04 Last

by Lynnie Purcell

  “What do you mean ‘erase memories’?” Susan asked.

  “Exactly how it sounds,” I told her. “There’s a guy we know with abilities outside the normal. That ability includes erasing people’s memories.”

  “I don’t want my memory erased,” Susan said.

  “It might be for the best…” Daniel said.

  Susan shook her head with fierce determination. Her eyes suggested she would put up a fight, if it came down to it.

  “I don’t want to forget,” Susan said. “I would rather know. I can keep my mouth shut as well as anyone.”

  Daniel looked at me. His eyes told me it was dangerous for her to know – that it put her at risk. He was right, but I also knew that she had gone beyond what a normal person would do to help. She had faced her fear and her doubt to make sure I was safe and had what I needed. She had earned the right to remember. Too, it was her choice; she was willing to face the danger. I couldn’t take that choice from her.

  The door swung open again and Reaper, followed closely by Alex and Spider walked in to the station. Alex looked relived to see me, while Spider merely looked nervous. He didn’t like the idea of being in a police station voluntarily. King followed after them, a curious look in his neon-blue eyes.

  “This is really where you from?” King asked me as entered.

  “Sort of,” I agreed.

  “I grew up in a place kinda like this,” King said. “Hated it. Made me crazy. Stole my first car when I was twelve, just to have something to do. Of course, that was when horses were more reliable. Got a mile down the road before the tire blew…”

  “You want to focus?” Reaper asked him.

  King shrugged noncommittally and eyed the three men on the ground.

  “What do you want exactly?” King asked.

  “They need to forget that I’m a suspect in a murder investigation and that they found Sheriff Cobb with my DNA evidence on him…” I said.

  “And that you were ever here,” Susan said.

  “Right,” I agreed.

  “Sheriff Cobb needs to have died in a forest accident,” Daniel said. “Something tragic, maybe a little suspicious, but nothing that implicates Clare.”

  King nodded in understanding. “I can do that.”

  He moved across the space and touched Chuck on the arm. He only touched him for the briefest of moments before moving on to the next man in line. As he worked his magic on the cops, I turned to the others.

  “You guys didn’t beat up Eli, did you?” I asked.

  “Beat him up? Why?” Daniel asked.

  “For not stopping Chuck from taking me,” I said.

  “No,” Daniel said.

  “I don’t know how I feel about that,” I said with a smile.

  Reaper looked down at the sword I had in my hand. His eyes assessed it as only someone who had seen dozens of silver swords could.

  “That’s it?” Reaper asked.

  I held it up to show him.

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  “It’s excellent craftsmanship. I’ve never seen its equal,” Reaper said.

  “I suppose that would be the reason the historian had it,” Daniel said. “She’s not one to hold on to something that is ‘usual.’”

  “I suppose,” Reaper agreed.

  “Where are Margaret and Jackson?” I asked.

  “Taking care of someone,” Daniel said.

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “Marcus had a Seeker watching the station. There was a fight. They’re cleaning it up,” Daniel said.

  “Oh,” I said.

  The Seeker would explain Chuck’s strange actions. Maybe it was the Seeker controlling Chuck and not Marcus…or both.

  King was finished with his task. He stood and looked at Susan questioningly; his stance was subconsciously aggressive. Something he wasn’t even aware of as he looked at Susan. Susan, however, was aware. She looked at me for help.

  “She’s fine,” I said to King.

  King accepted my word without argument. He turned away and went back out in to the rainy, cold day. Reaper ushered Alex and Spider out of the station with a flutter of his hands as Daniel tried to pull me after them. I hesitated, stopping at the door to look back at Susan.

  “Thank you,” I said to Susan.

  Susan accepted my ‘thanks’ with a smile. Her smile gave way to caution.

  “Whatever you are doing…be careful. I feel that more than a sword is at risk,” she said.

  She had no idea…or did she? I smiled at her, reassuring I would try to ‘be careful,’ and let Daniel’s strong hand pull me from the station. Around us, the cold wind of autumn ushered us to hurry. We had a task to finish – a task that could not wait.

  Chapter 9

  The others came out of the woods when they saw us. They looked at me as if rescuing me was par-for-the-course, as if I purposefully went out of my way to kidnapped. Eli and I exchanged an awkward glance – the sort of glance shared between two people holding a shared secret that neither wanted to share. Jackson was grinning sarcastically.

  “You like getting abducted, don’t you?” Jackson asked. “I mean, it’s, like, a thing for you.”

  “Yep. It’s right behind torture and mayhem on my favorite’s list,” I agreed.

  “We should not waste any more time,” Serenity said. “The historian must be reached today or our window of success will close.”

  We stared at her.

  “Don’t you think you could have told us that before now?” I asked.

  “I was told to keep my mouth shut,” Serenity said.

  Reaper rolled his eyes at her tone then looked Daniel.

  “What is the best way to approach the historian?” Reaper asked.

  Daniel shrugged once. “I have no idea. I’ve never tried. She’s a legend, not a friend.”

  “Why don’t we just go?” I suggested. “I’ll say ‘hi’ to her then we’ll figure out the truth and get on with this nonsense.”

