Foreshadow

by Brea Essex

  “Raena! Wake up! Please, Rae. I need you to wake up!” Logan said with worry coloring his voice.

  I sat up with a start. “No! I have to get away!” I screamed, still caught up in the aftermath of my dream.

  Logan put his arms around me and pulled me close against him. He whispered into my ear. “It’s okay. It was a nightmare. You’re safe. I’m here. It was Andrei again?”

  I buried my sweat-drenched head into his chest and broke down into sobs. “I think it was him, chasing me through a hallway…this hallway. All of the doors were locked and there was nowhere to go! I felt him grab at me and I couldn’t run any faster. I couldn’t get away. The corridor was ending. I made it all the way to the elevator, but it wouldn’t open. He almost had me! Oh, and the laugh! This creepy, scary laugh all around me. I felt like I was going to drown in it.”

  By now, Logan’s shirt had soaked through with my tears and sweat, yet he continued to hold me and whisper reassurances in my ear. “I promise I won’t let him hurt you, Rae. I will protect you for as long as I have breath in my body. Here.” He tilted my head up to his. He gently drew the hair away from my eyes and kissed my forehead. “I will always be here to protect you. Always. I love you.”

  I cried myself to sleep in his embrace.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Dawn broke, and the light streaming in through the slit in the curtains woke me from a dreamless sleep. Logan lay propped up on one elbow, watching me. I gazed up at my rescuer as he smiled down at me.

  “Did you sleep well?” he asked through a yawn.

  “Surprisingly, yes. After the nightmare, that is.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. You needed sleep.”

  I stretched and sat up. “I guess I’d better call Genevra.”

  The room phone rang as I climbed out of bed to get my cell. “Yes, we are,” I heard Logan say into the phone. “Please sign and have them sent up.”

  After he hung up, I looked at him questioningly. “Our clothes are here from the mall,” he explained. “The front desk is going to send someone up with the packages.”

  “Great!” I said, excited to have some fresh clothes to change into. I didn’t relish the idea of wearing the same thing two days in a row.

  After a few minutes someone knocked at the door. Logan cautiously peered through the peephole. He relaxed and opened the door. A porter waited on the other side, laden down with packages. Logan took several boxes from the man and gestured for him to pile the remaining packages on the floor.

  We sat on the couch, pulling item after item out of boxes. Thoughts of my lovely clothes and shoes at home flew right out of my head as I reveled in the new items Logan had purchased for me.

  I decided I needed a shower before I got dressed. The hotel’s personal assistant had brought us a selection of shampoos, conditioners, and soaps the night before, when they had delivered the toothbrushes and pajamas. I chose one of each as the water heated in the bathroom.

  I took my time in the shower. I needed the heat and the steam to help me relax. I had considered taking a bath, but I didn’t want to monopolize the bathroom for too long. Surely Logan would want a shower as well.

  After I stepped out of the shower and toweled off, I once again wrapped myself in the teal silk robe. I walked out of the bathroom to find my new clothes lying all around the bedroom.

  “I thought it would help you choose if you could see them all at once,” he explained.

  I went over to him. “Thank you. It does help.”

  He put an arm around my waist and drew me to him. I struggled a little. “I’m soaking wet. I’ll get you wet, too.”

  He didn’t seem to care. His free hand tangled in my hair, and he drew my mouth toward his. After a minute, he pulled back. “I’d better go take a shower,” he said. “You should call Genevra.”

  I agreed with Logan as he headed for the bathroom.

  First, I needed something to wear. Then I would call. I scrutinized the clothes, debating. I selected a teal blouse, linen pants, and silver sandals. I dressed, and then went on a hunt for my cell phone.

  “There you are!” Genevra exclaimed when she answered. “We were getting worried!”

  “I’m sorry. I slept late, and then our new clothes arrived. I took a shower and got dressed. I should have called first.”

  “New clothes?”

