Chapter 21

A huge mistake



She’s in London… London… Her words echoed in my head. Snickers and whispers, I felt them all around me, mounting in my head. My mind felt clouded, as if there were thousands of butterflies, each of them flickering their small wings and whispering to me. I wanted to scream. I didn’t know what was happening to me. My breath came short and cold sweat coated my body. Emily’s sister closed her eyes and pulled away from me.
"I had to cut someone’s finger off to find you and now you’re telling me that you don’t know where your sister is?" I shouted, tangling my hair in a vicious rage, wanting to wake up that deadly energy and attack. She was lying to me. I felt it. Anger was burning my chest, but my magic seemed lost, taken away from me. I lifted myself from the floor, determined to get any useful information out of her.
Emily or Gemma, whatever the hell her name was, narrowed her eyes at me.
"She cut all contact with me; she didn't want to be human anymore," she said. "I'm sorry, I can’t help you."
"London is a huge city. How do you think I’ll find her? Your sister’s the only person who can save my father," I said, feeling like my hope had been destroyed, replaced with emptiness. The whispers intensified, letting me know that Dad’s soul was already lost. There was no mercy; his life was slowly ending.
"Can you contact her in any way?"
Gemma shook her head. Tears filled her eyes.
"Emily wouldn't have helped you anyway. She changed, became bitter and resentful to all humans. She became a monster."
I couldn’t believe what she was saying and continued pleading but got nothing out of her. She kept telling me that she simply didn't know. London would’ve been Emily’s final destination. That was all she could tell me.
My head was pounding when I went back downstairs. Carla wasn't there, and when I revealed to Julian what Gemma told me, Jasper lost his temper. Screams and magic filled the house and I sat on the sofa feeling lightheaded as the two paranormals fought.
I started feeling cramps in my stomach; then someone dragged me out of the house and I was back in the car. We were moving. Julian was gone, and Jasper was talking to me, but I was so confused. I was lost in my own world, drifting away into blackness.
The voices were there laughing at me, preying on my energy, taking it away. I wanted to feel as if all my problems had gone away, that I fulfilled my promise to Mum. Currents of energy burst in front of my eyes. Jasper kept talking, but his voice sounded like it was coming from a broken radio.
I responded to him. He didn’t say anything then. Deep down I knew that something was wrong with me, that we didn’t find what we were looking for, but I felt so trapped; the voices were like dead creatures, whispering and staring back at me. I began slipping back into an unconscious state, moaning.
"We’re going back to the hotel," I heard him say. I didn't reply, nodding as this sounded like a great plan. I needed to be away from that house, away from any deadly power.
Then he drove, and I closed my eyes, seeing colours, feeling his and my emotions. Every part of me wanted to be touched. Jasper kept glancing at me from the front seat.
"Are you feeling all right, Julia?" he asked, once he parked the car outside the hotel.
I didn't remember what I said in response. My fingertips were sparkling; then the sparks turned into flames. Jasper told me to keep it together, that we didn’t want to bring unnecessary attention to ourselves.
He helped me get out of the car and wrapped his hands around my waist. Spice, cinnamon and oriental fragrance swirled around me. We were back in our room then. Jasper laid me on the bed gently, whispering loving words, letting me know that everything was going to be all right and I didn’t have to worry. He kept talking about Gordon, Julian and that human woman, Carla, promising that this wasn't over yet.
I didn't understand how much time had passed. My mind was clouded, raw and dark energy, thrummed through me, waking up my warmth and my deepest desires. Then night came. Jasper was in and out of the room. I heard the door opening and closing.
"Let me undress you, baby." I heard him whispering in my ear. I laughed, forgetting about why I was with him, erasing toxic memories and tossing them away.
It felt like he was pulling my clothes off, my shoes, my T-shirt and jeans. I was laughing the whole time. Magic flew in the room, igniting the lust, leaving me breathless and heated. I needed to feel his lips on mine, feel his pounding heart against my own.
"Julia, I want to kiss you," he said. I felt a slight pulsation between my legs, gut-wrenching heat. Nathaniel didn’t love me anymore; he had someone else.
"Let me remember our love."
That was my only whisper. His lips were on mine then. It was gentle at first, just soft playful kisses.
When his fingers slipped into my hair, I moaned and pulled him on top of me. Desire enhanced me. I wanted to be loved, cared for. His rough hand traced the lines of my thighs, moving up to my stomach. This dream seemed so real, my skin prickled as his tongue began its journey over my body, sucking and moulding my breasts. The voices echoed, singing, embracing me with warmth and the care of his heart. I felt his hardness between my legs and I needed to have him inside me.
Jasper’s kisses deepened, and I needed to feel more of him. I moaned as his hand traced the naked skin of my breasts.
His lips moved down my neck, biting me until I cried out with pain. Jasper had always liked rough sex. Years passed by and he was still the same, unpredictable, dangerous and obsessive.
We weren’t really making love, this was a dream. In this mirage Jasper whispered to me that I was the most beautiful creature and that he loved me.
He took all his clothes off and situated himself between my legs, kissing my stomach. I moaned, feeling overwhelming desire, knowing that my energy was floating through me faster than ever.
When he thrust himself inside me, I cried out. His movements were vicious, barely pleasurable and the whole time I was thinking about Nathaniel.
My energy had never been released when Jasper made love to me. He panted, and my breathing was erratic. He kissed and touched every part of my body.
I closed my eyes, drowning in my own pain, not having anything else to be happy about. In my mirage I was making love to my ex-boyfriend, Jasper and I truly hoped that it was just a dream.

