Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances

by T. M. Franklin

  We walked back into the house and sure enough we found Isaiah in the library, gawking at the hundreds of books that Jeremiah had in the room.

  “Wow, you have more books than the library.” He turned as we walked into the room.

  “Well, I have been collecting them for many years, now. I love to read,” Jeremiah said to him. “Thank you for bringing Elizabeth over to talk with me. I think I answered a lot of her questions.” He smiled at Isaiah, and Isaiah smiled right back.

  “You’re very welcome, sir. I don’t mind taking her anywhere she wants to go.” He reached over and took my hand. “Well, we have taken up a lot of your time today, sir. I guess we will take off. I promised Elizabeth we would stop by her grandmother’s today.”

  As we walked towards Isaiah’s car I turned and waved at Jeremiah. He was standing in the doorway, watching us. He raised his hand and waved back, a smile on his face. I hoped that he was not too upset after telling me the story. It seemed to have taken a lot out of him.

  We got in the car, and Isaiah turned towards me a question forming on his lips. Just as he was opening his mouth I held my hand up. “I think I would like to just digest everything Jeremiah said, so I don’t forget any of it. Is it all right if we don’t talk yet?” I asked him.

  “Sure, that’s fine,” he said quietly. I think he was starting to get used to my moods. I felt bad, but I needed to remember everything that Jeremiah had told me. And in the midst of it all, I was remembering his warning to not tell Isaiah anything. What did you get yourself into, girl? I thought to myself. The rest of the ride to Grandmother’s house was very quiet.

  8

  The next few days went by very quickly. I couldn’t believe school was starting next week; it felt like summer was just beginning, and now here it was, almost over. Mom was right about me spending so much time researching.

  Isaiah never questioned me about our trip to Tucker Hill. I guess he figured I would talk when I was ready.

  I wanted to know more about my mother and my father, but I couldn’t go against what Jeremiah had told me. I was trying to think of a way to meet him again without drawing attention to either of us. I wondered if writing him a letter would be okay, or if it would draw suspicion. I made yet another mental note to ask him the next time we spoke.

  Before I knew it, Sunday was here, and Isaiah picked me up to finally go to his family’s home for dinner. With everything that had happened, we had postponed it too many times. He finally said we had to go, as his mother was starting to think I didn’t want to meet them.

  I was more than a little nervous, and, as we were driving up to his house, my apprehension increased. The driveway was long and winding, with large old oak trees lining both sides. I had never driven down a drive this long before.

  When we rounded the last bend of the drive and pulled up to his house, I felt my jaw drop. I would never call this a house. Mansion is what I would call it!

  The front door to the house was set between two large pillars at the top of a lovely set of marble stairs. I turned towards him with wide eyes. “You didn’t tell me that you were this rich!” I felt foolish, and angry at the same time. Angry that he hadn’t told me about the obvious money his family had, and foolish because I felt that way because he is such a wonderful, down to earth person.

  “Does it matter that my family has money?” he asked, his face turned red. He looked down shaking his head. “I didn’t think it would be a problem for you. I have been asking you over for weeks now. Everything keeps getting in the way remember. I wasn’t hiding it from you.”

  “No, it doesn’t. I knew you had money, but I didn’t think you all lived in a mansion. You could have warned me,” I said, a little more sharply than I’d meant to.

  “I don’t think about it, Elizabeth. It’s always been something that we’ve had. It’s how I was raised, just like you not thinking to tell me anything about your family home, or your money.” He smiled at me sweetly.

  “You mean lack of, don’t you?” I said, with my arms crossed, feeling like I was the girl from the wrong side of the tracks in more ways than one.

  “Elizabeth, please. Don’t let this be something that we are going to argue about. It’s not worth it.”

  He opened his door, hoped out and walked around to open the door for me, like he always did. What are you angry about? You knew that his family had money—look at the cars he drives. This isn’t about him, and you know it. This is about the fact that your family may really not be your family.

