Glow

CHAPTER 11

   

  They had been driving for an hour or so when Gabriel finally asked, “Aren’t you going to look through the book?”

  “I don’t know if I really want to. I’m still kinda freaked out, ya know?”

  “I do. I completely understand, but Amelia, you are the only person who can read it. Surely you must see the enormous importance of that.”

  “Okay, but I wanna look at the letter again, it didn’t make much sense to me.” She answered

  Amelia reached for the letter and unfolded it. She studied it for a moment, “It says that if I’m reading it, I have found him, and survived the change. What the hell does that mean?”

  “Okay, Gabriel said, let’s take it line by line.”

  “That’s the first thing it says. That I have found him and survived the change, or that my adoptive parents are dead.” How the hell would she know when I would find this letter?”

  Gabriel thought on it, surely it couldn’t mean him, could it? Technically he could change her. Was he supposed to? The thought of it made his stomach turn. No way is that the way its supposed to be.

  “I’m beginning to think that your mother was a very powerful woman, she says right in the letter that she was a witch, Amelia. I’m willing to bet she knew lots of things.”

  “Right, my mother was a witch. Wow. Who am I supposed to find though? And survive what change? It doesn’t make any sense. Am I supposed to become a witch too?”

  “Becoming a witch isn’t typically something that you would have to ‘survive’ though.” He offered

  Amelia looked over the letter for a while longer, then suddenly she gasped.

  “What is it?” Gabriel asked

  “I think you’re the him.”

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “The one she knew I would find. I think its you.” She declared

  “but the letter makes it sound as though finding Him and surviving the change, need to happen together, that’s the only part that confuses me. Cuz I definitely think you are the Him.”

  “Why do you think I’m the Him?” he asked

  “Well, for starters, I have never in my life, met someone that I feel connected to, the way I do you.”

  Gabriel smiled and reached over and squeezed her hand.

  “In addition to that, I have never, ever, in my life seen the glow before I met you, but according to this letter, I was glowing when I was born. And, she says in the letter, how happy she is to know that I have found Him. Has to be you.”

  “You may be on to something.” He agreed

  “Then she talks about this is just the beginning of my journey, and that I have to stay safe.”

  “Well, Gabriel began, “that kind of makes sense. Think about it, this is definitely a journey we are on, and there is obviously someone after this book, and with what happened with Sara, and the break ins, staying safe has become a bit more of a priority, wouldn’t you agree?” he asked

  Amelia nodded her head as she looked at him blankly. “She said she had me adopted to keep me safe.”

  “And’s it’s my job to continue that work.” He smiled

  “This is all so amazing, and wonderful and terrifying, all at the same time.”

  “And it will all be okay as well. I promise you.”

  “Do you think she’s alive?’

  “Your mother?”

  “Yeah, she said in the letter that we will see each other again.”

  “It’s possible, but please, beautiful girl, don’t get your hopes up. I couldn’t bear for you to suffer that disappointment.” He said sadly

  “My hopes aren’t up, I was just wondering.” She lied.

  “Okay, so it says here, that she intended for me to have and keep the necklace, and that we must never ask a witch for help, or it will ruin everything. What with all the riddles!” she exclaimed

  “I look at it this way, she knew what she was doing. Just the fact that laying eyes on her letter gave you the sight. I would believe what she says, Amelia.”

  “And at the end, it IS you. She says right here, that I must trust in our love, and that it feels so deep, because it is. It says that our love is centuries old. Again, I say, how the hell is any of this possible?”

   

  “Destiny maybe?” he offered

  “What? We were destined to find each other?” she asked, expecting him to laugh it off.

  “Amelia, anything is possible. And as I said, I believe that your mother knew what she was talking about when she wrote that letter to you.” He paused for a moment, then continued.

  “What I feel for you Amelia, probably is centuries old. I feel such a connection with you, I know you feel it too. It wouldn’t surprise me if we were together in another life.”

  “I never really gave other lives much thought, but at this point, I will believe almost anything.” She sighed.

