Discovery

by Lisa White

  “Thank you so much for coming.” Grace held both Mr. Hillary’s hands in hers.

  “I am truly honored to be invited,” he replied with another deep bow.

  As if on cue, Gregory came up behind Grace and handed her a drink. “Here you go. Thought you could use this.”

  “Thanks.” Grace took a long sip of vodka and cranberry juice.

  Mr. Hillary eyeballed Gregory as he continued, “And where is our Ben tonight?”

  “I … I’m not sure.” Grace motioned to Gregory who was now standing beside her. “Mr. Hillary, have you met Gregory Reich? He and his family are new members at the club.”

  Gregory stuck his hand out. “Mr. Hillary, it’s so very nice to meet you. I hear you have quite a mean golf game.”

  Mr. Hillary took Gregory’s hand but pain immediately fell over the elderly gentleman’s face. He quickly pulled his hand out of Gregory’s grasp and shook it. “And you have quite a mean handshake, son,” replied Mr. Hillary as he placed his still shaking hand in his trouser pocket. Turning to Grace he said, “Now, you should run along Gracie. I’m sure your other guests want to see you too.”

  Grace smiled and said her goodbyes to the rest of the table before Gregory pulled her toward Annie, who was still bickering with Julian at the back of the room.

  “Julian, you are not in charge here. I am,” Annie was saying to her nemesis as Grace walked up.

  “Hey Julian.” Grace intentionally did not give him a chance to respond to Annie’s rebuke. She took another drink and its coolness calmed her nervous breathing.

  “Hello, Grace. Happy birthday,” he said matter-of-factly. “Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your celebration.”

  Annie rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Just get the cake ready, you British freak,” she said before turning to Grace and Gregory.

  Julian narrowed his eyes but then simply shook his head and silently walked back toward the kitchen.

  “Annie! Be nice,” Grace scolded. She took another sip of her drink and realized she had already finished off her first one of the night.

  “Oh, he’ll get over it,” Annie said. “Besides, he just hates not having any control over me or your party tonight.”

  Gregory laughed. “You do like your control Annie, don’t you?”

  “Absolutely. Now you all run along and go get us some more drinks,” she commanded.

  “Aye, aye, Captain.” Gregory saluted Annie before taking Grace’s empty glass and heading over to the drink table.

  Grace was feeling a little looser and wondered if her drink might have something to do with it. Maybe she should lay off the alcohol for now. She surveyed the room’s faces, smiling at those she recognized and at those she did not.

  “He’s not here,” said Annie, watching Grace’s face.

  “Who?”

  “Ben.”

  Grace felt blood rush to her cheeks. “I know he’s not here. I asked him not to come remember.”

  “Yeah, well, then stop looking for him. Concentrate on Gregory, who looks hot by the way.”

  The two girls looked over at the drink table where the Reich brothers were gathering their next round of libations.

  “I told you this was going to be a great summer,” Annie said as Gregory and Andrew started heading back their way.

  “Here you are birthday girl,” said Gregory, handing Grace her drink and kissing her lightly on the cheek. The touch of Gregory’s lips sent prickly sparks down Grace’s spine and she leaned in to him as if magnetized to his side.

  “There sure are a lot of people here,” said Grace looking around the room. “Some of these people I don’t even recognize.”

  “Maybe the owner invited some people as well,” Andrew quickly responded.

  “I’m sure we have some party crashers. This is the party of the year from what I hear,” said Gregory. “Do you want me to ask them to leave?” He placed his arm around Grace’s waist and pulled her closer to him.

  “No.” Grace smiled. “It’s all good. The more the merrier.” Gregory’s touch once again put Grace at ease and her wooziness returned with his presence. Either that or her drink was stronger than she thought. “How much alcohol did you put in this?” she asked, leaning face forward into Gregory’s arms.

  “Enough. Is it okay?”

