Double Life - Book 1 of the Vaiya Series (10 page)

Terror gripping his face like hawk talons at
this realization, Ian struggled to remain calm. He’d read horror
stories of dungeons in the medieval ages where the prisoner never
received any food or water and ended up dying of thirst or being
tortured to death. He wanted no part of that.

His only chance to avoid such a terrible
death was to try to persuade them to believe him. Thinking briefly
over what to say, he gave it the best shot he had. “So you honestly
think I made up that story?” he asked, rather meekly, given the
circumstances. “What do I have to gain?”

A sneer crossed Azadar’s face. “Everything.
You want us to look for these fabrications so you can escape.”

Ian paused just long enough to bring some
coherence to his raging thoughts. “You’re wrong,” he shot back
angrily, his soft voice thrown out the door. “Of course I’d come
with you.”

A bit surprised by his words, Azadar glanced
over at the female elf and then back at Ian; if it meant anything,
a trace of confusion was now etched into his brow. Unfortunately
though, his condescending tone still remained. “We would love to
help you search for these enemies of King Kadeth, human,” he began,
after a brief pause, a deep smirk on his face. “However, we need to
arrive back at the palace before the evening feast.”

Ian’s heart sank in despair at these words.
Though he’d hoped that the elf would’ve let him investigate the
forest, as it would lend extreme credibility to his story if they
were to find the Elayan, he now saw that this was never going to
happen. Now, without any way to prove his innocence, he’d probably
never leave the dungeon until he died.

Embittered, he glanced at them for any signs
of compassion, but saw none, not even in Evlan. Fury clawed into
his heart: “You can’t do this to me!” he shouted as he swept his
eyes over all of them. “You can’t prove anything.”

A heartless look swept over the leader’s face
as he smiled sadistically, revealing his draconian nature. “We do
not need to. Justice has already proven you guilty.” He would say
no more on the subject. Turning to his fellow elves, who exchanged
hesitant glances with each other, he stared at them, his face
expressionless. “We are done for the day.”

“But we--”

“No. We have collected enough, sister.” He
gazed at the female elf, an autocratic tone in his voice. “Our king
will understand.”

Seemingly consenting to his wishes, they both
stared at him in mute agreement, uncertainty clinging to Evlan’s
face; even if he’d wanted to help Ian before, he now looked highly
doubtful about Ian’s allegiance and even slightly antagonistic. He
was just like the rest of them.

As for Azadar, emboldened by their
compliance, a proud smirk on his face reminiscent of one of Kenn’s
worst expressions, he motioned to them, and he and his sister came
into formation behind Ian, escorting him towards the Nakar
Dungeon.

Ian’s heart leapt within him--this couldn’t
be happening. He didn’t deserve this. He’d done nothing wrong and
yet these elves treated him like a common thief. Some sense of
justice they had. They would sooner give up their right hand than
give him a fair trial and let him go.

Fear penetrating into his soul, Ian watched
as dark visions flashed before his eyes, launching Sandler’s
haunting words to the forefront of his mind: “I hope you have
nightmares, boy.”

Whether Sandler had truly cursed him at
school today, he didn’t know. One thing he knew for certain,
though; his life was never going to be the same again.

Selecting one of the heavier bowling balls
from the short rack, the added weight seeming to help him shoot
straighter, Eddy stood to the side, awaiting Samantha’s response to
the infamous 7-10 split she’d given herself. Based on her previous
throws, sluggishly slow, deviously crooked with a heavy bent to the
left, and delicate, as if the object of the game were to avoid
knocking over even a single bowling pin, she’d more than likely
miss both, putting her fifty points behind him.

And sure enough, Samantha made another one of
her famous gutter ball shots, causing him to laugh rather loudly,
for as skilled as she was at ping pong--she’d gotten into the top
six--she sure didn’t carry it with her into bowling.

Watching the pins mechanically set themselves
up again, he stepped towards the lane, black bowling ball in hand,
when a tap on the shoulder stopped him.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Tianna combed back her
long brunette hair with her hand, her pretty face both troubled and
worried. “But whatever happened to your friend Ian?”

