The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural (40 page)

Lotus had rolled her eyes as Lee sat up in
bed. “You’re the same sister I remember.” She finally confessed
flattening some of her frizz. “Hey, I only found out a short while
ago, but there’s a TV show host that wants to interview us today.
You kinda have to come with me so I guess I’m not asking I’m more
telling you to come.”

“
Is that why you’re all
dressed up?” asked Lee as Lotus rolled off her sister’s bed. “And
why your makeup looks beautiful?”

The familiar smoky shadow and long lashes
fanned from Lotus’s face when she turned around and when she
smiled, her iconic red lips outlined her perfect white teeth. “It
saves time. Plus I don’t like the stage artists doing my shadow.
They never get it quite right.”

Lee nodded as she too slid out of bed and
began folding her hardly messy covers. “I don’t know how to put
make up on. In the past I have always had other people do it for me
so is it okay if I go like this?”

Lotus was already to the door when she
whirled around again, “Yeah, that’s not a problem. Just as long as
you’re wearing something really nice, I don’t think it matters.
Hey, actually I should have told you this sooner and I’m actually
running a bit late. So just slip on one of my dresses, grab
something to eat and we can get out of here alright?

Lee nodded. “Is it alright if Ace comes?”

Lotus’s long nails rapped against the
doorframe as she stood there with a slight frown on her face. “Well
we can’t leave him alone in the penthouse can we?” she replied. By
now it was a wonder how naive Lee was when realizing that her older
sister wasn’t too fond of Ace.

“
Okay,” Lee squealed as she
hurried past her sister and down the spiraling stairs.

“
Be quick about it,” Lotus
called over the banister, “And what are you going to
wear?”

Lee shrugged as she hurried across the white
rug to the giant glass door. “Can you pick something out for me
please?”

There was just enough time for Lotus to nod
before Lee shut the door and hurried alongside the pool. She wasn’t
sure what had suddenly sparked her chipper mood when all night had
been miserable. But the thought of seeing Ace again and burying her
face in his chest before apologizing seemed imminently better than
laying around and soaking in her bad attitude.

As her feet padded swiftly beside the crisp
blue water, Lee remembered how unlike her usual self she had been.
How could she possibly not trust Ace? He had never done anything to
make her question it. How selfish was it for her to want him to
stay away from Ithaca? He was the one that needed to come to Heleow
and now that he had found someone that had the answers. What was
she thinking last night?

As she hopped up the steps,
she was glad for a fresh start. She loved Ace. She was
in
love with him, and the
joy of being in love was far better than being angry at the man
that made her happiest. As she knocked on the door, she could
already see herself holding him again and pressing her lips to his.
She bounced eagerly on the balls of her feet as she waited for him
to come to the door.

A moment of waiting ticked by and Ace still
hadn’t come. So naturally, Lee knocked once more. Perhaps he, like
Lee, had been up all night and had finally found some sleep in the
early morning. Lee would have waited another minute for him to come
to the door, but Lotus had made it clear that they were on a tight
schedule. With a twist, the doorknob clicked and slid open
effortlessly.

“
Ace?” Lee’s voice echoed
around the empty gym. “Ace, love?” she called a little
louder.

Lee wasn’t sure how heavy of a sleeper he
was, but she never imagined him to be this heavy so she walked in
and glanced at the amount of clothing draped over the gym
equipment. Just down the hall Lee could make out the doorway of a
yoga studio with a bed in the corner.

She picked her pace up to a jog. When her
head poked into the room, the reflection of her messy hair and
finally un-sunburnt skin was the only thing to stare back at her.
The room was empty and the only sign that anyone had been in there
was the unmade bed. At that sight, her heart went into a whirlwind
of emotions. Where had he gone? Why hadn’t he told her? When would
he be back-?

“
Hails,” Lotus’s voice came
as such Lee jumped up startled when she whirled around.

“
Have you seen him?” asked
Lee frantically.

Lotus looked around slowly, “You mean
Ace?”

Lee frowned, “Yeah, I just came here and I
can’t find him.”

