Enlightened A Light Tamer Novel (The Light Tamer) (24 page)

Thorne left to take care of guardian guarding stuff, stuff.  He’d been quiet while we salted the yard.  Amber and I decided to watch The Princess Bride.  I popped some popcorn and made us all a glass of sweet-tea.  I’d found a taste for the sugary tea after I left the hospital.  Grandma and Caleb went out on the back porch to have a private talk about the way of fae. 
Mr
Gabe called to say he is on the way over to stay the night.  I can’t imagine what crazy story we’ll tell my mom. 
Hey mom, did you have a long day at work?  Well, I can’t make it to breakfast with you, sorry…but you see, I’m a faerie.  Yes,
you heard right, I’m fae.  O
h, I forgot to mention light shoots from my hands, my bad
.  I ran the scena
rio in my head and realized she i
s going to put me in therapy.
  I can hear
mom
telling the doctor I’m having hallucinations. 
I smack my forehead in denial.

“Scoot over Amb, snack lady coming through,” I say and set the serving tray down on the coffee table.  “What happened with you last night?  Thorne said you disappeared.  I sent you text messages,
and
you never replied.”

“If you’re going to grill me about last night, I’ll go home.  You’re not my mom.”

I look at her, trying to figure out why she’s so hostile.
  “Amber, I’m not trying to be your mom.  I was
worried…forgive
me for giving a crap about your welfare.  I happen to like you, even though you can be a…” I stop myself before saying something mean.

“You were going to call me a female dog.  You were, I see it all over your face.” 

“Maybe I was, you know damn
good
and
well that’s what you’re acting like.”

Amber rolls her eyes and cocks her head back.  “You do like me don’t you?”

“Of course I do, why would you ask?”

She reaches in her hobo style purse and gets her wallet.  Thumbing past some receipts she pulls out two folded up pieces of notebook paper. 

“You swear you won’t make fun of me?”

“No, I wouldn’t make fun of you.   Amber, what’s wrong?”

“This is going to get heavy; can we go in your room, in case they come back inside the house?” 

We pick up our drinks and head to my room.  I love that it still smells like the cucumber-melon candle I burned earlier.  We both hop up on my queen size bed.  Usually, we lay on our backs and stare at the shooting star ceiling.  

“Okay, here’s what happened.  Yes, I went to the bonfire.  I had fully intended on drinking Rob’s vodka and getting wasted.  I’ve thought about nothing else for the last 365 days of my
life…taking
a bottle of vodka and getting trashed.  Like he
did…my
brother Mark.  He was seventeen and would have been his senior year.  We were all going to the beach for one last family weekend with us all as kids.  He had been known as a
partier…he
was
good
looking, and one of the best surfers on this coast.  This guy Randy, he had been the one with a fake I.D. and bought all the alcohol for the parties.  Randy is a prick, no other word for him.  I never liked him, and Mark would say I should give him a chance.  I didn’t think he was a
very
loyal friend.  He was so arrogant…I mean he was an ass.”  She smirks as she talks about him.  “Randy showed up at the beach that day.  He kept asking Mark if he had the vodka with him.  They were talking about it was going to be my initiation into party life, to get me drunk.  I told Randy to go to hell.  I told Mark he couldn’t drink, we were with our parents.  I mean, crap Jess, he wouldn’t have ever thought of getting drunk around our parents.  I didn’t see him drink, I thought he put it up…he didn’t.”  Amber sat on the edge of the bed and bent over with her face covered by her hands.  She sat there for a second trying to compose herself.  “He was a
freakin
awesome
surfer.  Every surfer up and down the Atlantic coast knew my brother was the craziest and best.  When you’re at the beach, it’s common to keep an eye out for other people in the water.  He saw dad go under and not resurface.  Rip currents are serious this time of year.  Mark went running out to get him, but he didn’t take a board with him.  He’d got to dad and pulled him to shore, but he went back out to get dad’s board and drowned.  He died because of me.”  Her head dropped,
and
she couldn’t hold
back
the tears.

I put my arm over her shoulder and my heart breaks in a million and seven pieces for her.  “Amber, it isn’t your fault.  They were dumb
boys…it
isn’t your fault.”

“I know…I can’t help it though.  I’ve tried to tell
myself it
isn’t, but it never works.  Last night, I got a ride home to get the Jeep.  I went down to the beach.  I’d written him a letter, and planned to throw it out to sea.  I didn’t.  We hated finding trash in the ocean. I could hear him in my head telling me how dumb it is to litter. 
I started crying on the way home and drove into a big muddy ditch.
 
I told my parents we went to help someone pull their car out a ditch.
  I didn’t want them to know how much I’ve been hurting.  Jessie, I should have gone after my dad.  The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with him, technically, there isn’t anything wrong.  Mom thinks he blames himself and has given up.”  She unfolds the paper.  “I’ll read it to you, I’m sorry if it’s dumb.”

“Never be sorry for your feelings.  I’d love to hear it.”

“Dear Mark,

Hey
bro
, long time no hear.  Well, you’re probably wondering why I’m writing this letter.  The therapist said that I’d feel better if I wrote you a letter.  Look, I don’t know why you drank that day.  I wonder if drinking can actu
ally
hide the pain, but everything I read about it says it will only cause more problems.  All year, I heard people talking about how the parties are no fun without Mark Edwards.  Everyone quit talking to me because they didn’t know what to say to someone like me. 
I’ve never been Miss Popularity, but it’s never been like it was the last school year.

