The Vessel

by Felicia Tatum

  Scott

  My day had been rushed. After dropping Livvie off, I had to hurry to campus. Driving from Loudon Heights to Arrow Rock and back again was time consuming. I dashed across campus, almost late for my class. Now, I sat in my last one of the day, doodling in my notebook instead of listening. My folder was full of first day of classes stuff: syllabi, instructions, contact information, book information, and the basic code of conduct for the school. It seemed every professor reminded you that cheating was bad. Cheating would get you kicked out. Cheating was against the rules. It was only my second year and I was already sick of reading it.

  The math professor droned on, almost causing me to drift into dream land. I was eager to see Livvie. I didn’t like spending time away from her…especially when the time away was when she was with Aiden. Yes, it was school, but I still didn’t like it. We had such little time together, and with all the developments, I didn’t know how much time I would have left with her. The thought tore my heart in two. Grandma was gaining me access to the “book.” This thing held the possible answer to all my problems. I knew it would take a lot of my time, but I was determined to find out who the descendant was in the next few weeks. I had to know. I couldn’t stand sitting around doing nothing. There was an answer, somewhere, and I would find it.

  The class filled with chatter, signaling the end of the boring lecture. I gathered my things, realizing I hadn’t even copied the notes off the board. With a quick glance, I flicked my wrist, opening my notebook slightly for the words to flow in. Taking notes had never been so easy.

  ###

  My truck flew down Livvie's road, anxious to see her lovely face. The trees swayed with the wind, unusual for this time of year, but I didn't give it much thought. Livvie was who I wanted, needed to see. Her house came into view, her brother's car missing from the drive. My heartbeat quickened at the possibilities of us being alone together. I swung the car to a stop in front of her door, climbing out before realizing I'd not taken my seatbelt off. Groaning in frustration, I snapped out of it, rushing to her door.

  I pounded on the wood, the sound echoing in beat with my heart. No answer. I waited a couple of minutes, trying again. Still nothing. Searching my pockets for my phone, I scrambled to call her.

  "Hello?" came her sexy voice, light and airy over the line. She sounded happy, content, like she had just been laughing.

  "Livvie. Where are you, love? I'm at your front door."

  "Oh," she giggled, the sound heavenly in my ears, "I'm at your grandma's. Come over."

  With Aiden, I couldn't help but think. "Oh, you are? Why are you over there?" I tried to not sound chiding, but my voice was harsher than intended.

  "I was waiting for you, Scott. Now come on, Sadie and Anna are making us dinner. Apparently Aiden had some issues with the cafeteria food today," she said with a chuckle.

  His name caused the anger in me to rise. "I'll be right there," I told her, practically leaping over everything in my way to get back to my truck. I didn't want her with him more than necessary.

  Olivia

  Scott's jealousy was becoming more and more intense. I thought I had made my feelings for him clear, but it appeared that I hadn't. I laid the phone down, trying to smile like nothing was wrong to all the faces staring at me.

  "What did he do, Liv?" J questioned, practically hissing in my ear so no one would hear.

  "Nothing," I lied.

  "Liar. Tell me," she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. She dragged me along, to the living room, away from prying ears.

  Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair. "He's mad I'm over here."

  "It's his grandma's house, that doesn't make any sense," she laughed like it was ridiculous.

  And it was, but there was more to it than that. "It's because of Aiden, J."

  Her mouth formed an "o" as recognition crossed her face. "Still jealous?"

  "Well, ever since you pointed it out, it's been getting worse. I don't know what to do with him," I admitted, peering at her, hoping for answers.

  "He knows you don't have feelings for New Aiden?"

  I nodded.

  "Are you sure you don't have feelings for New Aiden? You two are around each other quite a bit..."

  Rolling my eyes, I glared at her. "We're friends, J."

  "It's really ok if you like him, Liv. I mean...you haven't known Scott all that long, it's ok."

  "I haven't known this Aiden all that long either," I pointed out.

