I"m falling, deep and fast into an unknown place. Maybe it"s an abyss and I"ll never reach an end. Fear consumes me as I realize that I might spend the rest of my life falling.
A white light abruptly appears below my feet. As I plunge closer, it begins to shimmer like gla.s.s. .h.i.tting the sunlight, brighter and brighter until it becomes so vibrant I have to shut my eyes. I tuck my knees to my chest as warmth swathes me. Then, I suck in a breath as my knees slam into the ground and plunge into moist dirt and gra.s.s.
My body flips forward and my face lands in the gra.s.s. My knees feel bruised, but I leap to my feet and take in the scenery. Orange and pink leaves skip across the gra.s.s, which stretches for miles until it reaches the trees. There"s also a lake and the water shimmers in the sunlight. The place is strangely familiar, but I can"t quite figure out why. It"s the same sensation I had when I drifted to the field with the mother and daughter. Was that what that was? A vision, like this? There hadn"t been a crystal ball, though.
I check to make sure my st.i.tches are okay when a streak of purple whizzes by and I jump back with my hand against my heart. A little girl, wearing a purple dress, runs up to the sh.o.r.e of the lake and spins in the sand. She"s around four or five-years-old with long brown hair flapping in the wind. She kind of reminds me of the girl in the field. Her face is distorted by a haze.
"Don"t get too close to the lake," a voice calls out from behind me.
I whirl around just as a boy runs past me with his arms stretched outward. He looks to be a few years older than the little girl. He has dark brown hair and his face is blurry also.
"You need to be careful," he warns. "You don"t want to fall in."
"Don"t worry," the little girl replies, teeter-tottering at the edge of the water. "I"ll be careful."
"Please, just move away," he begs with his hand extended out to her. "You don"t know how to swim."
She takes ahold of his hand and he leads her away from the lake. "You always save me."
"I don"t understand," I mutter.
"You two, get over here right now!" The sound of a man"s voice makes the color of the land around me dim and the hairs on my arms stand on end. He"s tall, husky, with jet-black hair similar to Marco"s. He wears a black b.u.t.ton-down shirt, grey slacks and has a gold chain around his neck. And like the children, his face is also obscured.
He marches with confidence, each stride firm and in control. He"s intimidating and disturbs my nerves. "It"s time to go," his voice ices out at the children. "Get your a.s.ses back to the castle."
"Where are we going?" the girl asks as she clutches onto the boy"s hand.
"That"s none of your business!" the man bellows. "You never ask me questions. Do you understand?"
I hear the soft tread of approaching footsteps and then a slender figure dashes by me. She has long brown hair and she"s wearing a floral dress. I think it might be the mother and daughter from the field.
She scoops the girl up in her arms and hugs her protectively. "You stay the h.e.l.l away from her!" she shouts at the man.
Her presence brings warmth to the darkness the man instilled and the two combine to create a recipe of emotions that makes me nauseous. I squat down to the ground, feeling like I"m going to throw up.
"This is not your decision," the man snaps and, in two long strides, is standing in her face. "You knew when she was born that this would have to happen one day."
"Mommy, I"m scared," the girl whispers as she buries her head into her mother"s shoulder.
The mother smoothes back the girl"s hair and kisses the top of her head. "It"s going to be okay, sweetie. You don"t need to be scared. I promise I won"t let anything happen to you."
"I"d like to see you try." The man turns to the boy and points his finger at a hill. "Go inside, right now."
The boy glances from the man to the girl, torn on what to do. "I don"t want to."
"Don"t you dare mouth off to me!" the man shouts and the skin on his neck tints red. "Now, get your a.s.s inside!"
"Sorry, sir." The boy"s voice shakes as he bows his head and trudges up the hill toward a grey stoned castle with lofty towers and a peaking roof that stretches high into the clouds.
The man reels back to the woman. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."
She stands defiantly, holding her daughter in her arms as she steps back. "You aren"t taking her anywhere. She"s my daughter, not yours. You don"t own everything in this world."
"Bulls.h.i.t I don"t." He pauses and the woman continues to back away. "So it"s going to be the hard way, then." He lunges at the woman and steals the little girl from her arms, even though the girl kicks and hits at him.
The woman screams as she reaches her arms out toward her daughter, but the man draws out a knife from his pocket and she freezes.
"You wouldn"t dare," she whispers with her fists balled at her sides. "You need her too much."
The man aligns the sharp point of the knife closer to the girl"s neck. "Hurting her won"t make her useless, just scarred."
"Don"t hurt her," the mother begs, clasping her hands in front of her.
The girl hovers back from the knife. "Momma, help me."
