"What are you doing here?" Taylor's voice bellowed out from the living room.

"What am I doing here? I live here! What are you doing here?" Matthew's familiar washed over me as a warm wave of relief. I walked out into the living room and saw both guys eyes locked on each other across the coffee table.

"I guess you felt better after all," Matthew said sourly.

"Eh, yeah...," was all I could say. 

My mind was frantically thinking of a good reason for Taylor to be here, a reason that didn't have any explanation that sounded like something out of a fantasy novel. I stared at him for a second, suddenly realising that he was in last night's clothes.

"So what did you do last night?" I waggled my eyebrows at him, happy to find a good distraction. 

I studied Matthew as small spots of pink bloomed up on his neck. I couldn't hold back the grin from my face, I loved teasing him.

"I... I may have had some company last night. So I stayed away so to speak," he pushed out.

I felt my grin widen, when I spotted a flicker of recognition in his eyes.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one who had company," Matthew added with a wide grin across his face.

"Great powers of deduction," Taylor answered coolly.

Matthew's face fell and I could tell that he was just about to snap back.

So I turned quickly to Taylor, "Weren't you saying you know a good place for brunch?"

I saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes, "Yes, why don't you grab what you need from your room and we'll head out."

"Sure," I agreed and shot Matthew a look that asked him to please behave.

Pushing the door closed behind me, I didn't know where we would go but we couldn't stay here if Matthew was going to hang around. I looked down and realised I was still in yesterday's clothes. There was hardly time for a shower, so I threw off the top I had been sleeping in and did a quick round of deodorant and some body spray. My eyes were searching for something that looked remotely clean. I damned myself for not keeping on top of my laundry but now was not the time. Throwing on a black tank top and thin cotton jumper, swapping out last night's jeans for some grey leggings before jumping back into my converse and grabbing my leather jacket and handbag. I pushed the door open and looked out, the living room was deserted. My heart skipped a beat as I worried who might have entered the flat. But I quickly reminded myself I hadn't heard any commotion. I walked into the kitchen and saw the boys locked into a staring competition. Matthew had put the kettle on, but I knew it was more to make himself a cup of coffee than him trying to be a good host.

"Shall we?" I asked, meeting Taylor's dark brown eyes.

"Sure," he agreed quickly and left the kitchen without even as much as a nod goodbye to Matthew.

We walked down my street, the glaring cold light of the morning made me antsy. I felt like men would pop out of any corner and try to attack me. I craned my neck and looked down a small alleyway.

"Would you relax?" Taylor's voice held a note of frustration in it.

"What if they come for me?" my voice raised with my anxiety as we left the relative security of my flat.

"You would feel them," he answered.

"How would you know that?" I shot back but deep within me a memory from last night shook loose. 

He was right, I had felt the waves of energy before the grey haired man had appeared. I closed my eyes for a second, I could only feel a faint wave of energy and it was brewing right next to me. I looked over at him, walking next to me. I guess I must have gotten used to Taylor's energy by now. As soon as that realisation hit me, I felt my feet stop dead in my tracks.

"What's going on with me?" I felt as scared as my voice sounded.

Taylor grabbed my arm gently, "I promise I'll explain. But not here." He looked around the quiet street. "I've got the keys for The Royal Star. Let's go there. I can make you some breakfast in the kitchen," he offered.

I nodded dumbly and let him lead me down the street, in the direction of the dingy pub where Tanya and I guess now also Taylor worked.

Taylor pushed open the back door of the pub and led me straight into the kitchen. It was completely empty, which didn't surprise me given the god awful state of it and the early hour.

"Do you want something to eat?" Taylor poked his finger at a bag with a stale loaf of bread in it.

I was just about to reject his offer, when my stomach rumbled loudly. I couldn't even remember the last time that I had eaten.

"Sure," I agreed and heaved my body up onto one of the stainless steel counters.

 I leaned my head back and studied Taylor as he started to make us some sandwiches, clearly improvising as he went along.

I closed my eyes for a second, feeling so tired. I didn't know what had happened to the world but so far I had ruled out having my drink spiked, some kind of criminal encounter and a bizarre nightmare where I was hunted by a warlock. I opened my eyes and caught Taylor studying me, two paper plates in hand.

