The Gemini Reign

I panicked. What was happening? I grabbed Rebecca and took our chance to get out of that place.

“Where are we going? Avery!” Rebecca shrieked behind me as I broke out into a run, dragging her with me.

We ran through wide corridors decorated with red and gold carpets, vases, and fake flowers that looked fancy. I was about to turn left when I heard faint footsteps. I let go of Rebecca’s arm and put a finger to my mouth, gesturing to be quiet. She nodded, and I listened for which way the footsteps were coming from. My blood pounded in my ears, and I listened harder. The footsteps multiplied and were now coming towards us fast and from both right and left. I looked around to see if there was anything we could use as weapons.

All of a sudden, Rebecca turned and ran back the way we came from. “Hey! Where are you going?” I said in a whisper-yell.

“Be right back!” She whisper-yelled over her shoulder. A minute later, she came back holding two… two guns!

“Where did you get these?” I said, shocked.

She shrugged, “I saw them on the floor while you were running like a maniac.” I once again noticed her injury was healed. When did that happen? I looked down at my disgusting clothes. There were char marks all over and rips all across my shin. My new jeans were ruined, along with the generic black sweater I was wearing. I examined my injuries and saw something shocking. My arms weren’t burned anymore!

The footsteps got louder, and my grin slipped. Rebecca gave me one of the guns. “Do you know how to use these things?” I asked.

“My dad was a police officer, so yeah,” she said, looking down at the gun. Her expression was guarded, and her voice trembled. I knew what that meant. Her hands shook as she held the gun so tight her knuckles turned white.

“I—” I was about to respond, but my voice faded as the footsteps revealed people.

“Hands up! Drop the gun!” It was Principal Selene and two other women. Except she wasn’t looking at us. She was looking straight ahead. I turned my head confused.

It was the strange boy from earlier. He looked scary pale with a massive welt on his arm. Was that his punishment for helping me? He held the gun determined. They stared at each other, both of them stubborn and not backing down. The two women looked unsure of what to do.

Until Principal Selene dropped her weapon on the floor, her eyes wide. He looked at her, confused.

“Aiden? ¨” Principal Selene said, her voice breaking. The boy’s eyes widened, he dropped his gun. She broke into a run and hugged him. The boy didn’t hug her back.

“We thought you were gone. We thought you were dead.” She said, hugging him tighter.

The boy hugged her back. “Selene? How are you here? Where is mom? Doesn’t she run the rescue teams?” he asked. He sounded confused.

I looked at Rebecca and mouthed, What is happening?

She looked just as confused as I did. They knew each other?

“Avery.” Principal Selene sounded anxious, not at all like the peppy woman in the principal’s office at school.

I turned back to her, and she had stopped hugging the boy. “Yes?” I answered.

“Come on; Your brother is waiting for you at home.” Was she a police officer too? Why was she here? Wasn’t it dangerous? Could I trust her? I still thought that the white cavern was a dream.

“Avery?” The boy sounded heartbroken.

I looked at him. And so did Principal Selene, “I will explain everything later,” she said.

“Avery? You mean—” The boy started.

“No, she is not who you think.” principal Selene said quickly, cutting him off.

“That explains the feeling,” he said, mesmerized.

“Don’t! Aiden, we have to get out of here! No talking.” She said, panicked.

She walked over to me and clasped my hand. She took Rebecca’s hand and placed it on her shoulder. Rebecca and I looked at each other. Her eyes held a million questions, and I shrugged. I didn’t know the answers. The other two women took the boy in the same position.

Principal Selene and the two women started chanting in a different language, and a white light blinded me. I closed my eyes from the light.

When I opened my eyes, we were at school! We were home. Home! No longer in danger. No longer in that foreign place. The other two women, Rebecca, and the boy, were not there.

“Where are they?” I asked the principal.

“Avery, I know you must have questions, but they do not conce—”

“Can I please go home?” I cut her off, too tired to care about whatever she was going to say. She gestured behind me, and I turned.

There he was.

I ran into his arms, and he hugged me back.

“Justin!”

Justin

As soon as the guards told me that Selene found her, I got in my car and sped off. I didn’t know why Selene didn’t bring her home right away. I didn’t care as long as she was safe.

Aunt Dahlia and Uncle Amel left after they told me the rest of the story. They had decided they wanted to meet Avery. They didn’t know I was with her (they had thought I was lost with…him, my father.) Uncle Amel explained that no one knew what came about to the royal family after mom (the queen) had passed away, and dad (king consort) abandoned his duties to the throne. The kingdom had been Uncle Maxim’s (mom’s brother) responsibility after dad left. Except Uncle Maxim started the war then was killed in battle. Dad’s mom had to step in and take the throne as regent; she was still regent but severely sick. They wanted to find the royal family to take Selene back to complete her training for a queen before grandma died.

I ran into the school. I heard Avery’s voice and almost did a victory dance right there. Suddenly Avery turned and ran towards me. I opened my arms and hugged her tight. But then she looked up at me, and I saw tears forming in her eyes.

“Can we go home? Please, I’m tired.” She cried. She never cried, but when she did, it was serious.

I got her into the car, and she fell asleep as soon as I started driving. When we got home, I helped her up to her room and laid her down in her bed. I tried to sleep myself but I couldn’t. I kept thinking about what Aunt Dahlia and Uncle Amel said and how they wanted Selene to rule. I mean, I knew Selene carried guards around because that was a part of her upbringing. I never knew Selene would become Queen so early. I wasn’t jealous, but I was worried if she could handle it. The way she chained me down revealed that she couldn’t control her emotions, and I was not sure she would make the right decisions even if her intentions were good.

The bright sunlight shined through the crack between my navy blue curtains and into my room, waking me up. I guess I had fallen asleep sometime last night while worrying about everything we needed to work out. I got up and dressed.

I opened the door to Avery’s room, and she was still sleeping. I walked down the stairs and started to make Avery’s favorite breakfast. As I was flipping the fourth chocolate chip pancake, the doorbell rang. It must be Selene. She called to say that she was coming over to help explain everything to Avery. I went to open the door.

It was a boy. He looked about Avery’s age. “Who are you?” I asked, confused. Avery didn’t care about boys. So who was he here for? I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Maybe he was a boy scout or something. The boy just stared at me. He had blue eyes, rarely similar to ours, scruffy brown hair, and he kind of looked like dad. Weird. He seemed so familiar it was shocking once I considered it. He wore a bright blue t-shirt with cream-colored khaki shorts.

“Justin?” the boy asked. How did he know my name?

“Who are you?” I repeated harshly.

“Justin!” Selene? When did she get here? “I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

“Wait,” I said to her. Then turning to the boy, I repeated, “Who are you?”

“That is what I need to talk to you about. Avery didn’t tell you about him?” She said. She was acting weird, super peppy, and happy.

“Justin?” I turned to see Avery on the stairs. This was the weirdest morning ever.