Chasing Shadows

by Rebbeca Stoddard

  I couldn’t speak, so I simply nodded at him instead.

  “I want you to live with me. I know it probably sounds weird and scary, but I want you to stay with me. We can go and find a house somewhere around here. Or an apartment if you’d like . . . ” he trailed off slowly, letting me think about what he was saying.

  I sat there speechless, lying in bubbles and hot water until the weight of his words hit me like a ton of bricks. Cliché, I know, but that is how it really felt. Even though I knew that we were going to be doing the ceremony, I never would have thought that I would have to move in with him afterward, at least not until we were officially married in the eyes of mortals. Nervousness crept up on me, and I felt like I couldn’t quite breathe right. Sure, I knew how to take care of myself, but I didn’t know how to pay bills or live with someone who wasn’t in my immediate family. I took a few deep breaths and looked up at him. His sweet, delicate face waited patiently and nervously—there was no way I could deny that face. Sighing, I said, “I will. But I don’t know how we are going to pay for that. I don’t have any money. Okay, I have a few hundred dollars, but that’s it . . . ” I trailed off, feeling ashamed that I couldn’t give him what he wanted simply because I couldn’t afford it.

  “I have money, AubrieAnna. That is not an issue at all. So do not worry. Please?” He smiled brightly at me.

  “All right, but I still want to figure out a way to help pay for stuff. I don’t like being super dependent on other people,” I answered with my chin raised a notch.

  “Okay,” he chuckled. “Now the next thing I want to talk to you about is what we need to do for the blood rite, if you still want to do it, that is.” He phrased it like a question.

  “If you are still uncomfortable about it, then we won’t do it. But I think it is a good idea.” I worded my answer carefully. He was still nervous about it, and I knew he was, but we both knew it was a smart idea to go through with it.

  “Then we will do it. But before we do, there is still one more step we have to take before we can do the blood rite.” Sebastian’s cheeks flushed and he looked down once he finished his sentence.

  “Oh. Right. I totally forgot about that. I guess it is our wedding night, in a sense anyway. Well, in the supernatural world, right?” I stammered.

  “Yes, in a sense.” He was still looking down at his hands.

  “Okay, well how do you want to do it?” I asked. Probably a bit too brazenly, I might add, because his head shot up so fast that I wondered if I had even seen it.

  “AubrieAnna, that was a bit rash, don’t you think?” Was he reprimanding me on how I worded my question?

  “I’m sorry. I . . . I, I’m just nervous, I guess.” I looked down at the bubbles.

  “It’s quite all right. I am nervous too, my dear. But I am also quite excited.” His eyes flashed from shy and innocent to hungry and passionate.

  My tongue immediately became thick, and my skin tingled.

  “Well, I guess we should get out of here, don’t you think?” I smiled nervously.

  “Yes, we should. I will go and get the car.” Sebastian stood up and ran out to bring his car around.

  Standing up, I wrapped a towel around my body and stepped out of the tub. I didn’t bother with draining it. My mind was a million miles away. Stumbling into the closet, my brain fogged and dizzy, I searched through my undergarments. I needed to find the perfect ones, the ones that would make Sebastian’s jaw drop. There! My pale blue lace boyshorts and the matching bra were just what I was looking for. Carefully I slid into them and threw on a baggy sweater and some black leggings. Sighing one last time, I slipped on some sandals, grabbed my bag, and walked out to meet Sebastian.

  Chapter 12

  The car ride was silent and awkward. Why couldn’t I be normal? It wasn’t like I hadn’t done it before. Sure, it was probably a big mistake that I did it with Langdon, but now I was going to do it with the right person. Sighing heavily, I watched the trees pass us by. Sebastian wouldn’t tell me where we were going. We had driven out of Portland and were headed east. The small town of Boring had disappeared behind us and we had long since passed any signs of civilization. Just as I was about to ask some random question about the weather, he turned onto a narrow gravel road. I would never have seen it if we had driven past. After five minutes of bouncing around in his car, we pulled up in front of a beautiful log cabin.

