The Light Tamer (The Light Tamer Trilogy) Read online

  “I don’t know. We can just talk, unless you don’t want to talk,” I suggest as I turned sideways on the drab green couch, tucking my leg under me. I was sure that if an outsider were looking in, we’d look like two enemies. I on one end of the couch practically smashed against the armrest and he on the other end calm and collected facing the television.

  He turns to face me, mirroring me as he tucked his leg under him. Both of us have long legs, but his aren’t scrawny looking. No, his legs are perfectly tanned and slightly hairy but not in a nasty Neanderthal caveman way. His crimson colored polo hugs him across his biceps and chest. I want nothing more than to touch his biceps. Shut up brain, stop thinking about all the ways you want to be closer to him. Remember he is the scrawny kid that saved your life at the beach.

  “Good, I’m movie’d out. All I know about you is you’re from New York, you play tennis, you have the coolest grandma on the planet, and I make you nervous,” he says with a broad grin.

  Whoa, did he just call me out? “Nervous? Who me, nervous? Not really. I mean, well yeah maybe a little bit. I’m not accustomed to going over to a strangers home and randomly made to watch a movie with a stranger. So, if that is nervous, then yes, I am a little.”

  He holds his hands up in surrender. “No, I don’t mean that way. I’m sorry. I say dumb things sometimes. Can I get a do over? Jessie, I’d like to know more about you and I’m sorry if I make you uncomfortable in any way. Are you staying in New Bern for the school year?” He rambles out.

  “Yeah, I’m not going to the public school though. I’m going to the private school on the outskirts of town, it starts with a P. I don’t remember the name, but Gayle knows someone that knows someone that got me in for this fall semester. I guess they have a waiting list or something and we bypassed it.” I reach in my purse and pull out a thing of breath mints. “Want one?” I hold the box out to him, he takes two.

  “Very cool, I go to Parca Academy too. We’ll have to hang out before school starts; I can give you the low down on everything.” When he smiles big, it shows off his deep inset dimple in his left cheek. “As a matter of fact, I was thinking about driving down to Emerald Isle on Sunday. Would you like to go with me? We can grab breakfast and walk along the boardwalk.”

  I silenced the gulp that I felt was about to escape my mouth. That’s a date, isn’t it? Be cool. “Yeah, I’d like that. What is Emerald Isle, is it the place we would go with Gayle and fish off that giant pier?”

  “Very good memory you have Jessie, it’s one and the same. Let’s go check up on adults and see what they’re up to.”

  Thankfully my knees are quieter going down the stairs. I follow Caleb through the house, we passed through an enormous high tech kitchen and through a set of French doors. The enclosed patio was huge, and decorated very fancy for a patio.

  I hear the slight murmur of voices; Gabe is telling grandma a story about when he was in the Navy. Gabe looked up at Caleb, for a brief moment I caught tension between Caleb and his dad. What was that all about, I wonder?

  “Come on; let me show you the backyard. Dad’s stories can go on for awhile.” Caleb grabs my hand, and his hand shocks me. “Sorry,” he said but didn’t let go of my hand.

  There it is again, but this time he actually shocked me. It was one of those zaps like I got in the winter, when it’s dry in the house from the heat being on. I’ve never been shocked in the middle of the summer, especially in the humid weather like New Bern has. The vibration radiates through my hand, is it from the shock?

  “Over here we have a Moon Flower plant, they only bloom at night,” Caleb said. He reaches over and gently plucks one of the little white flowers. “See the center? It’s a perfect star. Every night at six they start to bloom, it only takes about a minute and a half. Some say they absorb the powers of the moon.” He lets go of my hand, but I still feel the warmth of his hand in mine. “Moths are attracted to them and will flutter softly around them. My mom would tell me that the moths were night faeries and the faerie would absorb all the moon powers. That is why the bloom falls off dead every morning.” His eyes brighten as he talks about his mom.

