Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of my novel.

Reid woke up in an unfamiliar room, that was almost completely bare except for the large circular windows on each wall. His head, which was throbbing with pain, was resting on top of something soft, but he could still feel the hard ground beneath it. Just to his right, he could see the silhouette of a girl standing against one of the windows. Reid stared at her, wondering if he would be able to recognize her from somewhere, but he drew a blank.

As if she could sense him looking at her, the girl turned around. Reid knew now for certain that he had never seen her before. The girl looked back at him, with bright blue eyes that contrasted her thick, black hair.

“Oh,” She said in an almost apathetic tone, “You’re finally awake.”

“What do you mean by finally?” Reid asked, “How long was I out for?”

“A while,” The girl said, “You were sort of drifting in and out of consciousness late last night. Is your head feeling ok? I kinda want my jacket back. I’m getting cold.” She didn’t give Reid a chance to answer. “You’re probably fine.” She knelt down next to him and grabbed the soft object, which turned out to be her jacket, out from beneath his head.

Reid’s head hit the hard ground, making the pain intensify. “Ow,” He groaned, “That hurt!”

The girl shrugged. “Oh well,” She said, as she put her jacket back on “Worse things have happened. You’ll get over it. You’re lucky those guys didn’t take all your stuff.” She looked to the corner of the room, where Reid saw his bag propped up against the wall. It was open, he noted.

“I didn’t take any of it,” the girl said when she noticed Reid looking at his bag, “I mean, I looked through it, but I didn’t take anything. But I wanna know one thing,” She added, “Where did you get that copy of the Book of Powers? I thought those things got destroyed.”

Reid sat up. The action made him feel dizzy, but he ignored it. “Ok that’s it,” he demanded, “Who are you? What do you want from me?”

“My name’s Audrey,” The girl said, extending a hand, “Hi.”

Reid shook her hand. “I’m--”

“I know who you are,” Audrey said, “I don’t live under a rock.”

“Ok,” Reid said, “But that doesn’t answer my second question.”

“Sheesh, calm down,” Audrey said, folding her arms across her chest, “I was just getting to that.” She sat down across from him, with her back against the wall. “So, the thing is, I was kinda sent here to watch you.”

Reid frowned. “Sent by who? How long have you been watching me?”

“Just some of the guys that I live with,” She said casually, as if he shouldn’t have been bothered by anything that she had said so far. “I haven’t been here long, trust me. I was sent here to protect you.”

“Who said I needed your protection,” Reid demanded, “I’ve been doing fine on my own.”

“You left the castle for less than twenty minutes and you got beat up and nearly got all your stuff stolen,” Audrey said, smirking, “I think you need protection, whether you care to admit it or not.”

“Oh,” Reid said blushing, “You saw that, huh?”

“Of course,” Audrey said, “I mean, who do you think was the one that rescued you? You can’t possibly think that you passed out in the street and somehow woke up in the Galtia Clocktower.”

“Hm, so that’s where we are then,” He mumbled.

“Unbelievable,” Audrey muttered, “It took you that long to figure it out?” She shook her head. “I can’t believe that they were going to let you rule an entire country.”

Reid sighed. He hadn’t really intended for Audrey to hear his comment. His only defense was that he had been knocked out for a long time. He couldn’t be expected to immediately recognize his surroundings. Even if it was painfully obvious. He glanced at the big circular window. Now that he was feeling better, he was able to make out the numbers and the hands on the giant clock that overlooked the city. Reid had only ever seen it from the outside. It was strange seeing it from the inside. It looked so much more different. Being able to see the gears that kept the hands moving was almost fascinating in a way.

“But wait,” Reid said, “I don’t remember seeing anyone else when I was getting beat up. Where were you?”

“Surely by now you’ve worked out that you’re not the only one in Toltova with powers,” Audrey said, “I was there the whole time. Were you unconscious before those two thugs got beat up by some mysterious, invisible being?”

“Actually,” Reid said, “I was kind of beginning to think that I had imagined that bit.”

Without warning, Audrey disappeared into thin air. Reid looked around the room, hoping he’d be able to find some clue as to where Audrey had gone. He could hear her laughing. It was coming from his left. He turned his head towards the source of the sound, but he saw nothing. Then he heard footsteps. Audrey was now pacing around the room, but Reid still couldn’t see her. The footsteps stopped, and Audrey appeared right in front of him.

“I’m right here, you loser,” She said, crossing her arms “I wish you could have seen the look on your face,” She added with a smirk, “Still think you were imagining it now?”

Reid shook his head. “So, you beat up those two guys?” He asked.

Audrey nodded proudly. “I’m not the best fighter,” She said, “But you definitely have the upper hand in a fight when your opponents can’t see you.”

