by A. P. Jensen
Drops fell on her head as she passed beneath the branches of towering trees. She couldn’t figure out why the air smelled so sweet here, like flowers and goodness. Squirrels chattered above her, electric blue dragonflies hovered over the ground as she made slow progress towards the stream. Sweat dotted her brow and she had to lean against a tree for support by the time she made it to the bridge.
She watched the lazy running water and tried to get her breath back. The first days after Mr. Parker left she spent most of her time in the bedroom or on the porch, taking in her surroundings. She never dreamed she would end up in a place like this- beautiful, away from civilization with no confinement or noise. Kelly told her to explore and roam the grounds but to keep close to the house until she was stronger. After Haven, where even her baths were monitored, it was difficult to think she could do as she wished. Weariness tugged at her but she was afraid to sleep. She had too many demons waiting for her to close her eyes. She was lucky to get two hours of undisturbed sleep a night. Instead, she spent most of her time outside. She enjoyed walking and staring up at the sky. She hadn’t seen the sky over two years when she was in Haven. It was a blessing she wouldn’t take for granted.
Heath’s front door opened. He must have seen her from inside his house because he jumped off his porch and walked towards the stream. He had on his usual attire- flannel shirt, work boots and jeans. Even across the distance, his orange eyes glinted. He stopped on the other side of the bridge.
“Can you make it across?” he called over the sound of the water.
She hesitated before she pushed off the tree and started towards the bridge. Jordan let her body move with the sway of the bridge and held on to the thick rope rails as she slowly made her way across. When she reached the other side she rubbed her chest with a fist.
“You’re pushing yourself too hard,” Heath commented, walking at the same snail place as Jordan.
“I’m fine,” she gritted.
She’d grown used to Heath. He was at the house most mornings for breakfast and when she wandered on property he was always nearby. At first she felt threatened and uneasy but after several days of him keeping his distance she relaxed. Today was the first day he’d approached her.
“Did I trip an alarm? Is that how you knew where I was?” Jordan asked to distract herself from the pain.
“I’m a light sleeper and I’m responsible for you while Donovan’s gone.”
“Responsible for me? Why?”
“There are a lot of people that would love to make a score against Donovan. Until you get your power back you’re weaker than those without any magic.”
They finally reached his house which had a wooden rocking chair and no railing on the porch. Jordan sat heavily. Heath disappeared inside and came back with a beer mug filled with ice water. She gulped it down and looked back at Mr. Parker and Kelly’s house. The tinted glass made it impossible to see inside and it was strange seeing it from this angle. On the other hand she was a lot closer to the flat topped hill and lake.
“No sign of your power?” Heath asked, sitting beside her.
“No.” She didn’t hide her relief.
Heath let out a low chuckle. “One day you might be grateful for it.”
“You haven’t seen what I can do.”
She looked down at her hands and had a flashback of her hand clutching a makeshift dagger and aiming for William’s heart. He can’t touch you anymore, she told herself. What would it take for her to believe she was free of him?
“We all have the ability to do bad with our power, just as normal people are capable of doing evil,” Heath said easily.
“What can you do with your power?” she asked voice loud in the morning quiet.
He held out a hand, palm up. Purple fire engulfed his arm up to the elbow. Jordan stiffened but didn’t pull away. She watched Heath’s eyes and saw the calm control he exerted over the flames.
“Fire is my specialty but I can handle the earth element as well.”
They both watched fire move over his skin, searching for something to consume.
“Being linked to fire is a strange thing. Most of the time fire destroys everything in its path but when fire burns land, things grow back more beautiful than before. Fire can forge beauty.”
Heath closed his hand and the fire winked out of existence. They looked at one another, measuring and waiting for questions.
“What do you mean; you’re linked to the earth?” Jordan asked finally.
“There are four elements we draw our power from. Fire, earth, air and water. Most people are drawn to one of the elements, sometimes two. It depends on their bloodline.”
Jordan frowned. She thought of her nightmare the night before- waking to find she somehow turned William and everything in the room into an icebox. So she was a water element? Mr. Parker froze the pool so maybe she got it from him. Did her mom have power?
“Come. I want to show you something,” Heath said and headed into the house.
She couldn’t help being curious. She rose and walked like a drunk up the three steps and through the front door. The house consisted of one large living room and three bedrooms. Through the first door Jordan glimpsed Heath’s unmade bed; the second showed a small bathroom and the third door was closed. Heath’s kitchen was a counter with a sink. The living area had a long couch and a huge TV on the wall.
Heath walked to the closed door and beckoned. Jordan crossed the living room and stepped into what could only be called a workshop. Everything in the room was made of the same tinted glass Mr. Parker’s house was made of. There was a long worktable and rolling chair made of metal. Shelves across the room were lined with vases filled with glittering stones and jewels.
“This is where I make glass,” Heath explained.
She stared at him. “Glass? You built the house?”
He nodded and sat on the metal chair and wheeled towards his desk and opened a drawer and pulled out a long silver chain. Jordan went rigid and tried to back out of the room. Heath focused on her.
