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  The Vessel

  Book Two

  By Felicia Tatum

  Copyright © 2013 Felicia Tatum

  All Rights Reserved

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my mom, Kathy Bale. Thank you so much for all the support, love, and help throughout the years. I couldn’t follow my dream without you. I love you, Mom!

  Scott

  My eyes fluttered open, but a blinding light made me close them again. I reached my hand up and felt something sticky on my head; peeling my lids open, I saw my fingers coated in blood. A groan escaped as I tried to gather my thoughts. I turned my head to the side when a searing pain shot through my temple. Ow . I was on the floor in an unfamiliar place. Broken glass shined all around me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the couch turned on its side.

  I lifted up enough to look around, holding my body on propped elbows. The room was disheveled and looked like burglars had been here. No one was with me. Up on the shelf in front of me, I saw a picture of my Livvie. Oh, no! Now I remembered where I was. I was at her parents’ house and she was gone.

  She had been taken.

  Two and A Half Months Later….

  Olivia

  The air around me was chilly and damp. I couldn’t tell if it was night or day. I’d been counting the days, but I wasn’t sure if I missed any. From my calculations, it was around July or August. Lying flat on a bed, my arms were spread above my head, tied to the headboard. My legs were movable, but not much. A strong rope held my feet together at the ankles. I was under some sort of spell and weaker than ever. I was blindfolded, so I didn’t even know what my captor looked like. I hadn’t seen Scott since the day after the dance. That awful morning would forever be etched in my memory. The morning started off perfectly, with Scott and me waking, tangled in each other and basking in our love….

  My legs were intertwined with his while his arms held me closely. Snuggling closer, I leaned up to kiss his cheek, but he beat me to it, kissing me on the nose. Laughing, I snuggled my face under his chin, breathing his scent in deeply. His fingers traced my spine, sending chills all over my body. I moved my lips to his neck, sucking and biting his skin. He moaned and I straddled him, our bodies hot and wanting each other. His hands moved to my hips, pulling at my skin and moving me closer to him when we were interrupted by a knock at the house door. Both of our heads snapped up, looking in the direction of the knock. His apartment had a door to the outside and one connecting the apartment to his parents’ house so we knew it was a family member.

  “Just a minute,” Scott yelled, pulling on a shirt.

  I was still in his old clothing without a bra on. I wrapped a blanket around me and walked to the living area to sit on the couch, leaving Scott to deal with his guest. I could hear the muffled voices of two males. I leaned my ear closer in their direction, straining to hear what they were saying.

  “Yeah, she’s here…no, it’s fine…yeah…it’s ok…we’re going to her parents’ house soon…yeah,” Scott was saying.

  The other voice was too muffled for me to hear, so it just sounded like gibberish. I stood, glancing in the mirror on the wall, checking my hair and wiping the sleepiness out of my eyes. I heard Scott shuffling through the hall. “Who was that?” I asked as I walked towards him.

  His arms reached for me, and I snuggled into his embrace. “Sebastian. He was being nosy.” He paused in thought, “Which is actually kind of odd behavior for him. He usually doesn’t care.”

  I lifted my face to look into his. “I’m sorry, Scott. It’s obvious you would like a better relationship with him.”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, but not really anything I can do. We need to go talk to your parents.”

  I furrowed my brows and said, “Oookay. Quick change of subject. Is something wrong?”

  He tensed, and I knew something was going on. “No, we forgot about the curse. In all the chaos of yesterday, we somehow forgot about the curse. We’ve met, Livvie! You’re gonna die if we don’t do something. Fast. Soon. Now.” He grasped me tighter as if he thought holding me would make it all better.

  The curse. Die. I had completely forgotten about the curse Scott had on his family. I wasn’t entirely caught up on all the details, but I knew that if we met before October, I would be destined to die on my eighteenth birthday. It wasn’t October. It was only May. Nerves took over, and I began to shake.

