Shine: The Knowing Ones

by Amy Freeman

  Anna stared, eyes gleaming with a wide smile. “When do you see him again?”

  Sam handed her the note. She opened it up and read it—her smile widening, followed by a squeal. “This is so much more than awesome,” she beamed. “If you need me to be scarce I’ll be scarce. Vig is doing a small gig tonight so I won’t be here anyway.” She sat up. “But if you guys want to come we’ll be at the Pub.”

  Sam gave a shy smile and glanced at the floor. “I’ll let you know,” she said.

  Anna squealed again, grabbing Sam’s shoulders.

  “Speaking of being scarce,” Sam said, fighting off the assault, “We should get going. My first class is in a half hour.”

  “Oh!” Anna jumped up. “I forgot about the time. Okay,” she said leaping up, running over to Sam and wrapping her arms around her. “I am so happy for you!”

  “Thanks.”

  “Okay, see you at lunch? I’m done at 11:30—are you done by then?”

  “My break is at 11:15.”

  “Okay,” Anna said. “Wait for me. I’ll meet you in front of the dance building.” She squealed once more and bolted out the door leaving Sam in a daze on her bed.

  She glanced at the note lying on the bed where Anna had left it. She picked it up, read it again and folded it in her fists against her chest. She couldn’t stop smiling.

  Dark haze clouded his sight; just as it had every other time he attempted his search. He hovered in the fabric of consciousness gazing into the future, but not finding what he searched for. He couldn’t imagine anything powerful enough to keep her off his radar, except the Divinity. No. They wouldn’t interfere. Not with this.

  She was Veduny. It had always been so easy for a Veduny to see another; absolutely infuriating. He glanced down. On the floor lay his body, still as the dead on the thick animal skin covering the floor of the deep alcove where he hid. His stark, black hair, his strong build, one might think he was in a deep sleep. He floated above it in astral projection. Black magic was a beautiful thing. It tore so many convenient loop holes into universal law.

  But his frustration mounted. The new Keeper had come of age long ago and the Oracle was still nowhere to be found. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Until he actually saw her aura he could do nothing.

  As soon as he found her the final process could begin. But he was beginning to wonder if he ever would. He was forced to track her Keeper through a murky haze. He floated in limbo, fury growing, relentlessly scanning the future, following the Keeper. His complex, negative energy grew in strength as his patience continued to dwindle.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Okay,” Sam said. “Check this one. Did I do it right?”

  Trin looked up from his own studies and pulled her paper toward him across the library table. With a quick glance, he nodded, “Very good. It’s perfect.”

  Sam stared. “You barely even looked at it.”

  “It’s right. I’ve seen that one a million times.” He continued working on his own assignment. Sam glowered at him, confounded by his powerful mind. A familiar disturbance snagged her attention. She glanced up. Trin felt it too, turning his head. About five tables away, Erika Torbin took a seat, placing her bag on the floor emanating her own beautiful radiance discolored by negative darkness.

  Sam watched, inclining her head toward Trin. “That girl is a dancer. She lives in my dorm,” she said. “That dark energy hangs on her day and night. It never leaves. I’m wondering if she has an overbearing parent pushing for perfection or something.”

  “It’s not a parent.”

  Sam turned at Trin’s sudden intensity. “What is it?” she asked.

  “It’s her boyfriend.”

  Sam looked back at Erika in shock. “Ryan? He’s a linebacker on the football team.”

  Trin’s ice eyes gleamed. “She’s not safe.”

  Erika began digging through her book bag pulling out a cell phone.

  Sam and Trin glanced at one another as the darkness in Erika’s aura increased. Gripping the phone she answered the call, speaking in a hushed tone. Tension spiked the environment. A young man at an adjacent table lifted his eyes, disrupted by the call. Erika stood, still whispering, still frantic.

  “It’s him,” Sam said.

  Trin nodded once. “Yeah, and I’m willing to bet he’s right outside.

  Erika grabbed her books without taking the time to put them back in her bag. She hurried toward the stairs, still whispering frantically into her phone.

