Lonely Souls

by Karice Bolton

  “Yeah, let’s go to the sandwich shop,” I said, pointing across the street.

  We were in the heart of lunch hour, only you’d never guess that by looking around. It wasn’t like the city where people lined up out the door from 11:30 a.m. through 1:30 p.m. to grab their food before finishing their daily grind. There were a few scattered patrons, mostly retirees, because they had the luxury to live wherever they wanted without thinking of a commute. We sat by the front window, and the warmth of the sun shining through the glass felt really nice.

  “So before you so rudely interrupted me at the cottage with those dangerous lips of yours…,” I began.

  “Dangerous, huh?” he leaned back in the chair, providing far too much goodness for me to be able to enjoy. As long as he doesn’t stretch, I should be fine.

  “Yes, dangerous,” I scrunched my face at him, playfully. “What’s your feeling on everything? I mean regardless of who, when, where, or why, if she doesn’t want to be found, can she be?”

  “Anyone can be found.” His eyes catching mine.

  The server came over to take our order. She was dressed in a pair of khakis and a T-shirt. I think she also worked at one of the coffee shops down the road. She started looking at me closely, her eyes narrowing slightly. I wondered if it was because I was taking too long to order off the menu since I forgot to look and figure out what I wanted.

  “You go first,” I said to Logan, while I shifted in my seat.

  “I’d like the Southwest Chicken Sandwich with potato salad,” he replied, noticing her reaction.

  “I’d like the same,” I replied.

  “Are you Triss Spires?” The waitress finally blurted out. I was completely taken aback.

  “Yes, that’s me,” I replied, noticing Logan’s grip on the table tightening.

  “Honey, I’m so sorry to hear about your mom,” she shook her head. “This is on the house.”

  There was no way my mom’s disappearance would have made it up here, and Logan was thinking the same thing.

  “Thank you,” I replied curtly. “May I ask how you knew about my mother? Seattle’s a long way from here.”

  Grabbing the menus from us, she looked over at Logan and then back at me. “A young guy came in a few days ago with a flyer, and your picture was on it along with your mother’s,” she replied. “He was asking all sorts of questions like if any us of had seen you or your mom around recently. Actually, it was kind of odd because he was about your age, and he didn’t give any reason for it. It felt like he was fishing for information for no real purpose and having your picture on there was odd. I actually called it in to the Seattle police.”

  No flyer had been made like that by the police or our family. There would be no reason for my picture to be on it even if there was. Confusion and desperation flooded my system.

  “Thanks again,” I said.

  “Sure,” she said, turning around to put in our order.

  “Nobody knows about our cottage. I don’t understand what’s going on,” I whispered.

  The color drained from Logan’s face.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “What’s Trevor’s last name?” Logan’s eyes were stone-cold.

  “Why?”

  “Just answer me,” his anger was hard to hide.

  “Alden,” I replied.

  “There was someone else who your father was training at the same time as I was,” he whispered.

  “There’s no way.”

  “His name was Trevor Alden.” He held his head in his hands. “God! Why didn’t I remember that?”

  “Why would you? What are the odds? I just can’t believe this.” My mouth was so dry. I reached across the table and touched his left hand. He released his hand from his head, and I held it.

  “Did you ever meet him?” I asked.

  “No, I never trained with him. I just knew your father had several other students across the country. You know students seem like the wrong term now. I’m starting to think the proper word might be recruits. Anyway, no I never met any of the other people. Most of the training was done through spells he sent, phone conversations, emails. Like I told you, he came to me twice but I never went to where he was,” he finished, his lips squeezed into a tight line.

  “I think I have a picture of him on my phone. I wonder if he’s the one snooping around,” I mumbled. “I’ll show our server when she comes back.”

  Grabbing my phone, I started scrolling through all my photos until I finally found one of him.

  “I know finding your mother is your priority but keeping you safe is mine.” He reached over the table and grabbed my hand once more.

  “If Trevor has gotten this close to the cottage, I wonder what the odds are that he’s figured out where the cottage is,” I said.

  “It’s really hidden, but if someone is determined, I guess anything is possible,” he replied sardonically.

  “Do you think we should still stay?” I asked, not really wanting to leave the cottage.

  “I think it’s safer there than most places, even with this latest news,” he said, squeezing my hand.

  “Every day something worse happens, and then I feel the sadness slowly fade away, leaving anger in its wake. I just want to find my mom, get her home, and destroy whoever’s behind this.” The fury was swirling inside of me. I wasn’t scared. I was too angry to be scared.

  “I know you do,” he said, “but one thing has become very clear. They want you too. If you start acting irrational you’ll become an easier target.”

  “I know,” I sighed. “I’m just not sure what my next steps are.”

  “Let’s hurry up and eat. I’ll make the calls, see what we find out, and get back to scouring through all of the pages you scanned. Whatever’s going on, we don’t want to be ill-prepared.”

  He was right, and my nerves were starting to calm down allowing me to see a little clearer.

  “As I’ve said before, only family knows about the cottage, not counting you guys. I really hope what I’m thinking isn’t true.”

