The Sapphire Talisman

by Brenda Pandos

  The soft melody of my cell phone interrupted my solo problem-solving moment. I looked at the phone’s caller ID. No one I knew. My heart sped up with thoughts of who it could be.

  “Hello?”

  “She’s here,” a male voice whispered on the other end, his breathing a little rushed.

  I sat up in bed. “Who is this?”

  “Tyler,” he said sounding fearful. “Katie’s outside my house right now. I parked down the street, not wanting to go home when I saw her.”

  “Did she see you?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Then come back here.”

  “To your place? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah,” I said quietly. “I need your help anyway.”

  “Oh, okay,” he said apprehensively.

  “Park down the street. I’m sneaking out.”

  “Okay, be there in a bit.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Scarlett, now’s the time to show up if you plan to help me,” I said out loud in hopes she’d jump through the window and save the day.

  Nothing happened.

  “Crap,” I mumbled. “Time for plan B.”

  Begrudgingly, I put on my jammies and went downstairs to say goodnight to Dad. To leave this early in the evening majorly risked getting caught, but I knew Tyler wouldn’t wait in his car forever.

  Again, I drug the wig out from under my bed and made the makeshift body. I also put on my all black spandex outfit like before, prepared for whatever situation was going to happen.

  Outside on the ledge, I closed my window and sucked in a deep breath, and prayed for a little luck. The crisp night air chilled my skin and I shivered as I released the emergency second-story ladder. Somehow I had to convince Nicholas to stop being an agent for the dark side, release Phil and get back home before morning. With nimble steps, I climbed down and landed on the back patio with a thud. No one inside noticed, so I snuck out of the backyard and ran down the street to find Tyler’s car.

  “Thanks,” I said as I sat in front seat, out of breath.

  “Wow,” he said, visibly admiring my snuggly fitting outfit.

  “Yeah, whatever,” I rolled my eyes, realizing I was wrong earlier. He was exactly like the rest of the boys at school. “Let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said and took one last ogling peek. “Where to?”

  “Behind the Boardwalk. I need to meet someone.”

  I folded my arms, wishing I’d worn a jacket, while Tyler zoomed away. I hoped dragging him into the mess wasn’t a mistake.

  “So, what should I do about my stalker?” he asked with a snicker after a few minutes of silent driving.

  “I’m going to deal with that right now. But my advice is to avoid her, like you’re doing. But whatever you do—do not invite her into your house, car, or into anyone else’s house. She’s trouble and her friends are even worse,” I said frankly.

  “Why do I get the feeling you know more than you’re telling me?”

  “‘Cause I do, but don’t want to drag you into this mess. Believe me: it’s ugly. I’m just thankful for the ride.”

  He pulled into the vacant lot and parked. Apprehension filtered outward. “You’re meeting someone here?” The worry that flared from him added to the pit already formed in my stomach.

  “Yeah,” I said while I looked anxiously out the windows for any signs of the others. Of Nicholas.

  “Wearing that?”

  My head whipped around to meet his eyes. Though what I wore seemed a little low cut and didn’t leave much breathing room, I didn’t think it was that bad. “Since when are you my father?”

  “I’m just saying.” He shrugged innocently.

  “I’ve got it under control.”

  “Okay.”

  “Stay here,” I implored. “Whatever happens, whatever you see, if you value your life, do not leave your car. You’ll be protected in here, just don’t invite anyone inside under any circumstances. Please.”

  Tyler looked back with terrified eyes. My speech had been more than compelling and my own fear radiated across his face. He nodded.

  “Good,” I said and tore out of the seat. “Wait for me.”

  I slammed the door and tried to run towards the structure, my feet struggling to gain traction in the mushy sand. The necklace flopped on my chest and for a brief second, I decided not to advertise its whereabouts freely on my neck and shoved the darn thing in my pocket. Though the talisman didn’t work, I’d never give it up willingly. I’d guard the fickle object with my life if I had to.

  As I neared the structure, Nicholas and Phil’s aura’s hit me in unison—good vs. evil. I leaned up against the building and listened.

