Book 1: Awakening (The VIth Element Series)

Chapter 25: Alex

I woke up, screaming until my throat was raw, despite the fact that the nightmare had ended. Sweat covered my skin like a fiery blanket and I shivered like a leaf. Nevertheless, the worst part of the whole situation was the fact that I could still smelt the repulsive aroma of burnt and rotten flesh that had clung to the forms of both horrifying creatures. This implied that my nightmare might not have been a nightmare at all. Instead, in actual fact, it felt as if it had been very real indeed.

I shivered with shock, fear and unease.

Jasmine was up in an instant, as soon as she heard my terrified shrieks and came hurrying to stand by the side of my bed.

"Alex," she cried, eyes wild with fear. "What's the matter? What's wrong?"

Slowly, I inhaled deep breaths, gradually feeling my heart rate slow down. I turned to face her, tears forming in the corner of my eyes.

"Oh Jazz," I whispered, thankful that I was here in this room and not in that filthy alleyway, dying. "I've just had the most terrifying nightmare. It felt s...so...real!"

Jasmine threw her arms comfortingly around me and stroked my hair.

"It's OK Alex," she muttered quietly, allowing me to weep into her shoulder. "It was only a nightmare – nothing more. Would you like me to get you a drink?"

I nodded, muttering that I would be grateful for a drink of water, for my throat felt like sandpaper. As I heard her bustling about in the bathroom, deep down, despite her reassurance, I knew that she was wrong. It wasn't just a nightmare. I realised, quivering in terror. No. Instead, I was 99.9% positive that what I had just experienced was, as absurd as it sounded, a vision!

*

Hecate felt the presence of death within the walls of the academy, as soon as the clock had struck midnight. Waking instantly and hastily getting to her feet, she pulled on her black, silk dressing gown. Subsequently, she quietly closed the door behind her and set about hurrying along the corridors in the darkness, her long, lacy gown flapping frantically about her knees.

To be honest, because of her powers, she felt more at home when it was dark. Although it sounded strange, she thought that she could almost see better during the night than when it was daylight. She followed the scent of death like a dog might smell out a bone. Unfortunately, although unsurprisingly, the stench of death led her to the dormitory where she knew Alexandra resided. This knowledge once again emphasised her suspicions about the girl's fate.

When the smell of death intensified, Hecate realised she needed to explore the situation further. As quiet as a mouse, she slipped into the dorm area, before coming to stand directly outside Alexandra's room.

It reeked of pulsating evil.

Closing her icy blue eyes, Hecate's beautiful face fell into a trance. She psychically felt out Alexandra's presence. Her heart stopped when she realised what Alexandra was experiencing. To begin with, Alexandra was having a nightmare. That much was obvious. However, Hecate knew that it was most definitely not a normal nightmare. Instead, somehow, as she had been dreaming, she had become drawn to another living person, a female, who lived far away from here in some bustling, grimy city. Eventually, she had become 'psychically attached' to her soul.

Hecate didn't know why this had happened. She was astounded that such a young person would be capable of achieving such powerful connections. After all, she only knew of a small handful of people who were able to psychically link to others, including herself and Vladimir Alcaeus. Nonetheless, she knew that Alexandra was different. Shaking, she tried to put these troublesome thoughts out of her mind for now, ensuring that she currently focused all her attention on experiencing the vision alongside Alexandra. As she saw the events Alexandra was witnessing unfold, she realised why this strange occurrence was happening.

As soon as Hecate saw Mortimer's servants appear and watched their sinister actions unfold, she put two and two together, finally coming to the conclusion that Alexandra was indeed having a psychic vision. She also concluded that, because of all the events and feelings she had witnessed and felt so far, she must be linked to Mortimer and his dealings somehow. After all, it couldn't be a coincidence that she had psychically attached herself to a girl who was witnessing dealings with Mortimer, in addition to Alexandra demonstrating unbelievable powers within her first lesson earlier on in the day...could it?

As the psychic link came to an abrupt end and Hecate was relieved to hear Alexandra being comforted by her friend, she became troubled by what she had just witnessed. Mortimer's servants were clearly finding mortal humans who fitted a certain criteria. Perhaps it involved those who were the evillest of their kind? After all, that made perfect sense, considering that they had taken a criminal of wicked intentions and history to their master. Mortimer himself was as wicked as you could possibly get and then some. All the same, as Hecate hypothesised, she suddenly panicked. Why was something deep inside her telling her that she was wrong in her suspicions and it wasn't to do with how evil someone was? Instead, it was to do with another reason entirely.

All in all, this was very grave news indeed.

Doingher best to collect her swirling thoughts, Hecate leaned against the door,breathing heavily. Ultimately, when she had somewhat composed herself, shemuttered a protective prayer, before walking slowly back to her own room. As shedid so, all the while, she was consumed by dark torments    

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AN:

Oooo. Some interesting discoveries and theories made by Hecate here. I wonder if she is right about Alex being linked to Mortimer? What about Mortimer's plans? Is she right about those too? So many questions...