by HR Moore
*****
Cleo hid, crouched down behind a rack of artefacts, watching them take Anita away. Luckily she’d managed to drag Marcus to the other side of the room, saying she wanted to show him something. When they’d got there, she’d acted as though she’d misplaced whatever it was and started to rummage through a pile of papers. Marcus had lost patience at this point and said he needed to get back to Anita, but that if Cleo could give them some space he’d appreciate it. She’d let him go, thinking Anita would have had long enough to explore a bit, but when Marcus had got about half way back towards the door, Austin, Amber and four large guards had burst onto the floor and run towards the door, reaching it before the startled Marcus.
Cleo hadn’t been able to hear what happened inside, however, had watched, appalled, as her best friend was dragged roughly up the stairs towards the entrance, a furious, flapping Marcus in tow. He kept appealing to Austin, saying, ‘dad, please, don’t do this,’ but Austin ignored his son’s words entirely, carrying on as though nobody was uttering a sound. The only time Marcus’ words had any effect was when he had said, ‘dad, I love her, please don’t do this.’ At this revelation, Austin and Amber had rounded on Marcus, each fixing him with a terrifying stare. They’d said nothing however, knowing this was neither the time nor the place, so turned back and followed the guards up the stairs, Marcus following in their wake.
Cleo stayed where she was for a full fifteen minutes after they’d gone, terror and shock fixing her in place. When she was convinced they weren’t coming back, she cautiously climbed to her feet and made her way out of the building, making sure nobody saw her leave. The last thing Anita needed now was for the only person who knew she’d been taken to be spotted by one of Austin’s informants. Once she was free of the Archives, Cleo ran back to town, heading directly for the Temple of the Spirit. The only person she could think to tell was Alexander and she hoped desperately that he was there, as she had no idea where else to look if he wasn’t.
As she reached the Temple, Cleo raced to the circular slab in the centre of the floor, got down on all fours and started pounding the stone, hoping that Alexander would be able to hear her. To her amazement, within seconds, the slab in the floor began to slide aside, Cleo scrambling out of the way in time to see Alexander ascending the stairs.
‘Cleo, what is it?’ he asked, concerned.
‘It’s Anita,’ she garbled. ‘Austin has her.’
‘What? What do you mean ‘Austin has her’?’ Alexander looked around, noticing the few people in the Temple beginning to take an interest in what was going on. ‘Come on, we should talk downstairs.’
Normally this would be a source of great excitement for Cleo, after all, nobody else she knew had ever been to one of the chambers below the Temples, but right now she was just grateful that Alexander was here and might be able to help. They quickly descended the spiral staircase and came out into Alexander's study. He sat Cleo down in one of the large, brown, leather chairs and made her a cup of hot, sweet tea, saying, ‘tell me what happened,’ as he did it.
Cleo recounted what had happened and Alexander looked drawn and worried when she finished, sitting down opposite her and pausing to consider what she’d just said. ‘There’s one more thing,’ said Cleo, looking down into her tea, struggling to find the best way to say it. ‘As they were leaving and Marcus was trying everything to get Austin to free Anita, he told them that he loved her. They rounded on him and looked like they might have locked him away too, but didn’t say a thing, they just carried on and Marcus followed them out.’
Alexander looked pained, but in reality, something like that might be the only thing that would keep Anita alive. It would be dangerous for Austin to kill Anita knowing that Marcus loved her, however, he wouldn’t easily be persuaded to let her go.
Once Cleo had left, Alexander carefully considered his options. He considered contacting Marcus to try and work together to break Anita out, he thought about storming over to the castle and demanding she be released, he even briefly considered killing Austin, but quickly put that one aside. In the end, Alexander reasoned it was most important to maximise the chances that Anita would be kept alive, and the best way to do that was to let Austin know that Alexander, along with others, knew she was being held by him. That way, Austin would probably think it too risky to kill her outright and it would buy Alexander some time to work out a way to get her freed.
Alexander got his driver to take him to the castle, the light from its windows blazing out into the now pitch black sky. He walked up to the imposing front door and pulled the handle that rang the bell. Amber answered and looked at Alexander suspiciously, ‘why are you here?’ she snapped, sounding surprised.
‘I have something important that I need to discuss with Austin.’
Looking at Alexander as though it were ludicrous that he’d not already told her, she said, ‘and that important topic of conversation is…?’
‘…none of your business,’ he replied severely. ‘And since when have Descendants had to explain themselves to the likes of you?’ This was the kind of thing Austin would say, so Alexander hoped it would resonate with her.
She looked petulantly back at him. ‘Fine, come in. I’ll see if Austin is available.’
A few minutes later, Alexander was standing in front of Austin’s desk, Austin pretending to have no idea why he was there and making a point of not offering Alexander a seat. ‘Austin, I have something of a sensitive nature to discuss with you.’
Austin raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. ‘Oh?’ he said. ‘How can I help?’
‘It would appear as though you have one of my students detained at present and I would very much appreciate it if you would release her into my custody.’
‘Which student is that?’ he asked casually, sipping honey coloured whiskey from a tumbler.
Alexander replied evenly. ‘I think we both know I’m referring to Anita. She’s very close to your son, is she not?’
Austin’s nostrils flared. ‘Tell me, why is it you think I should release someone who tried to steal from my family vault into your custody?’
‘As I said, she’s one of my students, which makes me partially responsible for her. I should like to resolve this quietly and as a matter of urgency, so there is no embarrassment for any party involved.’
‘I see. Well I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’m yet to finish questioning her and it’s important we conduct a thorough investigation into what happened. I’m intrigued as to why she tried to steal one of my memories, for example.’
‘What could Anita possibly want with one of your memories?’ Alexander laughed, although the laughter never reached his eyes.
‘I don’t know, Alexander. That’s what I intend to find out.’
‘And when you’ve found that out? Will you release her into my custody then?’
‘That all depends on what I find,’ he said, threateningly. ‘I might decide its best to lock her up for a couple of years instead.’
‘Well let’s all hope that is not the case,’ Alexander said, turning to leave. ‘I can’t imagine Marcus would like that very much.’
Alexander left the castle with mixed emotions. He’d never expected Austin to hand Anita over, and now at least he was unlikely to kill her, however, the spiteful look Austin had had on his face was not something to be taken lightly. Anita was in for a rough ride.
