by Abra Ebner
I stepped toward the rocks, weaving between them as they funneled in around me, guiding me to one central point. There at the end of it, one rock, at least twenty feet long and half that in diameter, crudely formed a sort of doorway. Ducking under it, I found it an opening to the rocky face of the large mountain. The rain was left behind as a cave now sheltered me. The sound of the weather echoed off the walls. Looking back, rain dripped from the lip of the opening and funneled into a small stream that ran past me and deeper into the dark cavern. I adjusted my sight to the darkness, following the stream as it reflected what little light it could until all the light was gone. Feeling my way along the cavern, it grew warm very quickly, so warm that I began to sweat under my jacket as steam built. I sloughed it off and threw it over my shoulder before moving on.
The cavern felt as though it narrowed before slowly opening up again. In the distance, light once again could be seen, glimmering from a small spot like a peep hole. Walking toward it, still following the stream, the light gradually grew until it occupied a space the size of a standard doorway. I stepped through this doorway and into a room that felt like a far cry from the world I’d just been in.
Monolithic crystals burst from the ground, reflecting light from a single hole in the ceiling. The stream of rainwater at my feet pooled here, filling a crystal blue crevasse in the middle of the room. Looking into the crevasse, it was beautifully lined with smaller crystals like that on the walls all around me. From the light source, rainwater also dripped, creating an orchestra of sound and a shower of glittery light.
Stepping closer to the pool, I was drawn in by the magnificent color, contrasting so sharply with the red dirt under my feet. This was an oasis in an otherwise dead part of the world, a hiding place one could live and forget— the perfect place for Avery.
“I knew you would come.” Her voice shattered the gentle sounds of rainwater on cue, echoing my thoughts of her like a nightmare I’d fallen into. “Greg promised me.”
I looked up from the pool, drawn by the movement of her white figure, emerging from behind one of the crystal monoliths. She wore a simple white dress, long but revealing, perfect for the hot atmosphere of the crystal cave.
She was as beautiful as ever; her face unchanged after all this time. Like the crystals, her skin was smooth and milky, blending with the color of her dress. Her blonde hair spun in ringlets across her chest, touched with a glittery frost. She looked no different than the day I left her, save the darkness in her eyes. That had been the day I took everything she loved away and froze her into this beautiful monster.
“It seems you’ve finally found an environment you can thrive in,” I replied coolly.
She smiled, her cold, once blue eyes wanting to reflect light, but stealing it instead. “Ice without the cold,” she added, allowing one hand to drift over the crystal beside her. “Admit it, you wanted to come here. You wanted to be with me again, didn’t you?”
She wasn’t afraid to jump right into it. I gave her no reply. There was no reply to be given that wasn’t a lie on my behalf. Anymore lies would just make this whole situation worse—I couldn’t deal with anymore guilt. I clenched my fists and tried my best to remind myself of what Soleil had taught me—show Avery there was another way. Show her she didn’t need me.
“I did you a favor, you know. Jane wasn’t right for you. You knew that.” Her voice was low and angry now, growing impatient with my silence. Her hand slipped from the crystal and dropped dead to her side as she drew another step closer to the pool. After standing there watching the water for a moment, she ran her bare toe through the water, disrupting the rhythmic waves caused by the shower of rain water from above.
“I’m not here to discuss this with you,” I finally said, pulling the coat from my shoulder and tossing it on a nearby crystal.
“Then why are you here?” She pulled her foot from the water, burying it in the dirt. “I’m not about to help you bring her back, if that’s what your hoping for. She’s worthless and it’s about time you see that. She cannot possibly hold a candle to me.”
I clenched my jaw and released it, trying to stay cool. “Jane isn’t my concern right now.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, Jane really wasn’t my concern. I was trying to follow what the prophets advised. Avery had to be my chief concern whether I wanted her to be or not.
