Captivated: Part 1 of the Intended Series

by Abigail Grant

  “Gavin?” I get his attention in a hushed voice.

  He looks at me with slight concern etched across his face. “Yes?”

  “Why are we here?” He looks down at our still entwined hands, avoiding my question. “I mean, I know we are here because you guys have answers for me about why you sneak around at night and why that man has been following me, but can't you just tell me? I feel like I am about to learn that the world is coming to an end, but everyone is being too calm. They act like it's just another day.” My voice raises in pitch toward the end.

  He is quiet for a moment, looking unsure as to what he should or shouldn’t tell me. “The world isn't coming to an end anytime soon, I'm sure.” He pauses. “We have a lot of secrets in this family that we only share with other people like us.” He looks at my eyes as if he is waiting for me to reply.

  “Okay...” I draw out the word. “Should I know what that means?”

  He squeezes my hand and rubs his thumb gently along my wrist. “Aella, you and I... you know, we have a lot in common.”

  “Well, I know we have some things in common. We both lost one or both of our parents, we are huge nature lovers, we are both artistic.”

  He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before locking eyes with me once more. “Yes, all of those things, but there's more than that, a lot more.”

  I silently beg him to get to the point, but before he can open his mouth again, a booming voice breaks into our private world.

  “Where's that little trouble-maker?” A loud male voice reverberates off the glass windows. I jump and spin around to see a tall, lumberjack-looking man burst through the front doors. His large muscles stretch out the long-sleeved wool shirt that is tucked into the waist of his carpenter jeans.

  He notices Gavin and me, then immediately charges toward us, his familiar golden eyes blazing, with an angry expression marring his handsome features. I cringe and grab onto Gavin's arm out of fear before he is ripped from me and lifted off the couch by the large and intimidating beast of a man.

  The behemoth tucks Gavin under one arm and, with the opposite hand, proceeds to give his handsome head of hair, what looks to be a decently painful noogie.

  “Jack! Let go of me right now, you giant oaf!” Gavin yells at the man, Jack, I'm guessing.

  Jack begins laughing loudly at Gavin struggling under his arm. Gavin stops his useless fight, which makes Jack release him with a smug “I'm the champion of the world” look on his face.

  Gavin punches him hard in the shoulder, with a slight grin forming under his angry facade. “You are so lucky Aella is here or you'd be looking up at me from the ground right now, old man.” he says to the guy who looks to be only ten years older, at the most.

  Jack turns on me at the mention of my name. Oh, dear Lord. Before I can react, he lifts me into a bear hug that makes my feet dangle at least a foot off the ground. This family seriously has a hugging problem. I am so stunned for a moment by his greeting that I don't respond until he places me back on the ground. I smooth out my clothes, making sure everything is still in its place before finally finding my voice. “You must be Uncle Jack, the Architect?”

  His grin spreads from ear to ear. “Aww, my little nephew talks about me? How sweet.”

  Gavin turns and raises his eyebrows at me. “I barely mentioned you. She just has a good memory.” he says, shrugging his shoulders like it’s no big deal.

  Jack just giggles like a little girl, making an instant smile form on my face. He is pretty adorable for such a beefy guy. He resembles what I would picture a brother of Gavin’s to look like, with the same dark hair and strong jaw. Although Jack has a full manicured beard.

  “Jack is my dad’s younger brother,” Gavin says before pointing around Jack to a tall, model-looking blonde that I hadn’t even noticed until now. “This is his wife, Sophia.”

  I give her a short wave. “Hi, I’m El.” Sophia is gorgeous. Girls all around the world would crave her flawless beauty if they saw her in a magazine. She gives me a warm smile, although I half expect her to be mean, just because she looks like the popular girl type that I never got along with in school.

  “Nice to meet you, El. Sorry if my husband scared you, he tends to go a little overboard.”

