by Ashley Drake
and stop complaining about being baby sat. They both love me and are just looking out for me. They will ease up soon.
Chapter 9
“This has gone on long enough! Jaycee, it’s been almost a week and I haven’t had two minutes to myself at all.” I know Daniel and Jaycee promised to watch out for me, and I have handled it with the utmost of patience, but I draw the line at having an audience while I’m trying to use the bathroom!
“You were taking too long, and besides, it’s not like I haven’t seen you on the toilet before.” Jaycee literally had her head over the top of the half wall from the stall next to me, with a grin from ear to ear.
“Yeah, well, not while I’m in a bathroom stall at school. Are you standing on the toilet?”
“Eww no. The handicap bar.”
“As if that makes it sound any more sane. Get down and let me finish or I’m not giving you your birthday present.”
“Fine, but I will be waiting right outside.”
Jaycee’s birthday is the day after tomorrow but I want to give her the crystal early so she can have it for when she comes into her full powers to help and protect her. We are not sure if it will happen all at once or gradually, but I don’t want to take any chances. Jaycee and I had our sweet sixteen party together but we still want to do something for her, so after gym Phebs, Kayla and I are taking Jaycee out to eat to celebrate. Jaycee made up a lie that her parents were taking her out of town on her actual birthday to tell Phoebe, Kayla and even Mike. I told her it was for the best because we have no idea what’s gonna happen, but she still feels guilty. I don’t think she is going to be able to keep this from Mike much longer. I just hope he can handle it. Maybe after tomorrow we will know more about what’s going on. Jaycee’s aunt Lucy had given her the name of a woman that might be able to help. Daniel has tracked her down for us.
“I think if I eat one more bite I will explode.” Kayla sat back in her chair and
rubbed her stomach. We ended up at Jaycee’s favorite Italian restaurant in Banner Elk, it’s an hour away from home but so worth the drive.
“You can eat anything you want and still stay so skinny. Pisses me off. I have to workout to keep my body looking this good.” Phoebe said as she pointed to herself.
“Yes, but I have no curves whatsoever. Chase seems to appreciate your hard efforts to stay fit.”
“Yep, and I had a great time with Chase again last night, thanks for asking. We made it to second base.”
Kayla looked over at me. “What exactly is each base?”
I opened my mouth to answer, then stopped. “Honestly, I really don’t know.”
Phebs laughed. “Aww Jaycee, they are growing up so fast.”
“I know. I think it’s time we gave them the talk about the birds and the bees. Well kids, when a man and a woman…”
“Cut it out.” I whined. “Just tell us what the bases are.”
Phoebe took the lead. “Okay, first base is kissing. Second base is getting felt up over the clothes. Third base is under the clothes. And a homerun is doing the nasty.”
“You are such a hopeless romantic.” I teased.
“You already went to second base with Chase?” Kayla asked, sounding concerned.
“Well, it was an accident, actually. It was dark in the theatre, and I was turned toward him. As he went in for the kiss he reached out to put his hand on my arm and it landed on my boob instead. He was embarrassed and kept apologizing. I finally kissed him first just to shut him up. He’s a really good kisser. I’m not ready to be his girlfriend yet, but I’m having a good time with him.”
“What base have you and Jacob got to?” Jaycee asked.
The question was for Kayla but Phebs answered. “Base? They’re still in the dugout!”
“We kiss, thank you very much. A whole lot of kissing.” Her face turned red.
“How bout you, Han?”
Jaycee spoke up. “Phebs, poor Daniel is gonna be a bench warmer for a long, long time I’m afraid.”
“Alright Miss Sass, how far have you and Mike went?” I’m pretty sure I know the answer because she tells me everything, but it was time for her to be put on the spot.
“Funny that you ask. We’ve been to second base but lately I’ve been thinking about hitting one out of the park.”
I couldn’t help myself, I had to take a peek, and was shocked at what I saw. She was telling the truth, she is really thinking about having sex with Mike! I knew she was in love with him but I didn’t think she was at that point yet.
“Is he pressuring you into it?” Phoebe went into protective mode. I felt her have a flashback of Brad talking her into giving him her virginity and then dropping her. She was in a dark state of mind when we found her that day at the dam. She had turned her back on us, thinking we were against her having a boyfriend and she was afraid that she had lost us too. We were there to help her pick up the pieces and put her life back together. So, of course, her fears for Jaycee were of the worst case scenario.
“No, it’s nothing like that.” Jaycee squeezed Phoebe’s hand. “But thanks for worrying about me. In fact this is my idea, Mike doesn’t have a clue I’m considering it.”
“Just think it through because, trust me, it’s not something you can take back. Don’t get me wrong, Mike is nothing like…” still struggling to even say his name, “Brad, but you don’t get a second chance on your first time.”
“I know and I only said I was thinking about it. It’s not like I’m ready to do it tomorrow. Who saved room for dessert?”
She’s lying, I can feel it. She regrets saying anything at all about it and is now trying to downplay it. I’m not going to call her out on it until I get her alone.
