by Tara Shuler
“Don’t get any ideas,” he said quickly. “Alexi knows exactly where every single item is, and if it’s touched, he will know.”
“I wasn’t going to touch anything,” I groaned.
“Really?” he challenged me.
“Ok, fine, I was going to touch stuff, but I wasn’t going to do anything with any of it,” I admitted.
“Anyway,” Liam sighed, turning to Will. “Ready to work on your ability? All these locks work differently, so you can practice on different types and difficulties.”
Will shrugged and said, “I’ve really only done this a couple of times. I don’t even know if I can do it unless it’s an emergency.”
“Just try,” Liam said. “Concentrate.”
I motioned to a bench against the wall, and Jamie and I quietly slid onto it to watch. Will stood before one of the older padlocks and stared at it, trying to open it. Nothing happened, and he exhaled sharply.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Liam said. “People think holding your breath helps concentration, but it only saps your energy. Breathe in through your nose, and then out through your mouth. Slowly. Try again.”
Will nodded and started breathing slowly and deliberately. I could see his shoulders rising and falling as he concentrated. The lock rattled slightly. Then it rattled again. Finally it popped open and hung swinging in its loop.
“Great job!” I shouted, clapping wildly. Jamie joined in my applause.
Will took a dramatic bow, smiling proudly, but Liam wasn’t so eager.
“All right, enough theatrics,” Liam said. “Let’s try a harder lock.” He pulled Will over to a chest using a newer looking combination lock. “Try this one.”
I could see that Will was struggling with this one. The lock barely jittered as the knob wiggled back and forth. He couldn’t seem to get the knob to turn in a single direction. Will squinted at the lock, pressing his fingers to his temples. He was breathing harder and faster. Nothing.
“Damn!” he cursed, and the lock suddenly shattered and clattered in pieces to the ground.
“Well, that’s one way of doing it,” Liam said.
Jamie and I only stared with our mouths hanging open like idiots. Will, too, stared in awe at the pieces of the lock on the floor.
“How did that happen?” Will wondered aloud.
“Emotion,” Liam answered. “You said you didn’t know if you could do it if it wasn’t an emergency. That’s because emotion amplifies powers. Fear, frustration, anger, hate, love, lust… emotions like these are extremely powerful.”
“I was frustrated, that’s for sure,” Will admitted.
“You see, that’s why training is so important,” Liam told him. “You must learn to control both your emotions and your abilities. Otherwise, you could have disastrous results. I only wish you and Alice had come to the Council earlier. Most vampire children start learning to control any abilities they have at a very young age.”
“Well, we’re here now,” Will said. “We’ll just have to train longer and harder to catch up. Right, Alice?”
Will turned to me, and I could see in his eyes that he instantly regretted saying it. He tried to mutter an apology.
“Forget it,” I said. “Just concentrate on your own ability. I’ll be fine.”
Truth be told, I wasn’t fine. I was still a hopeless wreck, devoid, once again, of any purpose. Why was I here if I couldn’t help the people I loved? I wanted so badly to be training my own abilities. Why hadn’t I just listened to Alexi and stayed away from all the dark magic crap? Ugh. Leave it to me to screw everything up when I was only trying to help.
I needed some time – time to think, time to relax, time to just figure out what it was I needed to do.
As the others concentrated on Will’s ability, I quietly slipped out the door unnoticed and headed down the long corridor to another classroom by myself.
Once inside, I realized this was a room I’d never before entered. It was devoid of furniture, but housed a massive violet crystal suspended from the ceiling via a metallic cord that was wrapped around its top. It hung over a jewel-encrusted stand, and it hummed and began to glow as I approached it.
Something was calling me. I could almost hear its voice whispering inside my head. Words did not come, but I felt a magnetic pull that drew me closer to the crystal, which loomed towering and monolithic above my head. I reached toward it, and the moment my fingertips connected with it I suddenly felt at peace.
I closed my eyes, and the hum of the crystal seemed to resonate deep within me. My insides vibrated with a dull drone and I could feel myself swirling in space. I was in total darkness for a moment, and then I could see a slight white haze before my eyes. The haze grew brighter, and soon began to gain clarity.
I was surrounded by a driving blizzard and strong winds that threatened to sweep me from my feet. I could hear the terrifying whisper that had become so familiar… wraiths. I spun on my heel this way and that, searching for them. But I could see nothing except an occasional flash of blackness in the blinding white.
“Olivia!” I head a voice shout through the roar of the storm.
I squinted, trying to get a glimpse of something – anything that might give me a clue as to where I was. A brief lull in the storm gave me the answer I was looking for… some kind of strange sign between two tall horns. I was trying to make out the word on the sign when a voice pulled me back into reality.
“Alice!”
My hand pulled away from the crystal and I staggered backward, crashing into something. I turned in the direction of the voice, and I was looking into Alexi’s violet eyes.
“How did you get in here? This door is locked with a powerful incantation and has been for decades!” Alexi demanded. “Even I could not get in before you opened the door and left it partly ajar!”
“I just walked in,” I told him with a shrug.
“You are telling me you had no problems whatsoever, as if the door were unlocked?” Alexi asked skeptically.
