“Please help me,” I called out, this time with less enthusiasm.
I began to give up. There was no use. No one would hear me or be able to save me now.
“Hold on,” I heard a man’s voice reply.
I blinked, astounded. Hope flooded my body along with an outpouring of joyful tears while I clung to the branch tighter knowing my rescue would be soon. I blocked out the fiery burn in my muscles and concentrated my attention on the new person above, my hero.
“Oh thank God,” I whispered.
He radiated courage and resolve which bolstered my faith.
I waited for an offer of a rope, or a branch, or something to pull me off the cliff when I heard a growl.
Fear consumed me. It was back.
I felt helpless as I sensed the two square off – both confident – both ready for the kill. The cliff muffled obscenities I thought I heard before a large thunder clapping crash shook the cliff face. Dirt rained down on my head and I tucked my body into a ball, resting my foot on another little branch protruding below me. I didn’t want to get in the way if a body flew off the edge. I worked to sort out the intermixing feelings, frustrated I couldn’t see anything. They were fighting harder than I’d ever believed possible. I closed off the noises and focused my energy to depict who was ahead – good or evil.
A crack of a tree limb and falling foliage forced me to open my eyes. A tree fell right above my head, frightened birds flew out of the leaves and a cackle of laughter echoed across the ravine – extreme happiness mingled with the loathing hate. Selfishly, I prayed the fight would end in my favor and quickly.
But then suddenly I heard something that sounded like a sizzling firework and felt someone’s surprise turned into fear… then nothing. The evil vanished. I breathed a sigh of relief too soon as the branch shifted in the earth next to me.
“Hurry!” I cried, but it was too late.
I screamed as I fell, knowing I was about to die.
. . .
3 – ALIVE
The last thing I expected was to have someone catch me. I opened my eyes in utter dismay to find I was cradled in the arms of the most handsome man I’d ever seen. He had to be an angel; there was no other way to explain it.
“You okay?” he whispered worried.
Shocked, I blinked. Never in my wildest dreams could I’ve imagined such a rescue. He plucked me effortlessly out of the night’s sky with such precision. I wasn’t sure how I felt.
I stared up into his eyes. They were oddly familiar, but I certainly would’ve remembered if we had met before. I grasped to find something articulate to say.
“You, you caught me,” I finally stuttered out. “How did you…”
He put me down onto my feet.
“Oh,” I moaned.
Pain shot up my leg, starting from my ankle. I grabbed his arm for support when all the fear and emotion bubbled to the surface. Before I knew it, I’d thrown my arms around his neck and sobbed shamelessly into his chest. He gently put both arms around me, pulling me close. With his hand, he caressed the back of my hair and sighed.
“It’s going to be okay. It’s over. You’re safe now,” he said.
I couldn’t stop crying as I hugged him tightly and began to feel weak as the adrenaline dissipated from my veins. How close did I just come to possibly falling to my death or worse, being attacked, or even murdered tonight?
I’m so stupid!
Patiently, he held me not seeming to mind as I broke down. All of his feelings full of concern and tenderness. It broke his heart to hear me cry.
I felt the need to gain my composure and pushed back from him, wiping the tears from my eyes. My mind buzzed, trying to piece it all together. Everything happened so quickly.
“I…I ran and tripped and slid right off the side of the cliff,” I said with a sniffle.
“Well, it’s over now,” he said in a soft, soothing voice.
I looked up at the looming cliff face. I could see what remained of the branch I clung to, twenty feet up. It was even further to the top of the ledge where I initially heard his voice coming from.
I wanted to ask him how he got down to the bottom of the cliff in time to save me, but felt too overwhelmed to question him.
“Are you hurt?” he whispered.
I sniffled again. “I’m not sure.”
My left palm began to sting. I opened my hand to find a dirty, bright red scrape that ran the length of my arm, past my elbow. The burning ache continued down the side of my body. Lifting up the bottom corner of my shirt confirmed the injury ran the length of my body. The wounds began to throb, along with my ankle and I contemplated what to tell him.
“Well?”
I decided to be brave and not complain, until I put weight on the other foot.
“Oh, ouch.”
“What’s wrong?”
“My ankle…” I pointed to show him which one.
He bent down, pulled up my pant leg and gently inspected it. I winced.
“It’s starting to swell. Best if you stay off of it. Can you climb on my back?” he asked.
“Yeah?”
My heart fluttered. I couldn’t believe I actually intended to climb on his back. The whole thing seemed completely surreal. How could this really be happening? I would’ve thought this was a dream, but then I couldn’t deny the presence of the stalker.
“But what about…” I gulped and pointed towards the cliff.
“I wouldn’t worry. It’s gone.”
“It?”
His comment sounded as if the stalker wasn’t human.
“Yes, I chased the animal away,” he insisted in a growl. “Now climb on. I need to get you home.”
The animal?
I hesitated for a minute, contemplating his comment. Could it really have just been an animal? The thought boggled me but at the moment, I didn’t care. All I really wanted was to get home where it was safe. I would ask him about it later.
With his help, I climbed onto his back. I could feel his large muscles under his jacket and admired his nice physique.