“
Bathroom?” guessed
Lotus.

Lee shrugged and ran a hand nervously through
her tangled hair.

“
Look, we can’t wait for
him. I’m supposed to be leaving right now and you’re not even
dressed.” Lotus tossed a small pile of tops and skirts at Lee.
“Slip one of these on and we’ll go alright? I have a pair of flats
by the elevator door.”

“
Can you write a note?” Lee
asked deciding to go with a simple green blouse and a white skirt
figuring it would look well with Ace’s locket around her
neck.

Lotus sighed once more as her sister ripped
off her pajama shirt. “I suppose so.”

As Lee changed on the spot
where she stood, Lotus rummaged through a janitor’s closet. Well,
it would have been a janitor’s closet if it wasn’t stocked with
guitars, keyboards and binders of sheet music. “
Me and my sister
,” Lotus spoke slowly
as she took a highlighter to a piece of sheet music.
“
Won’t be back until one or
two
. I’m going to leave this on his bed.
Man, you guys really need to get cell phones.”

“
We left them at the hotel,
remember?” said Lee as she shimmied up her skirt.

Lotus nibbled her red lips as she crossed
over to the yoga studio. “Well, remind me to send someone to pick
them up when we get back to the penthouse.” She spoke as she
marched over to Ace’s bed and dropped of the note. “Now come on! We
are so late!”

Lotus practically dragged
Lee out the gym by the hand. After Lee had slid on the simple flats
one size too small, they were descending in the elevator and
watching the big glass dome below grow closer until finally the
door opened with a
ping
! The lobby was already packed with tourists, but the
heiresses managed to march around the familiar gold statue without
being recognized. As they emerged from the doors, Lotus’s blue
Hailstorm was already waiting for them in the parking space. In no
time at all, they were gliding through the streets of Heleow with
the convertible hood on to spare their hair.

Lee watched as the unique glass towers
eventually turned into flat blue water. Seagulls drifted over the
ocean spray just as they began to ascend the bridge connecting the
island of Heleow to the submerged medallion tunnel. Lee vaguely
remembered how mesmerized she had been when first arriving to the
city. But as she leaned her head back on the leather headrest, her
vision seemed to tunnel until she was staring at something that
wasn’t even there.

Ace clouded her thoughts as usual, but this
time the lingering thoughts of bliss weren’t accompanied by his
face. Instead a mixture of worry and regret hung in the back of her
mind. Where had he gone to so early in the morning? It wasn’t like
him to just take off- well, not since they had been dating anyway.
But what if he had gone looking for answers elsewhere? Or worse,
what if their little spat had been harsher on him than she had
realized.

“
What’s with you?” Lotus
asked just before Lee was about to reflexively thump her own
forehead with guilt.

Wearily Lee faked a smile, “I guess I’m
tired. And I’m worried about Ace. It’s weird not having him by my
side. We’ve grown so attached the past several months.”

Lotus nodded though she kept her brilliant
blue eyes to the stretch of near vacant bridge ahead. “Well you
trust him don’t you?”

Lee hesitated and didn’t
turn to look at her sister right away.
Had
she heard them fighting the night before?
“What do you mean?” Lee finally asked.

“
If he always comes back to
you, then what are you scared of?” Lotus explained. By now they had
begun to plummet into the white milky tunnel and the pitch of the
wind rushing up against the car had changed.

Lee studied the side of her sister’s face.
The curve of her nose, the angle of her jaw against her neck and
even the slight bloat in her cheeks looked so much like hers.
“Nothing.” Lee finally replied. She let the moment linger in the
air for an extra moment before reaching over and awkwardly hugging
her sister with a seatbelt pulling her back. “Thanks Lotus. You
really are my big sister.”

As Lee recoiled in her seat
and began fidgeting with the belt that had locked up on her, Lotus
hardly acknowledged the medallion around them turning invisible.
All she could do was sit there and keep her hands locked on the
wheel. Though she had played many parts; never, ever,
ever
had Lotus felt like
she could act out her life just as Lotus Stelter.

