The Spirit Keeper

by Luznicky Garrett, Melissa

  I was the Spirit Keeper.

  I closed my eyes and tuned out everyone and everything around me, focusing only on my hand against the warm blood oozing from Adrian’s lifeless body. Just feel, Imogene had said.

  Slowly, a sense of peace began to settle over me, smelling sweet like wildflowers. The peace was almost tangible, like I could pluck it from the air and hold on to it. It felt as strong as a spider’s gossamer thread as it weaved through and around my body, swirling through my hands and fingers, binding my spirit to Adrian’s.

  I felt the slow, almost painful tug of his spirit against mine as it began to feed off my life force to sustain and fortify what little of his was left. Then there was the familiar warmth in my chest. I grasped on to the feeling, willing it to take root and spread. I imagined the heat as a fluid river, and that river had healing powers. It surged through my arm and down into the tips of my fingers and palm until the place where my skin touched his hand burned with magic and the healing power of my body.

  The draw of Adrian’s spirit against my own began to recede until I became aware, once again, of the hard dirt floor beneath my knees, and of my own labored breathing. I was completely spent and more in love with the boy before me than I ever thought possible. It was a raw and powerful feeling, and the most exhilarating thing I’d ever felt in my entire life.

  I opened my eyes to find everyone staring at me with varying degrees of anticipation and reverence as Adrian’s life was, quite literally, in the palm of my hand. The warm feeling now was nothing more than a glowing ember, and Adrian’s skin no longer felt like cold death under my hand.

  I bent low to Adrian’s head and whispered his name. “Adrian. Come back to me.”

  His eyelids fluttered once, then twice, and then once more before opening for good. There was an audible sigh of relief from the others at his awakening, followed at once by the thud of Priscilla’s body hitting the ground.

  “Shoot,” Meg said, hustling off to tend to her.

  Adrian looked up at me, unblinking. Then he raised his hand to my face. “You’re alive.”

  “Of course I am.” My words came out in a rush of relief, and I laughed and swiped the back of my hand against my teary eyes. “And so are you.”

  With minimal effort, Adrian propped himself on his elbows and ran his hand through my hair. Then he turned his head to look at his sister, his forehead creasing.

  “What the heck happened to you?” he said, regarding Shyla’s bruised cheek and eye with morbid curiosity.

  Shyla choked on her own tears and laughed in spite of herself. “Aren’t you the least bit interested in what happened to you? You almost died!”

  At first Adrian looked confused, and then he stiffened as the memory of the fight came back to him. “Where is he?”

  “We don’t know,” David answered.

  “What happened?” Adrian said.

  Shyla and I took turns telling him the story, filling in the parts the other left out or couldn’t account for. But it was Shyla who concluded, “Sarah saved your life.”

  Adrian looked down at his chest, but the wound had completely healed. There was no puckered scar or welt, or even a trace that he had been hurt at all, with the exception of his ruined shirt. I turned over my hand and stared at the place where David had made a gash with the knife, but that wound had healed, too. My back no longer ached, and I reached my non-bloodied hand behind my right shoulder. I expected to find an angry mess, but the flesh was completely smooth.

  “Saving my life definitely makes you the best girlfriend ever,” Adrian said. “Not that there was ever any question.”

  I shook my head and smiled in awe. “I don’t understand how I did it.”

  Imogene had been quiet the entire time, and I looked to her, more for support than an answer. The natural indentation between her brows was deeper than usual.

  “Magic that young isn’t supposed to be so powerful,” she said. “I’ve never heard of anything like it. Usually it takes years to control.”

  Wondering, I reached my hand to Shyla and motioned for her to come closer. She hesitated only a moment, seeming to understand what I was thinking, before leaning into my open palm. I closed my eyes and called the warmth forward one more time. And before everyone’s eyes, the swelling on Shyla’s cheek began to subside, and the bruising faded until she looked exactly like herself again.

  “Whether you are ready for it or not,” Shyla said, smiling at me, “this is your new life.”

  I swallowed hard, not entirely sure I was ready for what was in store. My eyes fell to Adrian, and a surge of pleasure thrilled through my body as he grasped my hand and squeezed my fingers.

  The blood of my beating heart had, by some miracle, healed him. However my life was about to change, the one thing that would remain constant was the love I felt for him. We were bound to each other because of a promise and sacrifice made to save my life, a bond that was further strengthened when I brought him back from the brink.

  With Adrian, and the rest of these people, by my side, I knew I could face whatever came next.

  Epilogue

  “Surprise! Happy birthday!”

  I stumbled back, stepping on Priscilla’s foot in the process. She didn’t seem to notice, but rather shoved me hard in the back to propel me forward, all the while laughing very loudly in my ear and squeezing my shoulder until I thought she’d tweak it right off.

  Everyone in the world I loved had jumped out from behind doors and furniture and was now singing a loud, very off-key rendition of the Happy Birthday song.

  From outside in the driveway, Laura Beth honked the car’s horn in an annoying spatter of Morse-code-like beeps, effectively letting me know that she, too, had been in on the conspiracy.

  “I can’t believe you kept this secret from me,” I said, turning to Priscilla once they had finally finished.

