by Lysa Daley
“I’m not telling you anything unless you promise not to take me away from my uncle,” I say defiantly. “Or Tom.”
Fitz nods in understanding. “You thought we were going to separate you from your guardians?”
I nod. “Wouldn’t you.”
I can see he’s trying to decide how best to answer. “There’s no place safer for you right now than here, Astrid. We won’t send you away. But, please help us and tell us about the notes.”
I sigh. At this point, I might as well. “I found the first note two days ago on the morning that Ruby and I left the motel near Sacramento. It was tucked under the windshield wiper blade of my uncle’s pickup truck.”
“And you didn't see anyone near or around the truck? No one unusual has approached or spoken to you?” Simmons asks me.
“No, nothing like that,” I reply with a shrug. “In fact, it was almost weird that the area was so completely and totally empty.”
“We have to acknowledge the possibility that this means that whoever wrote these notes could be terrestrial or non-terrestrial,” Fitz says to his group. “Tell us about the second note.”
“I was out exercising one of those crazy creatures from the stables. We ran along the treeline on the path down to a creek, then turned around to come back. I found this one tacked to one of the old oak trees by the yellow gates.”
“You left the compound?” Fitz asks.
“Yes.”
He frowns but decides to let that go for now. “Did it seem like someone was following you? Did you see anyone else on the path?”
“No, no one,” I say and then hesitate. “But there were footprints. And… a couple of times, it’s felt like someone is watching me. I haven’t seen anyone. I just got a weird feeling inside, and it spooked me.”
“What did you do after you found the note on the tree?”
“Sparky and I ran like heck back to the stables. What would you do?”
“That’s what I would do too,” Fitz replies and everyone in the room laughs which breaks the tension.
Fitz's cell phone rings. He doesn't bother with hello. “What's the report?” He listens for a moment nodding solemnly. “Excellent. But I want the entire area swept again.” He hangs up. “They didn’t find anything.”
“Could be an inside job,” Simmons suggests. “Who or whatever attacked Tom could have sent these notes.”
“I think that’s highly likely,” Tanaka agrees. “Probable, even.”
“I'm putting an extra guard on the dorm and on every entrance to the school,” Fitz says. Then sternly adds, “For your safety, Astrid, I have to insist that you stay within the compound.”
“Fine,” I say curtly. “Can I go?”
Fitz looks at me with softened eyes. “I know it feels like I’m punishing you. And it doesn't seem fair. But you have to believe me when I say we're doing this to keep you safe.”
“Can I go?” I repeat.
“Yes.” When I’m nearly out the door, he calls to me, “And by the way, if I were you I’d thank my friend Ruby for bringing this to our attention. She must care an awful lot about you to do something that she knows is going to make you so mad.” He answers his buzzing cell phone again and turns away.
Ruby appears in the doorway. She looks nervous.
Am I mad? Darn right, I'm mad. She should've come to me and not snuck out with the letters. But I know Fitz is right. She did it because she didn't want me to get hurt.
Finally, I say, “Well, are you coming back to school or not?”
She tries to hide it, but I see her wipe a tear from her eye. “Yes, I’m coming.”
Chapter 28
“Want to come get coffee with us?” Bella asks me just as I walk into the stables after lunch.
“Right now?” I ask, wondering if it’s okay to leave before I even get started.
“Waylon invited a bunch of stable kids to run over to the cafe,” Bella says. “Why don't you come with us? Ruby’s coming too.”
“Oh gosh, I don't want to leave Tom. Also then I should go back up to see my uncle. He’s so much stronger today.“
“You’ve either been here or up with your uncle all day and all night,” Ruby counters. “I think you can probably spare half an hour to get something to eat.”
She’s right in that I’ve barely taken a break. And I’m starving.
“Okay,” I reluctantly agree.
Apparently, Benedictine monks are fabulous bakers.
