Vitality (Vitality Series #1)

Chapter 44 The Veil

Layton shook Ava awake. "It's time. Come on."

It was dark. The fire had gone out. The winds had picked up, and the fog and mist were still hovering, though not as strong as before, drifting along with them weightlessly as they walked to the shore. Ava felt detached from herself, a ghost.

There was a small rowboat on the beach. He put his hand out. She looked out at the vast nothingness and the obscure vapor at its forefront, took a deep breath, and stepped inside, ignoring his hand.

He rowed them away into the dark waters underneath the black sky with nothing else in sight.

"Where are we going?" Ava asked after some time, her voice sounding not her own.

"We are going to remove a veil from your eyes." Layton looked back out at the water after taking in her troubled expression. "There is a veil over the eyes of humans, blinding them to the complete world around them. But it is fragile. Similar to that of a butterfly wing, touching it weakens it. And this place, it has more than enough power to touch it. Slowly, it will disintegrate, allowing clear sight."

She swallowed, and he glanced at her from the side.

"It's better this way. Everything hindering you needs to go."

"Why?"

He had complete focus on her now. "Would you rather be blind?"

"Yes."

"Liar."

"Likewise."

Layton loosened his grips on the oars and stopped rowing. His face, which had been so hard and masked, seemingly since this all began, lost part of its agility. Ava tightened the sweater around her, turning from him, and feeling all that was lost again. He continued rowing.

"Why did we need to leave at midnight?"

"At midnight, the veils weaken. It's the only time a human can pass the land's veil. It is also when the magic left there is at its strongest. You'll feel it and hopefully connect. In time, you'll have better control of what gives you your visions."

"Visions? This will help my hallucinations?"

"Yes. Get ready," he warned, and the boat bumped into something.

There was nothing there. Layton jumped out of the boat. She jumped up, to grab him oddly enough, but he was already by the boat, pulling it. He reached out his hand for her. "Come on."

They were in the middle of the ocean. Ava shook her head as if he'd lost his mind — which was hilarious because everything was on the brink of madness by now. She didn't care if he seemed okay, that didn't mean that she would be.

He went to reach for her, and she swatted at his hand, and then the other one when it reached out as well. He dropped his hands and growled at her.

"Don't growl at me!" She pointed her finger at him. Layton twitched his neck, swiftly wrapped his hands under her armpits, and lifted her from the boat, her feet flailing.

Her feet touched — what? She didn't know — and her mind was suspended as something took hold. It quaked fiercely underneath her, shaking her legs unsteady. A sharp pain ran through her entire body, and a gust of wind blew out from beneath her, sucking away at her insides with it, and electrocuted her in place.

And then another gust of wind blasted back into her, filling her mercifully and tenderly, turning her legs into jelly. She dropped. Her hands fell onto something sturdy. She felt around, realizing she was holding earth in her hands. Lifting her head, she opened her eyes, and Ava gasped.