Duplicate Custodians

Chapter 30

When our souls entered our bodies we were holding hands. We as in me and Jasper. I could see my reflection in his green eyes and I bet he could see his reflection in mine. As soon as I realized this, I backed off. Charlotte and Alyx were standing just beside us and were staring. I felt embarrassed.

"Hey, so ya both finally made alliances!" Alyx hip hopped. His big framed glasses dropped from his small face.

"Hold on Alyx's glasses." Alyx placed his glasses back on his nose and ears. Charlotte was still staring at both of us and I could have felt what she'd be feeling.

"Guys. I have to go now. I promised Ma'a for one night. She doesn't know I had found the truth and I need to react normally until we complete the search for our weapon. So, let me go and see. Until then Jasper will tell you what actually happened. Okay? Bye."

I got out of the guest room and hugged Hazel, the horse. I whistled and my broom appeared. I ran for my palace. Better say for my life.

When I entered the palace, it was dark and dimly lit. No servants roaming around. Nothing seemed...accustomed. I quickly rushed into my room. It was the same room I left. I took a quick shower, changed into my nightgown, brushed my hair and teeth, and left for the search of Ma'a.

My room was on the second floor, besides wardrobes and library, playhouse, family Dinner hall, living room, dressing hall, conferences hall, guest's hall, bath hall on that first floor with the stairs leading to my room. In the corridor parallel to my room was the Maá's room and our uncle Ben's room, brother of Ma'a. He would come once in a year or so to live with us. It was big but smaller in size than the throne room which was on the ground floor.

I knocked at Maá's door. No answer. It was just an hour after sunset and nobody used to sleep this early. I knocked again and no one answered. I peeped in.

"Ma'a?" I called. Her room was so packed with all the furniture around that it was hard for me to look into everything. I wonder how the maid would even clean her room and how she would remember places of her secret-keeping and how she would pack things up if we needed to go abroad.

I looked everywhere. In the dressing area, washroom and bathroom, closet, and everywhere in the room, she was nowhere. I was so tired I jumped into her bed and cuddled in her woolen leopard blanket. I closed my eyes for a minute. When I opened my eyes I was rubbernecking ahead at the half-open shelf, the moonlight mirrored the gleam on something silver. I thought it could be any jewelry. But, Ma'a never keeps her jewelry like this: open. It created some suspense in me.

I stood up and jumped towards the gleaming object, to my surprise, it was a silver metal case. I wanted to open it and I tried too, but my hands worked against me.

"Oh, poor thing. Can't you just open like in a much simpler way?" I talked.

"Enter the code word please." Said the case. What? Are you kidding me? How can a metal case talk? Until and unless I talk to it through my brain, but I didn't. I decided to ask Ma'a about it and kept it in my jacket.

I escaped the room and started to walk towards the roof. That was my favorite place. Whenever I was so done with myself, which used to happen more often, I wandered on the roof and used to talk to the sky. Tell it all about the emotions. Fortunately, that was better than writing the diary, because once Rosella and Brett read half of my yearly diary. So, yeah. Though I don't have any secrets some emotions are better cherished when kept surreptitious.

When I was climbing the stairs, I heard some nasty, unnerving, nightmare- type-voice. That was coming directly from the third floor. It was the floor where everyone was forbidden to go. I was told years back when I was a child that some scary creatures lived there, and since that time I never dared to go there. It was like a normal thing. But today, it was very alarming and spooky. It was blood-curdling. Like a woman-X-man voice yelling together in a creepy voice. Cries echoing. An amazing fact: only one on the third floor could hear that. I have never experienced hyper-hidrosis, but I was sweating like mad. My feet were shaking. I inhaled and exhaled, deeply. Grabbed my arrows and bow in one hand and the sword in the other, and started to walk towards the daunting voice.