Chapter Forty Nine
The day before Christmas Eve dawned cold and snowy. I hadn’t looked inside my white pay-envelope yet, wanting to be surprised. I was entirely focused on how to go shopping for Tray’s gift without him knowing anything about it. The biggest challenge I faced was getting a ride. My brother didn’t trust anyone to drive me, except the Jansens. I didn’t want to inconvenience them. With Willow just moving in, they were trying to get their household back in order. I considered asking Krista and Greg to take me shopping, but I couldn’t bring myself to lie to Tray. I knew the only way to ride with Greg was without permission.
The garage was very busy this time of the year. Tray was scheduled to be in at 7:00 a.m. On the ride over, I still couldn’t formulate any type of scheme to secretly go shopping.
Boo was excited to see me arrive so early. After we ate breakfast, we went to the creek. It was freezing cold outside, but my internal fire sizzled incessantly. I still couldn’t figure out why it chose to scorch me alive sometimes. I was getting use to its temperature, and the frigid winter weather felt heavenly to me.
I had been playing at the creek with my Boo-bear for over an hour when I saw Willow walking up the path.
“Hey Carolina Blue, you wanna head to the Asheville Mall with me? I can’t keep sitting around looking at the walls. I’m not used to all this indoor, family time stuff yet,” she informed me.
Boo was absorbed in his own world, so he didn’t reply when she asked him to join us. I waited to see if she would get annoyed at being ignored. She bent down in front of him, looked him in the eyes and then, kissed him on the top of his head. A smile flashed across his face before he resumed playing.
Saying goodbye to him, I excitedly accepted her invitation. We walked back down to Sunridge together and I crossed my fingers. Hopefully, Tray believes my life will be safe with Willow behind the wheel. That’s what it all came down to anyway…
“You know why they call him Boo?” she asked me.
I shook my head.
“From the time he became mobile, he would hide in various places. Sometimes it would take a while to find him – he’s excellent at hiding. Every time they would discover his hiding place they would say “boo.” So you have to be careful about nicknames. They have a tendency to stick around whether you want them to or not…” she continued talking.
I was stunned and couldn’t seem to focus on the rest of what she saying. I had that identical thought in reference to Greg the first day he arrived at school. I had been concerned that my ‘mystery guy’ nickname would stick with him, but I had never voiced my worry to anyone. Willow had just repeated my thought, out loud. It sent a wave of chills through me…
Tray’s facial expression twisted in indecision when I asked him for permission to go shopping. He didn’t reply right away and I prepared to ‘pout him into submission.’ Before I could accomplish that, Willow started talking.
“Oh my heaven help me Florida, I’ve never even had a speeding ticket in my whole life. I’ve been driving since I was eleven years old, as I’m sure you remember,” Willow offered and sounded a little offended.
“Well…” he said then hesitated.
“Surely you’re not gonna make me and Ember go all alone into the bloody warfare of the big city mall this time of year. That’s unbelievable! We’ll certainly be killed by those pushy sale’s people and they’ll be bent on our mall-shoppin’-destruction. I guess I can understand your hesitation though. You must have heard about the mall’s newest holiday policy? It’s called ‘shop and spend’ or you’ll end up dying, empty handed.
“So we obviously need bullet proof vests and a very big stick, if we’re gonna go anywhere near it. Or even better, why don’t you just come with us? I’m sure those militant sale’s people won’t exact a murderous plot designed for our immediate annihilation with you standing right there to scare the beejeezus outta em’…” Willow told him, dramatically.
I had to cover my mouth quickly in order to stop myself from laughing.
“That’s real comical, Carolina,” my brother responded.
“Come on mighty protector of the shopping deprived. I’ll even let you drive,” she stated overdramatically and then started laughing too.
“You know I can’t go shopping right now. I’m up to my eyeballs in oil changes. What car will you be driving?” Tray inquired and I saw a small hope as it flickered in the distance.
“Uncle Rave said I could use his truck, but I can ask Aunt Celeste for the keys to her Volvo if you’d rather I drive the tank. This is a shopping battlefield we’re going to, after all. I better drive into it, prepared to fight,” Willow offered.
“You can go Ember, BUT call me when you get there and when you leave. Also, do NOT wander away, for any reason. You need to stay right with Willow everywhere she goes – just consider yourself surgically attached to her from the moment you leave Sunridge until you return,” he explained the conditions.
I would have been highly annoyed that he was treating me like a baby, but the fact was I did have a horrible tendency to wander away. Everything in life holds a certain fascination for me so I’m easily distracted.
“I swear that I’ll stay right with Willow and not wander away,” I promised.
