The White Aura (The White Aura Series)

by Felicia Tatum

  Juniper laughed, “Behind a tree?”

  Mark stared at me, not even blinking. “That’s not normal, Liv. You should be careful…”

  The intensity of his look made my heart beat a little faster. He was obviously worried, and that scared me. I nodded and continued to eat.

  Scott

  I knew what had to be done. I just didn’t have any clue how to go about it, though. I spent hours going over the books I borrowed from Grandma, researching every detail about The Crimson Calamitous. Along with a few more hours of talking to her, we finally figured out I needed another fifth generation sorcerer to help me. It was our only hope. We needed an immense amount of power, and only fifth gens could produce it. I already contacted the others in our family, and none could come to Loudon Heights on such short notice.

  I hadn’t been able to visit Livvie anymore. He was watching her, as well as me. I was afraid too much contact would intrigue him enough to act sooner than he planned. I glanced at the clock and realized I only had a little over two days to concoct a plan. Two days didn’t seem like long at all.

  Stretching, I got up from the table. I decided a walk would be good for me and set out. I strolled slowly, enjoying the scenery. A family of six was working together mowing and landscaping their yard, while at another house a set of parents were trying to teach their toddler girl how to play softball.

  I breathed deeply, making the cool air fill my lungs and strengthen my senses. I could smell a variety of flowers, freshly mowed grass, and someone’s steaks on a grill. I quickened my steps, hoping the relaxation of the day would help me to think of a plan.

  I needed to contact Mark. There was a chance he was a fifth generation sorcerer, too. It was a long shot, but it was worth asking. With a quick text, I set up a meeting at the coffee shop where I first saw Livvie. He was already on his way to Loudon Heights to pick up his tux so this worked out perfectly. I made my way over to 4th, careful to focus on all of my surroundings. I couldn’t be too careful with The Crimson Calamitous out there, especially if he knew Livvie had an aura now.

  I stepped in the shop and ordered a large sweet tea when Mark walked in. His eyes were dazed and he looked frazzled. Concerned, I nodded to a booth at the back of the shop. He stumbled back there, like he was in a fog. Purchasing my tea, and a coffee for him, I hurried to the seat across from him. “What happened?”

  “Remember the friend I told you Aiden had an interest in?” he asked.

  I nodded. He still had no idea Livvie was my heart mate.

  “Well, something strange happened with her today. She’s been sick, and she came back to school with a white aura. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He paused.

  “What do you think she is?” I quietly asked.

  “I have no idea, but I think it’s why Aiden is interested in her. She hugged her best friend and passed out. Dude, it was crazy.”

  Livvie fainted today. That meant she was gifted with some sort of energy draining power. “I have a confession. Livvie, I mean, Olivia, is my heart mate,” I told him.

  His face wrinkled in confusion. I could almost see the thoughts going through his head. “You didn’t tell me you knew Olivia. Wait…Olivia doesn’t even have a boyfriend. She’s never mentioned you. How could she be your heart mate?” he asked.

  “I saw her walking down the sidewalk. I was sitting in that booth right over there,” I said as I pointed to the other end of the shop, “and I knew she was it. I’m my family’s current fifth generation sorcerer, and I have the ability to dream walk. It’s how I see her.”

  He nodded while processing what I just told him. I knew what questions were coming next. “Why don’t you just meet her? And be with her…is this some sort of weird romance thing? Or is something else going on?”

  I laughed and said, “No, no weird romance thing. My family has a curse on it. We can’t meet our heart mates before they’re seventeen and six months or they’ll die. I can’t risk Livvie dying. Although with The Crimson Calamitous after her, she’s still in danger.”

  “Yeah, I think he wants her because she’s an unknown. I mean…what being has a white aura?” he asked, looking at me for answers.

  “I don’t know, but I have to protect her. I just don’t know how. I’ve been reading up on how to defeat this evil bastard but I need another fifth generation sorcerer. All of the past fifth gens in my family are too far away or too occupied to come help me.”

