The Unknown

Chapter 8

I float above Brightly, looking about at the chaos once more. I look over at the bar's roof top. Ace, Alister, Mikal, Drac, Cameron, Nik, Tobias, Locke, Clause, and Damon looked down on the city. I looked down and see Tanya running, trying to get away from the chaos in her stilettos that are threatening to snap on her. I notice then the red heart shaped box in her hands. The lights then go out and the snow begins to fall. Instead of ending, the dream continues.

I look down at my feet and I see that I'm not floating at all, I'm standing on a water tower, the highest point of the city. I climb down and make a run for the city center. I skid to a halt when I see the Queen and her three daughters crucified, their people laughing in glee as they kill them. "Such a shame you did not accept my offer Stormy," a man said and I turn quickly, only to be met with a knife in my chest.

"Stormy!" I hear Alister yell as I begin to fall and everything goes black.

I bolt awake, shooting up in to sitting position, hand to my chest, breathing hard. I noticed strong hands grip my shoulders. "I'm alive," I whispered, my hand where I was felt the knife go through. "What did you see," Alister asked me. "The dream continued," I told him, trying to catch my breath. "I'm not floating, I'm on the water tower, the highest point in the city. I climb down and run to the heart of the city. When I get there the Queen and her daughters are crucified and killed. I then hear a voice behind me, telling me I should have accepted their offer. When I turn around, a knife is slammed into my chest. The last thing I hear before everything goes black is you screaming my name." As I spoke my voice is soft.

"Did you see the others on the roof," He asked me. I nodded, "Yeah." I had met Tobias, Locke, Clause, Damon, and Nik yesterday when Alister had to go meet them at the border of Brightly. They had more laid back and rugged appearances. They reminded me of the bad boys your entire town would stay away from. Locke had the sides of his hair shaved, the tips of his sandy blond hair dyed black. He had a scar along his neck that went up and disappeared behind his right ear. His grey eyes were filled with mischief. He enjoyed looking for trouble, I thought. 

Nik had a cold brutality, that I couldn't help but admire. I know I shouldn't, but I had to admit, the level he sits on is impressive. He kept his long brown hair pulled back, a full beard and mustache covering his face. His brown eyes were so dark I thought they were black until we got into better light. Damon had that laid back, garage band look with the ripped jeans, trimmed beard and mustache, and long brown hair. He also wasn't one to talk much either. 

Tobias had long platinum hair and his skin made it seem like he had never seen the sun in a day in his life. The way he carried himself and how he looked, reminded me of Alucard from Castlevania. 

Clause looked like an Italian mobster from his suit, gold chain around his neck, to the way he had his black hair slicked back. They were a very odd group of men. 

"Can you tell me anything more," Alister asked me. I thought back to Tanya with her heart shaped box. I then tried remembering the city. I vaguely saw heart decorations that had been torn down during the chaos. "It's around Valentine's day," I told him. "The decorations were hard to make out in the chaos, but I was able to see them when the dream continued." It was shortly before the knife went into my chest. 

Alister's grip on my shoulders tightened a little, "Can you tell me who stabbed you?" I shook my head, "I wasn't able to see them. Just hear their voice." "You will not die," He told me firmly. "I will do everything in my power to ensure that doesn't happen." I looked into his eyes then. The rawness in his gaze made the feeling in my chest disappear. I gave him a small nod, "Okay." 

Later that day we were walking in the street on patrol, looking for the Queen's servant. Word is he recently made an appearance in Brightly, and he is our only lead on the Queen's disappearance and how we could possibly find her. However, no matter how much of the area we canvased, we couldn't find them. Giving in, we went to Drac's. Tobias was slouched in a booth looking out at the window. Nik and Locke were playing pool, Locke looking smug as he beat him in their game. Clause was at the bar, on his laptop. 

"Bring the girl to let us have some fun with," Locke asked him. I rolled my eyes at him, but didn't say anything. Ace and Mikal walked in a few minutes later. Now we just had to wait on Cameron. When he arrived Alister shared with them what I learned from the dream recently.

"Are you sure it's the Queen," Drac asked me. "Until this point, you haven't been able to see anyone until you meet them." I nodded, "I have seen the Queen and Princesses in a book Alister made me read. I don't have to meet them, just match a face to a name." "If only you can do that with voices," Alister grumbled softly. "What was that," Ace asked him. "Stormy hears someone before they stab her," Alister shared with them. Mikal seemed to pale at the news and all eyes went to me, and I met them evenly. I wouldn't run or be scared. I was simply stabbed, not killed. Who knows, there could be more that I may see later on. We won't know until it happens. 

"We have a time line of two and a half months," I said ending the silence. It was December first. About ten weeks till the world went to hell if we don't do something to stop it. "So we need to work round the clock to find the Queen. We couldn't find her servant simply walking the streets around the locations he had been spotted. I bet though we could cement some leads from the Den," I said, arms crossed. 

"You are possibly going to die in two and a half months, and you're acting like it's business as usual," Mikal said with a shake of his head. "I'm not gonna run from it," I told him. "Fate is fate. If I'm meant to die then so be it. I'm not gonna piss off Fate and sign myself up for something worse. Plus it's a maybe Mikal, not a guarantee." He scoffed, but didn't say anything. After that we began discussing more details. 

"How do you plan on getting information at the Den," Alister asked me once we were in the car, on our way to the Den. "Neither of us are going to like it very much," I told him. 

"You're right, I don't like it," He said, sitting in a chair next to me in front of Madam Zina's desk. Madam Zina had a smile on her face, "You want to pose as one of my dancers? Have you ever been on a pole honey?" I nodded, "Not in a club." I pulled up a video from last year on my phone that I had taken for a class project in my dance class that I had taken for fun. Dance will always be something I loved. She took it and watched it with interest. She passed it back to me once it was over. "You're no novice, I'll give you that. You may even earn a pretty penny since you'll be new," She said with a smile. "They love fresh meat." Alister seemed to be steaming in his seat, ready to bust a gasket. "Of course, the patrons aren't allowed to touch the dancers," She told us. "Let's see what we have to fit you." 

After the clothes, we looked at the schedule and areas I would be performing in. The bigger stage is where the more elite enjoy sitting. They tend to brag about things to each other and to the women as they dance, wanting to impress them. That is where Madam Zina will have me preform. I would spend tomorrow in her practice room coming up with a routine to put on. 

"I even have a place for you to sit Alister," Zina told him. "You can also bring your friends. I'm sure they'd enjoy watching the show." Alister didn't say anything. The anger was coming off of him in waves. 

When we got in the car, he slammed the door so hard, I was surprised his window didn't shatter. "What's wrong Alister," I asked him. "Upset, I'm not shaking my ass for you?" He looked at me and I saw his eyes were a deep red. He then put the pedal to the metal, going faster than he ever has. He pulled up to the house and slammed on the breaks, jolting me forward, the seatbelt locking, slamming into my chest. "Get out," He told me. I wasn't gonna fight him. I got out of the car, rubbing my chest. I barely had the door shut when he peeled out. What in the world was his problem?