Carnelian

  “That red stone Seth showed me?” I asked.

  “Yes, he had a carnelian stone,” Mr. Sangre answered, looking to his watch. “Only those blessed can contact her. Once you contact her, you’ll be on your own to convince her. First the blessed stone, and then the goddess.”

  I nodded. Find a stone. That couldn’t be too hard.

  “How do you know the stone is blessed?” I asked.

  Mr. Sangre checked his watch again. “The writing on it will say so.” I remembered the scratched script on the back of Seth’s stone. I couldn’t actually read it, but if that was what I had to find, I’d find it. Mr. Sangre looked again at his watch.

  “I wish I could explain more, but I have to be going. The keys to the house are in the kitchen. Take them if you want. You can come back here any time,” Mr. Sangre pulled on a shirt over the one he was wearing.

  “Thank you,” I said as he suddenly faded from sight. Mr. Sangre had just disappeared before my eyes. It was the strangest thing, and I stared a few moments longer. He vanished into thin air. The house was completely empty now. I would have stayed around to snoop a bit, but I was now on a mission. I was going to find Seth no matter how much I had to search.

  After class the next day, and the following days all week, I left for town. I first checked out all the jewelry stores for chalcedony jewelry. I soon found the selection was not that wide in the new stores, so the next week I went to the antique stores. By the time I had been through the new jewelers and antique stores, it was becoming clear: chalcedony came in many colors, and most were not marked by the goddess or probably even real chalcedony. I made plans the following week to go to the Twin Cities to look some more. Each day was the same: class, homework, search for stone.

  By the time Thanksgiving came around, I was shocked to find that so much time had passed. Seth had been gone for three weeks now, but I could feel him every day around me. Everything began to remind me of him, and I often caught myself daydreaming about him. How three weeks had passed was beyond me.

  I traveled back to Chicago for Thanksgiving and was glad that by going to a private school, I had the whole week off. With a stop to drop Sim off in Minneapolis, I made the second half of the trip, six hours, all alone. It was a quiet drive and gave me plenty of time to think. My quest to find Seth and go back in time to be with him sounded crazy when I put that way, but all the positives outweighed the negative. The only negatives to stepping back into a time where I didn’t know where I was going, how they lived life, or what I was even going to do once I got there, was outweighed by the fact that I could come back to my own time precisely when I left. I wouldn’t miss a thing at home if I could come back to the exact same day, I’d be with Seth—so I’d be able to take anything history could throw at me, and the gut feeling I got when I thought about going back to meet him just felt right. Seth just felt right.

  As I drove on, I formulated another plan. I wasn’t just going to go back and be with Seth. I would go back and bring Seth back to the present. He was sure his father would never let him be with me and my questionable parentage. I needed to find a way to bring him home with me. In reality, I needed to find two blessed pieces of the goddess. One for me to get there and back, and one for Seth to use to come back with me.

  After six hours in the car, I was glad to come back to an empty house and just crash. My early-to-rise grandfather would be up by the crack of dawn, and my mother not too much later. I didn’t even unpack, just jumped into my childhood bed fully clothed.

  It was easy to fall back into the routine I had before I went off to college. All I had to do was show up for meals and lounge around the house. My family didn’t expect much of me now, since I was to fulfill all their hopes after college. It was a nice break from the college life where I studied all the time. I did have a few homework assignments to do over break, but finding a piece of chalcedony took precedent over everything. When my grandfather and mother worked, I took a ride into the city to see if I could find anything. My first day was a bust, but I wasn’t giving up. If there was a piece somewhere, Chicago was big enough for me to search through.

  By the second day, my quest abruptly stopped when I decided to eat breakfast with my grandfather in his office. The answer to my quest had been waiting for me there all along. Above his desk held a framed piece of jewelry. It was the same size and shape of Seth’s stone. It was even cut the same as his stone, four grooves on the upper half of his stone.

