Elemental (The Keeper of the elements) (7 page)

Kill. Was his brother the tracker? Car lights passed through Aydan’s window and his eyes grew wide and frantic. “He is coming. You must leave now. Listen carefully. Blaze has a mark on you, it will need to have the power removed but no one around here can do it. You have to run, do you understand.” His fingers gripped my shoulders and it was nearly painful. “Run and don’t you dare stop. I will hold him off as long as possible but you have to run.” Aydan fished something out of his pockets and handed it to me. “ I can’t come with you, but I want you to take this. Go straight to Amelie. Tell her I said you must go. Tell her to take you to Roland.”

“Roland?” His fear was seeping into me, escalating my own.  “Go to Roland and ask him for protection. Someone at the palace will be able to remove the power from the mark so you will be able to hide. If we go together, they will hunt us like animals. I will give you time. And Gemma…” He grabbed my face and looked into my eyes. Every emotion that was battling inside him, pouring out. His kissed my forehead firmly and shoved me away. “I love you. Go!”  I took off in the direction he pointed down the hall and heard him call out. “I’ll find you Gem. I promise.”

Chapter Nine

I ran down the hall, the familiar voice of the man from my dreams following me. His angry shouts reverberated off the artwork filled gold walls. I could hear Aydan attack him and the t
wo of them fall to the floor. “Blaze, you can’t!” I heard Aydan yell. My heart broke and my very soul called out for me to turn around.

“Aydan, what have you done!” I heard as I slipped out into the dark. I wasn’t far from Amelie’s house and I looked into the garage before sprinting towards the house. I had just made it out of the driveway when the earth shook beneath my feet. I let out a scream that echoed down the perfectly lined street. My feet were moving on their own accord, propelling me out of pure fear.

Another quake rattled under my feet, throwing me to the ground. My jeans gave way and the cement scraped my knee. Blood spilled on the sidewalk and I swallowed another scream, dragging myself up. I picked up my pace, trying to ignore the burning pain in my knees.

I rounded the corner and chanced a look back to see Aydan’s house consumed in flames. I wanted to stop but Aydan said to find Amelie. “Please be okay.” I whispered as I rounded the corner.  I struggled to keep moving but between the pain in my knee and the ache in my heart from wanting to go back, it was hard.

Amelie’s house was just in view now, I was almost there. Aydan’s instructions echoed in my head. I pushed myself until my muscles burned and my lungs screamed for air. Finally I was just at the edge of the yard. I tore up the walk way and threw myself into the door.

The house was dark with a lingering smell of dinner. My heart was pounding so loudly and I could barely hear anything else over the rush of blood in my ears. The temperature of my necklace was steadily growing hotter. Finally, I reached the dining room, where just hours before, the five of us had sat and my life changed. Immediately looking around I knew something was wrong. The house was dark and Amelie never had the house dark. An icy feel to the air caused goose bumps to prickle up along my skin. I turned and my breath froze. Bloody hands were smeared along the wall and splattered on the once clean floor. “Oh god…no no no no no….” I whispered as I followed the stains.

Something inside of me told me it was probably better to leave but I couldn’t. Something inside my heart urged me forward. Amelie was the only person in my life that stuck around besides Aydan. I needed her.  I could hear that tiny voice of reason screaming in the back of my head to run away. Suddenly, as I came around the corner, my lungs stilled. I couldn’t bring in or let out any air. I was just frozen. Amelie was lying on the floor, a deep red stain underneath her body and two large men dressed in black stood behind her smiling wickedly. 

I screamed out in fear and squeezed my eyes shut as I lifted my hands in protection. A loud explosion rang out and I felt the hot air beat against my face.  I screamed and sputtered as I desperately tried to suck in air. I could feel the panic rising as my chest seized. Things began exploding around me. The water pipes burst, the gas pipes burst, and everything was exploding.

Suddenly, a bright light filled the room. The flash blinded me and took my breath away and I could feel myself falling. I love you Aydan, I thought, expecting this to be my last farewell. Something shattered and I felt like I was floating.  I felt like I was lying on a cloud, gently floating away from the chaos.

I couldn’t move my limbs, almost like I was drugged or paralyzed. Maybe I was already dead. My body was burning. I wanted to scream out, to tell someone to relieve the pain. It radiated out from my left hip and up my side, pulsating with each beat of my heart.  I could feel myself drifting, letting go of my life. My heart rate was slowing and my breaths were coming slower. The more I thought about it, the more I didn’t mind as long as the pain stopped. I hoped Aydan would someday find happiness, that he would find love. I felt something tugging at me, somewhere deep inside my body. The only way I could describe it was something tugging at my soul.

