room.
We entered what looked like a common room. There was a handsome older gentleman sitting in an easy chair by the fire. He looked up with an excited expression and leapt off his chair to greet us. He was a refined looking man with salt and pepper hair and the softest, kindest, blue eyes I had ever seen. He was exceptionally tall and slim, with very broad shoulders. I could see that Derrick got his height from his dad, and I could not help but wonder if this is what Derrick would look like when he was fifty something. Maybe I should keep him!
"I am glad to see you so soon, son." He firmly shook Derrick’s hand and hugged him at the same time. Their family was obviously very affectionate. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?” he asked sounding very old world. His great big, blue eyes looked my way as if he was waiting to be introduced to me.
"Dad, this is Jordan. Jordan this is my Dad, Thomas."
Thomas walked over and gave me a large, affectionate bear hug, and then stepped away. He seemed to be looking me over as if deep in thought.
"It’s wonderful to meet you, Jordan. I can honestly say that Derrick has never brought someone home to meet us before. You must be very special." His smile spread from ear to ear, reminding me of Derrick earlier.
Derrick interrupted, “I’ll show Jordan to her room because I’m sure she’s tired after our journey. I’ll be back to explain the situation to you later."
I was standing there thinking about what I could say when Derrick placed his hand in the small of my back, and pushed me out the door. I smiled at his parents and waved casually as he escorted me from the room. That was an awkward moment. I was wondering how he would go about explaining me to them.
As we started up the stairs to my room, Derrick barely spoke to me. It seemed as if he were deep in thought. When we reached the top of the stairs, he opened the first door on the right and ushered me in.
"There’s a bathroom three doors down on the opposite side of the hall. It has all the conveniences that modern bathrooms have. I’ll be back to get you for supper in a few hours. We usually eat close to seven when we visit.”
I stepped into the room as he wandered back down the stairs, to explain me no doubt. The room was very bright and warm. The bed was made of cedar wood. The dresser and nightstand were made of the same type of wood. A full length, flat mirror that had an antique frame was along one wall. There was an extremely large window at the far side of the bed. The scenery was amazing. There was an assortment of trees lining the pastoral setting, and hills and valleys spread out as far as my eyes could see.
I wondered briefly again, how he was going to explain our unique circumstance to his parents. To be a fly on the wall would be amusing, at least until he shared the part that he found me to be a pain in his ass. I turned to look at the bed, which had beautifully colored blankets and pillows. I ran over and jumped into the middle of it. It felt soft and comforting. I could not wait to have a bath and take a nap.
I felt as if I had spent weeks with this man, and I was confused as to why I was so easily annoyed with him. He had only to look or speak to me in a certain way and it would set me off. He too seemed barely able to stay in the same room with me.
The Vision
After a long, hot shower, I returned to my room to find a new set of clothes lying on the bed. They looked like a man’s white button shirt and trousers. Unfortunately, there were no undergarments in this small pile of clothes and I was suddenly glad I had had the foresight to wash both my bra and underwear in the shower, and hang them in the window to dry.
I put on the white shirt, which buttoned up the front, the bottom hung just below my waist. I thought I would leave the pants off, and take a short nap. I crawled into the feather bed and felt my body instantly relax. This must be what lying on a cloud would feel like.
The vision started almost immediately. I was standing on a high cliff somewhere in the mountains, because I could actually smell the crisp fresh air. I was holding four stones in my hand. I already had two of the stones, the green-blue one, and a black one, but there were two more, one pink, and the other yellow. I was holding the stones above my head, when an intense energy started to vibrate from them. My hands started to shake as if I had consumed too much coffee. The vibration made even my cheeks shake. When the vibration suddenly stopped, a rainbow of light bolted out of the sky and into the top of my head. My feet left the ground and I floated above it.
The moment Max showed up, the vision stopped. “Once you find the other two stones, which are Rose quartz and Amber; they will integrate their energy into your body, and become a part of you. All the gifts the stones possess will be implanted in your cellular energy. When the stones have been activated in your body, they will leave a tattoo on your lower back. These particular stones were chosen for you at birth. We have programmed the stones to work for you and they cannot integrate into anyone else’s body.
I awoke with a start and glanced around the room. I could feel I was not alone, so my senses were on high alert. As I strained my eyes, I could actually see someone sitting in the corner, but I could not focus enough to see who it was. Without thinking, I sat up and jumped out of bed. Derrick, sitting in the corner, stood up and walked over to me. His eyes were looking at me in a peculiar way.
I heard him say in a soft voice, “I heard you talking and came in to see if you needed help."
"So you thought you’d stop and linger a while. How long have you been sitting there?"
“You’re beautiful when you sleep and when your mouth isn’t annoying me. I think you’re quite captivating.”
