I nodded. “Explains
why she became a doctor. Didn’t you say you had a brother and sister that are
twins? Why do you think they don’t have the ability?”
Jessica
stretched out her legs. “Yeah, Max and Madison. They have strong Essence, just
nothing like my mom and I, but I’m not exactly sure why.” She waved her finger.
“The ability is rare and usually skips several generations. I was the lucky
one.”
“How do you know
it’s rare and skips generations?” I asked confused.
“Well, mostly
through documented family history. We don’t know of anyone else who has passed
it directly on to their kids, either.”
“Are you
implying there are others, not in your family, who have these same abilities?”
Her eyes
widened. “Yes.”
“Where are these
other people like you and your mom?”
“They’re spread
out all around the world. They use their Essence to help people or heal the
injured, just like my mom and I do here in Bellingham.” I listened attentively
as she talked about how she and her mom kept in close contact with this network
of people. “Healers didn’t want to be viewed as abnormalities, subjected to
public scrutiny, or possible governmental testing, so they use their abilities
covertly to save others.”
“So…you call
yourselves Healers then?” I mused aloud. I watched enviously as kids splashed
in the lake, their only care in the world – to have fun.
She let out a
derisive snort. “We don’t exactly sit around and refer to ourselves as
Healers.” She crinkled her nose. “Actually, we use the word Amethyst.”
Plucking a
purple wildflower, I said, “That’s logical, I suppose. In fantasy books the
gemstone most often associated most with healing or energy is the amethyst.
Really though,” I drawled, lowering my voice, “it’s so obvious it’s almost
comical.”
All of a sudden,
I wiped the smirk off my face and remembered her shocked reaction when she’d
pulled me off the floor at work. My brain went into overdrive. Had she sensed
something about my Essence? Was it seriously low? Because with the recent
hallucinations and migraines, I felt crappy all the time. Maybe I had some
disease. Of course, that wouldn’t really matter if the mountain lions got me
first.
Jessica noticed
the wave of emotions flashing across my face. She touched my arm. “Hey, what’s
wrong?”
I gathered my
courage. “Jessica, I want you to be honest, and don’t hold anything back when I
ask you this next question. Okay?” Wide-eyed, she agreed with a nod. “That
morning when I tripped and you helped me up – you looked shocked and you
started acting all weird. Was that because you could feel my…I guess my lack of
Essence. Am I sick or something? Are you able to sense that? Because I’m
thinking you did and have been too afraid to tell me.”
Her jaw dropped
so low she looked like she was waiting for the dentist to pull out a tooth.
“I’m so sorry. I—” She broke off and sat gaping at me before pulling me into
one of her vice-grip hugs. “Oh Lexi,” she gasped for air and looked at me, “I’m
super sorry I made you think that. You’re not sick. Your Essence is soooo
prevalent it’s…it’s transcendent! I’ve never felt such powerful Essence in
anyone before. You could probably heal yourself and a hundred other people all
at the same time.”
“What?” I said,
staring at her in disbelief, everything in my body shutting down.
“When you
tripped and I grabbed your arm, you were radiating incredible energy flow.”
Looking at me intently, she said, “Lexi,
you
are an Amethyst in the
rough. I think you have the ability to be a Healer, just like me and my mom.
All you need is training and guidance…”
My ears cleared,
and I could hear her incredible words. The noise level from children shouting
and playing in the water suddenly became deafening. I was on sensory overload
and too astounded with Jessica’s news to utter any kind of intelligible
response.
“It’s okay.” She
flashed a reassuring smile. “Please believe me when I say it’s true. Very true.
And I can teach you how to use your Essence and help people. Lots of people.
You’ll be able to help them all the time.” She spoke with confidence, her face
serious.
“Th-this must be
a m-mistake,” I faltered.
“No,” she said
with certainty, “I promise this is no mistake. You have a gift, just like mine.
If you let me teach you how, you can save a lot of people, too.” She looked at
me expectantly.
I was too numb
to respond. She thought she could teach me to save people. Ha! If she only knew
that’s what I’d been doing all my life – or more recently, that’s what I’d been
failing to do. And now…now she lays this on me. Staring at her dumbly, I felt
like the fates were playing tug-of-war with my soul.
