Hidden Gates

by D T Dyllin

  “What?” Jeremy said. “Too soon? Don’t forget though, you did agree. You can’t take it back now.”

  I rolled my eyes, glad to see that my reputation was of so little concern to him. All he was worried about was locking me down for his, same as Khol. Too bad neither one of them seemed to want to acknowledge the memo that I was already taken by Bryn. “No, it’s not that. It’s just that a thought just occurred to me, and well, I think you wanting to date me isn’t exactly helping my cause at school lately.”

  Jeremy frowned. “You’re not trying to find a way to wiggle out of our date, are you?”

  “If I said no, would you believe me?” I batted my eyelashes at him and donned my best innocent face.

  “Yeah, no, not even for a second.” Jeremy laughed.

  “Well, even if I am trying to wiggle out of said date, the other part is still true. You’re not helping my reputation by wanting to date me.”

  Jeremy’s face became all skepticism. “Mmm-hmm. And I guess you’re now going to try and enlighten me as to how.”

  “Of course. The explanation is simple, all you have to do is to look at me, and then look at both you and Bryn.” I waved my hand in the classic etcetera motion to let him know he should be able to continue with my line of thought on his own.

  “I’ve never seen Bryn, and I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup, but I still get what you’re implying.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

  “No, it’s not. I know what I look like. Of course, everyone thinks I have to be putting out in order to get the two of you interested. There’s no other logical explanation in their minds.”

  Jeremy stopped and pivoted on his heel to face me, his face intense. “You obviously need glasses.” He began walking forward, crowding my space until I was pressed up against the wall. His arms came up to cage me in, and I looked around to see the few people that were left in the hallway stop to stare. Great, this is all I need. But all thoughts fled my mind when Jeremy’s lips met mine. When his tongue intertwined with mine, I had to concentrate not to curve myself around him as a small moan escaped from me. His power rose up sharply to coax mine out to play, but I fought against that, too. He pulled away slowly, his face still much too close for comfort, and I gazed into his deep brown eyes, which had flecks of gold in them, I noticed. “You’re stunning,” he murmured, dipping his head to kiss me lightly on the lips. “Everyone’s just jealous.”

  Completely flustered, I ducked under his arm and dashed for the main doors to make my escape. As I hurriedly made my way down the front steps of my school, I heard a male voice call out to me. “After you’re done with your latest victim, you should gimme a call, P.J.” I whipped my head around to see that the voice emanated from Evan Thompson. Well, what do you know; he’d finally noticed me. I responded by waving my middle finger at him. He laughed. “Yep, you guessed right. That’s exactly what I had in mind.” Deciding I didn’t have the energy to deal with Evan and his sophomoric attempts to be clever, I picked up my pace and turned in the direction of my house.

  It happened quickly. It was a little different each time, except for the part where I felt like I was being lifted out of my body, but I knew a vision was about to hit me, and I tried everything I could to stave it off so that I wouldn’t hit the pavement. I clutched blindly at something to hold me up, but my body crumpled to the ground, my awareness quickly shifting elsewhere.

  It was like standing in the middle of a 3D movie; it was if I could reach out and touch everything, and yet I knew it wasn’t real. I stood in the middle of a high school, but it wasn’t mine. Kids passed by me, making their way to their classrooms. It appeared to be early morning the way everyone was making their way inside through the front doors. I focused on a boy standing near me. He pretty much had the market cornered on the whole Emo look, and he topped it off with a long black trench coat. Something about him really drew my attention, and as I moved my gaze up to study his face, I instantly knew why. I gasped as I realized he had one of those alien creatures riding along inside of him. It was just like with Senator Bill Wexington: I could see the alien shining through from the inside, and yet the features of the boy weren’t any different on the outside. The dual imagery freaked me out as usual, and I was unable to look away. That’s when Emo Boy reached into his trench coat and pulled out a twelve-gauge shotgun. He just reached in as if it were the most natural thing in the world and began shooting. I heard screams of shock, pain, and utter surprise as shot after shot rang out in the small hallway, but I didn’t look at the carnage that I was sure was all around us, no—I was riveted by the small ghost of a smile that turned the corners of Emo Boy’s lips upward, even as I saw the creature within him beaming. I tried to spring forward and tackle them as he stopped to reload, but I found myself unable to move, and I remembered I wasn’t really there, that this was all a vision. With that realization, I was yanked away from the scene, but not before I let my eyes drop to see a girl’s body lying bloody and lifeless on the floor. She was in a uniform, I realized, a cheerleader’s warmup uniform, red and gold with what looked like an Indian decal emblazed on the front of her jacket. I was trying to commit the images to memory because I knew it was important somehow, when everything went black.