  “I’ll show you overboard!” Jack turns and sweeps her up into a much more intimate hug than the one he gave me, placing his large hands under her bottom and planting tender kisses on her lips. It’s almost unreal to see the hulk-sized man be so soft and gentle. It makes me want to be that close to someone.

  I glance over at Gavin and see that he is watching me with a grin, instead of the two lovebirds. I blush under his gaze.

  “Gavi!” An adorable little boy, maybe four or five, comes running into my line of sight and jumps into Gavin’s arms. He catches the boy with ease and tickles him mercilessly.

  “Stop, Gavi! I want to meet the pretty girl that you told me about. Can I now?” He loudly whispers to Gavin.

  Gavin’s eyes go wide, and he shushes the boy. I hear Jack laugh loud enough to cause an echo on the other side of the room and I only blush harder at the child’s less than hushed words. I smile at the hilarious look on Gavin’s face. “Ethan, we really need to work on your whispering.”

  Ethan looks confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I whisper good!”

  I can’t stop the giggle that escapes me at the overload of cuteness coming off of the adorable boy. Gavin’s eyes are shy when he glances back at me and I just give him a smile, enjoying him finally being the embarrassed one.

  “Aella, this is Ethan, my very loud cousin. He’s Jack and Sophia’s son.”

  Ethan whispers loudly again to Gavin. “Tell her I’m gonna be five!”

  Gavin rolls his eyes. “He is almost five years old!” He says with enthusiasm, for Ethan’s enjoyment, I’m sure. “Ethan, this is Aella, the pretty girl I told you about. You happy now, you little stinker?”

  I instantly become shy again at his words. My nerves just can’t seem to catch a break around him. “It’s nice to meet you, Ethan. That’s pretty cool that you’re going to be five soon.

  I’m eighteen!”

  His eyebrows raise high. “Wow, that’s super old! Can you run real fast like my daddy and Gavi?”

  Gavin freezes and his strange behavior confuses me. I look back at the adorable little blonde boy. “I don’t know, Ethan. I guess we will have to race to find out who’s the fastest.”

  Jack makes a choking noise, almost like a laugh that was cut short, behind me. “That’ll be interesting.” he says, still holding back a laugh.

  Ethan stands as tall as he can, trying to look big with his blue eyes shining. “My daddy says when I am eighteen, I will get to run fast too, and fight bad guys! But I’m already pretty good so I don’t need a lot of practice.” he brags with pride.

  “I bet you are.”

  Ethan’s grin stretches across his little face but before he can continue his adorable bragging, he is cut off.

  “Alright, Ethan. Why don’t we all take a seat and listen to what Gavin has come here to tell us today.” I turn, surprised at the deep voice coming from the front door.

  A man, probably a couple of inches taller than Gavin, enters the home. He is followed by a boy close to my age and a medium height brunette woman, who I’m guessing is in her thirties.

  The man doesn’t look very much older than Gavin’s mom but he carries himself as if he were a powerful leader, and considering the way everyone stops what they are doing when he enters, I’m assuming that’s not too far off. His prominent features resemble Jack’s and Gavin’s, which means he must be another brother of Gavin’s dad.

  Gavin comes to my side and addresses the intimidating man. “Aella, this is my uncle Hagen. He is my father’s older brother.” He turns apologetic eyes on me, making me worry.

  “Uncle Hagen, this is the girl I was telling you about.”

  I’m sure the shock is very noticeable across my pale face. Gavi
n has been telling everyone in his family about me and although it is flattering in a way, red flags fly up in my head, making me extremely concerned as to what this meeting is really about.

  Hagen reaches his hand out for me to shake, which I do. “Miss Lundon.” is all he says with a slight nod.

  “Um, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Cole.” I give him a weary smile, suddenly feeling very intimidated.

  Hagen’s face is emotionless and a little cold. I get no returning smile and I feel like I need to curtsy at him or something, but I’m sure that would make me look ridiculous. He turns and takes a seat on one of the couches closest to the unlit fireplace. Everyone else in the home follows suit, taking their own seats around the room.