  I took his hand and tried to smile at him. “I’m sorry.”

  I felt really stupid now. Isaiah had done nothing to make me feel this angry.

  “It’s okay, Elizabeth. Come on, let’s go meet my family,” he said, smiling. “I promise they won’t bite, or make you feel uncomfortable.”

  As we were walking up the steps, the front door opened. There stood a young girl who looked so much like Isaiah that I knew it had to be his little sister. She had light brown curls all over her head, and she was wearing a little pink dress and shiny black shoes.

  “There you are!” she said, hopping up and down. “I’ve waited forever to meet you. I’m Missy.” She held out her hand, and I took it. She was pumping our hands up and down, just as fast as she could.

  “Well, hello Missy. It’s very nice to meet you,” I said, smiling down at her. She was cute as could be. Missy took my hand and started pulling me down the hallway into a large sitting room where the rest of Isaiah’s family was gathered.

  “Look everybody, Elizabeth is finally here,” Missy said, beaming from ear to ear, and bouncing up and down.

  Isaiah’s father got up and walked over to take my hand. He was taller than Isaiah, but had the same blue eyes and the same hair. He was dressed in a light blue button up short-sleeved shirt and khaki slacks. There was just a touch of gray starting to show in his hair. His face was very open and welcoming. He looked me directly in my eyes as he said, “Nice to finally meet you, Elizabeth. I am Colin.”

  He turned slightly, and gestured towards the woman sitting in the chair next to a beautiful large fireplace. “This is Isaiah’s mother, Hazel, his sister, Jamie, and of course, you know Samuel.”

  They all stood and were walking over to shake my hand. Isaiah’s mom had dark hair that was thick and lovely. I noticed that her eyes were brown, but still I could see her features in all of the children. She was very petite and beautiful. She was wearing a blue dress with little flowers all over it.

  Jamie’s hair was the color of spun gold. She had it pulled back into a little ponytail at the nape of her neck. Her eyes were the same blue as her brothers. She was wearing a pair of purple pedal pushers, and a patterned purple and pink shirt.

  They all looked so much alike. I felt like crying. Here was another example of how families look so alike, and how much I didn’t look anything like the people I lived with.

  I smiled at all of them, and turned to his mother. “Thank you for having me. Your home is very lovely.”

  “Thank you, Elizabeth. We’ve heard so much about you and your family. Isaiah told us your mother has the loveliest garden in your backyard.” She smiled up at me.

  “Yes, she does. She planted everything herself. It’s something that she loves. Mom enjoys being surrounded by beauty and nature.” As I said these words, I was wondering which mother I was talking about. Both women had planted beautiful gardens—the one I knew as my mother, and the one Jeremiah told me was my mother.

  After a short visit, we went into a large dining room. The table was set with lovely china patterned in a small floral motif. It looked fancier than anything I had ever seen, let alone eaten off of. We sat down, and suddenly the door to what I guessed to be the kitchen opened, and staff started bringing out what would be the first course of our meal.

  A small soup bowl was set down in front of me; the aroma made my mouth water. Everyone picked up their spoons to eat, and when I tasted the first mouthful I couldn’t believe how amazing it was.
I smiled, in spite of being nervous. “This is wonderful! What is it?”

  “It is lobster bisque. Our cook makes the best in Maryland, I think,” Colin said. “I’m really glad that you like it.”

  “I do. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything so wonderful before.” I felt myself turning red. I hoped I wasn’t embarrassing Isaiah. I glanced beside me to look at him, and he seemed as pleased as his father that I liked the soup.

  The talk was light, and a nice change from everything that I had been through yesterday. After the soup, the staff appeared again to clear away the bowels. Behind them came even more staff with the main course. Each plate held petite baby potatoes, glazed carrots, a filet mignon with a sauce over it that Isaiah’s mother said had capers in it. I had never tasted anything like it before over the steak. I loved everything that was on my plate.

