Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) (8 page)

Those crystal blue eyes had been coming to me in my dreams for the last year or so. Tonight was the first time they’d come to me when I wasn’t scared or feeling anxious.

I knew instinctively to welcome them and not fear them. They were a nice addition to the mysteries of my completely complicated life. They felt like a piece of me I’d been missing for a long time finally returning home. It reminded me of a saying Mom would quote to Hudson and I every now and then, ‘Everyone goes through life looking for that one elusive piece of themselves that helps them see, think and live a little clearer.’

Laying there with this being made me feel accepted, as though I didn’t need to try to fit in anywhere. Everything here felt right.

I pensively looked up and over at the person on my left.
He
began to take shape beyond the crystal blue eyes. He had brown-tousled hair, a strong muscular jaw line and a beautiful smile. As his facial features began to take shape, he began to drift away. Without thought, I reached up to touch his face. As I did, the apparition faded into nothing. My hand fell to the bed.

A sudden surge of sorrow filled me at his departure. I was alone. The ambience of the air around me changed. Afraid of what was next, I closed my eyes. Time passed and my skin began to feel warm. The warmth spread across my face and traveled down to my toes. I slowly opened my eyes. I was in a large open field with the sun blazing down upon me. I sat up and took notice of the field. It looked familiar and took me only a minute to realize this was
the
field. The one from the dream I hadn’t told my parents about.

A cold chill crawled up my spine and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I turned, believing whole-heartedly something or someone was behind me. When I did, there was nothing there. I turned again and jumped back. Standing just in front of me was—me.

I was confused and thought I was looking into a mirror. I took a step towards myself and reached out. I didn’t touch a mirror. I touched myself back. It felt as if I had put my hand into a pot of boiling water. I pulled my hand away and cupped it to my chest, yelling out in pain. The other me simply stood there, staring back in confusion.

Then
it
came, the formless black mass which had taken my parents. As it approached, I found it hard to breathe. The air around it was sinister, tangible, and static.

The sound of high winds, screeching like hyenas on a hunt, accompanied the turbulent atmospheric changes. I reached out, not caring about burning myself, and tried to grab my other self. Before I could get to her, the blackness completely blocked her out. It was hopeless. I couldn’t save her—just like my parents…

I sat up, completely awake, and jumped out of bed. The clock on my nightstand said it was three a.m.

There was no way I was going to get back to sleep tonight. The door to my room was open and the hall light was on. I went to the bathroom. As I grabbed the door handle, a shock traveled up my arm. I bit my lip so I didn’t yell and wake everyone else up. I clasped my hand to my chest and entered the bathroom.

I turned the light on and examined my right hand. I opened my clenched fist and looked into my palm. It looked like I’d touched a red hot stove element. I went to the sink, turned on the cold water, and shoved my hand under it. When I pulled my hand out, I covered my palm with ointment from the medicine cabinet. The pain subsided slightly; I grabbed a small towel, wrapped my hand, and returned to my room.

I crawled back into bed, completely dumbfounded as to my hand injury. I was unsure if sleep would come again and was apprehensive, to say the least, when I thought of what other dreams may come next. I laid there going over and over my dream until I drifted off.

Of course the colors came first. They weren’t separate and distinct as I entered the dream—like all of my other dreams. These were completely blended and bright.

As they dulled, I realized I was back in the room with the crib. I looked around for Mom but she wasn’t there. I went over to the mirror. As I peered into it, Mom’s reflection wasn’t there. In her place was Aunt Grace.

I turned, finding Aunt Grace directly behind me. She reached out to touch my injured hand. I clenched it protectively against my chest. Neither one of us said a word as she carefully put her hand over my mine and pulled it gently toward herself.

She began to glow, a mix of crystal blues and pinks. They were the same colors in the beginning of my dream. I looked around to see if there was light coming from somewhere behind her. There wasn’t. I felt a quiver from the center of my hand flow out to each one of my fingers. I looked into my palm and the burn I had there was gone. I looked up at Aunt Grace and asked, “How…how did you do that?”

“This is my gift. In time, yours will be revealed to you.”

