RED ( Twisted Forbidden Tales) Book Two

The Journey Begins

Walden

The people here were angry and it was a justified one. So was I for that matter. They wanted revenge, but it made me worried. The Red family was involved in Christine’s plot. Did this put Ria in danger? No sooner had I thought that Danny appeared, followed by Candy, Hank, and Grace.

“Don’t think too much, kid,” Hank said, as he smiled, patting me on the back. Candy handed me a cup and I took a sip. My eyebrows lifted in surprise, it was hot chocolate. I couldn’t believe they had this here. I had only ever tasted this once before, on my fifth birthday with Talia’s mom, Delia.

“Good, right?” Candy asked, as she nudged me and winked. I didn’t understand what she meant with the wink, but I had to admit that my cousin had some very interesting and eccentric friends. Candy had a penchant for sweets. I don’t know if it was magic or not, but everything she made or things she made appear out of nowhere was utterly delicious. She hadn’t been there since that time, but Talia never did things without a reason.

“Is it really good, Walden,?” a too-familiar voice asked behind me. I didn’t like sharing, but for Ria, she was an exception. I handed her the cup with half of the drink inside. She looked at me and I nodded for her to drink it.

“Mmmmm, it really is good,” she said, making me swallow hard. Ria had no idea how she sounded, especially with a bit of the drink residue still on her lips even after she had licked her lips. I stared hard, almost in a trance. I willed myself to calm down. How was I supposed to know she had never tasted hot chocolate before?

Hank and Danny both cleared their throats loud enough for me to hear. Grace looked at me with a smirk and one eyebrow raised. Candy just hummed a tune and walked off to the table loaded with treats. That brought me back from my very dirty thoughts.

Hank, stood there looking at me with a mirthful look in his eyes. His thumbs were hooked in the suspenders attached to his pants as he rocked on his heels back and forth. I didn’t need him to say anything, he wasn’t the only one who wanted to know what was up with me.

Hank was also known as Happy, but everyone knew not to let Hank’s happy smile fool him. He was the most ruthless one of The Seven. Having taken over control of the Badlands near Sapience Ruins, now known as Happy Town. There was a hidden border there between the Dark Woods and The Outskirts. Many things, creatures, and people could be easily trafficked there. Some even said it was a time warp.

A memory of Christine having a tantrum and the first time she ever hit Finnigan came to mind. He had lost control over those lands in a battle between him and Hank. I don’t remember the details, but even Christine wouldn’t travel there anymore. From that point on, those lands had a complete turnaround under Hanks's leadership.

“So, have you thought about where you will be staying tonight?” Ria asked after she discarded the paper cup in the trash and turned back to give me her full attention.

“Well, this place has an Inn, right?” I suddenly thought of the medieval inn we saw before going to the underground base. I didn’t expect Ria to start bursting out laughing or Danny to start coughing. It made me ask exactly what was wrong with staying at the Inn here in Doc Harbor?

“ On that note, how about you just staying with me? After all, we have to meet someone in a bit.” She said as she grabbed my hand and led me out. Ria nodded and waved at many people on the way out.

“Your place?” I finally asked. Wondering if she was friendly with every stranger she met. Besides, we didn’t meet under normal circumstances.

“Oh, don’t misunderstand Mr. Walden, I’m offering my place for a reason,” she said, turning toward me. I had no idea how we reached her room or when she grabbed her jacket and even had one for me. Handing the jacket to me, she looked at me and smiled.

It was already late in the night, but she didn’t seem exhausted. I had heard from people at the meeting that she always worked in the back hospital and even did overtime. This was a late-night meeting but she still had a smile and energy, which included after the fall we had taken earlier.

The Reds were her family, but they hadn’t treated her very well. It was said she severed ties with them and only showed up for special occasions, which was rare. I put on my jacket dutifully all the while thinking about what her reason was for inviting me over to her place. If she didn’t tell, I wouldn’t ask. It wasn’t a hard thing to wait until we got there.

We rode the elevator up in silence. This time I wasn’t afraid or triggered. This made me think about the Tether Worm. Maybe that was the reason. The closer we got to above ground, a blaring sound could be heard through the elevator. At the same time, a burning sensation started on the right side of my leg, something had magically appeared inside my pant pocket.

“f**k! What are they trying to do?” Ria shouted in anger. A second later, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Bo stood on the other side, but she wasn’t alone. A man stood by her but his face was covered by a mask. The only thing visible was his eyes.

