“There’s something wrong with me.”
“No, there isn’t.”
She pulls back a little and looks up at me. “Yes, there is. Who would take on five bikers over illegal hunting? With this?”
She holds up Chris’s bottle looking amazed and maybe embarrassed too. I give her a wry smile. She has a point.
“But, who else can feel and see the intentions of others? You knew he wouldn’t really hurt you, didn’t you?”
“Kind of. I’m still unsure of what I feel most of the time. I can’t trust it enough, but that man — and don’t misunderstand me — but he’s a big softy on the inside. I bet my life on it.”
“If you’re unsure, then trust your instincts. And if you know something about someone, then also trust that.”
She gives me a slight nod of agreement, but I see the uncertainty clouding her eyes. Even so, her anxiety lessens with every passing minute. Unfortunately, mine is growing. “Something’s going on with my client. I have to go. If I don’t, I may be too late.”
“Oh! I forgot. Leave now. I’ll be fine. My car isn’t far from here,” she says while looking down the treed slope.
“No. Let’s hurry though,” I say as the creases of concern on Juliana’s face deepen.
The pull to be near Corrine is intense. I don’t have much time if I’m going to try to make a difference for her. The strings which attach me to my clients are like mercury; fluid, dense, and seeming to yield to their own laws of physics. The closer she is to death the stronger the pull and now it feels as if a ship’s anchor is dragging me away from Juliana into unknown depths.
My new assignment, Corrine, is my first case where I get to be involved before they die. Previous to her, I was supposed to help them adjust to being dead and transitioning to the afterlife. Now I get to detour my clients away from suicide. Since I’m new at this, I’m not completely sure what to do, but I need to try something. If I am not even with her and she takes her life, how am I going to explain to Marcus, my mentor, what I was doing, or why I failed at my first assignment?
Juliana’s not done arguing with me. “I’ll go straight back to my car. I promise not to tackle any more bikers. Just go, really. I’ve been on this mountain a hundred times. I’ll be fine.”
It’s tempting. I stare into those emerald lagoons she calls eyes and the pull to stay with her is more overwhelming than the anchor yanking me away. “I’ll come back as soon as I can. If you want me to.”
“Of course I want you to. Now off to work. I won’t be the one responsible for you screwing up your first case. The car is right down there.” She points down the hill. “I’ll be there in two shakes of a lambs tail.”
“In this entire universe, how did I find you?” I lean in and kiss the top of her head while I give her a tight hug. “God, I wish I didn’t have to go. Stay far away from those bikers.”
“I will,” she promises.
∞
Moving through the ether to be with Corrine takes me only seconds. I visualize her as petite, blonde, sweet-natured, and terribly desperate, while thinking her name and then I find her. She’s on her hands and knees on the ground. Her head is bent low so I can’t see her face. I look around for her tormentor, but see no one. She doesn’t see me either. I move in closer and still can’t figure out what she’s doing. Her ribs move with the slight jerking motion of taking hard shallow breaths. Did she already do something to harm herself? Is she overdosing on something? Did I wait too long?
The scene looks almost exactly like the one I just left, middle of the forest in a clearing surrounded by trees and rocks with the sun shining down on us. Corrine is near a fire pit. The last tendrils of smoke curl into the air from a dying fire.
“Corrine, what’s wrong? Can you sit up?” I ask, not expecting a reply. I haven’t been able to get any response from her yet nor have I shown myself either. I’ve been waiting to see if I can help her without being in my physical form.
“Errrghh,” she moans and then sits back onto her heels. She rolls over onto her side on the ground and wraps her arms around her middle. “Ehh,” she whimpers.
Corrine, what have you done? My first glimpse of her, when Marcus changed my assignment about a week ago, Corrine was about to swallow a bottle of pills. Even though she didn’t know I was there with her, I talked to her and channeled universal energy for her. She put the pills down. But now, by the look of her, I have to wonder if she has gone through with it. I don’t see any pills, or bottles, but she’s acting as if her insides are hurting. This may be the time to rush her to an emergency room, I decide. Marcus said it was my call. I can keep them alive or let them pass. This girl is younger than Juliana and from what I can tell she’s not ready to die. She’s only seeking an escape.
