The Arise, Part I: Chapter 3

by Naomi

 

Cillin races back home. This time he didn’t even check for stalkers. His father has to get this news, and fast. Cillin bursts through the archway entrance almost running into his father.  

“Another one?” Kentae asks while Cillin catches his breath.  

“Yes, Kryce, she disappeared after third period. She might have just gone home, but you told me not to take that chance,” Cillin says between breaths. 

“You used that fake note I gave you?” Kentae asks, grabbing his shoulders.  

“The guard didn’t suspect a thing.” 

“Ok,” Kentae replies. He takes a cloak off the arm of a chair and hands it to Cillin. “I appreciate you coming back here son, but next time don’t—we only have so much time. Now go before we miss our chance.” 

Cillin rushes back out and down a shortcut past the school. He sees a young girl surrounded by three guards.  

Kryce!  

He follows them, careful not to be seen from any windows of the school. The guards and Kryce go through what he thinks is a small door in the wall. When Cillin tries to follow them, he can’t find the door they went through, it was as if they disappeared into thin air. The door must have been a secret passage.  

Cillin heads back home, disappointed that he failed to follow them. He doesn’t have to tell his father anything because Kentae can tell by the look on his face that he did not succeed.  

“I turned a corner, and they were just—gone. There was probably a secret passage or something, but why would they leave the Cove?”  

“They did have Kryce, correct? Was she cooperative? Was she unconscious? Was she resistant?” Kentae asks Cillin, ignoring his earlier question.      

“She looked conscious but weak. It was like they were dragging her to…wherever.”  

“Okay. Cillin, until we have a better idea about what is happening, I want you to pay more attention to the things I told you about. Whatever is happening is dangerous, and we need more information.” 

“You say that every day. If it was so dangerous, why didn’t you investigate it with Fia?”  

“Again, with Fia,” Kentae says with annoyance, “alright, I guess I should have told you about her, but it is too late now. We didn’t investigate it because we weren’t aware of it. Also, it wasn’t as big of a problem when you were younger.”  

“Do you think they’ll come for me; they do know that I am your son after all?”  

“Hastor lets his curiosity get the best of him. Fortunately for us, that means you are safe—for now at least. Once she gets released, we might have to be more cautious.”  

“Do you think she will be released soon?” Cillin asks, trying to change the subject. 

“Oh, I think she will be released very soon.” 

✾ 

Malaysia is woken up early by her sister. It is moving day. She grabs her stuff that isn’t in the moving van and takes it outside. This is the last time she will ever see her house; it is hard to think about.  

It is still dark when they go outside. Shirley helps load the bags back into the truck. She still has college this morning: she should be worrying about packing up her own stuff. Shirley isn’t coming with them to the new house right away. She still has a few more weeks of college, then she will meet them. At least Malaysia knows she will see Shirley again. It makes the goodbye easier.  

It is weird how fast your life can change drastically. An accident could cause you to end up living on the streets. The death of a loved one could have you giving your life away. One sentence could draw everyone away from you. If you lose control of your emotions even for a second, there could be huge consequences. One second you could be sitting by the window doing your homework, the next you could be an orphan, an outlaw, a sister, a cousin, or even an angel.  

The ride goes quickly as Malaysia thinks about these things. She jumps at a loud noise that sounds like an electric guitar blast from beside her. She hears her father call from the front seat.  

“That’s better!”  

She hates this band, but it is her father’s favorite, so whenever he is driving, she has to hear it. Her mother hates it too, she remembers, when she hears a groan from in front of her.  

Malaysia pops her headphones in only to take them out immediately—the song she heard is Avery’s favorite. She tries to hold herself together, she won’t let herself cry.  

Who am I hiding from, I can have emotions, Malaysia thinks. Yet she still blinks back her tears.  

The rain outside the window doesn’t help. The sky is crying for her. The droplets patter on the window as they drive down the long, paved road that leads out of their small town that Malaysia calls home. The town that Malaysia might never see again. That she will never see again. It seems like the world has frozen, when Malaysia drives down the long road out of town. The sun rises behind them, in the east. They are going west. Once in a book, Malaysia read that to say “They’ve gone west” means that they have died. She is not sure if it is still used anymore, but it’s what it feels like to Malaysia as all her memories, friends, and life, drift away behind her. Again, the world glitches.  

“Time to make a little pit stop,” her dad says from the front, he sounds annoyed.  

She was expecting a gas station, but instead they pull into a car repair shop. They must have a flat tire—great, even longer until they reach their “home”. Malaysia and her parents get out of the car, and her father goes to the front desk with her mother. Malaysia sits down on some chairs in the corner and stares blankly out the window.  

