Clarity: A Young Adult Paranormal Vampire Romance (Blood Haze Book 4) (4 page)

“Now, try to bring down a cloud,” Liam instructed. “Any kind of cloud.”

“How about a fluffy little white one shaped like a mouse?” I joked.

“Alice,” he warned me.

“Alright, alright,” I sighed.

My mind focused on summoning a cloud. I concentrated harder and harder, I could feel the storm building inside my brain, dark and thunderous. I slowly became lost inside my head, and a pulsing, angry darkness began to claim me, pulling me inward as I slowly began to implode upon myself.

A blinding flash and an electrifying zap sent me splaying onto my backside, sliding me against the wall with a thud that nearly knocked me senseless. I could almost feel the t
iny bluebirds swarming around my head, mocking me with their incessant peeping. The spot where I’d been standing smoldered as a plume of smoke rose from within a crater in the floor. I touched my head, and I could feel my hair frizzed and standing on end.

“What… happened?” I asked.

Liam stood above me, his face clouded with worry. I swatted at the invisible cheeping birds, and Liam bent down to examine me.

“Are you alright?” he asked cautiously.

“Damned birds!” I cursed, slapping at one.

“What the hell? Al
ice! Are you ok?” he shouted.

I popped back into reality and stared at him blankly. His concern seeped from his pores, and I realized what had happened.

“I guess I was hallucinating,” I admitted. “I saw… never mind. It’s stupid.”

“What?” he demanded.

“It’s embarrassing!” I don’t know why I whispered, given we were the only people in the room.

“What did you see, Alice?”

“You know how in cartoons you see people get nearly knocked out and there are tweeting birds orbiting their heads?” I asked.

He nodded.

“I could have sworn I saw those stupid birds.”

Liam stared at me with his eyes bulging. Then his lip twitched. He snorted. Then he fell back onto the floor, gripping his sides and howling with laugher.

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered.

“Oh… my… god…
Hahahahahaha!” he laughed and laughed, having a great joke at my expense. I didn’t think it was funny.

As usual, Alexi managed to pop in at just the right moment. Seeing his brother dissolving into hysterics while I was lying on the floor like a ragdoll with singed hair
frizzed about my head, Alexi shook his head.

“Should I even ask what happened?” he groaned.

“Alice… saw… birds!” Liam gasped breathlessly, continuing to laugh his fool head into oblivion. And it could stay there, for all I cared.

“Birds?” Alexi questioned.

I knew he’d require an explanation. Alexi always did. So I very reluctantly explained the situation.

“I was trying to control the weather,” I said. “I felt this awful darkness inside me, like I was just crushing in on myself. Then I got knocked across the
room by… I guess it was lightning. And I could have sworn I saw those tiny little cartoon birds chirping around my head.”

“Birds,” Alexi muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. Then his face grew grave. “Alice, this concerns me. That feeling you mentione
d of feeling like you were crushing in upon yourself – it sounds a lot like the darkness is still inside you. Now that you’ve started hallucinating…”

“What?” I urged him.

“I am afraid you may still have that darkness lurking inside you,” he said. “I knew I never should have allowed you to have anything to do with dark magic.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said gently, pulling myself into a wobbly standing position. “I shouldn’t have pushed for it. I knew nothing about it.”

“That is precisely why I should have stopped you,” he said. “You knew nothing about it, and yet I allowed you to participate. This is my fault.”

Liam had stopped laughing. Now he was standing beside me, staring at me as if I had bubonic plague or I’d grown another head.

“Oh, god, Liam,
what?
” I growled at him in exasperation.

“I’m afraid Alexi may be might,” he said. “I should have seen it. Just before the lightning struck, you looked possessed. Your eyes had this blankness, and then they got all creepy with this evil look. Next thing I know y
ou’re hallucinating. That’s a classic sign of dark magic taking over.”

“Nonsense,” I dismissed him. “You’re both overacting. I feel fine.”

It wasn’t entirely true. At the moment I felt mostly normal, aside from a pounding in my temples and a persistent ringing in my ears. But I’d certainly felt something dark swirling inside me just before the lightning bolt.

“I am afraid training must cease for the moment,” Alexi said. “Until we can verify whether or not the darkness is still inside you, I must ask that yo
u not use any type of powers whatsoever.”

“I thought inherent abilities weren’t tied to dark magic,” I said.

“They are not, per se,” Alexi said. “But they are two sides of the same coin. Abilities are a given gift; it’s true. But they are still bound to the world of magic, and they can be enhanced – amplified by dark magic.”