“It wasn’t locked!” I insisted. “I just walked in!”
Alexi rubbed his chin thoughtfully and peered down at me as if he were sizing me up for some reason. I began to feel uncomfortable and I shifted from foot to foot and refused to look at him.
“Did the crystal speak to you?” he finally asked.
“Speak? N-not exactly,” I answered.
“What do you mean ‘not exactly’? Did it communicate with you in some way?” he asked, taking my shoulders in his hands. “Any way at all?”
“What is this thing?” I asked him. “And why are you grilling me like I’m a criminal?”
“Darling, please do not think that,” Alexi said gently. “This is very important. Did the crystal communicate with you?”
“I had a vision,” I said. “I saw the snow from my dream, and the wraiths, and I heard a voice calling for Olivia. Then I saw this strange sign that looked like two tall antlers or horns or something, and a word that looked like… I don’t know, Alexi, Greek, maybe? Or Russian?”
“What did it say? Can you remember?” he asked me.
I shook my head and said, “I think it started with a B. That’s all I remember.”
“Think, Alice,” Alexi urged me. “Close your eyes and try to picture the sign in your head. What did it say?”
I sighed and closed my eyes, concentrating on the image of the sign. I felt the thrum of the crystal resonating within me, and the sign came into clear focus.
“It says B-E-P-X-O-R-H-C-K,” I read, my eyes still closed. “But the R is backward.”
“It is Russian,” he confirmed. “But I do know what it says.”
“I do.”
Alexi and I immediately faced the source of the voice, and Liam was standing ashen-faced in the door.
“That’s the Pole of Cold in Verkhoyansk, Russia,” he said. “It’s a very old town on the bank of the Yana River.”
“How would you know this?” I asked.
“Because my mother an
d I lived there for about a year when I was a kid,” Liam said. “It can get down to 50 below there. Sometimes even colder.”
“Is it that cold all year?” Alexi asked.
“Nah, not really,” Liam answered. “It can get up in the 60s in the summer.”
“Well, if this is where your dream took place, then I would say we have until wintertime to prepare,” Alexi said. “Did you see anything else?”
I shook my head and said, “That’s it, really. But I still feel the crystal.”
“Feel it?” Alexi asked.
“It’s like a constant vibration that is resonating inside me,” I told him. “It’s stronger when I touch it, but I can feel it all the time. I was touching it when I had the vision.”
“No one has connected with the crystal in a very long time,” Alexi said. “I know the last time was well before I was born, perhaps before our father was born. I have heard tales about it, but I have never seen it until…” he reached his hand toward the crystal and before he even managed to touch it, some sort of electrical zap surged through him and knocked him backward onto his butt with a thud.
“Alexi!” I gasped, kneeling beside him and placing my hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?”
He shook his head rapidly as if to clear his mind of some haze, and he nodded. He patted my hand gently.
“This is why the room was sealed,” Alexi said. “If one is not connected to the crystal, it can be exceedingly dangerous. It has killed weaker people.”
I shivered at the implication. Alexi could have died. I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around him and nuzzle his neck.
“Why did you even try to touch it?” I asked him. “If you knew what it could do.”
“The crystal’s pull is quite powerful,” he answered. “It can lure you in and… Liam, stop!”
I turned to see Liam reaching for the crystal, and my heart nearly stopped. I gasped and stood, and I noticed the world around me was strangely blurred. I dashed over to him, and I could tell that it looked as if he were standing frozen in time. I grabbed his shoulders and tugged him away from the crystal, and for a brief moment everything froze completely. When time started again, we were both tumbling backward to the floor, and he slammed on top of me as I thudded to the floor on my back.
“Ouch!” I cried as his weight pinned me to the floor.
He rolled off me and crawled on hands and knees, confused. “What happened?” he asked.
“You almost touched the crystal, brother,” Alexi admonished him. “You should have known better.”
Liam glared at Alexi and said, “You touched it first, brother.”
“So I did,” Alexi admitted. “But I would have thought you would have learned from my example.”
Liam snickered and then chuckled. He clapped his hand into Alexi’s, and the two helped each other to their feet.
“Let’s get out of here before something like this happens again,” Liam said.
“I agree,” Alexi said. “Alice?”
“I…” I turned toward the crystal, its thrum still echoing within me. Somehow I felt that I could not leave it.
“Alice?” Alexi repeated.
I took a step toward the crystal, feeling its resonance strengthening as I drew closer. I reached my hand toward it, but suddenly I was moving away from it.
“Alice!” Alexi shouted as he pulled me forcefully into the hallway. “Enough!”
“Why? What’s wrong?” I demanded. “I’m connected with it. It won’t hurt me.”
“Alice, with something this powerful you must take it slowly,” he said, brushing my hair from my face. “You can come back soon, but you must rest.”
My shoulders slumped, but I nodded. Perhaps he was right. He closed the door behind us and tried to open it, noting that it was once again locked with its powerful incantation that only I seemed able to overcome.
I glanced longingly back toward the door as he dragged me down the hallway, and I nearly bumped into my brother who was just exiting the room of many locks.
