Jenna's Story (4 page)

It wasn't long before Jenna had dozed off. She tossed and turned repeatedly. Everything was dark and foggy. She couldn't get to the house. Every step she took forward sent her two steps back. Some force field was keeping her from moving. She cried out. “Help me. Help me.” She couldn't see anyone around her at all. What was happening? Then out of the darkness she saw a shadow of a man. She couldn't make out who it was or what he looked like, but he was there.

The shadow figure moved his face close to hers and said. “Leave this house now or you will die.”

Jenna screamed as she jumped out of bed. It was too real. It couldn't have been a dream. She walked around the room and then glanced out of the bedroom window. There across the street under the huge oak tree, she saw the same shadow figure starring up at her window.

“Jacob! Come quickly.”

Jacob came running into the room. “What is it Jenna?”

“There. Look. He's there.” She pointed out the window.

Jacob walked to the window but saw nothing. The man disappeared as quickly as he had come. Even though Jacob didn't see the man, he knew he was there. He walked over to Jenna and rubbed her arms in a comforting gesture.

“
Try to get some sleep and we will talk in the morning”

Jenna nodded. After Jacob left she was sure she wouldn’t sleep this night. She just wasn’t sure if it was because of the shadowman she’d seen or because of her memories of Jacob’s large hands rubbing her.

Chapter 5

Jenna woke up the next morning feeling as if she didn't sleep a wink all night. Jacob’s large hands had won the sleepless bet. She had lain there for hours with crazy thoughts running through her mind. His touch had almost felt familiar.

She walked over and started fixing some hot tea on the stove. She never was a coffee drinker. She was getting the eggs out of the refrigerator when she turned and saw Jacob standing there.

“You nearly scared me to death. You have to stop popping up like that.”

With a boyish smile he said, “Sorry…it’s a habit.”

Jenna finished fixing their plates and walked to the table.

“
Okay, I need you to be honest with me. That wasn't a dream that I had. Was it?”

“No Jenna, it was very much real. He was trying to scare you out of here so he wouldn't have to battle you. He doesn't know exactly how strong you are yet. He was fishing for information last night. If you let him take over this house, he also takes over this town. Evil will take over and all of your friends will most likely die. I'm sorry to drop all of this on you, but you need to hear the reality of the situation. I no longer have the luxury of letting you mull all of this over. I need to start your training in order to make sure you’re ready for what’s coming.”

He looked at her with eyes filled with determination. “Are you ready?”

Jenna thought about all he told her. And then she thought about her Grandma who had been her anchor for all her life.

“Okay, let's get started. I'm not going to let him scare me into giving up grandma's house. This isn't what I expected my life to be about, but if this is what is asked of me, I'm ready to fight.”

Jacob looked across the table at her. “This isn't going to be easy. We need to get you trained in fighting so you can defend yourself against your attacker, but you also need to get you magic skills into shape too. You are a witch by nature. All we need to do is teach you how to use the skills that you already have.”

Jenna wasn't sure how she got mixed up in all of this, but she knew she owed it to her grandma to give it her best. It was her legacy.

She spent the next few days working out with spells and spending hours training in kick boxing with Jacob. She couldn't help but think what a great trainer he was. She was surprised to find that she could move things without even touching them. She had never done that before. All she had to do was think of something and she could make it happen. Jenna was finding her new talents to be very interesting. She was also finding Jacob to be very interesting as well. She couldn’t help watching him when he was working out beside her. She liked to watch his muscles flex and pull as he worked up a sweat.

Jacob pulled her out of her musings.

“Okay, now it's time for your next lesson. I want you to harness all of your energy into the palm of your hand. This will create an energy ball that you can then throw at your enemy. I want you to try and hit the target that I have put up for you.”

Jenna thought and thought and nothing happened. She was starting to get frustrated. “This isn't working.”

“Keep trying, Jenna. Think harder. You need all of your energy to form a ball in the center of your palm.”

Jenna was getting madder by the minute. The madder she got the bigger the ball was getting. She was actually doing it. She looked at the target and sent her ball towards it. She hit the target with no problems.

“
Oh my god! Did you see that? That is so cool. I can't believe that worked.”

She ran over and threw her arms around Jacob in excitement. “I'm sorry. I guess I got a little excited.”

Jacob’s smile faded and fire burned in his eyes.

“It's okay we all get a little excited once in awhile.” He reluctantly detached himself from her arms. “Why don't we take a little break? I'll fix you lunch.”

Jenna laughed. “You are going to fix me lunch?”

“What is so funny about that? I'm an excellent cook.” He defended himself with a smile.

As Jenna walked into the kitchen she turned to Jacob and said. “I'm going to go take a quick shower before dinner if that's alright with you. I'm all sweaty.”

Jacob swallowed a bit hard. “Sure, go ahead. I'm going to start lunch.”

Jenna walked to the bathroom and started her shower. She got in and let the hot steamy water run over her body. She washed her long black hair and the shampoo ran down her breast. The water was very relaxing and Jenna wished she could stay in there all night. Jenna felt like all of her senses had suddenly come alive.
It must be the training.
Jenna thought to herself. Her training involved discipline and concentration.

It seemed like an eternity when Jenna heard. “Is everything okay in there?”