Things have changed
bro
.  Last year, I met a new guy at school named Caleb. 
At first I thought he was hot, until I realized he doesn’t surf.
  He was polit
e
,
and
we hung out a few times - but we’re just friends.  This summer, Caleb met this girl, her name is Jessie. 
He brought her over to the house after he told her she’s a Light Tamer (like you and me).
  He’d told
me they
were bound when they were kids, it happened on a beach one summer when she almost drowned.  It made me think of you.  Her name’s Jessie,
and
she’s
very
pretty.  She has these green eyes that light up when she smiles.  I feel a connection with her, I’ve never had with a girl.  No, not in a lesbo way. 
She’s a near drowning survivor, and I’m a drowning survivor, we click like friends should.
  I have a friend Mark, a real friend.  We’re finding out some crazy crap about this whole Light Tamer sickness.  I wish I could introduce you, I think you’d be friends too. 

I miss you Mark, more than words will ever express.  I never thought I’d laugh again, but I do and I can.  We never heard from Randy again, I told
you he
isn’t a friend.  Well, I gotta go.  Could you watch over me and maybe give me a sign, a little sign that you’re okay?  We all miss you so much.  I hope you’re hanging ten, and every day is a
great
day for the beach.  I love you.”

She looks up at me,
and
we’re both crying.  I’ve never felt someone’s pain through their words until now.

Jessie are you okay?
 
I hear Caleb in my head.

Yeah, we’ll be out in a minute.  I love you.

Okay…you’re not crying because we’re getting married are you?

No
, she told me about her brother.

Oh, okay.

“Jessie, will you live in the fairy world all the time?  I feel like I just found you, and now you’re going to bail on me.”

I stood.  “C
’mere
, you need a hug.”

We hug, I pull away but still have my hands on her shoulders.  She is so short, she literally has to look up at me. 
I silently pray for her soul to heal, as I do, my hands begin to glow.
  I see light flow all around her.  The knock on the door pulls me out of the moment.

“Come in,” I say. 

“What happened?  The pain in my heart has dulled,” Amber looks up at me with her
big
doe eyes.  “Thank you for not taking the pain all the way away.  It reminds me how vital it is to follow your dreams and not make lousy choices.”

“That was intense, I don’t know what happened, it just….well, it just happened.” 

With him in the room, his energy pulls me to him.  When we’re alone, we gravitate to each other.  His face full of concern for Amber looks to me for guidance.  Like a magnet to metal, he crosses the room and throws his arms around both of us.

“Stop,
ya
’ll are suffocating the Amber,” she says as she tries to pull away from his grip.  “This is so unfair, I’m at chest level
here…you’re
not going to like it if I decide to bite your boob!”

I jump back before she makes
good
on her promise.  “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I
would
, and I’d hold my phone out and take a pic for you.”

Caleb is laughing,
and
the room fills with love.  Relief washes over me for Amber.  Never in
a gazillion years
, would I want to lose her to the darkness.

“Wake-up beautiful, we’re leaving soon,” Caleb’s voice whispers in my ear. 

I roll over to my back, pulling the covers partially off Amber.  She pulls on the blanket until she has enough to cover her face.  He is standing over me, his face only a foot away.  Fear runs through me as I realize I have morning breath.  I try holding it so he can’t smell my icky stench.   I fake yawn so I can cover my mouth with my hand.

“Hi you,” I say and realize something monumental is about to happen.  “How much time do I have?”

“Thirty minutes, you slept with those in your hair?”  He points to my old fashioned curlers.

“Ah…. Go!  Go in the other room.  Don’t look at me,” I scramble to get the sheet up over my head.

Caleb laughs and walks out, not before saying, “You look cute.”

“Ugh!  Away!”  I threaten.

“Dudette, you’re so damn loud.  I need sleep,” Amber complains.  She hops out of bed and runs to the bathroom.  “I call dibs on the shower.”

“That’s cool, I’m in need of a pot of coffee.”

“Someone say coffee?”  Says the familiar voice.

“Daddy!  How did you know to come here?”  I throw my arms around his neck trying not to knock the coffee.  “I haven’t heard from you in over a week.  Does mom know you’re here?”

He hands me a travel mug full of coffee.  This is one thing I miss about him, our morning coffee.  “Yes, mom knows I’m here in New Bern.  Your grandma and I told her everything last night.  She is miffed and scared.  Mrs. Ward will take us to the ceremony.”

“Just like that,” I snap my fingers, “You’re OK with me getting married?
  I don’t turn sixteen until Friday.  Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

“Sweetheart, this is right.  I can feel the power when I’m with the two of you.  Incredible amounts of power.  You’ll have the power to give me back my light.  You can heal me.” 

“What! 
I can heal you?
  How?”

“You’re the Queen of all Tamers, it’s one of your abilities.”

“Can I do it now?” I ask excitedly.

He shakes his head no.  “It will need to be done in Fairyland.”

“That’s
amazing
, I better go get ready.  I’ll see you in a while,” I say and reach up to kiss him.

Before bed, I packed a
duffel
bag with things I thought I would need.
I brought a sundress and a change of clothes. 
Grandma told us that we will be home in time for school on Monday.
  Talk about secrets, I’m a never ending supply of them.

“Ladies, we need to leave,” Thorne’s voice came from the hallway.

“Give me two seconds to go to the restroom.  I’ll meet you in the car.”

I pick my bag up and start for the door. 
At the same time,
I’m turning the doorknob, my mom is on the other side about to come in the room.  We both yelped at the same time.