She gulped and shook her head. There was just no way this could be true. She had seen this thing, the Ker, throw Summer, but if it had done the same to her, shouldn't she be sharing the girl's fate right now? Death?
"I'm not dead," She said. "Am I?"
Ace frowned. "O'course you're not. You didn't actually land or anythin'. You were in a koma when we found you, completely under. You were floatin'…like two feet off the ground…" He trailed off, realizing how ridiculous he sounded to her. He sighed. "It doesn' matter right now. Things'll make sense soon enough."
She just shook her head, too baffled to respond.
Mystic positioned herself above Chloe. "Close your eyes, Oracle." She did as she was told, though not sure why, and felt the gentle brush going back and forth across her eyelids.
"Nicolai will come back for you, you know," She heard Ace say right after her eyes had shut them all out, "At some time or another. Whoever hired him will want him to finish the job."
"Whoever hired him?"
"Aye. For the most part, Keres are free agents. For the right price, you can get them to kill anybody."
“So basically, they're assassins."
"I wish. Assassins jus' want you dead. Keres want you to suffer."
She had no response for that. Neither did she want to ask anymore questions that might reveal anything more about his sister's untimely death or her own supposed attempted murder, and she was sure she didn't want to hear anymore of Ace's fairy tale answers about her floating in the air and avoiding it. Neither were helping her to figure out what she was doing here or how she was going to get home.
"You can open your eyes now, Chloe," Mystic said. So she did. "Look up please." Chloe did that and Mystic applied a coat of mascara to her eyelashes. Her nails were painted and drying, and Crystal was using a curling iron to do something with her hair. She heard the sizzle of the mist from the heat.
"Strafford's the Quad leader, so tha' means he makes the rules," Ace said, examining her make-up job, "His authority is our law and disobeyin' him or tryin' to follow your own strong will, will serve you no good here. Besides, it'll piss him off good. Learn from me." Ace was giving her a look, as if he knew she was known for her strong will. "Might even get you killed, your will. Know wha' I mean?"
Chloe opened her mouth to say that she didn't know anything and to ask him to explain himself, to scream, to yell, to demand that they let her go. He must have sensed what she was about to do because he held up his hand to silence her before she could utter a single word. "Never mind." He headed for the salon door. "You'll understand soon enough, I know it. Word of advice though? Do us all a favor and don't give us another body to bury by doing somethin' stupid." He looked back over his shoulder. "Make her look good, girls. His lordship is waitin'."
*****
V. Chloe
Not much more time passed and Crystal was done with her hair. Mystic applied gloss to her lips and her nails were dry. They made a big spectacle about setting her up in front of a large mirror, fussing over her until the very last second when they let her open her eyes.
She was dumbfounded. Simply struck stupid. The girls had transformed her into someone she didn't recognize. If her reflection hadn't moved whenever she did, she might never have believed it. She blinked and the reflection blinked back with eyes that were now bluer than they had ever been in her entire life. They were dazzling. The gold eyeshadow made them sparkle like sapphires and the mascara made her lashes seem a mile long. Her skin was creamy and clear, and her cheeks were beautiful and blushed, giving her usual pale face some well needed color. Her lips were soft and pink, like bubblegum and her striking red hair was glossy and bouncing with curls. She was almost too beautiful and that scared her. She had never been that before.
"Jeez, you guys. I--I don't really know what to say," She muttered.
"Just say you like it!" Haley exclaimed.
"Don't pressure her," Mystic said, "She doesn't have to like it." But her expression was full of hope that Chloe did.
"I do like it," She assured them, "I've just never……But why did you do this? What's going on?" She just wanted a clear explanation, was that too much to ask?
"It's really not our place to say, Oracle. His lordship wanted you to be beautiful. He'll be pleased."
"Who is his lordship?" But Mystic just smiled.
"Time for clothes!" The green girl squealed. "I'm Ava Anarchy, by the way." She wiggled her fingers at Chloe. "Come on! There are so many things to choose from!"
