Hollow of Treason

by Lainy Lane

  A mumbled groan startled her out of her self-pity party. The darkness surrounded her and her eyes fluttered open. Jarreth stirred next to her as she came out of her dream. He groaned again and Calandra realized it was a noise of satisfaction. She pulled herself up slightly to watch him. His body was relaxed and there was a small smile on his face. His chest rose and fell steadily, and every few moments his arms twitched. Calandra wondered what he was dreaming about until his words gave her the answer she wasn't looking for.

  "Guilt please...hmmm... I need your desires... all of them..." The words were mumbled as they left his lips and shattered Calandra's heart.

  Her mind reeled to find an explanation that didn’t involve Drake being right. She attempted to put together an excuse for Jarreth's actions, but came up empty handed. Before her sub-conscience was able to find a reason not to, she slapped his arm as hard as she could to wake him from his slumber of feeding. His eyes opened rapidly and they were at least three shades darker than when he had gone to sleep.

  "What the actual hell, Jarreth?" She hated the way her voice broke when she wanted to sound completely together.

  He looked at her and appeared genuinely lost for a moment before a smirk crossed his face. Something in his face seemed evil, it was a look far from anything she had ever seen on him before, and her stomach churned.

  "Don't trust Drake, huh? How about don't trust your devious self?" she yelled and jumped out of bed.

  "You knew about this already, Calandra, what's the big deal?" he asked unapologetically.

  "By sneaking into innocent people's dreams? I don't think so!" She shook her head ferociously. Was he actually trying to justify what he was doing and convince her that it was ok?

  "Blurred line," he said simply.

  Jarreth had explained to her shortly after they first met that there was a very thin line between good and evil when it came to Faeries. It seemed that Calandra had fooled herself into believing that Jarreth had a handle on that line and stayed just to the right side of it. Apparently she had been very wrong in that assumption.

  "Don't try to play innocent, Calandra, like you have the perfect handle on things yourself." Jarreth was heartless in his argument, and he chuckled to prove just how insensitive he was about it all.

  "You can't turn this around on me!" Her voice rose as she spoke, "You've been someone else completely for the last week, and now I know why." She wondered if she would have felt any better about any of this if he had actually come out and admitted what he was doing. She couldn’t imagine that would make it any less erroneous.

  "Yes, I use my powers to get what I want, Calandra, how do you think I got you in the first place?" The voice that had once sounded like honey to her now sounded like battery acid, and she couldn’t figure out how he had so quickly flipped the switch.

  "Got me how?" Calandra's voice squeaked in astonishment.

  Jarreth smiled wickedly. "You never even thought twice about leaving Tristan, did you?"

  Calandra stared at him in disbelief. This wasn't Jarreth, not the one that she knew, not the one that she loved, or thought she loved at least. The one she had been convinced loved her back, until this very moment. She had watched him change slowly into a stranger, someone unrecognizable, but she hadn't allowed herself to consider what she must do about it. Or had she really been completely blind the entire time? Maybe this was what he had been all along and she had allowed him to make her blind. Either way, her eyes were open now, and she was beyond disturbed by what she saw.

  "Get out!" she exclaimed.

  "Why?" The surprise was written on his face. He seemed to have somehow had the impression that despite what she had just found out, nothing would change.

  "Because I don't want a stranger here, get out now!" Her voice remained surprisingly steady despite her unsteady emotions.

  "Don't think that you can cross me and there not be consequences." Jarreth's eyes flickered the orange of the center of a fire momentarily.

  "Just try me, Jarreth!" She stood her ground, despite feeling as if her chest was crushing in on her.

  "I'm serious, Calandra. You haven't played my games yet, dear. Do not think, even for a second, that you can win."

  Her nerves spiked, but she refused to let him see that. "Get the hell out, now!" Calandra felt her powers begin to respond to her emotions. She had never tried to use her powers when she was this angry. Even during her first confrontation with her father in Faerie, she hadn’t felt this upset.

