Soul Seers Complete Set (11 page)

Shaking it off as nerves over the
most recent mommy-daughter bonding moment, we made our way across the front
porch of the art building and sat in a pair of wicker chairs, which were barely
being kissed by the afternoon sun.

“Do it again, Ella.
 
Show me again.
 
Whatever you want to show me.
 
I can’t believe you can project
imagery!” she whispered excitedly.

“It’s something Jonah and I did
together when I was…” I stopped.
 
Confusion wracked my brain.
 
Was my coma really a dream?
 
Obviously, something more was going on, but I had no idea what.

“Don’t worry about understanding
anything right now, Ella.
 
Just
show me something.
 
I want to get a
grasp on what you’re truly able to do.”

I closed my eyes and focused my
mind on Divinus’ face.
 
I wanted to
see if there really was some sort of connection between my imagination and the
real world.

“That’s him!
 
Ella, how do you know about him?
 
I don’t understand?” my mom asked with
a perplexed look on her face.

I just shrugged as I said, “I have
no idea, Mom.
 
Up until now, I
thought my coma was filled with dreams.
 
Some I assumed were a product of your constant attention, feeding me
information even though no one thought I was listening.
 
But, Jonah.
 
I thought he was nothing more than a dream.
 
A beautiful, heartbreaking dream.

Tears began to stream down my face
like a sudden dam had burst in my soul.

“Shhh.
 
Oh, Ella.
 
Don’t
cry.
 
I actually have a theory,”
she said as she pulled my hand to her heart and held it tight.

I looked up at her excited violet
eyes, dying for her to continue.

“I’m now wondering if you have
some sort of precognition sense… or, maybe, you can just read my past
memories,” she said as she paused for a moment.
 
“I went to college with Mr. Chantrey.
 
Of course, it’s been years since I’ve
seen him and I have no clue if he even has children, let alone a son named
Jonah.
 
So, if Jonah really does
exist, you may be more than just a little clairvoyant, my darling Orella.
 
It’s likely your name fits you better
than we know.”

I didn’t know what to think about
all this information.
 
Is it
possible that Jonah really does exist?
 
If he does, would he feel the same way about me as he did in my
dreams?
 
Undoubtedly, he probably
would have no idea who I was.
 
That
thought alone was nearly enough to break me.

“Let’s not rush into this,
Ella.
 
I really want to make sure
your emotions are up for the challenge.
 
It will likely be way more painful if you find out there is no
Jonah.
 
I just can’t bear to think
of you having to deal with a letdown like that right now.”

I nodded in agreement.
 
There was no way I would be able to
handle the final reality that Jonah didn’t exist.
 
At the moment, he still existed in my mind.
 
And, if his memory is all I have, then
I wanted to keep that memory alive as long as possible.

“Come.
 
Let’s go get our hands muddy and we’ll talk through this
more later.”

We spent the afternoon playing
with clay and talking about nothing more than ideas for our projects.

That night, I fell asleep while
watching Serenity again—the same as I did every night for the past
month—hoping his warm arms would wrap around me once more and I would
wake up from this harsh reality.

I stood in the small doorway as
Jay walked away.

Two beautiful angels just walked
in, both with curly blond hair and amethyst eyes.

“Delphina,” I whispered.
 
At that moment, I knew something was
changing for me. Here, in my studio, was the girl I had fantasized about since
I was fifteen.

I was struck dumb by the sight in
front of me.
 
It’s as if someone
superglued my feet to the floor and my lips to one another.
 
I couldn’t walk.
 
I couldn’t talk.
 
I couldn’t even fucking breathe.

I watched as they sat, eyes
closed, communicating somehow.
 
Damn it!
 
What I wouldn’t
give to be able to read their minds!
 
I needed to figure out what the hell was wrong with me and
fast
.

Suddenly, the mother began to cry
silently.
 
The daughter, my dream,
kept looking around the studio as if she were looking for someone.
 
I ducked out of the way every time she
looked in my direction.
 
Did she
know I was stalking her?
 
With
that, they both got up and walked outside.

I felt all the oxygen leave the
room as if it was also desperate to follow the two angels.
 
I was suddenly able to gasp for air
when I realized they just went to sit out on the porch, probably to soak up
some of that beautiful afternoon sun that glistened delightfully off their
golden waves.

I wanted desperately to touch
her.
 
To make sure she was ok.
 
To make sure she didn’t leave me.
 
But, if I tried to approach her, would
she disappear again?
 