“Don’t come out!” Bo shouted at us, and the man and she pushed us back inside. I didn’t know what button she pushed, but the doors closed and the other side of the elevator opened instead.

“ We’re on lockdown, aren’t we? Ria asked. Both she and Bo moved quickly. The man kept up as he followed behind. This place was just plain strange as if the rooms moved by themselves.

“ The f*****g Reds have gone nuts! They gave the Huntsman a kill order!” Bo’s anger was obvious. The Night Wolves were innocent, let alone no longer rabid, but the current Reigning Family still issued a kill order. This only made everything Dillon said to be true. If some people during the meeting didn't believe him then, now would surely make them do so.

“This means the Reds are afraid of something. We definitely have to find out what that is,” said Ria as she sat down in the armchair that faced a long floor-to-ceiling window. Wasn’t this too revealing for the hunters to catch us? I took a look back at the elevator and, to my surprise, it was gone. Now in its place was another door with a weird handle and number pad above it. I turned back to look at Ria, walking up to her and the window. It was then I saw the thousands of lights of all shapes and colors. Buildings that were tall and some looked really small from this high distance.

“What?” I couldn’t even get it out and sat heavily in the chair next to her.

“Welcome to Sapience City,” Bo said, as she handed me a drink. She sat down in a chair across from us, the man sat on the other side of her side. Was he going to take his mask off? Plus, I thought his eyes looked really familiar. Not that I was into that kind of thing.

“Have you guys been here before?” I asked. The three of them were way too calm about things.

“Yep,” Bo said.

“ Spot on,” Ria said with a wink.

The man in the mask just nodded in agreement.

It was then that I remembered something. There was a burning sensation in my right pant pocket that stopped after Bo and that man went into the elevator.

“Wait a minute,” I exclaimed out loud as I reached into my pocket, to take out a brown leather pouch. The same golden crown symbol on my forearm was embedded in the pouch material. Both were glowing bright the moment I took the pouch out.

Ria’s eyes sparkled in excitement as she stared at the pouch. “Does this mean what I think it does, Ambassador Walden?” she asked, knowing full well that it did.

Three sets of eyes aside from mine all stared at the pouch. I sat at the small table before us. Slowly,I reached out to untie the drawstrings and see what was inside. The letters had appeared again but something was hidden inside the folds. I unfolded the stack of letters that were attached together only to reveal an odd-looking key.

“It’s a skeleton Key!” Ria, Bo, and the masked man all said at once.

“A what?” I kind of knew what a skeleton key was, but I had only ever seen one and that was from Christine, who never let me enter her private rooms again after I accidentally discovered it that one time.

“ Quick, check the letter that it was wrapped in. Maybe it is your mission.” Ria said as she got even more excited, moving closer to me from her seat to get a closer look at the key and the letter.

I put the key in her hand so she could study it, while I unfolded the letter to look at it again. It appeared blank at first, but soon words began to form. The time had come, my mission had been activated. There was a map at the end of the letter that said this was where we were to begin. I looked up at the three people before me, it seemed they were a part of my journey. My instructions were to follow my instincts and the rest would follow through.

I shared the letter with them, it was a no-brainer. They were happy to be involved. We all thought the map's destination looked familiar, but first, we had to rest up and make a plan. I wonder if the other Ambassadors' missions have been activated too. If so, we wouldn’t be seeing each other for some time. I also didn’t forget that Ria said she had a reason for bringing me to her place, but things changed after that kill order.

I was also a Night Wolf and something about the guy that Bo came with, gave off the aura that he was one too. He didn’t speak much in my presence, it felt like he was waiting for something. I agreed with Ria that something or someone was behind that killing order. The move itself was uncannily similar to what Christine would do when she wanted to hide something.

“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.” Bo got up from her seat and stretched. Then they headed toward the open kitchen area in what I now knew was a luxury hotel suite here in Sapience City.

After reading the mission letter, a bundle of knowledge flooded my brain like a boost, so I would at least be up to speed about this place. I also noticed the man’s eyes never left Bo’s every move. He even followed her to the kitchen where they proceeded to prepare dinner. They talked and laughed with one another while moving in tandem as if one entity. I knew instantly that they were mates.

Talia and Snow were the same way. It was a beautiful thing to see. I couldn’t help the small pang of jealousy that dabbed at my heart. If I ever became worthy, I wouldn’t mind having a mate. A genuine kind of love no one could break, it made me think of my parents, who never got to fully enjoy their bond. If we ever did reunite, I would find a way to rectify the moments and time they had lost.