3

by Shera Eitel-Casey

  I went in first and Declan followed. Shelia came out of the back room as soon as the bell jingled. I started out with “I guess the question is, did you come to the front because you heard the ding or because you're a psychic and you knew it was us?” I stopped and Declan bumped into me, so I stepped forward exaggerated, we looked like an act.

  “Declan, Addie follow me.” We did “Take a seat.” Shelia said holding her hand out palm side up pointing to a couple of chairs. “How did you know my name?” he turned to me “Did you tell her my name?” I shook my head and he smiled, like this might be worth something.

  She never did answer that last question, not answering them made her seem more mysterious that way. Declan started again “Sheila doesn't sound like a gypsy name or a psychic's name, it just sounds normal.”

  I was almost embarrassed he said that but she replied. “First of all, I am normal,” we all gave a little giggle and it eased Declan a bit. My full name is Tshilabo (pronounced sheelaba) meaning seeker of knowledge. But since my daughter was a baby all she got out was Sheila, hence the name, not that she called me by my name but during business hours she would hear it often, anyway one of my customers heard her call me Sheila and it stuck, besides I like it.” She said with a smile. My daughter's name is “Catalina” which means the pure one and our names represent our souls.

  “That's cool. I don't think my name means anything.” I said.

  “What's your full name?” Sheila asked.

  “Adele.”

  “Adele is an easy one, it means “a noble sort” and Declan means “to heal”. She said raising an eyebrow at her expert knowledge.

  “My friends name is Jett, what does that mean?”

  She turned around and grabbed a book, its binding was tattered and torn, it looked very old. She flipped through a few pages and read “JETT: English name meaning "jet (the mineral), composed of inorganic elements other than human matter.“ She stared at the page, no one spoke.

  “And your girlfriends name is?” She looked up at Declan and he replied “Braelyn.”

  “Hmmm we don't have that name, do you have a short name?”

  “Yeah, and she definitely prefers to be called Rae” he laughed and looked at me, I smiled.

  “Looking back down at her book and flipping some more pages she stops and read: “RAE: English name, possibly derived from the vocabulary word ray, meaning "sunbeam." Declan responded “well, she’s definitely my ray of light.”

  Sheila snapped the book shut and said “That's always fun, I love looking up and knowing the meaning of names. Not everyone lives up to them, but some do. When our culture picks a name we have a process we go through to find that person's name because we believe the person becomes the name, it will help show its truth in the person.”

  “Interesting” I told her.

  “So what do you have for me today Addie?” I liked this women, always gets right down to business. I didn't hold back, I told her about the 'Jett story' and the scratches he got on our first date that we thought they were from Cale. Then we described him being sick, his extreme mood swings and the physical changes we saw. Declan would intervene every now and then to add some detail or remind us of another event that happened. While we were describing everything to her I somehow knew she believed every word we told her. More than that, she was intrigued by our story and yet not surprised to hear all the things we were telling her either.

  When we were done, Declan and I looked at each other and I think we were both relieved to get that off our chests, and glad that our stories were the same. Shelia got up to get all of us some water. I looked at Declan “I think we ought to write all this down so we don't forget any details. I hadn't realized all the facts we had and now that we said it all at once, I'm really convinced something weird is going on with him.” He shook his head in agreement as Shelia came back with three glasses of water.

  She started talking as she set the glasses down on the table between us. “You should write it down because you could forget some details that may be important later, and it may make for a good story one day.” She gave me a wink and handed me a pad of paper and pen.

  I was taken aback about the story comment, I was sure she believed every word we said, I just felt it. Declan jumped in “So you're saying you don't believe us and that you won't help?” We were both looking her straight in the eye.

  “Declan, I also said to write it down because the small details may count.” I relaxed a little “And I got us some water because I have some facts to share with you, a story if you will, and it may take a while because you may not believe me, like last time you were here.”

  Declan looked at me, “What happened the last time you were here?”

