Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1) (4 page)

“I know.” He stopped pacing and looked over at me. His eyes traced my face searching for some sort of answer I did not have. “I just can’t really explain it. Not without scaring you.”

His face turned back to the stairs. I knew what he wanted to do, but he would not because it would mean leaving me alone and he would not be able to handle that. He had never been able to leave my side until we moved to Bolton. It was something that annoyed the heck out of me but it was also something that I loved about my big brother. He would always be there for me, always doing what was best for me.

“Go.” I told him when I made up my mind. I could not be the reason he did not do what he wanted.

“Annie, you know I can’t.” His sad eyes pleaded with me not to persist but I had to.

“Yes, you can. It’s what you want to do. I may not understand what is going on up there but you obviously do. If that means you still want to go up there and help our parents then do it.”

He looked back and forth between the staircase and me. His mind was made up. I knew that, he was just trying to find a reason to stay. But there wasn’t one.

“Don’t open the door to anyone,” he finally let out. “Whoever needs to get you will have a key. No matter what you hear do not open the door. Do you understand, Annie?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

He nodded and walked over to me. His arms wrapped around my shoulders into a hug. It felt nice to have his warmth surround me but I could not shake off the feeling that this was our last hug. “We all love you Annie. Always have, always will.”

I could not bring myself to tell him that I loved him also. It felt too much like saying goodbye and it was not. I would see him in a few hours at the most. Right?

He let me go and walked up the steps, unlocked the door, and exited the room. I heard him move the dresser over the door. I guess mom knew what I did too or else she would have put it back herself.

I looked over the big room. It was too quite. It felt lonesome. My whole family was above me doing who knows what and I was just sitting around. My breath started to quicken at the thoughts popping into my mind. Them, fighting off some unknown assailant, dying at the hands of others. I wanted so badly to run up the steps after Simon and tell him to stay with me, to help calm me down like he always did. I pictured him next to me whispering calming words. Soon the small panic attack was over.

Maybe, I should be up there with them. Even though I did not have much skills or training in anything, I could be of some use. I could distract whoever was there so my family could attack them. However, the more I thought about it the more I was convinced I would just hold them back. They would spend the entire time protecting me instead of themselves.

I forced my heavy legs to move to the cot closer to the steps and sat down. My body must still have been tired as I fell asleep soon after.

~*~

When I woke up, there was nothing to tell me how much time had passed. For all I knew it could have been mere minutes. I stopped to see if I could hear anything from above. But there was no sound. I knew it wasn’t sound proof because I heard Simon moving the dresser and then walk away.

I stretched my limbs out and walked over to the door on the opposite side of the room. It opened without any noise revealing a bathroom.

I quickly used the facilities and sat back on the cot. My hands twisted the hem of my shirt while my brain repeated the binding spell. No noise came from above, not a voice or footsteps. The quietness of everything made me more on edge.

Where did my family go?

With every minute that passed by the more I wished my brother would burst through the door with a smile plastered on his face telling me that everything was over. That mom and dad are waiting for me upstairs and we have nothing to worry about anymore, but it never happened. No matter how long I waited just sitting on that cot Simon never came back for me.

Hours later, my body ached from sitting down for so long that I just could not sit anymore. Instead, I stretched my muscles out in the open area in front of the staircase. I did the excises from a yoga class my mom and I had taken on earth. As my muscles stretched, I felt calmness overtake my body. I forced my mind to forget what might be happening upstairs and breathed in deeply. That is when I heard it, the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the bedroom. The person walked around the whole room before he stopped in the area above me.

“Anastasia,” my mother’s muffled voice drifted down to where I stood. “Sweetie you can come out now.”

My heart soared at the sound of her voice. They were okay. I started running up the steps before I remembered Simon’s words to me. Do not open the door. Whoever needs to get you will have a key.

It’s not as if I could open the door anyways, I did not have a key and Simon had locked it and on top of that there was a dresser heavier than me on it. Therefore, I waited on the third step for mom to move the dresser aside and open the basement door. But wouldn’t she know I couldn’t open the door? I know she would have, so why was she telling me to come out?

“Did you find her?” A sinister voice growled at my mom.

“No,” mom replied. “We will have to question the boy.”

