Captured Hearts Chapter 8

Chapter 8

AUBREE

I walked down the hall, hearing the sounds of students on their way to the cottages. I however took a different way, walking down the long haul enjoying the silence. I looked at the wall adorned with few pictures with plain stretches interspersed. It was very quiet down this way. I took this route because it was a faster way to my cottage and I like being alone sometimes.

I suddenly felt a tightening in my chest. I could barely breathe all of a sudden and staggered to a wall and slid to the ground gasping. I felt as though someone had just clamped a hand over my heart and lungs. I started to scoot down the hall on my butt, trying to get away from the feeling. Then, just as suddenly, I was released. Crawling to my feet I slowly walked along the wall, half trailing, and half leaning against it.

At the end of the wall I stopped, there were voices. Not casual voices, but the kind that raised the little hairs on your neck. I felt a shiver run through my body and I felt the spread of goose bumps as something inside me stirred. Something until this very second I did not know was there, a wilder part. It scared the crap out of me! I shuddered inwardly as a tingle of electric power vibrated lightly over my skin.

“Come with me and I won’t hurt anyone. I mean what I say Eragon, I have no choice, either you come quietly or people--especially the ones you care about--will get hurt.”

“How long has it been, two months since you burned that village outside of Surda? I thought you were dead and then you appear whole and well, with a dragon and Galbatorix as your liege lord! I will not just throw away all I and you have fought for, or used to anyway. I cannot do what you ask.” Eragon’s statement was swollen with anger and hatred.

“You have no inkling of what it is like being controlled by that man. Thorn’s and my true names were discovered and I had no choice. You have no idea what kind of living death my life have been these past months! I ask only once more, and then you are responsible for what happens next. Come with me or risk Galbatorix’s wrath!” At first Murtagh’s voice was as loud as thunder, but at the end it became as quiet and deadly as ice.

I didn’t want to hear more, what I’d listened to already was making my head spin. Just in case I was being fooled with, I glanced around the wall, and stumbled back. What I saw would be in some fanciful novel, but it was real.

Eragon was encased in a shimmering half orb that was silver while Murtagh held a fire ball in his hand casually flicking it this way and that in between his fingers. “Who’s there, I swear I heard someone.” Murtagh said looking suspiciously around.

I ran for all I was worth. Dodging left and right like a rabbit, I slid into Mrs. Gatley’s room. I dashed over to the door that led to the outside and opened it. Coming into the sunlight, I slowly started to walk to Chapmen, trying desperately to slow my heart and smooth whatever expression I had on my face into a bland smile. It was like wrestling with all five of my younger sisters but I finally managed it. I was passing the doors I usually would have gone out of when they opened to reveal Eragon followed by Murtagh.

“Hey guys, what are you doing out here? I thought everyone had gone.” I did my best to plaster a smile on my face and didn’t think I succeeded.

“Oh, Aubree, I thought you were a ghost. You look pale, are you feeling well?” Eragon asked in a concerned voice.

“Yes, I guess it’s just the Irish blood, being a red head automatically means you always have pale skin.” I choked out a laugh then stopped because Murtagh was looking at me strangely. Did he know it was me who had heard him threaten Eragon?

“You did not see anyone run by this way, did you?” he asked in a voice edged with ice.

“Um, no. Just looking for someone. I came from the nurse. She thought I was too white too so she took my temp. Geez, everyone is so paranoid around here. I mean first Abby, then Robin the nurse, and now you. I hope it’s not a germ of any sort I really couldn’t handle a threat to my life, I mean health.” I felt my palms start to sweat and wiped them on the sides of my jeans. “Well, better be going, Gatley gave us a load of homework. All the teachers are loading up since Exams are coming up. Just hope I don’t drown in the work load.”

“Are you sure you haven’t seen anyone come pass this way at all?” Murtagh asked again, a note of doubtfulness ringing in his voice. I nodded the affirmative and quickly walked off feeling his eyes on my back until I reached the cottage and was let in by Autumn.

“What took you so long? You know Thursday is always your laundry day and you need to get a head start, since you are leaving tomorrow.” I sighed and went down the hall to grab my basket piled with my dirty clothes.

After dinner and an hour of drying and folding clothes, I made up my mind and went to Hall Cottage. I knocked on the door and waited. Sandy opened the door with her usual serine smile. I smiled back, Sandy was awesome. She was like a fourth Grandma (since I already have two grandmas and one great grandma.)

“Hey, is Eragon here?”

“Yes, he and Israel are doing something in the computer lab.” I shifted on my feet and started to lose my resolve, when Eragon appeared out of nowhere.

“Hello again Aubree, can I help you?” his eyes searched mine. Even though I couldn’t see his face clearly, I could feel his gaze. It was just some sixth sense of mine, I guess.

“Well, um, can, can I talk to you, alone?” I felt my blush creep over my cheeks. I knew I was redder than a beat. I knew this because one time, a staff person caught me taking extra “necessities” from my backpack. Later she said that I had the reddest blush she ever saw.

“Is that fine with you Sandy?”

“Yes, just be back before 9:30.”

“Alright.”

I walked as fast as I could, without running. He was there every step of the way. I suddenly stopped and turned down the side of Old Main, it was growing late and the sun was sinking down. This side of the building was thick with shadows. I turned to him and for a moment thought I caught a flash of blue in the darkening sky. I shook off the paranoia, and opened my mouth to speak. I was stopped though by a probing thing. It was like something was trying to work its way into my mind. My mental reflexes took over and I felt my mind close and seal itself. This all seemed to happen in a flash. I noticed that Eragon winced.

