Touched by Darkness (Young Creator Trilogy) Read online

  “In a way. From what I’ve been told by those that fought against those that killed, it seemed as if they were addictedand craved the life energy of other Young Creators.”

  “So what does this have to do with what happened this morning?” I need to know.

  “I would assume that your sister has been told about the old ways and knows what she has to do to make you come find her. She knows that you would die to protect humanity and is using it against you. She wants you to come stop her.” Maximus has a sad look on his face as he relays this to me.

  “So what do I do? I mean,I have to stop her, don’t I? It’s the right thing to do. Wecan’t let her continue killing innocent people. Why does this keep happening?It’s just one thing after another.”

  “That’s what happens when you’re born into a crazy family like yours,” Keagan says with a careless shrug, which makes me roll my eyes at him. He is so infuriating sometimes. This time I’m the one to run my hands through my hair in frustration.I’m exhausted from constantly having to save the world from my family.

  Chapter 14

  Touched by Memories “So you’re saying that Haddie is provoking me, to get me out of hiding so she can kill me and steal my energy? How does she know how to do this?” I nervously walk back and forth, unable to sit on the couch any longer. This is all such a shock. Talk about throwing a wrench in your day.

  “I don’t know, Trish, I can only speculate. Maybe she found an old book with some of the legends of the Young Creators before your time. Or Allecto could have always told her. I don’t know.I’m really sorry that this is something else you have to worry about. You probably know that we don’t have a choice in this … we have to stop her,” Maximus says with an apologetic look on his face.

  “How are we going to stop her?”

  “I’m not sure, Trish, but—”

  Before he can finish his sentence, I jump in,“What do you mean you’re not sure? If you

  don’t know , how are we supposed to figure this out? You’re right, we have to stop her from both hurting more people, including me, and wecan’t have her exposing us. That would be horrible! I can’t even imagine how bad things would get if that happened.” I shake my head in frustration.

  “I was thinking that we should check the library , both at Haven and the one in my home. Hopefully, we’ll find something that will tell us how to beat Haddie. I mean, there has to be something. I just hope that all of the literaturedidn’t get destroyed in an effort to keep it from your kind.”

  Keagan has been quiet for the last couple of minutes, just listening to us talk. “There has to be a way. I mean, they did it in the past, right? So it’s got to be possible.”

  “You’re right, Keagan, it definitely is possible. Surprisingly, in all of my time I have never seen one Young Creator takeanother’s life power. We need to head to Haven as soon as possible. Why don’t the two of you get some personal items and I’ll meet you in an hour?”

  After agreeing to meet him later, Keagan and I leave. We rush out the door and hop on Keagan’s bike. I grip onto him for dear life as he races home at breakneck speeds. Jumping off the bike, we head in the dorm’s direction … only to run into Mr. Davis.

  “What are you two doing in such a hurry?”

  “We have plans to spend some time with friends,” I say.

  Meanwhile, Keagan simultaneously tells him,“We’re going to do homework.”

  “Interesting. So from what I’m hearing, the two of you are up to no good. Follow me, now.” Keagan and I exchange panicked looks, but follow Mr. Davis. Hopefully this lecture will not take too long. We head over to the school, and I’m surprised to see that we are heading in the direction of Mr. Davis’s office versus the Dean’s. After we enter the room, Mr. Davis closes the door behind us.

  “Look, sir, we are really sorry. Wedidn’t mean to lie to you, but we do have somewhere that we have to be,” I tell him.

  “I bet you do. Regardless, there is something that we must address first.” I try to stay calm and not act impatient, but it is so hard not to. I know that we are running out of time, and I want to make sure that Maximus doesn’t leave without us. Deciding to be cooperative and see if it will get us out of here, I sit down at one of the desks and nod toward the one next to me, telling Keagan that he should sit down, too. When we are both seated, Mr. Davis starts pacing back and forth.

  “You know, I was hoping that I was wrong about you,” Mr. Davis starts with.

