Two days later after a frustrating day at school Emma peeled out of the school parking lot. Nothing good had happened that day. A near constant headache and the strange buzzing in her head had kept her distracted the whole day. Apparently the teachers could sense her distraction because each one of them chose her as their favorite target for the day.
For each of the questions they asked she stared at them, clueless as to what they were talking about. Three of her teachers gave her additional homework to do to help her learn the material better since she was obviously struggling and the other three just settled for giving her disapproving glares.
Then, on top of the headaches and the buzzing in her head, Emma also spent the entire day feeling hungrier than she ever had in her entire life. The lunch she normally packed for herself, a sandwich with chips, an apple, and a cookie hardly even made a dent in her appetite. She had to go buy lunch in the cafeteria. As if the stares she got from other students when they saw how full her tray was wasn’t bad enough, Emma tripped right as she was walking past the table where Morgan and Jason were eating lunch.
Food went everywhere, a large portion of it staining the front of her shirt. Morgan, of course, pointed and laughed at her, making sure that everyone saw. Luckily the cafeteria ladies also saw the whole embarrassing thing and took pity on her, letting her grab another serving of the food that had been ruined when she tripped.
After eating that food as quickly as she could, somehow managing to swallow past the lump of humiliation in her throat, Emma ran out to her car to grab an extra shirt that she had in there. When she put it on she remembered that the reason it was left in her car was the huge hole in the side but she was already late to class and it was better than the pizza stains that were all over the front of the other shirt.
The extra time she spent running to her car and back meant she ran in to her next class after the bell. The teacher counted her tardy and told her that if she was late to class one more time she would get Saturday detention. If she got Saturday detention one more time Steve was going to ground her.
Not that it really made much of a difference, Emma didn’t go out much anyways but she just didn’t like knowing she wasn’t allowed to do anything. It was okay that she didn’t have a life if it was her choice, as soon as she was told she couldn’t that was when she wanted to go out.
Emma got to the coffee shop in record time that day, which might have been because she was driving at least 20 over the speed limit the entire way there. Emma jumped out of the car, nearly getting tangled in her seatbelt in her haste. Her entire body felt wired, like she had just chugged a giant energy drink on an empty stomach. Emma’s stomach growled and she rubbed her stomach with a grimace.
Emma quickly walked inside, nearly running into someone when she darted through the door.
“Watch it!” The man snapped, glaring at her indignantly.
“Sorry, I’m so sorry.” Emma said over her shoulder as she hurried over to the counter and stood at the end of the line. Only two people were in front of her but Emma could hardly keep herself still. Her impatience at standing still was quickly getting the best of her self-control and she began to get very annoyed at the girl in front of her who couldn’t decide on what stupid drink to order. A stab of pain hit her head, the headaches were hitting her any time she got overly excited today. Which happened to be about every five minutes or so.
Mark gave her a strange look as she stood still for a moment, holding her head between her hands against the pain. When it passed she returned to bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. Emma tried to restrain herself but only succeeded into confining the jitters into one foot, which tapped a million times a minute. After what seemed like forever, though was probably only three minutes, the girl finally made her order and moved out of Emma’s way. Emma jumped forward to stand in front of Mark.
“Hey Mark!” She said, wincing at how overly excited she sounded.
“Heyyy.” Mark said much more slowly. “Are you okay? You seem really…”
“Hyper? Energetic? Peppy?” Emma supplied.
“I was going to say on edge.” Mark replied. “But those work too.”
“I’m fine. Great. Fantastic.” Emma said, each word seeming to leap off her tongue. Realizing she was just making herself look even more off balance Emma quickly shut her mouth, preventing further words from jumping out.
“Right.” Mark said dubiously. “Maybe you should skip on the coffee today…”
“What? No! I’m fine. Really.” Using all of her willpower Emma made herself stand still and be calm. “See, no jitters.”
“Alright fine, do you want your usual then?” Mark asked, clearly unhappy about it but not willing to argue with her.
“Yes, the usual.” Emma said. Then her eyes latched hungrily onto the pastries displayed behind the glass counter. “And I want one of those raspberry Danishes. And that blueberry muffin. And a slice of that coffee cake.” She said, pointing at the different pastries that she wanted.
Mark frowned at her. “Did you eat lunch today?” He asked.
“Yeah, I had a great lunch. Why?” Emma asked.
“I’ve just never known you to eat so much.” Mark said, his brow furrowed as he stared at her.
Emma shrugged, beginning to bounce up and down again. “I’m just hungry today.”
