“More like the other way around.”
“No… Fourteen years and you haven’t given him a chance?” Donovan looked at her with wide eyes. “Poor guy, he sure is persistent,” he said causing Shui to blush. “Yo! Willow, can we wake the man up?”
Willow threw some leaves into the ceramic teapot and served it. “Why? I like him more when he’s unconscious.”
“True, but I can always ask Icarus to convince you,” Donovan smirked.
After years of knowing each other, Donovan had a few good ways of making Willow talk, one of these was her fear of rodents or anything that resembled one.
“Don’t you dare allow that rat next to me!” she squealed and shivered with disgust as Icarus jumped closer to Willow to mess with her. “Fine! Give him this,” she said as she took out a small bottle and threw it to Icarus.
The sugar glider took the bottle and gave it to Donovan. “Thank you Willow, you shouldn’t have,” sang Donovan as he poured the bottle in Veter’s mouth.
Like magic, Veter coughed violently and woke up. “That was brutal!” he said in a thick Serbian accent, scratching his long crooked nose with the back of his hand. “Who knew those little flowers would knock me down?”
Donovan chuckled. “Apparently, Shui warned you.”
Veter moved his fingers through his bushy dark brown beard. “Now that you mention it, I do remember her saying something about it.” He stood up and shook hands with Donovan. “Glad to see you lad. Icarus.” He gave a friendly nod to the sugar glider and then turned to the kitchen. Veter had the same tribal circle on his left wrist; only his was a wave from the air element. “Good morning, babe,” he smiled at Shui. Instead of answering she merely lifted her thin eyebrow and walked away, something that made Veter want to chase after her even more.
“Bummer, you’re still alive,” teased Willow.
Veter stared at her with a sour face. “Blondie,” he said, then looked around. “Who’s missing?”
“Hunter,” said Edan.
Veter walked to Edan, but instead of shaking his hand he stood in front of him and placed his right hand over Edan’s right shoulder, a sign of honor and respect. “Agnosco, Kapetan,” he said.
Edan mimicked the same gesture placing his arm on Veter’s left shoulder creating an X with both of their arms. “Agnosco,” he said. “Good to have you back from your nap.”
“And a glorious one,” Veter joked.
After finishing their greetings and their food, Edan and the rest walked to the main living room. Veter sat down and took out a cigar.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” Edan said. “For the last twelve years our future queen was safer kept away from us, but after her Eighteenth Spring, she will be in more danger.”
“What about the necklace?” asked Shui. “Is something wrong with it?”
“Nothing is wrong with the necklace, but her powers are becoming too strong to be contained.” Edan paced to the middle of the room. “A few weeks ago, Hunter was able to track her essence.”
Willow gasped and covered her mouth with shaky hands. “From where? For how long?!”
“From the Amazon, and only for a few minutes.”
“From the Amazon!” Willow screamed. The distance from the Amazon to Truckee was extremely far, especially to be able to sense someone. “Does He know?! Has He found her?!” she asked. Fear flooded the room. Even though they were sent away before the war in Nádúr Noc, they’d all heard the stories. They all knew what He was capable of.
Edan squatted in order to be in eye contact with her. “Calm down Willow. He is powerful, but He’s not a tracker. Hunter is. The best one to be exact. There’s no way He could have sensed her.”
Donovan crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He looked calm, but his muscles remained tensed. “How can you be so sure He hasn’t sensed her?”
Edan stood and paced across the room. “Because if He had, this place would be crawling with dark beasts or Darklings by now. The town is clean.”
“What’s the plan, then?” asked Donovan.
“We stay here. We take turns watching over her, and we keep her safe for the time that we have left,” said Edan. “I know I’m asking you to change the plans the elders set for all of you, but we need to make sure that nothing happens to our future queen until her Resurgence.”
Donovan took a step forward. “I’m in.”
“Me too,” said Willow.
