by Ashley Drake
“I’ve seen Hannah’s cuss jar, you meant bad ass.”
Daniel and I couldn’t help but laugh, it wasn’t often that Jaycee blushes or is at a loss for words like she was now.
Dad cleared his throat to mask his laugh, then continued. “Do you feel up to trying one more thing?”
“Sure, like I said, I’m ready to master this.”
Jaycee has always been the one person I have made off limits to reaching into her mind, but it seems like the stronger our powers become, the harder it is to do that. Like right now for instance, her thoughts entered mine and I wasn’t even wondering what she was thinking. Although, I’m kinda glad because I saw what was on her mind. Yes, she wants to help win this battle, but she thinks if she can control it she will be able to tell Mike that she is a witch. I worry that she might not like the results and it will break her heart. In turn, that could cause her mind not to be one hundred percent focused if one of the demons decide to make an appearance.
Guilt hit me at my last thought. Was I being selfish putting her feelings aside for the sake of the battle?
Not at all. You are thinking of her safety and that of the others. You are thinking like a true leader.
Knowing where the voice was coming from now didn’t make it less freaky when MacKenna talked in my head. I hate to admit it, but hearing that did make me feel less like a crappy best friend.
“We are going to try a different element.” He turned around a grabbed a water bottle from his desk. “Same as before, close your eyes and listen to only my voice. I want you to picture this water bottle that I am moving from side to side. See the water moving, sloshing up the sides, leaving tiny bubbles at the surface.”
He paused to let Jaycee get a clear image in her head.
“You see the bottle stop moving and the water slowly becoming still. The bottle is now in a freezer, sitting on the shelf next to ice cube and frozen dinners. The water’s temperature is dropping, dropping. Now there is a thin film of ice just floating on the top.”
Dad paused again, this time he checked the bottle of water he was holding. He looked at me and winked, it was working. “As the temperature continues to drop, the more ice takes place of the liquid. Jaycee, I need the entire bottle to turn to ice.”
At first I didn’t think she was going to be able to do it. I figured that the top thin layer of ice she made was impressive enough, but then I saw Dad drop the bottle and look down at his hands. My instincts had me at Dad’s side to make sure he was okay. He only smiled and laid his hands on the side of my cheeks, it felt as if he had had snow in them. I bent down and picked up the water bottle, it was completely frozen!
“Jaycee, look, you did it!” Jaycee was shaken up from the loss of energy mixed with the surprise of the extent of her powers. It worried me how weak she had became after only a thirty minute practice session. I handed her the bottle and patted her back. She would hate it if I fussed over her, so I went with what she’s comfortable with- sarcasm. “I guess Megan was right, you really are an ice queen. How about a break?”
“A break sounds good. I need to call the hospital and check on a patient I signed in last night. Jaycee when you’re ready let me know and we will start on another element. Born witches have some sort of control over all the elements but usually have a primary control over one. I’m curious to see which one is yours.”
“It’s fire. I feel it reaching out to me when I call on it.” She looked over at Daniel and me. “That’s why I have been having that same dream. Fire is what killed my kind, and now this is it’s way of retribution, so to speak.
“I didn’t know how tell you, but last night I had the same dream. It started, as always, with flames and the sounds of screaming, but this time I was able to stay in it to see more. I saw witches, from a long time ago, burning. I could even smell it and I can’t describe to you how horrible that was. It was not like Salem witches being burned at the stake. It was good natural born witches that had been hunted, tortured, and finally burning to death by demons. Most of them never even knew they were a witch. Something in my dream told me why, but I never saw where the voice was coming from. This is gonna sound crazy, but I don’t think a person was telling me, I think it was coming from the fire.” She looked at my dad as if she was expecting him to fit her for a straight jacket right then and there.
Dad saw her hesitation. “Jaycee, honey, you should know by now that in this household there is not much that surprises us. What did the fire tell you?”
My heart swelled with pride that he was my dad. I thought of Megan and how no one in her family believes her. I made a mental note that I must be the one to stand up for her and help her get Mikah out of her life.
“It said that those poor witches died because the demons, the Triune, were trying to kill off my bloodline to ensure that I would never be. That somehow they foresaw what was going to happen.”
So, not only can the Light see what‘s going to happen, but evil can too. Now would be a good time to share my dream since it can’t be a coincidence that both of us had prophetic dreams on the same night. Studying for the SAT’s have really upped my vocabulary skills.
While Jaycee took a shower and got ready for bed, I wrote an entry in my diary. I made sure not to leave out Jaycee’s dream, or the fact that Jaycee wouldn’t stop asking me about MacKenna. She actually wanted to know who was prettier- her or MacKenna. I also wrote about the great progress Jaycee has made with her powers. After I told them about my dream she decided she wanted to try another element. So, the four of us went outside in the backyard, and Dad helped her with air. She was able to form a tornado effect with some leaves. I was very impressed but Jaycee was disappointed, she was hoping for something on a larger scale. Dad told her that nobody can run without first learning how to walk, and that seemed to help her pride some. Writing in the journal made me realize the subtle change in Jaycee today. She seemed older, and it wasn’t because she turned sixteen, I think something really did happen to her last night.