  “If Julia comes,” Phil barked. “I swear I’ll rip your throat out if you hurt her.”

  “She’ll come. You just watch,” Nicholas replied, bored as ever as he inspected his nails. “But I’d be more worried about escaping if I were you.”

  “She’ll see through you, Nick. Don’t underestimate her.”

  “Like she sees through your façade?” Nicholas snickered. “I think not. Teenage girls are all the same. Give them a little attention and they’re putty in your hands. Which apparently you’ve been doing a lot of because she’s coming right now to defend your honor.” Nicholas roared with laughter, while his insults turned my legs to batter. “Traitors like you are nothing but a lying heap of—”

  I grimaced at the string of insults as I snuck around the corner of the building, unprepared to deal with Phil’s peril. Across the sand, Phil yanked against the bars of a cage similar to the one I'd been placed in before, cursing back at Nicholas who leaned arrogantly against the building several yards away. Venom must have been infused in the metal to prevent Phil from prying them apart. Come sunrise, he’d have nowhere to hide; his body would be burned to a crisp in the direct sunlight.

  They both stopped and locked their eyes onto mine. I pushed back my shoulders and held up my chin, trying desperately to show strength, though my dashed dreams sucked my heart like a vacuum, down into the soles of my grimy shoes.

  A sly grin formed on Nicholas’ mouth. “Good,” he said, raising his right eyebrow in satisfaction, pushing off the wall. “You’re alone.”

  Phil mouthed Scarlett’s name and I shrugged ever so slightly to tell him that she wasn’t with me. His mouth hung open, arms falling limply to his sides as shameless shock covered his face. I wanted to tell him I was limited on time, abandoned and forced to come alone to plead for his life—just like Nicholas predicted I would. Like a gullible idiot.

  “Let him go,” I commanded, glowering at Nicholas’ smug smile. “You don’t need to blackmail me to get what you want.”

  “Nice to see you too,” He cocked his head to the side. “Where is it?” He fanned his hand over his chest, raising his eyebrow. “I see you took it off.”

  I mimicked his bravado, puckering my lips. “No, if I remember correctly you took it off. I’m not sure what happened to it after that.” I threw my hair back with a flick of my chin.

  He gave me a once-over and seductively eyed every inch of my body. “I bet you’re just hiding it.”

  I folded my arms over my chest, feeling naked under his gaze. “Let Phil go, and maybe I’ll tell you.”

  “You drive a hard bargain, my little ninja. I like that.” He licked his lips and sauntered forward, giving my body a slow lecherous gaze.

  I tried to remember his evil side was the one harassing me and counteracted his swagger with a little guile of my own, still glowering back with my head held high. Even though he radiated malevolence of colossal magnitude, deep down I knew he’d never hurt me.

  “Wait,” I said, pointing at Phil’s cage. “You promised. He needs to be released first.”

  Nicholas laughed, glowing with more confidence. “Give me what I want, and I’ll think about it.”

  “No deal.”

  “My sweet dear, Julia. You’re out of deals
.” He glared, his vibrant green eyes zinging holes like an Uzi into my body. “I don’t take kindly to traitors.”

  I bit my lip, suddenly feeling like the queen in a life-sized game of chess and Nicholas had just said “check mate.”

  “Phil’s done nothing but good deeds since he’s been back. Or are you just jealous?” I let out a psscht at the end to add to my delivery.

  “I’m not talking about him.”

  In shock, I pulled the precious air into my lungs, feeling like there still wasn’t enough. “You don’t mean me, do you?”

  His stare leveled me to the social standing of an earthworm, obliterating any warmth or kindness I’d felt for him before I arrived.

  “You’ve become such a huge disappointment to me.” He shook his head. “Such a waste of time.”

  I hardened my lower lip to hold back the tears, but my shoulders sunk down anyway. His words crushed me and, like a trampled flower left for dead, I wilted in his hot sun of depravity. “You made a deal on the phone.”

  “I did?” Nicholas rolled his eyes. “That was before I knew the truth.”

