Forgotten

by Sarah J. Pepper

  Jace grabbed my hand like he was pulling me to a safety net of his embrace. His lips felt like the smoothest silk as he kissed my hand. His figure brightened, flickering like hot coals on a fire. Whispering my name, his lips lingered on my hand. Warmth wrapped up and down my body, following the movement of his hands. Jace finally took a breath, releasing the clasp around my throat.

  “Something else you can’t tell me?” I guessed.

  He whispered my name. In my mind, I heard ‘Gwyneth’ again. This time it sounded more like a whispered echo. He repeated it over and over. I heard my name and then the echoed version. His lips skimmed my skin while he spoke. Their silky texture was silky smooth on an otherworldly level. I wanted to look around the room to see what everyone else was doing, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away. He stopped kissing my hand only to turn it over.

  Guiding my hand to his mouth, he kissed me and said my name once more. But his lips didn’t move. I gasped. He repeated my name over and over, yet his lips didn’t move.

  “Jace?” I gasped.

  I refused to believe what was happening – he couldn’t speak without moving this mouth! With my fingers pressed up against his lips, he said my name –it echoed in my mind like it had whenever they spoken in their foreign language. Again, his lips, throat, chest didn’t move, yet I heard him speak my name.

  “Impossible,” I whispered.

  “Well, she definitely has old blood, if she figured out were a bunch of talented, super-natural ventriloquists,” Marco said.

  “She’s in her human form,” said the shadow figure. “Which gives us no indication of how pure her Elysian is.”

  “Human or in our form, we know the Chronicler doesn’t age well,” Zalen added, jokingly.

  “Then she shouldn’t have been able to hear us, now should she?” Analee said. “We were always under the assumption the Fate’s abilities didn’t work unless they were within close proximity to each other, when their immortality flourished. Perhaps they were lying. Perhaps they had powers even when they were apart, as mortals.”

  “Or perhaps, they were merely stronger when they were together,” Marco uttered as he watched me with impossible intensity. “Apparently, the Fates were the best secret-keepers of our kind, as well as the most powerful.”

  “I beg to differ,” Analee said.

  “Yet she can only grant what the heart most desires when she is captured,” Zalen added. “Maybe their proximity to each other, only influenced their human aging, not their power.”

  “Well, let’s just find out how much Gwyneth can do without her sisters nearby, shall we, girls?” Analee signaled her other slave girl to me. “I swear on my life, Jace, if you let a squeak escape her mouth, I’ll kill her.”

  Jace’s frustration and vehemence crept over me. It burned my flesh until it reached my heart. As much as I’d been through tonight, it couldn’t compare to Jace’s misery. The frost-covered girl whispered the echoed name Jace called me. It sounded like an angel had spoken. Dragging her legs, she crawled to me, using only her hands.

  “Please believe that I don’t want to allow this. I’d rather not bow to the Master anymore, Gwyneth,” Jace said, holding me tight. Something in his voice shifted, when he spoke again. “I’d follow you to the end of world…again, if you’d have me, Gwyneth.”

  The way he said my name made my heart flutter. I swallowed and tried to take in a breath. Jace shook his head; he refused to give me my right to breathe. The girl grabbed my ankle and sunk her boney fingers into my flesh. Her grip felt like daggers, piercing my bone. I opened my mouth to cry out.

  “Scream for us, little human,” Analee said, egging me on.

  I wanted to tell them I couldn’t breathe, therefore I couldn’t speak. I fought Jace, squirming in his grip. He didn’t budge. I beat him, as the girl climbed up my leg. My bones felt like they were shattering under her grip. Blood seeped from my flesh. It pooled around my body. I turned my attention to the girl digging her nails and her fingers into my thigh. I grabbed her hair and tried to rip her off of me. She hardly reacted to my pitiful attempt to keep her off of me. I started losing consciousness as I pulled her hair until the frost girl grabbed one of my wrists and jerked it out of the other girl’s hair. Prying my hand open, I caught a flash of light as it bounced off a dagger. It cut my skin. As the blood pooled in my hand, the vision flooded my mind – me in a meadow, when the young girl cut me with the icy dagger. While the vision played over in my mind, the frost girl shoved her fingers into my palm. My blood chilled. She was freezing my blood. My fast heart beat started to slow.

