The Sea of Change

by Tina Engel

  “Let’s take a walk and see how those two hearts are getting along. We need to get you back on your feet soon. It won’t be long before Stephan and your father know your whereabouts, and we want you long gone before that happens. The spider venom seems to be out of your system now, so your hearts should be able to finish their joining.”

  You see, just before I came here, I had been kidnapped by Stephan and held in the bottom of a tree. I assume the tree fey that lived in there was working with Stephan.

  The tree seemed to be home to one very large spider, also. I still shiver when I think of that creature, large, and black with glowing red eyes, and fangs that dripped venom that sizzled as it hit the ground.

  Around this monstrosity were hundreds of small spiders, which scurried everywhere. I say small and yes, small compared to the mother of all spiders, but if I had seen these spiders before this adventure began, I would say they were the largest spiders that I had ever seen.

  Anyway, just as Eagle was swooping down out of a tree to rescue me, a spider that was in the trees over my head jump on me, as Eagle scooped me up and flew away. Before the spider leaped to its death, it bit me, sending the poisonous venom through my already vulnerable body.

  My second heart, yes I said second heart, had just started to beat for the first time in my existence and the venom was making it hard for the heart to stabilize, and function properly, with my original heart. Confused yet? That is okay, I was too.

  You see, I guess the fey that I am, has two hearts and one was lying dormant as I existed in human form. If I got sick in the human world and a doctor heard two hearts beating, that wouldn’t be good. So the Fey who transformed me into a human, had my second heart sleep, until the time that my body could handle two hearts beating at once.

  We walked all the way out to the fence that separated the yard from the wheat field, where the guys were working. We stood there and I told Sara that I still felt well. No pain in the chest yet and no dizziness. This was a good sign.

  I looked out at the field and beyond, and could see so many fey dancing around in the field and leaping up into the air, just happy to be. These fey were acting like children and I wondered if they were. I only saw glimpses of them as they moved swiftly around the field.

  I turned and looked back at the house, and saw that everywhere the fey were happy, dancing, and I even heard singing. I thought it was birds at first, but then realized I was hearing everything differently. I was seeing so much and heard everything around me, and it started to overwhelm me. My hearts started to hurt and everything became blurry.

  “Let it go Emilee.” I heard Sara say. “Separate the fey world from the human.”

  I shut my eyes and focused on her arm around my waist. Suddenly the singing and noise stopped, all except the birds chirping and the noise of the tractor in the next field over. My chest stopped hurting and I opened my eyes.

  “Emilee, your heart is getting strong, but you are still not ready to have both fey and human worlds opened at the same time. It is almost time to teach you how to be in one or the other, however.

  “When you enter the fey dimension you become invisible in the human dimension. The fey world, however, is a dangerous place for you at this time.

  “When you are in the fey world, they can all see you, and there are too many fey who will help the dark one to capture you.

  “You, however, need to learn how to enter this world because you will need to go there at some point to finish this quest. You are learning how to enter the fey dimension, but you are still holding onto the human one. You must let it go as you walk through the rift between worlds. You will learn, in time.”

  As Sara was telling me this, I felt movement from behind and turned to see Brett, Eagle, Kimberlite and John approach. They seemed to understand what Sara was saying and they all nodded in agreement.

  “Maybe tomorrow, we can try.” Brett said, with a smiled.

  “But now she needs to rest.” Sara said, as she gently tried to guide me back to the house.

  I stopped Sara from walking and turned, looking back behind the men, deep into the wheat field.

  “There’s something out there.” I said, as I pointed towards the middle of the field. They all turned and looked around to where I was pointing.

  My diamond at the end of the finely woven gold chain was vibrating in a very erratic way, the way it does when danger is near. I wrapped my hand around it gently and it was definitely sending out a warning.

  “There’s nothing out there Emilee.” Brett said, but he continued to look with a concerned expression on his face.