“I think I’m gonna cry, it’s beautiful. Thank you, I love it!” Jaycee held the velvet wrapped crystal in her hand. I chose not to put it in a bag or a box, I gave it to her just as it had been given to me. “And the Indian guy really said it was for me?”
“You’re welcome, and yes he said to give it to you. Remember, he also said not to put a protection spell, or any spell, on it because the crystal would do what it needs to do when it needs to do it.” I had told her the entire story before letting her see it because I was afraid that once she had it she would be too busy
admiring it to pay me any attention. She’s like that with bright, shiny objects.
Now for the test. “Hold it, without the cloth.”
She held her breath as she slowly released the crystal from it’s barrier. As soon as it touched her skin it started to glow. No, glow is not the right word, it beamed. What looked like a thousand rays of pure blue light shot out of the crystal and radiated up her arm, and encompassed her body.
“Oh shit! Did it do that to you when you touched it?” Jaycee was scared, shocked and excited all at the same time.
“Kinda, but no where near to that extent.”
When Daniel and I held the crystal it glowed continuously, but with Jaycee it was like the crystal’s light, or power, absorbed into her. The only thing that was left was an intense magnification of her aura, which only I could see. The thickness of the aura, that outlines the body, more than doubled in size. Over the past few months Jaycee’s aura has went through a change. It was once a sky blue color, but when she started coming into some of her powers, her aura started getting flecks of red. Right now her aura looked like a deep blue with a purple tinge.
“What’s wrong?” Jaycee had caught me staring at her.
“Nothing. I was just watching your aura change colors and get stronger when you made contact with the crystal. I have to say it’s beautiful and pretty darn impressive.”
“I have to say this has all been pretty damn crazy, but I have to admit I do feel a little bad ass.”
“That makes three cuss words in the last minute. I think you owe me some money for my jar.” I have been trying to get Jaycee to cut back on swearing, so I made a cuss jar and every time she swears she has to put money in it. I tease, that by t
he time we graduate, we will be able to pay for our entire beach trip just from that jar.
“Isn’t that thing full yet?”
“I’ll just make a new one. I do need to start saving for college.”
“Very funny.” She tried to look blasé, but I could see the humor twinkling in her eyes.
“Did you find a necklace to put it on?”
“I asked my mom if she had anything that belonged to her or my grandmother that I could have and she gave me this.” She pulled out a gold necklace from her purse. “Along with a speech about how it had belonged to my grandmother and that it is real gold and that she hopes I’m old enough to take care of it and appreciate that it’s a family heirloom and blah blah blah. Do you think it will be good enough?”
“I think it’s perfect. Put it on.”
Jaycee unfastened the clasp and slipped the metal hoop that was on the top of the crystal onto the necklace. She then pulled her hair to one side as I clipped it into place.
“It looks beautiful on you. How does it feel?”
She looked at herself in my bedroom mirror for a moment before answering. “Right. It feels right.”
“Then it is.”
“You make it sound simple.”
“It is. I have learned something during all this mess- go with your gut. That first gut reaction is usually right.” That was a perfect segue. “Speaking of going with your gut, are you really thinking about having sex with Mike?”
She threw herself back onto my bed and stared at the ceiling. “I should have kept my mouth shut about that. But no, I open my mouth and my foot just flies up in it.” I decided not to say anything, I just waited her out. She finally turned her head to look at me. “I kinda am. Does that make me a bad person?”
“Hello! It makes you human.” I could feel that she was struggling with this and deep down I felt guilty because I was glad that I’m not the only one. “I think about it too...ya know...some times.”
That got a wicked grin out of her. “Not you, not Miss Perfect?!”
“Stop it. I’m not perfect, never said I was.”
“I think you’re pretty close to it.” There was no trace of humor or mocking in her voice. “You are the most responsible, level headed, mature sixteen year old I know. You have always been that way since kindergarten. It matters to me what you think. It matters what you think of me.”
“My dad, the shrink in him, would say it’s because I’m the only child, but thanks anyway. I think you’re great by the way. Why else would I allow you to be my best friend?”
“Barf. There went my foot again and now you have a big head. I shouldn’t have given you a compliment.” She took the pillow out from under her and attacked me with it.
“I give up! I take it back!” I plead after about the fourth time she hit me. I sat up with my hair all messed up, thanks to her. “Seriously though, I’m not your mother so I’m just gonna say make sure you are really, really, really ready for sex before you do it. It can mess you up if you’re not.”
“I know, stop worrying. Besides, the way I have been keeping things from Mike, I might not have a boyfriend TO have sex with.” She absently rubbed the crystal hanging at her neck and I felt the magic inside of her thump like a pulse of a heartbeat. It stopped as soon as she let go. I’m trusting in the Indian at the shop to know what he was doing by giving it to Jaycee.
“Don’t be a drama queen.”
“You’re right.” She looked at herself in the mirror again. “Who would break up with this?” I grabbed the pillow. “Hey, watch the hair!” Jaycee screamed.
