“Right, but I’ve been there every day. I’ve seen the sun, the lush fields, felt the peace. I just keep imagining showing up, then the clouds turn gray and the darkness that I am takes over that place. I don’t want to be selfish; I just want help with Draven.”
“What about Draven?” I heard Aden say as he ran up to my left side.
“Nothing.”
“Charlie,” Aden said, running backwards in front of me.
“How could I keep secrets if someone’s always with
me? You see him more than I do. Remember.
I’m just a part
-
time girlfriend.”
“Ouch,” Wesley said, elbowing me as he nodded to a guy in front of us wearing a T
-shirt that said ‘Austin’s Bar,’
along with a phone number that had three fives in it.
“Ouch
is right. He’s just trying to keep you safe; you know that,” Aden said, turning to jog at my side again.
“OK, well explain this. You’re a light, too, just like me and Madison. How come you get to write with him? How come you get to see him when he’s upset?”
I sounded like a child but I didn’t care.
“Because I’m his brother and I’m strong enough to knock the hell out of him if his dark side comes out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Whatever.
Mr. Light. You’re the only one in the band
that’s a quote-unquote ‘light.’
In a room for hours
at a time with three potential E
s
corts, crossing the line of The R
ealm daily
-
- and yet you’re right here with me, jogging at my side in fear that someone might show up and have a conversation with me.”
“Are you telling me that you don’t want me to be with him – to be a constant reminder of what we were before all of this? And don’t play innocent
, Charlie. I’ve seen you in The R
ealm just as much I’ve been there. He just doesn’t want you to get hurt.”
I bit my bottom lip. He was right about me being there. Madison and I would sneak into the top level of the auditorium and wait until
it
looked like they were gone, then see our way to where they were. We managed to stay at a distance, but my butterflies glowed there and usually gave us away before long.
What I’d figured out about The R
ealm was that it really was what you wanted it to be. A devil’s playground. If you wanted to see evil, you saw it. If you wanted to be on a beach, staring at a sunset, you saw it. You never really moved from where you were. It was like a dream; things would change around you, and things that didn’t make sense would happen. It was only when you decided to be a witness that you saw things as others did. Basically, you had to
choose
to share a dream or reality with others.
Madison and I would linger in the darkness and watch the others. What they created was a concert, a massive one, for thousands and thousands of shadowed images. When it was over, when Draven’s scream roared, the shadows would turn to smoke and drift into his guitar – all of the instruments on the stage. When
they brought themselves out of The R
ealm, the shadows were released into the reality of the world, and at that point the healing would begin. The words that needed to be said were said, and the light that needed to come, came.
Half the reason that Madison was looking for folklore on protection was because of that act; we didn’t want any of that
darkness to escape the school.
Madison found lore on herbs that could be used to block sp
i
rits in a room, so the walls of the auditorium were lined in salt, herbs were put into the walls, and incense was burning throughout the room.
If anyone didn’t know any better, they’d think we were some kind of devil worshipers or something. Draven’s dad had the room that they played in sealed off for only us. They never brought the shadows back when construction workers were on site, or when anyone else was for that matter. During the day they’d write music, and after the sun went down the dark concert began.
The entire act left the band exhausted, to say the least, but it kept us on a tight schedule. We were all usually passed out by midnight, then
up again at the crack of dawn.
I knew we couldn’t keep this up much longer. Even though the band was pulling
thousands of shadows out of The R
ealm each day, they didn’t make a dent on that place, not to mention the fact that there were shadows that were already here, ones that needed our help; by not helping them, we were basically ens
uring that they’d end up in The R
ealm eventually.
We were spinning in circles, but honestly, it was all we could do at this point.
While the band’s little concert was going on, Madison and I would hunt Bianca. Th
e first few days, we came close. S
o close. It was the basic war of words and wit. Bianca would manifest images that would make anyone sick to their stomach. We hadn’t been able to find her the last few times we were there; maybe that was why I felt this agonizing foreboding. I didn’t know where she was or what she was up to. I’d rather see my enemies than fear where they may be.
Britain told Madison that she’d moved on, that another source of power had her attention, but that didn’t make us feel any better. We didn’t want her to hurt anyone the way that she’d hurt us, so we continued to look for any sign of her. There
had to be a way to stop her.
I was determined to find it.
“Just looking for an old friend; don’t mind us,” I said to Aden.
“Charlie, let it go. She’s not going to get Draven,” Aden said firmly.
“Yeah, well, I don’t want her to do that to anyone else either. You know she made a sly comment about Monroe’s dad, and now Monroe is having dreams about Daddy Dearest. I hunt her for reasons beyond what she did to Draven. She knows stuff.”
“You think she knows stuff? Is Monroe alright?” Aden asked in a concerned tone.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Did you see a bright light earlier, a few minutes before you got to Wesley’s?” Aden asked.
I nodded as I slowed down a little. We’d reached the sidewalk area of town, and there were other runners out along with dog walkers.
“I did, too, and now they’re all gone again,” Aden said. “Wes saw it, too.”
I looked at Wesley. “Really?”
He nodded. “I didn’t hear anything before it. Glad I didn’t; it looked like it hurt,” Wesley said, looking across me at Aden.
“It was loud,” I confirmed
, remembering what had happened at the edge of my driveway.
“Yeah. I called Draven and them. They saw the light come in from the windows, but they didn’t hear anything because they were in the house; you know Mom blocks stuff like that.”
