Chosen

by Kristen Day

  “That’s right,” I confirmed.

  “Unprompted visions can be pretty vivid, but they’re also unsettling. The fact that you don’t know you’re in a vision is a huge part of that,” she interpreted, and reached into the valise to produce the vintage compass. I observed the cautious way she handled it while Finn nodded his head in agreement. “This little guy is going to help with that.”

  She handed me the compass and I stared blankly at its face when the needle failed to move a millimeter. “I think it’s broken.”

  “I’m going to have you practice inducing a vision while holding the compass, and you’ll see real fast how it works,” she answered, while pulling the bronze key from the valise. “The bronze key represents the Future Plane. It is the oldest of the keys.”

  I held the unwieldy key in my palm and admired the intricate metal work. I was dying to know what they were for. They gave off a very powerful, ominous vibe that intrigued to me. It was as if they had their own presence.

  “You said that every tri-goddess has keys like these, but where do they come from?” I queried.

  “Each key is cut from the same piece of metal - whether that be gold, silver, or bronze. They’re all interconnected and they’re all identical,” she provided, and then promptly changed the subject. “The compass is also made of metal, but it will only work during a vision. It will follow you into the vision and you will be able to use it.”

  “So I can decide what I want to have a vision about?”

  “You can guide the vision in the right direction…what you see may or may not be exactly what you were looking for, however,” she explained cryptically. “Now what I want you to do is lay back and close your eyes.”

  “Is this dangerous in any way?” Dad asked Zara, his anxiety showing on his pinched features.

  “Not at all,” she comforted him, and then diverted her attention back to me. “Certain events have more…energy than others, making them easier to access. For example, it would be extremely difficult for you to prompt a vision about your dinner a week from now. But it’d be much easier to prompt a vision about your Epiphany ceremony. Make sense?”

  “I think so,” I cracked open one eye. “Is it anything like prompting a reverie? I’m good at that.” I heard Finn snicker and Zara smiled as well.

  “Oddly enough, reveries are much more difficult,” she confirmed for me. “Visions are more like…falling asleep. You just have to remember which way is up.”

  I dug up some of the times I’d had unprompted visions, and realized that most of the time the world would tilt and I would just black out. Is that what she meant? Is that what the compass was going to do? Help me find ‘up’?

  “I feel like Alice in Wonderland,” I muttered, eliciting laughter from Carmen and Willow.

  “For this lesson, I want you to choose a specific event that you’d like to see in your vision. You’ll need to envision yourself there; concentrate on the smells, sounds, and people. You’ll know it’s working when you feel yourself start to spin.”

  I closed my eyes and became lost in what I envisioned my Epiphany ceremony would be like. Since I had no idea where it was held or who would attend, I tried to think about the traditional white dress I would have to wear - the lavish feel of its many layers, and the way it made me feel like I was a part of something bigger. I thought about my friends all sitting nearby, along with Finn, my Dad, and Zara. I pictured the Nereids standing around the perimeter of the room, like they had in the circle of the courtyard at the Spiti of Achilles.

  “You’ll feel a light tugging on your soul, and then you’ll feel yourself begin to spin. That when you know…” Her voice trailed off as the world shifted drastically sideways and I held my breath. A mass of colors whirled in front of my eyes, and at one point I thought I was going to throw up. It was a merry-go-round from hell. Just when I thought I couldn’t take it any longer, everything stopped and the world went dark.

  Chapter 35

  The stone path beneath my bare feet chilled me to the bone while the night air swirled around me, filling my senses with the unrefined, earthy smell of witch hazel. I was positioned on a stone path, lit by the moon above and surrounded by a garden wilted by the early morning frost. To my left, the path wound down to a small cottage. To my right sat a large sprawling beach house with several lights on. Why was I standing on a path in the middle of the night? Shouldn’t I be inside the cottage? Something in my hand caught my attention and I looked down to discover that I was holding the compass from my valise. Why in the world? Zara. Training. Visions. My mind quickly put the pieces together and my memory came crashing down on me.

