The Lost Prince Read online

  “It’s not a trap, if that’s what you’re thinking… I mean, I don’t think so. I think they were searching for something, but they either found it, or didn’t find it and have learned what we are learning; this isn’t the place,” Thad offered.

  His oppositional comment surprised Cai, her corrective instincts taking over, “They killed for it, Thad. Nathan’s grandparents. Whatever it is was is valuable enough for them to commit murder. There has to be something here.”

  “Hmph!” Thad shrugged and turned away. He pulled out a dining room chair and sat.

  “Unh! What does that mean? Since when do you grunt at me? I don’t know what’s going on with you, Thad, but you’ve changed since we arrived here. Are you mad about something?”

  Thad glanced into her eyes then over her shoulder unable to hide his thoughts from her probing eyes, though he had no trouble hiding them from her mind. She was like a sister to him. He’d never had the kind of affection, attention, protection that she offered him. “I just— I think it’s a waste of time looking for something that may not exist, that’s all.”

  “What else are we gonna do, dude? Go to school?” Jaz shook his head. “There’s gotta be some clues here somewhere, something that leads us to why all this is happening. The story can’t just end like this— at least not the story I know. Because, you know, we still have that whole dream business.”

  “Right. We just need to keep looking, and the other six should be arriving soon. If nothing else, we should at least wait until we’re all together before we leave here.” Cai suggested.

  “No!” Thad rose from the chair he’d been rocking on the back legs and stomped to the living room window. “Staying here is creeping me out! Those footprints… we should follow their example and get out of here. We should go back to town, check the field house, look around there! I mean, they’re like us; that’s where we hid.”

  Frowns of concern passed between Cai and Jaz. “I’m not goin’ anywhere till Cheater and Nathan return!” Jaz shook his head at Thad.

  “Me, neither,” Rebecca stepped cautiously down the stairs, her notebook pages bouncing with each step.

  Thad calmed as she entered and was first to greet her at the bottom of the stairs. “Hey!” He smiled. Rebecca cast a doubtful smile his way and continued to the others.

  “Matter of fact, I’m gettin’ ready to go lookin’ for them. I don’t like this. At all!” Jaz moved toward the back door, but froze in his reach for the door when he glimpsed the figure that pulled back the screen to enter. Lena ducked under the door frame into the kitchen behind Cheater who grinned at the shocked expressions watching their entrance. “Hey, guys! This is Lena.”

  Lena’s golden crown almost touched the kitchen ceiling. Her playful smile eased their fears, “Yeah, nice to meet you, too!” She swung an open palm in a half moon, “and this…” Lena waved the same large hand toward Nathan and Jamie as they entered, “is—”

  “Batman!” The other six finished. Lena’s laughter reverberated off the walls. With the back of her hand, she wiped away seeping tears from the corners of her eyes. Jamie, hands on hips, waited for a pause in the ruckus, but they laughed harder at his “crime fighter” pose accentuating the costume.

  “Very funny!” Jamie rolled his eyes upward at Lena, then scanned the rest of the group. “Jamie!” He yelled over the roar. “Are there any clothes in this place that might fit me?”

  “Sure,” Nathan shook away a chortle and waved him over. “There may be something upstairs. You’re a little taller than I am, but I’m sure we’ll find something.”

  “Speaking of tall…” Cai, a little less than half the height of Lena, tilted her head back to peer up into Lena’s downturned face.

  “Ran in the family,” Lena’s grin rounded her cheeks.

  “Huh,” Cai nodded, “mine, too!”

  “Welcome to Hero Headquarters.” Rebecca joked.

  Lena glanced toward Rebecca, then at the others. “Who said that?”

  “You’ll get used to it. Heck, soon you’ll do it.” Thad shrugged to identify himself.

  “Whoa!” Lena’s lips formed an O. “And all I got is this spectacular figure?” Her hands gestured down her sides as if she were asking for an opinion on a new outfit. “Think you guys will grow?”

  The downstairs filled with hoots of hysterics.

