Believe

by Katie Holland

  “No kidding,” Sara said. “I was offered a full scholarship only weeks before this semester began.”

  “And mom and dad were able to get jobs there only a couple of days before the semester started in September,” Ben added.

  “You’re not from here?” Brayden asked.

  “No. I’m Alix’s Protector, so when I got the feeling to find her, we left Colorado and ended up here. It was only the day before our senior year started.”

  “What about you Logan?” Brayden asked.

  “I’m a long way from home. I’m actually from Florida.”

  “How did you end up here?”

  “Well, I was taken by the Grynn, given their magic, went to London, I imprisoned Shay and tried to kill Ben and Alix. She captured me then took the Grynn magic out of me. I volunteered to stay in London so that the Grynn couldn’t get me again. Then when these three started homeschooling I moved here with them.”

  “And Sara, you’re not from here either are you?” Brayden asked her.

  “No, I grew up in Utah. After Alix rescued me, we became good friends. Then she was able to get me into school here, so I moved. I’ve only been here less than a month.”

  “So, you two,” Brayden said pointing at Alix and Shay, “grew up here?”

  “Yep, born and raised,” Shay said. “Well, I guess Alix wasn’t born here but she’s lived here since she was a baby.”

  “This is a very interesting group,” Brayden said. “So basically, you’re all here because of Alix.”

  Everyone nodded and smiled.

  “And there’s no place I’d rather be,” Ben said. Shay, Logan, and Sara all agreed.

  Sara yawned. “Oh sorry,” she said. “It’s been a long and strange day.”

  “Should we go?” Brayden asked her.

  “Yes, I think so. I plan on going to school tomorrow and if we leave now you can start to get familiar with the house.”

  Before they left, everyone got Brayden’s cell number and he got theirs. They never knew when they might have to get in touch with each other.

  “Call if you need anything,” Alix told Sara.

  “Or, call if you want to talk about how hot Brayden is,” Shay whispered.

  The three girls giggled. Alix and Shay hugged Sara and watched as they got in their cars and left.

  Chapter 15

  “It’s been a crazy day huh,” Shay said.

  “You could say that,” Alix snorted. “The sad thing is I know there are going to be a whole lot more of them until we stop the Grynn.”

  Shay yawned. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

  “I don’t think anyone did,” Logan said.

  “I got a few hours earlier, but they weren’t enough,” Alix said. “Oh my God. With everything that’s happened today, I totally forgot to tell you guys about my dream.”

  She told them about her meeting with her ancestors and their discussion about vision dreams.

  “But the strangest thing happened just before I woke up. William told me to beware the Essus. But I have no idea what that means. Do any of you know what an Essus is?”

  All three of them shook their heads.

  “Have you tried looking online?” Logan asked.

  “No, it’s been so crazy that I’ve barely had time to think never mind anything else.”

  “Okay, let’s check it out then,” Logan said, getting out his phone. A few clicks later he said, “So it’s a European symposium on substance abuse, a character in a book, a different character in a video game, something to do with surfing and potentially a furniture brand. None of those things seems like it has to do with you Alix.”

  “Well it did come from someone born in the 1500’s, so maybe it was something different back then,” Alix suggested.

  “I guess you’ll have to ask him next time you see him,” Shay said smiling.

  “I guess so,” Alix said yawning. “I think it’s bedtime for me. I need to catch up on a night’s worth of sleep.”

  The four of them went upstairs to their separate rooms. Ben stopped to kiss Alix good night and she went into her bedroom. She changed and was about to get in bed, but she stopped and got her journal out.

  ****

  Jan 30

  Essus?????

  She’d write more tomorrow, but for now that one word was enough. She closed her eyes and was asleep in seconds.

  Alix woke up the next morning feeling better than she had in days. She’d had a dreamless sleep and more importantly there were no nightmares. After getting dressed, she headed to the kitchen. First, she was going to make her coffee and then she was going to call Ruth. When she walked in, she saw Shay and Logan. They’re heads were so close together it looked like they were kissing.

  “Am I interrupting something?” Alix said grinning.

  “No, I wish,” Shay giggled.

  Logan looked like he didn’t know what to say, which Alix found funny.

  “Then what were you doing?”

  Logan finally found his words. “I was looking at Shay’s eyes.”

  “Um … okay. Why?” Alix asked him.

  “She was complaining that they were just a boring brown and I told her that nothing about her was boring, so she told me to look closer. That’s when you walked in.”

  Logan was turned, so he couldn’t see Shay, but Alix could see the grin on her face. Alix had to smile back.

  “I see,” Alix said. “So … are they a boring brown or not?”

  “Definitely not,” Logan answered.

  “Okay then, good to know,” Alix said. “I’m just going to make my coffee and then make a phone call. You two just keep doing what you were doing.”

  Alix turned her back on them to keep from laughing. Shay was still grinning, and Logan just looked confused. Alix knew that Shay liked him, and this was her way of testing if he might like her back. That, and you never knew what to expect from Shay.

  Coffee made, Alix went to the table and called Ruth.

