by Rue Volley
I turned just in time to see Sophia walking towards the gate. She had returned with guards on each side of her. I took a step forward and she waved her hand at me, telling me to come forward. I stopped a few feet away from them.
I looked at the guards on either side of her and noticed more behind her, they all had their blades drawn. I swallowed and then sighed. Oh my god, if this doesn't work...we are both dead, I just know it.
“You may enter,” Sophia said to me.
I took a step forward hoping the binding was down, I didn't know if this was a trick or not. I closed my eyes for a second and stepped over the threshold, entering Valon for the first time.
The sun had risen behind us and the light glistened on the white stones under my feet. I focused in and could see traces of silver in the stone. It looked like mercury. I raised my head and stared into the eyes of Sophia before me.
“Bind her,” she said.
One of her guard flashed to me in a blur and waved his hands over mine, I felt a slight burn and I hissed. I looked down and a glowing white hot transparent rope was around my wrists. I stared at it for a second, as I watched it move like a snake on my skin. Sophia stared at me, as well as the guards. I felt like a freak amongst freaks, how funny.
“I have been voted against my wishes,” Sophia said to me. Her face remained pleasant, although I knew that she would probably love it if I had just turned and walked away from here, but I couldn't.
“I promise that I just want to see Josh... I have no intention of causing any trouble,” I said as we all started to walk forward through the entrance.
“Oh you will mind yourself here, I assure you... One problem from you and Josh will be destroyed ahead of schedule…” she said, without looking at me.
I wanted to yell at her, but I knew it would not make it any easier. She was already annoyed and I just needed one shot to see him, just one.
We passed by small houses, connected together, that looked more like something in a book I had seen at the library. It was very European and simplistic. The walls were white as snow and I watched as the stones gave off a shimmer as we passed by. The entrance was so narrow, maybe it was strategic, it was only wide enough on this street for maybe four people across. Smart...if you were invaded, your enemy would be bottle necked here. I looked up and saw that the buildings on each side shot up about thirty feet. I thought I saw a child lean out a window, but the small figure quickly disappeared back in when I looked.
I felt a slight humming in my body and wondered if it was just this place, I reached out my hand and touched the wall as I walked, and my fingers vibrated, it was like the stone wall was alive. I closed my eyes and could see color swirling behind my eyelids. I tripped and almost fell into a guard in front of me. The girl beside me grabbed my arm and jerked me upright. I looked over at her, but she kept her focus straight ahead.
327
We kept walking and I saw the sunlight was getting brighter. We stepped out of the narrow street and it opened up to a huge plaza. I looked out and the white buildings stretched into the sky. I couldn't even tell how high they were, but I could barely see the birds landing on the tops of them. There were trees everywhere. They were huge and old, their bark a healthy brown, each one bursting with white flower buds. I looked out and people were walking around.
Sophia headed our party and we were spread out in a triangle, me in the middle. People moved out of our way and I looked at as many as I could, as we passed them by. Many protectors were here, but mixed in were men, women, and children, who didn't really talk amongst themselves. They just stared as I passed them. I heard some muttering, but I couldn't tell what they were saying.
We walked across this huge plaza and I heard what I thought was water. I looked up and there was a monstrous fountain, but it had silver liquid flowing out of it. I peeked out, past the guard to my left, and saw the shiny reflection of the towering buildings overhead in the pool under it. I breathed in and smelled the sweet air...it seemed like an oasis here, but I knew it wasn't. I looked ahead of us and tilted my head back. A towering building stood before us, hundreds of windows on it's surface facing us. The entrance looked like a mirror.
Sophia stopped and the guard who helped me not fall, grabbed my arm. I stood there as she waved her hands over the mirror and she stepped through.
Everyone started to move forward and I stopped right before the mirror, I watched it roll and distort my image. I closed my eyes and the guard pulled me through. I felt hands release me, and I opened my eyes.
I looked out at a huge hall. The ceiling was hundreds of feet high, bright white and etched with thousands of symbols. The walls glowed and swirled white on white. It was truly mesmerizing. I looked down at my feet and lifted my right foot, ripples came out from under it like a stone had been thrown into a pond.
“Bring her,” I heard a voice echo out ahead of us. Sophia walked forward and I was pulled forward by two guards who stood by my side.
“Really Sophia...take the binding off of her,” the voice said.
Sophia turned to me and flashed forward. She stared at me and waved her hand over my wrists. The white mist floated upward and I rubbed my wrists. I looked at the red marks the bind had left behind.
“Thanks,” I muttered. She turned and flashed from me.
“Come forward, Rue Valon.” I heard out ahead of me.
I started to walk forward and one by one, protectors dressed in white, flashed forward to a raised circle in the middle of the room. I kept looking around waiting for an attack, but none came. I stopped as the last of them assembled on the platform and I looked up at all of them. A boy stepped forward and looked at me. He suddenly flashed to me and I flinched as he stopped only a couple feet away. He looked at me and tilted his head, like a bird inspecting his prey. I looked at him. He had perfect skin, a perfect face...so pretty. His hair brown, he looked young and his eyes were a deep brown, almost black. He crossed his arms and smiled.
