Finding a Princess (Seven Sisters Book 1)

by Amy Richie

  Finding A Princess

  By Amy Richie

  Seven Sisters Book One

  Copyright © 2016 Amy Richie

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Published in the United States of America

  amyrichie.weebly.com

  Cover By Broken Arrow Designs

  For Mackenzie, May you always be able to find your inner princess.

  Copyright 2016 Amy Richie

  Finding a Princess

  Seven Sisters Book One

  Chapter One

  Some people are born for great things. Each step they take leads them on that path and makes the next step clear. Their destiny puts a stiffness in their stride and pushes their shoulders back. For them, greatness is merely the next step in their destiny.

  And then there's some people- who just aren't. Greatness found me one day on a dark highway; when I was lost and afraid. Then it decided to follow me home.”

  The road stretched ahead black and unending, no hope glistening in the puddles that had gathered along the sides. The windshield wipers had stilled long ago, but no stars broke through the black sky. Not a single bright spot.

  I sighed softly, craning my neck to watch the blackness roll by the window. “What are you looking for?” Cody asked nervously. Already, his fingernails were chewed off until the skin underneath was raw and broke open in places.

  “Looking for the stars,” I replied wistfully but with a firm shake of my tight black curls. “I'm not looking at anything, just seeing if the rains going to stop. I hate the rain.”

  “The rain stopped a while ago,” he snapped impatiently. I knew we were all tense; a raised eyebrow was all the response he got.

  “I still think this is a bad idea,” Lana whined from the backseat.

  “So we gathered,” her boyfriend, and the only one who wanted to include her, muttered.

  “I just think we should go back.” I didn't bother turning around this time but I could almost see her blue eyes widening to take up half her baby doll face. My eyes made the familiar roll upwards.

  “You know we can't Lana,” Shane continued to be her sole listener in a car of short tempers.

  “But Shane...”

  I closed my eyes tight, trying to tune her out. It was like nails on a chalk board though. I had already suggested we throw her on the side of the road miles back, but I was outvoted. I pressed my lips tight together, making my jaw ache but at least I wasn't making everyone miserable with my voice – like Lana.

  “I can't believe this is happening,” she hiccuped.

  What was there not to believe? We had just robbed seventeen gas stations – at gunpoint. The paper bags in the trunk were proof enough. There was no turning back. What could we say? “Oh sorry, my bad.”

  Maybe, I mentally shrugged, but why chance it?

  “Kalli, you could explain things – right?” The sound of my name brought me back to the car – still making its way out of the city.

  “We're not turning around,” I mumbled.

  She sat back in a huff, defeated for the moment. The five of us had grown up together, first meeting when we all landed in the same crappy foster home. The three amigos – Cody, Shane, and Luke; and their two damsels in distress. We had long since given up the game, but the friendship lasted through the years.

  We all stuck together when it turned out that no one else wanted us. We always swore that one day we'd get the money to leave the city and see what the rest of the world had to offer. Armed robbery wasn't one of our better ideas.

  “We'll have to stop soon,” Luke announced in his slow voice, “we're almost on E.”

  I sucked in a quick breath, making a hissing sound. “Already?”

  “Already,” he confirmed, taking his foot off the accelerator to make the next exit. We hadn't gone far enough yet, but I guess there wasn't much choice.

  The exit took us to a small town where only one gas station still had lights on. Luke pulled into our only option and quickly killed the engine. “You paying?” he turned questioning eyes to me.

  “Yeah,” I nodded quickly. My tongue was fast swelling up to fill my entire mouth, but we had agreed; if we needed to stop – only me and Luke would get out of the car. Luke was the only one capable of not panicking; and I was the best chance of us getting away without handcuffs.

  I stepped out of the car fist, knowing my part and determined to pull this off without a hitch. Luke was right behind me; without looking at him I walked around to the back of the car. A soft click sent the trunk swinging upwards.

  Dozens of paper bags stared up at me, accusing. “Don't act like a baby,” I muttered. “Just go.”

  I could talk anyone into anything, even myself. I pulled open the nearest bag and took out several twenties, slipping them nervously into my front pocket. The jeans may have been frayed at the top, but they were the best ones I had. The trunk slammed shut with the noise of a cannon.

  Jaw set, I made my way inside the gas station. An old man sat behind the counter, trying not to make it obvious that he was watching me. The coolers were located in the back of the tiny store, causing a momentary hesitation.

  It would probably be better to just pay for the gas and get back out on the road, but we had already agreed. A bunch of teens out this late would buy drinks and probably chips too. I barely managed to get the bottles of pop onto the counter without tripping over myself though – forget the chips.

  “Thirty on pump three,” I stuttered. Pump three had been an overkill – we were the only ones out there. The old man didn't look like he had much left in his own tank so I wasn't too worried.

  My biggest worry was that he would think we were drunk and decide to call his best friend- the only cop in America with nothing to do on the night shift. “You kids are out late,” he commented in a slow draw.