Ava was right. The closet was a mini shopping mall in itself. There were business suits, blouses, skirts, jeans, dressy slacks, exquisite evening gowns––high heels, sneakers, boots, sandals––most of it stuff that Chloe would never wear. The girls had a ball sifting through it all, holding up different pieces for her to see and ooh-ing and aah-ing over some of the most ridiculous clothes Chloe had ever laid eyes on. She made a few suggestions, but they kept turning her down, insisting that she had to look the part––whatever that meant.
After she had declined to even try on the tight, gold minidress they had picked out, she pulled on a pair of Seven stonewashed denim jeans that were slashed in different places along the front of the pants legs. Pink fishnet covered the holes so her skin wasn't so exposed. Her shirt was a yellow graphic tee with the sunshine care bear on the front. They accessorized her with a pair of striped fingerless gloves and a funky black jacket with three-quarter length sleeves. She searched through the racks and racks of shoes that were all in her correct size and was ecstatic to find so many pairs of amazing boots.
"I like these," She said, holding up a pair of sleek leather boots with silver buckles. The sole read Gucci.
"Try them on," Mystic said with a smile, "They might go well with your outfit." She did, and after checking herself out in the mirror, she had to admit that she looked quite posh.
Ace praised her outfit.
"You look grand, Chloe!" He said once they had joined him back in the room she had woken up in. "I mean, really grand! And your hair looks incredible!"
"Thanks," She said, feeling self-conscious with all of their eyes on her.
"Good luck, Chloe!" Crystal said, giving Chloe's hair one more primp before Mystic ushered them back through the closet. She blew Chloe a kiss before sliding the door closed again.
"Where are we going?" Chloe asked as soon as they had gone, becoming more and more nervous about who Ace was taking her to meet. Who was his lordship?
"No more questions, Chloe." Then he motioned with his head for her to follow him as he disappeared through the arched doorway. Chloe decided to be stubborn and waited behind before coming to the realization that she had no idea where she was and if she had any chance of getting out of this place alive, she had better cooperate until she was given the opportunity to escape. She dashed out of the room.
It didn't take long for her to catch up with Ace who blew off her resumed interrogation and kept quiet as he led her through a maze of beautiful, dark marbled, sconce-lit corridors and closed off rooms with arched entrances. The walls were covered with painted murals of battles and beautiful beings, and there were gold-leafed suns engraved in the molding.
After several turns and double-backs, Chloe became hopelessly lost, and all of her dreams of escaping vanished with her loss of directionality. She realized that any earlier escape attempt would have been pointless in a place this big. Where did a place like this even exist? Was it in Georgia? Fear gripped her chest. What if she wasn't even in Georgia anymore? What if escape or even being found were already impossible? She pushed the terrifying thought from her mind. She had to stay positive.
The pair zig-zagged and u-turned for several minutes until they came to a doorway situated down its own private corridor.
He gave some foreign command and the door slid open to reveal a fancy elevator with gold furnishings. He stood aside, pointed and said, "After you".
He pressed a combination of buttons with strange symbols. The doors clo
sed and the elevator seemed to suddenly drop from under her, giving her the feeling of falling through the sky.
With the elevator only picking up speed, Chloe gripped the rail in terror. Feeling her stomach leap into her throat, she held her breath to keep from gagging, as there was nothing to upchuck. What kind of elevator was this? Was it broken? Were they about to crash to their deaths?
"Your first time is the worst!" Ace shouted over the hum of the elevator descending. He was grinning and didn't look afraid in the least. He was enjoying himself. Chloe just closed her eyes and gripped the railing tighter.
Even before the elevator slammed to a stop and the doors opened, she heard the roar of about a million voices.
Barely able to find the words, she squeaked out, "Where are we?"
Ace grinned and threw an arm around her shoulders. "Los Angeles, California. The Staples Center. Are you ready?"
And he led her through the golden doors.
*****
VI. Chloe
"What am I doing all the way in Los Angeles?" Fear was choking her and her words came out more as gasps. She looked behind her and realized they had just stepped off of a service elevator. She didn't even try to figure out the logistics of that.
