Luminescence (Luminescence Trilogy)

by J. L. Weil

  “It’s not that simple Bri,” he argued.

  “Nothing is with you. I think you should take me home,” I stated emotional spent.

  Chapter 26

  AFTER HE DROPPED ME OFF, I left his car without even a good-bye. Rushing inside I tiptoed up to my room. My aunt was home and I didn’t want to disturb her or honestly talk. I knew that if she took one look at me, she would see the raw emotions I couldn’t hide. Closing the door softly behind me, the room was submerged in darkness. I reached for the light switch. Fumbling along the wall I must have miscalculated how far the switch was. Instead of my hand connecting with the switch as I expected, my head connected with the door of my bathroom.

  Everything went black as I lost consciousness.

  When I awoke I wasn’t alone and I was no longer in my room. There was giant size knot on the side of my head and a killer pounding at my temples. Scrambling to my feet off the blacktop I raised a hand to the side of my head and caught a flash of red take off around the corner.

  “Hey,” I yelled out after the figure.

  Taking off, I hit the pavement at a dead run. Not exactly the smartest move. My head protested at the quick movements and slowed me down. As I turned the corner a woman with flaming hair and burning violet eyes so like mine stood a few feet in front of me. She smiled at me and I couldn’t help think she looked like an enchantress. And then it dawned on me. She was the woman from the painting in the Mason’s library. What had Gavin said her name was?

  Before I had the chance to mull it over, she beckoned me forward. I didn’t really see how I had a choice. I had no idea how I got here, where I was or what she wanted with me. So of course I followed her.

  As we walked I studied her, fascinated by her presence and the amount of confidence she oozed. Stunning in a black dress, her hair whipped out around her, a striking contrast to the dark she wore. I tore my gaze from hers and looked at my surroundings. It was past time I started figuring out what was going on, or at the very least where we were headed. As the shoreline came into view, I noticed the houses up on the embankment. We weren’t far from Gavin’s house and only a block or two from mine. Somewhere in the middle was my guess.

  A gentle breeze ruffled my hair and for the first time I looked down at myself and was stupefied to find that I wasn’t wearing the jeans and tank top I had on all day. Instead I was donned in a white flowing dress that trailed behind me, a similar style to what the flaming haired woman wore. The top part cinched my waist in an old fashion corset. And I was barefoot.

  Occasionally she looked over her shoulder at me to see if I was still following. Our identical eyes caught and her name vibrated in my head. Morgana le Fey.

  Now I knew I hit my head a lot harder than I thought.

  When we reached the shoreline, my feet sunk into the cool sand. The sky was dark and thickly layered in ominous clouds. “What do you want?” I called to her back. My feet were tired and beaten from the lack of protection. I didn’t know how longer I would be able to keep up with her. We were fighting against a wind that seemed to be getting stronger with each step and I flittingly wondered if I was the cause. Maybe I was heedlessly using my magic. Where my emotions were concerned anything was possible. What I did know was my body wasn’t up to this long trek after being knocked unconscious.

  She never acknowledged my voice, but kept her steady grueling pace down the beach. I hadn’t the slightest idea what I was doing out here in the middle of the night following a dead and possibly fictional woman. The more I thought on this the less smart it became. I wanted to deny the part of me that was pulled to follow her. I wanted to tell it to go to hell. My subconscious didn’t care what I wanted and I wasn’t sure I could stop. I was beginning to think she had spelled me.

  Continually we trudged across the beach with the wind picking up speed at our approach. There was a connection or tie to the air around me. I felt it in my core urging me to take control of it no matter that my body was exhausted and worn. Crossing my arms over my chest, I tucked them under refusing the pull.

  Without the knowledge of my own powers and the ability to govern them, it was best to avoid using them. Even as I thought this, another part of me highly disagreed. It fought to surface and demand to break free.

