Light

by Adrienne Woods

  Fox giggled. “Let me show you to your room, Chas.”

  I followed her up the stairs again, past the first and second floor. The staircase ended on the third floor in a cul-de-sac and there were only two doors.

  “Sorry, all the others were taken and you’re stuck on my floor.”

  “I don’t mind. At least I’ll feel safe.”

  Fox smiled and opened the door on the left. “This is your new room, Chas. Don’t forget, dinner is served at six.”

  “Thanks,” I said as she closed the door.

  I had to admit, my anger with Fox had disappeared much faster than my feelings toward Elliot, Max and Margot.

  My room was big, much bigger than the one I’d had back with Mom and Tim. It had big windows with beautiful, night blue curtains and a double bed. The linen matched the curtains and there were beautiful pictures made from sand hanging against the wall.

  There was a small bookshelf but it didn’t house any books. I was dying to try out a novel this side but realized that some of the stories that I’d loved to read would be a horrible experience in reality. Especially Crime Fiction.

  A bathroom was on my right and I was grateful that I didn’t have to share with all the other girls.

  A small desk with a computer and a chair was against the wall opposite my bed and white cupboards that matched the carpet made the room complete.

  I found heaps of clothes folded nicely on top of my bed.

  They still had their tags on and I started to look at each garment carefully.

  There were plenty of training clothes. A lot of tank tops, hoodies, and skinny pants of all colors. I was very glad when I found a good pair of training shoes at the bottom of the pile.

  I put them away when I was finished and went on to the next which contained small bags of underwear.

  The next pile was t-shirts, followed by slacks. Only a couple though. Two pairs, one black and one brown.

  The next batch contained two pairs of jeans and long-sleeved shirts.

  Thankfully, two pairs of nighties, the shorts and shirt type, were also in the last batch.

  Someone had also gotten me a pair of pumps, boots and slops with a pair of slippers.

  They’d bought everything and from the labels it looked like they were all my size. How they got that right was beyond my knowledge.

  AT DINNER I MET ALL THE GIRLS THAT LIVED IN THE House of Lords.

  I didn’t remember all their names but the ones that stayed with me were called Amy and Tarryn. They reminded me a lot of Nicole and Clare and everyone loved them. I kept to myself even though Natalie tried her best to tell me all of the girls’ names.

  Then the door opened and a group of four girls entered. They were very masculine, with muscles most of the boys I knew could only dream of.

  “Mila, I told you girls that dinner is at six,” Fox said sternly.

  “We were busy,” the one I assumed was called Mila replied. I didn’t like her demeanor as she sunk down onto a chair near me, followed by a girl with brown long hair and two others with light golden blonde hair. Mila had bright blue hair and had so much jewelry on her face that I was scared to look at her.

  The entire table was silent as the girls started to grab bowls of food to dish up.

  “I know what it is you are trying to do, young lady, and I can tell you, you are only going to make it harder on yourself.” Fox had a soft tone to her voice but her posture was yelling Don’t mess with me.

  “Please enlighten me as to what it is I’m trying to do?” she bit back.

  “Seriously?” Natalie said. “You have to do this right now?”

  I gawked at Natalie. Does this girl have some sort of a death wish or something?

  “Eat your food, parrot face.”

  Natalie laughed. “Well at least I’ve finally got something in common with Charlie.”

  Some of the girls snickered, but stopped the minute Mila glared at them.

  “Enough. I’m not going to be played with. This is my house now and if you don’t like it I suggest you take it up with Selene. You will be on time for dinner, all of you, or you won’t get any. Do I make myself clear?”

  I’d never heard that tone coming from Fox before.

  Mila just stared at her. “Fine, no need to get your panties in a twist,” Mila said the other three girls snickered this time.

  “And I will be treated with respect. I don’t know who your previous Guardians were, but I promise you, I’m nothing like them.”

  “Good to know,” Mila said and I saw Fox closing her eyes.

  “Leave this table, right now.”

  “What?” The girl said.

  “I said leave this table. Or do you want me to make you leave?”