“So...this is Rue Valon,” he asked.
I looked at him and around the room.
328
“Are you asking me, or making a general statement?” I said, before I really thought about it.
He flashed behind me and leaned in my ear, I sucked in my breath, as I felt his breath on my neck.
“I was asking a question, but not to you,” he whispered.
I looked straight ahead and stood up straight. “Okay” I said.
He went to take my hand and I jerked it from him. He laughed.
“I am sorry…my name is Erik… I am being rude, not formally introducing myself,”
he said as he circled me. The circling wasn't helping his apology seem sincere.
Another protector flashed to me and bent down.
“Please excuse Erik here, he seems to be intrigued by you Rue… I am Philip, and I apologize for him.”
Erik looked at him and stepped away from me.
“I simply wanted to see the girl who has destroyed over twenty of our brothers and sisters...not to mention Mikah,” Erik said, as he grinned at me.
“Well, technically I did not destroy Mikah,” I said. “And the others, well, that was an accident, I just wanted to protect my family,” I said.
Erik flashed in my face, and I almost stumbled backward. “Technicality or not, Mikah was my mate,” He said as he bared his teeth.
“Enough!” I heard a female voice yell out. It echoed through the room.
Erik backed away from me and crossed his arms, looking as if he could stab me at any moment. Sophia walked toward me. I looked at her, with a look of shock on my face...that she would have stopped Erik from tearing into me.
“We are not animals, like humans... We are protectors and we will be civil in this council,” she said.
I stood there and relaxed for a moment, I couldn't believe that she came to my aide... I didn't trust it or anyone here, for that matter.
“I brought her here against my wishes, just to amuse all of your curiosity.
.. You have seen her now and my wish is to let her stay... I know that there is resistance to this, but she is a direct descendant of Valon and for that, she should be spared.”
“What?” I said. “No…I do not want to stay here. I only want to see Josh, and then I will go,” I said.
I heard someone laugh. I looked around, as the conversation welled up in a murmur.
Sophia raised her hand. “We do not know the extent of her power... But we do know that she is more powerful now... before she has matured, then any before her. So I vote that she stays to train and learn her true history. My hope is that she will take her place among us at the age of twenty one, to join the council.”
I stepped forward… “No, excuse me...I do not want that, I don't… Listen, I appreciate the offer, but I want to go home. I want to see Josh first and then I will leave… I will not return, no trouble...I promise, ” I yelled out over the chatter.
They all kept talking to each other, like I wasn't even there.
Sophia spoke out over the crowd, “Take this to your homes and think about it…
We will vote tomorrow…then her fate will be decided.”
329
I looked out as they started to flash away from me…soon I was alone in the room with only the original guards who brought me in. Sophia stood in the center of the circle and turned to me.
“You should hope that they will be generous. It would be wise to utilize your talent, rather than destroy it,” she said as she started to walk away.
“Wait!” I yelled at her.
She kept walking, until I heard a door open and close. I looked at the guards around me. I tried to focus, but it was only static in my mind. I opened my eyes and a guard flashed to me and grabbed my arm.
“No...no, no…I am not staying here!” I said as he pulled me forward.
I tried to pull away from him, but I started to feel weak. My legs started to buckle under me.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked as he lifted me and started to carry me. I looked around, as everything started to go fuzzy.
“I just want to see Josh. I…I just want...” My head fell back and my arms went limp.
******
I woke up in a very large bed. I was laying on my side and I rolled over, I blinked my eyes a few times and lifted the red sheet covering me. I was naked. I pulled it back down and pushed myself up on my elbow. I looked around the room and saw no clothing anywhere. Great, just awesome!
I heard my door start to open and I backed up, as I clinched my sheet against my chest. A young girl walked into the room and stepped up to the side of my bed. I looked at her, she couldn't be more then thirteen. She kept her head down and then she raised her hand. There was a cut across her palm, the blood was pooling in her small hand. I looked at her hand and my stomach growled.
“What are you doing?” I asked her.
She kept her head down, not looking me in the eye.
“Ummm, okay…listen, what are you doing in here?” I asked her.
She looked up and bit her lip.
“You are hungry?” she asked me.
“Oh god, no... Well yes, but no...here,” I said, as I started to tear at my sheet.
I tore off a piece at the top of it and I reached for her hand. I wrapped the torn piece of sheet around her hand and pressed down on it. I could feel her heartbeat and I let go, as I felt my heart flutter.
“Leave...go and get me some food. Fruit is fine...or bread, I don't care,” I said to her.
She lowered her head. “You do not like me?” she asked.
“No, it's not that…I don't know you… I'm sure your sweet, please…find me some food,” I said as I looked away from her. One more minute and I'm drinking her blood, it called out to me. I grabbed at my stomach as it ached.
She stepped away from me and headed toward the door. She opened it and I heard it close behind her. I heard a scuffle in the hallway and someone cry out. I jumped up, grabbing my sheet around me and ran to the door. I tried to 330
open it, but it was locked. I pressed my ear against the door, but I could not hear anything.
