Chapter Twenty Four: (Confessions)

Chapter: 24(Confessions)

 

            After making a quick pit stop at my room to hurriedly, change out of my dress and into a pair of kaki pants, a clean black tee shirt, and a pair of boots. Yes, Jackson must have a thing for Lara Croft. Addison quickly made a beeline for Jackson’s room.

            “Wait, Addison.” I huffed as I grabbed a hold of Addison’s wrist as he came to a quick stop in front of Jackson’s room.

            “Mom and Dad said not to tell anyone about them and their plan.” I whispered to him. “That probably means Jackson too.” Addison looked back at me for a moment as if I was crazy.

            “I highly doubt that they would care if he came with us. He is family.” He shrugged.

            “Besides, we don’t even know where this mine is. We can’t do this without him Maddy.” He said seriously. I sighed and looked down as he quickly rapped on the hard wooden door.

            Within a few moments, we heard a shuffling around inside the room before the door was flung open. Jackson stood on the other side of the threshold looking groggy, his hair stuck out in different angles and he was wearing nothing but a pair of red and black pajama pants, hanging low on his hips. I blushed as I glanced down at his bare and bronzed chest. Upon seeing the two of us Jackson immediately looked alert as he noticed that something was wrong and let us into the room.

            He grabbed a white t-shirt off of his floor and quickly threw it on, as he glanced my way.

“What’s wrong?” He asked as soon as he had pulled the shirt over his head.

            “It’s our parents! They are back!” I practically screamed hysterically in his face. My heart was hammering a mile a minute.  I felt like I was going to pass out I was so excited.

            “Whoa whoa whoa.” Jackson gasped. “Slow down and explain everything.” He said as he directed me towards his bed and made me sit down on the edge. I gladly accepted the seat and took a few deep breathes while I listened to Addison back track and explain everything that happened within the last hour. As his story came to an end, I looked up to gauge Jackson’s reaction. He looked stunned. His mouth knotted into a tight line.

            “Something doesn’t feel right.” He said tightly. His voice strained. “What did they mean the Guild isn’t safe?” He asked Addison who was standing in the middle of the room by Jackson.

            “Why wouldn’t they let you see them?” He asked out loud to no one in particular. Addison just shook his head and shrugged. He looked just as worried as I felt and Jackson looked.

            “Why do they want to meet you at the old abandoned mine?” He looked out the window nearest to him. It faced over the courtyard. Even though darkness had taken over the moon was high and gently illuminated the grounds.

            “Well, I don’t think we have a choice but to go.” He said resolutely as he turned back towards us.

            “I see this going two ways.” He said confidently. “Either they have gotten away from Zavion and have been hiding out and are planning on seeking shelter from him somewhere besides the Guild and really do have reasons for not trusting the Guild or Zavion has forced them into making you two come meet them and it’s a trap.” He took a deep breath.

            “How could that possibly be a good thing?” Addison spoke up quickly, his hands on his hips.

            “Well,” Addison responded just as quickly. “Sawaya wants to wait around for word from his men. Nothing has happened yet, at least we haven’t been told about it and at this point this is the closest we can get to figuring out where he is.” He looked at Addison for a long moment before looking at me with fire in his eyes. “Either way we can end this war once and for all.”

            No one said anything for a long tense minute. All I cared about was getting my parents back. Going home and never worrying about this war. I didn’t want to be involved in any of this. That was the Guild’s problem and as far as I was still aware, I was not even a real member of the Guild, but my parents needed me and I would do what I had to. I jumped off the edge of the bed and squared my shoulders as I looked at both of the boys.

            “So, what’s the plan?” I asked as confidently as I could despite my stomach doing flips and feeling like I had swallowed a fistful of worms.

                        “First thing we need to do is be ready.” Jackson said as we followed him out of his room and stealth fully down the dark and deserted corridors within the guild.

            “We need to get some weapons and some gear.” He whispered as he glanced around a dark corner before creeping down the hallway.

            “Where are we going to get that kind of stuff?” Addison asked as we followed him around the corner. Jackson stopped and looked at Addison.

