She dreamt of smoke and silver that night. The smell of fire wrapping around her head, scorching her nose, burning her from the inside out; the glisten and shine of the silver sword slashing downwards to pierce her heart. She dreamt of golden eyes, uneasy, hard, angry, evil. So many things caught in the glow of the colour, the window to the soul of the man trying to kill her. Jasmine jolted awake when she felt the nick of the sword upon her chest. She flew into a sitting position, one arm flung out before her grasping at nothing and the other grabbing her chest as she panted and heaved.
"Jaz? Jaz, are you okay?" Hands rested on her shoulders but Jasmine was only half aware of it. Slowly, the dregs of the nightmare began to fade away in light of the sunlight spilling into the room. The buoyant curtains bathed the room in white.
Jasmine couldn't remember where she was. Her eyes scanned the room, fancier than anything she's ever seen. Then, slowly, it all came back to her. From the attack the night of Lexi's party to the moment she fell asleep wrapped up in sheets that screamed money, Jasmine instantly recalled where she was and why saw was here.
"Jasmine," came a worried voice beside her.
It was Raymond. He hovered over her, eyes filled with concern. His hands tightened on her shoulders as recognition began to flood her eyes.
"Ray?"
"Are you okay? What was that, a nightmare?"
She didn't remember. Was it? Was that the reason her body was covered in goosebumps and the bed was soaked in sweat? And why was her heart beating so erratically? Did she have a nightmare?
"I ... I don't know," Jasmine said finally. "I can't remember."
"Jesus, Jaz. You scared the hell out of me." Releasing a loud breath, Ray sank unto the bed. "You sure you don't remember? You woke up screaming and clawing at the air. It must have been pretty bad."
Jasmine shook her head. It was beginning to hurt. "I can't recall anything. How did you get in here?"
"A vampire woman led me to the room. She said her name was Trinka," he said.
"How did you know I was here?"
"The real question you should be asking is, how could you just disappear with for an entire day and leave your dorm room door busted open like that? I thought someone broke in and kidnapped you. I was just about ready to go to the police."
Jasmine chuckled. She tried throwing the sheets aside and found she was too weak to manage it. So, she sighed and leaned back in the bed. "Why didn't you?"
Ray didn't seem as amused as she was. He rolled his eyes at her, crossing his arms. "I was just about to when your mother called and told me where you were and that you were okay. She told me I couldn't come see you yet and that you would explain everything to me when I got here."
"I will," she said. "One more question though. Did my roommate freak out?"
"Oh, she's pissed."
"Good. Help me get out of bed, please? I'm too tired."
Jasmine didn't have to ask twice. Ray slipped his arm under her knees and allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck. He placed her on her feet, then held her steady until she was strong enough to hold her own weight. "You good?" he asked after a while.
Jasmine wasn't so sure. She felt uncommonly drained. Her limbs felt as if she had been running for miles, like foam. She wondered if it was a side effect of the spell.
"Gods, Jaz, what the hell happened? You're leaving me in suspense here."
Before she could say anything, there was a knock at the door. Jasmine stumbled over to it herself, holding up her hand to refused Ray's help. After a moment of trying to collect herself, she swung it open. Standing at the entrance was Wendy. She gave Jasmine a look over then said, "Nice pyjamas."
"Thanks," Jasmine replied as Wendy waltz by her and into her room. "Good morning to you too," she murmured, closing the door.
"It's not morning," said Wendy. "It's one in the afternoon. But whatever."
One in the afternoon? Jasmine could have sworn she went to bed early last night. Why did she wake up so late?
"Who's your friend?" Wendy asked. She stood in the centre of the room, hands on her hips, looking at Ray with curiousity. She was in a pair of shorts and a V neck shirt she knotted at the back. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, blond strands spilling over her shoulders.
"Wendy, this is Ray. Ray, this is Wendy," Jasmine introduced.
"Hello, Wendy," Ray greeted. His held up his hand up, trying to be friendly, Jasmine could tell, but Wendy didn't look as if she was having any of it. She harrumphed, dismissing Ray and turned to face Jasmine.
"You need to come down to the kitchen. There's someone you need to meet."
Jasmine tried not to laugh at Ray's face in the back. She felt stronger now, so she made her way over to the closet as she asked, "Who is it?"
"You'll see when you come down," Wendy said. She looked annoyed, as if she didn't want to be here at all, much less answering any of Jasmine's questions. Jasmine saw that as clear as day. Still, she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Did Trinka send you to get me?"
"Trinka has more important things to do than come up here for you all the time," Wendy replied with more annoyance in her voice than Jasmine expected. "And I have more important things to do than escort you, so hurry it up. We'll be waiting downstairs."
