by Raven Snow
As she walked out onto the landing, the same deep, guttural scream echoed from downstairs. Holly shook her head violently and a worried look crossed her face.
“Paulie...” she called weakly as she sprinted off towards the stairs.
Holly hurriedly stumbled down the stairs, tumbling to her knees on the floor as she missed the last step entirely. She staggered into the kitchen, where she could now hear the loud sounds of an angry conversation and the sounds of pots clattering against the walls.
“Paulie, I—”
Holly swung open the white kitchen door to see two large men flying through the air. One of them crashed on top of the stove while the other fell into a crumpled heap in the sink.
Paulina Winterheart, was standing in the middle of the kitchen. A haze of white mist was swirling around her, deflecting every attack her assailants threw at her.
There were no fewer than six people in the room with her—the two guys she had just knocked out, three young women, and a wizened old man.
“You dare attack me here!” her aunt screamed as the mist around her grew thicker. Tendrils of smoke swirled outwards from her, sending two of the women flying helplessly through the front kitchen windows. Holly had never seen her aunt this angry, and she stood frozen in both awe and fear.
“Paulie,” Holly muttered as she gaped at her aunt.
“Why, hello, dear,” a voice cackled from behind Holly as something hard hit her on the back of her head.
She opened her eyes a few minutes later to find herself bound and staring at the owner of the evil, cackling voice. It belonged to the hunched, wrinkled old woman that was grinning widely at her.
Holly looked past the short, old woman and locked eyes with her aunt.
The two burly men that she had knocked out were now standing above her as she knelt between them, each one of them holding one of her arms as if they intended to rip her in two if she misbehaved.
Holly could see tears streaming down her aunt’s face, and she could feel the wetness of a teardrop falling into her own lap, as well.
“Now,” the old woman cackled. “You have a choice to make, rogue oracle.” She glared hungrily at Paulina as she spoke. “Surrender! Your life for hers.”
Holly felt as if her heart was ripped from her chest as her aunt nodded in approval at the old woman’s wishes.
Then there was another hard hit at the back of her head, and everything went dark again.
~~~
“Dunc! We have to go now!” Gwen’s quivering, thirteen-year-old voice shouted over the torrential rain.
“No! I can save him!” Duncan bellowed as his father’s body disappeared into the back seat of the waiting SUV.
A flash of lightning illuminated Duncan’s face as he screamed into the night. The left half of his face was entirely caked with mud and blood, and the large gash in his shirt showed that his chest was bleeding profusely.
“He said we should run!” Gwen had now planted her feet firmly in the mud, trying to stop her older brother from running off without her. “Dad said that we should protect each other. I have to protect you!”
Duncan looked down into the face of his little sister. Her hair was caked with mud, and he couldn't tell where the raindrops began and her tears started. Then both of the Haven siblings collapsed onto the muddy pavement as another flash of lightning lit up the sky and the black SUV disappeared into the night.
CHAPTER 15 - They Took Her The first thing that brought Holly back to consciousness was Duncan— not seeing him or hearing his voice, but his aroma.
Where her magical energy gave off the smell of cinnamon (sometimes burnt, she conceded) his energy was more earthy and natural: oak trees and freshly mown grass, with a hint of ink and paper.
She opened her other senses to the world and the rush of time assaulted her brain.
Now she could hear the roar of cars on the nearby highway and the sound of crickets chirping. Now she could see the overgrown garden and his grey eyes.
Eyes that were hovering dangerously close to hers.
Now she could feel the cold autumn wind on the back her neck above the jacket that she wore. Now she could feel his lips, pressed firmly against hers.
Holly didn’t know which one of them had kissed the other first. All she knew was that, just now, their minds had forever become one. For the first time in three years, she was truly happy.
Duncan pulled on the bottom of her lips as he pressed her closer into his chest. In response, Holly tugged at his shirt, ripping off most of his buttons with her strength as she ran her hands over his naked chest.
Holly wanted to stay here with him—if not forever, then at least for tonight.
But her quota of luck had run out for tonight.
An explosion shattered the usual cacophony of midnight urban noise.
Then, as if answering some horrific call of terror, the agonizing scream of a young woman followed.
It was Megan’s scream.
Holly ripped herself away from Duncan. She was already sprinting in the direction of the scream before he even had a chance to react.
Holly had just relived the worst night of her life. Then she had seen how Duncan had experienced the exact same thing. She wasn’t going to allow anyone else to be taken from their lives, especially not Megan.
Holly kicked open the door to the apartment and was stopped dead in her tracks by what she saw.
Megan stood before her, bleeding from a large cut above her right eye, her face covered in soot. But it was the scene behind Megan that had Holly frozen. The entire apartment building had been roughly carved away by an explosion. The building simply ceased to exist a few inches from Megan’s back.
“Holly,” Megan sobbed as she stumbled forward. “They took her.”
CHAPTER 16 - You’re Embarrassing Me, Meggy
Megan Summers closed the door to her locker and turned around to face the wave of teenagers that were making their way to class. She heaved a huge sigh and hoisted her textbooks under her arm.
“Kill me now,” she groaned to the bright fluorescent lights that lined the hallway of Timber Creek High School.
