“I wouldn’t put it that way, but yes, it is quite a task. That was why I was hoping that I would never have to tell you. It’s not that I didn’t want to. There was never a need. Miranda has made things more complicated, however, with her diabolical plans.” My mother looked at Nick. “Was that enough for you?”
“That will do for now,” he said, glancing at me. “Do you have any questions?”
“Where do I begin?” I asked, putting my head in my hands.
Chapter 7
Krista
My mother invited Nick to stay with us in the spare bedroom. He thanked her for her hospitality, after which they remained in the living room talking while I took a few moments to get away. I made the bed for him and fetched him some fresh clothes that had belonged to my stepfather.
“I understand that it’s a lot to take in,” I heard Nick say behind me as I finished putting the comforter on the bed. I wasn’t aware that he had even entered the room.
“Yeah, it is,” I said, turning to look at him.
“I’m here to make sure you find the others.”
“Krista came to me in a dream and told me about her second chance. When will she become whole again?” I thought it worth asking though I wasn’t sure if he could answer the question.
“I don’t know. I assume when the next Warden shows. Not that you aren’t strong enough to bring her back. I just think that the power of Earth is the only way she can be revived successfully.”
“How do we do it? How do we bring her back?”
“We will have to go to her grave. Meaning, we have a road trip in our future. I cannot tell you when though, Dawn. As much as I want to, that is one thing that remains uncertain.” He reached out and touched my shoulders.
“Who is Earth?” I gently enquired.
“Her name is Helen Price. She lived in Midvale a few years ago. Came here to save someone when they cried out for help.” He gave me a smile. “She’s a great girl.”
“I know who she is,” I said, my voice cracking. “She saved Adam.”
“Who’s Adam?”
“My best friend,” I answered. It was true. Adam was my best friend, and there was no denying it. He had been there for me through anything and everything.
“How do you know she was here for him?” Nick asked.
“He told me.”
“Well, isn’t this interesting?” he said softly, almost to himself.
“I’m worn out, so I think I’m going to bed now,” I told him. “I think we have a pretty busy day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I agree. I have to find the water Warden still. It’s a tedious business.” He stretched.
I turned to leave the room.
“We will get him back, Dawn.”
I gave him a hopeful smile. All I wanted was to make sure that Wesley was okay. Our brief conversation had in no way put my mind at ease.
“Thanks,” I said, shutting the bedroom door behind me, and going to my room, where I fell face first on the bed.
I fell asleep in my clothes that night. I couldn’t even pull together enough motivation to put on my pajamas.
****
“Dawn?” a familiar voice called from the darkness.
“Krista?”
“I see you have met the Prophet.” She laughed as she emerged slowly in solid form before me.
“He’s an odd boy,” I said, transfixed by her beauty. Tonight, she had gone all out with a long white dress.
“He will get us to where we need to be. I called you here because I have news of your Wesley.”
My heart pounded.
“They are near the Mexican border. Miranda has been doing more recruiting over the last few weeks.”
“How do you know this?”
“I followed John without him knowing.”
She had a look of excitement to her that caused her complexion to glow.
“Is Wesley okay?” I asked as my heart began to pound in my ears.
“He’s alive. Though he doesn’t look like he can take much more, he’s sick, Dawn. Each day makes him weaker. She takes so much from him yet doesn’t allow him to replenish it. She has plans of turning him, but she’s messing with him worse than she ever messed with John.” She gave me a look of pity and folded her hands together nervously.
“We have to hurry!” I felt like my soul was falling apart. As each day passed, Wesley was moving closer and closer to his death.
“We can only go so fast, Dawn. There are just the three of us right now. We need Water to be at full power, and even then, we need Carriers to stand with us.” She reached out and touched my face. “We will save him, Dawn.”
“I’ve heard that twice today,” I muttered, looking into her blue eyes.
“Then just believe. Nick will find our water Warden. Helen will be here sooner than you think, and then we will all be together.”
“I cannot wait to bring you back,” I said with tears in my eyes.
She smiled.
“I don’t know if I remember what it is like to be whole anymore. Being transparent has been my only physical form for so long.”
She glanced around in the darkness.
“Thank you for finding things out for me.”
“You would do the same for me if it were John,” she replied.
“What are we going to do about him?” I asked.
“I don’t know yet. There is still that goodness in him that I loved. But it’s buried deep in there, so I can only hope he can change.” She sighed.
“He’s done some horrendous things. We don’t know how many he stole innocence from.”
“I know. Everything he did is because another was controlling him. They have a blood bond that is so deep she can possess his body at any point and make him do things he would not normally do.” She took a step back. “I have to go now. I hope to see you in the flesh on our next visit.”
“I do as well, Krista.” I gave her a warm smile and watched her walk away. The world around me faded, and then there was nothingness.
****
I didn’t wake up immediately after the dream ended. I just went right on snoozing. There was nothing in it that required me to make notes or to ask further questions. I was actually getting rest for once.
