by Rue Volley
“Grab the matches and light these candles for me, okay?” she asked him.
He looked at the box of matches on the table, and then back to her.
“Hurry, please,” she added.
Johnathan walked to the matches quickly and grabbed them up.
He opened the box, lit the first match, and stared at the fire.
“I do this only out of need and not want,” he said.
“Okay vampire ghost, get to it,” she said, as she smiled and closed her eyes.
“Fine,” Johnathan said, as he started to light the candles one by one.
Lizzy started to glitch in front of him and he leaned in.
She opened one eye and grinned at him.
“If you step in the circle you will ruin it,” she said.
Johnathan looked down and stepped back. “Sorry.”
She closed her eyes and started to hum.
Johnathan tilted his head.
“Are you singing?” he asked.
She stopped and nodded.
“You do not have to ask me,” she said, as she smiled.
“Oh yea,” he said.
“Listen, I have to concentrate… I know that you don’t want to do this, but I want topside and I know that you do to… just understand that it won’t take much more to make that a reality.”
Johnathan looked at her and tried to smile.
“I do this as I lament,” Lizzy whispered.
Johnathan started to open his mouth, and she glitched like a bad reception on an old T.V. He watched her wave like water, and she winked at him, as she faded from the circle and the candles went out. Johnathan looked around and waited. He felt his heartbeat speed up, as he anticipated whoever she would pop back up with. The black candles on the floor started to smoke, and he watched the candles re-light themselves. He stepped back; as he saw a slight glitch in the middle of the circle…then she appeared, with her arms wrapped around someone. It looked like a girl, her back was facing Johnathan, and Lizzy looked at him and smiled.
“This one was trying to kill herself… suicides are the worst.”
Johnathan stared at her and shook his head.
“Suicide is ridiculous, why do it?” he asked. “I mean, here we are fighting to live, and this girl just takes the gift of living for granted… it is stupid.”
“I totally agree. In fact, we will be doing her a favor. This one will never get what she wants in life; so maybe she will find her happiness on this side of the fence.”
“I don’t care what she finds… let’s get this over…”
He stopped, as Lizzy laid her down on the floor.
Johnathan stared at the girl’s face.
“Oh shit,” he muttered.
Lizzy looked down at her and stared at her face.
“You know her?” Lizzy said.
Johnathan shook his head and stepped back.
“Yes… yes I do, it’s Brooke,” he said in a whisper, as Lizzy pushed Brooke’s hair aside and touched her face.
“What the hell, Lizzy...? I thought you were all psychic and shit!” Johnathan said, as he rushed to Brooke and placed his hand on her head.
Lizzy stood up and watched him.
“I am… she had nothing, no thought at all! I didn’t know that you knew her,” Lizzy said.
Johnathan looked up at her and shook his head.
“Take her back… now,” he said.
Lizzy shook her head.
“It is not that easy, you don’t have any idea how hard it is to drag one of them here, I can’t just take her back,” Lizzy said.
Johnathan picked Brooke up and stepped out of the circle.
Lizzy held up her hand and “Ahhh’d”, as he stepped to the couch and laid her down.
Johnathan looked at Lizzy and shook his head.
“What?” he asked her.
Lizzy looked down and then back up at him, as she messed with her hands.
“You just took whatever slight chance I had at trying to put her back, and flushed it down the toilet.”
“What...? You are kidding me,” Johnathan said, as he straightened up and stared at her.
“Yea… you took her from the portal. I can’t just do it again… that portal was just for her, built for her, ya know?”
Johnathan shook his head.
“No I don’t know! I don’t do the witchy thingy with the black candles and the humming; I have only ever travelled through mirrors.”
“Mirrors?” Lizzy asked him.
“Yes, mirrors. We use them to portal,” he said.
“Think about it,” Lizzy said to him, as she took a step in his direction.
“About what...? Mirrors?” he asked her.
“Yes, you dummy… think about how you portaled.”
Johnathan raised his eyebrows and grinned.
“I thought that you were psychic,” he said all sarcastic.
“Only when people have free thought, not when they block it out.”
“Oh… okay, well. I never actually set up the portal, but I know that Theo and Josh used chalk… wrote symbols on the mirror.”
“Latin symbols?” Lizzy asked.
“Yea… yea! Latin,” Johnathan said.
Lizzy smiled.
“Well, lucky for you I know Latin but we have no mirrors here.”
Johnathan looked at Brooke, as she started to move a little on the couch.
“Well, we gotta get her back,” Johnathan said.
Brooke started to mumble, and her eyes fluttered. Johnathan leaned in and stared at her. She slowly opened her eyes up and looked at him. Her face was gentle at first, and then she suddenly opened her eyes up wide and ‘oh’d’, as she sat up quickly and stumbled from the couch. Brooke held her hand up in front of her, as she stepped back from both of them.
“Holy crap...! I am so dead,” Brooke said, as she tripped.
Johnathan flashed to her and caught her before she hit the ground.
“You are not dead,” Johnathan said, as he held her and she stared at him.