  Jarreth's smile turned devious and he morphed into someone completely unrecognizable. He threw the blankets off of him. "See you soon then," he said and left her alone in the room.

  "Don't count on it!" she mumbled.

  Calandra held the tears in despite the almost unbearable stinging sensation it caused. She walked over to the chest and pulled it open. The diary sat next to the necklace that she hadn’t even taken a close look at earlier. She sat the diary on the bed and reached back into the chest and closed her hand around the necklace.

  She opened her hand and stared blankly at the jewelry filling her palm. A small silver chain held a silver charm. Calandra picked the charm up with her other hand. It was a leaf, on one side it was green, and on the other side it was crimson red. Calandra placed the necklace around her neck and let the charm fall against her chest with the crimson side showing. She climbed back into the bed and opened the diary up once more to start in on the homework Drake had assigned her and to hopefully forget about the ghost of the man she used to know that she had just kicked out of the house.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Ashes to Ashes

  The loud, insistent pounding on the door dragged Calandra out of her deep, emotional slumber. She looked at the tiny clock on the nightstand and realized that she had slept well into the afternoon. She groaned at the thought of having to get up and go downstairs to answer the door. Her head was pressurized, and her eyes were swollen and sensitive. She felt hung-over, but an excess of alcohol hadn’t caused it. Rather this was a hangover from an overdose of emotions. The beating of the door reached a level that left Calandra wondering if they were going to bust down the door. She reluctantly determined she should head down and open it before they actually managed to do so.

  Calandra used what little strength she had to stand up. The diary fell to the ground as she did so, she had fallen asleep without even reading any of it. Her head felt heavy and her limbs were weaker than normal. Her head pounded against her temples. She felt unsteady on her feet as she headed to the door wondering who could possibly find it so necessary to see her and hoping it wasn't Jarreth. Just before she reached the door, she heard a muffled argument happening between two men on the other side.

  The sun beamed in her face when she opened the door, and she had to squint to make out that it was Drake and Tristan standing in the doorway, they were in the middle of an intense stare off. Drake broke their stare off and eyed Calandra dubiously. Calandra inched her way back into the shade of the house and motioned for them to come in.

  "Rough night?" Drake teased as he entered.

  Her stomach sank at the thought of him knowing what she had been dreaming about. He was envious of Jarreth’s ability to dream walk, so there was no way he could do so…right? Tristan's body was frigid as he walked in and he gave her a sad look for some reason. She refused to allow herself to overthink that subject, she had wiped her hand clean of that situation.

  "Um..." Calandra's brain refused to give her a clear thought to work with. "Just— come on up." She settled with a simple command and headed up the spiral staircase that led to the main part of the tiny tree house. Calandra headed straight to the kitchen and clumsily started a pot of coffee.

  Both Tristan and Drake took a seat at the bar and stared at her cautiously. When Calandra became aware of her surroundings enough to feel their glares radiating through her, she turned to look at them.

  "What gives?" she asked.

  "Where's Jarreth?" Tristan asked after an awkward s
ilence.

  Calandra pondered for a moment on how she should respond to that question, but came up with nothing brilliant and settled for a much less than impressive answer instead. "I don't know." She turned back to the coffee pot and fixed herself a cup. "And personally I don't care either," she added with spite. She probably shouldn’t have said the last statement, but for some reason, she hadn’t felt able to stop herself.

  "So, it happened then?" Drake asked knowingly.

  "What happened?" Tristan questioned.

  "I'll handle this," Drake replied without taking his eyes off of Calandra.

  "I don't know if that's really the best of ideas," Tristan replied giving Drake a look that told him to shut up. Unfortunately for Tristan, Drake was paying him no attention.

  "Alright," Calandra began with her head feeling like it was going to explode at any moment. "I can't handle any games today, would someone tell me why you two are here and found it necessary to wake me from my sleep by attempting to bust my door into shreds?"

