Chaos

by Katie Holland

  When everyone was done, they went back home and headed for the den. It was movie night and Alix was looking forward to another night of Christmas movies. It was her mom’s turn to pick. She chose two old black and white movies that Ben had never seen. Alix teased him that for a so-called movie buff there were sure a lot of Christmas movies he hadn’t seen. As usual, they made popcorn in between the two movies. It was a nice normal night.

  Chapter 10

  Alix woke up Saturday morning feeling well rested. She was really looking forward to the day. It was going to be their last shopping day before Christmas. The only major thing she had to get was something for Ben. She still had no idea what to get him. She decided to talk to Natalie and see if she had any ideas.

  They ate breakfast and headed to Bozeman. Their first stop was the mall. She convinced Ben to go with his dad, so she could get Natalie alone.

  “Natalie, I have no idea what to get Ben for Christmas. I’ve been racking my brain and I still haven’t come up with anything. Can you help me?” Alix asked her as they walked down the mall.

  “He’s a hard one to buy for, that’s for sure. We got him some new video games, new sketch pads and pencils, and some clothes. I wish I could be more helpful.”

  “That’s okay, I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

  Alix got the few small things she was looking for but by the time they headed back home, she still didn’t have anything for Ben. Part of the problem was that she wanted to get him something no one else would and nothing he would think to get for himself. On the drive back, she finally came up with an idea but she would need Gordon’s help so she texted him.

  Alix: I need a huge favor!

  Gordon: Anything for you Miss Alix

  Alix: Are the books allowed to leave the library … like permanently?

  Gordon: What exactly are you asking?

  Alix: Ben was interested in a couple of the books from the Fox Hollow library and I would really like to give him one or two for Christmas. Is that possible?

  Gordon: I’m sure we can find a way to make it work. What books?

  Alix: I think they were called Animal Life in England and Birds of the United Kingdom. He wanted to learn more about the magical creatures there but with everything going on he didn’t have a chance to go back and look at them.

  Gordon: That won’t be a problem, Miss Alix. I will make the arrangements.

  Alix: You’re the best! How will I get them? It’s kind of short notice.

  Gordon: I will have them put on the plane for your trip to Ireland.

  Alix: Thank you!

  Gordon: You are most welcome Miss Alix.

  Alix knew she had a smile on her face and Ben was looking.

  “What has you so smiley?” Ben asked her.

  “I just figured out what to get you for Christmas and I think you’re going to be very surprised,” she told him.

  “Oh really. Do I get a hint?” he said grinning.

  “Nope.”

  “Can I guess?” he asked.

  “Sure, but even if you guess right, which you won’t, I still won’t tell you.”

  “That’s not fair,” he protested.

  “I never said I played fair when it came to gifts,” Alix said with a small laugh.

  “Is it a new movie?”

  Alix made a face.

  “Guess not,” Ben smiled. “Is it a new sketch pad and pencils?”

  Alix gave him a thumbs down.

  Ben continued to guess the rest of the way home. By the time they were almost there he had Alix laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. His guesses ranged from a new car to a trip to the moon.

  Alix took her bags up to her room, very glad to be done shopping, now all she had to do was finish wrapping. Everything she’d already bought was wrapped and under the tree. She was excited for Christmas morning. She loved giving gifts. She quickly wrapped the last few things she’d gotten today and went downstairs and put them under the tree. Just as she was finishing putting the gifts in the exact places, she wanted her phone went off. It was a text.

  James: Apparently everything went sideways in France and we need an emergency meeting. Everyone will be there tomorrow.

  Alix: What???

  James: I don’t know all the details yet. Just prepare for the Council to be there by noon tomorrow.

  Alix: Okay

  Everyone needed to know about this, so she went around the house, found everyone, and gathered them in the kitchen.

  “I got a text from James. Apparently, the entire Council is coming here tomorrow for an emergency meeting. It’s about whatever is happening in France with the captured Nykara. They’ll be here by noon tomorrow. That’s all I know.”

  “Oh my,” her mom said. “I have to work tomorrow, should I see if someone can cover my shift?”

  “No, I don’t think so. It’s not like you can attend the meeting. It’s probably only going to be Council members.”

  “Okay honey, but if you need me here just let me know and I’ll get one of the other girls to take my shift,” her mom said.

  Everyone started making plans for the Council’s arrival. Natalie and Heather started planning for food. There weren’t enough rooms for everyone, but no one knew if they would even be staying. Alix wasn’t nervous about the rest of the Council coming but she was nervous about the reason. What could possibly be going on in France that needed an emergency meeting?

  Alix texted Shay to fill her in on what was going on. She said she would be there for moral support.

  Within the next couple of hours, they were as prepared as they could get. They would use the large dining room for the meeting. Rick and Ted left to go get the groceries and drinks that Natalie needed for lunch tomorrow. Heather and Natalie were in the kitchen preparing the things that they could do ahead of time. That left Ben and Alix with not much to do so they went up to Ben’s room to hang out.

