Learning Me (Lightworker Trilogy #1) (11 page)

Her mother gasped. “Are you sure?”

Courtney nodded. “There was an article online — it even had a picture of them. They said I was missing. Here, see for yourself.” Courtney opened her backpack and retrieved the printout she’d made.

Her father took it and scanned the page a moment before handing it over to her mother. “It’s them. There’s no doubt about it.” He shook his head. “Courtney, I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks,” she replied. “I’m sorry, too. I know you said you never got to meet them, but I’m sure this is upsetting for you anyway.” Courtney paused before asking, “Do you know any of their family? Parents, siblings, anything?”

“I’m really sorry, Sweetheart. We weren’t told a thing about them either. From what I understand, they weren’t very close to them anyway.” Her father shrugged. “I wish we could tell you more about that, but we really can’t. It’s probably for the best, though.”

Courtney resisted the urge to roll her eyes over the last statement. “If whatever they were doing was so dangerous, why did they keep doing it? Why not just walk away from it and keep me?”

“I think they’re the only ones who could answer that,” her mother said. “Again, there was very little information made available to us and we think it was for a good reason.”

“You keep saying that. If you never met them, then who was telling you all of this? I still don’t understand how you got me to begin with.”

“There’s a lot of people out there who don’t like the work your parents were doing,” her father said. “But from everything we’ve seen, it’s important work. So important, there are people out there who do everything they can to make sure it gets done. It’s a group your parents worked with, almost like the witness protection program. They recruit people who have no ties to or interest in the paranormal to help hide kids that are in need.”

Courtney swallowed hard to hold back the emotions bubbling within her. They sounded like really great people, but a part of her wished they’d been able to step away from this work they thought was so important. Weren’t you supposed to worry more about your children once you had one? She shook her head to banish the thoughts from her mind before she could dwell too much on it. She wasn’t sure she’d like the places those thoughts could take her.

“Okay, so… you don’t know much about their work, but did you find out anything else? Did they like acting like I do?”

Her father laughed. “You have no idea. We saw some footage of your mother in a production once and she was every bit as good as you were. I guess that’s why we were so worried about you getting into it — you reminded us too much of her and we didn’t want you to fall into the same… activities they did.”

Courtney couldn’t help but smile at hearing that. It was like a missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle had been found. “That’s neat. Do we have anything else in common?”

“Well, since you saw those pictures, you must have seen you have his smile,” her mother said. “You also get the same look on your face when you’re talking about something big — we were shown a video where he talked about how important it was to them to make sure you were protected and how important their work was.”

“You’re also about as stubborn as both of them,” her father added wryly. “As you can probably tell by the fact they didn’t walk away.”

The last part made her face flush in embarrassment, but she supposed it was nice to know she couldn’t help herself when she got that like. Courtney took a minute to let all the information they’d told her sink in. “C-can I keep some of the stuff you guys have? I’m going away to college in the fall and I’d really like to take something with me. I think I need to.”

Her parents appeared to discuss her request silently.

“I don’t see why not,” her father replied.

“Why don’t we go and find something now?” Her mother suggested.

Relief flooded through Courtney at their agreement. “Thanks! Now would be great.”

The three of them stood and went to the office, Courtney trying not to run too far in front of them. She felt like she was a kid getting ready to open Christmas presents again. In a way, she sort of was. She might not get to know them, but at least she could have something to connect her to her past. She just had to figure out what she wanted. There were so many pictures and things hidden in there.

Her mother opened the office door and stepped aside as Courtney and her father entered the room. She watched her father walk over and move the picture. He set it on the floor, carefully resting the frame against the wall. He nodded to the hidden space. “Go ahead; take whatever you want.”

Courtney walked over to the wall and pulled the items from the secret space, going over each one carefully. “Even if it’s more than one?”

“Sure,” her mother agreed. “I suppose it won’t hurt. To be honest, we held onto them because we knew that someday you would find out about this and we knew you’d want something of theirs.” Her mother frowned and continued, “Courtney, something is bothering me. How did you know to look behind that picture?”

“I remembered coming in here one day when I was really little and I saw you putting the picture back.”

