Authors: Jennifer Blyth
Jayce
leaned closer an
d
asked
, “
Do you consider yourself to
be
open
ed
mind
ed
?”
I sat
thinking
about it
, wondering
what he was getting at. “
I guess
.”
“I
’d like
to show you some —
umm
things. Then all
,
or
at least some of this
,
might
become clearer for you, but we’ll
need to leave here.
” He started
getting
up
.
“You want me to leave with you?” I blurted
. Did he think I was nuts? I stood up,
but
it wasn’t to go with
him,
it
was
to ge
t away
.
“I didn’t mean t
o freak you out
.
Come
on…
you must be able to tell
I’m no
t a weirdo
. I just thought I could help; maybe take your mind off the horrible
events taking place
for you lately
.
I
f you don’t want to come
, I won’t make you. I’m not going to make you do anything you aren’t comfortable with Shanntal.”
“Where do
you plan on taking me
?”
“T
he beach.
”
“
I need to call my aunt and uncle first,
”
I said.
I was sure this would make him run, but
instead, he nodded and said it
was a good idea.
Auntie Steph answered. “How’s it going?”
“
Great
.
I made a new friend and
he wants me to
go
to the beach
.”
“What beach and who’s the
guy?”
“His name is Jayce,” I said. “And the beach is
—
“
“Mystic,
” Jayce responded
.
I
repeated it back into the phone.
“
Don’t worry, I
’ll be careful. Any funny biz,
trust me
,
I
’ll be calling
for backup
, while I’m kicking butts and taking names
.”
“
Keep the phone near you. It’s time for you
to have some form of life again
. I’ve heard his name before around town
before and from what I’ve heard, he’s a really nice guy
.
”
“I promise,
I will
. Thanks
,
Auntie Steph. I
love you.”
“Love you too.”
“All right, I’ll come.” I
shoved my phone
into my pocket this time
.
“Glad to see you don
’t think I’m a creeper
after all
.
” Jayce
smile
d,
h
is deep brown eyes sparkling
as they looked at me.
“A girl can ne
ver be too careful
,
” I
said
,
giving
a
reserved
grin.
“Very true.”
We headed out the main entrance of the mall
and
into the parking lot. I followed him to his car
parked
in the very last row. There wasn’t
another car anywhere around
.
“Why’d
you park so far away?”
“Don’t want an
yone to scratch my beauty,” he said as w
e
approached the
shiny black car with tinted windows and
fancy
rims
.
Jayce pressed the car
alarm
disarm button
on his key ring
and both doors
instantly unlocked.
W
e
drove for
a few miles
with the radio blasting, we
. I
have never
been a really g
ood judge at distances
,
but we’
d been traveling
for some
time now. I
remembered we were on an island, so
i
t
wasn’t
like he
could
drive me to another country or something.
I
focused
on the s
mud
ges of greens and browns
blending
together
as we passed by
.
The moss covered trees and rock faces covered every rolling hill.
I glanced over
inconspicuously
every once in a while. Sometimes whe
n he realized I was looking
,
he
turn
ed
his head
and gave
me
the warmest smile.
The car
slow
ed
just
as
I spotted
a glimpse of
the water.
We
made our way around a
sharp
corner
of
a
steep hill. Mid
way down
,
he leaned over and
lowered
the music.
We
passed
by a sign
and I read
it
aloud,
“Mystic Beach.”
The trees
lined
the hillside with t
he
ir dark greens blending perfectly
as w
e turned another
corner
—
I saw a view of the magnificent
ocean and sandy beach.
“It’s beautiful!”
I watched the waves rolling in along the shoreline
and I’d found my paradise.
W
e drove along the
coastline
until
Jayce pulled the car into a makeshift park
ing spot
. We got out and walked a few steps until we were off the gravel.
We maneuvered our way over
the
driftwood and rocks. After a few more feet of debris, the beach turne
d into beautiful seamless sand swallowing
my shoes
. I bent
down and took
them off
.
There weren’t any pebbles or stones. T
he
sand
was
so
soft on my feet
.
Just then,
I
noticed some people
further down
the beach
.
Behind them rested a mountainside hollowed out with caves.
Jayce
grabbed
a
hold of
my hand
and we walked in their direction
.
My heart fluttered:
t
here was something about Jayce
. I f
elt connected
, like
I
truly
knew him.
My
knees weakened
as I
felt his big
hand cradling
mine
.
“I’m really glad you decided to come.”
“Me too.”
“I
want you to
meet some of my friends. Y
ou don’t mind
, do you?
”
“N
o
pe. It’s cool.” Surp
r
isingly
,
I
found my
self looking forward to meeting more
people and hoped
they
were as nice as Jayce. Then suddenly, I
felt
guil
ty for going out and having fun —
after everything that had happened
.
J
ayce squeezed my hand
. “It’s okay. Don’t feel guilty.
This is
your life. Y
ou’re healing
that’s all
.”
Oh my gosh
, did
I
just say
that out l
oud? I
felt myself blush
. Brain
,
shut off
now
,
I commanded. I would
n’t
think any
more today. It only seemed to get me in trouble.
We closed in on
the four people.
“Shanntal, I’
d like to introduce you to some of my
closest
friends. Terran, Aiden,
Makan, Meriel” He
pointed
in
the direction of the strangers
standing
before us.
“And Layla,”
he added, gesturing
towards the
black
cat
at their feet
.
I was s
hocked
.
‘
People here are a wee bit
different
.’
I thought.
Jayce let out a
muffled snicker
.
I wondered
,
how did he always manage to do things right on cue?
“
Hi
,
” I said
, giving a little wave
to the group
.
“Beautiful cat.”
I leaned
closer
, noticing
that
the
cat’
s eyes were a brilliant purple. “Oh…wow,” I said.
Terran
was closest and
replied
,
“S
he’
s a rare breed. We were lucky to find one such as her
,
that
’s remained so
loyal after all this time
.
”
Meriel
leaned down and pet
the cat on the head
,
as if to comfort her.
Things were starting to become pretty
strange. Jayce’s friends acted
weird
and
it made
me feel
awkward.
They
weren’t
as welc
oming
as
he was.
”Shanntal, have you ever heard of the elements before?”
“Elements?” I said with a shrug.
I felt unsure.
I
missed
being home, s
itting on my bed, in the comfort of my room. I was safe there, hidden, protected.
Jayce reached into th
e left pocket of his jacket
and pulled
out a small purple
velvet
bag.
He loosened the drawstrings and
gestured
for
me to hold
out my hand, which I did.
H
e poured four tiny glass containers
from the b
ag into my palm
.
“What are these?” I said, studying one glass container that
held a water-
like substance
. Another
looked to be empty
;
there was a
small burning flame
in the third
. The last one
stole my breath
away
; it
looked like a
tiny
ea
rth spinning around in the glass tube. It
was the strangest thing I’d ever seen.
I couldn’t stop looking at it until I realized everyone was watching me. I looked up to
find them smiling
.