When I woke up in the morning, I felt revitalized, something that I had not felt in quite some time. Somehow Krista’s message about Wesley left me restless though. Knowing he was alive made me happy, but the idea that he was dying a little each day made my heartache even worse.
The day moved on rather quickly. Almost before I knew it, I was in my fourth-period class. Noreen McDonald usually sat in front of me, but for some reason, she wasn’t there that day. Her absence distracted me. She never missed a day of school. It was odd, yes, but I didn’t give it too much thought.
When our fourth-period teacher came in, I sensed at once that something was wrong. Her eyes appeared glazed over, and she was visibly shaken. Her eyes strayed to the empty desk in front of me as if she was expecting Noreen to appear out of nowhere.
“Class!” she said boldly, standing in front of the empty desk. Everyone fell silent. “I have some unsettling news.”
She paused and glanced at me. I held her gaze and nodded my head at her as if I was telling her it was okay to go on.
How do I tell these children that a classmate was found dead in the woods, her throat ripped out?
I jumped, and my heart started racing. Had I just been inside her head? My senses swam. This was the first time I had ever read someone’s thoughts, other than my own. Had I somehow acquired another gift? Did I now have the ability to do what my father so loved to do with me?
“Noreen McDonald was found dead this morning,” our teacher announced. “Her body was discovered hidden in the woods.” Her voice cracked. She was obviously finding this hard.
Her body was dry, no blood in her veins.
I shivered. How was this happening?
That poor dear died alone in the woods.
All around me students burst into sobs of shock and grief. Noreen McDonald was our class president, a member of the basketball team, and pitcher for the girls’ baseball team. She was an all-around nice girl unless it concerned me. She was the girl in English who had started the rumor that I was a vampire when I first moved there. She had never appeared as if she wanted to get to know me. Instead, she would stick up her nose and walk away whenever I even tried to say anything to her. Not that I ever really tried much.
I pondered over what my teacher had just thought. No blood in the body and her throat torn out. It was the stuff that nightmares were made of.
“What happened?” one of the students asked.
Everyone turned to see who had spoken. It wasn’t a boy I recognized. His eyes were dark, but his hair was light. Had we got a new student without me knowing?
“They haven’t said,” our teacher answered quickly.
I glanced at her, and as her eyes met, she shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. I wondered suddenly if she knew that I could read her thoughts.
I felt woozy for a second and the room began to spin. I closed my eyes, trying to calm the effect. Just as I reopened my eyes, to find our teacher still staring at me, the loudspeaker came to life as the principal addressed the school. The atmosphere immediately became tense.
“Teachers, please send all seniors to the gym.”
Everyone began to stand and shuffle out of the room. None of them seemed to notice the way the teacher and I were looking at each other. No one was sobbing now. It was like they were just a bunch of robots. I blew it off as nothing; grief takes people separate ways, and many of them had just lost a dear friend.
“Dawn, could you hold back a second?” the teacher requested quietly.
I gave her a polite nod and waited till the others had passed by.
“I know you and Noreen didn’t see eye to eye.”
“We never really spoke,” I said defensively, crossing my arms.
“Something spooked you when I was talking to the class. Do you have some information about this?” I wasn’t sure if she was accusing me or just testing me.
“No, ma’am. I know no more than you do,” I said slowly, waiting for her to come to her point.
“As much as I do… how do you know as much as I do? Details have yet to be released.”
I hesitated. I couldn’t come out and tell her how I knew, as that would give away things that I barely understood myself. But I couldn’t say anything at all.
“Would you believe me if I said some weird stuff is happening? I can’t say more, even as shocking as it is about Noreen’s death. I have a feeling she’s not the only one.” I bit my tongue. That had not come out the way that I had meant for it to.
“Are you confessing to something?” Her voice had become dangerously low.
“No, ma’am! It was just an observation. Let’s not forget how Wesley disappeared and the ones who died in the shooting that day. We’ve already lost a lot of people; who’s to say we won’t lose more along the way?” I winced. The words coming out of my mouth didn’t sound my own. I had this horrible feeling I was getting myself into an even stickier situation with every sentence. Each time I opened my mouth something else incriminating seemed to come out.
“You’re in the hot seat, Dawn,” our teacher warned me. “People will want to know who’s to blame for this tragedy. And not everyone believes in your heroics during the shooting.” She smiled this creepy smile, and I guessed she was one of them.
“What are you saying?” I breathed.
“I’m saying you need to watch your back. They may have been led into believing you are an angel but have you told them about the demon in you as well?”
I reeled. What did she just say?
“I–I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” I stammered.
She frowned. “But that’s just the thing, Dawn; you understand perfectly well what I’m talking about.”
I gave her a flat look. “Then you’d better tell me.” I had this sensation that this wasn’t my teacher speaking anymore. Someone else was using her body as a puppet, controlling her actions and speech.
“The queen will have your core!”
