C4 Aria

I reached over Caylie, who was between us, and tapped on Amelia Rose. She didn’t take her eyes off the door.

“Hmm.”

“Lingering emotions?”

“You could say that.”

“You want to talk about it?” We both glanced at Caylie, unsure how much to share now.

“I saw him-and then I didn’t.”

“Who?” My eyes widened. “The stalker?!” I yelled, waking up Caylie. She jumped up off the bed in a fighting stance, knocking me off the bed. “Girl, what were dreaming about?” Caylie groaned and relaxed her stance.

“You scared me. I thought he was here.” She glared at me before sitting back on the bed. “What’s going on?” She stretched and yawned, but gave us her full attention.

“She saw him last night.”

“Oh, that explains a lot. Have you slept at all?” She moved closer to Amelia Rose on the bed. “You look exhausted.” Caylie and I helped her into a sitting position. Amelia Rose just nodded, pressing her hand to her temple. She’d been up all night staring at the door. “I can’t believe he followed you all this way. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or look alike.” She smiled, but it was lopsided, and her eyebrows folded together like she didn’t believe her own words. Amelia Rose glared at her. Caylie threw up her hands, eyes wide. I stood up abruptly and immediately regretted it. My head blares like speakers on the highest volume. I closed my eyes and steadied myself.

“Let’s get some coffee. Breakfast.” I press my hand across my forehead, applying pressure to both temples. “Definitely breakfast.”

With all the commotion last night, we never brought in our stuff. I volunteered Amelia Rose and me to get the bags and suggested Caylie put in the order. We needed to talk about things we couldn’t say in front of Caylie. When we reached the door, I looked over my shoulder, ensuring no one was around to hear me. She beat me to the punch, her eyes glossy.

“I think he knows about us.” I opened my mouth and closed it again. Too many thoughts scrambled in my brain to choose anything to say. “He feels too desperate for help not to.”

I’m not at a loss for words often, nor do I feel this helpless often. Knowing a person’s emotions usually makes helping them easier. This, though, this is new territory. Territory with treacherous terrain. Ancient beware warnings etched into the trees and stones kind of terrain. My only hope is the reminder that there was no bright pink or bright red in those flames: lust and fury. I wrapped my arms around her, all I could think to do with my muggled thought.

We wiped our eyes, grabbed the bags, and headed back in; promising to find a solution once we could think clearly. We also knew we needed to consult Grandma on this one. Dad would lose his ish, but Grandma was much more sensible with emotions. I guess if I had to taste emotions, I would keep them dampened, too. Caylie set us up at a table far from the window and the sun’s punishing glare.

“Thank you,” I bowed dramatically, “oh great chooser of tables, for sparing me the blight of the sun’s wrath.” My terrible medieval Irish accent just made it funnier if you ask me.

We put the luggage against the wall. It was such a chore climbing onto the barstool. I put my elbows on the table and rubbed my temples. I let my head slide slowly between my arms until my forehead lay against the table. I stayed that way, listening to all the random sounds. Caylie was tapping her fingers. Aria was breathing loudly, not frantic just, loud. The sounds of chairs and tables bumping and knocking against each other. The staff are still pulling down chairs from cleaning the floor last night. Were early. Way too early. I didn’t raise my head until I heard footsteps coming closer.

“Coffee, eggs, and bacon. Coffee, eggs, and bacon. Don’t forget the sausage!” I sang low, with a little sway.

“You're nuts.” Amelia Rose took a bite of her eggs.

It was good to see her smile again after last night. That was a pretty intense way to end the evening. It’s hard to visualize things no one else can see, but feeling things others in the room can’t feel, that was a whole other level of torture. Torture. I didn’t know how to ease. I love to joke and lighten the mood; it was my thing, and I hated it that didn’t help. That I didn’t help.

“Anything to make you all laugh,” I bowed my head. “I live to serve.”

We talked and passed around the aspirin. Once we had scarfed down all the food and coffee, we took the luggage upstairs; one at a time this time. We took our time, reveling in the last few hours of our girl’s trip, letting the craziness of last night, traumatic memories, self-loathing, and guy problems wash down the shower drain. We plastered on makeup and happy faces and fitted ourselves in comfortable clothing to shelter our vulnerability. We had enough of that for one trip. Amelia Rose spins in her dress in the mirror, smiling.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked her.

“Romance,” her smile deepened, “and grandma.” She giggled, making sure the bathroom door was closed all the way. The shower had already turned off, and Caylie wouldn’t be long.

I shook my head a few times. “I think I have something in my ears.” I tilted my head to the side and patted it like something would actually fall out. “What did you say?”

“If grandma can give me some advice on how to handle this guy’s emotions, it could be the start of a crazy story we tell our kids one day.”

“If, of course, he isn’t some kind of hunter,’ I searched for the right word, “tracker, dude who wants your abilities or something.” She winced and sat down.

“I know,” she laid back on the bed. “If we didn’t have these abilities, I would have called the cops already. Imagining something big and beautiful helps. You saw those emotions last night. What do you think?”

“We don’t know enough.” I laid down beside her. “I don’t mean to rain on your parade, sis, it’s just that our family secret could be

in jeopardy. Our lives could be in jeopardy” I smiled at her, squeezing her hand. “But, I trust you to be careful. So, dream on. Who knows you might be the next main character to get a whirlwind romance.” I winked at her and got up. “Come on, let’s go. We got things to do before I hit the road to pick up Ryan.”

“I swear if you droll on about him all the way home, you’re getting kicked out of the car.” Caylie glared at me coming out of the bathroom.

“Don’t worry, sis, we’ll tie you to the top. We won’t leave you. I love you or whatever.” She shoulder-bumped me, smiling as she dragged her bag out the door behind Caylie.

“Sounds to me like the perfect time to montage our friendship. You guys will love it.” I smirked, filing down the stairs behind them.

“Ugh,” they groaned.

Amelia Rose stopped a few steps past the stairs. She didn’t have any flames, so; she wasn’t channeling anything on the verge of an emotional bomb again. Still, she wasn’t walking. Caylie hadn’t noticed and was almost at the door.

“Meli,” I touched her shoulder, looking around. “You ok, is he still here?”