Beneath the Shadowlanders

Chapter Thirty-Two: Abigail

When I leave for class in the morning, Ri and Lis still aren't home. I'm grow more and more concerned all morning until, finally, around lunchtime, I receive a single text from my mother. "Ri and Lis conscripted. Can never return home. Call me."

I do, and am met with my mother's tearful recounting of her brief reunion with my brother and sister, only to have them ripped away from her again – this time, forever.

So, of course, it's only natural that when I arrive at UHC late that afternoon, I immediately head for Terrance's office, hoping against hope that there's something he can do.

I burst past the flustered receptionist, no longer in need of directions, and take the stairs two at a time, panic fueling my every step. I'm about to burst through the door, but stop short, hearing raised voices coming from the other side. I lean close and listen, just able to make out the conversation – due, if nothing else, to the volume at which the conversation is being held. If this is an attempt at subtlety, it is a failed one.

"What do you mean, gone? It's been six hours, at best." I recognize the voice as Terrance's.

"I mean, nothing left. Just three empty cargo trucks. All three scouts and the four kids are all missing. There's evidence there may have been an attack." This voice, I don't recognize, but it sounds angry and official.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" responds Terrance tiredly. "If they're gone, they're gone. If they return, they'll be treated like deserters."

"What about the scouts? Do you think they would have taken them? As hostages or something?"

"To what end?"

"To ransom them for reentry into Underland." The angry official is sounding a little less angry and a little more concerned now.

"And what purpose would that serve? They'd live out their days in prison, if it even worked at all. Criminals ransoming criminals? Who would pay? More likely, there was an attack and it killed them all." Terrance is clearly finished with this conversation.

Angry Official isn't ready to give up that easily, though. "If that's true, then it's an act of aggression from the shadows and we should retaliate. Stage a takeover of the Shadowlands. Reassert our position as the dominant species!"

"Dominant species?" Terrance raises his voice. "We're cowering underground! We haven't killed a single one of them yet. Did you know that? They're invincible. We are their bitches until they decide otherwise, so why don't you just go back to your little office and write up the MIA reports for the missing scouts so you can notify their families, hm?" He sighs so loud I can hear it through the door. I hear his office chair squeak as he shifts in it.

"Sir, with all due respect, I think it's time to act. They can't kill all of us. We'll force their hand. Bend them back under our control." This guy just won't quit.

Terrance sucks in a breath. "You know what? Fine. Amass the troops. Stage an attack on the surface. But when your army gets slaughtered, remember that I told you so." Another chair squeak and footsteps advancing toward the door.

I panic and freeze.

"Now, get out of my sight," says Terrance from directly behind the door. He flings it open, revealing my stunned face on the other side. "Oh! Miss Castellan. Right on time." He gestures for a man in an Officer's uniform to exit the office, escorting me in after.

My panic turns to fury as I realize it's my brother and sister they're talking about. Before he has a chance to speak, I confront him. "You knew?" I lean across his desk, surprisingly intimidating for a girl my size.