by Jamie Magee
“I just need time, Charlie, time to figure out how to control the urges. It’s a hunger that I can’t explain. I literally feel like I’m fading, that if I don’t find a way to feed that hunger, I’ll vanish. Either way, I lose you.” His hands reached for my face. “I just can’t.”
“You can do it; my dad did it,” I said, covering his hands with mine. “He found light in his music through the love of his fans...he made his own escape, and you can, too. You already have begun; your music is reaching people, both dead and alive.”
A sardonic smile came to the corners of his lips. “I wish I knew how he managed to do that.”
“Is that why you’re looking for my dad? Are you looking for advice?” I said as our hands fell away from my face.
He leaned against the windowsill. “Maybe.”
I walked over to him and leaned my body against his. “That was his life, not yours. What he endured, you will end. The Realm will never hurt anyone else after we get through with it.”
He began to run his fingers through my long, dark hair. “I hate the way all of you look at me.”
“We’re scared for you. We don’t want you to fight this alone.” I assured.
“You shouldn't have to live like that, though, afraid of me.”
“I’m afraid for you, not of you; so are the others.”
He leaned down and let his lips gently touch mine. I pulled away slightly. “Pack a bag, baby.”
He sighed. “I thought we were talking this out as a group?”
“Do you really think anyone besides you doesn’t want to go? What are you waiting for?”
“I don’t know; a push, I guess.”
“I’m pushing as hard as I can,” I whispered.
He pulled me to him and swayed me from side to side. “I heard your mom. I heard her tell you to find a comfortable place. I promise you, I will not make it hard on you. I think he’s good for you.”
I leaned back. “You think he’s better than you?”
His eyes told me yes.
“You’re wrong.” I glanced out the window, then back at him. “You win. We’ll stay.”
“Where did that come from?” he asked defensively.
“Look, I faced a demon twice today that wants Monroe, an innocent girl. My best friend’s world is about to come crashing down on her. Your brother is on edge, everyone is. I can’t leave here if you aren’t one hundred percent sure of yourself. I have to know that you love yourself enough to fight for us. That you’ll be there when everything blows up in our face. I have to know that when we leave here that we’re a solid team because if you have doubts, you’ll kill us all, and I’m not looking forward to dying a thousand deaths or losing anyone.”
He bit his bottom lip, then let a painful smile surface on his lips. “I don’t deserve you, but I’m not going to let anything or anyone hurt the ones we love.”
“So what’s our decision, Draven Michaels? Are we staying, or are we going?”
He arms tightened around me. “Whenever they get done talking to Winston, I want to try to go to The Realm again, try one more time to save them. If I can’t, and we all agree that leaving right now is the best thing to do, then we’ll go.”
“I’m going with you to The Realm.”
“Charlie, he said he would kill me if I was near you in that realm.”
“I’ll take care of Silas.”
“Charlie, he’s right. You have no business near me in that place.”
“You going to get over that mindset. I would bet you every guitar I own that if you get over how I tempt you in The Realm, you’ll have broken this curse. It’s better that we figure this out now, not when we’re forced to. Today you were tempted, we were pushed into the same part of that realm for a reason: because they knew I was your weakness. You are going to have find a way to fight that hunger, to pull the energy you see around me from a different source.”
“From someone else? Is that what you’re saying?” he asked as anger flooded his eyes.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying, and that someone else is you.”
Confusion took over the anger in his eyes.
“It’s in you. It’s in everyone. Light and love don’t vanish, but they’re forgotten; you know that. You have to find a way to pull your own light.”
I could see that my words were making sense to him, so I pushed on. “Promise me you’ll pull light from you, that you’ll find balance and never become what you fear the most.”
He leaned down and kissed me passionately. I pulled him as close as I could to me. “Promise,” he said over and over as his soft lips framed mine and his powerful hands searched my body.
In the middle of our embrace, I heard Winston scream, “I don’t want to talk about it!” I could tell he was still downstairs, but he had managed to ruin this moment.
Draven stole one more kiss, then leaned his forehead against mine.
“What does he not want to talk about?” I asked, not really wanting to know.
Draven leaned back against the window. “Whatever deal he was trying to make with Bianca. We can’t see what he said, and he’s not talking.” Draven started to say something else, but he hesitated and looked over my head. I followed his gaze and saw Monroe walking into the studio.
“What time is it?” I whispered.
Draven pulled out his phone. “Ten fifty-one.”
I let out a sigh. “Maybe you’re right, Draven; maybe we can save them from here.”
He looked at me like I was crazy, then I showed him once more the moment that Monroe had asked me to be in the studio at ten fifty-five.
“A time marked by your favorite number…change…is that what it means?” He asked squeezing my waist.
Nervously, I nodded once hating that I didn’t see that the first time she told me to meet her in here at that time. Anxiety began to ripple through me.
“Well,” Draven said as he reached for his guitar. “I guess I should get warmed up, then maybe those knuckleheads will stop fighting and come up here.”