  “So, this is kind of a weird situation huh,” Ben said.

  “Yep. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what could be happening in France, but I guess we’ll finally know tomorrow. It’s hard to believe that the whole Council is all flying here just for a meeting. Why do you think they picked here?”

  “Probably because of you,” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Since you’re the Chosen One, and still in school, I’m sure someone thought it would be easier for everyone to come to you. That way you don’t have to miss more school than you already have.”

  “Huh, maybe. Whatever the reason I’m glad I don’t have to go to meet them seeing as we’ll be flying to Ireland on Tuesday.”

  “You never did tell the Council about having to go to Ireland, did you?”

  “No. I took what you said seriously about them having too much on the go right now. Do you think I should tell them tomorrow?” Alix asked.

  “Probably. Everyone will be in one place and you never know, whatever you have to find there might help with this situation,” he said.

  “Maybe. I’m really worried about the Nykara who have been implanted with the Grynn magic. It was really difficult to get it out of Logan and that was only one person. I wonder if the longer it’s in there the harder it is to remove.”

  “Let’s hope it works like that, but I have a feeling it doesn’t. The Grynn don’t want it to be removed so I would assume they create it in such a way that no one can get rid of it, well no one but you,” Ben said.

  “The only way I was able to do it last time was with the extra energy from Ruth, James, Shelley, and Gordon. And even then, it was extremely difficult. Whoever came up with the way to get the Grynn magic into a Nykara must have been really powerful.”

  “Now that’s a scary thought,” Ben said. “A Grynn with as much power as you, let’s hope that never happens.”

  A couple of hours later Alix and Ben were called down to dinner. Someone had gone for pizza, so they settled around the table and ate. Most of the talk was about what to expec
t from the Council meeting the next day. Everyone had their own theories about the situation in France and none of them were good. They finished eating and cleaned up the kitchen. When that was done, they tried the brownies Alix had made the day before. They’d been too full of Chinese food and popcorn to taste them yesterday. Everyone loved them, and they all agreed that it was definitely a recipe she should make again. They all decided to take the rest of the night and just relax. There was nothing they could do about the Council meeting right now so that was something to worry about when it happened.

  Alix went to her room and turned on her TV to the Christmas movie channel. There was about fifteen minutes left in the current movie, so Alix got out her journal to write a quick entry.

  Dec 17

  I’m a little worried. The entire Council is coming here for an emergency meeting tomorrow. It’s about whatever is going on in France. The missing Nykara Warriors were still with the Grynn and we don’t know why. I hope I’ll get my answer to that tomorrow. I also decided that I’d better tell them about my vision dream and planned a trip to Ireland. Who knows, maybe what I find will be something that can help us get them back. Anything is possible.

  Alix texted Shay to see what she was doing. It turned out that she was watching the same thing on TV that Alix was. They texted each other as they watched. It was a sappy romantic Christmas movie and Alix loved it. When it was done Alix decided to have a nice hot bubble bath. After that, she got into bed with her eReader and caught up on her latest book. When she was tired, she put it down and closed her eyes.

  Chapter 11

  Sunday morning was a flurry of activity. Alix was helping Natalie in the kitchen prepare lunch for the Council. It had snowed overnight so Ben was in charge of getting rid of the snow where anyone had to walk. Alix first thought was that he was shoveling, but then she realized he was probably using magic and it would only take him a minute or two.

  Even after everything that Alix had been through, she still usually thought of the traditional way to do things rather than magic. It hadn’t even been three months since she learned what she was and in a lot of ways, she was still getting used to the magical world of the Nykara. The exception to this was popcorn, it was her favorite snack after all and using magic to pop it in seconds rather than minutes was something she was really on board with.

  The morning flew by and before they knew it, it was almost noon. Alix quickly ran upstairs and changed into something a little less covered in flour. She was back just in time for the doorbell to ring. Natalie answered the door and it turned out that everyone was here at once. Alix greeted them and to her surprise remembered everyone’s names. She showed them to the dining room. Once everyone was seated James stood and addressed the rest of the Council.

  “Thank you all for doing this on such short notice, I know some of you had to come from very far away. I’m going to turn the floor over to Lucie who will give us a rundown on the situation in France.”

  “A week ago Friday we learned that the Nykara Warriors who were watching Victor disappeared. We’d lost all trace of them. I called Alix to let her know and she suggested we use the Map room. I went to the one closest to me and she used the one here. Alix discovered that the missing Nykara had been given Grynn magic and were still being held by the Grynn close to Paris. I arranged a rescue mission and gave them the location. When they got there everyone was gone. They tracked them for a few days but always seemed to be too late.

  “Alix I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but all week I’ve been trying to track the missing Nykara from our Map room but haven’t been able to find them. It would appear that only the Map room you’re in can track them now. I don’t want any more of our fellow Nykara to get captured by the Grynn so we’ve been very cautious about this rescue operation, as I’m sure you can all understand.

