He grinned broadly, his chest puffing out
like a rooster as his hips shook. “On TV, I practice at home in
front of the mirror.”
Keegan laughed. She never quite knew if he
was being serious or just trying to make them laugh, but he was
dancing like a crazy person and she seriously hoped he was messing
around.
Keegan noticed Anna had left her for Xavier,
and they were deep in conversation in the corner of the room. In
the meantime, Spencer and Sam approached her and Donald and they
all danced together.
Keegan yelled in Spencer’s ear. “Does Donald
know he dances like a crazy person?”
Spencer laughed, “The insane thing is he
really thinks he’s a good dancer.”
They glanced over at Donald; he had sweat
pouring down his face. He was dancing away not paying attention to
anyone. They all shook their heads and laughed.
The guys eventually moved on trying to flirt
with other girls at the party.
Keegan felt left out. Lauren and Josh were
still in the same spot, lips locked, while Anna was flirting
relentlessly with Xavier on the couch. She wanted to leave, but
knew she couldn’t without the others. Gazing around at everyone,
Keegan felt like they were all having more fun than her so she
decided to go outside and get some fresh air.
Keegan stepped outside into the still night,
wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. The porch was empty,
the single lamp of the porchlight illuminating the white railing
and the mismatched furniture. She leaned her elbows on the railing,
taking a deep breath. Someone in the neighborhood had a fireplace
going; the smell of burning wood filled the air. Keegan squinted
out into the street, the light at her back inhibiting her from
seeing very far, and noticed someone standing across the street.
She couldn’t make him out because of the glare from the street
lights, but it was obviously a man. Instead of being chilled by a
stranger watching her, she had an odd urge to walk over and talk to
him, but she knew she couldn’t do that; her father would kill her
if she talked to a stranger in the middle of the night.
Why is he just
standing there?
She wondered.
***
Rourk couldn’t believe it when she walked out
the door. The light of the porch gave her a kind of halo as she
gazed out across the street, her auburn hair like fire when lit
from behind. She looked amazing in the dress she had chosen for the
party; her bare shoulder was delicate and pale. When she kept
looking in his direction, his heartbeat sped. It was the closest
he’d ever been to her and he wondered why she was outside all alone
by herself at night. Didn’t she know it wasn’t safe?
As if she could read his mind, Keegan turned
around and went back inside the house. Thinking of the blond boy,
Rourk thought maybe she would have been safer outside.
This is getting
ridiculous
, he told himself. He needed to stay away from
her. He couldn’t keep stalking her for another two years. Rourk
found some relief in knowing he would be 18 in less than a year and
then he could follow in his father’s footsteps and join the
military. He needed to be away from her until it was time to
meet—seeing her like this couldn’t be healthy.
***
The girls called Keegan’s Aunt Katrina to
pick them up. They each had a couple of drinks and Keegan didn’t
feel like listening to her parents’ lectures. Plus, Aunt Kat was
cool. She had an open-call policy. If they were ever in trouble or
just needed a ride home, they could call anytime day or night. As
long as they were not in danger, she would not tell anyone’s
parents. Katrina was a terrible liar and Keegan was convinced her
mom knew every time.
Kat was a mind reader so she always knew if
the girls had done anything majorly bad. She pulled up in her dark
green Subaru Outback and had Cash Cash blaring. The girls piled in
the car, talking a mile a minute.
“I love picking you guys up,” Aunt Kat said.
“It reminds me of all my crazy times as a teen. Of course, you guys
are mild compared to me and Keegan’s mother.”
The girls laughed, the three of them piled in
the backseat together.
“I doubt my mom was all that crazy,” Keegan
said.
Kat smirked as she pulled away from the curb.
“Oh, you’d be surprised.”
“Tell us some stories.”
“No way, I keep your secrets and I’ll keep
hers as well,” Kat said sternly, her eyes twinkling at them in the
rearview mirror.
