Faithless

Chapter Fifteen

 The second it was decided they all needed to leave, everyone got to work immediately, packing up the whole house into three vans waiting in the garage. They all worked so fast and efficiently that the entire house was packed up within a number of minutes, which was probably for the best considering that they had no idea exactly how many hunters were out there, let alone how many were on their way to their current location. It occurred to Jasmina that they had probably carried out practice drills for situations like this one, where they needed to evacuate as fast as possible.

Jasmina didn't really know how to help with the efforts so she mostly took orders or stayed out the way so others could c***k on. She hated the idea of having to live on the run, always having a back up plan in place like this, but it became pretty obvious that this was their way of life and if she was to join their coven, it would be her way of life too.

Cam and Ewan spoke for a while, trying to think of somewhere they could go, but they were running out of ideas. They didn’t want to go back to where they had been before, but it looked like none of them had a choice. Jasmina had thousands of unanswered messages on her phone, which she began sorting through one by one, while she sat on the stairs. Aiden came and sat next to her, while everyone else carried on trying to get ready to leave.

“You know it’s funny.” He said after a while.

“What is?”

“You were so adamant that the reason you came here today was because you just couldn’t face being at home right?” He carried on before Jasmina could form a syllable. “Well have you stopped to think that maybe you came here because you knew we needed help, so you used any excuse you could to get yourself here.” Aiden suggested.

“I never really thought about it like that.” She frowned.

“Well, maybe deep down you know this is where you need to be.” He shrugged. “Who are you texting?”

“Everyone involved in the witch hunt.” She muttered, then paused, realising her own pun. “I should really start watching what I say huh?”

“Might be wise.” Aiden laughed, shaking his head. You’ll get used to it.”

“We’re getting ready to leave.” Cam said, coming over to us. He didn’t look happy which didn’t surprise Jasmina, given the circumstances

“I’ll get my things.” Jasmina shrugged, jogging upstairs. Cam followed, heading into his own room to get his stuff. All Jasmina had was the bag she arrived with earlier, so she grabbed that, then helped Cam. He was silent, which put her on edge, even more so than she already was. Once they got downstairs everyone else was ready to go. They went into the garage, where the vans were and Jasmina also noticed two motorcycles. Cam put their things into the first van and opened the door for Jasmina to get in. Ewan gave Cam a key, then he jumped in the driver’s seat.

“They are going to sort out things here then meet us at the safe house. It's smaller than this one but we'll make it work.” Cam explained.

“Okay.” Jasmina nodded.

“I think it would be best if you had a room of your own, because of your dreams and all. Ruby is sharing with Sarah tonight, and you can be in a separate room.”

“Okay. Sorry to be a burden.”

“You just saved at least two people from our coven. You are not a burden.” Cam frowned, looking at Jasmina, but she just kept her eyes forward. “You can’t think like that anyway. If you join a coven…”

“If.” She mumbled, looking out the window. Jasmina couldn’t help but long for a normal life. It felt good to know that she wasn’t crazy, but at least when she did think that, she didn’t have hunters breaking down the door or anything.

"Listen, I know you don't want to hear this Jas, but just think if it had been your house that they had broken into tonight, only you would have had just yourself and a human father and aunt for help." Cam ordered and Jasmina could already tell where he was going with this. "They could have easily found and killed you tonight at your house, and they would have killed any witnesses as well. I'm not saying you have to join a coven exactly, but I really think you should stick with us. It will be safer for you and safer for your family."

The pair were silent for the rest of the drive. Cam showed her to the room she would be staying in and Jasmina got changed into a pair of Grey pyjama bottoms and a pale pink tank top. He had placed her in a room in the back corner and he was staying in the one next door. It was only once Cam had unpacked his things and returned to Jasmina in her room that she felt a little exposed in what she was wearing, which made her wonder why she had ever thought that her top was a good idea. Although she had never worn it in front of a guy who had kissed her just a couple of hours beforehand.

Once everyone else arrived and piled into their rooms, the house was pretty silent while everyone reflected on the day's events. They had come uncomfortably close to getting killed by hunters and who knew how many more of them were out there. Cam stayed with Jasmina in her room, until everyone else had settled, then he left, so she could get some rest. She laid in the bed, staring up at the ceiling, for what felt like forever. She couldn’t sleep, even if she wanted to. Cam was in the room next door, and she kept hearing him toss and turn too, which was comforting in a weird way. She was glad that she wasn’t the only one who was struggling to settle down.

In the end Jasmina gave up on sleep and slipped into Cam’s room, as quietly as possible. She made certain no one heard her and had shut her own door on the way out.

