Close-up: Take 1 of the Kanyon and Daylen Series

by K. B. Draper

  “Kanyon?” Daylen lifted her head slightly and smiled. She knew Kanyon heard her. Though Kanyon was an amazing actress, she had given herself away. Daylen had registered every stroke Kanyon’s fingertips made through her hair and indulged in the comfort of the simple gesture, but Kanyon’s fingers had abruptly stilled the second she mentioned Trevor’s name. Daylen also could’ve sworn she felt a swell of craving radiate from Kanyon, but supposed that was more likely her own body’s reaction to being in Kanyon’s arms. Daylen laid her head back on Kanyon’s chest, closed her eyes, and let the exhaustion take over.

  Kanyon stayed awake until she heard Daylen’s breathing change. Her fingers resumed the rhythmic movement of combing through Daylen’s silken locks. The comforting weight on her chest combined with the knowledge Daylen was safe relaxed her and she let the fatigue take her into sleep.

  Chapter 8

  A white, cloaked figure floated into Kanyon’s dream, backlit by a bright light which impeded her from clearly seeing any distinctive features. The graceful manner in which it moved toward her instinctually told Kanyon it was a woman.

  “Hello, Kanyon,” the figure said softly, with an accent she couldn’t readily place.

  Definitely a woman. “Uhhh, hey?” Kanyon spun quickly to take in the area around her. “What kind of dream is this? Is this going to involve a big vat of Jell-O and Celine Dion in a thong? Cause I already had that nightmare last week.”

  “I could certainly see why that would be undesirable.”

  “I know, right? But, it’s not nearly as disturbing as the one I had about Snookie, the SAT test, and a jar of peanut butter.”

  The woman chuckled. “That does sound like quite the nightmare as well. Child, I am not here to give you a nightmare. I am here to show you your way, your path.” The woman waved a hand in front of her and an image flamed to light before them.

  Kanyon took a step back from the symbol lit in the air. “My path? So, you’re like some supernatural life coach?”

  “Something like that, yes.”

  “And you’re going to motivate me into joining some superhero team with this knockoff bat signal?” Curious, Kanyon walked closer to the symbol. It was a simple drawing; an eye drawn with thick black lines and wispy, calligraphy-like loops and sweeping brush strokes at their ends. The eye looked like the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs she’d seen in museums. Kanyon was trying to recall where she’d seen it before as the robed woman came to stand beside her.

  “You are thinking of the Eye of Horas.”

  Kanyon cocked her head in question.

  “I know things,” the woman answered simply. “Like, the Eye of Horas. This is a symbol of protection. However, look in to its center,” the woman instructed.

  Kanyon moved closer and ran her fingertips over the symbol. In the center was some kind of tray with a vase sitting on it. “What does it mean?” Then in her mind, to test her mystery guest’s apparent mind reading skills, she thought, “Please let it be the Eye of Cheeseburgers and Fries, ‘cause I’m starving”.

  “It symbolizes many things, none of which have to do with processed meat or deep-fried potatoes.”

  “Damn,” Kanyon muttered, “but cool mind reading trick.”

  “Thank you, I also favor my gifts. Now,” she pointed to the vase symbol, “this symbol is a Leb. It signifies the heart, the center of all consciousness, all life. The base is a Maat. It represents truth, justice, morality, and balance. So together the Eye, the Leb, and the Maat; these things represent the Eye of the Seekers.”

  “Seekers? Sounds like a cult,” Kanyon quipped.

  “Child, it is not a cult.”

  “Sounds like one.”

  “I can assure you it is not.”

  “So you say. And just for the record, no amount of life coaching is going to make me sacrifice a goat or wear one of those,” she did an up and down motion with her finger at the woman, “matchy-matchy robes. No offense, you look great and I’m sure it goes with your eyes which I can’t see, but before we get to the Kool-Aid drinking part, I’m not your girl. Thanks for the little recruitment dream and all, but …” Kanyon turned to go as if the door back to reality was right behind her. She stopped, sighed, and turned back. “A little help with getting off this cuckoo cloud?”