  I opened my mouth to scream, but not a sound came out. Jace prevented me from taking the breath needed to expel my pain. The two girls crushed my body, freezing me. I prayed for the heavens to save me. My cries echoed in my mind, as I expressed the long-standing pain that I’d enclosed in my soul as well as the immediate pain the ice girls brought my body.

  The girl released my hand to cover her ears. The one that had crawled up my leg pushed away. Analee fell to her knees. Marco and Zalen disappeared. A thread of screams in several different languages rang in my ears as the shadowy dark figure held onto the flickering one. Black liquid dripped from Jace’s ears. I felt his lips gently brush my cheek.

  My world became dark as he rocked me in his arms. I embraced unconsciousness…

  I didn’t know how long I was out, but I awoke to Jace’s voice. “–I don’t want to rule, I just want her.”

  “Ding! Ding! Ding!” Zalen sneered. The air rippled at the sound of his voice. “She comes with power. Whether you want it or not, Gwyneth’s got it.”

  “But it is I who’ll rule, not the Chronicler,” Analee said. “Not this time around.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Bliss found me at night, while I slept. Stars hung in the sky like fireflies, while the moon lit the land around me. A meadow stretched out endlessly. The horizon was uninterrupted – no buildings or street lights to alter the glory of the night. My body hadn’t fought itself at the beginning of the dream like the others. I felt stronger. I glanced over my shoulder – no one was there, but I could have sworn I’d felt Jace’s warm pass over me. I spun in a circle. Larkspur petals cushioned my feet. A sublime mood encompassed me. To escape the complications in my life was a gift. I watched the lightning bugs dance in the sky.

  The wind rested. Yet, my hair moved slowly away to one side of my neck; it was his doing. Jace was careful not to touch my skin as he brushed my hair aside. A smile grew on my face when the smooth touch of his kiss was placed on my neck. I leaned back into his embrace and allowed myself melt into him. Jace’s body warmed after I whispered his name. A tidal wave of zest flooded my heart. I couldn’t sort my anger from the enthusiasm we had for each other. I turned to take in his beautiful body and immediately lost my breath. Colorless flames crawled from his skin onto me. It tingled instead of burned; rather it felt like my body was awakening for the first time in my life. The rapture was surreal. I hadn’t cared if it was his aura over shadowing mine. I’d always hoped that one day I’d be happy; perhaps I was looking for joy during the wrong time of day.

  He turned me in his arms and then hummed a tune I couldn’t quite place. I rested my arms around his neck. He pulled me close against his bare chest. One hand was low on my hip while the other crept high on my back. His dazzling, deep voice echoed in the night while he mesmerized me with his melody. The song promised suffering, but the outcome was worth it. When I realized he was repeating a verse over and over, he’d engulfed me in his fire.

  Jace leaned in close like he was going to let me lick the song right from his lips. “Close your eyes, dearest.”

  I obeyed. Instead of his hazy outline, his fiery essence captivated me. His entire body rippled with flames, fueling each other. His fingertips ticked my skin just behind my ear, while his thumb traced my jaw line.

  “You see the world by the touch of your hands; I want you to know what I see when I look at you.”

  I had spen
t my entire life hiding from what I looked like. I didn’t care about appearances, especially not mine. Jace changed all that. I tried to look away. His rough hands were gentle on my face, but he wouldn’t let me hide from him – or the truth.

