“Yes if she were a dearg-dul, she’d be awake, but she’s human right now after all,” the older voice replied. “Then what is the plan to do with her?”
“For now, everything is set. At tonight’s party Serine will turn. After receiving Lord Randolph’s blessing, we won’t need this girl any more. Just leave her here and make sure all the exits are properly locked,” the leader said.
“But,” the younger man said with a trembling voice. “This one will also turn tonight, and if she doesn’t get blood,” he trailed off, imagining the outcome.
“It’s a horrible way to die,” the older voice said, finishing his younger comrade’s sentence.
“Does it matter?” the leader responded. “Actually, we need her dead. If they find out Serine isn’t Lord Randolph’s granddaughter, everything will be ruined, but it will be especially worse if this brat is alive. Without an heir, Lord Randolph will have to go on with the act of Serine as his granddaughter.” Arianna could feel the reluctance in the two follower’s voices as they grunted their agreement. “Besides, she’s an orphan. She has no one besides her grandfather. Who’s really going to miss her?”
“Can Serine really pull this off?” the younger voice asked.
“We’ve been grooming her since the day Randolph sent this one away. With all the surgeries, no one will be able to tell the difference physically. She is a perfect replica of the girl we have here. The only way this plan will fail is if they find the real Arianna,” the leader explained. “This girl must stay hidden and die, no matter what.”
Arianna waited until she heard the man in charge leave before finally opening her eyes. In the darkness of a single candle she could see that two men were huddled over a table in the middle of the room. She could faintly make out cards in one of the men’s hands. Without making a sound, she peered around the dim room and cell. There were metal bars separating her and the men with an ancient and oversized large lock on the door. The other three walls surrounding her were made of stone. She was in some sort of old-fashioned cell. Arianna was certain that the only way out was through the locked door. Arianna lifted her face from the cold, damp floor and watched the two men. Neither noticed that she moved.
“Where am I?” she bravely asked.
Startled, both men immediately turned to her. “Doesn’t matter,” the younger one with the raspy voice replied. She could see he wasn’t much older than her, and the scar across his throat accounted for his voice.
“Why did you kidnap me?” she asked.
“None of your business,” the older one now replied. Arianna stared at the long scar that ran from his left eye to his right cheek. “Keep quiet.”
Arianna moved to sit against the stone wall. She was trapped. They intended to kill her, but there was no way out of her jail cell. Arianna looked around the outside room. Only one door led into the small, cramped space. Arianna went back to lying on the ground. With her palms down on the surface, she listened to the vibrations of people walking. She was definitely underground, in an area filled with tunnels. No one spoke as they moved, silently turning down individual tunnels to their destinations. Arianna listened to find any friendly voice. Without a person talking, Arianna continued to listen to the footsteps. Arianna sat up as she recognized the faint click of Molina’s boots. Three people coming for me, Arianna thought.
“What time is it?” she asked her guards to judge the distance of Molina from her prison cell.
“Doesn’t matter,” the older scared man replied.
Arianna leaned against the wall and listened to the footsteps of Molina while the two guards ignored her. She was still far away. Arianna began to quietly tap on the wall as she anxiously waited for Molina to near. When the footsteps were close to the outside door, Arianna heard Molina pause. Arianna stood and walked to the bars.
“Hey, are there any bathrooms around here?” she asked the two men who both turned towards her. “I really have to pee,” she lied, as Molina quietly opened the door behind the two men. The younger of the two men stood and walked toward Arianna.
“Stop that,” the older one ordered. “She’s not to leave the cell.” The younger one stopped halfway between Arianna and his fellow guard. As he began to turn, Arianna noticed Devin also entering the room. I need to buy time, she knew.
“Wait,” she said to the younger guard. Across the room, Devin and Molina quietly moved into position to subdue the two guards. Arianna watched helplessly as a fight broke out between the four people. In the darkness of the room, she thought there was a slight change in Molina’s features as she dove near Arianna.
“Forget these two. I’ll take them. Kill the girl,” the older man said to the younger one. The younger man nodded as he moved his fight with Devin closer to Arianna’s cell.
