He had two hot, blonde girls on either side of him, giggling and talking to him, even though he wasn't paying attention to them anymore. They rubbed their hands all over the muscles of his arms, sending a flare of jealously through me. I wanted to walk over there and pull them off of him by their hair, yet I stood there frozen. I felt just like in my dream, shocked and unsure of what to do. Do I go talk to him? What would I say? Hey, I've been dreaming of you for as long as I can remember. Yeah, right—he would think I was some lunatic. He was looking at me like he recognized me, but that wasn't possible; we had never met. Could he be having the same dreams as me?
Kimber snapped me out of my thoughts by saying, “Damn, Brie! Do you know who that guy is?”
I shook my head, unable to speak, when she answered, “That's Jace Vasquez, the UFC fighter! And it looks like he's undressing you with his eyes! Why don't you go talk to him?”
Before I could answer, someone grabbed me by the waist and started pulling me backwards, catching me off guard since I was absorbed in the guy from my dreams. My eyes locked on his, his expression turning from shock to rage in a split second. I could have sworn they started glowing orange like in my dream when he shoved the bimbos away and rushed after me. Kimber also wore a furious expression, her blue eyes shining a luminous turquoise, which I had never noticed before, as she pushed people out of the way to try to catch up to whoever was dragging me away. I screamed, but the sound of the music drowned it out as I tried to free myself from my attacker's grip. My attempts amounted to nothing compared to his strength, but I wasn't going to give up—I pried at his arms and kicked as he continued to drag me away.
He turned me around so that I lost sight of Kimber and Jace. In their place was a large door with a red “EXIT” sign over it. I was sure it led to a dark, creepy alley, where my attacker planned to rape and murder me, but that plan seemed flawed with two people tailing him.
He pushed me out the door, and I tripped in my high heels from the force, causing me to fall to the dirty asphalt. He barricaded the door with a dumpster, moving it like it weighed next to nothing. He turned to face me as I stumbled to stand up, and his eyes were glowing white, which startled me. He must be wearing those cosmetic contacts they use in movies and TV shows because eyes like that weren't human. He was probably wearing them so I wouldn't be able to describe him if I survived. I could hear banging from the other side of the door, but there was no way Kimber or Jace would be able to move the dumpster from inside.
As he started walking towards me, I recognized him as the asshole that was staring at me inside the club. I don't remember his eyes looking like that, but his face was the same. He quickened his pace, raising his arm in front of him as he got closer as if to grab me again. I felt like I was being pushed backwards, even though he wasn't touching me. I instinctively put my arms out in front of me in defense, and as soon as I did, he flew backwards about twenty feet. Perplexed, I wondered how that could have happened since he was standing about seven feet away from me a second ago. He also looked confused as he yelled, “Luke! Ryan! Get your asses out here and help me!”
A few seconds later, two men appeared at the end of the alley. They stalked towards us, their eyes fixated on me as they approached. I turned to run, knowing I would not be able to fight off three grown men, when one of them, Luke or Ryan, I don't know which, teased my initial attacker by saying, “Couldn't handle an Elemental that doesn't know how to use her powers, Kyle?”
Their talk halted my escape—Elemental? What the hell was that? It was definitely not me—I didn't have any special powers, let alone talents, for that matter. They must be experimenting with drugs or something. My attacker, Kyle, answered, “She does know how—she just threw me back twenty feet without even trying!”
“That wasn't me! What are you lunatics talking about?!” I exclaimed. They were all psychotic if they believed the crazy things they were saying.
“See—she doesn't even know about her powers. Her daddy probably never told her anything about the Elementals or the Prophecy,” one of the others answered.
