Secret Worlds (435 page)

Magic could fix this so
easy
. But that’s what my parents wanted me to choose: magic or trapped forever.

I choose neither.

I waited a few minutes then felt my fingers. They felt okay, nails had even grown back, and so I continued again, picking slowly at the wood. This time was much harder than the first. The wood in the center was more solid and didn’t give away as easily. I worked as hard as I could until my fingers needed to rest. Little progress was made.

Time for a different approach. There was nothing in my pockets, but I did find the end of my zipper on my jacket. I wiggled it back and forth, twisted and pulled until the small metal tab popped off. The end of it would last much longer than my nails.

I started the process again. Hours seemed to pass, possibly even days. When I’d feel hopelessness and panic set in, which it seemed to do every so often, I would go to Eden. Time became irrelevant. That’s how it is with the dead.

Sliver after sliver, the board eventually broke down. With my focus entirely on the task, I failed to notice a small piece of earth when it fell to my face–that is until a handful of dirt broke through. I covered my hands over the hole and turned my head to cough out the dirt that had partially fallen inside my mouth. Then, very carefully, I curled my fingers inside the earth and around the rough wood edges.

With all my might, I pulled the board down. It caved under the pressure like a battered melon, crushing my chest. I didn’t have time to gasp for air before dirt began to fill my nose and mouth. I quickly dug my bare heels into the bottom of the casket and pushed up. My arms reached upwards, moving the dirt out of the way. The top part of my body soon became encased by moist earth, making it extremely difficult to move.

I focused on my legs—the only part of me that could still move as they were still partially beneath the unbroken section of the crudely made casket. I wiggled my feet under me, and with my knees bent, I propelled myself toward the surface and my freedom. My hope was that I was in a shallow grave.

My hands broke through to the cool surface above, but just barely. I tried to use my legs, but now they too were encased by the impacted earth. My hands, not far out enough to render any assistance, wiggled uselessly.

The earth’s grip tightened around me like a boa constrictor. I tried to inhale any last remains of air, but dirt rushed into my throat. As my mind burst into dark reds and blacks of impending unconsciousness, I thought of Him. I relaxed my body and pictured the vampire in my mind. I would take him to Eden, I decided. He would fit nicely there.

I was almost to Eden when something took hold of my hand and lifted me out of the collapsed grave. Night air rushed at my face, and I tried to breathe it in but only choked further. A hand clasped my chin and tilted back my head. Cold fingers reached into my mouth and scooped out the majority of the chalky dirt. After several coughs, my lungs finally filled with air.

I struggled to sit up but collapsed to the ground, exhausted. A man’s legs stepped away from me and toward a tree. He appeared to be leaning against it, but I couldn’t be sure as I was too tired to move the matted hair out of my eyes.

I breathed quietly, trying to ascertain my surroundings with what little view I had. I appeared to be in a forest with thick vegetation all around. It must’ve been a full moon because the bright lunar light cast ghostlike shadows all around me. I wondered about the stranger who stood not far from me.

Breaking the silence, the man spoke in a heavy English accent. “That happened to me once.”

“What?” I asked. The word hurt my raw throat.

“Being buried alive. It was a wretched experience.”

When I said nothing, the stranger spoke again, “My name is Charlie, Alarica.”

I winced at the sound of my former name. “That’s not my name.”

“Then would you be so kind to tell me what your name is?” he asked.

I hesitated, not sure if I should give him my real name. Whoever this was, there was a good chance my parents had sent him to watch over the grave, which meant he already knew my name. “Eve. There is no Alarica.”

“How can I be sure?”

My brows furrowed. Wouldn’t someone sent by my parents know that I didn’t have the necklace anymore? They did put me in this grave, after all. But if we weren’t related, how else could he have found me? I chose not to answer him, but instead asked my own question. “What day is it?”

The man’s jacket scraped against the tree as he lowered himself to the ground. “Tuesday.”

“No, the actual date,” I said.

“April 15th. How long have you been in there?”

