Tim had barely disappeared from view when Sytris wheeled around, addressing the adults in a very brisk and serious tone. “They can’t have gone too far. If any of you wish to come with me, we will depart in five minutes. Take anything you think you may need. There’s no telling what we may find out there.”
“What about us?” Haley asked, raising her hand eagerly. “I want to help too.”
Again she saw her father open his mouth to protest furiously, but he was interrupted this time by Sytris.
“Out of the question,” he said, with an air of complete finality. “The entire reason we’re going on this trip in the first place is because your siblings have decided to take a joyride into the city despite our warnings of what could happen if you leave. You’re not ready for what awaits you out there.”
“I thought you said I was a prodigy,” Haley said hotly.
“I don’t deny it, but a fair bit of natural talent will not suffice. You need a mind for strategy, and experience —”
“Which we have no way of getting if you keep us locked up in here,” interrupted Lauren. “Funny how that works, isn’t it? Besides, you said yourself that our greatest strength lies in our bond of family, and here you are, five minutes later trying to keep us apart again.”
Haley glanced at her. In all honesty, she hadn’t expected Lauren to agree, given how strongly she had felt about the whole situation the previous night. But in that moment she couldn’t help but smile at the mixture of fierceness and determination she was exhibiting.
Sytris stared at them. His bright blue gaze moved from Lauren to Haley, and then to their parents, who didn’t seem happy but didn’t voice their disagreement either.
“Very well,” he said slowly. “If you wish to come, then you may. But be warned, we have no way of knowing what threats you may face this time. Be ready for anything and everything.”
Both of them nodded.
“We would like to come too,” said Mrs. Gibson. “We want to help in any way we can.”
Even Sytris looked taken aback. He surveyed her, an eyebrow arched. Then he glanced at Mr. Gibson, who gave a weak and obviously forced smile. “Very well,” Sytris said again. “We leave in a few minutes. Whoever wishes to join us can meet us outside; the rest can remain here, in case they come back.”
The crowd dispersed. As everyone returned to their rooms, Haley came to a sudden halt, her eyes fixed on Lauren’s back. The others were conversing in low voices, each of them headed in different parts of the mansion. Coming to her decision, Haley rushed over to Lauren and tapped her on the shoulder just as she began to move up the splendid staircase leading into the upper rooms.
“Can we talk?”
Lauren stopped, looking down at her in mild surprise. “That depends: are you going to insinuate that all my life decisions are made on the subconscious basis of trying to please my parents again?”
“Actually I wanted to apologize for that. It wasn’t any of my business, and what I said was completely out of line. I’m sorry.”
She could see the tension slowly leaving Lauren’s body as if it was a palpable thing. “I’m sorry too. I don’t know why I said what I said. I don’t even really know anything about your family to be able to judge.”
“I’d say you knew enough, since your guess was pretty spot on,” Haley said, eyes fixed on the ground. “You know it’s kind of funny. Finding out you have siblings and then immediately grating on each other’s nerves. It’s like the last twelve years of separation never happened.”
Lauren laughed, light and airy. “I guess this whole sibling thing comes a lot more naturally to us than we thought. You know, when I was younger my cousins used to stay over for the holidays. It was nice but… I always kind of wanted people around who… wouldn’t disappear as soon as New Years came around.”
“I think that’d be nice,” Haley said. They smiled again.
“Girls,” said a voice, snapping them out of their reverie and causing them to jump. It was Mr. Bryant. “Might want to get a move on.”
“Right, sorry.”
They scrambled up the stairs, then Lauren turned left and Haley turned right. The room Haley had been given was large and luxurious, but it didn’t exactly feel “homey.” It was beautifully decorated, with a magnificent queen-sized bed covered in ocean-themed bedspreads, and there were many lavish paintings hung around the room. It was gorgeous, but she felt distinctly out of place, as if she was intruding on someone else’s space. Perhaps it was because she had only been here for a night, or maybe it was because nothing here had been chosen by her, but she felt like a stranger, despite getting the feeling that this room was specifically chosen for her.
She hurried over to the bags that were piled up in the corner, which she had yet to unpack. They didn’t know how long they were meant to stay here, after all. What was the point of unpacking if they were likely going to leave soon? Now that she thought about it, she didn’t even know what to bring for their journey.
What exactly would one need on a trip to fight monsters? At best she could think of bringing her bangle, some aspirin and maybe a change of clothes, but nothing else of value crossed her mind. She shoved the clean garments into an empty bag and hurried downstairs, but then she saw Lauren, carrying a large knapsack that looked like it was struggling to hold all its contents. What she was possibly carrying in there Haley had no idea, but she didn’t bother to ask. They hurried out into the driveway, where Haley’s parents, Mr. Whitmore, the Bryants and Sytris were gathered around the Gibsons’ vehicle.
“Get in,” said Mr. Gibson.
Luckily the car was a seven-seater, so there was no squeezing, but it meant Haley and Lauren had to take the seats at the very back, which Haley hated. But it wouldn’t last long, she reminded herself. Once they found the missing boys some of them would be traveling back on that flying horse. She made a mental note to herself to ask if she could be one of them, since by the sound of it she was the only one who had never traveled via Ventus Airlines before.
