The Vanishing Stone (6 page)

8

D
ay woke up before the others so she started cooking breakfast. She found eggs, fruit and bread in Raphael's cupboards. Soon after, Bosh woke up and came to the dining room table.

  
              Meanwhile, on the bunk beds, Kibbie was stirring. After she yawned, stretched and rubbed her eyes she tapped Nikoleta on the shoulder to wake her up. Surprisingly, Nikoleta woke pretty quickly. Rubbing her eyes, she climbed down the small ladder while Kibbie fetched wet wash cloths for them. Nikoleta put on her clothes and looked at the knife Day had given her. It was a beautiful knife but it still made Nikoleta nervous to even have it. She put it away in her bag.

             
After washing up, they both went to the table to join the others. Once they sat down, Day said hesitantly, “We need to be very careful these next few days," Nikoleta and Kibbie looked at each other. “Why?” Nikoleta asked. Day answered, “I've had a strong sense of lurking danger since I woke this morning.”

 
              “Day, I told you I stayed up most of the night and kept guard, everything is fine,” Bosh explained. “It's not that, Bosh. Someone will be looking for us.”

 
              “What? Who?” Nikoleta asked. “I'm not sure,” Day answered. “I can just sense that someone knows we are here.”

 
              Suddenly, the door opened and Bosh and Day jumped up holding a butter knife in her hand. It was only Raphael. “Good...morning…” he said with a raised brow. “What's going on?”

              “Oh, nothing!” Day answered. “You   just gave us a fright.”

              “Oh, I am terribly sorry for that.”

              Nikoleta noticed that Raphael was holding a handful of tulips, pink tulips to be exact. She read somewhere before that pink tulips mean affection. Maybe he didn’t know that. Just then, Raphael was standing in front of her handing her the flowers, “These are for you, Nikoleta. These lovely flowers for a lovely woman.” Nikoleta was surprised.
Woman
? No one ever called her a woman before and no one had gotten her flowers before.

 
              “Uh, thank you,” She smiled faintly. “Tulips, Nikoleta, specifically pink tulips, are a symbol of caring and affection. And you my dear are both caring and affectionate.”
Oh my gosh, he does know!
“Aww...that's sweet. It’s very nice of you.” Nikoleta hadn't a clue how he came up with that conclusion about her, but either way it was a nice gesture. Raphael seemed to make a lot of gestures.

  
              “How about I show you around? I imagine this place is different from where you are from.”

 
              “Yes, very.”

              “She's not going anywhere without us!” Day blurted out. Everyone looked at her. Lowering her head, “It's...um...it's not very safe for her here, ya know. You know that, Raphael.”

  
              “Yes I do know that, Day, but she is good hands. I would never let anything happen to her. Plus you all can come too, of course,” Raphael responded.

 
              “Day just seems a little on edge today, never mind her," Bosh told Raphael.

Breaking tension, Nikoleta said in a high-pitched, cheery voice, “OK then! Let's go then, shall we?” Quickly they all changed into their clothes and met back in the living room. They all headed for the door. Nikoleta was first to the door, Raphael second. Day turned around and looked at Bosh and
Kibbie and gave them a concerned look, as if to say Raphael was the danger she was feeling. “Dont be ridiculous, Day! Drop it!”

 
              Walking through the village, Raphael stayed close to Nikoleta while the others stayed close behind them. As much as Nikoleta wanted to explore, no one was letting her or Kibbie go off on their own. Nikoleta was also getting anxious to see her parents. She wanted to get the mission started, but knew it wasn't time yet. The timing had to be right, or the whole thing would fail. Just a couple more days, she told herself.

  
              “You like books, right Nikki?” Raphael asked casually. “Yes, we’ve discussed this. Why?”

“
Well, there is a woman close by who sells books. We should go take a look.” “OK.” Nikoleta replied.

  
              They arrived at the book shop. The books weren't like books she was used to seeing. They were old but she loved them. Walking in the small shop that clearly hadn't been cleaned in a while, she saw a small, red book. Taking it off the shelf, it was simply titled, “Poems.” There was no author name on it. Opening it, she flipped a few pages ahead and there was a poem called, “Lovely”.

“
Rising sun, setting moon.

Nothing takes the place of you.

Peace may flee and war may come too

Still nothing takes the place of you.

You are the sun in the darkest of spots.

You are the joy in the maddest of thoughts.

Come and feel my warm embrace,

Let me look upon your face.

You are the light of my life,

My world, my strength, my peace,

My wife
.”

