Amethyst - Book One of the Guardian Series

by Heather Bowhay

  “Secret admirers?” I gave her a funny look.

  She nodded vigorously. “Female checkers receive flowers all the time. In fact, a couple weeks after a new checker starts, male shoppers go into a buying frenzy. It’s a bizarre grocery store phenomenon. Just you wait and see. Your time is coming.” With a sparkle in her eye she added, “You might want to consider wearing a ring on your left hand; that helps a little.”

  “That’s crazy,” I said dubiously.

  “You’re telling me, but back to Tori.” She turned her head slightly, as if trying to avoid a rotten smell. “She doesn’t let anyone forget that she’s received the most flowers of all the girls in the front end.”

  I laughed. “I can’t imagine she’s really that bad—”

  “Oh, she is. She’ll make you feel like you never left high school.”

  “Okay, well thanks for the heads up then,” I said and diverted my attention to a lady whose cart was chalked full of groceries. After she left, I noticed Jessica drumming her fingers on the credit card machine. She was staring at me with a mischievous grin.

  “Jessica, I don’t like that look…”

  She rubbed her hands together and said in a hushed voice, “I’ve just devised the perfect plan.” She smacked her lips together. “I’ll send you flowers once a week and sign the cards from, Your Secret Admirer.” She winked and giggled. “Of course, I’ll plan it for the days you and Tori are both working. Ohhh, this could be hilariously fun. Maybe that would shut her up for awhile…”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” I scolded and threw my pen at her.

  She caught it and laughed, “Sorry Lexi, but I’m onto something here.” Regaining some composure, she stood tall and said dismissively, “We’ll talk more later.”

  “Jessica…” I threatened, but a throng of customers bombarded the front end and we went to work. I listened in as an older couple discussed the headlines of the Herald, but the topic soon turned morbid.

  “Oh, how awful!” exclaimed the lady holding the newspaper.

  “What?” her husband asked.

  Without looking up she said, “You know that man they found in the alley in Fairhaven yesterday morning?” The words Fairhaven and alley immediately caught my attention.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, he never regained consciousness, and now he’s slipped into a coma. He’s been identified as a Western student, but they won’t publish his name until his family has been notified.” She looked up and caught my horrified expression. “Oh dear, hadn’t you heard?” Another wave of apprehension swept over me, and I shook my head. “Oh, it’s really awful. It looks like this young man was outside in the rain all night – you know, the night of the terrible thunderstorm.” With my mouth hanging open, I nodded and listened in stunned silence, finding it difficult to scan their items. She pointed to the article and kept on talking. “Anyways, they aren’t releasing a lot of information, but it says here there was no evidence of foul play; although, they did find two empty bottles of Safire in the alley.”

  “Outrageous,” her husband said angrily, shaking his head. “That Safire crap is fused with enough malt liquor, vitamins, and caffeine to wake a dead person.” He banged a few cans onto the belt. “If you ask me, I think these new energy drinks are responsible for all the strange illnesses surfacing across college campuses.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Tell me you don’t drink that stuff.”

  “Uh, no sir,” I said, wide-eyed.

  “Good, and don’t start.” Emphatically, he waved a box of pasta in the air.

  The woman grabbed the pasta box. “Honey, there hasn’t been any link between those drinks and the hospitalizations. It’s more likely it is some new strain of human influenza.”

  I didn’t follow the news very closely, but it would have been near impossible not to have heard about the incidents they were referring to. Over the last few years, an alarming number of people, mostly students, were being treated for mysterious medical conditions, like severe disorientation or complete memory loss. A few had even died. Experts didn’t have any answers, which made it that much more terrifying and perplexing. But nothing like that had occurred in Western Washington. Until now.

  “Well Louise,” the man rolled a cantaloupe onto the belt and put the grocery divider down, “I hope that’s not the case.” He took a deep breath and pulled his wallet out of his pocket.“At least the young man is not dead. Whatever the cause, let’s just hope it wasn’t foul play. We don’t want a serial killer on the loose here like they’ve got across the border.” He looked at me and shook his head.

