“Well, would you look at that. A tower, in heaven. How much do you want to bet his heart is in there?” She stepped out from the house, hiding between the buildings, listening to the black angels as they ran past.
“I think she went that way!”
“But where’s Sky?”
“He’s gone. Another angel took him.”
“But the bounty!”
“Forget the bounty, we need to get to the tower! The girl. She can’t find his heart! They’ll kill us!”
“So my sister has turned evil. Hell has come to earth. Demons are running around in the city, and I have absolutely no one here to help me!” Josslyn shouted, slamming her fist onto the steering wheel, then lifting her head up to the skies. “You know, it would be really helpful if someone would give me some sort of signal that they are okay!”
Well, would you look at that. Instead of Jade worrying, I’m worrying! She scowled, blowing out a breath of frustration and turning the key in the ignition.
“Eek! Eek!”
The loud shriek pierced through the air, and she raised her head, watching as Vargus flew overhead. His large wings sprayed out across the red sky, and he suddenly jerked his head around. His red gaze boring right into her. “Oh shit.”
He swung around with lightning quick speed, and dove downward, opening his mouth. Fire spewing from his mouth.
“Crap!” Josslyn shifted gears, stepping on the gas. She peeled out of the street and veered around a car laying stranded in the middle of the road, catching sight of Vargus in the rearview mirror as he chased after her. “Dammit! Get off my freaking tail! I am not going to hell! No! No and no!”
Vargus opened his mouth, a stream of fire escaping his lips, and Josslyn jerked her head around. Her eyes widening when she saw the people standing in the street. “Get out of the road!” she shouted, rolling her window down. “It’s not safe out here!”
“What about you?”
“I can take care of myself,” Josslyn said as she stepped on the gas. She zoomed past the people, staring at her all wide eyed, and cut the corner. She turned into the alley, making another sharp turn and peeled into the driveway. “Thank God I know this city well!” she cried, jumping out of the car and racing inside the house.
She slammed the door shut behind her, pushing tables, chairs, and a bookcase in front of the door. “Please give me a little bit of time to figure all of this out!” she cried, racing up the stairs and into the attic. She raced toward the book, flipping through the pages. “I don’t even know what I’m looking for!” she cried, closing her eyes, and a cold breeze suddenly washed through the room. She shivered, snapping her eyes open as a reign of yellow light flashed before her, and she blinked, momentarily blinded by the sudden brightness. She held her hand up, covering her eyes, and her eyes widened. “Sky?” she asked, staring at the two men in standing front of her. “I thought you were in heaven!” she cried, narrowing her eyes on the dark-haired man. “And you! Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Aaron. A friend.”
“And Mom’s angel!” Josslyn cried. “Whoa…”
“Yes, Josslyn, meet Aaron, my mentor. As if that’s the most important thing right now,” Sky said, rolling his eyes and struggling to his feet. “Josslyn what happened? Julie… is she really…”
“Evil? Yes,” Josslyn said, slamming the book shut. “And it’s all because of you!” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “You know, the next time you cast a spell you may want to warn us about the freaking side effect!”
“I didn’t know about the side effect, Josslyn.”
“You didn’t know abut the side effect?” Josslyn asked, staring at him in disbelief. “Sky, it’s right here! How could you miss it?”
“I was delirious with pain, Josslyn. I wasn’t thinking straight, or even reading straight. All I could think about was me, what I was going through, the pain I was in and because of that I let you all down. I let the world outside down,” Sky said, bowing his head. “But we need to find Julie, Josslyn.”
“I don’t know where she is!” Josslyn cried. “I was going to scry for her, but then you two showed up.” She glared at him. “I’m still mad at you.”
“Totally understandable.”
“Where’s Jasmine?”
“Dealing with her own mess up in the heavens,” Aaron said. “And Josslyn, you don’t need to scry for Julie. You already know where she is.”
“No I don’t! If I did, I’d be out there looking for her!”
“Josslyn, think! Where do all evil beings go?”
