Elementris, Exposure, Eruption Box set: The Vangeretta Curse Series

by Christina Mobley

  “Yes,” Aunt Avalene said, “Alec has him in a holding cell.”

  “How did he get on the island? How did he find it? Normal people can’t see the island, much less find it.” “The ring.” Ava thought.

  “That’s the big question.” Aunt Avalene paused in front of the prison gate. “We’re trying to keep it quiet until we know what we are going to do.”

  A guard opened the gate for them. “They have him in the back,” he said pointing ahead at the dimly lit stone hallway. A cool breeze skated down it and sent the gaslight flames dancing back and forth.

  Ava felt a sudden chill drop down her spine. The last time she was in the walls of the prison was the night she had come to save Brea and wound up locked up and hopeless herself. It didn’t seem like it had been very long ago. Ava rushed past the cells trying to get rid of the vivid memories from that night. The cells were all pretty full then. Now most of them were empty. A few held the worst of the worst; people born of the Element who had done horrible things.

  Right after being crowned, Ava had worked with the council to release everyone from the prison except the most dangerous. Their memories were wiped and they were dropped off at the closest marina.

  Three of them had found their families and were on the news. After carefully reviewing the footage, the council had concluded that they had no memory of their time on Element Island. Ava was happy to see them find their families again, but she wondered what had happened to the others who had not surfaced. She hated to think what kind of life some of them were forced to return to after such a long time gone.

  The next corner revealed the largest cell in the prison. It was isolated from the other cells and its large front was secured by a double layer of bars that stretched high over their heads. Five stones were placed in the wall that spanned the top of the bars. They were placed there as extra reinforcement against any occupant’s use of their powers. That this cell even existed was a little scary since that the use of any sort of magic within the prison walls had already been blocked. Alec turned as Ava approached the cell. Blake was secured to a chair behind him and he was looking anything but repentant.

  Ava glanced down at his hand as Shawn opened the cell door. Her breath caught as she entered the cell, Aunt Avalene and Nisca right behind her. Ava stared at the ring for a long moment, noticing the intricate detail that had gone into creating the thorny vine design. Her eyes moved to Blake’s face as the cell door clattered shut behind her. He was staring at her and his eyes were lit with excitement.

  “He won’t talk,” Alec said frustrated.

  Ava stepped closer to him, “How did you find the island?”

  Blake smiled up at her, “I knew you were real. I dream about you all the time. I saw you watching me that day. Who exactly are you?”

  Ava felt her face flush blood red. She glanced at Alec and then quickly focused her attention back on Blake “I’ll answer your questions when you answer ours.” She took a cautious step closer “How did you find the island?”

  “It’s a secret.” He said with a crooked smile.

  “You said you saw her watching you?” Alec moved over beside her and stepped partially in front of her.

  “Yeah, a few times.”

  “How?” Ava asked.

  “I told you, it’s a secret. Just so you all know, I prepared before I came here. I have evidence and if I don’t return within forty-eight hours, my assistant will release it to the media.” He smiled at Alec.

  Ava glanced at Alec and noticed the rage pulling the muscles in his face tight around his mouth. “Forty-eight hours? You won’t ever see the outside of these bars again if you don’t start talking. Who told you about this place? How did you know where to look?”

  Ava grabbed his arm, “Calm down, Alec!” Speaking to Blake, she asked, “Does that ring have something to do with it?” Ava pointed at it.

  Blake instinctively moved to cover it. He looked up slowly, staring intently into Ava’s eyes. “In my dreams, you’re always sad. I see it in your eyes every time. If you only knew the way your beautiful face has haunted me. That’s why I kept looking for the ship. I knew you were here somewhere. I knew you were real.”

  Alec suddenly lunged at him.

  Shawn blocked him, using what seemed to be all of his strength to hold Alec back, “Calm down, brother.”

  Alec pointed around Shawn, his words an ice cold blade of anger, “Don’t talk to her like that. I will kill you. Stop looking at her that way.”

