Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) (23 page)

“It is, and we are in the town center.” I felt a slight touch on my shoulder.

The touch brought about a burning sensation in my chest which radiated up into my cheeks and ears. It was a blush someone on the moon would have been able to see. My reaction was immediate and I couldn’t control it.

“But we aren’t in our Nemele, we’re in this dimension’s Nemele,” the voice finished. I turned now to see who I was talking to.

When I did, I was astounded by what I saw. It looked like a cloud had come into the maze and been shaped into the form of a man. There was light coming from somewhere, either behind or from within it. From the way he was illuminated, it reminded me of the way dawn looks when the sun’s trying to break through clouds on a foggy day. I was face to chest with him when I turned. I had to shade my eyes as I looked up. When I did, I was overwhelmed by the intense feelings that welled up inside me. More powerful than the light coming from the man were the piercing blue eyes in his face. My heart felt like it had stopped and my entire body seemed to tingle with giddy adoration.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I think you already know the answer,” he replied.

“I think I know who you are, but I really can’t be sure. I can’t see you, you’re so bright.” Not the best first impression on my part.

“I figured it would be best if we met before everyone else came into the picture. I’m Vincent.” As he spoke, his glow began to diminish.

“Why are you glowing?” I asked.

“We are where those who’ve had their Awakenings enter our Universe. We’re at one of the many Bulwarks in this dimension which allow us to enter our own. However, when we enter it we have to be in our pure state. Everyone’s state is different, unique, to who they are and what gifts they have.”

“Why are you here? Why am I here?”

“I’m supposed to be your guide. I’ve been waiting years to help guide you into Nemele. But from what I’ve been led to believe, you haven’t experienced your Awakening yet.”

“No, I haven’t. So again, why am I here?”

“It’s your dream, Jacey. You choose the venue. I’m quite surprised we’re here. I didn’t know those who hadn’t experienced an Awakening could even find this place. We usually direct them to places like this one. I wanted you to see me before school tomorrow.”

“But I can’t see you. I see your brightness and your cloud form, but not the real you—you know what I mean.” I kept my eyes shaded, but glued to his piercing blue ones.

“You’ve already seen me. You just haven’t seen this dimension’s version of me.”

“Where have I seen you? I haven’t seen you before—” I didn’t finish my sentence. I knew he was right, I had seen him before. I’d seen him a number of times before tonight, in my dreams.

“You have.”

He gently brushed my hair back behind my ear. When he touched me, it felt like an electric bolt went  right through my entire body.
It was a pleasant bolt, not a life-threatening barbeque you where you stand bolt
. I tried to hide the excitement his touch brought. I was able to camouflage the thrill I felt, but there was no way I could control the redness which snuck up into my ears. They always gave me away. His hand lingered behind my ear for a second.

“See you soon,” he said, floating up into the midnight sky.

With a jolt, I was awake and sitting up in bed. Automatically, I reached up to my ear. I could still feel the heat coming from it. Damn—I didn’t get to see him. He vanished before I could make out what he looked like. I turned to my nightstand and saw that it was six-thirty a.m. I flopped back down on my bed, knowing I wouldn’t be getting anymore sleep. I needed to get up and get ready for the day. I tip-toed to the washroom to have a shower and get ready. Once finished, I headed back to my room and faced the daunting task of picking out yet another first day outfit.

While looking around for the right escape outfit, I decided whatever I was going to wear needed to be comfortable and durable. I was prepping in case I had any more unwanted visitors.

As I was wallowing in my own case of first day blahs, a sudden thought lifted my shroud of self doubt and weariness. Today I would get to see magic. Today I would get to see where Mom and Dad really came from and what type of magic I could do.

I had to admit, that lit a flicker of interest in going ahead today with somewhat of a glass is half full mentality. I went over to my closet and grabbed my black Aero Capris and beige short-sleeved Hollister hoodie, this would do. It was the perfect get-away outfit. I twisted my hair and pinned it up with hair clips. My hair was my Achilles’ heel. I never knew what to do with it, so the easiest thing was to pin it up or pony tail it. It’s thick and very curly—really a pain when you wished it was straight and more Megan Fox-like than Larry, Curly and Moe-like.

“Jacey, are you ready?” Aunt Grace called up from the kitchen.

