Chasing Shadows

by Rebbeca Stoddard

  Minutes passed before he spoke. “Luckily you guys didn’t step up there. It would’ve been bad.” He cocked his head to one side and stared hard at the door. “Whoever did this was pretty strong. Most of the u da yv la dv can’t do something like this. How long did you say they were here?”

  “At least an hour,” I answered before Sebastian could say anything.

  “Hm.” Luke looked around the area before returning his glance at the door. “I know what to do, but I’m going to need a few.”

  “A few what?” I asked.

  “Minutes, maybe even seconds.” He shrugged.

  “Whoa, I thought you said whoever did this was strong. If they were here for at least an hour, how can you fix it in less than that?” I was confused and intrigued.

  “Because, I am stronger.” With that, he hopped up on the porch and went to work on taking back whatever the two u da yv la dv had done.

  While Luke did his thing, I walked over to Sebastian and hugged him. I felt guilty about not telling him what had really happened with Clamora and that it wasn’t even Luke’s fault. There was so much that he deserved to know but couldn’t until after I saved the real Clamora. His strong arms wrapped around me and held me close. I knew that the u da yv la dv being here and messing with our home had shaken him. If I was being completely honest with myself, it scared me too. We stood there holding each other for a few minutes. When Luke was finally finished, he let us know then said his goodbyes. Sebastian swallowed his anger and pride and said a quick thank you.

  After a stressful afternoon, we curled up on the couch and sat perfectly still. Neither of us wanted to move. Time passed us by easily and we didn’t care. If we hadn’t seen the shadows standing at our door, who knows what could have happened. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop the irritating what if game that ran through my mind. Each scenario that played out before me terrified me. I could no longer sit still. The frustration of the shadows being there, setting a trap for us and putting us so close to danger forced me up and into the kitchen.

  Ingredients were laid out before me on the countertops. Various smudge sticks, candles, herbs, oils, and feathers were littered around me. I stared at everything. A sense of urgency welled through my being, and I got started. The spell was fairly simple, so it had been easy to memorize. First I had to pour sea salt into the bowl, followed by the herbs: caraway, aloe, frankincense, mullein, and peony, and I added the almond oil and olive oil last. An odd mixture of smells filled the air, sweet and earthy mixed with a light pungent odor. Once the mixture of herbs, oils, and salt was done, I grabbed the candles and placed a single candle in each of the four corners of the house—upstairs and down. As I placed each candle, I lit it and watched the flame flicker angrily. After the candles were lit and placed, I burned the smudge sticks and used the feathers to fan the smoke, smothering the house in a gray fog.

  Lavender, lilac, and white sage clouded the air as I went around with my herb and oil mixture. At each door, window, and corner of the house I stopped and flicked the grimy liquid while saying, “Protego, defendo, custos.” An hour and a half later, I was finally finished with the spell. Sebastian helped me clean everything up. He hadn’t said much since the u da yv la dv had been at our door, but his eyes betrayed him. When he caught me looking at him with sadness in my eyes, he turned on his heel and went upstairs. I leaned up against the counter and sighed heavily.

  I understood his frustration. He couldn’t protect me like I could protect him. The only powers that he had were superhuman speed and strength, along with heightened senses. Seeing what the u da yv la dv had done, knowing what would have happened if Sebastian had gone onto our porch before Luke arrived made my heart stop. It took all of my effort not to run upstairs and hug him tightly and apologize endlessly, but I knew he wanted to be alone to stew in his thoughts.

  When I finished cleaning up, I went into the small hidden office and sat down on the couch. Helios came looking for me after a while and snuggled up with me. His heavy weight was a comfort and brought some warmth. Noticing the slight chill in the house, I grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and threw it over us. I sat there, watching the sun set behind the trees. The clouds went from white to orange to pink, and then a light purple. Completely beautiful and serene, it seemed to relax my body and I fell asleep.

