Captured Princess

The Statue

Time has passed and Shanaia graduated high school with her friends, Crane and Zander. And since it's summer vacation before going to college, Shanaia chose to spend it in her mother’s tribe unlike her brothers who went camping with Zander, and the twins.

Shanaia came to the tribe after a long journey. She was given the same room in the attic to use and she couldn’t be happier. She was unpacking when there was a knock on the door and her aunt Enola came in.

“Hey,”

“Auntie, come in.”

“I brought towels,” she said showing the towels in her hands.

“Thanks, Auntie.”

“I’ll place them inside the bathroom,”

Enola said and went inside the bathroom. And when she came out, Shanaia just closed her closet.

“How was your journey?” she asked.

“It was long and tiring. I should’ve asked Zander to open a portal for me,” Shanaia said smiling.

Enola smiled.

“I’m glad you decided to visit. Your grandfather misses you,” she said.

“I know and he’s been emailing me nonstop,” Shanaia paused.

“By the way, how was Samara and Stella?”

It’s been more than a year since her cousins, Enola’s children were sent to live in a small community with humans because of their altercation.

“Surprisingly, they are doing great.”

“Really?” Shanaia replied in disbelief and Enola grinned and asked her to sit on the edge of the bed.

As the two of them sat on the bed, Enola let out an audible sigh.

“I secretly visited them three months ago. I went there to observe them and I was surprised that they are able to function in their everyday life,” she said.

“Without a doubt, they knew how to take care of themselves and be productive. You taught them about that,” Shanaia told her and Enola nodded.

“They are doing great at that aspect but Samara still gets into fights with the other students in the local high school. I talked to their caretaker and she said Stella was able to make a few friends but Samara was having a bit of trouble since she fights with everyone,” Enola said and then she once again let out an audible sigh.

Shanaia looked at her aunt.

“You are worried that Samara won’t have any friends at all,”

“It’s not just that. What if she ends up with the wrong crowd?”

Shanaia understood her aunt’s worries.

“Want me to talk to Grandpa so he let Samara come home?” Shanaia asked.

Enola immediately shook her head.

“No, don’t do that. She needed to be there. Maybe I was just worrying so much. It has been just a year. Maybe she hasn’t adjusted well unlike her sister,” she responded.

Shanaia nodded in understanding.

“Okay. But if you need help in convincing Grandpa to get them back, I can help.” Shanaia said and Enola gave her a small smile.

“Thank you, but it’s okay.”

Enola replied shortly and then she huffed before she got up from the bed.

“Anyway. Dinner won’t be for another hour and a half. Why don’t you take a walk in the meantime,”

Enola told Shanaia before leaving her room. After her aunt left, Shanaia got up and went outside on the balcony. She looked at her view and from where she was standing, she could see a glimpse of the stream.

By looking at the stream, she remembered practicing the deadly ballet by its banks and she has mastered it since then. Then she also remembered the statue that she saw there; a statue that no one else knew.

Thinking about the statue made her want to take that walk. So, she grabbed her phone and went out of her room. She went out of the main house and made her way towards the stream.

When walking, she once again gained looks from the people around him. To make it less awkward, she tried to smile and wave at them, which some reciprocated while some just turned their backs on her.

“Okay…” she mumbled to herself after she waved and smiled at a lady hanging her laundry to dry.

Shanaia continued to walk until she reached the part where there were a few trees and she could hear the sound of the stream’s running water. A smile appeared on Shanaia’s lips and she jogged towards the direction of the stream.

When she got there, she huffed in delight as she saw the clear water run in a certain direction. She then followed its direction in search of the statue. She wanted to take a photo of it and show it to her grandfather and uncles.

She went through a path with thick shrubs that she had to make a way for herself. And when she finally stepped out of the thick shrubbery, she was in awe to see the same statue that she had seen last time.

“I knew you were real,” she spoke and then she took out her phone from her jeans pocket and started taking photos of the statue.

“What are you doing?”

Shanaia jumped in surprise and she almost dropped her phone into the water. She then turned around, ready to lash out at the person that startled her but she was stunned instead.

It was the same lady she met a year ago; the beautiful lady with white hair and sapphire blue eyes that pointed at the path towards the main house.

“You…”

Shanaia mumbled.

The lady smiled at her and then her eyes fell on her phone.

“What is that thing?” she asked.

“Huh?”

The lady pointed at her phone.

“What is that?” the lady asked again.

Shanaia looked at her phone before she looked at the lady again.

“This? My phone,” she said and then she noticed that the lady was still looking at her phone as if it was the weirdest thing she had ever seen.

