The hidden garden

There were tons of emotions running through me and there was so much that I had to process.

I was angry that those evil people took my sister and forced her to be a part of their family. I was also scared of what they would do to her next.

"This isn't good! They're going to kill her! We have to leave now!" I panicked.

Faye frowned at me. "Are you crazy? We can't go there. Not when they have far more advanced technology than we do, and they're turning people into demons!"

Kai looked over to Faye. "They probably already know where we live now. I wonder how those demons got into this Castle?"

The room went silent as we all looked at Faye.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

"Because I saw you with those rocks earlier, and no one else knew about them except Dean and Malaika," Kai continued.

She sighed and said, "I just wanted to see if what Malaika claimed was true and you never tell me anything anymore since she came."

He frowned. "So you caused the demons to come into the castle, because of your petty curiosity? And you started playing around with them?"

"No!... I don't know! If I did cause it, it was an accident!"

"That's no excuse and many people were almost killed today because of you!"

She looked to the ground. "I'm sorry, okay! These are special rocks, and I was curious. They can kill the demons faster, and as Jaden said, we can even use the rocks to control them. Why would you keep these rocks a secret from me and your own team, but trust someone like Malaika with a secret?"

"She's the one who discovered them!" Kai yelled.

Faye frowned at him. "She still can't keep a secret. If she had just kept her mouth shut, I wouldn't have known about them. She's to blame too!"

I turned to Kai. "She's right. I was supposed to keep quiet but I accidentally told her. I'm sorry."

He paused and looked at me for a while. "No. It's probably my fault. I should have told everyone instead of keeping it a secret. Whatever. We shouldn't be worrying about this right now."

Faye suddenly began to laugh. "I can't believe this! Does she have you under a spell or something?"

Dean patted her shoulder. "Faye calm down."

She smacked his hand away from her. She then turned to me in anger.

"No! I don't care how much Kai favors you, but I will never like you! And I will never trust you! I know she's working with the enemy! She will betray us, and you all will be apologizing to me because you didn't believe me!"

She then got out of her seat and stormed out of the room.

Dean threw his hands up in the air. "Well, that was something. Huh?"

"I'll talk to her later after she cools down, right now we've got to figure out the real problem. Dealing with the people on the other side of the cave." Kai said.

"Well, What are we going to do?" Jaden asked.

Kai thought for a moment. "We should stick with our original plan. This time our goal is to save Malaika's sister. We'll prepare to leave tonight, when everyone else is asleep."

"But Kai, what…. What if it's too late?" I asked him.

He placed his hand over mine. "I don't believe it's too late. From what Jaden said, I'm sure the lady really wants to keep her. I don't think she'll let anyone hurt her. We need some time to plan and prepare before we go up there."

I nodded.

Dean began to speak. "But if the cave isn't a way out of this place, then how are we going to get home?"

Kai grabbed one of the rocks from Jaden. "We use these. If they open portals, then we could probably open one back to earth. I don't know if it will work, but it's the last hope we have left."

They all smiled and nodded.

After the meeting, we all began to leave the room. Kai noticed my worried expression as we walked out and stopped me.

"Trust me Malaika. Everything is going to be alright."

I sighed. "I know. But still, I'm scared for her."

He paused for a moment. "Come with me. There is a place that I want to show you. I go there every time I feel stressed."

We walked up the stairs, all the way to the top of the castle. Then we walked down a few hallways until we reached a wall with a large curtain. He pulled off the curtain and I saw a small doorway.

He opened it up slowly and a bright light shined through. When we walked through the door, I saw a beautiful garden, with a small water fountain leading into a pond. Bright fireflies were flying around us. Above us was an opened ceiling, showing a big Royal Blue sky.

"Wow, this is beautiful."

He nodded. "I found this place myself. I come here all the time when I need to relax."

I smiled and looked around the garden. There were many different kinds of beautiful flowers. There were some flowers that I've never seen before. They would slowly change colors and they were formed in a unique way. They were strange, yet beautiful at the same time.

"Don't worry, they aren't poisonous. You can touch them."

I ran my fingers through some of the petals. The texture was very soft.

I walked over to the pond and laid beside it. I dipped my fingers into the cold water and ripples began to form. The water looked like sparkling glass.

I laid my head back on the soft grass, as I felt the cool breeze. I felt exhausted, angry, scared and in despair. I suddenly broke down and cried.

Kai came and knelt down beside me and I sat up from the grass.

"I don't know what to do Kai. I feel like I need to go now."

"I understand and we are all going, but we need to be prepared for whatever we encounter?" He said.

"I'm sorry, you brought me to this beautiful place but all that I feel is anger and fear. I know that you are trying your best. It really is beautiful here. If things were better, this would be the best place for us to stay together."

"Really"? Kai asked.

"Well… With my family of course".

I didn't want to cause any confusion and make him think that I was referring to him and I, which wouldn't really be a bad thing. Even though I haven't known him for that long, I couldn't help but feel a small attraction to him. He was very handsome, strong, and he was determined to help me. I just didn't want to be distracted. My main focus was saving my sister.

I continued to speak. "Leave my stepdad out of it. I still can't believe that he did this to us."

He chuckled. "I can. He's evil. His whole family is. I'm sorry you had to go through the same problem I did. He just popped into your life, and threw you into a cage."

I hadn't recognized that we went through the same problem.

"Kai. You seem to remember a lot more about your life on earth than I do. Yet you were the first one to be brought here. How is that?"

"I don't know, but my memories come back to me every now and then. I guess whatever magic he had on me is wearing off."

"What do you remember the most?" I asked him.

He paused and thought for a moment. "I remember my Mother. I miss her everyday, and I always wonder what she's doing now at this very moment. It's been so long since I've seen her. Is she still searching for me or has she given up? Does she think I'm dead?" He sighed and looked up to the sky. "I also remember the life before my mom got remarried and we had to move to a different home. I remember all of the friends I had and all the trouble we would get into. Not having to worry about the dangerous responsibilities that I have now. Moving from home was the hardest thing for me."

I nodded. "I know how you feel. My family was originally from Louisiana. After my Dad passed away and my mom got remarried, we had to move to New York. That's how I got into this mess."

Kai fiddled around with the grass on the ground. "Sorry about your father."

"It's okay. This world made me forget about him, but now I remember. He… he died from a car accident. I was only eleven at the time. I feel bad that Lia didn't get a chance to get to know him. He was the best. I never wanted my mom to move on."

Kai put his hand on mine. "I understand. Like I said, we have the same problems."

I paused. "Your.... father?"

He nodded. "He also passed away. He was very sick."

"I'm sorry, " I said.

He looked away from me and changed the subject. "I'm going to go and make sure everything is being prepared for the morning. You stay here and rest for a while, no one will disturb you. No one else knows about this place."

"Okay, thanks."

He got up from the ground and I stood up with him. He then turned to leave, but stopped and stared at me. "Makaila, I don't know if what Faye said was true about me being under a spell, but I feel very comfortable talking to you and being around you. I don't normally feel that way with anyone else."

I didn't know what to say at all. I was completely speechless.

He walked even closer to me and gave me a soft kiss on the forehead and turned and left the room.

I stood there dumbfounded. The anger that I had earlier had disappeared from me and I didn't understand what I was feeling now. I couldn't help but whisper to myself.

"Does he like me?"