Force (An Alex Warren Novel)

by Logue, Shawna

  I didn’t tell him that I had been slowly doing this through our entire conversation. Now he had given me an excuse to do exactly what I wanted, and like a child given permission to eat sugar, I didn’t hesitate. My mind yanked at the pole, and like its counterparts, it felt stretchy and elastic in my mental grip.

  I had pulled to hard though, and it recoiled back with a snap, but not before a surge of energy flowed through me. I didn’t stand up though, as I had braced for. Instead I felt the energy ripple through my body and out my fingertips. I could see the flash in Casper’s eyes as the energy surged through him, and for a moment I felt terrified I had hurt him.

  “It tastes… metallic,” he said after a moment. “I hadn’t expected that.” He smiled, as though this new knowledge meant something more to him than to me.

  “Will you please tell me what’s happening to me?” I was confused, and my strained tone startled him from his trance. He laced his fingers through mine and with his free hand he carefully removed my mask. I noticed then that his was already off, though I hadn’t noticed when he had done so. He stared into my eyes, searching.

  “What you see, Alexis, are force lines. Many people know of their existence, or at least entertain the idea of their existence, but they cannot see them. Indeed, I have never met anyone who could see them, let alone drain them as easily as you can.” He looked at me again, amused. “This changes things,” he said quietly, shaking his head. Looking back at me, he said, “Most people who know of force lines can sense them, but their exact location is impossible to tell. The stronger the line, the easier it is to find, but it is not an exact science.” He thought some more.

  I had so many questions, but I couldn’t speak. I was in shock at his words. This was all real? Was I a freak? Why could I see them, and no one else? I looked back at the lighted beacon in the center of the dance floor. No one noticed it, and I could see that no one touched it either. It was almost as though some part of their subconscious told them to avoid it.

  The wind picked up then, and I chattered at the sudden burst of cold. Casper looked up out of his thoughts, and silently took my hand to take me inside. A thought struck me.

  “What did you think I was going to say when you asked me if I had seen anything strange?”

  He looked at me, cocking his head slightly. “Oh, you know,” he smiled. “Like trolls, or enchanted cats or anything like that.”

  I laughed, but I couldn’t help but feel that he hadn’t been joking.

  Casper remained quiet for the rest of the evening, occasionally touching my fingertips, as though trying to feel the surge of energy again. It took me a minute to realize this was what he was wanting, and I willingly obliged, being careful to only take small amounts of energy as to not draw attention to myself now that we were back in the crowded room. He seemed pleased by my actions, clasping my hand tightly after the transfer had occurred.

  Casper’s silence didn’t bother me at all. If I was being honest with myself, I felt a bit of a high from what was secretly going on between the two of us. I noticed several wary glances from the man dressed as Zorro, (Connor perhaps?), but I ignored him. Casper shocked me out of my stupor though when he jumped up suddenly, insisting we dance. I was clumsy enough on my own without trying to be graceful in stilettos, so I tried my best to refuse. I lost that battle, and soon enough we were weaving around the dance floor. My feet barely touched the ground as he led me around, dancing in perfect rhythm to a song I didn’t recognize. We continued, as the song flowed into another, spinning gracefully around the other couples. I could see the glitter on my arms twinkling furiously under the lights, but I didn’t care. Casper’s sudden burst of energy was thrilling, and I was actually having fun.

  Dancing.

  At a party no less.

  I listened as the song faded, and waited for the next one to start, but it didn’t. We had stopped dancing, and I noticed that no one was close to us, despite the dance floor being immensely crowded. We had ended our dance close to the great beam of energy surging through the floor. I wondered if Casper had planned that, but then I remembered he said that he couldn’t see it.

  I noticed that everyone was looking towards the DJ. Behind him was a large screen, with a clock ticking down. Ten seconds. As the crowd starting counting down Casper pulled my face up gently to look at his. Five seconds.

