A Vial of Life

  “No!” I shouted. “Everything is not all right!”

  There was a stunned silence, and to my shock, River turned round around to face me. The real me. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected to happen—I’d shouted more out of frustration than anything else. But now she gazed at me, her eyes wide and her face twisted with confusion. She looked from me to the second me and then back again. Then the second me evaporated.

  “Ben?” she breathed, gaping at me as though she had seen… a ghost.

  She moved toward me across the sand, slowly and cautiously, as one might approach an alien. She reached a hand tentatively up to my face, and… I felt her. Her fingers against my jaw. Her soft touch. I reached up my hand and closed it around hers. I was able to hold her hand.

  Taken by this revelation that a ghost could feel in dreams—even if it was just the illusion of feeling—I dipped my head down and pushed my lips against hers. Her breath hitched, and then her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me in closer as my tongue parted her lips.

  I lost myself in the moment, relishing her touch. Touch I’d thought that I might never be able to experience again… But although I could’ve continued kissing River for hours, or however long her dream lasted, I had to tear our lips apart.

  She gazed deep into my eyes. Her beautiful features were still marred with a frown.

  “Which one is you?” she whispered, casting her eyes over her shoulder to where the second me had emerged from the submarine and stood with her near the jetty.

  “This is me,” I assured her, gripping her head in my hands and planting a firm kiss against her forehead. “I promise.”

  My hands slid down her shoulders and gripped her hard.

  “You must listen to me,” I said, my eyes boring into hers. “My parents and grandfather are in danger. Jeramiah is on the island with the witch, Amaya. He’s planning to round up all three, take them to the cluster of rocks—near The Shade’s port, but outside the boundary— and hand all three over to the hunters. You need to warn them urgently. He could strike anytime between now and 3PM.”

  Her eyes filled with fear as they shot back over her shoulder toward the dark island.

  I forced her attention back to me. “You must tell them to stay near witches at all times, and they need to smoke Jeramiah and the witch out of The Shade. His base was in the old farmhouse near the potato fields. I don’t know if he’ll return to that house, but there is a chance that he might. The two have been roaming the island beneath the protection of an invisibility spell, but you’ve got to find them.”

  River nodded fiercely, even as she looked panicked. “O-Okay,” she said. “I’ll go right now! You should come with me, too!”

  “You need to wake up, River,” I said. I pushed my mouth against hers in a short, passionate kiss. “Wake up. Wake up now.”

  “But your parents!” she exclaimed, glancing again at the island. She took a step back and, gripping my hand, began attempting to race toward the Port. “There’s no time to lose.”

  “Yes, but you have to wake up first.”

  I reeled her in and pulled her against me, even as she tried to keep moving forward. I clutched her shoulders and shook them hard, harder than I would have liked to, but I reminded myself this was just a dream. And I had to jolt her into wakefulness. If I let her go wandering off, she would only keep dreaming.

  Finally, my firmness worked. The scene around me faded away, along with River, and the feel of her shoulders in my hands. Now, with my eyes still closed, all I saw was blackness. River’s dream had ended.

  Chapter 20: Ben

  My eyes shot open. I looked around, my consciousness returning to the dark forest surrounding me.

  Now that River was awake, I had to pray that firstly, she would remember the dream, and secondly, she would find it in herself to act on it. Sane people didn’t act on dreams. Why would they when dreams were, for the most part, nonsensical fabrications of the subconscious? I had to hope that, somehow, River would be able to sense that this dream was different. That I had infected her with my urgency.

  I left my spot beneath the tree and began to race toward the Vale. Dashing along the streets, and arriving outside River and her family’s townhouse, I walked through the closed front door. As I entered the hallway, I heard voices coming from the kitchen at the end of the corridor.

  I hurried through a second closed door to see Jamil and Nadia— who looked much better than when I’d seen her earlier— sitting around the kitchen table, bowls of pasta in front of them, while River stood leaning against the counter. She wore the same day clothes she had changed into earlier. Were it not for her mussed hair and bleary eyes, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that she had just taken a nap. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she barely looked more refreshed than the last time I’d seen her.

  I walked up to her and tried to take her hands in mine, as I would’ve been able to do in the dream. As my fingers drifted right through her, I stared down at her, watching every expression that crossed her face intently.

  Come on, River. Come on. Remember what I told you.

  She reached a hand up and clamped it around her shoulder before rolling her neck slowly. There was a restlessness about her demeanor, and that gave me hope.

  “I didn’t mean to doze off, actually,” River murmured.

  “You needed it, honey,” her mother said, eyeing her with concern. “Go sleep some more if you’re tired.”

  River shook her head. “No,” she said. She left the counter and took a seat at the table, opposite Jamil.

  “Won’t you eat something?” Nadia asked.

  “Maybe a bit later,” River replied vaguely. She breathed out, leaning her elbows on the table and rubbing her fingers against her forehead. “I had a strange dream,” she admitted finally.

  That’s it. Come on, River.

  “What was it?” Jamil asked, glancing up curiously from his food.

