The room’s harsh yellow ceiling lights flicked on.
“Aspen, dear, you must be lost,” I heard Savannah remark, her high-pitched voice dripping with saccharine as she entered the room. “Trivia night is being held on the first floor.”
I didn’t look at her; I couldn’t reply. I could only stare down at the floor, completely numb.
“Aiden Lawson!” she exclaimed. “How nice to see you again! I always knew you would come pay me another visit after our last… meeting.” I didn’t have to look at her to recognize the insinuation in her voice. My fists tightened reflexively in my lap.
“Hello again, Aspen.” The smooth voice of Tom Richardson, the chapter’s Head of Security and Containment, was what made me raise my head. He greeted me pleasantly as he entered the room behind Savannah. “What a nice surprise, seeing you again so soon. Though I had hoped that meeting would be under less… illicit circumstances.”
“Nonsense, Tom,” Savannah smiled at me brightly as she spoke. Behind them, Mr. Strauss had quietly and ominously entered the room. He stood in the shadow of the doorway, stiffly clasping his hands in front of him. My anger seethed even more when I saw his smug, pasty face. “I’m sure Aspen didn’t mean anything by coming up here. This was just a bit of a misunderstanding, I think. Isn’t that right, dear?” Her eyes fell on the black folder on the floor in front of me. The plaster smile on her face wavered ever-so-slightly.
“My name isn’t Aspen. It’s Rowan,” I replied darkly, my eyes falling back to the file in front of me.
“What was that?” Savannah asked, taking a step closer to hear me.
“I said… my name…is Rowan,” I forced through gritted teeth. My eyes raised to meet hers. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
She faltered for a moment.
I continued. “And that special task force you said you’d create to find my parents?” I said, rising from the floor. “Well that must be one hell of a task force, since my parents are dead!” I spat the last few words at her. The lights in the ceiling surged brightly, then quickly dimmed again. Next to me, I could hear Aiden’s sharp intake of breath.
Savannah glanced first at the lights in the ceiling, and then at Tom. “Aspen, I’m not sure I understand exactly what you mean…” she began docilely.
“Oh, cut the bullshit, Savannah,” Aiden cut in swiftly, “and tell her the truth.”
“Well, I suppose you’d know all about the truth, Aiden, since I believe it was your father who led the search to hunt them down,” Savannah shot back. “But I’m sure you already told Aspen – I’m sorry, Rowan – all about that, haven’t you?”
Mechanically, I turned around to face Aiden. “What is she talking about?”
He held his hands up in front of him. “Aspen, I swear, I had no idea until—”
“Oh, come now,” Savannah cut in sharply. “You mean to tell me that you never told her that it was your father who led the search to find them? That he spent fifteen years trying to track them down after they betrayed the people who gave them everything?” Savannah turned toward me. “Asp – Rowan,” she quickly amended as her face contorted into a pleading look. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I should have – you’re right – and I take full responsibility for that. I just wanted to make sure that I had all the details straight before I shared them with you, knowing what a sensitive discussion it would be. I was only trying to protect you.”
She bent down to the floor to retrieve the file at my feet, then rose to face me, clutching the black file in her perfectly-manicured hand. In her five-inch stiletto heels, she was several inches taller than me. I tilted my head back to meet her piercing green eyes, clenching my fists as we faced each other. My palms were cold and clammy as a frantic voice in my head urged me to leave as fast as I could. But I needed answers first, the ones Savannah was protectively gripping in her hand.
“The truth is, Rowan, your parents were fine, loyal people who achieved very high ranks within the Asterian Order. They were stationed in the Washington D.C. Chapter when you were born and were highly, highly regarded by the entire Community there. But then one day, out of nowhere, they fled the state with you in tow. You were very young at the time, about six years old. At first, the division there just wanted to find the three of you, to make sure you were safe. There were some in the Community who worried about your parents’ deteriorating state of mind…”
Tom and Strauss stood silently by the doorway as she spoke. I couldn’t see Aiden, who was standing behind me. I wanted to reach for him, to ask him a million questions, but I was frozen in place as Savannah spoke.
“The search for them continued for years, but your parents had gone off the grid completely and were nowhere to be found. It was devastating for everyone – their coworkers, neighbors, and longtime friends – who only wanted to know that the three of you were okay.”
I stared at Savannah warily, then briefly eyed the file in her hand. Her grip on it seemed to tighten in response. Was she actually telling me the truth? Or was this just another game? I couldn’t decide; my thoughts were so muddled, I could only stand there dumbly and listen.
“In 2014, Aiden’s father, Terry, was the lead officer in the Security and Containment Unit at the time. He received a tip from a friend of your parents. Their friend seemed deeply concerned about the entire family, but in particular he was worried about your well-being, Rowan.” She glanced over my head at Aiden. “I’m sure you remember this, since you were working with your father in D.C. at the time.” He muttered something in response that I couldn’t hear. Savannah smirked. “Regardless, it took about a week before Terry eventually tracked your parents down right here in Denver – though you, Rowan, were nowhere to be found. I’m afraid your parents were in a worse mental state than the Order had previously feared; they refused to tell us where you were and publicly attacked the team performing the welfare check. At that point, we all feared for the worst, and it appears we were right to be concerned about you…”
Savannah sighed, dramatically closing her eyes to shut out what appeared to be a bad memory.