  Stopping in her tracks, she turned to me, a troublesome grin on her blood red lips. Back facing the dark waters, her crimson hair and dark dress twirling with the winds. “Brianna my child, it is time for you to embrace your heritage,” she said, her voice powerful. She threw out her arms and the sky opened up in disorder at her command. Wow and I thought I had temperamental storm problem. She made me look like an amateur.

  What did she mean heritage? I didn’t have time to dwell on it because her magic flowed from her to the storm she started brewing. The electrifying energy of her spell cloaked around me and summoned mine to join her. The call was impossible to ignore as molten power flowed through my veins, I mimicked her movements, impervious to do anything else. Together our spell intertwined and became so dominant and forceful I felt like we could easily destroy Holly Ridge with a flick of our finger. Nothing ever felt so wickedly good, like I was born for purpose.

  Throwing my head back, thunder cracked in the clouds and bolts of lightning struck. Her siren voice sounded in my head, encouraging me, not that I needed much motivation at this point. My magic recognized hers like they were long lost friends or lovers. Our spell blended harmoniously and effortlessly together as one.

  “Born of my magic and blood, you shall be mine,” she belted over the turning seas and howling winds.

  With each word came a bolt force radiating my power. If there had been time to reflect on myself, I would have been frightened. Even as the richness of power engulfed me a tiny fraction in my mind sent a warning. Whispering to me, it sent Gavin’s name to the forefront of my mind. I remembered him telling me how my moods often dictated the weather because I was insentiently using magic; weathercasting was what he called it. Glancing at the ferocious storm concocting, I knew that this wasn’t me. It was just enough to break the hold the intoxicating spell had over me.

  I didn’t know what chance I had at getting out of here, but urgency insisted that I call for help in my single moment of sanity. He made a habit of saving and was on the tip of my mind before I second guessed myself.

  Gavin, I yelled over and over again.

  Somehow I needed to wake from this nightmare if it was indeed a dream. I prayed it was. My faith sank as nothing happened, no shift in the air, no fireflies, no Gavin. The energy I was projecting stumbled in my discouragement. Without him, I didn’t know what hope I had of getting out of this perilous situation.

  Just when I was about to give up all hope a shadowy form appeared higher on the bank, looking fierce, dangerous and pissed off. “Bri,” he shouted.

  Morgana whipped her head at his voice. He started to make his way towards me and dread spilled into my belly. I didn’t want her attention focused on him.

  “You cannot be here,” she hissed displeased with Gavin’s appearance. Her eyes darkened to a shade close to black, the deepest shade of purple.

  Fear stabbed at my heart. All I could think of was not him. If she hurt him because I brought him here, I would never be able to forgive myself. That much I was at least certain. Looks like I was going head-to-head with a bat-shit crazy witch.

  Morgana shifted her energy at Gavin. I felt the alteration as our magic was no longer joined and without a second thought threw myself in its path. With a little help from my unpredictable magic, I made sure it was directed exactly to me.

  The sheer force of it knocked me back ten feet, as I sailed like a doll in the air and flattening me on my ass. It was worse than being hit with a bulldozer (well what imagined being hit by a bulldozer felt like), all the breath was knocked out of me at the pressure of landing hard. Even with a softer surface like sand, it hit me solid and firm. Gasping f
or air, Gavin knelt down beside me, brushing the hair out of my face. His touch made me realize I was still alive. If he could make me feel fireflies at a time like this then I must not yet be dead.

  “Silly girl,” I heard her say. “He has no part of this.” If I thought she was combustible before, this took being pissed to a new level – must be a witch thing. Her voice dripped with venom and spite.

  Before she even finished her sentence I felt the draw of her magic. She had started the spell again. Winds so severe, they kicked up sand in our face. Visibility was out of the question as I lost sight of her. Deep out in the ocean a monster hurricane rose from the violent waters, groaning with sickening power. Spinning rapidly, the ugly twister headed for shore. With each passing minute, the whirlwind picked up speed, strength and ready to flatten anything in its path – including us.