“Dreaming?” Brooke asked him.
Johnathan shook his head ‘no’, and she sucked her breath in.
“Then what… I mean where, and who…” Brooke tried to say, as she pointed a finger at Lizzy.
Lizzy grinned and stepped towards her.
“I am the grim reaper,” Lizzy said.
Brooke stood up quickly and stepped back, holding her hands up.
“The what?” she said, as she started to look around the room.
Johnathan could feel her panic and stepped towards her.
“This is Lizzy… she is not the grim reaper.”
Brooke looked at him and shook her head.
“Johnathan...? We ah, we… buried you,” Brooke said, as she started to sway on her feet.
Johnathan caught her as she fainted and he looked at Lizzy.
“She doesn’t act like she was trying to kill herself, Lizzy.”
Lizzy shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t pick people, what they do is pick me.”
“Uh huh,” Johnathan said, as he touched Brooke’s face.
Lizzy tilted her head and watched him.
“How many girlfriends do you have?” she asked him.
Johnathan looked at her and smiled.
“None,” he said. “I am dead, remember?”
Lizzy grinned.
“Living challenged… stop saying ‘dead’… creeps me out.”
Johnathan shook his head and looked at Brooke.
“Well, she is not dead… and I have no intention of making that happen.”
Lizzy sighed.
“Fine, put her down and focus on the mirror.”
Johnathan placed Brooke on the couch again and stood up, turning to Lizzy.
She watched him and then cleared her throat, as he stared at her.
“You didn’t know that I knew her right?” he asked her.
Lizzy snorted, as she laughed. “No.”
“Okay,
just seems weird that you came back with someone that I know.”
“Are you doubting me?” Lizzy asked him.
Johnathan hesitated and glanced at Brooke.
“She is fine,” Lizzy said.
“That’s the thing, Lizzy… Brooke feels fine, like she was fine when you snatched her up.”
Lizzy tilted her foot, and Johnathan looked down at her feet.
“Lizzy?”
Lizzy bit her lip and finally confessed.
“Okay fine… I knew,” she said.
“Holy crap, Lizzy! Why would you think that I would feed on her?”
“Johnathan, we totally need someone with protector blood to do this; humans just are not getting the job done. I thought that maybe if I told you that she was killing herself you would feel sorry for her and do it out of pity.”
Johnathan rubbed his hair and messed it up beyond repair.
“Not cool, Lizzy… totally lame, that is a big fail.”
Lizzy shook her head.
“I am sorry! I won’t do it again… I promise.”
“Uh huh.”
Lizzy stepped up to him and grinned nervously.
“I won’t… I am sorry,” she said, as she turned on her sad face.
Johnathan looked at her and sighed.
“God! Why am I a ‘crazy girl’ magnet?” he asked himself.
Lizzy smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
“I am not crazy, just determined.”
Johnathan looked back at Brooke and stared at her for a moment.
“Well, now we have to get out of here.”
Lizzy nodded.
“Tell me about it. She won’t last here very long.”
Johnathan looked back at her.
“What does that mean?”
Lizzy gritted her teeth and tried to smile.
“Well… ummm. Humans don’t survive here. I found that out a long time ago. That is when I realized that feeding on their blood made it possible to visit top side.”
“I sooo don’t want to know,” Johnathan said, as he sat down in the chair and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
Lizzy walked to him and leaned down in front of him.
She placed her hand on his knee, and he looked into her eyes.
“I truly am sorry for bringing her here. I am not a bad person Johnathan. I meant no harm. I didn’t know how much you cared for this girl.”
Johnathan looked at Brooke and then looked back at Lizzy.
“Okay, well listen… you can only make it up one way.”
Lizzy tilted her head at him.
“By doing what?”
“Feed on me and take her with you,” Johnathan said, as he stared into her eyes.
Lizzy stood up and looked down at him.
“No… absolutely not,” she muttered.
“It would work, right?” Johnathan said.
Lizzy walked away from him and looked at her circle of black candles.
Johnathan stood up and walked up behind her.
“Lizzy, you know it will work.”
Lizzy sighed and turned to him.
“I can see why you have girls swooning over you.”
Johnathan tilted his head.
Lizzy grinned. “Don’t act like you don’t know how self-sacrifice is a charm.”
Johnathan smiled.
“Just do it already,” Johnathan said.
Lizzy shook her head.
“I am getting in the circle, think of someone evil… with protector blood, that I can snag.”
Johnathan grinned, as he started to re-light the candles for Lizzy.
“Not Josh,” Lizzy said, as she looked at him.
Johnathan laughed.
“Sorry, old habit.”
Johnathan lit the last candle and blew out the match.
He looked up at her, and she nodded, as she saw his thoughts.
“I understand,” she said, as she closed her eyes and started to hum.
Johnathan smiled at her.
“That is a different song.”
Lizzy peeked at him.
“The song doesn’t matter, it helps me concentrate.”
“Well, make sure you get her.”
“Okay… be back.”
Lizzy closed her eyes and the glitching started.