  Blake laughed. “I would be crazy with jealousy, too,” he said as he gave her body a long slow look, “if you were mine.”

  Shawn lost his hold on Alec.

  Nisca suddenly dropped to the floor and went into statue mode, this time though her honey-colored eyes were wide open.

  Ava froze as chaos erupted all around her.

  …Lyssa…

  Lyssa gripped Thomas’ hard waist. He rode faster than normal. Since he didn’t appear to have anything to say, Lyssa watched the early morning sunrise burst into small rays as it filtered through the trees and above the houses as they rode. “It’s going to be hard to get away from him,” she thought, “and there is Zack to deal with.”

  As they parked in the school parking lot and began walking inside she felt as if her nerves were bouncing with electricity. She glanced up at Thomas and he gave her a little smile. She looked away quickly as they walked into first period. She couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for what she was about to do. There was something about him that calmed her and excited her at the same time. She watched him as he took the seat next to her. She noticed the way his dark eyes sparkled under the fluorescent lights and the way his black lashes brushed the tops of his cheeks. His dark complexion and large build looked good, even in the dorky, plain-looking, Mercanny uniform.

  He looked over and locked eyes with her. She felt her blood rush through her veins and that excited but anxious feeling she got just before using her element rose up in her chest. Her breath caught in her throat as he tilted his head to one side and smiled at her.

  “Morning, class,” her first period teacher bellowed as he entered the room. He walked to the desk and set his briefcase on the left side of the desk as he always did. He looked around the room and his gaze landed on Lyssa. He sighed loudly, “What are you doing here, Ms. Relic?”

  Lyssa felt her face flush red, “Um, I,” she leaned forward slightly, “I’m supposed to be here…?”

  “No, you’re not,” he said firmly. “The principal said you were to report to his office at once if you arrived on campus.”

  “Um, okay.” Lyssa rose and pulled her bag over her shoulder. Everybody was staring at her and she felt the full force of their stares as she exited the room. She glanced at Thomas and walked to the door.

  “Where are you going, Mr. Smith?” She heard the teacher say behind her.

  “To the bathroom.” His deep, sexy, voice carried across the entire room.

  “I don’t think so. Have a seat.”

  Lyssa glanced back at Thomas. He gave her a small nod as he eased back into his chair.

  She took it as, “Go ahead, I’ll find a way out of here if you need me.”

  The principal was in the outer office when she entered. His wrinkled face seemed to shrivel even more at the sight of her, “Ms. Relic. This way please.”

  She followed him to his office.

  He took a seat behind his large glossy desk and placed his hands, one on top of the other, on the desk. “We tried to reach your stepmother yesterday afternoon. She was supposed to come in to my office and speak to me after she picked you up. She didn’t,” he said in an agitated tone. “As you know, Ms. Relic, we do not tolerate fighting at Mercanny. You will be placed on a two-week suspension and this will go on your permanent record. There is also the possibility that you may face criminal proceedings if Amber’s family decides to press charges.”

  “But, I, she hit me first! Look at my eye. What about her? Four of them jumped me! W
hat was I supposed to do?”

  “You were supposed to report it to the office.”

  “Yeah, I should have excused myself from the fight to go to the office. Dumb ass!” Lyssa bit her lip to keep from saying something really bad.

  He continued, “The school has already received enough bad publicity with your shenanigans on the news, now we get to add a hurt child to that list. We went out of our way to accommodate you even though you did such a devious thing. The board wanted to expel you from the school. The only reason we didn’t is because your father was such a well thought of man in this town and a good friend of mine when we were younger. I know that you have been though a lot since your father’s death and I let a lot slide because of that. I even allowed you back in school when you stole Ms. Ramsey’s car and spray-painted that billboard in town. You were very lucky to only wind up with probation and community service for that. This time, however, you have just gone too far. Mercanny cannot afford any more embarrassment because of your behavior. You know our motto: Mercanny students carry Mercanny with them wherever they go. This is a light sentence compared to what everyone on the board wanted. This is the very last time I will go to bat for you. I know you don’t have the resources to attend another school, but this is it. One more infraction and I will have no choice but to expel you for the rest of the school year, with ‘no return’ stamped on your permanent record.”