  “I wish I was. My uncle is our family’s current fifth gen,” Mark admitted as he hit the table with his fist, “But I’ll still help you. I care about Olivia, too. I’ve kind of got a thing for Juniper.”

  “Oh, I see. Well, we need an action plan. I’ve been researching, but I’m not really getting anywhere. I think this dance is going to be where he makes his big move,” I told him.

  He nodded and sat in thought. Neither of us really had any idea how to solve this big problem we had. “I’ll talk to my mom. I’ve told her he’s here, but we haven’t really discussed any solutions. Maybe she can get ahold of my uncle tonight. Aiden hasn’t made any moves yet. But I’ll definitely be telling her about Olivia and our suspicions,” he said as he got up to leave.

  “Ok, man, can you let me know when you find out something?” I asked, and we shook hands.

  “Will do. Talk to you later.”

  After he left, I sat for a long time. I still wasn’t sure how I was going to save Livvie and protect her from the curse. But I had to. Somehow. But now I at least had Mark on my side. He was with Livvie every day. He would be able to keep an eye on her.

  Olivia

  I was seriously freaking out. Seeing my best friend die had been terrifying. My hands hadn’t stopped shaking since I’d woken up in the nurse’s office. Riding home with Juniper was awkward. She knew something was wrong with me, but there was no way I could tell her. I must think of some way to keep her safe. She couldn’t go to the dance. Although, I didn’t have a legitimate reason to tell her. She liked Mark too much. Maybe he could help me. But I would have to tell him all of the strange things that were happening to me. I wasn’t ready to share with anyone yet.

  I tried to avoid touching anyone since I’d hugged Juniper. That was difficult in the halls of our school building. I ended up sliding my way through breaks with my back against the wall. I was late for two classes because I hid out in the bathroom. I really didn’t want to see anything that horrifying again.

  I was sitting on the couch staring into space when my father walked in the room. He was six feet, three inches tall with dark brown hair. His eyes were the same shade of green as mine. He was a strong man with bulging muscles. I always felt safe when my dad was around. Though we fought, all I wanted was him to comfort me in this moment. I was beginning to think this love/hate relationship was a normal teenager thing.

  I hoped he wouldn’t be able to notice I had been crying. “Hey, Daddy.” I tried to keep my voice steady.

  “Hey, baby girl. You ok?”

  Uh oh, he knew. I’d known he would sense something was wrong. Even though my parents weren’t the greatest at being supportive, they were always observant. “Just had a bad day at school. Worried about a test. I think I’m still tired from where I was sick, too.” I really hoped he believed me. All of those things were true, so I wasn’t technically lying to him. I didn’t want to tell him about what happened. He said we couldn’t talk about it, right?

  I stood up and folded the blanket I was wrapped in. I wanted to hug him so badly, but knew I couldn’t risk it. Before I could get away, he scooped me into a bear hug. I waited, my body tense, for an image. Nothing happened. I pulled back slowly, looking up into my father’s eyes. Nothing happened to him either. I smiled and let go, hoping he didn’t ask about my strange behavior.

  “Yeah, the school called saying you fainted. Are you still feeling ill?”

  “Yeah, I did. I’m ok now. I think I just got too hot.” Maybe I imagined the whole thing. I was running a fever for two days. There was a goo
d possibility I was having hallucinations. I went to the bathroom. I needed a good splash of water to calm me. I turned on the faucet and ran my cold, wet hands all over my face and neck. I glanced into the mirror and the reflection staring back didn’t look like my own. My green eyes were brighter than usual. They were glowing.

  I stumbled back and ran into the towel rack. I silenced my “ow” before I alerted my father to any additional weirdness coming from me. Why would my eyes be glowing? I managed to get to my room. I knew I needed to talk to someone, but I didn’t know who. Then it hit me. I could talk to Sadie. She was a sorcerer and she would surely know what was happening to me. I hurried to my dresser, remembering the gift she had sent me on Sunday. I rummaged for the key, still thinking it was a very odd present. Finding it, I read the note still attached. It simply said to tell it where I needed to go. “Take me to Sadie?”

