The Summer Solstice ~ Enchanted (12 page)

Charlotte releases her hand from mine and I’m left,
numbly pointing a finger at the plastic cake. I try to do as she says. I even
wiggle my fingers, but I feel ridiculous doing so almost immediately and lower
my hand. “See, can’t do it.” I stand. “You two are officially insane. May I be
excused?”

Rose nods her head, disappointment washed over her
rapidly aging features. “You’re dismissed.”

As I’m ascending the grand staircase I hear the
conversation below me, clear as a bell. I’m reminded of the restaurant when I
could overhear Iris, Ava, and Alec’s conversation. “She needs to see for
herself, Rose. Just give her time. It’s not something she can escape.”

“That girl is so stubborn. Just like her mother.”

“Stop it!” Charlotte hisses. “She can probably hear
us.”

Rose scoffs. “Why would she? She doesn’t believe in
the power, so she won’t believe what she’s hearing.”

Charlotte sighs. “Give her time, Rose.”

“We don’t have much more time.” Rose’s voice is
dejected in this moment and in spite of the situation now, my heart grows heavy
for the old woman. Why Charlotte puts up with her stories is a mystery all in
itself – but not one that I’m motivated to discover now.

Taking a step in front of my full-length mirror I
reach around my neck to unclasp the green necklace that now presses weightily
down on my chest. Once removed, I hold the necklace in my quivering hands as a
sigh leaks through my teeth with a quiet sizzle. I catch the eye of my
reflection that vaguely resembles the young girl that came to live in Apollo
Beach, just three weeks ago.

Eager to escape my thoughts of magic and
levitation, my eyes move away from the gold encrusted mirror just as the
amethyst glows brightly in my hand. With a gasp, I release the ancient jewel,
scalded by its radiance. Before it can hit the ground with a loud thud I turn
away and distract myself by throwing on night pants and a tank top. I swiftly
crawl into bed and cover my entire body with my comforter.

Tomorrow I will wake up and this horrible nightmare
will be over. I repeat these words, over and over, before finally drifting into
another vividly terrifying dream.

I try to escape the waters, using my entire strength to pull
me from the darkness but the current is as resilient as an anchor. My strength exhausted.
Water rushes over me, slamming me deeper and deeper down into the murky water.
I know that this is my end. My lungs are empty and struggling for the littlest
taste of air. My world goes black.

I’m jolted from my sleep and quickly adjust to the
morning light. I shudder. Awareness of someone watching me causes my eyes to
sweep to my right. My suspicions are confirmed.
Someone was in my room
.
The French doors are wide open, allowing the hot morning breeze in from the
Bay.

With a swift kick my covers are off and I sit up,
senses on alert. Something tells me that the windows haven’t been open for
long. It only takes me two seconds to spot the green amethyst necklace that
rests on my balcony.
How did it get there?

At a snail’s pace I move towards the necklace,
heart pounding in my chest. I say a silent prayer that my imagination has
gotten the better of me, most likely triggered from the previous day’s events.

Up
close, I examine the odd shaped necklace. I know nothing about jewelry, except
that this piece is stunning. It glimmers radiantly as its facets catch the sun.
The imperfections in the long jagged edges are mesmerizing. Lifting the stone,
allowing the gold chain to dangle, I watch it glow once more. The stone doesn’t
frighten me now. And as I place the gold chain around my neck, the crystal
hangs lightly upon my chest.

I rest my elbows against the balcony, reflecting on
the events from the previous day. Rose outdid herself. An elaborate party
filled with eccentric costumes, all for the Summer Solstice?
Maybe Rose is
the head of a cult.
The thought reassures me in a way – it’s the only
thing that makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is why my visions and dreams
are becoming reality. A chilling thought since two of my dreams have resulted
in my death. I shudder.

And moving objects with my mind? That’s foolish.
Then I remember the invisible force that pushed me back down onto the couch.
Rose and Charlotte seemed to think Rose caused that. But how can that be
possible? She was nowhere near me.

My thoughts are distracted by an image in the
horizon. A boat sits in the Bay, two men stand with fishing poles in their
hands, a line of string coming from the tip of the pole, the other line of
string is lost in the water.

“Impossible.” I breathe my words. The boat has got
to be two football field lengths away but my vision is weirdly – perfect.
More than perfect in fact, as if everything has been magnified.