            “Dude, have you looked around? We are surrounded by weapons. This place is basically an armory. We are in the middle of a war remember?” He rolled his eyes and began to move again, making sure to keep his body in the shadows.

            “Yeah, but don’t they keep that stuff locked up somewhere so not just anyone can get a hold of it?” Addison clarified himself.

            “Yeah that’s why we are going to get the key.” Jackson said as if the answer should have been obvious from the beginning.

            “Where are we going to get a key?” I asked as I walked a bit faster to try to keep up with them. I could hear my feet snapping against the marble stone floors. The sound seemed to echo its way through the silence.

            “From Nicholas of course,” Jackson shrugged as he stopped in front of a door. He struck the wood hard three times, making me wince from the loud noise. I was sure that someone was going to catch us sneaking around.

            “Why would Nicholas have a key?” I asked looking at Jackson. I never got my answer because right then the door opened up and Jackson pulled me through the doorway with Addison right on our heels.

            “What’s going on?” Nicholas asked looking at the three of us as Jackson quickly closed the door behind us. His eyes lingered on me for just a short moment. Unlike Jackson he looked like he had not went to bed yet and was fully dressed. I mentally said a thank you prayer for that small fortune. I was sure that after all the things that happened tonight my heart did not need any more excitement.

            Jackson quickly stepped in front of Jackson and sighed deeply.

            “Remember when we got here you had to leave for that hike?” He began quickly his voice tired sounding.

            “Yeah, sure?” Nicholas shrugged. “They said it was because someone had snuck into the Adults wing.” He looked from Jackson to m and Addison.

            “Sit down man.” Jackson chewed on his lip as he spoke. “We need to tell you something.”

            Jackson slowly told Nicholas the truth of how we had gotten to the Guild. It was not because our parents decided to let us train. It was because Zavion himself had appeared at our home and attacked Addison and I and had also taken off with our parents. He then went on to tell him about the incident that had happened just a short hour ago in the courtyard. He told him about how our parents had accused the Guild of being unsafe and how we were supposed to meet them at Dawn at the Mine somewhere on the island.

            As I listened to Jackson, hasty explanations I began to think about how wonderful the evening felt just a while ago as I was in the Heart of the Guild with Nicholas. I mentally wished I had told him the truth then.

            As the story was being told I noticed that Nicholas’s green eyes which normally shimmered had turned dark with worry.

            “We need to get into the weapons room. We need to go to the Mine and see for ourselves” Jackson finished in a flurry. “We need to go there and find out what is going on.” He stood straight, his back rigid and ready for action.

            “This doesn’t feel right to me.” Nicholas spoke in an undertone. He swept a strong hand through his thick hair and looked at the three of us. “Zavion is back out of hiding and the Guild isn’t doing anything about it? Something isn’t adding up I just can’t figure out what.” His eyes drifted almost involuntarily to mine and held them there.

            “The fact is though no matter how much I wish we could just go to Sawaya and let him know about this, we can’t. If your parent’s accusations are right and the Guild isn’t safe then we are just going to have to deal with this on our own. I don’t want anything happening to you.” He shook his head slowly and looked over at Jackson and Addison who were still grounded in front of the door looking like wound up springs ready to spring apart.

            “I also know that there is nothing I can do or say to stop you from leaving. I might as well help you be prepared.” He spoke reverently. Jackson grinned fiercely and flew across the gap between the two of them. He grabbed a hold of Nicholas forearm and clapped him on the back.

            “Thank you,” He crowed. “We couldn’t do this without you.”

            As I stood there, watching this display of bravado I couldn’t help but to feel as though we were quickly catapulting into something great. Greater then ourselves. Visions of the dream I had on my first night within the Guild flashed before my eyes. I saw the feral look within my mother’s eyes and the blood that coated the floor. Uneasiness settled on my shoulders. Either way something bad was about to happen tonight. I knew that for a fact. Whether our enemies were Zavion or the Guild, this was going to be the biggest thing I had ever had to face in my life. At least very soon I would figure out which side we were on.