The Reverence of One: Book Three of the Shadow Series (26 page)

“It was an extraordinary moment. I had never seen the light of day, except through the small window within my room. Even then, my view was of the woods directly behind our home. It was late evening, and the sun was just beginning to set. It was wondrous, and
after I had walked a short distance away from my home,
I watched the sun
set in its great majesty for the first time in my life.
Seeing it through the blur of the boundary that separates the two worlds, I longed to see it with my living eyes.
”

Test huffed unconsciously.

“Did I say something funny?” asked Jenz, the irritation of his interruption apparent in her tone.

Test’s eye snapped to hers as he replied. “No, no!” he
replied
emphatically. “Actually, I was just thinking of how much we have in common.” He paused for a moment and remembered the poem that he’d written for Nicole so long ago.
“I used to go out into the country where I live and watch the sunsets, too.”

Jenz’s expression lightened some as she replied. “It would seem so, wouldn’t it?” She walked to one of the recliners that was in the room opposite of the couch and sat gracefully on the edge of its seat. “I will never forget the moment that the sun disappeared behind the trees. I’d never seen such color before
.
I didn’t even really know that such a thing could exist.” Her brow furrowed as she looked at Test sternly. “There was so much I didn’t know.

“I began to look for some place that I could remain hidden, but still phase back so as to look at the dwindling colors
and the sparkling lights in the sky
without the blur of the spirit world around me.
However,
as I traveled, something happened.”

“You stayed too long,” said Test, almost in a whisper, his eyes wide with intensity.

“Yes.
I had just reached a building several places away from my home, when the blur disappeared. At first, I froze, marveling at the world outside. The sounds, the smells, the colors—it was all new. Time seemed to have stopped once again, but in a pleasant way, as I stared into the sky. As sudden as my shifting from world to world, as was shaken from my pleasure by the scream of a woman.

“I turned quickly to the source of the scream, and saw an old woman standing on her doorstep with a finger pointed at me. The woman screamed ‘Ande, ande!’ over and over again, which is the Swedish word for spirit. Instinctively, I turned and began to run home, hearing more and more voices shouting behind me with each step.
As I entered my home, the look of shock on my parents’ faces as they sat at the table will forever hold a place in my memory.

“My father, his surprise beyond words, sat in his chair while my mother erupted from her seat. She was so angry that her words were almost unintelligible, and before assaulting me, she opened my door in an attempt to find out how I’d escaped the room.
With no obvious sign, she returned and slapped m
e
several times as people outside had begun to pound on the front door. The room was suddenly alive, and the sounds of my mother shouting
,
combined with
the pounding on the door
,
had become overwhelming. After one last slap from my mother, she gripped my arms and began to shake me, trying to coax out an answer. Without a word, I looked her in the eye, and then summoned every last bit of my strength to phase to the other side
,
literally vanishing from her grasp.

“Once on the other side, I stepped through her and looked at my father who had
finally
stood from his chair
. With a horrified look on his face, he
stared at where I had been standing a moment ago. I
could see the dried blood in the corners of his mouth
from where my mother had hit him,
and watched as
his skin bec
ame
nearly as pale as my own. Without thinking, I turned away and ran out of the house. I flew through the trees as if they were no different than the air that surrounded the
m. Never once did I look back.

“I had to learn everything for myself. I survived by stealing from the village, phasing to the other side in order to gain access. Failing to keep myself hidden at all times, I became something of a legend. They called me vit
djävulen
, the white devil, and did what they could to keep their wares from me. It did cause me some aggravation, them putting everything away so that it was harder for me to take, but it didn’t stop me.

“In this time, which is truly the point of my telling you this story, I became highly skilled at the art o
f phasing in and out of worlds,” she paused and
chuckled
to herself, “or teleporting as Prim likes to call it. Personally, I think popular culture has corrupted him slightly.”

Listening intently, Test found the humor in her comment, but kept it to himself as she continued, her words taking on a serious tone once more.

“You see, not only did I have to learn to phase quickly in order to procure food and drink, I also honed my skill to avoid the sun. I began to practice in the woods, shifting between worlds to avoid the light that filtered through the trees. It might only have been for a yard at a time, but I would go in and out as soon as the light met the dark, and vice versa.”

She looked to Test who sat quietly nodding his head. “You look as though you want to say something. What is it?” she asked.

Test blinked, his eyes dry from watching Jenz so intently, and rep
lied. “It just makes sense now;
how I wasn’t able to hit you before. You were so fast.”

A broad smile graced Jenz’s pale face, as she sat on the cushion next to him. She could see a look of excitement wash across his face
. H
is eyes
were
wide and shining, reflecting the dim light of the room.

“You can teach me?” he asked.

“I can try,” she replied softly. “I cannot make any promises. After this conversation, it is even more apparent to me that each Shadow is blessed with slightly varying degrees of each gift.
I’m sure that I can make you better, but I can’t promise that your abilities will ever match mine when it comes to phasing.”

Test chuckled as he replied. “Don’t you mean teleporting?”

Jenz’s head dropped as she sighed playfully. “I suppose so, if that’s what you prefer to call it. Prim would be pleased.”

Test slapped her thigh gently. “I’m just teasing,” he replied. “But I did have one other question.”

