The Mystic Chronicles: Locket

by Elizabeth Hawkins

  He drank the red drink, “Well, kinda sucks.” Silas crossed his arms, “They had amazing bloodshakes there.”

  “Hey!” She exclaimed, as she then rolled her eyes and hit his shoulder with a grin. “Don’t remind me.” Her arms were crossed as she shoved her oracle in her pocket, and moved a strand of white hair behind her ear. The joyous expression then melted into something new, as her voice went soft. She shook her head.“I can’t believe that Saytrix Arlenhallow approached me. He was the guy we saved from the fire last night, a prince. He had this golden locket that looked like my silver one. You know, the one I’ve had since I was little?”

  Silas nodded, drinking in her every word. She then touched her neck and began playing with the locket. “Yeah well it had the same designs, same structure. Everything. It was insane. And both the pictures inside our lockets had matched like a puzzle, or something.”

  “Scar?”

  “Yes?”

  His dark eyes peered into her light ones, and leaned forward. “I know you started the fire. And I know that I joke about it.” He spoke, and held a slight smile. But suddenly, it disappeared as worry plagued his expression. “But how did you do that?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know, Silas.” Her brain scanned and re-analyzed the night over and over again. “It all happened so fast. And then I touched his shoulder.” Maybe she didn’t start the fire, she thought. She wanted to convince herself that she didn’t, but she felt it inside of her. Unlike anything she’d ever felt before.

  “What do you think it means?”

  Undetermined. That very word struck fear into her unmoving heart and radiated through her soul. In the country of Impala, having more power meant that you wanted to overthrow the power that already existed, and ultimately, that was a threat to the government.

  She remembered reading about the history between the Undetermined and Impala in a historic studies class that she’d taken last year. Almost nineteen years ago, Mortdecai Mendeleev was said to have been the first ever Undetermined creature to be born.

  His father was a Wizard who had fallen in love with a Fey creature. She then died in the process of childbirth, not to mention the fact that their relationship had soon reached the public.

  Scarlett could still visualize sitting in that class, and imagining how powerful Mortdecai must have felt to be in control of so many things and such abilities.

  When his father soon was exiled, it was said that Mortdecai grew resentment towards the government of Impala, quickly stirring rebellion between the other Undetermined beings that he’d ventured out and found, and the Impalan military. The war led to the bloodshed of over seven hundred undetermined creatures, including Mortdecai.

  Nineteen years later, and it had been illegal to mate with any other race that was not of your own. Scarlett intuitively knew that the government didn’t want that type of power trying to rise and take control again. She liked to think that there were still Undetermined beings alive. She shook over the fact that it was a possibility that she could have been one.

  Everything shouldn’t have made sense, but it did. She couldn’t get over how connected she felt to Saytrix after their halves of the pictures were put together. How his eyes vividly reminded her of the ones of the woman in the picture.

  It’d felt wrong and right at the same time. She couldn’t forget the shock on his face, or the ball of fire they’d created that nearly burnt the restaurant down. The fire was different. It burned a certain way, it was warmer. Unlike anything she’d ever seen before. When they touched, it created sparks. “I think he’s my brother.” Scarlett admitted.

  He shook his head, “No.” Silas said sternly. “Messing with the possibility of you being Undetermined is beyond dangerous, Scarlett. You could get killed.” His voice went down an octave.

  “But this is important to me.” She muttered to her best friend stubbornly. Her eyes were focused on his, and their faces were inches apart. She looked at his tattooed fingers, and played with the zipper of her leather jacket. “This is something that needs to be done.” She wanted him to know that she was serious, and that there was no backing out. She was finally close to figuring out who she really was.

  Abruptly, the presence of a woman dressed in a dark blazer with light eyes had silenced the dining hall. Her hair was pinned up maturely, and she stood in the middle of the room with a high posture. She was the head of the conservatory board.

