I nodded my head in agreement. “I would like that.” I couldn’t smile back at all.
He patted my knee with his hand and then stood. “We can start first thing in the morning. You need to get some rest tonight. Okay?”
I smirked and looked up at him. “Okay.” It wasn’t normal for me to feel so trusting of someone, however, Striker reminded me of someone. But he closed himself off from the world and wasn’t really ready to let anyone in yet. Besides, he needed to show a position of authority. He walked back out with the others. I sat and listened to them talk as I laid my head down on my pillow.
“She went through some of the most traumatic experiences that a teenager could possibly go through,” Striker said and then took a sip of his beer.
“We aren’t ever going to know exactly what happened to her. She’s never going to explain it all,” Gauge said.
Then Fancy interrupted. “And she doesn’t have to.”
There wasn’t even a pause before Alex spoke up. “No, she doesn’t have to. From what I know, there has been a lot of disloyalty and lies.”
They all sat quietly. Striker finally spoke. “I think that the key is going to be getting her talking about her brother.”
Fancy spoke up. “Tommy?”
There was another longer pause, and then some dirt shuffled as I heard them all stand to their feet and then with a gusting sound to a clink. “To Tommy.” They all spoke as they toasted to him. I almost started to cry, but then I forced it back and took a deep breath out of my mouth. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
I felt like I was flying over the woods of The Farm just outside the walls of the warehouse. The sky was dark as I watched overhead; I flew what seemed like miles and searched over the land. I could also feel that someone was following me, maybe even tracking me. I knew that I needed to be careful with whatever it was I did next. I knew that I heard something. I didn’t want to be the crazy one that has literally lost her mind. I kept searching as the moon lit the forest. A fog that started on the ground thickened, coming toward me. I stopped and landed in a tree just over some water. I looked down and saw my reflection in the water, and I saw a crow staring back at me. This was definitely a first. What was happening?
There was no wind but the few leaves left on the trees and the branches swayed as if there was a mighty gust that seemed rhythmic. I looked around and saw four large shadows marching toward my direction. I couldn’t make out exactly what these shadows were, if they were even human or alive. But they scared me as my heart skipped a few beats, and I had to swallow my fear. I could hear everything so crisply. Within each sound were more echoes of sound that created a sharpness to the tone. I heard a breaking in the air as if it was being sliced through by evil. It came and went so quickly.
I started to fly upward. I saw another crow as it flew in the opposite direction and I flew past him. I came to a small clearing where I saw a wounded animal. I flew in closer to see if I could find out what had happened. I landed within just a few feet of his face and hopped over. He started to transition back into human form.
He spoke to me in a whisper. “She is coming.” His eyes rolled back into his head and then he closed them.
I looked all around and there was no one to see. I heard a flapping coming from behind me. Another crow landed just beside me, tilting his head back and forth. Then he tilted his head down toward the now human body lying on the ground. It was almost like he was examining it, then he looked up to me and tilted his head. It was something so familiar about this crow—the way that he looked at me. I leaned in toward him.
With a rustling of the trees I flew upward in a panic. I opened my eyes back at the warehouse. I jolted up in bed and screamed in fear and panic. Everyone woke instantly and looked at me. Striker jumped so quickly out of his bunk. It was almost like he flew himself. “What’s wrong?”
I looked around. Alex was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Alex?”
Everyone looked around. “Shay, what happened?”
Where was Alex? Was he the crow that I had seen? I looked at Striker. “I knew I wasn’t crazy, there is something or someone out there. I can have these really in the moment dreams. I went out past the perimeter. There was a wounded mac tire coming to The Farm, he died just past the perimeter. Before he died, he transitioned back into human form and he said, ‘She is coming.’ He died after he told me that.”
They all looked at me like I was crazy. Fancy took a step toward me. “You can still have walking dreams?”
I looked at her. “Yeah. I guess.”
Gauge said, “You shouldn’t be able to still have walking dreams.”
I just shook my head. “I was told that it was unusual, but it has happened.”
They all looked at each other and then the door opened. Alex walked in. “What were you doing out by the perimeter?”
I stared at him. “I knew it was you.”
He kept stomping closer to us while he spoke. “That was Brandon. He was an informant for the mac tires. What did he say to you?”
He looked at me as if I was going to tell him something crucial and I didn’t know what it would be. “He only said, ‘She is coming.’ That was it.”
He just looked at me. He turned to Striker and his eyebrows went up as he turned his head. “Get dressed.”
He looked over to Striker. “Get everything we need.”
Striker stood there and watched when I folded my arms across my chest. “I thought we were going to work on controlling my anxiety?”
Striker looked at me. “It will. Alex knows what he is doing.”
I looked over at Alex as he walked out of the door. “What about Brandon?”
Striker was grabbing a blanket and folding it into a backpack. “Gauge and Fancy will take his body back to his territory. They have their rights to his burial.”
I just shook my head. I can’t get used to some of the customs and rituals that everyone seems so comfortable with. I walked into the bathroom and got my clothes on. I looked into the mirror and splashed water on my face. I heard someone coming. Striker was standing there at the corner by the sinks with his arms folded. “What are you worried about?”