  I was having a vision! I’d done it! But…this was definitely not my Epiphany ceremony. Apparently I earned a big F in directing my visions. I studied the compass to see if it had magically begun to work. The face had completely changed, and I squinted in the pale moonlight to read it. There were actually four needles on the compass; each pointing in a different direction, but I couldn’t quite make out the small writing on the face. One needle looked like it was pointing to A.M.? That would make sense, considering I assumed it was in the early hours of morning. Maybe that’s what the compass did for you: tell you not so much ‘where’ you are, but ‘when’ you are. Interesting.

  A sound near the larger house caught my attention, and I froze as a figure stepped up to a side door and knocked. The awning she stood under drenched her in shadow, rendering it impossible for me to figure out she was. I crept forward to get a better view. She tilted her head slightly as if she heard a noise and I ducked down. When a single moonbeam lit her profile, I felt my heart seize in my chest. Keto.

  After I collected my jaw from off of the ground and convinced my heart to stop racing, I quickly scooted up the path. Suddenly, the door opened and a cheerful Zara greeted her.

  “Welcome, Keto!” she received her warmly. “Please, come in so we can chat.” The first thing I noticed was that her accent had dissolved. The southern drawl I’d become accustomed to was no more. As Keto stepped inside, Zara probed the side yard with paranoid eyes before shutting the door. I had to find a way to hear what they were ‘chatting’ about. Channeling my inner Cat woman, I scurried up beneath one of the lit windows. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear the murmur of voices inside. Nadia had been telling the truth! Zara was definitely hiding something.

  If Selene hadn’t been able to see me during my vision of the essence ritual at the prison, maybe they wouldn’t be able to see me either. I cowered in misery as the phrase ‘biting my lip’ turned painfully literal. With my heart in my throat and the taste of blood on my lips, I stepped up to the side door and tried the knob. It gave under the pressure of my grip and I painstakingly twisted it the rest of the way and pushed the door open. I cringed and suffered a small heart attack when the movement elicited a hair-raising creaking sound from the hinges. Mental note - always bring WD-40 to visions.

  I cracked open the door just far enough so that I could squeeze my body in and slide through. I tip-toed down the hallway several paces, and then peeked in the doorway that led to an adjacent room. I snapped my head back and flattened against the wall when I realized that they were mere feet away.

  “I can’t tell you how pleased I am,” Zara approved, her voice still void of any accent.

  “I suppose it was only time,” Keto agreed grudgingly.

  “Have you had word from Selene?” Zara asked casually. I peeked around the corner and discovered that they had shifted away from the doorway.

  “No,” Keto sighed, “I don’t suppose I will for some time to come.”

  “I believe it is for the best,” Zara replied. “She will come around.”

  “I’ve never understood her extreme views regarding the Auras, but I suppose she is entitled to protect her descendents.”

  “Except for one.” Zara’s tone darkened.

  “Sacrifices are the decision of the willing,” Keto’s gaze turned piercing as she met Zara’s eyes. “There
is no blood on my hands or Nadia’s.”

  “I have a feeling the Furies will not see it that way,” Zara warned resolutely.

  “No, I imagine not.” Keto shrugged. “That is not my concern, however. None of this is. Especially not her.”

  “Anastasia is young in years, but will be a great leader,” Zara countered. She was taking up for me?

  “The Sirens are my only concern.” Keto crossed her arms in defiance and gazed out the window with a scowl.

  “Come,” I heard shuffling as Zara spoke, “Allow me to show you something out in the garden.” Uh oh. In a flash I twisted the door knob and slipped back outside, already considering which tree I could hide behind. Before I could even make it to the grass, I fell down the two stone steps that led up to the door. Warm blood trickled down my arm and I reached up, just as pain pulsed up my shoulder. I crawled partly behind a bush, just as the two women walked outside. Something hard pressed against my butt and I wrenched the compass out of my back pocket. In the light I could see the face clearly. I laid down on my back and held it up to my eyes, just as I realized that one of the needles was pointing to what was clearly marked as ‘Up’.

