The Possession of Anna Drake

12 - A Trip in Time

“Are they going to be all right?” I asked as we made our way through the rows of cars.

“Yeah, Sam’s a good guy,” Jordan assured me.

“I’m not so much worried about him. I’m more worried about her taking advantage of him.” I grumbled.

“He won’t do anything he doesn’t want to.” Jordan laughed, and we came to a stop in front of a black sports car.

“This is yours?” I asked.

“Yeah, my dad is sort of something special in our coven.” He growled.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, not something I’m open to talking about on the first date,” he mumbled.

“I understand.” I sighed in relief. The last thing I wanted was to discuss my mother. I was shocked they didn’t bolt the moment Anna said my name. Maybe my mother isn’t known for her last name.

Jordan opened the passenger door and waited for me to take a seat. The leather interior felt like silk on my exposed skin, and I let out a moan of gratification. Realizing he was watching, I turned bright red and hid my face from his view.

“It’s quite all right,” Jordan assured me. “I make the same noises when I get behind the wheel.”

I let out a quiet snort and then hid my face further from view. I had no class when it came to the opposite s*x. It was probably best that Justin found a way out before he learned just how much of a dork I was.

“Tell me about your friend,” Jordan requested as he got into the driver’s side and started the vehicle. It roared to life and sent even more waves of excitement through me.

I swallowed hard. Maybe he was more interested in Anna than I thought.

“We’ve been friends since we were kids. Been through a lot together.” I sighed.

It’s not that I wanted to leave Nidia out of the conversation, but I felt the discussion was better suited for the second date if there was one. Bringing up the fact I was a convicted murderer did not seem first date material.

“She seems to be the more confident of the two of you.” He commented.

“She is. Anna has always been better at things like this,” I answered.

I placed my hands on my knees and looked out the window.

“I’m not interested in her.” Jordan suddenly said. “She just strikes me as the kind to be manipulative.”

I felt the smile spread across my face before I even said a word. Jordan could read right into Anna’s exterior personality, which meant he was astute.

“Then, you would be correct,” I answered.

“Sam’s smart. He knows how to handle himself. She may think she has a hand up on him, but he’s clairvoyant, so he knows things.” Jordan chuckled.

“Probably safer if he’s one step ahead. She has a way of crawling into your head and making you do things.” I didn’t realize how monotone my answer was, but I was always going to remember how she convinced me to hide the body.

“Sounds like you know first hand,” Jordan replied as he glanced at me.

“You saw her in there. You rescued me from doing something I would have regretted,” I mentioned.

“This place has a way of convincing those who are most susceptible to suggestion,” Jordan said with a smirk.

“Sounds like you know a lot about this place.” I looked over at him as he put the key into the ignition.

“I know more than I probably should. Sam and I come here a lot, so the pill’s potency is not as hard on my body. Your friend there got the full-on effect. You seemed to have some, but you were lucid enough to find me in the crowd.” Jordan stated.

“I wouldn’t say there was much of a crowd.” I laughed.

“Either way, you were being pulled in but not succumbing to the urges.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“What do you mean?” I questioned.

Jordan knew a lot about the club in the middle of nowhere, more so than I think I gave him credit for.

“Nothing.” Jordan looked at me and smiled.

“Ok,” I replied with a nod.

I wasn’t going to fight it. Jordan had a reason for what he was saying or even withholding from me.

“I take it you don’t get out much.” He mentioned as he turned on the ignition, and we sped onto the dirt road just outside the club.

I was amazed at how little traffic there was.

Then the unease hit me again. What if the danger wasn’t what was inside the club, but what waited to get to me outside?

“No, I’ve been rather sheltered,” I admitted.

Again, not too much detail, just enough to give him the idea I was listening.

“I heard that’s pretty much the norm in Evergreen Falls. You are all imprisoned in the small town. I don’t think we’ve ever seen any of your coven members at the club before. The High Priestess still forbids marriages outside her coven. I couldn’t imagine how she would feel about what happens in there.” His eyes were on the road, so thankfully, he didn’t see me cringe. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about my mother in the sense that she wasn’t my mother.