  “I was thinking that maybe the change she talks about in the letter could be your eyes, gaining the sight, but that wasn’t something to really “survive” either.”

  ‘I am beginning to think that we may never figure that part of it out.”

   

  The miles flew by beneath them, the steady hum of the motor creating a sense of calm that Amelia was subconsciously enjoying, which is why when it suddenly slowed, she was jolted out of her day dream.

  “Why are we stopping? She asked

  “This monster needs some go-go juice. I also thought we could stretch our legs, maybe grab a snack.”

  “I’m in.” she smiled as she began to uncurl her legs from beneath her.

  They pulled in at a truck stop type of place. There were big rigs filling the lot, families in campers at the picnic table area, and lots of cars parked at the gas pumps.

  “Well it looks like this could take more than just a minute.” Amelia appraised

  “Well, it looks like the line at pump three is shortest.” Gabriel observed, as he pulled behind a line of cars. As soon as I’m able to pull up, we’ll go in, grab snacks and drinks, pay for the gas, and we’ll be back on the road in no time.”

  “Yeah, I could go for a slice.” Amelia said as her stomach rumbled at the mention of food.

  She reached into the back seat and grabbed her bag, she carefully slid the book inside.

  Gabriel pulled forward; their turn at the gas pump. He turned the engine off and got out and walked around to open Amelia’s door.

  “Why does it still surprise me when I go to get out of the car and you’re already here?” she laughed

  “Short term memory problems?” he laughed

  “Probably.”

  Amelia stood, stretched, and slung her bag over her shoulder. As they walked toward the station entrance she looked around at all the vehicles, all the people, doing people things, living their lives.

  Gabriel noticed her looking around, “What’s wrong?” he asked

  “Oh nothing. Just remembering that the world keeps turning, ya know?”

  “Yes, I do. Some days, that’s my greatest anchor.”

  She looked at him questioningly. “Knowing things that other people don’t, comes with a price, beautiful girl. Sometimes being reminded of that, helps put things into perspective. He added.

  She nodded thoughtfully, almost in agreement.

  Inside the store, they cruised the chip aisle, and grabbed some pretzels and pumpkin seeds.

  “Giant slurp, or Super Giant Slurp?” he asked

  ‘I think Giant will suffice.”

  Gabriel filled a cup with ice from the dispenser, then pressed the button for Coke.

  “Know what, while you do that, nature calls. I’ll be right back.” Amelia announced.

  “Okay, he looked around, “I will be right by the change machine at the end of the hallway to the restrooms.”

  “Okay, back in a flash.”

   

  She made her way down the long hallway to the ladies room. It was empty. She swung her bag up and plopped it on the counter b
y the sink and looked in the mirror. Her once caramel colored eyes looked back at her, now, the irises taken over with flecks of an almost turquoise color. “If anyone asks, I’ll just say I got contacts.” She told herself.

  She took her bag and headed into a stall. Focused on balancing, she didn’t notice the sound of the door of the restroom open. She finished up and emerged, ready to wash her hands. On the way back to the sinks, she turned the corner and ran straight into someone.

  ‘Oh, I’m so sorry!” she said surprised, as she thought she was still alone in the room.

  The Woman turned to look at her, with eyes as black as night and hair to match. A scowl came across her face and she said, “Worry not, but you can repay your idiocy with what’s in that bag.” She nodded towards the bag on Amelia’s shoulder.

  “Excuse me?” Amelia questioned, stunned.

  “It is of no use to you anyway. Hand it over now, and we can forget about all this.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Amelia argued.

  “Oh yes, you do. Hand it over now, or suffer the consequences.” The woman snarled, he face taking on an older, haggard look.

  “I’ll just be on my way.” Amelia said, as she tried to move past the woman.

  “Did you not hear me child? Give me the book. Now!”

  “Like hell!” Amelia shouted, as she tried again to shove past the woman.

  Suddenly Amelia was pinned up against the wall, by what looked like a cloud of smoke. She couldn’t move. She called for Gabriel.

