Bad Storm (11 page)

‘
What the hell is happening?!
’ I thought,
a million hands touching my body.

‘
Don’t worry, I’ll put you in your place
,’
came the nasty, hissing voice. I was gripped with paralyzing fear, but my cry
was lost in the roaring sea of people.

Before I could
even get my mind on straight, I felt my side hit something hard and inhuman. A
floor. I looked up to see Trent, smiling, with an outstretched hand. Then his
face changed.

‘
Are you okay?
’ he asked.

I nodded, and then
turned to the undulating sea of faces, suddenly filled with another sort of
fright.

Stage fright.

“Oh my God, what
am I doing here,” I mumbled. The last time I faced this many people was my
piano recital in seventh grade. I slammed a c chord in the middle of the
recital and ran off (even though there was no c chord in the entire piece).

Needless to say,
it went terribly and I never had another one again.

The stage manager
rushed out with an extra mike, grinning as he handed it to me. I could hardly
process what was going on when Brandon started a familiar bass line. I looked
to Trent, who strummed the first chord to my favorite song and nodded in my
direction.

I didn’t have a
second to decide, I just reacted.

“Where we’ve been,

And where we are,”

The words flowed
through me like a coursing river, alive and full of magic. I closed my eyes,
and felt my nerves dissipate into energy, into excitement. All that was with me
was the music. The music, and Trent.

“Has no end

Like the night’s
sky”

Trent joined me,
his low, trembling voice playing a octave below mine, melding our voices into
perfect harmony.

“I want to belong

To you and the
stars

I want to carve

Out forever in the
milky way.”

I opened my eyes,
saw the swaying lights of cellphones and lighter flames, and my heart filled
with tender bliss. I could feel Trent, his happiness hot and overflowing like
my own. I turned to him, catching his gaze and holding it, his eyes dark and
soulful in the ocean blue stage lights.

“I don’t wanna be

If I can’t be with
you

I don’t wanna be

If you’re not
home”

I stopped, leaving
him to sing the final line of the chorus alone:

“Because I live
inside you.”

The crowd burst
into cheers as Martin broke off into the guitar solo, and I felt hot tears brim
up to my eyes. It was like the song was written for us before we were even
together.

I realized then
that even if I could step away from the bond we had, I didn’t want to. I never
wanted to. Trent was meant to be a part of me forever.

And with that, I
sang more powerfully than I ever thought possible, and Trent joined me, an
emotion-driven power ballad driving the ringing strings to louder, more
passionate cries.

The crowd went
silent, and all I could hear was us.

The final note
came, and we harmonized over the last chord, our voices soaring out into the
air, combining into one beautiful, intoxicating sound. I lost myself there,
even when it was over, only to be pulled out of it by the deafening roar of the
crowd.

“Holy crap,” I
muttered, completely shell-shocked by what had just happened. I felt Trent’s
warm, sweaty arm come over my shoulder, squeezing me towards his side as he
raised his guitar to the crowd.

‘
Go ahead, wave to them.
’ He told me.

I lifted my hand
and smiled, euphoria washing over me. It was like something from a dream, and
though I could hardly make out one face from another, I could feel their energy
and love.

It was completely
awesome.

“Be safe tonight,
Deston!” Brandon called into the microphone, referring to the storm.

Trent pulled my
hand towards backstage, and stupefied, like a complete dolt, I followed, trying
my best not to trip over a cord unsuccessfully. I gracefully fell on my face,
killing the perfect buzz. But only for a second really. As soon as Trent pulled
me back up, inspecting me for bruises, I flashed him a smile and then laughed.

“That was insane!”
I screamed giddily as soon as words came back to me.

“You were pretty
great,” he admitted, pulling me in for a quick kiss.

“Um, hello, you
were part of that too.”

“Hey, um, was that
part of my birthday surprise? Because it totally rocked!” Brandon squealed in
excitement, pulling me in for a hug.

“If it is, thank
Trent. I had no hand in planning that.” I shook my head, unable to wipe the
smile off my beaming face.

But then I felt a
terrible thudding in my brain, sharp and shrill. It was like someone was
pulling my mind in different directions and screaming.

I fell to floor, pulling my hands over my head and burying
my face into the crook of my arms.

I felt hands on my shoulders, but I couldn’t break free from
the jarring voice in my head—it was like someone was laughing, wickedly,
evilly.

Inside of me.

And then I couldn’t hear anymore.

There was a shadow of someone on the floor, stretched out
long as the sunset passed through the window, a golden orange light.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” said a dark-haired girl
with fierce blue eyes. She was beyond angry—their was hell fire in her
gaze.

