"Are you alright?" I ask her, handing her a drink. "Do you need to go for a second?" I turn and look at the piles of paperwork stacked on my desk and looked out the window, trying to focus on the calming image of the tree line. I closed my eyes and breathed in the pine.
Izzy was gone. Izzy was missing. And no one in the whole department could find her.
"Kassandra, I understand if you need to take a break." I turned back around at her. "It's been a long day. It's been stressful for everyone." She nodded, and I could just barely see the relief in her eyes.
"Yes, sir, It's just that I don't want to leave you here alone." Kassandra was a dear friend of mine, my secretary for almost four years now, and I could hear the concern in her voice. She knew how much Izzy meant to me.
"I'll be fine. Just send Quinn up on your way out?" She nodded.
"Of course, Mr. Hale." She smiled. "Don't stay too late. You know the time changes in the Theta." I nodded, pulling at my sleeves through the suit. She closed the door and I collapsed in my chair, staring at the ceiling. If Izzy was here she would make some stupid joke about an old overworked man sitting in a swivel chair.
If Izzy were here...
Quinn knocked on the door and I sat up straight, turned my chair to face my desk, and straightened my tie. "Come in."
Quinn was older than anyone else in my office, 36 years old, but for some reason his powers were stunted in growth. He couldn't control his visits to the Theta, even after practicing longer than anyone else, and his powers were just somehow not as powerful. So, by law, I was not able to promote him up all the ranks I would have liked him in- but I gave him a good job, the highest I could, and relied on his advice more than anyone else's.
Quinn walked in and leaned against the open doorway, his red flannel shirt rolled up to his elbows, two manilla folders under his arm, his caramel colored hair perfectly combed, eyes casually darting around the room at the various bits of newsfeeds and notes I had taped to the wall in the last thirty six hours since Izzy had gone missing. "Sawyer, have you slept at all since she disappeared?" I shook my head.
"She's like a little sister to me, Quinn. I'm worried about her. She doesn't know anything about the Theta."
Quinn nodded, standing up and closing the door before plopping down in the chair across from mine.
"There are two new Theks- Illarene has talked to them both." He grabbed the folders and set them down on my desk.
"Sebastian Felix Price, an Air, and Gwendolyn Taylor James, a Water. We think." I took the folders and set them in the pile of paperwork I was supposed to be looking through. "Why give the folders to me? Why not to Avery and Mayelle?"
Quinn looked at me, amused. "Because, a friend of theirs was recently transported through the Theta, and no one has seen her since."
"A cripner, or a miadrox?" Quinn shook his head.
"We're not sure. But Illarene or one of the others might be able to track her signature through the Theta. We think the same people who might have taken Isabelle took her."
My hands started shaking in rage and I clenched them, trying to remain calm. There's a way to find Izzy. There's a way to find Izzy.
"Any word on the rouge Water?"
Quinn shook his head. "Devacier has also disappeared. Last time we saw him, his mark had almost doubled. His eyes were almost completely black."
I subconsciously touched one of the white marks on my skin. I was a Vitiligo, my dark brown skin obscured by patches of white. Whether this was because of the Theta or not, I didn't know. But unlike everyone else, I had never received a mark when I visited the Theta.
"He's abusing his power," I remarked frankly. Quinn nodded. I sighed, massaging my temples. I could feel a headache developing. Quinn noticed. "Sawyer, if you want to go, get some sleep, get some food... I'll alert you if we find anything. I promise."
"Thank you." I looked at him with gratitude, and got up to face the woods. I started counting- one, two, three, four, five...
when I opened my eyes I was laying in my bed, my bare bedroom in my London flat. The walls were light beige, the covers a deep blue. Devoid of any furniture, this room was the easiest way for me to get to the Theta without having any adrenaline. I looked at the clock on my wall- the only decoration I allowed myself. It was almost 4 am, Saturday. 8 pm on Friday PST. I had been in the Theta for almost 40 hours straight. I groaned. I grabbed my phone off my nightstand and started playing some classical piano music to force myself to sleep. Moonlight Sonata came on, and I closed my eyes, starting to doze off.
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I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing. It was Quinn. I quickly pushed off the covers and answered the phone.
"Quinn?"
"The new boy- Sebastian- is here again. I thought he might be able to tell us a bit about Claryn- the other missing girl. And we have a ransom note. You need to come check it out." I glanced at the clock again- only an hour and a half of sleep. I groaned. "Be right there."
I appeared in my office, and the boy flickered, startled. "It's ok, mate. I'm Sawyer Hale, head of the Earth department here in the Theta." The boy shook my hand. He looked friendly and intelligent, probably about the same age as Izzy, and while his body language showed complete calm, I saw his mind racing, the anxiety and panic shining through his amber colored eyes, which looked bloodshot and tired. "Sebastian Price." I motioned for him to sit, and he sat next to Quinn, across the desk from me.
"So... Sebastian..." I said, confused as to where I should begin. "How long have you been... accessing the Theta?"
