Eliza's Shadow (6 page)

“It was a gift…from a friend.” Ren replied
solemnly.

As I stared at the boli, my vision blurred. A wave
of heat rolled over me, and I felt weak. I brought my hands to my head and
tried to breathe evenly.

“This is a sacred object. It’s surprising that it
came into your possession, Ren.” Mr. Palmer said but the sound of his voice was
faint as if it was reaching me through a long tunnel.

Suddenly, light flashed behind my eyes blotting
out the classroom.

Fire.

Then it was gone and the classroom was back. Mr.
Palmer’s mouth moved but I could no longer hear his voice at all. The scene in
the room darkened like an overhead light short-circuiting.

Flash.

Fire again. Orange and yellow flames blazed
against a night sky.

A chorus of voices chanted around me. Drums beat.
Dark faces smeared with red surrounded me, white teeth flashed in the firelight
as they sang. Smoke, thick and fragrant seeped into my nose and mouth.

A small wrinkled man sat next to me. His weathered
hands roved around a ball in his lap. He dipped his hand into a bowl next to
him and his fingers came up dripping with a thick red liquid. Blood?

He smeared the blood on the ball and rubbed
furiously over its surface. Then he stopped and lifted his face staring right
at me. His eyes grew so wide that the whites of them swam around black irises.
His mouth dropped open and he shouted,

“Nyama!”

I brought my hands to my face and squeezed my eyes
shut.

“Eliza? Eliza!” Mr. Palmer’s voice cut through the
chanting, the chanting fell silent.

I looked up. Twenty pairs of familiar eyes were
staring at me.

“Are you feeling alright, Eliza?” Mr. Palmer asked
alarmed.

My gaze shifted automatically in Ren’s direction.
A slight smile hung on his lips.      He’d expected this.

The nerve. My blood bubbled.

“No… I think I’m getting sick. I’d like to go to
the nurse’s office, if that’s ok.” I said and swiped my arm across my desk pushing
my notepad and pen into my bag before waiting for Mr. Palmer’s response.

“Of course. I hope you feel better soon.” Mr.
Palmer said kindly.

I stood and stumbled out of the room, the thick
scent of burning wood lingering in my nose and mouth.

* * *

After convincing the nurse that I needed to go
home, I sped across the school parking lot and headed towards the shore. I
needed fresh air and lots of it.

Cool wind blew in gusts off the water, whitecaps
rippled along the surface. I climbed onto a large boulder and watched the
bubbling tide fan across the beach.

What was happening to me? I thought pitifully. The
moment I’d arrived in Port Rune so many years ago, my life changed. I felt
different. It was as if I’d boarded a life raft that was slowly drifting away
from a sinking ship. The longer I stayed in Port Rune with Jane, the further I
drifted from the worry and pain of my mother’s disappearance. But now, my
security was disintegrating. Every time I was in the vicinity of Ren I lost
control and worse, the mess of unanswered questions about my life was coming
after me like a man-eating shark. Who was Ren Alden to have that power?

My moment of solitude was broken by a voice.

“Eliza? Is that you down there?”

I turned toward the voice and cringed.

Ren scrambled down the rocky path. His eyes bobbed
up and down between the footpath and me.

As leery as I was of him, I couldn’t deny the
spark of anticipation I felt when he said my name. My chest tightened as the
distance closed between us. The tingling vibrations I always felt in his
presence intensified as he neared my spot on the rock. When he finally reached
me, he climbed up a neighboring boulder, planting himself within arm’s length.

His cheeks were flushed and he panted, catching
his breath.

My heart beat like a hummingbird.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

He sat with his arms flung around his knees and
stared out at the sea.   “Wondering…if you’re feeling better?” He asked
unconvincingly.

His gaze faltered. For the first time I noticed
how thick his eyelashes were as they fanned over his cheeks.

Despite his charm, I had to keep my guard up. I
squinted defensively at him.

“Who are you? Really?” I asked evenly, searching
his eyes.

Ren flushed deeper and broke my gaze to stare at
his feet before speaking. When he lifted it, bold confidence had returned.
“I’m… at least I think… I am your pharos.”

