~ Robert Blair
Anali waved to us as soon as we entered the cafe. My fingers and toes burned as they began to warm up. From now on I would carry a jacket with me from room to room. Anali hugged Gavin. "I'm so glad you're all okay."
"I was scared when I thought you were in the school with that thing," Gavin said burying his face in her dark brown hair.
I tugged on Kayin's sleeve. "I'm going to go to the bathroom, will you let them know?"
"Of course, do you want anything?"
"Something hot to drink, whatever you get."
Kayin's brown eyes were soft as they looked into mine. "We’re safe now, try to relax, Little Sister."
I nodded, and tried to fake a smile before slipping between the packed tables. The bathroom was clean, small, and with room for only one person. I exhaled, letting my shoulders relax as I leaned against the sink. I needed to try and re-create my flimsy bubble. Right now I could feel everyone's emotions. And the energy I received from Akasha still sparked inside of me.
I rinsed out my mouth and splashed water on my face. Looking in the mirror, I groaned. My eyes were puffy, red, bloodshot, with small flames flickering in the iris, and pieces of my hair stuck up as it escaped the bun and gel. I couldn't put it back together so I reached up and began pulling the pins out of my hair. With numb fingers, I combed through the messy curls, trying in vain to make my hair look less like a Halloween costume for an ‘80s rocker.
"Just a second," I called out to whoever knocked on the door. I guess this was as good as it was going to get.
I walked back to the table and sat in the empty chair between Kayin and Gavin. A steaming cup of spiced apple cider waited for me. I took a sip and felt warmer instantly. Taliesin and Kayin were taking turns telling the others about our encounter. It was nice of them to make me sound heroic instead of like a scared child, pathetically trying to find something to save us.
"Wait," Philip said, holding up a calloused hand, "Sara, how did you know what to do?"
I shrugged. "I thought of how it felt when you told us the story and how the energy feels when I dream, and tried to connect to Akasha."
Philip sat forward, resting his arms on the table. "I felt you, I didn't realize it at the time, but I felt you tugging at me. You realize you're the Jewel right?"
"I thought we agreed not to bring that up?" Gavin said between clenched teeth.
"Gavin, it must be important, or he wouldn't have," Anali said her voice soothing.
"I, um, yes. Yes, I know," I said grasping the warm mug and drinking some more.
"Your gift is all about connection. You'll be able to do other stuff too, but you can open the doorway to Akasha because you can connect other Children of Fire, specifically Treasures, to Akasha and increase the energy. And it would seem you can use the gifts of other Children of Fire near you."
"I didn't mean to. I won't do it again."
"No, no, sweetie, it's fine.” Philip smiled, the light behind him making his salt and pepper mohawk throw a weird sinister shadow over his face. "It didn't hurt."
"Do you have any gifts unique to you?" Gavin asked.
I shrugged, how exactly was I supposed to know that?
Anali sighed. "Gavin, really. Sara, are you willing to tell us if you've experienced any of the other gifts?"
"I suppose, but I don't know much about them. I mean, Kayin told me a little bit."
Gavin's face looked warm and open. "The strength and focus of the gift varies, but there are six basic types: telepathy, language, healing, fire, empathy, and dreams."
I must have looked as confused as I felt because Gavin immediately began explaining. "Each gift can be broken down into a few basic skills. Healing for instance, can be the ability to heal others, or regeneration also called, speed healing, which is my gift.
"People with the gift of language can easily learn other languages, have the ability to understand any spoken or written language." Gavin paused, waiting for a moment, and when I nodded that I understood, he continued. "The gift of dreams usually is one of two skills, either having prophetic dreams, which are dreams that come true, or the ability to dream and talk with those in Akasha and remembering the dream clearly the next day."
"Those who have the gift of fire can create fire, control fire, or are completely fireproof. Then there are those with the gift of empathy, being able to read other people's emotions or the ability to influence how other people feel. This is usually done through our voices. The whole Phoenix song thing," Gavin said waving his hand around. "And finally the Children of Fire with the gift of telepathy can communicate with animals. Some can hear what animals are thinking and some can project their thoughts to animals."
"Most Children of Fire have only a small portion of the gift," Philip explained. "Treasures, like Kayin, have the full range of their gift."
"And as the Jewel, what am I expected to do?" I asked before telling them anything.
"No one knows," Gavin said. "But it seems like as long as you are near someone with a gift you can tap into it."