"We're here for the show!" Ace exclaimed, high-fiving a couple of boys pushing a cart loaded with a giant amplifier. They smiled at her. She scowled back and hurried after Ace.
They were in a long hallway with numerous doors and lots of activity. People in arena t-shirts were rolling around speakers and carrying stage lights. Some were on headphones screaming orders to people on the other end. Pretty girls with gorgeous hair, perfect makeup, and mini skirts were standing around chatting and laughing. Hopeful guys congregated near them, waiting for their chance to pounce.
"What show?" Chloe asked, but her question went unheard.
"Lookin' good, Tiffany!" Ace called out to one of the prettier girls with brown hair who was standing among a group of similars.
"Bite me, Ace," She said. She shot a quick, icy glance at Chloe, but did not break her flirty smile.
Ace clutched his chest and grinned. "Aw, break my heart, why don't you?" Tiffany only stuck out her tongue out at him and Ace made the "call me" sign with his hand. She shrugged and he laughed.
They stopped inside a room with several tables stocked with sandwiches, fruit and veggie trays, and bottled drinks.
"Want one?" Ace asked, clinking together two bottles. Chloe shook her head. He shrugged, put one bottle back, and grabbed a sandwich. "Come on. Show's abou' to start."
"What show?" She was frustrated by his avoidance of the question. She wanted an answer. Now.
"Know wha'? You're pretty cute when you're annoyed," Ace said, chewing.
"Bite me, Ace," She replied and he almost choked on his sandwich, laughing.
The roar of the crowd got louder as they exited the narrow back halls of the center and stepped out into the main part of the arena. There were barricades separating the noisy chaos of the crowd from the tight-guarded behind the scenes. Security was stationed at different points, but Chloe got this weird feeling that they weren't really employed by the arena. They were somber and cold, a bit paler than most people, and way too big for their shirts. They all just looked so…not of this world.
She followed Ace up to one of the openings. The guard there let Ace through but blocked the way as she tried to go behind him.
"This is her, Frank," Ace said, rolling his eyes.
Frank's peepholes widened and he stepped aside to let her pass. "Sorry, m'am," He said, all of a sudden looking very nervous.
"What was that all about?" She asked as she followed Ace through the barricade.
"Oh, Frank didn' know it was you."
She spent way too much time trying to understand how that answer made any sense. By the time she had figured out that it didn't, they had made it to their destination.
They were in the front row of a massive concert setup. Ace led her towards two chairs placed in dead front center of the enormous stage that was only about ten feet away from them. Chloe got ugly looks as she scooted down the row from people seated around her and further back and she didn't really wonder why. She just wanted them to stop. She kept her head down so her bouncy hair could hide her face and was happy when they arrived at their seats.
The curtains were half drawn down on the stage, and Chloe could see legs and feet and equipment moving underneath it. She was overwhelmed by the noise of the crowd that filled the arena. Every chair was full and every mouth was screaming. The Staples Center was huge. Rows and rows of seats climbed the walls on every side, until the last row was almost touching the ceiling. Chairs had been set up on the floor, which was a basketball court in its other life, covered by several thick, black tarps. Two mosh pits at both ends of the stage were packed with people. Private boxes filled with concert goers framed the upper edge of the lower half of the arena, and the big scoreboards and basketball hoops had been drawn up to hide them from view. In their place, were enormous screens flashing adoring phone text messages fans had sent in to be displayed for everybody to see.
Chloe read a few of the messages to herself. "Marry me? Circle One: Yes or No. Love, Jessica K."
"We're sitting in the last row and we love it! Tammy, Lauryn, and Samantha."
"Dedicate a song to me! Darsha P." But it was the message that followed that almost made Chloe fall out of her chair.
"The nominees for Best Rock Group are…wait…There's only one! A Divinity's Stimuli is the best! Whoo! Tyler W."
