Shock of Fate Anchoress Series Book One: A Young Adult Fantasy Adventure Read online

  With dread, Michael knew this day would come.

  Darkness always seeks to destroy the light.

  Chapter 2

  Saturday Night:

  Providence Island,

  Earth World

  “Sorry your father never showed up for the placement ceremony today, Van.” Ken Rose shook his head in disappointment. The flickering light from the bonfire picked up the dusty blond highlights in his hair.

  Van shrugged. “Who cares?”

  It was near midnight and they’d both shown up at an after-party in the woods, far from the prying eyes of adults.

  “A sophomore’s never won an All-Grades Trophy like you did,” he said. “And for Capture the Flag, too. That’s the toughest event in the games.”

  “Whatever.” Van inhaled the heady scent of the pine forest. She leaned back against a giant oak, hands behind her, anticipating a romantic moment with her boyfriend.

  Ken nodded, satisfied with her answer. “Catch you later.” He bounded off to hang with his friends.

  The rough bark dug into Van’s delicate skin. She sprang forward, angry at messing up her new dress, all for nothing. She brushed off the dirt and bark as Ken and his buddies gathered around the “Reservation Boundary: Off Limits” sign at the edge of the clearing.

  I handpicked this outfit for tonight, she thought irritably. A long-sleeved, off-the-shoulder, form-fitting, blood-red mini dress with red tights and black thigh-high boots. The dress played up her smooth, shoulder-length white-blond hair and highlighted her fair complexion.

  Van thought the outfit made her look older than her fifteen years, and she hadn’t been sure her step-mother would let her wear it out of the manor. Genie had commented that Van was dressed “like a trollop,” but her step-mother said it with a closed-lip grin of approval and let her go. Genie understood Van’s appearance played an essential role in her top social standing at Canterbury Bells Charter School.

  After a few playful punches, Ken and his pals started throwing stones at the sign and daring one another to cross the boundary line. The latter act would get any one of them permanently banished from their small island off the coast of Massachusetts.

  The Native Island tribe owned and partly occupied Providence Island. Ages ago, the tribal Elders petitioned the U.S. government to declare the island a sovereign state with the ability to govern itself and won. Now, the Elders controlled and regulated everything on the island.

  There were two sides to the island: the townie side and the tribal reservation.

  Van and her father had been tribal residents from birth, and Genie by marriage, but they lived just outside the boundary line on the townie side, along with the non-tribal residents and the other Native Islanders who had children.

  Childless Native Islanders, including the Elders, occupied the reservation. Children and all non-tribal members needed permission by an Elder to enter their land.

  Ken and his friends knew this. The idiots.

  Now that Van thought about it, she didn’t care for the tone of Ken’s remark concerning her father. Everyone on the island knew Michael Cross worked long hours at an important job with the Elders in a division of Homeland Security called the Grigori. This special unit worked with the mainland’s government and often took her father away from home.

  Van didn’t understand her father’s work. No one outside the reservation did. She only knew what her father told her: the Grigori made up “an elite tactical unit of safety enforcement.” Her father had been reassigned to the field in the last year, which kept him away from home more than ever. As usual, his job had probably made him miss the Placement Ceremony.

  Van stood within the bonfire’s illumination.

  Ken caught her eye and smiled, his white teeth flashing through the dark night. “Loosen up and have some fun,” he yelled.

  Van caught herself frowning, something she tried to avoid; she didn’t want to get frown lines. She ran her fingers over her hair and smiled back at Ken. He had a good point. Tonight marked the beginning of Jaychund, a thirty-day celebration of the moon particular to the Native Islanders.

  The first night of Jaychund meant school had let out for summer. The games—sporting events accounting for the last part of final exams for kids in high school—were over. Earlier in the day, during the Placement Ceremony, students had received the trophies they’d earned during the games, and teachers assigned the undergrads their placement tracks for the next school year and awarded seniors their permanent career placements.

  The best part of the tradition happened at night, after the ceremonial formalities, when all the teenagers met secretly at Astrid’s Hollow to party around a bonfire. Tomorrow, the islanders would continue the celebration with a two-day festival.

