Talisman 1 - The Emerald Talisman

by Brenda Pandos

  I rolled my eyes. What a crock!

  But before I could stop her, Sam put down another $10 and plunged my hand into the old woman’s.

  She latched on like a crab and her distrust overwhelmed me. I recoiled, but she didn’t let go. Her feelings seemed ironic since she was the one who made a living deceiving others in the first place. I wanted to laugh, before running out of the place, but I was slightly curious at what she had to say.

  “Hmmm,” she said, as she studied the lines on my hand.

  Her long boney finger traced along the ridges of my palm then froze. Her dark empty eyes fell into slits. She was afraid.

  “You’ve got quite a life line here,” she said quietly.

  I tried to pull my hand away again, but she held on, her grip amazingly strong.

  “Danger surrounds you… danger unknown to you.” She paused and furrowed her brow. “Ah…and you bear the mark… the mark of the innocent one.”

  I started to feel unnerved because as far as I could tell, she told the truth.

  “The innocent human… the one to rid us of them.”

  Sam sat next to me with her mouth gaped open.

  “Them?” I asked.

  “You don’t know about them yet, do you?”

  The old woman looked deep into my eyes. I had no idea what she meant; her words gave me goose bumps.

  “But what about Nicholas?” Sam said.

  I kicked Sam under the table. The last thing I wanted was to reveal anything private to this looney. Sam felt confused and clammed up.

  The old woman’s eyes shifted from Sam and then back to me. She dropped my hand.

  “He’s trouble. Stay away from him.”

  I rubbed my hand, grateful to have it back, wanting to wash it off.

  “That’s all I can see. You can leave now,” she said, getting up abruptly.

  I wanted out of there, so I got up too, grabbed my crutches and headed toward the door. Sam led the way.

  “When you want answers, you’ll be back,” she said quietly behind me.

  I pretended I didn’t hear her.

  Once outside, I hobbled quickly down her walkway and took a deep breath to cleanse out my lungs. She disturbed me. Her touch unleashed a wave of toxic emotions, as if she poisoned me. I moved as fast as my crutches allowed, down the walkway, relieved that with each step, my feelings began to return to normal. No way would I ever return to her house again – never.

  “Sorry about that,” Sam said as we rounded the corner of the theater. “She was totally weird.”

  “Yeah –” I looked back towards her house. “– she was.”

  I tried to process what the woman said. What did she mean by them? And being innocent? She sounded like I would save the world, from some unknown darkness, like a super hero.

  And then her insistence to avoid Nicholas? Not that I had any choice in the matter seeing how he completely avoided me like the plague. Could she have been anymore cryptic? I looked at my palm for a special mark, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

  I wanted to tell Sam about how I believed the mountain lion incident and the old ladies rantings were more than coincidental. I might have told her, if I could’ve done so without disclosing my lie. I marveled at how insane my life had become, as if I was on a collision course with some crazy alter universe. I wished for normalcy.

  There was a line outside the theater. We walked to the end of the line to wait our turn. I checked the time. We had ten minutes until the movie started.

  “What do you think she meant by ‘you bear the mark’?” Sam asked me.

  “I have no clue. She’s crazy.”

  “I thought she was okay at first, like when she said – “

  Sam kept talking, but I didn’t hear her. The same eerie stalking hunger-filled feelings from the forest were here. I whirled around to find the source.

  I spotted a group of college-aged people walking in our direction. Something about them seemed unnatural, almost surreal, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I stiffened and felt the need to protect Sam who still prattled away about the old woman. I put my arm around her and ushered her closer to the wall, away from the middle of the walkway. I glanced back in their direction. One member of the pack looked right at me with his dark black eyes and smiled a wicked grin. Frightened, I looked away and watched their feet out of the corner of my eye as they paraded past – not wanting to cause any trouble.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as they moved away from us and the hunger feelings dissipated. Sam, oblivious to what just happened, was more concerned with paying for our tickets, than fearing for our lives, but it wasn’t over.