I swallowed hard. This Hybrid Queen I had heard so much about had to be Miranda. There was no other explanation. However, who was this being in front of me? I put my hands to my face as dizziness threatened to overcome me again. The room felt suddenly hot, and I felt like I was spinning into oblivion. When I hit the floor, however, my vision cleared.
“Dawn? Dawn? Are you okay?”
My teacher’s hands were on my arms, hauling me up. I looked up into her face. Her expression was sweet and caring with all signs of cruelty gone. There was no way that this was the being who had just been speaking to me.
“What happened?” I asked, still searching her eyes.
“When you stood up you started to wobble and then you hit the floor. Are you all right?”
What had just happened? My teacher showed no sign of remembering the conversation we had just had. Was this something that was going to happen regularly?
“Is Noreen really dead?” I asked her, blinking. I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t for the moment.
“Yes, dear. They found her body this morning in the woods.” She stroked my cheek soothingly.
“That’s horrible,” I said, still struggling to make even the slightest sense of what had just happened.
“Maybe you should go to the nurse, Dawn. Have a lie-down and relax for a few minutes.” She ushered me toward the door. “You hit your head pretty hard when you went down.”
I took a step outside and immediately collided with someone going past. Despite my confusion, I was taken back immediately to my first meeting with Wesley. But when I looked up to see who it was, I saw eyes that were far less friendly than Wesley’s had been. It was the boy from class that I had not recognized. He didn’t appear at all happy at being run into.
“You know, you should watch where you’re going,” he said in a scathing voice.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” I said meekly. There was something in his eyes that was creeping me out. It was also vaguely familiar like I should remember his face from somewhere.
“Next time look up when you walk out a door.” He grabbed me by the shoulder and shoved me out of the way. “What’s your name?” he demanded.
“Dawn.”
“I’m Shawn,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain. He looked me up and down, pausing for a second at my waist like he was sizing me up.
“Nice to meet you,” I whispered automatically. I was too afraid to put my hand out so he could shake it.
“I would say likewise, but I’m not so sure it would be true.” He sniffed and turned away.
I felt anger and rage flow through me. What a complete asshole!
****
“You are feeling better, darling?” the school nurse asked me as she put her hand to my forehead.
“Yes, thank you.”
I had done exactly as my teacher had asked. Mostly because I knew that she would call ahead to make sure I made it there.
“Ms. Masters said you took a pretty good blow to the head when you hit the floor,” she said as she shone a light in my eyes. “Well, you don’t have a concussion. You should be okay.”
“Thank you, Ms. James,” I said, rubbing my eyes and blinking.
“You’re good to head back to class.” She smiled at me and walked back to her desk to make notes in my file. “Can you tell me something?” she asked, flipping pages.
“What’s that?” I replied, grabbing my sweater from the chair beside her desk.
“You have never been sick, never seen the nurse, never had a single broken bone or pulled muscle. Your shot records are up to date, but no physicals. How is it that an eighteen-year-old girl has never taken a sick day before in her life?” She looked at me, puzzled.
I should have known that sooner or later someone
was going to ask this question. I wasn’t entirely human, but I had all the characteristics of one. My blood was red, I had a heart and lungs thought with a brain. I just never get sick! I fell from heights, and I never broke a bone. The only being who had ever seriously hurt me was John. I supposed my hospital records relating to that occasion hadn’t made their way into my school file. It seemed the only thing that could hurt me was someone of the same species; those who were also not quite human but not quite something else. I felt the color drain from my face.
“I was attacked last December. I had a broken nose and several cracked ribs. I was beaten up pretty bad too.” I sighed, hoping it would get her off the subject.
“I remember hearing about that. Your hospital records don’t come to me. You didn’t miss any school because of it either. When you came back, you seemed to be moving fine.” She eyeballed me and then shrugged. “You must be one of the lucky ones.”
“I must be,” I said, giving her a small smile.
“I just wish I had your immune system.” She laughed and handed me a pass to go back to class.
I took it and left before she could ask me any more questions. Aaron was waiting in the hallway outside the nurse’s office, a concerned expression on his face.
“You okay?” he asked, touching my cheek. Why did everyone keep touching me all the time? “You weren’t at the meeting.”
“No, I collapsed in fourth period. The teacher sent me to the nurse after I hit my head. I’m fine though. Nothing but a bit woozy,” I said as he put my hands in his.
“You hit your head? Are you dizzy?” He was fawning over me now, pulling me to one side of the hallway and tenderly checking all over my body, asking if it hurt. I knew Aaron’s dad was a doctor. It still didn’t make any sense as to why he was so concerned about my incident when I’d already told him I was okay. Humans fall over all the time without getting hurt.
“Aaron, I’m fine. I promise,” I said, laughing.
“Well, all right... You want me to tell you what the meeting was about?”
“Sure,” I said as he started walking me to my locker.
Smoke & Ash (Wardens Series Book 2) Page 7