“Can’t sleep either?” She whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed. Cam was laying in the middle of the bed, with his hands behind his head. She couldn’t help but notice he was topless, and the covers were low enough for her to see his body, but she didn’t want to be caught staring. He looked at her in shock for a second, then relaxed.

“Something like that. What are you doing here?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I just… Didn’t want to be alone.” She shrugged. "I keep seeing them in my mind you know? I've never been in that kind of situation before."

“Come here.” Cam said as he moved over and patted the pillow next to him. Jasmina laid down, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes did feel heavy but she was fighting sleep. 

“I don't think I want to lay down, it's making me tired now.” She frowned.

“That’s the idea.”

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to see anything.” She sighed.

“I’ll protect you.” He whispered. Jasmina sat up, resting all her weight on one arm so she could see Cam's face.

“How?”

“You’ll see.” He mumbled, stroking her cheek. She could feel herself burning up, so averted her gaze.

“What was wrong earlier? I mean besides the break in.”

“Nothing.”

“I know there’s something.”

“Are you trying to read my mind?” Cam frowned, sitting up.

“What I wouldn’t, Cam, I… I should just go.” She sighed, climbing off the bed, but Cam caught her arm, pulling her back.

“Jas I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just hard to tell if you’re using your powers or not.” Cam sighed. Jasmina sat on the bed, facing the wall still, and closed her eyes. Cam moved closer, so his chest was touching her back. He drew patterns up and down her arm.

“Even in the magic community, I’m still a freak aren’t I?”

“You’re not it just… Takes some getting used to. It’s like meeting any new person.”

“Except with me you just can’t trust whether or not I’m in your mind.” She muttered, hearing the bitterness in her own words, and she knew Cam heard it too. “I’m sorry for just being curious about earlier. I won’t bother you again.” Jasmina tried to get up, but Cam hooked her waist.

“It wasn’t you that I was annoyed with or anything. It’s just Aiden I don’t trust him, not around you.” He sighed.

“If you don’t trust him when he’s near me, you can’t trust me when I’m near him.” Jasmina muttered.

“Jas it’s not like that. It doesn't matter anyway. It’s not like you owe me any loyalties or anything.” Cam mumbled.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s not like we mean anything to each other.” She snapped, pushing his arms away, sneaking back out of his room and into her own. She got into the bed and faced the wall, moving as close to it as possible, like she was making her very own nest. She felt her eyes burn as tears began to form and a lump in her throat developed uncomfortably large, but she blinked them away, then squeezed her eyes shut, finally wishing she could just sleep, and forget everything for a while.

Images of Cam flooded Jasmina's dreams that night. At first she tried pushing him away, or running, but in the end she just gave in. They talked, and laughed. He kissed her cheek and made her blush, while she stared out at a field of blue flowers. Just for a moment it was perfect, before it all crumbled away.

All of a sudden Cam was gone, and Jasmina was standing on her own, in the middle of the woods. It was freezing cold, which was made worse by an icy breeze which kept blowing through the trees and into her face. She shivered looking around. It's just a dream. 

Jasmina could hear talking coming from close by, so carefully she followed the voices, until she reached a campsite, somewhere high up. There were people gathered around a fire, talking and eating. It seems normal and family orientated, but there was something else there in the air, something that just wasn't quite right. All of a sudden a man entered the campsite and everyone stood up.

"We were right. There was enough to complete a coven in that house." The Man said.

"Well did you kill them? Where’s the other two?” One of the women asked, from near the fire.

"No. They had a tip off or something. Knew we were coming. The others are dead and I won’t be surprised if the vermin fled." He explained.

"So you lost them? Now how will we catch them? We've been on their trail for months, and all for nothing!" 

"Don't worry we didn't lose them. They don’t seem to want to travel far. We’ll kill them all in turn." One of the women smirked, then she turned to Jasmina. She grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Starting with her." They all turned to Jasmina, and she backed away, looking at them all. She fell backwards on a rock and they all advanced. She screamed with all her might, but no one could hear here scream from all the way up here.

"Jasmina! Jasmina wakes up! Snap out of it." Cam was yelling. Jasmina sprung upwards, gasping for air. Her throat was sore and dry and she could feel that she was sweating, so much so that my hair and clothes were damp. "Calm down, you were just dreaming."

"I..I..." She tried to speak, but her voice was gone, confirming that she had been screaming out loud. She gripped Cam's arms so tight that her nails dug into his skin. Any further and they were sure to draw blood but he didn't care.

"What happened? I lost you then I woke up to hear you screaming, was it a vision?”

"I.. I was here... Then I was at a camp... They s… Saw me and they were going to kill me." She gasped, still shaking like a leaf. She caught her breath then finally looked to Cam. “What do you mean you lost me?” She asked.

"I really need to know what you saw." He said, but Jasmina saw something in his eyes.

