Within the Crystal

by Kat Blak

  Watching him glance around at the destruction in the shop, I notice a further blush reaches his ears, making the tips look like they have been stained with tomato juice.

  “Maybe we should have waited to bring the new boxes down,” he jests with a small smile. Just hearing him joke about the situation feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and my heart is starting to swell.

  “Hmmm, maybe,” I responded back. “Want a reading?” I say, raising my eyebrows up and down playfully. I can see the smile is finally starting to reach his eyes again.

  “Sure,” he says. I watch as his eyes dance between my mom and I. “You guys are really ok with all this mess?” he asks whilst looking at his hands, which he is ringing together in his lap. Mom comes over and she places her hand on his shoulder. Raising his head, he locks eyes with her.

  “We don’t mind. We are believers of Mother Nature and the Fates,” she responds looking around the shop. “If this is what it takes for you to see your true power, then so be it,” she finishes with a smile. “But, you will be helping clean up.” With that he is jumping to his feet to grab a brush.

  Both Mom and I start laughing. “She didn't mean right this instant, plus I’m going to read your fortune.” I head over to the shelves, which now sit at different angles with all their contents laying around the floor. Looking around, I find what I'm looking for. A full pack of tarot cards.

  Picking the box off the floor, I can feel the cards humming even more now they are in my hands. It would seem that my power has also had a boost. Looking over my shoulder at Mom, I meet her eyes. She must be able to see the unvoiced question on my face. A slow bob of her head is all the answer I need; we both know what is about to happen.

  Opening the pack of cards and taking them out of the box, I rest them in the palm of my hand. The buzzing seems to get stronger. I can see and feel Nunu's eyes on me, so I smile back at him while I shuffle them. I spent many hours teaching myself how to shuffle a pack of tarot cards, like you see the poker dealer in movies doing. It’s not as easy as you think because tarot cards are so much bigger than regular cards, they are harder to fit in your hands, but I make it look easy. When his mouth pops open at my badass card skills, I hold myself back from dusting my shoulders off.

  Heading over to the table we just had sex on, I find Gran’s historical black table cloth that is on the floor, but thankfully still in one piece. First I shake it to discard any excess glass before placing it on the table, then I throw all the cards down onto it. They spread over the table like someone had just started to play fifty-two card pick up, but with more cards. Looking over at Nunu I say, “pick one,” with a smile. I watch as he walks over to the table and reaches over to find a card. Before he has a chance to pick one up they all jump from the table and cling to his body. The shocked look on his face has me bent over at the waist laughing my ass off. “The Force is strong with this one,” I say, trying to hold my laugh in.

  Nope, I can’t. I start laughing so hard that tears are streaming down my face. Through blurry eyes I watch as he tries to peel the cards off himself, but they won't budge. Watching his frustrations only has me laughing harder.

  “Alex, what are you doing?” Mom's stern voice sobers me up a little, but I still have a huge shit eating grin on my face. I watch as he keeps trying to peel the cards off. Everytime he thinks he has managed to get the card free, it pings right back to where it was.

  Mom walks over to him with a necklace, it's his stone on a leather string. It’s the same as the one I wear, but with the Nuunite as the main stone. As she places it over his head, all the cards fall to the floor. “Oh, Mom, you like to ruin all the fun.” Nunu takes the stone he is now wearing around his neck and starts to examine it with a confused look on his face.

  “The stone will help with your powers, just till you get a handle on them,” Mom says to him with a comforting hand on his arm. He looks over at me with a glint in his eye.

  “So, this whole time you could have helped me instead of just laughing at me,” he says accusingly.

  “What can I say, guess my cards like you and your body,” I finish with a wink. “Ok, jokes aside, bend down and pick up a card.”

  “You just want to check out my ass,” he says with a smile. It's kinda true, the guy does have an amazing ass. The look of contemplation on my face has him laughing. “Can't believe you are now actually thinking about it.”