  “It’s fine.” Grace’s words began to slur out of her mouth. After a few more sips of her drink, she felt totally relaxed despite the fact that the room’s details were beginning to disappear into a blur of colors. She could no longer see the guests at the far side of the room, and even up close Gregory’s face had a slight haziness to it. The decorative foliage hanging from the ceiling’s wooden beams transformed into vague ripples of green and the tiny white lights now glared instead of twinkled. Even the flower centerpieces melted into one round blob of color floating in front of Grace’s eyes. Nothing was distinct anymore.

  “Happy birthday, Grace.” Tom’s voice floated through the room’s colors as they swirled around and eventually came together to form his face.

  “Tom!” Grace exclaimed when his face was close enough to be a little clearer. She leaned further into Gregory’s arms and slurred, “Your brother didn’t show.”

  “You asked him not to, remember?” Tom looked into Grace’s eyes. “Uh, are you okay?”

  “Couldn’t be peachier.” Grace now smiled with only one side of her face and she was having a hard time focusing.

  “She’s fine,” Gregory interrupted. “She’s just a little excited.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay Gracie?” Tom pressed, ignoring Gregory.

  “Yes. I’m fine!” Grace hissed. “My gosh! You’re worse than your brother.” Grace swayed a little before she slurred over her shoulder, “Annie! I believe it’s time for cake!”

  “Okay.” Annie winked at Tom. “Whatever you say, Birthday Girl.” Annie turned and headed back to the kitchen, leaving Grace weaving between Gregory and Andrew.

  Tom silently stared at Gregory and Andrew, both of whom stood on either side of Grace to control her balance. The Reich brothers returned his stare.

  “Nice talking to you, Grace.” Tom leaned in to kiss her cheek and then abruptly walked away.

  “You too,” Grace called after him with a wave of her hand. Tom disappeared back into the room’s colors again and the only detail she could see now were the red eyes of Gregory and Andrew who still stood on either side of her, holding her up by each arm. She turned her head, casting her hazy gaze back and forth from Gregory to Andrew. “I think you put too much vodka in this drink. Cause I see red eyes and I don’t like red eyes,” she slurred.

  “Boys, calm down. It’s not time yet,” Grace heard Mr. Reich’s perfect voice rumble through the room’s swirling colors at the same moment the brothers’ red eyes disappeared.

  “Shhh, dear,” Mrs. Reich’s voice purred behind Grace’s ear. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

  Grace did not ever remember feeling so happy and relaxed. She was sure her drink was helping but she did not care. It was her birthday party and she was with Gregory. The room’s colors continued to swirl and she still felt Gregory and Andrew holding her arms, but her right arm began to sting from Gregory’s touch. Out of the color swirl a light began to emerge and she heard a familiar song ring in her ears. This was the moment she had dreaded. Grace knew all eyes were on her as the party guests sang “Happy Birthday” but for some reason she did not mind being the center of attention. All she saw was the emerging light coming toward her.

  By the time Grace realized the light belonged to the candles on her cake, Annie was standing there nudging her, “Come on, Gracie. Everyone’s waiting. Blow out your candles.”

  Grace blew, unsuccessfully aiming at the light and missing the candles entirely, so Gregory and Annie leaned over to help.

  “It’s time for our dance now,” Gregory whispered in Grace’s ear after Annie took the cake back into the kitchen for cutting.

  Peter Gabriel began singing Grace�
��s favorite old song, “In Your Eyes”, over the Café sound system and Gregory guided Grace toward the dance floor in the middle of the room. Grace’s mind was drugged with the tornado of colors swirling around her and her arm still stung from Gregory’s touch. They were almost to the center of the dance floor when suddenly Grace felt sick.

  Very sick.

  Beyond nauseated sick.

  She pulled out of Gregory’s grasp and groped her way through the room’s swirling colors toward the bathroom in the far back corner. She heard Mr. Reich and Gregory calling her name but all she could think about was reaching the bathroom in time. She hurled herself through the door and locked it behind her just before she fell on the floor and threw up in the toilet. She could not believe she was this sick, this suddenly. She had heard of people throwing up before but had never experienced it herself. She never got sick. Everyone knew that. But feeling her body convulse uncontrollably confirmed her diagnosis and that fact frightened Grace, even in her dazed state.

