Chapter 4

chapter 4

Crispin woke up in a vaguely familiar room. He was lying in a bed with blankets pulled up to his neck. There was a cold, damp cloth on his forehead and a tight bandage wound around his right shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a man. Crispin turned his head slightly, hoping that he would be able to get a better look at him. It was only then that he realized how much pain he was in. There wasn’t a single part of his body that didn’t hurt. He groaned, which got the man’s attention.

“You’re finally awake,” The man spoke with a gentle tone. He walked over to Crispin and removed the cloth that was on his forehead. “Oh,” He mumbled, “That’s looking much better.” The man put the cloth down on the bedside table. “So,” He added, “I’m going to have to ask you a few questions, just to make you’re doing ok.”

“Actually,” Crispin said, “I have a few questions first.” He didn’t give the man a chance to object. “Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?”

“My name is Antonio Vargold,” The man said, “I’m a healer in Coral Bay. You’re in my workplace. I saw you lying in the streets, so I brought you back here to help you out. Anything else that you need to know?”

“No,” Crispin said, “I don’t think so.” At least he knew why the room had looked familiar. He had been there before. It had been a while, but he still remembered. He was thirteen when his father had finally agreed to let him work on the ship. He had only been working for a few months when some crew members planned a mutiny against his father. They had taken Crispin, threatening to kill him if his father didn’t step down from being captain. The men who took Crispin were taken care of; killed by his father. But before they were, one of them had slashed Crispin’s side, just below his rib cage. The gash wasn’t very deep, but no one on the boat knew how to fix it, so they took him to see Antonio since Coral Bay was the nearest city.

If it wasn’t for his father, then Crispin would have died that day. His father had done everything that he could to keep him alive. He stayed with Crispin the entire time, keeping him calm, assuring him that he would live. Crispin couldn’t help but to wonder if his father would have tried to save him if he had known about his powers back then.

The thought brought Crispin back to reality. He had fallen while he was flying last night. His wings were still out, which could only mean that Antonio knew about his powers. He began to panic. He had to get out of here as soon as he could. He had to get to Roger’s place, which for all he knew, was the safest place for him in Toltova.

“Are you ok?” Antonio asked him, “You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine,” Crispin said, despite the fact he was anything but fine.

“Up for answering a few questions,” Antonio said, “Just a few things so that I can make sure you really are fine.”

Crispin bit his lip. He knew he would have to answer Antonio’s questions eventually. “I guess so,” He said hesitantly.

“What was the last thing you remember?”

“Uh,” Crispin said, “I was fighting with my father and then I ran away because I was angry with him.” It was as close to the truth that he could bring himself to tell Antonio.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah,” Crispin said, “Everything is kinda hazy after that. I don’t really remember much.”

“Well, that is understandable,” Antonio said, “You did fall from pretty high up. You must have hit your head pretty bad.”

Crispin was too stunned to even reply to Antonio’s statement. Not only did Antonio know about his powers, but he had also witnessed his fall. He wasn’t even sure if this was a bad thing or not. As far as he could tell, Antonio hadn’t done anything to hurt him. He might be able trust him.

“You know,” Antonio went on, “Your father was in just yesterday looking for you.”

“Yesterday?” Crispin repeated, “How long was I out for?”

“Only a day and a half,” Antonio answered, “But he came in looking for you. He didn’t stick around for too long. He just wanted to know if I had seen you. I told him that I hadn’t.”

“Did he seem… angry?”

Antonio nodded. “If he wasn’t so angry, I might have told him that you were in the back room and that I had just finished stitching your shoulder up. Why might that be, Crispin? Why was he angry at you?” Antonio was silent for a bit, before adding, “Was this about your powers?”

Crispin bit his lip to stop himself from swearing violently. Then he nodded. He was hoping he would be able to skirt around the subject of his powers, but it seemed like it was unavoidable at this point. It seemed like it was something that Antonio wanted to address.

“I’m surprised that you never asked me what I was doing up at three in the morning,” Antonio said, “I figured that would be something that you would want to know.”

“It never really occurred to me to ask,” Crispin admitted. Once he thought about it, it made him curious. The only people who roamed the streets of Coral Bay that late at night were criminals. Antonio seemed like a nice person. Too nice to be a criminal. But he hardly knew the man and was willing to consider all possibilities.

“I was responding to a letter from my daughter,” Antonio said, “She lives far away from here. I haven’t seen her in a while. She’s nineteen now, but she was fifteen when I last saw her.”

“Oh,” Crispin said, not really knowing how else to respond. He wasn’t entirely sure why Antonio was telling him about his daughter, but he let him continue.

