The Elementalist (14 page)

40

~Awareness~

Claire

Claire woke slowly, her head aching, her neck sore. No. Not sore. Throbbing… so painfully she couldn’t even swallow. She was lying in her mother’s arms in her basement, and her arms and legs were ice cold. What happened? She turned her head slightly and cried out in pain, but she saw something that stopped her. An apparition. A ghost, shining more brightly and more beautiful than anything she had ever seen before.

“Hello, Claire.”

“Alisa?” Oh, man, it hurt to talk, and her words came out as a raspy whisper.

“Yes.”

“You’re here.”

“Yes,” Alisa said with a sigh. “I am.”

“What happened?”

Angela watched Claire’s face, her eyes wide in confusion. “Claire! The paramedics are on their way. Don’t try to talk.”

“You should listen to your mom. Adam hurt you. He tried to kill us. Luckily, I was in control of our… um,
your
body at the time. Otherwise, you’d probably be dead too.”

“But why?” Claire asked.

Alisa chuckled and looked away, shaking her head. “Because he hates me, I guess. I don’t know. I came back to make sure you were okay.”

Ambulance sirens screamed in the distance, but Claire wished they weren’t coming for her. She hated hospitals. The smells, the sounds, the bright lights. Memories of her grandmother lying there, hooked to dozens of tubes and beeping monitors… and the thought of needles… 

“I don’t want to go,” she said, gazing into her mother’s eyes. “Please don’t make me.”

Angela’s face grew serious, and her eyebrows scrunched together. “You are absolutely going to the hospital. You need to be checked out. What happened, Claire? No. Don’t say anything yet. Just rest your throat. It’s so bruised.” Tears welled in Angela’s eyes, and she hugged her daughter even closer.

When the doorbell rang, Angela yelled for them to come in. The paramedics had Claire strapped to the stretcher and loaded into the ambulance before she had a chance to fight back, let alone argue.

At the hospital, the doctor pronounced that Claire would live, but that she had severe bruising. She needed to rest with minimal speaking for at least the next week. Claire waited to be discharged, grateful it wasn’t worse, but she was afraid to go home. Afraid of Adam. Would he be waiting, and if not, would he come back for her?

And what about her Elementalism? Was it safe to practice her craft? Did she even want to? She wasn’t sure anymore… not after what had happened…

Something similar had destroyed her grandmother, but nobody knew the whole truth. Only Claire did and she had never forgiven herself for not intervening sooner.

Without Elementalism, how would she find her grandmother to tell her she was sorry? How would she make up for what she’d done? It ate at her like a cancer, destroying her peace of mind every waking moment. Being locked inside her mind while Alisa was in charge of her body had been a blessing; the guilt held at bay for a short time.

  Everything seemed remarkably clear now. The demons had only needed her to keep the pesky guardian trapped and out of their way. But why? What was so dangerous about Alisa? Why would she be such a scourge to their master plan? The pieces of the puzzle refused to fall into place. And what about the Fourth Blood Moon? There was something special about that day. Adam had mentioned it in passing, but it hadn’t meant anything to her at the time.

Pushing herself to a sitting position, she rubbed her neck, feeling the swollen, bruised skin. Dressing slowly, she was relieved to drop the hospital gown onto the floor. She refused to stay there a moment longer than she had to. Once home, Claire took a pain pill, climbed into bed, and then pulled the covers up to her chin, desperately needing to sleep.

***

Waking a few hours later, Claire made her way down to the kitchen and found her mother making dinner. Always cooking something. A comforting sight, and right now, it was just what she needed.

“Hey, Mom,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

“Claire!” Angela whirled around in surprise. “You should be in bed!”

“I know, but I’m not tired.”

“Are you hungry? I’m making food that will be easy on your throat.”

Claire nodded, sitting down at the table. Angela placed a bowl of tomato soup before her.

“Claire, I want to tell you that I’m sorry. So sorry.”

Claire raised her eyes to her mother’s. She had no idea what her mom was talking about and was too sore to discuss it, so she nodded, whispering, “It’s all right.” They could deal with their problems later.

“You had quite a few missed calls,” her mom said, pushing Claire’s cell phone closer to her. “But you should probably wait to return them.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Oh, and I don’t want make you feel any worse, but… you’re grounded.” She gave Claire a wounded look that, again, conveyed how sorry she was, and patted her hand.

“What?”

“Yes. Sorry about the timing.”

“But why?” Claire wracked her brain to figure out what Alisa had done to get her into trouble.

“We’ll talk when I get home. I have to take the rest of this dinner down to the Allred’s. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Once her mom was out of the door Claire picked up her cell phone. Most of the missed calls were from Katelyn. Claire pressed the redial button, and Katelyn answered on the fourth ring.

“What?” Her tone was icy, verging on acidic, taking Claire by surprise.

“Kate?” Claire whispered, her throat too raw to speak louder. She picked up her glass and took a drink of cold water.

“Yeah.”

“Hey.”

“What do you want?” Katelyn asked, angry and impatient.

“What?”

“Seriously? I can’t believe you are actually calling me.”

Claire stood up at the kitchen table, her mouth gaping. “Um, did I do something wrong?” She heard a snort on the other end of the line, and then the phone clicked silent.

“Well, that little…” She quickly dialed Jamie’s number.

He, unlike Katelyn, answered on the first ring.

“Who is this?” he asked immediately.

Taken aback, Claire was silent for a moment, knowing he had caller ID and that her number was programmed into his phone. He knew exactly who was calling. “Um, it’s me. Claire.”

“Which Claire?” he asked, deadpanned.

“Do you know anyone else named Claire?” she asked. “Jamie, what happened? I’m totally lost here. Kate is acting so weird, and now you?”

“So, this really is Claire? Not Alisa?”