  Raising my shoulders, I give him my best playful smirk. “It's true, you have a nice ass, but I want to know which card is drawn to you.” Watching him bending down, he runs his hands just above all the cards around his feet. I watch as a few teeter around, but one shoots straight onto his palm. I’m mesmerized by his power. He stands back up, his arm outstretched with his palm facing me and the card just stuck there.

  The card I see has me sucking in a breath, and shooting my eyes over to Mom. During all the playful banter with Nunu, I had almost forgotten she was still here. Now I really do need her. This is bad, this is very, very bad. There on his palm sits the ten of swords.

  “Looks like we may have some trouble in our future,” I say over to Mom. Looking over at Nunu, he must see the horror on my face. I try my best to look less freaked out while I tell him what it means. “This card represents being stabbed in the back. It could be a betrayal, you could make enemies, people could be bitching or bad mouthing you. Nothing good ever comes from this card choosing you.” Taking a deep breath I place my hand on his shoulder. “It could also represent you as a martyr, or severing ties with either your family or me. You could also be under attack or violence could befall you.” I’m sure the pain is obvious on my face. I don’t know what would be worse, the idea that someone would want to hurt my Nunu, or that he might choose to leave me. Looking over at him, he doesn’t appear to share my devastation and is actually smiling.

  “Well, that’s not good at all. Can I pick another?” he teases, but now I can see the strain around his eyes.

  “Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. The card chooses you, you don’t choose the card.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  After seeing the tarot card a somber mood sits heavy on all our shoulders. The three of us are cleaning up the shop together, but lost in our own minds. Both Nunu and I went back upstairs to the apartments to get cleaned and dressed, but not a word was muttered between us. I think we are both being held captive by our own minds. Once dressed we head back down to help Mom with the rest of the clean up.

  Just as we are nearly finished cleaning, the door to the shop opens. Huh, I thought that was locked. The last person in the world I expected to see walks in.

  “Hi, Andrew,” Mom responds in her usual cheerful voice.

  “Jesus, were you guys broken into?” he responds back to Mom with a shocked look on his face. “Have the police been called?”

  “No, everything is ok, just an accident,” she says smoothly. “What can we help you with today?” I can see she is trying to be nice, but the creases around her eyes tells me it's taking a lot for her to do so.

  “Oh right, yeah, I have an old injury and apparently you make a cream that will help with the pain according to another teacher at the university,” he says motioning to his knee.

  The whole time they are interacting, me and Nunu have been sending each other puzzled looks. There is just something about this guy that has my hairs standing on end and a shiver running down my spine. My instincts are never wrong and they are saying there is just something off with him, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

  I try to make myself look busy by loading the unbroken candles back onto the wooden shelves, making sure I can still keep my eye on him. He watches Mom with close intent. In fact, I would say he looks like a borderline stalker. With Mom being the ever loving person that she is, she still looks as calm and breezy as ever. But I can see the difference, that she walks with more of a stiffness about her than normal. It’s subtle, but it’s there. She senses something is wrong too.
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br />   “All these have CBD oil mixed in, they are a natural anti-inflammatory and painkiller. A word of warning, CBD comes from the Marijuana plant, but it is completely harmless. Now, you have the choice of many different smells.” Mom carries on with her usual spiel that she gives all the customers when working with CBD.

  Nunu comes up behind me and I can feel his breath on my neck. A whole different type of shiver travels down my spine and causes my nipples to pucker. “What do you know about that teacher?” I ask in a hushed tone.

  “Not really a lot. He started just before you guys, hasn't been teaching long,” he whispers back. He has his arms wrapped around my stomach and to anyone who can see us we look like a loving couple cuddled together, which I guess we are. I feel Nunu sigh against my neck before continuing. “I felt something when he walked in. This is going to sound crazy, but like a flare inside of me that kinda pulsed out and left my fingers tingling.”