  “But I haven’t had anything to eat.”

  “Go tell that to Selene. Now, leave.”

  Mila’s jaw muscles pumped as all of us just stared at both of them.

  She grunted, jumped from her chair, which fell over, and ran up the stairs.

  “If anyone else would like to leave, be my guest.” Fox looked at the other girls.

  “You’re not going to last,” one of the girls with brown hair said and followed Mila. The other two just looked at their plates.

  Forks clanged as everyone started to eat their supper again.

  “If you can’t follow simple rules, then you will learn to follow them the hard way. I refuse to be disrespected inside my own home. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Ma’am!” All of us said and Fox nodded

  “I’m not married either, so it’s just Fox.”

  A couple of girls giggled and we all carried on with our food.

  A knock came on the front door and Fox excused herself from the table, she reentered the dining room a few minutes later with Margot right behind her, luggage and all.

  “I really am sorry, Fox. I didn’t think it was going to take this long.”

  “Don’t worry about it, I’ll speak to Dingle in the morning. Now go sit down, have something to eat and I’ll show you to your room later.”

  Margot smiled and took a seat at the end of the table. Our eyes met for one second and she looked away as if I was invisible to her. She started to twirl her pendant around in her hand before she finally let go of it and dished up.

  After dinner Natalie walked me to my room. I invited her inside and we both sat on my bed.

  “Nice room. I love the color.”

  “Thanks, me too.”

  Silence filled the room for a short while.

  “Mila doesn’t scare you?”

  Natalie laughed. “She does but I’ve made a point of standing up to her. If I want to be a Guardian, I need to be able to confront egoistic bitches like her.”

  “That’s a funny way to get over your fears.”

  “I’ll probably get my ass kicked tomorrow. She doesn’t like when people put her in her place. I’m just worried about Fox. Nobody speaks to Mila like that and gets away with it.”

  “Well, then you don’t know Fox very well. She can handle anything.”

  Natalie giggled. “It will be nice. I’m sick and tired of Guardians giving up on this house because of the shit Mila does.”

  “I guess every household has its black sheep.”

  Natalie laughed again.

  “Nice to have you here, Chas. Yell if you need anything. I have to dash, Charlie still needs his food.”

  She got up and left.

  “Thanks.”

  “Good night, Chas,” Charlie said and both Natalie and I shook our head at the parrot, as they left my room.

  BY BEDTIME, I WAS EXHAUSTED BUT KEPT TOSSING and turning. The hours ticked by and it was too hot, but my eyes finally felt heavy, and I started to drift away. Someone tugging on my leg woke me up, and once I was fully awake, I realized it wasn’t tugging, it was something kneading. I switched my night light on and was grateful that I didn’t have to share a room with any of the other girls. I jumped as a ball of black fur and a flat face
with circles around the eyes looked at me.

  It was Shades, or Mr. Grey as they called him, not her, this side.

  He just stared at me as if he was thinking, ‘Chill, it’s only me.’

  Yeah, the voice in my head still belonged to a she though. I was sure the cat was female.

  I scratched him behind the ear. It was a spot he liked and he pushed his head harder into my hand which made me giggle softly. “Selene is going to kill me if she finds you here.”

  “Selene doesn’t have a say in this.” a voice said and I jumped out of my bed and grabbed the lamp which made the light throw shadows on the walls.

  “Who said that?” I asked a bit too loudly. The voice was quiet and I stroked the cat’s head again when I passed him. My eyes scanned every inch of my room and my heart was beating wildly inside my chest.

  “Put down the lamp Chas, you look ridiculous,” the voice said again.

  “Who said that? Show yourself!” I yelled. It was weird. I could clearly hear the voice, it was so loud, but I couldn’t tell where it came from. I squinted in every direction trying to see where the person was hiding. It was male, that much I could tell but it was a voice I didn’t recognize.

  The next moment Fox stormed into my room and stared at me with hands held up in defense as she took in the sight of me standing with the lamp in my hand. “Chas, put the lamp down.”

  “No, there’s somebody inside my room,” I yelled and went back to searching for any sign of another person.