                 As she was reading this poem, she felt warmth inside. A longing for someone to say these words to her one day. For some one who felt this way about her in her own life. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Raphael interrupted her thoughts. “Yes. Yes it is," Nikoleta answered. Raphael stared into her blue eyes. She looked away feeling awkward. Eye contact wasn’t something she was used to.

 
              “How about I buy you this book? I may just be a groundskeeper and I get my hands dirty on a daily basis but I am cultured and have a bit of intelligence.” Nikoleta looked at him and smiled faintly, not knowing what to say. Raphael continued, “You're brave, you know. Coming here, leaving the life you had behind to save two people you have never met. You’re so selfless.”

 
              Nikoleta began to get teary-eyed. Shaking her head, she told Raphael, “Thank you. That means a lot. From what I understand, they have done a lot for me. I owe them my life,” she said softly. Raphael put his fingers under her chin lifting her head up, “Never look down about something so noble,” he paused to let it sink in. “Now, let's go buy you that book.” He took the book gently from her fingers.

              Day decided to buy a book about interpreting dreams and Kibbie and Bosh stood outside the shop. Neither one could read so they didn’t care about books.

                Leaving the book shop, Raphael, Nikoleta and Day met the others outside. Kibbie was eating something sticky and with a full mouth, she said, “Mm mm...these candies are amazing! Bosh went across the way and bought me one.” Nikoleta laughed. They started walking again. The village people liked to stay busy. There were all sorts of smells and sounds. Nikoleta could hear a mother reprimanding her child about something a little ways away, the candy shop that Bosh apparently went to had an amazing smell of chocolate and warm sugar, and there were children running about chasing one another.

 
              “Oh look! There's the fortune teller woman!” Day exclaimed. “Her name is Madame Piccolo! Oh, Nikki, you should go have your fortune told!” She suggested.

 
              “Nikki, you don’t have to do it, if you don’t want to, it's all fake, anyway," Bosh said. “Fake?! Are you insane? Of course it's real Bosh! You are so stubborn! Just because you don’t like it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real!” Day said, irritated. “Of course it does. You know why? Because what I say goes!”

  
              “DONT BE A SMART ASS, BOSH! Seriously, Nikki, just go see what she says. Here are some coins.”

 
              “Alright, Alright! I'll go,” Nikoleta walked toward Madam Piccolo's tent. Walking in, it was dark and she could smell incense burning. There was a candle and a crystal ball sitting on the table and Madam Piccolo looked to be doing something like meditating. After a moment, the old woman finally spoke. “I sense a strong person in my midst. What brings you here young lady?” Nikoleta walked toward the chair across from her and sat down, “Not sure what brings me here. A lot of things, I suppose.” Madam Piccolo finally opened her eyes. They were bright green. The candle light was reflecting on her long, gray hair.

 
              “I see,” she said. “What would you like to know darling? Your future, your past? I see a lot of curiosity and caring under that wall you've built,” Madam Piccolo explained.        

"So I have heard.”

                “But I am sensing something wrong. Has someone threatened your life?” Nikoleta hesitated. “No...Not that I know of.”

 
              “Of course you wouldn’t know. No one would dare tell you something like that. I see someone betraying you. Someone special. Someone close. Just know you're life is in danger and proceed with caution. You're friends are not safe either. So dont become vulnerable. Keep the wall up...for now.”

 
              This woman was insane. None of the people standing outside would betray her. It just didn’t make sense. “Well, thank you for your time, Madam Piccolo.” Nikoleta handed her the coins. “It was a pleasure, my dear.”

                Nikoleta came out of the tent, baffled. What nonsense. Bosh was right, it was all fake. The others were anxiously waiting for her. “So, what happened Nikki?” Day asked. “What did she say? Was I right?” “She said something similar to what you said. She said someone close will betray me and none of us are safe,” Nikoleta explained. “I KNEW IT! We must be careful and always watching our backs." Bosh and Raphael looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

 
              The group began to walk towards the fish market for some lunch. Nikoleta, Bosh and Day were ahead and Kibbie and Raphael were a few yards behind talking low to one another. Nikoleta wondered what they were talking about but quickly pushed the thought from her mind. She was not going to let Madam Piccolo's words get into her head.

 
              At the fish market there fresh fish, crabs and clams. “Is there an ocean close by?” Nikoleta said to no one in particular. “Yes. It's only about three miles from here," Raphael answered, walking up behind her, putting a hand on her lower back.

 
              “Oh, that's great! I love the beach.” Nikoleta told him.

  
              “Interesting," Raphael smiled.

9

I
t was late afternoon and the group found refuge under a large tree after a long day of walking through shops, buying food and just having a genuine good time getting to know each other.

Kibbie started a small fire and they cooked fish. They had bread to go with it.

