The Lost Girl (16 page)

“Can you two touch the glass ball, please?” Celeste asked.

We touched the glass ball and waited a minute while Celeste sat in silence, deep in concentration. After a while she opened her eyes.

“I’m sorry, but it isn’t working. Nothing I try works. There is a key. You have to find out what it is,” she concluded, stating the already obvious fact.

“Oh, God! Really? Is that all you have to say? We already knew that! All this time wasted for nothing,” I protested loudly. “Are you saying there is nothing you can do to help us? Not one thing? Aren’t you supposed to be the top-notch witch in the area?”

She had made me beg for her help and now she was
saying there was nothing she could do? She’d gotta be kidding me!

“I don’t know the key to make it work. Perhaps you can find out from the owner of the artifact, the creature you were trying to capture. It will know how to make this work again, I’m sure,” she pointed out.

“And how do you suggest we ask him? I don’t know where that damned evil cat is – and even if I did, how can I make him tell us? This is, like, the perfect thing that could have happened to him. He won’t ever spill because this way he’ll get Vigil off his back!”

“Joey, this is not Celeste’s fault.” Tristan intervened, seeing how upset I was getting.

“Oh, so it’s all my bloody fault, then; is that what you’re saying?” I snapped at him.

Something inside me was boiling, turning my thoughts into a red haze, growling, upset and frustrated. I wanted to slap Celeste round the face for making me go through all this for nothing. I reeled in, controlling my hands at the last second.

“Joe, you need to calm down,” Vigil said in a quiet, controlled voice.

That made me even more upset. I mean, couldn’t he see how screwed we were?

“Yelling won’t solve anything, Joey,” Celeste said. “That’s why you’ll never be a better witch; you don’t know how to control your temper,” she said, clearly making a point to remind us all about the way I had stormed out of her house a year ago. I knew she would rub that in my face!

“Who told you I want to be a better witch? Or a witch at all?”

“Joey—” Vigil tried to get my attention but I didn’t respond.

“Here we are needing your help and you won’t do a damned thing about it!” My blood was boiling, rushing through my head, clouding my thoughts.

“Joey, please—”

I heard myself growling, but I couldn’t stop. I wanted so badly to break Celeste now.

“
Joey!
” Vigil shouted, grabbing me and shaking me with force.

“What?” I shouted back at him.

“Please … Look at me,” he begged. “Look at me … and calm down.”

I let out a deep breath and stared at him. His face was really close to mine and he looked so pale, his eyes searching frantically for something. I breathed slowly, feeling the blood rushing out of my head, leaving me dizzy. Vigil nodded slowly when he saw that I was calmer, his grip on me relaxing a little.

When I looked around I saw Tristan standing in the middle of the room, and Luna and Arice huddled by the door, everybody looking scared out of their minds. Celeste was up out of her seat as well, her hands tightly gripping the edge of her desk.

Only then did I notice the state of the room. Picture frames had fallen on the floor, the window was shattered and all the chairs and some ornaments had been tossed around. And a long crack had appeared in one of the walls. It looked as if a mini earthquake had hit us.

“Huh … what happened?” I asked, confused.

“You mean you didn’t realize what you were doing?” Vigil asked.

“What was I doing?”

Vigil sighed and sat back down in his chair, while Celeste’s sisters walked cautiously into the room.

“Joey, you were getting angry. The more angry you became, the more things got …
bumpy
,” he explained.

I put a hand over my chest in shock. “Oh, my God. I did this? How?”

“This is what I was afraid of; this is the reason it is so urgent I get my powers back,” Vigil said, passing a hand through his black hair. “You see, Joey, emotions are a trigger to unleash my power. They are also its fuel. That is why my race is known for its lack of emotions: it is a safety mechanism of sorts. No emotion means better control,” he explained, and sat forward, looking deeply into my eyes. “It is imperative that you start suppressing your emotions now. Once they are unleashed, your … my power can get out of control really fast. The results could be … disastrous. This is very important; you need to learn how to suppress emotion. Or it could end up taking over like wildfire.”