  Sam looked at Trin in desperation.

  “Let’s go.” He shoved his chair away from the table. Springing to their feet, they packed their bags as quickly as they could and took to Erika’s trail. Sam cringed at the energy—pure fear. “She’s terrified, Trin.”

  Trin grabbed her hand, picking up speed. “She’s still inside. You can feel her, right?”

  “Yes.”

  When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Erika was nowhere to be found. Trin scanned the energy on the first floor. “She’s outside.”

  Trin was right. Sam couldn’t feel anything. They raced through the first level of the library and reached the exit. Trin shoved through the double glass doors. It didn’t take long to find them. He had been right outside waiting for her.

  Trin held a hand to Sam, keeping her back while reading Ryan. A Russian curse escaped under his breath.

  “What is it?” Sam asked.

  “He’s juicing.”

  Sam’s head snapped back to the couple in alarm. Erika tried without success to reason with Ryan, but each attempt just made him angrier. She cowered in front of him. Trin tensed. “He’s going to hurt her.” Releasing Sam’s hand, he launched forward toward the couple, but Sam pulled him back flying forward with his determination. He glanced over his shoulder, features colored in a comical combination of irritation and concern.

  “Wait,” she said. “Let me do it.”

  Trin turned, tilting his head to one side. “Are you out of your mind?” he said. “There is no way in hell I’m letting you go anywhere near that guy.”

  “If you go over, it will turn into a fight and he’ll make her pay for it later when no one else is around,” Sam said. “And if you end up fighting it could cause trouble for you on the swim team.”

  Trin shot a glance from Sam to Erika in indecision.

  “Please Trin. I know what I’m doing.”

  With another curse he folded his arms across his chest. He knew she was right.

  “Be careful,” Trin said. “He’s unstable, Sam. If he makes one move I’m coming over.”

  She nodded, taking a deep breath. She turned and hurried toward the fighting couple.

  Ryan trembled with anger, an explosive glare flashing in Sam’s direction as she approached. Sam continued forward, undeterred. From behind her, she could feel Trin bristle.

  “Hey Erika,” she said. She nodded at Ryan and turned back to Erika. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  Ryan seethed, glaring at Sam. “Hey—we were talking...”

  Sam’s eyes gleamed. Her tiny frame didn’t budge as she ignored his massive physique looking him square in the eyes. “It’s just that Jana has changed the choreography in her piece and she wants to meet now to make the changes.”

  He squinted, eyes glinting. “Well she’s gonna have to wait.”

  Erika shot Sam an anxious look warning her that now was probably not the best time.

  Sam didn’t flinch, squaring her tiny shoulders against the mammoth football player.

  “I told Jana I would bring her back with me.”

  But Ryan was now looking past her. “What’s his problem?” he demanded.

  Sam shot a look back at Trin and turned back to Ryan. He squinted in Trin’s direction for a better look. “Is that Trin Kosolov?” he asked, jubilance ringing in his voice.

  Sam froze. He wanted to fight Trin. He wasn’t thinking about football, school, or anything except putting Trin Kosolov, the champion swimmer, in his place. If T
rin wanted a fight he’d be happy to give it to him.

  He shoved past Sam to face Trin. The sun had been shining in an Indian summer sky—only a few sparse clouds scattered about. But the moment Ryan pushed Sam two things happened simultaneously. Trin’s arms uncrossed, shooting down to his sides in powerful fists, a flash of white igniting his aura. The few clouds above increased, stretching, expanding, the sky darkening in a matter of seconds.

  Sam and Erika glanced to the sky, then to each other, stunned.

  Ryan didn’t seem to notice. “You wanna go, Kosolov?”

  Trin stood, silent, eyes gleaming, waiting.

  Sam watched as a brilliant sheen of white exploded around him, this time locking in place. A blinding shield of light filled his aura, powerfully beautiful, yet cresting with fury. Sam grabbed Erika’s trembling hand, staring at Trin in an effort to dissuade him, but it was as if she were no longer there. A quiet rage rolled beneath the surface of his engaging stare, and for the first time in his presence, Sam was afraid.