  “We’ve run out of options at the moment which is the reason for this meeting. Alix, I think we need to go to the Map room and see if they are still in the same location as they were a couple of days ago. If they are, we need to contact our rescue team and see if they can move quickly. I feel that the longer they are with the Grynn the worse off they will be.”

  Lucie sat down. There was some murmuring going on around the table, but no one was disagreeing.

  “Okay,” Alix said. “Let’s all go down to the Map room and see what we can find.”

  Alix got up from the table and led everyone to the room of rooms. They entered the Map room and Alix went straight to the area that Ben had spotted them on Friday. They weren’t there, and she had to search for them again. A few minutes later they found the four purple dots. They had been moved and were surrounded by even more Grynn than last time.

  “There wasn’t that many Grynn with them as last time,” Alix said. “I wonder if they’ve figured out that we’re trying to get our people back.”

  “It’s a possibility,” James said.

  “All the more reason for us to move quickly,” Alix said. “Lucie, can you get in touch with the rescue team and tell them what we’ve found?”

  “Yes, let me make a quick call,” she said.

  Alix heard her speaking rapidly in French and saw her looking at the map. When she was done, she addressed everyone.

  “The rescue team is not too far from their location. They are waiting for more Warriors to join them. I need to get back to France as soon as possible, if they are able to get them back, they’ll need help keeping them restrained. Are any of you able to join me in France?” Lucie asked the rest of the Council.

  James, Aleck, and Shelley were available to help her. Everyone went back upstairs to the dining room. Natalie served lunch and they talked a bit more about the rescue operation. As they were finishing up, Alix told them about her upcoming trip to Ireland and they saw on the news about François and Victor. Ruth and Luiz were going to look into the GRN company that the news referred to. They all agreed to spread the word that the Grynn would most likely be getting more aggressive and that all Nykara should be on guard.

  After that, they all left. As quickly as they’d come, they were gone. Alix had told them she would be checking on the four missing Nykara as often as she could in case they were moved again.

  Alix had everyone meet in the den, so she could tell them what she’d learned. Ben was the first to comment.

  “It seems like an incredible waste of time to have had the entire Council fly here for a couple of hours. Why don’t they use video conferencing or something?”

  ‘I’m not sure,” Alix said. “My only guess is that video conferencing can be hacked and a private conversation in a safe house can’t.”

  “I guess,” he said.

  “So, what do we do now?” Shay asked.

  “Other than me keeping an eye on the map I don’t think there’s much we can do in this situation,” Alix told her. “The three of us still have finals and in two days Ben, Natalie, and I have to go to Ireland. So, I think we have enough going on without having to worry about what’s happening in France. If they need anything from us, I’m sure they’ll let us know.”

  Alix, Shay, and Ben went up to Alix’s room to study for finals. Shay didn’t have to write any until Thursday, but Ben and Alix had to do English and Culinary Arts on Monday before they left for the airport. Alix knew she was going to have the hardest time with Spanish so that’s what she spent the most time on.

  By the time dinner came around all three of them had had enough of studying. They ate dinner and Ben took Shay home. Everyone spent the rest of the night watching TV. Alix went to bed that night anxious for the week ahead.

  Chapter 12

  Monday morning Alix said goodbye to her parents and then left for school. The day went by quickly. She didn’t have any trouble with her English or Culinary Arts finals, although she suspected that Karin and Mike went easy on them. Natalie was waiting for them at the end of the day.

  They drove to Shay’s house to take her home.

  “Bye Shay,” Alix said giv
ing her a great big hug. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

  “Be safe,” Shay told her. “And bring me back something cool.”

  “I will,” Alix said.

  They hugged one final time and it was off to Bozeman. When they reached the airport, Natalie parked and they went into the terminal. They headed straight to the private plane gate. The plane was already there waiting for them and since they didn’t have a ton of luggage like last time they boarded in no time.

  “Miss Alix, how lovely to see you again,” Gordon said as she entered the jet.

  “Gordon, it’s great to see you. I didn’t know you were going to be here.”

  “Yes, Miss Alix, I volunteered to be your guide again.”

  “Awww, that’s really sweet.”

  “Please take a seat anywhere,” he told them.

  The three of them sat down and prepared for takeoff. A few minutes later they were on the runway and in the air. When they were free to walk around Gordon offered them drinks and told them that dinner would be served within the hour. Alix took out her eReader while Ben looked at a magazine.

  After they ate Alix went back to reading. She probably should have been studying but was way too excited to even think about Spanish or Biology. She was excited to see Ireland and especially Newgrange. She hadn’t had any more dreams, so she still had no idea what she was going to find there.

  They landed in New York to refuel but this time they got to stay on the plane. She made sure to look out the windows as they landed and took off. One day she hoped to actually spend time there and see the city.

  After they left New York everyone got comfortable. It was going to be a few hours before they would land, and they all hoped to get some sleep before then. It would be morning when they landed in Dublin and they didn’t know what was planned for them.