“Well if anyone can do it it’s you,” her mom told her. “So, any change with Sonya?”
“No, and that has me really worried. I wonder if we should take her to a hospital. It’s like she’s in a coma.”
“Have you talked to the Council about it?”
“Not really. I actually haven’t talked to anyone from the Council in days. Maybe I’ll give Shelley a call.”
“Sounds like a good idea. Is there anything I can help with?”
“I don’t think so, I’m just about done.”
“How are things going with you and Ben?”
“Good I guess. I mean nothing much has changed except we hold hand sometimes and he’s kissed me a couple of times, but we’re still friends first I think.”
“That’s actually the best way to start a relationship. Your dad and I were friends first and so were Sharon and Sean,” her mom said getting off the bed. “If you need anything just let me know.”
“Thanks, mom.”
Alix picked up her phone to call Shelley before she forgot.
“Hey, Alix, what’s up?”
“Hey Shelley, I have a question. How do I know if Sonya is in a coma or not?”
“She still hasn’t woken up?”
“No, and I’m worried.”
“Tell me what you know,” Shelley said.
Alix described what happened to her, her current state and the barrier she found around her brain.
“It sounds like she’s in a coma. The barrier you’re finding is actually her own body protecting itself, that’s why you can’t get through it. If you force your way in it could seriously harm her mental state.”
“I thought it was something the Grynn had done,” Alix admitted.
“I can understand why. She’ll wake up when she’s ready. For now, all you can do is make sure she’s comfortable and her body is taken care of.”
“I’ve already been doing that so that’s at least one thing I’ve done right.”
“You haven’t done anything wrong, Alix. It’s just her way of dealing with what happened to her. Give it time.”
“Okay. So on to another topic, have you heard from anyone else on the Council lately?”
“I’ve spoken with Ruth, Aleck, Harini, and Vladimir. Why?”
“It’s just that no one has called me, and I wondered why.”
“We’re trying to let you be a teenager when we can Alix. What you did in California and Brazil was amazing. You saved countless lives, so we wanted to give you as much of a break as we could.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. What about James?”
“I haven’t heard from him since you were in Brazil. Did you need him for something?”
“Not really. It’s just that the last time I talked to him he seemed strange. He said he thought he was being followed.”
“Huh. I’ll make a few calls and if I find anything out, I’ll get in touch with you.”
“Thanks, Shelley.”
“Anytime. I should get off and make those calls. Bye Alix.”
“Bye.”
Alix had a bad feeling about James. She hoped she was wrong though. If anything happened to a Council member it could be bad for all of them.
Chapter 32
Alix got up the next morning, got ready for school, and went to the kitchen. It was a busy place this morning.
“Morning honey,” her mom said. “Have a great day at school, I have to get going.”
“Thanks, mom, see you later.”
“Morning beautiful,” Ben said to her as she made her coffee. “I’m really looking forward to school today.”
Alix gave him a funny look. “Why?”
“Because I get to hold the hand of the prettiest girl in school.”
Alix laughed. “Did you practice that all night?” she said grinning.
“No, only since I got up. Did it work?”
“Maybe,” Alix said smirking.
They ate a quick breakfast and left to pick up Shay. When they got to school, Alix remembered to tell them about her talk with Shelley.
“Wow, so she really is in a coma,” Shay said. “That sucks.”
“But it’s better than the Grynn doing something to her like I first thought,” Alix said.
“True.”
The three of them walked to their Math classroom. Ben had held Alix’s hand since they first walked into the school. Alix was sure a few people stared but she did her best to ignore them.
The morning went by quickly and they met in the cafeteria for lunch. After lunch Shay had class but Alix and Ben had a spare.
“What do we do during a spare here?” he asked.
“Normally, we’d have to spend it in a classroom but because we’re seniors we can go to the library or stay in the cafeteria. I choose the library.”
“Of course, you do,” Ben laughed. You’d probably live in a library if you could.”
Alix just shrugged. Since it was the first day of the new semester, they had no homework yet, so Alix took out her eReader and Ben got out is drawing materials. As Alix was reading something was bugging her and she couldn’t concentrate.
“What is it?” Ben whispered. “I’m picking up some kind of vibe from you.”
“I don’t know. Something is just … bugging me and I can’t figure out what it is.”
“Sonya?”
“I don’t think so. I feel uneasy.”
Ben took her hand in his and started rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. That usually helped calm her down but today it wasn’t working. Something wasn’t right. They spent the rest of their spare class just like that. By the time they were walking to Chemistry, it was worse.
“Something’s wrong but I don’t know what it is,” she said in Ben’s ear as they took their seats in the class. She decided to text Shay, she just had to make sure she didn’t get caught.
Alix: Hey, are you ok?
Shay: Yes, why?
Alix: I’ve had a strange feeling since lunch that something is wrong.
Shay: Ok, but I’m fine
Alix had no idea what happened the entire class. Good thing it was the first day and Ben was paying attention. She was really glad to hear the final bell of the day. They dropped Shay off and went home. By the time they walked in the door the feeling was even worse.