  Van always looked forward to the island’s annual celebration of Jaychund. She found comfort in the ancient tribal traditions but felt awkward admitting this to her friends, who thought all celebrations organized by the Elders were lame.

  Suddenly, a group of freshmen buzzed around her.

  “Oh, Van, I love that dress,” one girl said. Named Jade, maybe? “Is that from Ropa Moda?”

  Van had a cool reputation to maintain and forced herself to be unenthusiastic over their arrival. Though she loved the attention.

  “It’s from off island,” Van said. “Genie buys all my clothes in downtown Boston.” She felt better after reminding them—or herself?—that she could afford to shop there. Well, her parents could, anyway.

  “Your hair looks amazing, Van,” another girl said. “Gotta love Miss Nutting and the Naked Ape, right?”

  Van eyed the girl up and down, sure she lived in Community Gardens, a place the islanders nicknamed Hide-a-Way and Genie considered a shantytown.

  “How long have you been going there?” Van asked, knowing perfectly well the girl couldn’t afford the Naked Ape. Then she felt an immediate pang of regret that worsened as she acknowledged the girl’s weak chin and split ends.

  “Did you hear the rumors?” a third girl asked, eager to please.

  Van felt so distracted by this girl’s mismatched nightmare of an outfit—Genie would never let me out of the house in that—she almost didn’t catch what the girl had said.

  However, the words registered, and Van perked up. Gossip was like currency on the small island. She raised one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows.

  Thrilled at the show of interest, the girl babbled on. “The Elders are looking for some kids to help with a project off island.”

  “Away for the whole summer,” said another girl, who had an upturned nose.

  “Pernilla won every event in her own year and every All-Grades event, except Capture the Flag,” the girl from Hide-a-Way said. She grinned, acknowledging Van’s achievement, then continued. “Pernilla will get chosen for the project, for sure.”

  “I heard she was sick for months before the games,” the girl with the mismatched outfit said. “Almost wasn’t able to compete.”

  “She obviously got better.” Van didn’t appreciate how no one ever seemed impressed with her accomplishments. She had placed first in her year and had won the All-Grades Trophy for Capture the Flag as a sophomore—that was something, too.

  “I overheard the Elders call Pernilla a ‘special case,’” the girl from Hide-a-Way said. “What do you think it means?”

  Van shrugged. “It’s the first time a junior has placed number one overall in the games.”

  Or it could be Pernilla always seemed different, being a strange ethnic mix of Native American and Native Islander. Her light blue eyes, courtesy of the Native Islanders, combined with the naturally tan skin of the mainland’s Native Americans and thick, wavy, light brown hair. All these features made her a striking contrast to her predominantly fair-skinned, blond, blue-eyed peers. She attracted all the boys, and she was Van’s biggest competition for their attention.

  “Who cares about Pernilla?” Jade gushed. “Oh, Van, you will so get chosen.”

  “The Elders
love you,” said the girl with the nose, whooshing her hand in a gesture that said, “No worries.”

  The other girls bobbed their heads up and down like marionettes in a most irritating way.

  Van looked down her nose at Jade. “Not interested. I have other plans for summer.”

  They acted like Pernilla had earned a place on the project and Van hadn’t, but would get the placement anyway because of her family’s high status.

  Well, Pernilla could have the project. Van had no desire to leave the island. She had been off island as required for school field trips and had found the mainland crowded with angry, violent people. Ignorant, too. They often referred to Providence Island as “that cult.”

  Just because the Elders restrict our use of the internet and TV, and the island doesn’t get smartphone reception, doesn’t mean we’re a cult.

  Van didn’t care for any of the newest technologies, anyway. She believed the gadgets took people away from nature and limited their human interaction.

  Besides, she looked forward to bumming around on the beach all summer with Ken and her best friend, Paley Ash. Van shivered with annoyance at the freshman even suggesting she work during break.

  Ken appeared, jarring Van from her thoughts. He’d evidently overheard their conversation.

