Chapter 268

Chapter 21 – Chelsea POV Washing out the dirt, the spray of water falling over me, wasn’t as calming as I’d hope, things were falling into place here, pieces were being revealed bit by bit. According to dad’s records there were forty-nine inhabitants on this island, out of that number I had only recognized three names. Lux and Bryant. Two men that I hadn’t seen in nearly four years. The third name was a last name, Rykos. It was the name that Nora gave us when we stumbled across her. From all the research dad had gathered, Lyla Rykos wasn’t a true blood Rykos, however with her accent and information on Walter… things weren’t adding up. For all his research dad couldn’t find out why the Rykos were being targeted by the Elders, they didn’t have any type of abilities, they didn’t have money, and they seemingly had no connections to anything or anyone that would warrant or catch the attention hunters, the Elders, nothing really. However there was Nora, using the last name Rykos, her fathers name is Albert, and just the state in which I found her that morning, frightened, hungry and frazzled. Have you decided on the people you will choose to participate in the absorption? Third wolf asked anxiously while I rinsed the conditioner from my hair. My mind goes back to that discussion. ‘There is one more thing Luna,’ Mother said, ‘when you do find the violins, the power that will be released cannot be absorbed only by you.’ ‘Why?’ ‘It is the one thing that could kill you Luna, to prevent that from happening, you will need to choose more than 10 people, twenty or less than when the time comes.’ ‘Does is matter who I pick?’ ‘Yes, because when you remove the Elders Luna, those that are chosen will be your new Elders, your new court, so that decisions do not always start and end with you. You will have absolute final say, however before you will be asked your court will have already came to a decision, it is to keep balance.’ ‘So, if something happens, a crime is committed, those I choose will decide on if it was a crime? What the punishment should or could be? And I have the last say?’ I had wanted to clarify this. ‘Yes Luna, your choices can be anyone, Jack, Casey; they don’t have to be wolf shifters either, now that you’re on the island there are other types of shifters here that you can choose from. You need to choose with both your head and heart. The right people that you feel hold your values true to themselves, they don’t have to be perfect or an innocent Luna, but they have to be able to make decisions for the greater good.’ ‘You have all my research Chelsea, not all people will want to be an Elder, but on the other hand, you need to be wary of those that want it too much. You need strong and confident leaders at your side, so there will not be a repeat of events…’ dad said cryptically and until hearing Lux speak I didn’t quite understand what was going on, but Lux – he had answers. Still I had someone who I’m sure had more answers as well, we just hadn’t spoken to her yet. After cleaning off I went to find Nora, we still had her with us, in the main house with us, easier to keep track of her that way. The recording in my hand, I knocked on the door to her space, “Coming,” I heard her shuffling about, and opening the door widely, revealing her two little children behind her. Mattia and Nicolas, “Hi babies,” I said kneeling to their level, Tia’s wild curls framing her face, her blue eyes, identical to Coles, identical to their fathers – Walter. Cole, shyer of the two children, hid behind Nora’s leg while Tia came forward, “Are you guys settling in okay?” I stood, focusing on Nora, she nodded quickly, “Yes you all have been so accommodating,” she stepped back, letting me enter her little space, two bedrooms, and a small sitting area. “We need to talk,” I said bluntly, not beating around the bush here, nodding slowly Nora blinked, maybe she can help me find Walter… she thought and I smiled inside, little did she know. Sitting her kids went to the toys at our feet, “I need to know if you recognize this voice…” I said pulling out the recorder, pressing play “Look what we have here… Elder Bellamy – or should I call you Anya?” “Albert…” “Where are the Violins Elder Bellamy?” “What Violi-” the tape clicks right after the gunshot, all the blood drained from Noras’ face, her hand shook and her mind. Blank. Nothing. It was unnervingly to watch, as she seemed to become fear reincarnated. Her heart pounding, her eyes glazed over, as she heard the voice, “Nora,” I whispered eyeing her children who seemed to in tune with their mother that they came near her. “Mama…” I watched this interesting behavior of these two children, so bonded with their mother, pulling her out of this trance she went into. With shaky hands she lifted her son, “It’s nap time guys,” she cooed, a complete transformation from the shocked near catatonic mess she was seconds ago. “Can – let me just put them down for a nap and we can talk,” she croaked and so I waited patiently, until she returned to the sitting area, but she brought back a camera bag with her. “I – first I know you probably won’t believe me, but I’m nothing like that man on that recording, I know that he’s biologically my father but – made life so hard – I – I never knew him,” I nodded, my mind focused on her words and her thoughts. “The violins the ones he’s asking about, I’ve had them-” “Had? As in you don’t anymore? How did you get them?” “I never knew my father, but my mom she had them, and Albert he knew that she did, tried getting close to her. At first she didn’t know that he knew she had them, all she knew was that they were important, expensive. They were in her family for nearly three generations, she taught me to play on them. But Albert he played her, by the time she realized that he wanted them, that the only reason he was with her, was because of them, she was already pregnant with me so she left... the first eleven years of my life, I lived it as a boy. Mom was so paranoid that even though she named me Eleanor Rodeney, I lived as Brett Craven, Dylan Craven and for a month, as David McGee,” a small young child, with a buzz cut and hazel eyes flashed in her mind. That’s why her name came back with little to no information… I grasped. “We never stayed anywhere for more than two months, and by the time I was eight, I understood, the only things that stayed consistent was that we traveled with three violins and two guitars.  The third thing was Lyla Fern, I can remember seeing her almost twice a year since I was a small child. It was the one person we saw more than once in our life.” “So you grew up knowing you weren’t a boy? Right?” I questioned interested in that as well for a minute. She nodded, “Mom explained that to me. She told me that Albert would be looking for a young woman and a daughter, not a son; that he was a bad man, then he proved it for me his self, he killed my mom.” “It – it was – I didn’t,” she shook her head, a bloodied scene that could rival what Leo did to Jason was what she thought of, “I took the violins and guitars, and ran, we had a plan in place for if something like that happened. I sought out Lyla and she sent me to Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil, a boarding school in Switzerland.”