Phoenix Hidden

Chapter 2

    It starts the same way it always does, the same dream as far back as I can remember. Could my brain simply not come up with anything else? I see things through a young girl’s eyes, running through a forest led by a young boy’s hand, seeing their reflections in the stream they ran along. They did not look any older than five, though neither’s actual age could be told by the naked eye even though he had centuries on her in truth. 

    “Hurry this way!” The tall boy yells out to me while pulling my hand. I don’t know why I took his hand or how we got here. What were we running from? Or perhaps it was a who? My thoughts are jumbled, but mostly it is telling me he is the enemy, yet my gut tells me to trust him and that he would protect me.

    It is always the same, year after year, never changing; this familiar boy is dragging me through what seems to be a village in the dead of night following the water, nothing more than a silhouette I can’t quite make out.  I look behind me to see the following light and people shouting; Are those torches? Why am I being chased by people? Or is it him being chased? My breathing grows heavier along with my legs, and it begins to feel as though I am running through thick mud. I have had this dream enough times in my life to know what happens next, yet I always wake up in a panic.

    We stopped running as we reached a thicket surrounded by bamboo. It’s a small clearing that seems relatively peaceful, even with the distant screams of what I assume are villagers in the background growing closer.  The boy turns towards me; I still cannot make out his face, just mere shadows almost as if he was made from them. He let go of my hand, a soft light travels from his stomach up to his mouth. He spits the glowing bead into his hand, yet somehow I do not find this strange or gross? I am not phased by this at all. I feel honored by this object being presented to me. Do I know what it is? Every time, I feel like there is more than the dream or my mind allows me to process; As if I was being blocked from my knowledge.

    “Here…Take this and keep it close to you. It must never leave your sight. Understand?” I look down at my palm and watch as he places what looks like a gem in my hand and then closes my fingers around it. Nodding, I look up to meet a pair of round amber eyes; it is the only feature I ever see clearly in this dream. Who is this person? I feel as though I know him that I have known him for a lifetime; however, I am a child, and that simply cannot be true, right?

    The yelling grows closer, and I feel my heart begin to race as I look behind me to the quickly approaching light, anxiety taking over my body. I AM PUSHED FROM THE THICKET before I even have a chance to look back to the boy and find out what to do next. Stumbling backward for a moment, I begin to fall. The world around me begins to fade into pure darkness. I shut my eyes tight, bringing my hand with the gem-like bead to my chest to hold it close as I felt a tear run down my cheek.

    With a thud, the shock of having the wind knocked out of me, I awoke. Surprise, surprise; I had fallen out of bed with a heart that felt as though it would burst from my chest… again. As I moved to get back into bed, my hand instinctually went to my locket around my neck. It was warm like it always was, even in winter, and it provided me an odd sense of comfort after those dreams. Voss had given it to me when we first met, right before we started kindergarten. I smiled as I thought of my friends looking at the clock, wondering if they were still down at the pool. A frantic rapping on my door pulled my attention and startled me from my thoughts.

    “EL! EL! Open up! Please!” My brow furrowed as I recognized it was Nara sounding frightened, not of her usual bubbly-ness. I made my way to my hotel door in confusion as she had never called me that before, opening it to see an expression of worry and terror misplaced on her typical cheerful baby face to match my look of concern. She was panting as she pushed past me in a frenzy like she had run straight up instead of taking the lift. We were on the 22nd floor, so that can’t be right. Maybe she did? Nara was on the track team and in great shape. Tiny… but she was the fastest person in our school. Her face filled with dread to mirror the fright that was heard in her voice. I never even had a chance to say a single word between her panted and hysterical breaths.

        “Oh, my goddess, Just like… I don’t know.”

                Did she just say “goddess”? Since when is Nara religious in any fashion?

     “He told me to run to you. I don’t even understand what happened. Maybe we should get help… no, no, he said just to come here….” She paced around my room as she seemed to be speaking more to herself than to me before turning around and raising her voice as if she had just realized I was standing here. “ORIEL! Close the damn door! Lock it.. triple lock it! Maybe we should put the dresser in front of it…”.

    I raised a brow, not entirely sure why my friend was being weirder than usual but locked the door as she asked. “Nara? Are you okay?” It then occurred to me that she was without Voss. This realization brought a new wave of anxiety into my soul as I tried my best to remain calm. “Nara… Slow down. What happened? Where is Voss?” I gently grabbed her arms to stop her from pacing and looked her in the eyes. “How about you stop and tell me what is happening from the beginning.” I smiled softly as I tried to coax her into calming down enough to make some sense.

    Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breathes before opening them again. “Okay, so you know how me and Voss went down to the pool?” I nodded in acknowledgment as her words began to accelerate once more. “Well, we were down there playing Marco Polo when this guy who looks a lot like Voss showed up. I don’t ’member much after that… just Voss and the guy talking, well, more like yelling… then they started fighting... Voss then told me to run to you and that we were to lock the door until he arrived.” 

    Her body tensed and caused me to think there was more to the story, but I did not push the issue. Why would someone randomly confront Voss? His vibe alone tends to make people avoid him as he was not exactly the approachable type. I mulled over what could have happened; maybe the guy was drunk? Nara did not mention anything about the other guy besides the fact that he resembled Voss, which could simply mean he was also blonde in Nara-speak. A knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts and caused Nara to freeze in place like a deer in headlights. I don’t think I have ever seen the girl so terrified before, let alone still. She is usually going a million miles a minute. Slowly, I moved from the statue that had become my friend to the door and looked out the peephole to see who it was.

    It was Voss, and he looked rough. His usual slender yet rugged features were covered in blood. Was all of that blood his? I quickly opened the door as he rushed in, practically pushing me over in the process. My body hit the wall behind the door with a loud thud as I blocked the door from smacking me in the face.

                            What the hell?!

    I looked to the troubled man that ran past me in his haste as I shut the door while he approached Nara. I think that was the first time he seemed not even to realize I was there. “Nara, we need to leave now. Your spell has worked; they think you are her, but it’s only a matter of time before they see through the illusion.”

    “s**t… I thought with our collective power behind it…..would have lasted longer.” Nara’s brow furrowed as a pout formed on her lips. “I know magick has its limits… but damn….” She stomped her foot as she growled while he grabbed a bunch of my towels, wiping blood from his face and torso. “It should have lasted longer! How did they find us?!”

    Looking between the two, I blinked as nothing they were saying made any sense. Did my brain malfunction? Maybe I am still dreaming. Could I be dreaming something different? I canted my head slightly to the side in thought as they spoke. This is definitely different than my usual dream. Or maybe I am in a delusion due to the fall from the bed. I shrugged my shoulders dismissively at my thoughts as I focused on what was unfolding in front of me and noticed that Voss was packing up my things, and Nara seemed to be texting someone.

    “Hey! What are you doing?” I asked, finally seeming to have their attention at my exclamation. “Why are you packing my things?” Pointing to Voss as my voice grew stern as my frustration at being in the dark became evident. “ Check out is hours away, and the train to Ware isn’t even running yet. Are my parents coming to pick us up?”

    I looked between them, understanding that clearly, this was some type of emergency. The two of them stopped what they were doing for a split second, looked at each other then went back to their actions.

            Did both of them just ignore my questions? What the actual f**k?! Okay, now I’m getting a little pissed off.

    Nara and I were easily the less confrontational among the four of us, though I would be calmer than her. She was very hyper most of the time, and I tended to keep my emotions checked more.  I pride myself on my ability to keep a cool head, but this situation was beginning to rub me wrong. Neither of them is acting normal…. well, expected for them; why would they not answer me, and what’s with all the panic over some dumbass picking a fight with Voss?

                                                Wait…. Did Voss kill the guy? Oh my gosh! Did he?!

    “Seriously! One of you…answer me, RIGHT NOW!” I shouted for maybe the third time in my entire life, but I was fed up. “Stop ignoring me. Why are you packing my things?” Remaining where I stood, as my legs seemed only to be able to hold me in place, my voice grew high-pitched as my panic rose. “Who are you texting?” I could feel my eyes begin to burn as I held back tears, directing my question to Nara as Voss ignored me once again. While some people lash out at others when angry, I just tend to cry. Voss always said he thinks it’s because I’m not actually mad but instead hurt. I am not sure how much I agree with him at this point because a part of me feels so hot with anger that I feel like I would burst into flames. I had never been this mad, but I seemed to have finally gotten their attention or perhaps made them feel guilty enough to answer.

