Sight

by Chrystal Blue

  SIGHT

  The Darken Series

  Book 2

  Chrystal Blue

  This book is copyrighted © 2019 by Chrystal Blue with all rights reserved. It is illegal to redistribute, copy, or create derivative works from this book whole or in parts. No parts of this book may be reproduced or retransmitted in any forms whatsoever without the written, expressed, and signed permission from the author.

  DEDICATION

  There is always more than one way to see. The person who closes their eyes to the possibilities fails to reach their destiny.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter One

  Arel’s Dream

  She ran. The darkness was closing in on them. Quickly, her mother piled them into the station wagon. The baby sat crying in the middle of the back seat, her and her sister on each side. Father drove, speeding down the highway racing from the darkness. Their mother panic-stricken, clutched his hand in the front seat. The car sped down the dark highway. Time was gone, a forgotten memory passed. The darkness had found them. Tears streamed down mother's face, she turned to them. "Save him," she begged. "Please, I beg you. Save him. Please save him."

  The car swerved; a loud bang. The front door was missing, her father gone. Mother screamed. They continued to dance along wildly in the car as it clamored along the road. Recklessly they drove down the dark path. Crashes and bangs, everything so loud. The darkness was coming. It filled the car; the light was gone.

  Mother screamed. Her body slumped over in the front seat, stifled. The passenger door was gone. Mother was gone. The darkness filled the car. Her sister yelled; the baby was silent. Blood. She could feel its breath, its tendrils grasping for her. Her voice lost in her throat; the screams, unable to come out. Harder, she tried to cry. Hands thrashing, pushing, and fighting at the darkness; she screamed louder. Cold steel, hot blood, soft droplets. Pain. The car tumbled. The darkness enveloped her. She cried. Her sister lay at her feet, motionless, dull eyes staring up at her. The darkness was coming, she ran. Her sister's wails called for her. Arel...Arel…Arel.

  Arel startled from her dream sat erect in the bed. Her curls damp from sweat that still dripped down her forehead and back. The images of the nightmares that haunted her dreams, lingering in the back of her mind. The beating of her heart rang in her ears, echoing the cries of her sister.

  Sebastian sat on the bed by her side, trying to calm her, a look of worry across his face. Leaning over to her, he wrapped his arms around her rocking back and forth on the bed. The black velvet comforter lay strewn on the faded crème and gold speckled rug. Afraid to look around to see what other items had fallen victim to her night terrors she focused on the gold textured wall across from them.

  A rainbow danced along the room as a few streams of sunlight twinkled through the crystal chandelier above the bed. The long black silk curtains trimmed in gold flowering vines stood parted, letting the sun escape in and out of the space. The sun's rays dancing to the gold carpet from the ceiling; along the floor, darting through the furniture, it bounced. In the cushioned overstuffed chair by the window, the wall of pillows from the bed lay piled up where Sebastian had left them the night before. Carelessly tossed aside into a barrier of white, the cushions blocking the bedroom door.

  "It's okay Arel, you are safe. You are safe," he whispered into her ear, stroking her damp curls. Her body heaved and quivered as she tried to compose herself.

  "I'm sorry," she whispered back between ragged breaths.

  "Don't apologize," he interrupted as he pulled her closer. The damp camisole leaned against his bare chest as she rested her weight into him.

  "I thought the nightmares were over. I thought they had ended," Arel replied in near tears between shallow breaths. Burying her face into his chest, she tried to forget the fragments of fear she felt in the dream.

  "Shhh, shhh. It's okay," whispered Sebastian, calming her fears.

  The two sat in the bed, him holding her close until her breaths returned to normal. Turning her head, she pushed her face deep into his torso, blocking the light of the morning as her curls brushed against his jaw. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he squeezed her closer. Arms wrapped tight around his waist, her chest heaved up and down with each silent sob. Her heart back to an average pace, the silent tears no longer trailing down her calm face she released her grip on him. Peering through the parted curtains into the brightly lit morning, she continued to calm herself.

  "Arel," whispered Sebastian still holding her in his arms. Leaning his full weight on the bed, he rested on his legs, holding her close to him.

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you. I didn't want to cause a scene. I just…just wanted things to be normal. A new start," Arel whispered as she continued holding on to him.

  "Do you want to talk about it," he asked.

  "The dream?"

  "We can talk about anything you would like," he replied. Releasing his hold on Arel, he brushed the curls away from her face.

  "It is the same as always, the darkness coming after me, using everything in its power to get me. Father dies first. Mother begs me to save our brother, her son. She's always looking me in my eyes, almost like she knows I was the one. We're terrified, we know the darkness is coming, and there is nothing we can do. She always begs me to save him right before she dies. It comes after my sister; I don't hear her anymore. It's so quiet, that silence it scares me almost as much as…Seeing my sister, my face; I saw her dead, and I left her. But then she wasn't, and she was calling after me,” replied Arel.

  “It’s okay, it was just a nightmare.”

  “I left her to them, Sebastian. They have her, and I feel like all of it is my fault."