I took a sip of the apple cider. "Well, I believe I am feeling other people's emotions, but I honestly haven't tried to do anything else."
"Why didn't you say something?" Gavin asked. "And why did you hide your hair?"
"I don't know you, any of you," I protested. "Do you have any idea how scared I am? I’m changing! My life is chaos, and the people in control of what happens to me, they wouldn't understand any of this. I need to have a better understanding of what is going on, to be more in control of myself before I figure out who to tell what."
Gavin leaned forward reaching out a calloused hand, excitement and hope flooded over me. "Sara, I'm ... ouch! You kicked me." He shot an accusing look at Anali, sipping her drink not meeting his eyes.
Philip smiled. "Sara, we are all here for you. And other than Kayin, I don't think any of us understand how scary these transformations can be when you didn't know they were going to happen."
Gavin ran his hands through his hair, making the damp red locks even wilder. Taking a deep breath, I felt him pull in and lock down his emotions. Anali patted his arm. "You're right” Gavin said.“I'm sorry if I sounded like I was accusing you. I forget that this isn't always a welcome change."
Guilt feels like brain freeze, sharp and cold. I didn't want Gavin to feel like that. "It's all right."
"We all will help you, Little Sister," Kayin said.
"Thanks, Big Brother," I smiled faintly.
"So how long do we sit here?" Anali asked. "The cafe is open until midnight, but I'm not interested in being trapped here that long."
"What was a walk-in doing here anyway? I thought the Sons of Belial rarely go after Children of Fire," Taliesin asked.
"She was looking for something,” I answered. "Searching. I could feel it."
"Are you sure she wasn't after us?" Kayin asked, his brow furrowed.
Gavin shook his head. "If a walk-in sees the fire in our eyes they'll track us, or if we get in the way of a magical creature, they'll fight us, but most of the time the Sons of Belial keep an eye on us."
"Most of us aren't powerful enough to bother with. They must have felt a power surge," Philip said.
Taliesin turned cold blue eyes to me. "So this is because of you."
"What?" Guilt swept through me.
"When a Child of Fire comes into their power they tend to have dreams of Akasha. They are brought there by Shamash so he can mask their power surges and help them learn to use their gifts. This can't be anything Sara has done." Gavin sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Most of us don't even remember the dreams unless dreaming is our gift."
I could remember bits and pieces of the dreams, but no point in sharing that bit of information, or the fact my mother left me a letter written in another language.
"This is no one's fault," Philip said his voice firm.
I opened my eyes staring firmly at the table, remembering when Shamash pulled me into the dream becau
se I hadn't wanted to go to Akasha. This was my fault. If someone got hurt or worse, I’m the one to blame.
“Guilt is such a vicious debilitating emotion because we wield it on ourselves. We tear apart our own actions, thoughts, motives, and desires. Do not let guilt consume you, my darling daughter. If you have done something wrong, intentional or not, work towards a solution. Can you fix things, or will you need to do better next time? We all make mistakes, and we are all deserving of forgiveness. Please, my darling, allow forgiveness to always follow guilt. Wash the guilt away as you fix things and forgive yourself with as much love and compassion as you would forgive a friend.”
Kayin's large dark hand covered mine. “Everything will be fine.”
"I'm just saying we should figure out if Sara is attracting the Sons of Belial so we can deal with it in the future," Taliesin replied.
"And we will," Anali said. "But right now we need to figure out what we are going to do tonight."
"I have an idea, let me make a few calls." Philip got up and walked outside.
I watched him for a moment, his frown quickly turned to a smile. I guess his plan was coming together. I took another sip of my drink and stared at the table. Was this all my fault? Had that poor woman been possessed because of me? Did I put everyone in danger?
"Okay, I've got it all figured out," Philip said interrupting my wallow in self-pity. "My friend, Lucas, is going to have a couple of his faeries go over the school and lead the walk-in away. His husband, Zachary, is working tonight, so he'll pick her up for being intoxicated in public and take her to the hospital to get evaluated because she's talking about trying to capture faeries."
"Philip, you're a genius!" Anali said.
"Yes, well, I try and tone it down so as to not make people nervous around me. Anyway, Zachary will text me as soon as she's in custody," Philip replied.
"What time is it?" I asked.
Gavin looked at his watch. "Five-thirty. Why?"
"I want to make sure I won't be late for Melanie."
Philip's phone chirped. "Looks like the faeries are working, and they are headed south, which means we can head back once everyone is ready."