20. NATURA DEFERO

Abby invited Corin into her room and they both had a seat on the edge of her bed. "What do you want to talk about?" She asked him.

"I haven't been entirely honest with you." Corin tried to keep his cool. "There's something I didn't tell you."

"What is it?" Abby asked, looking up at him with the face that he loved. It was enough to make his heart melt.

"Abby, it turns out that there is something special about you after all. Eleazar saw it before but he said that the gift would be lost if you were ever changed into a vampire." Corin reached down and pulled a lock of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He couldn't help himself.

Abby tried to comprehend it all. There was something special about her? All this time she thought that she was incredibly ordinary, unbelievably plain. Now he was telling her that she had a gift after all. "What is it?"

Corin pulled his hand back and sighed. "You can receive visions through your dreams. Eleazar wasn't sure what kind of visions; he said you probably didn't even know that you were having them. So Abby, what do you dream about?"

Her jaw went slack. That was her gift? The awful nightmares that haunted her? How could anyone ever call them a gift? "Corin, the dreams that I have are no gifts. They are awful and terrifying. My only desire is to be rid of them!" She leaned over and buried her face into his marble hard chest.

Corin wrapped his arms around her, it was like a reflex. "Abby, I know that this is hard for you but I'm trying to help you here. I know you want to go and make a life with Adam but I'm afraid that just isn't possible. Aro will never let you leave as a mortal. The only way that you are going to survive this is if you prove yourself useful to him. If we tell him about your gift, he may keep you alive as a mortal a little while longer. But ultimately, we need to find a way for you to be valuable as a vampire. I know you don't want to make the change any more, but this may be your only chance at survival." Telling her the awful truth broke his heart all over again.

She hung her head low as the gravity of the situation settled onto her small shoulders. "So you're telling me that I don't have a choice? That I never had a choice?" Tears began to spill over her cheeks, down her face.

"I'm sorry Abby, that's just the way it is." He whispered to her.

Abby sighed deeply and wiped the tears away. "So how can I be useful as a vampire?"

A small smile broke through the corner of Corin's mouth. She was always so brave. "I'm not sure. I'm wondering if there is any way that we can make your visions switch over to when you are awake."

Abby shuddered at the thought of having the visions during her waking hours as well. She snickered as she remembered the Greek Myth of Apollo and Cassandra. When Apollo had come into Cassandra's life, she began to have visions. That was not so different from Abby and Corin. Cassandra's visions escalated into something horrible for her that made others turn against her. Abby hoped that in this case, history would not repeat itself.

She reached over to her bedside table and grabbed the book, Natura Defero. "Will this help?"

Corin took the book in his hands and began flipping through the pages. "Abby, what made you think of this?"

"Sarah taught me about Natura Defero. She said that it was what others referred to as 'witchcraft'. She said that it was something that ran through her bloodline down into Jane and Alec. That is why they are so powerful. But we have different mothers so I don't have it in me." Abby chewed on her bottom lip as she watched Corin quickly scan the pages.

Suddenly he stopped on a certain page.

"What is it?" Abby asked.

"Grab a cloak, we're going out."

Abby did as she was ordered to and put on the black cloak that she had hanging on the wall. He led her by the hand out of her bedroom, down the hall and staircases, and out into the courtyard while still carrying the book in the other hand.

"Where are we going?" She asked him.

"Just stay close." Corin instructed.

He led her to a part of the garden that she'd never been to before. Even in the darkness she could still see the angel's by the light of the moon. They came up to one of the stone walls of the castle. He moved some bushes out of the way and it revealed a tunnel.

"Go." Corin told her. She did as he asked and ducked her head as she moved through the walls of the castle.

Corin replaced the bushes behind him. Once on the other side, Abby had to push through more bushes. When she broke through the barriers she saw even more of Corin's angels that lined an overgrown pathway. It led away from the castle.

"Please Corin, tell me where we're going." Abby was beginning to feel scared.

Their feet crunched over the dead leaves on the path. "The book tells us something different than what your sister told you. While Natura Defero can be passed down through the bloodline, it can be awakened in just about anyone who has a potential gift, but it is only viable when the person is still human. There is a certain elixir that we must make for you to drink and this will awaken the Natura Defero within you."

Abby was in awe of the new possibility, to finally have what Sarah had. She might be able to do the spells that Sarah had taught her after all. Perhaps there was a bright side to all of this. Finally, they came out from the overgrown pathway into a clearing.

Corin looked through the book again for a list of needed items. "I want you to stay here. I can gather everything more quickly if I move on my own." Within seconds he was completely out of view.

Abby stood there alone in the dark. She tried to comprehend everything that had happened and everything that was still to come. Her thoughts naturally settled on Adam. If she became a vampire, how could she ever be with him? Perhaps she would have to just let him go. The thought made a tear roll down her cheek. Then Abby considered another option. She wondered if Adam would be willing to change into a vampire too.

Before long, Corin returned. He carried a large metal pot that was filled with different herbs, flowers, roots, and even a few toads. He set the pot down near Abby and went to make a fire.

