The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural (31 page)

Lee clasped her hands together as the light
turned green. “Okay, so what do we know?”

“
You’re my sister.” Began
Lotus flatly. “Your boyfriend’s a supernatural; my ex is the King
and he…” Lotus put a peculiar emphasis on the next word,
“
tried
to kill you.
Am I missing anything?”

“
Somehow we’re connected by
that garden.” Added Ace as he nodded to the picture still in Lee’s
grasp. “Lee and I don’t remember anything about our childhood, and
you’re having trouble remembering pieces of the past
too.”

“
No pun intended,” began
Lee, “But there’s something supernatural about that. You can’t tell
me this is all coincidence. This must have been planned and someone
doesn’t want us to remember something.”

“
But what would they want us
to forget?” asked Lotus, “And who has the power to do that?” the
heiress was so caught up in the conversation that she nearly missed
her turn.

Ace shrugged from the back seat, “I have no
idea. I don’t even know where to start. Once more we’re left with
more questions than answers.”

A moment of silence lingered in the car as
Lotus pulled up to the Stelter Hotel. Lee gaped out the window. The
front was a simple space with an expensive stone driveway and an
elegant white fountain on either side of the front doors. Lotus
left her key in the ignition when she stepped out and the valet
hurried around to take her car. Lee slid out with her eyes glued to
the several iron balconies and large glass windows. Her eyes
squinted as she peered at the very top where the largest balcony
sat and the roof of Lotus’s penthouse just poked over.

“
Come on,” Lotus exclaimed
grabbing onto Lee’s hand before the bellhops could stare too
long.

They bounded up the wide stone steps and
hurried through the automatic doors. A cool rush of air
conditioning greeted them as they entered the lobby, along with the
faint smell of cleaning supplies and freshly sliced pineapples. Lee
gaped at the scene before her. The hotel’s shell had given the
impression of simple elegance, but the inside blew Lee’s mind.

A thirty foot gold statue sat right in the
center of the lobby just under an even more massive stain glass
dome. As the trio continued across the charcoal colored tile; that
was all Lee could stare at. Poseidon in golden mermaid form sitting
on a rock with his trident mounted beside him. Lee wasn’t sure how
the sculptor did it, but the powerful yet welcoming expression was
captured perfectly in his solid eyes. Dolphins leapt up from behind
as golden waves collided with Poseidon’s rock. Every detail down to
the thin wisps of his hair, to the tension in his arms appeared so
dramatically, it was as if the statue were a golden snapshot of a
moment in time.

Lee was so mesmerized, she ran into a luggage
cart. When she collected her footing, her eyes met with the glaring
family posing before the statue as a bellhop waited with a camera
in his hands. Lotus hurried her sister along, and they managed not
to catch the attention of too many guests. But Lee still couldn’t
stop looking at the amazing space before her.

Above the statue was an even larger dome with
blue stained glass pieced together like several gigantic bubbles
held up by thick black columns. The sight seemed almost Greek
inspired since there was a collaboration of pillars and the gold
statue and Lee wondered what the rest of the hotel looked like.
Between several of the pillars, Lee watched as guests pulled
luggage through the hotel’s grand archways. Maybe some other time
she would take a tour, but for now, Lotus was leading them up a set
of steps.

Beside the grand staircase sat the front
desk. The clerks recognized Lotus, Lee could read it in their faces
but for some reason, they didn’t acknowledge her. Perhaps it was a
policy of some sort, but Lee didn’t question it too much. She was
too mesmerized by the first bright thing to break the dark and gold
lobby. The staircase, Lee noticed, shaped in the letter Y and
reminded her of something she might see off the Titanic except it
was made of the same glossy solid as the tunnel had been and up
close, it almost appeared to be plastic. But that was silly. Who in
their right mind would structure durable things out of plastic?

“
Medallion.” Lotus remarked
as if she knew what Lee was thinking, “That’s what dad calls
it.”

Lee glanced down at the spotless white steps.
It was remarkable. Even with as many people who had trodden about
that staircase, the material stayed stainless white.

