Under the Burning Stars (14 page)

Ava angrily wiped the tears from her cheeks and ignored her constantly ringing phone. She knew everyone could feel her hurt and anger but she didn’t want to talk about it. The rain had stopped as she made her way back to the Manor.

The g
aslight came on and she groaned. She hated having to fill up. Gas stations always gave her the creeps.

Ava
pulled into the one that was actually the opposite way from the Manor, but it was the only one nearby. As she expected, it was deserted except for the bright fluorescent lights and the flashing open sign. She got out and rolled her eyes at the annoying song that played. It was a country song. She hated country music. The singer sang something about a red solo cup.

Ava pumped the gas and leaned against her car
, trying to drown out the stupid song. A black truck drove up and parked on the other side of the pump. She squared her shoulders. Two men got out of the truck and she stiffened. Jonah Sanders and Drew Foley. She couldn’t escape them.

Jonah, the one with a military crew cut and hard facial features, began pumping gas and
glared at her. His eyes were tired and his face was red. “Look who it is.”

Drew walked around the truck, his face stuck looking at his phone,
and then he looked up. His face turned to stone. “Hey, killer.”

Ava’s pump clicked off, and she returned it to the base. She heard them speaking softly as she closed her gas door. She took a step toward the back of the car, but Drew stood in her way.

Ava stared into his brown eyes. “What do you want?”

“
What are you doing here?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing?

“What did you do to Trent?”

Ava crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I had nothing to do with that. Why don’t you stop blaming us and look at yourselves? You burned Thomas’s house. Trent killed a bunch of people.
Just leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone.” She tried to go around him, but then Jonah stopped her. “What do you want?”

Jonah seized her arm and glared at her. His blue eyes were full of hatred and viciousness. “Come take a walk with us.”

Ava jerked her arm away. “Fat chance of that happening.” Something hard jabbed her in the side and she inhaled a sharp breath. It was the barrel of a gun.

“I think you need to come with us.”

“I think you need to let go of me.” She defiantly glared back at him. There was a flash of lightning in the distance and she flinched.

Then, she saw her mother again.
Destiny awaits you, Ava.
Then, lightning struck her. A loud crack followed. The rain pummeled Ava as she cried for her mother. She tried removing the image from her mind, but it stayed with her. She struggled to get out of it.

Finally, it was gone.

She looked around and found herself in the middle of the woods. Jonah and Drew stood before her with a gun drawn right at her.

How did she get there? Had they carried her?
It felt as if she’d lost time. A very similar feeling from when Gabriel stopped time. She clenched her teeth and didn’t know if she could beat a bullet. Her heart raced, but she breathed in. And out. Her necklace warmed, and she’d left her phone in her car.

“You don’t want to do this,” she said
.

Jonah
walked closer to her. “It’s your fault she died.” He pushed her to the ground and she hit it with a harsh thud. “It’s your fault he killed those people and himself!” His hand shook as he kept the gun pointed at her.

“What are you talking about?”

Tears welled in Jonah’s eyes. He raised the gun and smashed it in her face. She blinked a couple of times and felt warm liquid drizzling down her chin and the awful iron taste filled her mouth.

“You and all your
psycho friends killed my sister. Because you can’t handle life or because you think you’re better than us. You bombed an entire school because of your selfishness. You make me sick.”

“Jonah, we can’t shoot her.”
Drew didn’t look all tough now. Maybe Ava could use that to her advantage.

“No one will know. She deserves to die just like all her little friends.
No one will care that she’s dead. We’re going to kill every single one of you for what you did.”

“It wasn’t me,” she said. “It was Xavier.”

“Shut up.” Jonah smashed the butt of the gun in her face again. “I know you made Trent kill those people. That Xavier guy isn’t around.”

“I’m telling you the truth.”

“Where’s the duct tape so she won’t scream?”

“
Right here.” Drew held up the roll of tape.

There was no way Ava could play it safe and get out alive. They were going to kill her. It
was written all over their faces and in their steely eyes. She was sick of the blame and the bullying. She hated them.

Kill them
. She heard a voice inside her head.

“Don’t come near me again,” she demanded.

Jonah laughed. “I’m so scared. What are you going to do?”

Kill them. This is your destiny.

Drew fidgeted. “Jonah, man, don’t entice her. Don’t forget what they did to us a while ago.”

“I’m not afraid of some chick.
” He turned to Ava; his face clouded with rage, and lowered the gun. “Hit me with your best shot.”

