When Luca reaches for my hands the tea has started to take effect giving every thing a hazy glow. The light of the candles blurs making the room seem softer somehow. Peaceful even, and I start to feel relaxed. The sound of Luca speaking in a foreign language washes over me, further calming me until I'm in a trance like state.
"It's time," Luca says. Turning my hand over, the symbol shimmers in an array of colors.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Before heading back up to my room, I grab a can of Dr. Pepper from the fridge hoping it’ll somehow mask the horrible taste lingering in my mouth from the nasty tea Luca made. I've already brushed my teeth five times and swished half a bottle of mouthwash with no success making this can of soda my last ditch effort. Here's to hoping it works. I pop the tab and take a tiny sip as I flip the light switch off in the kitchen.
I hesitate at the bottom of the stairs to peek around the corner into the living room. Adam is half asleep on the sofa, his foot propped up on the edge of the coffee table, the TV remote balancing perilously in his hand hanging over the armrest. A surge of irrational anger and jealousy over the fact that he can nod off with ease when Jared’s still out there held captive somewhere courses through me and I stomp up the stairs loudly hoping it will wake him up.
Stopping midway, I down half the can of soda in my hand. The bad taste in my mouth remains and I'm tempted to turn and hurl the can at the front door. I don't, simply because I'd don't feel like having to clean it up afterwards.
I stomp the rest of the way up huffing with each step.
"What are you doing here?" Coming to a sudden halt, I nearly drop the can of Dr. Pepper in my hand. Perched on the windowsill, Will sits with his arms folded over his chest. A strong breeze from the open window at his back ruffles his hair, blowing it haphazardly across his forehead.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that since this is my house and I don't remember inviting you in," I say harshly. After what happened with Luca or lack thereof I should say, since the tea didn’t work at all, and I still don’t know where Jared is, I’m in no mood for company and in the perfect mood to pick a fight now that said company has decided to invite himself over.
Clenching his jaw, Will gives me a sarcastic grin. "If you don’t want people getting in uninvited then maybe you should be a little more diligent in setting your security alarm. Might also help if you kept your window closed. Anyone could climb right in."
"Looks like anyone just did. Ever heard of using the front door?" I cock my head to the side. "I could show you how it works while you're leaving."
"Again, what are you doing here? Why did you leave Eric’s?"
"Because I live here. Duh. And I didn’t want to be there anymore," Because I couldn’t stand the disappointed look on everyone’s face at my failure to find Jared. Swiveling the desk chair around I sit plopping my feet up onto the desk, knocking over a picture. I leave it where it lies. "Why are you here?"
"Luca told me what happened." There's pity in his voice whether he knows it or not and it only makes the rage and frustration swirling around in me ten times worse.
Holding myself in check, I shrug as if it doesn't bother me, as if it's not the sole reason behind all my anger. Ever since I apparently linked myself with Jared, the symbols been wacky, whisking me away every time I fall asleep to places I can't remember because of some astral projection mumbo jumbo with the last trip lasting a month. A month. A whole month and I can't remember a single thing. A whole month and no one knows why. Deep down in the recesses of my very being I feel like something significant happened while I was wherever I was and that I need to get back there as soon as possible before something worse happens.
If only I could remember something. A small clue. Anything at all to help me find Jared. Which is what this stupid tea of Luca's was supposed to do, but the only thing that came from drinking it was a big fat nothing and a bad taste that won't go away. Jared's birthday is coming and I'm running out of time and at this point I'm out of options as to what to do in short of going door to door hoping a Fallen will answer and say, ‘Oh, yeah, I've got Jared right here. Let me take you to him’.
The feel of Will's eyes locked onto me is beginning to irritate. "Just go away Will. I came home for a reason and entertaining you isn't it." I just want to sulk, maybe have a good cry, and possibly break a thing or two until I figure out what to do next. Until I figure out how I'm going to find Jared within the next week.
I chug the rest of my Dr. Pepper feeling the never ending stare Will's casting from across the room weighing heavily on the side of my face. When I'm done, I slam the can down on the desktop hoping he'll take the hint and go.
He sets his jaw and crosses his ankles signaling his plans of going nowhere. "If you're here, then I'm here. So long as Blondie's out there I'm not leaving you unprotected."
"You've already safe guarded the house. Adam and I are fine here on our own, so there's no need for you to stay. Besides, I'm going to bed so you need to get out."
"Really? And where is it you plan on sleeping? You have no bed." He waves a hand at the now empty bed frame. After last month’s gift of a dead bloody bird spread out on the center of my bed the mattress had to go and being asleep for a month I haven't exactly had the time to replace it.
"On the floor." A loud clap of thunder vibrates through the house just as a bolt of lightning strikes the transformer on the telephone pole across the street. All the lights in the house flicker then go out, which suits me just fine since the storm outside pretty much reflects what I'm feeling on the inside. "Better go before the rain hits," I say just as the rain starts to fall in heavy rapid drops. "Oops, too late. Guess you're going to get wet."
"I'm not going to leave you here alone." Despite the rain falling hard at his back, he doesn't move an inch from his spot on the windowsill.