Shui lifted her hand. “Count me in, Edan.” Veter stood up from the couch. “You already know that wherever you lead, I will follow.”
Edan gave everyone a thankful nod.
Hunter, with his messy black hair covering most of his face, took a step forward as a gesture of joining the team.
Veter jumped at the sight of Hunter. “Shit!!” Veter screamed. “How does he do that? I didn’t see him walk in!” He looked around for answers. “Did any of you see him walk in?” They all shook their heads.
Barely fifteen years old, Hunter was the youngest of the team. With black eyes, an intense stare, a skinny body that was mostly covered in scars, the fact that he never talked and had an unknown past, Hunter was a stray wild animal.
Though everyone stared, Hunter kept his cool way, as he carved a piece of wood with a knife.
“And he already has his knife out!” Donovan clapped with amusement. “This guy’s a ninja!”
“Let him be,” said Edan as he grabbed a bag that was leaning against the couch and placed it on top of the table.
He opened it to reveal a bunch of crystal daggers like the one he had in his room. Edan took the crystals out and passed them out to his friends. “We don’t want to attract any attention to this town, so try not to wield your elements,” he explained as everyone took a crystal. “If anything goes wrong, use the crystal to defend yourselves. Make sure to take it everywhere you go.”
“No way!” Donovan took one of the daggers and showed it to Veter. “I haven’t seen one of this since my days in Terra, have you?”
“I brought one with me, broke it by accident a few years ago,” he smiled showing the dimples in his cheeks.
“Edan,” Willow walked closer to him, “does us coming here earlier mean that we could also go back to Terra earlier?”
“I’m afraid not,” he said handing one of the daggers to Hunter. “We are here earlier for her protection, but we need to wait for the year to pass before we can remove the locket.”
“Do you miss it?” Willow placed her hand gently on Edan’s back. “Being in Terra?”
“Some things I do, Terrians…memories,” he said trying to keep his head from hanging low. “Other things I guess I’m better off without. You?”
“I miss my family the most,” Willow said. She sat down on one of the couches. “And the market stand I used to take you to.”
Donovan sighed next to Willow. “I miss my family too. Mayra and Dean must be so grown up by now.”
“Of course they are, it’s been twelve years.” Shui patted Donovan’s hair like a mother would with her child.
“My baby sisters must be eighteen now,” Veter said. Being the oldest of nine kids, he was very protective of everyone around him. He leaned closer to Shui so she could pat his hair just like she was doing to Donovan. Shui shook her head and proceeded to pat him too.
“The triplets? Already eighteen?” Donovan lifted his eyebrow and Veter glared at him.
“Don’t you dare think about touching my sisters, you animal.”
“I would never!” He laughed.
As they continued to talk about their memories in Terra, Edan’s mind strayed somewhere else, trying to prepare for what was coming.
Chapter 4
Wicked Week
Monday…
G WAS NESTLED DEEP under her fluffy comforter when Priyam woke her. “Coma girl! It’s time for breakfast, and Miss Brown needs something from the market.” She handed G a few rolled up bills. “Can you take care of the market while I take care of th
e kids?”
“This early?” G whined and crawled further into her bed.
“Sorry ‘little Annie,’ but it’s a hard knock life, as they say, so unless you want to find another place to live and give up our scholarships, then yes.”
G moved her hand out of the sheets and snatched the bills from Priyam’s hand. “I’m on it.”
“Atta girl!”
* * *
At the supermarket, G began placing all the items on the list in the cart: diapers, baby food, cold medicine, vegetables and colorful cereals, when she saw Mr. Blau looking over some pots and pans. He seemed calmer than in class, more relaxed and somehow younger. His facial expressions, without his usual frown and constant eye rolling, led G to think that he enjoyed cooking. Enjoyment… she thought a word I never thought I would use to describe him. After all, every day at school, his face was in a constant glare.
G was lost in thought when the church bells rang. Damn, I’m late! She grabbed the last items, paid for the groceries, and ran to the forest to take a shortcut.
