Karizma

Bailey jolted awake as her magic screamed at her. She was breathing heavily, her dyed brown hair matted to her skin with a cold sweat. She was wearing a tank top with a pair of shorts, both items drenched in the cold sweat that her magic drowned her in. While Ryleigh’s magic flared and burned her skin, Bailey’s magic did the opposite; it froze her, from the inside out. The fact that there was a sweat, rather than icicles protruding from her body, surprised her.

Bailey’s eyes darted around her bedroom in an attempt to locate the warning siren that her magic was casting. Her magic stretched out and confirmed that she was alone in her apartment, and that there was no residue of any intruder. She breathed a light sigh of relief, but it did not quiet the siren. Something was wrong, very wrong. She cried out as her magic burned her skin with ice. The ice encased her arms and rendered her paralyzed for the moment. It wants to tell me, but something is blocking it, she thought.

While her arms were paralyzed, her legs were not. Bailey swung herself out of her bed and slowly walked through her apartment. She went to reach for her cell phone, but immediately dismissed it. Ryleigh no longer had her cell phone, the tie between the sisters had been cut. Except for our magic, Bailey thought bitterly. They could not communicate telepathically, just light signals to the other to squash doubt of survival. Signals, she realized as her eyes widened.

Bailey cried out again as a blast of frozen magic shot out of her hands and burned through her dining room table. She immediately clasped her hands together and pressed them into her chest. She needed to contain this flare up; even if it harmed her, it would do significantly less harm to her than to anything, or anyone, else. Bailey attempted to send out a signal to her sister but was met with a void. No, she gasped, her hands tightening against her chest. No, not yet. Karizma magic does not just vanish, she reminded herself. Something is blocking it.

Bailey cocked her head curiously as she felt a faint signal pulse into her. It was very faint, almost nonexistent, but it was there. Strange, Ryleigh’s magic is usually much stronger than that. Bailey quickly returned to her bedroom and dressed in a blue t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She quickly tied her tennis shoes and tossed her hair into a tight ponytail. She knew the risks; Ryleigh reminded her every minute of every day not to intervene. But I have to try, she thought. I can’t just let my sister die, she thought. Ryleigh could control her magic better than this, she could make sure that her magic did not release a signal at all during her death. Which means that her death is being drawn out, or she has no control over her magic anymore, Bailey thought. Whichever it is, I can’t just sit and wait.

Bailey spread her feet apart and placed her palms facing the ceiling with her arms at her sides. Ryleigh had never teleported before, but Bailey had. Ryleigh hated relying on her magic for transportation, but Bailey had needed it to make sure that she made it to class on time. Ryleigh was not overly thrilled with the idea, but between classes and homework and training, both physically and magically, Bailey would have never completed as much college as she did without a little assistance.

Bailey could practically hear Ryleigh’s voice in her head, screaming at her to stay away from whatever was happening. That Ryleigh’s entire life had been to keep Bailey safe, to die and give Bailey a chance at a life of peace and happiness. But saving you is what matters to me, too, Bailey thought. She had strengthened her magic and had even furthered the concealment of her Karizma appearance; after finding Ryleigh’s phone discarded, Bailey immediately began wearing blue contacts to hide her green eyes. She no longer resembled a Karizma in the traditional sense; someone would have to really look at the girls side by side to realize who they were to each other.

Bailey closed her eyes and focused on the faint signal. She had only teleported blind one other time, but she had still landed her mark. Teleporting without seeing the location beforehand was dangerous, because she could get lost anywhere in space and time. She had heard of a witch teleporting to Mars in the dark ages and never returned, presumably because she died the second that she landed in outer space. The faint signal began to fade, as if realizing that its call was useless. Bailey inhaled and exhaled evenly as she pushed away all of her fears and concerns for her sister. She visualized the signal with a light white pulse, like a heartbeat on an EKG monitor. It was growing fainter, not as consistent. The air around her crystalized as her magic intensified and cast her toward the signal.

Bailey’s eyes snapped open as she landed in a dingy motel room. Her magic stiffened in her hands like hail, balls of energy ready to defend her. Her eyes roamed the room and it appeared empty. There was some clothing tossed in a corner between the king bed and the wall, and old chair beside a window. The bed was unkempt, as if someone had just tossed the blankets from it in a hurry. Ryleigh, she thought. She went to take a step and immediately rooted herself back into place. There is a vampire here, she thought. The hail in her hands grew heavy as they enlarged. She her hands in front of her chest with her palms facing the bathroom door where the vampiric aura was originating.

