by Lindsay Nall
“The girl, the special one.” The Muse leaned against the wall of the office and picked at some invisible lint on her jacket bored with the conversation.
Without giving a name he knew who she was talking about. Trying to shrug it off he looked down at his desk to straighten the files strewn all over it. He needed to hire an assistant.
“There are plenty of special women in the district.”
“I don’t have time for games, you know what girl we speak of and you know we will get what we want.” Her tone never changed but Bartholomew knew he was treading on thin ice with this conversation. He could feel the pulling at the edge of his mind as she tried to pull information from his memories, he shut her out as quickly as he could glad now more than ever that Vander, one of the Shadows, had taught him how to do it.
“Don’t be ridiculous, she was tested.”
“And she was found to be a carrier, twice over if I remember correctly.” The Muse pushed off of the wall leveling a gaze at Bartholomew that let him know she knew what was going on in his head, that was one of the many reasons he hated Muse’s, they could read people too easily.
“It’s uncontrollable, she can’t be in the field.” He lied. She could go into the field and she would more than likely be an amazing Shadow, a first-class warrior with the training she had received but still…he didn’t want her to be involved in any of it. He wanted her here, safe, untouched by the horrors that waited outside the walls of this building.
“I’m afraid that’s not your decision anymore.” His head snapped up, eyes wide as he stared at the woman in front of him. It wasn’t his decision? The hell it wasn’t! Unless…
“You don’t mean…?” She slammed a file on the desk she had pulled from the satchel on her shoulder making him jump.
“You’ll find all of the paperwork in order, they expect her to be delivered no later than next week.” She turned and started out of his office.
“Delivered!? She’s not some damned piece of furniture that can be shipped around! She’s a human being!” The Muse stopped in the doorway her blue eyes seeing through more of him than he was comfortable with.
“You and I both know that’s a lie. The Five have been generous about you protecting your little plaything but it’s time to grow up Barty.” He growled at the nickname, she had pulled it from his memories, memories of the only person allowed to call him that.
“She doesn’t remember any of that! She doesn’t know about the Shadows!” She shook her head with a frown.
“I would have hoped you’d know better than to lie to me, she is related to one after all.” She had him there but at the same time was surprised she didn’t bring up the engagement, maybe they hadn’t known about that. Still, he searched his mind for some way to get her to change The Five’s minds.
“She doesn’t know how to control them, she could get herself or someone else killed!” It was a last-ditch effort to try and get the Muse to think of the safety of the other Shadows but it was null and void.
“She trained with a Shadow, she has used her fractures.” She opened the door but turned her face to look over her shoulder at him. “One week Barty.” She left then, the soft clicking of the door latching shut a finalizing note to her orders. He sat there for a long time in the silence of the office knowing he had no choice in the matter of her life anymore. Knowing sending her to headquarters with no idea of who she was could be dangerous to not only her but the team she was assigned to he pulled the file the Muse had left closer. As he sifted through page after page of documentation The Five had sent down he sighed. There was nothing he could do anymore to protect her. She was proficient in finding the answers she wanted when she wanted to, that was the main reason she wasn’t speaking to him anymore, but he still worried. How long would it be before she found out the truth about herself? Who would be the one to tell her? More importantly, who would she blame for keeping it all from her?
“Marisol come to my office!” Bart’s voice reached her ears waking her from a short nap. Cracking one eye open she looked up at a small Wigget hovering in front of her face, this one formed like a bee but larger than the average insect it was fashioned after. It was Bart’s and she would be damned if she was going to listen to anything he had to say right now. With a shake of her head she closed her eye and settled back on top of the marble statue she had been napping on top of, it was probably sacrilegious to nap on a sentient being but she liked it up here because no one ever found her. At least not until today they hadn’t. “What do you mean no!? Get up here now!”
She kept her face placid, her breathing even but the memory of that night a month ago played in her head. According to Jeremiah, she got a certain look when she replayed memories in her head so she focused on keeping her face still as she thought about the past.
“Why?”
“Because I said so!” She laughed.
“Not good enough.”
“What do you mean not good enough? That’s an order! You’re a researcher and I’m the head of this district, you do as I say.” And cue the male dominance act. If it were anyone else talking to her like that she would have gone down there just to punch him but she knew Bart, he was all show. A rough sigh came from the Wigget. “I have an assignment for you.”
“So send me the file, I’m a researcher I’m sure I can figure out what you want me to look into.”
“It’s not an assignment for a researcher Marisol.” That got her attention making her open both eyes and stare down her nose at the Wigget hovering above her. “I’d rather go over it with you in person, it’s sensitive information and I believe…”
“Shadows.” The Wigget landed on her chest its wings twitching as its electronic bug eyes stared at her. “Just send it to my room, unless you don’t trust me, Bart.” The Wigget took flight again hovering in front of her face.
“I never said that!” She just stared at it. “Mari… how long are you going to avoid me for?”
“I’m not avoiding you.” That was a lie, she was avoiding him but after what she had found out and the blow-up that had followed how could she face him?
