She sucked in a shaky breath and looked up to see a motorbike roaring down the driveway, kicking up dust behind it. She let go of her father and scurried backwards into the house. Hiding on the other side of the front door, she peeked through the stain glass window and watched as the bike approached.
Cautiously, she backed into the house until she was in the kitchen and out of sight. She ran for the desk in the office and ripped the bottom draw from its place.
Indented in the hard wood floor was a latch which she turned and opened. Inside was a backpack. Heaving it onto her back, she quietly made her way back to the kitchen and peaked through a window, pain searing through her.
The rider, a boy with a dark mob of hair, was striding towards her father. As she watched, she dried the tears from her face. She couldn’t cry any more. Now she had to be strong. For her Dad, like he had asked.
There was an air of innocence about the boy. How could he be dangerous? He looked far from it. But she had to listen to her father. She trusted him. She had to be careful.
The boy bent down and felt for her father’s pulse, frowning. He must have realised what she already knew.
Looking around, he straightened up and headed for the door. She rose from her hiding place under the window and darted through the hallways, escaping through the door at the back of the house.
She took off running straight for she sheds, and was tackled to the ground.
The boy had come back out the front door to see Laura escaping across the yard. Blood was on her shirt, he noticed. What he didn’t know was that it was her own.
Instinct kicked in and he had dived for her.
Laura twisted and turned in the boys grasp as he managed to roll her over and sit on her stomach, pinning her arms to the ground.
Then, the adrenaline wore off and she couldn’t fight any longer. She had been shouting for help but she knew it would do no good. No one would hear her.
Finally she opened her eyes, which she didn’t even realise that she had closed, and looked up into the boy’s face. She was defeated.
‘Whoa Ace, stop your moving there,’ he snapped.
‘What do you want?’ She growled.
The raw skin of her knees and elbows stung and she was bleary with pain, but she didn’t allow him the satisfaction of knowing that.
‘For you to stop moving,’ he countered irritably as his grip tightened on her injured arm. She winced but bit back a cry.
‘How about you let me go and I’ll stop moving.’
He laughed loudly, ‘do you really think I’m that stupid?’
She glared at him, ‘who are you, anyway?’
‘Wouldn’t you like to know.’
‘Why the hell do you think I asked?’
‘Drew Crescent. I was sent to deliver a message to the Harmers. Looks like no one’s here but you and the dead guy,’ he responded, gesturing with his head in the direction of her father’s body. ‘Know anything about that?’
Laura looked up at his impatient expression, utterly horrified. She was quiet for a very long time before she managed to whisper, ‘that’s my dad.’
His emerald green eyes widened, and she saw his features melt into a look of regret, ‘I’m so sorry, I... I didn’t know. I should have pieced it together. How did…’ he trailed off before simply asking, ‘how?’
‘He- it happened just before you arrived, three men came and he was shot and my mum, she-’ she managed to choke down the tears.
Stay strong. For me.
Drew loosened his grip, letting go of her and shifting into the dirt beside her. She managed with an agonizing effort to sit up.
‘I watched those people… those people that did that to my father take my mum. I don’t know where they took her. I- my dad said they would be coming back for me and I thought you were them, so I tried to run.’
He furrowed his brow and paused for a moment before asking, ‘do you have any idea why they took her?’
She shook her head, ‘my father said that there was a group in Corin that would help me.’
Remembering the bag on her back, she dragged it into her lap and unzipped it. Inside were a number of items, but what stuck out at her was a map. She opened it, then passed it to Drew.
He took it from her, regarding it thoughtfully. There was a point on the map that had been circled lightly in pencil. It lay on the opposite side of the city. The place didn’t have a name, just a small dot representing that it was there.
‘This is the Grand Manor. This is where I live.’
‘Really? So you know Estella and Leo? Dad said to ask for them.’
‘Yes,’ he nodded slowly, raising his eyes to hers as he did, ‘I can take you to them.’
Her own eyes softened with relief, ‘thank you.’
She wiped her hand across her forehead, brushing the cut and wincing.
Drew then seemed to notice how bad a shape she was in, ‘you’ve got quite some injuries.’
‘Yeah, fell down as I was running to get here.’
‘Don’t worry, Stella will patch you up.’
Laura was too weary to ask any more questions. Instead, she extended her good arm, ‘I’m Laura by the way.’
He took her hand and shook it lightly, ‘Ace it is.’
She did not smile, but she felt a little more at ease in his presence.
Quietly, he reached into his pocket, pulling an envelope from it.
‘Here, I guess the message is for you then.’
He passed the envelope to her and watched as she took it.
Laura stared at him, then at the letter in her hands. She felt unsettled, but barely a moment later she turned it over and ripped it open, almost shredding the letter within. She didn’t care though, because she had suddenly realised that this note may just have the answers she so desperately desired.
She needed to know what was going on. Why these horrible things had happened, and why they had happened to her. She wanted answers so she could find her mother and bring her home. She had always thought that she would have both her parents to fall back on, but now… now she didn’t. Praying that she would receive all she required, she began to read.