  Simon tossed and turned. The dream nagged at him. The hard ground grew colder beneath the layered newspapers.

  She was back, the dream girl with the wisps of brown hair spidering across her face, the flames licking at her from behind.

  “No… no… no!” Simon rolled to his left side where a whiff of hamburger and fries caused his eyelids to blink the girl’s image away as his stomach responded to the smell. He glanced at the bag, then at Carmen.

  “Are you sure this is safe to eat?” Simon gripped the bag and opened it warily.

  “The guy never even opened the bag. He’s the first person to have pity on me since I hit the streets. Most people just flinch and ignore me. Wonder why?”

  “Uh, maybe your clothes?” Simon frowned at the holes in her shirt and jeans.

  “I meant, I wonder why he took pity on me… all the sudden. Weird.” Carmen grew pensive.

  Nobody had offered to help her since she left home. Why now? A strange thickness filled the air around her as her suspicions multiplied. Feelings of betrayal battled with curiosity as she opened the bag. She’d watched the bag switch hands from hostess to patron. The patron’s color was trustworthy, wasn’t it?

  “What were you dreaming about when I came in?” Carmen pulled a burger from the bag.

  Simon greedily pulled back the wrapper and answered around his chewing as he kept the contents in his mouth from showing, “Girl… fire… I dunno,” he mumbled around food.

  “Slow down. You’ll get stomach cramps. A girl and fire? Long brown hair? Sad face? That girl?” Carmen tilted her head as she handed him a carton of French fries.

  “Yeah, her. Who is she?” He shoved a few fries into his mouth.

  “You’re gonna throw up,” Carmen shook her head at him before slipping into thought while she nibbled a fry of her own. Her brows drew downward in contemplation and doubt. “I don’t know, but when we finish here, I get the feeling we need to get outta here. Something weird is happening. I can almost touch the change in the air.”

  “What makes you say that?” Simon savored another bite of burger.

  “There’s a heaviness in the air. A suffocating heaviness. The streets are turning black. Can’t you see it? Feel it?” Carmen fell silent, black shadows creeping into her hovel, reaching toward her, waving tentacles of darkness near her face.

  “Like rain? Humidity? Clouds? No. I don’t feel it.”

  “You know what? Let’s make this food to-go. I think we better pack up, like right now!” Carmen’s panic sent Simon into a state of high alert. He didn’t know why he felt the fear broiling from deep within, but somehow it must connect to what had happened to him. If he could only remember what happened.

  Stuffing food in his face while helping Carmen remove the hand drawn pieces from the ceiling, Simon asked, “Are we in danger?”

  “No, I don’t think so… least not yet. That’s just it, we are, but we aren’t. I know that doesn’t make sense, but it’s like I’m used to living my life in danger. Now, the air has changed. I mean, cops have been chasing me, people have been turnin’ me in, but now, that dude being nice… the dark gray blackness I see everywhere, something ain’t right. It feels wrong. We gotta go away, far away… fast! Hide out until this grayness blows over.”

  “Away?”

  “Yeah, outta sight… underground… deep. Like the air before a tornado, this thickness is telling me to take cover. That’s all I need out of this dive. Let’s go!”

  Carmen didn’t bother exiting the crate and cardboard entry with care. She stood up, bursting through it, essentially tearing down the entire front wall she had so carefully constructed over
the past weeks. She worked hard to find all the materials. She didn’t want to leave it up for someone else who didn’t deserve her kindness!

  The sudden light through the opening burst onto Simon’s features, making him hurry behind her as fast as his weak state would allow. “I guess the tornado just landed,” he mumbled, glancing at the destruction over his shoulder.

  Carmen broke into a run as the sun shown above and dark clouds churned, redirecting the light as if leading her way. She wasn’t concerned about the weather, the clouds, the thunder roaring in the background. She was, however, concerned about the looks people gave her— about their colors as she passed— and about Simon as he stumbled up the street behind her. It wasn’t the type of look she was used to seeing from others. Most ignored her in the streets, unless one was desperate for money and turned her in. The hopeful looks, the frightened looks, the menacing looks to her right and left disarmed her. They weren’t the looks of hunger and despair she’d grown used to seeing. They weren’t the I’m-gonna-get-you-where-are-the-cops look she had been fighting all this time.

