by ID Johnson
“Yes, I did,” he reiterated. “She told me the two of you had had a conversation about your training and that you had some questions. That’s really why I decided to just come over and meet with you, though you’re right a phone call would have been nice.”
She smiled. She was over it now. “Well, yes,” she began. “I felt like, when we talked earlier in the week, that you had indicated that you would be doing my training, or at least the majority of it. But then, after speaking to Eliza, I was confused. She said that you don’t really train any more and it would probably be someone else. So, I just wasn’t sure what your plan was, or if you had a plan yet, or what was going on.”
He seemed to consider her question carefully before he responded. “Okay, so, first of all, you need to know that, she is right. I don’t usual do training any more, unless something comes up, there’s an emergency, that sort of things.” Cadence’s expression changed very quickly. He could tell that she was not happy with his response so far and so he decided to speed it up. “However,” he added, “I am planning on making an exception for you.” She took a deep breath and began to calm down a little bit. “Reason being, I don’t think we have any trainers who will be able to keep up with you for one, and also, because I know that we had talked about that as part of our agreement. So, yes, I will be doing the majority of your training. Although, I can’t guarantee that no one else will ever be involved.”
“Sure,” she said, nodding along.
“You know, there might be times when I just can’t make a session, that sort of thing, and then someone else may have to fill in. But, my intentions are to train you myself.”
“Okay, good,” she felt much better now and was glad that he had come, despite the fact that he had almost walked in on her naked.
“Now, that being said,” he continued, “You should also realize that I’m going to be a lot harder on you than any one else would be. You do realize that, right?”
Cadence wasn’t sure if she had realized that before or not, but she nodded her head. She realized it now.
“If I’m responsible for training you, and I’m responsible for keeping you safe, you’d better be damn sure that I’m going to whip your ass into shape well before you come in to contact with any more Vampires. That’s a guarantee.”
Even though what he was proposing did not sound like a lot of fun, it did make sense, and she was relieved to hear it in a way. At least, she should be as prepared as possible before she ever had to face the enemy.
“There is one more thing I wanted to mention to you,” he said, avoiding eye contact with her again, and staring at the floor in front of him.
“What’s that?” Cadence asked cautiously.
“Well, it has to do with Eliza,” he said folding his arms across his chest.
Cadence cocked her head to the side a bit. “Go on,” she requested.
“Eliza really likes you,” he began. “So does Jamie for that matter, and everyone who has met you. But, um, well, Eliza has some areas we are working on, and getting along with other female members of our team is one of those areas.”
Cadence was a little surprised. “Really? I think she’s been super nice and supportive.”
“Oh, yeah, I agree. She has. Absolutely. So far she has really gotten along with you extremely well. And I am hopeful that things will stay that way. But I wanted to let you know so that, in situations like today when you see her get a little defensive, you can come directly to me and ask me yourself instead of going through her. Do you know what I mean?”
Cadence was nodding. “You mean when I was asking her about my training?”
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“And she was adamant that you wouldn’t be doing it?”
“That would be a prime example.”
“Okay,” Cadence said slowly. “Sorry. I had no idea that would be something she wouldn’t want to answer for me.”
“Oh, no, that’s okay. And here’s the deal, Cadence, you may not know when you’re going to cause her to become a little hot-tempered. But once you recognize that it has happened, just slowly back away, and then let me know and I’ll address it.”
She was nodding but she really wasn’t sure she fully understood what he was requesting. Cadence had realized, however, that Eliza only started acting funny when she mentioned Aaron. “Maybe, in the future, I should just, not talk about you to her at all then?”
“That might be one solution,” he admitted.
She started to ask another question but then hesitated. It really wasn’t her business and yet she really wanted to know. Finally, she decided to ask and if he wanted to tell her he could, and if not, he could tell her it was inappropriate. “I’m sorry for prying, but did you guys used to date or something?”
Aaron had been hoping that question didn’t arise but now that it had, he wasn’t exactly sure how to answer it. Part of him wanted to tell her it didn’t matter but then he also knew that it truly was the root of the problem and he felt that she deserved to know. He began to slowly nod his head and seeing her expression change from inquisitive to “that explains it” actually made him feel a bit better about the conversation they had just had.
Cadence had about twenty follow-up questions but decided not to ask them. She knew she would be arriving at LIGHTS soon, and if there were other girls present, chances were she would find out any way. Then another thought occurred to her. “Wait, are you still?”
“Oh, no,” Aaron said, almost too quickly. “I mean, I love Eliza, don’t get me wrong. Well, I mean, I don’t love her but I . . . you know what I mean. The answer is no, we are no longer dating and have not been dating for quite some time.”
Cadence held back a small smile. Clearly, Aaron was no longer interested in Eliza, though Eliza was certainly interested in him. “Okay, then,” she said. An awkward silence had settled upon them and, though Cadence was exhausted and Aaron had more work to do than he could possibly ever finish, he didn’t really want to go, and she didn’t really want him to leave.
After a few moments, however, he said, “I guess I should let you go. I know you have an important event tomorrow.”
