Remember the Knight

by Thomas, Carrie Lynn

  Mark is still, his eyes closed, his chest not moving. “Did you kill him?”

  “Nah, he’ll be fine.” Zane turns back toward the truck.

  “What? Are we just going to leave him here?”

  “He’ll be fine,” Zane says. “Sooner than you think. Do you remember what he did to your little sweetie pie? Leave him get in the truck. We need to get out of here.”

  “But.” I glance back at Mark. I hate him for what he did to Sage, but I’m not a killer. Am I? Especially when it comes to humans. Zane, I’m not so sure about.

  “Adam, now. I’ll explain everything. Just get in the truck. We need to get out of here.” His voice takes on a breath of impatience. I’m not falling for it. When I’m in a rush, he acts like he’s got all the time in the world, so now it’s his turn to—

  “Now Adam, now,” Zane shouts. “We have to go now.”

  I swing around to face Zane, his eyes urgent. “Why? What’s the hurry, big bro?” I try to copy his infamous smirk, but I’m pretty sure I fail miserably.

  Zane’s not in a joking mood. His eyes dart to Mark, still in a heap on the ground, and back to me. “He’s not human, Adam.”

  Chapter Ten

  Sage

  “Are you ready?” My mom calls up the stairs. I stand in front of my dresser, packing up some last-minute things. I take down the pictures of Hunter covering my bulletin board and I and slip them into my top dresser drawer. I dread facing the ones taped to my wall back in my room at college. As I slide the drawer closed, a glint of silver catches my eye.

  My locket.

  I pull it from the drawer. I haven’t worn it for years. My dad gave it to me when I was about seven or eight, I can’t really remember. It’s a heart that opens up, with pictures of us.

  He’s often told the story over the years of how a stranger handed it to him in the airport parking lot right before one of his flights. The chain was broken, and he nearly had a heart attack when he realized we might be in danger. As he ran for his car, he glanced back hoping to get a good description of the guy, but the guy was gone.

  “It was like he was a ghost. Like he never existed at all. And there I was, standing in front of my car, your locket hanging from my hands, thinking I was having a nightmare.”

  Mom thinks he must’ve been seeing things because when he got home, we were fine, safe and asleep in our beds. But that didn’t stop him from tearing inside, knocking the door in and crashing into my room, the locket still hanging from his hand. I remember the locket dangling from his fingers, the chain broken, and I had burst into tears. I had placed it carefully it in my jewelry box just before bed.

  “Daddy,” I cried. “What’s happening? Why did you break my locket?”

  He swept me into his arms, his heartbeat raging in his chest. He kissed the top of my head. “It’s okay. I’m sorry for breaking it, sweetie. We’ll get it fixed. I promise.”

  And they had. My mom got a new chain for it and I wore that thing until it no longer fit my neck. I had thought about getting a bigger chain, but instead put it away as I was getting older and wearing something like that to middle school would totally be uncool.

  “Maybe I’ll have a little girl someday who can wear it,” I told my mom.

  She smiled. “I hope you do. Little girls are the best.”

  It’s funny, I haven’t thought of that story in years.

  I don’t know why, but I pick it up now. My fingers stroke the metal, running my hand over the curves of the heart. I snap it open, that same picture safely tucked inside. I stare at it so long that my room disappears around me and I’m swept into a room I’ve never seen before. The locket—my locket. It’s broken. And there’s the guy with the blue eyes. He takes the locket from me, our fingers brushing sending electricity shooting through my veins. He curls his hand around the locket and closes his eyes. Bright light blares around us and the ground trembles below us.

  I drop the locket.

  “Sage,” my mom calls again.

  “Coming.” I pick up the locket and drop it back into my drawer next to the pictures of Hunter.

  I really need to see a doctor.

  * * *

  “Details, I need details,” my roommate Kat asks. “What happened? I thought he was the ‘one’.”

  “I guess not...” She’s been peppering me with questions ever since I got back. Why did I turn down Hunter? Was it cold feet? Was I crazy?