  Voices began to filter into my subconscious as I began to wake up. “Don’t move her. She could be injured from the fall.” A guy’s voice, older, probably a faculty member, commanded.

  “Why’d she pass out? She was just walking and then boom.” A girl’s voice chimed in.

  “She’ll be fine. I’ll take care of her,” Jeremy’s familiar voice stated calmly. “I’ve seen this happen before, low blood sugar. I’ll take her home and make sure she sees her doctor.” Strong arms picked me up and began to walk with me; my head lolling against someone I assumed was Jeremy. Surprisingly, no one put up any protest, not even the faculty member.

  “Hey, wait up,” another male voice called, but Jeremy didn’t break his stride. “I said to wait up.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think so,” Jeremy said, although I felt us suddenly come to a halt.

  “She had a vision, didn’t she? I usually don’t sense that kind of thing, but I could almost feel the energy around her. It’s the only thing it could have been, but I thought she hadn’t come into her powers yet.”

  “Get out of my way,” Jeremy’s voice vibrated with anger. We started moving again, and I thought whoever it was had gone away, but I was wrong.

  “Do you think it was important? The vision she had? She must be pretty strong for me to sense it.”

  Jeremy sighed, obviously realizing the same thing I had: this guy wasn’t going away until he got some answers. “Yeah, she’s stronger than even I thought, and I can sense a ton more stuff than most Gatekeepers.”

  “Yeah? Huh.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, all right, I guess I should get going then.”

  “It’s about time,” I grumbled, letting Jeremy know I was awake. I lifted my lids to meet his deep brown concerned eyes, the gold flecks in them seeming to dance in the light.

  “You feeling better?”

  “I feel fine. Just drained, like I need a nap or something.” Jeremy nodded, looking pensive as he continued to carry me. “You can put me down now, you know. I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own.”

  Jeremy smiled down at me, his eyes sparkling. “I was kind of enjoying having you in my arms.”

  I scrunched up my face at him. “Well, the fun is over. Put me down.” He reluctantly set me down, and I swayed ever so slightly and reached for his arm for support. Quicker than I had time to orient myself, Jeremy swooped me right back up into his arms. “Hey!” I protested.

  “I’m not going to have you fall over and actually hurt yourself. You were really lucky you didn’t crack your head open on the pavement before. You need t
o learn how to control your visions better.”

  I glared up at him. “They’re kind of new, and for whatever reason, whenever you kiss me, your power seems to feed them or something.” Narrowing my eyes at him, I snapped, “So stop kissing me, and I shouldn’t have any more problems.”

  “Or I could only kiss you when you’re lying down.” Jeremy chuckled at his own comment, but I didn’t miss the blatant innuendo.

  “Not going to happen.”

  “Okay, how about leaning against a wall?” His eyes twinkled mischievously, and I hated that a part of me thought he was being cute.

  “You know, I really don’t have time for this. I have a vision to figure out and . . .” My voice trailed off as I questioned what I was about to say. And what? What could I do except talk everything over with Khol as I’d been doing with my other visions? Unless . . . “And—and stop.” I finished my sentence in a whisper. I wanted to stop being a bystander in life, didn’t I? Well, this would be the perfect way to begin. Somehow, I just knew my vision was of the future. And if it hadn’t happened yet, there was still time to stop it.