  “You are quite the spirited one, my child. I think I will enjoy you. But I promise you this is not a cult.”

  “Yeah see, the whole my child lingo … kind of cultish.”

  The woman chuckled. “Point taken. Okay, let us try this.” She reached out her hand and Kanyon eyed it suspiciously.

  “I am not going to hurt you.”

  “That’s what they all say right before they throw you in a creepy, blacked-out van.”

  The woman chuckled again. “Do you see a van?”

  Kanyon took another scan of what appeared to be an endless landscape of clouds and fog. “No, but …”

  “Suspicion is an excellent trait for a Guardian.”

  “Guardian?”

  “Come now, take my hand. There is no van. Plus, if this is only a dream, what is the worst that could happen?”

  “You could take me back to high school and make me give a speech about the economic and social impact of the Korean War. Naked.”

  “True.” She smiled. “And as entertaining as that would be, I promise I will not.”

  Kanyon narrowed her eyes at the woman. “Fine. But seriously, if this is some everyone-hold-hands-Kumbaya cult, I’m so going to vote you as the sacrifice that gets thrown into the volcano. You wouldn’t happen to be a virgin, would you?”

  “Duly noted and no I am not,” the woman answered, amusement playing in her voice.

  “Damn. Well, you still get my vote.”

  “Would it calm your mind to know that if I have led you falsely and this is a cult, you have my solemn oath I will sacrifice myself to a volcano?”

  “Deal.”

  The woman reached out her hand again. “Come now, my … Kanyon.”

  “Fine.” Kanyon relented and reached out a hesitant hand.

  As their hands linked, images began to fly across an invisible screen in front of them. Images of her and Daylen in different settings; Daylen with random items and different people, sometimes they were running, other times fighting, and a few times, like tonight, Daylen was caring for her wounds. Daylen’s Aunt Ruby was there a lot and so was a dark-haired tattooed girl, Theo, and a huge hairy dog. As the images flashed, internal heat rose within her along with need, obligation, and desire to be with Daylen. Not only physically, but there was an overwhelming sense to protect her. The heat stirred so deep like a fire was burning at her core, in her soul; burning like she’d felt on the balcony and like the boiling in her blood tonight in the alley. She wasn’t scared of the sensation, instead she felt an odd familiarity with the heat, like it had always been a part of her, forged from something ancient. Like the bond between her and Daylen was so necessary that protecting it, protecting Daylen, was vital to her own existence.

  The images began to fade and Kanyon took several slow deep breaths. When she cooled the emotions stirring within her, she turned to the woman. “Alright, so that was quite the highlight reel.”

  “Yes it was. Those are flashes of your future, if you follow your path.”

  “My path? You keep saying that.”

  “Have you not always searched for it, sought, and desired your own way? These last few months, have you not longed for something different than your past journeys?”

  “Well, I mean … I don’t know. I guess, but what are you saying? My … my path is with Daylen?” She pointed where the images had been. “And all that fighting, and …” She didn’t even know how to finish the sentence.

  “It could be. You have free will, so you can choose another way.”

  “I don’t even know what that way is … Was that like a preview? A movie? Daylen and I are supposed to do another series, get new roles together or something?”

  “New roles yes,
but not for the television.”

  “A movie then?”

  “Daylen has already chosen her destiny. It is now time for you to seek out the same.”

  “She said she didn’t want to go back to the Hollywood life, so what’s her new role?”

  “Daylen is a Seeker.” She held up a hand and inserted quickly, “Seekers are not cult members. They are gifted ones and as their name suggests, they seek. They hunt for items, articles as we refer to them, whose return is imperative. It is their responsibility to return these articles, to rebalance life, you might say.”

  Kanyon chucked a chin at the symbol. “Hence the eye, vase, and tray thing.”

  “Yes.”

  Kanyon was silent for a long time, taking in the revelation and replaying the events of the day before. “Quick clarifying question?”

  “Yes?”

  “These Seekers, they find things? Are they limited to certain types of things or can it be anything?”

  “It can be anything,” she answered, knowing the Guardian would learn, in time, that some answers were readily available and others were to be discovered through her journey.

  “Okay, another question.”

