Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) (25 page)

“How was it different for you?” I asked, trying to sound as calm, cool, and collected as I could.

“I can’t even begin to explain it. Going through like this was never an option before—Well, before you. The colors and textures were more brilliant than I’ve ever experienced.” He smiled at me while giving me the same look Aunt Grace and Mom had—awestruck.

I blushed. I found myself feeling a little smug until we were almost trampled by a couple of kids running past us from the center chamber.

“We’d better go. Not only are we going to be late for school, but I’m pretty sure it’s taking the entire Sentry to hold Hudson back from running in here,” Vincent said as we picked up our pace. Once the exit was in sight, I stopped just short of it. Vincent stopped and looked at me, concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m a little worried about
what’s next
,” I admitted.

“You’re going to do great. If today goes anything like what we went through entering here, you’re going to be surprising a whole bunch of people today.”

“That’s just it. I don’t want to be the center of attention or the center of anything, really. I was hoping to just kind of skate by today. You know, not make any waves. Imitate a wallflower. Learn about magic, see where my parents grew up and where they went to school.” I smiled, feeling extremely exposed and ready to kick myself for opening up.

“I can’t tell you how others are going to react to you or how you’re going to fit in. What I can tell you is you don’t have to face it alone. Jen, Hudson, and I are going to be here for you. I promise, if everything gets to be too much—not the magic thing, of course,” he said with a smirk, “but the center of attention thing, I’ll help you escape.” He gave my arm a gentle squeeze.

I knew he’d do it. I knew he’d be there for me through this—through everything. In those two simple statements, he’d smothered my raging wildfires of worry with a blanket of calm. Of course they still lingered in the back of my mind, but now they were only tiny burning embers.

“How did you do that?” I asked.

“Do what?”

“Make everything seem like it’s going to be all right.”

“Easy—I’m a positive thinker.” He smiled.

I laughed, surprising not only him, but myself. I knew he was putting up a brave front for me. There was no way he could be as calm as he was putting on.

“Thanks,” I said as we headed out of the maze.

I may have been unsure about the how and what of things today, but the one thing I was sure of, we were still holding hands. That tiny gesture reassured me everything was right in my world.

As we approached the exit, I saw Hudson and Jen pacing outside the maze. Once we came into view, they ran over to us.

“You did it. I knew you could,” Hudson said, grabbing me up into a bear hug and swinging me around. He didn’t put me down until Jen came over and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Told you so,” she said, giving me a hug of her own.

They both stood back when Vincent came up beside me. “It went a lot faster than I expected,” he said. “Are you ready for your official first day?”

I looked around to see where we were. “Are we still in Nevaeh?”

“We are and we aren’t,” Vincent said.

We walked away from the maze as others filed out. It was fascinating how all of them appeared in different forms within the maze, yet as soon as they walked out, each of them turned into their corporeal selves. It was now my turn to stand there and look awe-stricken.

“This is one of the main Bulwarks which bring Nemelites to Nevaeh—in the dimension of Nemele. There are several more entrances, this one is mostly used by people who live near Nevaeh in Earth’s realm,” Jen said.

While I was gawking at everyone around me, I noticed they were also taking me in. I was used to the occasional long glance from people, considering I’d been the new kid in more cities and towns than I could count over the last sixteen years. However, the way some of them were looking at me gave me the heebie-jeebies. Vincent sensed my unease and interrupted my thoughts.

“We better get going. I don’t want to be blamed for you being late on your first day.”

We all headed toward the high school.

It was the most amazing walk ever. The Nevaeh in this dimension initially looked like the one we’d come from, at first glance, anyway. Once I took in my surroundings, it was blatantly obvious I wasn’t in the same Nevaeh I’d woken up in this morning.

The sky was a hue of purple-red I’d never seen before. It’s colors were like looking into a rainbow and seeing only the green, blue and violet parts. As I took in the beauty of the sky, the sun captured my attention—well, more like the
suns
. There were three in total, red, orange, and yellow. They covered the sky in a triangle pattern, like a prism.

I peeled my gaze away from the sky and took in the rest of my surroundings. I first looked at the maze. It initially looked as though it was made up of the same bushes as the maze we entered to get here, but the flowers adorning the outer walls were enormous. They looked like they’d taken some kind of growth enhancement drug—flowers
on steroids.
Not only were they huge, they were perfect. They looked too perfect to be real, like the silk flowers you see in florist shops. I couldn’t resist. I reached out and touched a huge purple lily. It was velvety, smooth, and cool to the touch. Completely real—amazing.