  “There is nobody except the two of us…” Her eyes caught Mr. Grey. It was a wonder that the cat was still lying on the bed. I thought by now he would’ve ducked and run away. “What is Mr. Grey doing here?”

  “I don’t know. The cat has been following me for a long time.”

  She squinted, smiled, went over to my bed and scratched Mr. Grey’s head while I still waited for whoever was going to attack us.

  “Chas, put down the lamp you look ridiculous.”

  “No! I told you…”

  “There is no one besides the three of us in your room.”

  “Fox, I heard him okay. Someone is here.”

  Fox laughed. “You hear him already? That’s amazing Chas.”

  I stared at her, clearly confused why she was so jolly when I was so scared. “I don’t understand.”

  Fox looked at Mr. Grey. “Stop scaring your Tula and introduce yourself properly, Mr. Grey.”

  “My what?”

  “Tulas are the only ones that can hear their animals, Chas. Mr. Grey has chosen you.”

  “Mr. Grey….but he belongs to Selene.”

  “He doesn’t belong to her. He just likes her leisure apartment and the warm milk she feeds him.”

  “I can hear…what? Cats don’t talk.”

  “They don’t in the Domain, but we aren’t in the Domain anymore.” She walked over to me and took the lamp and placed it next to my bed again. I didn’t like this talking cat thing one bit. It was not natural.

  Fox giggled again and started to walk to the door.

  “You’re just going to leave me now?” I whispered.

  “He’s a cat, make friends, Chas. He will be the best friend you’ve ever had in your entire life. Embrace it. And Mr. Grey knows plenty about what’s going on in Revera, so it won’t hurt you to give him a chance.”

  “Still, it’s a talking cat.”

  “It’s not really like that. I can’t hear him, nobody except you can, Chas. You are not going crazy. Goodnight.”

  I stared at the cat that was still lying on my bed. “Yeah, fine. Go to sleep,” I mumbled and could still hear her soft giggle as she closed the door.

  “So this is for real?” I asked. He didn’t answer me back, just stared at me as if this entire fiasco hurt his feelings.

  I sighed and climbed back onto my bed. “Fine, don’t speak to me then,” I said and pulled the covers over me.

  I waited for an hour to hear what the stupid cat had to say, but he was furious with me about my little outburst. How was I supposed to know that cats could talk in Revera?

  I then started to remember what he’d done for me back home. How he’d led me back when I was lost in Chicago. It felt like months ago, but it had only been one.

  I wished I’d never gotten scared that day, and wished that my sand had never appeared. Then I would still be back home with Mom, occasionally feeding a cat who I’d told so many things to, who had listened to my secrets.

  Fox was right, he’d been my best friend for a long time, even though I’d never known it.

  My heartbeat started to calm down and I closed my eyes when fatigue washed over me.

  When I opened them, I found Leigh laughing at me.

  I knew why he was laughing. Shit, news spread extremely fast inside Revera.

  “I didn’t know! You could’ve warned me that animals could talk!”

  “I didn’t know that you were a Tula.”

  “The stupid cat showed up about a year ago in the Domain.”

  “Don’t call Mr. Grey stupid. The cat has feelings Chas, and the faster you learn that, the better it will be for both of you.”

  “He’s a cat, Leigh.”

  “Not your average type. Mr. Grey is a very clever Anitule, Chas. He can help you a lot, but not if he is pissed at you all the time.”

  “So what, I should apologize for something I didn’t know anything about?”

  Leigh laughed. “You really grabbed the lamp?”

  “Shut up,” I said.

  “Some Guardian you are,” he joked and I finally started to see the humor in all of this.

  “Still, a talking cat is a bit freaky.”

  “I think it’s the coolest thing inside Revera. Look I’ve got to go.” Leigh jumped up and waved back at me without looking.

  “Sure, see you later.”

  “You bet.”

  I woke up and the first thing I did was see if Mr. Grey was still lying on my bed. He was gone. Stupid cat, I whispered to myself as I got out of bed.

  Fox just smiled at me while all the other girls were grabbing cereal and sitting down around the table..

