“Clearly you’ve never led a settlement,” he says with a smirk. “Come on, let’s get some opinions out in the air.”
“I thought that’s what I just did,” I say.
“Other than your own, I meant.”
Gabe and I follow Stephen into the office building. The hallway isn’t busy. There are few people around. I guess most of them are trying to stay warm in their rooms. He leads us up a flight of stairs and down another long hallway until we come into an old, large conference room. It’s the type of room, that was no doubt used for big business meetings. There’s a giant table in the middle with swivel chairs all around it. There are a lot more people in here than I expected. I nod a curt hello to Mitch, who stares at me as I walk in. The guy sort of gives me the creeps. I don’t know what it is about him, but he seems preoccupied in a weird way. The entire trip back to Elkhorn, he kept asking Stephen and me questions. He started out asking us about where we are from, but he kept going. He asked us about our childhood, and what our relationships with our grandparents were like. To say it felt strange is an understatement.
Next to him is, I think, his girlfriend, Ashley. Then there’s his father who smells like he just came out of a burning building. On the other side of the table is Waverly. She looks up at me with her big blue eyes and motions for me to sit next to her. I do so gladly, and give a short nod to her friend, Ethan. Gabe sits on my other side. The last person in the room is Lydia who stares daggers into me.
Ever since I told her that I had been looking for information about Jessi Paxton, Robert Paxton’s daughter, she has thought of me as nothing but trouble. Before I came here, I found out that Jessi Paxton had had a daughter named Evelyn. As it turned out, Lydia has taken care of little Evie since the day she was born. Lydia has more claim to the tiny blonde-headed girl than Paxton ever will. But telling him about his granddaughter would most certainly get me back into Crestwood. Though, if Crestwood is in league with Shadowface and his goons, I might not even want to go back. I’m interested to hear what these people have to say.
“We’re here to expose Shadowface for who he is,” Jeremiah says.
“And kill him?” Stephen adds, raising an eyebrow.
“If it comes to that, yes.”
“Seems a bit drastic,” Stephen says. “The man is willing to bring settlements together and provide for them in exchange for unwavering allegiance.”
Mitch speaks up next. “What all of you fail to realize is just how dangerous Shadowface really is.”
“Not all of us,” Waverly says quickly. “I know very well how dangerous Shadowface can be.”
“He hires raiders,” Ethan says, looking from Mitch to Stephen. “They were chasing us because we had something they wanted.”
“They killed two people in our group,” Waverly continues. “They would have killed us, if Gabe hadn’t helped us.”
I look at Gabe and smile at him. He turns just a little red.
“And what’s your part in this?” Stephen asks Gabe.
Gabe clears his throat. “I’m the lead scout in Crestwood. My leader, Paxton doesn’t know I’m here. It was my job to escort Remi out of the town, as well as Waverly and her friends. All of it seemed like Paxton’s decisions, but the more we looked into it, the more we could see that it was under Shadowface’s orders. The only thing that had me perplexed was Shadowface’s motive.”
“Well,” Jeremiah says, “it would seem that the motive would have to do with whatever item of theirs you were carrying.” He looks at Waverly when he says this. “What was it?”
Waverly stares at him for a long moment, studying him. She looks around the room, and finally at me. “I’m not sure I have to give you that information,” she says, turning back to Jeremiah. “I don’t know who you are.”
“I am someone that is just trying to help,” he says with a smile. It seems forced as if he’s trying to hold himself back from looking too desperate for information.
Waverly looks away from Jeremiah, then at Ethan. They share a look for a long moment before Ethan finally nods to her. Waverly lets out a sigh and reaches for something in her pocket. She pulls out a small, metal canister.
All eyes fall on the object in her hands. Jeremiah’s eyes widen more than anyone else’s. I wouldn’t doubt it if he already knows what it is. “This is what they were after,” she says. “If you unscrew the middle, there is a glass vial.”
“Filled with a red liquid?” Jeremiah asks.
Waverly hesitates for a minute. “Yes. How did you know?”
