Oculus

by S. E. Akers

  So his little girlfriend was devious, liked to streak crazy colors in her hair, AND no filter for her mouth? Kind of reminded me of someone I knew… A certain someone who was the first to break Ty’s sophomore heart.

  We eventually headed outside for an after-dinner stroll and ended up on one of the marble benches in the courtyard.

  “So Charlie suckered you into visiting me?” I posed.

  “Well,” Ty began, “he just said that Naomi had talked to you, and that you sounded down. She told him you were having a hard time with your ‘new job’ and ‘other things’.”

  I smiled, amused by the implying “air quotes” he’d opted to go with. “You could say that,” I replied, aiming for an even-keeled temperament. I couldn’t be mad at Naomi. I should have known she would run her mouth, though I never dreamed my confession would result in an all-out orchestrated plot like this.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Ty probed.

  Him being here was bad enough, but revealing any Veil / Darklands details was a definite line-crosser. That was one secret I intended on keeping. And that was mainly because I couldn’t risk Silas plucking it out of either of our heads. He would blab that one to Tanner for sure.

  “I would love to — Believe me,” I assured. “But I can’t.”

  Disappointment glinted in his eyes. “Whatever it is, I’m sure you’re working on getting through it,” he encouraged.

  “We’ll see,” I hummed, hopeful about my pending monster-matches but still clueless with respect to my mentor.

  “I’m just glad you don’t seem as bad off as what I’d thought,” Ty remarked. “Naomi made it sound like you were a step away from throwing yourself off a cliff.”

  Gotta love a redneck drama queen. “No,” I laughed, hands waving. “Still here.”

  Ty turned his attention to the starry night sky. Millions of them were out tonight, twinkling like tiny diamonds. His far-off stare made it seem like he was right up there with them too, just as distant and floating. It was the same peculiar look I’d noticed earlier when I first asked him for some lifeguard stories.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  Ty turned to me with a grin. “Hey — That’s my line,” he teased.

  “Maybe,” I nodded, “but from the look on your face, I’d say it’s my turn.”

  “You mean, aside from missing Bea?” he posed.

  His admission flooded my heart with warmth. After watching Bea’s house fade from existence, I wasn’t sure how far her memory-erasing spell stretched. I was glad to hear she’d left his alone.

  “Sometimes I park across the street from where her house sat, just to watch the birds,” he admitted. “No one in town remembers her except for Mike and me. How did she pull that off?”

  “With the turn of a key,” I replied, vividly replaying the memory. “Do you still have her picture?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not the same,” Ty muttered. “I always thought of her like a grandmother — but a way cooler one than mine.” His eyes took an even more somber turn. “I wish I could have said good-bye to her one last time. I don’t suppose she had a funeral?”

  Thoughts of her body petrifying before my eyes ran through my head. “No,” I muttered. Closure was still something I was grappling with when it came to Beatrix’s death, and it seemed Ty was too. And despite my struggle, her essence was literally a part of me. No matter how touching Ty’s memories were, he couldn’t feel what she’d felt back.

  “Would you like to feel her?” I blurted, letting my guilt run away from me.

  His brow furrowed with confusion. “What?”

  There wasn’t a delicate way to phrase what I was about to say. “She’s sort of a part of me now.” I lowered my head. “I know I never told you any specific details about what happened.” I closed my eyes trying to summon the right words. “She was dying, and she made me—”

  Ty grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. “You don’t have to say it, Shi . . . I know how much you loved her. Whatever you had to do must have been incredibly difficult . . . and knowing you, it probably still is.”

  My misty eyes bolstered his words. I’d formed a closer bond with Beatrix over the course of five months than I had my own mother in over eighteen years. I stretched my lids open, hoping to stave off any tears before they could well, and then turned to him confidently.

  “So? Do you want to feel her one last time?” I asked.

  Ty looked as hesitant as he was intrigued. “Can I talk to her?”

  “No,” I assured him. “But I would like to think she can still hear me somehow or maybe feel what’s going on around me from wherever she is.”

  A smile crept across his face. “Yeah,” he agreed, slowly but surely. “Why not.”

  I realized no sooner than I’d scooted closer that I was stumped about what sort of memory to pull from. I wanted it to be a sentimental moment they shared and needed it to be a good one, a recollection that was heartwarming enough to give him that final good-bye he craved. It couldn’t be of him cleaning her gutters or cutting her grass or even sipping cider at her kitchen table. Those were simply too commonplace for what he craved. While pondering my dilemma, my eyes were immediately drawn to the moonlight and the way it was bathing the courtyard with its mystical blue glow. Then the perfect vision emerged.

  I rose to my feet. “Stand up,” I instructed.

  He did as I asked without hesitation. I took his hand and slowly led him over to the center of the courtyard.

  Ty smiled curiously. “What are we doing?”

  Once I’d fully enveloped my mind with a particular memory on a snowy winter afternoon, I placed his right hand on my waist and propped up his left, level with mine at our chests.

  “Dancing,” I replied doubtlessly. The way his lips parted made him look so innocently astonished, like he was thinking of the same point in time. I leaned into his ear. “Now close your eyes.”