  “I saw Ben again… two Bens actually. One of them arrived back on the island in a submarine, and assured me that he was fine. But the other… he looked so pale, so ethereal. He told me that Jeramiah was on the island. He said that Jeramiah managed to get through the boundary with his witch companion, Amaya. And he said that Derek, Sofia and Aiden are in danger from the duo.”

  She paused, looking from her brother to her mother for their reactions.

  “That was the whole dream?” her mother asked.

  “That was the gist of it… it ended with Ben shaking me and urging me to wake up. And then I did.” She released another breath, looking unnerved.

  “Dreams can be the strangest things,” Nadia muttered, spooning pasta into her mouth.

  “Come on, River!” I said, out loud this time.

  Silence fell between the three of them.

  “I mean,” River continued, “it was just a dream, but… isn’t it strange how I woke up just when he told me to? It was like I actually felt his urgency. I woke up in a panic, and I was sweating.”

  “Why don’t you go talk to Derek and Sofia?” Jamil suggested, eyeing his sister, his fork paused mid-air. “Since they returned from their journey, you’ve wanted to go see them anyway, haven’t you?”

  I couldn’t have felt more grateful to a person than I did to Jamil Giovanni in that moment.

  River nodded. “Yes. I am going to go and talk to them. Now.”

  Thank God.

  Now, River, you need to hurry. You need to run like you’ve never run—

  She got up from the table and headed for the door.

  “Well,” her mother called after her, “there’s lots of food waiting for you when you return.”

  “Thanks,” River murmured. She reached the front door and pulled on a pair of boots.

  “Where are you going?” Lalia called from what sounded like the sitting room.

  “I’ll be back soon,” River replied as she closed the door behind her.

  Emerging on the street outside, she looked right and left. I was glad th
at she chose to take a left and headed toward the town square. That would be the quickest route out of the town. I hoped that by now, even though she hadn’t been on the island all that long, she knew her way around well enough to find my parents. As she left the borders of the Vale and entered the thick forest, she sped up into a sprint, whipping almost as fast as a vampire through the trees. But even as she hurtled forward, I wished that she would move faster.

  When she approached the Residences and arrived at the foot of the tree where my and my parents’ penthouse had once been, she gazed up toward the burnt tree tops and let out a gasp of horror.

  “Oh, my…” she mouthed.

  She gazed all around the area before her eyes fixed on the neighboring tree. I guessed that she was about to climb up to find out what happened when footsteps crunched behind us.

  It was Rose and Caleb approaching.

  “Rose,” River called. She hurried up to my sister. River cast her eyes upward again at the treetops before returning to Rose. “What on earth happened here?”

  My sister’s face was blanched. “There was a fire,” she said, her voice several tones deeper than usual. “Both here and in my grandfather’s mountain cabin. My parents are okay, and so is Aiden… but his girlfriend, Kailyn… she didn’t make it.”

  “Oh, God… And you don’t know how the fires started?”

  “Lucas’ demon son,” I hissed.

  “We’re not sure,” Rose replied. “My father is launching an investigation as we speak.”

  “Where is your father?” River asked.

  “In the Great Dome, along with my mom and the rest of The Shade’s council.”

  “I need to speak with your parents.” River’s face had drained of all color. “I just had a dream involving Ben. He told me that Jeramiah was on this island, that somehow Jeramiah managed to gain entrance and he’s targeting your father, mother and grandfather. Oh, God.”

  Rose looked bewildered, but I was relieved when she didn’t delay River with any questions. She reached out and grabbed River’s hand. “Come with me,” she said. The three of them turned on their heel and began to dash through the woods.

  Hurrying after them, I found myself running side by side with Caleb, who was about the same height as me.

  “How long ago did you have this dream?” he asked River as they ran.

  “Just now,” River replied breathlessly. “Like ten or fifteen minutes ago.”

  Caleb’s expression darkened. Silence fell between the three, and none of them exchanged another word until they arrived outside the Great Dome. Caleb was the first to reach the entrance. He clutched the handle and pushed open the heavy door. It caused a loud creak and as the three of them burst into the meeting room, all eyes turned on them. I was relieved to see my mother and father sitting at the head of the table, but when I scanned the room in search of my grandfather, I couldn’t spot him.

  “River needs to talk to you urgently,” Rose said, still clutching River’s hand. She led her up to my parents at the head of the table.

  As my father stood up, his imposing form towering over her, River looked rather intimidated to be standing before The Shade’s king, though she began to explain in a surprisingly steady voice. “I think I know who is behind this. I believe that Jeramiah ‘Stone’ Novak is on this island with a witch. He’s targeting you, your wife, and Aiden.”

  So stark was the silence that followed, it was as though someone had hit the mute button.

  My parents gaped at River.

  “What brings you to this conclusion?” my father asked.

  At this, River faltered a little. “I–I had a dream. Just now. Ben was in it. He told me that his cousin was on the island, that I needed to urgently warn you to keep witches near you to protect you at all times. He also said that Jeramiah was staying in an old farmhouse, the one near the potato fields?”

  A hundred questions crowded behind my parents’ eyes but, seeing River’s earnestness, they turned to face the others. “You know that old house.” My father’s voice boomed through the chamber. “Search the building and its surrounding area immediately.”

