“You intend to send me through the sealed portal. Tomorrow, I’m guessing?” Zack lifelessly took a sip of the now lukewarm tea, thinking about how they had been put in this situation.

Zara snapped a look at him, her eyes opening wide in understanding. “They can’t! Jean said the power lines went completely solid black years ago. Who can say how strong the monsters inside could be?”

Anna nodded, while her daughter looked on, not understanding what they were saying. “The major has already prepared a team of the strongest travelers in the kingdom. However, despite this being an unknown situation, or even how the portal will react. There is no reason to expect that they will even need to fight anything on the other side. The hope at this point is that Zack will go through, unblocking the portal, and then come right back. Either way, as soon as the seal is removed, the rest of the team will go through after him.”

The urge to lash out and let his mouth run free was nearly overwhelming. It was only Zara grabbing his hand that stopped him from doing anything. Instead, he pushed his chair back and stood, gazing at the mother and daughter with disappointed eyes.

“I had hoped the two of you were different, but in the end, you are still the same as your husband and father. Controlling the lives of people as though they belong to you, playing with their emotions all to further some ephemeral goal.” He laughed hollowly. “I hope that unsealing that portal, brings about consequences you could never have imagined.”

“Why would you say that? The kingdom-“

“Has nothing to do with us!” Zack interrupted her, unable to contain himself any longer. “We have no friends or family here. There are no connections that would make us feel any loyalty towards this disgusting place.” He stopped and turned away from the table. “Come, Zara, it seems I should go to sleep now. I imagine it will be an early morning.”

She followed after him, her own eyes looking back at the seated mother and daughter with disappointed eyes. “There really is no one we can trust. Is there?”

“Don’t forget, there is still Edith.” He whispered in reply. Unwilling to take away the small amount of hope that she still had in people. “She at least seems to a be a good person.”

“Are you-“ Zara was prevented from saying more as Tessa ran up behind them.

“I’m sorry!” The girl panted out. “I had no idea what mother was planning when I invited you here.”

Zack shook his head in disbelief and kept walking, relying on his memory to lead them back to their room.

“Is that how you were healed so quickly?” Tessa questioned, as they stopped outside the door of the room they were staying in. “There was a healer there when you went through the portal, wasn’t there?”

Though it had been phrased as a question, it was apparent she wasn’t expecting an answer. She had already made up her mind.

“I’ll make sure Zara stays safe while you are gone,” Tessa assured them as Zack twisted the door handle and pushed.

He snorted and shook his head in disbelief. “You’ll have to forgive me for doubting anything you say. At this point, I don’t even know if I would believe you if you said the sun was going to rise as normal tomorrow.”

“Well, that seems a little ridiculous,” She replied good-naturedly. Tessa was fully cognizant of how her actions had destroyed any trust he had in her. “I’m half-tempted to see now if I have gained some kind of world-bending powers.”

Zara gave a half-giggle and then ducked behind her bear.

Tessa sighed and met Zack’s eyes. “I don’t agree with how my mother has gone about any of this, but I can guarantee, for whatever it might be worth, that she is doing it for the greater good.”

“I’m sure she is.” Zack pushed Zara into the room. “And it isn’t worth anything.”

The door shut with a firm click, and the siblings retreated farther into the room and sat on the bed. Sitting there in the middle of the bed beside George, was Zara’s new bear, Aisha.

Motioning for Zara to remain silent, Zack grabbed the bear and began feeling at each of the seams. He was probably just being paranoid, but he wouldn’t put it past them to have put a listening device inside the stuffed animal.

Thankfully, they hadn’t said anything that needed to be kept a secret earlier when they were talking in the room. It would be even easier for them to listen in on anything said inside the mansion itself.

His inspection of the seams and feeling along the inside edges led to him finding nothing. It had been a long shot regardless, hampered if nothing else by the fact that he didn’t even know what he was looking for. Anything that seemed out of place, or had a sign pasted to the side of it saying what it was.

“Come on,” He said at last. “If they expect me to go through that accursed portal tomorrow, then I am going to need all the sleep I can get.”

Zara yawned, and after stepping into the attached bathroom to change, slipped under the covers of the bed. “Do they even know what to expect on the other side of that portal?”

“I don’t think so,” He replied while yawning, his eyes dragging down with an interminable weight. “From what I understand, everyone who went through the portal after our rescue had their memories wiped. I would assume that they wrote reports or something, for the Major’s people to work off of though.” He yawned again and snuggled against the fluffy pillow. “We should steal this bed and pillow for when we go back to the dorm.” He mumbled, already drifting off.

Zara muttered something in agreement, already drifting off as well. The comfortable bed was even higher quality than the ones at the dorm. The beds there had been a revelation in comfort just weeks before. Now, in comparison, they seemed lumpy and unrefined.

***

It was hours later, in the darkest hours of the night, that the large mansion was attacked.

It was a cold and silent affair, with each person in mottled, dark-colored outfits that blended into the night. It was to the attacker’s credit that they were using darts laced with a powerful sleeping agent instead of going for the more lethal alternatives. No matter what, they were attacking a noble’s residence. If they were ever discovered and had killed anyone, nothing their leader or employer could do would save them from the king’s wrath.

Not that they planned on being discovered.

They were being paid to collect two people, and that is exactly what they were going to do. The consequences after that, lay with the employer and not them.

The servants and various butlers were all put to sleep one by one. Those that were already asleep were darted anyway, to make sure they stayed that way. Up the stairs they crept, intent on finding the two rooms they had been directed towards.

Their targets that night were a man, who was reputed to be a researcher of some renown, and his teenage daughter. They found the daughter first. She was sitting at a desk in her room, reading a book on how spells worked, ignoring the late hour. A quick dart to the back of her neck and the intruders scooped her up and carried her away.

Her father was harder to find. The location of the room they had been given was empty. With the blankets smooth, and the mattress cold. No one had slept on it that night.

The contract prevented them from leaving right then, despite the misgivings the members of the team possessed. They were forced to look for the man, and to make every effort possible to bring him away. Failing that, they would need to find another way to salvage the operation.

It was an unfortunate option that would grow in importance with every minute they spent in the mansion. Outside factors were always something that needed to be considered in any operation. There was never a guarantee that they had managed to tag and dart every person on the estate.

All it would take was one person they hadn’t accounted for stumbling upon something they shouldn’t. Everything would fall apart from there. Their ghost-like status would be gone, and in the worst case, someone, or many someone’s, would be dead.

That was not how they operated, and it was the main reason they were allowed to keep operating. This particular mission went against many of the group’s rules, all because their leader had owed a favor to someone he shouldn’t have.

They made their way to the opposite end of the mansion in their search for the man. It was there that they stumbled across an occupied room.

Asleep on a large bed were two kids, a teenage boy, and a younger girl. Between them were three stuffed animals, two worn with use and age, while the third was brand new.

Without hesitation, darts were shot into both kids, and they were bundled up and taken away. The bears lay forgotten on the bed.

If they couldn’t have the man, then they would simply have to settle for bringing the client more kids. They had stayed too long already.

With the two girls and boy tied up and secured in the back of a dark, silent vehicle, they retreated. Unsure as to whether the three they had taken would be enough to save their leader’s proverbial hide.