  “Yep,” I muttered, unwilling to make eye contact.

  He grunted his disapproval but proceeded to run the bar codes on the pop across the register. It took all I had to not bounce on my toes and tell him just to keep the change. Could he possibly go any slower?

  It was unfortunate for me that the television behind him decided that right then was the perfect time to flash a breaking story across it's screen. It was also unfortunate for me that the man was smarter than I first gave him credit for. He turned to watch the pictures scrolling across the screen, his eyes widening with recognition.

  “Hey, isn't that...” he turned back to me, then back to the screen. “That's you.”

  “Who is?” My hand tightened on the bottle in my hand.

  “The TV,” his eyes found mine.

  “The TV isn't even on,” I said firmly, not breaking eye contact.

  His mouth instantly went slack; he was easier than most. “I'm sorry, my mistake,” his voice went flat along with his eyes. “Thirty on three?”

  “Yeah.” I pressed the bills in his hand and waited while he rang me up.

  “You have a nice night,” he called after me. I didn't bother turning around, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference now anyways.

  Chapter Two

  “We good?” Luke asked quietly, already pumping the gas.

  “Yep.” I dove into the front seat without looking at anyone. Shane leaned across the seat to take the bag of drinks from my lap.

  No one asked what happened. They didn't need to, it was written plain enough on my face. I hated doing that to people. It had started out as an act of desperation. I was in fifth grade and Ellen Ray had told
on me for cheating on a math test. I knew that another strike against me and I would be transferred – again – so I did the only thing I could think of. I lied.

  “It wasn't me, Mr. Tave, I would never cheat.” Mr. Tave always required eye contact so I saw the moment his eyes glazed over.

  “Of course you wouldn't dear,” he said flatly, “you've clearly been paying more attention in class. Mrs. Frist will be pleased.”

  The three amigos and their damsels got away with a lot in that school. Impossible things. But just like that first A I clutched in my white fist, it didn't feel right – it was all fake.

  I swore I would never use it again after I bailed Cody out of some trouble that he never should have been involved in. Then I swore it again after we got the car we really needed; as long as I didn't think of how they got it. Over and over again, it became my burden.

  I was the evil villain in my own story. Oh well, I sighed as I let my head lean back against the seat, we couldn't all be princess's.

  “Stay on this road?” Luke asked softly.

  Cody's loud response brought me back to the reality of the car. We were moving again. “Let's turn off at the first exit, in case that guy recognized us,” he called up at us.

  “No,” I jerked my head in small movements. “He doesn't even remember we were there. We stick to the plan. Turn on the 101.”

  The car lurched forward onto the highway, gaining speed quickly as we slinked away through the night. We were the bad guys now, we'd always danced just on the line but now it was official.

  My eyes turned on their own accord to the sky. I had always been amazed at the vastness of the sky, especially at night. Only under the cover of darkness could you really appreciate how big the universe was. It was a comfort to know that I was so small, that I didn't affect everyone the way I was afraid I did.

  There were no stars visible tonight – not one. This was probably why my parents hadn't wanted me. As a general rule, I didn't give in to sessions of self pity. Everyone in the world had a story, there was something wrong with all of us.

  “You alright?” Luke's soft tones called out to me.

  “Yeah,” I sat up straighter in my seat, “just a little tired.”

  It wasn't a lie either, I hadn't been sleeping well for days. Guilt had weighed me down, guilt and fear. We didn't really know how strong my abilities were, or even what they were all the way. Could I make people do what I wanted or only believe what I told them?

  I thought I would feel relief when it was all over and we were free to do what we wanted. The relief didn't come though, there was just more guilt and even something stronger than that filling up the empty places I had created inside of myself.

  “Do you ever think,” he hesitated, unsure of himself, “do you ever think about your destiny?”

  “My destiny?” One eyebrow arched high. Since when did Luke think about destinies? As far as I knew, he didn't think much further than his next meal. “You think it's my destiny to be a criminal?”

  “No,” I saw the heat flushing up his neck and spilling over into his undefined cheeks, “that's my point.”

  I regarded him through narrow eyes. “You didn't say enough to make a point.” Just what was he trying to say?

  “I just mean,” he raised his hand and let it fall forcefully back onto the steering wheel, “I don't think this is what you were made for.”

  “Made for?” I scoffed. “None of us were; which is why we're running from the cops now.”

  “You're not like the rest of us,” he insisted.

  “Cuz I'm a better liar?” I tried to shrug.

  He shook his head though. “We all know it's more than that.”

  Realizing my mouth was hanging open, I snapped it shut. Luke never had much to say; a follower with every slow step. I never could understand the bond he shared with the other two. He was in trouble a lot, but only because the other two dragged him along. He always seemed content with that role. Who knew there was more behind those serious eyes?

  “I don't believe in fate,” I finally said on a deep sigh. “We create our own path, there isn't already one laid out for us.” That would just be too easy.

