Believe

by Katie Holland

  They were all still touching but moved closer together. Alix started moving in the general direction of the road. It was slow going since they were in the woods. There were fallen trees and bushes everywhere.

  Twice they had to stop for a Grynn in their path. They all stayed silent to avoid being detected. It took over thirty minutes, but they eventually got to the vans.

  “Stay cloaked when you get in and while you drive,” Alix told the two Warriors. “That way they won’t know that we aren’t all in the vans.”

  There were two Grynn guarding each van. They were going to have to distract them, they wanted the Grynn to think that they were all trying to get away in the vans. Kris found a chunk of snow what was as hard as ice. He threw it toward the trees by the driveway. The Grynn took notice but didn’t move. The others got the hint and started doing the same thing.

  Finally, the Grynn got interested enough to investigate but they left one guard on each van. Still cloaked, Kris and three other Warriors went over to the vans while Alix and the rest of the group continued to make noises with the snow.

  Kris silently took out the one Grynn and another Warrior got the second. At the same time, the other two Warriors got in the vans, started them and took off. That got the attention of the first two Grynn and the commotion started.

  Alix made sure their group was tucked away back in the woods and cloaked as tight as she could. They didn’t know where they came from, but suddenly there were four cars full of Grynn chasing after the vans.

  This was the best opportunity they were going to get. Their group started jogging in the opposite directions the vehicles went. They wanted to put as much distance between them and that place as possible.

  Roughly five minutes later, they stopped so they could catch their breath. Alix wasn’t used to running and was wishing she’d started working out months ago.

  “What are we going to do now?” Ben asked. “We’re twenty miles from the city. We can’t walk all the way back there.”

  “We need a vehicle or someplace safe to stay in. I need to call Ruth,” Alix said.

  “My sister lives out this way,” Donna said. “I’m not sure if she’s home but let me call her.”

  Donna dialed her phone while everyone else kept watch for the Grynn. Alix made sure she had her magic available that would spot anyone that was cloaked. A minute later, Donna was off the phone.

  “She’s on her way back home from the city right now. There’s a small store about a mile east of here. She said she’d meet us there.”

  Alix was grateful she was able to keep the majority of the cold outside her shield. It would have been miserable to walk a mile in the freezing temperatures. They kept a contact watch for Grynn, but made it to the store unharmed. Donna indicated that the black truck in front of the store was her sisters. Staying cloaked they all climbed into the back of the truck. Everyone was uncomfortable and hoping it was a short ride, but at least they were away from Victor.

  Luckily, it was less than ten minutes to their destination. When it was safe, everyone uncloaked and went into the house.

  “Alix,” Donna said. “I’d like you to meet my sister, Joyce.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Alix said, shaking her hand.

  There was a stronger than normal tingle when their tattoos touched. Alix turned Joyce’s hand so that she could see her tattoo. It was a wolf. Alix had a thought, but if it was true then this was the world’s biggest twist of fate, or just the magic working to connect all things.

  “Your last name doesn’t happen to be Barney does it?” Alix asked.

  Joyce gave her the strangest look. “Yes, but how could you know that? We’ve never met? Did Donna say something?”

  “No,” Alix said. “I read your journal from 1975 when you were with the special team of Warriors hunting down secret Grynn locations. I want you to know that without your words I never would have been able to figure out how to see through the Grynn’s cloaking.”

  Joyce was clearly confused so Alix told her as much as she could without telling everything.

  “I’d totally forgotten about that,” Joyce said. “A year after my colleagues were killed, I left that part of the Warrior service. I ended up teaching at a military academy in Texas and retired back here about ten years ago. What a strange coincidence.”

  “Nothing is a coincidence when it comes to Alix,” Ben said. “The magic works different for her.”

  “I believe fate led me here so I could tell you that your team didn’t die in vain. What you learned is going to save thousands of lives,” Alix told her.

  “Thank you for telling me that,” Joyce said. “Even though that happened over forty years ago, I still think about them every day.”

  “If you’ll excuse me,” Donna said, “I need to check and see how our drivers are doing.”

  That reminded Alix that she needed to call Ruth. Joyce showed everyone where everything was and that gave Alix the time to call.

  “I expected to hear from you hours ago,” Ruth said, when she answered. “What happened?”

  Alix told her everything.

  “This is very bad, Alix. How did Victor know you were going to be there?”

  “That the most important question of the day,” Alix said.

  “I think you should come to Fox Hollow immediately,” Ruth told her.

  “Why? Sunset Creek is just as secure as Fox Hollow is, maybe even more so.”

  “The only place you’ve been lately is Sunset Creek and somehow François and Victor figured out where you would be. I just don’t think it’s a good idea to go back there, at least right now. Our top priority is to figure out how they knew.”

  Alix couldn’t really argue with her. That happened a lot when she spoke to Ruth.

  “Well right now, were stuck at a home in the country at least thirty miles from the safe house. What should we do?” Alix asked.

  “You need to find a way to get back to the safe house in Edmonton. It’s the closest one and I want you here as soon as possible.”

  “Okay. I’ll find a way to get there,” Alix said and hung up.

