The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural

by Stefany Valentine Ramirez

  Masons eyes danced from Edrick’s to his father’s before he replied, “If it will help keep my dad safe, then yes.” It almost seemed like a game in his young mind. He felt like he was going away to learn how to be a superhero.

  “You’re going to miss your dad.” Edrick continued. “But Haileigh will be there. And so will Ithaca.”

  “Cool!” Mason exclaimed, “Let’s go already. We’ll learn how to be good guys and take down the bad guy!”

  When Rex beamed down at his son, a mix of sorrow flooded his eyes. He knew he was going to miss his son terribly, but at the same time, this was all a part of the plan. It was a plan for their safety, but it was also a plan for their ultimate happiness because once the enemy is vanquished, they could be reunited as a family. Growing up in Tarrillian would teach Mason to be a man Rex could never teach him to be. This was for his son and for all of Edrick’s children.

  “One last thing Mason.” Edrick said reaching for the boy, “I will never let you be alone.” And with that, he placed a hand over Mason’s eyes. The boy was encased in darkness and that was the last thing he remembered. Edrick Stelter had the power to evaporate memories and so he did with Mason, Haileigh, and Ithaca. He let their memories wash away before placing them in various parts of his city. He did it all for their safety and because he every single one of them.

  Chapter 13 Battle for the Crown

  ~“I guess what I’m trying to say is: something’s not right.” Ithaca concluded. “There’s something… big, something crucial. And we’re missing it.”

  August remained still on the corner of his spotless bed sheets. Like the rest of Ithaca’s current hideout, there was nothing save the very basic necessities. Aside from the small pile of dirty clothes in the corner by the closet, nothing shared the empty carpet. A single light bulb illuminated the room just over Ithaca’s head. She might have taken a seat to narrate her worries to August, but aside from the bed, there was no place to sit down.

  Ithaca stood with her hands on her hips and glanced out the half open window at the single red car parked in the driveway. Staring into August’s intense minty eyes was becoming too much for her and the fact that he hadn’t said a word since she began to vent all her concerns was more intimidating than comforting. Larissa would be on her way to their bedroom at any moment and Ithaca really hoped August would acknowledge her worries before her cousin interrupted.

  “Have you talked to Gadianton about it?” He finally asked quietly and Ithaca willed her eyes to fall back on his.

  “I knew you were going to say that.” She replied, “Do you know how insulted he would be if I told him what I just told you? You’ve never been around him when he’s pissed.”

  Again August continued to say nothing as if he were inviting her to vent a little bit more and so she did.

  “Gadianton can’t be wrong. He’s never wrong. Do you honestly think we could have gotten this far- that it could have been this easy to even get this far if Gadianton weren’t leading us?”

  “Then what are you worried about?” August asked.

  Ithaca rolled her eyes up at the blank ceiling and sighed. Larissa’s footsteps were approaching and Ithaca could hear it through the wall behind her. “Gadianton may know everything, but is Edrick Stelter somehow one step ahead?”

  Just then a knock came from the door and Ithaca whirled around to open it.

  “I got your text,” Larissa grumbled gesturing to the phone in her pocket. “What do you want?”

  Ithaca leaned against the doorframe and grinned at her cousin as if there had never been a worry on her mind. “You are so much prettier with a smile.”

  “You made me get up from the couch so you could see me smile?” Larissa snapped and over Ithaca’s shoulder August chuckled.

  “You’re so sassy. Just wait until a man comes into your life. He’ll tame you in ways I can’t.” said Ithaca with her unwavering grin.

  Larissa wanted to reach up and slap the wicked gleam right off her face. But at the same time she was too busy cringing and forcing Ammon from her mind like a bad vomit.

  “We should go boy shopping.” Ithaca smiled.

  For once Larissa could see that Ithaca was aiming for a bonding conversation rather than small talk, but even then Larissa continued to hate her for it. “Stop trying to connect with me. Stop trying to pry information from me. I hated you when we were kids and I still hate you now.”