It was a long and grueling drive. Even with the AC on and the windows cracked, it was still incredibly hot inside the packed vehicle. Sytris alone, who was in the middle seats, looked unperturbed by their less-than-ideal seating arrangements.
His freezing blue eyes were fixed solely on the road, as if expecting the missing siblings to randomly pop up on the side of the street. About fifteen minutes into their journey, Haley realized she had been clutching at her bangle without even noticing. It was a familiar, comfortable feeling. It reminded her of the way she had felt when she first received it from her parents, and how it made her feel as if they were always watching over her in the moments they weren’t physically there. Now that she was consciously focusing on it, she tried to do what Sytris had instructed Tim to do, and trace their locations with magic.
It was a completely futile effort.
The only thing she felt was a mounting feeling of frustration. She felt useless, as if she should have been able to contribute to their search rather than just sit there, sandwiched in the backseat like a toddler.
“Message from Tim,” Mrs. Bryant said, breaking the silence that had fallen in the car. “He hasn’t found them yet.”
Sytris let out a distinctly frustrated noise.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure they’re okay,” said Mr. Whitmore, but he sounded as if he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else. Haley recognized the look in his eye as one of profound anxiety. He had already lost his wife, she couldn’t imagine the pain he would feel losing his son as well.
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“Besides, they had a surprise monster attack just yesterday, and they came out on top. I’m sure they’ll be fine this time too.”
Haley was sure Mr. Whitmore had meant for this to sound uplifting, but it had quite the opposite effect. Sytris frowned in his seat, then cast a glowering eye over Mr. Whitmore and said, “Experience with one type of monster doesn’t mean they can suddenly handle all others. There are hundreds of different supernatural creatures out there: things you’ve only ever heard of in fairy tales or on TV, things that have never even made it into any form of fiction because the few people who did witness them were too frightened to reconstruct their image at all, or never lived to tell the tale. I will feel sure that they’re safe when we find them and have returned home. Only then.”
Another awkward silence descended upon the vehicle. Minutes passed where the only sounds heard were the honking of irritable drivers and Mr. Gibson yelling curses at a few. Then something happened to break the quiet, something so strange and unexpected that it almost caused Mr. Gibson to veer into oncoming traffic out of fright.
Lauren let out a long, shrill, piercing scream that nearly ruptured Haley’s eardrums. She clapped her hands over her ears out of pure instinct, but it didn’t do much to block the sound. The car zigzagged across the street as Mr. Gibson struggled to regain control, finally coming to a halt at a precarious spot on the sidewalk.
Drivers and pedestrians alike yelled and hurled curses at them, but nobody paid them any mind. Every eye in the vehicle was fixed on Lauren, who had stopped screaming but was still panting hard.
“Lady Mnemosyne?” Sytris said.
Lauren didn’t respond. Her eyes were unfocused and she was still breathing hard.
“Lauren!” Haley said, and she jumped, seemingly coming back to her sense.
“What? What happened? What’s going on?”
“You tell us, you’re the one who started screaming like a banshee!”
“I… I saw something,” Lauren said. “My head felt like it was splitting open, and then I guess some sort of — of vision came over. Flickers of something.”
“Vision?”
“A memory?” Sytris said. He no longer looked apprehensive, he was intrigued. “What happened? Who did you see?”
“It was inside of a bar,” she said. “I saw some guys fighting, one of them actually broke a bottle over the other’s head. And he crumpled, and… And there was all this commotion.” She let out a breath that seemed to cause her a great effort. “I’m sorry, it was so confusing, and so loud.”
“Did you see anyone?” Sytris asked. “Aside from the men fighting. Whose point of view was it from?”
“I — I don’t know, it was so jumbled…”
“Think. Try to picture it again.”
Lauren closed her eyes and exhaled. She sat for several seconds, silent, then slowly opened her eyes. “I think it was Oscar,” she said.
“Did you see any other details about the bar they were in? Like a name?”
“Yeah. Yeah, there was a sign. The Jardin Bleu.”
There was a small flurry of movement as Mr. Whitmore pulled out his phone. “There’s a bar close by with that name,” he said excitedly.
“They must have been there recently,” Sytris said. “Someone could have seen where they went. We can start our search there.”
“I’ll let Tim know,” said Mr. Bryant. As he typed his message, Mr. Gibson eased the car back onto the road and slammed on the gas pedal, sending them shooting forward. The drive to the Jardin Bleu took over thirty minutes, and when they finally arrived outside the shabby-looking pub painted a dull shade of blue, the doors had been thrown open before the vehicle had fully come to a halt. Sytris and Mr. Whitmore were the first out. They hurried into the pub while the others remained in the car, watching the entrance. After a few minutes they returned, looking dejected.
"They were certainly here about an hour ago," said Sytris. "The bartender distinctly remembered Lord Nokk, said he was a bit odd. But he left shortly after."
"Maybe someone else saw where they went," Mr. Bryant said hopefully. "We can ask around."
