The White Aura (The White Aura Series)

by Felicia Tatum

  “Something is going on. Weird stuff. Do you two know about it?”

  My mother’s eyes widened, and she looked down quickly. My father cleared his throat and slid his leg back to the linoleum. “No, Olivia. We can’t talk about anything that may be happening to you.”

  Shocked, my eyes narrowed, and my mouth fell open. “What…?”

  “Just…know we are here for you, baby.” my mother said in her sweetest voice.

  I shook my head in confusion. “No, it doesn’t sound like you are.”

  “We’re sorry, but we can’t,” my father said. He placed both hands on the table.

  “You’re serious? I tell you weird things are taking place, not even going into detail, and you immediately say we can’t talk about it? What kind of parents are you?” I asked.

  My mother’s eyes welled up with big tears. She reached for my father’s hand, and they sat there, not saying a word. Not denying what I accused them of or that something was occurring with me. I slid the chair back from the table making a loud screeching noise. In my anger, I somehow knocked my juice over and ruined their papers. Not that I cared at this point. I stood with my hands on my hips and my body shook with anger. “I can’t even talk to either of you right now. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I can’t believe you won’t help me.” I couldn’t stop the tears that started falling.

  “We love you,” my mother called as I rushed out of the kitchen.

  Scott

  Between researching the descendants of Devlin Hart and keeping track of The Crimson Calamitous, I hardly had time to study for finals. Santos was a life saver. He went above and beyond the brotherly role and dove head first into the descendant research for me. I wasn’t sure I could wait until October to be with my Livvie.

  The odd thing about this “Aiden” character was how he wasn’t hiding the fact that he’s a sorcerer. He knew Mark was aware of who he was, yet he still came around. There was something really weird about this evil being.

  Today, I was researching legends on sorcery. Humans wrote all kinds of fun stories about us they thought were folklore. Most were actually our history, only humanized a little.

  There was one in particular about an evil sorcerer. His lover had been murdered, and the loss of his soul mate killed him. The evil sorcerer had a red aura. Yes, humans knew about sorcerers having auras, but since they couldn’t see them, we had nothing to worry about. This story was definitely about The Crimson Calamitous. Only the humans got it wrong. He hadn’t been killed. In fact, he seemed as strong as ever. He sensed me espying easily enough.

  I wasn’t sure how I thought the human legends would help me, but it was worth a shot to look them up. It was interesting to see our history interpreted. I couldn’t burden my family with more stress about the whole situation. Sebastian still wasn’t cooperating. Sadie and Santos were my rocks, though. They were helping me and Grandma in amazing ways. Sadie was actually getting ready to help me with a big stressor shortly. I only needed to finish getting the supplies ready.

  Olivia

  The doorbell rang when I was sitting on the couch working on history homework. It was late Sunday afternoon, and my parents were away at dinner. They hadn’t told me to expect anyone, though. Things had been tense since our argument. I stayed in my room, and they didn’t try to explain anything. I declined their invitation to dinner. I didn’t really want to go anywhere with them, because I didn’t want to be around them.

  I opened the door and there stood a girl close to my age. She had long dark brown hair, big brown eyes, and she was very petite. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I knew her from. “Yes? Can I help you?”

  “Yeah, my name is Sadie. You don’t know me, but I believe you know my brother. He visits you in your dreams?”

  Well, this was surprising. “Uh…why don’t you come in?”

  She sashayed through the door like she owned the place. For someone my age, she exuded confidence. She was wearing tight jeans with holes in the knees and heels that made her taller than me. A fitted tank top with a vest and at least a dozen necklaces completed the ensemble. Her hair was loose and wavy, making her look pretty. “Please, come and sit down. Would you like anything to something to drink? We have water, juice, and I think a few soft drinks…”

  “No, thank you. I don’t have time for small talk. My brother found out some disturbing news today, and I’m here to make sure you stay safe. I have some protection charms to place around your house. Also, I’ll put some wards outside, if that’s ok with you. No one will be able to see them. Only magical beings will know they are there.”

