by Roxie Spears
“I’m sorry.” Despite having mended their relationship, the niece and uncle duo still bickered. They both had a lot to say; they were loud and bold. Jasmin was growing more and more to resemble him each day; he was a father to her. “Well, what did Maggy think?”
There was a pause. Jasmin knew what that meant. “I never saw her again, how would I know? But she seemed scared, very scared.”
“See, that’s exactly my point. People get scared of us, when they realize what we are.”
“They get scared because we’re powerful. You should never be ashamed of your power, Jasmin. If anything no one is worthy of who you are.”
Jasmin’s lips curved to a smile. She then felt relieved, if only for a moment. She knew she still had a long way to go, but she was ready for it.
Colt drove until sunset, eventually stopping at a diner near midnight. “How much longer do we have left?” Jasmin asked him, biting into a pastrami sandwich, staring at the frosted windows. The place was eerie, almost deserted, but she wasn’t worried. Wherever she went, she thought she would carry her uncle’s words with her.
It wasn’t long before they were on the road again. “Aren’t you tired?” she asked, sipping on some Coke.
“Extremely,” he replied, his eyelids heavy. “Wanna drive for a bit?”
In the corner of her eye Jasmin could see that Colt was still asleep. His head was tossed back and his mouth was wide open, and he had been snoring. Jasmin smiled to herself, realizing they were almost there. She didn’t really know where she was going, but the map led the way. Finally she found herself at the entrance of a forest; she took the detour, allowing the trees to suck them in again.
Forests had a strange presence. They were like a world on their own, not very inviting. But to them, they were. Colt’s Jeep disappeared into an entanglement of branches and leaves. It rumbled down the road, waking him up. He held his head up with a sudden snort, looking all around him. “I think we’re almost there,” Jasmin said stomping the gas pedal, the car struggling to cut through the forest.
“Didn’t I tell you to wake me up in two hours?” Colt asked, glaring at her. “I didn’t want you driving all the way up here. Here, let me drive.”
Jasmin smirked, getting out of the car and walking around to the passenger seat. She had been nervous the whole way there, but she was good at hiding it. The closer they got, the more queasy Jasmin felt.
“They don’t know that we’re coming, they don’t know that we’re coming,” Colt said. He was hunched in his seat, shoulders slumped forward, smiling widely.
“Where do they live?” Jasmin asked him. They were going deeper and deeper into the woods, eventually stopping. Colt turned off the engine and turned to her.
“Their cabin lies south,” he says, pointing in a seemingly vague direction. “They’ve been living in isolation for quite some time. I don’t think they’ve ever gotten any visitors.”
“Well they’ll be quite surprised to see us here. I hope they don’t shoot us,” Jasmin scoffed.
Colt frowned. He looked around him, suddenly feeling uneasy. “Listen, I want you to stay in the car while I check it out,” he murmured, popping the door open and sneaking up hill. They were parked at the bottom of a flowery hillside; Jasmin felt uneasy as Colt made his way towards his brother’s cabin, which was supposedly nested on top.
He disappeared. Jasmin just sat there with her arms crossed, watching the leaves rustle in the breeze. The sun illuminated her surroundings, rendering the place a romantic meadow. The minutes passed, and Jasmin was growing more and more worried. The sound of Colt’s footsteps had grown distant, fading to dead silence. He had instructed her not to get out of the car, but she couldn’t stand to sit around like that. After a few minutes of contemplation Jasmin, too, got out of the car and began marching uphill.
She heard a lot of rustling, and wherever she looked there was a squirrel or some other animal scurrying across. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she was powerful. A murmuring wriggled into her ears the closer she came to the top. She recognized Colt’s voice, which brought her relief. She also heard a patting and the noise of rustling fabric. She peaked from behind a tree, observing her two uncles exchanging a long hug.
A warmth radiated through her. Facing her was Gerald, whose face was buried in his brother’s shoulder. As Jasmin drew nearer she stepped on a twig, and that was when Gerald’s eyes snapped towards her. He cocked what appeared to be a shotgun, but Jasmin didn’t move. She froze in her place while Colt waved his hands in the air, getting in his brother’s way.
Immediately Gerald lowered his weapon and tilted his head to the side. Jasmin felt like crying. That was her cue to run towards him in dramatic entrance, but she was too shy, walking wearily towards the brothers, her hands stuffed deep into her pockets.
“Oh my God,” she heard Gerald breathe, walking towards her. Jasmin’s heart was racing; as she scurried in her uncle’s direction she noticed a family of four peering at them from the window. “This is, this is Beth,” he pointed before wrapping his arms around her.
She drank him in, closing her eyes and exhaling heavily. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she was a part of something. She felt like she had a family. Her eyes swelled up with tears. It wasn’t long before Colt joined them, and then all of sudden it felt like she had a thousand arms around her. When she pulled away, she felt someone tugging at her pants. Looking down, she saw a short, big-eyed girl staring up at her curiously.
“This is Dara,” Gerald beamed. Jasmin knelt down and shook the little girl’s hand. She looked a lot like Gerald, and Colt and her. The Banes had a special, mysterious quality about them, one that they all shared, one that made them, if anything, fascinating.
“I still can’t believe you’re here!”
“I can’t believe it, either,” Colt said, shaking his head in denial. Beth was a lovely woman. She was warm and outspoken, and she loved Gerald very much. As they all sat inside the cabin, which was especially small, Jasmin marveled in Beth’s love for Gerald. She held onto his arm as they sat, her eyes shining when they looked at him, the blood rushing to her cheeks like they were meeting for the first time.
Maybe there was hope, after all.
“It’s been a long sixteen years, hasn’t it?” Colt said, his eyes still red from the emotional encounter.
“Sixteen years of just phone calls,” his brother replied, mirroring his movements. They sat across from each other, admiring each other’s existence, appreciating this moment. “And you,” he added, gazing at his niece. “Wow, I can’t believe it. You’re sixteen now!”
The memory of Krystal lingered over their heads. Jasmin knew they were thinking about her, but no one was saying anything. Even after all this time, it still hurt. It hurt not knowing who her parents were, but since she had never truly met them, Jasmin didn’t feel like anything had been taken away from her. The brothers eyed each other, and the whole place fell silent. Jasmin could almost hear Colt’s thoughts. He never liked to talk about Krystal, in fact she didn’t remember the last time he had mentioned her.
After a long stretch of what felt like deadly silence, Jasmin said, “I’m sure she’d be proud of everyone in this room.”
Beth smiled at her warmly, her eyes glimmering, impressed. Colt reached out and held Jasmin’s hand.
“I’m sure they both are,” he said, squeezing it in his hand. It was strange, that feeling of coming to terms with things. Jasmin thought that Colt would never forget Krystal or Leah for as long as he lived. She hoped that one day he would be able to talk to her about her mother more, tell her what she was like. Jasmin wanted to know more about her, but for some strange reason, despite hearing very little about her, despite all that thick silence surrounding her name, Jasmin felt like she already knew her.
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