Enlightened A Light Tamer Novel (The Light Tamer)

by Dawson, Devyn

Before anyone has a chance to moan about the assignment, the bell rings.

  “Check on my baby before you leave. Make sure he doesn’t miss me too much.” Amber says as we walk out of class.

  “Baby?” Caleb and I say in unison.

  “My jeep…my baby…my love…”

  I shake my head and reach over for Caleb’s hand. “Gotcha, have fun in detention. I’ll see you later, right? I’m sure your Baby is fine, I’ll text you though.”

  “Later? Oh yeah, I’ll be there.”

  Chapter 5. YOURNIGHTMARE2010

  It was delightful to drive out of the parking lot of school. I hadn’t realized how tense I was all day, not until I sat on the hot leather seat and it felt fantastic. I told Caleb about Jasmine and how she flipped out on me earlier. He told me about how Miss Raine seemed frazzled by the time she had him in class. We laughed about Amber’s public display of affection and we practically drove off the road when we talked about Thorne’s reaction.

  We stopped for an ice-cream on our way to the library, by the length of the line; we weren’t original in our idea. Can you hear me?

  Nope. I nudged his arm for teasing me. Did I tell you how cute you look in your uniform?

  You did, but you can again.

  Our ability to hear one another’s thoughts is something that took getting used to at first. Originally he could hear mine, and I couldn’t hear him until we kissed, and only when we kissed. We’ve been working on blocking our thoughts from each other. It’s not that we have secrets, but sometimes our thoughts should be private. At least that’s how I feel about it. We bonded a few summers ago when I almost drowned at Emerald Isle. Caleb jumped in to pull me out of the ocean, and when he did; his hands started to glow. What he didn’t know then, was he and I were Light Tamers and he healed me, and we bonded. He was a little scrawny boy and was a bit obsessed with me. He was always trying to touch me, and I was always trying to keep my distance. No one knew what happened, but Caleb figured it out after his mom died of cancer. Two months ago, my mom and I moved to North Carolina to live with my grandma Gayle. New Bern isn’t what you’d call the most exciting town to live in if you’re under fifty…or so I thought. I’d never had so many crazy things to happen to me in the Bronx, as a matter of fact, nothing ever happened. True, unless you count my dad’s OCD and his problem with alcohol. I’d always thought that if I loved him enough, he would change…he didn’t. I learned the truth about his alcoholism once we moved here.

  My dad confessed to me that he is a Dark One and I’m part of the original Tamers, making me irresistible to the Dark. To keep him from stealing my light, he would drink. I love my dad, but I think he could have found another way. He’s sober now that he left my mom, and he spends his time trying to track others like him. A little more than a week ago, my bond with Caleb was threatened by Erebus, the god of darkness. He tricked Jasmine’s boyfriend Clark into catching me as I fell. Since we’re all under 18, our bond can be broken if another bound tamer touches us. I don’t understand how 18 is such a magical number other than it’s when we’re considered an adult. I’m not even 16 yet; my birthday is at the end of August. I have two years to keep anyone from breaking our bond.

  Today only added to my confusion about what it all means to be a Tamer. We looked at books on mythology to learn more about Nyx. Amber showed up after detention and told us that Thorne never showed up. It only fueled her attraction to him with the bad boy act.

  I told grandma about school before mom got home from work. Mom spent six months applying for jobs in New York and only had two interviews. We were here only a week, before she landed a nursing job at a cancer doctor’s office. After dinner, I grabbed the dust buster and practiced making a protection circle as fast as possible. How often I’ll have a bottle of salt with me, is beyond me. I do what the teacher wants. I don’t ask questions because lately I’m afraid of the answer.

  An instant message popped up on my laptop. It was from SURFERGRLAMB.

  SURFERGRLAMB: “Whatcha doing?”

  BRONXLUVRALWAYS: “Pouring salt all over the floor”

  SURFERGRLAMB: “Oh me too! I think the teacher is mental.”

  BRONXLUVRALWAYS: “You think he’s mental? What about Mr Wolfshadow? He’s nuts!”

  SURFERGRLAMB: “I don’t think so, I think he’s intense.”

  BRONXLUVRALWAYS: “Are you running a fever? LOL!”