  “You’ll get chosen for the project, Van, like it or not,” Ken said. “The Elders favor kids in the reservation program. Which means you.”

  Van belonged to a group of kids selected for extra classes that took place on the reservation, in addition to regular classes at Canterbury Bells. The kids in the special classes were superior athletes and the only students allowed to compete in the Jaychund games before entering high school. Pernilla excelled in athletics but, oddly, had never been placed in the reservation program.

  “Hey, guys,” said a superficially cheery voice.

  Arriving like a bad rash, Pernilla intruded into their circle, attached at the elbow to her best friend, Maren.

  “Flotsam,” Van greeted Pernilla, then nodded at Maren. “Jetsam.”

  “Van’s in the reservation program because she needs special attention,” Pernilla chided, “being a bit slow in the head and all.”

  “Excuse me?” Van raised her brow.

  “That’s why they never placed me in the program,” Pernilla said. “I was too smart.”

  “Take it easy, Pernilla,” Ken said, then turned to Van. “Let’s go.”

  “I was here first. I’m not going anywhere.” Van crossed her arms. “Tell her to leave.”

  “No way,” Pernilla snapped.

  Ken grasped Pernilla’s elbow. “Come on.” He pulled her away.

  Van heard him whisper, “Why are you bothering Van?” It seemed a bit too intimate a question for casual friends, causing her curiosity to pique as her stomach tumbled.

  Maren stood firm and glared at Van.

  Van scowled back. “I think it best you go take care of your friend.”

  Maren tossed her head and left to rejoin the party.

  “Don’t listen to Pernilla,” Jade said. “Special doesn’t mean remedial.”

  Van never thought it had until now.

  She remembered being a slow learner as a kid, but she’d struggled due to frequent illnesses. The special classes made her feel better, healthier. They helped her gain physical strength and enabled her to be as smart as everyone else.

  “Have you seen Paley?” Van asked, missing the company of her best friend since nursery school.

  “She’s probably out trolling for guys,” the girl with the nose said, smirking.

  The other girls giggled unkindly.

  “Paley is still your favorite charity case, huh?” Jade asked Van.

  Van could barely hear Jade above the rising human howls echoing throughout the woods. Tradition dictated the islanders howl at the moon at midnight during Jaychund.

  Once the noise quieted, Van said fiercely, “Paley got a job at the Naked Ape. Got special permission from the Elders. She’s a contributor, just like the rest of us.”

  Van’s schoolmates saw Paley, an orphan, as a drain on the island’s resources because she didn’t have a family to contribute to the island’s economy and therefore deserved nothing. But Van never felt that way about Paley.

  “Ah-woo!” Whump.

  Van became smothered by pudgy softness, hyacinth scent, and clouds of highlighted blond hair. She grinned and hugged her friend back. “Paley!”

  After they disentangled, Van looked over Paley’s outfit. “You look great!”

  Jade eyed Paley’s bolero jacket, silk shirt, ankle boots, and beautifully manicured hands. “Van’s right, you do look good. How come?”

  Paley’s shoulders slumped.

  The girl with the mismatched outfit asked, “Van picked it out and bought it for you, didn’t she?” She and her friends turned up their noses and wandered back to mingle at the party.

  “They’re just jealous.” Van’s heart bled for the pain these jerks caused Paley. She was glad to see them go.

  Paley shrugged and hung her head.

  “Let’s go find Ken,” Van suggested, hoping to break Paley’s sullen mood brought on by the disrespectful freshman. Van had last seen Ken pulling Pernilla away, followed by Maren. Now, Maren chatted with a few other girls from her own year and Pernilla wasn’t with her.

  Paley agreed, and they meandered into the thick of the party.

  In the woods alongside the clearing, they saw Pernilla making out with some guy, not even troubling to move out of the moonlight.

  The two figures separated; Van gasped.

  Ken, hearing her involuntary reaction, looked over with the expression of a thief caught in a searchlight.

  Van snorted in disgust and stormed away through the crowd, clipping anyone in her way.