  “It’s a beauty, isn’t it?” my grandfather asked as he joined me and noticed me admiring it, or so he thought. “Nineteenth dynasty, Egyptian,” he explained. “I found it years and years ago when I was over there for something else. The previous owner swore it was authentic, from a Pharaoh’s tomb. The owner said it was cursed because it was from the lover of the Pharaoh. He wasn’t allowed to be with the one he loved because he was Pharaoh, but he never stopped wishing for her. That stone was all he had left to remember her. Don’t know if I believe the bloke, but it was pretty. I doubted it was real as they keep those within the country now, but not at this time. Once I got it authenticated, I found it was genuine. Nice piece to have in my collection, don’t you think?”

  “Chalcedony?” I asked. My grandfather nodded his approval of my knowledge, glad that college education was paying off. How little, he didn’t realize.

  “Carnelian,” he answered. My heart skipped a beat.

  I nodded to my grandfather, pretending to appreciate the beauty of it. It was authentic. It was old. It was carnelian. It was identical to Seth’s stone. I only needed to see the back side. I was sure my grandfather wouldn’t take it out of the case. I didn’t ask him. This would have to be a covert operation to check out the stone. Now all I needed was a moment when I could examine it. Grandfather took it down from the wall and handed the closed case to me, allowing me to appraise it more. I looked closer at it. It had to be Seth’s stone. I could feel the heat pulsate through the glass, even. I had no doubts what I’d find on that stone.

  I let the next few days pass in a blur. I spent most of my time planning how to convince the goddess to let me have Seth and waiting for the best opportunity to get the stone. Unfortunately for me, my grandfather was in his study most of the time. He didn’t currently have any clients to go off to and see as he usually planned around the holiday. As a child, I loved having him around for Thanksgiving. It was one of the only few times a year I could guarantee he was home. Right now I wished otherwise as I anxiously waited for access to the stone.

  The week passed by and soon it was the night before Thanksgiving. I felt my nerves picking up as the week was halfway done. I needed a time to examine the stone. I was sure it was what I was looking for, but I didn’t know how to read the back. How did I contact the goddess once I had the stone? Tomorrow would be busy with the celebrating, but I needed to make plans soon. I only had a few days left before I had to go back to college. It was the perfect time to go to the past.

  Luck was on my side that night as my grandfather and mother were both called away for a client in town.

  “Supper is in the fridge, and we will start baking at six-sharp tomorrow morning,” my mother explained. I stared at her. It was going to be a while to me before I saw her again. I didn’t know how long it would take for me to get Seth back. I tried to memorize everything about her.

  As a child, I idolized my mother. She was grand and beautiful. Her shoulder-length, deep red hair was almost black, just like Seth’s. The red highlights made it shimmer in the sun. Her pale skin was perfectly blemish free. She wasn’t too tall or too short, and just perfectly proportioned. I always wanted to grow up to be like her. She was a fairy princess in all of my dreams and the best mom. Even as perfect as she always seemed, she never once let that stop her from being just a mom. She would take me to the park and play in the sand, or bake a cake with me when she knew more batter would end up on the walls and counters than in the cake. She never once was mad at me or discouraged me from anything, and she loved
me more than anything in the world.

  As I looked at her now, I saw the faint lines of age around her face. She had loved my father like I loved Seth, and she never got to go back and see him. She had grown older and raised a child without him. I never asked about my father because it caused her pain. She probably suffered the same pain I was feeling now without Seth. As I looked at her, I really wish she had told me more, but I knew how painful it was to be without the one you loved. I was getting to rewrite my past, and now I felt bad that she never got to.

  “I love you sweetie. Have a fun night without us old folks around,” she said before kissing my head. I took a quick and discreet breath of her lavender scent. I’d miss her for however long I was gone. College was one thing, moving away and all, but traveling to another time was completely different. At college I could call her if I had a bad day or needed advice. Now I wouldn’t have that lifeline.