  “Hmmm, we need to keep this to ourselves for now, but that was your power. You will feel it like a brightness inside your chest,” I say whilst looking at Mom and Mr McCreepy again. I don't want to tell Nunu this, but even with the stone around his neck, I can still feel his powers rubbing against me. It’s like it’s trying to caress and mould itself with my powers. Loving the feel of Nunu and lost in our own little bubble, I dont notice McCreepy has started walking over towards us. Nunu obviously does because he let’s go of me and turns away.

  “I didn't know you worked here as well,” Andrew asks me with a questioning look on his face. Does this guy still not know I'm her daughter? Fucking idiot. Just as I'm about to open my mouth to tell him that, Mom cuts me off.

  “Yes, Alex was telling me how little she was making as a TA, so I offered her a part-time job here as well.” This is the first time in a long while that I have seen my mother so flustered and full of lies. I'm a little shocked and I think it shows on my face. But Nunu jumps in to save me. Although he is no longer holding onto me, he still has his arm protectively wrapped around my waist so that he can keep me as close to his side as possible without being noticed. My heart swells at the way he is caring for me.

  “Mr Devenoff, it's good to see you outside of school.” Nunu says, holding out his hand.

  “Good afternoon, Nuummite, how are your studies getting on?” Andrew says back, refusing to acknowledge the hand Nunu is holding out. That starts to get my blood boiling at his blatant rudeness towards Nunu. I guess I feel oddly protective over him, just as much as he does me.

  “Yeah, good thanks.” Nunu responds back wearily while looking at me. He drops his hand when it’s clear that Andrew has no plans to return the handshake.

  “Well, I must be going. It was good to finally see your shop, Aurora. Just a shame about the mess. Good evening all.” With a final wave, Andrew walks out of the shop. It's strange, it's like the shop releases a sigh when he finally leaves. Given the look on all our faces, everyone felt it too.

  “That man gave me the creeps,” Nunu says, almost visibly shivering at the thought of Andrew. “I have to be going as well. But can we have a chat soon, like stargazing again?” he asks embarrassingly as Mom is still next to us.

  ‘Yes!” I shout with excitement. “Betelgeuse is back, it was dimming and lost 60% of it’s brightness. I need to find out why. Plus, Orion the Hunter and his gang will be disappearing soon, so I would like to mark them as well.” Fuck, my mouth just ran away from me. He’s now looking at me with a huge grin on his face and I’m burning hot from the embarrassment of letting my geek fly free. Leaning over he plants a kiss on my cheek. I see the burning desire in his eyes, the wish that he could do so much more, but when his eyes scan over to my mom, I know why he is keeping it chaste.

  “See you later,” he says before disappearing through the shop door. Glancing around the shop I see we have made a big improvement cleaning it back up, but I’m going to have to order a whole new stock of items. I will get on that later, after some food. Looking over at Mom, I see that she is watching me intently.

  “What?” I ask. A smile raises to her lips. I watch her walk over to the drawers that hold all the rune stones. Luckily that is still all intact. She grabs a black velvet pouch and walks back over to me. Opening the bag she holds it out in front of me. I laid my palm flat ready for her to place them into.

  “No, put your hand in and pick one,” she says. Ok, that’s weird, but I place my hand inside and feel around all the cool stones. As my fingers brush over the stones, I feel the tingles they give me. It feels like a familiar friend welcoming me home. When I feel the sharp twinge in my finger I know the stone my power is drawn to. Bringing the stone out wrapped up in my palm, I have this weird feeling that I don’t want to know which stone I chose. But with Mom staring at me, I don’t have much choice and so I slowly open my palm for us both to see. Both our eyes widen in shock when my palm opens and we see ISA.

  By itself this rune doesn't really mean much, as this rune tends to lead power to another rune. But when it's revered, like it is in my palm, the way it is laying can symbolize coldness or possibly the rise of conflict. Conflict can be anything from arguments, to full on fighting. But, it can also represent conflict within oneself. I know I'm still in conflict with the guys, well one guy in particular. Could Cal be what the rune is talking about?