  The moon was high in the sky when I finally woke up. Helios had curled up on the back of the couch at some point and continued to sleep peacefully. Soft taps on the door made me jump. I looked at my cat and his ears twitched, but he didn’t move. With bare feet, I silently padded out of the room and into the entryway. More taps at the door startled me. Each time the person rapped softly on the door, it became more urgent. I said a quick, silent prayer that Sebastian would come down the steps, and turned to look behind me before opening the door. His hair was messy and his face was tired and confused. One more loud and frustrated bang on the door had Sebastian running at full speed to open it.

  Chapter 17

  I continued to stare at her, just like I had been for the past twenty minutes. She was nothing like the creature the u da yv la dv had portrayed. There was nothing off about her; her eyes didn’t give away hints of something hidden underneath. Nothing floated off her that said she wasn’t who she said she was. But it was still weird. She had come flying to my house in the middle of the night to tell Sebastian and me information that I already knew–except for one chilling piece. “Are you sure?” My voice sounded more and more incredulous each time I asked the question.

  “I’m positive.” Her voice was soft and bell like.

  “One hundred percent?” Sebastian asked again.

  “Yes!” she huffed out in frustration.

  “You can’t blame us for being so weird about this,” I said softly.

  She sighed. “I know.”

  “If you want to, you can stay the rest of the night here. I can make up a bed in one of our spare rooms . . . ” I trailed off as I looked at her.

  “Ah, thank you, but I really should be getting back. Please give me a call when you guys have figured this out, or if you have any more questions.” She handed us a piece of paper with a number scrawled on it.

  Before we could say anything more, she was gone. I shook my head vehemently and stared at where she had been a moment ago. It was strange. Since Sebastian nor I had known what she had looked like before the hotel, we didn't know she was a fake. With the u da yv la dv there was an assumption that she would look almost exactly like me. However, the girl who had been sitting in front of us only shared a few similarities with me. Her high cheekbones and pale skin matched mine perfectly, but her eyes were honey brown with purple flecks throughout. Our hair was almost identical, but hers had soft blonde streaks and a deep red tint. She was short like me and very delicate. But there had been deep bruise-like bags that sagged angrily under her eyes, showing us that she had probably been hiding or running from someone, or something.

  “Do you believe her?” Sebastian half whispered to me.

  “I think so,” I replied absentmindedly. RemyAnne had told us everything that Luke had already said, and more. We knew she wasn’t one of them because she had been able to come into our home, but she also allowed me to say the fateor spell to double-check her words. Every word that she spoke rang with truth and fear. She was terrified of what was coming, and so were we. The shadows were on the verge of breaking through the barrier between worlds. All they needed was one more thing, but no one knew what it was. Only the leaders and the highest of the u da yv la dv knew. We needed to figure it out and make sure it wouldn’t happen. But the person we needed was stuck in their world, and I was the only one who would be able to get her.

  “AubrieAnna?” Sebastian’s voice was small.

  “Yeah?” I turned to look at him.

  “What if we can’t find whatever it is that is going to help them break through the barrier?” His Adam’s apple bobbed and quivered as he spoke.

  “Then we wait for
them to come to us, then we fight them and we win.” I smiled softly at him.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Sebastian.” I reached over and kissed him.

  He kissed me back, softly at first, but it quickly became full of emotion. There was sadness, anger, fear, happiness, and love. Tears trickled softly down my cheeks and I thought he had started crying too, but when his thumbs wiped the tears away, I knew it was me. His lips left mine all too soon and I curled into him and held onto him tightly. The world was falling apart, the end was coming, and I had no idea how to stop it. Strong arms wrapped around me and carried me upstairs and into our room.

  When I finally calmed down, I snuggled deeper into his side and reached out to him with my mind. I’m scared.

  I know. I am too, he thought back. You will always have me here by your side, no matter what happens. I love you, and I will always be there to help you and to back you up through this mess, no matter how upset at myself I may be.

  I know, thank you.

  You are very much welcome, my love.

  You know, as long as I have you by my side everything feels like it will all be okay, and everything seems possible. Even the impossible. I rolled over, feeling the link between our minds fade away, and I drifted off to sleep.

