by R Corona
“What was that?” A small smile formed as I directed the question towards Mr. Zorga.
“What was what?” He repeated, not understanding why I had asked.
“Your dessert. It was weird, wonderfully weird.” The taste hadn’t perplexed me. It was the feeling. The emotion of eating it refreshed me like a soothing remedy.
He scoffed, “I take it you liked it, then?”
“I did.”
“Then you don’t need to know what it was. Sometimes food needs to be just like magic and a chef just like a magician. A magician never reveals his tricks. Mystery makes the dish that much better, don’t you think?”
“Maybe you’re right.” I laughed softly. The members wanted me to try more of Zorga’s foods, but I had left Leev alone for a long time and Aunt Marcelle would arrive soon from the hospital. Ms. Baynes walked me out. Before reaching the party, she leaned closer to me:
“That drawing, the one you say I gave you,” Ms. Baynes whispered. Finally, yes, she had remembered. “I need it back,” she bit her lip.
“Back? Would you at least tell me who the girls were?”
“You were right, that picture wasn’t yours. It belongs to our Healer. She gave it to me for safe keeping. The other day she was looking for it and—you still have it, right?” Her pupils grew slightly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll bring it back—so, then Netania is one of the girls in the picture. Do you know who the other one is?” Technically I didn’t have the picture, Aunt Marcelle did. But Ms. Baynes had nothing to worry about.
“Yes, the other girl is Netania’s sister.—Again, I’m sorry for the confusion dear.” She exhaled and merged into the party ambiance while I looked for my cousin.
Leev still stood at the same spot I had left her, by the dancing couple. “That was fast.” She grabbed her bag and we began walking away from the House.
“Fast? It felt like forever in there, how long was I gone?”
“About twenty-minutes–What did she say about the drawing?”
“Well, it isn’t ours, so we have to give it back?”
“That’s impossible.” Her feet came to a halt. “What about my mother’s secret? Why would she get upset over a drawing of two unknown girls? One of them has to know my mother or be related to her in some way. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Maybe Aunt Marcelle is confused.” Nothing fit in, unless my aunt was playing a trick on us, which wouldn’t be likely. Aunt Marcelle had overreacted over a mistaken picture. It was as simple as that. But it wasn't simple at all because that meant that there was a real something worthy of her reaction.
“Or, could it be—” Leev pulled my arm and spoke in a hurry as we approached our house. “The person who owns the picture knows about my mother's secret—who did you say the owner was?”
“The gardener, rather, plant healer or something. How would she know something about our family? Those people don’t ever leave the House. Besides Aunt Marcelle has never mentioned them before.”
“June, open your eyes.” She whispered as we arrived. “There must be a connection to the House somehow. That’s where the drawing came from, right?”
***
Aunt Marcelle stood by the door, about to leave. “Hey, how did you sleep?”
I had woken up early to catch her before she went to work and ask about Kostas’ health. “Better than Kostas I imagine. By the way, what did the doctors say?”
“It’s weird; he got better as we left the House.” She bit her lower lip, “Once we got to the hospital he seemed much better. The doctors said that he should be drinking more water, especially working under the sun.” Her face appeared concerned. “The look in his face while we were at the House was terrifying. It's going to be hard to forget. After work I’ll try to check on him.” She opened the door.
“Aunt Marcelle, before you leave—”
“Yes?” She stopped.
“I need the drawing back.”
“The drawing…” She repeated. “May I ask why? Is there anything you want to tell me?”
“We have to return it. As it turns out, it isn’t mine, or ours, or belonging to anyone in this family.”
Aunt Marcelle arched her eyebrows and tried to come up with a response but couldn’t. “Is that so?” Her glance shifted downwards.
“Yes, but even if the drawing is no longer a factor, I won’t stop.” This time I was able to catch her eyes. The words were not meant to sound threatening, but she had to be prepared.
