A doctor came in and sat me down to clean and stitch my stab wound. In the room next to us I could hear low voices talking and a girl’s cries I recognized as Shayla. I fought to keep my emotions together, but I couldn’t do it any more. As soon as the doctor was done, I tore from the room leaving Lance, Savannah, and Abby with dumbfounded looks. I threw open the door to my room and hit my knees.
“Why? Why were we chosen to do this? Whoever you are, you were wrong to choose me. I don’t want this! I just wanna be normal. This isn’t a gift it’s a curse. We have to watch people get hurt and die? It doesn’t seem fair!” Liam wrapped in that black sheet, the vision of the battle between the two strangers, and the growing feeling that I fit somewhere in the middle of all nagged me. My life made sense before, now it was an absolute mess that I couldn’t seem to fight my way through. I rocked back and forth and fell over in the fettle position, crying. With a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes and exhaustion took over. Sometime later, Steele was on the floor beside me, shaking me awake. “What time is it?” I asked, groggily.
“About nine at night. I bet that floor wasn’t too comfortable to sleep on, was it? What did you do fall off the bed or somethin’?”
“More like the somethin’,” I replied. He didn’t push any more about my unusual sleeping arrangements. “How’s Jace?”
“He’s gonna be fine, thanks to some stuff Fuzz whipped up for him. It looks like some kind of paste. He put it all over the wound. It heals it up unbelievably fast, but it smells like shit. I had to get outta there. He’s awake now. I thought your friend was gonna shit her pants when he opened his eyes. On a less happy note, they made arrangements for Liam’s cremation ceremony at daybreak in the mornin’.”
“Is that enough time for his family to get here?” I asked, shocked at how fast everything was moving.
“When we chose this path, we became each other’s family. Most of the guys came from situations similar to mine, Reese. His family will be there, us.”
I nodded. “So do you have some type of special ceremony you do like guys in the arm forces or somethin’?” I asked. Any type of ceremony like that was cool as hell and very respectful. He laughed at me.
“We aren’t quite as big as those guys, but we do have somethin’ we do for each of our guys that makes it pretty special for us.” I didn’t want to say that I was looking forward to seeing it, but I was.
“Is Fuzz around? I wanted to ask him somethin’.” Maybe I could get something out of him about the people in the visions. I had to start somewhere with sorting out this mess.
“He was in his office last time I seen him. I hope you haven’t decided to turn in some kind of sexual harassment compliant on me, have you?” he asked, playfully. I knew it was his way of trying to get me to tell him what I was planning on talking with Fuzz about, but this was something I wanted to stay between the two of us right now.
“That’s exactly what I was plannin’ on, but now I guess I can’t because you figured it out. I still need to talk to him though, but first I need a shower to get this filth off me from that hellhole. Do you wanna join me?” The corners of his mouth turned up and he licked his lips. I wanted to enjoy the time we had left together. Soon I wouldn’t be able to play like this with him because I would be gone.
“I think I can manage that. It’ll make all this junk we just went through disappear, at least for a little bit. I can’t wait to get you naked in that shower, girl.”
“Well, let’s go,” I replied as I grabbed some clothes, walked out the door, and headed to the shower area.
“I’ll meet you in a few minutes. I need to go grab somethin’ to put on afterward. If we were somewhere a little more private then I wouldn’t mind walkin’ around naked with you, but I don’t think everyone would appreciate me doin’ it here.”
“I’ll be waitin’ for you, so hurry back,” I said, trying to give him a seductive look. It must have worked because he tore off down the hall. I undressed in the empty shower room and turned the hot water on until steam fogged all the mirrors. I stepped in and pulled the curtain closed. Seconds later, I heard the door shut, and a small smile spread across my face.
“That was quick.” My comment was met by silence. My body stiffened. Something wasn’t right. Then I saw it—blackness snaking its way under the curtain and wrapping around my wet, bare legs, tightening as it made its way up. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t make any sound. I was blinded in a world of pitch black.