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. The sweetest smell of vanilla and lavender filled my senses from head to toe.

The scent put me at ease immediately. Lavender and vanilla happened to be my two most favorite smells in the whole world.

I moved away from the lily and took a closer look at the branches of the structure. They were a deep color of brown, bordering on black, and were as thick as my arms. The leaves adjourning each branch overlapped one another creating intricate crisscrossed patterns. They looked like a giant jig-saw puzzle.

“Does it always smell this way?” I asked.

“What do you smell?” Vincent asked in response.

“I smell lavender and vanilla.”

“The maze and its vegetation smell differently to everyone who enters Nemele.”

“What do you smell?” I asked.

“Cinnamon and saffron,” Vincent responded.

“Why does everyone smell different aromas?”

“All Bulwarks know what scents each of us associate to specific emotions. If you smell an aroma you associate with comfort, the Bulwark secretes those scents as a form of invitation and reassurance. We have to get going,” Vincent said, taking my elbow in his hand and directing me around the side of the maze to the town center.

“There’s a lot more things we have to show you. We’ll have some time later, but if we’re late getting to St. Nemele, Headmaster Herecerti won’t be impressed.”

Vincent left no room for asking him any kind of questions about this Herecerti person. I knew what a Headmaster was in Earth’s realm, but here, my imagination was in overdrive. What type of being would be chosen to guide a school full of magical beings? I would find out soon, so for now I chose to take in everything around me.

Each of the structures within this realm mirrored the ones I knew. Even the roads and signs were in the same place. However, everything here seemed to be more remarkable than the duller mortar and brick versions back home. One of the shops stood out to me more than the others. The names of some of them weren’t the same, and this one in particular caught my attention.

“What’s Essence?” I asked.

“It’s a supply shop. We’re all going to stop in after we see what the Elders have planned for today. It’s the place we all go to for books and things we need for classes,” Jen said.

“So, I don’t need anything right now?” I asked.

“No, not right now. We’ll figure out what we need when we speak to Headmaster Herecerti and see what the Elders have put into place for you,” Hudson said.

I could feel the calm blanket Vincent had given me earlier start to slip slightly. The conversation I’d avoided earlier about the Headmaster guy was now starting to come to the surface. Before I formulated any kind of question Vincent spoke up.

“Don’t forget you guys are starting mid-semester. Everyone else has what they need for now. Once we find out which classes you need to take, we can come back here and get it later,” Vincent said, looking directly at me as though no one else were around—replacing the imaginary blanket ever so slightly.

I turned and stared at the tiny shop as we passed it and found it reminded me of one of the buildings Hudson, my parents, and I saw when we were on one of Mom’s vacations, which would happen whenever Mom and Dad decided it was time for us to pick up and move.

The building I remembered looked small and quaint from the outside, like this one. It was made of stone and had an arched, rounded doorless entry. Dressing either side of the entrance were high, peaked windows, which allowed you steal a look inside the shop to see some of its contents. The resemblance this shop had to the one I’d seen so many years ago stopped me in my tracks.

“Hudson, doesn’t that look like the shop we were at before we moved to Hewfawe?” I asked.

“Yeah, it does,” He said, smiling. He then looked at Vincent and Jen like they all knew something more than I did.

“Jacey, do you remember anything else from that trip?” Hudson asked.

“I remember Mom and I having a lot of girl time. I don’t remember where you and Dad were much.”

“It just so happens all of the Essence stores look the same in all of the dimensions they’re in. The time you’re remembering, well, it was right after I had my Awakening. Mom and Dad were taking me to get all of the stuff I was going to need when I went to St. Nemele,” Hudson said.

Flashes of memory from the first couple of years started to flood my thoughts. We’d lived in Hewfawe for a year and the trip I was thinking of had happened at least two years before we’d moved there. Hudson had his Awakening three years ago. He was fifteen when it happened. More memories started to come back to me and some were more prominent than others. It was like a giant jig-saw puzzle. All of a sudden some pieces which never made any sense were finally coming together.

“So, when you’d disappear in Hewfawe and I thought you were with Carrie Relovi, you were actually here, weren’t you?” I asked.

“Carrie Relovi, you mean the girl from English, the one who was always hanging off you at lunch?” Jen asked, now seeming a little more like a 16 year old girl than a 150 year old Nemelite.

“Yeah, that’s her. I told you all about her. She’s the one Jacey thought I was dating right before Mom and Dad died,” Hudson answered. There was a slight pause. “When you thought I was with her I was actually in training here.” Hudson said with a smile.

