Vindicate

  Before I could argue with her, Charlie had broken free from Draven’s arms and was squeezing Madison for dear life.

  Brady held his hand out to help me up. As I stood, he pulled me to his chest and held me as tightly as he could. My father had crawled across the floor and was giving aid to the men I’d hurt. Others had brought stretchers and were moving them onto them. Just as they were moved away, Perodine and Alamos came running down the hall.

  Aden and Draven were whispering to each other as they stared at me.

  “Something you want to share with the class?” I asked as I pulled away from Brady.

  Draven smiled sardonical ly as his eyes grew sad. “Your energy . I t’s so bright. A beautiful power.”

  “Trust me, it was a first . I don’t even think that was my energy,” I mumbled as I watched others carry away the men on the stretchers.

  “Not the healing,” Draven said to get my attention, “the memories. You used them as power. You pulled from them . The energy inside of you is endless.”

  “I guess I did,” I said, furrowing my eyebrows at him and Aden, trying to understand how that was important, why he had mentioned how bright my energy was. It was like that was all he could see.

  I glanced down at Charlie then back to Draven wondering if there was more to the Escort light thing that I did not understand . I knew Charlie was nervous about Draven being her e , but I thought it was because of the darkness. Could it be the light?

  “That’s what we do,” Aden explained before I could ponder that point further. “Well, kind of. We walk t hrough memories to help others, but it was different for you because you sense emotions, you pulled from that energy. We only pull from words.”

  “I don’t know what I did,” I said, trying not blush , or look as uncertain as I was.

  My father walked over to me. As soon as his eyes met mine, they turned from hazel to green. “I’m proud of you, little one.” I went to speak, but he raised his finger. “But not nearly as proud as Landen will be of you.”

  A smile came across my f ace as I imagined that moment. I heard Perodine tell everyone to step away from the walls and looked to her to see what she was doing.

  She and Alamos were side by side, walk ing down the hall away from us. Speaking words I could not make out clearly. They joined hands, then stretched their other hand out toward the walls of the hallway. At that moment, a light blue wave of e nergy rippled along the walls , over every painting, reaching into every room. They were sealin g off this floor. Placing us under some kind of field of protection.

  “And that’s why they call her the Great Witch,” Madison mumbled.

  I smiled at the absurdity. “It’s not magic . It’s a focused thought. Her willpower is creating that. She has lived a lon g life. Lot of willpower,” I explained.

  “Where I come from, they call that a Witch,” Madison said, raising one eyebrow. “I’m going to change, then I’ll be ready . A re you?”

  I nodded once as I watched her and Charlie turn to walk down the hallway.

  “Did you figure out how to see?” I asked Brady.

  He tried to hold in a smile as he looked at Aden.

  “What?” I asked them.

  “He figured out he loved to play . That he hasn’t played nearly enough recently,” Aden said.

  “You play the guitar?” I asked, looking up at Brady.

  He blushed slightly. “Among other things.”

  “You need to play more often, man . I t helps, believe me,” Aden said to Brady.

  I hesitated, then let my guilty eyes fall to the floor. It always escaped m e what my family went through. The emotions they must feel when they face the darkness that haunts me. “Good advice, Brady,” I mumbled as I walked into the room Landen was in.

  Immediately, my eyes moved to where Landen was laying. At th at moment, he looked peaceful. I swear I could almost see a smile on his face. I looked down at my hands and saw Madison’s blood all over me. I wanted to clean up before I touched him. There was a doorway to the left of the bed. I made my way there, feeling numb from everything that had happened to me.

  Once the steaming water had washed away the stains on my hands and arms, I splashed water over my face, then stared into my reflection. It bothered me that ev eryone thought I was changing. That I was not as innocent as I was . I felt the same deep inside, but I also felt more m ature. More aware. I wasn’t stuck on one thought. I was angry, and in my opinion, I needed to be if I was going to win this. Fight fire with fire, is that not what they say? But if it’s been said before, then it cannot be the way to change. I needed to find my own way of thinking about this. I needed to find a way to feel mercy for those who tried to hurt me. I needed to learn to think before I acted.

  I opened the door to the bathroom to find myself all alone with Landen and Drake. The others were lingering in the hallway. I walked to Landen’s side and gently leaned down and let my lips rest on his. “I healed but you know that. You were there. A nd now I’m coming for you, ” I thought.

  I felt his lips move beneath mine and pulled away slightly. I heard him whisper, “Danger.”

  “I know . I know, baby, but I have help. You’re both coming home to a new world.”

  His body took in a deep breath. I waited for a protest for some sign that I s hould just let him fight this. Wait for him to wake. When one did not come, I kissed his lips once more, then walked around the b ed to Drake’s side. He was hot. His body was on fire, and sweat glistened of his perfect profile. The moment I let my hand rest on his face, he took in a deep, lasting breath.

  “I have a surprise for you,” I whispered. “I’m bringing her to you.”

  I smiled as I imagined the first time he would lay eyes on Madison. I was hungry to witness the look, the energy I would see between them. I had no doubt it would be beyond anything I’d ever witnessed.