Was I really
awake or was this some sick, twisted version of my dreams.

“Jay!” I yelled, still keeping my
eyes glued to the woman sitting just outside the front window.

“Sup, Jonah?” Jay responded as he
ambled closer to me.
 
I could tell
he was concerned for me.

“Did you sign them up?”

“Ahh, I signed the mother up two
days ago, yes.
 
She said she was
also signing up for her daughter as a surprise,” he explained, still obviously
nervous about my current state of duress.

“What was her name?”
 
My question was barely a whisper.
 
I was still breathing hard.
 
Still stunned at the sight of these
women in my territory.

“Dude, you’re kinda worrying
me.
 
I knew you’d want to see her
because of the color of her eyes, but why are you acting all weird.
 
Just go talk to her.”

“Jay?” My tone was a clear
warning.
 
“Name.
 
I need a name.”

“Shit, Jonah.
 
Ok.
 
Let me go get the membership file,” he said as he gestured
toward the file cabinet and started to make his way over there.
 
About fucking time.

“Delphina Hugh,” he hollered from
across the room.

“Shhh!
 
Shit, Jay!
 
They’re still here.
 
I don’t
want them to know I’m digging for information.”

“Damn it, Jonah.
 
Tell me what the hell is going on!” Jay
demanded, getting right up into my face and blocking my view of her.

“Okay.
 
Okay.
 
You’re
taking off for lunch in about ten minutes, right?”

“Yeah.
 
Well, I’m actually taking off for the rest of the day.
 
Eve was going to cover for me,” he
explained.

“Alright.
 
I remember now.
 
Are you going home before heading to
your parents’ house?”

He just nodded and raised his
eyebrow as he crossed his arms in a questioning stance.

“When you get to the apartment, go
into my room and take a look at the drawing on my easel.
 
Then, call me.
 
Or, don’t call me, unless you want to.
 
But, you’re going to want to.”

“Well, in that case, I’m leaving
now,” he said as he grabbed his keys out of his pocket.
 
“This better be good, Chantrey!” he
demanded with a pointer finger in my direction.

Luckily, Eve showed up just a few
minutes later, effectively saving me from needing to interact with the woman
who caused my heart to turn to putty.

Jay knew about my obsession with
purple and especially with purple eyes.
 
But, he did not know the extent of my fixation.
 
I have not shared all of my dreams with
him—only the ones represented in my sketchbooks—and none from the
past month that have become so greatly detailed.

The girls came in from the porch;
my love lightly wiping her face as if she were crying.
 
I would give anything to keep that look
of sorrow from her face.

She was thinner than I had
imagined and I noticed she walked with a slight limp.
 
It wasn’t extremely obvious, and would probably go unnoticed
by most.
 
But I watched every step
she took.
 
Every move she made was
thoroughly examined by my eyes.
 
She seemed… weak.
 
In my
dreams, she was always so strong.
 
But now, as her mother helped gather up some clay and tools, she
appeared more fragile and meek.

Five minutes hadn’t even passed
and Jay’s number lit up on my screen.
 
Quickly ducking into the other room, I answered the call.

“What the hell is going on,
Jonah?” Jay practically yelled into the phone.

“She’s the girl, Jay.
 
She’s the girl with the amethyst eyes
from my dreams,” I explained calmly, although I was anything but.

“You have got to be fucking
kidding me,” Jay mumbled, obviously realizing just how serious this was.
 
“Wait a minute.
 
I thought you said you had never met
the girl from your dreams.”

“I haven’t.
 
I drew that picture from my dream three
nights ago.
 
Up until now, I didn’t
even know she actually existed beyond what I concocted in my mind.”

All I could hear was Jay’s manic
breathing through the phone.
 
He
was speechless for once in his fucking life and I didn’t blame him.
 
I just dropped a huge bomb on someone
who is not of the soul-seer world.
 
I had to be careful what I shared or face retribution from the council.

“Jonah,” Jay finally spoke.
 
“I don’t know what the hell is going on
and now I wish I wasn’t going out of town.
 
Are you going to be okay?
 
I know we men like to bottle up our feelings, but this is
serious shit, dude!
 
Do you need me
to stay?”

“Hell no.
 
Go have fun with your family.
 
I actually think I will visit my dad
tonight.
 
He knows of my dreams and
he has already seen the drawing.
 
As a matter of fact, he told me he went to school with a woman who
looked like the girl in the drawing, which is why I was demanding to know her
name.
 