“Right. Did you ask Madison?”
“Tried. No answer...and now I know why,” Aden said, nodding to the diner window that we were passing.
Madison and Britain were at the table by the glass in what looked l
ike a heated
conversation. I reached across Wesley and knocked on the window. She nodded, then stood. She knew we only had a half a mile or so left on our run, and she was probably ready to hit the books as soon as I was done.
“What did it look like, Wesley?” I asked.
“Like the sun got brighter for a second. I just thought a cloud had moved or something. I was more focused on your bodyguard; he was pretty much on his knees, and Princess was going nuts.”
“Weird,” I mumbled.
Wesley elbowed me, then nodded to a van that had ‘Austin’s Plumbing And Electrical
’ on it. “Pack your bags, girl. H
e’s coming.”
“Maybe he was our light. M
aybe Landen is here or something.”
I mused not noticing that I did so aloud.
Wesley grinned boyishly. “I don’t know about that. I mean, Austin said Landen has been gaining new insights, but making some kind of blinding light appearance isn’t really his thing. He’s very human. I want you to remember that when you meet him. I know you think he’s your answer, but the truth is he may not know how to help you; from what I know of him, though, he’ll find a way,” Wesley said through broken breaths.
“Are you going home?” Aden asked Wesley.
“I’m going to tell him to take you guys first. We’re in no hurry to leave; I kinda like this town,” Wesley said, grinning.
“It won’t be cool without us, though,” Aden teased.
“True, true,” Wesley said as he whistled at Princess to get her to sprint the last block to his house.
“What was Draven worried about last night?” I asked. We were supposed to go out last night, just the two of us, but he canceled on me at the last minute and gave little excuse. He d
idn’t even call; he just sent a
text saying that tomorrow would be a better day for us to be alone. I’m sure he assumed that I’d think he was just in a bad mood or something, but I never assumed anything. Madison and I went to the school, but
they’d left for the night. H
e was at home. From my bedroom, I could see his studio; I saw him and the others arguing. I even thought I’d seen them see their way somewhere, but when I tried to follow, I just found myself in his house. I knew something was going on; something had him more on edge than usual.
Aden shrugged his shoulders. “The only thing he ever worries about is you.”
Whatever. Aden was relentless when it came to keeping his brother out of trouble with me.
“What did he say when you called him about that light this morning?”
“He wanted to know if I was with you and told me to make sure Madison was with you before I went to the school.”
“Why didn’t he call me about it, then?” I asked shortly. “I wouldn’t be so mad about the distance he kept if I knew why.”
“He did.”
I furrowed my eyebrows as I unclipped my phone from my waist. It was frozen; I couldn’t get it off the lock screen. “That’s weird.”
“I told him you looked fine and then took off to catch you.”
I turned my phone off, then sprinted the last few feet to Wesley’s driveway. As I caught my breath, I tried to turn it back on, but I couldn’t get it to work.
“Let me see your phone so I can call him. My phone is acting weird,” I said to Aden.
He handed me his, then took mine to see if he could try to fix it.
Draven answered on the first ring. “You better not have said anything. Tell me she doesn’t know.”
“Know what?” I said shortly as my face blushed with anger and I glared at Aden.
Draven never answered me; instead, he appeared in Wesley’s front yard. He was wearing his favorite holey jeans and a black T-shirt, but he was barefoot and his hair was wet; he looked like he’d literally just gotten out of the shower. What I was looking at wasn’t really all of him. He’d seen his way here, but I’m sure his body was still holding his phone in his room.
“What are you hiding?” I said as my eyes blazed through him.
“Nothing,” he said as he stepped closer to me, holding my stare and locking his jaw in place, obviously trying to remain calm.
I focused on him and asked the question in my mind, trying to see him, but he was blocking me.
“Then stop blocking me,” I demanded.
“Why can’t you see that I’m blocking you to keep you safe?”
Really, Draven. Get a new excuse.
“Why can’t you see that I’m
sick of that? I’m sick of not knowing everything about you
-
- what you’re becoming. If you love me, then we’re one person
-
- and you can’t keep secrets from each other. Your pain is mine.”
“Fine,” he said quietly. “She’s gone.”
“Bianca?”
He nodded once.
That couldn’t be all of it. Rage was in his emerald green eyes.
“That isn’t a news flash, Draven. You know I’ve been hunting her.”
“I mean that she has no interest in us anymore,” he said as he reached for my neck and pulled me closer, his thumb urging my chin up so I could see deeply into his eyes. They turned dark as night, and in that instant I was gone.
In this vision, I found myself in some kind of medieval looking chambers. What I saw was exactly what I’d seen in the first vision I had of Bianca: a man was against the wall, and she was leaning into him and whispering into his ear. I moved to the side to see if I recognized the man, and when I did, my heart hammered out of control and I lost my hold on that vision.
“What...? How...? Was that him? The prince?” I whispered
harshly
to Draven
.
His eyes told me yes.
“We have to do something!
Warn them. That world is dark enough; she can’t have control of it,” I said in a panicky whisper.
“I’ve already done what I can for now.”
“What do you mean?!”
“Last night. After the concert, after everyone had been helped, I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, so we went back. We blended in and just witnessed what was around us. I thought I saw her, so we followed her and ended up in this large estate-looking place. By the time I got there, that guy was way deep, too far for me to help. There was another one, and he was literally falling to the ground when we showed up.”