Invisible (The Curse of Avalon Book 1)

by Sariah Skye

  A loud crash from behind us thrust us apart.

  “What in the bloody hell was that?” Trystan grumbled, frustrated at the interruption. We looked around; the clearing was still clear, though there was lightning in the distance.

  “Lightning?” I asked, uncertainly.

  “No. That was much closer.” He scanned the property, eyes finally landing on a tree branch from a couple of acres away that appeared to have fallen off an old oak. He lifted his brow. “Och, how did that happen?”

  I shrugged. “Storms coming? Weakened from disease?” Neither seemed plausible, there was no wind, but I was used to strange things happening around me.

  “No, that was a healthy tree.” Trystan shoved his fists in the front pockets of his pants, and began for the woods. I started to follow him, but he stopped me.

  “Go to the barn and wait. I need to make sure there’s nothing out there, or an animal isn’t hurt,” he said.

  “I could help,” I offered.

  He shook his head, but didn’t offer anything more before rushing off.

  “Men…” I headed for the barn, pushing the heavy door open, and letting myself in. It was fairly empty, except for a single wolf—I recognized it to be Nessie—and a handful of barn cats that scattered when I entered.

  “Fine, I’ll just make myself useful.” Nessie offered me what I swore was a sympathetic whimper before spinning, and lying down on a pile of hay.

  “Thank you,” I said to her. Hey, maybe she could understand me. Maybe she, being female too, understood the nature of men. “You get it, I bet, don’tcha?”

  She huffed, resting her head on her paws. I smirked at her reaction.

  “I bet you’d like a snack,” I said, opening the fridge that contained all the various foods for the animals on the property. I found a metal bowl full of various poultry that stunk to high heaven, but I figured to a wolf, it was fine dining. I grabbed one of the drumsticks from the bowl, and walked gingerly for her, holding the meat out as a “peace offering” (no matter how much the texture of it made me want to gag).

  Her ears perked, and she lifted her head, but didn’t move any further.

  “You’re going to make this hard on me, eh?” I stepped a bit closer, and her eyes narrowed. “Okay, I won’t come any closer, I’ll just set this here,” I said, bending slowly, leaving the meat on the ground between us, without letting my gaze leave her face. I lifted my palms and backed away slowly.

  Reluctantly, she rose, and quickly snatched the meat in her powerful jaws. She darted back to her spot, where she made fast work of devouring the snack.

  “See? Friend, not foe,” I said, with a laugh.

  My phone rang then, startling both Nessie and me. The wolf let out a dismayed bark at the thing that interrupted her snack.

  The ringer was my mother’s, and I figured I’d better answer. “Sorry, girl. Better take this,” I said, pulling my cell from my back pocket and swiping the screen to answer the call. “What’s up, Mom?”

  “Avie!” She shouted, her voice panicked. “Have you heard from Summer?”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood upright. “Um…no. She said she would be at her mom’s or friend’s last night.” I swallowed, not wanting to tell her that I hadn’t seen or heard from her recently.

  “Are you sure? There was a story on the news just now—a breaking story—about a fire from last night at that Stargazer club you two have been hanging out at! Apparently, they found the remains of a young Hispanic woman who sounded an awful lot like Summer, but of course they don’t know for sure! I just wondered if you’d seen her recently!” My mother’s voice was in a tizzy as she spoke.

  My heart sank into to stomach. “What exactly did they say?”

  Her voice was slightly distant as she spoke next. “Here, I’m sending you the news story.” A chiming sound indicated that I had a text message.

  “Checking…” I said, opening up the text, and clicking on the link my mother had sent. The same blonde news anchor from the news I’d seen the other day that announced the missing women came on my screen. “This is Haley Anderson, reporting live from the Stargazer nightclub in downtown Minneapolis, where an apparent fire has claimed the life of at least one club goer last night,” she said, and the shot panned over to a view of the outside of the nightclub, fires blazing out of the windows, people running out in a frightened panic. The footage fast forwarded to a current shot; charred brick walls, yellow caution tape surrounded the scene, as well as a handful of emergency trucks and meandering official personnel. The shot switched back to the reporter, who was now pictured with an exhausted fire marshal, who was carrying a pair of unmistakable, red patent pumps, with laces and decorative crystals.

