The Vessel Read online

  Patience. Something that wasn’t happening for me lately. I didn’t know where my Livvie was, or how she was doing. The anxiety was too much for me. I couldn’t sleep or eat for worrying. And Grandma wanted me to be patient. She was a funny lady. “Grandma, you know how wrong and crazy that statement is. I have to do something else. Something productive. I feel like I’m doing absolutely nothing to help my love! Please, tell me another way to search,” I pleaded.

  “Go to my library. There is a book called Evil Sorcerers and their History. It’s about this size,” and she showed me with her hands a book about the size of a small box. “And it’s got a deep red cover on it. There is information about The Crimson Calamitous in there. Maybe you can find something useful. Sadie will stay here to help me.”

  I nodded, and ran to the room. We’d been staying at her house a lot since the taking. I couldn’t bear to be in my apartment for long after having Livvie there. Everything in it reminded me of her. The couch where we had sat and talked…the bed we’d slept in…making pancakes in the kitchen. The memories flooded me every time I stepped inside. Sadie wanted to help, so she stayed with us.

  I looked for the book. It took forever with Grandma’s abundant library. After searching for what seemed like centuries, I located the deep red cover. I hadn’t seen this one before, which was odd, because I’d been through so many of the volumes when researching how to destroy The Crimson Calamitous. The book was heavy and just the size Grandma said it would be. The pages were yellowed from age, and the book smelled musky when I opened it. I flipped through the index until I found the page for The Crimson Calamitous. The section was the largest of all the evil sorcerers.

  The headings were broad, and a bit confusing. “Creation…Enemies…Vessel…Biggest Battles.” My mind was reeling, and I knew I must read every word to sooth myself. It was the only way I would know for certain I researched as much as I possibly could. I sat in the corner of her library and leaned against the wall, settling in for the next few hours.

  Olivia

  My heart still raced from realizing Aiden was in the room with me. Something was different about him, though. The Aiden I knew had dark, stormy gray eyes…but this Aiden had bright blue eyes as deep as the ocean. Something about him seemed…sincere. Maybe it wasn’t really Aiden. Whatever was going on was making my head ache, but I couldn’t worry about it now, I needed to help this guy. He was hurt, and I wasn’t sure if he would survive.

  I laid my hand near his shoulder, to steady myself. He had passed out as I was speaking to him. Even if he was The Crimson Calamitous, I doubted he was any danger to me in this state. Something in the pit of my stomach was telling me to help him, so I was going to. I shook the pillow slightly, to see if he would wake. He moaned softly, and his eyelids fluttered, but didn’t fully open.

  I shuffled back to the dresser to look for more supplies. He needed more first aid than I’d found, but there wasn’t anything here. I made my way to the small bathroom on the other side of the room. I rummaged through the cabinets below the sink but only found some peroxide and antibacterial cream. It was more than I had before so I took it back with me.

  I carefully finished cleaning his wounds. They bled, but not too badly. I poured the peroxide on all the worst looking ones, and then slathered them in the cream. His face looked horrid and like it would scar, so I saved the gauze for it. I wrapped him the best I could after drowning his face in the cleaners. He looked like a mess, his face covered in gauze and his body glistening from the cream. But this would be the only way he may be able to get better. I was afraid infection would set in, so I would need to keep an eye on him.

  I moved to the wall with the small window. It was at least two feet taller than me. Sighing in frustration, I collapsed to the floor. There was no way out, I didn’t know who my captor was, I was stuck in a room with my enemy’s body, but not his eyes, and I was so weak I thought I could sleep for a year. “Oh, Scott, please find me. Save me.” I mumbled before I laid down, falling asleep in the floor.

  Aiden

  I didn’t know how long I’d slept. I was more alert when I woke this time. Something gooey was plastered to my face. I lifted my arm, though it felt too heavy, and pulled off the fabric. It was gauze and medicine. Someone had been trying to heal me. I turned to my left to look for the girl I saw before, but her bed was empty. “Hello?” I croaked out, barely above a whisper. I didn’t get a reply. I was trying to gather my strength to stand when I heard the doorknob moving. My eyes widened in fear, who could that be?