"Are you okay?" his eyes showed a softness which I hadn't seen before.

He handed me one of the plates and I poked at the white bread before biting into it. To be fair, he hadn't done such a bad job with the sandwich given the horrible state of the pub kitchen.

We stayed silent for a minute, letting the solitude of eating take over. After a few minutes Taylor sat down his plate and looked at me. I could sense that he had things to say and I think I was finally ready to listen.

"From what I can tell, you are a Vortex," he started. I stared back at him, there was that word again. Anyone who seemed to have some kind of other-worldly power had called me by that word.

"What does that mean?" I breathed, instantly afraid of hearing the answer.

"A Vortex is a human with no magical powers of their own, who for some reason change and become able to absorb the power of warlocks," when he had finished speaking, he shot me look clearly trying to gage my reaction.

"So you and that man from last night. You are both warlocks?"

"Yes, we are and we have many different powers. But that's not what's the most important thing. The most important thing right now is you. When was the first time you realised that you could pull power?"

"What do you mean pull power?" I asked. I heard the words echo in the kitchen.

"That night when we meet, didn't you feel it? I could feel how some of my energy was being pulled towards you. I have never felt anything like it before. I mean, I have read about Vortexes in books but no one I have ever known has actually met one."

I could see that he was excited, that it was something rare to him. But all I could feel was afraid, I didn't know what any of this meant. I couldn't deny that what he was saying was true. I had felt the pull of energy, more than once. I had seen the energy in that hotel lobby, it had flown towards me and I had absorbed it. I had used it when I escaped down into the underground station.

"So if I am a Vortex, some freak of nature... What do we do now? About that guy who was hunting me? About the hunting order?" I suddenly felt frozen again, I had almost managed to forget about the hunting order. I didn't even know what the word entailed and I was already seeing absurd scenes in my head of how hunters on horses chased me across a field.

"Cara, being a Vortex is extremely rare. In our world there is a lot of mythical stories in books about them but no one has ever met one. We are scared of them."

"Is that why they are hunting me?" I could feel my lip tremble but I did my best to stay strong.

"Aaron, when you came across him. Did you... Did you pull energy from him?" Taylor's voice was hesitant but I could tell it was important.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know what I did but some of his red lightning just came towards me and it felt like it went straight into me. But it didn't hurt or anything."

Taylor gasped and grabbed my arm, "Cara, this is really serious."

He pulled me off the counter and towards the door, "Legend says if a Vortex has pulled power from a warlock they can continue to pull power at any time. They can drain the warlock of power, leaving them like an empty shell."

"But I don't know how to do that? You say legend? Don't you even know if it's true?"

Taylor pushed me out of the door and locked it behind us.

His eyes were deadly serious, "Cara, it doesn't matter if it's true or not. As long as you are alive you are a threat to Aaron. He's a Charlet, one of the families that are next in line for the throne. If he thinks you could undo him, he will kill you before you even get a chance to figure it out."

"So what do we do now?" I heard myself echo the same question again.

"I think I might know someone who can help," Taylor reply.

He furrowed his eyebrows, "If I can convince him..."

He walked over to a motorcycle that was lent against the wall and started to undo the heavy chain which linked it to a pipe.

"Come on, we don't have time to hang around."

I nodded and gently got onto the bike, hesitantly grabbing hold of his waist. I could feel the bike rumble underneath us and before I had chance to take another breath, we were off.

Taylor expertly weaved through the quiet London traffic, driving us further and further towards the city centre. I could feel my heart beat raise as I worried about warlocks at every corner. But I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I would feel them. I closed my eyes for a moment, the only energy I could feel was exuding from Taylor.

We turned into a small side street and Taylor slowed down, setting down his leg to steady the bike. I got off and watched him as he quickly locked the chain around the bike and a nearby lamppost.

"We have to hurry" he grabbed my arm and started leading me up the street. I looked up at the red paper lanterns hanging between the houses and instantly recognised my surroundings. We pushed past a small cart selling dough buns stuffed with vegetables and meat fillings, the steam pushed past my face and left lingering smells of the food. Taylor steered us toward the main street of Chinatown.

