Soothsayer: Magic Is All Around Us (Soothsayer Series Book 1)

by Allison Sipe

As I turned the corner into the main room, the smell of cinnamon and salty bacon assaulted my senses. The dining table was piled high with pancakes, giant slices of French toast, scrambled eggs, a pile of bacon, hash browns and a bowl of fresh fruit. Everything smelled and looked wonderful. My stomach grumbled again, excited at the prospect of a real breakfast for once.

  “Good morning, Violet,” Robert said, looking up at me from the table where he’d been reading the newspaper.

  “You made all this?” I asked in disbelief. I took my seat at the head of the table where a plate had been set for me, along with a fresh cup of coffee and carafe of orange juice.

  “It really wasn’t any trouble, and I wanted to show you how nice it can be having me around.” His eyes washed over me and a quiet smile played on his lips. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I made sure there was a little of everything.” He returned his gaze to the paper in front of him.

  I ate my breakfast in silence, sampling all the savory treats on the table. I tried to remember the last time I’d had a real honest to goodness breakfast like this and realized it must have been when my parents were still alive. The memory of my mom bustling around the kitchen brought a smile to my face and a lump in my throat that made it hard to swallow a mouthful of scrambled eggs. I looked over at Robert several times as I washed the meal down with coffee, wondering if I should try to make conversation, but he never looked up and he seemed perfectly at ease to just sit and read the paper.

  Everything was delicious. I took one last bite of French toast then took my plate to the kitchen. I was expecting there to be a complete mess but it looked like no one had even toasted a slice of bread let alone made an entire feast. I was about to ask where all the food had come from when I saw the clock on the microwave and realized I was already running late. I poured some coffee into a thermos and headed out the door with a quick “thank you” tossed in Robert’s direction.

  I made it to my studio in no time, staying off the busy streets and parking my car with several minutes recovered from my late start. I unlocked the front door and headed straight for the back room. The message light blinked on Jessie's phone but I didn't have time to check it. If it was important, Jessie would give me a call when she got in. I quickly unlocked the back door leading to all my equipment and flipped on the lights.

  Walking over to the storage cabinet I pulled out my large camera bag. I hadn’t looked at the bag since stuffing it in here after the wedding. The black canvas felt cool against my fingers, like it contained a piece of that night. I could almost smell the cold, sticky air wafting off of it as I pulled the zipper open. Taking a deep breath I shook off the chills the memory created and brought myself back to the present. Quickly I stuffed a few extra memory cards, two backup batteries, a light meter, two different flashes and my camera into the open pouch. I closed the cabinet and relocked it, throwing the bag over my shoulder and heading for the dark room.

  I swung the door open and flipped on the red lights. I never kept regular lighting in there for fear that someone might flip the wrong switch and ruin any photos I might be working on. I kept a medium-sized stepladder and my light diffusers in here, both of which I needed for the day’s shoot. Juggling everything out into the main office, I picked my laptop off my desk, shut the lights off, locked the front door and placed everything on the sidewalk next to my car. Out of habit I went to unlock the trunk but stopped just before I put the key in the lock. It was like being hit with a bolt of electricity and the memory of my attack flashed before my eyes.

  “Hey, watch where you're going!” a man crossing the street yelled and a horn blared. I looked toward the noise and for a brief moment I thought the man behind the wheel was Ian. Doing a double take as the car passed I tried to get a good look at the drivers face, but was unable to confirm my suspicion.

  I turned away from the trunk and unlocked the car with the keyless entry. The small tremor of panic subsided back into the dark recesses of my mind as I piled everything into the backseat and slid behind the wheel. Now that I was on my way, I could relax a little.

  I turned onto the 101 south, selected the Beatles playlist on my phone and settled in for the hour and a half drive down to Caltome Vineyards.