At that I rolled my eyes and gritted my teeth.
Everything dark about my past was rising to the surface, like bodies from a
sunken ship and the mysterious catalyst, Ren Alden, sounded as crazy as I felt.

“Look, I don’t know what a pharos is but whatever
it is you’re doing… I want you to stop.” I said my voice shaking.

Ren sighed and shifted uncomfortably on his
boulder. He looked out at the ocean in silence.

With every wave that hit the beach, I grew more
concerned.

His silence spoke more than any words he could
say. It meant I wasn’t wrong to believe he had uncovered something in me. Or rather,
unleashed something on me. It meant he knew he was affecting me. And he knew it
was unpleasant.

The tumult of emotions I’d felt over the last
twenty-four hours anger, fear, attraction battled each other to exhaustion
until finally, I came to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to apologize.
Despite that, I was still drawn to him.

“So, if you’re not going to stop, are you going to
tell me why?” I asked defiantly.

Ren’s head snapped around.

“You think I can control it? Look, Eliza, I’m
sorry but I can’t.” He said defensively.

Then his gaze fell to his lap and he pressed his
lips together hard.

“I’m sorry the boli upset you. I only brought it
to class because I knew it would get your attention. I thought it would help
you understand.” He said remorsefully.

I shook my head in disbelief.

“Ren, I don’t even know what happened back there
except that I totally lost touch with reality. Every time I see you, I feel
like I’m out of control, like I’m going crazy. How is that supposed to help
me?” I sputtered angrily.

Ren’s eyes flared. He ran his hands through his
hair sending it in all different directions and growled with frustration.

“Because the boli is magic, in its most primal
form. If anything could open your eyes, it would be that.” He argued.

He flushed and his dark eyes flashed bright like
they’d been set on fire. They drew me in like a moth.

Suddenly Cora’s face popped into my head. I felt
her hands on me. I blinked recalling the dust from her fingertips, falling on
my eyelashes.

“What is a pharos?” I asked, my voice quivering.

Ren grimaced again and looked hard at me, like he
was trying to anticipate my reaction to his unspoken words.

“A guide… for a new…witch.” He said carefully,
though the word launched off his tongue like a firecracker.

The broken shards that were my life began to
shuffle and stick together. I thought of Cora, marking our house in Moco, the
red dust spilling before our door and my mother’s face trapped beneath the
glassy swamp water. I felt Cora’s hands on me. I heard her words.

Child, someday, you will have to face the things that frighten you.
There will come a time when all this confusion goin’ sort out, then you’ll
understand more ‘bout your mama, more ‘bout yourself. Don’t you worry any about
that today. You’re a strong girl and when that time comes, you’ll be brave,
won’t you?

I slid off the rock and started to back my way up
the beach toward a set of stairs that led up to Main Street.

“Eliza, wait!” Ren said scrambling off his
boulder.

I put my hands up in defense.

“This is crazy.” I said shaking my head, though a
terrible gnawing feeling warned me to listen to him.

“Eliza, will you just let me explain?” He asked
plaintively.

I took a deep breath assessing his deflated
appearance. Despite the implications his presence held for me, he didn’t look
like a threat at the moment. In fact, he looked almost as scared as I felt.

“I was going to stop by Bishop’s Tea Room before
heading home. Can we talk there?” I offered reluctantly. It was starting to get
dark and the dissipating light made the beach feel lonely and bleak.

“I’ll go anywhere you want to go.” He said
sounding relieved. A hopeful smile spread across his face as he tentatively
crossed the distance between us.

6

The diminishing light made
the journey up the footpath more treacherous than necessary. We climbed a set
of old wooden stairs and stepped onto the brightly lit street. Suddenly, I felt
turned around on my own street. Ren’s intense gaze was incredibly distracting.
I was grateful that I’d reflexively led him in the correct direction and
thought that, maybe, if I could just get him talking, the intensity would lift
and my head would clear.

“So, how’d you end up in Port Rune?” I spouted
flippantly looking for an easy topic of discussion.