I grabbed a towel and got the rest of the water off my face. “Nothing.” I threw the towel over to the wall and it fell to the floor.
“Is that it?” he asked.
I looked back to him. “Yep.” I could feel like it was one of those moments where you both know that there is something else going on, but neither one really wants to talk about it.
He uncrossed his arms. “Okay. Let’s go.” He turned and walked out. I followed him, watching as he walked in front of me. He had a sadness that he tried to hide with a confidence and anger. He opened the door to the warehouse for me, and I walked out and saw Alex sitting by the fire pit area. He stood when I walked out the door. “Good?”
I looked behind me at Striker as he nodded his head yes. “Where are we going?” I inquired turning back to Alex.
“To the sweat lodge. Get in.” I was completely confused. We went to the Jeep and Striker started to drive off the dirt roads.
“What is that?” I asked.
They looked back and forth at each other. They had a weird relationship. I never can tell what they are talking about, but they always know what is going on with each other. I just whispered to myself. “Okay.”
There was a pause until I heard Alex sigh. “Shay, you know that you are special, right?”
I sat back in the seat and crossed my arms. “That’s what everyone keeps telling me.” I looked out into the darkness.
He sighed again. “The Morrígan is trying to kill her own bloodlines for the winter solstice ritual. Your brother was caught in the middle of this not just because he loved you, but he could give you the one thing that she wanted. His power.” I looked back at Alex as he continued. “So far the Morrígan has found and killed a mac tire from each bloodline. The mac tire from each bloodline had a twin. The death transfers the powe
r to the other. In your case, Tommy gave you his power and his abilities. Which just made you even stronger.” I kept watching out of the side of the Jeep as he turned back to me. “She is coming after you, and the other girls.”
I turned to him. “Sophia?”
He looked away from me and back to Striker. “Sophia Gahlonaghan and Emily Braiden. Neither one of these girls can compare to the power and abilities that you contain. There is one problem.” He turned back to me and sighed. “You are angry, vengeful, and unpredictable. Whatever it is that you are hiding, it needs to come out. You need to figure out your past so that we can protect your future. And ours.” He turned to Striker. The Jeep stopped just before the perimeter to a stone structure that was almost enclosed in mud and over grown grasses and moss.
I looked around the area. “What is this place?”
Striker turned off the engine and got out of the Jeep. “This is a passage-tomb. In our culture and others, you will know it as a sweat lodge. We are here to take you through your journey.” He stepped up to the small opening of the structure, he knelt down and put his hand out to the top of the entrance and whispered. “Mo íobairt.” He leaned forward and crawled through the entrance of the structure.
I turned to Alex holding his hand out as he spoke. “You first.” I looked back at him as I came closer to the entrance. “Put your hand on the top stone and speak the phrase.” I watched him as I got closer and then turned to the opening. I knelt down like Striker and when I did I could see him inside, he smiled and held his hand out for me.
“Mo íobairt.”
I crawled through and took his hand. It was such a small space the walls were solid with stone and mud holding every space tight together.
“Mo íobairt.” Alex entered.
Striker had a bowl with something that was boiling inside. I could smell an earthy herbal scent. I sat quietly while he poured it out into three cups. “This is a mixture of rose hips, elderberry, rooibos tea, and psilocybe mushrooms.”
I looked up at him in surprise. “Excuse me?”
He took a sip. “Your journey is awaiting.”
I looked at Alex and then back to Striker. I tilted the cup back and forth in a circular motion while I thought. “What will happen?”
They both drank everything in their cups without looking back up at me. “You will be set free from your pain.”
What the hell? Right. I don’t know what will happen, but my pain will always be there. I drank it quick and handed the cup back to Striker. He took the cup and set it down beside him. It was getting hard for me to breathe. The steam and temperature were rising. I felt a blurring feeling rush over me. “What’s happening?”
I could only hear Striker. “Tá tú dorchadas. Do am atá caite, i láthair, agus sa todhchaí a líonadh le dorchadas.” I looked at him as he turned into a dark shadow creature in the heat of the steam. I felt everything as if it was not me, but I was outside my own body. Striker continued to speak. “Keep breathing, we will enter into your past through your memories. Do not try to hide anything. It will become unrecognizable to us and you. Keep your concentration on the memory itself. There will be one difference—a visitor to your memory, think of your visitor as the secret your memory is hiding from you as we go through. Do you understand?” I watched as he spoke; his shadow turned into an animal, not like a mac tire but it had similarities. His shadow figure looked like a monster the more I watched him. I was scared of him. He seemed he might be the one with the real darkness.
“Yes.” I watched as his shadow leered close.
I looked to Alex; he did not just have one shadow creature, but two. Both were mac tire in species. I didn’t know what that meant or if it should mean something. His image started to distort but his was a physical shape of a mac tire. Alex spoke. “Do not focus on us. This is your memory.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath through my nose. There was silence; when I opened my eyes I was in the Callamore mansion. I looked around trying to find Alex and Striker. “Where are you?” I heard footsteps from behind me—familiar to me.