I started to close my diary and decided to add one more thing:
To my future self, or to anyone else reading this- believe your children and believe in them. I give my parents a hard time but they are amazing. They have always been there for me. I don’t think I would have been able to face what I have, or what’s to come, without them. The way Dad was with Jaycee today went above and beyond my expectations. That only makes me want to help Megan even more. She is no different than Samantha. No, Megan is not a living impaired, but she does need supernatural help. And just like when Samantha was here, Megan has no one to help her. We might not be friends with Megan, or heck even like her, but WE will help her. It’s the right thing to do, and I will convince Daniel and Jaycee of that.
I laid my diary on my nightstand as Jaycee came into my room, towel drying her hair. “Did you put in there what a badass I was today?”
“Yes I did and you owe me two dollars.” She threw her towel at me. “Seriously though, I want to ask you something.”
“Uh-oh, what?”
“Are you planning on telling Mike soon?”
“What part? That’s just it, I was going to, but then I was in the shower and thinking about what I was supposed to tell him. The part where I’m a witch and that Sassy is my familiar? Or the part where we have to fight big bad demons? Or the part where my best friend is a psychic seer and that her warrior boyfriend can move things with his mind along with talking to animals?” She sat down on my desk chair and faced me. “You have it easy, you’re boyfriend is a freak too. Hey, do you think Mike could be a part of the five? Do you get any supernatural feelings from him?”
“No, sorry, and I was in his mind a lot when you were having me snoop before you started dating.”
Jaycee was relentless back then. She was crazy over Mike and was so used to having guys fall all over her. When he didn’t do the same, she couldn’t tell what he felt for her. So, she begged me to look and I did. Not my most finest hour I know, but she needed me
.
“I didn’t think so, I haven’t picked up on anything either. To answer your question, no I’m not telling him yet. I just hate lying to him. I couldn’t even be with him today because I was afraid that coming into my powers would be a huge event and that didn’t happen.”
“Yes it did, it was internal. Along with your aura, you have changed. I see it, I feel it.”
“How?”
“I see a drive in you that wasn’t there before. You have this hunger to not only practice your magic, but to nail it. And you will. When Jaycee Mitchell puts her mind to it, be it a test, a boy or whatever, she gets what she wants. Magic won’t be any different.”
“Thanks Han.” She pulled my hair. “Do you think we have a shot at winning this thing?”
I didn’t rush to answer, I wanted to really give her question some thought. I was shocked at what my honest answer was. “Yes, yes, I do. We are going to be superheroes.” I teased.
“Fine by me, I look great in tights. You can be Wonder Woman, I call Cat Woman! Leather and a whip, that’s so me.”
“You’re such a slut.”
“Hate the game, not the player.”
“Didn’t that go out with ‘jelly’?” I tossed her words back at her.
“Nope, it’s a classic.”
Chapter 13
Jaycee was up and out the door by 11 o’clock this morning. Mike wanted to spend the day with her, and seeing as nothing uncontrollable happened with her powers yesterday, we figured it would be safe. My goals for the day had been to stay in my pajamas, eat junk food while watching Christmas movie marathons. So, I was surprised when Daniel called and asked if I wanted to go with him to pick up his Christmas gift for me. Of course, I said heck yeah.
I looked at the time on my cell phone, he’s ten minutes late. Daniel is never late. I decided to give him a call, and as I heard it ring in my phone, I could hear a phone ringing from down the hall. It sounded very much like Daniel’s ringtone for my call. I got off my bed and followed the music.
Sure enough, Brown Eyed Girl was blaring out of Daniels back pocket.
“I didn’t know you were here.”
He looked up and saw my cell phone to my ear. “Sorry, I was talking to your parents. Are you ready to go?”
He was acting weird. “Yeah, sure.” I said my goodbyes to my parents and walked out of the house behind him. He opened the car door for me and waited for me to get in. “Where are we going?”
Without saying a word, he bent down and kissed me sweetly, then gave me my favorite double dimple smile. He does that on purpose, he knows my weakness, but I’m totally okay with that. He closed the door, walked around and got in on his side, in complete silence.
I wonder if he told Mom and Dad what he got me? Oh crap, I left his gift under the tree. After taking him to Cherokee and buying the bracelet for his birthday, he made me promise to keep his Christmas gift free and homemade. Following those guidelines, I made a picture frame out of leftover wood that Dad had out in the garage, painted it purple to match his aura and printed out a picture we took together the night of my birthday party- the night we started dating. I painted ‘You and I’ on the bottom of the frame in dark gray. Not only does it describe the photo perfectly, it’s also our song. Well, I decided it was going to be our song after he sang it to me on the ride up the mountain.
“Wait, I have to go back inside. I forgot your gift.”
“We are coming back, besides I told you that you didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I know I didn’t have to, I wanted to.” I leaned over and tried to give him my most sexiest of looks. I got closer, to where I could feel his breath on my cheek. “Because you are the sweetest, kindest, best looking guy I have ever met.” I cocked my head to the side and pouted, ever so slightly, my bottom lip just like Jaycee has always tried to teach me. “Daniel,” I paused for the effect, “where are you taking me?”