They had barely gotten home when Natalie came running to find them.
“Alix, it’s Sonya, come quick.”
They raced upstairs to the room she was in. She looked like she was still sleeping but she kept repeating Alix’s name over and over.
Alix went over to her and shook her. “Sonya, can you hear me?”
Suddenly Sonya’s eyes opened, and she started crying. “I’m so sorry, Alix. I tried to stop them, but they were stronger than me. I didn’t want to, but they made me. I’m sorry,” she cried.
“Sonya, I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”
“The Grynn, they know everything that I know. Who you are, where you live, about the Council-- everything. They got into my head and I couldn’t keep them out. Please forgive me. I wasn’t strong enough.”
Natalie put her arms around Sonya while she cried. Alix didn’t blame her at all, but this was really bad. She had to call James. He answered on the first ring. It sounded like he was out of breath.
“Alix, they’ve found me. I’ve been trying to hide but they found me anyway. I’m going to destroy this phone as soon as I hang up. Call Ruth, she’ll know what to do.”
Then the line went dead.
“Ben, get everyone we know here right now. Karin, Mike, Kris, Shay, and her mom, my parents, Sara, everyone.”
Without questioning her he pulled out his phone and started making calls. She dialed Ruth.
“Hello, Alix.”
“Ruth, the Grynn found James. He was running from them, but I think they were close to capturing him. He said he was destroying his phone and to call you. I have more bad news, Sonya just woke up and she told me that t
he Grynn got into her head and know everything she does. About me, the Council, all of it.”
“Oh Alix, this is extremely bad. But we have a protocol in place for this. Every Council member is to get to the nearest safe house and stay there until we can contain the problem.”
“Okay, I already asked Ben to get everyone I know here,” Alix told her.
“Good thinking Alix. I have to get the emergency protocol started. I’ll be in touch,” Ruth said and hung up.
Alix was in shock. What she’d just learned was very, very bad. They Grynn knew where she lived and had had that information for almost two weeks. She wondered if the Grynn were already hiding in Sunset Creek waiting to take her. But if so, why hadn’t they done it already?
“Alix,” Ben said snapping her out of her thoughts. “I’ve called everyone to come here. Now tell me what’s going on?”
“You heard what Sonya said right?” He nodded. “When I called James, he said that the Grynn had found him. And when I called Ruth, she said this was very bad but they had a protocol in place and all Council members were to go straight to a safe house.”
“But you told me to get everyone here before you called Ruth.”
“As soon as Sonya said the Grynn knew about me my first thought was to get everyone here to a safe place.”
“Looks like that was the right thing to do,” he said. “So, what happens now?”
“I don’t know. When everyone gets here, we tell them what we know and wait for Ruth to call. I don’t like this at all Ben.”
“I know Alix,” he said and pulled her into his arms.
“We’d better go wait downstairs for everyone to arrive,” Alix said stepping out of his hug.
“May I join you?” Sonya asked.
“Of course,” Alix said. “Unless you aren’t feeling up to it.”
“Now that I’m awake, other than feeling thirsty and hungry, I feel alright. I think I just need a shower.”
Natalie showed Sonya where she could shower and got her a change of clothes. Alix and Ben went downstairs to the den. Ben sat down while Alix paced the room.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said. “And poor Sonya. It must have been awful trying to keep the Grynn out of her head. I hate them, Ben, I really hate them.”
“I understand Alix, but you can’t let that get in the way of trying to fix this, because I know you’re also trying to figure out a way to make this right.”
“You bet I am. This is all because of me.” Ben started to say something, but Alix stopped him. “I’m not blaming myself. It’s just that the Grynn are trying to get the Chosen One, me. All of the things they have done, all the people that have died and all the people that aren’t safe are because they want me. So that means it’s up to me to stop it.”
“Not just you Alix. Remember that you don’t have to do this alone,” he told her.
“I know, I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”
“If anything happens to anyone else it’s not going to be because of you. It’ll be because the Grynn are evil, nasty people.”
Alix continued to pace until the doorbell rang. It was Shay and her mom.
“Ben made it sound urgent,” Shay said when she walked in the door. “What’s up?”
“It is urgent but if it’s okay I’d rather only have to say this once so can you wait until everyone else gets here?”
“Sure. I can tell that whatever this is it’s really bothering you.”
Alix just nodded. They went back to the den and Ben turned on the news, but Alix was too distracted to pay any attention to it.
Within the next thirty minutes, Sonya and Natalie were downstairs. Sara, Karin, Mike, Kris, and her dad had also made it to the safe house. The only person they were missing was her mom.
“Dad,” Alix said, “can you find out where mom is. It’s not safe for her to be out right now. I’ll explain everything in a minute. I just need to know where she is.”
“Okay honey,” he said and dialed the phone. He spoke for a minute and hung up. “She can’t leave the hospital right now. Something happened, and they need her in an emergency. She said she’ll be home as soon as she can.”
