Talisman 2 - The Sapphire Talisman (6 page)

“Gracie, you’ve got guests.”

Grandma turned with a blink, pulled the contraption out of her ears, and smiled. A glimmer of hope entered her blue eyes and I felt it.

“Hi, Grandma,” I said. I rounded the corner of her bed, took her weathered hand, and was relieved she wasn’t angry. Her skin felt soft, but her grip was weak.

“AnneMarie,” she whispered in relief. “You look just like AnneMarie.”

“No, Grandma, it’s me, Julia.”

She smiled with understanding. “I know, Sweets. Look at you. You’re all grown up.”

I blushed at the misunderstanding. “Yes, Grandma.”

“How refreshing young love is,” she said with a wink. “Thank you, Charlie.”

As Charlie slipped out of the room, I suddenly felt Grandma’s feelings disappear and my head whipped back around to study her eyes, worried she’d just breathed her last breath. Grandma squeezed my hand in response.

“Grandma?”

How did she go completely emotionless? I’d never encountered anyone who could hide from me, except when Enigma was in
cat form
.

“I’m here, Love. And speaking of love
. . .
” she said with a gleam in her eyes; her glance danced between me and Nicholas. “Who’s your friend?”

I shifted nervously and realized she had uncanny powers of her own. My heart quickened, unsure of the extent.

“This is Nicholas, Grandma.”

Nicholas walked over to shake her hand. I moved out of the way and sat in a chair by the wall, concerned what she’d say next.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. London,” he said.

“Grace, please,” she corrected with a smile. “You’re a strong one. And
youthful
for your age
. . .
”

I cocked my head to the side. How could she know he was older than he looked? My eyes flickered to Nicholas’ as his gaze tightened on her. I felt his concern too. He did have a lot of hidden secrets and her insight upon just meeting us seemed too accurate for my comfort.

“Just like your mother you are, Julia. Like me. And the gift goes on
. . .
” she said, trailing off in a sing-songy voice.

Nicholas looked bewildered for a brief second.

“Nicholas, dear? Would you be so kind as to give me a moment alone with my granddaughter?” she asked sweetly.

Nicholas nodded his head. “Of course.” His eyes caught mine. “I’ll wait for you in the hall.”

I nodded and smiled reassuringly as Nicholas left the room. She’d read my anxiety correctly.

“Is that better?”

I bit my lip and shifted in my seat.

“What do you mean, Grandma?”

A knowing smile crossed her face. “The ability of empathy is nothing to be ashamed of, Dear. What we can do is actually very handy,” she said softly. “Don’t you think so?”

“Uh,” I stammered, while staring at the tile floor covered with various handmade rugs. My mouth became dry and I swallowed hard.

Most of the time I hated my ability. It only came in handy when I was being hunted by a vampire, or needed to know if someone was lying or not.

“You haven’t told Nicholas?”

My eyes flicked up to hers. “I haven’t told anyone.”

“I see,” she said in a very neutral tone.

Right now would be an ideal time to read Grandma so I could know where she was going with this, but she blocked my attempts somehow.

“Have you figured out how to control it?”

I snorted, holding back my retort.
Control? Are you freaking kidding me?

“Well then, let’s give you your first lesson,” she said and patted the space next to her on the bed. “Come sit down here.”

Reluctantly, I got up and sat next to her.

“Okay, now close your eyes.”

Filled with suspicion, I closed my eyes.  Since she did manage to make her feelings vanish on me she obviously knew a trick or two.

“Visualize yourself looking down onto us sitting here in this room.”

I sighed, rolling my eyes under my closed lids, feeling very silly, but followed her instructions anyway.

“Now envision the entire floor of the building. Concentrate to find the sources of the feelings. Do you see the clouds that make up people’s auras?”

I shook my head no. All I saw was a murky, impenetrable green soup enveloping the entire floor, making it difficult to locate anything.