  “What about the killing-strangers-on-sight habit she has?” Daniel asked. “Does that worry you?”

  “I will be very, very convincing,” I said.

  I turned to Alex with more important news; news I knew she would want to hear. News that would matter more to her than the end of the world.

  “I talked to Ellen and Sam,” I told her. “They are definitely getting married. Ellen asked Sam…but I get the impression it’s going to be soon. They sounded all weird about it.”

  Alex smiled at the news.

  “Really? We’re going to be sisters for real?” Alex asked.

  “For reals,” I said with a teasing grin.

  Alex smiled and put a hand around my waist, hugging me tight.

  “Awesome,” she said.

  The others looked at us oddly. They thought it was strange we would take a break merely to talk about a wedding. But they didn’t understand. They were too Watcher-y to know the importance of the little things. Daniel was used to our breaks. He was also more focused – he was thinking ahead. The sense of command surrounded him as he tried to figure out what was best.

  “Sara, take King back to the ship,” Daniel said.

  King looked as if he wanted to argue – he was obviously intrigued by the drama we were wrapped in – but he had learned the value of taking orders. His eyes flickered for the briefest of moments to Reaper, to check with him. Reaper’s face was in agreement with Daniel’s command. King took the hand Sara was offering to him.

  “Come back here when you’re done,” Daniel added to Sara.

  Sara nodded in agreement, and she disappeared with King. Daniel turned to the rest of the group.

  “I think Clare and I should go ahead and see the historian by ourselves,” he said.

  I knew he had timed it for Sara’s disappearance. He wanted to make it harder for them to follow.

  “Why?” Reaper asked, while the others made various sounds of disapproval.

  “The historian might feel as if we are tr
ying to strong-arm her if we show up with a large group. You don’t have to be far behind, just far enough that she doesn’t think we’re trying to kill her.”

  “But what if she decides to kill you anyways?” Reaper asked. “We won’t be able to help.”

  “I don’t plan on getting in a fight with her,” Daniel said. “Clare can get us out of there in a second.”

  “It’s a good plan,” Serenity said to Reaper. “The historian won’t like it if we all show up. Clare has the best chance of succeeding.”

  Alex looked at Serenity with a frown on her face.

  “Now I’m worried,” Alex said. “Serenity would only agree if it was dangerous.”

  Serenity smiled coyly at Alex but didn’t reply to her comment. Daniel was getting impatient. I saw it in the way his foot tapped against the ground in agitation.

  “It’s the best way,” Daniel said.

  Reaper had made his decision. “We will keep our distance. Don’t expect us to wait too long, however. We all have a vested interest in this...it’s not just you against the world anymore.”

  “I know,” Daniel agreed.

  Alex dropped her hand from my waist. She looked more than a little annoyed. She crossed her arms and eyed Reaper with danger in her eyes.

  “We’re just going to let them walk in to a possible deadly situation alone?” Alex asked.

  “It’s the right thing to do,” Reaper said.

  “Right?” she asked.

  “Best,” Reaper corrected. “Daniel and Clare have good instincts. We should trust them.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed. She could see that she was not going to win the argument. She would have to accept the fact that Daniel and I were walking in to danger and there was nothing she could do about it.

  “If this historian-lady-person doesn’t have the answers we need, I’m going to slap someone,” Alex said.

  “I think Serenity is available for slapping later,” I teased. “Why don’t you ask her if she’ll volunteer?”

  Serenity eyes narrowed; her face dared anyone to ask her such a thing. Alex also wasn’t happy with my teasing. She was seriously worried. Her worry was touching, but not helpful. If we had to step in to a dangerous situation to do what needed to be done, then that was just what we would do. At least I would have Daniel at my side this time. I found it hard to believe there was a situation he could not best.

  Daniel took hold of my hand, before any of the others could argue. He held his hand out to Reaper briefly, to share the spot we were going to and to tell him we would call when we were ready. Then, Daniel looked at me.

  “Let’s go,” Daniel said.

  I gripped the sword I had only recently claimed and focused on the image Daniel had left in my head. It was difficult to focus. The descriptions of the historian had left me feeling intimidated. The historian did not sound like the sort of person I wanted to cross. She would not be an easy person to meet. But if it helped bring down Marcus, I would see if I could talk her in to not killing me on sight. My doubt haunting me, we moved in to the world of darkness.

  The landscape we set down in was unlike any I had experienced in my travels. I was used to cities and towns, not towns with no one in them. I was used to people and life, the feeling of people dominating the city more than the structures. Our landing had given way to…emptiness.

  Dilapidated buildings stretched along a narrow, dirt road. The road wound around the broken town then maneuvered through large buildings that had been used for mining. The mining buildings were nestled between long rows of rolling mountains unpopulated by trees and shrubs. Large shoots for transporting the raw material from the mines was as tall as a two-story building and linked the mountains.

  The buildings along the road we had landed at looked as if they had, at one point, been houses, a school, a general store, and a church. Tall grass grew everywhere – in between the slats of the porches, along the road, and up to the rolling, rigid mountains.