  She was seeing eyes of compassion and concern for her safety, colors of blue and dashes of green breaking through the gray. One homeless guy she’d been fighting with for weeks actually clapped and cheered them on as they passed his makeshift home.

  This wasn’t right.

  None of it was right.

  The world was suddenly topsy-turvy.

  First Simon shows up, knowing nothing about anything… now this.

  Carmen stopped running at a crosswalk to wait for the light to change. Hands on her knees, she doubled forward, inhaled deeply, exhaled forcibly, to catch her breath; she pointed back from where they had come, “Did you see that, those people?”

  “Yeah, homeless people? What about them? I mean, why was that dude clapping? Why are we running?” Simon shrugged barely catching up to her to lean against the pole and catch his own breath before the light changed.

  A car eased to the curb where they waited. The voice mockingly implied help, “You two need a lift somewhere in Paradise? Someplace like, oh, say Old Towne Road?” The silent red and blue bubbles on top of the car turned Carmen rigid. “I’m sorry Officer, what did you say?” She pretended to care.

  Grabbing Simon’s hand, she pulled him forward. Beyond the front of the police car, the sound of the officer’s hearty laughter faded as he drove away.

  “What the heck?” She gasped as she steered Simon through the city under the cover of brush.

  Simon pressed fingers and thumb into his right side as he doubled over. Carmen stopped running and tossed her bag off her shoulder to the ground between them. Neither spoke as they rested beneath brush to regain control of their breathing, the sound of thunder closing in above them.

  Both searched the wooded area for cover, finding none.

  Simon stood, straightened his body— his breathing less desperate— and nodded. As if they could outrun the oncoming storm, the two moved quickly through the wooded area, seeking a path around the small brush and fallen logs along the way. As the rain began, small droplets seeking ground beneath giant oak trees, Carmen and Simon approached a small abandoned building, windows broken, but roof intact. The door squeaked as they moved into the gloomy, cob-webbed, dim interior to wait out the storm.

  “Do you think he was serious, about the ride? I mean… what is Olde Towne Road? What’s there?” Simon seated himself in a corner opposite the window on the north side of the small shed. Though the building held warmth from the daytime sun, the cold north breeze fought the warmth for rights through the broken windows from now and again, and Simon shivered in response.

  “Yeah, that’s the problem. What is there, exactly? Is that where the jail is? I am on the wanted list… a person of interest. Why did he say Paradise like that? Why did he laugh instead of arresting me? He didn’t come after us! Something is definitely wrong.” Carmen responded in a rush as the ghostly charcoal wisps felt their way through the window and wall cracks of the shed.

  Carmen felt the northern through her hair while her head rested against the worn metal wall. She’d closed her eyes against the gray tentacles for protection, but soon she was in the dream, again.

  “Morning, Mom! Do I smell waffles? Bacon?” Carmen tilted her nose up and took in the aroma.

  “Yes, you do, my love! And as soon as your father gets back from his run…” Carmen’s mother slapped the back of Carmen’s hand as she reached for a slice of bacon, “We’ll eat breakfast. Do you have any pressing matters after school today?” The waffle maker opened and her mom forked two waffles onto a plate.

  “No, I don’t think so.” Carmen reached for the plate and took it to the already set table. She went to the refrigerator to retrieve the milk and orange juice, filling each cup. Then she turned her mom and dad’s coffee cups over and filled them.

  “I need your help after school so come right home then, okay?” Her mom surveyed the table, “Perfect. Thank you,” she planted a kiss on Carmen’s forehead as the door opened.

  Mom’s in a really good mood, Carmen thought, raising her brows at her dad as he frowned curiously at her. Carmen shrugged.

