“She just started to scream. It scared me awake and I ran in here to find her on the bed,” Jen answered.
“I don’t get it. We’ve already done all this. We’ve already talked about the dream, about him, then you and Aunt Grace went out and Jen and I followed—then they were here…” I said, looking back out the window and up to the tree tops.
“What are you talking about, Jacey?” Hudson asked as he came to stand beside me and stare up into the nothingness with me.
“We’ve has this conversation before. You and Aunt Grace came into my room with Jen saying I woke her up by screaming. We talked about the cloud form, the Seekers, and then you and Aunt Grace went outside to make sure they were all gone, and Jen and I followed, and then… and then…” before I could finish, Aunt Grace came over and put her arm around my shoulder.
“It’s been a really long day. There’ve been a number of things that happened, which pretty much would make anyone’s imagination go into overdrive right now,” she said. Hudson and Jen nodded in agreement.
“Maybe you should start from the beginning and tell us about the dream. It might make you feel better.” Hudson offered.
While the conversation was going on, I paced back and forth in front of the window. Mom was circling me like she had earlier, in a protective swirl like she was embracing me one second and checking me over the next. I was lost in thought when Hudson’s voice broke through.
“So, Jace…do you want to tell us about your dream?” He had the same look on his face that he’d had when I’d confronted him about Jen. He looked uncomfortable, even a little hesitant when he asked. This wasn’t like him at all. He’d always been very direct and most times impatient to hear what my dreams were about. I was going to call him on it but decided I’d just tell them everything… again. Even if for me it was the second telling of the same story. I’d have to figure out later why they were all lying to me… again.
I began with the walk in the forest and the cloud form racing me back here before the black abyss. I didn’t miss a detail. I ended this version back in Aunt Grace’s old room and my reflection talking to me and the child I saw in the crib.
“I, for one, can vouch that there’s definitely no one in or outside of the house that isn’t supposed to be,” Aunt Grace said.
“How can you be so sure?” I asked.
“When I spoke to Eve earlier, I told her I’d come by after everyone went to bed. I just got back from her place maybe a half an hour ago. We had a lot to catch up on.”
“But everything seemed so real. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I could’ve sworn…”
“Your Mom was the same, you know,” Aunt Grace interrupted.
“What do you mean, Mom was the same?” When I mentioned ‘Mom,’ she stopped swirling around the room and came over to float beside me by the window.
“She’d have dreams, just like you. She’d dream and the next day she would swear they were true. She completely believed the things she witnessed and experienced weren’t dreams at all. She believed they were events that had really happened. I think with all the emotions over the last couple of days and being here in Nevaeh, it may have something to do with your dreams seeming so life-like. Sometimes our dreams are our reality—especially here.”
“Why don’t you believe me?” I yelled at everyone in the room.
Mom swirled around a little and her thoughts radiated to me, the words Aunt Grace had spoken were filled with truth. I wanted to tell everyone in the room I knew they were lying to me, but, with Mom validating Aunt Grace’s explanation, I felt as though I was left with nothing to say. Definitely an awkward moment for me at any time, considering I’m never usually one at a loss for words.
Jen approached the window and suggested we get back to bed.
“How about I stay in here with you tonight?” she offered.
I didn’t say a word, I didn’t need to. I believe it was pretty obvious to everyone there that I didn’t want to be alone.
“Sleep well, Jacey. I’m praying in time you’ll be just like Ria. For her, after a while, the dreams would be less frequent and less real,” Aunt Grace said as she came over to the window, hugged me, and kissed my forehead like Mom used to do.
“Is she here with us now?” Aunt Grace asked.
“Yeah, she hasn’t stopped flying around me since I woke up,” I stated, watching her swirl around me in her reds and blues.
“Then you’re safe for tonight. Can you tell Ria I miss her?” Aunt Grace asked as she looked around the room.
