“I can’t answer that,” Alex says. “Like the Foreseers, the Keepers have certain things they have to keep to themselves.”
“Yes, but there are also laws we’re all supposed to follow and the law states that if a person is able to use the crystal ball to see a vision, then they have to be trained in the City of Crystal by the Foreseers.” His mouth sags and on his expressionless face, it looks alarming. “If Gemma doesn’t stay here, then she could alter the future by accident. Or get trapped inside a vision if she tries to enter one again. Untrained Foreseers are very dangerous.”
My heart races inside my chest. He’s going to make me stay.
“I understand that. I really do,” Alex reassures him, stroking the back of my hand. “But there has to be something we can work out.”
Dyvinius considers this, running his thin fingers along the jewel patterns on the armrest. “Hmmm… like, maybe a bargain?” A dark look arises on his face and his grin is very Cheshire Cat. “Perhaps we can work something out. If you make a promise that she will never use a crystal ball again until she is properly trained, then I don’t see why I can’t let her go back with the Keepers for a while.” He pauses. “Of course, after it’s all done, she’ll have to come back to get trained. Otherwise, I’ll have to have her make the promise, but I have a feeling you’d rather do that.”
Sensing something is wrong, I yank on Alex’s arm. “Alex, what will happen if you make the promise?”
He moves his hand away from mine. “I guess a promise can be arranged by me,” Alex says through clenched teeth.
“Very good.” Dyvinius beams, gesturing his hands at the palace land behind us. “You understand that you’re making a promise and that there are consequences if you break the promise?”
Alex nods slowly. “Yeah, I understand how it all works.”
Dyvinius leans forward in the throne and looks like a greedy little thief with hunger in his eyes. “Then I need you to say the words out loud.”
I try to grab Alex’s arm to stop him, but he wrenches it away. “I promise.”
I feel something break, like a crack in the sky, and I know that somehow he will be paying for making the promise. I want to hug him for it and hit him at the same time.
Dyvinius relaxes back on the throne. “Now that that’s been taken care of, I just need Gemma to read the vision correctly and then I’ll let both of you return to the human world.”
I cross my arms and move out from behind Alex, shooting him a quick questioning glance, but he avoids eye contact. “I don’t know how to do that.”
Dyvinius responds, “Well, I’m guessing that when you went in the vision, either some clips were missing, or things might have been blurry.”
“Yeah,” I reply. “I could see what was going on, but I couldn’t tell who anyone was because their faces were too blurry.”
“That’s good, though. It will make it a little easier for you to correct because all you will have to do is put their faces together,” Dyvinius explains. “It’s when events are missing when things become a problem.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain how I’m supposed to put their faces together,” I say, deflated. Going back into the vision is one of the last things I want to do because I don’t want to witness the woman drowning all over again. It was too painful the first time.
“You go back and read the vision again.” Dyvinius looks at Nicholas who’s sitting at the edge of the podium. “And Nicholas will go in and help you.”
Nicholas rises to his feet with a sly smirk on his face. “It’d be my pleasure.” He winks at me and I glare in return.
This is all wrong. Not only do I have to go back into the horrifying vision, but I have to go in with the assistance of a foreseer/faerie/creepy pervert.
Dyvinius snaps his fingers and the chubby little man from earlier scurries out from behind the throne. He’s carrying a crystal ball with violet ribbons swirling in the glass and it looks very similar to the one back at Adessa’s. He places the ball in Dyvinius’s hands and bows his head before scampering back behind the throne.
Dyvinius extends the crystal ball toward me with his fingers wrapped around the smooth glass. “Whenever you’re ready, Gemma.”
Sucking in a breath, I stride up to the podium and stop just short of the foot of the throne. I peer down at the crystal, seeing nothing but ribbons and the reflection of my violet eyes. “I just place my hand on it?”
“To start with.” Dyvinius motions at Nicholas. “Get over here and take her hand.”
Nicholas zealously snatches my hand and it takes a lot of effort not to cringe. “Orders are orders.”
“Gemma, close your eyes and picture the vision you saw,” Dyvinius instructs. “Then hold the picture in your mind while you place your hand on the crystal.”
Ready to get this over with, I shut my eyes and focus on the eerie lake full of painful memories. I picture the grey stoned castle with peaking towers, where the children are forced to go. I picture the trees and autumn leaves that blow from the wind as the woman drowns. I let my fingertips skim the glass and then I’m jerked forward and my body ruptures into pieces before raining into the tunnel made of light.
Chapter 19
I drop out of the sky, like a bird with a broken wing, with no control over my landing. My feet crash into the ground and sink into the dirt. I trip forward, my knees bending, and roll my ankle to the side.
I hop forward, trying to shake it off. “One of these times, I’m going to break apart.”
“Are you alright?” Nicholas settles beside me and swiftly grabs ahold of my hand.
I tug my hand out of his and put weight on my sore ankle. Traveling by crystal is going to end up killing me with all the injuries I’ve been getting. “I’m fine. I’m just not very good at landing.”
“You’ll get the hang of it, eventually,” he says. “In fact, I could give you private lessons.”
