by V L Friends
Over the next couple of days, I was in this state of euphoria. Julian and Sebastian didn’t know what to do with me. They must have thought I went crazy. I found my violin and played it often. I gave spontaneous shows of dance and violin playing at all hours of the day and night. Also, sometimes I thought of something funny and would be laughing for hours. Sometimes nothing was funny but I laughed anyway. The maid and the cook were used to me doing this sort of thing when Julian and Caleb were not home, but this was the first time I had done this around Julian. The staff would often join in with dancing and clapping, but Julian and Sebastian mostly stood quietly in the corner of a room watching, arms folded across their chests, brows furrowed with worry.
Finally, Shane showed up one morning in his human form to pay a visit. It was strange seeing him this way. I could not give him eye contact. Sam and her brother from the Amish farm came to visit me the same morning. They were the twin brother and sister who had a special way about them. They could sometimes see the future. Anyway, they decided I was to be their friend and sometimes showed up without warning. They were barely in their teens but seemed to already have so much wisdom. Samuel played guitar and Sam loved to sing. This particular morning, they had brought a kite and insisted I teach them how to fly it. So when Shane showed up there we were in the field with this kite. I still felt in a state of euphoria, so getting this thing in the air proved to be rather comical. My limbs were still not very coordinated but little did I care. My heart leapt when I saw Shane standing on the porch talking with Sebastian. I saw that the twins finally figured out how to fly the kite without my help, so I sat down in the tall grass to observe. This gave me an opportunity to tune my super keen hearing to the conversation the two men were having.
“Hello, Sebastian. I am Shane.”
“Nice to formally meet you. I am glad you could come. I have been looking for you,” Sebastian said politely and shook Shane’s hand.
Shane nodded my direction. “She is doing a lot better.”
“What’s wrong with her? Why is she acting so strange?” Sebastian seemed concerned.
“It is the joy of the Lord; it’s helping her heal,” said Shane. “It affects everyone differently.”
“It’s as if she is intoxicated. Has she lost her mind?” Sebastian observed and asked.
“No, she hasn’t lost her mind,” said Shane with a grin.
“I see… I’ll let Julian know not to worry. It’s too bad he is not here to greet you.” Sebastian had no idea how funny that was. We all know that Julian made himself scarce when Shane would come around. I snickered at the thought and wondered how much Sebastian really knew about Shane.
“Yes... well… sorry I missed him.” Shane’s voice was not sarcastic at all. It was strange. It was like he really meant it.
“Now, if you will excuse me, I should go say hello to Anaya.” He nodded and stepped off the porch. As he did this, I suddenly felt a rush of nervousness. This was such a complicated friendship I had with Shane. My humanness was just not very good at handling this relationship. I was so embarrassed. After all, I had actually stripped naked right in front of him. I was upset with him rejecting me and the idea in my head was that he was doing it because I was too human. So, I guess I just flaunted my humanness. Nevertheless I was regretting it and was too embarrassed to face him. I thought of everything Shane had been to me all of my life. As a young child I had memories of him snuggling me close as he rocked me to sleep at night, and him bandaging my scraped knee when I fell off my bike. The way he taught me to swim. He was my first dance partner in the 8th grade. He had always been there for me but why did my heart feel so betrayed right now? There was so much I was left in the dark about while I was growing up with him. Why had he pulled away from me? I hated needing him so much right now. My emotions where in turmoil, so I did the only thing I could do… I got up and ran. Okay how I ever thought I would outrun an angel, I don’t know. I was not rational. I guess I didn’t actually think he would come after me but he did.
“Anaya, stop!” His voice was so gentle and calm. He was right behind me.
“Shane… I don’t understand who you are to me anymore!” I began to walk fast toward the stables. “I don’t know how to handle what I am feeling inside.” Oh no! I could feel the hot tears forming in my eyes.
“Let me help you sort it out, Anaya.”
“I am freaking out right now!” Obviously, I was.
“You and I have a lot of things to talk about. You have been through a lot so it’s okay if you freak out, but don’t push me away right now.” He was being the voice of reason again.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I needed to stop running and this was a perfect opportunity. I had someone offering me help. For the first time, I actually didn’t feel so alone. I turned to face Shane. I still could not look him in the eyes.
After a long pause I finally spoke, “I am sorry I made you chase me down.”
“Well, you are well worth the chase.” I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was smiling with a hint of teasing in his eyes.
His simple response had brought relief and warmth to my heart. It was then that I realized that I thought he, for some reason, was upset with me and had abandoned me. I knew that angels didn’t have the same emotions as humans and he was not capable of hating me, but I thought I had disappointed him by begging for Julian’s life. I didn’t know until now, but I was grieving the loss of my guardian angel and best friend all this time. He reached his hand out to me and tearfully I took it.