Avery looked at me, this time with a renewed look on her face as though the previous anger had never existed. “Already you’ve forgotten her? I knew you would. See, it was a silly love affair after all.” It was as though she were telling herself that more than me. “I mean, she was a lovely pet, wasn’t she? But all pets eventually die.”
I couldn’t stand hearing this. Not from someone that was once so sweet. “This isn’t you, Avery,” I stopped her. “This isn’t the sweet girl I used to know.”
She couldn’t hide the shame on her face fast enough. It showed me that I still had some level of influence over her. This was a positive sign.
“I can be that girl again, if that’s what you want.” She began to step into the pool, walking across the space between us as though it were only knee deep.
I watched her move, slow and methodical like she always had. Inside, however, I knew she was anything but methodical in the way I’d known her before. How could such grace turn into such torment? I tried to imagine what Soleil could have possibly been like in her time spent in shadow, but it was hard given the way I had seen her just today.
Avery reached my side of the pool and stepped out, closing the space between us. Water dripped from the hem of her white dress, dragging through the dirt as it collected and spoiled it’s once flawless brilliance. “Is that what you want? The sweet Avery back?” She placed her hand on my chest. Her touch caused a spark of light to ripple across her skin.
I watched in awe as the light slowly spread until it at last reached her eyes. It restored in them a glimmer of the light I stole, the light that remained inside me still. She was simply borrowing the light as her eyes changed from a murky grey to subdued sapphire.
“You can have this back, you know. All you have to do is love me like I know you already do.”
My entire body felt tense. I was strong, and my love for Jane was deep, but Avery’s nearness and the toxicity of her memory, her love and romance, was trying to trick me. I was floundering in the tragedy of Jane’s death. There was no denying that Avery and I had shared a deep connection. I knew how it must feel to be her. I had once thought the same way she did—hopeless. But, all that changed the day I first saw Jane in the premonition the Truth Stone offered me. Until then, I never knew that such a love as the one I’d had with Jane could exist. Soleil was right; until Avery finds her true love, she will never get over her love for me. How could I help her?
“I do want the sweet Avery back,” I began, my thoughts forming a plan as I went along.
She smiled, leaning her body against mine. “You do?” She looked so happy in that moment. I was afraid to shatter it.
“But, as my friend.” I navigated the words with delicacy. “That is what I miss most. We were great friends and I need you in that way more than any other.” None of it was a lie. Our friendship had always been our greatest power, not love. The two were easily confused.
Avery’s brows swiftly creased with frustration and she pushed away from me. She stumbled back as her foot became tangled in the muddy hem of her long dress. Not only was she angry, but shamed. In an instant all the light she had borrowed faded, her eyes a deeper black than I had ever seen. “A friend?”
I stepped toward her, trying to reinforce the idea. I needed to show her the level of support and love I felt for her within this realm of friendship. “Yes,” I replied firmly, trying to show her this was not a joke. “This is not you, Avery. This darkness does not suit you. Together you and I can change all this. You can have power far greater than the fearful power you posses now.”
I could tell she wasn’t hearing me. “You are my true love, Maximus Gordon.
I don’t understand how you can’t see that. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be.”
I shook my head. “But I’m not your true love. That’s why this isn’t happening the way you want it to. Your time spent hating me is a waste when the man you truly love is still out there. Your time would be better spent trying to find him. No matter how much you beg and plead, I will never be able to give into your wishes because I do not share the same desires you do.” I stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake. “You have to let go of me, Avery. You have to let yourself be happy.”
At first her body relaxed into my touch, but then it quickly grew rigid. “Who have you been talking to? You’ve been talking to Soleil, haven’t you?” She accused. “I can tell. This sounds like something she would say—so high and mighty about the fact that she could overcome the shadow. She’s nothing but a fake. You’re trying to buy me like Lune bought her, but I’m not so naïve. I’d rather kill you like I should have, like the others do.” She yanked herself out of my grasp.
I felt a bout of my anger lash out of my control. My patience for the whole situation was growing thin. “I’d like to see you try,” I stupidly challenged.
