Amaretto Flame (27 page)

For the first time, I looked down at the
well. Before, there had been a cover on top of it, but now, the
gaping hole was uncovered. It was about four feet across through
the middle, and the stone walls stood up from the ground about a
foot. A steel bar ran through the very center of the well, just a
few inches below the rim. As I stared at the hole - wondering how
deep it might be - I realized what the plan was, and vaguely
wondered how I'd missed being informed about this.

My face must have paled, because Jackson
leaned down to get a better look at me...or so that I'd focus on
his face. “Hey. It's going to be fine,” he said. “We've already won
this, remember?” He was referring to Sylvia's vision, and wiping
any fear from my face, I simply nodded. It was better for him to be
at peace, even if that peace was a lie. I gripped his hand and
together, we turned to face the hunters. They were so close, a few
stragglers pulling up the rear.

Suddenly, Jackson breathed an, “Oh no,” and
turned his head toward me. He blinked furiously, not making eye
contact.

“What? What is it?” I asked, my voice
high-pitched with worry.

“I can't see,” he whispered, still blinking
and trying to regain his vision. I glanced at the men and felt my
heart drop. My brilliant plan had worked up to this point. I knew
that I'd be safe from the Venator's magick, but I hadn't thought
about Jackson. I tried to find the spell caster, wondering if I
could take him out so that Jackson would be able to follow through
with the plan. They were too close. They were waiting, I guessed.
Waiting to see what kind of magick we had and whether it was safe
to fall in on us and take us prisoner.

“Sit,” I said to Jackson, guiding him to the
side of the well. “Sit down.”

I helped him into a sitting position, and
then I sat next to him, holding his hand. Hoping the hunters would
think I was preparing for the worst, I embraced Jackson and put my
mouth close to his ear. “You can run,” I breathed.

He started shaking his head immediately. “I'm
not leaving you.” He grabbed both of my wrists, and although his
eyes couldn't see me, his face was full of emotion. “You'll have to
put my hands on the bar.”

“What?” I glanced down again, seeing nothing
but the darkness in the well and the certain death that awaited
Jackson there if we tried to go forward with the plan now.

“Well, if it isn't the prodigal son,” said
one of the hunters with a rumbling voice. “It's time to claim your
inheritance.” A rope slithered out of his pocket and he held it,
his body tense, ready to spring at us. “Don't worry about your
little girlfriend. Come with us calmly and we'll take good care of
her.”

“Do it, Olivia. Put my hands on the bar,”
Jackson hissed. The hunters began circling the well, and I resisted
the urge with every cell in my body to get up and start fighting,
especially when they moved in behind me. The air shifted; the sign
of magick being worked. Any minute, the flames would slice through
the air. With a last desperate look at the bar, I took hold of
Jackson's hands. From the corner of my eye, I could see the
glinting, vicious silver hook, but I had no choice but to ignore it
as the man moved further behind me. The red haze descended down
over my vision, the pressure building inside of me.

“One,” I said, using every wish I'd never
wished and every hope within me that this would work. “Two.”
Jackson shifted his feet on the dark grass and his face was
overtaken with a look of concentration. “Three,” I said, and moved
his hands to the metal bar within the well. The next sequence of
events seemed to be going in slow motion, although they couldn't
have taken more than a few seconds. Jackson's hands gripped the
bar, and a moment later, he sprung up and over the outside edge of
the well.

At the same moment he disappeared, the hunter
behind me swung out his arm - the one holding the hook - and the
sharp point embedded itself within my back, flesh tearing as he
retrieved it. I cried out in pain, but feeling the power starting
to leave me, I bit down on the scream. Hands gripped me now, and I
knew that the Venator were finished playing around. Turning my head
to the right, I spit in the face of the man who was holding my arm.
This stunned him enough to make him let go of me, his hands going
to his face.

I stretched out over the well, facing up at
the night sky. With the red haze throbbing behind my eyes, the moon
was a fiery orange, and I could only pray that the flames came
quickly. A terrifying thought hit me, and I yelled Jackson's
name.