  “I can tell you all about it on the way home.” I said, but secretly I wasn't planning on it. I thought she was weird after she told me the stories, and I didn't want everyone running around thinking I'm a freak so I kept them to myself. And I wasn't sure I believed her myself, I only knew the history I've been taught but now….I’m not so sure what’s true...

  She smiled at me, I truly believed she knew more of what was going on in my head than I did. “Before I start on the history of what I know” she said looking at me and I returned a smile, “If both of you spend a lot of time with your friend Jett, I could read your cards for details that may help you.” Shelia had a very soothing, yet strong voice; it made you believe and trust her. But I looked at her and shook my head no and pointed at Declan. I didn't want a reading of me to freak Declan out like it did Nic and me the last time we were here. Maybe I just didn't want to get freaked out about myself again and hear some other bizarre things I can do, besides having dreams that come true.

  Declan said “Sure” even though he didn’t sound it; she pulled out the cards, had him split the deck. “I'll tape this for you so you can remember everything we say.” She said pulling a recorder off the shelf from behind her, set it on the table and pressed a button. Declan and I looked at each other and shrugged.

  She flipped over a few cards and said “A guy with light colored hair is a good and trustworthy advisor and his name begins with a ‘T’ but not a common name like Tim or Tom.” We looked at each other and said “Topher.” She also said he had more to tell. She went on, “You have already found your soul mate.” Declan agreed and said he already knew that. He blushed a little too. Then the death card came up – she told us not to worry though, it doesn’t necessarily mean death. She was having a hard time reading the card but had a feeling it was about Jett and that he would continue to change and struggle. She also told Declan he’d be going on a cruise in the near future, you’ll also get married quickly. Declan raised an eyebrow at that one intrigued. After that she cleaned up all the cards.

  She looked up at me “We're going to have to read your cards too.” Sheila put her hand on top of mine. “Don't worry I'm not going to tell you anything you don't already know,” raising an eyebrow as she said it. She pulled her hand away. I felt calm and thought she's right, what's the big deal? “I'll see if I can get a better read on you regarding Jett. Since you're both connected to him, signs or messages about him will show on your cards as well.”

  Declan said “So what we're done? He asked pointing his finger back and forth between Sheila and himself. “Aren't you going to tell me I’m going to be successful, what college I‘m going to, how many kids I'll have and all that stuff.” Shelia started shuffling the cards. “It doesn't work that way.” She looked up and to the right “an in-state university not too far away. You asked me about a specific endeavor so that's what we are looking for and I can't see that far into the future, plus I would have to read your palm for more personal information, if you’d like.” She pointed to the sign that told us how much everything was “at least you know who your soul mate is.” She said with a calming smile. “…and to book a cruise.”

  She went on and explained that all we needed was a needle, thread, a sharpened pencil and a steady hand to find out how many
kids we would have. We looked at her puzzled “You haven't heard about that yet? Probably because you're not thinking of having kids yet. All you do is put a threaded needle in the end of the eraser side of a sharpened pencil, wrap the thread around your index finger, not tightly either. Then someone holds it over the palm side of your wrist, the wrist you write with, and not your own, someone has to do it for you.” She pointed to the most tender part of her wrist nearest the joint.

  She continued “You hold it so it's completely still and the pencil will start to move on its own; if it moves back and forth in a line it means a boy and if it swings in a circle it means a girl. In between kids it will stop and twist and then start swinging again and when it's done moving – there are no more kids. It’s a fun activity to do at slumber parties and it works on men and women.”

  “Hmm, that’s interesting I’ll try it sometime.” I looked at my watch and it had only been twenty minutes but felt longer. This was intense stuff. Declan looked at me and said “Your turn.”

  “Okay, okay” I looked up at Shelia from the top of my eyes trying to tell her mentally let's not get into any psychic stuff about me in front of Declan. Somehow, I felt like she knew what I was after. She had me split the deck and started flipping cards. She flipped a lot more before she said anything.