“I need to know something Eragon, I don’t want lies or excuses, and I want truths. I think we have known each other long enough to at least have that.” I said this with a tremble in my voice.

“I did not think Murtagh was lying when he said that there was someone listening in, but I did not think it might have been you.” He just kept on looking at me while he said this.

“I deserve to know why he wants you to go with him to this Galbatorix guy. That is, if you think my life of any importance.” I lifted my chin a little while pronouncing this. He seemed to draw within himself and silence rained for a while. I stood there waiting; I had the patience to not bother him. Then he seemed to come out of his shell.

“What do you wish to know about me?”

“I want to know what you are exactly.”

“I am a human, well that is…..” his sentence withered away suddenly, as a second flash of blue struck down towards us. I stumbled back not knowing what to expect. What I saw was something out of novels. A gigantic dragon stood there flashing in the faint red glow of the setting sun. . Its scales glittered in the dim light and its eyes were sapphire blue.

“Not it, her. this is Saphira, my dragon. Saphira, this is Aubree.” An overwhelming power seemed to engulf me in liquid flame.

“Hello little Hatchling, Eragon has told me much of you. I have deemed that you can be trusted, we will share our secret. You must share this with no one.” Her voice was a rumble of power and force; the statement had no room for argument. I nodded my head in agreement.

“I am Eragon, Dragon Rider, and Shadeslayer. I was sent here on a test by my mentors with Arya Drotningu. In my land, we are up against an evil king who seeks to rule all of Alagaesia and all in it. I am here seeking help, I am soon returning, so that I may aid in the cause. Murtagh is an evil rider, he is under Galbatorix’s rule. I must warn you because he threatens you and all that I have met, but I think he will mainly come after you, since I, well since I care for you.” These last words were said with a blush and a little moan of pain following it.

“Why is this bad? Am I a horrible person?”

“I care for you Aubree, maybe even love. I did not think I did, but after what Murtagh said, I realized I do, but I cannot bear this because I will live much longer than you. I was altered by the dragons of old and even though you cannot see it now, I am no human, neither any race. I am something different.” There was an undercurrent of sorrow in his voice. It caused a wave of sadness and sympathy. I also had butterflies in my stomach, he cared for me, maybe even loved me!

“I am sorry such feelings cause you pain. I would never hurt you Eragon, I think I feel something for you too. I will never tell anyone about this. I am sorry for your aloneness and sorry I can do nothing to help you.”

“Well, you can do something.” Saphira let out a grumble and a flickering flame lit in her nostrils. I felt a hardening in my mind and then acquiescence. What in all that is good and holy was going on between them? I had the feeling that they could communicate with their minds, and as Eragon stepped toward me, I had a bad feeling.

“Now, you must stand very still and relax your body and mind. I am doing this to figure something out. You are different from others in this world. I wasn’t sure, but Saphira even says that there is something different about you. I am going to probe your mind and origins, to see what I can find. I will only do this with your permission.”

“I agree, because I have been feeling things lately that are beyond my control. I want to know who I am.” I uttered this with a finality that surprised even me. Eragon stood closer to me and pressed his three fingers on my forehead. I was plunged into darkness.

Then it was replaced by a scene. A woman in a long dress of late eighteen hundreds type, stood in a vibrant forest. Lush green plants and trees so tall they had no end, I thought. She started to sing and walk, her red hair flashing in the brief splatters of sunlight. A man suddenly appeared before her. He had jet black hair from which pointed ears peeked and green eyes. She stopped in front of him smiling, and reaching for him. He picked her up and spun her around, laughing as he put her down. Then he covered her mouth with his.

Another flash and the same woman were in a dark room. She was sweating and her face was screwed up in pain. A woman stood at the end of the bed. The red haired woman screamed and the other woman pulled out a squalling baby.

The scene changed and it was the red haired woman again. She was walking with a teenage girl with black hair and pointed ears. The woman was trying to soothe her and then it went black.

The next scene was the girl with black hair much older. she lay on a bed, her pointed ears gone. A girl lay crying at her side.

“I did this for you Leona, you are the mother of a new race. Only the girls of our family will carry it on. The next will come at a time of need. Now I am going, marry well and keep the blood and secret pure and safe.” It ended and I fell to the ground and blacked out for good.

I woke to his face inches from mine. “Are you alright?”

“I, I don’t know. I just feel weird, that’s all.” I took a second to see if I was truly alright. Nothing was broken, nothing except what had just happened. That was just wrong.

“What in the hell just happened with us and, and that whatever it was? It wasn’t real, was it? Just tell me that everything that has happened this afternoon is a dream, and I will believe you.” I knew I would.

“I cannot say that it was a dream. I think it was a vision. One that might explain who you are. that man in the first scene was an elf. I think what happened was he mated with the woman. She must be a distant family member, a grandmother or great grandmother. What she said about them creating a new race, I think it was true that it only passed on through the female line. You must be the first female after. That means you are half or more than half elf. You are a rarity like me.” He made this statement with a little hint of giddiness in his voice.

“I am not an elf! For one I don’t have pointed ears, I don’t have magic, and I can barely see for crying out loud! Plus none of my sisters have this and there are five.”
I said this last with a bit of hysterics. I was abnormal, maybe even a freak to most.

“That might be a side affect or something. Since you were the first female, it must just be in you, your sister’s blood didn’t take to the magic like yours did. I need to take you with me, Brom and Oromis will be able to understand this. Go back to your dorm, pack what you might need. Then find Arya and have her help you write a letter to your family. They will need to be put under a spell so that they will not be suspicious. Then meet me in the alley outside of hall.” He said this with a note of urgency in his voice. He pushed me toward the sidewalk and I started to run back to my cottage and call for Arya.