Chapter 6
Apparently, I had passed out for a day and a half while he drove us to Jackson. He had to pick something up there, something he refused to tell me about. It had been a couple hours since we left the shady gas station and we had mostly been sticking to the interstate. But as I looked around, I noticed we were on a rocky road that seemed to go on forever. When we pulled into it, it was surrounded by trees so I didn't even notice it was there.
I glanced at Russell and then back at my hands. I was sitting in the passenger seat, my hands curling around the orange soda I had yet to open. I don't know why I was saving it, as if it was of sentimental value. We had barely spoken and the only thing to fill the silence were my own thoughts.
Where was he taking me? Was he lying about keeping me safe? Is he telling the truth and someone will jump out and say “Just kidding!”? If I was the fire carrier and he was the air carrier, what about the earth and water carriers? What really happened after we kissed? Did he mean to kiss me? Was kissing me a distraction? Would he kiss me again?
A small, hysterical sound escaped me, barely audible above the sound of the tires rolling across the rocks. Oh God, what if he could read my mind? I looked at him again with wide eyes and then forward. I shook away that thought and calmed my heartbeat. If I kept going, I would have a mental breakdown. I've never been a thinking person but being around him, there was nothing to do but think. It was like an addiction.
I looked at him out of my peripheral. His hands were resting on the wheel and he was laid back. He looked so exhausted. I wondered when the last time he slept was. I found myself looking at his hair again and his smell filled my nose. Damn. Air conditioning was my worst enemy around him. I clutched the orange soda closer to me and sighed.
“You seem tense.” He said, looking at me for a moment. His blue eyes showed playfulness as his mouth curved into the smile I was starting to get to know.
“Can you blame me?” I smiled back tightly and leaned into the seat.
“I guess not.” He looked forward and gripped the wheel. “We're almost there.”
My heart skyrocketed.
“Where are we going anyway?”
“A little passed that Eudora place. Actually, we passed it a long time ago.”
“Oh. Then why did you say we were going there?”
He shrugged. “It was the closest thing I could remember.”
“What's going to be where we're going?” Slaughter house? Torture chamber?
“I can hear the worry in your voice. Calm down. There's only a couple of people at the house.”
A house? That's something at least.
“Okay...”
A moment or so later, he slowed down his driving pace and then glance at me.
“It's right there.” he pointed out the windshield. “Past the trees.”
I looked and at first, I only saw the trees. But when we made it farther up, I could see a large expanse of land. In the middle of it was a large, magnificent barn house. There were a lot of sheds and barns around, centering around the main house and the large lake.
“It's amazing.” I said, slightly in awe. It was so different than anywhere I've been before.
“I agree.” He smiled at me and cut the car across the grass and up to the barn house.
My nervousness must have been obvious because Russell told me to chill and get out of the truck. He came around to the other side and opened the door but in my stubbornness, I refused to get out.
“Come on, Red. I told you you wouldn't get hurt.”
“Yeah, I know.” I said, glaring at him. “Yet you still won't tell me what's inside there. All you said were a couple people but who are they?”
He sighed and shifted his feet, a nervous habit.
“You'll know everything soon. Pretty much as soon as you get in there, I promise.”
I sighed.
How can I trust his promises? But then again, how can I not? He hasn't done anything malicious or creepy since I woke up...in the back of his truck. Well I guess that doesn't really count though. He said I would protected...and with that, he seemed protective.
“Fine.” I slid my legs out and the tips of of my toes brushed against his leg. I held the orange soda to my chest and stepped all the way out, our bodies brushing against each other. Since I was so so short, I had to look up at him to see his face.
He wasn't smiling but he did look relieved.
“Let's go.” He grabbed the sleeve of the jacket I was wearing and walked us toward the door. He casually opened it and continued forward. My whole body seized with anticipation and my legs felt shaky. The room around us was big, a couple couches around, a lot of bookshelves, a television, and a large coffee table, piled with miscellaneous things. On one side of the room, there was a large glass window, viewing the lake. I felt sick and at home at the same time. My shoulders tensed.
“It's okay.” he whispered in my ear. Then much louder: “Marian?”
“Russ?” I heard an elegant female voice ask, coming from another room. I heard a lot of shuffling and a couple of voices.
“We're in the kitchen!” She yelled back to us, not expecting an answer.
“Of course you are.” Russell smiled,a soft, genuine one. Still gripping the end of the jacket, he led me toward another room that looked like a supply space, and into a kitchen.