  The door swung open to reveal a younger man. He was tall with brown hair that stuck out in all directions. His face steamed in anger. He barely glanced at me before looking to the floor beneath the window. He slammed the door behind him, walked over, and crouched. The girl must have been over there, because he started talking to someone.

  “What are you doing? You have a bed, so why are you in the floor?”

  She weakly sat up, moving away from him. “I collapsed.” She studied his face, specifically his eyes. “You look familiar. Who are you?”

  He turned sharply, and stood. “No one. I’m no one. Now get up. I don’t want you trying to trick me or something.”

  She braced herself on the wall, and clumsily lifted up. Her hand clutched her stomach as she bent in half. The guy grabbed her by the elbow, and pushed her towards the bed. She caught herself before she fell, but she let out a yelp. Anger overtook me, and I got myself propped on my elbows. “Stop. Can’t you see she’s weak and ill? Why do you have us here?”

  He looked at me with a smirk on his face. “Oh, you’re going to speak up for her, are you? You know she’s the reason you’re burnt all over, right? She did that to you. She caused your pain.” He moved closer to me, his face becoming red and his words angrier. “She wanted you dead. Dead. She almost succeeded. And now she put a little medicine on you and you’re sticking up for her. No wonder you were chosen, such a weakling.”

  I glanced at the girl, and saw she was scared. Her eyes met mine, and I sensed a softness about her. Even with the pale skin, and in her weakened state, I could tell she was beautiful. She was also kind enough to try to help me. There had to be more to the story than what he was saying. He glared at me, and spun on his heel. He unlocked the door so he could leave and was gone. I lay back, exhausted from moving around as much as I did.

  “Aiden?” Her voice was low, trembling.

  “Yes? I’m sorry. I don’t know your name…” I told her.

  “What is going on? At the dance…you killed Juniper, and…and…and you wanted to kill all of my friends, and Scott. Now, here you are, and your eyes are different. You don’t seem to know who I am.” Tears were falling, and she kept sniffling. I didn’t know what to say because I honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

  “I did all of that?” I asked in shock. “I don’t know what happened. Umm, what is your name?”

  “I’m Olivia.”

  “Ok, Olivia. The last thing I remember…I was skiing with my parents. I went down the slope and I started to lose control.” The memories were faded into a jumbled mess. “I think…I think I was headed towards a tree.” I looked over at her, my head shaking, and my hands clenching the blanket. “I don’t remember anything else. Nothing. What happened to me?”

  She swung her legs over the side of the bed to face me. Wiping her nose with a towel, she looked at me with red eyes. “You really don’t remember? I did that to you.” She waved her hands around for emphasis. “You, well your body, killed my best friend. I was so angry that I wanted you to die. I tapped into my powers, and I had flames coming out of my hands. I burned you all over, especially your face and heart.”

  I cut her off, “What do you mean your powers?”

  “I have some weird powers. I can see visions when I touch humans, and I apparently can create fire.”

  “Humans? Are you serious?” I chuckled.

  “Yeah…” She looked at me for a long moment, then, started mumbling
to herself. “I didn’t actually touch him…I used a towel. But my fire power isn’t working in this room…I guess trying wouldn’t hurt.” She jumped up, well moved as fast as she could, and stood beside me. “I need to touch you.”

  I laughed nervously, and asked, “Excuse me?”

  Shocked, she said, “Not like that. I just need my skin to touch yours. Our hands will work.”

  “Ok…go ahead.” I held up my hand so she could take it. When her soft, cold fingers touched mine, a gasp came escaped her lips. Her eyes glassed over, and then she suddenly dropped my hand. Her eyes returned to normal. She kept shaking her head, and paced between our beds.

  “Something weird is happening. I never got the visions before when I touched you, but now I do.” Stopping, she looked deeply in my eyes, “You aren’t the same Aiden. What’s your last name? Is it Cavalier?”

