by Ari Harper
“Take your time, girl dear.”
I rushed on, regardless. “Anyway, the mist came closer, and it literally swallowed us. Something cold grabbed my ankles and tried to pull me into the lake. I think it was panic that got me out of it. I freaked and started to kick, and when I heard the voice that was it. We were out of there. What the hell is going on, Jasper?” I wrapped my arms around my body, trying to hold myself together.
“Nera, what did the voice say to you?”
“I think it said ‘I want you, Nera. You belong to me.’ I belong to me, Jasper, not some bloody thing in the mist. I know the lake has its share of ghost stories but I never thought they were true.”
“This is happening a lot faster than I would have thought. I can only assume that the Others must be aware that you now know about your powers. I must call Bones. We will have to move faster.” He got up and grabbed the phone.
“Jasper, wait, before you do… last night I had another dream. There were soldiers, but they followed a beautiful woman with long dark hair. There was a battle. I think it was outside this house. Young boys and men were dragged to the gallows and hung in front of their mothers and wives. Women were screaming and trying to hide while their men were dragged out into the open. There was hardly anyone there to protect them.”
Jasper’s face turned ashen. He came back to me and grabbed my hands. “That is more than a dream, Nera, because that is what really happened. My loyal soldiers’ families were hung as punishment in front of my dear wife just before her life was taken. Servants were slaughtered for no reason other than they worked for me. Children were left orphans, all for an evil woman’s spite. My dear wife would never grace my home again.”
Jasper’s face took on a determined look. “They must be stopped, Nera. Do you still doubt that this is real? For if you do you close your eyes to the truth.”
“No, Jasper, I do believe you. I’m just having a hard time accepting that this has happened to you, and that you’re so old!” I gave him a half smile. “I do believe in magic, but I have a hard time believing that I am magical. You see magic on television or at fairs. You know, those guys pulling a rabbit out of a hat, or sawing the lady-in-half kind of tricks. But this is serious magic. To be told that I have the sort of power you are talking of, well, it’s not the sort of thing I will get used to overnight. I just feel so overwhelmed by it all. I think that I also doubt my ability to take this on. I mean, really, how can I save so much when I know so little?”
“Girl dear, there are others out there to help you. We will recognize them in time. You have Bones and me, so you will not have to fight this alone. Now that things are moving along, we must start your training. Have you read any of the journals?”
“Yes, after we left here the other day we managed to get through the first one before dinner,” I replied. “We have so many things in common now that I come to think of it. Brie thinks we are very alike, Leona and I.”
“Yes, I know,” Jasper said. “Now, let me give your father a call and let him know that I have held you up, and then we can go outside. I want to show you something.”
Jasper headed for the telephone to call Dad. Hugo followed me outside to lie under our favorite tree. I was lost in my own world when Jasper came back outside. He settled himself into a chair. “Your dad and Roman might come by later,” he said. “Your mother has plans for him this morning in the garden. Bones will be along shortly.”
Great.
“Okay, girl dear, let’s try something. I want you to try to do some more telekinesis.”
“Tele-what?” I asked, frowning at him.
“Telekinesis is being able to move objects with thought. Like what you did in the library with my bowl. I thought we might be safer out here in the garden,” Jasper explained, smiling at me.
I laughed at the memory. “I really am sorry about that. You should have gotten me to move something unbreakable to start with!”
“Spur of the moment, but let’s try something larger out here.”
I moved over to sit with Jasper.
“See that fallen branch by Hugo? Concentrate on moving it over here to me. Take your time and do it slowly so that you don’t knock us out.”
I giggled at the thought before I pursed my lips, giving all my focus to the branch. I lifted it off the grass and let out a whoop of joy, which sent it crashing into the grass beside Hugo. He lifted his head and gazed at me before closing his eyes again.
“Sorry, boy. I got a bit carried away. Okay, let’s go again.”
