The Lost Prince

by P. G. Shriver

  The dispatcher’s office was on the second floor. He’d sent cryptic messages so many times that he knew exactly how to word the message to the faction without tipping off the LOD’s. The elevator opened and he nodded to the three officers, “Morning, officers.”

  Three grunts followed his greeting.

  The doors slid closed.

  A strong arm slipped around his throat before he could fight them off. A gun stabbed his rib cage. “Where is he?”

  “He, who?” Though calm words brought pain to his strained vocal cords, his heart thumped heavily within.

  “The nephew… we lost a good man last night because of him. Where is the kid?” The harsh words and hot breath in his ear raised the hair on the back of his neck. The feeling produced a memory of a mountain lion spying him in the hayfield on his grandparents’ property when he was fourteen. He could feel the lion there because his hair raised the same way, but he never saw it.

  “I’m sure I don’t know who you are talking about. If you would, please push the number two. I’m headed to dispatch to call the troops in for a meeting. You might want to join us. You should probably ask him about the nephew, whoever that is. Of course, if he doesn’t hear the message he wants sent, he’ll send someone to figure out why.”

  Another grunt fell into his ear.

  The gun slid away from his side as the arm eased away from his neck.

  The elevator began its descent to the second floor.

  “Thank you, gentlemen.” He tugged at his coat tails and straightened his tie. “Have a safe day out there.” A calm smile and nod as the elevator doors closed satisfied the officers’ suspicions about what he knew.

  After the doors slid closed, he moved quickly down the hall to dispatch where he collapsed into the extra chair.

  “Rough morning?” The most beautiful brown eyes he’d ever seen glanced his way.

  “You could say that. I don’t know…” He shook his head uncertainly.

  The ponytailed brunette reached over and patted his leg understanding his uncertainty. She’d known him for a long time. He’d gotten her onto the dispatch team, but she’d known him much longer than that.

  “I honestly don’t know how you do it. You have the hardest job on this team. I wouldn’t want it!” She smiled at him.

  He looked into her eyes and found love, fear, hope. He married her for that love and hope all those years ago. She believed in him, in their cause, in the faction.

  Drawing courage from her, he smiled. “I’m worried, but we have another message. Let’s do this.” A thin smile played on his lips before they carefully crafted the message she would send out to the force.

  John huddled among the shadows in the woods laying low until nightfall. He knew the force was on the lookout for him. His back against the well hidden trunk of a tree, he lowered his forehead to his knees and closed his eyes, the scent of the sun filtered woodland forcing a memory.

  John stood on the edge of the trailer as it bounced through the rough patches of the hayfield. His best friend, Zeke, stood opposite him, a stupid grin on his sweaty face. The temperatures in North Texas had soared to near a hundred degrees. This would be the last cut of hay before the summer months dried the hayfield to a golden brown. This was their last paid job of the season.

  “Man! You can’t be in love. You’re sixteen! You just want one thing. You know that’s why you feel that way!” Zeke shook his head at John’s counter argument before sending a shrill whistle to the pony-tailed brunette driving the truck, an indication for her to stop so they could load more hay bales onto the trailer.

  Side by side bales brought the guys within earshot of each other. “Dude, I’m telling you… I am in love with her. I plan to marry that girl!”

  John shook his head again, tossing the fifty pound bale of hay onto the trailer and moving to the other side of the trailer to lift another one. He tossed it up to Zeke, who had begun stacking the recent bales.

  “Need some help?” The pretty brunette bounced out of the truck to pick up a bail even with the driver’s door. She dropped it at John’s feet for him to throw up. She was a beauty. John had to admit that. Her brown eyes were like chocolate and sparkled with mischief. She was slender, but wiry, strength in every curve of her muscles, and her curves were in all the right places. John could see why Zeke might “think” he was in love with her.

  “Thanks,” John nodded. He tossed the bail up to Zeke, who stood speechless, mouth dogged as he stuttered a few mumbled words. John turned away from the girl, a sheepish grin on his face as he shook his head at his best friend. He mouthed the word, “Loser.”

