The Light Tamer (3 page)

The doorbell chimes start ringing at exactly nine. Mom opened the door just as I enter the room. He stands there in a pair of khaki’s and yellow Polo. His tan arms, and yellow shirt where on the verge of causing my heart to stop.
One beat, two beats, three…breathe in, breathe out…one beat, two beats, three
… My chant, the one that I’ve used as long as I’ve remembered. It was something my mom taught me when I had to deal with my dad and his foolishness.

His eyes sparkle in the morning light. Mom and he did the formal hello’s and then she wanted his cell number for the ‘just in case’. She was always paranoid that someone might ‘steal me’, as if! Yeah, Caleb plans on kidnapping me and never bringing me back. I wish!

Caleb was incredibly charming to my mom and grandma, who wouldn’t think he is perfect? Mom always said to me, “if it seems to be too good to be true, it usually is.” I felt her skepticism rain on my perfect boy parade. She had to be wrong, I can feel it. After what felt like forever, we finally leave. I check my watch and it read nine-o-nine.
Seriously? Only nine minutes had gone by, it felt at least ten.

On the way out to the car, his hand brushed up against my back as he opened the car door for me. Those brief moments of touch where enough to invigorate me, leaving me hopeful for one more touch. His touch must have been like crack is to an addict, it left me wanting more.

“Sorry about that with my mom, she’s mental,” I said.

He laughed at my comment and told me it was okay.
Maybe he is mental too. Strike that, maybe I’m mental and they are all normal. Probably,
I thought to myself.

After breakfast at the House of Eggs (they don’t use an acronym because then they would be HOE) we drive out to Emerald Isle. I sat in my seat making small talk with him, but my mind was screaming for him to touch me.
Could I lean over and get something out of my purse and accidently brush his hand on the gearshift? Would he freak out if I reach up and change the station and maybe he will scold my hand with a light pat? Shut-up brain; stop begging for this guy to touch you!

“Jessie, you don’t mind if we go to the beach and take a walk do you? I’d like to talk to you and maybe you’ll understand why you want me to touch you,” Caleb said. He put both hands on the steering wheel and looks straight ahead.

What the hell did he just say?
Did he just say I want him to touch me
?
Oh gawd, how in the world does he know that? Think of something to say dammit. Say something!

“What does that mean?” I lied.
I knew exactly what it meant. I’m a lowly teenager that hasn’t been on a real date before and I’m obvious about my feelings. Crap! Or maybe he is a conceited douche bag that thinks all girls want him to touch them. Ewww.

“I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry. We’ll go for a walk and I’ll tell you a story,” he said.

“No, you did mean
something
and I want to know what,” I demand.
Why am I pushing this? Ugh, me and my mouth.
I look over at him and he is banging his head on the headrest and shaking it back and forth.
Well, this is a horrible way to start a date. Now he is mad at me and I’m some demanding dork.

“You’re not a dork,” he said. His eyes go wide, as if he didn’t mean to say it out loud.

“Why are you saying things I’m thinking?” I ask.

“Look Jessie, I don’t want to do this in the car as I’m driving. I want to talk to you without the distractions. Please?”

“Fine,” I said and cross my arms in front of me pouting.
Me, pouting on a date, great
.

The parking lot is practically empty as we pull into the pier’s lot. There isn’t a cloud in the sky and for morning, it is already ninety degrees.

I step onto the sand, feeling it stick to the bottoms of my feet. The sand is already hot so we rush down closer to the water. I like the feeling of the water as it rushes across my feet. Caleb walked next to me but didn’t touch me at all.

“Follow me, let’s go sit on those boulders and talk,” Caleb said as he points to a cluster of boulders along the dunes.

I’d been mentally kicking myself for the last five minutes, sorry that I was acting like a spoiled brat.

“I’ve something I want to tell you about me. Okay?” Caleb said giving me a grin.

How am I to resist that damned dimple
? “Okay,” I say sheepishly.

He took in a deep breath and started talking. “Remember that time we were out here and you got pulled under by the current?” I shake my head yes. “Something happened that day other than you drowning. When I touched you in the water, I could see light on my hands and I felt vibrations. It was wickedly strange and at the same time it felt
normal
.”

“You saw
light
when you touched me? That’s odd,” I said.

“Just listen, it’s weirder than that. I know you feel it when I touch you, a warmth. I feel it too.” He turned to face me, I see the look of stress on his face. “Back to the drowning. You were limp when I grabbed you and carried you to the beach. I don’t know how no one else noticed, but they didn’t. I leaned in to put my mouth on yours, just like the movies. When I did, it was…it was amazing, for the lack of a better word. It was as if I gave you part of my life and you gave me part of you. It all happened so fast, I mean it was seconds that felt like years. I relived every memory you had. Not just the memories you had, but I know every major memory of yours now. When you touch me, I get a memory sent to me, some good, some not so good. Like this morning when I touched your back, I know you got the shirt you’re wearing to go to a tennis luncheon with your dad. You never had a chance to show him,” he lowered his head.

My mind starts whirling with questions.
No, I must have told Gayle about the shirt and she mentioned it to him or something. He’s nuts.

“I’m not nuts Jessie, really I’m not,” he said.

“I don’t have any of
your
memories,” I say matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, I don’t know why. It didn’t really make any sense to me. When you sat up and hurled ocean water on me, I was so thankful you were alive. Since that moment I’ve longed to be close to you. I’m not tuned to you all of the time. I mean, in the beginning, I only had your memories until that date, but last year it changed. When my mom died, things started changing for me. The minute she died, I felt different. I grieved for her
and
you. It was like my soul needed you and it needed you quick.”