  A dark blanket of clouds now covered the sky, heavier, almost palpable, as a powerful ionic charge spun in the dampening air. The previously sunny ground was now coated in dark shadows as the sun disappeared behind the clouds.

  Sam watched the bewildering phenomenon. A flicker of golden blue heat intermingled with the brewing storm. Eyes wide, her jaw dropped. Lightening fractured the sky and thunder crashed. Trin was causing the storm.

  The clouds rolled and churned, dark, thick, and full of water as both powerful young men stood facing off. The first drop fell, then another. Trin’s countenance had changed.

  He had changed; his visage warrior-like, fearless. If these two fought, one of them might die. And it wouldn’t be Trin.

  Ryan glanced to the shifting skies, then back to Trin. The rain had finally caught his attention, but it was the look in Trin’s eyes that had him thinking twice; utter calm, no fear. Not a single trace of it. Trin’s rage manifested in the most intimidating way—silent, pure, unadulterated confidence. He would end this—just waiting for Ryan to say when.

  Ryan glanced to the sky, then at Trin, and backed down.

  Rain poured. Sam tightened her grip on Erika’s hand and made a beeline for Trin’s truck. Ryan had taken off in the opposite direction.

  Trin stood unmoving as the rain drenched him from head to toe, his now soaking shirt clinging to his majestic form. How was he going to explain this?

  The girls waited for him in his truck. He could feel Sam’s frantic questions searing into him from across the parking lot. She knew he had caused the storm. He felt it the moment it registered. He turned, making his way toward his truck. It was going to be a long night.

  Sam and Trin walked Erika into the dorm building. On the way over, Sam had been with her in the back of the truck, trying to convince her she wasn’t safe.

  “He’s using steroids, Erika. Do you know how dangerous that is, for you and him?”

  Erika remained quiet, pain and humiliation flaring in her aura. Sam made eye contact with Trin through the rearview mirror. Erika wasn’t the only one not talking. Trin had asked Erika if she was all right once he made it to his truck, but went mute after receiving her answer—too busy thinking of ways to get out of explaining the magic water works outside the library.

  He hadn’t said a word. She would deal with him later.

  “How long have you two been together?” Sam asked.

  “Eight months,” Erika said, hugging herself. She trembled, but not from the cold.

  Sam leaned forward. “Trin, do you have a blanket or something?”

  “I should have a sweatshirt back there.”

  Sam surveyed the backseat finding a black and red Ute hoodie on the floor. Erika began to object, not wanting to impose.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Warm up, you’re soaked.”

  Sam handed the hoodie to Erika, focusing on Trin in the rearview mirror. His eyes remained on the road.

  Erika wrapped her arms around her newly warmed body in Trin’s sweatshirt and glanced down. “Thanks, Trin.”

  “Of course,” he said. His light eyes flashed in her direction through the mirror. “You’ve gotta get away from him, Erika. He’s really messed up.”

  She squirmed in her seat looking at the floor. “He wasn’t always like this,” she said. “He changed over the summer. He suddenly got really mean and impatient. Little things began to bother him.”

  Trin looked up. “About the same time he got all cut, right?”

  Erika glanced out the window through streaks of rain. “Look, I know it’s bad,” she said. “He got all stressed at the beginning of the summer. He kept saying he had to turn it up a notch to keep his competitive edge. I didn’t know at first what was going on.” She looked up again with the same desperate expression. “When I finally figured it out he was already a different person and every time I try to tell him how dangerous it is he just freaks out on me,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

  “He’s always on edge. I feel like I’m walking on eggshells all the time.”

  Sam put an arm around Erika as she and Trin exchanged glances in the mirror.

  “You can’t live like that, Erika” Sam said. “He needs help, and so do you. It’s not going to get better. It’s going to get worse.”