“We are here. Keep walking.” We started to walk forward. There I was, I was running around the foyer of the Callamores’. I had to have been maybe three at the time. My heart melted when I saw Declan and Duncan running down the stairs toward us. “Wait for me,” Duncan yelled out at Declan as he took smaller steps down the stairs. I had run to Declan and put my arms around him.
“I don’t even remember this. I didn’t know that I had met Declan at any point before just a couple of months ago.” I was so confused. “It looks like you all were really close.” Striker pointed out. “Do you know what happened?” I shook my head no.
My head turned when I heard yelling from the dining room. I walked over and watched as I saw my mother pace back and forth in front of a younger Edness Callamore. “I can’t lose them. How could you let this happen?” My mother spoke in a breaking voice. Edness Callamore tried to get her to calm down. I could barely make out anything she was saying. “I already lost my baby boy. Please don’t take them away too.”
I heard a door slam from upstairs and someone coming. I turned and saw a beautiful woman walking down the stairs carrying a little girl. “Declan, please take Angelica. You can play in here.” This was their mother.
“She’s so beautiful,” I said.
She had golden blonde hair that had the same loose curls as Angelica and even more beautiful brown eyes, I could see that was where they got their mesmerizing brown eyes. She walked with an elegance that I had seen in Angelica, I wanted so badly for an understanding about Eva Callamore. There was so much sadness in the Callamores’ life that I couldn’t bear to bring more to them by asking about her. I watched as Declan grabbed Angelica’s hand and walked her over to me. I went to give her a hug and she pushed me down and ran behind Declan. Declan bent down and helped me up. “She just doesn’t like anyone.” I smiled at him and he took my hand.
I turned and saw Alex as he glared at Declan. “What should I be looking for?”
Alex spoke as he watched Declan and I. “Something that doesn’t belong.” He crossed his arms over his chest, as he stood in my memory I didn’t know even happened. “It’s something that is out of place. Do you see anything?”
I scanned the room. “No. I don’t know. I don’t remember any of this so I don’t know what’s not supposed to be here.”
He pointed toward the dining room. “Try to focus on the conversation here.”
I turned toward him again. “Okay.” There wasn’t anything out of place from what I knew about the mansion. I took a couple more steps toward the dining room.
The conversation was getting heated. The volume turned loud. “Wasn’t it enough that you broke my husband’s heart? Now you have to keep coming around to rub his nose in it. He has a real family now.” Eva Callamore spoke with anger.
“Julius never truly wanted me, Eva. Edness made sure of that.” My mother was angry and hurt.
Edness Callamore stood between them with her hands up. “This needs to stop. You both have separate lives. Everyone is where they are supposed to be.”
My mother turned to Edness Callamore. “Not everyone.”
She paused and put her finger in Edness Callamore’s face. “You need to fix this before I do.”
Edness Callamore just stood there calmly. “Don’t threaten me in my home. You need to remember your place.”
My mother blinked and backed up a step. “If I had chosen Julius you would be doing everything in your power to change the course my children are on.” She turned to Eva. “Just wait. It will happen to you too.” She stormed out of the dining room. I watched as she stomped over to me and pulled me away from Declan. “Come on, Shay. Let’s go.” Then she walked over to Tommy, grabbed his hand and walked out the front door with us. I watched as Declan looked sad as we left. I was shocked when I saw Tommy so small I didn’t even realize that he had been there with me. “Tommy.” I paused reaching for him. “I didn
’t know any of this.” What were they talking about?
Alex placed his hand on my shoulder and then moved it quickly after I tilted my head toward him. When I took a deep breath out, it was like we went flying through my memories, days were flashing past us. It was like watching my life in fast forward. My memories slowed when I saw myself and Tommy sitting in our car seats in the car. It was stopped on the side of the road. My mother was behind the wheel and we were just sitting, I didn’t know what we were waiting for until I saw this old tan Cadillac pass us on the road. My mother put the car into drive and hit the gas so hard the car jerked.
“Who is that?” Alex asked.
I turned to him. “It’s Eva Callamore.” My mother was heading straight for her car. “What is she doing?” She pulled up beside Eva in her car and hit her sending the car off the road. I gasped and put my hands over my mouth screaming. I took off for the cars, the Cadillac was smoking and the front windshield was cracked. I looked to see Tommy and me crying in the backseat. My mother got out of the car and went over to the driver’s door of Eva’s Cadillac. She pulled the door off the Cadillac with ease. It surprised me when she showed signs of abilities. “She said she didn’t transition.”
I stood there and watched as my mother grabbed her. “You were never supposed to be. This will fix everything.” She smashed Eva’s head into the steering wheel and left her by the side of the road. I was looking around to see if anyone else was there.
“I can’t believe that we were there. She did this with us in the car.” I turned back to Alex and Striker. “She murdered Eva Callamore.”
Striker pointed. “There she is.”
I turned back around to be confronted by a white wolf. “She?” I asked. “How do you know that’s what I’m looking for?”
Crimson Secrets Page 28