Now, I look around. Clearly, my eyes are playing
tricks on me. I scan the houses down the row from me, unsure of what I’m
looking for. I’m just searching. And then my eyes lock on the side of a house.
The house number is blurry – at first. But as I begin to focus in on the
numbers, my sight adjusts to perfection and I can read the numbers clearly.

I suck in a deep breath and remember what Rose
mentioned about heightened senses. Could it be possible that all of my senses
are more powerful now? My hearing
has
picked up conversations from
impossible distances. Unsettled at the thought of this reality, I look below me
onto the beach and spot an elderly couple. They appear to be in mid-discussion
as they walk side-by-side at the water’s edge. The voices come to me the second
I focus in on them.

Their conversation is as clear as the water sneaking
onto the shore.

Their grandchildren are coming into town and
staying for a few days while their parents vacation in the Hamptons. The old
man wants his wife to stop at the store and get a few things before they
arrive.

I squeeze my eyes shut and open them again, willing
the radio in my head to turn off. It’s as if I’ve just committed a crime for
invading their privacy.

I can almost hear the pounding in my chest as a
cold shiver runs down my spine. Okay. So, my vision is excellent and my hearing
is perfect. I sniff and smell the rise of bacon coming from the kitchen below
– hardly a new sense. I could smell bacon from across the state if I
wanted it bad enough.

And then, as I turn around to lean my back on the
balcony rail, my eyes set on my vanity. An unsettling thought comes to me but I
will it away and move swiftly through the doorway to take a seat in front of
the mirror.

Through the mirror’s reflection I look past my
narrow shoulders to where the vase sits atop my nightstand. It holds fresh flowers,
just as in my dream. I touch the necklace and lift it gently from my neck. Then
I squeeze it as if it’s a stress ball for my nerves.

I do my best to tune out every sound, thought, and
feeling until I’m solely focused on the vase across the room. Of course I won’t
make it move with my mind. The thought is ridiculous.

Shaking my head vigorously, I force the negative
thoughts away. Seriousness takes over me as I clear my mind. I zoom in on the
vase with my eyes, until it’s perfectly in focus and everything around it
blurs. My next command is so powerful that my muscles shake in reaction to the
tension.

I watch in
astonishment as the vase lifts in exact time to my eye’s movement. It’s
floating in mid-air.

Rose isn’t in the great room where I can usually
find her during afternoon tea. After speaking with Charlotte, I discover that
she is outside by the pool.

As I walk out the back doors, which lead to the
pool, I find myself awed again by the house that I now live in. It’s as if I’m
seeing everything for the first time. With my new eyes, every detail is crisp
and more appreciated. Even my peripheral vision has expanded.

“You missed breakfast,” Rose greets me with an
irritated tone from her lounge chair. She sits beneath a multi-colored umbrella
at the edge of the pool.

I choose not to speak. Instead, I stare across the
pool and lock eyes on a plant that sits in a large ceramic pot. Within seconds,
the plant moves from the ground and I will it towards us. Rose gasps and I lose
my concentration. The pot falls into the pool, creating a giant splash. I look
over at my grandmother who carries a stunned look. Her expression quickly turns
to glee and she claps her hands together.

I’m having trouble finding my words. I didn’t
prepare any of this. I’m just going with the flow, hoping that something will
click. All I know now is that I need to talk to someone. And whether I like it
or not, Rose is the best person to talk to about my new – circumstances.

“This is all so hard to comprehend. I have so many
questions.”

Rose sighs. “I know, dear. But it’s in you. It’s
who you’ve always been – since birth. You must realize now that there’s
always been something in you, begging to be released.”

I can’t argue with her there. Then something clicks
and I have to ask. “Did my mom know about all of this?”

Rose nods, eyes never leaving mine.

So many questions are flooding my mind now but I
push them aside. Rose has more answers, and she’ll tell me when she’s ready.
“So what do I do now?”

“You embrace it.” Rose is demanding now. “You do
good things with it. You help. You resolve problems. You cherish what you’ve
been given. It’s a gift. And there’s so much more, dear. I don’t know where to
begin.”

I take a seat now beside her. “But I don’t even
know what I’m embracing. I feel so – weird. As if someone else has taken
over my body. None of this is possible. Magic is impossible.”

Rose places her magazine in her lap and pulls her
feet up, bending her knees. “I’m sorry that I kept this from you. Things
probably would have been different if we’d been closer throughout your life.
But your mother kept you away for this reason exactly. There were no explaining
things to you. No letting you in on the secret early in your life to prepare
you for what you were born with. But even then, this was the right way to find
out. So now you know. You belong to the family of the Summer Solstice.”