Tray told me to wait by the car (not in it) while he discussed things with Willow in private. They stepped into the garage. When she finally walked out to the car, she looked slightly amused. Willow must have some mega skills in the patience department because their discussion lasted thirty minutes. He must have listed every last ‘Ember’s general public survival’ instruction he had ever made up.
“Your brother doesn’t let you outta his sight very much, huh?” Willow asked me as she turned on the car and shook her head in wonder.
“In his defense, I’ve scared him more than a few thousand times in his life. So sadly, he has a very justified reason to be worried…” I replied.
“I can’t imagine that – you don’t strike me as a wild type of kid,” she commented.
“I’m not wild – just sort of lost. I get distracted by, well, almost everything. Tray’s saved my behind more times than I can count. I wish I could say that I’ve saved his too at some point, but he’s always chasing me down rabbit holes or up trees. That’s where all his trouble comes from. It’s kind of pathetic, now that I’ve said it out loud…”
I felt my face flush as that pitiful realization swept through me.
“My Aunt tells me you’re very gifted in channeling abilities. You’re lucky to have her as your teacher. She’s incredibly powerful and has a tremendous amount of knowledge in the ways of our bloodline. She and my mom are both unbelievably skilled in spiritual channels. I personally prefer to channel through Ay’sha dances…” Willow explained.
“Celeste hasn’t taught me anything about channeling through dances…” I said in fascination.
“I sort of think Uncle Rave might be uncomfortable with her channeling through gypsy dances. That’s just a guess though…” she offered cryptically.
Willow drove into the packed parking lot at the mall. Then she turned off the engine, pulled the keys out of the ignition and put her hand on my thigh.
“I don’t make promises and break them. I vowed to your brother I’d bring you back the same way or better than I took you. You’ll stay with me – right by my side – the whole time we’re in here. Clear?”
“Crystal clear,” I replied with a smile.
My internal fire burned at a low flame as I walked through the parking lot, but when I stepped inside the mall it suddenly blazed into an inferno. It felt like the fire was being fanned from some unseen volatile source. I grabbed my chest like I was having a heart attack. I had no idea how to stop the raging internal incinerator from burning me alive.
My inner fire hates this environment…
“Oh, no you don’t…you promised to stay right with me, remember?” Willow stated as
she turned back in my direction when she realized I had stopped, dead in my tracks.
My head swam around violently in sick little circles. I could see stars dance around the edges of my vision. All I managed to squeak out was “oh heaven…” and then the world went black – I passed out from the overwhelming pain.
When I finally woke up from my reverie Willow was kneeling down beside me.
“Can you speak? What’s wrong, Ember? Oh my goodness Sweetie, are you sick or something? Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling ill before we left? Do you need some water? Hey you, stop standing there like a speechless moron and bring us some water right now…” Willow yelled at some poor, unsuspecting boy and he ran in the direction of a food vendor.
Willow was panicked and her voice echoed around loudly in my head. I grabbed her arm and told her that I was okay, just a little dizzy. She looked at me like I was lying about it though. Then, I was the one who panicked. I instantly put my hand against my face to check and see if it was on fire. My thoughts turned to that day in the cafeteria when I got so angry over the dark clique spaghetti prank incident. Although my face felt warm to the touch, it didn’t feel like it was sunburnt. I sighed in relief.
“Oh heaven help me, you should have told me you have issues with low blood sugar,” she exclaimed and watched me as I sat up.
“I didn’t know I had any blood sugar issues at all…sorry…” I replied and sounded weak.
My internal fire continued to torch my insides for another minute before it finally smoldered back into a gentle flame. My pulse pounded wildly as my heart desperately tried to pump blood through the fiery furnace that my body had become.
“Wow that was crazy. I vow to always listen to every last word your brother speaks, from now on. Wait, I’ll never admit that to him…so never mind. You really scared the living beejeezus outta me!”
“I’m good at doing that in case Tray didn’t tell you…” I replied humorously and then repeated my apology.
“You don’t have to apologize for being sick, Sweetie. Just walk over here and you can sit for a few minutes. We can leave right now if you need to go back home,” she moved me to a bench and I shook my head no.
The onlookers moved out of our way, but continued to stare at me like I was the best sideshow happening at the mall today. Before I had time to freak out about the crowd, I noticed the beautiful twinkling lights along with the festive music playing over the sound system. Then I watched nervously as the double doors opened and the wind brushed by me. I felt my spirit light rise and it warmed my insides on its journey – as if I need any more internal heat…
I grabbed Willow by the hand and ran through the onlookers. I didn’t stop until I couldn’t feel the breeze anymore. I backed up against the cinderblock wall, breathless and anxious.
“Well, I did say I wanted some excitement today, but holy heaven you’re trying to put me in the hospital!” Willow exclaimed and then doubled over as she tried to catch her breath too.