  His arms tightened and held me closer. “It’ll be ok, Livvie. I’ll figure something out. I won’t let you die.”

  His voice was full of emotion, and I knew he didn’t know if he believed himself. Tears were surfacing, but I pushed them back, determined to not upset him more. I pulled back, smiled weakly, and nodded. “Let’s eat something so we can go talk to my parents.” I grasped his hand and led him to the kitchen. I rummaged through his cabinets until I found some cereal and poured us both a bowl. We ate in silence so loud it was deafening.

  The car ride to my house was lengthy and nerve wrecking. I didn’t know how they were going to react to Scott…or my attire…or everything that happened last night. They must know something about my supernatural abilities, though, or they wouldn’t have been so secretive with me. I dreaded revealing what I’d done to them. What if…what if they didn’t know anything about it? What if my assumptions were wrong, and I was walking into a situation that would completely shock them? Before I could ponder my questions more, we pulled into my drive.

  The front door stood open, and I instantly knew something wasn’t right. My stomach felt tight, and the hair on the back of my neck was standing up straight. “Scott…something is wrong. My mom and dad would never leave the door open like that.”

  He looked at me quizzically, “Babe, maybe they just came out here or something. Don’t be so jumpy. The Crimson Calamitous is incredibly wounded right now. He can’t hurt you, or them.” He caressed my hand and smiled at me reassuringly. My heart still beat fast, but I tried to calm myself as I stepped out of his truck. Scott was already by my side, his hand gripping mine tightly. I stared straight ahead as we walked.

  When we got to the door, I stepped half-way in and called for my mom. I was answered with silence. I tried my dad. Still nothing. I looked back worriedly at Scott, and he motioned me forward. He didn’t look as calm as before. I walked out of the entryway and gasped in shock at the sight before me.

  The couch was on its side, a table knocked over, and things were broken all over the place. My heart felt like it would fly out of my chest. I pulled away from Scott and ran to the kitchen. I stumbled over various objects in the floor on my way. Every room was a disaster. Panicking, I ran back to Scott and threw my body into his arms. “He got them. He had to have gotten them.”

  Scott smoothed my hair back and lifted my chin so I could face him. “Livvie, there’s no way this is Aiden. He wouldn’t have had time. And the wards were still up before the dance. I didn’t tell Sadie to disable them until after you harmed him.”

  My thoughts jumbled as I tried to figure out the situation. My house was ransacked, and my parents were missing, or so it seemed. Tears welled in my eyes as I surveyed my home. “Scott…”

  He shushed me and said, “Let me go check upstairs and call my grandma. She’ll know what to do. Just stay here.” He kissed my forehead and hurried up the steps.

  I held my hand in front of my mouth and tried to not cry. I was breathing deeply when I heard a shuffle behind me. My back straightened. I wasn’t alone. Before I could yell for Scott or turn to see who it was, someone gagged me and held me so tightly I was defenseless. And this someone was magical, because we were out of my home in an instant.

  I wasn’t sure what all happened, but I was blindfolded in the process. I was thrown into a room. I tried to use the few powers I knew how t
o, but nothing worked. It was like the room was magic-proof or something. I couldn’t burn the ropes off of my hands, speak, or see anything. I was completely useless in rescuing myself.

  The rest of that day was a blur. My captor eventually moved me to another location where he/she liked to keep me tied to the bed or a chair most of the day. My hands were raw from the ropes and my muscles weak from not using them. I was fed twice a day, but never anything good. And I didn’t get to feed myself. Whoever captured me wanted to make sure I didn’t get away, and to keep me at my weakest. He/she was succeeding.

  So today I lay here wondering what Scott was doing. I knew he was looking for me, but did he even know where to begin? What if my captor had an accomplice and Scott was hurt that day? So many questions rolled around in my brain. I wanted to cry but knew it would only make me more lethargic. My head lolled to the side when I heard the door open. I wasn’t gagged anymore, and I usually tried to speak to the captor. “Hey. Are you letting me out? Why won’t you tell me who you are? It’s not like I can tell anyone.”

