Soul Control

by C. Elizabeth

  “Has it ever been done?”

  “No, most around here believe it’s bottomless and goes clear to the other side of the world.”

  “Do you believe that?”

  “No, it’s just really deep. Honestly, what difference would it make if it did? All I know is I like it there in the winter when it’s deserted and I have it all to myself. That’s when it’s peaceful and quiet.”

  “So I take it you’re not much of a partier and prefer books?” he asked, bringing focus back to my earlier misconduct.

  There would be no answer for him on the second half of his question. It was already embarrassing enough, and besides, if I ignored it, it didn’t happen...right? “I don’t like drinking that much. I will if I’m in the mood, but to me, it’s just not worth four days of torture afterward. How ‘bout you?”

  “Four days? I definitely wouldn’t like that either. I’ve been known for drinking, but Job and Joshua can drink anyone under the table.” He shrugged, yanking a red leaf from a tree as we passed.

  “Are you going to answer my question?”

  From the corner of my eyes I could see him raise an eyebrow. “Which question?”

  “You told me you moved here because of your dad’s work, but neglected to tell me where you moved from.”

  “Wow! My apologies, how rude. We’re from British Columbia.”

  “British Columbia is a pretty big place.”

  “Yes it is.” He chuckled. “Victoria on the Island.”

  I looked at him. “I think your dad should have a chat with his bosses about what is an acceptable transfer, because you guys just traded down.”

  He busted out laughing. “I’ll let him know.”

  Bending down a little, he pointed while his breath warmed my ear and heart. “That house would be so beautiful if it were done up,” he whispered, then straightened up and rubbed his chin, taking a good look around. “Actually, the majority of these houses could use some updating.”

  I sighed. “I told you...you traded down. But in all seriousness, this town isn’t a town you would see in those magazines, with gingerbread houses and quaint train stations. Most of it’s rundown, but there’s hope. For the past few years people have started taking better care and it’s not as bad as it was before.” I smiled. “The one good thing is, we’re surrounded by the clearest and most beautiful lakes in Canada. Town Hall finally decided to revitalize Main Street to attract the summer tourists from the lakes. It’s been a slow process, but it’s getting there.”

  As we crossed the street, I pointed. “I’m going that way.”

  “Where? Through the park?” he inquired.

  “Mm-hm.” There was only one light on by the swings and dusk was upon us. “Over there, on the edge of the park, are the woods. A few hundred meters in, the path takes me one of two ways; the left path takes me through and out, to home; the right path leads to the swimming hole.”

  The way he suddenly stopped had me thinking he didn’t want to go any farther. So to let him off the hook I said, “I’m okay from here. Maybe you should head back, you might get lost going home.”

  A snort came from under his breath. Uh oh, I’d insulted him! “I don’t offer to walk a lady home, then dump her halfway there. I was simply wondering why you would cut through the woods like that, and especially if you were by yourself?”

  Such a gentleman. I shrugged. “It cuts about twenty minutes off my way home, and I’m used to it.”

  Animatedly he pointed and with a crazy accent said, “Okay, then lead on, my fair lady, through the woods.”

  Heading toward the path, he stayed close to my side, allowing me to take in the wonderful aroma that emanated from him, and also leaving me wanting, very much, for him to hold my hand. He was, well...yummy!

  When we reached the edge of the path, the trees began to sway in the wind, giving the air an eerie feel. I pulled my jacket tighter and much to my excitement, Nathanael obliged me with more than just a hand hold. He immediately wrapped his arm around my shoulder, drawing me against him. “You look frozen. You should have let me drive you.”

  We were so close, I could feel his heartbeat pulse with mine, and the warmth radiating from him cuddled me up all snug and warm, like a protective shield from the wind and cold. “Thank you,” I said, meaning it.

  He chuckled. “Don’t mention it.”

  The trees got thicker and a couple twigs snapped from unknown sources just to the left of us. Nathanael jerked to a stop, holding me tighter, yet shielding me back a bit behind him.