“I don’t have to. You just did. She misses you, too,” I replied as Aunt Grace walked out of my room.
“Can you tell Mom I miss her, too, and tell her if there was any time I needed her, now would be it,” Hudson said, then he went over to Jen. For the first time since I’d found out they were a couple, they hugged and kissed each other gently on the lips.
“Uggh, hello—remember no kissy-feely things while I’m around,” I announced, and they parted, reluctantly, I might add, but they parted.
In the moment I’d interrupted them, they’d reminded me of Mom and Dad. When you were in a room with them, you didn’t only feel the connection the two of them had; you could actually see the love between the both of them.
“I’ll see you two in the morning,” Hudson said, walking past me, ruffling up my hair, and leaving my room.
There was obviously something amiss with all of the ‘explanations’ about the supposed non-events everyone was offering about tonight. I knew solely from the look in Hudson’s eyes he was holding something back. I also knew right now I wasn’t going to be asking him or Aunt Grace about it. I knew down to the center of my core I hadn’t dreamt everything tonight. I knew something mystical or even magical had happened here. I only needed to get a little more in tune with Nevaeh. Then and only then would I start to ask more questions.
So, explanations about tonight I could forgo, but something I couldn’t—those blue eyes and why they were stuck in my mind.
“Jen?” I said softly, hoping she was awake.
“Yeah.”
“Are you awake?”
“I am now. What’s up?” Jen asked as she propped herself up onto her elbows.
“When you’re with Hudson, how does your heart feel?”
“Well, that wasn’t the question I thought you were going to ask, but…when I’m with him, my heart feels excited. When we’re together, it feels like I don’t need anyone or anything else in the world with me—I have him. When we’re not together, I miss him—a lot. I feel like there’s a piece of me missing.”
“The dream I had tonight, the cloud form—it was the same guy. The one I’ve been dreaming about. Have you ever thought of something or someone so much you felt a slight bit stalkerish?” I asked.
“I haven’t heard the word stalker used that way before, but I guess in the way you’re using it I’ve kinda felt that way, too—obviously about Hudson. But how do you know it’s the same guy in your dreams? You said you couldn’t make out a face,” Jen asked.
“I couldn’t make out a face, but the feelings I have every time he shows up are the same. Whenever he shows up my whole body from head to toe tingles. I get a whooshing feeling in my belly. My cheeks flush and my ears feel like they’re on fire.” I rolled over onto my back and looked up to the ceiling. Mom was hovering in pink and yellow colors.
“When did you first start dreaming about this guy?” Jen asked.
“It’s like he’s always been in my dreams. There’s something about him which makes me think he’s so real. Not just some guy I made up in my head.” I continued to stare up at my ceiling, a little too embarrassed to turn over and look at Jen. How can I stalk a dream– now that’s pretty ridiculous.
“I think you’re coming to a point in your life where everything changes, Jacey. I think any guy, imaginary or real, would be lucky to have a girl like you interested in him. By the way, I don’t think it’s ridiculous…” When Jen finished I turned and looked at he
r. I could have sworn I hadn’t said I thought it was ridiculous out loud. While I was facing her, Jen looked as though she were glowing the same purple color she’d been in my dream… or not. I lay back onto my bed.
“Your friendship means a lot, Jen. I’ve never had anyone I really trusted in my life other than my family.”
“Soon you’ll figure out I’m the lucky one to have found a friend like you. You’re more special than you realize,” Jen said, leaning over to turn off the bedside lamp.
I stared up at the symbols on the ceiling until I felt myself going cross-eyed. Somewhere within the realm of these symbols lay my past, present, and future. How long was it going to take before I unlocked the many secrets which made up the labyrinth of my family and all of the truths’ each member seemed to be holding onto?
Tonight was the first time I didn’t remember falling asleep. I remembered feeling safe and thinking about him.
