(picture created by me with AI)
The breath blew ragged out of my lungs as my heart beat a staccato of pounding beats. Please don’t let the sounds bring them to my hiding place, I prayed silently to whatever Gods might be listening.
Hiding behind the tombstone was not an ideal place. I crouched down and tried to make myself as small as possible to avoid detection. I cursed the bad luck that made me choose tonight to take a stroll in the fragrant moonlight, and I cursed even more the decision to take a shortcut through the cemetery.
I had unwittingly stumbled upon a clandestine meeting of men and women wearing long white robes. It seemed to be some sort of ritual and my curiosity overcame my good sense when I tried to hide and spy on them. There was chanting and dancing in a small clearing and the full moon lit the scene with an eerie glow. If only I hadn’t tripped over a tree root and drew their attention.
Footsteps drew closer and I clenched my eyes shut as if that would prevent them from seeing me. It was a foolish hope as I felt hands grabbing my shoulder and pulling me to my feet.
“So what do we have here? An intruder to spy on us or a wannabe acolyte?” said the man roughly gripping my shoulder.
“I’m, I’m sorry, I meant no harm. I was just taking a walk, I had no idea you were holding an ummmm, meeting here. I’ll be on my way now” as I tried to disengage my shoulder from his grip. But the funny thing was, I felt an unusual warmth where he was touching me and it radiated down my arm and made my fingers tingle.
The man looked closely at me with a quizzical expression of disbelief. He turned me toward him and put his other hand on my remaining shoulder. The tingling intensified to engulf my entire body and I felt a little lightheaded and disoriented.
“Joseph, come here. See if you see what I’m seeing.” said the man still holding on to me.
Another man, I assumed to be Joseph, walked over and looked at us. “Yes” he said, “I see her aura and purple is such an unusual find these days. Young lady, who are you and how did you find us?”
Purple aura? All this heat and tingling? What had I stumbled across? My brain felt foggy but there was a mysterious stirring deep within me. It was as if something I had been seeking all my life was being revealed.
A woman walked over and joined us. She reached out and took my hand gently. Her long red hair cascaded down her back in unruly curls and she had the brightest green eyes I’d ever seen. Her touch felt healing and serene and I immediately felt the calm come over me in gentle waves.
“My name is Vanessa and I think we are all fortunate to make your acquaintance this evening. The Serenities have led you here, at this time and place, to complete our little band of Seekers.
I know this is confusing but I feel your powers are responding to mine and we have much to discuss.”
Vanessa continued to hold my hand and gently led me back to the main group, who were still loosely assembled in a circle around some mysterious drawing on the ground. The circle parted and allowed Vanessa to guide me into the center and she positioned me to stand upon the drawing.
“What is your name and for starters, please tell us about your background. We’d be most interested to learn what you know about your abilities?”
“My name is Marley, and I can tell you about my background, but I know nothing about any “abilities”. My parents were killed in a car crash when I was just a baby. Even though I was riding in the back seat, I was spared in the crash. They said it was a miracle I survived. I was told the crash was caused by a drunk driver but he was never identified or punished. I was raised by my Aunt, right here in New Orleans but she sadly passed away shortly after my eighteenth birthday.”
“How tragic” lamented Vanessa and the others murmured agreement. “Tell me about any unusual occurrence that happened to you that seems unlikely or unexplainable by conventional means. Think hard, because the uninitiated tend to repress these memories.”
I started to reply with a denial but a memory stirred deep within me. Wait, I do have an unusual memory that I hadn’t thought about in years.
“Well, I do remember one incident, it happened when I was only about 5 or 6. Aunt Shirlee and I were in the park around the corner from our apartment. I had climbed the steps of the slide and Aunt Shirlee was waiting to catch me at the bottom. I remember an icy feeling coming over me and a sense of urgency, like something important was about to happen. All the sounds in the playground faded away, I felt like I was in a bubble. As I looked around I saw a toddler break away from his mother’s hand as they headed to their car. The toddler ran into the street and a truck was speeding down the lane right at him. All of a sudden time seemed to stop and I felt as if I was reaching out, as if I had left my body. Then there was popping noise and I was back on the slide and the child was sitting on the sidewalk shrieking like he’d been given the scare of his life.”
Vanessa turned and looked at the others with a joyful smile lighting up her face. “I knew it, our Marley is the rarest of Serenties, a Traveler Empath!” Praise be that we have found her, or rather she found us, at this important juncture in our work.”
I didn’t understand any of this. Confusion was written across my face and the questions chased themselves around my brain, hardly knowing which to ask first. But deep within a feeling of peace and a sense of “rightness” had come over me.
Vanessa took in my countenance and smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, Marley, we will answer all your questions. Your training is about to begin and it’s time to either sink or swim in your new magical life. With you, our missing piece, our group will go on to do great things together!