The last four weeks of school flew by, or so they seemed to anyway. Nothing had changed. I was still the main topic as usual. I went from class to class minding my own business. I never raised my hand or offered anything not unless the teacher or someone asked me first. The only time I really even talked with Isaiah was in the hallway. I rarely hung out with him after school anymore. He had finally gotten a job after school and that took some of our time away which in a way was fine with me. I put most of my time into the art class and hanging out with Joel. I even gave up on Brooke for a while because she was so busy with work as well or too busy hanging out with her friends. But Joel, he worked on the family farm and didn't mind giving me a ride home at the end of the day. The funny thing was I didn't mind helping him out on the farm. I was even getting use to the smell. It was kinda nice to be away from civilization, being out in the middle of nowhere, just land, animals and fresh air. Who would have thought a girl like me from a big city liking the country life.

Today we got out of school early. It was finally the last day of the year and we only had to go to get our report cards. I meet up with Joel by his beat up Chevy truck. He flashed his report card in my face. "Looks like I'm a senior. How did you do?" He said smiling.

"Me too, guess I have to put up with you for another year." I reached over and flipped the bib part of his ball cap, letting it fall to the ground behind him.

He's eyes sparkled and he tried not to smile. I got ready to run around the truck because I knew he would get me for it. "You're in trouble now girl," he said while picking up his hat to place it back on his head. Then he took off around the truck to catch me. But I made it back around to the other side and into the truck. "I'll get you later," he promised.

He got into the driver side and rived up the engine and sped out of the parking lot leaving a cloud of smoke behind us. I saw Isaiah off to the side getting into his car and I threw my hand up to him. I did not get the same reaction back from him. Instead he looked down shaking his head with a little disappointment and got into his car.

I lost my smile for a moment, swallowing hard of the reaction that I just got from him. My feelings were a little hurt and Joel had noticed it as well.

"Still trying to be friends with Isaiah, uh?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"Joel, you never did tell me why I should be careful around him. Is there something that I should know about?"

"Shay, he's not a typical guy to be around. I can't tell you what to do, but if you plan to be around him just watch what you say and do. He may seem nice, but he can back stab you in a heartbeat. He knows how to play people."

"Do you think he has played me, Joel?"

"I think he is trying to make you feel sorry for him so that he can get closer to you. Don't believe everything you hear."

"That's funny that you should say that. Isn't that what I told you about me the first time that we met?"

He smiled. "Yeah, and I don't believe any of it," he added with a wink.

He pulled into the Sub Shop and ran inside to get both of us something to eat. He was back within five minutes. He laid the sandwiches between us.

"So what are you planning on doing today?" I had asked him.

"Well it's such a nice summer day; I have a special treat for you."

I smiled tilting my head, so that my hair swayed just enough to touch my shoulder. "You're not going to tell me are you?" I bounced on the seat, impatiently like a little kid with ants in her pants.

He looked straight ahead and replied, "Nope."

"Fine, I see how you are." I looked out the window as he drove farther away from the town. I tried to keep my mind on other things, except Isaiah kept popping up in my thoughts. Joel turned off the main road onto a side road and then down an old worn out dirt road. I thought he was taking me to the middle of nowhere and in a way that is exactly what he did. The truck came to a stop and he got out. There was nothing but trees all around us and an old worn path leading somewhere.

I looked around and made another guess, "Are we going for a walk?"

"Kinda, come on."

I followed him down a long windy path and then out of nowhere I see blue. Blue silent ripples in the cool water. There was an old boat to the left, tied down with a rope to a nearby tree.

"This is a joke right?" I had asked in disbelief. "You want me to get in that." I said pointing to the boat as he was untying the rope. The boat looked antique, with rust on the bottom and sides, old wooden planks to sit on. There was no motor, only two ores. Surely he didn't want me to sit in there. I was so sure that it would not hold the two of us and knowing my luck it would have a hole in it somewhere and by the time we got out there in the middle of the water it would start to sink.

He reached for my hand to help me into the boat. "Just get in Shay, your safe with me, promise."

Yeah right! I got in and sat down quickly holding in my breath and holding onto the sides. The boat rocked, swishing the water around us. Joel sat down and started to row the boat into the water. It was rather nicer than I had imagined and thankfully it held us both. I was trying to look at the bottom of the boat to see if any water had leaked through. But there wasn't any. He found an area that had a little bit of shade and got out the sandwiches. We ate with the warm sun and air surrounding us. This felt so much better than the forest. It was so peaceful here with only Joel around.

After we ate he handed me a fishing pole, putting the worm on the hook for me. I threw in the line and let it sit there waiting on a bite.

