Chosen One

by Katie Holland

  “Alix … Alix … can you hear me? Alix, it’s Ben, can you hear me?”

  Alix slowly opened her eyes. She saw Ben, James, Ruth, Shelley and Gordon standing over her.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “You passed out,” Ben told her.

  “How long?” she asked.

  Alix noticed it was starting to get light outside. She wasn’t sure she’d been out that long or just didn’t realize the time passing as she was trying to help Logan.

  “Just a few minutes. We think you overexerted yourself helping Logan,” he said.

  Alix thought back to what she was doing. “You could be right. That was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done,” Alix said sitting up. “The Grynn energy was fighting me at every turn. Without the extra energy from you guys I never would have been able to do it. How is Logan?”

  “He seems to be okay,” Shelley said. “He’s sleeping right now, I’ll check on him again later.”

  “What are we going to do with him?” Alix asked.

  “We’ll have to keep him locked up until we can tell that he’s absolutely no longer under the control of the Grynn,” Ruth said.

  “How are we going to do that?” Ben asked.

  “Shelley is going to find that out,” Ruth told them.

  Alix and Ben looked at each other. “We don’t understand, aren’t you a healer Shelley," Alix said.

  Shelley smiled. “Yes, I am but I have a special ability to get people to tell the truth.”

  “Cool,” Ben said. “So, you’re like a real life truth serum.”

  “I guess you could say that,” Shelley said and yawned.

  “It’s been a long night,” James said. “I think we should all get some rest and get back to this when we’ve had some sleep.”

  Everyone agreed. Gordon and Ruth took the safe back to the vault while the rest went upstairs to their rooms.

  Alix and Ben went to her room to check on Shay and Sara. Both of them were fast asleep in Alix’s bed.

  “Looks like I’ll be sleeping on the couch,” Alix said with a small laugh.

  “I guess that means I’ll take the floor,” Ben said.

  Alix gave him a questioning look. “Alix, until we know it’s one hundred percent safe for you I’m still not leaving your side.”

  With the look he was giving her Alix knew it was pointless to argue. “But …” she started to say when Ben interrupted her.

  “It’s alright Alix, I don’t mind and this way we can still keep an eye on Shay.”

  “Fine, but we’re going to need more pillows and blankets.”

  “Let’s get some out of my room and then sleep. I’m beat.”

  Alix had to agree with that. They went to Ben’s room and grabbed all the blankets and pillows they could carry and went back to Alix’s room. They made up their beds and were both asleep in minutes.

  Chapter 28

  Voices woke Alix up, it sounded like the TV. She was a little disoriented when she realized she was on the couch and not in bed. When she opened her eyes it all came back to her.

  “What time is it?” Alix mumbled.

  “It’s noon,” Shay replied.

  “But I’ve only been asleep for a few hours,” Alix whined.

  “I know but Gordon needs us to get ready and come down to lunch. I let you sleep as long as I could.”

  “Fine,” Alix sat up and looked around. “Where is everyone?”

  “Sara and Ben are both in their rooms getting ready. I already took a shower. I’m just waiting for Ben or Sara to get back here so I can go back to my room and get dressed. I really don’t want to be alone quite yet.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry Shay. I’ll go with you.”

  “It’s okay, one of them will be back soon. You go have a shower and get ready.”

  Shay gave Alix a big hug when she stood up. “Thank you, Alix. You’re the best friend anyone could ask for.”

  Alix gladly returned the hug. “You are too Shay. And again, I’m sorry about what happened. It’s because of me that you got dragged into this.”

  “No apologizing or Ben might use his dad voice on us again.”

  That made Alix laugh. “It’s good to have you back to yourself.”

  “Thanks to you I am back. Now go get in the shower.”

  “Okay, okay bossy, I’m going.”

  Alix had a short shower and got dressed. She had no idea what was going to happen today. She wondered what had actually been planned for the day and took a quick look at the itinerary.

