...ANOTHER UPDATE! I think this is a record. ;) Please comment and let me know how I'm doing and if the plot makes sense! :) I used to rely on my sister to edit, but she's getting tired of reading my stuff and even her positive comments are beginning to sound negative XD
"Nothin' to say
When everything gets in the way
Seems you cannot be replaced
And I'm the one who will stay, oh..."
- As It Was, Harry Styles
Aeron followed Reese to the staircase off the main hall. When she came into view at the bottom of the stairs, he hesitated; then jogged to catch up with her as she climbed quickly, her feet pounding into the stairs with unnecessary force.
He reached out to touch her arm, but she sped up, hiding her face behind her hair.
"Reese, I-"
"Don't!"
They'd reached the top of the stairs and she made a break for her room.
She opened the door and slipped inside just as Aeron caught up with her. "Reese, I'm-" he began again.
The door slammed in his face, and the lock clicked.
"Sorry," he finished lamely. He stared at the solid wood, feeling a twinge of regret.
Maybe he would've tried again, but he would never know, because a familiar figure rounded the corner and called his name.
"Dex? What are you doing here?" he asked, stepping self-consciously away from Reese's door.
Dex laughed. "Well, this is my house, Aeron."
"Yes, well-" he stammered.
"Marella thought that I should talk to you," Dex explained. "Since we haven't really gotten a chance so far."
Aeron wasn't sure how to respond, so he shrugged.
Dex coughed. "Well. Since you haven't seen much of the grounds yet, I thought maybe you'd like a tour? Outside. Not inside." Dex winced, and Aeron suppressed the urge to laugh.
"Sure," he agreed. "Lead the way."
Instead of going down the main stairway, Dex led Aeron down a smaller staircase to the main floor and through a few winding hallways before they reached a side door, glass-paned, with golden light filtering through. Dex opened it and ushered Aeron out first.
The outdoors was in full autumn bloom, the leaves brilliant shades of yellow, orange and crimson, a crisp breeze blowing across the lawn and the bright sun giving its last warmth of the year.
Dex led Aeron down a small path that led a little way into the woods, and they wove between trees for a few minutes before he began to speak.
"I'm sure you're wondering why we're out here. Truth is, I could give you a tour, if that's something you'd be interested in." He grinned. "But you don't strike me as the kind of person that's interested in horticulture."
Aeron nodded, relieved that he wouldn't be listening to Dex drone on about the different kinds of plants.
"But you do strike me as the type who likes to know what's going on," Dex continued.
Who wouldn't? Aeron wondered.
"So, instead of trying to brief you on everything, I figured that you would rather just ask me whatever you'd like to know."
"But… what's the catch? What can't I ask you?" Aeron asked, surprised.
Dex shrugged. "Ask me whatever you want. I know we've been keeping a lot of secrets, and I'd like to clear anything up for you that you're confused about."
Aeron laughed. "I'm sure you don't have time for all the things that I'm confused about."
Dex laughed too, and shrugged. "That's probably correct. So I guess -" He pulled a little reflective rectangle out of his tunic pocket and consulted the back of it. "-everything you can ask me in half an hour."
It wasn't long, but it was definitely longer than anything else Aeron had been offered. But there were so many questions that Aeron wasn't sure what to ask first.
"So, what are you wanting to know?" Dex prompted when Aeron's pause had gone on for a moment.
Aeron seized on the first thing that came to mind. There were probably more important things, but… this seemed important. The mystery surrounding it, Lex's odd reaction to Biana, and, not least importantly, Reese's anger at Aeron.
"What happened to Bea?" he asked.
There, inevitably, was the tightening of Dex's facial muscles. But the question didn't seem to surprise him. "Biana told me what happened earlier today - I should've guessed you'd want to know." He took a breath, as if preparing to launch into a long story. "Bea is my niece - my sister's daughter. About a month ago, she 'disappeared' from Moorhaven, her parents' home. Her family situation is complicated…" he trailed off, like everyone else that had mentioned it.
"How?" Aeron asked, hoping that this time, he'd finally get an answer.
Dex didn't mince words. "Her father is a very emotionally abusive man, both to her and her mother. Bex won't leave him, for reasons that are both personal and illogical, but Bea had no such qualms."
"So she ran away," Aeron clarified.
"That's what I think, yes," Dex explained, his brows knitted. "But it's not what everyone thinks. Her mother, for one, thinks that she's been kidnapped by… our old enemies. She's determined to find her."
"Why aren't you?" Aeron asked, thinking again of Keala.
Dex looked him seriously in the eyes. "Aeron, if you ran away to escape your abusive father, would you want to be followed, tracked down and caught like an escaped zoo animal, only to be monitored more closely by your father in future?"
Aeron shuddered. "That… does sound awful." He thought for a moment. "But… couldn't you track her, but not tell her dad?"
A slow smile spread across Dex's face, and he tapped his nose. "My thoughts exactly."
"So you are tracking her?"
Dex shook his head. "I'm trying, Aeron. But it's tedious work, trying to create a non-existent tracking elixir."