  “Wrong about me in what way?” I have no idea what he is talking about. I watch him head over toward the cupboard next to the door and pull out a black sword whose hilt is encrusted in what appears to be blue sapphires. It’s beautiful and deadly looking. Both Keagan and me jump out of our seat, we have to get out of here and I don’t want to use my powers since that would expose us.

  “Mr. Davis, what are you doing?” I ask

  “Man, you seriously need to put that thing down,” Keagan tells him at the same time.

  Both Keagan and I slowly edge our way further away from Mr. Davis. I have no idea what is going on, but I want to get out of this situation.

  “Tell us why you’re doing this?” I inquire again since he chose to ignore my first question.

  “I can tell that he’s been touched by darkness. There is no excuse for it, and now you have to die. With great power comes great responsibility.”

  “Wait, what?” He is stalking us like a tiger stalks its prey before pouncing and ripping its throat out. I don’t want to be that prey. Why does it seem like everyone wants to kill me?

  “Who are you, and what are you talking about with the whole touched by darkness thing?” Keagan wants to know.

  “The Fates have tasked us with protecting the Earth from threats, and we were recently assigned here. You, young lady, seem to be a threat to Earth, and from the evidence that you have by your side I sentence you to death.” With those words, he launches himself at me, sword raised to cut me in two. I quickly sidestep and try evading the sword that once again is swinging in my direction. Just before it can make contact, it collides with a marble statue of Zeus that Keagan put between me and the sword. I try using my powers to make the weapon into a noodle, but with no success. I don’t know who this man is, but he’s able to make my power not work.

  The impact of the statue and sword throws Mr. Davis off and he glares at Keagan. “Silly boy,I’m trying to destroy this evil creature.” A look passes over his face as if he’s seeing the situation in a different light. “I’ll take the darkness from you. We’ll see if you will still be defending her then.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out something that looks like sand. He throws it into the air above Keagan, who tries to evade the shimmering dust, but it’s all over the place. In mere seconds, it covers Keagan from head to toe. The dust seems as if its alive, constantly shifting and shimmering in different colors.It’s quite beautiful and I would love to stand here, watching it sparkle and dance in the air, until it all settles on Keagan, but Mr. Davis watching both of us keeps me on edge. Hedoesn’t make a move toward me, seemingly confident with the outcome of this event. Keagan sneezes, then blinks his eyes several times before glancing around the room, a confused look on his face.

  When Keagan’s eyes land on me, he takes a step towardme. “Trish, I’m so sorry for everything.” He folds me in his arms, hanging onto me as if he never wantsto let go. “I can’t believe I said and did all of those mean things to you. You have no idea how horrible I feel. I’m really sorry. Honestly.”

  I take a step back and look up into his eyes. I see something there that Ihaven’t seen since I brought him back. “Keagan …what’s going on?”

  “I remember you. You saved my life, didn’t you?” He leans forward and gently kisses me on the lips.

  “Oh my God, Keagan. You’reback.” I hug him, but quickly separate myself from him. I don’t know exactly what to think of all of this and how I feel after everything that has transpired between us. As if understanding that I nee
d some time to digest the change in him, he takes a step back and gives me the space I need.

  Throat clearing brings me back to the current situation on hand. Mr. Davis is watching us with interest. “So what is going to happen now? Are you still trying to kill me, or did this disprove your theory about me being evil?

  “I will not kill you, Young Creator. However,I do have some questions for you.” He takes on a relaxed stance, leaning against the still closed door, twirling the sword on the ground.

  “No joke, I have about a million of those for you,too.” Keagan nods his head in agreement.

  Mr. Davis laughs, showing off straight, white teeth. “No doubt, after I tried taking your life then sprinkling your friend with magic dust.” He shakes his head, clearly amused with himself.

  “Those are definitely some of the questions that I would like answered, but I was wondering if you could explain the whole Fates have tasked you thing.” I wait for his answer, still on edge.