“I'm here,” came his echoing voice from
below. My back felt as though it were on fire, but my entire waking
mind was focused on the moment when the flames would hit us. Where
were they? Had something happened? Did something go wrong? Maybe
Claire had been unable to switch Perry and Joshua's powers. Had
they even rehearsed this? A stabbing pain shot through my arm and I
turned my head to see one of the hunters brandishing a hunting
knife, similar to the one I'd been cut with before. A gash was
opened in my forearm, and blood was dripping forth from it.

Come on!
I thought. My head rested on
the stony edge of the well opposite my feet, and my arms and legs
were stretched to reach. I was balanced precariously, but Jackson
would be out of the way of the destruction when the time came.
Thousands of stars twinkled down at me, as if nothing were wrong in
the world. Suddenly, the face of the moon turned an even deeper
orange. The fire burned above me, blinding in its fury and rage. I
could feel the heat from it as the flames licked over my body, but
there was no pain.

Deafening screams of agony filled my ears a
moment later, making the hair on the back of my neck stand. I knew
it was time. I filled my lungs with as much air as I could hold and
then I opened my mouth, screaming.

I was deaf to the sound of all else but the
high-pitched shriek coming from my own mouth. I let my anger and
rage flow into it. I drew on all of the terrible feelings I had
ever experienced…the anger at my real mother for trying to kill
me…anger at the Venator who had tricked my father. The fear when we
had learned about the Venator and the terrible things they did, the
way I had felt when Ivanna ‘punished’ me, the panicked fear when I
thought the Venator were after Everett. I let these emotions drain
out of me and into the scream.

As I screamed, I reminded myself that this
was for my family, protecting me now even if I couldn’t see them.
Sylvia, so quick to trust and provide a shoulder for those she
loved. She was so much more knowledgeable than I had been at her
age, but it was wrapped in a silly, lovable packaging that made her
unique. Perry, who had been my very own father for as many years as
I cared to think about, quiet and brilliant and gentle. Charlotte,
kind and calm, who had always provided me with more wisdom than
should ever come from one individual.

Max who was loving and devoted and always
ready with another joke or prank. Ivanna, who loved me severely and
who had given me most of the people I loved, who had given me life.
Everett, who knew me better than anyone else in the world, and who
I loved so much that I wouldn’t think twice about cutting off my
own legs and arms for if it came right down to it.

I watched their faces flash inside my head,
each one special and each one occupying a space in my heart. I felt
each life force of the hunters, draining as I screamed, each soul
losing power. The powers contained within those souls would only
serve to make my own power stronger the next time I found myself
forced to use it. I felt the bodies shattering, splitting, burning
and disintegrating. At the same time, though, the fuel that kept my
own body going was depleting very quickly. As I poured my power
into the scream, my life was draining.

Even as my mouth stayed open, the
nerve-shattering sound still issuing forth, my brain desperately
tried to find another source to draw on. There had to be something
else…something that could push me on until I had completed the job.
Scenes and images flashed through my mind so quickly I wasn’t able
to focus on them. Briefly, I saw Paula’s face and tried to draw on
the other hurt I had felt…the hurt that she had caused. I kept
seeing her face as it was tonight, though, livid and fuming. I had
gotten my revenge. There was nothing there for me to use.

Then I saw the boy, screaming, wondering why
his own father was hurting him. I felt the gnawing, digging pain at
the base of my neck. Over and over, the needle dug into my skin,
scaring and hurting me. I realized that it wasn’t really my own
skin but his that I was feeling. It wasn’t
me
wanting my
mother, but him. I saw the evil face of the man who had been his
father and within this image, I found the source I needed.

My scream got louder, and now I was screaming
for Jackson. Jackson, who had likely wondered what it was all for.
Who had spent his life being unable to truly get close to anyone.
All his life he had been singing a song, but it had always been a
song of loneliness. I thought of his face, his smile, and I allowed
the life force to continue draining out of my own body.

They were snapping now, the snap that told me
it was done. The snap that took their souls out of this world, into
the other. There were five down. I only had to go on a little
longer. Almost halfway there. My scream continued, starting to fade
now. I was so weak. I felt my grip on the stone edges of the well
faltering. I had to hang on. If I had to die, so be it. If that
were what it took to finish this so that my family and Jackson
would be safe, I would make that trade in a heartbeat.