  Declan noticed too. “Aren't you going to explain any of those,” he asked.

  “Oh yes, sorry. I couldn't wait to see what happened next.” She said slowly.

  “You have a blonde admirer."

  I looked at Declan and said “Shame on you." He laughed and put his hand on my shoulder “I do admire you Addie, but that's as far as it goes, you're like one of the guys to me.”

  “Ahhh thanks, I am teasing you don’t even have blond hair.” I smiled back at him and patted him on the shoulder. We both chuckled.

  Shelia interrupted our chuckle, “Just because I said blonde doesn't mean he has blonde hair now some have blonde hair when they are kids and it turns to that dirty blonde color or brown later,” she continued. “It is someone you know, and he's proud of you for doing something, breaking someone...breaking up with someone or breaking the ties – he is one of a pair. He is not alone and one of them is evil and the other is good, trying to help.” She flipped another card – “You are going to fall, I think it’s a physical fall it must be significant, I can't get a location or if you get hurt it’s fuzzy.” She looked up at me “Does any of this make sense?”

  “I think so, the breaking up part does” I replied, I assumed she was talking about Cale and Topher.

  “Sometimes a second reading at a different time can clear things up.” She flipped a couple more cards, “someone gets lost or kidnapped, hmmmm, you don't know that person very well but you help them, her.” She looked up “kidnapping seems harsh and rare so someone probably gets lost or they feel lost emotionally.” She flipped another card and I could tell it was not good. “You know the person trying to take someone from a crowded location, like a restaurant or store.” She said very slowly, I knew exactly what she was talking about, the last dream I had was about a girl getting kidnapped at a bar. Now I was freaked out.

  She flipped over three more cards I didn’t have a good feeling. “Wow Addie lots of action in your life. She started to explain that kidnapping and lost are big words that they may mean someone steals their heart away from you like a lovers quarrel, but I knew better.

  I sat back in my chair and took a deep breath and then let it all out. I felt my eyes get big, looking at her. I glanced over at the cards again and then looked at Declan whose eyes were big too. We looked back at the cards saying nothing, I pointed toward a card and asked her what it meant. “Yes, yes your friend… is sick…or has been poisoned....” Sheila said so matter-factly. I looked up, I noticed a slight tremble in her voice like she was lying. She cleared her throat and continued. “I believe he's been poisoned, ingested something poisonous to him and it just has to work through his system.” She cleaned up all the cards suddenly.

  She got up and leaned on the counter behind her. She seemed to be nervous, worried all of a sudden. I think she just told us a white lie or didn’t tell us everything she read from me. To keep her talking I asked her how her move went. She relaxed a bit and told us she was all moved into their house. The office was an easier move they had everything done in a day with the help from Nic and me. I asked her if she had tracked down her family yet, the ones they moved here for. She looked up at me terrified and said “Ahhh, as a matter of fact I am going to see one of them today.” She wasn't smiling when she said it. She crossed her arms tightly across her chest.

  “I would love to hear more stories or legends of your ancestors sometime.” I told her. We were all standing around, things felt a little tense.

  She crossed her arms across her chest tightly, “I heard my daughter told you about how the ‘rumors’ of vampires came about in the early 1900’s.”

  “MmHmm, vampires and werewolves.”

  “Ooh, now that sounds interesting.” Declan sat back down.

  “They were really just rumors, like my daughter told you,” she said nervously.

  I looked at her seriously and said “Yes, it sounds very interesting, let's hear more.”

