The
Vision
Fallen Star Series Book 3
Jessica Sorensen
http://jessicasorensensblog.blogspot.com/
Copyright © 2011 by Jessica Sorensen.
SmashWords Edition License Notes
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
Chapter 1
I kept having these dreams, or maybe they were more like nightmares. In them, Alex and I are standing out by the entrance to The Underworld. The lake is frozen and the trees are iced over with icicles dripping from the branches. The sky is as dark as a shadow and the air chills me to the bone. Alex’s arms are wrapped tightly around me. We stay at the edge of the frozen water, clutching onto one another as if our lives depend on it.
The wind is blowing my hair into my face. There is a hollowness to the outside, like nothing is there but Alex and I, as if the whole world is empty. As we hold each other, a thought occurs to me that we are not supposed to be together, and if we don’t let go, we will die. I look up at Alex and tell him my thoughts, but he always shushes me as he brushes my hair away from my face.
“It will be alright,” he whispers, but his bright green eyes tell me the opposite. It won’t be okay, they say.
I open my mouth to tell him that I know he’s lying, but a crackle ripples through the air and sucks the words away from my lips. I see them—the black hooded figures emerging from the trees, like an army of ice-monsters heading to destroy us.
I look at Alex, wanting him to say something—to do something—but he never does. He just sweeps my hair back and pulls me closer to him.
“It will be alright,” he whispers one last time, and then I am suffocated by light. I hold onto Alex and take a deep breath as I am engulfed by warmth.
It will be alright.
But will it? Because every time I have this dream, I always wake up, lying on the floor of the cabin, stuck out in the middle of the snow-buried mountains. And in the snow lies my weakness. Praesidium. The one thing that renders me of my Foreseer power and binds me to the cabin for as long as Stephan wishes. Yes, I always wake up from my dream, but sometimes I wish I wouldn’t.
Chapter 2
The bathroom faucet had the most annoying drip. Drip…drip…drip…over and over and over again. It was driving me crazy.
I’d been stuck in the cabin, where Stephan had left me, for nine days. And each morning I watched the sun rise through the barred window, was another morning where my sanity was coming to its end. If I thought my life with Marco and Sophia had been lonely, then I had no idea what lonely was, because this was the mere definition of lonely.
There was nothing in the cabin besides a bathroom. Stephan had left a box of food, I guess, not wanting me to starve to death. He wanted me alive—he made that very clear. He just wanted my mind and emotions gone, which, if things kept going the way they were, would probably happen pretty quickly.
I wasn’t in that great a shape either. The spot where I hit my head on the rock, when Nicholas had shoved me down, constantly hurt, and I worried it might be getting infected. There was also only one blanket in the cabin and I constantly had to keep it wrapped around me, otherwise, I would freeze to death.
It was the same thing every day for nine days straight. I sat on the cold, hardwood floor, curled up in a blanket that smelled like dust and moth balls, and stared out at the snowy mountains that were decorated with marble-sized, lavender balls of Praesidium.
But on the ninth day I lost it.
I was lying on the floor tracing the cracks in the floorboards with my fingers, when I suddenly realized something. Before I knew what I was doing, I stood up and went over to the front door. I swung it open and, ignoring the blast of Arctic wind that smacked me in the face, I stepped out into the snow, barefoot and in shorts, with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders.
I wasn’t sure where I was going, or if I would even make it very far, but I knew I could not stay here and give up.
Stephan would not win. Either I would escape, or I would die trying.
I would not let the world end.
I started down the mountain, shivering, shaking, and chattering until my muscles felt like they were going to break. But I forced myself to keep going, keeping my eyes on the Praesidium as I walked, wishing desperately that the trail of lavender marbles would finally end so I could foresee my way back to Maryland.
But as the wind kicked up, and the air dipped even colder, I knew.
I was going to die.
There have been a few times in my life where I thought I was dead, but this was different. I had to be dead this time because all I could see was light—everywhere. Warm light. I had been in a light vision before, and Nicholas had informed me that these kinds of visions meant my future was dead. So that meant I was dead right now, right? Because all I could see was light.
“Gemma,” a voice whispered. “Can you hear me?”
My body tensed. “Who is that?” I called out through the light.
“Come toward me,” the voice echoed.
I blinked, searching the light for someone, but I couldn’t tell what was up or down, or if I was even standing or sitting.
“I can’t see you,” I said. “The light’s too bright.”
“Yes, you can,” the voice assured me. “You just have to look harder.”
If the voice didn’t sound so unfamiliar, then I would have thought I was talking to Nicholas, because it seemed like something he would say. But this voice was much deeper and belonged to someone older.
So, not wanting to be difficult to a stranger, I blinked a few times, trying to “look harder.” Strangely enough, the light began to dim. Slowly at first, and then much quicker, until there was nothing left but a faint glow.
I was lying on a midnight-blue marble floor, staring up at what looked like a cathedral ceiling. I got to my feet and examined myself over. My skin was its normal pale color and it appeared that the cold hadn’t frostbitten any of my toes or fingers.
“Hello!” I called out, turning in a slow circle. The pale light fogged my surroundings, making it hard for me to see. But I could vaguely make out a row of columns on each side of me and a statue not too far off in front. I walked toward the statue, taking each step carefully, afraid that at any second someone—or something—was going to jump out from behind one of the columns.
I managed to make it to the statue unharmed, and without anyone jumping out at me. It was a statue of a man carved out of white marble. There was something about the man’s face that looked familiar, but what had me puzzled even more was that in his hands was a crystal ball.