Dear Mr Oliver and Mrs Cara Harmer,
There have been some terrible events unfolding in the past few months. Deaths of innocent.
We worry that someone is trying to re-create your daughter, and they have had no success.
We believe this is the workings of the Wicked.
We can’t stress enough our concern for both her and your safety and think that it is time you bring her to the Grand Manor.
We believe with good reason that whoever is behind these terrible murders will be coming for her next.
Please consider bringing her here. We have a place for you all.
Yours sincerely,
Estella and Leo Mayfire
‘Re-create me? What do they mean?’
Laura’s head was swimming with unanswered questions and frightening thoughts. Words like murder and Wicked flickered in the darkness of her mind as she closed her eyes, trying to make sense of the letter.
Drew took the paper from her hands and read it. As he finished it, he shook his head, raising his eyes to her, ‘I don’t know exactly what this means, but I’ll take you to Stell and Leo and they’ll be able to explain everything, I’m sure.’
Drew stood easily and held out a hand to Laura. She took it gratefully and hoisted herself up off the ground.
All of a sudden a hot rush flooded through her body, prickling her skin and obscuring her sight. It appeared as though the world was spinning around her and her hand flew to her head as she tried to steady herself.
‘Ace?’
Drew reached for her, but she lost her balance and fell backwards, unable to right herself. He was behind her in a flash, lifting her up into his arms. Her eyelids fluttered and she could see the spinning sky blurring at the edges of her vision, the world around her growing darker.
Then, the blackness swallowe
d her whole.
Chapter Three
When Reality Hits
‘Quick, lay her down here,’ a woman’s panicked voice said, breaking through the hazy darkness of Laura’s mind.
She tried to open her eyes, but it was as though she were stuck underwater, and she still hadn’t breached the surface.
She was in agony, that she knew, but she couldn’t comprehend much else. She could see pulsing red lines blaring against the lids of her eyes and she felt as if there was a scorching fire burning through her veins.
She registered the sound of mumbling people around her, but the water dragged her back down into its murky depths before she could understand what was being said.
She drifted in and out of consciousness as she was worked on. Eventually the pulsing subsided and once again her mind was consumed with black nothingness, taking the pain with it.
‘She has lost a substantial amount of blood,’ Laura heard the same woman from before say as she regained consciousness. ‘Combined with the level of shock and trauma she has experienced, it’s a wonder she isn’t in worse condition.’
Gradually, she opened her eyes.
‘Hey look, she’s waking up,’ she heard Drew say.
Drew?
For a moment she was confused, wondering who Drew was. Then the green eyes came back to her. She remembered him now. But that’s not all she remembered.
At first her, vision was blurred, but slowly the musky bedroom came into focus. Moonlight streamed through the window, spilling out over the foot of her bed and illuminating the room enough for her to make out the oak wood dresser and her sad pile of belongings resting atop it. Laura noticed a woman with hair almost as white as the moonlight resting by her side, watching her with bright blue eyes.
‘Laura, how are you feeling?’ She asked, her voice both gentle and motherly.
‘I feel confused.’ Laura finally said, ‘where am I?’
‘The Grand Manor,’ Drew answered before the woman could.
Laura knew the Manor.
She looked up at the woman, ‘who are you?’
‘I’m Estella Mayfire,’ she replied, resting a hand on Laura’s leg and giving it a light, reassuring squeeze. ‘I knew your parents.’
Knew. Past-tense.
Anxiously, Laura swept her gaze across the room, ‘Dad?’ She whimpered, but she already knew the answer.
She remembered what happened.
The sadness in Estella’s eyes made that moment all the more real for Laura, and she choked up.
‘There was nothing you could do,’ Estella whispered, taking Laura’s hand.
Blinking hard, Laura pulled away. ‘How long was I asleep?’
Her father had implied that she could trust these people. That they would help her. But she still didn’t know them.
‘Three days. You had some pretty nasty injuries. Some stitches were required but you are on the mend now. They are the dissolvable stiches. We thought they would be more comfortable for you so you don’t have to worry about removing them,’ Estella babbled nervously, ‘and don’t worry, you should heal quickly with the help of my remedies.’
Laura attempted to lift herself into a sitting position, but fell back with a cry. However, it wasn’t the physical pain that caused this. The pain stemmed from the memory of her father. His body. The blood. His lifeless hand. And then, a new memory came to her. One of her mother being dragged to the car.
‘We need to find my Mother!’ Laura said desperately, bolting upright.
‘We are working on that, there are people talking with the force as we speak,’ Drew said, hoping to ease her mind.
It didn’t help. She wanted her mother to be there, with her. She needed her at this terrible time. She wanted to cry on her shoulder, hug her and have her mum tell her that everything was going to be all right.
But she wasn’t here, and Laura had to find her. She had made a promise, and it was one she intended to keep.
She started to push off the thick blanket. ‘I should be out there too.’
Estella rested her hands on Laura’s shoulders and lightly pushed her back down, stopping her from moving the covers off her any further, ‘and you will be out there, as soon as you are better.’