  “There is really not a lot to explain. The Fates felt that the balance was shifting in favor of darkness, and tasked us to shift it back to where it belongs. They told us that this place would lead us to our solution, so hereI’m.”

  “Um … okay. Sohow about that magic dust?” Keagan asks.

  “It is justa mixture of ashes.”

  “A mixture of what kind of ashes?” I ask. I really don’t want to know, but I just have to ask.

  “You really don’t want to know, trust me,” Mr. Davis replies.

  “That’s what I figured.” I’m about to tell him that we have to leave when my eyes land on the sword,which made a small indention on the floor where it has been spinning. “How were you going to kill me, anyway? I thought that the force field offers protection,” I say while still staring at the sword with its sparkling sapphires.

  “As you have probably figured out, it’s my sword. It’s a god killer, and with it I can breach any magic. Kill anyone and anything.”

  “This is probably another stupid question, but is there any way that I can borrow it to kill my mother and twin sister?”

  “Wow, talk about a dysfunctional family. However, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t let you have this sword. You have to earn it, and from that time, it’s yours until the day you die. No other person can touch it. Here, try. I always think it’s hilarious.” I eye the sword, but before I can even consider reaching for it, Keagan tries. I have to agree, it is pretty funny;it’s as if a wall surrounds the sword, and regardless of where he tries to pick it up hecan’t touch it.

  Keagan finally gives up, shaking his head with asmile on his face. “That is pretty awesome. Any way that you can help us get one?” I ask.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Because as you said earlier, the Fates told you this would be the place you would find the way to shift the balance. Helping us would definitely do that. My sister and mother are pure evil. Allecto tried ending the world just a few weeks ago, and you’re probably aware of the disaster that just happened. Well, that one was all my wonderful psycho, twin sister.”

  “I think that you may be right. There are only three of these swords: the red, the blue, and the green. The only sword that has not been claimed is the red. These swords have always been wellprotected.”

  “So you’re telling me that wherever the sword is, it’s going to be hardto get it?” I inquire.

  “Exactly. It is going to be extremely difficult. Many have tried, but none have succeeded in getting them.”

  “Are there no other ways to kill one of them?” Keagan wants to know.

  “There definitely are,but I don’t know them. This is all I’ve got, if we are going to do this then I’ll call in some reinforcement.” Mr. Davis starts pulling out his phone.

  “Wait, you’re going with us?” He nods his head while dialing, then begins to speak into the phone in a hushed voice. I look to Keagan to see what he thinks of this whole situation, but don’t get much when he shrugs his shoulders. I roll my eyes in response to his indefiniteness. A frown has now appeared on Mr. Davis’ face, and when he hangs up the phone he seems very unhappy with his conversation.

  “I was hoping to bring some backup, but my council just told me that they couldn’t spare the manpower. Allteams already have missions.” Pulling out his phone again, he sends a quick text.

  Wait,I thought that phones didn’t work in the classrooms.

  He must notice my inquisitive stare as he holds up his phone and exclaims,“It’s after hours, the technology gets turned on only when the students are in the classroom.”

  “That’s pretty cool,” Keagan says, and I nod in agreement.

  “We have to run and get some of our stuff. Will you meet us out front in thirty minutes? Maximus is picking us up.” I grab a hold of Keagan’s arm and drag him after me, intent on finally getting out of this classroom.

  “Maximus?” Mr. Davis asks.

  “Oh, sorry. He’s one of ours. I guess you could call him my uncle.” A big smile brightens his face.

  “I know Maximus, we go way back. I was hoping I would run into him when I got assigned here. I heard that he was teaching, keeping an eye on the Guardians that were attending school here. How is that hooligan?”

  “You will see him in a minute, Mr. Davis. We still have to fill him in on everything and come up with a plan. Right now we have to go, we’re running out of time.” Mr. Davis moves out of my way as I bulldoze toward the door.