“You know I can tell when you’re lying right?” She grabbed the Wigget out of midflight as she sat up glaring at it.
“Just send the file down.” Turning it off she tucked the Wigget in her pocket and drummed on the head of the marble statue she sat on. An assignment, she would have to leave and go to headquarters if it was involving the Shadows. Both nervous and anxious she made her way to her room and found a thick file waiting for her on her bed with a handwritten note on top of it. If you have any questions, please come see me. It was from Bart. Crumpling it up she threw it in the trash and went outside to the courtyard to review the information.
The sun was warm on her skin but the wind held a chill to it that told her a storm was moving in quickly. Nestling into her favorite spot hidden behind a large oak tree surrounded by multiple roses and lily flowers Mari pulled the file into her lap, the first page was a transfer request sent from Bart to the head of operations at the Silhouette headquarters Karter. “Although Marisol Kilo has never seen battle I would like for her to transfer to headquarters and be trained under your elite squad. She has studied combat under Marinique Rayne and Leaf Tadum; their training has stuck with her but she needs more than what she learned years ago…” Mari trailed off when the letter started naming those on the headquarters elite list Bart wanted her to work with. She had taken note earlier that information on the four was already in the file. Pulling out the four stacks of bound information she went through them one by one.
“Vander Grace, the ninth.” She looked over the picture attached to Vander’s file, he was a handsome man, twenty-four now, brought into the Silhouette at a young age and mentored by Marinique. She had never met him but she had heard many stories about him, mostly of how much of his abilities he couldn’t tap into.
“Nyght Alexander, the first.” A little bubble of laughter escaped her over the fact that the first, the
one who carried the symbol of the sun, was named Nyght. He was handsome also, twenty-seven, a member of the Deus clan. His clan leader and only other Deus clan member left alive lived at headquarters with him, also a carrier of Paranus.
“Reagan Nolan, the third.” The last survivor of a long line of royalty, he had been a recluse before the Silhouette had discovered him living in a broken down abandoned summer home of the Nolan family.
“Ella Leeland, the eighth.” Raised in the Silhouette just like Mari was, they had been friends a long time ago when they were younger but it had been years since they had seen each other. She collected the papers and put them back into the folder to go over on her train ride to headquarters. The elite members would probably receive a similar file on her, at least they should; knowing Karter though it probably wouldn’t happen, he was more unorganized than Bart was. In two days she would be leaving here and be on her way to be trained as a Shadow, something that should have happened a long time ago, but even knowing that she was frightened. Would she be able to live up to the expectations set forth by the Silhouette? Would she survive battling demons? What if she failed? What if she got someone killed because she couldn’t remember her training? There were too many questions rolling around in her head for her liking, and too much fear for that matter. She knew better but still a moment later she found herself retching in the flowering bushes she loved so much.
Two
Headquarters wasn’t as nice as Mari remembered it, the layout was similar to the east district but so much was missing here compared to her home. There was no garden or koi pond on the main floor just black marble polished to a high shine. The same sentient beings carved of marble hung from the support beams of the multiple floors. It was cold here, almost lifeless in its hard lines and sparkling shine, it made her miss home. She could see straight up to the roof from the main floor as she counted the different levels she could see, anyone who decided to look over the banister of any level would have seen her just standing in the middle of the floor staring up with her mouth open. She shook her head and moved to the side immediately, the last thing she needed was to create the illusion that she was some kind of special case. Glancing back around the main floor she realized there was not a single living thing on this level aside from her, not even a potted plant just marble, walls, and multiple doors. At a strange sound, she looked up to the sentient beings around her trying to place the noise.
“Marisol!” She turned from where she was staring at the cracks in one of the marble statues to the voice that had called out to her. Karter waved and smiled as careless as always. Upon first seeing him one wouldn’t think he was in his mid-thirties, especially with the way he wore his hair in a boyish ponytail and those crystal blue eyes that always sparkled. Despite his looks, he was a good leader for headquarters though he did show a little bit of favoritism towards Ella, she was after all his little sister. Their parents had been the leaders of headquarters for a long time but when Karter was fourteen a demon broke into the building. They didn’t have the security as they do now and both his and Ella’s parents died protecting their children. It became a hot debate among the Silhouette on whether or not to let Karter take over headquarters at such a young age but he proved to everyone quickly that he deserved it when he came up with the security system all the districts still used today.
“Karter.” She nodded her head at him and went back to staring at the statue.
“You’ve grown but it’s been how long?”
“About five years.” She had stopped visiting on a normal basis when she turned ten, but Karter made sure to reach out to her every couple of months to see how she was doing. He was the only person other than Bart to remember her birthday every year and the person she had run to five years ago when her world fell apart.
“Ah, yes.” He remembered that day she had shown up soaking wet from her trip to headquarters. It had taken him a long time to convince Bart not to leave the East District and come get her and even longer to convince her to go back home. “Well, we have a meeting to get to don’t we?” Karter turned to start towards the stairs but Mari didn’t move. She could have sworn the shoulder of that statue was moving. “Marisol? What are you staring at?”