‘I have to help!’ Laura shouted ripping the blanket from the bed and tossing it to the ground.
She swung her legs over the side of the mattress trying to ignore the aches of her body, but her injuries were still tender and a fiery blaze to shot up her arm. She cried out as the pain engulfed her. Then, it all became too much for her. She felt sick, tired and scared. She was in tremendous pain, physically and mentally, and she had never in her life felt more lost or alone than she did right at that moment. She began to cry, hysterically.
Estella looked at Drew and he nodded, quietly leaving the room as Stella took Laura into her arms.
‘I want this to be a dream,’ she sobbed, her voice cracking on each word.
‘I know, I know.’ Stella brushed her fingers through Laura’s hair, soothing her as she cried.
Laura was absolutely wrecked. How could she possibly go on knowing she would never see her father again? Never hear his laugh, never see him smile, never play games of cards with him. They were little things, but they were things that she cherished so deeply now that he wasn’t around to continue doing them. She cried for that. For what she had lost. For the piece of her heart that had left her, and for the life she would never get back. She wanted her mother to be there to give her some kind of comfort. So they could cry together and hug each other and move through the hardship with one another to lean on.
She didn’t want to do it alone.
That was when she made the decision. The decision that these people were the ones she would have to let in. They were the ones that she would have to lean on. She decided to give them a chance, like her father asked. But not only that, she decided she would do everything in her power to find her mother, and she would do it in her father’s honour. She would no longer hurt for him, but she would live for him. She would fight for the life he gave her, and she would make the most of it. She would be strong, like he had asked. She would be brave and hold herself together. With this in mind, she began to calm down.
She now had one goal: to find her mum. That was what she would focus on above everything else.
That was it.
‘We expect you to welcome Laura into this home with open arms. She has been through a terrible ordeal,’ Estella was telling the occupants of the Manor, ‘and we expect you to share some of your things with her. She currently has next to nothing.’
They stood in the library, the fire blazing in the corner, illuminating the paintings that hung above and couches placed around it’s warmth. Rows upon rows of full bookshelves lined the back wall and in the middle of the room sat the enormous circular table the students of the Manor gathered at to study.
‘I’ve got spare clothes she can have’ Grace supplied eagerly. She liked the idea of having a new housemate.
Estella smiled appreciatively at her.
‘Are you sure we can trust her?’ Gemma asked cautiously, uncrossing her arms and looking from one person in the room to the next, hoping at least one of them would realise her concern.
‘Her parents were very dear friends of ours,’ Stella said, ‘I guarantee we can trust her.’
‘We’ve never let humans into the Manor before,’ Gemma continued.
‘She is not of the human race. We will explain it in detail but once we have discussed it with Laura. We don’t what her finding out from all of you before she even knows for herself.’
‘Find what out?’
Estella turned and noticed for the first time that Laura stood guardedly in the doorway.
‘Oh you’re awake!’ Estella smiled happily.
‘Yes, I couldn’t stay cramped up in bed any longer.’ Laura whispered, ‘sorry but, find what out?’ She repeated.
After lying awake for a few moments, she had come to the
conclusion that she would not only lean on these people, but she would trust them. The way Stella had stayed with her until she had fallen asleep, making sure she was all right, and the way Drew had made sure she had arrived at the Manor safely, and the fact that they promised to help with the search for her mother, well, if that wasn’t enough to prove she could trust them then she didn’t know what was.
‘Laura, this is something we should discuss alone.’
Laura stiffened, eyes wandering around the room, seeing the others for the first time.
Laura could only assume that the strong built man with sandy brown hair, watching her with ocean-blue eyes through spectacles, his hand resting protectively upon the small of Stella’s back, was Leo.
Her suspicions were confirmed when Stella came over and lead her into the room, acquainting her with everyone.
A dark, blonde haired girl with an oval shaped face and thick build was introduced as Gemma Spark.
A boy with a wide smile that filled his face and kind brown eyes, shook her hand, presenting himself as Logan Walker.
Next, a small framed girl by the name of Grace bounded forward, her pixie haircut and emerald eyes reminding Laura of Drew, and pulled her into a hug, telling her she was so sorry for her loss and to come to her if she ever needed to talk.
Lastly, a golden skinned boy gave her a dimpled smile, shaking her hand and informing her that she could call him Caspian. As she turned back to Estella, she caught the flash of a tattoo on his bicep. A pang of wonder flooded through her.
‘It’s nice to meet all of you,’ she said, allowing a smile to fill her face, even if her heart wasn’t quite in it.
Estella turned to everyone, ‘Okay all, time for you to head to bed. Leo and I need to talk to Laura in private.’
They were quick to leave, giving Laura reassuring smiles and waves as the passed by. For the first time, Laura felt a spark of hope.
‘I don’t know where to start! There is so much you don’t know.’ Estella began.
For a moment, Laura wanted to stop Stella from saying anything else as anxiety flooded her. She was afraid of what she would hear, but despite that, she needed to know.
The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1) Page 3