Eye of the Storm (The Charmed) (4 page)

Constance and Frank looked at each other, concern written across their features. “Alright.” Constance stated.

“Now I have a few questions of my own for the both of you.” Sam leaned forward and placed a hand on Constance’s arm. “Listen, now that Lyla has Occlumency, as well as Chase, I need to know some things. It will help me find out what they’re up against if I understand what you’ve been through.”

“Yes?” Frank interjected.

“How did you know Lyla might be ‘the one’, it couldn’t have just been her birth date?”

Constance spoke up. “When I found out I was pregnant and did the timeline, I knew she could be born in October or November. We lived in a large community in Venice, California. We were kind of beach kids at the time, always in bathing suits. This was after our time with you, during our carefree days of being young twenty-something’s. Anyway, the rest of our group found my change in clothing peculiar so they started pecking around. We moved when my best friend at the time found my notes on my desk about when I thought I was due.”

Something hit the back of Sam’s mind. “Constance, who was that friend?”

“Emily Hartkey.”

Sam thought for a moment. “Name doesn’t ring any bells.”

“We left in the middle of the night, leaving everyone behind. At first it was an easy pregnancy to hide, you know how the higher ups keep tabs on the women due around that time. I didn’t want to be under a microscope so we found a convent, but one with retired nuns.”

“Where?”

“Here. There’s an island with a beautiful spit of land that houses them. The one who delivered her was Sister Dorothy.”

“Okay, go on.”

“So when I couldn’t conceal it any more, I moved in with the nuns. They took great care of me but Frank wasn’t allowed anywhere near me. It was really hard on him.” She reached out and grasped his hand. “He stayed holed up in different hotels around the area just to stay near.”

“And when she showed up on November first?”

“I panicked. The nuns said they had a vow of secrecy so we were safe but Frank and I began our life on the run from that point forward. Sam, we didn’t want this for her.” Constance wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

Frank squeezed his wife’s hand. “Is it true Sam, does she really heighten Chase’s powers?”

Sam looked down. The whole situation was hard on him as well. “Yes.” He sat back and rubbed a hand over his face. “When he and Lyla vanished, we all thought the worst but common sense said they were safe, how could they not be?”

“Have you heard from them yet?” Asked Constance, a look of hope riddled her weary features.

“We’ve searched all of Florida but now Jaden has moved out of cell reach. I’ll get you word as soon as I can. Constance, Frank, they’re safe. Trust me. Did you research what Lyla would be up against?”

Constance spoke up. “Yes, within reason. We knew she would have the marks if she met someone and it would ultimately lead to madness and death.” Her voice cracked slightly.

Frank sighed. “Listen, we knew that every time we researched it, a red flag would go up, and next thing you knew we were moving again. The power hungry are everywhere.” He spit the last words out.

“I’ll get word to you as soon as I can.”

“Thank you Sam, you’ve been a good friend.” Lyla’s mother looked a million years old. Eighteen years of running were catching up to her fast.

They said their goodbyes and Sam walked back into the airport. He didn’t want them to know he had an appointment in two hours at Pike Place Market about a certain book….

B
rendan woke early the next day. He was restless from the exchange between Harley and himself and couldn’t stand to be in the same tent as her without being able to so much as speak to her. He got up and built a fire near the ledge again. Once he felt a little more settled, he decided he would scout on ahead. He left a hasty note in the sand and proceeded up the trail alone. Brendan could feel the charms all over the place. It was disturbing. No area should be full of so much mischief. There was a reason the charms were there and he knew it was probably Chase and Lyla. Brendan had worked up a healthy sweat hiking up the mountain. The sun had just come up and he was feeling pretty good in his pace when he heard something. Brendan crouched low, ducking behind a tree for safety. He scanned the area and saw a person up ahead doing what looked to be chopping wood. “Thwack!” Another sound came from the general direction. Brendan walked cautiously toward the figure. As he got closer, he noticed the person looked remarkably like Chase, brown hair flopping into his eyes as he loaded another log on the stump to be split. He had taken his shirt off and had a healthy sheen of sweat glistening on his marked body. Brendan was a bit cautious because Chase was wielding an ax. He centered his power for peace and walked up carefully.

