Awaken

push that thought out of my head.

“What other sacrifices will you have to make?” I asked; a sense of dread filling every fiber of my being. I couldn’t imagine how lonely it must be for him.

“My own sacrifices, I can handle. I’ve come to terms with my destiny,” he claimed with creed. “It’s the price the people I love would have to pay that I can’t bear.” The muscle in his jaw flexed with anger.

“What price do they have to pay?” I asked hesitantly.

“Stasia-“

“Here they are! I found them!” Phoebe was jogging up the beach towards us, followed by several other shadowy shapes resembling Ian, Willow, and Liam.

“Hey you guys!” she waved at us. Automatically thinking something was wrong, I jumped up and met her near the water’s edge.

“Is everything okay, Phoebs?” I asked her.

“Of course! We were getting worried about you guys. You’ve been gone for a long time.”

She gave me a hug and smiled at Finn, “Plus we got tired of listening to Ricker and Carmen fight. So we left Cage to deal with them and went for a little midnight walk!”

Deciding I’d been through enough for one night, we decided to give it another try tomorrow afternoon. If that went well, we’d try to contact Thetis later that night. I had to admit I was relieved, but I was quickly losing any faith that I would be able to pull this off.

*** Click….creeek….click….creeek… The cloak of night was still heavy on the world when I woke up with a start. Click….creeek….click… Trying not to wake Willow, I slid out of the covers and tiptoed over to the large bay window in our room. The sound was coming from the backyard; the gardens. From my vantage point, they were shaded in a light veil of dew, glistening in the moonlight.

Creeek…click…creeek…click… The sunshine-filled rooms of yesterday had morphed into something more dark and menacing as I made my way out into the hall, down the stairs, and towards the back deck. The hair on my arms lifted and I could feel my heart thumping faster against my chest. The image of the ghost’s blood-matted blonde hair and shredded skin flashed in my mind, and I almost ran back upstairs. I was probably just seeing things. Ghosts aren’t real and they definitely couldn’t hurt me if they were.

I peered out the window into the gardens beyond, when the sound of a door shutting upstairs had me clamping a hand over the scream that was trying to escape my mouth. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. Some Goddess I was - scared of a door shutting. I rolled my eyes at myself and stood up straight. I had nothing to be afraid of. As I reached for the door handle, I realized it was already ajar. I steeled myself and stepped out into the crisp night air. Click….creeek….click….

A rolling mist had set in and it swirled around the garden in a magical cadence. The savory fragrances of the flowers invaded my senses and the sound of the ocean rushed in my ears, submerging me in its fury; strengthening me. Although there were seven other people inside, I felt completely isolated. The world around me had come alive with energy. It pulsed in every flower, every leaf, and every blade of grass as I walked along the stone path. I sensed their acknowledgement of my presence as clearly as if they had spoken it aloud. The cool mist swirled and settled on my bare skin; initiating me into the ethereal world I had entered. Click….creeek…click….

Now I could tell the sound was coming from along the edge of the gardens, near the side of the house. I circled back, inching my way to the corner of the house. Click…creeek….click….

Holding my breath, I leaned forward to get a better view. Click…creeek….click… I leaned a little farther…and lost my balance.

Sprawled out on the grass, spitting dirt out of my mouth, I looked up into the surprised eyes of Carmen and Ricker. They were sitting (extremely close, by the way) in an old wooden swing, rocking back and forth. As it swung backwards again I heard the creeek of the chains and the click of the hook catching a bent chain link at the top. I scrambled back to my feet and a new wave of embarrassment hit me as I realized my thin shorts had moved much higher during my fall from grace; revealing one very bare cheek.

“Stasia? What are you doing?” Carmen asked; guilt and shame written all over her face.

“I, um, heard a noise and was trying to figure out what it was. But I found it. Along with… ya’ll,” I spit out clumsily. “So I’ll just…um…yea. Good night!” I took off back down the stone path, eager to put as much distance between myself and that awkward encounter as possible. I finally made it back to the fountain and perched on the side of it in an effort to collect myself. I could even feel the frenzy I had caused the plants in the garden with my little stunt. Slowly, the world went back to the calm of several minutes ago and so did my heart beat. I hopped off the fountain and started down the path towards the house when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Probably more terrifying shutting doors and swinging swings, I chuckled at myself, as I turned around to see what it was - and then froze mid-step.

She was standing near a rose bush several meters away. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she gently reached out to touch one of the blooms. As her transparent hand went right through it, she closed her eyes and wept softly. Not daring to chance a breath, I stepped closer. Her eyes flitted upward; meeting mine. A coldness washed over me as she turned and walked towards me.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t scream. I just watched in horror as she eyed me curiously and came even closer. She had deep green eyes that blended with the lush garden of plants surrounding us. They held a certain warmth; an innocence. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen years old. Those green eyes searched my own, pleading with me.

“Hi,” I whispered, so soft I barely heard it. She shifted and faded slightly; her body blurring in response. She stilled and glanced to the right as if she had heard something, giving me an even closer view of her exposed skull, covered with blood and matted blonde hair. Her eyes flickered back to mine and I immediately noticed the glassy fear that had suddenly consumed her.

“Hurry,” she said in a low, urgent voice right before disappearing. The effect her actual voice had on my already frazzled nerves was immediate and crushing. Somehow, my legs carried the rest of my body back inside and up the stairs without incident. Sliding back in between the sheets, I noticed how violently I was shaking. I closed my eyes and rolled into a ball, completely underneath the comforter. My makeshift cocoon began to work as the shaking subsided. Unfortunately, the hollow fear had clawed its way into my soul and I didn’t know if it would ever let go. I had just had a conversation…with a dead girl.

Chapter 8

“I knew it!!” Carmen exclaimed and sat up in a flash, narrowly missing her Orange Crush can. It rested precariously in the sand along with several magazines and a bag of chips. We were lying out in the soothing heat of the sun, while the guys struggled to surf the less than ideal waves crawling toward the shore.

“You did not! None of us did,” Phoebe rolled her eyes and continued to construct a sandcastle with one powerful finger. She was resting on the edge of her towel, wearing an adorable white and black polka dotted bikini; a white scarf wrapped around her unruly hair. She reminded me of a modern Jackie O. With multi-colored hair.

“I did! I swear!” I had filled my roommates in on my reverie-turned-vision as well as what Finn and I had discussed about his destiny. I made sure to clear it with him this morning before I said anything. I didn’t want to betray his trust, but I also needed to talk to my friends about what had happened. Apparently, a good number of people at Lorelei already knew of Finn’s destiny; most of them being close with the Sons, like Liam or long-time girlfriends.