Ageless

by Cege Smith

  Margo groaned, whether in annoyance or frustration Violet couldn’t tell.

  Jonah didn’t move. He took a shuddering breath, and even though Violet could tell that he didn’t want to, he reached up and broke her clasp and pushed her away. “I need the Violet who was going to go to Brown in the fall to take control right now. The one who sat next to her parents’ tombstone every day for a month after their car accident. The Violet who cried herself to sleep for a year.” He reached up and brushed the locket around her neck. “Remember who you are, Violet.”

  Her consciousness slammed into place. All the fuzziness and irrational thoughts flew right from her mind. She slapped her forehead as if to drive any remnants out. “That was frickin’ crazy. It was like someone else was totally in my head.”

  Jonah nodded. “You have to be on your guard. If you lose focus, any one of the many spirits here could step inside your mind.”

  “How do I do that?” she asked.

  “I can’t tell you that because I don't know. I just know what Rose told me,” Jonah replied. “Just focus and stay with us.”

  Violet shook her head. She ran over the conversation from the last few minutes in alarm. “Okay, how is it possible that Jeremiah was captured? I thought you guys were all bad-ass being ancient vampires and all.”

  “Even vampires are susceptible to magic,” Jonah said. “I haven’t seen anything like that this since Bruckhart Ward’s days. You can set a perimeter of magic so that when your intended target steps inside, they are instantly trapped. That’s what happened. I was able to walk right out; I didn’t even know it was there. But Jeremiah was stuck. As soon as he figured it out he sent me back to warn you.”

  Jonah grabbed her hand and pulled her the rest of the way on the path, and she was amazed to find that just past a row of tall shrubbery, it opened up to a well-trodden driveway. She looked all around her. It was like they were in the middle of a tunnel, but the roof was made out of a tree canopy and sides made out of the shrubs.

  “Pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Margo said, stepping off the path and onto the driveway beside her.

  “It’s lovely,” Violet said. She saw glowing lanterns at evenly spaced intervals all the way down the drive. “Okay, I probably suck at this whole strategy thing, but aren’t we going to be a bit obvious walking right up to the front door?”

  That’s when they heard it; a man was howling in pain. In the enclosed tunnel, it was like the sound traveled right to them before sweeping over them. Jonah turned pale. “I suck at strategy too. Jeremiah really is the brains behind all of this kind of stuff, and I’d say our element of surprise is completely blown. Violet, you are the best weapon we have.”

  It was strange and exhilarating to be called a weapon. If only she could fulfill that expectation. As she tried to clear her mind, she could tell that the hum of the ground hadn’t left her even though she had pushed the presence out of her mind. She felt a strange energy calling to her, and her arms began to tingle. She looked down and saw that the glowing gold symbols had appeared on her skin.

  “I can feel it,” she whispered, looking at her hands. “But I’m not sure I can control whatever it is, Jonah.”

  “Try, Violet, please. You have to if you want to help Jeremiah.”

  The screams came again and sent shivers down her spine. What could Elysa possibly be doing to cause a grown man like Jeremiah to scream like that? The thought was terrifying.

  Violet closed her eyes. She thought about her time floating in the place between life and death and how happy she had been there. She opened herself up to the sensations and emotions that she remembered feeling there. Then it felt like she just fell inside. Jeremiah had been right. The fabric between the realities here was so thin that all she had to do was push.

  She felt the presence rather than saw it. She was in a place between worlds and she wasn’t alone. “Hello? I need your help.” Violet wasn’t sure if she was speaking the words out loud or just in her mind, but she thought it probably didn’t matter. Jonah and Margo knew what she was trying to do.

  It was like the presence danced around her, but wouldn’t reveal itself. It frustrated her as she tried to reach out with her mind and tackle it. “Stop hiding from me! I just want to talk. We’re the same, you and me, but you know more than I do. You know things that I need to know to help my friends. Please, will you talk to me?”

