“What’s wrong?” Hunter asked as Alena entered the room.
“I miss Elizabeth. She always drew my curtains and made me eggs.” Alena approached Hunter.
“I’m sorry.” Hunter wrapped both arms around her.
Orm set two plates on the table. “I hope I’m a good enough substitute. I shouldn’t be able to ruin raw eggs.”
“I hope I get the non-raw option.” Taking a seat, Hunter peered at the plates.
“Yes, you, I, and Chalondra have normal food.” Orm sat down across from them.
“You guys just don’t know what you’re missing.” Alena dunked a slice of bread in a cup of scrambled raw egg.
“Miss Thornton, are you with us?” the teacher asked, forcing me to focus on the real world.
“Yes, sorry.” I blinked to see the instructor at the front of the room.
“And?”
With no clue what the question might be, I studied the teacher’s notes on the front board. Rattling off a guess for the answer, I heard grumbling from around the room.
“Freak.” The guy beside me coughed as he said it.
Transcend, I told myself, trying to focus on the lesson. But the apparition of Alena and Hunter still played in my head, in vivid color and with full audio, as they finished breakfast, had a yoga session, and started their schoolwork. The hallucination lasted well into my next class, but as the two sat back to back attending to their own work, it stopped.
Wondering how long I could keep up my act and sanity, I soaked up every minute I had vision free. The next episode occurred during cross-country practice, but I decided it could be an okay place for my attention to be split. Alena and Hunter stopped their lessons, swam laps in the pool, started a splashing war, and then retired to their rooms to change. Not half an hour later they met up for lunch and then separated again for training with Orm and Chalondra.
At home, I recorded the visions on the document I’d started, thinking it a pretty normal, boring day for them. I, on the other hand, got embarrassed in class and captured only two-thirds of my lecture material. It would be me asking Eva for help that evening. I showered and met Mom and Tyler in the kitchen for dinner. We made small chat about our days, and I retired to my room for homework. Eva and I worked through calculus via a video chat session, and as my eyes grew heavy, I readied for bed.
At two I woke to the ringing in my ears and Alena and Hunter’s dinner scene. I noticed they dressed in formal attire for the meal again.
Alena slid her fingers down Hunter’s necktie. “You look so handsome.”
“It was in my closet. I would’ve chosen blue.”
“Of course, you would.”
“I wish I were taking you to the Homecoming dance right now.”
“We’ll have all the time in the world for dances when this is over.” They sat opposite each other. Orm and Chalondra entered the room and sat at the tale.
“Well, day one went well, I believe,” Orm said.
Alena set the napkin in her lap. “We’re running out of time till the full moon. I think Hunter and I should try locating Ivy.”
My heart rate ratcheted up, and I wondered if I would feel a tug or buzz or perhaps be able to speak with them. I reminded myself that the scenario wasn’t real, just a hallucination.
“You’re not ready.” Chalondra contended. “But I can sense Ivy getting stronger. She will be ready soon if her powers continue to grow. Perhaps by the full moon.”
My breath caught in my lungs. Did Ivy, or rather me, have powers? The notion was nonsense. Had I started believing in witches and vampires because of some dream? As insane as it seemed, and for as much I feared the outcome of their trial, I had to let it play out. I had to know.
I kept quiet about the hallucinations and honed my skills at looking alert during the daytime ones. They became predicable as I saw Alena and Hunter have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and time in the evening together. What happened in the sessions with Orm and Chalondra became more and more intriguing. They were building their strength to contact Ivy, but I had no clue what that training consisted of.
To keep up appearances and prove to Mom nothing was amiss, I talked her into letting me spend the weekend with Eva.
“I’m so happy you came,” she said as we entered the cabin. “Let’s stow our stuff and get on the trail. It’d be great to make the lake by lunch. The water feels amazing. I can’t believe you haven’t been yet.”
“We haven’t strayed far from Reykjavik. Mom is usually on call.”
