The Secret of Strange Waters (The Light Keeper Series Book 2) (18 page)

I found myself wading in the high grass of an overgrown meadow full of wildflowers, listening to strange, carnival-like music in the distance. The colorful blooms brushed past my legs, stirring the pollen in the sunrays around me. It was a bright, crisp day, and though my skin was warm with sun-kisses, the breeze rolled over me, cooling my tender shoulders. There were others there: strangers with smiling faces, laughing and playing like children, though most of them were grown. It seemed to be a celebration of sorts, though what they were celebrating was hard to tell. Perhaps it was simply life. I noticed the houses were all very small sod cottages that were decorated with flowers and ivy. This place was magical, and before that thought was replaced in my mind, it proved to be true.

In the meadow beside me sat a girl who appeared to be younger than me. She held out her hand the same way I held out mine to summon the Light. I watched, expecting her to do the same, only to realize her gifts were much different. In her other hand she held a wilted flower. It was still attached to the earth, but its limp stem and dark, shriveled petals revealed its state. She waved her hand over the pathetic posy as if to encourage life. As though it were a living creature, it responded to her movements. The stem stiffened and the petals straightened, as if each one were pressed with an iron. Sickly yellowed petals changed to a vivid orange as the color brightened. The young girl smiled at her accomplishment. My eyes widened as she moved on to the next, and then my eyes scanned the entire field.
She must do this chore daily to keep it so beautiful.
My attention turned to a commotion where another small group of people sat watching a man who was juggling what appeared to be brightly painted saucers. He was so animated and jolly, telling a story that I couldn’t quite hear over the other joyous sounds of the village. But then I noticed something odd: he wasn’t a juggler at all. His hands moved away from the floating objects as they danced in mid-air, and he continued to entertain his audience with gestures. Another younger man piled sticks under a huge pot that hung on a tripod. It looked like a cauldron, but not as creepy. The creepy part was when the young man sprang fire from his palm and lit the sticks. My mouth popped open and I quickly turned back to the young girl in the meadow, only to find her smiling at me with intense green eyes, her hand outstretched to offer me a daisy. She was a Light Keeper too. They all were.

Suddenly, someone screamed, and I turned to see that a group of men arrived on horseback. The men were not dressed like the people of this village, and they were not as pleasant. As the first villager fell to his death, the old woman from my dreams cried out, her words spilling in a heated rush: “This was the fate of the Light Keepers, Lily. You were brought here for a reason! Your power makes you a target!” With that, my dream took a strange turn.

Much like I’d dreamt before, I felt like I was floating. The darkness behind me appeared to be spinning this time, and it felt like it was going to suck me in. Images flashed in my mind: visions of my family and friends, the girl from the meadow, and me, wielding my Light. The voice continued to ring out in my ears: “Trust no one, Lily. He is coming and he could be anyone! Take the Waters and trust your instincts!”
My instincts?
I cringed at how wrong my instincts were when it came to interpreting my visions. How they’d messed things up between me and Talon, and now this woman wanted me to trust them. Flashes from my life kept playing out, not all of them making sense, but as the woman spoke again, something flashed in my mind that I’d never forget. “Your destiny is more important than you think. Things are not always what they seem,” she said, as a vision of Owen developed like a memory. Only what I saw had never happened: Owen stood next to me, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. He reached out and touched my hair; his eyes meeting mine directly were full of relief. Just like the girl in the meadow, his eyes were now the same green as mine. It hit me like a bolt, and then I was being dragged away, deeper and deeper into the swirling abyss behind me.

Sitting up in bed, I awakened. I wasn’t certain if I’d screamed, but everyone else was moving toward me except for Talon, who sat across the room with worry clouding his expression. “What happened, Lily?” Owen asked. He grabbed my arms and I leaned away from him to study his eyes.

“They’re not like mine,” I mumbled before letting out a breath of relief. Then a sudden sadness came to me as I considered how nice it would be to not be the only one of my kind.