  “Happy New Year,” he whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the counting.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  Several things happened then, all at once. The crowd cheered in celebration of the New Year. I heard glasses clinking and people clapping. And I felt the crush of Casper’s lips against mine as he kissed me furiously. His lips were hot against my skin, and the last of the energy surging through me escaped through my lips into his.

  Reflexively, I reached my mind out to the beam for more, tentatively, so as not to lose concentration on his fervent kiss. As I mentally tugged on the force line, I could taste the sweet, metallic taste of the energy, both in my mouth and in his. My mind pulled harder, lost in the moment, and I felt him respond to the extra energy. He became relentless, gripping me harder, sucking at the force coming from my lips. I could feel the pain from his grip, but I could not respond. My eyes flashed open and he was staring deep into my eyes, ravenous. His eyes burned with light, and I could feel fear rushing through me but I was unable to let go, torn between the pain from his hands, and the ecstasy of the power between us. I could tell my feet were no longer on the floor, and he dipped me low as he kissed me harder, taking more energy from me than my mind could pull from the force line. My survival instinct kicked in, fearful that he would take my whole life force, and I did the only thing I could think of: I reached out, no longer just in my mind, and grasped my hand around the light.

  “NO!” I heard Paul shout, but he sounded far away. “CASPER! YOU FOOL!”

  The second my hand clasped around the light, I was blinded. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the bright white had come from Casper. It was as though all the energy he had sucked from me had exploded out of him. I dropped hard to the ground, and could immediately feel something warm pooling around my head, then nothing.

  Chapter Eleven

  I think I was awake. I could hear voices, and I was aware of a distant throbbing pain in my head, but I didn’t want to open my eyes. The darkness was too beautiful and serene. I wished that whoever was talking would stop and let me enjoy silence, but I dared not speak in case the darkness disappeared.

  “I should have stopped him.” Familiarity rang in the distraught voice, and I could detect a hint of Irish brogue.

  “You didn’t know; none of us saw this coming,” another voice whispered sweetly. Peri perhaps?

  “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine,” a low, calm voice interjected. I could recognize Nic immediately. “I thought we had more time to teach her. I never expected that she would be so strong. She had no idea what she was doing.” He paused, and I heard a deep sigh. “Casper though? Paul, did you know about this?”

  A choked voice replied, “I didn’t know what was happening, but I should have seen the signs!” The voice was clearly upset. “I saw the stardust! She had no choice but to tell him everything she knew, even if she didn’t know what that meant. But even I didn’t know that Alex could do that! I thought he was just having fun! Trying to get her to admit she had feelings for him or something!” Paul sobbed, and I felt a shudder ripple through me as I realized he had referred to me in the past tense.

  “She’s awake,” a calm woman said quietly, but everyone must have heard her because the room went silent except for the rushed movements of several people approaching. It could make out each footstep and the sound was deafening, ringing in my ears.

  A soft, warm hand caressed my face, and I involuntarily pushed my face against it to absorb the heat. I hadn’t realized how cold I was.

  “Alex, are you okay?” Connor’s voice whispered and I could feel his b
reath close to my face. It smelled delicious and sweet, like crisp apples. I inhaled deeply, then winced.

  “Careful, you broke a couple ribs,” I heard Nic warn.

  “Maybe she’s not awake,” spoke the woman whose voice I hadn’t been able to place earlier. I realized now it was Andrea. Her firm tones gave her away.

  I tried to speak, but no sound came out. My throat was dry, and it burned as I tried to force words out. I tried to open my eyes, to give some sort of signal I was awake, but they stayed tightly shut.

  “Her eyes are open!” Peri whispered excitedly, and I realized that they must not have been talking about me. I sighed, relaxing back into my darkness. “Alex, how are you?”

  Then it hit me. I searched the darkness, and I could feel my eyes flitting left and right looking desperately for anything, a light, a shadow, anything. I heard a rasping shriek escape from my lips, which burned as they parted. My hand flew to my mouth in pain, and I could feel something rip out from my arm. As I reached to touch my burnt lips, I could feel a weight on my hand, and slowly, carefully touched my hand to my cheek. I could recognize the smell of alcohol, and feel the scratchy linen texture from the gauze wrapped around my palm. My fingers were free, and carefully touched my chapped lips, still hot from the burns they received.

