Darkness Within

by Carli Castle

  He realized his mom would have a fit if she knew they were going to go drinking, but he wasn’t going to worry about it until she found out. And even if she did, they were allowed to do things like going to bars. They were adults, for crying out loud.

  “I know what you’re going through,” he said, and Lucas snorted. “Come on, you know of my history with Harper.”

  “Your thing with Harper was nothing like my story with Elle.”

  “Not exactly the same, no. But similar. I did have feelings for her.” Caleb grabbed Lucas’s arm and teleported them both to town, right in front of one of the most popular taverns on the island. At least, he thought that was the case. He couldn’t be exactly sure, he didn’t usually go to places like it.

  When they walked inside, several people turned to look at them, and some greeted them.

  The barman, a man named Trevor, nodded at them. “President Sillen, interesting to see you around here.”

  “It’s been a while,” Caleb responded. Trevor remembered him from when he’d gone there with some council members the day he’d turned eighteen. He hadn’t been there since then. “I’m sure you know my brother.”

  “I sure do,” Trevor said. “You’re the one who has the powers.”

  Caleb froze as Lucas stiffened beside him.

  “Excuse me,” Lucas said, but Trevor’s attention was with someone else now.

  Caleb pulled Lucas to a corner of the tavern and they sat on a small table.

  “Well, I guess people know about this now?” Lucas looked at Trevor with a furrowed brow.

  “They shouldn’t,” Caleb said, but he had an inkling in the back on his mind. He looked up at the young waitress when she walked up to the table. She was pretty, with bright blue eyes and long blond hair.

  “What can I get you?”

  “What’s good here?” Lucas asked her and she merely raised her brows and blinked at him. “Whiskey, please.”

  “On the rocks. Same for me.” Caleb smiled at her a little and she walked away to get the drinks. They appeared on the table less than a minute later and Caleb took a sip. Lucas downed the entire contents of his glass in one go, then made a face.

  “This is awful.” He coughed until tears were running down his face.

  “It’s actually nice if you take your time with it,” Caleb explained, but Lucas was gesturing for the waitress.

  “Yes,” she asked when she was back at the table. She looked like she wasn’t having a particularly good day.

  “Another one, please.”

  “Will be here in a moment.” She walked away, and moments later, Lucas’s drink appeared in front of him.

  He drank slowly this time, still making a face when he sipped on it. Caleb would have laughed, but he decided against it, because alcohol was pretty awful, especially this stuff that burned your insides when you drank it.

  “I thought it was the best thing for her,” Lucas mumbled, looking down at the amber liquid. “One day, I was happy, daydreaming about spending the rest of my life with her. The next, she was gone from my life, and it is all my fault.”

  “You’re trying to keep her away from harm.”

  “She hates me.” Lucas took another drink. “She thinks I’m the scum of the earth, and can I blame her for that? No, I can’t, because I broke her heart. I stood there and told her I never loved her.”

  Caleb didn’t say anything, knowing what Lucas needed was for Caleb to be there for him.

  “But what else could I have done,” Lucas continued. “I let that voice tell me what to do, and I almost hurt her with my powers. I was ready to go into town and burn anything and everything I came across. And she stopped me from doing that, she told me she knew I wasn’t going to do anything to hurt anyone. She calmed me. It was incredible.”

  “If she calmed you that way, why did you break up with her,” Caleb asked, hoping Lucas continued to talk.

  “Because I have that damned voice telling me to hurt her,” Lucas explained, still looking down at his drink. “The other night it told me to squeeze her neck, and I almost did. I almost let it happen. And the other day I was ready to let that voice take over. I can’t expose her to this. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I hurt her, or if something happened to her because of my actions.”

  “Lucas, you didn’t actually harm her. You are aware of that, right,” Caleb said, because Lucas needed to hear it, not because he thought the relationship had been a good idea. “You came back into yourself, you didn’t let the voice win.”

  “You don’t get it. I was out of control. I could barely hear her talking to me, I could barely see beyond my desire to do something horrible with these damned powers.”

  Lucas finished the drink and gestured for the waitress once again. Caleb wanted to tell him that was enough, but the waitress got there and asked what he wanted. “The bottle.”

  The waitress nodded. “All right.” She left, and when the bottle was in front of him, Lucas poured another glass.

  “Take it easy,” Caleb said, and Lucas nodded before he took another drink.

  “The ironic thing here,” he continued, “is that she was the one to help me snap out of it. She has the power to keep my powers from taking over me. She’s the only person that can do that.”

  “Mom helps with that too, though,” Caleb said.

  “True, but it’s not the same.” He lifted his glass and downed the contents. Caleb took the bottle before Lucas could pour himself another drink.

  “Okay, stop. I know how hard this is, but you need to snap out of it. We need you, Lucas.”

  “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “But you can. You have it in you for a reason.”

  “Yeah, but they can also consume me. I had one manifestation of earth and it landed me in bed for days. What will happen next?”

  “That’s why you’re training with mom.”

