29

Alayna

Saturday 21th April, Year 825.

The mornings were brighter, finally. We actually had a few more hours of the day to get orders built at the lumber yard. I woke up and instantly went to my drawer to find Tiv's mobile. I had allowed myself to check it once a week, much to Ben's annoyance; he thought I should have it on me at all times. He didn't mind me using Tiv in any way I could. I had told Tiv one month but given him so much longer than that. I had given him so much of me in general that I had to keep pretending he still wanted me for my own mental well-being. Like what I'd put in would only be worth it if I kept putting more of myself into the stupid thought. I promised myself the high would be worth the low. The only thing that still gave me hope was that the phone still had a signal. He had not cancelled the contract. When I opened the bedside table drawer, I found the small, silver mobile was gone.

"Ben," I shouted, storming from my room.

I kicked his door and it swung open. He wasn't there. I stomped downstairs where Yalma, the Lambentian familiar who had been caring for my Dad, was doing her healing voodoo on him at the kitchen table.

"Can't I have five minutes at the start of the day before you rain fiery drama down on us?" Dad joked when he saw my thunderous expression.

"Where is he?" I barked.

"Probably on another mission to get himself killed," Dad shrugged before wincing. "I honestly can't pinpoint the moment where I went wrong with you two."

I grinned despite myself.

"What did he do?"

"He stole my stuff," I huffed.

"I'll ground him."

"He's twenty-five."

"Lives under my roof, doesn't he?" Dad grinned.

"What are we betting that you can't keep him in the house longer than twenty minutes?"

"Fine," Dad laughed. "You need to work the yard every weekend this month."

"Fine," I repeated. I was basically doing that anyway. "But if you fail, you do my hours down the mines for a week."

We both knew that wouldn't happen. Dad was hardly fit to work. Our soul income was me, Ben and Mum working the mines and the yard. It was barely enough for food let alone the house and bills. I had no idea how we hadn't been evicted.

Dad wouldn't be working anytime soon. Yalma had worked wonders since he woke up but there was only so much she could do with herbs and potions. Dr. Connor made weekly visits to check-in. Dad was still wheelchair-bound with a back brace and slept on a makeshift bed in the living room, but Yalma had somehow sped up his recovery and he could do a small amount of walking. I liked Yalma plainly because she was brave; a familiar openly showing up to hospitals to trade stock for potions was courageous. The fact that she had also made a name for herself in the Grange while having golden eyes was also a feat in itself. Maybe it was also a bit reckless. But it was for Dad so it was worth it.

"Hi Yalma," I said happily, my anger at Ben dissipated by Dad's bright mood.

She looked up and smiled kindly. Yalma looked about Dad's age. Her skin was dark as were her eyes, the gold stood out like black on white in her irises. She had long, black hair which fell to her waist, decorated with charms and beads. She was quiet but observant. Although I knew she was a familiar, I had no idea what her intrinsic power was. She showed no extraordinary gifts that the familiars in the Grange did. She simply made concoctions and fed them to Dad, making him stronger. I had no idea what she was giving him. It made me wish I'd tried a bit harder in health class when I had the chance.

The phone rang behind me and I wandered down the narrow hallway to answer it, secretly hoping it was Tiv as I always did.

"Hello?"

"Hi, what time am I meeting you today? I haven't slept yet and I want a nap," Ben complained.

"You stole my phone, you ass," I barked immediately.

"Yeah, sorry," he yawned. "I forgot to tell you. Mine broke and I was on night shift. Wasn't about to do that without a phone. I'll find a new one today."

I glared at the phone as if my gaze would pierce through to him.

"That phone isn't for use," I argued.

"Ah shut it, little runt. He's paying for it; it may as well get used. Anyway, I need to go to bed. I'll just crash here and then pick you up this afternoon. Three?" he said.

"Fine,' I huffed.

"Tell him he's grounded," Dad called.

Ben heard and laughed, "Yeah, tell the old man good luck with that one."

"He said I'm not working the mines this weekend."

Dad swore as I grinned.