  I was suddenly back inside the cottage, presumably in the Present, lying on the couch. In an effort not to come unglued in front of everyone, I remained silent. I carefully and deliberately scanned the living room. A concerned Willow was sitting beside me, along with Finn.

  “Where’s Zara?” I asked, not making any sudden movements in case my self-control up and ran away.

  “She got called out for a disturbance on campus…something about two Tritons fighting over a Siren. Go figure,” Carmen rolled her eyes.

  “Convenient,” I muttered. I spotted Dad sitting on the other couch, as I strained to pull myself upright and readjust the shirt that I had gotten twisted. That’s when I noticed the blood. I touched my arm gently to investigate how tender the cut still was. Yep, still tender.

  “We’ve been trying to wake you up,” Willow explained as she began to clean the wound. “We didn’t think blood was a good sign at all.”

  “I just…fell down some steps.” I shrugged and forced a smile to show them I was fine. “I’m such a klutz sometimes.” Finn grinned as Willow set to healing my cut with her hands. The tingling felt amazing, as it crawled up my arm and relieved the pain.

  “You did great,” Finn grinned at me proudly. “Did you see what you were expecting?”

  “Yes and no.” I smiled back at him and my heart warmed with love. I could tell that he knew something was off, but was refraining until I didn’t have an audience to analyze my every move. I was hoping that he couldn’t tell that I’d completely failed at directing my vision. I also needed time to digest what I had seen. I rubbed my temples as a headache started to come on. “I think I need to rest.”

  “But I made dinner up at Zara’s house! Aren’t you hungry?” Willow frowned.

  “Not really,” I answered, and my stomach promptly betrayed me by growling. Willow put her hands on her hips.

  “You need food, whether you want it or not,” she scolded me.

  “How about someone brings you a plate down?” Finn suggested, and I sent happy vibes toward him; wishing that I could just spend time with only him for a couple of days and forget about everything else that was happening. Unfortunately, avoiding death threats wasn’t an option.

  “That would be wonderful,” I grinned at her sheepishly. At that, everyone began to gather their things and stood up to leave for Zara’s. I gave Dad a long hug and realized that I didn’t want to let him go - but I knew that I wasn’t the only one who needed rest. His eyes had sunken in and he’d become pale since I’d been in my vision. The last to leave were Carmen and Willow, who let it be known how worried they were about me. Finn put his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

  “The Sons will be right outside all night, so you’re completely safe here,” Finn reassured me.

  “I was hoping you’d stay with me.” My request came out more desperate than I had intended, but I’d been hoping to tell him about my vision. “I need to talk to you about something.”

  “I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning,” he explained. The hesitancy and compassion in his deep blue eyes told me that he didn’t want to leave, anymore than I wanted him to. “My father has requested my presence for a meeting tonight. I can’t miss it.”

  “It’s alright, I’ll probably just sleep all night anyway.” I tried to hide my disappointment, but I’m not sure I fooled anyone. At least this would give me some time to think and collect my thoughts.

  “I’ll be back before the sun comes up, I promise,” he assured me with another kiss before reluctantly leaving the cottage.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Willow asked me, unconvinced.

  “You know we can tell when that head of yours is about to pop off,” Carmen pressed with presumption.

  I sighed and gave in easily to their interrogation, “My vision wasn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be. I’m just not sure Zara is who she claims to be, but I don’t know how to find out or if it even matters at this point.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I feel like I’ve got a million problems piling up and I’m being forced to pick and choose which ones to worry about.”

  “Well, the most important problem right now is how to keep you alive,” Willow told me sternly. “Everything else can wait.”

  “She’s right,” Carmen said. “You need to concentrate on your training, and figure out how to keep from getting whacked when Keto and Nadia come a-knocking.”

