Authors: Jessica Sorensen
you think Marco and Sophia wil be nice to me?”
“How could they not?” Little Alex said. “No one
could ever be mean to you.”
Okay, wel , that was the biggest bunch of crap I’d
ever heard. But I think he actual y meant it.
If only he knew.
As I stood there watching this peaceful scene
between the younger Alex and I, I couldn’t help but
think how grown up we were acting for being so
young. And look at us now, arguing al the time, lying
to one another. It made this moment—although
peaceful—almost painful to watch, because I knew
that right after this happened everything would
change. This Alex and Gemma would be no more.
“I have an idea,” Alex said, pul ing a smal , silver
pocket knife out of his pocket “How about you and I
become blood brothers.”
Little Gemma scowled at him. “I’m not a boy.”
Alex laughed. “Okay, how about blood friends?”
The tears in her eyes escaped down her cheeks.
“What do I have to do to become one?”
“I’l make a little cut on my hand and on yours and
then we press them together and make a promise,
okay?”
She looked wary. “Wil it hurt?”
“Only for a minute.”
She wiped the tears away from her cheeks and
looked at Alex with confidence. “Okay, let’s do it.”
She gave her hand to Alex and he careful y made a
smal cut in the palm of her hand. She winced ever so
slightly, but didn’t put up a fuss. I glanced down at my
hand, looking closer at the palm of it, and sure
enough, right in the center there was a trace of a very
thin, smal white scar. Strange…I’d never noticed it
before.
Alex made a smal cut in his palm and then he
raised his hand out in front of him. “Okay, put yours up
to mine.”
She did, and they pressed their palms together.
“
Forem
,” Alex said. “Now you say it.”
She took a deep breath. “
Forem
.”
Alex dropped his hand and so did she. “There,
that’s al it takes.”
“But what does forem mean,” Little Gemma asked.
“It means—”
Someone yel ed from above. It was too muffled to
understand exactly what the person yel ed, but the
deepness of the voice told me it belonged to a man.
The children’s eyes went round, and Alex jumped to
his feet. “We have to go,” he said, holding out his
hand to help little Gemma to her feet.
“Do you think you’re dad wil be mad at us,” little
Gemma asked, panicking. “for us disappearing?”
“I don’t know…” Alex sounded scared. “Let’s just
hurry up, okay.”
Little Gemma, al big eyed and sad, nodded. Then
she glanced around at the little hideout, taking one
last look as if she knew she’d never return. “Okay.”
They climbed up the ladder, and I fol owed up after
them. I stepped out from the behind the violet bush
just in time to see Stephan waving his finger violently
as he scolded Alex and me for wandering off. Then he
marched them back through the trees, toward the
castle. I didn’t fol ow. I didn’t want to see what
happened next. I couldn’t watch my soul get ripped
away. I couldn’t watch the little girl with the sad violet
eyes be no more. So I sat down on the ground and
shut my eyes, waiting to be yanked away.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very
wrong. I was stuck. Yes, stuck. Stuck inside the vision.
Not only did this have me worried, but it also made
me furious because I wanted to get back to Nicholas
and the Ira crystal bal so I could start training to save
my mom.
But nope. Instead, I was tromping through the
forest, leaves and twigs and grass crunching loudly
beneath my angry steps as I charged for the castle. I
could see the grey stone tower of it sticking up from
above the trees, like an arrow pointing to the sky, and
I kept my eyes on it as I shoved my way through the
bushes, final y stepping out of the forest with an
ungraceful stumble.
The sky had shifted a deathly grey and the wind had
begun to howl, causing the waves of the lake to roar
up against the shore and leaves to whip through the
air. Thunder boomed in the distance, and I could
almost feel the terror waiting for me inside the castle.
With a loud breath I started up the hil , trying hard
not to look at the lake, but it seemed to be cal ing me,
taunting me with its whisper. I glanced over at it, and
through the dark, murky water, I could make out faint
white figures. Water Faeries. For a split second—and
I mean, a split micro of a second—I actual y
contemplated going into the water, wondering if I did
so, if the Water Faeries would take hold of me and
drag me down to The Underworld where my mother
was trapped.
But the idea that I would even consider this freaked
me out just enough to jerk me back to reality, and I
ran.
By the time I reached the front door of the castle,
the air had gone ice-cold, and the clouds had started
to rain down. I shivered in my wet clothes as I shoved
the door open. Inside, the light was dusky, and the air
wasn’t much warmer. Extending out on each side of
me was a hal way, and in front of me was a marble
stairway curving up to the second floor. Three options
to choose from— three places I could go. But how
was I supposed to choose, when I didn’t even know
what I was looking for.
With a shaky breath, I preceded down the hal way
to my right, my feet thudding against the rocky floor as
I weaved my way further down it, feeling as though my
feet were no longer in my control, as if my brain
subconsciously knew where it was heading. I passed
by doors, not bothering to check what was behind
them, continuing to walk until the hal way hit a dead
end. There was a set of heavy doors, and that was it. I
knew without a doubt that this was where I was
supposed to go.
With a trembling hand, I reached for the handle, but
jerked back when thunder boomed from outside and
scared the living daylights out of me. I took a breath,
trying to calm my nerves, clicked the handle down and
pushed open the door.
