Young Guardian Trilogy, Lady Adellandra Dratianos [epub e ink reader txt] 📗

to the point, hardly able to contain her excitement.
“Make it quick; Lu and I are going out tonight.”
Shannon smiled, for she knew how much her almost-sister and the most sophisticated Senior Detective agent were attracted to one another. “Shouldn’t take long. It's about the Dream Realm.”
“Be there in a flash.” Shadow supplied, now interested. “Shadow out.”
Within a few minutes, Shadow was standing at the doorway to her office.
“Wasn’t I just here?” Shane Morehouse joked, laughing.
Shannon nodded with a smile. “Lu was, too.”
Shadow’s face turned red, and he tried his best to avoid her teasing smile. “Yeah, I ran into her.” He cleared his throat. “Well, what did Luna tell you?”
“She told me some interesting things.” Shannon outlined her now-cousin’s short, emotional visit.
Shadow whistled when she was finished. “So that’s why she was crying! Okay, now what?”
“I’ve found the first new recruit.” Shannon told him. “His name is Derrick Reading. He lives in Hill View, Michigan, and is a very lonely and disturbed sixteen-year-old.”
“Poor guy.” Shadow supplied, shaking his head. “Now what do we do?”
Shannon stood face to face with Shadow, clutching her Dream Locket. It had been a long time since she’d worn it, but now, she had to. “We get him here.”
“What for?”
“We have to form another Dream Realm Crusader team.” Shannon said softly, her heart aching for her Aunt Dixie. “Lord Guardian must have a successor, and there must be a new Crusader team to defeat Master Orthos. Derrick is the first of four people Lu saw fighting against the Warriors. Her twin sister Ariana Moon is the second, and a guy named Aaron Schmidt is the third. She wasn’t sure about the fourth in her dreams, Mark Grey.”
“What were Lu’s dreams about?” Shadow dared to ask. He knew as much as she did how terrifying Luna’s clairvoyant dreams could sometimes be.
“We were all fighting against Orthos.” Shannon supplied.
“Excuse me? We?”
“Nick, you, me, her, Ariana, Derrick, Aaron, Mark, and four Companions; Kit, Kat, Wolf, and Toby.”
“Wait a minute. Aren’t Wolf and Toby Warriors, on Orthos’ side?” Shadow asked. “What about Kit and Kat? Aren’t they Banished? How would they fight?”
Shannon shrugged. “Ask Luna; they were her dreams.”
Shadow was silent now, which made Shannon anxious.
By the look in his dark eyes, she could tell he was remembering something from eight years ago. Shane was just nine-years-old when Dixilynne Ryan found him in a foster home. She had brought him here to fight in the Crusade, knowing of his potential.
The Crusade was still fresh in each of their memories, especially now.
He surprised her with a single remark, his hand finding his own Dream Locket. “Tell me what to do, Boss.”
Shannon and the Shadow set out to work on the biggest project to come up since the codename craze.
This time, it was her turn to go where every Ancient Mystic before her had to go. It was her turn to help the Ancient Mystics in the Dream Realm using her Ancient Mystic Magic.

II

Derrick Reading said a final goodnight to his sister and opened the door to his bedroom. After placing his glasses on the dresser beside him, he turned the light off. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted into a deep slumber.
He saw the face he'd always seen in his dreams. A young beauty with red-blond hair and silver-blue eyes that held many secrets. He wondered who she was, why she was haunting his dreams, and where she was, if she's real.
She haunted his dreams and taunted his heart. Derrick couldn't think of anything else since she began to plague his mind. The girl had a sad look in her eyes, as always, and a tear in her silver-blue eyes. Derrick could tell she was in trouble and needed his help.
I wish she were real! Derrick thought sadly. He wanted to help her so badly, but she never spoke to him, and he could never reach her.
She disappeared from his thoughts, replaced by a picture of his horrible family. One sentence came to mind immediately.
I've got to get out of this hell!
Derrick plotted how he was going to run away. He never knew where the thought came from, but he was determined. He was ready. He was going to run away from this life he was living, and go in search of himself.