  “Well” she hesitated “Dr. Sal Rewtnic was a scientist that was never mentioned in the history books. He had the right intention but a few of his experiments on humans went badly. He was probably one reason why the FDA is so anal about NOT testing on humans. He had experimented on a man who had been ill his whole life and was already partially mad, living with an illness that long can make you that way. Dr. Rewtnic was way ahead of his time, at least a lot of people thought so then. Until this one man was thought to have been cured of his disease, the treatments seemed to have been successful for a couple of weeks. His illness and symptoms went away, he looked younger and was full of energy. A month after several treatments he became sensitive to light and his blood cell count started to diminish. Rewtnic started giving him weekly blood transfusions, which seemed to be working, but then the man went completely insane. Instead of showing up for his next blood transfusion, the man disappeared. He made his next appearance one evening by trying to suck the blood out of several people in town and inadvertently killing one young woman, he was acting like a succubus or vampire. That's how the vampire rumors started during that time period. They tried killing him but couldn’t catch him. He was fast and strong, until they tracked him down in his sleep, during the day of all things.... And I know you know it as folk lore but vampires were real but killed off by an influential and famous vampire that found his conscience and knew his race and ours couldn’t survive together and so he demolished his race and then killed himself.”

  “So you think Jett’s a vampire.” Declan said casually.

  “There are no such things as vampires!” Sheila yelled. “Well there were but now there’s not anymore, they were all destroyed a century ago, he promised our family!”

  “So why are you yelling at us?” I yelled back. “Because werewolves and vampires do exist?” I said in a calmer voice. Calculating that Dr. Rewtnic’s patients needed blood transfusions just like Jett.

  Sheila shook her head and gave me the strangest look. “Well, I hate to cut it short but like I said I'm going to visit my relatives and I don't want to be late.”

  On the way out Declan said “That ain’t right, it just ain’t right… what just went on in there?”

  “I have no idea…”

  He asked me, “Do you want a candy bar? I'm buying.” I gave him a weird look but then replied, “I sure need something but I think I need a Skyway cheeseburger, do you wanna go?” My voice more excited at the end.

  “Not with you.” he said “Isn't that what got you into trouble a while ago, cruising Skyways with other guys.”

  “I guess you're right but the whole thing was a big joke and you know it.”

  “Yeah, but if Jett really has poison in him, let's not get him any more excited than w
e need to.”

  “Good point.” I opened the door for him to exit and I followed.

  “You can pick it up!” …..” and we'll eat it at my house...if my parents are home they'll pay!”

  “We'll let's hurry up then.” Declan said excitedly.

  I think he was mocking me but I didn't care I thought it was humorous. I ran across the street and he hadn't followed. So I yelled to him, “I guess I have a head start!” I ran all the way home, Declan caught up to me at the top of my driveway; we were both huffing and puffing. I had to put my hands on my knees.

  “Are… you...always...this excited about ...f...ood.” He blurted out between gasps.

  “Some…times” and we both started walking down the drive.

  “Jett gets that way too.” he said.

  I was glad to see my parents’ home. Declan flew to get us lunch from Skyway so I got on the phone and called Nic and told her the whole story about Sheila. “Do you remember when her daughter said they moved here for friends and then changed it to relatives?” I asked her.

  “Ya, I do and I thought it was very weird.”

  “Well, Sheila told us that she was going to see her 'relatives' today.”

  “What's weird about that?

  “Nic, I can't come over today because I am going to my relative’s house... Would you really say relatives, or would you say aunt, uncles or family?”

  “Hmm.” She said, “I think you may be right.”

  “Anyway, I think she's hiding something about her relatives and about the past and we need to find out what.”

  “I agree, let's make a plan.” Nic suggested.

  “Well, I'm sure Jett won't go to Sheila's voluntarily. So someone in our group should make an appointment to go see her. All of us will go in as a group, we’ll say we’re going out to eat right after.” Nic thought it was a great idea. “And I'll check it out with Declan when he gets back.”

  Declan, Nic, Rae and I had decided that Rae would pretend to want to get a reading done for her birthday. We all met at my house, including Jett of course. We walked over for Rae's appointment late that afternoon there was a slight breeze, the sun was out and only a few clouds in the sky. It seemed like the perfect day.