Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) (2 page)

Chapter Two

Decisions,
Choices made,
No time to reconsider.
A knock…

“J
acey, time to get up! Hurry up downstairs for breakfast—you’re going to be late,” Mom called out. I slunk out of bed, fully aware of my dilemma—how was I going to handle today? I grabbed my pink housecoat, which was covered with ridiculous looking monkeys but was warm and comfortable. It reminded me of Aunt Grace, who had given it to me last Christmas. I made my way to the washroom.

Standing at the mirror, I stared into it, scrutinizing myself and thinking about how I was going to handle my nightmare. Even though it was one of the worst I’d ever experienced, telling Mom and Dad about it was irrelevant, because I knew we were going to be moving soon…whether I liked it or not. The Adisons in one place for more than a year—completely unheard of!

I made up my mind. I was going to give Mom and Dad a heads up about it. I just wasn’t going to tell them every detail. I showered and brushed my teeth. I wrapped myself in a towel, put my long black hair up into a ponytail, and put a little bit of makeup under my eyes to cover my ever-present black circles. I dressed in my favorite baggy jeans and green tee shirt, then made my way to the kitchen.

Mom, Dad, and Hudson were already at the breakfast table.

“Decided to get up, did ya?” Hudson asked.

“Why, did you miss me?” I replied smartly. Mom and Dad looked at one another and laughed.

“You need breakfast before you start your day, Jacey,” Mom said, giving me a glass of juice and a muffin. She went back to her chair, gently squeezing Dad’s shoulder as she passed him.

“A mind won’t work without fuel,” Dad replied, returning Mom’s squeeze.

“My mind works all the time…not like some of us.” I answered, mindful of my stomach growling loud enough for everyone to hear. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Hudson making a gagging motion. Before I could come back at him with a smart remark, Mom asked me about my night.

“How’d you sleep, Jacey?”

“I had another dream last night...” I offered, buttering a piece of muffin.

Mom asked carefully, “What about, Jace?”

“It was about you and Dad.” The second the words left my lips, everyone at the table stopped and stared at me.

“Relax, guys. It was about Mom and Dad being all over one another, as usual,” I said nervously. “The only new thing was a tire swing hanging from an old oak tree behind them.” I stumbled, adding, “And then, I dreamt about passing my algebra test today, so I didn’t have to see Mom and Dad making out yet again.”

“I can relate,” Hudson said, hitting me on the shoulder gently.

“Wait ‘til you’re our age. When you find that special someone you truly love, and they choose you back, it’s like a fairy tale. I’ve always thought of us as an enchanted family, blessed and lucky to be together,” Mom said, then she kissed Dad. Hudson and I looked at one another and simultaneously put our fingers to our mouths, pretending to gag.

“All right, all right, it’s time for you two to get going,” Mom said.

Hudson and I grabbed our bags and went to the front door.

“Love you Mom and Dad,” I called as we walked out.

“Ditto,” Hudson said.

On the way to school, I decided to talk to Hudson about living here and how he felt about it.

“Hudson—”

“Yeah?”

“Are you happy here?”

“Yeah.” Typical Hudson response—one word.

“Hudson, are you and Carrie seeing one another?”

“What?”

“You heard me. Don’t avoid.”

“Why in the world would you think that?”

“Because…you haven’t been around a lot and I think it’s because you’re really into her.” I blushed with embarrassment.

“Ah, no, Jace. Carrie’s a friend. That’s it.”

“Then where are you disappearing to when you’re not at home?”

“I’m out with the guys. What’s with the hundred and one questions?” Hudson shot back, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and waiting for an answer.

“Do you tell Mom and Dad everything about yourself?” I asked.

“No…not everything, why?”

“Well, how do you know what to tell them about and what not to?”

“I tell Mom and Dad everything that affects all of our lives and I keep the stuff which only affects me to myself. Why?”

“I thought you and Carrie were together, and with us having lived here for almost a year, Mom and Dad would settle in like us. No problems, no worries, no moving again,” I said with a frown.

