Electric

by Stokes, Tawny

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her reach for me.

  “Don’t touch me!” I flinched away from her.

  “Salem! What’s wrong?” She reached for me again.

  This time I was on my feet and moving away. My body was shaking. And so hot, unbelievably hot. Sweat dripped down my back, and off the tip of my nose. I wiped at it. When I did I noticed my hands. They were curling into claws. My nails had darkened and had grown a lot longer than they normally were. The change was coming. And I felt powerless to stop it this time.

  “Are you sick again?”

  I looked up at her and said in a guttural voice, “I feel great.”

  Her eyes widened as did Kyle’s.

  “Jesus, Salem, what’s wrong with your face?” He took a step away. “Mom, look at her eyes.”

  Kyle’s fear was palpable. I lifted my head and inhaled it. It sent excited shivers down my back. It wouldn’t take much for me to cross the room and attack him. He would try to fight back but I would overpower him. I was so damn strong like this. Powerful. Invincible. It would be so easy to take what I wanted.

  Closing my eyes, I pushed the urges down. I didn’t want to hurt my brother. I loved him. But the darkness inside sure didn’t give a shit. It wanted out. It wanted to take and destroy. I couldn’t let it.

  “Baby doll?”

  I opened my eyes again to see my mother coming near, reaching for me with her hand outstretched. I shook my head at her. “Don’t, Mom. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t.”

  I couldn’t let her touch me. I couldn’t risk the chance that I would hurt her. Faster than I’d ever moved before, I jumped up and literally stuck to the ceiling. I crouched there like a crab and watched and waited.

  “Holy hell.” Kyle stumbled backwards, nearly falling on his butt in an attempt to get away from what he was seeing.

  My mom on the other hand didn’t even flinch.

  “Get out,” I shouted at her. “I’m a monster.”

  She looked up at me, as if I’d just knocked over a lamp and broke it, instead of transforming into some hideous creature and flew into the air. “You’re not a monster, Salem. You’ve had some monstrous thing happen to you.” She raised her hand toward me. “Come down. We can fix this together. I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere. You can’t scare me off.”

  Her voice was calming and I could feel the beast inside being tamed. I pushed off the ceiling, floated for a moment, then surprisingly landed on my feet. A first for me.

  I was shaking violently when her hand touched my shoulder. She grabbed onto me and pulled me to her. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight. At first I didn’t hug her back. I was afraid I’d attack her like I did with Josh when he hugged me.

  But her presence was calming, not kicking me over into monster mode.

  “You’re burning up,” she said as she cupped my face with her hands and really looked into my face.

  I wanted to pull away from her, ashamed of how I looked. But she wouldn’t let me go. And I could feel the cambion inside waning under the gaze of my mother’s love.

  “You’re not afraid of me?” My voice wavered a little.

  She smiled. “Of course not. You’re my baby girl.”

  Tears that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in rolled down my cheeks.

  “Let’s get you into a cold shower to cool you down.”

  She put an arm around me, and steered me toward the bathroom. As we passed Kyle, he shrunk back. I didn’t blame him. I was probably gnarly to look at. He was probably thinking it was just another female thing that he would never understand. He had that same look in his eyes as he did when our mom sat us down and gave us the sex speech. Complete abject horror.

  After a half hour in the cool shower, I’d returned to normal. My mom had wrapped me in her fuzzy bathrobe and tucked me into my bed. She brought me a cup of hot chocolate and I drank it down heartily as she watched from the side of my bed.

  “Are you feeling better?”

  “Yeah. Thanks.”

  “Is this what you wanted to tell me?”

  I nodded.

  “Then tell me. All of it.”

  Taking a deep breath, I started to tell her everything. Right from the beginning. I told her about Malice, and Thane. I told her about my date with Josh, and how Trevor showed up and stopped me from finishing what I had started. And about my time with Trevor in Seattle and how I had come across Merlin’s sword and used it to kill Devon and Thane.

