The Light Tamer (4 page)

Caleb stopped walking and turns to face me, he drapes his arms over my shoulders and I shudder as he steps in closer to me. We stand like two love sick kids taking a stroll on the beach. I put my arms around his waist and take a deep breath as I felt his energy radiate through me. He bends his head down and puts his forehead to mine. “After they take the light from the room, they drain the light energy out of you. If we survive the draining, we become
Dark Ones
. No one knows how to survive, so we can’t chance it. We have to stay charged with light always, I mean always. On dark gloomy days, we need to stay in a lit room. Light to us is like blood to a vampire. Even vegetarian Edward needs blood. The FROG is equipped with special lights for days like those. I think your grandma installed those lights in your room. Don’t you have the solar system in your room with lights that flash to every constellation? My dad and I went over to help her set it up. She did it so you could enjoy the night without fear of the shadows. The way it is set up is to keep the room in a hovered type light and the lights on the ceiling are special too.”

He pulls me in, closing the space between us and hugs me in tight. I put my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and the ocean waves. Right or wrong, he feels right…that’s what matters, right?

“Amber said we can stop by her house on the way back from the beach. Are you up to meet another tamer? I must warn you,” he snickers a little, “Amber is hmmmmm, special. Yeah, that is a good word for her.”

Great, maybe New Bern is going to turn out to be a little bit more interesting than I originally thought
. “Special is my specialty, bring it on.”

“We’ll see what you have to say after you meet her,” Caleb laughed.

We held hands and stopped at the sno-cone stand. Caleb’s tongue is bright red from his cherry cone and apparently my lime cone turned my tongue lime green
. I wonder how gross he thinks my tongue is now;
I think to myself.

“I think it looks cute,” he says.