“So you’re saying dark magic could actually intensify my abilities?” I asked. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Alexi shook his head mournfully and said, “Alice, you do not understand. If the darkness begins to enhance your abilities, you may never get it out of you. Because once the darkness and your own abilities, which are a part of you, become linked, it will never leave you.”

It struck me then, with vastly more force than the lightning bol
t. I’d already felt the darkness enhancing my ability to control the weather. It may already be too late. Although he said nothing, I could see that Alexi was already contemplating that very possibility.

“What if…” I started to say.

Alexi’s hand shot into the air, warning me not to speak it aloud. I closed my mouth and retreated. I glanced at Liam, who looked too dumbfounded to totally grasp the situation, but I knew it would soon come to him.

Great. Now I was completely useless. If I couldn’t use my abilit
ies – if I couldn’t practice them – I was nothing more than a useless paperweight. No, I was worse. I was a giant boulder strapped upon their shoulders, weighting them down. I was dead weight they were forced to carry, with no real purpose.

Was my whole life a lie? Just as I had finally begun to feel a sense of purpose, it was all ripped away in an instant.

“Please do not use any of your abilities until we figure this out,” Alexi said to me. “I implore you to listen to me this time before you get yourself even further into trouble.”

My cheeks flamed at the implication. I knew I was impetuous and strong-willed, but to hear Alexi say it was infuriating.

Liam shook his head almost imperceptibly as if to warn me not to argue with Alexi. I gritted my teeth and dug my fingernails into my palm, but I remained silent.

“Watch her,” Alexi directed at Liam, and then he swept from the room like a gust of wind.

“Do you really think…” I started to ask Liam.

He too threw up a hand. It was if they thought spe
aking it would bring it into being. But I had a chilling feeling that refusing to talk about it might be the worst thing we could do. The darkness was inside me. I could feel it lurking, now. It was just the tiniest flicker, but I knew that spark could ignite at any moment. I only hoped those around me weren’t the ones who got burned.

I had begun to feel caged. I was watched at every moment, not only for my own safety, but also for everyone else’s. This darkness that lurked inside me could explode at any moment, and they weren’t taking any chances.

Depression gripped me. I was helpless, guarded, and suffering from the worst case of cabin fever one could imagine. I truly was a prisoner in my own home, and
there was little I could do but eat, sleep, and worry.

I developed the habit of pacing. I would pace back and forth by the windows like a caged animal longing for a taste of freedom. The leaves had begun to fade from green to shades of brown, gold and burn
ished orange. Autumn was upon us; it was my favorite season. Along, perhaps, with winter. I so longed to breathe in the musky scent of damp leaves and spice that wafted on the air outside. I longed to hear the rustle of the leaves being blown across the yard, to see them fluttering lightly to the ground around me as a breeze gusted through the trees and sent the loosest ones scattering.

They might as well have locked me into a cell and thrown away the key.

It’s hard to explain the feeling of loneliness that hung over me. I was never left alone, not even for a moment. I was escorted to the bathroom like a prisoner, with someone standing guard outside the door at all times. I was herded about the compound like livestock. I was never alone, but I was lonely.

M
ax and Denise were in their own little world. Alexi was busy making plans with Father Franco, and he’d never let me know what they might be. Even Liam had grown distant. He hardly spoke a word.

When Jamie and my brother showed up, it was like a breath of f
resh air. Finally I had someone to talk to!

The moment they walked through the door, I could sense them. I dashed from the study and into the grand foyer, and our eyes all lit up with familiarity. Jamie beamed proudly, and I rushed to her and caged her in
an embrace that left her coughing for air.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see the two of you!” I shrieked.

“Gosh, Alice, it’s been too long!” Jamie cried.

Will dropped their luggage onto the floor and swept me off my feet, swinging me around in a circ
le before setting me down, dizzy.

“Hey, kid! You’ve grown up!” Will said, looking me up and down.

“It hasn’t been
that
long!” I teased him. “So what brings you two around?”

“We’ve come to help, of course,” Will said.

“Help. With what?” I asked.

“Dmitri. Du
h,” Will said.

“But… I mean, not to be mean, but… you guys don’t have any powers or anything,” I muttered.

“Gee, thanks,” Jamie said.

I’d totally forgotten how brave she’d been in our last battle against Dmitri and his wraiths, and how she’d finished the
recitation of the exorcism and helped save us all. Now I had belittled her simply because she had no special abilities.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “You’ve always been very helpful. That was stupid of me to say.”