“Oh, stop being so dramatic, Meggy.” A familiar voice laughed from behind her. “Talking to yourself is never a good sign.”
Megan dropped her textbooks and wheeled herself around to look at the person behind her.
“Holly,” she whispered, staring into the face of Holly Willow, her best friend. Megan crossed the distance between them with a few hasty strides and then threw her arms around Holly.
“You’re embarrassing me, Meggy,” Holly groaned. A few younger kids giggled as they passed by.
“I missed you,” Megan said.
“C’mon, let's get out of here before the Walker sisters start teasing you and calling you Lezzy Meggy again.” Holly smiled as she picked up Megan’s books and walked past her.
A few minutes later they were both walking out into the almost deserted school parking lot. The faint sounds of hundreds of kids talking all at once in the building behind them were slowly drowned out by the dozens of cars speeding by on the nearby roads. Holly plopped herself down on a low stone wall and gestured for Megan to do the same.
“Sorry that I’ve been missing for a while.” Holly finally spoke after a few long seconds of silence among the motionless cars. “I’ve just been trying to find someone who can help.”
Holly frowned as if she thought better about what she real y wanted to say next. After a moment or two, her face relaxed again and she continued.
“I told the cops about what happened,” Holly said, her voice bereft of emotion. “I left out the part about the attackers having magical powers.
They just think that some punks broke into our house.”
“Holly, your aunt...I’m sorry...”
Holly looked up at the cloudless sky before speaking again. “They acted all concerned, asking what they could do to help. Then they were gone. No more police officers. Megan, I have something I
need to do.
Something important. You’ve been my best friend ever since I can remember.”
“Don’t say one more word,” Megan said defiantly as the hint of a tear slid down her cheek. “I’m coming with you!”
“What? How did you...”
“Holly, you have that same look you had on your face when you told me your turtle was actually a lost baby sea monster. Then, when it died, you cried because the mommy was never going to see its baby again.
“I was six, Meg—”
“The same look that you had when you told me you had your first kiss with Scott Warren.”
“You said we’d never talk about—”
“The same look that you had when you told me your secret—that you’re a witch. When I told you that I was one, too.”
“Meg...”
“What did I tell you all of those times?” Megan had gotten to her feet now as if she were ready to leave right this instant. “I told you that we’d face this together. That’s what I’m saying again.”
“You’re embarrassing me again, Meggy.” Holly laughed as she gave Megan a reassuring hug.
CHAPTER 17 - M.O.T.E.L.
Holly pulled Duncan’s black minivan into the deserted motel parking lot and abruptly cut off the engine. Duncan was asleep in the passenger seat beside her, a small line of drool dripping onto the seat as he breathed deeply. Holly smiled. How was it that he could be breathtaking even when he was supposed to look like a goofball?
She then glanced over at the back seat where Megan was curled up with a blanket half-thrown over her. Holly had been so focused on making sure that Megan didn’t get hurt. Now Megan was hurting, even though the ache wasn’t physical
“We’re here, guys,” Holly said clearly.
Duncan was wide awake instantly, his eyes rapidly taking in their surroundings. He was paranoid and restless. Gwen, his little sister and Megan’s soul mate, had been taken from them. The fact was that Duncan had a reason to be jumpy.
The last thing that Holly had heard Gwen say was, “I have to protect you.” She had said it six years ago, when their adoptive father had been taken from them, and Holly had heard it when Duncan had shown her a glimpse of his memories. As a djinn, Duncan had the ability to make them share significant memories.
I have to protect you. Holly knew that Duncan had failed to do just that for his little sister, and it was killing him inside.
This was the first time that Megan had ever really lost anyone. Both of her parents were fine; they actually thought that she was off “finding herself” by traveling the world . Megan wasn’t lying when she told them that.
It was just that her idea of doing that was by traveling the world with Holly, her best friend, helping her fight her battles against the evil megacorporation Valor Incorporated.
Holly knew that Gwen’s abduction had been Valor Incorporated’s doing.
“Room 31-B,” Holly proclaimed as she opened the room door with one hand while effortlessly carrying the sleeping Megan in the other.
She had left Duncan downstairs. He was talking to Luigi, the manager of the aptly-named “M.O.T.E.L . ”
Holly gently put Megan on the bed, giving her a kiss on the forehead before walking into the bathroom, where she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.
She looked like she had just walked through a war zone. Her dark, shoulder-length hair was sticking up at odd angles, covered in dirt and dust.
“I need a shower,” Holly muttered as she began to slip out of her jacket and pants. “And something to eat.”
She climbed into the shower and let the ice-cold water cascade over her body. Her muscles flexed involuntarily as the rage she had tried so hard to keep down final y settled on her mind. When the explosion had happened back at Frank’s Apartments, Holly had taken charge of the situation.
She had defused an irate Duncan, who had been on the verge of driving out to the Valor Incorporated Headquarters and starting a solo all-out attack.
On the other side of things, Megan seemed to have been completely broken by the ordeal. In the four or so hours that had passed since the abduction, she had not uttered a single word. Holly had ushered them into the minivan and thrown whatever they could salvage—clothes, equipment— into the empty seats and the trunk.
