Chapter Two- Jade
1969 Words
Chapter Two- Jade
Current Day
Dallas, Texas
Magick from the otherworld
Come and settle within my hearth
Find me the woman that he’ll love most
The one who will pull his land apart
With a strand of Black Maidenhair
I command thee find me one that’s fair
With the Herb of Grace and a pinch of blood
I command thee find me the thorn with the rose bud
With the leaves of the Lady’s Glove
I command thee to search below and above
With the promise of my first born child
I sacrifice my daughter to the Sith’s wiles
“Jade! What the hell is this?!”
The shriek woke me from a dead sleep, and I cracked an eye and studied the clock. Memories of a strange dream faded, and I groaned. My roommate was still screaming at the top of her lungs, which could only mean one thing.
She’d found the bird.
“All right, all right. I’m coming,” I grunted as I rolled out of bed and ran my hands through my hair. As usual, the blonde strands were a tangled mess. Reminding myself for the millionth time to get a haircut, I grabbed the hair band from my nightstand and pulled it up to the top of my head.
I didn’t bother changing out of my cotton shorts or tank top. Instead, I hurried down the stairs of our townhouse and burst into the kitchen. Not only had Katie found the bird, but she’d apparently left the top off the large box for too long. The little yellow finch was sitting on the counter and staring at her.
“Oh, she looks so much better,” I said with happiness. “Yesterday, she couldn’t even move. I’d hoped that she was just stunned. She got into a fight with a hawk and survived!”
Katie slowly exhaled her breath. “Jade, you cannot keep bringing wild animals into the townhouse. There’s a no-pets clause in our contract, remember?”
“It’s not a pet. I was going to release her if she lived. Of course, now, we need to get her back in the box.”
“Back in the box? I’d say instead that we should leave all the doors and windows open and just let it fly out! I swear, you’re giving me a heart condition.”
Katie was always a little melodramatic. “Calm down. I can’t just let it go here. I think this is the hawk’s favorite hunting ground! I plan on taking her to Green Rollings Park and releasing her.”
“Fine. You can get the damn thing back in the box. Just tell me that she’ll be gone when I get back from campus today.”
“Campus? It’s Saturday. Why are you going to campus?”
She immediately dropped her gaze and shuffled her feet. “I have to study. There’s a bird loose in my townhouse.”
“Study, my ass! You’re going to see Derek. Katie Moran! Do you have a date with him and didn’t tell me?”
She sighed. “Because I don’t know if it’s a date. He told me to come out and watch him play and then we could grab lunch afterward. I don’t know that it’s a date.”
“He probably just wants you to see how hot he looks in his baseball uniform, and lunch is a stress-free environment. Keep him enticed long enough, and that lunch date might turn into a dinner date,” I teased with a wink.
Laughing, she shook her head. “What’s gotten into you? I thought that you were still on the male-bashing wagon after Spencer.”
“It’s not a male-bashing wagon. It’s just…I don’t know. I don’t think that love is for me. I’m twenty-five, and I can’t keep a guy around for longer than six months.”
“Yeah, but you’ve never been in love with them. You just wanted to be. When you do fall in love, you’ll realize that love is the perfect thing for you!”
I wrinkled my nose and grabbed the box. “Your chipperness is annoying.”
“You’re the one rescuing birds,” Katie snorted. “Seriously. Bird. Gone. And no more rescues!”
We both knew that it was a promise that I couldn’t keep. After Katie headed back upstairs, I approached the bird gingerly. She immediately took flight into the living room, and I sighed. I was glad that she was feeling better, but it was going to be a long morning.
Two hours later, I had the bird in the box in the back of my car. I’d taken a few minutes to throw on a pair of jean shorts and flip-flops. My hair was still in a knot, and I didn’t bother with make-up, but it didn’t matter. Katie was right. I was off men for a while, so I really didn’t care how I looked.
“You are going to love your new home,” I said to my unwilling passenger. “The park is a great place to make a nest and hopefully you won’t run into any hawks.” Turning into the parking lot, I stared at the bright blue sky. It was hot and humid, even for Texas, but the sky was beautiful. I couldn’t explain the strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.
After parking, I grabbed the box with the finch and started trekking down the trails that I knew so well. Dallas was a busy city, and I enjoyed immersing myself in the park to get away from it all. I’d graduated three years ago and imagined that I’d take the city by storm, but the more I worked in the city, the more than I wanted to get away. The park was the best answer that I had.
I’d spent enough time in the park to realize that something was different. Something felt different.
Magick from the otherworld
Come and settle within my hearth
The words came out of nowhere, an echo of my strange dream. Blinking, I tried to push the thought away. “Here we go, my little songbird. What do you think?” Pulling off the lid, I held it up. With a furious flutter of its wings, the little bird took off, flying higher through the branches until it disappeared from sight.
“Be free,” I whispered with a smile.