  “Oh there will be no time for that.” The woman hissed. Amelia tried again to call out, but her vocal cords felt tight in her throat, she couldn’t muster even a squeak.

  The woman bent down to retrieve the book from the bag, as Amelia stood, helpless, pinned against the wall.

  “A hundred years of searching, and to think, it all ends here, in a truck stop bathroom.” The woman gloated.

  Amelia saw the splinters flying before she even heard the loud crack that was the door being kicked in.

  Gabriel appeared in the doorway. The woman quickly backed away from Amelia and her bag.

  Her eyes filled with terror as she looked at Gabriel standing in the doorway.

  “Let her go. Now.” Gabriel commanded, his eyes filled with rage.

  The smoke that had been seemingly holding her in place, disappeared.

  Amelia fell to the floor in a heap, grasping her throat.

  The woman continued to cower from him.

  “If any of your people attempt to harm her again, you will all answer to me. Do you understand?”

  ‘It’s no use,” the woman spoke. “We will get that book, one way or another.”

  “Yes, and that way is through me.” He took a step closer to her and she squealed.

  “Amelia, are you alright?” he asked, filled with concern.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, let’s get the hell outta here though.”

  Gabriel wrapped his arm around Amelia and guided her out of the restroom. The woman did not follow.

  They quickly walked to the car, got in made their way through the busy lot, then sped off.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, “did she hurt you”?

  “No, I’m fine. She didn’t hurt me, but she pinned me up against the wall, with some kind of magic smoke and when I called for you, suddenly I couldn’t speak. It was like someone was choking me from the inside.” She explained

  “I am so sorry, Amelia, I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

  “It’s not your fault, I was just going to the bathroom.”

  “Well, obviously, you get a chaperone from now on. Sorry.” He decided.

  “Who the hell was that?” she asked

  “That, was a witch.” He answered.

  “What? Are you serious? Why did she cower away from you like that? She’s clearly has some kind of powers.”

  Gabriel thought fast. “Maybe she knew that I had a magical gift, maybe witch powers don’t work on people with magical gifts.”

  “It worked on me. Didn’t we decide that the sight thing was a magical gift?” Amelia countered.

  “Good point. I don’t know then, but I’m glad I was scary enough for her.”

  “Yeah, you were a little scary.” Amelia agreed

  “I didn’t scare you, though, did I?” he asked with concern.

  “No, actually, you didn’t.”

  “That’s good. That’s the last thing I want to do Amelia. I will only ever protect you. Please know that.”

  “I know, Gabriel. Don’t worry. I don’t think there’s anything you could ever say or do that would cause me to be afraid of you.” She assured him.

  “If she only knew, he thought, that just may change.” He pushed those thoughts away for now and focused on driving.

  “Um, I hate to say it, but we still need gas. And a drink would be good too.”

  “You’re right, I will stop at the next exit.”

  Soon, they were pulling into another gas station. This one was much less crowded than the last.

  Gabriel got out and opened the gas cap, swiped a credit card, and began pumping gas.

  Amelia got out and walked around to the back of the car and stood by him.

  “I’ll run in and grab drinks.”

  “No. You will stay right here, with me.” Gabriel commanded

  Amelia was about to give him shit about it, he could see it in her stance.

  “I’m sorry beautiful, I didn’t mean to sound rude, But if the last stop taught us anything, it’s that we should stick together.” He apologized.

  “No you’re right.” She conceded.

  He finished filling the tank. “Okay, let’s try this one more time.” He smiled

  They walked across the parking lot and into the small gas station. There were only a few customers, making purchases, and leaving. Amelia relaxed a bit as she walked to the soda machine and filled a cup. Doing something “normal” felt good.

  Gabriel kept a watchful eye, on Amelia, and on every other person inside the small establishment.

  A man standing by the newspaper rack flipping through a magazine looked up at him and nodded.

  Gabriel reached out with his mind, and could feel the magic coming off the man in waves. He calmly walked over to Amelia at the soda station.

  “Time to go.”