I light the candle on my desk with matches I pull from the drawer. "Well, you're not staying here and I'm not alone. Adam is right downstairs." I push out of the chair pointing my finger at the doorway to my room with conviction. "So go. I don't need you here. I don't want you here."
"Whether you want me here or not is irrelevant. I'm not leaving. Not when The Fallen have you on their hit list and not when you're acting this way. Instead of throwing a tantrum like a two-year-old why don't you just talk to me? I get that you're upset about what happened with the tea not working, but—” Cut off mid-sentence his eyes widen as I shove him hard. Harder than what I intended too, because the next thing I know he's falling backwards out the open window.
Caught between total panic at what I'd just done and the urge to laugh hysterically, I stick my head out the window. Will is sprawled out on his back with his legs and feet propped up against the side of the house, a look of utter disbelief on his face.
"I can't believe you just pushed me out the window." He's angry and by right he should be, but it's not enough to stop me from laughing. This whole situation suddenly just seems funny and besides, the porch roof isn't that far of a drop from the window. "Seriously? You're laughing?" Righting himself so he's on his knees, he grabs my arm so fast I don't have time to react and the next thing I know I'm being dragged out onto the roof with him. "Now who's laughing?" The grin on his face, falls somewhere between smug and amused.
"You ass." No longer laughing I shove him with both hands, knocking him back onto his rear. "Now we're both going to catch pneumonia."
"We don't get sick. Goes hand in hand with the rapid healing."
"Well...Whatever." I stand, pushing strands of wet hair from my face. "It was uncalled for."
"Oh, it was called for alright." The anger in his voice has ebbed and been replaced with a cocky amused arrogance. He climbs to his feet rubbing his chest. "That hurt you know."
"Good."
In the short time we've been standing in the rain it has already soaked through everything, leaving our clothes plastered to our bodies like a second skin. A fact that doesn't go unnoticed by either of us.
After a mo
ment of awkward silence and roaming eyes on Will's part he's the first to speak. "Come on," He extends his hand out. "We should get out of the rain before we're struck by lightning."
"I think I'll take my chances. I like it out here." I turn from him spreading my arms out wide and tilting my head back so I can feel the rain on my face. Maybe it can wash this whole night away and I'll wake tomorrow with perfect clarity and a way to get Jared back.
"Hanna, your wrist." Will takes my hand just as I'm overcome with a burning desire to touch the glowing symbol. A burst of light explodes out surrounding us both.
Falling into an abyss of nothingness wind rushes by in speeds strong enough to make my eyes water. The further we fall the faster we go and the colder it becomes until the feel of the wind’s icy touch begins to hurt and that's when I see a pinprick of light at the bottom. It grows in size, bigger and bigger, until it swallows us whole.
I blink several times before my eyes adjust to the change in lighting.
"Where are we?" Will asks, his eyes roaming over the stretch of gray hallway running both in front of and behind us. "And why is it so cold?" He grabs ahold of my wrist flipping it over, ripples of iridescence move over the surface. "Are we astral projecting?"
"I think so."
"Does this place look familiar? Have you ever been here before?"
I take in the bleak gray floors and walls and though I can’t quite put my finger on why I know this place, I know I’ve been here before. I feel it. “Yes. But I..."
Further up the hall another me wearing a tank top and penguin pajama pants suddenly appears out of thin air.
Will and I look at each other in confusion.
"Time travel astral projection?" Will mumbles to himself. Eyebrows furrowed together he sakes his head in disbelief. "Impossible, yet clearly that's you and those are the pajamas you were wearing the night Blondie left the dead bird in your room. I have no idea what's going on, but we should follow you. Come on." He takes my hand; it's warm in comparison to the icy coldness of this place.
Surreal takes on a whole new meaning as Will and I round the corner following a past version of me.
I squeeze Will's hand bringing us to a stop at the same time as the other me stops. "Listen. I think I hear voices."
"I think you're going to like it here."
"I think you should go back to Hell."
"Been there. Done that. Now it's time for something new. That's where you come in."
"I've already told you several times already I. Am. Not. Going. To. Help. You.
A laugh. "Oh, but you will. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will."
"It's Jared and Blondie. What do you think Blondie wants him to do?" I ask.
"I don't know, but I can guarantee that whatever it is it's not something good." Keeping my hand, Will leads me down the hall closer to the earlier version of me. "Let's see if we can get a better look."
Blondie enters the hall from a recessed door in the wall. Both versions of me, past and current, comes to a sudden stop, both of us frozen in place. Other Me panics with nowhere to go eventually slamming her back against the wall, while the current me squeezes Will's hand tighter drawing him closer.
Blondie appears oblivious to the fact that anyone else is in the hall with him.
"I don't think he sees us. Any of us," I whisper to Will.
Will watches Blondie's every move like a hawk. "Yes he does. He doesn’t see this version of you and I,” He wags a finger between the two of us. “Because we’re not part of the memory. But—”
“Memory?”