  Someone, who looked an awful lot like Nicholas walked hurriedly towards us. He wore the same long, brown leather trench coat and it flapped in the wind as he made his way in determination. When I spotted him, he flipped up his collar and turned his sun-glassed eyes down, just before walking by.

  “Nicholas?” I said as he passed.

  He ignored me.

  I spun around and spoke louder.

  “Nicholas.”

  He stopped and turned towards me.

  “Oh, hi,” he said coolly.

  “Hi,” I said, nudging Sam. “This is my friend Sam. Sam this is Nicholas.”

  I emphasized his name. He reached out and shook her hand.

  “Nice to meet you,” she said with a smile and wide eyes that said ‘yeah, he’s gorgeous’.

  “Like wise,” Nicholas said, with a nod, his voice polite, but his face like stone.

  He made no attempt at small talk and the pause in the conversation became awkward. His emotions were completely different than before, as if our connection never happened. I searched his aura and looked for some sort of reassurance that we were still friends, but only sensed fear and icy aloofness.

  “So… how are you?” I asked, trying to relieve the tension.

  “Julia, I can’t talk right now. I have to go,” he said abruptly “It was nice to meet you, Sam.”

  A lump formed in my throat and I blinked back the tears feeling completely stupid as he walked away. I couldn’t believe he didn’t want to talk and just ditched me. Why did I call out to him? Sam, not sure how to react, tugged at my arm.

  “Let’s go, the movie is about to start.”

  My body went into autopilot and I followed her inside, unable to pay attention to where we were going. Before I knew it, she’d found us seats and I sat down thankful for the darkness.

  The movie started and so did my tears.

  What was I doing insisting he notice me? I’m so stupid.

  As the movie progressed, I did my best to try to follow along, but couldn’t concentrate. The movie I watched was the one in my head of what just happened, not the silver screen. I slumped back into my chair and stifled my sniffles. Everyone enjoyed the movie and their laughter echoed all around me, but I’d never felt so lonely in my life.

  Sam passed me a tissue.

  I’m so pathetic. I can’t even keep myself together.

  I tried hard to stop crying; not wanting to ruin everything Sam did to help me have a good time, but I couldn’t. The damage was done.

  “This movie is lame, wanna go?” she whispered after a few minutes.

  Relief flooded me – I did want to leave. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could endure the torture of holding back my emotions.

  “Yeah,” I murmured.

  We pushed the double doors to exit and I felt thankful to leave the theater alone, without curious onlookers. I could image their confusion because I’d looked like I’d just left a tragedy, instead of a comedy.

  “I’m so sorry, Jules,” Sam said as we walked to her car.

  “It’s fine. I’m fine. It’s just – “I choked back a sob.

  She put her arm on my shoulder and squeezed it, her care and concern soothed me.

  “I guess he’s not who I thought he was,” I finally said. “Maybe he is trouble.”

  I wanted to say jerk, but my mouth woul
dn’t form the word. I cared about him still – too much actually. I was astonished at my willingness to be a glutton for punishment.

  “Trouble? No, he was plain rude,” she said, slamming her car door. “Honestly, he saves your life a few days ago, but now he doesn’t have a few minutes to say hello and meet your best friend? Whatever.”

  She started her car and backed out of the parking spot.

  I appreciated her desire to protect me and her interpretation of the situation helped me see that I wasn’t crazy. Nicholas was the one with the problems. But, I still wanted to know why he didn’t like me anymore?

  “Yeah, you’re right. I just don’t get what happened.”

  “Guys are weird. They get all spooked for the stupidest reasons.”

  “I guess so.” I gave a fake chuckle.

  Luckily, he only met Sam and not my whole group of friends. Now, that would have been utterly embarrassing and Katie never would have let me hear the end of it.