Aeron's thoughts jumped back to the boy that had broken out in boils at Slurps and Burps - Maverick. Biana's words rang in his ears. "-Surely you, of all people, know how dangerous it is to fool around with such untested ground as tracking elixirs-"
"That's what Maverick is doing, isn't it?" he asked abruptly. "Trying to create a tracking elixir?"
Dex nodded. "My brother must be desperate if he's letting Maverick experiment like this." He shook his head, anger flashing in his eyes. "He's lucky that the effects of his potion were easily reversible - others haven't always been so lucky."
He caught Aeron's confused look and elaborated. "My former mentor, Tinker. She's currently hospitalized due to the side effects of experimenting with tracking elixirs."
"Then why are you still trying?" Aeron asked, visions of explosions consuming Dex materializing in his mind's eye.
Dex gave him a small smile. "In my defense, I am slightly more advanced than Tinker, Aeron. The Oed War gave me quite a bit of experience." The smile dropped from his lips as he referenced the war, and he frowned, shaking off the memories. "But Maverick most definitely is not. I'll have to speak to Lex about it." He turned to Aeron and summoned his smile again. "What else?" He consulted the little rectangle. "You have ten minutes left, so ask away."
There were still so many things to clear up, but this time Aeron knew which one was most important. "When can I start looking for Keala?" The name stuck in his throat as a vivid picture of his cousin came to mind, pink sneakers and purple pegasus backpack proudly displayed as she smiled the cheeky, gap-toothed smile of a seven-year-old. He held his breath as tears sprung to his eyes, determined not to cry, especially in front of Dex.
Dex's comforting hand gripped his shoulder. "It'll be alright, Aeron," he said softly. "I know what it is to miss someone, to be afraid for them, and not know if they're alright now."
Aeron nodded.
"I also know that it's often not nearly as bad as we're imagining."
Aeron shook his head. "If this were any other situation, Dex - I mean, Mr. Dex-"
"Dex is fine," he interrupted.
"Dex, I saw her get kidnapped. I watched it happen. She's not okay, and if we don't find her soon…"
"I know, Aeron. We're looking for her now."
"How? What information have you found?"
Dex suddenly became guarded. "I know you don't want to hear this, Aeron, but any information we have on her is classified, and I'm not authorized to share it-"
"She's my cousin," Aeron insisted.
Dex shook his head. "I know, Aeron, and I'm sorry. But there's nothing you can do, and anything that I tell you is at risk of being spread."
Aeron immediately became defensive. "Are you saying that I-"
"No," Dex said quickly. "But we can never be too careful. Someone could overhear, you might forget-"
"I would not-"
Dex nodded. "I'm sure you wouldn't. But I'm not sure that my daughter wouldn't torment you for information, once she found out you knew something she didn't."
If she's still speaking to me, Aeron thought. "So, what can you tell me?"
Dex paused. "I can tell you that we are searching for Keala now and tracking down information."
"And that's all," Aeron clarified.
Dex laughed. "Yes, that is all, Aeron."
Aeron frowned. He'd planned to do some investigating on his own, but with this little information it would be impossible. His frown deepened. That was probably Dex's intention.
Dex shot him a knowing look, and Aeron realized that it was Dex's intention.
"Hey, you can't blame me for trying," Aeron mumbled.
"No, I can't - and if the Black Swan does decide that it needs your assistance tracking down Keala, you will be involved-"
"But that's not going to happen," Aeron finished for him.
Dex grimaced. "It's not our policy to involve teenagers in our work, Aeron."
Aeron's thoughts jumped to his father's picture of his parents and their friends as teenagers. "It was your policy twenty years ago," he said pointedly.
"That was wartime," Dex said quickly, defensive. "And it was more like thirty-five years ago. A lot can change in that amount of time."
"But you wouldn't change it, would you?" Aeron challenged. "If you had the choice whether you were involved in the war and the Black Swan as a teenager, you wouldn't choose differently?"
"I wouldn't wish it on anyone, Aeron," he said softly.
Aeron thought about all the things that had happened to him that he wouldn't wish on anyone else, and he wondered if maybe Dex was right. Maybe it was better if Aeron wasn't involved.
But if he wasn't involved, how could he help Keala? He knew her better than anyone, and he was the only person who knew what had happened to her. Well, except for Darrin. Aeron thought back to his uncle's odd behavior in the hospital, how he'd made Aeron promise that he wouldn't look for Keala, before going off to do that very thing himself…
Aeron's train of thought was interrupted by a loud buzzing sound. Dex pulled the reflective rectangle out of his pocket and silenced it.
"Time for dinner," he said cheerfully. "I'm sure you're hungry."
Aeron realized that he was in fact starving and couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten.
As they began to walk back to the house, Dex briefly wrapped his arm around Aeron's shoulder. Aeron usually pulled away from touch, but to his surprise, this one didn't bother him. There was something genuine about Dex, something unassuming that kept Aeron from being so defensive.
"I'm sorry I can't tell you more, Aeron, but I promise that we're doing everything we can. Trust me." Dex's gave Aeron's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before his arm dropped back to his side.
And for some reason, Aeron did trust him. He wondered how long it would last.