Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) (22 page)

Chapter Fifteen

A new dawn
A new day
Time for magic.
Well…
At least I hoped so…

W
hile I was having my epiphany, Jen sat silently in the background. I could see in the mirror she was on my bed, patiently waiting for me. I joined her on the bed and lay back, staring up at the mural. Jen did the same.

“Are all the answers I’ve been waiting for up there?” I pointed to the mural.

“I think some are, but to be truthful, I don’t know if
all
the answers are in there. I’m relatively young for our kind, remember.” I could hear the smile in her voice. She paused for a second. “Aren’t you the least bit tired?”

“I am, but I’m also more curious than ever. In a few hours from now, I’ll get some of the answers I’ve been wondering about. To be honest, I’m a little nervous about that,” I revealed.

“No one would blame you, Jacey. All of this is more than anyone would be able to take in—no matter how old they were.”

I knew most people would be apprehensive about the magic thing and all, but that wasn’t what caused my heart to beat in my ears, the whooshing feeling in my belly and my pulse to accelerate.

I found magic exciting. I didn’t have a problem wrapping my mind around the possibility of it. I’d always been a book worm and imagined myself into every good book I read. I found the possibility of becoming even remotely similar to any of those characters awesome. I knew I’d enjoy this reality.

In truth, I was looking forward to being introduced to this new and exciting part of me. The question causing my major dilemma at the moment: why did certain names have such a physical affect on me?

“Jen, it’s not the magic thing.” She looked at me, perplexed at my confession.

“What else could it be, Jacey?”

It wasn’t the reason I was having a total melt down right now. Most people would probably find themselves medicated after being exposed to some of the things I’d seen in the last couple of weeks. But not me, nooooo, I was going loony over the mention of people. Who were they and what was it about them? The Elders, big deal, a bunch of old people who had my destiny in their hands. The Seekers, a bunch of onyx-eyed people who had a tendency to be stalkerish. With them, I knew I could do something. The last group of them found that out. Last, but not least, a guy I’d never even met. A guy I’d never even seen a picture of—what’s up with that?

I heard my subconscious say…
Hello.
What you’re feeling right now—news flash—that’s what a normal
16 year old girl feels. Believe it or not, some are self-conscious about things and people and what people think of them. Just because you’ve never really cared before doesn’t make you immune to it now. That’s who and what you really are, no matter what society you belong to.

Considering it was now one-thirty a.m. and I was going to be meeting some of these people for the first time in less than nine hours, I decided I should ask someone what these feelings were all about, so why not a 150 year old female. I was sure she’d gone through at least some of the same stuff since she’d been 16 at one time in her life.

“I know this is going to sound silly, maybe even nuts or crazy—”

Jen cut me off by rolling over onto her side so she was facing me and put her hand on my shoulder. “Jacey, stop it. You’re kind of starting to frighten me with your babbling. Take a deep breath and talk to me. I’m here to listen. I mean, if it isn’t Nemele and everything that comes with it, then whatever it is can’t be anything we can’t work through together.”

I decided to just come out and say it or I’d chicken out and keep everything to myself. I compared this to going swimming. I knew if I didn’t just jump in, it would take me forever to get into the water, but if I jumped in, it was done, over with, finito. I decided
just jump
…

“It’s—” my voice came down a few octaves to a whisper,“—the Elders, the Seekers, and this Vincent guy.” I stared at her, waiting for her to tell me what I needed to do to get rid of these feelings. A few very uncomfortable silent seconds passed. “Those are the things I’m worried about. It’s them. I can’t understand why my body has a physical reaction each time one of them is mentioned. ” I spoke louder this time, thinking she’d get it.

“Jacey, the Elders are here to help all of us. I don’t want to dismiss your feelings about them, but I can assure you they won’t be judging you. They’re only here to help and guide you. With them, there really is nothing to be nervous about. The Seekers, well, everyone is wary of them. I think it’s smart to be on your guard. They try to portray themselves as observers, but I can tell you, on some of the exercises I’ve been on with the Sentry, the Seekers weren’t only observing. So yeah, I’d be very cautious with them. This Vincent guy, well, I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

She paused and looked as though she was trying to remember something. I did feel a little better having told her what was eating away at me. Her thoughts on the Elders and the Seekers alleviated some of my anxiety. I was about to mention the last person again when she spoke up.

“Vincent… the only one I know is Vincent Wills. Why is he causing you to freak out? I don’t get it. I don’t think you’ve even met him yet, have you?” She looked genuinely puzzled.

“I know it’s going to sound weird, but his name has come up a few times and every time my gut feels like there’s a thousand butterflies flying around inside and they’re all completely out of control. I don’t get it. I’ve
never
felt this way. I’ve never even met this guy… Just simply mentioning his name makes my stomach knot up… does that make any sense?”

“It’d make sense if you’d met him and felt this way, but to feel like this without having met him, I don’t know.” She looked at me critically. “Do you feel sick, like you’re going to throw up when you hear the name?”

“Noooo…” I said, drawing out my answer.

“What kind of feeling do you have, then?”

“I feel anxious and nervous. I feel like I should know who this is, and because I don’t, it makes it even more confusing.” I watched her intensely, waiting for her to give me a reason. If I hadn’t been watching, I would’ve missed it. For a brief second, Jen looked uncomfortable, like she was trying
not
to say what she was thinking.

“You’re sure you’ve never met or seen him before?”

“Yeah, I can pretty much guarantee I haven’t. If I’d seen or met him, I wouldn’t have forgotten.”

“I guess we’ll all find out tomorrow—I mean today,” she said as she looked at my alarm clock. It was now two-fifteen a.m. “Considering we’re meeting him six hours from now at school.” She smiled awkwardly. “Don’t worry, I think you’re going to be just fine. Maybe it’s first day jitters and knowing Vincent is going to be the one to show us around, you’re getting him and them mixed up.”