I awoke with the sun shining on my face through the bedroom window. I rolled over onto my side and came face to face with Jen. She was fast asleep. I wasn’t going to wake her. My alarm clock showed six-twenty-five a.m. I tried to fall back asleep, but it wasn’t going to happen, so I got out of bed and tip-toed to my trunk of clothes in the corner of my room. I grabbed a pair of gray joggers and a white hoodie. While I was rooting around for them, I found the pictures which were hidden in Mom’s dresser drawer back home and sat down on the floor cross-legged to look at them. Hudson was in a few of them, but I was in most of them. From picture to picture, it was apparent I was in the same outfit but in different colors.
I was in every picture. Aunt Grace’s explanation of the duplications could only justify a few pictures—maybe—but for as many as I had, that bordered on more than a little weird.
I could have sat for the next hour gazing at the baby pictures of Hudson and me, but something kept nagging at me. I put them all back into my trunk, showered, dressed, and went to check on Jen. She was still asleep.
I went down to the kitchen and hoped Hudson hadn’t eaten all of the muffins Aunt Grace had made the night before. Small joys, in a container on the counter were four muffins. I took one and headed out through the kitchen into the sunroom and out into the backyard.
It was around seven a.m., the sun was cresting over the treetops, and I stood in wonder watching the world wake up. I was grateful to be Nevaeh.
I walked further into the yard, and found the tree swing in the furthest corner of it. I sat on it, and started going over everything that had been happening in my life lately. I started to swing, feeling the early morning breeze against my skin refreshing. I was grateful for this moment and for the small break in the drama of my new life. As I was admiring the view before me, I noticed Mom had followed me. She floated over and was covered in soothing pale colors. She spun around me on the tree swing and we went into our own time again.
“Mom, am I losing my mind?” I asked.
“No, Jacey, you’re finally at home and you’re coming into your own,” she whispered.
“What does ‘coming into my own’ mean, Mom? I’ve been hearing it over the last couple of days and I still don’t get it. What does last night have to do with ‘coming into my own?’ I know you were around last night, I know everything that happened last night wasn’t just a dream, and I know you saw everything. Why is everyone lying to me?”
“They’re trying to protect you the only way they know how.”
“They’re protecting me from what?” I asked.
“From the same thing your father and I tried to keep you safe from…from the evil which has always been, from the evil which will always be,” she whispered, swirling around me. “From those faithful to the Yietimpi, you are who they fear. You are the one it cannot see, it cannot touch. You’re the first of our kind and they don’t know how to deal with you.”
“Mom, you’re talking in riddles. Can’t anyone just tell me what this evil is? I mean, I’ve put up with people being able to read my thoughts,” I said, taking a breath, “and purple lights which heal me. You, my mother, who is dead, but not really. I can still see you and talk to you. I think I can handle a little more info on the who’s who of evilness other than they’re called the Yietimpi,” I begged.
As I took a breath to go on, a movement from my right interrupted me and brought me back into the backyard. Aunt Grace came outside, carrying two cups of hot chocolate. She handed one of them to me.
“She’s here with you now, isn’t she?” Aunt Grace asked.
“Yeah, she’s here.” I nodded and took a sip of the steaming hot chocolate, always a comfort to me.
“Has she told you anything?” Aunt Grace asked. “Anything about Nevaeh or more about us?”
I replied tiredly, “That I’m the first of our kind and there is some kind of tribe or clan called the Yietimpi that are out to get me.” I paused and got a little sarcastic, “and of course they’re all afraid of me…for some reason that everyone else around here seems to know except for me!” I took another sip of hot chocolate, closed my eyes, and tried breathing in the chocolate fumes to put out the frustration which was building up inside of me.
“I know it’s irritating and you have a right to know what’s going on. Everyone who cares about you, Ria, Hearte, Hudson, Jen, and I have to do what we think is best to keep you safe.” Aunt Grace paused and looked around the yard. She sighed and took a sip of her hot chocolate. Her voice changed from soft and pacifying to strong and unmoving. “Jacey, when the time is right, you’ll understand why we’re doing things this way,” A breeze swept her hair back off her forehead, causing her to stop talking for a second.