There's a bakery/coffee shop at the edge of the compound run by a group of monks. In the last few decades, they've made a fortune selling their bread and pastries on the internet. That way, no one knows exactly where they’re located, and the mysterious legend of St. Benedicts can remain intact.
I feel a nervous twinge when I see that the bakery lies on the border of the compound and the forest. It’s not far from where I discovered the second note.
“What’s wrong?” Ruby asks, reading the concern on my face as we step inside the bakery.
I shake off my fear and smile. “Nothing. I just realized I haven’t had a real caramel vanilla latte in, like, three days. I’m surprised that withdrawal hasn’t already killed me.”
The dim lighting and heavy dark wood of the coffee shop feel like you’ve stepped into Medieval Europe.
“Oh man, smells like they just made fresh cookies.” Bella breathes in the warm sugary aroma.
“Apparently they're famous for their peanut butter bars,” Ruby tells me. “And their brownies are as big as your head.”
“My head or your head? Because your head is way bigger.”
A smiling monk in blue jeans, a Mariners baseball cap and a name tag that read “Brother Doug” takes our order.
The group consists of me, Ruby, Bella, Waylon and four other kids I just met at the stable. They're nice enough not to ask me about what happened with Tom.
Ruby probably suggested that we don't discuss it. But I’m sure they’re wondering how it is that I have a Lesser Valarian Drolgon as a pet.
This probably means that the cat is out of the bag with everyone in regards to the whole alien thing.
Yep, I’m an alien, folks. Get used to it.
Still, even though they’re trying desperately not to be awkward around me, I have to admit it's nice just to sit and drink my latte and not have to worry about everything else that’s going on for a little while.
Flirting up a storm, Ruby sits next to Waylon. It’s cute to see her crush on someone who isn’t a certified bad boy. I’m pretty sure there’s a picture of Waylon next to the word “wholesome” in the dictionary.
I'm having a positively great time until the conversation takes a weird left turn.
“Yeah, I totally get the feeling that Dr. J has a thing for you, Astrid,” Bella says giggling.
“What?” I scowl. “That's bananas.”
“Oh, I’ve always thought that,” Ruby adds, ignoring my dirty look.
“He's definitely different when he's around her,” Bella tells the group.
“Except, he spent a good portion of yesterday trying to kill me with a tennis ball. If that's how he shows affection, then I think I'll pass.”
Ruby tells the group, “The trouble is Astrid’s heart belongs to another.”
“What? Who?” Bella can’t believe this.
“Our friend Chad,” Ruby says, then manages to tell them all about Chad without mentioning the fact that he’s been kidnapped by the evil Horlocks.
After some discussion, it is decided that Bella is the captain for Team-Jax, while Ruby is captain for Team-Chad.
“I’m sorry to break it to you guys, but my life is not a vampire love story,” I inform them, then stand up. “Where's the bathroom anyway?”
“Last door at the end of the hall,” Bella points. “You have to get the key from Brother Doug.”
Walking down the dimly lit hallway, I almost miss the bathroom door and head outside instead. Sliding the key in the lock, I step inside the small bathroom an
d flip on the light. I turn to the sink to see a peach-colored slip of paper taped to the mirror.
It’s the third note.
Red ink reads: “Blondes make the best victims. They’re like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.” Alfred Hitchcock.
Yep. That's when I freak out.
Someone is stalking me. Hunting me. How did they know I would be here? And that I used to have white-blonde hair? Is it one of the kids out there?
I have to get back. I should never have come. I don't know why I'm so stupid.
And why don’t I have BrightSky with me? AGAIN!
Who cares if people think it’s odd that I carry a red umbrella on a perfectly clear day? Eventually, they’ll just think of it as an odd little quirk. I should always have her with me. Always.
In a full blown panic, I push my way out into the dark narrow hallway of the coffee shop.
My heart is in my throat. It’s all I can do not to scream.