“What is it?”
“What are you going to do with that?” She fingered the fine scars on her neck.
“I’m going to give it to you,” Heath said, bewildered.
“No thanks.”
He dropped the chain on the desk. “Am I missing something here?”
“In-in Haven they would punish us by putting necklaces on us like that,” she shuddered and looked away from the metal. “The necklaces choke you until you pass out.”
Heath’s eyes began to glow. “This chain doesn’t do anything like that. We would never give you something that would harm you.”
Jordan didn’t say anything.
“Time will tell.”
He wheeled towards ten metal drums against the wall and pulled off the lids. Each one was filled with different colored sand. Heath cupped a handful of the fine grains and let it drift through his hands, breathing deeply.
“Ever been to Hawaii?”
Jordan snorted in response.
“The sand from there is like nothing I’ve ever used. It’s what makes my glass indestructible.”
“Indestructible?”
“Watch.”
Heath took a pinch of green, black and white sand and tossed it into his glass pot. He wheeled to another shelf stacked with clear glass vases filled with stones of all colors.
“There is every type of jewel known to man in these vases.”
Heath glanced back at Jordan and when he didn’t get much of a reaction he raised his brow.
“Not a material girl, huh?”
She shot him a baleful look and his mouth twitched. He picked out a vase filled with what looked like colorful rice grains. They sparkled in the light.
“This vase has everything,” Heath explained and took two colorful pinches and tossed it in the pot with sand. “Come Jordan.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “Why?”
He juggled the pot, mixing the sand and stones. “My glas
s is indestructible. We don’t know what state your power will be in when it returns. You could end up weaker or stronger than before but until you learn to control yourself, you’re going to need help.”
Fear made her take a step forward. She had absolutely no control of her power, had no idea how to harness it. “How can you help?”
He gestured around. “My glass. You can channel your power into the glass and it will absorb your power.”
“What do I have to do?” she asked, taking the pot.
“Put your hand in the pot,” he said and rolled his eyes when she narrowed her eyes at him. “They need to get to know you. The glass has to be tuned to you.”
“They?”
“The sand and stones,” he said impatiently.
She put her hand in the pot and brushed her hands through the warm sand and relaxed. She fingered the small grains of stones. Heath rose and pushed her onto the metal chair. He leaned back against his desk and crossed his ankles.
“I don’t know what you’ve been through or where you’ve been. I can’t explain everything but I can tell you what I know,” Heath said. “People that breathe fire are called Darsana. Our history is filled with war. We’ve breathed life into every weapon known to man. Destruction has been our way of life and I thought I would follow the same path.”
Jordan listened, letting the sand slip through her fingers.
“I did for a while. I became a warrior straight out of The Academy. I became head of security for some of the most important men in our world but,” Heath stopped and cleared his throat. “My wife and daughter were murdered. I was so busy protecting others that I left my family wide open. I left my position and moved to Hawaii.”
Heath’s hands began to crackle with flames. He placed his hands on the desk and even as she watched, the glass flared red and yellow. The flames disappeared from Heath’s hands and he continued to talk as if nothing happened.
“I was sitting on the beach, trying to deal with the hand life dealt me and the sand began to melt around me. Waves crashed on shore, cooling the sand and after a couple hours I realized there were chunks of glass around me. I picked one up and all the anger, grief and pain I felt drained out of me. I dropped the glass and ran.”
Jordan shifted uncomfortably in her seat. That he would reveal his own nightmare to her evoked emotions she didn’t want to feel. She didn’t want to become attached to any of these people, didn’t want to get to know them.
“Day after day, the same thing kept happening. I was so angry and just for my own satisfaction, I wanted to see the glass splinter and it wouldn’t,” Heath ran a hand through his hair. “Other Darsana have tried to copy me but it comes out like regular glass. Kelly thinks I pour the protection I wanted to give my family into the glass. The emotion I pour into the sand is what makes it indestructible.”
Jordan blinked hastily. “I’m sorry.”
“Everything happens for a reason,” Heath said but his hands crackled with blue flame and once more, the glass beneath him absorbed his power. “It happened a long time ago.”
“It doesn’t mean you forget,” Jordan murmured.
“No. It doesn’t. Donovan and I were friends in school. When I went to Hawaii he came out to see me and told me he had property in Texas I could look after. I’ve been here ever since.”
“So the house,” Jordan ventured, “does the same thing as your desk?”
“Yup. Donovan has a bad temper so he uses the house a lot. Kelly does too every now and then. The pool room is a good place to go when you need to let everything out,” Heath said.
She grasped a handful of sand and sprinkled it in a pattern over the bottom of the pot. “I had to drive for a day in the sand. There were no roads.”
“When you escaped from Haven?” Heath asked calmly.
She nodded and wrote her name in the sand before shaking the pot to erase it. “It was so hot. I thought we were going in circles. I was so afraid he would find me.” She tried to rid herself of the feel of William’s power within her, taking over every part of her- mind, body, soul.
“We?” Heath repeated.
