Harmonious

Gone Baby Gone!

 I woke up the next morning feeling like a whole mountain of boulders were shoved inside my head.

The sun was shining through the curtains.

Wait.

The sun never shines this early.

I looked at the clock. Shit. It's freaking 12:09 in the afternoon! Urgh I must've forgotten to put up the alarm.

Can't blame myself though. After Mrs. R and James left us with all that information, mom and dad literally shoved me in bed to go to sleep. 

But why didn't they wake me up? It's Tuesday. 

And Jenna always takes every opportunity to jump at my face when least expected.

Did they really leave me alone for the whole day?

I must on my flip flops and climbed down the stairs. 

But I wasn't ready for what I saw.

The whole downstairs was in shreds. Tables were thrown to the side, broken and splintered. Parts of the walls were singed in black soot, like something threw fire at it. The chandeliers were shattered on the floor. And all of mom's china lay broken in their tossed cupboards.

But the thing that scared me the most was the blood.

Blood. Splattered in a perfect circle. Right in the middle of the dining room floor where we were sitting just last night.

Tears welled up in my eyes. They were gone. 

Without even thinking, I ran out of the house, across the road, and to the house in front.

I started banging on the door so hard that it could've broken down if James hadn't opened it. 

"Jeez you moron, are you trying to get yourself kill - whoa, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I - I need - I - "  I started sobbing, I couldn't speak. 

James poked his head out the door, looked around, and shoved me inside.

"Witch, you better tell me what your problem is before I  - "

"JAMESTON!"

Mrs. R came running, looking  a little bit more than frazzled.

But her face changed from annoyed to concerned when she saw me.

" Oh, Harmony, what's wrong, what happened?"

Through the sobs, I forced out my words.

"They  - took - took - them!"

Mrs. R took me by the shoulders and tried to hold me down.

"Honey, you need to calm down, I can't understa - "

"MY FAMILY IS GONE!"

Mrs. R let go off my shoulders.

"What?"

"Somebody came into my house and took my family. They aren't here!"

"Honey, what are you - "

"Grams."

James looked at me.

"She smells like blood."

Mrs. R went as white as a sheet.

"Take me to your house Harmony."

Shaking, I led them to my house, only to be stopped by Mrs. R.

"James, do you smell that?"

James gave a low snarl. "It smells like Daggers. And magic."

"Go and take a look in James."

James went inside the house, and within seconds he was back.

"They put up a fight. The blood is not theirs, its in a perfect circle. A transportation spell."

With that, I just started sobbing harder.

Mrs. R put her arms around my shoulders.

"James, pack up our things, we are going to the training grounds."

James gave her a curious look.

Training grounds?

"They took them as bait. They must've known that they were in terms with us. We were spied on last night, I knew I saw something. Must've thought that you would come and save them. But why didn't they take Harmony?"

"Wait, Grams, you seriously want me to go and find them?!"

" They are declaring war on us, we were their targets, this was a warning. You need to be ready. Both of you."

Mrs. R looked at me sternly. 

"Harmony, we need to hide you, you were supposed to be taken, but for some reason, you weren't. But they are going to hit again, and you need to arm yourself!"

Finally steadying my sobs, " Why did they take my family? They don't do magic anymore!"

"I'll explain everything later, you are going to have to come with us Harmony, we need to train you."

WHAT?

"Wait, hold on - "

James jumped in.

"What about school, and the clan?!"

"I'll call the principal, tell him what's going on, he will excuse you both. And your sister can take the clan until you're gone."

"What?! I don't need training, I am more than ready, and so is the clan!"

"No, no fighting until all the clans say so. Once I send word of this, there will be a meeting, then we will decide what to do. This is a very dire situation, so don't be rash."

James looked like he would've killed someone on the spot.

"We need to take Harmony to the training grounds, the camp will help her learn how to fight. Everyone is going to be there soon enough. We are at a brink of war here. Rescuing her family will be difficult and will start a war. We need to be ready at all costs."

I was in a state of shock so deep that I didn't even know if I was breathing anymore.

"Harmony darling, are you ready for this?"

I took a deep breath.

I hope I know what I am doing.

"Will I be able to save my family if I do go?"

"Yes, if you're ready. Which James and I will make sure you will be."

James scowled and stomped away into his house.

Mrs. R looked at me.

"Harmony, if I'm right, your family might not be the only ones taken by the end of the day."

"All this, just to get James?"

"No, he is not the only one with more than one type of species. There is a rumor among the clans that there is another. The Daggers want them both. But they don't know who it is, that's why they are taking families away. It's a blackmail. The families for James and the other one."

"Do you know who the other is?"

"No, the camp has been trying to find out for years now. But if we do find this person, we can't give them over. It would be disastrous."

"How do they find out who is - um - mixed?"

Mrs. R turned to me and gave a grim smile.

"You will see for yourself at camp Harmony, pack your things. Be ready for the next step."