Her mother’s eyes widened. “You really remember that? But, you were still a toddler. You’d just started speaking properly only a few months before… it just doesn’t seem possible.”

Courtney nodded. “I think I’m remembering other stuff too. Well, kind of? I keep having these dreams about them. One time, I was trying to play with something and she kept telling me I couldn’t.”

“Courtney, honey, we took you in when you were only two years old. I really don’t see how you could remember anything about them. You must be imagining it.” Her father stepped closer and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Her voice rose in pitch as she tried to convince them she wasn’t imagining things. At least, she was fairly certain that wasn’t the case — the dreams felt too real for that and inspired far too much emotion in her to be anything but genuine. “I’m not, I swear. I feel like I’m really remembering stuff about them. That thing I was trying to play with in the one dream? It looked like a crystal ball. It was sitting in a gold stand with this flowery pattern.”

Her mother gasped. “Are you sure that’s what you saw in your dream?”

Courtney nodded, her heart beating faster at her mother’s reaction to the description of the crystal. “Why?”

“Honey,” she said, turning her attention to Courtney’s father, “don’t you remember? Ann had a crystal ball just like that. I pointed it out to you in one of the pictures.”

“You’re right. I can’t believe I forgot about that.” He looked at Courtney, “And you saw that in your dream?”

Courtney’s eyes widened in excitement and she nodded. “Yes, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Do you believe me?”

Her father nodded. “Unfortunately, we do.”

Chapter Fifteen

First thing in the morning, Courtney called Sam. She was practically bubbling over with a volatile mix of emotions, her hands shaking as she waited for him to answer. She couldn’t wait to share her latest news with him.

“Court, hey… what are you calling this early for? Is something wrong?” His voice came out sounding groggy, as though she’d woken him from a deep sleep.

“Sort of, sort of not? It’s weird. I talked to my parents and you’re not going to believe what happened.” She kept her voice low so they wouldn’t hear her should they happen by her room.

“What?” His voice suddenly became much more alert sounding. A tinge of concern colored his question.

“I think I had a weird thing happen.” She told him about the dream she’d had and how the ball she’d seen in it matched something her real mother once owned.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes! Completely. You should’ve seen the looks on their faces when I told them about the crystal ball. I swear, I thought their eyes were going to bug out of their heads. They’ve been acting strange all day. It’s almost like they’re scared of me now or something.”

She rolled her eyes at the idea, thinking they had to be overreacting. Yes, it was strange, but it’s not like they hadn’t had experience with it before. If anyone should be freaking out it should be her, and while she was a little unnerved, she felt more relieved than anything.

His voice grew serious as he said, “Might be more like scared
for
you if what you were telling me is true.”

Courtney plopped down on her bed. “They think I’m getting those gifts too, and they think I’ll follow in my birth parents’ footsteps.”

“Exactly. It could be coincidence though. It’s not like crystal balls aren’t something common. Maybe it’s in the background of one of those pictures you saw and your subconscious remembered it.”

“But I was looking at the pictures again last night and I never saw a thing like that in there. I’m telling you, whatever that was, it didn’t come from a picture I have here.” She spoke confidently, sure she was speaking the truth. She just hoped he’d believe her.

“There’s got to be some other kind of explanation for it. Why would you just develop some weird supernatural kind of ability almost overnight? It’s too much to swallow. Don’t you think it sounds far-fetched?”

“So did my parents not being my real parents, but that’s true,” Courtney argued. “Plus, they said my parents were about the same age when they got them.”

“Okay, you’ve got a point there. Look, for all you know this is just a coincidence, so I wouldn’t get too freaked out or anything yet. Just wait and see if anything else weird happens. I don’t want you getting disappointed over not having special powers.”

“What makes you think I’ll be disappointed?” Courtney sat back up and began tracing patterns on her bedspread as they spoke.

“Because I know you,” he answered. “You might not want to admit it, but I think you’re really buying into all of this and you want something more in common with them than you already have.”

Courtney almost argued with him, but then she realized he was probably right. She sort of did want to get these gifts they claimed to have. Why did he say that as though it were a bad thing? Shouldn’t she like having as much of a connection to them as possible? “Maybe.”