Keeping a hold of the knife, the man reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a small black bag. "Or, if you want, I can use this?" He tips his head down at the girl. "Hey, sweetie, how would you like to go for a swim in the lake?"
The girl shrinks back. "But I can"t swim."
"You"ll be fine," the man coaxes as he begins to untie the bag. "Someone will be there to help you."
"Knock it off!" the mother screams and storms towards them. "She"s just a little girl. And-and if you put her there, then you can"t get her back."
The man laughs, throwing his head back, and shoves the woman back. "There are ways to get her back when I need her. She would probably be better off down there, anyway, until it"s time."
The woman stumbles, but quickly stands back up. "Please don"t do this. Please."
"Oh, I won"t; just as long as you get into the lake yourself," the man says. "I"m giving you a choice. It"s either you or her."
I leap to my feet. Go in the lake! Why!? Was he going to try and drown her? Fighting down the vomit burning at the back of my throat, I walk towards them.
"You"ll never get away with this." Her voice is edging toward hysteria. "I know the real reason why you want her and, sooner or later, someone else is going to figure it out. You"ll never be able to get away with it."
"Oh, I highly doubt it. I have everyone wrapped around my little finger." He sets the girl down on the ground, puts the knife out in front of him, and points his finger at the castle. "Go inside now."
She crosses her arms and elevates her chin. "I"m not leaving my mama."
"Go!" the man hollers and crows caw from the trees.
The girl steps forward, getting closer to the man. "You are a very, very bad man."
The man targets the sharp side of the blade at her face. "You think so?"
"Go on inside, sweetie," her mother says and gestures her daughter to go. "It"s alright. Everything will be okay."
It takes the girl a second, but she finally lowers her arms, and heads toward the castle. My heart breaks for them, knowing somehow that it will be the last time they"ll see each other. The girl will grow up motherless. There will forever be an empty hole in her heart and all she"ll want is to feel love, but maybe it will never be possible because this moment will shatter her.
There are so many similarities between the little girl and me, and I wonder if that"s why I"m seeing this vision. Am I going to meet the girl one day? Am I supposed to help her?
"Now it"s time to deal with you." The man lets a pause drag out as birds caw in the distances and circle above our heads "Get in the lake."
I shake my head. No. This can"t be happening. I don"t want to see this, yet, I can"t seem to stop running toward them.
"You"ve been planning this all along, haven"t you?" Her voice quivers as she backs toward the sh.o.r.eline and the man matches her every step. He has the knife in one hand and the bag in the other. "Every single word that"s come out of your mouth has been a lie."
"You know me well. Now quit stalling and get into the lake. Otherwise, I"ll have to force you in and that will make the situation unnecessarily painful."
"You"re wrong about not getting caught." She reaches the brink of the lake and the waves roll against her ankles. "There are people who you don"t have wrapped around your finger."
"Then, I"ll have to take care of them as well." He scoops out a handful of what looks like ash from the bag and then sprinkles it into the lake. It makes the water murky and still.
"Don"t think you"ve won." She holds her chin high and submerges her legs into the lake. "Someday, it will all catch up with you."
The water rises to her waist and the lake goes dead calm, like before a storm. The wind stalls and the birds become silent. It"s as if every part of nature knows something bad is going to happen. Like me. My legs fight to reach her, but I hear a swoosh and then the water splashes up. She plunges under the water, her arms flailing before they disappear. I let out a blood-curdling scream that ripples through the stillness. The man turns his back on the drowning woman and strolls away, whistling some funky tune that sounds like a mix between "It"s a Small World After All" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
Without even thinking, I jump into the lake, forcing my legs against the pressure as the cold water ascends higher upon my body. When it reaches my chest, I freeze, suddenly remembering that I can"t swim.
I"m about to backtrack when I feel a set of bony fingers wrap around my ankle and I"m jerked beneath the water. I gurgle as water floods my lungs and mouth. My legs and arms battle to find the surface, but the hand pulls me down into the ice-cold water and keeps dragging me deeper until I can"t hold my breath anymore.
Chapter 15.
I gasp for air as my eyes shoot open. The first thing I see is Alex"s worried face and then Laylen"s. I"m lying on the cold, tiled floor of Adessa"s store. My skin is dry and my lungs aren"t waterlogged. I can breathe again.
I scramble to my feet and then grip the counter when the blood rushes to my head. "What the h.e.l.l just happened?"
"You touched the Foreseers" ball after I told you not to." Alex"s voice shakes slightly. "And you went into a vision just like I said you might."