  One moment the pathway was lit and the next we are darkness. Caleb pulls a penlight out of his pocket and shines it on the path. “Sorry, about that, there must be a short in the lights,” Caleb says nervously running his other hand in his hair. “Let’s get back, if they’re still talking, we’ll get some tea and hang out on the front porch.” As we walk, his arm brushed against my elbow, and I feel nothing. No tinge of heat or vibration. Okay, maybe I am crazy.

  Gabe and Gayle are standing just outside the sunroom, watching us. Gabe’s arms were crossed in front of him, reminding me of the way the football coaches on TV watch their team.

  “Hey, are we ready to go?” I ask Gayle.

  “Yeah, more importantly, are you ready?” She asks.

  Awkward…I think to myself. “Um, yeah,” I said. “Here, give me your cell phone and I’ll put in my number,” I say as I take the phone he hands to me. “We’re still on for Sunday right?”

  “Of course, I’ll pick you up at nine; we’ll go have breakfast before we go,” Caleb says and winks at me.

  My heart officially skipped three beats and a stupid grin creeps up on my face. Stop with the grin, I tell myself. Gayle looks at me with a smirk. Oh, she planned this! She is so going to hear from me on the way home.

  _____

  “So little Miss. Grandma, tell me, you planned on me and Caleb running off alone? You’re in big trouble Missy,” I say pulling my car door closed.

  “You’ll live. So tell me, is he yummy or what?” Gayle asks as she turns her head to see behind her as she backs up.

  “Ugh, you’re impossible! Did you just call him yummy? You know what they say about grandma’s that call boys yummy don’t you?” I tease.

  “Enlighten me.”

  “Perverts! Why were you and Mr. Gabe staring at us when we were in the backyard?”

  She purses her lips together, causing the corners of her mouth to droop down. “We saw the lights go out and wanted to make sure you guys didn’t get lost on the way back to the house.”

  Hmmmm, likely story.

  _____

  Dream after dream kept me tossing and turning all night. I dreamt about the lights burning out every time I entered a room, leaving me in the dark.

  Only two more sleeps before my date with Caleb. I can’t believe mom agreed to let me go. I’m sure her guilt about making me come to such a sucky place kept her from giving me a date speech. I can’t quit thinking about Caleb. I wonder what it’s like to have a parent die. I can’t imagine what it would be like without my mom, yet he was living it daily.

  I gave Gayle a lame excuse about making a shadow box of all my visits with her, just so I could see pictures of Caleb. I’d always thought of him as weak, almost sickly I guess. I’d never have thought he’d grow up to be cute. Beyond cute.

  It’s Sunday morning and I wake up in a panic. What am I going to wear? Should I go shorts or jeans? These are decisions for popular girls. Girls that get to go on dates. Not my kind of girl, the kind with curves. My boobs grew for three years straight, I never thought they would quit. Mom always said she had no idea where I got the boob gene, definitely not her side of the family. No, I have hips and boobs, long legs and a semi small waist. Why didn’t I think about this stuff last night, when I had twelve more hours to go? Looking at the clock I realize I have exactly one hour and three minutes before he gets here.

  I step out of the shower, and there it was, that damned mirror. The full length mirror propped against the wall, threatened to expose my nakedness to my eyes. It taunted me in my towel, until I finally gave in. Standing there, letting go of my towel is me…naked. My thirty four d cups barely perky, not like the girls with b cups that are cute and dainty. Dare I turn and examine my butt? Turning sideways, there it is, round and strong from years of tennis. Stop staring at yourself and get dressed! You have thirty eight minut
es for clothes, hair and make-up. I scolded myself.

  I opted for a pair of white shorts and a little white baby doll top. I bought it at the beginning of summer to wear to the tennis luncheon with my dad. Dad…ugh, don’t get me started on him. No! I’m not going to think about him today, especially right before a date. Thank gawd the straps were wide enough to hide the fact I had to wear an industrial sized bra to keep my boobs up. Stop with the boobs already!