Ben picked me up as he agreed and drove me down the winding roads that led out of Harroworth entirely. The drive wasn't long and we stopped at an abandoned school sports hall which had not been in use since before my parents were at school, back when everyone got an education and not just the people who could afford it. It was surrounded by a heavily wooded area, completely hidden unless you were looking for it. Its brown brick melded into the landscape behind it. Ben unlocked the door of the hall and let me in. The room was big and empty which confused me slightly. It had ragged basketball hoops at each end of the hall and faded lines spread across the floor. Ben continued to walk into a store cupboard and opened a trap door which led to a basement. He helped me down and I stared at a network of winding corridors. Directly ahead of me was a dormitory. To my left there was a room with some derelict screens, an old security room, maybe? We continued to walk down the long, grey corridors where more dormitories were scattered. There was also a shower room and changing rooms at the end of the passages. A smaller room on the right was littered with papers and photographs, as we entered it I noticed there were several people standing in it.

This was the underground bunker I had saw on Dan's computer monitors.

"Everyone, this is my sister, Alayna," Ben announced. "Alayna, you know Michael and Aaron."

They both gave me a smile.

I looked around the room at the other people and was frustrated to find I knew most of them. Charlotte gave me a nod and Dad's friend Paul, who helped us get him to the hospital, looked me up and down apprehensively. He was the oldest member there but still looked no older than forty. Dan, Tiv's avid photographer, stood bashfully in the corner and gave me a shy smile.

"This is Tom, Alex and Renee," Ben continued, motioning to a handsome brunette man who stood beside a tall, black-haired man and a tiny young woman. I recognised them as Ben's mates from school when education was still free. "And Riley."

Riley winked, "Anymore trouble from that guard that spotted the fire at yours?"

"Not since you turned his head into mashed potato," I smirked.

It was an odd mishmash of people standing before me, all staring like a sideshow act. I waited for them to put their gazes elsewhere until another guy walked in, lanky and muscular with a bright face.

"Oh and that's Chris," Ben said.

"Alright?" he greeted, not looking at me.

"Yalma and Connor actually work so they're not here," he explained.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Yeah, imagine if I actually got to work in the bar nowadays," Charlotte mumbled.

"You have rounds," Ben replied dismissively.

"Yes, boss," she smirked.

"Ah, shut up," Ben smirked back.

Charlotte, who was tall with a strong stature, had short, brown hair. She took Alex and left to "do rounds". I had no idea what that was. I just sat and watched the remaining members of Ben's little group interact with each other silently. It was clear everyone looked to Ben for instruction; he was in charge. I smirked at the idea that the man-robot who wanted nothing more than to be left alone had an entourage of people reporting to him. I inferred that the older man, Paul, was Aaron's Dad. Paul commanded the respect of the others, clearly not just Aaron's dad but the dad of the group. Either way, he seemed too young to be a Dad to someone Aaron's age. Aaron was definitely Ben's right-hand man as all plans made by Ben were run past him. They discussed Umbrith sightings, times and locations, people who they suspected had changed into Umbrith and their victims. The girl named Renée, who was pale with dark circles under her grey eyes, stayed quiet but furiously scribbled on a notepad. After about fifteen minutes, Ben and Paul left the room in a heated discussion about whether venturing into Cassibard Forest was a good idea, leaving fewer people in the room. I was instructed to stay put. The second Ben was out of sight I stood up and started to look around.

"Your idea of staying put differs from his," Aaron joked.

"If Ben had his way I would be locked in a foam room packaged in bubble wrap," I said sarcastically.

Tom laughed at this as he passed us. He looked like a male model: pale, angular features, piercing blue eyes and jet black hair. Old me probably would have bounded straight up to him to start a conversation.

"We've got some bubble wrap," Aaron signalled to a nearby storage cupboard.

"I dare you," I grinned.

He smirked, dimples ceasing his cheeks. Like Tiv's used to.

"You are a lot nicer now that I know about this place," I observed.

"Thanks, I think…" he replied.

"I just mean, now that I know you're all special-trained Umbrith killing machines, it seems more acceptable to throw someone you don't know over your shoulder and run off with them."

"My ribs will never be the same again," he winced.

