It still wasn’t time for dinner, so Alix decided to read. She’d only read a few pages when there was a knock at the door. It was Ben.
“Hey, can I come in?” he asked.
“Sure, I was just reading.”
“I’ve been looking for you since the meeting ended. I kept checking back to see if you were done and it looks like I missed you.”
“Is everything okay?” Alix asked.
“It is now that I found you,” he said smiling. “I wanted to find you before dinner. How was the rest of the meeting?”
“Long. They talked about all the Grynn activity in the world. It sounds like a scary amount. They seem to be everywhere. Then there was some other stuff but to be honest I wasn’t really listening. I was really only there to observe.”
“You didn’t say anything about Shay, did you?” Ben asked her.
“No, in fact I didn’t say anything at all. Why?”
“Well I had a chance to watch her while you were in the meeting. It’s almost like she’s being controlled, like a robot. I didn’t learn anything we didn’t already know though. I think we learned more from your hug than we could have doing anything else. That was a really good idea by the way.”
“Thanks. So, when do you think we should get the Council involved?” she asked him.
“I was thinking about that actually. We still need to talk to Kris about what we learned after this morning’s meeting. I guess we’ll do that after the hike later. You want to go on the hike right?” he asked her.
“Yep,” Alix replied.
“Okay good. Do you think Shay and Logan will be there?” Ben asked.
“It’s hard to say but I think they will be. He needs to keep up appearances to show that everything is normal," she told him. “Everything is so not normal right now. I’m sure that my parents will figure out something is up soon. They know how Shay and I usually are and that means we are practically inseparable.”
“I don’t know how but we’ll figure it out,” he checked his watch. “It’s almost time for dinner. Should we go?”
“Yep, let’s go, I’m hungry.”
* * *
After dinner anyone who wanted to go on the hike gathered in the main foyer. Alix was surprised to see almost everyone had decided to go. As Ben predicted Shay and Logan were there. And as before Shay was still completely ignoring Alix.
Gordon was leading the hike. She wondered if he lived here full time. The hike was great. They got to see all of the castle grounds and experience the woods at night. When they got back to the castle Alix thought this was a good time to talk to Sara.
“Hey Sara, do you have a minute to talk?”
“Of course, what’s up?” Sara asked.
“Well some stuff went on in the meeting this afternoon and I kind of involved you.”
Sara raised her eyebrows. “Really, sounds interesting.”
“So, the Council wants me to be safer so my parents and I are going to live at Ben’s house since it’s a Nykara safe haven. That means our house will be empty and I suggested that you move into it.”
“Um … wow, I don’t really know what to say.”
“You don’t have to agree to anything. I just know that you mentioned coming back to Sunset Creek and if you do then our house is open to you. I also had another idea, and this might sound crazier than the first one. We could open up a bakery on Main Street in Sunset Creek.”
Sara was quiet while she absorbed what Alix had just said. “You know, I kind of like the sound of that but I don’t know how we could pull it off. It’s not like I have a chunk of money just laying around but having our very own bakery would be a dream come true.”
“I know it would. And I’m not sure about how we’d do it but it’s just an idea for now," Alix said.
“Let me talk to my mom. She’s a great problem solver and has a pretty good head for business.”
“Cool. Did you have plans right now or do you want to hang out?” Alix asked.
“I’ve got no plans right now.”
“Good. Let’s find something to do.”
Ben had been standing there quietly the entire time the girls had been talking. “I think we should see if there’s a games room around here. Maybe they have a pool table or something,” he said.
They wandered around the main floor until they came to one of the rooms that looked like a pub. They turned on the lights and found what they were looking for. They took turns playing pool with each other. Alix wasn’t surprised that Ben was good, but Sara was even better than him. Alix had maybe only played a couple of times in her life. She sucked but was having fun. They also found a dart board. None of them really had a clue about the proper way to play darts but it was fun nonetheless.
When they were finished they walked Sara to her room. After that they went to Kris’s room and told him what Alix had learned about Shay during the morning meeting and then about the mysterious energy in Shay. The three of them agreed to continue keeping the secret until they could learn more.
Once again, they stopped at Ben’s room, so he could get a change of clothes before they went to Alix’s room for the night. They watched a bit of TV before Alix got really sleepy and went to bed.
Chapter 24
Alix was wandering the halls of the castle looking for Shay. She searched room after room with no luck. This was the biggest game of hide and seek they’d ever played. There were probably a thousand places to hide in the castle as it was huge. Alix was trying not to use her magic as that would be cheating. She thought she heard Shay laugh and ran in that direction, but she still didn’t find her. Alix felt like she’d been walking for hours and there was no sign of her. She decided to cheat, just a little. She flung out a small burst of energy and focused on Shay. She was on the third floor. She turned off her magic and ran up the two long flights of stairs. Since there were only three main areas on the third floor she thought it would be easy to find her. First, she searched the training area. Nothing. Then she went to the library. Again nothing. That left the rooftop garden. She opened the doors and thought she heard a noise. Alix went further into the garden and stopped when she saw Shay. She was suspended in the air at the very end of the roof. Alix went to run to her when a voice stopped her.