  Daniel, who still held my hand though we had landed safely, started pulling me along the dirt road. He did not have a weapon pulled, but I sensed him looking at every shadow, every dark place and wondering if we were about to be attacked.

  I was just as nervous.

  “Why do they call her ‘the historian’?” I asked him as we walked, to get my mind off the looming confrontation.

  “Because she can see the history of anything,” Daniel explained. “An object, a building, a person and, some say, even in the land. She sees the history and never forgets it.”

  “How do you know where she is?” I asked. “Have you been here?”

  “I like to keep an eye on all the Elders,” Daniel said. “It is part of what I do…protecting people, I mean. Sometimes the Elders go too far, just like other Watchers. I do what I have to.”

  The expression on his face was dark. I wondered how often he had done what he ‘had to.’

  “Has the historian ever gone too far?” I asked.

  Daniel’s headshake was emphatic.

  “Never. She’s one of the good…as ‘good’ as ‘good’ ever is.”

  “If you say so…” I said.

  We rounded a bend in the trail, headed toward the mining buildings. It was then that the first sign of trouble stopped us in our tracks. Bodies were on the side of the narrow trail. Some of the bodies were scorched beyond recognition, but others were simply dead. Surrounding the bodies of the dead were piles of ash; the ash of Watchers torched to keep them from returning from the dead.

  “Good?” I questioned skeptically.

  Daniel was staring at the bodies as well. His eyes were veiled; the violence said something else to him. It told a different story.

  “There’s a lot of grey area in good,” Daniel pointed out.

  “Why are there Watchers and humans dead, then?” I asked. “What grey area explains that?”

  “She may have it where Watchers can’t pass without permission,” Daniel said. “It’s an old trick…kind of painful, but useful to know. Some Watchers would be willing to pay humans to find a way close to her, to kill her or worse. Like I said…grey area.”

  “Why would they be after her?” I asked. “What’s so important that so many would be willing to die?”

  “What she knows,” Daniel said.

  “Like what?” I asked.

  Daniel pulled me to the ground. The sound of a gunshot echoed around the hills surrounding us. I hit the dirt with a hard thump, his fear making him more forceful than he had intended. The bullet landed a few feet from us and exploded on impact. Daniel forced me out of the way as it exploded. I looked at the spot the bullet had exploded then at Daniel, who was looking around the barren landscape for signs of our attacker.

  “I think she knows we’re here,” I said.

  “You think?” Daniel asked dryly.

  He pulled me to my feet and forced me to the side of road. We ran to the relative safety of a ruined car, complete with the bodies of a passenger and driver, and ducked behind the rusted metal. More bullets came down from the hills as we ran. They all exploded as they hit; my ears rang with the sound.

  “Exploding bullets?” I asked.

  “Incendiary rounds,” Daniel explained. “It’s smart. Takes care of Watchers and humans in one shot.”

  “You can admire her after we end up not dead,” I pointed out.

  More rounds peppered the car at my words. Small flames sprung up from what was left of the seats. Daniel peeked over the top of the car, his mind working overtime to figure out a way close to her without being shot by an exploding round. I realized that was exactly the problem – he was thinking as the others had thought.

  He wanted to get close to her then confront her with the truth of who we were. She was used to that tactic; she had picked a rifle to keep people from getting too close. The only way not to end up a crispy critter was to let her make the choice to let us close. She was too skilled at staying alive to allow us close for any other reason. It was risky, but it was the
only way. I pulled Daniel down as another round echoed around the mountains. It landed inches from where Daniel had been standing. I made him look at me, instead of at the invisible shooter out to claim our lives.

  “I’m going to do something stupid,” I told Daniel.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I don’t know yet, that’s what makes it stupid,” I said.

  “Clare…” he started to protest.

  “Just stay here, okay?” I asked.

  He sighed, recognizing perhaps that my craziness might be the only way to accomplish where others had failed.

  “No promises,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes at his non-promise and stood up. I held the sword over my head, trusting she could see it with her Watcher eyes. I stepped around the car and moved back to the dirt road again.

  “My name is Clare Michaels,” I said. “I’m not here to hurt you or use you. I came to ask you some questions about my past.”

  There was a long pause.

  “How did you come by that sword Clare Michaels?” a voice asked.

  It was hard to pinpoint location. It sounded as if it were everywhere at once.

  “It’s a family heirloom,” I said. “Given to one of my family for helping a warrior in battle…or so I’ve been told.”

  “The sword was payment for the debt,” the voice said. “I owe nothing to your family.”

  “I’m not saying you do,” I said. “I just wanted you to know that I’m not like the others.”

  A shot rang out from the hills. I didn’t move, though I sensed Daniel about to spring out from behind the car and tackle me. The shot landed in front of me, far enough away that it didn’t hurt. I still didn’t move. I refused to move. I urged Daniel with my hand to keep his place.

  “You’re brave, I’ll give you that,” the voice said.

  “I’m not here for you to think I’m brave,” I said honestly. “I’m here because I want you to tell me the truth about my family history. I’ve been told it will help stop Marcus, maybe even the end of the world.”

  “You aim to kill Marcus?” the voice asked curiously.

  “Yep,” I agreed.