As usual, on her way through the forest, G was followed by an animal. In this case, it was a small golden-crowned kinglet that flew up to her shoulder. “Oh, hello, chubby bird,” she greeted him, continuing to think about Mr. Blau and what she had seen the day before on her way back from the library; him and that beautiful woman with a gorgeous blue ombre hair, dragging a knocked out giant man. “Who are they, little bird? And why are they here?” she asked while the puffy white and yellow bird remained seated on her shoulder. “Also… was that his house? I never pictured him in a house, I mean… it’s not like I thought he was homeless, but he’s so stiff and angry, yet he lives in a house full of beautiful flowers? What’s that abou- AHH!” G tripped on a tree’s root. The bird flew away as she closed her eyes preparing for the impact… but nothing happened.
G opened her eyes and, for a second, saw herself floating mid-air. “Ah!” G gasped inhaling the smoke from a vanilla cigar. G stayed still, afraid of moving the wrong way and falling from whatever was holding her. “Are you ok, little bird?” she asked as the wind pushed her backwards. Don’t fall, don’t fall… she chanted over and over again until she was back on her feet.
Unsure of what had happened, but still incredibly excited, G smiled to the bird. “Stay there! I’m gonna get Priy.”
G ran to the orphanage, stormed up the stairs, and threw her bedroom door open. “Priy!” she screamed. Priyam almost fell off the chair she was swinging on.
“Geez, G!” Priyam sat down correctly. “Scare much?”
“You need to come with me.”
“I’m in the middle of this level.”
“Then pause it. You need to see this!” G insisted while Priyam kept playing. “Priy! I’m serious.”
Priyam closed down the screen of her laptop and faced her friend. “It better be super incredible.”
Back in the forest and next to the bird, G placed her feet behind the root she tripped on the last time. “Check this out,” she said as she let herself go, only this time the wind didn’t carry her. G’s body slammed into the floor and Priyam burst out laughing. “You were right. It was amazing,” she managed to say between breaths. “Though you could’ve shown me that incredible trick back at the orphanage.”
G sat down and searched for the current she felt last time… it was gone, and so was the smell of the cigar.
“I don’t understand…” she whispered.
“Neither do I, but it was glorious.” Priyam mocked her one last time before heading back
Tuesday…
G woke up to a chirping sound coming from one of Bobby’s branches. She took a bath, and when she came out the same bird from yesterday was standing on her nightstand.
“Hey, birdy!” she greeted the animal while picking out clothes to wear.
Outside, G walked to the main street to pick up a video for Priyam’s movie night. While walking down the street, G heard a soft waggle and heavy breathing following her. She turned around and noticed a brown street dog was following her. Three blocks later, the dog was still tailing her. Another day, another animal following me… At least this one is a dog. To her surprise, when she turned at next corner, the dog turned too. Maybe he’s hungry… G walked into the meat shop and bought a pound of beef to feed the dog, like she always did with any stray animal, but when she walked outside he was gone.
Not thinking too much of it, G continued her walk to the video store.
On her way, G saw the reflection of a small spotted animal in the stores’ windows, and realized she was now being followed by a cat. Only this time the cat was smoother in covering his tracks. Poor cat, it must be the meat… G turned around and gave a piece of meat to the cat who happily ate it.
“Good boy,” she praised him. “Now go to your house.” As if it was following orders, the cat ran across the street crossing in front of Mr. Blau. G spied on him for a brief moment before he walked inside a café and sat with a strong man with beautiful blue eyes; another man G had never seen before in town.
Finally, with the video in hand, G walked back to the orphanage. This time she went through the forest. On her way, G sang and goofed around when she heard a twig snap next to her.