Sytris nodded. The Bryants too emerged from the car, but when they had pulled back the seats for Lauren and Haley to climb out, Mr. Gibson said, “I think we should split up for a bit.”
“What? Why?” Mr. Whitmore’s voice sounded more suspicious than confused.
“We’ll cover more ground that way. You guys can question the people here, and we’ll head down the street to see if anyone else saw where they went.”
“I don’t think we should,” Sytris said firmly. “It’s far too risky to be constantly separating, that’s the whole reason we’re out here in the first place.”
“We’re just trying to help!” Haley’s father said angrily. “Forget separation, how are we ever going to get anywhere if you don’t even trust us! We may disagree about a lot of things, but one thing we are in agreement about is keeping the children safe. That’s all we’re trying to do.”
There was another brief spell of quiet. Sytris’s face was as blank as a stone, so still it almost didn’t seem like he was breathing. Then he spoke, so quietly Haley almost missed what he said next. “If you think it will help, then do what you must. Meet us back here once you’re finished.”
Mr. Gibson nodded. The others peeled away from the car, scattering into the vicinity of the Jardin Bleu and shooting curious glances back at them as they moved. Mr. Gibson started the car up and slowly glided down the street, moving steadily towards a group of people clustered ahead. Hopefully at least one of them had seen where Jon and Oscar had gone. The longer they were out here the more anxious Haley felt, as if something bad were about to happen. She had secretly been glad for the opportunity to escape the mansion for a bit, because as beautiful as it was the atmosphere was alo inexplicably suffocating. However, now that she was outside, she wanted nothing more than to be back inside its cavernous walls.
The people ahead turned to look curiously at them as the car approached. Haley put her finger on the button to wind down the window so that she could interrogate them, but next second she was thrown to the other side of the seats as her father slammed his foot down on the gas pedal and made a sharp right turn; the car wheeled back onto the main road and shot off like a bullet.
“Dad, what are you doing?” she yelled.
In the rearview mirror she caught a glimpse of the rest of their party hurrying out of the bar, looking at the retreating vehicle in shock and confusion.
“Dad, stop! You have to go back! Dad!”
But Mr. Gibson took no notice of his daughter’s pleas. He too glanced into the rearview mirror and actually sped up.
“Dad, stop!” Haley cried. “You can’t just leave them!”
“We’re doing this for you, Haley,” said her mother. “This kind of life isn’t for you. And we won’t allow Sytris to throw you in the middle of some magical war so that you end up dead too.”
“Where are you even going?”
“Home,” her father said. “We’re going to pack a few things, then we’re going to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for a bit while we figure out our next course of action. If Sytris wants to turn the rest of them into child soldiers, that’s his business. But we took a vow to keep you safe and that’s what we’re going to do.”
“They’re my family! Don’t I have a right to get to know them?”
“Having the same blood doesn’t make you family,” he said viciously. “Family is the people who’ve been there for you your whole life, who love and care for you, who have your best interests at heart, who’ve made countless sacrifices so that you could be happy. We’re your family!”
“Stop, you have to stop!” Haley said, and she actually leaned forward, clutching at her father’s arm like a child. “Please Dad, we can’t just abandon them like this, it’s not right.”
Her father wrenched his shirt out of her grip, eyes fixed on the road. “We’ll talk about all this later, Haley. Just sit down.”
“No, you always do this! This isn’t about you caring about my wellbeing, this is about you being afraid that I could end up caring about them more than you!”
“That’s not true,” her mother said, sounding shocked.
“Yes it is. I don’t even know why you would think that, it’s stupid. Me wanting to know them more doesn’t mean I want to replace you with them!”
“Haley —”
“Stop the car. Just stop the car!” Haley’s last words issued as a scream, a scream that was drowned by an enormous rumbling, crashing sound. The car shook violently as the ground beneath them was ripped apart. Haley felt herself being thrown about the car like a ragdoll, as Mr. Gibson shouted in alarm, unable to control the vehicle. There was a sickening crunching sound, then everything went black.
After a few moments, light began to pierce the darkness. Haley opened her eyes. A very strange sight met her eyes: it took her a moment to realize that she was looking down at the roof of the vehicle, where the car light had been shattered. She was strewn over the backseat, upsidedown, her right arm hanging limply, trailing blood onto the sleek metal. She looked in front of her and screamed, but her voice only issued as a weak, hoarse cry.
Her parents were in the front seat, her mother’s hair spread messily over her head, which was pressed against the cracked window. Her father was slumped against the steering wheel, blood oozing from his mouth.
“Mom,” she whimpered. “Mom? D-Dad?”
Tears pricked at her eyes, which felt like they were halfway out of their sockets. She raised herself tremulously, her right hand trembling violently. “Mom? Dad, please.”
She was crying now, tears streaming down her face as she gasped and gulped. “No… no no no, please wake up. Please. Mom! Dad!”
She could hear people outside, shouting, screaming, curious bystanders who had obviously come to see what had become of them. But she didn’t care, all that existed was her and her parents, who were slumped over in the front seats, bleeding freely and not breathing.