“You look incredibly hot, I like it a lot,” Caleb says and rests his hand on my knee. I take a deep breath and try to control the waves of warmth as they run throughout my body. My skirt is hiked up a little from sitting down in the car, and Caleb’s hand finds its way to my exposed skin. His hand rubs against it for a few seconds, and he gently slides my skirt a little higher. I look over at him and take his hand in mine, keeping him from going up any further.
I know you think you’re slick. He pats my thigh and I giggle a little. I wish I could hear him, but we do have fun with the one sided conversation.
“Why do you have to have lunch with Mrs. Ward? Trying to earn brownie points?” Amber asks.
“Apparently it’s her thing…to know her students up close. The school I came from in New York, if you know the principal…you’re a problem kid or rich kid. Our principal could care less about the kids,” I say. “Whatever, if it makes everyone happy, then I’ll do it.”
“She did seem to be fixated on some of the students last year. I could tell a couple of the teachers didn’t seem to care for her. You’ll have to get the low-down on her and share it. I bet her house is gaudy. You so have to tell me if it is,” Amber said. “Oh Otto, will you be going back to boarding school next year?”
“My parents haven’t made a decision one way or the other about it. It sounds like Mrs. Ward runs a tight ship though,” Otto says and pops a piece of gum in his mouth.
We pull up to the movie theater in Jacksonville a forty-five minute drive from New Bern. Our little town’s two theaters are small and smelly and if you stood for too long, you stuck to the ground. This place has sixteen theaters, stadium seating and I’ve yet to stick to the floor once. I hold the seat forward as Amber crawls out of the backseat. “You held out on me,” I whispered.
She grins from ear to ear. “I have the Fandango tickets here, Otto printed them off. The least we can do since you always use all of your gas Caleb,” Amber said.
Halfway through the movie I notice that Amber and Otto are holding hands and she is snuggled up to him. Caleb notices too, we give a knowing glance their way. It’s the first movie I’ve seen with Amber that she hasn’t given me a critique throughout the movie.
“Why is it okay for us to see a movie in the dark?” I whisper to Caleb.
“Because there are way too many people here for the Dark Ones to bother us. Haven’t you noticed that we never see a movie that isn’t in a packed show?”
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense. The lights are all l.e.d. in the steps, so we wouldn’t really be in the complete dark. You think of everything,” I say.
“No, someone did that for me. I bet a Light Tamer invented the floor lights,” Caleb said.
On the way home we all chattered about the movie and make promises that we’d do it again next week. We drop Amber off first. Otto walks her to the door and kisses her with obvious vigor. I wonder if it’s their first kiss. The rest of the way home Otto chats me up about Amber. He asks about her temperament, about her likes and dislikes. He wanted to know why she was so rough around the edges. Caleb fills him in about the accident. Since none of us knew her prior to the accident, we couldn’t say if she was moody before it happened. I’m not a hundred percent sure how I feel about Otto. On the surface he seems like he is cool, but there is a sinister vibe from him that rattles me to the core. Hopefully, I figure it out before someone gets hurt.
~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 9
Love is begun by time,
And time qualifies the spark and fire of it ~ William Shakespeare
Hamlet
Getting ready to visit Mrs. Ward is proving to be much harder than I’d expected. I don’t want to come off too relaxed and wear flip flops and cut-offs. I also don’t want to come off as a rigid goody-goody girl either. The pink shirt is too see-through, the blue is too low cut, the red makes me look weird.
“Mom, will you come in here and help me find something to go meet that woman in!” I yell out.
As always, she comes in the room and makes everything come together. “Here honey, try this sundress. It isn’t too dressy and not too casual. It will look pretty with your blonde hair,” she said as she grabbed a dress out of my closet.
“You don’t think I wear too much purple already?”
“You do wear a lot of purple, but she could care less what color you wear. Soon school will be in session and you’ll have a cute uniform,” she says cheerfully and pulls my blinds open.
Damn, I forgot about that. Private school is lame. “You wait, my first day, I’m showing up like Britney Spears with doggie ears and everything,” I tease.
“Well, I’m sure that will make an impression. I’ll have to tell Caleb he can’t drive you on the first day then.”
The dress falls into place as it slinks over my head, I feel pretty as I admire my reflection in the mirror. Mom tosses me a pair of strappy sandals and a crocheted shrug; so my bare shoulders won’t hang out. I twirl around in front of the mirror and for once, I see a young woman. I don’t see the little girl with big ideas. Although things are more complicated for me, I feel at ease with all of it. Maybe Caleb does that for me.
“You look pretty Jessie, I think she will adore you just as I do,” mom says.
“You have to say that, but thank you,” I say and hug her.
Mom bought a new car last week. When we lived in New York, we traveled everywhere on public transportation. In New Bern, we didn’t have any such luxury, it doesn’t even have a regular taxi service. The black 2012 Volvo XC60 Crossover with its fancy gadgets and white leather seats, made me feel like a little rich girl. Not a feeling I’ve ever had before. Other kids went on cruises and Hawaiian vacations, I went to little town North Carolina and hung out with my grandma.