  Someone pulled my arm down then, gently but firm, and I felt a quick sting as whatever had ripped out earlier was quickly reinserted into my arm. The frantic whispers of the observers became one low, dulcet tone and I felt a calming fog creep over my mind. Everything was silent, and I was back in my darkness.

  ******

  I was aware of time passing only in that occasionally I someone touch my face, or gently squeeze my unbandaged hand. Eventually, sound returned, though it was always muffled, as though coming from another room.

  I didn’t try to open my eyes. I knew I was blind. I couldn’t remember if I had always been blind, or if this was something new. I searched my memory, but was too foggy to comprehend what I found. Defeated, I took a deep breath, wincing at the pain that shot up through my side. My good hand involuntarily flew to my ribs, and I realized that someone had been holding my hand until my reflex had jerked it away.

  “Alex?” Connor whispered. “Are you awake?”

  I nodded, the only motion I knew of to communicate at this point.

  “Can I get you anything?”

  I tried to speak, but my throat was still hoarse and dry. I pointed to my throat, hoping he would understand. He started to get up, and I had another thought. I reached aimlessly in the air, trying to grasp any part of him before he walked away.

  “What is it? Are you okay?” he asked, worried.

  I pinched my thumb and forefinger together, and pretended to write something in the air. I hoped my charade would convey the meaning across.

  “Got it,” he said, and within a minute he was back. He pressed a cup into my hand and struggled in the darkness to find my mouth without spilling. There was a straw in the cup, and when I finally connected to my lips I drank until I heard the distinct sucking sound indicating the cup was empty. The cool water felt like silk along my throat, but I still didn’t want to talk. I held the cup out in front of me, unsure of where Connor was sitting and if he would understand the gesture. He did, and swiftly took the empty cup from my hands. I wondered if he had understood my motions earlier and as if in response I felt him put a pen in hands, and a pad of paper on my lap. I struggled to sit a bit more upright, straining against the sharp pains of my ribs. I felt Connor’s gentle hand lift my back, and he slipped a pillow behind me.

  Finding the paper with the tip of the pen, I silently wished that I could write legibly enough in the darkness to make sense. I didn’t know where to begin, as the terror of my current condition flooded me. I struggled against the wall of tears I could feel forming in my darkness. I wrote the most pressing thing on my mind. I wrote slowly, making sure he spoke each letter as I wrote, in case my pen was not writing in a straight line.

  “You can’t see?” he asked after reading my sentence.

  I nodded in response, and felt something wet on my cheek. The dam had broke, and I sobbed involuntarily. My ribs shot a sharp pain through me with each wave of tears. I felt Connor sit beside me on the bed and put one arm around me. I cried, burying my face in his shoulder. I couldn’t stop. It flowed out of me like a waterfall, part of me frightened at my blindness, and part of me reacting to the pain shooting through me as I moved. I’m not sure how long I cried, but Connor didn’t say a word. He didn’t move, letting me ruin his shirt with my tears. Occasionally I felt his gentle hand rub small circles around my back, reminding me to breathe. When I finally composed myself, defeated and weak, he took my good hand and squeezed it.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. I strained to hold back more tears, and instead reached blindly for the pen.

  “What ha” was all I wrote before he finished my sentence for me.

  “Happened?” he asked. I nodded.

  “I think that story is for Paul to tell,” he answered, with sadness in his voice. He’ll be here tomorrow morning. “I’ve got the night shift. He’ll be happy to see you’re finally awake.”

  I drew a question mark on the paper. He understood my confusion. “Alex, honey, you’ve been out for three days. We’ve been watching you around the clock to make sure you weren’t alone when you woke up.”

  Three days? Had I really been out that long? “MARIA?” I wrote in big letters across the paper.