“Ready?” he said.
“Yes,” I said and hugged his neck.
Nimbly, he charged his way down the ravine along the mountain side. A path leading back up to the trail was about 100 yards ahead of us. Keeping a tight grip on his neck, I closed my eyes, enjoying the calming peace exuding from his body and realized I was no longer worried. It was as if he’d wrapped me in a warm comforting blanket and nothing in the world mattered. I wanted to stay there forever.
But suddenly he changed course and barreled up the side of the cliff on a path unknown to me. I snapped out of my new found utopia and squeezed tightly, feeling like a butterfly hanging on for dear life, afraid I’d fall off. When I looked up, we were level again and on the original trail.
“Which way?” he spoke, barely out of breath.
I glanced behind us, but it was too dark to see the path that led from the ravine to the trail. Furrowing my brow, I wondered where this mysterious path lay hidden, as I knew the trails by heart. Maybe we weren’t where I thought we were?
“It’s that way,” I motioned, pointing him in the general direction of my home.
With ease, he carried me swiftly through the dark. I clung to his back, but sensed his worry and inner struggle, like he fought to control his feelings. I wondered why.
Soon enough, we exited the woods and we were on the road leading to my house. He relaxed and continued on quietly, carrying me as if I were as light as a feather.
The road was deserted, lit only by street lights. The mudslide made the street into a dead end, so no one drove down it unless they lived in the area. I was secretly grateful. I could imagine what my neighbors would think seeing me ride piggy-back on some guys back.
Who was he anyway? And what was he doing in the woods at this time of night? And what happened to the person he fought on the trail?
It seemed odd for him to be at the right place at the right time to save me fr
om my demise. That kind of stuff only happened in movies. I felt the urge to ask him my questions until I caught a whiff of his scent. I knew it wasn’t cologne, but his natural masculine smell that made me secretly swoon. I buried my nose close to his collar and inhaled. With my eyes closed and my mind in pure bliss, I almost fell off when he spoke.
“What were you doing wandering around the woods alone at night?” he asked.
My eyes flew open and I froze for a minute, trying to be inconspicuous when turning my face away from his neck.
“I was just going to ask you the same thing,” I blurted out.
“I asked first,” he said with a smile in his voice.
“I ran out of gas and I was sorta taking a short cut home.”
When I uttered the words, I felt like a complete moron.
“I see,” he said softly.
I could tell he wasn’t impressed and I wanted to crawl into a hole. I desperately tried to think of something clever to say, but nothing came to mind.
“And you?”
“I heard you calling for help, so I came.”
“Do you live near by?”
“No… not really.”
Tension slinked into the air and I felt my questions weren’t welcome – like he didn’t want to tell me why he was in the woods. This time my curiosity got the better of me and I couldn’t let it go.
“So what were you doing?” I asked, gauging the atmosphere carefully.
Ever so slightly, he exuded a twinge of panic, followed by frustration. “Like I said, I was in the area, heard you scream and then call for help. Did you not want me to help you?”
“Well, yes… of course.” I bit my lip. “I heard a lot of noises before you were able to get to me. What were you doing?”
He chuckled and I felt unnerved, thinking I asked a stupid question.
“It put up a fight. I almost didn’t get to you in time.”
I hesitated before asking him what I really wanted to know. If he insisted my attacker to be an animal, then I’d sense his deception. And if he chose to lie to me, then no matter how much I enjoyed his company, this would be our final meeting. I didn’t make friends with liars, especially compulsive ones.
“I was going to ask you about that…you said it was an animal?”
I felt his disdain and then his curiosity.
“Didn’t you see it?”
“No…. actually, I didn’t.”
My mind raced as the tables turned. He was very happy about the fact I didn’t see anything and I hoped he wouldn’t ask anymore details. If I had to make up a story on the spot about why I ran, I would surely botch it up. Without revealing my insight, it would be hard to explain how I could know to run from an unknown, unseen predator and then I’d be the liar.
He exuded a huge sense of relief.
“Well, it’s gone now. So you don’t need to worry about it anymore.”
I clamped my lips closed to stop my gasp. I knew for a fact he fought a person because my powers didn’t cross over to animals. But why couldn’t I sense he was lying?
“I need to warn my neighbors,” I blurted out.
“You do?” he said in alarm. “Why?”
“Because that dangerous animal is still out there.”
He stopped, slid me off his back and turned to face me, his hands holding my shoulders. I suddenly felt self-conscience not knowing if mascara or dirt covered my face, electrified by his touch. I peered into his emerald eyes. My breath caught in my throat. He squinted and looked deeply into mine.
“I promise it’s nothing to worry about, okay? I’d rather no one knew about it.”
My throat constricted in anger. I was tired of this charade and frustrated my powers couldn’t reveal the lies he told. And now, he wanted me to cover it up too? I actually didn’t want my dad to know anything about the stalker part of my evening, but I needed to know what actually happened first.
“You can tell me,” I pleaded.
He let out a large sigh while he stood there, lips pursed, still looking directly at me with an expression that conveyed the message I should just trust him. But I wanted to know, no, needed to know. The thing he defended me from stalked me after all. I held his gaze determined not back down.