  The council shot to their feet and began piling out of the hall.

  “Do you know where Aiden is?” River asked, her eyes filling with worry as they trailed along the line of people leaving the room.

  My mother’s face tensed. “He didn’t attend the meeting,” she said. “Last I saw of him, he was sitting by the lake. He just wanted to be alone.”

  “We need to locate him at once,” my father said. He turned to Ibrahim and Corrine, who had hung back from the crowd. “Will you two accompany us?”

  “Of course, Derek,” Ibrahim replied.

  “I’ll go search for Aiden, if you like,” Corrine offered. “That will free the rest of you up to join the hunt.”

  “Yes,” my father said. “Please do that, Corrine.”

  The witch gave him a curt nod, and then vanished.

  My father glanced again at River before addressing Ibrahim. “This could be nothing but a fabrication of River’s imagination, but I’m not about to take the risk that it isn’t.”

  “I have no idea why I had the dream,” River said, her expression still mired with confusion, “or why on earth I dreamed Ben telling me all this, but… I didn’t even find out about your penthouse or Aiden’s mountain cabin burning down until after I woke up. It just seems like too much of a coincidence.”

  “I agree,” my father murmured, even as he began hurrying to the Dome’s exit. “And even if it does turn out to be a wild coincidence,” he continued once they’d piled outside, “no harm’s ever done by taking extra precautions.”

  With that, everyone formed a circle around Ibrahim and they vanished. They would no doubt join the others in the fields. Satisfied that, thanks to my love, River, everyone had received sufficient warning, I was now burning to locate Jeramiah and the witch again. Ever since I’d lost sight of them, not knowing where exactly they were on the island had been eating away at me. I prayed that Corrine would soon find my grandfather, and they hadn’t managed to swipe him already. He had been all alone and vulnerable by the lake…

  I tried to stop thinking about the worst-case scenario, and focus on what I had to do next.

  I need to think. When I parted ways with them, Amaya had left to deliver Jeramiah’s note to the hunters, while the vampire was supposed to follow soon after her. His plan had been to wait just within the boundary, and then assist Amaya back in once she had successfully completed her task.

  Now the question was, had they already managed to complete the first part of their plan?

  Truth be told, I’d expected it to take longer to raise the alarm around the island—and that was if I’d even managed it at all. But it had not taken much time for the idea of intercepting dreams to occur to me, and then the dreams themselves had been fast in coming. And now, thanks to River’s receptiveness, warning the others had gone smoothly.

  I was uncertain if enough time had passed for Amaya to deliver the note to one of the vessel’s captains. Hopefully, the witch was still hovering near the naval ships, while my cousin waited in the waves by the boundary for her return. Jeramiah and Amaya still being outside the island would have been the best possible thing that could happen. But there was only one way to know for sure.

  Chapter 21: Ben

  I swept across the island and quickly arrived at the beach. I dashed across the sand, and when I reached the water I continued running over the surface of the waves. I had been onshore for some time now, and although the sensation was no different to traveling on land, the thought of running on water had become strange to me again.

  I directed my gaze toward the boundary, praying that I would see Jeramiah’s dark head bobbing above the waves. He had said that he would swim in a direct line from the Port, and that was exactly where I headed, but when I arrived, to my dismay I couldn’t see him anywhere.

  I scanned the surrounding water, just in case he had drifted fu
rther along. Heck, I was so desperate that I traveled several miles left and right along the boundary. Still, I couldn’t spot him. Unless Jeramiah had dallied to enjoy the scenery on his way to the shore and hadn’t even reached the beach yet—which I couldn’t bring myself to believe—this could only mean that he and Amaya had returned to the island and were now preparing for the second part of their plan.

  I stopped my futile patrol over the waves and shifted my focus back to the island. My task had become significantly more difficult. They could be anywhere in The Shade now. Where would I look first?

  Everyone was searching the area near the farmhouse, but as Jeramiah and his witch were invisible, it wouldn’t be difficult to dodge the searchers. The raiding of the old building would be useful for my parents to verify River’s dream, because on arriving there they would find the makeshift stone that Jeramiah had crafted in honor of his father—assuming that my cousin had not returned to the building and removed it already.

  Now that I was certain Jeramiah was back on the island, the first thing I needed to do was return to the fields and check that my parents were okay. Yes, I had managed to warn them to be on their guard, but Jeramiah and the witch still had the advantage of being invisible. I could see through their invisibility, and I had not noticed them near the Great Dome while the meeting was taking place, so I couldn’t be sure if Jeramiah had been aware of their location or knew that they were now headed to the farmhouse… And where was my grandfather?

  I hurried to the shore and headed as fast as I could back toward the vegetable fields. On approaching the courtyard outside the Sanctuary, as much as I was in a desperate hurry, something caught my eye and I stopped still. Lying on the ground near a barrowful of wilted flowers were two of our witches.

  For a fearful moment I thought that they might have even been dead, but on nearing, I could see that they were breathing. They were sound asleep.

  From the way they both lay strewn near the barrow, it looked like they might have been in the midst of tidying up after the funeral.