Chapter 29
It was too dark--I had to be dead. I panicked, thinking how completely and one hundred percent stupid it was for me to believe that a note left on my bed and a talk-show-host voice would give me the correct way to get inside the mapping ball. Go find the Purple Flame, go erase the death marks, what had I been thinking?
But then, I realized that my eyes were just closed, and when I opened them up, I was dazzled by the most beautiful sight. And I’m not talking about Alex. Stars. Yes, stars, sparkling beneath my feet like diamonds.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered in amazement. But my amazement quickly vanished as the comprehension of not having any idea of what I was doing draped over me.
I walked across the stars, my heart sinking in despair.
“What am I supposed to do?”
As if answering me, one of the stars, right in front of my feet, flickered. I jumped back as it lit up against the darkness like a movie screen. On the screen was a man probably about twenty years-old with dark brown hair and violet eyes—my dad. He was talking to an older woman with long red hair, wearing a perfectly pressed tan dress…it was Sophia.
“Well, I don’t see how that would be possible,” Sophia said to my father as they walked up the hill toward the Keeper’s castle. “Jocelyn’s too busy with things. She’s supposed to be taking her Keeper’s test soon.”
“I understand your concern.” My dad tried to dazzle her with a charming smile. “But I promise you, I won’t keep her out that long.”
Sophia, unaffected by my dad’s charm, fixed him with a stern gaze—a gaze I have seen many times. “Well, I’ll have to think about it and discuss it with her father.” My father smiled, his violet eyes shining like jewels in the sunlight. “That’s all I’m asking.”
Sophia gave him a nod and walked away leaving him on the hill. My father picked up a rock and threw it into the lake, making the dark blue water ripple. He looked happy, not like someone who had—or would be the cause of the world ending in ice and death.
The scene dulled away and dropped back into the star.
Not the vision I was looking for, but it was interesting to see my dad, just a normal guy, wanting to ask my mom out.
Another star lit up, ill uminating the darkness with another screen. My father, still twenty-something years-old, sat next to a woman with dark brown hair and bright blue irises—my mom. They were in what looked like the corner of a library, huddled together, a stack of books piled at their feet.
“I still don’t understand why you have to help him,” my mother said to my father in a low voice.
My father took her hands in his. “Everything will be okay.
I’ll help Stephan and he assured me that we can be together if I do—that your parents won’t have any problems with us wanting to get married.”
My mother looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t. “Julian, please don’t do this.”
“It’ll be alright.” My dad held her face in his hands.
“Stephan just needs my help with something and then this will all be over.”
She swallowed hard, and again she looked like she wanted to say something. “But, help with what? Has he even told you?”
He shook his head. “He hasn’t, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.” My mother scratched at her wrist, right where the Mark of Malefiscus marked her skin. But her long-sleeved white shirt covered it up and I wondered if my father knew it was there. She kept scratching and scratching at it like she was trying to scratch it away.
“Please, don’t go, Julian,” she begged “I’m begging you not to.”
My father pressed his lips together and leaned in to kiss her. “I have to, otherwise, I’ll never have this.” I let out a shaky breath as the picture faded back into the star. They seemed so normal and in love, not evil, not marked with the Mark of Malefiscus, not about to end the world.
I moved on to the next star and waited for it to light up.
But when the screen blazed across the blackness, my body tensed up. Stephan, dressed all in black sitting at a long mahogany table. Across from him, was my dad. His arms were resting on the table, the sleeves of his dark blue shirt rolled up revealing that his arms and wrists were free of marks.
“I have to say, Julian, I’m surprised you showed up.” Stephan’s grin was as evil as ever. “Jocelyn must mean a lot to you.”
My dad shifted in the chair uneasily. “Is it true you can create marks? Can you really mark me as a Keeper?” That’s what he wanted. He wanted Stephan to make him a Keeper. He hadn’t mentioned this to my mom. Why had he kept it a secret?
“Hmmm….” Stephan traced his finger across the scar on his face. “Is it true there’s a way for a Foreseer to change a vision?”
My dad’s face fell. “”I-I don’t think so.” Stephan leaned toward my father, his fingernails digging into the wood as he pressed his hands firmly into the table.
“You know what I hate more than anything, Julian? People who lie. I can’t stand liars.”
And that coming from the mouth of the biggest one I’ve ever met.
“I’m not lying, sir,” my dad said with an uneasiness that gave away his lie.
Something flashed in Stephan’s dark eyes that made me cringe. “I understand there are rules Foreseers have that forbid you to tell me what I ask.” He pushed back from the chair and walked around to the other side of the table, towering above my father. “Give me your arm, Julian.”
“What?” My father gaped up at Stephan. “Why do you need my arm?”
“Give. Me. Your. Arm.” Stephan repeated in a calm, but firm tone.
My dad let out a loud breath and held out his arm.
Stephan pulled a knife from his pocket and with one swift movement, stabbed it into my father’s arm. “Vos es venalicium.”
My dad let out a cry of pain, his fingers moving for the knife. But it was too late; a mark had already burned into his wrist. Blood seeped out of his pale skin and dripped onto the stone floor. My dad pressed his hand down on the wound. “Why did you…I don’t understand,” he stammered.
Stephan tossed the knife onto the table, the blade stained red with my father’s blood. “Now you have no choice but to help me.”
My father clenched his jaw in pain, lifted his blood soaked hand away from his arm and gasped.
So did I.
A black triangle tracing a red symbol marked his wrist.
The Mark of Malefiscus.
“But you said you would give me the Keeper’s mark.” My father raised his marked wrist. “What is this?” Stephan grinned wickedly. “Oh, you’ll soon find out.” The light faded away into the star, and I sank to the blackened ground, sitting on the stars, trying to keep it together. My mother lied. My father didn’t want power. He wanted to be with her. He thought he was becoming a Keeper. Why would my mom lie about this? Or did she not know the truth? Was the only story she knew from Stephan?
I shook my head. The man had ruined way too many lives. I stood up, filled with the determination to fix it. But there were so many stars…it could take forever. I needed a way to figure out which one held the right memory.
Think, Gemma, think.
I shifted through my memories, trying to think of something—anything that was mentioned that might help.
Both Nicholas and my dad had said something about my mind having the answers, but right now, my mind seemed as blank as a sheet of paper.
I gazed at all the stars….if I could just see which one I…
needed. Oh my word. I jumped to my feet and focused on not seeing the stars, but seeing the star; the one that held the memory of my dad changing the vision. The stars began to sparkle as if they were playing a silent melody of color and light. Then, suddenly, a silver cloud rose up from the ground. I jumped back as it slithered across the stars like a magical snake, heading into the darkness.
Was that my answer?
I chased after it as it weaved around stars, until it finally came to a stop above one; a purple one that shined brighter than all the other stars near it. The magical snake swooped up into the air and swan dived down into the star.
I held my breath, waiting for the screen to light up, but there was nothing. No light. No movie clip.
I leaned over the star, trying to see what was inside it. But the only thing I could see was a faint purple light emitting from the center of it. Hesitantly, I touched my finger to the star.
Energy jolted through my body, and the ground shook like an earthquake.
I let out a scream as the floor beneath me collapsed.