“Really sorry about that," he said, “No one really knows what to do with those two. Well, Kana is mainly harmless but it's hard having what she has for a brother."
“Why were they arguing?” she asked curiously.
“Elesto.”
Rose looked blank, so Kris added, “They were debating if he was really up to no good again.”
When Rose kept looking blank, he said, "You do know the other counselors, right?”
“Not really."
“But you grew up around them?"
“I heard of them."I grew up around Daniel.
“But do you know them? By name?”
“No.”
Kris counted with his fingers. "Naclipse, Elesto, Vister, Sahara, and Ana.”
“But what does each do?”
“Naclipse handles foreign affairs, Elesto handles disputes, Sahara does protection, Vister works with laws, and Ana oversees everything. They're the main five, though they have other people who do things like money and education.”
Rose tried her best to not let the names slip her mind. “And Bash and Kana don’t like Elesto?”
“"Not like" is a strong phrase; they don’t admire certain things he’s done.”
They walked in silence for a little, and Rose allowed herself to truly pay attention to the house. It was practically a castle without all the stone. Most of it had a summer like Victorian look; there were rooms for everyone who worked in it and grand halls for people to dine in. There were also a bunch of musical instruments inside each of the rooms; Rose didn't have to be told to know they played music often.
“Who, out of them, is here in this house?” she inquired.
“All of them - well, the main five, anyways - along with cooks and maids and guards and anything else you can think of that a royal would need.”
“So there's a lot of people here?”
“To say a hundred would be an understatement.”
"Wow, that's so many."
"The majority of them are family."
“Are you related to any of them?"
Kris slowed down, and his eyes seemed to darken. "Sahara. I'm a distant cousin."
“And that's why you stay here?” she asked in a roundabout way.
“Let's just say counselors don't have kids like they used to. I'm counted as part of 'the children of the counsel' even though she didn't birth me.”
Rose put her hair behind her ears. “And I'm a part of it too now?”
“Yeah. If you stay long enough.”
She nodded again, and Kris added, "You know, if you don't want to get the medicine you don't have to.”
She stopped, realizing they had still been walking, grinned, and he winked. All of a sudden this warm feeling washed over her, and the air grew really hot. She tried to warn him, but the next thing happened too fast. She was snatched and literally dragged through the ground; her leg caught on something sharp, and blood poured out fast as lava. With high anxiety she became aware that she was being taken, possibly kidnapped. A scream rose in her throat, but she held it; she built up her powers so that ice was right at her fingertips, however, when the dragging stopped, she did not strike.
The man in front of her looked too familiar. “well, well, well,” he said.
They both heard a door open upstairs and a voice calling, “Rose, are you ok? ROSE. ROSE.”
“Who are you?” Rose asked the man, clearly entranced.
He said nothing; instead he put a finger to his lips. On it was a bright ring that brought her back to her senses.
“Tell me,” she demanded, ready to strike again.
“I can't,” he responded, his voice silky and smooth, “Not about Daniel or Orion or any of the others.”
Her heart sped up, “You know where he is?”
“Of course I do; I was there last night, wasn’t I?"
She stopped struggling to get a good look; who the man was was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't place it. “I don't remember you.”
“You should try to, as it would make this a lot easier."
She tried to use her powers, but they wouldn’t work. "Are you going to kidnap me?”
He laughed. “Never. You can go now if you wish, but remember I'm a friend and I’m only here to help you.”
“Well then why did you snatch me?” She demanded.
He laughed again “Would you have come here willingly?”
“No.” she admitted.
“There's your answer.”
“You have me now, so what are you waiting for?” She looked at him with fury in her eyes, but deep down she was terrified.
You could tell in his face that he was completely aware of her fear. “You to remember.”
“I don't.”
He made a motion with his hand that gave her her powers back. “Then it's too soon for me to speak to you.”
“Can you tell me anything?”
“No. I can't.”
When the footsteps were approaching, he disappeared into a black mist that went through the window.
Aylea nearly fainted when she saw her wound, so together, she and Kris, had to carry Rose back upstairs to the counselor's room. The door was locked, so they banged on it and demanded to be let in. A very perplexed guard came to their rescue and jumped to action when he saw who it was. Once inside, Rose was put down and given a true look at her aunt, who seemed too elegant and regal to even be real. Her beautiful face immediately turned to anger as she demanded:
"What happened to her?"
Rose told everyone then and there. About waking up, leaving her room, and then being dragged. Aside from the person patching up her wound, the room seemed to hold their breath and stand completely still, as if everyone was in shock, even the highest guards.
“Did he speak to you?” Ana questioned after what might have been hours.
“Just to say that he couldn't speak to me or tell me anything.”
“But what did that mean?” she inquired, her voice carrying a slight edge.
The man dabbed at her leg, and Rose flinched. “He was talking about Daniel.”
“So he knows something?”
“I think so," Rose said. "He kept hinting at it.”