    Nara was the one to step forward after she put down her phone. She placed her hands on my arms as if going to comfort me but quickly let go, closing her hands into fists as she took a sharp inhale of air through her teeth. “I know!” She responded with a huff as she shot a glare to Voss, who hadn’t said a word but was watching us as he finished packing all my stuff away.

                                            What the actual f**k is happening right now?

     She rolled her eyes rather dramatically before smiling softly at me and spoke relatively gently as her voice became soothing with each word. “El….”

                                            Why did she randomly start calling me by a nickname? She’s only used my full name since day one.

    “I was texting Dace to wake her up. I am sure you don’t want to leave her behind. We have to go, so I was just telling her to pack up. You can relax. Everything will be fine.” Her voice washed over me like warm water as each word she spoke felt like it was dripping with melatonin. “Everything will  be fine….”

    My eyes began to grow heavy as I glanced over to Voss, who was closing my suitcase. I canted my head slightly, blicking my eyes as I tried to focus with a furrowed brow. “El, look at me.” Looking back to Nara was difficult, and I am not entirely sure my eyes are even open anymore. “Everything will be fine….”

    I began to think of the book and movie The Wizard of Oz as this weird feeling came over me. Was this how Dorothy felt when she entered the field of poppies? I think I was still standing, but I am not all that sure at the same time. I felt as though I was conscious but wrapped in a blanket cocoon. Even though it was dark, it was comfortable. I couldn’t focus on anything tangible for more than a second, it seemed. My thoughts flowed around as if drifting me out to sea or even flowing along with the wind. A soft smile formed on my lips as I let myself get carried away in this place. This is nice….

    Voss picked Oriel’s suitcase off the bed as he walked up next to Nara. He looked to Oriel’s sweet face as she stood in a trance. “About time… if she got any more upset, she may have set the entire hotel on fire. We can’t hide her if she uses her abilities.”

    Nara rolled her eyes again. “Oh? And what did you actually do to calm her? I wouldn’t say I like this. She knows something isn’t right… she feels it.” Her steely blue eyes wavered as she pouted, looking at her best friend. “We can’t keep her in the dark much longer. Liang’s lackeys are getting closer, and it won’t be long until it all comes crashing down on her. Leaving her clueless… it just seems mean.”

    Avoiding the subject, Voss redirects it quickly. He isn’t ready to tell her. How would she even take it? “Were you really texting, Candace?”

    “Yes. You know I don’t lie.”

    “What the hell, Nara! Why? You’re not really thinking about bringing that b***h along with us? She’s f*****g human.” His voice growled as he snapped at her. “For a so-called Daemon of Compassion, bringing a human seems rather cruel. It’s too dangerous.”

    Nara quickly turned her head at his tone, her hair draping over her features before falling back into place. “I have my reasons, do not question me. I am much older than you, and despite your species being known for its wisdom, you do not know everything. You have what? Four tails? You have a ways to go.”

    Voss blinked at her. A mix of bewilderment from her snappiness back at him and confusion of what Candace had to do with it.

    “What the hell does that have to do with dragging a human along? Candace doesn’t even know about our realm. Her kind thinks we’re all make-believe.” He handed Nara Oriel’s case before wrapping one arm around Oriel’s shoulder and hooking the other under her knees as he lifted her. Oriel’s body was still feverish to the touch, but she wasn’t so hot that he would be seared like Nara’s hand was.

    “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Nara stuck her tongue out playfully at him as she skipped ahead to the door, swinging the suitcase like it was empty instead of packed full. Yes, there was a s**t-storm on the horizon, but she wasn’t about to let that bring her negativity.

     “Guess the all-knowing Kitsune will have to wait and see.” She smirked at him as he walked past her through the door carrying Oriel in his arms.

    “Fine… but I am not protecting her. If she dies… she dies. No fur off my back.” He said with a huff as they walked towards Candace’s room, making it clear he was unhappy with her coming along. “She better be f*****g up and ready. I am not waiting for her.”

    “Get over it, Voss. If she isn’t, I will get her packed. You can’t go without me anyway, and I am not going without her. So suck it up and quit your bitching.”

     Nara knew Voss and Candace hated each other. But even if he didn’t realize it yet, they needed her as well. However, she knew telling him that would only make the situation worse. So she chose omission, the lesser of two evils. He growled lowly as she stopped at Dacey’s door.

    “Get. Over. It.” Knocking rapidly, she called out cheerfully. “Dacey! DACE! Open up!”