“Move and she dies.”
“What do you want?” Alix yelled at the voice.
“We want you," was all the voice said.
“Tell me what to do. I’ll do anything, just don’t hurt Shay.”
“Join the Grynn.”
“I-I-I c-c-can’t," she stuttered.
“Then she dies.”
Alix looked up and saw Shay being flung over the side of the castle to her death.
Alix woke up screaming. Ben was by her side in an instant.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked desperately.
“Sh-Sh-Shay. You have to find her and make sure she’s alive," Alix said through tears.
“I don’t understand.”
“Just please see if she’s okay. I’ll explain later.”
Ben looked skeptical, but he did what she asked. Alix couldn’t sit still. She paced the room until Ben got back. It felt like hours, but it was probably only a few minutes.
Her door opened, and she ran over to Ben. “Did you find her?”
“Yes, she was asleep in her room and very confused as to why I was waking her up in the middle of the night, but she’s very okay. Now talk to me. Tell me what happened.”
They sat down on the couch and Alix told him about her dream. She was still shaking after telling him. He put his arm around her to comfort her.
“It was only a dream and Shay’s just fine, well physically anyway,” he said.
“But it wasn’t just a dream. I think it was more like a vision dream. My regular dreams aren’t so real. I can still see her falling off the top of the castle. It was awful.” Tears started falling from her eyes again. “I don’t want to go back to s
leep.”
“Let’s watch TV for a little while and see if it helps. Okay?”
“Okay. And Ben, thanks for everything.”
“Any time,” he said smiling.
Ben turned on the TV and Alix pulled one of his blankets around her. She tried to focus on what they were watching but she couldn’t get the dream out of her head. The last thing she remembered was thinking that Ben was nice and warm.
* * *
Alix woke up to a pain in her neck. She opened her eyes and found she was looking at the TV. She’d fallen asleep with her head on Ben’s lap. She quickly sat up embarrassed. Her movement woke Ben up.
“Good morning,” he said groggily.
“Uh … good morning,” Alix knew she was blushing. “I … um …I’m really sorry for falling asleep on you.”
“I’m not. I was afraid you wouldn’t sleep at all after your dream so when you fell asleep on me I didn’t want to move you.”
“Oh, well thanks then. But you couldn’t have been very comfortable.”
“I was fine.”
“What time is it anyway?” she asked.
He looked at his watch. “It’s almost 7:30.”
“At least it’s not the middle of the night again. Sorry about last night.”
“No need to apologize. I’m just glad I was here.”
“So … do you mind if I take the first shower? I need to try to get this kink out of my neck.”
“Do whatever you need to do. I’ll just chill until you’re done.”
Alix gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom. She turned the water on hotter than normal and stepped under the spray. She really was trying to get her neck to stop hurting but if she was being completely honest with herself she was also trying to get over the fact that she had fallen asleep on Ben. Yes, she was embarrassed when she woke up but inside she was smiling. She also thought that the reason she had been able to fall back to sleep at all was because when she wrapped the blanket around her it smelled like him and she found that comforting.
She realized that she had been in the shower for a long time just letting the water wash over her. She quickly finished up and got dried off and dressed.
“I’m sorry. I lost track of time in there,” she apologized to Ben.
“I was wondering if you’d drowned. I hope there’s still enough hot water for me,” he said grinning at her.
“Oh crap, I didn’t even think of that,” Alix said frowning.
“I’m only teasing you Alix. This place is like a hotel. They seem to have an unlimited supply of hot water.”
“Oh good. Then I’m not sorry.”
Ben laughed at her and went to take his shower. Alix thought she’d better look at what was planned for the day.
Sunday November 6
- 9:00 am – breakfast
- 10:00 am – sermon in the Chapel for anyone interested / free time
- 11:30 am – bus leaves for London
- 12:30 pm – dropping off council members at airport
- 12:45 pm – lunch then shopping
- 4:00 pm – meet bus at drop off point
- 6:00 pm – dinner
- 7:00 pm – free time
Oooh, shopping in London, that was exciting. She decided to write about her dream in her journal while Ben was getting ready. She didn’t want to forget something that could turn out to be important.