  Nothing happened. Maybe I should hold it. I grasped the cold metal in my hands, wrapping both around it completely. “Take me to Sadie.”

  In an instant, I was in a dimly lit bedroom. The bed was covered in black and purple bedding, and there were curtains that matched. There was a small dresser serving as a desk for a purple laptop sitting on it. Apparently, Sadie liked purple. There were shelves that held small containers of stuff. I couldn’t tell what exactly was inside. I heard a shuffle from behind me and turned quickly, falling over some shoes lying on the floor. “Ow!”

  “Olivia…?”

  “Sadie! Oh, thank God. I need help,” I exclaimed

  “What is it? Is someone after you?” she asked, horror in her eyes. She glanced around me, searching to see if I had someone with or following me.

  “No. Something is happening to me, Sadie. I don’t know what it is.” I was almost crying at this point. The stress of the week was catching up and I was scared.

  “Oh. Yeah…uh…Sc…I mean, my brother doesn’t want me to talk to you about that.” She looked down at her feet. She couldn’t even look me in my eyes. I couldn’t blame her, I would be embarrassed too.

  “Sadie,” I cried out, “please?”

  She took my hands and led me to the bed. She stared into my eyes, and her own grew wider when she noticed what had sent me here. “Olivia, I can see you’re scared and worried. It will be ok. Please calm down.” She put a reassuring hand on my arm, and looked deeply into my heart. The warmth of her eyes radiated throughout my body. I was relaxing.

  “I am scared, Sadie. You were the only one I could come to.”

  She nodded.

  “My eyes are glowing. And today…well, today, I hugged my best friend and saw her die. At the dance! But now, here you are touching my hands, and nothing happens. I hugged my father and no vision. Am I losing my mind?”

  She started to laugh but catching my expression stopped her. “No, Olivia, you are not going crazy. Something is occurring to you. I don’t know exactly what. We’re working on that. My brother found another sorcerer to help him, and they’re determined to find out the cause of all of this. That’s all I can tell you. As for this…vision…you had, I don’t know anything about that.” Her voice was strained.

  I knew she was telling me the truth. No one knew what was happening to me. I was turning into a freak. “Ok. Thank you for relaxing me, Sadie. You know, you remind me of someone. She always calms me and makes me feel peaceful, too.”

  Smiling, she said, “Thanks, I get it from my grandmother.”

  I stood and fumbled with the key. I felt at ease with Sadie. I could talk to her about what was taking place, and she was my only connection to Mr. Sexy. “Well, I guess I’d better get going. I have school tomorrow, and I’ve been having a hard time sleeping. I miss seeing your brother.”

  “Don’t worry. He should be back in your dreams this weekend.”

  We hugged, and I simply said “home” and was on my way. I crashed into my bed, exhausted from the day, the week, everything that happened really. I hoped to have a dreamless night, since all of them after Mr. Sexy left were nightmares.

  Scott

  I stood outside Sadie’s room and listened while Livvie was here. She had no clue I was so close. It took all of my will to not run in and hold her. It seemed my little Livvie possessed more power than just stealing my heart. No one I talked to knew what a white aura meant, but I knew it meant a rare ability. The Crimson Calamitous would not want her if she wasn’t destined to be extremely powerful. I don’t think he would be watching her and so gentle with her if he intended to kill her. The dance was going to be an issue. She said she saw bad visions of Juniper there. I couldn’t tell Mark…he would freak out. I needed him to be able to help me, so now I must figure out how to rescue Juniper and Olivia.

  I sighed and walked around under the moon. I resorted to pacing because I didn’t know what else to do. My grandma hadn’t been saying much, and Sadie was as rattled as me. The rest of my family…well they were still processing The Crimson Calamitous was in our neck of the woods. It was certain Livvie was destined to be great, but…why had it just shown up? Magical beings were usually born into it, so the aura was with them from birth. Few humans turned magical. They had to have a very big, horrible event happen to make them turn into anything in our world. I had been watching her for a while now. There was no way something came about I was unaware of.