"You've been fishing before?" He asked in surprise.

"Actually I have with my dad. When I was little he would take me all the time, but over the years he stopped. He stopped doing a lot of things in the past few years." I tried to remember the last time but couldn't. I did remember some occasions though. Being with him was the best times of my life, those days when he believed in me. However that was all gone now.

"Do you miss him, your dad?"

"A little. I miss him like he was when I was a little. I was everything to him then." I jerked my line and reeled it in only to find my worm was gone. Joel put on another one and I threw it out again.

"Why did his feeling change for you?"

"Joel, there are things about me, things that you should probably know about if we are going to hang out with each other." I paused as he looked back at me. "I see things. I dream about things before it is going to happen. I dream about things that have already happened. The thing is, usually the ones that are going to happen, do happen. I can't explain it. Anyway my dad stopped believing in me; he gave up on me years ago."

"I don't think he would give up completely on you. I think apart of him loved you, you just couldn't see it."

I didn't say anything about the remark, instead I reeled the string in a little, and looked the other way.

" So some of the rumors are true then?"

"What rumors?"

"The ones about the accident." He pulled in his line. On the end was a nice size catfish. He pulled it off, hooking the fish to a stringer. He put on another worm and threw it out into the water.

"Yeah." I swallowed hard and reeled my line back in and threw it back out.

We fished quietly for awhile not saying anything to each other. Joel caught several more fish. I got two. I think Joel realized that he hit a nerve and didn't press the subject of my family any farther for now. As the sun beat down on us, I started to get drained. I set my pole down and lay back in the boat, letting the cool breeze skim my skin, cooling me off a little. I was out in seconds.

***

The sky was dark; very few stars twinkled in the night. The water suddenly became rough, splashing water in the boat. Unexpectedly it titled and I fell in, trying to keep my head above the water. Something from below was pulling me down, pulling me hard. I went all the way under gasping for air. As I opened my eyes she stared blankly into mine. Taking my hand she pulled me to the shore line. 'Aislinn get up, get up now,' she demanded. She looked frightened, as if something was bound to come out of the water after her, us. I quickly got to my feet, not letting go of her. She moved swiftly through the trees, coming to a hasty stop. She pointed to the opening just up ahead of us. The old house stood secluded with every light on. There was a commotion going on in the back of the house. Voices arguing back and forth of how to get Elita back home where she belongs.

I turned to look at her, 'Am I Elita, are they looking for me?'

'Yes.' She held onto my hand tightly. 'Grandmother calls you Elita, it means that you are the chosen one yet you are my Aislinn, my little dreamer. Why are you here I told you to stay away?' She looked so pale, still sick like she had written about in her journal.

'You are my real mother. I need to know more about you. Why?'

She started to walk closer to the house. 'Come, we will go in the front they will not see us.' I followed her in. We walked right in through the front door and up the stairs to a bedroom on the second floor, last door on the right side. She opened the door and shut it behind her. It was her room. The smell of thyme in the air. There was one twin bed, a small dresser, a vanity with a nice cushion seat just before it. It was spotless, clean, nothing out of place. She got down on her knees and pushed the small bed out of the way and then proceeded to pull at a loose board in the floor. She reached in and pulled out the journals. 'This is my secret place. Mom and Dad doesn't know, not even Grandmother. They are here, secretly hidden, protected. There will be great danger for you if you come looking for them though. But I see that you are like me and you will find a way, you will but be very careful in doing so.' There was a noise at the door, the knob started to turn. We were running hand in hand down the stairs and out the door into the dark night. Somehow we had separated, she was gone. I yelled for her, 'mom, mom, where are you, Kamilah come back.'

When I woke back up, I was thrashing about in the boat. Water flowed over the top. No sooner than Joel threw down his pole the boat flipped over. Both of us was in the water now, the fish was still attached to his stringer as for the poles they were long gone. I as well was going to the bottom of the lake when suddenly he wrapped his arms around me and pushed us both to the top of the water. He tried to hold on to me as he pushed the boat back over. He helped me back into the boat and then he got back in. "Shay, you were sleeping. Must have been some dream." He caught his breath.

I looked back up at him. He was dripping wet and looking around for the items that were in the boat. "Where are we?" my head was spinning in confusion. "Oh! Joel I'm so sorry."

"We are back in the boat headed back to the bank. And don't be sorry, I can buy new poles." He shook his head smiling ear to ear. "We're almost there; by the way who is Kamilah?" he asked.

I looked at him strangely, did I yell out her name. "My mother, my birth mother I mean."

When we got back to the shore, I got out immediately, almost falling over my own feet.

