by Kate O'Hearn
Jake ducked down farther as the door opened and light shone in. He went from trembling to absolute quaking. From his position, he couldn’t see who or what was there. But he could hear the voices, speaking a language he couldn’t understand. This was followed by the sound of the containers being opened.
The stench from their contents was almost enough to make him sick. He looked over and saw Tryn’s nauseated face. His silver hands covered his mouth and he looked like he might throw up.
Jake couldn’t see how many were in the small room, but it had to be at least three—maybe even five. They were moving and opening the crates. Then the sickening sound of crunching and chewing started, and it took all Jake’s willpower not to vomit. He didn’t have to see it to know that whoever was there was eating the flat animals, raw.
New voices entered and left the storage room as crates were opened and their contents devoured. Time stood still as Jake and Tryn remained hidden, listening to the disgusting sounds. Finally all the crates were resealed, and the strangers exited the room—leaving the door open and a torch burning.
Jake looked over at Tryn. The silver of his friend’s face was reduced to dull gray and had lost all its shimmer. His eyes were huge and frightened. Then Jake realized that from Tryn’s angle, he could see out between the crates. Whatever he’d seen, it had been enough to terrify him.
The sounds of quiet conversation continued down the corridor toward the wall where the blood trail had ended. Beside him, Tryn started to stand.
Jake caught his arm and shook his head. He held up a finger and pulled Nesso closer. “Can you go out and see if anyone else is coming?” he whispered.
“Yesss,” Nesso hissed. “Put me down. I will look.”
“Be careful. . . .” Jake lowered the snake to the floor and Nesso slithered out of his hands. She slid easily through the cracks between the containers and to the door. Moments later she returned to Jake’s hands.
“There are many big thingsss out there,” she hissed. “They are all at the wall. There are two other big thingsss that are ressstrained with coversss over their headsss. They look very weak. There wasss no one elssse.”
Jake nodded and returned Nesso to her place around his neck while he repeated the message to Tryn.
Tryn nodded and stood. “I must see.”
“Are you nuts?” Jake whispered.
But Tryn kept moving. He motioned for Jake to stay put. But even if he wanted to, Jake couldn’t. He stood and started to follow Tryn out from behind the crates.
The doorway was just ahead. If anyone walked past, there would be no way to avoid being seen. Tryn lowered himself to the floor and crawled. Jake did the same thing as the two of them approached the open door.
Tryn was first to gaze out toward the wall. Jake saw something bright reflecting on Tryn’s silver skin as the sound of whooshing started. Unable to hold back, Jake rose above him and peered out.
His mouth fell open as he saw a large group of cloaked strangers standing before the wall. There was a blinding white light coming from the wall itself. As he watched, he saw the strangers haul two people, bound and with their heads covered, to their feet. They staggered and moved as though they had been drugged.
One of them broke free, and Jake nearly gasped aloud as a set of large white wings unfolded and started to flap to break free of the restraining arms. “Please let us go,” a woman’s voice cried. “Who are you? Why are you doing this to us? We have a family—you must stop!”
“Silence!” a man’s voice said harshly. “It will be over soon.”
Jake watched as several of the cloaked figures tackled the woman. One removed a glove and touched her wing with a bare hand. She cried out once and became still.
“Do not kill her yet!” one of the figures commanded. “Just get them out of here.”
The others stood and pulled the unconscious woman to her feet and dragged her into the blinding light. The second figure was shoved through right behind them.
Moments later, others arrived from the light, carrying containers just like the ones in the storage room.
“You three,” the cloaked man commanded, pointing at the new arrivals. “Wait here for the others. When they arrive, get them into position. Soon it will be time to make our move.”
The speaker started to turn to leave. Jake and Tryn dashed back inside the room and barely had time to make it to their hiding spot before he and several other cloaked figures crossed in front of the open door and walked back down the corridor.
“That was too close,” Jake panted. “What was that light?”