“Where’s the third person?” Arianna asked. “There were three of you coming this direction.”
“Three?” Devin asked as he neared.
In his slight hesitation, Devin was only able to place his hand in the direction of the knife that was flung by the younger man at Arianna. The knife plunged through Devin’s hand and slightly sliced into Arianna’s shoulder. The blood dripping from Devin’s hand didn’t hinder him as he moved, in one swift motion, to remove the blade from his hand and use it to pin the young man to the ground. At the faint scent of Devin’s blood, Arianna could feel a warmness in the pit of her stomach, and the thirst began to compel her closer to Devin. The pain of the cut on her shoulder dimmed as she felt herself warming up. Molina moved and caught the man she was fighting between herself and the bars. With his face pressed into the bars, Arianna heard the crack of his arm being twisted behind him. He didn’t seem to even notice or care as he stared at Arianna.
“Blue… blue… it can’t be… blue eyes,” he stuttered as he stared at her. In one movement, a hand fell across his head, and the man fell limp to the floor as Devin quickly opened the door to Arianna.
Devin paused as he stared at the cut on her arm. “Does it hurt?” he asked quietly as he gently touched her. Arianna cringed as she finally noticed the pain, but stopped as Devin placed his hand near her face. The dripping blood distracted her. “Take some,” he offered. Arianna shook her head, no. Her blackouts were connected to following Devin’s orders. Devin shrugged and reached for her, scooping Arianna into his arms, he followed Molina out the door. Arianna looked down at her ripped shirt to see she was no longer bleeding. Wasn’t I just stabbed? she wondered.
As they exited the prison cell, Arianna struggled with Devin to put her down.
“We need to leave now,” he explained quietly. “You are in no condition to be walking. If there’s a third person following us, they didn’t come with us and can’t be too far behind. Our goal is to get you out of here safely.”
“Lock the door,” she ordered, grabbing the keys from him. Molina took the keys, and locked the door as Arianna had ordered. “The man that was in earlier told them to leave me there and lock the door. This way if he comes back now, he won’t know I’m not there.” Devin nodded. Arianna threw her arms around him as he began to quietly move through the tunnel behind Molina. Arianna closed her eyes and listened to the footsteps. The third person was still following them. As they came to a fork in the tunnel, Molina began to lead them to the left.
“Stop,” Arianna said quietly. “There’s a group of five men that way.” Molina nodded and began going to the right. “Five more that way,” Arianna explained as the group turned to go back the way they came. “The one person following us is that way.”
“Our chances are better against one than five,” Molina said as Devin nodded and followed her. As they began to backtrack, Arianna heard their follower stop. Arianna opened her eyes and stopped listening to the people walking around the tunnels as they neared the unknown person.
“Gabriel?” she asked quietly, as she made out the older man’s figure in the dimly-lit tunnel. Molina moved to attack Gabriel, but he instantly vanished.
“I’m not here to fig
ht,” he said to Molina as she continued to swing at him. Devin held Arianna closer. “You’re being tracked from each direction. Their intention is to kill Arianna. We need to move now to get her out of here.”
“Why would you help us?” Molina asked. “She’s another of those purebreds you hate so dearly.”
“Because she is his niece,” Devin replied. “He wants her alive as much as we do.” Gabriel nodded and smiled.
“I was wondering why you were the only one who knew where to find her last night,” Gabriel added. “So the old man told you about Arianna’s parents?” Devin nodded. Gabriel placed his hands on the stone floor, as Arianna had done earlier, and listened. After deciding the best route, he stood.
“I smelled your blood earlier. Are you okay?” he asked Arianna. She nodded as she stared down at the now-healed place the knife had pierced her. Gabriel followed her gaze and nodded. “Follow me.” Devin moved to be between Gabriel and Molina. Gabriel led the way through the maze of tunnels. At each turn, he cautiously listened before turning the corner. As he twisted through each, he brought them closer to the surface. Arianna could begin to hear voices outside. Gabriel finally stopped at a large, solid wood door.
