The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural

by Stefany Valentine Ramirez

  He was on his way out the room when the door handle jiggled. Startled, Ace dropped his book and spun on the spot. The first hiding place he could think of was behind the curtains draped alongside the windows and so he bolted. There was just enough time to throw the fabric over his feet when three pairs of footsteps entered the room. After realizing that it couldn’t have been Lee or Ithaca, Ace felt it was safe to reveal himself. He was just about to step out from behind the curtains when Mr. Stelter’s urgent voice made its way to his ears.

  “There’s not much time is there, Derik?” asked Mr. Stelter locking the door.

  Rex Diachi! That was his father’s name. Instantly he recognized his father’s heavy footsteps make their way to the center of the office. He wasn’t in the greatest shape of his life which is what explained the heavy steps. In fact, Ace remembered him being a very large plump man with a thick black goatee on his sickly pale face. He hadn’t always been that way. Ace remembered when he and Mr. Stelter would lift weights together at the Diachi Mansion. But he had recently been diagnosed with a sickness that prevented him from being able to do little more than walk.

  “Thank you Edrick.” Mason heard his father sigh as he slumped down in a chair. Mason didn’t remember a chair being in the center of the room, but from where their voices were coming from, that’s where they seemed to have gathered. “And you’re right there isn’t much time. It has to be tonight, there is nothing more we can do.” Once more he sighed and when he spoke again, there was sorrow in his words. “Forgive me Edrick; I’ve been such a fool. I’ve been putting this off for as long as I can. But I fear Gadiantion is about to realize that I’ve found out he’s been poisoning me.”

  Mason’s eyebrow folded. Gadiantion as in Ithaca’s uncle? He was his father’s right hand man. From what Mason knew, DiAchi Tech was nearly halfway his anyway. But what startled Mason most was the idea that Gadianton was poisoning his father. Was that the reason Rex was in such bad shape?

  “We understand.” A third voice muttered but sounded deep in thought. Ace recognized it immediately as Grace’s older brother Lambert. The tall Stelter never wore a smile on his acne spotted face. Though he was old enough to be out of that teenage phase, he still broke out in small clusters all around his face. Ace was sure that if he hadn’t been spending so much money on hair gel and business suits, he would have a face as flawless as his sisters’.

  “For a man that has been second best since our families started being industrious, I can see why he’s so jealous.” Lambert continued.

  Ace’s father nodded though his son couldn’t see. “Not only that but he has been the reason my family has hated yours for two-hundred years. I suppose that another reason why he wants me dead so badly is to punish me for befriending your family. For two-hundred years he’s been one person away from my seat. But if he knows I have found out he’s been slowly killing me, there’s nothing to stop him from finishing me now. He’s already taken Estelle… I need to know what you’re plan is. I need to know how you can save my son.”

  A hollow silence followed and Ace could only imagine Lambert and his father eyeing each other gravely. Finally Mr. Stelter’s voice spoke up. “What’s this?”

  Mason held his breath as he listened to Mr. Stelter’s feet walk over to his desk. He paused for a moment and Mason was sure he had been discovered. Then there was the sound of something being picked up from the floor and Mason could almost see the confused brows of Mr. Stelter as he held the blue book in his hands. “I guess one of the kids must have dropped it when they were playing.”

  “Are Mason and Ithaca here already?” Rex asked with a wisp of enthusiasm in his voice.

  “Yeah, they are.” Lambert answered and Mason heard his footsteps come over to join his father. But before he knew it, the curtain was being thrown aside and he was exposed to the three men in the room.

  Mason’s face flushed as Lambert loomed over him with a fistful of curtains in his hands. The look on his face wasn’t mad. Lambert was never a mad person. He just always seemed to have something else on his mind. Even as he asked. “What are you doing here Mason?”