  “Mmm hmm,” I murmured, with a nod. I hadn’t heard anything about a serial killer in Canada.

  “That’s for sure,” the lady agreed. She pointed at the newspaper again. “It says here it will be a few weeks until the toxicology reports come in. I just hope the dear boy wakes up from the coma before then.” She stretched the paper out. “Strange. It says he was covered with muddy paw prints, and they don’t know what to make of that.”

  My eyes popped open at that bit of information, and I tried to remain calm. I was relieved when they finally left, but I couldn’t help wondering if there was a connection between the Mastiff and the comatose student. The fact that he’d been out during the same storm as me and the jogger and that he’d been covered with paw prints, seemed way too coincidental. And I didn’t believe in coincidences. What bothered me most, though, was that I still hadn’t been able to figure out what the Mastiff and the bare-chested guy had been after that night in the alley.

  Three o’clock rolled around before I knew it. Jessica and I clocked out together and she said, “Thanks for all your help today. Let’s do lunch…like this week.” I nodded and she added, “Perfect. I gotta run now, but I’ll call ya tomorrow and we’ll compare schedules.” She paused and her eyes widened. “This is so amazing; I can’t wait. There’s so much for us to talk about. More than you know,” she said, slapping me on the back.

  I had no idea what she was talking about but said, “Oh, I’m sure we do.” As she hurried away I shook my head. The girl was strange. In fact, everything about my life and this town was getting stranger by the minute. I groaned inwardly; I really didn’t need more drama or intrigue.

  Light raindrops fell as I walked through the employee parking lot. All at once a queasy feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. “Oh no,” I moaned, leaning against my car. I was so not ready for more snapshots. As I closed my eyes, the images rushed forth with a vengeance:

  Two mountain lions, seizing and slashing each other with fierce brutality

  Myself, watching the battle in a sun-streaked forest

  The tawny mountain lion, spotting me and springing forth from an evergreen bough

  The reddish mountain lion, looking at me hungrily with evil, golden eyes then leaping towards me with sharp claws extended

  My eyes shot open, and I gasped for air. This was unreal! This was the first time I’d ever been depicted in my snapshots. What was going on?

  Shuddering, I realized I had insight into my own death. I opened the car door and slid behind the wheel. All my life, premonitions had commanded me to act instantly and save someone else. Only this time, I appeared to be the one who needed saving, and I’d looked like I did now at age 18, except I’d been in a sun-lit forest. Raindrops splattered against my windshield just confirming sun was not part of today’s forecast. And I had no intention of going near the woods anyways. So when?

  For some reason, I wasn’t terrified; although, I knew I should be. Not normal. Then again, nothing about me was normal. Gripping the steering wheel, I remembered that momentary sense of relief in the alley when I’d known the end was near. Knowing there would be no more guilt, responsibility, or loneliness had been liberating. How ironic was it that I would escape the premonitions by dying myself? So simple. How my death would impact my family and friends was not so simple.

  One thing was certain – my snapshots always came true. But how I chose to respond had a
lways been up to me.

  CHAPTER 4 – MORE THAN JUST A MERE WALK IN THE PARK

  “It’s time you found you a man. Preferably, Mr. Right. That way you could share your secret with him, and I wouldn’t have to worry about you all the time,” Ally said.

  We were sitting on the living room couch, lounging around and chatting about life in general, i.e. premonitions and people dying. Since Ben was at work we had no reason to filter our conversation, but now that she’d brought up men, I couldn’t wait for our one on one time to end. Luckily, she had to go to work, and I had plans to meet up with Jessica.

  “Absolutely not,” I replied. “Mr. Right will just think I’m some crazy, paranormal chick, or he’ll think I’m completely psychotic, therefore making him Mr. Wrong.”

  “No he wouldn’t.” She crossed her arms. “The right guy will think you’re amazing, and he’ll be completely enthralled by your amazing gift.”

  “You mean curse,” I huffed. “Besides, you know I can’t get involved with someone. It’s too risky.” I didn’t mention the fact that I wouldn’t be around long enough to find a man anyways. While I normally told Ally everything, I hadn’t told her about the premonition of my own death; she’d totally freak.

