The Initiative (A Sleeping Beauty Remix)

Thirty-One

Thirty-One

"It's the music event of the century!"

-Sarah Fields, Newsanchor, WRS Channel 5 News

Two Months Later...

The Musetunes Festival was in full swing. A summer festival on the edge of Pellora city, the four day bonanza had brought in so many Aces from around the kingdom that I honestly had a hard time wrapping my head around it. Wes mentioned Musetunes being a large website, but this... I eyed the swarms of Aces mingling by the gates. This was insane.

According to Anna, the tickets sold out in a manner of a few hours. They'd packed the line up tight with big names which almost guaranteed a sizable attendance. Because of its size, Pellora was the only city in the kingdom able to house such an influx of people. The coastal city featured a lot of open space with many amenities as it was also a transportation hub, which made it easy to get to either by train, plane, or vehicle.

The entrance gates stood a mile and a half from the main stage right on the water. And for almost a mile and a half, people cramped together, trying to get to the kiosks, food trucks, and portable restrooms.

The three of us in addition to Leonger's millions of guards and security had watched the set up closely days prior. Because the event pulled in so many, it posed a big danger for those involved.

If the Circle was looking to make a big splash, there would be no better opportunity than the kingdom's first Musetunes Festival. And because a lot of famous players would be here—the Crown Prince, Anonymous, Kate Evans, Devon Young, Josh Farrest, and hell, even Danika Leighton came out of retirement for it—we couldn't risk anything happening.

I knew Brayden and Zekiel. While they weren't leadership for The Circle, I could guarantee they would be here. It was like water for a dehydrated man—they wouldn't be able to resist.

"You have to go," Marlee said, "go!"

Marlee's death still haunted me. The first couple of weeks, I slept on the couch downstairs. I couldn't sleep in my room at the Initiative Base. Her bed and all her things screamed at me that I hadn't been enough. That I should've done something.

My fingernails dug into my palms.

Wes' shoulder bumped into me. We shared a look. We'll get him, his gaze promised. I had no doubt we would once we found him. He and the Doctor had been silent these past couple months.

Even Leonger's folks, deadly trained trackers, were unable to come up with anything concrete. We'd come precariously close a few times, yet never close enough. Brayden was always one step in front of us. And he was playing by the law—nothing out of the ordinary, no teenagers missing, no cases of arson or bombings. We'd busted a few hideouts, some with medical equipment and still warm takeout, but no Brayden, no Zeke, and no Doctor.

Until our last bust. Nothing remained in the empty apartment except a slip of paper with a phone number on it. One that went to the service line selling Musetunes Festival tickets.

It wasn't a breakthrough. Brayden was too smart to leave something like that behind. No, he'd deliberately left us a taunt.

How nice.

Around me, teenagers and adults laughed, joked, and wandered around. Most of them wore their favorite artist's t-shirts and hats, a few of them sporting face paint and colored dye in their hair. The crowd was awash with Anonymous t-shirts, Prince Ethan Alexander's recent album cover, and Kate Evan's white grin. The number of red heads astounded me—as if all the women wanted to be Anonymous so bad that they felt the need to emulate her.