by Rue Volley
“I am shocked at your lack of control, Theo!” Sam said as she laughed.
“I simply had a moment. I fear that all this time out here in world is affecting my judgment severely,” Theo said as he grinned.
“Mmmm,” Sam said as she sat down at the table again and Kai came in and looked at both of them.
“What?” he asked as he rubbed his hair from messy to messier.
Sam and Theo laughed as Jonah stepped out of Theo’s bedroom and stretched his arms out too. He walked into the kitchen and walked up behind Theo. He leaned in, whispered something, and smacked him on the ass. Theo jumped and Kai looked at Sam like he was completely confused.
“Ummm,” Kai said.
Theo turned to him.
“You must be hungry,” Theo said as he grinned.
“Yea… sure,” Kai said as he leaned back and shook his head.
“Okay well, I had this dream last night,” Kai said.
Sam looked at him as Jonah walked back into the living room and sat down next to Lily.
Lily grinned at him and he touched her face.
“About what?” Sam said.
“About the tree house,” Kai said.
Theodore stopped messing with food and looked at him.
“What tree house?”
Kai looked at him.
“The one I built for Rue in the woods.”
Theo sat down across from him and waited.
“There is a tree house then?” Theo asked him.
Kai shrugged his shoulders.
“Yea… I built it when Rue was like eleven. She spent a lot of time there. Our parents hated me, and sometimes she wouldn’t even come home at night.”
“Take me there,” Theo said as he stood up quickly.
Kai looked at Sam and she stood up and grabbed his hand. She pulled him up as he grumbled.
“I really need food, Sam!”
“You will get food after you show us the tree house.”
Kai rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know why it is such a big freakin deal,” Kai said.
Theo looked at him and grinned.
“I saw a tree house in Rue’s memory… I need to see what she has there.”
“Oh… okay then. I’ll show you… then I’m gonna eat,” Kai said.
Theo smiled and waved his hand at the door.
“I will make you a feast.”
Sam, Kai, and Theo flashed into the woods. Kai stopped, as the two of them skidded behind him. Sam almost ran into his back. She rolled her eyes and looked at him.
“You have to hold your hand up, or say ‘Hey I’m gonna stop now’, Kai!”
Kai grinned at her and looked up. They all looked up and saw a huge tree, old and twisted. You could barely see the tree house. Years of neglect had allowed for leaves and vines to almost completely obscure it from view. Theo stepped up to it and placed his hand on the trunk. He closed his eyes and heard a whisper on the wind. Blue veins started to pulsate on the surface of it. Kai leaned in.
“Whoa, what the hell?” he asked Theo.
Theo opened his eyes and looked back at him.
“This tree contains one of the nine books,” he whispered.
“That is good, right?” Kai asked.
“Very good indeed,” Theo whispered.
He looked up and saw a path of knots that he could hold onto to climb.
He looked back at the two of them.
“Time to climb,” Theo said.
Theo pulled himself up and Kai and Sam followed him. Theo pulled himself onto the large branch and balanced himself easily. Kai popped up and started to wobble. Sam grabbed his arm and smiled at him.
“You need to work on your balance,” she said to him as she laughed.
“Yea, yea… according to you I have to work on a lot of things,” Kai muttered.
Sam leaned up in ear.
“Not everything,” she said.
He laughed too and they followed Theo to the little makeshift door. Theo creaked it open and looked around. The room was small but packed with books. He leaned down and stepped in. He stood up and almost hit his head on the ceiling. Sam and Kai stepped in too and looked around the room.
“What the hell?” Kai said.
Theo stepped forward and picked up a random book.
He blew the dust from it and opened it up.
“Looks as if our Rue was bit of a thief.”
“Ha! I knew it!” Kai said as he stepped around him and grabbed a book too.
“Did you suspect her?” Theo asked him.
Kai dropped down and dust kicked up under him. He coughed and waved his hand around.
“Well, no one came in here except her. I used to pick on her and tell her that I thought that she was hiding things out here. She always got mad. I was just joking though,” Kai said as he stared off for a moment.
Sam walked to him and leaned down as she touched his face.
He snapped out of his memory and half smiled at her.
“I am sure that she wasn’t mad at you.”
Kai shook his head, letting Sam’s hand fall from his face.
“I hope not. I was just being an ass,” Kai said.
Theo set the book down as he spotted something along the wall. He walked to it and stopped. He crouched down and picked up a book wrapped in cloth. He felt a vibration in his fingers as he stood up and started to pull the cloth off of it. He stared at the face of the book and grinned. It was a black book… old leather, with a silver tree embossed on the cover. He opened the cover slowly and stared at the first page as a light started to glow from the book.
“Oh,” he whispered.
Sam ran up behind him and leaned around him, trying to look at it.
“What is it, Theo...? Did you find one of the nine?” she asked him.
Theo turned to her and had a curious look on his face.
“I think so,” he said.
Sam looked at the book and at him, waiting.
Theo flipped the page and shook his head.
“What?” Sam said as she placed her hands on her hips.