  “Chris!” I hear, and give him a confused look. “You can call me Chris.”

  “Okay, Chris. We will see you out front in twenty-fiveminutes.” I finally make it out the door with Keagan right behind. I have so many more question for Chris, but right now is not the time for them. I would love to find out where we are headed, and more about this organization he is a part of. He said something about the Fates;I’ve heard about them,but don’t know too much. My knowledge stems from Disney’s Hercules and all I remember is them pulling strings and eyes popping out of their head. This is just too weird, but I knew there was something strange about him.

  Keagan and I split up and head to our rooms. I’d completely forgotten about the whole video thing… until I open the door to my dorm. It seems that everyone has conjugated there, and as I enter it gets eerily quiet. I almost wish I had my sword, because I feel like I just stepped into my own execution. Every eye in the room turns to me. I nervously take a step toward the stairs, but am blocked by everyone gathering in the room. Looking around, I try to find a clear route of escape.

  “Look, just the distraction that we need.” Out of the crowd walks one of the girls I ran into the other day, who was trying to bully me.

  “I don’t have time for this.” I start pushing my way through the thick crowd, saying excuse me over and over again.

  “What, are you going to go stalk Keagan some more? You know, we’ve noticed that you have been trying to hang on to him. I really think it’s pathetic! Whycan’t you just deal with the fact that he and Porsche are together?” She has made her way to stand directly in front of me. I can handle this; I’ve taken her down once, and I know she feels like she needs this to boost her ego from the other day.

  “Look, I really don’t want to start anything, just leave it alone. I mean, why does it matter so much to you what I do? Just mind your own business and stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong!” Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Chris open the door. I really hope that he’s not going to interfere; I need to do this on my own. I’m relieved to see him back out the door, unnoticed.

  “Well, I have a problem with you. You think you’re so special,don’t you? Well, I’m here to tell you that you are anything but special.” I can’t help but chuckle at what she just said, and think to myself, If you only knew.

  Just as I’m about to say something in reply, the door opens again. In walks a guy that I’ve never seen before. Wow, the only guy I’ve ever seen that comes even close to this one in looks is Keagan. This guy is incredible; olive comp
lexion, dark hair,and the body of a god. I don’t know how I got turned toward the door again, but I’m glad since it allowed me to see him.

  He scans the room—which now has all eyes turned on him—and when he glances at me, a big smile crosses his face. I think I melt a little bit. How can one smile cause me to have a huge crush on him? Stupid hormones. I try to remember what the reason for me coming here was, but can’t remember a thing.

  “What are you looking at freak?” the girl confronting me asks, and turns to look behind her. “Oh wow!” I guess we agree on at least something.

  I wonder who he is. “Trish, there you are! You ready for our date?” I know that if everyonehadn’t been looking curiously at the guy, they would have seen the shocked look on my face. I don’t know who he is, but I silently thank whomever sent him my way.

  “I’m still trying to get my stuff from my room, but it should take just a minute. Wait here, I will be right back.” I smile at him and then turn to the stairs, noticing that everyone is holding their breath to see what happens next.

  When I get to my room, I quickly throw some stuff into my backpack after emptying the contents on the bed. I don’t know how long we are going to be gone, and the limited space doesn’t allow for a lot, but hopefully I make some good choices, definitely including my iPod. I grab my leather jacket, but when I look in the mirror, I realize that I’m still in PJs from this morning. I quickly change into some jeans and a cute shirt, run a comb through my hair, and am out the door in less than five minutes. Walking back into the common room,it’s as if I never left; everyone is still stuck, still just staring at the guy by the door.

  He lights up when he notices that I’m back and starts walking toward me. People move out of his way like the ocean did for Abraham. “Who—”

  He cuts me off with a quick, light kiss on the lips, leaving me wide-eyed, and whispers, “In a second, let’s get out of here first.”

  I give him my best smile and we make our way out of the room.

  Chapter 15

  Touched by Flame