Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) (19 page)

I clutched it to my chest and willed the pain away. Instantly it left, but the mark still glowed as bright as the first time I’d received it. I took in my surroundings and saw I was still in the attic. Mom was flying around me with her red and blue protective colors.

I stood up and peered outside. Instinctively, I knew danger was near. There was nothing outside. I started to second guess my intuitiveness when unconsciously, I looked to the tree tops.

Every cell in my body cried out. Hovering up there was the same onyx-eyed girl I’d had the distinctive displeasure
to meet on my way to Nevaeh. While suspended outside my window, our eyes met. She tilted her head to the side with an inquisitive look. It lasted only for a second and then it was gone. But she stayed, floating with her long black coat billowing about her in the wind. She glowered at me and raised her right hand out in front of her, as if saluting me.

In the center of her palm burned the same symbol branded into mine. I looked at my hand quickly and back to her. She rose above the tree tops and then disappeared. Disoriented, I fell back onto the window seat. All signs of the trance-like state I’d been in minutes ago were gone. The book I’d been going through was splayed out on the floor before me and the sounds of pounding feet approached the attic. All the while Mom was flying around me in crazy flashes of light.

“Jacey, you shrieked. What’s going on?” Aunt Grace’s frantic voice rose as she shot up the steps to the attic entrance.

“E-everything’s all right,” I stuttered. “Now,” I whispered to myself.

Aunt Grace made her way to the window seat I had collapsed on. She stopped in front of me. I sat there, stunned, grasping my right hand, boxes opened and on the floor, photo albums piled around them.

“I’m not sure what just happened, Aunt Grace,” I said, holding my hand close. I didn’t want her to see. She glanced at me, but her attention was drawn to the last book I had opened. She gazed at the empty box.

I watched as she bent over and picked up the book Mom and I were about to go through.

“How did you find this box so fast?” she asked.

“Mom,” was all I could utter.

“Is she here?”

“She is, but she’s a little crazy right now,” I said, trying to follow her colors around the room.

“Tell her it’s safe, they’ve left,” Aunt Grace declared. “What did you see, Jacey?” Aunt Grace seemed to take command of the attic. She peered out the window over my shoulder.

“We had a visitor, and now you’re doing the same thing I was doing about two minutes ago. You know, now would be the time to let me in on a few things, considering I’m starting to get pretty unnerved with all the floating people and blazing palms.”

I held out my right hand, palm up so she could see the blazing red mark.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her.

“She’s gone,” I declared.

“How do you know?” Aunt Grace gazed at my hand.

“Because I saw her! We exchanged the ‘I see you, you see me look’ and then she disappeared. It was kinda strange, though.”
Of course, other than the floating girl and all…no sarcasm here…

“What?” Mom and Aunt Grace asked at the same time.

“She looked pretty surprised by the fact I could see her. Maybe it was more curious than surprised, but it was there and I saw it—only for a second, but I caught it.” I remembered the probing look I had received.

“Really?” They said in unison again.

“All right, you two, stop doing that!”

“Stop doing what?” Aunt Grace asked.

“You and Mom keep saying the same things at the same time. It’s more than a little weird.”

Both of them started to laugh.

“Guys, seriously, do you think you both could quit it?”

“Jacey, you’re not the only one who’s been bothered over your Mom and I finishing each other’s sentences or saying the same things at the same time. There’s a reason for it,” Aunt Grace said.

While she was talking, Mom had gone over to her side and was trying to touch her cheek with the back of her hand. Of course, her hand passed right through Aunt Grace.

“Have you ever noticed anything about your Mom and me before she passed away?”

“Nothing other than you’ve always felt like home. Every time you came to visit us, Mom was always super happy. Any time you’d visit or call, Mom would be pumped up and it would last for days. She was always excited when you were around.” I paused. “There’s one thing I’ve noticed more lately. It’s been constantly in my mind every time I look at you in a certain way...”

“What?” they both said.

I rolled my eyes. From my one gesture they both knew they’d done it again.

“You both have the same smile.”

“There’s a reason for it. You must know it’s not just because we’re sisters.”