“You must learn to control this …” A voice told me. It was her voice. And then it was gone, and everything went back to normal. I bolted out of the water, leaving it running, and ran the towel briskly over me and threw on my clothes. I ran to the door and threw it open, running into Steele in the process.
“Are you done already?” he asked, sounding disappointed.
“I’m sorry. I need to talk to Fuzz right now!” I couldn’t wait any more. I put off figuring out what Boo meant because it scared me, but with the possibility of being linked to Derek, it wasn’t something I needed to wait any longer on. I ran out of the bathroom straight to his office and found him seated behind his desk, concentrating on his giant computer screen. “Fuzz? Can we talk?” He jumped slightly at my voice, but his face warmed as he stood and walked toward me.
“Certainly, Reese. Sit down.” He ushered me to an oversized chair in the corner of the room. He shut the door and propped back against his dark wood desk. “What do you wanna talk about?”
“Well, I know that I’ve completed a lot of my training, but I feel like there’s somethin’ else I need to be trained on. I think you’re the one that needs to work with me on it.” His face went blank as if he might know what my next words were going to be. Maybe I was just imagining that. He couldn’t know what I was about to ask him, could he?
“What might that be?”
“I need to learn how to use my others senses in a fight. You know, other than my sight.” His breath sucked in slightly. As I waited for his response, I could feel the cold blackness as if it were still on my skin. I could hear her voice all over again, goose bumps covered my arms.
“Tell me, why do you think you need to learn that focus?”
I shrugged. How much did I want to tell him? I decided to give him a few details on the visions. “The thing is … I’ve been havin’ these dreams, and well … when the chopper was blown outta the sky, I had another one when I saw Derek. I think he may have caused it.” Saying the words out loud made me uneasy, like I was going to morph into a beast and tear Fuzz a part.
His face showed no emotion. “What do you see in these visions?”
My mouth was dry. “I see this woman fighting this man. She wants to kill him really bad, but somethin’ helps him escape, and she loses her chance.”
“Do you know their names?” He had enough information. If he knew anything, it was his turn to spill.
“No,” I lied.
“I see. These visions may help us put things in perspective. Don’t let it bring you down. I know that maybe hard considerin’ you’re goin’ through so much right now. Sometimes answers come to us in mysterious ways. I can help you with this new skill. If you feel like it’s somethin’ you need to learn then I’m gonna do my best to teach it to you. We can start the day after tomorrow because I’m sure after Liam’s ceremony many will need time to themselves,” he said, getting up and walking back around his desk. “How are you doin’ with everything that happened last night? That was very traumatic for all of you.”
“I’m doin’ okay … I guess. It’s just hard for me to understand, that’s all.”
“What is?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
“The whole thing of someone pickin’ all of us to do this. It just doesn’t seem fair to put people through all this. Is it like this all the time?”
“I’ve lost quite a few people I’ve trained. Upfront, they all know that it’s a possibility, but nevertheless; it doesn’t make it any easier when it happens. It does make yo
u stronger, though, you will live through this and wanna fight for them. It’s unfair for you to be put through this, but it was for a reason. The reason being, that you were strong enough to handle it, and you are whether you wanna believe it or not.”
“Fuzz, can you tell me why we were picked and by who?” I asked, leaning in.
“The only thing I can tell you is each of you were hand selected because it was your destiny to fight Derek.” If we were all the same then why wasn’t everyone else having the same issues as me? Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be picked. I was different.
“So you do know who picked us, then?” This person could give me the answers I needed. All I wanted was their name.
His brows inched together, and he rubbed his chin. “I do, but I’m not at liberty to say right now.” His deliberate lack of information infuriated me. How could he know stuff and not tell us? I couldn’t say anything because I needed him. He was the one who had to teach me this skill. I don’t know how I knew that, but I did.
“Okay, well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” I said getting up and walking toward the door. I put my hand on the knob, but stopped and turned back. “There’s just one more thing. Thank you.”
“For what?” I could see everything so clearly from my childhood. I wouldn’t be here without Fuzz, but he never mentioned what happened, so I didn’t want to either.
“For bein’ you.”
