Bound (The Guardians) Page 13

  He sits back down on the couch and begins cutting the cake into slices.

  As he eats, I lean forward over the arm of the chair. ‘I was honest with you. I told you exactly what happened with your mother. I think you owe me that as well. I want to know why you picked me to be your bride. No smart mouth answers, just honesty.’

  Leo finishes his mouthful of food. ‘You are going to think that I am insane.’

  I already do.

  I shake my head. ‘I won’t say a word, I swear.’

  Leo glances at me. ‘I chose you because you were a sign,’ he says.

  I feel my body rush with tingles as that unexpected answer comes out of his mouth. Now I kind of get why he assumed I’d think he was nuts.

  Leo digs the fork into the cake, it remains upright. ‘You think my life is wonderful. But it is not. And it is not that I simply missed out on things such as high school. My existence, every minute, is what I am told it will be. I have always accepted that and played their game. But a year ago, Father started pushing me to secure a bride before my mother passes away, so she could meet her. I was already stressed enough. I had training in the morning, meetings during the day and bride matches at night. By bedtime I could not close my eyes because the noise around me made it impossible to sleep. So, I left the Tower without telling a soul where I had gone. Yet word somehow got out that I was alone. For a whole week I was chased down by hired gunman where-ever I went. As far as I travelled, I knew leaving this place would never be possible. I had to come back. And on my return, two assassins shot me in Poridos. When I was lying there, I was hoping…no, praying that it would end. I actually wanted to die so it would be all over. Then I open my eyes and suddenly you were there, like a sign telling me that life was not over yet...’

  I’m shocked, utterly stunned. I had no idea he felt that way about me, that I’m so special to him. It’s kind of nice.

  Leo eats a piece of cake and laughs. ‘But, of course, I ruined this like I ruin everything. I yelled at you and hurt your feelings. I even… threatened to rape you…What is wrong with me? I cannot believe that even came out of my mouth. It goes against my Livolism faith principles to commit such an act. But I would understand if you did not believe me.’

  Leo sighs painfully. ‘Oh spirits in the night sky: I am a failure! Take me out to the sea and shoot me.’

  ‘I would love to.’ I giggle. ‘But your mother asked me to try and be your friend. So you kind of have to be alive for that.’ I pull my legs up on the chair. ‘In the interest of becoming friends, why don’t you tell me about you? Let’s start from the beginning.’

  Leo frowns. ‘The beginning? You are not going to delve into my childhood, are you?’

  ‘Actually, forget that. Childhood stories always end up depressing. Let’s talk about something more current. What do you like to do when you’re not working?’

  Leo takes a bite of his cake. He thinks for a moment. ‘That is hard to say, it feels like I am always working.’

  ‘You do seem to punch in a lot of hours. What is it a Successor does anyway?’

  ‘We learn mostly,’ Leo says eating some more. ‘We study the court system and laws and we sit in on the odd trial to ensure current rules are working. Once we get older we also go to various towns to help with negotiations, sort out problems and such. Then of course there is whole becoming the next Lord or Lady Guardian part to consider. So there is a lot of learn about how to present yourself, how to speak in public and other such topics.’

  ‘That seems… like a lot of work…’ I moan. As a bride would I have to do all that stuff too? I’m falling asleep thinking about it.

  Leo keeps eating. The conversation falls still. I rest my head on the arm of the chair. Before me I notice something and sit upright. I leap out of the chair and run to the other side of Leo. There are two controllers on the ground. I squeal once I’ve visually confirmed what they are.

  I yell, ‘No way! You have the new GameSpace 1.10? I saw a poster for it on a billboard in Poridos. It’s supposed to be the best gaming system in the world! But, wait, I didn’t think even the pre-release was getting issued for another two months?’

  ‘Oh,’ Leo says twisting his head. ‘I had a pre-pre-release.’

  ‘Is that even a thing?’ I ask sceptically.

  I think he means he gets killer privileges. The game company would have been itching to give a Successor an early trial.

  Leo says, ‘You can play it… if you want to?’

  Jumping up and down once I cry, ‘Are you serious? Please tell me you’re serious!’