I could hear the steady sound of footsteps crunching against the ground, moving much faster than my heart was beating. “Just hold on Gemma.” A gruff voice rumbled. It sounded far away, like an echo in the grand canyon. I had never been to the grand canyon before. Aydan had promised to take me when we were nine years old. When I had teased him about not having the money, he built me one in a nearby park and drove me on his bike. He said it was our secret vacation.  Focusing on Aydan seemed to take away the pain, even if just for a few minutes.

My head was swimming and kind of vibrating as I moved. Images of Amelie’s broken body danced in my head, tormenting me. A part of me didn’t want to believe but I knew in my heart that she was gone. I realized then that I had grown to love her. Not as much as my parents, but she was definitely up there.

Voices began to fade in and out. I could hear little bits of conversations spoken in what sounded like French. Suddenly the movement ceased and I stilled. I laid in silence for who knows how long. My body still frozen and unable to move. I felt like I only had just minutes left before I would slip away. 

I felt the familiar warmth that I had always associated with Aydan, spread through my ice cold body.  I felt myself being lifted into the warmth and I thought perhaps this is it. Perhaps this is the end. Perhaps I was dying and my soul was going into heaven.  The last thing I remember was a sense of peace coming over me.

Chapter Ten

I swore I could smell the ocean as it floated on a gentle breeze. I wanted to open my eyes but they felt super glued shut. I tried moving my limbs but still nothing. “Relax Gemma. We have you under a binding spell. If you move, the power in your mark will notify Blaze of your location. We need to remove the power from it first.” I couldn’t place the voice, but it was soft and sweet, a very feminine tone.

I felt someone stroke my hair softly and it felt like a thousand needles were stabbing my skull. Everything hurt.  Someone began to move me gently into what I assumed was a more comfortable position.

“Have you heard anything from Aydan?” I heard a gruff voice ask. “Yes. He is suffering, dying. The further apart the two of them are the worse it becomes.” Ronnie’s voice was comforting, but her words sent me into panic. My heart rate picked up and I could feel a growing wind. “Veronica! Your worrying her!” Someone yelled over the growing roar.

I felt someone come close to me, “Gemma! It’s Ronnie, listen you have to calm down okay. I’m not going to lie to you, Aydan is injured, badly. But if you die, then so will he. So you need to hang on and you need to be strong for him okay.” I couldn’t understand what was happening. I couldn’t move, I could barely breathe and I wanted so badly to cry.

The burning in my hip began to grow and I felt myself bordering on unconsciousness again. Although I guess you could say that I was already was unconscious. “Just breathe  Gemma.” Ronnie said as I began to fade.  “Everything is going to be okay…” She said, her breath brushing against my ear.

I truly wanted to believe that. I wanted to believe I would see Aydan again. I wanted to believe this was nothing more than a bad dream. I thought back to building bird houses with popsicle sticks and late night picnics on the school baseball fields. I thought back to Aydan’s last words to me and how he had said he loved me. As I lay in my silent tomb thinking back to all our moments together, I realize the subtle touches and loving looks had always been there. I just never opened my eyes to see them.  Aydan once said, ‘ close your eyes and open them to the world around you.’ The more I thought about it the more I discover he was always trying to tell me the truth.

My heart ached as I thought about him. I was desperate for his touch. I felt my heart rate slow another bit and I couldn’t help but wonder how much more of this I could endure before I simply slipped away. My whole world had erupted in one wild explosion. Aydan was ripped from my grasp and Amelie was taken before I really even got to know her. The truth was thrown on me instead of being gently handed. I was feeling suffocated and overwhelmed. My brain had accepted my loss, but my heart fought and screamed inside my silent body. It begged for release. I could almost feel my heart leap as if trying to escape from its confines.

The wind came back and gently caressed my skin. The sensation immediately made me think of Aydan. It was almost like his touch when he would lightly stroke my jawline. The wind decreased just as quickly as it had come, leaving me feeling empty.

I heard a door open and we moved into cool air. I was shifted and slipped beneath comforting and warm sheets. I felt a hand on my forehead and someone sigh sadly. “The fever is rising.” Ronnie said softly. I assumed I was lying on a bed now and felt the mattress sink and another hand slid to my forehead, this one larger than Ronnie’s. “We will let her rest tonight, I’ll keep her bound. Tomorrow will be a hard and painful day to remove the power of the mark.”