Enlightened A Light Tamer Novel (The Light Tamer) (3 page)

Amber shrugs her shoulders
and
pops her gum
.  “I
don’t have a plan
, but it
will
happen,” she whispers to me.
  “You only live once right?”

This ought to be good.

Mr
James opens the door to
the
science lab.  The difference between
this lab
and the lab at my school in the Bronx, everything is
new and
fancy looking.

“Thorne, you want to sit with me?” 
A
mber and I turn in time
to see Carmen
.
  She is
slithering around him like a snake to its prey.

Oh crap!  Amber is going flip out.
I glance
over at
her
, she
is seething
with
venom from every pore in her body.

“She better learn her protection spell, because she’s going to need it,”
Amber says through gritted teeth.

“Do you have A lunch or B lunch?” Carmen asks Thorne.  “If you have
B
lunch you can sit with me, I’ll introduce you to
everyone…if
you want.”

I nudge Amber with my knee as we sit side by side at our lab table.  She is drawing little stick people and what looks like torture devices on her paper. 

“I’m in
A
lunch,
I’m already sitting with someone
, but thanks.”

I look down and see Amber drawing a bubble over one of the stick people and
a giant
‘Yay
!’ written
inside.
 

“If everyone has figured out their lunch schedule, we
can start
on our protection spell.” 
Mr
James says.  “I’m going to give all of you something else to carry around,
just for you
Miss
Lucente
.” 

I close my eyes and mentally breathe in to keep my face from turning crimson. 
He holds up
a cardboard box with a girl
holding a
n umbrella on it. 
Oh yay, m
y favorite
condiment
…
salt
. 

“
What you might consider ordinary table salt, is simply untrue. 
It’s
used in many spells and potions. 
At one time, salt
was once believed to open the entrance to heaven.  I haven’t any proof
either way
.
”  His quirky accent makes everything he says sound exotic.
“
Miss
Edwards, your brother was in my class two years ago, did he share his wisdom of salt
with
you.”

Amber go
es
rigid at the mention of her
brother;
I brace myself for the verbal lashing
I’m sure will
commence.

“No, he didn’t,” Amber replied softer than usual.

“
I’m always impressed when former students abide by the rules.  Everything we discuss in this classroom is confidential.  Don’t forget,”
Mr
James taps his finger on his chin before continuing with his lecture.  “Salt alone can protect you from many
elements…bu
t
our main concern is
the Dark
Ones.”

Carmen raises her hand to ask a question.  “
Mr
James,” she purrs.  “Why are they called Dark Ones,
it isn’t creative
?
  Honestly, it sounds stupid.
”

“Au contraire,
ma
petite
chou
. 
Your
Historiography teacher
will
explain the history behind the name
.  What an exciting year you
’re
embarking on
,” he says and rubs his chunky hands together.  “With
Miss
Lucente
in our midst,
it’s
sure to be a galvanizing year.  Even
though
,
you may disagree with the chosen slang for the former
Light Tamers
,
the simplicity of the name fits
. I must continue
to show you how to make a protection spell.
  I’d like everyone to open up your silver spout on top of
the salt
and pour some in your hand.”

I clinch my teeth as the spout squeals against the cardboard.
  Salt
reminds me
of my visits to North Carolina as a child.  No one warned me not to drink the ocean water the first time I went
swimming
.
A
towerin
g
wave knocked me backwards
,
and
I end
ed
up
with a mouth full of water.  After choking and gagging I
threw-
up until I had nothing else in me.  I shudder at the memory
.

“B, oh for cripes sake, you can’t go one class without thinking of
him?
Caleb, oh I miss you…I
can not
make it without you by my side.  Caleb, my love, my heart, my everything, I will die if I can’t shove my tongue down your throat in the next five minutes,” Amber said dramatically.

I
prod her with my finger.
  “Shut-up, for your information, I wasn’t thinking about him.  I was thinking about
the ocean
.  So….there!” 

“Yeah, whatever.”

Mr
James clears his throat loudly as he holds his salt up in the air.  “Sa
lt is a mineral, from the earth and sea. 
It’s
freely available and affordable.  I want you to stand up next to your table and arm length away from you
r lab partner.” 
We all stood up and spread out our arms
.
  “Good
, before
you do anything, I want you to
pour a circle of salt all around you
and chant this spell. 
Salt of the earth, protect me in this sacred circle
.”

