Emily’s entire body jolts as if I had electrocuted her, and for a moment I’m horrified that I might have landed her on exposed wiring. God knows the remodeling around here never really ends. That oversized chandelier newly installed overhead gives this room more of a ballroom appeal. It’s not just dripping with your average clear crystals, but sprinkled throughout are smoky tones of blues and gray. It’s an expensive sight to behold as it sparkles even in this dull light. Ellis’ mother’s redecorating prowess knows no financial bounds. And crushed gold flakes in your new flooring, Olivia? Really? It’s as if the Harrisons have nothing better to do with their wealth than embed it in the mausoleum they’ll spend the rest of their lives crafting and redrafting. I bet Olivia thinks she’s under some curse if she ever stops building, and soon there will be an entire slew of doors that lead to nowhere—a metaphor representative of my life if ever there wasone.
“Skyla.” Emily groans as if she’s about to be sick. Her hand stretches in my direction as she staggers over zombie-like and sedated. Another hard groan comes from her, and her eyes ignite a brilliant shock of red. Her hair stands on end, her face has grown increasingly pale, and those audible groans assure the blooming throngs around us of vomitus things tocome.
The crowd gasps. A few girls let out a wild cry of terror. For as many angelic half breeds that might be running around this island, there are more than that many natural humans who will be forever haunted by Emily’s littleRocky Horror Picture Showroutine.
I glance around as if searching for help, for anescaperoute in the event things get wild. Oh hell, they’re far pastwild.
Emily bucks and lets out the roar of a lioness that rattles the chandelier up above. The rest of the light fixtures around the room pop one by one, and the speakers let out a high-pitchedsqueak.
“Hey!” Ellis barks as he barrels forward, good and pissed. This is Ellis’ hoedown, and nobody in their right mind messes with one of his epic end-of-the-year parties. However, it’s becoming evident Em here isn’t at all in her rightmind.
Emily jumps in Ellis’ face and lets out a scream that sounds like a thousand swords striking up against one another. Then as quick as a flash, Em hops up on his shoulders, and in a bizarre gymnast-inspired move, she leaps to the chandelier overhead as if it were a waiting trapeze. Olivia’s prized antique she had imported from the Mother Country, that survived wars and rumors of wars and an entire era of times gone by, sways back and forth while Emily Morgan does her best Tarzan impersonation for all to see. That dark heavily coiled mass of hair she wears thick like a carpet blows back as she howls and screams in such distress you would think Demetri himself had just peeled off her skin and dipped her in lemonjuice.
The room lights up with cell phones all pointed and poised to record every lunatic-inspired moment of Emily’s performance piece. But Em is undeterred. She rattles the chandelier as if she were shaking it, strangling it, and soon enough, jewels rain down over the crowd like fallingstars.
“Shit.” Logan hops up on the sofa table and tries his best to catch her feet as she swings on by, but he only manages to clip her and sends Em into a wild spininstead.
“Ellis!” Gage barks. “Get aladder!”
“Dude.” Ellis’ mouth hangs open. He doesn’t dare take his eyes off Emily and her violent spinning top routine. “This is like the effin’ circus or some shit. Who the hell taught her thesemoves?”
“This isn’t choreographed, Ellis.” Seriously? I’m fearing for Emily’s cranium and he’s amazed by her acrobatics. It is damn impressive, though, if I do say so myself. “We have to stop her before she tears the house apart.” And if a single gold flake happens to get chipped from the floor, I’m pocketing the sucker and setting it aside for the boys’ collegefund.
Laken gives my arm a tug. “Skyla, what the hell ishappening?”
“Emily was just about to give me a prophecy, and as usual things went to shit. She typically whips it out on paper. But the performance piece is a refreshing change of pace.” I’m only half-kidding.
The chandelier gyrates heavily from side to side. The crowd breaks out into a collective scream and overall chaos as the room bleeds dry of people. Emily yanks and tugs, flexing her feet to the ceiling as she hoists her body in that direction as if readying for a dramaticdismount.
A strangulating sound evicts from her throat. Dear God, if I didn’t know better, I’d think Emily were engaging in some primitive form of yodeling—reckless and terrible as it mightbe.
“Shit!” Ellis grips his hair at the temples. “She’s comingdown!”
A horrible snapping sound comes from the ceiling as a fissure blooms overhead in a large jagged line. An entire series of awful cracks emerge on the ceiling, all stemming from the epicenter, as they race to the periphery of theroom.
Emily goes silent for five solid seconds before screaming at the top of her lungs, and both she and the chandelier come crashing down in slow motion. The sound of glass exploding fills the room, crushing our eardrums with the detonation. Emily lies silent while buried under the rubble, her entire body glistening as the crystal teardrops cover her body like a glasscanopy.
In this moment of utter tragedy, there is an underlying beauty about it. Emily is the sleeping princess clothed in candescentglory.
Emily’s eyes spring open wide before a single soul can get to her. Her body snaps and bucks. She jumps to her feet, sending those crystal teardrops shooting formiles.
“Shit,” Laken whispers as she pulls me back a fewfeet.
A strange humming sound comes from Em as her headvibrates.
Laken leans in. “I’m starting to believe she’s malfunctioning. Should we have the boys tackle her frombehind?”
“No. This is big.” As much as I’ve grown to detest Emily’s visions, whatever is bubbling out of her seemscritical.
Emily snatches up the bronze statue of the walking man in the corner and lifts it over her head with superhuman strength. I’ve never thought too much about the Videns’ powers, but it’s becoming clear as the crystal she destroyed that strength is one of them. I don’t see why not. Strength and speed are commonalities of the other five Factions aswell.
Em tips her head back and starts in on a wail that vaguely resembles a sad, sad song. She wields the statue over her head from side to side, causing the crowd to sway along with her while erupting in screams of terror. Emily takes that bronze statue and crashes it into a glass-covered hutch filled with tiny little crystal sculptures that I can only guess Ellis’ poor mother picked up on one of her manytravels.
“Holy shit!” Ellis heads over in a rage just as Em swings that weighted statue his way and he ducks, missing a decapitation by amillisecond.
Emily’s voice carries on with its odd swansong at top volume as she hoists her bronze companion right out the front door, and the mob of stragglers we’ve become followsalong.
“She’s lost her mind,” Laken huffs as we push our way to the front of the crowd to keep an eye on our possessed littlefriend.