  SURFERGRLAMB: “Ha, ha. Do you want to ride with me tomorrow?”

  BRONXLUVRALWAYS: “Sure, I’ll let Caleb know.”

  As I typed out my text, a friend request from Yournightmare2010 popped up.

  BRONXLUVRALWAYS: “Who is this?”

  YOURNIGHTMARE2010: “Your nightmare.”

  BRONXLUVRALWAYS: “Okay nightmare, I’m hitting the ignore button.”

  YOURNIGHTMARE2010: “Thorne, from school.”

  Thorne, as in unibomber Thorne? No way, how would he get my screenname? It’s someone else trying to be funny.

  BRONXLUVRALWAYS: “Yeah, right.”

  YOURNIGHTMARE2010: “Seriously, it’s me. I don’t know how to prove it. Here, I’ll send you a picture of me.”

  BRONXLUVRALWAYS: “No, send me one of your backpack. That will prove it’s you.”

  I see the flashing message from Amber wanting to know where I’m at. I send her one telling her I’ll BRB.

  The picture Thorne sent was of his shoes and backpack.

  BRONXLURALWAYS: “Okay, I’m convinced. You know I have a boyfriend right?”

  YOURNIGHTMARE2010: “That was pretty clear since you two are connected at the hip. I wanted to know your friend Amber’s phone number or screenname Miss Conceited.”

  I blushed thirty shades of red for saying it and then him shooting me down.

  BRONXLURALWAYS: “OIC - I’ll give you her SN. SURFERGRLAMB. How did you get mine?”

  YOURNIGHTMARE2010: “I have my ways. I’ll ttyl, I want to talk to her before she goes to bed. Do you know if she’s online? Can you send her a text and tell her to get online?”

  Okaaaaay. Weird. He’s so not living up to the bad boy image I have of him. I send her a quick IM and tell her that he’ll be friending her.

  Chapter 6. Secrets

  Mom and I were up early to go eat breakfast together since she will be working at the ER tonight. Amber pulls into the driveway at the same time we do.

  “Good morning Miss Tabitha,” Amber shouts over the rumbling of her Jeep. Today the doors are off the Jeep making me feel exposed. “Where did you two come from? You smell like syrup, did you have pancakes?”

  “Guilty as charged. I brought you a sausage biscuit…two actually,” I hold up the brown paper bag.

  “Genius! You’re the best B, no matter what the other kids say.”

  “What?”

  She pulls out of the neighborhood like we were in a getaway car. I check my backpack to make sure it’s wedged under the back seat. “You’re so gullible; no one has said anything about you. That isn’t totally true. I heard some girls talking about your hair, wondering if you have extensions. It’s your hair right? If not, I look like a total ass. Not that I’m not an ass, but you know what I mean…”

  “Yes, I’m fully aware of your ass gene. Sooooooo, did you talk to him last night?”

  “Oh that, yeah, we talked. We’re picking him up on the way to school.” Amber grins but keeps her head facing forward. We pull into a neighborhood with a discreet sign that simply reads Kings Row. We take the second street on our right, its vast front yards and tall pine trees reminds me why I don’t like cookie cutter houses. They never get the character captured within their walls, not the way a good old-fashioned ranch house. The GPS announces ‘YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR DESTINATION’ just as we pull up to a simple brick house.

  He is standing on the porch with his backpack over his shoulder and impatient expression on his face. I notice he doesn’t have his hoodie on today. His Polo fits him snug, showing off his lack of body fat.

  “Hey, thanks girls. I’l
l jump in the back, you don’t have to move Jessie,” he says and climbs into the backseat.

  Amber tosses the paper bag to Thorne, “we got you some breakfast.”

  I look over at her, and she gives me one of her famous Amber smirks. She did not just give her breakfast to him. It’s moments like these that I wish I had telepathy with her. I am, however, thankful that I don’t have a ticket to her thoughts. I shiver…scary thought.

  Caleb is getting out of his car as we pull into a parking slot. Okay, I did not see that coming. Caleb thinks to me as he approaches my side of the Jeep.

  Me either. I didn’t find out until we were on our way to his house. “Can you help me with my locker? I keep messing up with the combination I guess. I couldn’t ever get it opened up yesterday, remember.”