As she faded away, I woke up immediately. I inspected my right hand. There was nothing there. I remembered burning it. I remembered going to the bathroom. I remembered the throbbing. I looked at my hand as if it was some kind of foreign object. I hadn’t noticed Hudson standing in the door of my bedroom until he let out a throaty chuckle.

“Yes Jacey, it’s a hand—and the strangest thing—it’s all yours.”

I grabbed my pillow and threw it at him. He ducked in time for it to fly past him and smack Aunt Grace directly in the face.

“Umph. I guess I’m going to have to learn to duck and cover.” Aunt Grace smiled.

“Oh. Sorry, Aunt Grace. That was meant for Hudson.” Hudson bent down to pick up the pillow and saw the look I gave him, which would have melted snow.

“Jacey’s a little off today, not only with her throwing arm, but with some other stuff, too.”

“Hudson, back off,” I said, not caring to cover the edginess in my voice.

He held up both his hands. “I surrender, just yanking your chain a little,” he said. “We have to get going soon. Do you need any help in here?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

Hudson left and went down to the kitchen. Aunt Grace took his place in the doorway.

“Everything all right?”

“Can I ask you something? Something without you thinking I’m losing my mind?”

“I never think you’re losing your mind.”

“Did you happen to come into my room last night?”

“No. I didn’t hear you at all last night so I thought you had a pretty decent sleep.”

“You didn’t see I’d burned my hand and—”

“You burned your hand? How?”

“It’s complicated.” I sighed, backing off with my questions. Maybe it was a dream. “I think I need a shower.” I got out of bed. As I passed her, she looked concerned and reached out to touch me. I looked down at her right hand and it was clearly red and burned.

“What happened to your hand?”

“I burned it this morning making breakfast. It’s all right, just a little red.”

“That’s the weirdest thing,” I murmured to myself.

“What’s weird?” she asked.

“It’s—I dreamed I burned
my
hand and then you were in the dream and you fixed my hand, and now your hand—” I looked directly at her.

“It’s nothing. I burned it making breakfast this morning.” She put her arm over my shoulders and started walking me to the bathroom.

“No time to waste, Jacey. Get ready. I can’t wait for you and Hudson to see Nevaeh.”

I closed the bathroom door behind me. There was definitely something going on. I flexed my hand and looked at the reflection in the mirror and there it was. My hand and that was it. Nothing burned. No marks, no anything.

I turned the shower on, remembering I hadn’t brought in any clothes. I went back into my room and got my blue jogging pants and yellow hoodie. As I was heading back to the bathroom, I overheard Aunt Grace and Hudson talking downstairs in the kitchen.

“Did she ask?” Hudson said

“Yes, but, don’t worry, I took care of it.”

“How come she hasn’t come into it yet? Do you think there’s something wrong?” Hudson asked, sounding worried.

“No. Last night she dreamed of Faith. That’s what caused this. I think she’s trying to reach out. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but we need to …” Before Aunt Grace could finish, I shifted my weight from my right leg to my left and the landing creaked.

Instantly I was up and fled back to the bathroom. My heart was pounding in my ears. I locked the bathroom door.

I stripped off my pj’s and jumped into the shower. What were they talking about? Had who come into what? Who’s Faith? Lately, there were more questions than answers—and the answers I was getting weren’t ones which made any sense at all.

After showering and getting dressed, I left the bathroom and went into my room. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and put on my favorite white baseball hat. I took a deep breath to calm myself before going downstairs. I glanced up at my ceiling. Something was telling me all the answers to all of the questions I needed were twisted within the design of the constellations staring lifelessly back at me.

I went down to the kitchen where Aunt Grace was cleaning up the dishes.

“How was the shower?”

“Great. Did I miss breakfast? Hudson probably ate everything, eh?”

“No. I was able to wrestle him for the last two raspberry crepes.” She took a plate off the counter and put it down in front of me.
Crepes and raspberry to boot—awesome, I now had a vision of myself in Nevaeh being two hundred pounds and never leaving the kitchen at Aunt Grace’s.

“I see you still like crepes,” Aunt Grace said, watching me.

“Not just any crepes. Mom and I always loved your crepes. Thank you for breakfast,” I said.

“Jacey, I’ve already started packing up the kitchen and the living room. Is there a room you want me to help you with?” she asked.

