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“Can I ask you a question Gabe?” Carter said.

“Sure, anything?” he replied.

“What color are
Vie’s
eyes?” he asked.

“They are violet,” Gabe said knowing that Carter had seen them too.

Carter began to see the light. He understood everything now and was relieved that Vie had not betrayed him. He knew for sure that the girl he loved, although in the vessel of Vivian Thorne, was Vie. He told Gabe he needed to find her to tell her he was sorry. He jumped up and tried to run but Gabe stopped him.

“Hold on
there
Romeo. Not so fast,” Gabe said grabbing him. “I will bring her to you,” Gabe said.

Chapter 23

Hell Hath No Fury

Vie waited outside the dance hoping and praying that Carter would return as a car drove up. It was Tess, she told Vie that Carter wanted to speak with her and that she could take her to him. Vie didn’t know why Tess would want to help her but she needed to see Carter and if that meant letting Tess take her there, then so be it. Jeremy was watching the two girls and overheard their conversation. He was worried about Vie and didn’t trust Tess as far as he could throw her, so he got into his car and followed them. Jeremy stayed far enough behind so he wasn’t spotted by Tess.

They arrived at Devil’s Tower and Vie asked where Carter was. Tess told her there was a tunnel under the tower that would lead her to him. Vie got out and Tess pointed toward the entrance, assuring her Carter would be waiting. Vie thought it was weird that Carter had not mentioned the tunnels the last time they were here but she wanted desperately to find Carter. Vie entered the opening and Tess drove off. It was dark and Vie began to feel the walls closing in on her. Fear had taken over in the darkness and suddenly she heard a noise.

“Carter is that you?” she asked hopeful.

Vie saw a light glowing in the distance and she followed it, hoping it would lead her to Carter. But the closer she got, the more she began to feel something wasn’t right. Before she could turn around and run, something took hold of her and dragged her kicking and screaming into the light. “Welcome,” she heard his voice call out to her. It wasn’t Carter’s sweet voice that spoke to her.  It was the very dark and evil voice of Lucian.

“What have you done with Carter?” she said stood stoically commanding an answer.

Impressed by her bravery, Lucian responded, “I know nothing about the where-a-bouts of this Carter you speak of.”

“If you hurt one hair on his head I’ll…”

“Silence!”
Lucian thundered, interrupting her.

Annoyed by her threats he ordered his demons to restrain her from speaking. Then he approached her and told her they would speak later when it was just the two of them.  He snapped his fingers, instructing them to take her away. Vie fought hard but could not free herself from their hold. Then Lucian spoke.

“Expel the Guardian from her ve
ssel and secure her in gilded
cage where she can’t escape. I’ll deal with her later,” he said waving them off. Vie was afraid, but not for herself. She was afraid that if they expelled her from her vessel that she would not be able to protect Vivian. She tried to
free herself again using all of her strength, but to no avail. She was trapped and Vivian’s fate was in her hands.

Meanwhile Jeremy had hit a dead end at Devil’s Tower. He looked around frantically for Tess’s car but saw nothing. He couldn’t imagine where they had gone off to since he was right behind them. It didn’t make any sense, but suddenly he was very worried about
Vie’s
safety. He didn’t know what to do but he knew she was in trouble. Jeremy drove off to Carter’s house hoping to find Vie with him. He arrived at the ranch and was informed that Carter was not home. He sat on the porch waiting for him to show up and while he didn’t understand why, he hoped and prayed that Vie would be with him.

An hour had passed and Jeremy had given up and decided to head home. He started back to his car when he heard a rustling in the leaves. He followed the sound leading down the trail of the property. Jeremy saw someone running through the trees and he chased after them.

“Carter?” he called running faster to catch him.

“Carter is that you?” he said slowing down.

Gabriel appeared standing tall in front of Jeremy.  “Who are you and why are you looking for Carter
Stone
?” he demanded an answer.

“I need to find Carter. Do you know where he is?” Jeremy asked the stranger.

Just then Carter appeared and told Gabe it was okay and that he knew him. He told him his name was Jeremy, Vivian’s Jeremy. “Great,” Gabriel thought to himself, “now I have two of
Vie’s
love sick boys to contend with.”

Jeremy told them about the conversation he overheard between Vie and Tess and how he followed them to Devil’s Tower but that they had disappeared. Carter was sick with worry. It didn’t make any sense. “What would Tess have to do with this?” he wondered to himself. Gabriel told the two of them to stay put and that he would go to the tower and look for them, but Carter was not having it. He was insisting that he come along and help search for Vie. Gabriel explained that he needed to stay here and that it was dangerous for him to be out. Gabriel thought perhaps it was their plan to take Vie to lure Carter but he didn’t care, he just wanted Vie home safe and sound. Just the thought of anything happening to her was killing him. He kept thinking it was
all his
fault. If he had just trusted her, believed in her, this would not be happening.

“Carter, you trust me don’t you?” Gabe said looking straight into his eyes.

“Yes, but
..”
he tried to protest again.

“But nothing.
Vie came here to protect you. She is risking everything for you.  Now it is your turn to do something for her. Stay Put!” he commanded him.

“Fine, but if you are not back in one hour, I’m coming after you,” he vowed.

“I would expect nothing less,” he replied back to Carter knowing him all too well.

“Jeremy, you stay here and make sure Carter stays put,” Gabriel ordered.

Carter thought Gabe’s statement was a joke.  He let Jeremy know it by laughing smugly under his breath as if to tell him he couldn’t stop him if he wanted to. Jeremy just gave him a dirty look.  Gabe rolled his eyes at the
two
jealous young lovebirds and said “humans” out loud shaking his head in disbelief before he headed out to the tower to look for Vie.