“Right,” I mumbled as I turned and walked to Monroe, who had taken a seat on the couch. Aden came in at that moment, but he didn’t go to his drums; instead, he sat in the chair and looked at me hopefully.
I nodded to tell him that I’d gotten through to Draven, and he seemed relieved, but uneasy at the same time. I was sure he was furious with Winston.
Draven began to play the bass of the song that had saved so many souls. The song was so viral at this point that if the band really wanted it, fame was inches away, but fame was the last thing we had time for.
I turned my attention to Monroe; she was still calm, but she seemed oddly aware, like she was waiting on something. Her eyes moved to the right, and anxiously I followed her stare.
All at once, a light divided in thin air, and from that light a girl emerged, then another. My heart pounded in my chest: it was Willow and another girl that could be her sister; they looked so much alike. Willow wasn’t the calm woman I had spoken to in my memory an hour ago. She reflected the image that Madison had drawn, the one that I thought was of her.
Willow’s hair was long, dark, and tangled. Tears had stained her face; they almost looked like ash. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked furious...she looked dangerous.
I glanced nervously from them to Aden, who was paralyzed with shock. My eyes found Draven, who was still trying to get a response from my father by playing the strings of his guitar as fiercely as he could. He must have felt my stare or the tension build in the room because he glanced over my shoulder to where Willow and that girl were. At first he didn’t seem shocked, but then I saw his eyes begin to change; he had seen a glimpse of them, of whatever they were fighting before they appeared here.
I looked back at them and tried to see, but there were too many questions racing through my mind for me to focus on one, for me to really see what had happened to her before she appeared here. Willow stepped forward and held out an iPod. “Which one of you
made this?” she asked as anger trembled through her voice. I recognized the cover art: it was the image that Madison had sketched that mirrored Draven’s test, the snake, the ball of fire. I told her not to post that image, but she said it would be a warning to all Escorts that we were going to fight, that we were going to protect the ones we loved. It was a silent statement that apparently carried more weight than I thought it would.
I couldn't understand why that song would make Willow mad. Aden had pretty much assured me that it was helping those boys, but then I began to see glimpses of her, I saw Landen and that prince whisper the lyrics as she stared at their sleeping bodies. She wasn’t mad; she was desperate, she was trying to figure out how to get to them, and she knew that somehow we had.
The other girl stepped in front of her. “Um...” she said nervously as she tried to smile. “Listen, I know. I know you’re asking yourself how we...” she hesitated as she looked around and tried to figure out where they were. “...how we appeared here, but listen, there’s a very believable explanation.”
I stood up and tilted my head so I could see around that girl and look at Willow. “Willow,” I said as calmly I could, not believing she was there, that this was really happening. There would be no way for me to protect Madison from this, for me to explain my way out of why I didn’t warn her. I tried to tell myself that she knew. She had to have known this was coming. She literally sketched it out this morning,
Willow’s eyes grew wide. “You know me?” she asked breathlessly.
I wanted to tell her that I knew her very well, that she was a wise woman that had prepared me for this day, but I couldn't find a way to say that, and I knew that the woman that asked me to love her friend would not have wanted me to say anything. “Not yet,” I said, believing that this girl was not that woman in Egypt, not anymore; a part of her may linger in the soul of Willow, but that calm, wise woman did not exist anymore.
“Did you make this?” Willow asked, glancing to the iPod once more.
I hesitated before I spoke. I kept asking questions in my mind, trying to see if this girl was always like this, this mad and afraid. I wanted to see how she got here, how she knew to come here. Aden had stood and moved closer to me; I had no doubt he was seeing her, too, and there was so much to see.
I saw that just months ago, she was living a normal life, balancing her sense of emotion, her dreams, but when Landen found her, everything changed. She was fighting darkness, but she wasn’t focusing on it because she was told that her heart was being tested. The prince now had a name: Drake. I was right. This was love a triangle. My fear for Madison made me search deeper into her thoughts, and it wasn’t long before I figured out that Willow was seeking Madison; she was seeking her because she believed that Drake had been fooled into loving her. She wanted to find his soul mate, thinking that if she did that, whatever they were fighting would be easier. If not over. Willow was a fool, though; nothing would be over. It was just beginning.
Once I figured out that she wasn’t dangerous to us, that she really did need us, I started to ask more questions, and a glimpse of her past life came to me. I even saw the woman in Egypt for a split second, but every time I tried to go back to a past life, her memories pushed me into this life. I decided to focus on Landen. I wasn’t able to go deep into his thoughts from her memory, but I was able to see my worst enemy toy with him the way she toyed with Draven.
“She’s seducing them,” I said before I could stop myself. I was so mad that it made me sick to my stomach. If I had stopped Bianca, found a way to kill her, this never would have happened; Landen would never have been taken away from Willow. This was my fault. All of it.
“She better not be,” Willow said through gritted teeth. At that moment, thunder exploded above the house; it was so loud, I ducked before I could tell myself I was safe.