“She was like you, Crispin,” Antonio said.

“What?”

“She had powers,” Antonio said, “Just like you. She could walk through solid objects.” He sighed, then leaned back against the wall. “I didn’t even know the Patrol was still around until they took her.”

Crispin raised his eyebrows. This was news to him. He had always assumed that the Patrol had died out. He had heard rumours about them coming back, but he had always dismissed them as just that. Rumours, and nothing more.

“It got pretty bad,” Antonio said, “King Matthew had even sent out some men to investigate, but they never found any clues regarding who took her, so there was no evidence if her kidnappers were even were a part of the Patrol.”

Antonio had Crispin’s full attention now. Once Antonio had mentioned it, he vaguely remembered hearing rumours about the King sending men to Coral Bay, but he never really found out why. He would have been twelve.

“Wait,” Crispin said, “If your daughter could walk through solid objects, then she must have been able to escape, right?”

“Yes,” Antonio said, “That’s exactly what happened. She was able to escape, and she met up with two other boys who also had powers. They’re all living together in an abandoned mining town in the mountains, along with some others who also have powers.”

“She lives in a town where all the citizens have powers?” Crispin asked.

Antonio nodded. “They’re always looking for more people to join them,” He said, “The train that brings all their supplies to them is scheduled to arrive tomorrow at two, if you’re at all interested.”

Crispin eyed him warily. It almost seemed too good to be true. If it was true, he’d be safe. His father would never come looking for him in the mountains. On the other hand, if it was a lie, he would probably end up dead. But he knew how to fight. If he ended up getting trapped somewhere, he was sure that he would probably be able to fight off anyone who tried to hurt him.

“I know it sounds a bit far fetched,” Antonio said, “But the offer will always stand.”

“I appreciate all that you’ve done for me,” Crispin said, “But I have no real evidence that this place actually exists. Right now I just want to talk to Roger, ok?”

“Would you be interested if you did have evidence,” Antonio asked.

“Well, I guess that depends on what the evidence was,” Crispin said.

Antonio smirked, then reached into his pocket. “I somehow knew you’d ask.” He handed Crispin a folded up piece of paper.

Crispin took the paper. He unfolded it, and saw immediately that it was a letter from Antonio’s daughter. Crispin looked at Antonio uncertainly. It felt like a violation to read the letter. It wasn’t really meant for him.

“Go ahead,” Antonio prompted.

Crispin looked at the paper and began to read.

 Dear family,

Please do not show this letter to anyone.

Crispin stopped reading. “I shouldn’t be reading this,” He said.

“You asked for proof,” Antonio said, “And I gave it to you. Go ahead and read it. You have my permission. It’ll tell you a few things about this place that you want to know.” With that, Crispin started reading again.

I’m writing this letter to let you all know that I am both alive and well. The Patrol had me for a little bit, but I am mostly unharmed. I was able to use my powers to escape before they could do any real damage.

I met up with a boy named Eli while I was escaping. He lives in an abandoned mining town in the far east. You probably won’t be able to find it on any maps. Maybe some older ones. It used to be called Tanperra, but Eli and his friends renamed it Lucopia when they started living there. He told me that he lives there with other people who have powers. It sounds a bit hard to believe, but it’s true. I promise. He took me and another boy that we rescued to this town, and we’re going to live there. Probably for a long time. Maybe even forever.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to return to Coral Bay, since I don’t know how often the Patrol comes around there, but I just want to let you know that I am happy with where I am. If I ever get the opportunity to see you guys again, I promise I will take it.

Also, I know I said it already, but Eli says it’s really important that no one else sees this letter. We don’t want the Patrol to find out about the only place that’s safe for us. You guys are the only ones that know about this place who don’t actually live there. It’s because I trust you guys. Please keep this a secret.

Love, Alexis

Crispin folded the letter and handed it back to Antonio. There was still no evidence that the letter was written by Antonio, and that this wasn’t some sort of elaborate trap. Although, he felt slightly more persuaded than before.

“So,” Antonio said, “Do you believe me now, or do I need to find you another letter?”

“My father taught me to be cautious,” Crispin answered, “I want to believe it, but I can’t help but to question it at the same time.”

“You don’t have to accept the offer,” Antonio said, “But if you don’t, you need to promise that you won’t tell anyone about Lucopia.”

“I promise,” Crispin said, “And I accept the offer.” He knew that if his father were here, he would have told Crispin that Antonio was a liar. That it was probably some plan to get him killed. Deep down, Crispin still knew that might be a possibility, but he wasn’t going to let that sway his decision. He was on his own now, and for once, he didn’t have to worry about his father.