Chapter Thirteen
I gingerly felt my face expecting flesh to barely be hanging on, but I wasn’t even wet. Instead, I was floating in a sea of white glitter. I let out the breath I was holding, and stirred the shimmering flecks surrounding me like dust floating in the air illuminated by the sunlight. I looked around realizing I was alone. I called out Loki’s name, but he didn’t reply, in fact, no one was around me.
I moved my legs trying to walk in a different direction, but there was nothing solid underneath them. Frantically, I waved my arms through the air stirring up more dust, and not moving anywhere. It was like I was hanging in midair by some invisible string.
“Calm down, jinxed,” said a familiar voice.
I stopped, hanging in the swirling dust as a face materialized in front of me. White eyes, round and gleaming, twinkled back at me surrounded by long white-silver hair. The face smiled at me as gleaming scales flashed on their forehead. The fog mixed with glittering dust, parted to reveal the rest of the face’s body. I could tell now that it was a female dressed in a long, blue, flowing dress with a high wait that sat under her breasts. She was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
“Do you remember me?” She asked, and I nodded.
“You’re Lyra,” I said, really guessing, and hoping I was right.
She answered with a smile and a nod. “You killed the creature that guarded me the last time I saw you, excellent job by the way.” She complimented in an arrogant tone.
“Where am I? Where’s Loki?” I tried to move myself away from her.
Lyra smiled, again, and tilted her head to the side. She stepped in front of me, and gently brushed her cool fingers across my arm with the tattoo. “The coin was fragmented, and you are bound to many. Eve is out of the circle, and with her gone, so is my imprisonment. I have you to thank, Eliza.” Her voice was like a cold knife cutting through the air, and her eyes, like depthless pools of white, gazed unblinking. “You will feel at times stretched in all directions, yearning to fulfill duties by those who you are bound to. I, being one of them, offer you freedom, that is, if you complete one last task.”
I floated in midair, as Lyra stood in front of me waving her hands letting the mists part to reveal the glass castle in Will’s painting.
“Am I in Iethia?” I asked with a snicker from Lyra.
“No,” she answered coldly. “Like I said before, you are part of a prophecy that needs to be completed by your heritage.” She cupped her hands in front of her face as they filled with a bright light.
Lyra then opened her hands releasing a small mirrored box. It floated between us, twirling like it was on display in some jewelry store window. Light seemed to radiate from it, and even though it was mirrored, it didn’t reflect anything surrounding it.
Mesmerized, I watched it as I slowly lifted my hand compelled to touch it. I cautiously and timidly extended my index finger wanting nothing more than to touch it. Suddenly, it disappeared within millimeters of my touch. I pulled back my hand as Lyra smiled at me.
“You have no idea what that box was, but yet, you are drawn to it, like a drug.” She walked around me, and my body turned with her. “You Eliza Thorn are going to complete the prophecy, and do your ancestors proud.”
“I—I don’t understand,” I said as she continued to walk in circles.
Lyra gazed over her shoulder at me as the scenes behind her began to shift. I could see a green landscape of rolling hills, and misty capped mountains in the distance. A large black lake sat motionless nestled in the deeply carved landscape. It was beautiful with a bright blue sky dolloped with puffy white clouds.
“This is Atlantis,” Lyra said as the mists shifted. “This is where you’ll find the box. When you have it, come to these lands. There’s a portal there.”
I shook my head. “But…” I started to say when I could see Will’s shadowy image in the fog. “Will,” I whispered.
His nearly blue eyes stared straight ahead, and his silver white hair almost blended in with the white haze. I gazed at him, wondering why he wasn’t saying anything. Lyra waved her hand, and he disappeared. She turned to me with her white reptile eyes focused on me.
“You’ve grown feelings for him, I can see that. But, you can’t have him.” Lyra threatened with her cold eyes as she set her jaw. “He’s mine, understand. You are my tool, and that is all.” She stopped walking in circles. “I do have a little understanding of humans, and know your kind is naturally drawn to us. I forgive you of that, and will remedy of this ailment that inflicts you.” Suddenly she lifted her hand, waved her long fingers in front of me like she was grabbing onto something, and then curled her hand into a fist.
