Finn had been holding my hand. I looked down at my hand and tried to feel his palm in mine. I closed my eyes, concentrating harder. Warmth. A soothing touch. I could feel it. I squeezed it to make sure I wasn’t imagining things.
“I did it!” I shot up; filled with overwhelming elation, “I did it!” I turned to face him and launched myself into his open arms. Laughing, he tumbled backwards and hugged me back while I continued, “I saw my body! And I saw you! I did like you said and concentrated on my senses to get back to my body. I felt your hand and all of a sudden I was back!”
“Never a doubt in my mind,” he kissed me, and then carefully brought me back down to reality with his soothing words. “Now, let’s see if you can take it one step further.”
I collected myself as much as I could, then sat back down and faced him with eagerness.
“Okay, what’s next, Professor?”
“Next is purposefully going somewhere. We’ll need to pick a place relatively close so that you can practice directing your soul and also coming back to your body at will.”
“Would Bald Head be considered relatively close?” I proposed, but he shook his head in disagreement.
“Let’s start with the yacht. If that goes well, you can try Bald Head.”
“I can live with that,” I conceded. This time as I lay back down and gazed up into Finn’s eyes, relaxing my body came much easier to me. After several minutes, I began to feel the numbness, the dizziness and sinking, and then finally the weightlessness.
Stars. Again. But this time I knew right away. I remembered that the lightness meant I had succeeded in separating from my body. I immediately sat up, glanced down and saw my body lying below me with Finn once again holding my hand. Infused with excitement, I scanned the water in search of the yacht. I could just make out the white hull in the distance. Keeping my eyes locked on the yacht and concentrating on moving towards it, I felt a pull in that general direction. I glanced down to witness the ocean blurring beneath me as I picked up speed. As the yacht began to get closer and closer, I started to panic. How did I slow down? What if I hit the boat? Then what happened?
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to find out as I reached the boat and proceeded to fly right past it. The pull I felt became stronger; holding me hostage and increasing my speed. The dark water below me and the star filled sky above melted together into one continuous blur. I had no idea where I was headed, but I knew one thing for certain: I was no longer in control. My head exploded with pain and the world went completely black.
Chapter 7
I gasped as I took in the spectacle before me. I was precariously perched on the top row of some kind of stone coliseum. At least a thousand people crowded the levels of seats that rose impossibly high into the night air. Seemingly carved out of a mountain, the coliseum encircled the main attraction far below. The modern lights towering above me shone down on the large circle of black that everyone was watching. Cheers and stomping feet filled my ears as I tried to understand what they were so enthralled with. I could see the figures of two men in the circle. They looked like they were fighting, but to be sure I needed to get closer. I carefully made my way down the stone steps nearby, arriving at a lower level that allowed a better view. Before I could focus in on the fighters, my eyes caught on a woman sitting directly across the circle from me. She was crying. Natasha! Beside her sat the same older looking man I had seen that night at the Ball. The one Finn had claimed was just a friend. A cheer rising from the crowd averted my attention back to the fight. The two men were already beaten and bloodied as they continually lunged for each other. Their dark hair shining in the artificial light, they wore only black shorts. Their muscular bodies were tense with the anticipation of their opponent’s next move. One in particular moved with quiet stealth. He was always one step faster than the other; his movements more fluid. His bloody hands were wrapped in a type of brown leather that extended from his fingers to his wrists, sort of like a glove…leather…glove… Finn.
Finn! I squinted in an effort to see past the bruises and swollen eyes. It was definitely Finn. That’s also when I noticed the array of weapons littering the circle; a double blade axe, attached to a handle encrusted in onyx and diamonds being one of them. What was happening? And why was I here?
Another cheer came from the crowd as Finn was able to throw the other man down and reach for his axe. Before he wrapped his hands around the handle, his opponent had jumped to his feet and tackled him on the ground. He raised a silver, menacing sword above Finn’s chest and a collective gasp came from the crowd.
“Stasia! Wake up!”
My eyes flew open and I scrambled to my feet. My heart was beating wildly and I was drenched in sweat. Finn was still sitting on the blanket, watching me with concern.
“I’m not going to watch you die!” I screamed at him. Confusion washed over his face as he stood and walked towards me slowly; somehow knowing the turmoil that was racing through me. He held his hands up.
“I’m not dying, Stasia. I’m fine. See?” He continued taking steps toward me.
“Stop!” I warned him as I tried to catch my breath and still my frantic pulse. He stopped advancing immediately and held his tongue. What had just happened? That wasn’t a reverie. Well it was, before… it was a vision. I let out a ragged breath and dropped to the sand below me in defeat. I closed my eyes.
“No more secrets, Finn. If I’m going to start having visions like that, I need to know what’s going on with you.” I felt his presence in front of me as he sat down on the sand, too. I met his worried gaze.
“What did you see, Stasia?” he prodded carefully; a shadow falling over his features.
“My reverie changed into a vision,” I breathed. “You were fighting. You were in a huge stone coliseum and there were tons of people watching, like it was some kind of sick sport - they were cheering for you to kill each other!” I yelled, exasperated, but his handsome face had turned blurry as the tears collected in my eyes. “Even Natasha was there. And the older man from the Ball.”
His eyes fell to the sand before meeting mine once again; pleading, almost fearful. He reached out slowly, took my hand, and gently ran his finger over my trace. His touch calmed my nerves immediately and I felt the tears finally spill over and roll down my cheeks.
“I can’t tell you everything, Stasia. I wish I could, but I just can’t,” he whispered, and swiped a tear from my cheek. My eyes dropped to my triskellion trace in disappointment as I ran my finger across its swirls, extending all the way to my ring finger.
“I just need to understand. You always tell me I can trust you, but you need to know you can trust me too. It goes both ways. Nothing you tell me will change the way I feel about you. I love you, Finn. Please just tell me something. Anything.”
“I love you too, Stasia. You are everything to me and I never want to lose you. Unfortunately that means having to keep certain things from you. For your safety.”
“I can take care of myself!” I threw at him in desperation.
“I know, I know.” He moved closer, grasping my hand; desperately wanting me to understand, “You’re so strong, Stasia. But there are forces in this world. Evil forces that are almost impossible to overcome. I would never forgive myself if I let anything to happen to you.” The sorrow in his eyes unraveled my resolve.