Clan of Redemption (28 page)

“
How am I supposed to decide what
I want when I don’t know I’m in for?” I asked as I reached up and
started to rub my necklace, it was feeling warm against my
chest.

“
So let’s talk about the necklace
and the ring, I can see that you’ve started to get comfortable with
it.” He repositioned himself, like the conversation was going to
start to get complicated.

“
I forget that I have it
sometimes, until it starts to warm up then I remember it’s there,”
I said.

“
Well the ring and necklace are a
set and they belong together and they help whoever owns them,
fulfill their destiny. That’s why people have been trying to hurt
you; they want the ring and necklace,” Grandfather said.

“
What is it about this necklace
and ring that’s got so many people trying to kill me?” I
asked.

“
The ring by its self is powerful
and same with the necklace, but together they will mold with the
wearer and become very powerful. Your grandmother was in line for
that power, but the necklace was stolen when Grace was born. It was
something that tore the clan apart and made your Grandmother more
determined to have the power.” I sat and listened getting more
frightened just thinking about it.

“
Does Grandmother know that I have
the necklace?” I asked and had to clear my throat. I'm not sure
that I want the wrath from her.

“
I wouldn’t say that she knows for
sure, but we all felt the power as soon as it was reunited with the
ring. They yearn for each other, they are a sister pair, they
belong together. We need to decide what our plan is for telling her
that you have it, this is a very delicate situation, we don’t want
this to turn into a big fight, which it probably will. Where did
you find the necklace anyway?” Grandfather asked me. He seemed
sincere in asking, but my Mom's letter kept stopping me from
telling all my secrets.

“
It was given to me, I didn’t find
it,” I said with a smile, hoping he didn't pry. I would hate to
have to lie to him.

“
Ok, you don’t have to tell me…I
understand your hesitation, but remember I love you very much
Jayden. You never have to be afraid of me,” he said with a warm
smile.

“
I’m not afraid of you, and I know
that you care about me, but I don’t want to put the person that
gave it to me in danger,” I said, thinking about Sully and what she
might be up to.

“
So, you’re coming for lunch at
one right?” Grandfather said.

“
Yes, I guess I am. So…Grandmother
isn’t going to try to kill me, or anything is she?” I asked,
thinking about my question sounding preposterous, but from what
I’ve heard that’s what kind of person she is or what she's capable
of.

“
To be honest Jayden, I'm not
sure. I thought I married a women that would never do the things
that she's done, but she going to want what you have, and she’ll do
a lot to get it. I think we need to wait to tell her about the
necklace, at least until you have decided if you’re ready for this
life. It’s a huge commitment, there are a lot of people that are
counting on you, plus you would need to help bring the clans back
together, and stand up to your Grandmother,” he said as I noticed
he had finished his coffee.

“
So, what is all this about the
clan's being divided? I’ve heard that a few times, but no one wants
to elaborate on it.”

“
Well since your Grandmother lost
the necklace, she lost some of her power, it has made a few of the
more dominate shape shifters want to try to take over the thrown.
Your Grandmother has managed to fend them off, but I’ve heard
through the grape vine that Clint’s clan is mustering up a plan to
try to take your Grandmother out of power.” He seemed not to care
about that last statement. Actually he seems like he doesn't stand
by his wife at all.

“
If I accept my new life as a
shape shifter...” I started to finish.

“
You mean as princess,” he
said.

Princess, that just sounds
bizzare.

“
Yes, I mean as princess," I
rolled my eyes. "What will I have to do, what are the
responsibilities that I have to look forward to?” I said as I
realized that I hadn’t made up my mind.

“
Well unfortunately I cannot tell
you any of that, it’s part of the rite of passage. You have to
decide to take the position before you are crowned and then you
find out what you are signing up for. You have a disadvantage that
your Mother didn't have. She grew up a shape shifter, she knew the
life we lead. I know it doesn’t sound fair, but that’s what takes
the most commitment, is going in blind but knowing that’s what you
want to do,” he said.

“
That doesn’t seem fair, it’s not
like that in life, and you get to know what you’re in for before
you have to commit to the job. Why would it be any different in
this….well community I guess you could call it. If mother would
have never left I would have been raised knowing what I was up for.
Why is this different?” I asked.

“
Well I would say that it’s
because the person that is going to lead our shape shifters needs
to be strong person that won’t sway when it comes to crunch time. I
do agree with this part of our tradition, it makes things a little
more exciting too.” Grandfather smiled.

Exciting, um I don't think
so.

“
So, was there anything else that
you wanted to talk about?” I tried to hide my annoyance.

“
Not really, just wanted to find
out how you’re handling your new powers, and if you’ve got them
under control?” he asked.

“
Well I’m handling them, I
wouldn’t say that I have them under control, but I am handling
them,” I said, even though I didn’t have any confidence in
myself.

“
Stewart, I was wondering if had
heard anything about the rebel clan? Are they trying to hurt
Jayden, what are their intentions?” Logan asked.

I physically jumped up a little
when I heard Logan. I had forgot he was there. Guess I should pay
more attention.

I guess I never asked my
Grandfather what his name was, Stewart, it sounded nice but
firm.

“
No, Logan, I haven’t, my inside
person hasn’t been able to get back to me in days. I am hoping that
she's ok.” Grandfather answered with concern.

“
Sami, isn’t it?” Logan
asked.

“
Yes, after what happened to
Thornton, and the rebel clan taking her as a bride to be, she was
very willing to help me with information,” he said.