  “Absolutely,” the woman said, pleased at Kanyon’s curiosity.

  “Do you think Daylen could find my Quick Draw McGraw watch? I lost it when I was like six and I loved that watch.”

  “I am not certain that the location of a misplaced Quick Draw McGraw watch is disruptive to the order of the world.”

  “Ahhh, I beg to differ because my mom replaced it with a My Little Pony watch which was completely disruptive to me, emotionally and socially. Probably affected me in countless ways, and since I’m in the public eye affecting other people, no telling how it’s negatively impacted …” She let her words trail off as the woman began to laugh.

  “That does sound tragic. Maybe we shall revisit the matter more seriously.”

  Kanyon took a few steps and turned back to the Eye that was still emblazed in the air. “So, Daylen is a Seeker. I don’t understand what that has to do with me?”

  “All Seekers have a Guardian,” she ran her finger over the outline of the eye, “to watch over them, to protect and help them.”

  “Seekers? Guardians? Kind of sounds like some cheesy comic book with guys that meet in caves, holding staffs, and wearing talismans and capes. Or it’s a–”

  “It is not a cult,” the woman interrupted. “It is time for me to go, Kanyon. You think about what I have shown you and I will be back to visit you soon.” She reached out to lay a hand on Kanyon’s shoulder. “Hopefully we will be spending much more time together. I have so enjoyed you.”

  Kanyon opened her mouth to speak but the woman was gone. She spun around looking for her, but only found clouds and fog. “Great, now what?” Kanyon asked no one. “If this is a cult, I really hope they’re not the needy, we-all-must-live-together-in-a-commune kind, because I will not share a bathroom with a bunch of whack jobs.”

  Kanyon woke suddenly and looked around. There was nothing except her bedroom and a comforting weight on her chest. Daylen was still curled up in her arms. She smiled and laid her head back to enjoy the rightness of the moment. She let her mind wander back to the dream of the cloaked woman, the symbol, and the images. She was still trying to decipher the dream’s meaning when she felt Daylen stir.

  “Good morning,” Kanyon whispered.

  “Good morning,” Daylen returned sleepily. “How are you feeling?”

  Kanyon figured Daylen was talking about physical okayness, and not her heart, which was aching in an amazingly good way. She took a quick pain assessment and though she was a little stiff and sore, it was nothing compared to the pain she should’ve been feeling considering last night’s activities. She remembered moving Daylen’s hand and resting it on her bruised stomach and the warmth which flowed unnaturally through her body. “I’m good,” Kanyon said with a smile. “But I do kind of have to go to the bathroom.”

  Daylen laughed and untangled herself from Kanyon so she could slide out of bed.

  Kanyon went to her bathroom and started to shut the door when she had a sudden thought. She leaned back out to Daylen. “You don’t happen to have Kool-Aid happy hours with a bunch of people wearing matching robes, do you?”

  “Uh, nooo,” Daylen answered with apparent confusion. “Why?”

  “Just curious.” Kanyon smiled then closed the bathroom door.

  When Kanyon returned, she saw Daylen sitting on the edge of her bed. She wanted to crawl back beneath the sheet, pull her close, and spend the rest of the day with Daylen curled up against her. She had almost figured out how to suggest doing just that when Daylen looked up.

  “We need to talk,” Daylen said softly.

  Talk? No. We need to do everything but talk. Her heart dropped. What had she been thinking? Daylen didn’t want to have anything to do with her after all she’d done. “Daylen, it’s cool. We don’t need to talk. It’s not like anything happened. It was just a crazy night, nothing more.”

  “Kanyon, I can’t¬–”

  Kanyon interrupted, unable to hear Daylen’s rejection. “Really, it’s fine. We didn’t … We shouldn’t … It would just end badly and we already have enough bad endings between us.”

  “Right,” Daylen agreed reluctantly. She was totally confused. She thought for sure she had read Kanyon and her feelings last night. Then this morning, waking up in her arms had felt so right, she’d decided to chance everything and put her fears aside and her feelings for Kanyon out in the open. But now? No, she was tired of fighting, she’d kept them in for too long. Screw it. She knew she wasn’t the only one feeling them. She stood and walked to Kanyon. “Kanyon, there’s something I have to sa–”

  Their phones rang simultaneously. They stared at each other as the phones rang again. “I guess we better get those,” Kanyon finally stated.