Energy charged throughout her, itching to break free. She focused on Jonah, and only him. Her veins throbbed with power.
She imagined him underwater, thrashing wildly, but unable to breathe. His eyes bulged and his nostrils flared. The veins in his neck enlarged and his face turned red. He opened his mouth and grabbed his neck. He gasped for air and then collapsed, dropping the gun and then writhed on the wet ground.

“What are you doing to him?”
Drew shouted.

Ava didn’t answer, but
concentrated solely on Jonah.

A shot echoed in the night and Ava felt a
hard punch in her stomach. The pain twisted inside her, as if someone’s fist drove into her stomach and stayed there. She fell back and clutched onto her stomach. The pain was intense and crawled all over her body. She could barely breathe.

“
Kill her.” She heard Jonah say through his coughing.

Their voices seemed far away. She needed to get out of there before they shot her to death. One of them stepped closer and she immediately drew her hand out and shot
water at him. He fell on his back and then she conjured up another image of them drowning together. She hoped she had enough strength.

Ava heard them move around and cough and she tightly held onto the image.
Their gargling and choking noises finally ceased and Ava let go.

Clutching her bleeding stomach, she rolled her head to the side and met Jonah’s
hate filled eyes, but he was unconscious. She had to get out of there before they woke up, but she couldn’t get to her feet, no matter how much she struggled. The pain was too much.

Ava wanted to call Peter. Drew or Jonah had to have a phone on them. She slowly crawled closer to Jonah and hoped she wouldn’t wake him up by digging in his jeans pocket.
Tears clouded her vision as she blindly fumbled to find his phone. Her stomach burned with pain and her body shook with fear. Relief overcame her as she found his phone.

She heard a shuffling in the woods coming closer
and froze. Who was out there? Was it a Cimmerian?

Ava clutched the phone close to her chest and held her breath. She lay as still as she could. Her necklace warmed against her skin
, and she wondered if anyone would find her. She didn’t know where she was.

The shuffling amplified at each twig that broke and each thud that came closer.
She heard murmurs, and then giggling.

“
Omigod! Tyler!” Ava heard a girl scream.

“Whoa. Stay back,”
Tyler said. Ava heard his feet coming closer. “Oh no. It’s Jonah and Drew.”

“Who’s the girl?”

“I don’t know her name. That weird red-haired chick with the witch necklace.”

“Are they…you know?”

Ava braced herself for Tyler to check her pulse. She couldn’t make a move. She didn’t want to hurt them.

Tyler cursed and then Ava felt his fingers against her neck. “Drew and Jonah are dead. The girl has a pulse, but it’s very faint.”

The girl gasped. “Call 911.” Then she started crying.

Dead? Ava had killed
them? That was impossible. She had only made them pass out. She hadn’t killed them. There was no way.

“Beth, calm down,” Tyler said. Beth was now in hysterics. “Come on. We’ll call back at the car.”

Their footsteps became fainter until Ava couldn’t hear them anymore. She let out a breath and then slid the phone to unlock. Ava couldn’t stop the tears or her trembling.

There was only one person she had to call. She shakily dialed the number and brought the cold phone to her ear.

“Gillian,” she said through thick tears. “I need your help.”

Ava lay under the burning stars, staring at their chaotic pattern, and feeling the brisk wind on her face. Her heartbeat slowed and her breaths became shallow. She didn’t want to move. She still wasn’t sure how she had gotten there. Maybe she was just in the woods behind the gas station. Lots of high schoolers used the woods for anything and everything.

But there was still a block of time missing
after she had the vision. Then, it hit her. Trudy McVaine. The same one who put a vision in Ava’s mind months ago in order to escape. Had she twisted the vision so that Trudy convinced Ava to kill the humans? Was she nearby? Ava doubted it since Ephemerals had come upon the scene.

The piercing sound of sirens wailed in the night. Gillian was on her way,
thankfully despite their recent drama. Ava hoped she would arrive before the police. She needed Gillian to compel the minds of the police and the couple who found her. How else could she explain to them that the two dead bodies next to her actually died of asphyxiation by drowning?

W
arm tears fell down her cheeks. She was a murderer. She had just killed two Ephemerals. What would Peter or her father say if they knew what she had done? What was going to happen to her? Would Aaron diminish her powers? Would she be banished from the coven?

Why couldn’t she stop? Peter was right in that she couldn’t control her powers.
Did this mean she had Cimmerian blood?

The sirens came close and then she saw the flashing blue and red lights
in the sky. Ava was tired and wanted to sleep. She could barely hear her own heartbeat.

She heard several voices nearing and then faces crowded her.

A woman with a sleeked back ponytail leaned over her, and flashed a light in her eyes, blinding her. “Can you hear me?” she asked.

Ava nodded.

“What is your name?”

