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

by Christina Mobley

  Ava skimmed over it quickly and sighed, “I feel kind of weird giving a speech at Shelby Ross’ memorial. It feels wrong.”

  Nisca nodded, “People are starting to freak out though. You have to calm them down.”

  “I know.”

  Brea took a sip of her drink, “When is the memorial?”

  “The day after tomorrow,” Nisca said. “They’re building a platform for her now.”

  Ava nodded and they all ate silently.

  After they finished eating, Brea declared her intention to take a nap, and Ava and Nisca went up to Ava’s room. Nisca went over the schedule for the next day. People were slowly arriving each day; tomorrow Ava would be welcoming another group that was scheduled to arrive on the island.

  When they finished, Ava looked at Nisca. It was time for some answers. “So, what we talked about, what you can do…,” she glanced at the mirror hiding the pocket door, “Can we talk?”

  “Sure,” Nisca answered. She moved to the mirror and opened the door, “Come on.”

  Ava followed her through and when they were both in the small room, she asked, “Have you had any visions about Blake Sanders?”

  “Blake Sanders?” Nisca asked, opening her notebook, “A few small things, I’ve been trying to understand what it means.”

  “Maybe you should tell me what you’ve seen and then we can figure it out together.”

  Nisca flipped through the notebook, and paused, “You’re worried about the curse aren’t you?”

  “You know about the curse?”

  Nisca nodded, “Yeah, my mother told me the legend.”

  “Do you think it’s true?” Ava stepped closer to her.

  “I don’t know.” Nisca cleared her throat, “The first vision I had was a few days before I told you about my visions. The time when your Aunt Avalene was in the guest room. I saw you standing on your balcony and I saw the ring.” She looked up, “At the time I had no idea what it meant.” Nisca looked unsure, still not comfortable sharing her visions. She cleared her throat again and flipped a few pages. “The next one was the very next day. I saw gauges and a map of the ocean, with a big red circle drawn around the area where the island is. I assume now that was because he was looking for the island.” She flipped a few more pages. “The last one was the one I had in Blake Sanders’ cell, the real bad one. “ She paused, then continued, “I wrote down everything I could remember as soon as I got back. I saw broken boards lying under the ocean. A shark circled the area, then it flashed to a hand that wasn’t mine brushing the sand on the bottom of the ocean. The hand pulled a book out and then I felt a horrible pain in my throat. I couldn’t breathe. I saw Alec’s face and everything went black.”

  “Alec’s face?”

  “Yes. I was afraid of him. I am positive those three visions relate to Blake Sanders. I just don’t know what it all means. The part about the ring has already come true. I don’t understand the rest yet. Hopefully I will have another vision that helps me put it all together.”

  Ava nodded feeling really sick. She had to fix all of this somehow. She couldn’t even think about losing Alec. She took a moment to let her stomach calm. “Are there any other visions I should know about?”

  Nisca looked down at her book and snapped it shut. She walked slowly over to Ava and touched her shoulder, “No, nothing that I need to tell you just yet.” She paused, “You have something wonderful coming in your future, so don’t let all of this bother you. It must all work out somehow,” she said as she prepared to leave.

  Ava stood, still feeling slightly sick, “Thank you, Nisca.” She walked through the door, “If you get another vision, or figure out what that last one means, will you let me know?”

  “Of course,” Nisca said with a smile. “You should get some rest, Ava.” She said as she closed the door.

  Ava stood still for a moment and then walked over to her dresser. She opened the small lock box and looked down at the vine-shaped ring. She picked it up and twisted it around in her fingers as she thought about Nisca’s visions and what they might mean. “Would they be exposed? Would Blake Sanders die? Is the curse real? Would Alec die?” She shook as she looked back down at the ring in her palm. “Where did this ring come from? Who had the power to make such a thing?” she wondered. Feeling really tired and confused, she decided to take Nisca’s advice and lie down for a little while.