Jeremy and Carter sat silently not speaking a word and trying not to make eye contact. Carter was thinking about what Gabe had said with Vie and Vivian being two separate souls merged into one vessel and suddenly he could feel Jeremy’s pain. Carter started to see that he and Jeremy were feeling the exact same things, just about different people. Suddenly, he didn’t feel anger for Jeremy, he felt compassion. Carter knew what was going on, but Jeremy had no idea and yet here he sat trying to help Vie. “He must really love her,” Carter thought seeing the same pain in his eyes that he had before Gabe explained things to him.

“Jeremy, I’m going to tell you something that is going to sound completely outrageous but I swear on my life it is the truth. Vivian and Vie are two separate people.” He stared, waiting for the shocked reaction that did not come. Seeing that Jeremy was receptive to any explanation at all about what has been going on with the girl he loved.

“Like a split personality?” he asked. “I heard about that on Oprah,” he added.

“No, not exactly like that.
It’s really difficult to explain and would take a really long time but what you need to know is that Vivian, the girl you love, she loves you back Jeremy,” Carter said confidently.

“I don’t understand?” he said looking confused.

Suddenly, Carter heard something, a voice, someone singing he thought. He asked Jeremy if he heard it too and Jeremy said he didn’t hear anything. Carter moved back through the secret place feeling the vibrations of the voice on the wall. He told Jeremy it was coming from behind the wall and Jeremy looked at him as if he were crazy.

“You can’t hear that? It’s coming from over here!” he said frantically ripping the vines from the wall.

“It’s Vie, I can hear her.  I would know that beautiful voice anywhere!” he exclaimed happily.

Jeremy still heard nothing and thought Carter was losing it. Carter told him to help him break the wall and Jeremy looked at him blankly.

“Carter I think we’d better
do
as your friend suggested and wait until he gets back,” Jeremy said cautiously thinking Carter was losing it.

“Fine
don’t
help me.  I’ll do it myself,” he said smashing though the
concrete
wall with his bare hands desperate to save Vie.

“Holy Shit!”
Jeremy shouted in disbelief of Carter’s strength.

“Oh, that’s a long story too,” he said smiling at Jeremy who stood in awe of his power.

“Come on…let’s go,” he said looking to Jeremy to follow him. Reluctantly, he did
all the
while thinking what a big mistake he was making.

There was some sort of tunnel system behind the wall that was narrow and dark. Carter pulled a lighter out of his pocket and flicked it on so they could see where they were going. The tunnels wound around turning every which way, seeming to lead to nowhere. Then he heard the voice again. He was sure this time it was Vie because she was singing their song. Confident that he was right, they continued on.

Vie was singing out to Carter, hoping he would find her. She was being held in the dungeons below the underworld, separated from her vessel and worried about Vivian. The pact that Vivian had made with Lucian was vague and although he promised her more time in this world, he did not guarantee how much time he would grant her. It was clear to see he had used his powers to deceive her and she was fading fast.

The de
mons had placed Vie in a gilded
cage where escaping would be impossible, even for a Guardian. Hex bags were placed around Vivian preventing the Guardians from finding her as well.  “It was hopeless,” Vie thought putting her hands around her neck to think. Suddenly she remembered the angel necklace that Gabriel had given her. He told her it was a tracker that he could use to find her anywhere. She took it off and then spoke to Vivian who lay below her, weak on the floor.

“Vivian,” she called out to her but the girl did not respond.

“Vivian, you have to wake up!” she yelled louder.

Vivian lifted her head and looked up to Vie locked inside the cage. She knew it was her, Vie, the one who had taken over her body. She was so weak and frightened she could hardly move. Vie told her she was going to drop something, a necklace and that it was very important that she take it and put it on.
Vivian reached for the pendant
and put it around her neck. Vie told her it was a tracker and that she had others here with her. She told her they would find her with the necklace and everything would be alright.

“But what about you?
How will they find you?” she asked in a quiet, frightened voice.

“Don’t you worry about me, you just get back home safely to Henry and Jeremy. You are lucky to have them both in your life,” Vie said.

Vivian started to sob saying everything was all her fault. She blamed herself for trying to cheat death to be with Jeremy. Vie completely understood. She thought about what she would give up to spend one more day with Carter and realized she would give up everything. Just then, the demons came in and took Vivian away. Vie yelled at them to let her go.  They laughed at her and continued on. “Gabriel where are you?” Vie thought to
herself
.

She started singing louder and louder, calling out to Gabriel and out to Carter. Her voice echoed throughout the tunnels driving them all mad. Lucian couldn’t stand it any longer and ordered them to bring Violet to him at once. Vie had got what she wanted, out of her cage.

“I hear it, it’s her,” Carter said running faster and faster toward
Vie’s
voice. Then suddenly it stopped.

“What’s the matter?”  Jeremy asked.

“It stopped…she just stopped singing?” he said frantically worried about what that meant.

That’s when he saw a light up ahead. The boys moved quickly to get to the light and then the tunnels opened up to what appeared to be an underground jail house. There were men and women ranting gibberish, beaten and bloodied, locked away in their cages like dogs. It was a gruesome site to see humans rotting away where no one could find them, far beneath the ground.

Then Carter saw a girl lying in the dirt behind one of the cages. She was not facing him but he was sure it was her, it was Vie. He ran over to the cell and called her name.  She slowly lifted her head to look at them. It was her, it was Vie and Carter and Jeremy were ecstatic. Carter used his strength and separated the bars while Jeremy played the look out. He picked Vie up in his arms, telling her she was safe and they headed back through the tunnels. Vie was going in and out of consciousness and Carter kept yelling at her to hold on. He yelled at her to open her eyes, to stay awake, that they were almost home. Then she did…she opened her eyes.