  After a few more heaves, and when she was finally and totally empty of her stomach’s contents, she stood up and made her way over to the sink. Splashing cold water in her mouth and on her face oddly sparked a rare memory of her parents. Grace looked up at her blurred reflection in the mirror over the sink and saw their faces clearly emerge out of the room’s swirling colors. But in the instant this memory flashed, she realized it wasn’t the cold-water splash that triggered her memory bank.

  It was a smell.

  The smell of burnt metal.

  The smell that took her back to her parent’s car crash.

  The bathroom’s colors were still too hazy to register anything recognizable but as she leaned over the sink to steady herself, she felt an urgent need to get out of there. Her memory pushed her to unlock the door and leave the bathroom. Something about that smell.

  Just as she found enough strength to stand upright and head for the door, two hands came from behind her head and grabbed her shoulders. In that instant, the room’s swirling colors disappeared and she was pulled into complete and total darkness.

  Chapter Nine: Darkness and Movement

  The Council leader leaned forward in her chair at the head of the long rectangular wooden table. “Tom, I am sure you appreciate the seriousness of this situation,” she said sternly.

  “Yes, Madam.” Tom stood straight as a stick facing their Council leader at the opposite end of the large boardroom. She had eyes of blue stone. The other Council members flanked their leader on both sides of the table, each one staring back at Tom. Blue stone eyes were everywhere. Tom had never been called into a Council meeting before and standing there, in the large Southern mansion, in their sacred boardroom, finally meeting the Council’s infamous members face-to-face, he felt abnormally weak. He knew Ben’s team had messed up. He just never imagined he would be the one called in for it. He wasn’t Grace’s Guardian. He was the Chosen One. His job had not even begun yet.

  “Have you spoken to your brother?” the Council Lieutenant asked.

  “No, sir. Not yet.” He’d tried repeatedly, but Ben wasn’t answering his cell phone.

  “You know this is a serious dereliction of duty, young man,” another Council member stressed.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Your brother will be severely punished.”

  “Yes, sir.” Even as the Chosen One, Tom had no power to stop the Council from making an example of Ben. For an instant, he was glad Ben was not there. He did not want to be present when the Council handed down his younger brother’s punishment.

  “For years, we have watched over Grace and when her time finally comes, we lose her,” the Council leader’s voice slowly escalated. “With all our vast resources, we can’t find one tiny girl!” The Council leader was now standing at her seat, her eyes cutting into Tom like scalpels. “If you don’t want the Anti-Powers taking control, if you don’t want human life to end as we know it, I suggest you and your brother … go … find … her!” she bellowed.

  The room shook and Tom could almost see her anger rolling through the air, across the long table and slapping him right in the face.

  “Yes, Madam,” Tom whispered, unable to take his eyes off his leader.

  “You are excused.” She harshly dismissed Tom with a wave of her hand.

  Tom bowed and quickly strode to the large wooden double doors leading to the hallway.

  “And Tom,” the Council leader called after him.

  Tom stopped and slowly turned around. “Yes, Madam.”

  “Tell your brother we want to see him. Now!”

  • • •

  It was dark. And she was moving. As Grace slowly regained consciousness, she was only certain of these two things: darkness and movement. She was lying on her side curled up in the fetal position, her back against something pliable. Her head pounded and she could not think. Where was she? Where was she going?

  She tried to focus her eyes out of the darkness but it was too hard.

  Try harder.

  She blinked a few times but all she could see in front of her was black. Nothingness.

  She turned her head slightly upward. Instant pain. Why did she hurt so much? It even hurt to breathe, much less turn her head. But she needed to see. There was something up there.

  Slowly squinting upward, past the pain, she saw sparkles.

  What was sparkling? What were those lights over her?

  Focus, Grace. Focus.

  Stars. The lights were stars.

  Blink. Blink. Focus. Focus.

