Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook)

by Michele G Miller

  “Rex and I didn’t see you leave last night, and we got worried when we couldn’t find you.”

  My head struggled to come up with a plausible story. She knew me well enough to know that I didn’t sleep around, so telling her that I’d actually been with someone would open up a whole can of worms.

  “Oh, you know...” I started in, stopping when I began to feel a comforting warmth as it crawled through my stomach and up to my chest.

  Startled, I whirled around and looked for Xander. I knew that it had to be him, because I could feel him just the same as I had that very morning. After a moment there he was…he stepped out from behind some bushes and walked across the dusty, grassless front yard.

  A sharp intake of breath reminded me that Janelle was standing next to me. At war with itself, part of my brain was telling me to run and the other part - or maybe it was my heart - was telling me to stay. That perhaps I should hear him out, and maybe even admit the truth to myself.

  “Well, well, well," whispered Janelle, primping a bit. “Who is this handsome devil, and what have you two been up to?”

  She winked at me.

  “Hey Skye, sorry I couldn’t wait for you to come back tonight.”

  I watched as he negotiated the potholes scattered throughout the front yard and made his way to my side; shocking me as he pulled me close and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek.

  “I missed her too much,” he confessed to Janelle while keeping his arm around my waist, effectively trapping me into his side.

  “I’m Xander,” he introduced himself as he held out his hand to Janelle. She looked like she would pass out while watching his display of affection.

  I squeaked out a laugh and pushed Xander away, trying to pass it off as being playful, but his grip tightened and he wouldn’t budge. I looked up at his profile as he and Janelle carried on a conversation about the party and how we had supposedly met.

  My eyes traveled up the strong arm as it held me, taking in his broad and obviously muscular shoulders. I followed the curvature of his neck to his strong jaw, which was lightly covered with a days’ worth of stubble. He had a narrow, straight nose. His most striking feature, besides his towering height, was his beautiful eyes.

  Blue eyes. Crystal blue eyes.

  “Skye,” snickered Janelle as she pulled me from my admiration. “You coming to the party tonight, or do you have other plans?”

  I transferred my gaze back to Xander as I felt his hand squeeze my forearm, and I tried to answer nonchalantly. “I don’t know for sure, but you know, I think I might just stay here tonight,” I added, as I tried to ward off Xander’s plan to get me away from my house. Xander seized that moment to start coughing uncontrollably, as if he were choking on something. I stood there amazed as Janelle fawned over him and asked if he was alright, and wasn’t at all surprised when he asked for a glass of water.

  “Sure,” I hissed sweetly. “We wouldn’t want you to choke, now would we? Come on,” I called as I ducked out of his embrace.

  I opened the screen door of the small box of a house I shared with Janelle, Rex and any one of his friends who might show up on any given night, and motioned for Xander to step in.

  I watched as his eyes took in the boxy room with a small hall that opened to two bedrooms on one side and a kitchen and eating area on the other. The furniture was all scratched, dirty or makeshift. I felt a sudden stab of mortification at what he must think of my living arrangements.

  I peeked out the window to be sure Janelle wasn’t within hearing range, and then turned on Xander. “Why are you here?” I demanded.

  Although his face was devoid of any emotion, I could tell that his eyes still continued to survey the house. The more he studied, the more they narrowed. His jaw tightened, and his lips drew together as if he were biting his tongue.

  “What?” I hissed, as I stood there with my hands on my hips. “Not good enough for you, Xander?”

  His blue eyes finally turned on me and he shook his head, as a wayward smile softened his mouth. “No, Skye,” he declared softly. “It’s not good enough for you.”

  His answer was so matter of fact that I faltered. “You don’t even know me, Xander,” I reminded him. “You don’t know what’s good enough for me.”

  I strolled into the room I slept in and stood at the window, trying to make heads or tails of my life. Since I had awakened that morning, my mind had been spinning with thoughts of my parents and my past. Something was trying to come back to me; it was almost like a memory was itching to get out.