Shocked, I couldn’t do anything but stand there and stare at him. I thought I must have still been dreaming, until I felt a slight breeze between my legs. I looked down and could see that my shirt was wide open at the bottom and all my intimate parts were exposed. I had not taken due care to fasten all the buttons, and the corners of the shirt had flipped wide open. I looked at Derrick to see if he had noticed, and his eyes were on the exact same spot mine had come from.
I could see the softness in his eyes, and a twinkle to them, as I jumped back into the bed to cover myself. His look changed to desire in the blink of an eye, and since I was no longer thinking this was a dream, I needed to put some distance between us physically.
"Derrick, it would be nice if you could knock next time," I said to him in a sharp voice. The way he was looking at me made my skin tingle, and my body heat up. He shifted his weight on his legs before smiling and heading to the door.
"Dinner will be ready shortly; you might want to put on some more clothes before coming down,” he spoke over his shoulder.
I watched him head out of the door. I was already trying to convince myself that he hadn’t been able to see anything. Embarrassed, I lay on the bed and covered my body and head with a blanket. Maybe he did not see everything. Maybe he could only make out the outline and his imagination was filling in the rest. I snorted in disgust thinking about the lies I chose to tell myself, hoping to make my life easier. I knew very well what he saw, but I wanted to believe otherwise. I put my bra and underwear on hoping to cover some of my embarrassment.
As I entered the dinner hall, all eyes were on me. I smiled politely feeling as if I were holding my breath. Shirley grabbed my hand, and led me to the table. I had found the men’s trousers and white button shirt a nice change from the usual. I thanked Shirley and sat down. I couldn’t meet Derrick’s eyes. I would try to avoid them until the humiliation was not so fresh in my mind.
I looked at Shirley and said, “You must have started having children when you very young. Derrick says you have five, including him."
“I started at 18 and continued to have children every two years for the next ten. It was a very busy time. Derrick is our first-born and has always carried more responsibility than the rest.” We both glanced at Derrick, who was so busy filling his mouth, he wasn’t even aware we were talking about him.
When I was finished my plate I glanced at Shirley and expressed my gratitu
de, “Thank you for dinner; I ate more in this sitting than I have in a few days. I have to ask though, how do you get food from our time into your time? Do you visit our stores for food?"
She smiled; “The Turad hasn’t been explained to you yet, has it?"
“What’s a Turad?"
She smiled knowingly and said, “Patience my child, all will be revealed soon enough."
“Patience is a virtue they say, but I find it quite annoying,” I replied, thinking I was almost thirty and shouldn’t be considered a child. This interaction without answers had become rather tiresome; I was not getting anywhere, I was just coming up with more unanswered questions.
“In my books thirty is still young,” she replied.
I would have to be more careful, sometimes what I thought was inside mind chatter, would come out before I realized I had said anything. I don’t know how she knew what I had been thinking unless it came out of my mouth. Surprised, I just smiled and nodded at her.
Then she said, “Why don’t you take Jordan to the garden before retiring for the night, Derrick? I’m sure she would love it."
There seemed to be a wordless conversation going on, because there was silence, but Derrick shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes. I really got the feeling I was missing a lot more than what I was even aware of, with all the head shaking and nodding going on between Derrick and Shirley.
Derrick stood up and asked, "Are you coming then?" He was looking my way and I felt much like a disciplined child.
I nodded and again expressed my thanks, “Thank you, Thomas and Shirley, for the wonderful meal. I will see you in the morning. Goodnight."
They both replied, "Good night and have a great sleep.” They were looking at each other strangely, as they spoke.
I stepped through the garden door and the smell of a thousand, or more flowers hit my nose before they were actually visible. It was the most exquisite scent I had encountered in a long time. The castle had large steeples on each of the four corners forming an enormous square, and in the center was a beautiful garden. We walked to the closest bench and sat down.
“I know you’ve been having strange dreams. Do you want to talk about them?" Derrick asked. I told him about the dreams, the stones, and Max. I rambled on for what seemed like hours.
When I was finally done he said, “I wasn’t aware that there were any other families. Have you found all the stones?”
“No, I am missing two of the four”.
"The gifts you have are only passed down through a direct bloodline. Were you adopted, because I don’t recall my parents sharing anything about your last name’s lineage. I thought I knew all the last names of the direct descendants’ of our bloodline," he replied with surprise in his voice.
"When my great-great grandparents came from Scotland they changed their last name hoping for a new start," I said.
"Do you know what their last name was before they changed it?"
“No, I’m sure my parents do, but I never found it important."
Derrick laughed, and replied, “Here, I thought the reason I ran into you was because I was supposed to learn patience. To my surprise, I realize that it is because I’m to help you open up to your gifts."
“Please don’t do me any favors; you haven’t been a piece of cake either,” I responded in a snotty tone. “You may excuse yourself from my presence at any time, thank you."
I turned to walk away, thinking what an insufferable bore he was. I only made two steps when he grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. Both of his arms where around my waist and my hands were in front of me trying to keep him at bay.
He looked me in the eye as he said, “I find being in your presence difficult, but not
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