by Navi' Robins
“I have to give it to her, she is a smartass.”
Jasmine wanted to meet at the park around eleven in the morning. It was eight. I had to wait three whole hours before I could see her again. But unless I wanted to come off as weird and a stalker, I decided to wait and not text her until I got to the park. It was hard but I needed to contain myself before I messed everything up by being overbearing and clingy.
I got to the tree around 10:45 and much to my surprise and delight she was already there. She wore a yellow summer dress and matching slippers with a sunflower on the top of each slipper. Her hair was down and she sat on the grass under the tree smiling at me as I walked towards her. When I got to the tree she jumped up and leaped into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist and kissed me.
“I missed you,” she said.
“I missed you too,” I responded. “So you wanted to talk?”
“Yes,” and then the happiness began to leave her eyes. I knew she had bad news but I was not prepared for what she was going to say to me.
“Aiden listen, as much as I would love to walk around this world in your arms, the reality of things are we can’t. It’s not safe for us nor our families and no one we love will understand how we feel about each other nor will they support it. We have taken a road very few have traveled and those roads have always ended in disaster because they all felt that their love could conquer all. The fact is love can’t conquer all. I wish it could but the reality is it can’t. We are mortal enemies that have found a reason to love each other and it’s dangerous and I don’t want anything to happen to you and I’m sure you don’t want anything to happen to me.”
“So, are you saying we have to be a secret?”
Jasmine hesitated and then nodded her head. That yes tore right threw my heart and I started to feel alone even though she was right there with me.
“Why? I can protect you, I can protect everyone.”
“Yes Aiden, I believe you can but my family won’t want your protection and if they found out about us they would send me away from you.”
“I would find you.”
“You probably would but we are both teenagers, we are not adults and we should be learning how to be adults, not thrust into a fight like the one we would face if we made our love known to everyone.”
The more she explained the more sense it made but it still hurt like hell to hear her say it. I didn’t agree with her even though it made practical sense. I felt like it would all be a lie if we hid how we felt about each other to the world. This kind of rare love was to be shared, not silenced.
“I promise you Aiden, we are a couple and we can go out on dates, to the movies, and anywhere else. We just can’t do it around people we know and even when we are out we have to be careful not to be seen by anyone we know.”
Tony’s words of “she’s played you” kept echoing in my head as she spoke about the terms and conditions of our so called relationship.
“So that’s it?”
“No, there’s more. My parents think that I am dating Brian and in order for me to get out to see you we have to keep it that way…for now.”
“Awww, hell naw,” I yelled and jumped up. The anger and jealously I felt were boiling my blood.
“So not only do I have to keep this a secret but I have to play along with you and Brian? What kind of fool you take me for Jasmine?”
“I don’t think you are a fool Aiden, look at me.”
I couldn’t look at her because even though I was protesting I already knew in my heart that I was willing to go along with this charade but I was going to show her that I didn’t like it.
How could I fall in love with someone so deeply that I was willing to play along in this manner? I mean this seemed like I was the “side guy” and Brian was the main squeeze. How was I supposed to deal with him holding her? Kissing her? Bragging about their dates and going to her house for dinner with the folks.
All I would have were memories of secret rendezvous that I couldn’t share with anyone, especially those that believed Brian was the luckiest boy on campus.
“So that means you will be dating two people?”
“Yes and no. I promise you that I will not let Brian get past the dugout, let alone first base. I promise you this Aiden, on my life I promise this to you. But my father isn’t a progressive man and he likes Brian, so if I say I’m going out with him it’s fine by him but I don’t think he would understand us. It’s breaking my heart to tell you this Aiden because I can feel you pulling away from me. I’m not trying to play with your heart or take advantage of you. I love you more than you know and I am willing to go through whatever to be with you. But right now, if we want to spend time with each other this is the only way. Please sit next to me, please.”
I hesitated, but eventually sat next to her. It was still hard to look at her after hearing everything she had to say. She reached over and held my face in her hands and kissed me on the lips. I looked at her and she told me she was sorry and then she started to cry, saying how unfair the world was. We just held each other under our tree, angry and saddened by the reality we currently faced.
Over the next few weeks my love life was like the best and worse roller coaster ride ever. The times we spent together were like magic. We talked and had fun but we were always looking over our shoulders, never quite feeling comfortable unless we were at our tree. How dysfunctional was this relationship? We related this tree, which was the spot of violence and hatred with our love. But it was the place where we discovered how we felt and it felt like the world couldn’t touch us while we sat under this tree. We were invisible to the outside world and no matter how crowded the hotel or the park got we felt like no one could see us here. At school and around Deerfield things were a lot different. Brian constantly boasted about his relationship with the most beautiful girl in school and how much her parents loved him. He always made it a priority to make sure I was around when he did it.