“Fine, if you must know,” he said coolly. “It was a small mountain lion and I had to kill it before it hurt you.”
This time I felt it for sure. Something in his story was not true – his feelings definitely betrayed him. My powers weren’t broken after all. Problem was I didn’t know which parts were the lies.
He said it was an animal earlier and I sensed that to be true. But now, when he said it was a mountain lion, he lied? Or maybe he didn’t actually kill it, but scared it away. I had no clue and the story was getting more and more convoluted with each clarification.
Were my powers shorting out, or worse – crossing over into the animal kingdom? I never saw anyone, so I couldn’t know for sure. It would explain a lot if a blood thirsty animal stalked me. I couldn’t imagine anyone who’d have feelings like it did – totally unnatural and animalistic, but even still, I couldn’t confront him without revealing my secret.
“Okay,” I said, giving up.
I looked away. Lying or not, his eyes were the most exquisite green imaginable and I couldn’t handle them looking into the depths of my soul any longer. I felt powerless against them.
Then we had an awkward pause. I stood there, with all my weight on one foot, not sure of what to say. Luckily, he broke the silence.
“Do you want me to continue carrying you?” he asked.
I looked up. He smiled and his eyes were kind again. It made it hard to stay frustrated with him.
“Yes,” I murmured, annoyed he wouldn’t trust me.
Again, he helped me onto his back and slowly walked down the road carrying me. I noticed the soothing warmth return again – something about being close to him, made all the confusion drift away. I fought to stay centered, still remembering I needed to figure out a way to get him to honestly answer my questions when a vision of a bloodied dead cat came to focus.
“Someone’s going to find it.”
“Find what?” he said, sounding confused.
“The dead mountain lion?”
“I said I’d take care of it,” he said in an irritated tone.
“When?” I bit my lip, purposely pressing my luck.
“Julia, please. Just let me worry about it,” he snapped.
Julia? My heart skipped a beat.
“How do you know my name?”
He tensed his back.
“I know your name because we’ve met before.”
This caught me off guard.
“We have? When?”
“It was a while back.”
I searched through my memories looking for his face and came up blank. Yet his eyes, they seemed so familiar. There was something that sparked inside me every time he looked at me, but I couldn’t place what it was exactly.
“Well, I feel bad. I don’t remember meeting you—or your name.”
“Nicholas.”
Nicholas. I sighed. As I repeated his name in my mind, it instantly became the most beautiful word in the English language.
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, again.”
I was happy he couldn’t see me blushing but then I chastised myself. What in the heck was I doing? I couldn’t let myself get emotionally attached when he wasn’t being completely honest with me. Where was my better judgment?
It probably flew out the window the same time you decided to trek through the forest.
My desire for him showed plainly on my face, so I was thankful he couldn’t see me. I’d never understood the attraction some girls felt for ‘bad boys’ and prided myself in staying away from them. Of course my gift usually tipped me off. But Nicholas was different.
I never felt so drawn to someone before. His pull felt almost magnetic and every moment we stayed close to each other, the connection drew stronger. It f
rightened and electrified me at the same time.
Maybe I judged him too soon and he wasn’t a ‘bad boy’ although he definitely wasn’t like the other ‘nice boys’ at my school. He radiated a maturity I craved but never found before. And there was something more – a feeling of déjà vu.
‘You can trust him,’ my heart said while my head screamed no.
It was a relief when we neared the corner where I lived and approached my house because I needed this turmoil to stop – to think rationally about things. Nicholas carried me up the stairs to my front porch and sat me on the swing that hung there. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Is anyone home?” he asked.
As he stepped away, I felt the serenity of his aura leave and I wanted to catch his hand and bring him back to me. Like a moth to a flame, I craved his touch even though that meant the risk of being burned.
“You okay?”
My heart dropped as concern spread across his beautiful face. I’d been late to cover up my struggle. I gave him the first excuse that came to mind.
“I’m just… dizzy,” I choked out.
He pursed his lips; the concern still there, I could feel it right under the surface.
I put my hand up to my forehead to try to get my bearings. Why was this happening to me?
“Is anyone home, Julia?” His worry now expressed in the tone of his voice.
“My brother or my dad should be,” I squeaked out.
He walked over and knocked on the door keeping one eye on me. I gave a weak smile, trying to reassure him I was all right, but still confused how we had this mysterious electric connection.
“My dad’s going to freak when he sees me like this. How bad do I look?”
A smile appeared on his face. “You’re a little banged up, but I think you’ll survive.”
As he stood on the porch waiting for an answer to his knock, I took the first real opportunity I had to look at him. His chiseled face with dark brown hair and olive-toned skin perfectly framed his dazzling green eyes. He wore a long, brown floor-length leather trench coat over a dark-colored, button-up shirt, faded blue jeans and some mean-looking boots. His face had a certain youthful yet rugged appearance. A shimmering emerald green stone peeked out from under his shirt hanging from a gold chain around his neck.
Talisman 1 - The Emerald Talisman Page 3
