Falling

by Meredith Bond

  “Huh! I guess I’m really susceptible or something,” Erin said, doodling on a scrap of paper next to her keyboard.

  “Yeah.”

  “But he didn’t say anything after that?”

  “Nope. I think we were all just kind of in shock by what you were reciting. Why?”

  “Oh, nothing. I was just thinking how common it was for people who have these past life experiences to be something or someone special, and what a load of shit that is.”

  Lanie laughed. “I know, right? But, no. He didn’t do anything or suggest anything to you. It was all you.”

  “Huh. I guess I should ask my mom about this, then.”

  “Yeah? You’re going to ask her if she’s a high priestess?” Lanie laughed.

  “Yes, I am.” Erin said, with complete seriousness. It wasn’t going to be easy, and she was almost positive she would get shut down, but she had to find out.

  There was silence at the other end of the phone line for a minute.

  “Erin, magic’s not real. Right? I mean, you can’t actually move stuff with your mind, can you?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never tried, but I’m going to talk to my mom and find out.”

  “Shit, girl. That would be…” Lanie just left her sentence hanging.

  “Okay. Talk to you later.” Erin hung up before her best friend could ask anything else.

  Would she even tell Lanie the truth if she learned anything from her mom? She’d never told her college roommate about her ability to read other people’s emotions. David had shared his abilities with Ibrahim but she assumed he’d never shared the info with anyone else.

  She could trust Lanie. She was certain of it. It actually made her feel bad that she’d never shared that part of her life with her roommate—she’d shared everything else. So, yes, she supposed she would tell her the truth—if her mother was honest with her. Luckily, with her ability to read emotions, Erin would know.

  ###

  David draped his suit jacket on the back of the chair in the visiting room at the D.C. Central Detention Facility, going for a slightly more casual look this time. He would deal with the cold—if Shawn could do so, so could he. A minute later an officer accompanied his client into the room.

  The fifteen year-old kid looked tired. Run down. It couldn’t be easy staying here, away from everyone and everything he knew. He’d been defiant. Now he just looked defeated. David kicked himself for not coming in earlier or with better news. But he had to pick the kid’s brain.

  “How are you doing, Shawn?” David asked, as Shawn slumped down in his chair.

  “Okay, I guess,” the kid answered with a slight lift of one shoulder.

  “I tried to speak with your brother this morning.”

  That got his attention. Shawn straightened up. “You what? No, shit, man! You can’t do that.”

  “What do you mean I can’t do that? I can and I did. I’ve got to do something to get you cleared of these charges. You are not guilty,” David argued. How ridiculous this was! Why was the kid trying to protect his drug-dealing brother?

  “Yeah, but Deon’s not gonna do shit about this. What’d you expect?”

  “I expected him to admit to owning the drugs that were found in the pocket of the jacket you were wearing,” David admitted.

  Shawn laughed without any humor. “Man, you are either some sort of joker or a complete idiot. Why in the hell would he do that?”

  “Because he cares for you? Because he knows that you’re innocent? Because he wants what’s best for you?”

  “Yeah, right. Like he’s gonna turn himself in so I can go free. Bullshit. That fuckin’ ain’t gonna happen, man.”

  No shit. “Well, what do you think I can do to convince him? If he doesn’t…”

  “There ain’t nothin’ that’s gonna convince him to do that. I’m tellin’ ya. He ain’t gonna do it. He’d have to be a fuckin’ idiot to. There ain’t nothin’ you can do.”

  And that, right there, summed up why Shawn was looking so dejected, David thought. He knew he wasn’t going to get out of this. He was caught red-handed. There was nothing that could be done except to argue that this was a first offense and ask the judge for leniency.

  It might buy the kid a few years, but he would still end up in a group home. He would still be exposed to the underbelly of society for most of his formative years. David didn’t want that for Tommy.

  No! Not Tommy. David shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. Shawn.

  Tommy was dead.

  He’d done this. He’d been here. He’d paid for it—with his life.

  The bitch of it was that Tommy hadn’t even been into any of that shit. He’d been there trying to help these kids. He’d met them, gotten close to them. And then when the cops had come to arrest them, he’d gotten caught in the net.

  David had been able to bail him out of jail only because Tommy hadn’t actually had any drugs on him. But the minute he went back out onto the street…

  A fist closed over David’s heart. He would not allow that to happen to Shawn. He would get the kid out, and he would see that he was protected.

  He had to.

  He couldn’t stand the thought that such a promising young life would be ruined so easily—and for nothing. For wearing his brother’s jacket.

  Chapter Nine

  As Erin turned toward David, sitting on the opposite sofa, she hoped she hadn’t rushed through the preliminaries too fast—the small talk, pouring wine, offering him something to eat. But she just couldn’t wait to grill him on being Vallen, and even more particularly, on the high priestesses. She wanted… No, she needed to know what this was all about.

  It had been teasing her ever since the hypnosis, like a rope that had finally dropped next to someone who had been treading water for hours. Only for Erin, it had been her whole life. Finally, she could see a way to safety, to comfort. As yet, it was only a vague idea, the concept of a rope without it being really there. When she found out more, hopefully, it would become more definite, more real. And maybe she’d be able to see what was at the other end of it, so she’d know if it was safe to grab on to or not.