Without waiting for a response, Wendy twirled on her heels and marched out the door. The scent of expensive perfume and blood lingered in her wake, as well as a few seconds of silence before Ray broke it with a loud, annoyed scoff. His eyes were wide with disbelief, boring into the closed door before shifting to Jasmine, incredulous. "Is she always that rude?"
"Watch it," Jasmine warned. "She's a vampire. She can probably hear you right now."
"I don't care if she can hear me. She needs to know that she's a bitch!"
Jasmine chuckled. Ray hated being ignored. Being the middle child of a father who was a renowned priest and doctor, and a mother who spent all her time either locked up in her room working on her new novel, or shopping online, Ray wasn't used to getting much attention. Which was why he craved it even more in any other social situation he was in. Jasmine didn't mind it. He was her only close friend, she didn't have anyone else to share her attention with. But she knew how annoying it could be for others.
Jasmine also knew that trying to calm him down when he got like this was useless. So, she let him rage, while she went further into the closet to find the outfit she would wear for the day. As soon as Ray followed her inside, his jaw dropped and his anger floated away.
"Oh, my gods ..." he gasped, awed.
A smile itched at Jasmine's lips. "I know, right?"
"Jaz, what the hell. What the hell is going on?"
"It's ... complicated."
"So complicated you can't explain it to your best friend?"
The headache was coming back. She shook her head. "I'll tell you everything as soon as I wash up. I promise."
Ray didn't look satisfied with that. He opened his mouth to protest but Jasmine didn't give him a chance to. She made a mad dash out the closet and into the bathroom, sliding the door closed before he could get a word in.
She wanted to tell him everything. Gods knew she did. She just didn't know how to. How could she tell her best friend that she was actually a witch with rare powers that could drive the supernatural crazy? He would only think she had let her mind run away with her again. It would be too much to explain, too much energy to get him to believe. Hell, she could hardly believe it herself.
For now, she should see who they had waiting for her downstairs. She should be able to buy some time with that while she figured out what to tell Ray. And how to. Maybe she should let Wendy or Mason take care of it. Would they be willing to?
Jasmine shook the thought away as she stripped her clothes off. The heated bath melt all her worries away, easing her into a sense of comfort and security that she knew was fake, but enjoyed all the same. The soft bubbles popping against her skin soothed her weak muscles. It invigorated her. Jasmine came out the bath thirty minutes later feeling like she could take on the world.
Ray didn't say anything to her as she made her way to the closet. He only watched her, sitting on her bed, his phone in his hand. She didn't have to look at him to know his eyes were following her, and, even when she reentered the bedroom dressed in a pair of shorts and a rather casual top, he still hadn't broken eye contact.
Jasmine sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll tell you everything while we go downstairs."
Ray hopped out the bed, tucking his phone into his back pocket. "It's about damn time. Start with what happened in your dorm room."
Jasmine sighed again, closing the door behind her. She started down the hallway, her mind traveling back to that fated day Rich, Mason and Wendy showed up at her door. "I think I have to start before that," she said. "At Lexi's party when the lycans attacked me. Remember that?"
"Yeah," Ray said with a nod. "We agreed it was a vampire who helped you."
"Yeah, well, it wasn't. It was me."
"How?"
"It turns out I was born with magic. Pure magic, if you want to get technical. That night when they attacked me, one of them tore my necklace off my neck, which was actually a charm my mom made for me to mute my powers."
"Jaz, are you joking with me right now? Because I'm not amused. That's the worst joke I've ever heard. Period."
"I wish I was." She kept her face straight, to show just how serious she was. It was difficult, seeing that retelling what happened, reliving the moments, was harder than she expected. It took her back in time to the moment Felin jumped her, to the fear that had turned her tongue to cotton and that had muted her sense of control. She remembered how desperately she fought, and how heart wrenchingly she had cried over it that same night. As the tale went on, and Ray began falling deeper into silence, Jasmine wasn't even aware of where she was going anymore. It was like she was there again, seeing Rich and the others show up at her door, the blank look that fell over their faces when her mother's spell began to wear off.
Everything after that was just one big blur of screams, screeching tyres, sweat and terror. Of stitched sides and crazed eyes. Of hot tea and a tiny, wise woman. And then finally, ending the histrionic episode she would never forget, the spell that changed her fate, bringing the chaos to an end. Jasmine hadn't realized how raw her voice had gotten, nor how much it cracked and broke off during the course of the story. When she was done, they said nothing. Not even their footsteps could be heard in the long, huge hallway.
"Is that true?"
Jasmine didn't look at Ray. For some reason, his voice sounded so far away. "Would I lie about something like this?"
"Your mind gets away sometimes. Maybe –"
"Don't insult me, Ray."