He laughed. “See? I told you. I just heard my mom calling for me so I need to get going. Why don’t we meet up a little later at the mall? We’ll catch a movie or something and you can forget about all this for a little bit.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “Sounds good. When do you want to meet up?”

“Three good?”

“Sure, see you then.” Courtney hung up the phone, her mind racing. The whole conversation with her parents from the night before played over again, mixing with Sam’s words and the dreams she’d had. The cacophony was almost too much. Courtney shook her head to clear all the thoughts from her mind, contemplating a couple of aspirin to dull the ache.

Before she could get the pills, the ache went away and Courtney said a quick thank you to whatever benevolent force was behind that. She didn’t know if she could’ve waited for medicine to take effect.

****

The noise was almost deafening as Courtney and Sam stepped into the Elkswood Plaza. Everywhere she looked, there were people carting around too many bags and complaining about how much they’d just spent. Some were chasing kids, while others were sitting at benches looking bored.

They navigated through the crowd, barely avoiding a few going the wrong way. The movie theatre wasn’t far, but it could take forever to get there when the place was busy, which was most of the time. When Courtney thought about it, the only time she hadn’t had to wrestle her way there was when she’d been up crazy early and decided to go there after a sleepover with a few friends. They’d practically had the whole place to themselves.

“So what’d you want to see?” he asked.

“How about that?” Courtney asked, pointing to a picture for a new comedy. “I could use a laugh.”

“Works for me,” he agreed. They walked up to the ticket counter and Sam said, “Two tickets for
Cubicle Wars
please.”

“That’ll be thirteen dollars,” she said.

Sam pulled out the money and handed it to the lady, taking their tickets in return. “Thanks.”

They went inside the theatre and straight to the snack counter. “I am so craving one of those mint things,” said Courtney, pointing to the box she wanted in the display case. Courtney thought she saw it move and blinked. She wasn’t sure, but she could swear the candy was a fraction of an inch off center of where it had been originally. The person manning the counter didn’t seem to notice, though.

Sam ordered, paid, and they turned to find the screen their movie was playing on.

“Sam, did you notice anything weird a minute ago?” She spoke quietly, keeping her eyes open for anyone who might possibly overhear her.

“I didn’t see anything,” he said. “Why?”

“No reason.” She decided she must’ve been seeing things. It wasn’t like her imagination hadn’t gotten plenty of fuel lately. The idea she caused that was almost too much to consider; she was still trying to deal with the fact she might be remembering things she shouldn’t.

They found the right theatre and stepped inside, but they were a little late, so the lights were already off. Sam and Courtney felt their way through the dark room until they found a couple of seats near the center of the theatre. He always liked to be in the middle; he felt it was the best spot to enjoy the film. Courtney didn’t care either way.

They settled into their seats, Sam putting his arm around her shoulder. She leaned her head against him as the movie started. Once the credits began to roll, her body relaxed more. Her stressed-out mind cleared as she allowed herself to get lost in the action on screen. Nothing else existed for her but Sam and the movie.

Partway through the show, Courtney reached for her drink. She felt her way toward it, her attention still focused on the screen. A frown settled on her face as she realized the cup seemed to elevate a little before her hand settled on it.

She reached over and gripped Sam’s hand tighter.

“Problem?” He sounded distracted, as though his attention were still mostly on the movie.

Courtney nodded, then leaned closer to whisper in his ear. “I think I just did something again.”

“Did what?” Now he turned toward her, his voice sounding far more alert than it had a moment before. His face was a mask of confusion.

Courtney’s body tensed in irritation as she whispered. “
Stuff
. Ya know… like we were talking about before?”

Sam looked at her in disbelief. “You’re messing with me, right?”

“Do I look like I am?” She gave him an exasperated look while trying to keep her tone under control.

“Want to get out of here?”

Courtney nodded.

They stood from the seats, trying to avoid blocking people’s view as they made their exit. Once they were out of the theatre, they threw their stuff away and made a hasty retreat to his car.

“Okay,” said Sam as he clicked his seatbelt into place. “What happened?”

