Spark

by Angelina J. Steffort

  All the fear and horror of the day seemed to peak at this moment. I almost couldn’t share what I was thinking, wanting to spare her any further pain, but I had to.

  “They’ll do anything to get to you. By escaping them the last time, not to speak of today, you set them off.” I held her gaze, making sure she understood. “It’s not about getting my mark from you or killing you anymore—it’s about destroying you.”

  I straightened a bit at the sound of a door on the other side of the street and blocked the cat from anyone's view.

  “Everything alright, dears?” an elderly lady in a gray coat and thick, woolen hat called to us. Claire almost stopped breathing for a second.

  “Everything’s fine, thank you,” I called, prepared to fake a smile, and waited for the lady to be on her way.

  “Are you serious?” Claire reacted to my assumption from earlier. “Jaden mentioned something like that, but I wouldn’t have believed—” She stopped mid-sentence, sobs making it impossible to speak any further and I knew what I had to do.

  No one could know what had happened here. No one could see the cat and ask questions. And Claire was in no shape to dispose of the body herself. I had to do it and I had to be quick.

  “Get to your car,” I put my hand on her shoulder gently. “I’ll get rid of Nigel’s body.”

  I wasn’t sure if she’d nodded, but she seemed to say goodbye to the cat with a stroke of her hand. I didn’t wait for her to get into the car, but just long enough for her to turn around and start walking before I stepped into the shadows and teleported to the woods.

  20

  Catalyst

  When I returned, Claire was sitting in the driver’s seat, ready to leave the empty house behind.

  “Let’s get going,” I urged.

  She pulled out of the driveway at a speed that was too slow for my taste. I hadn’t just buried a demon-murdered cat in my parents’ woods just to fall victim to the demons on the drive to my house. Then, on the other hand, what made my house safer than any other place in Aurora? The only sense of safety came from seeing Claire in front of me, feeling her emotions, hearing her breathe. If we’d die, we’d die together. Was that what it would come down to?

  She drove so fast it made my stomach squirm. Was she even supposed to be so reckless with her mortal life? Lenard mansion came close at a bizarre speed and the tires drifted over the frozen gravel as she pulled into the empty spot next to the garage. All that time, there was a screaming silence enclosing her. I didn’t try to talk about it, knowing she would talk when she was ready. I’d had my outburst and demanded answers, now it was time to go back to being understanding, caring, supportive Adam.

  Geoffrey let us in with a welcoming smile and announced that Dad and Jenna had gone out and Ben hadn’t returned from classes yet.

  “Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked as he closed the door behind us, addressing Claire in particular. She was still chalk-white.

  “Thanks, Geoffrey,” I nodded and took Claire to the living room. As we crossed the threshold, I turned around. “Actually, would you please bring us some tea?”

  He nodded, still standing there in the entrance hall as if he’d been waiting for me to figure out we needed something.

  Claire dropped onto the sofa the moment we entered the room and rested her head against the pillows.

  As I stared at her from the side, hoping to decipher her thoughts, Claire didn’t try to hide anything. Every last bit of her emotions was plain in her features. I sat quietly until Geoffrey brought our tea and set the cups down on the coffee table.

  She took one cup and took a sip followed by a grimace as she burnt her tongue. She didn’t care. Not like normal, when she would put on a brave face in order to make me feel better about having brought this dilemma upon her. Her eyes were flat, no spark, no stubborn defiance of facts, hands playing with the teacup absently.

  “Where did you put his body?” she asked after several minutes which felt like hours.

  “Buried it in the forest—far away from here.” She didn’t need to know it had been my parents’ land.

  She lifted the cup to take another sip, almost spilling the contents over her legs, her hands still shaky with shock. “Thank you.”

  She paused for a moment, debating something in her head which I couldn’t possibly conclude, but her emotions went downhill even further from where she was already.

  “I have to tell Sophie he died.”

  “I suppose so.” I couldn’t tell which was worse: the way her emotions were in the dumpster, or how easily she was accepting the way she was feeling.

  With a slow movement of her hand, she pulled out her phone and dialed.

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  “Good to hear your voice, Claire,” I heard Sophie on the other end of the line. She didn’t even take a breath but immediately went into a recap of her last night shift, which from the sound of it had been a real challenge.

  “Sophie, listen,” Claire cut her off mid-sentence. “Nigel’s dead. He died today.” Sophie didn’t even breathe. “He passed away in his sleep.”

  I threw her a look and she dismissed my silent question with a tiny shake of her head. She had lied to Sophie and she had done it to protect her.

  “That’s horrible,” Sophie reacted eventually.

  “I know. But at least he didn’t suffer.”

  As Sophie kept asking details and Claire kept lying, the clouds of guilt grew thicker above her head. I reached over to take her hand, but she shook her head again.

  “You doing okay?” Sophie asked.

  “Sure. I’ll be fine.” I couldn’t tell if she was saying this to Sophie or to me.

  “I’ll be fine,” she repeated the moment she’d hung up and stowed away the phone.

  I didn’t have time to object that her aura was speaking something different.

  “Hello, Claire.” My father had arrived with Jenna and Antonio who was now licking Claire’s hands.

