Page 48 of The Divide that Binds Us

One of the security agents whistles for my attention at the door.A lady and gentleman screen in before being directed to my direction.Their freckled faces are distinct enough from each other, but obvious to me they look like someone I know.

“Hello, my name is Rio Shackler.I’m the Commander of Ultima.Anything I can help you lovely folks with today?You may check in at our receptionist desk for information on auditions,” I offer with a slight gesture to the desk.

The man shakes his head gruffy—fiery mustache and beard crowding his lower half of his face.The woman frowns.

“H-Hi Mr.Shackler.I’m Loo Redly, and this is my wife, Tana.”he gestures to the woman.“We were informed that our daughter, Natasha, ran away in Emerald Island.Elite has not heard from her, but we received an anonymous tip that she was being held here.”

“I, um...I’m sorry but I—”

“Please!”Tana sobs.“If she’s with Ultima, that’s fine.We just want to make sure our baby girl is safe.”

This has never happened before.What’s the harm in telling them?

Two more visitors screen in through security and walk to the reception desk, but I swear I’ve seen them before.

One girl is short with a round face and gray eyes resembling Katarzyna.The other has dirty-blond hair tucked in a green baseball cap worn backward.Trace Marks accompany their arms, but it’s not triggering a memory.They linger, holding up brochures.

Drake follows my eyes and gasps.

“Oh gosh.Oh crap.”He presses against the wall and sinks right through to the other side, now back in the gym.

“M-Mr.Shackler,” Tana’s shaky voice demands my attention.“Have you seen our daughter?”

Katarzyna comes from the other side of the lobby with a stack of envelopes in her hands.She addresses the two girls with the receptionist while I’m still tongue tied with Natasha’s parents.

“I think you should come back another time with a scheduled appointment with Master Cedric,” I tell them.From my periphery, the petite scarlet haired girl leaves the building, while the tall blond continues talking at the desk, Katarzyna’s stiff, her jaw clenched tight.

Tana frowns and wipes a clean slap across my face, silencing all the noise in the lobby.The security agents rush over as I blink hard from the stinging pain.

“You know something!”Tana screams with an accusatory finger at me.“If you didn’t, you could’ve just told us no!You did something to our little girl.”

“Get them out of here now,” I order the security agents.

They proceed to roughly grab Natasha’s parents and shove them toward the front door.Loo trips and falls on the squeaky floor, but security shows no mercy and grabs his arm to force him back up.The blond breaks away from Katarzyna to intercept the crying parents, and I finally get a better view of her face.

The girl Malice protected on Emerald Island.

She’s with Elite.

She reaches out to get their attention.“Hey!Stop that!They’re not resisting—”

A third security agent grabs the girl’s arm.

“You can shut up and leave too!”they bark at her.

“Don’t touch me!”she hisses.Her hat flies off, revealing her medium-length hair that somehow grows.Her washed-out blue eyes vibrate in their sockets until they shift into green snake eyes.Patches of the girl’s skin rapidly form into blue, green, and gray scales as her hair rises from her head.The strands move with minds of their own, weaving into braids and changing into a shiny texture until we’re staring at a girl with a headful of snakes.

Loo and Tana Redly hold each other and run out the building while our remaining security surrounds the girl.

I run to Katarzyna.“What did she say to you?”

“Are those...real snakes?”she whispers.

The girl makes eye contact with one passing member who instantly turns to stone.

A slither of panic quivers through me as I regain my thought process.“EVERYONE COVER YOUR EYES!”

But Katarzyna is already rigid in my hold.Her entire body stone with a gaping expression toward the snake chick.

---