She froze.
Oh
. Now she got it. He knew. “It’s the only Claire you know. Alisa isn’t here anymore. She’s gone.”

There was a moment of silence as she waited for Jamie to respond, and then he said, “I’m coming over.”

Two minutes later, he sat on Claire’s bed, having climbed in through her window. They whispered, Claire explaining all that had happened. He kept reaching toward her, but never quite touching the bruises around her neck. His dismayed expression said it all.

“This man, Adam, tried to kill you?”

“Yes,” she answered. “And he succeeded enough to set Alisa free. I’m not sure what it means, or why he did it, but she was supposed to stay inside of me. Stuck. Like a prison. They wanted her out of the way.”

“Who are
they
?” He looked into Claire’s eyes, his distress evident, and the way he kept touching her arm… She knew he wanted to pull her into an embrace, to kiss her, to be her boyfriend—as corny as that sounded—but she kept him at a distance like she always had. More out of habit than anything else.

His expression created an ache inside her, for a connection with someone who cared. Could it be a mistake to keep pushing him away? Should she let their friendship evolve into something more? The temptation was so strong that she leaned into him, and his arms automatically surrounded her. A tear escaped her eye and slid down her freckled cheek, splashing onto his arm. He held her tighter.

And she held him right back.

41

~Breaking up~

Brecken

Alisa returned to Brecken, wearing a smile that radiated like the sun, but it was quickly lost when she saw his face. “Brecken? What’s wrong?” She moved closer, her arms surrounding him.

His only thought was of losing her again, just when he had gotten her back. It made him ache so thoroughly that he fell onto the bed, not knowing how to answer her. He couldn’t tell her the truth… that she’d be safer far, far away in Elysium. She’d never leave of her own accord. She would stand by his side, fight the demons of hell, and be taken, just like Lilim threatened. He knew firsthand what they would do to her. He’d personally done the torturing once upon a time. He couldn’t risk it. He had to make her leave. He had to make her
want
to leave, but how? It seemed there was only one way to do that.

It was the hardest thing he’d ever done, but it was a choice between heaven or hell for her. Literally. He did the one thing that would surely tear his beating heart from his chest.

“I don’t want you here anymore,” he said in the most frustrated tone he could muster, frowning and pacing around his room. “You’re ruining everything.” He had to make her believe his feelings were real. That he didn’t love her, need her, or want her anymore.

“Brecken?” Her smile fell as though she knew something worse was coming.

“I’m supposed to get on with my life. I have to go to college, meet someone, get married, and all that. I want to have kids and live in a little house with a white picket fence. You can’t give that to me, can you?” He was rambling, he knew, but he couldn’t seem to get his thoughts straight. His heart pounded in his chest and if he didn’t do this quickly, he’d truly die of heart failure. Or more accurately, heartbreak. “If you stay here, you’ll destroy my chance at redemption.”

“No…” Alisa looked shocked and didn’t respond quickly. “I thought…”

“Thought what? What did you think?” He stared at her in annoyance, his eyebrows pulled down, his soul aching. He didn’t want her to get a word in. She’d say something to change his mind or she would start to cry. He had to keep talking, so she couldn’t.

“I thought we could be together…
this
way,” she said softly, her arms gesturing to the both of them.

“In what way? You’re a ghost, and I’m in a body.” He shook his head, tears welling at the corners of his eyes. He didn’t let them fall though, just gritted his teeth and continued. “I have things to do before I can get into heaven. Before I can be redeemed and forgiven. I can’t fail. You have to understand that. You do want me to make it to heaven, right? You don’t want me to rot in hell for all eternity, do you?” His expression, although irritated and angry, begged her to understand. To let him go.

“Brecken. How could I ever—?”

“Please, Alisa. I’m sorry, but… I don’t want you.” He glanced at her, holding back the tears that threatened to bloom in his eyes. He’d never let anyone see him cry before. “I’ve decided to… to love Hannah.” That was the last nail in the coffin. He knew it would break whatever they’d had, once and for all.

This seemed to stop her and instead of tears, she squared her shoulders, her mouth hardening in to a tight, flat line. “You’re being stupid, Brecken. I’m not leaving you.”

He faced her, his arms crossed over his chest. “Yes, you are.”

“No. And you can’t make me.”

“Actually, I can.”

“Oh, right. Like you’re going to command me to leave as though I’m some evil spirit?” She said it like a joke, but he could hear the trembling in her voice.

“I can.”

“You wouldn’t do that.”

“I would.”

“Why?” she said in a rush, and before he could blink she was before him, her arms thrown around him, her touch making his whole body tingle in misery for what he was doing. He searched her face, so full of pain and rejection. She placed her hand on his arm, and he let all of his emotion wash into her in a wave that would surely be overwhelming. He kept his eyes cold, his expression stony, even though he knew it would tear her apart.

“This isn’t happening.” She pressed her fist to her chest; the ache in her expression almost making him forget the whole thing. “All right,” she whispered. “I’ll go.” She didn’t cry, but she looked like she wanted to. His heart bled with a yearning so intense that it felt like he was dying all over again.

“Before I leave,” she said. “You should be aware that something is wrong in Idir Shaol. I’m not sure what, but I’m going to find out. This might be the last time…”

He couldn’t let her finish. It hurt too much. Looking at her now—her face, her eyes, her lips—ripped him apart. He’d break down if she stayed any longer.

“Don’t go to Idir Shoal, Alisa. It’s probably not safe. Go back to Elysium. But get out of here and don’t come back. I mean it.”

Her frown deepened into a scowl of denial. “You know what? It’s none of your business where I go. Live your human life. Have your college experience and get married. Have a ton of kids. I don’t care!” She stared him down, and before he could say anything, Alisa did what she did best.

She left.