  “Bri,” Gavin called over the deafening winds, running his hands over my limps, checking for injuries. “Wake up.” He repeated again and again as this new threat grew closer to the shores. “You have to fight it and wake up,” he screamed spitting wet sand.

  “I don’t know how,” I admitted, my own voice sounding raspy and foreign.

  “You do,” he insisted. “Focus. Use your energy like you did today. Make yourself wake up.”

  He was right. I had to try. I had to save us. This was the only way I knew how. Doing as he instructed, I closed my eyes and searched for the flowing hum of energy. The crazy chaotic circumstances made it way more difficult to concentrate. Yet somehow I was able to find the thread I needed. Keeping every last bit of vigor on the only lifeline I had, the magic merged into my bloodstream and I chanted, Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

  Afraid to open my eyes, I could no longer sense Gavin beside me. Collapsed on the shore, the white dress was plastered against me along with wet sand. Morgana’s temptress laugh was ringing in my ears. Soaked to the bone, I laid on the beach too exhausted to move. A whizzing and whirling of wind caught some part of my mind that screamed danger. Opening my eyes I looked out into the turbulent waters and saw the murderous hurricane swirling out of control. My heartbeat started to burst from my chest as I realized the immediate threat barreling my way.

  Morgana was nowhere in sight, her voice gone. All I could think about was the spell had not worked. I hadn’t been able to wake myself from the nightmare or it was never a dream to begin with – I had failed.

  Laying there on the beach I resigned my fate over to the hurricane that would surely sweep me away. Not an ounce of stamina remained in my body. Even the magic felt drained.

  “Bri.” Gavin’s voice flittered from somewhere behind. He sounded like he was talking under water. “Bri,” he called again. How appropriate that his voice would be the last I heard.

  When his dark features appeared in my vision I thought I was hallucinating.

  “Bri stay with,” he said like I had a choice. I didn’t want to die and I sure as hell didn’t want him dying with me.

  “Get out of here,” I yelled, using the last strength I had, my voice gravelly.

  The sapphire of his eyes radiated with magic as he muttered a few hushed words. Silence erupted as the whizzing and whirling dissolved. I thought this is it. Now all I needed was the bright light.

  He lifted me up into his arms. “I love you,” I murmured against his neck and inhaled once last scent of the wild and recklessness that could only be his.

  “Saving you is starting to become extremely dangerous and life-threatening. Way more than I bargained for,” he said as he carried me in his arms. A moment later I blacked out again for the second time that night.

  Chapter 27

  DRIFTING IN AND OUT OF consciousness I awoke to bits and pieces of conversation around me. The voices all belong to one Mason or another. It seemed the whole family was in attendance, I could safely assume I was in their home.

  “Is she going to be alright,” I heard Sophie ask. A cool damp cloth was placed over my forehead, as I became aware of the burning inside me.

  “She has a good size bump on her head and is banged up some, but I think she will be alright. Her body and magic need time to recuperate. She needs rest, lots of it,” Lily said. I felt her hand brush back my hair. Beads of perspiration gathered at the hairline.

  “What are we going to tell her aunt?” Sophie asked.

  “I don’t know yet. Let’s just see when she wakes up. Hopefully it will be soon,” Lily replied.

  The rest of the conversation was lost to me as I floated back into a deep sleep – a dreamless sleep. I was afraid now to close my eyes, but my body had other plans and didn’t care for my fears.

  There was no concept of time in my fitful sleep. I repeatedly woke, but didn’t actually wakeup. I was more or less stuck in some in-between time warp of slumber. Was not exactly a journey I would like to take again.

  “Is he okay?” I heard Lily ask in one of my lucid semi-conscious moments.

  “Yeah. He is beating himself up about not being there for her sooner. He thinks he should have done something to prevent this,” John replied, sounding strained.

  I could only assume they were talking about Gavin. And that was just like him to think that he could have stopped this. Their voices trailed off as I went under yet again. The tittering between both worlds was depleting my energy. I couldn’t fight it anymore and let it take me back to a place without hurt, feeling or terror.