“Oww,” I said as I felt something pop inside of me, almost like a piece of my insides had broken off and was removed. Immediately, I placed one hand on my chest and the other on my stomach. I didn’t feel pain, and didn’t know exactly what or even where I felt the breakage, but a piece of me had been taken away—I could feel it.
“Fortunate for you, I can remedy you of any attachment to my beloved, and you will serve me fully with no interruptions.” Lyra stood in front of me, and grabbed me by my shoulders. Her hands were like icicles. “Go Eliza Thorn and fulfill the prophecy. Find the box that the Atlantians call Pandora’s Lock. This is my order to you.” She then pushed me away as her image faded and blackness rolled around me like thick smoke.
I felt like I had been plunged into ice water. I couldn’t hear or see, and I had to force myself to move my legs and arms. The feeling of weightlessness faded, and I felt the pressure of gravity again. I tried to draw in a deep breath, but quickly found out I was sucking in freezing water. There was no air around me, I was drowning when suddenly, I felt something grab onto me pulling me through the darkness.
“I’ve got her!” A voice yelled as I felt the piercing air that was like needles on my skin. “I told you I saw something in the water.” The voice sounded out of breath.
“Pull her in, and hurry up Caleb, she’s blue.” Another voice yelled.
We pushed through the water, and I tried to open my eyes, but couldn’t. I felt detached from my body, but could hear everything around me. I wondered who had pulled me from the water. I could hear them breath heavily, and feel their strength as they dragged me to shore.
“Do you think this is her?” The person named Caleb said.
“We won’t find out if she doesn’t breathe soon.” I could hear them, and I didn’t feel any of my senses fading. I simply couldn’t move. Could I be dying?
That thought rushed through me like hot fire. I didn’t want to die, and suddenly I felt a cold bubble explode in my throat. Water burned my nose and throat as I pushed myself up, and open my eyes to see blurred dark figures. I coughed and tried drawing in ragged breaths. My throat ached and my lungs hurt with the air I forced into them.
I blinked my eyes frantically trying to make them focus, but they burned too much. I could see enough to know where I was at. The grey abandoned hotel reflected in the black still water. It was the Blue Moon Hotel, and secret hideout of guardians that protect this world from supernatural threats. Also, it’s where Rosie had tried to help me, and where I had met Will. I could only guess what had happened not only to him, but Loki and Piper as well.
“Eliza, Eliza Thorn?” A boy, not much older than me, bent down and gazed curiously with his blue-grey eyes. He had wavy blonde hair, and was dressed in so much black that he nearly blended in with the darkness surrounding us.
“Yes,” I managed to croak out, and remembered talking to him right before Rosie and I were attacked by one of Angus’s doubles. “Gabe,” I questioned, and he nodded.
“Let’s get to the portal. She won’t last in the cold.” Caleb prompted as my body shook trying to stay warm.
With my eyes still blurry, I tried to look around for Loki. My head became heavy, and my thoughts thickened like
the white sauce I used to make at the Salvation Army’s kitchen. I longed for Rosie, wishing she was here. I felt the burden of everything that I had caused, and wished I would have drowned in that lake. My thoughts bounced around so much, I thought I was going crazy. I started to shake even harder, either out of becoming colder or fear. Gabe stopped, and wrapped his thin jacket around me. His arms were bare, and looked pale against the blackness.
Caleb walked beside me, and Gabe in front. They talked, but I didn’t listen, I didn’t want to. I was feverously lost in my own thoughts that shifted like the winter winds. I would try to gaze back at the lake wondering what happened to Loki, Piper, and Will. Lyra, I know tried to take my feelings away I had for him. But I wasn’t sure if I did have any feeling to take away. I liked Will, and cared for him, but I didn’t know him well enough to know if I truly like him. Maybe Lyra was just taking a precaution or maybe, she knew something I didn’t. I didn’t like her; just the same as I disliked the others I was bound to. I didn’t want to be bound to anyone or anything, and, I didn’t have to be.
“Just about there,” Caleb said in a loud voice, the kind that sounded as if he’d been trying to get my attention.
