Whispers of Time

by Gwendolyn Ilimaris

  “Help!” Her strangled cry caused the man to stop and glare at her.

  “I suppose we shall finish this later,” he said with a tilt of his head. He slipped into the bushes just before Kaedin, Raven, and a man she did not recognize jogged around the corner. They all stopped when they saw her.

  “Are you all right?” Kaedin asked with a frown. “Did you call for help?”

  Sara just stared at him before she could get her mouth to move. “A man was following me. He went that way.” She stammered while she pointed into the bushes beside the path. Kaedin and Raven shared a quick glance before they disappeared into the bushes. Once they were gone, Sara could not keep the fear off her face when she glanced at the man standing next to her.

  “They shall return in a moment,” he said, his voice calm and soothing. “My name is Jaeha. I am a friend of theirs.”

  Only nodding her head, Sara looked back toward the bushes. The adrenaline was beginning to leave her system and she started to shake. Wrapping her arms around herself, she attempted to calm back down while they waited. A few minutes later they returned.

  “We were not able to locate him,” Kaedin said, with a frown. “We shall accompany you the rest of the way home. Paige is expecting us. Are you agreeable to this?”

  Sara again only nodded before she picked up her things and started to walk. She felt as if she walked in slow motion because her body was so stiff. When they reached the apartment, she fumbled with the keys while trying to get them into the lock. Kaedin reached up to help her, but she jerked back.

  “I apologize,” he said, his voice gentle. “I was only going to assist you with the door.”

  She stood frozen for a moment before she handed him the keys. He unlocked the door and handed the keys back, careful not to touch her. She took them back and walked into the apartment.

  “Hey guys,” Paige called when she saw them. She was sitting in the living room waiting on them. “Hi, Raven.” The smile on her face widened into a large grin. He returned her smile before he walked over and put his arm around her shoulders. Sara watched them for a few seconds before she disappeared into her room and closed the door.

  Kaedin raised an eyebrow and glanced at Raven. He tilted his head before he nodded, “Why don’t we invite Sara to go along?”

  “Why?” Paige asked, her expression darkening. “She won’t want to go to a party. All she would do is stand in a corner and not talk to anybody.”

  “I just thought you would like to spend time with your friend since I have been taking all of your time of late.”

  “No way, Sara would be happier here.” Paige’s voice became irritated and she gave Raven a hard look. He shrugged as if he did not care but when he glanced at Kaedin there was a hint of concern in his eyes.

  “Okay, then let us go,” Raven said. Paige slipped out from under his arm to grab her purse. While Paige’s attention was away from Raven, Kaedin gave him a look of disapproval before he glanced at Sara’s door.

  “Hikaru will remain close,” Jaeha whispered to Kaedin. “It would appear unusual if you deviate from your normal routine.” Kaedin frowned when he knew he was right.

  “Let’s go,” Paige said with a grin after she had her bag in hand. She headed to the door without waiting on a response and left the apartment. Kaedin glanced back at Sara’s door once more before they followed her.

  Sara listened to the conversation from inside her room. She was hurt that Paige did not even want to invite her to go along. Her thoughts turned bitter. Why should this surprise her? She was rather boring after all. After she heard them leave, she flopped down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was not long before the silence in the apartment caused her unease to return. She sat up when she realized she was still terrified. What if that man followed them? The thought sent a shiver down her spine. She picked up her phone from the bedside table. Looking at it she wondered if he would come if she called him. She opened the phone and started to dial Jake’s number several times before finally hitting the send button. She held her breath and tried to prepare herself for him to be working. After a couple of rings, his familiar voice answered the phone.

  “Hi Sara,” he said as he stifled a large yawn.

  “Did I wake you?”

  “No, I just got off. I’m on my way back to my place now.”

  “Um… are you planning to sleep or anything?” She asked, her voice starting to quake. Jake did not respond for a moment. He could tell by her tone that something was off.