  Soon, the dessert was brought out. I had never seen anything like it. A little bowl was set in front of each of us with the most luscious looking caramel colored desert. When I picked up my spoon to taste it there was a thin caramelized topping on in it. Whatever it was, it was really good. I didn’t want to ask, because I didn’t want his family to think that I was totally ignorant about good food.

  By the time we got to the end of dessert I felt like I knew each one of the family members much better. I also saw that this was a normal way of life for them. The large home and the staff to prepare and serve their food was just how they did things

  I smiled over at Isaiah, and thought how wonderful it was that he was not a pompous stuck-up boy with all the money his parents had. They had raised their children well. I was really glad that he had invited me over to meet them.

  Later that evening, as he drove me home, he asked, “Was it too much for you? Do you still feel like I should have told you that my parents have a lot of money?”

  “No, I understand that is just as normal for you as my life is for me. Your family is so nice—not at all what I thought a rich family would be like. I hope that doesn’t sound stupid to you.”

  I leaned over, and lightly punched his arm. “Thanks for not being a stuck-up rich kid, and just being normal.” Even as I said those words, I wondered to myself if I would ever feel normal again. Isaiah laughed, and took my hand.

  The rest of the ride home was peaceful. I laid my head back against his seat, and thought how much I had to be thankful for. He was such a wonderful person, and he liked me enough to want to be with me. I felt a twinge of regret about not being able to tell him what had happened with Jeremiah. I looked over at him and smiled. “You are wonderful, you know that, right?”

  He looked at me with surprise in his eyes. “You are the wonderful one, Elizabeth. I hope you know how special you are to me.”

  We pulled up to the house, and he walked me to the door. “Do you want to come in for a while?”

  “No, I promised Mom I would come right back. It’s family night tonight, so I have to go play board games with them.” He rolled his eyes, which made me laugh. “What? You don’t have any idea how ruthless Missy can be.” He kissed me goodnight, and after he drove off I let myself into the house.

  A few days later, Mom took my sisters and I to the drugstore to get some last minute items for school. My sisters were the usual handful. Bess and I kept them under as much control as we could for Mom.

  Stacy came with us to pick up a few things her siblings needed. I couldn’t believe that summer was almost over, and so much had happened to change my life.

  “You sure look different, Elizabeth,” she said. “Like you’re glowing, or something.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked her. I pulled my hair over my neck to hide my vampire kiss. If Stacy thought I was different, what would happen when I returned to school?

  “Oh, like you and Isaiah must be doing well. He really seems to be into you.” She smiled, and giggled.

  “Oh!” I laughed with her, feeling relief that I wasn’t suddenly changing into something more like a vampire. I guess what Jeremiah had told me was making me paranoid.

  I heard Stacy’s voice, I glanced at her but she wasn’t talking. I cocked my head and looked at her again as she was picking up a bottle of nail polish.

  “She makes me so mad, her and Isaiah and their perfect relationship. Now she’s glowing because he is so wonderful. We don’t even hang out anymore because she is always with him.”

  She looked at me, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” she pushed by me and headed for the cash register.

  What just happened? Why was she thinking such hurtful things? We’re best friends, she should be happy for me. Maybe I do need to spend more time with her. She sounded hurt. “Stacy.” I called catching up with her. “That’s a really pretty color nail polish. Do you want to get together later and we can paint each other’s nails?”

  She smiled, “Sure! That would be fun. We really haven’t gotten to see much of each other this summer you know.” I hope she means it. I really miss her.

  “I know. I’m sorry about that. I’ve had a lot of things going on but it is no excuse to not spend time with my best friend.” I gave her a hug.

  After everything was paid for, we headed home. The phone was ringing when I got into the house. I dropped the bags onto a chair, and told Mom I would grab it. “Hello.”

