The Glade and Its Glitch: Book 2 Allies or Enemies

Chapter 23

 Kiki sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, she dropped down to the floor. Once she opened the door, Kiki peered out into the hallway. She crept out of her room, her bare feet making subtle noise, but not enough to wake her family.

Niko's room was the first one she passed by. His bedroom was in between TJ's and Kiki's. It had been where he and Tai slept when she was still alive. But now it was just Niko, sleeping between his two kids, the only family he had left. Tai had picked the room placement because she wanted to be close to TJ and Kiki just in case anything happened late at night. She was smart to do so, there'd been a few times when one of Glitch's soldiers would attack in the late hours of the night. Tai and Niko had been quick to swoop in and save their children.

Now, Kiki stood in the doorway watching her father sleep. He looked peaceful sleeping, he wasn't much when he was awake. Tai's side of the bed was empty, and Niko lay on the very edge of his side trying to get as close as he could to the place his wife used to lie.

Ultimately deciding against going in and waking her father up, Kiki walked past his room. The next one was TJ's, so Kiki made her way over there. She leaned against the doorway and stared in at her brother's body.

He too was sleeping peacefully, though he was sprawled out on the bed. Skye and Kiki liked to tease him that he slept more like an animal than Carrie did. Though Carrie slept like a snake, curled up and still. TJ slept like a dog with limbs splayed out carelessly.

Kiki tried to stifle a giggle as TJ let out a soft snore. She was somewhat unsuccessful, the sound escaped, but TJ slept right through it. She smiled as TJ settled back down, it was rare to see him so calm. He was typically a nervous wreck throughout the day, leading the Glade and all.

Now that she thought about it, TJ and their dad were both calmer while sleeping. Kiki wondered if it had always been this way, or if it only started happening since Tai had died.

Shrugging, Kiki decided to move on. She walked past TJ's room and over to a ladder leading up. After taking hold of the first rung, Kiki began to climb. When she reached the top of the ladder she wound up in a medium-sized room, not large, but not small. Walking over to a door she turned the knob and opened it slowly.

It was Skye's room. She lived on the top floor of the King's treehouse since none of the Miller family lived in the Glade. Carrie would probably live there too, but she had her own treehouse because she was queen of the Glade. Skye's door was the only one shut because the girls, Skye and Kiki, were allowed to shut their doors. TJ was too, but he didn't very often since he liked it when Kiki wandered in to hang out. Kik liked it too, and she was always excited to see his door open and him sitting in there.

Skye was asleep when Kiki first opened the door, but she wasn't for long. "Guh? Hmm? Who's there?"

"Me," Kiki said in a small voice. "But I didn't mean to wake you up. I'll go back to bed." She started to leave, but Skye stopped her.

"Kiki? What are you doing here? It's so late." Skye sat up in bed.

"I just. Wanted to check on everybody. So... I'll go now though. You can go back to sleep."

Skye knew Kiki wasn't telling the full truth. "Come here." She threw the covers aside to invite Kiki to sit with her.

The girl ran forward proving to Skye that everything wasn't totally fine. Crawling into bed with Skye, she pulled the covers over the two of them.

Glad that Kiki gave in, Skye pulled her closer and tucked Kiki's head under her chin. "You want to tell me what happened?"

"I hadn't fallen asleep yet, so my mind was wandering. I was just thinking about Mom. I think there's a lot I don't know about her."

Skye shook her head slightly in surprise and confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I feel like I only know her as Mom. Not as Listener. You know? I see Dad all the time using his power and training. But I never saw Mom do that..." she trailed off, her voice getting quiet.

"Well, her power wasn't tangible, remember? You can't really see mind-reading. But you could see how she acted. You saw how she and your dad gave each other knowing looks right?"

Kiki nodded, "Like the mind-reading power went both ways."

"Exactly, see you know what I'm talking about. She was awesome and was the best shooter we had. She could hit an apple on your dad's head from a hundred feet away. Although she never tried that, I wonder why..."

Kiki giggled at the thought of her dad willingly being shot at. "What did Carrie think of her? I know what TJ and Dad think, and now I kinda know what you think, but I don't know what she thinks."

"Protector was the leader of the Glade for, eh, a dozen, two dozen or so years. She trained Carrie to be Huntress for the last four years but came to her in dreams for three years before that. Then when Carrie took over, she made your mom her advisor, since Tai was like a mother to her. After she died, Carrie made TJ her advisor because I'm obviously too irresponsible. And now TJ's going to take charge for a while because Carrie wants to focus on Glitch and her brother."

"Hmm." Kiki just hummed, her eyelids drooping. "Look," she pointed to a window that took up most of one wall of Skye's room.

Outside the trees swayed in the slight breeze. The sky was dark and the moon was barely visible through the trees.

"Storm is coming," Kiki said as she stared out the window.

"Yeah," Skye pulled Kiki closer, "Looks like rain."

Kiki looked up at Skye and wrapped her arms around the older girl's waist, "Whatever."

A slow drizzle began outside.

But downstairs, TJ sat up in his room. Walking over to his window, he looked outside. Spotting a shadowed silhouette, TJ squinted to get a better view. Upon closer inspection, TJ recognized the familiar green hood. Throwing a jacket on over his sweatpants and thin t-shirt he ran outside to follow Huntress.