Elysium (23 page)

They just stood there staring at each other, their fists clenching and unclenching until I finally heard the sound of ripping fabric. I thought at first they were done fighting, but as the sound of tearing material increased, I knew this fight was far from over. Wings erupted from their backs, Nik’s a beautiful iridescent black and blue and Dorian’s a muted red and orange. They reminded me of angel wings, the feathers long and slender, and their wings easily six feet in height. They were majestic and powerful looking, and when my initial shock wore off, I knew things were about to get a whole lot worse.

I covered my mouth with my hands as their bodies became bigger and taller. Their muscle mass increased, both of them resembling fierce warriors from biblical times. They both jumped into the air at the same time, their wings beating, keeping them suspended above the ground. The air from their wings blew dead leaves and sticks. The students shouted and hollered for them to attack, and they did.

Their bodies collided midair, slamming into one another, as their fists flew. I screamed for them to stop, but no one paid any attention. It was then I felt my body become warm, my fingers getting so hot I screamed in pain. I was vaguely aware of Violet shouting at me, but the pain was excruciating. With wide eyes, I looked at Nik, my hands moving up on their own as electricity flowed through me.

I felt power fill me and shoot out of my fingers, my skin prickling and rising with goose bumps. I screamed, and my vision wavered, before everything around me went still, not even the air moving, as my hands fell to my side. I squeezed my eyes shut and then slowly opened then, not knowing what to expect, but certainly not what I was seeing.

Nik and Dorian were suspended in the air, their wings spanned out and displayed in their full glory. The students around them were still, whatever expressions they had frozen in place. I looked to my side, Violet standing beside me, her gaze on the scene in front of us, her eyes unblinking. I took a couple of steps back, my breathing coming in short pants. A firestorm of rage burned within me, and I knew I needed to control it, but I also knew that wasn’t going to happen.

I had no idea what was going on.
Have I ever done this? How could I have?
I heard the faint sound of tearing, like a piece of paper tearing down the middle. The harder I listened, the closer and louder it became until it sounded as though it were right in front of me. I took another step back, a thin aspen blocking me at my back, and a bright light formed a vertical line in front of me. The tearing intensified until the bright light dimmed and the world in front of me tore open to reveal inky darkness.

I gasped as two hands reached out and gripped the edge of the seam, the nails dirty and jagged with blood rimming the edges. The face emerged next, grotesquely thin and ashen with bloodstained fangs and red eyes. I screamed and closed my eyes as the hands reached out for me.

“Meadow! Meadow!”

I heard my name called from the distance and snapped my eyes open. The grotesque face before me, livid with rage, screamed out silently, the seam starting to weave itself back together. Whoever called my name came closer, and I soon recognized it was Cadeon’s voice. As the seam closed, a bright vertical light flashed before me once again and then it was gone. Music filled the night air, and student’s voices surrounded me. My mouth was half open as I looked at the scene again, everyone acting as if nothing had happened. Cadeon came bursting through the trees, his eyes wild, as he saw the fight.

“Cadeon.” His name was no more than a whisper, but his eyes shot to me, and he plowed his way towards me. He embraced me and that was when the shouting grew dim. I peered around his shoulder to see everyone staring at us, including Nik and Dorian. I was at least glad they had stopped fighting, although their faces were battered and bruised.

“Everyone get back to the Manor now!” Cadeon’s voice boomed through the night air, and everyone scrambled into the trees, the music instantly cutting off and the fire doused. “You too, Miss Fender.” Cadeon spoke softly to Violet, and that was when I noticed her standing there watching us. He still held me in a tight embrace and soon everyone was gone, except the two of us. He loosened his hold on me and that was when I started to shake, not able to get rid of the vision of that disgusting face, as it reached its decrepit arms towards me, as if he wanted to pull me into that black hole.

“What are you doing here?” My voice cracked.

“I don’t know, to be honest. I wasn’t going to, but then I felt this … this
thing
wash through me, warning me I needed to go to you now. I raced through the forest, so scared and confused that something had happened to you. It was then that I felt the surge of power. I have never felt anything like it. It was so strong, it stopped me and sucked the air from my lungs.” He took a deep breath and clutched my head to his chest. “I made myself move, told myself there was something wrong and I needed to get to you.
You
gave me the strength to continue,
you
gave me the power to break whatever spell had me a prisoner.”

I didn’t know what to say. Cadeon’s voice was thick with emotion, and I was fighting to not cry.

He pulled away and looked down at me, his finger brushing my cheek. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

I shook my head, not physically hurt, but feeling pain in my soul.

“I’m sorry, so sorry, Meadow. I tried to stay away. I just can’t. Not when I feel this … connection with you.”

He looked down at me with such emotion I did start crying. With what had just happened, and now with what Cadeon was saying, I felt like I was
Alice, falling down a rabbit hole.

“I just,” he seemed to be struggling for the words. His gaze was down at the ground, his eyes searching for something that wasn’t there. “I love you. So much.”

I stared at him, shocked. “You what?” Oh I had heard him loud and clear. “You tell me this now?” This really didn’t seem like the best time to confess feelings.

“I know, but you just don’t understand, Meadow. I … I just love you so much it hurts my heart.”

I sucked in a great lungful of air and stared up at him. My tears fell faster, and I wrapped my arms around his waist. I laid my head on his powerful chest and closed my eyes as the rhythm of his heart beating soothed me. “I…” I sobbed against his chest, “I love you too.” I felt his arms tighten around me. He kissed the top of my head, and we just stood there in silence, holding each other. After what seemed like forever, I dropped my arms and stepped back. I looked into his face and saw a storm of emotion cover his features. I couldn’t decipher what those said emotions were, but they seemed intense. His hand cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing along my skin so gently, it almost made me weep.