  When I was done, I was crying again and my mom was holding my hands. She too had tears but she didn’t look away from me. Not once during my story. And not once did I see the love for me waver in her eyes.

  “Is Trevor a cambion too?”

  “Yes. But he has greater control over it than I do. I haven’t seen him once camb out.”

  She nodded. “Is that how he gets into your room at night?”

  I blushed a little. I knew my mom knew about Trevor’s visits, but I never realized how much she really knew. “Yeah. He comes through the shadows.”

  “Is he here now?”

  I looked past her and into the darkened corner of my room. He’d been there the entire time I’d told my story. He knew I was in distress and he came. As he always did. Now that everything was out in the open, I couldn’t lie to her any more.

  “Yeah.”

  She turned to look just as Trevor stepped into the light. “Hello Lynn.”

  She stood and walked toward him. I tensed. I didn’t know what she was going to do. My mom could be fierce like a pit-bull when she wanted to be, when she felt threatened, or when someone threatened me or Kyle. I’d see it a few times over the years.

  Instead she did something completely unexpected. She opened her arms and pulled Trevor into them. His face paled as I didn’t think he expected it either.

  “Thank you for keeping my baby safe.” When she pulled back, she patted him on the cheek. “You’re always welcome here. You’re a good boy.”

  His jaw tightened and I could tell he was struggling with his emotions. So he just nodded to her.

  “I’ll give you two some privacy.” She went to the bedroom door. “I better check on Kyle. He’s probably climbing the walls wondering what the hell is going on.” She opened the door and Kyle tumbled in. He’d obviously been listening through the door.

  He looked at me. “You okay, Sale?”

  I smiled and gave him a thumbs up. “I’m good, bro.”

  “What the hell is going on?” he asked Mom as she urged him away from the door. She shut the door behind her.

  Trevor settled on the bed beside me. “She took it pretty well.”

  “I know, right? Who knew my mom would be so accepting of me being a half demon.” I laughed. “I guess I could show her the tattoo now.”

  Trevor laughed, and swung his arm around my shoulders and drew me close. And for the first time in days, I thought maybe everything would turn out all right.

  Chapter Eleven

  In the morning, I woke up to a note on my pillow from Trevor. He’d stayed the night but left early to go to work.

  Stay home. I’ll bring Fat Burger for lunch.

  Smiling, I got up and shuffled out into the kitchen to find another note, from my mom, on the table along with a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and a stack of papers.

  Stay home. Did some research last night. Hope it helps. Love you.

  I took off the wrap from the plate of pancakes, then sat down and went through the papers. It was tons of information about Merlin and the myths that surrounded him. There was some stuff on Niviane and how she defeated him. There was also an even earlier story about the Lady of the Lake and how she trapped Merlin and encased him in ice. I wondered if the Lady of the Lake and Niviane were the same person.

  And I wondered if that was who had been whispering to me in my dreams. I thought it had been Merlin, but the voice had been decidedly feminine sounding.

  I flipped th
rough the rest of the pages hoping there was an answer to the question: how to we kill Merlin the magician?

  Then a chill rushed over my skin. I shuddered and drew my legs up onto the chair. I was in my usual jammies—boxer shorts and tank top—and I was freezing. Was there a window open? I looked over at the small one over the sink in the kitchen. It was closed tight. I turned in my chair to see if the door was ajar. It wasn’t. It was closed and locked as usual.

  I got up to go get my hoodie. As I crossed the kitchen something felt off to me. The sensation that someone was watching me, crept over my body like a thousand baby spiders scrambling out of their mama’s egg sack. I shivered again, and wrapped my arms around my chest, as I searched the room for the source of my unease.

  As far as I could tell I was alone. I even peered hard into the shadowy corners of the house. There wasn’t anyone hiding inside them waiting to pounce on me unawares. But that still didn’t mean I wasn’t somehow being watched.

  I looked down at my feet, on the floor, at the shadow I’d stepped into. When I squinted I could see a shimmer of something. Was it the sword? Had it come back to me? I crouched down and squinted harder. Nope, it wasn’t the sword. Whatever it was rippled and glimmered like wet diamonds.