  Like water on a duck’s feathers, her insult rolled right off Ithaca’s back. If anything Larissa’s remark made her smile a little wider. “But you’re not a little girl anymore! I don’t know anything about you. I don’t even know how you got to Hawaii!”

  “And that’s the way it’s going to stay.” Larissa grumbled. “Now tell me what you want, or I’m going to leave.”

  Ithaca rolled her eyes and growled, “Ugh, I’m trying to be nice but patience is a virtue isn’t it?”

  Larissa said nothing but continued to glance up at her older cousin who was probably only two inches taller. Larissa despised her enough as it were, but small things like having to always look up to her was just annoying. “Tell me what you want.” She implored.

  Ithaca nodded and replied immediately. “We’re leaving for Tarrillian City tomorrow night. I want you to pack your things.”

  “What things do I have?” Larissa asked narrowing her eyes. “When you first found me I was practically living in the mountains.”

  “Ah,” Ithaca acknowledged, “In a lovely evening gown too, might I add. I don’t know what you were before I found you, but I imagine it was something better than a homeless lady in the woods. August and I have bigger fish to fry right now and I respect your privacy enough to allow you to return to whatever home, shack, or toilet you had, and gather your belongings without our interference. We’re leaving for Tarrillian tomorrow.” The instant Ithaca finished speaking, the phone in her back pocket vibrated and she left Larissa, who was narrowing her eyes and holding back an insult, to answer it.

  Ithaca watched as her cousin rolled her eyes and turned on the spot. She waited until Larissa was halfway down the hall before shutting the door once more and acknowledging the person on the other end of the phone.

  “What?” she hissed. She hadn’t even glanced at the caller ID, but she had a pretty solid idea of who would be calling her. And hopefully, with good news.

  “There’s been… a complication.” But it wasn’t the gruff voice she was expecting. Not only that, but the background noise indicated the call was being made from inside a car moving. That wasn’t where the call was supposed to come from. It was supposed to come from a forsaken satellite station in the middle of the Arizona desert.

  With the two mishaps placed in her life simultaneously, Ithaca’s grasp tightened on her phone and she had to consciously force her fingers to loosen. “Fix it Tristan!” She barked as she whirled around to face August but she was too enraged to look up at him. “Or I will do it myself. Where is Trench?”

  “Fixing it.” The BOA leader replied distastefully.

  “What happened?” Ithaca asked finally acknowledging August’s puzzled expression though he could hear the other end of the phone just fine. “Where is Michael and what happened to… oh, what’s his name?”

  “Jacob?” Tristan replied.

  Ithaca felt foolish for not knowing names. But thinking straight wasn’t her best attribute when presented with failure. “What happened?” she asked again.

  “We underestimated him.” Tristan confessed. “Michael took us all by surprise. We were planning on just shooting him but then he vanished. We don’t know where he went.”

  “Why didn’t you just shoot him in the first place?” Ithaca barked heartlessly.

  Tristan cleared his throat from the other end of the line. “He brought Lotus Stelter. I don’t know why he brought her along, but-”

  “For all I care, you could have killed her too.” Ithaca growled. She stopped for a moment to collect her cool and ran her fingers through
her hair quickly. “How do you plan on fixing this?”

  “We know he had to take Lotus back home to Hawaii-”

  “Brilliant.” Interrupted Ithaca, “I’ll find him and I’ll do what you boys couldn’t do. Go back to Tarrillian and wait for further instruction.” And without a pleasant farewell, Ithaca hung up. “Okay change of plan darling.” She said snapping her attention to August who hadn’t moved from the bed. “Bring me a Stelter. I don’t care if you get the baby one or the plan-foiler, but I just feel like killing one today.”

  “I thought you felt like that every day.” August replied.

  Ithaca tilted her head to the side. “It’s like chocolate. It tastes good all the time, but sometimes you just really want it.”

  August shook his head. “It’s disturbing how heartless you are about this. You may hate them Ithaca, but they are human beings. They have lives.”