  Ty passed a glance towards the taut bend of our elbows. “All right,” he grinned, “ . . . but Bea let me lead.”

  “I know,” I whispered and then watched his lids fall to a comfortable close. With a steady start, Ty took a commanding stride forward, and I followed him backward for three steps. Then when he guided my frame onto the next set of movements, Beatrix’s essence overpowered my senses and all of her emotions flooded my heart. The former Golden Topaz Talisman had told me that she had never felt the least bit slighted for not having children because I was a part of her life, and it seemed her sentiments were exactly the same for the caring boy-next-door who’d always made a point of being present in her life, for more reasons than to simply help an old blind woman. Every ounce of the love she felt for him rippled through me, and in turn, I eased the sensation through my hands and gently into him. More flashes of the touching moments they shared unfolded throughout every step of our movements. I realized something as I was swaying in Ty’s arms. It was what had attracted me to him in the first place — his kind and compassionate heart. I’d admired it from afar for many years. He’d always had it, even in grade school. All I’d ever really wanted was to connect with him on a more intimate level, because of what a beautiful soul he claimed. And despite how captivating it was and always would be, the tepid feeling wafting along with my admiration confirmed that I only wanted him for a dear friend. Nothing else.

  The tips of his fingers grazed a light trail down my back when he walked me into a delicate turn. Even with his eyes closed, I could tell how much this act meant to him by the way he gripped my hand when we reclaimed our embrace. Seeing that made me strengthen Bea’s essence with a boost from the diamond. I was dying to dip into his head to hear his thoughts, but I wanted to give him all the privacy he needed. Ty was like one of her own children and that was the feeling I made sure shined through, just like a sparkly ray that had been kissed by the sun.

  Our steps came to an end when my hand worked its way up to his cheek. Slowly, I stroked my fingers along the curve of his jaw one time and then lai
d it on the side of his face with a sweet pat, the exact way Bea had done numerous times over the years. Ty laid his hand over mine, pressing it against his skin powerfully. Although his eyes remained closed, I could tell by the way his lids tightened so evocatively that he’d felt it was her touching him, whispering her final farewell.

  My gut started churning as soon as Beatrix’s essence began to wane. I tracked the suspicious feeling back to the house and over to one of the windows. My eyes followed the sway of the moving drapes until they came to a dead stop. Regardless of whose gaze had been on the other side of those panels, it was a clear enough signal for us to wrap up our evening.

  I turned back to Ty just as his lids lifted. His eyes were glass-clear and their hue much bluer. “That was so crazy,” he mumbled, undeniably misty. “It actually felt like I was dancing with Bea. The way she moved . . . Her touch and her smell . . . Everything,” he said.

  “I have all of her memories too, but I’m still working on accessing them. I’ve only done it once before,” I admitted.

  Ty gave my hands a squeeze. “Thank you for doing that for me.”

  I halted a lonely tear with my fingertips before it could run down his cheek. “You’re welcome,” I smiled, elated that I could grant his wish, and successfully too.

  “But do me a favor,” he requested. “Stay away from the ones where she was teaching me how to Tango. They’re pretty embarrassing.”

  “Oh, those are next on my list.” I snatched a rose off a nearby bush and leveled its stem under my nose. “I know how fond Bea was of a Tango.”

  Ty turned his head, looking a tad pale. “Oooh pleasse — Just don’t and say you did,” he groaned.

  I held up my watch and then nodded to the house. “I think it’s about time I let you get some sleep. You’ll probably have to leave at 3:00 A.M. just to beat the rush hour traffic.” And with that reality-slap, the two of us strolled towards the house.

  Despite all the laughs we’d had from his stories and the run of emotions we’d shared reminiscing, a feeling was still quietly nagging at me. Yeah, he was in town to attend an orientation, and who wouldn’t want to hook up with an old friend given the time—especially if two certain individuals had made you sound borderline-suicidal—but it still seemed like there was some other reason for his visit. A few of his stifled pauses throughout dinner seemed a little suspect, but it was nothing compared to the suspicious vibe radiating from the rigid posture his frame presently held. So with the staircase approaching and our evening about to come to an end, right now seemed like the ideal time to find out.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  Ty sensed my hesitation. “You mean there is something you can’t pull out of my head?”

  “No, I could . . . but I don’t like invading my friends’ privacy.” I smiled and added, “Unless I have to.”

  He shrugged his shoulders in surrender. “Shoot.”

  “Why did you come here?” The uneasy look on his face confirmed my hunch, so I figured I would wear him down until he confessed. After all, that’s why curious kitties have sharp claws. “You could have told the cab driver to turn around at any time, but you followed me through all of that traffic . . . not knowing where I was going to stop.”

  Ty used the upstairs landing as the perfect escape to divert his gaze. His pause gave me enough of a clue as to how hard he was trying to phrase what he was about to say without having to backslide on my convictions. I would get my answer, after enough careful thought.