  “I need to get back to the safe house,” she told Ben. “Ruth wants me at Fox Hollow as soon as possible.”

  “Okay. I’ll go talk to Kris and see what we can do.” Ben gave her a quick kiss and left the room.

  Alix decided to call Shay and fill her in while they were waiting. She answered on the first ring.

  “Is everything okay?” Shay asked. “I thought you’d be back here already.”

  “Everything is fine now, but Victor was waiting for us.”

  “WHAT?” Shay practically screamed. “Oh my God. What happened? Did he hurt you? Did you kill him? Is he still out there?”

  “Slow down, Shay. I’ll tell you everything. But first, go get Natalie so she can hear this too.”

  “Fine. But you’ve got to stop scaring me to death like this.”

  “Trust me, it’s not my favorite thing either.”

  Alix could hear Shay walking to find Natalie. “Okay, I’ve got her and you’re on speaker,” Shay said.

  Alix told them everything from the time they left to learning that Joyce was the same person from the journal in the white room. Both Shay and Natalie were quiet.

  “And now Ruth wants me to go back to Fox Hollow instead of Sunset Creek. We need to figure out how Victor knew where I was going to be.”

  “We’ll meet you there,” Shay said.

  “That’s fine by me,” Alix said. “I think we should keep this between us for now. I’ll talk to mom and dad but don’t say anything to anyone else.”

  “We won’t,” Shay said. “When are you going to be leaving there?”

  “I’m not sure,” Alix told them. “We have to figure out a way back to the city that’s safe. Ben is working on that right now.”

  “Okay. See you soon and be safe,” Shay said.

  “You too,” Alix said, and hung up.

  She went to find Ben and Kris to see i
f they’d come up with a plan to get them to the safe house.

  Chapter 21

  Alix found Ben and Kris in the kitchen talking to Donna and Joyce.

  “Any news?” she asked, when she walked in.

  “Well,” Kris said, “we’ve come up with a solution. It’s not going to be the most comfortable, but it will be the best way to hide us.”

  “Okay, tell me.”

  “We all ride in the back of the truck like we did from the store,” Kris said. “It’s the best camouflage we can come up with. We’ll all be cloaked, so it will only look like one person in the truck. No van or group of cars going anywhere. Just a single driver in one truck.”

  “If that’s the best idea we have then let’s go with it. How soon can we leave?”

  “Very soon,” Joyce said. “I was just going to find some blankets to put in the bed of the truck to make it not so hard.”

  “Great,” Alix said. “I can keep us relatively warm, but the blankets under us will be nice.”

  Joyce and Donna left the kitchen to round up some blankets. Kris gathered their Warriors and had them help the ladies. Fifteen minutes later, they were once again crawling into the bed of the pickup. It was a tight fit but that would also help keep them warm. Everyone was cloaked and Alix put a protective shield around the group. Kris banged on the window and the truck started moving.

  Forty uncomfortable minutes later, Alix felt when they entered the protection of the safe house property. She finally relaxed a little. Not knowing where Victor was, had her on edge the entire trip to the city.

  They got out of the truck and thanked Joyce for getting them there safely. The Sunset Creek group entered the warm house and went straight to the room of rooms. At the blue door, Alix thought about Fox Hollow and in minutes they were walking through the fireplace and into the main foyer of the castle. Shay, Natalie and Gordon were waiting for them.

  “Lovely to see you again, Miss Alix,” Gordon said, with a smile. “And may I say how happy I am to see you whole and unhurt.”

  “I’m glad to be in one piece too,” Alix said, returning his smile. “I think we got very lucky today. Where’s Ruth?”

  “In the kitchen with Meridith. We weren’t sure if you’d eaten, so Merideth wanted to make sure there was food for you and your team.”

  Alix’s stomach took that moment to let out a loud growl.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Gordon said. “Let’s go to the dining room. We can eat and you can tell us about your encounter with Victor.”

  The twelve of them filled up the dining room table. In between bites Alix, Ben and Kris told them about what happened with Victor.

  “I just don’t understand how he could have known you were there?” Merideth said.

  “That’s the biggest question of all,” Alix said. “Let’s look at the different options. One, someone saw us after we left the safe house in Edmonton and he set up the ambush. Two, there’s a spy somewhere in the Nykara. Three, they are able to track me when I leave a protected area. Four … anyone else have any ideas?”

  No one else at the table had any other ideas.

  “Let’s start with the most disturbing of those,” Ruth said, “the fact that there could be a spy close to you.”

  “But there’s no one that’s close to me that would want to hurt me,” Alix said.

  “I know,” Ruth agreed. “So, let’s look at the other options.”

  The Warriors were excused from the table. The rest of the group spent the next hour talking about the possibility of Alix being tracked by Victor and François. Eventually, they decided to call it a night. Everyone was safe at the moment and they all needed a break from the intense discussion. Alix, Ben and Shay went up to the second floor.

  “I wish I’d known this morning that I was coming here,” Alix said, walking into the room she thought of as hers. “I would have packed a bag.”

