Thunderbone: The X-Zone

Overheard

"No, I will not, Mayor Storson. You heard my views! It is not good for Lydia, nor anyone else! I will not keep it from her!"

I walked slowly around a sharp corner and saw a door wide open. I walked closer when I heard my name, trying to be quiet but my clunky boots making it impossible.

"We should not tell her!" A different man argued in a raised voice. "Not her nor her family! It would scare her to death and the last thing we need is for her to die! Anyways, she's human, she would not understand anything we said to her."

I walked past the open door in the old warehouse and saw the mayor of my town and, though I didn't believe it at first, the president of the United States sitting in a tall, white winged chair. The room was dark, making it hard to see, but I could still make out the definite shape of the president.

Caught by enormous surprise, I tripped over my own boots, catching the two men's attention. The Mayor's head snapped to my direction and when he saw me frozen on the floor, he ran over to me. He wasn't, however, coming to see if I was okay. He wore the meanest glare and his lips were pulled back into a snarl. His hand reached down towards me and pulled my off the floor by the front of my mother's jacket I was wearing. I was slammed against the wall, and I hardly heard him say in a low growl, "Did you hear us?" He didn't see me shake my head. "I said did you hear our conversation!"

"No! No, I didn't!" I whimpered.

He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Liar," before his other hand came up and slammed against my skull, knocking my out before I had time to scream.

A trickle of warm water running down my forehead and leaking into my eyes woke me up from my troubled sleep.

I gasped in relief when I awakened and opened my eyes so that there was only a narrow line of vision, taking in my surroundings. I saw a figure right in front of me with black hair and forest green eyes staring at my through glasses only a few inches from me.

I closed my eyes again and let a moan escape. My head was in excruciating pain from the mayor's hard fist. I drifted off to sleep once more after a few short moments.

When I opened my eyes again, I could see clearer. I was in a dimly lit room with mint green walls and a window to the right. I was in the hospital.

There were two figures sitting on the end of my bed. My head still hurt, and opening my eyes hurt it even worse, so I closed my eyes again.

"What's wrong with her, Cameryn?" I could feel the hot breath on my cold cheeks as a familiar voice came to my senses.

"She's fine, Evey," another familiar voice said soothingly.

"Evelyn," I mumbled, searching my sister out with my ears. "I'm fine," I answered her question. I reached my hand up to my forehead, finding the source of water. There was a wet towel laid across my hairline.

"Lydia! Oh, I thought you were dead!" Evelyn cried out and flung herself over my body.

"Well, I'm breathing, aren't I? No need to worry," I said in a weak but reassuring tone.

I opened my eyes once more and saw a clearer vision of my surroundings. There were two people sitting on my bed. Evelyn was sitting so close I could count every one of her freckles. The other was my second, older, sister, Cameryn.

"What's going on?" My words were slurred together.

I looked out the window and saw that the sky was thick with smog and the few clouds that were there were low in the sky. On the horizon, the apple trees from the orchard that lined up along the hills were in full bloom. I looked back towards my company.

"What am I doing here?" I asked my sisters, my voice croaky from not using it in the past hours.

This time Cameryn spoke. "We're in the hospital. You got knocked out pretty hard. You've been out for two days." She paused. "They said you could leave tomorrow if you woke up." She grabbed my hand and rubbed it with her thumb in a calming gesture. It did calm me. I rested my head back onto the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

Silence fell between the three of us. Even though I couldn't see them, I knew Evelyn and Cameryn were staring at me.

After a long minute, there was a hard knock on the door. Evelyn got up and opened it wide enough so that I could see my father standing next to the Mayor. The Mayor wore a tight black suit and, even though his eyes were set in a hidden glare, his lips were molded into a forced smile. Because he was the one to have gotten me here, I didn't really consider him welcome. I glared at him without a smile on my lips.

"Hello, Miss Rayn," he said in a carefully controlled tone, raising his arms in false pleasure. "May I talk to you? Please," he added grudgingly.

"I guess," I answered, shrugging my shoulders. I tried not to make it sound as if I welcomed his company. I stared at the Mayor as he walked over to me.

"Evey, Cameryn," my Dad said. "Come on out for a moment." With a meaningful look at me, as if warning me to be careful, he left the small room. Now I was alone with the Mayor.

"I am Mayor Storson, If you didn't一" he started, but I interrupted.

"I know."

He looked at me with an expression I couldn't place.

"If you know that, then maybe you know why am I here?" he asked with a sneer as if trying to intimidate me. His expression was angry now. I knew the Mayor was mad at me because I had heard him talking to the president and, even though I didn't remember the small details, I did remember that it was me he was talking about, and that made me feel unsettled.

What was so special about me that the President of the United States had to come all the way across the Country to discuss with the Mayor? I wasn't interesting, nor did I have anything that he wanted; at least I thought so anyway. I definitely wasn't well known, even in my own town.

What did the President know about me that I didn't know about myself?

I decided to lie about knowing why he was here.

"No, I have no idea, Sir." I said Sir a little mockingly. I knew I shouldn't, but the mayor wasn't one of my favorite people in the world. "This question wasn't obvious like your name. You implied that this question was obvious by saying that if I knew your name I would be able to know this answer," I said, trying to get him unsettled.

He stared at me through narrowed eyes, but I sat up straighter and glared back at him bravely.

"Do you remember where you were two nights ago?" Mayor Storson asked with sarcastic concern.

Oh, okay. He was testing me. With the best confused look I could muster, I said, "No. I don't remember going anywhere in the past week, actually. Can you answer me a question?" I asked. The Mayor continued to look at me through his narrowed eyes and didn't say anything, so I asked my question. "What did I ever do to get here, you know," I accused.

The mayor seemed to relax a little, though his glare stayed the same.

"I don't know exactly why you are here," he said, looking away from me.

"Then what purpose is there to take time and talk to me? Why do you come to make sure this random girl is okay? Why did you even know I was in the hospital. Who am I to you?" I asked, trying not to let my anger show. So we were both lying now, were we?

He turned back to me with a glare, then cleared his face and put on an unconvincing smile. He took a deep breath. "I just want to know that everyone is safe under my watch, being the Mayor. That's my job, isn't it, Lydia Rayn?"

At that, he got off the end of my bed and went out the door without saying another word. The door slammed with a loud bang.