I looked up at his green eyes, the only color that was bright in the darkness. My legs were numb, and I couldn’t even tell if I was walking or not.
We went up a steep incline, and I could feel my feet dragging through the leaves that littered the forest floor. I was then lifted up into Caleb’s strong arms. I let my head rest on his shoulder. I thought I saw a movement and a flickering of a flashlight.
“There,” I said pointing in the direction where the light had been. “It’s got to be Will or Loki…or maybe Piper. They need us!” I suddenly yelled out frantically.
No one responded to my statement me as the voices and movements all twirled together until everything exploded into a light so bright, I thought it would burn us to nothing. I let out a scream with my hoarse voice as it too got sucked into the brightness.
I thought I would be wet, cold or burned by the bright light, but I wasn’t. I gingerly moved my legs, and forced my eyes open. I lifted my sore arms pushing myself up to a sitting position. I ran my hands over my arms realizing I was in a bed. I could feel the softness of the blanket as I rubbed my legs that were underneath it. I wondered where I was at, who I was with, and what had happened. I thought of Will, and his name bubbled in my throat. I drew in a breath to call for him, when another voice cut my words off.
“You’re still in one piece,” said the voice in the distance reassuring me.
I glanced towards the voice to see the greenest eyes gazing curiously at me. I pulled the blanket around me as he stepped closer.
“Though, I wasn’t sure you’d make it through the portal,” he said sitting on the foot of the bed that squeaked from his weight.
“Where am I? Are we still in Pleasantville?” I asked quickly, and glanced around the scantly furnished room.
It kind of reminded me of a hotel room with a couple of chairs, dresser, hooks on the wall, and everything painted in neutral colors. A single window let in soft light, and the air that drifted in, was surprisingly warm. We weren’t in Pleasantville because it was the beginning of winter there, and no one would have their windows open.
“No,” he replied slowly. “We’re in Atlantis.” He looked steadily at me.
“Atlantis,” I repeated. “You’re Caleb, and Gabe was the one who talk to me through the glass screen with Rosie.”
He raised his eyebrows and then smiled. “Yes, that was Gabe, but how do you know my name when I haven’t even introduced myself?”
I could feel my cheeks flush, and I felt a pang of fear fill me. “You pulled me from the water. I could hear Gabe say your name.”
Caleb glanced at the floor, rubbed his chin as if in deep thought trying to figure something out. “It does work then,” he whispered to himself.
“What works?” I asked catching his attention.
“Demon thorns,” he said getting up and walking towards the window. “That’s what saved you, plucked one out of your arm. You weren’t breathing when I pulled you from the water, and nearly solid blue. If you didn’t have the thorn in you, you’d be dead by now.”
I pulled my stare from him, and closed my eyes. Angus said I’d thank him later for that. But how did he know that I would need one of his thorns?
“Poison like that doesn’t work on everyone.” Caleb’s voice turned slightly questioning.
He slowly stepped to the foot of the bed, and leaned over resting his hands on the metal frame. I shifted my weight, and pulled my legs around me. I wanted to tell him everything from me finding the coin to the Underworld, and everything else that has happened to me, but didn’t. I wasn’t sure if I could trust him yet or not, and really desperately wanted to trust someone, but didn’t want to choose the wrong one.
“What do you mean doesn’t work on everyone?” I asked.
“Exactly what it means,” he said quickly. “For some it poisons, bringing death, while others it suspends life, almost like preserving it.”
That’s what it did to me. And now I felt I was some sort of a suspect to Caleb.
“What…what are you going to do with me? Can I go home?” I asked suddenly realizing I had no home.
“We can’t let you go home.” He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous, and besides, you’re marked with the symbol of the guardians.” He pointed to my shoulder with the tattoo.
I ran my fingers over it. “So what is the Alliance going to do with me?” I wanted to know.
“Well, for now, you’ll stay here until you are well enough to go before them, and then they’ll want to question you to find out who was behind the attack at Blue Moon.”
I ran my fingers through my hair wishing I was with Will. I wondered if he was safe or if he was looking for me. Maybe Loki reached him, and they all were looking for me. I wondered if they could make it to Atlantis undetected. Suddenly, I felt something warm touch my arm. I jumped as Caleb smiled at me.