Nov 6 – Trip to London Day 7
So, it’s pretty early on Sunday morning. While Ben is in the shower I thought I’d better get my latest dream onto paper. It was about Shay. It started out that we were playing a game of hide and seek in the castle but that quickly turned into something scary. I finally found her on the rooftop garden, but she wasn’t alone. I couldn’t see who was there and I didn’t know the voice. They told me not to move or they would throw Shay off the top of the castle and kill her. Even in a dream that scared the crap out of me. So, I asked what they wanted. They said they wanted me to join the Grynn. I said I couldn’t then they threw her off the roof to her death. Needless to say, I woke up screaming. I can’t even express how much it meant to me that Ben was there for me. I made him go check on Shay to see if she was okay. And thank my lucky stars she was. And then I fell asleep on Ben! I know, I can hardly believe it. But I’m so comfortable around him. I woke up with my head on his lap and a very sore neck. But he seemed to be just fine with it. And speaking of Ben … we’re going to be living together?!?! How weird is that. I know I wrote about it yesterday but seriously, I can’t quite wrap my head around it. I hope things don’t get weird between us. Anyway, we’re supposed to be taking some Council members to the airport then we get to go shopping! I think it’ll be really awesome seeing the different things London has to offer. The only downside is that I know I won’t be shopping with Shay and that sucks. I really, really have to fix her.
Ben was out of the shower by the time Alix was finished writing. They went downstairs and had breakfast. There was still a couple of hours before they left for London, so she went to the kitchen to find Merideth.
“Hey Merideth,” Alix said as she walked into the kitchen.
“Alix, how are you doing?”
“I’ve been better but that’s beside the point. I was wondering if your kitchen was free for the next couple of hours?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact it is. I believe the plan today is to eat when you get to London, so we don’t need to use the kitchen until later today. What did you have in mind?” Merideth asked her.
“I was wondering if you had time to show Sara and I how to make that super awesome lemon mousse dessert from the banquet?”
Merideth checked her watch. “I think we should have just enough time. If you can find Sara in the next few minutes we can get started, otherwise we’ll have to wait until we have more time.”
“Okay, cool. Ben, do you think she’s still having breakfast?” Alix asked him.
“I’ll go check,” he said and ran back to the dining room. He was back a couple of minutes later with Sara.
“Hey, what’s up?” Sara asked. “Ben said you needed me.”
“Do you want to learn how to make that dessert?”
“Now?”
“Yep. Merideth says we have just enough time.”
“I’m in!” Sara exclaimed.
“Okay Merideth, we’re all yours,” Alix told her.
“Are you going to be doing this as well?” Merideth asked Ben.
“Um … no. My chef skills are in the works,” he said with a laugh. “But I can assist you ladies in any way you need.”
“Okay,” Merideth said. “Let’s get started.”
* * *
By the time they were finished the girls had learned a lot of new skills from Merideth. Of course, their desserts weren’t quite as pretty as hers but at least they tasted as good. The prettiness would come with practice.
Having spent the entire morning in the kitchen they were the last three to get on the bus. Alix noticed that Shay and Logan were sitting in the very back looking awfully cozy. If she wasn’t so worried about Shay she might have been jealous. Sara’s mom had saved her a seat and luckily for Alix and Ben there were two seats together at the front of the bus. They got settled and the bus left Fox Hollow.
It turned out that the majority of the Council was leaving that day. All but three of them were headed back home. Shelley, Ruth and James were going to be staying for the rest of the time that Alix and her family and friends were there. After they dropped off the Council members at the airport they headed into the heart of London.
They ate at a real English pub. Of course, Alix had to order fish and chips. Which turned out to be the best fish and chips she’d ever eaten. Everyone had a great time at the pub. Then they were dropped off in front of a huge department store. Alix enjoyed seeing all of the different things that England had. She especially liked the food section. She had two big bags of goodies by the time they w
ere done shopping.
Ben and Alix didn’t want to be late, so they were the first ones there to meet the bus to go back to Fox Hollow. She was enjoying people watching. Everything about London was so different from what she was used to. They had been standing there a while when she was bumped into. When the person touched her, she saw a box. Or maybe it was a trunk like they used to use to travel on trains and ships. And she heard evil laughter. She also knew there was a person in that box.
Alix opened her eyes when Ben grabbed her to steady her. She saw that it was Logan that bumped her. And by the look on his face he’d done it on purpose. She wasn’t normally a violent person, but she wanted to slap him.
“I can tell by the look on your face that something more happened than Logan almost knocking you over,” Ben whispered
“When he bumped me, I wanted to slap the smug look off his face,” Ben took her hand and guided her away from Logan and Shay.
“What’s really wrong?” Ben asked
“When I was first touched I saw a box and I’m pretty sure there was a person inside. And now that I know it was Logan that touched me I’m positive it has something to do with him.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I’m getting frustrated again,” Alix practically growled. “The problem is that we don’t have any proof. I can’t just go around accusing Nykara of actually being Grynn and just expect everyone to believe me.”
Chosen One Page 17