Cora and I drove over to their house. She insisted that we drive even though they were right next door, just a two minute walk. Cora was definitely back in control.
Cora grabbed my arm before we got out. “Nicholas, even though you think you know them, we still can’t trust them,” she said. “You let them do all of the talking.”
“Cora, they did save my life,” I reminded her again.
“We’re here, aren’t we? But still, we can’t assume anything. Please listen to me. I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you. I know what I’m talking about. You have to trust me.”
I nodded. She was right, she had a lot more experience and I should listen to her. But deep down inside I felt like they were fine, like I was supposed to be with them.
We got out of the truck. The house was even more incredible up close. It was at least two times the size of our modest house. The house looked like it was a luxury log cabin or a ski lodge. There were windows and lights everywhere, making large, dramatic shadows. We walked up an ornate brick path lined with freshly planted trees, bushes and flowers. Cora was about to knock on the oversized wooden door that should have been on the front of a castle rather than a home, when the door opened.
“I’m so glad you both decided to come over,” Riley said, smiling. He had on a bright teal polo and a pair of khaki shorts. He looked like he was ready to go out on his yacht or something.
“Why, thank you, Riley,” Cora said, walking through the door and handing him a bottle of wine that she had gotten from our pantry. Cora never drank alcohol—she thought it made people look and act unsophisticated—but she always had a bottle on hand for cooking purposes.
We followed Riley into the house. It was almost completely empty. The floor plan was open, with tall, vaulted ceilings, which made the large, empty house look even barer. We walked over to the only piece of furniture that I could see in the house. It was a large, round metal dining table set for four. Riley motioned for us to sit down. Cora walked over and sat facing the door. I sat right next to her.
“Genevieve will be out in a little bit and then we can start to eat, only if you’d like more dinner, of course. I got the food from a little restaurant in town, Marcello’s. It’s supposed to have the best Italian food around.” He picked the same restaurant that Cora had gotten our food from earlier. We should have just brought over our leftovers to save them the trip. I laughed. I must have laughed too loudly, because Cora kicked me under the table and shot me a dirty look.
“I would also like to apologize for the lack of furniture; the workers just finished. Our furniture will be here tomorrow,” Riley said, changing the subject.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but let’s skip the small talk. Why have you been searching for us?”
Cora had just told me to let them do all of the talking and then she went and asked him the million dollar question right away. Riley’s face showed that he was shocked, too. I was sure he was thinking, like I was, that it was going to be a long evening of trying to figure each other out, like a courtship or a game of chess.
“Cora, if you don’t mind, I would like to wait for Genevieve. Then we can discuss—” Before he finished, his eyes looked past both of us. I turned to see Genevieve gliding down the hallway, coming toward the room. She looked like a Greek goddess straight from Olympus. Her hair was pulled back in another elaborate style, different from the one just thirty minutes ago. She was wearing some simple silver jewelry that was a perfect accent to her dark skin. Her white dress was cut well above her knees. The fabric looked like it was made of a loosely woven silk. She was incredibly beautiful, but she didn’t stir any emotion in me. Elle was the only one who stirred those types of feelings.
Genevieve sat down. “Okay, so what did I miss, kids?” Again, the way she spoke didn’t match her elegant appearance. She was rougher and more sarcastic, not polite or nurturing at all.
“Well, Genevieve, Cora just asked why we have been trying to find them all this time,” said Riley.
“Wow, you don’t mess around, do you?”
Cora didn’t look at her. “We are only here because you saved Nicholas, but if we don’t get some answers right now, we are leaving,” Cora said, starting to stand.
Riley motioned for her to stop and she slowly sat back down.
“Cora, we haven’t really been searching for the both of you,” Riley said. “We have only been searching for Nicholas.”
Cora grabbed my arm under the table. By her grasp, I could tell she was preparing me to run.
“But before you go racing out of here, let me explain why only Nicholas. As I told you at your house, we are Thusians too. My family can be traced back to some of the original Thusians and my great-great-great-great-grandfather was even a Keeper. The Keepers were the ones who knew all of the bloodlines and history and made sure they were respected.”
“Riley, we already know what Keepers are,” Cora said.