Unable to wait
any longer for my response, she said breathlessly, “You and I together could
work so many miracles. You know that college student who just came out of his
coma, the one who was found unconscious in Fairhaven?” I managed a nod. “Well,
there’s a reason he came out of his coma,” she said, lowering her voice. My
eyes widened to saucers as she continued. “I snuck into his hospital room and
shared my Essence.” My jaw dropped, and she nodded furiously. “Lexi, imagine
the good you could do; your Essence is extraordinary. And,” she said
desperately, “If my suspicions about what happened to him are correct, there
will be a lot more people turning up in the same condition. You becoming an
Amethyst is imperative to our cause. With both of us working as a team we can
stop the people responsible for…well, stop so many people from dying
unnecessarily.”
She rambled on
about her cause or something but nothing registered. I was lost, shutting out
reality. I didn’t know what she talking about, and I didn’t care. My curiosity
was muted, because I was absorbed in my own despair and denial. Now that she’d
involved me, I needed breathing room – time to think. Hastily, I started
pulling on my socks and shoes. I could feel the fury building in the pit of my
stomach. I wanted to scream. What was she talking about? Here I was trying to
escape the premonitions, and now I was being told I could heal people, as well.
This was completely insane. I was done with responsibility; I didn’t want any
more.
“Lexi, you look
shaken. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I thought you were okay with all of
this.” She looked frazzled.
“Jessica I’m
fine,” I said, but a little voice inside my head was shouting, “Not true.” I
took a deep breath. “Okay, honestly, I’m freaked out. Everything that’s
happened today…and everything you’ve told me…well, it’s mind-boggling. But now
that you’ve involved me, it’s impossible. Not to mention terrifying. It’s not
every day you learn your friend is actually a gifted healer and thinks you
could be one too.” Scrambling to my feet, I busied myself stretching from side
to side. I reached for my toes, and my back popped loudly.
She tied her
shoes and said, “This is a lot to take in at one time. I’m sorry. Let’s head
back, and we can talk more tomorrow.” I gave her a faraway look and turned
towards the trail. “Or in a couple days,” she amended. “But,” she grabbed hold
of my hand from behind as she followed me through the tall grasses, “we have to
talk soon. This is very important. Lives depend on it, and there’s so much I
need to teach you.” She squeezed my hand.
I twitched
involuntarily and looked down at our hands. In a shaky voice, I said, “Well, I
can see where you’d think I might need your touch for a little energy boost
right about now. You’re probably passing your Essence along so I don’t faint
right here on the trail.”
Her eyes darted
down. “Honestly, that’s not what I was doing. Besides, your Essence is so
strong, I think it’s flowing the other way right now.”
“Scary thought,”
I muttered. I was quiet as we walked to the car. Even though I had a million
questions for her, I couldn’t ask them – my thoughts were in complete chaos. I
was afraid that if I acknowledged everything she’d told me, it would alter my
plans. I’d be accepting a double life sentence which made me responsible for
saving people
all
the time – only I’d probably make more mistakes and
more people would die.
This couldn’t be
happening. She had to be wrong about my Essence. When we hit the parking lot, I
tried to act casual. “Well, I gotta call Ally. We’re supposed to go out for
dinner tonight; Ben’s shift isn’t over until eleven, so it’s just us.”
Jessica smiled
thoughtfully. “Sounds nice. I’m supposed to have dinner with Max and Madison
tonight.” She tapped her watch, her eyes lighting up. “Hey, we haven’t made any
plans yet, what if we all went somewhere together? You could meet my infamous
twin siblings, and I could meet Ally.”
“Umm, I don’t
think…” I said hesitantly, racking my brain for an excuse.
“Lexi, don’t
worry,” she said tilting her head sideways, “I won’t bring up Essence again.
Not until you’re ready. I promise.”
“Okay,” I
uttered. Unfortunately, she took that to mean that dinner was on.
“All right then.
Dinner will be fun, and I promise Essence is off limits.”
#######
An hour later
Ally and I were driving towards downtown, but I was deep in thought. I gripped
the steering wheel like it was a zip line and I was holding on for dear life.