“Whatever,” a girl with white blonde hair said, rolling
her eyes. “What does it matter? ”

“When you bend the rules of the exchange, there are
consequences. I gave you enough power to do what we agreed upon—you were
not to speak to her.”

The blonde girl sneered, flouncing on an old bar stool
and rolling her eyes. The decrepit room was getting darker now, highlighting
its menacing qualities.

“So? What does it matter?”

“Because, you imbecile, if this is done incorrectly, your
stupid pack can find out. And if they find out, they can take measures to
protect her. If I invest all this energy into a failure, and my secretive charm
against my own knights fails, I could be exiled—”

“Then why the hell are you doing this?” The blonde
twirled a lock around her thin finger, a look of annoyance flitting across her
face. “What’s the point?”

“The point is that if I succeed I could be the next head
priestess, I get all the glory—”

“So what if they find out? You can still just end it
anyway, can’t you?”

The raven-haired girl took several steps forward, staring
the other girl down. She pointed an accusing finger into her chest, lowering
her face to glower at her.

“If they find out, they’ll do everything they can to keep
her away from me. And if I can’t sacrifice her, then I can’t make this happen.”

“Sacrifice her?” The blonde girl stood up slowly,
confusion and terror in her eyes. “Wait…what do you mean? Wh-what does that
even mean? Like you’re going to, what…
kill
her?” she laughed nervously.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” The dark-haired
girl sneered.

“But I thought…I thought you were just going to break the
bond…”

“There’s only one way to do that, you little brat, and
that’s through death.”

“Bailey,” Brandon whispered, hovering above me. There was
deep look of concern etched in his face. I opened my mouth to speak, but
coughed instead. I forced myself to sit up, realizing with a dizzy turn of my
head that I was in Trent’s living room, laying on the old sofa.

And I was sweating profusely.

“Hey,” I managed. “What happened?”

“You passed out, “ he said grimly. “After the concert…you
said someone was hurting you.”

“I said that?” I groaned, bringing a hand to my head. It was
incredibly warm.

“Yeah…it was scary,” Brandon said in a hushed, grim voice.
Then Sierra entered the room, a mug in her hands.

“Oh! You’re up!” she rushed over to me, spilling the light
brown liquid on her arm in her haste. “Oh shit!”

I tried to laugh but it came out as hoarse and dry. “Jeez…I
sound awesome.”

Sierra winced, placing the mug down on the coffee table with
a thud. “Ugh, well I’m glad I made you laugh.”

“I had the strangest dream…” I rubbed my temples slowly.
There was still echoes of the searing pain, but I could only catch glimpses of
it.

“Hold on, lemme get Nick and Trent,” Brandon said, quickly
shooting up and running to the other side of the room, only to yell out,

“She’s up! Guys!”

I moaned, bringing my hands to my ears. “Really, Brandon?”

“Sorry,” he said, looking back to me sheepishly. Trent came
into the room, rushing over to me with a fiercely protective and concerned look
in his eyes. He knelt down before me, placing a hand gingerly on my cheek as he
searched my face.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, deeply serious.

“No great,” I admitted. Just then Nick and Martin came in.
Martin looked slightly confused, and he sat down in the corner without saying a
single word. Nick, on the other hand, chose the arm chair adjacent to our couch
and scooted it closer.

“What happened, Bailey, can you tell us?”

I searched my mind, trying to find the words. “Honestly…well
it started when I was at the merch table…and I heard this voice in my head. It
was a woman’s voice, it was saying weird things…”

“What did it say?” Nick pressed. Trent gave him a warning
glance, but I waved him off to let him know I was okay.

“To be honest, I can’t quite remember but it….well it almost
sounded like Lola,” I admitted, biting my lip in anticipation. “I mean, I don’t
know though, that’s a huge claim to make.”

Nick and Trent exchanged a glance. “Okay, and then when you
passed out…did you have any dreams?”

“I…I did,” I admitted. “But I can hardly remember it…I know
it involved people talking in a dingy room…but really, not much more than
that.”

“Maybe you picked up on Lola,” Trent said hopefully.

“No,” Nick shook his head. “That wouldn’t explain the weird
voice.”

“But then, what could it have been?” Trent began to look
frustrated, angry even. I grabbed his hand in mine and caressed the back with
my thumb.

“I think someone’s interfering. Someone with magic,” Nick speculated.

“But who would—oh,” Trent said, nodding slowly.
“Right. Cyrus.”

“You think they have something to do with this?” A knot
formed in my throat. I didn’t want my past to follow me everywhere, but it
seemed like something way out of my control.

I was bound to it.

“Who else would have any beef with you? It seems most likely
that they’re unhappy with the human and wolf pairing…I mean, we don’t have an
explicit agreement with them about anything, but they tend to behave as if they
have to enforce a set of rules, you know. Human and werewolf affairs should remain
separate in their eyes,” Nick said.