This time I stayed with it until I placed it at Jasper’s feet.
“That was perfect, Nera.” He let out a huge sigh. “Now you have to practice moving objects without being distracted by anything at all. That can be difficult, but I’m sure you can do it. You can use the same technique to block something as well. It is a great skill to have and if you can do it under pressure, all the better. Eventually, you will be able to do many of these things without much thought.. Just like you did to that boy at school. A bit like second nature, I suppose.”
“This is so cool. Imagine all the things I could do to the serial pest without him knowing!”
Jasper looked shocked at my suggestion, but before he could say anything I burst out laughing. “Don’t look at me like that, Jasper, you know I don’t mean it.”
He smiled and squeezed my hand. “I hope not, girl dear. The other skill you need to learn is telepathy. I know that is what you have been getting lately with the dreams, but I want you to consciously do it. Not only will you be able to send someone your thoughts, you will be able to read theirs.”
I waited for him to elaborate. He gathered the hair that kept falling over his eyes, pulled it back, and retied his ponytail. I could tell he was trying to choose the right words.
“Look, it’s like this. Pick a person, someone close to you. Clear your mind of everything else but them. Now try to hear what they are thinking. Just let your mind go blank but keep their face in your head.”
I stilled my body and tried to imagine my father’s face. “Everyone is screaming inside my brain,” I complained. “How am I supposed to understand that?”
“Come on, Nera, try harder and pick someone else if you need to.”
I used the yoga relaxation techniques Mom had shown me to calm myself, working from my head down to my toes. I turned inward, but there was nothing. I said the same to Jasper. “Now, it’s the opposite and there isn’t anything.”
“Who are you looking at?” he asked.
“Sully.”
“Oh, well, that explains it,” he said. “That boy has trouble letting anyone into his head at the best of times. He seems to shut his feelings down so he doesn’t get hurt. People like that can be hard to read, but you will get it eventually. Try Brie.”
I looked for my best friend and screwed up my face in frustration when I only got muddled pictures. “It’s not clear.”
“We can have another go again later, girl dear. This will take time. You can’t expect everything to happen overnight. What I suggest is that you take time to yourself somewhere quiet and practice later. It will come to you eventually, Nera. Just try to be a little patient.”
“But there is something you must not do.” Jasper looked at me his face serious. “You cannot let on all that you are capable of. Not just yet. Your friends and family will eventually know your power, but for now I feel it would be best to keep some things from them, even from Brie and Sully. We both know that they have an inkling of what is going on, but they don’t need to know the whole of it. You will just put them in more danger.”
He got up from his chair and began to pace the garden. “Another thing you need to learn is integrity. I know that it is not a magic skill but a human one. If you have integrity, you are a more powerful person, any which way you look at it.”
Jasper paused and looked me calmly in the face. I, on the other hand, was getting annoyed. It wasn’t like Jasper to lecture. I crossed my arms to let him know it.
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��The trick is knowing when and when not to use your skills. You need to learn when to turn off and leave well enough alone. Sometimes that will be difficult. You will hear things that concern you, some things that are not honest, maybe even dangerous to loved ones around you.” He stopped in front of me, hands on hips.”You cannot, and I mean cannot, act upon these things. You need to learn when to back off and let nature take its course. You need to let people make their own mistakes, Nera.”
I was about at boiling point. I jumped up to face him. “So what you are saying is this. I will see and hear things I do not need to hear, and cannot act upon. When something serious happens, I act as if it’s all a big surprise to me. Do I look like I can fool everyone, Jasper? I’m not that good. For God’s sake, Mom just needs to look at me and knows what I’m thinking, even before I do. I’m not going to pull the wool over her eyes, am I?”
“No need for sarcasm, my dear. Your mother has what is called mother’s instinct, nothing else. What you have is so much more. You just need to learn to use it properly.” He held his hand out to me and pulled me close. “I know that this is going to get hard, girl dear, just remember that I am here for you, okay? I’ll just give Bones another call and see how long he’s going to be, and then we can get into this a little deeper.”