“This leads into the east-side garden,” he explained. “From there, use the servant entrance to keep her hidden. This is a list of those involved.” Gabriel handed the list to Molina, who was still glaring at him.
“What’s the real reason you are helping us?” Molina asked. She knew the list wasn’t needed to get Arianna to safety, but he was offering them something to save their time.
“I want access to Arianna whenever she wishes to see me,” he replied. Devin smiled. Gabriel was not one to offer information without a catch. Gabriel took off his coat and wrapped it around Arianna.
“As long as Lord Randolph says that it’s fine,” Molina replied.
“He already did,” Devin answered. “I found your letter to Lord Randolph when we met the fake Arianna in the house. He has agreed to all of your demands for access to Arianna.” Gabriel nodded as he opened the door.
Molina looked out the door and into the darkness. Placing an earphone into her ear, she began talking to someone on the other end. Arianna turned back to her uncle standing in the doorway.
“I hear she’s picky,” Gabriel said to Devin. “There’s a pack in the coat pocket. If she’s anything like her mother, she probably has a taste for a bit of something else.”
FIVE
Molina and Devin quietly escorted Arianna back to her grandfather’s house. Their caution indicated that they didn’t wish to meet anyone along the way. As they twisted and turned through new passages in the ornate building, Arianna was, once again, being led to an unfamiliar place. She stared at the walls they passed as they became less and less ornate. The surroundings had changed to normal, simple decorations. Molina pushed Arianna into a room in front of her, and turned to secure the room. Arianna stopped in her place and stared at the five extra people sitting in the room.
“Meet your Personal Protection Unit: Jackson, Nelson, Mica, Nixon, and Mori,” Molina introduced the five men. “Including Devin and me, we make up your PPU.”
“Why are all of you here?” Arianna asked, not understanding Molina. Sitting in the dingy, dark room, several familiar faces stared back at her. Jackson was the businessman that rode the Friday bus with her, along with Mica and Nelson as they went to the gym to play basketball. Mr. Nixon was Arianna’s teacher for several classes at school. Mori was the only unfamiliar face in the group.
“Your grandfather hired us about five years ago to watch over you. We started twenty-four-hour protection a year ago,” Molina explained. “Mori should be the only unfamiliar face because he mainly stays by his computer.”
“Hired you? But why would he do that?” Arianna asked. “Is there something I don’t know about?”
“A lot,” Devin said, offering her a seat next to him. Molina flashed Devin a quick glare, and he smiled in return.
“I don’t know if you noticed yet, but you come from a very prestigious, ancient family,” Molina continued. “For people like you, it’s fairly common, around their sixteenth birthday, to be assigned personal guards.”
“Personal guards?” Arianna complained. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
Molina shrugged. This was going to be harder than anyone thought.
“She doesn’t know anything?” Jackson asked, rubbing his bald head in surprise. In jeans and a black shirt he didn’t look anything like the businessman she was familiar with. “Hasn’t anyone told her yet?”
“No,” Devin replied. “Lord Randolph was going to talk with her this afternoon and explain everything.”
“Then who gets the honor of having ‘the talk’ with her?” Nixon, the blond, basketball-playing brother of the duo, asked.
“Not me,” Jackson quickly said. “Particularly since I’m not one of you.” Jackson stood and moved to Molina. “Did you find out which group took her?” he changed the subject.
“Yes,” Molina replied. “Mori, can you find these people?” Molina handed the list Gabriel had given her to Mori, and he hurried to the closed door on the left of the room. “You four go take care of this,” Molina ordered, and the rest moved to the same room. “Devin and I’ll watch over Miss Arianna.” Arianna could see the relief in each face as they followed Mori into the additional room.
“We get to have ‘the talk’ with her?” Devin asked with a sly smile.
“‘The talk?’” Arianna asked. “Don’t worry. Aunt Lilly already had ‘the talk’ with me,” she added, remembering the embarrassing way she had to actually help her aunt make it through their talk.