  Giant wooden pillars covered with stone halfway up held the roof out a few feet from the door. Stone, moss, and vines decorated the wood perfectly, making it look like a fairy tale had been born here. Each window had a wooden box of various potted plants underneath. I could imagine waking up in the spring, opening the windows, and smelling nothing but flowers. This place was beautiful. Tall conifer trees stood all around the place, and owls hooted while small rodents scurried and slept. With each step I took toward the cabin, I felt more like I was in dreamland. Sebastian carefully stepped around me and opened the door to an even more enchanting area.

  Books lined multiple walls, and a solid stone fireplace held a roaring fire. A large white, fuzzy rug lay directly in the center of the room surrounded by two small tables, two overstuffed chairs, and tall lamps that would bathe the room in bright light if turned on. The floor was concrete, so it would be cold to the touch with my bare feet, while the walls were rounded from the large logs that created the cabin. I didn’t have enough time to look around and discover every nook and cranny in the place because Sebastian came up behind me and pulled me into him.

  His lips were soft and gentle as he kissed me. Large hands cupped my face and tangled in my hair. He kissed me until I couldn’t breathe and had to pull away, and even then he continued to kiss me. My mind went blank and I couldn’t move, think, or speak. I was completely blindsided by how much love I felt with each touch and kiss. As if he knew what I was thinking, he picked me up and carried me over to the rug, laid me down, and continued his delicate, loving search of my body.

  We were entwined with each other for hours and hours, never leaving to get water or food, not even to use the restroom. At some point shortly after dawn, I drifted to sleep, but when a cold breeze touched my naked skin and I snuggled in deeper to Sebastian’s chest, I noticed a heavy blanket had been draped over us. Not caring to wonder why, when, or how, I drifted back into my peaceful dreamland. I woke up several times during the day, but continued to fall back to sleep until a nightmare plagued my dreams. Shooting straight up, I stopped myself from screaming by gasping for breath. Tremors shook me as tears rolled down my face. Everything had been so perfect, but now it was ruined. We were running out of time, faster than we had imagined.

  They were inching toward us, creeping in the darkest of places to keep from being noticed. The gods had promised us that they would protect us during the blood rite so no one would find us or harm us. They lied. Well, not all of them. There were definitely a few rotten ones in the group Zeus claimed he trusted. Stars twinkled in the sky and the moon was shining brighter than it ever had. We had chosen this day, this time, to begin the ritual—at least I had. It made sense. Do it on the first full moon after the new moon. That way we could say that the moon watched over us and guided us along with the gods. I could hear them coming. Someone had spilled the secret of our ritual to Hades, the god of Hell, the god who created the u da yv la dv. Hades was sending his shadows after us to kill us, to prevent us from ever saving the world that they so desperately wanted.

  Sebastian held my hand tightly as our blood joined and flowed strongly. The earth seemed to shift, the trees and flowers cried when the u da yv la dv passed them. Animals scurried to hide underground, the ones that could fly took to the sky, and the ones that were too large to hide in small burrows ran like the wind. Fear from every creature shook my body, and it began to shake Sebastian’s as well. The blood rite was working, but we were in far more danger than we had ever thought we would be. Someone had to have known what was going on, what was happening. Unless, no. I didn’t want to thi
nk it. The only way we wouldn’t be helped is if somehow whoever betrayed Zeus had locked him and the other good gods away or made them blind to what was happening, but that didn’t quite seem possible. Feeling the need to run, I tugged at Sebastian’s arm and took off through the forest in the opposite direction of the u da yv la dv.

  It felt like we had been running for hours. We raced through the trees, passed over rivers, ran by a road, and sped around countless rented camping cabins. I had no idea which direction we were going, but I could feel where we needed to go. A tugging at my body pulled me forward. But thankfully, the blood rite was starting to do its job early; I was already feeling stronger than ever. Plus, I was running just as fast as Sebastian was. However exciting it may have been, we still had a problem. The u da yv la dv were still chasing after us. A yank to my right told me to turn. I turned. Sebastian followed.