"It was an accident... I was distracted by you trying to..." I trail off when I notice that Laylen is listening intently. "Whatever. It doesn"t matter." I place my other hand on the counter, trying to control and bury all my emotions; but I can feel each one, like nails being inserted into my heart. He killed her. He made her drown and the girl was left in his hands. What did he do to her when he went back to the castle?
"I can"t breathe," I pant as my chest rises and falls violently. "Oh my G.o.d, I can"t... I can"t..."
"Gemma, look at me." Laylen"s voice envelops my body.
I tip my chin up and meet his eyes, which look like deep pools of water. "If you want me to, I can calm you down." He glances at Alex, checking.
I look to my side and Alex steps into my line of vision. He examines my eyes and he must see something horrifying because he nods at Laylen. "Go ahead, but only this one time."
I turn back to Laylen and he nods, then places a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay with it?"
I"m not exactly sure what he"s going to do to me, but it has to be better than the invisible nails in my heart. "Go ahead. Please."
He rests his other hand on my other shoulder and then positions his body in front of me. He slides his hands up my neck, rests them on my cheeks and hunches over so he"s at eye level with me. "It"ll be just like on the porch, only... less sensual."
I swallow hard. "Okay."
He wets his lips with his tongue and shakes his head so his bangs are out of his eyes. "Now close your eyes."
Giving one last glance at Alex, I let my eyes close. Images of water and the woman drowning instantly overpower my head, but they fade as tranquility flows down my body. It"s like I"m being kissed all over and those kisses erase every single place the vision has taken in my soul. I"m being healed, sewn back together again. My emotions belong to me.
"Let your heart settle," Laylen whispers. "And your body relax."
I give into his instructions and my knees start to buckle. His hand winds around my back and he braces me against his chest. I feel his lips brush my hair and then he says, "Take her to the car."
I don"t know who he"s talking to, but, seconds later, an arm slides behind me and I"m being scooped up into someone"s arm and a current drowns me. I relax against his st.u.r.dy chest and let him take me wherever. I"m calm. I"m all right.
I hear the bell go off as we exit the store, and then cool night air hits me. The car door squeaks open and he stops moving, leans forward and sets me gently onto the backseat. The leather is cool against my skin and I roll to my side, ready to go to sleep.
The seat sinks next to my feet and the door slams shut. I know he"s in the car with me, but he remains silent. "Are you going to be okay?" he finally asks.
I open my eyes, even though I don"t want to. I haven"t slept in ages and I want to sleep. "I think so."
His gaze is consuming, even in the dark. "Can I... Can I ask you what you saw? In the vision?"
Sighing, I push myself up and put my feet on the floor. There"s a gap between us and I don"t try to reduce it. I give him a recap of every detail I can remember from the vision and Laylen"s magical touch keeps me at peace through the entire journey.
"You know you were really lucky, right?" Alex mutters when I finish.
I"m perplexed. "Lucky how?"
He props his boot up on his knee and stares ahead at the street. "For one thing, I"ve heard stories about people getting stuck inside visions and never returning; and, for another, because you didn"t get captured by the Water Faerie."
"Water Faerie?" My dress is crooked and I raise my hips to realign it back into place. "Okay, that needs explaining."
He glances at my hips as I lower my a.s.s back to the seat. "It"s what pulled you and the woman down in the lake. Water Fey are the Guardians of the Underworld."
"The Underworld?" I ask. "As in, the place where the Greeks believed people went after they died?"
"Close." He seems hesitant to embellish. "But it"s not exactly the same." He takes a deep breath and keeps his eyes ahead. "The Underworld is the land of the dead. It"s also a prison. After the Keepers capture someone like, say for instance, a vampire that has been on a killing spree, we sentence them to a life in the Underworld as a punishment."
I question why he uses a vampire as his example, perhaps as a jab at Laylen. "But why wouldn"t you just kill them instead? It makes more sense that way and it seems like a far worse punishment."
He shakes his head. "Trust me. Death is an easier punishment than getting sent down there. Most go insane from the torture within a few weeks."
"Wait a minute." I pause, drinking in the knowledge he gives me and I connect it with what I know. "Does that mean the woman I saw get dragged into the lake is going to end up in the Underworld?"
"Maybe," he answers with unwillingness. "The Water Faeries usually don"t kill the people. They are under strict orders to take whatever they catch straight to the prison."
"But, why do they want prisoners?"
"Because they feed off the prisoners" fear. It"s what keeps them thriving, even in their dead form."
I hug my arms around myself. Nausea is starting to mix with the tranquility Laylen put in me. "So, if the vision I saw really ends up happening, then the woman"s going to end up being tortured down in the Underworld."