Aurator, The (16 page)

Walking into the house, I felt a little stunned. I put my keys on the front table, dropped my purse onto the floor, and walked to the kitchen for a glass of water. Wow, no pain, no intense transition. Then remembering that I was supposed to change, I ran to the bathroom and turned the light on. Looking in the mirror I was searching for something that would show me what had changed. Studying my reflection I saw that I was exactly the same, no difference.

My phone suddenly vibrated and I reached for it. I opened the front and saw for a split second that I had one missed call, then I noticed that it was Alex calling me. “Hi honey, everything okay?”

“Mom? Mom? Can you come get me?” Her voice sounded shaky and scared. I didn’t understand. I had taken care of the man… Craig… who could have hurt her.

“Yes baby, calm down, what’s wrong?”

Now she was crying on the phone, “Mom, there was…” her voice trailed off.

I was scared and raced through my memories. I was sure I had gotten rid of him. He was dead.

“There was what?” My voice tone was rising with each word. “There was what?!” I repeated even louder.

“Someone was found dead at our school. There’s police everywhere. Please come to get me.”

I took a deep breath and my heart ached. My actions to protect her and her friends had caused her pain and fear.

My eyes closed for a moment. “I’m on my way. Where will you be?”

“The teachers won’t let us leave without an adult, so you have to park and walk up.”

My stomach dropped. Go right back? Did someone want me to come back? Had someone seen me and were they using my daughter as bait? “I’m coming baby, I’ll be right there.” I heard her start to cry as I disconnected the call. Grabbing my keys and purse again, I ran to the car. Driving toward the school my mind went over and over what had transpired. What did I do wrong? Did I not complete the purpose? I must have, I felt his pulse,
I’m sure of it
. I felt different. I raised my hand up and looked at it with wonder.

I looked up just in time to slam on my brakes. Traffic. At least a mile of cars lining the street to pick up students at the school. I was too anxious and would not be able to wait. I pulled over and parked. Getting out of my car, I was almost hit by another frantic mother trying to get to the school. She glanced at me apologetically, but I just nodded my head in an understanding way. We were all panicked.

Walking too fast toward the school, I must have stumbled half a dozen times, almost falling on my face. At least I was in good company because it seemed most of the other parents who had chosen to walk were doing the same. As I approached the school I saw yellow caution tape strung across the front of the entire school. For a moment it was almost as if I were back in high school after the shooting. I tried to shake that off. Not a place I wanted to go right now.

A hand rose above a sea of parents, and I could hear my name being called. Well, the voice was yelling “Mom,” but I could hear it plain as day, this was my child. It always amazed me how several children could be yelling mom, and each mom could pick out her own child’s voice in the crowd. My pace picked up. Dodging through the cramped group of parents, I reached for and connected with my daughter’s hand. Pulling her through the crowd toward me, I wrapped my arms around her. There was chaos all around. Teachers and police officers were trying to keep everything orderly but had clearly lost the battle.

Holding on to her, I moved backwards through the crowd. I could feel her sobs on my chest. When we finally made it out I held her away from me to get a closer look. “Are you okay, did you get hurt?”

“No… oo… oo” she got out. She was having trouble breathing with those quick breaths children get when they have been crying hard for a while.

I wrapped my arms around her again and tried to calm her. Everyone seemed to disappear around us, and the noises become muffled. Her crying was on the brink of hysteria, and I tried to slow my breathing down so as not to contribute to the stress. We stood there for what felt like several minutes. Slowly her breathing began to pace with mine until we were both at a reasonable rate. I felt her take a deep breath in and sigh. Her body relaxed against my hold, and I had to increase my clutch on her to absorb the extra weight.

After a minute or two she pulled slowly away. “Mom, why would someone be killed at our school?” Her breathing started to quicken. I heard murmuring all around us,
There was a man found dead on campus. No kid was hurt. What could have happened?

“Shhhh, what matters is that none of the students were hurt and that you’re okay. The police will figure the rest out.”

She nodded in agreement and we started walking toward the car. We had not gone more than twenty feet when I heard someone from behind us say, “Excuse me, excuse me, Miss?” My heart stopped as I turned.

A male police officer was walking toward us. I gulped hard. “Yes?” I didn’t sound very confident.

He approached us slowly, “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Um, yeah, I think so.” Oh crap, I thought, this is it, someone saw me. So much for leading the Aurators to rid the world of all that is horrid and terrible. I’m going to get caught for an impulsive sense of purpose. Even though I was strong and steady in my conviction, my former self inside was shaking.

“I’m a friend of your brother. He just wanted me to make sure that your daughter was okay.”

Great. My self-imposed moment of drama has been completely obliterated by my moronic brother just giving a shit about his niece. I smiled rather nervously at the officer, “We’re good, thanks. I’m just going to take her home.”

“Okay, I’ll let him know. Take care.”

“You too.” I breathed in a deep sigh, realizing the complete insanity within my own mind at that moment, and turned to take my daughter home.

19. Liabilities
 

I tried to explain the day’s events to my husband, but he seemed too preoccupied to listen and, quite frankly, I couldn’t stand to look at him with that dark aura, so we had very little interaction. After tucking all the girls into bed, I finally had a moment to myself. Standing in the kitchen, I could hear the newscaster on the television in the living room.

