Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📖

I could tell my family was gone as I walked in the barn door. Tears streaming from my eyes, I slit my wrists.” She showed me. “I committed suicide to join my family once again.”
“Once I found her in the corner of the barn.” Jeremiah interrupted, seeing the tears roll down her face. “I panicked. I did not know what to do, so I hung myself from the rafters beside her.”
I was silent. “I’m sorry if I bring back any memories, but I was only there looking for my daughter.”
“The Enchanted Child, yes.” Jeremiah replied. “She was there, talking to us, but the elder woman was scared. She took the Child away, but we know not where.”
I looked down.
“I am sorry, my Young Guardian.” Jesemiah replied.
“It’s okay. No harm done.” I said, thinking of Kelly.
“We have some news that might cheer you up.” Jesemiah said.
I looked at her.
“We are not the only ones with Magic, and neither are you.” Jesemiah told me, with Jeremiah nodding.
“There are others in Hill View that had suffered the same humiliation you had.” Jeremiah said.
“They have been keeping you safe from any dark forces beside your own.”
“There are a lot of dark forces, believe me.” Jeremiah said after her.
“They will come to you, in time, to introduce themselves.”
“In fact.” Jeremiah said. “They will help you find her.”
“Hold on, you two. I know who you’re talking about.” I replied. “The Benningtons, Barnes’ and the Kings, right?”
“Aye, but that’s not all.” Jeremiah replied. “There are others besides them, who you will meet later.”
“Now, Jeremiah, do not keep her in suspense.” Jesemiah replied.
“How do you know this?” I asked them, anxious.
Jesemiah just winked and replied softly. “Celtic Magic.”

That’s when I woke up. Only, I was no longer in the Jeep, but in my own living room. Derrick was grinning above me.
He kissed my lips as I sat up. “Welcome back.”
“You must have been exhausted.” Craig was beside him. “You’ve been out for a full three hours.”
Three hours? It only felt like moments in the Dream Realm.
“What happened? Did you Crusade again?” Derrick asked. He fingered his Pendant. “I felt it grow hot again, and knew you were in trouble.”
“Only you had to wait until I woke up in order to do anything about it.” I supplied. “Right?”
He grinned. “Now that you’re back, what’s up?”
I told him my visions, and my trip back to the Dream Realm.
“Hey, she’s awake.” I heard Shane’s voice behind Craig.
I shook my head. “Just how many people knew?”
“Only the Crusaders.” Shane assured me. “So, what happened?”
“She met the infamous Catz twins.” Craig replied.
“How?” Shane supplied. “Aren’t they dead?”
“Shane?” I asked him. “What am I?”
He scratched his head. “Oh, I forgot.”
“How can you forget?” I asked him. “Luna’s one, too.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He said, and then grinned. “Speaking of Luna, she went to the doctor today.”
“Yeah, and?” I asked, hoping it was nothing serious.
“She’s pregnant.” Shane looked so happy.
“Congratulations, man.” Craig replied, high-fiving him.
“Why did they contact you?” Shane returned to the subject. “Are they in trouble, or something?”
“They told me Kelly was there, in their house, talking to them.” I said. “Only, they don’t know where Adrienne took them.”
Before long, all Crusaders were there, listening to my adventure. Luna looked a little better now, holding her son tight. Shane was all smiles, and Derrick was, too. Aaron, with Aimee and Bradley Allen, were beside me. Craig and his sisters, Andrea and Cara were there, too.
I got a feeling then.
Something else was going to happen; only, this time, it was good.
Everything was going to fall into place within the next six months, falling into a wonderful routine.
I only wished Kelly could be there to enjoy it.
Darn that Adrienne Whitehead.
“What’s up?” Derrick asked, sitting beside me.
“We’ll form search parties of our own.” I told him, taking charge. “Both Kelly and Addie must be found. No more games.”
With that, we were on our way out the door, in search of my daughter.
Part Three:
Life and a Destiny