  “I still say you were meant for more than this.” His lips turned upwards slightly, further amazing me.

  “Kalli,” Lana yelled from behind me. She had a way of ruining any warmth I almost felt.

  “What?” I snapped.

  “Did you get chips?” She waved the empty bag behind my head.

  “No.”

  “You were supposed to. I'm starving. When are we stopping to eat?”

  We should have thought to bring some tranquilizer. I could have swiped some from my foster mom. She took so many, she would have never noticed if a few were missing. Knocking her out had to be better than listening to her and using a pill just seemed nicer.

  “We're not stopping again until we have to.”

  “When will that be? When one of us has to pee?”

  “When we need gas.” If I rolled my eyes anymore, they'd likely keep rolling around in their sockets like a slot machine.

  “That could be forever,” she complained.

  “Why don't you try sleeping,” Luke suggested, half turning in his seat, “it's the middle of the night.”

  “I know, but...”

  “Watch out!”

  I saw the man standing in the middle of the road just before the front of our car knocked him down. We all heard the thumps his body made as our back tires ran over him. Just before chaos broke out, everything went completely quiet, eerily quiet.

  Chapter Three

  I felt my heart thundering in my chest, struggling to break free of my ribs and come tearing through my clothes. My eyes had seen what happened but my brain didn't want to believe it. We just killed someone.

  “What was that?” Lana shrieked. “Did we just kill someone?”

  Get out or stay in the car? Get out or stay in the car? Get out and see if he was ok or just drive because we already knew he wasn't?

  “He just came out of nowhere!” Luke cried. “Where did he come from? Why was he in the middle of the street?”

  Get out or stay in the car?

  “Just keep going man,” Cody almost screamed.

  The car was already pulled to the shoulder but how easy would it be to just pull back out onto the empty highway? Just tell him to go, a voice inside my head hissed. Just go, it wasn't your fault. The man was standing in the middle of the highway. What did he expect would happen?

  It was probably a suicide. What little color there was left in my face drained away at the thought. If the man had used us to kill himself, we would land a front row seat in prison.

  “I don't want to go to jail,” I croaked. It was where we were all headed anyways but maybe not tonight.

  “Jail?” Lana wailed all over again.

  “No one is going to jail,” Shane's voice thundered in the suddenly tiny space. “That dude jumped out in front of our car.”

  “It wasn't our fault.”

  “Let's go before the cops show up.”

  There was a chorus of voices around my head but the car didn't move. Get out? Drive away? I closed my eyes, immediately seeing the flash of fear in the man's eyes. We had to at least make sure he was really dead. Maybe he was just hurt and needed an ambulance.

  I only knew one thing, it wasn't suicide. Resigned, I pulled the handle up to release my car door and stepped out into a light drizzle. So, the rain was going to start back up too? Fantastic.

  “What are you doing?” Cody hissed. More to just try and shove me back in the car than actually agreeing with my madness, he stepped out beside me. “Get back in the car,” he ordered, still half whispering. “Kalli!”

  “We have to at least see if he's ok,” I hissed back.

  “This is not happening,” Lana whispered, crowding out behind us, “this kind of stuff only happens in movies.”

  “Shh,” Luke rounded the car in quick strides.

 
; “This is a bad idea,” Shane warned but got out with the rest of us.

  “Yeah, well, we're not short on those,” I muttered.

  We stood close together, peering through the dark night all around us. It was hard to see much of anything that was off the road. The lights from the car lit up the black tar, showing no signs of the man we had hit.

  I expected blood at the very least – body parts in the worst scenario that played out in my over stressed mind. Cody was the first brave one to step away from the group. He walked around to the back of the car and ran his hand along the bumper.

  “Not a dent,” he announced.

  “He didn't hit there,” I scowled. Of course there wouldn't be a dent in the back bumper. Blood maybe, but no dent.

  If Cody felt any blood during his inspection, he didn't react in a way normal people would. My feet carried me the short distance to meet Cody at the front.

  There was no body, so that was a plus, no body parts either. I let my eyes travel across the bumper slowly, not eager to see the gore that must have been there. Each centimeter that they moved brought me closer to the dreaded sight.

  I heard Cody's sharp intake of breath before I actually saw anything. There it was, the proof that we hadn't just imagined the man – a dent in the front fender.

  Seeing the physical proof unlocked my feet and I was able to rush over to Cody. He was bent low to examine the car on a more personal level. I had seen enough though. Where was the body?

  I dropped to all fours and scanned the small, dark space under the car. “Is he under there?” Cody asked entirely to loud.

  “No,” I answered with a snarl. “Stop screaming.”

  “I'm not.” he dropped down beside me to make sure I didn't miss the bulk of a dead man under the car. “He's not here,” his shoulders slumped.

  I tried not to glare at Cody, reasoning with myself that it had been a long day. Quite possibly the longest day in all the universe. “I know,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “Where is he?” His tongue darted out to quickly moisten his lips.