  “Hey!” Ken shouted as he jogged to catch up with her. He grabbed Van by the arm and twisted her toward him. “I can explain!”

  “Ouch!” Van cried. “Let go of me!”

  Ken relaxed his grip, but held firm. “It was an accident.”

  “What happened? Did you fall on her face?” Van yanked her arm out of his grip.

  “I, uh—”

  “Does anyone else know? Did anyone but us see you?”

  Ken’s lips formed a stern line. “You care more about what other people think, not that I kissed another girl?”

  “I—I’m mad at both,” Van said confused. “I don’t want anyone to know because it’s embarrassing.”

  Pernilla appeared next to Ken and butted in. “I want people to know.”

  “Nilla, please,” Ken said in a strained voice.

  “Nilla? Nilla?” Van wanted to puke. “You have a cute little nickname for her?”

  “No. No!” Pernilla stomped forward. Ken grabbed at her, but she jerked free and stuck her face in Van’s. “I’m sick of pussyfooting around her.”

  “Oh, you better get out of my face, girl,” Van warned.

  Paley watched the altercation, nervously shifting from foot to foot, her face pale even for someone with a booth-made tan.

  Ken stood like a lump, looking terrified.

  Pernilla’s face contorted. “No one likes you or that weird flash of violet you get in your eyes.” Her hands curled into claws. She raised them, settling into the familiar fighter’s stance. “Your family is rich. That’s your only skill. No one wants to be friends with you. Our parents make us be nice to you under orders by the Elders.”

  Maren edged her way behind Pernilla, her eyes wide. “Pernilla, let’s go.”

  Pernilla ignored Maren and continued to glower at Van. “You’re a pathetic waste of space. Being in special classes doesn’t even help you. You’re such a baby. Still slow and weak. Everyone but you grew out of that.”

  “Your reasoning’s flawed, just like your skin.” Van’s nostrils flared. “I get good grades. I’m placed on the reservation track.”

  “Even Paley has started to earn what she has,” Pernilla hissed. “But you—y
ou get special treatment from the Elders because of your mother!”

  Pernilla startled Van by using the word mother, rather than step-mother. The Elders forbade the islanders to talk about Van’s birth mother, Aelia.

  “Leave my family out of this,” Van snarled. She bent down and snatched a stray branch off the ground.

  “Take it easy, Van,” Paley said.

  “Don’t tell me what to do.” Van’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the branch like a weapon and held a steady gaze on her nemesis.

  Pernilla took a few steps back, still crouched in a defensive stance. “You’re handed everything because of your family name. You never earned a thing. Not your placement. Not your grades—”

  “I won an All-Grades Trophy in the games this year!”

  “The games are fixed.”

  “Nilla!” Ken spurted.

  Pernilla’s only saying that because she wants Ken. It doesn’t make it true. Van gave the branch a menacing twirl.

  “Hey, Van, put that down.” Ken’s eyes widened.

  Van ignored him and whirled the branch with savage satisfaction, taunting Pernilla. Knowing how to fight came from Van’s special classes. It was something she never thought she would use in real life.

  Everyone at the party crowded around Van and Pernilla. Not a peep came from the onlookers.

  Ken moved between them, his arms spread. “Pernilla,” he said in a serious tone, “you need to leave now.”

  “Oh, how cute. Your other trophy is trying to help,” Pernilla said. “You didn’t earn him, either.”

  All of Van’s classmates in her year, including Paley, came forward from the crowd of onlookers and surrounded Van, ready to aid in her defense.

  Pernilla hesitated, but didn’t stand down. She glared at Van, curling and uncurling her hands. Several of her friends, including Maren, gathered behind Pernilla in a show of solidarity.

  After a long moment of strained tension, Pernilla lunged forward.

  Woot! Woot! A siren from a Providence Island Security buggy tore through the night.

  The noise stopped the altercation, and the crowd scattered.

  Van dropped her stick as a spotlight lit the darkness of the woods like the morning sun. Oh, this isn’t good. Unauthorized party in a restricted area, potential fight—both were against the rules.