“He won’t give her up.” I could barely hear the man’s voice through the floor as he walked farther away from the stairs.

“I guess we will have to persuade him.” She drew out the word persuade which made it seem like they were not going to be nice about it. The longer my mom talked the more her voice changed. It took on a deeper tone, it almost seemed like a third person was in the room.

“Make sure she is not in here before we leave. I have already checked the other rooms.” The man stormed out of the room, his heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway. I could hear someone throwing things around.

It had to be my mom, but it could not be because she would have known where I was. Unless she was keeping me safe from the people who attacked our little home. But why would she bring up Simon and the possibility of torturing him?

Mom would never do something like that. She could never hurt her own family. It was in her nature, not only as a mother but also as a Strega, to protect her loved ones. There was only one possibility that went through my head. The person upstairs was not my mom but was a Trow. It was the only explanation for everything. However, the thought of that thing drinking my mother’s blood made my skin crawl.

“She’s not here,” the thing called out to the man in the other room. “They must have taken her before we got here.”

Footsteps made their way back to my parent’s bedroom. “He is not going to like this.”

“I know,” the trow’s voice grew frightened. This, He, figure must be a scary person.

“Let’s go. I don’t want them to come back and find us here.”

Their footsteps went out the room and down the hallway before their sound disappeared. I stood frozen on the third step as my mind tried to process everything.

My mom was most likely dead and those men kidnapped Simon. I had no way of telling if my dad was alive or dead but I had to hope for the best. Finally, those things think someone else has me.

I tried to think of who would have come for me other than my family or those things that have Simon. Kenelm was the only possibility that went through my mind but he would not have known where to find me. Plus, in the morning he went back to the village. My dad said it was a day’s travel. He wouldn’t possibly know we were in trouble.

My body sunk down on the steps as tears threatened my eyes. My family was not coming to get me anytime soon. They were most likely either dead or being tortured for my whereabouts. I should have just let those things take me, at least than my family could have been safe. The tears cascaded down my cheeks at an uncontrollable rate and did not stop until my body found the safety of sleep hours later.

              The sound of a key turning the lock had me jumping up from the steps that I fell asleep on. The anticipation of seeing someone’s face was killing me. A click let you know it was unlocked and the door came swinging open.

              “Dad?” The silhouette of a man stood just above the stairs. I blindly moved my hand against the wall for the light switch. The man’s face appeared in the white light but it was not my dad or Simon.

The man before me had chin length brown hair and green eyes that looked relieved at the sight of me. His strong jaw line was cleanly shaved revealing his plump lips and the tattoo that ran down the left side of his face. It started at his eyebrow and ended at the left corner of his lips. It is interact design intrigued me. A black jacket and jeans covered his build. He looked to be a few years older than my dad.

              “Who are you?” I backed away slightly from the steps, away from the stranger.

              “My name is Cabel. I’m here to take you to my village.” His voice was soft as he spoke to me.

              Maybe he was talking about the same village my parents went to visit. There could not possibly be many around here or we would have for sure seen others.

              “Where is my family?” Even if my brother told me, whoever was coming to get would have the key I still did not trust him. For all I know he took the key from my brother.

              “I’m not sure,” he answered truthfully. He had to know.

              “What do you mean you don’t know?” My voice broke at the end of my question. I could feel the tears threatening to spill but I forced them back. I was not about to let this stranger see me break.

              “I would really prefer to talk about this someplace else.” His hand reached out for me, telling me to come with him.

              “No. You explain now or I’m not going with you.” I planted my feet and crossed my arms for emphases.

              He sighed and walked down the steps. When he was eye level with me, I noticed that he was not much taller than me, maybe three inches taller. I wanted to walk away from him the closer he got to me but I had to stand my ground.

              “Daruka’s men came to take you. He wishes you dead and will stop at nothing for it. He took your family and I do not know where they are or what he is doing to them. All that I know is your father told me if anything were to happen that, I must come looking for you and take you back to the village where you will be safe.”

              Who is Daruka? Why does he want me dead? What is so safe about this village? Why does my family not live there already? I wanted to ask Cabel all the questions that were flying through my head but I could not come up with the voice for it. Someone wants me dead and my family is missing. Those are the only two things being processed by my brain at the moment.

              “I’m sorry Anastasia but we must leave.”