"We're at an A Divinity's Stimuli concert!" She shouted to Ace, pure shock radiating through every syllable. He grinned at her as the lights dimmed and the curtains did a slow crawl upward. It seemed they were just in time for the show.
The noise in the arena rose to a deafening level. Uneven platforms were spread out across the stage, five of them, and each was shrouded in darkness. Chloe heard a guitar strike a chord, and in a staggered succession each of the platforms lit up with a spotlight. On each platform were the other members of the band. Five women who went by one name, "The Daughters of Inspiration" under the band's name, A Divinity's Stimuli. The magazines said they declared to have no need for individual titles, but Chloe didn't know how true that really was. She was sure their mothers had given them names. Maybe they were just hideous ones like Mabel or Edith, and in those cases, anonymity was understood.
The Daughters all looked out over the chanting crowd, basking in the reception they were receiving from them. There was the lead guitarist, a pretty woman with auburn hair, on a low platform in the front plucking at the strings of her guitar and adjusting them. The drummer, a fierce looking woman with a blue mohawk, sat on her high platform, adjusting the cymbals and testing out the snare and tom. The Daughter with a blonde bob on the keyboards kept smiling and waving at the crowd from a platform to the right of the stage and the bass player was turning knobs on her amplifier to the left, while the disc jockey kept nodding as if she were listening to some really hot song in her headphones. They were being superior and nonchalant about things, pretending not to notice them, and it was driving the crowd into insanity. Chloe had no doubt that that was the exact effect they were going for.
All of a sudden the entire arena went so black, Chloe thought there had been a power outage. Then, the most amazing guitar rift she had ever heard ripped through the speakers, and BOOM.
There he was.
Lights and smoke surrounded the band as their music began to pour over the crowd, and L.A., the lead singer, stepped out of the fog and into view. The crowd went crazy.
L.A.'s fingers danced along the strings of his guitar, an instrument that Chloe had always felt was sort of magical. It had power in it that few were able to resist. The music coming from it was bewitching and the crowd had already fallen under its spell. They were his from the very first note.
Chloe was glued to her seat. She gawked at him in awe, unable to believe that she was really there in front of him
. She was at an A Divinity's Stimuli concert with L.A. rocking out less than ten feet away from her. Smurfey was going to be pissed when she heard about this.
L.A. was way more gorgeous than the poster on her bedroom wall, for sure. His coal black hair fell into long, attractive dreadlocks, tied back with a strip of leather. He was shirtless, revealing a powerful, ripped torso that was covered in tattoos all the way up to his chin. He had the smoothest skin, close to perfection lips and the fiercest blue eyes plus brow piercing she had ever seen. This was L.A., the hottest rockstar alive.
Ace was wrong. She had died and gone right to heaven.
"Get up, Chloe!" Ace shouted, pulling at her arm. He was already on his feet. "He wants to see you!"
What? L.A. wanted to see her?
She let Ace pull her to her feet, but she leaned on him for support, her knees too shaky to trust. It was weird, as soon as she stood, L.A.'s crystal blue eyes landed right on her. He stared at her for a long moment, looked her up then down, and smiled like she was something nice to look at.
"He likes you," Ace shouted with a smile of his own. Chloe couldn't respond. Talking would have required too much effort and with the way L.A. had just smiled at her, her brain had become too mushy to handle such a task.
L.A. just continued to play and stare, making her more nervous by the second. Then, to her utter astonishment, he winked at her––at her, Chloe Clever––right before he begin to sing.
For the next hour, she stood like a statue, watching as L.A. commanded the stage and the attention of every person in the arena as he ripped through one amazing song after another. His voice was unbelievable. Every song was a hit. The crowd knew every word and L.A. egged them on to sing along.
The Daughters of Inspiration rocked. The drummer's apparent somber disposition turned her into a magician on the drums, and the lead guitarist and bassist added just the right amount of extra guitar rifts to compliment L.A.'s. The Daughter on the keyboards was laughing the entire time as her expert fingers flew over the keys and the disc jockey knew how to incorporate musical effects like no other.
Prophecy of the Most Beautiful Page 6
