Chosen

behind moments before. Although I was in plain sight, he didn’t appear to notice me. Even more disturbing, he was moving straight towards me. I tumbled backwards when I struggled to maneuver out of his way. Yet again, he refused to look in my direction. I scooted backwards as I kept my eyes locked on him. Why did he seem so familiar? Suddenly, the pale woman from the beach was standing before us, now glaring at the man with scorching rage. She too failed to see me; only feet away.

“You should know you cannot hide from me,” she hissed at him with a sickening smile. A suffocating freeze descended upon me at her presence. As her face began to glow once more, I squinted down at the source of light hanging from her neck. A clear glass ball hung from a necklace, but what caught my attention was what was inside the ball. What looked like a floating ball of light danced within, pulsing brighter as if connected to her heartbeat. Her silver eyes flashed as she wrapped her hand around the man’s neck and lifted him off his feet in less than an instant.

“NO!” Adrenaline shot through my veins and I lunged forward, only to land hard on top of the unsuspecting Willow.

“Hey! What…?” Willow made a valiant effort to catch me but after crashing down on top of her, I slid clumsily to the floor of the airplane; heart racing and gasping for breath.

“Stasia?” Natasha urged. “Are you alright? What happened?”

I looked up into her calm blue eyes and took a deep breath, “Just a bad dream…” my voice trailed off and I studied the carpet below me as I realized that had been no dream. That had really happened. My eyes snapped up to hers again as she helped me back into my seat. I endured the spike of my pulse as the scene came back to me. “It was a vision! She was hurting him! Oh! All of those poor people!”

Willow leaned forward in her seat, concern written all over her face. “What people? Who were they?”

“I…I don’t know.” I managed as my shoulders sagged under the weight of my foresight ability. It wasn’t much help when it gave me no clues, nothing to go on as to what was happening or where I was! “Okay, let me think,” I rubbed my temples in concentration, “I was on a beach and there were at least fifteen people. They looked like they were being held against their will. And then there were three others – singing, and-- and they got separated from their souls! She had him by the throat…but I don’t…I don’t know who she was.” My weak excuse for an explanation was met by blank stares and questioning faces.

After several seconds of confused silence, Natasha sent me a warm smile as she prepared something in what looked like a coffee maker, “It will come, dear. Sometimes visions are simply that-- visions. There is no way of knowing when they are or if they are something you should interfere with. As you become more experienced with them, you will be able to discern their meanings. But it cannot be forced. I remember when Finn started having them…” She diverted her eyes quickly as sadness washed over her features. I watched as her lower lip began to tremble. I stood and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“We’ll find him, Natasha,” I declared with intensity. She met my determined eyes as a tear ran down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and cleared her throat.

“Let’s discuss Cyprus.”

Chapter 3

“Cyprus?” We all turned our heads tentatively as Carmen came to life. Although Willow had helped her dress and get ready, her dark hair was now matted against her head and the circles under her eyes had become more pronounced. The English muffin we attempted to feed her before we left had ended up all over Phoebe’s clothes. Apparently spitting out your food was now a literal concept to Carmen. With unwavering patience, Phoebe simply handed Carmen a napkin and disappeared into her room to change while I wiped up the floor. A bib might be in order if we made her eat on the jet. I wasn’t sure the Sons would appreciate a fresh layer of food on their stunning carpeted floor.

“That’s right!” Phoebe’s face instantly lit up at Carmen’s voice; however unearthly it may have sounded. “Stasia’s going to meet the Nereids! We might even get to meet who we’re descended from! Isn’t that awesome?”

“Awesome…” Carmen repeated thoughtfully, as if she were trying to figure out the meaning behind the word. Her entire body stiffened without cause, and she stubbornly glared out of the window before returning her attention to us. I caught a flash of her trace just below her ear and held back a surprised gasp. Instead of the usual black color, it was now a glistening, bright red hue.

Phoebe’s excitement faded as Carmen’s dark brown eyes shifted hard and became fixed on Natasha.

“You’ve regressed.” Carmen’s ghastly tone shadowed her normal voice, which made my skin crawl.

Natasha visibly piqued at her accusing tone, but hid it easily behind her relaxed demeanor.

She set down the IPad she had been working on and patiently clasped her hands in her lap. “Carmen -

you need your rest, dear.”

“I don’t need rest. I need answers.” Carmen’s timbre increased with creed as she stood up almost too stealthily. Her features appeared to age twenty years as her eyes became steely. I saw Phoebe shrink back into her seat as her fervor visibly rose. “She refuses to give us any. Will you refuse as well?”

“She?” Natasha stood guardedly as the rest of us held our breaths. Carmen’s trace was now pulsing a deep burgundy, and I had a hard time taking my eyes off of it. It reminded me of a vein that bulged and moved to the rhythm of a pounding heart. I had a horrible image of it bursting open and spraying everywhere, but I quickly wiped that thought from my mind before we all had to revisit what I ate for dinner last night.

“Why have you regressed?” she demanded of Natasha with a sneer. “Why have you chosen not to embrace your darkness, Natasha?”

“My...darkness?” Natasha’s brow furrowed as she grasped the fire agate pendant hanging from her necklace. Carmen took a menacing step forward before crumbling to her knees, ravaged once again by the perilous screams audible only to her.

“I can’t take it!” she screeched in her own voice again, eyes squeezed shut. “Make them stop!

Make them stop!!”

At the same time, Natasha and I embraced her and somehow managed to wrestle her safely back into her seat. I swept Carmen’s hair off her neck and watched Natasha’s concerned expression as she took in the throbbing red trace.

“What’s happening to her?” I whispered frantically. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she shook her head in dismay and reached into her pocket for the vial of gray liquid. Even with the constant squirming, I was able to hold down Carmen’s arms as Natasha tried to force the sleeping concoction into her mouth. Unfortunately, half of it came back up and she bent her head down instead; clamping down onto my arm with her teeth. I automatically let go and she pushed me away with immense strength. I landed upside down on the other side of the plane, underneath a table.

“Stop it!” Phoebe pleaded as she tried to pull Natasha away from Carmen. “What are you doing to her?!”

“Phoebe, don’t!” Willow snagged Phoebe’s arm and pulled her back, just as Natasha succeeded in opening Carmen’s mouth wide enough to pour the liquid down her throat. I rubbed my leg where I could feel a bruise forming and Willow helped me back to my seat. After ensuring Carmen was out cold, Natasha sat back down and sighed with exhaustion. She met Phoebe’s distraught eyes with an unrelenting calm.

“It’s a mixture of passionflower, valerian, and chamomile with a kick. It simply puts her to sleep. It is completely safe, I assure you.”

“Then what’s wrong with her? Why does she sound like she’s possessed?!” Phoebe shouted.

We were all frightened for Carmen and felt powerless to help her, but Phoebe was infinitely taking it the hardest.

“I’m not sure, dear. It could be a number of things, but I need a second opinion.”

“What if it gets worse? What if she hurts somebody? Or herself?” Phoebe countered, her panic lessening to frustration.

“That’s where I will need your help,” Natasha disclosed with intensity, “but you will have to trust me. Do you