  I slumped back in my seat and watched the world move by in a blur as Sam drove. She’d found a man-hater song on the radio that seemed to match the mood. I could sense her worry, but I didn’t want to talk for fear I’d burst into tears again. It was a lousy way to finish our evening.

  “Sorry I ruined your movie,” I said as she pulled up to my house.

  “You didn’t. It’s understandable considering the circumstances.”

  “But still…”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, her eyes kind.

  “No. I think I just want to go to bed.”

  “You sure?”

  “I’ll be okay, honest.” I did my best to muster up a convincing smile. She studied my face for a minute then bought my charade.

  “Definitely call me tomorrow when you wake up, okay?”

  I got out and peered through the open door. “I will.”

  I gave another weak smile and shut the door.

  She waved one last time with sympathy in her eyes and then drove away. I watched until her car disappeared, took a deep breath and limped up the cobblestone path to the house. Disappointment flooded me when I opened the door to find it dark and empty.

  It was times like this I wished I had a mom to talk to. Even if Dad were home, he would never understand and it would be awkward to try to explain it to him. I thought of Jo and sighed. If any consolation was going to be given tonight, it would have to come from me.

  I walked upstairs and decided to forgo the whole “getting ready for bed” routine and just changed into my jammies. I had little energy to do anything beyond that. Aladdin jumped on my bed and wound her body into a circle resting her head on my hand.

  What rotten luck. Why did he treat me like that? Was fate trying to tell me something?

  I looked out the window after shutting off my light and snuggled under my covers. It was partly cloudy, so I couldn’t see any stars to wish upon. I rolled over and yearned for sleep, but I couldn’t shut off my brain. It hurt inside; ached actually.

  I wanted to know why. Next time, if there ever was a next time, charming or not, he’d give me answers, or at least get an earful about what I thought about his retched behavior.

  I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. Any normal person would get a grip and move on. But the panicked feeling inside made me question if I just lost the best thing that ever happened to me. How stupid to hang onto the past. But the brutal reality, raw and unkind, told me he didn’t want to have anything to do with me.

  I wished I didn’t care.

  . . .

  7 – FOG

  Even though my eyes were closed, the early light of morning pierced them like daggers. All night I longed for happy dreams to escape into so I didn’t have to think about my pathetic life but ended up with realist nightmares instead. Unable to sleep any longer, I rolled over to get out of bed and accidentally knocked Aladdin off in the process. She meowed loudly and sulked out of my room.

  I stared at the ceiling, wondering why I kept dreaming about mountain lions and evil people with red eyes and sharp teeth hunting me down with the intent to kill me. I wanted to just grab my pillow and scream into it, but I couldn’t find the strength and worried Luke would hear me.

  My tummy growled as I limped down to a cold, dark kitchen – the first time without the use of my crutches – and pulled my favorite tattered robe tighter around myself, disappointed to find the room empty. Saturdays were supposed to be big breakfast mornings, but Dad was still away on a business trip. My mouth watered thinking of fluffy scrambled eggs, sausage links, cubed fried potatoes and golden pancakes drizzled with lots of syrup. Somehow, the thought of toast and cereal just didn’t seem as appetizing.

  While the toast cooked and the coffee finished brewing, I watched the birds out the kitchen window bathing in the fountain. Something about how they frolicked made me want to sit on the patio and watch them.

  Maybe the fresh air would help me feel better.

  With my toast balanced on the top of my coffee mug in one hand and a fuzzy blanket in the other, I carefully walked outside and snuggled up on the wooden lounge. I rested my head on the back of the chair, closed my eyes and focused on the peaceful sound of the creek gurgling through the ravine. Normally, the ambiance would diminish my worries, but was clearly not going to sooth away my wounds today.

  I tried to think of a good reason why Nicholas had been so rude to me the night before, but drew a blank. It just didn’t make sense, almost like the Nicholas I first met and the one I ran into last night were two separate people. I wanted desperately to forget all about it – the fall, his eyes, how being connected with him made me feel so alive and safe, but I couldn’t make it go away.