I was really scared now. I hadn’t known this could be so dangerous … that I could end up hurting people. And heck, how could I stop feeling? I looked at the crack in the wall. I had done that, because I was angry, without even knowing it. I had this mighty gift inside of me, with no clue whatsoever how to control it.

“I-I don’t know how,” I said in a small voice.

Vigil stood up and took my hands in his. “I will teach you,” he promised. “Everything will be all right. We will fix this.”

I nodded at him in silence while he stepped to my side. I pulled my hands out of Vigil’s when I realized Tristan was looking at us, though I couldn’t read his blank face. But I
didn’t need my sight to know how much he disliked me having any close contact with Vigil.

“I’m sorry, Celeste. About … everything. I don’t know what I was doing … I’ll pay for all the damage. And I apologize for what I said to you, too. You were only trying to help and I lost my mind. I am truly sorry,” I said.

“That’s all right, Joey. I understand. I’m here to help you with this. I’m going to research more about this magic ball, and in the meantime you practice controlling these powers. We’ll make a plan to trap this creature, to reveal the hidden key we need.” She crossed her fingers again. “Try to avoid stressful situations if you can from now on. And come back with Mr. Vigil tomorrow; we can start working out a plan together.”

“Okay. Thanks,” I said. I felt like crap for having yelled at Celeste and she was being so nice and helpful now.

“Oh, and keep an eye on Mr. Vigil at all times. We never know when this creature may strike again, and Vigil is vulnerable at the moment in his human form. You need to be around to protect him,” she added as an afterthought.

“B-but … I don’t know how to protect him. And didn’t he just tell me I’m
not
supposed to use this power? That it could get out of control?”

“Hmm, yes. I suppose you’re right. Well, Mr. Vigil can stay here with us. Our house is well guarded with protective spells, and my sisters and I can help too, if push comes to shove,” she offered.

“That’s really kind of you to offer, Celeste,” Tristan replied. “We’re very thankful for your help …”

I eyed him suspiciously, wondering how much he was genuinely worried about Vigil’s security and how much he just wanted Vigil away from me.

“O-oh, you mean you are leaving, Joey?” Vigil asked. A hint of panic laced his voice. “I mean, I need to be with you, to help you if you lose control again. I need to be close … to help you!” he repeated in distress.

He looked so lost. And scared. Like a little kid being abandoned by his mother. Even though I was pretty sure he was going to be safe with the Harker sisters, I didn’t know that for certain. I didn’t have the heart to just leave him like that. Not now, when he needed me the most.

“Okay, Vigil. I guess you’re right. I’ll just go home to pick up a change of clothes. I’ll get some things for you too; you’re going to need them. Then I’ll come back to stay with you. If that’s all right with Celeste, that is …”

“Yes, that’s fine. You two can stay in the guest room,” she agreed promptly.

“Okay. I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?” I told Vigil one last time before leaving.

I tried not to look at Tristan as we left.

“I just don’t get why you need to go, that’s all,” Tristan said for what seemed like the thousandth time. “He will be perfectly safe and protected with the Harkers. Why do you need to stay with him?”

“You know why, Tristan. I can’t just leave him there. He doesn’t know anyone, he’s scared and he needs me. Listen, I don’t have time to argue about this any more, I have to go. He’s waiting for me,” I said, picking up two backpacks, one holding my things and the other stuffed with a bunch of spare clothes I’d gathered from the boys for Vigil.

“So nothing really changes: he calls, and you rush off to him,” he spat out.

Here we go again.

“Tristan, come on, please. Can we not do this?”

“Why can’t you see my side of this, Joey? I mean, here you are, running to be stuck with him, in the same room and all … and this will be for what? Just tonight? The whole week? A month?”

“I don’t know how long, Tristan. I guess until this mess is fixed.”

“And that could take for ever! Do you plan on sleeping with him for ever?”

“Tris, I’m not
sleeping
with him …”

“No? Do you even know if there are two beds in this guest room? What if they have only one bed in there? What are you going to do then?”

