A dangerous plan.
I was tired. I was tired and sad and devastated. My mentor was dead. Most of my family and close friends were dead. There was hardly any adult left who I could go to for guidance. Well, there was one person – Tristan, who was probably my guardian now. As soon as I joined the rest of my classmates and friends, Tristan saw me and came over.
“Are you alright, Lucas?” He asked, looking me over.
“Yeah. ‘m fine, Tristan. What’re you doing here?” I asked. He seemed worried and tired. His face had more new scars than I could count. He was still way taller than me. Even with my recent growth spurt.
“I came here to check on you, Luke. You know that.” He paused, and narrowed his eyes. “Did you find anything when you went with Mr. Kroft to wherever you went?” he asked me. Kroft had given me a mission, but Tristan was just asking a question that would lead him nowhere. So, I shrugged mentally and answered.
“Yeah, Tristan. We found a locket. This one. It had a note in it.” I said, holding up the gold and silver locket and showing him. “Did anyone sign the note?” was his only response, practical as always. I rolled my eyes at that.
“Yup. It was signed by a M.V. Don’t know who that is though.” I say, watching as his face grew darker. He nodded, doing some quick thinking, the same way he did when his arch-nemesis/only alive friend spoke to him. They had this odd relationship which I never would understand. “What are you thinking?” I asked, suspiciously. He could be dangerous when he was like this, very dangerous. And in a world where I was forced to grow up quickly, I knew that whatever Tristan was thinking would lead to some people regretting their life choices.
“Just a plan to keep you safe, Luke. The mission that Mr. Kroft left you is useless. It won’t help you at all. Trust me for now, and rest alright?” he asked me. “I’ll explain later.” And then he was gone, out of the hospital wing. I was left behind, staring confused at the wall. How did he know about my mission that Mr. Kroft left me with? Huh, I shrugged. He usually knew a lot of stuff and figured the rest out. I followed his advice and went to the bed to rest. Tristan was literally the only adult left who cared about me, and by me, I mean Lucas Greene. Not the false persona I had created as the Light Boy.
The next day, it is in the news. The entire HQ of the Evil Overlord was burned down, like someone had set fire to it. I went down to eat breakfast when I ran into Tristan.
“Hello, Luke. How are you doing?” he asks, looking at me with concern. And a hint of this ‘I know something you don’t’ thing.
“I’m fine. Just a little shaken. Did you hear about the burning of the HQ?” I asked him. He looked at me and nodded.
“Nasty business, going after the HQ. Good for us, but nasty and a mighty shock for Evil Overlord.” He answered, as if he knew who had done it and was pleased. He probably was pleased. Over the years, I have learnt that Tristan has an odd sense of humor. The death of his loved ones only made it worse. I knew that if something like that happened to me, I would probably be in a worse state than he is. So, I shrugged my shoulders and let him be. “Why does he even call himself the Evil Overlord?”
A week later, after Mr. Kroft’s funeral, to which a lot of people showed up; I saw the paper. It reported some deaths. The main followers of the Evil Overlord had been killed, murdered or assassinated. But their cause of death was a huge fire that had burnt down their entire estate. The only survivor was one of the maids who was working there.
“The fire seemed to have its own mind and ideas. It left me alone surrounding the rest of the manor in flames. Castor who was sitting in the same room was burned alive, but somehow I survived.” The maid states.
“That’s weird. No one can have so much control over fire. Even the Evil Overlord wouldn’t do that!” Clara, my best friend in the school told me. “Whoever did this is very powerful. I hope they aren’t out to get you, Luke. You don’t want them as your enemy.”
“That person isn’t your enemy, darling.” Tristan said, coming up behind me. Creepy, as usual and out to freak me out.
“How do you know? Though he or she did destroy Peter. I thought you’d be less happy by that. You probably wanted to kill him yourself.” I told Tristan. See, the two of them, Peter and Tristan had this odd friendship years and years ago, and then Peter betrayed Tristan by killing Tristan’s best friends. So now, most people assume that Tristan is out to get Peter, which is very true.
“I have my reasons to believe that. Come to the Volt Mansion in December and I’ll tell you. I’ll explain everything that you need to know.” Tristan said. I looked at him in shock. No one ever told me everything or gave me an explanation. Derek, my godfather and Tristan’s twin brother, tried but Mr. Kroft wouldn’t let him. He made Derek and Tristan promise not to tell me anything and both brothers never broke their promises. They couldn’t even tell Clara or Jamie, my cousin and I know they tried.
“December?” I asked. “Why December?” It was only May now. That was seven months away.
“Because I will be busy until then. And no one will suspect you if you come into the mansion in the winter vacations. I doubt anyone will be there themselves.” Tristan said. He hugged me and ruffled my hair. “I’ll keep in touch, darlings! Enjoy your time here.” He spoke to Jamie and Clara, they were the only ones he referred to as darling. He probably did know what was going on, I mean, he was quite smart.
