Return To Pandora: Book 1 in The Pandora Series

Return to Pandora

Book 1 in

The Pandora Series

Kayla Smith

Copyright © 2015 Kayla Smith

All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental

Cover design by: Sara Dominguez

The Truth

I’ve always known I was different, meant to do and be something else, but this? I can’t believe in this. I can’t believe that I’m a Princess from some faraway land with magic powers and that we are sort of immortal? We can live a
very
long life and look as young as early thirties for most of that life.  How am I supposed to believe in some super twisted version of a fairy tale that I grew up with?

The worst part is, as my mother is telling me all of this, she tells me that I am their secret weapon. I am meant to defeat Christina, the once good Princess turned evil. When she became evil she did everything in her power to over throw my mother, the true Queen and my father, the true King of Pandora. She is now known as the Evil Queen. Christina thought and still thinks, that my mother and I had died in an explosion in our home. What she doesn’t know is that my mother created that explosion to get away, to give us and our people a fighting chance.

She settled us down in a small town in Massachusetts. Southbridge, is a small boring town with not much to do for excitement. We used to have a theater here, way back in the day according my teacher. But when they took the theater out they took with it the only thing that would have been fun. 

My life was always something that felt forced. My friends planted there to make me look like a
normal
human, whatever that is supposed to mean now. The only person, apart from my mother of course, that I connected with was Zackary. He was always there for me and we connected almost instantly. I actually don’t even remember meeting him, he was always there from the time we were babies until now. His mom and my mom were really good friends.

My mother’s name is Katherine Mathews. I can’t believe she is just now telling me all of this after almost sixteen years of my life. That means sixteen years of her living a lie and making me live a lie along with her. I’m not even as upset about all of this as she initially thought I was going to be. Like I said, I knew I was different, I just didn’t realize how different.

The only reason I am finding this all out this morning is because my mother received a message from our people saying that it is time to put me into action. So here I am getting the 411 on the life that I should have been living while I lived this one. She kept reminding me that it was for the best and I was their strongest and best chance at defeating Christina.

My problem with all of this is not that I grew up the way I did, or that I am secretly a Princess from Pandora, it’s that I have no idea how to fight or how to use my powers. My mother says that I am to come into my powers on my sixteenth birthday, which is Saturday, three long days away. Now I have something to look forward to on my birthday, not that this is a good thing to look forward to. How am I supposed to go off and help defeat Christina if I’m not equipped to do so?

My name is Jacquelyn Mathews. I grew up without my father who I was told died a war hero. Now I realize he died in Pandora trying to protect his kingdom. I guess if you put it into terms like that, he was a war hero, just not like the hero’s you would find here in his world. Now I am to fight the very person who killed him and I don’t have an inkling of how to do so. He was the strongest of us all and she took him down, that’s what I am up against. I don’t know how I am going to defeat her.

My mother went on to tell me that I have six months to train and then we will leave, weather I am ready or not. She needs to get back to her people and we cannot stay here anymore. Our time of being safe is now gone, we need to fight and take back what is ours. She sounds so passionate about Pandora and its people that it makes me feel like I’ve kept her away from what she loves. I feel as if it’s my fault.

I told my mom that there is one person I need to tell, I can’t do this without him and even if he laughs at me and thinks I’m crazy I need to get this out to him. I need to let him know the real me. We have never kept anything from each other and I don’t want to start now.

Mom says it’s fine and she thinks he will understand, I’m not so sure about that, but I agree to him coming over and discussing this with him in front of my mother, in case I need help.

So here we are all sitting in the living room and I’m too nervous to tell him anything. I look at him and he stares at me expectantly, as if to say, ‘you invited me here to meet with your mom and you haven’t said a thing.’

I wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans and clear my throat. Here goes nothing, I think to myself as I dare to speak the truth to the one person that means more to me than I could ever explain.

“My mother is a Queen with great powers from the land of Pandora.” I pause to look at him to try and gauge his reaction. So far he doesn’t look fazed so I continue. “Which means I am the Princess of Pandora,” I say, sounding as if I have rehearsed that line a thousand times, in which case, I have. I knew I needed the support of Zackary if I was going to have to battle someone who everyone feared and she is powerful enough that she could kill anyone.

“I know,” he said.

Seriously?

I know?

That’s it?

I stared at him in disbelief for a few minutes. I stared at his face with his dark brown hair covering his blue eyes letting him know it is time for a haircut. His jaw is set in that way it does when he is upset and I wondered if he was upset with me. That got me upset.

I stand up and yell at him. “I know? What do you mean you know? I just found out this morning and you’re just going to take what I’ve said and say, I know!” I finished sounding exasperated.

“Jackie, I’m sixteen. I’ve been sixteen for six months. I’ve already come into my powers and I’ve learned that I am one of your soldiers. I’ve been training almost every day since February. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It wasn’t my place.” He paused looking torn between what the
Queen
wanted and what he wanted. He looked at my mom and she nodded once in his direction. “I have agreed to help you train and to protect you against any and all danger as we complete our mission to take down Christina.”

I couldn’t believe what I just heard. He’s going to protect me against any dangers and he will help me defeat the one person who everyone feared in Pandora. The thing that got to me wasn’t what I thought would. He is one of my people! No, he is a soldier who works for my mother and I am just finding this out now. The fact that he is going to die for me isn’t any more encouraging either.

He and my mother stare at me waiting for me to say something, anything and all I can do is stare back. I have no idea how to react to any of this and this is not exactly how I planned this little meeting to go.