  …Lyssa…

  Lyssa pushed the bike to go as fast as she dared. “Maybe I got lucky,” she thought. Thomas was really tired. She stopped at a stop sign, waited for a moment, and then turned. After she made the turn, she noticed a black car in her rearview that seemed to be coming up fast. She tried to go a little faster as it came up behind her, but the car just kept coming closer and closer to her. She slowed and pulled all the way to the right of the road thinking that it would go around but it made no move to do so. She rode to the right side for a while but it still didn’t go around. She pulled back out to the middle and pressed the throttle a little harder. The car accelerated and stayed right on her rear.

  Aggravated, Lyssa waved the car around with her hand, almost losing control of the bike.

  The car pulled up like it was finally going to go around. Instead it pulled up beside her and the back window rolled down. A crooked smile surrounded by short blonde hair appeared in the window, “Hello, Lyssa.”

  Lyssa slowed the bike, “Dana?”

  Dana signaled the driver to pull over, “I came to get you for Mr. Veren.” She smiled, “He would very much like to speak with you.”

  “Mr. Veren?” Lyssa tried to pay attention to the road as she tried to ride alongside the car and look at Dana at the same time, “He sent you to get me?”

  “He did, he wants to finish up so the mortgage can be taken care of.”

  “Oh,” Lyssa slowed to a stop and got off the bike, “I, uh, I’m not sure what I’m doing yet Dana.”

  “Don’t worry,” Dana said sweetly, “He just wants to talk to you. I promise to have you back fast.” She opened the car door, “He only lives right up the way.”

  Lyssa paused, looking back and forth. She felt a small panicky feeling bubble inside her and rise up “I still have another day to decide, right?”

  “Actually, he is expecting you at twelve today. I told you that.”

  “Oh,” Lyssa looked around, wishing that Thomas was with her, “Dana, you made that deal, I can’t tell him the things he wants me to. It would be a betrayal of someone I care a lot about.”

  “Really,” anger flashed across Dana’s face. “Let me give you some advice, Lyssa,” she said, “backing out of a deal with someone as powerful as Mr. Veren is not a good idea.” She stepped out of the car, “Why don’t you just come with me and talk to him? No harm,” she smiled, holding the door open for her.

  Lyssa took a deep breath and, keeping a hand on the bike, said, “No, I’m not going.”

  A man climbed out of the car. He was big, wearing an all-black suit like the CIA or something. He walked around the car, his eyes dark and his hands clenched at his sides; he towered over Dana.

  Lyssa watched him as he folded his arms and stared at her.

  Dana eyed her, “Just get in the car, Lyssa.” She motioned towards the open car door, “Mr. Veren does not like to be disappointed.”

  The man took a step closer.

  Lyssa tensed.

  “Get on the bike, Lyssa!” Thomas’s voice suddenly boomed from down the street

  All three of them turned to look at him.

  He appeared calm as he approached. Only someone who knew him well would know just how angry he was.

  Dana raised one pencil thin brow, “Who the hell are you?”

  Thomas smiled, “Ma’am, the best advice I can give you is that you should get back in your car and drive away.”

  An amused smile flashed across Dana’s face. She looked over at the big man to her right and said, “Get him, Jake!”

  The huge man lunged at Thomas. He was twice Thomas�
�� size and that was saying something.

  Thomas stepped to the side. He turned, and in what seemed like a lightning-fast move, had his attacker’s head in his hands and was shoving it towards the ground while swinging his knee up at the same time. Thomas' knee crashed into Jake’s face with such force that blood stained his dark jeans and dotted the ground beneath them.

  Jake fell to his knees, holding his face in his hands. He shook his head and enraged, he let out a yell that sounded more animal than human. He jumped back to his feet and lunged at Thomas with such power-fueled rage that Lyssa was terrified that Thomas would be killed. She bit her lip so hard that a small dot of blood colored her otherwise colorless lips. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t make a sound.

  Thomas stopped Jake’s forward momentum with a well-paced shoulder to the chest that knocked him to the ground. Jumping on top of him, Thomas pinned his arms down with his knees and began to pound his face with his fists.