I was about to answer when a lump caught in my throat.
Am I ready?
I honestly didn’t know. But time had run out and I would have to deal with whatever came my way.

I took a deep breath and steadied myself. “Yeah, I’ll be right down.”

I took one more glance at my mural, and for a brief second, I wished I could climb into it and hide. Just for today. Jen interrupted my thoughts with a knock on my door.

“Mind if I come in?” she asked.

“Of course not.”

“You ready?”

“That all depends on what your definition of
ready
is.”

I walked over to the window and stared outside.

“Are they going to be with us the entire day?” I asked, inquiring about the Sentry. I could still feel them outside. Not one of them had moved an inch from their posts.

“Yeah, they’re going to stick around until we can figure out what we’re supposed to do.”

“What are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to go to school and act like everything is normal? I mean it’s not like I’m gonna yell from the highest tree tops to anyone who’ll listen, ‘Hey there—guess what—I’m magic!’” I was slightly irritated. I wasn’t too happy that none of us had been contacted about what was supposed to happen today.

“I think Grace will know what’s going on today. I’m sure she and Eve have been in contact,” Jen said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

“Hudson and I will be there with you today. You won’t be alone.”

It was now or never.

“Like swimming.” I mumbled under my breath.

“What?” Jen asked.

“Nothing. We better get downstairs and see if Aunt Grace has spoken to Eve yet.” We both left my room in silence.

My mind was racing as we descended into the kitchen. I’d noticed neither Mom nor Dad had been around since last night. I found that strange. I figured since today was
the big day
, Mom or Dad would want to be around.

Aunt Grace and Hudson were sitting at the kitchenette. Their conversation ended abruptly when they saw us. I could tell from Hudson’s face, whatever conversation we’d interrupted, it hadn’t been a happy one.

“Everything good?” I asked, staring at my two now very silent family members.

“Yeah, everything’s great,” Hudson said sarcastically, taking a bite out of his breakfast. I think he did it more to shut himself up than because he was hungry.

“You guys hungry?” Aunt Grace asked in an attempt to deflect what was going on.

I smelled Aunt Grace’s homemade blueberry muffins. I didn’t think it would be the best of ideas to eat with the way my stomach was feeling, but blueberry muffins, especially Aunt Grace’s, were my absolute favorite. I grabbed one and sat down beside Hudson.

“Yum. Thanks, Aunt Grace,” I said, picking my way through my muffin.

Jen grabbed some food and sat beside Aunt Grace.

“What did we interrupt when we came in?” I asked.

Hudson looked at Aunt Grace and raised his eyebrows. It looked as though he was saying ‘Told you so.’ The kitchen remained silent. I looked over at Jen and she shrugged her shoulders. She had the same inquisitive look on her face, which I imagined mirrored the one I had on mine.

“Anyone remember the conversation we had about not keeping things from me anymore? I definitely remember it,” I said, popping a piece of muffin in my mouth.

“Today’s suppose to be
the
big
day, so why are we still keeping things from one another?” I asked. I was trying to look all nonchalant, but I wasn’t feeling that way.

After a few more uncomfortable moments of silence, Hudson finally spoke up.

“Aunt Grace hasn’t heard from Eve yet. She’s worried about how everything’s supposed to go down today.” He got up from his seat, went over to the sink, and stared out the window. I looked over to Aunt Grace, trying to read her reaction.

“When were you supposed to hear from her?” I asked.

“I thought she was going to call last night. When I didn’t hear from her, I figured she would call this—” before she finished, the phone rang. She shot out of her chair and grabbed the phone off of the kitchen counter. Hudson turned his attention away from the backyard and leaned back onto the counter, watching Aunt Grace with his arms crossed across his chest.

“Hello.” There was a pause. “Eve, hi.” You could hear the tension slightly relax in Aunt Grace’s voice.

“I’ve-we’ve been waiting to hear from you…I know. I understand. What are the plans for today?” There was another slight pause in the conversation.

“Yeah, all three of them are here and ready to go. I’ll stop in on my way to St. Nemele.”

She hung up the phone and came back to the table. As she was about to reveal the arrangements, everything stopped. A rush of red and blue came swirling in through the kitchen and settled around me—Mom. Instantly, I was in my Mom and me zone.