  “Oh, pish-posh August.” Ithaca snapped waving her hand, “Don’t go all noble on me. I’m getting the job done. This is just another step in claiming back an empire. Now get me a Stelter, if you can get both then bravo.” She clapped her hands sarcastically as she continued to think up a plan. “What’s a remote place in Hawaii? Let’s see here… out of sight, out of mind right?”

  August climbed to his feet slowly. “You said you found Larissa in the mountains?”

  “Oh right!” She exclaimed, “Lotus Stelter has that little filming studio at the base of that mountain. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

  Without a word, August nodded.

  “Let’s bring them there.” She said smiling. “I’ll let everyone know to meet there and after I kill Michael Caster before their eyes, Hotaru can burn the place down taking all the evidence with it. Does that sound like a plan?”

  Once more, August nodded without a word.

  “Great.” She beamed, “I need a gun.”

  “There’s a briefcase in the trunk of the car.” Said August, pointing out the window to the only sedan in sight. “It’s a present from Trench. My guess that it’s something artillery related.”

  “Artillery related?” Ithaca smiled, “From the Brotherhood of Artillery? I never would have guessed. My, my, August I should start calling you Sherlock Holmes.”

  With her simile still brilliant, Ithaca patted her comrade on the back then vanished. Out the window, August could see her lean physique reappear behind the car. With intangible arms, Ithaca reached inside the trunk and pulled out a black briefcase and August stayed to watch.

  While pretending August wasn’t watching her through the window, Ithaca set the case atop the trunk and popped it open. A black handgun and a box of ammunition were all August could see from his angel. After loading the gun, Ithaca put the case back in the trunk before finally acknowledging her snooping friend, and then vanishing.

  August wasn’t sure where she would go to find Michael, but he was pretty sure that if she found him quicker than he was able to bring back a Stelter, she just might use him as target practice.

  ~It wasn’t a long drive to Heleow. August was pulling up to the front of the Stelter Hotel in no time. He parked the red sedan with the gift from Trench still in the trunk completely invisible. Even to the parking valet that rushed to open his car door.

  “Mr. Masaki!” the valet in his white uniform exclaimed when August climbed out before he could be assisted.

  August didn’t know the man personally, but he figured the valet was familiar with his face since he was the current star of most tabloids. He couldn’t decide whether or not he should play the it’s-nice-to-meet-a-fan card or if he should just let his true colors shine. As he glanced at the man standing beside the trunk of his car, August knew in a snap which person to be. After all, why should Ithaca have all the fun? And perhaps his supernatural technique was becoming dormant from lack of use.

  “Do you mind watching my car sir?” August asked glancing around to make sure they were the only ones under the hotel’s canopy. Sure enough the only other people in sight were driving swiftly past the hotel in their tinted vehicles.

  “I’m sorry sir, but this isn’t a parking spot.” The valet replied. “I can park it around back for you.”

  “But I’m just going to be right back. I’m here to pick up a friend.” Said August locking his gaze.

  The valet opened his mouth, but before the uniformed man could say another word, August had locked eyes with him and willed him to sleep. Immediately a glossy haze wiped over the man’s eyes and his body hung as if he were weighted down at the wrists. His shoulders sagged and his knees buckled as if the smallest amount of consciousness in his body was still trying to keep it upright.

  Seeing the state of the valet, August knew there would only be about ten minuets before someone would come by to shake the sleeping man awake. Quickly, August used his keys to pop open his trunk and unlocked the briefcase for the first time. Just as he suspected, a black handgun and ammunition sat inside waiting to be handled. Fearing the security cameras mounted in places he had yet to discover, August worked quickly to load the gun before hiding it under his jacket and shutting the trunk. As August turned back to the grand steps of the hotel, he hoped he would be back with a Stelter before something could wake the sleepwalker.

  Inside, the charcoal colored lobby was quiet and hardly an employee turned their head as he rounded the golden statue and took the white medallion steps by two until he was pressing open an elevator door. Years ago, Michael had told him the access code to the Stelter penthouse and as he waited for the elevator to arrive, August was still impressed that he remembered it. When he stepped inside, cheesy elevator music accompanied him as he shot straight up to the highest floor. The blue dome of glass covering the lobby shrunk until it looked like a kiddy-pool far beneath his feet. Then the door opened behind him and he was looking into one of the most expensive living rooms in America.

