“You’re freezing. Let’s get you back inside,” Aiden said while rubbing her arms. “Tomorrow there is somewhere I need to take you . . . alone. Do you think you can get away without the four stooges?”
“Um, yeah. I’m sure I can.” She smiled as he took her hand and led her back inside.
They found the others all seated in the living room. Nate had his feet propped up on the coffee table, Reece and Leo were engaged in conversation and Sam was on his laptop. Their entrance caused the talking to stop and all eyes to focus on them, all except Nate of course. He seemed too engrossed in whatever was on the TV to care. “Jesus, you look like an icicle.” Leo jumped up and headed toward her, his hands gripping her arms to feel them.
“I’m fine, Leo. I think I’m just going to head upstairs and take a hot shower.” She shrugged him off and walked toward the stairs. “Um, Aiden . . . could you, you know, come with me?” she asked. She saw the veins in Reece’s neck begin to bulge.
“Absolutely not!” Reece and Leo shouted in unison.
Aiden laughed, he walked over and took Lily’s hand. “Of course I will.”
Reece was in front of them in a heartbeat, blocking their entrance to the stairs. “This isn’t happening, not on my watch. Lily if you would like to shower by all means go up and take one, but Aiden will stay down here.”
“Look jackass, water makes her nervous. I am going up there to help her, to do what I’ve been doing this whole time; keep her safe,” Aiden stated as he gently tugged Lily behind him, positioning himself between the two of them.
“Lil?” Leo asked from behind them. “Is that true?”
“I’m not a damn baby if that’s what you’re asking!” Lily yelled.
Leo walked across the room and tugged his sister’s arm, forcing her turn around and face him. “Nobody said you were a baby, Lil. Come on you used to be able to talk to me about anything.”
Lily forced herself to look up and meet his eyes. “Yeah, there are a lot of things I used to be able to do—like trust you, but things are different now, aren’t they?” She grabbed Aiden’s hand and pulled him up the stairs, leaving everyone speechless.
Attack
Once upstairs and inside Aiden’s room, Aiden pulled Lily over to his bed and sat her down on his lap. He rubbed his hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. “You okay?” he asked.
Closing her eyes trying to force herself to relax, Lily just nodded her head. She’s been trying really hard to get past all the drama that has happened lately. The stress of it all was finally starting to wear on her. She could feel it in her muscles, deep in her core.
Aiden’s presence should have comforted her, but she found it just the opposite, she felt guilty being around him. She knew how he felt about her, and for a short time she thought she felt the same way. It wasn’t until she saw Reece again that it solidified that fact. She allowed Aiden to hold her for a few minutes longer before finally unlatching herself from his grasp.
“I should go take that shower now,” Lily said as she closed the bathroom door behind her. Once inside she took a deep breath and turned on the water. Watching the flow of the water rain down into the drain, it looked so harmless, so carefree. “I can do this,” she said to herself. She stripped down and stepped tentatively inside the shower. Everything was going fine, she was nearly finished with applying her conditioner when things started to go wrong. The water started to turn cold at first, nearly freezing. It burned her skin as it beaded down on her. I will not panic, I will not panic.
“Everything okay, Lily Pad?” Aiden’s voice radiated through the bathroom door.
“Uh . . . yeah, yeah everything is fine,” she lied as she tried to regain control. Focusing all her energy on the water itself, she willed it to warm up. She began to get frustrated, as her efforts were going nowhere. She decided to try a different tactic, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she put her head back under the water. She continued to rinse out the conditioner as if nothing was wrong, forcing herself to remain calm and refusing to let the cold water faze her. Even as her body shook from the chill, she lathered up her poof ball and scrubbed her body. She was just about to rinse off all the soap when the water slowly began to warm up.
A small smile spread across her face as she tried to remain calm. Once she had completely finished, she leaned back into the water and enjoyed the warming water. Just as her body began to lose its chill she decided not to push her luck and shut off the water.