Ren’s expression darkened and his voice fell.
“Before I came here, I lived in Africa, you know.” He said drawing in a breath
as if the topic was uncomfortable for him to discuss, “My parents were assigned
to a new project back there and they thought it was too dangerous for me. So,
they sent me here to stay with my grandmother.” His lips pressed in a line and
eyes clouded with thought.

“Oh, I’m sure you must miss them. I’m sorry to
bring it up.” I mumbled, wondering if there was any safe topic between Ren and
me.

Ren’s expression hardened.

“They didn’t give me a choice.” He said edgily.

I quickly averted my eyes regretting that I’d
pried into such a touchy topic. We walked on in pensive silence for a few
minutes. I waited until the hard lines of his expression softened before
attempting another topic.

“So… have you always lived in Mali?” I asked
tentatively.

Ren’s eyes brightened. “Well, my dad grew up in
England and my mum is from here. Nan is my mum’s mum. My father’s family home
in England is our responsibility now but we’ve lived loads of places. Before
Mali, we were in India. But I was born in England and have lived there the
most, I suppose.” He said calmly, his emotions cooling.

“Nan?” I asked.

“Oh! That’s what I call my grandmother. When I was
younger I called her nana but I feel a bit ridiculous calling her that now.” He
said chuckling.

“Yeah, I can see that.” I laughed along with him
grateful that we’d effectively moved past the parent issue.

“What about you Eliza? How did
you
end up in
Port Rune?” He baited.

My gaze fastened on the street ahead as I debated
how to answer the question. It appeared Ren and I shared a touchy subject.
After several moments of quiet deliberation I decided to tell him the truth. A
truth that only a handful of people knew but considering the circumstances,
felt compelled to share with him.

“My dad passed away when I was young.” I said
softly. “And my mother disappeared when I was ten. The police never found
anything that would help us figure out where she’d gone and she… She never came
back.” I said quickly working hard to control the quivering sadness that
hovered around those words.

“That’s when I came to live with Jane here in Port
Rune.” I added quickly. “She’s my aunt. She owns a restaurant called Viva.
Maybe you’ve seen it? It’s about three blocks down on the right.” I said
gesturing toward the shops along Main Street, hoping he wouldn’t ask any more
questions.

Ren was silent, so silent I couldn’t even hear him
breathe. Avoiding his gaze, I stared at my feet, watching the streetlights
reflection disperse on the wet sidewalk. I wondered if I shouldn’t have told
him about my mother. I wondered if he was judging me, pitying me, and that
thought made me angry. I didn’t need pity from anyone. Then he spoke.

“That must be hard… the not knowing.” He said
gently.

His response took me by surprise.

“Yeah… it is. I haven’t thought about it... the
not knowing, in a long time. But since you showed up, it seems, I can’t stop.”
I responded tartly.

Ren boldly caught my gaze and held it. From the
look in his eyes, I could tell he’d caught my accusation. Somehow he was linked
to the resurfacing of my dark past and I wanted to know why.

Again, my eyes dropped to the ground. We continued
for another block in silence until we reached Bishop’s.

“We’re here.” I said and pulled the door open for
him. He insisted that I go first, holding the door open with one arm high above
my head. I passed under it without needing to duck.

“Hey Jack!” I shouted, ambling up to the bar.

“’Evening, Eliza. How’s school going? Keeping
busy?” Jack asked, his eyebrows raised as he glanced toward Ren.

“Everything’s going ok. This is my friend, Ren. He
just moved here.” My face shielded from Ren’s view, I gave Jack a stern look.

Jack winked at me indicating there was no
guarantee he wouldn’t at least try to embarrass me.

“Ren, this is Jack Connelly. He’s the owner of
this lovely establishment.” I nodded toward Jack, keeping my eyes on Ren.

“Pleasure to meet you, sir.” Ren shook Jack’s hand
vigorously.

“Welcome to Port Rune, Ren. Where are you from?”
Jack’s tone changed. He appraised Ren curiously.

“Most recently, Mali, but England is the place I
call home.” Ren replied.

“Well then, are you looking for a tea that will
bring back memories of home or travel? I can accommodate both.” Jack beamed.