“What in the world?” I mumbled to myself. I leaned in to get a closer look at the plaque mounted at the statue’s feet. My pulse quickened as I read the plaque: Julian Lucas. Lucas? No. There was no way…Could this be a statue of my father?
I covered my mouth with my hands and started to back away.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a statue.”
I whirled around and then jumped back when I came face-to-face with a man that had a striking resemblance to the statue, only he was alive and breathing.
“Oh my God.” My voice trembled. I couldn’t believe it. His eyes…the color…violet. “Dad?”
He smiled. “Hello, Gemma.”
Chapter 3
I had thought the alarming violet color of my eyes had been created from the star’s energy. But I was wrong because the man standing before me had the exact same alarming shade of violet radiating from his eyes.
“I—I…can’t…” Apparently, I had forgotten how to speak.
He gave me an understanding smile. “I know, it’s shocking, isn’t it?”
My eyes were wide as I nodded. “Yeah…it is.”
We stared at each other, not believing what we were seeing. He looked so much like me; the same color of brown hair, the same pale skin—only his was creased with wrinkles—and of course the same shade of violet in his eyes.
“Am I dead?” I finally asked.
He shook his head. “Not quite.”
“Not quite?” I asked, trying not to panic. “Does that mean I’m going to be, then?”
He considered this carefully. “While you were walking down the mountain, you passed out and took yourself here in vision form.”
I swallowed hard. “So my body is still back on the mountain freezing to death?”
“Yes, but don’t worry, today isn’t the day you’re going to die, Gemma.” He turned around, the strange silver robe he was wearing swishing behind him. He motioned for me to follow him. “We only have a few minutes before you have to go back, and I have something very important I need to show you.”
“Okay…” I followed him, glancing around as I walked, wondering what this place was. “What do you need to show me?”
He looked at me, his violet eyes sparkling in the pale-yellow light that fluttered through the room. “I’m going to show you how you’re going to save the world.”
I don’t know why, but I just about laughed at him. “You’re going to show me,” I pointed at myself, “how I’m going to save the world?”
“You sound like you don’t believe it’s possible,” he said.
I shrugged. “It’s just that I’ve seen things that have led me to believe otherwise.”
“You have seen them in your visions,” he said, not as a question, but as a statement.
I gaped at him. “So, you know about my visions?”
He gave me a small smile as he turned down a hallway, lined with more columns and a ceiling swirled with yellows and blues that reminded me of Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night. “Where do you think you got the gift?”
“So you’re a Foreseer.” I wasn’t really surprised by this, seeing how I had been told multiple times that abilities, such as the Foreseer ability, were usually inherited. Plus, I just saw the statue of him holding a crystal ball.
He nodded. “I am. And, like you, I also have unique abilities.”
Now that shocked me and I tripped over my own feet, but caught myself before I dove onto the marble floor. “The same abilities as me?” I asked
“Yes, but that is a story for another time,” he told me, looking sad. “Right now, you need to save the world.”
I had a ton of questions. I mean, this was my first time meeting him, and I wanted to know about him. But there was an urgency in his voice that kept me quiet.
At the end of the hall, a stairway stretched up to a mausoleum-like building. Two massive columns formed an entryway around the door, and at the top of the door, a bright red light glowed from the screen-covered window.
“What is this place?” I asked, hoping that it just looked like a mausoleum.
He didn’t answer as he walked up the stairs to the mausoleum in question. I followed him, the marble steps feeling cold underneath my bare feet as I climbed up the stairs. I was nervous and my heart fluttered in my chest as my father opened the door. The hinges creaked loudly, as if it had been sealed shut for ages. Then he stepped in, and, with great hesitance, I did too.
It was dark inside the tiny room and the air was damp. The ceiling dripped with muddy water and the once white-tiled floor was stained brown with age. There were no windows and the column walls were cracked and worn away. Red lanterns softly lit a trail of red light down a narrow hallway.
“This way,” my father told me, gesturing down the hall.
The air grew heavier with each step I took. Columns continued to line the walls and I noticed that each one had an eye carved on it. Each eye was a different shape and color, and in the pupil was a circle that wrapped an S—the Foreseers’ mark. I wondered if this place was some kind of place for Foreseers.
“What is this place?” I asked.
My father shook his head. “A place where no one wants to be.”
His words scared me, but before I could press him further, we reached the end of the hall where a large blue trunk, trimmed with gold, sat on top of an antique table. My father raised the lid slowly, and I held my breath as he reached inside the trunk and took out a crystal ball.
He held the crystal ball out to me, his eyes gleaming a bright violet in the light it casted. “This, Gemma, is how you’re going to save the world.”
I eyed the crystal ball warily. “With a crystal ball?”
He took my hand, his skin ice-cold, and set the crystal ball in it. “With this and your power.”
It wasn’t like any of the other crystal balls I had seen. It radiated a glittery, purple glow that came from a star-shaped light in the center. It was beautiful, that was for sure, and in a strange way, the purple glow kind of reminded me of my eyes.
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. How is my power going to save the world? I thought my power was what ended it?” I raised the crystal ball. “And what is this for?”
“I’m talking about your Foreseer power, not the stars’,” he said, shutting the lid of the trunk. He stood there silently for a moment, looking as though he was struggling to tell me something important. “I have done things in my life that have led me to this place. Things that are unforgivable—things which you will understand soon.” He paused. “Gemma, I need you to put the future back.”
“Okay…how do I do that exactly?” I glanced down at the crystal ball sparkling in my hand. “And how do I use this?”
“That, I cannot tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Because you have to figure it out on your own.” He smiled softly. “You and I are unique cases, even for our unique kind. We can both travel into visions without the assistance of a crystal, so, with enough strength, you should be able to change the vision I erased and recreated.”