Instead of using her towel to dry she wanted to attempt to heat her body up—like she did when she helped Reece. Standing in the middle of the shower she focused her energy on heating up her blood. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her arms, picturing her body getting warmer. She started to feel a little less chilled after a few seconds and began to feel a sense of pride. Maybe she was getting the hang of this whole Elemental thing. Then out of nowhere her body ignited into flames, big, bright orange burst of ember. She hadn’t meant for a scream to escape from her mouth but she had been so preoccupied with the flames swarming around her, the thought didn’t even occur to her.
She heard the bathroom door bust open, but it wasn’t Aiden on the other side of the shower door; it was Reece. “Get out of here!” Aiden shouted as he attempted to push Reece from the room.
Reece ignored him and started speaking directly to Lily. “Lily, it’s okay, I’m here. You’re going to be okay. Remember what I taught you last time.” Lily could hear the panic in his voice. She attempted to focus on his voice and do what he taught her. The moment she pictured the blanket wrap around her, her breathing decreased and her body numbed. This isn’t supposed to happen. Her panic only enraged the flames further as they fed from her emotions. The entire bathroom was now nearly engulfed.
Aiden had been forced back and was now standing wide-eyed next to a very worried Leo. Sam and Nate watched in awe. Reece was the only one able to withstand the heat from the fire. The team was so distracted they hadn’t heard the intruders come in through the front door downstairs. It wasn’t until three Voids entered the room that they became aware they weren’t alone. The largest one charged at Nate but he was able to dodge the attack, stumbling into Sam and causing them both to tumble to the floor.
“Shit!” Reece seethed as he reluctantly turned his attention toward the attack and away from Lily.
Using the flames coursing around Lily, Reece shot bursts of flames in the Voids direction. Leo was using small gusts of wind to keep the Voids away from him, trying to figure out a way to harm them. Nate was pounding away on the larger one, his knuckles bloody from the assault. Sam was backed into a wall near the door; with no abilities of his own to use he grabbed a lamp from the dresser to defend himself.
Lily felt helpless as she watched the black creatures attacking her friends, she willed the flames to stop and release her, but they ignored her. Trying a different tactic she tried to project them outward to make contact with one of the Voids, again they wouldn’t leave her. A single cry resonated through the room, causing the team to stop dead in their tracks. Reece turned just in time to see Sam fall the ground. “No!” he shouted as he dodged one blow after another and landed on the floor next to Sam’s crumbled body.
“Sam? Sam!” Reece shook him.
Tears began to stream down Lily’s face as she watched the group continue to battle on, Reece still attempting to revive Sam. And then she felt nothing; her body plummeted to the ground. The red eyes of a Void were the last things she saw before she faded into a black abyss. Leo’s voice shouting her name echoed through the silence. And just like that the Voids retreated, the team ran after them, but it was like they vanished into thin air once they entered the dark veil of the night sky.
“Lily!” Leo shouted into the darkness.
Reece was only a few steps behind them as he bounded down the steps of the porch. “Where is she?”
“She’s gone, they took her.” Leo hung his head in defeat. “Sam?” he asked.
; Reece simply shook his head, his hand reaching up to the back of his neck.
Family Ties
Lily woke with a dull ache in her neck, her head felt like it had been run over by a train. Sitting up slowly she tried to recall what happened. She remembered, wait . . . what did she remember? She looked around at her surroundings; she was in a small room with no windows. The bed she sat on was more of a cot, the floor was made of concreted and the walls a dreary gray color. “Hello,” she called out.
When nobody answered her call, she curled herself into a ball on the bed. The concrete floor gave the room a chill; the bed had no blankets or sheets, only a mattress. Lily refused to give up and play the role of a victim. With her newly found drive, she jumped up and pulled the mattress from the bed, tossing it to the floor near the opposite side of the room.