  I sat on the rocks beside my mother’s rose garden. Our backyard had been landscaped until it was perfect for her. My father wanted her to walk out and feel like they were in the place he took her for their honeymoon. She loved it out here. Once, when I was little, I had accidently hit a ball into one of the bushes. I thought I was going to be murdered before the night ended. The reaction was not pretty. Sitting in the garden reminded me a lot of the simpler times in my life, before I knew love and there was an evil sorcerer to conquer.

  I plucked a flower from the middle bush, praying no one would notice. I twirled it around in my hand, concentrating on it for some reason. The dance was the day after tomorrow. Mark and I thought of a plan. Though, we weren’t sure how it would work. He would place a sleeping spell on Aiden and keep him under, while I went into his dream and figured out a way to make him destroy himself. But thinking about it now…I had my doubts. I couldn’t leave Mark with all the responsibility to fight when I knew Juniper may die. If anything happened to her, he could lose concentration on destroying Aiden, and we’d all be doomed. Frustration overtook me, and I crushed the flower beneath my boot. I needed to detail our fight plan before Friday.

  Olivia

  I was getting dressed when Aiden showed up. He wouldn’t come and knock, only text and honk for my attention. I glanced in the mirror for a last minute check. I wore a pencil skirt with tights and a dark green sweater. My hair fell loose with just my bangs pulled up on the sides. I felt like being dressy this morning, though I didn’t know why. I picked up my bag and headed to the door while preparing myself for Aiden. It had been almost a week since I had denied him coming to see me. I wasn’t sure how he would act today, especially since I hadn’t really talked to him this week.

  He couldn’t keep his eyes off me as I walked up to his car. I climbed in, and he was still gazing, his mouth slightly open. “Aiden?” More stares. This was uncomfortable. “Aiden!”

  “Olivia. I’m sorry for gawking, but you…well, you look radiant.”

  Radiant? What was wrong with him? And he was studying the area above my head like Mark had. Did I have some sort of sign or something that only they could see up there? “Well, thank you. I’ve worn this before…” I said and looked down at my legs.

  “I know, but something has changed about you. You look more beautiful than ever.” He smiled and grabbed for my hand. I let him hold it because it was too awkward to pull away. He knew I didn’t want to date him. “Thanks,” I whispered, “maybe we should go…?”

  Why couldn’t he stop gaping? Everyone was acting weird lately.

  “Good idea. Let’s get this day over with. Tomorrow is the dance. Although you don’t want to c
all it a date, I know it my heart it is indeed a date.”

  He was way too excited about the event. My mind drifted to Juniper on the way to school. About how I could keep her from going. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me, and I gasped loudly.

  “What is it? Are you ok?” Aiden asked me, sounding concerned.

  “I’m fine. I just accidently scratched myself,” I lied. Aiden had touched me, and I hadn’t gotten a vision from him either. Why did it only happen with Juniper and the nurse? Or had I only imagined it? Sadie seemed to believe me, and she witnessed my glowing eyes.

  “Oh, well, be more careful, beautiful lady.”

  Wow, he was laying it on thick. “Why weren’t you in school yesterday?” I asked, pulling my hand away. As much as I didn’t want to hurt him, I didn’t want to lead him on more.

  “I just didn’t feel like going,” he said with a shrug.

  “I saw you near that tree,” I said and I stared at him.

  His face didn’t change. He simply looked straight ahead, watching the road.

  “And what was up with the movie last week? Why did you think it was funny when I felt sick?” I asked, my voice growing louder.

  “Now, Whitehead, that isn’t what happened. I thought I was making you nervous. I didn’t realize you were sick,” he said with a wink.

  I slumped back in my seat, not sure if I should believe him or not. “Why don’t you ever come to the door and knock? Why do you just text me?” I felt brave and assertive today. I asked every question that came to my mind.

  His eyebrows raised, and he clicked his tongue. “My, my, we have a lot of questions today. Is this because I called you radiant?” he asked, skillfully dodging my curiousity yet again.

  “I know you’re just trying to change the subject. It’s fine.” I paused, “No, it’s not fine. It’s pissing me off, actually. I don’t know what’s up with you, and I don’t like the secrets.”