  Trin pulled the truck into student housing, found an empty stall and parked. Evening settled over the campus as the sun dissolved into a pin point of light and vanished. Turning the ignition off, Trin wrapped an arm around the passenger seat, looking over his shoulder at Erika.

  “We understand the pressure that comes with competing,” he said. “Being an athlete at this level can be brutal. We all feel it. But there are healthy ways and destructive ways of staying on top of your game. Ryan’s a good player. I know who he is. There’s no reason for him to do what he’s doing. But he’s gotta figure that out, and you can’t go down with him,” he said. “Ryan is dangerous. He nearly hit you today.”

  Erika looked to the floor, helpless.

  “You know,” Trin said, “society has a pretty skewed perception of women. It’s kind of one of my hot buttons. Your hanging on comes from a good place, but it’s not helping him. It is only destroying you. Some relationships are toxic from the start and they don’t ever improve.”

  Erika stared at the floor, consumed by indecision. A fleeting moment of glimmering light filled Trin’s eyes. Sam suppressed a gasp as the mysterious white aura reappeared around him, gleaming in a full body halo, this time minus the fury.

  The energy extended out from Trin, enshrouding Erika, spilling all around her, filling her soul until it shone in her eyes, merging with her injured energy, and for a fleeting moment, replacing it. “You do have a choice,” he said.

  Trin maintained the exchange for a moment longer and released her. Erika sat stunned, unsure of what had just taken place.

  Her face fell to her hands and she began to cry. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  T rin and Sam made sure Erika’s roommates were home before leaving, knowing there was a good chance she would get right on the phone to Ryan if she were left alone.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Sam said.

  “Okay.” Erika glanced at Trin. “Thanks again,” she said, an element of wonder in her eyes.

  “Anytime,” he said.

  Erika lowered her head and closed the door. Trin stood, staring. “She’s still stuck,” he sighed. “He’s addicted to the juice and she’s addicted to him.” He ran his fingers through his wet hair and exhaled.

  Heated energy stabbed at him from two feet away. He glanced up, catching Sam from the corner of his eye staring with unapologetic expectancy.

  With a muted Russian curse—he lifted his vibrant eyes to hers, having no idea what to say.

  Sam glanced down the hall toward her dorm. “Come in for a while.”

  “I’m soaked.”

  “Me too.”

  They stared at
each other, a battle of will raging. With a defiant glance at the wall, Trin surrendered, following Sam down the hall. She unlocked the door and went in. Trin entered behind her and closed the door as she flipped the light on—the room quiet and empty.

  He glanced around. “Where’s Anna?”

  “She’s with Vig. He’s playing tonight.”

  Trin nodded.

  “They were actually hoping we’d meet up with them,” Sam added. She set her bag on the table and turned to face him.

  Silence.

  “What’s going on, Trin?” she asked.

  He glanced down, jaw tight.

  She moved closer. “You gotta give me something,”

  Nothing. Thick, dark lashes blocked the obstinacy in his eyes.

  “No?” she asked. “Okay. Your aura turned white when you saw Ryan. You were angry and it turned white. That’s the second time I’ve seen it and I’ve never seen that before.”

  His light eyes flashed past her to the wall—stubborn, silent.

  “You then transferred some of that same energy to Erika.”

  “Anybody can share energy. People do it all the time.”

  “Not consciously.” Sam maintained a hardened, defiant gaze.

  Trin threw it right back.

  She moved toward him, desperate. “You caused that rainstorm,” she said. Your energy was everywhere. I can see everything you do, Trin. You say your abilities are just like mine, but they’re not. I have no idea what you’re doing most of the time, but I can see it. You know I can see it and you don’t hide it from me. You just keep working which makes me think that on some level you want me to know, almost like you wished I knew.”

  She lifted a hand. “I know you can explain everything that’s happening to me. My whole body feels it every time you’re around, even when you’re not. My life has turned upside down and I am convinced you know why.”

  She grabbed his hands. “Why won’t you tell me—“

  “I am trying to protect you, Sam.”

  Trin’s eyes flashed with ferocity—a strict command to let the subject drop.