  Our server came back to our table to deliver lunch, and unfortunately, nothing sounded appetizing any longer.

  “Miss? Was this the guy who asked about me and my mom?” I asked, showing her the photo on my phone.

  “Yes, that was him,” she said, nodding her head as she placed my plate in front of me. “His hair’s longer now, but yes, that was him.”

  We both stared at our food like it was alien to us.

  “Thanks,” I said, dismissing it so to not cause alarm.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  I nodded, debating what to say.

  “Maybe just keep our appearance here under wraps if anyone else asks?” I asked.

  “Most definitely, sweetie,” she agreed. She knew too little to question, but enough not to want to and I appreciated that. I was also relieved she reported it to the police, not that anything would come of it though.

  She smiled and left our table, returning to the booth where she had a book waiting for her.

  “If anyone, like Trevor, does come by the cottage, they’ll think that we have no clue. We’ll have the element of surprise on our side. I’ll put the protection spells around the property and our home. Truthfully, I doubt anything or anyone will get through the barrier once I’m done with it,” he said, his grin wicked.

  I wondered what else he was going to throw in his spells for good measure.

  ***

  Tromping through the forest, holding my basket and shears at the ready, I was feeling in my element. I was determined to collect as many bluebells as possible before they disappeared. I was still devastated about Trevor, but I was trying my best to put it out of my mind. Logan was doing what he could to protect us, and I knew more training was on the horizon for both of us. I didn’t like the idea of him not knowing many healing spells just as he didn’t enjoy my lack of fighting skills, and it was time to start changing that for both of us. But for now, I needed some
sort of activity to center my soul and collecting bluebells was the answer.

  We had such a cold spring, I was lucky enough to find quite a few that were still blooming. I wanted to make some anti-itch ointments in case we ran into anything this summer that we shouldn’t. I always had a knack for getting entangled in poison oak no matter how hard I tried to avoid it.

  Logan had spent all afternoon securing our property, and now he was off collecting wood for our fireplace. Even though it was summer, the night temperatures got low. Having him at the cottage had really been wonderful. As I found myself daydreaming about Logan, I stumbled upon a large patch of bluebells, probably enough to fill my basket. The tiny blue flowers produced quite a beautiful carpet, creating the perfect picking ground.

  One of the earliest times I went out collecting bluebells with my mom, she told me of the fairies who would set bluebell traps in our forests, and any human who entered the ring would fall under the curse of the fairies and only the strong with a pure heart would live. I believed her story for several years and was always relieved after I finished collecting my quota and made it out alive. Aunt Vieta always thought my good behavior while growing up was incredible. Little did she know, I was just scared to death from all the tales my mom told me. My mom had a real flair for storytelling.

  “What are you chuckling about?” Logan asked, coming up behind me, scaring me to death.

  “My word, you’re quiet,” I whispered, catching my breath.

  Logan grabbed my basket and set it down on the forest floor before swooping me into his arms. His embrace felt so wonderful and he smelled of the outdoors, completely heavenly.

  “How did you find me?” I asked.

  “You’re never completely out of my radar, especially with everything going on,” he replied with his arms completely enveloping me. “So what were you chuckling about?”

  “Just the fairy stories my mom used to tell me about.”

  “You fell for those?” he smirked, letting go a little to see in my eyes.

  I felt the blush creep up my face.

  “Sometimes,” I admitted sheepishly, looking into his dazzling blue eyes.

  “You do know that fairies exist though, right?” he asked.

  “I’m not falling for that twice,” I laughed, rolling my eyes.

  “No. I’m being serious,” he replied slyly.

  “With that grin? I don’t think so,” I replied.

  “All right, your loss,” he said, releasing me from his clutches. “Let me help you gather these, and maybe we can do dinner by the lake.”

  “Thanks.” I picked up my basket and started gathering as many blossoms as I could. “I could really get used to this.”

  “Me too,” he replied quietly.

  “Do you want me to teach you some of the spells I know this afternoon?” I asked.

  “The private lessons?” he asked, teasing.

  “Yep. Those are the ones,” I laughed.

  “I think I’ve waited long enough.”

  “Me too. It will be fun,” I replied, looking over at one of the red squirrels that was following me, probably hoping I’d drop a peanut for it or something.

  “Nice friend you’ve got there,” Logan pointed at the critter. “I’ve delayed my entry into Bastyr,” he said, catching me off guard.

  I spun around to look at him. There was no way he was serious.

  “What? You can’t do that,” I scolded him.

  “I’m still going, Triss. I’ll probably start when you do this spring,” he countered. “It’s not a big deal.”

  I let out a huge sigh, not sure what to say to him. Deep inside I was relieved that he would be with me while I continued to figure out what was going on with my mom, but I didn’t want to be responsible for him delaying his education.

  “Are you sure that’s really a good idea?” I asked.

  “It’s already done. I sent in the paperwork,” he said grinning.

  “Glad you consulted me,” I mumbled.

  “Triss, you can’t be mad,” he replied.

  “More annoyed than mad.” I tried my best at pouting.

  “Then why do I see a little smile forming at the corner of your mouth?”