 
              “Oh my goodness, I haven’t had fish in a long time!” Kibbie said while eating. Nikoleta hadn’t either. Back home, fish was too expensive to feed a house of sixteen people. Unless, it was frozen fish sticks and even that was a rare occasion.

  
              “So, Nikki, we were thinking of perhaps carrying out the mission tomorrow night,” Raphael said. Everyone stared at her, waiting for a response. “Um, yeah, that will be good," she answered. “It's settled then," Raphael stated.

  
              Nikoleta's nerves were starting to get the best of her. The next night she would be risking her life to save her parents. God, it was all so overwhelming, but something that must be done. No questions asked. A million questions started racing through her mind again as they always did. Would her parents recognize her? What would she say to them? Would she even be able to speak? What if she was killed in the process? The mission would be absolutely useless at that point. Then she began to think of back home. Everyone was probably worried to death by now. She wished there was a way she could let everyone know she was okay. It had been almost a full twenty-four hours; surely the orphanage was a mad house by now. And what a crazy day it had been. She appeared in this world via necklace that had a mind of its own and does whatever it wants. She met a talking dragon, a guy with green eyes and hair, and a girl with lavender eyes, and a very handsome groundskeeper who seemed to like her. She hated to admit it but she was growing feelings for him as well and as much as she finally wanted a relationship in her life, it had to wait. Kibbie interrupted her thoughts.

  
              “Nikki, are you okay? You look lost.” Nikoleta shook her head, “Yeah, yeah I am fine.” Nikoleta answered. “Just have a lot on my mind, you know?” “Oh, yes, I understand,” Kibbie smiled.

 
              Nikoleta continued eating her bread. Then Raphael asked a very odd question, “Nikoleta do you have a boyfriend back home?”
Why on Earth did he ask this in front of everyone?
Embarrassed, she answered, “Um...No. I have actually never had one, if you must know.”

  
              Raising a brow, Raphael replied, “Well that's odd. Why is that? A girl like you, I'm surprised the men aren’t lining up.” Nikoleta laughed, “Pfft...Oh, please. None of the guys at school would ever like a girl like me. I'm not blonde, dumb and wearing a short skirt.”

 
              “Aw, Nikki. You are beautiful the way you are,” Day began with a frown, “I don’t know how you don’t know that.”

              “Oh, stop,” Nikoleta waved her hand and blushed. She wasn't used to getting complements, ever.

 
              “What's your world like, Nikki?” Bosh asked. “Yeah, tell us!” Kibbie exclaimed.

              “Well, I dont know. It's nothing like this that's for sure. Here, life seems so simple. It's not hectic. In my world, there are schedules, several children at home to feed and help care for, it's never quiet. At school, people hang out with their cliques, none of which I fit into. As much as I miss the other girls, I like it a lot better here. I actually have friends now and tomorrow I will have parents. What more could I ask for?”

“We're a family,
” Kibbie said. Then, everyone came together to give Nikoleta a hug.

 
              As the day went on, they all kept talking amongst themselves. Kibbie even laid down with Nikoleta and they rested for a while.

 
              Their rest was abruptly ended by rain. Everyone jumped up and gathered their things and began running back to Raphael's house. Bosh was ahead of everyone while Day was was close behind him. Kibbie was flying above everyone. Nikoleta and Raphael were a little behind. Raphael reached back for Nikoleta's hand as the rain kept pouring. They were both laughing as they ran because they were completely drenched.

 
              Finally, they reached Raphael's house and everyone was completely out of breath. They went inside and they each took turns changing clothes in the rooms. Bosh only had to change pants being as how he was constantly shirtless. Nikoleta changed back into what she originally came with; black tank top, ripped, blue jeans, and her black and white Converses.

 
              The sun had already set and everyone was tired. They had been out most of the day and they all started getting ready for bed.

 
              Nikoleta, on the other hand, felt restless. Tomorrow would be a big day, the beginning of her new life. She would no longer be labeled an orphan. She would have her true family.

 
              Suddenly, Mandy entered her thoughts. What did Mandy think of her being missing? She was sure she was glad. What did she care anyway? Tonight Nikoleta wanted to go find the beach that's supposedly around here. Speaking of which, “Nikki are you still awake?” Raphael whispered. Day and Kibbie were already asleep in the lower bunk. “Yeah, I can’t sleep.”

  “I hear you like going to the beach late at night," Raphael told her. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”

                “You want to go?” asked Raphael. “Now?” Nikoleta looked around. Day and Kibbie were fast asleep. “Yes! Now!” Raphael laughed quietly. “Um, OK.”

 
              “OK, then. Let's go.”