I heard the lock turning and I backed away. The door opened and Erik stepped into the room. I backed away, with a shocked look on my face.
“What are you doing in here?” I asked him.
He stood there and grinned. I moved to the other side of the bed.
“I don't know what you want, but I want you to leave,” I said.
“I tried to feed you…and you rejected it,” he said as he stepped forward.
“I don't eat people,” I said as I looked around the room for anything I could hit him with.
He laughed. “What do you eat then?”
“Food...you know...just food,” I said.
“Really?” he flashed to me, and I flinched.
I turned my head as he smelled me. “I can smell the blood on you... You have fed recently,” he said. I tried to move away from him and he grabbed my arm.
“Did you eat an animal Rue?” he asked me.
“I had no choice,” I said.
He laughed again. “No choice...well, you will feed in the council. We have no food here...only in the houses outside, and you cannot leave.” He leaned in toward me and I felt his breath on my cheek as I turned my face.
“Get out,” I said.
He straightened up and grinned.
“I like you Rue Valon... You remind me of your Mother, Grace,” he said.
I looked at him. “You knew my Mother?” I asked him as my eyes softened.
“Yes, very well...she was full of rudeness, not unlike yourself.”
“My Mother was not rude,” I said, defending her.
“I meant no harm, she was enjoyable to watch,” he added.
“I didn't know her that way... She was different to me,” I said as I looked at my hands.
“Such a shame, Grace gave you nothing of who you are... She should have told you of your bloodline.”
He moved toward me and placed his hand on my face, I blinked as static welled up behind my eyes. I started to feel weak. Erik helped me lay down onto the bed. He sat on the side of the bed looking at me. My eyes felt heavy but I was fighting to stay awake.
“I fear that you will not last long here if you do not feed Rue. You see this is Valon, as a protector your natural need to feed yourself is a necessity, whether you want to or not.”
Erik pulled his blade out and sliced it across his palm. He held it up to my face. I reached up and knocked it away from me. He laughed. “So stubborn...like your mother,” he said as he stood up and walked towards the door.
“We will see how long you will refuse.” He opened the door and closed it.
I barely recognized the sound of lock, before I fell back to sleep.
******
331
I dreamed of riding my horse. His muscles tightened underneath me and I squeezed my legs against him. We rode fast across an open field, through the moonlight. I raised my hands up and stretched them out, letting the icy air flow in between my fingers. I let my head fall back and saw streaks of blue trailing behind us in the dark, as we raced forward. I leaned forward and laid my head against his hair, wrapping my arms around his neck. My white breath puffed out of my mouth in unison with his.
He started to slow and I sat up to see why. We stood at the top of a hill looking down. He stood still, I thought I saw something flash across the bottom of the field and I pushed him to run after it. We raced through the grass until it was so high I could reach down and feel it in my hand. I sat up and watched as the sky started to brighten, the sun rose in front of us.
We stopped at the edge of a forest, and I heard someone call out my name. I squeezed my legs against his sides and he ran into the forest. We twisted and turned, avoiding trees, we finally came to a clearing and he slowed down. He walked slowly through the flowers and I watched as he kicked them up, the pedals slowly rose and floated all around us. I reached out my hand and let them fall i
nto my palm, they slowly soaked into my skin and I watched a small spark light in my hand. I raised it to my mouth and breathed it in, it tasted like sweet honey. I closed my eyes and heard my name.
I looked down and Josh stood next to my horse, he raised his hand to me and I put my hand in his. I slid off of the horse and Josh held me close, as he slowly lowered me down. I rubbed against him as he placed me in front of him.
He held me there staring down at me. I held onto his arms and looked up into his eyes.
“Josh,” I whispered.
He grinned at me and let go, taking my hand into his, he turned and pulled me with him. I followed and he looked back once, a smile on his face. He brought me to a place by the water. I looked down as he knelt down and raised water to his mouth and drank it. I leaned down and put my hands into the water, I scooped some into my hands and raised it to my mouth. I closed my eyes and drank it in. It felt warm in my mouth. I opened my eyes as Josh looked to me. He raised his hand and brushed his fingers on my mouth. I sucked in my breath and grabbed his hand, holding it... I lowered it to my heart and pressed it against me.
He tilted his head and leaned in toward me...
******
I sat straight up in the bed. I looked around the room and squinted my eyes, the sun shined in so bright I thought I might be right next to it. I looked down and realized I was dressed in my white leather. It disturbed me that I had been undressed, dressed and bathed, and had no memory of it.
I pulled the sheets completely off of me and looked at my chest. All the dried blood was gone... I reached down to my leg quickly…my phone was gone too...awesome. I heard my door opening and I looked up. A boy walked into the room, he looked as if he was my age. I stared at him as he brought a basket in 332
and sat it down on the table. I looked at it. It looked like it was filled with fruit and bread.
“Oh my god...is that food?” I said as I moved towards it.
“Yes...I brought you some of mine,” he said.
“Why?” I asked him.
“My sister said that you did not feed from her, I knew you would be hungry,” he said as he turned to walk out.