“You’re going to go to the door with me won’t you?” I ask as we drive down the winding road towards the historical district.
“Why do I have to see the principal? I’ve already finished school,” mom teases.
“Mom, you can’t send me to the door alone,” I whine.
“Oh stop, of course I won’t send you up there alone. I will however, leave as soon as she walks you inside.”
I breathe in and let out the breath I’d been holding. “Okay. If she poisons me, I’m suing all of you,” I say.
“If they come up with a category at the Academy Awards for drama queen, I’m nominating you,” mom said.
The GPS tells us to turn left in one block, in his mechanical voice. My heart speeds up. My hands begin to sweat. My throat tightens up. My brain swims in fear.
The three story baby blue house with the antiqued gingerbread wraparound porch standing there, challenging me to enter. I can’t believe how many times grandma and I had driven down this street and I don’t remember ever seeing this house. Mom puts her hand on my leg, giving it a squeeze to bring me out of my thoughts.
“You’ll be fine, baby,” mom said.
“Tell that to my heart, it is pounding out of my chest.”
“Come on, I’m meeting someone for lunch.”
“Oh sure, drop me with a woman with a hound from hell and go eat.”
“Academy award winner for my dramatic entry is….Jessie Lucente,” mom says with her hand holding an imaginary microphone.
The porch creaked as I stepped on it, like I’d disturbed its sunbathing in the July heat. I clanked the old fashioned knocker, holding my breath in hopes she forgot our date.
The door slowly opens to a smiling Mrs. Ward, standing there unobtrusively dressed in a simple green sundress.
“Hello Miss. Lucente, I’m happy to see you. This must be your mother, I see the family resemblance.”
“Hello, Mrs. Ward, it’s a pleasure. What time should I pick her up?”
“Two hours should be plenty. If that’s okay with you,” Mrs. Ward says sweetly. Why were Caleb and Amber so freaked out? She seems friendly enough to me.
“Perfect, I’ll see you then Jessie. Bye ladies,” Mom sa
id as she waved on her way down the steps and out of my life for the next two hours.
Great, now I’m all alone for the next two hours of my life. She is probably a serial killer, taking out students from district to district.
“How are you today Jessie?” Mrs. Ward asks.
“Pretty good, it’s a beautiful day. I mean, well, every day is beautiful around here. The sky is blue, the grass is always green. I like that people have grass here. In the Bronx, you don’t see a lot of grass. It always makes me happy when the weather is pretty. I guess that means I’m always happy,” I ramble uncontrollably.
“Would you like a glass of sweet tea?”
“Yes ma’am, that would be very nice, thank you.”
She led me through the house; the floors creaks under every step we take. Each room looks exactly like an old historical home aspires to look like. To me, every room is authentically decorated with antiqued furniture.
“Here, we’ll go into the red room,” Mrs. Ward said and pulls open a giant carved pocket door. She wasn’t lying when she said ‘red room’. The walls are done in red and gold damask wall paper. The furniture is red crushed velvet and gothic black wood. If I believed in vampires, I’d definitely think she inherited the furniture from one. “Jessie, you can relax, I won’t bite,” she said and laughed a little too high pitched for me.
“Oh…no, I’m fine. It’s just in the Bronx the teachers don’t really care to know you. I’m fine though, thank you for your generosity.”
I watch as she sits down on a chair where the back comes up behind the head and flares out. It looks very uncomfortable to me. I opt for the couch; the cushion is stiff as I sit down. A Hispanic woman in a maids outfit appears with a tray of tea and cookies. I watch as the orange slices bop up and down as she pours us each a glass of tea.
“Miss. Lucente, I’m aware of the predicament you are in. It was clear to me at the park that you and Mr. Baldwin are bound together. Two hearts melding as one. As sweet and romantic as it is, it’s also a concern.”
Holy crap, she just called me out as a Light Tamer. What should I do? She’ll probably kill me if I take my cell out and text Caleb. “You know about us?” I mentally keep my jaw from hitting the floor in surprise.
I watch her pick up her glass and take a sip of the tea. “Yes, I’m aware of what you are. The school has many talented kids such as you are. Now, to make you aware of what I am. Or shall I say, who I am.”
“Who you are?”
“Yes, Miss. Lucente, I am sure you’ve heard the expression about ‘Fate’ and things like, it was fate that brought us together.”
“I have,” I say and clasp my hands in front of me. Can anything in North Carolina be as it appears?
“Have you ever studied the three Fates?” She asks, and I shake my head yes. “Miss. Lucente, I am one of the Fates. I’m the one that is spinning the tale of your life. It isn’t an exact science and other factors can intervene what Fate has in store for you. I know who all of the Light Tamers are. I happen to know who all of the Dark Ones are too. Once the dark has taken over, I lose the ability to spin their life though. Their life is off radar and run by a much darker entity. My sister Athropos decides when a person is to die. As harsh as that may sound, it is a necessity for life paths. Some people are destined to step away from the life they are living and Fate steps in and changes the path. An example of how that works, when Caleb and his family moved to Virginia, they steered off their life pathway. We tried to bring Caleb back, in many different ways, to no avail.”
