A Vial of Life

“What was it?” Jamil asked, glancing up curiously from his food.

“I saw Ben again… two Bens actually. One of them arrived back on the island in a submarine, and assured me that he was fine. But the other… he looked so pale, so ethereal. He told me that Jeramiah was on the island. He said that Jeramiah managed to get through the boundary with his witch companion, Amaya. And he said that Derek, Sofia and Aiden are in danger from the duo.”

She paused, looking from her brother to her mother for their reactions.

“That was the whole dream?” her mother asked.

“That was the gist of it… it ended with Ben shaking me and urging me to wake up. And then I did.” She released another breath, looking unnerved.

“Dreams can be the strangest things,” Nadia muttered, spooning pasta into her mouth.

“Come on, River!” I said, out loud this time.

Silence fell between the three of them.

“I mean,” River continued, “it was just a dream, but… isn’t it strange how I woke up just when he told me to? It was like I actually felt his urgency. I woke up in a panic, and I was sweating.”

“Why don’t you go talk to Derek and Sofia?” Jamil suggested, eyeing his sister, his fork paused mid-air. “Since they returned from their journey, you’ve wanted to go see them anyway, haven’t you?”

I couldn’t have felt more grateful to a person than I did to Jamil Giovanni in that moment.

River nodded. “Yes. I am going to go and talk to them. Now.”

Thank God.

Now, River, you need to hurry. You need to run like you’ve never run—

She got up from the table and headed for the door.

“Well,” her mother called after her, “there’s lots of food waiting for you when you return.”

“Thanks,” River murmured. She reached the front door and pulled on a pair of boots.

“Where are you going?” Lalia called from what sounded like the sitting room.

“I’ll be back soon,” River replied as she closed the door behind her.

Emerging on the street outside, she looked right and left. I was glad that she chose to take a left and headed toward the town square. That would be the quickest route out of the town. I hoped that by now, even though she hadn’t been on the island all that long, she knew her way around well enough to find my parents. As she left the borders of the Vale and entered the thick forest, she sped up into a sprint, whipping almost as fast as a vampire through the trees. But even as she hurtled forward, I wished that she would move faster.

When she approached the Residences and arrived at the foot of the tree where my and my parents’ penthouse had once been, she gazed up toward the burnt tree tops and let out a gasp of horror.

“Oh, my…” she mouthed.

She gazed all around the area before her eyes fixed on the neighboring tree. I guessed that she was about to climb up to find out what happened when footsteps crunched behind us.

It was Rose and Caleb approaching.

“Rose,” River called. She hurried up to my sister. River cast her eyes upward again at the treetops before returning to Rose. “What on earth happened here?”

My sister’s face was blanched. “There was a fire,” she said, her voice several tones deeper than usual. “Both here and in my grandfather’s mountain cabin. My parents are okay, and so is Aiden… but his girlfriend, Kailyn… she didn’t make it.”

“Oh, God… And you don’t know how the fires started?”

“Lucas’ demon son,” I hissed.

“We’re not sure,” Rose replied. “My father is launching an investigation as we speak.”

“Where is your father?” River asked.

“In the Great Dome, along with my mom and the rest of The Shade’s council.”

“I need to speak with your parents.” River’s face had drained of all color. “I just had a dream involving Ben. He told me that Jeramiah was on this island, that somehow Jeramiah managed to gain entrance and he’s targeting your father, mother and grandfather. Oh, God.”

Rose looked bewildered, but I was relieved when she didn’t delay River with any questions. She reached out and grabbed River’s hand. “Come with me,” she said. The three of them turned on their heel and began to dash through the woods.

Hurrying after them, I found myself running side by side with Caleb, who was about the same height as me.

“How long ago did you have this dream?” he asked River as they ran.

“Just now,” River replied breathlessly. “Like ten or fifteen minutes ago.”

Caleb’s expression darkened. Silence fell between the three, and none of them exchanged another word until they arrived outside the Great Dome. Caleb was the first to reach the entrance. He clutched the handle and pushed open the heavy door. It caused a loud creak and as the three of them burst into the meeting room, all eyes turned on them. I was relieved to see my mother and father sitting at the head of the table, but when I scanned the room in search of my grandfather, I couldn’t spot him.

“River needs to talk to you urgently,” Rose said, still clutching River’s hand. She led her up to my parents at the head of the table.

As my father stood up, his imposing form towering over her, River looked rather intimidated to be standing before The Shade’s king, though she began to explain in a surprisingly steady voice. “I think I know who is behind this. I believe that Jeramiah ‘Stone’ Novak is on this island with a witch. He’s targeting you, your wife, and Aiden.”