I take two steps when a girl with raven black hair, wearing a strange shimmery peach colored jumpsuit steps out, blocking my path.
She’s clutching a long dagger in her hand.
The strange rose-tinted blade glints in the pale light of the narrow hall.
By the way the blade shines in the light, I know it’s an alien metal. Perhaps just like the blade the Crimson Lord used to cut me. And the one that stabbed my uncle.
“Sister,” she says with a strange smile and bright eyes. “I have come for you.”
Chapter 29
That’s when I scream.
With my back pressed against the hallway door, I yell my lungs out.
The raven-haired girl lowers the knife and steps back, surprised that I’m making such a racket.
“Don’t cry out, sister,” she says in a stilted voice. “I am not here to hurt you.”
“Then get rid of that knife,” I say, trying to sound brave.
The only way that she could have alien steel is if she’s either alien or one of their allies. Neither scenario bodes well for me.
She glances nervously at the dagger in her hand as if she’s forgotten that she even has a knife. But instead of lowering it, she lunges, slashing at me.
I block her attack with my forearm. Using my other hand, I manage to twist her wrist forcing her to drop the dagger.
She steps away. Reaches behind her back, and pulls out a second identical long bladed knife. She has two weapons!
She slashes at me again.
“Stop!” I yell out, narrowly avoiding her strike. I dodge to the left, just missing the red blade. I try to push her back, but she resists. She’s as strong as I am.
Maybe stronger.
Backed into a corner, I’m trapped. Hoping someone hears me, I yell, ”Help!!”
All I can do is raise my hands to defend myself. But if she chooses to plunge the blade into my heart or my skull or my gut, I will likely die as quickly as any regular red-blooded human.
“I just need to be sure,” she says, slashing at me again, and I see the faint outline of a seven-sided star etched into the blade. It’s identical to the star etched on BrightSky.
Suddenly, a big hand lands on her shoulder, yanking her backward and away from me.
“Leave her alone!” Waylon has come to my rescue.
He pushes her so hard that she practically bounces off the side wall. Her head snaps back, hitting the solid plaster wall. She crumples to the ground and the knife skitters across the floor.
“Are you okay, Astrid?” Waylon asks, looming over the raven haired girl. “Did she hurt you?”
Ruby, followed by Bella and everyone else, comes running down the hallway.
“Oh my God!” Ruby cries, covering her mouth. “What happened?”
“This girl tried to attack Astrid,” Waylon tells the group.
“I wasn't trying to hurt her,” the girl says, her eyes fluttering open, pleading with us.
"I saw you. If I hadn't stopped you…” Waylon says, anger rising in his voice.
Ruby kneels by my side. “Are you okay?”
“I'm all right.” I nod, then whisper in her ear, “There’s another creepy note. Same paper and writing. Taped to the bathroom mirror.”
Ruby looks perplexed. “Did it come from that girl?”
I can only shrug. “I don’t know.”
“Let me see it.”
“It’s still in the bathroom.”
“I’ll get it,” she says, moving toward the bathroom door.
“She’s injured,” Waylon says.
“She must have accidentally cut herself with her knife,” Bella says, bending to pick up one of the two ornate daggers.
“She’s bleeding,” he frowns, pointing to a pool of bluish blood on the floor. “I mean, I think she’s bleeding.”
The color of her blood is all wrong if you’re human.
I step forward to offer an explanation before anyone else can. “The light is so murky back here. But we should probably call Dr. Maggie or someone at the clinic.”
“Right,” Waylon nods to Bella as they hurry back to the front of the coffee shop. “My phone’s in my bag on the table.”
With Ruby still in the bathroom while Waylon, Bella and everyone else has rushed back to call Dr. Maggie, I find myself alone with this strange girl. She’s lying on the ground, propped up against the wall, holding her arm where she cut herself.
“Sister, please don’t let them see,” she begs me in a weak voice.
As I’m wondering what she’s talking about, I see something amazing, something I never thought I would see. Right before my eyes, her bleeding cut closes up, healing itself.
