Chasing Shadows (6 page)

A soft knock on the bathroom door startled me, and I dropped my sweater into place. Sebastian’s face peeked in just in time to see a small portion of my new addition. He smiled and said, “We all get them. Each one represents a little of the person they are on, as well as what supernatural group they belong to. They also tend to go in various spots. Very few have them where you do. And, when they do, it means something important. I don’t know what exactly. You would have to ask Clamora. May I?” He gestured to the spot where the tattoo was, and I nodded. Carefully, he lifted the back of my sweater and stared in amazement. His hand moved to touch it, but he decided not to because he stepped away. Clearing his throat, he looked down in embarrassment before finally telling me to get some rest.

When I made it to my room, I was too excited to sleep. On the bedside table there was a cup of tea and a note that said “Drink me. You will feel much better in the afternoon.” Shrugging my shoulders, I drank the warm tea and felt a calm settle over me. I rolled over onto my side and snuggled under the blankets. Before my eyes finally closed, I noticed that all the crystals and everything else from my change had been removed. Sleep quickly claimed my tired body, and dreams came into view.

I was lying in a large bed made of feathers, with quilts wrapped tightly around my body. Soft sobs came from my bedside. The moment I shifted, a small girl peeked at me through dark lashes. Her large brown eyes were swimming in unshed tears. She grabbed my hand and kissed it softly. There was a moment of understanding that passed between us; she wanted to help me, but we both knew that it was impossible. “Amary, please? I am begging you. Do not let go, dear sister. I still need you. After all, who will tell me if the wedding dress is horrid? You know Daddy will smile and tell me I am as beautiful as ever.” A small laugh escaped her. It was a peaceful sound. It didn’t last long, though, as she continued with her pleading. “And you know he needs you. Mr. Sebastian will be devastated if you don’t pull through this. Besides, Momma and Daddy will be heartbroken. After all, he plans to have you still! He wants you as his wife. Amaryia Renea! You listen to your sister. Listen to me, please. Oh God, please. Please, don’t leave me.” The girl started sobbing yet again. And she simply would not let up, no matter how hard I tried to placate her. It took a lot of effort not to cough while trying to calm my dear sister. When I was just about to fall asleep yet again, a man entered.

He was medium height and was bulbous, but his face was handsome in an elderly man sort of way. With a deep sadness he looked at me and then turned icy eyes onto my sweet sister. “Lillyiah! Out, now! Amaryia does not need your tears soaking her bed again.” He scolded her in a fury, and she looked down and chewed her lip to keep from crying. After seeing how he had displeased her, he tried a softer approach. “Dinner is almost done, and your mother needs help. And I would like a few moments alone with her.” After Lillyiah scuttled out of the room, the man sat down next to me and held my hand sweetly. Silent tears shook his body. When he was able to regain his strength, he turned his
familiar brown eyes on me. “Amaryia, oh my sweet daughter, I cannot begin to ask you to stay. Although that is what your mother would wish of me. I do not want my little one to be in pain. If you do decide to stay here with us, Sebastian still has my permission to marry you. He is a gentleman, a good man. The best there could possibly be for you. Every day he calls on you. He even brings you wild roses and small gifts. I hope that you make it through for your family, but more importantly, for him. I love you, my little Amaryia.” My father gently kissed my forehead and left the room quietly.

When I woke up the pillow was wet with fresh tears. I now understood the story Sebastian had told me. Amaryia was his love. He had fought with desperation to keep her with him. Sadness came over my soul and settled in my heart. Drying my eyes, I got up from the bed, grabbed some clean clothes, and headed for the bathroom down the hall. It took a few minutes to find the towels hiding in a small closet. I made it back to the bathroom with no trouble and started the shower. The hot water loosened the tense muscles in my shoulders and relaxed my mind. As I thought back to last night and my strange dream of the past, I choked on air. Sebastian was incredibly old, and he seemed to know a lot about what I had gone through. I mentally slapped my forehead; I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t caught that earlier. Continuing my train of thought, I choked again. He had even called me little AubrieAnna! Amaryia’s father called her little Amaryia. Sebastian was using an old nickname for a lost love on me. Totally confused, I hurried through the rest of my shower.