“It’s going to be alright for you.” Caleb now sat in front of me staring at me with his green eyes that reminded me of the acid pools of the Underworld. “You are just a curiosity to us, and we don’t know what all of this means just yet.” He then stood up, and smiled warmly at me. “Get some rest, and I’ll be back later.”
I laid down watching him go out the door that shut with a click. I couldn’t rest, and flicked off the covers. I paced the room trying to gather my thoughts. Lyra wanted me to get that little mirrored box that was here. I didn’t want to get it for her, but something kept repeating itself inside me to find it. Almost like a blinking light that wouldn’t shut off. And, I still didn’t know what happened to Loki or if Angus would be curling out of some shadow somewhere.
I found myself standing in front of the window when I heard a slight commotion.
“Psst, kitten,” said Loki’s voice.
I turned feeling relieved at the sight of him crawling out of the mirror that hung over the tall dresser. At one time it would’ve freaked me out, but now it was a wonderful sight.
“Oh, Loki!” I ran over, and wrapped my arms around him.
“Glad to see you too, but we’ve got to move.”
“How? Do you know your way around Atlantis?”
He smiled crookedly. “Not Atlantis itself, but their mirrors I do. Come on, grab my hand.”
Loki took my hand, and climbed carefully back up on the dresser. He gently ran his other hand over the mirror making it ripple.
“So, where did you go after we went into the acid pool? I ended up in Lake Moore,” I said staring at him waiting for an answer.
“Yeah, sorry about that sudden exit—usually I don’t like to do it that way, but I do have to commend myself,” he said with a smirk, and sliding his eyes to me. “It was genius of me, don’t you think?” I crossed my arms not amused. “
I guess you don’t agree. I had every plan of you coming with me, and I came out at a mirror in the hotel, but only after the little Alliance boys left. One ran out saying they spotted something in the water, and I assumed that it was you.”
“And you didn’t help me?” I asked.
“That was two against one,” he said looking back at me with his brown eyes as if I was crazy to ask that. “Not to mention, they’re the Alliance.” He defined his words. “Besides, I still came after you.” He turned back to the mirror. “Don’t worry kitten, I’m still your hero, just not the sword-in-hand-screaming my vengeance at the enemy for your safety.” Loki gazed back at me, and smiled slyly. “I’m more of a sneaky hero, one that comes and leaves unnoticed.” He tugged on my hand as he went through the mirror. “Come on kitten, let’s get out of here.”
“Where are you exactly going this time?” I asked with concern.
“To a safe place where we can regroup, and hopefully, find Piper and Will,” Loki said now inside the mirror.
Just the sound of Will’s name made my heart jump as I climbed the dresser, and looked into the swirling mirror at Loki.
“Thought that might get you going a little faster,” Loki said as the door clicked with the lock turning.
I looked at Loki as he tried to pull my hand through, but it stopped as soon as it touched the solid glass. Loki tried again, and then gave me a grim look.
“Why can’t I pass? Loki.” I whispered.
He didn’t say anything, only shook his head with confusion.
“I’ve got to hide, Eliza. Be back later.” Loki disappeared just as the door opened.
I sat where I was on the dresser with my hand pressed to the mirror. Caleb stepped in first, and stopped with a questioning gaze as he looked at me.
“Eliza,” he said my name slowly. “Are you alright?”
I tried to gracefully climb off of the dresser thinking of an excuse as to why I was on top of the piece of furniture with my hand pressed to the mirror. But someone else was behind him, a woman with red hair all pulled up neatly, gazed at me with twinkling eyes. She tilted her head, and smiled as her rosy cheeks swelled.
“Of course she’s alright, Caleb,” she said in a confident voice. “It’s perfectly normal for a descendant of Pandora to sit on top dresser, and press herself against the mirror.” She stepped in front of Caleb with a swish of her full purple skirt. “Well, are you going to introduce us to your entity or are we going to have to go and find him for ourselves?”
Coming Soon!
The continuAtion
of
the jinxed trilogy