“What’s not like yours?” Owen replied. He searched my expression for understanding.

“You had another dream,” said Holly. “Is this like the last time?” She turned to look at Talon, who had come closer.

“It was and it wasn’t. The old woman—I think she’s Birdie, and she’s trying to reach me!” I took a deep breath and released it, trying to calm my nerves.

Talon’s voice was harsh. “That’s impossible, Lily! You’re dreaming it. Dreams are just figments of your subconscious that come together to create crazy stories in your mind while you sleep. No one is after you. No one is trying to reach you. Birdie is dead. I’m tired of seeing you all worked up over nothing. It’s not healthy!”

“Don’t tell me what it is, Talon! You don’t know! You can’t deny it’s possible, considering everything else. And what do you know about it, anyway? They’re
my
dreams. And I saw a place where everyone was like me. They were all special and had gifts. But something happened. They were massacred.” The image of the villager falling to his death at the hands of the outsiders made me pause and swallow hard. They considered me as if I were insane. I couldn’t tell them everything without sounding as crazy as the old woman, who always seemed rushed for time. I had to admit, the fact that Owen’s eyes changed had me guessing about the validity of every single fact presented. Some of it could have been just pieces of my subconscious, but others could have been true. I felt I didn’t know anything anymore, or anyone. Wasn’t that what the old woman was telling me, that nothing is as it seems? Maybe Talon was right after all to give up. Maybe I should do the same and just let it all go. Avoid the Light and my gift. It was all way too much to accept, even for a girl who glowed.

The End

Continue reading for a sneak peek of my next book,
The Truth about Broken Trees.

I WASN’T
SURE WHAT
had happened—a vision, a dream, or a nightmare?

A nightmare, definitely a nightmare
, I told myself.

My stomach turned thinking about it now, waiting for the tardy bell to ring, feeling Owen’s foot kicking my desk behind me.
I wish he’d stop!
I felt like giving him the eye that lets him know he’s pushing me too far, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him—not after the vision. Okay, there, I admitted it. It
was
a vision. A dream I could handle; a dream was harmless and wouldn’t have me freaking out, but no, instead it was a vision. Although my visions were sometimes misinterpreted, they always came true.

I wouldn’t have been so sure it wasn’t a dream if Holly hadn’t seen the Light hovering above me while I lay in bed, staring wide-eyed into it. It found me again! I didn’t beckon it, I didn’t drink the Water for weeks, but that night out of nowhere, there it was.

It was different than most of my visions, in the way that I couldn’t see much. Well, not at first, but I felt plenty—hands and lips in total darkness, my eyes desperate for light. And as it came—my gift, the Light—I was sickened by what I saw. Owen.

I had thought for sure it was Talon in the darkness. I mean, it would have to have been. But then I couldn’t deny it when it literally came to light. In my heart, I knew the only thing I could do was find out why. How?

When the bell rang, I jumped from my desk and headed straight for the bathroom, leaving Holly and Owen behind.

* * *

I was glad school had let out early. I had way too much on my mind to think about schoolwork, and I was sure it was beneficial to my grades that we were out a whole week for Thanksgiving break. Maybe now I’d have time to clear my mind.

Talon drove toward home in silence. Every now and then he’d glance my way until he finally let out a sigh. “Lily, what’s wrong? And don’t say
nothing
. You‘re too quiet.”

He was used to me talking non-stop all the way home about everything that had happened in my junior classes. So I knew it was easy for him to see that I had something on my mind. But I couldn’t tell him. No way! He
hated
Owen. If he knew the details of the vision, he’d be furious, not to mention hurt, and there was no telling what he’d do to him. They were always looking for a reason to fight and this would sure be a good one.

“Nothing,” I snapped as I sank in my seat. “Nothing,” I repeated in a softer, kinder tone. He shook his head and then ran his hand through his tousled brown hair. His jaw was set in a frustrated way that screamed he didn’t believe me.