“Is Ria swirling around me?” Aunt Grace asked.
“Maybe she’s trying to comfort you,” I said tiredly.
“Tell her I miss her and love her,” Aunt Grace said.
“She can hear you.”
Aunt Grace put her cup down and hugged me. I hugged her back and Mom disappeared.
“I trust you and I trust your judgment, I just want to know,” I said. “I just… want to know.”
“You will know and it will be—”
I cut her off before she could finish. “I know, in time,” I replied, sighing. My cup was empty. Not totally dejected, but almost so, I stood up, and together, we walked around to the front of the house.
CHAPTER TWELVE
A day of rest
A day to explore
One can only expect
The calm before the storm
We walked over to the oak tree and sat on a makeshift bench made from one of the low-lying branches of the tree.
“How about exploring Nevaeh today?” Aunt Grace asked.
My mood brightened slightly. “I’d like that. I want to see where you work and see the maze in town you told me about.”
I could see Aunt Grace was amused. She laughed. “So you were paying attention when I told you about our little town.”
“Of course I was. The only thing you didn’t tell me about was the high school. Even though it’s Sunday, I was hoping we could slide by, considering Hudson and I will be going there tomorrow,” I said.
Maybe it would help get rid of some of the butterflies in my stomach, since the thought of going to yet another new school had became a reality.
“It had to be hard for you and Hudson going from school to school. This will be the last time you’ll ever be the new kids ever again. I’ll bring you guys around once everyone is up and ready. Sound good?” she asked.
“I think it sounds great.”
We sat in the tree and enjoyed the sun and the chirping birds for another half hour, then we went inside to see if Hudson and Jen were awake. Once inside, we heard them in the sun room. As we walked in, we caught them in an intimate moment. They were completely unaware of our presence. Aunt Grace cleared her throat and they parted, looking guilty.
“Finally, you two decided to get up,” I said, half joking. I looked at their faces and their posture. Hudson’s face revealed the e
mbrace wasn’t what I’d originally thought, that they’d been trying to sneak in some girlfriend-boyfriend time. He was genuinely concerned. Jen’s eyes were red and puffy. She’d been crying.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Jen’s parents are going to be out of the country for a while,” Hudson told us. “They want her to go with them. They said they couldn’t leave her alone at home because they don’t know how long they’re going to be gone.”
“They’ve been called to work somewhere in the South Pacific,” Jen said, tearfully. “Because they don’t know for how long, and you guys aren’t in town anymore, they want me to go with them.”
I’d never gotten to know Jen’s parents very well over the last year and a half. I knew they went away a lot for work, but Jen never had to go because Mom would always offer to let Jen stay with us. Jen had never really talked about it.
“What would your parents think of letting you stay here with us? You could register with Jacey at St. Nemele. That is, only if your parents approve,” Aunt Grace offered.
“Are you serious?” I asked.
“You mean, you’d let me stay here until they got back?” Jen asked, completely surprised and delighted by Aunt Grace’s offer.
“I know how much it would mean to both Hudson and Jacey for you to stay. When you were only going to be a couple hours away, it wasn’t going to be so difficult for each of them to handle the distance. But you being halfway across the world, I think they’ve both had enough devastation recently. This all depends on your parents, of course. They would have to approve of this arrangement,” Aunt Grace said. “I know Ria would take you in when they’d go away. Staying here will help both Hudson and Jacey, not to mention me.” Aunt Grace smiled at Jen. Before she could move, both Jen and I literally threw ourselves at her and hugged her fiercely.
“I know they’ll be all right with it,” Jen said between happy sobs.
“Well, let’s give them a call. if they need to talk to me, I’m right here,” Aunt Grace said, laughing as she peeled us off of her.
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