Eternity (Circle of Light) (12 page)

“What do you mean by that?”  I asked.

“If you feed all the hungry what will that accomplish?”

“For starters, nobody would be hungry
.” I smiled.

“No Princess.  No one would work to grow crops or raise any livestock.  I can’t even imagine what destruction that could cause.”

“I see what you mean.” I understood what Eric was trying to tell me.

“Do you?  Would you work to feed your family if your food just magically appeared every time you were hungry?”  Eric asked.

“I see your point, really, I do.” I said as the excitement of the idea left me.

“We can help those who need help, but we can’t completely ri
d the world of everything that’s bad.”

“I understand.  Everything in moderation.”  I said with a smile.

“Speaking of moderation, I feel like I have been awake for about a week so I’m going to go home and get some sleep.  And sensing your exhaustion is making it worse.” he yawned.

  “I know what you mean
.” I replied as my eyes became so heavy I could barely keep them open.

Eri
c kissed me gently and said, “I’ll lock the door behind me when I leave.  Call your mother and tell her you’re going to take a nap so she won’t worry when you don’t answer the phone.” 

I gave him another quick
kiss and headed for my room. From the top of the stairs, I heard the deadbolt click.  I would have to remember to ask him how he done that later.

I changed quickly and watched Eric as he walked into his bedroom.  He immediately turned off his light.  I’m guessing it was because he didn’t want me to watch him change again.

  “You’re wrong, Princess.  I took everything off but my boxers and I jumped in bed.  I didn’t even bother to pick my close up out of the floor.” I heard him say. 

“Goodnight, Princess.”

“Goodnight my angel.”

CH
APTER 8

I called Katrina’s number, but she didn’t answer.  I surely would have thought she would answer the phone by now.  I had called her numerous times and the end result was the same. Nothing. 

I just wanted to be able to make sure her and her mom were alright.  I guess if she wanted to talk to me she would have picked up the phone.  I just hope that everything going well for them.
But I can’t say that I blame her. Getting away from anything and anyone that would remind her of what happened probably helps more than it hurts.

I was so frustrated tha
t I couldn’t seem to get my thoughts in the right place.  I have so many things I have to do today and if I don’t get my head straight will become a huge challenge. 

Seniors weren’t required to attend any classes today due to the graduation ceremony being held tonight.  I was nervous about the ceremony and sad at the same time.  I just couldn’t understand why time had passed so quickly.  It seemed like only yesterday that Dad was teaching me to ride my first bike.  Now I was becoming an adult.  I guess I understand the phrase,
don’t blink.

That is exactly what it felt like.  One day I was seven years old, I blinked my eyes and now I’m almost eighteen.  All grown up and ready to face the world.

I had, roughly, four hours until the ceremony.  I had already decided on how I was going to wear my hair.  My dress was laid out and Mom had my cap and gown in her car so I wouldn’t forget it.

The familiar light-headed feeling began to slowly creep up in me.  I knew that I didn’t have a choice but to lie down because if I remained standing I was for sure going to hit the floor.  Sporting a bruise or knot on my head tonight wasn’t an option.  I lied across my bed and closed my eyes.  Fighting it only made it drag on, so I gave in.

I opened my eyes and was in a beautiful meadow.  I had never been here before and I was more than proud to not be in that dreadful dark place that I had grown accustomed to. Trees moved softly with the breeze as birds chirped from their branches.  Their whistling was uplifting to me.  I had always liked to listen to birds. The sun was an intense shade of yellow. One like I had never seen before.  The sheer beauty of it was astounding.  It had a very home like feel to it, the kind of place you never want to leave.  Such warmth.

I walked a short distance and came upon a small pond.  The water was so clear I could see everything in
it.  Fish were swimming around almost playfully.  They were colored like no other fish I had ever seen.  Neon pinks, greens, and blues made them shine even brighter in the sunlight.  This could have been a place that a little girl would imagine.

I bent down on one knee and leaned over to try and see if I could touch one of the fish.  To my surprise, as soon as my hand w
ere in the water the fish swam to it.  It reminded me of calling for a small puppy and it coming straight to me to play.  This dream is really cool, I thought to myself.

In my excitement, I hadn't noticed that I wasn’t alone.  When I looked up all four of the Queens were standing beside me.  They seemed to be amused by the way I was acting over the fish.