Avery’s eyes narrowed as she hunched closer to the ground. She was readying herself, and I began to regret the threat I’d made—this was getting worse, fast.
STELLA:
Still sitting on Jake’s bed, I heard muffled voices from outside his window. I quickly slid my hands under my weight and stood from the mattress on the floor. I crept to the small window in his room which was shrouded in thick, tailored fabric, closing out the light. I fished my finger through the cloth enough for me to peek out. A slice of light burst into the room as I did this. Below on the street, Wes, the girl and Jake got into Jake’s red car. I wasn’t able to see the girl’s face and it bothered me most. I felt a need to size myself up. Next to Jake’s car sat a black Camaro that hadn’t yet collected snow. I tilted my head in strange recognition. There were deep, animal-looking grooves carved across the hood. My hands griped the sill as I noticed this, as though I knew how it felt to make them.
The red car began to back out of the parking spot, breaking my concentration as my grip on the windowsill relaxed. Panic set in. I pulled away from the window and the shade collapsed darkness around me. I turned a few paces, fumbling for the door until at last I clasped the handle and flew it open. I ran as silently as I could down the hall, not that anyone was here. I was downstairs fast enough to see the car pull away and turn left onto the main street a little bit down the road. Now gripping the sill of the front window, I reached and unlocked the front door beside me. I opened it wide as a bite of cold air hit my face. At first it froze me, but I didn’t have the time to worry about it. I backed my way into the middle of the room. Breathing fast, I shut my eyes and shifted into the owl I had suppressed. There was a dull thud as the heavy hunter’s clothes hit the ground. I remained in flight. Struggling to find room as I flew about the small entry and kitchen, I ducked and flew out the open door to freedom.
Once outside, I was forced to arc upward to avoid colliding into the buildings across the street. In my panic I was moving too fast. For a body I hadn’t used in a few hours, I already felt out of place. I swept up and over the roof tops, now dusted with a fresh coat of snow that was still falling, obstructing my view. I kept my eyes slightly closed in order to remedy the visibility in this weather. I banked left and followed the main road they had turned onto. It wasn’t long before I caught up with Jake’s car.
I slowed my pace as I hovered far above them. To my surprise, another owl swept in below me. She seemed unaware of my presence overhead. I watched it as Jake’s car took another left and the new owl did also. I was jealous of her proximity, but unthreatened at the same time. She felt familiar.
EMILY:
I saw a shadow fall over the hood of Jake’s car as I sat in the front seat. Wes leaned forward from the back, his hand brushing my shoulder as he grabbed the seat. I turned and saw him craning his neck to look up and out of the windshield. “Looks like my sister found us.”
I suppressed a less than enthusiastic reply.
Jake looked up as well, long enough that the blue, soft light could be seen in his eyes as his glasses slid down his nose. In my weakened state, I found myself craving that warm light more than I had in some time. It comforted me and made me feel like sinking into my seat with a warm blanket. I was safe.
Jake looked sideways at me. Stop that.
I wasn’t really surprised to hear his voice in my head. I was so relaxed that I’d let my barriers down and my thoughts fly free. What is that? I asked. What’s that blue light? I couldn’t believe I was asking. I’d yet to gather the gumption to do so, or find the right time. There was always so much going on, so now was as good a time as any, it seemed.
It’s nothing, Emily. Leave it alone.
But I didn’t want to leave it alone. You know what I’m seeing, don’t you? Tell me what it is, I demanded.
I could see him clench his teeth. Wes had leaned back into the back seat, looking out the window. He was unaware of this secret conversation. Times like this made me glad he wasn’t a mind reader.
It’s just something all the vampires have. We use it to lure in our prey, he replied curtly, but it felt like a lie.
No, it’s not, I challenged. Your sister doesn’t have it. You’re lying. Why won’t you just tell me what it is?
Jake turned sharply to the right, his car wheel almost nicking the curb.
Wes laughed from the backseat. “Whoa speed racer.”