“I’m sure there are two. And even if there aren’t, I can sleep on the couch or something. Stop making this into something it’s not …”

“What? What am I
making
this into, Joey?” he said, crossing his arms. “He doesn’t think of you as a friend! He still loves you. And now he is all scared like a lost puppy and you are taking his bait. I know where this is going to end, Joey. You’ll make it your mission to protect him, save him from whatever, and then you’ll end up falling for him!”

“Are you crazy? Do you not trust me at all?” I was upset. The windows in the room started to rattle like mad.

“I know because that’s what happened with me, with us.” He was also shouting, oblivious to the rattling windows. “I was lost too, and scared, and needed your help, remember?”

Oh. My. God. Did he seriously just friggin’ say that?

“Oh, so that’s all you are to me, then, is it? You’re just a charity case. Someone I took pity on, you poor lost soul. I decided to help you and like the silly brainless girl that I am, I ended up falling for you. And now, silly me, I’m bound to do it again with Vigil, because I just can’t help myself. I’m
that
silly! That’s what I do; I help lost causes and fall for them, one after another.”

Tristan looked pained, as if I had just declared his inner fears out loud and made them all come true.

“Yes, it’s the same thing, happening all over again,” he said in a quiet voice.

“Yeah, Tristan, it’s the same damned situation, only this time there’s something really important missing from the equation,” I said.

He looked at me, completely lost.

“YOU! You damned idiot.
You
are the thing that’s missing. Vigil may be lost, and scared and helpless, just like you were a long time ago, but I won’t fall for him. You want to know why? Because he is
not you
!” I softened my voice. “I didn’t fall in love with you because you were lost and scared; I fell for you because of who you are!”

“But you still choose him over me any time of any day …”

“Are you freaking kidding me? I’m not—” I stopped and huffed, too tired to argue any more. “You can’t honestly believe all this crap, Tristan. This is beyond stupid. You are just making this up to pick a fight with me now. Is that what you want? You want me to go to Celeste’s mad at you, is that it?”

“No, I want you to
not
go! I want you to stay here with me. And I’m the one supposed to be mad, not the other way around. Stop turning the tables here. You are the one leaving to be with someone else. You are the one—”

“Stop it,” I cut in before he could say anything else. I didn’t want to know what he was going to say next. It wasn’t going to be anything good. “I’d better leave now before you say something you’ll regret. And I know you will. We can talk again when you cool down.” I left the room without waiting for his reply.

It was best for me to leave before I started another mini earthquake. I needed to learn to control my feelings, and arguing with Tristan right now was not helping the situation. He was pissing the hell out of me.

I knew Tristan tended to lose his mind and act all crazy whenever the subject of Vigil came up. But I couldn’t let his jealousy keep me from helping my friend. If I let him get his way, what kind of a person would I be? What kind of friend would I be?

I’d always sworn I would never be like those girls who let their boyfriends tell them what to do, who they could see or talk to, what they should wear, how they should act. It was absurd. And I was not going to let him do that to me – not now, not ever.

He was going to have to deal with his insecurities and learn to trust me, whether he wanted to or not.

I stomped my way to the front door, not bothering to call out to the boys. I bumped into Becca on my way out to the garage. She greeted me and told me she had news about something important coming up in a few days, but I excused myself and told her I was in a hurry. I had more important things to worry about right now. Work and gigs could wait.

All the way to the Harkers’ I kept going over my argument with Tristan in my head, my anger slowly melting into regret and guilt. I felt really bad for having left him that way, but I was pretty certain that walking out had been the best thing to do. There was no reasoning with Tristan when he was like that.

The sun was setting when I got back to the Harkers’.

Luna opened the door for me and ushered me inside. There was a lot of rattling, fumbling and cursing inside the kitchen. Arice poked her round, rosy face around the kitchen door, beaming like her usual jolly self.

“Ah, hey, Joey. Welcome back! Celeste and I are making dinner here; it should be done in a few minutes … if Celeste
doesn’t mess things up again.” She mumbled the last part but then brightened up again. “Well, at least she’s trying, right? She’s not the best at cooking, but she made a point today of helping me out. You know how it is, special guest of honor and all,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.