“What?” I asked completely lost.

“It’s because we’re twins.”

“You’re what?” I asked.

“We’re twins,” Mom said.

“But you’re so blonde and light and Mom’s so dark and … dark…”

They both laughed again.

“It’s because we’re fraternal twins, not identical.” She was still standing beside Aunt Grace and trying to hold her hand.

Standing there watching them, I could see the longing each of them had for the other. I could feel it, right down to the center of my being.

It reminded me of being in the hospital with my parents before they passed away. That gave me an idea. I closed my eyes and grabbed both Aunt Grace’s and Mom’s hands. As soon as there was an unobstructed connection between the three of us, the same purple light that had flooded Mom and Dad’s hospital room filled the attic.

“Ria…” my Aunt said.

When Aunt Grace called out Mom’s name, I opened my eyes and was happily surprised by what was before me. Mom and Aunt Grace were able to look at one another.

“Grace, I’ve missed you so much—” Mom said through her tears.

I watched as they stood in front of one another, staring like they’d never seen each other before.

“What’s happening? How is this happening?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” Aunt Grace said, completely stunned.

While they were trying to figure out what was going on, I let go of them and looked at my hands. Was there something there that enabled this to happen?

Nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary. I snapped out of it when I heard both Aunt Grace and Mom gasp.

“What-what’s happening now?” I asked breathlessly.

I turned my attention back and saw they were in an embrace, a real embrace. They were physically holding onto one another. Mom was solid, real, and alive. They were actually hugging. It was now my turn to gasp.

“How could this happen?” Mom questioned, now completely overtaken by tears.

“I-I don’t know, but the Guild of Elders needs to know about this,” Aunt Grace said.

I placed my hands on them both. Mom was solid and I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. I hugged her as hard as I could. It was my turn to open the floodgates. While all three of us stood there embracing one another, Hudson and Jen’s heads popped up through the attic floor.

“What’s going on up here?” Hudson asked, climbing up through the attic entrance, pulling Jen along with him. He saw Mom. It was his and Jen’s turn to be completely shocked. “Mom?”

“Yes, Hudson, it’s me.” Mom pried herself from our embrace and opened her arms for Hudson.

He didn’t need to be invited twice. They embraced while Jen stood there, dumbfounded.

“How is this possible?” Hudson asked.

“It seems as though Jacey is the conduit that allows this to happen,” Aunt Grace said. Everyone turned to look at me like I should be able to explain.

“I haven’t got a clue,” I uttered, stunned.

Without warning, a flash of deep burned brown with a swirl of silver light shot into the attic. Instantly Hudson, Jen, and Aunt Grace took protective stances in front of me. The only one who hadn’t moved or flinched was Mom, who hovered beside me.

“Relax, its Hearte,” Mom said.

All of our eyes adjusted to the sudden presence. My Dad took on a physical form in front of us.

“Dad!” I gasped, running into his arms.

He looked more surprised than anyone else. But he gripped me as fiercely as I gripped him.

“What’s happening?” he exclaimed, looking at Mom and Aunt Grace.

“No one knows, Hearte, it just happened,” Mom said.

“Well, we have to stop it. We have to stop it right now,” Dad said.

“Why?” both Hudson and I asked simultaneously.

“Because this—” he spread his arms out, waving them around the room, “—this is what we’ve been trying to avoid so they couldn’t find us.”

“They already know we’re here, Dad. Jen and I just checked out the perimeter of the house and there’s no one around for miles,” Hudson said.

I listened intently. “Who are they?” I asked.

“I’m thinking now may be the appropriate time to answer some questions even though the Guild wanted to wait,” Dad said.

“Why now?” Jen asked. I had forgotten Jen was witnessing all of this.

“Jacey, the black-eyed girl in the robe you saw earlier, did you have any kind of warning she was here?” Aunt Grace asked, ignoring Jen’s question.

“No. Like I said, I was thrown into a trance instantly and then when I saw her, she looked surprised.”

“You
saw
her?” Hudson and Dad said in unison.

“Yeah. Why? Is that a big deal?”