  She smoothed out her skirt. “Well, I worry about you being alone so much, especially since they found that college student. Everyone in this town is on edge, including me. I know this sounds horrible,” she said crinkling her nose, “but I’m hoping he OD’d or something. That would be much better than the alternatives – like he was attacked by that same psycho guy and dog that you met up with in the alley,” she shivered, “or that maybe that viral thing has finally made its way here to our campus.” She clutched the new, bright red throw pillow. “And worst of all, I don’t even want to think about the possibility there’s some connection between this and the murders in B.C.” She shivered. “You know…where all the victims have been college students.”

  My stomach churned “Unfortunately, I do. And another thing I know is it that all we ever talk about these days is people dying.” I checked the time on my cell phone and stood up. “Luckily, we both have places to be right now.”

  Standing, she shrugged and tossed the pillow over her head. “You’re right. That’s enough morbidity for one day.” She grabbed her purse off the table and dug for her keys. “Hey, I still want to meet Jessica; Ben’s had nothing but good things to say about her. You could invite her over sometime or we could go to dinner or something.”

  “I’ll keep it in mind,” I said as we locked up the house.

  A short time later, I arrived at Jessica’s house. She lived with her parents in a huge, white Victorian home that overlooked the city and bay. A water garden trickled with miniature waterfalls, and the grounds burst with colors: red begonias, purple hydrangeas, and beautiful, yellow dahlias to name a few. Silently, I acknowledged my mother for passing her gardening knowledge on to me. Or maybe it was when I’d weeded her flower beds that I’d learned so many plant names. One thing was for certain, this yard was professionally maintained; there wasn’t a weed in sight.

  Jessica ushered me into a grand foyer and lead me into an impressive, recently remodeled kitchen. When she answered a phone call, I wandered onto the massive wrap around deck. The view was incredible. Sun reflected brightly off the bay, and the snow-capped Canadian Rockies sparkled on the northern horizon. As I sat down on a wicker rocking chair my phone beeped with a text from my dad. As usual he addressed me with his special pet name.

  Alex – miss u. The house is 2 quiet w/out u. I wanted u to know I’m really proud of u getting a job and working so hard. don’t get mad but I transferred $200 in2 your account. buy some new books and go out 2 dinner. Don’t tell your mom.  LYL - dad

  I sent a quick thank you and reassured him that he was equally missed. Blades of guilt sliced through my heart as I thought of his and mom’s reactions when they learned I’d died in a brutal mountain lion attack.

  The screen door opened. “Let’s burn off some calories,” Jessica called out, looking stylish in her black and red activewear. A few minutes later she whistled and raised her eyebrows as we hopped into my high school graduation present, a white, 2010 Nissan 350z. “Wow! I wouldn’t have pegged you for the sports car type.”

  “Yeah, you and my parents both.” I clicked on my seatbelt. “This baby caused quite an argument between them and my very wealthy aunt and uncle – who also happen to be my Godparents, and who have no kids of their own.” Jessica was still shaking her head, so I added, “I, of course, saw no problem with the gift.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  As was expected for any hot July day, Lake Padden was bustling with people. Children laughed and screamed on the ball fields, and a group of crows cawed overhead as we accessed the trail along the south end of the lake. Burning briquettes and BBQ’d ribs drifted on the breeze as we walked along a gravel path of hilly terrain. After a few minutes we emerged into a forested area.

  A chill coursed down my spine, and I stopped walking. “Jessica, are there mountain lions around here?” Accepting my fate was one thing, but dying today was not.

  She rolled her eyes. “Not in the middle of the day, silly. We’re perfectly safe. Besides, there’s tons of people on the trail, all making lots of noise.”

  I tried to relax as we resumed our pace. Sun streaks seeped through the massive cedar and fir trees, and birds flitted from branch to branch. Bikers passed us by as Jessica chattered on about a customer who’d spent over a thousand dollars on their grocery order.

  After we’d been walking for awhile, I thought I heard someone yelling from deep in the woods. Stopping abruptly, I looked over at Jessica. “Did you hear that?”

