Generation 1: Chapter 4

FRIDA TAMARIND

As planned I woke up early next morning. Synestra would get really pissed when she found out I was skipping work, and after seeing her all serious like that last night I didn't really want to meet her again after this. But this was something I had to do.

My certainty won over my cowardness as I went towards the place Calden had tried to sell me a few weeks ago. But as I closed in to the secret hiding place the fear of meeting Mick and John yet again sent a shiver down my spine. I don't want to, I don't want to... it suddenly went through my mind, and a voice saying it wasn't too late to go back. But no, I was determined to find my mother!

I soon realized getting to this place had only been the easy part, now I had to open the door as well. My body strength wasn't much to talk about, even Calden who had lots of muscles had trouble pushing it open.

But I was stubborn and soon the door began the open. The light was on inside but I was struggling too much to notice.

I took a deep sigh as I finally entered the secret hideout. But it had only been a brief moment my muscles could relax, cause my gaze soon fell upon the weirdest of haircolor. I went stiff all over my body. It wasn't John or Mick, but someone else who I had never seen before. And he wasn't too happy about me coming here.

   "Who are you, and how did you know about this place?!" he raged and glared at me, ready to raise his hand and hit me.

"No, no, please don't hit me! I'm..."

   And that's when I realized I hadn't even come up with I plan, since I took for granted that Mick and John would be the ones behind the door. How stupid...

The turquoise-haired man's hand flew in the air and landed with a hit straight on my cheek. My eyes started to burn by the coming tears and the sting on my cheek felt like it was burning as well. It looked like he was about to throw another punch and I crouched. But then his hand stopped.

   "Gah, I guess I have to let Frida deal with you..."

   I wiped my face with my sleeve and followed him outside, my legs shaking like crazy. How come I always put myself in situations like these...

I followed the man as quietly as I could. He had no interest talking to me, but he did look at me sometimes to check if I was keeping up with him. And of course to see if I had any intention of running away.

We followed a long road, and I was sweating buckets by the warmth. But as we soon reached the end of the road I also noticed a house in the distance.

The turqouise-haired man made certain of my guessing that this was the place Frida stayed in by moving towards it, the same place Calden and Synestra seemed to have been trying to find. It was located far away from the main parts of Lunar Lakes up a mountain, but it wasn't a deserted place either. A few more houses could be found downwards the road and seemed to be occupied by ordinary families. Whatever ordinary now was at this place.

We entered through the front door and the place looked surprisingly... homely. But soon I recognized two voices and as before a chill went down my spine. It was the voices of Mick and John! Seeing their faces made me shiver by fear yet again, though they looked relax sitting in front of the TV.

At first they didn't seem to notice me, and it made me kind of relieved, but then John noticed us and pointed at us. Mick turned around and rose up.

   "Well, if it isn't the delivery! Never thought I would see you again, after..." He went quite.

   "...after Calden beat us up?" John filled it.

   "Don't mention that name!" Mick burst out angrily. Then he started to mutter a lot of swearing.

"Oh, so this is the girl Frida was after," the man who brought me here said. "What a surprise."

   "How come you have her, Raja?" Mick asked.

   Raja... I thought. How come that name seems so familiar?

   "She came to the hideout on her own. Stupid, right?"

   John smiled at me, a really creepy smile. I tried not to look at it. "She must have been missing me! Though we never got the chance to do something before Ca..."

   "DON'T MENTION HIS NAME!" Mick raged. John shut his mouth immidiatly.

   Raja snorted. "I can't believe that little guy actually beat you up."

   "He took us by surprise!"

   "No, it's because you're weak."

   "What do you think you're...!"

"JUST SHUT UP AND BRING THE GIRL UP TO ME!" a womans voice yelled from upstairs.
   All of the three men went quiet. I felt my body become completely cold. That voice had to belong to Frida...
   Raja took the lead and I followed him, slowly up the long stairs. It seemed like forever before we finally stood in front of her.

I have no idea what I had been imagining Frida to look like, but finally standing in front of her she seemed surprisingly normal. Her clothing with animal prints seemed like any other outfit a Lunar Lakes-citizen would be wearing and the boots reminded me of the ones cowboys wear. She didn't seem like dangerous person either. The man standing beside her, looking like a bodyguard, was way more scary. And was that wings on his back...?

   "This is the delivery that you were supposed to get some weeks ago..." Raja began explaining.

   "Oh, I know who she is, alright. Leni, the timetravelling girl."

It wasn't a question, but I still felt like I had to give her an answer.

   "Y-yes, I'm Leni. Leni Fox."

   "But I just said that." 

   Great, I had just gotten here and Frida was already annoyed with me. I decided to keep my mouth shut as much as possible.

"Well, anyway!" she said and suddenly seemed really happy. "It's been a while since I had a girl visiting this house! I have always wanted a girlfriend."