  He looked down at my hand holding the diamond but said nothing more. He was concerned but wanted to drop it. I dropped it, feeling that he would share with me what he sensed later. I would make sure of this.

  The men all jumped the fence except for Kimberlite, who went under, and we all started back to the farmhouse. I looked over my shoulder several times, trying to see if something had appeared. I couldn’t see anything but felt a presence, and it wasn’t good.

  Brett took my arm gently, and stopped. He told the others to go on ahead, that we would walk together at a slower pace. I wasn’t sure why but I assumed he wanted to talk. As the others headed towards the house, Brett and I headed towards the large tree with the swing hanging from the branches. It was such a beautiful day that I didn’t really want to go inside anyway.

  “Emilee,” Brett started, “what do you feel is out there? I feel a presence but I’m not sure if it’s a positive one or negative.”

  I looked back to the wheat field again, and holding onto the diamond, I let my mind go blank.

  “I can’t say if it’s good or bad. There is a presence out there though, I can feel it.”

  I looked back to Brett and he was still staring out at the field with a concerned look on his face.

  Brett looked back at me then and tried to appear more relaxed, but I could tell he was worried. We walked again and as we approached the swing, Brett asked if I would like to be pushed on it, for a bit. I hadn’t been on a swing since I was a child and I liked the thought.

  I reached out, and taking the rope in hand, I looked down at the seat and there sitting on it was a small satchel, made of soft leather. It was the same pouch that was in my dream. I looked to Brett and he had a bewildered look on his face, just as I did. I was afraid to pick it up.

  What if I’m just dreaming again? I wondered.

  “Brett,” I asked, “Did you put this here?”

  Brett’s answer was “no” and as I went to pick it up he stopped me.

  He wasn’t sure if I should touch it or not. I told him about my dream and how this same little bag was there on the swing. That it held my grandmother’s cameo brooch she had given me, when I was young. Brett decided that he should pick it up and open it.

  I agreed to this, and as he picked it up and opened it, he dumped the contents in his hand. It was my grandmother’s cameo brooch. We both looked at each other with surprise. We just stood there looking from the brooch to each other and back to the brooch.

  I reached out and picked it up from Brett’s hand. It was real and it was here, and I was awake. I took the small satchel out of Brett’s hand and put the cameo back in and cinched it back up.

  “Well, another part of my dream has just come true.” I said.

  Brett questioned this, “What other part has come true, Emilee?”

  “Well, the blue dress that I wore in the dream where you were feeding on my parents, in their kitchen, is the same blue dress that Douglas had given me.” I said.

  Brett gave me a curious look as he said, “Fed on your parents?” He chuckled then, and took hold of my arm, and we headed back to the house.

  As we approached the steps to the porch, we saw that everyone was sitting and visiting, and Rose and the children were playing with jacks. I hadn’t played this game in years. Those simple games always seemed to be the most fun.

  I asked the kids if they played
with marbles, Chinese jump rope and hopscotch too. They all smiled an excited smile, happy to share their stories about these games and which of them played best. I watched the kids teaching Rose for a while, but was getting quite tired.

  Sara told Rose that I needed to go lie down and asked her to take me upstairs. I didn’t want to go, and look to Brett for rescuing. Brett agreed with them, so I got no help from him. I gave Brett a pouty look but didn’t argue any further. As Rose walked with me into the house, Sara sent the kids out to play under the tree.

  I turned to see the others deep in conversation as they looked towards the wheat field, talking quietly. Brett turned towards me with a smile as if to reassure me, that everything was okay, but I had this troubling feeling deep down inside. I went to the stairs and up to my room, but rest didn’t come easily.

  I put the satchel down on the bed stand and curled up on the nice soft comforter. Rose covered me with the afghan that Sara had given me. I reassured Rose that I was fine and she left, unsure if she should go or not.

  As I lay there with the sun shining in the room and slightly on the bed, I felt a presence in the air. I couldn’t see anything or anyone but I could feel it. I wasn’t afraid, but was unnerved.