“But…” I searched desperately in my mind for something else
to cling onto. Anything. “What about Lark? What about her? Maybe she’s doing
something to me. That’s possible, right?”

“Thing is,” Nick said slowly, “Lark is a vampire. She
wouldn’t have the ability to enter your mind like that. But her involvement is
pretty fishy—I mean, I wouldn’t put it past her or Cyrus to fraternize.
They’ve been known to use the very creatures they despise to further their
cause.”

“And she’s been known to do anything just to fuck shit up,”
Trent grumbled. The ferocity in his steely eyes was almost frightening. But I
had no idea what to say to make him feel better. This wasn’t exactly a normal
relationship issue.

“It’s definitely possible…what concerns me is that you say
you heard Lola’s voice,” Nick looked past me for a moment, as if collecting his
thoughts. “They could be fabricating her voice, which may mean that they have
her. There could be a trap. It’s probably best if you don’t leave here until we
figure things out.” Nick gave me a strong look. It was like he knew I was
already screaming in my mind. Because another version of house arrest was the
last thing I wanted.

“Fine,” I grimaced, muttering between my teeth. “But you
guys can’t keep me in the dark about everything. I’ll go nuts.”

“That’s fair.” Nick nodded his head curtly. But it was like
he had more on his mind than he was telling me. But, the more I got to know
Nick, the more I came to realize that this was almost always the case.

“I picked up her scent last night,” Brandon spoke up from
the other side of the room. “By the mangroves. I mean, it was super faint,
but…I had been there a few days before and I didn’t pick up anything.”

“We should go then. Together, the three of us,” Trent said
quickly, standing up from the couch.

Nick stayed quiet for a moment. “Fine, but we should leave
Mac a text or voicemail, so he knows what’s going on once he gets off work.
Martin, Sierra, I don’t want to obligate you to anything, but if you wouldn’t
mind keeping Bailey company…” he looked over at me hesitantly.

“Yes,” I nodded enthusiastically. The thought of staying
cooped up in the little house alone was already driving me nuts. “I’d like
that.”

Nick nodded, and excused himself to collect his things.
Trent came over to give me a swift kiss.

“Just make sure to get back around midnight. Before the
storm hits, okay?” I pleaded.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said as I latched on him for a
big hug.

“Go find her before something happens,” I said, my mouth
going dry at the thought. Because for some reason, I felt like I knew that
something was already happening, I just didn’t know what.

Martin, Sierra and I spent the evening watching TV and
playing board games after we called our parents to let them know about our
whereabouts—Allison never showed up, so I assumed she met up with the
guys or was avoiding home completely. But the three of us stayed clear of
talking about her, or anything else related to lupine issues.

We were working our hardest to act like everything was
normal. Occasionally I’d catch a glimpse of Martin’s face, or a strained smile
from Sierra, and I knew we were all thinking about it. But we managed to keep
from saying a single thing about it for a while.

Sierra stayed overnight with me, and we laid on the living
room floor on a large, cozy quilt. Once Martin left it was like a veil lifted
and we were suddenly free.

“I thought they would be home by now,” Sierra said, hugging
a pillow to her chest. I could tell she was nervous.

“Yeah,” I admitted, “me too.”

“And it’s just so weird that Fun Aim talked about you on
their blog…it’s...suspicious. Like a really extreme back-handed compliment, you
know?” she said, staring up at the ceiling, a pensive look on her face.

“I know.” I said. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about
it. “And I know they’re thinking about it too. I mean, I want to believe that
Aamir means well. He’s just, he’s not a bad guy. I feel it—or at least, I
felt it.” A blush crept up on my cheeks, and Sierra turned her head, catching
my embarrassment.

“Do you still—”

“No,” I interjected quickly. “I want to be with Trent.
There’s no question. But I don’t want to believe that my judgment was so
awful…I mean, I thought he genuinely cared about me. And I care…or cared about
him. I know we can’t really ever be friends, but I at least thought that I
could respect him…”

Sierra’s green eyes bore through mine. “Maybe you can. Maybe
it’s not him that’s doing all this.”

“I mean, I really don’t think he is,” I admitted. I knew I
had my bias, and it was probably really hard-headed of me to refute all the
evidence otherwise. But then I recalled that moment with Gita, when she took
away my energy…

“But he could just be a pawn,” I said slowly, the pieces
coming together in my mind. “Crap Sierra, I think we’re on to something. I
mean, it’s not like I get this magic stuff, but if I’ve been in contact with
Aamir, maybe there’s some way that one of those nymphs could get to me…”

“Nymphs…” Sierra screwed up her face in concentration, as if
she was trying to recall the word. “Oh, right. The ones who manipulate the
energy of the empaths.”

