Enlightened A Light Tamer Novel (The Light Tamer) (10 page)

Oh, mom might have a dress I can wear to the dance.
  
I’m taller than she is, but maybe.
 
When times were
good
, mom and dad would dress up and go to art premiers.  She sold a few of the dresses to consignment shops
when we were short of cash.

I
tiptoe
to h
er room on the other side of the house. 
The plush carpet masks the sound of my shoes.
  It comes in handy when Amber and I sneak to the kitchen for a midnight raid
or when I try to borrow a fancy dress without permission.

I’ve never been a kid that does a lot of snooping, I’ve never had to.  I don’t typically go through my mom’s drawers, not after I found a slinky see-through nightie last year.  It was hard to look her in the face for almost a week after
wards
.
 
The
four-
poster bed once
belonged to my
grandma
and
grandpa
when he
was still alive. 
When I was younger, I’d sit in the bed and pretend I was a princess.  

Mom’s walk in closet looked
bare
without my dad’s clothes.  Her
scrubs
were separated by color and hung neatly up front.
I reach up to pull the string to turn on the light.  The dresses are towards the back and still in their dry-cleaning bag.  One of my dad’s suits is haphazardly hanging on a wooden hanger.  I take the sleeve and hold it to my nose trying to get a whiff of him.  “Daddy, please come back,” I whisper out loud.
How many nights I would watch
mom
get dressed for an art gala and wish I could go
with her
.  I tried to convince my baby sitter to drive us by the gallery
to
watch the people on the red-carpet
.
She never would. 

Behind all the ordinary dresses
is
one I’ve never seen her wear. 
It’s
a
gorgeous
black floor length
gown
.
Oh, if she still has those
gold strappy heels
they’ll go perfectly with the dress
, I think to myself.
Her shoes are stored neatly in their box on the top shelf of the closet. 
I pull over
plastic storage bin
,
and
attempt to pull
down two boxes of shoes
.  As I do, I lean
over
too far and start to fall.  In typical Jessie fashion
,
I knock down every box on the right side of the closet. 

I rush to pick up the shoes and match them up with their correlating box
.  Sitting on the floor putting everything together, I notice a box on
the floor of the closet.  It’s
a
wooden
box with
a weirdly shaped keyhole.  After checking both her nightstand and jewelry box, I give up looking for the key.
The chimes go off letting me know a door has opened.  For whate
ver reason, I hurry and put the box
back and slide it into the closet. 

“Mom, I’m in your room!”  I yell out.
 

Mom is suddenly in the doorway.
“Why are you in my room?”  Her tone is slightly annoyed sounding.
 

“Trying to find all your secrets,” I say, trying to
be
chipper.  I hold up the black dress.  “What do you think this would look like on me?”

“What’s this about?” She throws her purse on her bed and starts pulling her top over her head.  I can’t help but admire the black lacey bra she
is wearing
. 

I wonder if they have anything cute in my size.  I’m sure it is too expensive for someone
who
seems to grow a cup size every year.
  “They’re having a
semi-formal
next month.  Fall break is the weekend of the twenty
-
second;
we get
off
Friday and Monday
.  Caleb thinks his dad will give us his frequent
flier
points to get Beth a flight to visit us.”  I used Jersey’s real name because mom thinks it’s a silly nickname.  I hold my breath, hoping she’ll agree.

She takes off her scrub bottoms, revealing the matching panties. 
I avert my gaze
, em
barrassed to have her see me watching
her.
  “Jess, I’m okay with it, but you need to make sure grandma
doesn’t have anything planned
.  Try it on,” s
he says and points at the dress I’m still holding.

The dress slips over my head easy enough.  The black chiffon sleeves have a dainty silk cuff that should end at the wrist.  On me, the sleeves are too short.  I wiggle around until I get everything adjusted.  I look in the mirror and try to keep from crying. 

“Black is such a pretty color on you.  Your dirty blonde
hair
looks so pretty against the black.  Even with your tan, the black is set off your hair and your eyes.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding, still trying to keep my composure.  “I can’t wear this.  Look at the sleeves,
they’re
too short.  I’m sure it’
s because I have this giant uni
boob in the front.
” I fumble around with the side zipper and take it off.

“Baby, the dress is too small.  We’ll go shopping this weekend
.”

“I don’t want you to spend all your money on me.  Maybe we can find something cheap at a thrift store.”

“I want to dress shop with you, my love. 
You’re looking at a newly promoted supervisor
,
and
I was given a sign on bonus.  When I applied, they were offering an incentive that if I stay at least sixty
days;
I
’d
get a three thousand dollar bonus.  If that doesn’t make you happy, your dad sold some of his artwork and sent some money for you.”  She says as she puts on her
booty
’ jeans and a black tank top. 

“That’s
awesome
mom!  I need a job that does a sign on bonus like that!”

“Go to nursing school.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I could empty a
bedpan
.  Why did dad send money for me?”
 

