by A. R. Mummey
Chapter Eight
“Lorelei.”
I stood in a meadow. The sun, vivacious, shone in my eyes, and I had to raise a hand to shield my eyes. I turned to where the sound had come from.
“Lorelei.”
No one. Turning in circles without seeing anyone, I began to panic.
“Lorelei.” This time in my ear. A light whisper, a giggle. I jumped as Thea appeared before me, smiling.
My name was a sing-song on her lips as her black hair flowed freely around her face. Her eyes were wide and dark, skin vibrant, in a strapless black silk gown that billowed from her body in a non-existent wind. Looking at her, I felt ashamed. I’d failed her deeply. Raising her hand to my face, cupping my chin with one hand, she gently brushed the hair away from my eyes. She closed the distance between us, running her hands through my hair, her lips grazing mine.
My body trembled. I moaned softly, my brain foggy, “Thea.”
Her fingers traced my face and neck. Smiling gently, she brushed her lips across my neck and collarbone.
“Thea, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
“Shh … it’s okay, my love. You can make it up to me. You will make it up to me, won’t you?” She raised her eyes to mine. My mind swam; all I wanted was to please her.
“You are going to help me, my sweet.” The meadow began to swirl. Thea giggled as she wavered in and out of my consciousness.
“Tell me, please. What can I do?” The sky darkened, and the meadow began to lose its hue.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “You already know what to do.”
Waking suddenly, my body hungry with need, want, I moaned, crossing my legs tightly, and stretched. It felt delicious. Eyes still closed, I traced where her lips had been: collarbone, neck, lips.
Wait. No, this is bad.
“Unh-unh.” Roused from my reverie, I sat up quickly.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Patrick said, eyeing me warily. Relief washed over me; I hadn’t hurt him. I wanted to run into his arms, to kiss him, to love him, but a cold hand of fury wrung my heart, quickly evaporating all devotion I may have held for him. Without hesitation, I leapt up, but he was too fast for me. Slamming me against the wall, he pinned my hands together over my head, his body pressed against mine. Feelings of love and hate coursed through me. Unable to choose a side, I let out a guttural cry from deep within. I wanted to please her, but… I couldn’t. Closing my eyes, I tried to find some semblance of control.
“Look at me,” he said. “I can fix this, I promise. I will figure this out. I just need you to look at me.” His lips fell gently on my forehead. The cool touch invigorated me, and I instantly felt calm, recollected and, most importantly, me.
“What’s happening to me? Why do I want to hurt you?” I slowed as a face flashed in my mind. A whisper, a giggle. I shook my head, and it was gone.
“Get off of her,” Heath appeared, glowering at Patrick’s side.
Hands appeared, separating Patrick from me. It was Jo. “Let go,” she said quietly.
Immediately, Patrick backed away from me. Looking around the room for the first time, I realized I had no idea where I was or how I’d gotten there.
We were in a sitting room. Great room, really. It was enormous. A traditional, beige camelback sofa sat in the center of the room with end tables and two smaller cabriole sofas on either side. Directly across from the camelback was a massive stone fireplace. French doors stood on the near side of the room next to a fainting couch where I had been lying. The far side opened onto the entryway. Bookshelves lined the wall.
Heath stood a few feet from me. Jo had moved to the far cabriole sofa opposite me, where she was joined by Aidan, Patrick standing behind them. Theo and Anabel entered, positioning themselves on the large camelback. Mentally I counted to three while physically rubbing my middle finger and thumb together three times. Some of my tension lifted.
Better.
When everyone was settled, I found my voice. “How are you alive?” I looked to Patrick. “It was real, right? I stabbed you in the heart.” Shuddering, I looked around the room.
Heath took my arm. “Come on. Let’s have a seat and talk.” I stared at him in disbelief.
Shaking Heath off, I went to Patrick. “I stabbed you.”
“Yes.”
“In the heart?”
“Yes, Lorelei,” Patrick said, face blank.
“But you’re alive.” No response. In fact, no one said anything as Heath led me away from him. Silence resounded through the great room until I’d finally had enough.
“What’s happening?” I demanded.