  Leo nods, finishes his mouthful of cake, and walks over to the screen. He picks up the flat, palm-sized controller and holds it out to me. I take it very gently. It’s unbelievably lightweight.

  Leo offers me a seat on the main couch. I take it and he perches next to me. ‘So…you like flight boards and games. You could be a boy.’

  ‘Gee thanks,’ I say rolling my eyes. ‘I can’t help it if I get excited by new technology. I mean I don’t have a flight board or anything like this at home; it’s all way too expensive. My parents don’t…’ I stop talking and lower my hands a little. It seems even mentioning those two shoots pain through my stomach. That’s not my home anymore.

  ‘Ah…I should start a new game for you then,’ Leo says quickly. I smile. He reaches over and touches my flat controller with his finger. There are no buttons, everything moves by his touch. He clicks open a main screen and then opens up a game.

  I read the screen aloud. ‘Lippy & Loopy and the Haunted Treasure Cove…? Isn’t this game a bit childish for you? I mean I would play it, but I’m a girl, so there’s a certain level of justification there.’ Leo smiles as he enters in my name and details. ‘I thought teenage guys were only interested in games where you’re constantly shooting things and blowing stuff up?’

  Leo says, ‘I get shot at in real life, on daily basis, so those games do not appeal to me.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ I turn my head away and gulp. Does that mean people are going to be shooting at me too? It was scary enough getting attacked by that one small girl.

  ‘We are in,’ Leo says. ‘The first person you are going meet is the Gate Keeper. He tells you about your quest. If you want to move forward you push your finger across the controller, the same goes for backwards and sidewards. But for hard turns you need to move the whole controller.’

  I work through a demo and try and do as Leo says. But it takes a bit more skill than I first thought. Leo reaches over the back of me and puts his hands on mine, showing me how to do it. Once I get the movement right, we are suddenly both aware that we’re basically holding hands. He lets go and we both say nothing for a few minutes.

  I start to play the game and get my first mission. Leo guides me though the levels with a lot of patience.

  As the game progresses, we start to let our guards down again. We both agree that the Gate Keeper looks like Dorkarn with long hair. Then we sarcastically derail the creepy looking bad guy and both cringe when I temporarily die. I grin and glance at Leo out the corner of my eye. I never imagined he could be this enjoyable to be with. Having fun with him like this, a friendship suddenly doesn’t seem so impossible.

  When I get to that inevitable part in the game I can’t overcome, Leo offers to help. As he scoots his way through the level, I sit a little closer. It’s getting late. I’m coming down off an exhausting day filled with high-sugar treats and balls being shot at me.

  I shuffle around and slowly feel my head drooping to the side. It lands gently on Leo’s shoulder. I should move away. I want to. But then that it would be even more awkward and embarrassing. I stick to my guns watching Leo finish the quest from my new resting point. He doesn’t say anything about it, but I feel his posture relax a bit, which tells me he’s comfortable too.

  With a bang the room unexpectedly falls silent.

  The game switches off. So do the lights. There is that sickly feeling in the air, the one you get when you’re re
minded how horribly soundless the world can be. With wide, fully awakened eyes, I ask, ‘Is it a blackout?’

  I can no longer see Leo, or any part of myself. ‘Impossible,’ he replies. ‘The Tower has its own power grids, separate from Poridos or anywhere else. This is very strange. We should investigate.’

  chapter Twenty-six

  Leo reaches out and touches my arm, feeling for my wrist. He pulls me along in the darkness and we manage to find the door. He lets go when he finds the handle and pops the door open, just slightly. After a few seconds, we both step out. The light from the moon outside shines through and illuminates the core of the Tower. It’s not perfect, the dull glow is enough to see a few steps in front of you.

  I go to move out further, heading for the balcony, when Leo quickly pulls me back. He wraps his long arm around my head and puts hand over my mouth. It feels like I’m being kidnapped.

  Leo whispers harshly, ‘What do you think you are doing? You do not go ambling through the Tower in blackout! It is clear something is wrong.’