  I looked up at the bed stand next to my head, and the little bag that held the cameo brooch. Was it the cameo that had belonged to my grandmother, the one given to me, when she died, when I was 13? I reached up and took it in my hand. I removed the cameo from the bag, rolled over onto my back, and just lay there looking at it.

  How did it get here, so far from where I had left it, back home in my jewelry box? Is it really mine, or just one that is an exact replica? Why was this brooch in my dream and why did it appear here now? All these thoughts were going through my mind.

  I could feel my diamond start to hum again, not a danger hum but a hum that I didn’t understand. I took the diamond in one hand and held the cameo in the other as I rested them on my chest.

  My eyes were getting heavy, and the feeling of another presence in the room was growing stronger. I decided to just let go; I shut my eyes and cleared my mind. I felt the diamond in one hand, vibrating and warm to the touch, and noticed the cameo was causing a tingling sensation in the other hand. I drifted in this state of calm, just drifting.

  I was there again, standing in the middle of the golden wheat field; the tree behind me with the swing, swaying gently in the breeze, and the ocean in front with the sound of the waves crashing far below.

  Over to my left was the river that flowed to the edge of a cliff, where it became a waterfall that flowed down the side of the crevasse, and out to the sea. I was facing the ocean but knew that was not where I belonged. It wanted me but I didn’t belong there.

  I felt a presence that came to rest next to me. I felt an arm going around my waist. It was a woman standing there, staring out at the ocean too. She was an older woman, or I should say fey, but different from the other fey that I had met so far.

  She was beautiful and I somehow felt I knew her. I hadn’t seen her before, but I knew her. She turned her head towards me and smiled. I knew those eyes, with a twinkle of mischief, and that smile full of love and compassion. It’ was my grandmother, but she was fey. It was her though, I just knew. She kissed me on the cheek as she let go of my waist, turned and walked towards the tree. She continued to walk past the tree and then……..

  I woke to a thump. I sat up with a start and felt my hearts beating rapidly. Looking around the room, I saw nothing out of place. I was still holding the diamond necklace in my right hand, but my left hand that had held the cameo, was empty at my side. I looked down to see the cameo pinned to my dress, on the left side just over my new heart.

  I didn’t remember pinning it there before I fell asleep. I was dreaming again. It was the same dream as always but with more detail, added. My grandmother was there, but she was fey. She was a different fey than the others. I put my hand on the cameo and held the image of her in my mind. I look like her, our fey features are the same. I’m different from the rest and so is she, I thought.

  My two hearts were beating, but not erratic anymore. This gift from my grandmother was given to me long ago and I didn’t understand why back then. Now I did. She was fey, but how can that be? She was my mother’s mother. Or was she? These dreams are telling me a story, but only a little at a time. I wanted to go back to sleep and learn more.

  Then I heard a thump again. It came from under my bed. Okay, yes, my hearts were beating rapidly again! Wouldn’t yours?

  I got out of bed, well really jumped out of bed, making sure my feet landed away from the edge if the bed.

  What should I do, I wondered. Run to the door and get help? Then I heard it again.

  “Oh, this is just ridiculous!” I said, feeling frustrated, as I bent down to look under the bed.

  I reached out, and lifted the ruffle that goes around the bottom of the bed, and something jumped out at me. I fell back on the floor and looked towards the bed.

  There sitting on the floor was a cat. It was the cat that was on the hood of the car back in Oregon. It just sat there looking at me. If a cat could smile, this one was doing just that.

  I sat up then and scooted back away from this feline a few feet more. She was such a pretty cat, all shiny black with just a patch of white around her right eye. She wasn’t very big, but was not a kitten. She didn’t change into the fey that she had, when I saw her before. She just sat there and then started to clean her face with her paw.

  “So little one” I said, “where did you come from and why are you here now?”