"Right, right. I'm sorry." Ray released a haggard breath, running his hand down his face. "That's ... that's one hell of a story."
That brought a genuine laugh of surprise to the surface. "That's not what I expected you to say at all."
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know. You got the gaping part down pat. I just thought you'd be more, I don't know, vocal."
"I'm surprised I even remember how to speak. My mouth feels dry." Ray made an exaggerated show of wetting his tongue. Jasmine chuckled. "So, just so I have this down right. You're a witch born with raw powers that drives the supernatural crazy. And over the course of, what, a day? You've been attacked and chased by lycans and vampires, escaped to an old woman's house who just so happens to be your mother's old mentor, had a spell done on you to mute your powers then taken to this mansion for protection from a crazy lycan alpha who wants to kill all humans."
"Sounds about right."
"And you expect me to be vocal after this?"
Jasmine chuckled again. The residues of her trip back in time was beginning to wear off. She felt more like herself again. Or at least as much like herself as she had felt since everything went down.
Finally, they reached the kitchen. Jasmine said nothing in response to Ray as she turned into the spacious room to find everyone she expected to be there sitting around the island. Wendy and Mason sat side by side, picking at a single blood bagel. They had their heads bent together, whispering to each other as they stared at Rich who sat two chairs down.
Jasmine didn't understand why he was here. He escorted her to the mansion, she was obviously okay now. He didn't have to concern himself with her anymore. Why did he insist on sticking around?
He was sleeping. Jasmine inched closer, watching him. His head was turned to the side, on top of a book. His mouth was open and she saw a thin trickle of drool run unto the page and soak through. Just then, he snorted, rubbed his nose, then went straight back to sleep.
Jasmine frowned. She looked at the twins for answers but they only shrugged. Jasmine reached her hand forward to shake him awake but, just then, the other occupants of the room began to speak up.
Trinka whirled over to where Jasmine stood, moving as if she were lighter than air, hands out in a flourish as she wrapped them around Jasmine's shoulders. She was in another dress, this one a deep purple which she accentuated with large pearls that Jasmine had no doubt was real. She left her hair out this time, massive, out of control curls framing those sharp red eyes. Trinka held Jasmine firmly by the shoulders and steered her closer to the centre of the room, towards someone she didn't recognize.
"Jasmine!" Trinka exclaimed. In her peripherals, Jasmine saw Rich jolt awake. "Finally, you're here. I feel like I've been waiting forever for you to arrive. I trust you slept well on your first night here?"
"I did, thank you."
"Aw, always so polite. I'm glad to hear it. Now, there's someone I'd like you to meet. This is Misty Lain. She'll be your bodyguard."
Misty Lain was not who Jasmine expected. When she heard the word 'bodyguard', she expected a beefcake. Someone obviously capable of taking down an alpha without much of an issue. She didn't expect to see a girl around her age, maybe a year or two older, with a face made for a model. Misty had the most perfect eyebrows Jasmine had ever seen, delicately arched to match her slim face. Her lips were plump and pink, her eyes big, brown and doe shaped, although it held a sort of hardness that could only be gained through years of experience and hardships. Misty was dressed in a pair of fitting jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket, her brown hair tied into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She stood with her back straight, hands clasped behind her back and her eyes steadily watching Jasmine approach.
"Hi," Jasmine greeted, giving an awkward wave. Misty only nodded.
"Misty, here," said Trinka, "is an agent from the ASA – the Arcadian Spy Agency. One of the best in her class, even though she's not much older than you. You're nineteen, right, Misty?"
Misty nodded.
"Nineteen. Right. She will be protecting you from now on. She'll practically be your tail until we find Kursen so you better get used to it."
"It's nice to meet you, Misty. I hope we get along."
"We will." It was the first time she'd spoken since Jasmine walked in. Her voice was not what she expected at all. Despite the pretty face and shapely figure, Misty had a tough stance. A mess-with-me-and-you'll-surely-regret-it kind of aura radiating off her. But her voice was soft, slightly high pitched. It really threw cold water all over the tough girl image.
"Good." Trinka clapped her hands in conclusion. "Now that we're all acquainted, Jasmine you have a class in an hour. I don't think you want to miss it. Misty will take you. You can take one of cars. No one is using it."
Before Jasmine could respond, Trinka was already on her way to the door. "I can hear my husband calling for me now. The poor thing. He can never do anything without me. I better go see what's troubling him this time. Jasmine?"
"Yes, Trinka?"
"Don't worry about anything. We'll take care of everything."
Oh, Jasmine was sure they would. Or at least, they would try to. She couldn't be sure anymore. Her heart told her to relax and believe, but her mind told her there was much more coming her way.