  “I told you I can keep my mouth shut when it counts,” Priscilla said with a wink.

  Because of what Priscilla had witnessed that day in the woods, I had been forced to confide everything to her sooner than I would have liked. I had been terrified of how she might react, though it turned out my fears had been unwarranted. She’d simply stared at me for a moment, as if trying to compartmentalize this new facet of our friendship, before a slow smile spread across her face.

  “Awesome,” she had said. “Totally weird, but awesome.”

  And now, it was as if I’d always had these strange powers.

  “I can’t believe this,” I said with a laugh, taking in the sight of everyone gathered to celebrate my special day. “But I thought I said no parties?”

  “And miss a reason for cake?” Adrian said, fixing a paper hat on top of my head.

  Helium balloons, in various shades of the rainbow, floated up from the backs of chairs and tables. Crepe-paper streamers draped in decorative scallops from doorways and windows, and confetti littered every flat surface. The dining-room table was covered with a yellow linen cloth, one end adorned with plates of finger foods and an oversized bowl of carbonated fruit punch. At the other end sat a white-frosted cake topped with sugared strawberries and blueberries, fresh from the garden. A small stack of presents lay neatly arranged in the middle.

  “That’s some spread,” I said, genuinely impressed, but also a little embarrassed.

  “Nothing too fancy,” Meg said, underscoring just how elegant and festive it really was. “I know you didn’t want us to make a big fuss about your birthday, but we couldn’t let it go unnoticed.” She gestured to the small crowd. “Especially not when you have so many people who love you and want to celebrate you.”

  My cheeks hurt from smiling, and I wrapped my arms around my aunt, feeling tears spring to my eyes against my will. “It’s perfect, Meg. Really. Thank you.”

  I let her go and turned an accusatory eye on Adrian. “I thought you guys were going to be gone this weekend?”

  Shyla sidled up next to him and draped her arm over his shoulder. “We were gone.
We just didn’t stay gone as long as we told you we would. Honestly, Sarah, did you really think we’d miss your birthday?”

  I looked down at my painted toes peeking out from my sandals, too ashamed to admit I thought they’d forgotten about my birthday altogether.

  When Adrian had told me they were taking off to tour a few area colleges and universities, I’d spent the better part of our time apart moping around the house and gardens. Adrian hadn’t said one word about my birthday, and I was too proud to bring it up. And in all honesty, I was a little miffed they hadn’t invited me along. Adrian and I had talked about going to the same college, wherever that turned out to be.

  But I’d refused to let on just how disappointed I was that he’d apparently forgotten. Of course, he hadn’t. None of them had. Adrian, Shyla, and Imogene—they were part of my family now.

  Nearly a month and a half had passed since Victor’s attack on us in the woods, but no one had seen or heard from him since. After the first week and still no sign of his return, Imogene insisted that Adrian pack the rest of his things and move in permanently with her and Shyla. Now Victor’s house was just a dark, empty shell of a place that made me sad whenever I looked at it. I hated that Adrian was on the other side of the lake now, even if it really wasn’t so far away. We still saw each other almost every day, whether he was just stopping by to say hi while I was working, or to spend time together at the creek.

  Shyla and I had grown much closer, too. I’d once been afraid of her, but she had never been the one to fear. She’d been stripped of her powers, having given them freely in order to save my life. She’d embraced that change and seen it as a blessing.

  “I never wanted that power,” Shyla said one night as we were lying under the stars. “I didn’t know what to do with it. But now I’m just . . . me. I feel free now. I might not be able to completely sever my ties with the tribe, but I can have a regular life.”

  It took a few minutes before I found the nerve to say what was on my mind, there under the stars and moon. I’d been reluctant to speak about any of the changes I’d undergone, afraid of making Shyla feel guilty for burdening me with a magic that had so complicated her life.

  I turned to her and said simply, “I’m scared.”

  Shyla only continued to stare at the sky, but her hand found mine in the darkness. “I know.”

  “I’m scared because I don’t know what to expect. I’ve never been anyone who matters.”

  “That’s not true,” Shyla said, meeting my gaze then. The whites of her eyes were luminous against the dark. “You matter to more people than you realize.”

  I nodded in silent concession, if only for the sake of argument. “I have this feeling, deep inside, that something is expected of me, but I don’t know what. I can’t see the possibilities.”

  But Shyla didn’t respond. She only turned away and went back to staring at the sky. She couldn’t see the possibilities either, other than what had been revealed to us with the Conditional Blessing.

  And so I had mentally marked down the days, practically counting the hours until that unknown date when the Council would summon me. While I didn’t think they would just show up on my doorstep and whisk me away in the middle of the night, I dreaded their intrusion into my life. And the fact we hadn’t heard from them yet had me more on edge with each passing day.

  Adrian pushed a glass of punch in my hand, bringing me back to the present moment. “Where were you just now?” he said, bending down to kiss the crease between my eyes. He’d become sensitive to my growing anxiety these last few weeks, not to mention my many mood swings.

  I took a sip of the punch and forced a smile, “Nowhere that’s better than here, that’s for sure.”

