Awaken (15 page)

             
“Did you just call me a big monster?” I joked with him, trying to hide the paralyzing fear that had taken hold of every fiber in my body.  The three almonds that broke free from the shaking of my hand as I reached into the bowl had betrayed me.

             
“The most incredibly, beautiful monster in the world…,” Finn retorted with a smirk.

             
“There’s that charming side I just can’t resist,” I teased, and swatted at him playfully. He caught my still-shaking hand and pulled me close, instantly making me feel better.  He turned to address my roommates.

             
“The Gates are actually ‘The Gate’.  Depending on the soul’s integrity, it will either be made of ivory or horns.  The catch is that that soul will not be able tell which it is when they walk through it.” 

             
“So, what’s the difference? Why does it matter?” Phoebe asked curiously.

             
“If the gate is made of horns, they’ll pass through without a problem.  But, if it’s made of ivory, they’ll be refused exit and trapped in the Underworld to serve under Persephone.  Forever,” he declared with finality.

             
As I attempted to swallow this newest pill of bad news, a knock sounded at the door.  We all jumped out of our skin and Phoebe let out a surprised yelp.  Finn just grinned wickedly and his blue eyes sparkled as they shot towards Willow.

             
“Oh yea, I forgot to tell you.  I invited Liam over,” he shrugged innocently.

             
“What?” Willow’s face flushed the same bright pink color of her highlighter.  She immediately jumped up and frantically began to clean up.

             
“You did?” I couldn’t help wondering what Liam would add to the conversation.

             
“You don’t knock.  You invite people over.  You do realize you don’t live here, right?” Carmen put her hands on her hips and glared at Finn, but he was too busy eyeing Willow with obvious amusement to care.

             
“You might want to answer the door.” He unsuccessfully covered up a chuckle as Liam knocked again.  Willow shot Finn a warning look and smoothed down her unruly blonde hair.  As she opened the door, Liam sauntered into the suite looking quite proper in khaki shorts and a green polo shirt that offset his blonde hair nicely.  He also appeared to be extremely nervous.  He grinned shyly at Willow, who just stared back at him speechless.  An intervention may be in order for those two.  At this pace, they might go on a date by next spring.

             
“Hey Liam!  Come on in and make yourself at home,” I greeted him from my spot on the couch, elbowing Finn as he snickered at the nervous silence hanging between the two of them.

             
“What’s up everybody!” He came in to the living room and gave Finn a slight head nod; the universal guy greeting.  Willow sat down on the love seat; making room for him.  He smiled at her politely and sat down.  I caught Carmen roll her eyes at his careful manners.

             
“Alright, where were we…?” Finn glanced down at the map and ran his hand through his dark hair once more. 

             
“The possibility of Stasia getting trapped in the Underworld and serving under Persephone forever?” Carmen speculated, innocently shrugging her shoulders.  I put my head in my hands.

             
“Which is
not
going to happen,” Finn’s eyes darkened as he squeezed my arm in sympathy. “As I was saying, once she gets through the gate, her soul will reunite with her body and she’ll wake up.”

             
“Will she be immortal?” Phoebe asked quietly.

             
“Not yet…she only planted the seed.  She won’t become fully immortal until her eighteenth birthday,” he explained.

             
“Wow,” Phoebe marveled.

             
“So how will she actually get into the Underworld?” Willow asked and I planted a vice grip on Finn’s hand, hoping he wouldn’t give her a detailed account of my approaching departure.

             
“That’s why I’ve invited Liam over.  I’d trust him with my life, and along with my mom, they’ll be helping Stasia make the switch to the realm of the Underworld.” The switch.  I guess that’s one way to describe the ending of my life.

             
“I have some experience in that particular field.” Liam inserted.

             
“Dying?” I asked, exasperated.  Then I realized what I had said. I felt the stares of my roommates as their mouths gaped open in horror.

             
“I guess you could call it that,” he glanced at Finn; wearing his discomfort on his face at the same moment that Carmen stood up. I made the assumption that Finn had warned him not to use any words centered around death.

             
“Okay, whoa.  Back the stinking fruit truck up.” She stared at me, “did you just say dying?”

             
“No,” I lied outright.  Carmen shot an accusing glare at Finn and then back at me.

             
“You have to DIE to get to the Underworld!?”

             
“Well-“ I started.

             
“Oh my God,” Willow said quietly.

             
“You what!?” Phoebe put her hand over her mouth.

             
“You guys-“ I tried again, but just as I suspected, they were completely freaking out.  As they all started talking at once, Liam stood and held up his hands to get their attention.

             
“I can explain everything if you guys will calm down.” Three pairs of irate eyes zeroed in on Liam and I watched as he physically shrank back.  “My grandfather created a serum that would allow descendants who don’t belong to the Underworld to enter that realm.  It has been in my family for many generations and we continually perfect it.  It will be what keeps the link between Stasia’s soul and body strong while she is in the Underworld.”

             
“Serum, schmerum.  All I heard was blah, blah, blah…Stasia has to die.”

             
“Technically, yes.  But it has never failed. Natasha has used it many times and has never had any issues,” Liam pleaded.

             
“And just how do you plan on killing our best friend?” If Carmen’s eyes could kill, Liam would be the one dying, not me.

