up at him, just a hint of tears in his eyes.
“Ryan, I don’t know.”
“All right, Dragonboy, hand it here, now.” Ryan finally snatched the paper from Sean, who just hung his head. “I’ll read.”
Sean took my hands as Ryan read the paper aloud. As traders, my parents, Renard and Syrah of Tashin were unable to provide a safe home for their baby twins on the road. So, after traveling the lands, they found a small manor in the quiet countryside of the kingdom of Tempton. While they traveled, they left Angel and me under the care of a couple of wanderers named Harrison and Beth. This couple was to raise us, and in return, they would be allowed to stay in our father’s manor. Harrison was also instructed to care for Sean, the son of our parent’s companions, Michael and Rebecca. As our families were off trading, they would send money every month for our income, so we would never be in want.
My grip around Sean’s hands tightened as Ryan read. With each word, my whole world shattered around me. Everything I knew, everything I thought I knew…was a lie. I knew several tales by heart…but not my own. How long had I told myself they had perished at the hands of prejudiced enemies?
How long had I played Cinderella under Uncle Harrison and Aunt Beth!
No, not even that. They were not my relations! My tale had no mention of enemies, no notice of battalions. There was no skirmish or murder. Just a simple tale of traders who had unknowingly left their children in the hands of a terror.
“Gabby,” Sean repeated. I slowly looked up at him. His chest moved quickly as he breathed deeply. “Gabby, didn’t the courier just come?”
Kisses to the seraphs. I covered my face and nodded. “Just yesterday.” My mind raced in so many different directions that I couldn’t make sense of the pieces. Ryan grabbed my arm, shaking me gently.
“This is good news, you two!” he said. Was it? Even if he told me a hundred more times, I wasn’t sure if I could believe it. “This news is right jolly! Your families are still alive! Dragonboy, this changes everything! Let’s keep searching! Is there any clue to where they are…?”
Sean ran his hands once more through his black hair before standing to help Ryan look. I reached for the sketch, my senses slowly returning. If my parents were still alive, then they loved me. But why then, did Uncle Harrison hold such a grudge? Why punish us in such a way? Why say they had died? Why couldn’t I remember them? How did they not know that Angel was gone? They knew when Ryan came! Did Uncle Harrison just make up the tale of their deaths so we wouldn’t tell the courier how he treated us? Certainly, my father wouldn’t approve.
I ran my fingers over the sketch. Those piercing eyes…
“Gabby, look.” Sean handed me a long scroll. “Here is your genealogy…both of your parents were only children. As were their parents, and theirs…the closest uncle you have is Master Zairae of Diam, born two hundred and forty-two years ago. It’s true, Harrison is not even your relation.”