  “Yeah, and it’s kind of working. I can make a plant sprout immediately now. It’s fascinating.” Lucas shrugged and picked up his empty glass, looked at it for a moment, then set it down with a smirk.

  Caleb stood and went to the bar to pay, then they left. There were a lot of people out and about, so they walked through town, instead of teleporting. He figured it would be good for Lucas to walk off all the drinks he’d had. Maybe going to the tavern hadn’t been the smartest thing.

  They walked for a while, Lucas stumbling next to him, and Caleb knew he should not spend the night alone. His house was a disaster, he looked like he hadn’t showered in days. It was unhealthy, and it worried Caleb that Lucas’s state of mind was going to push him over the edge with his powers.

  He grabbed Lucas’s elbow and turned around, started walking the other way.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Where are you taking me?”

  He teleported as they walked, landing in the front lawn of their parents’ home. Mom was in the front yard, tending to her plants, and stood when she saw them. They had already talked about this, but Caleb hadn’t been sure when to do it. They had talked and had agreed it was the right thing to do, for Lucas to move back home for a while.

  Lucas looked from Caleb, to her, and back.

  “What is this?” he asked, stepping backward and stumbling over his own feet.

  “Lucas,” Mom started, but Caleb made a gesture to make her stop. This was his conversation to have with Lucas.

  “Lucas, as President of the Council of the United Realms of Esmeralda, I command for you to move here with your mother while you work on controlling your wayward powers.”

  “What?”

  “As your brother, I ask you to please stay here where you can get help,” he added while Lucas shook his head over and over. “You are in no frame of mind to be alone right now, especially with everything going on in your personal life.”

  To his surprise, Lucas didn’t fight back. He just stood there looking at the house, swaying slightl
y, and sighed.

  “If this is the only way to do this,” he mumbled and began walking inside.

  “That was much easier than I thought it was going to be,” Mom whispered when Lucas stumbled loudly up the stairs.

  “I wouldn’t cry victory, yet,” Caleb told her. “He’s drunk.”

  “Drunk?” Mom almost yelled it. If someone was against using alcohol to drown pain, she was it.

  “Before you give me a sermon, let me remind you Lucas is a man, and so am I. He is in a bad place, mom. His house is a mess, full of trash everywhere, food rotting in bowls, drawings of Eleanore covering every surface. It scared me.”

  Mom closed her eyes.

  “I will take care of him,” she said. “Thank Althea for me.”

  “I will when I see her next.”

  “How about the rest?”

  “Releasing the powers from Lucas?” Caleb sighed. “Well, we have no idea how to do that without ripping his heart out, otherwise, I’m sure there would have been a solution for all of our problems a long time ago.”

  “Yeah.” Was all she said before she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You could stay here tonight.”

  She looked so hopeful, he almost felt guilty for saying no, but he had no intentions to stay home that night. He needed to be on his own, think, and come up with a plan.

  ***

  Lucas woke up with the sun on his face and a head-splitting, ear-pounding headache. He moaned and put his head in his hands.

  “And this is why I always taught you that drinking is never the answer to anything.” Mom entered the room with a small tray in her hand. Whatever it was she had cooked smelled amazing, but it made his stomach roll all the same.

  He turned away from it and put the covers over his head. He remembered the previous night just fine. Caleb bringing him here and telling him he was moving back home. He’d accepted it in his drunken stupor, but now he wanted to slap Caleb across the face for doing this. He was not a child, he had his own home.

  The covers slipped off him and he turned to where his mother was standing, her arms crossed.

  “Come on, eat, get up, shower, and meet me out back,” she said sternly. “And no buts, young man, it’s time to get all this under control once and for all.”

  She left, closing the door after her, and he sat up on the bed.

  It was going to be a very long day if this headache persisted.

  He looked over at the tray, noticing the potion sitting on the corner, along with orange juice and an omelet. Knowing he was not going to be able to eat it right that second, he decided to shower, first with water as cold as he could handle it, then warm to offset the chill. He didn’t even know if he had any clothes that would fit him, since he hadn’t lived at home for a couple of years, so he conjured his favorite sweats, a shirt, and a zip-up sweater from his closet in his house on the cliff. He changed, took the potion, and drank the juice, but not touching the omelet. His stomach was still too queasy.

  The potion took away his headache, which was a welcome relief, and he went to the garden as his mother had instructed.

  She was standing by her rose bushes, her fingers caressing a big, pink rose. She had changed, or maybe he just hadn’t noticed what she was wearing before. Her dress was white and long, reaching all the way down to the ground, and her feet were bare. Her hair was not up as she usually had it, but loose around her, reaching all the way down her back and onto her waist. She was a beautiful woman. He had known that before, but it was more apparent now to him.

  “Are you feeling better?” she asked, not even turning to look at him.

  “Somewhat,” he mumbled. “Thanks for breakfast.”

  “You’re quite welcome. Maybe next time you will think twice before bingeing on that poison.”

  “It was poison that made me forget for a while. I didn’t even have dreams of her.”

  Mom’s eyes were compassionate when she turned and walked toward him.