“And Mom and Dad knew,” I said more to myself than to anyone else.

“Yeah,” Hudson said.

“I still don’t get why they couldn’t tell me. It’s not like I would have told anyone about it.” I said, sounding very much like the 16 year old I was and realizing at the same time I was still pretty peeved at my parents for keeping me in the dark.

“They had to, Jacey. There are still many things you don’t know, which made it necessary for your parents to keep all this from you,” Vincent said.

“So when do I get to find out what these ‘necessary’ things were?” I asked.

“Were and
are,
Jacey. Just because we’re here now and your parents aren’t, doesn’t mean those things have gone away. They’re more dangerous now than they ever were before. When we get to St. Nemele and see Herecerti, he’ll be able to give us more information on what we need to know now and where we need to be. I’m sure the Elders have given him directions,” Vincent finished.

The unease of what was supposed to happen today brought a sudden sullenness to our group. It was broken when we passed Essence and a form flew out of the store in a rainbow of brilliant colors, chasing what looked like tiny clouds. A woman ran out behind the form calling, “Callie, come back here. We’re not ready for you to try that spell yet. You’re going to cause a hurricane in the middle of a perfectly calm day, not to mention there’s no water in sight.”

I assumed the woman was the form’s mother. The form instantly transformed into what looked like a human girl about 13 years old.

“Sorry, Mom,” the girl said, coming to an immediate halt on the sidewalk across the street from the store. The tiny clouds she’d been chasing now hovered slightly over her backpack and then disappeared inside of it.

“What would Headmaster Herecerti say if he’d seen that type of display?” her mother said, floating across the street to her daughter’s side. “There’s a time and a place for everything, Callie. Never take what you’ve been given as a gift for granted. Remember, ultimately, you’re responsible for it.” The mother scolded her, more loving than harsh, then kissed the top of her daughter’s head. They both floated down the street towards the high school.

A hand reached up and wiped my cheek ever so lightly, it was Vincent’s. I hadn’t realized it until he’d wiped it away, but a small tear had formed in the corner of my eye and was traveling down my cheek when he caught it.

“You okay?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

“I’m fine, she just reminded me of my mom. She was always saying that kind of stuff to me and Hudson—Remember who you are because ultimately you’re responsible for the actions you choose and in the end, you are also responsible for its consequences.” I said, smiling at the memory.

“I miss them, too,” Hudson said.

“I know Mom wanted more than anything to be here with you. Is she anywhere around you now?” Hudson asked.

“No, I haven’t seen her since this morning at Aunt Grace’s,” I said, looking around to see if I might have missed her somewhere. I didn’t see her or Dad, but I did see the Sentry. I thought they would’ve only been with us in the other dimension. What would they have to protect me from in this one?

“Are they going to be with us for the rest of the day?” I asked.

“Who’s they?” Jen asked.

“The Sentry. They’re everywhere. I think there’s even more now than there were this morning. I had no idea they’d be following us around here, too,” I said, looking around the town center and trying to count the number of them present. There were too many, I kept losing count.

“You can actually see them?” Jen asked while she tried following my gaze.

“Well, I can’t see them as much as I can sense them,” I said. It wasn’t until everyone went silent that I stopped looking around and noticed how astonished they looked.

“What? What are you guys looking like that for?” I asked, feeling self-conscious.

“You can actually sense them? How?” Vincent asked.

“I can feel them. It’s kind of like the feeling you get when you know someone’s behind you before you turn around to see if there’s anyone there. Once I feel it, I just, well, I look at where the feeling’s coming from and I can see their colors.”

Before any of them said another word, a flash of silver light appeared beside us. Hovering within the silver was the form of a man—he was huge. He had to be at least six foot four, which dwarfed Jen and me.

Vincent was the first to react, pulling me behind him before I could utter a sound. Jen and Hudson flew into color mode and were swirling around us creating a barrier between the man, Vincent, and I. This happened within a few milliseconds, but to me it looked like it was happening in slow motion.

As the man became more apparent, a number of other flashes of lights formed all around us. Some of them started to take shape and others stayed in their liquid color state. The silver form, which initially appeared in front of us, became solid. Following suit, all of the other flashes of light became solid as well. As they did, Vincent visibly relaxed. With his guard down, Jen and Hudson stopped their color guard and solidified on either side of me.

“Heathe, what are you doing? You’re supposed to be watching, not appearing,” Vincent asked.

