Eden Emerged, Seth Benjamin [jenna bush book club .txt] 📗

thought. Sarro was wrong. I was never meant to be a Seer.

Her breath quickened as a single tear formed in the corner of her eye.

“A seer is…” she whispered to herself, unable to finish. Her throat choked as her breathing increased. Her heart pounded against her ribcage and her hands trembled against her thighs. She closed her eyes to steady herself, unable to control the shaking. She inhaled deeply. Don’t cry. Seers don’t cry.

She opened her eyes and gasped. The jungle that had shined a pearl blue moments before had now been tinted a nightmarish crimson. The wind picked up above her as the thick tree leaves began to shake violently. She leapt to her feet, mouth agape as the trees bent sideways and snapped back again. She scanned the faces of the people gathered before her, but where they once had faces, they now only had black spots that stretched into nowhere.

The tears that she had been holding back flowed freely now, her posture and demeanor forgotten as she screamed and cried before them. Her limbs felt like she had lost her bones. They seemed to wave and twist as she brought them to her face. She seemed like she was falling, shrinking away from the tree tops. The ground rose rapidly to meet her. When they finally collided, the earth rumbled and all of the shaking stopped.

The light from the moonflies brightened suddenly, shedding light on the jungle floor, creeping toward two shadows in the distance. As the light hit, the shadows melted away to reveal two pale figures standing before her. They reached out and took her by the hands. They had no faces, just intense light radiating off of them, but Meera could tell they were smiling. She smiled back, just as an intense crack made her jump.

The onlookers gasped in front of her and Meera opened her eyes. She was still on her knees on the jungle floor. She was still breathing rapidly, but the jungle had returned to normal. The crowd in front of her had all turned their attention away from her and was instead gazing upward at bright orange ring in the night sky. A second crack filled the sky and the ring expanded rapidly. Meera sat frozen on the ground, feeling the heat radiating from so far away. The ring fell apart, sending orange streaks falling away down. The onlookers watched in wonder as the fire in the sky smoldered away. A few more cracks thundered from off in the distance but each crack softened until all that was left were orange faded streaks across the sky.

When it was done, and the only light cast came from the glow of the moonflies, the crowd turned back towards her. Their cheers erupted suddenly as they continued to shout her name. Meera! Meera!

She fought back a smile as her eyes turned to find Sarro. She found him with his eyes closed, his head leaning against the base of a tree. Her breath caught in her throat. The transfer from one seer to another was complete.

“A seer is immovable.” She told herself, struggling to hold back tears.

 

Chapter 1: Caleb

 

Caleb stood next to the small prop jet watching Gabrielle hug her mother. He shoved his hands farther into his pockets and buried his face into his jacket as the wind whipped around the tarmac.  Brie would be travelling alone, without her mother, which was a surprise to Caleb. His father’s friends had offered to fly both of them to England, but she had declined.

          At long last, Gabrielle let go of her mother and turned solemnly to face the plane. She grabbed her suitcase and began walking forward, struggling with the weight.

          Caleb nudged the large man standing next to him. “Help her with her luggage please.”

          Milo strode forward instantly, meeting Gabrielle half-way. Caleb watched as he gingerly offered to help her, but Gabrielle wrenched her hand away and stubbornly dragged the suitcase on the opposite side of Milo. Flummoxed, he walked behind her awkwardly as she made her way for the stairs.

          She stopped short of Caleb and for the first he time, he got to see her face to face. She had auburn hair that the wind kept blowing across her green eyes. She had fair skin and small features. Her lips and eyebrows curved wickedly on her face, although Caleb couldn’t tell if they were always that way, or made that way because she was angry.

          “Hello Gabby,” he said. 

Her lips curled even more into a more pronounced frown. “I prefer Brie.” She responded.

“Oh,” he laughed nervously, “Sorry. In my head I imagined that people called you Gabby.” He shifted his feet nervously. “You should let Milo take your bags. It’s what he gets paid for.”

“I can carry my own bags,” she said, making to move past him, but Caleb stood firm between her and the stairs to the plane.

“I have to insist. Please let him take your bags.” He stated again.

She glared at him, but heaved her shoulders and handed her bags to Milo behind him. Caleb stepped aside to let her go. He followed her up the steps as they stepped into their Father’s plane together.

For Caleb, he had lost count of how many times he had stepped into his Father’s jet, but for Brie it was the first time. Caleb watched as her face reluctantly switched from anger to awe as she scanned the plane.

The carpeting was scarlet red with golden lights decked out along the edges. Two sets of chairs sat facing each other on the side of the plane closest to the door. A small island countertop sat on the opposite side, with a few cabinets holding snacks and drinks, including some long unused celebratory liquor. Milo emerged from the back of the plane, where the luggage was kept.

