"It what?" Ilana doesn't believe me. She snatches the talisman from my hand and puts it right under her nose. "I don't see anything." She turns the talisman in her hands, her eyebrows pulled closely together.
"What do you mean you don't see anything? Look here." I take the talisman from her hands and point at a symbol that reminds me of the letter a. "This one is the most active. And here." I point at another one. The scent of her shampoo makes me feel dizzy, and I have to take a step back before I lose my self-control.
"There's nothing here. What are you trying to achieve?"
"I'm not trying to achieve anything. I'm telling you what I see." Irritation makes my voice a bit edgier than the situation calls for. "Once I got it wet, it started happening, and my theory is that local water affects it this way." I hide the talisman in the pocket of my jeans and reach for a hoodie. "We need to go back into the park and try the water in the lakes. I'm sure it will be able to show me what it wants."
"Whatever." Ilana shrugs her shoulders, still not convinced by my story.
She calls her father to give him an update, turns off all the cameras, and we go back to the park. Just like yesterday, one of Brackwick's gorillas follows us from a safe distance. Once inside we direct our feet straight for the upper lakes because I'm sure that that's the only place where the talisman will give us our first clue, that's where Ilana and I spent our vacation, and that's where I found myself after the memory spell had been cast.
"Good." Standing in front of one of the lakes, I rub my hands together then get out the talisman. "Show us what you've got." Careful not to draw anyone's attention, I bring it to the water and slowly put it under. The letters start twirling around; they create a little tornado that doesn't stop going in circles.
"Something is not right."
"What is it?" Ilana has approached me and now is looking over my shoulder. "Nothing's happening?"
"It is, but that's not enough.""Meaning?" Her eyebrows are again knitted together because she can't see anything, and she isn't sure if she can trust me.
"They won't stop twirling... maybe that's not the spot." I look around. Yeah, that's the same lake, but not the exact spot from my dream.
I get up and start walking along the narrow pathway.
"Where are you going?"
Too excited I ignore her question. Ilana has no choice but to follow me, which she does with a very sour expression on her face.
After twenty minutes of walking I think I'm in the right place. This is what I saw in my dream a couple of nights ago. My subconsciousness was telling me the answer all along.
I look at Ilana to see if she's recognized the place, but she is oblivious to the surroundings. Her eyes are glued to the talisman in my hand.
I decide not to waste any time and approach the water, but when my hands touch it, a swift gust of wind goes through me and I'm thrown on my back a few feet from the lake. Unable to understand what's just happened, I look up only to find Ilana's face blocking the sun. I wish I knew the expression her face holds, but all I can see is the shape of her head with her hair pulled tightly up. Her head must hurt from the constant tension.
"Air." A female voice that doesn't belong to Ilana calls my name.
"Who's that?" I shake my head, hoping the ringing in my ears will stop.
"It's I, Ilana. What happened? One minute you were reaching for the water, the next you were flying back as if somebody had pushed you."
"I know it's you. Where's the woman who called my name?" I'm trying to get up, but it's a difficult endeavor with Ilana's head hovering above mine.
YOU ARE READING
In My True Element
FantasyHe's been the black sheep of his supernatural family for longer than he cares to remember. He wanted to love and be happy; instead he had to lie to his family, strip them off their powers and disappear for over three hundred years without so much as...