I looked at the man standing in front of Vincent. I knew I’d seen him before, I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

“Did I hear right? She can sense us?” Heathe asked, looking slightly concerned.

“Yeah,” Vincent replied.

“This needs to be reported, now. We can’t wait for her to go to St. Nemele. It could endanger everyone here,” Heathe said.

“You’re not the one to make that decision. I’ll make Herecerti aware of it and he’ll decide what we’re going to do,” Vincent retorted.

Heathe didn’t look like he was too impressed. Jen and Hudson stepped closer to me. I looked around Vincent and made out some of the other flashes that appeared in different forms around us.

Some were men and women who appeared to be human. They ranged from all ages and nationalities. The others were beings I’d only read about or seen in movies back home. Holy flip! They all existed—right there in front of me. Some reminded me of Spock from
Star Trek
. They had the pointy ear thing down pat and glowed brilliant white. Others were huge Gorgades; they looked like giant sasquatches. Flying in behind all the others were Sylphs—air elements which were usually invisible, but there they hovered, crystal wings and all. The one commonality between them all—they were real.

“Heathe, we all knew some inexplicable things could happen when she crossed over. I’m sure you were given the directive to stay unseen,” Vincent said. “This,” he swept his arms out in front of him, “is definitely
not
staying unseen.”

I had been so entranced by everything going on, I hadn’t realized we’d moved quite a bit. By the time Vincent finished talking, we were standing about two hundred feet away from the entrance to St. Nemele.

Outside of the school, there were a number of beings who’d congregated into a crowd intently watching everything transpiring between the Sentry and us. We were quite the spectacle—all eyes were on us.
Great, and I thought I’d be able to get by today without being the center of anything.

While I was watching the students, I noticed the Sentries’ attention had somewhat shifted from me. They were watching the same thing as me. I guess they weren’t used to being the focal point of anyone’s attention, either. It suddenly clicked where I’d seen Heathe before. He was the nurse from the hospital when Mom and Dad died.

“I know you. You were with my parents when they died. You were there,” I said, not caring who heard me.

“I think it’s time for you to leave,” a voice said from the crowd. They parted like the Red Sea. A man stepped from the center.

He literally flew through the crowd and landed mere feet from Heathe. He was about six feet tall and had long silvery hair with streaks of blue. He didn’t stand, he hovered, which kept him at eye level with Heathe. He was dressed in white from head to toe. His pants and shirt were flowing with the air swirling around him.

What stood out most was his skin. It was the clearest color of blue I’d ever seen. His skin reminded me of the pictures you see from vacation spots boasting crystal clear blue seas.

“Herecerti,” Heathe said.

“Heathe, I do believe you’re supposed to be watching from afar,” Herecerti declared. His voice was calm and flowed as the air around him flowed, steady and continuous.

“Yes, but there’s been a development, and I believed it necessary for us to appear,” Heathe countered.

“I’m well aware of it and so are the Elders. We’ve been watching through the visionaries just as you have since the entrance at the main Bulwark. I do believe it would be in the best interest of all if you and your guard were to continue your observations—but from the same vantage points agreed upon yesterday,” Herecerti replied. “And I do believe it’s time for everyone to be getting into class, where they belong.” Without hesitation the crowd turned from us and moved in unison to the oversized front doors of the school.

I watched as some of the students disappeared within the entrance. While I was watching, one of the students who hadn’t moved with Herecerti’s direction caught my attention. It was a girl who looked to be about 17 years old. She had long red flowing hair and pearl white skin. I noticed she looked extremely annoyed. Maybe she wasn’t too impressed at being ordered to return to school. That was my assumption at first glance. Once I made eye contact with her, I realized it wasn’t returning to class that was bugging her.

Her emerald green eyes settled on me in a stare that caused my heart rate to accelerate. Her eyes glowed. Literally. It was then I realized she wasn’t annoyed at Herecerti, she was irritated with me. She looked right at me with such contempt, I took a step back.

My dumbfounded look may have been what caused her to look away, or it could have been the friends with her who urged her to get moving. Either way, I made a mental note to find out who she was, so I could make sure to steer clear of her. I watched as she and her friends made their way into the school and wondered if anyone else had noticed the visual exchange. Herecerti’s voice drew my attention back to Heathe and the Guard.

“Now, I do believe we have yet to meet Jacey,” he said, floating toward me. He acknowledged Heathe with a nod and then turned his full attention on me. Heathe said nothing, he and the Guard dispersed in a flash of light.