“This is why…” I start to say and can’t form the rest of the words my mind wants me to. I clear my throat as I see my mother looking like she wants to say something and I continue. “This is why you said he wouldn’t take all of this new information about me so hard. This is why you said he would understand. Because he works for you!” I yelled, my words filled with venom that I wasn’t even aware I had added.

She didn’t deny it and I knew she couldn’t. She knew and all she said was, “Yes. This is why.”

“I don’t want him to die protecting me!” I blurted out trying to convince my mother that Zackary was more important to me than some body guard.

He winced at the mention of his possible death but didn’t say anything to that.

“How many?” I turn to ask my mom and she looked a little lost so I rephrased my question. “How many people from Pandora are living here? How many are in my life that I think are “normal” human beings?” I said, using my fingers to form quotation marks around the word normal.

“There are only five families that I took with me. Most of whom the Queen thinks are dead. The ones who stayed behind managed to create more explosions with corpses in the houses to make it look as if they had died. Zackary and his family are the highest level of soldiers left. The rest are strong fighters but they are certainly no soldiers. I’m sorry to tell you this but he will protect you until he doesn’t need to anymore. Once Christina is dead he will take his rightful place in our kingdom and who knows, things could have changed the sixteen years we have been gone.” She looks lost in thought and I wonder what his rightful place is supposed to mean, but I don’t push it.

We continue the rest of the evening with her telling me about my father and his many gifts. He was originally a soldier and many people didn’t like how my mother started seeing him, but she said if she was going to be the Queen and lead these people she needed to do it with someone she loved and trusted. So they vetoed the rule that you cannot marry beneath your class. The people still aren’t thrilled about the royals being able to marry beneath them, but they accept it because they have to.

I wonder if that is why she never came off as royal or high class while she raised me here. Apart from the normal customs of greeting everyone at the door and making sure I am dressed appropriately to have company, she never showed that we were royalty.

Zackary’s parents ended up meeting us for dinner and we all discussed the training that would start tomorrow.

“Do I have start tomorrow?” I asked them all, dreading the workout and a half that was to come with training alongside Zackary. He doesn’t do anything half assed. If he is to train me, I will be dead by the time these next six months are up.

“Yes Princess, you do.”

I am surprised at the use of the word Princess that Zackary’s mom Isabel Moore, used when she addressed me. Just because we are all aware of this now doesn’t mean they have to change the way they treat me. Isabel is five feet four inches tall, and has hazel eyes. I think her eyes change color because sometimes they will be blue, depending on her shirt color. She has golden brown, curly hair like mine. She always wears it down and she always looks flawless. She wears nice dresses and tries to act as high class as possible. Now I wonder if she did this to make the Queen feel better.

I just burry my head in my hands and feign my dread for tomorrow. I continue to pick at my Pizza that they ordered because no one wanted to cook dinner today. It was hamburger, my favorite, but I couldn’t seem to actually want to eat it. I’m worried for myself and for Zack. Why does
he
have to be the one that belongs in this world? Why does
he
have to be the one ordered to protect me?

I couldn’t understand after all this time, when I felt like our friendship was growing stronger it gets taken away. I am forced to be babysat by him while he risks his life protecting me. I love Zack, more than just a friend, but I would never tell him that.

Growing up we were like brother and sister and now? Now I know nothing special is going to happen between us. Especially since my mother wants him to protect me. We will never have a life the way that I want it to be if he is forced to watch me and make sure I don’t die.

I was still picking at my pizza on my plate and thinking about what was to happen to me and my so called life here when we leave for Pandora after my training is done, that I didn’t even hear my mother asking me a question.

“Jacquelyn?” She called more forcefully when I didn’t respond.

“Huh?” I ask looking at her.

She just shook her head at me and asked the question again, this time I hear a little bit of anger in her voice that I’m sure the others couldn’t hear, since she coated it over well. But she is my mother and that is how she always talks to me.

“I was asking you what time you were willing to start training. We will let you choose the time for the first two weeks then it will be time to get down to business. You will be training starting at five in the morning and not stopping until six in the evening, with the exception of eating two times, no longer than twenty minutes each.”

She finished looking at me and all I could do was stare at her in amazement. She really has this all thought through. I feel as if I just entered military school. No sleep, no rest, just work and by work I mean train until I’m dead, because I know Zack would never let me slack. He would make a good drill sergeant.

“Why am I starting tomorrow? I don’t even have my powers yet!” I said trying to stall the inevitable training with Zack. I love him, but he is relentless and whatever my mother tells him to do he will make sure it gets done. 

She smiled at my attempt and said, “This is combat training. You will be running, doing push-ups, pull-ups, anything that will get your body ready for the fight. She is not just going to use her powers, she will send her followers after you too and they will fight with their hands since she bound all their powers in an attempt to keep them from rebelling against her.” She stated it matter-of-factly and I hated that she knew so much more about this world than I did.

“What if I don’t want to do it?” I asked, not thinking.

By the looks of all three of the adults I knew I should have kept this to myself. I continued before they could get anything in. “I mean, I don’t even know any of those people and I am expected to fight for them and risk my life as well as Zack’s? I’m not sure I can do that. If Zack dies protecting me, I will never forgive myself; and I will never forgive you,” I said looking them all in the eyes.

I felt Zack tense near me and I didn’t care, I had to lay it all out there, they had to know how I felt about this. Especially if they expected me to win the war that has killed so many of our people already.