Dedicating this chapter to Janine Mimi (yay!) and the Wattpad4 (official dedications on other chaps) for the JustWriteIt Twitter contest gift (art work for the story!) and getting me through this chap when I was blocked. You ladies are the best!
Move on to Book II here on Wattpad. It's back up! Enjoy.
--- Allison Whitmore
And now... The Solstice.
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"Go left then right then up and over, you'll find it?" Seth complained, mimicking the patrolman from earlier, as they navigated through the quickly thinning crowd. "What's with all these bridges anyway?"
"They like to walk. Imagine if all those hipster hikers from Malibu knew about this place," Isabella commented.
"Yeah, but the shining blue waters of the Pacific are not cascading over the beautiful shores of beer bottles and soda cans of Santa Monica."
"Santa Monica is clean," said Isabella. Seth shot her a side glance. She continued, "Haven't you heard of Heal the Bay?"
"Whatever, we have to get off these streets now. These people are acting like its about to catch fire."
"You're the one so great at directions. So I'm following you," said Isabella, turning onto the footbridge behind him. A few cars on rails zipped underneath them. Traditional holidays often cleared the streets at home, but Isabella wondered why doing so was so strictly enforced down here.
"I think we just cross this and take a right down the road to find Bridge K." When they got to the middle of the footbridge they were on, Seth pointed beyond the street. "Oh sweet, I see smaller bridges between the buildings. Those must be the roads where people live."
She looked at the now empty rail line and noticed a light flickering in the distance. Not thinking anything of it, she continued walking with Seth. When they reached the end of the footbridge, she noticed more lights blinking, quick but steady. They looked to be just beyond the alley where she and Seth had emerged and came upon this strange town. She wondered if this was all some bizarre dream. She'd been having so many of those lately. But for some reason, she knew that it wasn't. She could not explain to herself why she knew that, but she did.
"This way," Seth said, striding in the direction opposite of where the lights were coming from. He looked over his shoulder to make sure she was following. He turned and stopped. "Quit daydreaming. I'm hungry," he said.
She tried to forget about the strange light and sped up. The clear skies thickened with a grayish haze filled the night. The weather changed rapidly here, she thought. When she reached Seth's side, a sudden chill climbed onto her shoulders and wrapped around her neck. She gasped. "Seth, I can't breathe."
"What?" he asked, sounding alarmed, placing a hand on her shoulder.
The streets emptied further. "Seth, help me." Isabella stumbled forward and Seth grabbed her arm. It was so cold. "Please."
A stroke of lightning cracked the sky. And the little glimmering lights she'd seen before seemed to be raining down on them. Seth pulled Isabella under the awning of a shutdown shop as air started to return to her lungs. "Seth," she coughed. "What's going on?" It was as if the floating lights were returning to her normal state.
"You were turning blue. I didn't know what to do."
"No, I mean in the sky," she said, fully catching her breath. What had choked her and then suddenly stopped? What was going on?
Seth turned around. "It's rain."
But it wasn't rain, Isabella realized. It looked more like falling fireflies. Some were golden. Some blue. Some were white.
"Or maybe not," said Seth.
"Maybe this is why people have to be off the street at a certain time." Isabella looked over Seth's shoulder. There were no more people. The shops had closed. But the little lights grew brighter and brighter. "What are they?"
"Happy solstice, sisters," she heard several tiny voices whisper.
"Did you hear that?" Isabella asked Seth. He did not turn to her. Instead, he stared at the little blinking lights in front of them.
A regal sounding voice as delicate as thin glass spoke. "The night is precious and one with the earth. We give thanks for the world around us and the world up above. We bless our sisters..."
"And brothers..." a different higher, sweeter voice whispered.
"And brothers," the regal voice continued, "who protect the peace and the goodness in this world and hold off the bad."
Isabella poked Seth in the arm to catch his attention, but it did not work. One of the little lights suddenly buzzed toward them from down the dark road as if it had honed in on their presence.
"Seth, I think we should go," she tugged on his sweatshirt. "I don't think we're supposed to be here."
Seth did not answer her. He started walking toward the bridge where a large cluster of the little lights formed.
