by Amy Richie
“How am I supposed to know?” I snapped in a loud whisper.
“Do you see anything?” Lana called nervously.
Cody and I looked up at the same time, his wide eyes meeting my narrowed ones. “No bodies,” he growled.
“Pfft,” Shane snorted loudly. “That's a good thing.”
“Maybe we...” Cody started awkwardly.
“Maybe we what?” Lana shouted, almost hysterical.
“Maybe it was just an animal,” he offered weakly.
“I saw a man in the road,” I intercepted his false hope. I had seen him in the road right before he disappeared under our car. Where was he now? There was no blood on the car or on the road, no indication of a human at all. Or an animal. Was it possible that I had imagined it? Maybe. But it was highly unlikely that we all had imagined the same thing.
“He had to have been knocked off the road,” Shane called out helpfully.
I clenched my jaw tightly and scanned the dark shadows just past our car. It was hard to even make out if it was just fields or if there were any buildings, let alone an injured or worse man laying in the tall grass that was visible.
Cody bounced back up to two feet, striding quickly to argue with Shane over what to do. I rose more slowly, watching for any movement. The air felt weird, like it was charged with an actual electrical current. Something was wrong – I could feel it.
“Are you Kalliope Harris?” a deep, unfamiliar voice asked.
Chapter Four
His voice echoed around us, filling all the small spaces between me and my friends – who I had darted to join as soon as I realized we weren't alone. For once, Lana was completely silent behind me. Cody and Shane had stepped forward slightly, always prepared for a fight. I couldn't let it get to that though.
“I need Kalliope Harris,” he repeated. I probably gave myself away by how wide my eyes went but I didn't step forward.
The man was tall and built like a gladiator; no wonder he did more damage to the car than it did to him. His light colored hair hung well past his well defined chin. A chin that was held tight as he glared at us.
I could only hope Lana didn't give me away. No way was I going to admit my name to this man. He was probably a crazy killer or something. I was just waiting for a fish hook to appear from under the bulky overcoat he was wearing.
“Kalliope Harris,” he said more slowly, obviously wondering if any of us were able to speak.
What did he expect? The road was completely deserted except for our car and yet, here he was. Where did he come from? Better question still, how was he standing in front of us when we had just run him over? He didn't even look ruffled. No blood, no bumps, no bruises – nothing.
“Never heard of her,” Cody grunted suddenly.
“I'll take both of your females then,” the man said in a low voice.
Females? Lana cowered closer into my side. Who said things like that? What kind of barbarian was he? Obviously, I needed to step forward so he didn't make good on his promise. If I was just brave enough to make eye contact.
“How are you even alive?” I heard Luke ask before I could say anything.
“I'm from Hurdesh.”
Was that supposed to make sense? What did we care where he was from? “And?” Cody prompted.
“And I've come for Kalliope Harris.”
“What do you want with her?” It was probably a bad idea to speak up, especially when his eyes swung over to take me in; but I needed to take control of this situation – and quickly.
His eyes traveled slowly over the length of my body, stopping to take in the fray at the top of my jeans and the faded words splashed across my chest. “Kalliope Harris?”
His gaze finally came to rest on my face until our eyes locked. Impossible images played just at the edge of my memory. I was found as an infant on a park bench, abandoned in a cardboard box. I had no memories that weren't orphanages and foster homes. I couldn't understand what this stranger was awakening in me.
Without meaning to, I took two steps forward when he did, putting us within feet of each other. His eyes had dropped slightly, now avoiding any direct eye contact. “Who are you?” I asked in a voice that had somehow gone hoarse.
“I am Kristov of Hurdesh.” His body jerked forward with the dramatic introduction.
Despite his foreign name and bizarre appearance, I couldn't detect any sort of accent. “Where is Hurdesh exactly?” My tongue struggled to form the unfamiliar word.
“It is the first planet of the Zar galaxy.” His expression never changed.
My eyes narrowed, then widened back out again. “Right,” I nodded, “right.” So, he had escaped from a mental hospital of some sort. It was just my luck to be somehow related to a nut job.
I was getting ahead of myself though. No one ever said I was related to him. That strange connection I had felt with him was just a result of a very long night. I needed sleep and a shower. A really hot shower; then I would feel more normal. Well, normal for me.
I sighed, running my hand roughly down my face to cup my chin. There were a lot of things I couldn't explain about this man; like how he knew where we were, why he was out here alone, why getting run over by a car hadn't even scratched him, and how he knew my name. One thing was clear though – we needed to keep moving.
Standing on a dark highway, having a chat with Mr. Crazy, wasn't in our plans. The real question was how to go about getting away from him. I hated the thought of leaving him out here alone and helpless if I had to convince him of anything, then he'd be glazed out of whatever senses he had left. Then again, I couldn't risk him telling the cops what we were driving.
“Listen,” I called loudly so he would look up at me, “my friends are going to get back in the car and then we're leaving.” I was relieved when they took the hint and shuffled past us.
“And you'll come with me.” It wasn't even a question and that alone made me more nervous than I had been since he showed up.