I stared at him, confused. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. You changed a vision?”
He looked at me with regret in his eyes. “The vision I changed was so the world would end.”
I was taken back and I almost dropped the crystal ball. “You made it so the world would end? How…why?”
“That’s not important,” he said, his voice growing sharp. “What’s important is that you fix it—change it back to how it’s supposed to be. You need to make sure the world doesn’t end up like it did in the vision you saw.”
I shivered as I remembered. “The one where everything ends in ice—the one where Stephan wins?”
A look of darkness passed across his face when I mentioned Stephan’s name. “Yes, that’s what you need to stop from happening.”
I stood there, hardly believing what I was hearing. The first time I ever meet my father, and he informs me that he changed a vision so Stephan would be able to end the world in ice.
“So how do I change the world’s future back to what it is supposed to be?” I asked, turning the crystal ball in my hand.
He tapped the crystal ball with his finger. “Everything you need to know is in here.” He touched his finger to the side of my head. “And in here.”
Okay, this was making no sense. “How do I use it then?” I stared perplexedly at the crystal ball. “Just like a regular crystal ball?”
He turned his back to me and started down the hall. “It’s time for you to return…you’re not even supposed to be here. Good-bye, Gemma. I have great confidence that you’ll be able to fix my mistakes.”
I started after him, desperate to know more, but strangely, the walls seemed to be blurring away. It was like I was having trouble seeing—and walking.
My father kept moving further and further away from me as the hall flickered in and out of focus. I tried to chase after him, but it felt like I was only putting more distance between us. “But I don’t understand any of it! How am I supposed to change visions? And how do I know which ones to change?” I stopped, my feet feeling too heavy to move. “Dad, I don’t understand!”
“Don’t worry,” he called over his shoulder. “You will.”
Before I could say anything else, the walls closed in, and everything went black.
Chapter 4
Water splashed across my face, soaking my skin and drenching my clothes. My body felt like it had been run over by a truck and my eyelids were as heavy as lead. I could hear the ocean lulling, but it didn’t make sense since I was up in the mountains.
Water hit me in the face again, and I opened my eyes right as a wave crashed over me. I scrambled to my feet, hacking up water as I scurried out of the ocean’s reach. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was standing on a sandy shore, the dark-blue ocean extending out before me, the golden sun reflecting against the water. Behind me, houses lined the beach, and one house in particular—a light-blue one—I knew would be the house where I would find my mom, Alex, Aislin, and Laylen.
Clutching the crystal ball my dad gave me, I ran for the house, the sand burning against the soles of my feet. People dotted the beach, and they probably thought I was crazy; soaked from head-to-toe, holding a crystal ball as I sprinted like mad. I didn’t care, though. They could stare. I was no longer on the mountain and that was all that mattered at the moment.
I made it to the house panting and charged up the wooden steps of the back porch. “Mom,” I called out, throwing open the back door. “Mom!”
I moved across the kitchen and went into the living room. No one was there and the only noise was the tick-tock of the wall clock.
Where were they? Did they go looking for me? Probably. I had, after all, been missing for nine days. Great. I needed to find a phone and see if I could get a hold of someone; let them know I was back.
I have no idea why people thought it was a good idea to get rid of house phones. Yes, there are cell phones, but cell phones don’t do any good when you don’t own one.
I searched the house, looking for a phone, but ten minutes later, I was still phoneless. I was just about to walk out the front door to go find someone who would let me use their phone, when the door opened on its own and Alex entered. His dark-brown hair was messy and not in an intentional way like it usually was. The color of his green eyes popped against the black t-shirt he was wearing. My happiness and thrill of seeing him bubbled up inside me and I just about ran over and threw my arms around him. It was a bit of a shock, feeling this way toward him, and I wondered how deep my feelings for him were getting. It was extremely confusing to think about.
But I resisted the urge to run over to him, remembering Stephan’s words: If you stay close to each other for too long the star’s power will fade out. And so will you and Alex.
“Hey, did you find him?” Alex asked, before I got a chance to speak. He shut the door and walked up to me, creating a bit of a problem because the electricity was firing up like a firework show.
I took a step back. “Did I find who?”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “Laylen.”
I was so confused. “Why? Did something happen to him?”
Alex looked as confused as I felt. “Yeah, he disappeared, remember? Everyone is out looking for him. I take it, though, you didn’t find him.”
WTF. What was he talking about? “But I’ve been gone for nine days.”
He looked at me like I was insane. “No, you haven’t.”
“Yes, I have…oh…” My mouth fell open as it dawned on me.
“Gemma, what’s wrong?” His bright-green-eyed gaze moved all over me. “Why are your clothes all wet?” He took the crystal ball from me and turned it over in his hand. “Where did you get this?”
I didn’t answer. I just stood there, with my mouth agape, struggling to grasp what was going on. My father had sent me back to before Nicholas had captured me and handed me over to Stephan—before I had spent nine days locked away in the cabin. And he did not send me back in vision form. I was here in the present, and I could communicate and touch things…I think.
Without even thinking, I reached out and placed my hand on Alex’s arm. The electricity surged with our contact.
“Holy crap,” I whispered. I took the crystal ball from him and sank down on the couch that smelled of salt water and sand. “I can’t believe it.”
Alex sat down beside me, a concerned look on his face. “Gemma, please tell me what’s wrong.”
I swallowed hard. “Something happened to me.”
“Okay…do you want to tell me what it is?”