  “Nathanael, I thin...”

  He put his index finger to his puckered lips, making me freeze in place. A heavier rustling, low to the ground came from just in front of us. Nathanael’s muscles flexed and our bodies melded together as my fear vanished, because where I was...it was completely safe.

  A nervous chuckle jumped from his throat when a deer stepped out from the brush. It turned its head and looked directly at us, then curled up on the path, blocking our way. “Looks like someone doesn’t want us to go any farther.” He smiled down at me, and even though there was no danger, he didn’t let me go.

  “Shoo!” I waved the backs of my hand at it—a small gust of wind picked up a handful of leaves, rolling them toward the deer, and eventually resting under its neck. It didn’t even so much as blink. “Go away!” I shouted out a little louder. The deer cranked its neck and looked at me, like it was asking, “What are you doing, you nut?”

  Nathanael laughed, then shot a quick nod off to the side. The deer looked behind it, turned back, then stood and continued on its way. Nathanael, rubbed the top of my arm. “Shall we continue? Are you warm?”

  “Yes,” I answered to both questions.

  “Come on, let’s get you home.”

  ~ * ~

  The front porch light was on when we came up the walk, but the rest of the house was dark. Digging in my knapsack to find my keys, I said, “Mom went out for dinner.” Of course my keys wouldn’t co-operate. “Darn it!”

  Taking it gently from my hand, he held it up. “Is it okay?”

  “Sure.”

  He reached in my bag without any scouring and yanked out my keys, then smiled, all proud of himself. “May I?” he asked, holding them toward the door.

  I stepped aside, allowing him to be as gentlemanly as he wanted.

  The key slid easily into the lock and the dead bolt let go—normally it groaned and resisted, taking me three or four tries. The boy had the touch. After pushing the door open, he stepped back and presented my things to me with a bow.

  “Miss.”

  “Thank you.” I took my belongings from him.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Nathanael was a boy who held a lot of secrets and mystery, yet it felt like I had known him my whole life and felt if he wasn’t part of it, it wouldn’t be complete. It was a whole new feeling, unlike anything before—Nathanael managed to cuddle up into my heart.

  Six

  Nathanael insisted he wasn’t leaving until he heard the deadbolt lock, making me close the door on him. When it was secure, I stood on my tippy toes, peeking out the window and watched him as he stepped out onto the main sidewalk. Then, with no warning, he turned around right under the street light, and before I could duck, smiled and winked.

  Pitching my back against the door, I threw my hand up to my mouth to stifle my giggle. My legs floated me down the hallway to the kitchen. He was very much with me—his scent, his voice, his heartbeat—everything about him infiltrated my mind, making it difficult to focus on anything but him.

  I was over the top!

  Throwing my keys on the kitchen counter, I rummaged through the fridge, trying to get control of my senses. He was so cute! Mental note: Shave legs and pits. My plan was to eat something quick, then maybe catch up on my fun reading in a nice hot bath, hopefully hiding from the ever-present Nathanael.

  ~ * ~

  Our house was probably one hundred years old with two small bedrooms on the left an
d a full bathroom in between. We had to cut through the living room at the front of the house to get to them. The kitchen was in the back and had a half bathroom near the porch. It was just me and Mom to look after the old place, and we did the best we could by painting the wood siding when it was needed—things like that. It did need new windows, as the winters were really cold, especially in my room, with chilly drafts. But I loved our little house with its huge back yard.

  The tomato sandwich didn’t really hit the spot, but at least it filled the hole. After turning the water on for my bath, I poured in some of my favorite smelly salts, then submerged into the heat. The first initial plan didn’t work. Instead of picking up my book, I laid back and closed my eyes to see Nathanael there, his perfect smile, his beautiful eyes... Oh, he really was quite handsome! Something about him was much more appealing than his brothers, even though they all looked exactly alike, other than the color of their eyes.