  “Uhm… Hey, Brandy! Would you… uhm, I mean…” Zeke stuttered.

  Brandy tilted her head, shaded her eyes with her hand, and wrinkled her nose at Zeke. “I was thinking about grabbing some lunch and taking a swim when we finish here. Wanna join me?” Though her words fell innocently on Zeke’s ears, John caught all the mischief in her attempt to save Zeke from complete and utter failure of his request.

  John turned to Brandy, a knowing smile playing on his face.

  “Oh, you can come to, John… if you really want to.” Brandy emphasized the last phrase.

  “Thanks, Brandy, but I’m pretty sure I have plans,” John declined.

  Brandy winked at John as Zeke stood above looking silly, “Not me! I don’t have plans! Yeah, I could eat… and swim. Sounds great!”

  “Great!” Brandy turned and walked back to the open door of the truck easily pulling herself up into the driver seat.

  John wagged his head at his best friend, “Man, she is so much smoother than you.”

  “Shut up!” Zeke threatened to throw a bail down at John, then climbed off the stack to sit on the back of the trailer, his stupid grin filling his tanned features.

  “John told me that each of our mothers had a pendant at one time. I don’t know what is so important about them. He told me to keep it safe. The man he works for, the man behind this… everything that is happening… he took our pendants. I think that’s the reason our parents are gone. I think the pendants…” Neka swung the pendant while she formed the words.

  “Make us normal, or shield our powers or something like that.” Thad added, his identical pendant in rhythm with hers. “I remembered— in the truck— what my mom told me when she gave it to me to hold onto for her. It was when my dad first approached her about leaving. Anyway, I tested it. I’ve been testing it since we left Maive’s.”

  Almost in unison six of them rose. “Maive!” They’d forgotten the note, possibly her last words by now.

  “Wait!” Cai ordered. “You’ve had the pendant the entire time I’ve known you… since I found you in that alley?” She asked Thad.

  “Yes.” Shame filled Thad’s eyes before he glanced away.

  “Hang on, hang on!” Simon the unbiased newcomer jumped in. “Didn’t you tell us about Thad rescuing some guy at a pizza place?”

  “Yes,” Cai nodded, the distrust leaving her features.

  “All right, just, you know, give the guy a break.” Simon patted Thad’s shoulder.

  “Thanks,” Thad’s pleading look distinguished Cai’s anger.

  “Okay, but,” Cai wagged her index finger at Thad, “if you ever hide anything from me, again, or you screw us over in anyway, I’ll come after you myself! Got it?” Thad nodded. “Give me the pendant!” Cai held out her hand.

  “But…” Thad pulled it to his chest.

  “But nothin’, Jack!” Carmen appeared next to Cai. “You want us to trust you, give ‘er the necklace. You have to trust us, too!” Carmen tilted her chin toward Neka.

  “John gave this to me and told me to keep it safe. I’m not giving it up to anyone! I have nothing to hide from you!” Neka palmed the necklace and shoved it in her pocket.

  Simon leaned toward Thad and jokingly asked, “Apparently Carmen has this thing about some guy named Jack.”

  Thad laughed, lightening the mood, but a sharp look from Carmen cut off
his chuckle.

  “Wait! I wonder, since that’s John’s pendant, if it will work for you?” Nathan crossed his arms over his chest.

  “I don’t know. I don’t even know what it could do for me. He said he was taking a big risk giving it to me. They would find out about him, or he couldn’t hide or something like that. I don’t even know what it does.”

  “Try this: keep the necklace in your hand just like that and think about John. Get an image of him in your mind.” Jaz concentrated on Neka.

  “Okay. Should I like, close my eyes or something?”

  “Just think something about him. See him.”

  Neka closed her eyes, not because she had to, but because she wanted to. She wanted to see John’s face.

  “Sheez! Somebody has the hots for that guy!” Jaz shook his head. “Stop! Apparently, those pendants are designed for the owner.”