“Sit,” Jo said coldly, motioning to me as she would a dog.
“Please,” Patrick admonished her. “Welcome to our home. After you attacked me, Jo overreacted, and you got knocked out. For which she is truly sorry. We all agreed you’d be safest here until we can come up with a plan.” Jo’s expression didn’t change. She probably wanted to do more than fling me into a wall. No wonder my head ached.
Making my way to the fireplace, I stood watching the empty grate, boring my eyes into it, imagining a fire as destructive as my soul. Head pounding, anger rising, I willed it to life. I tilted my head slightly as a blue spark flickered. Inhaling sharply, I glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. Anabel and Theo, heads close, were in deep discussion, while Heath and Patrick leered at one another, leaving Aidan to gaze off and Jo…Jo watched me. But she was too busy staring at me to notice the fireplace. Turning quickly, I closed my eyes, picturing the flare swelling into a luminescent blaze. Upon opening my eyes, I watched the spark grow. Before a bright, vibrant ember now mushroomed into a glorious fire.
Stunned, I turned toward my friends, my rage dissipating to wonder. Heath, torn from his pissing match with Patrick, and Anabel, ripped from her conversation, gasped, but Theo jumped to my side. His eyes wide, he guffawed. “You’re far more powerful than we realized. I think this is how you have survived. This is glorious.”
“What does that mean?” Jo hissed.
“It means she is Gifted, if you hadn’t figured it out yet. It means she has untapped powers. In all honesty, she should be dead by now. Think about it. She was attacked by Thea and her minions. I saw a bright flash of light, she crashed into a car, but all she got were cuts and bruises. Now she’s attacked Patrick twice: first when she stabbed him, second when she just leapt at him, not even twenty minutes ago. Since the accident, she’s been growing weaker and weaker. There’s blackness in her mind, like she’s not alone in there. She’s being drained, but she’s resisting somehow. She’s fighting her mind and her body, and she’s still standing. So, the question right now is: why and from what?” Anabel’s low voice was careful as she refused to meet my gaze.
Good. She should be too ashamed to look me in the eye. Everyone in the room gave pause. Theo returned to his seat, taking up Anabel’s hand.
“What is she? This Thea. Who is she?” Heath questioned.
“I already told you everything that’s happened,” I snapped at him.
“Tell the rest of us,” Jo snarled.
“Please.” This time, it was Aidan who spoke.
“Why don’t you start?” Heath retorted. “This all started when you guys came into her life. That bitch wanted to know about him, and she’s using Lor to get to him!” Heath fumed, glaring at Patrick.
“Don’t start. We’ll tell you everything we can, but,” Patrick turned to me, “I need you to tell me everything, from the beginning. Start from the moment you met me. Tell me everything you remember.”
“Okay.” I locked eyes with Patrick. The world faded away, and it was just the two of us. I started from our near-miss at the crosswalk, the first time I met Thea, the night at the bar, but when I got to my attack on him at my apartment, I hesitated. “I don’t know what came over me. I look at you, but when I feel … passionate or … I don’t know. I can’t describe it accurately. I see you, and I feel happy, alive, and then this hatred rips through me. I he
ar a voice, see a flash, and I just know I have to hurt you. But, it’s more than that. I want to kill you. My body just reacts like it’s a separate entity.” I looked away, ashamed, but he was instantly at my side, caressing my hand softly.
He pulled me into his arms, murmuring softly to me. I met his gaze, and our lips met hesitantly. His kiss was slow, sensuous. His hands ran up my back, cradling my head. I ran my fingers through his hair, tugging softly.
“DO YOU MIND!” Heath shouted. Breaking apart, we found everyone in the room eyeing us. Anabel, Theo, and Aidan politely looked away, grinning to themselves, while Jo and Heath stared at us in disgust. Why was I so needy for Patrick? A warning bell started to go off and quickly evaporated.
Jo rose, giving Patrick a look of reproach before pulling me to sit on the cabriole. I felt defiant. I wanted to go back to the fireplace. I felt pulled to it. For reasons I didn’t understand, I needed to be by the fire.
“So, this Thea, describe her?” Jo’s voice was sharp, her narrowed eyes focusing on my face.