  This wasn’t how I wanted to feel. I prided myself for my ability to handle my emotions better than other girls my age, being forced to feel their rollercoaster’s all the time. But with one interaction with one guy and I’m just like them? I felt completely crazy, irrational and wished for a switch to turn it all off.

  I glared at the dying potted flowers scattered around the deck, trying to blame them for looking so needy. The last thing I wanted to do was garden, so I looked away, fighting their wilting-leaf guilt trips. But after a few minutes, unable to stand it anymore I got up and grabbed a watering can. I figured maybe some gardening therapy would help distract my mind.

  Before I knew it, an hour had passed and I’d weeded, watered and even planted some bulbs for next year feeling a tiny bit better. I was dusting off my hands and admiring my handy work when Luke walked onto the patio.

  “What are you doing?”

  His happy-go-lucky nature nauseated me, so I kept my back to him.

  “Baking a cake,” I said with a smirk he couldn’t see.

  “Ha-ha. Very funny.”

  I turned and glared at him, giving him the don’t mess with me look which he should have been very familiar with.

  “What’s your problem?” he said half joking – half serious, but then he stopped chuckling after I kept scowling. The regret he felt gave me a sick satisfaction.

  “Nothing,” I said, my tone terse, forcefully tugging a handful of weeds.

  I wanted him to pry, but didn’t want to look dumb either. It was already embarrassing enough. If I admitted my feelings to Luke and he teased me, it would be more than I could bear.

  “Must be that time of the month,” he mumbled under his breath while turning to leave.

  “What?” I gasped. “Whatever.”

  I pushed past him into the house and slammed the door behind me. Why did every male believe that if a woman was upset, it was because of her monthly cycle? I was particularly annoyed by his comment as it was his male species that wreaked havoc on my life at the moment, not my hormones.

  “I’m not on my period!” I yelled through the closed door.

  My anger welled up and I stood there, fists clenched, realizing I could no longer wait anymore for the person I really needed to talk to. So I walked directly over to the phone, picked i
t up and dialed, prepared to say what I needed to say to get my Jo back.

  My ankle ached when pressing the gas pedal as I drove the short distance to Jo and John’s. Every second that passed seemed to make my heart beat a little faster and my palms began to sweat while holding the steering wheel. In my head, I rehearsed what I would say if John was home. I should’ve had the courage to ask Jo if he was at home, instead of being too chicken. I decided if he was there when I arrived that I’d just be blunt and tell him he wasn’t welcome then ignore his hurt feelings and pouting.

  I parked in front and noticed a new “Welcome to the Ritchie’s Home” sign that hung on the side of what used to be Grandma’s house. My stomach churned. Yet another reminder Jo and Grandma were no longer a part of my life – I wished I wasn’t jealous. I pushed the thoughts aside, walked up the walkway and knocked prepared in case John answered the door.

  “Julia!”

  Jo ambushed me with a huge hug almost knocking me off my feet after opening the door. I melted into her hug and fought back my emotions as we embraced for a moment – basking in the warmth of her undying love.

  “I’ve missed you. Come in… come in.”

  It felt really good to be genuinely missed and I realized how stupid I was – John or no John, I shouldn’t have waited so long to see her. As Jo ushered me into the house and I smelled cookies baking.

  “I just made some chocolate chip cookies. Would you like some?” she asked as we walked towards the kitchen.

  I nodded while turning the corner and stopped in my tracks. The kitchen had been totally remodeled.

  ”Wow,” I said, overwhelmed by the ostentatious colors and furniture changes. “When did you… It looks so… different.”

  “Do you like it?” she said, her joy flowing all around us. “Well, now that Mom is gone John and I felt we should make it more our home. I hope that doesn’t make you feel like we are trying to erase the memory of your Grandma.”

  “Oh, no… yeah, you should,” I said while heading toward a newly upholstered bar stool to sit down. I needed a moment to take it all in.