“Eve and her family have been with us always,” Mom said to me as she placed her warmth around my shoulders. “Eve is an Elder in our Guild. You, Jacey, have an ability which no other before you has ever had. You can see into this dimension and interact with those in it. You can speak to us when no other can. You can use it in ways no other has been able to.”
Dad stayed in the background, keeping watch.
“I’m more confused than ever. You guys keep telling me I’ll learn everything soon, but I’m getting completely annoyed with the ‘in time’ bit. I know I’ve been blessed with this ability and I would never not want it. The one part of not knowing everything was okay for a while because I got to see Mom and Dad here. The magic thing I can handle. I enjoy it. But, what’s a greater problem for me now is knowing others can come into my thoughts without my permission,” I said.
“Jacey, try to understand how this works. You’ll be the one to judge who sees what. It will be your choice who you allow to see and interact with you,” Eve said slowly, wanting me to understand. “I’ve been to this realm more times than there are years to count and I’ve never seen another of our kind. I’ve seen a number of the Yietimpi clan who have tried to break into our thoughts through this realm—” Eve paused. I waited. “Be prepared to guard what you know and what you have. I’m quite worried about your isolation—your age and your inexperience puts you at a greater risk. However, I’ve seen that you’re stronger than anyone expected. You have abilities which have not been seen in millennia. The mere fact that you’re able to have this conversation now…in this realm, tells me you have more abilities than anyone I’ve ever witnessed—Nemelite or Yietimpi. Take comfort in the thought you have the strength to govern who and what enters your mind. This was proven to me when I tried to touch you.” Eve touched her hand.
“Are you injured?” I asked, grabbing for her hand.
“Yes, I’m injured, but I’ll be fine. I have a friend who’s pretty good at healing things.” She smiled at me.
“I’m leaving this realm and returning to the one in which our friends and family are in. I won’t say a word about all of this. I do want you to know you can come to me whenever you need someone to talk to. I do not judge,” Eve said and then turned to my parents, smiled, and disappeared.
“Did either one of you know she could do that?” I asked.
“We didn’t know anyone could come here. We were amazed you could. From this experience, it tells us there will be many more surprises in the near future,” Dad said.
“We’ll handle them together,” Mom said. She and Dad swirled together, said goodbye, and slid away.
I stayed in my thoughts for a while. Were there any other beings present that I might have missed prior to detecting Eve? After a few seconds, I was certain there was no one else here except me. I closed my eyes and returned to my family. No one other than Eve was aware of me visiting my own time again.
“Let’s have something to eat,” Aunt Grace said.
Eve and Aunt Grace stood next to each other, Eve’s hand covered by Aunt Grace’s. There was a purple glow which no one but me seemed to notice. I glanced at both of them. They both smiled.
We sat for the next hour enjoying the best bacon and eggs I’ve ever eaten. I’d planned on only eating a muffin and having an orange juice. The battle of muffin over bacon was lost before it began.
While I ate I went over my meeting with Eve. There were a few things she’d said in my ‘alternate universe’ which troubled me, causing me to question a number of things.
The first realization was learning that others may be able to go into the same realms I’ve been visiting my parents. Did this mean that place wasn’t purely made up in my head—exclusive to me? It validated that I wasn’t making things up to comfort myself. With the question posed and ultimately answered in the same thought, you’d think this would make me feel a lot better. But it didn’t. It made me realize how vulnerable I was.
Second, what’s Awakening? Who could I ask about this, and when was this supposed to have happen? Better yet, who could I go to that would answer my question and not tell me ‘in time’? Jen nudged me with her elbow.
“Are you guys ready to see your new high school? Vincent will show you around tomorrow. A quick tour today won’t hurt, though.”
All right … What was with that weird stomach thing at the mention of this Vincent guy? Mental note—make sure to ask Aunt Grace if I’d met him before. Maybe this was déjà-vu or something. The main issue was something bad going to happen or something good? I couldn’t figure it out. My hands were all sweaty and my heart beat had accelerated to the point where I needed to breath in deeply to control it.
“He’ll be there,” Eve answered.
“I’m ready to see the school, how about you, Jen?” I said, too enthusiastically. My heart continued to beat a mile a minute and my mouth felt like it was full of marbles.
“Let’s go, thanks for breakfast, Eve, it was great,” Jen said as she and Hudson stood up.
“You’re welcome,” Eve said. “I hope to be seeing a lot more of you.” She reached up and hugged each of us.
“Thank you, Eve,” I said when it was my turn for a hug. “It was nice to finally meet you.” I glimpsed down at her right hand and saw for the first time that it had, indeed, been injured during our meeting in the other realm. I looked away from her hand quickly and caught her gaze for a brief second.
“I know we’ll be seeing a lot more of one another, Jacey, this is the place to find a steaming cup of hot chocolate and a good book to pass the time,” she said.
“I’ll definitely be back for a hot chocolate and to check out the bookstore,” I said.
Aunt Grace said, “Time to go, Eve. I’ll call you later.” She ushered us out of the restaurant, which had refilled with customers. No one paid attention to us this time.