  “Maria? Who is- Is that your roommate?” I nodded in reply, and he continued, unconcerned, “Nic called her on New Year’s Day and told her you had to fly out to London on business to deal with an emergency, and that you wouldn’t be back for a little while. She bought it.” I could hear his amusement at this, and I frowned. I didn’t like lying to Maria. He caught my expression, and changed his tone.

  “Alex, she can’t know about what happened. If she knew about any of this, she would compromise all that Nic has worked for. I’m afraid that until Casper is dealt with, you really shouldn’t be near her, so as to not put her in danger.”

  I felt my heart race. Connor must have sensed my fear, as I felt him take the pen from my hand, adding, “That’s enough questions for now. Get some rest. I’ll be here all night, and Paul will explain everything in the morning.” I didn’t try to get the pen back, as I was still lost in what he had just said.

  In danger? How could Casper possibly be dangerous? I searched my mind, and the events that had transpired leading up to New Year’s Eve replayed at light speed in my mind. I remembered the force lines, and the party, and the blinding white light that had erupted from Casper. None of it made sense, and I struggled with the improbability of the whole situation until I drifted into a deep, medicated sleep.

  When I next awoke, something had changed. My throat felt less raspy as the raced through it. I didn’t know what time it was, but I could see the light coming through the cracks in my eyelids.

  The light? I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them. There was light, to the left of me, but I didn’t know where the source was. I felt as though I was standing in a thick, dark fog, and the sun was trying desperately to come through. I tried to walk towards it, not remembering that I was still in bed, and the movement jolted my ribs, bringing me back to reality.

  “Alex!” I heard Paul’s voice exclaim. Or was it Casper? They sound so alike. “You’re awake!”

  I wasn’t entirely sure of my voice yet, so I nodded in the direction of the sound. There was someone there, a blurry mass in my foggy vision.

  “Oh thank the stars! I was so worried. I’m so very sorry Alex. I had no idea. I just can’t explain how sorry I am.”

  “It’s … okay…” I rasped. “Who… are… you?” Every word felt like dragging barbed wire across my throat.

  There was long silence, and I heard the strange fuzzy person suck in a deep breath. “That’s right,” he said quietly, “Connor mentioned you were having trouble s
eeing. It’s Paul.”

  Having trouble? That wasn’t the half of it. I was blind, and it was everything I could do not to burst out into tears. I didn’t want to start thinking about how my life would change now that I couldn’t work, now that I couldn’t read. I couldn’t let myself think that.

  “Casper?” I asked, and my voice sounded like gravel.

  “He’s gone,” Paul replied. “Don’t worry. We won’t let him near you again.”

  Won’t let him near me? No! “WHY?” I shouted, though it sounded more like sandpaper on metal than a shout. It felt even worse.

  “Calm down, Alex. I have much to tell you, and you will have to trust me. Casper is dangerous to you, and we must never let him near you again.” I shook my head, but he continued. “Trust me, Alex.” He paused for several beats, and then sighed.

  “Alex, I have to tell you a story, and I want you to listen, and not ask any questions until I’m done. Can you do that?”

  I thought about that for a moment, and then nodded, feeling confused.

  “The story I am going to tell you is from long ago. It is about two brothers. One night, their mother was seduced by Zeus, the king of the gods. Later that same night, she lay with her husband, the king of Sparta. Nine months later, she gave birth to four children, two girls and two boys, but this story is not about the girls.” He paused, and I nodded to indicate I was still listening. The story felt familiar, like something I had read about in university, but I couldn’t quite place it.

  He continued. “As a result of their different fathers one of the boys was immortal and one mortal, though their mother revealed nothing of their parentage to them. The boys grew into men, and were inseparable, and they both knew that they would defend each other in battle even if it meant their death. Such a battle occurred, and the King’s true son was mortally wounded in the heat of battle. His brother was devastated, and defeated the remainder of their opponents easily, filled with rage at what had occurred. He returned to his dying brother, powerless to help him.