  I nod causally, knowing he’s right, and he lets go. Leo gets on his hands and knees and zips over to the edge of the balcony like a highly trained solider. He stands and peeks over the crystal railing, moving his head around. I shrug and crawl over too. Not like a solider, more like a large baby.

  ‘Something is going on,’ Leo says. I stand up and gander over the balustrade as well. Faint shadows move around on the base level of the Tower. Leo ducks back down. I take the hint and do the same.

  He says softly, ‘I am going to investigate further. You wait here.’

  ‘No!’ I shout. Leo rolls his eyes and I cover my mouth. I whisper, ‘Sorry… but you can’t abandon me here. What if something happens?’

  ‘I am not; this is the safest place for you right now. Listen to me and stay here.’

  I reply, ‘If there really is something going on, then you could be in danger too. Aren’t you scared you’re going to get hurt or something?’

  Leo smiles back. ‘Mellea, you asked me earlier what a Successor does. Being on the front line of danger is what I do. This is my job.’

  He stands up and leans over me, gently placing his hand on the top of my head. ‘Stay out of trouble.’

  Leo turns and runs into the darkness before him. I watch him trail upwards along the spiral balcony to a nearby set of stairs. He ascends, two steps at a time, and is quickly out of sight.

  I cautiously stand and glance over the balcony once more. I can still see the shadows below, but I can’t hear anything. I’m not sure how many people are down there and if they’re friend or foe.

  ‘Mellea,’ whispers a loud voice. Anrella runs out of the darkness. She thumps beside me. She’s still wearing her long pyjama shirt and shorts but there is a large pink rifle strapped to her back. The rifle hanging over her shoulder looks lightweight. It must have been one of the special weapons Arin told me about. I can only hope she’s good at firing it.

  We both squat down out of view.

  ‘Do you know anything about what’s happening?’ I ask quickly.

  ‘No. Just that the power grid has been cut,’ Anrella whispers back. ‘Someone has done it to get our attention. The only question is: what now?’

  Anrella’s pocket lights up and she reaches inside, pulling out her phone. She moves back towards the shadows of Leo’s dark room and places it to her ear. ‘Where are you?’ she asks the caller. ‘The power has been knocked out. Yeah… listen, you need to get back here right now.’ She turns around to face me. ‘I’m outside Leo’s room. No he’s gone…yes, I can…no, don’t worry, I have Mellea with me. I’ll be right there.’

  Anrella puts her phone back in her pocket and scurries back over. ‘The power outage has triggered the Tower’s lockdown function. Arin is outside – we need to get him in. I’m going to the training room to manually open the flight doors. You’re coming too.’

  ‘What?’ I shriek. ‘B-but Leo told me to stay here.’

  ‘Mellea,’ Anrella says. She reaches and takes my hands in hers. ‘I may be the future Lady Guardian but… this is my first major emergency. I’m really scared. Please come with me. I can’t do this by myself.’

  When I feel her shaking hands in mine I can’t refuse. I place one hand on her shoulder and say, ‘All right, let’s go.’

  We carefully make our way down the stairs, spiralling to the bottom level. Anrella goes first. She makes sure the path is clear with her rifle trained at any noises. When we finally reach the bottom floor there’s no one around. The shadow-casters are gone.

  Anrella runs to the third pillar first. When it’s safe she flicks her hand at me. I run across the foyer and over to the training room. As quietly as possible, Anrella slides one of the doors open. I follow her into the tower. Because there is nothing blocking the ceiling in the third pillar, the moonlight brightly illuminates the room. It makes it easy for us to travel to the large roller door that Sentry officers use for flight board access.

  Anrella stops at the wall beside the flight doors. She pushes on a long metal panel. It opens, revealing a chain on the other side. She calls, ‘Mellea, give me a hand.’

  I help her tug on the metal restraint and the door slowly opens. When it’s open just enough, two figures slip into the room. It’s Arin and Dorkarn.

  Arin asks, ‘What is the current situation?’

  Anrella steps forward. ‘The power is out, the Tower has gone into lockdown and so far I haven’t seen Lord Neros.’

  ‘Father was attending to Mother before I left,’ Arin says. ‘He is probably stuck on the highest level.’