It was July, almost 2 months since Mr. Kroft had died and Tristan had gone on what he called a vacation. Since then, a lot had happened. Many important followers of the Evil Overlord were killed, suspicious circumstances. They were probably murdered. In the mail, I received one letter. I opened the letter and read through it. Laughing at some parts of the letter.
Hello Lucas,
Nice to hear from you. Or not. Since, you haven’t sent a single letter. Better luck to you next time, if it got lost in transit. Anyways, I know that you have heard of the fancy killings that has happened to Evil Overlord’s followers. Warning you now – make sure you don’t send any suspicious letters to your friends. Warn them as well or we will have him on our tail. Which I definitely don’t want. I will be pissed. Anyways, back to his followers. They will all disappear and perhaps die and then turn up and five days later the Bureau will be alerted. What a shame! Even the Evil Overlord, for all his promises, can’t keep them safe. I hope you know how to get some secret documents.
Toodles,
Tristan Volt.
I shook my head. Some people never change. I opened the envelope again and fiddled with the paper, undoing the folds. Tristan had managed to put in another piece of paper.
‘Hey,
You can use Derek’s house in Brooklyn to hideout. The staff know to let you in. And you know the Secret Place where everything is hidden!
Tristan.’
I sighed. Did he have to write something like this that will interest the reader to find out exactly what it is this Secret Place is? Well, I would head there on the 31st, my birthday. Bet they wouldn’t expect that.
My birthday was eventless, I turned 17 and could officially do whatever I wanted. In a world with such dangers, we were considered adults once we turned 17 or killed our first person in battle, which I hadn’t done. I left my aunt and uncle’s house and went to Derek’s house. It was a penthouse apartment in a busy but a little shady part of Brooklyn. No one would anyways be able to access it. The Volt brothers had obviously thought of everything as there was lots of food, water, clothes and space as well. I could do whatever I wanted. It was August 17th today and I had just received a letter from Tristan.
Dear Lucas Greene,
I hope you have reached your destination swiftly. I trust that you will be dead by the time you receive this letter, but if not, anyone reading this will end up in flames.
There was a huge gap. And then, the writing continued.
Well, Luke. That should have gotten rid of the unwanted visitors, hopefully. Point is I have now subscribed myself to the News Channel thing so that I receive the news. Another thing is that there are textbooks hidden in your old bedroom. You can study from them, as they are your age material. One more thing, I would suggest not attending school this year. You won’t even get the invitation. Enjoy your free year, Luke.
I hope to see you in December.
Tristan Volt.
I burst out laughing at the letter. Tristan was incredible with theatrics and dramatics and if there wasn’t a war, I bet he would have become an actor. I shook my head and went to search for the books that he had mentioned. When I reached the cupboard under the stairs, I opened it and found an old book under all sorts of blankets and brooms. I opened the book. It read, ‘Welcome to the teachings of ‘Tristan, Derek, Shawn and Carla!’
It was now the middle of November. The journal was my new favorite book and I had learnt lot about my parents and Derek and Tristan in this. The book included everything that a student should know. And a lot about growing up in a warzone. I still had a month to wait to meet Tristan in the Volt Mansion. Today, the News Channel reported the falling of the Ministry. The deaths however included Trent Mason, one of the worst criminals and a lot of bullies. I was pleased and wanted to tell Tristan, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to send coded letters. I was terrible at that. However, Tristan seemed to know exactly what to say because I received a letter from him.
Hello Greene,
Fancy hearing that Trent, my dearest friend is dead, right? Well, the worst part is that I didn’t get to do the honors. Enjoying my vacation thoroughly. I do agree that I need it. However, Kelli is a nasty person, wouldn’t leave me alone. I almost had to slap her! Enjoy yourself. See you in December in the Secret Room. I hope you have been practicing.
Tristan.
His letters were getting less detailed and vaguer, but I agreed with him on the account of Kelli. She was annoying and couldn’t keep her nose out of other people’s business. Sort of like me and Derek, I guess. It was only a month longer and then I could meet Tristan.
I was waiting in the Volt Mansion, Secret Room. The room was decorated like the Talents Common Room. The posters and banner hung around exactly like it was in the Common Room. Julian, Tristan’s arch-nemesis/ best friend, had seen me but had just nodded and let me in. I was surprised by that. No one else had seen me as the mansion was mostly empty, but I had seen Carlos, Castor Hale’s son and Nathan Wilde having a hushed conversation. They had never been enemies but not friends either. I had been waiting for 3 hours when finally, the door to the room opened and someone entered. My weapon was already in hand and I was staring at him.
“Hello, Greene. How’re you doing?”
I continued staring at him. His normally short hair now fell to his shoulders and he looked younger than ever. His eyes that used to be green, were now amber with flecks of gold. He grinned at me.