  Lyssa shoulders slumped as she listened to the list of problems she had caused over the last seven months. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  The principal stood up, his chair scraping loudly behind him, “Go home, Lyssa, and stay out of trouble! I will see you back here with a new attitude in two weeks.”

  “Yes, sir,” she managed to say without allowing the tears burning her eyes to cascade shamefully down her cheeks.

  As she walked out of the office, she felt the heavy stare of the office assistant and the janitor. She took a breath letting the tears fall as the door shut behind her. She hurried across the parking lot as the tears rained down her cheeks.

  “Wait up, Lys!” Zack shouted behind her.

  She stopped without turning around, feeling the world shake beneath her feet.

  He caught up to her, “Hey, I heard. My mom told me they were suspending you.”

  Lyssa whirled around and wiped the tears from her face with the back side of her hands. “Who cares!?!”

  “It’s not right. I told mom you got jumped by those girls.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” she shrugged. “Are we still going today?”

  “Yeah, definitely.” He looked around, “Where’s the babysitter?”

  “He’s stuck in class.” She pushed the pain down hard, “If we’re going, we better go now.”

  Zack smiled and took her hand, “Come on then, let’s get out of here before he gets out of class and starts looking for you.”

  They ran to Zack’s truck. He started it and they took off, heading towards the address on the back of the envelope that contained the letter from her mother. Lyssa was relieved that Zack didn’t seem to be mad at her anymore. Maybe he realized their friendship was too great to risk for a kiss.

  After a short drive down to the local bank, Lyssa found herself standing in front of a lock box holding a key. The key her mother had left in the envelope; a key that might open a box that held the truth, or a way to reach this woman and find out why she did what she did.

  Lyssa stuck the key in and unlocked the small rectangular box. She carefully opened the lid and found a single piece of paper. As she pulled it out, her hands shook. “Call me” was written across the top of a number. She dumped the box upside down, finding nothing else inside.

  She walked out of the little room and met Zack in the lobby where he was waiting patiently for her. They didn’t share a word until they were safely outside.

  Zack took a breath, “So, what was it?”

  “Just a number,” Lyssa examined it closer. The same curvy writing that was on the envelope scrolled out ten digits on a simple piece of notebook paper.

  “What’s with all the covert stuff? Secret keys and mysterious numbers...”

  Lyssa shrugged, “I don’t know, it’s weird.”

  “Let’s call,” he said, pulling his cell phone from his back pocket. “Here.”

  Lyssa took it and carefully pressed each number and put the phone to her ear. It rang once, twice, and then a woman answered, “I knew you would call,” she said.

  Lyssa froze for a moment, just breathing into the phone. The voice had a fragment of familiarity in it.

  Zack stood in front of her, eyes wide and hands up, “Talk,” he whispered.

  Lyssa cleared her dry throat, “Um, I just got the letter.”

  “Do you want to meet me?” the soft, distantly familiar voice asked.

  “Yes, but uh, what’s with all this covert stuff?”

  “I’ll explain everything when you get here. Do you have something to write with?”

  “Um, yeah,” Lyssa unzipped her bag and grabbed a notepad and pen. “I’m ready,” her voice shook.

  “415 Mason Drive, Apartment Six. I’m on the third floor.”

  “In town?”

  “Yes, the Riverside Apartments on the west side of town.”

  “Okay,” Lyssa said.

  “Okay.” Click. The phone cut off.

  Lyssa held the phone out in front of her and just stared at it until Zack took it from her hand and closed it.

  …Ava…

  “Nisca, are you okay?” Ava said frantically. The shock of seeing Nisca fall had distracted Alec and he was crouched over her now. Everyone in the room seemed frozen as their attention focused on Nisca.