  Thorne told Amber thank you as he headed off towards the side of the building. Caleb took my hand and led me to my locker. We walked past a girl who looked familiar, but I couldn’t place the face. “Was that girl at your dad’s house?”

  “The girl we just walked past? No, that’s Darla, the girl from Union Point. She’s the preacher’s daughter.”

  Funny how people look so different when they’re wearing a uniform. Gone is her look of superiority, replaced by a look of shyness. “Oh, right. She didn’t have anything to say to us today, now did she? That was a strange day, that owl and the lights…too creepy.” It was the first time that I tried to put out such a powerful light by draining it. I knew that there were nine more lights, so we’d be safe. Instead of putting out one light, all of them went out and I fainted. I’ve never had a problem with fainting before this summer, now I do it about once a week.

  Down the hall, and walking our direction is Mrs. Ward. Her starched white shirt tucked into her black pencil skirt enhanced her thinness. She could pull off the sexy librarian if she’d pull her hair up in a bun and wore some black framed glasses. A couple of weeks ago, I went to her house for lunch. It was there that she told me she is one of the three Fates. I wouldn’t have believed her if she didn’t show me how she is Fate. What is explained off as coincidence is nothing more than Fate stepping into your life’s path and changing it to fulfill another path.

  “How was your first full day of classes? I find it fun to watch the eleventh graders finding out about the alternative classes. Your group is my favorite. I love the healers. Especially your breed of healer. This world needs more of your kind.”

  “I find it hard to believe that all of this was going on right under my nose, and I never suspected it. Teens aren’t very good at keeping secrets, and this one is epic,” Caleb says.

  “Oh that…it’s easy, you take a vow, and it clears up that messy gossiping. Where is Miss Edwards this morning?”

  Every time she talks, it’s as if she has a sinister plan. We tell her Amber went to class; she turns on her heel and walks away.

  “What do you think she wants with Amber? I bet she is ticked off about the lunchroom incident,” I say to Caleb.

  He shrugs his shoulders and walks me to class. Another morning in my secret class, was exactly the same as the day before.

  We passed our salt test and were fitted for custom flashlight holsters. That cracked me up, thinking next we’d be fitted with light vests. The second day in the lunch room was uneventful. Thorne didn’t sit with us, as a matter of fact; I didn’t see him at lunch. Amber said she hadn’t heard from Mrs. Ward but she’d stop by the principal’s office after lunch.

  Chapter 7. Drill

  The tardy bell rings and Mr Wolfshadow closes the door to the room. “Pens and papers out and ready to take notes.” I hadn’t noticed his limp yesterday, but he limped to his desk. He doesn’t look like he’s in pain so I’m guessing it’s an old injury. “Miss Lucente, did you hear me?”

  I look up, caught utterly off guard by the calling of my name. It’s annoying that none of the teachers call me by my first name. “No sir, I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “I asked you what the second question was yesterday. You know those little questions that I wrote on the board for you?” He said sarcastically.

  I flip my notebook to the page I’d written it down on. “Do Light Tamers have to bond before they are 18?”

  “What do you think the answer to that question is?”

  “I think the answer to that question is yes, we do have to bond.”

  “Are you certain? You and Mr Baldwin have bonded, but something happened to you didn’t it? Some type of hiccup and you were bound to another student here.”

  Why is he doing this to me? I’m going to be the freak because I’m bound…this sucks. I’m updating my list tonight. “Yes, I’m certain…well, mostly.”