“No, thanks, I can do my room on my own. I saw the packing boxes by your feet when I came in. You guys waste no time. Where’s Hudson?”

“He went to get more boxes. Jen called while you were in the shower. She offered to help him and then come by and help us pack,” Aunt Grace said.

“Great. Did you ask her about the book? The one she said had the pictures of the constellations on my ceiling in it?”

“I did. She said she’s still looking for it but as soon as she finds it, she’ll bring it by.”

“How’s she going to bring it by when I’m a hundred miles away?”

“She asked to come visit us in Nevaeh. I said yes.”

“Thanks, Aunt Grace.” I got up and hugged her.

“I really, really appreciate this. It means I won’t lose Jen. Thank you.” Jen was a piece of the home I’d had with Mom and Dad. Now, I wouldn’t have to leave her behind as well. I looked at Aunt Grace and she smiled.

I let go of her and went back to my crepes.

“All right, then. I’ll keep up in here and when you’re done with breakfast, your room?”

“I’m done. When Jen gets here, can you tell her to come on up?”

“Sure.”

“Can I have some of these?” I pointed to the boxes by her feet.

“Of course.” She handed me two boxes.

“You have seen my room, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Uhmmm…two boxes won’t do.” I giggled.

“Hudson’s bringing more, and when he gets in, I’ll send up another ten.” Aunt Grace chuckled.

I grabbed the
two
boxes and went into my room. I closed the door behind me.
This is the last time I’ll be in this room. This is the last time I get to see all of my things here.
I stopped myself. I needed something to distract me from my own thoughts.

I got up and started going through my closet first, packing the clothes I knew I would wear in my trunk, which I’d had forever.

From this moment on, Hudson and I were going to have a place to let grass grow under our feet to call
home
and mean it. We would never have to move again. Obviously, it would be a different
home
from what I was used to. One without Mom and Dad.

I stopped what I was doing and looked at my life outside of the deep pit of grief and pounding sadness which had been my reality for the past couple of days. 

I stood silent, grateful for what I had left. Yes, appreciative and thankful for what I have and the family still with me—thankful for unexpected blessings.

In the middle of packing my trunk, a knock on my door drew my attention away from the disaster zone which once resembled my room.

“Come in,” I called.

Jen poked her head in. “Hey, need any—”

Before she could finish, she started laughing. My trunk was overflowing as I sat on top of it trying to lock it, obviously with no luck, and looking pretty ridiculous.

“Here,” Jen said as she came in. “You might need a little help with this.” She sat on the trunk with me. With our combined weight, we both heard the trunk clasp grab. She hopped off.

“See?”

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been sitting on top of that thing trying to close it?”

“Not a clue…I can only imagine. It looks like you’ve got most of your stuff together, well, other than all the things still left on the floor.”

“I couldn’t decide what to take. We have to leave tonight and I haven’t got a clue when the rest of my things are coming. So, anything I couldn’t fit into the trunk—you see where it all is. Mom usually helped me pack. She was way more organized,” I said.

“Let’s go through all this stuff and see if there’s anything you think you’re going to need. We can put it in a couple of these.” She’d brought up three huge boxes. For the next hour we packed everything I owned and held dear. In the end, the room not only looked bare but felt it. Once done, we sat on the edge of my bed and took in my room’s complete transformation.

“Do you think we missed anything?” Jen asked.

“Nope, and if we did, it will be at my Aunt’s in the next week once the movers go through the house. I don’t think I have room for anything else.”

“I hope you have room for at least one more thing.” She got up and went into the hallway outside of my room and came back holding a book.

“Is this what I think it is?” I asked.

“It wasn’t as hard to find it as I thought,” Jen said.

The
book—the one which I’d been not so secretly waiting for. It was beautiful. The jacket was deep rusty brown leather and covered in etched markings. I stared at them, transfixed for a moment.

They bore striking similarities to all of the markings on my ceiling. The only differences I could make out were the ones on the cover were each in a different place than the ones on my ceiling. The title of the book was ‘Awakening.’

“It’s beautiful. Thanks, Jen.” I got up and hugged her.

“No problem. But I have to ask you a few things,” she declared.