“It’s a little more complicated than that,” I replied softly.

“I hear you.” He laughed. “Did you at least have a little fun tonight?”

“Yeah, I met you,” I replied.

“Well, aren’t you a sweetheart,” he said with a sly grin.

I sat there a moment, rubbing my hands on the leather seats, thinking about where to take the conversation when I looked over at him.

“Can I ask you a question?” I breathed.

I could still remember what happened with Anna, but the image replacing the memory was frightening. He said it should feel like a one-night stand, but I felt like I was stepping into hell.

“Sure,” he replied.

“Why me?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Why not you?”

“I don’t know. This is the furthest I have ever been from home.” I looked out the window as the club disappeared into the darkness behind us.

“I take it this was your friend’s idea?” he asked.

“Is it that obvious?” I laughed.

“A bit. You are far too sweet to be in a place like that. Anna fits in, but you, no, you are something else.” Jordan placed his hand on my knee, which sent shock waves up my body.

“What does that say about you then?” I teased.

Jordan’s cheeks turned bright red, and his bottom lip began to quiver.

“I plead the fifth,” he replied with a chuckle.

“How many girls have you taken for waffles and pancakes?” I pressed.

Jordan sat there a moment, pretending to count on his fingers.

“One, and I haven’t even gotten her to the restaurant yet,” Jordan responded.

“And what makes me so special?” I noticed Jordan’s hand had not moved.

“I just told you. There is something about you. You aren’t like the other women who come into the club. Then again, I know most of them from high school and the others from mixers we used to have.” Jordan’s eyes glazed over when he mentioned the women he had known.

“Mixers?” I raised an eyebrow.

We had dances; I knew that much. I never got to go to one, but I saw the girls in their formal wear at the coven meetings. Like Jordan had mentioned, our dances were not open to other covens. My mother was strictly “keep it in the coven.”

“Yeah, you know, where several different schools come together to expand the bloodlines. My dad met my mother at one in the eighties. They courted a few years and then tied the knot. I came along shortly after that.” Jordan’s explanation did not answer my question.

I was already sure I knew what he meant, but it was not something I was fortunate enough to experience. She would skin me alive if my mother knew I had crossed over from Evergreen Falls into North Wood territory.

“Does she know you two were coming out here?” Jordan asked.

“My mo-High Priestess?” I caught myself before I revealed who I was.

“Yeah. Something tells me she would not be pleased you were sitting in a car next to me.”He squeezed my knee, and I smiled.

I liked his touch. It was nice to have someone who wanted to be near me. Not that Justin didn’t want to be near me, but this wasn’t the same. Justin was very inside my comfort zone while Jordan pushed the limits. I looked down and noticed Jordan’s arm was covered from wrist to shoulder with intricately drawn tattoos.

“Did it hurt?” I asked as I began to trace the outline of one.

“The tattoo?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“No, maybe for a second, but it numbs out. It’s almost soothing.” He lifted his other arm revealing another sleeve of images.

I wanted to examine each one, find out its hidden meaning, and then absorb its beauty. It did confirm Jordan was older than me, but I was curious by how much.

“How old are you?” I squeaked.

“Huh? Oh, twenty-one as of last week. You?” he asked.

“Eighteen as of three months ago,” I replied with a sigh.

“You must have just graduated from high school then. How exciting is it to be schooled at Evergreen Falls?” he asked.

“Wouldn’t know, I was, uh, homeschooled.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth. Anna and I had learned on a separate curriculum from the witches in the school. It was within my home, so really, homeschooling was the right word to use.

“How did you manage that? I thought your High Priestess was the headmaster as well.” He was onto me.

Something told me he knew exactly who I was, and he was going about it oddly. He didn’t want to call me out, but he gave me all the opportunities to say it, but I kept refusing. I was better than my mother.

“It’s a little complicated.” I groaned. I was not going to give in that easily.

“I understand. There are things in my life that are best discussed on a second date.” He winked.

“If there is a second date,” I mentioned with a laugh.