“And he cut you.”
“No... Well, yes. I was cut on the way down.”
Ana, now fully enraged, left the room and went down the stairs two at once. Together everyone else went down to the basement too at Ana's yell. They searched every end and behind and under everything they could possibly think of. Scanned behind the walls and under the ground. Rose retold the story at least eleven times in hopes to give them clues, but the man was long gone. Once when Ana sat down, the oldest guard approached her and said, “We can keep going for you if you like, he couldn't have gotten far,” but she shook her head. After another hour, she told them to all leave and locked the door once they were gone. Left alone with Rose and Kris, she asked:
“What did he look like again?”
Kris looked at Rose, who said, “I don't know, I could barely see.”
“Not even what he was wearing?”
They both shook their heads.
Ana shook furiously, and Rose could tell she had a boiling temper. “What did you say he said again?”
She hesitated “Just… just... that he couldn't tell me anything.”
Ana paced booming louder than a thunder cloud while Kris twirled his globe faster than ever. Behind them the sun began to shine brighter than ever, signaling that it would be down soon. “Was he holding something. A weapon? An element?”
Rose thought back. “No.“
“Any badges?”
“No.”
“What was he?”
“I... I don't think he was a monster.”
Ana grew quiet for a time, and Rose felt the blood from her wound building.
“Both of you know, don't you, about what happened last night?”
Kris nodded, and Rose said, “Yes, I've figured it out.”
“Sit down.”
They both sat down vigorously.
“I fear things are getting worse than I thought. The award show was one thing; they came to my event, stole my brother. But now they manage to get inside my house, and they plan on taking all my other family. I fear we might be having a civil war or revolution, but I don't know why. I told them it would take a few years to shift the world back.”
“Why do you think it's a revolution and not a war?” asked Kris.
It could have been Rose's imagination, but for a second, Ana's guard went down, and she appeared to be sad. “I recognized one of the fighters as one of my people.” “Now that you say that, I… I think I did too. Do you mean Greyson?” “The man who once worked as first flyer in the Air Force? Yes.”
“I never expected him to turn,” Kris said.
“It's only the beginning, I'm afraid,” she told them.
Kris stood up. “No, he was just one person out of a sea of others; it could have just been a coincidence.”
“It isn't. Yesterday, before the show, we lost contact with all the countries in the east. No one, not even Daniel’s mom, has been heard from since.”
The words hit Rose like a bullet, and now she HAD to find out what was going on. “Grandma’s gone too… same as him?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so; until we can get communications back up I can only assume she was taken too.”
Rose had to grab the chair to stop herself from falling. A tear threatened to fall down her cheek, but she held it. Without grandma and Daniel, what could she possibly do? They were her protectors, her anchors; she couldn't get one back without the other. So far the only answers lied with the strange mist man. lt felt as if there was some clue she had left out, yet whether it would come back to her was the question.Where has the mist man gone?As they talked, she wracked her brain. When her eyes found the window, she gasped, for whatever it was had gone through there.
“I think I know where it is. If we go now, we can follow it.”
Somehow Ana was already leaving, and she said, “No need to look; we will let it come to us.”
“It's just through there,” Rose nearly screamed.
“Where?” Ana turned around.
“The window.”
She folded her hands, “It's probably long gone by now; we will search another day." “But we could get it now,” Rose urged.
Ana's stubborn voice came upon her. “No. We need more clues, and this mist will be back. I'm getting rid of some of the guards, which will hopefully make it get bold enough to come again.”
“But–”
“I've made my choice."
“If we just–”
“No Rose, we can't waste time, as it's really important right now, and I have a meeting to get back to.” Behind her, Kris gave a sympathetic look that showed he agreed.
“Can I be excused?” Rose asked.
Ana nodded. Rose walked past her up the stairs. She went through the hall and considered going up the steps before a moment of willfulness took over her and she ran out the front door. She scanned around twice and found the mist waiting for her exactly where it had left. It regained human form for a second just to smile at her and then began leaving. She hesitated a few moments and then went after it. Eventually having to speed-walk when she saw it was not slowing down. She didn't know where it was going but somehow she knew it wanted her to follow. Every so often it beckoned her on. It led her through a marble hall detached from the house and past a big beautiful garden. With awareness, as the sky grew dark, she knew it was taking her to the forest. In her earnestness to get there, she ignored her wound, and blood dripped down her leg. Something about that felt off.
Monsters were attracted to blood; monsters were in the forest.
“Hurry,” the mist said.
She stopped dead to see that a huge wolf had been waiting for the mist on the other side. The mist rolled its eyes angrily at her for stopping; with a hand it urged her on. “Monsters can't pass the boundary,” she breathed, trying to calm her racing heart. The wolf must have read her mind, for just as she thought that, one huge paw made its way past the line. It opened its mouth to reveal razor-sharp teeth covered in blood.
