Ace

Ace Chapter 3

  I laughed as Gordon made a face at me through a gap in the bookshelves. We decided to take a trip to the library with Enna to get away from all the supervision we had down our backs over the past few weeks. Everything had remained calm, but dad wanted to remain cautious. Cadence and Oliver never showed again after the day they left.

Gordon pulled out a small picture album and sat next to Enna on a corner sofa. I sat next to them on the arm rest. Gordon flipped through pictures spanning all the way back to the day of our parents' marriage. Pages later, there were pictures of balloons exclaiming "It's a boy!". Enna smiled.

"You were a real pale baby, Gordy", she giggled.

Gordon chuckled. "Yeah, with a head full of black hair", he said as he looked at a picture of dad pointing to his hair and smiling at the camera in bewilderment. He flipped to another picture of mom glaring at dad as he played with Gordon's hair; slicking it back so he'd look like a vampire. I laughed softly.

Gordon rolled his eyes playfully. "Ha ha, very funny. Look at you", he said as we moved along to the day I was born. Dad was crying as he held me close to his heart. A warm feeling engulfed me as I smiled at the memory I was too young to recall. Another picture showed dad putting Gordon next to mom on the hospital bed so he could meet me. Enna laughed. "Where am I?"

Gordon whistled. "You didn't come until 5 years and 9 months later." He flipped several pages passing me and him as we grew older, pausing on one of us fighting over a slice of cake. "I remember that day..."

I smiled. "I remember it too."

Enna pushed through more pages until she saw an image of dad kissing mom's round belly. Gordon was in the back with a tear stained face from the news of having another sibling, while I beamed proudly at the fact of not having to be the youngest anymore. The next page held images of Enna at home for the first time. She flipped back and forth and frowned. "There's no images of me in the hospital."

Gordon and I looked at each other. I spoke first. "Well, mom had a few complications with the delivery so dad didn't take any pictures. He just wanted to make sure you got here safely", I said in the softest tone possible.

Enna looked down at the photo album. "Did...did mom almost die because of me?"

"No, no, no", I said as Gordon shook his head furiously. "Sometimes a woman has a hard time giving birth. It's not anyone's fault. The point is, you're here, and so is she."

I exhaled at Gordon's comforting words. He was always better at keeping Enna calm about things. Enna smiled and kept flipping through the pages. She pointed at a family picture. It was the night of our first ball. Mom and dad never usually let us attend until Gordon and I reached our preteen years. Enna had just begun attending them this year.

"They're amazing", she whispered as she looked at images of different parties. She was more into that type of thing than I was. Sometimes I wondered if mom wished I had turned out more like Enna, girly and ready to put on dresses and attend the parties. I shook my head at the thought. She loved me the way I was. At least I hoped so.

Suddenly, three guards bursts through the grand library doors and rushed over to us. "There's been a security breach. We need to get you to the safety rooms." Before we could protest, they were hoisting me and Enna over their shoulders to carry and dragging Gordon by the arm out into the hallway. Guards were rushing every which way all around us. Enna screamed at the sound of a chandelier crashing to the ground on the floor above us. Gordon wrenched himself out of the guards reach and grabbed Enna. "I've got her", he said sternly.  I too was placed down next to my brother and sister.

The guards had formed a barricade around us, more coming to join. There were at least ten of them surrounding us in a circle. They began to open fire at whatever was trying to get at us. Enna screamed and covered her ears as tears began to stain her cheeks. Gordon held her tightly and pulled me over into his grasp as well. A million thoughts were rushing through my head at once. Was mom and dad okay? Was this the rebellion? Who was coming for us? Were we going to live? I had no room in my head for fear.