  Thomas’ opponent was too well trained to stay down long though. Taking advantage of being on the ground, Jake used his considerable bulk to throw Thomas off of him. Thomas rolled, then scrambled to his knees, and the battle was on as each grappled to get control of the other. Blood sprinkled the ground around them as they each took blow after blow.

  “Come on!” Dana moved closer to Lyssa and tried to grab her arm.

  Lyssa pulled back and stared her down, “Don’t touch me!” She shook her head “It was all a trick, wasn’t it? You never cared about me. You sold me out, literally, didn’t you?”

  “Believe what you want.” Dana turned as if she was going to get back into the car, and then quickly whirled around and grabbed Lyssa by the hair, dragging her towards the car.

  Lyssa struggled to keep her feet under her and planted her hands on either side of the car door when Dana tried to force her inside. She quickly dropped down under Dana’s arms to break her hold and took a step back to get her balance.

  Then, remembering what Thomas had taught her, she squared her feet and swung her arm. Her fist landed right between Dana’s eyes.

  Dana stumbled back, instantly bringing her hands up to her nose. “You ungrateful…” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of strange gray dust and lifted it to her lips.

  Thomas appeared beside Lyssa suddenly. “Let’s go! Get on the bike!” he said urgently.

  Lyssa didn’t hesitate. She had never seen Thomas so freaked out and it scared the hell out of her. She moved. She looked back as Thomas took off.

  Jake had struggled to his feet and ran to the car. He reached in and when he stood up, he had a gun. He was a little unsteady. As he brought his hand up to steady his aim, Thomas darted onto a side road and pushed the bike as hard as it would go.

  The sound of a shot echoed behind them and the sound of squealing tires followed soon after.

  Thomas pushed the bike harder; the wind pushed her hair back and caused the bottom of her shirt to flap against her back.

  She looked behind them seeing the black car growing smaller and smaller as Thomas sped ahead. Lyssa let out a breath and laid her cheek against his back. She could feel his heartbeat pounding against her hands as she held on tightly.

  They rode for over two hours without a word being spoken between them. Thomas turned onto a narrow dirt road. The trees flew by, and finally gave way to reveal a beautiful lake with a small boat ramp and a few picnic tables. Thomas slowed as they approached a shaded area.

  Lyssa lifted her head to look around, “Where are we?”

  “Just a lake,” Thomas said as he stopped the bike and helped her off.

  Lyssa looked up at him, trying to judge his ever calm face. “Is he mad at me? It’s not like I knew Dana would do that.” She looked at the lake. The breeze created ripples across the dark blue water and the sun brightened the white sand on the bank. Not one other person seemed to be around, “Why did we come here?”

  “To throw everything out on the table. We have to work this all out.” He leaned against the old wooden picnic table behind him, “I know I’m not good with words, but I can’t have you running off and keeping secrets from me. I know you’re not happy about the whole joining the Clutch thing. We can figure out something else, if you want.”

  Lyssa stood silently for a moment, her mind spinning . “First, I didn’t know that Dana would do that. Second, I had to sneak away. You wouldn’t understand why.”

  “I do, actually. I know you’ve been sneaking off to meet your birth mother, that’s why I kept my distance.”

  “You spied on me?”

  “No, I did my job. I kept my distance like I said. I followed you to the apartment and waited down the street.”

  “So you followed me?”

  “That’s my job, and not exactly. I sent Lymp to watch out for you the first time and a cat the second.”

  Lyssa paused, “So what did they say, your little animal friends?”

  “They didn’t say anything, they simply alerted me to your location and led me back there.” He paused, looking into her eyes, “This don’t have to be an argument, Lyssa. Let’s just talk it out and then we can figure out what to do.”

  “Fine,” she said. Then, noticing her tone, “Whatever,” she said less snidely. “So, you know why I snuck off?”

  “What about the Clutch?” He crossed his arms, obviously trying to change the subject. “Is that what you want to do?”

  “I don’t know.” She looked around and then turned back to him, “I’ll worry about that later. Right now the only thing I want to know is why, Thomas?”