The jealousy consumed me so much at times that I felt like I was having a heart attack or stroke. He would hug her in the hallways or sneak up behind her and grind on her booty. I would get furious and sometimes caught myself slamming my locker door shut. Jasmine would try and keep the peace by sneaking away with me under the bleachers to kiss but after she left I felt alone again. I wasn’t sure how she was dealing with it all but I did know she didn’t have any competition from any other girls so I had to believe this arrangement was much easier for her than it was for me.
Tony being Tony always reminded me how stupid I was to put up with the bullshit. He even went as far as to say that no matter what we were, we shouldn’t have to carry on that way and it’s going to bite us in the ass one day soon. I was basically a weekend boyfriend while Brian had her five days a week and sometimes he would infringe on my weekends as well. It was becoming too much and I was starting to lose hope in Jasmine and any future we could have together.
And the make matter worse there were times when we were together that we would argue and sometimes get into physical confrontations with our powers. It was a dangerous game we played and sometimes things almost went too far. It was like no matter how much we wanted to love each other, the hatred that flowed through our veins from what we were would win out and we would forget about our love. It was dangerous and dysfunctional but it takes time for mortal enemies, bound by centuries of war and hatred to find enough peace within themselves and each other to love one another unconditionally. Our arguments would be over the top and we constantly screamed “I hate you!” but then afterwards we would be in each other’s arms, in tears, kissing and professing our undying love for one another. We could apologize to each other all the time but it wouldn’t change who and what we were. We just tried our best not to kill each other while we figured this thing out.
I know that it would have been easier to love another woman. A woman not of our bloodline or another Baraqu. But the universe had spoken and decided we should be together and who are we to argue with
the universe? Then one day Brian crossed the line and everything changed after that. We were winding down the school year towards the summer and graduation for the seniors. I was preparing to do my summer college tour and Brian was doing the same. We were in the lunchroom when Brian walked up to me while Jasmine was walking by and said to Tony and me,
“Fellas, I’m going to be tapping that ass all summer long.”
I let that one slide.
“Yeah right, you wish Casanova,” teased Tony.
Tony knew the real deal about Brian and Jasmine but Brian kept going.
“Dude, I’ve been tapping that already, it’s just that she’s going with me on my college tour so we will have all the time in the world. I might make her my Kim Kardashian and videotape her.”
Sorry, but I couldn’t let that one slide and I knocked him flat on his ass with a left hook. As he lay there on the floor I got up from the table and stood over him. At first he looked up at me like he was going to get up and do something. But when he saw the look in my eyes he decided against it and stayed on the floor. I knew that if he had gotten up off the floor I would have seriously injured or killed him. My training with Jaffrey had taken complete control on how I approached physical confrontations and I would have ended it swiftly and violently without mercy. Jasmine immediately ran over to us and looking at me like I’d lost my mind. She helped Brian off the floor and then a long, silent and awkward moment followed as the three of us just stood there looking at each other.
The time had come for a revelation between the three of us and I couldn’t take loving in the shadows anymore. I couldn’t take holding back my emotions because of what others would think or do. Jaffrey trained me to open the floodgates of my emotional rivers and loving Jasmine this way was closing that up. I couldn’t take it anymore, I felt suffocated and strained. I was waiting for Brian to say something else. Even a sorry would get him knocked back down on his ass. I didn’t want to hear his voice at all. Jasmine walked over to Brian and told him it was over between them. Of course he protested and lied about what he said or meant by it but Jasmine was already on to him and she quietly told him goodbye and grabbed my hand leading me out of the lunchroom.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Outside in the hallway she held me and whispered in my ear to take her away from here. I did and to the only place we felt safe. Our tree. I teleported us there and we found ourselves under the tree, holding each other.
“I heard what he said Aiden, thank you for defending my honor. I just want you to know that I never…”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I know you didn’t. But I’ve had enough; I couldn’t take him with you anymore. I understand the dangers our love can create but even in secret our love is dangerous. We fight and argue all the time and it’s because our love isn’t allowed to grow. It’s stagnant because we are afraid of what others think. I don’t care what anyone else thinks and I will face whatever consequences being in love with you brings. But I’d rather have five minutes of freedom with you than a lifetime of secrecy.”
To some it may seem like a bunch of crap but after training with Jaffrey and seeing how he had to live in secret and in seclusion; I understood that it was better to be free for a little while and die than be a prisoner for several lifetimes.
Jasmine began to cry and apologized for making her decision of secrecy.
“I know now that I have to love you all the way or not at all. I love you Aiden, and I am going to tell my parents about us today. I can’t live like this anymore.”
“Neither can I.”
There we were, under our tree, holding each other and ready to face a world that was unprepared and unforgiving towards what we felt for each other. It was a gamble but we were all in at this point.