  Chills crawled down my spine. The u da yv la dv were trying to surround us. We had to get out of here, and fast. I tried to reach out to Sebastian with my mind. There, he was listening, waiting for me to tell him what we were going to do. We had to jump, we had to get higher and continue our race up high. I had no idea how, but I knew they wouldn’t be able to follow us much longer if we were higher up. Trees! An idea flashed through my mind. Sebastian saw the images and nodded once to signal he understood. We sped up and jumped. My hand was bleeding on its own now. My fingers were cold and empty. I looked down; Sebastian was being held down by the u da yv la dv. They won. They had won. We were going to die now.

  My heart raced so hard I thought I was either having a heart attack or it was going to jump out and run away. Sebastian’s hand rubbed lazy circles on my back, not quite realizing what was going on. I turned to him. Something in my expression made him turn serious and concerned. His eyes were wide and he silently waited for me to start. I had no idea where to start, what to tell him first. We had just started an adventure that we were supposed to have many, many years of. Tears bit at my eyes and I crawled into his chest. Not able to speak or even clearly think of what I had seen, I just lay there and cried silently.

  “We can’t trust all of the gods in Zeus’s group,” I said quietly.

  “What do you mean?” Sebastian’s hands rubbed my shoulders. “What did you see, AubrieAnna?”

  “Someone informed Hades of the blood rite.” I looked into his eyes.

  “Tell me what you saw.” He said it like a question.

  “I’ll show you.” I looked down.

  “Wha—?” I put my finger up to his lips to silence him.

  The vision needed to be hidden completely from the gods, and I knew how. Sebastian and I could communicate through thoughts. It didn’t make sense, since we hadn’t done the blood rite. Sighing, I focused. I reached out to his mind with mine. There was a soft barrier that I encountered first, but I gently pushed it aside and kept going. Once I felt like I was in, I played the vision in my mind, knowing he would see it. Shivers ran through my body. It was still terrible to see, but what was even worse was knowing he could see it now too.

  So many questions ran through his mind once it was over. His eyes were sad and confused at the same time. Something didn’t quite add up. Why would any of the gods work with Hades? How could they fool Zeus so easily? I waited patiently, waited for him to process what I had shown him. It took five minutes before he got up and began to pace the floor. Suddenly feeling cold, I tightly pulled the blanket around my body. Getting the small hint, Sebastian turned back toward the fireplace and began to build a fire. Frustrated when he couldn’t start it, he turned to me. Smiling, I flicked my finger toward the logs and instantly fire licked them viciously. Sighing, he sat down next to me and pulled me close, his eyes never leaving the flames.

  “I don’t get it.” I was the first to speak. “Why would any of them do this? Don’t they want the world to survive?”

  “I cannot say.” Sebastian closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the chair. “Can you try to get more of the vision? Maybe there’s something before or after it that was cut out by your mind.” I could see the wheels turning in his head.

  “Sebastian, I have no idea how the visions work. Clamora said she wasn’t even sure why I am allowed to see them,” I answered honestly.

  “Maybe you have to try to focus on them really hard,” he continued as if I hadn’t even spoken.

  “Sebastian, I don’t think it works that way. I honestly don’t even think I am supposed to have visions . . .”

  “Wait, what?”

  “I don’t think I was ever supposed to have visions.”

  “Why do you think that?” he asked as his eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

  “Think about it, Sebastian. Whoever is helping Hades is someone important. If Zeus or the other gods have no idea who it is or why they are helping him, then they would want their most valuable weapon, which would be me, to know what was going to happen before it happened so I can try to stop it. What if none of their thoughts or minds are safe from each other but mine is? I don’t know. I could be way off.” I shrugged, suddenly feeling foolish.