Find me the woman that he’ll love most
The one who will pull his land apart
The words grew louder in my head. I really needed to lay off the chocolate cake before bed. Obviously, it made my dreams just a little too real.
Tucking the empty box under my arm, I turned back to head to the car. I had a million errands to run today plus a few emails to sort through that I’d been avoiding. I took a few steps before I felt something invisible lifting at my hair.
None of the trees rustled with the breeze. Frowning, I turned back to the trail.
With a strand of Black Maidenhair
I command thee find me the one that’s fair
The words whispered through the branches. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear that the chant wasn’t just in my head anymore. But that didn’t make any sense.
Apparently I needed to lay off the chocolate cake and the bottle of red wine before bed.
“Don’t go crazy, Jade. You’re too young for senility,” I muttered to myself as I walked deeper in the woods.
With the Herb of Grace and a pinch of blood
I command thee find me the thorn with the rose bud
For the first time, I realized that there were no people here. It was the nicest part of the day, before the sun really geared up for a day of Texas wrath, and it was a Saturday, yet there wasn’t a single soul on the trail with me.
“I’m pretty sure this is how horror movies starts.” Biting my lower lip, I hesitated. Logic told me to turn around and go back, but I just couldn’t. I felt compelled to go even deeper in the woods. “Serial killer manages to clear out park and lures unsuspecting victim to her death through strange music.”
I really needed to get a grip.
With the leaves of the Lady’s Glove
I command thee to search below and above
Was that tree glowing? It definitely looked like that tree was glowing, but that made no sense because tress didn’t glow. Yet there was definitely a golden light emanating from the tree.
Transfixed, I held out my hand and stepped closer to the tree. It was so pretty. It seemed meant for me.
Suddenly, the light swallowed me whole. With a scream, I started to fall
With the promise of my first born child
I sacrifice my daughter to Sith’s Wiles
* * *
“Laird, the lass is naked.”
“Is she dead?”
“Nay. She is breathing. I think she is waking.”
“Get me a blanket.”
Blinking my eyes, I stared up at the sky. What happened? A minute ago, I was in the park under the hot Texan sky, and now I was in a patch of grass and staring at gray skies.
And freezing.
My skin was sticky, and I smelled strange. Flowery. I certainly hadn’t put perfume on. “What the hell?” Standing, I brushed myself off and wrapped my arms around myself as I shivered. There was a strange fog rolling in.
“Lass?”
“On my God!” Jumping, I whirled around and glared at the two men staring at me. “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners? It’s rude to sneak up on people with your…horses…and…kilts…are those swords real? Is this some sort of reenactment?”
The two men exchanged looks. “Reenactment?”
They were huge men. Big enough to break me in half without breaking a sweat, and for the first time, I realized that I was very alone with these strange men.
Looking around hesitantly, I recognized nothing familiar. There were no park signs. No sign of the woods or the trails.
I felt woozy.
“Where am I? Did you drug me?” Slowly, I started to back up. “You take one step closer to me, and I will scream so loud that half of Dallas will be down on your heads.”
One of them called my bluff as he stepped forward. There was something about his movements that spoke of power and authority, but even as I felt the danger vibes from him, there was something in his eyes that lessened my fear just a little. He was mouthwateringly handsome. Perfectly chiseled jaw and dark hair that begged to be touched and lips that had that perfect sensual line.
“Lass, we mean ye no harm. We simply want to help ye get home. My men found ye in the middle of the field. Ye are dressed strangely, and ye were unconscious. Ye will freeze to death if we doonae help ye.”
“Your accent is spot on,” I said nervously as I glanced around. “Kudos for that. I appreciate you trying to help me, but if you could just point me to the parking lot, I’ll just go home.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “I doonae know where this parking lot that you speak of is, but yer accent is vexing. Where are ye from, lass?”
“Dallas,” she snapped. “Where the hell are you from?”
An amused smile crossed his face. “I am Blane Cameron, Laird of the Camerons.”
“Great to meet you, Blane. You sound like a very important man in your regiment or whatever, but I’m living in the twenty-first century, and I’m freezing, so if you’ll just point me in the right direction, I’d like to go home now.”
Suddenly, Blane and his friend both drew their swords on me. “Witch,” he hissed.
“Whoa!” Stepping back, I threw my hands in the air. “Easy there, fellows. Those things actually look real and painful.”
“Aye, and they’re feel real when we removing yer head from yer shoulders,” the other one hissed as he stepped forward.
“Help,” I screamed as I turned and took off running. “Somebody please help me!” There was a time when I’d been a pretty good runner, but up against a horse, I didn’t stand a chance. One minute I was running, and the next, I was being plucked off the ground and tossed over a horse.
All I wanted to do was release a damn bird, and now I was going to die at the hands of two burly psycho historians.
Great. Just great.
- Writer