The bathroom door opened, and Bailey shot a ball of magic at it. The door splintered and shards of it clattered on to the bathroom floor. The vampire hissed and took a step backward. She heard the vampire growl and another ball of magic instantly rejuvenated in her palm. She cautiously began approaching the bathroom as her magic strengthened. The air around her chilled immensely, so much so that she began to see her own breathing inside of the hotel room. A vampire where Ryleigh’s last signal came from can only mean one thing, she thought with rage. Her and Ryleigh had talked about picking up the mantel and resuming vampire hunting with their abilities, like their ancestors had initially. He fucking killed her or is holding her somewhere, she thought. This is as a good a time as any to start hunting.

The vampire sped out of the bathroom and instantly pinned Bailey to the wall beside the bathroom by her throat. Bailey’s magic shot both balls of energy straight into his chest. The vampire staggered back and dropped Bailey. Bailey immediately kicked his legs out from beneath him and her magic slammed him to the ground on his back. Before he could gain his composure, she straddled his waist and her magic cemented within her with the weight of an avalanche. He was pinned.

“Bailey?” the vampire asked suddenly.

“Who are you?” she barked out. Her magic grew heavier, the floor underneath them beginning to crack under the pressure. It was only a matter of time before she split the vampire in half with it. “Who are you?” she repeated.

“A friend,” he wheezed out.

“Doubtful!” she snapped. “My friend’s magic sent an S.O.S. signal to this location, and I find your bloodsucking ass instead. You are no friend to me.”

“To Ryleigh,” he wheezed as the weight began to crush his ribs.

“Where is she then?” Bailey asked as she applied even more pressure. She knew that this vampire was full of shit; there was no way that Ryleigh would befriend a vampire, especially after her ascension. He is just buying time for something. She leaned down over him and pressed one of her hands into each of his shoulders. She thrust her frozen magic directly into his shoulder, and he cried out.

“Bailey, it’s Kristopher,” the vampire gasped. She looked down at him bewildered, but her magic remained locked in place. She had never actually met the vampire named Kristopher; she had seen him once, the night with Ryleigh, but she was more concerned for her sister’s safety than to pay attention to his features. The vampire beneath her had short blonde hair with dim brown eyes. He was shirtless beneath her and wore only a pair of boxers. Even now, she had not noticed the target in front of her, only that he was a target. The vampire was stunning, and she understood how Ryleigh became hypnotized by him. Throughout her assault, Bailey realized that Kristopher had not even fought back. He had attacked her initially, but she remembered that they had not actually seen each other before the fight. He probably remembered her aura from the club and realized that she was Ryleigh’s friend. Not many witches have an aura as strong as her and Ryleigh.

“Where is she?” Bailey asked slowly. She continued to keep Kristopher pinned beneath her. Ryleigh may have trusted him, but she did not. She pressed her palms further into his shoulder and shards of ice blasted into him. He hissed and glared at her. “Where is she?” she asked again.

“I don’t know. I wish that I fucking did,” Kristopher snapped. “I woke up, and she was gone.”

“Woke up?” Bailey asked. She knew that Ryleigh and Kristopher had shared a kiss, but that was all. Unless there was more that Ryleigh had not been able to tell her. Bailey removed her hands from Kristopher’s skin but remained seated on his waist. “You woke up and she was gone,” she repeated, more to herself than to Kristopher.

“I’ve been helping her,” Kristopher said slowly. “Hiding her, trying to keep her alive. I fell asleep, and, when I woke up, she was gone.”

“So, someone took her while you slept.”

“Not fucking likely,” he snapped instantly. “I would have woken up the second I felt a threat come near our room.”

“So, where is she?”

“Can you please get off now?” he asked suddenly. “I may be immortal, but this crushing my life out of me shit does still hurt. I’m not a threat to you, you have my word.”

Bailey sighed and lifted her body and her magic off the vampire. He instantly exhaled and pushed himself to his feet. She crossed her arms over her chest, her blue eyes hard as she stared at him. “I don’t know,” Kristopher sighed as he raked a hand through his hair. “There was…a rather difficult conversation between us. She probably went to get some air, or leave me behind, take your pick. Neither one is exactly out of character for her. Something must have happened to her. I haven’t felt her magic in over an hour.”

“An hour?” Bailey asked in shock. “I felt it five minutes ago.”

“I’m telling you, an hour,” he said sternly. “I’ve run the perimeter of this fucking motel at least five times, and I can’t find anything. Only some shattered streetlights which are useless.”