  “I don’t know,” he said, his voice wary. “Is everything okay?”

  “No,” she whispered. “Would you, maybe, be able to come over for a while?” Even though she was terrified, she still could not keep her face from flushing when she asked Jake to come over.

  “Of course,” he said without a moment of hesitation. “What happened?”

  “Can I tell you when you get here? I don’t want to think about it without someone here.”

  Jake could hear her voice quiver when she even eluded to what was wrong. “Sure,” he replied, his voice taking a worried tone. “I am leaving now so I should be there in half an hour.” He paused. “Where is Paige?”

  “She went out,” Sara said, careful to leave out the fact that she was at another party. She heard Jake sigh.

  “I probably don’t want to know anymore, do I?”

  Before Sara could answer, she heard a sudden knock on the apartment door. She got up and cracked the door to her room. When she did not see anyone, she tiptoed to the front door. She peeked out the peephole and had to stifle a gasp when she saw the man from before standing in the hall. Scrambling backwards, she dashed around and crouched behind the kitchen counter.

  “Sara?” Jake asked. He heard the sharp increase in her breathing when she fell silent.

  “How close are you?” She asked in a terrified whisper.

  “About twenty minutes. What’s going on?” Jake’s tone took on a business type ring. He knew something was wrong.

  Sara jumped when there was another loud knock on the door. “A man was following me. He’s at the door now.” Her voice shook so bad Jake almost had trouble understanding her.

  “Go to your room, shut and lock the door, and put your desk in front of the door,” Jake said in an instant. “I’m going to hang up. If that door opens and it’s not me call the police. I will announce it’s me when I enter.” He hung up the phone and Sara hurried to do as he instructed. She crouched in the corner of her room behind the door and strained her ears. There was another loud knock and the man tried the handle this time. He knocked once more and then suddenly there was nothing. She held her breath in the suffocating silence and waited for what seemed like an eternity before she heard Jake’s voice.

  “It’s me,” he called as he entered the apartment. He shut and locked the door behind him as he surveyed the room. When he noticed nothing out of the ordinary, he released his grip on the pistol concealed under his shirt.

  Sara jerked the desk out from in front of the door and rushed out of her room. She hurried across the living room and ran straight to Jake. He wrapped both arms around her and held her as she trembled.

  “It’s okay. I’m here,” he said, his voice calm and reassuring. He held onto her until she stopped shaking before leading her over to the couch with his arm around her shoulders.

  “What happened?” he asked. She glanced up at him before, in a very quiet voice, she told him everything that happened that night. His face darkened the more she told him.

  “I’m surprised he’d be bold enough to come to the apartment,” he said. “Have you ever seen him before today?” His brows furrowed in thought when she shook her head no.

  The sudden, loud sound of a door slamming shut in another apartment caused Sara to jump and Jake looked back down at her. He could see the fear written on her face.

  “It’s okay. You don’t have anything to worry about now.” He put his other arm back around her and pulled her closer to him. She did not r
esist and leaned against him.

  “Will you go back tonight?” She asked in a scared whisper.

  “Not a chance, I’ll be here tonight.” He felt her relax when she realized he was going to stay.

  “Thank you.” She rested her head on his chest and let out a slow deep breath. Jake rubbed his hand on her back and just allowed her to depend on him. It was not long before Jake shifted trying to get more comfortable. She fell asleep in his arms and he did not want to wake her.

  The sudden sound of a key in the lock shifted his attention. Jake pressed his lips together with displeasure when he watched Paige and three guys enter the apartment. He noticed that he did not recognize the third from the campground. This man was an inch taller than the others and he appeared to be older. His silver hair was longer than the rest and was pulled back, with a brown leather strip that matched the streaks of color in his hair, at the base of his neck. He seemed to carry himself with a certain amount of dignity. His blue eyes, that were observing the room, were so dark they were almost navy.

  “What are you doing here?” Paige asked in surprise when she noticed her brother sitting on the couch.

