Shadow-Land by Heather Parsons (best books to read for teens .txt) 📕

door opened. The same man entered as before but this time he didn't come near her. "Good morning, Sierra. How do you feel?" She starred at him before answering. He was cautious and very wary of her now. That much she got from his stance.

"I feel much better, thank you." She figured being nice wouldn't hurt after all he could have killed her before but he didn't. Actually he looks like he'll do it now. She tried to stand again, only to fall. Expecting to hit the ground but his arms were around her in minutes. His embrace was soft but his face hard. "Thank you." Sierra said again and this time she meant it.

"You need to be more careful." He placed her back on the bed and sat down along side of her. Taking her hand in his, she didn't even try to pull away. Something about the way his hand felt reminded her a lot of Travis'. Just the mention of his name, made her chest hurt and she winced. "Are you still in pain?" He looked at her as her free hand wrapped itself around her chest. Without even realizing she had done this, she looked down to where he was and shook her head no. "Please forgive me for being rude. My name is Ulrey (pronounced U-ray). I am leader and chief of Crossroads. Logan is a student of mine and always reliable until a week ago. That's when you arrived here. I thought he brought you here which would have meant trouble for him but he didn't." He took a deep breath and then looked at the floor.

"I don't want to be to forward but please explain to me what you are." It seemed so logical at first and then his head jerked up and he looked into her eyes. She gulped. "I'm sorry that was rude." Tearing her eyes away from his, she looked at her hand.

"You have the right to know. Crossroads is a place for fairies, of all kinds. Each one of us has a human in which we are assigned to. To watch over and protect, but that's all we are suppose to do. Nothing more." He paused and that made her think.

"If everyone here is assigned a human then what happened to the ones assigned to my parents or my brother?" Just the mention of them brought on a wave of emotions. "Who was protecting them?" Anger mixed in with sorrow as she spoke these words.

"Your parents and your brother were never assigned anyone. Sierra you have to understand, only certain human's are assigned fairies. The man upstairs assigns us to humans that are important to him. We do God's work on earth." He smiled and she wanted to slap that smile off his face.

"So your saying that my parents and brother were not important enough for God to protect!" Her voice rose with the realization of what he said. "So what makes me important enough?" There was no difference between them and her. None that she knew of anyway.

"God works in mysterious ways and his choosing are for only the most important." He stopped talking and didn't even answer her question. This made her furious. Pulling her hand out of his and pushing myself away. "I don't know why God chose you, only your assigned knows why. And right now his missing." Her eyes widened as she heard that Travis was missing.

"Can't he just beam himself back here? Or fly?" Sierra had read it somewhere where it said that, that is what they do. But the smile on his face when she said this was short lived. She even heard him laugh a little but that didn't last long either. She herself didn't do either. Just starred at him, waiting on an answer.

"Those are stories and nothing more. We can't do any of what you read. We can however switch sides, become demonic fairies like your friends. Let me think...ah..Richard and Janice. They were once fairies like us but greed and hatred took over and know they are what they are. Sometimes their appearances change, one moment their are humans or at least that is what they want you to think. And then they turn into what they like to call vampires. That is the highest level of demonic fairy there is. Their intentions are purely death and destruction. They lie and cheat to whomever will let them to gain your trust. They are the ones we are to protect you from." He looked down, getting up from the bed and walked away.

"Are they the ones who killed my family?" Now she stood, shaking a little but still keeping strong. As much as she didn't want to know the answer to this question, she still wanted to know.

"They are the ones. We tried to stop them but we didn't make it in time. And Travis was with you, protecting you so he couldn't help. The night you came back, one of us was in the house with you seeing that Travis wasn't there. But also one of them was there too. They called your name out loud and we managed to chase them out before anything happened." She reached for him and held her hands out. Taking his, she needed to know more. "Sierra, if he tells them what they want to know about you, then his life is over. And yours is in grave danger."

"You think Richard and Janice have Travis?" He nodded yes. "What can I do to help?" She felt her knees buckle under her. With everything she has been told, she can't sit by and do nothing. He is her life, always has been. Without him, she don't even want to think of what will happen.

"We have to prepare first. I need to talk to the council members first then I'll come back to you. Your life is more important than his. You have to understand if we fail in getting him back then you'll have to go underground. That's the only way to protect you." He squeezed her hands then left. She watched his retreating back until she couldn't see it anymore.

"My life is nothing without Travis." She whispered, finding standing hard and stumbling back to her bed. Just making it there, she collapsed onto it and cried. "Travis is my life." She closed her eyes and weep.

Sierra didn't sleep even though her eyes were closed. Every once in awhile she would hear someone walk by the door (because it was left open) and glance up to see who it was. Hoping that Travis would magically appear but it was never him. Just other beings taking the chance to look at her. It made her self conscious, pulling the covers over her head to hide.

What was so special about her? She never did get an answer to that. He evaded her every chance she asked. Like it was some sort of big secret, and she herself wasn't allowed to know.

"Sierra are you awake? Some things changed. I need to speak with you immediately." She peeked out from the covers and saw Ulrey standing in the doorway. The moment he saw her eyes, he walked over. "I need you to come with me." He reached out and helped her off the bed. With one arm supporting her waist, they walked out of the room and down the hallway.

"Ulrey what has changed?" Her mind automatically went to Travis and the pain in her chest increased. Clutching it with her free hand and shaking the thought out of her head. She would never make it through this if she kept on thinking like this.

He lead her into an open chamber with a huge cherry wood table, right in the center. Seated in a few chairs were some others but she didn't know who they were. Probably soon she would find out and she was not sure if she can handle anymore. How many people did she know that she really didn't know? Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she saw who was sitting in one of the chairs. He looked smug, smiling wide when their eyes met. But she couldn't form a smile to save her life.

"Jake what are you doing here?" Her voice came out raspy and just above a whisper. But the look on his face told me he'd heard it. With his smile still wide, he stood up and walked towards her. Out of nowhere two others jumped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Sierra, tell them you know me." The longing in his eyes was still there but she couldn't respond to him. Sierra didn't know who or what he was just like she didn't know Travis, not as well as she thought she did.

When she looked between the two others, she saw fear in Jacob's eyes. And instantly felt bad for not saying something sooner. "I know Jacob but not very well. That's obvious is it not?" She looked at his face now. Still holding on to Ulrey's arm for support and nodding when he offered her a seat. Slowly moving over to it, she sat down. "You have to tell me what has changed. Please." She begged him, still holding on with both hands now. Watching his eyes, she saw him look over to Jake and nod.

"Sierra, I was the one that knocked you out of the way of that car. I also saw who was driving it." He took a deep breath and turned away. Sierra herself just starred at him. Remembering that day, walking down the middle of the road to escape the pain she was feeling. And the car swerving all over the road, aiming straight at her but she don't recall seeing Jacob there. Where did he come from? How did he know she was there? Why did he save her?

She was so lost in thought, she didn't see that Jake was talking again and had to focus on what he was saying so she could hear. But she couldn't seem to find a hold. "Did you hear anything I said? Sierra this is important. I'm trying to tell you about Travis and here you are daydreaming." The chair squeaked when he pushed back on it, getting to his feet. He took two steps and stood over her. This startled her and she blinked a few times so she could see and looked up at him. The tears streaming down her cheeks were answers to her own personal pain. Some were from him yelling at her, but those she wouldn't ever tell him. "Sierra I'm sorry for getting mad at you. You do need to listen though. I've