“You want to wake up now, fine. Let’s rock and roll, sweetheart.”
He nodded his head, and I felt a bolt of energy wave over me. My eyes closed, and as they did I saw not only those forgotten memories of this place, but also the mark on my back...flashes of this life, of growing up with my overworked mother came to me...her caressing my back, outlining it with her nails as she put me to sleep when I was young – it all seized my breath.
That Fall or whatever came into view once again. I could see Cashton racing after them, my father reaching for his shoulder. Just before he wrapped his arms around my mother, a blinding light consumed them. I screamed in my dream, trying to catch my mom, trying to tell my dad to wait – and that scream chased me into my waking moment. I rose up from a bed, gasping through the last part of it, trying to figure out where I was.
Chapter Five
This room was a bedroom, obviously. I was on a bed. Oddly, every wall, floor to ceiling, was bookshelves. Thousands of old books stared back at me. The energy of them, the stories they held singed the air with brilliance. To my left in an oversized chair, I saw Draven. His hooded eyes were dark as night. To my right, I felt someone sit on the edge of the bed: Madison.
Hovering over my head was Cashton. “So now that we are awake, can you bother to believe me?”
“He’s not here,” Madison mumbled, closing the book in her hand and leaning toward me from the edge of the bed.
Frantically, I looked between her and Cashton, wondering if we were talking about the same person.
“Where am I? Am I still dreaming?” I managed to say between gasps, noticing how dry my mouth was.
“Not anymore,” she whispered as her concerned green eyes took inventory of my demeanor. “This is August’s home.”
“Who is this?” Cashton said with approval in his tone as those eyes of his moved over her image.
I glanced from him to Madison. She was acting like she could not see him, even though he was feet from her.
“Chara,” I murmured as I fell back and covered my eyes with the palms of my hands.
Madison scooted closer to me. “Are you all right? You look like you have seen a ghost or something.”
“Or something,” Cashton said with thick humor in his voice.
“Madison, do you think we’re alone?” I asked quietly, trying not to look at Cashton - to play into this psychotic break.
“Hardly.”
I sighed, only to see Cashton smirk.
“This family is relentless. Almost too nice for my blood,” Madison said, glancing at the closed door that must lead to the rest of the house.
“She can’t see me unless I want her to, and I don’t simply because I have no idea what you have gotten yourself into,” Cashton said as he crossed his arms.
“I’m not the one that misguided my descent and landed in the veil, rendering myself with next to no memory,” I bit back.
Madison’s eyes grew wide for an instant. “Charlie, you all right?”
That made Cashton laugh and me blush.
“No. Odd dream that is all too real at the moment.”
Her eyes expanded, trying to see it. I made no effort to hide anything.
“What is that? How come her eyes are darker?” Cashton asked in disbelief.
“It’s called seeing. We see the living, too.”
“Figures,” he mumbled.
“Umm...yeah, we do - but I see nothing of that dream. Tell me about it,” Madison urged.
Cashton put his finger to his lips, then made the ‘crazy’ gesture - meaning Madison would think that I had lost it if I told her. My eyes questioned him. Clearly, he had no idea how close Madison and I were.
“I don’t know who to trust,” he stated in an obvious tone. “Is she marked? Have you seen it? How much like you is she? What emotion does she fight?” he asked me as he looked over her once more. I glared, knowing all too well that he was checking her out for more reasons than curiosity.
I smirked as I moved my head from side to side. The answer to his question would take me far too long to explain. Madison had an obsessive personality. She would become addicted to a project or cause and not rest until she had conquered it.
“Where is Draven?” I asked with a gasp.
“Learning control,” Madison answered.
“Why do you look mad?” I asked as I scooted up in the bed.
“Because I don’t like the company he is keeping - though you might.”
“Drake?”
She nodded once.
“He’s with him now?” I asked, bewildered, thinking that was so unlike him just to leave me, not knowing if I was okay or not. But then again, I did ask Drake to help him.
“Yeah. I’m supposed to get him when you wake up.”
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Three days, close to four.”
“What?!” I asked, glancing to Cashton. He had moved around the room and was now hovering over Draven’s still body.
“Music,” Cashton muttered. “That gives him a point in the ‘win’ box for me. Hard to tell if he is right for you without his soul in his body, though,” he mused, almost to himself.
I furrowed my eyes in his direction, letting him know that I couldn’t care less what he thought of Draven.
“Yeah,” Madison said. “Those little ones gave you one hell of a sleeping drug. Jason, the doctor, Willow’s dad, said that you were shocked but it was mild, like sticking a fork into a socket. The little ones put you down because you had not slept in almost two days at that point. They said, ‘She’s blocking the message. She has to dream,’” Madison said with a raised eyebrow, clearly not fond of six-year-olds running the show. “If it makes you feel any better, they knocked us out, too, but we only slept for like a few hours.”
“Children?” Cashton said, standing up straight as he looked over his shoulder at me. “Children that had the power to knock you out?”
I only gave him a weak nod.
“Aden. Is he okay?” I asked Madison.
Her expression grew grim. I felt my insides cave. “He’s not here anymore.”