“To the…” Josslyn froze. “To the underworld. You think she’s in the underworld?”
“She’s evil now, and she has power. Lots of power, and she wants more of it. Where else would she go?”
“But if she’s in the underworld… does that mean she’s a demon?”
Aaron shook her head. “No. Not yet. But remember, your father was half demon and if she embraces her dark side…”
“We’re all doomed,” Josslyn said, finishing his sentence. “I got it. It would be very, very, bad for all of us. So I guess it’s down to the underworld I go,” she said, flipping through the book. “I just need to find that potion.”
“And you’re not going down there alone,” Sky told her, stumbling forward. “I got you all into this mess, I am going to do my best to get you out of it!”
“Sky, you’re in no shape to go down to the underworld,” Aaron said, grabbing the cauldron and a couple of the bottles from the shelf next to him. “I’ll go. Come on Josslyn, let’s get this potion made and get down to the underworld. The last thing I want is the wrath of your mother if anything happens to one of her daughters.”
“Or my grandmother,” Josslyn said, grinning. “Oh, she would bring holy hell down on you!”
“Breathe, Jade. Just breathe.”
“I am breathing.”
“Clear your mind. Feel the energy floating around you, and focus.”
“I am focusing.”
Cynthia ignored her. “No, you’re not. You’re letting your thoughts, feelings, and emotions guide you. That’s not how this works. Let the memories come to you.”
That’s easy for her to say, she’s not the one who has fifty million things on her mind! Jade thought, sighing, and closing her eyes. She let out a long breath, relaxing her shoulders, relaxing her mind.
“There. That’s it,” Cynthia said, holding a bowl out to her. “Now. Drink this.”
“What is it?”
“Just drink it. Don’t ask questions.”
Don’t ask questions? That was like asking a fish not to swim, Jade thought, sighing again. Jade, would you trust the damned woman? Sky trusts her, why can’t you?
“You’re right. Sorry.” She took the bowl from Cynthia, taking a sip. The liquid rolled down her throat, and she frowned. Do I taste honey? She giggled. Maybe the Gods did have an obsession with honey.
“Whoa…”
She gasped, her mind clearing, and she felt as if she was suddenly floating. She snapped her eyes open, her pupils dilating. “Holy crap…”
“What? What is it? What do you see?”
“Me,” Jade said, blinking as she stared across the familiar living room of the house she’d grown up in. “I’m a kid.”
“Where are you? What do you see?”
“I’m home, playing with Julie and Josslyn,” she said, smiling as she stared at the young redheaded girl and a younger brunette girl. “We’re playing some game, but I hear something.” She cocked her head to the side. “Mom and Dad, they’re fighting.”
“About what?”
“I’m not sure. I can’t quite make out the words.” She gasped, her body lunging forward, and she reached a hand out. Grasping the table next to her. “Whoa…” She gripped the wood in her hand, tracing the cracked wood. “I’m in my memory?”
“It’s called astral projection, and yes.”
“That’s so cool! Can anyone see me?”
“No. You�
��re invisible to them.”
“Whoo! That’s a relief,” Jade said, exiting the room and peering through the doorway. Tears filling her eyes as she caught sight of her parents. Oh my! It’s Mom and Dad! Why don’t I remember this?
“Jillian, are you sure you want to do this?” Jeff was asking, staring across the island at his wife. “This is their destiny we’re talking about.”
“I know that!” Jillian snapped, glaring at her husband. “But we don’t have a choice, Jeff! They’re just kids, and as their parents, we have a duty to protect them, and right now the best way to protect them is to give them a chance at living a normal life.”
“But, they’re not normal!”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Jillian snapped, swinging around to send her husband another glare. “I know they’re not normal, Jeff! Hell, I’m not normal, but I refuse to let them go through what I went through! What would a teacher say, if suddenly Jade shot electricity from her eyes? Or Julie started throwing fire? Or Josslyn suddenly started throwing icicles? How would we explain that, how? It was bad enough, growing up with my visions. The kids thought I was insane! I don’t want that for them, Jeff. I want them to be happy. I want them to have friends, and I don’t’ want them to have to worry about demons!”