I’d seen this room before; instantly I was aware of
that. There was a fireplace squaring the front wal , and
a Persian rug spread across the stone floor. A single
chair sat at the back of the room. This was the chair I
hid behind in one of my visions; the one where I heard
Demetrius and Stephan discussing how they had
gotten rid of my mother and how they took care of me.
There was no one in the room now, but I felt I needed
to be here, because there was something I needed to
see. But what?
Just as I thought it, a cold breeze whipped through
my body and I gasped as I realized Stephan had
walked right through me. My eyes widened. Holy crap.
No one had ever walked through me in a vision. Yeah,
I knew I was transparent to them and that I couldn’t
touch them, but actual y walking through me…and
Stephan of al people…it gave me the chil s.
Stephan strol ed up to fireplace; the bright orange
glow of the flames reflected in his dark eyes. I walked
toward him slowly, my legs shaking more and more
the closer I got.
I didn’t know what I was doing exactly, but I found
myself staring at him—the man who’d taken away my
life. His dark, soul ess eyes, the scar on his left cheek,
rough and jagged as if he’d been cut with a dul knife.
When his gaze moved away from the fire and landed
on me, I let out a gasp and quickly backed away.
His gaze did not move away from me. It locked on
me like a target, making me tremble from head to toe.
He can’t see you
, I told myself. But then I remembered
how, during the first time I had accidently slipped into
a vision—the one that had taken me to this very room
—Stephan had acted like he could sense I was there.
I started to freak. What if he knew I was here?
The door creaked open behind me, and I jumped to
the side as Sophia and a man with light hair and
brown eyes walked into the room. It was strange
seeing Sophia fourteen years younger. She
practical y looked the same, though, except with fewer
wrinkles. Her auburn hair was stil done perfectly, and
she was sporting the same 1950’s TV sitcom look;
wearing a cream colored dress with high-heeled
shoes that matched.
“Where’s the girl?” Stephan asked the man whose
name I didn’t know.
“She’s coming,” the man replied, bowing his head
as if Stephan was some kind of king or something.
“Marco is bringing her.”
So this was it. This was what I was supposed to
see—my last day as a normal little girl. Wel , normal
except for the whole carrying-a-stars-power-in-me
thing.
This was absurd. I didn’t want to see this.
I turned to leave, but the door opened again and
Marco and Little Gemma walked in. My violet eyes
were huge and I wondered from the terrified
expression on my face, if when this had al taken
place, I’d sensed something terrible was about to
happen to me.
“Here she is,” Marco said, handing me over to
Stephan.
Stephan stared down at me with what only could be
described as the most sinister look I’ve ever seen.
“Hel o, Gemma. Are you ready to go?”
Little Gemma shook her head. “No.”
“Wel too bad.” Stephan raised his eyes away from
me and looked at Sophia. “Let’s get this taken care
of.”
Seeing Marco and Sophia standing there, being a
part of al of this had me shaking with anger. Yeah, I
already knew they played a part in this, but seeing it…
It was sending me into a fit of rage.
Stephan told Little Gemma to go sit down in the
chair, and with great reluctance she obeyed. I
wondered if I ever thought about running. I wondered if
I had any idea of what was about to happen to me.
Sophia stood in front of me as she hesitantly
reached for my head. Little Gemma recoiled,
pressing herself back into the chair. She knew
something bad was about to happen. I could tel —I
could feel it in my own bones.
To my surprise, Sophia pul ed back her hand. “Are
you sure this has to be done?” She asked Stephan.
“She’s just a little girl—Jocelyn’s little girl.”
“I understand that. But even before she
disappeared, Jocelyn agreed that this must be done,”
Stephan’s voice seemed to have a hypnotic effect on
Sophia, like he had lul ed her into a calming state of
mind. “We have to do this to save the world. If Gemma
keeps…” his eyes wandered over to Little Gemma
who was listening intently. “Yes, we have to do this.
Now get it done.”
Looking extremely upset, Sophia turned back to
me, and put her hands on my head. “Just relax,
Gemma. It wil be over in a moment.”
Marco put his hand on Sophia’s shoulder,
comforting her. And I—and I mean the real foreseer-
traveling-me—stood gaping in horror at this scene.
They didn’t know. Marco and Sophia hadn’t known
what Stephan was real y planning to do. They thought
they had been doing the world good. Al those
horrible, torturous years of living with them, and their
cold and distant behavior, had al been because of
Stephan’s lies. I never thought I could hate someone
so much. But, oh yeah, I did. The rage of prickles on
my neck was letting me know that.
“Just a second,” Stephan said suddenly. He moved
toward Little Gemma and grabbed hold of a thin chain
hanging around her neck—my locket.
“Hey,” Little Gemma protested as Stephan yanked
it off of her neck, snapping the chain. “My mom gave
that to me.”
Stephan gave her a look that I’m sure had to have
sent a shiver down her spine, because it sent one
down my own. “You’l get it back just as soon as
Sophia is done.”
Liar
.
Putting her hands back on my head, Sophia
muttered something under her breath, and her hands
started to glow a bright gold. I gasped at the same
time Little Gemma gasped, and I actual y saw…I
actual y saw the life slip from her violet eyes, like a
light switch had been flipped off.
Sophia pul ed her hands away, the golden light