  Wow, she sure was bossy. “Uh..sure. Can you tell me what this is about?”

  “No. I don’t want to scare you or anything. We’re just taking precautions.”

  Scare me? Yeah, she succeeded at that already. “Ok. Go ahead. Is there anything I need to do?”

  She handed me a beautiful ring. It was silver with a light pink stone. It was delicate and fit my finger perfectly. “Yes, wear this at all times. It’s a personalized protection charm. It will help you if you get into any trouble. It’ll activate so we can come to protect you.”

  Umm…cool. “Ok. That’s neat. This ring is beautiful…”

  “My brother figured you would like it,” she said with a huge smile on her face.

  Oh, yeah. She was his sister. She could tell me more about him. “Yeah…your brother. I sure would like to know more about him. I’m interesting in learning anything I can…like maybe his name?”

  She giggled and said, “Nope. I’m under strict orders not tell you anything. He wants to woo you himself.”

  Well, it was worth a shot. This guy seemed pretty romantic. “Ooook. I guess I can’t argue with that. Well, how about you? Are we allowed to get to know each other?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m Sadie. I’m fifteen, and I think I’m a better sorcerer than my brothers. I excel at protection charms. It’s why I’m here. I don’t mean to sound over-confident. It’s just the way it is.” Her face lit up while she spoke. This chick was smart. I wished I could have confidence like that.

  “Well, I only have one sibling and he’s not around much, so by default I’m smarter than him also,” I said with a laugh.

  “Oh, definitely.”

  I’d never been a fan of awkward silence, but what else was there to be said? I really wanted her to enlighten me about Mr. Sexy, but that obviously was not going to happen. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was after seven. “Hey, I’m about to cook dinner. Do you want to stay?”

  She pondered the question, looking unsure. “You know what? Why not? My brother never said I couldn’t hang out with you.”

  Now that the easy part was accomplished. I only needed to trick her into telling me something. “Well, let’s go. It’s right through here,” I said as I led her through our long hallway.

  The doors to our spacious kitchen swung open, and I held it so it wouldn’t hit her. My father had just remodeled last year, so everything was new and shiny. I went to the refrigerator to see what we could eat. I discovered a pack of chicken breasts and some vegetables. “Is this ok? It’s all we have…”

  “Sure. It’ll be delicious.”

  We went to work. Against my wishes, she helped me. I had a suspicion she was using magic, because she was a super cook. She kept quiet, though. There was something she wanted to say but didn’t know how. “What is it?” I asked gently.

  “My brother can’t come see you in your dreams anymore. The Crimson Calamitous knows he’s been spying and may harm you if he knows you two are connected.”

  “The Crimson Calamitous?” Was she serious? “Say that again.” I was very confused.

  “He’s an old legend in the sorcerer world, but S..uh, brother found out he is real.”

  “S…does his name start with S?”

  “My brother? Yes. Our parents named all of us names starting with S.”

  How cool was that? “Oh, so how many brothers do you have?�
�

  “Three. Santos, Sebastian, and….my other brother. They’re all older than I am.”

  “Those are really cool names. I don’t suppose I get to know your last name?”

  “No, bro doesn’t want you to be able to find us before the curse is safe.”

  Oh, yeah. That damn curse. “Oh…right. I forgot about that for a second.”

  Our dinner was ready to eat. I carried our dishes to the table, arranging it half way decently. I wanted his sister to like me, because I had a feeling they were close. I don’t think he would have sent her to me if he didn’t have a close connection to her. We sat at the table and ate in silence.

  ###

  Sadie placed small objects all throughout my house. Some looked like wind chimes and some like small pieces of dust. She hid them so my parents wouldn’t find them and throw them out. She went outside and was reciting something that sounded like Latin. I watched her intently, but nothing happened. Nothing that I could see anyways. She walked slowly all through my front and back yards, repeating the same incantation. Her hands were lifted towards the sky, and she was concentrating so hard that I thought she had forgotten where she was and that I was still here. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have magical powers. To be able to protect someone the way she was. It was amazing to me. She walked up, looking tired and worn. “Are you ok?”

