Magical Tendencies (4 page)

"Your smell is so… decadent." His eyes began to glimmer, almost glow with a pale light. Hm, looks like that gel needed to be replaced sooner than later.

Releasing the breath that I was clearly holding without knowing it, I let my shoulders slump ever so slightly. Closing my eyes, I took a cleansing breath and released it. Looking up at Solomon I saw a spark of recognition and… longing?

"That look, Solomon… do I … know you from somewhere?" I asked before I had time to think about it. That was ridiculous. There was no way that I had met him before because I definitely would have remembered.

Solomon reached down and gently rubbed a strand of my dark hair between his strong fingers. He lifted it ever so slightly, appearing that he was going to try to smell it. My breath caught sharply in my lungs—something inside me recognized that look, that motion, that expression.

Freezing in place as if I had scared him, Solomon held his breath but didn't make a move.

"What's wrong?" Jack's voice drifted from the stage. He sounded agitated.

Solomon snapped back to attention, releasing my hair from his fingers, allowing it to jump back to the security of my shoulder.

Eyeing Solomon, I jumped off the stool and walked quickly to the stage. Grabbing the first thing that I could find, I began to walk to the backstage door. Solomon was instantly at my shoulder. This was beginning to get a little weird.

"You know, Solomon, I am extremely grateful for your help last night, and dinner tonight, and it was wonderful to have you in the audience… but… "

"You are a marvelous singer, Celeste." Solomon interrupted, "It would have been a shame to miss your performance because of other matters no matter how pressing they may have been. Your abilities have a much broader range than one might assume." His voice oozed charm.

The compliments were nice but I was accustomed to being complimented by men. I was accustomed to having lewd comments being made in my direction. Hell, I was accustomed to having people trying to manipulate me. I was not going to let him distract me from my point.

"Well, thank you," I smiled my sweetest smile at him, batting my eyes as he smiled down generously at me, warming up to the conversation, seeing an escape from the direction the conversation was taking.

I felt my body swell with energy and metaphorical power. It was a familiar friend to me—knowing that I could handle this. I was in total control of this situation and I loved every minute of it. He thought he was getting out of the conversation? Well tough, the subject was still coming.

"I don't need a bodyguard anymore. Clearly my bassist is doing it for you and there is no need to worry about me." I batted my eyelashes at him again to lay it on even thicker. I felt like my eyes were speaking every word I said for me but in a different language.

Solomon stopped walking as if he had hit a wall. His eyes were a tiny fraction wider than they were before. "How did you… do that?"

Stopping in my tracks I turned to look at Solomon, "Do what?" I shrugged. Who knew what he was talking about.

Solomon closed his eyes and shook his head. His eyes opened wide as he stared at me with a touch of surprise. His mouth was slightly open as he began to eye me from top to bottom. My body responded to his look with a warmth that followed his eyes as if he were scanning me with a heat beam. My body shivered slightly at the thought that he saw something that no one else could.

Jack walked up and looked at both of us from a small distance. Solomon and I were staring at each other and it was obviously not comfortable for Jack.

"What just happened, Solomon?" Jack prompted.

Looking quickly to Jack, Solomon shivered and shook his head. "Nothing, nothing," he waved his hand in the air, dismissing the question.

"It didn't look like 'nothing'," I said.

Solomon turned to me and offered me a small smile, warm and open. "Are you free tomorrow night?" were his only words.

I eyed him as Jack stepped closer to us, taking one large sniff. How weird was that? I gave him a stern look as he inched away from me, obviously picking up on my vibes.

"No, I'm afraid I am
not.
" I turned to start for the backstage door again, proud that I already had plans for the weekend.

"But what are you going to be doing?" It was Jack's voice this time. That stopped me. Why was Jack asking Solomon's questions?

"I'm going out of town." I began to walk towards the van again.

Both men looked at each other before eyeing me. "Where?" they asked in unison.

7

Rockaway Beach. My little heaven on Earth and fortress from the crazy, stupid world. Don't get me wrong, I love life BUT people were just insane sometimes and it is always good to get away from things when you can. You can dream and pursue dreams.