He smiled and continued, “Of course you do. The reason why we were looking for just Nicholas is because he discovered his Thusian talents, going through his Realization, on the same day both Genevieve and I did, October 10th.”
“I’m sure there were other Thusians who discovered their talents the same day as the three of you,” Cora said. Riley was trying to link me to them and she was clearly trying to derail any effort for a connection.
“Cora, you’re right, but we are the only three that discovered significant talents and are still alive today.”
Cora looked partially satisfied with his answer. I looked over at Genevieve, who was not paying attention. She was playing with the paper napkin on her plate, making it into some sort of flower, not interested in the conversation at all.
“Beyond the fact that we are all alive, I was also drawn to Genevieve and we were both drawn to Nicholas.”
“You were drawn to me?” I had to say something because that sounded weird.
Everyone at the table was now looking at me. I even got Genevieve’s attention.
“Yes, we were drawn to you, Nicholas,” Riley said. He looked at Genevieve and she spoke up as if on cue.
“Yeah, we were,” she said, like she had been coached on what to say.
“You see, we are all being drawn together. Nicholas, don’t you feel it?” Riley asked.
Everyone was looking at me. My stomach started to feel sick with nerves. I grabbed a couple of Tic Tacs and popped them in my mouth.
“I do feel something, but I’m not sure what it is.”
Inside of me, I could feel something drawing me toward both of them. I wasn’t sure if it was gratitude for them saving me or curiosity, but something was there deep inside.
Riley smiled in triumph and Genevieve went back to her paper flower. I avoided looking at Cora. I was sure she wasn’t happy with my answer.
“Of course he feels drawn to you. You two saved his life. That’s the only reason why we came over here in the first place,” Cora said. Then she looked at Genevieve. “And if I were a teenage boy, I would definitely be drawn to you the way you’re dressed. It’s nothing more than a cheap, physical attraction with you.”
I couldn’t believe she just said that. It was kind of funny, though Genevieve didn’t think so at all.
“I don’t have to take this crap, especially from a nobody like you.” Genevieve stood up ready for a fight, her napkin flower falling to the ground. Cora remained in her seat. She didn’t look threatened in the least.
“Genevieve, sit down now,” Riley said firmly.
It took a minute or so, but she eventually sat down in her chair, picking up her flower from the floor and playing with it, but with less enthusiasm.
Riley continued to talk as if nothing had happened between the women. “After I discovered that the three of us had our Realization of Talents on the same day—and in such dramatic ways—I had to find Genevieve and now you, Nicholas, so we can find the 4th Thusian, which will help form The 7.”
I glanced over at Cora. She looked puzzled by wha
t he said.
“What is The 7?” I asked.
“The 7 is a group that was formed when the Council created the Seekers. The Seekers, you know, were used by the Council to eliminate the Keeper. That Keeper’s name was Finn Wren. He was one of the oldest and wisest Keepers the Thusians ever had; he was in his 90s when he was finally killed. The Council used the Seekers to kill him in order to gain power, but not before he foretold about The 7.”
“Wait a minute. I thought the Keeper wasn’t able to keep track of the growing population of Thusians, because they were able to marry non-Thusians. And because of this population explosion, the Seekers were formed and used by the Council to eliminate the Thusians who didn’t know about our traditions, right?” I asked, remembering what Ester had explained to me in the vault last year.
“Of course that is what you were told; that is what they told all of the Thusians. But the Council wanted the power for themselves, and they used the Seekers to take it from the Keeper. Anyone who stood in their way was killed by the Seekers.” Riley looked at me to make sure he had answered my question. I wasn’t sure if I believed him entirely, but it was an answer.
“But why would they need a group of people to kill one Thusian Keeper?” I asked.
“Keeper Wren had hundreds of loyal Thusians protecting him. It was a bloody period in our history,” Riley answered.
I had no idea if he was lying or not, but I could tell that he believed what he was saying.
“Okay, now let me explain The 7 to you in more detail.” He paused and looked at Cora and me, then continued. “The 7 consists of three Seekers and four special Thusians. The three Seekers represent evil, everything that is wrong with the world. The four Thusians represent the goodness in people, the part that is self-sacrificing with no thought of one’s own well-being—everything the Thusians stand for. Together they make up The 7, representing the balance between good and evil.”