I didn't exactly know what to expect when he took me here
But this wasn't it.
There were two people in the room. One guy and one girl. The girl was sitting down, a book opened and resting beside a plate. The book looked old and worn as if countless amounts of people had read it over time.
The guy was cooking something my nose couldn't identify, standing in front of a stove with a pot on it. They both looked up when we walked in, locking their eyes on me, both filled with a strange sort of wonder.
“Hey, Marian.” Russell said, plopping down in the chair next to the girl. She had black, wavy hair that went a little past her chin and bright almost aqua eyes.
“Hey.” She smiled warmly at him and switched her eyes back to me. “Amber? That's your name, right?” She glanced back at the other guy in the room and beckoned him forward.
“Yes.” I said, twisting my ankle nervously.
“I'm Marian.” She gestured at herself and then to the guy. “This is Lucius.”
“Hey.” Lucius stepped forward and grabbed my hand. A small shock hit me and I looked up at him. He had dark, brown hair and brown eyes flecked with green and gold. He was kinda gorgeous. I smiled. The small buzz in our hands told me one thing. Like Russell, I felt that we were connected. But a bit less intense.
Russell looked up at us and drew Lucius's attention.
“Take care of my baby?” he asked and for a second, I thought he was talking about me.
“She's in the back of the truck.” Russell said, rolling his eyes. The motorcycle. She. Men...
“Poor girl.” Lucius whined, letting go of my hand and rushing outside to rescue 'her'.
I looked after him and then swallowed, focusing on Russell.
“Sit down.” He pushed out the chair across from Marian with his foot. My legs shaky, I walked over and sat down.
“Hey, Amber.” Marian said, giving me a consoling smile.
“Hey.” I tried smiling but it fell. She glanced at the book and then looked at Russell.
“How much did you tell her?”
“I told her what I am, what she is, and the story of Emorex.” Which apparently isn't even near enough to know.
“Okay.” Marian blew a stand of wavy hair out of her face and leaned forward. “Amber, would you like to know everything?”
My automatic response was to shout, “Yes!” to the heavens but I decided a quick nod of the head would be better.
“Alright.” Marian sighed and glanced at Russell. “Where to start...” She gave a slightly awkward chuckle and ran a hand through her hair.
“Air.” Lucius said, walking in the door and standing behind Russell. “Water.” He stood behind Marian and understanding flicked through me. “Earth.” He gestured at himself and then at me, without saying anything.
“Fire.” I responded, looking at him and sighing. When you spend eighteen years of your life believing you're a regular human being, you kind of take it a bit harshly.
“Exactly.” Marian's eyes flashed and she shot up from her chair. She raced into another room and quickly returned, carrying four glasses. One was filled with water, one with a plant, one with sticks, and one with nothing. She set them all on the table and pulled a match out of her jean pocket. She lit the match, and hovered it over the glass with sticks until tit lit with flames.
I found myself staring at the fire, into the flames. Then I wondered exactly what kind of glass it was. It wasn't even cracking under the heat.
“You can tell what these stand for.” Marian said, looking at the representation for the elements.
“Yeah.” I rubbed my face with the jacket sleeve and set the orange drink on the table. Marian glanced at it and then up at my face.
“Well, I kind of just brought these out to show you something.” She spun her hand gracefully in a small circle and stuck her finger over the water with the cup. The water reacted instantly, spiriling upwards out of the glass and spillling down onto the table. She followed it upwards and, as I leaned closer, brought it to the spot in front of me. I stopped looking at her and moved my hands off the table, just staring at the water with wide eyes. It seperated and started to spell out something.
Amber
As creepy and abnormal as this looked...
I was a little impressed.
My face threatened to pop out into a look of awe and amazement. I heard Russell chuckle and I looked up to see him watching me. Marian stopped moving the water and patted my hand which had automatically recoiled from the water earlier.
“I can imagine this must be weird for you.” She said consolingly.
“Why isn't it for you guys?” I looked at all three of their eerily watching faces.
“The three of us didn't know our parents.” I looked up at Marian, shocked at her words. “we were raised by a woman named Nancy Wane.”
She looked down and Russell grabbed her shoulder in a comforting way.
“She died.” She finished.
“I'm sorry.” I said, looking at the tight pain in all of their eyes. Looking at all three of them, they more than just knew each other, they were family. You could feel it radiating from them. Lucius walked over to me and sat down in the empty chair.
