“Well?”
Just then the back room door opened and someone else came out. He wasn’t dressed like an employee and carried a backpack. As I turned around, the world seemed to turn with me. Everything blurred except for him. In those few seconds, I couldn’t even describe what he looked like. It was like I was seeing through all that, and into the past.
The world fell away as I saw into all the memories I had recovered. It left me dizzy on my feet. He was the missing piece. As if one eye had been hidden throughout any recollection I had had of my past life, I now saw him there — at every moment that was worth remembering.
We were older then. He was a man with a beard and eyes that held every shade of green and brown. I couldn’t tear myself away from those eyes. His black hair made his face look all the more pale, and I was bombarded by the weight of the entire emotional spectrum crashing down on me. I remembered my dream. This was who I’d been running for.
Moments passed and I was shocked to realize that I still stood in the coffee shop. It seemed strange that the universe hadn’t actually melted away as it had in my mind. My heart was pounding in my chest as the stranger walked over to me. He probably looked like an ordinary person to everyone else, but to me, he practically glowed.
As he set his backpack down, I noticed the same angular features, the same pale face, and a familiar mop of black hair above his face. I thought I was going to fall through the floor again when he smiled at me. It was a small, hesitant smile, but with the next step it grew to a big grin and the familiarity of it nearly killed me. Another step and he was within reach. I suddenly remembered my booziness and my make-up, which was most likely smeared, but it was a passing thought.
He was standing right in front of me. He paused for a just a second and then grabbed me in the tightest hug I’ve ever received in my life. It was like an elastic band had been wound around my heart, keeping me calm and contained for my entire life. It burst now as I was squished against his chest, where I could feel his heart beating as loudly as mine. He hugged me more completely than I could imagine and my face was buried in his sweater. I felt tears well up in my eyes and a huge sense of relief, though I didn’t know why.
I don’t know how long we stood there until he released me. I turned to find Kian and the other teenager absolutely wide-eyed.
“Gwen?” Kian said slowly. To my surprise, his low voice was nearly a growl. His body language suggested suspicion.
“My name is Seth,” the stranger said. It didn’t seem to fit quite right, but I couldn’t think of any other name to call him.
“I’m Garrison,” said the one behind the counter. “I think you’re looking for us?”
I didn’t understand. I stepped back, staring from one to the other.
“Both of you?” Kian asked.
Garrison nodded confidently, and a wide smile spread across his face. “We knew someone would eventually come looking. I guess you’re the welcoming party,” he said, rocking backwards and forwards on his heels.
I squinted at Garrison and tried to imagine him as he once would have been, without the apron or the cash register. There was something vaguely familiar about his curly brown hair and lanky stature, but I was trying and it could have been my imagination. He was tall and skinny, but his round face held friendly dimples.
Seth was another matter. I knew him and I felt that conviction in my bones. His dark hair and pale skin brought me back to a place of stormy skies and wind.
Kian turned to Seth and me. I felt glued to his side, like I couldn’t be close enough to him. Moving an inch would be like losing him all over again.
Get a hold of yourself, I scolded.
“You know each other?” Kian asked skeptically.
We nodded. I noticed they were the same height when Seth left my side and moved towards him. Kian’s wide eyes and behaviour suggested that he had had no idea what this reunion would entail. A flutter of panic brushed over me as I imagined him as clueless as me. Surely that wasn’t possible.
“Who are you?” Seth asked him. “I don’t know you.”
I had been travelling with Kian long enough to know that the statement upset him. His shoulders drooped slightly. Something turned off in his eyes, and he was the stony-faced kidnapper I had first met in Oregon.
“I was sent here to collect you,” Kian said in a monotone. “You need to tell me what you remember of your past. We can begin working to recover your full strength so that you may succeed in your mission. More importantly, the magicians from your past will try to steal your magic. They need your power, and you need to get stronger before that happens.”
I was relieved but annoyed to see that neither Seth nor Garrison were the wide-eyed novices I’d hoped they’d be. They looked at each other warily, but with understanding.
“Can we outrun them?” Seth asked. My jaw dropped. He spoke like all of this was old news.
“Only for a while,” Kian replied without emotion.
“No more waiting, right?” Garrison said to Seth, taking off his apron and motioning for a waitress nearby to take over.
“Where are you going?” she called, but we were already near the door.
“I quit,” Garrison called back.
Great. Everyone was a professional except for me.
On the street, I put my shoes back on while Kian, Garrison, and Seth talked. I felt pretty useless when I realized how much they knew. While I had been terrified, the two new additions to our group were excited.
Garrison was loud and outspoken. He questioned Kian about every aspect of our past lives, including where we were from and what happened to us. I felt a bit better when I heard that neither of them fully remembered anything, just bits and pieces. They had led different lives but were able to put pieces together to form the story Kian had told me.
Seth listened more than spoke. I observed him and noticed Kian’s eyes slide back and forth between him and I even as Garrison bombarded him with questions. I don’t know how long we stood on the street, but when Kian had run out of ways to dodge Garrison’s questions he announced that we should all meet in the morning. We agreed to a place, and I reluctantly left Garrison and Seth walking in the opposite direction.