  She looked up at me then, as the door opened and in came Rose. When Rose saw the cat, she screamed a high pitched scream and the cat leaped up into my arms with fright. I held the poor, frightened cat as Rose was yelling for me to drop it and called for someone to help.

  Brett came running into the room as if he was expecting a monster, and when he saw the cat he started to laugh. I just sat there on the floor with the cat in my arms.

  Rose was still quite upset. “Put that filthy animal down Princess, this instant! Brett get it out of here!” Rose said, with such venom and hostility.

  I was just sitting there in shock, not sure what to think of any of this; a cat in my arms, Rose screaming like a crazed fey and Brett laughing hysterically. Brett stopped laughing then, but was still smiling and seemed amused. He walked over to grab the cat.

  I stood up and said, “That’s okay, I’m fine.”

  I turned slightly so Brett couldn’t take the cat out of my arms. I held it in my one arm and stroked it with my other hand. Her fur was short and soft, and as I stroked her, she started to purr. Yes, I was sure it was a girl.

  “Princess” Rose said, “You need to put that creature down. It isn’t here to help you. It’s a bad omen!”

  “What do you mean Rose? It’s just a cat. Okay it is fey, but I know it’s the same cat that I saw back in Oregon, and what is it doing here, I don’t know, but she isn’t here to hurt me.” I said.

  How I knew this, I don’t know. The cat then looked up into my face and purred more raptly, as if she was telling me I was safe with her.

  Poor Rose just looked at me, and then to Brett with frustration and fear written all over her face, not quite knowing what to do or say.

  She blurted out then, “Cats are sneaky animals that can’t be trusted. Maybe she has been following us all along and is working for the enemy!”

  I look to Brett for assistance, and asked, “What do you think? Is this the same cat that we saw in Oregon?”

  I looked back down at the cat. I had already made up my mind that I was going to get to know this cat, no matter what he said or thought. I think Brett realized this also.

  “Well Princess, I believe you have already made up your mind, but I’ll tell you my opinion anyway. Cats can’t be trusted, they are sneaky and a pest, but you’re going to do what you want, anyway.

  “Yes, I believe it’s the same cat that we met in Oregon;
I can see its fey body through its veil. What it wants with us I don’t know. If you insist on keeping it around, then I insist that it sleeps downstairs and is with you only when others are present.

  “If it belongs to Stephan or your father, then we don’t want it to leave now and give our whereabouts away. So, the cat will remain downstairs in the basement at night, and will only be let out when you want its company.”

  I didn’t like this much and started to open my mouth to speak, when the cat jumped out of my arms and onto the end of my bed. She curled up into a ball and went to sleep.

  I smiled and stated firmly, “Well I think she has other ideas and so do I. We are not locking her in the basement. I agree that we need to be cautious, but she will stay here with me.”

  Brett wasn’t smiling anymore and didn’t find my stubbornness, humorous at all. He said, with a sullen look on his face, “Princess, if you are going to be stubborn, then someone will be sleeping on your floor at night to keep an eye on this animal.”

  The cat opened one eye, looking at Brett when he said this, but then she tucked her head under a paw and looked like she was sleeping again. I was sure she wasn’t sleeping, but listening to every word we said, but I needed to find out what she had to do with my grandmother. I was sure there was a connection somehow.

  “She’s comfortable right now on my bed and can’t get out of this room if we lock the door from the outside, right? So let’s go outside on the porch. I had a dream and want to tell you about it.” I said.

  Brett gave me a look of curiosity and Rose just threw up her arms in disgust and frustration, and we all left the room. I was the last to leave and as I took one last peek at my new feline friend, she lifted her head and winked at me. Yes, really, I’m sure she winked at me!

  We went down the stairs, but before we headed outside, Brett got a key that was hanging on the wall in the kitchen. He went upstairs, locked the bedroom door and was back in a flash.

  Out to the front porch we went, where John, Sara, Kimberlite and Eagle were visiting, as the children played in the yard. I told them all about my latest dream and then shared the other dreams as well.