“Jacey, don’t you get it? Mom, Dad, and I are always thinking of ‘us’—as a family. When we move, it isn’t because we want to, it’s because we need to, so we can all stay together. Think about it, Mom can work anywhere with her get green initiatives, and Dad can tag along anywhere in the world Mom wants to be…minerals are minerals wherever you are. All of us are here for one reason only…because we’re supposed to be. Get it?”

“Yeah, I guess.” But I really didn’t. I was confused for two reasons: One, Hudson answered a question with more than a one—word answer, and two, when he said we were all where we were supposed to be, my heart suddenly fluttered.

My conscience from last night decided to choose that moment to speak up.
Hello…feeling a bit guilty are we? You need to tell Hudson your dream in full. Nothing left out.
So what did I do? I did what any other completely rational and sane sixteen-year-old would do—I ignored it. It was just a dream. What’s the worst that could happen?

Hudson’s voice brought me back to the sidewalk. “Jacey, what aren’t you telling me?” He grabbed onto my arm.

“Nothing, we’re going to be late,” I snapped, pulling my arm away.

We walked on without a word between the two of us until we got to school.

“Hey—you know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

“Yeah, I know.” I paused for a second, taking on the full intensity of his gaze. I turned away before I burst into flames. Okay, a little dramatic, but it was the exact thought that popped into my head the minute his stare seared through me.

I moved away, calling back over my shoulder. “See you at home tonight. I’m gonna be late.”

“Yeah, see ya,” Hudson said, standing there staring at me inquisitively. He knew something was up. I walked into my first period Chemistry class with my head down, completely oblivious to anyone else in the room. I moved to the back, where I shared a lab table with Jen. I had just got my butt into my seat when her voice and a light tap on my arm got my attention.

“Helloooo, Jacey, anyone there?” Jen asked.

“Sorry, Jen, I was—”

“Hey, you’re in a different zone, I get it. Are we still on for Starbucks at lunch, though?”

“I got to find Hudson and talk to him after class. I didn’t tell him something this morning and now I think maybe I should. But, I’ll be back by lunch—so ya, we’re still on.”

“Do you want help finding him?” Jen offered.

“This is something I need to talk to him about alone. I’ll meet up with you after…”

“No worries, I‘ll wait for you in the front after first bell.”

When I realized I had to spill everything to Hudson, my stomach started somersaulting from an upsurge of instant anxiety. It made the lone muffin I’d consumed for breakfast feel like it was sitting at the base of my stomach, ready to make a not-so-nice re-appearance.

Chemistry went on forever. Jen could sense my unease. She tried a number of times to draw me away from my thoughts and into a conversation, but I was pulling a Hudson, only offering one word answers. At the end of class, I was up and out of my seat. “See ya at lunch.”

I knew Hudson had a spare second period and he’d be in the cafeteria. I scanned the room quickly. He wasn’t there, but Carrie was. I went over to her.

“Have you seen Hudson?” I asked, hoping the panic in my voice wasn’t evident.

“No, is everything okay? You look kind of pale.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just need to talk to him,” I replied, taking three deep breaths to calm myself. The tension of not telling my family everything this morning was having a sickening effect on me.

“There he is.” She nodded toward the main doors as Hudson came into view.

He made his way over to the table and looked at me. “What’s up?” He knew it was odd for me to come and see him during spare. I had a second period class, which he knew I was skipping right now.

“Hudson, I need to talk to you.” I waited. He didn’t say anything. “In private.”

“Okay, Jace, where to?”

I grabbed him by the shirt sleeve and led him to the back doors of the cafeteria. Outside, I turned to him. The confusion on his face was more than I could handle, making me wish I’d listened to my inner voice earlier.

“Remember this morning when I told you about my dream?”

“Yeah…”

I paused and felt stupid for making a big deal about leaving out the blackness part.

“Jacey, you’re freaking me out. What else did you see?”