“It doesn’t make any sense. I only came here because her magic drew me here. I wouldn’t have teleported without it,” Bailey murmured.

Kristopher hesitated suddenly. “Well…”

“What?” Bailey snapped as her eyes hardened. “What is it?”

“She…left some of her magic in me, to protect me. From what I gather, it is very little; not enough to prevent me from dying, but enough to connect us together. I felt a panic in it and that was when I began running around this damn place.”

“I teleported to you,” Bailey said in awe. “Who are you to her, to have her magic in you?”

“A friend.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit!” Bailey snapped, and her magic instantly pooled in her hands again. “Ryleigh does not just go around giving her magic out to people, and you damn well know it. Karizma magic is sacred, so I will only ask you one more time before ripping your precious fangs out. Who are you?”

“What has she told me about you?” Kristopher asked softly.

“I’m not asking her, I’m asking you,” Bailey retorted.

“I’m in love with her,” he answered. He raked a hand through his hair in frustration. “I shouldn’t be, but I am. I love her more than I know what to do with, so much that it hurts.” His brown eyes flared a light auburn color as he stared at her. “I’m just as scared for her life as you are.”

“She must love you, too, to protect you,” Bailey whispered as she lowered her magic. “To protect a vampire, of all creatures.” Bailey knew that her sister became infatuated with the vampire; most humans did, at one point or another. Vampires oozed sex and power in every fiber of their being. But I didn’t know it was this, she thought.

“I can’t find her magic,” Bailey whispered.

“I know,” Kristopher sighed. “When I hunted Karizmas in the past, they were always taken to a place that had some sort of warding on it. Magical warding that prevented magic from entering it—” Bailey cut off Kristopher’s words by slamming him into the wall, her magic becoming icy fingers that gripped tightly around his neck. She walked up to him and punched him square in the face. Pain erupted throughout her knuckles, but she brushed it off. She knew that it would do no damage to him, but damn if it didn’t feel good.

“You!” Bailey seethed. “You are the one who killed us off!”

“Bailey—”

“Was that your plan with my sister?” she snarled. “Make her fall in love with you and snap her neck while she fucking slept?”

“I-love-her,” he gasped out as the magical fingers tightened around his throat.

“No, you don’t, you undead piece of shit,” Bailey said as she punched him again. “No, you fucking don’t. You figured out who she was and lured her into your trap. You’re just pissed that she got away before you could kill her yourself.” Her magic tightened around his neck, spreading into a wire of ice that was seconds from snapping his head clean off his body. Thank fuck Ryleigh ran away, Bailey thought with relief. Considering she still could not locate her sister’s magic, Bailey assumed that what Kristopher said was true; she was taken elsewhere, where magic could not follow, but at least it bought Ryleigh some more time to fight whoever else was there head-on, not to die in damn motel room in her sleep.

“I-know-you,” Kristopher wheezed.

“No shit, I’ve fought you before.”

“No. I-know-you,” he repeated. “She-told-me.”

“Told you what?” Bailey snapped.

“The-truth-about-Karizma.”

“What truth?” Bailey asked. She loosened her grip on his throat so that he could speak clearly. Her patience was running through and listening to half sentences was pushing her over the edge. “She is the last Karizma.”

Kristopher simply shook his head as he sucked in air. His auburn eyes brightened as he looked at her and nodded slowly. “She told me of another.”

“There isn’t another,” Bailey answered immediately. Ryleigh would have died before revealing Bailey to this vampire, regardless of their depths of love or sex.

“There is. I assume that she told me for my help.”

“Help for what?”

“To keep her safe,” he whispered as he eyes burrowed into hers. He nodded again at her. “To make sure that she survives this war.”

Bailey stilled. It was not true. Ryleigh would have never confided in someone else about their relationship, let alone with a vampire. “Did she say who the other was?” Bailey asked, her throat dry.

“No, I was not told the name,” he whispered, his eyes locked on to hers. Bailey’s magic instantly released Kristopher. But he knows that it’s me, she thought. And he did not even try to fight me back. Ryleigh never revealed my name, but he figured it out. And he did nothing, she thought. He would not even utter her name aloud, acknowledging who she was. He understood the seriousness of the situation, and the importance that Bailey had to Ryleigh. He is protecting me, Bailey realized.

“Where is this magically forbidden place that you speak of?” Bailey asked.

“It changes every time a Karizma ascends,” Kristopher answered as he shook his head. “I was told of it initially, but, considering the vampiric world thought she was dead, they probably debunked the place.”