  Now that I was free of Robert, I could think about everything he’d said a little more objectively. I’d never been someone who believed in psychics or anything having to do with the spiritual world. Although, the one thing I had to believe was that Robert was something different, something Magical maybe. I’d spent the last few weeks trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for how he saved my life, but the more I thought about it the more I couldn’t deny that reason and logic had nothing to do with how Robert healed me.

  So what did that leave me with? I still wasn’t sure, but what I did know for sure was that I trusted Robert with my life. And if I could trust him to never let anything happen to me, then maybe I could trust that he was telling the truth. The problem with that was even if I trusted him to tell me the truth, it didn’t mean I could believe the truth. And what was I supposed to do anyway? Step up and be The Waker ? Or walk the other way and write this whole thing off as a bad dream? I let out a heavy sigh and leaned my head against the headrest. So much for having a boring, normal life.

  Thinking about my predicament made the drive to Caltome Vineyards go by fairly quickly. I pulled off the freeway in just under an hour and fifteen minutes and parked in a dirt lot in front of the building marked ‘Guest Relations.’ As I got out of my car, the sweet fragrance of grapes and fresh dirt hit me like a ton of bricks.

  I walked into the antique-looking building and into an elaborately elegant reception area. A large front counter made of aged wood accentuated the romantic charm and feel as you walked in. The winery’s name was burned into the wall behind the large counter. The cursive letters flowed into each other like smooth and flawless grapevines. To my left and around a slight corner, enormous bookshelves along the walls displayed hundreds of bottles of wine. Opposite the bookshelves was another counter that matched the one just ahead of me. This counter had tall barstools neatly tucked underneath the wood with more wine glasses than I could count hanging from the ceiling. Several displays had been set up to showcase particular bottles and a few crates were still strewn about the room waiting to be emptied. I approached the counter and pulled on the string attached to a small brass bell.

  A tall, red-headed woman appeared from behind a false wine case. “Can I help you with something?” Her voice was warm and the laugh lines around her smile were welcoming.

  “Yeah, my name’s Violet. Scott hired me to photograph the winery,” I answered, taking in the woman behind the door. The flannel she wore was a faded blue and cream, a glaring contrast to her wild, fiery red hair.

  “Oh yes, yes that’s right.” She shook her head. “He told me you were coming by today. Come on back.” She motioned with her arm for me to follow her and disappeared behind the case.

  She was pretty, though not traditionally so. Her eyes were like bright blue crystals and the faintest evidence of shadows around them indicated how little sleep she must be getting. She kept her curly, thick red hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and a few hairs had managed to escape and fall around her face.

  I made my way around the counter and as I came to the door she held out her hand and said, “I'm Meredith, Meredith Deardon, Scott’s wife.”

  Why did her name sound so familiar? Deardon, Deardon, where had I heard that before?

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand. She returned the handshake with a firm, callused grip. Apparently she didn’t just handle the winery’s paperwork.

  The room behind the case was completely different and took me a moment to adjust to. It was a plain office with boxes stacked high against the walls. The florescent lights cast a comparatively rude glow after being in the soft, elegant light filling the room just outside. Everything was simple, plain, save for a glass door to my right with a beautiful view of the sweepi
ng grape fields outside.

  “Excuse the mess. We’re still trying to get everything together before our grand opening in two weeks and things are just everywhere right now,” Meredith apologized as she sat behind one of the two desks. “Scott had to run a few errands but I can tell you what we’re looking for. Our assistant, Matthew, can show you around and help you with anything you need.”

  I sat in the folding chair across from her and she hit the speaker phone button and punched in a number. It rang twice and a young man’s voice came through the speaker. “What's up?” he asked.

  “Matthew, I need you to come to the office and show someone around.”

  “Alright, I’ll be there in five." The phone line went dead and she clicked the round button on the keypad to end the call.

  “Matthew’s wonderful. Anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask, he knows this place better than anyone.”

  “Sounds great.” I smiled and sat up straight in the hard plastic chair.