  For the rest of that night my mind kept wandering—he was hoarding every one of my thoughts and it was beginning to get on my nerves! Some brain-dead TV shows were in order, but that attempt didn’t work, either. It was driving me crazy! The feelings that were springing forward were new for me, because there had never been an opportunity before to feel what I was feeling. The mystery of who he was, the excitement to see him again...all the boys in my life were open books; we’d grown up together and there wasn’t anything exciting about them.

  “Get outta my head!” I yelled out to an empty room. Oh great! Now I’m really loony.

  ~ * ~

  Mom breezed in around ten in her usual graceful way. Whenever she entered a room, it was almost like she floated in, making her presence known in a nice way and it never ceased to amaze me how people always flocked to her. Mom had the uncanny ability to make people feel good just by talking to them, or maybe it had something to do with her long, shiny blonde hair, or her curves, or maybe it was simply her baby blues?

  “Hi honey,” she greeted me.

  “Hi, Mom. What did Pat have to say?” Pat, the resident gossip, always made for a fun conversation between me and Mom.

  She kissed my cheek. “Oh, you know Pat! She had a lot to whine about—not enough money, no time to do anything. You know, the usual.” She moved into the kitchen. “Anyway how was your day? How did your test go?”

  “I feel good about the test and the day really was uneventful until after school.” Following her, I sat at the table.

  She plugged the teakettle in, turned and frowned in curiosity. “Why? What happened after school?”

  I told her the whole story about Sloppy’s and the new kids. She smiled in a funny way while I described Nathanael and what a gentleman he was. However, I left out the weird stuff like the drawing and the intense feelings the triplets gave me, only mentioning that at first they gave me a slight case of the willies. Mom was a big believer in intuition and if she knew the whole story, she’d worry.

  “You already seem smitten with this young man.” Her voice shook a little, like it did when she was concerned about something.

  Shy-like, I said, “Maybe.”

  Giving me a sideway glimpse, she pulled a cup from the cupboard. “I did hear about the new people moving into the old Winslow house.”

  It made me giggle, talking about a boy. “I’m sure Pat had a lot to say about them.”

  Mom laughed. “Yes, you would think so, but I didn’t hear it from her. Father Lacombe was the one who told me. He also joined us for dinner.”

  “Oh, cool.”

  With the tea cup safely on the table, she sat across from me. “We ran into him just as we were going in and asked him to join us.”

  “Did he know more about them?”

  She shrugged. “Not much, but he has met Mr. Braxton and his three boys. They’ve had a rough go of it. The boys’ mother abandoned them when they were only a month old and Mr. Braxton has raised them with no help ever since. To me, that seems like a very commendable thing. Father Lacombe said they seemed to be a very loving and nice family.”

  Poor Nathanael. “I couldn’t imagine how that would make me feel, going through life thinking your own mom didn’t want you.” That explained why he changed the subject so fast when we talked about my dad. He didn’t want me asking questions about his mom.

  “See honey, it’s a good thing you didn’t judge them just because they were having a party their first night in their new home. You never know what has happened in someone’s life to make them who they are, and only until you know them completely will you understand.”

  If she only knew the whole story. Mom was always very reflective when it came to people. Judging someone and listening to intuition were two very different, but substantial things.

  She giggled. “Okay, it’s ten-thirty, time for bed. You have to be up early.”

  All in all it was a good day, and hopefully the rest of the weekend would be too. Lugging my bones off the chair, I kissed Mom goodnight.

  “Good night, sweetheart,” she said.

  The idea of sleep was suddenly very appealing.

  ~ * ~

  ...“Capture it, Saydi!” Mom yelled from across the swimming hole, but I could barely hear her because of the wind.

  “Capture what?” I screamed. The air was heavy with a suffocating fear that sat heavy on my chest. The taste of lead saturated my mouth, drying it up.

  Mom’s hair whipped around behind her, waves crashed against the shore from the strength of the gale force...yet the wind didn’t touch me. She turned her attention to the side and my gaze followed hers. Nathanael stood alone, watching us with no expression. He lifted his arms, palms out, then closed his eyes.