  “Yeah,” she said with a frown. “Let’s check it out.” We left the trail and waded through thick brush. Eventually, we came upon a young boy in bright red shorts who was standing at the base of a tall cedar.

  Gazing upwards, with hands cupping his mouth, he yelled. “Come on Blake. Let’s go. If I’m late again my dad will ground me and take away my PS3.”

  A loud snort resonated high in the tree branches. “Oh, suck it up,” Blake retorted as his yellow shorts disappeared from view.

  “Whatever dude. I’m outta here,” Seth said. But he stopped short when he turned around and spotted us.

  “Oh fine ya big wuss. Wait up,” Blake yelled angrily as his yellow shorts reappeared. Scrambling swiftly, his feet barely touched the branches. He sailed from one level to the next, barely gripping the limbs for support. I was about to yell at him to slow down, when he raised his arms in the air and shouted, “Hey look, no hands.”

  In the middle of all his glory, he lost his footing, and his body came flailing downwards. Speechless, we could do nothing but watch as he free-fell through the air, smacking into spindly branches along the way. Screaming, he landed with a “thud” on the hard-packed ground, one arm cracking as it made contact with an exposed tree root. Immediately, we rushed to his side.

  “Ohhh,” he moaned, clutching his elbow, which was bent unnaturally, like it was broken. “Oh man, my arm hurts really, really bad.”

  “Everything’s going to be just fine,” Jessica said soothingly, as she grasped his arm she told me to look for other injuries. Humming, she moved her hands in circular motions around his elbow and all up and down his arm. Blake whimpered a little at first, but eventually his tears diminished, and he closed his eyes, smiling like he was having a pleasant dream. I stared in fascination as Jessica massaged his arm. The woods were still, heavy with the scent of evergreens and musty earth. The effect was tranquilizing.

  A pinecone fell from a tree and landed with a “plunk,” breaking the peaceful moment. Opening his honey colored eyes, Blake looked at Jessica and said, “You made it feel better, just like my mom always does. Are you a mom, too?”

  Jessica laughed heartily. “Goodness no! Not yet.”

  I tapped his leg. “I think you’ll survive. Just a few scrapes. You’re lucky…and
tough too,” I added.

  He stood up and examined his arm. “Wow! I feel really good. I mean, like my arm doesn’t hurt at all.” He twisted it left and right and stretched it out a few times. I was shocked, because his arm looked perfectly normal now. As we escorted the boys back to the trail, I wondered what the heck had just happened. We’d intended on walking them to the main section of the park, but Blake insisted he was fine. He said he’d get band-aids for his cuts when he got home. With the spirit and buoyancy only young boys possess, they bolted down the path, racing to see who was the fastest.

  I grabbed Jessica’s hand. “Do you want to explain exactly what you did back there?”

  Shrugging, she crinkled her nose. “My mom is an ER doctor at the hospital, and she makes me attend all kinds of safety and emergency training classes.”

  “Jessica,” I said, my tone laced with exasperation, “that was a lot more than simple first aid. I’ve been to a few of those classes myself, and that training had nothing to do with what you just did.”

  “Okay,” she said furtively and twisted her hands together, “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this anyways. Let me ask you a question first. It’s gonna sound bizarre, but I’m totally serious here.” She spoke with unusual candor, and her emerald green eyes pierced right through me. “Do you believe in the power of touch? The healing power of touch, I mean?”

  Frowning, I said, “Well…I don’t know. I guess I do now.”

  “What about before today?”

  “I’ve never really thought about it that much. But what Blake said about his mom always making him feel better, I can relate with that. I remember getting bad headaches when I was a kid, and whenever my mom held my hand, I always felt better.” I glanced out at the lake where a man and boy were fishing from a rowboat.

  With a critical eye, Jessica said, “That’s good. It’ll be really important that you feel that way. She tucked her wispy bangs behind one ear. “I believe that when two people touch there are unseen positive forces at hand, literally. Did you know medical experts agree that touch also lowers blood pressure and relaxes people?”