  "You need to see something," Tristan told her.

  "What?"

  "Tristan is right," Drake said as he walked around to where she stood. He took the coffee cup from her hand and placed it on the counter. "You and Jarreth had a fight last night I assume?"

  Calandra nodded with the memory of the previous night threatening to play in her mind again. She walked around Drake and picked the mug up again. She took a sip of the still steaming coffee. "We're allowed to do that, I don't see how that means I have anything to see or gives either of you the right to come wake me up by trying to break down my door." She peered over the coffee mug and looked back and forth between the two of them trying to piece together what the point of this visit could be.

  "Calandra, it’s two in the afternoon,” Tristan said looking at his watch. “What are you still doing sleeping? What exactly happened last night, did you drink too much?”

  “Thank you, Captain Time Keeper, but I don't see why that's any of your business," she scoffed as she continued sipping her coffee. The warm liquid warmed her from the inside and gave her a false sense of healing. She allowed it to soothe her; she was in desperate need of it.

  Tristan shied back, aware of the fact he had crossed a line that was no longer his to cross.

  "Calandra." Drake reached for the coffee cup again, but Calandra pulled away from him. The act pained her in a way she would never admit out loud. "Just come with us, and we'll explain what's going on after you see it."

  Calandra wanted to say no. She wasn’t in the mood for any drama today, she would much rather finish her coffee on the couch and then head to the field to read more of Echo's diary in an effort to forget her current problems. There was something in Drake's eyes she had never seen before, a sincerity he never conveyed. It set her nerves on fire. Whatever they were referring to, it was important.

  "This can't wait, can it?" she asked reluctantly, accepting a fate she was still unsure of and that terrified her.

  "Afraid not, dear." His voice lowered as he told her what she didn't want to hear.

  Calandra sighed and placed her coffee cup in the sink.

  "Fine, where are we going?" she finally dared to ask.

  "To the field," Drake said softly and took her hand.

  ***

  The scent hit her before she registered what lay before her. The crisp air carried the burned aroma through what remained of the field. Her heart sank at the scene before her. Her entire being ached as the memory of what the field was supposed to look like flashed through her mind. What little grass still remained was now yellow and dead. Most of the ground was black and gray from the ashes. Drake still stood next to her, and his hand was entwined in hers, a notion that at the moment, she was beyond thankful for. The sky was a mixture of gray with bright patches of yellow, burnt orange, and red. It was as if it burned in mourning of the field as well.

  Tears filled with every good moment she had in the field ran down her face. This had been her safe haven, and now it was charred, nothing more than ashes and rubble. Taking a sacred piece of nature and burning it in the act of treason was a sin that wouldn't soon be forgotten. Calandra looked around, taking in the still glowing embers that lay beneath her feet. She looked up and found the courage to see what remained of her tree. She turned her head to the left and found a beyond disturbing sight in front of her.

  The tree was a black, charred mess, but had somehow managed to keep its entire being in the fire. The grass was completely gone except for what made up the ring that was the portal to the mortal world. Standing a few feet from that ring was Trinity. She stood with her back toward Calandra. She was in a white dress again, but this one was completely backless. Her brown curls blew in the wind, and her upper body was turned to Calandra. Trinity's right hand was bent up to her face, and she looked straight at Calandra. Her hair hung around both sides of her face and perfectly framed it. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction, and there was a proud to be guilty smile on her face. In the remnants of such tragedy, Trinity stood in the middle of it with the nerve to smile.