  Alamos came in the room at that moment, holding a silver basin. His eyes asked me to step away from the bed. I moved back toward the couches that had guitars lying across them. As I watched, Alamos circle d the floor around the bed with white powder that looked like salt. Draven, Aden, and Brady came in and lingered by my side.

  “Willow,” Draven whispered.

  I looked up at him, breaking my stare with whatever ritual Alamos was attempting to perform.

  “We need to talk about what is going to happen,” Draven said quietly.

  “Listening,” I said as my eyes met his.

  He smiled somewhat . “I will be at your side the entire time. I promise you that, but what you have to understand is that what I see – what Brady or Olivia sees – may not be what you see. You are going to have to trust all of us, listen to us.”

  “Why would it be different?”

  “Because thi s place is like a dream world. Your mind helps create it. We have all see n different things in our life from different perc eptions. What you see as good we may know to be bad. The surroundings may not be the same for all of us. We will see the same thing, but perceive it differently. That’s where you are going to h ave to trust me. Do you trust me?”

  “I do. And I have more control than all of you think I do. I’m not afraid of the illusions you say I will see. I feel them. I don’t see them. Does that make sense?”

  Draven nodded once. “I know you are in complete control.” It felt so good to hear that. “I will warn you, though; those illusions have Landen and Drake’s energy within them. That is my friendly heads up – K.”

  I nodded, and swallowed my emotions. They all thought I was going to lose it in there, but I was going to prove them wrong. I was going to be calm, cool, and in control. Deadly if need be.

  Two young men carried in a long narrow table and set it at the foot of the bed. Two young girls carried in candles, red, black, and white , and placed them on the table. The black one was centered. For some r eason, it looked familiar to me. A ll of this seemed familiar to me. It was the strangest feeling.

  Olivia and Charlie stepp ed in the
room at that moment. I focused on Charlie; she seemed relaxed . It was the first time I’d felt that emotion from her since I found her. Maybe I was wrong about her being nervous about Draven being around energy that was light. Then again she could just be over this entire situation. Just like me.

  “Are you alright?” I asked, locking eyes with her.

  “Yeah,” she muttered. She glanced from Draven to me and nodded once. I guess she was deciding to trust that he would be safe with us.

  “OK,” Aden said to get my attention. “Draven has been watching them . They moved apart. I don’t know if they are doing that by choice or if that is something that Bianca is doing, but they are too far apart in The Realm now for us to have time to save them both.”

  “What do you mean?!” I said, preparing to argue that there was time.

  Aden held up his hand to calm me. “We are going to divide. Draven, Brady, and Olivia are going with you. I’m going with Charlie and Madison.”

  “I don’t understand. How are they far apart?” I asked , looking at Draven.

  “Their co re. The soul, if you will , is in the same place , but the essence, parts of their mind are across The Realm .

  “You’re going to have to be clearer.” I wanted to hear a solution not an explanation.

  “Basically, it’s a dream within a drea m. They’re subdued in The Realm. Bianca has taken memories of them and created illusions; she had to have k nown you’re coming after them.”

  “Why do I care about that, thou gh? Let her have the memories. Let’s go to the core.”

  Draven sighed. “There is a part of them in those memories, Willow. When we declare an illusion as false it’s going to send that memory back to them. In their dream state, they will start to w ake up. So when we find the core of who they are, they will not be so deep. I t won’t take every part of you to wake them.”

  I looked at Charlie. “How do any of you plan to declare an illusion of Drake to be false? You don’t know him. I’m the only one that knows them.”

  “We don’t know him, but we know Bianca. I know her very well. If I call her out on who she is, see through the illusion, she will not be able to hold that memory. Trust me.”

  “How many illusions of hers have you seen? How sure are you?” I asked, looking for truth in her answer.

  A mix of anger and sorrow filled her dark eyes. “More than I care to have, understand that the images she shows you of them in passion are the ones that are the furthest fro m the truth. When you’re close. Really close . She will show you thousands. Everywhere you look, yo u will see her arms around him. Him begging her to hold him tighter.”

  A sick, nauseated feeling crawled up my throat, carrying a rage with it. Thunder rattled the windows to reflect that emotion. I stabbed my nail into my skin. Seconds later the rumble outside ceased.

  “No soul. No innocence,” Draven said quietly.

  I took in a deep breath and nodded as my eyes met Landen’s body. I could do this. I knew I could.

  “Tell her the hard part,” Brady said.

  “What?” I asked, turning to look at him.

  Brady looked down at me. “Have you ever heard th at when you die in your dream you die in real life?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “That’s true.” Draven said.

  My heart started to race as I looked at Olivia. “Maybe you should go with Charlie. Maybe all of you need to be far away from me.”

  Olivia se t her intent to go with me as she crossed her arms, and I decided just to let it be. I may not have a finger when this was over, but I was going to let it be .

  “We are telling you that not because of the dream Olivia and Madison had, but because we are afraid for your life,” Draven said calmly.

  “Apparently, I’m too dangerous t o be bothered with that fear,” I said with a sustained certainty.

  Draven let go of Charlie and slowly walked to my side, holding my stare with his entrancing eyes. When he reached my side, he looked down and tilted his head slightly. “Remember how we talked about pulling energy, how I pulled from Charlie?”