  “So it doesn’t work for you.” Cai turned to Thad, “Hand it over. The point is we keep these safe from him, since we now know he is searching for them. One of us will hold onto them each day, no one person two days in row. He must never find these necklaces.” Cai cringed at the rising danger of their situation.

  “I have a better idea,” Nathan stepped to the center of the room. “We’ll need a clean knife.”

  “No!” The others argued, knowing his plan.

  “But they’ll never find them,” Nathan opened his arms wide. “Just remove them from the chain and cut me open.”

  “No! That puts all the danger on you. And what if I get caught by them? I can’t shield my identity, my power.” Thad chimed in.

  “He already knows who we are, who you are. He knows what we’re capable of. He knows we’re all here, too, according to John.” Neka glanced around the ceiling, her suspicion alerted. How did he know?

  “So there’s another reason he wants them. We need to get them out of this house,” Cheater thought.

  One by one, the teens filtered to the back door.

  Rebecca tucked Maive’s note into her pocket.

  Cautiously, Jaz twisted the knob and pulled the back door open.

  A hooded figure stood beyond the screen and Jaz slammed the door, locking it, leaning his back into it. “Too late!”

  The screen door squeaked.

  Jaz felt a light tap at the center of his back through the wood door.

  “Neka! Neka! Are you there? Open the door,” a faint whisper called.

  “Who is that? Nashota?” Cai’s silent question brought a shake of Neka’s head, “It’s John!”

  “Are you sure?” Cai demanded blocking Neka’s reach for the knob.

  “Yes, it’s me, John. The force already knows about me. He knows about the faction within the force, too. We’re safer together than apart right now. Let me in, please. Hurry, before…”

  Jaz pulled the door open and stood behind it, a look of concern on his face as the others waited. The Gifted Ones joined hands as John moved through the screen door.

  “Cute.” John nodded as he entered, “Look,” John pushed the hood back from his face, closed the door and reached out with his left hand to block Jaz while Neka reached for John’s right hand to bring him into the blend.

  The twelve of them filled the kitchen again, huddled around the back door. Neka threw her arms around John. Blood rushed to his face and out of embarrassment he patted her back, pushing her gently away. “Let’s get outta the house! Fast!” John silently communicated to the others.

  They moved quickly through the post midnight air, the importance of the day trumped by the urgency of the moment.

  The clock had just struck one minute into December twenty-fourth.

  An eerie silence followed the group through the pastures. The wee hour caused a memory to resurface as Neka moved silently over the ground.

  Neka rubbed her eyes when the hall light filtered through her door. Nashota’s silhouette cast a shadow into her bedroom. “What are you doing? Close the door!” Neka waved him off. She was up late the night before at a sleepover. All she wanted to do right now was sleep…

  “Dad sent me to wake you up,” Nashota pushed the door all the way open. “Come on! Hurry!”

  “Is he ever going to stop moving us around? We’re teenagers already. Can we just have a life?” Neka buried her head under the pillow blocking out the light and her brother’s words.

  “Neka!” Her dad’s firm whisper called from the bottom of the stairwell. “Get up, now!”

  “Rrrr!” Neka spat as she sat up and threw her pillow at Nashota. “Coming!” she replied.

  “Get dressed. Dad told me we have to leave now.” Nashota vanished from the doorway. Neka shook her head. After her mom was murdered, her dad had devised an emergency plan of escape. Neka pulled on her clothes as quickly as possible, thinking how her dad had grown so paranoid since her mother’s death. Why did he even have this stupid plan in place?

  Neka heard the rustling downstairs. The townhouse where they currently lived had paper thin walls. Nobody lived next-door though. However, if a real threat stood near this drafty old townhouse, they probably heard the entire exchange.

  Neka raised her window. The plan was to split up on exit and meet at a prearranged destination. Quietly, Neka slipped out the window to the roof. She reached back under the open window to lower it as far down as she could. To an intruder, it would appear the window had been opened for fresh air.