“Be home well before dark, girls,” Eva’s mom called from the kitchen as we walked out the front door.
Connecting with nature made me painfully aware of just how lost I was getting in my pretend world. By the time we made it to the hot springs, I’d convinced myself to tell the therapist and go back on the meds. There were tons of kids from school at the swimming spot, and I focused on being present and social. Being a true introvert, it felt awkward and taxing. As I studied everyone’s faces, I recommitted to my plan to try to be part of this world. I couldn’t let some voices and visions drive me to reclusive insanity. How would I function? Graduate from high school, college, become a vet?
It felt like my addiction knew I was about to let it go. After a week of boring meals between Alena and Hunter, the after-dinner conversation took an interesting turn when the ringing in my ears woke me at three in the morning.
“We only have seven more days till the full moon. I think we should start trying to contact Ivy,” Alena insisted.
“The moon is most powerful for three days before and three days after it is full. We will work then,” Chalondra told them. “The next task is to write down everything you can remember about Ivy.”
Alena and Hunter started making notes. Alena remembered every day in detail, and her fingers sped over the keys, recording all the data. Still, in the end, they didn’t have more than a green-eyed, blond girl.
“Her mother and father. They fought, remember?”
“Maybe.” Hunter squinted his eyes.
“They argued over how to deal with her imaginary friends. The mother won. That’s when the connection was severed.”
Alena zipped down the hall to Chalondra. “Ivy left when her mother put her on medication.”
“So, we search medical records for every three-year-old that got a new prescription?” Hunter asked.
“For schizophrenia. Would a mood-altering drug turn off magic?”
“Maybe,” Chalondra said. “It would be good to have as much information before the full moon. Theron will likely join his coven then. He will be much more powerful after that.”
“Is that when they’ll use the sword?” Hunter asked Chalondra.
“They won’t take any chances. They’ll wait for the solstice.”
“We can have Mom’s minions plug into medical records. There can’t be that many three-year-olds treated for schizophrenia in 2002. Who puts a three-year-old on anti-psychotic drugs anyway?”
“Mom said she talked to a doctor when I became so attached to you and Ivy,” Hunter told them.
“Maybe they knew she was special, that her magic played a part, and wanted to make sure no one found her.” Alena jumped up and sped down the hall. Retrieving a phone, she briefed her mother on the new information.
“You guys should get some sleep. We have a busy week coming up.” Orm got up from the chair he’d been resting in.
“We get tomorrow off, right?” Alena asked.
“With seven days till the full moon? No, dear, you do not.” Chalondra corralled them to the door.
Alena and Hunter walked hand in hand down the hall. They stopped in front of two doors. Hunter’s eyes scanned the space, and he stepped towards her.
“At least I get to be with you every day.” He planted a kiss on her lips.
“I’m glad too. I just hope we can find Ivy before Theron does.”
“We’re assuming they want Ivy.”
“They want Ivy so we can’t complete the t
rinity.”
“And Thanatos wants you to create some master race with Theron.”
“Well, it won’t happen.” Alena clasped Hunter’s hands.
“Taking Ivy serves two purposes. They get her, and she becomes bait for us.”
“Maybe. But we’re not going to let him get her or either of us.”
“I could live with him getting me, just not you.” Hunter kissed Alena again.
“I can handle myself.” She whipped around him, grabbing his arm and pinning him to the wall.
He smiled. “I know you can. You don’t need to prove anything to me.”
Alena stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his.
“Alena.” Orm’s voice rang through the hall.
She spun to face her mentor. “Sorry.” Her face blushed. “I was showing him some moves.”
“I see that. Now off to sleep.”
Hunter and Alena waved at each other and entered their separate rooms.
Heart racing, I went to the bathroom to get some water. Could I be in jeopardy? Or was I just in danger of becoming psychotic. Theron was coming for me? It seemed Hunter and Alena thought they could protect me. Why would I ever want them to find me anyway? It was obvious Hunter and Alena were a couple. Where would Ivy fit into that picture? I snuggled into my sleeping bag, telling myself I was making up for my lackluster life.