“This is written by Rue, Samantha,” he whispered.
Chapter 7
Without You, I Am Nothing
Sophia stood there with her arms folded on her chest. She started to pace back and forth. She knew that she should have felt something by now…a feeling of fear, or anger. Nothing had come from the mirror… except some frustration. She stopped and looked at the velvet curtain covering it. The need to look in the mirror was overwhelming. She flashed to it and raised her hand slowly. She started to push the curtain aside and felt a slight vibration in her hands.
“Is that fear I feel?” she asked herself.
She pulled the velvet off and stepped back.
The entire mirror was fogged over, black swirling on the surface of it.
“Oh, you think you can blind me?” she yelled at it.
Josh had obviously placed a binding on it as he wandered around, preventing her from staring into it and seeing anything at all. She tilted her head and started to place her hand on the mirror. Small black sparks, like lightening reached out and stung her fingertips. She pulled her hand back to her chest and rubbed her fingers.
“That is fine, Joshua… You take your time; eventually memory will win,” she whispered.
Sophia turned as a guard came in and had a human girl struggling to break from his grip. Sophia grinned and nodded to him. He dragged the human girl up to the mirror and Sophia looked at her. She had tears running down her face and kept glancing at the mirror.
“Thank you,” Sophia said to the guard.
He let the girl go and she tried to run. Sophia lifted her hand and the girl slammed to the stone floor with a grunt. The guard started to move towards her and Sophia lifted her hand to him. He nodded and she waved him out of the room. The guard walked to the door. The girl reached out to him and he didn’t pay any attention to her. He closed the door behind him and the girl looked back at So
phia quickly.
“Come,” Sophia said as she held her hand out to her.
The girl pushed herself up and looked at Sophia, then at the mirror again.
“Come Sophie Graph… I will not hurt you.”
Sophie wiped her face and started to walk towards her slowly. Sophia kept her hand extended until she felt Sophie’s hand slip into hers. Sophia closed her eyes and sighed. She looked at her and grinned.
“I…I don’t understand what is going on,” Sophie said as she tried to not cry.
“Oh, humans…with their emotions. You must compose yourself; you are a lovely creature.”
Sophie tried to relax, but she had been dragged to the city a year ago along with her mother.
She had not seen her mother since.
“You are Johnathan’s sister, correct?” Sophia asked her.
Sophie’s face lit up.
“Oh my god… is Johnathan here?” she asked her.
Sophie looked at her and tilted her head.
“You wish to see him, I understand. I fear that the ‘attachment’ that you humans feel is so overwhelming.”
Sophie sighed and looked back at the mirror.
“I miss him… and my mom,” Sophie said in a small voice.
“Well… I will tell you that the opportunity has come…for you to be reunited with your brother.”
Sophie looked at her and grinned.
“Really...? Oh my god!” Sophie said as she squeezed Sophia’s hand.
Sophia looked at her hand and had no reaction to it.
“I would like for you to see him,” she said.
Sophie looked around the room and then let her eyes settle on the mirror in front of her.
“Is he… in there?” she asked as she swallowed hard.
Sophia moved behind her and touched her shoulders gently.
“That he is… I would like for you to see what lies beyond this place.”
Sophie stared at the mirror as the light glowing from it lit up her face.
“But first you must be equipped to travel through it,” Sophia said as she stepped closer to her.
“What do I have to do…? I miss him so much,” Sophie whispered.
Sophia leaned in, in a flash, and bit her, with no mercy, on her shoulder. Sophie screamed out as Sophia held her up. Sophia continued to feed on her until Sophie’s eyes started to roll in her head. Sophia stopped and took her mouth from her shoulder, her teeth deep red with blood. Sophie swayed on her feet.
“Go,” Sophia whispered as she tossed her through the mirror.
***
Josh stared at Caine and suddenly felt a weird rush come over him. He looked up at the sky as lightning cracked across it. He looked back at Caine and shook his head at him. Caine grinned and flashed into the forest. Josh gripped his blades and looked behind him. Johnathan was gone… of course.
“Damn it,” he muttered to himself.
He flashed in the direction Caine had gone. He came to an abrupt stop when he saw Caine leaning over a girl on the ground.
Caine looked back at him and smiled.
“Who is it?” Josh asked him.
Caine stood up and turned to him.
“Seems to be Sophie Graph, Johnathan’s sister… for all intents and purposes,” Caine said.
Josh looked at the ground and saw Sophie lying there motionless. He looked at Caine.
“I didn’t. I mean, I am not the reason for her appearing here,” Josh said.
Caine laughed at him.
Josh tilted his head.
“What?” he asked him.
Caine took one step towards him and Josh squared his shoulders, expecting for the worst.
Caine stopped and grinned.
“Sophia sent her here,” Caine said.
Josh looked at her and then back to him.
“Sent her…? You mean, she is really here?” Josh asked him.
“Yes, as am I,” Caine said.
Josh took a breath and backed up from him.
“You are in my head,” Josh muttered to him.
Caine held out his hands.