“Until now.”

“It’s not going to be the same place.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I let her live,” he said with finality in his tone. “Whoever took her is aware of that. For whatever reason they believe, I let her live. Now, whoever has her has free reign to do with her what they please. They will not want my interruption to finish the job.”

“You can’t track her?”

Kristopher shook his head sadly. “I found her before her ascension because I knew her before then. Even after it, she had mastered hiding her true Karizma scent behind her magic. I did smell it, very briefly, but she hid it again. I’ve been able to find her because of her magic alone, the power in it; but this time, wherever she is will be warded to prevent her from crying out with her magic. Unless she reveals herself to the entire world, I can’t find her.”

“No,” Bailey stated as she shook her head. “No, no. There has to be another way. This can’t be it.” Panic sent tremors throughout her body. Her magic crystalized the moisture in the room, her breath a cloud before her as she struggled to control her breathing. This can’t be it, she thought. I have to find her. There has to be a way to find her.

“Bailey,” Kristopher hissed, icicles frozen in his eyes.

“Sorry,” she murmured as she was ripped from her daze. She dropped her magic and the air returned to normal. Kristopher sighed and opened and his closed his eyes repeatedly as they defrosted. She controlled her magic better than her sister did, but under severe stress or fear, it would control her instead in a fight or flight instinct. This is a fight instinct, she thought, but I don’t even know who I’m supposed to be fighting.

“There may be another way to find her,” Kristopher said slowly.

“How, exactly?”

“It’s…a long story,” he sighed as he raked another hand through his hair. “The short version is that there is a Lycan out there who came forward and wants to help her.”

“A Lycan? You’re serious?” Bailey asked in disbelief. She had heard the stories of the Lycans’ alliance with the Karizmas centuries ago, and that the end of that alliance resulted in the Lycans’ silence in the world. Bailey was not so naïve to think that there were none left, but she was more than surprised that one wanted to help after all of this time. “Why?”

“Her power. He wanted to turn her, to save her. Vampires would not challenge an Alpha Lycan, let alone his entire pack, for one person.”

“The Alpha? Holy shit,” Bailey said. She shook her head and rubbed a hand over her face. “How exactly do you think that he can help us?”

“He kept reminding us that his senses are stronger than my own, in regard to his sense of smell and hearing,” Kristopher said.

“The place is warded against magic—”

“But not against Lycans,” he finished for her. “Lycans have not aligned with Karizmas for centuries, and, to my knowledge, he seemed rather quiet about the offer. I don’t think anyone else knew that he found her.”

“And you really think he’d help us find her?”

“He wants her as part of his pack, I don’t doubt it at all.”

“I’m coming with you,” Bailey announced as she crossed her arms over her chest. Wherever Ryleigh was, she was going to need help, more than a vampire or Lycan could provide. Depending on her condition, her and Bailey were the same blood type, and had the same magic in their veins.

“Hell no. She would kill us both if I brought you with me,” Kristopher snapped.

“She needs me, Kristopher, and she doesn’t need anyone,” Bailey argued. “She doesn’t need you, she doesn’t need the Lycan, but there is a reason that her magic sent out a panic signal. Something is wrong, horribly wrong. I’m the only other…witch that can help her,” she finished as she placed her wording properly. She knew that there was a reason that Kristopher did not announce her name, did not state that she was the last Karizma, so she continued to dance around the announcement. “If it is hell in a hand basket, I will be her best shot at saving her life, unless she agreed to becoming a wolf.”

Kristopher shook his head. “No, she did not. Fuck!” he snarled suddenly, and his fist drove through the plaster wall. Bailey’s eyes widened as she observed him in surprise. Vampires were known to be calmer and more collected than his current outburst was displaying. He’s scared, she realized. He really does care about her. “There is something you must know, before we track down this wolf and get his help,” Kristopher said with bright auburn eyes. “She asked me to kill her before any other entity could. If it comes to that, know that it was not an easy decision, but it would be a mercy death compared to whatever the person currently holding her has planned.”

Bailey inhaled sharply. Of course she did, Bailey thought. The infamous Karizma Killer failed his mission; if Ryleigh loves him enough to leave a sliver of her magic in him, she loves him enough to die for him. Which means that he has to be the one to kill her so that he can survive. And if I try to fight that, it would hurt Ryleigh more than any amount of torture would. “I understand,” Bailey said through gritted teeth. It doesn’t mean I fucking like it, she thought. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen. “Where can we find this Alpha Lycan?”