“
It’s a compound.” Lotus
continued. They had reached the top of the stairs right before the
steps forked, and against the charcoal wall waited a single gold
elevator. The moment Lotus approached the glass doors sprang open.
“It’s made up of all these other elements.” She continued.
“Supposedly it’s as easy to make as steel and just as strong except
medallion is easier to mold and naturally stainless. I think it
naturally comes in white, but dad likes to tweak up the colors.”
The trio hurried inside before the glass doors slid
shut.

The elevator shot up like a bullet and
through the glass door, Lee watched as the blue dome shrank beneath
them to the size of an ant hill. The higher they climbed, the more
Lee was noticing that the hotel was in the shape of a doughnut. The
blue glass dome was the center and across that, Lee could watch
other people glide up or down on the elevators. “You’ve been to
Tarrillian’s Art Memorial right?” asked Lotus leaning back and
jamming her hands in her granny dress pockets.

Ace nodded. Normally taking a tour to the Art
Memorial was something a family might do in substitution for a
pic-nic. But Ace and Lee had only gone there to escape the cops
during an epic car chase.

“
Well that iconic conch
shell,” began Lotus, “That sucker is all medallion. Most people
think medallion is an exclusive Heleow thing, but it’s everywhere.
Some North Side buildings even have it, like our corporate tower.
It’s so common; there might even be some in your cell
phone.”

Lee gasped as her hand went to her pocket and
she whirled around to gaze up at Ace. “We left all our stuff at the
hotel!”

Lotus shrugged, “How important is it because
if you packed light, that just gives us an excuse to go
shopping.”

“
I’d love to go shopping
with you!” beamed Lee, “It’ll give us time to catch up.”

Ace glanced up at the row of numbers being
illuminated as they continued to ascend. “I don’t like the idea of
just leaving our stuff in a hotel though.” He mentioned.

Lotus rocked on her heels. “I can call some
people and they’ll bring it back to you if you want.”

In no time at all, they had ascended all the
floors but instead of the glass doors sliding open, the wall behind
them did, and opened up their view to Lotus Stelter’s
penthouse.

Ace’s mouth dropped. It was nothing like he
had expected. The elevator spat them out into a short dark hallway,
and even then, Ace could make out the space in the living room at
the end. All the lights were off, but there really was no need
since the giant glass wall not only illuminated the space, but
allowed them to peer at the rooftop swimming pool and the distant
tawny stone gym. Like their home in North Side, the penthouse
recognized their footsteps and slowly began to illuminate the
rooms.

“
Welcome back, Princess.”
The computer’s melodic voice chimed as Lotus stepped down into the
living room’s white fuzzy rug.

“
What was that!” exclaimed
Lee nearly leaping out of her skin.

“
It’s just the computer.”
Remarked Lotus as she flopped down on one of the thin legged
chairs. “It won’t talk again unless you want it to.” She explained
gesturing to the seats. “Sit down. We have much to talk
about.”

Lee’s eyes wandered about the home as she sat
down on the love seat. “Haven’t we basically covered the
introduction?” she asked as her eyes continued to study the
banister above as it wrapped around the living space. She could see
the doors leading into separate bedrooms from where she was
seated.

“
Maybe,” muttered Lotus as
Ace took a seat beside Lee, “But I’m still not getting this. You-
neither of you- remember your childhood?”

Lee finally pulled her eyes from the
surroundings to glance at her sister. “Yeah. It’s like a giant
black hole. Every time I try to remember something, I feel like I
hit a wall and nothing comes through.”

Lotus nodded as she put a finger to her lips
thoughtfully, “Then how did looking at a picture spark your
memory?”

Ace shrugged. He felt odd staring at Lotus
when her face was so much like Lee’s. “My very first memory is
walking down a hallway in a suit and tie. At the end of the hall
was a room. That’s where I met Mirage and Shadow.” Telling the tale
and staring at Lee’s face with blue eyes was beginning to creep him
out so he finished his tale with his eyes glued to the rug. “That’s
when Mirage gave me that picture and predicted that in several
years, I would be able to look at it and remember a piece of my
past.”