“Not until you explain first.” She frowned. She didn't need to read his mind to know he was hiding something and she preferred he told her than her reading it from him.

“I… I was just trying to calm you down. I didn’t want you to start pushing me away. I didn’t even mean what I said.”

“What did you do?”

“I… I can dream walk.” Cam sighed. Just then Ewan came in, pushing past Cam and kneeling next to Jasmina. He put the back of his hand on her forehead, and looked her over for wounds, although she didn’t understand why he would expect any.

“What did you see?” He asked. Jasmina looked to Cam, who just mouthed ‘later’ to her. Jasmina's eyes travelled back to Ewan and she explained everything in as much detail as possible. She was still out of breath and her throat was killing her. She wanted to go and shower, but didn't have the energy to do anything. Ashleigh came in and handed her a drink, which she gratefully accepted. 

"Thanks." She whispered, gulping it down greedily.

“It’s okay. How are you feeling?”

“I’ll be fine.” Jasmina mumbled.

“That’s good.” She nodded, frowning.

“What is it?”

“I just… Didn’t realise that magic could be like that I guess. I get why you’re reluctant to accept it now. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes I guess.” Ashleigh frowned.

“What’s the time?” Jasmina asked, ignoring her comment completely.

“Just gone six.” Everyone is getting up and stuff anyway. We need to figure out our next move. Ruby is going back to her parents, while Maxine never left hers. You can either stay with us, or go home.” Ashleigh offered.

“I think I would just like to shower and change before I do anything else." Jasmina shrugged, looking at the empty glass. Ashleigh nodded.

“Come on. I can help you to the bathroom and get you a towel. Do you have enough clothes?” She asked, returning to her normal self, which made Jasmina feel a lot more comfortable.

“Yeah I have for today.” Jasmina nodded.

Ashleigh did as she said she would and helped Jasmina to the bathroom, then she ran her a bath. She left Jasmina on her own and she took her time, mostly because every muscle in her body ached like hell. Once she was done she plaited her still wet hair into a side plait and headed for the stairs.

“Jas.” Cam called, from just outside his bedroom, He nodded to it, gesturing for her to follow, but she didn’t straight away. Eventually she sighed to herself, then slowly headed inside, shutting the door behind her. “About earlier…”

“You mean the dream walking thing? The thing that you, what exactly?” She already had her own idea of what it was, but she wanted to hear it from him.

“It means I can control dreams, control what you dream of.” He grimaced.

“So it allows you to enter my mind, without my permission, and control what I see?” Jasmina snapped. Cam nodded, looking to the floor.

“I’m sorry. I was just trying to let you get one night of sleep.” He mumbled. She could see the grimace on his face, but she refused to feel sorry for him.

“You had no right to play around with my dreams! You were in my head, the same thing you accused me of doing, when I hadn’t actually done anything of the sort! How could you?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“How long have you been able to do that to me?”

“Since before we actually met.” Cam said quietly. Sitting on the bed. She froze, staring at him.

“So… When I saw you in my dreams, before. You caused that?”

“Yeah… Kind of. I wasn’t that great at controlling it ‘cause you were so far away, and I think your powers were interfering.” He explained.

“So I’m just some kind of experiment to you then? A freaking doll for you to practice on?”

“No, Jasmina, listen I…”

“No you listen! I thought I was going insane because of you!” She snapped, walking out. Jasmina headed downstairs, then for the front door.

“Hey!” Jasmina froze, sighing to herself. She turned to face Sarah, who was glaring right at her. “Look what you did to me! How dare you throw me around like some kind of rag doll.” She snapped, raising her hand.

“If it wasn’t for me you would have been shot. You should be thanking me right now for saving your pathetic little life.” Jasmina snapped. She knew Sarah was about to try and strike her or something, But Aiden got in the way. Tyler came out of one of the rooms and pulled her away, while Aiden led Jasmina outside.

“Remind me not to mess with you ever.” He joked, grinning.

“Shut up.” She muttered, shaking his hands off her.

“Ouch. You’re not a morning person huh? Maybe a drive will cheer you up.” He smirked, pulling a set of keys out his pocket. Jasmina sighed, throwing her head back, her eyes glancing back towards the house. She didn't want to go back inside and she had no idea where she was, even if she did want to go.

“Why not?” She finally mumbled. Aiden just carried on smirking, leading the way to the garage. He pulled out a motorcycle and hopped on. “I’m so not getting on that death trap.” She frowned.

“Come on, you need a little fun and what better way to have it than on this thing?” He grinned. She thought about it for a while, staring at Aiden. He didn’t break eye contact with her once and maintained his cocky smirk the whole time. Jasmina sighed deeply, shutting her eyes.

“Where's a helmet?”