              I nodded in response. I had nowhere else to go anyways. I grabbed my pack that Simon made for me before I walked back up the steps. We did not bother closing the door. There was nothing hidden in it anymore.

My body stood shocked when I looked around my parent’s room. Clothes littered the floor as they had been thrown out of the dressers and closet, the bed was leaning up against the wall next to a broken flower vase. Water and dirt stained the carpet in the shape of footprints from when the thing was walking around. I couldn’t take it anymore and walked out of the room.

Once out of my parent’s bedroom I could see what really took place while I was hidden away. The door to my bedroom was lying off its hinge’s revealing a disaster of a room. My clothes littered the floor, my bed was thrown about, and my books were spewed everywhere. There were fire marks on the walls.

I walked in and picked up my spell book, glad that the person had not taken it. The other rooms were just as disastrous. Nothing was in the place I had last seen it. I clutched my book closer to my chest.

              I quickly bypassed the living room as I didn’t want to see what happened and went out the front door. The peaceful morning air surprised me a little after the chaos from inside. I took big gulps trying to stop the images of what could have happened inside.

              “I’ve saddled your horse for you.” Cabel pointed to the area where Mary was grazing all saddled up.

“Thanks,” I replied as I walked to her. I was glad to see she was all right and not missing or lying dead somewhere. My hand ran along her side making sure she was free of any cuts. I looked around the clearing and noticed only Mary and what I assumed was Cabel’s horse. “Where are the others?”

“She was the only one there. We really do have to get going.” Cabel was already on his horse and waited patiently for me to get on Mary. I placed my spell book into the pack. We then headed down the long beaten path my parents took when they left.

The thought of my parents made my heart ache. I did not want to know if they were being tortured or worse dead. Why did they not just let the men take me? I would feel so much better knowing that they were safe even if that meant I would be gone.

I decided to distract myself by concentrating on what would be waiting for me once I entered the village. I knew Kenelm lived there; after all, he came home with my parent’s after their trip. Maybe he would be there to greet me. He was the only person I know for sure I could trust. Cabel seemed like a nice person who would protect me but could I trust him? I was not sure that I really could.

We rode until nightfall where we decided to camp for the night. When my dad said it was a day’s trip he was not kidding. Cabel said we were still a few hours away. I decided to look through my pack while he was out searching for firewood.

Simon had packed me a few pairs of clothes, running shoes, hairbrush, toothbrush, a book, and at the very bottom a sleeping bag. I unraveled it and three cans of food found its way to the ground. Picking them up, I blew off the dirt and shoved them back into the pack. I put my sleeping bag next to Mary’s already sleeping body.

Cabel then came back with an arm full of wood. After the fire started, he heated up some food from a can. I was not hungry, even though I had not eaten all day, but still accepted his offering. My mom always taught me to be polite over my own comfort. I just pushed the food around the tin can.

“I am really sorry about everything that happened to you the past two days. I understand it can be a lot to take in.” He still spoke in that soft voice. I wondered if that was for my benefit or if that was how he regularly spoke.

              “I’m still not sure I understand everything,” I whispered looking into the fire. Small pops came from the wood as it burned.

“Maybe you will get the answers you want when we arrive. I am sure the King would want you to know as much as possible.” He shoved a spoonful of the canned stew into his mouth.

“The King? Where are we going exactly?”

“A village as I said. You will be staying in what used to be a palace of the royal family. They have not inhabited it for twenty years.”

“Why am I to stay there?”

“It is safe. That is all I can say on the matter.”

I simply nodded and finished my dinner. Cabel told me to get some sleep and he would keep watch. I protested of course, I did not want some man I didn’t know looking over me while I slept. That position is the most vulnerable a person could be. However, my eyes could barely stay open so I quickly agreed and lay down next to my horse. Her steady breathing lulled me to sleep.

When I woke, the bright purple sky greeted me. Cabel already had everything packed and the horses saddled. He handed me some bread for breakfast before we left. We reached the village in four hours.

Small beaten down houses lined a winded down path of the outer village. I looked in shock at all the different creatures that came out to see us pass by. None of Simon’s lessons could have possibly prepared me for this.

About a hundred of elves, fairies, goblins, centaurs and some I didn’t know surrounded us. Most of them smiled at us when we passed by and bowed their heads slightly. Others looked as if they would like nothing better than to see my head on a stick in their yards.