Startled, I rose from the ground and dusted of my knee.  Seeing them for the first time in the light was very different.  When I was in the dark, they had looked more intense.  The light seemed to soften out the boldness.  It didn’t lessen their beauty at all.  I think it actually made them look more beautiful than before, but less mysterious.

I knew that I had several questions that I wanted to ask them, but I was trying to think of the most important one to ask first.

“Did I do the right thing with Katrina?”  I asked. Tears threatened to spill.

“Yes.  People like him need to be dealt with.” Fire Queen replied.

“But I stood by and allowed her mother to kill him!”

“His path was leading to many more heartaches for more than just them.  Wit
hout you there to help the girl he would have succeeded in raping her.  He would go on to rape and murder several more young girls.”

Knowing that made me feel somewhat better about it, but I was still disgusted with myself and the whole situation.  I had saved Katrina from a dreadful situation, and I had also saved her mother from prison.  But, I had also helped in allowing Carolyn to kill her brother.  What kind of person does that make me?
Not a good one. My opinion of myself because of that day isn’t good.

At that moment I felt that I should ask for forgiveness for allowing a life to be taken, no matter if he was good or bad.

“Forgiveness is yours to give to you.  We forgive you if that will help to ease your pain.  Forgive yourself, accept what happened and move on.” Earth Queen said with a serene voice.

I asked them if they had known that Eric was my mate.  Air Queen replied, “We did Princess.  We just had to wait until the both of you realized it.”

“I want to thank you for Eric.  He is very wonderful.” I said blushing slightly.

She explained about him being my balance and that our powers were stronger now that we have found each other.  He was the reason I had been able to project myself into Katrina’s house.  Our power had given me the strength to speak to Carolyn that day. 

“You have more power than you realize.” Air Queen said smiling. “And more will come in time.  Eric can help you.  He has been gifted longer.  He will always be with you and your love for each other will grow.  You are soul mates.” I could feel my body trying to wake up.

I opened my eyes and looked over at my clock.  I had been there for almost three hours.  The whole thing with Katrina had z
apped all of my energy.  That’s something I’m going to have to get control of soon.  That is, if I could ever figure out how to control it.

I wanted to talk to Eric, but I didn’t want to use the phone. I needed my hands to be free.

“Eric?” I called to him with my mind. 

He swiftly answered, “What is it my love?”  

“Nothing.  I just wanted to hear you.  Do you have everything ready for tonight?”

“Yeah.  All I have to do is get this silly suit on that my mother is insisting that I wear.” I could hear the annoyance in his voice.   I told him I had spoken with the Queens earlier and I felt better about everything.

“Good, I’m glad you feel better.  So what are you doing?”

“Trying to hurry and get dressed.  I’m going to be late it looks like.”

“Relax, you’re not going to be late.  I promise.”

“But, Eric, I only have an hour to get ready.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah a little.  Are you?”

“Yeah.  I‘ll go get us something and come over.”

“We don’t have time for that.”

“Sure we do Bailey.  Look at your clock.  We have plenty of time.” He laughed as I felt our telepathic connection break.

Looking at my clock, I realized that it wasn’t an hour until the ceremony.  I had three hours left.

Boy, that Eric is, for sure, a trickster.  I have a lot to learn it looks like and to have him as my teacher was the greatest thing imaginable.

It wasn’t long before he arrived.  It was a good thing too because I was starving.  He had brought me a cheeseburger and fries from the diner.  He's definitely a sweetheart, I thought to myself. 

“Yeah I know” he said. 

“That's not fair! Some of the things I think are private.” I explained.
             

He looked at me and rolled his eyes, “Not anymore.”

  We sat and ate together.  I was so hungry I didn’t talk to him during the whole meal.  I hope he didn’t find the way I was eating repulsive.

He finished his food and was cleaning up when I got done.  By that time we only had less than two hours to get ready to go.

Eric left and I could hear him cursing about the suit the entire way to his house.  I think he realized I was listening to him and he apologized for using such strong language when I could hear him.

“It’s alright.  I have heard a lot worse.  But do you have to be so damn loud?”  I asked him as I entered my bedroom laughing.  I didn’t get an answer.  Maybe he was trying to be quiet after me saying something about it.

I looked at the dress my mother had bought for me.  It was a deep blue satin formal gown.  It had reminded me of a bridesmaid’s dress and a prom gown put together.  It was beautiful. 