  Then I felt the pull on my body. I was being sucked down into the shadow against my will. I tried to fight it. I grabbed onto the wall as I was yanked down into the floor. I stopped myself for a minute while I was submersed to my waist into the darkness. Then I couldn’t hold on any longer as my legs were yanked and yanked and yanked, until I thought I was going to be torn in half. I let go of the wall and fell into the abyss.

  When I was reassembled I was standing on the edge of a pond in the backyard of some rich guy’s house. I looked around to see if anyone saw me emerge from the shadows of the big oak trees that lined one side of the water. It was a beautiful spot but I didn’t think the house owners would appreciate some teenage girl in a pair of Spiderman boxer shorts and ratty tank top hanging out in their secluded back yard soaking it all in.

  I looked out at the pond. Was this what I had seen through the floor? The shimmer of moving water. Who had brought me here? And as if I’d said the question out loud, the water rippled then boiled, a woman’s head emerging from the bubbles.

  Transfixed, I watched as the woman walked out of the water. Her long red hair cascaded down her lithe form to her waist. It looked like she was wrapped in crimson seaweed. The green dress she wore clung to her pale skin. The Lady of the Lake was the most stunning person I’d ever seen in my life. I took a trembling step backward as she stepped onto the shore near me. Her green eyes were like piercing lasers, and I almost felt sick looking into them.

  “Salem.” Her voice was a lilting melody.

  “And you’re the Lady of the Lake?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why did you bring me here? What do you want?”

  “I have summoned you here for one purpose.”

  “And that would be?”

  Her eyes flashed. Like actually lit up like green traffic lights.

  “To kill Merlin Satanspawn.”

  “Awesome. I’m down for that.”

  She frowned at me. “You speak words I don’t understand.”

  “Hey, I’m a 21st century teenager.” I put my hands on my hips. “Deal with it.”

  “I can’t believe you have been chosen.” She shook her head. “You look and act like a little girl who still plays pretend with her dolls.”

  “Hey lady, if you can do better, go do it then. You kill good old Merlin.”

  She glared at me. “You woke him therefore you have to kill him.”

  I guess she had a point. I had woken him. It was essentially my fault he was wandering around my city right now killing people. I already felt guilt enough as it was, I didn’t need this watery witch rubbing it in.

  “Fine. You made your point. What do I need to do?”

  “You need to use Excalibur and slay him.”

  “You mean the sword right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, give it to me then. I had it once and it disappeared on me.”

  She gestured to the pond. “You must acquire it for yourself.”

  I looked at the water beyond her with dread. I didn’t like being wet. And to top it off I didn’t know how to swim. I never learned, and I never wanted to. I took a step to the edge and looked down. It didn’t look very deep. But what if there were little fishes in it? The thought of having something that slimy bumping up against my leg or arm made my stomach roll over. I shuddered involuntarily.

  “Can’t you just hand it to me?” I asked her.

  “No.” She gave me an exasperated look, like she couldn’t believe she was here and had to deal with me.

  I could’ve given her the same look, but I wasn’t as rude.

  “Fine.”

  Taking in a deep breath, I stepped off the bank and into the water. It wasn’t as cold as I had been expecting. It was pleasant actually. Like warm bath water. I kept that thought in my mind as I took another step and another until the water was up to my knees.

  I glanced back over my shoulder to the lady. “Where is it?”

  “Look.”

  Jesus, lady, could you be more vague?

  I peered down at my legs and into the water. All I could see was the semi-clear rippling of the waves I was making by moving around. Thankfully I hadn’t seen or felt anything swimming by me. I took another step, it was a big one, plugnign me waist deep into the pond. Shocked by the sudden drop, I spun around intending to go back, but htat was when I spotted something shiny in the water near my right foot.