“What?!” I gasped as grief struck me in my core and I rose to meet her eye-to-eye.
“Whoa. Stop.” Madison said, clenching her arms to her stomach. “He’s not dead or anything, geez. But I think you’re trying to kill me.”
Confusion took over my grief. Madison showed instant signs of relief in her demeanor.
“Madison, what the hell? What happened to you - us?” I asked, careful not to move, think, or feel.
“A lot,” she breathed out. “Aden is in another dimension. I don’t know the name, but I know it’s a step up from this one. Well, maybe not a step up. Let’s just say it’s a place where the citizens connect with their higher selves often and meditation is a way of life - like seriously meditating.”
“Why is he there?”
Sorrowfully, she glanced away. “That bitch knocked the wall down, Charlie. Aden had a flood invade his mind. Not just a glimpse of past lives, but all of them, in detail. He needed to deal with that...get away from Draven’s glare. You know him. He had to go away, analyze it, plan for the worst just so he could have peace of mind.”
“Worrying to find peace of mind...interesting,” Cashton said with a glance that made me think that phrase should have triggered a memory of something.
“Draven would never hurt him,” I said in instant defense.
“No, but he’s a man - and a jealous one at that. Aden woke first, asked to be taken there. From what I saw through Olivia, he hadn’t put it all together yet. There was something he didn't understand and somehow he knew those people would be able to help him.”
“What did Draven say about that?”
“He wasn’t awake when he left, and when he found out he was mad, furious that he didn’t even talk to him about it. I think he’s scared you are going to blame him for Aden leaving the way he did.”
“Stupid,” I breathed, dreading sta
nding between those brothers once again. It wasn’t the wall thing. It was because it was something I’d always done: played the peacemaker. Long before we figured out the light and darkness thing, it was clear they were night and day, two perfect opposites.
“Men,” she scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “Anyways, that little knockout had us all wake up with something different - at least the three of us. Aden’s wall was knocked down, we know that; my sixth sense of emotions has been elevated to a level I can’t stand, and Draven is now intensely aware of his energy.”
“What?!”
What did she mean? He was bad now? Pulling energy...is that why he was with Drake now?
“Freaking-A, Charlie,” Madison said as she bent forward again. “Get a grip on that anxiety. You’re killing me.”
Cashton was now intensely focused on Madison. “I need fire, sweetheart. Like now.”
“Why?”
“Because it hurts,” Madison said. “Draven is fine. The awareness is helping him with control.”
“Because she’s being hunted,” Cashton said at the same time. “I need to know who and why.”
I took in a deep, soothing breath. Hunted. He had no idea.
“I dreamed something. I want to see if what I saw is the same on you.”
“Excuse me?” she said, raising her brow.
“Fire. Is there a fireplace in a private room?” I asked.
She reached in her pocket and pulled out a Zippo.
“Picking up bad habits?” I asked with a warning glare.
“No. It’s for my caracole pencils.”
I nodded for Cashton to leave or vanish or something, but he refused with a bit of a sinful smile on his lips. I stood up and guided Madison against the wall.
“Charlie?”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said as I eased her shirt up.
Cashton took the Zippo from me and turned the flame up. He then guided it across her back, so close to her skin that she moved forward a bit. The mark was there, nearly the same as mine, yet the details were out of whack. He lowered the lighter to her spine, in the middle of her back, and examined the mark there. It was way different than mine. She had more spheres in her rings.
“Dear Creator,” he mumbled.
“What?” I mouthed.
He shook his head from side to side. “The two of you should not be this close to each other. You’re making it too easy for them to target you.”
“Who?”
“Who what?” Madison asked, growing frustrated with me.
“Obsession, right?” Cashton said. “She’s an obsessed soul.”
I pursed my lips, halting any clear answer.
He smirked. “You look like Mum when you do that, and she only does that when she knows I’m right and doesn’t want to admit it.”
“There is a mark on you, Madison. A lot like mine.”
“What?” she said as she turned quickly.
She glanced at the lighter in Cashton’s hand. “How are you doing that, Charlie?”
“For the sake of not sounding crazy, I’m going to go with ‘I don’t know.’”
I turned my back to her and pulled up my tank top. As I felt the lighter come close to my skin, I heard her gasp.
“This is like the box.”
“Yeah,” I said, pulling my shirt down as I turned to face her. Cashton closed the Zippo and handed it back to me. I gave it back to Madison, who took it with shaking hands. “I saw mine in my dream.”
“They branded us?!”
“No. I remember my mom tracing mine when I was really little. It’s deep within us and apparently has some kind of life plan or something.”
She didn’t know what to say or do, and my shock and panic were not helping her at all. She clenched her waist as if she were bracing herself.
“Someone amped her up, either trying to drain her or teach her how to use it real fast. She needs to control this, or she is going to purge it and the one she is fighting will claim that as a victory,” Cashton warned.
“So is Willow helping you with the emotions thing?” I asked, knowing that girl had more than likely fought what she was going through in some way.
“Willow is M.I.A.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, halting my peaking anxiety. I had just saved Landen and Drake, and now she was off the reservation. No way.