  The more I was around Xander, the harder the itch became, until my brain felt like it would explode. After a moment, he came into the room with me. He didn’t speak so neither did I.

  We maintained our silence several minutes longer, as I stood there looking out at the somewhat yellowed, cream lace curtains that had been hung when I’d first moved in.

  Finally turning around to face him, I steeled up my courage to try again to convince him to leave. Instead, I surprised myself when I spoke. “Xander, I’m scared,” I confessed. “I…I don’t know. I guess I know that the things you and Rioden tried to tell me are true, but I just don’t know how to actually believe them.” I hesitated, holding my hand up, “Does that make sense?”

  He took three long strides into the room until he was standing almost chest to chest with me. He placed his hand over his heart, and quietly asked me the one question that I didn’t want to answer right then.

  “Tell me what you feel here.”

  “I feel…” I struggled to answer him and instead, looked down at the floor between us. He slowly held his free hand out and softly wove his fingers around mine; making my heart speed up.

  “Look at me,” he implored, and I raised my eyes to his again, feeling the blood rush up my neck and creep into my face.

  “I swear to you, Skye, I will protect you…with my life.”

  I started at that, but he quickly went on. “Understand something now, because this is important. You are worth more than you could ever even imagine, and you deserve more than what you’ve lived thus far. I want to give you back your life, and I want to give you back your future.”

  He squeezed my hand again once he had finished, and then lifted our hands together. He pressed my hand to my chest and rested his own over mine, “Do you feel something here when I’m around?” he asked.

  After his speech, I could only nod my head in assent, acknowledging that I did indeed feel something every time I was near him. He smiled at me, a breathtaking smile that lit up his entire face, wiping away the seriousness he had been trying to maintain.

  “Could you find it in yourself to tell me what it is that you feel?”

  Drawing in a shaky breath, I obliged. “Earlier today, in the parking lot, I felt this warmth creeping into my stomach, and then it slowly traveled up into my chest.”

  In a stilted voice, I tried to voice the feelings that I couldn’t really describe the best way that I could. “You know, it’s like when you drink something hot and it makes its way down your throat and into your stomach - how you feel the warmth seep into your body?”

  He laughed at that, which made me blush again at how stupid I must have sounded.

  “I’m sorry; I guess that’s not the answer you’re looking for?” I questioned him, and stepped back a fraction so he would release my hand.

  He ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. “No Skye, sorry…I’m not laughing at you!” I looked at him skeptically and he pressed on. “Really, I’m not. I’m laughing because I’m…well, I guess you could say I’m kind of jonesing here. I mean, to finally be able to talk to you, and to know that you feel what I feel, and to -”

  “Whoa, what do you mean? You feel something too?” I interrupted him, suddenly feeling lightheaded at everything that was going on.

  He smiled brilliantly at me again and had started to reply, when we heard the screen door slam and Janelle called out, “You guys want to grab a bite with us?” She appeared
in my doorway with her eyes trained on Xander.

  Ignoring Xander completely, I shook my head no and made a choice I was afraid I just might regret later. “Thanks Janelle, but I’m just going to pack some things up and we’ll be on our way.”

  Stepping around Xander, I opened the small closet and pulled out a duffle bag to put some clothes in. Janelle straightened up to leave and then stopped; crossing her arms as she spoke. “Hey, Xander,” she spoke. “Can you leave us for a moment? I have a small “girls only” item I need to speak with Skye about.”

  He eyed me for a moment before acknowledging her request, and then he quietly withdrew from the room.

  “Is he blackmailing you or something to make you leave with him?” she whispered, the worry evident in her raspy voice.

  I guess after having never spent the night away, and never having brought a guy to the house that Rex or Janelle didn’t know, it seemed weird to her that now I was running off with Xander. I tried my best to put her at ease.

  “No,” I reassured her, smiling stupidly as I rummaged in my drawer for clean underwear and pajamas.

