Meridias Page 2

  Ashblade found that he was smiling. The feelings from his memories with his sister often made him forget about the reality of his situation if only for a moment. Those memories also made him resolve to try even harder to escape his predicament. He wondered how his family would react after he had been gone for so long. He was especially worried about how his sister had been after hearing that he was missing in action. They had been practically inseparable back then and suddenly disappearing must’ve been devastating for Alicia. Ashblade realized he was starting to wallow in misery and shook off his emotions. He couldn’t afford to lose it now. He lay back on his bed and quickly went to sleep before any other emotions tried to surface.

  In the morning Ashblade worked out alone before showering and eating. He then returned to the intelligence room and with a slight twinge of annoyance, knocked on the door. Like the previous day Newitz opened the door and let him in. Ashblade exchanged a few brief words with the man then he went to the computer he’d been using the previous day.

  Three hours later and he’d filtered through just about every disappearance and kidnapping case in Oregon and Washington. He was afraid that’d he’d have to expand his search parameters when he came across a promising case from the Gresham Police Department. About 11 days ago they’d received a call from a teen’s mother that her son had gone missing. Later that night an anonymous tip came in saying that the teen was kidnapped. A day later three more calls came in from parents of the teen’s friends saying that they too had gone missing.

  Nearly five days after the first call the police received a tip from the teens friends that their friend was in Sandy. Apparently they had been living in a van while searching for their friend. Police responded and found the teen tied up to a chair in an abandoned house. The teen had been unharmed and brought back safely to his home in Gresham after police questioned him about his whereabouts. To this day they still didn’t have a suspect for the kidnapping. The name of the kidnapped teen was Elunduil.

  Ashblade could feel it in his bones that this was the case he had been searching for. The number of friends that the mysterious teen had with him in the other world matched up. The fact that they disappeared and didn’t bother contacting their parents was also a good sign. If this had been a normal case then the friends would probably have told their parents what they’d been up to. The day the teens friends had disappeared was also the day that they learned that Tim had returned to help the elves. Everything about this case was adding up in Ashblade’s mind. He found it odd that the friends names weren’t mentioned in the case file though. He threw a suspicious glance towards Newitz. Could he have done something? Newitz seemed too busy with something else so Ashblade dismissed the thought… Now he just had to make absolutely certain that he was right that Elunduil was the one.

  “Newitz,” he called out. “I’m sending you a case file. I want you to help me dig up all the information about this Elunduil and his friends that we can find.” Ashblade sent the file to Newitz’s terminal. “I’m on it.” Newitz replied. A few moments later they found a newspaper article covering the kidnapping and a picture of Elunduil. While Newitz pulled up Elunduil Redrilo’s information, Ashblade scanned the article for the names of Elunduil’s friends. He came up empty and let out a frustrated sigh. If he had the name of the school then he could quickly find Tim. “Here’s the info on Elunduil Redrilo,” Newitz said a few moments later. Ashblade looked to his screen and scanned through the information.

  Elunduil Redrilo, born on May 10th, 1990 in Lae, Papua New Guinea. He lived there for about a month before moving to the states and eventually wound up in Gresham, Oregon. He was 15 years old but would soon turn 16. He was currently attending Sam Barlow High School and was in his sophomore year. His grades for the most part seem to be average. Ashblade noted that it looked like most of his classes that he was just trying to pass. He appeared to have a high grade in biology at the moment. It seemed as if Elunduil was probably lazy and didn’t care about excelling at school. Much like he’d been before he joined the military. He hadn’t seemed of average intelligence when he’d met him. No, Elunduil seemed far too composed for someone who had barely experienced battle before. The average person would not have raised their sword to block when their attack should’ve killed everything inside of it. They would’ve been too surprised to raise their defenses in time.