  Of course, I wasn’t answered. I heard a lot of movement and scraping. It sounded like there was furniture being moved in. Big furniture. I struggled against the headboard, but it was no use. I wasn’t going anywhere. The arranging went on for about fifteen minutes. I heard a sigh and the door shut softly. I was alone. The captor had once again left me. I was letting my thoughts trail when I heard it: the softest of moans. A painful moan. Turns out I wasn’t alone anymore. I had a roommate.

  Aiden

  My body ached with an intense pain. My eyelids were too heavy to open, so I lay still, listening to the fast beating of my heart. My legs felt broken, ribs bruised, and I desperately wished my arms were disconnected from the rest of me. The pain was too much. I didn’t know where I was. I wasn’t even sure who I was. I tried to groan but no sounds would come. Weak and wary, I drifted off into unconsciousness with questions swimming in my mind.

  Scott

  Livvie had been missing for two months and twelve days. I’d never even heard her scream when she was taken. I’d flown down the stairs to find her gone. I was with her less than 24 hours and lost her. I’d been searching ever since. And her parents…I still didn’t know what happened with them. The whole house was a disaster area and there was no sign of them. It could have been a burglary, or a bad business deal, or someone from the magical world. Grandma was looking for clues that led to one or the other, but she kept coming up short. Something very strange was going on with the whole situation.

  I enlisted Juniper and Mark to help me. My whole family were doing all they could. Juniper was a huge asset with her newfound powers. She knew Livvie better than any of us, and having her heightened senses was going to be wonderful if we ever got a lead on her whereabouts.

  All of us were on edge. We couldn’t figure out who would take her. The Crimson Calamitous was injured so badly he wouldn’t be hurting anyone any time soon. So either he was working with someone before, or there was another enemy after us.

  I couldn’t visit her in her dreams. When I tried to espy her, my spirit was sent flying back to my body with such force that I was bruised all over. Whoever held her hostage was magical, and they had her in some sort of protection force field; or they had cast a spell to make connecting with her impossible. I could only imagine how frightened she must feel. I must find her. We had to save her.

  Olivia

  My captor finally spoke in a deep, threatening tone. He came in early this morning and released my hands. He spoke much deeper than was natural, leading me to think he was masking his true voice.

  “Quiet. Don’t make me regret letting you move around freely,” he demanded.

  I was too weak to run as it was. I didn’t need any other bodily harm. I waited until he left to slowly peel the blindfold off my eyes. The light blinded me and I had to squint until I adjusted.

  When I finally pulled myself together, I sat up. Everything around me spun and blurred. I grasped my head in an attempt to stop the movement, but nothing worked. My temples ached and my neck felt too weak to hold me up. I gradually leaned back down to rest, trying not to make myself physically ill.

  I laid in pain when I remembered the groan from yesterday. I looked to the left but there’s only a small window too high for me to look out of. But on my right…I noticed another bed. A body was there, broken and mangled. The chest on the body slowly rose, so I knew whoever this was, was alive. The sight of the injuries made me queasy. The smell of sickness filled the air. This person was lying there, dying.

  I forced my body up and swung my legs over the side. My feet felt weird on the floor. It’d been so long since I walked. I doubted I could move them completely, but I had to try. This person needed help, and I couldn’t just let them die when I might be able to assist. I gripped the side of the bed and stood unsteadily. I paused to let my legs strengthen but they couldn’t. I slid my body down into a sitting position, and rested for a moment. I scooted my body across the floor, slowly inching my way to the other bed. I slid my body, then, rested. My breathing was labored. This required much more energy than I expected.

  Finally, after twenty minutes of moving and stopping, I made my way there. I pulled myself up to my knees, and gasped at the horror in front of me. A broken, tattered body lay in front of me, the face too battered to be recongnizable. The hair was matted in blood and dirt, the clothes torn and frayed. I slowly reached out to touch the limp hand in front of me.