  “So what do you know about the Vallen?” David asked, smiling at her—maybe laughing? He settled back on the sofa with his glass of wine.

  Erin tucked her legs up under her. What a relief it was that she’d managed to rearrange the furniture so that the love seat she was sitting on had its back to the windows. Finally, she was able to actually sit in the living room—not her living room, as she just couldn’t take ownership of this apartment yet… maybe not ever. At least she could stay in a room other than her own little bedroom and the kitchen (thank goodness for blinds!).

  The whole apartment still made her uncomfortable, but at least she could now stand to be in it. Maybe when she’d finally put some pictures up on the walls of her bedroom, it would feel more like home? She just hadn’t been inspired to do so yet.

  “When I was little, my father sat me down and explained to me that we were Vallen and what that meant. You know, having special abilities so that we could help ordinary people.” She paused to take a sip of her wine—white, not her favorite red, just in case of spills on these white sofas and carpet. “But he told me that we didn’t use these special skills anymore because it put us at an unfair advantage. To do the right thing, he said, we should just do the best we could without having to resort to using magic.” She shrugged. “It sounded fair to me, but I was about five at the time, so what did I know?”

  David gave a little laugh and a shake of his head. “Meanwhile, my parents have spent their entire lives working with the native peoples of New Mexico and their shaman in order to help addicts overcome addiction and live healthy lives. They use their magic, as the shaman use their special brand of magic, every day to help these people. I was taught that our abilities were a gift to be used.”

  “Wow. A completely different take on what we should and shouldn’t do. An
d clearly, our former selves from the hypnosis, thought nothing of moving stuff around and using their abilities for everyday living.” She paused and cocked her head, looking at him. “Do you use your abilities like that? To move stuff around?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah. When I’m alone or with someone who knows I’m Vallen. Why not?”

  Erin just laughed. “I guess because I’ve been taught never to do so.” She looked around her. “You know I moved this furniture around myself—without the use of magic. I can’t even imagine how much easier it would have been if I’d used it!”

  David sat forward. “You moved the furniture without… But why? Oh, come on, now that’s just stu…silly,” he quickly corrected himself.

  “Stupid. Yes, now that I think about it, it was exactly that.” She laughed. “But it didn’t even occur to me until just this minute that I could have done it any other way.”

  He shook his head sadly. “I am so sorry, Erin! Do you know why your parents are so against the use of magic? I mean, yes, it puts us at an advantage, but what’s wrong with that if we’re using it to help people?”

  “I have no idea.” She shrugged. “It’s just the way my parents think.”

  “What do they do, your parents? I take it they don’t use their magic in their ordinary jobs.”

  “No. At least, not that I know of.” She said, taking another sip of wine. “My dad’s a veterinarian, my mom’s a pediatric nurse. We always joke that they both like fixing small animals.”

  David gave a little laugh, much to Erin’s delight. Hugh had only looked at her oddly when she’d told him that joke.

  “Do you know anything about this high priestess thing that my former self was talking about?” Erin asked, sitting forward. This is what she really wanted to know about, what had been bothering her for days.

  David gave a heavy sigh, immediately sending Erin’s heart plummeting. “No. Now that’s something I never heard anything about.”

  She did her best to remain hopeful that she could find out something. Perhaps he knew about it but just needed something to trigger his memory. “It almost sounds Wiccan, doesn’t it? I mean, a high priestess?”

  “Yes! It does,” he agreed. “You haven’t asked your mother, have you?”

  Erin’s heart fell a little further. “No! And if at all possible, I don’t want to.”

  He paused while lifting his glass to his lips. “Why not?”

  “Because I would get shut down. It’s what always happens whenever any of us asked my parents about magic or the Vallen, beyond what we were told to begin with.” No, Erin would avoid speaking to her mother about this if it was at all possible. Although it was looking less and less likely.

  She hated that. She hated that her parents hadn’t taught her and her sibs more than the very basics about the Vallen. She hated that they’d refused to even discuss the topic.

  “Any of us?” he asked.

  “Me or any of my siblings.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “How many do you have?”

  She took this turn in the conversation with a little lessening of the tension inside her chest. This was a lot easier to talk about—something she was used to. Erin smiled, readying for his shock when she told him. Everyone was always surprised at how big her family was. “Six.”

  His mouth dropped open for a second, not disappointing her at all. “Six? You’re one of six kids?”

  “No, I’ve got six siblings. I’m the seventh.”

  “Wow! Um…Catholic?”

  “No. Just prolific,” she shrugged. “Actually, my mom’s family is the same. Seven kids and she’s the youngest too. You would not believe how many cousins I’ve got!”

  “Wait a minute. You’re the seventh child, and your mom is the seventh child?”

  “Yeah, why?” Erin cocked her head at him again.

  “That sounds…deliberate,” he said slowly. He pulled out his cell phone, opened an app, and started typing.