Tryn’s eyes were wild with terror, and he was shaking his head. “That was the Solar Stream,” he said softly. “They’re using it to take people away.”
“What people?”
“Titans!” Tryn’s frightened eyes settled on him. “Jake, I’d know that voice and those wings anywhere. That was Aurora—Astraea’s mother.”
22
ASTRAEA AND ZEPHYR REMAINED OUTSIDE the house, waiting for her parents to return. As the long night dragged on, Astraea was finding it difficult to stay awake. She settled down on the grass, leaning against Zephyr, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
At dawn she awoke. Titans were walking past her house and chuckling at the sight of her and Zephyr sleeping on the damp grass.
“Zeph, you awake?”
“I am now,” Zephyr moaned. “I ache all over. Whose bright idea was it to sleep outside?”
“We weren’t supposed to sleep at all.” Astraea climbed slowly to her feet, yawned, and stretched her stubby wings. She looked back at her house. “Come on in for a bit. I need to clean up and change my clothes. Then we should go over to my grandfather’s and tell him about Mom and Dad.”
Zephyr scrambled to her feet and opened her wings wide. She gave several long, powerful flaps that lifted her front end off the ground. When she finished, she settled them into position on her back. “I can’t believe we fell asleep.”
“I know, but we have had a few long nights lately. I feel more tired now than last night.”
They walked into the house, and Astraea’s nostrils were immediately on alert. The smell of baking was making her mouth water. She looked at Zephyr and ran through to the kitchen. Her mother was standing at the counter, cutting up a freshly made ambrosia cake.
“Mom?”
Aurora looked up and nodded at Astraea.
“What happened?”
“What happened with what?” Aurora asked.
“You! Last night you and Dad weren’t here. We waited up all night for you. But you didn’t come back.”
“Of course we did,” Aurora said. “We just went out for a walk. Your father and I are entitled to a little private time on occasion.”
“But—but—didn’t you see us out there waiting for you?”
“We saw you two sleeping on the grass and didn’t want to disturb you. Now, breakfast is almost ready. Go clean yourself up, and then you can eat.” Aurora stepped up to Zephyr. “Isn’t it time you went home?”
Zephyr looked over to Astraea. “Um, yes, of course, Aurora.” She took a few hesitant steps toward the door and looked back. “See you later, Astraea. . . .”
“Mom, I invited Zephyr to breakfast.”
“I’m sorry, not this morning. You can see each other later.”
“Don’t worry about it, Astraea,” Zephyr said softly. “I’ll see you at school.” Zephyr’s head hung low and her wings drooped as she walked to the front door.
“Mom, you hurt her feelings,” Astraea said, watching Zephyr leave.
Aurora stopped cutting the cake. “She’ll be fine. But I do want to talk to you about her. Astraea, I don’t like Zephyr spending so much time around here.”
“You don’t like it?”
“No, I don’t. If you want to see her, you can go over to her house. You know your father has a lot of work to do. You and Zephyr constantly underfoot is a distraction he just doesn’t need.”
Astraea fe
lt like she’d been slapped. Her mother always said she loved Zephyr like a daughter. Now she and her best friend were a distraction? “Does that mean I can spend the night at her house?”
“Of course.”
“But—but I thought I might be in trouble.”
“Trouble? Why, have you done something wrong?”
“I did stay out a bit late these past couple of nights.”
Aurora kept cutting the same piece of ambrosia cake. “Oh, that. Don’t worry about it. We all stay out late at times. Now go get cleaned up and ready for school.”
Hiddles came into the kitchen, meowing and rubbing against Astraea’s legs, looking for attention. But when the kitten saw Aurora, it started hissing and ran away.
Aurora watched him go. “Take that thing with you when you leave for school.”
“Hiddles?”
“Yes, there is a new rule in the house: no more animals. If you insist on keeping him, take him to Zephyr’s house. You can visit him there.”
