Page 69 of Autumn Secrets

“This prophecy that you’re talking about…it predicts something awful then?”

“It certainly does,” Mr Peters agreed.

“I don’t know the details obviously,” Mrs Peters said gently. “But the story goes that a guardian of light will one day fall in love with a very powerful dark bearer. It is said that they are soulmates from another lifetime, and no one will be able to break them apart. However, their love will come with the ultimate price. The dark side will find their ground and win the battle once and for all.”

“And why is that?”

“The dark bearer will betray her.”

“How does he betray her?”

“I don’t know the details precisely, but I think it says he will steal the amulet and weaken her powers,” Mrs Peters replied softly.

I turned to Mr Peters. I needed to know more. “What about you, Mr Peters? Do you know more about this story?”

He shook his head. “No. I never put any effort in to learning about this prophecy, once it was clear that the story didn’t involve your grandparents. And I am assuming it has nothing to do with you either. Perhaps it’s just a story.”

“How would you know? Maybe that’s why the book keeps reappearing in front of me. To warn me. Maybe I am doomed to bring eternal darkness to Earth.” I felt a sense of panic settle within me. This whole story really rattled me.

“It’s not you, Aurora. The prophecy says that these two soulmates will meet at a very young age, before she becomes a guardian of light. Our harvest ritual is next week, love. So, unless you have some dark bearer hidden in your closet, I’d say that you are safe,” Mrs Peters said kindly.

“Oh, okay,” I said and blushed. I certainly wasn’t hiding a dark bearer anywhere. The only person of interest to me was Adrian, and he was a part of my normal world. “Then, I guess we’re all safe for now.” I smiled.

“And don’t worry if you can’t find the book. I have a feeling it will appear in front of you again before you know it,” Mr Peters said.

“I have no doubt about that.” I smiled again.

“Anything else you would like to ask tonight?” he asked.

“Well no… Or, wait.” I told them about this afternoon, well sort of, how I had been with a friend for an afternoon walk and found myself panicking when I’d felt the urge to let the light out.

“I don’t know why it was triggered,” I said.

“You said you were outdoors in nature?” Mrs Peters asked.

I nodded. “Yes, we were… It was so beautiful.”

“Well, it’s really not surprising. The light within you is strongly connected to the elements of the natural world. How did you stop it?”

“I had to focus really hard, but I managed to calm it down. It scared me. I mean, will this be triggered all the time, whenever I’m outside? How is that going to work?”

Mrs Peters shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about that. It won’t happen. Usually you will feel comfortable and more connected to your abilities around other supernatural beings, because your instincts will tell you it’s safe to be what you are. Who was your friend, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Uh, just a new friend from school. Sophia is her name.” I felt awful for lying, but I really didn’t want them to find out about Adrian just yet. I’d never had a boyfriend before and I needed to break the news to Mum first, or she would be devastated. Even more so after everything that had happened between us lately. I really didn’t want to hurt her. I was ready to move on and I knew she was too.

“Well, we don’t know any light bearers with a daughter named Sophia, so that was probably not the case then. Perhaps it happened because you are still under a protection spell and that makes it a little more difficult to control your powers and adjust to the environment. But don’t worry, as soon as we’ve lifted the protection spell, everything will fall into place. You will feel more comfortable and be able to work with the powers within you.”

That had to be the case, because I knew Adrian, and he definitely wasn’t a light bearer. I giggled to myself.

“What so funny?” Mr Peters asked with a smile.

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

Chapter 21

The next day, Friday, the whole school looked amazing, with autumn decorations everywhere. I was actually starting to feel quite excited about this evening.

“I’ll see you tonight?” a voice whispered in my ear as two arms gently wrapped around my waist from behind.