“Alright, your total is $14.52.” Mark said. He turned to grab the pastries as Emma dug through her purse for her wallet, pulling out fifteen dollars to hand to Mark. A minor stab of pain hit her head, Emma squinted her eyes a bit but only hesitated in her actions for a moment. Compared to the others this minor pain was hardly worth noticing. Mark noticed her wince of pain as he handed her the pastries.
“Are your headaches coming back?” He asked, concern in his eyes.
Emma nodded sheepishly. She didn’t like complaining about her headaches but Mark could always tell when they were getting too bad.
“Okay, go find some place to sit and I’ll bring you your drink.” Mark said.
“Thanks Mark.” Emma said with a grateful smile.
Holding the bag of pastries in one hand she put her wallet back in her purse and turned to scan the room for any available seats. No seats were open though, so Emma leaned against the wall and awkwardly shuffled the bag of pastries and her wallet around in her hands until she could slide the wallet back into her purse. Feeling a little self-conscious about standing there with a bag of pastries by herself Emma scanned the room again, willing someone to leave so she could take their seat.
As she waited her stomach growled, reminding Emma of how hungry she was. Unable to resist, she peeked into the pastry bag and saw the coffee cake lying on top. Reaching inside Emma tore off a piece of coffee cake and started eating as she continued to scan the room for someplace to sit.
“Here’s your drink.” Mark said, appearing right next to her.
Emma jumped, coughing as she inhaled bits of coffee cake in her surprise.
“Thanks.” She managed to say in between coughs. She reached for the drink and took a few quick swallows, succeeding in clearing out her throat and replacing it with a brain freeze instead.
Mark laughed when Emma scrunched up her face and whimpered. “Brain freeze.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t drink it so fast then.” He said unhelpfully.
Emma stuck out her tongue at him but that only made Mark laugh more.
“So how bad are your headaches and how often have you been getting them?” Mark asked.
“Pretty bad.” Emma admitted. “I’m getting a sharp pain in my head every few minutes now.”
“Okay, turn around.” Mark said, grabbing the bag of pastries and her drink and setting them down on a nearby table. Emma eyed the food longingly but she obediently turned around. Mark placed one hand on the back of her neck and his other hand at the top of her forehead, pausing as Emma took a deep breath in to match his breathing to hers.
Emma felt the heat of Mark’s hand warm the b
ack of her neck and her forehead. From those two points the heat spread throughout her head, relaxing the tightness she felt within her brain. Like a warm wave it washed away the tension and the pain, allowing her to think clearly again. Mark lifted his hands and Emma blinked. She looked at Mark and gave him a huge grin.
“Feeling any better?” He asked.
“Yes, much better.” Emma said, giving him a smile. “How do you do that?” She asked him curiously, picking up her food and drink from the table.
“It’s a trick I learned from my dad.” Mark replied. “I think it has to do with energy balance or something.”
“Whatever it is it works. Thank you!” Emma said. She gave Mark a big hug, startling a laugh out of him.
“Wow, the headaches must have been really bad this time for you to give me a hug.” Mark said teasingly.
Emma made a face at him. “You have no idea.” She said.
“Okay, well I need to get back to work. Try not to hit your head or anything for the next 24 hours.” Mark said, turning to walk back to the counter.
“No promises.” Emma called after him.
Looking down at her hands Emma sighed. Now that she had to hold her drink she didn’t have a free hand to eat with. Giving up her search for an open seat as a lost cause and uncomfortable with standing awkwardly next to the wall Emma decided to walk over to the bookstore early. At least there she knew she would be able to find an open chair and a table to eat at.
When Emma walked into the bookstore the bell above the door chimed softly as the door swung open and closed. Mrs. White wasn’t in the main room. Thinking that maybe she was in one of the back rooms or her office Emma called out. “Mrs. White?” but she didn’t hear a response. Mrs. White probably hadn’t heard her or had stepped out for a moment. Walking over to one of the chairs with a coffee table in front of it Emma sat down and settled in, placing her coffee and pastries on the table in front of her.
Within moments the coffee cake was gone and so was the raspberry Danish. Emma was quickly working her way through the blueberry muffin when she heard a sound coming from the back of the room. Emma frowned. The only thing that was back there was the staircase and Mrs. White had told her didn’t lead anywhere.
Emma quietly stood up and tiptoed to the edge of the bookcase that blocked her view of the room with the staircase and peeked around it, trying to see what the sound was. At first all that Emma saw was the brown railing that surrounded the entrance to the staircase. Then Mrs. White’s head appeared as she walked up the staircase, followed by a man with curly brown hair that looked vaguely familiar.
“You shouldn’t have brought it here, it’s too dangerous.” Mrs. White was saying.
“Just for tonight.” The man said. “I’ll move it tomorrow.”
“You should not have come back here, you will lead them straight to us.”