  “Well, we had to get out of the house so fast yesterday I couldn’t grab anything. Logan insisted upon ordering some new things for both of us. They arrived not too long ago,” I explained.

  “I see. That was thoughtful of him. Now, will you please tell me where you are?”

  “We’re in San Jose, at The Fairmont.”

  “It’s a nice place,” she said. “I hope you thanked him.”

  “I did. I even offered to pay, but he refused. His parents are paying for the hotel,” I told her.

  “How nice. We will have to thank them when all of this is over.”

  “Are you guys safe?” I asked.

  “Oh yes. We’re at The Hilton. The police have our number here, and they will call us when they catch Andrei.”

  “I’m glad you’re all okay.” I felt relieved. I didn’t want to drag them into this any more than I already had. After all, they were the closest thing to family I had left.

  Genevra assured me that Nuada was safely with them. We talked for a few more minutes and were just hanging up as Logan emerged from the shower. He wore dark jeans and had no shirt on. The dark waves of his hair were slicked back from the water, but one errant lock tumbled across his forehead. I couldn’t help but stare until he grabbed a shirt and pulled it over his head. I averted my eyes, blushing as I realized what a love-struck fool I must appear to be.

  The room phone rang again, and Logan picked it up. I couldn’t hear the conversation, but I saw the alarmed look on his face. When he hung up, he immediately grabbed my arm and started to run for the door with no explanation.

  “What’s going on?” I demanded as he threw the room door open and dragged me into the hall, leaving the door ajar.

  “We have a visitor. He wouldn’t give his name, but they described him as a tall, blond man.”

  I could feel the color drain from my face. “Andrei,” I whispered, horrified. How did he manage to find us? I wondered as we ran down the hall. We were so careful in our escape!

  “Sounds like it,” Logan said over his shoulder. “We have to get out of here!”

  We sprinted for the elevator. No, the elevator’s too slow, I decided. Remembering my dream, I knew the elevator wouldn’t come in time. We had to take the stairs. I pulled Logan toward the door for the staircase. “The stairs will be faster!”

  He nodded in agreement and flung open the door. We barreled down the steps to the first floor, our footsteps echoing in the stairwell. I prayed at each turn Andrei wouldn’t appear around the corner.

  We made it to the ground floor and inched the door open slowly. Logan peered out of the crack. “I don’t see him, but it doesn’t mean he’s not still out there.”

  He opened the door a little wider and checked both ways. “There’s a door at the end of the hall. It looks like it leads outside. Let’s go!”

  We dashed for the exit, throwing the door open. Logan started dragging me across the street to the park. “I forgot my keys in the room,” he desperately realized. We had to find a place to hide. I slammed my hip into one of the benches as we ran, causing me to stumble. Logan caught me before I fell, practically dragging me toward the trees.

  We crouched behind two trees growing close together, warily keeping an eye on the front door of the hotel. Andrei materialized in front of us, as if out of nowhere. Chuckling, a low, threatening sound, he hissed, “Don’t think I don’t see you two there. You should know by now that I see everything.” He raised his arms, and I saw a flash of bright light. Then my world went black.

  Part Two

  The Darkness Beckons

  The night is darkening ’round me,


  The wild winds coldly blow;

  But a tyrant spell has bound me,

  And I cannot, cannot go.

  The giant trees are bending

  Their bare boughs weighed with snow;

  The storm is fast descending,

  And yet I cannot go.

  Clouds beyond clouds above me,

  Wastes beyond wastes below;

  But nothing drear can move me:

  I will not, cannot go.

  ~Emily Brontë, “The Night is Darkening Around Me”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Somewhere, I dimly heard Logan calling my name. A dull roar echoed in my ears, and everything looked grey. I struggled against the haze, trying to focus on the sound of his wavering voice. It sounded almost as though he’d been crying. My consciousness broke the surface of the fog clouding my mind, and my eyelids fluttered open. At first I wondered why I lay sprawled on the ground. Tears were streaming down Logan’s face. What had happened?