I knew it wasn’t first day jitters and I knew Jen didn’t believe it was, either. One other thing which was crystal clear—I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to keep talking about this. There was something more she knew and wasn’t telling me. I could see it in the way she became slightly uncomfortable when I asked about him.
What now?
I thought, but decided to leave it alone.

“I guess you’re right, it’s getting late and we should get some sleep.” I went to my dresser and picked out a pair of cut off joggers and a muscle shirt. “Do you think they need anything outside?” I asked, changing the subject. The tension in the air gave way.

“Nah, they’re fine. I think I’ll go back to my room and get ready for bed. Unless you want me to stay in here?” Jen offered.

“No, that’s all right. I’m fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Jen came over and hugged me as she was leaving. “Try to get at least a little bit of sleep.”

Sleep. Yeah, right.
I changed into my shorts and went to wash up.

While brushing my teeth, I thought about my conversation with Jen. I braced myself, waiting for the physical reaction. To my surprise, I didn’t have one. A smile crossed my face for the first time since I’d been obsessing over these guys. Just when I was feeling a little lighter, my stomach gave way to an influx of butterflies.

I grabbed onto the counter, took a couple of deep breaths, and let my thought form to see where I was going with it. Tomorrow I had to see him.
Vincent.
For a brief second, I had a flash of what was going to happen. I foresaw myself acting like a complete fool for reasons I couldn’t explain.

Great, just what I needed. I’m going nuts and I haven’t even met him yet. I splashed warm water on my face and took one last look in the mirror. With a final steadying breath I took my ponytail out and left the washroom.

I went directly to bed. I needed to get some sleep. Just when I thought it wasn’t going to happen, my dream colors came. I embraced them.

As they slowly dimmed, I took in the scene around me. I was in the center of Nevaeh at the town park. I was seated on one of the benches at the entrance of the maze. The sky was that perfect shade between reds and yellows that you get at dusk. On impulse, I walked through the opening. I was amazed by the flawless precision of the trimmings lining the pathways throughout it. The shrubs were ten feet high, each one meticulously manicured. Twisted through the branches of the shrubbery were twinkling white lights.

The outside appeared to be plain green shrubs, but once you entered, the intricate clipped designs were apparent. One seemed familiar—I stopped to study it. I recognized it as the symbol Ria. I traced it with my right hand. As I did, a soft breeze blew through the brush and with it came a comforting voice.

“Keep going—” It was Mom.

I continued on, not knowing where I was headed, but somehow knowing I was going in the right direction. The maze was full of many twists and turns. I ended up in what I believed was the center. I turned in place a couple of times and took in the walls and their symbols. I was pleasantly comforted. I’d been staring up at the same ones on the ceiling in my room.

The center was as big as my bedroom, but the trimmed designs were huge. I touched them to ensure they were real. I reached out to the first symbol—Rife—and felt a sudden surge of heat. As I traced it, it began to glow and take on the color of red hot embers. It looked like a burning bush but kept its form and didn’t spread to any of the other branches. There was only the slightest heat coming from them.

I went to the next symbol, Nidw, and felt another breeze. I turned to see if there was anyone with me, but I was alone. I turned back to Nidw and the symbol took on a mist-like form. It was floating like an apparition within the braches, never losing its shape.

The next symbol was Taerw. I touched it and my fingertips became wet. I pulled my hand away and the symbol became as fluid as a rushing river, yet never losing its shape, either.

Hearte was the next symbol—Dad. I now knew it was an element of the society I was part of. I traced it and felt within it many different textures. There was sand, grass, wood, and rock…as I was mentally giving all these textures words, the symbol’s colors came to life as an ever-changing flow of deep browns, vibrant greens, and a multitude of silvers, golds, pinks and bronzes.

The next symbol was Ria—Mom. I touched it like I touched the others. I expected something like the wind and some of the other things which accompanied Mom when she’d appear to me, but none of that happened. What I did feel was a sudden sense of ease. The symbol stayed as it was. My first thought was
what you see is what you get
. Once the thought formed, the symbol became mirror--like and showed hundreds of my reflections within each slender line of its design.

I knew there was one more symbol—Kawaneing. I spun around and looked to see if I had missed it. It wasn’t trimmed anywhere.

“Look down,” a voice whispered in my ear.

I didn’t recognize the voice, however it brought about a fluttering in my stomach. I reached up to my ear and brushed a strand of wayward hair behind it, then I looked down.
Amazing.
The ground had turned into a collage of deep colored marble. At first it wasn’t obvious, but then all the pieces of the collage came together in crystal clarity. In the center of it appeared Kawaneing. It glowed brilliantly in all of the colors I experienced every time I fell asleep and dreamed. I reached down and touched it. It had the same texture of marble, hard and cool, yet smooth.

“Give it a minute and it might let you in,” a deep crisp voice said behind me.

I spun around, expecting to see who the voice belonged to. My heart hammered against my chest. I was alone.

“Hello,” I called out. Still nothing. I looked up into the sky. Dusk was long gone. The sky was coal black and the only light was from the thousands of stars. Peeking above the far left corner of the maze was a crescent moon.

“Wow, beautiful,” I said out loud.

“It is,” the same voice whispered in my ear.

I didn’t spin around this time. I was sure if I did, the voice would disappear like before.

“Is it always like this?” I asked.

“Sometimes there are so many stars, they light up the entire town.” The voice sounded closer, more real.

“What is this place?” I asked, turning away from the sky and now looking at the symbols on the maze walls.

“It’s one of many places we enter Nemele.”

“But isn’t Nevaeh Nemele? And this is the maze in the center of town, isn’t it?”