***

When I woke up in the early morning I didn’t want to open my eyes. The strong smell of oriental fragrance that I knew so well invaded me quickly. I reached for my head, feeling a sudden, creeping pain and massaged it, easing the pulsing, aggravating ache. My skin felt too tight, sweat soaked the damp sheets.
My heart skipped a beat when I felt a body next to me. A warm male body that I recognised. Then the memories came back to me. Flashes of yesterday’s events, voices, emotions—and I released a gasp of terror.
I wanted to scream. Jasper was lying on his side sleeping peacefully. We were both naked and really close to each other. My mind started racing, moving through the images and conversation from yesterday. I didn’t want to believe what happened, but the harder I thought about everything the realization of it all kept hitting me like bullets from an automatic gun.
We didn’t find the white witch. The girl who was supposed to be her revealed that she was her sister. Icy fear and hollowness seized me, and my heart felt like it was going stop.
All of a sudden, I felt like I didn’t have enough air to keep breathing. I slipped out of the bed discreetly, trying not to wake Jasper. I didn’t understand what happened to me after I left Gemma’s room. Everything was so blurred. I remembered Julian, drinking tea, after that I only recalled a few bits and pieces.
That woman, Carla; she was human. Was it possible that she could have slipped something into the tea or maybe it was her maid? I had no idea.
Nothing made sense and I didn’t want to believe that we failed to find the white witch, that her sister was somewhere in London. Then a few other bits flashed through my mind and I inhaled, keeping steady on my feet.
My thoughts were saying one thing but my body another. I thought this was only a dream. I had been very clear with him from the beginning that I wanted to wait, and the proposition was only a “maybe.” What the hell had he been thinking?
"Julia, are you all right?" Jasper asked, waking up all of a sudden, while I stood in the middle of the room naked, trembling.
I quickly lifted some clothes from the floor and dressed, staring at Jasper, who was watching me with a hungry expression on his face.
"What happened between us yesterday?"
It was a straightforward question and I needed a straightforward answer. For a really long time I didn’t think he was planning to say anything.
"We made love."
I inhaled sharply, for a brief second losing my balance.
"So, you used me, knowing I wasn't even thinking straight, that I was poisoned?" I hissed, wanting to throw myself off the building. How could I not remember that I had sex with Jasper?
He got up so fast that I didn't have a chance to move aside. Naked and close to me he put his hand behind my head.
"Used you? What are you talking about? You wanted it as much as I did."
I laughed in his face, knowing that he could kill me, even without his magic wand.
"That woman or her maid; one of them slipped something into my tea. I felt high and drunk at the same time," I yelled, losing control. "And you thought that you could use the situation and sleep with me while I wasn't fully aware of what was going on?"
His eyes gleamed with green light and I stepped away. He ran his hand through his hair, working his jaw in confusion, pretending like he didn’t understand that I wasn't myself yesterday.
"You were a little odd, but then we both had a few drinks. In the end… fuck, I thought you wanted this."
I couldn’t fucking believe it and then I remembered something else. My energy came to me like a tsunami wave—anger, thick and intimidating—it rose. I was shaking, creating waves of dangerous power.
"You knocked me out and gave my blood to Julian, right? This entire trip was never about the white witch? It was always about something you needed from him!"
Jasper narrowed his eyes and closed his mouth. A roaring source of power washed through me and I called for more. Anger blinded me, but I needed to know if Jasper used me the way I thought he did.
"I was just trying to catch two birds with one stone, that’s all. Julian stole something from me years ago," he said, watching me. "I'm sorry we didn’t find her, but Gordon was right all along. The white witch used to live in that house. No one knew she left."
That was enough. He kept talking, but I wasn't listening to him anymore. Violent images moved through my mind. I stopped believing him. He was never truly committed to helping me. I couldn’t comprehend that I had been so stupid.
"After failing to find the white witch, you were so upset and lost. I should have realised that…"
That was it. My mind wasn’t making sense of anything he was saying to me. A lethal, dark and most vicious energy, took over. I needed to get away from him, as far away as possible.
I thought about all those lessons with Tron and pulsation, the way I could control the weather.
The light came unexpected, moving throughout the room with enormous speed. He realised too late that I diverted my entire energy on him. I didn’t give him a chance to think about a protection spell. I was risking my own life, toying with dangerous power that I didn’t even understand. At that moment Jasper realised he was totally at my mercy, and I didn’t have any left. He was going to die.