  The ground before me had been blackened, and the grass had died. Behind me, the grass still lived. It seemed as though something had struck an invisible barrier with force enough to be deflected. Logan crouched in front of me, half facing me, half turned toward the figure standing across from us.

  My sight was still blurry. I sat up slowly, my head spinning. Something light and feathery brushed my cheek. At first I thought of ash from the burned ground. Then I noticed the feathery things caressing my cheek were actually feathers. I blinked, trying to clear my vision. Sure enough, there were feathers such a lustrous shade of grey—almost silver—hovering in the air near my face. Lots of feathers. I realized they were attached to a huge wing, which was attached to…Logan?

  Hang on, I must be hallucinating! Logan didn’t have wings! But there they were, securely attached to his back as if they had always been there. They seemed to grow out from between his shoulder blades—his shirt hung from him in tatters.

  I stared at him in wonder. His emerald eyes bored into mine with a look of bewilderment. He then swung his head back toward the shape standing in front of us. I glanced up and started. I thought I might be delirious, because it seemed like Andrei had wings, too. Unlike Logan’s silvery-grey wings, Andrei’s were jet black like a raven’s.

  I stared at Andrei in confusion. “What do you want? Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

  His crystal eyes clouded as he stared down at us. “My sweet Rae, I told you nothing bad would happen to you as long as you were with me. But you’ve rejected me. You’ve chosen him. I can’t forgive your betrayal.”

  I glared at him from where I lay propped up on the ground. “My relationship with Logan is none of your business!”

  “Ah, but it is. I’ve made it my business. You’ve been my business since the day I met you. I told you, Rae, we’re supposed to be together. I’m not going to let him get in the way any longer.”

  A dark fog eddied and swirled around Andrei’s body. Lightning crackled at his hands. He raised his arms and flung them forward. I cringed as the lightning surged toward us. I couldn’t move fast enough to get out of the way. I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for the shock.

  To my amazement, I never felt it hit. Cautiously, I cracked one eye open. A bright golden light surrounded Logan and me. It acted like a shield, deflecting Andrei’s attack. It reminded me of the golden light in my dreams. Has Logan been protecting me all along?

  As I contemplated that idea, Andrei raised his arms for another burst of lightning. When it bounced off Logan’s shield, further burning the ground around us, Andrei tried a different approach. He slid a sword out of a sheath that suddenly appeared at his waist, and sprang into the air. I counted one, two beats of his gigantic midnight wings, and then he stood on the ground behind me.

  Andrei reached down and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me up from the grass. I struggled and attempted to kick him, desperate to get loose from his grasp. He held his sword at my neck and I froze. The sharp blade bit into the soft area underneath my chin. The point punctured the skin, and I could feel a thin ribbon of blood snake its way down my throat and drip onto my new blouse.

  Logan spun, horror filling his emerald eyes. “Let her go!” he screamed. He looked down at his palms. I could see golden light forming around them. A shudder wracked his body as he threw the full force at Andrei, directing the blow toward his wings. Andrei was thrown up and back, losing his grip on his sword and dropping me. My ankle twisted under me as I fell to the ground.

  The jolt of the energy also threw Logan back, and he slumped to the ground as well. I screamed his name as I tried to run for him, stumbling painfully on my injured ankle. I never reached him. Andrei recovered and grabbed me from behind in mid-stride. Logan tried to scramble to his feet. He lunged for me just as Andrei locked his arms around me.

  He launched himself from the ground, still gripping me. His wings beat slowly as he held me in midair. “Raena will be mine,” Andrei taunted Logan, who still lay on the ground. “If you want her, you will have to come fight me for her. Goodbye, Logan.” He began to fly away, holding me clutched to his chest.

  Logan flung himself into the air and attempted to follow, but Andrei flew too fast, and Logan didn’t seem used to his new wings. Logan disappeared in the distance as Andrei escaped.