Jordan raised her head and looked at him with sapphire eyes. “Levi. We escaped together.”
“Where is he?”
Jordan clenched a handful of sand and tried to banish the sense of loss. “I don’t know.”
Heath waited for her to continue but when she didn’t he said, “Kelly likes having you here.”
It was a blatant change in subject.
“I know.” Kelly made Jordan breakfast every morning, pampered her and wanted everything to be perfect for her when it already was.
“She’s a natural mother. She can’t help herself,” Heath said.
Jordan thought of her own mother and pushed those thoughts away. She didn’t have the energy or inclination to deal with those memories now.
“Alrighty then. Hand it over,” Heath said and Jordan blinked in surprise as he whipped it out of her grasp. “This is going to take a while.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Alright. Stay back and put these on.”
He tossed her a pair of his Oakley’s and waited for her to put them on before he cupped his hands beneath the pot and began to heat it with his hands. Blue flames engulfed the glass pot. The heat was so extreme that Jordan backed out into the living room. Through the lenses of the sunglasses the flames glittered. She was surprised the room didn’t catch on fire.
Half an hour later Heath reached into the pot and pulled out a hissing white mass. Over the glasses, Heath’s brows rose. He threw the gooey ball on his work table.
“What size do you want?” he yelled over his shoulder.
Jordan walked cautiously back into the work room. The heat lingered but wasn’t as intense. She peered over his shoulder. Heath was massaging what looked like sticky candy. Jordan winced even though his hands weren’t affected by the heat.
“You want a heart? Star? Seahorse?”
Jordan glanced up and saw his broad smile.
“Angel?” he asked innocently.
“Circle,” Jordan said firmly.
“You got it.”
He rummaged in his drawer and pulled out a steel circle cookie cutter. He folded the clear liquid like dough, pulling on the ends and folding them on top of each other. He flipped it and continued the process. Once he was satisfied, he flattened it and used the cookie cutter to make it into a perfect circle.
He scooped it onto a spatula and flipped it several times like a pancake before he walked past her into the kitchen and ran it under water. The steam fogged up the windows. Heath held the circle up to the light. The circle sparkled with iridescent colors. He walked back to the work room and pulled out several tools and a piece of silver. Ten minutes later he threaded the circle pendant onto the silver chain and held it out to Jordan.
She took the chain and was surprised how light the pendant was. It was the size of a half dollar and cool to the touch. It was a quarter of an inch thick with a small silver clasp at the top. She rubbed her thumb over the flat surface but there were no streaks left behind.
“This is amazing,” Jordan murmured, awed.
“It’ll be more amazing when your power comes back and you can see what it can do.” Heath’s shirt was soaked with sweat and he looked exhausted.
She shifted awkwardly. “Thanks.”
“It’s the least I can do.” He sat on the chair and looked at the pendant with a pensive expression. “I’ve never seen one like that before.”
“What?”
“A clear one.”
“What do they usually look like?”
“They’re usually colored. Your dad’s is black.”
She shrugged. “I’m not surprised.”
He grinned. “You’re gonna keep your daddy on his toes, eh? I can’t wait to see this.”
“Do you use the same ingredients every time you make a pendant?”
“Yeah. Sand absorbs whatever element it’s in and when
you handle the sand it absorbs your feelings and gets a sense of who you are. When I heat the sand, it captures your essence and now it’s tuned specifically to you.”
“That’s weird,” Jordan said.
“We better get back to the house.”
She couldn’t put the chain over her neck. She remembered a necklace cutting through skin, warm blood dribbling down her neck… She shuddered and wrapped it many times around her wrist with the pendant dangling. Heath didn’t comment. She found herself touching and examining the pendant all the way back to the house. She had to stop once they reached the bridge and Heath seemed to need the break as well.
When they walked up the back porch they both caught a whiff of cooking butter. Jordan’s mouth watered. Kelly pulled steaming cornbread out of the fridge and beamed when she saw them. She had on a cowboy hat with tiny shells around the top.
“Morning!” she said. “I hope you don’t mind me borrowing this from your closet, Jordan. I couldn’t resist.”
“No. No problem,” Jordan said hastily.
“Heath wants coffee. Jordan, what do you want to drink?” Kelly called from inside the fridge.
“Juice.”
“You like guava?”
“Never tried it,” Jordan said and a thick pink juice was plunked down in front of her with an omelet.
Jordan wasn’t quite sure how the fridge worked yet. She’d looked in herself and not seen a thing but when Kelly opened the doors it dispensed fully cooked hot meals or cold beverages.
“Oh!” Kelly squealed, seeing the pendant on Jordan’s wrist. “Let’s see.”
Jordan unwrapped it and handed it over. Kelly held the pendant up to the light and then peered into it as if she could see something.
“Very nice. Thanks Heath,” Kelly said.
As Heath and Kelly fell into their routine of chatting over breakfast, Jordan ate and listened to the rhythm of their voices. She wondered where Mr. Parker was, if he’d found Haven. When would he come back? She looked out the windows and wondered where Levi was and if he survived.
