Where Identity Lies

Chapter 2

unedited

Jayce

It had been four years.

Four years without my sister by my side.

Ever since that horrible night, I have vowed to find her.

The Afreet raids had become more regular. We had started getting used to them, our guards capable of defeating them easily. But, it was like they had gained strength from a power source, one that we were not aware of. This power gave them abilities, evil abilities, that we had never seen before.

They tore through the castle, injuring many guards and people. However, they tried to take only one person: Alessia. Holding us back, they grabbed her. They beat her and she almost lost consciousness, but before they could take her, she opened a portal and crawled through. Leaving behind only a trail of blood, she was lost to us.

The Afreet fled from the castle soon after in order to find her on their own time. We were left wondering many things. Why did they want her? Where did she go? Would she come back?

We sent out search teams to look through the dimensions, but the multiverse was far too large. We thought for sure that she would return to us on her own, but weeks passed by and there was no sign of her. One of the royal doctors informed us that with the injuries she had sustained, she might not remember anything. She might not know how to get back, or who she is.

This had torn my insides apart, and my parents were absolutely devastated. Our only hope was to find her before the Afreet did. Now, I was in charge of the search teams as I had vowed to find my sister and keep her from harm.

We were able to monitor some activity of the Afreet as they passed through the dimensions. This helped us greatly because they were able to sense if they were close to Alessia and were drawn toward her, but sometimes they would lead us on rabbit trails which wasted our time.

Four years had passed, and we were still not able to find her. Most of the people had given up hope, but I knew she was out there. My parents had lost all hope as well, just wanting to mourn the loss of their daughter. They told me that if she wasn't found by her eighteenth birthday, she would be pronounced dead.

I could not let this happen. She was to be the Queen of Gliese one day, and she was the only one fit to rule our world. Years ago, I had given up my title to pursue my own destiny knowing that Alessia would be more fit for the crown. Her personality was a perfect fit, loved by many people but authoritative, and even at fourteen she was able to help my father with plans to defeat our enemies. She wanted this more than anything, and I would not let her dreams be shattered.

I could feel it my bones that she was out there somewhere, and I was going to search for her if it came down to my last breath. Finally, one night we got an alert of high Afreet activity on Earth. For some reason, I just had a feeling that this was where she was; although, we didn't know her exact location. Raven and I headed a search team on Earth, scouring their countries city by city. This took around two months, and our last stop was New York City. If she was anywhere, it had to be here because there was no trace of her anywhere else.

We searched the city for two days, almost giving up hope until we came across two girls running. Actually, they were running for their lives as they were being chased by Afreet. How could they see them? Only those with the sight were able to which means one of them had to be Alessia.

Finally! My heart swelled. I knew one of those girls was her, "Raven, one of those girls has to be Alessia. We have to follow them." Signaling the team, Raven and I ran after them quietly so we could catch the Afreet off guard before they did any damage.

I noticed that the Afreet had come toward a dead end in an alley, "Hurry!" I yelled desperately, "We have to get to her before the Afreet attack."

Rounding around the corner, we heard a high-pitched scream. Raven looked around the corner and yelled at me, "Stay back! I don't want you to see this. The rest of you, get the Afreet!" Oh no, did this mean they had killed her? Were we too late? After four years of looking and I may have failed her. I wouldn't let this happen.

I fought against the man that was holding me back from seeing what was going on, and eventually got away from him. Through the whirlwind of men fighting the Afreet, I noticed two girls on the ground. Water welled up in my eyes as I ran toward them. With closer inspection, the girls looked strikingly similar, and I couldn't tell if one of them was Alessia. I knew four years of maturing in looks and not seeing her would make her difficult to identify. They both had the brown hair that Alessia had, and the blue eyes that ran in the family genes. How would I be able to know which was Alessia?

Continuing toward them, I realized the girl on the ground had blood trickling down her face with new bruises forming on her cheek. She was laying on the lap of the other girl losing consciousness.

I approached them looking at the girl who had no injuries, "Alessia?" I asked in a timid voice. She furrowed eyebrows in a confused manner.

"What? My name is Millie," Urgently she continued, "Please, you have to help A, she took a pretty harsh beating from whoever those people are." Tears were beginning to run down her face, and mine too as I realized the girl on the ground was my Alessia. My sister.

"Oh Alessia," A mix emotions filled me as I leaned over her, ones of relief and concern, "I knew I would find you." She had completely slipped out of consciousness now but was thankfully still breathing. I made sure she stayed breathing until the fighting had stopped, all the Afreet defeated.

"Raven, we need to get her home and to medical right now!" I yelled frantically. He came over and examined the situation as well.
"Thank god we finally found her," he said to me. He then signaled to the guards to open a portal so we could return home. I picked her up, almost forgetting about the other girl until she grabbed my arm.

"Where are you taking her? She needs to go to a hospital!"

"I'm not sure what you were doing with her, but I am taking her home. She will get medical care there."

The portal had opened and was waiting for us to pass through, but the girl wouldn't let up.

Her eyes wide at the sight of the portal clearly never seeing anything like it, "What the hell is that thing?" Then as I stepped toward the portal she acted out again, "You can't take her! I won't let you. A is my best friend and I won't let you kidnap her."

I realized this girl wasn't going to let up, "I am not kidnapping her. I am taking her home. Can't you understand that?"

"I am not going anywhere without her!"

"Fine, come along with us if you must if you don't believe me." I replied as a last-minute decision. If the only way to get Alessia home was if this girl came along with us, then so be it. She nodded sharply and followed me as I stepped through the portal.

The familiar but unsettlingly feeling from the portal washed over me. I made sure to keep a tight grip on Alessia, so she wouldn't be jostled around.

When we came through on the other side in Gliese, my parents as well as other friends were there to greet us. My mother broke down crying when she saw Alessia and rushed toward us, "My baby!" She cried in shock.

I think everyone was in shock and felt overjoyed yet fearful as they realized that she was injured. "Doctor! We need the doctor right now!" I yelled.

The doctor rushed towards us and a few nurses whisked her off on a stretcher, my mother and father following after them. I would have too, but I needed to stay behind to make sure everyone knew that the future queen was finally home.