  It was quite rare for her to appear unannounced, in the dining hall before students began their classes. Something must have been important.

  The usual clamor of the dining hall had silenced to a halt. For a brief second, Scarlett peered over at her sister who was seated at a table with her lightswitch boyfriend, and the rest of her friends. She gazed at her in confusion, and mouthed “What’s going on?” She shook her head with a half shrug.

  The Vampric woman grinned. “Pleasant greetings, students. As you all may know, here at the Shylack Conservatory, we value academics, the mastering of young, Vampric abilities, and becoming a better citizen of our country, Impala. Today is an important day. We have a special guest. Please welcome prince Lucian Arellenhallow. He is here on his father’s behalf to select a specific number of highly ranked Vampires and Vampresses to travel to Endlaysha, for special training at the palace. If you are not a part of our Vampric knight program, you may be dismissed. If you are, and have a percentage of eighty-five and over, you may remain in the dining hall. Consider this opportunity a necessity and an expectation, if you do wish to continue your career as a Vampric knight of the palace, in the near future. Good luck, to all.”

  When the lady had finished her speech, almost on cue, a boy with pointed ears, straight posture and a smug grin entered through the doors of the room. He had been dressed in a red velvet royal cape that dragged behind himself, with two guards holding the fabric, not letting it touch the ground. Besides his light and heavily jeweled cape that draped slowly behind him, he was clothed in all black, with his head held high, as he examined the room.

  He turned his attention to the Vampric woman who had just finished speaking. The color of hair was a rich, royal blue and styled elegantly back. The corners of his lips then quirked up, and he cracked a grin. “Very well. Thank you, Countess Katreena. It is a pleasure to be here on behalf of my beloved father. As future king, I shall be looking forward to this selection.” He explained, with a chuckle, and cracked his fingers. “Guards, escort me to the indoctrination room. Immediately, please.”

  “Well, he definitely has character.” Silas muttered, as the prince left the room. The dining hall then escaped into clamoring chatter. Everyone was conversing about what had just happened. It was completely unordinary, unlike anything that has ever happened before. Scarlett wondered why they were recruiting nearly more than a dozen soldiers to train at the kingdom of Endilaysha, in the land of the Fey. Slowly, she formed a plan in her head. She was unaware of her smirk. Suddenly, the notification of Magicbook had gone off.

  Saytrix.Arlenhallow: Us speaking must stop, it is dangerous.

  ScarlettLenotine123: Are you serious? We have to meet again.

  Saytrix.Arlenhallow: We shouldn’t.

  ScarlettLenotine123: Fine, I’ll just come to you.

  Saytrix.Arlenhallow: Don’t.

  She rolled her eyes. Saytrix frustrated her. She was about to take another sip of her drink, when she realized it was all empty. Silas hesitated, and slurped his smoothie. The feeling of blood coursed through his veins and satisfied his hunger. He licked his fangs, “I don’t want to lose you, Scar.” His dark eyes were distant as the red of his hair fell like strings of wavy fire around his face. The closeness of his face to hers ignited emotions she wanted to be kept down. “That’s how I found you. Lost. But you’re so much better now. You shouldn’t get caught up again.” He said, with a serious expression. His gloves had been ruined with holes from the fire from the night before, and exposed other tattoos underneath them.

  Scarlett half sm
iled.“Don’t talk like that.” She said, when she looked up from her oracle, and pushed her emotions down. “So Lucian’s an Arlenhallow. He has to be related to Saytrix. If I want to get to him I have to use Lucian.” He suddenly sounded annoyed.

  Silas crossed his arms and gazed up at her.“You’re really going to befriend Mr. Cocky?”

  She threw her head back slightly, and hid her smile. “Someone’s in a mood.”

  Silas shook his head, and set his notebook down.“Just don’t die on me, okay?”