I described her, her snowy complexion, dark, curly hair, pouty mouth, dark eyes. Her face, vivid, danced in my mind, whispering to me in her bell-like voice, The fire. Go to the fire.
Meanwhile, Jo’s expression turned to horror and then rage. Nostrils flaring, she turned her face to Patrick’s, communicating silently to one another.
“Would you like to tell the rest of us what’s happening?” Heath’s voice dripped with contempt. “Do you know this thing?”
“We might.” Jo’s expression became blank as she faced the others.
“She sounds familiar. Like someone we’ve run across before, but … her powers … it’s not possible for her to have such powers.”
“Well, what about Lorelei? How do we help her?” Theo spoke, holding Anabel’s hand, his expression grave.
“I may have an idea.” Patrick rested his hand on my shoulder, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me.
“No!” Heath snarled. Taken aback, I stood.
“He’s just trying to help. He’s not the one who’s been lying to me for years.” My voice rose.
“You don’t know what he is. You don’t know how dangerous he is. He could hurt you. There are ramifications. Tell her.” Heath was in front of me in two strides, grabbing my shoulders and looking pleadingly at Theo and Anabel. Exchanging a look, Anabel rose, motioning for him to come sit down.
As I opened my mouth to speak, Jo pulled me back down next to her with a warning look. The room was silent until Heath took his seat. I could feel Patrick pacing behind me. When Anabel spoke, her voice was low and sad. I could barely hear her.
“We don’t have much of a choice. She needs to make her own decision. I think you and Theo should go. Lorelei and I will stay here tonight. We’ll talk it out and maybe come up with a plan. This is our fault as much as it is theirs, so don’t take your anger out on them.”
Heath looked at me, his expression pained. “We’ll find another way. A better way. One that doesn’t keep her bound.”
“ENOUGH!” I roared, springing up off the couch. “I am so done with this. This is all bullshit. Heath, I’m done. You lied to me. Our entire friendship is a lie. You knew I was different. You knew, and you said nothing. How long did you know, huh? From the first moment? I’ve never felt so betrayed. Not even by my parents.
“Anabel, Theo, I’m so angry. You all lied to me. You infiltrated my life to keep tabs on me, to wait around for my future children like a bunch of sick perverts. Would you ever have told me? I’ve been relatively calm and a decent sport about everything. But you know what? You’re all liars. Everyone in this room has been lying to me, except Jo, who hates me, and Aidan, who doesn’t know me. I almost died. If any of you had been honest with me, maybe, just maybe, I would have known to be more careful or to not go out by myself when there’s so much crazy shit out there. Maybe I could have learned some defenses. So I don’t want to hear anyone’s fucking BULLSHIT!”
Turning away from them all, I went to the fireplace. As I gazed into the flames, I focused on my breathing. Deep breath in, slowly exhale, again and again until my ire dissipated.
Another flash. Lorelei, a voice whispered.
Abruptly I felt drained of energy, grabbing the mantel to steady myself.
Do it. Do it.
I gazed around the room. Everyone was talking, but I could no longer hear them, just that haunting voice and the sound of my heart railing against my chest. Anabel’s eyes flicked to mine as I turned slowly. Her expression turned to terror, as if she knew before I did what I was about to do.
I looked back into the fire as the whisper started again. Do it, Lorelei. You know you want to.
A tittering echoed in my brain as I leaned closer to the fire, blocking the room from my view. My body moved on its own as I reached my hand down into the grate, letting the flames lick my arm. I felt nothing. I heard nothing but a contented sigh and a giggle. Such a good girl, it whispered in my head.
Then, suddenly, it was as if I were coming up for air—noises, feelings, smells came rushing back. Screams. Suddenly there were screams. My own? Someone was trying to pull me away, but I resisted. More screams. And then the pain. My God, the pain. Fuck. It tore to the surface, but I couldn’t move. My body was stagnant. I was screaming for release. Fuck. The pain was so intense, so severe, I willed my body to black out to save myself the unbridled horror. The last thing I saw before losing all consciousness was the fire burn blue, my arm going instantly numb.