  “Yes. Using a lot of magic is tiring. I gotta go now.”

  “Ok. It was nice to meet you and I hope we see each other again soon.” I hugged her.

  She felt like a friend, even though we had only known each other for about three hours.

  “Oh, definitely. I will be the go between during this mess,” she said with grin. She looked pleased that she was the one chosen to help.

  I wanted to give her a message for Mr. Sexy, but I wasn’t sure what to say. “Can you…I mean…just…can you tell Mr. Sexy that I’ll miss our dreams?”

  “Mr. Sexy?” she said with a snort, “you call my brother Mr. Sexy?”

  Oopsy. “Uhh…yeah. I mean, he is.”

  “Oh, man, I’ll have to tease him about this,” she said with a chuckle, “but yes, I’ll tell him you’ll miss him.”

  We hugged again, and she closed her eyes and disappeared. Wow, that was cool. Why couldn’t I be special? I headed back inside to finish my homework, locking the door behind me.

  Scott

  Sadie was the only one I could trust with Livvie. She would be able to talk to her and not slip up on anything. I didn’t want Livvie to know that Aiden was The Crimson Calamitous. It would scare her too much, and I didn’t want her in any more danger. Who knew? He could find out she knew and kill her then and there. I shuddered at the thought of it when I felt a whoosh of wind. Suddenly, Sadie was standing in front of me.

  “Well hello….Mr. Sexy” she said with a snort.

  Oh, great. Livvie had let her nickname for me slip. “Hey, I am sexy, little sis,” I teased.

  “That is so gross. I can’t believe she calls you that.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Did you get everything put in position?”

  She nodded. “Yep, now I’m out of here. Livvie is cool, though. I think I’ll like having her around.” And she was gone to do whatever it was she did in her free time.

  I looked at my notes. I’d been outlining descendant information while she was gone. I needed to keep busy, because she was with my Livvie when I couldn’t be. I made a board of connections which was hanging on my wall. I wasn’t any closer to finding the descendent now than I was two hours ago.

  I sighed as I slouched in the chair. I didn’t know what I would do now that I couldn’t go see Livvie in her dreams. I could still espy her, but it wasn’t the same. I wouldn’t be able to touch her and feel her presence. Or her kiss. I ran my hand through my hair and tapped my foot. I didn’t know how I would be able to do this for the next four and a half months. I leaned back in the chair with my head nodding to the side. Sighing heavily, I made a fist and hit the arm of the chair three times.

  “Yo, Scott?” Santos was standing at my door.

  “Yeah?” I barely glanced at him.

  “I just wanted to check on you…”

  “I’m fine, dude. I’m just worried about Livvie.”

  “I know, man. Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” he said as he walked into the room, “I wanted to tell you that I’ve been doing a lot of research today. Devlin Hart was a very secretive person…I really hope we can figure this out, though. I mean, it would help our whole family if we could get rid of this damn curse.”

  “Oh, yeah. It would be awesome. I will help you look more after I get this whole Crimson Calamitous thing settled. There’s a chart but I haven’t gotten anywhere yet,” I said and nodded to the board leaned against the wall.

  “No worries. I know we have a bad situation on our hands,” he said and turned to leave.

  “Thanks, Santos,” I called as he walked back out the door leading to the house. Santos and Sebastian may be identical twins, but they couldn’t be more different. Santos was caring and worried about others while Sebastian worried only about himself. They were my brothers, though, and I loved them. I just wished Sebastian could be as caring. Sometimes I thought he was jealous. He’s the oldest of the twins and he would have gotten all my powers if I hadn’t been the firstborn. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. I would have to worry about my brother later. Sitting back, I decided to espy Livvie. My relaxation began.