“How did you try to bring them back?” I ask and the reality of what she is telling me is squeezing the air out of my lungs.
“One of the ways, we offered his father another job in North Carolina. No matter what we threw his way, he tossed it out. Inevitably we spoke to another power and came up with his mother’s illness. Her soul was too weak to fight the cancer and she died. She didn’t die in vain; she died to bring you two together. She actually knew the consequence of her life and death. The saying, ‘everything happens for a reason’ is true.”
“His mother died for him to meet me?” Tears stung my eyes as I thought about someone dying for me. “There wasn’t another way?” The first tear escaped.
“It happened to make Caleb a stronger person and to bring his father closer to his son. We didn’t do it to be cruel, we did it for the greater good,” she said nonchalantly.
“Why are you telling me this? How do I know any of this is true?” I say, hearing the strain in my voice.
“Jessie, I assure you, it is true. Even though I’m a Fate and I spin your life, I leave exit points available. An exit is when your soul gets tired and wants to leave, you have a subconscious point you can leave through. Think about it. You are at a stop light and out of the blue, you decide to go when the light turns green without looking if a car is coming. A car out of nowhere runs the other light slamming into you, killing you instantly. Every time, every day of your life you have looked before you go, to make sure no one is running the light. One day, you find yourself in a hurry and nothing else matters but that moment, one single moment. In that split second you are living, the next, you’re dead. That my dear…is an exit.”
My chest feels tight, realizing I’m holding my breath, I let it out. I don’t even know how to explain the feelings running through my body. A moment of clarity erases doubts and there I sit in a stranger’s house fighting the truth she tells me. The red room’s walls are closing in on me, thoughts about how, when, and why, are running in my head. “What does this all have to do with me in the first place?”
“Yes, I presume you would want to know how you fit into this complicated web. Well, you’re the last Light Tamer from the originals. Although all of you are a descendent, you have the strongest abilities. It is time for you to start using them. Before we can train you for your pathway, I need your help,” she says.
“Okay,” I say. Great, now I’m going to be pimped out or something. Hello, my name is Jessie and I’m a Light Tamer and this is my pimp Mrs. Ward…and by the way, don’t tick her off or she’ll kill you.
Mrs. Ward, or Fate lady, whatever her name is, snaps her fingers and a manila envelope appears in her hand. Holy cow Batman!
She pulls out a photograph and hands it to me. “This is the leader of the Dark Ones.”
I stare at the photo in my hands, recognizing the guy in the picture; I choke on my own spit. My hand shakes uncontrollably as I see the picture of Caleb, Amber, Otto and myself at the bowling alley. A sort of green aura surrounds three of us, while a brown and red aura surrounds the other. “You’re saying that Otto is the leader? What kind of film is this? I’ve never seen anything like it before.” The picture shows color around each of us in almost a hazy way. Mrs. Ward shakes her head up and down. “Oh no, Amber will be devastated. Why couldn’t we tell that he is dark?”
Mrs. Ward sits back in her chair holding her hands with finger tips tapping, her face scrunched up in thought. She makes a cluck noise with her tongue, like a teacher does when lecturing class. “The photograph is from a camera that shows the aura. I can tell you until I’m blue in the face the color of his aura, but I felt a picture will speak volumes. Erebus is the master of disguise and quite dangerous.”
“Erebus? Isn’t he from mythology? He was the son of Chaos right?” I ask.
“Very good, that he is.”
“I thought I was an original and all? I thought the first Dark One was originally from my family. It doesn’t make sense if he is from mythology.”
“You’re correct, you are an original and your family belongs to both, but you had to be given the gift of light. Your gift comes directly from Artemis.”
Another person from mythology? Why? Where is all of this coming from? Is anything as it seems? “She’s the sister of Apollo and the daughter of Zeus?”
“She is.”
I shake my head back and forth. “She is the protector of pregnant women or something like that. What does that ha
ve to do with Light Tamers? A few years ago, I was fascinated with mythology and tried to memorize all of the names.”
“Well then, you’re aware that she is the giver of light, and a healer. That is where your family and the Light Tamers came in. If you noticed in the picture how your aura is mostly green, it means you’re a healer.” She tapped her finger on her chin, pausing the conversation for a minute. I fidget in my seat, trying to get comfortable. “I understand this is all very difficult to understand and I’d like to share knowledge with you. I assure you, it is painless.”
“Painless? What do you want to do to me?” Don’t panic. I’m sure she says stuff like that to everyone. Oh God, what have I done to deserve all of this craziness? I thought you only gave what a person can handle…I’m not handling this. Nope, I’m about to drop dead right here, right now.
The Light Tamer (The Light Tamer Trilogy) Page 9