  It had been a while since he had been inside the Stelter penthouse, but even before the memories could come back to him, an eager shout from an invisible body came to greet him.

  “Ace?!” It was Lee’s voice.

  August approached the living room just as bare feet padded his way. He had just stepped into the room when Lee rounded the wall with a pair of open arms.

  “Ace!” she exclaimed again ready to embrace August, then stopped.

  August glanced down at the youngest Stelter. Upon first glance, she looked unwell. Bags hung under her glossy green eyes and her fair white completion seemed pink and swollen. A light sheen of moisture clung to her skin as if she had been sweating all day. But even from where she stood, August could feel that she wasn’t feverish. On the contrary, she was colder than usual which would explain the pastel yellow jacket. It wasn’t until she wiped her eyes and sniffled that August noticed she wasn’t sick, she had been crying.

  “I’m so sorry,” she apologized. Even her voice had sounded hoarse. “Um, Lotus… Lotus went surfing. I’m guessing something bad happened between her and Michael because she left pretty quickly. I don’t know when she’ll be back.”

  “Is that so?” August muttered too quietly for Lee to hear.

  “August?” Lee’s timid voice broke through the atmosphere before he hit send. “Have you seen him? Ace I mean. We broke up this morning and I don’t know where he is.”

  August had to fight the smile that came to his face and the only way to fight it was by rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I know where he is. He won’t be up for another several hours though. It makes me wonder if he’s going to miss you.”

  Lee’s hear skipped a beat at the remark of good news and her first smile of the day was about to break loss across her cheeks if it wasn’t for August’s last remark. “What do you mean?” she asked as she watched August reach into his jacket.

  Before he pulled his hand back, Lee already knew what it was. Time seemed to stop and for a split second, the thought of losing Ace had left her mind. It was like that morning in Tarrillian City when the horned man in a trench coat had c
ome to kill her. Except this time she was sure of two things. Bullets would be harder to dodge than spikes and Ace wouldn’t be the one to save her this time.

  “Why are you doing this?” asked Lee slowly backing away from the gun pointed to her chest.

  “I was told to bring you both. But since your sister isn’t here let’s try and make a mess worthy of her rescue.” He said feeling an eager grin creep to his lips. “Run Hailey Grace. You’ve got three seconds.”

  As Lee whirled on the spot and rushed for the first thing she saw; stairs. She knew everything would be in vein. From that point on every breath she took, every ounce of hope she conjured, and every attempt she would make to fight back would be worthless. She couldn’t out run him; she knew that the instant her foot hit the metal step of the stairs.

  “Two,” called August. As he watched her sprint up the stairs, a small part of him enjoyed looking at the sense of hopelessness in her eyes and the confusion behind her face. She didn’t know what she was doing and it was entertaining to be him. Having the gun made him feel like the puppet master and Lee was the pitiful doll attached to the strings, doomed to do only what he wanted.

  “Three!” August shouted firing the first bullet and intentionally missing her. The gun had let out such an earsplitting bang that a startled scream was ripped from Lee’s throat. August watched as she tripped over the step and landed hard on her ribs as her elbow collided with the metal to cushion her fall. Debris from the bullet hitting the cement ceiling came raining down on her back as she scrambled up the last three steps before ducking behind the second floor banister. For the first time she was out of sight from her enemy.

  As Lee rested her back against the wall of the banister, she knew that in the blink of an eye, August could be up the steps with the gun pointed to her brain. She willed her heart to stop racing and forced herself to take shallow breaths as if she could hide from a man that could hear the blood rushing through her veins from where he stood. As Lee listened to August’s slowly approaching footsteps below, she let her fingers rub against the center of her rib cage. A tender line stretched across her torso just below her breasts and she knew a perfect purple line would be there to greet her in the morning. If she lived.