“
What’s it like?” Lee began,
“Having that memory?”

Ace pulled his eyes from the floor and gazed
at her still burnt skin. “Let’s get you something for that sunburn
first.” He mentioned.

Lotus reflexively sprang from her seat and
bounded to the kitchen.

“
It’s not that bad.” Lee
whispered as Ace gazed pitifully down at her. “I forgot about it
until you mentioned.”

“
What do you mean; it’s not
that bad?!” repeated Lotus hurrying back rattling a bottle of pills
in her hand. “You look like a lobster! This stuff works wonders
though. Take two right now and two before you go to sleep and
you’ll be pink tomorrow.” Lotus returned to her seat and glanced
back at her baby sister as she stared at the label blankly.
“They’re chewable.” Lotus coaxed, “They taste like
pineapple.”

Lee nodded and proceeded to pop off the top
as Lotus took another big breath. “Alright, no more interruptions.
We need to figure this out and this conversation won’t be dropped
until we have answers.”

Her timing couldn’t be more perfect. Right
then, the most classic form of interruption rang through the living
room. It was a knocking on the door, but instead of coming from the
front, the knocking came from the wall of glass behind them.

“
Lozey!” It was Caster’s
muffled voice. Lee didn’t have to spin around in her seat to know.
“Lozey! Open the-” He stopped and stared at the backs of Lee’s and
Ace’s heads before suddenly appearing before them with a newspaper
clutched in his hands. On the cover was the familiar image of Lee
over Ace as the title scrolled over in Italian.

“
Right,” continued the rock
star. He seemed winded; as if he had just sprinted a block and his
crazy hair appeared a little more tossed. “Well, I see the two of
you already met.” He rolled up the magazine and clutched it like
the handle of a scooter.

“
Caster!” gaped Lotus,
“You-? How did you-?”

“
Saw this,” he replied
tapping the rolled up magazine, “Then I remembered- blimey!” his
chocolaty eyes went wide as he stared at Lotus’s gests. “You two
just saw me jump from-”

“
I’m a supernatural too.”
Ace remarked casually, “Lotus already told us. You’re the
King.”

“
I am,” Michael cleared his
throat, “You’re Mini Star- holy… you really are the mini star!” he
slapped a hand over one of his almond shaped eyes, the one that
wasn’t already covered by red hair. “I don’t believe
this…”

“
Join the club.” Added
Lotus, “Actually, Caster, do you mind? We are trying to figure this
out.”

“
Figure what out?” he
inquired flopping down on another seat. “Doesn’t seem like there’s
much to figure. She’s your sister, he’s her boyfriend-”

“
No, Caster,” Lotus groaned,
“There’s so much more.”

“
Like what?”

Lotus raked a hand through her golden hair
and opened her mouth to respond but Ace beat her to it.

“
Like why you tried to kill
Lee.” He said. His tone didn’t convey any hatred. In fact, his
voice seemed casual, as if he was simply stating a fact, but it was
his words that made Michael recoil.

“
What?!” sputtered the rock
star. “Kill her?! I didn’t even know Lozey’s sis was still alive
until Mirage’s note. Even then, why would I want to kill
her?!”

“
That’s what we were
wondering.” Lee piped. “You don’t seem like a killer.”

Michael continued to
sputter, “How do you even know it was
me
that tried to kill you?”

“
There was an assassin.” Ace
answered, “He said he was sent by you.”

For the first time that conversation, Michael
regained his composure. “Sent by me?” he repeated gazing up at Ace.
“I know I’m the King, mate. But there are things even I’m not
allowed to do, and sending murderers is one of them.”

A moment of silence lingered as three pairs
of eyes locked onto his Highness.

“
What do you mean
not allowed
?” asked
Lotus.

“
Well, that’s what the
Council is for.” Explained Michael. “No one person can have all
that power, mate. Shadow and Mirage were my enforcers. They made
sure no one broke our laws. August is my adviser. He keeps track of
what’s going on around the world and lets me know what I should do
about them.”