“That’s sort of dangerous, no?” Reid said, “Using your powers in a public area like that.”

“I see where you’re coming from, but no,” Audrey said, “No one was around, and how could anyone report me to the Patrol when they can’t actually see me.”

“So you think the Patrol is real then?” Reid asked.

“I don’t think they’re real,” Audrey said in a serious tone, “I know they’re real. I’ve seen what they do to people like us, and it’s bad news. That’s why I was sent here to protect you, Reid. Once they find out that you have powers, they’ll come after ya. And they won’t be doing you any favours just because you’re the prince.”

“So,” Reid said, biting his lip, “What do you propose we do about it?”

“I propose that you come and live with me,” Audrey said, “Once the Patrol finds out that you’re supposed to be with your uncle in Morbane, that’s exactly where they’ll be headed. We’ll be much safer where I live.”

“And where do you live, exactly?” Up until this point, Reid had thought that Audrey was from Galtia, or somewhere close by at least.

“Just a small town in the mountains,” Audrey said, “There’s not very many of us. But we all have powers, and we all needed a place to be safe.”

“I… I really don’t know,” Reid said hesitantly, “My parents would worry if they found out I never showed up at my uncle’s house.”

Audrey sighed. “Wow,” She said, “After all we’ve been through and you still don’t trust me.”

“You know, my father told me to be really careful about who I show my powers to,” Reid snapped, “For the past few years I’ve been living in constant fear that someone will find out and do who knows what to me, so forgive me if I’m not willing to trust a total stranger!”

Audrey looked down at her feet, blushing. “You’re right,” she said quietly, “I’m sorry.”

“Whatever,” Reid said coldly, “I just… I don’t know about all this.”

“Just think about it, ok?” Audrey said, “You’ll be safe with me, I promise. I’ve already saved your life once, right?”

“Yeah,” Reid said, “But why? I mean, surely you must have a reason.”

“Of course I do,” Audrey said, “A while ago I was talking with some of my friends.”

“The ones that live with you in the mountains?”

“Yes,” Audrey said, “But don’t interrupt. Anyways, we got talking about things and we were just, I dunno, interested in your father’s sudden interest in the Patrol. We just got kinda curious, so they sent me to the castle to find out what was going on. I was able to find out then that you had powers, so I went back to Lucopia, the town where I live, to tell my friends.

“That was a two years ago. A few weeks ago, one of my friends came to me. He said that he felt like it was time for me to come back here.”

“Any idea why he’d say that,” Reid asked.

“Hey, no interrupting,” Audrey scolded, “But no,” She continued, “I have no idea. We brought it up at the next town meeting though, and the general population agreed, that yes, I should go back. Just to make sure things were running smoothly, I suppose. I guess I chose the right time to go because here we are now.”

“So you were spying on me because your friend felt like it was right for some unspecified reason?” Reid said.

“When you say it like that, I admit it does sound bad,” Audrey said, “But we just wanted to make sure that the Patrol wasn’t, y’know, messing around inside the castle.”

“Say I was to come with you,” Reid said, “What would happen?” He had to admit, it was a tempting offer. He’d be surrounded by other people like him. He wouldn’t have to hide anything anymore. But he was worried for himself. What if this was just some sort of elaborate trap? He wasn’t a good fighter. As Audrey had already pointed out, he couldn’t fend for himself.

And what about his family? It would only be a matter of time before they found out that he wasn’t really in Morbane. They would worry about him, and Reid didn’t want that.

“You’d be safe,” Audrey said, “My one friend is really good with details. He’d be able to forge a letter pretending to be your uncle, so your parents won’t worry about you too much.”

“I’m really curious as to how your friend would go about doing that,” Reid commented.

Audrey pulled out an envelope out of her pocket. “I always come prepared,” She said. Upon closer inspection, Reid realized that the letter was addressed to his mother.

“You stole a letter from my mom?” He said.

“Calm down,” Audrey said, “Think of it more as borrowing, since I fully intend on giving it back. By the way,” she added, “In case you were wondering, if you decide to decline my offer, the train that goes to Lucopia is a blue steam engine. It’s scheduled to stop in Galtia in about a week. Just so you know.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Reid asked.

“Because you won’t last long out on the streets by yourself,” Audrey said, tossing her black hair over her shoulder, “I’ve been watching you, remember. If you decline my offer, you’ll spend every miserable second on the streets wishing that you had accepted.”

“You’re not taking no for an answer, are you?”

Audrey smiled. “So you’re accepting the offer?”

“Yeah,” Reid said, “I guess I am.”

Author's Note

I finished this chapter at like 12 AM, and I didn't proofread before uploading, which was probably a mistake. Feel free to point out any errors.