Eternity (Circle of Light) (18 page)

I forgot I had put it in my coat pocket, and then found it when I put my hands in my pockets.

I sat there listening to what Eric was telling my father.  I needed to have the entire story correct, in case he asked me about it again.

“I wish that you guys would have called me.  I could have driven down there in the car and you all could have been warm until they let you go.”

“It’s okay Dad.  We are fine now and the little boy is safe and probably at home drinking a cup of hot cocoa right now.”

“I suppose you’re right.” He said as he looked over us one last time and I could see the pride on his face.  He was thinking that we were heroes and that he could not have asked for a better daughter than me.

I was comforted by his thoughts, but I made sure that I acted as if I didn’t know what he was thinking about.

After he decided we were out of danger, he told us to go sit on the couch. 

I was expecting a lecture when he came back down the stairs, but the stinging feeling the cold had caused was drowning out the worry.

We were sitting there on the couch trying to get warm, but it was no use.  Not even cuddling with Eric helped.  He didn’t have any extra body heat to spare. 

Mom came in to the room with two electric blankets.  She plugged them up and helped us wrap up in them.  I turned the dial up on high and prayed for it to hurry up and reach the right temperature. 

Eric had done the same thing, except he had pulled his up over his head.  I could hear him exhaling into the blanket trying to warm himself quicker.  I found that cute despite the reasoning behind it. 

My Dad came in with two coffee mugs in his hands.  He had wrapped them up with a couple of dishtowels.  I suppose the heat from the cups would probably burn our skin without us really even noticing it.

We sat up and sipped from the cups slowly.  The warmth of the hot cocoa soothed my throat and I could feel it go all the way down to my stomach.  Unfreezing me from the inside out.             

I hadn’t realized how tired I was until I heard Eric snore lightly from under the blanket.  The sound of it made my eyes become heavy and I was left no choice but to clos
e them.  I laid my head on Eric’s shoulder and quickly fell asleep. 

It didn’t take long for me to recognize that I was dreaming.  I was back in the beautiful meadow I had been in the last time I had visited the Queens.  The air was peaceful and every sound was relaxing to me.  The best thing was that I wasn’t cold anymore.  I was warm and the sun was beaming down on me.

I saw Eric was up ahead of me at the pond.  Which I found rather odd because I had never dreamed of the meadow with him in it.

He was leaning over the water with his hand in it.  It looked like he was reaching for something.  I remembered how clear the water in the pond had been the last time I was here and how mesmerized I was by the fish.  Surely if he was seeing them, he was as awestruck as I had been.

“Hi, my love.”  I said to him.  He turned to look at me.  The smile on his face when he saw me was bright enough to light the world for all of eternity. 

“I've never dreamed with you with me.” He said excitedly. 

“I have a feeling that we aren’t dreaming.”  I muttered.

“Then what is this?”

“The last time I was here I was with my Queens.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  It’s such a wonderful place.”

“I have never seen anything like this.  Everything looks so pure.” He said clearly amazed with the things he was seeing. 

I had had the same rush of feelings that he was having the first time I was here.  I was still stunned by the magnificence of this place.  The pure, untouched beauty was indescribable.  So peaceful. 

“Aren't they cool?”  I pointed at the fish.

“There are no words for it.” He muttered back.

“I know.”

The air around us began to shift and I was all too aware of what was happening.  Eric looked at me out of confusion.  It was obvious his Kings appeared to him in a different way. 

“It’s okay.”  I said as I held his hand. 

Each one of the Queens became visible one by one.  Eric tightened his grip on my hand.  I was getting the sense that he was a little more afraid than I had realized.

They weren’t standing side by side this time.  I found that odd because I had never seen them put any sort of distance between them.  This gave me an uneasy feeling.  A feeling of not knowing what to expect.

Lastly, Fire Queen appeared.  A shimmer appeared beside each Queen, bursting almost violently into their male companions.  It sent a rumble through the ground that shook my feet.

Eric’s grip on my hand became lighter, but I was startled by the sudden appearance of the Kings.

“I applaud you both on the tremendous job of rescuing the child today. One of the Kings said.  There was so much authority in his voice that I was immediately staggered.

I wasn’t certain of whom he was, but I suspected he was the Fire King due to his place beside Fire Queen. 

I held on to Eric tightly as we stood there. We both gave our thanks to them and awaited their responses. 

The Earth King and Queen stepped forward and began to speak.  “Today is solely about unity between the both of you.  We are aware of your powers already being united, but the matters of your souls still stand.”  

The matter in which they spoke struck me.  Our souls are not united?  Unsure of myself, I patiently listened as they went on. 

“
Your souls must unite before your full potential can be reached.  You may recognize this as a marriage in your world.”   I gasped covering my mouth to stop myself from screaming in shock. 