The girl with Willow gripped her arm as if she were telling her to stop making it thunder. Was that possible? Could Willow control the weather? How? No way that was possible! Then all at once, that witch’s words from this morning made sense: ‘The Goddess of Mother Nature is seeking you.’ She was talking about Willow looking for Madison. The question now was who was the Great Witch that woman was talking about, and was she dangerous? Did Willow have someone in her corner that could literally summon people across dimensions? I was in way over my head, and I knew it. My ears began to burn, and my heart raced.
The girl looked at all of us. “You know of us? You know why we’re here?”
“We see it, Olivia,” Aden said.
He must have had a chance to look into her life and now knew her name. I had been too focused on Willow.
“How do you know my name?” Olivia asked, as her eyes grew wide.
Aden stepped forward cautiously, trying to keep them as calm as possible. “I told you. I see it.”
I looked nervously at Draven. His eyes were as black as coal, and there was no doubt he was deep in their thoughts. He was faster than all of us at this, and it was clear that he was trying to take it all in before these girls figured out how to close the door on us, how to block us from seeing their past.
“What? What do you see?” Willow asked with a voice that was just as tired as she looked.
“The past,” Aden said calmly. “Everything that brought you here.”
Olivia looked over Aden cautiously, clearly not liking the insight that we had. “What’s your name?”
“Aden,” he answered. He smiled nervously, charming them with his trademark dimples. He nodded toward Draven and said, “Draven,” then looked at Monroe and said, “Monroe.”
Just as Aden went to introduce me, Willow’s chest swelled with what looked like fear. “Charlie, the girl who has already been to Chara, met Preston.”
I tried to understand if she was angry or relieved by that, but I couldn't tell; she was too unraveled. I couldn't stop staring, asking questions. I needed to know how frank I could be with her, if what I was would scare her, but in her thoughts, from her point of view all I could see were Landen and Drake. Bianca, or whoever was behind all of this, had to know that taking them would kill Willow, and I was beginning to assume that that was the goal all along. I could only hope that Landen and Drake were able to see through Bianca as clearly as Draven did, but I had my doubts; I knew the illusions in The Realm were all too real.
“What?!” Willow shrieked. “Why are you staring at me?”
I looked at Draven. He had caught her stare and was walking slowly to her. I tried to see if a memory was sparked in the old soul I knew she was, if she would see the friend she told me he would be in this life, if she knew that he was a part of her family of souls.
His stare seemed to calm her down, and she seemed to recognize something in him, but it wasn’t a past life. Her thoughts focused around Drake, the prince, which almost made sense. If I had to guess, I would bet that Drake played the role of Draven’s friend or brother in a past life. Even though I hadn’t had much time to dwell in Willow’s thoughts, it was clear that Drake and Draven shared the same hypnotic essence.
“There is a lot to see. Your existence is vast,” Draven said to her.
I knew then that he and I were on the same page. He was trying to see what she knew about her lives before, if she recognized him, his energy.
“Well,” Willow said, holding back tears, “it’s about to end if you don’t help me.”
Before Draven could say anything to bring her comfort, more figures emerged from a light that wasn’t there before: three men. My heart was pounding out of control. I couldn't figure out how they were just appearing. I mean, I knew there were passages that were man-made, but I wasn't there when Austin first fell through one; he had used regular doors around me.
My eyes grew wide when I focused on the tallest one. He was lean, but he was strong with broad shoulders and crystal blue eyes. At first I thought he was Landen, that this was over, but my natural instinct was to ask ‘Who are you?’ in my mind. When I did that, I saw that he wasn’t
Landen; he was a friend or a brother, and right now he was fighting to keep Willow sane. She wasn’t making it easy on him. He was clearly furious as he leaned into Willow and said, “We had a deal.”
Aden and Draven charged forward, willing to protect Willow without question. “Hey! HEY!” Aden yelled.
“Brady,” Willow said as tears emerged from her bloodshot eyes. “He sent me here.”
Brady’s anger left his expression as confusion took over. I glanced at the other two with him; it was clear that they were concerned, but they didn’t seem to be as emotionally connected to what was going on. It was like they were waiting on orders or something.
“Brady? Like Landen’s brother, Brady?” Aden asked as his pupils expanded and he saw his answer. He was his brother, his big brother.
Brady nodded once at Aden as he looked around the room and tried to find his bearings. My heart sank for this boy. I could see that he was fighting not only for his baby brother, but also for a daughter, a baby that he and his soul mate feared would be pulled into this. That child was in the center of his thoughts; every decision he had made since her birth was done to protect her, to protect his family, and right now Brady’s perspective was telling me that he thought he was failing.
I was growing more and more nervous about helping them. I didn’t like the idea of being anyone’s last hope, especially not when I was looking for just that, someone with all the answers.
Rain began to wash down the window, and I knew then that I was right: this girl was controlling the weather with her emotions. I couldn't think of anything that would be more dangerous for the world; her sadness alone would drown us. Willow whispered something to Brady. I could barely make out his response, but I did hear Preston’s name. I hated myself for not asking that little boy more questions; clearly, he knew this moment would come, the same way Monroe did.
“Sorry, man,” Aden said, stepping away from Brady and glancing at me. “I know how it is.”