  “Cavalier? No. My last name is Rivers. Aiden Rivers.”

  She looked as shocked as I felt. If what she was telling me was true, someone, or something, had stolen my life and my body. I tried to sit up, but she saw me struggling and helped guide me so I was propped against the pillows. Her eyes looked distant, again, at the initial body contact. “How long have you known me?”

  “Two years. I was a sophomore and you transferred into the junior class. You play football, basketball, and run track. You’re the most popular guy at ARH. You look exactly the same, minus the burns, except for your eyes….” She stared into them, making my stomach a bit jumpy. This girl was gorgeous, and it was impossible not to take notice.

  “My eyes are blue.” I said, feeling stupid as soon as it popped out of my mouth.

  “Yeah, now they are. But they’ve been gray for the past two years. Ask any girl in school; they all obsess over your eyes.”

  The thought of girls falling all over me because of my eye color was strange. Everything she was saying could be classified as strange, though. She apparently had powers, and I was a murderer with color changing eyes. I couldn’t remember the past few years. I didn’t even know what year it was now. I looked up at her, desperate for answers. “You have to tell me everything. I feel lost.”

  She rubbed my arm in soft circles. “I’ll help you, Aiden.”

  Scott

  Juniper and Mark interrupted my studying. I barely got to page five before they came barreling in the door. Juniper possessed an abundance of energy since becoming immortal, and she rushed in the room with it pouring off her. I closed the book in frustration, looking up at them both from my spot in the floor. “Yes?”

  Mark nodded his greeting, while Juniper crouched down in front of me. “Anything?” she asked.

  I shook my head.

  She growled, and straightened. “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know. I’m researching now. I have no idea how to find her.”

  “Aiden has to have her,” Juniper declared as she paced in front of me.

  Mark looked at her with a bewildered look, “Um…aren’t you forgetting something? Liv killed Aiden.”

  “No, she didn’t! There’s no way she’s just all of a sudden found out she has these so called powers, and then killed an evil sorcerer. No way. I don’t care what you two say,” she said, dramatically.

  I sighed, standing up. This was going to be another long afternoon. Hanging around with Livvie’s friends was fun, and a way for me to feel closer to her, but these two bickered about whether or not she killed Aiden every single day. It was old. It was tiring. It was never-ending.

  “Hey, why don’t we see if we can do something productive instead of this what-if conversation again?” I asked, laying my book flat in front of its spot on the shelf.

  Juniper softened. “I’m sorry, Scott. I forget this is hard on you. You barely got any time with her and she disappeared.” Her hand patted my forearm. Her big brown eyes looked at me sadly, and it was more than I could handle.

  “Ok, I can’t talk about this anymore. Sorry, guys. All anyone ever does is talk, talk, talk. I have to do something to actually help Livvie.”

  “Man—“ Mark started, but I quickly stopped him.

  “I’m going to help her. I’ll be back later if you two want to hang around. Grandma and Sadie are in the kitchen.” And with those words, I turned and left them.

  ###

  I’d been back to the community center multiple times over the past couple of months. The room no longer contained the minimal decorations from the dance. The slashed banner was taken down the next day. We-- Sadie, Grandma, Mark, and I—cleaned up the blood and goo right after the confrontation. We left the rest as it was. We couldn’t let anyone know about what happened that night. After some research, Sadie discovered all the dance goers were placed under a spell; no one at the school remembered the date of the spring fling, so no one showed up. It was The Crimson Calamitous’s way of making sure he had us all alone.

  I wasn’t sure why I kept coming back here, though it had been at least a month since I visited. I’d searched, and gathered all of the evidence and clues I could. But something was drawing me back today. I walked to the stage, my eyes scanning the floor for any residue from Aiden, but I saw nothing.