“Oh, June.” Her voice became dismissive. Is this about that silly thing I told you; the secret? There isn’t a secret honey, I was only being senseless.” A fading smile curved the side of her mouth, trying to cover up the slip of tongue.
“Forgive me, but you sounded pretty serious.”
Aunt Marcelle’s face became rigid. “I’m going to be late. –Look June, the drawing is in one of my drawers. Be sure to return it today because you won’t be visiting Ms. Baynes any longer.”
“What? You can’t do this! Why?” Aunt Marcelle had to be kidding. Now she was truly being senseless. How could she? The drawing and the members had nothing to do with her secret. It wasn’t fair. There was nothing she could say or do to keep me away from the House. She had no right.
“We’ll talk about this later.” After slamming the door, Aunt Marcelle dashed to her car.
The noise caused Leev to rush out of her room in a frenzy, trying to figure out what she had missed. “Where are you going?” Leev felt disoriented after seeing the rage in my steps while I rushed up the stairs.
“To find the drawing.” The words squeezed bitterly between my teeth. How could my aunt do this to me? For the first time in a long time, I had something to look forward to. The House made me happy. How could she take it away? “She said I couldn’t go to the House anymore. Can you believe her?” The wooden set of drawers was placed to the side of Aunt Marcelle’s bed.
“Calm down, June–here, I’ll help you look.” Leev opened one drawer while I looked through another. Aunt Marcelle was an organized person, which made it difficult to understand why she had so many papers mixed together. Inside the drawer there where two paper boxes, which contained paper forms and letters. Far, to the side of the drawer, there was a small picture box.
Anger dispersed through my body. I won’t stop going. Against her wishes, against what she says or does. The House is beautiful; no one will keep me from it. The heat of my blood warmed my face and helped me look through the pictures faster. It laid there, at the bottom of the box. The torn edges enclosed the black and white image of two little girls resting on a garden. Their faces stared at me, innocent, unaware of themselves. Unaware of the world, and of me; the one observing their captured memory without consent.
“Found it. Let’s organize this mess.”
Leev remained motionless. A long sheet of paper reposed on her lap. She had been quiet ever since she opened the drawer. Her gaze fell on my face as I moved closer. “June.” Leev’s eyes glinted with sadness. “I don’t understand.” She took one last glance at the sheet.
“Understand what? What is it? Let me see.” It was a letter from Granny to Aunt Marcelle. The note was dated five years ago, from when Granny had traveled to England with her friend Ruth King. Mrs. King was a nice woman but after her husband died she had fallen into a state of depression. Granny and her became closer and decided to travel to England to meet some old friends. Aunt Marcelle was never fond of Mrs. King because she always seemed to be around when something bad happened. Leev pointed to a sentence and my eyes focused on it:
'Sadly, just as we had expected. They have both been found and taken to Fexorrous by the Patrol. Your cousin Edda is gone, keep the girls safe.'
My sight blurred after the first words, the anger had dissolved, leaving its bitter taste behind. “Gone?” They were gone, my parents had always been gone.
Chapter Five
***
The Patrol was enacted by the Magic Council under Lord Seb
Creat’s rule to ensure that the energies of those belonging to Fexorrous was contained within the barriers of the land. The Patrol was made of feeders; soulless beings, bound to the Royal House. From an early age, they were conditioned to be loyal slaves to the Lord.
Generally, feeders are put through a series of tests which they must pass in order to join the Patrol and serve the Lord. But to become a feeder, one must first be a wanderer. When the body is severely wounded, physically or emotionally, a person begins to lose their sense of being; their soul. Once the soul leaves in search of a better carrier, a person becomes a wanderer. Wanderers roam the streets of Fexorrous selling what is left of their soul to energy Carriers and the high class members of the Lord’s court. Once the wanderer gives up what is left of the soul, he or she can apply to become a feeder as a member of the Patrol to collect beings for Seb Creat.