  “I’m gonna rinse off real quick. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Carmen shrugged knowingly at him as he slipped from the room. Mom has been difficult lately, Carmen thought glancing toward the kitchen. Carmen had heard her parents arguing late at night while she studied.

  Of course, it was all about Carmen. Mom was pushing Carmen to study the colors, get in touch with her intuition, and she’d been more desperate about Carmen’s learning lately. She’d also reminisced with her daughter about the fairytale. Over and over, every night while they gathered in the family room to watch a movie, Mom had made reference to the fairytale.

  Dad rolled his eyes more than once a night. Mom’s “VooDoo hogwash” references, as he referred to them, were coming more frequently.

  Carmen silently ate her breakfast, glancing back and forth between her parents. She loved them both so much. She only wished they could get along better. Mom couldn’t help the way she was raised; neither could Dad. It was a constant struggle for Carmen to watch them drift further apart.

  After taking her plate to the kitchen, Carmen kissed her mom on the cheek and looked into her hazel green eyes, vowing to be home right after school to help Mom with whatever task she needed help with. Carmen’s dad slid his arm around Carmen’s shoulder and kissed her temple. “I hope it’s not some hoodoo hogwash!” He whispered, closing the door behind Carmen. She stood outside the door listening as the arguing began again, her mom making her usual threats about leaving with Carmen, returning to the country farm where she grew up. Carmen sighed heavily and fled down the stairs. Out the door and beyond in the streets, she pushed on toward school, her safe zone… until that day.

  Carmen was late that evening because there was a lockdown at school. Some kid brought a gun and the principal was alerted to a possible second gun.

  When Carmen arrived home, her mother was gone, the apartment was a wreck, and her dad could not be reached.

  In sleep, Carmen rolled her head to her other shoulder, and her eyes fluttered open as the scream pierced her eardrum.

  “How much longer?” The heel of a sneakered foot bounced impatiently on the concrete.

  “Stop bouncing. You’re driving me crazy! Ugh!” Neka peered into the darkness. He had said ten, hadn’t he?

  Neka replayed the conversation in her mind, but she kept getting stuck on his eyes, those gorgeous blue eyes.

  She’d sensed urgency, danger emanating from them, and something more, something Neka very much needed. She’d sensed protection.

  Then again, maybe it was just that stupid uniform!

  He’d scolded her. Remembering his tone angered her, yet at the same time it comforted her.

  Who did he think he was anyway?

  Her dad used to get so frustrated with her flirty antics. How many times had he scolded her? How many times had he asked he
r to stop behaving in ways unbecoming a lady. How could she, though? How could she behave decently with a twin brother as wild as Nashota? How could she behave like a lady when she had lost her mother during her formative lady years? How could she not climb trees? Why in heaven would she want to learn cooking and cleaning and medicinal remedies when she could have fun, use her beauty to her advantage?

  “Why Papa?” she exhaled, barely a whisper. “Why did you leave us?” She asked the darkness in a normal voice.

  “I had to do my job!” A harsh voice answered from the darkness. Neka frowned. Had she imagined it? “Look. You need to lay low. Stop making scenes. They’re coming for you, you know? They’re coming for all of us, waiting until we’re all together.”

  Neka frowned toward the voice, then toward her brother’s still knee. Ensuing silence sent a shock of fright through her body, suddenly making her feel very alone. But she knew he was there, in the shadows, protecting her. “Who are you?”

  “Never mind. Hold out your left hand.” She followed his command and he palmed a folded piece of paper into it. “There’s a farm, just outside of town. We’ll go there when I come back. Some of us are already waiting there. Some of us are still on their way. You’ll get help there. You’ll be safe. And for God’s sake, don’t act like a common street girl. You’re so much more than you realize.”

  Neka’s eyes filled with rage at his insult. “How dare you! Why should I trust someone who has no guts to face me in the light? Who calls me names! You… you…” She lashed out in revenge.

  “Lose the temper and stay here. I need to remain on the inside, so I keep up with his plans, but I will take you to that farm after I drop off my partner. I’ll get information to all of you somehow. When I drop you off, tell them it’s there, the—”