Once he was within twenty feet of Chase, the hair on his arms stood up. Chase’s marks were seriously faded on his left arm, the marks of Occlumency that tied him to Lyla. They should have stood out like a beacon, but instead were faded to almost the color of his tanned skin. The energy in the area was almost too much for Brendan. He would have to get Chase’s attention or leave fast. Brendan cleared his throat.

Chase continued to load the logs up to be split. Not looking at Brendan at all he said, “I knew you were there. I’ve known since the base of the hill.”

Brendan tried not to get alarmed, but he did. “How you doing? Haven’t seen you since the fight.”

“Huh. Not sure what fight your talking about.” Thwack! Another log split.

“The fight with the others, a little while ago? They tried to take you and Lyla.”

Chase stopped then and turned to face Brendan. “Who’s Lyla?”

Brendan tried to not panic but it was hard. His breathing became irregular. “She’s your wife. You met her this last year.”

“My wife? I’m a little young for that. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head somewhere between here and Lakeland? I’m where I’m supposed to be, interning on the hill to develop my powers. If this Lyla was so important, I’d remember her, but I don’t.”

Brendan’s mind was frantically searching for the right words or charm to kick start Chase back to reality but he was coming up short. He needed Harley, he needed her mind. “So, where are you staying nowadays?” He decided to go with it, at least get some information.

“Up at the cabin, with Tom and Madeleine, they’re wonderful people.” Chase resumed his wood chopping while Brendan frantically searched his mind.

“Yeah, I’m sure they are. Cabin is close by then, huh?” Keep it conversational, Brendan kept thinking.

“Yep, about a mile to the north. There aren’t any roads, you have to track it on foot.”

“Got it.” Brendan wanted to keep him talking but it was getting hard in-between log splitting. Then it hit Brendan what a mess this just became. He would go back to the cabin, tell the people there that he saw an old friend and they would move him. They had to get Chase and Lyla out today. “Hey, Jaden wanted to talk to you, is it okay if I go get him?”

Chase looked irritated, “Of course, why wouldn’t I want to talk to him?”

“Okay, I’ll be right back, you’ll be right here?”

Chase looked over at the pile of logs and the two other downed trees he was to chop up. “I’ll be at it a while.”

Brendan turned and walked calmly over the hill. Once he was out of sight, he ran like his life depended on it. He found Harley, Kayla and Jaden sitting at a stream filling up bottles with water.

“Guys!”

Everyone stood up on alert. Harley ran forward, alarm on her face; the other two came up the rear.

Brendan was out of breath, “I….I…” He bent over to catch his breath. “I found Chase, I found him.”

Harley grabbed his arms, “Is he alive? Brendan, is he alive?”

“Yes.” He looked at the group, then straight at Jaden. “He’s acting really strange though. He couldn’t have cared less about seeing me. His marks are faded and…” He stopped to breath in for a moment.

Kayla stepped forward. “And what, Brendan?”

Brendan tried not to look at Kayla; he didn’t want to see her face when he told them the next part. He focused his eyes on Harley. “He doesn’t know who Lyla is.”

Harley drew in a sharp breath.

Jaden paced away, hands pulling at his hair.

Kayla smiled, tilted her head, “Good, maybe he’ll finally dump her.”

Jaden had enough. He rounded on her, a look of fury on his face.

“Kayla! You are the most selfish person I’ve ever met! Chase and Lyla are meant to be together. I’m beginning to wonder what I ever saw in you!”

Kayla drew in a quick breath, her eyes widened and she took a step back from Jaden.