  The bright light of a new day blinded my sleepy eyes for a minute. I rolled over and faced Sebastian. His eyes were bright and smiling. Laughing softly, I kissed him gently and hurried into the shower. Warm water brushed over my skin, clearing my mind of all the stress. It wasn’t every day that you had to fight to save your world from being consumed and taken over by evil creatures that were never supposed to exist in the first place. Sighing, I sat down and curled into myself. As the water began to cool, I made a decision about something that was going to hopefully cut down on the stress in my life. I shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. After wrapping myself in a towel, I stepped back into the bedroom and looked at Sebastian. It was time to talk about dropping out of school.

  “You were right,” I admitted.

  “I was right about what?” His eyes were confused.

  “Dropping out of school. I need to.” I sat down heavily.

  “Oh. Well I’m glad you finally listened to me.” Sebastian reached his hand out to rub my shoulder.

  “Yeah, me too. Hopefully it will cut down on the stress of having so much to do while trying to not flunk.” I chuckled softly.

  “It probably will. Should we go talk to your parents sometime today and get the ball rolling on that?”

  “Yeah, I suppose we should.”

  “Okay, let’s get ready and go then.” He stood up and went to the bathroom to shower.

  Even with the sun shining outside, the air was cold and bitter. I dressed in black skinny jeans with thigh-high socks and boots, a black long-sleeved shirt covered with a red knitted cardigan, and a floral scarf. My hair hung in thick waves around my face. I hurried to get into the warmth of Sebastian’s car. He had run outside to start it while I finished my breakfast, which consisted of a coffee mug filled to the brim with warm O negative. Heat blasted my face when I crawled into the seat as a chill crawled along my body with the sudden change in temperature. The door shut and he sped off toward my parents’ house.

  We caught them just in time to discuss me dropping out of school. At first they were adamant about me staying in school, but when I told them how much I had been missing due to my training and how much I would be missing due to trying to save the world, they agreed. My mom wrote up a note telling the school that I had her permission to drop out and she handed it to me. I thanked her and was about to leave when another thought hit me: I still needed to get my license and a car.

  By the time we finally left my parents’ house a few hours later, we had made an appointment so I could take my driver’s test, scheduled a family dinner, and I had the necessary papers from my parents to drop out of school. I felt accomplished and a little exhausted. Sebastian decided it would be a good idea to go home and get some much-needed relaxation. He made a quick pit stop at a convenience store and grabbed a few things. When I asked him what he’d bought, he wouldn’t tell me. In a few more minutes, we were finally home.

  Smoke billowed out of the chimney, and I ran as fast as I could to get into the house. The door was unlocked, and I raced through each room, searching for my cat. When I finally found him curled up by the fireplace, I realized that someone had lit a fire while we were out. I sighed in relief and glared at Sebastian, who was leaning against the doorway laughing at me. He caught my glare and quickly sobered up, throwing his hands up in apology. Shaking my head at him, I smiled and laughed a little.

  “While I get these goodies ready, do you want to go and take a nice bath?” Sebastian offered with the bags in his hands.

  “Yeah, that sounds nice.” I smiled.

  “Go on up, it should be ready for you.”

  “How would it be ready if we were gone?” I cocked my head to one side and stared at him.

  “Because of this.” He handed me a note that had been sitting on the counter.

  Hope this was perfect for you guys! You both deserve some major relaxation before the world turns to shit. Love you both!

  —Fiora and Willow

  “You set them up to this, didn’t you?”

  Sebastian shrugged his shoulders, not answering my question.

  I rolled my eyes at him and hurried upstairs.

  The water was warm. Lavender oil had been poured into the bath, releasing a sweet herbal smell into the air. I sank deeper into the tub and inhaled the relaxing scent around me. Inhaling deeply, I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. My body relaxed more every second I laid in the giant tub surrounded by the scent of lavender. Closing my eyes, I let my mind wander to happy moments in my life. As the images flashed before me, I smiled at each one. Zany trying to teach me how to climb the tree in our backyard, camping out in a tent during summer nights with my siblings, telling funny stories and scary ones too, building forts in our rooms, and taking over the living room with pillows and blankets. I remembered my first day of high school and how Zany had been there outside of each classroom waiting for me. Then, when Langdon broke my heart, Zany had been there to pick up the pieces with me and help me put them back together with junk food and endless amounts of ice cream. The last few happy memories that came were when I met Sebastian. His bright smile, wicked eyes, and charming personality caught and held me in a trance. He had soon taken the role of protector that my brother always held. I smiled wide and opened my eyes.