The next day, Derrick made his way through Hill View Academy to the library, and went inside. He found a computer and started to work.
He didn't hear when a librarian called out as he strode past her in a trance. He was so into his work that he didn't hear his best friend, Craig Richardson, come up from behind him and sit next to him.
"Hey," Craig whispered in his ear, making him jump.
Derrick turned for a moment, then returned his eyes to the screen. "Hey yourself."
Craig sat there for a few moments, watching Derrick type. His fingers flew over the keys and his eyes were glued to the monitor.
After awhile and no response, Craig shook his head. "If you keep ignoring your friends, soon, you won't have any."
Derrick didn't hear Craig leave after that until he shut down when the school library closed. Derrick sighed.
Maybe he's right. Derrick thought to himself as he walked home. He had his backpack on his back and his hands in his coat pockets. He looked only to the ground as he walked. What could I do about it, though?
Derrick sighed, and began thinking about his plan. Soon, the massive building he worked at came into view.
He smiled. That's right. Today's payday!
I'll show them, Derrick thought to himself. I'll show them all!
He pushed the doors open with determination, entering Homeward Appliance Company. He hadn't been in the building two seconds when he heard a voice behind him, making him cringe.
"Derrick. Wait up."
Oh brother, He thought, rolling his eyes. It's her.
He had met Adrienne Whitehead at the store, not long after he got the job last year. She asked him out, and he said he'd think about it. He was in constant dazes, thinking of his Dream Girl, and not realizing he'd said yes. He thought she was a nice girl in the beginning, but had no idea of her true nastiness until recently.
Now, he had no time to chat.
"Not now, Addie. I'm running late." He barked without stopping.
That ought to shut her up, he thought. He stared ahead, following his own path to the stockroom.
It didn't stop her, and Adrienne continued to follow him.
"For what? Your own funeral?" Adrienne replied nastily. She grabbed his arm, in an effort to stop him in his tracks. It only made him turn and scowl at her.
"Leave me alone.” He growled, shaking out of her grasp. “I've got stuff to do."
He continued to walk away.
"No, not okay." Addie cried, following close behind him. "What's with you lately? Every day you come in here like a jerk, acting mean and nasty. You don't seem to realize just how many people are hurt by that!"
"Meaning you, right?" Derrick stopped and faced his so-called girlfriend with a frown.
Addie folded her arms and nodded. "Of course."
"What do you care, Addie?" Derrick spat in her face, making her step back. "You're nothing but a self-centered, arrogant little bitch!"
Adrienne's arms went to her hips and her face turned serious. "Bitch! How dare you call me a bitch?"
Derrick didn't know what to say. "Just leave me alone so I can get out of here, and get you out of my life!" He turned and headed in the opposite direction.
"Well, fine then!" Addie screamed at him as he walked away. "Good bye, Derrick! Forever!"
Derrick had to smile to himself.
Damn, her temper was short! He thought as he shook his head.
They were complete opposites, and Derrick often wondered what they saw in each other. Sure, Addie looked a little like his Dream Girl, but that was it. Her attitude wasn't sincere enough for him.
Derrick found his paycheck and ripped it open, glancing at the amount. "Gotcha." He whispered softly.
He turned when he heard someone chuckling behind him.
"Talking to yourself again, Derrick?" His friend Joey Price replied with a grin.
Joey followed as Derrick headed out.
"Say, Old Buddy." Joey started, placing an arm on Derrick's shoulder. Derrick had known Joey for years. "Can you work for me on Friday? I finally have a date with the lovely Laura Leewood."
Derrick smiled at his friend, but shook his head no. "I'll be gone by then. Sorry, Joey." He shrugged.
"See you later, okay?" Joey’s voice was hopeful, and Derrick could tell he was worried about him.
Derrick nodded as he shoved his paycheck into his pocket.
Joey smiled before returning to work.
In moments, Derrick was on his way home, and arrived there before anybody else, as usual. He had no homework, so he had nothing to do.
Thinking of last night's dream, he paraded up the stairs and headed to the attic, as he did so many times before. He unlocked the door with the key that hung around his neck.
The brisk, cool air brushed his face for a quick moment, and he breathed it in like a boy greeting his old friend. Derrick closed the door softly behind him, and smiled. He pulled the cord to a hanging light bulb and viewed the small but cozy room once more.
The attic was the only place he could escape from the outside world. He escaped from the pain of beatings every night when his father went on his drunken rages. The pain of listening to his parents when they fought. The emotional pains of watching his siblings waste away. He escaped from his own secret pain, sympathizing with his Dream Girl.
Derrick found the old crate that he often used as a chair in his secret hideaway and sat down. He started to go through old boxes and bags that were the only reminders of the lost happier days at the Reading Estate.
Too bad they were hidden away for so long, Derrick interjected to himself sadly, wiping away a single tear that had escaped from his right eye. We had such good times then...
He shifted through a box until he found his favorite item: A faded picture of his so-called "perfect" family. He stared at it, remembering when the picture was taken; and the memories came back to his mind as if it were only yesterday...

"Come on, everybody!" Mr. Reading called to fourteen-year-old Derrick, Derrick’s sixteen-year-old brother Jake, ten-year-old sister Kendra, eight-year-old brother Brian, and the two-year-old baby, Alex. Derrick's siblings rushed to their mother, but he stayed behind, shy of the big cameras of the studio.
"Let's go, kid." The photographer called impatiently, irritated. "We haven't got all day!"
Reluctantly, Derrick raced to his family's side. He snuggled in between Brian and Kendra. Mr. Reading wrapped a loving arm around his wife's shoulders while his other arm rested on Derrick's. His older brother Jake stood on the other side of his mother, with his arm resting on Kendra's shoulder. Brian frowned beside him, and Kendra sat on a stool with Alex in her lap, her arms holding their baby brother's waist.
"Everybody, smile for the camera!" Mr. Reading called out.
"Cheese!" The family chorused, happy smiles seem to open up new worlds, hiding painful secrets to come.

A tear fell from Derrick's eye to the picture as he remembered the good times they had shared, and saddened how easily they were lost forever.
He decided to lie