  “What truth?”

  “That Phil’s been spending the night with you in your room.”

  “Hardly,” I chirped back. “He’s only there during the day by order of your mother, as a spy.”

  “And what have the two of you been doing all day while you pretend to be sick and skip school?”

  My cheeks double-crossed me, glowing bright pink as if we had done something wrong. “Nothing like what you’re thinking.”

  “Are you suggesting you spent the whole day alone with a vampire and nothing happened? Really?”

  “Why is that so hard to believe? We did it all the time.”

  “Yes. Did. That is the operative word here,” he quipped. “I’m done playing.”

  Before I knew it, with lightening speed Nicholas grabbed me and took me face down to the ground. With a painful yank, he wrenched my arm back and pushed my head into the sand. I let out a moan. Any bit of struggle on my part would easily break my elbow at the joint. His lack of concern terrified me further.

  “I will ask one more time. Where is the necklace, Julia?” he growled in my ear, his voice seething impatience.

  Tears from the pain and a broken heart betrayed me and fell down my cheeks, pooling into the sand. I never imagined Nicholas would never physically harm me. How wrong I had been. I hated myself for believing my love for him would bring back the Nicholas I knew and loved.

  “I’m not telling you,” I spat with malice, fearful for whatever else he intended to inflict on me next.

  Somewhere in the background, Phil yelled for Nicholas to stop, suggesting that he knew where the thing was. His blunder though was revealed in his inability to name the talisman appropriately. Nicholas kept the pressure firm, distracted briefly for the moment. He knew I’d never give that type of information to anyone anyway; implicitly loyal to the secret of its powers.

  “You have a choice, Julia. Live and give me the talisman or watch everyone in your family die a slow and painful death,” he said, in shocking truth. “Now where is it?”

  “I’ll never tell you,” I whimpered, feeling the weight of the decision, knowing whatever decision I made someone was in jeopardy, quite possibly everyone. “I’d rather die.”

  “That can be arranged,” he said in sickening pleasure.

  “You don’t keep your promises anyway. My death will seal its hiding place forever,” I hissed out, feeling nauseous from the pain and his unloving threats, the urge to vomit in the back of my throat. “So go ahead.”

  My stubbornness irked him and he puffed hot air from his nostrils onto my neck, withholding his temper and what he really wanted to do to me. I wished for Scarlett to come and telepathically infuse him with the vision of Hell so he’d let me go and fall into a screaming fit of madness, begging for forgiveness. His vamp side needed a dire fright badly.

  I started to despise Nicholas’ alter-ego for mistreating me without any remorse. But, more so, I felt cheated that his good side gave up, allowing the addiction to let the evil one take over and crush everything we once held dear, including my arm. The strong noble man I thought I knew ended up being a weak and spineless coward.

  “I hate you,” I screeched, feeling completely overtaken and unable to do anything against the horrid creature that used to be my boyfriend, now poised to haunt me forever.

  “Awww,” he said, grinding his teeth and my arm a little harder. “That’s a pity.”

  I cried out, feeling the bone in my shoulder start to come out of its socket.

  “Mom,” I sobbed out involuntarily, looking out into the blurry horizon. Someone had to come to my aid. Instead, I only found fuzzy blobs of color illuminated from the high wires at the Boardwalk. I was officially at the end of my life. Sooner or later, he’d discover the talisman was in my pocket the whole time and kill me. There wasn’t a prediction after all.

  Nicholas laughed hysterically as if feeding off my pain. “That’s right, call out for dead mommy. Mommy. Mommy,” he wailed, mocking me.

  I waited for a rescuer in vain.

  “Love will set him free,” I heard a woman’s gossamer voice reverberate in my mind. The one that had always been my mother’s in my dreams at night.

  “Mom?” I thought, figuring maybe I’d already started to die and crossed over into the next world. “Is that you? Help me, Mom.”

  “Love will set him free, Julia,” she said again, the voice fainter this time.

  “No, please don’t leave me. I can’t. He hates me,” I said in a whimper, stubbornly unwilling to open myself up to his cruelty, wanting her to take me away instead.