  “I want to go with him, Janelle,” I confessed. “I like him and he makes me feel so…” ‘Safe’, I thought in my head, “happy.”

  I tossed some jeans and two clean shirts into my bag. Janelle laughed and clapped her hands, then grabbed me and spun me around. “Girl! You don’t know how happy that makes me!” she crowed. “Oh my word! He is so hot, Skye. Where did he come from all of a sudden, and how did you get so lucky?” she pouted prettily; joking with me.

  Prying myself from her happy dance, I grabbed my brush and small makeup bag as I searched my room for anything else I might need.

  I kicked the door shut and quickly stripped out of my dirty clothes before slipping into clean ones. I wore a sunshine yellow, cable knit sweater and some dark blue jeans, then pulled on my white tennis shoes. I pulled my long hair into a quick braid as I listened to Janelle go on and on about Xander.

  When I realized that she was starting in on ‘the sex talk’, I almost choked. “Shhh!”

  I grabbed her arm quickly and laughed, then as I started to say more, Xander knocked on the door. He didn’t bother to wait for an answer; instead, he pushed it open and looked around.

  “Everything good in here?” he questioned, and I instantly noted the tightness in his voice.

  Something was wrong - I could feel it at once - and my voice trembled as I walked over to him, trying not to alert Janelle.

  “Yeah, I just packed up.” I smiled, and my eyes searched his face, “You ready to go?”

  Xander grabbed the duffel bag and quickly slipped it over my head, and then he leaned down to whisper in my ear; all the while pretending to adjust the strap from pulling my hair.

  “Something is lurking around here. Do as I say, okay?”

  My heart clenched at the thought of those glowing, deep red eyes being so close while Janelle and Rex were there, and I nodded, numbly letting Xander take my hand.

  “Janelle, it was nice to meet you,” he spoke quickly. “Unfortunately, we need to run because I forgot that I need to get across town to pick something up from work before six,” he fabricated.

  He nudged me towards the living room without letting go of the tight grip on my hand.

  We waved our goodbyes to Janelle and then slipped out of the house by the screen door. I yelled over to Rex that I would see him later and heard a grunt answer in confirmation from under the hood of the car.

  Xander quickly pulled me away from the house. His eyes constantly scanned the area and his left hand stayed inside his hoodie. I wondered what he had in there, and I prayed that it wasn’t a gun. Those things made me nervous! We came to a large hedge two houses down, and Xander drug me behind it; holding his finger to his lips and telling me to stay quiet.

  “Here’s the deal,” he filled me in swiftly. “There are Semvon back there at your house. The farther we go the less I feel them, so I know we haven’t been followed.”

  “What? No! We need to go back!” I pleaded. “Will they hurt Rex and Janelle? Please, Xander, let’s go back and get them!”

  I started to pull away in order to race back down the sidewalk and get my friends, but Xander’s calm voice stopped me before I could even swivel towards the house.

  “Skye, you can’t go back there. They are after you,” he reminded me. “Listen - they aren’t following us, so this is what we’re going to do. You are going to run as fast as you can to Freedom Park. It’s what, a few blocks away?”

  I nodded that I understood him thus far, and he continued on with his instructions. “I want you to find the bridge in the park, and then stand in the middle and wait for me. I promise you I will be no more than 20 minutes behind you.”

  “What are you going to do?” I asked, trying to mask my worry from him.

  He seemed so confident about what he was doing, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he had actually ever seen one of these Semvon. They had filled my nightmares for years, and my legs quivered at the very thought of them chasing me.

  He smiled and moved his hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear, which made my breath catch. “I’m going to do my job. I’m going to double back and make sure that Rex and Janelle are alright, and then I’ll make my way to the park right behind you.”

  He turned back towards the house and then held his hand up. I saw him stiffen and straighten up, almost as if he were trying to hear something.

  “Okay, GO!” he ordered me, waving his hand to shoo me away.