             
“That’s part of the serum as well.  We’ll hook up an IV for Stasia and slowly let the serum enter her blood stream.  Once her soul separates, we will monitor the amount of serum within her body until she returns.”

             
Although Finn hadn’t completely explained everything that would happen when I ‘died’, Liam’s detailed explanation actually made me feel much better about the whole situation.  Especially if Natasha had used it before.  She wouldn’t put me in harm’s way.

             
“Would we be able to be there?  I’d feel a lot better about this if I could be close to her,” Willow told Liam calmly, but I could tell she was holding back her emotion.

             
“I think that could be arranged,” he smiled at her.

             
“It
better
be arranged,” Carmen threatened.

             
“I definitely want to be there,” Phoebe’s bottom lip began to quiver.  I got up and gave her a hug.

             
“If Finn trusts Liam, then so do I - and I especially trust Natasha.  They won’t let anything happen to me,” I tried to console them.  Finn smiled at me encouragingly. “I need you guys to trust them too.”

             
My roommates reluctantly nodded their heads in agreement, but it was obvious they were extremely uncomfortable with this twist in the journey.  After Finn and Liam left, we stayed up for a while longer talking; however my bed was calling so I retired to my bedroom before everyone else.

~~~~~

             
Lightness.  A reverie?  But where was I?  Everything was pitch black.  I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.  Suddenly I felt myself flying though space, tumbling towards an unknown destination.  The temperature dropped and I stopped abruptly, landing on my hands and knees.  Even though I had no idea where I was, I could see a little better.  It was still dark, but my eyes had adjusted enough to see several yards around me.  The ground beneath me was hard and dusty, stirring up into my eyes and causing me to cough.  The air smelled of smoke and I got the odd sensation that I had been taken to a recently burned forest, void of any life.  I wiped the parched earth from my knees and stood carefully, right before something suddenly struck me from behind, sending me skidding across the sooty ground. I wiped my eyes and frantically glanced around, preparing for another attack.

             
“Who’s there?” I scanned the blackness around me; finding no one.  I heard shuffling feet all around me, but I still couldn’t make out any shapes.  My breathing began to come in shallow spurts as fear crept around my heart and entered my frenzied thoughts.  I tried to stand, but was pushed from behind a second time, finding myself back on the ground.  That’s when she materialized in front of me.

             
“You did this,” her ghastly sounding voice came out ragged and forced.  Her gray cloudy eyes glared down at me.  My stomach lurched at the sight of her sunken skull and hallowed face, beaten and bloodied, but there was no denying who was standing in front of me.  My dead foster mother who had been killed by my foster father when he hit her with a baseball bat…seconds before I shot him.

             
She inched closer and I slid backwards on my backside, trying to put distance between us.  Just like Bianca, she was transparent, allowing me to see the blackened ground behind her.  She reeked of mildew and rotten flesh.  Paralyzed by fear, my legs stopped responding to my commands.  I sat there stunned and helpless as she moved even closer; peering down at me with pure hatred.

             
“You did this,” she repeated with quiet rage.

             
“No.  He did.  He killed you,” I managed shakily.

             
“Liar!”  she roared; blood spewing from her mouth. “If it weren’t for you, we would have been happy.  If it weren’t for you I’d still be alive!”  Her form blurred as the anger rippled through her body.  Finally my legs began working and I scrambled to my feet, backing away from her.

             
“You did this!” she repeated again, and something about her forced voice caught my attention.  Her gray eyes changed to an even darker gray and laughter erupted from her bloody mouth.  Then she disappeared.  I collapsed into a heap on the ground, trying to catch my breath and remove her disturbing image from my mind.  As the instinctual terror receded, it changed into a more powerful instinct: survival.  I began to run.  With no way of seeing what was in front of me, I held my arms out in order to avoid running into something.  Or someone. 

             
“Anastasia,” I whirled around at her voice.  The breath caught in my throat as recognition hit.  Her bright red hair was blowing in a nonexistent wind and her eyes were shining with madness. 

             
“Nicolet?  What’s happening?  Why are we here?” I asked, hoping for an ally in this desiccated hell.

             
“You did this,” she glared at me, completely ignoring my questions. 

             
“No-“ I began, but she was quick to step forward and interrupt me.

             
“This is your fault!  If it weren’t for you I’d still be alive!” Crushing guilt slammed into me as I lost my balance and fell to the ground again.

             
“Nicolet, I’m so sorry!” I pleaded.

             
“Liar!” she shouted, suddenly standing over me.  Her green eyes turned dark as she berated me with accusations. “This is all your fault!  You killed me!  You did this...!”

             
On and on she continued screaming at me.  I curled into a ball on the blistered ground and clamped my hands over my ears.  I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, hoping she would go away.  I tried to remember what Finn had taught me about controlling my reveries, but I couldn’t think straight.  I felt helpless to protect myself.

             
Blaring silence filled my ears.  Was she gone?  Or waiting for the opportune moment to murder me?  A crawling panic spread across my chest as I tentatively opened my eyes and looked around.  There was only darkness.  I jumped when something tapped my shoulder and spun me around.

             
“Boo!” Nadia was inches from my face, her dark eyes smiling.  Then I was falling.  Endlessly falling into a bottomless pit of despair and guilt that I hoped I would never wake up from.