“No. You won't even remember talking to me.”
“Your compulsion won't work on me, young Tontinian.”
“Compulsion?” My shoulders jerked back.
“I'm sure you've enjoyed its benefits with the humans, but it won't work on a Guardian.”
“How do you...” I shook my head, frantically trying to regather my own senses. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
“You came of age tonight,” he announced in a different sort of voice.
My mouth fell open, then snapped shut again. “I've been eighteen for almost a year. Actually...” I tried to remember what day it was.
“September fourth. Your birthday was seventeen minutes ago. Your coming of age birthday.”
“My 19th birthday,” I corrected.
“It is written that each princess will wed within seven days of their nineteenth birthday.” He stared at me, each feature on his finely chiseled face tense and waiting.
Waiting for what though? This guy, this Kristov, just got weirder by the minute. “Each princess?” What did Kristov want with me?
“Yes.”
“Is that all I get?” My eyebrows shot upwards, more out of irritation than interest. “We have to go.”
“I couldn't agree more. We must hurry to Tontine.”
“I thought you were from Hurdesh.” My lips could barely form the words.
“But you are from Tontine.”
“I don't know what the hell you're talking about,” I held up my hand defensively, “or what you want from me, but I'm not going anywhere with you.”
“You must.”
“Why?”
“You are a Princess of the Zar Galaxy and it is time for you to fulfill your destiny.”
Chapter Five
It wasn't just the craziness behind his words that had me craning to see behind him to make sure the others were in the car; it was the butterflies that erupted in my chest that had me calculating just how much time I had before he tried to grab me. If I could just make it to t
he car with the others, we could leave this man far behind us. He didn't have a car so it wasn't like he could follow us.
The butterflies had me worried. I heard the truth in his words, I could feel his sincerity. And just like his gaze before, his words stirred up memories that couldn't possibly be my own.
I had always known I didn't belong anywhere in the world. Even Luke knew it – with all his destiny crap talk earlier. Other worlds didn't exist though; that was stuff from those geeky TV shows – not real life. I didn't have any choice but to try and belong somewhere.
Was it possible...?
I closed my eyes tight, firmly talking myself off of that ledge. “I'm going to go now.”
“I know this is a lot to take in.” He moved with me to block my path.
“Oh I don't know,” I said thickly. “a man appears out of no where to tell me I'm a princess from a different planet... nope, completely normal.” I sidestepped again but he easily intercepted.
“I know you've always been searching,” he said quickly.
“My parents left me on a park bench – of course I've wondered why.” My breathing hitched up a notch as emotion swelled up. Why was I telling him these things?
“Your mother died on the day you were born.”
I stopped moving. “You knew my mother?”
“Everyone knew your mother.”
“And my father?”
He shrugged. “There will be time later to tell you everything.”
What did that mean? Didn't she know who my father was? “Wait,” I held up my hand again. Why was I even standing here talking to him? “There is no such place as the Zar Galaxy. Scientists would know about it.”
“Humans know nothing about us.”
“And you think I'm the princess of your imaginary world?” I asked, ignoring the jab on humanity.
“You are one of the Princesses.”
“One?” My eyebrows shot down on my forehead.
His eyes darted away nervously. “You have six sisters.”
“I'm definitely going now.” I had to dance backwards when he made a grab for my arm as I tried to squeeze by him. “I don't understand what you think I can do for you.” I tried not to let my voice sound too panicked.
“I've come to take you back to Tontine to take your place on the throne. It's time.”
“Even if I did believe you, which I don't – I'm not a princess. I am...nothing. I'm a thief.”
“You, Kalliope, are much more than nothing.”
It amazed me how much I wanted Kristov not to be crazy, and not just because he was calling me a princess either. He was right that I had never felt like I belonged and he knew about my secret power. If he wasn't completely crazy, maybe he could explain a few things for me. I couldn't forget either that he once knew my mother.
“So tell me this, mystery man,” I rocked back on my heels to hear more of his crazy talk, “who are you in all of this?”
A muscle twitched rapidly just below his right eye. “I am the Guardian of the seven Princesses – assigned by the king himself.” His chest puffed out but the twitch continued.
“Have you been...watching me all this time?” That was a creepy thought.
He shook his head, his eyes dropping to break the intense stare at last. “There was a curse placed on you that we weren't aware of.”
“A what?”
“A curse,” he repeated uncomfortably.
“What kind of curse?” I still didn't believe most of what he said – as far as other planets and galaxies were concerned – but a curse sounded serious.
“It was a concealment curse.”
“Concealment,” I muttered almost to myself. What was that supposed to mean? “Am I going to prick my finger on a needle and like, fall into a deep sleep now?”
His eyes narrowed. “We weren't able to find you,” he said slowly. “We worked for ten years to lift the curse and the best we were able to do was make it last only until you came of age.”
“Who put this curse on me? My mother?” She left me in a cardboard box, a curse didn't seem that far off.
“Your mother died the day you were born,” he reminded me.
“So no?”
“The Maiden Sector do not practice dark magic.”