  “Mostly? Write this down and store the information inside of your brain. I don’t know where, when, or how, the rumors started you have to be bound by your 18 birthday. That is ridiculous. The correct answer to the question is you will be a stronger Tamer if you have bonded. What is true is the fact that you can bond to someone of the same-sex. (Someone in the back row made a sound when he said sex.) Yes, Mr Franks I said sex. You’re a junior in a particularly elite private school, and you still act like you’re 12 when the word sex is said. Give me a break. On with the lecture.” He throws his arms around dramatically making me think of a Kung Fu movie I saw with Caleb. “Students that are bound will have the option to go to the Hidden School of Understanding next year. You have to apply just as you would at any university. I’m getting way ahead of myself. Right now, there is a study that is figuring out the chemistry that exists for those that are bound together. They are using DNA tests that can bring people together and a few other things. You don’t have to worry your little heads about it though. It’s actually quite fascinating.” He stopped and poured himself something to drink out of his thermos. He pulled a small box out of his file cabinet and handed it to a guy that was texting in his lap. “Walk around and hand out one kit to every person in the class with the exception of Miss Lucente and Mr. Baldwin. Each kit comes with a small ink pad, one strip and an area to write your name. You will put your thumbprint in the area that says thumbprint. Write your student I.D. number instead of your name in the area that says name. Once you have done that, take the strip and lick it. You do not need to slobber all over it, just lick it.” The guy in the back that laughed when he said sex, was now holding his hand over his mouth snickering. Boys can be so obnoxious. “Young man, if you cannot control your puerile self, you will be asked to leave and go to see Mrs. Ward. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get through today’s lesson before class is over.”

  “Yes sir.” The boy replied sheepishly.

  “In case, any of you aren’t sure what end to lick, it’s the one that says saliva. As soon as you’re finished, make sure to put the strip back inside the test tube it came from. Miss Edwards, I need you and Mr Cho to take the box of strips to Mrs. Ward. You will be given 4 minutes to complete the task.”

  I can almost guess what Amber wants to say right now. I bet she is cussing some serious foul language in her head. I turned to see Caleb’s face and can tell he is thinking the same thing I am.

  During the four minutes we all talked to each other. Caleb and the guy in front of him were talking about going to the gym and lifting weights. That reminded me that I’m supposed to go to the athletic department and sign up for the weight lifting class. Caleb was on it last year and wants me to join this year. It’s a good idea since I haven’t signed up for tennis.

  A loud boom goes off, and the room is covered in darkness. A cacophony of shrills and panic spread instantly. It couldn’t have been more than fifteen seconds and half the class had their flashlights out and shining. One girl up front starts crying and chanting a spell or a prayer. Caleb reaches over to hold my hand, assuring me everything is fine.

  “I wonder if Amber is in the hallway?” I look over at Caleb, and he’s worried for her too.

  “Everyone, settle down. The emergency system is being activated. Do not move from yo
ur seats,” Mr Wolfshadow demands.

  As he talks, a light in each corner of the room came on. They blinked like a strobe light on slow motion. If there were more lights, it would have felt like a 1980’s disco. They did have disco in the 80’s didn’t they?

  The door flies open, and a frazzled Amber comes in. She rushes over to sit down, and I can see she’s upset.

  “What happened?” Caleb asks.

  “I’ve no idea. We were walking down the hall, and the next thing you know; it was pitch black in the hall. I had my flashlight, but he didn’t, and he was freaking the freak out.” Amber’s hand was trembling as she held up her flashlight. “I was trying to keep him calm and get us back in here.”

  I look around the room and see some kids have their flashlight app on their phone turned on. Oddly enough, Mr Wolfshadow is cool as a cucumber. My grandma always uses that saying. “Caleb, look at him, he isn’t doing anything. Do you think this is a drill?”

  “Everyone, you need to calm down. As you can see, our back-up generators are on, and the lights are working properly. I’ve received a message that an announcement will be coming soon. Stay seated, and keep your flashlights accessible.”

  Thorne turns around and gives Amber a thumbs up sign.

  “You don’t have anything to do with this do you Amb?” I whisper to her.

  “Hell no, you’re a turd for even asking me.” We all jump when we hear a hullabaloo outside of our door.

  The door swings open, and a tall man in a red suit stumbles in. He’s probably the same age as my grandma; he would look younger if he didn’t have a comb over hairdo. “Jesus! Can it be more chaotic? Where is the control panel? Where?” He is undeniably from New Jersey by his accent.

  “The control panel is in the next room.”

  “To hell it is, this is 26 B and the panel is in here.” He walks across the room towards Caleb and me. I do my best to slink down in my chair and blend in with the desk. He pulls out a piece of chalk and draws a square on the wall. Before my brain can actually process what I’m seeing, a door appears. The door is no bigger than a medicine cabinet, but the jumble of wires looks never-ending.