  Natalie was taking to Charlie across the table. It was so weird hearing him speak softly back to her. I knew it was how things this side worked, still it was going to take a long time to get used to another voice only I could hear. At least Charlie had a voice.

  Mila looked up and gave me a glare. I had a feeling she didn’t like me very much either. The others chatted with one another happily as they ate.

  “Here, grab yourself a bowl and some cereal before it’s all gone.” Fox handed me the bowl that was in her hand and started giggling again.

  “I didn’t know,” I said in a playful tone and started to giggle too.

  All of the other girls looked up at the two of us while I poured some cereal into my bowl.

  “What’s up?” a girl with blonde hair asked.

  “Well, Iris, it turns out that Natalie isn’t the only Tula in this house. We have another one.” Fox started telling them about how comical I’d looked with the lamp in my hand as I sat down on the open chair and started to dig into my breakfast.

  Mila laughed the hardest. Clearly a fake one as Fox just stared at her.

  “Don’t let them get under your skin, Chas,” Natalie said. “They’re just jealous that they aren’t as cool as us.”

  “Ha,” Mila started again and chirped from across the table. “I so don’t want bird poop on my shoulder. Only Tulas are crazy enough to be okay with it.”

  “He doesn’t poop on my shoulder. He actually flies away to go and do his business.” She kissed Charlie on his beak and laughed softly.

  “Oh, I agree one hundred percent on that one, Charlie,” she said softly.

  Mila just shot them both a look, got up and left.

  “You shouldn’t taunt Mila like that, Nats,” Iris said.

  “If she can do it, I can too,” Natalie chirped back and smiled at Charlie. It was kind of creepy the way sh
e looked at the bird.

  “So what does Charlie have to say?” a girl with a pair of earphones hanging around her neck with a dark brown, pixie cut asked.

  Natalie laughed. “Nothing, I just like to make him sound quirky.”

  All of us laughed, including Fox who just shook her head.

  “So.” Natalie broke her gaze from Charlie and looked at me, “Where is your Anitule?”

  “I think I hurt his feelings last night,” I said and she giggled.

  “Yeah, they are quite sensitive with how you perceive them, but he’ll be back. I can promise you that.”

  “Yay, me.”

  “Mr. Grey isn’t that bad, Chas.”

  Everyone around the table gasped.

  “Mr. Grey, as in Selene’s Mr. Grey?” Isis asked.

  “He’s not Selene’s cat. He chose Chastity.”

  “I wish he hadn’t. I have so many things to deal with already, he’s just going to work on my nerves.”

  “He won’t, he’s a gorgeous cat.” Natalie smiled.

  “Mr. Grey, wow. I bet Selene won’t think it’s too amazing,” the girl with the earphones said.

  “Andrea, she will understand. As soon as all of you skedaddle out of here, I need to go and see her about something, and will mention that too. We need to make space for him inside the House of Lords.”

  “Just as long as he leaves Charlie in peace, the cat can do whatever the hell he wants.”

  I giggled again.

  After breakfast all of us got ready for school. I walked with Natalie who couldn’t stop talking about how amazing it was to be a Tula. Yeah, she was reminding me more and more of Clare. She had that same sparkle in her eyes when she talked about the things she liked and she yapped nonstop about the things she loved.

  When we arrived, Mr. Dingle made a huge fuss about me being a Tula too.

  I gave him a shy smile as I remembered what Fox said to me yesterday and how he wanted to go to the dark side. Why Selene hadn’t chucked his ass into the Oblivion was beyond my knowledge and a story I was craving the details to.

  The entire class, even Max, was in awe when they heard who my Anitule was. They saw Mr. Grey as some sort of sacred animal the way everyone was talking about him.

  Still he was nowhere to be found and I was really starting to get annoyed with him. How long was he going to punish me for yesterday’s meet and greet? Seriously, cats don’t talk. He never had in the Domain when he was still a she, and how was I supposed to know he wasn’t your regular Garfield but a supernova being that could actually tell you Revera’s Queen’s secrets.