“Do we say
the words
out loud?”  I ask. 
After a minute
,
of clarification from
Mr
James
,
I
hold
my arm out and
spin in place, pouring salt
.  I whisper the incantation
and
cross my finger
s
. 
I don’t feel any different. 

“
Mr
Woodson, I want you to stand perfectly still.  No matter what you do, and this goes for all of
you…don’t
step out of the circle.” 
Mr
James
holds
up a small amber bottle, we all turn to face Thorne standing perfectly still in his circle.  In the next moment, the bottle whizzed through the air
directly at him
.  Before I
have
a chance to think about what
I’m
doing, I
fling my
hands into the air.

Everything blurred as the vile halted inches from Thorne’s circle. 
Oh crap!
I chazzled, what
on earth
do I do?
  My danger vibe
kicked-in
,
and
now I’m going to be busted. 
Shit…shit…shit
.  Let it go, don’t do anything… let it fly.  No, take
the
vi
al
and put it back in
Mr
James’ hand.  I’m so going to die. 
I jump up and
put the
vial
back in his hand
, then scamper back
back into my spot
.
Time caught up and as if it never happened,
Mr
James looked at the
vial
in his hand curiously and then over to me. 
Don’t call me out.
I
cross
my fingers
praying
he didn’t notice the hiccup in time.

Mr
James pulled back as if
he’s
about to pitch a fastball at Thorne
.  B
efore I
have
time to think, he
flings the
vi
al
at me.  I hear
a
blood curdling scream, and realize
I’m the screaming maniac
.
I
cower down
on the floor in a squat, my arms
are
shielding my face. 
I look
around when nothing happens,
suddenly realizing
I’d successfully made my invisible shield.
  I didn’t
actu
ally
see that part, but Amber and the rest of the class were yelling things like
wicked awesome
.
  

“
Miss
Lucente
, are you
okay
?”

“You sure have a lot of faith in us
.  What if I hadn’t done my shield
properly
?
You could have put my eye out with that pitch.”

His robe rustled as he
walks
over to me.  “
I believe
in everything you kids do.  I’d like a minute with you in the classroom.  Everyone else, I want you to practice your speed in making a circle.  Dust Busters
are up in
front
of the room, they are for salt only.  Suck up the salt and pour it in
the
tub on my table, we recycle salt.  
Miss
Raine
wi
ll be here in about ten minutes and don’t leave a mess
.  She does not like
dilly dallying
.”

I better not get in trouble for screaming, he tried to kill me with
the
damn bottle.

“Do you have a clue how dangerous
chazzling
is
in a room full of Tamers? 
It
was incredibly thoughtless on your part.” 
Mr
James crosse
s
his arms in a huff. 

Busted
. 
“I’m sorry, it happened so fast, I didn’t even think about
what was happening
.  I’m sorry.  Please don’t tell anyone.  I heard that if peop
le find out, I’ll
be in danger.”
  I’ve already screwed up
,
and
it’s
only
my first day.
My
‘this
sucks’ list will be updated as soon as I get home
.
 

“You’re going to be nothing but trouble for this school and your friends, if you don’t
think before you react.”
  He looks at my face and
the hard lines
begin to
soften.
“Jessie, I’m not trying to be mean.”

Swallowing the lump in my throat and taking a mental breath, I look up to face him.
  “I understand, but how did you know?”

“
Within the
hidden school
,
there is little we don’t know.  That isn’t to say that there aren’t students
with
abilities we don’t know about, but they know not to use them.  I’ll report the incident, but
it’s
only listed as a time breech.  We don’t list the ex
act ability unless it becomes an ongoing issue.”

What
did
Mrs.
Ward
say
?
  ‘The beginning to a smashing
school
year.”  Someth
ing will be
smashed;
I’m not sure what. 
The door
opens;
Miss
Raine
looks at us curiously.
 
She
gives
Mr
James
an intense stare down before she
gathers
the rest of the students.

We follow
Miss
Raine
in a single file line, up the stairs and back to her class.  Amber
is
suspiciously quiet, and when it comes to
quiet…you
don’t think Amber.