  “Hi, Chris.” She managed a considerably authentic smile.

  “Oh my God, dear, you look a mess,” Jenna noticed. “What happened?” She pulled her into a hug, ignoring all the I’m fine-s from Claire.

  “Someone died at the library while she worked there,” I took the freedom to explain. Even if we couldn’t tell the truth about how it had happened, at least we could share that it had happened. A little compassion would be good for Claire. And I didn’t mean my own panicked empathy which kept searching for signs of a breakdown. She needed human compassion.

  “Oh no, are you alright?” Jenna’s eyes gave exactly the sympathy I had been thinking about and Claire leaned into her arms instinctively.

  “And then, when she came home, she found her cat dead.” That had been low, even for demons, which supposedly were evil by nature, but murdering someone’s pet to prove a point was inhumane. What had the animal ever done to harm anyone?

  “I’m sorry, Claire. How do you feel?” Dad probed her gaze as he spoke, his emotions deep with concern and sorrow.

  “A bit better now. Think I’m recovering from the shock.” She wasn’t. It was only words, well studied during the months after her parents’ death, and now so naturally spoken that if someone didn’t know her, they could easily believe it.

  “You should rest, Claire. It was a tough day.” It was the only thing I could think of to ease her mind and fear for a little bit. Hold her and let her rest while I would stay awake, making sure no one would hurt her.

  She petted Antonio’s head with weak fingers. “Yeah, I should.”

  “It’s late already, maybe you should go to bed.” Jenna pulled her to her feet and earned my grateful look for her suggestion. If I had suggested it, Claire would probably have objected.

  I supported her with one arm and led her up the stairs and made her lay down on the bed. She didn’t fight as I gently pressed her into the stack of pillows, but closed her eyes willingly and drifted off into sleep. The tense expression wouldn’t leave
her features for minutes, the events of the day probably haunting her in her sleep.

  With a deep breath, I placed my hands under her shoulders and gently lifted her just enough to slide her head onto my chest as I slid in bed beside her. She twitched and snuggled closer to my side, shivering. She must still be cold, inside and out. My free hand picked up the blanket and slid it over her, so she was tucked in and I kissed her forehead.

  “I am here,” I reassured her, even though she wouldn’t hear me in her sleep. Maybe I was reassuring myself more than her.

  The sounds of the others were a comforting background noise. Dad and Jenna were still in the living room, their words quiet and calm.

  “How do you think she’s coping?” Dad asked, concern shaping his melody.

  Jenna sighed in response and sipped her tea.

  “She’s such a sweet girl, intelligent,” Dad continued, “and undoubtedly life has been harsher on her than on any other nineteen-year-old I’ve known.”

  Another sip from Jenna before she set her cup down.

  “She is brave and loving. Plus she has Adam.”

  “True.”

  “He has developed into such a caring young man. A year ago, I couldn’t have dreamed he would be so…”

  “Emotionally intelligent?” Dad suggested.

  Jenna laughed quietly. “He’s always been. Just not as connected with his own feelings as Ben.”

  “Claire has changed him.” A smile was apparent in the sound of his voice.

  “She has,” I whispered into the darkness and brushed my fingers over Claire’s cheek.

  “I’m glad they’re back together.”

  The gurgling sound of liquid on china let me guess that someone was pouring tea.

  “What do you think happened between them?” Jenna asked.

  “Whatever it was, Adam, quiet as he may have been these past weeks, has grown immensely.”

  “He would probably die for her,” Jenna observed and I flinched.

  “He is incredible.”

  “He got that from you.”

  Dad’s chuckle was audible before it was swallowed by a kiss.

  I let my mind drift, seeing back into the days before the emotional vision of Claire. I’d been reasonably happy, mind set on the target—career as a doctor, helping people, changing the world of my future patients in whatever small way I could. Maybe I hadn’t been the fastest when it came to understanding people, but I’d known where I was headed. Then Claire, and everything changed. What good was it now to think of helping people if I couldn’t help her? Why change anyone’s world, if I couldn’t change hers? In that sense, I had digressed. Nothing was more important than her happiness.

  Claire stirred next to me and opened her eyes, blinking into the night.

  “Did you sleep well, my love?”

  She struggled out of the blanket and made a sound that let me guess she wasn’t fully awake. I tightened my arms around her, and she rolled over and slid onto my chest, snuggling into my shirt. Her hair tickled my face and I smiled at the trust and love that was emitting from every inch of her body.

  And there was the weariness, exhaustion from the day. I stroked her head, brushing it aside.

  “What time is it?” she asked without looking up.

  “Almost dawn.” I kissed the top of her head. “Go back to sleep.”

  Without objection, she cuddled more comfortably into my arms, locking hers to my sides, and drifted back to sleep. While she was dreaming, I inhaled her scent and closed my eyes, but kept listening for suspicious sounds around the house. Antonio was snoring in his basket, Ben was fighting the covers, probably having a bad dream. There were a couple of nocturnal animals slithering across the cold grounds and then there was the wind, playing with the bare branches in the trees. No abnormal sound caught my attention.