  “You have very happy memories.” Sebastian was standing next to the tub, smiling down at me.

  I gasped in shock. “You scared me!”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Your joy and relaxation called to me, and I came to see if you wanted or needed anything.” He smiled again.

  “Oh, no, I don’t. But thank you.”

  He raised an eyebrow in question.

  “You know, for asking if I wanted or needed anything,” I stammered. “And for, uh, telling me I have happy memories.”

  “Oh, yes.” He nodded and turned to leave.

  “Sebastian?” I called.

  “Yes?”

  “Can you grab the towel; I think I’m done in here.”

  He grabbed the towel and helped me out of the tub. Before I could wrap the towel around my body, he began drying me off. His hands lingered along my legs, shoulders, and waist. Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I could feel my whole body come to life. I giggled softly as he kissed my nose. Once he finished up, he handed me some clothes and left the room. Groaning, I sat back on the bed for a few minutes then gave up and got dressed.

  My fingers trailed along the walls as I walked down the steps. The small bumps in the paint sent shivers down my back and forced goose bumps to break out along my neck and arms. Yellow and orange paint, in deep and bright contrasting shades, covered the walls. Shadows took over the room, dancing with the flames of the fire. I sat down
on the couch and watched the fire lick the logs and feed off the air.

  Sebastian came out of the kitchen with a platter of cheeses and fruits. He carried two wine glasses filled with the thick red substance I had come to enjoy. Before he set anything down, he gestured to the plaid blanket on the arm of the couch. It took me a second to understand what he wanted me to do with it. I laid the blanket down on the floor in front of the fire and he handed me the glasses with the tray still in his hands. Watching him fumble with his hands full made me smile. He was purely adorable. His brows furrowed as he placed the tray on the table and then finally sat down. I laughed softly at his attempts to be romantic.

  We sat there talking, laughing, and enjoying the peaceful moment. There was no talk about the shadows, plans to defeat them, or Clamora. We talked about plans for a happy future together, how many kids we wanted to have, and about the big mortal wedding my mom wanted us to have. When we were finished talking about the future and more logs were added to the fire, we lay down and cuddled up to each other.

  “Tell me your favorite memory as a child.” Sebastian said.

  “Why?” I laughed softly.

  “Because the memories you were playing through have me intrigued.” He smiled down at me.

  “Okay,” I nodded. It took me minute to think of my favorite one. There were so many happy moments in my childhood, so many that made me laugh and smile when I thought about them today. “It’s hard to choose, but I think I’ve got one.” I laughed before I even started talking. “I was ten and Zany was twelve, and Melly had just been born. We were outside playing around the big tree in the backyard, and we had this big tire swing hanging off one the bigger branches. I had been swinging on the swing and he had climbed up in the tree and was pretty high up there, maybe fifteen feet off the ground. Anyway, he was up there and we were playing I Spy. And when we were little, he was scared of squirrels for some reason. He’s pretty much over it now, but he would run screaming and crying if one was near him or in the big tree when he wanted to play on it. So he was high up in this tree and I was sitting on the tire swing, and I heard it before I saw it. When I turned around, there was this squirrel and it had its cheeks all stuffed with nuts and it cocked its head then ran up the tree. I was yelling at Zany to get down or else he was going to fall out of the tree, and he didn’t believe me at first, but when he finally gave in to me, he turned and the squirrel was on the branch with him!” I started laughing at the memory. “Poor Zany was stuck up in the tree fifteen feet above the ground. My mom called us for lunch, and I had to run in the house and tell her he was cornered by a squirrel. Her eyes got big then she let out a small chuckle and ran outside to get him out of the tree. She had to get the trampoline and drag it under him so he could fall out of the tree without hurting himself. My big, tough protector brother was stuck in a tree because he was cornered by a squirrel!” I laughed hard and kept picturing his blue eyes filled with terror because of a small bushy-tailed rodent.