“It’s ok, Alice,” she said quietly. “I know I can’t do all the fancy things you guys do, but I can help if only you’ll let me.”

“And you,” I said to Will. “We need to figure out something you can do.”

His ears reddened, and he said, “I’ve actually discovered that I have an ability, too.”

“What?
” I gasped. “Why are you just now telling me?”

“Well, it’s not much,” he said. “But I can move things with my mind.”

“Like Liam?” I asked.

“No, not like Liam,” he said. “I can’t move big objects, and I can’t move stuff with force, but I can manipulate smal
l objects. Like, I can unlock a door without a key, for example.”

“That’s great!” I said, squeezing his shoulders. “I never knew you had an ability! How did you discover it.
”

“Don’t tell her, Will,” Jamie begged.

“Alice is family,” Will told her gently. “You know she won’t tell anyone, and she won’t laugh.”

“Fine,” she muttered, dropping her head in shame.

“She somehow managed to lock herself in the bathroom,” he whispered, leaning in close. “She realized she had no toilet paper in there with her and she started crying, and Mother was supposed to be coming to visit soon, and I knew I had to get her out of there. So I just looked down at the lock kind of helpless and it just opened.”

“Wow!” I gasped. “That’s so cool.”

“You think so?” Will asked. “I thought it was kind of silly.”

“No, that could be really helpful,” I encouraged him.

Will looked skeptical. “I don’t know, it’s just a parlor trick, really,” he said.”

“You could help people escape from captivity, get into locked rooms, all kind of stuff. We
really need someone like that. I’m serious!” I said. “Maybe Liam can help you practice. He was helping me train before…” I froze.

“Before what?” Will prodded me.

“Never mind,” I said. “Are you guys hungry? It’s almost lunchtime and Alexi forces me to eat  at certain times, and I’d love the company.”

“I’m famished,” Will said.

“Can I see the kitchen?” Jamie asked.

“Sure, but why?” I asked her.

“Jamie’s really gotten into cooking lately,” Will said. “She wants to be a chef.”

“Jamie, that’s great!” I told her.
“Let me take you into the kitchen and show you around. I’ve only been back there once, but it’s got all the equipment you could ever hope for!”

“Speaking of that,” Liam said from his watchful spot near the stairs, where he’d been silently guarding me. “It
is
time for you to eat, Alice.”

The cooks weren’t exactly thrilled that I’d brought an interloper into their kitchen, and even less so when I declared that Jamie would be preparing our lunch. But they could hardly argue with the Chancellor. It was the
first time I’d felt a little bit of power in ages.

Jamie turned out to be a fabulous cook. She made us a spectacular lunch of Thai food, including a spicy noodle soup that contained shrimp and cilantro, and chicken and vegetables in a coconut curry sauce s
erved on top of steamed jasmine rice that left me actually wanting more. I hadn’t enjoyed a meal like that in so long.

“Jamie, will you cook for us more often?” I asked her.

“Won’t the cooks mind?” she asked.

“Who cares? If they could cook like this I woul
dn’t have to ask you to!” I said. “Please, Jamie. I’m begging you. Alexi forces me to eat, even when I’m not hungry, and the only way I can bear it is if you’re the one cooking. You don’t have to cook for everyone, just me.” Will nudged me, and I added, “And Will, of course.”

Even Liam agreed, saying, “I hope I’m included, because the last time I tasted Thai food this delicious was when my mother took me to Phuket when I was thirteen. It’s insanely good.”

Jamie’s cheeks flushed, and she said, “If you all like it that much, I’d be happy to cook for you.”

I squealed and squeezed her tight, and she smiled. She was always so eager to please. It was no wonder Will loved her. I loved her, too.

“I’ll wash the dishes,” she said, standing up and taking my plate away.

“Don’t be silly!” I told her. “Let the guys in the kitchen do it. We always just put our stuff in the window. It’s their job.”

“I cooked, so I clean,” Jamie chastised me. “That’s how it works. They let me use their kitchen so generously. I wouldn’t dream of just leaving it in a mess.”

“Point taken,” I said. Then I asked Will, “While I help Jamie in the kitchen, why don’t you go downstairs with Liam and work on your ability?”

“You know I can’t leave you,” Liam said.

“I’m only going to be helping Jamie wash
dishes,” I told him. “I’ll be fine.”

“Alexi would flip out,” Liam said. “How about we all wash dishes so they get done faster, and then we’ll all go downstairs?”

I shrugged and said. “Fair enough.”