“Does each of you believe the other is your soul mate?”  Earth Queen asked. 

“I know she is.”  Eric answered. 

“I am very certain that Eric is, my Queen
.” I responded in agreement. 

“Very well.”  Earth Queen said with a smile.

They swirled around us, joining their hands in a circle around us.  We were instructed to agree after they performed the unity bond.  Without that, we would not be united. 

They each spoke briefly of our bond and the bonds between them. 

“Eric?  Do you agree that you want to be, forever, with Bailey?”  Air Queen asked. 

“Absolutely, my Queen.”

“Bailey?  Do you agree that you want to be, forever, with Eric?”

“Without a doubt, my Queen.”

“So it shall be.” She said as a strange feeling came over me. 

I
was faint, but at the same time, I was full of a peculiar energy I had never had before. A sudden shock hit me as a flowing blue light shot from my chest.  It swirled in front of me as if it was waiting for something.  I saw the same light, only red, coming from Eric and at the very moment they touched, I felt my feet leave the ground.  We were floating above the earth.  The bonds of gravity surrendered to our bodies.  The light tangled until I thought it was sure to bust from the tightness of the bond. 

The colors of our souls turned from blue and red to a deep purple as they united.   

We slowly made our descent back to the ground as the purple light receded back into each of our bodies.  “You are united forever.”  

Eric kissed me as if he was just told to kiss the bride at our wedding.  “I love you.” He said. 

“I love you too.”

“You are now royalty of the Circle of Light. Eric. You are now King of Eternity as well as Bailey is your Queen.  Blessed be.”  Air King said as they all disappeared.

We both woke up at the same time.  I looked at Eric with a renewed love.  It was unlike before.  Our bond was stronger than anything was and I could feel it pulsating all throughout my body.  I was his and he was mine forever.               

Unfortunately, our moment was ruined by waking up to the doorbell ringing. 
“Bailey, can you guys get that?”  Mom called from the kitchen. 

Eric and I stumbled to get up and head for the door.  My bones still felt frozen and it still hurt to put pressure on my feet.

He opened the door, only to find a package sitting there.  The box was wrapped in black paper with a silver bow.  The elegance of the paper threw me off.  I was sure that it wasn’t anyone’s birthday. 

Eric picked it up and read the tag.  It read
, To
the King and Queen of Eternity.
   He immediately made sure that there was not anyone else around to see it. 

I took the package from him and headed for my room.  I laid the box on my bed and asked Eric if we should open it. 

“I don’t see why not.” he replied. 

I slowly untied the bow and pulled the paper off.  Acid rose up into my throat from my stomach.  The sick feeling grew worse as I opened the box.  In the bottom of the box, laid a note. 

It was a white card resembling an invitation.  The lettering was the deepest shade of black that I had ever seen.  As I read the message, it became clear to me that Eric and I are in grave danger. 

The note read
, I warned you.  Now you will have to pay the ultimate price. ..YOUR LIFE.  I will be seeing the both of you soon and I mean real soon.  Until then. 

Lord Raylan

CHAPTER 10

“Lord Raylan?  I knew I should have killed him that day in the pool.  I don’t understand.”  I said as I fought back the tears.

Eric explained that he was the second in command of the Dark Union.  He was not royalty by any means, but was very powerful.  He was the hunter, so to speak.  He had accepted the order to kill us, to erase us from the Light Circle.  But why?  It made no sense to me at all.

I looked at Eric, not knowing how to fix this situation.  Will we live?  Alternatively, will Lord Raylan complete his task?  Tears flowed from my eyes as Eric pulled me into a sound hug. 

“I’m scared Eric.”  I cried.

“I know.  But we will get everything figured out.  Don’t worry.”  Eric said as he held me until I fell asleep. I woke up with the worst headache I had ever had in my life.  With every beat of my heart, pain pulsed through my head.  I dared not to even open my eyes for fear of the light hurting my eyes, and I was for sure that I wouldn’t be able to keep from screaming.

I had cried myself to sleep from fear last night.  My eyes felt like I had a million tiny grains of sand in them and I could feel that they were swollen.  Not bad, but it was enough to make me aware of it.  I needed to get a cool washcloth and lay across them to try to get the swelling to go down.

I laid there on my bed, not wanting to move, but I knew I had to eventually.  There would be no escaping it.  Plans had to be made and we did not have time to dilly dally around about it.  Our lives depended on it.

With that in mind, I gathered every ounce of strength I had left and sat up on the side of the bed.  I, immediately, wished that I hadn't.  My head throbbed like someone was playing Bongos in it.

The pain was intense.  So much so, that a tear escaped from my eyes.  I was regretting not following Eric’s advice about not getting overly upset about this dilemma with Lord Raylan. 