“I can’t control my spirit light yet – at least, not very well. Between the music and the wind blowing in from outside, I could feel it rising. I’m pretty sure the crowd would’ve tripped out if I suddenly started to illuminate like a Christmas tree bulb…”
“You command a spirit light?? That’s incredible…”
A bunch of shoppers paid us a nervous glance, but they continued to walk away. I would have responded to her, but then I remembered something critical. I yanked out my cell phone to call Tray. He answered before the end of the first ring.
“We’re here,” I said, casually.
“Where’s here exactly?” he questioned me.
“We’re standing inside the Asheville Mall and I can see a sign for Game Stop from where I’m standing. Everything’s absolutely fine…” I told him and silently added the word “now” at the end.
“Okay, lemme talk to Carolina,” my brother demanded and I handed the phone to Willow with a pleading look in my eyes.
If she spoke one single word to Tray about my crazy fainting spell, then our shopping trip would be over. He would either drive here like a maniac and come barreling into this building like a bull in a china shop, or demand that she deliver me back to Sunridge for a proper ‘Ember-inspection.’
“Hey, hey Florida,” she sounded perfectly normal.
“Sure did…you worry too much…got it…gonna shop now…we’ll be back in a few hours…yes…I don’t know…gotta scoot…toodles…” I listened with fascination to her end of the conversation and then, she handed me back the phone.
“Don’t stay out too long. Stay away from any doors that lead to the outside. Focus on the things in the stores or on Willow. Don’t listen to the music that I hear playing. Call me immediately if you’re in trouble…” he kept me on the phone for another five minutes as he listed his instructions.
Attempting to interrupt him would be useless. So I stood and listened while Willow watched in abject wonder.
I nodded my head in agreement with every issued command. Tray couldn’t see my gesture through the phone, but I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. So that was the best I could do. My brother finally wound down long enough for me to assure him that I would be fine. I hoped that was true. I even managed to tell him that the stores would be closing soon so I needed to go. That was definitely true.
Willow and I walked around the overly populated mall. She wove in and out of the crowd easily and held my hand anytime we were in the main hallways. I turned into a nervous wreck anytime we walked by an outside entrance.
I saw the perfect shirt for Krista and pulled out my pay envelope. I wanted to see if I had enough money to purchase it. I almost fainted again when I discovered how much money was in it. Celeste said they would pay me the same hourly wage as they pay Tray. I pulled out the bills and they totaled $2000.00! She must have given me a bonus because Tray had never brought home $2000.00 for forty hours’ worth of work. I made a mental note to chat this up with my brother. I couldn’t call him and ask him about it now or he would discover what I was up to.
We had only been shopping for two hours, but he had called me fifteen times already. I bought gifts for Elizabeth, Boo, and the Jansens’. I also managed to slyly purchase some earrings for Willow while she wasn’t looking.
We had plans to shop until the mall closed, but when we arrived at Sears fate would intervene. I found a complete set of Craftsman mechanical tools along with a toolbox for Tray. Still having money, I decided to buy him a few extra sets. I had no idea that so many tools even existed in the world. I stood in the crowded aisles and stared at the massive selection like a mindless moron. My Ember vs. the Craftsman tool sets ‘stare-down-session’ netted me nothing at all. I had no idea which ones would be useful. So I finally asked the older gentleman who was working in that department to assist me.
“I’m looking for automobile and truck mechanic related junk. Oh my goodness, that didn’t come out right at all. I’m sorry…” I told him and he tried to hide his laughter.
Willow didn’t try to hide hers though. She almost fell over in hysterics.
The salesman carried the additional sets of tools to the counter. I was thrilled with my purchases as he rang them up.
It turns out that a metal toolbox and a bunch of tools are very heavy. Sadly, I had never held a tool in my hand before that moment, so I was unprepared for this ridiculous contingency. The tools felt like three tons of steel. I couldn’t lift them, and neither could Willow – curses.
Our car was parked on the opposite side of the mall. We both started laughing at the absurdity of this ‘over-the-top-forklift-necessary’ situation. I wanted to do something special for Tray, and these would fill the bill nicely. Surprise-surprise though, they would be stuck in Sears until he came to pick them up.
“I can just hear it now! Hey Tray, I have a fabulous, super special gift for you waiting at the store…” I stated and couldn’t finish saying
anything because I was out of breath from laughing so hard.
“You weren’t planning on carrying all those tools through the mall were you?” a familiar sounding voice stated from behind me.
I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to respond though. Eli walked over to us and looked at me like I was a raving lunatic. I nodded my head to affirm that we did, indeed plan on carrying these tools all the way through that mall. His comment served to renew our laughter. We didn’t consider just driving the car around and asking the nice Sear’s salesman to carry the tools and the toolbox to the car for us. Eli had no idea what we found so hilarious, but both Willow and I were laughing so hard we were in tears.
