Accordance

by Shelly Crane

  Accordance (A Significance Novel - Book Two)

  Accordance (A Significance Novel - Book Two)

  Midpoint

  Accordance

  A Significance Series Novel

  Book Two

  By Shelly Crane

  Copyright @2011 Shelly Crane

  This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights: you are not allowed to give or sell this book to anyone else.

  Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if we use one of these terms.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Editor: Caroline Hallinan.

  Printed in paperback September 2011 and available in Kindle and E-book format as of September 2011 through Amazon,

  Smashwords and Create Space.

  “Far away, I feel your beating heart All alone, beneath the crystal stars Staring into space, what a lonely face

  I’ll try to find my place with you

  What a beautiful smile

  Can you stay for a while?

  On this beautiful night

  We’ll make everything right

  My beautiful love, my beautiful love”

  - The Afters

  This book is dedicated to my family, my support system, who always keep me connected and down to earth. You give me everything I need to be happy and I love you more than life, A, J, N.

  ~ One ~

  “Dad, I can’t believe you thought it was a good idea to send him here,” I said, fighting to keep the bite from my voice.

  “Now, Maggie,” he rebuked. “He really missed you. I’m sure Bish is not that bad.”

  “He could find out about us, Dad, about what we are.”

  “We- Peter and I- thought it would be better to send someone who had no powers or...whatever, there to watch you and keep everyone else here. They are planning a lot of things and need all the hands they can get. So Kyle insisted on going and Bish said he’d go too and be a chaperone to you all. He doesn’t know what he’s doing just that he’s keeping watch over a bunch of teenagers. Give him some slack, Maggie. He’s having a hard time. He quit his job, ya know.”

  “I know. He told me and he wouldn’t have if not for me. None of this would be happening if not for me.”

  “Don’t be like that.” I could hear him shuffling papers and imagined him putting the newspaper down to further focus on me. “These people care about you. That’s evident from the time I’ve spent with them.”

  “What do you mean? You spend time with them?”

  “Yes. I met them at Kyle’s or Peter’s for those meetings they have and have eaten dinner with them more than once. Rachel is a fantastic cook.”

  I balked. What?

  “Why?”

  “Why what? Why would they want me hanging around?” he asked wryly.

  “No. No, that’s not what I meant. I meant why would you want to? I thought you’d be...more upset or cautious of them, because of the abilities and all.”

  “Maggie, you are one of these people now. It’s not ideal and I still have some things to work through but I want to know everything there is to know about them and their history. Plus,” he cleared his throat, “you and Caleb aren’t going to have some big break-up anytime soon down the road are you?”

  “No, Dad,” I answered and almost smiled.

  “Well then I need to like these people. I need to know all about them and be around them, to get used to them. They’re going to be my family one day, right? One day a long, long, long, long, time away.”

  I laughed and tangled my fingers in my long hair, still wet from the beach.

  “Ok, Dad. You’re right. And I’m glad that you’re getting along. It was more than I could hope for.”

  “Good. Well, be nice to Bish. And just be careful around him. I’m afraid he’s not as enthused about Caleb as you are.”

  “I can tell,” I said not even trying to tamp down on the sarcasm.

  “Love you, baby girl. Thanks for calling your old man.”

  “Love you too, Dad. See you soon.”

  We hung up and I blew a settling breath, leaning back on the white chaise in the library of Caleb’s aunt and uncle’s beach house in California. This was our second day here. We’d gone straight out to the beach once Bish and Kyle had shown up, unexpectedly, this morning.

  We had padded our way out past the back gate and into the white sand. I laid my towel out and began to take Caleb’s shirt off that he had gotten for me to wear when Kyle wasn’t being shy about his looking or thinking about me in my bathing suit. Bish had immediately come up and said I should leave it on. It was a little chilly with the wind, he said. I had scowled at him while I peeled it off and threw it in the sand. Then he sank down, laying back and closing my eyes to the warm bright sun just like any normal day.

  Though I couldn’t see him, I could hear his thoughts. He was pissed. He thought I was being reckless with my life and with this guy who was apparently some kind of swindler to have convinced everyone to like him and let him take me away to the beach alone. The slutty bathing suit was just icing on the cake. I gasped at his thoughts and sat up to glare at him, forgetting that he hadn’t said it out loud, but his back was already turned.

  Caleb sat down in the sand beside me, his shirt off too, and placed a soothing hand on my seething back as he spoke softly to me.

  “He’s your brother, Maggie. He’s not gonna be happy unless you’re wearing a sweater.”

  “He used the word ‘slutty’,” I whispered harshly so Bish wouldn’t hear me. “I can’t believe him...ugh. I just thought this trip was gonna go differently. And I have no idea why Kyle’s here either. What the heck is that about?”

  Caleb grunted unhappily in agreement.

  “Dad said they couldn’t spare anyone else.”

  “Boo,” I complained.