  I’m not entirely sure I have answers for her. Not ones she’ll like anyway. There are no details. No reasons why. Just a crazy dream and a feeling I can’t shake that there’s someone else. But how can there be someone else when there’s been no one but Hunter for the last five years?

  “Well, we’ll just have to hook you up with somebody new. Matt’s roommate, maybe. He’s kind of cute—very chatty and super hilarious. He’s in Bella’s art class.” Kat and I live in an apartment off campus with an art major named Bella. She’s pretty sweet, although we’ve never been close. She’s more Kat’s friend—although I think everyone is Kat’s friend.

  “I’m barely getting over Hunter. I don’t think I’m up for dating anyone right now.”

  “Oh, come on,” Kat says. “The best way to get over someone is to find someone new. Like a rebound or something. There’s a party tonight. I’ll get Matt to bring him. Seriously, you have to come. Please. I think Lucas just broke up with—”

  “What?” I ask.

  “Party?” Kat raises her eyebrows in confusion.

  “No, his name,” I ask. “Lucas? His name is Lucas?”

  “Yeah—so what? I’m sure there are tons of guys named Lucas.” She looks at me quizzically. She probably thinks I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have?

  What is with the name Lucas so much? I’m sure I’ve heard it a thousand times before, but for some reason it’s sending chills down my spine, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s this whole breakup with Hunter. I sink down into a kitchen chair. “I don’t know. I think I’m just tired from everything with Hunter.”

  “Fine,” Kat says. “Sit here and mope tonight. But you’ve got until this weekend and then I’m dragging you of your misery whether you like it or not.”

  “Okay, I promise you can,” I nod. Anything to get her off my case. She breezes out, the door closing after her.

  Bella walks in about ten minutes later and I’m still at the kitchen table, tracing my fingers along the lines on the tablecloth. It’s blue and yellow. Somebody’s grandma bought it for us—I can’t remember who. Maybe it was even mine, I’m not sure. My mind feels like mush lately. Everything is just so off, like I’m missing something. Bella’s eyes flash with sympathy when she sees me.

  “I heard about Hunter,” she says.

  “It’s no big deal,” I tell her, not lifting my eyes from the tablecloth. “Really.”

  “Endings are always a big deal,” she says. “There’s a part of your heart that will never be the same because of him.”

  “How are you not a Psych major?” I ask. “You always know the right thing to say.”

  “I don’t have the patience for actually working with people,” she says. “Hey, I’m just headed to the planetarium to see Chase’s last show. Why don’t you come with me?” Chase and Bella have been dating for the past three years. He works at the planetarium, but I’ve never been there. Bella has been inviting me at least once or twice a week since sophomore year. But I’ve never gone. I’m afraid to for some reason. And once again, I don’t know why. Stars, the planets…the vastness of space. It’s always given me a deep ache that I can’t explain.

  So, I’m surprised tonight to hear myself agreeing to go. Where had that come from? Something that seemed so scary suddenly seems so fascinating. Bella shines with excitement as we lock up the apartment and walk to her car in the alleyway behind our building. It takes a few tries to get her very old car to start—winter tends to do that to cars in Duluth—but once we get going, Bella talks animatedly.

  “I’m so excited you�
�re going. You’re going to love listening to Chase give his spiel. He’s so good at it.” She maneuvers the car up the hill onto the UMD Campus, guiding it to the parking lot just outside the planetarium building. The sun is fading, the wind rustling up a cold blast of snow as we step out of the car. We follow the pathway to the planetarium doors and a feeling of familiarity washes over me.

  Where had that come from?

  I’ve never been to the planetarium, but the handles on the door, the dark swirls on the carpet, the metal grooves on the front desk…even the girl behind the desk seem so familiar. She greets us, with a bright smile, her red curls falling across her shoulders.

  “Hi Jayme,” Bella says. She strides to the desk.

  “Here to see Chase’s show, right?” Jayme smiles.

  “Yep,” Bella says. “Hey this is my roommate, Sage.” She nods at me.

  “Sage,” Jayme studies my face intently. “Your name sounds familiar. Have we met before?”

