Tyler takes one sharp right turn off of the main drag. My eyes are wide open now, searching for something that looks familiar to tell me where we are, but we are on an unfamiliar road. The paved road turns into gravel and Tyler slows down to avoid losing control of the bike. I shut my eyes again to keep the gritty, white dust out of them and bury my face between his shoulder blades to protect it. Tyler brings one hand up to my clenched hands across his chest, rubbing them. I guess I was holding on a little tighter than I realized. I loosen my grasp and my knuckles tingle with the return of blood flow. Despite the dust, I enjoy the feeling of the wind in my hair.
The bike slows more. “Time to get off.” Tyler pulls off to the side of the road. I’m in no place to argue with him. He seems to have some kind of idea of what’s going on here, even if I don’t.
I get off the motorcycle and pull back my dusty, grimy, straw-like hair into a ponytail for now.
“We need to go,” he says, firmly.
“Why did we stop then?” I ask.
“Because they’ll be expecting us to travel by road. We’ll have to do something else.” Tyler lifts my chin up to his lips. My heart races as his lips touch mine. “Do you trust me?” The excitement of it all only intensifies my adrenaline.
“Of course,” I say, breathless.
“Good.” Tyler continues, “You may want to stay there.” He takes a few steps back from me and turns blurry. I wish he would give me some kind of warning before he shifts. Watching someone shift is both odd and beautiful at the same time. They are human, and then they are something else entirely. All in a blink of an eye. Within seconds, a dark black horse stands before me. I’m not sure how this is going to help our situation. I would think traveling this way would draw even more attention. I go with it, getting on his back and take hold of his mane. He takes off running as soon as I am on. A large rock formation appears, along with the sound of raging water up ahead. My heart drops to my stomach as I panic. It has to be a cliff! I pull on the horse’s mane, hoping to slow him down. It doesn’t work. He speeds up even more.
“Tyler! It’s a cliff, stop!” I yell. Nothing works. He keeps going. I’m shaking from head to toe and my palms are sweaty, which doesn’t help my grip on the horse’s mane. He leaps and I know for sure we are going to die. I squeeze my eyes shut, afraid to see death coming towards us.
It doesn’t come. I feel like I’m gliding through the air. I open my eyes to see we are flying. Tyler has sprouted wings. He has turned into a Pegasus.
Chapter 2
I’m afraid of heights, so I choose not to look down. I look straight ahead or above me at the stars. I throw my arms up in the air and tighten my leg grip around Tyler’s belly to keep myself from falling. It’s a rush being up so high. I think I could touch the clouds if I wanted to. I feel the tightness in my cheeks from smiling so big.
“This is incredible,” I say. “I’m flying.” I know he can’t respond to me, but I want him to know how wonderful of a feeling this is. My eyes focus on a large, gray hovercraft up ahead. I bring my hands back down to hold on to Tyler’s mane. I try to make out the writing on the side, but Tyler swerves. He dives straight down into the woods below us. I pull myself parallel with his back to keep from hitting branches on the way down. He lands galloping and stops in front of a large boulder the size of a two-story house. I slide off him. My feet no more than hit the ground before he’s in human form again.
“We need to get inside. Things are getting unstable out here.” He is out of breath but doesn’t take the time to recuperate. He presses his hands on the giant, unmovable boulder.
“Get in where?” I ask. I think he’s finally lost his mind and I can’t say I’m much better right now. There is no place for us to hide here. I watch as he applies forward pressure to the enormous stone. His arm muscles are tense and straining. The ground shakes below my feet. I stumble at the sudden movement and fall to the ground. I can’t believe my eyes. The once strong, unmovable boulder now rests a few feet to the left. There is no explanation for what I just saw. The strongest man on earth could not have moved it alone. A small doorway has appeared in the hole where the boulder used to be. There is just enough room for us to squeeze through. I stand and brush the dirt from my palms.
“In here.” Tyler takes my arm and ushers me in. I get inside the small opening and stop to wait for him. I can’t see where we are. Tyler follows me in and closes the opening behind him. The cave is completely dark. I can’t even see him, and I know he is just a few inches from me.
“Are you okay?” he asks, still breathless.
“Fine,” I reply. I’m numb at this point. I don’t know what is going on and I don’t know where we are. Having a mental break down right now is not an option. I know we must press on.
“I don’t have a flashlight,” Tyler says.
“How are we going to see where we’re going?” I ask. I move my hands around, trying to find him. I find his shirt and hold on to the hem.
“I can see a little. They taught me when I was very young how to see in complete darkness. It was part of my training.” Tyler says, creeping forward. I follow but try to keep an arm’s distance from him so I won’t trip over his feet. If I had my way, he would carry me through this.
“Can you tell me where we’re going now? Besides underground.” I say, feeling the strain of my eyes. They’re wide open, trying to focus on something, anything, without success.