The next day I recommitted to ignoring the plot in my head, but by the evening I sat tapping away on my keyboard, recording the new data from the previous night. During the following three nights, Alena and Hunter’s evening planning sessions stretched longer and longer as they discussed strategies for reaching Ivy. So far, the medical search hadn’t turned up any records, but they weren’t giving up hope and had widened the search to include a larger area of California.
Even though I’d vowed to tell my psychiatrist, something kept me from divulging the information. My lack of sleep had me needing toothpicks to pry my eyes open, and I got more than a couple of scoldings from teachers.
“What’s up with you? You’re just not yourself.” Eva noted at lunch Wednesday.
“I’m having these dreams. I don’t know, an over-active limbic system I guess.”
“Anything hot? Like that guy you were talking to this weekend?”
“No, nothing like that. Witches, vampires, that type of stuff.”
She grabbed my arm. “You should write them down. You know that’s how Stephanie Meyer created Twilight.”
“Check that off the list.”
“Cool.”
Rounding out my day, I ran with my cross-country team and made my way home. I retired to my room after dinner to start homework. Not half an hour in, the ringing in my ears nearly deafened me then went quiet.
“We’re going to hold short sessions so none of us tire out.” The scene in my head started with Chalondra taking Hunter’s and Alena’s hands. “Focus on Ivy’s image and thoughts of your time together.”
As they closed their eyes, a gentle hum started in my head. Holding my hands to my temples, I lay down on my bed. I was making this up. It couldn’t be happening again. It was too coincidental that the hum started as they thought of me though. Physiological symptoms of hallucinations were documented, and sufferers often experienced effects of their delusions. It was how the limbic system convinced the frontal cortex they were real.
The sound grew. Cradling my head in my hands, I barely heard Chalondra’s next words.
“She’s getting stronger. Can you see anything?”
“She’s in a room lying on a bed,” Hunter said.
“She’s holding her head. Why is she in pain?” Alena asked, her voice just a whisper above the drone between my ears.
“She doesn’t know how to let the magic flow through her,” Chalondra replied.
“We should stop.” Alena tugged at her arm.
“I’m almost there.”
I screamed in agony as a wave of sound pulsed through my head. I ran to the bathroom and heaved into the toilet.
“Camille, what’s wrong?” Mother appeared behind me.
“My head. It won’t stop.”
“What do you mean? Is the buzzing back?”
“Yes, please make it stop.” Tears flowed from my eyes as I collapsed in her arms.
“Tyler, run and get my vet bag,” Mom yelled.
Chalondra’s image danced in front of my eyes. “We’re losing her. Don’t go, Ivy. Hang on just a few more minutes. We need to know where you are.”
I could feel the block in my head. All I had to do was release it. The moment had come for me to choose. Did I believe in the voices in my head? You’ll never know unless you let them in, I told myself. I felt a prick in my thigh and opened my eyes to see Mom holding a syringe.
“No!” I yelled at her as the room dimmed.
“No!” Chalondra, Alena, and Hunter echoed my cry.
I woke to a dark hospital room. Trying to sit up, I realized my wrists were tied to the side rails. Panic surged through me as my eyes adjusted to the black. Seeing Mom and Tyler in chairs, I called out to them.
“What time is it? Hey, what time is it? I’ve got to get up. I need to pee.”
Mom roused from her sleep.
“Why am I tied to my bed?”
“We couldn’t risk you hurting yourself or running off.”
“I don’t want to hurt myself.”
“Honey.” Mom sat beside me. “I talked to your teachers and counselor. They said you’d been nodding off in class for two weeks. I found the document on your computer. How long has the buzzing been going on? Why wouldn’t you tell me the hallucinations were back?”
“I have to pee.” I pulled against the restraints.
“Let me wake Tyler. Then you can use the restroom.”
“Fine.” I rested my back against the pillow.