  “Later,” he said with a frown as he glanced at the unwanted guests.

  Paige narrowed her eyes in irritation, “Really? They’re my friends so why don’t you just tell me?” Jake just stared at her for a moment.

  “Fine,” he said, his voice sharp. “Did you realize when you left that your roommate had been stalked on the way home?”

  “N—.”

  “Or that he would come to the apartment while she was here alone?” He continued like she had said nothing. “She called me, so I came.”

  Sara stirred and woke up when she heard the voices around her. She was groggy as she glanced around but as soon as noticed all the people she tried to sit up. Jake did not let go of her.

  “You’re fine,” he whispered to her before turning his attention back to the room. She relaxed back against him and just listened to the conversation.

  “I had no idea,” Paige snapped. She looked over at Raven when she noticed him shift and her face grew more angry. “You knew? That’s why you asked if we could take her along?”

  “We found her on the way here this evening,” Kaedin said before Raven had a chance to reply.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Paige asked giving him an annoyed glance. He raised an eyebrow as he regarded her.

  “I did not feel it was appropriate for me to interject,” he replied. “I believed the two of you were close, so I assumed she would tell you.”

  Paige glared at him, “We are close, but she won’t talk if anyone else is around and I thought she’d tell me when I got back.”

  “You knew something was wrong, but you left anyway?” Jake interrupted.

  Paige pursed her lips before facing her brother, “Yes.”

  Sara shifted, and Jake looked down at her. She was staring at her hands and was trying to keep her discomfort from showing. It was apparent that she believed this was her fault. Jake looked back up with a frown and noticed Kaedin watching them. He tilted his head with a look of disapproval and Kaedin shifted his gaze.

  “I believe it is time for us to take our leave,” Kaedin said. He again had a conflicted undercurrent to his voice.

  “I thought we were just coming back for a minute for me to grab something?” Paige protested.

  “Yes, that was the original plan,” Kaedin continued. “However, it would appear that you are needed here and there shall always be another time to enjoy a party.”

  Jake raised his eyebrows at the word party and looked over at Paige. She was careful to avoid his gaze.

  “We shall let ourselves out,” Kaedin said as he glanced at Raven and Jaeha. Raven headed for the door at once but Jaeha seemed amused for a moment. Kaedin tilted his head before Jaeha bowed his head a little bit then headed for the door.

  “I shall see you later Paige,” Raven called with a smile as he headed into the hallway. The other two followed and closed the door behind them. Paige locked it before spinning to face her brother.

  “I swear the two of you are trying to ruin my life,” she snapped at them. Sara flinched at her friend’s harsh words, but Jake did not react. “Why can’t you be nice? And why can’t you get over being so shy and talk to people? And why do I have to get involved in all this crap?” Paige started pacing as she continued to rant. “I just want a normal school experience but with the two of you around that isn’t going to happen.”

  “Are you finished?” Jake asked, his voice hard.

  “No, I’m not,” she slurred as she turned too quickly and almost stumbled.

  Jake narrowed his eyes as a look of realization crossed his face, “Are you drunk?”

  Sara sat up and looked at her friend. She was acting a little stranger than normal.

  “And what if I am?” Paige sneered at her brother.

  “I’ll quit paying your school tuition and you can come live with me on the base.” He paused. “Are those boys giving you alcohol?”

  “You wouldn’t do that,” Paige taunted. “And no, I’m getting it myself. They tried to get me to stop.” Paige laughed and rolled her eyes. Jake just stared at his sister with a look of disbelief.

  “Why don’t we go talk?” Sara asked.

  “Are you sure you can handle it with my brother around?”

  “That was rude,” Sara said, her face flushing but she stood her ground.

  “Uh, huh,” Paige grunted at her and rolled her eyes. Sara got up from the couch and pulled Paige into her room. She was not gone long before she reappeared with a worried look on her face.

  “She just passed out.”