Things had been strained between us since Halloween, the night Talon accidentally killed Kevin Hilliard. We’re still working on our relationship, which got even more complicated since our parent’s marriage two weeks ago. It was that day that Talon said he couldn’t be with me, at least, not right now.

It all started, or ended rather, when I went against his wishes on Halloween night. He’d told me to stay home and instead I had gone out to look for Owen. In my defense I knew he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, and it made me worry. I’d always been strangely protective of Owen.

Talon white-knuckled the steering wheel in frustration. “I told you not to say it’s nothing. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.” That was Talon, always trying to take care of me. Even though now it was different— friendly.

I glanced over at his tired eyes, where dark circles were beginning to form from lack of sleep, and knew he was still having bad dreams. He’d never admit it, just like I‘d be keeping my latest vision to myself, but I’d heard him talking, even crying out sometimes, in the night. I knew how terrifying some dreams could be. I was still convinced my dreams were warnings, but Talon was convinced that dreams were just dreams. And ours were only so terrible because of all we’d been through.

“It’s nothing you can help me with.” I glanced at the road. “You look like you could use some sleep.

“Yeah, sleep hasn’t been kind to me lately.” He turned his gaze to me, giving me a furrowed brow. “You didn’t get into it with Cate over the whole Henry Oliver ordeal did you?” He’d been waiting on me to bring him up to her. I warned him I would, but hadn’t found the right time to bring up my dad– much less the man who’d killed him. I knew I’d have to sooner or later. I needed answers, mostly, why? Why my mother decided to hide something so important from me, especially after I’d decided to
date
Talon, instead of making him into a brother figure. Not that knowing he’d accidentally killed the man who’d accidentally killed my dad would matter, but she should’ve been more open about it. It wasn’t like I was
never
going to find out. Tom had lied to Talon, too, but I was letting him deal with that in his own time, in his own way. “No. Not yet,” I mumbled.

“Then tell me what’s wrong!” His persistence was annoying.

“It’s nothing, really!” After another pleading look from Talon‘s deep brown eyes, I turned up the radio and glared out the window beside me to deter any chance of conversation for the rest of the ride home.

I hated keeping secrets from Talon. We’d always been so open and honest with each other. He knew all my deepest secrets. The fact that I was a Light Keeper was the biggest. Of course, he wasn’t the only person who knew that. My cousins, Owen and Hunter Riley, knew it, too. They live next door with their Granny, who is also informed, mostly because she doesn’t miss too much. Then there’s Holly Conner, Hunter’s girlfriend and more officially, promised fiancé, who lives with me and knows everything, too. The only people in my family who
don’t
know are my mom and Talon‘s dad, Tom.

If anyone else ever found out it could be dangerous to our situation, especially mine. So we all keep the secret among us. Owen calls us
the Circle,
since we‘ve made a pact. We are supposed to share every bit of information that pertains to the Light. “No secrets in the circle,” Owen always says, but this is so shocking it would surely rip us apart.
I just
can’t
tell Talon
.
Not ever
, I thought. My stomach tightened as I lay my head over on the cool glass of the car window.

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for reading The Secret of Strange Waters and for your continued support in the Light Keeper series. I hope you are looking forward to book three, The Truth about Broken Trees, as much as I’m looking forward to sharing it with you! If you’re ready to learn a lot more about Light Keepers, find out what happens to Lily and Talon, and understand why Owen’s affections run so deep, stick around. There’s so much more to come!

I’d love to hear from you and if you’d take time to leave a review on the website of your choice, I’d really appreciate it. You can also message or follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Check out my website and sign up to receive my newsletter for special announcements and extra content.

Thanks again, and happy reading!

~Kelly Hall

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Kelly Hall was born and raised in Southeast Texas, and lives in a small town just a stone’s throw from the ghost road where her Light Keeper series is based.

When she’s not busy writing, or spending time with her husband and two sons, this self-proclaimed creative junkie dabbles in many different forms of art, including cake decorating and mixed media.

Learn more about Kelly at authorkellyhall.com