A male centaur came out of the crowd and walked beside me and a female flanked the opposite side of Cabel as if they were escorting us. The man looked straight ahead making sure everyone was out of our way while the female seemed to be doing the same but her brown eyes would occasionally twitch to where I rode. I could tell that she was ordered to only escort us into town and nothing more.

The farther we got into the village the more the shacks disappeared to be replaced with cabins much like my home. Different creatures appeared the closer we got to the center. These were the more human looking creatures so I could not really tell what they were. Maybe werewolves or even witches, it was hard to tell.

The center of the village was one huge marketplace. Everyone had become silent as we walked though. Almost everyone bowed to us. It must have been because of Cabel. He had to be an important man.

We rode on our horses until we reached the other end on the village. Before us stood the biggest building I had yet to see on Bolton. It stood three stories high was just as wide. It looked like something out of a fairy tale.

Blue vines crawled their way up the walls nearly covering some of the windows. Each corner of what I assumed to be the palace had a small circler tower giving it a medieval look. Two heavy looking wooden doors marked the entrance to the magnificent building.

The centaurs escorted our horses away, hopefully to a barn, while Cabel took me inside. I didn’t know what I was expecting but it was not what I saw. It was as if we were back on Earth. Modern day furniture decorated the living area we entered and continued into the dining room and kitchen. There were halls everywhere. I would definitely be getting lost going through some of those. 

Off the kitchen in the back was a study. Bookcases lined two walls and I could not help but think that Simon would have loved this room. A dark wood desk lay in the middle with two gray chairs in front of it.

“Please sit, Anastasia.” Cabel walked around the desk and sat on the huge black chair. I took off my bag and placed it at my feet. “I know there are questions you wish to ask but I must establish some ground rules first. One, you will not leave this building without your guard.”

He could not be serious. They could not just keep me locked up in this place forever. And what is this about a guard? I shouldn’t need a guard if this place was as safe as he made it out to be.

“Two,” he continued. “You will listen to anything either I or Master Kai asks of you. Three, you are only allowed on the main and second floor. If you are ever caught in the basement or third floor I will have no choice but to have your guard with you at all times. Do you understand?” He asked looking straight at me. His voice went from soft to hard in seconds. The man who saved me from the basement no longer seemed to be around. The one who replaced him was the boss. He obviously wanted to make sure I knew that.

“Yes,” I nodded.

“Great.” Cabel pressed a button on the far corner of the desk. A minute later, there was a knock on the door. “Come in.”

A man entered the door. He was a few years older than me. His clothes were pretty plain, contrasting deeply with his face. He was lean and perhaps well built under the heavy coat he wore. His gray eyes caught mine, piquing with sudden interest. He gave me the most heart melting smile before he looked to Cabel. 

“Anastasia, I would like you to meet Yelson. He will be your guard until I say otherwise.”

“Why do I need a body guard? Won’t I be safe here?” Yelson’s smile faltered at my question as if he was hurt by it. I did not understand why he would be. As I looked into his eyes again, they held a hint of something I couldn't quite place; protectiveness? A dark past maybe?

“Of course you are but we can never be too safe.” Cabel’s smile seemed forced, different from the one worn by Yelson just seconds ago.

“Calhoun is expecting you, sir.” His deep voice traveled across the room causing goose bumps on my arms.

“Can you show Anastasia to her room please?” Cabel did not wait for an answer before he walked out of the study.

Yelson chuckled; obviously, he was used to this action. I felt a smile spread across my face as well. It was the first laugh I have heard for what seemed like days. I could listen to that sound for hours. I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks when I saw him looking at me. Yelson’s eyes glistened in the dim light of the room.

He held out his hand for me. I looked over it. His tanned skin looked rough from a life of tough work but when I held it, it was a smooth as could be. His strong hand pulled me up from the chair within inches from him. My head reached the top his muscular chest. His musky scent filled my lungs and my senses causing my head to spin.

“Ready?” He whispered. I looked up into his gray eyes and nodded. Yelson squeezed my hand before letting it go and grabbed my pack. He motioned for me to follow him. My mind was still trying to figure out what happened that I did not notice the three people in the kitchen.