Walking through the front door of the townhouse, I threw my bag on the floor, tossed my keys on the granite counter top and glided across the room past the couch, TV and recliner. My goal was to go straight for the patio area and commune with my true love—the ocean.

I only rented this scenic townhouse twice a month but the time I spent there was so valuable and cherished to me that I couldn't imagine going anywhere else to recharge my batteries from the craziness of the world. I also could never imagine inviting anyone else to visit with me—people just got in the way.

Leaning against the railing of my all-glass patio framework, I hummed a tune that always struck me when I was near the water. Listening to the crashing of the surf on the shore, I closed my eyes and imagined the waves as surges of energy, rejuvenating me, providing me with life, filling me with its endless love as well as joy. A quiet sigh escaped my lips—I just knew I was home.

After allowing the wind to whip my hair and the mist to coat me in a tiny shiny film of watery diamonds, I turned around to the sliding glass door and walked back in. I slid the door shut and made sure that it was locked. Jack would just have to live with the fact that I knew how to take care of myself.

Smiling to myself I walked over to my bag, double-checked the door to ensure that it was locked and began the ascent to the master bedroom.

Everything in the master bedroom was amazing. The four-poster bed was covered in a white down comforter, huge down pillows encased in Egyptian cotton cases, and fitted with white Egyptian cotton sheets. Tossing the bag onto the bed, I began to unpack. Once everything was in place I walked into the bathroom to lay out my toiletries.

Unpacked and as tired as I've ever been, I cracked the sliding glass door on the patio to the master and trudged back to the bed. Why was I suddenly feeling so tired? It didn't make sense. Something inside me felt like it was protecting itself by shutting down but I didn't understand why. Well, it couldn't hurt to take a small nap anyway. It was only 5:00 p.m. so the sun wouldn't be going down for another four hours. The sun never set at early hours when you were able to see the actual ocean horizon.

I laid down across the bed, trying to ensure that my sleep would be minimal and not impact my time on vacation.

My body sank into the downy comforter and offered rest, relaxation and rejuvenation. My eyes began to flutter as my mind caught up to my body.
A small nap wouldn't hurt me at all. Just a small nap.
I heard myself sigh as darkness engulfed me in its knowing arms.

8

I was sitting on a hilltop, gazing down at the lake water as it lapped at the shore. The push and pull of the water was mesmerizing. What had I even come up here for anyway? I didn't remember driving there and couldn't recognize the surroundings. It all felt so familiar though, vaguely familiar.

The water made a rush to the sandy beach, caressing it and running away just as quickly as it came, lingering with fingers of silvery coolness. A delightful dance of affection. A love doomed to this eternal existence of kiss and run.
What was so beautiful about that?

I smiled to myself as I thought about the cold winters that allowed the shore to hold the water in a frozen embrace. There was no running away from that and the water finally would succumb to the obvious attraction it always teased at.

I closed my eyes and released a cleansing breath. My shoulders relaxed with the calming release. The breeze seemed to pick up at the signal from my mind—calm. A signal that was unknown to me.
That was weird but wonderful.

I smiled as nature seemed to talk to me, caressing me with her thoughts. I felt strangely calm as I released all of the tensions that I had built around my soul. Allowing them to follow the ebb of the water.

The wind picked up and swirled my hair around. My body responded by pushing up and standing firmly on the hilltop, hands stretched out at my sides to feel the resistance that the wind provided. We were touching, holding hands. A familiar embrace and yet so strange. I smiled as my eyes drifted closed. Hm, the wind smelled sweet.

Raven
.

My head snapped up and my eyes spread wide.
What the heck was that?!

I pivoted slowly on my foot as my eyes scanned the area around me. Was there anyone approaching? I held my breath to be able to listen to my surroundings. Nothing. I was in drastic panic. There should have been SOME noise—it was early Spring. EVERYTHING was noisy in the Spring.

Raven, Where are you?

Raven? Who was Raven?
I thought to myself.