  I moved my foot, trying to hook it with my toes so I could lift it up. But every time I shifted forward, the shiny object seemed to teleport a few inches further away. The further I stepped forward the deeper the water got. By the time I could feel the steel of the blade on my toe, the water was up to my nose. There was nothing I could do but go under, if I really wanted the sword.

  Taking a deep breath, I sunk down into the strangely deep pond. I kept my eyes open so I could see what I was doing and reached for the sword lying on the sandy bottom of the pond. Except my fingers wouldn’t reach. The tips of them kept brushing by with every swipe of my hand.

  My lungs burned for oxygen so I surfaced. Now the water was over my head, and I had to kick my legs and swish my arms to stay afloat. That was about all I remembered from the two swimming lessons I let my mom take me to when I was nine before I had an epic meltdown in the pool and she had to take me home, never to return. I kind of wished now that she’d insisted I finish those lessons.

  I looked over at the bank to the lady who was watching me with a bit of a smirk on her thin pale face. “Little help here,” I shouted.

  “Only the worthy can take the sword.”

  “Great, thanks for nothing,” I muttered as I spun around trying to figure out where the sword went.

  I ducked under again, and looked for the glint of steel. I spied the sword lying on the sandy bottom only a foot away. I came back up for air, dogpaddled over a little, then taking in a deep breath, I dived back down kicking my legs to get some momentum.

  I reached the bottom and grabbed for the sword. But I couldn’t touch it. My fingers were right there, and should’ve brushed against it, but didn’t. Every swipe of my hand resulted in handfuls of sand and nothing more. It was like there was a force field over the blade and I couldn’t breach it.

  Lungs aching for air, I resurfaced and sucked in as much as I could. Unfortunately I also swallowed a mouthful of pond water. I sputtered and coughed, panic making me spin around in circles. I wanted to swim back to shore. I was going to drown out here. But I couldn’t go back. I had to get the sword. If I didn’t more teen girls could die. Trevor could die. And so could I.

  I wanted to live. I deserved to live.

  I thought about my mom’s words when she found out about my condition. You are not a monster, but had a monstrous thing happe
n to you.

  For a while now, I’d been feeling guilty and shameful. Thinking all the bad things that had happened to me, were somehow my fault, that I had deserved them. But it wasn’t true. No one deserved such awful things. I had not purposely become a cambion. It was not my fault that Thane had attacked me and left me for dead. I had been in the wrong place at the wrong time with a very bad guy whose entire intentions were to kill me. I had not asked for it.

  I was not the evil creature of darkness that Jamie had treated me like. I was still me. Still Salem Vale. And I was worthy of life and happiness and love.

  With thoughts of Trevor and my mom and Chloe and my brother and even Jamie in my mind, I dived back down into the water. I kicked my legs hard, flailing my arms, reaching for the sword. I had to take it. I had to save my family and my friends, and other teen girls who could face my fate or worse; end up like yesterday’s forgotten trash.

  My chest hurt from the pressure of holding my breath. My limbs ached from fatigue. But I pushed that pain to the back of my mind and stretched my arm, reached with my fingers until I felt the hard steel on the tips.

  I kicked hard with my legs, propelling myself just a little further. I opened my hand and wrapped it around the hilt of the sword. Once I had it firmly in my palm, I swiveled around and pushed off the sandy bottom to swim to the top.

  When I broke the surface of the water, I gulped in the fresh air greedily. I dragged the heavy wet hair from my face with my hand and looked to the shore for the lady. But she was gone. In her place was an elderly woman with curly white hair, and a pair of pruning shears in her gloved hand, gaping at me, literally with her mouth open.

  “What the hell are you doing in my pond?” she asked.

  Panicked, I looked around and noticed that I was sitting, wet and cold, in the middle of the pond, the water only up to my waist. Two ducks floated nearby. It was no longer the deep lake I’d dived into to retrieve the sword.

  I got to my feet, my legs shaking so violently I nearly fell. I looked down to see the sword still clutching in my hand. At least that had not been an illusion. And clutched in my other hand was a small black pebble.