“I’d offer to help you ladies carry them through the mall, but maybe we should work smart – instead of hard,” Eli offered in the way only a guy like him (good looking and – from the looks of his clothes and shoes – wealthy) can.
He was entirely smug and slightly condescending, but his suggestion would turn out to be quite helpful.
“That’d be great,” I stated between fits of laughter.
By the time I had gotten myself somewhat back under control, Eli was directing the whole show. He ordered the Sear’s employee to bring my purchases to the west entrance for pick up. Then, he directed Willow to bring the car around after he pointed out the proper entrance. I watched in shock as he barked orders to everyone and wondered how someone so young could be so incredibly demanding.
Willow stood back and gazed at Eli with intense interest. I couldn’t read her facial expression. It reminded me of something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
The volume of the Christmas music seemed to grow louder and I found myself briefly enthralled by the melody. My mind started to wander until Willow made a slight coughing noise to interrupt my reverie.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. Eli, this is Willow. Willow, this is Eli Weston, our sophomore class president and one of the school’s best journalists…according to the editor,” I stated.
I had added the extra compliment because I didn’t have any idea what Willow’s last name was. I knew it couldn’t be Jansen, but that didn’t help matters much. Eli extended his hand and Willow shook it quickly although she didn’t say anything to him. He kind of smiled and then turned his attention back to me.
“Willow you can bring your car around and I’ll wait here with Ember…” Eli told her with, what sounded to me like, a nervous tone in his voice.
“Ember and I will be around shortly. You don’t mind waiting at that entrance for us – I’m sure…” Willow said sweetly, as she took me by the hand.
“Uh, sure…” Eli replied, not quite knowing how to respond to her.
I thanked him and we walked back through the massive crowd to the other side of the mall. We had to park near the back of the lot and traffic was horrible.
“Is he a good friend of yours?” Willow asked me, suspiciously.
“Eli, no – we just met. He seems alright though – very goal oriented and driven for someone his age…”
I didn’t know him well enough to give her any more information. Tray called me twice before we finally worked our way back to the car and sounded very relieved when I told him we were leaving the mall. I loudly informed him how bad traffic was so he would know that it might take a few minutes just to get out of the parking lot. I told him not to worry and then he exclaimed, “That’s never gonna occur, not in this lifetime at least!”
Eli was waiting inside the west entrance of Sears along with the employee who had assisted me. They had two shopping carts filled with the stuff I had purchased. I thanked the nice salesman and then, tipped him ten dollars. I had no clue if that was standard practice, but I decided better safe than sorry.
The music from inside the mall was being played over the outside speakers. Then the wind lifted the loose strands of my hair and my spirit light responded by twirling around inside me. I focused with all my might and managed to contain it inside.
Eli talked to me as he watched the salesman load the items into the Volvo. I tried to pay attention to what he was saying, so I could respond appropriately.
My inner fire blazed into life in response to the music and wind. Suddenly, it was a mutiny inside. My spirit light blended with my internal furnace. I struggled to stand upright and not double over in pain. Their combination turned my body into an unearthly inferno.
“Thanks, Eli I appreciate your help,” I said in a strained voice that I hoped he wouldn’t perceive.
“Would you and Willow like to go get something to eat – my treat? We could go anywhere the two of you would like…” he asked with a look of anticipation in his eyes, and then he glanced over to Willow who was sitting in the car.
It finally occurred to me that he must really like her – she’s very pretty. Hmmm, another guy showing interest in her might prompt my brother to pay attention…
I started to seriously consider his offer because Tray could just meet us wherever we were going. The celestial flames burning inside me would have no part of that plan. They scorched me, once again.
“Can’t tonight, but maybe we’ll take a rain check…” I offered and listened as my voice finally cracked from the pain.
“Sure, can I call you later?” he asked and retrieved his cell phone from his pocket with the intention of getting my telephone number.
That was all the suffering I could stand for the night. I yanked my car door open and fell into the passenger seat.
“We’ll talk later. Thanks again – bye, Merry Christmas,” I stated and then, closed my car door before Eli could say anything else.
Tray would have annihilated me if I had given Eli my cell number. I didn’t want to give him our home phone number either. His very apparent crush and plans to go out with Willow would just have to wait until next semester. The inner fire died quickly once I was inside the car. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the headrest. We inched forward and waited on our turn to exit the parking lot. When my phone rang, I just handed it to Willow. She appeased my worried brother.
I rubbed my chest and wondered idly if the internal heat had cracked my ribs. I could still feel the surging warmth through four layers of clothing.
The fire rages…deep inside my soul…
Ember Rising Light (Book One) Page 53