The distance between this new stranger and me was like a cold gust of wind. As Kian practically dragged me back to the hotel by my elbow, I felt the brush of loneliness creeping up my side where I had stood next to him.
I vowed to think over everything that I’d felt that night. Kian’s words about living my own life were prevalent in my mind. I didn’t know this person, and he didn’t know me. If I let my feelings for him control my life now, then where would it end? Would the past Gwen take over and forget myself as I had been my entire life? But those kinds of feelings had never happened to me before. How could I just throw them away? Seth was the reason I had come with Kian in the first place — he meant that much to me before I had ever even seen him.
No, I scolded myself, I don’t know him.
This train of thought went around in my mind until it made me dizzy and I lay down in my dress. I placed my arms over my eyes to avoid the light while Kian moved around. The sun was rising, I hadn’t slept, and I was emotionally drained. He finally shut off the light and I heard him lie down. I was worried about being able to sleep, but the alcohol was still in my body and caused a warm feeling in my stomach. Soon, I was asleep.
In the afternoon when we finally woke up, Kian was in another dark mood. I could sense it from the moment I got up. We got ready in silence and walked down to a small restaurant Garrison had picked the night before for lunch. It was strange meeting for food to discuss escaping magicians. But the only thing on my mind was how Kian was avoiding me.
He sped past busy streets, full of people either selling something or rushing somewhere. I had to struggle to keep up with him. When I nearly lost him, I jogged to catch up and stopped in front of him. He looked down at me as if surprised to see me there.
“Hey!” I called to him. �
�What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing,” was the short answer.
I ran around him and stopped again. He turned to me with an annoyed frown.
“What happened between you and the one named Seth?” he asked. His hands on his hips could have been comical were I not irritated and out of breath. “Do you know him?”
Was this jealousy? Crazy, ancient jealousy? I decided that lying would get me into more trouble later.
“I do,” I said meekly. I still didn’t know what I had seen and hadn’t had the time to properly think about it. “I remember him. It’s like all of my memories are about him.”
Kian’s eyes narrowed further, making his nose look even longer. He was like a bird staring down the mouse he would have for dinner.
“What?” he asked quietly. The word came out like a whip and I instantly felt like I had done something wrong.
“What?” I retorted, defensive. “I’m just saying that … the few memories I’ve had … seem to revolve around him somehow. I just know it.”
I would spare him the long-winded explanation of feeling it by the ache in my heart.
Kian walked past me in a huff.
We got to a small restaurant with aluminum tables and chairs arranged in a wide room. The metallic counter up front was busy with people ordering their meals. It took me only a second to locate Garrison and Seth sitting at a round table near the back.
I made my way over, feeling Kian’s glum presence at my back. I still hadn’t figured out what was wrong with him, but it would have to wait.
“Hello, fellow time travellers!”
I jumped and immediately turned around to see who had heard. No one paid attention. Garrison was smiling widely and waving to us enthusiastically. His tall, thin frame was eclipsed by a giant backpack. He looked like a twig supporting a cocoon. I realized that I liked his plain brown hair and honest face. If this was someone I knew in a past life, I could bet that we had been friends. Behind him, Seth was carrying a similar backpack and smiled, but hesitantly.
“What did you tell your parents?” I asked.
Kian and I took seats as Garrison flung an arm over Seth’s shoulders.
“The truth. Magicians trying to steal my magic. Need to escape. Recover a past life, you know….” Garrison said as his eyes met mine. I hadn’t understood the joke. Kian and I stared at him blankly.
“Tough crowd,” he muttered, turning to Seth. “My talented friend helped convincing them that we were taking the last year of high school off to travel Europe. And that it’s okay.” He smiled wider. Seth shrugged.
“Oh come on,” Garrison chided, “it’s a gift and you knew you’d have to use it!” He turned to me and explained, “Seth can influence emotions and thoughts. He can also sense them and hunt them down!”
Seth only scowled.
“But he doesn’t like to,” Garrison added. I could understand how the argument I had heard last night would have come from them.
I tried to smile supportively but that was the last thing I had wanted to hear. I would rather think that Seth’s ability was to turn into a pile of goo than to sense my feelings and thoughts.
A waitress came over to take our orders and I realized I hadn’t even seen a menu, though I was starving. Kian and I ordered whatever the other two were having. Once he was sure that the woman was gone, Kian leaned in conspiratorially.
“How much do you remember?” he asked. “Really? Specifically.”
Seth and Garrison looked at each other. It was nearly a full minute before either answered.
“Bits and pieces of a former life,” Garrison replied. His smile had vanished and he looked troubled. “We figured it was somewhere in Western Europe. I remember …” he ran a hand over his face, “just everyday things, I guess.”
He was obviously holding something back, but Kian didn’t press him; instead, he changed the question.
“But what do you remember of why you are here?”
“There was a war that was going to destroy everything?” Seth answered, but it sounded more like a question. He frowned at the table, recalling the memory. “Magicians.”