  “If you want my help, you must let me in,” a dark voice gurgled, sending her skin crawling.

  “No,” Violet said. The idea of losing control for even a second wasn’t something that she was willing to do. She didn’t understand enough of this place and its rules, and there was nothing that could convince her that was a good idea.

  There was just laughing in reply, and then it faded away. In its place, Violet felt a great rush of sadness. It had a distinctly male feel as it brushed against her, but it wasn’t threatening. It was almost as if it was looking for comfort.

  “Can you help me?” Violet asked, reaching out. She knew that this was the presence she first encountered upon entering the transition space. The darker presence had swept it away, but now that the bad thing was gone, this lighter, warmer presence had returned.

  She felt it wrap gently around her, embracing her. Violet felt safe and comforted. It was exactly the same as when she had been in that reality earlier. A thought popped into her mind and tears sprung to her eyes. “Daddy, is that you?” she asked. It was like a sigh whispered in her ear. Violet was overwhelmed and it took her a moment to remember what she was supposed to do.

  “Daddy, I need help. They say I’m a witch and that I have the power to help my friends, and I don’t know how. What should I do?” She felt her father’s presence unwind from hers, and there was a vast emptiness left. She didn’t want him to go.

  “Daddy?” she called out into the darkness.

  Then a kaleidoscope of color exploded in her mind. She smelled a familiar scent. It was like she was standing in a room full of the most fragrant flowers imaginable, but it wasn’t just any flower. It smelled like a roomful of roses. Then in the glaring light, Violet saw her father and her heart beat wildly against her chest. He was holding the hand of a young woman, and Violet’s throat constricted as she realized she was looking at her own face. It was true. She and Rose could have passed for identical twins.

  Her father stopped halfway to her and then gestured to Rose to continue alone. Violet wanted to call out to her father and tell him to come back. He waved sadly and turned to go.

  “I love you, Daddy!” she cried out. A warm rush of energy was his reply and she wanted to cry in frustration. Her only hope was that after this, she could return to this place and find him again.

  As Rose continued forward, Violet was able to see subtle differences between them. Where Violet had always prided herself on her strong muscles and athletic stance, Rose seemed fragile. She carried herself as if she expected to trip and fall at any moment. Her skin was pale while Violet’s had a healthy glow from sitting out in the quad to study every day that the sun was out. The biggest difference, though, was Rose’s eyes. Hers were dark brown and full of sadness compared to Violet’s own light purple.

  Rose stopped just short of her. Violet could see that the girl was also just a bit shorter. It made her feel slightly better to know that no matter what, they were different. They were related, but Violet couldn’t be this soul reincarnated; not when Rose stood before her. That made her feel better about Jeremiah’s attraction to her as well.

  “Your father asked for my assistance,” Rose said. Her lips didn’t move, but Violet heard her plain as day in her mind.

  “Yes, I need you to help me harness the magical power from the Ward bloodline,” Violet said.

  “That is a great deal of power,” Rose said. “You won't be able to control it.”

  “I want to help and I have to try. Jeremiah’s in trouble,” Violet said. She felt a jolt of jealously as she watched Rose’s face light up for the first time.
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  “Jeremiah still lives?” Rose asked. “What of Jonah?”

  “They both are alive, but Jeremiah won’t be for long if the vindictive bitch who’s got her claws into him has her way,” Violet said. “Beyond that, though, I want to know how to break your father’s curse.”

  Rose shook her head. “I couldn’t tell you, even if I knew. It would be against my father’s wishes.”

  “The same father who put the hex on you that killed you?” Violet challenged.

  Rose’s eyes dropped. “My father only wished to protect me from harm.”

  “Wake up and smell the twenty-first century,” Violet said. “Your father created a whole species that hunts and kills human beings just because he was mad that you fell in love with somebody he didn’t approve of. Your father has issues.”