  Claire didn’t move again until it was morning. Her breathing was slow and even, no nightmares, no fear, at least not until she would recall the last day. Then her heartbeat quickened just a bit and she lifted her head ever so slightly. I opened my eyes just in time to see her cautiously slide off my chest and fought the urge to pull her back against me.

  “Good morning.”

  She rewarded me with a sleepy smile and grabbed my wrist with a tired hand before she jumped up and all but fell out of bed.

  “We’re late.”

  I sat up beside her, offering her a hand to stabilize herself as she slid off the sheets. She rummaged through her bag and pulled off her shirt before she replaced it with a fresh, white one. I was entertained by the captivating view of her slender back, which would carry me through the day until I’d see her again in the afternoon. I swallowed and teleported to the bathroom, grabbed my toothbrush, and got ready for the day within a minute.

  Claire hadn’t even put away her things when I re-entered the room, fully dressed and ready for whatever this day was going to throw at us.

  “Breakfast?” I asked and caught her between two brushes of her hair, to kiss her.

  She nodded before my lips left hers and with another look out the window, I figured the demons hadn’t camped out in our back garden.

  When we got downstairs, I saw Ben disappear through the front door, eyes tight and face unreadable. He was carrying the same struggles with him as he had the other night. Claire didn’t notice him, so focused on not running late that she didn’t look left or right until we’d eaten breakfast and were driving to school.

  “Call me if you need me,” I instructed as I’d done every time I’d left her alone somewhere.

  “You know I will—if I need you.” Her face was grim, shock still freezing her bones.

  I laid my hand against her cheek as I parked the car, never ready to let her out of my sight. I was aware that I couldn’t lock her up in my room, even if it was for her own safety.

  “Not just for the demons,” I corrected what I felt she was thinking, “for anything.”

  She nodded and placed a kiss in the palm of my hand before she straightened up, took a deep breath, and blew out all the horrors of last night. What was left was a perfected mask of a careless teenager, leaving all the worries locked under the surface.

  After she’d entered the school building, I knew it was time for me to go. I didn’t leave the school grounds though, simply parking the car at the farthest end of the lot and resting my head against the seat, listening to my environment. There were cars, trucks, the chattering of students as they were running up and down the corridors, music somewhere behind me. My head automatically turned and I noticed Noel’s right behind me. Knowing it would be a long day, I grabbed a couple of books from the back seat and jumped out of the car, heading for the coffee shop.

  Noel looked up as I walked in, nodding at me before he buried his nose in the newspaper in front of him. Memories of my date with Claire flashed into my mind as I sat down at the exact same table we’d used that day when we’d been hiding from the pouring rain. A smile stole onto my face at the thought of the feeling when I’d told her I loved her. The overwhelming force of her emotions…

  “Coffee?” Noel asked and I started. I should be paying attention to my surroundings rather than dwelling on joyous moments.

  “Please.”

  Noel eyed me for a long moment as if he was waiting for me to say something and I felt my eyebrows rise with expectation.

  “I’ll be back in a minute,” he announced after a long silence and bustled off.

  I shook my head to myself and flipped open Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine, using it more to shield myself from all external distraction so I could hear my surroundings and peek through the window with the view of the school.

  Noel returned with a cup and set it on the table in front of me.

  “Have we met before?” he asked without warning.

  I glanced up at him, unsure whether or not I should be alarmed. His emotions were calm, just curious.

  “I’ve been here before,” I answered and curled my lips up at
the side, trying to be polite, but something told me there was more to this question than just the obvious.

  “With the blonde girl, Claire,” he remembered.

  Again, I didn’t know if his awareness of her name was a reason for me to be worried, but his aura was positive, friendly. There was nothing dark about him.

  “Right.”

  He smiled at me, something like pride shining in his bluish eyes and returned to the counter.

  It was even more difficult to focus after that brief conversation. Everything out of the ordinary triggered my instinct to grab Claire and run, even if it was just an observant coffee shop owner, entertaining his customers.

  Besides worrying about Claire, another thought kept bugging me. Sporty was in there with her. Last time I had seen them together, something weird had been going on. There weren’t many explanations for his words except they’d been dating when I’d dropped her after my transformation. Not that I hadn’t always wished for Claire to be happy, but if I was right, her action had been driven by desperation rather than authentic affection. Either way, how could I blame her for anything? She was the victim in my version of the story. However, I could blame him. And I did. If he so much as laid a hand on her, and take his accusations onto a whole new level, I’d make sure to find a way to tear his head off. I grinned at the thought, oddly entertained by my image of me and violence.

  Noel headed out around lunchtime and a young woman with a chestnut ponytail replaced him behind the corner.

  “For you,” she said as she brought me a second cup of coffee.

  “I didn’t order any,” I said apologetically, but she looked down at me with chestnut eyes.

  “Noel said it’s on the house.” With a smile, she turned and danced back to the counter.

  I watched her and her positive emotions make their way to the coffee machine and wondered if I was missing something. She flashed a grin at me when she caught me staring. Cute without a doubt—objectively speaking. I was ruined for anyone but Claire. But maybe I should take Ben there for coffee sometime. He might overcome his inappropriate feelings for my girlfriend.