"What is all this?" She asked as she looked into the pot with the toads jumping around, trying to escape.

"The items on the list." He handed the book to her so that she could see but it was pointless since the text was in Latin. Then he carried the large pot to a nearby stream that was trickling down a large rock and held it there, catching the water so that the pot would fill up. When it had, he went and placed it on the fire.

"There's only one problem." He said.

"What?" Abby asked curiously.

"We either need a person who already has Natura Defero awakened within them to come and bless this or we need an object that belonged one of them." Corin had already thought this through. "I was thinking that I could sneak back inside to see if Jane or Alec would be willing to help us."

Abby smiled. "There's no need." She reached up into her hair and pulled the chain with the black jewel from off of her forehead. She handed it to Corin. "Sarah gave me this. It once belonged to her."

Corin smiled. This was going to be easier than he thought. He continued to stir the pot as it became a rapid boil. He looked through the book again and seemed to be stuck on something. He furiously flipped the pages back and forth.

"Is something wrong?" Abby asked.

"It's saying that the elixir needs to be blessed but there are no blessings written in here. I don't know what words to use!" Corin was frustrated now.

Abby put a gentle hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Sarah can help us with that one too. She taught me a blessing that she used on all her spells."

Corin felt relieved. He loved working with Abby this way. Whenever he was stumped, she would find the solution. "Alright, then I think it's time."

Corin took Abby's chain with the black jewel and dropped it into the pot. "Say the blessing." He instructed her.

Abby took a deep breath before she began. "Winds of the North, Winds of the East, Winds of the South and the West- I bid you help me in my task and all my endeavors bless. Light of Sun, Light of Moon, Light of Stars at night- Shine upon me and bless this spell, make every wrong now right."

A green puff of gas came out of the boiling pot. Corin dipped a small glass container into the hot elixir. It touched his hands but did not burn him. He handed it to Abby. "It may need to cool for a moment."

She brought the small bottle to her lips and blew the steam off of it. The idea of toads being boiled alive in the mixture disgusted her but she forced that image out of her mind. She began to drink it down. It had a strong earthy taste mixed in with mint and sweet basil. She drank until the bottle was completely empty.

Corin watched her carefully. "Well? How do you feel?"

Abby shrugged. "I feel the same."

Corin's expression was thoughtful. He went and grabbed a few items that he had taken out of the pot before boiling. He pulled up a large stone and handed a smaller one to Abby. After placing the leftover items on the larger stone he told her to begin mashing them.

They were nothing more than herbs and roots but Abby did as she was told. "So what is this for?"

"The book has some common spells and I want to see you try one out." Corin went over to the pot and fished out Abby's jewelry from Sarah. He cleaned it in the stream and handed it back to her. "This spell is supposed to make it rain."

Abby looked up at him skeptically. "Maybe we should have started with something easier." She didn't have the confidence that she would be able to do what Sarah did. When she was done mashing the ingredients she blessed them as she had done before.

Corin and Abby looked up at the black sky and waited. Finally, a little drop came down and splashed Abby right on the nose. She laughed at the touch. Corin couldn't help but stare at her in wonder. She was so perfect.

Then more droplets came until it finally turned into a torrential downpour. Abby squealed as the two of them ran for cover. Corin lifted her into his arms as they ran through the splashing rain down the long overgrown path. Finally, he brought her back into the safety of the tunnel.

"I knew you could do it!" He smiled down at her as he placed her back on her feet.

Their bodies were sopping wet and Abby pushed hers against his as she wrapped her arms around him once more. "Thank you for believing in me."

Her gratitude had caught him off guard. He held her even tighter against him and took in her scent. The rain had magnified it somehow and washed away any traces of Adam. This was his Abby. She pulled her face back to look up at him. He traced his fingers down the side of her wet face.

"I love you." He said the words without even thinking about it.

"I love you too." She smiled up at him. "You're the best friend I've ever had."

The last bit that she added broke Corin's heart again. Friend. What a terrible word.

"We should go tell Aro the great news." Corin insisted.

Abby yawned and stretched against him. Didn't she have any idea what kind of torture she was doing to him?

"I'm so tired, Corin. Please, let me sleep first and then we can tell Aro in the morning."

Corin leaned down and kissed her wet forehead. "Whatever you want." Then he scooped her up into his arms again and she let out a surprised squeal of delight. He raced through the courtyard and back into the castle, up the stairs, and into her room.

Abby went behind a small fabric room divider to change out of her wet clothes. When she came back out she was in a white night gown. She crawled onto her big bed and settled under the covers.

Corin loved watching her but he knew it was time to go. "Have a good night." He said as he headed for the door.

"Corin?"

"Yes?"

"Could you just stay until I fall asleep?" Her face was full of hope.

Corin smiled. "Of course." He took off as many of his wet clothes as he could without being immodest. Then he went over to her bed and laid down beside her on top of the thick down comforter. She snuggled into the nook of his arm against his body. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. No, it was only moments before she would have the worst nightmare of her life.