“Okay, let’s start simple. Find the closest person to us and will the emotion to stay within their personal space.”

I focused on the closest person to me: someone in the next room. Their toxic despondency spilled out, ran through the wall, and surrounded me with wispy talons.

“How?”

“Imagine pulling something tightly around them to trap their feelings in. Like a blanket.”

With rapt concentration, a blanket magically appeared and fell over the top of my subject’s head. And, like Grandma promised, the emotions were captured and stayed underneath. I exhaled, then smiled, excited to think this trick might actually work, until I moved to the next person. Once I tried to encapsulate someone new, the first person’s emotions broke through, like a rambunctious two-year-old merely being held by tissue paper.

“Ugh. I can’t do it,” I yelped in frustration.

“You’re trying too hard, Love,” she said, her tender eyes peering into mine. “Let’s try this instead. Close your eyes.”

Grandma took both my hands.

Suddenly, she was with me inside my body and we watched simultaneously out of the same pair of eyes in a collective mind—hers and mine. I gasped, not sure if I liked the sensation.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, squeezing my hands. “Relax.”

I inhaled and let her float us over to the first person. Out from my grandma’s fingers spun a colorful parachute of fabric that shot over their head. The edges magically fell to the floor and cinched up around the recipient’s feet. The feelings fought against the barrier, trying to punch through the tough fabric, but once the corners were securely fastened with elastic, its misty hands disappeared and could no longer weave around my head to taunt me.

Internally I did a little happy dance.

“See?” she said. “Now try one by yourself this time.”

“Okay.”

I floated to the next person and visualized the same parachute. Though mine wasn’t as colorful as Grandma’s, it still did its job; it mystically fell down around the feelings, cinched at the bottom, and kept them in place.

“Keep going
. . .
” she whispered.

One by one I worked over the floor and compartmentalized everyone in multicolored fabric. The ward began to look like a patchwork quilt. After I bundled up the last one my eyes flew open. The relief was instantaneous. The barriers stayed between me and all the faceless inhabitants, stopping the previous mental tug-of-war.

The tears began and I threw my arms around Grandma’s small frame, hugging tightly, but careful not to crush her.

“Now, now
. . .
don’t cry. What will your beau think?” she said while holding me.

I didn’t care. I was finally free. For once I could actually be in this horrible place and not feel it. I was practically normal.

We released our hug and I looked into her crystalline, clear sky-blue eyes. Since the other, more powerful emotions were gone, I could genuinely feel her tenderness flowing around me like a cool spring breeze.

“Grandma, do you know how long this has been tormenting me?” I asked through broken sniffles.

“I know dear, I’m so sorry. It’s too bad you didn’t visit sooner. Practice though. In times of stress, it’s not so easy to do. Those little buggers crave attention and hate to be tied up, I guess you could say.”

I wanted to jump for joy, sing, dance, and scream. The jubilation I felt was so incredible. My grandmother’s face mirrored my emotion.

“Sorry,” I said, suppressing a giggle. “I can’t help it.”

“No please, continue. This is the most fun I’ve had
in a while.”

The thought of a radio announcer asking me “Julia, you’ve just contained the feelings of everyone around you. What will you do now?” rang through my head, and I chuckled.

“But how do you take on another’s feelings?” I asked quickly.

“Practice this task first, Love. You’ll figure out the other things with time.”

I already felt like I knew. Whenever I held Nicholas’ hand his confidence infused me and I felt braver. He also could act as a shield, like he did earlier when we walked down the hall.

“Grandma,” I said wistfully while hugging her neck again. “I’ve missed you.”

“Me too, Dear, but you need to go now. Nicholas is antsy,” she said quickly. “Just promise me you’ll come back soon.”

The blame swelled within me. I knew we should be leaving soon, but I couldn’t help feeling like I’d be abandoning her.