Seb Creat was born as an ordinary resident of Fexorrous. Creat had not been doted as an energy Carrier. He was also not a wielder of it. As a young boy his admiration for high ranking officials of the, then Lord, Llou, became an obsession. When Creat came of age he applied to join the Royal Militia, but his efforts were soon mocked. All soldiers and any person serving the Royal House, had to be, at least, a Carrier. Seeing the hardship Creat had gone through to enroll in his army, Lord Llou suggested he enroll in the Academy for the Common.
Lord Llou decided to aid Seb Creat in his education. Since the Royal House owned all the mentors in the Academy, the Lord himself selected the best mentor for Creat. His mentor would be known as the greatest of them all, one who was, both, a Carrier and a Wielder of energy. He was the most powerful of his time.
Seb Creat was a great student and over time he was able to manipulate energy like one of the best. However, unlike many students of the power, Seb Creat noticed the energy was being wasted in the land of Fexorrous. The reign of Lord Llou came to an end after one of his guards poisoned him with a Moonstar flower while he slept. The throne was ceded to Creat's Mentor, as he was an experienced Wielder of energy and could protect Fexorrous from intruding armies. But Creat believed his mentor would not be the best ruler for Fexorrous. Creat had envisioned ruling the land from an early age, no one would keep him from the throne, not when he was so close, not when all he had learned was within his reach. Seb Creat was charismatic and gained a few rouge followers. In the years of his mentor’s ruling, Creat’s group of supporters continued growing and he became better known to the court and to the public. Quickly, the student was able to convince the public to overthrow his mentor’s rule. Fexorrous had yet to witness the free-flowing force of energy that could seep out to construct the greatest and strongest empire of all time.
However, Seb Creat could never rest, not even when he had every Fexorrian head eating the scrapings at his feet. After a couple of years in power, Lord Seb Creat became fearful. His ruling was at a disadvantage because he was not the source of his own power. He began to ask Carrier citizens to donate their energies to create an army, one stronger than any other. Such could expand and help keep Fexorrous as the commander of other lands. Paranoia greeted Lord Seb Creat every night in fear of an energy revolution. Unlike him, some Fexorrian citizens were energized; powerful. It became apparent to the citizens that he was not equipped to be the Lord of Fexorrous after all. The new Lord had just taken his first bite of power and its taste was exhilarating and enticing. He wanted more of it and to maintain his rule, he implanted fear into the mind of the people, like a nightmare in the dark. Those whom were Carriers of energy were dangerous individuals because they could use their energy to threaten the security of the Royal House and of the peaceful citizens of Fexorrous.
His new campaign called for fairness, indicating that all should be equal. Since not all citizens were energized, all Carriers should have to give up their energies to the Royal House. Wielders; manipulators of the power, would have to work solely for the Lord. Those whom were not happy with the new decree could quietly leave town, with the condition of never setting foot on any Fexorrian land.
The plan failed terribly, as advisors of the Court realized that the main towns were becoming desolate. The Court forced Lord Seb Creat to change his ruling. Only certain people would now be forced to work for the Palace, those with the strongest and purest form of energy. As for those citizens whom had fled, they would all soon be hunted down, their energies drawn and then tried as traitors in front of the Cia Magia jury of the Elite.
Fortunately, some lucky citizens were able to reach a land unknown to the Elite. This land was shielded from mystical interactions by law of the Council of Existence. It was able to accept those whom could mold into its natural environment and helped many citizens of Fexorrous to, successfully, escape persecution for years. Against a protection decree from the Council of Existence, The Fexorrian Patrol exposed its energy signature, opening portals for all dimensions to cross in. Since then, Lord Creat’s intents have been focused on breaking the barriers between the worlds. His Patrol leads a restless search for fugitive energies; especially that of his mentor.
***
Fexorrous was a familiar place, one visited through the stories Granny used to tell Leev and I. Her stories, as we had come to find out, were anecdotes. All these years Aunt Marcelle and Granny had made me believe that my parents had abandoned me, in search of a different life. Maybe they had, because I didn’t have memories of us together. In my mind, it remained unclear whether they were trying to shield me from their past, or if they just wanted a fresh start, away from anything that could remind them of, or tie them to, Fexorrous.