“Not the same talk,” Devin replied. Molina looked from Devin to Arianna. Arianna could see her confusion, and it just made Devin smile more at her squirming. “Sorry, I’d love to be the one to explain sex to you, but this talk is about who you really are.” Arianna felt her face turning several shades of red before she comprehended what he had said.
“Arianna Grace?” Arianna questioned. “Who else could I be? Did you guys all lie to me about my name also?”
“No, that’s your real name. It’s not so much who, but rather what,” Molina corrected.
“A girl? Homo sapien?” Arianna responded. Molina sighed. It was going to be hard to have a serious talk with Arianna if she kept answering every statement.
“Three have already arrived at the dinner,” Jackson said, returning from the side room. “The other six are not attending, but they are on the complex.”
“We will take Miss Arianna to the dance, but we will wait for your signal that the threat has been eliminated. Lord Randolph will be anxious to see she’s alright,” Molina replied. Jackson nodded and left the main room followed by Nixon, Mica, and Nelson.
“Why does everyone do what Molina says?” Arianna asked as Devin relocked the doors.
“Because she’s the boss,” Devin replied, before laughing at Arianna’s shocked face.
“But she looks younger than everyone except you,” Arianna responded.
“I am,” Molina replied.
“But by ability, she far outweighs them combined,” Devin replied. “We’re running short on time,” Devin said to Molina. “We should get her ready, and then tell her about everything, if we have time. We really shouldn’t keep Lord Randolph waiting to meet her.” Molina nodded.
Molina escorted Arianna into the room on the opposite side of Mori’s room. Arianna stared into the dimly lit room to find it was a bedroom. Two sets of bunk beds lined the left wall, and a full-size bed was near the right wall. At the top of the wall in front of her were small windows that were six inches from the ceiling. Shades covered the windows, and they didn’t allow Arianna to see where she was. Molina walked over to the trunk by the full-size bed. Inside, she removed several pieces of clothing, throwing them lazily on the bed before she found what she was looking for.
“This was my sister’s,” Molina explained. “She was abou
t your size, so it should fit. I know it isn’t that wonderful pink number your aunt picked for you, but it should do.”
Arianna took the deep green, strapless dress. It was so much better than the pink frilly dress Aunt Lilly told her she would be wearing. “What is this for?” Arianna questioned.
“There’s a masquerade dinner and dance being held in your honor tonight. Once everything is settled with those who planned to kidnap and kill you, you can finally meet your grandfather,” Molina explained. “You can change in here, and the bathroom is that door,” she said indicating to the right. “Once you are dressed, I can do your hair and makeup.” Arianna looked shocked. “Contrary to what your grandfather wants to think, I’m a girl,” Molina joked.
Molina left the room, and Arianna was alone. Quietly, she sat on the bed. In the farther room, she could hear Mori clicking away on a computer, periodically stopping to talk to an unknown person. Molina and Devin sat silently waiting in the main room. Arianna stared at the dress lying beside her. I’ll finally meet him, she thought, and she began to get nervous. Until two days ago, she didn’t even know she had any family. Now she had an uncle, whom she had met twice, and a cousin, along with a grandfather who had disowned her mother. Arianna contemplated not meeting her grandfather, but he held the answers to too many questions, just as Gabriel did.
Once dressed, Arianna soundlessly opened the door to the main room. Molina ushered her to a seat and began to comb her hair. Arianna waited patiently, pondering what they needed to talk about. Devin did not look up from his papers once as she got ready. After Molina finished her hair, she began to put makeup on Arianna. Arianna wanted to ask about their talk, but knew she needed to stay still while the makeup was being applied. When she was finally finished, and Molina approved, Arianna turned to Devin. Devin smiled as he placed his papers down, but just as quickly became serious again.
“We don’t have much time to explain this to you, so please don’t interrupt,” he asked. Arianna nodded. “You come from a very elite family that can trace their ancestors back hundreds of years before they came to this country. Both you and your grandfather are direct lines to the Randolph family, and therefore very important to this community.” Devin paused, thinking of how best to explain everything to her.