"Who are you?" I whispered under my breath as I continued to assess my surroundings. Okay, I was out in the middle of nowhere with no one to protect me, someone was calling for a Raven, whoever that was, and I was getting a definite sense of dread in the pit of my stomach.

Raven, I hear you! I hear you!
There was a long pause.
You are safe! Thank God you are alive!

I blushed sincerely because I was listening to a passionate and loving, tender expression that was meant for someone that had obviously been lost and was now found. My heart swelled.

Raven, are you still there, my love?

I looked around, looking for the direction the voice may be emanating from. I wanted to help but didn't know what to do. How could I help?

I walked down to the shore of the lake, listening for a hint of a step, a rustle, any sound to direct me. Where was that voice coming from?

Raven, say something,
the voice said breathlessly
, PLEASE!

I opened my mouth and snapped it shut. "Should I say something?" I whispered to myself.

"Raven, it's you!" I felt a rush of wind behind me as I heard the voice seemingly coming from behind me. I shook my head—it was just my imagination, but before I could do anything the wind sped up and became a swirling torrent. I felt my shirt begin to lift from my torso as I grabbed it quickly and yanked down for all I was worth.
YIKES!

"Where have you been?" The voice was thick with relief.

I pushed thoughts of the wind and my shirt aside. I forgot about my fear of being alone or those of being a bit voyeuristic. I forgot everything because I recognized
that
voice.

My body reacted on its own and began to slowly turn around as I scanned at eye level for anything to explain the odd series of events that had taken place. My turning stopped abruptly and my heart sped up when my view was blocked by a broad chest and wide, muscular shoulders.

I swallowed as I allowed my heart to begin beating again. I was trapped. My mind began to scream and my heart skipped a beat. Sweat began to trail down my neckline. I was frightened.

My mind responded quickly, deciding that my protection was the most important goal. My hand waved in front of my eyes, glowing slightly with a faint blue light, and then he was gone. Actually, everything was gone. There was only black.

Silence reigned and I opened my eyes to see the room around me come into focus. The sound of the ocean came crashing in through the window. The smell of the water was like smelling salts to my soul—I was safe. It had only been a dream.

Do you know the odd thing about dreams? They are sometimes windows to the future, the past and the present. They allow us to understand what our subconscious is thinking and provide the opportunity to live out our deepest fantasies as well as nightmares. Dreams are powerful and I knew that.

The scary thing about this dream was that I had experienced this dream before. The exact same dream, one week ago to the day. The same dream, the same way, the same thoughts, the same fears. Everything. My mind didn't know what to think of that. My subconscious was obviously trying to tell me something… but what?

9

The day had been an enjoyable one. It had actually started slowly considering it was my last day at the beach. Enjoying the cooler temperatures of the early morning allowed me to take the time with my coffee so I sat on the back porch of my beach line rental as I listened to the water rumble outside, beating savagely at the shoreline. Gosh I loved the coastline. I always felt like I was home when I was walking along the beach, feeling the spray of the waves on my exposed skin as the wind whipped up a particularly passionate mood.

Unfortunately it was time to head back to my regular life where there was no sound of the sea and the temperatures were a lot less pleasant. I sighed as I pushed myself off of the porch chair, noticing that the creak of the wood called after me, reminding me that I needed to tighten the screws on the darned thing before I headed back to my apartment inland.

Grabbing a screwdriver from the kitchen drawer, I skulked outside and grabbed the chair roughly as I tossed it down on its side. I squatted down to get a good angle. Finding the offending screw, I began to set to work, tightening until I felt it lose its ability to turn, fighting with true resistance to my efforts. I smiled to myself as I glanced out onto the beach, noticing a man standing stoically as he glared at me, a deep look of confusion on his strong and masculine face. I looked down at my hands quickly so as not to give the clue that I had caught him staring.

Gathering my nerve, I held my breath and looked up to the beach again to notice that he had walked even closer to my porch, by possibly a hundred feet. How did he move so quickly? Was I imagining that and what was he planning on doing? I had no idea but my heart picked up a quick pace. My fight or flight response became quite prominent as my body responded to his closer appearance by standing rigidly as if it recognized this extremely suspicious man.