Herecerti halted in front of Vincent and waited for me to present myself. I hadn’t come around from behind him since the encounter with Heathe. As he waited to see my reaction, Vincent shifted to the side, leaving me out in the open. Hudson and Jen followed suit and moved from my sides to stand together behind me.

I was now face to face with the Headmaster of St. Nemele. From my previous vantage point I believed I’d have been more like face to belly button with him. However, now he was hovering only inches from the ground. It made him much more approachable at almost eye level. Once I took a good look at him, I realized who, or what he was. A huge smile spread across my face, and without thinking I said, “You’re a Hyperborean, aren’t you?”

“I am impressed, Jacey. Not many out of this realm, or the one in which you’ve grown up in, know of us. What is it that you know about my kind?” he questioned, looking genuinely interested.

“I don’t know how accurate the books I’ve read are, but I learned about your kind through Greek mythology.” I waited for his response, there was none. “I read in your world the sun never sets and the air is made of feathers. The story went on to say your kind are noble, kind, and gentle. That you try and avoid contact with humans because we’re totally unpredictable and known throughout mythology as the cause of more harm than good.” I stopped again, looking to see if Herecerti had anything to say. Vincent, Jen, and Hudson were all looking at me like I’d lost my mind. If I hadn’t been looking at Herecerti, I would have missed it. He smiled, nodded, then took on a very calm, indifferent face.

“I’m impressed, Jacey. You’re right in who I am. In some of the details, there are some mistakes, but all can be rectified in time. As you will find out, many of your folklores, myths, legends, and fairy tales are, in fact, a part of Nemele. It’s where some, but not all, choose to live. It’s from them and their adventures outside of Nemele all of your stories originate.” He gestured toward the school. “It’s now time we enter St. Nemele. Are you ready?” Herecerti asked.

“Absolutely,” I answered, more enthusiastically than I meant to.

As we turned to enter the school, a shadow in a window on the second floor caught my eye. I looked up in time to see a figure with red hair move back into the shadows.
Great. Any kind of enthusiasm I’d had before was slightly tainted.
The first day and I’ve already got someone to worry about besides myself. A redhead, with a definite dislike for the new girl. I guess it didn’t really matter where you went, or what dimension you were in, Hyperborean for a headmaster or not. High school was high school.

Chapter Seventeen

No, you’re not dreaming…
If you were—
You’d have had your Awakening -
You’d have known of all of this…
But oh yeah…
You’d have missed all the
fun.

E
very school I’d ever attended always took on the appearance of being institutional. From each one I’d had the pleasure of being a part of, not one compared, even in the tiniest of details, to St. Nemele.

From the first time I saw the school with Aunt Grace, Jen, and Hudson, I’d initially thought from its outside appearance it had looked like every other school. The St. Nemele here was nothing like the one back home. Everything here was more alive, each detail of the school was mindboggling.

Each side of the walkway was adorned with foliage that imitated the mazes. It led to the front entrance that had two large oversized doors. Half of each door had huge engravings etched into the wood.

On the door to my left was a symbol which looked like the constellations of Ria and Hearte combined. Below them was a caption: ‘Beginning.’ The symbol to my right didn’t resemble any of those I’d been exposed to over the last couple of weeks. It had a caption under it as well which read, ‘Believe in yourself.’

At the top of the stairs, I experienced a fight or flight feeling which seemed to accompany all of my life-altering decisions of late. I was second guessing myself.
Did I really belong here? Was I supposed to be here? How was I supposed to fit in when I’d never even heard of this place before? I was completely unprepared. What if when I did finally give in and believe I was supposed to be here, I woke up and realized it was all a dream and I’d made everything up?

My swimming analogy came to me once again. I stood there waiting for someone to throw me an imaginary life ring. The engravings on the doors interrupted my thoughts for a second. They seemed to be beckoning for me to touch them. I reached out and traced them with the tips of my fingers.

“This is where we all began to learn to believe in ourselves and ignore that second guessing feature we
all
come with,” Herecerti said, looking at me with a knowing glint in his eyes.

Vincent came up beside me, placing his hand on my lower back and giving me a thoughtful, reassuring pat. Instantly my ears were on fire. I needed to understand why his touch—heck the mere mention of his name—sent my heart rate through the roof.

I decided to shut out all thoughts other than taking my first steps into my new life – ears burning and heart pumping, I decided to
do what I’d done this morning: I held my breath and jumped in—just like swimming, I thought, as the doors opened.