  It was a sunroof. She saw the stars through a sunroof.

  Focus. Focus on the stars.

  The stars ripped through Grace’s darkness. She knew these stars. And these stars were moving with her. These were the same stars she saw last night and the night before and the night before that. But tonight was different. Tonight she needed these stars. Tonight, these stars, these familiar stars moving with her, would keep her sane.

  So focus on the stars, Grace. Focus on the stars.

  Too afraid to move, Grace forced her mind to process as she stared at the stars. She was in a car, more specifically the back seat of a car. And the car was moving. And it was night.

  Process your thoughts, Gracie. Process. Look at the stars. Focus.

  She could not see over the front seat. Who was driving? Who else was in the car?

  Quietly, she slid her hands down her body. She was not tied up, her feet were not bound. She was still wearing her red satin dress from the birthday party, but she was barefoot.

  She silently felt around the back seat. Her hand brushed against something hard. Her shoes. She found her shoes on the floorboard. She continued to silently search. There. Her purse. Slowly, she eased the small satin purse along the floorboard, closer to her. When it was right below her head, she used one hand to open the clasp while the other hand cupped over the purse, muffling the clasp’s sound.

  Where were they? Grace’s fingers silently weaved through the purse’s contents.

  There. Her keys. She found her keys. Her keys with the novelty keychain Ben had given her. The keychain with the monkey on it. The monkey with the LED lighted nose.

  Grace softly placed her purse back down on the floorboard and held one hand over the monkey’s nose while she pushed the ‘on’ button with the other. She aimed the monkey’s LED nose toward the floorboard and faintly made out a Mercedes symbol. It was either that or a peace sign. Grace always got the two confused. No, it was the Mercedes symbol. Grace was in the backseat of a Mercedes.

  Grace scanned the rest of the floorboard with the monkey’s nose. Nothing else. Her shoes. Her purse. And the Mercedes floor mats. That was it.

  Grace was afraid to shine the light any higher. The car’s other occupants might see it. As she tried to place her keys back into her purse, her hands started their mysterious tingling again and, in the darkness, she clumsily missed the purse opening. The keys fell down onto the Mercedes floor mat, their tinkling sound breaking the car’s dar
k silence.

  The car slowed down.

  Grace frantically fumbled around the dark floorboard. The keys. She needed her keys.

  The car stopped.

  Where were the keys? Panic amplified the tingling in her hands and almost rendered them useless.

  The driver’s door opened and closed.

  Grace’s shaking fingers finally found the keys. She remembered from her high school self-defense class that she could use her keys as a weapon by entwining her fingers between each key and making a fist with the keys sticking out between her knuckles like spikes. There. She did it. Fist and weapon ready.

  The backdoor opened and the car’s interior light glowed over the back seat.

  The cool night breeze rushed in, temporarily clearing her head. She took her makeshift weapon and forcefully plunged her shaking fist toward the breeze and outside into the darkness.

  But the darkness sharply seized her wrist. Her fingers sprang open and her weapon fell apart. The keys rattled back down to the floorboard of the Mercedes and out of Grace’s reach.

  Her hand went limp and she started to cry. Then the darkness clutching her wrist fell soft and moved up to caress her hand.

  Grace looked out toward the darkness.

  “Shhh,” the darkness said. “Gracie, don’t cry. It’s me. Ben.”

  Chapter Ten: Awakening

  “Ben?” It was still too dark to see outside the car.

  “Yes. I’m here. Everything’s going to be okay.” Ben bent down into the car’s interior light. “Come on, Gracie. Can you sit up?”

  Grace pushed herself to sit up, but even that small movement caused her head to split right open. The pain combined with her confusion to make her nauseatingly dizzy. She swayed on the seat. “Ooh,” she said as she leaned her head forward into her hands and closed her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Grace pointed to her head.

  “Your head hurts?” Ben leaned in and softly put his arm around her drooping shoulders.

  Grace tried to nod but the pain was too much so she simply whispered, “Yes.”