  “Hello Alix,”

  “Hey Ruth. Have you talked to Shelley?”

  “Yes. She filled me in on what happened with the contacts. Ben also found the Grynn company that manufactures them. We are going to make sure no humans work there and then destroy the factory. We can’t let any more of those out into the world.”

  “What if there are humans working there?”

  “We’ll find a way to get them out first. We don’t want any human casualties.”

  “Anything else new?” Alix asked.

  “There have been several reports of missing Nykara, but we have yet to find any of them. When we do, they’ll be taken to the black room for holding until we can determine if they are safe or not.”

  “Is there any good news?”

  “Not really. We’ve had no luck locating any more Grynn strongholds. They seem to be really good at making us think they don’t exist.”

  “It’s been so crazy here that I forgot to tell you I learned something about that. Apparently, if you are close enough you can use magic to send quick energy pulses that will disrupt their magic enough to give away the location.”

  “How did you find this out?”

  “I read it in the white room in the journal of a Warrior that was part of a team that was tasked with finding the secret locations.”

  “Interesting. I’ll have to spread the word and see if it can help us,” Ruth said. “The Grynn have been relatively quiet lately and that worries me. I have a feeling that something big is coming our way.”

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

  “Talk to everyone you know there and tell them to keep their eyes open.”

  “I will,” Alix said. “Stay safe.”

  “You too,” Ruth said and hung up.

  Instead of going to the classroom, Alix went to her room. She needed to write in her journal. Her thoughts were a little scattered and she needed to get some of them on paper.

  ****

  Jan 30 – cont’d

>   It’s been a wild 48 hours. I learned about the white room, black room and red room. Sara was captured and rescued. She attacked me and we cured her. I “talked” to my ancestors and killed two dozen Grynn. It’s just been one thing after another. But what I really wanted to write about was how I saved Sara and destroyed the Grynn. I still don’t know how it happened, but I stopped time for about an hour. Did I stop it just around us? In the US? The whole planet? The universe? The more I think about it the more freaked out I get. No one anywhere should be able to do that. I mean, I’m glad it happened otherwise I think we’d be dead but still, but it just seems wrong on all sorts of levels. I can still see the Grynn energy balls stopped in midair like floating balls of dangerous light. And everyone in the room was frozen, like a giant game of freeze tag. I still can’t wrap my head around it. As much as it scares me, it intrigues me as well. Could I do it again in an emergency? I think this is something I’ll have to research in the white room. That room has become my new favorite place. I can’t even begin to imagine how much knowledge is in there. I could probably spend the rest of my life in there and never learn everything.

  ****

  After putting her journal away, she headed to the classroom. Not knowing what else to do at the moment she figured she’d get some work done. Ben, Shay, and Logan were at their desks.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” Ben said to her. “What have you been up to?

  “I had to talk to Ruth. She said there are more missing Nykara, but none have been found. She also told me that you found the Grynn contact lens factory.”

  “Uh, yeah. I guess so much happened yesterday that we all forgot stuff.”

  “Understandable,” Alix said. “So, does anyone else have something we need to know? Or have any questions about anything?”

  No one could think of anything at the time, so they went back to their schoolwork. About thirty minutes later Alix’s phone rang. She answered it and listened for a minute. Tears started falling from her eyes. She hung up the phone.

  “Alix, what’s wrong?” Shay asked.

  “Sonya’s dead.”

  Chapter 16

  “What do you mean she’s dead?” Ben asked, getting up and going over to Alix.

  “Kris said she was on a mission and the whole team was killed by the Grynn. He’s on his way over to brief us.”

  Shay hugged Alix as hard as she could. Ben joined them and so did Logan. A few minutes later Natalie found them still in the group hug.

  Natalie immediately knew something was wrong. “What’s happened?”

  “Sonya’s dead,” Alix said again. The words still weren’t real to her. “Kris will be here right away.”

  Natalie knew it was hard for her to say that, so she just nodded. “Everyone to the kitchen,” she said.

  No one argued and they followed her back to the kitchen. Natalie filled the kettle with water and got another pot of coffee going. Alix didn’t know if it was just to keep her busy or she really wanted more coffee, but suspected it was the first one.

  The four of them just sat there. A few minutes later, Natalie put a cup of chamomile tea in front of each of them. It reminded her of the night she saw the face in her window and her mom had done the same thing. The room was silent as they waited. Natalie had left the kitchen to go get Rick and anyone else that was still home.

  Alix’s tears had temporarily dried up, but she knew they weren’t very far away. No one she’d personally known had ever died before. She also had a feeling that whatever Sonya was doing it was something related to helping her which was starting to make her feel guilty.

  Eventually Rick, Heather, and Sean entered the kitchen. Her mom went straight to her and hugged her.

  “I’m sorry baby,” she said to Alix. “I know this is hard on you.” She sat down beside Alix and held Alix’s hand. Alix squeezed her mom’s hand, thankful for the reassuring feel of it in hers. There were a million thoughts running through her head. She just wanted Kris to get there so she could learn what happened.