He tied the boat back down and grabbed the fish to carry back to the truck. "Are you alright?"

I ran behind a tree and said, "Yeah, just gotta go, sorry." I pulled down my pants and squatted down to relieve myself. When I finished, I walked back around and smiled at him. "Sorry, I really had to go."

"No problem." He smiled. I followed him back to the truck staring at the back side of him the whole way. We finally reached the truck and he threw the fish in the back into a cooler that was already filled with water. I got in and with one last look around the place, I thanked him.

"No problem, too bad you only got two fish." He teased.

"I still had fun. Sorry that I fell asleep on you, got you all wet and lost your fishing poles."

"I don't mind getting a little wet." He took off his shirt and tossed it in the back of the truck. I couldn't help but stare at his bare chest, oh my, hard as a rock, gorgeous abs. Thankfully it didn't seem that he noticed me staring, he got in. "I guess I needed new poles anyway, however it looks like it bothered you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not now, maybe later." I scooted over to the middle of the seat to get closer to him, laying my head on his shoulder. I wanted him to know everything, everything about me. The thing was I just didn't know where to start and if he really knew, would he still be there for me? We rode all the way back to his house with his arm wrapped around me as I laid there quietly on his shoulder.

When we got back to the farm he got out and got the fish out of the back to clean them. I walked into the barn and brushed Catori's hair. I talked sweetly into her ear, letting her know that she would be safe with me as well. I didn't hear him come in.

"You talk to horses?" He joked.

"You caught me." I continued to rub her sides and along her back.

"Want to go for a ride?" He placed the cover on her back and then the saddle. He got on and then helped me up onto Catori. We took off, wide open. When we got close to the pond we got off to let her rest as we lay down in the thick pasture.

"If I forget to tell you later, thanks for today." I smiled, holding his hand tightly within mine.

He leaned over me, smiling. "You're welcome." His lips felt so warm against mine. The kiss took me by surprise at first. We have been hanging out for a few months now and this was the first kiss.

I reached up to touch his cheek, kissing him back. There was a tingling sensation going down my spine. The cool breeze embraced us like a blanket. I just wanted to hold on to this moment a little longer. But then the words came out.

"I'm falling for you, I think I love you." His hand brushed away a flying strand of my hair from my face, as he looked into my eyes. I'm sure he thought that I didn't believe but I did believe him, every little word.

I touched his lips with my finger. "Joel, you just think that you're in love with me." But I knew for certain that he was; I just wanted to deny it afraid of what would happen to us in the future. I pushed him away and sat up. He sat upright beside me.

"What's wrong, Shay?" He reached for my hand and with his other hand embraced me close to him. "I can't hide my feelings for you any longer; I love you. I do."

"I want to love you too." Noticing the disappointment on his face, I had to tell him the truth. I said, "I do love you, a part of me does, but Joel I have to find out who I am first."

"I know who you are Shay and I love every bit of you." He crooned in my ear.

"What if I'm not Shayla?" I looked at him contently only inches away from my lips.

"I would still love you." He laughed. "I will call you by any name; what do you want me to call you, Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, what about that mermaid girl, Ariel?" He laughed.

"Joel you are too kind to me." I laughed with him. "But what if it was something more than just a name?"

"I'll still feel the same way about you. Shayla is this about the dream?"

I had a feeling he would bring up the dream again just not so sudden. "Partly. I had this dream a while back and I have it often just things change each time. In the boat I dreamed of my mother again. I have to go to Shady Grove. I have to find the rest of the journals to find out who I really am."

"Shady Grove, uh. No one goes there Shayla. Haven't you heard of the legends?"

"What legend?"

"A long time ago about the same time I was being born there was a big commotion in these parts of the woods. A mad man hunt was underway. Houses were entered, many people died. They were in search of a baby. Apparently it was stolen and they went to extreme measures to get her back."

"And did they find her?"

"No, no one has ever seen her. But I hear that she has the power to change things."

"Powers." I said in disbelief.

"I remember plenty of nights when I was younger; my grandfather would tell us the legend of the Soul Keepers. It was a way to make us behave I guess. You see, if we went past a certain boundary on our land, the Soul Keepers would be able to smell us and track us down. The Soul Keepers are dated back to the eighteen hundreds. They can live off the blood and soul of others so that they can live longer, longer than humans that is."

"So you say they are like vampires, they never die?" I asked.

"No, they can die; it's just that they can live a very long time. Grandfather said that they can live longer with the right kinda of blood. Something about both parents has to be the first born of the first born to have the perfect genetic material." He paused for a moment.