  Discussing the finer details of the job, she showed me an old family photo that was taken in Italy that was meant to be the inspiration for my days work. A small house sat quietly among rolling hills as sunlight illuminated the fog that hung over the sprawling landscape. The mysterious romanticism of the photo was the feel they were going for. I had to admit, the desire to jump into the image and explore all its hidden secrets was almost overwhelming.

  "I think I know what you're looking for." I stood and handed the picture back to her.

  “Wonderful, I'll be here when you're done. I’m always here.” She muttered the last part under her breath.

  I walked back through the false wine case and headed to my car. Placing all of my gear on the ground I fished my camera out of my bag. With deft hands, I switched out the lens for a wide angled one. Looking through the viewfinder I adjusted some of the settings.

  A loud rumbling noise came toward me as I popped a fresh battery in place. When I looked up, I saw a handsome man driving an open-air, four wheel drive vehicle toward me. I assumed this must be Matthew. Slipping a memory card into the slot, I watched as the vehicle came to a skidding halt in front of me.

  “Sorry, I know the Gator's a bit loud,” Matthew said as he turned the key and cut the engine. “But it’ll get you anywhere you need to go.” He smiled and walked around the vehicle to meet me. “I’m Matthew. Anything you need I’m here to help.”

  We shook hands as I said, “Violet.” His callused hand nearly crushed mine with his grip, making it clear he wasn’t an indoors kind of guy.

  He wore a black t-shirt, dark jeans and work boots, which all showed signs of needing a good wash. His hair was dirty blond and tied into a short ponytail at the back of his neck. A few strands of hair had escaped and fell around his bronzed face. He wasn’t overly muscular, but instead looked very lean. I had no doubt he was much stronger than he looked. Something about him made me smile.

  “I’m almost done getting everything together and then we can head out,” I said, walking back to my car.

  “No problem. I’m just gonna run inside real quick and check in with Meredith,” he said, grabbing a binder from the Gator and jogging inside.

  “Alright.”

  I turned on the camera to make sure everything was charged and ready to go then switched it off and put it in my bag. Picking up the stepladder and the rest of my gear I turned toward the Gator. The vehicle had only two seats in the front and a small bed in the rear like a tiny open air pickup truck. I put the stepladder on the wooden bed and the rest of my equipment on the front seat. Matthew came back through the guest entrance carrying a case of water with a binder balanced on top.

  “Do you need help?” I asked out of courtesy, he clearly didn’t need any.

  “Naw, I’ve got it. Thought maybe we might get thirsty being out in the sun all day,” he noted

  “And that warranted a whole case of water?" My eyebrows rose on my forehead as I looked at him.

  “You can never have too much water.” Matthew smiled as he put the case in the back beside my stepladder and climbed into the driver’s seat. I moved my bag off the seat so I could hop on as well.

  “Alright,” he said, flipping open his binder. “Here’s a map of the grounds. Where would you like to start?”

  I looked at the map, noticing the estate pressed up against a pretty large hill that might give me a great view of the whole winery from above.

  “I want to start down here in the fields, but I want to make our way up to the top of this hill. Is that possible?”

  “Anything’s possible,” Matthew said with a chuckle and snapped the binder closed with one hand.

  “Alright, then let’s get to it.” I smiled back.

  The engine revved to life and my body vibrated as we set off. The day progressed pretty smoothly. Matthew helped me with my stepladder and held the light diffusers whenever I asked. I could see why the Deardons kept him around. He really helped a lot and was an absolute pleasure to spend time with. His carefree attitude was infectious and I soon found myself joking and laughing along with him. Ever since Robert saved me I’d been afraid and cautious, but being with Matthew eased that fear a little. We zipped through the fields, stopping here and there when I asked. I snapped pictures of everything, knowing I would go back through them later and edit out the ones that weren’t that great. In my business, more was always better.