“He’s your dad, and he should send money for you.  With that said, how
about Saturday morning
,
we take a drive to Greenville and look at dresses?”

“
Sounds like a plan
.” I throw my uniform on haphazardly so I can run and call Jersey.  “You want to do just you and I, or invite grandma and Amber?”

“
I’m
happy
whichever way you want
.”

“Okay, I’ll ask grandma tonight.” 
She won’t say no, I know her too well.
  I better check with Caleb and see if he has asked his dad yet.
  I don’t think my feet even hit the floor as I ran into my room.

The river is so beautiful in my secret hiding spot. 
In the past, I’ve become so entranced with the beauty of the river, I’ve almost dropped my journal in the water.
The bees dance and hum in the trees behind the bench. 
I keep
my
distance, hoping that if I don’t bother them, they won’t bother me.
  My reaction to a be
e getting too close ends with me flailing around and throwing whatever is in my hand at it.

“Jessie?”

I jump at the sound of my name.  “Mrs. Ward?” 
Her dress looks out of place, being that we’re on a canoe dock.

“I need to warn you about Nyx.  I put out some feelers and came back with a positive sighting.  As I’ve said before, I don’t have any influence over Underworld escapees.
”

“Can you explain to me, why all of this
is happening
?  I don’t know what my role is
,
and what makes me so
unique
.”  I pull my hair
away from
my sweaty neck.

“
Do you mind if I sit with you?”  I nod my head.
  “Jessie, you’re
unique
because of your bloodline. 
There’s a
s
ense of power that radiates off of
you.  I know
it’s all
new
, and this is a
big
surprise…it
is what it is. 
Your power, the light that you have in you
is
powerful Jessie.  It is like no other in the last five centuries.  You and Caleb together
are
astonishing.  As soon as you both know how to control your inner light, you
r
light absorption will be needed less frequently.”

“Since
you’re
Fate, why can’t you control my path?”  I close my journal and turn sideways on the bench, tucking one leg under me.

“I can guide you; I can’t weave your life though.  I may cause a distraction or add a person that will show you the path to take.  It’s much l
ike writing a
story…y
ou
can control the scenario, but your mind and freewill
chooses
the words
.
”
Her voice soft-spoken, but her power radiates through her words.

“So what
do
I do?”  I ask.  I look at her, taking in the beauty of her face, how her pale blue eyes sparkle
, so beautiful and regal, yet she emotes power.  “I don’t know how to make potions or martial arts to fight her.  Caleb has shown me
some
moves, but nothing that I’d feel comfortable using on another person.”

“That is where you’re wrong Jessie
Lucente
, Nyx is not another person, she is a deity.  I’m going to arm you with the human skills you’ll need.
 
When the time comes, you’ll be called upon to join forces with others…you must
choose
wisely.
 
There will be enemies who will fight on the same side as you.  There will be a time when the only person you can trust is yourself
.  That isn’t to say Caleb will betray you, but the potential will arise
.  
Someda
y, ligh
t will bend to your will and p
ower will attempt to sway you to the dark.  Keep your wits about you Jessie
Lucente
, the queen of
your land
. 
This will hurt a little bit,” she says and takes my hand into hers. 

That doesn’t sound
good
, I think to myself.

Fear
,
then anguish ripped through me like a forest fire, burning, searing, through every pore and muscle in my body.   My head fell back in pain, tears slipping from my eyes, it’s too intense to scream.  Internally my brain is screaking in misery.

“Jessie
,
wake up!”  Mom yelled as she
shakes my shoulders.

I look around the room and realize I’m on the couch, the television is tuned to Wizards of Waverly Place
,
and
there isn’t any sign of Mrs. Ward.  “I must have fallen asleep, I’m sorry.  Give me five minutes and I’ll be ready for dinner.”
  I touch my arms and legs, the pain is gone
,
but
I feel different somehow.

“You were screaming in pain, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m
fine
.  I was dreaming about school, nothing major.”  I check my phone to see what time it is.  “
It’s 6:45,
f
ive
minutes, okay?”

She leans in and hugs me.  “Maybe you’ll tell me about it at dinner.  I’ll see you in a few
minutes
.”

My room is bright,
the sun is peeking through the blinds leaving striped shadows
on the wall
.
 
I grab a tie-dye
sundress
, it’s the least wrinkled quick thing I have to wear.  I’d already taken off most of my uniform, everything except my shirt. 
I pull it off
,
and for reasons
I can’t begin to explain, standing there in only my bra and panties, I kick my leg straight up.
 
Standing
there, in a perfect split,
with incredible balance, I gasp.
  Without stumbling,
I
shift and
relax my leg to stand upright. 
It reminds me of one of Caleb’s memori
es that I got from one of our first kisses
. 
I’ve seen a picture of Caleb in his Gi doing the same pose when he got his black-belt.
He was
embarrassed
that his mom put it up on the fireplace mantle
for the world to see.