I slowly nodded and then started to explain everything that had happened to me—or didn’t happen, I guess I should say, because if I was here at this very moment, then those nine days at the cabin never took place. I was back where I started, only now I had a unique crystal ball in my hand and a ton of new unanswered questions.
I knew right away that I shocked the heck out of Alex. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly hanging open. It took him a minute, after I finished explaining, to say something
“So what you’re saying,” he said slowly, “is that right now we’re nine days in the past.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I think the nine days I spent at the cabin were somehow erased.” I set the crystal ball in my lap, thinking about how my father said he erased a vision and recreated it. “I think, somehow, my father erased and recreated some of the events of my life, so that I would end up back here.”
“So that my father never got a hold of you?” Alex asked, still looking really lost.
It was weird having him ask me questions, and it kind of sucked because I didn’t have answers to give him. “I don’t know...I’m not sure how it works. He only told me he erased a vision and recreated it to change the outcome of the world’s future.” I twisted the crystal ball in my hand, staring at the glowing purple star inside. “He said he changed it so that the world would end the way I saw it in my ice vision.”
Alex’s forehead creased over. “Are you saying that he made it so my father could end the world?”
I felt kind of ashamed of my father. “I think so.”
Alex stared off into space, thinking about what I said. “So where was your father exactly?”
“I have no idea. He never told me. He wouldn’t tell me anything, really, just that I was going to save the world.” I held up the crystal ball. “And that everything I needed to know was inside this….Oh yeah, and in my head.”
Alex dragged his fingers through his hair, tugging at the roots. “But none of what you said makes sense. Foreseers aren’t supposed to be able to control how the future turns out—they’re not supposed to recreate visions to their liking.”
“Yeah…but I don’t know…it seems like it could be possible. I mean, look at me. I can travel around wherever I want by using my Foreseer ability, without the aid of a crystal ball.”
“Yeah, but you are…” He trailed off as I gave him a cold stare. He was about to say different, and I really disliked being called that. “Unique,” he finished, with a teasing smile that focused all of my attention on his lips, which painfully reminded me that I was never going to be able to kiss those lips again unless I figured out a way to get rid of the star's power.
His face fell. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, not sure how explain that we were not supposed to be together; that the Blood Promise we made, to be together forever, was useless; that if we stayed close to one another for too long, there was a possibility we could kill each other. Of course, this was all based on if Stephan had told the truth.
“I have to—” I started
The front door flew open and smacked against the wall, rattling the shelves on it. Aislin burst in, her cheeks pinked with heat, her golden-brown hair a mess and her clothes covered in dirt and sand.
“What’s wrong?” Alex quickly stood up from the couch
Aislin shook her head, tears streaking her cheeks. “Laylen…Lay…” She burst into hysterical sobs.
I jumped to my feet. “What about Laylen? Did something happen to him?” I asked, in a panic-stricken voice as the reality that saving the world wasn’t my only responsibility. I also had to save a vampire who was dealing with blood thirst issues. Blood thirst issues that I caused by begging him to bite me so he wouldn’t die.
Aislin sobbed hard. “I can’t—I can’t.”
“Just spit it out,” Alex said unsympathetically.
Looking hurt, Aislin wiped her tears away and pulled herself together. “I can’t find him anywhere.”
“Okay,” Alex said in an unfeeling tone. “Well, freaking out isn’t going to help us find him.”
Aislin fixed him with an angry glare. “You don’t need to be rude. I’m just a little upset, okay?” She looked like she might start crying again. “I never got to tell him I was,” she sniffed back her tears, “sorry…for everything.” She burst into sobs and ran off to her room.
“You know, sometimes I’m grateful I can shut off my emotions.” Alex turned to me. “It keeps me from doing things like that.”
I stared at him, half agreeing and half disagreeing. “Not all emotions are bad,” I said.
His bright green eyes burned with intensity. “Aren’t they?” His voice wobbled and he was breathing loud. He reached for me, about to touch me, and for a moment I just stood there, wanting him to touch me. But then I remembered we couldn’t get close—not until we knew for sure that it wouldn’t kill us.
I backed away from him.
His expression slipped into confusion as he pulled his hand back. “What’s wrong?”
“We can’t…” I took a deep breath, gesturing my hand back and forth between us. “You and I can’t—”
“Your head's bleeding,” he cut me off, staring at my head.
“Huh?”
He pointed at the side of my head. “There’s blood all over the side of your head.”
I touched my head and a warm, sticky substance coated my fingers. I pulled my hand away—blood. I went over to an oval mirror hanging on the wall and examined my head. On the left side, a cut ran across my scalp. And it had to be a fresh cut because blood was still oozing out of it and dripping down my hair.
“What happened?” Alex moved up behind me, inspecting the cut on my head. “You weren’t bleeding before, were you? I didn’t notice if you were.”
“No, I don’t think so.” My eyes were fixed on the cut. Why was it so familiar? Not just the cut, but the pain that was starting to spread through my skull—a blinding pain like I had smacked my head on a rock or something…my eyes widened. “Oh my God.”
“What is it?” Alex asked, alarmed.
“I think…” I set the crystal ball down on the desk and bolted for the back door.
Alex chased after me. “Where are you going?”
“I think something’s wrong,” I answered, leaping down the back porch steps. I took off across the beach, heading for the cliff area where Nicholas had once knocked me out, before taking me to the cabin. I needed to see if there was blood on the rock I hit my head on. If there was blood on it then that meant…Well, I had no idea what it meant, just that it meant something wasn’t right.
“Gemma!’ Alex yelled from right behind me. “Where the heck are you going?”
I pointed at the rocky cliffs, pushing past a few people that were standing in my way. “There…I have to see something.” I slowed to a stop as I reached the cliffs.