Escape from the very person who walks into the clearing. Her stepfather. Travis isn’t a large man, but for reasons I don’t understand he’s capable of things that shouldn’t be possible for someone so small. Like picking Corrine up off the ground and cradling her in his arms as if she weighs nothing. Travis stares straight at me with soulless eyes, or it appears he does, and then he carries my client away in his arms. Corrine whimpers against his chest.
“Silence,” he orders.
There’s a chill in the air around him that even I can feel.
Flustered by his appearance and even more so by his cold indifference to her pain, I follow at a distance thinking about what I should do next. This little man, all five feet of him, is the source of Corrine’s misery, and I may be the only person, or angel, that has any control over what he’s doing to her.
Chapter Five: Never Surrender
Juliana
Footsteps spike my curiosity. Single footsteps, one person, not the gang of bikers, I tell myself. Whoever is coming this way is close enough for me to hear. I duck behind some rocks and wait. Promises made are promises kept on my part, and I told Nathan I would stay away from leather clad deer killers. Although I don’t think it’s one of them, I have a gut feeling to hide anyway.
Thank you for good instincts. The steps come closer and then I hear low moaning. Female, or child, and in pain, it makes the hair rise on my arms and the skin on the back of my neck prickle with alarm. Two thoughts occur to me simultaneously. One, I must see if someone is hurt and two, don’t breathe and pray he doesn’t see or hear you. This second thought is so alarming that I do stop breathing and listen as the footsteps pass on the other side of my hiding spot.
The whimpering sound distresses me and I venture a quick look around the side of the boulder. I see a man, wearing blue jeans and a button down shirt walking away. He’s carrying a blonde girl in his arms and has a pack slung over his back. There’s something distinctly unnerving about this man, other than the fact of the moaning girl in his arms. It’s his energy field. A black hole would be easier to stand next to compared to this slight dark haired man. Even as I finish the thought, I can feel him, and the prickles on my neck turn into stabbing needles. I duck back into my niche in the rocks as he starts to turn and look. I instantly put a field of protection around myself and the entire rock outcrop like Chris Abeyta advised me to do. The invisible shield feels like the Great Wall of China compared to the measly screen of protection I had tried earlier with Chris. Somehow, on another gut level, I’m entirely confident that it’s working. The sound of his departing footsteps reinforces my certainty.
Where is he going? And why do I know her? My brain spins at a million miles a second as I process the image of the girl. It’s the parakeet blue streak in her hair. Where? A quick intake of breath hits my lungs as I remember. Corrine, the timid girl who had come into work asking for me, and asking if I was a witch. I knew I had an uneasy feeling about her that day, but I was so shocked she wanted the services of a witch that I had turned her away, and now look at her. The soft sobbing carries through the air and is absolutely heart wrenching.
What should I do? I wish Nathaniel was here. Then one of us could do something for her. But who is th
at guy, and what is he doing with her? I have to try and help. I turned her away and this could be my fault. My gut feeling was so strong that she was is some kind of trouble, and I let her walk out the door at Native Naturals. I can’t let her slip away again. The man isn’t very big after all. I could take him. I just tried to stand up to a biker four times his size. And look how that turned out. Shut up, Jules. I must be crazy again. Why else would I be arguing with myself? I have to do something, don’t I? I couldn’t help the deer, but maybe I can help this girl.
I peer out across the forest floor and see Corrine disappear behind a screen of willows. They’re headed toward the hot spring, I decide, or False Cavern. There isn’t anything else up here. Looking down toward my feet I don’t really see the gravel and dirt as I build up my nerve before following them. I can always play innocent if he suspects something. The hot spring is a popular place. I tread light and quick, scurrying after Corrine, and trying to keep out of sight.