“Natalie, can we send two Warriors to the hospital to watch her? I wouldn’t ask unless it was serious.”
“Sure Alix, let me just call them.”
A few minutes later two of their Warrior guards were in the den. Alix took them aside and explained the situation. They left immediately. She quickly texted her mom to expect them. Now it was time to fill everyone else in.
She got everyone’s attention and told them what had happened to Sonya and about her phone call to James. Then she let them know what Ruth said about the emergency protocol.
“I know Ruth said that Council members were to get to safe houses, but I felt it was necessary for all of you to know what’s going on. Since you all live in Sunset Creek and know me, it could be possible that all of you are in danger. I didn’t know what else to do other than get you to somewhere safe as fast as possible.”
Alix could tell by the looks on their faces that they knew how serious this was. It was Kris that spoke first.
“I’m going to call the team the Council put in place when they found out you were the Chosen One. We’re going to need some extra security here.”
“Thank you, Kris,” Alix said. “Has anyone seen anything unusual around?”
As Alix suspected no one had. She was sure if someone had seen a Grynn they would have said something.
“We can’t stay in this house forever,” Ben said. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t have a good answer to that,” Alix admitted. “But I think we should at least wait to hear back from Ruth, so we can better understand the situation.”
Everyone agreed to that. Natalie decided to start cooking dinner since it looked like they were all going to be there for a while. Karin, Mike, and Tami went with her. When Kris got off the phone, he and Sonya left the room. Alix guessed it was to talk about what happened to her. Alix’s dad went upstairs to change, leaving Alix, Ben, and Shay alone.
“Are you scared?” Shay asked Alix.
“Yes, but not for me. I’m scared for everyone in this house and mostly for mom right now. She needs to be here where she’s safe.”
“The Warriors will be there with her,” Ben said to Alix putting his arm around her shoulders. “They will protect her with their lives.”
“I know. I’m just worried. But what bothers me the most is if they’ve had this information for almost two weeks why haven’t they acted on it. I was sure that if they ever found out who I really was and where I lived, they’d have been here immediately. It doesn’t make sense. And I’m really worried about James. At least I know why I was feeling uneasy all afternoon. He was probably already aware that he’d been found. But I don’t get why he didn’t just get to a safe house as soon as he suspected that the Grynn were after him. We have so many unanswered questions.”
“You’re right,” Ben said, “But is there anything we can do to help the situation right at this moment?”
Alix shook her head. “I can’t think of anything.”
“Okay. So, what’s going to be the best way for you to handle this right now?”
Alix thought about that for a minute. She wanted to fix everything but had no clue what to do to make it right. So, the next best thing was to calm her mind down. That meant her journal.
“Let’s go upstairs for a while,” she said. “I need my journal and I think I should probably make sure my phone is charged in case I need it.”
The three of them went to Alix’s room. Her room was set up a lot like Ben’s so that meant she had her own bathroom, TV, desk, and couch. It was actually more like a hotel room than just a bedroom. Shay turned on the TV and sat on the couch with Ben. Alix sat at the desk and took out her journal.
Jan 9
Everything is sooooo not okay right now. I’m trying to stay calm on the
outside but inside I’m freaking out. The Grynn know my real name, who my family and friends are and where we live. That’s information I hoped they’d never have. I know that François or Victor are going to try something, I just don’t know what it might be. It’s my responsibility to keep those I care about safe. I just don’t know how to do that. I can’t make everyone stay here like prisoners but I’m afraid to let them go out on their own. They all have lives that they have to live, I get that, I just wish I could create a bubble of safety around everyone. Hmm, I wonder if that would actually work. I might have to try it.
I also feel really bad for Sonya. I can’t even imagine what she went through. She was physically hurt by the Grynn but I have a feeling that what they did to her mind was worse. Having someone brutally force their way into your mind has to be a terrible feeling. I know she blames herself for not being strong enough to stop them, but I know there was nothing she could have done. Look what the Grynn did to the whole world, she didn’t have a chance. I just hope I can make her understand that it wasn’t her fault and I don’t blame her at all.
I hate when I don’t understand something and right now that’s the actions of the Grynn. Why haven’t they tried to take me? Why wait? The element of surprise would have been on their side. Why take the chance that Sonya would wake up and tell us what she knew? We didn’t have a clue that they knew about me or the Council but now we can be prepared for them. Ahhh! I really hate this. I want to know what they’re up to and I want to know now!
Alix closed her journal and put it away, not really feeling any better. She knew most of that was her mom not being home. She hoped they would hear from her soon.
A couple of hours later Natalie texted that dinner was ready. Alix still hadn’t heard from Ruth or her mom. When they got to the kitchen, she found her dad.
“Have you heard from mom?” Alix asked him.
“No, but if they needed her in an emergency then it was something bad. I’m sure she’s just really busy,” her dad said but Alix could tell he was worried.
They were halfway through eating dinner when Alix’s phone rang. She was hoping it was her mom, but it turned out to be Ruth. She stepped away from the table to take the call.
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