Alex stopped beside me, panting. “What do you need to see?”
“I need to see if there’s blood on the rock that Nicholas shoved me down on,” I told him, heading down the path that twisted through the center of the cliffs.
“But I thought you said that didn’t happen.” Alex followed at my heels as we made our way further down the path. “That your father erased it?”
I glanced over my shoulder at him. “I thought he did but now...” I shook my head. “I have no idea what’s going on, but if there’s blood on one of these rocks back in here, then something’s up—something’s not right.” My head was pounding and blood was trickling down my ear. I pressed my hand against the wound and picked up my pace, ignoring the rocks cutting my bare feet.
When I finally reached the end of the path, I swear my heart just about stopped. And all my confusion multiplied.
“What the?” Alex moved to the side of me and squinted at the ground. “What is that?”
“It’s….me?” I said, staring down at myself, lying on the ground, in a pool of blood. “Am I in a vision?” I wondered out loud.
From my peripheral, I saw a dark figure appear, and I jumped back, knocking my shoulder into Alex’s chest. Nicholas, who was usually annoyingly calm—well, unless he was being chased by a Water Faerie in The Underworld—looked about as shocked as I was.
His golden eyes widened as he glanced down at the “me” lying in the sand and then back at the real me.
“What on earth…” He trailed off and something abruptly clicked across his face. He knew exactly what was going on.
“Wow, Gemma,” he said with genuine astonishment. “I am very impressed.” He paused and then he lunged for me.
I don’t have the reflexes of a cat at all, and Nicholas was skilled in the art of lunging. Luckily, for my sake, Alex’s reflexes were that of a Keeper and with one swing of his fist, he knocked Nicholas out cold.
Nicholas’ body slumped heavily to the ground.
Alex shook out his hand. “His head is as hard as a rock.”
I would have laughed, except I was too occupied with the fact that there was another “me” lying on the ground. I stepped over Nicholas and gradually made my way over to her—or me. Was she real? Or was she just a vision? Hesitantly, I reached down and placed a hand gently on her arm. It was like I had stuck my fingers in an electrical outlet. My eyes zipped wide as a blaze of electricity—more powerful than anything I had ever felt—zipped through me. I gasped, feeling the moment erase, as if it had never existed. The unconscious “me” buzzed with static, like bad reception on TV, finally blinking and fading out into nothing.
My hand fell down onto the warm sand, and I stared at the empty spot in utter shock.
“Gemma.” Alex placed a hand on my shoulder. “What the hell just happened?”
His hand fell from my shoulder as I stood to my feet. My mind was so wired with electricity I thought my head was going to explode.
“I think I need to lie down.” I staggered sideways and then collapsed to the ground.
Chapter 5
Light…everywhere, surrounding me, blinding me. Alex and I by the lake, holding onto one another. It will be okay. Ice. So cold. Death. Shadows everywhere…suffocating me…I was dying…
My eyes shot open as I gasped for air. I clutched the bottom of my neck, hyperventilating as I bolted upright.
“Breathe.” Alex patted me on the back. “Just breathe.”
“I’m trying,” I coughed. I took a few slow, deep breaths until my breathing returned to normal, and then I tried to get to my feet. But the world twirled and swayed and I sank back into the sand.
“What happened?” Alex asked, kneeling down in front of me, his eyes scanning me over for any visible evidence that I might be broken.
“It felt like I couldn’t breathe,” I told him.
Alex, being Alex, straightforwardly said, “That’s because you stopped breathing.”
“Oh,” was all I could think of to say.
He touched the cut on my head and my scalp tingled with sparks. “Well, whatever just happened, it made the cut on your head seal itself up.”
I lightly grazed the side of my head with the tips of my finger. “It doesn’t hurt anymore either.” I dropped my hand and gave him a puzzled look. “What do you think just happened?”
“I have no idea.” He nodded his head at something behind me. “I wonder if he does, though.”
I turned and found Nicholas still sprawled out in the sand, unconscious. “It looked like he might know something,” I said, turning back to Alex. “But even if he did, what are the odds of him actually telling us?”
His bright green eyes sparkled deviously. “Oh, there are ways to get him to tell us.” He got to his feet and dusted the sand off his jeans. “They’re just not nice ways.”
I kind of felt bad for Nicholas, which I know sounds very weird, considering everything he had done. But, I mean, he had no control over what he was—the Mark of Malefiscus did. Well, okay, I had to retract that statement because not every annoying and wrong thing Nicholas did was because of the mark. He was just as annoying before he was branded by the mark. But that didn’t mean he deserved to be hurt.
I shielded my eyes from the sun’s brightness as I stared up at Alex. “What are you going to do to him?”
He walked over to Nicholas. “We’re going to go back and get Aislin, so she can transport him into the house.” He paused, mulling something over. “I would drag him there myself, but I think it might look a little suspicious to some people.”
Some people? Try all people. “Well, maybe I should just go get Aislin, in case he wakes up and tries to leave.”
Alex’s eyebrow curved up. “Can you even walk right now?”
Even though I was extremely dizzy, I was determined to show him I could. I gained control of my balance, before pushing myself to my feet. I rocked from side to side, and stumbled over to the wall of the cliff, bracing my hands against it.
“Gemma,” Alex started to say, his tone full of worry.
“Just give me a second.” Alright, Gemma, one foot in front of the other…Yeah, okay, that wasn’t happening.
I collapsed to the ground, barely able to keep my eyes in focus. “Alright, you go get Aislin, and I’ll stay here.”
“Are you crazy?” Alex said.