  Neka sat on the roof and counted. Then, she moved close to the oak tree that hung over the edge of the roof and grabbed the branch. Working her hands down the thick branch to the trunk, she swung her legs out to grasp the trunk. From there, she worked her way down every branch until she was able to slip down to the ground.

  “Don’t look back; just keep running!” Her father’s instructions replayed in her mind. But she did stop and look back, once when she heard the loud noise from the area of the townhouses and all she saw was an orange glow on the horizon as sirens filled the midnight hour.

  When she arrived at the meeting location, Nashota was the only one that showed up. The police picked them up on a curfew violation, found out they lived in the townhouse, and told them of their father’s fate.

  Two days later, Neka went to the foster home, and Nashota found her. They’d been on their own since.

  Neka swallowed a lump forming in her throat. Now is not the time to cry, she told herself. Then she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She knew the touch. She turned to smile at her brother, but what she really wanted was to cry on his shoulder.

  “It’s the last place to look. He has to be here with the others. We’ve searched all over town.” The driver drummed the steering wheel with his fingertips.

  “Yeah, it’s likely he is, but he also knows the danger it would put on the rest of the Gifted Ones. He’s smart enough to know not to come here, to the farm.” At least I hope he is, the passenger thought.

  “Well, this is where he wanted to meet up!” A quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed the other vehicles in wait. “Our job is to go up to the door like we’re investigating a complaint and see if we can spot him. We know what he looks like. We’ve read all their files.”

  “Yes, so you should know that might not work. One of them can do that thing, you know, disappear or whatever. They’ll just hide from us.” The passenger looked over his shoulder at the cars waiting for word. “We better do something soon, though. His car will arrive any minute.”

  “Right. All we can do is try. I’d rather go in easy than blow in the door like a tornado. We’re liable to wind up in one if we do that.” The driver’s jaw tensed over fear of a run in with the Gifted Ones.

  “Yeah, you mean because of tornado boy? Can you imagine growing up with a kid like that? Whew!” He kept the conversation going, stalling as well. He felt certain the twelve were already in route, but he wanted to make sure.

  “But you know, the one girl? She has no powers. Maybe we can snatch her. Make her tell us where the nephew is. He could use her as levera
ge, maybe.” The driver suggested.

  You have absolutely no clue why we’re here, the passenger thought. They’d been lied to, all of them— made to think the twelve teens were murderers, thieves, evil souls… like him. His followers had been fed so much propaganda about these kids that the troops were either fearful of contact or driven to kill on sight. “Okay, let’s go check.”

  Each opened his door.

  “All units hold until he arrives.”

  “10-4, Boss.” The Captain’s relieved reply filled the first car.

  Quietly, thankfully, both officers returned to their seats and closed their doors.

  “Here it is!” Cai pulled the makeshift door away and stepped inside. “Last one in seals off that opening!” She nodded as Nathan put the fake door back in place. “We’d best not talk or make a sound. If you hear anything, keep silent. If the seal comes down, blend. You know where you belong. Except John, yours should be near mine.”

  Each found their location beneath the spiral and when John closed in on his light and took the final position, the spiral lit the dark interior.

  “What happens now?” John asked.

  “I don’t know.” Cai responded. They’d all hoped that John was the missing piece. They were running out of time.

  “That’s it?”

  Patient eyes remained on the ceiling.

  “It must be activated another way. We’re missing something.” Carmen searched the interior.

  “Maybe ‘something’ isn’t right. Technically, there’s thirteen of us. Maybe it’s someone, like Neka’s brother? Maybe the number in the fairytale was wrong.” Rebecca offered.

  Neka stepped away and her place in the spiral went dark.

  The truth, Mom? What is the truth you want me to tell them?

  “Where’s the flashlight? No point keeping this thing lit up while we think this through. It’ll just make it easier to get caught. Let’s take a look at that letter from Maive. Maybe she knows something we don’t.” Rebecca pulled the envelope from her pocket as Carmen lit the flashlight in the corner farthest from the spiral.