spellbound | book #1 | completed

X X I V

[edited: 26/08/2017]

"So, what, this guy knew where Remy was?" Adam asked for what seemed like the millionth time. He was sat beside Sarah on the beach, his elbows resting over bent knees and his blonde hair curling at the tips against the sea mist. Since Remy had left, he had been the only one that Sarah could talk to about the whole thing, and after some convincing, he knew about the gap in the wall and the man who had pushed her through into the swirling blur of purple light. Now, he knew about the run in with the other man, too, though it had taken her a few days of deliberation to tell him.

Sarah nodded, gazing out at the sea and wondering when it was that her life had gotten so complicated. "It seemed like he did. He said I could help her, but I think he was lying."

"You know, this is exactly like Remy." He sounded almost angry, and looked it too, with his brown eyes dark and barely visible under his frown. His cheeks were flushed, though she couldn't decide whether it was from anger or the cold. "She disappears and we have to deal with some evil villain. She probably planned the whole thing."

Sarah sighed and took her glasses off to clean the rain spattered lenses. When she put them back on, the world did not seem any clearer than it had done a moment ago. "She wouldn't do that, and you know it. That man, the one who she left with, she didn't understand him. He wasn't from around here. At the time, I thought it was all one big joke, too, until she disappeared. I've ran through the situation in my head a thousand times, and I know that she understood about as much as we do."

"I really hope you're right," he said. "Remy is so unpredictable that I never know what to think any more."

"Yeah, well, I've known her longer than anybody." She swallowed and made eye contact with Adam. "I feel like something's wrong, like maybe she's in danger. She wouldn't just leave and not tell anyone where she is. Her family, her brothers and sisters, she wouldn't worry them like that."

Adam clutched Sarah's hand for a moment, and despite the icy wind, it was warm and comforting. She looked at their intertwined fingers nervously, wondering what Remy would say if she saw this; probably a clever remark or a simple scoff that showed her disapproval.

It wasn't as if the two of them were dating; they had simply gotten closer since Remy had left, and while it had started off as being about finding their mutual friend, now it felt more like they would choose to spend their time together, with or without Remy.

"We'll find her," he said finally in a low voice. "She'll turn up eventually. She always does."

"This isn't like before, though," Sarah responded, her voice strained with stress. "She hasn't gone out and gotten drunk and let her phone die, and she hasn't slept in without setting her alarm. She's gone, Adam, and now we have an even bigger problem, because there's a strange guy who knows something we don't."

"Then maybe we should stop looking for her."

Sarah's hand stung when the warmth of his palm disappeared, and she frowned in confusion. "But she's our friend."

"Is she?" He stood up, wiping his jeans clear of sand in an aggressive motion. "I cared about her when her stupid boyfriends didn't. I always tried so hard to impress her, and it never got me anywhere. She never cared about me, Sarah. She knew I had feelings for her and she didn't care."

Sarah couldn't disagree. She knew all about Adam and how he had tried to kiss her. Still, Remy was her friend and she knew that she would never want to truly harm someone. "I think she cared in her own way. I just don't think she understood the effect she had on people."

"Maybe not," he said, though his expression said he wanted to argue further. He pulled his hood up then, and shrugged his backpack onto his shoulders. "I need to get to work. Just be careful, okay? The guy you met sounds dangerous."

Sarah nodded. "I can handle it. I'll see you soon."

With that, he walked away, leaving Sarah to sit on the beach by herself. She tried to imagine what it was that Remy loved so much about sitting here. The cold bit at her cheeks, and she felt bored after a few minutes, with the sea spray tangling her hair and dampening her clothes uncomfortably. She couldn't see the appeal.

She stood up, shivering, and was met with two dark eyes. "You," she gasped, her feet stumbling in the stand.

The man who she had encountered on the promenade only a few days before smirked, wearing the exact same clothes as he had been then, though they were damp now from the rain. Her heart began to pound heavily, the blood rushing to her ears as he spoke. "Did you miss me, girl?"

"What do you want from me?" Sarah's teeth chattered as she spoke, but she couldn't run or even move to pull her arms around herself.

The man glanced around as though making sure that nobody was watching, and then raised his palms. "I warned you that I would not be very kind this time. You should have done as I said when you had the chance, mortal girl."

Before she could ask what he meant, two black sparks flew from his hands and hit Sarah painfully in her torso. Wanting to scream but not being able to find enough air in her lungs to, she collapsed onto the sand and felt his arms wrap around her and lift her off the ground. She tried to thrash against him but her muscles were not listening to her mind, not responding to her fear.

They were getting closer to the sea, she thought as he felt the impact of his feet hitting the ground each time he walked, but why? Surely somebody had seen them, had seen him carrying her and called for help.

She knew they hadn't when he continued walking even as they got to the tide. She could hear his feet splashing in the water, and then, a few moments later, could feel it seeping into her clothes. The scent of salt stung her nostrils.

I'm going to drown, she thought, and there's nothing I can do about it. Panic surged through her as the water reached her neckline, and then her jaw.

Then, her whole body was submerged and she couldn't breathe. With the consuming depths of the ocean came a darkness that she welcomed willingly. The last thing she saw was a flash of light.