“There were no indicators there was anyone close by. How could that be? Did we miss something?” Hudson asked Jen.

“I really don’t know,” Jen said.

“Can someone tell me something? Why is this such a bad thing?” I asked, referring to Mom and Dad being solid. I finished thinking of the encounters I’d had over the last couple of weeks.

“There are things in this world most people are not a part of, Jacey. You know there is good and evil in this world, right?” Dad asked me.

“Of course I do,” I replied without hesitation.

“There is
true
evil and
genuine
good out there, Jacey. The evilness I’m alluding to is a tragedy you were witness to as a little girl—because of it, while I was alive, I made sure it never had the opportunity to invade our family a second time. We need to keep hiding. There are more reasons than I have time to explain. You only need to know that right now, if we don’t hide it—hide you—from what we’ve tried to keep you from all your life, it’s going to find us again. This time there’ll be nothing anyone else in this room will be able to do stop it.”

Dad paused, took a breath, and looked out into the front yard. “The society which we belong to are the Nemelites. We’re considered the virtuous part of the universe. We become fully aware of our adversaries either from birth, because we grew up within a Nemelite society, or through our Awakenings. You weren’t brought up within our society. You’re the first of our kind not to follow the natural progression of things. Those two factors alone have sent some of the scholars in our society into a tailspin. When they’re able to realize all of this, it will cause upheaval within our society. It may cause some to second guess the Original Teachings we’ve followed since our origins. Your mother and I chose to wait and slowly introduce you to your heritage and to the world of the Nemele. Jacey, you and each of us standing here are part of Nemele. You are a Nemelite, Jacey. I know you believe in magic. Magic has been around you your entire life,” Dad said.

“I’ve always believed there was more… I’d have to be pretty blind not to,” I said, looking around the room.

“All of us here are from that world,” Dad said. “We know that those of the Yietimpi clan always look for a medium to infiltrate our realm to take it over. There are others of our kind who use their gifts to protect our world and this one. They are our Sentry Guard. It takes them years of training with our elders to learn how, when, and where to use their gifts. One of the first laws which are taught to our kind is never to allow those not of our world to become aware of our existence.”

“Why, Dad?” I asked.

“The two worlds can never come together. If they did, it would result in a universe of chaos. Those factions true to the Yietimpi would love nothing more than to have worlds full of anarchy. That’s what they live for. When you use your gifts, and yours are not disciplined yet, Jacey, because you’re young and haven’t been brought up in our ways, they can sense them. It draws their Seekers and Guards to wherever the signal comes from. And this,” Dad said, waving his hands around the room again, “is a huge signal! You have to try and rein in it. I know that you don’t understand it yet, Jacey. But if you don’t, we’ll all be in great deal of danger. We’re not yet prepared to defend ourselves against a Yietimpi Guard. Not here.”

“I don’t know how to stop it…it just happened.”

Mom held onto my hands. “Jacey, try to stop picturing us alive. Right now, think of nothing other than being safe. Picture yourself lying on your bed, staring up at our mural. You are at peace and feel at ease.” Her voice soothed me; lulled me. I closed my eyes.

As soon as she finished, both she and Dad became transparent. The purple glow left the room and the symbol in my palm disappeared.

“Can anyone still see them?” I asked.

“No, we can’t,” Aunt Grace said.

“Did I stop it in time?” I asked.

“You did it perfectly, Jacey,” Mom said, as she and Dad whirled over me.

“We’re going to council to see where we go from here. Continue on like none of this has happened. The last thing we need is to draw more attention to ourselves,” Dad whispered as they both disappeared.

“So, we’re
all
a part of this?” I asked, arching one eyebrow and looking at everyone in the room.

“You wanted to know, and now, you sort of do,” Hudson said.

“There are going to be more things happening, won’t there, and they’re truly going to freak me out…right?”

“Oh yeah,” All three of them said without a hint of amusement.

Now was the right time to finally hear some of the truth, if not all of it. I knew I hadn’t even come close to hearing everything I’d been asking for answers to lately. I was surprised to find an overwhelming part of me that was afraid I might not be ready to hear and see
all
of it.