  I glanced around to make sure I was still alone, then, made my way to the backstage area. Aiden had gone back here a few times, though I still didn’t know why. I rummaged through some of the materials and boxes left behind. Most were old scripts from plays the community had put on. There was a long table on the back wall holding the board that controlled all the stage lighting. I walked over and my hand glided over the switches and buttons. I pulled on a few to see if they lifted to reveal a secret compartment. or something. I didn’t really expect anything to happen. And it didn’t…until I pulled on the last section. It lifted slightly, showing the corner of a piece of stationary. My heartbeat sped up and I tugged the paper out. I was careful to not rip it, convinced this was the key to finding my Livvie.

  The paper shook in my hand as I tried to unfold it. The sides slowly peeled out to show a blue sheet of paper with the words: “Thought this was something useful, didn’t you? You’ll never find her. Stop looking.” I screamed in anger and balled the paper up. I threw it out of my hand, and it hit the control box it was nestled under. I fell to the ground, desperately searching for a real clue underneath the table.

  Nothing.

  Anger took over, clouding my judgment at this point. The board was demolished by my shaking hands. Heat poured off of me, thick like mud. Sounds kept escaping my throat, but they sounded more like a wild animal than anything I would make. Someone was watching me search for my love, enjoying my failures, taunting me with tricks. I must find whoever it was. I was beginning to think it was the only way to find Livvie.

  Olivia

  New Aiden was confusing to me. This guy had the face I was so used to seeing, so used to despising, yet he wasn’t the same person. The terror that filled his eyes was enough for my heart to know he wasn’t lying. But how was this possible? How did I not kill him if he’s human? What happens now?

  Knowing that I did this much damage to someone’s body created a sinking feeling in my stomach. I inspected my hands, processing my thoughts. I could easily be a monster. I had been a monster that night. I didn’t think twice before I’d attacked The Crimson Calamitous, and now Aiden was the one suffering. The medicated ointment I’d found was healing him somewhat, but I knew there would be scars on his face. His handsome face that wasn’t so terrifying anymore. I’d come to hate this guy I’d went to school with for the past two years, but it seems like he wasn’t even truly that person. Everything I ever knew was a lie.

  I glanced over at him, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest. I don’t know how he has survived this long. Someone, or something, had saved him for the past few months. Even though it was technically my fault he was in this shape, I knew I had to do everything in my power to help him. To heal him. To save him. He shifted slightly, and a small grunting sound escaped his throat. I sat up straighter, arme
d to dash to his aid if he needed me. He stirred, moaning in pain when he moved his legs. I strode to his side, resting one hand beside his chest and leaning closer. “Aiden? Are you ok?”

  “Mmm.” He murmured.

  I placed my hand on his wrist, ignoring the flashing images playing before me. “Aiden. I’m here. What do you need?”

  His eyes fluttered open, and his pupils adjusted to the light. “Olivia.” He muttered before licking his lips. “Olivia?”

  “Yes, Aiden, I’m here. Are you hurting? What’s going on?”

  “Did…did I dream the conversation, or did it all really happen?” He asked, his voice rimmed with sadness and confusion.

  “It happened. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault you’re in so much pain. I promise I’ll make it up to you. I’ll find out what happened to you. I’ll fix,” –I waved my arms around furiously—“all of this somehow.”

  His eyes widened, and he grasped my hand tightly. “It’s ok. I know something terrible happened. I don’t blame you for my pain, Olivia. I blame whoever stole my life.”

  “Aiden…” I paused, not really knowing how to form the right words. “I want to walk through all this with you again. Maybe, just maybe, I can figure something out. Tell me what the very last memory you have is.” I moved back to my resting area, sitting down to concentrate on his words.

  Aiden

  The way she moved was tantalizing. Her hips swayed in ways I didn’t even think she knew. She distanced herself from me, getting comfortable on her bed across from mine. Her long legs stretched before her. I broke my gaze when her voice intruded on my thoughts.

  “Aiden?” She was asking with a confused look on her face.

  “Yeah?”

  “I asked what the absolute last thing you remember was? Did you hear me?”