Garthia: The Forgotten King

Chapter Eleven

~Chapter Eleven

Eve stops in front of the thirtieth room. She peeks in the window before opening the door by placing her hand on the scanner again. It clicks and she pushes it open, motions for us to stay outside, and walks in without hesitation.

Cam and I move up to the threshold to get a better look.

This room is different than the first one. Instead of padding, it has what appear to be spells and enchantments to cast away evil. They are carved onto everything, and vary in size, overlapping each other so much that most are unreadable.

Someone is meditating in the dark corner of the room with his legs crossed, meditating. The corner is draped with a shadow so dark that I can't make out any of his features.

"So," he says in a slow and scratchy voice. "You finally need my help."

"Don't get too cocky," Eve snaps. "I just need information." The man opens his eyes. I hadn't even realized they were closed, but I wish would have stayed that way. He has green, reptilian eyes that shine out in through darkness. But that's not the only thing. If my eyes don't deceive me, a forked tongue just shot out of his mouth.

"What kind of information?" he asks, his eyes glinting.

"I think you already know."

The snake guy lets out a laugh. Or at least I think it's a laugh. It sounds more like choking. "Of course I do. I just want to hear you say it."

"You know I can't, Harvey. Not out loud." Eve's voice is filled with a mixture of rage and annoyance.

"So just think it." They both stay quiet for a moment, eyeballing each other. Then Harvey lets out another smoker's laugh. "That's not it. It's funny, but it's completely irrelevant."

"There's no point in thinking it either, since you already know. So just tell me what you managed to pick up. Believe it or not, you're the key to figuring all of this out."

He takes a deep, wheezy breath. Finally he says, "Alright. I'll help you. But first, you have to do something for me." Eve face-palms herself. "Come on, princess. You know my information isn't free."

Eve sighs, shaking her head. "Fine. What do you want?"

Harvey smiles, showing off his pointed teeth. "Oh you know exactly what I want."

"Look, if you think I'm honestly going to let you out of here-"

"Not that. Besides, if that's what I wanted I could just kill you and your little friends over there, and make it out without a problem. No, I want something of much higher value." He pauses. "Your magic."

Eve turns around and walks out of the room without another word. She's about to slam the door shut, but Harvey says, "Wait!" and she pauses.

"What is it?"

He flicks his tongue again. "You know, it's not actually that hard to figure out. Even your idiot of an uncle could-"

"Don't you dare speak about him," Eve snaps, being cautious to keep her voice down. "They'll have you executed."

"They'll have me executed anyway. And besides, I'm just trying to help."

"If that's what you call help, then I don't need it." Eve slams the door shut.

>>>

"Well that was a waste of time." Eve grumbles, resting her chin in her hand.

"So what do we do now?" Cam asks, scarfing down yet another salad, "Just go home? Or do we try to solve this thing." We're back at the same cafe. And Cam is still the only one who hasn't lost his appetite.

Eve has been watching him with her nose wrinkled. "Seriously, Air Head. Do you have to talk with your mouth full? It's disgusting! And for Pete's sake, use a napkin! You're getting it everywhere!"

As usual Cam is unfazed by Eve's insults. He just smiles, thankfully keeping his mouth closed, and says, "Sorry about that. I'm just hungry. And anyway, I love salad. Grandpa always told me it's good for me, so I eat it whenever I can." I have to admit, Cam is a lot better than I thought he was. Although the way he eats is repulsive and his constant talk about his grandpa is kind of annoying, you have to admit that his ability to remain friendly when someone is spiting harsh words at him is pretty admirable.

I have no idea what Eve has against him though. I find it strange that she takes practically every chance she can get to slander him. But, then again, Eve is like that towards certain people. I guess you could call it "tough love." She was that way with me when I first got to know her, and she gradually got friendlier. Maybe that's the way it will be with Cam.

Eve still hasn't answered the impending question. She's tapping her nails on the clear glass table, which she does when she's thinking. After a lot of tapping, she comes up with a verdict. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" I say, "As of right now you're in charge of decision making, so start thinking."

"Who put me in charge?" she counters, "Why aren't you in charge, Hayden? You're better at making decisions than I am."

"That's not true and you know it. Anyway, out of the three of us you know this place the best, so while we're here you're in charge. Okay?"

She sighs and drops her eyes. "Fine." she agrees reluctantly, staring at her hands under the translucent table.

"So what are we going to do?" Cam asks again.

Eve looks up at the sky. It's late in the evening now, the sky streaked with pinks and oranges. "If we're going to try to figure this thing out, I suggest we wait until morning. But there's no point in going home now that it's so late. If we're going to do this I know someone who will let is stay the night. She's an old friend of my dad's. She's nice once you get to know her, but she might seem a little...cranky at first." She looks back at us. "So. All who want to solve the mystery and commit to seeing it through no matter how long it takes, say 'I.'"

"I." Cam and I say.

"So it's settled." Eve stands up from the table. "We are officially the new Mystery Inc." She holds out her hand towards the center of the table. "I call being Daphne."

Cam stands up next and puts his hand on top of Eve's. "I guess I'm Shaggy since I'm not cool enough to be Freddy and not dogish enough to be Scooby."

I'm the last to stand. "Then I guess I'm Velma since I'm a total geek and she's the only girl left." Eve snickers. "What?"

"Oh nothing." She's trying to stop smiling but it's not working. I suddenly get the joke and pinch her on the arm. "Ow!"

I ignore her even as she pinches me back. "One the count of three, shout...Elemental Inc."

"Nice name," Eve says sarcastically. She's obviously still upset about me pinching her.

I start counting. "One,"

"Two," Cam joins in.

"Three!" Eve finally jumps in.

We throw our hands into the air as we celebrate the creation of our new, but not very creatively named, mystery-solving team.

But one thing keeps tugging my mind, demanding my attention. Harvey said something about Eve's uncle, but from what I remember, Salem only has three sisters. Is there a brother that no one knows about? Or was Harvey just messing with her?