Magpie Calling

Prologue

14th August 3189

The alarms blared all over the building, as the young boy sat up in his dark bedroom. Casper could hear running feet in the corridor and cries for help.

He slid out of his bed and crept towards the door. The corridor was full of servants and Peacebringers, running in all directions. No one noticed they young boy sneak out of his room and start running after the men in white suits.

Casper Grey was only nine years old, but everyone knew the sound of the Alarm. It meant that the Rebels had entered your house and now it was time to run, in fear of being killed.

He kept running with the sea of Peacebringers, who ran down the stairs into the front hall. Then they stopped and pulled out their guns.

"Security breach in the West Wing. Rebels have entered the building." One of them said. They began to walk carefully forward, none of them having noticed the young boy. They were too distracted with the task at hand.

Just as the Peacebringers turned a corner, Casper saw someone clad in black dart through one of the hallways at the other end of the house.

Abandoning the guards, he quickly ran in the direction of the Rebel, who was now gone from sight.

The house was very quiet, almost too quiet for his liking. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, as he tiptoed down the corridor. He heard whispers coming from one of the rooms and crept forward to peak inside.

The room was still dark, but there were little torches lighting it up. The people inside were dressed in black and were trying to find something. Casper stepped forward a bit more, causing the door to creak slightly. The torches all turned in his direction.

"Who's there?" They demanded.

Casper ran down the hallway as fast as he could. He needed to hide or the Rebels would kill him. He'd heard all of the stories about how they kidnapped children and sliced their skin off while they were still alive, before getting a rabid dog to come forward and eat their flesh. Then they would take your heart and give it back to your parents. He didn't want to die. Especially at the hands of Rebels.

He heard feet behind him and quickly darted into one of the other rooms. It was dark in this room too, but he managed to find his way to a table and hid under it just in time. The door flew open again and the group of rebels entered the room.

"I'm telling you, I heard someone come in here." One of them said. Casper looked at them from his hiding place. There were mostly just men in the group, but also a few women, much to his surprise.

"Look, we're wasting time. Let's get to the vault and get out of here. The kids have seen enough and I don't want them to get hurt." A female said. That's when Casper noticed the four or five children that were huddled around the group. They must have been kidnapped by the rebels, he thought.

"Fine, let's get out of here. But if someone starts shooting us in the back, it will be the guy hiding in here." The first man said, just as another alarm went off, closer this time.

"Shoot, I thought we'd have a bit more time. Get to the vault now!"

The rebels ran out of the room, weapons in hand,as the alarm blared louder. Casper peeked his head out from his hiding place, just as the last rebels were leaving the room. One of the children turned around just as she reached the door and spotted Casper. They stared at each other for a split second, and she ran out of the room again.

Peacebringers patrolled the outside of the building, as the residents huddled around outside for warmth. A group of maids walked around, handing out blankets to those who needed them.

"Mr. Grey, I have found your son. He was hidden in the dining room." A Peacebringer said, bringing Casper over to his father.

"Thank goodness you're alright, son." Ruben Grey said. "Where are the others?"

"We have found all of your children yet, sir. They are safely with their mother." The Peacebringer replied.

"Sir, we have a group of them rounded up in the North Wing." Another said.

"Make sure they're secure. I'll be there in a moment." Grey said.

"Dad, can I come too?" Casper asked.

"Not this time, son." Ruben replied. He pushed Casper towards his mother and went back into the house.

"I don't understand. I'm brave enough. Rebels don't scare me." He said.

"You're very brave, dearest, but maybe not today." His mother replied. The alarm started to blare again and more Peacebringers rushed into the house again.

"What's going on?" Mrs. Grey asked a nearby maid.

"A security breach,ma'am. Two of the rebels were shot and the rest ran off." She replied.

"Mom, I can go. I want to see them. I can protect the house too." Casper said to his mother.

"Don't be stupid. You're only a kid. What can you do to stop the rebels?" His older brother, Jack, sneered.

"Jack, don't say those things. They're not true." His mother scolded. "I'm going inside to see what happened. Stay here with Esme, all of you."

"Mother, I want to go with you. Please let me come."

"Not this time, darling. It's too dangerous for you. You're too young to watch the death of a rebel. Stay here and I'll be back soon." She replied, running to the house, leaving him alone with one of the maids.

"Come along, master Grey. You'll be frozen if you don't get a blanket of some sort." Esme said.

"But I wanted to go with mother."

"Mrs. Grey will be back very soon, don't you worry. She's a strong woman and won't get hurt." Esme promised.

"Mother isn't strong, no women are strong. That's what father says. The only thing they can lift is a teacup." Jack said.

"I should be there to protect her. Mother needs my help." Casper cried, looking back towards the house.

"Don't worry, master Grey. Nothing will happen to you mother. She will be completely safe."

On the night of the fourteenth of August in the year 3189, two Rebels were shot dead in the main government building in Clascatava. That same night, when Esmerelda Grey entered the building, she promised her youngest child that she would be back in seconds.

He never saw her again.