  “I know this is difficult for you, but I also know you know it was the right thing to do. For both of you,” she said.

  “I get it. She’s a princess, I’m a nobody.”

  “Don’t say that.” Mom frowned.

  “It’s true, though. It was never going to work between us. It was against the law, doomed from the beginning. If the law wasn’t enough to keep us apart, then my powers were the ones for the job.”

  Mom ran her hand up and down his arm.

  “It will get better.”

  “It will never get better.” He went to sit on the ground.

  “No, get up. There is no sitting and wallowing today. You had enough of that last night.” Mom pulled at his elbow until he stood.

  “Mom, I am not in the right frame of mind for this.”

  “You’re in the perfect frame of mind, because you get to power through your feelings.” She stepped back as several palace knights came into the garden through the sides of the house. Each group of four knights carried one large, lumpy form between them, which was covered with what looked like a giant blanket.

  He felt the crawl of his skin even before his mom lifted her hand and the blankets flew off the objects. Soon enough, Lucas was looking right at the shadows he had trapped. They were still within the earth cage he had created around them, and they looked especially furious to be out in the sun.

  “What are these doing here?” he asked her because he was confused, but she wouldn’t look at the creatures.

  “I asked Caleb to let us borrow them for your practice today,” she said. “Having a visual of your enemy can help you control your power more effectively.”

  “Or it can make it go out of control,” Lucas reminded her. “Might I repeat to you what happened the first time?” He hated talking about that. He would rather just forget the whole thing even happened.

  “That will not happen today,” she said confidently. She turned to the guards, since they had all stood in attention waiting for orders. “Thank you for your help, gentlemen, we will call if we need assistance.”

  They left, all walking in unison.

  “Alright, son, let’s do this.” She took a deep breath. “Today I want you to focus on air. You have a better grasp on fire and earth, as they are the ones that have manifested more fully.”

  “And how do I focus on something I don’t know,” he asked her. “I have had the green thumb forever, so I know how that feels, and the fire has become so much a part of me that I don’t even think about it anymore.”

  “Air is more ethereal, calmer,” she explained in a soothing voice. “It doesn’t come suddenly, it builds on itself, unlike the rest of the elements. Close your eyes.”

  He closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing, making sure he didn’t stop breathing while he concentrated. It wouldn’t do for him to pass out.

  “Now think of the shadows in our midst.” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.

  He focused on the shadows, feeling their chilling presence around him. It was strange, the feeling that came over him. It weighed him down, almost as if there was a physical weight on his chest. It engulfed him, that eerie stillness that came whenever they were around. Even the birds stopped singing when they were around. He wondered why he’d never noticed that before.

  They repelled anything that was innocent and natural.

  “Now breathe, feel them, let your powers rise to protect.” Mom’s voice broke through his subconscious at the same time that he began to feel something else. It was a calm he hadn’t realized existed in him, especially around those creatures. It flowed through him like a gentle summer breeze, so full of life and so clean.

  He felt it right in the pit of his stomach, like a small tornado, going round and round inside him, trying to make its way out.

  “Command it, force it to do what you need it to do,” Mom said. “You are in control of it, not it of you.”

  Lucas wiggled his fingers, feeling the power in him grow bigger, stronger, higher. And when it shot out of his hands
, he opened his eyes and watched it reach for the sky in the form of a funnel.

  “Yes!” Mom jumped up, grinning from ear to ear.

  Even he couldn’t help but smile as he watched the funnel spin above them, going higher and higher until it reached the clouds. It made the leaves of all trees and bushes nearby rustle with the force of it.

  It was incredible.

  He lifted his hand one more time and extended it toward the funnel, commanding the wind to die down, and it did. It died slowly, first turning into a bigger cone, then beginning to dissipate. When it finally died, it did with a big swooshing noise as the wind spread out and flew away from the source.

  He swayed on the spot, his head going light with the effort it took to stop the funnel from going out of control.

  “Sit down.” Mom pushed him down onto the ground. “You’re pale as a sheet.”

  He put his head down, letting it hang, because he was too light headed, and his vision was blurred. A wave of nausea sent a shiver running up and down his body, but he refused to throw up.

  “I think I need to lie down,” he murmured to his mom.

  “Come on, darling.” She helped him and he let her. His knees wobbling, he began to walk toward the house.

  Once in his room, he lay back down and fell almost immediately asleep.

  He was in the forest at sundown. There were shadows everywhere, but they weren’t going for him. They walked beside him, like they knew who he was, like they respected him.

  And he walked among them with confidence, with a spring in his steps.

  He spoke to them, though they weren’t words he recognized; just hisses and guttural sounds. They moved across the forest, gliding from him, knowing they would do what he needed them to do. It wasn’t even dark out, but it was perfectly normal to have the shadows roaming the forest with him.

  He needed just a few more souls. Just nine more and he would be in complete control of this vessel, and his sword would have all the power it needed to become unstoppable. If only he could have his fire power in this body, or any of the other elements, for that matter. But soon enough. Soon, he would, and then he would be able to rule, just like he was destined to.