I already saw a flaw in this; I was surprised Cora didn’t speak up first.
“Riley, three Seekers and four Thusians aren’t balanced. It favors good by one whole person.” I didn’t have a problem with that, but his explanation was still flawed, which drew into question his credibility. He seemed prepared for this question.
“Excellent point, Nicholas. I asked my dad the same question when he explained it to me when I was young. He told me that a group of three Seekers and three Thusians isn’t balanced at all—it’s uneven. Evil will always win when it’s a fair fight, three on three. The expression that good always conquers evil isn’t exactly true. Evil will do anything to gain an advantage, so that’s why good needs extra help. Good values life and evil doesn’t. So that’s why there has to be a fourth Thusian to make it fair and balanced between both sides. Then once The 7 is formed, we will fight, representing both the Thusians and Seekers. The winning side will determine everyone’s fate, giving us the opportunity to finally end the Seekers’ terrible reign of terror over us.”
I wasn’t sure if that made sense, but I believed him. However, if it were up to me, I would want hundreds of Thusians fighting the Seekers, not just four of us.
“So that’s why we have been searching for you, Nicholas. You are one of the 4. Now that the three of us are together, we can find the 4th. He or she will have more talents than we do, and once we’re all together, we will all develop more talents as time goes on.”
“This 4th, whoever it is, just started to get his or her talents now?” I asked.
“Well, actually no. He or she would have started developing them last year. Even though we didn’t actually meet up with each other before you moved here, I believe that’s when this person would have started gaining talents, because we were so close to each other. But I’m not 100-percent sure.”
“Riley, I’m not saying I believe you, but how are we supposed to find this 4th? It sounds impossible.”
“It will be difficult. We’ll have to be careful while we’re looking and hope whoever it is won’t draw too much attention to themselves with their newfound talents. We have to get to them first, before Xavier and the Seekers do.”
Then I thought of Elle. Could she be the one we are looking for? Could she be the 4th? As soon as I got to Winsor, I had been drawn helplessly to her. The love I felt for her was something deeper and more mystical than just a high school romance.
“Nicholas, I’m going to rely heavily on you in finding this person, because you have been here in the community and you have most likely met them or seen them already. You might even be friends with them. I’ve taken a job at Winsor High as a history teacher and Genevieve is going to pretend to be my wife. She will be scouting out any leads that we come across while we’re in school. Nicholas, is there anyone Genevieve should start checking out?” he asked, eagerly waiting for my answer.
I wanted to say the 4th had to be Elle, but I restrained myself. I still didn’t know if I believed their story or if they could be trusted.
“I can’t think of anybody right now, Riley.”
Genevieve cleared her throat and said under her breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear, “Yeah right.”
I looked at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Her beauty was once again tarnished by her tone. “I know you think we should check out your little girlfriend, Elle. I have been following you back and forth from her house for too long. Cora’s got at least one thing right tonight. Boys always think their physical attractions mean so much more than—”
I stood and my chair fell backward, interrupting her. Everyone at the table jumped to their feet except Genevieve, who was not even paying attention to me, twirling her paper flower between her fingers.
“Elle is not just a physical attraction. She is someone I care about deeply, more than you will ever know or understand. I did consider her, but I wanted to think things over before telling you to start looking at her. I’m not sure I can even trust the two of you.”
Genevieve stood and smiled at me like a little kid who was just teasing her brother until she got what she wanted.
“Thank you, Nicholas. That’s all I wanted you to admit. You think she is a possible candidate. I will start checking her out.” She turned and walked back toward the hall and added over her shoulder, “But I doubt she’s the 4th.”
I felt like chasing her down to give her a piece of my mind, but all I wanted to do was get out of this place. The walls felt like they were closing in on me fast.
“Cora, we’re leaving.” I turned my back to Riley and walked to the door. “Don’t contact us again. When I’m ready, I will contact you,” I said loudly enough so that Genevieve could hear me wherever she was in the house.
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