“Something tells me you and I have a destiny together. Not sure what it is, but I feel you, Liz. I feel you.”He made a sharp right turn onto a paved highway, and I knew we were in the home stretch.

“Well, hopefully, I won’t accidentally zap you.” I teased and then closed my eyes.

Why had I said that?

“Speaking of, electricity huh? That’s pretty powerful. I heard it’s not common these days.” Jordan’s gaze was out the window, so he didn’t notice me staring at him.

“Maybe. What is your gift? You mentioned Sam is clairvoyant.” I asked.

“Yes, and Anna was quick to mention she was telekinetic.” Jordan smiled. “I’m pyrokinetic. Get it from my father. Does electricity run in your family?”

“Fire, huh. Can you spit fireballs?” I laughed. “And kind of. My great-grandmother was an electrokinetic. My mother has mastered all means of elemental magic except electricity.”

”Your mother sounds pretty high up the totem pole.” Jordan made another sharp right turn, and I could see the diner’s sign up ahead.

“The family is old. We’ve been a part of Evergreen Falls for a long time.” ” I didn’t know what else to say to him without giving too much away.

“To master all elemental magic would be extremely rare. Is she trying to learn yours?” Jordan asked.

“No, she spends more time swimming in a bottle of wine. She’s always been a drunk, but it got worse after my dad left.” I looked out the window. How had the conversation taken such a turn?

“My dad isn’t much better. When my mother died, he lost his zest for life. He spends most of his time reading old documents and screaming at me to turn down my music.” Jordan laughed.

“You still live with him?” Not that I thought it was wrong or anything.

Usually, we are forced into marriage by our twenty-first birthday, so it was odd that he was living the single life with his father. I would have to run away to have that kind of freedom.

“Yeah, it’s not uncommon. I did not match well with the girls in our coven. So I’ve had to look outside for even the slightest match.” ”e glanced at me and squeezed my leg.

Part of me wanted to believe him when he said he could see a destiny with me, but I knew all the things Anna told me about men, so I had to be cautious. How could he not match with one of his coven mates? If he were part of our coven, he would have been snagged the moment he batted his eyes.

“I don’t exactly match with mine either,” I groaned. “The one guy I had even a small match with ran off when his brother threatened him.”

”Sounds like the brother was jealous,” Jordan said.

“No, that wasn’t it.” I let out a nervous laugh. “I’m not as I might seem.”

I was seconds from revealing my life story when he pulled into the parking lot and shut off the car.

“We’re here,” he said as he exited.

Thank goodness I was able to avoid the conversation, at least for a little bit.

“It’s out in the middle of nowhere,” I mentioned as I looked around.

I glanced around us, there was nothing in sight. We were on the side of the road in the middle of BFE looking up at a bright sign. Part of me wondered if the diner was tied to the club and that was why Jordan knew where it was.

“Yeah, it’s a hidden dive. That’s what I love about it. There is always a table available.” He gave me a dashing smile as he exited the vehicle and teleported to my side of the vehicle with no hesitation as if he was not afraid of anyone not like us seeing him.

“You have no fear,” I whispered as he held out his hand for me to exit the passenger side of the car.

“The windows are tinted, and besides what are they going to say?” He laughed as I took his arm and we entered the diner.

I was shocked, it was like stepping back in time. Or at least what I see as back in time. We had nothing like it in Evergreen Falls. We had a few cafes and a bistro or two, but nothing that served greasy burgers and huge strawberry milkshakes. The prices were also beyond imagination. My mother had a habit of spending ten dollars a day on coffee while I could get a whole meal for less than that.

“Everything looks so good,” I said as I looked at the posters on the windows.

“Just wait.” he smiled as a tall woman made her way toward us.

“Table for two?” she asked as she began to grab menus.

“For now, others will be joining soon,” Jordan answered politely.

“Right this way.”

We followed the waitress down an aisle until we came to a booth. Jordan sat on one side and I chose the other. This was still new to me and the last thing I wanted to do was electrocute the first guy who seemed to be into me.

“You are much prettier in natural light,” Jordan mentioned nonchalantly.

I was taken aback. I didn’t know what to say.

“You look nice too,” I squeaked