I shake my head and hobble forward toward the lake that’s rippling in the soft breeze. “No, thanks.” I shield my eyes and turn in a circle, taking in the green grass, the leaves dancing across the land and the castle looming in the distance. “So, what do I do now?”
“You wait until the vision starts.” His sneakers scuff the dirt as he hurries to my side. “You’ll have to tell me when it does, though, so I can help you see it clearly.”
“You can’t see when it starts?”
“It’s your vision, so only you can see it. That’s the way things work.”
I motion at the trees around the lake. “What does this look like to you?”
His shoulder presses against mine and the scent of lilacs, forest and rain invade my nostrils. “Everything looks grey,” he breathes. “There’s a little haze and color here and there, but most of it is distorted.”
I’m about to knee him in the leg to get him to back off when a streak of purple whizzes by us. The little girl dances and spins in the sand near the lake, her long, brown hair blowing in the wind.
“Okay, it’s starting.” I move away from Nicholas and hike toward the shore.
“What do you see?” he calls out.
“A girl dancing in front of a lake.”
“Can you see her face?”
I shake my head. “It’s as blurry as it was the first time I saw the vision.”
“Then you need to focus harder,” he says simply, trailing behind me.
Like it’s that simple. I glance over my shoulder at him. “Focus harder on what? The images?”
He gives me a look that puts me on edge and then he struts up behind me. His fingers enfold around my upper arms and I start to step forward, but he lures me back. “Right now, your mind is trying to adjust to the power of the crystal, but it can’t quite figure out how to get completely there. The first thing you need to do is relax.”
I try to overlook the flowery aroma and focus on relaxing. My mind searches for something that will make me calm. Laylen’s face appears in my head, but then it shifts to Alex. B
ut Alex doesn’t make me calm. At all. He makes me uneasy, irrational and just plain insane. At the moment, though, seeing his green eyes settles my unstable pulse so I latch onto the image of him. “Okay, I’m relaxed.”
“Good, now let your mind focus. The images are already in your head, but you haven’t connected them to what you’re seeing yet.” His fingers creep up to my shoulders like little spiders. “Have you ever looked at one of those magic eye pictures before?”
My shoulders stiffen under his touch. “Uh, yeah, I think so? In school, once, when I was a kid.”
“This is kind of like looking at one of those.” He begins to massage circles on my skin. “Relax your eyes and let your mind make sense of the images.”
Jerking my shoulders upward, I shrug off his hands and concentrate on the images. The boy has raced up to the girl and is guiding her away from the lake. Their faces are hazy, so I hold onto the image of Alex and it relaxes my eyes and unwinds my body. A tunnel starts to form and the trees and lake begin to blur into colors and shapeless images. Slowly, the girl’s face alters like a lens on a camera. It’s coming into focus—
The man strides up the hills toward the shoreline and darkness sweeps across the land. The calm drains from my body and smothers my concentration with it.
“Shit,” I mutter.
“What’s wrong?” Nicholas asks.
“I almost had it and then this man appeared and he ruined my concentration.”
“Don’t look at him then. Try to pretend he’s not there.”
Easier said than done. I know what the man does—how evil he is. I return my line of concentration to the boy and cling onto the image of Alex again. The tunnel gradually shapes into a tornado, swirling around until it peaks at the bottom. The boy’s features began to surface through the haze, but before I can link the image to my mind, the tunnel snaps back as the woman sprints up to the man.
“What happens if I can’t do it?” I ask with discouragement. “Then, what am I supposed to do?”
“You can do it,” he insists, still hovering over my shoulder. “All you have to do is catch a glimpse of each of their faces and, in the end; your mind will connect the pieces together.”
“And what if I can’t see all of their faces before the vision ends?”
He lets out a hushed chuckle. “Then I guess I’ll have to keep you down here until you do.”
Determination washes away my discouragement and I avert my attention back to the vision. The boy is heading back to the castle. Shoving anything related to stress out of my head, I relax and the tunnel develops again. Bits and pieces shift like a puzzle being put together and the haze begins to fade away. He has green eyes that match the leaves and grass, brown hair, and a sad look on his face. What a minute. That can’t be… no there’s no way.
As he disappears into the castle, I fling my concentration to the man, who is yanking the girl from the woman’s arms. I focus on nothing else, except piecing together the girl’s face. My head is pounding, but I refuse to look away. Seconds later, the tunnel spins and the blurriness crumples.
My jaw drops to the ground. Her eyes… The color… Violet. “It can’t be,” I mutter, slowly walking towards them. “It’s not possible.”
But no matter how many times I blink, she looks the same and a painful revelation slams against my chest. The girl is me. It makes no sense, though. I can’t remember this happening. Besides I thought I was supposed to see the future, not the past.
The woman—my mother, starts to back down the hill to the lake, and I will my legs to move and chase after her. Suddenly solving the vision is much more important than anything else in my life.
“Hey! Where are you going?!” Nicholas shouts after me.
The tunnel zooms onto my mother’s face; bright blue irises, a warm smile, snow-white skin. I think of the picture I found. As beautiful as she was in the picture, she’s a hundred times more beautiful in person. It’s all making sense now, pieces connecting, and the weight of it sends me to my knees.