Mom had always picked out my clothes for special occasions.  She has
such wonderful taste.  She had also borrowed some jewelry from her friend that owns a jewelry store.  I think she went a bit overboard on that part.  The necklace alone may have been worth a few thousand dollars.  There was also a bracelet, earrings, and a ring to match.  Mom sure knew how to spoil me.  The idea of giving it all back was rather depressing.  I didn’t want to, but I knew I had to.

Time had started flying by.  If I didn’t get a shower now, I wouldn’t be ready in time. I gathered all the appropriate undergarments and undressed in the bathroom.

Nice.

You are so not funny!

I wasn’t going to be able to do much of anything without him knowing about it so I guess I’d better get over being shy.  It would make it a lot easier if he wouldn’t comment on everything he seen.  That only made it worse.

I tried not to dwell on the matter anymore than necessary.  Being uncomfortable around Eric was not something that I wanted to do.  And I happen to be just a bit shy when it comes to certain things.  Knowing that I was going to run short on time, I quickly shampooed my hair and scrubbed my body.

I dried my hair as the curling iron was heating up.  I heard Eric say something, but it had been so faint that I couldn’t tell what it was that he had said.  I switched the hair dryer off and began the tedious job of creating ringlet curls.  When I was finished with that, I applied my makeup.  Knowing that everyone would be taking tons of pictures forced me to try and look as good as possible.

  I wore a bit more makeup than usual.  Normally, I would only wear lip gloss, but tonight I had decided to go with a deep cherry red lipstick.

As I looked in the mirror at myself, I looked similar to the Queens.  I was shocked at how beautiful I really was.  I hope it wasn’t too much over the top.  I don’t want to draw too much attention to myself tonight.  But I’m afraid going out looking the way I do would do just exactly that.

I heard Mom call for me from downstairs.  I hadn't even noticed that she was home.  I grabbed my black heels and slid them on.  As I got halfway down the stairs I saw her and Eric standing at the bottom of the staircase.  She looked at me and smiled.

I could see the tears welling up in her eyes as she snapped several pictures.  I thought I was hearing my own heartbeat from all the attention.  Thudding uncontrollably.

I soon discovered that it wasn’t mine, it was Eric’s.  Every time that I took a step his heart would skip a beat. 

I took a second to really look at him.  He was dressed so perfectly.  I was surely going to have to thank his mother for picking out that suit for him.  It looked marvelous on him.  Never in my life had I seen anything as stunning as Eric was at that moment.  All I wanted to do was take that suit off of him.  I took a deep breath and tried to get my hormones in check.  Which was very hard for me to do.

Eric walked up to me and kissed me.  I could feel the passion in his lips take over mine instantly.  I heard Dad clear his throat and I reluctantly broke our kiss.

Eric stepped back from me and apologized for our lack of restraint.  Dad laughed at him and said, “I understand.”

I could feel the heat creep up my face.  I was hoping that all the foundation I was wearing would help conceal it, but I knew that everyone already knew how I was feeling from the color of my ears.  They were burning like they had been set on fire, so I knew that they were blood red.

The doorbell rang and Dad stepped over to answer the door.  It was Eric’s parents.  I had expected that I would meet them later on tonight, so I didn’t have time to prepare for it yet.  My nerves kicked in to overdrive.  I was almost at the beginning of a panic attack when I heard Eric whisper to me. 

“Just calm down sweetheart.  It’s only my parents.  They don’t bite that I’m aware of.”
He laughed.

I took a deep breath and centered my mind on his parents. Their thoughts were relatively calm until his mother saw me.  I could hear the girl-like screams inside her mind.  She definitely approved of me without even speaking to me.  That was a huge relief.  His father was thinking something along the lines of me being a smart choice on Eric’s part. 

He had thought I was very beautiful, but not in a weird way at all.  He was proud of Eric.  His mother had already begun to daydream about what her future grandchildren would look like.

I backed out of their minds with a sense of assurance about their opinions of me.  Eric giggled softly to himself.  I just wanted to kick him in the shins at this point.

“I love you Bailey.” I heard him whisper. 

But this time he hadn't said it in my thoughts.  He had said it aloud as if he didn’t care who heard him.  I was breathless, nonetheless. 

“I love you too Eric.” The calm of this moment made me feel like there is actually good things in store for our future.