I swallowed hard, which made my throat hurt even more. That meant I’d been in that hole for almost two weeks. A wave of nausea washed over me. “How did you find me?”

“Your mother told me—sort of.” He chuckled to himself.

“To save me or kill me?”

“Neither, actually,” he said.

“Then why would she tell you where I’m at?

He hesitated. “She didn’t verbally tell me.”

“I don’t understand.”

Charlie clicked his tongue. “Basically, I read her mind. It took some time and some
special
convincing, but eventually her thoughts gave your location away. How did they capture you anyway?”

I lifted my hand and swept the hair away from my face, giving me a clear view of Charlie. Even though he was sitting down, I could tell he was tall by the way his crossed legs stretched across the ground. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and had curly brown hair that was long on top and short on the sides. Tight curls dropped below his eyebrows and into his almond shaped, green eyes. He watched me, his expression full of concern.

But appearances could be deceiving.

I knew men like Charlie. They were excellent manipulators. “If you can read minds,” I said, “why don’t you just read mine and leave me alone.”

“I only use my abilities when I have no other choice. So far you have been most cooperative.”

“So if I stop answering your questions, you’re going to violate my privacy with your mind-reading skills?”

Charlie’s expression turned cold. “I will do whatever necessary to be sure you will not hurt anyone ever again. It’s not about me or you; it’s about innocent lives—innocent people that
you
killed.”

His rebuke stunned me. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just not used to people doing things other than for themselves.”

Charlie’s warm smile returned. “There is much for you to learn about people and the good they are capable of. I’m afraid your parents skipped this important life lesson.”

I remained silent, too ashamed to speak again.

“Don’t worry,” he said as if sensing my thoughts. “It will take a long time, if not years, for you to learn to trust others. You can’t undo a lifetime of abuse in one day. But the most important thing you must remember, Eve, is that you are no longer a victim. They have no more power over you unless you let them.”

“And how do I know I can trust you?”

“Easy.” He jumped to his feet and came toward me. I cowered, unsure what he was going to do next. He raised his unarmed hands. “Don’t be scared. I just want you to touch my hand. I’m going to open my mind to you so you can see my true intensions, okay?”

I nodded.

Charlie lowered his right hand and held it toward me. It took effort, but I managed to raise my arm and touch the back of his hand. A sudden flash illuminated my mind and within that light there were thousands of pictures, layers upon layers of Charlie’s memories: his first lost tooth, the Christmas were he got his first bike, his first kiss. The memories came so fast that I barely recognized most of them, but I did learn something. Charlie was one of the good guys. His whole life was filled with laughter, kindness, and love, so unlike my own.

Satisfied, I withdrew my hand and asked, “How do you know so many things about me?”

Charlie returned to his place against the tree. “Partly my psychic ability and the other part through our connections with different people. You’d be surprised what I’m able to find out about a person.”

I bit the inside of my lip and averted my gaze. Moonlight broke through the tree branches and encased me in its light. I wasn’t used to being in the light. If I were stronger, I would’ve slid into the shadows.

I moved my hand beneath my chest and pushed down on the ground, forcing my body upright. Charlie moved to help, but I raised my hand to stop him. I slowly maneuvered myself into a sitting position.

“Can I ask how you ended up in this predicament?” he asked, his gaze lowering to the collapsed grave.

“My parents captured me as I was running away. I thought they’d believe I was dead and not try to find me, but I was wrong.” I paused at the sudden pain in my chest. Liane’s betrayal was almost worse than being buried alive.

“Why would they think you were dead?”

“A fire burned my house down. I was hoping they’d think I was in it at the time, but they obviously didn’t. They found me and gave me something that knocked me out. And when I came to, I was in there.” I motioned my head to the hole next to me.

“What happened to Alarica?”

“A vampire destroyed her. He tore this necklace from my, I mean, Alarica’s neck. It was controlling me.”

Charlie frowned.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s odd that a vampire, who doesn’t work for us, would do something like that and then not kill you.”

“Work for you?”