“I’ll be fine.” I shooed him away with my hand. “Now hurry up and go get her.”
“You won’t be fine.” He frowned at me. “And if he does wake up, he’ll just take you.”
He had a point, but...
“At least take the crystal ball he uses to travel with.” I rested my heavy head against the cliff. “That way if he does wake up, he won’t get very far.”
“Do you know where he keeps it?”
“I think he keeps it in the pocket of his pants.”
Alex gave me a blank stare. “”You want me to reach into the pocket of another guy's pants.”
Oh my word. Guys were such babies sometimes.
Still not feeling up to standing, I crawled over to Nicholas, reached in his pocket, and took out his ruby-filled traveling crystal ball that shimmered red when it caught in the light of the sun.
Alex took the crystal ball from me and chucked it over the cliff. “Alright, let’s go.”
I gave a slow nod, not wanting to stand up and walk. Every part of my body was weak, like all the energy had been sucked out of me.
Alex held his hand out and helped me to my feet. I felt like I was standing on an out-of-control merry-go-round.
I clutched onto his arm. “I think something’s wrong with me.”
“You’re just figuring that out?” he teased, but there was concern in his tone.
“Ha ha,” I said sarcastically.
He laughed.
I saw spots and my ears popped. “I think…there’s something…” I trailed off as I fell toward the ground.
Alex caught me. “Careful,” he said, steadying me. Then he lifted me up into his arms.
The electricity flowing from him was like a peaceful lullaby, singing me to sleep. But even through my dazed-out brain, I knew it was wrong. Alex was not supposed to be carrying me.
“You can’t…be…near…me,” I murmured, drifting in and out of consciousness.
He shushed me, and I was overcome by sleepiness. I rested my head against his chest and a second later, I was out.
I woke up lying in a bed in a room with sky-blue walls. My vision was back to normal and my head was much clearer. I gradually sat up, just in case I was hit with another spout of dizziness. But my equilibrium seemed to be fixed. Thank God. I actually thought I was broken; that whatever took place back on the beach had permanently blinded me or something.
The door cracked open and Alex peered in. He looked shocked to see me awake.
“Feeling better?” he asked, pushing the door open the rest of the way.
I stretched my arms out above my head and yawned. “Yeah.”
He sat down on the bed and nervous energy was radiating off him. “You freaked the heck out of me back there, you know that?”
“Sorry,” I said. “I don’t know what happened...it was like all my energy was sucked away from me or something.”
He was looking at me in a way that made my skin glow with heat. He placed a hand on my cheek. “You really freaked me out.”
My heart pounded inside my chest. Why was he looking at me like that? It was making me feel like I was suffocating.
I flinched away from him.
He frowned, his hand still hovering in the air. “What’s wrong?”
Not looking at him, I took a deep breath. “I need to tell you something.”
He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Okay, what is it?”
I shivered from his touch. I wished he would have acted like this when I first met him. “It’s about you and me,” I said, meeting his eyes.
He pressed his lips together, looking amused. “Oh, yeah?”
He still had his fingers in my hair and it took all my energy not to lean my head into his hand and shut my eyes. “Your father told me something about you and me when I was up at the cabin,” I told him, my voice trembling.
He looked worried. “Was it something bad?”
I nodded. “It is.”
“But you were never up at the cabin, so that means it doesn’t matter, right?”
I choked back the strangling feeling rising up inside me, knowing that once I said it out loud, it would become very real. “I know, but I’m sure it still applies.” I paused. “He told me that if you and I were close to each other for too long then the star’s power would eventually fade away and you and I would fade along with it.”
I held my breath, waiting for him to get riled up, but all he did was sit there, staring at me. I was just starting to wonder if I had shocked the words right out of him, when he shut down. The scary part was that I swear I actually could see it; the emotion slipping out of his eyes and leaving nothing in its place.
“Well, okay then.” He stood up and headed for the door.
“That’s all you have to say?” I sprung to my feet, kind of pissed off that he wasn’t as upset as I was.
“What do you want me to say?” he asked with an uncaring shrug. “We can’t be near each other, so we won’t.”
I glared at him. “Well, we could at least make sure it’s true before we do.”
He opened the door. “Why would we do that?”
I was filled with the urge to shove him. “Why are you being such a jerk?”
He let out a frustrated breath and turned to face me. “What do you want from me, Gemma? We can try to find out if there’s some truth to it, but it’s probably true—it’s probably why he never wanted us to be near each other in the first place.”
Whoa. I never thought of that, and I think, up until this point, I was grasping onto the hope that Stephan had been feeding me a lie.
“I…um…” I was at a loss for words.
We stared at one another, unsure of what to do or say, while the electricity danced around us, laughing at us, taunting us, torturing us with its existence.
Aislin appeared in the doorway. “He’s awake.”
I tore my eyes away from Alex. “Who is? Nicholas?”
She nodded and Alex pushed past her.
Aislin gave me a funny look, but I didn’t feel like explaining what was going on.
“Is my mom back, yet?” I asked.
She had changed out of her dirty clothes and her hair was back to its normal perfect state. “No, I haven’t heard from her since we all split up to go find Laylen,” she said. “But maybe it’s a good sign she’s not back. Maybe she found him and is trying to get him to come back.”
Maybe, but it worried me that she wasn’t back yet. It just didn’t seem like a great idea for my mom—who had just been freed from The Underworld a day ago—to be out by herself looking for a vampire with blood thirst issues.
“I know it’s not the best situation,” Aislin told me like she read my mind. “But I’m sure she’s okay.”
“I hope they’re both okay,” I said, but something in my gut told me this was not the case.