  I nearly dropped the phone. “Summer!” I screamed in horror.

  “It is said that these special shoes belonged to the lady that unfortunately perished, but there was no identification found on the body,” the fire marshal—I knew it was him by the tag across the screen—said, with an expression of regret on his worn face.

  “If you or someone you know recognizes these shoes, please call the Minneapolis police department, or 9-1-1 to help identify the victim. As of now, the fire is suspected to be arson, but no accelerant has been found. Again, if you have any information to the whereabouts of the victim, or if you saw anything suspicious, please call 9-1-1. I’m Haley Anderson, reporting live on the scene in Minneapolis for KARE-11 news.”

  The screen went blank, the bile and feeling of doom churned in my stomach. “Mom…those are Summer’s shoes. I know they are!” I shrieked.

  “Shit. I was afraid of that. Avie, you need to call the police right away. Gods, I’m so sorry, Avie…” she said, “I was hoping I was wrong.”

  I sniffled, as the tears began stinging against my eyes. “Not Summer…no…” My mother continued speaking, but I didn’t hear a single word she said. I ended the call, and let the phone drop to the hard floor.

  The barn door opened, and Trystan emerged, looking baffled.

  Nessie immediately sat up, and lightly bared her teeth, growling lowly.

  “Oi, you crazy thing, it’s just me,” Trystan said, before seeing me, a heap on the ground, tears falling openly from my eyes.

  “That was…my mom…” I blubbered. “News story, about…” as I spoke, the words turned into gasps and strangled sobs. I pointed at the phone, and Trystan hesitantly picked it up, and found the news story. I cried openly as I heard it replayed.

  He muttered something I didn’t quite understand. He held out his hand to me, his face troubled. “Avie, I…” I bypassed his hand and flung myself directly into his chest.

  “She’s gone, I know she’s gone, I just know it!” I shrieked helplessly, pounding my fists onto his hard chest.

  He hugged close, stroking the hair down my back and saying “Shh” softly, over, and over. Slowly, I breathed in his peaceful, earthy sage scent. It filled my nostrils and I inhaled deeply, gaining my composure. I finally looked up at him as he quirked a grin. Something about that smile soothed my soul, and I began to smile myself.

  “Let’s go to the club, and find out for ourselves what happened. You know there was no fire,” he said, with a scoff.

  I nodded slowly. “Yes, that’s a good idea.” He took my hand in his, and led me out of the barn.

  Nessie barked after us, and Trystan grumbled. “Damn dog…”

  “What?” I asked, surprised at his words.

  “Oi, just…stress. We need to get to the club,” he said, and we ran hand in hand through the property, past the house and to the attached garage. The door was already open.

  I stopped in my tracks. “Shouldn’t we get everyone else?” I asked hesitantly. “We could probably use their help; I bet Bash has something useful?”

  Trystan shook his head. “No time. We need to hurry.”

  I only debated for a split second, before I followed him to a yellow Chevy Camaro, the keys already in the ignition.

  We both got in
, and just as quickly as Trystan turned the engine over and it rolled to life, we peeled out of the driveway and down the secluded road off the property. The gates were already opened, so there was nothing to stop us as the powerful car tore down the highway.

  Trystan was silent through the entire drive; his knuckles bone-white as he clutched the steering wheel. I peeked at the speedometer; we were doing at least 100mph, but no one stopped us. There was barely a car on the highway to slow us down.

  “Trystan?” I asked, noticing something about him that was…off.

  He stretched out his neck, by rolling his head back and forth onto each shoulder, and back to the other. “What?”

  I blinked. “What? Normally you say, ‘aye’.”

  He scoffed. The right side of his face twitched, and the scent of sage was overwhelming in my nose. I nearly gagged at the sickening smell.

  Something wasn’t right.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I asked, sliding over in the chair as much as I could towards the window.”

  He glanced over at me briefly, turning the wheel violently to the right, over the beginning of an exit ramp, and onto a shoulder.