Magic, princesses, and far off galaxies? It was time to end this conversation. “Look, I don't know what kind of cult you and my mother belonged to, but I can't help you. My friends need me.” I glanced around him at the car. The four of them were still in there, peering anxiously at us.
“I assure you, we need you more.”
My heart thudded steadily in my chest. I should've been afraid of any stranger claiming he needed me to take my place on a throne and talking about curses placed on children to hide them, but his words only excited me. “They're my friends.” I wasn't sure if I was telling him that or only reminding myself.
“They only want you to get them out of trouble.”
“How do you know what they want?”
“You said you were a thief; it's not difficult to see that you and your friends are running from something.”
I pursed my lips tightly. We shouldn't have stopped, I decided, or at least we should have never gotten out of the car. Why did I insist that we check on him? He wasn't even hurt, which reminded me. “You were hit by a car,” I accused, “how are you not hurt?”
“The portal.” He raised his wrist to show off a silver watch as if that explained everything.
“There's too many riddles with you.” I shook my head angrily. “Nothing you say makes sense.”
“Everything will become clear one day soon,” he promised. “For now, we need to go. I only have one week – and there are seven of you.”
The car door opened behind him, causing enough of a distraction that I thought I could get past him quick enough. As I was running though, his hand snapped out and caught my wrist, I looked up in enough time to see his eyes just before the entire world lit up in a white hot light.
Chapter Six
My eyes readjusted slowly and even then, I couldn't trust what I was seeing. Everything was incredibly bright, brighter than was even possible. I raised my hand to shield my eyes, blinking rapidly to try and adjust. It was just night time – what happened?
As far as I could tell, I was completely alone and no where near the road I had been just standing on. I was standing in the middle of a small circle of cut grass surrounded by a vast field of taller grass and trees and plants I had no name for.
Flowers of every color grew tall enough to tower over my impressive five foot nine inch height. Brown and orange weeds grew even taller and more abundant than the flowers. They swayed rapidly, tangling themselves around one another in a strange dance that required no wind, I realized in the next breath. Not even the faintest breeze blew against my hot face.
It was like someone had shrunk me and put me in their untended garden just to see me panic. Was I hallucinating? I heard my own breath sounds in my ears, fast and raspy. What was happening to me?
Kristov.
He was the answer. Somehow he had done this to me. As soon as I had touched him, I ended up in Alice in Wonderland. I needed to find him, he'd have the answers.
All around me looked the same though, how would I know which way to go? I turned in a slow circle, desperate for any small sign of the right path. There was nothing though and no sign of Kristov.
Should I scream out for him? Maybe that wouldn't be a good idea since I had no idea what could be hiding in the tall grass all around me. Only the small circle I was standing on was safe for now, and I wasn't even sure about that.
The sky looked different from this height too, closer. Streaks of blue, pink, and purple clouds traveled the length of the sky where white fluffy clouds should have been hanging. A strange smell filled the air too, almost metallic but with a strong scent of earth and things I didn't recognize.
Suddenly a high pitched howling filled the air around me. I whirled towards the sound, fully
expecting to see a massive dog or maybe a dinosaur coming at me. There was nothing though, not a single disturbance except the howling itself.
Another screech had me jumping off the ground. I wasn't going to just stand here and be eaten by whatever that was. I took a step backwards, still unsure which way to go, when I was grabbed from behind.
A strong hand cupped around my face to cover my mouth. “You must not scream,” Kristov whispered low in my ear.
My eyes widened but I couldn't say anything with his hand pressed against my mouth. If it wasn't there, I would have screamed so it was impossible not to be grateful. Relief flooded me just to have him with me again anyways – even though it was his fault I was here. Wherever here was.
I nodded quickly. No screaming, of course not. He let his hand fall slowly as if he didn't trust my ability not to scream and give us away. “Be very quiet, Kalliope.”
“Did you shrink me?” I hissed, unable to contain at least that one. I couldn't see him so I didn't know what he was thinking, but he didn't say one word. “Did you?”
“Something is wrong.”
“What gave that away?” I made my eyes go wide despite the fact that he was still behind me. Wonder what gave that away. The sudden daylight? The giant flowers that moved on their own? The weird colored sky? Or was it the howling monster that sounded closer?
“Come on.”
He finally let me go so I could turn on him. His deep scowl dried up any rant I had been prepared to shower him with. Maybe the yelling could wait until we got back to the car.
He turned without a word and darted into the tall grass, in the direction of the monster howls. Not for the first time in our brief acquaintance, I questioned his sanity but I didn't want to get separated from him so I hurried to follow. “Kristov wait.” I grunted awkwardly as a huge red flower bent low to whip at my face.
“Loud noises scare the Crellis,” a whisper warned.
“The what? What's a Crellis?” But he was already moving away again. I stumbled over a few large roots, but managed to catch up to Kristov.
We didn't go much further before he just stopped abruptly. “What's wrong?” I whispered, careful not to upset the Crellis again. There was nothing exciting about a giant flower trying to knock you off your feet.