   I felt my heart sinking.

   "A while?" Did that mean my mother wasn't here anymore?

   "Well, yes. That older redheaded woman wasn't much of a company, she hardly spoke and wouldn't even tell me her name. So boring. Glad she got sold so quickly, though!"

   NO! I felt the scream coming up my throath, but I managed to seal my lips. She had sold my mother!

   "Who..." I tried to swallow the lump in my throath. "Who bought her?"

"Oh, but did you hear that, Strangle? This girl is asking questions about my business. We don't like people who asks questions about my business, now do we?"

   Umm... this didn't feel too good. 

Strangle kept glaring straight but managed a slow nod.

"I'm sad to say, Leni, that I am very disappointed in you. Here I thought I had finally found a girlfriend, and then you start to ask questions about my business." Frida sighed, trying to make her disappointment even clearer. "Raja, I want you to go back to the hideout. Strangle, please follow this girl to the cell. That's where she will stay until someone buys her."

The cell?! Oh no...

Strangle kept pushing me forward until we got out of the house, then he took a turn. We were heading towards the back of the house, until we got to a small outhouse. Was I supposed to be staying in there?!

Well, obviously. Strangle opened the door and threw me inside with so much power I lost my footing. I fell and landed with a bang, followed by another bang as the door got closed.

It went completely dark as I was left alone inside, with no lights whatsoever. As my eyes got used to the darkness only the stains on the wall got visible. I started to cry. And I cried a lot, until the stains disappeared and I fell asleep.

I guess I was sleeping when the door got opened the next morning, since I didn't wake up until I felt Strangle's shoe pushing onto my leg.

I rose up, tried not to look into his glaring gaze.
   "Why?" I asked. "Wasn't I supposed to stay in here until someone was going to buy me?"
   But Strangle didn't answer, he just kept glaring at me. I guess this scary man wasn't able to speak at all.

I got really confused. Did this mean I had already been sold?! But to who?!

I was really sad and scared as I followed Strangle back to the house and up the stairs. But then I saw a familiar face, which made me fill up with warmth and relief.

CALDEN!! It was really him! I wanted to throw myself in his arms, hugging him. Feeling his safety. My safety... But the look in Calden's eyes told me to stay calm. Indifferent. And I understood why. If he had come to buy me I had to look as reluctant as possible. Frida was not to suspect anything...

"Oh, there she is!" he said and smiled at Frida. "I was starting to miss my maid. The dirt is piling up and no one is good enough to clean in my house. She is the best!"

   "But you sure do pay a lot to get your maid back," Frida said and looked at him suspiciously. "But I guess if you are sure it's worth it, I won't complain."

   "Well, as you know she isn't an ordinary maid. She is, after all, a maid that has travelled through time. If you believe in stuff like that, that is."

   "You do, it seems," Frida said. "Otherwise it wouldn't make sense that you are willing to pay so much."

   "Oh, and I'm willing to pay more."

Frida rose her eyebrows. "Pay for what?"

   "Information."

   She turned serious. "That's the only thing not for sale."

   "Oh, but this piece of information won't hurt you at all. You see, it appears you've sold an older woman not too long ago, a redhaired on."

   I froze. "I want to know who bought her," Calden continued.

   Frida smiled. "Oh, you mean that information. Well, it won't be cheap."

Calden smiled back at her and lowered one eyebrow. "So, you mean to say you don't think I posses that kind of money? Beacuse I'm sure I do. Just write the numbers down and I'll hand them over to you right now."

   Frida did just that, and knowing Calden, I could see in his eyes the sum was crazy. But he nodded. "That's nothing. I'll hand you over the money right now."

Frida had a huge smile on her lips as she received the money and handed it over to Strangle, whose eyes was sparkling with greed as well.
   "Well, aren't you a generous costumer! I like you."
   "The information, please." Calden seemed to be rushing it.
   "Of course! The woman who bought her is Christina Landgraab. She had a talk with the woman in her cell and seemed very eager to buy her. I can't understand why though, since she never spoke with me."
   "I see," Calden nodded. "It was nice making business with you."

Turning my back to Frida and Strangle, walking down the stairs with Calden by my side, I could finally relax. But not until we had the house far behind us did I manage to open my mouth. I stopped.
   "Calden."
   I wrinkled my eyebrows as he continued walking.
   "Calden?"

I knew he heard me. But why did he keep on walking? We were safe now!
   "Calden!"

When I understood he wouldn't stop I started running to catch up to him.
   "Calden, please stop!"

Just as I caught up to him he made a sudden turn.
   "WHAT?!" he burst out angrily. "What do you want?! You're an idiot, do you know that?! An idiot!"

I couldn't help but falling back by his reaction. What did I now do wrong?!
   "I-I'm sorry!"