I throw my head back and let out a huge sigh. I have to get better at blocking my thoughts, or nothing is going to be a secret to him.

~~~~~~~~~~

“No matter what you do, don’t ask her any questions about her brother. If you do, don’t say I didn’t warn you” Caleb said.

We turned off the freeway and onto a barely paved street. Grass was growing through the numerous cracks in the road. We drive at least half a mile and then the pavement disappears into a dirt road. Caleb eases the car carefully down the bumpy path. His BMW moans and groans as he eases it down the seemingly endless road.

“They sure don’t get a lot of visitors around here do they? Sheesh, this road is killer,” I grunted out. As we inch closer to the end of the road, I am impressed with the Cape Cod house in front of us. “I wouldn’t have guessed this house to be at the end of that dirt road. Wow!” I exclaim.

Caleb grinned and reached over to pat my leg. A simple pat sends waves of warmth through me. “You’re in for a treat. This house is pretty great and it really is amazing that it is a modular house,” he said. “It’s like the Jaguar of manufactured homes. Everything you see in front of you was brought in on a semi. I can’t imagine how they got it down that road, but it is pretty cool. Remember, don’t ask about her brother,” he said.

I take my finger across my lips, pretending to zip it up and throwing away the key. “Mum’s the word,” I whisper.

The girl that answers the door is about five foot two with chin length hair. I’m surprised that a private school would allow multi-colored hair or a scene kid at all. The top of her hair is white with blue tips. The peace sign covered tie-dye sundress cinched around her waist with a belt makes her pixie-ish.
My mom would kill me if I had on a dress that barely covered my butt
, I think to myself. Her complexion is slightly pimply but nothing a little Zap-A-Zit couldn’t fix.

“You’re shittin’ me, this is Jessie?” The girl asked. “No wonder you didn’t want to hook up with me, she’s adorable,” she said.

“You’re going to scare her off with that mouth Amber. You going to let us in or do we have to sit on the porch,” Caleb asked. “Jess, this is Amber, Amber meet Jessie.”

I put my hand out to shake her hand; I’d never met anyone like her before.

“Oh shit, you haven’t told her that we can’t touch have you? Ha! Get your asses in the house before my dad comes in here pitchin’ a holy hell fit,” she said and scoots out of the way allowing us to enter.

The entry opens up to a beautiful great-room and I was totally thrown off. The dark wood floors have a high-gloss finish that shines like no tomorrow. A beautiful stair case with wood stairs and an intricate banister graced the right side of the room. I’d never been in a manufactured house before and was blown away at how beautiful it was. I look over at Caleb to figure out what she was talking about.

“Dad! I have company! We’re going up to my room! If you need me, let me know! Deloris, could you bring up three Cokes for us?” Amber shouts out. “You do drink regular soda don’t you? Don’t tell me you’re one of those skinny-ass girls that think they need to be on a diet are you?” She said accusingly.

“Ah, no, I like regular Coke, that’s fine, thank you,” I said.

“Her dad is in the study most likely. He was in a surfing accident last year and is paralyzed from the waist down. Deloris is their maid and care-taker of him,” Caleb whispers in my ear.

“What the hell, can’t anyone acknowledge me? Caleb, take her and go up to my room, I’ll go get the drinks. Can’t get good help anywhere,” she says exasperated.

I wasn’t prepared for someone that is so blatantly crass. The hallway at the top of the stairs led to six doors. Caleb walks to the last door on the right and opens it up to the most chicked-out room. The pink walls and giant white canopy bed throw me off. “This is
her
room?”

Caleb laughs quietly. “She is very girly, at
home
that is. Her mouth, well she likes to cuss. She is trying to work on it, so if you hear her shout out some strange word…that is her idea of not cussing. She’ll calm down in a minute. She is a little anti-social at school, and I’m not allowed to act like we’re good friends because she likes her reputation. At school, she has this bad-ass attitude, it is her defense mechanism to keep people away.”

She bangs open the door with a tray full of chips and drinks for us. “You two just gonna stare at me or give me a hand over here? I’m not a damned waitress you know. Your decision, of course,” she said sarcastically.

After we grabbed the drinks off her tray, she set it down on the glass coffee table. Caleb and I sit down on a pink canvas loveseat. Directly in front of the loveseat are two pink and white candy-striped chairs. The entire room looked like something out of a fancy magazine.

I lean over and grab a cookie off of the tray, basically to prove I’m not dieting.

Amber sat Indian style in her designer chair and popped open a Coke. She pointed a finger and shook it back and forth at Caleb and me. “So, what’s this all about? Didn’t you two meet like five minutes ago or something?” Her perfectly arched eyebrows raised a little as she gave us a wide-eyed look.

“We didn’t meet five minutes ago, and what’s it to you?” Caleb said matter-of-factly.

I could feel my face warm up as I blushed in embarrassment.

“Amber, we’re bonded remember? It isn’t like she and I just met. Every summer until three years ago, we went to the beach with her grandma and my mom. We need to get her up to speed, tell her what you told me about the SLIders,” Caleb said and patted my hand.

“Okay Mr. I’m-bonded, what’s her favorite flavor of ice-cream?” Amber asked.

“Edy’s chocolate on a cake cone,” Caleb answered.

“Favorite candy-bar?”

“Snickers with almonds,” he said smugly.

She puckered her lips and squished her mouth to the side. “What color are her panties?”

My mouth dropped open and my eyes grew wide.
She did not just ask him what color my panties are. Oh my freakin’ gawd, stick a thermometer in me because I’m done. Please don’t let him know. Does this girl have a filter?

“I’m bonded with her; it doesn’t mean I have x-ray vision or anything. I’m starting to think that you’re jealous,” Caleb said. I breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t play into her under-garment quiz.

Amber crossed her arms in front of her and gave a quiet humph. “I’m betting she has a white thong on. Jealous? Hardly.”

She did not just go there. She sure doesn’t care about first impressions, obviously. Don’t think about your thong, don’t think about it…no, no, no. Think about Hello Kitty and how cute it is. Nah na na na na, not going to think about my thong, nope. No sir, not going to do it. No… I knew I shouldn’t have worn the pale pink one. Oh no! I thought it
. I look at Caleb and he grins at me
. Shit! Is this really what a first date is like? I’m not going to cry, not going to. She didn’t know he can get my thoughts
. No tears. I felt the slight sting in my eyes. I mentally fought with myself until I realiz they were both looking at me. “Ah, sorry I was thinking about something else. What were you just saying?”

“A D D much? No, I want to say, I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget I’m not at school and I don’t have to have my mean girl persona in full gear. I snap more and more these days. This being home all day with a man that is accustomed to doing his own damn thing is for the birds. I don’t mean to come off as an ass. I’m sorry, truce?” Amber said sweetly. “What school are you going to in the fall?”

“She’s going to Parca Academy with us,” Caleb says and smiles at me. Every time he looks at me, I feel pretty and self conscience at the same time.

“Figures, so I guess that means we’ll be eating lunch like a big happy family. Okay, well let me tell you what I know. I’m assuming that Caleb has given you the basics, now I’ll fill in the blanks. In my family’s book, there are entries about how there are different levels of
Light Tamers
. The oldest
Light Tamers
or
Originals
as they are called…well they are affiliated with the Rosicrucian Order. All of the Tamers at school have to take classes about the Order during their junior year. I Googled them when I realized only Tamers seem to have the class…they aren’t so secret, but you know the internet, anyone can put anything about there. I’ve tried to find out who they are, but can’t find anything. Each Tamer has to bond to another tamer by the time they are eighteen and are out of school…or they are at risk of being drained of their light by the
Dark Ones
. Caleb called me last night and told me that he and you are really bonded. Creepy, but cool,” she says like a civilized person.

“What happens if you don’t bond before living away from home? Do they bond with only another tamer? That doesn’t make sense to me. Let’s say that my mom is a Tamer, that means my dad is one too,” I say. Amber shakes her head no and waits until I finish talking before she says anything.

Amber tucks her hair behind her ears, making her look really young. “It isn’t always a boy, girl thing. Bonding can happen between two girls, or two guys. Before you react, it isn’t like a sexual thing, more like a friend thing. They don’t even have to live together after they bond, but they have to live in the same vicinity. Which sucks because what would happen if I want to live in Europe and my bonded person wants to live in the woods? It is totally lame if you ask me.”

Caleb put one finger on his lip and tapped it as if he is deep in thought. “Amb, I haven’t even thought of that. I guess we need to bond you. Ha!”

“Why can’t I touch you?” I asked. “And what happens to people that don’t bond?”

“Now that you’re bonded, if another SLIder touches you, it will send some type of ripple through you and the person you’re bonded with. I think it will take some of your light away. I’m not exactly sure,” Amber says as picks up a cookie and shoves it in her mouth. She holds up a finger to keep us from talking as she chews her cookie. “Sorry about that. I think we’ll get some answers from the Rosicrucian Order class. What does it feel like being bonded and all?”

How do you find words to describe a feeling you’ve never felt before? I’ve never been in a relationship so I don’t know if this feels unique. Infatuated is the word that comes to mind, I’m intrigued by Caleb and I want to know everything about him. I want to know all there is to know about the mother that brought him into the world. I want to know what makes him happy and what makes him mad. Is this bond thing for real or am I just a girl with a crush on a hot guy?

“I can only speak for myself. It feels like I’ve been found. When you were a kid did you ever get lost in a store and your parent found you? That feeling of relief and happy that you’re back with a person that loves you, that’s what it feels like to me,” Caleb said. A slight buzzing sound went off in the room and then a voice came across.