  Rose looked up, her eyes flashing. “You don’t know anything about me or my father. You definitely don’t know anything about my relationship with Jeremiah.”

  “I really don’t care to know either,” Violet said. “But you have to at least help me help him. I’d think you’d want to if you cared about him so much,” Violet said. She could feel that time was running short, and arguing with a long dead ghost wasn’t helping.

  Rose looked uncertain. Then she reached out and touched a symbol on Violet’s collarbone. The touch chilled Violet to her core. “This symbol. As you conjure in your mind what you want to do, focus your energy on this symbol and push it toward Jeremiah. It’s a symbol of protection.”

  Violet was relieved. This visit wasn’t going to be a total waste of time. “Thank you,” she said.

  Rose nodded. “You don’t really need help. If you are the one, you will know what to do when the time comes.”

  “What does that mean?” Violet asked.

  Rose only shook her head and then she brought her hands up. “Goodbye, Violet. May you find your way. Tell them both that I miss them.” Then she said a few words under her breath and Violet felt herself rammed back out through the bubble between realities and into her body.

  She gasped and felt Jonah and Margo each holding an arm which was spread out wide at her side. Jonah’s eyes were tight. The screams were coming almost continually now, and they ripped at her.

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  It was like the house appeared out of a dream as it rose before her. She felt like she had been there before. She had the feeling that she was coming home. At the end of the tunnel, she found herself on the far side of a circular drive that had a small fountain in the middle. She noticed that no water flowed from it.

  The house itself was a rose-colored plantation home. Magnolia trees framed it on all sides, and it was an idyllic picture in the middle of the isolated landscape. Although still exceeding lovely, the house had a look of neglect that pained her. Four identical columns rose from the long porch that ran the entire length of the front of the house. Tall windows were on both sides of a large red door. Above the door, Violet could see a large transom window that perfectly framed a large chandelier that she could see inside the foyer.

  When Jeremiah’s screams suddenly stopped, Violet felt a sense of urgency pull it out of her admiration for the house. “Where are they?” she asked Jonah, who had stepped to her side.

  Jonah cocked his ear and raised his nose in the air. “I smell blood; a lot of it. But I don’t think it’s coming from the house.” He swung his head side to side, sniffing, and Violet tried to not to notice how creepy the gesture was. Slowly his head turned to his left. “There used to be an old barn on the back side of the house about fifty feet away. If I had to guess, I think they’re there.”

  Violet gulped. “Okay, so here’s the plan. You guys deal with any vampires that Elysa brought along to stop us. I’ll try to unravel any magic that she left behind and then we’ll all go after Elysa.”

  “You sure you can do this, Vi?” Margo asked.

  Violet hated to hear the doubt in Margo’s voice, but she didn’t blame her friend. She wasn’t sure herself how she was going to do what she just said she was going to do either, but she had to believe what both Rose and Jeremiah told her. If she was the one, her instinct would tell her what to do. She just had to keep herself open.

  “I have to,” she said simply. No matter what she thought about the entire situation, she knew one thing for certain. She was unwilling to let any harm come to Jeremiah. She would do whatever was necessary to save him, just like he had promised to do for her.

  Violet closed her eyes and let her mind reach out. She slowly lifted her hands in front of her, feeling a bit silly, but said “Traps” in her mind. She wasn’t sure what would happen, but it was like an X-ray lit up. She could see the outlines of the house and fountain in front of her. She turned her face toward the left, down the path that Jonah said would lead them to the barn. Here she saw patches of red energy lighting up the darkness at intervals along the way.

  “There are more traps on the path,” she said out loud. She focused on the idea of removing them. She felt warm and her skin tingled as she imagined unraveling the threads that held the traps in place. It was easier than she expected. She let out a small cry of delight as she watched the first one vanish. Then she felt the unexpected rush of energy back in to her body. Her eyes fluttered open and she could feel that her ability had somehow increased.

  “I can do this,” she breathed. “Just let me go first, and watch my back.”