  Olivia

  It was almost time for bed, and I dreaded it. I had dreamed with Mr. Sexy for a year and two months straight. I didn’t know what would happen tonight. I didn’t think I would be able to sleep as well. My phone chimed as I was sitting in the window seat. I didn’t really want to get up to find out who it was. I continued to stare out the window, glancing from the moon down to the trees. That’s when I noticed something was moving. My heartbeat got faster and it was difficult to breath. My hands became sweaty, and I gripped the seat, trying not to get up and run. Someone was in a tree watching me. I tried not to show my panic, because I didn’t want the person to know I was aware. I looked back up at the moon, not letting the shadowy form out of my peripheral vision.

  I slowly rose and went to my dresser to answer my phone. It was from Aiden, and he wanted to see me tonight. I laughed to myself while glancing at the clock. It was past 10 p.m. There was no way my parents would let him come over this late. Especially on a school night. I texted him back and told him I would just see him tomorrow. Aiden could be cocky, but the past few days had been fun. He was showing me a different side of him, and it was kind of nice. I didn’t think I was in love with him or anything, but maybe the dance wouldn’t be awkward. I decided I would dance with him, but I was going solo. He hadn’t taken it very well and was trying even harder to be charming.

  I went back to the window searching for someone still out there. I couldn’t see any movements in the trees, but I saw the deer from my dream staring up at me. Her eyes were wide and caring while peeping up at me in the moonlight. My mind raced as I moved closer to the window. My hand reached up as if touching the window would somehow bring me closer to her. Suddenly, I heard something behind me. I closed my ruffled curtains and turned quickly. There was a small, antique key on my bed. I turned my head in confusion and noticed there was a note: “Tell it where you need to go and it will take you. –Sadie.”

  Well, this couldn’t be good. Maybe whoever was watching me was that red calamari person she told me about. I turned it over to see if there was anything on the back. There wasn’t. Why couldn’t she have told me more about these events? Was I supposed to keep this with me all the time in case something bad happened? Sighing, I snagged it off the bed and took it to my top dresser drawer. My parents were observant when they came in my room, and I didn’t want them asking any questions. I could imagine my response. “Uhh…well I have dreams about this attractive guy, who just happens to be a sorcerer. His sister sent it to me because th
ere is an evil, red calamari after me.” Yeah…that would go over swell.

  I trudged down the hall towards the bathroom. My mother called from the living room to ask if I were going to bed. After a quick “yes,” I slid into the bathroom to brush my teeth. After, I hurried back to my bedroom and stripped. I usually slept in just a cami and boy shorts, but tonight I chose to sleep in a T-shirt and shorts. I didn’t feel comfortable after seeing someone outside my window. Even though the curtains were closed. I turned off the light and crawled into bed, sad and wondering what the night would bring.

  Scott

  I had been espying Livvie when she saw someone in her trees. It was The Crimson Calamitous. I could see his red aura. I had panicked and sent the key, but signed Sadie’s name. I didn’t want her to feel like I was invading her privacy, but she knew Sadie had placed things around her room and home to help keep her safe. Aiden was getting a little too close. The fact that he was watching her so closely when he knew he would see her tomorrow was terrifying. I knew what his plan was, but now I was wondering if maybe he intended to do this before the dance. Originally, I thought the event was his target date. It only gave me a week to figure out a plan, but now I wasn’t so sure.

  I found out some useful information when I was reading tonight. Some information in our history books, not human folklore. It seemed he was almost destroyed once before. The year was 1825, and it was right after he attacked the counsel in England. (Each country possessed its own counsel headquarters.) One of the sorcerers was a dream walker like me, and she entered his mind to destroy him from the inside out. It was the closest to destruction The Crimson Calamitous had come to in his existence. I couldn’t find what spell had been used, however. I thought if Grandma and I worked together, we could figure out what spells would work in dreams. I wouldn’t be able to espy him anymore, but maybe he would give something away while I was espying Livvie. Which reminded me, I wanted to tonight while she slept to make sure she was ok. I sat back and relaxed, concentrating on her beautiful face.