Alessandra (#1, Omega Beginnings Miniseries) (4 page)

My mind decided, I put on my shoes and tied
my hair into a sloppy ponytail. Mrs. Nettles appeared to be trying
to tell me something, but I swept her up in my arms and dashed to
the ladder. She squirmed.

“Stop, Mrs. Nettles. We have to be quiet, in
case they’re planning,” I reminded her.

She went still. I climbed the ladder slowly
and reached the top. Placing my hand against the pad in front of
me, I waited while the door overhead opened.

There was no sound of rain
or a storm, and I finished my climb in excitement, now firmly
convinced my parents had asked me to hide so they could plan my
party. It didn’t matter that it was happening the day after my
birthday. It was going to be my first birthday party ever that I
could remember. We’d always had quiet, family gatherings. I didn’t
have any friends at school, but I had cousins who lived out of town
who were my age. I went to
their
parties. Maybe they were finally coming to
mine.

I closed the entrance to the shelter behind
me the way I had been taught before setting down Mrs. Nettles.
Blinking in the dark basement, I experienced a strange sense, one I
had never felt before.

It was the fear from a nightmare, but I was
awake. I would later learn to identify the uncomfortable instinct
as one of danger. Soft ribbons outlined my surroundings. None of
them were out of place, even if I couldn’t see the objects they
floated around in the darkness.

I went up the wooden stairs to the door
leading into the house and pushed it open.

The ribbons in the kitchen were out of
place. It was chaotic, as if there really had been a storm, and it
blew over everything inside the kitchen. Pacing to the living room,
I was upset to see it in the same condition. In fact, everything on
the ground floor was in a similar state of disarray and none of the
lights worked.

My hope about having a birthday party began
to fade at the damage done to the first floor. I hurried upstairs,
to my room, and was pleased to find all the ribbons where they were
supposed to be. Except …

“Thor?” I called quietly. “Are you
here?”

Everything in my room gave off two ribbons –
inanimate objects. I had left Thor out and alive. He should have
stood out easily with his three ribbons. But he didn’t.

“Mrs. Nettles, can you find him?” I called
behind me. I went to the bottom drawer of the dresser where I had
hidden the jewel Mismatch gave me and other treasures. Relieved to
find it safe, I slid the glowing gem into my pocket. Mama and Daddy
had made me stash flashlights all over the house in case of a storm
like this, and I pulled out a small one and flipped it on. “Mrs.
Nettles!”

Her purring came from under the bed. She
poked her head out.

“He’s not here?”

She shook her head.

“Weird. Where could he have gone?” I
searched the room quickly but already knew from the ribbons he
wasn’t present. “The storm messed up the living room and kitchen.
Maybe it swept him away?” I was grateful it had passed over my
bedroom but also worried about Thor. Mama said I had to take care
of my friends, and I had never lost one yet.

Picking up my pet, I walked to the hallway
and my parent’s room. I knocked as they had taught me before
walking in. Their room, too, had been hit by the storm. Thor wasn’t
present either.

The instinct I didn’t like was tickling the
back of my neck like I had left the window open. Shivering, I
scratched my neck, puzzled, and returned to the top of the
stairs.

“Something isn’t right,” I whispered to Mrs.
Nettles. I was starting to feel scared.

Hoping my parents left me a message, I
returned to the messy kitchen, righted a chair and checked the
answering machine. It was off, like the lights. Their emergency
packs were in the pantry. They had left no notes on the fridge, and
their cars weren’t in the garage or in the driveway. A black van
was parked out front. It was big like the one I saw go to the
Adderleys the other day, but it meant nothing to me at that
time.

Ribbons. They were everywhere, jumbled and
out of place, distressing me. My eyes settled on one in the living
room that didn’t fit in, and I went to the doorway to get a better
look. Something was behind the overturned couch. Something with
three ribbons, but it wasn’t the right pattern and colors to be
Thor or my parents. Shining the light on the couch, I wasn’t able
to see what was behind it.

There was another set of three ribbons in
the formal dining room, behind the toppled table.

I turned off my flashlight and listened for
anything indicating what – or who – was in my house.

I heard nothing, but the ribbons were never
wrong. Stepping back into the hallway, I clutched Mrs. Nettles to
me hard enough that she began to squirm.

I whirled to head back to the shelter and
spotted another set of three ribbons. This one was now between the
door to the basement and me. Panic set in, and I raced to the back
door and burst outside.

My swing set and sand box, the ball I’d been
kicking with Mrs. Nettles Tuesday, and other toys were scattered
around the yard where I left them. The storm hadn’t hit my
backyard.

Or my room. The air didn’t smell of rain,
and the sky was clear.

“I don’t think it was a storm, Mrs.
Nettles,” I said, wanting to cry.

I heard it then, someone moving around the
bottom floor of my house.

Panicking, I darted to the tree in the
corner of my yard and climbed the wood plank ladder to the tree
house at the top. It was where I went when I was mad at my parents.
There was no television or emergency supplies, but it was quiet and
small, cozy with a mini-couch and rugs on the floor.

I set Mrs. Nettles down and crept to the
window overlooking my yard and the back of my house. Someone
emerged from the back door and stepped into the backyard. I didn’t
recognize his ribbons, or those of the three people who followed
him.

Ducking back down, I stared at Mrs. Nettles
in the dark, my heart pounding so hard, I could hear it in my ears.
“Keep quiet, Mrs. Nettles.”

Her purring grew softer, and she cuddled
against me.

My focus turned to the dark night visible
through the skylight. I slipped a hand into my pocket, and I
gripped the jewel.

“Mismatch, come get us,” I whispered. “I
think we’re in trouble.”

The men in the backyard spoke quietly to one
another. I couldn’t make out their words, but they were getting
closer.

My eyes stayed on the sky. I had full faith
in the gargoyle I had just met. My friends always came when I
called, no matter where I was in the house, and Mismatch had said
if I needed him, he’d come.

I waited and waited, starting to cry when I
heard the men approach the tree where I hid. Clinging to Mrs.
Nettles, I squeezed the jewel even tighter. Her plush coat soaked
up my tears.

“Please, Mismatch. I’m scared!”

Another long moment passed, and one of the
men began to climb the makeshift ladder to the tree house.

I huddled with my favorite pet, pressing my
face into her fur, and waited for them to find me.

Wind whipped the tree branches together, and
they clattered. My eyes flew open, and I stared out the skylight at
the wide wings beating the air above the tree.

“I knew you’d come,” I said, smiling happily
through my tears. My heart swelled with love for the creature I
brought to life and came when I needed him.

You are in danger, little
one.
His words slid into my
mind.

“I know.”

Stay where you are until I tell you to come
out. Do not look outside. Do you understand?

“Yes.” I hunkered down and closed my
eyes.

He said nothing else, and the clatter of
branches stopped. Someone in the backyard shouted. I tensed, scared
and worried about my gargoyle.

“We’re going to be okay, Mrs. Nettles.” I
wiped my running nose on her head. She snuggled against me. “Don’t
you worry. Mismatch is here. He’ll take care of us and tomorrow,
we’ll go to Grandma’s and Mama and Daddy will be there waiting for
us.”

Little did I know at the innocent age of
six, I’d never see my family again.

***

Stay tuned for “Mismatch” (#2, Omega
Beginnings Miniseries) coming February 20!

***

Omega: Beginnings

Prequel mini-series

Alessandra
(January)

Mismatch
(February)

Phoibe
(March)

Lantos
(April)

Theodosia
(May)

Niko
(June)

Cleon
(July)

Herakles
(August)

Omega Series

Omega
(2015)

Theta
(2016)

Alpha
(2017)