“How’d your training go?” I asked him as soon as I noticed him.
“Not bad,” he said. “I managed a few tough locks.”
“That’s great news,” I told him. “I’m very proud of you.”
“Are you alright?” he asked me.
“Yes… why?” I asked.
“Your eyes are all glazed over,” Will said. “And bloodshot.”
“I had a run-in with a crystal,” I said.
“Huh?” he muttered.
“Long story,” I said.
“She is exhausted,” Alexi explained, his hand sliding protectively to the small of my back. “She must rest.”
Will nodded and said, “See you later.”
“See ya.”
Alexi ushered me toward the bedroom and as I tried to climb the stairs, I realized he was right. I was exhausted.
“Would you like a bath, darling?” he asked me as we entered our room.
“No, I just need to lie down,” I answered.
I crawled weakly onto the bed and flopped across it like a suffocating fish nearing its last breath. Fully clothed and lying atop the covers, I fell asleep almost immediately.
Chapter Five
I had no idea how long I had been sleeping, but at some point I began to stir and I realized to my delight that Alexi was beside me. I reached for him and he took me into his arms. I snuggled against his chest and listened to the thump of his heart and relaxed against the rise and fall of his chest.
The room was dark, and no light was streaming through the curtains, so I knew it must be quite late. I yawned and snuggled closer to Alexi, enjoying the first truly relaxing moment we’d had together in quite some time. I wanted to go back to sleep and enjoy my time with him, but something was compelling me to stay awake. Something was luring me away from my nice, warm bed and my sleeping husband. Something wanted me to come to it. Thrum. It was the crystal.
The hum of the crystal still echoed within me, and it mounted now. It became a dull ache – an emptiness that craved filling. I slipped quietly out of bed and padded across the floor, turning the doorknob carefully and leaving the sleeping Alexi behind.
The halls of the compound were eerily silent as I headed down to the crystal room. The hum within me deepened as I approached the door. The knob turned easily as the incantation melted away, and I slipped inside the room and approached the crystal.
Something about the crystal had captured me, but I didn’t feel that was a bad thing. When I’d practiced dark magic, I could feel the darkness inside me and it was an uncomfortable feeling. I could sense the evil. This was different. This was a feeling of warmth and security.
My palm flattened against the cool surface of the crystal, and my eyes closed instinctively. It was as if I were in the room with my eyes open, although I was not. From within the darkness, I heard the unmistakable hiss of a wraith nearby, and my heart began to pound erratically. A lump formed in my throat. The compound residents were all asleep, and I had no one I could call for help.
Do not be afraid.
It was not a voice or even a whisper. It was a feeling. I could see the words forming within my mind, and yet there was no voice attached.
From within the shadows, a dark formless mass emerged. It approached me and stopped at a safe distance as if to ensure I was not alarmed.
You are Alice.
“Yes,” I answered. “Who are you?”
I have long since forgotten my corporeal form, and my name is irrelevant even if I could remember it. I am naught but a slave to my master’s bidding.
“What do you want?” I asked.
We wish you to know that we mean you no harm. We are under the control of our master, and we wish you to free us. His hold on us is too powerful for us to break on our own.
“Free you? How can I do that?”
When our master is weakened, only then can we be free. We can return to the abyss from whence we came and we will be free of his co
ntrol.
“How did you get here?”
I know not. I only know that I was summoned here.
“Did I summon you?”
I know not. I only know that I was summoned here.
“How can I weaken Dmitri enough to free you?”
I know not. You must discover the key. Once our master is weakened, his hold over us will be broken and we will be free. I must go. My master beckons.
“Will I see you again?”
Perhaps. Find the key. Release the hold and free us. Goodbye, Alice.
My hand pulled naturally away from the crystal with a sound that reminded me vaguely of the breaking of suction, and I stumbled backward into arms.
“Alexi!” I gasped.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked, helping me regain my balance.
“The crystal called me,” I answered.
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s hard to explain. I just felt it. I think it called me here to meet the wraith,” I told him.
“A wraith was here? How did a wraith even get in here?” Alexi demanded.
“I’m not sure if it was really here or if I just connected with it telepathically. But I think I may have summoned it,” I said.
“You did what?” he nearly shouted. “Alice, what were you thinking?”
“Alexi, don’t shout at me!” I suddenly snapped at him. “I’m tired of you treating me like I’m a child! I’m not your daughter, I’m your wife, and you will treat me as such from now on!”
Alexi’s face was taut with distress as he stared at me with his mouth agape for several moments. Then his expression softened and his body relaxed slightly. He nodded.
“You’re right, darling,” he said softly. “I have been treating you like a child. It has only been my desire to protect you, but perhaps you are stronger than I give you credit for. I must apologize.”
“Now, would you like to hear about the wraith?” I asked him.
“Yes, darling, tell us,” Alexi said.
“I spoke with it… well… in a manner of speaking,” I said. “It was more of a telepathic communication that took place through the power of the crystal. I believe it was one of the wraith’s Dmitri summoned, but the wraith only referred to him as its “master”. It said it meant us no harm, and that they are not there of their own volition. They would like to be free of him, but the hold he has on them is too powerful.”