"Seth, what are you doing?" Isabella said through gritted teeth, too afraid to follow him. She trained her eyes on the little lights and gasped when she realized what they really were, or at least, what they looked like. They looked to be very small people with wings. Two of which had landed on Seth's shoulders. He continued toward the growing cluster of light on the bridge. Isabella looked up at the street sign at the corner of the shop where she'd been standing with him. It read Bridge H. "You were right, Seth. This is the way," she muttered, afraid to raise her voice too loudly unsure of what might happen if she disturbed the little creatures. But this meant that the Vanderpoles were just three blocks over. She needed to get Seth away from those things, but she had no idea how or what to do. She had no choice but to follow him. The little lights buzzed around her. "The last diadem child has come to bless this solstice everyone." Four little figures smiled and turned around her.
"I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to get my friend. We didn't mean to interrupt anything."
"The Empaths are the ones who are afraid of us. It is not us who are afraid of them. They are superstitious. They think that they must be at home or they will upset the balance of the blessing."
"I think they're right," another one of the creatures said. She had black hair and nearly white eyes.
"Blessing for what?" asked Isabella.
Another little creature smiled. "You are here with us. We are so glad."
"What's wrong with my friend?" Isabella looked at Seth, who still hadn't turned in her direction.
"He's home too," a little creature with brown hair and what looked like a deep dimple on one cheek explained.
"I don't understand," said Isabella, wondering if it was one of them who'd choked her a second ago. She didn't want to find out, so she tried remaining calm.
"Where are the others? The ones the queen chose for you."
"I don't know what you mean," Isabella said.
A yellow haired little creature, ticked her tongue at her friend. "Olimanda, Hush. The Queen Mother is about to speak. She'll be here soon."
The four fairies fluttered their lashes. "Oh! We should bring you to the Queen Mother," one said.
They all grinned. Two of them clapped their hands. She saw their faces. Brown, tan, pale. Their hair light and dark, just like people. They looked human but so small. Like creatures from a children's story, both beautiful and frightening.
"Come, come," the yellow haired one said.
Not wanting to get on the seemingly gentle little creatures, Isabella moved forward toward them.
Isabella passed Seth and looped her arm through his so she could pull him forward and pulled him with her. "I'm not doing this alone this time." He was still locked in a place she could not see, but he followed.
The light encompassed creatures moved back much like the crowd had before when the Illusionist had called her forward. A creature with tan skin and long dark red hair floated in mid-air like the other creatures. Her eyes were large and her mouth shaped like a bow. She wore a tiny silver crown, shimmering with tiny jewels.
"Welcome, child," the queen said. "The moon is almost here."
"But there is no real moon down here."
Then the sky seemed to part and air rushed in from outside. "Cover your mouths." Seth did so without hesitation as if on autopilot. Isabella did too, confused. "The air from above mingled with ours can be a shock. The moon beat down on them. "We see the sunlight catch the moon and we give a great thanks to all that we were given."
"I'm Catholic. I celebrate Christmas," said Isabella. She'd been taught to embrace and be curious about all cultures, but these creatures weren't even human.
"This is about a celebration of the earth. You celebrate life just the same as we fair folk do. We are connected as one. Human, fair folk, and Empath. I am Queen Kendra, and you are welcome here with us, Diadem child. As is your fair folk guardian and the ones we have aligned you with."
"You're not talking about him, are you?" Isabella asked. "He's not a fair folk. He's just a guy in this sorta okay band that my grandmother hired to play at my family's hotel."
"He is not all fair folk or he could never live among you. He only has a strand of our blood in him, but it is enough," said the Queen. She turned around and began to chant something Isabella did not understand. The air trembled. Then the lights grew brighter and brighter until everything went dark.
"How did we get back here?" Seth asked. There was no one around, not even the fair folk.
"He's coming."
"It's them," Isabella said. "They're warning us." It wasn't the voice she'd heard in her mind all of those times, but it did sound like the voice in the room where they'd put on the wetsuits they were still wearing.
"Who?"
"Those fairy things."
Seth frowned. She thought it was because he had no idea what she was talking about, so she gasped when he said his next words, his face hovering close to hers. "What happened before?" he asked, touching her neck.
She licked her lips and looked down, letting him worry over her for once. It actually did feel kind of nice. "It was like someone was choking me."
"Do you think it was a person?"
Isabella did not know why, but she nodded. It was a person. Over Seth's shoulder she saw something that was no fairy. A man with a black top hat on and a raven on his shoulder walked through the flames. His eyes were violet. His hair black with a streak that matched his flashing eyes. Ice cold fear draped over her and she could not move. Then he too was gone.
"Come on," said Isabella. "I know how to get to the Vanderpoles."
"Be safe," she heard a fair folk voice whisper.