  “I love you too, Mom,” I replied, and hugged her a little longer than normal. She was saying goodnight, but I was saying goodbye for who knew how long.

  “You feeling okay?” she asked as she pulled back and eyed me over. It would have been easy to just spill it and tell her everything. The more I thought about it, the easier it would be, but I couldn’t. I needed to do this on my own. I needed to go back and find Seth. I needed to be with him whether it was in his time or my own. She would understand, but I didn’t want to worry her. In reality, I would return someday, and she would never know the difference.

  “I’m fine, Mom. Excited for tomorrow,” I told her, and she smiled. Thanksgiving was always a fun time.

  “It’s nice to have you home.” She hugged me again and then finally got into the car with my grandfather.

  “Stay out of the liquor cabinet if you plan to drive anywhere,” my grandfather called from the car. “And leave the cigars alone. Those are just mine.” He winked at me.

  “Sure thing, Pappy,” I replied. He hated to be called Pappy.

  I watched them drive away before sneaking back into my grandfather’s office. I didn’t need to sneak since I was the only one home, but I just couldn’t help it. I felt like a kid raiding the cookie jar. There had to be an adult somewhere that was going to catch me. I stopped just inside the door and looked at the display. I didn’t know how I didn’t notice it over the years. Even now I felt the stone pull me from across the room. I took the framed necklace and hurried back to my room. I’d have to bring back the whole thing anyways when I returned, and I’d rather have it in my own room than his office when trying the time travel thing. What if I showed up without clothes or something? I had no clue how the time travel worked.

  I sat down on my bed and looked at the framed box. The necklace was completely encased in the frame. I turned it over and looked at the back. No luck. The entire frame was sealed shut. I’d have to break it to get it out. My grandfather would know one way or another after I broke the case. It wasn’t like I had a choice, but I still felt bad. I wasn’t in a habit of taking my grandfather’s possessions or breaking them intentionally.

  My heart was beating fast by now. I could feel the stone pull at me. That stone was my chance to get Seth back. No matter how scary it seemed to call upon the goddess alone, I wanted Seth. I needed Seth. This was my chance.

  I took the box and held it over my pink garbage can. I smashed the glass case, being sure to drop the glass in the trash. If I could have a heart attack, I felt like I’d have one now. It was too late to go back.

  I took out the necklace, and unlike Seth’s neatly woven knot, this one I had to touch. Again the stone zapped at my fingers, but at least I knew what to expect. I held the stone between two fingers and the zings died down a bit. It was just an initial shock. I held the stone in my hand and looked at the red color. After finding the stone, I had no clue what I was meant to do. Mr. Sangre hadn’t explained that to me.

  “Goddess,” I said aloud, barely louder than a whisper. I waited and looked around the room. There was nothing, no glow, no wind, no glittery person showing up in my room.

  I turned the stone over in my hand. The etching was still very hard to picture, but I could now read the writing. Child of mine, your blood will call me. I dropped the stone on the bed. I’m sure the etchings were not legible before. I was sure this was not the same etching. Maybe it wasn’t the same stone. I cautiously touched the stone and flipped it back over. I looked closely to see that the front was exactly the same as I remembered. I had stared at that stone for almost an hour when I found it in Seth’s desk. I was sure it was his stone. I flipped to the back and read the lines. They were growing easier to read. Around the main writing was more writing. The print was too small for me to read. The print began to grow a little, just the ending: blood will call me.

  “You want me to add blood?” I asked out loud to no one since the house was completely empty. The writing changed slightly more and the phrase blood will call me was all I could make out between the etchings.

  “Seriously? Blood?” I complained to the empty room. Why did everything come down to blood? It wasn’t that blood in general made me squeamish, just my own blood. I almost felt like the goddess knew and was testing me. Of everything, blood would have to be it for me. But even blood wouldn’t stop me from seeing Seth.