“What do you know about my father? How dare you talk about him?!” I spat with anger. I was seething with rage. First, I'm dragged out of a club on my eighteenth birthday by some jerk, after just finding out that my dream guy is actually real. Now I'm trapped in an alley with three assholes who were talking about Elewhatevers and my dad. I glared at them, all three looking back at me with a mixture of astonishment and fear on their faces. I didn't know why, but I was going to use it to my advantage. I stretched my arm out, palm outward, mimicking what I saw Kyle do when I felt myself being pushed backwards a minute ago. I thought about lifting the three of them off the ground, and to my amazement, they started rising off the asphalt, making me certain that I was in a different nightmare for me to be able to do this. As I thought this, the dumpster flew against the wall of the alley, startling me and making me drop the men to the ground. Jace and Kimber ran out, stumbling over the three men beneath their feet. They looked down at them, then at me, with a questioning expression on their faces. Kimber spoke first, “What did you do, Brie?”
“I…I don't know. First, I think I threw that guy like twenty feet, and then I lifted all three off the ground by just raising my arm and thinking it. I think I'm losing my mind—someone must have put something in my drink.”
Kimber laughed—she actually laughed! “You're not losing your mind, Brie. You've just been in the dark about our history.”
“Our history? You know what they're talking about?!” I asked incredulously.
“Yes, Brie, and I will explain all of it to you back at your house, along with your dad. He is going to be furious at me when he finds out what happened,” Kimber somberly stated.
“I think someone slipped all of you some drugs because you're all trippin'! What the fuck is going on?! How did I just do that?!” I angrily questioned.
“Calm down, Brie. Getting upset isn't going to help the situation. Take a deep breath,” Kimber instructed.
“I don't need to calm down, I need fucking answers! Like now! What the fuck is going on?!”
“I'd like to know the same thing. I think we have our own things to talk about,” Jace said, his eyes locking on mine when I looked at him. They were no longer burning orange, but they were back to that beautiful mahogany brown.
I blushed at the intensity of his gaze. “All I know is that I need some answers. For one, who are these guys?” I asked, pointing in the direction of the men on the asphalt.
“Don't worry, I'll take care of them,” he said. He then proceeded to grab Kyle, who immediately started screaming in pain. Smoke was billowing up from where Jace's hands, which were glowing, touched him. He yelled, “If you ever come near Brielle or her family again, I WILL KILL YOU! That goes for you two, as well. Got it?!”
“Yes, yes! Please let me go!” Kyle begged as he struggled to free himself of Jace's grasp.
Jace shoved him to the ground next to Luke and Ryan. They immediately stood and helped Kyle get up before turning and starting to run down the alley. They didn't get far before Jace raised his hand, palm outward, and a fireball shot out of it. The fiery sphere hit Luke in the legs, causing him to fall and bring Ryan and Kyle down with him. The fire spread, covering all three of them, who writhed in agony on the alley floor. I stared in horror as Jace, whose eyes were fading from orange back to their normal earthy color, turned to Kimber, and said, “Go ahead and put them out, will you? I think they got the message.”
Kimber nodded. She looked at me, her eyes glowing turquoise again, then she turned and walked to where they were burning on the ground. She then raised her arms out over the men, palms downward, and water gushed out, drenching them and extinguishing the flames. “Next time, I won't put it out, so I would listen to what Jace told you. Stay away from my best friend,” she firmly stated as she walked back towards Jace and I. The trio slowly stood up and hobbled the rest of the way down the alley, disappearing from sight as they turned left around a corner.
Jace closed the distance between us, causing my heart to start beating erratically. He had just set those guys on fire, and it didn't seem like he felt any remorse, which frightened me. It just seemed so cruel to me that he did that to them, even though he was protecting me. My emotions were all jumbled and frenetic. I was scared of what Jace had just done, yet I was excited that he was real, not just a dream that my subconscious had conjured up. Above all else, I was extremely mystified by the events that just took place. I had no idea what was going on, and that caused some panic to rise in me. My best friend just made water stream from her hands! I thought I knew everything about Kimber; we had been inseparable since preschool, and here she was, manipulating elements. Apparently I could too, and I didn't even know how I did it. To top it off, my dream guy was standing not five feet from me, real, in the flesh. The pull to him was unbelievable—I just wanted to throw myself in his arms and hide from this new world I had been thrust into, even though we just met. It was all bewildering to me, almost too much to comprehend, and my thoughts were all over the place. I looked at Jace as my defenses took over and I accusingly asked, “How could you do that to them? You set them on fire!”