  Her small frame shook uncontrollably and it was Aunt Avalene who stayed calm and told Alec and Shawn to pick her up and place her on the cot in the cell.

  Even Blake sat dead silent, completely still, the concern evident on his face.

  The shaking finally stopped and Nisca’s eyes fluttered open. She focused on Ava and then she sat up and looked at Blake.

  “Are you okay?” Ava leaned forward so Nisca could see her.

  “Yes,” Nisca got to her feet. “I have to go.” She looked at Ava and then hurried to the cell door. Shawn unlocked it for her. She looked over her shoulder at Blake again and rushed out of the cell.

  “What’s with her?” Alec asked, baffled; any trace of anger gone now.

  “I don’t know,” Ava said. “Ask Aunt Avalene; she won’t tell me.”

  Aunt Avalene looked at Ava with a look that made Ava feel like a pouty teenager.

  “She has seizures. I’ll go talk to her; she’s probably embarrassed,” Ava said.

  “What do you want me to do about him?” Alec said, once again glaring at Blake.

  Ava looked back at him. “I don’t know yet. Let him sit here for tonight. I’ll figure out what to do tomorrow.”

  Alec smiled. “Sounds good to me,” he said, and they all followed Ava out of the cell.

  Ava hurried up to Nisca’s room only to find the door shut and locked. She knocked twice, “Nisca, it’s me.”

  “I’ll be out in a little bit.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m fine.”

  Ava hesitated outside the door a moment longer, concerned, and then turned to go to her room. She opened the door to find Brea sitting on the edge of the bed. She had a notebook clutched in her lap, “Don’t get mad, okay?” she looked up with her wide hazel eyes. “I didn’t just go take one.”

  “Is that what I think that is?” Ava stepped closer, shocked.

  “Yeah, it is, but I didn’t take it from her room. I found it in my room,” Brea said.

  “Brea?” Ava said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

  “Ava, I swear! I found it in my room in an old box in the closet.”

  “Did you look at it?” Ava asked.

  Brea shook her head, “Not yet, I was waiting for you.”

  Ava leaned closer, “Do
you think we should?”

  Brea shrugged, “Well, we don’t even know for sure it’s hers. It could be anyone’s. We have to look to know who it belongs to.”

  “You really didn’t look yet?”

  “No,” Brea shook her head, “I promise, cross my heart.”

  Ava slid next to her, giving a silent nod.

  Brea looked down and opened the notebook. It was dusty and the pages looked a little weathered. She began to read, her tone muted. “Today at four p.m., I found the True Elementris pacing the floor. She has a lot on her mind and a lot on her plate with the upcoming challenge. She doesn’t know about the challenge yet, of course. I wish I had a way to help her. I want to tell her what I saw, but it might make it harder on her. I sense evil in the woman who will soon be here to announce her intent to challenge her. She’s my best friend. I wish I knew what to do. I wish I knew what I have been seeing is a certainty or that I could see the outcome of the battle before I tell her.”

  Brea looked at Ava, flipped through the book towards the end, and began to read again, “I should have told her. I should have warned her. Poor, sweet Joyce Ann found her there, like that. I know that Lareina killed her. I just know it, although I could never share that with anyone else without revealing myself as well.”

  “This is not Nisca’s diary, Brea!” Ava said breathlessly.

  “Whose is it?”

  “I think this was her mothers. My grandmother, Nadia, was killed in her sleep by Lareina. Nisca’s mother was Nadia’s assistant when she ruled. And she was talking about my mom, Joyce Ann.”

  “How did she know all that?” Brea wondered aloud. “What was she talking about? She knew that someone evil was coming to challenge your grandmother before she knew it. She said she saw it.”

  “If this belongs to Nisca’s mother…”

  “It was my mother’s!” Nisca’s voice came in a sharp whisper from across the room.

  They both jumped guiltily.

  Nisca looked at them warily, her eyes wide, “Where did you get that?”

  Brea shook her head, “I found it.”

  “In her room,” Ava said, mortified.