“Ava.”

“Omigod, Ava!” Gillian pushed past police officers. “What happened? Holy crap, you’re bleeding badly.”

“Step back, ma’am,” the other paramedic said.

“Like hell I will. She’s my friend.”

“
Of course,” the paramedic said. “I’ll get the stretcher.” No one argued with Gillian.

The woman was still assessing Ava, and Ava turned and
met Gillian’s big blue eyes that watered. She wished Gillian could read her mind.

She got down on her knees next to Ava. “Are you okay?”
Her black curly hair looked like it had been teased, but it was probably from the humidity.

“He shot me.” Ava
met Gillian’s eyes, hoping she conveyed the message that Ava killed them. “They tried to attack me.” Fresh tears fell down her face. Her breath was labored and it took every ounce of energy just to speak.

“Why did
you call me?”

Ava swept her eyes over the entourage, and realization clicked in Gillian’s eyes.

“I’ll take care of it,” she mouthed, and then leaned down to Ava’s ear. “I’ll call Savina.”

Ava shook her head. “No, please don’t.”

“What? Why?”

“Just don’t.” She didn’t want Savina knowing what she had done. She needed time to think about how to explain it to her. And everyone else.

Gillian rolled her eyes, then took out her phone and dialed a number. “I found her. She’s been shot and they’re going to take her to the hospital.”

Who
was she talking to? Had she really called Savina?

“I don’t know. Okay, see you soon.”
She ended the call and grabbed Ava’s hand. “Why didn’t you call her first?”

Ava was upset that Gillian called Savina. Why would she do that?
Was she still out to get her?

The male paramedic came back with the stretcher.
“Okay, Ava, we’re going to lift you. This may hurt.”

“I don’t want to go to the hospital,” she tried saying.

“Honey, you have to or you’ll bleed to death.”

Ava clutched onto Gillian’s hand. “Don’t let them take me.”

“Are you freaking kidding me? They’ll save you. I’ll be there soon.”

Gillian pursed her lips, and then Ava let go of her hand as the paramedics wheeled her away.

The female paramedic placed an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth and she breathed it in. She finally gave in to the pain and closed her eyes.

Ava’s eyes flickered open. She looked around but it was dark. She was warm, and the bed was comfortable. Familiar. Someone held her hand and she touched them. The person jerked awake with an intake of breath.

“Ava,”
Melissa said.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “
Mel.” Ava tried sitting up, but then she cried out from the stabbing pain in her stomach.

“It’s okay,”
she said. “Lay back down.”

Ava did
. What had happened? Hadn’t Savina come yet? Why was she still in pain? “What’s going on?”

Melissa clicked on a lamp and Ava saw that she was in Melissa’s room. She hadn’t been there in a long time. Her
poster of Bradley Cooper was still plastered to her ceiling. She always said if things didn’t work out with her and Lance, she’d call Bradley. Ava wondered how awkward it was for Lance to see the poster above them. No wonder they always went into the woods.

“You’re at my house.”

“Why am I here?”

“I brought you here. You don’t remember?”

“I remember getting shot and falling asleep after the paramedics put me on a stretcher.”

“Well, they took you to the hospital and you were in surgery. They got the bullet out, and when you woke up I took you here because you didn’t want Savina knowing what happened.”

“I thought Gillian told her though.”

“
She hasn’t told anyone what happened as far as I know. She called and told me you had gotten shot and that I needed to go to the hospital. I had been trying to call you once I felt your fear. You never answered and I tried to find you but then G called.”

Fresh tears fell down her face as the images of Drew and Jonah flashed in her mind. She had killed them. While they deserved a sort of punishment, they certainly didn’t deserve to die.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

The door to Melissa’s bedroom opened and Gillian stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

“Oh good, you’re awake. Everything’s taken care of. The hospital just thinks you
got shot and the shooter ran off. The police have no recollection of even seeing you. Nor does the couple who found you.” She sped through her words and hugged herself. She fidgeted and bit her lip.

Ava could feel her anxiety.
“Thank you, Gillian.”

She shrugged. “Don’t thank me. Why don’t you want Savina to know? I mean, this is
pretty deep, Ava. I really don’t want to get in trouble for something you did. And I had to clean it up. I can’t get in trouble.”

“G, seriously, chill out, okay? She
was just shot by two Ephemerals. Ever thought of self-defense?”

“Yeah, but she didn’t have to kill them.
She had a choice.”

“You weren’t there. You don’t know.”

Ava silently thanked Melissa for standing up for her, but she hated that they argued over what she had done.

“
Everyone was so worried about you,” Melissa said. “We have to tell them you’re okay.”