“No…” I shake my head. “How?”
“I’m just like you.”
“But? Why did you try to stab me?”
She points to the knife. “I just wanted to nick you a little to see if you heal too.”
My eyes must look like they’re going to pop out of my head. “Who are you?”
“My name is Calliope,” she says in a whispered voice. “One of the seven sisters of light. I’m just like you. I’m your sister.”
Practically, the instant we’re alone, she loses her cloaking and her human form.
“I can't hold it anymore,” she says barely above a whisper.
At first, her hand turns a bluish-green. But then it goes back and forth from human skin to the deep rich alien skin that runs up her arm almost to her elbow.
After a moment of initial shock, I ask, “Where is your guardian?”
“Don’t let them take me,” she answers instead, trying to stand and suddenly afraid of some unseen attacker. “He sent me here to find you and your guardian.”
“It's okay,” I say, trying to comfort this girl, who moments ago attempted to stab me. “No one’s going to take you. You're safe here.”
The corners of her mouth turn up into a little smile as her eyes flutter closed. Her entire body turns the deep blue-green. I only know that she's still alive because I hear her gentle rhythmic breathing and see her chest rise and fall.
Fitz and Dr. Maggie arrive remarkably quickly. They immediately get everyone outside of the coffee shop, except Calliope and me.
“Her cloaking has failed,” Dr. Maggie says. “We have to keep her covered.” Dr. Maggie turns to Fitz, “She’s Pleiadian. Not Lyrian like Astrid.”
“How do you know that?” I ask.
“Her color,” Dr. Maggie says. “And skin texture.”
As they get her gently transferred to the gurney, Fitz turns a serious eye to me. “Astrid, what exactly did she say to you?”
I repeat everything that just happened. They both nod solemnly, not saying more. Instead, Fitz bends to gently push up the sleeve of Calliope’s right arm.
As he does this, the scar on my arm starts to itch. I have what looks like a seven-sided star on my arm. It almost burns. Fitz turns her arm into the light.
There it is.
Calliope has a scar exactly like mine. Without even rea
lizing it, I gasp. “Do you think she’s actually another one of the seven sisters?”
“Perhaps,” Fitz nods.
“I don’t understand,” Dr. Maggie frowns.
“Legend has it that each of the seven lost sisters has this exact star scar on their right arm,” Fitz explains. “But the true shape of the scar was never revealed to anyone outside the Council of Light because no one wanted the Draconian Threat to have the information. Astrid’s uncle told me this.”
“She has the same scar…” I say, feeling like I am looking at my sister. “And she heals the same way I do.”
“The bigger question is why did she come here?” Fitz asks, and I wonder if he thinks she's some sort of threat. “And why now.”
“We need to get her back to the hospital,” Dr. Maggie says.
“If she is the Pleiadian sister of light then her guardian is dead,” he replies.
“She told me that’s why she came,” I reply solemnly. “She told me that he sent her.”
Fitz’s face darkens. “Did she also tell you that her guardian was your uncle’s brother?”
Chapter 30
I have a hard time sleeping. So many questions and fears swirl around in my head, making it impossible to nod off.
The news of my uncle’s brother death is confusing. Calliope didn’t tell us the details. Fitz made me promise not to tell my uncle about it for now. He doesn’t want to upset him while he’s not fully recovered.
But there’s more to it. Something else. I don’t know what it is. But I know he’s not telling me everything.
Finally, after tossing and turning for half the night, staring at the ceiling and silently willing the digital clock on my desk to finally get to six a.m., I just give in and get out of bed at 5:25.
I'm relieved to see Ruby sleeping soundly as I tiptoe out of the room. She only asked me somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 questions when I got back to the dorm last night.
Most of which I couldn’t answer.
Still, she thinks I shouldn't trust this new girl. And she’s probably right.
It’s just I want to trust her.