He moved his hands, drumming his fingers on his legs. "The first time was yesterday, I believe." He spoke clearly and confidently and I instantly respected him. This kid had been thrown in a middle of a situation he knew nothing about, and yet he was remaining completely calm. Much better than I was when I first accessed the Theta.
"And you've met Illarene?" He nodded without breaking eye contact. "What kind of powers have you been showing?"
He closed his eyes, trying to remember. "The first time," he said slowly, "I was able to use the force. You know, push this guy around, lift him up, whatever... The second time, there was like, an air pocket in my, um, palm... the third time, I could move people's limbs. Uh, Gwen was choking me, and I kinda just... lowered her arm and it stopped." He opened back his eyes, squinting skeptically, as if he doubted this would be enough information. I nodded.
"And, Sebastian, where are you right now?" He blinked, not quite understanding. "I'm in the Theta." I chuckled. "No, I mean what does it look like?" He looked around, out of the windows, at the desk, at the papers tacked onto the wall. "We're in Europe, or something. Its raining, and we're in an indoor cafe. There are lots of trees, and they're starting to fall..." He looked at me quizzically. "Why? Doesn't everyone see the same thing?" I shook my head.
"I think we're in a modern office, surrounded by thick forests."
Quinn jumped in too. "I think we're in a hut in the Alps."
Sebastian glanced around in awe, and I started to explain.
"The Theta is a state of mind, like a dream. It's the place between awake and asleep, but only a few people an actually access it and harness its powers. And because it's a shared dream state, we all see what makes us comfortable. But we are all able to communicate through the Theta."
Sebastian nodded. "Like Inception. Except, we're in limbo, and its empty dream space for all of us."
I nodded slowly, not knowing what he meant. "Um, sure. Like that."
I went through both of their files, finding a picture of the red-head who had gone missing. "This is Claryn Esters. Do you know her?"
Sebastian gulped and nodded slowly. "Yeah. She goes to my school. She's Gwen's best friend." I quickly glanced at Quinn and he mouthed Cripner? I nodded.
"Yesterday, at about 8 pm, Claryn was transported through the Theta." Sebastian ran a hand through his hair, obviously concerned. "We think she was taken, along with a good friend of mine, Isabelle Palmson."
Quinn cut in then. "Actually, Sawyer, we know they were taken." He pulled a disc from his pocket and handed it to me. "Morean and Matthias left us a ransom note. The other Consuls have already seen it."
Sebastian snorted. "They don't sound too threatening." Quinn glared. Sebastian's smile dropped. "What? Their names are ridiculous."
I popped the disk into my computer and turned the screen so that the three of us could see it.
It was a badly recorded video, opening on a dark cave- in one cell was the red headed girl, and I could hear Sebastian gasp- in the cell next to her was Izzy.
Izzy. She looked up at the camera and smiled, Her hair was a mess, and she looked a little dirty, but not hurt. Matthias stepped into view, and his ever-present sly grin widened. I looked up at Sebastian, his expression set, his hands in tight fists. "That's Claryn. And that's the man who attacked me."
I nodded and turned back to watch the video.
"Greetings, Theks. I am Matthias, and we have taken two of your cripners." Neither of the girl's faces showed recognition that they knew what the word meant. "We'll give them back, relatively unharmed... all we want is Gwen. You have 24 hours to turn her over to Devacier, or both of them will die. And good luck explaining to the Miadri what happened to them." He leaned into the camera, zooming up on his face. I could see the various bruises and scars covering his neck. He had been taking too much power. "24 hours." The video shut off and I closed the computer and stood up, starting to pace my room. I turned to look at Sebastian, who looked like he might start yelling or hyperventilating at any given moment.I didn't blame him- if they touched a hair on Izzy's head, I was going to kill them both. But he was new, and I pitied him for being exposed to this kind of stress so early. "Sebastian," I said, trying to coat my words with empathy- "I think you should leave. We're going to do everything we can to find Claryn, ya?" He nodded, but he still looked like he wanted to strangle someone. "Thanks, mate. We'll be in touch." He flickered for a moment, closed his eyes, and disappeared. I turned to Quinn, my breathing becoming less and less steady with every word I said. "The other Consuls have seen this? I want someone to track the video footage, I want everything we can find on Matthias, Morean, Devacier, Izzy, and Claryn. I want a meeting with the other Consuls, and whomever they wish to bring. I want to find her, Quinn. Got it?" He nodded. I turned to the window, feeling my face starting to get hot with anger. I looked at the tree line, but my heart was still beating out of my chest, the blood rushing in my ears, my chest heaving with heavy, angry breaths.
"And get me the other Thek," I said. "She may have something to do with this."
"Who?"
"The Water girl." I responded. Izzy. Think of Izzy. You will do whatever it takes for her. "Bring me Gwendolyn James."
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Hey, Squichy Mushins! Thank you for reading! How are you liking the book? Who do you want to hear from next?
Maddie- Good Luck
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