Focusing her energy she called the fire within her, not remembering how they rendered her defenseless before. The mattress ignited in flames, black smoke blanketed the room. Crap, she hadn’t thought that through very well, with no windows the room had no ventilation. Coughing and covering her mouth with her shirt she tried to scream for help but the smoke took the opportunity to flood through her lungs, choking her.
She had nearly collapsed when the door burst open and Aiden appeared, using his ability to extinguish the flames. Once the flames were out he lifted her up and helped her out of the room, passing two Voids on the way out. “You idiots! She could’ve died!”
Fighting consciousness she struggled in his arms, trying to speak but still unable too. “Shh . . . it’s ok beautiful, I got you. You’re safe now.”
It took only a few steps before Aiden entered a room; with all white walls it resembled a hospital room. He placed her gently down on the bed in the center of the room. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Lily nodded. “Where are we? What happened? Why, why didn’t those things attack you?”
“Shh . . . I’ll explain everything to you soon, okay. Right now you need to rest. Here drink some water.” He handed her a small glass.
Looking up she met his eyes and scowled. “Those . . . Those things killed Sam!” She began assaulting him with punches to the chest, the glass of water shattering onto the floor.
Aiden seemed unfazed by her efforts, grabbing her hands with little effort. “That wasn’t supposed to happen, Lily. I’m sorry, t-they were just supposed to distract the others while we snuck you out. I swear nobody was supposed to get hurt.”
“There are no guarantees in life. It is filled with disappointment and deceit. You have to take charge of your own life if you want to ensure that the things you love stay safe.” A deep voice radiated through the room as a figure came into view from the shadows.
Aiden stepped in front of Lily, blocking her view. “They would have let her die if I hadn’t come when I did.”
“Is this true?” He gazed over his shoulder at the two Voids now standing near the door behind him. Neither of them spoke, could they even speak? Lily wondered to herself. The Voids seemed to look at each other and then the taller of the two nodded its head.
The man turned his attention back toward Lily and cocked his head to the side. With one hand he gripped onto an amulet hanging from his neck, holding the hand into the air, the Voids lifted from the ground. Lily peered around Aiden’s body and watched in horror as the Voids crumbled into rubble on the ground with a close of the man’s outstretched fist. A gasp escaped from Lily’s mouth as her hands found Aiden’s and gripped tightly. “What are you?” she asked quietly.
“Forgive me my dear, how rude of me. I am Davarius, but you can call me father.” He smiled proudly as Lily fainted, yet again.
Betrayed
“That bastard!” Reece shouted as the tree in the yard burst into flames.
“Calm down, Reece. We don’t know for sure that he was involved. Let’s go back upstairs and deal with the carnage and then we will figure out what to do,” Leo stated.
“I’ll call the League and tell them about Sam.” Nate hung his head, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“No, no I’ll call them. You go with Leo and bury Sam,” Reece stated, fighting back tears. Sam was an only child, so when his parents’ died three years ago in a car crash, the team was all he had left.
Reece called in the report, the League had not been happy at all at the turn of events. With Lily now missing, along with Aiden’s whereabouts being unknown; also the report of their Seer’s death, Reece was informed the team would be getting new members, arriving in the morning—a vamp, a shifter and a new Seer. He did his best to argue that they didn’t need a new Seer, but the League disagreed.
He filled Nate and Leo in on the news and the three of them took a few moments of silence to remember their fallen friend. Nate was the first to break the silence. “So what’s the plan?”
Reece looked up at him. “We go find her, and when we find that cowardly piece of shit, he’s mine. For now, we rest; we recoup and in the morning we meet these new team members and form a plan of attack.” And with that he retreated up the stairs into Aiden’s room and slammed the door.
Dropping down onto the bed he found one of Lily’s shirts, pulling it to his face he inhaled the scent. Lily had always smelled of sugar cookies to him, he didn’t know why, but you know that fresh from the oven intoxicating scent of cookies—that was Lily. He had failed her, again. Tomorrow he would find her and he would tell her how he feels about her. No more holding back, for he no longer had the promise of tomorrow. He eventually drifted off to sleep, the early morning sun waking him at almost six o’clock.