  Monday November 7

  - 9:00 am – breakfast

  - 10:00 am – free time

  - 12:30 pm – lunch

  - 1:30 pm – bus leaves on sightseeing tour of London

  - 6:00 pm – dinner in London

  - 8:00 pm – arrive back at Fox Hollow and free time

  At least they hadn’t missed anything that morning. She really wanted to go on the sightseeing tour but that was probably going to be cancelled due to the whole Logan thing. She supposed that fighting evil took precedence over a tour of London though.

  She opened the door to go find Shay and Ben and just about ran into them. “Hey guys. So I guess everyone’s ready. Let’s go have lunch.”

  They went downstairs to the room off the kitchen and found that just about everyone was there. Merideth had made soup and sandwiches. When Alix smelled the soup, she realized she was starving. They all got food and sat at the table.

  A lot of eyes were on Shay, but she seemed to be oblivious. She must have been as hungry as Alix was because she didn’t say a word and ate two bowls of soup. As they were almost finished eating Ruth stood up and made an announcement.

  “I know the itinerary for the day says we are going on a sightseeing tour of London finishing with dinner there, but due to the circumstances the tour will have to be cancelled. We’ll let everyone know how things progress with Logan and make our plans accordingly. Please feel free to spend the afternoon as you wish. Alix, please come to the room we have Logan in as soon as you are done.”

  Ruth, Shelley and James left the room. Alix, Ben and Shay finished eating, cleared their plates and went to where Logan was being held. They were about to walk in when James stopped them.

  “I’m sorry, Ben and Shay this is for Council members only. We can’t let you in at this time.”

  Ben started to protest when Alix turned to him. “It’s alright Ben. I need you to take care of Shay.” Then she hugged him and whispered in his ear. “I’ll tell you everything later. Let Shay know.”

  Ben nodded and left with Shay. Alix knew they wouldn’t be too far away. She walked into the room and James closed the door.

  “It looks like he’s still asleep. So, what do we do now?” Alix asked.

  “I’m going to wake him up and see if he needs healing,” Shelley answered. “Then I’m going to get whatever truth out of him that he knows.”

  Shelley held her hands over Logan’s chest and moved them to his head. He opened his eyes and sat up quickly looking panicked.

  “Where am I? Who are you? What are you doing to me? Where are my parents?”

  Since Alix and Logan were the same age she took the lead.

  “Logan, we’re not here to hurt you. We are all Nykara. My name is Alix. Do you know who I am?” she said calmly.

  He looked at her for a second and shook his head. “I’ve never seen you before. I don’t understand what’s going on?” he said. “Where am I and where are my parents?”

  “You’re in England with your Uncle Jack. You came here for the Induction Ceremony.”

  “The Induction Ceremony doesn’t take place until November, everyone knows that. Besides my uncle is missing and I’d know if I was in England,” he said and looked at Alix like she was crazy.

  “Do you know what month it is?” she asked him.

  “Yeah, it’s September. Look I don’t know what’s going on here or who
you people are, but I need to get home. My uncle is missing, and mom is worried sick about him. I need to go be with her.”

  “Logan, your uncle is just fine and in fact he’s in the other room. I helped rescue him in October. Today’s date is November 7th.”

  Logan stood up and started to go toward the door. James stopped him. “Sit down.” The tone in James’s voice left no room for discussion.

  Logan sat down but you could tell he wasn’t happy about it. “You people are crazy. Let me go. I haven’t done anything wrong. I need to get back to my mom. She’ll freak if she thinks I’m missing too.”

  “I’m going to go get Jack. After talking to Logan, I don’t think he had anything to do with this,” Alix told them. “Just keep him here,” she said pointing at Logan.

  Alix went next door released him from the room.

  “Did you find Logan?” he asked. “And Shay?”

  “Yes, we did Jack. I was able to remove the Grynn magic from Logan, but it wasn’t easy. He’s in the next room but seems to have no memory of anything. He still thinks you’re missing and it’s September. I’m going to let you see him but just be aware we’re still not sure if the Grynn influence is totally gone. I’m hoping that once he sees you he’ll calm down a bit, so we can finish our investigation.”