I scoffed and he laughed again. When he smiled his eyes creased the same way Tiv's did too. It was endearing.

"Why do you think that the Umbrith are coming out during the day now?" I asked curiously, knowing I would get more information out of him than Ben.

He quirked an eyebrow as if he knew why I was asking him instead of my brother, but it didn't stop him from answering.

"We're not sure yet. It has only been a couple of months or so since they started their day walks so we're combing through everything from then looking for a trigger. Anyway, they aren't coming out to sunbathe or kill people, unless people stumble across them accidentally. It's like nobody is about to tell them to go to bed."

"How'd you get tangled up in this vigilante gig?" I probed, leaning forward.

He took a beat before answering, "Joined the circus about two years ago. Up until recently we've not had the numbers to do anything about the Umbrith. The rest of the time we just practised self-defence and shooting, and collected supplies and information to help us kill the creatures."

"What happened to the Umbrith that killed Jo?" I barely made a sound as I spoke.

"It's dead," Aaron said seriously.

My eyes widened. "You took it down?"

He scoffed gently. "Don't go handing me all the glory. Charlotte and Dan had my back. It was tough, but we managed."

I had so many questions but thoughts of Jo poured water over my curiosity.

"Sorry about your mate," he said, looking away from me.

"Yeah, me too," My words came out like a sigh.

"Look, while you've got the chance fire away with questions. Once Ben barges back in here he'll slap duct tape on my mouth," he joked lightly. "You're about to dive into this shit show; might as well get your bearings."

His attempt to crack a smile out of me succeeded—a small one—but it was there.

"What are rounds?" I asked, remembering Charlotte and Alex heading out earlier.

"Well, we try to have two people here at the base at all times as backup in case something goes wrong. Which it does. Constantly. We're in the middle of Cassibare Forest after all. We also have two people doing rounds in Umbrith hot spots during the day. If we can kill them, we do. If we can't, we note where they are and a larger group goes back for them later. If we can't find any Umbrith out and about, we scout out people we think we should be keeping an eye on. Tonight I'm stuck on night shift along with Michael. We usually hang around the base and deal with whatever the creatures get up to during the night. At the moment it's usually playing ambulance when they break into peoples houses. It's the busiest job. It's how Dad was able to get to you the night your Dad got attacked… Lucky for Charlotte and Alex, they're just doing the afternoon rounds and are free to go home when it gets dark. It's too dangerous to do rounds at night," he explained.

"Ben finally did a night shift last night," I observed.

"Yeah, we're on a rota but he has flatly been refusing to leave your house at night since the Umbrith came sniffing about. I don't blame him… But he had no choice last night as nobody could cover," Aaron shrugged.

It made sense that Ben rang at the crack of dawn, no doubt checking we were all safe.

"How do you guys live? This is a full-time job. Don't you have work and homes and families? And the mines? Surely you can't clock your hours on top of everything else?" I enquired.

He shrugged. "Everyone here has something they can provide… We just trade it all. Michael's a damn life saver. He steals guns and supplies for us from the Guard, he can also get IDs so we can get in and out Central unchecked for supplies. But most importantly, him and Dan have been hacking the scanning systems to log our hours. It's why none of your family have worked the mines in months. None of us have."

It only dawned at me at that moment that I hadn't seen Mum or Ben covered in mine grime for a long while, and nobody had made me go down the mines in weeks.

"That's dangerous," I pointed out.

"Believe me when I say nobody gives a shit if it's dangerous. We're fed up. We'll all die sooner or later just for existing in this city. There'll be a rebellion soon and Ben's ready for it. We all are."

My lips pulled down in a hard frown. He was right but I didn't want him to be. A year from now I could be a jar of ash… At least I wouldn't have to worry anymore. Aaron's infectious grin beamed towards me, dimples deepening, and I couldn't help but feel a warm sensation spread through my chest. It was as if his happiness was contagious, and my gloom began to dissipate. I liked him.

"You out of question?"

"I've barely started," I grinned.

"One more," he smirked back.

"Michael provides guns and mine cover. What does everyone else provide?"

