Fablehaven: Journey to the Eternals' Pass (fanfiction) (HIATUS)

3: Twins

The large Samoan sat uneasily on the chair at Grandpa's request, followed closely by Grandma Sorenson. "As you know, Ruth and I were assisting the survivors of the preserve up North in their investigation regarding the attack-"

"Hang on." Seth interrupted. "Everyone keeps saying 'up North'. What happened 'up North'? How come Kendra and I don't know about it?"

"I know about it." Kendra told her brother. "Grandpa told us over breakfast a few days ago. It's not my fault you weren't listening."

"Was that the day Vanessa made those apple turnovers?" Seth questioned. "Yes? Well how can you blame me for not listening? Those were absolutely fantastic!" Kendra did, in fact, remember the apple turnovers and Vanessa's hidden talent for pastries. They had been good, but it was just like Seth to concentrate on the food instead of the news of the attack.

A preserve for magical creatures much like Fablehaven, located just a few miles north of their own home, had been invaded in the middle of the day, in bright daylight, past every spell keeping unwanted visitors out, and had left behind everyone in the preserve dead, as well as traces of dark magic lingering in the area. There had been fourteen people killed all together.

Recognition dawned on Seth's face as Kendra whispered it to him. It seemed he had been listening after all, to some extent. "But Tanu just said there were survivors." Seth looked at Tanu. "If everyone was killed, how are there survivors?"

"Not everyone was in the preserve at the time, and thank God they weren't." Grandma replied in Tanu's stead. "There were two children who were at school and a groundskeeper who had gone out for errands. The caretakers-Katherine and Alistair Long-and everyone else were slain."

Grandpa nodded and reached for a piece of paper and a pen. "What did they say?"

"The two children are fourteen-year-old twins, Elaine and Darcy Long. They're half-Chinese. We believe that Darcy is fairystruck, which tallies with the preserve being largely a fairy preserve. He was able to tell us how the attack had affected the magical creatures in the preserve, namely, of course, the fairies. According to him, the fairies are significantly weaker than they were before. Meanwhile Elaine, who follows her father's stead in dealing with magical objects and spells, says that the breach shouldn't have been possible, in strong sunlight-which usually affects dark creatures to an extent-and with very potent barriers."

"Like those in Fablehaven?" Bracken asked, leaning forward.

Grandma nodded. "Or stronger. The Longs are a big believer in security."

"And what about the groundskeeper?"

"His name is Aaron. He started working there just over three weeks ago and knows very little of what conspired. The bulk of the information will be in the twins, because they are more closely related to the preserve and to the creatures."

"The premises?"

Tanu shook his head. "Ah, that's the thing. It's almost completely untouched. Seems the only things the attackers were going for were living things. It's near in perfect condition, like no attack did happen. Ruth and I are hard-pressed to get anything more out of the twins, so we were hoping that Kendra and Bracken could go down there, given their fairy abilities, and investigate further."

"Oh, come on!" Seth protested. "Why is it always Kendra and the unicorn? Does anyone forget that I'm the one who's a Shadow Charmer? Who actually does everything connected to dark stuff? But no, everyone just cares about the dream team!" He gestured. "The power couple!"

Tanu didn't look amused. "We were going to ask you to go along for that very reason, Seth." He said dryly. "But since you apparently have lost the maturity I thought you had..."