  Ashblade quickly looked up any person by the name of Tim and in the same year as Elunduil. There were quite a few but he found the Tim he was looking for in no time. Tim Ortire: 16, decent grades, and definitely the Tim that he recognized. He wasn’t sure what the other two friends looked like. There had to be a way to find out who they were as well. “I’ve sent a man to the school to retrieve footage from their security cameras,” Newitz said. Ashblade was surprised. He hadn’t heard the man approach. “You made sure that it was within the past few days?” Ashblade asked. Newitz nodded and made a gesture at the screen. “Who’s that?” he asked. Ashblade mentally sighed. It looked like he would have to come clean. “One of Elunduil’s friends. He’s been to the other world before.” Newitz nodded.

  “So the other friends were there too then?” Ashblade nodded

  “Yeah, that’s why we need to identify them.” Newitz made an interested ‘hum’ and stared at the screen for a few moments as he read. “We should have the footage uploaded to us within half an hour. Now would probably be a good time to take a break.” Ashblade found no reason to disagree with Newitz and took his leave. He stopped at the bathroom before he wandered to the mess hall. It was empty except for a large African-American man reading a book. Ashblade grabbed a bottle of water and approached the man. He hadn’t talked to anybody on the base besides The General and the intel guys since he’d woken up. “May I sit here?” Ashblade asked as he approached the table the man was sitting at. The man looked up and then to Ashblade’s uniform. “Of course, Sergeant!” he said and gave Ashblade a salute. Ashblade took a seat and looked at the other man’s uniform. “May I ask your name?” he asked.

  “Private Nadir, sir!” he answered with gusto. Ashblade chuckled.

  “You new to the base?” he asked. Nadir nodded and said,

  “I just came here a couple of weeks ago. They say The General has plans for me.” Ashblade nodded. The General always had plans for the people he recruited. “What’s that you’re reading?” he asked. Nadir looked to the book.

  “Sherlock Holmes. I enjoy a good mystery.”

  “I’ve read Sherlock Holmes before. It’s been years since I last read a novel with him though.” Nadir chuckled.

  “Then when I am done perhaps you would like to borrow this one? I have plenty more to read.” Ashblade allowed himself to smile.

  “I think I would like that. I’m Ashblade.” He held out his hand. Nadir took it and the two shook hands. The P.A. system came on and called for Ashblade to return to the intelligence room immediately. “That was fast,” he said as he rose. “Until next time private.” he saluted and Nadir returned the gesture.

  When he got to the room he found Newitz waiting outside. “They’ve sent the security footage,” he said and opened the door. “I’ve already begun analyzing it. I’ve sent you a copy of the files to your terminal.” Ashblade nodded and went to work. He quickly found the footage of Elunduil getting off the bus and changed camera footage as Elunduil walked throughout the school. He saw that Elunduil was hanging out with a tall teen in front of the library and paused the footage so that he could get a good look at the face. He ran the image through the database of people at the school and came up with a name and color picture. Joel Zweihander: He was tall, had blonde hair, and was in the same grade as Elunduil. He was 17 years old and was apparently known for having a bit of a temper. Ashblade filed away the information. There had been no reports indicating a blonde male was with Elunduil in the other world.

  Ashblade resumed watching the footage and saw Tim hanging out with Elunduil. Eventually the group went into the library and sat down at the comp
uters. Ashblade noted a somewhat balding teen sit down by Elunduil and conversing with him. He looked him up and found out that his name was Tanis Saidur: 16, sophomore, failing half his classes. Tanis’ picture looked a lot like one of Elunduil’s companions had been described. It was hard to be certain though until Elunduil disappeared and his friends came together to meet. Newitz called Ashblade over almost as soon as that thought had completed.

  “What is it?” Ashblade asked as he approached. “This footage was recorded the day Elunduil disappeared,” Newitz said. Ashblade watched as Tim and Tanis were talking to each other and then a girl approached them. Ashblade was intrigued. There had been a girl with Elunduil’s group that they’d taken into custody. “The next day these three are seen talking in the cafeteria. In the following days they aren’t seen at the school at all until the next week. I looked at the school newspaper and these three are seen with Elunduil after the incident. They’re the ones that went and found him after he’d disappeared.” Ashblade was impressed. Newitz was very good at his job.

