“Everything okay, over here?” Charlie questioned and then hacked a loogie. His dark, burly shadow, was a sight for my sore eyes – literally. They itched like they were sun burnt after Jace returned my senses back. I tucked my hands under my back so I couldn’t be tempted to cover them.
“Just peachy,” I said, lying in my personal sweat pool.
Charlie made a noise to suggest he didn’t believe me. “Unless it’s supervised, guys and gals don’t fight.”
Swallowing hard, I thought about lying to get Jace off my back, but for some reason I doubted he’d back off that easily. “Not fighting Charles, I’m just finishing up a set of gut busters.”
“I haven’t seen you around before,” Charlie said. The way the light hit the manager’s face, I could see him picking left-over food out of his teeth. For the life of me, I hoped he had a toothpick in hand. “And, I don’t remember you handing me cash for a day pass.”
“He’s with me, Charles,” I blurted out. What was I doing?!
“With you?” Charlie questioned.
Now I was stuck trying to think of a decent story to cover my lie. I hesitated a moment too long before Jace piped up. “I’m thinking about MMA fighting, so I’m just checking out a few gyms. Since my girlfriend comes here, I figured I’d check it out.”
Girlfriend? Jace had a death wish.
“Mixed martial arts, huh?” Charlie said, giving my “boyfriend” the once over. “Scrawny kid like you?”
“I hold my own,” Jace assured, pushing off the mat.
Charlie’s shadow turned to Jace and then to me, repeatedly for a few moments. Before walking away Charlie snorted, “You could do better than this punk, Winnie.”
Gritting my teeth, I maneuvered my lips into a forced smile and tried to convey that everything was all right. As soon as Charlie rounded the corner, I rolled over and buried my face onto the mat. My cheeks flared hot. Counting to ten, I pressed my palms on my eyes in a poor attempt to block out everything. Sweat dripped from my brow. The salty fluid stung as it seeped into my palms. The cuts I endured from sliding onto the sidewalk had yet to fully heal. If that weren’t enough, my stomach twisted into knots. Jace was still prodding me, seeing how much I could handle.
I couldn’t figure out what was more infuriating – that his mission in life was to pester me, or that I beginning to not hate it. Overshadowed by the initial disapproval, my infatuation with title of his girlfriend filled me with unexplainable delight.
“Girlfriend?” I asked.
“Poor choice of wording, I agree,” Jace said, resuming his previous position as the glorified model sprawled out on the mat. “But you weren’t coming up with anything better.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Keeping tabs on you,” Jace said shamelessly.
Being that my expertise with the male species was unfortunately unpracticed, I treaded carefully. The Unknown Territory of Man-land was Bree’s specialty, not mine.
“What do I have to do, or say, or whatever to make you not want to keep tabs on me?” I asked.
“We’ll get to that, but this is better.”
“Better as in, I’m obeying you?”
When a deep moan escaped Jace’s chest, a clasp closed around my throat. The mat sank under the weight of his body as he slid closer. The burning in my cheeks had returned, and my heart beat like I was in mid-sprint.
“To have someone like you obey me,” he said and then took a breath like it was hard to breathe. “It would be unexpected and appreciated. If you’d like me to leave you alone, I’d like permission to try… something… to ensure your safety.”
At this point, I’d do almost anything to keep him from torturing me day in and day out. “You have a deal, as long as it doesn’t kill me and you don’t try kidnapping me – or instigate a plan out of any evil villains’ plot book.”
He sighed. “What I want to do may be… unpleasant.”
More unpleasant than lying in a pool of sweat wishing there was some kind of cream I could rub directly on my burned eyes? “What do you want to do?”
“Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t give me pleasure to see you suffering. You need to be able to tolerate us and our abilities better than this. If you’re in close proximity to many of us, we might kill you without even trying to. We are running out of time, especially if there are Hunters hiding in Ashwick, but your current state of tolerance is unacceptable.”
I got the impression it was a bad idea to let him do what he wanted simply because he said he wanted to protect me, but this was my opportunity to get rid of him. I had to take it.
“I’ve got on my big girl panties. I can handle whatever you throw at me,” I said.
He burst out laughing. “Your face is smashed into the floor, Gwyneth. It is not really instilling much confidence that you won’t pass out quickly.”
“Just do it,” I insisted, peeking at him.
“You have to make everything difficult, don’t you,” he said and an intense blaze matured around him before I got the chance to question him about the types of hunters who’d kill me by association. The fine lines, definition of his body that only used to become visible when I closed my eyes now created an entirely different picture in white glory. Intense pressure hit my eyes. The back of my skull felt like it was ripping apart. Flames skimmed his body, blanketing him in a white abyss. His shoulders melted away from the white orb to those of a young man’s I’d seen somewhere but couldn’t quite place. Muscles grew from his once shapeless arms, chest, and torso. The inferno growing over him blocked out much of the detail of his face.