  I scan my brain trying to remember if I recognize her from anywhere else, but I’m drawing a blank. UMD is not the biggest campus around but it’s big enough. I shake my head, “No I don’t think so.”

  “Hmm…” She taps her fingers on the counter. “Maybe we had a class together or something.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” That has to be it. Although I swear, I’ve never seen her before, she feels as familiar as Stella.

  I glance around the lobby. There’s a circle of gray metal benches lining the windows and for a moment I’m sucked into a memory. Me sitting on one of the benches. Me with a blond-haired guy. Me full of anger. I shake my head. Enough, Sage.

  Bella’s watching me, her face filled with concern. “She just got out of a long relationship,” she softly says to Jayme.

  “I’m really sorry,” Jayme says. I glance at her. I hate the way they’re both looking at me with pity. Because Hunter…breaking up with Hunter…that’s not what’s making me feel so strange. It’s something else. Something—something I can’t explain.

  Bella shrugs. “Come on, Sage. Let’s go see Chase.”

  Jayme whispers as we walk by, “I swear I know you.” I pause and our eyes meet. I open my mouth about to say something like I know the feeling, but Bella grabs my arm.

  “Come on, Sage. Quit trying to steal my friends. I swear you’re turning into Kat.” She pulls me down the hallway. “I don’t have a lot of friends as it is.”

  The planetarium is empty, but Chase winks at Bella beneath his thick black glasses. Bella giggles and motions to me to take a seat in the second row. “I just want to go wish him good luck.” Wow, I’ve never seen Bella so…so…I can’t think of the word. Bubbly, maybe? She practically skips to the front of the auditorium. Chase grins when he sees her—no it’s more than a grin. His eyes shine, like she’s the sun and he’s the planet revolving around her. He glows with so much love for her that my heart aches with envy. Hunter has never looked at me like that. Never.

  Oh, he has looked at me with admiration. He has looked at me in ways that sent fireflies dancing along my skin. But he has never looked at me like I was the air he needed to breath. I want that. Mom was right. He’s not the one.

  Bella sighs when she returns. “I think I’ve heard this show hundreds of time. He got a job here as a freshman you know.”

  “He must like stars.” I’ve worked in the Admissions Office since my freshman year. I love doing tours of the campus—that’s probably why the path seems so familiar. I must’ve taken it a time or two on a tour.

  I listen to Bella blab on about Chase as the theater fills with a few more groups. Then it’s time to lean back in the seats and stare up to the ceiling. And...

  And...

  I don’t know why or what is happening. Maybe I’m tired or overwhelmed or the emotions of breaking up with Hunter have finally caught up with me.

  Maybe it’s all of it.

  Maybe it’s none of it.

  But I can’t move. I can’t feel. I can’t breathe.

  And the stars make me cry.

  Chapter Eleven

  Adam

  “What in the hell do you mean he’s not an alien?” I ask.

  Zane hesitates, filling the cab with silence for far too long. I open my mouth, ready to grill him, when he finally speaks. “Mark can’t use the ring because he’s not human,” he says. “The rings were designed for Perseidians to use, not Nexians. The fact humans can was something unexpected—but Nexians—they can’t use them. Mark has it, but he’s obviously not using it, so unless he’s really stupid or has a fetish for ugly rings, he’s a Nexian. I lifted it off him and left it for you. You do know I left it for you and not as a present for your little girlfriend. Before that I’m pretty sure Mark lifted it off Laris. Don’t you think he would’ve used it, if he could?”

  “And you couldn’t have told me about this before now?”

  “Well, you’re my little bro. I got to protect you and all that stuff.” I don’t have to look at him to know he’s smirking.

  “I don’t need you to protect me,” I say through gritted teeth.

  “Like you were doing so hot until I came. I haven’t been here twenty-four hours and you got a ring in your pocket. So, repeat after me, thank you—”

  “You’re lucky I’m driving, or I would’ve punched you by now.”

  “You’ve been saying that a lot lately. Where’s all the brotherly love?”

  “Stop, please stop. We’re going nowhere and there’s a lot more questions to answer.” I turn the truck onto the road leading home. “If Mark was Nexian, why didn’t you just kill him?”