  "True, New Aiden hasn't been around much, which just proves confusion is probably normal."

  "Scott makes my heart....I can't explain it, J. I know he's it for me. I don't know how, I just do."

  "And New Aiden?"

  "You know, I don't think he likes it when you call him that," I said.

  "Don't change the subject."

  "Fine," I said, throwing my hands up in defeat. "I don't know, ok? I think he's attractive."

  "Well, duh. He is."

  "But I don't know about anything else," I admitted.

  "Anything else about what?" Scott's voice questioned from behind me.

  Almost jumping out of my skin, I turned quickly. "Scott!" I exclaimed. I jumped up, racing to his open arms. He smelled good, just as he had this morning when he took me to school. How did he manage that?

  "What are you two talking about?" he asked, looking from my face to Juniper's.

  "School. Liv has a class she doesn't like too much, but I'm demanding she stay in it for me," J lied for me.

  I turned, mouthing thanks for her save. "Yeah," I said, looking back at him, "I don't want to take another music class, but she's insisting."

  "Hey, music is fun, and it's our last year in high school. We have to have some classes together," J pointed out.

  Scott laughed, deep and sexy in my ear. "You're so cute, Livvie."

  I looked at him confused, "Ok."

  He laughed again, smiling. "What's for dinner?" he asked.

  "Right this way, sir," I said, bowing for effect.

  He grasped my hand, following.

  ###

  Scott led me to the back room, as I so affectionately called Anna's secret sorcerer room. He said he had to show me what was going to help us figure everything out, but I was a little skeptical. How many times had we found the solution now? And it never came. We still didn't know what to do. I was still destined to die, one way or another. The men trailing Kyle hadn't let up, I still noticed them at random times throughout the day. Maybe they were really watching me. I didn't know. Abana's cryptic message about Scott and Aiden was still consuming my mind as I tried, and failed, to see what she meant. I wished there was some way to know what to do.

  "Here it is," he said, showing me a large, bright blue book lying on the table.

  "That blinding book is the key to keeping my life?" I questioned doubtfully.

  "It is a little unconventional, huh?" he asked, trying to hide back a laugh.

  "It's bright blue. I mean, what is it? And why is it so...colorful?" I chuckled out, fingering the worn leather. How could leather be that bright? I'd never seen anything like it before.

  "This," he said, picking it up like it was the most fragile thing in the universe, "is the book of all sorcerer ancestry."

  I looked at him dumbfounded. "Ok?"

  "It will tell us who Devlin Hart's ancestor is, Livvie," he told me, speaking slowly and deliberately.

  My heart sped up. Hands shaking, I reached out to touch it. "Really?"

  His eyes sparkled with hope and excitement as he nodded.

  Breathing harder, I asked, "When do we start researching?"

  "Now. But Livvie, it's not in any sort of order. This could take a while," he explained, his excitement dimming.

  "How long?"

  "I don't know." He looked sad, worried, confused.

  The precious volume of information we so desperately needed in his hand was huge. It contained thousands of pages, that was obvious just from a glance. My birthday c
ould be here before we got through half of it. Or worse, The Destroyers could come for me.

  "Then, I suppose we should get started," I said, taking it from him. I sat in the floor, legs crossed, with it lying in front of me. I opened to the first page, starting at the top. There was no time like the present.

  Aiden

  The first few weeks of school had been the hardest. I wasn't accepted. I wasn't welcomed. I wasn't wanted. Sadie, Olivia, Juniper, and Mark became my refuge. They were nice to me, determined to make my last year of high school worth it. I still longed to contact my parents, to hear my mother's voice again, but Anna still thought that was a bad idea, so I refrained. Scott and I were mortal enemies, fighting constantly when stuck in the presence of each other. Olivia didn't like it. I could see the hurt on her face every time one of us sparred with the other. I couldn't help it, I just didn't like the guy. Olivia deserved better. He was a jerk every time I was around.