“May I see it?” he asks, extending an arm over the table. When he notices Waverly’s skeptical look, he smiles again. “I’ll give it back.”
Her eyebrows are downturned, and I can tell she is unsure. Slowly, she hands Jeremiah the canister. His fingers wrap around the middle as he takes hold of it. He unscrews the middle just as Waverly described. Sure enough, he pulls out a small, cylindrical glass vial filled with a crimson liquid.
“Blood,” Jeremiah says.
“I figured that,” Waverly answers. “I just don’t understand why.”
Jeremiah holds the vial between his thumb and forefinger into the light above his head to get a better look. He turns it sideways and upwards, watching the liquid move from side to side.
“Well,” he says, “if it is from Shadowface, as you claim, then it is probably the blood of a Starborn.” He studies the faces of everyone in the room for a brief second. “I don’t expect any of you have heard of a Starborn but…”
“Actually,” Waverly interrupts, “I have. The raider that caught us mentioned something about it, but he never elaborated.”
“Would you please elaborate?” Stephen says to Jeremiah. I can tell his face is turning red under his thick beard as he taps his fingers against the table.
“I used to study the Starborns,” Jeremiah says. “None of you know, except for Ashley and Mitch, that I used to be a professor. My field had more to do with microbiology than anything, but in my earlier career, I was fascinated with these Starborns. In the ancient days, extraterrestrial beings came to Earth. From where, I cannot be certain. But these people were remarkable. They had special…abilities.”
My insides freeze as he talks and my mind goes back to the moment when Paxton asked me if I had any special abilities.
“What do you mean by that?” Stephen asks.
“Well, think of all the things you can do: see, hear, communicate, run…all of us heal when we are wounded; and imagine that you can do each of these things in a much more powerful way. You can lift a bus above your head. You can see through walls. You can talk to other people with a thought in your mind. The people that came to us from another world possessed all of these abilities. They were like gods among men. Well, the idea is that before they left Earth, they mated with human beings and their bloodlines still live on. These people that are still in the bloodline, I call Starborns.”
My mind is reeling. I think about all the times I’ve been able to hear things from far away, better than any other person. Does that mean…I’m a Starborn?
“What proof do you have?” Ethan asks.
I want to tell Ethan to shut up. He doesn’t know what I know. He doesn’t know that Jeremiah tells the truth.
“I can discuss proof and evidence with you for hours, but we don’t have time to talk about that. I’m simply telling you that if Shadowface wants this vial of blood back, you can take it to the bank that it is the blood of a Starborn.”
“Well,” Stephen says, “what good would having the blood do?”
“If you inject it, or swallow it, or get this liquid into your bloodstream in anyway, whatever power is in this blood will be yours forever.”
I look at Waverly, but she stares straight ahead, seemingly preoccupied with thoughts. Her eyes are wide and her mouth is open just a bit. I can’t help but wonder if she might have an ability like me. We are sisters after all. If it’s a bloodline thing…well…
“There is no way to know
what kind of power it has,” Jeremiah says.
“Unless one of us ingests it,” Gabe says.
His suggestion makes me freeze.
“I’m guessing you’re the one that wishes to try?” Jeremiah says.
Gabe’s face turns bright red and he lowers himself in his seat a bit.
“It would be very dangerous to try something like that,” Jeremiah continues, “without knowing what was in the blood. What if the blood gave you the ability to create fire all around you and you were unable to control it? You would kill everyone in this room.”
“You all know how crazy this sounds, right?” Stephen said, his hands out in front of him, palms up.
I don’t know what it is within me, but I feel like I have to speak up. “Maybe we should just listen to him. Does it sound like he’s trying make it up?”
Jeremiah looks at me, pleased. Stephen is not so pleased.
“Does Shadowface know you’re here?” Jeremiah asks, looking at Waverly.
“No,” Waverly says. “I killed the raider that was coming after us,” she says. She looks at Ethan. “I don’t think any of the others made it out alive either.”