Kat pulled into the driveway at Keegan’s and
said, “Hey Anna, maybe you should get it over with and put the
moves on Xavier and see what happens.”
Anna’s mouth gaped open. “There is something
funny about you, Kat. I was just thinking the same thing.”
Kat just gave her a mysterious smile. “Get
out of here. Have a good sleepover, and I’m glad you called. It
makes my day when I can help you guys.”
The girls blew kisses to her as they ran up
the doorstep.
The next day everyone headed home at
lunchtime. Keegan was already dreading the rest of the afternoon.
Today would begin her training with her brother, and she was not
looking forward to getting her butt kicked by a
twelve-year-old.
T
hey had trained as a family for as long as Keegan
could remember. She just never took to it, which seemed to
disappoint her parents. Unfortunately for her, now she had to focus
and practice for real.
Thaddeus decided since she was rusty they
should start with swords, her least favorite. Keegan tried to
protest but knew it was useless, and being left- handed left her at
a disadvantage in most things, not to mention her lack of
coordination. Grabbing the training swords, they went over the same
kata for what seemed like a thousand times. It was no more than
drawing the sword, a single strike and re-sheathing it. At first,
she was bored and just wanted it over with, but soon the movement
became almost relaxing and the motion seemed fluid as her mind
cleared.
“Keegan, we’re done,” Thaddeus said, leaning
to pack away the tools they had worked with.
“Huh? We just started,” Keegan protested, the
tip of her sword resting on the ground.
Thaddeus looked at her funny. “Check out the
clock.”
Keegan was surprised when she looked at the
clock and saw how much time had passed. It hadn’t felt like any at
all.
Weeks passed between school, training, taking
pictures, and hanging out with her friends and the time seemed to
fly by. Her father was gone again. She had no idea where he went;
just that he was gone for weeks and sometimes months at a time.
Eventually, he showed up and often with a new scar.
Keegan walked through the door one day and
saw her father sitting at the table in front of his MacBook.
“How was school?” he said, giving her a big
smile through his beard.
Keegan tossed her backpack on the floor,
crossing the kitchen to search for a drink in the fridge. “Same as
usual, nothing too exciting.”
“Come have a chat with your old man.” He
patted the table next to him.
“Dad, what do we have to talk about? I know
you’re not going to tell me where you’ve been.” Keegan grinned,
looking back at him over her shoulder with her face in the
refrigerator.
“You would just think it was boring if I
did.” Richard shrugged.
“Uh, huh. I’m sure a secret mission to save
us from destruction would be boring. Do you want a drink?” She
grabbed a couple of sodas and sat across from her dad.
"Your brother told me you are making great
progress."
Trying to hide her surprise, she shrugged. "I
don't really care what he thinks."
"Then why are you trying not to smile?"
She was quite amused at the sheer pleasure
she felt from those simple words.
Keegan's mother came through the door, arms
laden with bags of groceries. “Richard, would you mind getting the
rest of the bags from the car?”
She looked frazzled. Keegan grabbed a
dangerously listing bag from her before it hit the floor. "What's
wrong?"
Her mother stared at her, raising an eyebrow
as she put her bags on the kitchen table. "I still have so much to
do and everyone is going to be here in two hours.”
Taken aback, Keegan said, “Umm, everyone is
going to be here for what?”
She looked at Keegan like she was an alien.
“How could you forget today is your cousin Merrick’s birthday and
the party is here?”
Richard came back through the door carrying
several bags just in time to hear her mom’s declaration. By the
look on his face, Keegan was pretty sure her father wished he’d
stayed gone one more day. Her family was what could be called a
handful. Soon they would be host to a house full of elves and all
the mischief that came along with it.
Keegan’s mother busied herself in the kitchen
making one of the few dishes everyone liked: meatball subs. Emerald
liked making the dish because all she had to do was throw the meat
in the crock pot add some sauce and heat up the bread. Keegan often
wondered why her mother was a stay-at-home mom. She didn’t seem to
enjoy any of the cooking, the cleaning, the volunteering, or the
homework. She could have easily gotten a job if she wanted but for
whatever reason she chose not to.