  She rambled on as her mind raced from thought to thought. The remains of the dream lingering on the edge of her memories. Unable to see past the guilt, she tried focusing on the meaning of it all. Now that she knew who she was, why did the dreams still haunt her nightmares? It was overwhelming invading the quiet moments in the dark as she tried to sleep.

  The memories of their names still remained hidden, as bits and pieces of her fragmented past seeped into her consciousness. Recollections generated by scent or sound or a word uttered just so that it brought to her present vivid images long lost in her subconscious. The dream reminding her of her promise she made to their mother before their death. A pledge to save her brother prompted her to recall the reason she had been on that road long ago.

  Years she believed she was the sole survivor, having all of her family perish that night. There in the early morning haze of her nightmare, she remembered him, remembering he had survived. Slowly the ache in her limbs was not an ache from a night struggling with her dreams, but the ache her body felt after the accident. It was the pain from carrying him in her tiny arms to safety, keeping her promise. Although his location remained hidden, forgotten to her at the present moment, she knew she would have to find him. Even though his parents had passed, she had to let him know he was not forgotten.

  "Arel, it's just a dream." Sebastian coxed her as he stroked her hair, trying to soothe her still racing heart.

  Pulling away from his chest, she looked into his eyes. Shaking her head frantically, she leaned towards him as if to whisper what she was about to say so no one else could hear.

  "It's more than that, it's a memory, it's guilt, it's not a dream. It's as real as you are here with me. The dream was the before I awakened. Walking through the world in a haze."

  "Arel," Sebastian interrupted.

  "You don't understand, we only had each other, and I left her," she interrupted the tears starting to fill the corner
of her eyes again. "If they are as terrible as your family believes, what kind of prison is she living in?"

  "They would never harm her," replied Sebastian trying to ease her mounting fear over the fate of her twin sister.

  "How do you know? The stories all tell of," she cried. Her voice stressed as she pulled her hands away from him.

  "Because she is one of them. She is a Darken princess," he interrupted.

  Arel's upbringing as brief as it was with the resistance had pegged the Darken as a threat. In her mind, her sister was not an enemy, but a captive desperately awaiting her freedom.

  "I left her to them," she cried. Anxious to get Sebastian to understand her guilt over the fate of her sister.

  Sweat pouring down her back as Arel screamed out into the night. Confused by the fears of the other residents, Arel's mind focused on the fact that she had been discovered. It was that night that she finally revealed one of the secrets she had been keeping from him. All these years terrorized by the image of a face dead on the cold ground was not hers, it was her twin sister's death that haunted her.

  The burdensome guilt kept her from opening up about the first memories that tried to break free. In Sebastian's arms, she realized all those years, her sister had been trying to communicate with her. Years she fought her memories, she had been blocking Teraya. The nightmares, although very real to her, could have possibly been triggered by her sister.

  If it was, in fact, Teraya that was trying to find her, why did her mind rebel so hard against it? Did she try to locate her so they could be reunited or was there some other purpose?

  Was it guilt that made her keep a bag packed in the closet by her front door? If it wasn't remorse, what was it? She had said it was guilt, regret over something she had done in their childhood that had started a chain reaction that led them here. In fact, she had repeatedly told Sebastian she felt shame over leaving her Teraya, remorse over surviving when her family did not.

  Sebastian understood her, he too felt guilt over the loss of his family. Although a child, he often questioned whether or not he could have done more to protect his brother and mother. Years before Arel had tried to warn him about their fate.

  His cautious behavior might have stemmed from that regret, trickling over into everything Sebastian did. Guilt marred his decisions, primarily how he had handled Arel. Lingering over the secrets that remained between them, the information he hid from her that she urgently wanted to know.

  "You were children," he replied. Not wanting to upset her anymore, he sat quietly holding her for a few more minutes. He continued to caress her hair as the beating of her heart filled his ears. Inhaling, Arel's scent filled Sebastian's nostrils, his eyes closed he leaned his weight fully on the headboard.

  "I know, but she had asked me to tell, and I didn't. I was selfish."

  "Come, let's get you something to eat, you have to keep your strength up." Getting up, he stood by the bed, waiting with his hand outstretched towards her.

  Arel remained unmoved from her seated position propped up against the pillows in the bed. Sitting quietly, looking at the parted curtain, she remained motionless. The house was quiet as if just the two of them occupied the space, but she could sense the vampires keeping their distance, in the other rooms.

  Thinking back to childhood, she thought of the time when she and her sister would steal away from the house. For hours the two would hide in their hidden place, where they would speak a secret language so no one could hear. There in the stolen moments of freedom, they would practice, her sister looking at the lives of those around them.

  "Arel," he whispered again.

  "Give me your hand," she whispered, stretching her hand towards him. Leaning forward, she stretched her fingers out, beckoning him to come to her.

  "Come, let's get you some food," he repeated.

  "I remembered something. I want to try it. Please, Sebastian, give me your hand," she repeated.

  Grabbing Arel’s outstretched hand, he allowed her to pull him towards her, falling onto the bed. His hand in her overturned palm, sitting straight in front of her, he waited, watching shat she would do. With her eyes closed, she took a deep breath in and slowly exhaling. She cleared her mind before focusing on him, seeing him in his present state, and working her way back.