  The doorbell chimes start ringing at exactly nine. Mom opened the door just as I enter the room. He stands there in a pair of khaki’s and yellow Polo. His tan arms, and yellow shirt where on the verge of causing my heart to stop. One beat, two beats, three…breathe in, breathe out…one beat, two beats, three… My chant, the one that I’ve used as long as I’ve remembered. It was something my mom taught me when I had to deal with my dad and his foolishness.

  His eyes sparkle in the morning light. Mom and he did the formal hello’s and then she wanted his cell number for the ‘just in case’. She was always paranoid that someone might ‘steal me’, as if! Yeah, Caleb plans on kidnapping me and never bringing me back. I wish!

  Caleb was incredibly charming to my mom and grandma, who wouldn’t think he is perfect? Mom always said to me, “if it seems to be too good to be true, it usually is.” I felt her skepticism rain on my perfect boy parade. She had to be wrong, I can feel it. After what felt like forever, we finally leave. I check my watch and it read nine-o-nine. Seriously? Only nine minutes had gone by, it felt at least ten.

  On the way out to the car, his hand brushed up against my back as he opened the car door for me. Those brief moments of touch where enough to invigorate me, leaving me hopeful for one more touch. His touch must have been like crack is to an addict, it left me wanting more.

  “Sorry about that with my mom, she’s mental,” I said.

  He laughed at my comment and told me it was okay. Maybe he is mental too. Strike that, maybe I’m mental and they are all normal. Probably, I thought to myself.

  After breakfast at the House of Eggs (they don’t use an acronym because then they would be HOE) we drive out to Emerald Isle. I sat in my seat making small talk with him, but my mind was screaming for him to touch me. Could I lean over and get something out of my purse and accidently brush his hand on the gearshift? Would he freak out if I reach up and change the station and maybe he will scold my hand with a light pat? Shut-up brain; stop begging for this guy to touch you!

  “Jessie, you don’t mind if we go to the beach and take a walk do you? I’d like to talk to you and maybe you’ll understand why you want me to touch you,” Caleb said. He put both hands on the steering wheel and looks straight ahead.

  What the hell did he just say? Did he just say I want him to touch me? Oh gawd, how in the world does he know that? Think of something to say dammit. Say something!

  “What does that mean?” I lied. I knew exactly what it meant. I’m a lowly teenager that hasn’t been on a real date before and I’m obvious about my feelings. Crap! Or maybe he is a conceited douche bag that thinks all girls want him to touch them. Ewww.

  “I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry. We’ll go for a walk and I’ll tell you a story,” he said.

  “No, you did mean something and I want to know what,” I demand. Why am I pushing this? Ugh, me and my mouth. I look over at him and he is banging his head on the headrest and shaking it back and forth. Well, this is a horrible way to start a date. Now he is mad at me and I’m some demanding dork.

  “You’re not a dork,” he said. His eyes go wide, as if he didn’t mean to say it out loud.

  “Why are you saying things I’m thinking?” I ask.

  “Look Jessie, I don’t want to do this in the car as I’m driving. I want to talk to you without the distractions. Please?”

  “Fine,” I said and cross my arms in front of me pouting. Me, pouting on a date, great.

  The parking lot is practically empty as we pull into the pier’s lot. There isn’t a cloud in the sky and for morning, it is already ninety degrees.

  I step onto the sand, feeling it stick to the bottoms of my feet. The sand is already hot so we rush down closer to the water. I like the feeling of the water as it rushes across my feet. Caleb walked next to me but didn’t touch me at all.

  “Follow me, let’s go sit on those boulders and talk,” Caleb said as he points to a cluster of boulders along the dunes.

  I’d been mentally kicking myself for the last five minutes, sorry that I was acting like a spoiled brat.

  “I’ve something I want to tell you about me. Okay?” Caleb said giving me a grin.