She thinks about what she will do on her first day of school. She is joining a new school right at the end of the year. She hopes that she can meet someone like Averie, or anybody.  

“What brings you to this little slice of paradise?”  

Malaysia turns to see a girl with shoulder length orange hair. She has blue eyes and looks to be around the same age as Malaysia. Malaysia didn’t even hear her approach. She is wearing plain gray shirt and jeans. Tied around her waist is a leather jacket.  

“We were moving and got a flat tire I think,” Malaysia says, surprisingly she isn’t shy, “Why are you here?” 

“My dad owns this place; he brings me with him on weekends because apparently it is my inheritance. I have to continue the family business. I’m Anika by the way.” 

“Malaysia” 

“Welcome to town.” 

“Thanks” 

Malaysia’s first thought after the brief conversation is that it was odd, right after she wanted a friend Anika just appeared. She is glad for it though, even if it was just a small conversation, it makes her feel a little better.  

An hour passes before they leave. She talks with Anika for a little longer and got her contact. If it is this easy to make friends, she will know everyone by the end of the week.  

✾ 

Cillin wakes in the middle of the night to a loud rumble. A small pebble lands an inch from his face. He gets up immediately.  

“Father?” 

“I’m here Cillin. You were right. They are getting worse.” 

“Do you think it’s Hastor?” 

“Hastor has no idea we are here. If he did, he would send his guards in instead of trying to draw us out.” 

They stop talking as a line of rocks falls down the side of a wall. Another rock nearly hits Cillin, but Kentae pulls him away. Cillin stands there for a second in shock. If that had hit him… 

“Cillin, you remember the path?” Kentae asks urgently. 

Of course, he remembered the path. Though he wasn’t sure why he needed to. He nods as his father starts packing Cillin’s satchel. It is covered in dust from the rocks. 

“Good, go there and get some materials from the old offices, anything you can find. We need to brace this cave before it collapses.” 

“Why are you staying here? It could fall while I am gone.” 

“It’s going to fall if you don’t get out of here soon.” 

“But— “ 

“Cillin!” 

Cillin leaves since he knows his father is right. He still doesn’t want to leave Kentae alone. He takes his mind off Kentae and starts to remember the path. He wonders if he can even find it since it might have caved in.  

After thirty minutes of walking, he finally reaches the wall where Fia and Kentae were caught twelve years ago. It is still only half risen off the ground. He ducks under it and follows the path to the Old Offices. He doesn’t know why Kentae is so confident that he can find something here. It is all just old junk, besides the key he found before.  

He must find something, that cave won’t stay sturdy forever. He’s surprised it hadn’t fallen yet. He had told his father so many times to do something about it. He shakes the thought away, he can’t think of his father, if he doesn’t make it out of that cave… 

 

When Cillin gets back to the cave his father is waiting for him. Thankfully, the cave looks a little more stable. Cillin doesn’t know what he did. Cillin hands his scraps to his father, then goes back for more.  

He’s running back and forth all night, running away from the urge to sleep.  

At last, a beam of sunlight shines through a small crack in the cave wall. It is right above his bed, made by his father two and a half years ago when he started school, to wake him up. He wonders if that crack in the wall could end up bringing the whole cave down.  

Cillin doesn’t want to leave his father alone again. He especially doesn’t want to go to school this tired, but if he stays home, it will raise too much suspicion. So, he has to act like nothing is wrong while his home collapses.  

When he reaches the school Jashui immediately knows something is wrong. It could be from the stress on Cillin’s face, it could be from the dark circles under his eyes—it is probably from both. So much for staying inconspicuous.  

✾ 

Malaysia wakes up to banging against her wall. She sleepily crawls out of her bed and out of her room and sees her dad pounding nails into the wall. Her father decided to hang up pictures first and while everyone is asleep, great idea.  

“Up already, I thought you would want to sleep in before school tomorrow?” Her dad asks as he climbs down from his ladder.  

“Yea, I definingly didn’t wake up to your hammering. Wait, I have school tomorrow?”  

Her dad chuckles at the joke and then says, “You should have school today, but I talked your mom into letting you skip.”  

Malaysia feels both relieved and annoyed. She is glad she doesn’t have to face all her new classmates, but now she has to deal with the anticipation of facing them tomorrow. Besides she has nothing to do here; all her stuff is still packed, the boxes piled up in her big room.  

She walks to the kitchen to see if they have any food for breakfast. Fortunately, there is pack of yogurt and a bag of plastic cutlery. She grabs a mango yogurt and an apple, then goes back to her room. 

She just sits in there for a while, wondering what her life will be like in this new town. What will it be like without her sister? What will it be like without Averie? Without her home? She wonders if she will ever consider this place home.