“I want to open your eyes to a world you’ve forgotten, my dear Chronicler,” Jace whispered and vigilantly wiped the damp hair away from my face.
Love poured from his words but hinted of remorse too. A warning of what once was, as well as the unknown future, was woven throughout his adoration. Mingling with Jace and his friends, ensured my protection, but prophesied suffering. If my visions were any hint of the future at all, my life was only going to go downhill from here.
My cheeks burned from his touch. He awakened a lost reminiscence, hiding within me. Watching his body ignite for me, awakened a passion I couldn’t deny.
“What are you?” I panted when a red haze clouded my vision. Dark tears, blood, leaked from my eyes.
“A Healer,” he replied softly and wiped the tears from my cheek. He inspected the liquid. Something about it pleased him. Rubbing the dark liquid between his thumb and forefinger, he turned his focus on me.
“And you think I’m your Chronicler?”
“If not, you’re still one of us,” he said. The ringing that blocked out everything except from his voice escalated so loudly and quickly, it took every fiber of my being not to scream. “And if I’m to do what I promised Deino, you must willingly give yourself to me.”
My eardrums crackled. He silenced the ringing after caressing my ear and drew back blood. Placing his palms over my ears, he recited a verse in his strange language. His deep, methodical voice promised that he’d keep me safe even though I was to endure suffering. His words caressed my soul just as they tortured my body. The flickers of colorless fire intensified, consuming us as he embraced me.
“I’m not anybody important, Jace,” I admitted.
“I believe your sisters would disagree with you.”
My body blistered apart like I was being burned alive, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, and couldn’t inhale. Jace held me. I was his prisoner. I was unable to do anything while gawking at his daunting, yet beautifully unattainable, sight. I looked where his eyes should have been – utter colorlessness beckoned me.
“Forgive me for all the lost years,” he said, as I let go of consciousness.
CHAPTER SIX
I awakened to the unmistakable scent of chloroform. Charlie grunted in approval when I slapped his hand away from my face. Why did I pass out? What happened? Then the memory of Jace’s colorless fire devouring me, leaving m
y body cold, surfaced I was immediately mentally and physically exhausted.
Charlie kept asking if I was all right, and if the punk kid I was with had hurt me. My replies were barely audible, but I managed to tell him I’d simply overworked myself. I don’t know if he believed me, but he left me alone once I made my way to the girls’ locker room. Once inside, I stumbled out of my clothes and turned on the shower faucet. I cherished the warm water, as it dripped down my frozen body. I leaned against the shower wall and pretended not to notice that the soapy water no longer burned against the scrapes on my palms. When I fell on the sidewalk after seeing the vision of the fallen angel, my palms were covered in thick scrapes. Now they were nonexistent. Checking my ears and eyes, I detected no blood residue. What kind of a sadistic Healer was Jace?
After drying off, I changed into my post-workout attire consisting of mesh shorts, a baggy sweat shirt, and a light jacket. A cold breeze blew my hair out of my face as I pushed through the gyms outside glass door. My cell rang. The volume must have been reset, because I was pretty sure people in China had heard it.
“Where are you at?” Bree demanded. Her voice carried absurdly loud. Maybe Jace had messed with the settings while I’d passed out. “I’ve called like half a million times! You were supposed to call me as soon as you were done at KnockOuts.”
“I didn’t mean literally,” I mumbled and pulled my jacket tighter around me. A cold wind penetrated through my mesh clothes. I couldn’t get warm!
“You were hitting the bags for five hours? It’s already a quarter to nine,” she said in an accusative tone, that I was lying. “Ryker and his friends will be ready to celebrate their big win.”
Staring intensely at the westward sun, I assessed the usual brightness with what it normally looked like at sunset. All the shapes, shadows, and light filtered like it normally did at the end of the day, not when it was already nightfall. My hearing was acting like it was on steroids, and now I was seeing things more plainly. My anxiety peaked. I didn’t have to say a word – Bree knew me well enough to know that something was wrong.
“I’ll be there in a shake, Winnie.”
Sitting along the park bench, I impatiently waited for my mind to piece back the last few hours of my life: Library, Marco, KnockOuts, Jace. That couldn’t have taken more than a couple hours total. I checked my voicemail; I had four missed calls from Bree, one from Martha, and one from Hector. One of Bree’s messages was a hang-up; another was an urgent message of her demanding me to return her call, and the last was a two-minute lecture about the hazards of ignoring her. Martha’s message was time stamped at 4:10, asking me to make sure Elsie got home safe since she had several errands to run. The last was from Hector, apologizing for not being able to make it today because his district manager dropped by for an unplanned visit to assess quality.
I was half panicked and freezing cold when Bree honked her horn twice, signaling her arrival. The horn, along with the rumbling of the engine, made me want to plug my ears. The sound of her shoes slapping against the pavement was magnified tenfold.