THE NEXT MORNING a gentle tap at my door woke me up. Last night was miserable. I didn’t get any rest because I was thinking about everything. Mostly, I thought of Ollie. It was going to break my heart the day I figured out how to leave without him following me. I stretched and wiped the grogginess from my eyes and focused on Steele’s face lit dimly by the warm glow of the hallway. My heart skipped a beat, and I wanted to hold him close. “Liam’s ceremony starts in about fifteen minutes. I just wanted to come wake you up so you’d have enough time to get dressed.” His stern tone told me he was a little irritated about last night.
“Okay. Will you come in and wait on me?” After a moment of hesitation, he reluctantly stepped into the room and closed the door. He sat at the foot of my bed and stared at the floor with his fingers locked together in his lap. I pushed the covers to the side, crawled down to him, and wrapped him in my arms. I nuzzled against his neck, running my nose along his jawbone, breathing in the sensual smell of his aftershave. “I’m sorry about last night. I really wanted to shower with you, but it was somethin’ that couldn’t wait anymore.”
“I don’t get it, Reese. Somethin’ is obviously goin’ on with you, and I don’t understand why you won’t let me in. I know I might not have all the answers you need like Fuzz, but shit, at least I’m here to listen.” My cheeks started to burn. He was really mad at me.
“I wanna tell you, Ollie … I do. But … right now, this is somethin’ I need to sort out before I tell you about it,” I replied, sitting back on my heels.
“Why? You don’t want us to be close like that?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “I guess it’s your decision, so I’m not gonna push it anymore. You can tell me whenever you feel like you’re ready. I need to head outside to help the guys set up.” He stood up quickly and disappeared out the door before I could say anything else. The way he acted set me on fire. I took a deep breath to calm down and put on a simple dress. Today was about something more important than a fight between us. I left my room and ran into Shayla in the hall.
“Well, good mornin’! I bet this is the earliest you’ve ever gotten up.”
She seemed to struggle finding a retort due to still being half asleep. “You got that right. Shit, the last time I was up before the sun was a sixth grade fieldtrip to the New Orleans zoo. I wasn’t happy then, and I’m damn sure not happy now,” she answered.
“I guess they should really plan things around your sleepin’ schedule, huh?”
“Hey, that sounds like the best plan I’ve ever heard. Maybe they should start lettin’ you coordinate these things. Hell, at least then we could do it at night, then go get drunk later, and tell ridiculous stories about the person to reminisce in a good way. Now all I wanna do is go back to sleep. So I’ll go up there and get all depressed and shit, then come back down here and probably have sad dreams when I go back to sleep. That’s not how I wanted to spend my day.”
“I don’t think any of us wanted to spend our day doin’ this. It’s a little too close to home, you know? He wasn’t much older than us. It could’ve easily been me or you,” I said.
“That’s true. I guess you just can’t think about it like that. Otherwise we’d all just be too big of a cooter to do this junk anymore. Then if we didn’t, the world would get overrun by weird things that don’t need to be here. Someone’s gotta kick ass and take names, and it might as well be me and you. We look damn good doin’ it too. Not that I need to add that … but, you know, might as well.”
“Do you know where this thing is supposed to be?” I asked.
“Yeah, Jace told me we need to follow the trail through the woods on the right side of the house. He said it’s a little ways to get to the spot. I’m surprised Steele didn’t tell you.”
“We’re kinda on the outs, I guess.” Her brows rose while her mouth dropped.
“Anything you wanna talk about?”
“It’s just some things I’ve been goin’ through. He wants me to tell him about them, but I’m not ready to. I plan on it, but I need to be ready,” I replied as we went out the side door of the house and crossed the yard. We searched the wood line until we found a trail big enough for a four-wheeler to go through.
“He needs to respect that and not be such a dick about it. I know he’s just probably worried about you, but jeez. He better not start actin’ up because you might do him like you did the last boyfriend that made you mad. Has he forgotten about Wheeler? I’d be scared to death to date you,” she said as we walked slowly down the dark trail. I tried not to think about Wheeler. The night he died still haunted me. I was the one that knocked him out of the helicopter. His life ended because of me.