Rose took off as fast as she could. For a second she fell, and she thought doom was upon her, but she quickly stood back up. Whether the wolf was chasing her or not, she did not know. Other monsters, however, had started to try to surround her too. She had to push away the hand of a ghostly woman and the leg of a giant spider. She ran back into the house, past Ana and past the people who tried to stop her. She ran right into the room she was in earlier and locked the door.
Lena looked at her and then dropped her stuff on the bed. "Sorry, this was the only empty room; I didn't know anyone else was here." She grabbed her sword off the ground and quickly picked up scattered arrows.
"It's okay."
"I'll go," Lena stated as she was packing up her stuff. “I'm really sorry.” The girl's nervous movements did not match her sureness from earlier today. Here in this room, she looked her age.
“It's no problem, really.”
“I'll hurry out. You look like you've seen a ghost.”
Something in Rose made her say, "Wait." She studied the girl, who was strong and sturdy and had weapons."You can stay here if you like.”
"You probably don't want me here so I'll just-"
"I wouldn't mind. In fact, I insist. I don't know if you'll believe me, but I have just seen a ghost."
“Where?”
“Outside.”
Lena eyed her like she was mental. “You do know they can't reach you, right?”
“I'm telling you this was different.” In earnest, Rose told her about the wolf. “I can look into it.”
“So you'll stay? I mean, it's if you want to. There's plenty of room, and I know you don't want to sleep with a bunch of adults or strange people. Do you?"
Lena shook her head and smiled a little; Rose knew she found her fear slightly amusing.
“I'll stay, but I promise I'll be out of you hair as soon as possible.”
Chapter 3☆
Luckily, for a long time nothing else happened, and Rose was happy that she never seemed to regret letting Lena stay with her. After hearing the full story, Lena searched around the house grounds for her but unfortunately came back empty handed.
“And you’re sure they were over the boundary?”
“Positive.” They talked about what happened with the man, and Lena even had some good guesses on who it could be. Once a suspect was taken in by Ana; Rose ran down to try to talk to him but was immediately scolded by Ana, who sent her back in her room. After that Rose began willing herself to get to know the strange girl, who was the perfect person to get information from. At first, she believed that Lena would start to get serious all the time, but Lena didn't seem to talk about rules or patrol until it was actually time to do it. Overall the girl was sort of a mystery. You could see the loyalty and determination, as it was in her blood – and yet she had a streak of rebellion. When she was training, she did not always do the moves they told her right away, and twice she had spoken openly when a head guard did something she did not like. The training of the guards was the highlight of Rose’s day. It was intriguing to watch, as it was her only entertainment from their little room window where she had been bedridden by the nurse, now named Ms. Grace, after telling her about black mist and wolves passing the boundary.
Lena never moved out. In fact, when training was over, Lena would go straight to Rose's room, check on her wounds, and they'd talk of some of the stuff that she learned from the day. Rose learned a lot. Like that Orion was planning on taking a team into Chariot before he was snatched, and there were rumors that there would be promotions for half the guard. Some of this stuff was known, some of this stuff was classified. They made sure not to let Ms. Grace over hear any of it.
Rose learned other things about other people in the house too. Each of the best fighters could be number
ed by her on a list of ten. She knew who the nicest was and who could be persuaded to be the nicest with a trick or two.
Finally, on a crisp Saturday morning, the scars had gone down, and after serious begging, Rose was told by the nurse that she was able to go outside. Ms. Grace let her go reluctantly but, in the end, promised she'd get the whole morning to herself. Rose wasted no time. She called for Aylea and then sent a bubble to Lena saying where she was going. She put on a light pink ruffled shirt and a pair of jeans, making sure to stuff her pockets with extra band-aids in case she got too rough. Together the two girls went outside. At first, in their excitement, they decided to race, and Rose was winning but the running made her feel as if a thousand knives were being thrown into her leg, and she, remembering her promise, sat in a chair watching her friend have fun. Aylea decided to try to catch butterflies, to her amusement, and was holding a net that was in full use as she ran, swinging it, delightfully in the air.
"Good morning," Lena said, taking the chair opposite and startling both of them, as she had appeared like a ghost. "Morning," Rose said and sat up straighter, trying to hide the fact that she had already reopened her wound.
"Did you hear the news?" Lena asked, studying her particularly harder than usual. "The what?"
"News,” she said.
“No, what is it?”
From her bag Lena pulled out a paper. “Read the headline; they're going to have another fighting award show in late November."
Rose nearly choked on air. "What? Why? "
“It was Vister’s idea, to honor those who never got to receive their award."
“But that’s only a few people.”
She shrugged. “He’s saying that he’ll make sure a lot of the guards helping with the search get recognized, and he wants to do something in honor of Naclipse since they still haven't found him."
“I get that that's important but he can’t just make an announcement? Everyone would be too scared to go to another show.”
“I wouldn’t,” said Lena very seriously.
First Strikes Disaster Page 3