“
It was a terrifying day for some high school students today at Seven Hills High School, where a man was found dead behind the school. The victim has been identified as Steven Timmons, a registered sex offender living in the city. Timmons had been convicted twice of lewd conduct with underage girls in the past. He had recently been on warning with the Probation Department for not complying with the terms of his probation. The school groundskeeper found Timmons dead, and initial reports from hospital spokespeople are that he died of a massive heart attack related to injuries sustained
 . . .” The news trailed off, and I didn’t hear the rest of the story.
Good
, I thought.

I looked out the kitchen window for a moment and a picture of an ocean scene flashed in front of my eyes. I blinked but it was gone. Then it was there and I blinked again. I shook it off. I’m losing it.

Reviewing the events of the day, I decided to call Max to talk everything over with him. As I opened my phone, I saw that I had missed a call and a voicemail. I remembered that when I was crossing the field toward my intended purpose I had felt my phone vibrate. I clicked on the missed call to see who it was. Not recognizing the number, I decided to listen to the voicemail.

“Megan! Megan! This is Nicholai… oh… well… you need to call me as soon as possible. It’s very important.”

He had a rather feverish tone to his voice so I called back using the number he had left me. It rang only once.

“Megan?”

“Yes, hi Nicholai. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner, I…” but he interrupted.

“I know, I know everything. I saw you walking toward him, your purpose.” He was talking so fast I could barely keep up.

I was completely confused. “Wait, Nicholai. Wait, you what? I’m sorry but I can’t keep up… it’s been a long day.”

“I’m sorry Megan, let me start over. I was walking near the beach when all of sudden my vision shifted and I saw a field in front of me. I could hear your thoughts struggling to figure out what to do with this man you were approaching. I tried to talk to you but I didn’t know if you could hear me. So I tried to call you. I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I was trying to help.”

My thoughts raced back for a moment to my experience at the school.
Listen to what you feel Megan.
These words had caught me off guard in the moment.

“Megan?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Did you…”

“Yes, I said,
Listen to what you feel Megan.
”

Shaking my head in disbelief, I asked, “How is that possible?”

“I’ve only heard of this happening once before, centuries ago. But they too were relatives and descendants of Asclepius. Just like us. I first noticed it when we were in Max’s office. Occasionally I would hear another voice that was not my own, and I figured out it was you. After I got home I tried to see if I could hear you from Greece. I concentrated and when I finally heard something, it was you thinking about your purpose. This time, however, I also saw you. Well, saw what you saw. I watched the whole thing.”

I could hear his racing breath over the phone. “This is… I don’t understand… we can hear each other?” I barely got the words out.

“Yes, and apparently we, or at least I, can see through you.”

“Wait a minute… did you say you were near water today?”

“Yes, twice. Once earlier and just now before you called. Why?”

I looked at the clock that read ten o’clock at night. “What time is it there?”

“About eight in the morning, why?”

“Well, after I put the girls to bed I was looking out a window when I had a sudden flash of ocean. I wasn’t thinking of the ocean, nor was it any body of water that I know.”

“Maybe it was the ocean I was looking at.”

“This is nuts,” I said.

Chuckling on the other end, “I agree, but, my dear, these are the cards our maker has dealt us. What we choose to do with them is up to us.”

Thoughts began swirling in my mind. Our maker? Who’s doing this to me? Who do I get to blame for this unrequested chaos infiltrating my life?

“Easy there, Megan, this is a gift, not a curse,” Nicholai said softly.

“That was a private thought.”

“Not anymore.”

I rolled my eyes. It was hard to get mad at him. Everything he said rolled off his tongue with such a sweet Greek accent that it could make even the most harsh words sound lyrical. “Okay, so what now?”

There was silence, and I could hear his thoughts bouncing back and forth between possibilities. “Well, we can practice this new serpodus… or skill, if you prefer, to see if we can master it a little more.”

“Not tonight, I think I’m done.”

“I understand. Are you still going to call Max?”

I had forgotten about that. “No, now after everything I have to go to work.”

“Okay, Megan, have a good night. And take care.”

“Thanks Nicholai… for everything.”

“Thank you as well. It’s nice to have a long lost piece of my family back.”

After we hung up I thought about that last statement. Family. What did mine look like? My mom and dad? They raised me, but there was no biological link there. Funny. I think part of me always knew. I had heard adopted children say that they sort of always knew, but here I was having my own realization of this idea.

In my head I knew that I shouldn’t feel this way. That the family that had raised me and loved me was my family. No less than if they had given birth to me. But somehow this wasn’t right. I walked over to the couch, sat down, and closed my eyes. I felt so strong right now in so many ways except for this side of me… the illusion of stability within my life. What was I supposed to feel? As I sat there, I could feel the two sides of myself struggling for control. The older, insecure, and scared side that wanted to run away and hide somewhere, that longed to rock back and forth on the couch, trying to shake some reality loose from my mind.

And this other, very foreign side of me that was strong. I didn’t understand her. I wanted to, but she negated everything I had ever known my entire life. I could almost feel the ripping inside myself as I caught my breath. My heart ached. I longed to cry, to release all the fear and pain, but nothing happened. Why couldn’t I cry? It would be so easy to release this into the universe, which is the way crying had always felt for me. The pressure would build and then eventually explode in a torrent of tears, spilling outward as water, dripping over my cheeks and eventually off my chin. I imagined the newly deposited saline spots, no matter where they landed, drying and evaporating into the space around me and leaving on the next breeze or waft of air passing by, taking with it my fears and pain.

This was not to be today.

Instead I sat, increasingly more aware of the line drawn between my two halves. My eyes shot open. I needed to see my parents.