When it came to her father, she was an
independent adult. With Michael, learned to be patient, and with
Kasper she was the vulnerable little girl who loved to be babied.
She wasn’t sure what kind of role she wanted to play for Lee
considering she was the newest consistency in her life. But just
based off Lee’s simple remark, Lotus hadn’t realized that being
real was all Lee needed.

Unable to fully process what had just
happened, Lotus picked up the radio volume and the two continued to
Honolulu with no more conversation. At the time, that was all Lee
needed. She couldn’t just relax about the love of her life as
easily as Lotus had suggested. However, by the time they had
reached the concrete tunnel of Honolulu, the mystical blue hues of
the ocean had lulled her mind to a state of emptiness. After all,
this was the first time she was able to be with her sister without
having Ace around. Why not enjoy it?

When they had stopped at a light on Main
Street, Lee reached over and turned down the volume. “Lotus I have
to ask,” she began as the car’s engine vibrated their seats, “When
you drive around in this and you see that?” Lee pointed out the
passenger window at a group of tourists with cameras to their faces
on the sidewalk. “Don’t you feel pretty awesome?”

Lotus snickered as she refused to take her
eyes off the green light. “No, actually it’s kind of embarrassing.
I feel like I should pose for them or something!”

“
So then why don’t you?”
asked Lee rolling down the window. She just had enough time to blow
a kiss at the tourists before Lotus stepped on the gas and her head
fell back with acceleration along with laughter. “I couldn’t
resist!” Lee exclaimed before Lotus could say anything.

“
No go for it!” Lotus
replied climbing onto the highway. “Most people have never seen a
Stelter, let alone a Stelter within a Stelter.”

“
Stelter-inception!” Lee
proclaimed which only made Lotus laugh harder.

“
Exactly,” she giggled,
“Hey, you’ve never ridden in a Stelter before have you?”

From the passenger seat Lee smirked. “Ace
used to own one.”

“
WHAT!?” Lotus exclaimed so
loudly, her voice sent Lee’s ears ringing.

“
Yeah,” replied Lee rubbing
her ear, “He owned a Stelter Lotus. It was the only-”

Lotus scoffed, “Come again now? The name of
the car was Lotus? Like me?”

Lee nodded quizzically. “Yeah… it said so on
the car and everything. Why?”

“
Lee there’s no such thing
as a Stelter Lotus. Dad has never named a car after me.” Replied
the heiress. A moment lingered where Lotus let a truck pass her up
before returning to their conversation. “He made the Icyst first
and named it after mom. Then named the Hailstorm after you and then
the Lambert. I don’t have a car in my name and I have no clue how
your boyfriend could have gotten hold of one even if there
was.”

Lee sat there for a moment wondering what all
this meant. Ace had never told her the story of how he got the car
and for a moment Lee wondered if it were possible that she could
have mistaken his ride for a Hailstorm. “I guess we’re just going
to have to add that to the pile of unsolved mysteries.” Remarked
Lee with a shrug. “Besides, we can interrogate Ace when he comes
home. Where is this studio at by the way?”

“
We’re almost there.”
Replied Lotus as she dropped the subject entirely. She wasn’t sure
if Lee felt it too, but her brain began to throb almost every time
a questionable matter sprang into their lives. “It’s at the base of
the mountain just outside Honolulu. There’s a whole line of studios
there. That’s where a lot of movies needing a tropical background
are made. It’s remote enough to keep the fans out, but close enough
to the city that it’s not isolated. You’ll see when we get
there.”

By the time the radio had
finished out the last of an unfamiliar song, Lotus had taken an
exit sending them descending on an even road cut into the tropical
side of a mountain. Between the trees lining the road, Lee could
finally see the jagged mountains up close. Deep gashes carved into
the steep sides as if a giant’s sharp teeth had taken a massive
bite from the rocks. As they continued to descend, the brush around
them made her think of the movie
Jurassic
Park
. As Lotus swiveled around a corner,
Lee kept her eyes open for dinosaurs.