We made quick work of the kitchen and left it even cleaner
than it had been before. Seeing we’d taken care of the dishes appeased the cooks. I guess they were relieved they hadn’t had to clean up someone else’s mess. I knew they wouldn’t give us any trouble when Jamie wanted to cook in the future.

Once downstairs
, Liam took us into a room near the end of the hall. It contained a bunch of chests, most locked with ancient looking padlocks, and some with newer combination locks. There were also several safes and locked cabinets.

“What is this place?” I asked.

“Treasure room,” Liam explained. “Nothing is particularly valuable, but a lot of it is old and rare. Some of it is sentimental. And some of it is… well, let’s not get into that.”

“Get into what?” I pressed him.

“Some of it’s dangerous, ok?” he whispered. “But it’s all hidden among the junk, so untrained eyes wouldn’t know what to look for.”

“I see,” I said, my curiosity sufficiently aroused.

“Don’t get any ideas,” he said quickly. “Alexi knows exactly where every single item is, and if it’s touched, he will know.”

“I wasn’t going to touch anything,” I groaned.

“Really?” he challenged me.

“Ok, fine, I was going to touch stuff, but I wasn’t going to do anything with any of it,” I admitted.

“Anyway,” Liam sighed, turning to Will. “Ready to work on your ability? All these locks work differently, so you can practice on different types and difficulties.”

Will shrugged and said, “I’ve really only done this a couple of times. I don’t even know if I can do it unless it’s an emergency.”

“Just try,” Liam said. “Concentrate.”

I motioned to a bench against the wall, and Jamie and I quietly slid onto it to watch. Will stood before one of the older padlocks and stared at it, trying to open it. Nothing happened, and he exhaled sharply.

“Don’t hold your breath,” Liam said. “People think holding your breath helps concentration, but it only saps your energy. Breathe in through your nose, and then out through your mouth. Slowly. Try again.”

Will nodded and started breathing slowly and deliberately. I could see his shoulders rising and
falling as he concentrated. The lock rattled slightly. Then it rattled again. Finally it popped open and hung swinging in its loop.

“Great job!” I shouted, clapping wildly. Jamie joined in my applause.

Will took a dramatic bow, smiling proudly, but Liam wasn’t so eager.

“All right, enough theatrics,” Liam said. “Let’s try a harder lock.” He pulled Will over to a chest using a newer looking combination lock. “Try this one.”

I could see that Will was struggling with this one. The lock barely jittered as the knob wiggled back and forth. He couldn’t seem to get the knob to turn in a single direction. Will squinted at the lock, pressing his fingers to his temples. He was breathing harder and faster. Nothing.

“Damn!” he cursed, and the lock suddenly shattered and
clattered in pieces to the ground.

“Well, that’s one way of doing it,” Liam said.

Jamie and I only stared with our mouths hanging open like idiots. Will, too, stared in awe at the pieces of the lock on the floor.

“How did that happen?” Will wondered aloud
.

“Emotion,” Liam answered. “You said you didn’t know if you could do it if it wasn’t an emergency. That’s because emotion amplifies powers. Fear, frustration, anger, hate, love, lust… emotions like these are extremely powerful.”

“I was frustrated, that’s for sure,” Will admitted.

“You see, that’s why training is so important,” Liam told him. “You must learn to control both your emotions and your abilities. Otherwise, you could have disastrous results. I only wish you and Alice had come to the Council earli
er. Most vampire children start learning to control any abilities they have at a very young age.”

“Well, we’re here now,” Will
said. “We’ll just have to train longer and harder to catch up. Right, Alice?”

Will turned to me, and I could see in his eyes that
he instantly regretted saying it. He tried to mutter an apology.

“Forget it,” I said. “Just concentrate on your own ability. I’ll be fine.”

Truth be told, I wasn’t fine. I was still a hopeless wreck, devoid, once again, of any purpose. Why was I here if I couldn’t help the people I loved? I wanted so badly to be training my own abilities. Why hadn’t I just listened to Alexi and stayed away from all the dark magic crap? Ugh. Leave it to me to screw everything up when I was only trying to help.

I needed some
time – time to think, time to relax, time to just figure out what it was I needed to do.

As the others concentrated on Will’s ability, I quietly slipped out the door unnoticed and headed down the long corridor to another classroom by myself.

Once inside, I realized this was a room I’d never before entered. It was devoid of furniture, but housed a massive violet crystal suspended from the ceiling via a metallic cord that was wrapped around its top. It hung over a jewel-encrusted stand, and it hummed and began to glow as I approached it.