Chapter 6
“Is this really necessary?” I asked Alex for about the millionth time.
He shrugged and popped his knuckles. “Maybe.”
He wasn’t being rude or anything, he was just acting all “whatever.” This was the attitude he had given me for the last half an hour as Aislin and I stood out in the hot, humid garage and watched Alex try to beat the information out of Nicholas.
Nicholas seemed to be finding Alex’s beatings amusing. He kept laughing every time Alex punched him. I swear I was really starting to wonder if faeries were a little bit crazy.
Nicholas’ hands were tied to a pipe that ran along the ceiling. His lip was bleeding, and the rope was cutting into his wrists, causing blood to drip down his arms and soak the green t-shirt he was wearing. Plus, I was pretty sure Alex had broken a couple of his ribs.
“Tell me what you know about what happened back there on the beach,” Alex demanded. Like clockwork, Nicholas laughed at him and then Alex punched him in the stomach.
Nicholas laughed again, but I could see he was in a lot of pain by the way his expression twisted and his skin coated with sweat. “You know, it actually kind of tickles.”
Alex clocked him in the stomach again, and I cringed at the cracking noise that had to be a rib breaking. “I could do this all day.” Alex paced in front of him and then rammed his fist into Nicholas’ side. Alex continued doing this over and over, his face reddening with anger the more Nicholas laughed.
“We should do something,” I said to Aislin in a low voice.
She blinked at me helplessly. “Like what?”
“I don’t know…” I pushed my shoulders back, trying to look confident as I marched over to Alex. “Stop it. I don’t think he’s going to tell you anything, even if he does know something.”
Alex ignored me and raised his hand, preparing to swing.
I grabbed his arm, which I know was a very stupid thing to do for many different reasons. “Look, I know he’s annoying and everything, but still…”
Alex was breathing erratically and the anger burning in his bright green eyes made me shrink back.
“Are you okay?” I asked in a calming voice.
He blinked a few times as if he was coming out of a raging state. Then he tore his arm away from me. “What are you doing? You can’t touch me.” So much anger burned from his eyes, and the sparks nipped madly at my skin.
“Is this really about getting information from Nicholas?” I whispered. “Or is it about what I told you?”
“Why would it be about that?” His voice cut through the air like a knife about to injure me. “It doesn’t matter to me whether you and I can be together.”
Okay, that stung. But I was pretty sure he was putting on a front—or at least I hoped he was. After learning about myself and about him, I knew that both of our emotions were a little bit…what would be a nice word for it…erratic. We don’t show our true feelings sometimes, and I think it’s because we’re still learning how to.
“You don’t mean that.” My voice was barely a whisper
He opened his mouth, and then shut it again. Then he just looked at me with this confused, panicked expression. The electricity heated up. I heard Aislin say...something, but all I could focus on was his eyes and the buzzing and the—
Nicholas busted up laughing. “Oh my God, look at you two. You both want to be together so bad, yet, if you do, you’ll kill each other. It’s hilarious.”
Alex and I blinked and then Alex was moving for Nicholas.
“What did you just say?” Alex growled, clenching his hands into fists.
Nicholas pressed back a smirk, his golden eyes twinkling wickedly. “I didn’t say anything.”
Alex took a few threatening steps toward him, the soles of his black DCs scuffing against the cement floor. “What do you know about Gemma and I killing one another?”
“What?” Aislin exclaimed, her loud voice echoing through the air. “What do you mean you’ll kill each other?”
“We’ll explain later.” He waved her off, his gaze still glued on Nicholas. “Start talking.”
Nicholas slowly shook his head and Alex raised his fist. With how much wrath was blazing in Alex’s eyes, I worried that if he started swinging he might not stop this time.
Nicholas must have sensed it too. “Alright, alright…I’ll tell you.” He paused, contemplating something that I was sure was probably going to start trouble. “But I want something in return.”
Alex was already shaking his head. “No way.”
“Then no deal,” Nicholas said while struggling to keep his footing.
“I don’t think you’re in much of a position to be making bargains,” Alex said, raising a fist. “Or do I need to remind you of that?”
“What do you want?” I stepped in between them, if for nothing else, so I would no longer have to witness anymore punching.
“Gemma,” Alex warned, but I held up my hand, my eyes on Nicholas. “What do you want?”
The humor erased itself from Nicholas’ face. “I want to stay here.”
My hand dropped, along with my jaw. “You want to what?”
“I want to stay here.” Blood trickled down his wrists, and he winced as the rope swayed. “After I tell you what I know, I want to be able to hang around for a while.”
Alex and I both shook our heads.
“No way.” Alex’s voice was unyielding.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” I pointed to the Mark of Malefiscus on Nicholas’ forearm. “Especially considering you have that.”
“That’s why I want to stay,” Nicholas said. “If Stephan can’t find me, then he can’t make me do things for him.”
I glanced at Alex. “Is that true?”
Alex shrugged. “I have no idea how the mark works.”
I eyed Nicholas suspiciously. “How do we know you’re telling the truth? I mean, I’ve seen what you were going to do to me back on the shore.”
A grin spread across his face. “I bet you did. Tell me, did you just see it or did you actually live it?”
Why did the one person who seemed to have the answers have to be a very obnoxious faerie/Foreseer that loved to twist things around and make everything difficult?
I looked from Alex to Aislin. “What do you guys think we should do?”
“I don’t know…do you think we can trust him?” Aislin asked Alex.
He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know.”
This was giving me a headache. I rubbed the sides of my temples, trying to make all the stress disappear. That’s when I caught sight of the scar on the palm of my hand. I held my hand out if front of me and stared at the scar that marked my and Alex’s Blood Promise to be together forever.