He reaches over and takes my hand into his. His hand is sweaty but it doesn’t matter, it felt so good in my hand.

“Feel that,” Caleb said. “That is us sharing the light. Have you ever noticed when you’re driving down the street and a streetlight goes out? Or maybe when you’re walking past a house and their porch light burns out? They call that street light interference phenomenon; some refer to them as SLIders. Our bodies,” he pointed back and for to both of us, “require light and we absorb their energy. I
know
… crazy right?”

“That happens to me, all the time!” I exclaim, feeling the truth swirl around me. “You’re saying that we’re the reason lights go out? How cool is that?”

“Cool, maybe. It would be cooler if it didn’t create complete darkness. We aren’t the only ones, there are other SLIders and there are the
Dark Ones
too. They live in the shadows and want to steal our light. The more light they can steal from us, the stronger they become. I carry a flashlight with me at night,” Caleb said. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out two small flashlights. “The pink one is yours, keep it with you at all times. You never know when you’re cloaked in the shadows. If you’re in a room without a window, arm yourself with the flashlight. The
Dark Ones
can crash the rooms light and steal the light from you. For some reason, they can’t steal L E D lights. Your flashlight is L E D, the light it slightly blue, but it works and that’s really all that matters.”

“If our body absorbs the light, aren’t we sabotaging ourselves?” I picked up a small rock and started carving my name in the boulder. “I mean, well, if the dark has the
Dark Ones
why would our light sucking happen?”

“I don’t know. I just know that it does happen. Since your dad has been gone don’t you feel better out in the sunshine? I know you sleep with a light on, we all do. I bet you threw a holy hell fit until your parents agreed to let you have one too. That’s because we need the light.”

I close my eyes and lean my head back, feeling the sunshine on my face. I’d never noticed before how good the sunshine on my skin felt. It made me feel safe.
Psychosomatic I’m sure. Now that he’s told me I feed on light, I’m going to be all hypersensitive to it. Grrrr

“You talk to yourself a lot,” Caleb said with a big smile.

Cow-dung! Nothing will be a secret now.
“That is really unfair, you can hear my thoughts and yours are a big secret.”

“If you knew what I am thinking right now, you might get up and run away. So, I’m glad you don’t know,” he leaned forward putting his hands on his knees.

I scoot closer to him and put my arm around his back.
The feeling, oh that feeling it slipped me into warmth.
“Caleb,” I whisper, “what are you thinking?”

He turned to face me, his big brown eyes heavily hooded, he put one hand on my face and we both shuddered at the same time. “I want to kiss you, I want to feel what it’s like to have your lips on mine,” he whispers back to me.

I let out the breath I’d been holding.
Is he serious?
Caleb, this gorgeous guy wants to kiss me. I want him to, what if I do it wrong? I’ve never kissed someone before; do I smash my face to his? What if I make too much spit and it’s sloppy? What if I don’t know how?

“Jessie? May I?”

I shake my head yes.

He leaned all the way in, and I lean forward to him and our lips met. Soft and warm, sweet, with a taste of peppermint. His hand is still on my face and that warmth has taken over my soul. Two people kissing for the first time. My tummy tingled, my lips almost burn at his touch and it was then, I hear him. I heard him inside my head, or inside his, I don’t know, but I heard him. He was thinking about how soft my lips felt, and how tongues grossed him out…but not now. He thought about my hair and how pretty my blonde hair looked draped across my tan shoulders. He thought about this moment was the best first kiss ever. His first kiss. I pulled back away from him. I look at his face and can see his admiration of me.
Damn, that was great!

“This was your first kiss too?” I asked. “I heard you, at least I think I did.” I scoot closer to him on the boulder, as close as I can without touching him.

“I pray that is all you heard from me,” he admitted.

“I’ll never tell,” I tease. “What happens now? I mean, you talked about your mom and how she died. What does that do?”

“We think that having two parents somehow protects us. We also think, or
actually
know that we inherited the gene from our paternal side,” Caleb said.

I look at him incredulously, I leaned back and crossed my arms. “
We
? Who is we?”

“After we find out what we are, we seem to have the ability to spot other SLIders without a problem. I met a girl at school, Amber, she is one too. She actually found a grimoire of sorts. The book has a lot of information about keeping your light. It is believed that each family has one that is handed down. I told my dad about it and he already knew. He says he saw a book with our surname on it but he doesn’t know what happened to it. Your grandma knows too.”

Isn’t this turning out to be the oddest first date? I have my first kiss, find out I’m some type of light snatcher…crazed dark things are out to get me, and did I happen to remember that Caleb is hot?

“What does it all mean though? Who are the
Dark
? Does the book tell you how to stop them?” I ask.

Caleb stood up and offered me his hand and helps me up. “When I hold your hand, it makes me feel…I don’t know. Less empty I guess. The
Dark Ones
aren’t kids. We think they are former
Light Tamers
that either never found their mate or had their lights stolen. Dad and I think they have a leader, we’re not sure though.”

“What is a mate?” I ask as I bend over to pick up a shell.

“Well, you and I are mates. It is when two
Light Tamers
are bound together by an event. When you drowned, that bound us together. When my mom died, it killed off the protection that my parents gave me, making me weak. Dad does his best to protect me, but seriously he can’t be with me all of the time. We’ve realized that at the school, there are teachers that are protectors of some sort. There are several
Light Tamers
at the school, but not all know it. The young ones don’t seem to know, and some of the other kids don’t either. It is confusing to keep it all straight in the beginning. Stick with me kid, I’ll keep you in the know,” Caleb said.

“How do the
Dark Ones
steal light from us? Do they only take the light from the room?” I rinsed off the shell in the water, only to discover it is cracked. I throw it back out to sea.