“They think I’ve gone mad.” With a grin, I nodded in the direction of Sebastian, who was standing on the back porch watching us intently.
“Yeah,” he seemed amused by their curiosity.
“I wondered if I would ever see you again. After the way I departed from you at the lake…” I paused, suddenly feeling my face turn red with embarrassment. “That is, what I mean to say is that I am sorry I threw a tantrum.”
“Well, you are full of surprises, aren’t you?” he laughed.
I guess it was easier to see the humor now. “Thanks for the clothes, by the way.”
“You’re most welcome.” Shane was still amused. “Ya know, when you were a toddler, we had a hard time keeping clothes on you too, so I guess I should not be surprised.”
“Okay that’s enough of that.” It felt good to be laughing with him like old times but still he loved teasing me and would only keep going if I didn’t discourage it now.
“Well, I will tell you what I did not expect…” His face was suddenly serious. “I did not expect for you to become so chummy with one of the most dangerous sorcerers on earth.”
My heart sank at the thought.
“I guess I never do things halfway, do I?” I shrugged. “I never saw it coming… and the thing is, Shane, I may have felt some things that made me suspect a little that something wasn’t right, but I am baffled at the fact that that kind of evil could be so close with me and I not know it. How could I have been so oblivious? I actually had affection for him.”
“That is one of the things that makes him so dangerous.”
“Is it true that he was working for, or with, Louis?”
“Yeah, but it seems that he was betraying Louis and going off on his own in the end Anaya, there is something that you must know… Actually, there a few things I have to tell you…”
“Stop. I don’t know if I am ready to hear them yet.” I just knew this was going to be another thing that would bring me to my knees. “Can we just be together for a little while longer?”
“Okay.” He was still holding my hand and we began to walk together in the woods. Just two people on a beautiful morning stroll. I felt like I was a little girl again when Shane and I would go for long walks hand in hand.
When we came back to where the twins were flying their kite, we found them and Sebastian engaging them in conversation while trying to untangle the kite.
“Well, I do find it interesting that it was actually a k
ite being struck by lightning that caused Benjamin Franklin to discover electricity. Electricity is the very thing that the Amish reject, yet a kite they enjoy.” Sebastian was teasing them again. He found the Amish community very fascinating.
“I wouldn’t say we reject electricity or technology; we just choose to live more simply in our day to day lives.” Samuel was taking the bait.
As I approached them Sebastian gave me a wink. “Well, here comes Anaya to the rescue. It seems I have sabotaged their fun.” He gestured to me. “My attempt at flying this contraption was unsuccessful.”
“I’ll say,” I said, laughing while noticing the tangled mess of string.
“It’s okay, Mr. Crane, we’ll handle things from here,” said Sam, as she took the kite in her hands. “We should be going now anyway.”
Samuel turned to me as they were leaving. “My father wants to know if you and Shane will join us for dinner tomorrow? We have a community dinner that starts at 4 p.m.”
“Yes, definitely,” I said.
“I would be delighted,” said Shane.
“Oh, and you are welcome to join us too Mr. Crane, if you would like.”
“Thank you,” was all Sebastian would say.
It was a good thing Julian was not there. I wondered if they would have invited him. Let’s just say Julian was not one of their favorite people.
Just as we were watching the twins walk away we all were startled by the sound of a slamming door. It was coming from inside the house. There were loud voices. It was Julian and he was yelling at someone.
“That’s probably Julian yelling at the help again. He is in a mood,” Sebastian was warning us.
“Well, that’s my cue. We can finish talking tomorrow. I’ll come pick you up around 3?” Shane leaned over to kiss me goodbye on the cheek.
Sebastian was looking at me rather intently. He looked puzzled.
“What?” I asked as I headed inside.
“Well, I was just wondering what the nature of your relationship is with that man? Is he a love interest?”
“What?! Are you serious?” The thought made me laugh.
“Shane raised me.”
“I see.”
“Well, he is also in human form but you know he is actually an angel? He is my guardian angel.”
“Wow! I did not know that.” Sebastian’s look of surprise was priceless.
“Ummm, I probably should not tell you this but he is the one who tried to kill Julian.”
“Ah! Well, that explains it.”
“What?”
“Why Julian has been in such a mood lately.”
“Did I hear my name?” Julian burst in the kitchen.
“Julian, who were you yelling at?” I liked all the help we had here and I was not going to let Julian bully them.
“Never mind, it’s nothing… just that the gardener can’t seem to prune the roses outside right. Anyway, how did your visit with Shane go, or should I say ‘el douche’?”
“Not funny,” I said.