"Just stay quiet and listen to me, okay?" Taylor looked at me as he spoke in a low voice.

I nodded and followed him as he slipped into a small door tucked between a Chinese restaurant and a small supermarket selling strange vegetables and meats I had never seen before. I kept my eyes locked on Taylor as he headed up the small stairway with certainty. He turned a corner and I followed quickly behind him.

"Mr. Liu?" he asked as he opened the door at the end of the hallway without knocking.

I followed closely behind him, afraid that if I wasn't right next to him I would somehow lose him. Given the state of the cluttered room, that notion was of course absurd.

A small man appeared from a behind backroom, a drape waving back into place and concealing what laid behind it.

"Taylor?" he said in a serious voice and motioned for us to sit down at the low table, cushions were strewn around it on the floor. Taylor sat down and I hesitantly followed his example.

"Who have you brought to see me?" the small man bore his dark eyes into me, studying each feature of my face.

"I can tell that she's not a warlock," he added and let out a little huff.

"I'm sorry Mr. Liu. But we need your help. This is Cara," Taylor spoke in a soft, respectful voice. I instantly wondered how the two knew each other.

"I will do what I can to help you," Mr. Liu huffed out. I couldn't tell if he was upset with Taylor or if this was simply his mannerisms.

"She's a Vortex," Taylor let the words fall out.

I saw the shock across Mr. Liu's face, for a moment it look like it had permanently frozen into that expression.

"She's very new to the whole thing. She doesn't know how to handle it yet. But she has accidentally pulled power from Aaron Charlet," Taylor pushed out the words quickly and then held his breath.

For a moment, I thought I saw steam come out of Mr. Liu's ears. He hopped up quickly and rushed towards the back room.

"We have no time to lose," he shouted from the back room.

As the curtain swayed back and forth I could catch small glimpses of him as he rummaged through a huge set of drawers.

"We have to tether your power Cara," he grumbled.

I looked over at Taylor, hoping he would be able to explain. He shrugged his shoulders at me and I looked back over at Mr. Liu who was now coming back to us.

He sat down and looked between us both.

"First, Cara I'm sorry but I need to be sure."

He let a small metal ball fall onto the table, I saw it roll towards me and it instantly reminded me of the grey hair man. But I could sense that the energy inside this one was different.

I caught it as it rolled over the edge of the table towards me.

"It holds the magic of a dead warlock," Mr. Liu explained as the metal ball opened in my hands.

I studied the purple swirl of energy, rolling around in a circle.

"What am I meant to do?" I looked over at Mr. Liu.

"Absorb it Cara," Taylor replied.

I opened my palm and let my fingers touch the energy, which nestled itself underneath my fingernails and slowly started to suck itself into my body. I stared at it as it slowly disappeared into me and I felt the hum of power as it rushed through my veins.

"I have never seen anything like it," Mr. Liu breathed.

"What do we do now? You said something about tether?"

Mr. Liu nodded, "Yes, according to the myths a Vortex can tether themselves to a warlock. It's an invisible link, like an anchor. It will give the Vortex the protection of the warlock and it'll help them control their powers."

"Tie us together?" I heard myself say.

Taylor grabbed my arm, "Look Cara, this is the best option. I don't know what you think we should do?"

I nodded at him, I had no idea what this tether thing meant. But it's not like I could come up with a better idea for what to do about this hunting order.

"You need to connect with her. Connect your power to her. I have read that it takes one true connection of power," Mr. Liu explained.

"Doesn't sound too hard," Taylor said.

I stared at him as he pushed his hands forward taking both of mine in his. I could feel his energy flow towards me more freely, he let his magic flair up. I saw the purple spray of lightning as it pushed towards me and felt my hair lift in a surge of electricity.

Author's Note: What did you think of this week's chapter? I like the end, it's got some mystery but it's not as much of a "danger cliffhanger" as previous chapters have had.

From now on this story will be updated EVERY THURSDAY. If you have not please add this story to your library.  Thank you for being awesome and for Commenting & Voting ♡

Song:  Stwo - Haunted ft. Sevdaliza