  When I submerge again, I was determined to stay awake this time. The seesawing was screwing with my mind and I had to wake. I needed to get home before my aunt realized I was gone. My only hope was that time hadn’t slipped away from me while my mind continued to plunge.

  “She can dreamscape,” I heard Gavin tell his parents.

  “Are you sure?” John asked his son.

  “Yes. It’s how I knew where she was tonight. She’s done it one other time before that I know of. The night we met.”

  Dreamscape? I hadn’t the foggiest idea what he was talking about. What had I done?

  “Tell us what happened,” John asked Gavin.

  “I was sleeping when I heard her call my name. The next thing I knew I was outside in a wicked storm and Bri was standing on the shore in the middle of it all. I yelled out her name and that is when I noticed Morgana.”

  “Morgana was there? You are sure?” Lily asked. There was disbelief and bewilderment in her voice.

  “Yes, it was her and she did not want me there.”

  “I don’t doubt that. Would indefinitely mess up her plans I’d imagine,” John said.

  “What does she want with Bri?” he asked emulating my uncertainties.

  “I don’t know. But I doubt anything good can come from having the most powerful witch seeking you out in your dreams,” Lily said.

  Morgana the most powerful witch, echoed in my mind. Her power was unparalleled I was certain yet my magic felt so close to hers, like a twin. That couldn’t be though, none of this made sense.

  “How were you able to get her to wake up?” John asked.

  “Morgana threw a spell at me and Bri stepped in its path. The force of it knocked her in the air like a rag. I was so scared.” He sounded tired. “When I got to her side, she wasn’t moving but was awake. I told her that she needed to use her energy and force herself to end the dream…and she did it. She found the strength to get us out of there.” He struggled with keeping the aguish out of his voice.

  I moaned as my head felt like it was split in half, the pain excruciating. Forcing my eyelids to open was like prying a can with my bare hands. The light casted in the room hit my eyes like a spotlight. Bubbles of globes shaped themselves behind my eyes. Trying to lift my head proved to be very bad idea. Spears of pain radiated from the sides off my skull. Moaning louder I brought my hand to my head and laid back on the pillow. Lily and Gavin were at my side instantly.

  Lily lightly helped me sof
tly on the pillow. “Easy,” she encouraged.

  “Bri,” Gavin breathed on a sigh of relief.

  I groaned. Their voices so close to my hammering head blasted pain to my temples. “Sorry,” I squeaked. My own sounded scratchy and hoarse.

  “Don’t try and move too much. You need to rest your voice,” Lily said filled with motherly concern.

  I wasn’t sure how much I could even if I wanted to. Everything felt bruised, battered and sore. “What happened?”

  “How about we talk about it after you get better? I don’t think you are in much shape to have the kind of conversation this would take,” Lily suggested. “I’ve got to grab a few things.” I watched her walk from the room.

  “That complex hun?” Like everything lately in my life it seemed.

  Gavin smirked down at me, a strand of his dark hair falling over the eye with the silver bar. “What fun would it be without a little excitement and a dead witch haunting your dreams?” He sat down on the bed beside me and took my hand. “How are you feeling?”

  I closed my eyes for a moment. “I’ve been better.”

  His expression flickered with a flash of anger.

  “Don’t,” I croaked, my throat was so dry.

  He handed me a glass of water and Lily came back into the room. She held a potion I was sure was going to taste like bitter vinegar or worse. My facial expression must have given away my disgust.

  She laughed lightly. “It’s not as bad as it looks. I promise and it will speed your healing time. That kind of trumps the taste.”

  She had me there. At this point anything to relieve the discomfort was a blessing. Helping me to a sitting position, she propped a mound of fluffy pillows behind my back. Wrinkling my nose I gave the seaweed green mixture a look of repugnance. My stomached turned just on sight, even though the scent wasn’t what I expected. The smell was a cross between citrus limes and clover herbs. Not altogether bad, but I wouldn’t drink it voluntarily if it wasn’t a matter of easing my aches.