He knows Delphina.”

Just as the words spilled out of
my mouth, I realized I said way too much.
 
He’s a mortal for Christ’s sake and I just told him my dad knows the mother
of the girl I obsess about in my dreams?
 
Yeah… even I have a hard time following it and I expect a mortal to
understand.

“Ok… this is, like, weird John
Edward type of shit.
 
You know,
that psychic dude?”

“I’ve heard of John Edward and if
I were dreaming about a dead person, then I’d say you’re right.
 
But, she’s obviously alive and well and
I don’t know how the hell I’m going to approach her,” I said with all
honesty.
 
I’d already put so much
on him—what’s one more admission to seal my fate?

“Well, don’t start your
introduction off with the fact you dream of her.
 
Just be your charming self.”
 
I could tell Jay was actually trying to be helpful for once.

“Thanks, Jay.
 
Drive safe, ok?
 
I’ll text you later to update you.”

Later that evening, I cursed myself
for not approaching her.
 
I
couldn’t believe I was such a nancy.
 
In my defense, every time I followed her in my dreams, she up and
vanished, leaving my mind in an emotional state of panic.
 
What’s to say that wouldn’t happen in
reality?

I was pacing in my father’s study,
waiting,
dying
, for him to get
home.
 
I needed to talk to
him.
 
He was the only one I could
talk to.

Finally, his study door creaked
open and he walked in.
 
About fucking time!

He looked tired and a bit rundown,
like he had a hard day at work.

“Dad!” I yelled, hearing my voice
crack like an adolescent boy going through puberty.
 
I cleared my throat to suppress the anxiety that was obvious
in my voice.
 
“Dad, you look
tired.
 
I’m sorry to surprise you
like this, but it’s important.”

“I could tell by the million text
messages and missed phone calls I received from you within the past four
hours.
 
I am sorry I did not
respond.
 
Today has been long and…
just… long.”

My dad hardly ever lost his
words.
 
He really must be
tired.
 
But, this was way more
important.
 
I couldn’t help but
force my emotional issues upon my dad.

“I’m sorry, Dad, but this is
really, really important.
 
She is
real.
 
She exists.
 
I met her today.
 
Well, I didn’t really meet her.
 
I wussed out.
 
I was scared and confused and… she… Oh my God, Dad.
 
She is so much more beautiful than even
my dreams could convey.
 
She…”

He cut me off.
 
“Wait a minute!
 
You saw her?
 
You really saw her today?”

Now the life was showing in his
eyes again.
 
Now he’s getting it!

“Yes!
 
Her and her mother came into the studio.
 
They’re new members.
 
Jay only got her mother’s name.
 
It’s Delphina Hugh, Dad!
 
Her daughter was with her today.
 
Oh, how I wish I didn’t have this
mental block going on.
 
I wanted so
badly to hear what she was thinking.”
 
I finally quieted as I saw my dad staring at me.
 
“What?”

“This is the happiest I have seen
you in many, many years, Jonah,” he said, with emotion oozing from his
tone.
 
Oh, boy.

“I
am
happy.
 
Well, I will
be even happier once I get the guts to approach her.
 
But, the fact that I’m not cracked?
 
The fact that she’s actually real?
 
Oh, that makes me practically
euphoric!”

“I bet,” he said with a smile.

“So, I take it you didn’t get in
touch with Delphina Hugh since you’re just now hearing this from me?” I asked,
worried my dad would probably fall over from exhaustion right where he stood.

He shook his head as he sat on the
small sofa.
 
“No.
 
I did try to look her up but only came
up with her sister, Sybil.
 
She was
always a pushy person and way too overly-promiscuous for me to be comfortable
around her.
 
If I reached out to
Sybil, I would never get rid of her.
 
Plus, I really wanted to contact Del directly instead of through her
family.
 
From what I recall, her
family does not know of her gifts.
 
She was a rare child that had to find out about her clairvoyance on her
own because neither of her parents possessed the soul-seer genes.”

“Well, that’s odd.
 
That’s not… uh… is that even possible?”

“No, which is why Del found out
later that her mom must have had a fling.
 
The last I spoke to Delphina, she did not know who her father was.”

I just nodded.
 
That must suck to find out one of your
parents was unfaithful and resulted in your birth.
 
Of course, Delphina looked like a strong person.
 
I’m sure she handled it with grace and
beauty.
 
She really was
beautiful.
 
But, not nearly as
beautiful as her daughter.