  “Hello, Elizabeth,” Jeremiah’s smooth voice said. “I wanted to check in with you before you go back to school. Please be careful; I heard there were some new people in town. I haven’t been able to find out a lot about them yet, and it makes me a little nervous. I have to be careful how I dig up information so as not to draw any attention,” Jeremiah said.

  I smiled to myself. “Hello, how are you Jeremiah?” I figured I would have to teach him some human phone etiquette. “Samuel and Isaiah will be new in the school this year, do you mean them?”

  “Sorry, I’m fine. I forget about the human chitchat, you know. It has been a long time since I have wanted to talk to anyone. No, not Isaiah and his brother, some others will be there. But this is serious, Elizabeth. I haven’t been able to read their thoughts, which is strange, and it’s very vague where they are from, or who they are. I will keep hunting for information but in the meantime, I want you to be wary of them. There are two boys of your age; their names are Jason and Eric Hudson. If you feel or notice anything about them that bothers you, please heed your feelings. Promise me,” he said carefully.

  “I promise, I haven’t forgotten what you said. Hey, can I ask you something?” I added quickly, not wanting him to hang up.

  “Of course, you may ask me anything. I told you that you could when you were here.”

  “My best friend told me today that I looked different, like I was glowing. Do you think something could be happening?” I whispered the last part, since my sisters were starting to come into the house.

  “Well, I noticed that you are becoming a beautiful woman; but I think there I something more, a special spark starting to glow inside of you. I have seen that people are noticing you more. It is something that has worried me,” he said.

  “I don’t feel any different,” I said quickly, too quickly, actually, and he didn’t miss that.

  “What are you not telling me?” he asked. “Did something else happen to you, Elizabeth?”

  “Well, today when we were shopping my friend Stacy was thinking about me and Isaiah, I sort of heard her thoughts. I could never do that before.” Worry shook my voice.

  “Well, that might be a really good thing. If you are developing heightened senses, that could help us keep you safe.” He sounded rather excited about the fact.

  “Okay, I didn’t think of it that way. I thought maybe I was just imagining it because of what you told me the other day. But I actually knew what the clerk was going to say to me at the shop just before she said it, and like I said I heard what Stacy was thinking. It kind of startled me a little, do you know what I mean?”

  “No, I don’t know, because it is something I’ve alwa
ys been able to do. That’s why it worries me a bit that I haven’t been able to pick up anything clear on these new people yet.” I could hear the smile in his voice. I knew that he wasn’t being smart, just truthful.

  “I promise I’ll be careful, and I’ll call you if I notice anything at all.” I hoped that I sounded convincing so that he wouldn’t be overly worried. I was really starting to like this man.

  “Okay, maybe you could call me tomorrow and let me know how everything goes. Remember to trust your instincts. Goodbye, Elizabeth.”

  Just like that, he was gone. I giggled to myself, thinking that I would need to let him know that it was customary to wait for the other person to say goodbye as well before you hung up the phone.

  9

  The first day of school—boy, did it come fast. I couldn’t believe we were on the bus, almost there. Much too soon we were pulling into the school drive, and as Stacy and I were getting off the bus I again felt very nervous. Here I am, going back to the school I have attended for the last two years—so why the heck are there butterflies doing somersaults in my stomachs?

  As I looked around, I could see everyone turning towards Stacy and me. They seemed to be looking at us like something was wrong. Some had frowns on their faces. I smiled, and waved at a couple of our friends from last year. They waved back, but not with the usual enthusiasm of a long summer of not seeing each other.

  Stacy and I headed over towards them. Two of the girls looked me up and down, and turned their backs toward me. Most of the others smiled, but I could see it didn’t reach their eyes.

  Suddenly, I heard thoughts in my head that were not mine. Jennifer was thinking that I had sure changed over the summer, that I was suddenly prettier than her. Whoa! I heard that thought. Jeremiah! Can you hear me? I wanted to hear his voice in my head, to talk to him about what was happening.

  Stacy was looking at me, her eyes wide with worry. “Are you okay?” she leaned close and whispered.