  She looked up at him with concern on her face.

  “Now.” He told her.

  The quickly went to the counter to pay for their things, then hurried to the car. All the while, Gabriel keeping an eye on the magazine man.

  Once in the car and leaving the lot, Amelia asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “There was a witch in there watching us.”

  “How can you be sure? Everyone looked pretty normal to me.” She argued

  “That’s just it, Amelia. They look just like everyone else, until they actually use their magic.”

  “So what happened?” she asked

  “There was a man, by the newspaper stand, he was watching us. I just got a weird vibe from him, like with the woman in the restroom”

  “Do you think we were followed?” she asked.

  “No. I think that whoever is after the book has their feelers out though. Also, we don’t know how strong your magic is, it could be emitting a silent signal, which is why we have to get home.”

  “How is getting home going to squash my possible magical signal?” she asked

  “My house is warded against any kind of negativity, especially magical beings who intend to do harm.” He explained.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Absolutely.” He grinned at her. “I’ll show you when we get back.”

  “Deal.”

   

  They continued their journey home, and as they drove, talked about their favorites, many of which were the same, which surprised Amelia. She didn’t understand how they were so different in many ways, but yet the same. They connected on so many levels. It made her
feel even closer to him, if that was even possible.

  He liked to listen to her talk. Her accent, her mannerisms, her attitude. She could read the phonebook, and he’d listen intently. She made him laugh. Which he hadn’t done in far longer than he’d care to remember. He was in this bubble. Where it was just the two of them. No magic, no book, no bad guys, no hurt friends. He still marveled at his good fortune, finding her. He knew now that he was supposed to find her. He knew that the belonged together, and he knew that she knew it too.

  It was getting late, and he could see that she was getting tired. He just wanted to get them both back home.

  “Amelia, how you feeling over there?”

  She smiled over at him, “I’m doing okay, how bout you?”

  “I’m fine. Feeling pretty good actually. I was thinking. I know it’s getting late, and we should probably stop for the night, but I really think we should just drive straight through. Would that be okay with you?” he asked.

  “That’s cool with me. You think you can keep driving though?”

  “Not a problem. As long as you don’t have a problem sleeping while I do.”

  “Sounds good.” She smiled.

  They drove through the night, and Amelia slept rather soundly. She didn’t even stir until they reached the state line.

  “Good morning beautiful girl.” He smiled over at her.

  “Good morning. I can’t believe I actually slept all night. You must be exhausted.” She said

  “No, I am actually doing okay. Must be the adrenaline.” He offered.

  She stretched her arms and legs as best she could and leaned toward him and rested her head on his shoulder. He leaned over and kissed her hair.

  “I had a dream.” She said

  “Do tell.”

  “Well, we were walking down a wooded path, towards a huge abandoned looking house, I’m not sure where we were exactly. As we got closer to the house, the door began to creak open, and then these huge wolf looking dogs came from the bushes in front of the house, they were nasty looking, growling and snarling. They charged at us, then I woke up.”

  “Sounds kind of scary.” He said

  “It was, but for some reason, I wasn’t afraid.”

  “Maybe it’s a metaphor.” He offered

  “For what?” she asked

  “Well, maybe it’s your subconscious trying to tell you that even though things seem difficult, there’s nothing to really be afraid of. That you’ve got this.” He said as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

  “Maybe.” She said thoughtfully. “Where are we?” she asked

  “Connecticut.”

  “Awesome. I wanna get to the hospital pronto.”

  “I’m on it.” He smiled

  Amelia began to feel anxious the closer they got to home. All she wanted to do was get to the hospital and see Sara, Tommy too. She felt so guilty for not being there,

  “Alright, study time.” Gabriel said

  “What? Study time?”

  “Yes, get the book and start looking through it again.” He said

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean why? Because you’re the only person who can read it, and I think you should try to learn as much as you can from it.”

  “Makes sense. Okay.”

  She opened the book and started flipping through its pages.

  “Lots of stuff I just don’t understand, lots of stuff that look like spells maybe.”