Once outside of Sample’s, I noticed Jen and Hudson waiting for us on one of the many park benches which adorned the entrance to the maze. As we walked out I found myself thinking, Aunt Grace was right. There was something magical about the park and the maze. The whole scene looked like it was from a fairy tale.
“How’s your hand?” I queried Aunt Grace.
“What do you mean?” she replied.
“Come on, Aunt Grace, I’m not blind, you know.” I reached for her hand. As I took it into mine I could feel the warmth of her burn radiating from it.
“Does it hurt?” I asked, turning her hand palm up to see if it bore any marks.
“It’s uncomfortable, but it doesn’t hurt,” She answered, taking my chin in her other hand and pulling my eyes away from her palm so our eyes met.
“Jacey, we’re going to have to talk about how this,” she looked down to her hand, then back up to me, “happened.”
“We will,” I said, as we caught up with Jen and Hudson.
“So, Jacey. You ready to see where you’re going to be the new kid for hopefully the last time?” Hudson asked, nudging me.
“Can’t dodge it anymore. Let’s go,” I said, sounding more like I was heading to a firing squad than to a high school.
It took five minutes to walk to the school. As we approached the border, I felt like I was in a haze. The front of the building was just like any other high school I’d been to, a large white stone building with two considerably oversized front doors. The walkway leading to the entrance was made up of small cobblestones and had shrubs and flowers spread sporadically along it.
Once we approached the school yard, a recurring feeling from late grabbed my attention; it was the sensation of the calm before the storm.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Asking why
The answers are there
But …
Do you really want to hear them?
As I stood in front of the school, feeling a haze of terrible discomfort, I looked at Aunt Grace, Jen, and Hudson, who stood behind me.
“I think that’s enough for one day,” Aunt Grace said, obviou
sly feeling my anxiety. We left for home. On our way there, I took Aunt Grace’s hand into mine and looked at her.
“Thank you, Aunt Grace,” I said softly.
“For what?” she asked.
“For never questioning me, or making us question if we belong. I don’t just mean here, but with you,” I said.
“Always and forever,” Aunt Grace replied, gently placing her warm hand to my cheek.
“Our family and your well-being have always been everyone’s concern, Jacey. It may sound cryptic and it doesn’t make much sense right now, but there are reasons for it.” She took a deep breath. “But when you’ve finally allowed and accepted everything you’ve experienced since your parents’ deaths that seem inexplicable, well, you need to wait, and everything will make more sense. If it’s any consolation, what you’ve done already and experienced so far is something no one here has ever experienced.” We continued to walk.
“Did Eve tell you I saw her where I see Mom?” I asked.
“She just turned her hand to me and I saw she was injured, so I helped her,” Aunt Grace said. She looked down at her own hand.
“I asked her not to say anything. I didn’t want you guys worrying while I was, you know, doing my own thing.”
“We’re always going to worry about you, Jacey, no matter what.”
Hudson and Jen had been dragging behind us pretty much the whole way back home. I figured they needed a little private time.
When we came upon Eve and Bronson’s house, my heart started to work overtime. Something was going on; my ears felt like they were going to burn off of the side of my head and my mouth got dry. What’s going on? What are these feelings and why can’t I stop them? Do other people feel this way? Why am I feeling this way?
Aunt Grace put her arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. It was as if she read my thoughts and she smiled. “You’re a very normal 16 year old girl.”
“How can you do that?” I asked.
“What?” Aunt Grace asked.
“You know, read my mind like that. You know what I’m thinking and what I need to hear to make things feel…right.”
“Oh, no, Jacey. If I had the answers before anyone questioned anything, I can tell you without hesitation, things would definitely be different,” Aunt Grace replied. She looked up into the late afternoon sky, as though she were looking for some kind of answer herself.
“I only meant in reference to me,” I said. “I’m not saying I think you always know the right answers. You seem to know when to say the right things to me and when I need to hear them.”
“One of my abilities is to read thoughts. I can’t read anyone’s mind in its entirety. It does matters if they are Nemelite or not. The ones who are and don’t put up any defenses, I can read most of their thoughts and feelings. For ones who aren’t Nemelite, there are only a few I can read, and then I can only read them partially. But you, Jacey, you are Nemelite. I have no doubts about that.”
It was a relief to know my feelings were validated as normal. However, I couldn’t wait to meet this ‘Vincent’ guy tomorrow at school.
My thoughts were twisted as if they had been tossed into a blender. The moment a thought entered my mind, another was right behind it, pushing the first one out. I was relieved when we got home. The comfortable walk chased much of the chaos out of my mind. There was only one thought present when we walked up the front steps. How am I going to handle tomorrow and what should I expect? New beginnings, yet again.
Hudson interrupted my thoughts. “Jen and I are going to take some of the trails off the backyard to see where they go. Anyone interested in coming with us?”
“No, thanks. I think I’ll stay here and catch up on what I’ve missed over the last few weeks,” Aunt Grace said, opening the front door.
“I second the no thanks part. I don’t want to be alone in the bush with the two of you anywhere,” I said, smirking.