  Daylen responded with a quick frustrated nod, grabbed her purse off Kanyon’s dresser, and then stepped out into the hallway to answer her phone.

  Kanyon collected her bag, which she had dropped outside her closet and dug to the bottom, finding the ringing interruption. “Hello?”

  “Thought you were going to call me if you had any more incidents?” Roz questioned.

  Kanyon quickly searched for a plausible way Roz could have found out about last night’s encounter with the goon squad. “What do you think I did?” she asked cautiously.

  “There’s no thinking involved. I know what you did ‘cause I’m looking at a nice video of you causing quite an interesting scene at last night’s fight. You’re awful generous with your money.”

  “What’s the damage?” Kanyon dropped on her bed as she ran a hand down her face.

  “McKane Causing Fights Outside the Ring,” Roz quipped.

  “It wasn’t like that, I promise.” She dropped her head and listened to Roz’s tirade. “Roz, I’m sorry. I know I’m not doing my career any favors,” she inserted when Roz took a breath.

  Daylen walked in and overheard the last of Kanyon’s conversation. Not only had she caused Kanyon to be physically hurt, apparently now her involvement had caused more problems with her career, something which couldn’t take more of a hit. What if she and Kanyon decided to get involved? Get involved? Wow, she had leapt from telling Kanyon about her attraction to being in a relationship in two point two seconds. Of course, what had she hoped would happen? Hey Kanyon, I kind of have this thing for you. Okay, that’s all I wanted to say, see ya later. She sighed heavily. It was probably just guilt, an overreaction to Kanyon being hurt. She was just a little emotionally hung over. There was no possibility of a future between them, nothing more than a simple attraction. An attraction that made her want to kiss her, hold her, touch her, make lo … Maybe Kanyon hadn’t been the only one hit too hard in the head last night. She turned around again, and went down to the kitchen to give Kanyon some privacy. She searched for something to eat while she prepared to say good-bye … this time, for good.<
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  Kanyon found Daylen, as she had the day before, in the kitchen making breakfast. I could get used to this morning routine, she thought as she stood quietly and watched Daylen move around her kitchen.

  Daylen turned to grab something out of the refrigerator and stopped as she caught sight of Kanyon’s tall, lean form watching her from the doorway. Her tank top fit tight over her torso in contrast to the baggy sleeping pants which rode low on her hips. Okay, so not just a “simple” attraction. She tried to ignore her heart racing and her body’s rising temperature as she opened the refrigerator. She was immediately thankful for the cool burst of air. “Breakfast is almost ready and I called a cab to pick me up.”

  “I would’ve taken you to get your car,” Kanyon said as she left her perch in the doorway.

  “I know, but I thought it’d be best for you to rest and recover from our little adventure. You know, get back to your life?”

  Kanyon’s heart sank at “your life,” but she quickly dismissed Daylen’s comment. “I’m fine really, just a couple of nicks and bruises. I’ll take you. Cancel the cab.”

  Daylen sat their plates on the kitchen island and motioned Kanyon to sit next to her. “Kanyon, I put your life and your career in danger last night. I should’ve never let you become a part of this. I care about you too much to let that happen again.”

  “You didn’t do anything. I make my own choices and I choose to be with you. I wanted to be with you these last two days. I want to …” What? She didn’t know exactly, but she knew she wanted the time to figure it out. “I want, I don’t know what I want exactly,” she admitted honestly, “but I know I don’t want you to go yet.”

  Daylen smiled even though her heart was breaking. She stopped herself from analyzing what Kanyon’s words really meant.

  Kanyon continued in Daylen’s silence. “Maybe I can help you. Was that your aunt? Do you have a new case? As you know, I’m currently unemployed and I have some extra time on my hands. Let me help. We could go all Castle and Beckett, Starsky and Hutch, Holmes and Watson? I could try my hand at being the sidekick this time.”