Unbound: The Call of Power

Chapter 10

She was standing in a field of flowers, surrounded by white and yellow daffodils. The night sky was illuminated by the blanket of stars and the moon shone brightly as she slowly walked along the path, wondering where she was.

“What was I doing before this?” She couldn’t remember. A cold breeze passed through her, and she shivered before it dawned on her that could not feel the chill. Puzzled, she looked down at the daffodils. She gently caressed them as she walked by, taking in the vast field before.

A woman stood in front of her, wearing a long flowy white dress and a flower crown. A bright blue stone was hanging around her neck, glistening in the moonlight. As she drew closer, the stone sparkled a little and a vaguely distant memory tugged at her from the depths of her mind. She frowned a little, trying to recall the memory, unsuccessfully.

“Don’t fret, my love,” The woman’s voice was soft and kind, every word a melodic lilt. She looked ethereal and Maya was drawn unspeakably drawn. She had no idea where she was or what this is, but she couldn’t stop herself from walking closer to the woman.

She stood before her, the woman reached down and lifted up her hand. She looked at the charm on her wrist. There was a magical aura around her charm, seven magical knots; each knot corresponding to the seven beads that made up her bracelet. She had never been able to see the aura of her charm before, and Maya was awestruck.

“You should stop hiding, my child; behind these charms and your closed heart,” the woman looked deep into her eyes. “Someday, you are going to need every bit of your strength; your essence, to save the people that you love”.

Maya looked at her wrist, still in the woman’s grasp. “What if I hurt someone again? I already have, once before”.

She placed her other hand on Maya’s chest, right above her heart. She felt a jolt run through her, but she was frozen on the spot.

“Listen to the call of your power, child. Listen, and control it. Only then will you win the darkness that is about to rise.”

“Darkness? What darkness?”

The woman did not seem to hear her as she reached for one of the knots on Maya’s charm.

“Do you know why we are in field of daffodils?” she asked her. Maya shook her head.

“They represent new beginnings, rebirths if you will,” she glanced at Maya, as she pulled at the magical knot.

“No, wait. What are you doing?” Maya tugged at her wrist, but she was unable to free herself.

The woman held her gaze as she gently undid the knot. “This is your new beginning, Maya.”

Maya watched in horror as the knot turned to colourful dust and swirled around in the air. One bead dropped from her bracelet and fell to the ground, broken. It no longer served any purpose. A knot undone meant that some part of her powers had been released.

“Remember child, listen to the call of your power.”

Suddenly, her hand was released and as she looked up, the woman disappeared from her sight. Maya looked around, trying to make out where she had gone.

Someone grabbed her shoulders from behind her and held her in place just as the colourful dust formed a spear in front of her.

“Control it,” the woman whispered into Maya’s ears, as the spear shot through her heart.

It was as if someone had shot a fire ball into her, and she felt hot pain spreading out from within her chest. Everything swirled into darkness as she fell backwards, free falling into oblivion.

“NO!”

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She felt her head hit something soft, and she sat up abruptly just as her room door slammed open.

Light flooded her eyes and she was momentarily blinded. She blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness.

“Maya, are you okay?” she could hear a concerned male voice, as hands gently held her shoulders.

As her eyes focused, Maya found herself looking into Andrew’s eyes. They were currently clouded with worry, as he looked at her.

“Are you okay?”

She looked around and realised that she was in her room, back at her staff apartment. The pictures of the events of the night suddenly flashed in her mind, and she closed her eyes tightly again. Her head was pounding, and she couldn’t stop seeing the craze filled eyes of the rogue vampire she had killed.

Just then, Sam and Ellie burst into the room.

“We heard something”.

“Maya, what happened? Are you okay?”

Andrew turned to Ellie. “Get her some water”. Ellie nodded, and rushed out.

Sam sat down next to her and put his arms around her. She nodded and massaged her temples. The pain was intolerable.

Ellie came back in with the glass of water, and Maya gratefully gulped it all down. She shook her head, to clear her mind. Andrew reached behind her to plump up her pillows again while Ellie sat by the foot of the bed.

“You okay?”

Maya looked up to see three worried faces.

She nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think I am fine. I just need to take some painkillers,” She reached for the pills by her bedside table and popped one.

“What time is it?”

“It’s 3:00 in the morning. You should get back to sleep,” Sam gently brought her down. As soon as her head hit the pillows, she started yawning. The comfort of her bed was pushing the pulsing headache back and she settled into a more familiar position.

“Wait, aren’t you guys going to sleep?” She reached out and grabbed Andrew’s hand.

If she had been any more awake or aware, she would have caught the look of utter surprise on all of their faces.

Andrew stared at her for a beat, before leaning down and tucking her hand into the blanket.

“We are all going to sleep now too. All of us will be outside, if you need us.”

She reached out and grabbed Andrew’s hand again.

“Let Ellie sleep here with me”. She patted the space next to her, “there’s plenty of room.”

Ellie chuckled. “I will go wash up okay, then I will come in”.

“Good night Maya”.

“Night Maya”.

Andrew turned off the lights as they cleared out.

In the darkness, Maya pulled the blanket closer. She could feel sleep coming for her slowly, as her eyelids started feeling heavy.

She put her hand over her heart, where the magic had hit her.

Was it really a dream? It had felt so real.

One minute, she had been fighting a vampire and the next, she had been conversing with a strange woman in a field.

She heard her room door creak open, then close.

Ellie slowly tiptoed into the room and climbed into bed next to her.

“Hey Ellie.”

“Yeah Maya?”

“What really happened tonight?”

Ellie turned over and placed an arm around her best friend.

“We’ll talk about it in the morning. Get some sleep now.”

Maya let out an almost imperceptible sigh, as she gave in to her sleep.

Ellie turned and laid on her back, and she looked up at the ceiling.

As she heard her steady breathing, she couldn’t help but wonder what secrets her best friend hid.

She had been sleeping on the sofa in the living room, when she had been pulled into the vision. It was the first time she had been able to see something relating to Maya. She was standing in field of daffodils, and she had watched the interaction unfold between a strange woman and Maya in front of her.

As she watched, one thing had become clear to her. The probability that Maya was human was slowly decreasing.