Jake looked at him in the rear view mirror and then looked at me. Just leave it alone. Wes loves you.
I laughed inwardly, hiding the smirk on my face. Who said anything about love?
Stop, he warned one last time.
I sighed and looked out the window. We were now on the main road toward the priory and the scenery had grown more attractive. Tall, thin evergreens were rooted a foot apart, lining each side of the road. Their branches held a dusting of fresh snow, just beginning to cling as the day grew old and cold.
I watched the trees soldier by. Jake’s blue light was still on my mind, though I’d resumed hiding that from him. Why love? Why had he gone there when I just wanted to know what the blue light meant? Did it mean love? My eyes found their way from the window to Jake and back again. I couldn’t love Jake, though I knew Jake could love me—he’d admitted that already. I loved Wes, like I always have. Jake was nice, easy, and knew how to make me feel comfortable, but he didn’t hold a candle to the sort of past Wes and I had, albeit a past spent at a distance. I didn’t mind Jake’s admiration, though. It made me feel good to have it.
As much as I’d tried to put my wayward past behind me—whether it was for show or not—a part of me still missed the thrill of that person I had pretended to be for so long. That person had been daring, sharp, feared even. My transformation into who I was now meant losing all that, or at least that’s how I felt. Sure, I was more like my real self, and in a way that was freeing, but from time to time I still didn’t want to be me. Hearing everyone’s thoughts was taxing, and though the headaches I used to get when I was little had faded as my mind grew used to the chatter, every now and then they still came back.
What I needed was a friend I could talk frank with. Alexis hadn’t talked to me since the party where Greg had confused and toyed with her. She had a hunch as to what I was, but luckily she was too chicken to admit that. I could trust that she’d never tell a soul, either. She was too afraid of how an outlandish claim like that would be perceived. My life at school had changed drastically. I suspect even more so once I go back.
I stopped tiring myself with such thoughts as the main priory gates approached. Jake’s car slowed to a crawl before eventually stopping. The gate keeper stepped out of his house, a wintery Element pixie with just a hint of fall still shedding from his hair. He took one look at us before motioning the car through the gate, no que
stions asked.
“They never do that,” Wes announced from the back seat.
“Maybe they’re expecting us,” Jake offered as reply.
Lacy flew on ahead of us. The Element pixie watched her closely, but didn’t seem too concerned—perhaps he knew she was coming, too.
Jake shifted the car into gear and we moved on after Lacy. Behind the gates we drove past vast, now dormant gardens and right up to the temple itself. There, we left the car with another Element pixie and we all got out. I heard an owl cry overhead as Lacy spiraled down and onto Wes’s arm. She wasn’t about to change into her human form. We hadn’t brought her any clothes.
As we stood there, the doors to the temple opened. We all froze and watched in anticipation, surprised when Srixon stepped out. I’d never met Srixon in person. I’d only heard about him or seen him in the newspapers around town. He was the Crown, our leader, but from what Max mumbled under his breath, I didn’t figure he was that great of a man.
Jake leaned closer to Wes and I. “Remember, that’s Avery’s father,” he whispered.
I felt my muscles tense at the mention of her name. I knew he was Avery’s father. I didn’t need reminding. As he drew close, I noted how his white hair and face were almost the same color. I couldn’t help but pick out the similarities he and Avery had. They had the same almond-shaped eyes, frosted in the season of winter, though hers were permanently so.
Srixon descended a few more steps before stopping.
The four of us looked at each other, Lacy fluffing her feathers.
“Thank you for coming,” he announced, as though he’d invited us. He had his arms outstretched in greeting.
There was no way I was hugging him.
Jake tilted his head, looking like he had a mind full of things to say, but he shared nothing.
Srixon’s gaze fell to me as he dropped his arms. “You must be Emily,” he went on. He ushered everyone up the steps as I remained frozen on the spot. “Come now, we don’t have much time to waste, my dear. What you saw in your thoughts—we need to know more.”