  Mason skimmed the room. Mr. Stelter stood just over Lambert’s shoulder in a crisp white suit and a green tie to match his eyes. A slight smile crept over his lips as he shook his head. There was always something so intimidating about Mr. Stelter. It frightened Mason at the time, but Ace didn’t think it scary at all. He was a big man with wide shoulders and a balding head. That, plus the fact that he was almost always in a suit gave the illusion that he was a military general, but as Ace thought back on it, he was the perfect father.

  “Come over here Mason.” His own father called, and Mason tore his eyes from Edrick Stelter.

  Mason was around the table in no time and hopped onto the couch he was pretty sure hadn’t been in the room when he first entered. Nonetheless, he hugged his father just as Rex put an arm around his shoulder.

  “What are you talking about dad?” Mason asked as the Stelters joined them.

  “Oh nothing you need to be worried about. It’s just some stuff for us old people.” Said his father with a smile and Mason could see a twinkle in his father’s dark brown eyes.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  His father didn’t answer right away. Instead he sat there with a weary smile and nodded. “Yes son. Everything will be alright.”

  “Is Gadianton in trouble?” Mason asked.

  Rex scoffed, “Oh tell you what. If he’s not in big trouble, he will be when I’m done with him. But you can’t tell Ithaca okay. This has to between you and me.”

  “Ithaca!” Mason exclaimed. “We’re playing a game! She probably already won.” With that, Mason slid from the couch and grabbed the book Mr. Stelter had set on the desk, along with the mouse pad. Without another word he turned on the spot and hurried for the door. Mason made sure to shut it before he went bursting into the hall and down to the kitchen. As he sprinted through the empty wooden hall, expensive paintings whizzed past him on the walls and pillars that formed the large hallway swooped passed him as well. There were a couple maids that turned their heads as he hurried past but other than that he was alone on the run to the kitchen.

  His shoes squeaked as he rounded the corner. The kitchen doors were just a few more strides before him, but before he could pick up his feet, a volley of pencils slapped the side of his face. “Ithaca!” he gasped when his eyes adjusted to the girls against the wall. “Grace, there you are! I was looking for you.”

  Grace giggled, “Well we were doing the same.”

  “Where have you been Mace?” Ithaca asked holding her five items out for him to see. “You only grabbed two things?”

  “I could have gotten more.” Mason muttered looking down, “Actually I was going to the office to find the mouse pad but then our dads walked in.”

  Grace smiled, “My dad won’t get mad at you. He loves your family.”

  Mason nodded, “Yeah, but that’s not my point. I overheard them talking.” Just as soon as he said it, Mason regretted the words coming out of his mouth. He was supposed to keep what he heard a secret. It was a secret just between him and his dad.

  “I over hear a lot of people talking.” Ithaca added. “I think that’s just what people do Mace.”

  Mason kept his eyes on the wooden ground and scuffed his feet. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  Just then footsteps came from behind them and when they whirled around, Lambert was slowly approaching them. Of the Stelter children, Lambert was the only boy, and probably had the most distant relationship from any of them. His emerald eyes were the same color as Grace’s but had a serious tweak to them as if there was never a time in his life to laugh.

  “What are you kids doing?” he asked and from his expressionless face, Mason couldn’t tell if he was trying to figure out what he had overheard.

  “We just got done playing secret agents.” Grace beamed. “Do you want to play with us?”

  Lambert never p
layed anything but golf with his father or perhaps a game of pool. Ace wouldn’t have wasted his breath on asking him to join in, but Lee always did. Maybe that’s why he liked her so much. “No thanks Hails, Actually it’s almost time for dinner. Do you know where mom is?”

  “In the art veranda with Lotus. They are working on her Grammy dress. Have you seen it yet? Lotus looks like a princess!”

  “I told her I’d look at it when it’s all done.” Replied Lambert. “I’m going to go tell them it’s dinner time. You go sit down alright?”

  Grace nodded, “But you have to smile for me first. It’s good for your health.”

  Lambert made a face. He didn’t want to chuckle, but he couldn’t allow himself to smile.

  “Come on!” Grace pleaded. “You’re my only brother! I want you to live for a long time and smiling keeps people alive.”