“No need for that, my dear,” Grandma said in a motherly tone. “We have enough guilt around here already. Keep the
love instead and go have fun with your beau.” She winked.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said while getting off her bed. “I’ve got bridge in a few minutes anyway. Promise you’ll come back soon and bring your brother.”

I traipsed after her as she grabbed her cane and left the room with speed I didn’t expect. Nicholas gave me a quizzical look once we both entered the hall.

“You two have fun,” she said without stopping. “I’m off to my bridge match. I can’t lose my championship title.”

I shook my head in amazement and grinned, watching her purple fluff disappear around the corner.

“I guess it’s time to go?” Nicholas asked, completely confused.

“Yeah.”

I grabbed Nicholas’ hand and hugged his arm the entire way out, refraining from skipping.

Chapter Seven

A
s we drove away I leaned back in the seat with a smile, opening and closing the invisible barrier around Nicholas and anyone driving close enough for me to isolate. I fought a giggle each time I silenced everyone’s aura, marveling in my new buffer. It almost seemed easier to just throw the blanket over myself than encapsulate people individually. Nicholas sat in quiet, full of caution.

“You seem happy,” he finally said, glancing in my direction with sunglass-covered eyes. “Did everything go as expected?”

I removed a portion of my feelings’ blanket to seek him out. I’d expected him to be curious, but he wasn’t.

“Yes,” I said with suspicion. “You didn’t happen to over-hear us by chance, did you?”

“No.”

A lie.
It was the first time I’d sensed a lie from him—he
flowed out
guilt and regret, I could feel that he hated lying to me.

I looked at the floorboard. How stupid of me to forget his eagle hearing. With heated cheeks, I replayed through the conversation with Grandma. We’d revealed it all, leaving nothing to interpret. He knew. He finally knew.

I began to feel his growing fight. His regret told me he wished he either didn’t lie or didn’t listen. Either way, he waffled with his dilemma. He wanted to tell me the truth, I sensed it.

“She helped me with a problem I’ve been dealing with for a long time,” I finally said.

“I’m glad.” He struggled to be emotionally void; his vulnerability prominently evident.

I struggled too. Should I tell him? Verbalize my biggest secret even though he probably already knew? Why was I so afraid to? Did he still love me even though I was a genetic freak?

His hand interlaced with mine and I closed my eyes. With a huge gulp, I hesitated before opening my mouth. My heart began to pound faster.

“I can read other’s emotions,” I said quickly before I could take it back. “I’ve been able to since my mother’s death.”

Nicholas’ shoulders relaxed while he traced his thumb alongside mine. A quick peek revealed the hint of a smile on his lips. His compassion enveloped me, softening me, encouraging me to go on.

“Apparently, it’s something my mother and grandmother could do, but I thought I was the only one. It’s also the reason I knew someone, not a mountain lion, stalked me the night you saved me when I fell off the cliff. How I knew to question your story.”

Nicholas sile
ntly processed my confession, seeping
under
-
standing and enlightenment.

“I can feel them
—
the vampires. They have a distinct hunger, not like everyone else has. It’s icky and all consuming. Though it’s sickening, I see why they enjoy what they do so much. It’s also why I have a hard time making friends. Why I’ve never really dated anyone. Why I’m so emotional all the time. Why I like being alone.”

“And maybe why we’re so good together,” Nicholas finished. “Our differences compliment one other. I’m glad you have this ability because whenever I’m with you, you bring me contentedness I never feel with anyone else.”

My heart warmed. I loved feeling and hearing the admission at the same time. “I like feeling that from you too. It centers me.”

“Kind of a perfect storm,” Nicholas said with a chuckle. “So what am I feeling now?”

I smiled. “Compassion and love and
—
you lied just a minute ago.”

Nicholas’ right eyebrow twitched under the corner of his glasses.

“It’s okay; I forgot your hearing is—”

“Your grandmother—she was so insightful. I had to know how she could sense all the things she did,” he said quickly. “For your protection. Not all people are entirely human, you know.”