“I was honest about the field and Mom and Dad being all over one another.” My head was swirling and I felt like I was going to puke. “But what I kinda left out was a wall of…blackness. It completely blurred out Mom and Dad until I couldn’t see them anymore. They started screaming for one another and I tried to follow, but I couldn’t keep up and lost them.”

“Was there anything else?” he demanded.

There was. But I didn’t want to tell him about the blue eyes I’d seen. There were no ominous feelings when they appeared and I’d been dreaming about them for some time now. “No,” I snapped back.

Hudson stood motionless. His silence made me feel uneasy.

“Hudson, what’s wrong?”

“We need to go home. I forgot my third-period trig books.”

“Give me a minute. I’ve got to go tell Jen I can’t meet her for lunch.”

“Jen can wait.” He left no room for argument.

The walk home was quick and silent. When we got to our driveway, neither of our parents’ cars were there.

In the house, Hudson called, “Mom, Dad, you guys here? Mom…? Dad…?”

“Hudson, they’re at work. Didn’t you notice their cars weren’t here?”

“Yeah, but Mom said she and Dad had planned on being home ’til twelve today. I have to get my books. Back in a sec.” He went to his bedroom and was back in a minute.

“You couldn’t find them?” I asked

“I think they’re downstairs.” He left and came back, empty-handed again.

We went into the kitchen and he grabbed the phone. “I’ll try them at work and on their cells.” He called both of their work numbers. Neither one had been in today. He tried Mom’s cell phone. “Mom—hey, it’s me. Did you happen to see my trig books anywhere?”

I couldn’t believe the relief I felt when Hudson got a hold of her. He took the phone and started to move away from the kitchen. I wasn’t sure if he was doing it because he was pacing or if he was trying to get out of earshot, but before he got out of the room, I overheard him say, “Blackness…”

Blackness? Blackness! Why did Hudson choose that word to emphasize?

“Is Dad with you?” Hudson asked, returning to the kitchen.

“Okay, we’ll get everything ready and wait for the two of you here.” He handed me the phone.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Jacey, we’re going on a road trip. Dad and I were going to surprise you guys this morning with it, but we were running late. As luck would have it, you’re home, and Dad just called the school and told them you won’t be returning. We’ll pick you up at home in about an hour.”

“Mom, does this have anything to do with my dream last night?”

“Jacey, this is something Dad and I’d planned nearly a month ago. We forgot to tell you about it.”

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, Jace.” The line went dead. I looked over to Hudson.

“Time to move, Jace.” He ran upstairs calling out, “Don’t just stand there, Jacey, move! Start packing!”

I stood in the middle of the kitchen, numb and frightened. Move! Where to this time? It was happening again. Whether I wanted it to or not, we were leaving…again.

I went on autopilot, packing up, leaving behind what wasn’t deemed important, and fleeing yet again.

Two hours later, the robe Aunt Grace had given me was stuffed into my suitcase, everything else was stacked by the door. Hudson and I stared at one another, silently waiting. Time seemed to be the enemy today, passing slowly for the second time. Hudson, normally the calming beacon in any room, was getting fidgety. I swear he pretty much wore a hole in the living-room rug. At two o’clock we both jumped when there was a knock on our front door.

Chapter Three

Revelations,
From the enchanted family
To Hansel and Gretel in a flash.

H
udson moved first and opened the door before the person on the other side could finish knocking. Standing on the front stoop were two policemen. One was taller than the other with dark, cropped hair. The shorter one had brown hair and was standing slightly behind his partner, not making eye contact with either Hudson or myself. The taller one spoke first.

“I’m Constable Grant. Is this the Adison residence?” he asked.

“What’s wrong?” Hudson asked.

“Can—” The buzz in my mind drowned out whatever the officer said next. It seemed like someone turned on the radio and it was stuck between stations. My ears were filled with a loud, unchanging static. Hudson was all I saw. The look on his face mirrored the emotions which had overtaken my mind.

Both officers entered the house. I automatically followed them into the living room. Neither of us even dared to breathe. We knew having two policemen show up was not in Mom and Dad’s plan. Something was horribly wrong.