Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) (16 page)

“They’re protecting me from what?” I asked.

“From the same thing your father and I tried to keep you safe from…from the evil which has always been, from the evil which will always be,” she whispered, swirling around me. “From those faithful to the Yietimpi, you are who they fear. You are the one it cannot see, it cannot touch. You’re the first of our kind and they don’t know how to deal with you.”

“Mom, you’re talking in riddles. Can’t anyone just tell me what this evil is? I mean, I’ve put up with people being able to read my thoughts,” I said, taking a breath, “and purple lights which heal me. You, my mother, who is dead, but not really. I can still see you and talk to you. I think I can handle a little more info on the who’s who of evilness other than they’re called the Yietimpi,” I begged.

As I took a breath to go on, a movement from my right interrupted me and brought me back into the backyard. Aunt Grace came outside, carrying two cups of hot chocolate. She handed one of them to me.

“She’s here with you now, isn’t she?” Aunt Grace asked.

“Yeah, she’s here.” I nodded and took a sip of the steaming hot chocolate, always a comfort to me.

“Has she told you anything?” Aunt Grace asked. “Anything about Nevaeh or more about us?”

I replied tiredly, “That I’m the first of our kind and there is some kind of tribe or clan called the Yietimpi that are out to get me.” I paused and got a little sarcastic, “and of course they’re all afraid of me…for some reason that everyone else around here seems to know except for me!” I took another sip of hot chocolate, closed my eyes, and tried breathing in the chocolate fumes to put out the frustration which was building up inside of me.

“I know it’s irritating and you have a right to know what’s going on. Everyone who cares about you, Ria, Hearte, Hudson, Jen, and I have to do what we think is best to keep you safe.” Aunt Grace paused and looked around the yard. She sighed and took a sip of her hot chocolate. Her voice changed from soft and pacifying to strong and unmoving. “Jacey, when the time is right, you’ll understand why we’re doing things this way,” A breeze swept her hair back off her forehead, causing her to stop talking for a second.

“Is Ria swirling around me?” Aunt Grace asked.

“Maybe she’s trying to comfort you,” I said tiredly.

“Tell her I miss her and love her,” Aunt Grace said.

“She can hear you.”

Aunt Grace put her cup down and hugged me. I hugged her back and Mom disappeared.

“I trust you and I trust your judgment, I just want to know,” I said. “I just… want to know.”

“You will know and it will be—”

I cut her off before she could finish. “I know, in time,” I replied, sighing. My cup was empty. Not totally dejected, but almost so, I stood up, and together, we walked around to the front of the house.

Chapter Twelve

A day of rest
A day to explore
One can only expect
The calm before the storm

W
e walked over to the oak tree and sat on a makeshift bench made from one of the low-lying branches of the tree.

“How about exploring Nevaeh today?” Aunt Grace asked.

My mood brightened slightly. “I’d like that. I want to see where you work and see the maze in town you told me about.”

I could see Aunt Grace was amused. She laughed. “So you were paying attention when I told you about our little town.”

“Of course I was. The only thing you didn’t tell me about was the high school. Even though it’s Sunday, I was hoping we could slide by, considering Hudson and I will be going there tomorrow,” I said.

Maybe it would help get rid of some of the butterflies in my stomach, since the thought of going to yet another new school had became a reality.

“It had to be hard for you and Hudson going from school to school. This will be the last time you’ll ever be the new kids ever again. I’ll bring you guys around once everyone is up and ready. Sound good?” she asked.

“I think it sounds great.”

We sat in the tree and enjoyed the sun and the chirping birds for another half hour, then we went inside to see if Hudson and Jen were awake. Once inside, we heard them in the sun room. As we walked in, we caught them in an intimate moment. They were completely unaware of our presence. Aunt Grace cleared her throat and they parted, looking guilty.

“Finally, you two decided to get up,” I said, half joking. I looked at their faces and their posture. Hudson’s face revealed the embrace wasn’t what I’d originally thought, that they’d been trying to sneak in some girlfriend-boyfriend time. He was genuinely concerned. Jen’s eyes were red and puffy. She’d been crying.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Jen’s parents are going to be out of the country for a while,” Hudson told us. “They want her to go with them. They said they couldn’t leave her alone at home because they don’t know how long they’re going to be gone.”

