Vindicate by Jamie Magee Page A

stared at me as I brushed out the tangles in my hair and dropped the eye - drops in my eyes. The cool liquid burned at first , then I felt a cooling sensation as the red t i nt went away. The emerald green shade of my eyes was still absent , but it was coming back slowly. Olivia handed me a tube of con c ealer.
    “I don’t care what I look like , ” I mumble d, pushing it away as I squeezed the towel over my long hair , drying it a little more.
    She stood and pushed me against the counter and pulled out the conce a ler. “Listen to me,” she said as she started to cover the dark circles under my eyes. “I have no doubt these people see you as a powerful person, someone that can help them fight their demons . I t wouldn’t hurt for you to look more human.”
    “I won’t fight them. I’ll kill her , ” I promised , wincing as she pulled out mascara.
    “I’m sure there is more than one,” she said as she brought my eyelashes back to life.
    “How many ? ” I asked , feeling the truth in her words. It was as if she knew for sure. “How do you know?”
    “I feel it,” she said as she looked over me , making sure she had done all she could do.
    “If I…” I hesitated , not wanting to speak the words that would forecast my death. “If I can’t , I need you to help them. A ll of you , ” I said as I closed my eyes and flashes of everyone Landen and I would leave behind came to me.
    All at once , I felt a numbing calm. I t was just as beautiful as the calm I always felt from Landen. T he peace I felt in P e lh a n’s world. It was sustaining, powerful , and wise, but I felt something else: disbelief and fear. Defensively , I opened my eyes and saw an image.
    Not one of my images, but a ghostly image of a woman. Olivia was staring at her with broad eyes and her mouth wide open. The woman was beautiful, angelic. Her long hair flowed on an invisible current, and everything about her glowed. She reached for my face and cradled it gently. I didn’t pull away or even flinch. S he was to o peaceful, to o beautiful.
    With her touch , images came to life in m y mind. I saw her very pregnant. I saw her death. I saw Aden and Draven, their childhood , every moment of it as Nana and their father raised them . I didn’t need an explanation ; this was their mom , and she had died giving birth to them. Through the visions of their childhood , I saw them fight darkness. I saw them question their sanity as shadowed images came to life in front of them, they would speak, they would say random words that seem ed to make no sense, like colors or ph r ases in other langu ag es – even scents, and the dark images would turn to light and fade as if they had been redeemed.
    I saw Charlie th rough this ghostly woman’s eyes. I saw Charlie convince the others that they were not cursed, but that they were meant to red eem the damned. T hey used music. T hey used music like I used art to channel what they witnessed. T hey had no idea what they were doing or how they would face their fate. I watched countless conversations abo ut us – about Landen, our world. H ow they thought it would be their escape.
    Then I saw Draven. H e was in every image. She showed me h ow he fell to his knees in pain. T he image was a cruel reminder of when I’ d seen Drake do the same thing. T hough in this image I neve r saw the darkness leave Draven. T he images showed him fighting in a world that could only be a nightmare. I t wasn’t a fight with guns or muscle, it was a fight with his mind… the things he saw tempted him , and he had to fight to remain sane, he had to fight the addict ion of the illusions before him. Charlie was his way out. H e thought of Charlie , and butterflies would appear a round her – glowing butterflies. H e would try and refuse her , but she was relentless and made him focus on her, on the emotion between them.
    This woman was showi ng me what was in store for me. S he was showing me that Charlie had fought this demon. The