It used to bother Keegan that her mother
didn’t use her healing power for good like her grandmother. Mary
worked as a nurse so she was around sick people all the time. In
her position, she had to be careful not to draw attention to
herself so she rarely gave a full healing. She told Keegan that
just removing some discomfort from her patients was often enough.
Her family thought the patients sensed there was something
different about her. She also received more thank you cards than
any other nurse. Even the doctors asked for her when severe cases
arrived.
Years before, Keegan had followed her mother
around one day to see what she did with herself. Keegan drifted
back to the day and recalled the memory. Using her power, she
followed her with her mind’s eye, which was prohibited by the
family unless they felt someone was in danger. They were supposed
to respect each other’s privacy. Keegan had always been too curious
for her own good.
Keegan watched as her mother went to the gym,
the bookstore and then did some shopping. She gave up for a bit,
and when she checked back in one last time what she saw made her
proud to be her mother’s daughter. It was dark and dingy, wherever
Emerald was. Keegan saw a woman with three kids gathered around her
mother. The woman had been severely beaten, with blood coming out
of her mouth and a hunched over, on-the-brink-of-death feel. The
kids looked terrified.
Emerald closed her eyes and a look of peace
came over her face. She held her hands over the woman’s body and
right before Keegan’s eyes the woman was healed. It was amazing to
watch. After some time, the children calmed down. Finally, the
woman grabbed her mother’s hands and said thank you. Emerald told
them to collect their things and say goodbye because they were not
coming back to this life. She gave them money, a car, and the keys
to a new place that was far away from their current
surroundings.
Luckily, money was something Keegan’s family
never had to worry about. Her Uncle John’s gift was analytical. He
saw patterns in numbers which was basically like seeing the future
in stocks and business ventures. Because of his gift, their family
had always been well taken care of.
That night when her mother had walked through
the door, she looked Keegan in the eye and said, “Now you
know."
Her mother was hard to read at times. Keegan
thought she was annoyed that she had invaded her privacy. She also
felt her mom was glad she witnessed the healing.
Keegan had followed her mother to the kitchen
where she was filling up a teapot which was something she always
did whenever she walked through the door.
After a brief hesitation, Keegan asked, “Do
you do that often?”
Her mom glanced over with a slight smile on
her face. “Only when they are ready,” she said. “I used to work at
a women’s shelter.”
This surprised Keegan. She had no idea. “It
was before you were born. I spent days and nights healing many poor
women such as the one you witnessed today.” Keegan raised an
eyebrow.
“Well, why did you stop?”
As she grabbed the tea bags, she turned and
faced Keegan. “I was there for years and eventually I realized I
was not helping them. They usually went back to the abuser. I would
give them a full healing and they would feel wonderful. Somehow,
almost all of them managed to convince themselves that the abuser
would change. Of course they never did, and the women would return
to the shelter. I would heal them and the process would repeat
itself. My gift was making me miserable. I could not understand how
these women would take a fresh start and go back to their former
lives. It was your father who helped me see what I needed to do. He
told me to walk away. I was appalled, at first. How could I walk
away from those in need? He explained that my gift was mine to use
as I wanted. If working at the shelter was making me unhappy then
it wasn’t worth it. Those women were not willing to start over. He
asked me to think back and find the common thread in the small
percentage of women that took the opportunity at a new life. I
realized there was something. Almost all had children who witnessed
the abuse and they were a breath away from death.”
Keegan had sat back, cup in hand, digesting
what her mother had said. “How do you find out when they are
ready?”
Her mother smiled sadly. “There is a network
on the side of the light that wants to help the humans, a community
that tracks these cases. We have people that work in shelters or
hospitals. There are also school teachers who see the signs of
children that have been abused or live with abusive parents. Once
in a while I get a call that my gift is needed.”