“Seb, did you ever find out if this one is crazy or not... what did Shane say?” Julian was clearly baiting me. So, it must mean he and I were on good terms again. Things were getting back to normal.
“Hey! I am right here!” I took his bait. At least he wasn’t hiding his feelings.
“Yes, you are, darling.” He kissed me on the forehead in a condescending way and then turned to Sebastian. “Seriously, what’s the verdict? Is it time to make her a padded room?”
Well, it seemed like Julian was back to normal.
“Ugh! Well, I’m outta here,” I said and began to leave the kitchen.
“Wait a minute, young lady… where are you going?” Julian grabbed my arm in protest. “We have some work to do on you today. Just you and me.”
“What are you talking about?” I was getting impatient, or at least acting like it anyway.
“He had his time with you, now it’s my turn.”
“Really? You sound like a jealous child.” I gave Julian an incredulous look.
“Just humor me here. I have a day planned.” Julian was not taking no for an answer.
“Fine.” I could not resist when he looked at me that way.
It was hard to know how to dress for this day, since I had no idea of Julian’s plans but I gave it a shot. He was waiting for me outside and was holding a machete.
“Umm, what the heck, Julian?” I protested.
“Today you are going to learn how to defend yourself.”
“So what are you going to do, attack me with that?” I asked.
“Not yet; first I teach you how to use it.” He handed me a wooden machete. “Now, I want you to show me what you got… Attack me with this.”
“You are crazy!” I turned to walk away but Julian caught me and locked his arms around me in some kind of hold.
“Try to get out of this,” he whispered in my ear.
He was serious. Now I was angry. My head swung back and hit him in the face and my foot made contact with his man parts and then when I was free I swung my fist at his nose, hit him in the gut and kicked until he went down. It happened so quickly he seemed to be stunned.
“Okay… so were did that machete go?” I looked around for where he dropped it but I was mostly kidding. Mostly.
“Maybe you should have a safe word.” Sebastian had come out of the house and witnessed this display and seemed very amused. He couldn’t stop laughing.
“Okay, well, I guess we don’t need to work on that at all.” Julian pulled himself off the ground while wiping the blood from his nose.
This was not the best way for a father and daughter to bond, I will admit, but for some reason it was an icebreaker for us. We began to talk in between lunges while sword fighting.
“So, why is it you are so anxious to get me trained in self-defense?”
“It is not safe for you to be here, Anaya. I ran into some of Louis’s men. Oh, by the way, you are not to go anywhere in town or in the woods alone. Sebastian or I are to be with you… You got that, Anaya?” He dared pointing a sword at me to emphasize his point.
I turned away to hide my eye roll.
“That’s good news. So why is it not safe and why are we doing this?” I asked nonchalantly.
“He wants to meet with us. We have to be prepared for anything,” Julian said as he swung his blade for a few practice swings.
“I see.” I cringed at the idea of seeing Louis again.
I had another question that had been on my mind since I had been back home. “Julian, I know that this may be hard to talk about, but I was wondering if you know what happened to Caleb?”
“I don’t think Louis has him—so far no sign of him.” This was disturbing him and I could tell it was weighing heavily on his mind. “I think we are done with this now.” He walked away without another word. The subject had upset him.
It was my turn to grab him. I ran up to him and threw my arms around him, hugging his back. “Jules, don’t worry, we will find him.” I was happy he didn’t pull away. We stood there for a while hugging. Or me hugging and him letting me, rather.
“This defending yourself stuff is never going to work if you are going to go around hugging all the time.” He was back to kidding around.
“Yeah, and maybe you aren’t so fierce anymore yourself,” I replied, sheepishly.
“It’s all your fault,” he said with a chuckle, looking down at me with affection in his eyes.
“I know.”
“Hey, are you two done with your bonding time... or whatever this is?” Sebastian interrupted.
Chapter 16 – Things Revealed
Dinner with them was a little awkward, as I noticed Sebastian seemed to have something on his mind all evening. Even as we retreated to the living room by the fire to talk, he was unusually quiet and stared off in space as if preoccupied. I did my usual poetry reading, but Julian cut me off in the middle with something to share and I knew I was in for a surprise. Not a good one, I assumed.
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“Okay, I do believe you were holding out on me before,” he said as he walked over and turned on some music. He must have been planning this. With the sound of Salsa music piercing my ears, I got up to put a stop to it, for I knew what was coming next.
“Oh no!” I said.
“Oh, yes!” He grinned and I cringed at what I knew was coming. “You did not count on me finding out, did you?” Julian was very smug and Sebastian cocked an eyebrow. “As it turns out, our girl led me to believe she had two left feet. Oh, yes, my toes felt the pain of that deception, but as it turns out you actually are a champion ballroom dancer, aren’t you, love? You lied to me and now you must pay.”