“I think I have an idea.” I turned to Nicholas. “Would you be willing to promise that you wouldn’t do anything harmful to anyone?”
Nicholas and Alex gave me a perplexed look. Then, realization spread across their faces.
“No way,” Alex said, and at the same time Nicholas remarked, “Clever girl.”
“Why not?” I asked Alex. “It’s not like it’s a bad thing or anything.”
“Blood Promises can go wrong, Gemma.” He frowned as he traced the scar on the palm of his hand. “The promise is unbreakable—you can’t take it back. And if you say the wrong thing, you can end up making a promise you didn’t intend to make.”
“Is that what happened with us?” I asked, offended. “Did you say the wrong thing? Or is it that you just want to take it back?”
“No.” He looked taken aback. “That’s not what I meant. I was just saying things could go wrong…you could say the wrong thing and end up getting stuck with him forever.”
Nicholas grinned as if this were a compliment.
I shook my head and let out a stressed sigh. “Okay, we’ll have to be really careful then.”
Alex leaned toward me and dropped his voice. “And even with the Blood Promise, if my father shows up, Nicholas more than likely will still have to do what he asks because I’m pretty sure the Mark of Malefiscus is more powerful than a Blood Promise.”
“Then, I guess we will have to make sure your father doesn’t find us.” My voice trembled from Alex’s closeness. Focus, I told myself. “If he might have some answers on how I can save the world, then I think it’s worth the risk.”
Alex still looked unconvinced, but I didn’t care. I already made up my mind. I was going to do this. “Okay, you and I will make a Blood Promise. I’ll promise you can stay here with us, and you’ll promise that you’ll answer all of my questions…truthfully. And, you won’t harm any of us. Got it?”
He considered this. “I want one more thing.”
I rolled my eyes. “What else do you want?”
He nodded his head at Aislin. “I want Witch Girl over there to try and find a way to get this thing off my arm.”
I shot Aislin a questioning glance. “Can you do that?”
Aislin’s green eyes went wide. “I don’t know…I mean, there might be a spell that could remove a mark, but I’ve never heard of it, or I might not be powerful enough to actually pull it off.”
“You know other witches, don’t you?” Nicholas said in a rude tone. “Talk to them—see if they know how.”
Aislin twisted her golden brown hair around her finger. “Maybe I could see if someone knows a spell that would do it.”
“That’s all I’m asking,” Nicholas said.
“Alright, then.” Aislin let go of her hair. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Nicholas’ gaze landed on me. “So are you ready to do this?”
“Do you have a knife?” I asked Alex, holding my hand out.
“Why?” he asked, his arms crossed as he looked at me with irritation.
“So I can cut my hand and make the promise.” I tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for him to hand over the knife I was almost certain he had.
He shook his head, frustrated. Then he reached into the pocket of his jeans and retrieved a silver pocket knife. “I still don’t think this is a good idea.” He reluctantly handed me the knife.
I flipped open the blade and winced at the sharp tip as it flashed in the florescent lighting of the garage. I tried to keep a steady hand as I held the knife up to the palm of my hand. “So, I just cut?”
Alex sighed and took the knife from me. “Give me your hand,” he said and I did. He traced the scar on my palm with his finger, and then let my hand go. “Give me you other hand.”
Confused, I gave him my other hand. “What? Can I not do the promise in the same place?”
He shook his head, his eyes locked on the palm of my hand. “No, you can. But that scar was from our promise.”
It felt like a thousand butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach.
“Man, you two are going to kill each other quick, aren’t you?” Nicholas remarked with a smirk.
Alex shot him a glare and then held the knife to my palm. “Okay, I’m going to cut your hand and his. Then you’ll press your palms to his and repeat what I say, alright?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Alright.”
“And be very careful that you repeat exactly what I say.”
“Don’t you need to untie him first?” I pointed over at Nicholas.
“I’m not going to let him go until the promise is made,” Alex told me firmly. “You’ll just have to reach up to his hand.”
Well, it’s a good thing I’m tall because it was going to be a really high reach to get Nicholas’ hand; they were practically touching the ceiling.
Alex pressed the tip of the knife gently against the palm of my hand and then, very carefully, he made a small cut. Blood seeped out and my skin felt like it was on fire. Alex quickly went over to Nicholas, reached up to where his hands were bound, and with less carefulness, sliced the palm of Nicholas’ hand. Blood oozed out of his skin and dripped down his arm.
Alex flipped the blade shut and tossed it on the cement floor. “Gemma, put your hand up to his.”
I took a deep breath and, ignoring the flowery smell that always flowed off Nicholas, stood on my tiptoes and pressed my bleeding palm against Nicholas’. His closeness made me uncomfortable, along with the deviousness playing at his lips.
“We should have done this a long time ago.” His breath was hot on my cheeks.
Glaring, I leaned my face away from him.
“Repeat exactly what I say,” Alex said, holding my gaze. “EGO votum permissum.”
I spoke slowly so I wouldn’t mess anything up. “EGO… votum…permissum.”
Alex swallowed hard. “Vos subsisto hic quod Andron.”
“Vos…subsisto…hic quod…Andron.” My voice shook.
“Mos capto aufero vestri vestigium.”
“Mos capto…aufero…vestri…vestigium.”
Alex and I both let out a breath of relief, and then Alex pointed a finger sharply at Nicholas. “You better repeat exactly what I say. No changing or adding anything, understand?”
Nicholas nodded, but there was a mischievous look in his eye that made me uneasy. “I understand.”