  “You use that gorgeous blond hair of yours to cover your porcelain face. You tried to hide in your own skin, but no matter what you do, your sheer beauty radiates from every laugh line.” He slipped a hand behind my neck and muttered something about my captivating scent. “For centuries, men have been awestruck at the wonders hiding just below the ocean’s surface. I’m no different from them, Gwyneth. For years, I’ve wondered what’s buried deep inside your soul, as I look through your ocean-eyes. I’m desperate to see the wonders you hide from the rest of the world.”

  I swallowed. It felt like a dream, but didn’t, at the same time. I opened my mouth to protest, to tell him he was living in a fairy-tale, but the words fell short because I couldn’t breathe. Either, he was holding his breath, or I was - I couldn’t tell. I looked away; the way he saw me wasn’t the way I really was. It was all a lie.

  “You have this way of walking that draws me in. Only with much effort can I look away, especially when you’re ready to give me a piece of your mind,” Jace said, and then gently tugged on my chin so I’d look at him. “You have hypnotic lips. Even when you’re screaming at me, I want nothing more than to silence all your worries with my kiss. The pink pigments in them match the way you blush. It makes me lose my mind when you forget to breathe when I speak.”

  I begged him to stop. I was none of these things, looked nothing like the girl he was describing. He refused to listen. His hand drifted to the small of my back. I forgot how to speak, when he said that I deserved more credit than what I gave myself.

  “You may look young and naïve, but then you smile. Your wicked grin reveals your intelligence. Your life blurs into a mess of black and white, and yet, you see things that most people miss.”

  He spoke of my flaws like they were perfection. I was an orphan child, the result of a horrible crime. I was nothing – meant little to anyone. I wasn’t this deep person who knew things all along. I hardly had control of my life. I was lost, so lost and all alone.

  “You see things I can’t imagine, with those striking eyes of yours. There are times I swear you gaze into my soul,” he said and rested his forehead against mine. “Sea blue, with a touch of hazel trying to conquer your right eye. I’d willingly drown in your eyes, gazing into them until the end of time. In all my years searching for you, I’ve never forgotten the beauty of your soul.”

  ***

  I woke in my bed, without a clue as to how I got there. Last thing I remember, was passing out in Jace’s embrace while young girls froze my body… and the dream. Elsie was curled up by my side underneath the sheets. She was like a little heater, snuggled up next to me. Not wanting to wake her, I laid still, but my imagination wouldn’t turn off. A life I’d never have played out in my dreams. I felt like I was living a lie – living with a family who could only claim me on their tax forms, a sister who’d never be blood, and a future that was as unexplainable and unreliable as the next high school kid’s. And then there was Jace. When he wasn’t enraged by me, he couldn’t keep his hands off me. Or vice-versa.

  I looked out of my window. The beginning of a sunrise formed along the horizon. I badly wanted to see the colors of the sun. I lay in bed playing with Elsie’s hair long enough to hear Martha get up to make breakfast. My other hand was asleep from Elsie’s weight, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. The scent of bacon found its way into my room. I lay in bed gently rubbing Elsie’s back long after John turned on his favorite sports channel. Only when I was convinced my arm had to be amputated to move, did Elsie make a squeak.

  “Did you kiss him?” she asked.

  I smiled and closed my eyes. Out of everything she could have possibly said, that was the most perfect. It made me feel almost normal.

  “You think it would be nice to kiss him?” I asked teasingly.

  “Winnie, you weren’t the only one touching his lips the other day when he came over for supper.”

  “You little vixen!” I said, and tickled her belly.

  Breaking free from me, giggling the entire time, Elsie stumbled out of the bed. After swearing that I wouldn’t try to tickle her, we decided to get some breakfast. She took my hand and led me down the stairs. John already had the pregame on. I wanted to slap myself. I forgot that I had a date with John, in front of the television and then a date with a stack of homework. Elsie sat next to me on the couch with a small pile of books scattered around her. She wasn’t making much progress. Martha tried every trick in the book to entice Elsie to get her homework done. Apparently her grades weren’t the best.