“We are going back to Illinois. That’s the only place I’m familiar enough with to keep you safe. Plus, I’ll have to train you to defend yourself,” he says, keeping his steady pace.
“How are we any safer in Illinois than we are here in L.A. or at my parent’s house in Kentucky?” I ask, tightening my grasp on his shirt.
“I told you. I know the area better. Once it’s safer, we will fly again. We’ll get back by morning,” he pauses. “Assuming we aren’t being followed,” Tyler speaks as if he knows who could be tracking us. If I could see, I could read his expressions and understand him clearly. I can’t focus enough on his words to make sense of them. The darkness is interfering. Another fear I haven’t been able to overcome. It’s more of worry about what is in the dark than the actual dark itself.
I shuffle along behind him, one hand on the hem of his shirt while the other is pressed out beside me, feeling for shrinking walls, but I feel nothing other than damp, cool air flowing through the cave. It’s quiet except for the squeaking of our shoes on the damp stone floor.
◆◆◆
I don’t know how long we walk through the darkness, but we eventually get to the end. Tyler presses on the rock again, creating another opening. He slides out first to survey our surroundings. I watch as he uses his fine-tuned senses. He listens intently for a threat and smells the air as a way of double-checking himself. Since the wolf is his true spirit, he has those keen senses. He signals to me the coast is clear. I walk out and stand behind him. I don’t want to be in his way when he seals the rock opening back up. Tyler’s muscles strain as he seals up the rock opening we came through. I awe over his strength and wonder how he can summon it. You can’t tell it was moved. The crack seals itself together tight.
“How’d you do that?” I ask.
“Got my ways,” he says, taking my hand. “We have to keep moving.”
The sky is still dark, but not nearly as dark as the cave. The stars glisten brightly in the sky and the moon is full. Its brightness helps light our way. This is darkness I can deal with. Tyler shifts into the dark Pegasus matching the night sky. I climb on and we are off again, flying high. I wrap my arms around his neck. The horse’s mane is soft on my skin, the warmness flows through me. It must be his thing, to be so warm like that. I haven’t felt it from anyone else before.
Chapter 3
The morning light rises as Tyler’s farm comes into view. His log cabin and horse barn give me a sense of relief. The sight of something familiar helps to calm my nerves. Finally, my feet will be back on solid ground. At
least I hope so. I spent the night fighting back sleep, rubbing my eyes, and forcing myself to look down to see the long fall I would take if I went to sleep. I don’t think Tyler would’ve let me fall to my death, but he was on a mission of his own and I didn’t want to add to it. Scaring myself with my fear of heights was the only way I could stay awake.
Tyler hits the ground galloping and stops in front of the house. I climb off and watch as he shifts into human form. He collapses onto the porch on his back with his arms spread out and his feet dangling off the side. I know he’s tired and his breathing is rapid. I can only imagine how much endurance and stamina it took to get us back here that way.
The Mason jar I had caught fireflies in sits empty on the table beside the swing. I smile, remembering that night. That’s the night I let him into my heart. I told him about catching fireflies in a jar at home in Kentucky. I’d use them to find my way from my cabin playhouse, my father had built for me by the creek, back up to my parent’s house at night. I would always let them go once I reached my house.
I squat down beside Tyler and take his hand in mine.
“Thanks for saving me,” I say. He nods and squeezes my hand.
“No problem,” he says, breathlessly.
I smile at him. I can’t believe he saved me once again, from what exactly, I’m still unsure. Now isn’t the time to ask. He wouldn’t be able to form sentences even if I asked. I know he will tell me when the time is right.
I wonder if he’d still choose to fall for me, if he would’ve known how hard everything would become. Tyler helped me gain the strength and courage to end my battle with Jason, but more than that, he has healed my heart and soul.
I help him up and we head inside the house. He goes to the closet in the living room and takes out a camouflage duffle bag, filling it with clothes and a couple of handguns from the closet. With the suddenness of his news back at my apartment, I forgot to get any clothes for myself. I suppose I will have to worry about that at some point. I know he has a plan, but seeing the guns in his hands and the tension of uncertainty in his movements makes me nervous. I’ve shot guns before, but I prefer my bow to a gun. Guns scare me with how loud they are when you shoot them.
Tyler goes to his bedroom. I don’t follow. I feel like a statue frozen in place. I’m trying to work things out in my head, but I can’t. I’m tired from being awake all night and I’m not sure how he’s still moving after all the energy he exerted getting me back to Illinois from L.A. I hear his footsteps coming back up the hallway to the living room and I meet his eye.
“Time to go.” He takes my hand and leads me outside. I don’t argue. I just follow. He slings the bag over his shoulder and we head to the wood line. Peach, his dog, follows behind us. The dew from the grass wets my boots and they squeak with every step I take. I hope we aren’t supposed to be sneaking up on anyone because they will definitely hear us coming.