Instinct takes over and leads me toward the caverns instead of to the hot pool. Very few people know the ground around here yields quartz crystals and garnets and the rock formations are a prime spot to find them. Moving without making a sound is nearly impossible when it comes to dry tree litter and gravel underfoot, but I attempt it anyway with mixed success. As I near the towering boulders, I listen and watch for any movement. Nothing stands out over the patter of my own footsteps until I hear a soft moan again.
“Travis. Take me home. I’m begging you. It hurts.”
I stop pursuing and freeze. The voice is weak and filled with misery. There’s no answering reply. Oh god, what am I doing? Helping a girl in trouble, I silently yell back. Play innocent remember and don’t think about the black void emanating from the creepy guy. An enormous ponderosa pine grows next to one of the oddly shaped rocks and the path curves around them both. They’ll be on the other side, I tell myself. I can feel them so close.
Pausing next to the tree, I take a much needed second to prepare myself for whatever I’m about to walk into. Someone grabs me from behind and slaps their hand over my mouth.
Having a heart attack at the ripe old age of nineteen is not a pleasant experience, in fact, it’s downright terrifying. Barely able to grasp that I’m surviving, let alone that someone is whispering in my ear, I sort of register his words.
“Juliana, I’m sorry,” he says.
I whip around and bury my face against Nathaniel’s chest, gripping his shirt so hard my fingers ache. I will my body and mind to calm down. He backs up moving us farther away from the giant tree and Corrine on the other side of the rocks.
I swallow my stomach, lungs, and heart before I can speak. “There’s a girl…”
“I know,” Nathaniel says.
“What?” I whisper in a near panic.
“She’s my client.”
“What!” I ask again. The girl who was in my grandmother’s store asking for help from a witch is his client? No way. Really? As I look up at Nathaniel’s grave face, I know he’s telling the truth. “We have to help her,” I tell him, although the statement is obvious.
“I am. But someone showed up and distracted me.”
“I know her,” I say, and then continue on at his confused expression. “Sort of. I’ll tell you later. What’s wrong with her?” I hiss.
He shrugs and shakes his head. “I’m not sure. Stay back. I have to do this for her.”
“No. I need to help.”
“Nothing I say is going to make a difference, is it?”
“No,” I say as I shake my head with emphasis.
Something like obligation toward this girl is making me react. I turned her away at the store and now she is in some sort of real trouble. My gut can feel it.
I see Nathaniel set his jaw with resignation and then he tips his head in the direction of where I think Corrine and the malevolent little man are.
Nathaniel takes the lead and I stay close on his heels. We inch along the edge of a towering rock and then pause as he peeks around its next corner. I feel or sense Nathan’s body tense as he sees something. I’m dying to ask what is going on, but I stay silent not wanting to give up our location in case the dark haired man can hear us. Nathaniel gestures to a screen of scrub oaks ahead and on our right.
“Hurry,” he mouths, and then we dart out from the cover of the boulder to the bushes. I catch a glimpse of Corrine on the ground as we move and no sign of the man. Nathaniel nudges me deeper into the scrubby trees until I am surrounded with the leafy branches.
He whispers close to my ear, “Juliana, if you care for me at all, please stay here. I’ll get Corrine and then we’ll leave together.”
The desperation in his eyes makes me nod in agreement even though hiding is the last thing my soul wants to do. He turns to leave, but stops as we hear a bone chilling cry.
Animal, my brain tries to convince me, not human, but it still sends shivers of panic along my spine. I reach forward and part the branches giving me an inch of unobstructed view. Nathan leans in close and watches with me.
The slight man comes into view as he backs out of one of the rock cavern’s openings.
It’s not a real cave. The massive rocks have eroded away leaving passageways and tunnels and creating open ceilinged caverns. Veins of quartz run through the outcropping and crystals can be found if you have an eye for such things.
The chilling sound shrieks once more and as the eerie scream echoes off the side of the rocks, I see its source. He’s dragging a fawn, still baby fresh with its white spots, by its leg. I clamp my hand over my mouth before I scream in horror and outrage. Nathaniel wraps an arm around my shoulders holding me close to his body to keep me from running out of my hiding place, or for comfort, I don’t know which, but I suspect it’s the former. I shrug off his arm and urge him forward. No one can see him except for me. Here is our chance to do something. He has to act now.