Astraea could hardly believe her ears. Her mother had given Hiddles to her for her birthday and now she didn’t like him? It just didn’t make sense. She ran to her bedroom, changed her clothes, and brushed her hair. She didn’t want to stay in the house a moment longer.
Hiddles was hiding under her bed. When Astraea caught him, the fluffy rainbow kitten’s eyes were huge with fear and he was trembling. “Mom didn’t mean it,” she said, petting him gently. “We’ll go to Zephyr’s and have a nice time there.”
Astraea went back downstairs. The kitchen was empty, so she grabbed several slices of ambrosia cake and left the house.
“Zeph!” Astraea called, entering her friend’s house without knocking. “Are you here?”
When there wasn’t an answer, Astraea ran around to the stable and received the surprise of her life. Tryn and Jake were standing with Zephyr in one of the stalls.
“Astraea, I’m so glad you’re here!” Jake called. “You wouldn’t believe what happened last night.” He stopped and stared at the kitten in Astraea’s hand. “What a freaky-looking cat!” His eyes flashed to Tryn. “Look at it. It’s got wings!”
“Hiddles is not freaky,” Astraea said. She marched over to Tryn. “What are you doing here? Don’t you realize how dangerous it was to bring Jake here?”
“He’s wearing my clothes, and from a distance he could pass for Titan. Believe me, coming here is a lot less dangerous than staying at Arcadia.”
Astraea frowned. “But how did you know where Zephyr lives?”
Tryn shrugged. “I just did.”
Zephyr came forward. “Astraea, how he knew doesn’t matter. We have to talk. It’s about your mother.”
Astraea patted Zephyr on the neck. “Zeph, I’m so sorry about the way Mom treated you this morning. She’s acting so weird. She just told me to get Hiddles out of the house and not to allow animals in again. And she didn’t even care that I’ve been staying out at night. I just don’t understand it.”
“We do,” Tryn said. “And it’s not good.”
“That’s impossible!” Astraea started to pace. “I just saw my mother. It couldn’t have been her being taken through the Solar Stream.”
“I’m sorry,” Jake said softly. “But we saw a woman with big white wings. Her head was covered, but Tryn recognized her voice and her wings. He’s certain it was your mother.”
“It was her,” Tryn insisted. “I met her and your father when I first arrived here. It was at your grandfather’s house. Hyperion is the one who arranged for me to come to Arcadia. I’m certain it was your mother being taken through the Solar Stream. A short time later, others in cloaks returned. They walked past the door where we were hiding, and when they did, this fell.” Tryn held up a long white feather.
Astraea took the feather and frowned. It was a primary flight feather. These were the hardest to grow out. “I always know when my mother is going through a molt—especially flight feathers. But she isn’t going through one now.”
“Maybe they hurt her feathers when they tackled her,” Zephyr suggested.
Astraea inspected the feather and then sniffed it. She frowned. “This isn’t hers. My mother always perfumes her wings, but this doesn’t even smell like a feather. It doesn’t feel like one either.” She looked back at Tryn. “That wasn’t my mother you saw.”
“It was,” Tryn insisted. “At least it was your mother who was forced through the Solar Stream. Perhaps it wasn’t her who came back.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Who else could it be?” Zephyr asked. “There aren’t that many winged Titans.”
Astraea was shaking her head. “If it really was my mother, what about my father? Where is he?”
“There were two being taken through. I wouldn’t be surprised if the other was your father,” Tryn said.
“Why?” Astraea cried.
“I don’t know,” Tryn acknowledged. “But what I saw last night is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. Those creatures in cloaks—they had pale grayish skin that looked like it was melting. You could barely see their eyes because of the folds of skin over them. They didn’t have noses, and they could open their mouths really wide. They were eating those flat, dried animals whole.”
Jake nodded. “They were going through them like they were chocolate chips. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear them. It was disgusting.”