“That statue looks like it’s about to fall apart…” She pointed to the crack she could see that was spreading.
“Don’t worry about it, maintenance will take care of it.” He put his arm around her shoulders turning her and leading her towards the stairs.
“Seriously Karter, you need to get that looked at and fixed before it kills someone.” He shrugged it off, as he tried to do with most of his responsibilities, and continued to lead her up the stairs telling her what was located on each floor. As they reached the third floor there was a loud crash from the main floor. Looking over the banister the two saw that the shoulder of the statue had indeed been moving, and had fallen to create a large mess of shattered stone on the floor. “Told you.”
“And I told you maintenance will take care of it. Now if you’ll follow me this way…” He continued trying to name off the rooms that were on the floors but after the fifth floor she stopped paying attention to him hoping someone would be nice enough to just give her a map.
“Nyght and Vander should be joining us shortly, ah here we are. Welcome to my office.” He swung open the door with a lavish arm wave and ushered her in. Mari blinked a few times not sure if she was supposed to be impressed or frightened. The office wasn’t huge but it was large enough to accommodate a large oak desk, two red couches that had seen better days, two mismatched chairs that Mari was afraid to go near and a coffee table with multiple books and papers jammed under the legs in an attempt to make it level. Five years ago, when she had spent time at Headquarters, she had needed something to busy herself with and had organized Karter’s entire office. It had sparkled with everything filed, not a bit of paper out of place but now… she wasn’t sure if this was just Karter’s laziness or a natural disaster had occurred in the room.
“It’s…. nice.”
“Come in and make yourself comfortable.” He tried to push her down to sit in one of the chairs but she sidestepped him acting like she was looking around the room, which she was, examining the catastrophe. Carefully she set her bag down on the coffee table, immediately an uneven stack of papers under the leg nearest to her shifted and everything on it slid to one end of the table. “That happens all the time don’t worry about it.” Karter waved a hand not stopping from his search through the stacks upon stacks of papers on his desk.
“What uh…” She jumped when a spring ripped through the couch next to her. “What are you looking for?”
“Your paperwork silly…I know I had it earlier…” She made her way towards his desk careful not to step on the papers that had fallen off the table.
“Let me help you.”
“Nonsense! Have a seat you must be tired, I’ll find it.” She was tired but the fear of a spring popping up in an unpleasant place kept her on her feet.
“Karter, you in here?” Two men stepped in from the hallway looking from the mess in the middle of the room to the papers flying from Karter’s desk as he searched for Mari’s paperwork and finally to her. Nyght froze in the doorway looking her over from head to foot as she gazed back at him. He was attractive, taller than her with shoulder-length black hair held back from his forehead with a red bandana and liquid silver eyes. Those eyes captivated her drawing her in yet making her feel like he could see down to the very core of her soul. She had to look away before she felt too exposed; looking to Vander she noticed he was a little shorter than her but had maintained the boyish charm he’d had as a child. Mari remembered seeing a picture of him as a young child that her uncle still carried. His blonde hair was still shaggy and untamable curling up around his ears, his blue eyes warm yet sparkling mischievously.
“Ah, there you are! This is Marisol Kilo, our new transfer.” Karter introduced Mari from where he was now on his hands and knees under his desk lookin
g through more stacks of papers.
“Nyght, Vander.” She nodded to both men in acknowledgment. The two looked to each other then back to her with matching quizzical gazes. “I read your files, didn’t you get mine?” All three turned to look at Karter. “You haven’t changed have you?” She asked cocking an eyebrow.
“I figured you all could learn what you needed from each other.” Karter’s voice was muffled and she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know what was in his mouth but if he handed her anything with spit on it she was going to smack him.
“He’s still an idiot huh?”
“Marisol!” Karter gasped outraged before they heard a thump from under his desk. He peered over the edge of it at her a moment later rubbing the back of his head. “I’m hurt.” She rolled her eyes at him, a habit she was realizing she needed to break, badly. The brown satchel she had sat down on the coffee table began to twitch making another stack of paper under its legs give way causing the bag to go rolling to the floor. The flap came open in the fall making Marclay roll across the floor. Mari went over to collect the bag but as soon as she stood up Marclay was in the air hovering in front of her face hissing loudly.
“Sorry, sorry!” Mari held up her hands in surrender and the noise stopped. Marclay settled into Mari’s hair glancing from Karter to the two other men then flying off and hovering in front of Vander.
“What is it?” Vander asked. Marclay nudged his side pocket a few times and hovered back up in front of his face. Reaching in his pocket he pulled out his own Wigget, another bat type that was curled up with its wings wrapped around it. Slowly it opened its wings and looked up, at seeing Marclay it took off, the two twirling and diving through the air.
“Storm!” Mari whispered in surprise. “I didn’t know he was with you.” She said looking to Vander. She hadn’t seen Storm in a few years, he was what Marclay was fashioned after and had originally belonged to Marinique Rayne. She wondered now if he had made good on his threats to try and find a Wigget that ‘didn’t give him sass’ as he had put it.