  “What is going on with her?” Jake asked with a sigh. “She’s always acted out but never this bad.” When Jake noticed Sara fidgeting with her hands, he looked over at her. “What?”

  “I may know what the problem is,” she said. Jake just looked at her and waited for her to continue. “A couple weeks ago she was curious about what base you were stationed at since you wouldn’t tell her. She started making phone calls and found out that your dad was here. She tried to go and see him.”

  “She did what?” Jake asked.

  “I tried to tell her not to go. I don’t really know the whole story, but I figured that if you didn’t tell her he was here…” Sara trailed off when she saw the mix of pain and anger on Jake’s face.

  “That certainly does explain everything,” he said. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow after I get off.”

  “When do you have to go back?” Her voice started to shake again. Now that her friend was taken care of the events of the night were coming back to her.

  “I will have to leave in a few hours. I have to be at the hospital at seven.” He felt her shiver next to him and he put an arm around her again. “It will be okay. Stay where there are other people during the day. I will check first thing about staying on days for a couple of weeks, so I can spend the nights here until this is sorted out.” She nodded and leaned into him again. “Why don’t you try and get some sleep?” He watched her glance at her room before she looked back up at him. A gentle half smile appeared on his face as he patted the couch beside him. “Sleep here.”

  She appeared to consider his offer for a moment before she shook her head. “You need the couch so that you can sleep too. I’ll just leave the door open and light on out here. If that’s okay?”

  “Whatever you need.”

  She flushed red again and looked down at her hands, “Thank you.”

  “Any time,” he said as he tightened his arms around her. He held her for a few minutes more before he let go and she went into her room.

  Sara woke up in the morning to hear Paige talking to herself in the kitchen. She got out of bed and walked into the kitchen.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  Paige jumped at her sudden appearance. She looked very tired and had large bags under her eyes.

  “Was my brother really here
last night?” She asked while holding up a piece of paper she found on the counter.

  “Yes, don’t you remember?”

  Paige groaned before she dramatically put her head on the counter, “No, I don’t remember anything after you left to go practice.”

  “You were drinking before I left?” Sara asked, her eyes wide.

  “How do you know that?”

  Sara sighed, and it took her a few moments to work up the courage to tell her. Paige had been so unpredictable lately that she avoided her at times.

  “I think we need to talk,” she said finally. “Jake is the one who figured out that you were drinking. He’ll be back tonight when he gets off duty.”

  “Oh joy,” Paige groaned. “He’s just coming to give me a hard time again.”

  “He’s not just coming to give you a hard time,” Sara said, her voice becoming annoyed.

  “And what would you know about it?” Paige snapped.

  “A lot more than you,” Sara said, her voice rising. “Since I can remember what happened yesterday. I think you should be worried since you don’t have a clue.”

  Paige stood frozen in place and just stared at her friend. She had never heard Sara raise her voice… ever.

  “So, what did happen yesterday?” Paige’s attitude changed in an instant and she appeared to be worried. Sara sighed again before she told her roommate everything that took place the previous day. When she was finished, Paige was again just staring at her. Her eyes were wide, and her discomfort was apparent on her face.

  “Wow, that’s scary and I screwed up royally.” Paige fell quiet for a minute before she continued in a whine, “Oh my goodness, my head hurts so much I can’t even think. We’ll talk later.”

  “I have to get to class anyway,” Sara said glancing at the clock on the wall. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  Paige waved a hand at her with her head sitting on the counter.

  “Bye,” Sara called as she left the apartment.

  “Don’t yell,” Paige groaned but Sara was already gone.

  Sara was on edge for most of the day, but she did what Jake suggested and stayed in the crowded areas of the campus. Her day went by without issue as she headed into the music building for her last class. She took her usual seat near the back and waited for the professor to arrive. When the door opened, she glanced up and froze in terror. The man from the night before waltzed into the room. He was clothed from head to toe in black.