“They deserved it, Brielle—they were trying to hurt you and do God knows what to you!” he countered, his toned jaw flexing.
“What you did doesn't bother you? You could have killed them!” I yelled.
“I would have if it meant keeping you safe!” Jace screamed back at me, the conviction in his voice taking me by surprise.
“Why?” I softly asked him.
“You know why,” he calmly replied. I did know why; it was for the exact reason I would do the same for him, even though I knew him for less than an hour. I would probably do anything for him, which terrified me. How could I feel this way about him when we just met?
“You have the dreams, too?” I rhetorically asked, even though I secretly feared his denial.
He stepped closer, only a couple of feet away from me. He smelled heavenly, like rain and citrus. “Every night. I've been trying to figure out a way to find you, to save you, and here you are. So close all this time, and I never knew,” he sadly said.
It was my turn to step closer. Tears pooled in my eyes as I said, “I didn't think you existed. I hoped that you did, but I thought I was crazy to believe that I could find you.”
I reached out my hand to touch his face. When I did, a jolt of electricity sparked between us, spreading what felt like burning honey throughout every inch of my body. What was happening to me? Whatever it was, I didn't want it to stop. It was one of those pains that felt amazingly good, almost addictive. Jace's eyes widened as an astonished smile spread across his face. “Unbelievable,” he said as he grabbed a handful of my curls at the back of my head, pulling my face to his to crush his lips to mine.
His kiss was desperate, just like his gaze in my nightmares, only multiplied. I opened his mouth with my tongue, tangling with his as our passion increased. I had never had a kiss come close to this one, and it had just started. He tasted exotic, a subtle sweetness present as he caressed my tongue with his. I clutched his shirt, twisting it in my hands as I tried to pull his body to become one with mine. Heat rushed in-between my thighs and pooled there, sending tendrils of burning warmth up my stomach. I never wanted this to end. The world could stop turning right now, and I would be oblivious, deliriously happy in Jace's lips.
“Ummm, I hate to break this up, but we better get going before more Elementals find Brie. I'm starting to sense some,” Kimber said awkwardly.
I broke the kiss, breathless and immediately longing for Jace's lips when I did. His expression told me that he regretted the abrupt ending, as well. I blushed, embarrassed that Kimber witnessed my steaming make-out session with a stranger. Well, a stranger to her, at least.
“Kimber's right. We need to get you back to Avalon, where you are protected,” Jace declared.
“Will you come with us?” I pleaded, not wanting to leave Jace now that I had finally found him. My intense need for him frightened me, but the desire to hold onto him since we found each other trumped my fear. I didn't understand what was going on, but I was damn sure that I didn't want to let Jace go.
“Of course, I will. I basically have to now, whether you wanted me to or not,” he replied, a small smile playing on his full lips.
“What do you mean?” I asked, not understanding why he would have to come with me.
“You're his twin flame—the other half to his soul, Brie. We will explain it all when we get you home, but basically, you can't live without each other now,” Kimber stated.
I looked at Jace, who nodded, “It's true—that spark and burning sensation you felt when we touched was our souls recognizing each other as their other half, rejoining as one. We will not be able to be apart for more than a day, maybe less, or else we will both become painfully ill. We need each other to survive now. There is much more to explain, but we really need to get you back home. I promise I will answer all of your questions, and explain everything once we get there, okay?” he asked, taking my hand in his. There was a pleasurable tingling where his hand held mine, and I hoped it never went away.
“Okay,” I answered, believing what Jace had said. I had no clue why, but everything felt so right; Jace's hand holding mine, the idea that our souls were one, and even all the crazy talk about Elementals. I should have been scared out of my mind, but I wasn't even close to feeling that. Being with Jace made me feel complete, like I had been missing a part of me my whole life but never really realized it. I was probably in shock, delusional from the events of the night. Maybe it would all sink in later, and I'd finally cross the threshold over into insanity.