  “Hey, why don’t you let me teach you how to surf in the morning? It’ll take your mind off things. There’s a stash of boards at the house. If we come out early the surf should be good.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed a gleaming spot of hope seeping in. “I always wanted to learn to do that.”

  “Good. It’s a date.”

  “So,” I said and snuggled against his bare sun warmed side.

  “Are you going to take me on a real date while we’re here?”

  “I have quite a few places I intend to take you before we leave, actually,” he said smugly.

  “Good.”

  He smirked and went to bend his head to kiss me but did a quick peek at Bish and decided against it. He leaned back onto the towel on the sand beside me, his arms under his head, his foot rubbing mine and we stayed that way until we came back into the house a while later. Kyle had spent the entire time in the water and Bish had stayed an annoyingly close distance to Caleb and me.

  And here we were now, me, sulking on the phone with my dad, complaining. Caleb was trying to fix something for supper in the kitchen. Bish was taking a shower upstairs and Kyle was playing video games on the TV in the den.

  I placed the phone on the table by the chair and laid my head back in frustration. I closed my eyes, crossing my ankles and pulling Caleb’s t-shirt further down over my thighs.

  I thought about everything that had happened that day. About everything I wanted to do while we were here. About what Caleb and I had been doing when we w
ere interrupted by Bish and Kyle.

  To my unbeknownst dismay, I drifted off to sleep.

  I was sitting on the porch in the plush cushions of the swing, watching the ocean by myself. I felt utterly content and safe there, even though Caleb wasn’t with me. I wondered why he wasn’t.

  The ocean was so blue, the waves were so white and the trees in the backyard were so green. It was like a...dream. Crap! No!

  “Oh, yes.”

  I turned to see Marcus, smirking from the doorway. He had an elbow leaned into the doorjamb making his upper arm muscles stand out. He was wearing a gray t-shirt with jeans and black boots. He had gotten his black hair shorn seriously short except for his bangs that hung choppy over his forehead and a small gauge placed in his earlobe since the last time I saw him.

  “Maggie,” he crooned falsely sweet. “I told you lover boy wouldn’t be around forever, didn’t I? The beach huh?” he said as he looked around. “Didn’t go very far did you? Sikes’s thought you had fled somewhere far away like little cowards.”

  I realized then he thought I was still near Tennessee. He came to lean back on the railing in front of me and crossed his ankles and his arms.

  “What do you want?” I asked trying to keep my voice steady.

  “What do I always want?”

  “I’ll call Caleb,” I warned and started to carry out my threat when he shook his finger at me.

  “A-a-ah, I wouldn’t do that. If you do, then you won’t find out what I’ve come to tell you.”

  Despite it all, he had my interest peeked.

  “What?”

  “First, you’re going to do something for me.”

  “What?” I repeated warily.

  “Nice shirt,” he said with a little smile that made my stomach turn. I looked down and saw that I was still in Caleb’s t-shirt over my bathing suit and it was barely covering my legs at all. I yanked it down over my thighs and he laughed. “Oh come on. I was enjoying the show!”

  “Marcus. If this is what you wanted me to stay for-”

  “You are going tell me what your ability is. Sikes wants to know and I want to be back in his good graces.”

  “No way,” I said like he was crazy. “Why would I tell you that?”

  “Because then I’ll tell you why Sikes is so upset about you and lover boy ascending. It’s not just jealousy because the Jacobson’s are imprinting. There’s a prophecy.”

  “A prophecy,” I scoffed. “What is this, Harry Potter?”

  “No. This is very real. And I’m willing to make a trade,” he said seriously.

  I thought. I wondered if Caleb would be upset if he knew what I was about to do. Of course he would. He would hate the thought of them knowing something about me but, we need to know what to be on the lookout for, right? What could he do with the knowledge of what my ability was? What would it hurt? Then I had a revelation. I hadn’t read any of Marcus’s thoughts since the dream started. I hadn’t heard anything streaming from his mind to mine. I focused on him. I tried to read him. I tried to see his past thoughts, nothing.

  Crap. My ability didn’t work in echo dreams.

  But I wasn’t about to tell him that. So I sat up straighter and made my decision to tell him.

  “A Seer. That’s my ability.”

  His jaw dropped and then he made an ugly noise in the back of his throat.

  “You’re lying,” he accused with a grimace.

  “Am I?” I asked and pretended to be smug. He suddenly looked very ready to be out of this echo. “Now it’s your turn.”

  He wasted no time in giving it to me.

  “There’s a prophecy, that there would be a time of great tribulation. No one knew what that meant until the imprints stopped. That meant the ascensions stopped and we understood that this is what it had been talking about. The prophecy says this.

  ‘Two will come forth to become one. That one will end what was done. One will possess power to birth, a new day of justice, strength and mirth. Then two to keep our spirit pure and strong, start anew, end the wicked and wrong.’

  “It’s dumb but that’s what it says. And Sikes is set on believing it. I’m sure it’s not hard to see who would be viewed as the wicked in this prophecy,” he spouted almost proudly.