“I understand, Jillian. Trust me, I do, and I’ll support you in whatever decision you decide to make regarding our kids,” Jeff said, laying a hand over his wife’s. “But what about your mother? She’s not going to be happy about this.”
“I’ll deal with my mother,” Jillian said, opening the cabinet and withdrawing a vial. “But they’re our kids, Jeff, and we’re protecting them. She’ll understand.”
“After she yells and throws a few things?” Jeff asked, smirking. “Can I do anything to help?”
“Sure! Grab the lemonade from the fridge,” Jillian said. “We’ll mix this in with the lemonade. It’ll bind their powers, for now.”
“And when they get older?”
“They’ll learn about their destiny,” Jillian said, dropping the potion into the lemonade. “And they’ll be extraordinary witches, with extraordinary powers, who will do lots of good in this world.” She glanced over her shoulder, smiling at her husband. “I know it.”
“Well, she wasn’t wrong about that,” Jade muttered, closing her eyes, and propelling herself out of the memory. She gasped, holding a hand to the side of her head. “Whoa! What a rush!”
“It’s definitely an interesting take on therapy, isn’t it?” Cynthia asked, grinning. She held out the bowl. “Now, take another sip Jade, we’re not done yet.”
“We’re not?”
“No! In fact, we’re just beginning, and we have a lot of memories yet to uncover. Now relax, and let the memories come to you.”
“You have got to be freaking kidding me,” Jasmine growled, staring up the beanstalk. “A beanstalk? I have to climb a freaking beanstalk to get to the tower? Now, how is this fair?” She let out another growl and reached a hand up, clutching the edge of the beanstalk. She pulled herself up, glancing below her. “Okay now, easy does it, and whatever you do, don’t fall!”
She stretched her hand up, gripping the beanstalk, climbing upward and an arrow slung into the beanstalk next to her.
“Oh no!” She glanced below her as the black angels raced up to the beanstalk on horses. They raised their bows, black arrows zinging through the air and hitting the beanstalk. “They’re here!”
She reached up, grasping another piece of the beanstalk. Another arrow zinged through the air, and she ducked. The arrow just missed her. “Dammit, stop throwing freaking arrows at me!” she shouted, reaching for another piece of the beanstalk. She climbed higher, and higher. With each step she took, climbing higher into the sky. The clouds hid her from the black angels’ sight, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Whoo! I only have…” she trailed off, staring high above her. “A long, long way ago.”
She reached for another piece of the beanstalk, pulling herself up, and below her the beanstalk shook. She gasped, losing her footing. Digging her fingers into the hold, and pulled herself back up. Glancing below her as the black angels climbed the beanstalk at lightning fast speed. “Oh shit! Jasmine, go! Go, go, go!” She reached up, quickly climbing the beanstalk, and a hand wrapped around her ankle.
“No!” she screamed, trying to jerk free from the man’s gasp. “Let me go!”
“Never!” the man with long, black hair dressed in black leather said as he tightened his grip around her ankle. “You must not get to the tower! The Gods forbid it!”
“I don’t care what the Gods forbid!” Jasmine cried, narrowing her eyes on the man. The man gasped, raising a hand to his throat. “I can’t breathe!” he cried, his body floating away from the beanstalk. He stared at her, then below him at the ground far below. “Please don’t do this!”
“You were going to do the same thing to me, weren’t you?”
“I… I…”
“It’s only fitting I do the same to you, right?” Jasmine asked. “Plus, it’s not like I’m hurting an innocent. You’re evil!” She blinked, and his screams filled her ears as he plummeted far below. “There’s one down, and who knows how many left to go.”
She reached her hand up once more, continuing up the beanstalk. A moment later she wrapped her hand around the gold door knob. She dragged the door open and climbed inside the tower.
“Whoo! What a climb! I’m going to be feeling that tomorrow!” she cried, rising to her feet. “Now, I just have to find Sky’s heart.”