“Don’t tell
anyone I was shot.”

“What? Are you crazy? Why won’t you let Savina heal you?”

“I killed them, Mel. I didn’t mean to. But it just happened. I didn’t realize I had until the couple found us. I can’t tell everyone what I did. They’ll banish me.”

“We’ll figure something out. In the meantime, I’m just going to tell them you’re okay. We only felt your anxiety
, which was pretty intense.”

“Just tell them a random guy tried to attack me. Don’t mention Drew or Jonah.”

“Okay, so why don’t you tell Savina that while she heals you? You have a black eye, Ava and a bandage on your eyebrow. People are going to ask.”

“They’re also going to ask about the guy.”

“Then just tell Savina and ask her not to say anything to anyone.”

“Okay.”

Gillian shook her head. “Great. So now, we’re going to lie for you and be kicked out. I can’t believe this.”

“Get out, G,” Melissa demanded. “You’re not helping right now.”

Gillian’s jaw dropped and she made a disgusted noise, but she eventually left the room.

“If she hates me so much why did she help?”

“Because she doesn’t hate you. She just likes being angry with you. She doesn’t want to admit that you made the right choice.”

“I don’t know what they were going to do to me, Mel. I didn’t know what to do when they drew the gun.”

“Did they force you into the woods? You’re a lot stronger than they are.”

“I blacked out. Sort of. I saw a vision of my mother again. It had to have been Trudy who placed it there.”

“Trudy was nowhere to be found.”

Ava shook her head. “It had to be her.
That’s how Drew and Jonah were able to get me in the woods.”

“I don’t know
. Look, Peter’s on his way. What do you want me to tell him?”

“Nothing.”

Melissa gave her a pitying look. “Ava—.”

“No. I can’t tell him what I did.” Especially after he
said she sounded like a Cimmerian.

Melissa sighed. “Okay. Get some rest. I’ll be right out here if you need anything.”

“Thanks.”

Ava slowly peeled open her eyes and squinted from the bright sunlight then met the eyes of Bradley Cooper. She rolled her eyes and felt a warm body beside her. She looked down and saw Peter’s arm around her waist. Her stomach ached from the wound. She didn’t know how she was going to hide it from Savina or her father.

“Good morning,” Peter whispered. Heat filled within her as
she felt his breath in her ear. Then she felt no pain compliments of Peter’s amazing gift.

Ava slowly turned her head and almost lost the battle with the tears, but was able to hold them back.
“Morning.”

“I should say afternoon. You’re a sleepy one.”

Ava tried to smile, but she wasn’t sure what it looked like.

“I’m the biggest fool, Ava, and I don’t deserve you. I’m such a dick for what I said to you and I should’ve made you stay.”

“I wouldn’t have.”

“I know. You’re stubborn. But if I hadn’t made such a big deal out of Valerie and Amanda, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“You don’t know that.” Ava was sure it would have happened no matter what.

“
No, but it doesn’t make me feel any less guilty.”

“Can we just forget it ever happened? And never fight again?”

“Forget last night? Some guy attacked you. Did you know who it was? Did the police catch him?”

She couldn’t tell him the truth.
“I don’t want to think about it right now.” He gazed deep into her eyes, and then he kissed her softly.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so scared last night.”
             

She nodded, but the guilt didn’t subside. It stayed with her
like it was a disease. Eating away at every nerve and gnawing at her insides.

They slept for a little longer, and later Peter took her back to the Manor. She still walked slowly, but the wound started feeling somewhat better. She appreciated her
Enchanter genes helping her heal faster than an Ephemeral. But it was nothing like what Savina could do, which was heal instantly without even touching the victim.

They walked inside the Manor and heard voices coming from the library. Ava wanted to go inside, but more than anything, she wanted
to wash off and just be with Peter.

They slowed as they neared the stairs.
She was glad that Peter was there so she didn’t have any trouble climbing the stairs. He didn’t know she had been shot.

When she reached her room, Peter started the shower for her
as she leaned against the counter.

“I’ll be outside,” he said.

Ava peeled off the borrowed clothes from Melissa and slipped into the shower. The warm water traveled over her washing the dried blood off. She was sore and sharp pains stabbed at her each time she moved. She leaned against the tiled wall for support.

Images from that night, whenever it was, flashed in her mind. Jonah smashing the gun in her face. His dead eyes staring back at her. She couldn’t believe she
had killed them. What was wrong with her? Why had this happened? Had they deserved death? She didn’t know anyone who had killed Ephemerals. Except Cimmerians. Had Marcel actually shown a future vision? Was it really
her
that stood next to Corbin, a symbol of being Cimmerian?