Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) by Hally Willmott

home.
    “Jacey, I have to get home, but call me and I’ll come over as soon as you want some company,” Jen said, bringing my attention back to everyone outside the house.
    “Thanks. Thanks for coming, Jen.” I held my parents in my right hand and semi-hugged her with my left arm. I watched as she went down the driveway. I was feeling envious—an emotion I wasn’t used to having. I realized it was because Jen was able to go home. A home where she could see her parents, go to bed, wake up, and have them there with her the whole time. I would never be able to do any of that ever again.
    Aunt Grace interrupted my pity session. “Jacey, let’s go in.” She put her arm around me. With her other one, she reached over and stroked my parents’ urn.
    I went looking for Hudson when we got in. He wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen. I figured he was in his room. He needed some time to himself, but I wanted him here with me. For what seemed like the hundredth time in only two days, I felt alone and scared.
    “Hudson… Hudson,” I called out as I walked into the basement, hoping he was there. I found him on the phone.
    “Yeah, okay, when will you know? Okay. When should we expect to hear from you again?” Hudson looked my way and walked past me up the stairs into the kitchen. I waited a second then followed.
    “Where’d he go? Who’s he talking to?” I asked Aunt Grace.
    “I don’t know.” She stopped and went over to the sink. She was staring out into our backyard when I slipped out of the kitchen and into the living room. I wanted to eavesdrop on his conversation but he was nowhere to be found.
    “Where’d he go now?” I murmured to myself as Ire-entered the kitchen.
    “He needed some air. I saw him leave out the back,” Aunt Grace answered, walking away from the window. She was avoiding eye contact with me. She was as bad, if not worse, than Hudson when it came to hiding her emotions. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, and she had a tissue up to her nose. I tried to give her some semblance of privacy and acted as if I hadn’t noticed her tear-streaked cheeks.
    I still had Mom and Dad’s urn in my hands. I went and put them on the kitchenette and took a seat on one of the bar stools around it. I sat staring at the symbols and shapes on it. I’d been in a semi-slouched position when the smell of hot chocolate wafted over me, motivating me to sit up. When I moved, the stiffness in my back told me I’d been staring at the symbols for quite some time. Aunt Grace sat down beside me and placed a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of me.
    “Why do these look so familiar?” I said out loud.
    “Take a closer look, Jacey,” Aunt Grace answered.
    I picked up the urn and turned it round and round in my hands, staring at them until I went cross-eyed. I finally put it back on the table top.
    “Wait a minute. That’s Taerw and Rife,” I announced.
    “Yes, what else do you see?”
    I picked it back up and turned it over and saw Ria and Hearte, Nidw and Kawaneing. “I see them. I see them all. I don’t get it. Why are they all here?”
    I turned it slowly inspecting every inch of it now. I kept doing it until the symbols began to glow—literally. The colors flowing from it were so bright they were almost blinding.
    I looked over at Aunt Grace. She was looking at me yet again, reverently. I put the urn back down on the countertop and it stopped glowing.
    “What…was that?”
    I thought Aunt Grace would’ve been freaked out as much as I was at the moment, but no… nothing. She was calmer than calm.
    “Jacey, do you believe when we die we move on to another place?” she asked.
    “Yeah.”
    “So do I and so did your parents. I think they’re still very much here.” She waved a hand around. “And very much here.” She placed her hand over my heart.
    “The energy your parents had, not only individually, but together, was the most amazing mix of love, chemistry, and commitment I’ve ever seen.