  He came over next to me and threw his collection in my basket as I was finishing up gathering the last of the blossoms around me. Standing back up, I stared at him long and hard while trying to figure out what to say. After the first day here, we had promised each other that we would always communicate, but I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to say.

  “You had to have guessed that I was going to do that,” he started again. “I’m not leaving your side until we figure out what’s going on.”

  “The responsible side of me wants to be angry with you and the selfish side of me is completely grateful. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you,” I whispered, noticing his eyes were twinkling with amusement.

  “There’s nothing to repay me for, but let’s get back to the cottage so we can put everything away and get our training and dinner date started.” And with that, he picked up my basket and grabbed my hand as we started back through the forest.

  Chapter 23

  “Okay, I know what I want to teach you,” I said, glancing at Logan. “What do you have for me?”

  I placed a dozen or so bottles on the grass, and I was excited to get to show off my talents. This is where I excelled.

  “I’ve got a few things planned. They build on what you’ve learned, but you’ve surprised me with some of the things you’re aware of,” he replied. “It’s kind of odd what you do know and what you don’t know.” His brow furrowed.

  “The spells and chants I’m familiar with are usually based on practicality. I didn’t have an interest to learn these other things, so I never really paid attention,” I said.

  “So you want to go first or should I?” he asked.

  “I’m excited to see what else you have planned for me, so go for it,” I said, looking at him. He was standing only a couple feet from me, but the charge from him was far reaching. It was invading all parts of me. I didn’t know if it was real or because he looked so good, and I just wanted it to be there. He was wearing his vintage washed jeans that sat just low enough to let my imagination run wild with thoughts I shouldn’t be having right before learning protections spells. He was wearing a light gray Lacoste T-shirt with a plaid button down, which was unbuttoned and his sleeves were rolled up. His broad shoulders filled it out to perfection, and he was basically becoming a complete distraction.

  “Are you with me, Triss?” Logan asked completely amused, his lips twitching in a smile.

  “More than you know,” I gushed.

  “I think I’ve got a pretty good idea,” he said with his brows rising briefly, as his grin widened.

  One of the bottles of oil I’d laid out had fallen, so I bent down to make it upright—anything to get back on track.

  “Hey, so I’ve come up with a pretty sweet idea.” Logan was so proud of himself for whatever invention he’d just come up with.

  “What is it?”

  “Well, in addition to using spells for protection that keep a barrier around you, there are many things that we can employ in case you find yourself in a situation that needs some sort of,” he paused briefly, trying to pick the correct wording, “fighting ability.”

  “You didn’t think my sideswipe kicking action was impressive? It got her down at least,” I said, not wanting to vocalize Brenda’s name.

  “Yeah, and then you didn’t know what to do after that. We’ve got magic, Triss. We might as well use it,” he smiled.

  I smiled at him, excited to see what he had in store for me.

  “Since you have this connection with nature, I thought it would be fun to incorporate something from that world in one of the spells. Most people wouldn’t expect it,” he said, his eyes glimmering with anticipation.

  “Okay…,” I arched my brow at him, “like what?”

  “Check it out.” He
walked over to the cardboard box that he had brought with him and opened it up.

  I came up behind him to peek inside the box. My heart fell instantly, and then panic set in. No way. There was no way this was anything I wanted to deal with.

  “Nope. Not happening. You’re gonna have to come up with something else.” I shook my head vehemently. I could handle many things in life, but this wasn’t one of them.

  His face fell, but then a smile started to surface.

  “Of all spells that exist in the world, you picked one that involves snakes?” Horrified didn’t begin to capture the feelings that were welling up inside. I kicked at the weeds covering the meadow floor nervously, thinking there could be other reptiles hiding in the brush.

  “Well,” he stopped himself, but the grin was fully exposed.

  “I can’t even run into a garter snake in the yard and maintain composure,” I continued. “How am I supposed to use it in a time of crisis?”

  “I kind of thought you could get past it,” he laughed. “I mean, spiders hop on you, and you don’t even care. You can have cobwebs wrapped in your hair and it doesn’t even bother you.”

  “First of all, I hate insects. I really, really hate them. If a beetle had been on my shoulder, you would have seen an entirely different scene play out. However, spiders are a little different. I like spiders because they eat all the other bugs I hate. I feel like we’re on the same team, so I’ll give them a pass. It’s a win-win,” I said smiling coyly. “Snakes, however, I can’t alibi. They’re just freaky.”

  “Come on, Triss. They’re not that bad, and I think it’s the best for what I intend to teach you. The snake might be able to get you out of a sticky situation that nothing else could,” he encouraged, his voice tender, trying another technique.

  “Look at that thing. It’s eyeballing me,” I squealed. “It really is.”

  Logan couldn’t hold his laughter in any longer. He shut the box up and came over to me, sliding his arms around my waist bringing me closer to him. My heart was beating fast, but I wasn’t sure if it was from the snake or being held by Logan.

  “I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to. However, I think I should be allowed to show you the entire process so that you can make a well-informed decision,” he replied, knowing his plea would work with me.