  “Love . . . will set. . . him free.”

  The voice echoed away like a mist, leaving me there to die. In a helpless heap, I lay drowning in Nicholas’ laughter as grimy sand pressed into my mouth. The knowledge that the secret in my pocket was all that prevented him from taking my life and his mother from taking over the world, stole the breath from my lungs. How could I possibly give him love?

  With the little strength I had left, and in utter desperation, I opened my mouth, spit out the sand and breathed the words anyway. “I love you.”

  At first nothing happened, but Nicholas’ sickening cackle caused me to angrily delve into my imagination and try harder. I imagined our first kiss, his lips soft on mine, our arms intertwined with one another, his hands gently caressing my cheek and mine nestled within the back of his soft hair. I pushed these memories onto him like others always pressed their feelings upon me.

  Suddenly, Nicholas stopped laughing and his voice actually hitched. I took a deep breath once the weight left my chest, and felt my arm tingle from the lessening of his hold.

  He fought back, radiating out hate, greed, selfishness, and destruction. I ignored the attack and with greater courage, I imagined a beam of feathery light flashing into the dark cave of his being, focusing all my love towards him, illuminating the humanity inside.

  I remembered back to the night when he’d plucked me out of the night sky, saving me from the vampire that stalked me in the woods when we first met. And followed with the time he’d defeated the three in the alley. Then the dates at our beach and the weekend in the suite. I played them all like a movie, everything we’d experienced together—the kindness, goodness, and selflessness he’d given freely to me—and poured it upon his clouded soul.

  The words “I love you” began to escape from my lips, over and over growing with intensity. And with each reiteration his grasp on my body weakened.

  Nicholas began to bellow, still calling me ugly names mixed with foul words. I ignored my natural reaction to reciprocate the insults and kept the conduit of goodness flowing. I began to sense the real Nicholas clawing to the surface, silently calling out to me, begging me to continue.

  The last flash-back I radiated was the happiness my family felt when Emma was born just a few days ago, the memory the clearest of them all. I s
hined out the tropical oasis of love we’d all shared, flowing outward from every cell of my body onto his. He finally let go, crumpling down next to me, kneeling into a ball.

  My heart burst into elation as his sweetness trickled forth, followed by incredible thankfulness. I sprung up and crushed his neck with my arms, crying madly, nuzzling my face into his sweaty mop of hair. I just wanted him to lift his head once so our lips could touch and I could know he was back for real. He groaned, breathing shallowly.

  “I’m here,” I repeated over and over, still continuing to bathe him with goodness and love.

  I wasn’t cognizant of what or who surrounded us, or even the time, but I didn’t care. Nicholas was back. We could be together again. And once he recovered a little more, we’d release Phil and escape back to his place. Then together the three of us would make plans with Scarlett to bring down Alora and all would be right with the world again.

  But like a wayward gunshot, I heard someone snap their fingers and looked up. And as if a rift opened in the ground between us, we were swiftly separated with the help of Tony and Aden.

  I clawed my arms forward, just aware Nicholas—weak and debilitated—had been drug away, handcuffed next to Phil’s cage. His abused body slumped to the ground in exhaustion. Tony had corralled me and forced me towards his queen.

  Trying to keep a constant stream of goodness flowing towards Nicholas with my new secret gift, I buried my own fearful feelings underneath Phil’s aura, who gave off plenty to share. My rapt concentration made speaking difficult though.

  “Why hello, Julia,” Alora said with a syrupy smile, tracing a line across my cheek with her finger. “Still in the thick of my business, I see.”

  I wanted to say horrible things, but couldn’t without losing my triangular freeway of extrasensory protection. Forced to listen, I kept my lips shut.

  Tony stretched my hand outward towards Alora who grasped it gleefully. Within my mind, I felt her tentacles clawing at the edges of my subconscious, trying to gain entry. Ever so slightly, her eye twitched as she futilely attempted to read my mind.

  After a minute, she cursed and dropped my hand.