Prologue:
A Mother’s Gift

Derrick and I headed out alone.
“Why don’t we get my parents to help?” He suggested.
I shrugged. “Sure.”
We were on our way in moments, pulling into the drive ten minutes later.
I looked up and my in-laws’ spacious home. It truly was a mansion, as the Parkers’ had been, but smaller. It looked homey and had a genuine feel of home to it.
The upstairs window caught my eye as I thought I saw something move. Immediately, I felt a powerful rush of Empathy hit. That house was older than even the Readings themselves, and it had some interesting secrets. In that window, I thought I saw a young girl, with light-brown hair and ragged clothes. I knew she belonged there, but also knew it weren’t Derrick’s sister Kendra. The eyes and body glowed bright white, so I knew it were a ghost.
Goddess, not again. I thought. Will the ghosts of this town ever stop haunting me?
I took a deep breath, closing my mind and Empathy to the house as Derrick opened the door. “Anybody home?” He called into the air.
“Just me, Derrick.” His mother answered.
Evelyn came in the room as he closed the door behind us.
“Welcome to our home, Ariana.” Evelyn grinned at me, hugging me.
“It looks nice, Evelyn.” I complimented. “Did you do the designing yourself?”
“The interior, yes, but the actual house, no.” Evelyn replied. She looked to her son. “Derrick, will you go help your father in the garage?”
Derrick didn’t know what to say at first. “Sure, Mother.”
He kissed me on the cheek and left.
“Now then, what brings you here?” She asked me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
I was dumbfounded. With all the Empathy I’d used on the house, I’d forgotten. I made something up. “Just to visit, Evelyn.”
Mother Reading took a deep breath; her gaze was suddenly to the air. I looked where her eyes went, but didn’t see, or sense, anything out of the ordinary.
“Evelyn?” I called.
She shook out of her daze. “Sorry, Ariana.” She apologized. “I’m just daydreaming.”
I didn’t believe her. “Is there something on your mind, Mother Reading?”
Instead of answering, Evelyn headed upstairs. I followed, my intuition going haywire. She led us to the attic, where she opened the door with a key.
“How long have you known my son?” She asked, pushing the door open.
“For nearly seven years.” I replied.
“Where did you meet him?” Evelyn asked, sitting down on a crate near what looked to me like a hope chest. It was the kind a family would keep their precious heirlooms in for further generations.
“Shore Point, California.” I told her.
What was she getting at? She knew this already, from Derrick himself.
“Is there a Police Academy there?” Evelyn was straight-to-the-point. She frowned, her tone serious.
What had Derrick told her? “Yes.”
“What was it called?”
I knew the System was to be kept a secret, so I quickly thought to my loving husband. Where did you tell your family we met?
The Criminal Justice Academy in Los Angeles. Derrick relayed. Why?
Your mother’s quizzing me, as if not believing our story. I thought to him.
Be careful what you say. He told me. She’s good at the art of interrogation.
I gulped.
“Ariana?” Evelyn tapped my hand.
I shook my head. “I believe it was the Criminal Justice Academy in Los Angeles.”
“So, where did you really meet? Shore Point or Los Angeles?” Evelyn pressed.
Uh oh. What should I say?
Wait – I shouldn’t have to say anything.
“We met in Shore Point, but really got to know each other at the Academy.”
That should do it.
“Oh.” Mrs. Reading seemed a little out of it, not noticing the shake in my voice.
I breathed a secret sigh of relief.
I watched as Evelyn opened the chest, revealing to me chest full of memories I knew nothing about. The second ghost-girl’s face smiled in front of me.
Leave me alone, please. I pleaded in my mind.
You need to know your husband’s past. The ghost-girl thought to me.
Who are you?
The girl blinked, smiling at me. Evelyn will tell you. Listen closely.
With that, the girl was gone.
“Are you okay?” Evelyn asked, reaching in the chest and retrieving a large quilt.
“Oh, yeah.” I replied, sitting beside her.
“Did you have another vision?”
I stared at her. “Vision?”
How did she know about my visions?
“Anna had visions when I told her about the quilt.” Evelyn replied. “Alexander doesn’t know anything about the Woods, secret-wise.”
“How do you?” I asked softly.
“Doesn’t matter, now.” She dismissed. “I have to tell you the Reading story.”
I grinned. Finally, I get to know about my own husband’s family tree. How Derrick came to be the way he is today.
“The reason I grilled you about where you met him is because something told me not to believe you.”
“Why’s that?”
“I’ve known your mother, long before Anna was born.” Evelyn replied. “We were made to be constant enemies in school, simply because of her so-called black magic.”
“But we’re not black magic, you know that, right?” I asked her.
When was she going to tell me about Derrick, and his family?
Evelyn nodded. “I know the true reason my grandsons and even my step-granddaughter have strange-colored eyes.”
I listened closely.
“When Sue and I were children, we would play in the woods, or on the nature trails, anything to get away from nasty rumors.”
“Wait – what does this have to do with the Reading story?” I asked, stopping her. “Wouldn’t that be your own?”
“I married into it, yes.” Evelyn replied. “Getting back to Sue, she told me what she could do. I didn’t believe her, we were only twelve then.”
“What did Mother tell you?”
“A little poem I remember to this day, Ariana.” Evelyn finally looked into my eyes. “‘Mystic eyes of silver-blue, hold the Magic rainbow true.’”
“She also told me something that would later come true.”
“What’s that?” I whispered, still wondering where she was getting at.
“About you and Derrick.” Evelyn replied. “How your destinies help Young Dreamers with their nightmares.”
“You know of the Dream Realm?” I asked, incredulous. “What about Father Reading?”
“He refuses to listen and believe.” Evelyn said with a smile.
“Something told me not to believe you.” I thought the sentence again in my mind, my head down.
“I know of the System, Ariana.” Evelyn said. “Sue, Sharon and I went there before your grandmother died. Your mother also squealed that’s where you really met.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“As I said, Alexander refuses to listen and believe, so nothing will come of it.” She told me. “Jake, Derrick and I are the only ones who know, for now.”
My hand wandered to the brilliant fabric in her hands. I immediately got images of the ghost-girl again, this time on a boat.
I had to ask. “Where did the Readings come from?”
Evelyn pat my arm. “I thought you’d never ask. Long ago, in the year 1635, a girl by the name of Sophie Kauffman came to America on a ship from Scotland. She was lonely, desolate, and afraid of the unknown land, until the day Derek Reid stole her heart. She was but sixteen when she left home, carrying with her a small blanket for warmth.”
Evelyn showed me a part of the quilt that looked the oldest. Sure enough, as I touched it, what she was saying was true. I could feel the sadness and anxiety