  Jeremy gave me a puzzled look. “That’s not really your job yet. Leave it to the other Seers, the ones that have had years of training and experience.”

  “Yeah, that’s kind of the problem. I think I’m the only one getting these visions.”

  “How is that possible?” Jeremy’s eyebrows practically touched his hairline.

  I studied Jeremy while I mulled over what I should say to him. I’d been in this situation with him before, and I had decided to go with the truth. The question was, should I again? After a quick deliberation, I decided that I had nothing to lose. If he didn’t believe me, then at least maybe he’d think I was crazy and leave me alone. Either way wasn’t a bad outcome because if he did believe me, maybe he’d help, even if it were a long shot.

  So I told him all about my visions, leaving out the parts about Khol because I couldn’t have told Jeremy about him even if I’d wanted to, and I most certainly didn’t. Khol was my deep, dark secret, along with my recently discovered half Dragon status.

  “Holy shit,” Jeremy breathed when I’d finally finished. “You’re telling the truth. I can tell these kinds of things, plus I could tell you had a real vision back there . . . holy shit.” He seemed more than a little shell-shocked. I decided to stay quiet to let him process everything. I could almost see a million different things running through his mind until a determined look settled on his face. “What do you need me to do?” And just like that, I had another ally.

  “You—you wanna help me?” I stammered with surprise. I was hoping he would, but I hadn’t really expected it.

  He looked at me like I was crazy for questioning him. “Yeah, of course I’m going to help you. I’m not just going to let you run off trying to deal with this stuff by yourself.”

  “Yeah—uh—well—” I blushed with embarrassment. “I don’t actually have a plan. More like a plan to have a plan.”

  At this point we arrived at my front door, and he set me back on my feet, handing me my bag. “Can I come in? To talk about this?”

  I bit my lip in thought. “No, we better go around back so my parents can’t hear. Whatever we plan, we can’t let them know.”

  Jeremy nodded once tightly. “Good idea.” He bent down to scoop me up again, and I hastily sidestepped him.

  “I’m feeling much better now, and if my parents see you carrying me, they’re going to freak out, even if my mom does like you being here with me.” Liked him being there with me was the understatement of the year. If she could marry me off to Jeremy this instant, she would.

  Jeremy silently regarded me for a moment before agreeing. “Okay. I guess I can see your point.” He still didn’t look happy though.

  I slowly made my way around the back of the house, trying to look as nonchalant as possible and not as if I was about to plot anything. Jeremy kept in step beside me, walking just a touch too close for my comfort, probably afraid I was going to topple over again. It was nice to feel cared about, but sometimes the men in my life took things a bit too far. I mentally paused. The men in my life? When had I started thinking of Khol, Jeremy, and Bryn as the men in my life? Bryn should be the only man in my life, at least if I was only counting from a romantic perspective. A sick feeling settled in my stomach, and I pushed it aside because I had more important things to worry about at the moment, like saving some innocent lives.

  Jeremy and I settled against the same tree that we had been under the other day when he had kissed me. At the thought, my face heated, and I hoped he didn’t notice. “That was some kiss, huh?” I looked up at him and blanched. I shouldn’t be here with him again. Every moment I spent with Jeremy or Khol was a small betrayal of Bryn, not to mention the times we’d kissed.

  “Yeah, I don’t really wanna talk about that. We’re here to figure out what to do about my vision.” I closed off my emotions and met Jeremy’s inquisitive gaze with cold indifference.

  “And when exactly were you planning on filling me in?” Jenna’s angry voice came from behind me. “I wouldn’t know anything if not for the local friendly woodland creatures.”

  I swiveled my head around to glare at Jenna and her rainbow colored hair. “Nosy rodents are more like it. Are you having me followed all the time by them now? Because that’s so not okay, Jenna.”

