I held on tightly to the rail as I walked down the stairs. I'd had a nightmare and couldn't get much sleep the rest of the night. All that shaking made me hungry.
I had to pass through the living room to get to the kitchen and I spotted a radio on one of the shelves. I wondered what kind of music they played in Indonesia and turned it on. A song was playing. I recognized it as one of the songs that was really popular back home. It was one of my favorites, Nothing Can Compare by Ricky Jones. Mom and I went to all of his concerts. She was a fan of him as well. His songs always had a lot of meaning and emotion to the words, so much so that even though he claimed to be single, everyone was convinced he was dating and wrote those songs for her.
I sat down in the armchair. The familiar music helped calmed me after that restless night.
"Amber, you're awake," Shay said.
"I'm surprised you're up this early," I said.
"I slept most of yesterday." She paused for a moment. "I... saw what happened. I'm sorry I couldn't stay awake. If they hadn't come for us, you would have frozen to death."
I shook my head. "It wasn't your fault."
"I should apologize to the other three as well."
"I'm sure that isn't necessary," I said. "It was their fault for hurting you so much. Are you feeling okay now?"
Shay nodded, still looking a little guilty. She sighed. "Samuel would have had me killed for being so weak and useless," she muttered. "I'll try harder to see the future so something like that never happens again. If I had been paying more attention, none of this would have happened."
"Shay, maybe instead of pushing yourself to see everything you should just deal with things as they come," I said. "It's not everything you can prevent."
"Watch me," Shay said. She took a breath and glanced at the radio. "What are you listening to?"
"Ricky Jones."
"That name sounds familiar." Shay perched on the arm of my chair and listened for a few moments then her face lit up. "I remember this song. Thomas wrote it."
"No. Ricky wrote it," I said.
Shay shook her head. "No. I remember Thomas complaining that he couldn't get this one to sound right but Ricky's company was harassing him and he had to send it as is." She took out her phone and tapped on it, then she lowered the volume of the radio. "This is the original version."
The song opened in the same way as Ricky's did but the voice was definitely different.
"That's Thomas?" I asked. Shay nodded. It was his voice, but it was so smooth and clear, not like his slow, thoughtful way of speaking normally. I'd thought before that Ricky had a lot of emotion when he was singing it. His voice was nothing compared to Thomas'. The reason we'd all thought Ricky had a secret girlfriend was because the song was originally written by Thomas and meant for Shay.
"It's better, right?" Shay said smiling proudly. "The others do okay when they sing his songs but the original always sounds the best."
"I didn't know Thomas was a song writer," I said.
"He would be locked in his studio back home right now if all of this wasn't going on."
"Wait." Something clicked in my head. I recognized that voice. "Thomas wouldn't happen to be Thomas Griffin? The artist that no one has ever seen?" Contracts and pay slips and other papers popped up before my eyes, all with Thomas' name and Junaid's signature. "It's really him."

YOU ARE READING
The Scroll of Knowledge
FantasyThe Scroll of Knowledge holds all known knowledge in the world. Amber Ward has become the new keyholder and guardian after her mother dies. From the moment she puts it on, danger comes her way. Someone wants control of all the keys and artifacts and...