“Yeah, I think we’re somehow experiencing your lost memories from the times you’ve astral projected and couldn’t remember where you’d been,” he says disregarding his earlier assumption of time traveling astral projection, (which honestly was a little far fetched). “And in this memory he does see the other you, he just doesn’t want the other you to know that he does. There, look at her wrist. See how the symbol flickered? That was him. He did something to it just then. That's probably the real reason why you don't remember any of your astral projections when you’re awake. And probably why Luca’s tea didn’t work either. Blondie’s been one step ahead this whole time."
“So why are we seeing this now? And will we remember it when we wake up?”
“I don’t know.”
Suddenly, the scene around us begins to fade into a fuzzy gray, leaving only Will and I in focus. A moment later it sharpens into a new scene—a new memory. And then the lights go out.
My heart pounds in my chest, the sound of it ringing in my ears. The feel of Will's hand in mine is the only thing keeping me from completely losing it.
A familiar blue glow lights up the hall several feet down from where Will and I stand. Other Me lifts her arm using the light to guide her forward. When she disappears into a nook in the wall, Will and I follow. Keeping to the opposite side of the hall, Will and I watch as Other Me stands in front of a metal door. She reaches out and the moment she tries twisting the knob, all the lights flash back on at the same time, momentarily blinding me.
“What do you think is behind the door?” Will asks.
“I think Jared is,” I say, and the moment I say it, I know it’s true.
“How do you know?”
“Because I feel him.”
And then I hear Other Me say his name after she peers into the peep window.
A moment later, Jared begins to speak. My heart flutters at the sound only to then break from the despair lacing it. Over and over he repeats the same words. I won't do it. I won't do it. I won't do it. As if he's trying to convince himself of it.
Will nudges my shoulder.
I glance down the hall to where he's looking. Blondie is making his way up the hall with Rain Rivers at his side.
"I know her," I tell Will. "We're in the same art class. What do you think she’s doing here with Blondie?"
"I don’t know," Letting go of my hand, Will moves close enough to Rain, he’s standing right beside her. "Considering she's just an average human."
An image of a tiny silver dragonfly flashes in my mind. "She’s the one who took Zoe from the church,” I blurt out. Will’s gaze locks onto mine. “The last time we were at the church I found a dragonfly charm under the edge of the doorframe going into one of the rooms. It's Rain’s. I remember seeing is hanging from her eyebrow ring in class and look, it's gone now."
"But why?" Will circles around Blondie and Rain as they approach Jared's door. “What could she possibly have to gain by getting mixed up with The Fallen?"
Before we get any answers the scene shifts again.
Other Me is once again standing in front of Jared's door pounding her hands soundlessly against it. She calls his name and suddenly he's at the window except he doesn't actually see her there. It’s like she’s invisible.
"I won't do it," Jared mumbles. A fire of anger and sadness burn behind his big green eyes. “You hear me you sick bastard? You're a liar and I won't do it!"
Jared retreats from the peep window just as Blondie appears behind Other Me. He leans in whispering in her ear. I shudder for her.
Moving to the side, Will and I watch as Blondie and Other Me face off.
"H-how..." Other Me stammers.
"I've always seen you," Blondie answers.
"But I thought...The last time I was here I thought for sure you and Rain couldn't see me. I thought no one could."
"They can't. I can. We have a connection you and I."
Blondie and Other Me move around each other in circles, squaring off with one another.
"I’m not connected to you. I'm connected to Jared so why is it you see me and he doesn't?"
"You seem to forget I'm an angel, albeit fallen, but an angel all the same and there's very little that gets past me. Did you really think I didn't know you linked yourself with Jared?
"What did you do?"
"Oh, just a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It's a lot more fun this wa
y don't you think? Don't you remember what I told you in the factory?"
"What did Blondie tell you in the factory?" Will asks as we both watch the scene before us unfold.
Other Me doesn't say though I know she knows. I glance at Will. "He promised to watch me suffer as he turns Jared against me." I swallow hard. "I think I know now why I was asleep for a month."
Will's eyes meet mine. "You think he made good on his promise." It's not a question and we both know the answer. The only real question left now is - Was he successful?
I shift my eyes back to Blondie and Other Me seeing how he now has her pinned to the wall. "Everybody breaks Hanna. Even you." He digs his nails into Other Me's arms until blood spills over the surface. "Time to watch and see." Other Me is on the floor now with Blondie whispering over the symbol. Letting her go he licks Other Me's blood from his fingers. "Just a little something to help you remember when the time’s right. It won't be any fun if you don't remember."
"Hanna, look at your wrist." Will takes my hand holding it out level.
Crescent shapes mare the surface of the symbol. A heartbeat later blood begins to pour from them running over the edge of my arm. The moment I touch it image after image rushes at Will and I, each one showing Blondie and sometimes Rain torturing Jared in unspeakable ways as Other Me watches unable to do anything to help Jared escape his fate. Each image becomes more horrible than the one before it as Blondie finds new ways to inflict pain while he fills Jared's head with lies and half-truths. And after days and days of hearing Blondie repeat the same things over and over, Jared starts to crack. Slowly, Blondie is wearing him down and it's only a matter of time now before he can't take any more and he breaks.
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