“He went upstairs,” said Eddy nonchalantly,
while setting his bowling ball onto the ground and turning around
to face her, inwardly surprised that she was so concerned for his
friend, and even more surprised that she was talking to him, as she
rarely said anything to him at school....

“Is he ok?” Her words echoed into his mind,
bringing him back to reality, as she took out a handheld mirror
from her pink leather purse and examined herself, patting down the
snow-white rose on the back of her hair.

Eddy refocused on her, shaking away his
thoughts, a bit confused by her sudden worry. “I don’t see why he
wouldn’t be.”

But she wasn’t convinced. “Are you positive?
Cuz I haven’t seen him for half an hour.”

Here Eddy put his hands in his pockets and
just laughed. He’d never seen her so serious before. “Don’t worry,
Tianna; he’s probably having a good time.”

But she shook her head worriedly as if not
believing his statement. “I checked the kitchen and the living room
… and I didn’t see him anywhere.” She slipped the mirror back into
her purse. “I think we should look for him.”

He smiled cunningly. “You like him, don’t
you?”

“No, that’s not it,” she murmured, running a
hand through her hair. “I’m just concerned.”

His smile grew wider. “And why’s that?”

Like a skateboarder who’d performed a stunt
for the first time, surprise radiated from her face. “Didn’t you
see his face when he lost to Darien? He looked hurt.”

Eddy nodded his head and just grinned. Though
he felt somewhat bad for his friend, Ian’s bitterness and self-pity
after losing any kind of game had become such a common occurrence
that he paid it little attention anymore. Actually, he forced
himself not to think about it, for the more he looked into it, the
more it annoyed him. His friend had to develop a thicker shell. His
negative attitude was ridiculous; he could win ten times at
something, like a video game or basketball, and then lose once, and
he’d still complain, completely forgetting about all his previous
victories. Ian had to stop letting a simple loss ruin his day. A
game was just a game.

Gazing at Tianna, who looked rather unhappy
at his lengthy delay, he replied casually, “Yeah, I saw him. He
takes it hard when he loses, but he always gets over
it--
eventually
. It’s no big deal.”

Distress still lined her brown eyebrows. “So,
where do you think he went?”

“If I know Ian, and I do,” said Eddy, smiling
arrogantly to himself, “he’s probably in the workout room.”

“Is he a weightlifter then?” She curled her
long brunette hair behind her ear, staring at him with deep
interest.

Eddy grinned. “Not really. I think he just
wants to be alone for a while … to recover.”

Tianna fumbled with a purple amethyst
bracelet on her small wrist, as if trying to make sense of what
he’d just said, before asking: “Is he sensitive?”

He fixed one of the spikes in his hair that
had been growing flat, while snickering. She sure asked a lot of
questions. “Yeah, he is, especially when it comes to sports--he
can’t stand to lose. Sometimes I think he’d rather not be involved
at all.”

Intrigue filled her eyes at this admission.
“So he’s still not taking Skyler’s place then?” she asked
innocently.

This unwelcome topic threatened his good
mood. “Did Sandler approach him?”

“Yeah,” she mused, jangling her purple agate
and silver conch shell necklace unknowingly. “But he bluntly
refused to join the team.”

Eddy frowned. “How do you know this?”

“Shayla told me. Everyone in school’s been
talking about it.”

His frown deepened, as burning wrath arose in
his heart. “Everyone?” he questioned, startling her with his sharp
tone. “Then how come I’m just hearing about this right now?”

Tianna looked up at him, smiling, caustic
humor in her voice: “Because you’ve probably been too busy bullying
Alan.”

Stunned, Eddy just gazed at her, feeling as
if he’d been cut with a surgeon’s knife. As much as he tried to
forget her words, he found it nearly impossible. “But I’m his best
friend,” he argued spitefully. “Why wouldn’t he tell me?”

“I don’t know,” she murmured, her playful
eyes growing sympathetic and sorrowful. “I guess he was
distracted.”

Eddy just bit his lip, not at all satisfied
with her unhelpful reply, and turned to Samantha. “Hey, I’m done
bowling, Sam.” His arms hung limp, as he frowned slightly. “Let’s
just call it a tie.”