She woke Tyler, and weary-eyed, he approached the bed. “No shenanigans, pipsqueak.”
“I’ve got to pee. I’m not suicidal, and I’m not running anywhere after that horse tranquilizer Mom gave me.”
“Don’t be dramatic. I only gave you enough for a large dog.”
“How long have I been out?” I turned my neck to view the clock. “Six hours! I think you overdid it.”
“The hospital started you on some anti-schizophrenia meds too.”
“What?” I twisted my arm out of the bindings as they loosened them. “Don’t I get a say in this? Shouldn’t the psychiatrist at least assess me first?”
“They had all the proof they needed.”
“Fine.” I spun my legs to the floor and padded to the bathroom. At least I still had my clothes on. “Do you have an elastic for my hair?” I asked Mom when I’d finished in the bathroom.
“See, she’s fine. She still cares about her hair.” Tyler motioned to me.
“On the meds.” Mom dug in her purse.
“I cared about my hair yesterday before you gave me meds.”
“You’re under eighteen.”
“I want to talk to Dad.”
“Young lady.” She put her hand to her hip. “I read the whole document. Your dad doesn’t have any rights where you’re concerned. He won’t be able to weigh in on this.”
“Well could I at least hear his opinion? Can you call him for me? I want to see him.” In my mind the words were flung in violent yells at her, but they came out as weak requests. The familiar haze of the medication lurked in my brain once again.
“We’ll call in the morning. We all need our rest. Get back in bed.”
“You’re not locking me to the bed again, are you? It’s not like I can get out of the building anyway.”
“Okay, I guess not.” Mom tucked the covers around me.
When I woke at nine the next morning, Mom and Tyler were gone. A breakfast tray sat on the table beside my bed. I lifted the lid to see a stack of pancakes. I pulled it to me. When I finished breakfast, I found my bag on the chair and changed to some clean clothes in the bathroom. Re-entering my room,
I realized there was absolutely nothing to do: no television, no books, nothing. Searching my bag, I pulled out Mom’s copy of Little Women. Of course, she’d include Little Women instead of my favorite vampire series. God, I hated invaders of privacy.
“Camille, you’re awake!” My psychiatrist’s voice came from the door.
“Don’t look so surprised. There’s a camera mounted in the corner.” I tossed the book on the bed and sat down.
“You’re very observant.” He pulled a chair towards the bed and sat down.
“Unlike last night.”
“I have your meds for you. It’s a twice-a-day regimen.”
“I know the drill, but I’m not convinced this is the right thing.”
“Your own words don’t lie. From the document on the computer, it’s obvious.”
“So, I’m schizophrenic, damned to live in two worlds unless I take medication.”
“Two worlds or more. Schizophrenics usually accumulate multiple hallucination scenarios as they grow older.”
“Wonderful.” I rolled my eyes and held out my palm. “I’ll take the meds for now. But I’m doing research on this. I want an alternative. I only feel like half of myself when I’m on them, like walking through soup instead of clear air.”
“What about the buzzing you felt in your head? Any more of that?”
“No, Mom took care of that, and the meds are doing the rest.” I lifted the small meds cup as if to toast him and turned it up, dropping the pill in my mouth. I wanted to talk to Chalondra, but I couldn’t endure the pain in my head again. I’d decided to wait for Dad and more research before I full out rebelled.
“So, tell me about your friends and Ivy.”
“I’m not really sure.” I shrugged. “I had these imaginary friends when I was three. I don’t remember, remember. I just know about them from my psychological history and the hallucinations.”
“That’s fine, go on.”
“Anyway, I guess the two other friends found each again, supposedly in real life.” I proceeded to tell him exactly what the document he’d already read described. How Hunter and Alena reunited and Hunter discovered he was a witch, and how his half-brother stole a spear that Hunter, Alena, and Ivy needed for some unknown prophecy.
Kingdom of Darkness (Kingdom Journals Book 2) Page 3