“Are you ready for this afternoon?” Daniel came up behind me and whispered in my ear. My legs and arms turned felt rubbery. I told myself that it was only because he startled me, but I knew the true reason was because having his breath so close to my neck had me all but purring. For a moment he had me forgetting all about witches, demons and powers. I really hope he didn’t just hear me sigh. This is crazy. I so need to get my hormones under control.
“What? Oh yeah, the thing with Jaycee. I’m a little nervous, but ready.” Since today was the last day of school to begin Christmas break, we get out half a day. We decided to take advantage of it and chose today to visit Zeda Woods. She was the woman Aunt Lucy said might be able to help us. We really choose today because it was our last chance. Jaycee’s birthday is tomorrow and we need a heads up on what to expect. Yes, yes I know we are cutting it close, but we are procrastinating teenagers. Our motto is ‘if it ain't last minute, it’s too early’. (I didn’t say it was a clever motto) In our defense we have had a lot on our plate and time just got away from us.
“Hannah, what’s wrong?” Daniel tucked that one loose strand of hair, that has a mind of it’s own, behind my ear.
I had been too busy wooing over him to notice that he seemed a bit frazzled. “I was just worrying that we might have waited too late to get help for Jaycee. What about you, what’s going on?”
Daniel tried to give me a reassuring dimpled smile, but it fell short of convincing. “It’s not a big deal. I didn’t get enough sleep last night, that’s all. I had another dream.” He paused long enough to look around to make sure no one was within earshot of us. “I told you about the recurring dream I’ve been having, but this one was like a part two of that dream. I was still the black horse running through woods with someone on my back. In my past dreams this is where I would wake up, but last night I was able to see a little bit more. I made it through to a clearing and there was two other people waiting for us. They looked to be about our age but the clothing was way off. They all seemed handmade and they weren’t much more than sheets or sacks sewed together. You know, sacks like we see potatoes in at the farmers market. The two helped the person off my back and he couldn’t have been more than a foot tall. It was kinda creepy. I shifted right there in front of them back into what I feel was an ancestor of mine. I don’t think it was my ninth grandfather, it felt this was even before him. The last thing I heard before waking up was them screaming to hurry because they are close behind. I have no clue who ‘they’ were.”
“So there were four teens counting yourself?” What does it say about me that the first thing I got from him telling me about his nightmare was that it was a guy on his back instead of a girl...and that I was relieved? I am seriously mental.
“Yeah, so if that is a reflection of us, who is the fourth person?”
“I have no clue. Maybe this Zeda Woods can tell us, or maybe it might be her. I guess we'll find out soon, here comes Jaycee.”
“Hey, what’s up with the doom and gloom expressions? That’s starting to become a permanent look for you two. I’ve already warned you about wrinkles, but I guess there’s always botox.” She was trying to act snide, but she was rambling because she was nervous about what we were going to say.
“Just another day in our deranged life. Come on, we will fill you in on the way.”
Chapter 10
At first I thought Daniel was playing a joke on us when he pulled into the parking lot. Although, I quickly saw that he was just as shocked as I was. He even re-checked his paper to make sure the address was correct.
“A freakin’ palm reader, seriously? Aunt Lucy seemed sane, but maybe not.” Jaycee grabbed her purse, threw it up on her shoulder, and opened the car door. “This shit just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”
I didn’t say it out loud, but I was with Jaycee on this one. How is a palm reader, with a flashing neon light saying so, going to be able to help us? I followed suit and got out of the car. Daniel opened the door for us, so of course, I had to be the first one to walk in. It was a very dark room with lots of rich gem tone colors of reds, purples, and royal blues everywhere. It was very typical to what you would expect from someone who claims to read the lines on your hand and gazes into crystal balls. However, I had to admit that it felt very warm and welcoming.
We only had to wait a few seconds before the red velvet (yes, I said velvet) curtain, separating the ent
rance from a back room, opened.
“Good afternoon. Welcome to Zeda’s. What brings the three of you here?” Zeda was a very tall plus size woman, I would guess in her mid to late forties. So this can’t be the fourth person in Daniels dream.
“Being a palm reader and all, shouldn’t you know that already?” Jaycee scoffed.
Zeda’s eye bored into Jaycee, and was about to respond when she noticed Jaycee’s necklace.
“Where did you get that?” She motioned to her own neck.
“It was a birthday gift from Hannah.”
That was my cue to step in. “Hello, I’m Hannah, and this is Jaycee and Daniel. We were told you might be able to help us.”
I don’t think Zeda realized that she had taken a few steps back away from us as I spoke. “Who told you that?” She asked.
“My great aunt Lucy. Lucy MacKenna.” Jaycee said, looking almost bored.
Zeda pulled out one of the cushioned mismatched chairs closest to her and sat down. “Now?” The question seemed to be directed more toward herself than us.
She took a deep breath, like she was trying to pull herself together. “Well, come sit down and let’s see what we can see.” As if she just remembered Jaycee’s rude comment, she turned to face her. “I charge a fair fee and my readings are always honest, it pays the bills. Do not let the appearance of my shop lead you to think otherwise. I decorated it knowing how the public perceives my kind, I would hate to disappoint them. I take my craft very seriously, and believe it or not I did know you would be coming, just not this soon. Not this generation.”