Jaden continued to walk forward. “Yeah, that’s right, me. The person you never notice, Chase’s best friend, the one who always defends you, me! Brendan, take me to Chase, we’ll figure out what to do on the way.” He turned and started walking the way he had seen Brendan come.

Brendan and Harley exchanged looks then followed Jaden into the thick forest.

Kayla stared around the stream bed. She had no idea what just happened. Did Jaden really tell her just now that he liked her, and always had? Had she really been so wrapped up in the idea of Chase that she had overlooked the one person who had feelings for her? Kayla sat down on a rock and began crying. After a few moments she heard a person running toward her.

“Kayla! Come on!” Harley was standing in front of her, hands on her hips. “Having a hard time getting bitch-slapped and told by the same person you’re the bomb?”

Kayla looked up and gave a small smile. “You could say that.”

“Well, let’s explore that later or else I’ll be the next to do the bitch-slapping and I can guarantee you, I won’t be following it up with how wonderful you are.” Harley smirked, turned and started walking away.

Kayla ran to keep up. “I didn’t know.”

Harley shook her head. “I know, but everyone in the entire world did.”

“That just makes me feel worse.”

“It’s not supposed to comfort you.”

They walked in silence until they met up with the boys. After a half a mile, Brendan stopped. “Okay, anyone come up with anything?”

“We could stun him. Put him in a sleep.” Harley , always the smart one in the group.

“We could punch him.” Jaden added.

“I saw the energy ring around him; it’s really strong, we may get knocked out trying it.” Brendan paced around.

“I read of something.” They all turned to Kayla, shock at her voice piercing the air.

Kayla continued, avoiding Jaden’s eyes. “It’s a charm. It has to be placed on his skin to take effect. It works like a tracking device and locates a spell someone is under and draws it out. We could do what Harley said, and put him to sleep and then draw the spell out. If all else fails, Jaden can punch him.”

They stared in silence at her. “I’ve had a lot of time on my hands. I studied a lot. For a while I thought Lyla…” She broke off, not wanting to sound like a stalker.

Jaden spoke up, “You thought she turned Chase.”

Kayla stared at the ground. “I’m not proud of my actions, but yeah.”

“Well, maybe all that time and malice will end up being exactly what we needed.” Jaden said.

Damn, why did he have to say things like that, Kayla wondered. It made her feel even worse about not seeing his affections for her.

Jaden walked over to her and touched her very gently with the tip of his finger on her chin, tilting her head up to meet his eyes, “So let’s hear that charm.” Jaden drew away and stood with Harley.

Kayla felt a small shiver. She was finally the one everybody was listening to after all these years. Kayla steadied her hands and recited the charm. A small circle appeared in her hand that shown a brilliant shade of yellow. The circle was comprised of lines swirling in various patterns and moved around and around in her palm. The group came up and looked at it.

“Put it on me.” Jaden was looking at her.

“What? Why? Don’t you trust me?”

Jaden squared his shoulders. “One of these days you’ll have to understand that all of us trust you implicitly, that you have fantastic gifts and you’re absolutely stunning. But for now, I just wanted to know if what we do will hurt Chase; put it on me.”

Kayla blushed slightly and blew the charm onto Jaden where it landed on his neck and sunk into his skin.

Brendan looked down at Harley, narrowing his eyes and tilting his head. He said quietly under his breath, “It looks like Jaden’s had a little help with his ability to speak his mind.”

Harley looked away from his gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Brendan looked back at the two, “Sure you don’t. Let it be, Harley. Don’t meddle.”

Harley glared at him and walked over to Jaden. “Feel any pain?”

“I’m a little happy but no pain. It’s like little euphoria bubbles are moving up and down me.”

“That’s the charm searching.” Kayla said, watching as the glow appeared briefly at one of his legs.

“What happens when it doesn’t find anything?” Jaden smiled at Kayla.

Kayla quickly looked away, “Uh, nothing, it just comes out and disappears.”