  “I’ve pulled up the other two male’s info, but what about the girl?” Newitz pulled up the information. Amy Jordan: 16, sophomore, good grades and orange hair. That matched the description of the girl they’d captured. Ashblade felt like she looked very familiar for some reason. She probably just reminded him of his sister. “They all match up to the ones that were with Elunduil,” Ashblade said. “Send me the girls info and I’ll compile the report.” Newitz nodded and Ashblade returned to his terminal and started working. He was done about an hour later and went to General Titus’ office.

  The door was open when he arrived and Ashblade found The General sitting at his desk. “Ah, Ashblade,” General Titus said as he looked up. “I assume you’ve found something.” He motioned for Ashblade to take a seat. Ashblade complied and said, “Everything is in my report, sir. Would you like the short version?” The General waved a hand dismissively.

  “I’ll read it right now,” he said business-like. Ashblade waited patiently as The General read through his report. “You didn’t mention there were others there. Though in your report you say that they didn’t appear to have any ability to use magic. Even this Tim, who’d been there before turned out to be a dud.” General Titus looked at the rest of Elunduil’s friends in turn. He made an interested ‘hm’ when he came across Amy Jordan’s info but was otherwise silent.

  General Titus closed the report. “I can have men take Elunduil within the hour. Good work, Ashblade.” Ashblade frowned. He knew that The General wanted the secrets of magic but wasn’t he being hasty? “What about Jeremy Elden and Scott Howard?” he asked. General Titus furrowed his brows. “What about them?” he replied indifferently. Ashblade sighed.

  “Those two are bound to be keeping a close eye on Elunduil. If anything were to happen to him I’m sure that they’d expose you.” The General gave this some thought.

  “How exactly would they do that?” he asked.

  “They’re scientists. I’m sure they hacked the database here before they destroyed the portal-machine just in case you managed to make another one. They did prepare for every possibility that they could foresee.” General Titus thought about this for a long time.

  “What do you propose,” he asked. Ashblade waved a hand at the report.

  “One of his other friends, Joel, wasn’t with him in the other world. Perhaps if we befriend him you could use him to get the information out of Elunduil that you want. I’m sure Jeremy Elden wouldn’t be watching him since he wasn’t involved.” The General nodded as he followed Ashblade’s thought process. “Very well. We’ll try it your way. We’ll grab him at the end of the school year just to be safe.” After that the general dismissed Ashblade and returned to his desk. He hit a button on his phone. “Newitz, is this girl who I think it is?” he asked.

  “Yes sir. Alicia Terria.” General Titus turned off the speaker and gazed at the girl’s photo. It really was a small world.

  Chapter 2

  Study Time

  She was sitting on a couch at home watching television. There was a knock at the door and she got up and went to answer it. When she opened the door she saw her brother standing on the threshold, his short brown curly hair waving in the wind. She strained her neck to look up at him. She felt confused. She should have been close to her brother’s height now that she was older but it was like she was still a little girl. Her confusion abated however as joy swelled up inside of her. She rushed forward and embraced her brother. “You’re back!” she said happily. Her brother pushed her away and gently put a hand on her head. “Sorry, but you’ll never see me again,” he said. She looked at her brother as confusion and terror rose up in her. His expression had become cruel. “I’m tired of playing with you and always having you bother me,” he said harshly.

  “Wha-” her words died in her throat as her brother turned and started to walk away. “No!” she called out and tried to run after him but found that she was running slowly. She desperately tried to run faster and felt agony with every step her brother took until he disappeared entirely.