“I guess I should explain who I am and the company I work for.” Charlie brought his knees to his chest. “There’s so much to explain, I don’t know where to begin.” He sat for a minute and then continued, “Have you heard of the Deific?”

I said nothing.

“No, I guess you wouldn’t have, considering who your parents are,” he said.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. I had heard the word “Deific” before. It was the only word my parents had forbade me to use. When I was ten, I’d said it after overhearing the word used by a guest of my parents. I’d asked my mother what it meant, and instead of answering, she grabbed me with inhuman strength and dragged me to the cellar where I remained locked up in the dark for days with only dirty water from a broken pipe to sustain me.

When my parents finally released me, they lectured me for hours on how that word was not to be used ever in their house, all the while a large feast of chicken and potatoes sat untouched behind them. I eagerly agreed to anything they said just to have one bite, but when they finished their lecture, they whipped me three times and gave me stale bread to eat instead. I never said the word “Deific” again.

“The Deific,” Charlie began, but stopped and looked at me sitting awkwardly on the ground. My arms were shaking just trying to hold up my body. “Why don’t we go somewhere more comfortable and then I’ll tell you everything.”

I shook my head. “I want to know now.”

“If you insist, but I’m going to keep it brief. You obviously need food and a lot of rest.” He straightened his legs again.

“The Deific is a secret organization created several hundred years ago. We have one purpose: to bring balance between good and evil. Whenever evil, regardless of what form it comes in, becomes too great, the Deific steps in. It doesn’t matter if the evil is human, witch, monster, demon, or vampire, the Deific always right the balance by any means necessary. And that is why I am here. We discovered that a witch named Alarica was the cause all the recent fires, the ones that have killed a lot people. We’d never heard of a witch named Alarica so we were very concerned.”

“Did you come here to kill me?” If he had tried in that moment, I don’t think I would’ve stopped him. It was what I deserved, wasn’t it?

“I came here to kill Alarica, but you just informed me that you are Eve. We’ve never had concerns for the daughter of Sable Whitmore and Erik Segur, though I must admit when you were born, we were worried.” Charlie furrowed his brow. “By the way, how did you become Alarica?”

“It wasn’t by choice. It was my parents and—Boaz,” I could barely say his name.

His eyes grew big. “Say that again?”

In a louder voice, I said, “Boaz.”

“I know this may be difficult for you, but I must know more about this Boaz.” Charlie’s tone was hard, yet he managed to keep his expression gentle, encouraging me with a small smile.

I breathed in deeply to relieve the pressure on my chest, and then said, “He was a vampire. My parents introduced him to me when I turned eighteen, almost a year ago.”
Had it only been that long?

Charlie leaned forward. “What does he look like?”

I groaned, his image still fresh in my mind. If only I could forget his face, but he refused to be stuffed into the confines of my mind with the rest of my past, leaving me with a constant reminder of who I was and what I’d done. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Please, it’s very important.”

“He had long black hair and dark green eyes,” I blurted.

“No offense, but you just described ninety percent of vampires.”

My muscles tensed. “You don’t know what you ask. You couldn’t possibly…” I forced myself to calm down. Boaz was gone, so what did it matter? Why was I getting so upset? I met Charlie’s gaze and said, “He had a tattoo of a snake on his forearm.”

Charlie reared back. “It can’t be.”

“Why?”

He was talking to himself, but too quietly for me to make out any of the words.

“What’s wrong?”

Charlie stopped mumbling and looked up at me as if he was surprised to still see me there. He cleared his throat. “That’s the thing, Eve. That vampire, Boaz…he was already dead.”

“What do you mean, he was already dead?” I pressed. “Because he’s a vampire?”

“No,” Charlie said. “We killed him once before. If what you are saying is true, he came back. Are you sure you have his description right?”

I swallowed around the tightness building in my throat. He’d been killed before, and didn’t really die. What if he came back again?

“Eve?” Charlie said, waving his hand to catch my attention again. “I said, are you sure you described him right?”