Samantha brightened up, all too eager to quit
bowling, seemingly oblivious to Eddy’s distress. “Sure, Eddy.” She
patted him kindly on the shoulder, and half-walked, half-skipped
away, joining her boyfriend Jason Miller for a doubles match in
ping pong against Ethan Adams, a clever prankster with frequent
bouts of humor and occasional wit, and Shawn Evalise, the class
clown.

But Eddy just stared into space, not sure if
he were angrier with his best friend for keeping this news from him
or Shayla for gossiping about it to everyone except him, leaving
him entirely in the dark until now. Anger aside though, he knew
that Tianna was definitely onto something; Ian was not acting like
himself. Being at a party all by himself for half an hour was
totally unlike him.

Sure it made sense that he’d be all alone
upstairs whining to himself about how he’d lost to Darien for maybe
a minute, or perhaps even ten, given the fact that he seemed to
have gotten into a heated argument with Kenn prior to going
upstairs, but there was still no excuse for such a long absence.
Something strange was going on.

Knowing that an attempted flight would likely
mean his death, Ian sullenly followed the three elves out of the
canopy, and into a clearing in the forest, spotted with more of the
same blue-leaved trees of great stature that were haphazardly
spread out across the flowery landscape like playing pieces on a
checkerboard.

Now in the open, Ian had to squint as the
unobstructed sunrays dazzled his eyes, illuminating the entrancing
scenery before him. In better circumstances, he would have gaped in
awe at the beautiful landscape, but in his present condition, such
a sight gave him little pleasure and only intensified his
depression; he
was
traveling to a dungeon, after all. No
matter the lovely road that led to it, the fact remained--he was
marching to his own doom.

Clenching his teeth and resisting the urge to
lash out at Azadar, who’d just given him another bitter smile, he
half-wished that he were traveling through a dry wasteland instead
that was covered with barren trees and laced with sharp desert
thorns. At least then, he would feel fully justified in wallowing
in self-pity.

Eyes glazed with anger, he restrained himself
from breaking down into tears. None of this was fair. This world
seemed bent on his destruction, and what was worse, he couldn’t do
anything to prevent it. Countless times, he’d closed his eyes and
wished himself back at Hazel’s party, but all he’d gotten for that
was a near collision with a tree and evil smirks from Azadar. Since
then, he’d given up on such futile attempts as a grim reality
settled upon him--he was likely never going back home. He’d just
have to make the best of whatever lay ahead of him.

Trudging forward with rugged tenacity,
determined not to let himself be dragged down anymore by his
emotions, Ian lifted up his eyes from the lush grass he trod upon
and glanced around him.

The first thing that captured his attention
was several crystal clear rivers that meandered gently through the
peaceful woods and vanished into a dark canopy. Shifting his gaze
to the right, he stared at dozens of ponds, which dotted the
vicinity and lapped up against the tall gray-brown grass with their
calm azure blue waters. The ponds around him spread out about the
landscape like polka dots on a t-shirt, sported giant lily pads of
various shapes and colors that floated calmly on the water.

Though each lily pad boasted intricate
designs, his current favorite was a black star-shaped lily pad,
streaked with neon blue veins running through it, that teemed with
gold, green, and black salamanders spotted with carrot orange,
scarlet, or turquoise. Even though he’d never been a nature lover
before, if everything looked as cool as these lily pads and
salamanders, he’d be forced to change his mind.

Tearing his eyes off the salamander-infested
lily pads after some effort, he swept over the rest of the
landscape with his dark brown eyes, centering in on a large vine in
front of him that tangled around a silver statue of a fair elven
princess, whose stone eyes seemed to regard him with sympathy. From
the vine hung oval-shaped black-purple berries that dripped with
dew. Though he’d just eaten at home not too long ago, he somehow
felt very hungry. Must be from all the walking.

Moving past the berries, not daring to test
the elves’ generosity, he soon arrived at a patch of blue
wildflowers. Their sweet aromas, reminiscent of that of roses, only
much more fragrant, flooded his mind with blissful images of
serenity and solitude--but he wasn’t deceived by them and quickly
thrust them from his mind. There was no peace where he was
going.