  “Why, what?”

  “Why you keep treating me like I’m some screwed-up little girl. I’m not. I’m ten times stronger than you think I am.”

  He blew out a breath, “It’s not you, Lyssa. It’s me.”

  “Really?” she shook her head, “You’re going to give me that crap?” She looked away from him and then looked back, her heart pounding, “If you have a girlfriend or if I’m reading your signals wrong, just tell me.”

  “I don’t have a girlfriend,” he paused, a pained look in his eyes. “I have feelings for somebody else.” He looked away.

  “Who?” she asked. “Somebody on the island?”

  “He paused for a moment, not meeting her eyes, “Yeah.”

  “Okay,” she suddenly felt drained.

  He cleared his throat uncomfortably, “Look, I don’t want to be the reason you decide to join the Clutch. I know I backed you into a corner, but if you really don’t want to join, I’ll ask them to send somebody else back with you and put in a request for reassignment.”

  Lyssa looked at the ground as she thought about whether she really wanted to join the Clutch or not. She thought about everything the council had said and what Thomas had just said. “I do, Thomas.” She looked up, “I don’t think I would have had the guts to realize it if you hadn’t backed me into a corner. I want to save my father’s house, but after what happened today I know that staying here will not do anything to help me accomplish that.”

  He nodded, “Okay, good then. I think it’s your best bet. As a friend who has come to care about your safety, it will make me feel a lot better.”

  “As a friend,” she shook her head and felt her face flush. “Okay then, what do we do now?”

  “We go back and get your things, head to the island, and we let them know what just happened. They can assign a team to figure out who these people are, and whether your stepmother is somebody we need to worry about. Maybe she’s just doing it for the money.”

  “I can guarantee it’s all about the money,” she took a breath. “I have to tell Zack though, our birthday is in a month and he’s not going to be happy about the Clutch thing.”

  “Why don’t you invite him to come to the island? That’s where most people go to accept their gift, anyway. I’m sure he has already begun to feel the island’s draw the same way you have.”

  “Yeah, probably.” She felt as though the world was spinning away fr
om her and there was no controlling her own life anymore. It was just happening while she was left barely holding on. She’d told Thomas that she was strong, but even she had really had no idea just how strong she was until she’d had to stand there and listen to him tell her that he loved someone else while she showed no reaction at all.

  The ride back to the house seemed shorter than the ride to the lake. Lyssa wasn’t sure if it was because he took a longer route the first time to lose the black car, or if it was because her brain seemed to be going ninety-to-nothing as they drove.

  They came into town and she could feel Thomas tense as he looked back and forth watching for any sign of the black car.

  He turned into Lyssa’s driveway and suddenly she smelled a horrible, terrifying smell… “Fire!?!”

  …Ava…

  Ava woke up late that afternoon with Brea sitting on the edge of her bed. She sat up slowly, blinking at the bright sun light that poured in through the balcony doors. “What time is it?”

  “Almost four.” Brea stood up, “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” Ava slipped off the bed, “I was just really tired.”

  “I came to wake you up so we could watch the divers.”

  “The divers?” she repeated, feeling fuzzy from her nap.

  “Yeah,” Brea walked towards the balcony. “The divers are getting ready to go down to look at the ship. Everyone is talking about it and I thought you would want to watch.”

  “Yeah,” Ava joined her at the balcony doors just as Brea pulled them open.

  “Do you think they will find anything?”

  “I don’t know,” Ava said, stepping out. “Honestly, I’m scared about what we will find.”

  “Why?” Brea looked over at her.

  Ava sighed, “Because whatever they find down there could change everything.”

  …Lyssa…

  Lyssa scambled off the bike, screaming. She was seeing the worst thing she could ever have imagined happening right before her eyes. Her home was fully engulfed in flames. She ran towards it, imagining her father and mother screaming with her as their treasured home burned. The only place Lyssa had ever felt safe and happy was gone; all their things, all of hers, floating away in the black smoke.