“You haven't seen a phone in your life, have you?” Shanaia asked and the lady shook her head.

“What does it do?” the lady asked enthusiastically; she even looked at Shanaia with her eyes brimming with excitement.

Her question caught Shanaia off guard.

“Uhm, I use it to call and message anyone,” Shanaia answered.

The lady tilted her head.

“What were you doing with it earlier?” the lady asked, pointing at the statue.

“Oh. I was taking a photo of the statue. My family didn’t seem to believe me when I told them that there was a statue here when I came across it last year,” Shanaia explained.

“Why wouldn’t they believe you? Have you lied to them before?”

The lady asked and Shanaia frowned.

“No. But they claimed that there was never a statue here.”

Shanaia paused.

“How about you? Who are you and what are you doing here?” she asked.

“I live here,” the lady answered.

“You live here?”

Shanaia asked and the lady nodded. Shanaia narrowed her eyes on her and took a step closer.

“So, if you live here, you know about the statue,”

The lady once again nodded.

“It has been there since I was born,” she spoke.

“Really?”

The lady nodded, responding to Shanaia.

“Wait, if you know about the statue, how come my grandpa and the others don’t seem to know about its existence? They should know about it. And who are you really? You haven’t told me your name,” Shanaia spoke.

The lady looked at Shanaia like a confused child.

“You don’t know my name?” she mumbled, resembling the sound of a cat’s purr.

“Uh… yeah. That’s why I asked.” Shanaia replied.

The lady pouted.

“Why don’t you know my name? You are so mean!” she hissed and then she suddenly took off.

“Wait!”

Shanaia called, and then she stuffed her phone into her pocket before chasing after the lady.

“Hey, lady wait!”

She continued to call for the lady while running after her. She ran and ran even after she lost the sight of her white hair. Shanaia was running continuously until she found herself in the middle of the village’s square. Shanaia halted her steps and started looking around for the lady.

No matter how much she looks, she loses the lady.

“What the hell is that lady’s problem? She always does this,” Shanaia mumbled to herself.

“Shanaia?”

Shanaia turned around and saw her uncle Styx carrying a paper bag of bread.

“Uncle,”

“What are you doing here?” Styx asked his niece.

“Uhm, I was looking for someone,” she answered.

But when she noticed how her uncle furrowed his eyebrows, she knew he would follow up with a question. So, she decided to change the subject.

“Is that for tonight’s dinner?” she asked and Styx nodded.

“They asked me to buy.” He answered, looking at the pieces of bread inside the paper bag.

He then looked at his niece.

“Why don’t we go back to the main house together? Dinner should be ready by now,” he said and Shanaia nodded without any question.

On their way back to the main house, Styx was telling Shanaia about a lot of things that happened in the village since she left the last time. But in the middle of listening to what her uncle was saying, Shanaia’s thoughts drifted back to the lady she met. Then she remembered the statue.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and started scrolling through her gallery. When she found the photo, she was looking for, she let out a sigh of relief. She knew she wasn’t seeing things when she saw the statue. The photo in her phone is the evidence.

Styx noticed that his niece wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying so he looked at her. He noticed that she was focused on her phone. She figured she was having a conversation with someone, maybe her crush or her boyfriend.

He thought of taking a peek at her phone and teasing her about it, but then, he was surprised to see what she was looking at. Styx halted his steps and snatched the phone from Shanaia’s hand.

“Hey!” Shanaia exclaimed in surprise when her uncle took her phone.

“What’s this?” Styx asked as he continued to look at the photo.

Shanaia heaved a deep sigh before answering.

“That was the statue that I was talking about last time. The one that I saw in the middle of the stream,” she told him and Styx looked at her.

“You saw this, here?” he asked and Shanaia nodded.

“Yeah, in the middle of the stream just like I said the last time. I just came from there earlier where I took that photo,” she told him.

Styx grew quiet and then he gave the phone back to Shanaia who was confused.

“Keep that to yourself and don’t talk about it to anyone,” Styx said and then he continued walking.

Shanaia frowned, confused as to why her uncle would tell her that. She then chased after him.

“Hey, Uncle. Why should I do that? What is this statue anyway?” she asked.

She bugged her uncle with her question until Styx stopped walking. Shanaia also stopped walking and Styx looked at her.

“Uncle, tell me. Why did you tell me that?” she asked.

Styx heaved a deep breath before answering her.

“Listen to me, Shanaia. I need you to keep it to yourself because as far as I know that statue doesn’t exist.” He spoke.

Shanaia was about to argue with what he said but Styx beats her to it.

“I know you said you saw it, but Shanaia…”

“That statue is something none of us can see,”