Tears stream down my cheeks as I watch her get dragged beneath the water and the man leaves her, walking back up the hill. He has a sickening grin on his face, a scar on his cheek and hair as dark as the night sky. I grab onto every little detail I can. I hate this man, and I have to figure out who he is. I hate him with so much passion that it makes everything else inside me numb. I will kill him one day, like he killed my mom—I will make him pay.
“What the heck happened? What did you see?” Nicholas asks as the image of the man fades into the grass.
“Nothing.” I suck back the tears and stare out at the dark, still water. “It wasn’t important.”
“It had to be something important since you’re all worked up.”
“I’m fine,” I tell him and get my feet under me. “But can you answer one question?”
His mouth turns upward into a pleased grin. “Sure.”
“Is it possible to see a vision that takes place in the past?”
“Yeah, but it’s not very common, since there really isn’t much point in seeing the past,” He pauses, contemplating. “So I’m guessing your vision took place in the past?”
“Yeah, I think so….” I trail off, recollecting everything I’ve seen and how much it hurts, deep inside my chest. “Can we just go back now? The vision’s over.”
He eyes me over with his golden eyes. “I know it is. I can see everything now that the vision is complete. It’s a beautiful place, by the way. Well, minus the Keepers’ castle.”
“This is the Keepers’ castle?” Alex had mentioned that the lake was the entrance to the Underworld, but he never said anything about the castle belonging to the Keepers. Why would he keep that from me?
He thrums his finger on his chin. “I thought you would have known that since you’re a Keeper.”
I disregard his question because I have no idea if I’m a Keeper or if he’s supposed to think I am one. “Can we go back now?”
“What did you see?” He eludes my question and strides toward me. “Was there a purpose to it?”
“I don’t know.” There’s a personal purpose to it, but the bigger picture is unclear. Something is tugging at the back of my mind, but it won’t emerge. “Is there supposed to be purpose to every vision? Is that maybe the reason why I saw it?”
“Sometimes, but not always. Normally, Foreseers use the crystal to see a vision that has a purpose.” He tucks his hands into the pockets of his pants. “But your vision was started by accident, so maybe there’s a reason you saw it, and maybe not. And maybe that’s why you saw a vision from the past.”
I know there’s a reason I saw it. It’s not just about me watching what happened to my mother. I’m remembering it too, when it first happened, something I’ve never been able to do before. “Please take me back.” I hold out my hand for him to take.
“Are you sure you want to go back? We can stay here a little bit longer… Get to know each other a little better.” He moves toward me and I back away toward the trees.
“What the hell is your problem?” I ask as my back brushes against the trunk of a tree. “Don’t you know when someone’s not interested?”
“Oh, come on, Gemma.” He reaches above me and his hand comes down to the side of my head. Autumn leaves fall from the branches and shower down over our heads. “Let’s stay here for a while and enjoy the seclusion.”
I maintain a firm voice. “There’s no reason for me to stick around here. Now, please, take me back.”
His mouth curves into a devious grin, then as quick as a flick of a firefly he leans forward and presses his lips to mine and his hand comes up to my breast.
I shove him back and slap him across the face. “Don’t you ever touch me without permission again.”
He rubs his cheek. “Feisty.” He grins.
I march forward and lean into his face, stabbing my finger roughly against his chest. “If you don’t take me back now, I’ll show you how feisty I can be.”
�
��Relax. I’ll take you back.” He lowers his hand from his face and there’s a handprint on his cheek. He links arms with me and steers me back toward the hill. “But can I just say that you’re a little nervous for a Keeper?”
But I’m not a Keeper. I’m just a confused girl stuck in a world that doesn’t make sense. I feel the now- familiar pull bringing me back to the normal world; I shut my eyes and let myself go.
***
A little girl laughs as she runs around a tree and her fingers snag at the leaves on the low branches. “You can’t catch me. You can’t catch me.”
A little boy with green eyes and dark brown hair chases after her. “Wanna bet?”
They both laugh as the girl runs out from behind a tree and sprints across the grass into a field of violet flowers. Her violet eyes blend with the flowers in the field and there’s freedom in the way she runs, like she has no burdens bearing down on her shoulders; no fallen star, claiming hold of her heart. The boy dashes after her, moving faster. As he nears her, she stops in the center of the field and reels toward him. Her eyes sparkle as she considers something, then she races toward him and throws her arms around his neck.
He catches her and they both laugh. “You’re really on one today, aren’t you? But that’s okay. I’m having fun.”
She smiles brightly. “You’re my best friend in the whole-wide world, Alex.”
***
When I open my eyes, my feet are planted back on the podium in front of the empty throne with Nicholas at my side. The sky above looks a little darker and the blades of glass a little sharper, like the scenery has slightly altered. Or maybe it’s my perception? Alex is sitting at the foot of the throne and a thousand emotions rush across his face at once as he rises to his feet. “Are you okay?” he asks me.
I look into his eyes that match the little boy’s eyes in the vision. You’ve known all along. “I’m fine.”
Nicholas frees my hand from his sweaty grip, saunters up next to the throne, and takes a seat in it. “Everything looks smaller from up here.”
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