  “Why didn’t you? Didn’t he hurt Sage?”

  His question stumps me. I snap my lips together trying to focus on the road in front of me. Why hadn’t I? “I don’t know.”

  “Well, I do. You’re not a killer, Adam. You might be angrier and crabbier, but you’re still you. You’re the nice guy—the one who loves and sacrifices. The one always there. I get losing Sage and whatever happened to you while you were locked up, made you all gloomy and stuff but it didn’t change your heart.”

  “You don’t know anything.”

  “Adam, why won’t you tell me? I’m sharing all my secrets, it’s only fair you share yours.” The words are soft, and I glance at him, expecting the teasing eyes, but I’m met with a serious gaze. What game is he playing?

  I look back at the road. “As I said, I’m not talking about it. They’re not secrets. Just nightmares, and I’d rather forgot the nightmares.”

  “Whatever.” He returns to his snarky voice and reaches for the radio knob. “Don’t you have anything good in here to listen to?” He finds a station and turns up the volume.

  I turn it back down. “I still have questions.”

  He sighs. “Fine. What now?”

  “If Mark is Nexian, how did he get into Star Harbor? Dad said—”

  “Laris said a lot of things that are complete bullshit. You can’t trust the guy. I know you see him through those rose-colored daddy glasses of yours, but he’s not worth your trust.” He taps his fingers against the dashboard. “Now is that all? I’d like to go back to the radio…”

  “Do they remember things? Like us? Does Mark know that time changed? Does he remember…does he remember Sage?” My heartbeat picks up speed and I clench the steering wheel tighter. If he remembers her, she could be in danger, right? Oh crap.

  Zane’s playing with his fingernails. “I have no freaking idea. Should we go back and ask him?”

  “Yeah,” I say with determination. “Yeah I need to make sure Sage’s not in danger. He could probably answer a lot of questions too.”

  “You’re on your own on that one little bro. Those guys are crazy.” Zane circles his finger around his ear. “They are nutso. And they’re superhuman. I’m telling you. They may not be able to use the stupid rings, but they’ll kill us before we kill them. Trust me.”

  “I don’t believe that. Dad was able to stop him before. He obliterated him. We can kill him
. I can kill him. I just need to make sure he doesn’t remember Sage. We have a ring—”

  “The rings don’t kill those guys.” He’s gone back to picking at his nails. “Neither does the Nexus. They’re like cockroaches.”

  “So, tell me what Benji told you. Obviously the Nexians can’t use the rings, so I guess that’s a good thing, right?” I pull the truck onto the shoulder of the main road with every intention of circling around and going back.

  Zane puts his hand on my arm. “Mark was using the ring to draw us out. We can’t go back, though. Not now. He’ll kill us. I’m not kidding about that. If you want to see Sage, you need to go forward.”

  He’s got a point. Reluctantly, I take a deep breath and wrap my fists around the steering wheel. I lift my foot off the brake and resume the drive, turning into the long path leading home. Zane chatters on about how much easier it will be to find the other four rings, when the truck hits the familiar pothole sending us bouncing in our seat so hard, that Zane hits his head on the ceiling. I usually avoid the damn thing, but it’s worth it to hear the thud of his head.

  “Ow, you really should get that fixed.” Zane rubs the top of his head. “That could really kill someone.”

  “Spring,” I say. “When the ground thaws.” I turn the truck into our wide driveway. In the summer it’s full of cars, but right now it’s full of snow. Last winter, my first full winter in Star Harbor, the emptiness had surprised me. To me this place was all laughter and sunshine, but the cold makes everything so lonely. Mom says it’s her favorite time of year. When she can curl up with hot cocoa and a good book. “It may be cold outside, Adam. But it’s always warm inside.” She pointed at my heart like there was more to her words than just temperature, but I think I missed it. Cold is cold.

  I slide the truck into park and lean back in the seat. “Why do you say finding the other rings will be a breeze? We may be able to travel a lot faster, but it still doesn’t mean we have any idea where they are.”