  “It’s the only way I can find anything out from you lately. I would never have known about Bryn, I would never have known about that other guy who you can’t talk about, I would never have known about your visions, and”—she waved her hands at Jeremy—“when were you going to tell me about him? Are you still my best friend or what?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. “Of course I am. But that doesn’t mean I have to tell you absolutely everything.”

  “That’s exactly what it means!” Jenna cried out in frustration.

  “Umm . . .” Jeremy chimed in. “What other guy that you can’t talk about? Do I have more competition than I know about?”

  “No,” I said with annoyance.

  “Yes,” Jenna said at the exact same time.

  Jeremy frowned, looking back and forth between the two of us. “Well, which is it?”

  I stood and threw my hands up in the air. “Bryn doesn’t have any competition. He’s the one I love, and all you guys can stop sticking your tongues down my throat, because it isn’t going to do any good. When all is said and done, Bryn is who I’m going to be with.”

  Jeremy frowned. “So you’re kissing this other guy, too?”

  “No!” I exclaimed. “He’s kissing me, just like you are. I’m not kissing anybody!”

  “Does he go to our school? And you were trying to blame me for not helping your reputation.” Jeremy stood and stalked closer to me. “All I want is a little honesty here.”

  “Yeah, what he said,” Jenna threw her two cents in.

  I gritted my teeth and tried to swallow back my anger. We had to get through this so we could come up with a plan to stop my latest vision from coming true. “No, he doesn’t go to our school, he’s—well, he’s—” Like before with Jenna, I physically couldn’t utter a word out loud about Khol. “I’m bound magically not to be able to talk about him. The only reason Jenna knows anything about him at all is because of her little spies.”

  Jeremy glanced at Jenna for confirmation. “That’s true.” She nodded. “And that’s another reason why I have to sic my spies on you: because who knows what else is going on with you lately that you can’t tell me about? Your life has gotten very weird lately.”

  “Says the girl who has rodents spying for her,” I grumbled under my breath.

  “All right. I get it, okay,” Jeremy said with a closed expression. “Your life is very complicated right now, and apparently I have more competition tha
n I originally thought. I guess I can deal with that.”

  “I really don’t care if you can or cannot deal with it, Jeremy. I said I’d go on a second date with you, that’s it. You know how I feel about Bryn. And this other—guy—he knows, too. It’s not my fault you both seem to have thick skulls and aggressive tongues.” I took a couple deep breaths before continuing. “None of that is relevant right now. What is important is figuring out what to do about my vision and saving some innocent lives.”

  “I agree,” Khol’s voice said, startling me. All three of our heads whipped around to watch as Khol strode towards us in all of his otherworldly beauty. Although I’m not sure if I can really describe it as otherworldly since he was, in fact, from our world, even if he didn’t look it. Dragonly beauty? But I didn’t know what other Dragons looked like; it could just be Khol who was so magnificent.

  “Focus, my little Seer, you have time to contemplate my good looks at another time,” Khol said with amusement.

  “I’m not doing anything of the sort. You’re not a mind reader, so stop pretending to be,” I snapped as my cheeks heated. I was beginning to wonder if he really was able to read my mind and just wasn’t telling me.

  “No, you just broadcast your emotions very loudly, my little Seer.” That was twice in a row he’d called me his little Seer, and I couldn’t help but think it was partly for Jeremy’s benefit, who currently looked like he was ready to do battle with Khol.

  “Oh. Oh my God. You didn’t tell me—” Jenna scooted closer to me and dug her nails into my arm. “You didn’t tell me he was so hot,” she whispered.

  “I couldn’t describe him to you, remember?” Jenna’s whole body trembled, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she suddenly stripped off all of her clothes and threw herself at Khol right then and there. It would have been almost funny, if I suddenly didn’t want to smack her so badly. I didn’t really want Khol for myself, but Jenna certainly wasn’t going to get him either. I stepped out of her grasp and approached Khol. “What are you doing here now? I thought you didn’t want anyone to know about you?”