I was dressed in black leggings, a white shirt with a sequined skull and crossbones, a purple cardigan, and my gray fringed boots. Clamora was talking about how I needed to focus on the silver light that glowed in my fingertips and to push it outward. My forehead was scrunched as I focused, but all I was doing was making myself prematurely wrinkled. Giving up, I picked up a small rock and threw it at a nearby tree and watched as the rock splintered a small hole through the tree. A sharp pain shot through my chest, and I tried to keep from falling over. Just as I was about to ask what happened, Clamora jumped on the explanation. “That is the fairy in you, my dear. You feel what nature feels, and it feels what you feel. You can help everything around you grow. And everything around you can help you when you need it most. It will call to you at night, and it will scream when it needs you most. At first, it will be terrifying, but that is why you are here for a few more days.” She smiled softly and said, “Why don’t we call it a night? I can see the strain in your forehead. If you were not immortal, then you would have wrinkles before next week.” We both laughed at that and walked back into the house.

Clamora opened the door for me, and I walked straight into someone’s chest. As I nervously backed up with my head down and started blabbering apologies, a small laugh escaped the person, and I realized it was Sebastian. He moved over to let me through and sobered when he saw my face. Not wanting to talk to him anymore, I stalked off to get some food and water. Frustration poured off me in waves as I struggled to find the kitchen. When I found myself by the front door, I peered into the room where Clamora had first talked with me and a sense of peace washed over me. Drawn in by the atmosphere of the room, I sat down in one of the chairs and relaxed. A small girl appeared by the door and skipped in to greet me, but she halted when she noticed my sour mood. Sitting down in a chair next me, she had a look of sympathy on her face. I looked at her and noticed she had wavy blonde hair, with large brown eyes and a soft, rounded face. She looked like she was no more than fifteen years old and about five feet tall. Her pale skin was accentuated by a pale blue dress that reached her knees and was short sleeved. I tore my attention back to her face and smiled softly. As she returned the smile, a small dimple came into view on her right cheek. “You are too pretty to be sad.” A small sweet voice came from the girl.

“Huh?” It took me a moment to realize that she was talking about my mood. “I’m not sad. Just frustrated, I suppose.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Her voice was tinted with concern.

“No offense, but I don’t know you. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want to hear it anyway.” I tried getting her to ignore my mood, but it didn’t work.

“I am Rayne October. And you must be AubrieAnna. Clamora is a family friend, and she has talked about you quite frequently.” Rayne offered a small smile.

“Yeah, that would be me. How much do you know about the people around Clamora?”

“Lots. I could tell you about anyone. Why?” She tilted her head when she asked, but a light seemed to turn on and she said, “Oh! You want to know about someone, huh?”

“Sebastian.” I smiled sheepishly when I said his name and looked down to conceal the blush that spread over my cheeks.

“He has been here ever since I can remember. I suppose even before then too. But I can’t really say for sure. Anyway, his mom was Cherokee, and his dad was a mix of Italian, English, and French. Story has it that his mom and dad met when it was forbidden for the white man to be with an Indian. I think his mom’s name was Little Tiger or something like that, and his dad’s name was Charles. So Little Tiger’s tribe accepted Charles with open arms, and they married after a few months. Soon they found out she was pregnant. Charles wanted to take them back to the United Kingdom after she gave birth, but she refused. When the time came and she did give birth, she passed from an illness or loss of blood. Anyway, Charles took Sebastian back to the UK and they lived there for a while.

“But Clamora told my mom that the Cherokee gods cursed his father with a fate worse than death and that since Sebastian carried his blood, he would be cursed too. So as Sebastian grew, so did the curse, and in time he fell for a girl who was sick all the time. He said he loved her more than anything, and he tried to find a healer, but the healer couldn’t fix her. His heart broke into pieces, but after a time it healed, and Clamora took him in and told him that the girl would eventually come back to him. He just had to believe it. And he does. He seems to think she came back sooner than he had thought, and he is all lovestruck by her and stuff. But I haven’t seen her yet, so he must not have brought her around when I’ve been out and about here.” Rayne shrugged and put her feet up on the small table. She wriggled her toes and watched as glittery polish twinkled in the setting sun’s rays.

