Free Vindicate by Jamie Magee

behind the large painting , there is a passage. T wo men.”
    The traveler nodded , then left, and another young man came to the shadow of the doorway a second later with the intent of waiting on another message Stella would need delivered.
    “Can you move it forward? E ven a day or so ? H ow long wi ll this last?”
    “After the ceremony of silence Marc will give in the morning – a few hours after that – everything turns dark.”
    I swallowed hard. F earin g the end in just a few hours. F earing the death of Landen and Drake. T hat would be dar kness. C omplete darkness. “I thought this was going to help me turn back time ? ” I whispered.
    She reached her hand for mine and squeezed it so tightly that for an instant I qu estioned her strength. “It will. W hen the time is right.”
    “It’s right now , ” I said , gripping my sides and feeling a sharp pain, and a sick , dizzy feeling.
    She hesitated before she spoke. “I don’t think it is.”
    “Show me the darkness you see. I s it that demon?”
    Her eyes told me no as she raised her hands and the rings moved agai n. I saw the passage I use to come and go to the string. Olivia and I appeared in the passage , then all at once everything turned murky .
    “That didn’t help,” I mumbled.
    “I’ll let you know when I can see past that point. T hat darkness , ” s he promised , t elling me in her own way that that wouldn ’ t be the end.
    “Where’s August?”
    She nodded her head toward a dark doorway to the left. “I made him sleep.”
    “Could you not have found a nicer room?” I said with a hint of disdain.
    “I tried , but that is a s far as he would go.”
    “Do you need anything?” I asked .
    She moved her head from side to side , then moved her hands over the water once more. She saw something there and called the traveler over to her. I put my hand on her back, offering a silent thank you just before I left the room.
    I wandered aimlessly through the open halls , fighting a shaky feeling as I gazed at the paintings , trying to clear my mind – find the answers I needed – hold a thought and find a direction.
    When I felt Olivia I broke my stare with the painting of an angel wrapped in black silk I’d found outside the doorway to the room where the passage to th e string was. I saw her speed walking toward me with the intent not to rest until she found me.
    “I’ve been looking everywhere for you , ” s he said when she reached my side.
    “Found , ” I said with little enthusiasm.
    She was wearing jeans and a black ho o die and combat boots that were untied. “You look like hom e. W ell , our old home , ” I said as flashes of a time when my life was simple came to me.
    “Yeah . B een trying to fit in . T his is from home , to o, ” s he said as she reached in her pocket and pulled out an iPod with headphones wrapped around it.
    “Did you find the song you were looking for?” I asked , peeking with hope.
    She raised one eyebrow. “I hope it’s the song we ’ re both looking for.”
    I took the headphones from her , and as I put them in my ears , she turned the volume all the way up. I knew in stantly it was the right song. T he guitars – the drums were identical. I started to say something , but she raised her finger , telling me to listen. When the voice began , I recognized it. It was the one from my dream. I t was strong, commanding, yet poetic at the same time. I started to say something again , b ut she held her finger up , telling me to listen. That’s when I heard it for the first time : ‘ an angel fallen , a devil risen , our fate is calling , this world will not be our prison. ’
    My eyes grew wide , and every part of me froze. This song. Landen and Drake weren ’ t telling me some twisted myth ; they were telling me the lyrics to this song. I pulled the headphones out as I swallowed hard.
    “Where did you find this? Who are they ? A re they bad people?”
    She handed me the iPod so I could see the image on