Caleb watched her carefully as she admired the cabin, but he couldn’t make out her expression in the dim light. Was she experiencing jealousy? Anger? Caleb couldn’t help but wonder how many times she would have ridden in this plane if their parents had stuck together. Suddenly, her jaw tightened and the familiar angry face returned.

She slid unceremoniously into a chair close to the window. Caleb reached upward into the overhead bin above her and dug out a blanket. Behind him, Milo closed the hatch to the plane shutting them in.

He clapped his hands expressively, “We should be ready for takeoff in 15 minutes or so. I’ll let you know before we leave sir.”

Caleb nodded, “Thank you Milo.”

Milo bowed his head curtly before strolling up the aisle to the cockpit and shutting the door between them. Caleb turned his attention back to Brie, only to find that she was resting her head against the window, eyes closed and arms crossed over her lap.

He slid his coat from his shoulders and draped it delicately over the back of his chair. He fumbled with the buttons on his sleeves, loosening them before slumping down in the chair. He fought to keep his eyes open and kept glancing over at Brie, strongly suspecting that she was feigning sleep so that she wouldn’t have to talk to him. He didn’t blame her. Truth be told, he was a little mad himself.

The intercom twitched and Milo’s unpleasant voice sounded over the room. “We will be taking off shortly Sir. Radio me if you need anything.”  

“We’ll be fine Milo. Just focus on getting us home safely,” said Caleb, releasing his hold on the intercom button on the armrest. He glanced at back at Brie, who was shifting uncomfortably, burying herself farther into the seat.

The plane lurched forward abruptly and Caleb gripped the armrest tighter. He had flown dozens of times but the thought of flying still made him uncomfortable. Take-off was the worst. When the plane finally pulled away from the ground, his stomach dropped to his feet. He swallowed hard and didn’t breathe again until the plane leveled in the air. When he could no longer feel the plane floating in the air, he felt comfortable enough to talk to Brie again.

“Can I get you anything to eat or drink?” he asked.

Her eyes fluttered open. “London is not my home.” She said with venom.

          “I never said it was.” Caleb said, narrowing his eyebrows.

          “You did,” she insisted. “Before the plane took off, you told the Pilot to focus on getting “us” home.”

          “Milo” Caleb reminded her.

          “Fine,” Brie snapped, “You told Milo to focus on getting us home. It might be your home but it isn’t mine. Just know that I am counting the seconds until I can return to my home.”

          Caleb shifted nervously in his seat. The plane rocked lazily beneath them. “You aren’t excited to meet me at all? We only have 3 days together.”

          She didn’t respond to him but her face spelled out her answer plainly. She stared out into the darkness. Raindrops began to hit the window.

          Caleb continued, “We’ll just so you know, I’m very excited to meet you.” Brie snorted and Caleb frowned. He had tried to be patient with her, but she was starting to irritate him. “Did I say something funny?”

          “You’ve had 14 years to meet me, you and Eric both.” Caleb cringed when she said their Dad’s name out loud. He didn’t know why he was surprised. Of course she wouldn’t call him Father. She had probably only heard stories about him. He had never tried to meet her face to face so far as Caleb knew.

          “I can’t tell you why Father never tried to contact you,” he began, “but I can tell you why I’ve never tried reached out to you.” He tried to stop himself from smiling when she twisted her head away from the window and met his eyes, curiosity getting the best of her.

          “Gabby…”

          “Brie…” she hissed.

          “Brie, I’ve only known that you even existed for 9 days.” Caleb could see her fierce eyes soften. That might have gotten to her.

          “You’re lying.” She whispered like she didn’t believe herself.

          “The lawyers read me the names of all the people that Father named in his will. He named my mother, my stepmother, his 3 sisters, various friends of the family, me…and you.”

          Brie turned herself slightly in the chair to face him better. She bit her lip softly contemplating what he had said. He didn’t give her the chance to convince herself that he was lying.

          “How much has your mom told you?” he asked. “My Father’s advisors have told me what they could, but I don’t know everything yet.” A low rumble of thunder outside shook the cabin.

          Brie shrugged, “I don’t know. Mom just said that she worked for him while Dad was campaigning. When she told him about me, he started avoiding and she was fired from his team with some shush money.”

          “I think they call it a severance package.” Caleb said. He had meant it as a joke but Brie’s eyes turned hard again and he felt it best to quiet himself.

          “She didn’t hear from him again. When his term was over he took you and left for London. That’s as much as I know.”

          Asking her to retell the