  Seated at the table I'd deemed mine in the lunch room, I pushed around the glop of "food" I'd received for the day. I really needed to beg Anna to start making me lunch to bring with me. This stuff was ridiculous. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard a throat being cleared.

  Looking up, I saw a pretty girl with long, light brown hair staring at me. She was small and curvy, her face not as lovely as my friends. "Yes?" I asked, glancing back down.

  "Why are you here?" she immediately spat out.

  Taken aback, I snapped my head up to glare at her. "Excuse me?"

  "You...you're not attractive and you're weird and we don't want you here. We had an Aiden, and he had the most magnificent face and body on this planet. You can't just come here, having the same name, and expect people to like you," she droned on. I wasn't sure who this chick was, but she was pissing me off more by the second.

  Sadie sauntered up to her, eyes blazing in anger. Her mouth held a tight line, never a good thing for her. "Go away," she demanded, her voice low and cold.

  The girl gave her a once over, shrugged her off, and went back to her torment of me. I'd never seen Sadie look so angry, and to be honest, she was a little scary.

  "I said...go away. Leave him alone. Go find some other victim." She moved around to sit beside me, her eyes locked with the girl's. Neither spoke, only stared each other down.

  "We can continue this conversation some other time, Aiden," she spat at me, rolling her eyes at Sadie.

  She walked off, her hips swaying more than was natural. She played a part like she was some queen and these people were her subjects. Sadie fumed beside me, growling lowly with each word the girl said. Suddenly, as if in a movie, the girl slipped. She looked like she had stepped on a banana peel, but there was nothing of the sort around. Her legs flew out from under her body, landing her flat on her butt. Her things scattered, everything falling from her open backpack. The table she hit had a tray of food placed close to the edge. As she fell, her hand bumped it, causing the tray to rise in the air, twist and flail about, then land all over her. The same glop covering my plate was stuck in her hair, covered her clothing, and ran down her face. A shrill scream shook the room as she realized just how embarrassing this was for her. The male student population rushed to assist her while I studied Sadie. She sat, smirking, as she took a bite of food.

  "What did you do, Sadie?" I asked.

  Smirking again, she shrugged.

  Laughing, I gave her my thanks.

  "No need. She was brutal and hateful. She deserves worse."

  I had to agree. How much longer until this year was over?

  Scott

  The book lay in front of me. It'd been weeks, and I was getting nowhere with it. I couldn't find any Hart's. None. It was like the universe knew how important this was to me and was deliberately keeping the information away. Most days, Livvie came to Grandma's after school to sit with me as I researched. We would sit in comfortable silence, either curled into each other or facing each other, two sets of eyes reading the same words to ensure nothing was missed. She was getting discouraged, afraid. I could sense it, but couldn't do anything about it. I didn't know what else to do. This book was large, expansive, and time consuming. It held the answers, I just didn't know where. I'd begun at the very first page. I knew I didn't have time to waste, and looking at random pages wouldn't be a good use of time.

  The Destroyers hadn't showed yet, something I was grateful for yet afraid of. The cars that followed Kyle everywhere were now watching us all. It made me uncomfortable and nervous. I didn't know if they were the good or bad guys. There were so many...and either way, they wanted Livvie. Either to question and experiment on her or to destroy her. Two fates I refused to accept for my love.

  She was trying to catch up in school. Her schedule was overloaded, because of the summer classes she should have taken. Her worries of not graduating were dull in comparison to all the other stuff going on. Luckily, she had her close friends with her during her daylight hours. I would have been with her every second of the night had Kyle not found me in her bed one morning. Nothing had happened, but he had become a protective older brother in his time with her, and I was banished from her bedroom.

  I longed to have Livvie, to make love to her like I'd wanted to for so long, but it wasn't the right time. Everything going on had added more stress than usual to our lives, and I didn't want it to be out of distraction. It should be beautiful, amazing, and pure just like our love for each other.

  I'd have her for all eternity. There was no other option.