  I find my spot by Gavin that I had vacated earlier. Tension and uncertainty coat the air around us as everyone waits for someone to speak first. There is no way in heck I’m opening my mouth to start this bizarre meeting.

  Thankfully, Gavin takes the lead. “Thanks, everyone, for coming here today. I know this is a little unorthodox but…a week ago, I was on assignment at a party by the college, when I ran into Aella.”

  He glances at me briefly before continuing, “I didn’t realize who she was at first, but there was something different about her.” He shifts uncomfortably and snakes a hand through his hair. “Well, I decided to do a little investigation and I found out that her birth mother was a Ganis.” Small gasps come from a few members of the group.

  I snap my head in his direction. “My mother?! What are you talking about, Gavin?”

  Gavin’s mom, Cami, speaks up from the opposite end of the couch that we occupy.

  “Aella… El, Ganis is a last name that is very well known around this area. The Ganis family are almost famous to people like us.”

  People like us? “I know my mother was from around here, but I thought her family was all gone, and her last name was Lundon.” I reply.

  Gavin places his hand on my leg. “She was born a Ganis and, you’re right, the Ganis family has been gone for a long time now. The name is just well known to people like us.” There it is again! His expression is sad, but I already knew I didn’t have any living relatives. Hearing it from others makes it slightly more real though.

  “Why is my mother’s maiden name significant today? I was hoping we came here to talk about you and your family, not me and mine. Also, why do you keep saying ‘people like us’? Do you mean wealthy, was my family rich or something?” I start to get frustrated by all of the beating-around-the-bush going on and the crowd of sad faces that don’t make any sense.

  “We are talking about both of our families and wealth isn’t the commonality.”

  I throw my hands up. “Then what is going on, Gavin?”

  From a chair on the opposite side of the coffee table, Jack speaks up. “Okay, Gavin, it’d probably be best if you start from the beginning. The... very, very beginning.”

  Gavin runs one of his large hands through his always messy head of hair. I watch the telltale movement with unease, knowing that he has something difficult to tell me. He sits up straight and angles his body toward me. “Alright, Aella, I am going to tell you something that

  may sound crazy and random to you at first.” He pauses. “Do you know anything about Greek Mythology?”

  My eyebrows knit together. “Um, kind of. It’s not really something I’ve studied but it was covered very briefly in my Literature class Sophomore year of high school.”

  He nods and continues. “Well, there are stories about men that were given, or oftentimes cursed with the gift of prophecy by the gods. These stories aren’t super well known but are incredibly significant. One man, Laocoon, was a servant of the god, Poseidon. Laocoon was injured and became blind, so he was given the ability to see into the future, as a gift from Athena.” He studies my face for a moment, where I’m sure confusion is plastered.

  He continues, “There were other stories too. Tiresias was a man who had been born with the gift of foresight. He grew to be an amazing warrior and used his gift for good.” He takes a short breath. “The members of my family are very long descendants of one of these men that were gifted or born with the ability to see into the future.” He looks deep into my eyes, silently begging me to understand.

  My palms sweat against my jeans as I try and wrap my head around his history lesson. I think back to what he told me last night outside of my bedroom. ‘I didn’t know he would grab you like that. I didn’t see it. I should’ve seen it.’ There’s no way he’s like me. No one is.

  “Gavin, how can you be certain that those men even existed? It’s mythology, right? They were stories, made up so long ago.” My voice is quiet.

  He shrugs and lets out a long breath. “I’ve grown up my whole life learning about them and I am positive they were real because I am the same as them, Aella.” His confession makes my eyebrows shoot up. “We also know of others who are descendants of those Seers in different parts of the world. There are ten groups, or families, but only two of the Seer families are from this area.”

  He holds up two fingers and knocks one down. “My grandfather’s family, the Cole’s.”

  He drops the other one and grabs one of my hands. “And the Ganis family…your family.”