  Closing her eyes once again, Violet took tentative steps toward the path, letting the image in her mind guide her. She saw the next trap and started to unravel it. It took only a minute, and then she was onto the next one. With each one, she felt the same small rush of energy as she absorbed the magic that was holding the trap in place, and with each one she felt herself growing stronger. Moments later, she could see the barn outlined completely in red. She put up her hands up to stop Jonah and Margo and opened her eyes. The barn rose before them. It appeared so dilapidated that it looked like it could fall over at any moment. She didn’t need magical abilities to feel the evil that permeated the air from inside it.

  “Jonah,” she whispered. “The whole thing is booby-trapped with magic. I don’t see a way in.”

  Jonah swore under his breath.

  “How could she have done that?” Margo asked. “Elysa doesn’t have any magical abilities.”

  Violet’s brow creased as she thought about Margo’s words. “She had help. If this is truly a mystical place then it’s possible.”

  Margo gasped. Jonah looked mortified. “We lived here for a hundred years. Yes, we always sensed that other place, but we never experienced anything like that,” he said.

  “Jeremiah said the fabric between the worlds is thin here. Maybe you and Jeremiah weren’t what it was interested in.” Violet remembered the dark voice that had tried to get her to open up to it. There was something here that Jeremiah had missed. “Jeremiah was so focused on Elysa that he missed looking for anyone else who would have had an agenda against him. If Elysa had a partner, someone who could harness magic, then it makes perfect sense that we got blindsided.”

  For the first time since setting foot on the Montrose property, Violet felt afraid. Then an angry shriek filled the air and two hulking forms materialized out of thin air from either side of the barn, barreling straight at them. Violet only saw monstrous faces with gleaming fangs in the moonlight. Violet watched in awe as Jonah and Margo sprang into action.

  Margo leapt straight up in the air and landed a solid kick against the one on her side, sending the man flying backward. Jonah jumped right up into the other vampire’s face and landed a punch that sent the man’s jaw spinning almost completely around. Violet was preparing to pull some of her energy to help when she saw the barn door in front of her slide open. Elysa stepped into view.

  Violet was unprepared for seeing the deterioration of Elysa’s face. It was like the woman had aged the full hundred years that she had been undead. The only reason that Violet
still recognized her was the outfit and the glaring blue eyes. At that moment, Violet was certain that Elysa had made a deal with the devil, and paying her end of the bargain had cost her the one thing that she had been so desperate to preserve.

  Elysa cocked her head toward the inside of the barn and then stepped back inside out of view. The intent of the gesture was evident. She was inviting Violet in. As the fighting continued on either side of her, Violet felt herself moving forward. Even though she knew it was a trap, she had no choice.

  She saw more shadows race from the edges of the barn back behind her, and she hoped that Jonah and Margo could handle themselves. It seemed that Elysa had stacked the fight in her favor, which wasn’t unexpected. The grunts and thuds she heard behind her said the fight raged on. She wished them luck. But she was focused on just one thing: finding Jeremiah.

  As she edged closer to the barn, she was overwhelmed by a strong coppery smell that she knew all too well after her experience in Mike’s house, which seemed like years ago, even though it had just been a few days: blood, lots of it. She hoped she wasn’t too late.

  She found herself standing just outside the barn door. Her senses tingled, flagging warnings that she knew she was going to ignore. She could feel the powerful spell that encompassed the massive structure. She didn’t know how she knew but she did; it was old and powerful magic. She felt wholly unprepared for what she was about to face, but there was no one else to do it but her. So Violet stepped inside. Instantly she felt a different energy than her own close the opening behind her. Even though the door was open, she knew that she would not be able to escape. Not unless the spell was broken.

  She heard her name called from somewhere outside. Jonah had taken notice of her absence and was looking for her. But she couldn’t worry about him. She saw only the scene in front of her, and she wondered at that moment if this day was going to mark her birthday and her death.