He left to go inside, and I sat with Hugo’s head on my knee, stroking his big soft ears. “Well, big fella, it looks like we are in this together. I really hope we can work through this. It’s an awful lot to put on my shoulders, if you ask me. Most kids my age are busy babysitting or doing paper rounds. Me? I get to save my favorite uncle from an 800 year old curse. How’s that for work experience?”
I sent the branch that I had moved earlier flying in a small fit of temper. It whizzed past Hugo’s head and crashed into the trunk of the huge old oak tree sitting in the middle of the garden. Pieces of bark and wood flew through the herbs and vegetables. I looked around quickly to see if anyone had seen my outburst. “Come on, Hugo. Let’s go raid the cookie jar while we wait for Bones.”
We didn’t have to wait long. Bones walked into the kitchen and caught me when I had my hand in the biscuit jar. I looked out of the pantry to find him standing at the door. He wore a simple black shirt, trousers, and soft leather boots. His hair was hanging over his eyes, his hands in his pockets. He flicked his head back, and his eyes became visible. They were boring into mine.
I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as he scrutinized me with a handful of oatmeal and raisin cookies. I bent down to give one to Hugo fighting to control the mad thud that my heart was doing.
“There you are, Bones,” Jasper said, coming into the room. “How is Mr. Jakes? Getting better?”
“Yes,” Bones replied. “He should have his cast off next week. What’s been happening here, Jasper?”
God, so much for chit-chat; he didn’t waste any time. I thought about piping up about how he should know what is going on if he was such a powerful witch himself, but Jasper beat me to it.
“Nera had an incident this morning, didn’t you, girl dear?” Jasper walked past me to put on the kettle. “Why don’t you tell Bones about it while I make tea?”
I told Bones what had happened while he stood staring at me with an almost bored look on his face. He picked at the cuff of his shirt, giving it more attention than me and what I had to say.
“What do you think, Bones?” Jasper asked when I had finished. “Is it them?”
“Is it who?” I asked, looking from one man to the other.
“The Others, girl dear. Edrith’s sidekicks. Remember I told you about the open door that allows demons to get through. She gave life to many of them in exchange for their power. Unfortunately, they stayed loyal to her and will do anything to stop you from breaking the curse.”
“And you think that foggy deal at the lake was them?” I couldn’t help myself, I started to tremble. It was one thing to know demons existed, and another thing altogether that they had touched me.
“It was them,” Bones said, watching me.
“How do you know?” I asked testily. “You weren’t there.”
Bones looked at Jasper, and they exchanged something without words.
“What now?” I snapped. I had the feeling they deliberately were not telling me everything that I needed to know.
“I was there.” Bones looked at me, his eyes dark and unreadable.
“Bullshit. How could you have been? Besides, if you were there, you would have helped me, wouldn’t you?”
Jasper spoke up, standing between us, my temper rising. “Bones is your protector, Nera. This you already know. He has been since the day you were born, and he takes his calling seriously indeed. You may not always see him, but rest assured he is always there.”
“And he didn’t think that being my protector meant he should have helped me?” I shook my head. I really didn’t believe what I was hearing.
“It is my place to teach you to fight Edrith and break the curse, not do it for you,” Bones said. “That is your job. You seemed to cope fairly well. You were in no real danger.”
“You idiot!” I yelled. “They tried to drag me into the lake. I could have drowned.”
“But you didn’t,” he retorted. “You managed quite well on your own.”
“Some protector you are turning out to be.” I snorted. This guy talks tough, but he leaves it to me and my dog. What a jerk.
“Jasper, I think it’s time to tell her the rules of the curse,” Bones said.
“You think?” I turned on him again.