  “How did you get a prophecy? Did it miraculously appear on a hamburger bun in ketchup?”

  “No, smarty pants. It was foreseen and written down by another seer over seventy five years ago. We’ve kept it safe and hidden.”

  “So, you want me to believe that Caleb and I are the one? The two become one?”

  “That’s what Sikes believes. From the first second he heard of your imprint with Caleb he was dead set on stopping your ascension. On stopping you from becoming the ‘one’.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “You thought I’d skip out without telling you the truth, huh?” he said with a malicious little grin.

  “Yes.”

  He laughed at my honesty.

  “Sikes’ and my agenda don’t end up on the same page anymore I’m afraid.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He made a sound like a buzzer on a game show.

  “EHHHH! That’s all the time we have today folks, but thanks for playing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta be getting back before Sikes knows what I’m up to.”

  “Wait, how can you use Sikes gift like that?”

  He gave me a droll look.

  “You really think I care if I hurt his precious feelings?”

  “No, no, I didn’t mean how ‘could you’; I mean how can you like, literally? How can you?”

  He shrugged, looking really pleased and superior.

  “Don’t know how it works. It’s only you though. I can’t pick anyone I want, believe me I’ve tried. So now, don’t you feel special?” he sang.

  I shook my head in aggravation.

  He started to walk around me to the door and with me lost in thought I didn’t think to be cautious until it was too late. I felt him grab my hair from behind and yank it hard holding me captive to the chair. He leaned over to speak to me close, but not touching me.

  “I can’t just leave. Caleb will know that you had an echo and he’ll think I’ve gone soft if I let you leave without doing something to you.”

  I saw the gleam of silver and thought it was a knife. Then I saw it was scissors and cursed my stupidity.

  “What are you doing? You told me all that just to kill me?” I said frantically.

  And then it hit me. That’s probably exactly what he was doing, trying to play nice for kicks.

  “No, silly human,” Marcus said. ”Oh wait, dang. I guess I can’t call you that anymore, huh? But no, I’m not going to kill you. I’m just going to make it look to Caleb like I still hate your guts. Which by the way, I still do,” he growled in my ear and I winced as I saw his arm move.

  Maggie! Wake up!

  I heard Caleb but it was too late. There was nothing to do. I waited for the sting and pain of the scissors in my chest but felt nothing but the tug of Marcus’s hand in my hair.

  Listen to me! Wake up now, Maggie!

  Then I heard a snip. I gasped awake on the chair and saw Caleb sitting beside me, leaning over me, face etched with concern.

  “Maggie?”

  “Marcus,” I croaked.

  “I know. You fell asleep on the chair,” he chastised softly. “Did he hurt you? What happened?” he asked as he looked me over.

  “I don’t know, he- he told me some things and then he had scissors and-” I sat up and bits and strands of hair fell all around my shoulders and lap. I realized what he had done with those scissors. That bastard cut my hair! “He cut my hair!”

  I felt Caleb digging around in my mind, seeing Marcus.

  “What the hell did he do that for?” Caleb said vehemently, knowing exactly what had transpired.

  “He’s an insane jerk, that’s why.” I picked at the strands on my shoulders and then felt the hair still on my h
ead with trembling fingers to feel it was cut up passed my shoulders. I felt a sudden loss. I wanted to cry but jeez, it was only hair...right? “He cut my hair,” I repeated softly.

  Caleb grimaced and pulled me under his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry. Let’s get you upstairs and dressed before Bish gets out of the shower. Then I’ll take you to the salon around the corner and we’ll see if they can fix it. Ok?”

  He rubbed my shoulder, the hair strands showering around us as he did so making me wince like it was painful.

  “Yeah, ok.”

  Just as we got up from the chair, Kyle rounded the corner. Ugh! He couldn’t have waited five seconds?

  “Mags, what the hell,” Kyle replied.

  “Marcus,” Caleb explained. “Now move,” he barked.

  “But I thought he could only get her in a dream?”

  “I fell asleep. It was my fault,” I said quietly.

  “No it wasn’t,” Caleb said. “I’m the one that told you he couldn’t reach you when you were this far away. You felt safe. It was my fault you let your guard down.”

  “But why did he cut your hair?” Kyle asked me, looking at me closely. “What did that accomplish?”

  “He said some things to me. He told me some things about Sikes. Then he said he needed to do something mean to me so that Caleb-” I looked up at Caleb and smiled sadly. “So that you wouldn’t think he’d gone soft.”

  “I could kill him,” he growled, his grip tightening on me. “What an evil little bast-” Caleb started in a rage but I stopped him.

  “No, don’t, please? This is why he did it.” I put one of my hands on his chest and one on his neck to draw off his anger. “He knew you’d go nuts when you saw me and do something crazy. Please?”

  He visibly took a deep breath and I heard Kyle’s mutter as he walked away.

  “I’ll go clean up the chair before Bish sees it.”

  “Ok,” Caleb said gruffly. “Come on, you gotta take a shower and wash all that off before we go.”