  “Keep looking.”

  She spent the next hour immersed within the pages of the book, when she suddenly gasped.

  “What is it?” Gabriel asked

  “A healing spell. I think.”

  “Really? What does it say?”

  It says that the spell needs to be completed before the last heartbeat.

  “What’s the spell?”

  “This can’t be all there is to it. It seems way too easy, I must be missing something.”

  “Just read it to me.” He pressed

  “Okay, must be done whilst laying hands on the affected.

   North, East, South and West, hear me now, heal the blessed.

   Take these ails, bring them away, allow this soul, to fight another day.

  Then there’s some stuff in Latin. That’s it. Could it really be that simple?” she asked

  “Well, yes. For a witch.” He advised

  “Well, hell.”

  “Amelia, are you forgetting all that you have learned on this little trip of ours? You have witch blood running through your veins. You have to at least try.”

  “Do you really think I could heal Sara?” she asked hopefully

  “It’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”

  “Absolutely. I would do anything to help her.”

  “Well then, there’s the plan.” He smiled

  “Let’s just hope we get there in time.”

  “We will.”

  He gunned the engine and reached for Amelia’s hand. She continued to browse the pages of the book quietly until she came to a page that spoke of remote viewing.

  “Gabriel, it says here that you can remote view through another person.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Says here that you can see what they have seen.”

  Gabriel felt his own secrets begin to close in on him. He only wants what is best for Amelia, and that includes helping her heal her friend, if she can, and also finding out who did this to her. At the same time, he needed to keep his own secrets safe. Until the time was right to reveal all to her. It made him uncharacteristically nervous. Damn it, one tragedy at a time, he thought.

  “How do you do that?” he asked

  “Well, it seems as though it’s a type of tandem meditation. It says here that all I need to do is knock on her door, and that if she opens it, I will be able to see her sight. I will be able to see what she saw.”

  “Oh my god Amelia, that’s amazing! We’re another step closer to figuring this whole mess out.” He said excitedly.

  “Do you think it will work? Do you think I will really be able to do any of this stuff?” I have no experience, and I don’t even how witchy I really am.”

  “Stop doubting yourself. Since when is there anything that you can’t do? You at least try, right?”

  “Of course I try.”

  “So then stop with all the doubt. You can do this. I know you can.” He encouraged.

  “You’re right, all I have to do is try. My heart will be in it, and that’s probably most important, right?”

  “Actually, it is. You’ll do great Amelia, I know you will.”

  “Thanks Gabriel. Yet again.” She laughed

  “You are most welcome.” He replied as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. The warm glow covering his lips.

  “Do you think we should check in with J?” she asked

  “Yes. I’m surprised he hasn’t called actually.” Gabriel said

  “Well, you told him to lay low. He knows what lay low means”

  Amelia tapped the screen of her phone and held it up between the two of them. Gabriel rolled his window up so he could hear better when J came on the line.

  “Amelia, girl, where are you?” J asked worriedly

  “Just got back, well, we’re almost back. We’re in Connecticut. Trying to get to the hospital. Sara isn’t doing well J. Like really, not well. The doctors don’t think she’s gonna make it.”

  “Oh Em Gee! No, say it isn’t so.” He whined

  “Yeah, so we’re in a hell of a hurry. Where are you anyway?”

  “I actually got a room by the base. Lots of cuties around this place, girl.”

  “You’re supposed to be laying low J.” Amelia complained.

  “I am, I am, just sight-seeing while I’m at it.” He confirmed

  “J, can you stay put for just a little bit longer?” Gabriel asked

  “No problem. How’d you guys make out on your trip?” J replied

  “Well, we made some head way, but we??
?re not out of the woods yet.”

  “Okay, well, call me when you guys are ready to give the all clear. Till then, I’m in sailor heaven.”

  “We’ll call when we get an update at the hospital.” said Amelia

  “Okay sweetie, talk to you then. Later Gabe.”

  They both said goodbye to J in unison and Amelia ended the call.