“Mom. Great timing. I didn’t think you were going to show,” I said as she materialized, transparent before my eyes.

“You really didn’t think I’d miss today, did you?” she said. “I was a little worried about showing up this morning because of what happened last night, but I figured because we now know it can happen, it makes us better prepared to control it. I know you’re strong enough to resist the urge, right?” Mom said now looking a little worried.

“Mom, I won’t try again. I know it would put everyone in danger. Maybe today I’ll be shown how to control it. Today I should be getting at least a little more info on how to handle all of this.” I brought my hands up and inspected both sides of them like they were some new part of my body.

“You’ll see what you
need
to see today, Jacey. Remember, you aren’t going to learn how to manage all of this in one day…it takes years to understand everything that we are and everything we belong to,” Mom said.

I brought my hands down and shoved them into the front pocket of my hoodie.

“Where’s Dad?” I asked.

“He’s out and about making sure you’re first day is worry-free. Well, as worry-free as we can make it.”

“I’m super nervous. I hope I don’t mess things up,” I murmured.

“Why would you think that? Jacey, you’re not going to mess anything up. You’re going to be brilliant today. The gifts you have and those which haven’t come forward yet are amazing, and because they come from you, there’s absolutely no question they’re meant for good. Your powers are nothing to be fearful of.” A very inappropriate chuckle came from me, making Mom stop.

“What are you laughing at, Jacey? I thought you said you were worried. Now I’m confused.”

“I think it’s funny everyone thinks magic is what’s got me all nervous and anxious.”

“If it’s not the magic or your heritage, then what is it?”

There wasn’t enough time to get into my real issues, so I did what I do best—I avoided and made it sound like there was nothing pressing I needed to get off my chest.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with my heritage. Maybe after class tonight we can talk?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it now?” she asked.

“Positive. Right before you showed up, Aunt Grace was about to tell us what the Elders decided to do. I thought maybe you’d know, considering you and Dad can sit in on things without people knowing you’re there.”

“We would never do that to anyone, Jacey, especially not the Elders,” Mom said.

“I figured since Eve’s able to tune in to you and Dad, she would have told you guys when she found out what was going on. Really, Mom, that’s all I meant.”

“Eve hasn’t told us anything, but I’m sure she has her reasons for not bringing us into the loop. Anyway, this isn’t up for discussion. I want you to enjoy yourself and know your Dad and I are always only a thought away.” .

“I love you, Jacey.” She flashed by my cheek and gave me something compared to butterfly kisses.

I returned to the kitchen and waited to hear what Aunt Grace had to say.

“Hudson, you and Jen are going to take—what just happened?” she asked, looking at me.

“Mom made an appearance,” I said.

“What did she say?” All three asked simultaneously.

“Not much. She only wanted to wish me luck for today. What did Eve say?” I questioned. I was very curious what had everyone on edge.

“As I was saying, Hudson and Jen are going to take you to school today and Vincent is going to meet you there. Hudson?” Aunt Grace said, looking at him as she came and sat beside me.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Can you handle all of this?” she asked, looking concerned.

“Of course,” he replied. “For the protection of all, yeah right,” he mumbled, appearing quite frustrated and not making eye contact with anyone in the room. He grabbed his backpack. “Come on, let’s get going.”

As we exited, Jen grabbed her bag, I grabbed mine, and Aunt Grace went empty-handed. We walked down the drive and onto Main Street in a communal silence.

“So, do we just go to school and act normal? I don’t get it. What’s the big plan? Did Eve say anything? Are the Sentry coming with us?” I asked to anyone who would answer. I was starting to become a little unnerved knowing today was going ahead whether I wanted it to or not.

“You’ll see,” Jen replied, placing her hand on my arm and giving it a light, reassuring squeeze. She let go and walked beside Hudson, holding his hand. Like that was an answer at all.

Aunt Grace shuffled up beside me. She put her arm through mine and slowed my pace a little. “You know how much you’re loved, right?” she asked.

“Of course I do.”

“Our original plans for today have changed a little. They needed to because we wanted to make sure you’re safe.”

“Okayyy.” Instead of asking a million questions I knew wouldn’t be answered, I decided to go with the flow. How the day was going to progress and how I wanted it to were going to be two very different things.