  “Okay, whatever you need Alix.”

  She took Jack into Logan’s room. Jack went straight to Logan and hugged him.

  “Uncle Jack, you’re okay. What happened? What’s going on? Who are these people? Where are we?”

  “Slow down Logan and please let them explain. They’re only here to help us. In fact, Alix is the one who rescued me. She’s the Kaelneth Logan, make sure you show her the respect she deserves. Now listen to what they have to say and answer all the questions they ask you honestly. This is extremely important.”

  “Okay Uncle Jack,” Logan said and looked at Alix.

  “Logan, what’s the last thing you remember?” she asked him.

  “Um … mom was on the phone with the police from Wyoming about Uncle Jack. He’d been missing for three days and they were asking her questions. I hated seeing her so upset so I went for a walk. Then I woke up here.”

  Alix did the math. “That was almost six weeks ago Logan. As I said before it’s November 7th today. Shelley is going to touch you to determine if you’re telling the truth. If you are we’ll explain everything to you. Okay?”

  “Uh, yeah, I guess.”

  Shelley kneeled down in front of Logan and took his hands in hers. She closed her eyes and pushed energy into him. He gasped when her energy hit him. They sat like that for a few minutes. Shelley released his hands and stood up.

  “He’s telling the truth. He has no memory of the last six weeks,” Shelley said.

  “That’s good right?” Jack asked. “That means he didn’t know what he was doing.”

  “It would appear that way,” Ruth said. “Alix, I’d like you to do one more energy scan on Logan to officially determine if he’s free of the Grynn influence.”

  “Grynn?” Logan said sounding alarmed.

  “Calm down Logan,” Jack told him. “Let Alix do her thing and just remain calm.”

  “Will it hurt?” Logan asked.

  “Not at all,” Alix told him. “I just need you to lay down. I’m going to push my energy into you and search for anything that shouldn’t be there.”

  “Okay,” Logan said, and laid down on the couch.

  Alix placed her hands above Logan’s stomach and sent her energy searching through him. She went over every inch of his body just to be sure. She was very relieved when she didn’t find anything.

  “Everything looks okay, I didn’t find anymore evil energy,” she said to the group. “You can sit up now Logan and Jack you can have a seat beside him if you want.”

  “I’m way beyond confused,” Logan said. “Can someone please tell me what is going on?”

  “May I?” Alix said looking at Ruth. She nodded. “So, Logan, in short, somehow the Grynn transferred some of their magic to you and it started turning you bad. They were able to control you and you were doing their bidding. You came to England with Jack for my Induction Ceremony. You met me and my best friend Shay and you two hit it off right away. In fact, the two of you were together all the time. I was getting a bad feeling from you and tried to talk to Shay about it but the Grynn magic in you was already starting to affect her. You seemed to be controlling her and she had no idea. We finally figured out what was happening to you a couple of days ago. Last night I had a dream that something had happened to Shay and I had to find her before it was too late. You’d put her in the Grynn Sleep of Death and locked her in a box in the dungeon. I was able to find her in time, but you were trying to escape. You tried to jump off the roof to your death. Luckily, I’d already put up a barrier to stop you from escaping and you just bounced off of it and knocked yourself out. I bound you and removed the Grynn energy from your body. That was a few hours ago. Then you woke up here and know the rest.”

  Logan looked horrified at what Alix had told him. He sat there for a few minutes without saying a word. He finally turned to Jack, “Is that true?”

  “Yes, Logan, I’m afraid it is. I’m sorry,” Jack told him.

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe it. I’m so sorry Alix, everyone. I don’t even know what to say. How much trouble am I in?”

  “None,” Ruth said.

  Logan looked at her in disbelief. “But I kidnapped a girl and locked her in a box.”