“I’m afraid your mother did something unforgivable to you, Rowan. She used her Empathic Electromantic abilities and…” She took a deep, shaky breath, as though her next words were almost too much to bear. “She, with your father’s encouragement, erased every single one of your memories about your past, your family, and your abilities… then left you completely alone to fend for yourself. The interrogation team pried and pried, but frankly we have no idea why she would do something so horrific to you. We would have come to your aid so much sooner if we could have only found you – if she had only told us where to find you. It wasn’t until you set off that tornado that we even knew where to look.”
My chest felt as though my ribcage was constricting around my lungs. My thoughts were flying around my mind at a hundred miles an hour. I heard her words, but I couldn’t comprehend what Savannah was saying.
“We tried everything we could to try to persuade them to tell us where you were, Rowan… In the end, your parents became violent and out of control. When they fled the facility, the only choice we had was to suppress them before more people got hurt…”
Savannah’s voice was drowned out by more loud ringing in my ears; the black filing drawers were spinning around me and no matter how I tried, I couldn’t force air into my compressed lungs. I sank to the floor in a crouch, squeezing my eyes shut and pressing my hands over my ears, trying to block out the noise.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and flinched, thinking it was Savannah. But when I forced my eyes open, it was Aiden’s face in front of me.
“Don’t listen to her, Aspen,” he said to me softly. “It’s in her interest to keep you on her side.”
“Did you know?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
He shook his head firmly. “I swear I didn’t. She’s trying to manipulate you.”
Savannah laughed then. “Oh Aiden… What a fine show of hypocrisy you’ve given us the displeasure of witnessing. It was your father who gave the final order to use force on the Fulmans, but I’m the bad guy here?”
Aiden turned around to scowl at Savannah. “I don’t know exactly what happened three years ago – but I do know that you’re obviously sick, trying to use this girl’s grief to your advantage. She’s not your pawn.”
She glared at his back as he turned around to face me again. “And what exactly is she to you, Aiden? Some sort of consolation that you’re not the bad man your daddy is?”
He grimaced. “Come on, Aspen. Let’s just take your family’s file and get out of here,” he said, helping me to my feet. He held his hand out to Savannah to take the folder.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Tom said, stepping forward to stand beside Savannah. “You see, there are a few… problems… with your proposed scenario. For one, that file is Asterian property, and so I cannot allow either of you to leave with it. Furthermore, Mr. Lawson, since you are no longer a member of the Asterian Order, we therefore cannot permit you to leave with the information you’ve gathered tonight. Frankly, Ms. Fulman, you have broken a major rule by bringing a non-member into this building without obtaining prior authorization.”
“I’d like to point out that, from the look of it,” Mr. Strauss added coolly, stepping forward to stand on the other side of Savannah, “they have damaged Asterian property in their attempt to forcefully break into this room.”
“Thank you, Mitch,” Tom replied, his icy, gray eyes locked on mine. “Now, there’s an easy way to do this, and a hard way,” he continued, not breaking eye contact with me. “Savannah, perhaps you could inform them of the easy way?”
“Certainly, Tom.” Savannah said, her cold eyes starkly contrasting with her pleasant smile. “The easy way is this: we simply initiate you both tonight. Aiden, you were already initiated in 2003, so we’ll only need you to renew the contracts you completed then, as well as unequivocally reaffirming to our officers your pledged allegiance to the Community. Aspen, your initiation will be slightly more involved, but it’s certainly something we can finalize before dawn.”
I stared at the three of them mutely, the ringing in my ears finally dissipating again.
“If you do that, we’ll be happy to overlook this unfortunate incident. Furthermore, Rowan, whatever questions you have about your family, I swear to you, we’ll get you the answers.” Her eyes flicked to Aiden. “I’m sure your father would be thrilled to hear you’ve finally re-enlisted.” She smiled at us serenely. Beside me, I could feel Aiden stiffen. I worked for a moment to find my voice.
“And if we don’t?” I managed to croak out. “If we refuse to join?”
“Then I’m afraid we’ll have to go about things the hard way,” Tom interjected, his voice steady and calm as always. Beside him, Savannah took an imploring step forward to entreat me once more.
“Rowan, I want you to know how much I care about your well-being. I know you must be mentally exhausted from what you’ve heard tonight. I’m so sorry about that. Please accept my condolences for your parents. I’m sure you feel devastated about them, but we can be your family now. Anything you need, we’ll take care of it from now on. Please say you’ll join tonight? It will be the best decision you’ve ever made. I swear that to you.”
She extended a hand. I regarded it for a moment, then trained my eyes back to her overly-powdered face.
“Thanks for the invite, but I’d rather not join the same cult that also murdered my parents. I hope you’ll understand.” I started to walk past her, but Tom and Strauss moved to block my path.
“We would like to leave,” Aiden told them, his voice firm. “You can’t keep us here against our will.” The corners of Savannah’s lips curved upward.
“Oh, Aiden…” Savannah said in a sultry voice, approaching him so her face was only inches from his, “I think you’ll find we can.”