Leev stayed with me through the night, her demeanor had changed since reading the letter. The silence meant she, too, felt betrayed. Her eyes narrowed slightly while she stared into nothingness, as if trying to understand. Leev knew there was more to come. The letter was only a sideline character in the nightmare of lies. Many years had passed since it was written. In those years, while my parents were missing, Aunt Marcelle lived a carefree life, filling my head with lies. Why had she decided to let us know now? She had set the answer on our laps yet couldn’t gather the courage to tell us from her own lips. Aunt Marcelle had given us the way, knowing that we would find the letter where she had kept the picture.
A purpose was kept from me, my eyes had been blind to it but not anymore. The force rushed beneath my skin and my body felt complete; powerful. My eyes rolled back and I collapsed. Leev jumped towards me before my back reached the floor. The feeling dissolved in a flash.
“June? Are you okay? June, what happened?”
“I'm fine.”
“Fine? You almost fainted—must have been the shock. I feel like fainting too.” Leev exhaled trying to balance out her rage. “What reason did they have to lie in such an evil way? Edda and Len have been gone for so long and we have been sitting here, doing nothing—do you remember Granny’s stories?” Leev’s grandmother lived to speak of Fexorrous and its prisoners. She hated its regime, its ruler, and the lack of freedom imposed by the Royal House. Most of all, she detested those who would bow down to Seb Creat, those afraid to speak up against the system, and those who would neglect their right to fight for themselves. Until now, we couldn’t understand the anger in her stories, because they were only tales. Realizing that Fexorrous was a real place, broke my image of her. “Why would she let something like that happen to Edda, her favorite niece?” Leev asked, knowing my questions were the same as hers. With our heads full of doubts, we sat by one another trying to place pieces together. Leev thought that it was important to come up with the right way of letting Aunt Marcelle know that we had found the letter. She had to tell us everything now, everything, from the beginning.
By the late afternoon hours, Leev and I had abandoned our plan to wait and had decided to go through Aunt Marcelle's drawers in search of documents that could hint towards what had actually happened to my parents. Aside from that letter, there was nothing of importance; bills, birth certificates, more bills. The letter appeared to have be
en planted within the other documents because there was nothing that could relate to it. Nothing, except the drawing of the two girls that Ms. Baynes had given me.
“Did you hear that?” Leev dropped a few papers at the sound of knocks. “Shh” She remained still. “Someone's at the door. We have to fix all of this!” Aunt Marcelle’s room had turned into a mess. There were papers covering every corner of the floor. My heart began to race with fear and guilt, but Leev did not panic. Her face still held the same look as before, she was determined to do whatever it took. “Go see who it is, I'll put everything back.”
I walked down the stairs in shame, still with the drawing of the little girls in my hands. A tall figure faced the street as I opened the door. Little Ette ran towards me from behind the front-yard tree. Kostas turned to face me with a worrisome look.
“Kostas, what are you doing here?” I had planned to go visit him later during the day and see how he was doing. “Is everything alright? How are you feeling?” Intrigued by their visit, I invited both of them to take a seat inside.
“Calm down, don't worry. I'm perfectly fine.” He took a place next to Ette, whom had thrown herself onto my aunt's couch. “Actually, the reason for the visit is because I have a message from your Aunt.”
“Aunt Marcelle?”
“Do you have another aunt?” Kostas mocked. “She came to see me at the Park in the morning and asked me as a favor to tell you that she would be taking a trip today. You girls shouldn't wait up for her. Marcelle will be back by the end of the weekend.”
“What?” Leev yelled from the top of the stairs and quickly joined the conversation after shyly apologizing for her initial reaction. “Don't take this the wrong way, Mr. Kostas, but since when do you and my mother know each other so well? Why would she take off like that? She never spoke of this with us?”