Ethan shakes his head and looks at the table. It’s hard for me to hear such a thing from my little sister. The thought of her being in a situation where she had to kill someone is hard. But it’s stupid of me to think this way. Of course she’s had to kill. All of us in this room are killers in some way or another.
“We weren’t followed,” Waverly continues. “I think the people in this room are the only ones that know I’m here with the blood.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” I blurt out. All eyes dart to me and I swallow hard. My eyes travel to Stephen. “When we were in the meeting with one of Shadowface’s men, we had a radio.” I look at Lydia. I don’t want to accuse her, but I have to say it. “Lydia mentioned Gabe, Ethan, and Waverly over the radio. I can only assume that those in the room with us would tell Shadowface.”
Lydia looks away from me and stares at the table. I didn’t want to embarrass her, but if it can help…
“Who was in the room with you?” Jeremiah asks.
“A man named Samuel,” Stephen says.
“And there was a woman,” I say. “Kind of tall. Straight, blonde hair cut off at the cheeks.”
Jeremiah straightens in his chair, his face a little paler than a moment before.
“But that doesn’t mean Shadowface knows anything,” I add.
Jeremiah shakes his head. “It most certainly does mean it.” All of us wait for him to continue, but he seems lost in thought for a moment. It makes me think that he knows Shadowface. That he knows who he is. Or she. The moment Samuel and the blonde-headed woman were mentioned, Jeremiah froze up.
“I’m sorry,” I say, “but do you know who Shadowface is? If so, it would take a load off our minds, I think.”
“No,” Jeremiah says. “It wouldn’t take a load off anyone’s mind. It makes little difference who Shadowface is. Shadowface is Shadowface. Dangerous and evil. And he’s coming here.”
“How do you know that?” Stephen demands.
“Because he knows that Waverly is here,” Jeremiah says. He places the glass vial into the metal cylinder and slides it across the table to Waverly. “We might not know what kind of blood this is, but it is important enough for Shadowface to employ raiders to take it back.” He eyes everyone at the table. “Shadowface will come here to get it.” His eyes cross to Stephen at the head of the table. “By force, if necessary.”
Waverly shakes her head. “Why don’t we just destroy it? Smash it on the ground or something?”
“Then you lose whatever bargaining chip you had,” he answers. “Shadowface will come after you anyway. Once you’ve crossed him, he will eliminate you. He doesn’t want any potential enemies out there.” He looks to Stephen. “How are you on weapons?”
Stephen snorts. “You really expect us to be able to put up a fight? Abysmal is your answer. I’ve probably got a rifle to every five people. Most of them aren’t trained to fight.” He shakes his head vigorously. “It’s not a fight we can win if Shadowface is as powerful as you say he is.”
Jeremiah looks at Mitch and Ashley. “We can supply you with weapons, but we’re going to need more manpower if you want to take on Shadowface when he gets here.”
“Forget it,” Stephen says. “I don’t even know why I’m entertaining the thought. I didn’t want to get my people involved in any of this. I don’t know who you people are, but this isn’t Elkhorn’s problem. I never wanted a fight.”
“That’s not your decision,” Jeremiah says. “The fight has come to you.”
“Besides,” I say, “we didn’t get you involved with Shadowface, Stephen. Your men were captured by him. You had the meeting. You made contact with him before talks of a fight ever came up.”
Jeremiah grits his teeth. “When you let someone like Shadowface in, he never lets go. He latches on to you until you’re the very extension of him or you’re dead. You can kick us out all you want, but to Shadowface, you are responsible for us getting away. If you turn us over to him, then you are with him forever.”
“I’m starting to wonder if that’s such a bad thing,” Stephen smirks. “Endless supply of food, weapons. Protection to the highest degree.”
Jeremiah laughs loudly, shaking his head. “All in exchange for complete allegiance to Shadowface. Do you think Shadowface won’t one day call up these allegiances? Of course he will. And you will answer to him, or you will die.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” Stephen asks. “I can’t command my people to fight them, but I can’t turn away. Either way, we’re dead.”
“Maybe not,” I say. “What if we could get help?”