  Alicia woke with a start. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she realized that it had all been a dream. She opened her cell phone and checked the time. 6 a.m. Great. She didn’t even have to be up until 8. She sighed and snapped her phone shut and thought about the dream that she’d just had. To her it was a nightmare that had haunted her for months after her brother had disappeared. She had only been 11 years old when her father told her that her brother had gone missing in action. He’d secretly joined the military because their father hadn’t supported his decision to join the marines. He’d told her about his plan and had asked her to keep it a secret until he was gone. When she had agreed he had affectionately ruffled her hair and ended up making it a mess. To this day she’d never told her dad that Michael had told her about his plan.

  She smiled sadly to herself. Back then, after Michael had vanished, she had always rushed to the door whenever someone knocked in the hope that it was her brother coming back. For weeks she believed that he would just show up one day and everything would go back to the way it had been but eventually she’d lost hope. A part of her began to question why her brother hadn’t returned yet and wondered if it was because of her. She knew that he would return if he could, but there was always that doubt in the corner of her heart that told her that he didn’t want to return because of her. That was when the nightmares had started tormenting her. It was always the same dream and it left her feeling sad and in agony when she awoke. After her father realized that she had been having bad dreams he’d decided that the best act would be to move from Astoria to get away from all the memories.

  The nightmares had eventually stopped altogether but her brother’s absence had left a hole in her heart. She wondered why now she would have that dream again after so many years. To herself she had gotten past all of this a long time ago. Alicia looked at the time on her phone again and realized that almost an hour had past. She smiled ruefully. She had gotten so caught up in thought that the time had melted away. She got out of her bed and turned on the light to her room. There were clothes strewn about everywhere and she was a bit embarrassed to admit that she let her room lie in such a state. She wondered what Elunduil would think if he found out about it. If he ever saw her room. She really did hope that he would see her room someday... but she still hadn’t worked up the nerve to tell him how she felt. It had been a lot harder and more nerve wracking than she’d originally anticipated.

  Alicia still had no clue if Elunduil felt the same emotions as she did but sometimes she would catch Tim snickering. If Tim was exhibiting such behavior then surely he and Elunduil talked about her when she wasn’t around. She sighed and chased away those hopeful thoughts. She grabbed some clean clothes from her dresser then went to take a shower where she hummed the lyrics of her favorite song. When she was done she dried her hair and brushed it then looked in the mirror and made some adjustments. When she was satisfied with how
her hair looked she carefully put on some make-up and went downstairs.

  She was a bit surprised to find that her father was making breakfast in the kitchen. “Good morning! You ready for some pancakes?” he asked. This elicited a chuckle from Alicia. Normally her father didn’t make breakfast unless there was some sort of special occasion like her birthday. “Did something good happen?” she asked. Her father chuckled,

  “I just thought that you’d like a home cooked breakfast for a change.” Alicia smiled. Her father was thoughtful in many other ways but this wasn’t normally one of them. It was a welcome development. “mmm I’m definitely ready for some pancakes,” she said desirously. Her father chuckled at her response and prepared a plate for her. This action surprised Alicia since she would normally have to get her own plate. She thanked her dad and buttered up her pancakes. She added a thin layer of syrup on the top and went to work on her meal. Her dad brought her a glass of orange juice which she drank from whenever her throat got too sticky. Her father joined her and the two ate in relative silence except for the occasional joke from her dad.

  Once the pancakes where eaten Alicia rinsed her dishes off and hurried back upstairs to brush her teeth and grab her things for school. She made sure that all her notebooks and homework were in her bag and trod back downstairs to put on her shoes. As she went to open the door to go catch the bus her father called out from behind her. “Have a good day at school today!” Alicia looked over her shoulder with a smile then decided to give her father a quick hug. As she pulled away her father said, “What was that for?” He had a warm smile on his face. Alicia opened the door and turned her head back to look at her dad. “That was for breakfast,” she said matter-of-factly and hurried out the door to catch her bus leaving her father staring after her. “Oh, well I’ll have to do that more often!” he said to himself and went to get ready for work.