“The Summer Solstice.” I whisper this now, sticking
a puzzle piece in its place deep in my brain. “So that’s what all this is about
– the library, the artifacts in your den, and the party. Who else knows
of me, and you? Is there anyone else?”

Rose nods her head. “Everyone who knows me and
about the Solstice has a pretty clear idea about you. Charlotte knows, of course.”

I tilt my head, confusion rising in the pit of my
stomach. “Is Charlotte a Solstice too?”

Rose grins now, smoothing out her khaki pants.
“Yes.”

“So she’s part of our family?” The million
questions are running rampant in my brain.

“No. You don’t have to be a Summer to be a
Solstice.”

My brow furrows. “Okay.”

Rose sits up straighter now. “There is a lot to be
explained. Where do we begin?”

Although I know she’s thinking to herself aloud, I
answer. “The beginning.”

With a brief nod of her head, she begins to lose
herself with her words.

“Many years ago,
dating back to a time that is untraceable, as far as our family history goes,
there was a goddess, born on the day of the Summer Solstice.”

Her name was Astina, Goddess of Enchantment. She
was said to grow to be a magical being with powers only to be used for the good
of mankind. As Astina grew into her power, people did not fear her. They were
enchanted by her beauty and magic. And indeed, she only used her powers for
good. Her followers believed that she was the purest soul on earth, and that
her powers were bestowed on her because of her goodness. Her followers strived
to live a life as pure as her; to help others; to be generous. When she was set
to marry, she wished for an opposite to complete her to help her carry on the
blood of the Solstice. She fell in love with a god who had been born on the
Winter Solstice. They grew together and created a family that commenced our
bloodline – their children, descendants upon their power.

“It was once believed that a Solstice may only
truly fall in love and marry another Solstice in order to live together without
secrets.” Rose has a look of wonderment now. “But times have changed. And as a
Solstice community, we’ve come to understand that we can fall in love with
others, outside of the Solstice community, and they can be brought in and share
in our secrets with us.”

“Secrets?”

“Like the secrets our family had with your mother
before her and Paul had fallen in love and married. She had no idea what we
were before then. And it’s the same thing with you. Even though you’re one of
us, I had to wait until you were official to completely let you in. It’s a
Solstice law to not disclose who we are to anyone else. The law protects our
kind from danger. At the beginning of our existence, the Solstice grew to be an
all and powerful goddess. There were others, jealous of Astina’s powers, and
they began working against her, doing whatever they could to throw her ranks.
Those enemies still exist to this day, and the Solstice continues to keep our
secret in effort to mask our identities from our enemies. As Solstice
descendants, or Enchanters, as we have become, we believe in the purest of all
things. We do not tolerate evil, sinning or defiance of any kind. Our ancestry
tells us that the purer our souls are, the stronger are powers grow to be.”

“I read about the cycle of life during the Solstice
months.” I say now, entranced by the stories Rose knows. “In your books, they
talk about birth and rebirth. I don’t understand what all of that means.”

Rose has turned her body to face mine fully. She is
fully engaged in this conversation now. I can picture how captivating she is
for her Solstice following at the community center.

“You’re a direct descendant of the Summer Solstice.
For those who know the stories, you’d be viewed as Astina’s Somer’s
reincarnate. Think about it.”

This news drains the blood from my face as I take
it all in. Then I shake my head. “What about you? We share the same birthday.”

Rose shakes her head. “Not my bloodline. Your
grandfather comes from the Somer bloodline, not me.”

I begin to connect the dots of this mystery
unfolding. Is it all possible? Could I actually be a part of something that’s
bigger than I ever realized? Is this why my mom took me away from my family? To
protect me from becoming what I am?

“So that’s what the big deal was yesterday? We’re
celebrating the birth and re-birth of Astina Somer?”

Rose nods. “It’s why
we
celebrate. Others celebrate
the day for other reasons. But for us, it’s a significant day. Especially this
year, being your 16
^th
birthday, the day when you become an official
Solstice. I wanted to celebrate you with the other Enchanters and our
followers. You are officially a legend in the Solstice community.” She smiles
brightly at me.

A legend. The words don’t sit well with me.
Everything I ever knew about this world and about myself is changed forever.
There are others. And they know about me.

Alec. I take a sharp intake of breath as I think of
him and look to Rose. “Alec. Does he know about me?” The thought of him knowing
that I have magical powers alarms me for some reason.