Jenna snapped out of her thoughts. “Oh, yeah, I'll be right out.” She turned the water off and got out. After quickly dressing and running a brush through her hair she went to the kitchen to find Jacob.

He had made homemade beef stew and grilled cheese sandwiches. The table was set and he had poured them some ice tea.

“Everything smells great.” Jenna said as she sat down and started to eat. “So tell me a little bit about yourself. I hardly know you and you live with me.”

Jacob took a sip of his tea. “For starters, as I said, I'm a warlock. My family has been around for centuries as well as yours has. I am very powerful, but I can't fight these evils alone. I need you. They will team up and that will be too much for me to handle on my own, but with you together we can't be beat.”

“Why did I not know that Snow Hollow is full of evil demons and things?” Jenna wanted to know. She didn't understand how she could have lived her whole life not knowing that her grandmother had been fighting demons her whole life.

“Don't feel bad. Not many people know. It's because your grandmother with the help of my family kept Snow Hollow safe. The townspeople never had to worry, but now that she is gone if we’re not prepared, evil will take over.”

Jenna felt a shiver run up her arm. She wasn’t sure that she could do this. If she was ready to face the things he kept saying were coming. She missed her grandmother very much and she knew deep inside that she didn't have a choice.

Jenna finished her lunch without another word. She had too many thoughts running through her mind right then. She needed to be alone to sort through the changes that were taking place in her life.

She stood up, “Thanks for a wonderful lunch. I need to be alone for a little while to soak all this in. I'm just going to explore the house for a while. I'm finding all kinds of things that I never noticed before.”

“I understand completely, Jenna. Let me just say, that I think you may want to start at the end of the main hallway behind the floor length painting of your grandfather.”

Jenna stood there with an odd look on her face. “What are you talking about? What about the painting?”

“If you pull the frame towards you it will open a secret pathway.”

Jenna was stunned. She has lived in that house for twenty years and didn't know about a secret passage. “I feel like such an idiot. Why didn't I know about a secret room?”

Jacob could see the hurt in her eyes. “Please don't feel bad. It wasn't time for you to know all of this. How could you just know? I'll tell you. You couldn't. Unless somebody showed you, nobody would know. Don't beat yourself up about this.”

Jenna walked away kind of saddened. She wondered what else about her grandmother she didn't know. When she made it to the end of the hall she found herself standing there staring at the painting as if it were about to do tricks. She walked up to it and pulled it like Jacob instructed and sure enough it opened right up. She followed a long hallway down a darkened tunnel. It was a little scary for her, but she knew that Jacob wouldn't have sent her if it were dangerous. She realized that she trusted him.

She made it to the end and there she saw what looked like a den. It had book shelves from the floor to the ceiling. There was a desk and to one side was a table with what looked like chemistry flasks and things. Jenna was amazed at all the stuff in there.

She walked over to a huge book sitting on a book stand in the middle of the floor. Jenna walked over to it and opened it up. She couldn't believe what she saw. It was a book of spells. Her grandmother actually mixed spell. How could she not know this about her grandmother?

It saddened Jenna to think she didn't know her grandmother as well as she thought she did. Tears started to fall from her face as she sank to the floor.

“Don't cry my dear.” The voice of Elena said.

Jenna looked around the room, but saw nothing. “Grandma?” She said with a shaky voice. “Is that you?”

Slowly a beautiful light was forming in the middle of the room. Jenna could see her grandmother appearing in the center of the room.

“Grandma! How is this happening?”

“Jenna, honey. By now you should know that anything is possible. I know you are confused, but I've been watching you. I can see how well you are training with Jacob. He's a good man. You can trust him. I can't stay but just a minute. I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I'm always here with you. You are about to face some very big challenges, but together with Jacob you will handle them. Read these books in this room. They will teach you everything you need to know. I love you.”

She vanished as quickly as she came.

Jenna sat there in the middle of the room crying. “Come back. Come Back. I can't do this alone.” The tears where coming down like rain.

“Jenna. You aren't alone.” Jacob said as he sat down and put his arms around her. “You will never be alone.”

He sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms. Jenna looked up at him and then laid her head on his chest. The feel of him arms around her made everything seem okay for a few minutes.

Jacob held her tight. “I'm here with you and I will never leave you.”

Jenna leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips. She didn't know where that came from, but for some reason it felt right. Jacob’s arms tightened for a split second and with a small sigh he stood and held his hand out to help her up.

“
We should get back to training now.”

Deep down Jenna knew he was right but part of her wished they could stay there a while longer.

Chapter 6

The days flew by with Jenna learning more and more every day. She felt like she could defend herself but she wasn't ready to try just yet. She needed to build up her confidence level a lot. She knew things were going to get bad soon, but she wasn't ready for it just yet.

She went into the kitchen to fix something to eat. As soon as she walked into the kitchen her stomach tightened up. There standing in the middle of the kitchen was a demon waiting to attack.

Jenna was scared to death, but she couldn't show her fear. She ran behind the counter dodging energy balls right and left. She jumped up and threw her energy ball right into the demons mid section. It was a perfect shot. The demon turned into dust before her very eyes. She had just destroyed her very first demon. The adrenaline was flowing through her veins. She felt a sense of empowerment about her. Jenna couldn't wait to tell Jacob what had happened. It almost felt too easy though.

She was walking up the stairs when she heard Jacob talking to somebody.