  At her words a shot of sorrow crossed his face. It was a deeper sorrow than Mason would have usually seen on him. But he didn’t let it linger on too long and it was gone before he could piece together what caused it. He smiled a set of expensive white teeth before turning down the hall.

  “I love you Lambert!” Grace called before turning around and walking with her friends into the kitchen. But just before they turned their backs, Mason heard him say, “I love you too.”

  They had dinner that evening. Mason always hated dinners because he had to sit still and listen as the adults talked and for some reason Grace and Ithaca enjoyed listening. But the moment his plate was cleared; he wiped his mouth, said a thank you and hurried away. After wandering around the Stelter’s huge house gazing at the numerous paintings, he found himself in the guest bedroom set aside for him.

  He pushed the two white doors open and entered a bedroom just as big and cozy as the rest of the Stelter mansion. A set of pajamas were laid out on the queen sized bed beside the double doors but he ignored them as he glanced at the far wall. Another set of glass doors lead out to a stone balcony and he could see that the sun was already down signaling the end of their play day.

  But he didn’t want the night to be over. It seemed as if he had just arrived. He wanted to play with his friends but at the same time, he didn’t want to return to the dining room. He figured the best thing to do was to wait for his friends and so he slipped on a pair of night socks before he considered going to the balcony to look at the stars. Just as he crossed the room and set his hands on the golden handle, a knock came from his bedroom door.

  Knowing that it was rude to shout, especially in a home that wasn’t his, Mason hurried across the room and slid the door open. In the door way stood his father. His skin looked paler and he was slightly out of breath. Maybe from walking up the stairs. Regardless, he smiled at his son and asked if he could come in.

  Mason widened the door and stepped back thinking that his father was going to chastise him for almost telling their secret. Maybe that’s why Lambert showed up when he did so Mason could remember to hold his tongue. Instead, Rex nodded to the balcony and asked. “Do you want to go look at the stars?”

  Mason nodded and hurried back over to the balcony. He forgot that ever since he was a child, it was a family thing to look at the stars. Mason, remembered a night on a picnic blanket after the Fourth of July fireworks. The sound of crickets was everywhere and the stickiness of watermelon juice was still on his chin. As he used his mother’s belly for a pillow, his father had sat beside him and the three gazed up at the infinite space above. Once or twice a lightning bug would fly overhead, and Mason would imagine it was a shooting star.

  “If there is one thing I want you to keep in mind son,” his father had said back before he got sick. “It’s that when you look at the stars, you remember how small you are. You might be a Diachi, but at the end of the day, you’re human too.”

  Mason never understood what his father meant by that. But since then, he thought of his parents when he looked at the stars. There was something about the night that brought him back to that moment. Even as they stood on the stone balcony, with their hands gripping the stone railing, he imagined his mother there too.

  For a long moment no one said a word. They just stood there looking out at the dark fields behind the Stelter mansion. In the distance and just hidden by night was the stone garden with the ponds and the rooms and the tree-swing with his friend’s initials carved in. Over to the west the sky lined with the silver lights cast by Tarrillian City. But not a single tower was visible through the trees and hills. Night skies at the Stelter mansion weren’t like the night on the picnic blanket. So few stars dotted the sky, Mason could count them.

  “What did you mean when you said Gadianton took mom? Is that why he’s in trouble?” Mason finally asked. Those were the thought of his mother had been on his mind since they stepped out and overhearing what his father had said about Gadianton had been in the back of his mind all day. So he collaborated them both in one question.

  For the first time that evening, Rex looked down. There was a stone bench with just enough room for the two of them to sit down behind them so with a light touch, Rex lead his son to the seat. Instead of looking at his father, Mason kept his head craned up at the light polluted sky.

  “Mason.” Was all Rex had to say to set his son’s attention on him. “Mason, there are good people in this world, and there are bad people. You just need to figure them out.”

  “What do you mean?” Mason asked, “How do I know they are good people?”