“You keep telling yourself that, you foolish boy. I, on the other hand, am going to find a way out of here.” Caine looked down at the girl.
“Perhaps if I bleed her dry I will be able too,” Caine added.
Josh started to walk towards him with his blades out to his sides.
Caine grinned and reached behind him.
“I would suggest that you pause, think about the fact that you are stronger with me, than you are without,” Caine said.
Josh stopped and stared at him.
“You are a figment of my imagination. You are here to cause me to kill… I know that. I am familiar with the reason for this place.”
Caine looked around and drew in his breath.
“Ah yes, ‘The Lords Trial Mirror’. I have spent many a day here,” he said.
Josh tilted his head.
“You lie.”
Caine gritted his teeth.
“I would suggest that you watch your tone with me. I would like to use you to escape this place; killing you simply would not help me at all.”
Josh placed his feet apart and shifted, still gripping his blades.
“What the hell are you babbling about?” he asked him.
“Ah, is your mind allowing you to hear me now?” Caine asked him.
Josh shook his head at him.
“This place is so messed up, like you would want to work with me,” he said as he laughed.
Caine stood his ground and stared him down.
“You have no idea who the true demon is, do you?” he asked.
Josh pointed his blade at him.
“You… you snake.”
Caine sat down. Josh watched him, completely confused.
“Get up!” Josh said, angered by Caine acting as if they were just hanging out together.
“I have been walking for days. I would eat this girl behind me, but I would guess that my mother has poisoned her. I am starving, as you probably are.”
Josh took a step towards him.
“You are so in my head, I swear to god… This is a trick.”
Caine looked up at him.
“Believe what you want, I do not care. I am going to sit here and rest a while.”
Josh grunted as he laughed out loud. He looked at the sky and shook his head at it.
“What kind of crap is this?” he yelled at the sky.
Caine laughed too. Josh looked back at him and lowered his blades.
“What the hell do you want from me?” Josh asked him.
“Sit down and shut up. I will tell you a tale that will enlighten you.”
Josh sighed and started to sit. Caine shifted his weight and Josh stopped still gripping his blades in his hands. Caine stopped moving and waved his hand at him. Josh sat down and kept his blades tightly gripped, resting on his knees.
“I am a Lord, Joshua Barrington. Not unlike you, I have problems controlling my anger, my wants. I have been here since Rue stabbed me.”
Josh tilted his head at him and grinned. He tapped his head.
“You know that, because I know that,” he said.
Caine leaned back and relaxed his legs.
Josh watched him, wanting to relax too, but he could not.
“My mother sent me here, Joshua,” Caine said.
Josh leaned forward and looked at him.
“Why the hell would she send you here? I watched her kill you myself in the field.”
“Oh… she did not kill me, just suspended me. She will never allow me to be destroyed. I am her creation, although I would guess that she wishes that I had never been.”
Josh leaned up and stared at him. He started to grin.
“Bullshit,” Josh said.
“Well, regardless of what you believe, we are here… trapped, and I know this place very well. My mother threw me in here many times as a child.”
Josh tapped the butt of his blade on his
forehead and squeezed his eyes shut.
“I need for you to disappear,” Josh muttered.
Caine waited and watched him. Josh opened one eye and looked at him.
“You are still here, you dick. I swear to god, just try to stab me or something. I am not going to sit here ‘sharing’ and shit,” Josh said to him.
Caine leaned up to him.
“If I stab you, I kill you, and I have no need for that… it will not help me,” Caine said.
Johnathan flashed up to both of them.
“Oh, dude… stab him in the heart!” Johnathan yelled out.
Caine waved his hand and Johnathan misted out of sight.
Josh stared at him and shook his head.
“How the hell did you do that?” he asked him.
Caine grinned. “Years of practice.”
Josh laughed.
“Well, listen… imaginary Caine, that rocks. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to do that.”
Caine nodded his head.
“I am real, Joshua, so are you,” he said.
Josh grunted and looked over to where Johnathan had disappeared.
***
I sat on my bed and looked at Blake. He stared at me and we were in that awkward moment, one that I would have done anything to avoid. I looked at my hands and then up at him.
“Where is the doctor?” I asked him.
Blake grinned and rubbed his neck as he looked at my chest. I looked down and my shirt was completely open. Awesome. I guess imaginary boy had managed to open my shirt… or I guess I did… God.
I started to button it up quickly and Blake sat down on the bed next to me. I scooted over. I really didn’t need for anyone to touch me. I was still humming from my romp with myself on the floor. He cleared his throat and I glanced at him.
“I didn’t get anyone,” he said calmly. I scooted back and looked at him.
“Why?” I asked him.
“Because I like you just the way you are,” he said.
I bit my lip. He liked me just like I was. Wow. Maybe he should be on meds too.
He leaned back on his hands and looked at me.
“I’m sorry. I just don’t want them to give you something that will make you stop talking to me. I like it when you talk,” he said.
I laughed and looked at my hands. They shimmered with sweat. I wiped my head and more sweat. God, that boy really got me crazy. Really, really crazy. I grinned and wiped my hand on my pants.