But there were so many unanswered questions about Jasmine and the Shadows that I needed answered. And being that I now have a Shadow on my team it made sense to get some answers.
“Tell me about your family,” I asked.
“Well, I have four brothers and three sisters. I am the middle child, the oldest is my brother Nezar. We come from northern Egypt…”
“Wait, I thought you were Iraqi?”
Jasmine laughed at my question.
“No, that’s what idiots think where all Middle Eastern people are from since 9/11. No, we are Egyptians and our family can trace back their linage to the time before the pharaohs and the great pyramids.”
“I had no idea.”
“Because we are Egyptian and so is Alal, my family was tied to the rule of Alal and my ancestors fought alongside him for centuries. But back in the sixteen hundreds an entire generation of my family decided to break away and stop fighting this war.”
“Why?”
“No one really knows exactly, but they did.”
“Okay, you are a very powerful Shadow. Are all of your family members as powerful as you?”
“No, actually my ancestors that broke away from Alal are the reason for that.”
“How?”
“Have you ever heard of the Rabum Igisum?”
“No, what is that?”
“Every Shadow or Baraqu at the time of their death has the choice to give their powers to someone of their direct bloodline, either living in the present or the future.”
“So our powers don’t die with us?”
“Someone wasn’t paying attention in Science class. No, energy doesn’t die, it is transferred or transformed. Most decide to allow our powers to go back to the source but my ancestors decided to grant me their powers.”
“All of them?”
“Yes, an entire generation gave me their powers.”
“So how much power is that?”
“Enough to contend with someone like you but Baraqu warriors are a force no one can reckon with. That’s why the Shadows worked so hard to keep your kind from being born.”
“Why did they give you all their powers?”
“I don’t know. I guess they foresaw a great purpose for me and believed I needed all their powers to contend with what I am to face.”
“They foresaw?”
“Yes, back in the old times both Baraqu and Shadows had the gift of foresight but the Baraqu saw this gift as evil and forbid any Baraqu from using this gift. The Shadows on the other hand embraced this gift and we’ve never stopped using it.”
“So Baraqu can’t see into the future anymore?”
“Well you know that saying, if you don’t use it you lose it? That’s what happened to the Baraqu’s gift of foresight. They stopped using it so the universe saw no need to keep gifting them this ability. As generations grew they were born without that gift.”
“That kind of sucks for us.”
“Yeah Aiden, it does.”
“Can you see into the future?”
“Not now, I’m too young. But once we reach a certain maturity with our powers we develop the gift. I guess you could call it a bonus.”
“So your ancestors saw something in your future and they gifted you their powers? Wow, that had to be great to have all that power as soon as you were born.”
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
“I was conceived aware.”
“I don’t understand what you are saying.”
“When I was growing in my mother’s womb I was aware as if I was an adult. It was torture knowing and being aware as you grew.
When I was born I could understand everything everyone was saying but I was unable to speak because my body wasn’t developed enough. I couldn’t walk because my legs weren’t ready. It’s like being an adult trapped in a baby’s body.”
“Oh yeah, now that can’t be fun.”
“No it wasn’t but by the time I was ten months old I was walking and speaking full sentences. When my parents discovered my awareness they made sure that I didn’t overexpose my abilities.”
“I see, but you know you are still kind of immature.”
“I have the awareness
Aiden, not the wisdom. That comes with experience.”
“So after your family broke away no one else decided to fight again?”
“Nope. All my ancestors after that, down to my grandparents and my parents have sworn against fighting in this hellish war. We have our own reasons though. We see what is happening to this world and it isn’t right. We’ve learned to tap into the negative energy but we use it for good. The source may be one thing but what you do with it is something entirely different.
“That’s how we live our lives and as long as we don’t get involved the order doesn’t bother us or call upon us to do anything. When I was born my father was afraid Alal would not keep his end of the bargain but so far we have been left alone. My brothers all want to join the fight but not with Alal.”
“With the Baraqu?”
“Oh no, they still see your kind as the enemy. There is a revolution happening among the Wiccan. They want to break away from the Shadows and my brothers want to join them but my father forbids it. If one of us gets involved in this fight our agreement with Alal is over and they will come for me.”
“Why you?”
“Because I am the most powerful Shadow there is, next to Alal himself.”
“How is that possible? I thought Jason was.”
Jasmine giggled and shook her head at my statement about Jason.
“Aiden don’t you know that women are more powerful bearers of this power than men? What we possess is all about emotional content and who harnesses emotions better than women? Certainly not men. The more emotional content one can harness the more powerful one can become. Jason against me wouldn’t even be a fair fight. It’s just the male ego that placed him above me. I don’t trip though, it’s not important to me who’s got the bigger stick at the playground because I don’t wish to play in it. I am content with living a normal human life and being here with you Aiden. Nothing else seems important. But I’m not confused into believing I am human.”