Cadence had honestly been trying not to think about it. She had asked her mother to locate her favorite black dress and hang it in the front of her closet so that she could just grab it in the morning without thinking and throw it on. She resolved herself against crying again while Aaron was here, however, so she concentrated instead on thinking about something that made her happy. Luckily for her, she was able to fix her attention back on his face and see his smile, though it was one of concern and understanding, it still fit into the category of “things that made her happy” and she was able to force a smile back in return.
He leaned in a little closer to her, though he cautioned himself against it. “Do you want me to call you tomorrow afternoon when it’s over?” he asked quietly.
“Yes, please,” she said without hesitation.
“Okay,” he said nodding. Just then an alert came across his IAC and even though it wasn’t necessarily something he needed to take care of, it was enough to break the spell he had fallen under. “Well, I better go,” he said standing.
“Yeah, I’m pretty tired,” she said also standing and gesturing toward her bed.
“Right,” he said understanding. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then,” he said stepping back towards the window.
“Okay,” she said, also taking a step backward, hoping some distance would make this less awkward. “Bye,” she added.
“Bye,” he said giving her one last glance. This time, however, when he climbed out the window, Cadence was able to track his every movement, unlike the time before when he had moved so quickly she couldn’t even see him at all. Now, she had another reason to smile.
Chapter Eight
Drew’s father had built this tree house several years ago, intending for his younger sons to play in it. However, every time Cadence and the rest of their group came over, they almos
t always found themselves climbing the rope ladder and lounging around in the top of the oak that spanned most of the width of the backyard. Even today, though it was a bit chilly and beginning to mist, the tree house was the place they went to automatically.
Taylor and Sidney were leaning against the wall, snuggled up under a blanket they had brought up so long ago, it now smelled of mildew. The girls never seemed to mind, however and today was no different. Kash and Jon had also found spots on the floor, while Cadence had positioned herself on one of the windowsills. Though she was still with the group, she was able to gaze out the window and mentally drift away a bit when inclined.
Jack was not presently with them. Throughout the funeral and the graveside service, had had been acting a little odd. Cadence wasn’t exactly sure what was going on with him, but she was concerned. She was hoping to have the opportunity to speak to him soon.
Most of the guests who had accompanied the family back to their home had stayed inside where it was warmer and drier, but Cadence could hear a few voices drifting from under the back porch awning up to the tree house. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, nor did she care, but she thought they all needed to be cautious if they decided to talk about what happened. She knew that their memories had been altered somehow, that Elliott had taken care of that while they were still at the hospital, though she had no idea what the Guardian Passel did in order to alter human memories. She was curious to know exactly what they each thought happened. For now, however, a code of silence seemed to have descended upon them as no one was saying anything at all.
After several minutes, Jon finally spoke up, saying, “It really was a lovely ceremony, wasn’t it?”
Cadence knew he had found a way to be both tactful and sarcastic at the same time, choosing a canned comment to make that sounded cheesy and condescending, and yet, completely sincere at the same time.
“It really was,” Taylor agreed. “I mean, I know you’re being a jerk and all, but it really was a nice ceremony.”
“I wasn’t being a jerk,” Jon said a bit defensively. “I really thought it was a nice ceremony. That’s all.”
“Well, it sounded sarcastic,” Taylor retorted.
“I’m sorry you felt that way,” he replied.
“Alright, children,” Sidney said. “That’s enough. It was a lovely ceremony and . . . she really would have loved it,” she added, holding back a fresh batch of tears.
Cadence was just about all cried out. She had spent the majority of the morning sobbing into her father’s shoulder. She could tell by her friends’ faces that most of them had been crying quite a bit as well. Except for Jack. She really couldn’t tell if he had been crying at all, which she found quite unusual.
“I just . . . I just can’t believe she’s gone,” Taylor said, staring up at the ceiling as if she could see right through it.
“I know, me, too,” Cadence agreed. In an effort to prevent herself from crying again, she decided to do some probing. “Can you believe what happened? It just seems so . . . “
“Surreal,” Jon said, completing her statement.
“Yes, surreal,” Cadence agreed. “I mean, who would have ever thought that someone would go that way, you know?”
“Can we please not talk about it, okay?” Sidney asked through her tears. “I mean, I can’t even look at rocks now without thinking about poor Drew. It’s just so tragic.” She burst into tears again and hid her face in Taylor’s shoulder.
Cadence was puzzled now. Rocks? She didn’t want to upset Sidney but she needed to know more. “What do you mean?” she asked. “When you see a rock, what do you think of, specifically?”
“Really, Cadence?” Sidney asked. “Don’t you know?”
Taylor sighed. She had been with Sidney every day since Drew’s death. “She’s just so afraid that she is also going to trip and have a rock slice her throat,” she explained, as Sidney’s wails grew louder.
“I see,” Cadence said, nodding her head. “The way that Drew fell and sliced her throat on a rock.” Really? That was the best Elliott could come up with? And yet all of these people truly believed that this is what had happened, including the doctors and nurses he spoke to at the hospital. No one had questioned anything so, they must all, in fact, believe that those were the events that occurred.