Astraea shook her head. “But if there were creatures like that here, I’m sure we would have seen them already. Or at least I would have in the new prison wing. But there was nothing like the things you described.”
“We know what we saw,” Tryn said. “Those things weren’t Titans or Olympians. But judging by all the food they have stored down there, they’ve been here for a while.”
“Tell them about the guy we heard talking,” Jake suggested.
Tryn nodded. “All but one of them spoke in a language we couldn’t understand. But there was one we could. We didn’t see his face, but by the way he spoke, he sounded exactly like a Titan. When your mother tried to escape, one of the cloaked figures touched her with its bare gray hand and she stopped moving. It was like she passed out. The Titan-sounding man told them not to kill her yet. Then, after they dragged your parents through the Solar Stream, he said to the others who stayed behind, ‘When they arrive, get them into position. Soon it will be time to make our move.’ ”
“Position,” Jake repeated. “Kinda like an invasion or something—like they are putting their people in strategic positions. When the others arrived, one of them dropped the feather.”
“He said not to kill her yet?” Astraea repeated in a haunted voice. “They plan to kill my mother? Why? Who are these people?” She shook her head. “No, it’s not possible. There has to be some other explanation. The woman I saw this morning looked and sounded just like my mom. And she knew me and Zephyr. She was making ambrosia cakes and everything. How could an imposter know us?”
“I don’t understand how it all works,” Tryn said. “All I know is that last night we saw genuine monsters forcing two people who I’m convinced are your parents through the Solar Stream. After that, more came back through, including one with this feather. I don’t know who they are or why they’re here, but they scare me.”
Astraea was more than scared. Her mother hadn’t been herself that morning. The woman in her house had been cold and cruel. And . . .
“What is it?” Tryn asked. “I can see it on your face that you know something. You must tell us.”
“I don’t know what I know,” Astraea said softly. “But—but my mother wasn’t behaving like herself. She said something really strange. She said, ‘I don’t like Zephyr spending so much time around here.’ ”
“Wow, that’s harsh,” Jake said.
“No, you don’t understand. First, my mother loves Zephyr. But more than that, she never speaks like we do. She’s very formal and is always correcting us. She would never say ‘don’t.’ It’s always ‘do not.’ ”
Zep
hyr snorted. “You’re right! She said, ‘I’m sorry’ . . . she didn’t say, ‘I am sorry.’ ”
Astraea nodded. “And she didn’t care about me being out late at night. Plus, she didn’t wait to kiss me good-bye.”
“What?” Zephyr whinnied. “That’s definitely not your mother. She’s always there when you leave and is the kissiest person I know.”
“It sounds like someone is mimicking her but isn’t doing it quite right,” Tryn said.
“Mimicking?” Astraea repeated.
Tryn nodded. “It’s a word my father uses. To mimic means to copy something or someone, or behave the same way.”
“But how could they mimic my mother? It looks just like her.”
“What if the creatures are shape-shifters or something?” Jake suggested. “I’ve seen lots of sci-fi movies and shows. They’re always having stories about shape-shifting monsters.”
“It’s impossible,” Astraea insisted.
“No, it’s not,” Tryn said. “Jupiter can change his shape, and so can a few other Olympians. Maybe those creatures can do the same.”
“If that’s true, why would they take my parents?”
“I don’t know. . . .” Tryn rubbed his chin. “But your parents are very powerful people. Maybe they have been replaced to get close to Hyperion. Or even the Big Three.”
“What?” Zephyr cried. “That’s insane.”
“Is it?” Tryn said. “If someone wanted to invade and take over Titus, it would be next to impossible because our leaders and people are too powerful. But what if they were quietly coming here and secretly replacing important people with their own?”
A cold chill ran down Astraea’s spine. “Could it be possible?”
“I don’t know for certain,” Tryn said. “But it makes sense.”
“We must tell someone,” Zephyr said.
“Who?” Tryn challenged. “Who can we trust? If this is really happening, then anyone could be one of those things.”