Heads turn to me, waiting for the solution that I’ve come up with in my head. I don’t know if it would work, and part of me just knows it isn’t right. My eyes look to Lydia. She clenches her jaw, and after a moment she starts to shake her head violently.
“No,” she says. “No! No!”
“Crestwood will help us,” I say.
Jeremiah gives me a confused glance. “That’s Paxton, right? He’s allied to Shadowface.”
“I’m not going to allow it!” Lydia snaps, standing now. She points her finger at me from across the table. “You’ve wanted to come in and ruin my life ever since you got here!”
“What is it?” Jeremiah asks.
Lydia drops to the chair and slumps low, tears falling down her cheeks.
“I used to live in Crestwood,” I say. I try to ignore Lydia, but it is difficult. “I was kicked out, but before I left, Paxton said he would let me come back and stay if I found any information about his daughter who he hasn’t seen in four years. Well, I never found his daughter, but his granddaughter, Evie, lives here in Elkhorn.”
Eyes brighten all around the table.
“Blood relative,” Jeremiah mouths.
“I just think I could go there,” I say, “not to give Evie up, but to let Paxton know that she’s in danger because of Shadowface. I can tell him that Shadowface is going to attack us. I think he’d have men here in a heartbeat.”
Stephen shakes his head. “I’m not giving up one of my people to help your little operation.”
“It wouldn’t be giving her up,” I repeat.
“What if he decides to take her by force?” Lydia bursts. “What if he decides to contact Shadowface and come in with him to take Evie away from me? Then you’ve accomplished nothing! In fact, you will have doubled our enemy’s size.”
“Gabe,” I say, “you know Paxton better than any of us. What do you think?”
“I think for the most part,” Gabe says slowly, “Paxton is a good man. I think he wants what’s best for his people. But you’ve seen it, Remi. He won’t easily oppose Shadowface. So far he’s done nothing but listen to him.”
“But he hasn’t had anyone tell him that he should oppose Shadowface,” I say.
Gabe just shru
gs. “I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Well,” Stephen says, “it doesn’t really matter because I’m not going to let you do that.” He nods at Jeremiah. “You said you can get us weapons?”
Jeremiah looks at Ashley and Mitch who nod at him. “Yes,” Jeremiah says. “We can. But I think you should reconsider Remi’s idea. You could use more men.”
“Shadowface doesn’t know Elkhorn like we do,” Stephen says. “We have home field advantage.”
Jeremiah looks from Stephen and then to me as if I’m the only one on his team. “Home field advantage won’t matter when Shadowface gets here.”
Gabe and I are alone in the room when the meeting is over, but the two of us haven’t moved. Though the chairs are empty, it still feels like we have to whisper in case the others are listening to us.
“I thought your power was amazing,” he says after a minute of silence. “But it seems pretty useless with a fight coming.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I say. “First of all, we don’t even know that a fight is coming. Jeremiah might just be trying to scare us.”
“Maybe,” Gabe says. “I thought about that too, but I can’t see how scaring us into action would benefit him. I think he really wants to kill Shadowface, and he has just figured out how. Maybe he’s happy that Shadowface will be here.”
“Do you think we should tell Paxton about Evie?”
“I don’t know. They aren’t going to let us.”
“They can’t tell us what to do,” I snap. “Besides, it’s not like you can just stay here anyway. Paxton’s going to think you’re dead if you don’t go back soon.”
“I know.”
“That is…if you care. Do you want to go back?”
Gabe takes a deep breath. “Crestwood has been my home for a while now. I’ve grown to like it. To care for the people. I can’t see myself forsaking it altogether.”
“But it isn’t what you thought it was,” I say. I reach a hand out and cover his with mine. At first, he doesn’t move, but then his fingers start to wrap around mine. “I’m going to stay here,” I say. “My sister is here, and I think it would be crazy to leave her right now. It’s also hard for me to justify telling Paxton about Evie. I mean, Lydia really is her mother. She has been there for her since day one.”
Away From the Sun Page 6