  I screamed as I thumped against the window. “Trystan! What the fuck?”

  The car screeched to a halt, and Trystan shifted to look directly at me.

  But…it wasn’t him. His eyes were black, and his face was somewhat blurred. “Enough of this.”

  “You’re not Trystan! What the fuck?!” I grabbed for the handle, but no matter how I jiggled it, it was locked. Goddamn electronic cars.

  “Seriously, Ava, you’re about the dumbest bitch ever.” His voice was warped, twisted with his own Scottish accent, and a vaguely familiar female voice.

  “Let me out, whatever the fuck you are!”

  “We’re just going to do this the easy way, mmkay?” Not-Trystan fumbled in his front pocket, pulling out a black cloth. He leaned towards me, cloth in hand.

  “Fuck no!” I screamed, slamming my entire body weight against the door. It didn’t budge of course, but I wasn’t going without a fight.

  Not-Trystan rolled his eyes—his black eyes. “My Gods you’ve always been rebellious, but enough. For once in your life, do something the easy way. Stop fighting!” He leaned over the center console, and pressed his hand, with the black cloth towards me.

  “Stop fighting? Never, you rotten ass piece of shit!” I shouted. While I didn’t have enough room for a proper punch, I could swat. And slap I did; kicking and flailing. “You don’t know me very well if you think I’m going to go anywhere without a fight!”

  Not-Trystan cackled. “Oh, Avie—I know you better than you realize.” The cloth was placed over my face; I struggled, and flailed, but felt my body grow week to the strange sweet smell, mixed with sage.

  “Good. Just let it take you. It won’t hurt.” The voice was familiar in my mind as I slumped against the seat, and blacked out.

  CHAPTER 28

  Trystan

  I came to in the middle of the forest, head throbbing like I’d just been on a drunken bender.

  “Och, bloody hell,” I said, awkwardly sitting up and reached around to rub the back of my head. I tried to look at the area immediately around me, but my sight was spinning. I blinked several times, until it came into focus.

  The spot where I’d thought I’d seen a tree branch fall, there was nothing. Nothing but more trees, shrubs, and even more trees. No bears around, and I could sense nothing else nearby that would indicate anything that made any sort of noise.

  “Trystan? Ava?” I heard a voice in the distance.

  I groaned, slowly peeling my upper body off the cold ground. “Fuck,” I muttered, as the world spun around me. I don’t know what possessed me to walk away from her, into the forest…but something did.

  “Trystan? Ava?” The voice was closer this time, I recognized it to be Bash’s.

  “Aye, out here!” I struggled to choke out, but I did.

  “Trystan?” He called back. I was relieved when a handful of moments later, he and Xander both came into view.

  “Och, never been so glad to see yer ugly mugs in me life,” I said, as they grabbed an arm each, and helped me to my feet weakly.

  “Man, you all right?” Xander waved his palm in front of my face. It made me wince, but I swatted it away.

  “Fuck, enough. I’m fine. Stick yer hand in my face again and I’ll tear it off, and shove it up yer arse.”

  Bash grinned. “He’s fine.”

  “Have you seen Ava?” Xander asked quickly, looking panicked.

  “Aye, she’s in the barn. I hope?” I said. I blinked a few more times, and rolled my shoulders, shaking off the last big of grogginess.

  “No, she’s not in there. We hoped you had some idea of where she was?” Bash said.

  “Yeah, we thought you two went somewhere, we heard your car take off,” Xander said. “Or, we thought we did?” He appeared confused.

  “Wait, she’s gone? Shite!” I tore off for the barn, Bash and Xander following behind, as the sky decided to take that particular moment to open up and begin pouring down on us in sheets. “Obviously it wasn’t me in my car!”

  I flung the door open to the barn; no Ava. But Nessie was pacing around the center, near the fridge, whimpering.

  “What is it, girl?” I whispered calmly to her, though inside I felt anything but.

  She nudged me with her nose. The image appeared in my mind of Ava receiving a phone call. Nessie didn’t understand words so much, but she could—like other animals—convey feelings, and images. I was lucky enough to receive them. A sense of fear and despair came through, as Nessie whined, pawing at the ground. Something was certainly wrong.