Emotionally, I was still reeling.
“Okay, what
gives?” Ally asked.
Knowing she
wouldn’t give up until I talked, I finally broke down and told her about
Essence and Amethysts. Having witnessed and experienced all the craziness of my
premonitions over the years, she thought the idea of healing through touch
wasn’t preposterous at all. She was enthralled with the possibilities.
Impatient and curious, she asked a ton of questions, but with my limited
knowledge, I didn’t have many answers.
“Lexi!” she said
with disbelief. “I can’t believe you didn’t drill Jessica for more info. When
she says healing, what’s the extent of her abilities? Like can she cure cancer?
And when will you be able to use your Essence to heal people?”
I shrugged my
shoulders, keeping my eyes on the road. “I don’t know. I was so shocked; I was
freakin’ out and I couldn’t think straight,” I said, sounding more cross than
I’d intended. Guilt tugged at my conscience. I understood why she expected me
to be delighted with the idea of becoming an Amethyst; my secret from Ally was
complicating things. Still, I had no intention of telling her about the
mountain lions. She’d do everything she could to prevent the inevitable from
happening; even if that meant following me around 24/7 with her dad’s hunting
rifle in hand.
She sighed.
“Okay, I’m sorry. It just seems like you should be ecstatic instead of upset.”
As I shrugged she added sympathetically, “You know I’ve never been very
patient. And I know I can’t truly understand how you’re feeling, so I’m sorry.
I’ll just chill for awhile.”
As I waited for
a red light to change, I turned to offer an apologetic smile, but she was busy
looking in the mirror, so I said quietly, “You’re too good to me.”
“Yeah, but I’m
kind of a bossy…and nosy,” she said as she finished applying lipstick. After
flipping the visor back into place, she said, “Why is it that you’re always
such a magnet for paranormal excitement? My life would be dull without all your
drama.” She chuckled, and I relaxed a little as the tension in the car seeped
out the open windows.
We walked into
the pizza place and found ourselves in a huge, open room with about 20 tables,
all with red checkered tablecloths. Jessica wasn’t there yet, but we went ahead
and ordered. I paid with my debit card, informing Ally it was on my dad since
he’d transferred money into my account earlier in the day. After going through
the salad bar we found a long table next to the wall. As we started eating,
Jessica came bouncing into the restaurant. She came over and greeted us, while
the other three in her party walked back to order. Once I’d introduced her to
Ally, she bounded off to place her order.
While they stood
in line, Ally and I scoped them out from a distance. “Wow!” Ally exclaimed.
“Jessica’s sister is gorgeous. Long thick jet black hair and a body with extra
curves in all the right places…you sure she’s not related to Angelina Jolie?”
Without waiting for an answer she continued, “I can certainly appreciate her
taste in clothing – expensive and contemporary. She’s a natural when it comes
to fashion. I’m gonna have to find out where she shops in Bellingham.”
“Those stilettos
are absurd,” I commented.
“No,” Ally said
with admiration, “they’re impressive.”
“She looks like
she should be at a cocktail party.”
“Maybe she just
came from work.”
“Her name is
Madison,” I said, poking at a tomato. “And her twin brother there is Max.”
They chose that
exact moment to turn around and glance our way, as if they knew we were talking
about them. “He’s a hottie,” Ally said. “They both have an exotic air about
them.”
“I choose to
reserve my opinion until I see them up close,” I said, popping a crouton in my
mouth. “I don’t know who the blonde girl is. Oh, shhh…here they come.” Once
everyone was seated, Jessica made introductions, and I wondered if she’d told
them about our earlier conversation. I was relieved we didn’t shake hands,
because if they could sense a person’s Essence, too, I certainly didn’t want
them gaping at me.
“You three have
the same incredible green eyes,” I said to break the ice. “Do you get them from
your mom or your dad?” I directed my question towards Madison.
“Actually,”
Madison said, flipping her hair, “both our parents have amazing green eyes, but
ours definitely come from our mom. Your brown eyes are…nice, though.” From her
tone, I couldn’t tell if she was being facetious or not.