They knocked on the door of 1515 Bridge K. A giant V with a lynx at the base of it was carved into it. The Vanderpole's moderately sized stone house decorated with violet lights and green bows sat several paces back on their property. "Mr. and Mrs. Vanderpole?" Seth called. No one answered. They knocked again. "Hello?" Still nothing. "Not again," Seth moaned just as the door opened to reveal Mrs. Vanderpole.
"Oh, dear, look who it is. The Foxworthy heir." Isabella's eyes went wide. These people knew things. Maybe they could help her find the lost heir. Mrs. Vanderpole wore a hunter green dress and violet earrings. She ushered them inside. "I told my sister you would be coming. She is thrilled as a morphling on a Tuesday."
Not getting the reference, she and Seth shared looks of confusion, but their expressions quickly melted into contement when they took in their peaceful surroundings.
The room twinkled with warmth and light different than what they'd seen outside with the fair folk. It was a home. There was an entire wall of family pictures at the back of the room. There was a two sided sofa in the center of the room, plush and comfortable. Beneath it, the fluffiest looking deep violet rug. Near a large window near the back of the house, there was a long table filled with silver covered warming trays, hiding whatever it was beneath them from view. Plates were stacked and ready for them to take. They did a buffet on the Winter Solstice. Somehow that made Isabella smile.
"We have guests for the Wintertide, dear," she said, eyeing their outfits with concern. "Franklin will be home soon. We're having dumplings, ham, roast duck, potato pancakes, whipped cheese, candied nuts, and violet grapes. It's so great to have you here for the season before the portal closes at the New Year."
Isabella frowned. That meant there was a ticking clock on them to find their friends.
"It's okay. That's almost two weeks away," Seth whispered as if reading her mind.
"Don't forget the plum buns," Mr. Vanderpole said, coming into the room, carrying a basket of Isabella's favorite treat.
"Plum buns! I love plum buns," she said forgetting all about portals for the time being. "I've only ever seen them at Cake n' Honey, a restaurant I go to near the hotel."
They shared glances and small smiles. Mr. Vanderpole seemed in much better spirits than when she'd first met him. He extended the basket to her. "Miss Foxworthy," he said as Isabella reached out to take one. "And to her young man."
Isabella stopped mid-bite. It was too heavenly to stop and correct him. She finished her plum bun. Seth hadn't bothered correcting him either and was already reaching for a second treat.
"Happy solstice, Isabella," he said before taking another bite.
"Happy solstice, Seth. Do you think we'll ever find the others?"
Seth gulped down the rest of the plum bun and lifted his lashes. "We will," he said, reaching out to brush a strand of her knotting hair behind her ear. It didn't seem to be as perfect as it had in the room with the wetsuits. She noticed for the first time that Seth no longer looked like the Adonis version of himself, but just like regular Seth with a little violet in his hair. But that didn't seem to be special for the people down here. Most of them had violet on their personages as if it were a mark of being part of this world.
Isabella swallowed. That gesture confused her more than anything she'd seen that day, or maybe it didn't. She waited for him to move away, but he stood still. He just kept looking at her. She had no idea what to say until her brain decided to select, "Your hands are sticky."
"Oh, sorry." He dropped his hand and looked around for a napkin, breaking any sense of contact. Isabella sighed. She didn't know if she wanted anything from Seth or even if he was giving it. She knew right now, that she didn't have time to think about him that way. She had so many more problems to deal with than boys, so many thoughts to make sense of.
Her nightmare plagued her for years, but now she had so many answers to so many questions about herself. She had no idea if she'd caused the fire that killed her parents. But she knew that she was more than she'd been born to be. It didn't seem that her parents were anything particularly special for her to live up to. She now knew that seemed to be Renee or just the simple fact that she was a Foxworthy. Or maybe something more than that. It was something she'd understood since she and Seth stood pressed together eavesdropping in that closet. She was something more than she'd ever known. And whatever it was would probably kill her.
Mr. Vanderpole put on a fire and read them his favorite poem. It was about a viciously frightening creature known as the Yule cat. Apparently, this creature prowled Christmas Eve night looking for parents who did not properly clothe their children and gobbled them up. He explained that it was an Icelandik folktale. Mrs. Vanderpole corrected him, however, giving credit to the fair folk in the North. Mr. Vanderpole grumbled at that, and went to stoke the fire.
"A yuletide punch?" Mrs. Vanderpole offered her a red drink. She took a sip. It was warm, spicy and sweet. She loved. It. "Merry Christmas."
"Oh, yes. Thank you."
"After dinner," Mrs. Vanderpole said, "you two can have baths and we'll lay out some clothes for you."