Johnathan watched her disappear and looked back at Brooke.
“I will get you out of here, one way or another,” he whispered.
Chapter 7
Lie in the Bed You Made
Jonah rolled over and stretched his arms out as he yawned. He blinked a few times and then grinned. He felt his heart beating… something that had been absent for so long it seemed foreign to him. He sat up, took a deep breath, and looked around his tent. Everything looked normal except for Lily crouched down in the corner. He squinted his eyes and focused in on her, and she moved a little.
“Lily?” Jonah asked.
Lily stood up and walked slowly to his bedside and looked at him.
“You didn’t ask me, Jonah,” she said in a small voice.
Jonah held his hand out to her, and she ran from the tent, and he watched her go. Suddenly he felt it well up in him… regret. She was right. He had not asked her permission to travel into unknown territory, and he had dragged her along, probably against her will. He pushed himself up and placed his feet on the cold ground and smiled again, as he felt the cold spread out over his feet which cause him to shiver.
“Mmm,” he muttered low, as he looked down at his feet, and then he grinned.
“Are we enjoying ourselves?”
Jonah looked up to see Theo standing in the tent opening, with a tray in his hand. Jonah sighed and waved his hand to him.
“Theodore, please come in… I fear that you may be my only friend at this point,” Jonah said, as he watched him step in and walk up to the end of his bed.
Theo tilted his head and smiled.
“As you are probably mine,” Theo replied.
“I would assume that the camp is in an uproar.”
Theo set the tray down on the bed, walked over to Jonah’s mess of clothing in the corner, and stared down at the pile.
“An ‘uproar’ would be an understatement. Seems that Rue and Kai have left the camp, and Joshua has gone to try to retrieve them.”
“What?” Jonah asked, as he stood up quickly.
Theo turned to him and sighed.
“Our decision to make you whole did not fair to well on the others.”
“That is unfortunate, what can I do?”
Theo walked to him and looked at the tray on the bed.
“You could start by eating; I have spent half the night finding a remedy to the drama.”
Jonah looked at the food on the plate, and his eyes shifted to the glass, that swirled in color.
“I feel remarkably well… perhaps your time is best spent attending to your siblings.”
Theo leaned in and looked at his eyes.
“We all need to be weary of this; so please indulge me and drink at least.”
Jonah bit his lip and reached for the glass.
“What is it?” he asked him.
“Oh, a little of this and a little of that... not to appear rude, but I wanted to try it on you, before I shared it with the others.”
“Oh, I see; so I am the guinea pig for this.”
“Yes, it would appear so.”
Jonah picked up the glass and watched the color swirl in it.
He held it up and watched the light shimmer in the glass.
“It would appear to be living,” Jonah said, as he eyed it closely.
Theo placed his hand under the glass and pushed it towards his mouth.
“In a hurry are we?” Jonah asked.
Theo grinned and nodded to him.
“Okay,” Jonah said, as the glass touched his lips, and he started to drink.
The concoction Theo had whipped up tasted sweet on his tongue, and he found himself drinking it quickly. He tilted
his head back and let the last of it go down his throat. Theo watched him in anticipation, as Jonah rolled the glass between his hands and cleared his throat.
“I must take this opportunity to thank you.”
Theo sat there and stared at him.
“No thank yous are in order.”
Jonah set the glass down on the tray and turned to him.
“Yes, actually there are… I have never encountered anyone as compassionate as you.”
Theo grinned and stood up. He glanced at the tray.
“Eat… please,” he said, as he walked towards the door.
Lily flashed in and looked at the two of them.
“What have you done?” she asked them both.
Jonah looked at her and grinned.
“Looks as if the spell is working,” he said.
Theo smiled and looked at Lily.
“Your brother has drank a strong spell of which will remedy this entire uproar.”
Lily tilted her head and stared at him.
“I don’t feel him,” she whispered
Theo touched her face and smiled.
“That is the point, I am severing the bond,” he said.
Lily looked at Jonah and shook her head at him.
“I don’t like it,” she said, as she frowned.
Jonah stood up and walked to her.
“Lily… it is time to be independent of thought.” he said.
Lily shook her head ‘no’.
“Both of you suck,” Lily said, as she crossed her arms on her chest and crinkled her eyebrows.
Jonah laughed.
“Is there nothing I can do to please you? First you fret over feeling, and now you complain over the absence of it all together.”
Lily pointed her finger at him.
“You decided… you Jonah, not me.”
Jonah glanced at Theo, and he stepped out, not wanting to intrude on this inevitable conversation that needed to be had between the two of them. Jonah looked back at Lily and smiled big. Lily shook her head.
“I have always believed in you, Jonah. You are the smart one… always taking care of me. I don’t know what to do without you,” she said.
Jonah stepped to her and reached out his hand to her.
She looked at it and placed her hand in his.
Jonah rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand.
“Lily… I love you, but it is time that we stop living in this vicious circle.”
Lily sighed.
“What choice do I have, Jonah? You decided to make us more human… and now I can’t feel you at all!” Lily said.