“You thought my grandma wasn’t entirely human?” I snickered. “She’s good looking, but not in a
vampire
way.”

“Just being cautious,” he said in slight embarrassment.

“Sorry. I know.” I looked down somberly, wanting to confess my own secret sins. “I’ve practically been lying this whole time by not telling you
. . .
”

Nicholas remained silent. There was no blame, only a twinge of disappointment.

“I’ve wanted to
. . .
for a long time,” I said, leaning into his shoulder. “I was afraid you’d leave me or something.”

Nicholas rested his chin on the top of my head and sighed, still keeping an eye on the road. “Never, Julia,” he said in earnest. “You’re stuck with me whether we’re together or not.”

I took a deep breath, letting my eyes fall shut. The confession brought a bigger sense of relief than I expected. I just wished I could lay everything else out on the table—about Enigma, Alora, and how we needed his father’s help. I hoped, when the other secrets came to the surface, Nicholas would still have the same sentiment, and my keeping quiet didn’t put him in danger.

When Nicholas parked, I opened my eyes. Somehow in the discussion, I’d not paid attention to where we drove.

“Where are we?”

“Here.” The somberness of his voice and his heart told me where
here
was.

Ahead of us stood an orchard of olive trees, knotty and overgrown with weeds. A surge of grief weakened my limbs while the flashback of walking through the same field ten years ago hit me suddenly. This was the place. The place that had been haunting my dreams. We were about to visit my mother’s grave.

I sat up, sucked in a deep breath, and clutched Nicholas’ hand to my chest. The fault of her death wasn’t his and I wanted him to know I didn’t blame him. His grief and guilt flooded me with a rush anyway and I worked to contain it, failing miserably.

“Stop,” I said forcefully. “This. Here. All of it. I don’t blame you and it’s not your fault. Please, let it go.”

Nicholas’ jaw tightened, but his feelings remained the same. He struggled for a minute so I dropped his hand, half in anger and half in frustration.

“Stop reading my emotions and let me fight my own battles.” His voice was laced with annoyance.

“Yeah, well
. . .
I can’t help myself
. . .
like you can’t help overhearing my conversations.”

We sat for a minute, both stewing in aggravation. I loathed that the situation brought out the worst in both of us. Unable to gain a hold of my own emotions, let alone block his, I opened the door and got out. My legs went into autopilot as I stumbled forward through the trees. The path led down into a ravine with a creek. I traversed over the smooth boulders and headed for the meadow. Wild flowers of every color covered the field and I stopped, unsure where to go.

Nicholas appeared silently behind me; the heat of his body radiating outward mixed with his remorse. His hand slid gently along my arm to rest on the outside of my wrist; his nose nuzzled my hair.

“Sorry,” he whispered in my ear.

I leaned into his chest. “I’m sorry too.”

His hand hooked around my waist and brought me toward him. With gentle eyes, his gaze swept over my face. He kissed my forehead and I felt his love heal the gaping hole where the memories had poured out. In his other hand was the bouquet of gerbera daisies.

We walked, hand in hand, through the flowers for a ways before Nicholas stopped at a spot that looked unremarkable to me, but by the distraught look on his face I knew this had to be the place—my mother’s unmarked grave. My hands shook as I slowly knelt down, placed both palms on the ground, wishing I could feel her one last time.

“Mom,” I whispered. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”
I tried to go on, to tell her all the things I’d been holding in for so long, but I knew that whatever I said would send Nicholas into a pit of despair—he already carried around enough unnecessary guilt. Instead, I spoke my wishes internally.

“Mom, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to come sooner. If you’re watching me, then I guess you know why. It’s been horrible that there’s never been a place to visit you—a place where I can be with you. Being here now fills the longing I’ve had since ‘he’ took you from us. I’ve missed you so much.