“Yeah. And Aamir is an empath. I don’t know how it all
works, but there’s a way that this is not his doing…”

“Maybe he promoted you guys as a way to communicate to you,”
Sierra suggested.

“But couldn’t he just text me?” I wondered, feeling for my
phone in my pocket. It had been suspiciously free of messages lately.

“Maybe the nymphs can intercept technology. Or like, the
head honchos of the Cyrus organization.” Sierra sounded super-excited, like she
had just figured out some huge conspiracy.

“Maybe…” I mused. “Well, let’s try to get some sleep. I’m
pretty tired,” I admitted.

“Alright,” Sierra agreed, turning over on her side. “Just
don’t go disappearing on me.” She yawned.

“Don’t worry,” I said, my eyes drifting shut. I was surprisingly
exhausted, especially mentally. “I’ll stay put…”

 
I woke up
gasping for air. It must have been about two in the morning when I awoke. It
was suddenly, with a start. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew it was trouble.

There was a swamp and fear. It wasn’t a dream, but rather an
image that I couldn’t erase—it was happening at that very moment. Someone
needed my help.

I looked over at Sierra’s sleeping body. She was out like a
light. And I could sense that no one else was in the house. And it was pouring
out. The beginning of the storm.

I needed to do something—to act. But I didn’t know
how, or who was trying to reach me.

Then I remembered Aamir’s necklace, hiding in a shoebox
beneath my bed. Maybe, just maybe, it could help.

I knew it wasn’t what the pack wanted, but there was a strong
pull inside of me.

He told me to wear it if I was ever in trouble.

Well, there was no doubting that I was in trouble.
 
And it was possible that he or his people
were causing it.

I sat up slowly, watching Sierra’s chest rise and fall. She
didn’t stir. I got up slowly, my heart racing at a hundred miles per hour.

I just needed to communicate the issue with Aamir—at
least ask him if he knew anything about Lark.

I just couldn’t continue to be a victim the way I had been.
I felt the strong urge inside of me to move. The fear and the swamp kept fading
in and out of my mind, like a familiar scene from a movie.

I tip-toed quietly out of the living room and into the
hallway that led to the front door. Brandon’s keys were still hung up on the
key hook—it was pretty typical of him. He was constantly relying on
someone else to let him in.

I took them and opened the front door quietly, but it still
creaked. I was lucky that Sierra sleeps like a log. It’s nearly impossible to
wake her up. I locked the door behind me, the cool, stinging air reminding me
that the storm was beginning. I knew I shouldn’t be out. But it was just a
tropical storm. I had walked through one before…

And since my moped wasn’t there, I had to walk, trekking
through the harsh whipping winds, feeling an intense jolt of thrill and energy
inside of me. What was I doing, walking around in the middle of night, alone,
like a weirdo?

But I was on a mission, and as quickly as I thought those
things, I pushed them out of my mind.

The streets were empty—not a soul or car in sight.
Thankfully my apartment was close by enough that I was there in less than ten
minutes—though it felt like forever, watching the palm trees whip around,
the wind howling viciously in my ears, like angry ghosts.

Back in the apartment, I rushed over to my room, pulling the
necklace out from under my bed, holding the hot pendant in my palm. I shivered,
just looking at it. There was a part of me that told me ‘
no, don’t do this
.’

But the guilt took over, reminding me that Lola could be in
trouble. She could be in major trouble.

And it was all my fault.

I took a deep breath and unclasped the necklace. I brought
it around my throat, the pendant falling just beneath my collarbone, warm and
comforting. It was like Aamir’s touch, strangely, pulling me into a calm, Zen
state.

“It’ll be fine,” I muttered to myself. He was coming, and
everything would be sorted out.

I stood up off the carpet and walked back out of my room to
the living room. I hadn’t really thought my plan through past this point, but I
knew it was what I had to do. I had to go back to the house and wait for the
guys.

I searched the hall closet for my umbrella and rain boots,
the howling wind outside exacerbated by an onslaught of noisy, torrential rain.

“Well, this will be fun,” I muttered. I didn’t have the
option of riding my moped, since it was still at the venue, but I knew that the
storm really wasn’t supposed to get nasty until 3 AM or so. I checked my
phone—I had an hour.

Pulling on the black, rubber boots, I thought for a moment I
should stay in my apartment. It was safer, and I knew it was the typical
Floridian thing to snub my nose at a tropical storm like it was nothing. But I
hated the idea so much of Trent coming home and not seeing me, of getting
worried. And I knew he didn’t have his cell phone on him.