  We were slowly making our way to the top of the hill when Matthew stopped the Gator under a large tree. We’d been out in the sun for a few hours and both of us were beginning to feel its effects. My shirt clung to my shoulders and stomach with sweat and I had already gone through three bottles of water. Matthew looked like he had just gotten out of the shower. His ponytail looked dipped in grease from all the sweat pinning his hair to his head.

  “Do you want to get out of the sun for a bit?” Matthew asked. I couldn’t be sure but it looked like there was excitement in his eyes.

  “Sure, what’d you have in mind?” I asked.

  “What makes you think I have something in mind?” He put his hand to his chest, feigning shock and surprise.

  “Let’s just say its instinct.” I eyed him but couldn’t keep a smile from forming.

  “You must have good instincts,” he said, grabbing another bottle of water. “Come on, it’s just up here.” He nodded.

  “What is?” I asked and followed him out of the shade of the tree and back into the sun.

  “You’ll see.” He gave me a playful look over his shoulder.

  We soon approached a small shack just ahead of us. It looked like it had been restored recently but still showed signs of being exposed to the elements. Ivy crawled up the sides and over a small, square window on the right wall. It was very quaint, but something about it instantly made my guard go up. Matthew seemed nice and all but I really didn’t know anything about him. Could this be a trap, a way to lure me to a hidden place after spending the day sedating me? I took another hesitant step in the direction of the shack.

  “Seriously, where are you taking me?” I tried to keep my voice light.

  “Just trust me,” he said, turning around to face me. “This is something you’ll definitely want to get a few pictures of.”

  “I hardly think the Deardons hired me to take pictures of a shack, or what’s in it.”

  “It’s not the shack itself.” His eyes twinkled with sweetness. “It’s what’s underneath it.”

  “Underneath?” I frowned, looking at him like he was crazy.

  “Just come on.” He stepped toward me and grabbed my hand.

  “Hey!” I yelled as he jerked me forward.

  Matthew just laughed and pulled me inside the shack. It was empty except for a few garden tools and a large crate in the corner. He released my hand before he reached for a hook in the floor and pulled. The hatch door creaked as he lifted it open. I stepped to the edge of the opening and froze.

  Chapter 9

  “You okay? You’re not claustrophobic are you
?” Matthew asked, seeing my reaction.

  “What… oh, um, no,” I replied, stumbling over my words.

  A set of stone stairs below me led into what looked like a tunnel. Lights hanging on either side of the rough stone walls illuminated the narrow passageway. It looked just like the corridor Robert had led me through after he healed me.

  I finally looked up at Matthew, who was watching me with curiosity. “Where exactly do these stairs lead?” I asked, trying to mask the apprehension building inside me.

  He looked me over, all the playfulness gone from his face. “It leads to the cellar where we age the wine,” he answered, frowning. I could tell he was trying to understand the sudden change in my demeanor.

  “Oh, perfect.” My voice squeaked with relief.

  “You sure you’re okay? You seem a little off.” There was a slight tension to his voice.

  I laughed away his observation. “Can you blame a girl for being reluctant when a man she hardly knows drags her into a shack and opens up a creepy looking door in the floor?” I put on my best smile, hoping the joke would deter any further concern.

  “I think I might actually be offended,” he said and smiled back before heading down the stairs.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and followed close behind. “You are not.”

  We descended the stairs, going deeper and deeper underground. Neither one of us spoke while we walked. I was too focused on putting one foot in front of the other while trying to stifle the memory of traversing a similar corridor with Robert. We reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a short tunnel that opened up into a fairly large room.

  “This is my favorite place on the property,” Matthew explained.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said, taking a look around.

  My voice echoed against the crude, high ceiling. The walls didn’t look like they had been man-made either. The whole room resembled a cave, like someone had dug out all the dirt and rocks and left a big empty space behind. Our shadows danced in the thin light from bulbs spaced evenly apart, making the room glow with a soft, yellow aura. Each breath filled my lungs with the faint smell of wood and freshly-turned earth. Racks upon racks of bottled wine had been stacked against the walls and I shivered a moment with the noticeably cooler temperature.