The Choices That are Made (Book Three of Hidden Secret Trilogy)

Chapter Twenty

I awoke to a cool feeling on my forehead a while later. My eyes opened and I was staring up at the ceiling of my room in Liam and Jacob's home. I had a wet cool washcloth on my forehead and I took it off not needing it anymore. My door opened and Jacob came in. A smile broke on my face as he entered.

"Jacob, how's Liam doing?" I asked as he sat on my bedside.

"He's doing ok. He hasn't turned his humanity back on and I don't know how we're going to fix that," Jacob said with a loud sigh.

"Maybe I could help," I said sitting up a bit more on my bed.

"Oh no! You're going to stay here and rest. You went through a lot last night," Jacob said sternly.

"But, Jacob please! I'm better now. All I did was use my powers-" I trailed off as those last words fell out of my mouth. Jacob looked at me.

"You used your powers?" he asked me slowly.

"Uh, no um, I'm going back to bed, goodnight!" I said quickly and flopped back against the pillows and closed my eyes.

"Oh, no you don't! Anna we need to talk about this!" Jacob yelled as he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back up. "How much did you use your powers yesterday Anna, and don't lie to me" Jacob said roughly.

"Ok, maybe I over used my powers a bit, but I was dying to use them!" I bawled.

"See! This is exactly what I told you would happen! You're over using your powers and sooner or later you're going to lose control of them and all hell is going to break loose!" Jacob yelled.

"I couldn't help it Jacob! My powers are already starting to take their toll on me and there's nothing I can do to stop it!" I yelled, fighting back. Jacob growled in frustration and got up.

"Stay here," was the last thing he said before he left the room. A growl built up inside of me before I let out a frustrated scream. I grabbed one of my pillows on my bed and threw it at the door, which was now opening, and I almost hit Erebus, who ducked in time to avoid being hit.

"Damn, are you trying to kill me or something?" Erebus said with a small laugh.

"Sorry, I was trying to blow off some steam," I grumbled.

"Wow, someone's moody this morning," Erebus said raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, shut up," I growled and threw another pillow at Erebus hitting him roughly in the head.

"Ok chill please. I came here to help you," Erebus said approaching me.

"Help me with what?" I asked.

"Your powers. Jacob informed me that you were abusing them," he said looking at me.

"I was not abusing them!" I yelled angrily, my eyes flaring red.

"According to Jacob, you are," Erebus shot back.

"Jacob doesn't know what he's talking about," I mumbled and crossed my arms looking away from Erebus.

"You better be a bit nicer to me, because otherwise you're going to live a short life wire here," Erebus snapped, nearing my face.

"I can take care of myself! I don't need help!" I hissed and rolled over on my side with my back to Erebus.

"If I don't help you contain your powers, you're never going to be able to save Liam and destroy Kristillier, and I know how desperate you are to do that," Erebus said cooly. I turned my head to face him and glared.

"I wish I could kill you," I growled, feeling my fangs elongate and a sudden blood thirst rising inside of me.

"Well, you can try, but you're going to fail miserably like you always do," Erebus said carelessly. An angered roar rose upside of me and my powers surged forth flaring strongly from my hands. Erebus fell back, but came back, his powers of darkness fighting against my own.

"Alex stop it!" I yelled trying to fight off his shadows that threatened to take over my own.

"No! You need to take control of your powers and figure out how to keep them from taking control of you!" he yelled back. I grunted and tensed up as I kept forcing my powers against Erebus's. After some time, I began to tire and I felt myself shutting down.

"No, hang in there," I told myself and forced my powers to keep going. I was too beat down as I let my powers to rest and I collapsed back on my bed panting.

"You've really let yourself go haven't you?" Erebus said as his shadows dissipated and he came back to me.

"I'm not a broken toy just yet," I managed as I laid on my bed.

"Look, Anna, when that witch gave me my powers of darkness I was just like you. I thought I could control my powers, but I was wrong and I once came to the near point of insanity and death. I had to gather up everything I had inside me to fight back. Slowly I was able to take control of the darkness and shadows, it just takes time," Erebus explained.

"Yeah, but I don't have time. I need them to be able to save Liam and stop Kristillier from raising his army of Original vampires and taking over the world," I said weakly.

"Maybe you don't have to use your powers to save Liam. Maybe he just needs to remember," Erebus suggested. I then remembered several episodes in The Vampire Diaries where a few of the vampires had turned off their humanity, but there was always something that made them remember and then they would flip their switch back to normal.

Erebus could be right, but he could also be wrong.

"How hard do you think it'll be to get Liam to turn his humanity back on?" I asked.

"Well, it all depends. The choices matter. You have to either want Liam back very badly, or not want him back at all," he said.

"What kind of choice is that? Of course I want Liam back. He's my soulmate. He was meant to be with me, and now that he's not, there's just emptiness," I said looking down at my hands. Erebus sat down next to me and took one of my hands in his. He looked me in the eyes and I knew he was being serious.

"I swear to you Anna, I will make sure that Liam gets back to his normal self and that he is safe," Erebus said as he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I gave him a small smile before I leaned forward and gave him a hug.

"Thank you," I whispered as I felt a small tear run down my cheek.

"You're welcome," Erebus answered back softly as I felt one of his hands stroke my back in a comforting way. I pulled away and sat back.

"So, when do you think you'd be able to help me harness my powers?" I asked.

"I can help you right now if you want," Erebus offered.

"I'd like that," I said as a smile split across my lips.

Later that day, Erebus and I spent almost the entire day helping me with my powers. He showed me how to control my anger, which was one of the reasons my powers would flare up. He also showed me the secrets of my powers that I never knew I had. It was 11 o'clock p.m. when my training was finished for the day.

"So is that everything I need to know?" I asked.

"Not quite. Tomorrow you go visit Liam, talk to him, then we can practice a little more," Erebus said. I nodded feeling more hopeful than I'd felt in a while and if I could get my powers under control in a few days and save Liam, then there would be nothing that could stand between me and the enemy.