The City Of Death

Before Skye Disappeared- Part Three

Skye had a smile on her face as she sat at the kitchen table, the small piece of paper in her hands. Things had finally been settling down, but she knew they were about to pick back up again. Macy had finally, finally adjusted to school. While she still wasn't too fond of her Teacher, getting her to school every morning was no longer a fight. No more tears when Skye hauled Macy onto her back and ran her from the news station to school. Macy no longer clung to her when they got there, but rather, she slid off her back easily and went into the building. 

And since she had started sleeping easily again, Skye had sent out a message that she was available and ready for action. And since the message had gone out, it was a waiting game. Once the wait was over, her nights would be as busy as they were when Macy was a baby. Perhaps even busier since she now had to work Macy around her plans. It would be harder since the child was getting smarter every damn day. 

That much was proved by the note she held in her hands. It was the note she had stuck to Macy's door the last time she had gone into the tunnels. Macy had woken up at some point and read it. She'd found a pencil and added on to it. Skye had found it the next morning when she went to wake Macy up. She'd found the words added to the note in Macy's scrawling, barely legible handwriting. 

Love you. And then Macy had drawn hearts around the words. It made Skye's own heart swell every time she looked at the note. She'd succeeded. After her mother had died giving birth to Macy, her father had made her promise that she'd take care of the infant. Skye knew that he didn't plan on being around for much longer. So Skye had promised to take care of Macy. And this note proved that she had- Macy was alive, well, and learning. Macy loved Skye as much as Skye loved her. For all the trials and tribulations, Skye had kept her promise of taking care of Macy. 

But there was so much more Skye could do for her little sister. So much more that she wanted to show her. But she had to wait for the timing to be right. She had to know that her sister would survive in the place Skye wanted to take her to. First, she had to know that she could trust Macy with her biggest secret and not have it be exposed. She'd been trying to think of a small, safe secret that she could share to find out. So far, she hadn't thought of one that couldn't harm anything. She could come up with a lie, but that felt like cheating. She wanted to see how Macy handled the truth. 

"Well now, Macy, what am I going to tell you?" Skye said to the note. "What secret shall we share?" Her thoughts were interrupted by a curt knock at the door. She looked at the clock and saw that it was just past midnight. There was only one reason anyone would be at her door at this time of night. She sighed and pushed her chair in, careful not to make too much noise and wake Macy up. She got to the door, smiling to herself. Only a month since her last meeting. One week since she'd announced that she was ready to play her part again. They weren't wasting any time. 

"Skye?" the young woman said. Skye wasn't even sure she could call her a woman- she looked like a teenager. The ponytail her light blonde hair was tied into made her look even younger. Skye wondered vaguely how old this Messenger was. 

"Yes?" 

"You have a message from Salvia Street," the Messenger said. She ran a hand through her hair, and when her hand went up, Skye saw a small green band around her wrist. It seemed the King had taken her advice and set up a system so she knew which Messengers were on their side. 

"And what is the message?" 

"The King's Guard would like to meet with you." Skye tried to bite down her laugh but found herself unable to. 

"The King's Guard? He thinks pretty highly of himself, doesn't he?" 

"Well, from what I understand, you did call him a bodyguard the last time you saw him. He must be taking the title seriously," the Messenger responded with a laugh.