He takes my cue and relinquishes his physical body, melting through the bushes as I watch with anxious agitation and mind-numbing fear. As he moves closer, the man turns around and seems to look right at him. He says nothing however and then continues the last few feet, placing the struggling fawn close to Corrine. She opens her eyes seeing the baby deer and then squeezes them closed again. She lies on her side with her arms wrapped around her stomach. The fawn can’t stand up. Something is horribly wrong with it, broken legs or spine maybe, I can’t tell exactly. What kind of person is he? When he seems satisfied with the placement of the deer, he turns to Nathaniel.
“Go from this place. You have no power here.”
Nathaniel stops, but only for a second. When he walked through the branches of the scrub oak I was certain he wasn’t showing himself, but this man, with his hard eyes and sinister aura is clearly speaking to him. He bends down and picks up a branch off the ground. Still facing Nathaniel, he holds it up with both hands says something under his breath. Then he draws a circle in the dirt around himself, Corrine, and the fawn. Staying inside the circle, he kneels down next to the baby deer and reaches for his back pocket.
Nathaniel advances his position approaching the circle. The man doesn’t even look up at him.
“Travis, I don’t know what you’re doing, but let me help Corrine.”
I see Travis cut his eyes over to Nathaniel for a split second, but he doesn’t stop. In his hand is a short silver dagger.
“Travis, stop.”
“I command you to leave, Spirit.”
Nathaniel’s back stiffens, “I will not.”
“Corrine, sit up,” Travis orders.
“Noo,” she faintly whimpers.
“It has to be now. Do it, you ungrateful tramp.”
Travis looks up to the sky and then down at his watch, dagger still in his hand. He places it on the ground next to him and reaches over forcing Corrine up by her shoulders. She buries her face in her arms over bent knees pulled in tight to her chest. Travis picks up his weapon again and grabs the fawn by the back of its neck.
I close my eyes against the sight of him exposing the fawn’s neck, sick with what I think is about to happen. But I can’t take not knowing what is going on, however horrible, and open them again, focusing on Nathaniel.
“Corrine,” Nathaniel calls.
She doesn’t move or acknowledge him. He moves closer as if he’s going to pick her up like he said he was going to, but then he stops short. Travis looks up and squints, his hatred turns to an indignant sneer.
“I told you to leave.”
“Stop this madness!” Nathaniel yells.
Travis calls to the elements. “Wind, water, fire, and earth I give you the blood of the innocent. Yield to me what I desire.”
He slashes open the mewling fawn’s neck.
Black swirls creep in around the edges of my sight. I stay conscious by watching Nathaniel surge forward. He falls to his knees.
He pounds his fist against an invisible barrier as he rises to his feet and tries again.
Travis drains the deer’s blood onto the ground and then he cups his hand under a stream of it.
“I give to you life blood in trade for quartz and bloodstones.” He lifts his hand over Corrine and lets the fawn’s blood pour over her head.
She screams as she scrambles to get away. Crying out again, this time from agony, she doubles over clenching her abdomen. Travis drops the deer and yanks Corrine to him. She pulls free, standing half bent over and unresponsive to her captor.
“Find the stones and then we can go home,” he says.
When Corrine doesn’t move, Travis’s intensity escalates.
“Stop playing sick, you whoring twit. The sooner you do this the sooner we leave. It will take you only minutes. Stop refusing me!”
My stomach turns sour as I watch the fawn’s blood drip from her hair in crimson rivulets. Nathaniel is unable to cross over the line drawn on the ground. I can’t take feeling helpless so I scramble out of my hiding place, panic propelling me forward.
“Juliana, no!”
I dash straight for Corrine, yelling her name. She turns and sees me coming and by some miracle moves in time to avoid Travis’s hand. She’s out of his circle. I grab her hand and we run. Over my shoulder, I see Travis pursuing us, but as he leaves his ritual circle, Nathaniel tackles him.
Angel Dreams (An Angel Falls Book 2) Page 6
