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. I ll never make you do anything that will hurt you ever again. God, he smells so good, Ineed to lean back.I give myself a few more seconds and then I pull away.I shake off the sensation tolean against him and tilt my neck to the side.It makes me feel so guilty because of Alex.Alex.I should be thinking of Alex, shouldn t I? I have no idea anymore.Alex or Laylen? Howabout both? What the hell is wrong with me?As I sift through my thoughts of what s right and what s wrong, images begin to flicker throughmy mind as the prickle lightly begins to poke at the back of my neck At first it s stuff I can alreadyremember, but then suddenly they start to reveal lost thoughts from a place and time I once was forcedto forget.Alex and me picking lilacs in a field; watching other Keepers practice sword fighting in the castle; playing, having fun, smiling. Gemma, what s wrong? Laylen s voice is far away as I begin to feel disembodied. I think I can remember some stuff& about my childhood& about Alex and I being friends. You remember? he asks. Like actually remember? I nod as my vision goes in and out of focus. They re real memories.And I can feel how I feltwhen I was there& God, this is so strange&. The emotions I experienced during each memory link to my heart, mind, body, and conclusivelymy soul, the most important part.In the end, it s just Alex and me.Together.Like we were neversupposed to be apart and all I can do is drift into the memory, letting it take me over.***When my sight returns to me, I m no longer at Adessa s.I panic as I look around at the trees of aforest even though this has happened before.I ve gone into a vision without a crystal.But how? Howis this even possible?Thick trees enclose me from every side and a grey stone castle peeks through the top while, farin the distance, the sun shines behind it.It has to be the forest near the lake the entrance to TheUnderworld.I can feel it in the air, in my mind, in my body.The sky is a clear blue and the air smells like earth and musk.Not knowing what else to do, Ihead for the castle, wondering why I m here.What am I supposed to see exactly?I m about halfway there when a cool breeze sweeps through my hair and kisses at my cheeks.The impulse to go to the castle floats away.Suddenly, I m turning around, heading in the oppositedirection, and going deeper into the forest, my feet moving as if they have their own mind.I hike for what seems like forever, stumbling over fallen tree trunks and fighting against theunruly, blooming branches.Finally, I come to a stop in front of a steep hill.I need to go up it, yet Idon t understand why.Obeying, I move to the side and start searching for something I know is hiddenon the hill.After a while, I get frustrated because I have no clue what I m looking for or how long I mgoing to have to keep looking, but then I spot something that makes me pause.A bush budding withviolet flowers, growing out of the middle of the hill.I hike up to it, my boots battling the loose, rockydirt, and then I pick one of the violet flowers.The smell is intoxicating and causes more images of mypast to spin in my head.I ve been to this place before and picked these flowers& I remember theflower in Alex s car and how he told me I used to pick them for him when we were younger.I squat down and start digging through the damp soil as I inch around to the back of the bush.Behind it is a small hole in the ground.I hoist myself up to it and peer down.There s a ladder thatleads to a bottom where a light filters from somewhere.I take a deep breath and lower my feet to the top step of the ladder.Then I start to climb down,my hands sweating against the cool metal until my feet reach the floor.I immediately spin around,fearing what I m going to see.Visions have never been kind to me and I half expect Stephan to comecharging out to stab me.I m standing in a hollowed out room, made of dirt as well as the roots of a tree.There s a rusticwooden table against the back wall where a candle is burning.Next to the table is a metal trunk, andin front of the trunk is a young girl with long, brown hair, violet eyes, and wearing a purple dress.It s me, the younger version anyway.I m probably around four years old, which means there s a goodchance that my soul and memories are still intact.Sitting across from me is a little boy with his legs crisscrossed and a pocketknife in his hand.Hehas dark brown hair and bright green eyes that shine like emeralds.It s Alex when he was younger
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