Before long, the cave where Tyler and I had gone fishing in not so long ago comes into view. He keeps ahold of my hand. He hasn’t let go since we left his house. I don’t know if he’s afraid I will disappear if he lets go or I’d fall behind. I don’t mind the constant touch, however. At the door of the cave, he helps me inside. Then he turns to Peaches. He kneels and pats the top of her head. “Take care of yourself, girl,” he says, a slight catch in his voice. I don’t know what will become of her or his horses. I didn’t see them when we arrived. Maybe he has already taken care of them.
Tyler leads us on into the cave. I watch my step along the narrow edge, careful not to slip. This wouldn’t be the best time to become lame. We pass our fishing hole and the fishing supplies still stand untouched from our last visit. The waterfall crashing down in the water below sprays up onto us, just enough to make our clothes and skin damp. I shiver with the feel of goosebumps forming over my body. Tyler seems un-phased and continues to take me deeper into the cave.
The cave is much longer than I had originally thought. Until now, I had only been as far as the fishing hole. The farther we go inside, the colder I become. I try to hide my discomfort from him, hoping he won’t notice. After all, it’s just cold, I should be able to handle it. He walks in front of me, still clinging to my hand. I wrap my free arm across my body and rub my upper arm with my hand, hoping the friction will warm me up a little. My boots squeak even louder now on the damp, cool floor and it echoes off the sides of the cave.
We turn right around a bend in the cave, and Tyler stops and releases my hand. I can’t see as well as he can in the darkness, even though it’s not as dark as last night’s cave. His dark silhouette stands out. I watch his hands that are pressed onto the rock wall. I remain behind him, unsure what’s on the other side of him. The ground rumbles and the sound of pebbles dropping to the floor fills the cave. He releases and backs up a few steps. Light streams in around the cracks as a small door appears. Tyler pushes it to the right and reaches for my arm. I don’t move. I can’t. My legs won’t let me. He pulls on my arm and gently pushes me through the door into a room where blue-white lighting hangs from metal light fixtures on the ceiling. My sight is spotty from staring at them. I hear the door seal back up behind me.
A group of five people starts towards us. The spots in my eyes blind me from seeing their faces. I slip behind Tyler and hold on to his waist. I’m not sure if it’s to protect myself or to steady myself.
“It’s okay, Kris. They’re friends of mine.” He laughs slightly at my behavior. I walk out from behind him and their faces become clear. They all have a smile on them. They mean me no harm.
“Hey, man,” a red-headed guy with blue eyes says. He hugs Tyler and pats him on the back so hard I would think it would sting. It must not bother him because they are both smiling. Guys are so weird.
“Kris, this is Beau.” Tyler points to him first, followed by a tall, dark-haired guy who has Tyler’s same tan skin. “Neiamiah and of course you know my cousin, Sarah.” I see Sarah standing beside him. I hadn’t noticed her at first. I can only look at one person at a time. I smile and run towards Sarah and to the comfort of her hug. She has become like a sister to me. She was also the first real friend I had when I went to Illinois not too long ago.
Without Sarah, I wouldn’t have been able to help Tyler heal from his stab wounds or keep Kyle alive after the last fight with Jason. Amongst the commotion during the fight, Kyle was stabbed with a long blade knife and in turn, was bleeding out. Tyler stitched up the artery, but Sarah had to perform a blood transfusion on him to keep him alive. Luckily, Tyler was there to offer some of his blood.
“There are a few others.” Tyler nods behind Sarah.
My brothers, Sam and Alex, come into view. I’m surprised to see them here, but the best place for us to be is altogether. I run to hug them. I no longer feel nervous. Seeing them has put my worries at rest. My family is safe, but where are my parents?
Remembering I had been introduced to some new friends, I turn my attention back to them. “Nice to meet you,” I say, with a smile to Neiamiah and Beau.
“We were wondering when you guys would get here. Her brothers were doubtful you’d get her here safely,” Neiamaih says, squeezing Sam’s shoulder. “I told them it would be a piece of cake.” Sam and Alex roll their eyes. I know they were just messing around when they said that. But they do hate being proved they’re wrong. It sort of runs in the family.
“It wasn’t without some difficulty,” Tyler says, taking my hand. “Is there anything to eat?”
“There are apple Danishes that Sarah made in the dining hall,” Beau says, checking the sharpness of a knife in his hand.
“Let’s get something to eat.” Tyler gently pulls me forward with him. I’m not scared, but my legs still feel like jelly underneath my weight.
The rooms are large. All of them I have been in have the blue-white glow of lights. The air is cool but not damp. The walls are rock. We must be underground. So this is where he was taking me. I don’t know what I was expecting. A dark dungeon full of bats,
I guess.
Fighting Secrets: Unbreakable Series, Book 2 Page 2