  “What about a girl’s date, Elsie?” Martha said. “If you keep your grades up, I’ll treat you and Winnie.”

  “Anywhere?” Elsie asked. When Martha agreed, Elsie quickly picked up one of her textbooks and began reading.

  I spent the afternoon answering a few of her random questions about math and science. It interrupted by the protests of my faux father, screaming at the referees on the television. Elsie started mimicking John’s comments instead of working on her questions. I couldn’t blame her; my homework wasn’t getting done either. I was distracted, trying to make sense of what happened last night. I dug the cell out of my back pocket. For half a second I wanted to call Jace and sort out what happened last night. My dreams felt like reality, and my reality was getting a heavy dose of craziness.

  Right before I tucked it back inside my pocket, it rang. Jace’s deep tantalizing voice came over the speaker. He wanted to meet tonight, and promised that it’d be worth it, if I could sneak out. I refused to ask my foster parents for permission, until he told me what he had planned.

  “It’s a surprise,” Jace said.

  “So surprise me now.”

  He sighed, and said that I had a knack for making everything difficult. “Your first home” he said, suddenly very serious.

  “John, may I go out with a few friends tonight?” I asked, immediately covering the cell with my hand so Jace couldn’t hear the entire conversation.

  “It’s Sunday – a school night,” John answered. “It’s not really appropriate –”

  “Of course, Winnie,” Martha interrupted. She said that I almost never asked to go out and never got into any trouble anymore. John conceded, reasoning that I was now on the “honor system.”

  Nightfall couldn’t come fast enough.

  The moonless sky made it difficult for me to distinguish between the people and buildings. Smaller objects camouflaged themselves in the shadows. I took a deep breath and concentrated on settling my nerves. Years had come and gone since I’d last visited my old home – my stolen life. Jace sat on the hood of the car, waiting for me to gather the nerve to get out. I rubbed my clammy hands on my jeans and then opened the door handle. The cool air hit me, chilling me to the bone. I imagined the trees’ leaves floating to the cool ground. Winter was trying to steal weeks from autumn’s reign.

  “You don’t need Stella,” Jace said, when I walked up to him.

  “If we get separated, I’ll need a way to get out of Dodge,” I said defensively.

  “The only way we’d get separated again, is if you take a trip to Hades,” he said as he took Stella. “And this time, I’ll follow you there too.”

  The thought wasn’t comforting, but I let him toss my walking stick back into the car. I was fine for the first few steps, but since there was almost no light, I stumbled. He offered his hand to guide me. I refused any help, adamantly, until I nearly skinned my knees after missing the curb. Since we hadn’t even gotten to the hard part of sneaking around the backyards of the houses leading up to my old home, I was going to announce our presence to the neighbors.

  “Fine,” I said defeated. I couldn’t manage without his help.

  “Say please,” Jace insisted, crossing his arms over his chest.

&
nbsp; I groaned. Of course I could see his general shape in the darkest night. I started to walk away. “I’m not begging for your help.”

  The dismissal would’ve been more impressive if I hadn’t tripped a half a second later. I stumbled onto someone’s grassy yard. We were traveling at mock-zero – if we were to get to the house before sunrise; I needed to swallow my pride. I muttered ‘please’ under my breath. He pulled me back onto my feet; instead of offering his elbow, he gave me the choice of holding his hand or walking alone. I voted for the latter because it would be safer – emotionally speaking – but I slipped my fingers through his anyway.

  “What do you call yourselves?” I asked, trying to take my mind off the fact that my hands felt like icebergs in his.

  He paused. When I faced him, he brought my hand up to his chest. In my mind, I heard him say a word that sounded like shaman as he said “Healer” out loud. Then he kissed my hand, and placed it just below my left shoulder. The word raconteur echoed in my mind as he whispered “Chronicler.” Bringing his hands between both of us, he said out loud, “We are –” In my mind I heard him say deity. It echoed, just like when he spoke my name soundlessly.