  Chapter|Five

  The test seemed complicated, but not impossible. Scarlett had gone through a similar test before, but it wasn’t as nearly as nerve-wracking as that one. She knew she was a great fighter, she knew that she had been trained well, but she was indecisive over the entire idea.

  All her mind could think about were the questions that she had about the test.

  Why the random recruit of young Knights? Why not go to the Vampric Kingdom and recruit the older and higher ranked ones? Why were they getting brand-new and younger soldiers to train there at the kingdom, and what was so special about the program that the Fey conjured up? She bit her lip, as she stared at the dark wall that was illuminated by the single flame of the torch attached to it, that she sat right across from. She crossed her ankles.

  Scarlett knew the test was important because they’d sent out an electronic waiver to all the parents. It was a contract basically confirming the possibility of their child being stationed off, if they passed the test. Scarlett knew it was going to be complicated, and she didn't know what to feel. Stamina? Sadness? Curiosity sure was one of them.

  There were five other girls in the room that had the same training percentage as she did. Advanced. Waiting to be tested. They were talking amongst one another but Scarlett’s mind was heavy. She didn’t feel like talking. She played with her fingertips, and then her locket.

  Suddenly, the lever of the door twisted, as someone opened it. The talking deceased from the hall. She sat up straight, and stood up as the door opened to the special indoctrination room. There were different indoctrination rooms. There were the types for regular training, and there were other types for taking major tests, or finals. They were usually on the lower floors of Shylack, which were specifically for the Vampric knight program, anyway.

  It scared her knowing that she had absolutely no interest in any other field of work. There was a rush of excitement that she loved when it came to violently stabbing an opponent, or firing a gun. She liked the adrenaline.

  A blonde Vampress had walked out of the indoctrination room with crossed arms and an unreadable expression, as she began to take a seat where Scarlett and the rest of them were. Until all of them had finished the test, it was when they were dismissed.

  A royal knight that was dressed in dark green armor, and a heavily jeweled golden helmet with a dashing sword had pulled out a clear digital screen. Scarlett could tell he was a Fey knight. His ears were dramatically pointed.

  He pressed his fingers to the surface, as it flashed who was next to go inside of the room. There was a digital reflection of the image of Scarlett’s face. They must have downloaded her picture that the conservatory took of her when she’d registered to Shylack. Her identification picture was updated each year of her being at Shylack. She always found it interesting to observe how she almost never changed. Aging was very slow amongst the Vampric. With her face, she flashed her information. Her age, weight, skill percentage, height, race. “Scarletta Maiselle Lenotine. It is your time.” The guard announced.

  As she walked through the double doors, they’d shut with a clang abruptly behind her. There was a short hallway that was in between the actual indoctrination room, and the entrance into it. She was unfamiliar with the process, “What’s going on?” Her voice, slightly, was on edge. There was a white chair that she was directed to sit in, as they locked her wrists to the seat, as a bright green light that was attached to the ceiling shined into her pale eyes. Beside her was a screen that showed all of her information. She felt as if she were being examined.

  She heard the royal guard's voice as she looked over to him. “By royal orders, we must search your body to see if you have any hidden weapons, followed with a sample of blood to see if you are healthy enough to withstand this test.” He spoke, as he held a long syringe in between his fingers. “I will be also checking for any lingering doses of magic or any other substances that may be in your system.”

  She rolled her eyes and bit her lip. “Understandable.” Scarlett was far from terrified, if anything, she was curious as to why this test was being taken ever so seriously, and she hadn't even started it yet. The kingdom of Endlaysha was hiding something. It was fairly too random and unheard of to recruit that way. The guard jammed the syringe into her left arm, and she watched as her black, Vampric blood filled up the small needle container.

  Vampric blood was black, unlike any other creatures. He then took the liquid, and filled it within a medium sized test tube. The guard then set it into a machine that showed her blood activity. Dead, as usual. But something told her otherwise. She bounced her leg.