  Finally, Kris arrived. Alix squeezed her mom’s hand harder when he walked into the kitchen. If possible, the room became even more silent than it was before.

  “Kris,” Natalie said, breaking the silence, “would you like a cup of coffee?”

  “Yes. I think it might help.”

  Kris joined them at the table while Natalie got his coffee. When she set it in front of him, he gripped it with both hands. Alix could tell he was just as upset as she was.

  “Whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault,” Heather said to Kris.

  He nodded, but not like he believed her. Finally, he spoke.

  “Sonya and her team were following up on some intel we’d received about increased Grynn activity in Idaho. They were closing in on a location outside Idaho Falls. They’re last known location was Hell’s Half Acre Lava Field. I’ve personally been there, and I don’t understand how this could have happened. It’s a wide-open area with no trees and only scrub brush around. But somehow the team was ambushed and all six of them were killed.”

  “How did you find this out?” Alix asked.

  “They missed their scheduled check in. We’re very strict about checking in at precisely scheduled times. When it was missed, we knew something was wrong. I sent the nearest team to go check out the situation. When they got there, they found them.”

  “When was this?”

  “The ambush happened in the night. It took the other team a few hours to get to the lava field. They are currently on their way here and should be arriving within the hour with the bodies.”

  “Has anyone told her family?” Alix asked.

  “No. We need a positive identification before that can happen.”

  “Oh,” Alix said quietly. She was trying to hold back the tears.

  “What happened to the Grynn?” Ben asked.

  “As far as we can tell they disappeared. We still think there’s a cloaked base around that area for there to be so much activity in the region,” Kris told him. “Too bad we didn’t have x-ray specs to see through their cloaking.”

  “What did you say?” Alix said, perking up.

  “I said too bad we didn’t have x-ray specs to see through their cloaking,” Kris repeated.

  “That’s it,” Alix exclaimed. “Let’s hope we’re not too late.”

  They all looked at her slightly confused. She ignored them and called Ruth.

  “Yes Alix,” Ruth said when she answered.

  “Have you done anything to the contact lens factory yet?”

  “No. We are still trying to figure out the best way to save the human workers.”

  “Finally, something in our favor,” Alix said, releasing a breath. “Don’t destroy the factory. The Grynn need to go, but we need to take it over and run it ourselves. I have an idea that might just help us win this war.”

  “Alright, Alix. I trust you. But please fill me in later when you can. I have to say I’m intrigued.”

  “I will. Bye Ruth.”

  Alix hung up with a renewed sense of hope. Maybe Sonya’s death wouldn’t be for nothing if Alix could make her idea work.

  “If you don’t mind me asking,” Kris said to her, “what was that all about?”

  Alix remembered that he didn’t know about the contacts they found in Sara, so she filled him in on what they learned.

  “So,” Alix said. “If the Grynn can infuse them with their evil, shouldn’t we be able to do the same thing with our magic?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Kris said.

  “But I don’t want to just put any magic in them. I want to find a way to allow us to see through their cloaking magic. I want to stop the ambushes and find the secret buildings that keep alluding us.”

  “You’re brilliant,” Ben said, from beside her.”

  “It may be a good idea, but we need to find a way to do it. I’m hoping that once we have control of the factory, we can figure out how the Grynn were putting their magic into the lenses. That’s j
ust step one. Step two is determining the right magic to see through the cloaking magic. I don’t think anyone’s figured that out yet.”

  “If anyone can it’s you,” Ben told her.

  “Thank you. If anyone has any ideas on how to make that work, I’m open for suggestions,” Alix told everyone. She didn’t think she’d figure it out today, but the sooner they could make it work the more lives could be saved.

  Alix got up from the table and went to get her jacket and boots. She needed to go to the cabin to think for a bit. And, to be honest, she was dreading the arrival of the deceased Warriors. Ben and Shay figured out what she was doing and joined her. They trekked out to the cabin and Alix quickly made a fire. Starting a fire with her magic was up there on her list of favorite things to do with the natural energy in her. Her favorite was still popping popcorn magically. The three of them sat on the rug in front of the fire.

  “So, what is the real reason you came out here?” Ben asked. “I’m sure everyone assumes it’s to think about a solution, but I know that’s not it.”

  “Truthfully, I’m not sure how to handle Sonya’s death and having her body come back here. She’s the first person I’ve really known that’s died. I guess I don’t really know what to feel.”

  “I’m in the same situation as you are,” Shay said. “I guess we’ve been pretty lucky. Ben?”

  “When I was in tenth grade one of my classmates was killed in a car wreck. I didn’t know him that well, but I remember how sad it was.”

  “So basically, we’re just out here hiding,” Shay said, with a smile.

  “Yep,” Alix agreed.

  They all sat there quietly for a while. Eventually, Shay couldn’t take the silence and had to say something.

  “I don’t want this to come out wrong, but I really don’t want to see a bunch of dead bodies.”

  Despite the serious situation, Alix and Ben started laughing.

  “What would we do without you?” Alix told her.

  “You’d be lost forever and forever,” she said, with a straight face.