  “Are you looking that up?” Erin asked.

  “Yes.” He waited, staring at his phone, Erin supposed waiting for the page to load, and then hit a few more buttons as things popped up on his screen. “It says here that the seventh son of the seventh son has special abilities,” he said. “And here’s another website that mentions the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter being a high priestess.” He scrolled through a page and then looked up at her. “Do you know about your grandmother? Your mother’s mother? Was she also a seventh daughter?”

  Erin widened her eyes. “Yeah, she was. My mom told me once, when I complained about being the youngest, that I come from a long line of seventh daughters. I should be proud to be so special.”

  David lowered his phone. “Shit! You must be a high priestess, or the daughter or granddaughter of one. Is your grandmother still alive?”

  “No. She died soon after I was born,” Erin said.

  “That’s a shame. Maybe you could have asked her.”

  “Huh. Yeah.” Ideas were churning in her brain—and her heart. Finally, an avenue of possibility! She popped up from the sofa. “I’m going to get my computer. Maybe there’s something on-line about all of this. It’ll be easier to read there than on your phone.”

  She came back from her room a moment later, her laptop carefully balanced on her hand as it booted up. She braved sitting next to David on the sofa, facing the windows. It was dark outside, and she very deliberately kept her gaze firmly on the computer screen in front of her. She could still feel the pull of the sky but did her best to ignore it.

  Instead, she opened her browser and typed the search term into Google—“Vallen.” Opening another window, she typed in “seventh daughter.” Vallen didn’t bring up anything, but seventh daughter did.

  “I didn’t expect there to be anything on the Vallen. We’re a pretty secretive bunch,” David commented, watching her screen as closely as she was.

  “But there sure is a good bit of stuff on seventh daughters,” Erin said. Just then the doorbell rang. Erin jumped as it startled her.

  She shared a look with David. “Who could that be?” she asked.

  He just laughed. “I don’t know. This is your apartment.”

  She was about to get up to see when he put his hand on her arm. “Can you feel anything coming from whoever it is? It’s probably a good idea to check that it isn’t anyone malevolent before you answer the door.”

  She just looked at him for a second, marveling at his good sense, then turned and focused on the person standing on the other side of her door, reaching out to see what they were feeling. “Nothing bad…a little anxiety?” she asked, as if he would know.

  He just shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t have the ability to feel other people’s emotions. Don’t ask me.”

  “It’s hard to tell from this distance,” she said.

  David just nodded and Erin went to the door. Peering through the peephole, she was shocked to see Hugh’s distorted face waiting patiently on the other side. “Shit!” she whispered. She could feel that David heard her, but he pretended not to have done so. He remained focused on the computer in front of him.

  There was nothing for it; she had to answer the door. She took in a deep breath and did so, pasting a smile and a look of surprise on her face. “Hugh! Wow, what a surprise!”

  “Hi! I looked for you at both the Taco and the Lounge, but you weren’t there. What are you doing?” The last bit sounded way too commanding for Erin’s taste, but she shoved it aside.

  “Come on in!” She stood back so that he could come through the door.

  David had stood up and turned around.

  Erin could feel waves of anger beginning to roll off her boyfriend. Was he jealous or just angry that she hadn’t been out with him? “Hugh Bly, this is David Elder. David, Hugh,” she said, making the introductions.

  The men briefly grasped hands.

  “Hi,” David said.

  Hugh narrowed his eyes a bit. “Are you with Senator Levinson’s office?” he as
ked, his voice growing more controlled.

  “No. I’m with the Department of Public Defense,” David answered.

  “Oh, I see.” Hugh turned back to Erin with a questioning look on his face, as if asking what the hell she was doing with a PD.

  “David works with Lanie,” Erin answered, as if that would explain things. Naturally, it didn’t. It only made Hugh more curious…and angry. If she couldn’t feel his emotions, the blank look on his face would have told her more than anything else just how annoyed he was. He was the strangest man. The angrier he was, the more controlled he got.

  His eyes landed on her computer, which was still open to the Google results page for the Vallen. It looked as if David had blanked out the search bar in order to type something else but then had stopped.

  “Erin, what the hell are you doing?” Hugh asked, his voice completely level without any sort of intonation at all.

  “Um…having a glass of wine with a friend?” she answered, not sure what sort of answer Hugh was looking for.

  This didn’t look good, being alone with another guy, but she wasn’t about to start explaining herself to Hugh, despite the fact that they’d been dating for the past six months.

  “I can see that. And researching nonsense while you should be out there,” he gestured to the windows, “talking with people who can actually further your career.”

  David reached down and closed the laptop cover—too late to hide anything.

  “Neither the world, nor my career, will end if I miss one night of networking,” Erin said, trying to explain herself.

  Hugh just raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure about that?”

  Erin frowned at him.

  He turned to David. “I honestly don’t know who you are or what you think you’re doing. Erin did tell you she was in a relationship, didn’t she? If she didn’t, I’m telling you right now.” His voice had grown quiet. This really wasn’t good.

  “I think that’s up to Erin,” David said, looking at her.