  Anrella frowns. ‘This is bad. The Tower based Sentry officers are still out looking for the MECHs. We’re basically on our own and it’s really dark out there.’

  ‘Take up arms then,’ Dorkarn replies to them both.

  Anrella flicks her rifle strapped back towards him. ‘Two steps ahead of you!’

  ‘Um…’ I say. I have no weapons or special element gem powers. But it doesn’t seem to matter; no one acknowledges that I’m even standing there. I really feel like I don’t belong here. This is why Leo wanted me to wait, out of the way.

  Arin rushes to the rifle range. He returns with a few guns and tosses one to his Grandfather. ‘You two try and stay back,’ Arin says, finally acknowledging me.

  I nod strongly but Anrella is not happy. ‘Stay back? What am I, a child? No way. I’m fighting with you.’

  Arin replies, ‘This is not training. It is serious.’

  Her eyes are strong and determined. She refuses to back down. ‘I’m not some girl you need to protect. I’m the future Lady Guardian.’

  Arin shouts, ‘Yes. But right now my mother is Lady Guardian and you are my bride. So keep out of my way.’ With that, he turns and walks back towards the door. ‘Let’s go Grandfather,’ he calls.

  Dorkarn sighs, clicking the magazine of his gun in tight. His expression says to me, ‘I’m getting too old for this. Why didn’t I buy that beach house and retire two years ago when I had the chance?’

  I follow behind Dorkarn and Anrella begins walking beside us. The hurt on her face makes me think that her relationship with Arin is not as good as she claims. Nothing here is the way it seems, everything is simply for show.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  We make our way back out into the foyer. The Tower is eerily silent. It’s darker than before too; the moon has shifted away from its fortunate position above us.

  A noise echoes through the crystal fortress. My heart is racing. It sounds like a machine winding up. Abruptly the lights turn on level by level. The walls around us are illuminated once again.

  But my happiness is brief. I’m hit with a wave of sickly shock. I can now see what is before me. In the foyer stand seven unique looking people. All of these strangers are MECHs. Their gun arms are showing and their faces are smug.

  I cringe as I see Soren held captive in front of them, her hands tied behind her back, her mascara soaked face scrunched
with pain. Resting on her knees is Demmi. He’s unconscious and his forehead is painted in blood. My pain starts to turn to anger.

  A MECH man with short light brown hair laughs abruptly. ‘You know, the looks on your faces are priceless. It’s exactly what we are going for.’

  ‘Are you the one leading this attack?’ Arin says, raising his gun.

  ‘Ah!’ The man shouts in a warning tone. He points his gun arm at Soren’s head. ‘We don’t want to be too hasty do we now? It might cost your dear sister her life.’

  ‘Do not underestimate me,’ Arin replies. He keeps the gun trained at the MECH.

  The MECH leader moves his gun away from Soren’s head. ‘That’s right, she can use her shield. But he can’t.’ The man’s gun arm returns to a hand and he lunges forward and slides Demmi off Soren’s lap. Demmi is completely limp and hangs like a ragdoll. The man is now using him as a shield.

  The other MECHs protect the provoker, forming a circle around him with their gun arms trained at us. Unexpectedly, two from each end turn back inwards. Theirs guns change to a nub-like formation that have bright lights shining from the end. I turn my head, gazing out the crystal walls. A cold sweat falls over me.

  Out over Poridos City is a projection in the sky of all of us, of what is happening. Dorkarn and Arin seem to notice, but they’re not as flustered as I am.

  ‘We are sending a message today Guardians,’ says the man holding Demmi. ‘To you, everything is obtainable and disposable. You play with the peoples of Selestia, hiding your private lives and making yourselves out to be so special and mysterious. You destroy those who don’t fit in your perfect world. For example us, the MECHs…’

  The man lifts Demmi’s face to be not too far from his. ‘Our original group were once a race of normal people… unfortunate in circumstance being born without limbs, but normal none-the-less. That’s when the great Sir Macal decided he wanted to destroy us and burned our home to the ground.’

  Dorkarn says, ‘The original MECHs were of out of control monsters. They planned to re-create this world in their own warped image. That is why the Guardians decided to destroy them.’