As the last snap issued forth, my scream
faded into silence, which was deafening in itself now. I had done
it. I felt the need to relax my rigid muscles, to let go and drift.
I was so tired that I just wanted to sleep. Briefly, I wondered how
deep the well was. It couldn’t possibly hurt that bad when I hit.
Not as bad as it hurt now to keep holding onto the sides when my
strength was gone. Then I remembered that Jackson was below me. If
I fell, I might make him lose his grip on the bar. No, I couldn’t
take that chance.

I had to keep holding on. Somehow, I had to
try and find enough strength to pull myself back up. My eyes were
closed and I didn’t realize how long they had been closed. I
remembered seeing the deepening red of the fire…but how long ago
had that been? I heard voices. I wasn’t sure if they were voices
from a dream somewhere or voices from reality. A slight panic
flickered in me and I wondered if I had gotten all of the Venator.
Surely they hadn’t sent more.

I couldn’t handle more. There was no way I
would be able to open my mouth to scream. Inside, I did start
screaming. My grip was failing. I felt it slipping. I was going to
hit Jackson. We were going to die right here…after all of this, we
were going to die because I couldn’t hang on any longer. I opened
my mouth to speak, to say something. I wasn’t sure what. Maybe I
was going to apologize for killing him now.

No sound came out of it. My voice wouldn’t
work. My hands slipped again and I didn’t have enough strength left
to pull myself back up. The middle part of my body was sinking.
Then I felt arms sweeping under me, holding me up. There were
voices now, louder, but I couldn’t hear them. I struggled to hear,
willing myself to know whether my family had made it out alive or
whether a stray Venator had gotten me. The tone of the voice was
familiar.

It wouldn’t have been familiar if it was a
Venator, and then I knew that my family had lived. Yes, it was
Everett’s voice. My baby brother. He was safe. They were all safe.
With that knowledge, I was able to let go and the darkness
surrounded me.

After the darkness had taken my
consciousness, I existed in another place. For what seemed like a
very long time, I was only aware that I was somewhere and that
there was nothing else. There was the flicker of life that was
mine, but around me there was darkness. I started to think that I
was perhaps in the place where bad souls go when they leave the
world I had lived in. Of course, my beliefs on Earth had never been
that terrible souls go to a particularly bad place. I had always
believed that you come back; you get another chance.

I doubted myself now. After a very long time,
the darkness started to recede and I was aware of light. The light
was a beautiful light, and somehow seemed familiar and loving to
me. I stared at it and realized that there was a depth to it that
never stopped. The more I stared, the more I saw. There were colors
in all shades of the rainbow, and feelings…sensations within those
colors. I wondered if this was the notorious ‘white light’ that
everyone claimed to see when they nearly died. But this light was
so much more than that.

I looked at the light for another long period
of time. I wasn’t ready for it to leave when it did, because I
found it so interesting and beautiful. But then I was aware of
something else…singing. There was something oddly familiar about
the singing and I listened very hard. I felt frustrated because I
should know, but I couldn’t grasp any memory or association. When I
strained very hard to remember why I should know, the singing would
fade. I stopped trying when I realized that, because the sound was
beautiful and I didn’t want it to leave.

As it started to fade again, I fought to keep
my thoughts quiet, but realized it wasn’t helping. It was still
fading. I didn’t know how to keep it there, so I only hoped that
something even better was coming. I could vaguely remember the
white light and how beautiful it had been. Suddenly, and with a
force, I knew that I was alive.

I could feel my own body now. With a
startling suddenness, I remembered everything. The singing had been
familiar to me because I'd heart it before, numerous times. The
voice that was like silk with a frayed edge of roughness. The calm
that it brought me. Jackson. He'd been singing to me. I could feel
my own heartbeat again, and as my memories came back to me, it
picked up in speed. We'd lived. We'd survived the attack from the
Venator, because they hadn't realized the depth of my power. They
hadn't been prepared for much more than a harmless little girl and
a boy with healing power. Boy, did they get surprised.