  I knelt down, noticing Ava’s cell phone on the floor. I picked it up carefully, and swiped open the screen. “Looks like she was watching some sort of news channel.” I played the link, and the news report played.

  “Shit, the fire from the Stargazer made the news?” Xander said.

  The news report went on about a female victim, asking the viewers to identify a pair of very familiar shoes.

  “Holy shit, those are Summer’s shoes!” Xander exclaimed.

  “Aye. Shite, Ava probably went off to find Summer!” I shoved Ava’s phone in my jeans pocket, and was determined to go after her.

  “Wait! Let me see that again,” Bash said, holding out his hand, and I gave him the phone.

  “Och, it’s still the same each time,” I insisted, trying to swipe it away from him as he played the video, rewinding, and letting more play.

  Bash shook his head. “There’s something wrong with this video. It’s…spliced together, or something. It’s not right!”

  “How can you tell?” Xander asked.

  “Later! If she took off and she’s upset…” I trailed off, raising my brow, dreading to finish that statement.

  “Right.” Bash kept the phone, and we dashed through the large yard to the house, where we met Mathias in the doorway.

  He was taken aback as we nearly barreled into him.

  “What are you doing here? I thought you and Ava just took off in your car?” He asked, confused.

  Wide eyed, Bash, Xander, and I all looked at each other.

  “That was not me!” I insisted.

  “Then, who was it?” Mathias asked.

  “What the fuck is going on here?”

  Mathias wasted no time. He yanked his keys out of his pockets, jingling them in the air momentarily. “Let’s go!”

  I let Nessie into the house; Sierra stood in the living room, ears, and eyes drooped, looking horrified. The anxiety over Ava going missing was pouring off her in waves.

  “We’ll get her, girl. I promise ye.” I ruffled the gray wolf on the head and spoke gently to her, “Take care of Sierra, will ye?”

  Nessie barked, in affirmation. I shut the door behind me, placing my hand on the panel in the frame to lock it, and tore after Mathias, Bash, and Xander who were already piled in Mathias’ Subur
ban. I noticed quickly my Camaro was missing, and I felt a new sense of panic.

  “Can this bastard do 100?” I asked Mathias. It was rhetorical.

  His grin was menacing, as he revved the engine. “Oh yeah…”

  We peeled out of the driveway after Ava, my heart beating rapidly in my ribcage at the thought of her in danger. Exchanging a glance with my three “brothers,” I knew they were just as fearful about what might happen to her. It was amazing in this very short time, what an effect she had on us.

  “We’ll get her back,” Bash said quietly, leaning over the passenger’s side seat where I sat, to clasp my shoulder in solidarity.

  “Damn right we will,” I said, and Mathias grunted in affirmation.

  We would get her back: our girl. Come Hell or high water.

  CHAPTER 29

  My eyes were heavy as I struggled to awaken.

  “Fuck,” I said, as I attempted to raise my hands to rub the sleep out of my eyes, that’s when I noticed they were pinned together. “Fuck!” I cried out again, forcing my eyes open this time. I glanced down, sure enough my wrists were bound together with two thick strips of rope. I struggled to loosen them, squirming my arms against each other, yanking them apart. My restraints didn’t seem that strong; but the more I struggled, the more they tightened. Like living vines with a mind of their own.

  I griped loudly, admitting defeat in freeing myself for now. I took a moment to take in my surroundings.

  Usually after kidnapping—that’s what’d happened, right? My brain was still a bit foggy. But usually after kidnapping, if you pay attention to movies, the kidnapped are usually stuck in cold, dungeon like rooms; dank, vermin-ridden, hard stone, moisture dripping everywhere. Not so this time.

  It was a small, dark room; lit only with two floating candles on two of the four walls. And, the flames weren’t orange, or yellow. But red. Bright red, like a colored light bulb. They cast an eerie, ominous glow over the room, but it was enough to see where I was. A full-size bed was set up along one wall, with thick blankets and satin pillows. I struggled to stand, and fumbled my way over without grabbing onto anything for balance. At least my feet aren’t bound, I thought grimly. Thank God for small favors.