                The two of them stepped quietly out of the house and through the village. Raphael held Nikoleta's hand as they reached the trail that lead to the beach. “It's about two miles from here," He paused. “Nikoleta, you've had a rough life, haven’t you?”

  
              “Yes, I suppose. I suppose it was probably easier than some people’s lives," She responded.

 
              “You don’t deserve that, you know. You deserve so much better. Such a loving, kind, beautiful, funny woman such as yourself shouldn’t have to suffer. You deserve to be a Princess unlike the one who rules our land now.”

  
              “What are you saying? I should dethrone Princess Karina?”

   Raphael laughed, “No. That would be a very good idea though. I'm just saying you deserve more.”

                “It seems my parents have given me more than I deserve.” Nikoleta explained.

  
              “And what's that?”

  
              “Life.”

It was a very valid point. She may not have had the best life. But life itself was most certainly a gift. That's much more than what the alternative could have been.

                “Wow!” Raphael gasped.

 
              “Wow, what?”

 
              “You really are something. Not everyone would notice something like that. There's something that everyone seems to not notice about you; that you are wise. You're very smart.”

 
              “Oh, no. I'm not that smart. Really.” Nikoleta said humbly.

 
              “Being humble is also a good quality,” He said.

 
              They continued holding hands as they arrived at the beach. It was dark, but Nikoleta could see the moon and stars shining down on the water. They weren’t actually on the beach; they were on a cliff above.

 
              “Wow! We're so far up!” Nikoleta exclaimed with her eyes wide. The moon was shining so bright and big on the ocean below. It was beautiful. Nikoleta had never seen such a beautiful night.

 
              They sat down close to the edge of the cliff. Nikoleta, then, had a crazy thought that Raphael would push her off the edge.
Don’t be absurd, Nikki
! she thought to herself.

 
              “Beautiful view, isnt it?” Raphael asked placing his arm around her. “Yes it is. I have never seen anything like it.” She scooted closer to him.

  
              “So, Raphael, you know all these things about me but I don’t know anything about you?”

 
              “Well, what would you like to know?” He asked her.

 
              “Um, where are you from and what's your family like?” That was the first thing to pop in her mind.

 
              “I was actually born here, in the house I live in. I have no siblings, unfortunately. My mother passed away when I was seven and my father when I was twenty.”

 
              “Oh, my goodness, I am so sorry...” Nikoleta felt heartbroken for him.

 
              “No need to apologize, sweetheart, you've done nothing wrong. In a way, we are both orphans. Well, now you
aren’t
, but you know what I mean.”

              “I can’t imagine what you have been through, Raphael. Knowing your parents and then losing them. That's terrible," Nikoleta frowned.

              “Your situation is terrible too, my dear. I can’t imagine wondering about my parents my whole life. Knowing is half the battle, Nikki.”

 
              “I guess you are right, but it doesn’t make your experience any less painful," Nikoleta sighed.

  
              “Very true. You know, sometimes you have to walk through someone else's path to truly understand. And if you let me, Nikoleta Daniella Soter, I'd like to walk your path with you.”

 
              Raphael put his fingers under her chin again and looked into her eyes, “Is this a marriage proposal, Mr. McGinn?” Nikoleta asked with a laugh. Raphael laughed softly, “No, Miss Soter. But you never know what can happen.”

  
              He leaned in closer and kissed her on the lips. Nikoleta didn’t know what to think. She had never kissed someone before. But this was perfect. It was her first kiss under a moon like this, what could be better?

Raphael took his lips away and stared at her. She stared back at him. Suddenly, they heard
foot steps. Turning around, they saw a man about fourty years old with a black beard and long gray hair.

 
              “That's a lovely lady you have there,” the man said with an evil grin. Raphael stood up and pulled a knife from his boot, “You stay away from her!” he yelled.

  
              The man then tried to run up to Nikoleta and Raphael knocked him down by pushing the man's chest and stopping him in his tracks. The man got up and Raphael pointed his knife at him. “It will serve you well not to make another move! I work for the Princess and I can have you tied to the post for this!”

  
              The man looked frightened at the thought of himself being tied to whatever post Raphael was talking about. He decided to turn and run.

   “That was weird," Nikoleta said, after a moment
. “Yes it was, silly ruffian," he turned toward Nikoleta. “Are you alright, Nikki?” He leaned in and hugged her. “Yes, I'm fine. I promise.”

  
              “We should get back then," Raphael suggested.

                “Yes, before anyone else comes along," Nikoleta laughed.

  They walked back toward the village holding hands. As weird as the ruffian incident was to Nikoleta, the rest of the night was flawless.