  “You are not helping.” Willow cut her eyes at Carmen and then regarded me once again, “You do have one advantage, however.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Kick ass friends.” She smiled widely before continuing, “We’re about to eat up there, and Zara isn’t home yet. We’ll perform some reconnaissance work and report back.”

  “Just be careful,” I warned them. “If she’s talking to Keto, we’re really playing with fire.”

  “Keto?”

  “In my vision, Keto had gone to Zara’s house to meet up and talk,” I explained, and their eyes grew wide. “So just be careful.”

  “We will,” Carmen hugged me. “Now, you get some sleep. Doctor’s orders.”

  Finally alone, I collapsed onto the couch and massaged my temples. I wondered if a person’s head really could pop off. It seemed feasible. I closed my eyes and laid back, hoping all the answers would magically appear in my thoughts. Instead, the world faded away as sleep took me hostage.

  Chapter 36

  The next time my eyes opened I had no idea how long I’d been sleeping on the couch, but there was a full plate of cold food on the coffee table in front of me. Either Willow couldn’t wake me up, or she had left me sleeping. I thought about re-heating the food, but decided against it; slinking back to the bedroom and climbing into bed. I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. Surprisingly, it stared back.

  A solid line of at least fifty glow-in-the-dark stars of all sizes ran the length of the ceiling from window to wall. From there, it trailed down and disappeared into the closet. I switched on the small lamp on the bedside table and hopped out of bed; curiosity getting the best of me. I crossed the room and opened the door to a large walk-in closet that seemed to go on for miles. Blouses, pants, and dresses were stuffed on either side; not allowing room for much else.

  I stuck my head inside, but only the eerie glow from the line of stars that continued to run along the ceiling could be seen. I stepped farther inside and spun around slowly. There was a good chance the stars had been there for years, but I hadn’t noticed them the night before. Maybe Zara had thought I’d like them? Or maybe Finn did it? Giving up, I was about to walk out when I heard a light stirring near the back of the closet. I stepped farther in, looking for some kind of weapon in case a murderer, or more appropriately, Nadia, was hiding behind one of the dresses. My breath hitched as I pictured a
rat the size of a small dog launching itself at me.

  Funny - how a rat could elicit more fear in me than a murderer or Nadia. I didn’t have much more time to contemplate who was sharing the closet with me before three figures plunged out from the darkness and smothered me in a hazardous four-person hug in the middle of the closet.

  “What are you guys doing here?!” I screeched at my three roommates. “I thought you were a murderer! Or a…rat. Or…whatever! You shouldn’t be hiding in my closet!”

  “It was the only hiding place we could all fit!” Carmen jumped on the bed and tested out its springiness.

  “The perfectly good living room wasn’t big enough for you?” I put my hands on my hips.

  “Sticking stars to the ceiling and hiding out in your bedroom closet were much more fun.” Willow laughed. “Plus, the guards outside let us in because we had food.”

  “I voted for cutting off the electricity and blasting the door down, but Carmen said that would be too obvious.” Phoebe shrugged as she inspected the pictures on the wall.

  “Or…” I emphasized slowly with sarcasm. “And this might sound crazy, but you could have just knocked on the door and woke me up.”

  “Once again, that doesn’t involve stars or closets,” Phoebe informed me. “Not to mention, we wouldn’t have had an excuse to get all dressed up like army guys!”

  She twirled around to show off her outfit. All three of them looked more like duck hunters than army men, as they were covered in camouflage from head to toe with black war paint smeared on their faces. Willow’s gorgeous hair was tucked up under a bright, neon-orange knit hat.

  “Good thing you wore camouflage - If it weren’t for your hair, I wouldn’t be able to see you right now.” I rolled my eyes and laughed.

  Carmen put her hands on her hips, “I sacrificed at least three dollars for these diamonds in the rough at a yard sale last week. I knew they’d come in handy some day. Besides, yours are in this bag. We can’t bust you out of here in that.” I looked down at my jeans and sweater and then back at Carmen with skepticism. She tossed the bag at me with a wicked grin. “You’ve got two choices. Put them on or we put them on for you. You pick.”