  Rex looked down at his son with sad tired eyes as he put his arm around his son. “A snake can hiss you a tune and rattle you a song, but you don’t know how venomous he is until he bites you.”

  Mason was still confused but he didn’t want to pester his father. Especially when he was so ill. But his father went on to explain almost as if he had heard his son’s silent request. “For years I let someone tell me great things, things that made sense, things I thought were beneficial to me. It wasn’t until he stopped talking and did something that I realized I had dug my own grave with by listening to his lies. Now it’s too late.”

  “Dad what are you talking about? I thought you said everything was alright.” Mason interjected.

  “Everything will be alright.” He corrected. Another moment went by and all Rex could do was stare at his son and Mason stared back. He could see in his father’s eyes that he really wasn’t doing well and yet he forced himself to be there with his son. “Great men do great things, Mason. Things that make you happy. But bad men do bad things, if they do things at all. When times get tough and you aren’t sure what to do or where to go. Just remember, great men do great things.”

  Mason nodded. He still wasn’t sure what his father was talking about but he didn’t thin asking was worth it. “Dad are you okay? You look really white.” Mason was starting to feel the weight of his father leaning on him more and more but at the time time he could feel his father fighting it.

  “Get Edrick for me. Please. Hurry.”

  Mason jumped up from his seat as Rex set his hands down where his son had been to keep himself up. In a heartbeat, Mason was panicked and he didn’t dare turn around as he hurried out the bedroom door. But the moment he swung the door open, Edrick was bursting in as if he had heard Rex call for him. Mason stood by the door too stunned to do anything else. He stood and watched the shadowy figures of the men on the balcony. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but it looked like Edirck had pulled a cup from the air and that was what Rex was drinking from. But whatever it was, Mason’s father was better once he finished the cup.

  Slowly, Mason crept toward them but by the time he was at his father’s side, Mr. Stelter was helping him up to his feet. “You need to go lay down. It’s been a long day for you.” Edrick was saying.

  Rex inhaled deeply. They had just made it inside the house when Rex stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I love you Mason. So very much.” His mouth hung open as if he wanted to say more but Edrick nudged him along and whispered something in his ear.

&
nbsp; “No,” Rex said sternly then pulled away from him only to hobble back to his son. In one swift movement, his plump weak arms were wrapped around his son. “I love you Mason. So, so much.”

  Mason’s arms wrapped around his father though he still had no idea what was going on but it almost sound like his father was going away. “I love you too dad.” Mason replied breathing in the fabric of his father’s suit. “Are you going somewhere?”

  When Rex pulled his face away, a damp river of tears decorated his sickly pale face. “Yes, son. I am. And so are you.”

  Mason wanted to ask where but Edrick had come up from behind and slid a strong hand over his friend’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to him for you.” He said quietly.

  Rex didn’t look up from his son. Instead he lifted his hand to cup his son’s cheek. “Mason, we are going away now and I won’t be seeing you for a long time. I know you are going to feel like I have forgotten about you. I know there will be times when you are going to be so hurt, lost and confused. I know that there will be times when you are going to feel so alone that you will question if I ever loved you. Mason, you are my son and I love you endlessly. Please be strong and don’t ever stop trying. When this war is over, we can be a family again. I promise.”

  Mason nodded. At the time he had no idea what his father was talking about. But as Ace relived those words, he didn’t want to let go of the promise his father made. He was going to have what he never had; a family. But only when the war was over. Ace wanted to shout at his father. He wanted to know what his father was talking about, but this was a memory and in the memory, Mason watched his father climb to his shaky feet and brush the last of his tears away.

  “Mason,” Edrick’s deep yet gentle voice called and Mason glanced up at the fair haired man as he crouched down beside him. “There is a bad man who wants what your father has.” As he spoke Mason felt the ease of his voice as he explained the situation to him. “I have built you a city. It’s a place that will make you stronger so you can learn to protect yourself against this bad man on your own. Would you like to live there for a while?”