“Thanks,” she said, nodding to me, noticing how shielded my emotions were. “They just found them late yesterday. We were all out cold, so we couldn’t tell them to look in New Orleans - and when we did tell them they were on the move, so it took them a day or so to find them.”
“Are they okay?”
“I assume they’re with your buddy.”
“Silas,” I seethed.
Instantly, I grasped what had happened. Bianca, disguised as Winston, was given to us by Clarissa, and she got him from Silas. Why would the all-knowing Silas send her right to me? Right to Chara? Was he that cold? What was he looking for - for me to run to him for help? Was he trying to prove I still needed him, even after finding this family, after Draven apparently finding his peace? And where was the real Winston? Was he a part of this - or was he a victim?
“Yep. I haven’t gotten all the details yet. I haven’t really left you for long and they all scattered to find them when we woke up.”
A tingling sensation engulfed my mind. I saw Madison and Olivia sitting at the foot of this bed practicing this meditation thing. I saw something else, too. I saw Madison’s soul rise from her body and wander around the room as Olivia coached her on what she should be feeling, seeing...what she was capable of.
My eyes grew wide and I held my breath, thinking that would halt my emotions - which were everything from terror to joy.
Madison’s eyebrows rose slightly as a smirk lingered on the corners of her lips. “Looks like that little sleeping pill helped your seeing issue. I was blocking you with everything I had - and you still got through.”
“What did you see?” Cashton asked.
I ignored him.
“Madison.” I gulped, ignoring that notion. I knew my seeing was getting stronger before I went to sleep. “How...why...is that safe? To move outside of your body like that?”
“You’re telling me you forgot how to do that?!” Cashton exclaimed, like it was as simple as walking.
She glanced at the book in her hand, then up to me. “We are energy and we can move anywhere, at anytime. We just have to believe we can. It’s just like The Realm, only it’s here.”
“Truth.” Cashton said. “Half the reason we live for so long is because we never exert our bodies - we use our souls to move around more than the vessel.”
“Was...was...was it hard?” I asked Madison.
I didn’t know what to say. The images in my mind were too clear. I felt like I was there, that the lesson she learned was mine as well, like I had done this as Cashton claimed I had. Then again, my ability to see had been amped up for sure. It was like I was staring at real life and TV side by side. It was rather annoying, to say the least.
“It’s hard to let go, but once you feel that peace, you drift. Olivia is a good teacher.”
“Where’s Monroe?” I asked, instantly seeing her in a kitchen, one that looked like it belonged to this house simply because that room had books from wall to wall as well. “Grayson? Is he here?”
Madison nodded to confirm the question I was asking myself.
“She’s downstairs. Grayson...he left. He’s looking to either save or kill Winston, and he’s doing so from Esterious.
“Save or kill?” I repeated.
“Yeah. If he didn’t cross over and is with his dad against his will, he plans to save him. If he did - he’s going to kill him.”
“‘Kill’ is a little harsh,” I said, hoping that two brothers could not be pushed to that point, fearing for the twins that I loved. I didn’t want them to follow that direction.
With a protective glare Cashton asked, “How many people are you fight
ing with? Better yet, how many people are you with that you should be avoiding?”
I returned his glare, which was more than likely causing Madison to question my sanity.
“Apparently, Grayson has no choice. If Winston crossed over to be like his dad, then he will give up the location of Monroe. Can’t let that happen,” Madison said with heavy regret in her voice. “They weren’t worried about the fact that Bianca was here, though. Something about how she would never be able to find the passage again if she wanted to.”
I closed my eyes, trying to find a direction, figure out why I lost my parents and sister and had gained a brother...why I was marked...what was real and what was fake.
“Charlie, does the eleventh hour mean anything to you?” Madison asked, cringing slightly from the rage that was boiling inside of me.
“No. Why?” I asked, searching for a balance in my emotions.
She shrugged. “At that hour twice a day the kids go into deep meditation without warning. Each time they stay under longer. It was also the only hour you stirred in your sleep, the one the rest of us woke at.”
“Echo,” Cashton breathed. “Looks like we are the search and rescue. That means that all of you have fouled up somewhere, and now the prodigies cannot see forward.”
“What time is it now?” I asked, ignoring him. I didn’t have time to think of past mistakes. I had to live now.
“Dawn broke a few hours ago,” Madison answered.
I eased my hands through my oily hair, then glanced back at Draven’s still body. I knew he would not approve of my instant decision, and I didn’t know how long I had before he was done with the lesson Drake was teaching him now.
“Here’s my plan. Bianca, she is the core of this, not a freaking distraction. I want to talk to Britain, see my way there. Then I am going to find Silas and rip him to shreds for allowing her to breach this dimension. Will you come?”
She swallowed. “Why would I not?”
“Where are you going again?” Cashton scorned.
“I need to figure out who I can trust,” I said to myself. “I need a shower, clothes.”
Madison stood and pulled my bag out from under the bed, then nodded to the door by Draven. “If you don’t want him to know you’re awake, you better walk softly...he’s intensely aware of you.”