But I couldn’t help it.  I was an emotional person.  In addition, my life has been threatened for absolutely no reason at all.  What are we going to do?  I
can’t bear the idea that someone wanted to hurt Eric.  Someone wanted to take my life force away from me and I was powerless to stop it.

Utter disgust at the fact that Eric was in trouble made my stomach lurch.  I was almost at the point of throwing up before I could get myself under control.

I slid my hand over my pillow and felt a piece of paper lying there.  I struggled to adjust my eyes enough to be able to read it.  It was hard, but I finally got to where I could see good enough to make out the words.  It was Eric’s handwriting. 
Ran home for a bit.  I’ll be back soon.  I love you.

Putting the note back on the bed, I carefully put my feet on the floor and stood up.  When I was sure that I was sturdy enough to walk, I headed to the bathroom.

The cabinet was recently stocked with fresh washcloths and towels.  I grabbed a couple of them and ran cold water over them until I could not stand to hear the faucet run anymore.

I wondered what Eric was doing. I
wasn’t sure of when he had left to go home, but I knew that he would be back soon, if he wasn’t already downstairs. 

I sat down on the window platform and placed the cold washcloths on my eyes.  I hope that it will reduce the swelling so it
won’t be as noticeable.  Eric would have a fit and so would Mom.

When the washcloth lost its coolness, I took it off and opened my eyes.  The light of the rising sun made my eyes burn.  I wasn’t as bad as I had expected it to be, but it didn’t seem to be much better than a minute ago.

Eric’s house seemed farther away than it actually was.  Any amount of distance between us made me uncomfortable.  Especially now with everything that is going on. 

I wasn’t sure if my powers relied on my strength.  If they did, I was in trouble.  I had no strength left.  Almost everything I had had been taken.  Just washed away with my flooding emotions.

I called to Eric softly. His voice quickly filled my head.  I could tell that he had whispered intentionally, trying not to cause my head to hurt worse.

I love you Bailey.

I love you too.

How are you feeling?

Terrible.  I have a killer headache and my eyes are giving me some trouble.  How are you, my love?

I’m ok.  I just needed some sleep to clear my head a little.

What are we going to do?

I was expecting a positive answer from him because he had always been so reassuring in the past.  However, this was nothing like anything we had ever been through before.

A simple answer was all he gave me. 
I don’t know.
  And he left it at that.  Nothing more and nothing less.

He asked me if I felt good enough for him to come back over, or if I wanted him to stay home for a while longer.  I told him that it was not the fact of my feeling good that mattered.  It was the pressure of us not being together that bothered me the most.  And I was sure that I would feel better if he was here with me. 

I’ll be over as soon as I get dressed.

Ok.  I’ll be here.

Oh yeah, are your parents’ home?

Honestly, I’m not sure.  I haven’t been out of my room yet.

That’s ok.  It doesn’t matter anyway.

I’ll see you shortly
, I replied wondering why he wanted to know if my parents were at home or not.  Maybe he had come up with some genius plan to get us out of the terrible fix we have gotten in and wanted to go over it with me.  It would make it more difficult to talk if anyone was around.  They would be likely to overhear our conversation and commit us both to a mental hospital.

I watched for him to come out of his house but after a few minutes, he still didn’t.  He was probably taking his time.  Waiting for me to get good and woke up would be my guess.  It was awful early in the morning and I could sure be a grouch.

This morning was different.  I wasn’t moody and I didn’t get up hating the world.  I am stressed and in pain.  If my headache does not ease up real soon I was certain that my head was going to explode.  

Healing powers would be a big plus right now, but I just didn’t have the strength to try it to be honest. 

Sitting by the window was getting uncomfortable.  The icy winter air made the glass so cold that it reminded me of standing next to the freezer too long.  I shivered and got up to go lie back down in bed.  

Every thought I had was of the future. What was going to happen to us now?  Could we elude the danger we were in?  It seemed unlikely.  Power or no power, I was still too unskilled to be fighting someone who was as powerful as Eric said Lord Raylan is. 

There has got to be a way.  I knew there was, but I have to get rid of this headache so I can think properly.

I closed my eyes and put a hand on either side of my head.  Slowly massaging my temples, I willed the pain away
.   Please go away.  I just can’t take any more of this.  I need to think.

Eric came in the room and shut the door behind him.  I didn’t even turn over to greet him.  I was so focused on what I was doing to notice that he was getting into bed with me.

He put his arm around me and held me gently.  I could feel the surge in my power just from the touch of his hand and I needed the boost.  I was weak and just a little more power and I was certain that my pain would go away.  It was almost gone before he came in the room with me.