  “Saydi!” Mom shrieked frantically. “Capture it!”

  In a panic, I looked around the whole parameter, searching for whatever it was she wanted me to capture. A deer drank water at the furthest edge of the pond unaware of the mayhem going on. Looking back to Mom, I asked, pointing, “That?”

  Mom didn’t hear me. She was watching Nathanael, only Nathanael wasn’t alone anymore. Job and Joshua were on each side of him with a taller person standing behind them, one whom I couldn’t quite make out. All three held that same stance as Nathanael. Their lips were moving quickly, saying something I couldn’t hear.

  Then...Nathanael snapped his head at me, his green/blue eyes wide and crisp as he curled his lips into a crooked grin, bearing his teeth, menacingly. “You’re too late!”

  ~ * ~

  Bolting up, I grabbed my chest and with shaking hands wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead. The thickness of my blood pounded against my head with each thump. I was breathing so fast it took concentration to slow it down. Eventually I threw myself back down on the pillow, grasping my hair back. The dream replayed over and over, especially the look on Nathanael’s face.

  It scared me.

  For a few minutes I stared at the ceiling and waited for the hammering to stop and when it finally did, a glass of water sounded really good. Getting up, I turned my doorknob, but before it was open all the way, voices could be heard coming from the kitchen.

  “John, it can’t be happening!” Mom sounded like she was crying.

  A deep, calming voice drifted to my ear. “I know this is difficult, Adina. However, I need you to be strong.”

  Mom quietly burst out crying. My first response was to walk out there, but something about the way he spoke to her made me stop.

  “Shhhh, Adina, I hate to see you cry.”

  Her voice was muffled. “I know.”

  The soothing voice said, “It’s been just as hard on me, being away from you. But it was the only way, you know that.”

  She stuttered the words. “I-I know.”

  Then he abruptly said, “I must go. We’ll see each other soon.” There was a pause and something that sounded like...a kiss?

  “Bye,” Mom whispered.

  There was no sound of a door opening or closing, nothing except the kitchen light turning off. I closed my door quiet
ly and crawled back into bed. Who was John? And why was he visiting Mom so late?

  I smiled. It seemed Mom may have a boyfriend, but what did he mean ‘it was the only way?’ The thought that he was married popped into my head. Nah! Mom would never be a mistress. Hmm...it seemed we had our very own mystery happening. Wouldn’t it be great if both Mom and I had boyfriends at the same time? Yay us!

  I couldn’t imagine how I was going to sleep, but sleep I did.

  ~ * ~

  While Mom set about making poached eggs, the memory of the mysterious Mr. John was eating at me. I had to know. “Who’s John?”

  Mom dropped the spatula. “Um, what do you mean?”

  Interesting reaction.

  “Mom, I heard you talking to him last night, and why was he here so late?”

  “Saydi, it’s rude to eavesdrop like that!”

  The fact that her defenses went up alerted a little more suspicion. “It wasn’t intentional. I had a bad dream and wanted a glass of water.”

  She ignored me.

  “Well?”

  “He’s just a friend who works in a different country and when he’s able to stop in, he does.”

  “Ohh!” I exaggerated, funning with her.

  “That’s all it is, Saydi! Nothing more!” she yelled with dark mad face, as I had come to call it. It was the one that meant it was the end of the discussion, and very likely the topic would be tossed into the ocean of never to be talked about again. Knowing that, I changed the subject and began to tell her about the dream.

  “It wasn’t really what happened that was so odd, but rather the feeling around it. Mom, it was almost like being terrorized. Time was against us in every way. I remember even hearing my heart and I don’t know how that could be with the amount of wind.”

  The muscles in her back tightened, then shuddered. “Wind? How much?”

  “It was like a huge windstorm! Your hair was flying everywhere, and there were waves on the swimming hole... I’ve never seen that before. But it was funny, because the wind was whirring around like crazy, yet I couldn’t feel it.”