“
Sami, isn’t that the girl that
Thornton was dating?” I asked, realizing that I wasn’t in this
conversation.

“
Yes, the same one,” Logan said as
he continued to talk to Grandfather.

"Bride to be, please tell me you've
moved into the 21st century," I pleaded.

I started to wander off in my
head, thinking about what it would be like to be a queen. I’m not
sure why I’m even thinking about that, but just thinking about
being a princess is hard for me to imagine. Could I really live
here, in this strange town, with no family, well no family that I
really know, and be a leader to these shape shifters? Was is that
bad, is that what made my Mother choose to leave? I really wished
that she was here, I want to ask her what made her leave, what was
so bad?

“
Jayden, did you hear me?” Logan
nudged me with his nose.

“
What?” I said realizing that I
missed that last part of their conversation.

Guess I'd have to stop doing that
if I decided to be a princess.

“
The council is asking for a
meeting.” Logan said as he sighed.

“
Yes, I heard that too. I’m not
sure that Jayden is ready yet. They might ask for the trials.”
Grandfather asked.

“
Trials? What are you two talking
about? I am right here, you can talk to me.” I said with
anger.

“
Sorry dear, Logan is talking
about the council. It’s a group of shape shifter elders that are
there to help the clan make decisions and see that our laws are
followed. The King or Queen of our clan has final say in matters as
long as it doesn't go against our laws,” he said as he looked
around.

“
What trials are you talking
about?” I asked with worry.

“
Don’t worry about that right now,
I think you need to worry about your friend.” Grandfather said as
he stood up.

“
What friend.. what are you
talking about?” I asked.

“
Can’t you feel it, Jayden?” Logan
asked me.

“
I feel angry, but I think that’s
because…..well, I’m really not sure why I’m angry,” I said as I
realized that the anger I was feeling seemed not like me, not the
kind of anger that I would feel.

Oh shit..Sully.

Sometimes being friends with her is
like having a large child, or at least I would assume.

“
It’s your friend Sully, Jayden,
she’s in trouble! You both need to go, I will see you at 1pm,”
Grandfather said as he started to rush away.

“
But I have so many more
questions, and we didn’t get to spend as much time together as I
had hoped,” I said. I knew that Sully could take care of herself,
and I felt very selfish wanting to stay with my Grandfather instead
of helping my friend.

“
Jayden, your Grandfather is
right. This isn’t the kind of trouble that Sully can get out of, we
really need to go now.”

“
We’ll have time later dear, don’t
worry,” he said as he bent down and kissed me on the
forehead.

Logan and I ran out of the
bookstore and out onto the side walk of the main road. I started to
feel panic overwhelm me. Now I knew that she was in trouble, I
guess I wasn’t concentrating enough.

“
Logan, she’s really in trouble,
how are we going to find her?” I asked.

“
It’s you that needs to find her,
I can sniff her out, but you’ll have to tell me the general
vicinity,” he said as he was sniffing around the ground trying to
pick up Sully’s sent.

I closed my eyes and tried to
picture where she might be, but all I could see was
gray.

“
You need to tap into your power,
I know this is new for you, but you need to think about Sully, what
she looks like, how you feel about her. Most of your power is on
emotions, so use those fears that you have to find her.” Logan said
as he continued to sniff around the store fronts.

I closed my eyes again and tried
to relax, I let my shoulders drop and I started to breath deep. I
could feel the warm come from deep inside my body, like a fever
without the fatigue. I pictured Sully standing next to her truck,
with her arm resting on the hood, her legs crossed and her smile
that says “I’m trouble”. Her sent is something between oil, dirt
and an almost sweet vanilla. The vanilla might be from her incents
in the truck, but that’s the smell I thought of.

With a flash of light, the gray
started to take form, I could see something, it was a car, no, a
bunch of cars, small cars. I could see what looked like murals on a
wall, lots of tires, but it was a little hazy still.

“
Can you see anything yet?” Logan
asked me after he realized that the scent had been muffled with
time and people walking past. It seemed very busy for
9am.

“
I see cars, but there small cars,
almost toy cars,” I said as I was trying to get the image
back.

“
I saw some carnival type rides on
our way into town, let’s head straight and see if we can pick
anything up,” Logan said as he started running ahead of
me.

“
Hey, wait up, you being a dog and
all, you’re out running me," I said as I starting running
too.

Logan realized that he was half a
block ahead of me and stopped to wait, I caught up to him in no
time. I wonder if me being a shape shifter was enhancing my running
speed.

“
I’m not even out of breath, is
that normal?” I asked.

“
Yeah, being a shape shifter has
many advantages, one of them is you have more endurance than
before,” Logan said as he kept running towards the main part of
town.

“
What other benefits come with
it?”

“
Jayden, I know that this all
exciting, and you have a ton of questions, but you really need to
focus on Sully,” he said as I realized that I had almost forgotten
about her. This isn’t like me, my friends have always come first,
why all of a sudden am I losing my train of thought.

“
Right, sorry,” I said as I tried
to concentrate and run at the same time. How was I suppose to close
my eyes and run at the same time, without falling on my
face.

“
Logan, I have to stop for a
minute, I can’t try and picture where Sully’s at and run with my
eyes open at the same time,” I said as I stopped.

Logan stopped and walked over to
me and sat next to me like any well trained house dog, the only
difference is mine talks and oh yeah, he can transform back into a
human body, well he says he can.

I closed my eyes and tried to
focus on the last image that I had before we starting running, but
I couldn’t get anything, just darkness.