  Warmth.

  This guy was definitely still alive.

  I mustered enough strength to find supplies to help me. I rose unsteadily and leaned against the footboard to regain composure. I looked around to see if there was anything in this room that could help me. I saw a small dresser by the door, so I inched closer. My feet shuffled loudly because I was too weak to actually lift them off the floor. I forced my body, doubling over in pain with each movement. The only thing that kept me moving was knowing I may save this person’s life. As I got closer, I became more and more disoriented. I was about a foot away when I fell forward. Luckily I was able to brace my fall with my hands and the dresser caught me. Panting, I stood for a few moments. My limbs were heavy, and my chest tight. I finally caught my breath enough for the room to stop spinning. Then, I searched the drawers. I found clothing and sheets in the top, towels in the second, the third was locked, and the fourth held the gold. There was a small first aid kit and some gauze laying there. I grabbed it and a towel before I realized it may be too much for me to carry back. I just threw them at the area near the headboard before the return journey.

  When I eventually made my way back to my destination, I’d grown tired from all the movement. Being held captive for so long had made my body unable to function properly. I gingerly cleaned the guy’s hair with water and the towel. I worked carefully to not hurt him when I removed the dirt and dead skin from his face. He didn’t move, but I heard a small groan when I touched his cheek. The more I worked, the faster my heartbeat became. I knew this guy…very well, actually. This broken and mangled body before me was Aiden.

  Aiden

  Someone was touching me, trying to help me. My thoughts weren’t clear because of the horrible ache in my head. I tried to open my eyes, but they were so heavy. I just couldn’t. I heard a gasp and knew my savior was a woman. But why did she gasp? Was something terribly wrong? I gathered my strength and forced my eyes open. The light was so bright I couldn’t make out her face, only a slight shadow hovering over me. I blinked multiple times before my lids completely peeled away so I could see.

  I looked at her when she gasped again, and saw her mouth fall open. The towel fell from her hand, and she covered her mouth. This girl looked terrified. I attempted to move my hand to comfort her, but this caused her to shrink back from me. I saw her body shaking. What was wrong with this girl? She looked sickly. Her hair was a dull red and her skin pale. Hollowed eyes stared at me. She looked so weak that I could hardly believe she was standing. I tri
ed to speak, but all that came out was “uhh.”

  She spoke. “Aiden…” her voice quivered. “Why are…your eyes…why are they blue now? Are you here to kill me?”

  Kill her? What was she talking about? My eyes had always been blue. I just shook my head. I couldn’t speak. This girl knew me, but I wasn’t sure who she was. She seemed scared of me. I didn’t like that. I looked deeply into her eyes. Calmness seemed to wash over her, and she inched back towards me.

  “You aren’t evil right now, are you?”

  I shook my head.

  “What is going on? I wish you could speak. I don’t know what to do. But your eyes…they don’t belong to The Crimson Calamitous.”

  Confusion took over, but before I could signal to her, darkness overcame me.

  Scott

  “Grandma, this isn’t working. Where is Livvie?” I yelled. My fist collided with the table, rattling the bottles it contained. We were once again attempting to find her through a location spell. Sadie had picked up a picture of her and her parents from their living area, and we used that to try and connect with her. We’d done this every day since she’d been missing, but Grandma kept insisting we continue. All it did was frustrate me to no end, because I felt like we weren’t doing anything productive. There would be no chance of breaking the curse if we didn’t find her soon. I couldn’t think about anything but her lovely face.

  Sadie could sense this and spoke up. “Grandma, why don’t we do something else? We’ve tried this over and over again. Maybe we should do some more research. If we could find out who has her…maybe we could find her.”

  “Sadie, this may work. She’s trapped in a magic proof room, but what if she comes out one day? What if that’s the day we don’t try? We must keep working at this,” she said and looked at me. “Patience, little one.”