  “It makes some sense. But there is something about your theory that doesn’t make sense.” His mind was working through the problem, trying to find the solution.

  “Well, why else would Clamora have no idea why I have visions? Obviously it wasn’t supposed to happen. What else could have caused this to happen?” I asked him.

  “Your sister,” he answered then stood up immediately and began to dress.

  “What do you mean my sister?” I questioned.

  He ignored me and motioned for me to get dressed as well. Once I was finished, he put the fire out and we left the cabin. My heart fell a little flat as we walked toward the car. Our small vacation was over. Stupid visions. I was really starting to hate them, but I loved that I could use them to my advantage. We climbed into the car and drove away. Silence filled the air as we headed in the direction of home. The last of the sun’s golden rays shone through the trees, casting beautiful shapes as we sped down the road.

  Almost two hours later we arrived at a fancy hotel I had never seen or heard of before. Sebastian parked the car and hurried me inside. I was about to ask where we were when he hurried us through the door and up the elevator. Pulling a key card from his pocket, he opened the door to room 517. We stepped into the room and all time stopped. Clamora was talking animatedly to a girl with long brown hair, shifty green eyes, and overly pale skin—just like mine. My knees started to buckle.

  Soft pillows cradled my head and I stared at the ceiling, questioning my sanity. Could I see ghosts now too? Did they age in the afterlife? Groaning, I turned to look at Sebastian. His eyes were grim. They had been hiding something from me. But why? What was it? Was my twin still alive? I started to get up so I could pace the room and drill them with questions, but Sebastian shook his head at me, telling me to stay seated.

  “We need to talk to you before you officially meet her. But I need you to understand that no one could know about this. Not your parents or siblings. Not even you. Not until we knew the time was right. This is that time . . . ” Sebastian trailed off.

  “What did you guys do?” I questioned softly.

  “I saved her. I knew from the spirits that we needed her to help you, to help all of us. They never said why. Just that it was important,” Clamora answered.

  “Okay, just explain to me what happened. Please?”

  They both nodded, and Sebastian started to explain. “Like you were told, your sister and you were both extremely sick when you were born. She died, and when souls return to the afterlife they learn of all the past lives they have lived. She saw that you never truly got to live, so she gave you a piece of herself, a piece of her soul. You became healthy instantly. Your parents were concerned and very confused about what had happened. They searched for medical answers, and when that proved fruitless, they searched for a psychic. As you know, they found Clamora. She told them what had happened, what they could expe
ct to see from you as you grew. You were going to be able to heal faster than anyone, have heightened senses, and have strange behaviors that they might not be able to understand. You did not disappoint. However, after your parents visited Clamora she was visited by spirits. There were many, and many of them were important.” Sebastian stopped talking and allowed Clamora to continue.

  “The spirits were many. Some were Native American chiefs; others were supernaturals who had passed. Each said the same thing: Save the twin. She was needed to help us understand certain pieces of the puzzle. She would help you. We don’t know with what—only you two can figure that out. Anyway, I told Sebastian what I had been told. We left immediately. After some searching, we found her grave. I had to get access to her body, so we dug her up. Being careful, we put everything back in place and left quickly. Once we returned to my house, I began the ritual to find her spirit. It took a while. But I finally found her and pulled her out and into her own body once more. She looked like a brand-new child. I raised her carefully, taught her to control certain abilities that she possessed, and made sure she stayed as hidden as possible. At times it was a struggle. She wanted to know you, to know her real family. But I told her it was not possible, not then.” She stopped talking and waited for me to respond.

  I wasn’t sure whether to be angry, nervous, or excited. My twin was alive. Something told me that this was wrong, that this wasn’t supposed to be happening. Maybe I was just weirded out at the fact that my sister was alive. After all, I thought she had been dead this whole time. Thinking about each word that I was going to say, I sighed softly. “All right. Let’s figure this thing out.” Clamora nodded once at my response, and my twin reappeared out of thin air. Literally.