Then she had jumped into the driver’s seat, chosen a direction, and set off. When she had finally touched the interstate highway and Megan had dozed off, Duncan mumbled the motel’s address to her. Holly had then driven in silence for hours as they both slept, leaving her alone to bear the weight of the night’s events.
She didn't have the luxury of being a member of the team that was affected by the situation. She needed to be strong for everyone.
Holly stepped out of the shower, inhaling deeply as the cold air from the open bathroom window met her nostrils. Out in the bedroom, she heard the front door closing and the sound of footsteps on the synthetic wood floor.
“Duncan,” Holly called as she wrapped a towel around herself, “I’m in here. I think I'll go out and get us some food. Meg’s gonna be starving when she wakes up.”
The night sky had begun to lighten as the late autumn dawn slowly crept up on them. Holly had to shake her head as she thought about how
their lives had been turned upside down in just one night—just a few hours ago.
Holly stepped out of the bathroom wearing a pair of loose shorts and a white tank top. As she untangled the towel from her hair, she turned her gaze upwards from the floor and towards the bed where Megan was snoring lightly.
The person standing over Megan was not Duncan.
Across from Holly, at the opposite side of the bed, stood the looming figure of a young man. He had thick, dusty-black hair and handsomely tanned skin, as if he spent a lot of time outdoors. He was wearing fitted black jeans and a black leather jacket that was covering his Music of the Yawn t-shirt.
The stranger looked up at Holly as she stared at him, frozen in place.
“The paths are set out before you,” he said. “Will you let me show you the way?”
CHAPTER 18 - Michael Sven Svenson
“How did you get in here?” Duncan shouted as he jumped in through the open door, dropping the things that he had brought up from the minivan as he pounced on the strange guy.
“Duncan, wait!” Holly shouted as Duncan and guy fell to the floor.
As Duncan raised his fist to punch the olive-skinned young man, Holly grabbed his arm. “Even though I can heal it, I still don’t want to break your arm. Let’s just hear what he has to say,” Holly calmly whispered into his ear, trying to settle him down.
While Duncan’s fighting style was much more refined compared to Holly’s, she knew that her magical strength meant that she would have no problem restraining him.
“Don’t worry, witch.” The guy smiled as he effortlessly pushed Duncan off of himself and got to his feet.
“Who is this?” Megan groaned from the bed beside them.
Megan was sitting up in the bed with a light blue sheet tangled awkwardly around her waist. She stared groggily at the guy who was now sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at her with his head cocked slightly to the side.
“Michael Sven Svenson,” he replied, “the oracle that is going to tell you all how to save Gwen.”
“Start explaining,” Duncan ordered after he had collected himself.
“Your magic is known to me, djinn.” Michael chuckled. “You don’t need to try and charm me. I came here to tell you the truth. To help you realize your goal.”
Megan shrieked. “Holly, what’s happening? What’s he talking about?
Where’s Gwen?”
Michael looked at Holly with a questioning look.
“You have lost two oracles now, Holly Winters,” he said clearly but quietly. “First your aunt and then your teammate. Now I come before you, a third oracle. What do you make of this?”
“Ha,” Duncan snapped angrily. “You should have let me punch him,
Holly. Now he’s only speaking in mad riddles!”
Michael's gaze remained fixed on Holly. “Why oracles?”
Something finally clicked into place in Holly’s brain. It seemed as if it were something she had already known in the back of her mind, ever since her aunt was kidnapped.
“Valor is experimenting on the oracles,” Holly whispered. “Taking their powers.”
Duncan’s jaw dropped as he processed what he was hearing. “Wallace McGregor,” he muttered.
“His eyes,” Holly answered him.
“Is it poetic, ironic, or just plain cruel?” Michael looked around at the three of them as if he had just really seen them for the first time. “They leave us to die. And the first things that go are our eyes.”
Holly felt an immense shift in the magical energy that had been weighing down the room from the moment she had seen Michael standing over Megan.
How strong is this guy? She wondered as Michael started taking in his surroundings.
“You were in a trance just now,” Holly blurted out as Michael’s gaze crossed hers.
“Were being the operative word there.” Michael smiled as he walked over to her. He grabbed her hand gently in his and gave it a very businesslike shake. “Don’t worry; I’ll welcome myself as the new recruit to your dysfunctional team. I’m not looking to lead.” He then looked over to Duncan. “Or step on anyone’s ego.”
Megan slumped forward on the bed, wiping a few tears from her eyes.
Holly looked at both of her friends and then back to Michael.
“Ok, what do you know?”
CHAPTER 19 - Leonardo Viteri
The appearance of Michael and his prophetic declarations about how they were going to save Gwen had revitalized Megan; she was now focused.
Of all her equipment, only her laptop had survived the explosion. She had sarcastically sighed that it would have to do for now and disappeared behind the bright screen.
“Leonardo Viteri,” Michael said as everyone gave him their undivided attention. “You know who that is; am I right?”
After no more than two seconds Megan answered him. “CEO of Valor Incorporated; head of both their Advanced Sciences division and their Applied Sciences division.”