“We’re out of here,” Hudson said, taking Jen’s hand. I watched as they walked around the side of the house and disappeared.
Aunt Grace and I went into the house and sat in the kitchen.
“Is there anything you want to talk about or see?” Aunt Grace asked.
“I was wondering if there are any pictures or things that Mom left here when she went away. I know it’s painful for you and causing you any kind of pain is the last thing I would ever want to do, but Mom never spoke of Nevaeh. I’m learning that my parents had a life here before they had us and I just want to feel closer to them.” I looked down at my intertwined hands in my lap.
“Follow me,” Aunt Grace said. We went upstairs to the end of the hallway. She reached into the closet and pulled out a long metal rod with a hook at the end of it. She used it to grab a small rope which was hanging from the ceiling and pulled. A set of stairs unfolded, leading up into the attic. “Ready?” she asked.
“Always,” I said.
I followed her up into the attic via the hidden stairway. Aunt Grace reached up and pulled a long metal chain and the lights turned on. Every corner of the room became visible. The spectacle before me left me utterly speechless.
The entire space was filled with more boxes than I could count. All of them were stacked neatly and appeared to have been there for years. In between the stacks was a walkway to three large windows. I was drawn to the windows and saw each had a seat within its frame looking out over the front yard.
“Are all of these yours and Mom’s?”
“Not all, but most of them are. There are boxes filled with memories of you and Hudson as small children. This is where she’s been able to store the photographs and videos that she and Hearte took of the two of you. This was a safe place.” She swept both of her hands out from her sides.
“Can I please go through some of them?” I asked.
“Of course. This is your history as much as it is mine. If you have any questions about anything, I’ll be downstairs in the sunroom.” Aunt Grace headed down the steps. “Call me if you need me.”
“I will, thank you.” Finally, I was completely alone. I stood there, amazed at it all, and walked through the aisles of boxes, running my fingers along each one until a small box in particular stood out. I pulled it down from its pile and brought it over to the center window seat. I blew the dust from the top and watched as the dust motes danced in the sunlight. It kept me entertained for a couple of seconds and then I turned my full attention to the box balanced on my lap.
I slowly unfolded the top of the box and looked inside. There were folders and loose papers piled inside. As I took them out, I noticed some photo albums underneath. I put all the paper on the floor and went back for the albums. There were five in total. I was taken aback by how intricate each cover was. All five had been decorated by hand. I placed all of them on the floor in the order they came out of the box. These albums may be the treasures I’d been hoping to find since Mom and Dad had died. The days since they’d been taken from me had been so bleak, here was a link… a bright spot of remembrance.
The first cover had pink butterflies and blue tulips pasted on the front. Big cut out letters spelled ‘US,’ with a happy face beside it. I traced my fingers over the happy face. I knew this was Mom’s book. When she’d leave us letters at home or put them in our lunches, she’d sign off with a happy face. I opened the album, and as I did, Mom appeared beside me.
“Hey, look what I found,” I said, looking down at the first picture. It was two little girls playing on a tree swing.
“I completely forgot these even existed,” Mom said, trying to place her hand on top of it. She couldn’t and her hand went right through the book. The disappointment in her eyes was evident.
“Here,” I said. I sat cross-legged, placing the book on my lap wide open so she could see everything I was seeing.
“That’s Grace and me in the backyard. It was our favorite place to play. There are so many memories here, Jacey. Things I wanted to share with you. Most of the memories you’ll see here are mine, bu
t some are ours.” Mom smiled, putting her hand upon my face. Her touch was as soft as feather swirling around my cheek.
“Mom, I want to share them with you now. Can you stay?” I asked. She nodded, and together, we went through the five albums.
Mom was finally able to share the memories, dreams, heartbreaks and future dreams she’d never been able to do when while she was alive. Today was the first day in my entire life where Mom was able to reveal her true self to me. It was mind-blowing to relive her life through her eyes. As I turned the pages, Mom was more vibrant and alive to me than ever before. I sat quietly, watching how fluid her movements were and how animated her speech was while talking about growing up here with Aunt Grace.
When she spoke about her teachers in school, she described them in a reverent way. Mom explained they had inspired her with the ideals which were the ultimate factors in the choices she and Aunt Grace had made in their lives.
“Mom, did you graduate from high school?” I asked.
“Of course I did.”
“I’m only asking because it looks like the photos only go up to grade eleven. I don’t see any prom pictures or any pictures of—” I stopped and looked around the room, making sure we were alone.
“Who are you looking for and what are you trying to ask me?” she said, floating up to the ceiling and back down to an almost seated position beside me.
“I was looking for Dad. I didn’t want to make either of you uncomfortable when I asked why I haven’t seen you with anyone. In all of the pictures I’ve seen, there’s not one of you and a boyfriend. I was wondering why.”
“Dad isn’t hiding behind any of these boxes waiting to hear about my secret life before him.” Mom chuckled and flew over to a stack of boxes which were placed against the far right wall. She pointed to a large box. I pulled it down from the top of the pile and dragged it to my window seat. She was already there waiting.
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