  Harshly, I pull my hand away from his and look around at all of the pity-filled faces watching me. “Um, I think I need to go for a walk.” I stand up. “Please excuse me,” I whisper before I rush through the front doors of the house, looking for a place to escape from Gavin’s confession.

  I reach the end of the manicured lawn and find a dirt path that leads up into the trees behind Gavin’s childhood home. I follow it, taking the wonderful pine scent and the clean air into my hungry lungs. If what he was telling me is true, then I am not the only one with the ability to see the future as I had always thought.

  I never considered that it was something genetic, that had been passed down to me by my mother or that I could be part of a unique race of beings. What did he call it? Seers.

  How am I supposed to handle this? I’ve always known that my ability is an issue I have to live with, but it has always been something that needs to be kept completely secret because I am the only one like me, a freak.

  Maybe I’m not a freak after all, and I’m just another one of what they are. Though I can’t just open up to complete strangers about the one secret my parents asked me to keep, before they died.

  Chapter 9

  I’m not sure how long I have been walking through the woods. My mind is racing over the unsettling news that my secret isn’t as sacred as I thought it was. I pause on the trail as I consider turning back when I hear soft footsteps behind me. I sigh and keep my eyes forward, so I don’t have to face him and my own humiliation. “Gavin, I’m really not ready to talk yet.”

  A familiar voice that I never wanted to hear again speaks. It’s so close to my ear that I flinch. “Well, then. There are plenty of other things we could do if you’d like.”

  The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and my heart skips a beat out of dread. I turn and find myself staring into the dark eyeless pits that invade my nightmares. The well-dressed man is so close that I am nearly suffocating on his rotten stench. I don’t know how I hadn’t noticed before, but he smells like garbage that has been set on fire, which is such a contrast to his good looks and black tailored suit.

  My voice is caught in my throat and my stomach churns. All I can think about is getting away from him before I puke. I back away from him slowly, only to find myself pressed into the side of a rough tree trunk.

  The creature speaks again with a wide grin stretched across his face. “Where are you going sweetheart? Aren’t you glad to see me again?” His voice is laced with desire and a deep rasp that makes me shudder.

  “I’ve told you before, I don’t know who you are or what you w-want from me.” I stutter, too frightened to make myself act brave. “I need to go find my friend now.”

  I try to move around him, but he growls a
t me and grabs both of my shoulders, pressing me hard against the tree at my back. “There is no need to worry about your friends right now, except for your sweet little girlfriend, of course. I was so sad to hear about how her date just lost it and attacked her. I really hope she didn’t get too hurt.” His calm expression shows no remorse over Kassy getting hurt.

  I suddenly find a little bit of the bravado that escaped me moments ago. “Did you have something to do with that?” I ask, louder than necessary.

  He just shrugs. “It was nothing really. I’ll do better next time.” He acts as if nearly killing Kassy and myself was just some practice run gone wrong. “You really should have stayed out of it. I was fine with just taking your friend but there is something about you that has grabbed my attention, little one.” He watches my lips and I pull them in, trying to get them further from him.

  “Now I am torn.”

  “Why don’t you just leave us both alone, then? There are a lot of fish in the sea, you know. Some girls like the whole tortured psycho thing, so move on!” My fear is slowly being replaced by anger.

  I try to move away from the bark digging into my shoulder blades, but I’m quickly shoved back even harder. A whimper escapes my throat from the pain of the bark slicing my skin, most likely causing me to bleed.

  “I am right where I need to be. I’ve found something of real interest to me and that doesn’t happen often where I’m from.” My captor releases one of my arms and traces a long, cold finger down my cheek.

  His finger reaches the scarf around my neck and he pulls it down, revealing the bruises.

  His smile broadens, showing off his pearly-white teeth, making me feel sicker at his enjoyment of my pain. “Beautiful.” is all he says.

  “My bruises are beautiful? You are sick! What are you, the devil?” I force out through my anger. The blood is boiling in my veins and all I want to do is hurt him in any way that I can.