“Onto the pressing subject.” He said, running a hand through his glossy dark hair.
“Yes.” Russell said, clearing his throat and casting a look at me.
“Would like to know why I brought you here?”
“I would be nice.” I said, blinking. Finally!
“Do you remember what I told you about Lotus?” He asked.
“Yeah.” Lotus was the guy that separated Emorex's powers, destroying her in the process.
“Well, when he died, we realized....he had a son.”
Oh, shit.
Why was this so freaking typical?
“Fantastic.” I muttered.
I heard Lucius and Russell chuckle and I looked up to see all of them smiling at me, agreeing.
“Anyway,” Marian started, glancing at the boys. “His son had no knowledge of Lotus or his own inherited powers.” She took a deep breath. “But his son did.”
“Lotus's son was killed by his son, Donovan, before he could take notice of his powers. Lotus had a journal of every time he went against Emorex and the element carriers. It was like his battle plan notebook. Donovan thought the way his great-grandfather did. That we were too powerful for our own good. That he needed Emorex's power.”
There was a silence between us until Russell spoke.
“Amber, I brought you here to protect you. If we didn't find you now, he would have. He's gotten too powerful and we didn't want to take any chances.”
“Oh.” I said, a stronger silence breaking out. Lucius stood up and attended to his boiled potatoes. He put one on a plate and placed it in front of me. He got Russell one too and slid another one onto the plate next to Marian.
My mouth felt dry but I picked up a fork and sliced into the potato. I swallowed it down and glanced at every one else, already picking at theirs. Russell didn't seem to be enjoying the bland taste so he put salt on his then sprinkled some on mine.
“Thank you.” I said, so softly I wondered if it was heard.
The silence was broken through a few times by random bits of conversation. Russell sometimes talked quietly to Marian and she glanced up at me a few times. Lucius tried to get me to talk with him, asking about how California was and what the schools were like and such. My responses seemed to have intrigued him and talking to him was fun. He even got me to laugh.
We were from avoiding serious conversation only because they were waiting for me to ask questions. Demand them. I just...couldn't think of any. I was tired, even after sleeping for so long.
A flash of Russell taking something out of his pocket and placing it in front of Marian made my focus from Lucius stray.
“What is that?” My voice took on a certain edge. Staring at it made my feel weird. Dark. Empowered. It wasn't a feeling that was foreign either. Marian smiled and launched into explanation.
“Actually, it's just a regular crystal. But also, it's so much more.” She spun it on the table. “A certain charm has been put on it....to attract you, in a way. It brings out your power. It makes you show it. Sometimes though, you can be overloaded with the power and it could make you pass out. Russell said you were out for the trip here. He used it when you seemed like you were out of control.”
“It only works for me?” I asked.
“Well, right now it does. It was made to attract the fire part of Emorex.”
“So I was....out of control?” I asked.
“You kind of burned me.” Russell said, rubbing the side of his face where the mark I had noticed in the car was. It was sort of an oval shape.
A lip imprint.
I burned him with my lips.
My face heated and I looked away from him. Lucius's mouth quirked up as he took the mark in. I wonder if he knew where it came from.
I leaned back against my chair, my eyes drooping.
“Oh, do you want me to take you to your room, Amber?” Marian asked, standing up. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed my arm and led me out of the kitchen. I glanced back to see Russell and Lucius laughing at us.
This is too much...
I sighed as she led me down a hallway and all the way to the last door.
“Russell is just across the hall from you.” She said, opening the door.
Great.
The room was smaller than mine at home, it had a bed in the corner and a large desk to the side. There was a dresser near a closet, clothes were on top of it.
“I left some clothes of mine for you.” She looked at my frame, comparing my petite frame to her tall one. She had a larger bust and much longer legs than I did.
“You look like you'd drown in everything I have.” She laughed, making me smile.
“Yeah.” I said softy, standing by the bed.
“Will you be okay for the night?” She asked, her face creasing in what seemed like worry. “I can answer any questions in the morning.”
“Yeah.” I chocked out. I needed to be alone.
“Okay.” She started to walk forward but I stopped her.
“So I can't go home?” I asked.
She smiled softly. “Eventually.” My face fell. She looked like she wanted to say something else but she just walked to the door, her light footsteps passing the door and closing it, the hinges on the door creaking shut.
Despite everything, I fell onto the bed and passed out, enjoying the less confusing sleep over messed up reality.