  The emotions rose through Calandra too quickly to be able to attempt to stop them even if she had wanted to. She focused on Trinity with everything in her and her power yielded to her will quicker than usual. Calandra lifted her right arm and pushed her hand, palm out, toward Trinity, sending crimson sparks across the field. Calandra watched as they traveled toward Trinity, obeying Calandra's desire to give her what she deserved for ruining her field. Tristan's body jumped in front of Trinity at the last moment, Trinity's smile widened wickedly, and the sparks crashed straight into Tristan's chest. Tristan was thrown several feet back and landed on the ground with a thud.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Dust to Dust

  Calandra rushed over to Tristan and knelt down next to him. Trinity remained in her spot next to the tree, she chuckled as she watched the desolation that Calandra showed at her screw up. It gave Calandra the desire to try again and ensure she hit her square in between the eyes this time. Unfortunately, there were more pressing matters to attend to at the moment, so she swallowed it down and focused on Tristan instead.

  "She didn't do it," Tristan muttered without opening his eyes. His voice was quiet and sounded hoarse. He looked utterly broken. Calandra looked to Drake who was standing over her. He sat on the ground next to Tristan's body and observed him carefully. His eyebrows furrowed as he inspected him from head to foot.

  Calandra looked over to Trinity standing amidst the destruction she had caused. Calandra couldn’t care less what Tristan said, she knew Trinity had done it, and why he would be stupid enough to jump in front of magic for this girl was beyond her. Trinity had allowed him and even looked happy, that he was willing to sacrifice himself for her. Did muses have no shame? She really knew nothing of muses or what that meant, she hadn't gotten a chance to ask Jarreth anything about it. Regardless of what it meant, Calandra, for one, could see her for what she truly was— vile. How she had managed to fool everyone else, Tristan in particular, was what Calandra vowed to figure out next.

  With one last smirk, Trinity finally turned and gracefully walked away, swaying her hips as she went. Calandra could practically see the evil dripping off of her with every step. She envisioned a large black bird swooping down and carrying Trinity away in its talons. She kept the laugh and the smile to herself. Calandra turned back to the task at hand without the muse distraction. Tristan still hadn't opened his eyes or moved.

  "He's fine," Drake assured her. "He's just stunned. He needs to lay here until it wears off."

  "I'm sorry," she whispered to Tristan and ran a hand through his hair and brushed his green tipped bangs from his forehead. He tended to change the color in his side swept bangs quite often, but Calandra couldn’t remember him ever doing green before.

  Calandra stood and turned back to the destroyed field again. Hopelessness filled her once more as she stared at all of the ashes surrounding them. This had once been a place of life, hope, and pe
ace. Now it was nothing more than a reminder that death overtook everything eventually. Drake came up next to her and placed his hand on the small of her back. The chills that run through her comforted her to a minimal degree.

  "So how did you find out about this?" Calandra asked.

  "I saw the flames on my way into town. When I got here, Tristan was already here attempting to put it out, but all he had was his jacket. Not that he'd have ever actually gotten it out that way, but he was damn sure gonna try it seemed," Drake chuckled.

  "So you put it out?"

  "I did," he said.

  Calandra didn’t have to question how he had managed to put it out. Drake was the one who showed her how to use her powers to control the weather at one point. With his help, she had managed to make storm clouds roll into the field along with a light and noise show to accompany it. Calandra could already picture him pulling in a beautiful rainstorm to put the fire out. The contrast of the beauty in the dark clouds and the freshness of the rain putting out something so dark would have been mesmerizing to watch.

  "Where was Trinity during this?"

  "Standing over there, watching him." Drake shrugged it off as if it was no big deal.

  Maybe muses really did have no shame. "Is she a muse?" Calandra recalled Jarreth's explanation that had left her with nothing but more questions. She hadn’t had time to further inquire about what a muse was or did before the drama had gone down. She shuddered at the memory.

  Drake nodded.

  "What does that mean exactly?" she asked.

  "There are different kinds of muses, Calandra. Some help you with talents and feed your abilities. Others have a much darker type of magic, like Trinity. There's a reason she picked him," Drake said directly.

  Calandra looked over to Tristan who was still lying motionless on her account. She wondered if it wasn't entirely her fault that he was there at the moment. Why had he jumped in front of Trinity? Maybe it hadn’t even been his choice to do so.