“You know, if you keep pointing that gun at me, I wouldn’t be able to tell you about the plan we had.” His voice hadn’t changed much but it was what he said that got to me.
“Say what now?” I asked, lowering my weapon of choice. He laughed.
“You sound like Carla, you know.” He asked, coming into the room and sitting down. “We had a huge plan. It would have worked, but we didn’t factor in Peter. He spoiled the entire thing.”
“What was the plan? Do I really sound like her?” I asked, confused.
“Sit down, Lucas.” Tristan said, waiting until I was seated to answer my questions.
“Yes, you do sound like my little sister. Our plan was to destroy the Evil Overlord of the time. He’s dead now, but his son took up the position. I don’t suppose there was a job application for that!” Tristan said. I glared at him. Now was not the time to make jokes.
“The prophecy says that I have to do it,” I told him, and he scoffed.
“Who said the prophecy was real? Mr. Kroft was a drunk, he wouldn’t remember anything to save his life. Derek and I bribed Serena to pretend to be a witch and give a prophecy. Mr. Kroft actually believed it as did Silenus Hale.” He said, pausing after that. “It was a total fake and we made sure that we had a plan to defeat Silenus. We had been friends for years, his family and ours. Your father’s family wasn’t as close, but when h decided to murder people to rule the world, and become the next Hitler, we knew that we had to stop him. So, we did, and we made a plan to stop his son as well, but Peter betrayed us and then, your parents died and the entire problem with Derek’s case and me having to support Jamie and Tony, and you being sent to your father’s sister. We didn’t have time to put our plan in action.”
It was a lot to take in. That my parents and godfather and Tristan had a plan to kill the Evil Overlord. That they had gone through so much to destroy him and Tristan had known about my mission and he had forbidden me from doing it. He had practically completed everything, all the research and the hard work and he had gotten rid of multiple followers of the Evil Overlord. “You did what? You literally saved my life. I mean, I would have dies completing that mission that Mr. Kroft assigned me and knowing Clara and Jamie, they would have joined me in that mission whether or not I gave them the specifics and I would have probably gotten them killed as well. Just like I got Derek killed because of that trap that they led us into, and what with trusting Peter again and…”
“Alright, Lucas Greene. Please do shut up this instant.” Tristan interrupted my tirade. “It’s not your fault Derek died, and you did not get Jamie or Clara killed, leave it at that.”
“Ok. So what else did you have planned?” Obviously, they would have something else in their pockets. It was a family trait to kill two birds with one stone.
“We did have something else planned.” Tristan admitted. “See, Kroft knew that Peter was the traitor. He knew that Derek was innocent, and that the Ministry would suspect me as well. He was the one whose vote kept Derek and I away from you. We are your closest relatives what with us being your mother’s older siblings and all. So, three years ago, Derek and I made a plan. To destroy Kroft as well. He had taken away your life and childhood. We knew that if we used his supposed loyal servant against him, we could kill him.”
“I am sorry that it took so long, Volt.” I heard someone say. I turned around and saw Julian Sanders standing there. He nodded at Tristan who grinned in response. “I had to wait until Carlos got the assignment and after that it was an easy job.”
“Wait. You both and Derek collaborated to have Manipulative Kroft killed and then Evil Overlord, Steven to be killed?” I asked them. Both of them nodded in affirmation. “So now all I have to do is kill Steven Hale?”
“Yup. Which is quite an easy feat. As long as you confuse him with some logistics and numbers, he will get distracted and you can kill him.” Julian said.
“I will be helping you to add to the confusion, Greene.” I shot out of my seat and stared at my long-term rival and the cousin of the Evil Overlord, Carlos Hale. Reacting instinctively, I threw a punch, which caught him straight in the face. “Ow!”
“You knew that would be the reaction, Carl.” Tristan said, shaking his head. “Now, let Stevie try and attack you. He will die.”
Epilogue
It had been twenty years since the Plan was completed. Tristan had explained the entire thing to me just before it was completed. He had died in the Battle, protecting me from stray followers and weapons that could kill me. Julian had been killed by Steven Hale, as he attempted to get control Carlos. When Stevie tried to kill me, he failed miserably. He was destroyed, just like Kroft was. They had achieved their goal. Carlos and I were the only people who were aware of the plan. Carlos married Carla. The two had become good friends and they had two kids, Derek Daniel Hale and Julian Tristan Hale. Both named after people they looked up to. I had not married anyone. I mostly stayed at Volt Mansion, considering the fact that Greene Mansion was way too old and dusty for my tastes. The Hales stayed with me in the huge mansion, as Carlos was completely opposed to living in the Hale Family House. I spent my time teaching the kids anything and everything. And we taught them exactly how brave the people they were named after were. If not that then I was spending time with my Godmother, Luna Hale, Carlos’ mother and her ever elusive sister, Valeria. Both sisters had reconciled and were my only source of information about my parents and their friends. All in all, I was enjoying life out of the spotlight.
Just a little more 