"Alex is from Central and his family works in real estate so, when he has any spare houses, he lets us live in them for free and takes them off the market for a few months. Charlotte feeds us from her bar and Tom's grandma owns a grocery stall at The Grange which is a lifesaver. Renée owns a butcher shop which we always get free stuff from. Dad used to be security for Anthony Hawes." My stomach rolled when he mentioned the name but I kept my curious face glued in place as he continued, "So he teaches us self-defence. He is older now but he still knows what he is doing. He makes sure we can all defend ourselves if we are attacked, to the best of his ability anyway—Umbrith are still huge killing machines. Your Dad makes weapons and I'm a mechanic so I can fix up the cars Ben steals, Connor and Yalma treat us for free, Dan steals tech for us like phones and stuff…" he trailed off.

It explained how my family had managed to not starve to death yet.

"You're like a big family," I observed.

"Yeah I suppose so," he smiled. "Are you about done with the twenty questions?"

"I'm sorry. There is just so much to take in. Ben doesn't tell me anything," I complained.

"Ben thinks that if he wasn't around you'd spend your time lying on a bed of glass juggling knives," he grinned.

I looked at him properly. He was quite pretty. His hazel eyes were emphasised by long eyelashes, his cheekbones were prominent. He was my height, but he had muscles on his muscles. His boyish grin was endearing but after a moment I stood there awkwardly wishing I was with Tiv. With Tiv, it was easy. He would soothe me and make my bad thoughts less bad. I just wanted his arms around me, to make it all better. I imagined him holding me in our meadow but I knew my memory would never be as good as the real thing. I sighed.

Aaron, misunderstanding my sign, said, "Screw Ben, come one. I'll show you around."

He gave me a tour of the base, explaining things to me as he went. The room we started in was the training room, the biggest in the base. Filled with soft mats where he told me his dad had put him on his ass many times. I noticed several punching bags, weights and benches littered around the walls of the room; it looked like a miniature gym. Next, Aaron showed me a shooting range, filled with old silver drawers, most likely containing guns. As he led me from room to room, I watched him move and talk. It was strange how much Aaron resembled Tiv without actually looking like him. I brought myself up short as I realised I was paying far too much attention to how pretty I thought my brother's boyfriend was.

What is wrong with you?

"How old are you?" I asked abruptly.

"If I'd have asked you that, you'd have given me a smart-ass remark," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I would have," I forced a laugh.

"I'm twenty-three," he said, leading me back to the training area.

I didn't think he was that young, he was two years younger than Ben.

"Your dad had you young?"

"Yeah, him and my ma' were twenty when they had me. Seventeen when they had my sister."

Aaron led me back to the training area again. Ben was bent over a desk at the far side of the room, scribbling furiously. He stood up straight, looking tired. His eyes caught mine and he strode over to us.

"You were supposed to be looking after her not letting her wander about," Ben said seriously.

"I wasn't aware I had a babysitter," I hissed at both of them.

"Smooth," murmured Aaron, his voice dripping with irritation.

Ben glanced at me, his eyes impatient, "Aaron, when you're done with your little tour, take her home. Our parents aren't in on Alayna's induction into the group."

I glared at him, "I can walk home. It's twenty minutes."

"You're not walking twenty minutes through the forest," he snapped.

The moment he left, Aaron turned to me, "Do you want to grab a bite before it gets dark?"

My organs felt like they'd dropped out the bottom of me for several reasons.

"Aren't you and Ben…?" I trailed off.

Confusion knitted his brows together for a moment before he figured out what I was suggesting and burst out laughing.

"Ben's my best mate," he clarified. "He'll absolutely love that you made that assumption though."

"Oh," I smirked.

"I'm straight," he added, like it was an important detail.

"Good to know," the second the words left my mouth I flushed, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

"So, how about food then?" he asked again.

"I can't today, sorry. I'm going to help make sure my Mum isn't too snowed under with my Dad." It wasn't technically a lie.

Aaron was nice but I couldn't think of a decent reason to date him, apart from maybe to annoy Ben. And I was still waiting for literally anything from Tiv...

"Maybe another time then," he smiled.

"Yeah," I replied automatically.

Please reach out, Tiv.