"Oh, thank you, but these are just fine."
She laughed. "No, dears. You are our guests."
"Can you tell us anything about the lost heir?" Isabella asked, looking between Mr. and Mrs. Vanderpole. Mr. Vanderpole looked away.
"He lives here underground, but we never see him, dear," said Mrs. Vanderpole evasively.
"Do you know about our friends? My brother?" Seth pressed, he worried his lip. Mrs. Vanderpole looked at him sympathetically.
"All we can tell you is if you don't feel that they are gone or in danger, then they are not. You two are both especially attuned to others, even more than most Empaths." Isabella assumed she meant because she was whatever a diadem child was and Seth was supposed to be some kind of protector. That made sense. "What about Theophilus Dodge? Do you know him?"
"Oh yes, he has that delightful shop," said Mrs. Vanderpole. "Keystone and Castor are manning it these days. Theophilus hasn't been around for ages."
"Keystone and Castor?"
"The little men from Wish Valley."
"But we went by there today and it was closed."
"It's the solstice, dear. Perhaps, they closed early. They will be open tomorrow morning, I'm sure."
Isabella brightened. Maybe this was the answer. "Do you think they speak to him when he's you know not underground?"
"Oh, I'm sure they do."
Isabella did not want to mention that Theophilus had been arrested to them. She really did not know if they could be trusted fully though they seemed kind. Some things she knew she had to keep close to her heart. "Do you think we could go there tomorrow and they'd talk to us?"
Mr. Vanderpole went over to the table where he'd left the basket of plum buns and took two for himself. "Those two are nothing but trouble if you ask me," he said from across the room.
"Don't be unkind, dear. You know all Greens are a little different."
"Greens?" asked Seth.
"Yes, Greens of the Valley. Oh, they are having a big bonfire tomorrow night. I nearly forgot. Perhaps, they won't be at the shop after all," said Mrs. Vanderpole. "But I think you should try to go. Their celebration will be late night."
The Vanderpole's front door swung open and a tall fair haired boy entered. His arms were full of gifts. "Happy Solistice, everyone!" he said, his deep voice filling the room.
"Franklin! You made it," his mother said, rushing over to embrace help her son with his packages. She fussed over him and got him some punch. "Just in time for the meal. But wait. Where's Aunt Betty?"
"Betty?"
Franklin looked at Isabella for the first time since he'd entered. "So they talked you into coming, did they?" he asked, his blue eyes dancing over her face. She thought she heard Seth grunt beside her, but she could not be sure.
Deciding that what she was wearing, rubber shoes and all, made her look dumpy and not like a girl, she turned to Franklin's mother and asked, "Mrs. Vanderpole, would it be okay if we changed before dinner?"
Mrs. Vanderpole looked at her with sympathetic eyes. Seth was looking at her irritation. She did not know if it had to do with her possibly delaying a meal or because of something else.
"I want you to know that your friends are all right," Franklin said.
"What do you know about it?" Seth asked sharply.
"I can't say any more." His father looked at him, his mouth set in a thin line.
"Can you tell us where they are?"
"Eating a meal just like this," he said.
"Franklin," his father clipped out. "Remember your oath."
Franklin nodded. Isabella tried thinking of her grandmother and her friends. Nothing particularly nasty plagued her mind other than not knowing. That ate at her in away taht she could not control. For some reason these people could not tell them anything. Perhaps, this oath that they took was life or death. Who were they to make them break laws? But they had to know. Maybe if she could get Franklin alone later tonight she could talk it out of him.
"We can eat after you change your clothes," said Mrs. Vanderpole as fist wrapped on the door.
"Franklin, will you get the door. It'll be your aunt. She had to come through the tube. Running late."
"We all used the tube after the streets closed," said Franklin. "She's fine. Oh, you may know Betty. She works at your hotel," Franklin said as he opened the door.
There standing on their front stoop was the Foxworthy hotel's favorite cook, Betty Reed. "Anyone care for some corn n' crab chowder? I know it's not tradition, but I heard someone I know very well might be stopping by so I took a chance."
Isabella grinned. This was going to be a very good night after all.
And as the new friends settled in together, and they celebrated new things and old, Isabella Foxworthy, as alone in the world as ever, felt at home again...at least for now.
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Thank you for reading, The Lost Heir, Book I: The Violet City.
The Lost Heir, Book II: The Midnight Brotherhood can be found here: https://www.wattpad.com/113032124-the-lost-heir-book-ii-the-midnight-brotherhood-a
Clickable link in the comments or by going to my author page.