  Scarlett grew anxious. There was still a small probability that she could have been Undetermined. She clenched her jaw and looked at her blood sample religiously almost as if her life depended on it. She’d done plenty of blood samples before that were fine, so why was she so concerned now? She thought about Saytrix’s picture, about how he was of the Fey. The blood sample could ruin her if even something small where to go wrong. Undetermined creatures were executed. No questions asked. It was dangerous to even say the word.

  “Your blood is clean.”

  ***

  After the small examination before entering the indoctrination room, she observed how different it looked compared to all the other training rooms. The walls were dark, the room lit up with red lights that reflected beautifully on skin. The air was cold, and when you spoke, your voice echoed as noise bounced off of the walls. Behind her, four royal soldiers had guarded the heavy double doors that she’d entered the room with.

  Lucian Arlenhallow stood in the center of the room with a stupid smirk across his face. The red of the lighting in the room had illuminated his silky blue hair, and darkened, creating negative shadows across his face. She wondered what the prince had to do with the test.

  He took in her gaze. “Welcome to the final phase of your test. The room has been hijacked with a special fairy magic to put you under the illusion that you are in whatever scenario that is given to you. You will be given weapons of whatever you desire. Your only task is to destroy all of your opponents in under 60 seconds. You will be graded on your stances, attacks, and much more. When the timer goes off, so will the simulation.” He grinned, “You’re a very pretty one.” She pressed her lips together.

  “Thanks.”

  He must have been the royal combat chancellor back at the palace in Endlaysha. He seemed to be in control of it all. Afterall, he was the king’s son. He stood in an almost perfect fighting stance. His shoulders back, his posture straight, and his voice was strong and clear.

  “My weapon of choice, how many can I pick?” She spoke.

  “Two. There are weapons in the bin beside you.” He told her. As she looked down, she realized he was right.

  The floor was illuminated with dark orange lighting. Scarlett grasped a Kilantra blade, and an AS-58 gun. The glimmer of the Kilantra blade was like familarty for her. She took in the silver base of the knife that had been decorated in black, as sharp golden flecks lined its glossy reflectantly dark blade. She also studied the AS-58 gun. It was an Automatic Shuttershock, model number fifty eight. Which was one of the most powerful guns you could ever get ahold of; in the automatic shuttershock gun family, at least. It was metallic and white, almost the length of her arm. She had dreams about that gun when she first studied weapons at the conservatory. A small smirk had risen to her lips as she held her two weapons.

  Lucian studied Scarlett’s interest
in the weapon. She held it like she was sure of herself, she held it in fascination. She wasn’t afraid. That intrigued him.“Very well.” Lucian spoke, as he walked past her. As he did, a clear wall started to come down, separating the room in half. The wall moved as the rest of the room widened. Scarlett was on the right side, while the guards and Lucien were on the left, creating a division between the simulation arena, and the exit. Suddenly, all of the lights completely shut off, and there was a concerning silence that erupted into a thrilling aurora. Thick, white smoke began to fill the air, and eventually her nose.

  The sound of a computerized voice began to count down.

  Five.

  She tightened her grip on both of her chosen weapons.

  Four...she creased her forehead and increased her sense of hearing.

  Three...she allowed her Vampric abilities to turn themselves on so she could be more aware.

  Two,

  one,

  zero.

  The red lights had cut back on, as a giant eruption of black creatures with wings that breathed fire, had charged at her. Their mouths were twisted, and they had big long noses that dropped over their lips. Thick green substances flung from their spiked bodies. One of the demented animals had jumped on her back. Its winged feet dug into her skin. “Ah!” She cried. She didn’t understand how something computer generated could feel so real. It slashed her face sharply, with its rounded claws. She pulled its wings forward, and snapped them in half in a quick-like fashion, anger pulsating through her. The chemistry of her anger was like a cold fire that was slowly rising into her lungs and engulfing her entire existence. The hot acrimony of there being a possibility of her failing is what motivated her even more as she groaned.