I couldn’t say anything else about Sebastian, so we talked about other girl stuff for a while, and the pain in my heart subsided to an ache. When the sun finally set, Rayne said that she had to go. A stifling yawn took me by surprise, and I went upstairs to my room. I stripped off my clothes, threw on a pair of running shorts and a clean tank top, and crawled into bed.

Chapter 4

After three hours of restless sleep, I woke up at one in the morning. Sighing, I rolled over and tried to relax enough so my eyes could close again for a few more hours, but my heart hurt—I thought I could hear the sound of pieces breaking off. I kicked the blankets off and decided to get some tea. The trip to the kitchen was difficult to navigate, but I found it after taking a few wrong turns. Digging through multiple cabinets, I found a teacup, teapot, and green tea leaves. With the pot on the stove, I turned to stare into the darkness of Clamora’s house. Shapes started to appear in the darkness, and the harder I stared at them the more difficult they became to see. A sharp whistle made me jump. The water was ready. I cleaned the pot out and put it back in the cupboard, grabbed my cup of tea, and made my way back to the dark recesses of my room.

The green tea filled my nose with a soft minty smell. I took a small sip and leaned my head back on the wall with a big sigh. There was no reason for my heart to break over Sebastian. I barely knew the guy. His soul mate was back, and he loved her with an intense passion. Part of me wanted to believe that maybe I was his soul mate reincarnated, but that didn’t make sense. Yet there were moments where he would look at me as if I was someone special to him. At that moment, I decided I would not allow myself to open up to him unless he confirmed or denied that his soul mate was back, and tell me who exactly she was. With my mind made up, I finished my tea and crawled back under the covers, allowing sleep to claim me one more time.

It was eight in the morning when my body finally woke up. I dressed in a pair of gray running shorts, a sports bra, and a pink tank top. Thankfully, when Sebastian had packed my clothes he’d added my running shoes. I threw my hair into a ponytail and went to grab a small snack before my run. As I opened the door, a gust of cool air hit my skin and created goose bumps. Shrugging it off, I took off and started my morning with a jog. I usually only jogged when I needed to forget the world around me or when I felt that nothing was going right in my life. This was definitely one of those mornings. I smiled as I wound around a path that led into the forest. There were tall conifers spread out around me, moss-covered rocks, and grass grew everywhere. It was pure beauty. It was my home. It was Oregon. Sighing, I stopped where a fallen tree blocked my path. My smile fell as I saw it had been cut down by lightning, and I reached out to touch it.

When my hand met the wood, I gasped. The tree was screaming for help, and no one cared enough to hear it. I pushed the silver glow with all my might, prayed for it to save the tree, to help it live in some way. Bright light poured from my body and wrapped around the conifer, and I pushed harder. Snapping, clicking, and other strange noises filled the empty silence. I watched as the silver light helped the fallen tree grow back to its base and connected the splintered trunk together again. When it was whole, the light receded back into my soul and settled with a thick heaviness. My body felt weak, so I sat there for a few minutes. And then, with newfound excitement, I sprinted back to the house, leaving the newly healed conifer behind me.

I hunched over to catch my breath, using the straps of my tank top to wipe the sweat from my forehead. The summer heat was already beginning to blare down on my back. When my breathing was finally normal, I walked into the house to search for Clamora so I could tell her what I had done. She was in her office, looking through paperwork and talking on the phone. As I tapped lightly on the doorframe, she held up one finger to signal that she would be a few moments. Taking that as an invitation, I sat down in one of the chairs, allowing my legs to rest. With an exasperated sigh, Clamora hung up the phone and shuffled the papers into a drawer. A curious look on her face had me looking down at my outfit and smiling sheepishly. Realizing that now was my chance to tell her, I spilled every detail from the morning’s run. When I finished, she smiled widely and congratulated me. Proud of myself, I skipped to the kitchen to make a hearty breakfast of cereal and toast. Belly full of breakfast, I wandered upstairs to shower and change.