  Adrian wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me forward, and then he brushed his lips against my cheek. “Stop worrying. Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”

  From across the room, Priscilla shouted for us to either get a room or join the party. There was a tittering of laughter and a few hoots as the others saw us together, which effectively did the job of forcing us apart. Then there was an unexpected knock on the door, and I let go of Adrian’s hand in order to answer it.

  A delivery man holding a vase of mixed flowers looked down at the clipboard in his free hand before looking back at me. “These are for a Miss Sarah Redbird.”

  “I’m Sarah.”

  “Then these are for you,” he said. He smiled and passed the flowers to me. “Happy birthday.”

  “Thank you so much,” I said to the man before shutting the door. Then turning to Adrian I said, “These are beautiful. Thank you.”

  He shrugged and held up his hands. “I wish I could take credit, but my present is on the table with the others.” He snatched a small, rectangular card peeking out from behind a carnation and handed it to me. “Here. Check the message.”

  I made my way to the dining room and set the vase on the table to the collective oohs and ahhs of the others who, like me, assumed they were from Adrian.

  “They’re not from Adrian,” I said.

  “You must have another admirer,” said Priscilla. She jabbed Adrian in the side. “I hope you’re up for a little competition.”

  I opened the card and read the few nicely printed lines, feeling the smile fade from my lips. “Oh. They’re not from an admirer.”

  “Then who are they from?” said Meg.

  I slumped into the nearest chair and put my head between my knees.

  Meg took the paper from my hand and read it out loud: “The people of the Katori Tribe formally request your presence at the next Council meeting, to be held on the fifteenth of August. Cordially, Charlene Moon, Council Head.”

  Imogene snorted. “Cordially? She makes it sound as if Sarah is being invited to the royal ball. Is that all it says?” There was a rustle of paper as Meg passed the note to her.

  “One week from today,” I said.

  How was I ever going to get through this?

  Without another word, I got up and walked, as if in a trance, down the hall to my bedroom and closed the door with a soft click behind me.

  Suddenly, I was in no mood to celebrate.

  stay tuned for the next book in this series

  The Seventh Tribe

  About the Author

  Melissa Luznicky Garrett is an author of adult and young adult novels. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, three children, and numerous animals. Melissa is currently hard at work on her next project. Connect with Melissa on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/MLGarrettwrites

  Author Q&A

  How did you come up with the idea for your book? As it so happens, the general plot idea for The Spirit Keeper went through several transformations. In fact, only a shadow of the original plot (which is now too embarrassing to share publicly) remains. Let’s just say there were birds involved and leave it at that!

  I’ve always been somewhat mesmerized by Native Americans. The Iroquois confederacy, made up of the Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora tribes, once had a strong presence in upstate New York. When you live in an area that still bears the names of these tribes, it’s hard to ignore their influence.

  The idea for a story based on a Native American girl came to me one summer afternoon as I was standing in my back yard. A thunderstorm was rolling in, and something about the sound of the wind blowing through the trees and the way the light was reflecting through the leaves was incredibly inspiring. There was a strong feeling of magic and mysticism in that moment, so much so that it left me feeling incredibly overwhelmed with emotion and quite speechless.

  Right off the bat I had three basic elements at hand: a Native American girl, the woods, and magic . . . but not a whole lot else! For the record, I do not recommend writing a story without some sort of road map. You’ll eventually get to where you’re going, but you’ll take a lot of wrong turns getting there!

  To start, I began teasing out ideas while researching the Iroquois confederacy.
Originally Sarah belonged to “the seventh tribe,” a completely fictional tribe of the Iroquois people. But the story I began to write portrayed the other six tribes in a very negative light, and I started to feel uncomfortable with the road I was headed down. Not being an expert in Native American or Iroquois culture, I felt I had no right to slap the word “Iroquois” to the Native American characters in my book just for the sake of making them seem more authentic. I needed to come up with something truly my own.

  I ended up scrapping the first few chapters of my story, but I stuck with the main elements. I still had a Native American girl, some vague idea about the woods, and some sort of magic that was involved. At that point I had given my book the working title of “The Seventh Tribe,” which, as you know, is the title of the second book in the series. So then the story became all about who and what is the seventh tribe, why are these people important, and how does Sarah fit in? Then I adopted a new title, realizing then that I was writing the obvious prequel to The Seventh Tribe.

  Because the struggle between Good and Evil is such a universal idea, and used widely in fiction, it felt very natural to incorporate it as a central theme of the story. In The Spirit Keeper, we have Kai vs. Kamut, the Katori tribe vs. the other six, Sarah vs. Katie, The Redbirds vs. The Hunts, Shyla vs. Victor . . . I could go on.

  How did you come up with the Creation story (of the tribes)? Some people might argue that the root of all Good and Evil started with Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel. With that in mind, I knew I had to have some overarching story of the tribes’ creation, how they became divided, and how that division affected future generations. The legend of Kamut and Kai, the two earthly children born of the Sun and Moon, was admittedly difficult for me to write. I am not a high-fantasy writer, and here I was attempting to write something very much out of my comfort zone. The legend itself went through many, many revisions before I felt satisfied.