  Squeezing her eyes closed tightly she stiffened, trying to see past the day she walked into Trofi. Attempting to envision Sebastian’s life or even his death. Concentrating harder, she strained, squeezing his hand in frustration. A few minutes after sitting on the bed, her eyes still closed, she exhaled. Arel's forehead creased deep in thought, she sighed hard, exasperated.

  "What are you doing," Sebastian asked, concerned with her apparent distress.

  "I'm trying to see your future, how I cause your death," she answered absentmindedly.

  Pulling his hand back, Sebastian held both her hands in his palm, waiting for Arel to open her still closed eyes. The frown creased her forehead deeper as she looked at him, eyes wide opened and full of tears. Leaning forward, she struggled to pry her hands from his, anxious to try again.

  “Arel, stop this," he demanded.

  “Stop? You knew who…what I was…and you didn't tell me. You wouldn't tell me what I was, you kept it from me. You let me fall in love with you, give you my heart, knowing it would break. All this time you said nothing. You didn't tell me anything!”

  Disheartened, Arel shot forwards. Anger boiling over her emotions as she glared at Sebastian, waiting for an explanation.

  “Arel,” whispered Sebastian.

  “No! You smiled, you let me give myself to you, knowing I could possibly kill you. Did you think about if it were true, how I would feel knowing your blood would be on my hands? What did you think while I poured my heart out to you," she yelled.

  "What they believe does not matter,” he replied softly.

  "Of course, it matters, your family is downstairs deciding whether or not to kill you because you're with me. They keep saying the same thing, over and over,” she screamed.

  The room filled with her raised voice as she shouted in frustration at the situation. Caring little at the fact the others with their sensitive hearing would know every word she uttered, she cried. There were more emotions wrapped in the endless questions that darted through her restless mind, then she let out.

  "YOU ARE NOT MY ENEMY," he roared, as he stood on the side of the bed, pulling her to her feet. Lifting her to his eye level, he drew her closer to him.

  "You are not my enemy," he repeated softer.

  Arel could see the anger and hurt in Sebastian’s eyes. Desperately she wished she could find some way to connect with him without words. The sharp ears of the rest of this house made it almost impossible to communicate. The very pressing fear she had regarding the Darken and Dmitri only added to her volatile emotions.

  "Could my heartbeat for its own demise," he whispered.

  She remained silent at his questions, watching him, waiting for him to say his peace. Arel hoped it would be a release of emotions and truth between them.

  "Could I tell you that I have loved you since we were children? Would I start with I have searched for you since the day I brought you back home? Or I should tell you how I smelled your scent before you turned the corner? The worshiped scent brought me back to a childhood memory. Half-awake, half asleep, my past and present collided.

  I could hear your heart pacing, beating with nervousness as you walked across the parking lot. When I saw you, my heart was complete.”

  Arel’s eyes fluttered towards the floor. Desperate to break free from his grasp and draw Sebastian into her arms. “Sebastian,” she whispered, her voice soft as her mind raced to balance the emotions raging within.

  “I hoped you were alive, but I had no knowledge of where you were. You had vanished, gone from my world years ago, yet here you stood in front of me again, a stranger. I looked in your eyes, and there was no trace of remembrance, you stretched out your hand to introduce yourself.�
��

  Arel remembered the nervousness she felt walking across the street into the restaurant still under construction. Recollecting the day, she remembered how the sunshine highlighted his face. There had been a feeling of calm as she looked at his face, extending her hand to him.

  “Yes, I knew as I looked into your eyes that day and each day after waiting for your memory to return. I waited for one morning for you to look at me not as a stranger, but with the same familiarity that we shared. How could I love you, without you remembering me?"

  Arel confined in Sebastian's arms, held captive by his strength, waited silently. She watched him, unsure of what she could say. His eyes peered through her, haunting her. Arel shifted slightly in discomfort. The truth she had wanted, but the truth he spoke had not been the one she desired to hear. She did not want to listen to his pain, did not anticipate the fact that he could love her in a way that she wasn't sure she could return. Her body a prisoner unable to move; her eyes glanced down to the floor, uncertain.

  Immobile, Arel's feet rested on the bed as her knees dangled above the soft mattress. Unable to move, she gave up any thought of fighting unable to match his strength. Faced with the silently building momentum of her thoughts as to how much she truly loved him.

  There was no question that she loved him, she knew this, but she did not remember the feelings of which he spoke. The forgotten memory had been replaced with new affection. Although her new love was all-encompassing, she did not know if it was enough.

  "Sebastian," she said, glancing back at him.

  "How could I describe the pain I felt when you didn't remember me? What words would I use to recall the pain of your distance after all those months we spent together," he demanded his hands gently releasing his grip as he lowered her back on to the bed.

  For Arel, love moved from the present to the future without a past. Sebastian’s endearment was more a fluid stream of the current flowing through the future from a history she did not know. His eyes looking into hers, pierced her soul, the hurt coupled with anger at the edge of his words faced the agony behind the questions he asked. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and pull him close.