“Do you know what that was?” His words were low, soft.

I swallowed. “Yeah, I think it was me.”

I sat in Mikhail’s office twenty minutes later. Cadeon paced back and forth, and I watched both of their expressions fluctuate. I had explained everything that happened from the time my dreams of Rhyker started, until what took place tonight at the party. I hadn’t left any details out, because I knew this was not normal and I wanted some answers.

“I don’t know what to say,” Mikhail said as he tapped his pen on his desk. The
tap
,
tap
,
tap
was starting to grate on my nerves, and Cadeon spoke up before I could.

“Mikhail, please! That blasted noise is driving me insane.” I watched as Cadeon ran his hand through his hair, the dark strands now mussed. “Do you remember anything like this ever happening before?”

Mikhail was shaking his head before Cadeon even finished. “No. It sounds as though Meadow has the ability to bring the Shadow realm and our world together. To somehow draw a link between the dimensions.”

“The Shadow realm?”

“Yes, it’s between the wake and dream realms.” He continued, “Our culture believes Earth is not the only plane. We believe there are many other dimensions inhabiting this world. The Shadow realm is one of them. The history of it is extensive.”

“What exactly is that?”

“Although we believe in other worlds, over time, the Shadow realm has been thought to be more myth than reality. It is the plane of the subconscious. It has also been called the dream realm, but that was later adapted, when parents told their children bedtime stories.”

“How do you know I connected with the Shadow realm?”

“I don’t know for sure, but when you told me about your dreams, and now about what happened at the party, I can only assume your powers have finally unlocked and you somehow connected with the other plane.”

“So is this Rhyker guy trying to reach out to me?” I shivered because he was definitely not someone I wanted to get acquainted with. He frightened both my waking and my sleeping hours, and tonight made me more frightened.

“I don’t know. Rhyker Rulon isn’t a fictional character, and there are written testimonies that describe his death. Like I said, the Shadow realm is more of a myth than anything else, but with the Arcane, you can never disprove anything.”

“You know as well as any other Arcane how real all of this is. Someone is trying to reach out to Meadow, and I’m not so sure it’s on a friendly basis.”

I looked over at Cadeon, as he continued to pace the office. His hair stood on end from the many times he ran his hands through it. I was already scared to death over what I saw, and I was glad they believed me, but to know that someone or something was reaching out to me from another realm was enough to make me wish this was all a nightmare.

“So what now?” I started to pick at the edge of my shirt, my nerves on edge.

“I think we need to call the coven for a meeting. I want to get their input on what they think is going on. Maybe they can get a feel for the magic used to connect with Meadow.”

I looked over at Cadeon and saw the grave look on his face. Not only had my life changed drastically, but also I now knew for sure someone was trying to get me. I knew it wasn’t to help me, not with a grotesque face taking up both my waking and sleeping hours.

****

I ended up leaving Mikhail and Cadeon arguing over what was happening and who was trying to reach out to me. Even though Rhyker Rulon should have been the main suspect, since he
was
the one haunting me, they wanted to read into the Arcane History books and see what they came up with. Just as I was leaving, I saw several men and woman coming towards me. They were dressed in regular clothes, but I sensed the power they emitted.

I stepped to the side and watched, as they made their way into Mikhail’s office. Even though none of them spoke, I knew who they were.

The Coven.

I was surprised how quickly they arrived, but figured Mikhail called for them before I had showed up.

Mikhail spoke of the incubus, but Cadeon quickly dismissed that idea. I had read enough Arcane history to know the incubus and succubus were sexual predators, haunting their victims while they slept and performing sexual acts on them. Aside from the time Rhyker had morphed into Cadeon and Nik, there were no other sexual advances from him. My brain hurt from all I’d been through, and although it was hours before sun rise I was exhausted.

I wanted to go to sleep, but I needed to check on Nik first. He had, after all, protected my honor, even if it wasn’t the brightest action for him to take.

I knew, from my many walks around the manor, where Nik’s room was. The Manor didn’t segregate the male and female students. Nik was in the north building, and, as I made my way through the halls, I realized how eerily silent it was. I hoped he wasn’t in trouble for what had happened, but aside from Cadeon showing up and sending everyone back to their rooms, there really had been no other adult intervention.

When I finally reached his room, I knocked on the door, looking around as the noise echoed through the arched ceilings. I could hear shuffling on the other side, and a moment later the door opened. I gasped as I got a good look at Nik’s face. A black bruise surrounded his eye, and his lips were swollen and split. I took a step forward, feeling so awful that this had happened.

I noticed how his expression became hard and his face turned a shade of pink.
He’s embarrassed.
“Oh, Nik. I’m so sorry.” He took a step back, and I took it as an invitation to enter. Once I was in the room, he shut the door. I had never been in his room before, but it didn’t look much like a teenage guy’s room. Not that I really knew what one looked like or anything, but I always had this picture of dirty clothes thrown everywhere and posters of naked girls adorning the walls.

Nik’s room was … classy. His large four poster bed sat in the center of the room. A leather couch pressed against one of the walls, right in front of a big screen TV. An impressive stereo system was next to the couch, along with the latest game system sitting next to that. His room was more like a bachelor pad than a teenage guy’s dorm room.

“Whoa.” I looked over my shoulder and raised one of my eyebrows. His family obviously was loaded. “Impressive.” I saw pink tinge his cheeks again and couldn’t help but chuckle. I didn’t want Nik to be embarrassed. “Listen,” I turned around, so that I faced him. He was standing next to the door, his black eye a reminder of what he had done. “I want to thank you. You know, for defending my honor and all that.”