"NO! Stop saying that! All you do is saying you are sorry, but it doesn't change anything! Do you have any idea how worried I was? How hard it was watching Raja hit you like that, seeing you go straight to the enemy, risking your own life?" Suddenly the anger in Calden's eyes were gone. "And YOU'RE sorry?"
  "You followed me?" My voice only came out as a whisper.
   "I had no choice, Leni." His voice sounded so sad it broke my heart. "Synestra knew you were going to hear us talking last night and that you would go out yourself. When she told me you were gone it was already to late to stop you. All I could do was follow you and go through with the plan."
   Of course, the plan. The plan to sell me and lead them to Frida's home.
   "I'm really, really sorry, Calden!"

"Stop saying that! You're not the one who is sorry, I am! I'm sorry, that I even got you involved in this. I never should have taken you to the hideout in the first place. I'm sorry that I didn't stop Raja from taking you to Frida's place, sorry for not helping you out of that cell immidietly. You are completely innocent, Leni, you have nothing to apologize for!"
   At first I had no idea what to say, as he went quiet. But then I had an idea.
   "Then how come I'm the idiot, and not you?"

By some reason Calden managed a smile. "Because you were stupid enough to travel through time and arrive at a place like this."
   I smiled back at him. "I see. Well, it did get me to the place I wanted to come to. And now I even know where my mom is."
   "Oh, right, about that." He suddenly turned back into the usual Calden. "You owe me lots of money! And don't think you will get away with this - I'll see to it that you pay back the fee one way or another!" A smile crept up in the corner of his mouth. Scary!
   "But how do I get to my mother?"
   "You don't have to worry about that anymore, Synestra and I will take care of that. We will see to it that you will be reunited with her in the next few days."

As Calden said that, I noticed there was something he was keeping to himself. I didn't question him any further, since it seemed fine between us for the moment, and I enjoyed that. Maybe I could ask later. I wanted to know who this Christina Landgraab was.

We continued the walk and I found myself really enjoying being in his company. Somtimes our arms brushed against each other and I couldn't help blushing... Calden seemed unaffected though.
   When we reached the Starry Lounge I felt a little sad. Would Calden leave now?

Calden walked me to the front door, where we met with two familiar faces. Synestra shrieked by happiness and Eythil seemed really relieved.

"You have no idea how worried I was! I'm so glad you're safe..." Eythil went quite.

It appeared as though his gaze saw Calden in the background. Oh right, Calden had been dating his older sister.

Calden's face made it clear of what he felt about meeting Eythil here. I got really worried. They wouldn't start fighting or anything, right?!

Calden was the one to speak first.
   "Well, if it isn't crybaby Eyhtil! Did you loose your pacifier, or did mommy forget to change your diaper?"
   Eythil clenched his fist with anger. "I'm not a crybaby!"
   "Oh, you are! I remember how you always used to cry before you fell asleep. And oh, right! I still can't forget that time you wet your bed. It was so funny!"

"I was only six years old back then!" Eythil yelled. Hm, isn't that a bit too old to be wetting your bed? "But at least I'm not a stupid, short little monkey! Shorty!"
   "What did you just call me?!"

I stared at them, dumbstruck. Those insults were so stupid I couldn't help but worry. Was that all they got? Even I could come up with better insults!

"Stop now, boys!" Synestra said with her high-pitched voice. "Calden, come with me for a moment!"
   "Humph! I don't have time with little crybabies anyway!"
   I chuckled. He was acting so childish!
   "Foxy, you listen to Eythil. He has something important to tell you. Though I don't like what he is about to say."
   Calden looked at me. Was he worried about something?
   "Go, Calden!" Synestra shrieked and pushed him forward. He didn't look away from me, then they turned around the corner.

"Well, Synestra and I have come to a conclusion... Oh, and I know about the Frida-situation as well. Synestra gave me the information."
   "Oh." I didn't really listen to him, since I was still thinking about Calden.
   "Yes, well, Frida can't be trusted. Just because Calden gave her a lot of money for you doesn't mean she will leave you alone. Therefore we decided it would be the safest way for you to stay over at my familys house the next couple of days."
   Now I was listening. "Wait, what?!"
   Eythil smiled. "You don't have to worry. I won't try something like that again."
   It took me a brief moment to understand he was talking about the kiss that never happened. "Oh. Okay." That wasn't really why I was so surprised. But there was more to it, having me staying over at his place instead of my room at the Starry Lounge. Something Calden and Synestra tried to keep away from me.

We didn't wait to say goodbye to Calden and Synestra. Eythil said Synestra wanted us to leave as soon as possible, and so he lead me to his place. My gaze fell upon a huge mansion, so beautiful, my jaw almost dropped to the ground!

I didn't mind staying in a place like this. I didn't mind at all!

Click here to read Chapter 5!