  How am I to resist that damned dimple? “Okay,” I say sheepishly.

  He took in a deep breath and started talking. “Remember that time we were out here and you got pulled under by the current?” I shake my head yes. “Something happened that day other than you drowning. When I touched you in the water, I could see light on my hands and I felt vibrations. It was wickedly strange and at the same time it felt normal.”

  “You saw light when you touched me? That’s odd,” I said.

  “Just listen, it’s weirder than that. I know you feel it when I touch you, a warmth. I feel it too.” He turned to face me, I see the look of stress on his face. “Back to the drowning. You were limp when I grabbed you and carried you to the beach. I don’t know how no one else noticed, but they didn’t. I leaned in to put my mouth on yours, just like the movies. When I did, it was…it was amazing, for the lack of a better word. It was as if I gave you part of my life and you gave me part of you. It all happened so fast, I mean it was seconds that felt like years. I relived every memory you had. Not just the memories you had, but I know every major memory of yours now. When you touch me, I get a memory sent to me, some good, some not so good. Like this morning when I touched your back, I know you got the shirt you’re wearing to go to a tennis luncheon with your dad. You never had a chance to show him,” he lowered his head.

  My mind starts whirling with questions. No, I must have told Gayle about the shirt and she mentioned it to him or something. He’s nuts.

  “I’m not nuts Jessie, really I’m not,” he said.

  “I don’t have any of your memories,” I say matter-of-factly.

  “Yeah, I don’t know why. It didn’t really make any sense to me. When you sat up and hurled ocean water on me, I was so thankful you were alive. Since that moment I’ve longed to be close to you. I’m not tuned to you all of the time. I mean, in the beginning, I only had your memories until that date, but last year it changed. When my mom died, things started changing for me. The minute she died, I felt different. I grieved for her and you. It was like my soul needed you and it needed you quick.”

  He reaches over and takes my hand into his. His hand is sweaty but it doesn’t matter, it felt so good in my hand.

  “Feel that,” Caleb said. “That is us sharing the light. Have you ever noticed when you’re driving down the street and a streetlight goes out? Or maybe when you’re walking past a house and their porch light burns out? They call that street light interference phenomenon; some refer to them as SLIders. Our bodies,” he pointed back and for to both of us, “require light and we absorb their energy. I know… crazy right?”

  “That happens to me, all the time!” I exclaim, feeling the truth swirl around me. “You’re saying that we’re the reason lights go out? How cool is that?”

  “Cool, maybe. It would be cooler if it didn’t create complete darkness. We aren’t the only ones, there are other SLIders and there are the Dark Ones too. They live in the shadows and want to steal our light. The more light they can steal from us, the stronger they become. I carry a flashlight with me at night,” Caleb said. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out two small flashlights. “The pink one is yours, keep it with you at all times. You never know when you’re cloaked in the shadows. If you’re in a room without a window, arm yourself with the flashlight. The Dark Ones can crash the rooms light and steal the light from you. For some
reason, they can’t steal L E D lights. Your flashlight is L E D, the light it slightly blue, but it works and that’s really all that matters.”

  “If our body absorbs the light, aren’t we sabotaging ourselves?” I picked up a small rock and started carving my name in the boulder. “I mean, well, if the dark has the Dark Ones why would our light sucking happen?”

  “I don’t know. I just know that it does happen. Since your dad has been gone don’t you feel better out in the sunshine? I know you sleep with a light on, we all do. I bet you threw a holy hell fit until your parents agreed to let you have one too. That’s because we need the light.”

  I close my eyes and lean my head back, feeling the sunshine on my face. I’d never noticed before how good the sunshine on my skin felt. It made me feel safe. Psychosomatic I’m sure. Now that he’s told me I feed on light, I’m going to be all hypersensitive to it. Grrrr

  “You talk to yourself a lot,” Caleb said with a big smile.