  I started to speak, but instead I turned and ran.

  I never looked back.

  FOUR - RUN

  Skye

  I ran to the park, following Xander’s directions, and headed for the bridge at the far end from where I was.

  My mind was racing and I couldn’t help but question my decision to blindly believe Xander, when just this morning I hadn’t wanted to accept his explanations as truth.

  An eerie feeling began to grow in my stomach, and I turned around swiftly to scan the park for anything unusual. The sun had started to make its descent, and recognizing that I was one of the few people left in the park, I quickened my step.

  I found myself wishing for the millionth time that I had a cell phone to call Janelle or Rex. I was desperate to see if they were okay. Can’t have a phone if you don’t have the money to pay for it, I chided myself.

  I stayed alert as I started down the trail that led to the stone bridge, while my eyes continuously scanned the shadowy forest to my left.

  The sound of a branch snapping stopped me in my tracks and I quickly spun around yelling, “Hello?” as I cast my eyes over the area again.

  The rustling of leaves startled me, and I took a quick step back from the large group of bushes where the noise had come from.

  “Xander?”

  A squirrel shot out from underneath the brush and darted across the path, causing me to jump as if the ground were on fire.

  “AHHH!”

  Clenching my heart, I squeezed my eyes shut to calm myself. Damn Xander for scaring me like that! I hated being scared! I had taken care of myself for so long that I liked to think of myself as strong and tough. Now along came Xander, giving life to the ‘little things that go bump in the night”, and all of a sudden my courage seemed to be lacking.

  I thought to myself, ‘You’re crazy’ as doubt started to creep back into my overactive thoughts. How did I know I could even trust him?

  As I stepped away from the bushes to turn back onto the trail towards the bridge, I ran headlong into someone.

  “Oh my gosh!” I apologized, looking at the man in front of me. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t….” my words trailed off as the handsome man’s face shimmered in front of me; transforming into something non-human and then back again.

  It was like seeing one of those hologram cards you got in a cereal box, where you hold it one way and there was a smiling face, but when you turned it the other way, the
face was sad. The man who stood before me fluttered between human and monster. I froze, as my eyes took in another slight shimmer, and my breath caught in my throat.

  In his human state, he looked like just another suit on his way home from work: handsome, but nothing totally remarkable. He wore a dark business suit and carried a briefcase. Except that he wasn’t - not really.

  It was an illusion.

  His true side showed a shadow with no real clothing, just a pitch-black figure with a gruesome flat face. Everything about the creature was black and sort of willowy, like smoke, except for its glowing red eyes.

  It was the eyes that sparked the true terror in me. I had seen those eyes. They were probably the only thing in this world I truly feared anymore. They’d been haunting me all my life, and it was those eyes that finally nudged me from my frozen state.

  I jumped away from the monster, just as its transparent arms reached out to grasp my shoulders. Turning to run, I found myself face to face with another shadow.

  “No!” I cried in denial. “You’re not real - it’s only my imagination - go away!”

  The demons growled at me, a sort of snort. I was surprised to see the once-transparent arm solidify, as the first one lifted his hand and stroked my hair.

  “No Princess, you’re wrong. We are real, and you are coming with us.”

  They laughed at me as I shook my head, and then their shadowy limbs grasped my arms and yanked me into the growing darkness of the forest next to us.

  Once within the shadows of the woods, the figure to my left let go of my arm. It stepped in front, while the other creature walked behind my back; grabbing both of my arms, like guards walking a prisoner to his cell.

  “Where are you taking me?” I screeched, as I tried to fight off the arms that had me locked firmly in place.

  The monster was strong, super hero strong! Its breath smelled stale and felt cold as it whispered near my ear, “We are taking you to our master, Princess. Now WALK.”

  Its long, thin fingers dug into my upper arms as it propelled me forward roughly. They began to whisper to each other as we walked, but their voices were so deep and gravelly that I could hardly make them out.