  “We know Logan,” Ruth said, “but it wasn’t really you. The energy that Alix removed from your body was very strong. That’s what was controlling your actions. And the fact that you have no memory of the last six weeks is proof of that.”

  “So, what happens now?” Jack asked.

  “I know you and Logan are supposed to leave in two days, but I think it’s best if you stick around here until we can find a safe place for both you and Logan. We don’t want the Grynn to be able to get their hands on either one of you,” Ruth told them.

  “Oh, okay,” Jack said. “So, is Logan free to go?”

  “Yes,” Ruth said. “Just be prepared for a few dirty looks Logan, at least until everyone knows the whole story. The last everyone here knew you’d kidnapped Shay and were generally doing bad things.”

  “Oh, okay, I can understand that,” Logan said.

  “So, are we done here?” Alix asked.

  “Yes, I think so,” Ruth said.

  “What about the tour and dinner in London?”

  Ruth checked her watch. “I think it’s too late to do the full tour, but I think we can do a shortened version and still go to dinner. Tell everyone that the bus will leave at 3:00.”

  “Awesome,” Alix said. “Logan, Jack, can you come with me?”

  “Sure Alix,” Jack said.

  Alix left the room with Jack and Logan following her. She headed to the main foyer hoping to find Ben and Shay at the fireplace. Luckily, she was right.

  Ben got up and moved toward them when Alix stopped him. “Ben, please sit down. I have a few things I need to tell you two.” Everyone sat down. “Let me start with introductions. Logan, this is Shay and Ben.”

  “Oh my God,” Logan said, “You’re the girl … I … well … I’m so sorry. I don’t even know what to say to you.”

  “Logan,” Alix started, “let me tell them what happened first and then we can all talk. Okay?”

  “Yeah sure,” he said in a low voice.

  “So, guys, the last thing Logan remembers is right after Jack went missing.”

  “But that was back in September, that’s like six weeks ago,” Ben said.

  “Exactly,” Alix said. “He’s lost the last six weeks of his life. He doesn’t remember Jack being found, coming to England, meeting Shay or locking her up, nothing.”

  “How do we know this for sure?” Ben questioned.

  “Shelley tested him. He has no memor
y since the Grynn were able to get to him.”

  “Do we know how that happened?” Ben asked.

  “No. The last thing he remembers is going for a walk, then waking up here about an hour ago. So, I think we should try to start over and get to know him as the real Logan, not the one the Grynn had influence over. But that’s Shay’s call. She’s the one that has been affected the most.”

  “Well since I can’t really remember anything I guess I can give him a chance,” Shay said.

  “Thank you, Shay,” Logan said. “What they told me, it’s nothing like the real me.”

  “He’s right,” Jack said. “Logan is normally very easy going and will do anything to help his family. He was never even in trouble at school.”

  Ben was the only one who hadn’t said anything.

  “Ben?” Alix asked.

  “I don’t know Alix. I’m not likely to forget the hurt he caused you any time soon. I understand he was being controlled but anyone who is the cause of your tears doesn’t get easily forgiven.”

  “I understand Ben,” Logan said. “If someone had hurt my girlfriend in any way I’d feel exactly the same way.”

  “We’re just friends," Alix and Ben said at the same time.

  That was the first time Shay smiled all day.

  “Oh, sorry,” Logan said. “But still, I get it and I don’t expect anyone to trust me right away, I wouldn’t if it was me.”

  “Okay,” Alix said, “so now we just have to let everyone else know. Oh, and also, the sightseeing tour and dinner is still going on if you want to go. We leave at 3:00.”

  “I want to go,” Shay said. “I’ve missed a couple of days and I think one of those days was shopping.”

  “I’m so sorry Shay,” Logan said.

  “Logan,” Jack said standing up, “why don’t we go talk and call your mom. I think she needs to know about what’s happened and the fact that we won’t be coming home right away.”

  “Okay, Uncle Jack. Again, I’m really sorry guys. I guess I’ll see you later.”