“I didn’t have a choice. They were following me. I wasn’t going to be able to outrun them for much longer.”
“You never should have gotten involved Tyler.” Mrs. White admonished as she stepped through the gate separating the staircase from the rest of the room. “That is not what our family does.”
The man stepped into the small room and Emma got a clear look at his face. It was the crazy man from the coffee shop. But he did not look crazy anymore. His eyes were clear and he was no longer twitching nervously. Emma stifled a gasp. What was he doing here? “I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. Once she told me what was going to happen…”
Mrs. White stopped walking. “She?” She asked, turning to face him. Emma’s eyes widened at the look on Mrs. White’s face. The cheerful quirky woman she knew was nowhere to be seen. Mrs. White stood straight, her head held high as she stared Tyler down.
It was as if regality were draped over her shoulders like a robe. Her expression cold and distant as she looked at Tyler but Emma could see centuries of wisdom in her eyes. She raised an eyebrow imperiously, demanding an answer to a question it was obvious she already knew the answer to.
Tyler looked away guiltily, his lips setting in a stubborn line.
“Lady Alexandra.” Mrs. White’s cold tone made it clear it wasn’t a question. “Tyler, that woman is dangerous! How could you even let her get near you? The secrets we keep should never be known by anyone outside of the Circle and you spoke to the most powerful Secret Seeker in the history of our kind! What were you thinking?”
“She wasn’t listening to my secrets.” Tyler snapped. “She was telling me hers. If she is right…”
“I don’t want to hear what that woman told you.” Mrs. White cut him off harshly. “You went against everything we in the Circle stand for. I will let you keep it here for the night but tomorrow I want both of you to be gone. You are no longer a member of the Circle, my protection cannot extend to you any longer.”
Tyler stared at Mrs. White for a moment, his nostrils flaring in annoyance. Without a word he turned and stormed out the back door. Mrs. White watched until the door swung shut behind him. The stiffness left her spine and Mrs. White’s shoulders drooped as she dropped her head forward. She shuffled into her office and quietly shut the door.
Curiosity peaked, Emma waited until she heard the door to Mrs. White’s office close firmly before she snuck into the small back room with the staircase. Something very important was obviously being kept down there and Emma wanted to know what it was.
The staircase faced the back of the room and was sunk into the floor, with just a plain wooden railing around it. Emma circled around until she stood at the top of the steps and looked down. What are they keeping down there?
The staircase was narrow and made of very old wood. It didn’t seem to match the rest of the store. For some reason it seemed older, as if it had been there for much longer. Emma couldn’t see what was at the bottom of the staircase though. Halfway down the staircase was lost in shadows so thick she would need a flashlight to see.
Emma lifted her hand to open the small wooden gate set at the top of the staircase. Her hand rested on the smooth, cool wood as Emma took a deep breath in, smelling the dusty smell of the old books surrounding her and the stale air of the staircase. Finally getting up her courage Emma began pushing open the gate.
“Emma? What are you doing here so early?”
Mrs. White’s voice cut through the still air and Emma’s hand jerked back from the wood gate as though it had burned her.
“Mrs. White, I just walked in.” Emma lied. “I called your name but you didn’t reply and then I heard something from back here so I thought that maybe you had gone downstairs.” Then she realized Mrs. White had asked her why she was early, not what she was doing. “I know I’m early but the coffee shop was crowded and I just wanted a quiet place to sit and maybe do a little studying before work.” She added quickly.
Mrs. White looked at her carefully and Emma felt her face flush under Mrs. White’s scrutiny.
“You just came in?” Mrs. White asked, her gentle face serious.
Emma nodded her head. “Just a few moments ago.”
Mrs. White nodded, seemingly appeased by this answer. “I must not have heard you. I was on the phone in my office. If I’m not in the main room that’s where you will usually find me. I never go down there.” She informed Emma, looking pointedly at the staircase.
“Oh, okay.” Emma said softly, nodding her head in understanding.
“Your shift doesn’t start for another thirty minutes so feel free to study or do whatever you need to do until then. I’m just going to be back in my office.” Mrs. White said.
Emma smiled at Mrs. White as she walked past her to where she had left her backpack and coffee in the front of the store. She could feel Mrs. White watching her as she walked away but when she looked back as she sat down Mrs. White was walking towards her office. Emma reached into her backpack and pulled out her history book.
What had Mrs. White and Tyler been talking about? She wanted to investigate the
staircase some more and find out what was down there but she had a feeling that Mrs. White would be checking on her to make sure Emma was really studying like she said she would be. So Emma opened her history book and began talking notes. Besides, she admitted to herself, she really did need to study.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Forgeron Legacy Page 8