She grabbed my hand and gasped. “Winnie, you’re ice cold!”
My mouth dropped, as did my walking stick. Her shadowy figure held definition. It was brief. Her thin but perfectly shaped lips moved like she was speaking, but I heard nothing. Bree’s curly, long hair, framed her oval face. Her slender nose and high cheekbones led up to her full, bright eyes. Her confused expression somewhat took away from the softness in her face, but I saw the black and white version of my best friend! Just as quickly as it came, the definition left me looking at her mudded, dark shadow. I couldn’t believe it.
“Winnie, are you okay?” Bree asked loudly, like she’d been repeating herself.
I tried to tell her what I thought I saw until my frontal lobes started working properly again. What was I supposed to tell her? So, you know how I shouldn’t be able to see white from black, well I sort of do. And after I let Jace improve my tolerance – yeah, I don’t know what that means either –I just saw your face.
“I’m just a little dizzy,” I replied, taking her hand, instead of opting for my fallen walking stick. “The after game party is a no-go. Can you please take me home?”
Bree nodded but didn’t say anything. She didn’t believe me. Why would she? I didn’t believe me. We walked to her noisy pick-up. I stared out the window, taking in the way I saw the shapes of the people and buildings that flew by as Bree sped to my place. Before I could ask if she could help me to my room, Bree had her door open and was already walking around the vehicle to help me inside. She might give me grief day in and day out, but she was there when I needed her to be.
“Hello, Bree,” Martha said, when she saw us walking into the house. Max came running at my feet and then sniffed me like I’d just rolled around in doggy bones.
“Winnie, I just wanted to thank you for watching Elsie for a few hours today. I know you were planning on going to the gym after school, but appreciate you not leaving until Elsie made it home safe.”
Elsie peeked over the stair rail and said that she’d cleaned up the dishes from our cookie-dough, after school snack, before Martha got home. I stopped in my tracks. Had Elsie just covered for me, or had I seriously lost a few hours of my afternoon?
Bree handed me off to Elsie when I reached the stairs. I saw the faint outline of her face when she took my hand. Three tiny moles speckled her face, just next to her mouth. She smiled nervously; she had the biggest lips I’d ever imagined that would belong on a young girl. Bree distracted Martha while I stared dumbfounded at the girl holding my hand.
“You covered for me?”
She nodded.
“I totally owe you,” I whispered. “Sorry about not getting the message and leaving you hang here alone.”
She double squeezed my hand. Not wanting to freak her out, I loosely held her hand until I tripped on the third step. From that point on we held on tight. She stopped at my door. We stood there in silence while Bree talked loudly enough to Martha saying that we both had gotten burgers at the concession stand at the football game, so we weren’t hungry.
“Bed?” I asked, welcoming her into my room.
Elsie led me to my bed and didn’t leave until I sat down. “I thought you might have left for good,” she said.
I smiled. “This is my home. I’ll always come back. Thanks for covering for me. I had an emergency come up and didn’t check my voice mails till after it was too late.”
Bree walked in. “You’re Elsie, right?”
She nodded.
“You’re all right in my book, kiddo,” Bree said. “Thanks for the cover. Martha had been on ‘red-alert’ even before you got here.”
Elsie flinched, like she wanted to comment but couldn’t bring herself to utter a word. She whispered good-night to me before she left. Bree sat along the edge of the bed and waited for me to explain what the hell was going on. Drumming her fingers on her knee, she coughed silently.
“Quiet kid,” Bree commented.
Like I used to be, I thought. “She’ll come around.”
“You’re not her keeper.”
I scoffed, “Apparently she’s mine.”
“Hope you’re not hungry.”
“I’d puke if I ate anything.”
Bree stared at me. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“When I can figure out what’s going on, I will tell you, Bree. It’s just I’ve been a little under the weather and something’s going on with my sight that I can’t explain.”
“If it’s getting worse, go to the doctor,” she said.
“My foster parents will freak if I ask them to schedule a doctor’s appointment right now,” I said. I couldn’t tell her the whole truth because I didn’t even understand it. “Martha flipped a lid when she picked me up from the nurse’s office, and John isn’t exactly happy with me.” I didn’t add that it was because of the HomFree bill he’d gotten in the mail because I requested a check-up.
Bree�
��s cell vibrated, keeping her from giving me a longwinded lecture. After shooting off a text, she set her phone down beside her. It vibrated again shortly after. She answered the call.
“Sorry, Ryker, Winnie cancelled, so I’m stuck home too. I’m sorry, but you know what my ma said last time she found out Winnie wasn’t with us... I’ll see what I can do about tomorrow,” Bree said and waited a moment. “He’s with you? I didn’t think Jace was big on football games.”
A moment later she giggled into the phone. She nodded her head while the person on the other line talked. “Of course you can talk to her.”
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