  Looking around my room, I found something sharp enough. I grabbed a pin from my tack board and studied my finger. This sucked. Not only did I need blood, but I had to get the blood myself. I had to cause some pain in the process. Pain and blood didn’t seem like a fair test, but I had to do it. Hopefully, I could prick my finger and call upon the goddess before I passed out. My blood just had that effect on me.

  I pricked my finger and didn’t look as I grabbed the stone again, wrapping my now bleeding finger around it. I didn’t even speak any words when I felt wind move through my room. I hoped it would be enough blood for the goddess. The glittery dust followed and soon enough I was staring at the goddess.

  “Hello, child,” she said to me, reaching to caress me with her ghostly hands. I felt a breeze on my cheek and slight pressure, nothing like the hug I just got from my mother.

  “I want to go to Seth,” I blurted out. I had a better speech planned to convince her to send me to him, but I couldn’t help but just say what was right on the tip of my tongue.

  She laughed a twinkling sound and smiled at me.

  “That I can assume,” she replied after her laugh was done. “I was not sure which path you’d choose. There are many options for you, and your life will change greatly each time you choose. Each decision is different and will lead you to a different point. I look forward to seeing your adventure.”

  “Is that a yes? You’ll take me to him?” I asked, not quite sure what her answer meant.

  “No, child.” My heart sank. She actually said no after all I went through. I wanted Seth badly, so I just assumed she would understand. I thought that all I had to do was call her, but it seemed like that wouldn’t be the case.

  “You will take you to Seth,” she told me. The roller coaster of emotion I was going through went back up. I was going to get to see Seth. I could go to him after all. I had to get me to him. My heart sank. No way had I known how to get to Seth on my own. I didn’t even really know how to get the goddess to me, let alone time travel.

  “I barely was able to call you now. I don’t think I am what you think I am,” I replied, trying my best not to look at her and see the look of disappointment that had to be crossing her face.

  She laughed again, and I couldn’t help but look at up her. “I was here all along. I just needed to see that you were serious about finding Seth. All you really ever need to do is talk to me, and I know where you are,” the goddess replied, floating before me still.

  “Then I didn’t need to break the case around the necklace?” I asked, disappointed that I wasted three weeks looking for the chalcedony. If I didn’t really need the stone, why had Mr. Sangre sent me on a wild goose chase?

  The goddess sensed my thou
ghts. “You need the stone to be one of us,” the goddess replied. “When time first began, my essence was placed in one hundred of these stones. I cannot send someone without a stone; it would be taxing on me to the point where I would fail at my role. With a stone in hand and part of my power, all I do is to give the person with the stone a push in the right direction. The stone is your connection to traveling. You needed the stone as much as the next person, but you didn’t need it to talk to me. You are one of mine. I am always here to talk to.”

  That was as confusing as it could get. I needed the stone, but I didn’t need the stone.

  “Then I can go back to him?” I got back on track with my original question.

  “Yes, you have the power to do so,” she answered, floating closer to me. “To keep you safe on your travels, there’s one thing I need to do first.” The goddess held out her semi-transparent hand. I looked at her, not knowing what she wanted from me. “The stone and your arm.”

  I took the stone and held it over her hand. I pictured it would slip right through, but her hand was more solid when I let go of the stone. She held it in her palm and squeezed her hand shut. With her other hand she turned my arm over palm up. Slowly, she sprinkled dust over my arm. After she finished the dusting pattern, she let go of my arm. I realized then that she had crushed the stone and the dust on my arm was that of the stone. I definitely wouldn’t be returning it to grandfather. The goddess pulled back from me, and I felt a slight burning on my arm running from my elbow to my hand.

  “All you need to do is call upon time to move you to where you want to go,” the goddess explained as she pulled further back. “You now have the power embedded in you to do so. By having my power within you, you have the ability to now travel whenever you need to. All you need to do is think about where you are going, and you will be there.”