“You’re here for Sky’s heart?”
The small voice sounded behind her, and Jasmine glanced over her shoulder, staring at the young, blonde-haired boy standing behind her. “Who are you?”
“I’m Sky.”
“Sky?” Jasmine frowned. “No, you can’t be Sky! He’s bigger than you!”
“That’s Sky now,” the boy said, holding a hand out. “I’m Sky, right after he died. Before he left everyone he loved.”
“But why are you here?”
“Because I have something I have to show you,” Sky said, stretching his hand out. “Come on. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“A lot of time for what?”
“To save Sky! Come on!” He wrapped his hand around hers, pushing through the door to his left.
“Where are we going?”
“To show you what really happened to Sky,” the boy said, stepping inside the room. Jasmine gasped, blinking at the sudden bright light, staring at the family sitting around the table. “Where are we?”
“Home,” Sky said softly. “Look at them. We’re all so happy,” he said, stopping next to a woman with long, brown hair as she was laughing as she ate. Jasmine smiled. She’s so pretty, she thought, as the woman lifted a spoonful of soup to her lips. “Is that your Mom?”
Sky nodded. “Yes. She was always so happy, and boy did she love to sing! I did love listening to her voice.” He smiled, humming a tune. “She had the most beautiful voice, but when I died, she stopped singing. She stopped being happy. Instead, she was filled with despair. Depressed over what had happened to me. I never wanted that.”
“And your father?” Jasmine nodded to the blond-haired man sitting next to the woman, as he smiled at his son as he babbled on about something. “What about him?”
“A year after my death, he died in a car accident,” Sky said, continuing around the table. “He’d been drinking. Consumed with guilt over my death.” He shook his head, trying to ease his own pain, his own guilt. Pausing behind two dark-haired boys, and a blonde-haired girl. “Then there’s my brothers and sister. It took them a long time to recover, after witnessing what happened to me.” He sighed, closing his eyes, the memories still as fresh as yesterday. “That truck. It came out of nowhere.”
“The truck?”
“The truck that killed me,” Sky said, dragging her across the room. “Come on.”
“But…” Jasmine trailed off, glancing behind her at the famil
y sitting around the table. Watching Sky, as he sat amongst his family. He was smiling, laughing, and her heart ached for him. Why did he have to die? It’s not right! He was just a kid!
“Jasmine, come on!” Sky cried, tugging her forward. “You’re going to miss it!”
“Miss what?”
“Last one home has to pay the winner twenty bucks!” young Sky cried, winking at his brothers and sister as they raced down the street on their bikes. “Bet you I’m going to win!”
“I think not!” Connor said, pedaling faster. “I’m going to win!”
“No me!” Winston cried, leaning forward, and zipping passed his older brother. “Ha!”
“No me!” Stella cried, not wanting to be outdone by her brothers. “I’m going to win!”
Jasmine smiled, tears filling her eyes as she watched the four. “Oh. You’re all so cute!”
“Just wait.” Sky held up a hand, pointing to the stoplight. The light changed, the walk signal appearing across the display. Sky started across the walkway, ahead of his brothers and sister.
“Sky! Watch out!”
The sound of squealing tires sounded, just as Stella yelled. The truck peeled around the corner, veering through the walkway and striking the bike. Sky screamed, his small body falling forward, skidding across the pavement and disappearing underneath the truck.
“Oh my God!” Jasmine screamed, holding a hand to her mouth, and looking away. “That’s horrible!” She cried, as the screams from Sky’s brothers and sister filled her ears.
“I told you it was painful,” Sky said, as they walked through the doorway. This time, at his funeral. She stared at his parents, and his siblings, dressed in black. Each looking sad and bleak. Her heart breaking at the sight.
“I can’t imagine what they went through,” she whispered. “The pain of losing you. It’s not right. Please tell me they caught the guy!”
“Yes. They did,” Sky said, softly. “He turned himself in. Plagued with guilt over what happened. He’s serving life in prison.”
“How long ago was this?”
Crossroads Page 6