Go away.  Please don’t bother my Queen anymore
he said as he tightened his hold on me.  He laid his head on the pillow and kissed my back gently. 

The pain was gone.  My eyes didn’t feel swollen anymore and I felt power flowing through my body once again.  I felt better now and I was grateful because I wasn’t sure how much more of that I could take.

I closed my eyes and tried to lose myself in Eric’s arms.  This was not hard to do at any time.  He was my comfort.  My stability. My world. My rock.

I couldn’t deny the passion I felt for him.  And I knew he felt the same for me.  It showed every time we were alone together.  One kiss, one touch and we were flirting with losing our control.

We were joined in the Circle of Light, but that did not hold true in this world.  To everyone here, we are just two love-struck kids.  Everyone would think we were crazy for even mentioning getting married at our age and it’s not like Eric had even asked me, so it didn’t matter.  I had given the matter more thought than necessary at this point.

I quickly became nervous about my parents walking in and seeing us together in bed.  I jumped out of bed and started to get dressed.  Eric sat up and asked me what I was doin
g. 

“You’re parents aren't home.  It’s ok.  They ran down to town to pick up some breakfast
.” he said with a smile.

“And, how is it that you know this?”  I asked.

“When I came in they called and asked if I was planning on coming over this morning and that they had ran down to town to get breakfast for us all.  They will be back soon.”

“Oh.  I guess that does explain it, huh?”

He laughed and talked me into getting back in bed with him.  I wanted to, but at the same time, I didn’t.  I knew exactly where it would lead and we would be busted for sure.  I did it anyway, against my better judgment.

And I was right.  As soon as I got back in the bed, he started kissing me.  I didn’t hold back at all.  We kissed and he touched me like I have never been touched before. 
             

Before I realized it, I had allowed him to take off all of my clothes except my bra and panties.  That fact worried me.  I had completely lost control and my parents would be back any minute. 

I jumped out of bed and grabbed my pajamas to put them back on.  I heard the front door close.  They were back.  I hope they don’t come up here until Eric gets dressed.  I would just die if they see him in here like this because my father would kill us both.

Eric smiled at me and got out of bed.  He did not waste any time putting his clothes back on.  Every hair on his head was in place and no one would have ever been able to tell that he had just been in bed in his boxers.

I was sitting on the platform when Mom knocked on the door.  “Good morning.”  I called as she opened the door.

“Are you guys ready to eat?” 
She asked.

“Yeah.  I’m starving.”  I told her.

Eric got up and started making the bed.  It was another wonderful thing to watch him do.  I purposely lounged back and watched until he was almost finished.  Then I jumped up and helped him pull the last wrinkle out of the comforter.  Just to be nice.

He laughed and thanked me.  Naturally, he pulled me into a loving embrace, but I could feel the tension in his body. Grabbing my hand, we went downstairs to eat.

Breakfast went by fast.  I forced myself to act as if everything was normal.  Trying to hold a conversation was the worst part.  I really wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, but Eric and about what we were going to do to save ourselves.

Mom was unusually chipper this morning.  Dad was too.  Something was going on.  That was for sure.  They were probably going to announce that they had this big vacation planned for us all or something.  At this point, I could care less.

I was just about to excuse myself from the table when Dad called for me.

“Bailey.  Could you come here for a minute?” he asked.

“Yeah.  Sure.”  I replied, trying to hide my lack of interest in anything.

He was standing at the front door with it halfway open.  I hear a quiet giggle come from the kitchen.  It was Eric.  I am sure glad that he is in a good mood, I muttered under my breath.

“Did you say something sweetie?”  Dad asked.

“No.”

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing.  I guess I’m just not completely awake yet.”

“Well, maybe this will help you out.” he said as he stood there with a huge grin on his face.   “Are you coming guys?”

“Yeah
.” Eric called from behind me and I wanted to ask what was going on, but before I got the chance, Dad had started pulling me to the door. 

Eric came up behind me and put his hands over my eyes before I knew what was happening.  I was startled.

Relax.  Everything is fine.
  I heard him whisper in my head. 

What's going on Eric?
 

You are going to
love
this.

I relaxed a little bit as they lead me out the front door, off the porch and onto the sidewalk.  I had expected to have stopped by now.  No such luck.  They just kept pulling me forward and I hated not being able to see where I was going. 

“Ok.  Are you ready?”  Mom asked me, unable to control her excitement.

“I guess so
.” I said hesitantly.

Eric uncovered my eyes and I had to wait a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to being outside.  It took longer than I had expected because the sun seemed to be brighter than usual this morning.

In front of me in the driveway was a brand new Ford Explorer.  My mouth hung open in surprise.  I cannot believe my parents had bought me a SUV, and it wasn’t even my birthday.