Daniel let his head fall back into the seat. “Oh you’re good, very good.” He started to laugh. “And you’re killing me.”
Daniel still wouldn’t tell me. Even with all my feminine wiles, which let’s face it, wasn’t much. It’s not like I’ve had plenty of practice. So, I sat in the passenger seat and pretended that I was mature and perfectly fine with not knowing our destination. Which was a big pile of horse crap, I was about ready to explode. Luckily, before I resorted to begging, we turned off the main road onto a side street. I knew we had to be close. It took me a second to realize where we were heading, because I wasn’t used to going to the animal shelter from the back entrance.
We had parked and got out of the car before Daniel said anything. “I got the okay from your parents. I want you to pick out any animal in here as your Christmas gift. I will totally understand if you don’t want the responsibility. Be honest, you won’t hurt my feelings. We can just go to the mall and pick out…”
“Breath already.” I laughed. I’ve never seen anyone so nervous about giving a gift. “I love it. I have always wanted a puppy!” I grabbed him into a hug. “Thank you.”
After assuring Daniel that I was crazy over the idea, he took me inside. The sounds of barking and yelping echoed through the hallway. The place seemed so cold with the cinder block walls and the cement floors, but Daniel explained that it made it easier to clean and hose down to prevent the spread of diseases such as something called parvo.
We made our way toward the front entrance where an older woman was sitting behind a desk.
“Hi, Mrs. James.”
“Well hello Daniel.” Her warm smile extended to me. “Is this Hannah?”
“Yes, Hannah, this is Mrs. James. This place would be lost without her.”
Mrs. James beamed at the complement. “Oh now, I don’t know about all that. Daniel here is the one that has become an asset to us. He is so good with the animals. Hannah, it’s nice to finally meet you, I have heard so much about you. You were right, Daniel, she is a beautiful girl.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you too.”
“We are here to pick out her Christmas gift. She wants a puppy.”
“Well we have them to choose from. You know where the keys are if she finds one she likes.”
With that, she pushed a button from somewhere under her desk, and the large steel door to our right opened.
Walking down the aisle of cages on both sides was a sad sight. Dogs of all ages and sizes rushed to the fences crying for attention. I did not expect to, nor knew that I could, feel the emotions that were pouring out of these poor animals. I felt their fear, excitement and anger of being in such a new and confined environment.
“Oh Daniel, I can feel them. I thought I understood before why you volunteer here but I didn’t, not until right now.” I felt something else after the dogs saw, and smelled, who their visitor was. “They love you.”
“I just try to give each one-on-one play time. They don’t deserve to be here. All they want is a good family to love.” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “ I will stand here and let you go find the one that you want. I don’t want to influence you by letting on to which is my favorite pick for you. It is your decision, your bond.”
I bet I spent twenty minutes just going from cage to cage, sticking my fingers through the fence to pet them. I stopped at a litter of mix breed puppies, about ten weeks old. Fat, fluffy, fur balls ran to greet me. Tail wagging excitement and adventure was the feeling I got from them. I lingered with them awhile before moving on to the next. There was an old basset hound that was much too tired and sleepy to bother with me. She was adorable. As I made my way toward the end of the line, I already had plans on going back to the one filled with puppies to make the hard decision of which one to pick. That was until I saw what was in the last cage.
I have never seen a dog as big nor one that looked so… pristine, I guess is the word. I would have thought that it would be clumsy because of it’s sizes, but when it got up to come sniff me, it moved with such a prowling grace. As it m
ade it’s way to me I noticed that it was a he. I think it was his eyes that got
me, they were so silver that they looked almost a translucent white. They pierced through me as if trying to read me. He stuck his long nose through the cage and I slowly lowered my hand for him to smell. Taking a risk, cause I must admit I was a little intimidated, I reached in to pet his thick grayish black coat.
As soon as I made contact I felt him. His sadness, his longing to belong. Instinctively I sent him my feelings of respect and my admiration of his beauty. As I continued to rub his ears, that stood straight up at attention, he tilted his head against the gate and slowly closed his eyes. I knew then that the message had been received.
“I want him.” I raised up to face Daniel. “I know I said a puppy, but I want him.”
“Why him?” Daniel moved beside me. I didn’t miss the look that was exchanged between Daniel and the dog.
“I feel a connection with him. He needs me and I think I just might need him too.” It was that simple. There was nothing Daniel could say that would change my mind. If this was going to cause our first fight, then so be it.
“Great! I’m so glad. When you said you wanted a puppy I didn’t think you would even consider a large dog. I told him I wanted the two of you to meet.”
Wait, what? “Then why ask me why?”
“I was afraid that maybe you were picking up on me instead of yourself.” Daniel continued talking as he unlocked the cage. “His name is Rex, he is a two year old mix between and German shepherd and a wolf.”
“A wolf? How did he get here?”
“The owners brought him in with a story that they had to move and the apartment building they were moving into didn’t allow dogs. But I think they thought it was cool to have a wolf pup, and when he got too big they didn’t want him any more. It took me two days to bathe him and to get his coat brushed out.” He bent down to pet the dog. “Didn’t it Rex?”