EVERYTHING IS AWFUL
(As I’m Sure You’ve All Noticed)
by Kami Glass
The information I have is information you already know.
You all know magic is real. You know there are sorcerers among us in this little town, that there always have been, and the Lynburn family always considered themselves the sorcerers’ leaders.
You all know that Rob Lynburn has taken over Aurimere, the ancient manor on the hill above Sorry-in-the-Vale, and set himself up as the true Lynburn leader, the ruler of this town. You know he killed a girl with one of his long golden knives.
You know he is demanding another sacrifice.
You know people have died fighting him. You know that the town has been made a magic prison, a golden cage with borders we cannot cross and no way to get a message to those outside those borders. You know Rob Lynburn tried to take my little brother and sacrifice him.
You know that Rob Lynburn’s nephew Jared Lynburn, one of the people who stood against Rob, has disappeared. He went into Aurimere to get my brother back, and he did not come out again.
It has been weeks since he was last seen, him or his mother Rosalind Lynburn. It has been weeks since the sorcerers who stood against Rob Lynburn died in the Crying Pools. It has been months since Rob Lynburn demanded his sacrifice.
It is not as if any of you could possibly have missed the ring of fire surrounding the house on the hill. There are shadows coming to life in the town square and creatures stirring in the woods. Sorcerers are walking among us and making no effort to conceal their identity. ‘How are you feeling, Sergeant Kenn?’ you might ask a policeman you once had faith in. ‘I’m feeling evil!’ he might well reply.
Since I cannot tell you anything you do not know, perhaps you can tell me something. Write it in an editorial letter. Come up to me in the street. I would truly like to have this information.
Are any of you ever going to do anything about what you know? Are any of you ever going to act?
Are you going to give Rob Lynburn his sacrifice, or let him take one? Could anyone in the town I grew up in, could anyone among the people I trusted, be that weak? Could anyone be that evil?
If we do nothing, be assured he will come. Rob Lynburn has Aurimere. He is watching us. He is not watching over us. He is coming for this town. He has his hand stretched out, and he is still holding his knife.
Maybe there is one last thing that you, dear reader, do not know yet.
One of you knows where Jared Lynburn is.
One of you knows what happened to him.
You may know that much, but something you do not know yet is this. I am looking. I am searching for you. I will not give up.
I am going to find you out.
Check out Wondrous Reads tomorrow for the final stop of the tour.
Happy Unmade day everyone!