Jenz’s face regained the seriousness of moments prior
,
her jaw tensed and brow furrowed slightly. Seeing this, Test spoke quickly. “It’s not a big deal, really. You can relax.” Her mouth opened, her lips parted slightly, and he watched the worry disappear from her eyes. “If you had the gift of sight, why didn’t you see all of it coming? Why weren’t you prepared?”

She didn’t agree that his question wasn’t important, but tried to reply with a light hearted tone. “That is actually a very good question
,
one that I originally asked myself as a matter of fact. I think that I had experienced visions before, from a young age, but considered them a form of a dream. Having been basically alone for my entire life, I guess I thought it was normal. I had no one to ask or to tell me any different.”

Another glimmer appeared in Test’s eye, and Jenz couldn’t help but wonder what else he was thinking. “Out with it,” she said.

Test planted his elbows on his knees and, resting his chin on his fists, looked to her thoughtfully. “Don’t you think it’s strange that the two places Shadows live are towns that are associated with mythological creatures?”

Taken aback by his question, Jenz angled her head curiously. “I don’t understand?”

“Well, I would think the entire world knows that vampires are associated with Forks, and you live in
Salem
.” Jenz opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. “I know, I know, it’s
Salem
,
Massachusetts
that’s know for witches, but still
.
…”

Unable to control herself, Jenz fell back on the couch, laughing hysterically. The sight of her gave Test comfort. Though he hadn’t know
n
her for even a day, she always seemed so serious and proper. He waited for her to compose herself, watching as she sat up while wiping tears from her eyes.

“You should do that more often, you know,” he said in a sincere voice.

She reached out and took his hands into hers. “Thank you, young one. I haven’t laughed like that in so long I can’t recall.” She patted his hand as she stood. “I’m going to go to bed. We will begin training tomorrow. You should get some rest as well.”

As she looked down on him, Test was amazed that once again he’d found a new place and new faces making him feel so at home.

“I will,” he replied.

Jenz turned and walked away, but before leaving the room, Test called out to her.

“Jenz?”

She stopped and looked over her shoulder, resting a hand on the wall.

“Thank you—for
everything.”

She nodded her head gracefully and replied. “You are more than welcome, Test. Good night.”

Though she caught up with Lauren quickly, Alyssa hung back, unsure if Lauren would want her company or not. She was caught by surprise when, after several minutes, Lauren turned toward her.

“That doesn’t work with my kind, you know,” she spoke in a defeated voice. “I felt you the minute you left the house.”

Alyssa watched as Lauren’s hand began to glow a faint blue in the moonlight. Accepting the offering, she allowed herself to become solid.

“I’m sorry,” she replied. “I just thought maybe you could use
someone
to talk to.”

Lauren raised an eyebrow, looking thoughtfully at Alyssa. “Yeah—I think
maybe
I could.”

The night air was still, and the brightness of the moonlight cast a magical hue over all of the greenery along the garden trail. The two of them stared silently into the night sky, soaking in the peacefulness of the moment.

“How do you do it?” asked Alyssa.

Without taking her eyes off of the stars, Lauren replied. “Do what?”

“How do you know when I’m here, even when…
.
” she paused.

“You’re not?” asked Lauren, finishing her sentence.

“Yes,” replied Alyssa.

Taking a deep and cleansing breath, Lauren allowed her eyes to leave the sky and turned to Alyssa, motioning with her head to follow her down the path.

“I’ve always likened it to seeing a painting in my head,” she began. “
I don’t know exactly what it’s like for other Shadow’s; though we all have the ability, everyone’s power is slightly different.”

“You mean like Prim,” replied Alyssa, cringing as the name left her lips, knowing that it was the last name that she should have brought up.

A crooked smile fell on Lauren’s lips as she glanced to her side. “Yeah, like Prim
. My power to sense others is nowhere near as strong as his.” There was a brief moment of awkward silence before she continued. “Like I was saying, it’s almost like seeing a painting. You have the background energy, which does vary in intensity depending on where you are, but it is usually steady and constant. We feel the energy of other things within us, and it appears as a push or a pull on our bodies. A spirit’s energy feels like someone gently pulling at our flesh. When a spirit is nearby, not only do I feel the pull, but against the background energy, it’s almost as if someone has erased a spot in the painting that I see in my head. Does that make sense?”

Alyssa nodded as she looked ahead, seeing a clearing lined with green stones that seemed to glow in the moonlight. “And what about a Shadow?” she asked.

“A Shadow is just the opposite. We experience a push
and their energy creates a smudge, kind of…
.
”
S
he paused, struggling to find the right words. “It’s a little harder to explain.”

“It’s okay. I think I understand,” replied Alyssa.
“Test tried to explain it to me earlier. Your description of it actually isn’t far off from his.”

Lauren didn’t hear a word Alyssa said. Unable to let go of the chase for the word, she continued in an increasingly frustrated tone.
“It’s kind of like someone spilled a bunch of paint on one particular spot. That spot is almost—thick? Am I making any sense?”

As the two of them stepped into the clearing and onto the stones, Alyssa replied. “Yeah, I think so. It sounds amazing.”

Lauren huffed lightly as she took a seat on the bench that rested just off of the ring of stones. “I suppose it does,” she replied. “I think I probably
do
take a lot of things for granted anymore. After one-hundred and twenty some years, perspectives start to change.”