“Oh my gosh! I guess these boys just need to recognize, huh?” I asked, trying not to let on that the comment bothered me.
“Damn right, they do.” She took her phone out and turned on the flashlight app to help guide us.
“How is it everything we have to do involves us goin’ into the woods? Honestly, I’m beginning to hate trees. I think I might just have to move to a city where the only trees are in parks. Even then I’d probably stay clear of those,” I said.
“You’d hate that. You can’t take the country out of a southern girl. Besides, not all of our wooded area experiences have been bad. Eight Ball turned out to be fun, and all of the times we’ve spent ridin’ them dirt roads.”
I didn’t reply because we came to an opening. The clearing was circular in formation, and its floor was covered in lush, thick grass. Directly in the middle stood a white, marble slab that was being held by white, square columns on each corner. The slab was about four-feet in the air, and underneath it on the ground was a bed of crystal rocks that mirrored the piece of marble in exact size. Upon the marble lay Liam draped in a beautiful silk cloth laced with sophisticated designs. Along the sides of his body were white flowers.
“Now, I think everyone’s here that’s comin’ so we can begin the ceremony,” Fuzz said. He walked over to the slab and lit the crystals on fire. The flame only reached about six inches from the ground. “Payne, would like to say a few words before we progress with the cremation.” Fuzz stepped to the side as Payne came forward, pulling out a small piece of paper from his jacket. I glanced around; all the guys were dressed identical to Payne. A black collared shirt, black tie, black jacket, and black pants, making my cotton black dress feel utterly plain. Thankfully, the rest of my friends were in similar clothes except Casey, who was oddly missing.
“My Jace would look so damn hot in that suit,” Shayla whispered. “Too bad he’s stuck in that hospital room, b
ut that shit Fuzz gave him is healing him up hella quick.”
“Liam Keltz, I really don’t know how to say goodbye. I had a little speech wrote out, but now that I’m up here, nothin’ seems like the right words to say. I knew Liam for several years, and no matter what you were goin’ through, he could always make you laugh, especially when he was drunk. It didn’t matter if he’d only met you one time, you were his friend for life, and he never made you feel like anything less. I don’t know how we’re gonna move on without you, but I know you’d want us to. We’ll live for you, and we’ll continue to fight like you’re still beside us. You had a fire inside you that will never burn out. I hope to see you again one-day, brother.” He paused. “Shayla, I have somethin’ for you.” Her eyes went wide, and she looked at me for answers. I shrugged as he pulled out Liam’s two Desert Eagle .50s and handed them to her. “He wanted you to have them if somethin’ ever happened to him.” Tears rolled down her face as she accepted the gift.
“He was the best trainer I could’ve asked for. I can only hope to be half as good as him with these beautiful weapons. I think he always knew I had my eye on these things.”
“You will be. He told me all the time how amazin’ you were with handling weapons. He was proud of you.” I couldn’t hold my tears back. He would never get to tell her that himself. His life was cut short, fighting to save people that would never know his sacrifice. “Fuzz, you can continue,” Payne said as he smiled briefly at Shayla. Fuzz walked over, gave Payne a hug, and then proceeded over to the body. Steele was a few feet from me, his face expressionless. He was mad at me, but there was no way I could give him space when he was in pain. I walked over and took his hand. He pulled it up to his mouth and kissed it.
“We don’t believe in death. Liam’s life here on Earth is over, but he continues to walk on in another place. His spirit will be lifted on this morning upon this holy ground that has been blessed. He will not burn by normal flames but with the fire of life.” The last part caught me off guard, and I could swear that while Fuzz said those words he was staring at me. He pulled out a small pouch from his pocket and sprinkled something over the flame. Instantly the flames turned to blue and began snaking their way up the columns. They slowly overtook the body, and suddenly a burst of blue fire lit up the dark sky like a giant sapphire. We stood in silence and watched his body disappear before our eyes. Shortly after, people started to trickle back down the trail that led them here.
Reckoning Page 4