“They’ve been called to work somewhere in the South Pacific,” Jen said, tearfully. “Because they don’t know for how long, and you guys aren’t in town anymore, they want me to go with them.”

I’d never gotten to know Jen’s parents very well over the last year and a half. I knew they went away a lot for work, but Jen never had to go because Mom would always offer to let Jen stay with us. Jen had never really talked about it.

“What would your parents think of letting you stay here with us? You could register with Jacey at St. Nemele. That is, only if your parents approve,” Aunt Grace offered.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“You mean, you’d let me stay here until they got back?” Jen asked, completely surprised and delighted by Aunt Grace’s offer.

“I know how much it would mean to both Hudson and Jacey for you to stay. When you were only going to be a couple hours away, it wasn’t going to be so difficult for each of them to handle the distance. But you being halfway across the world, I think they’ve both had enough devastation recently. This all depends on your parents, of course. They would have to approve of this arrangement,” Aunt Grace said. “I know Ria would take you in when they’d go away. Staying here will help both Hudson and Jacey, not to mention me.” Aunt Grace smiled at Jen. Before she could move, both Jen and I literally threw ourselves at her and hugged her fiercely.

“I know they’ll be all right with it,” Jen said between happy sobs.

“Well, let’s give them a call. if they need to talk to me, I’m right here,” Aunt Grace said, laughing as she peeled us off of her.

Jen turned to Hudson and walked into his open arms. This time there was no mistaking it. It was a girlfriend-boyfriend embrace.

“Uggh—enough already, let’s go and call your parents, Jen,” I muttered.

We left Hudson and Aunt Grace in the sunroom and grabbed the phone in the kitchen. Jen called her parents and they asked to speak with Aunt Grace.

“Grace, they need to talk with you,” Jen called out. Aunt Grace took the phone and went into the living room out of earshot.

A couple of minutes later, Aunt Grace returned and gave the phone back to Jen.

Hudson and I followed them into the kitchen after a few minutes. I realized how much I wanted Jen to stay with us. My heart hammered against my chest.

“They’re in the middle of packing. They’ve already packed all of Jen’s stuff up, knowing she wouldn’t have time to do it tomorrow. They fly out tomorrow at twelve and will make an early morning detour to see us, deliver her stuff, and see where she’ll be living,” Aunt Grace said triumphantly.

“Thank you, Aunt Grace!” I said, embracing her in yet another bear hug.

“I don’t know what to say,” Jen said, hugging Aunt Grace again. “I’m more grateful than you’ll ever know.”

“I already know, Jen. Just the look on all of your faces speaks volumes. Now, let’s all get ready to explore Nevaeh. I’m sure Jen will be just as curious about her new school as Jacey is.” Aunt Grace headed upstairs to get ready.

“This is exactly how it’s supposed to be, you know,” I said to Jen before she could get away.

“What do you mean?” Jen asked.

“You truly are family, Jen.”

She came over and hugged me.

“You’re the sister I’ve always wanted.”

“Ditto,” Jen said.

“Well, I’m glad you’re not my sister!” Hudson stated with a mischievous grin on his face.

“You’re so gross, Hudson, ewwww,” I uttered.

“Let’s get ready,” Jen said as she pulled Hudson out of the room. I went into the living room and stared at Mom and Dad’s urn for while as the light came in through the bay window, striking it and making the symbols appear as if they had come to life.

“I’ll know what you all mean soon,” I said out loud confidently. I went upstairs.

When I got to Aunt Grace’s room, her door was slightly open and Hudson was talking to her.

“Aunt Grace, I seriously don’t know how to thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Hudson. Be happy, that’s enough for me. Plus, knowing Jen’s parents are part of the Sentry, this was the least I could do,” Aunt Grace finished.

So many secrets, I thought as I went into my room. Mom was swirling around the ceiling when I walked in. There was no excitement in her movements. Her colors were calming. The doors joining my room to Jen’s were closed. I went over to them, knocked once, and walked in. Jen was sitting on her bed.