“Nicholas carries a lot of guilt for your death. He thinks it’s his fault that he didn’t arrive in time to save you from the
. . .
well, you know. It’s been really hard on him
. . .
on us. But in the end, he’s given me the best gift which is himself and a piece of you. And now that I know where your resting place is, I can visit more often.

“Nicholas has been watching over me all these years since you’ve been gone. I feel like I’ve had a guardian angel protecting me, but he’s so much more than that, Mom. He’s like my other half—the half that I didn’t know I’d been missing until I met him. It’s strange how fate has a way of turning your life around in crazy and unexpected ways.

“To think that you and Nicholas had become friends right before you were killed. At least something good happened because of it. Your short friendship led Nicholas to me. And this all brought my destiny to light too. I promise, Mom, I’m going to do whatever I can to make this right. To stop ‘them’ from ever ruining another family again. To put an end to the heartache we’ve needlessly felt.

“So thank you, for sacrificing yourself in an attempt to save me, and for bringing Nicholas into my life. I love you. We all love you. I hope you know that.”

A cool breeze whipped around my hair and tickled my face. Somehow I knew she heard me and felt at peace. Nicholas sensed I was finished and laid the flowers on the top of the grassy mound of dirt. I kept a buffer between us so I could focus on my own grief.

“Your
mom liked flowers,” he said with a scratchy voice.

I looked up into his stricken face and noticed a tear falling down his cheek. Since my dad never spoke of Mom, there were so few things I knew of her. Especially her likes and dislikes. I studied the bouquet and then the cornucopia of varieties draped across the meadow.

“I wanted to be sure she’d always have them around her to enjoy.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He nodded and turned, casually wiping his face with the back of his hand.

The day she died replayed through my mind. We’d come to the park at dusk to pick up Nicholas, my mom’s newly adopted
,
troubled teen. I was only five at the time. The vampire appeared from nowhere and grabbed her before we could run. Nicholas—late because he’d gotten into a fight with his father about becoming too friendly with mortals—came right after, only in time to stop the vampire from taking my life.

Nicholas and his father, needing to cover up the incident for fear of discovery, chose to ditch her car in the river and bury her body in this once desolate meadow. Nicholas anonymously returned me to my porch the next morning. I’d only just remembered the whole incident after another vampire tried to take my life this past
f
all, and Nicholas had no choice but to reveal himself to save me.

It was then I discovered he’d been protecting me from vampires ever since. That was a good thing, because for some reason I was a vampire magnet. Hunting, fighting, and killing vampires was something he did to deal with his guilt. Being the only half-vampire in the world was a double edged sword. Blessed with super human strength and hearing, but yet he still retained a conscience unlike most vampires. He loathed the wanton murder his full-blooded kind did to humans on a daily basis. His actions forced him to always look over his shoulder looking out for vengeful immortals who wanted nothing but to take him to their leader as a trophy or torture those around him as punishment. He purposely remained alone to prevent putting others in danger.

With the talisman, I was the only one allowed to break that rule.

I pulled myself out of my memories and realized Nicholas no longer stood by her grave. He’d slipped away, and since I hid under my feelings’ shield I didn’t feel his absence—something I’d have to get used to.

I spied him standing a little way off, leaning against a tree that overlooked a valley filled with clumps of sky scrapers interlocking like a puzzle all the way to the sea. I walked over and stood next to him.

“Beautiful,” was all I could say, trying desperately to keep from losing it. More than anything I wanted to toughen up and stop being such a bawl baby.

“Yes,” he said.

He still oozed with guilt, so I remained within the folds of my barrier. I didn’t need to add to my pain.

I hoped coming here would help me with closure—to accept the truth and say goodbye. But the reality left me bruised and broken. I missed my mom deeply and felt cheated of something I deserved: a loving, doting mother. I loathed vampires everywhere for doing this to me—to us.

“I’m ready,” I said, wanting to leave.

He nodded, took my hand, and we walked wordlessly to the car.