Cadence was tempted to ask if any of them remembered anything else from that night, but she knew she was sworn to secrecy. The first rule of Clandestine Ternion was that no human was to know of its existence without reason. Otherwise, all humans would constantly live in fear of being killed by Vampires or caught in the crossfire of a careless Hunter.
Just then, she saw Jack step out into the yard and she decided to try to talk to him. She excused herself and carefully picked her way down the rope ladder, wary of falling in her long dress and high heels.
“Hey,” she said as she approached him. He was talking to one of Drew’s uncles but excused himself when he saw her coming over. “How are you?” she asked. “I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you.”
They walked off toward the side yard, out of earshot of most anyone who could possibly be attempting to listen. “I’m okay,” he said as he stopped near the fence. He was wearing a dark blue suit and Cadence remembered how that color had always set his eyes off. Today, however, they didn’t seem quite as bright as what she remembered, and she wondered if he had, indeed, been crying after all.
“Good, good,” she said. “I wish I would have been able to spend more time with all of you this week. I just needed some time alone, you know?”
He nodded. “I understand. You went to your grandma’s house for a few days, your mom said?”
“I did. I just went up there and slept, a lot, and visited with my grandma and kind of wrapped my mind around what this would be like, you know, going on without our Drew.”
He continued to nod as she was talking. “And now, your mom says you’re not going to go back to school? She says you took some job in Kansas City or some place? Is that true?”
Cadence actually wasn’t aware that her mom was telling anyone anything at this point so this was all brand new information, though it did seem to be quite accurate. She quickly decided she would go with that story. “Yes, yes, I’m going to be working in Kansas City. Did my mom tell you what I would be doing?” she asked, hoping not to contradict any story her mother had already concocted.
He shook his head. “Just something about the security field, something like that?”
“Okay, yes, I will be working in security. Yes, that’s what I will be doing.” Although what she would actually be doing was quite the opposite of security, at least from a Vampire’s perspective, she decided it would work. Many of her co-workers were in the security field. As a side note, she wondered if her mother actually understood what she would be doing or if she thought she would, in fact, be protecting someone. Although, technically, she would be protecting humans from Vampires, she tended to focus on the idea that she would be destroying Vampires. That sounded much more exciting to her.
“Well, that really surprises me,” he admitted. “I thought you were just dead-set that you were going to be a teacher, and now I hear you’ve changed your mind. It’s really surprising.”
“No, it’s not that I changed my mind,” she clarified. “It’s just that I felt that I should take some time off, get my head back together, and then if I feel like returning to college to work on my education degree, I can do that, you know?”
He nodded but she wasn’t sure he truly understood what she was trying to say. He rubbed his shoulder absently and stared at the ground. Clearly, he was not his usual self.
“Jack, you look tired. How have you been sleeping since all of this transpired?”
He seemed to think for a moment. He glanced at her and then his eyes darted away. It was as if he wanted to tell her something, but he was hesitating. Finally he said, “Listen, Cadence, I’ve been having some really bad nightmares. And maybe it’s becau
se everything that happened that night was so unusual or maybe I’m losing my mind, but I don’t think Drew really fell down a cliff and cut her neck on a rock.”
Cadence was stunned. She took a moment to collect her thoughts. She turned to her “old reliable” question and asked, “Can you tell me more about that?”
Again, Jack hesitated. It was almost as if he thought someone was spying on them, and if they found out he suspected someone had altered their memories of what happened, they would find him, drag him away, and no one would ever hear from him again. “Well, you see, Cadence, every night I have the same dream. We’re not out climbing hills outside of Villisca, we’re at some festival. I can’t always make all of it out, but I know Drew is missing and we’re looking for her—but not all of us—just me and you and Kash, you see? And then we find her and she’s dead. And there’s this mob chasing us. I know they’re not people, but I don’t know what they are. I just know I need to run as fast as I can. I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem like we would be out climbing rocks in the middle of the night, you know? I don’t know.”
Cadence could neither confirm nor deny his suspicions, but she did want to make him feel better. “I do understand what you are saying, Jack. But my advice would be, just try to let it go. At the end of the day, the details of what happened to Drew don’t really matter. The important thing is that we remember her, that we honor her memory, and that we live our lives in a way that would make her proud. That’s really all that matters.”
He nodded as if he agreed, but then he leaned in closer to her ear and whispered, “I think they’re coming for me next.”
She felt a shiver go up and down her spine. “What?” she asked. “Who do you think is coming for your next, Jack?”
“Them, those people, whoever was chasing us, in my dream. I think they killed Drew, and they are going to come after me next.”
At this point, Cadence really wished she had an IAC so that she could contact Aaron for further instruction. She wanted to stick with the story Elliott had created, keep the Ternion a secret, but still find a way to relieve Jack’s fears. She knew the Guardians were watching the entire town, and there was very little chance that a Vampire could make it in to harm him without the entire Guardian Passel knowing. “Listen, Jack,” she began. “We have all just gone through an extremely traumatic event. I don’t blame you for feeling that way. We’re all sad and fearful. We’re all questioning our own mortality. But try not to think about things like that because, I assure you, you’re perfectly safe. And I work in security,” she said adding a little wink for effect.