“Ready to go?” I asked. Jen looked up at me and I was caught off guard by the expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. I sat beside her.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, right. I think I know you a little better than that,” I said.

“There are some things I know in time I’ll be able to talk to you about, but right now, I can’t,” Jen said.

“Are you sad about having to stay here with us?” I asked, afraid.

“Grace inviting me to stay here is more than I ever expected. You and Hudson are as much my family as my parents,” Jen said, taking my hands into hers.

“I know everything will come in time, Jen, so instead of worrying, let’s get out of here and explore Nevaeh. What do you think?” I asked.

“That sounds exactly like what I need to do,” Jen said jumping up.

We met Aunt Grace and Hudson in the living room. “You girls ready to see where you’ll be hanging out for the next couple of years?” Aunt Grace asked.

“Let’s get going.” I answered. “Absolutely,” we both replied as we all left the house.

Once outside and walking down the driveway, I could see Jen and Hudson were having a hard time not acting like they were in a relationship. It was pretty apparent they wanted to hold hands and be close to one another. I knew neither one of them wanted to go against what they’d promised me. I had to admit, I was feeling guilty about making them agree to it.

“Hey, guys, I’m more uncomfortable watching the two of you trying to not be all girlfriend-boyfriend. So go ahead and do the hand holding thing—” I winked at Aunt Grace. I was starting to feel comfortable around Jen and Hudson, but only when it suited me. I was going to play the uncomfortable thing for as long as I could.

As we left Aunt Grace’s driveway heading to town, I saw for the first time how secluded her house was. It was a five minute walk down the driveway to get to the road. It was lined with oversized trees, which made it look more like a picture from a magazine than a walk down someone’s driveway. I was expecting to see a gravel road when we got to the main road, but it was paved.

“So, I figured I’d bring you down Main Street first and show you where I spend most of my time. I’m not sure if you guys know this, but I don’t only work at the coffee shop attached to the book store in town with Eve, she and I own it. We own the coffee shop and the book store,” Aunt Grace said softly.

“Wow, Aunt Grace, I never knew. I say we go see both,” I replied.

Mom’s spirit had come along for the tour, doing her regular swirl as we went down the street. As I was concentrating on her vibe, she was reminiscing about her younger years here.

Suddenly, an unknown energy came into the picture. Everything stood still. It swirled around me and settled in front of me. The energy was dark, with non-threatening vibes coming from it. The colors radiating from it mirrored every color you’d relate to Earth—greens, browns, yellows, and blues. The ambiance of the energy was familial; I knew there was nothing to fear. While I was trying to understand what the energy was, Mom came over and blended with it.

Once combined, the two entities swirled around me. I reached out to the earth-toned colors while Mom’s colors were still intertwining with them and swept my fingers through them. My cheeks flushed bright red. I felt slightly embarrassed, as though I’d intruded on a private moment. The emotions Mom emitted could only be explained by one thing… “Dad.”

“Jacey,” he replied as he swirled around me.

Neither one of my parents could physically hug me. Their embraces were whispering remnants feathering against my skin.

Without a word, Mom and Dad’s colors intertwined. From their display, it was apparent, nothing—even death—could keep them apart. As I stood there watching my parents, it was the first time I felt at peace since their death. We moved on and they floated around our group as we walked closer to town.

Deep in thought, I realized I might have more powerful abilities than I initially thought. If I was able to make out Mom and now Dad, who else might I be able to see and interact with? Was I ready for all of this and did I truly want to connect with anyone else?

Aunt Grace pointed out a house. It was set back almost as far as hers. The only difference between the two was that you could see this house from the road. It was a modest two level dark brick home. There were beautiful flower gardens on either side of the main entrance, and of course, there were huge trees on either side of the house.

“This is Eve’s house. She, her husband Bronson, and their son Vincent, live here,” Aunt Grace explained.

Without warning, my body had a physical reaction at the mention of Eve’s home. My stomach somersaulted and my heart rate accelerated to the point I had to try and regulate my breathing. I was dumbfounded why I reacted this way.