  Ty climbed a few steps and took a seat on the staircase. “I guess I feel like I’m about to begin a new chapter of my life . . . Coming up here and starting college soon,” he admitted. “Something happened last week that gave me a clearer perspective on things and got me to really thinking.”

  His voice sounded so grave it dropped me right beside him. “What was that?”

  “The pool had already closed, but I’d left my wallet in my locker, so I had to run back down to get it,” Ty began. “I was in a hurry that evening and it was dark. I didn’t bother turning on the outdoor floods when I ran in. I was about to leave when I looked up and noticed the moon. I’d never seen it shining so bright, like it was calling to me.” Ty lowered his head. “When I followed its trail down to the pool’s surface, that’s when I saw a boy floating in the water.”

  The depth of the breath he’d taken had me on pins and needles for his next reveal.

  “I dove in and pulled him out,” Ty said. “He wasn’t breathing and I couldn’t find a pulse, so I started giving him CPR. It seemed like hours were dragging by while I was doing it, and my heart was pounding out of my chest, but he finally came to.”

  “Is he all right?”

  “Yeah,” Ty assured, relieved. “He was in the hospital for a few days, but he’s okay.”

  “You must have felt incredible afterwards,” I remarked.

  “I did,” he said. “In fact, I thought about you and how you risked your life to save us in Mexico.” Ty smiled. “That’s when I started thinking about my future. Yeah, I’m going to Harvard and moving on, but I want my life to mean more.” He looked deep into my eyes, blazing an undeniable sincerity. “I came here wanting to finish a chapter. You left town so sudden. I wanted to see you one more time, now that I know what I want out of my life.”

  I placed my hand over his and gave it a squeeze. There wasn’t one time this evening that I’d sensed anything other than friendship coming from him. “This kind of feels like you’re breaking up with me.”

  Ty turned his head to shield his grin. “I am,” he said. “With the idea of you. You’ve got your path and I’ve got mine. I didn’t understand how someone’s feelings could change so abruptly, but I do now. So in a way, you were the last chapter I needed to finish.”

  “So we’re still friends?” I posed, my brow hinting hopefully.

  “You saved me from a supernatural sea-hag. How could we not be?”

  I held up my fingers. “Twice.” Then I corrected myself. “Three, if you count the bar-fight I accidently started.”

  Ty rose to his feet and began his climb up the steps. “But don’t worry about my love life. I have it on good authority that fate is bringing her to me this fall,” he laughed.

  “How’s that?”

  Ty continued up the steps. “Mike dragged me into a fortune teller’s tent at Myrtle Beach on our Senior Trip, when we were down at the Pavilion. She told me that my soul was going to connect with its fated counterpoint this fall.” He stopped and shook his head, still laughing.

  I sensed some disbelief in his amusement. “What?” I questioned.

  “Nothing,” he insisted.

  His brush-off coupled with the fact that he couldn’t stop chuckling made my need-to-know practically explode. “Oh, please tell me it’s not your little love-sick jail-bait stalker from the pool.”

  “NO!” Ty scoffed, his laughter increasing.

  “Then what’s so funny?” I asked.

  “Just her name,” he replied, shaking his head. “I haven’t even met her and I already feel bad for her parents saddling her with it — IF it happens to turn out to be true,” he added quickly.

  “Well, if her name’s that kooky, she shouldn’t be hard to track down on Facebook or Google,” I submitted.

  “Yeah,” he chuckled. “You would think — but no.”

  “What is it?” I probed. If anything, maybe I could introduce Ty to Killian and see if the male witch’s numerology skills could pop him out some helpful coordinates.

  Ty’s head tilted with a shake. “Katherine Hepburn.”

  I was surprised my eyes didn’t smack his face when they rocketed out of my head so hard and fast. “WHAT?”

  Ty pointed to me. “That’s the same look I had,” he laughed and took a left towards his room. He stopped and leaned over the railing. “So if you run into any old screen starlets, please let me know.”

  “Will do,” I muttered as he stepped out of sight.

  Oh, I so wasn�
�t telling her. Why ruin the surprise? Plus, now knowing that karma didn’t appreciate any meddling, I had to assume fate felt the same. The fact that I got a little payback for her not fessing up about their first-kiss sooner just made the icing on this particular cake all the more sweeter. Though I did feel the need to throw my bosom friend one tiny bone.

  I shot Katie a text with my official ruling on her color dilemma.

  Katharine Hepburn red would have surely pissed her off. Katie pounced on my suggestion immediately.

  Now I just prayed she took it. I’d just shoved my phone into my pocket when I heard another text “bleep”, commanding my immediate attention. I summoned the triptych panels to part and then stepped through Tanner’s shimmery wards as I whipped my cell back out.

  Damnit, I groaned with a thwarted stomp. I’d meant to grab it before I left, but I’d forgotten all about it as soon as Bethesda’s motley magical crew came parading through the door. Here I was, ready to hit the hay, and I was now faced with either making another one or running downstairs to dust my eyes with a tourmaline to stay awake. My head rocked with several heated shakes. It would honestly take less time to run back and get the daggone thing. And at the rate that jar of tourmalines had been dropping, there may not be any of the invigorating stones left downstairs.