She turned and saw an elk hiding among the trees. G slowly turned back around and walked silently so the animal wouldn’t get scared. To her amusement, the animal started to follow her. Every time she looked back, the elk did a terrible job pretending it wasn’t following her by “hiding” behind a tree, chewing some grass, and even pretending to be looking at the sky. Ok… this is getting a little weird... She kept walking slowly and noticed that now, not only the elk was following her, but a fox and a beaver had joined him.. How did a beaver get here?
Feeling freaked out by the Dr. Doolittle experience, G ran to the orphanage and closed her bedroom door.
“Great! You got the video,” said Priyam as she took off her glasses and pushed her computer out of the way. “Popcorn is ready.”
Without answering, G ran to the window to see if the elk was still outside. Not only was the elk still there, so was the dog, the cat, the bird, the fox, the beaver, and a group of wolves!
“Darn!” she yelped as she ducked down.
“What’s happening?” asked Priyam. G pointed at the window.
Priyam jumped out of bed and took a sneaky look. “No way! Is that an elk? And wolves?” she asked amused. “G, what’s up with Noah’s ark? Did you do this? I told you to stop feeding stray animals or they would follow you home.”
“I only fed the cat, and I don’t know if it was me. Maybe…?” G was so confused. Why were these animals following her for no reason? “They all started to follow me this morning.”
“Never a dull moment with you.” Priyam took the video from G’s hands and put it in the computer. “Come on, let’s watch it. I’m sure they won’t come in,” she said with a chuckle.
G walked to Priyam’s bed, and they both watched the movie, oblivious to the fact that Icarus was watching over them from one of Bobby’s branches.
Wednesday…
The day was warmer than usual; the sun was out, the wind wasn’t cold, and there was no sign of snow. It seemed strange not having to wear a sweater at this time of the year. It was so warm, one of the teachers decided to hold class outside so they could enjoy the weather.
G was leaning against a tree taking notes while the teacher lectured. G loved being outside, being in nature. There, on the grass, with the sky above her and the smell of fresh air, was where G felt the most comfortable.
“I’m so hungry,” whispered Priyam as she played around with her computer.
“You’re always hungry.”
“I say we sneak away and go to the cafeteria,” Priyam proposed while pretending to take notes. “I already know this subject so I can help you prepare for the exam.”
“What if the teacher finds out? I don’t think we should go,” said G.
“My treat.”
G sh
oved her notebook inside her bag. “I’m ready.”
Priyam chuckled, packed her computer, and they both snuck around through the trees.
While walking among the trees, G had the strange impulse to look toward the main building. There he was, Mr. Blau staring at her from a distance. G stopped and stared back. This was the third day in a row she’d gotten a glimpse of him. It was as if everywhere she went he followed, or maybe it was the other way around.
SNAP!!! One of the tree branches moved and slapped G right in the face. “Damn it!”
Priyam turned and saw G with her red cheek and confused expression. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. The tree branch just slapped me. ”
“You walked into a tree branch?” Priyam laughed.
G rubbed her red face. Pounding pain ran through her cheek and down her neck. “I didn’t walk into it, it moved by itself.”
Priyam raised her eyebrows and smirked, “It moved by itself?”
“Yes, I was looking at the building and it snapped against me.”
“Your cheek looks puffy; we can put some ice on it in the cafeteria.”
G followed Priyam and for the second time that day, she had another urge to look at the main building. G saw Mr. Blau still looking at her but this time his face was different, he looked concerned and… angry? Why would he be angry?
Just to push Mr. Blau’s buttons, G lifted her hand and waved at him. He shook his head in disapproval, turned around and strode away. G grinned at his childish reaction.
SNAP!! Another tree branch slapped G knocking her to the ground.
Priyam ran towards her; she couldn’t stop laughing, “Seriously G, how are you still alive at this age?”
Thursday…
The school hours seemed like weeks to G. The more she looked at her watch, the more it seemed to be slowing down. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow so she could confront Mr. Blau. For the past week things were off, there was something that kept nagging at her.
Seasons Within Box Set Page 4