  I screamed and screamed as Andrei and I streaked across the sky. I remained still, though, afraid to struggle since we were so high. If he dropped me, I would die when I hit the ground. I prayed Logan would be able to find me soon.

  Andrei flew on for quite some time. We landed in the backyard of a large grey house. He put me down and I collapsed to my knees. He grabbed my wrist and yanked me to my feet. He dragged me over to a set of French doors, which opened with a click. “Where are we?” I demanded.

  “My place,” he said shortly as he pulled me into the house and threw the doors shut.

  “I thought you lived near the UC?”

  He laughed. “Not exactly.”

  He hurried me through the house and hauled me into a room. He pushed me down into a wooden chair and tied me to it with thick coils of rope.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked as I struggled against him.

  “You know why, Rae. You’re supposed to be with me. I will have my way!” He opened the door of what I had thought would be a closet. Instead, I saw a shimmering, dark void. Andrei began to chant in a low murmur, and the void started to pulse and ripple. I thought I heard a humming coming from it.

  As he muttered what sounded like nonsense, he picked up a mortar and pestle. He opened several drawers and poured some things into the mortar and began to crush them. A sweet odor filled the air. He sprinkled his mixture in front of the doorway and smeared it on the doorjamb.

  His confusing chant ended, and he came over and untied me. “Time to go,” he announced.

  “Go where?”

  “To the Shadow Imperium,” he told me matter-of-factly as he dragged me through the void.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Logan

  The next day, I went to class as though everything were normal. Seeing Raena’s empty seat beside me in every class felt like a fresh stab to my already mangled heart.

  Mrs. Cortesi, our Chemistry teacher, questioned me as to Raena’s whereabouts. She must have noticed the way Rae and I had been hanging out together, and I supposed she assumed I would know why Raena wasn’t in school. I couldn’t think of a good enough excuse, so I told her I didn’t know. She looked at me skeptically and turned her attention to the rest of the class.

  I should have lied and said she was sick.

  After Andrei had disappeared with Raena, I had flown around for hours, looking for anything that might give me any clue to where he had taken her. I hadn’t found a thing. I’d gone back to the park, landing in the cover of trees, hoping no one would see me. Wings would definitely stand out in a crowd. It had taken me awhile to figure out how to retract them so they wouldn’t be noticed. It had hurt, but they’d finally disappeared.


  I had tried my best to twist and turn so I could look at my back. As far as I could tell, it looked like the wings never existed. I had sent up a brief prayer they wouldn’t pop out and surprise anyone, but I hoped I would be able to bring them back when I needed them.

  I had then walked across the street to the hotel, dodging traffic. By that time, night had fallen. I’d tried to avoid the hotel staff as I ducked inside and up to our room. I hadn’t wanted any questions about my appearance. It had been blatantly obvious something had happened, and I hadn’t wanted to talk about it just then. As I’d waited for the elevator, I’d checked my reflection and cringed. My new clothing had been completely torn up.

  When I’d reached the room, I had collapsed on the couch, my head in my hands. I had no idea where to look for Raena. I wanted to rage—I wanted to throw things. I knew none of it would do me any good. I’d stood up and moved aimlessly around the suite. I’d changed out of my tattered shirt, and then packed up all of our things, placing them back in the shipping boxes.

  I had then called down to the front desk, asking for help to load the boxes into my car. When the porter had left, I’d headed down to the front desk to check out.

  “I trust you enjoyed your stay?” the concierge asked.

  “Absolutely,” I half lied, giving the man a strained smile. I had enjoyed my stay until a psycho had stolen my Raena away from me.

  I’d gone out to my car, feeling dazed. I’d been distracted on the way home, but I’d still somehow arrived safely. Once I’d gotten inside, I’d called to my mom to say I’d made it home, then went to my room. I ignored my mom’s questions about the previous two days…