Chapter Four

Journey up the Mountain

Jenna didn't even bother going down for breakfast, let alone getting dressed—she ran the few minutes to Piers' house as soon as she woke up.

She didn't bother knocking on the door and politely asking a grumpy and disheveled mother if her son was available, as it was barely dawn. So she started tossing pebbles at his window.

Jenna disliked being common and loved being unique. This whole pebble-and-window thing was a bit too cliché for her, but she didn't have any other choice.

When Piers didn't react to pebbles, Jenna tried small rocks. But even if she started throwing boulders he still wouldn't even stir.

Jenna was getting impatient. Something as urgent at her nightmare couldn't wait for a heavy sleeper like Piers. So, grumpily, she turned and trudged back home.

She crawled into bed and tried to close her eyes, but the man's azure orbs kept interfering with her sleep. So she gave up and stared at the dark ceiling.

Relief seeped into her just as the sun fully rose into the sky. Piers would awake any time now to do chores. She would have to wait until she heard the clattering of farm tools outside her window.

But the clattering never came. Curious, Jenna got out of bed and peeked out her window. The tools were there, but it looked as if Time had woven ivy around them. Her brow furrowed—she didn't like this.

Jenna kept staring at the overgrown tools. Vale used to be small and simple, but things were starting to get creepy and strange around here.

Then something hit her. Jenna's face contorted into a snarl as she marched down to Isaac's room.

She pounded on his meager wooden door. He just grunted in reply and Jenna barged in. She saw Isaac, but it looked as if his blankets had tried to swallow him whole. Jenna jammed her hands on her hips.

"You're an Earth adept, are you not?" she demanded. Isaac grunted an affirmative "yes". Jenna snorted. "Why did you weave plants around Piers' tools?" she asked, her voice dangerously clear.

Isaac raised his head, his attention captured. "Why would I bother?" he said snidely. Jenna was baffled. "So you didn't do that?" she asked. Isaac made a face at her. "Like I said, why would I bother?" he repeated before getting up and stretching in front of her.

"If you didn't do it, then who did?" she asked him, starting to get frightened. The only other Earth adept was Felix, and he was gone.

Isaac shrugged and pushed past her. He went downstairs and began getting out the things for breakfast.

Jenna sank down to her knees, her gaze blurring with tears. Why could life be simple anymore? Why did things keep coming back and scaring her more and more? Why was she the only one freaking out?

"Jenna…" someone whispered. Jenna wiped away her tears; she hated having people see her cry. She turned around, but no one was there. She faced forward again, frowning at herself. Now she was hearing things.

Then she heard it again. She glanced sharply to her right, where Isaac's bed was. That was ridiculous. Beds don't call out people's names randomly.

She pushed it back to her head. All she needed to concentrate on now was talking to Piers.

"Piers! Jenna's at the door!" his mother called up to him.

Piers jumped off his bed, leaving his book open on the pillow. What could Jenna possibly want to talk to him about? Had she comes to her senses yet?

"Hey, Jen. What's up?" he greeted her. Her face was worried; automatically he became worried as well.

"What's wrong now?" he asked, her dream coming to mind. Her face lost its worried look and melted into a fearful one. "Can we go talk about this is your room?" she whispered, as if afraid of Pier's mother in the other room. He was getting weirded out, but led her up nonetheless.

"You had that dream again, didn't you?" he asked, and she confirmed his suspicions, and gave him more when she said, "Yes, and there's something else." His heart clenched and he managed, "What?"

Jenna wrung her hands. "Did you do your chores this morning?" she asked. Piers nodded, and she asked, "Did you notice the ivy on them?" Piers nodded, not getting her point. Jenna then said, "Isaac claims he didn't do it." Piers nodded, still not getting her.

"Piers, the only other person who could do something like that is Felix," she said, her fear reaching its climax. And his skyrocketed as well; Felix was dead, and Isaac was a jerk. He might as well be lying. But he was not known for being a liar, only a snide boy who rarely talked.

"Jenna, that's impossible! Felix has been dead since you were seven, and that was ten years ago," he reasoned, but Jenna wasn't taking any of it. "Piers, ever since I've had these dreams, strange things have been happening. The ivy on your tools, and I've been hearing things, and I want it to end!" she cried and burst into tears.

Piers was more worried than ever, as Jenna didn't normally cry, let alone break down and start bawling. So he sat down on the floor next to her and draped an arm around her shoulders and propping his chin on her red hair.

"Jenna, calm down," he soothed, trying to get her under control. But she kept on crying.

After what seemed like hours, Jenna ceased her sobs. She sat quiet in Piers arms, enjoying his warmth. "Better?" he asked. She nodded and pushed him away.

"He had blue hair, just like yours," she whispered randomly. Piers frowned. "Huh?" he asked, dumbfounded. "But he had blue eyes as well," she added softly.

Piers settled for silence. Who knew what was running through Jenna's head at the moment. Just sixty minutes ago she had been hysterical.

"He told me that a messenger would be coming," she continued. Piers listened. "He said that we would see each other soon," she whispered, her voice shaking. Then she cracked.

"Piers, I'm scared. I want to stay here, but I can't. For the first time in my life I feel… hopeless…" she trailed off. Piers looked down at her. She looked sane.

"Jenna, what do you mean?" he asked. She looked up at him defiantly, her brown eyes determined, not a trace of tears anywhere. "That was the message, Piers. That man knew just how to manipulate me; he knew I loved Felix. He has my attention, and I want to know what he needs it for." She studied his amber eyes, then said clearly, "We are going up to that Tower, like it or not."

Thank you for reading this chapter. I was going to have them go up to Alex's tower in this one, but I think that was a little too soon, and plus, I needed to have Jenna tell Piers that she had the dream again. I have something in store for the JennaPiers fans next chappy anyways!

-MidnightPhoenix320