  I need to get my ass in gear and sort this mess out before it gets any worse.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  After dinner last night, I went up to the roof to do some star gazing. If there is anything in this world that relaxes me then it is looking at the stars. But I struggled to focus because my mind is like a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings. I'm starting to wonder which way is up and which way is down. I feel bad that Nunu will have to learn to use his power by himself. I can teach him the basics like how to access them and about the balance, but his power is different than mine. My power has been finely tuned over the years with two amazing teachers, Mom and Nana. He doesn't have that luxury.

  After spending the night tossing a turning with worry from the many things that have been piled onto my already full plate recently, I end up dragging my ass out of bed after my alarm starts to blare at me. Today is my first actual day of teaching Mom’s class. She has to travel out of town for a last minute teacher conference and the school is under the pretence of me needing the credit to gain my teaching qualification. Gazing into the mirror I see that my eyes are dull and ringed with black bags. The last week's activities are finally starting to take a toll on me. Grabbing the first set of clothes from the wardrobe I get dressed in an exhausted haze.

  When I finally arrive at the school to take today's classes, my least favorite person is waiting at my office door. “I'm sorry have you made an appointment?” I ask blonde Barbie. I'm so not in the mood to deal with her shit today, my lack of sleep and the constant worry that seem to be weighing me down, makes me snap out at her.

  Scoffing at me, she replies in her best voice that sounds like a combination of a snob and a banshee. “I don't need an appointment, I own this place.” Releasing a sigh, I know I haven't had enough coffee this morning to deal with her shit.

  “You may own the buildings, you may own the land, but you don't own the people.” When are people going to realize that you can’t own another person, that person has free will and you can't own freewill. But this Barbie won’t understand that, she thinks that no matter how much of Daddy’s money she throws at something, it's hers.

  “My crystal ball says you’re full of shit. That is where you are wrong. People can be bought, in fact people have been bought. One wrong move and you will be out on your hippy ass. Just know my eyes and ears are everywhere,” she states whispering into my ear. Too fucking close for my liking, so I step back and glare at her. “I'm going to make it my personal mission to get you out and away from Cal, HE IS-”

  “Is there a problem here ladies?” I hear Andrew ask from down the corridor. Looking down I can see that he must have just stepped out of his office. He has one
of those reusable coffee mugs in his hand and his clothes are impeccable again. Dressing in light brown khakis and a white button up shirt, there isn't a single mark or crease on his clothes.

  “Everything is fine, me and Miss...” I say looking over at her. I should know her name, but my brain just can't find the power to give a shit about it enough to remember it.

  “Franklin,” she whispers back to me, which is strange as she has gone from the girl who I saw flirting with Andrew in the lunchroom just the other day, to now being fearful of him. Her eyes keep switching back and forth between us.

  “Me and Miss Franklin were just discussing the school policy on bullying.” Not really wanting to spend any more time with this guy then I have to, but staying and finishing my little chat with Miss Franklin seems way worse. “Are you heading to the breakroom, if you are, I will join you.” I respond in an overly chipper voice making my way down the corridor and leaving Barbie looking shell shocked.

  It's like she can't believe someone like me just stood up to her. I may not like the idea of violence much, but I hate the thought of being bullied just as much. When I finally reach Andrew, he has a strange look on his face. It is as if he is shocked I would go to the break room with him. After a few awkward minutes I can no longer stand the silence. “So did the CBD cream help your knee, I see you are walking with a less of a limp today?”

  “Yes, it helped loads, the pain has gone almost entirely,” he says heading over to the coffee maker and switching it on. “That woman must have some magical powers to be able to make stuff that good,” he says over his shoulder to me. A slight chuckle leaves my mouth before I'm able to rein it back in. Oh God, if only he knew. “You haven't seen anything strange around the shop have you?” he asks with curiosity, but something else flashes in his eyes. It’s gone before I have a chance to recognize it, but whatever it was sets me even more on edge.