  I let my eyes tell him yes.

  “In The Realm …that is the pl ace that I am tempted the most. Everything is heightened. When I thin k that I’ll just take a little, when she thinks she will just give a little –we are already crossing a line. You are going to want to give everything you have to wake them, and you can’t do that.”

  “If that is what they need, I will.”

  He moved his head from side to side as he locked his jaw in fru stration. “That will kill you. That will kill them.”

  Like the threat of death was not already on the table. “How am I going to know what they need? What I can give?”

  “I can’t tell you that.” Draven said gently. “You need to put aside your desire for instant gratification. There will be a delay, and in that delay you will want to give more, but you can’t, not until y ou know for sure they need it. That you have to give more.”

  A soaring pain rippled through the emotions of the room. “We are all coming home,” I said as I looked at Charlie. Her calm was gone, and the anxiety she fed off was back. I had a feeling that the reason she was going to be helping Drake and not Landen was so she would be far away from Drave n, so he would not be tempted.

  I was anxious, ready to go. I looked over my shoulder, knowing that Perodine was close. I saw her in the hallway. She and my father were talking to Madison quietly. It wasn’t hard to see that it was a tense discussion. Madison’s eye s were wide as she stared at the floor and took in what they were saying.

  “There is more,” Draven said to call my attention back to him.

  “What?” I asked, not losing my stare with Madison. I was waiting for an excuse to go over there and figure out what they were saying to her.

  “In this place everyone controls the atmosphere,” Draven said as he reached for my chin to move my eyes back to his.

  “Everyone?” Oh, this is going to be a blast. Not.

  He nodded. “And you can manifest anything at any moment.”

  “Manifest?” I repeated, furrowing my eyebrows.

  “Yes. Manifest. You want to be in a city then you will be. You need a sword; think of it, and it’s there. As with every power, there are dangers to that.”

  When is there not a danger? “Like?”

  “Like you don’t know when you will come back. I don’t know what kind of foothold Perodine can give y ou, but I can tell you that world has pushed me out without warning. With weapon in hand and God help whoever is in my pa th. Your aim will be the same and if you throw something, it will ma nifest here.”

  I didn’t need a weapon. I had Mother Nature. So I wasn’t worried about that.

  “That is why no one but me and Perodine will be in here,” Alamos said a s he turned from Landen’s side. “You also need to always make sure you are with nature. A t the very least water –your sign rules water . It gives you clarity. Power. Move the illusion to places like that.”

  “I hope that’s easier than it sounds,” I mumbled .

  “Do not hesitate in this world, child. I cannot tell you how long we will be able to open this window to you,” Alamos said as he snapped his fingers and the candles on the alter ignited.

  “It is,” Draven promised. “Just think of it . Anything. You want to fly . You fly. You want fire. Think of fire. Your thoughts literally create every single thing in The Realm .”

  At that moment, Perodine and Madison walked in the room; my father stayed in the hallway. He smiled slightly and nodded at me.

  I locked eyes with Madison. “Are you alright?”

  “Better than ever,” she said with little enthusiasm.

  Alamos pulled back the drapes on each side of the bed. As he revealed Drak e’s side, I stared at Madison looking for some kind of reaction, but she remained calm.

  Perodine was holding a small silver bowl and the dagger that I had ended my life with.

  “Come,” she said quietl
y as she stood in front of the makeshift altar that had been set up for her.

  All of us surrounde d her. She began with Charlie. Perodine pricked her finger and let a drop o f her blood fall into the bowl. She moved on to Draven, Aden, Brady, and Olivia , then me. When she reached Madison, she locked eyes with her. I could feel Perodine’s motherly concern, but I could not understand it. Perodine was silently re fusing to take Madison’s blood. Madison took the knife from her and sliced the tip of her finger and let several drops of her blood drop into the basin.

  Perodine looked down, then turned to the altar. Alamos looked at me. “Focus your eyes . See energy. See the aura of them . A ll of you.”

  I did as he said. I remembered thinking when I first learned to see energy that I would neve r see the world the same again, but the truth of the matter is that you can turn it o ff. You can choose to not see. Not feel energy if you wish. I guess that’s why s o many people are unaware of it. They don’t know there is some kind of switc h you can flip on in your mind. A switch that will show you beauty in everything.

  I could see the stunning white glow around Landen, t he one that connected me to him. A glow around Drake that seemed to be hig hlighted in ash. The different colors around the others . Ones that told me they were all on different levels of awareness. The violent around Madi son and Olivia made me nervous. I knew they had both, in some way, dreamed of the path before us.

  “Now pull it to you,” Alamos said. “Imagine it is a sphere right here, one that I can hold.”

  I did as he said, and almost instantly I saw all of o ur energy moving to one place. I t was hard for me to tell if it was my imagination or not. I focused anyway.

  Perodine tur ned from the altar and nodded. On cue Brady, Olivia and Draven came to my side. Aden and Charlie went to Madison’s.

  “See,” Perodine said Draven.

  I looked up at him and watched his eyes turn from green to black as he stared at Landen’s body. Then green when he moved to Drake’s – turning black once more.