"He told us about the old house. He had heard that in the basement they tie their own children down and drink from them, trying out each one to find out who has the right combination of blood. When they find the right one they take every drop of blood from the child and with the last drop they place their mouth over the dying and suck out their soul a little at a time. "

"This is just a legend right, in other words just an absurd story?"

"It's whatever you make of it, like I said no one goes to Shady Grove."

"But I have to go there, the house is there. I have to go into her room and get the journals. She will watch after me. Will you take me there?"

"Shayla, I love you but I can't take you there." He got up and walked around.

"Why not? If you love me, you would help me; I need to know the truth Joel. I need to know who I really am. Maybe I was the baby that was missing; maybe they were looking for me."

"It's just a legend Shay. I hardly think that you would have been the baby."

"Why's that?"

"It was all over the news, I bet if we go back to the house we could look it all up on the web."

"Let's go then." I jumped up in a hurry, dusting off the grass that stuck to my wet clothes.

He huffed and got back up on the horse and helped me up as well. We rode all the way back. After securing Catori in the barn we got in the truck and went up to the house.

His younger brothers were playing downstairs, making a mess out of the living room. His mother was in the kitchen getting ready to cook dinner. We walked in and she turned to smile at us. She looked younger than what I had expected. Her hair was rich black with not one gray strand. She wore a summer blue dress with an apron on top. She kind of made me think of one of those fifty televisions shows. Even her skin was perfect, with very faint lines around her eyes and mouth. She wore a layer of very thin make up almost unnoticeable.

"I guess you must be Shayla. Joel must be getting serious to bring you in to meet me." She smiled and gave him a hug and then held out her arms for me to hug her.

"Go ahead, she loves hugs." Joel smiled, throwing the fish into the sink.

"I have to warn you, I'm still wet." I let her wrap her arms around me.

She started to laugh. "I see he took you fishing. Did he toss you in as well?"

"Actually I fell in, he saved me. My hero." I smiled.

"That was nice of him to reel you in then." She laughed. "Well, what a fine catch for today. I guess we could have fish tonight." She started to clean them off again in the sink. I couldn't see my mother cleaning fish. She would have had the maid to do it or my father, after all he was a pretty good cook.

"We are going up to my room, be back down in a little while."

I waved bye to her and followed him out of the kitchen and up the stairs. As we entered his room he shut the door behind us. He turned on the radio, down low. There was a slow romantic song on and he waltz back over my way to kiss me. I think he was trying to get out of looking the information up.

"Your mom seems really nice." I pulled away to get a look at his room. It's his room alright. The walls were hunter green with posters on the wall of rodeos and western scenes. On the far wall he had trophies of all sizes. A few that he had won in the rodeo, others for playing baseball. On the desk, were his lap top and remotes and magazines and other things piled up high. I was surprised that he could even find the lap top. I had expected the rest of the room to be messy but it wasn't. Everything was placed on shelves, or up somewhere off of the floor. His bed was made, with two pillows, both covers and pillows were in a different shade of green. So I assumed that must be his favorite color.

"Yeah, she's cool." He went over to his lap top and pulled up the net. "All right what were you looking for again?" He paused and then said, "oh yeah the headline news for about seventeen years ago." He typed several things but nothing came up and then typed in the city. There was some information that popped up. He scanned a few of the links and then came across one. "Here we go. Nineteen-ninety one." He read out loud. "A body was found just a few miles away from the Shady Grove area. The unknown woman had given birth, however there was no baby present. As we combed the area we may have some speculations of who the woman was."

He pulled up the next date, the article of the woman. "Look, here is some more." He read out loud again. A couple in the Shady Grove area has identified the young woman to be the eighteen year old, Kamilah Hargrove. She had recently run away from the home. The baby is still not found at this time. If anyone has any information the parents are giving a reward for the return of its safety."

I let the information soak in a little and then asked him to look up Shady Grove. But when he did nothing came up. We couldn't even find it on the map. After an hour of looking things up he got tired and turned it off.

"Isn't that the name you called out in your sleep, Kamilah?"

"Yes, I believe she is my mother and if that is her then I am the baby, the one that they have been looking for. Just take me there Joel." I pleaded.

"I can't do that."

"Fine then I'll go by myself. I have to find her journals. I have too. I have to find out who I really am."

"Fine then, I'll take you. But you get the damn journals and you leave as fast as possible. We get caught there is no telling what will happen to us."

We walked back down to the kitchen; Joel's mom was frying up the fish and making fries and hushpuppies. "Where are you guys going; I thought you were staying to eat?"

"Sorry I really have to get...."

Joel interrupted me, "She has to go home, I'll be back later, eat without me."

She just shrugged her shoulders and as the door slammed behind us I heard her say, "Be careful."