  Olivia

  I desperately searched the woods for my mother or my father. Anyone. Abana wasn't even showing herself to me since she'd told me of Scott and Aiden and the word "help." I still didn't know if I was helping them or if they were helping me, but at this point, it felt like we were all in this together. I tried, once again, to espy my parents. I relaxed, counted, and concentrated on breathing just as Scott had taught me.

  It didn't work.

  I couldn't do it.

  Frustrated, I leapt from the couch, grasping the decorative pillow in my hands. My mother had picked this out on one of her shopping trips when I was younger, telling me how stylish and beautiful it was. I hated it. It was a dark brown with a swirly design on it that made me dizzy. The anger inside me rose, and I threw it across the room, hitting the table and knocking the lamp to its side. My breath quickened and I sat. Lying back, I covered my eyes with my hands and screamed. No one was here. My parents had been taken from me, because of me, and Kyle was off making those weirdos that followed us go in circles. Seeing them outside all the time made me nervous, shaky. Kyle noticed this and had begun going for long drives, just so they would follow.

  He was a good brother, after all.

  Jumping up, I shuffled to my room, feeling defeated. Nothing was happening. Scott was getting nowhere, I couldn't contact my parents, and my life felt like it was in shambles. I threw my body on my bed, bouncing a little from the fluffiness of it. Burying myself under the pillows, I cried until I passed out.

  ###

  I was in the woods again, where I contacted my mother months before. It was different now, changing with the seasons. Orange, yellow, and red kissed leaves cluttered the ground, crunching as I walked. The bare trees seemed to hover around me, closing in as if they were somehow protecting me. I cautiously moved through, thinking of how loud my steps sounded. Just ahead of me, the bench where we sat was staring at me, mocking me. I moved closer, running my fingers along the soft wood. Sighing, I took a seat, hanging my head into my hands.

  A soft touch brought me forth from my thoughts. A hand lay gently on my shoulder. I peered over, seeing well-manicured fingers gripping me.

  My mother.

  "Mom!" I yelled, leaping up to pull her closer. Wrapping my arms around her neck like I was a small child again, I squealed in delight to see her.

  “Are you happy to see me?” she chuckled, smoothing my hair.

  “Mmhmm,” I mumbled, trying my best to not cry.

  “Talk to m
e, baby. What’s going on?”

  “Scott’s family has a curse on it, and if we don’t find the descendant of who set the curse, I’ll die on my eighteenth birthday. The destroyers or the council one is following us all wherever we go. Kyle goes out driving around to nowhere just to give my nerves a break. And Abana had some weird message for me, she showed me a picture of Scott and my friend and said help. What does that even mean? And the red calamari guy took over my friend Aiden’s body and I almost killed him, but I thought he was the bad guy, so now I’m being nice and we’re becoming friends, and Scott is jealous. I mean, Aiden is cute and all, but I really, really care about Scott. But he doesn’t listen when I tell him,” I told her, my words mushing together. I spoke so fast that I lost my breath.

  I stared at her, her eyes widening as my words soaked in. She gulped, moving her mouth to speak several times, but not saying anything. She cocked her head to the side, licking her lips. Sighing, she shook her head, a small smile appearing. Smoothing my hair and tucking it behind my ear, she said, “One thing at a time.”

  I nodded, finally releasing the breath I’d finally gotten and held.

  She smiled widely, relaxing the pounding in my ears. “Tell me about Abana.”

  “She came to me, led me out into the woods, and somehow projected an image to me. It was of Scott and Aiden, the other part of the story I have to explain. I was so confused, I had no idea what she meant. Then, I just heard the word help. I kept asking who was helping who but she just walked off.”

  “I think she’s telling you they are the key to helping you. Sounds like they have to work together to fix these problems.”

  I stared at her a long moment, then burst out laughing. It came so hard, there were tears in my eyes. “They…hate…each…other,” I gasped out between chuckles.

  “They’ll have to grow up.” She made it sound so simple. She had no idea how awful this war with them truly was.