“And Romans,” Garrison added.
“And Romans,” Seth said. “I have this nagging feeling like everything was over. We were all going to be destroyed. I’ve been dreaming about it for years. Just the most horrible feeling of everything being for nothing.”
Silence stretched at our table as I remembered how I had felt in my dream when I was running. I knew that feeling well. I wanted to reach out and hold his hand but today the modern-day Gwen was in charge, and she wasn’t that daring. Last night’s outburst from past-life Gwen had shown me just how much I needed to always keep myself — or her — in check.
“There was something special about us. I guess it was the magic. But we still couldn’t fight something like them and the Romans too. I’ve been dreaming about feeling like we lost,” said Seth.
Garrison nodded.
“And I remember being with you, Gwen,” Seth said.
Chapter Fourteen
While my heart skipped a beat and I searched for something to say, opening and closing my mouth like a fish, Kian ignored him completely.
“How long have you known?” Kian asked Garrison, pointedly ending whatever conversation Seth’s comment could have caused.
“A few years,” answered Garrison, and it was Seth’s turn to nod.
I didn’t know if I felt jealous or lucky. Was it good that I didn’t have to live through years of these memory attacks and magic without knowing what to do about it? Or was it bad that I could have been preparing myself for this moment, and didn’t know?
Kian looked around to make sure no one was listening. “You did have magic, and you were special,” he said. “And you couldn’t win against the magicians. Mistakes were made. You were weakened from fighting the Romans. Now this world is in danger.”
The gravity in his voice brought me back to the shack in the woods, lying in pain and looking into his eyes. Was that really less than a month ago?
I sat and listened patiently as Kian retold the whole story of our past. In a way, it was good to see Garrison and Seth nodding along. While my memories and abilities had convinced me I wasn’t on some reality TV show, I felt validated that someone else was going through the same thing. It offered some credibility for my having run off chasing the memory of someone now sitting in front of me. Again, I longed to reach out and take hold of him.
Control yourself, my own stern voice warned in my head.
“You all have different talents,” Kian was saying, “and the key to unlocking those talents is to regain the memories of your past lives and sync those lives with your own.”
“And the phone?” I reminded him.
Seth and Garrison didn’t have to pry every little piece of information from Kian’s locked-down mind. I had already done all the work. He shot me an I-should-tape-your-mouth-shut look.
“Magicians help our cause,” was all he said. “They brought me here to find you. They keep the magical plot a secret. They finance our efforts.”
His face looked like he was sucking a lemon. Why was it so terrible to explain? I assumed Kian did not like being bossed around by whatever magicians were helping us.
“Why bother hiding it?” Garrison asked. “Can’t anyone do anything about them? Surely going after a few magicians would be better than cleaning up all the mess they’re making?”
Kian shook his head. “To destroy the magicians is difficult. They are influential in this world, and respected. It would also take all the strengths of this era and would mean the destruction of the world itself. Probably, nothing would be left.”
It was grim, but we absorbed this new information while the grey clouds rolled in. News of the pier incident still played across some TV screens in the corner of the restaurant.
We ate our food, each lost in our own thoughts and occasionally stopping for Garrison to ask Kian more questions. Seth and I kept qu
iet, though I felt as if he stole glances at me over his omelette.
When the waitress came to collect our plates, Kian followed her to pay.
“Not very happy, is he?” Garrison asked, staring at his back. I only realized it was a question directed to me when I saw both of them staring.
“Oh.…” I thought of what to say to avoid telling them he was in a bad mood. “He just takes a while to get used to new people,” I replied. They both seemed happy with this, though I felt I had just made Kian, the two-thousand-year-old, sound like a cat.
We walked back to the hotel, where Kian had gotten a room for Seth and Garrison next door to ours. He didn’t seem as paranoid about them either running away or going crazy with memories, but still wanted them nearby. They were taking leaving their lives very well. I guessed that’s what happened when you had years to prepare yourself and a friend with whom to share your experience. A pang of jealousy reverberated in my chest.
I was worried Kian’s foul mood would mean another walk in silence, but Garrison wouldn’t let that happen. He spent the long walk telling us how he and Seth had met while on a school trip to a museum. They were from different schools but had recognized each other at once.
“Friends ever since,” Garrison said.
Seth had little input in the story but now eyed the flags all around us as we walked by an office tower. They flew at half-mast after the incident at the pier.
“The tsunami the other day …” he began, but Kian must have sensed his question.
“Yes,” he said.
“Why don’t we just fight them now?” Garrison asked. Even I knew the answer to that.
“You’re not strong enough,” Kian replied.
“But you know who they are,” Garrison pressed.
Kian looked at him sidelong, not appearing very pleased. His face flickered between irritation and that sour lemon look he wore earlier.
“Yes,” he said, and before Garrison could open his mouth, he added, “but I will not tell you.”
Garrison relented and I could have sworn I saw a smile flit across Kian’s face. He saw me looking and quickly replaced it with a frown.
Lives of Magic (Seven Wanderers Trilogy) Page 10