“When we were at the snack counter, I could swear I saw the mints I wanted move right after I said I wanted them. Then, I was reaching for my drink and I swear to God, the cup was moving out of the holder before I ever touched it.” Courtney put her own seatbelt into place as she watched Sam start the engine and pull out.

“That makes no sense. I mean, no one has powers like that. We’re talking about the real world here, Court. I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life. Have you?” He came to a halt at a stop sign, looking both ways before pulling out onto the road.

“No, but that doesn’t mean it’s not real. Besides, my parents seem convinced it’s true. My real ones were convinced enough to give me up. Why couldn’t it be true?” Courtney argued. Her whole body was tingling with energy that she couldn’t explain, nor describe. The closest she could come was it felt like an electrical current pulsing through her, but even that wasn’t close to describing the sensation.

Courtney tapped her fingers on the armrest of the car as she averted her attention to the window. She watched the scenery pass by without really seeing it. Everything blurred in her mind and other images worked their way into her consciousness, demanding her full attention.

Sam sighed. “Okay, maybe you have a point there. Still, I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to get too excited about this.”

Courtney looked back at Sam with wide eyes. “Why not? You were right before: it’s like this connection to my past, and I don’t see what’s so bad about that. I want to experiment and see if it’s really happening or if I’m just imagining things.” Shouldn’t he understand just how much this meant to her? In the time they’d been dating, he’d never failed to empathize with her before. It was like they were synced on a level that defied explanation. There were times here and there where she felt he could read her mind. Of course, maybe that was part of the problem—he was reading her too well.

Sam pulled the car over and turned to Courtney, a pleading look in his eyes. “I don’t like this, Courtney. I really don’t. You told me they died and your parents were asked to keep you out of this kind of thing. What if all this is for real and you open some door you can’t close again? What if…” His voice trailed off as he turned his attention to the steering wheel.

“Come on, for all I know I’m just making this up in my head. Even if I do have some weird gifts, that doesn’t mean I’m going to go all crazy with it and start trying to rescue everyone like they did,” she reasoned. She reached over and touched his hand. “You believe me, right?”

“I believe you mean what you’re saying right now. I just wonder if they said the same things.” He voice grew sad, as though she’d already jumped headfirst into their world and hadn’t come back out.

“I swear, I’m not going to go jumping into anything weird. I just want to see if I’m imagining what I saw or not.”

“Fine,” he agreed reluctantly. “I want to be there when you try… okay?”

Courtney nodded. “You got it. Come on, there’s a bookstore a few blocks from here and I think they have some books that might help. They should be open for a little while.”

“You got it.” He checked for traffic, then pulled the car back onto the road.

****

Once Sam had dropped her off from their impromptu shopping trip, Courtney spent hours in her room poring over the material. There was a lot more out there than she’d even imagined possible, so it’d taken her forever to choose a few volumes to take home with her.

She still couldn’t find a thing that described Lightworkers in the way her parents had, but she supposed that didn’t mean a whole lot. If there were such people out there, chances were they could be as secretive as her parents were. Still, she didn’t totally give up on the idea of it being true. She still could prove their story if she ended up being able to do the things in these books.

The following days saw her continuing to pore over the material while Sam was busy with hockey practices leading up to his league’s playoffs. Her impatience was getting the better of her. All she wanted was to start working on the stuff and see what she could, or couldn’t, do.

One afternoon, she found herself staring at one of the books like a small child eyeing a Christmas present. Courtney reached for the book several times, stopping short of grabbing it each time she thought of Sam and how she’d promised to let him be there when she started working on it.

What could it really hurt?
It wasn’t like he’d been available often over the past few days, and she knew there was no way she could wait much longer to try. Her impatience finally won out and Courtney grabbed one of her books again, turning to a part where there’d been an exercise designed to help one prepare for such work.

Courtney went through the steps, one by one, until an odd sensation similar to the energy she’d felt the other night in Sam’s car took over. She set the book down and focused her attention on it, willing the thing to move where she wanted it to go. She could swear she saw it twitch a little as though it were going to do as she wished, but nothing more concrete happened. The bitter sting of disappointment hit her hard, but she refused to give up.