  “All taken care of,” Shay said. “I packed you some clothes, brought your laptop, and I even grabbed your journal and that little wooden box with the special items in it.”

  Alix hugged her. “You’re the best, Shay.”

  “I know,” she said grinning.

  “How about me?” Ben asked. “Did you pack for me too?”

  “No. I wasn’t about to touch your underwear,” Shay said, looking disgusted.

  Alix and Ben had to laugh at the look on her face.

  “Your mom packed your stuff,” Shay told him.

  “At least I have some stuff here,” Ben said. “Alix, I think you should try calling your mom and dad. They need to know what’s going on.”

  Alix looked at the time. She’d started wearing a watch that always had the time at home on it. She relied on her phone to tell her the time of where she was. It was 4:00 in Sunset Creek. Her dad would still be at the dental office, so she tried her mom.

  “Hi honey,” her mom said when she answered.

  “Hey mom. I need to start by telling you that I’m back in London. Ben, Shay, Natalie, Rick and Kris are all with me.”

  “What happened?” her mom asked with a suddenly serious voice.

  Alix spent the next few minutes telling her mom everything that had happened since they got to the safe house in Edmonton. She didn’t leave out anything.

  “So, Ruth thought it would be best for me to be here until we can figure out what exactly is going on.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” her mom asked.

  “Not that I can think of. I need you to tell dad everything I just told you. And I need you two to be safe. I’m going to ask that a Warrior shadow you both. I just can’t take the chance that something might happen to you.”

  “I understand honey. Your dad and I will be checking in on you several times a day.”

  “Okay mom. I love you.”

  “I love you too Alix. Stay safe.”

  “I will.”

  “I’ve heard you tell that story three times now Alix,” Shay said. “And I think the more times I hear it the worse it seems. You were so brave facing Victor like that. I hope I never have to face him.”

  “Me too Shay. Part of what makes him so scary is that he seems unpredictable and let’s his emotions rule him. It makes me think that we shouldn’t underestimate him, but it also might be a way to control him.”

  “Good point,” Ben said. “What should we do now?”

  “With the time zone switch it’s kind of late here, so since we don’t know how long we’ll be here I think we should try and adjust to the time difference,” Alix said.

  “Does that mean you’re going to bed?” Shay asked.

  “I think so. It’s been a long day for me. I think dealing with Victor wore me out more than I thought.”

  “Okay,” Shay said. “It still feels like late afternoon to me, so I think I’m going to watch TV. Maybe I can find a movie on or something. What about you Ben?”

  “I think I’m with Alix on this one. It’s certainly been a stressful day and since we don’t know what’s happening tomorrow, I’m going to sleep while I can.”

  “Alright. Good night you two. Be good,” Shay said, with a smile and left Alix’s room.

  Alix shook her head at her friend. She truly would be lost without her.

  “Are you going to go to bed right away or take a few minutes to decompress? It’s been quite a day,” Ben asked her.

  “I think I’ll write in my journal then take a bath. I need to get some stuff out of my head and relax before I can think about sleeping.”

  “Do you want me to go?” he asked.

  “No. I don’t really want to be alone,” she told him.

  “Your wish is my command,” Ben said, with a grin. “I’ll just go get my bag and be back in a few minutes.” He kissed her and left.

  Despite the situation, Alix had to smile. Ben had a way of making everything better with just a few words and a simple kiss. She knew she was lucky to have both Ben and Shay in her life and was grateful for them every day.


  Chapter 22

  Alix got her journal out and sat at the desk.

  ****

  Jan 31

  I can’t believe so much has happened today. I just re-read my last entry and that feels like days ago-- not yesterday. Everything started out so normal this morning. I was going to get to see a new city and learn if I could actually “see” through the Grynn’s cloaking magic. I should have known better than to think anything with me is going to be simple. I can’t believe we managed to get away from Victor and the other Grynn. If I didn’t have to protect everyone there, I’m not sure I would have gotten away. I was so scared, but I knew it was up to me to get everyone out of there. Knowing I had to save them made me be brave enough to get it done. I want to know how he knew I was there. I feel like I should know the answer, but I just can’t see it. I’m hoping that we can figure it out soon. I know we’re going to have to go to China and I don’t want to worry about a run in with Victor or François. On a good note, I was able to see the cloaked building so that gives me hope that we can make the contacts work.

  I just have to say – how crazy was it to meet Joyce!!! I mean what are the odds that I would read her thoughts and findings about searching for hidden Grynn buildings and then only two days later meet her in a place I’ve never been before? That’s even unusual for me. It was great to meet her though. I hoped it helped her some knowing that the loss of her team members might help save hundreds of other people.

  And now we’re back at Fox Hollow again. This place is becoming my second home. But I’m not complaining. The people here are great and if I had to have a second place to live a castle is a pretty good getaway spot.

  ****

  By the time she was finished writing, Ben was back with his bag. He’d turned on the TV and was flipping through the channels. Alix put her journal away. She grabbed some PJ’s and headed to the bathroom. One of the great things about Ben was that he seemed to understand her need to get her thoughts on to paper and never pushed her to talk when she wasn’t ready. So far, he was the perfect boyfriend.