His new team members would be arriving soon. He showered quickly and dressed, and then he woke up Nate and Leo. They had all gathered in the kitchen while Nate whipped up some scrambled eggs and potatoes. The team needed their strength he had told them. Leo didn’t feel much like eating but he knew that he needed to be at one hundred percent to rescue his sister from whatever torture she was enduring.
The doorbell rang just after seven thirty. Reece’s mouth hung open as he opened the door and came face to face with his new team members. A Vampire by the name of Victor, a Shifter named Alaric; and a Seer he knew all too well. “Hello Emily.”
Emily lunged at Reece and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ve missed you so much!” Carefully unlatching her arms, he stepped away from her. Nate nudged Leo with his elbow. “Well this should fun.”
Leo rolled his eyes; he never really liked Emily. Her perky attitude had always gotten on his nerves. Not to mention how vain she was, always running her hands through her silky blonde hair with her perfectly manicured nails. She was like a cheerleader on crack. “Eeekkk . . . Oh my god, Leo! Nate!” she squealed, rushing over to both of them squeezing her arms around them.
“Nice to see you again, Emily,” he lied as he backed out of her embrace, leaving Nate wrapped in her arms.
“Nathan, have you been hitting the gym? These biceps, yikes!” she flirted. Nate smiled at her before grabbing her hands and pushing them off him.
“Yeah, it’s Nate actually. And I haven’t been to the gym in months.”
Reece turned his attention to the two men. “We’re happy to have you all here, our team has taken quite a hit, and we could use all the help we can get.”
Victor nodded at him, his pale arms crossed over his chest. He was huge, had to be nearly six foot five. If Reece had to guess he was about 250lbs; all muscle. Standing next to him made Nate look small which was saying something. Alaric on the hand was a burly man, a little on the heftier side; his face wore slightly more than a five o’clock shadow. “We heard what happened, I’m sorry about your Seer,” Alaric stated, and bowed his head out of respect.
“Yes! Oh my god I was so upset hearing about Sam. I’m here for you if you want to talk about it,” Emily said, only talking to Reece.
“Right . . . well I’ll let you all get settled in and then we’ll figure out a plan. Emily, I have an article of clothing from Lily I would like for you to hol
d to see if you can pick up anything.”
“It doesn’t really work like that, Reece, you know that. The visions come when they want, I don’t have any control of them. I am merely the conduit.”
“It won’t hurt to try.” Reece refused to give up his search for Lily. Nothing would stop him from finding her, and when he did, he fully planned on telling her exactly how he felt about her.
Changed
The sound of metal clanging around her caused Lily to wake up, she tried to sit up but found that she was strapped down to a table of some sort. Looking down she noticed her clothes had been removed and replaced with a thin gown. “H-hello?” she called out with a shaky voice.
She was greeted with nothing but silence. The room was chilled, causing goosebumps to rise all over her exposed skin. She struggled against the restraints holding her hands; they wouldn’t budge. Maybe I can burn them off. Taking in a deep steady breath she focused on the restraints, trying to get them to burst into flames. The restraints remained unfazed; she couldn’t even feel anything stir inside her as she focused.
“It’s no use my dear,” a voice she remembered called out from a speaker.
“What did you do to me you—you monster?” she yelled with all her strength.
“Nothing permanent. A simple elixir of sorts to keep your abilities at bay long enough for me to achieve what I need. Now my child, we can do this the easy way or the fun way; it’s up to you. Either way I will get what I want,” Davarius stated.
“Stop calling me that.” She continued to struggle. “You are not my father, I don’t care what you say!” And with that, a deep rumble of laughter filled the room and then the room went dark, the lights went pitch black. Lily felt the tears flow down her face, she wasn’t exactly scared of the dark, but this was different.
Discovering Shadows Page 8