Touching Spirits

Chapter Fifteen
-Sidney-
"You keep looking up at that jumbotron, Sid, what are you looking at?" my teammate Pascal Dupuis asked and I sighed.

"Is it like some kind of tradition? I see you do it at like every game," Matt Cooke said and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah, something like that," I answered as I skated out onto the ice.

"How's that head of yours? Concussion symptoms all gone?" Tyler Kennedy asked and I nodded my head.

"I've been cleared," I said and they nodded their heads, "Let's get this over with."

"Sid, come on, I know you hate Giroux, but lighten up, the lockout is over!" Chris Kunitz said and I nodded my head.

"You're right, sorry," I said and then sighed.

It's been almost six years since that day. The Pennsylvania leadership had totally been torn apart after the death of Luka and Isabella's father. Luka tried to take control of the state, but the other leaders complain, saying that he was too young, and another leader was elected. Luka and Isabella were forced out of the home that they grew up in and after her father's memorial, Isabella completely disappeared, I haven't seen her since.

The darklings have started to rise up again, and we've found that if you're bitten by one, something happens to you. You change, you're not a spirit, but not a darkling, their venom has somehow evolved.

Geno and I are still with the Penguins, and I was named their Captain a few years back, while Geno was one of my Assistant Captains. We've only won one Stanley Cup, and we're trying for another. There was a lockout, and the season had started late. Instead of the first game being in October, the game began in January. Most of my time was spent with Luka and Geno, we've been trying to track Isabelle down, but every time we get close, she vanishes again.

Today day was our first game back, and it was against the Philadelphia Flyers, I learned that their Captain, Claude Giroux was a spirit like us, I didn't know what he was, but I could sense it, he also wasn't afraid to use some of his power on the ice.

The national anthem was sung and I headed towards the faceoff circle. I heard Geno whisper my name, and I looked over to see that he was sitting on the bench. He nudged his head up a little and I looked up to see that Luka was up there, I smirked and shook my head.

'...Still looking after me...' I thought as I bent back down and looked to see that I was facing off against Giroux himself, '...Let's get this party started...'

-Luka-
I watched the game from my usual seat and once it was over, I climbed out of the hatch and onto the roof of the new arena, jumping over walls, and heading over towards the player's parking lot. I sat on the wall and waited for the players to come out. Once I saw Sidney, I jumped off of the wall and made my way over towards his Rover. He unlocked the car and I climbed into the backseat.

"Hey," he said while not looking back at me.

"Hey."

"You like the game?"

"Always entertaining," I said and Sidney scoffed and turned the car on.

"Anything new?" he asked as he pulled out of his parking spot and honked towards some of his teammates.

"Caught a glimpse of her in Colorado, but nothing really, she was gone before anything could be found," Luka informed as he sat up in the seat and sighed, "I don't know if she's gunna want to come home."

"Well she has to. She's in these states illegally, and if she gets caught, she can get in a lot of trouble," Sidney said and I nodded my head, knowing what would happen to my sister.

Sidney drove to his house, a place that he bought about three years ago. It was just outside Pittsburgh and it was right by the woods. The place was nice and big, cost a lot, but now that Sidney was a multimillionaire, money didn't really mean much, he just wanted to play the sport he loved.

We pulled into the garage and Sidney closed the door, we walked out and headed into his house. I've been staying with him, since my time at the mansion was over. To be honest, I didn't really want to go back. I made the basement of his home my room and most of the stuff in there was information that was going to help find my sister. We had maps, pictures, letters from friends in other states saying that they caught a glimpse of her or that they didn't see her. Isabella was good, my father was right when he said that she should have been a fox, she was very deceiving.

I was staring at picture, or more like blurs of my sister, when I heard Sidney walking down the stairs. I turned around and saw that he was handing me a beer. I nodded my head towards him and took it, staring at the map.

"Why would she be in Colorado?"

"Don't know," I muttered and then took a swig of the beer, "I don't know why she's doing any of this."

"Maybe she knows something that we don't."

"Sid, she knows a lot of things that we don't," I answered and he sighed and nodded his head. Sidney reached up to the board and grabbed a picture of Isabella and tore it down. I watched as he stared at the picture and I sighed and patted his shoulder, "We'll find her man."

"We have to."

-Isabella-
I stood on top of the tallest tree on the land, glaring that the mansion in front of me. I didn't want to be here, I didn't want to be anywhere near here, but my brother was in trouble, and I don't even think he realized it. I knew he, Geno and Sidney were tracking me, desperately trying to find where I was. I had been missing for almost six years, and after what I learned about my father, I was going to be a changed person.

My father was murdered, my mother was murdered, my best friend was murdered, I was going to get my revenge on the person that ordered this hit. I traveled all over the country gathering information about who might possibly want this. I found a name, Clyde Bennett, he was the leader of the second district in the state of New York. I've been watching him for a while now, followed him in his travels in Colorado, and then made it back to New York. He was having secret meetings with leaders of the other districts, and I've noticed that if someone didn't agree with whatever he was planning, they just disappeared. I'm not a detective, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out what is going on here.

The leader of my father's old district was an old friend of ours, but we were told to leave the mansion so that his family would be allowed to come in. I was angry at first, but then I saw that it was probably for the best. My father's best friend had taken his place as state leader, maybe I would be able to bring him up to date with what his fellow leaders were up to.

I heard flapping and looked up to see a hawk coming my way. I hid against the tree, but it was too late, he had seen me. He landed on the branch and the shifted in front of me.

"Bella?" he called and I growled, "Sorry."

No one was allowed to call me that other than Ryan, and he was dead.

"What are you doing here, Isabella?" I looked over towards the guy.

"Derek?" I asked and he nodded his head.

"It's been a long time," he said and I nodded my head.

"A lot's changed, you look different, like the scar," I said and he smirked.

"Battle wound against the darklings," he said and then I turned his head to see that the scar was going from his hairline down to his cheek bone.

"How long ago?"

"About four years," he answered and I sighed, "Where we you?"

"Trying to find out who murdered my father!" I growled and his eyes widened.

"You can't be here, if they see you, they'll capture you!" he said and my eyes widened at his sudden personality change, "I don't know where you've been, but you're in a lot of trouble, so is Luka."

"Why? What is being said about us?"

"Luka's being charged with killing your father, and they know you've been illegally entering other states," he said and I growled.

"Why is this happening?"

"I don't know, Leo doesn't really tell us anything," Derek said and I sighed, Leo being the new leader, "Get out of here before they see you."

I nodded my head and then looked back towards the mansion to see that security had improved somewhat, "I don't know what's going on here, Derek, but I'm going to stop it."

"You need to find the others," he said and then shifted and flew back towards the mansion.

I growled and then shook my head, "I hate this place."

I jumped out of the tree and headed away from the mansion, making my way into Pittsburgh, I was going to see what some of the people were up to, and what has changed since my six year absence.