“You will never be in serious danger with Bones around, girl dear. Admittedly, it would be easy for him to fight your battles for you, but that would never do. No, I am sorry Nera,” he said when I tried to protest, “but it is the only way to learn and bring out your powers. You will be as strong as he is one day, and you won’t get there by letting him be the one to fight your battles.”
I looked at Jasper, one of my most favorite men in the world. Me, be as strong as Bones one day? Why would I? And who was he anyway? Nothing really made sense. There was a lot more than they were telling me, and if they wanted my help, they had to tell me the truth, all of it.
Patience, Nera.
I flicked a quick glance at Bones. He hadn’t spoken, but I was sure that was his voice in my mind. I shook my head. This morning must have rattled me more than I thought. I looked back at Jasper. He had a small smile on his lips. I would soon fix that.
“I think there is more here than you are telling me, Jasper, and if you want my help, you had better tell me the whole story, not just the whole ‘let’s not tell Nera everything in case she freaks out’ version you gave Brie and Sully last week,” I said getting serious. “Or I walk.”
The two men exchanged looks again.
“For a start, who is he,” I said pointing at Bones, “really.”
“My nephew, girl dear,” Jasper said smiling at me.
I glared at him.
“Okay, fine,” Jasper said putting up his hands in defense. “He is Brian of Wexford, son of Mari and Maju, King and Queen of the Witches, Gods of Upper Theruss.”
Jaspers smug smile froze under my gaze, and he looked away. Right then, if this is the way they wanted to play it. “Why?” I glared at him, arms folded and feet apart.
“Well, girl dear,” Jasper began. “When Mari and Maju destroyed Edrith, they did not realize she had been summoning demons. That only came to light as girl after girl failed to break the curse. The protectors who were assigned to them were no match for Edrith’s followers, the Others. When your birth was imminent, Mari looked into the future and decreed that Bones would be the only one with powers to match what you would grow into. Therefore, he would be the one to stay by your side and teach you.”
“For how long?” I was starting to lose my anger in exchange for the fear that was creeping up my scalp.
Jasper cleared his throat, then looked away. I stamped my foot to get his attention again.
“I wi
ll be with you for the rest of your life,” Bones said from across the room.
“What? Are you kidding me?” I gasped. “No way! That is not going to happen. Jasper, sort it out, and now.” I gripped the back of the chair, my legs starting to wobble dangerously.
“He can’t change anything.” Bones shrugged. His thumbs were hooked into the pockets in his pants, and he was leaning against the counter looking nonchalant, his dark eyes hidden under his hair. “It has been written, and that is final.”
“No. I will not stand for it! Do you understand me, Jasper?” My voice was starting to crack. “This is my life, and I will not have him following me around everywhere. Just because his mother wrote something in her bloody diary doesn’t mean it applies to me.”
“Unfortunately, Nera, it does. Not many humans realize it, but the world is ruled by the gods. Nothing happens down here that is not sanctioned by one of them,” Jasper said.
He came to me with his arms out. I pushed past him and stormed outside where I started to pace the garden. Angry tears ran down my face, and I wiped at them with the back of my hands. I tried to make sense of what was happening, but my life was starting to sound like a bad fairy tale. I was used to doing what I wanted, never one for the rules and other peoples whims. My parents believed in letting me find my own way, so long as I harmed no one, myself included. I somehow doubted that this was what they had in mind for me when they worked out their parenting plan. I dropped to sit in the damp grass, and wrapped my arms around my knees. My resolve to find all of the answers slipped away.
I jerked when a hand lightly touched my shoulder.
“Do you want the rest of the story? Or is it all too much for you?” Bones glared down at me coldly, an impatient look on his face.
I scrambled to my feet, dusted off my clothes, and stood facing him. My drying tears were forgotten as I faced the man who cast himself as my shadow. “How much more could you possibly do to me?” I spat at him. “Next, you will be telling me that I have to marry one of the gods to keep the line strong and name my first child for your family. Is that written in your mother’s precious book?”