Embers

by Karen Ann Hopkins

  My horse was lying a few feet away from me. All these years later, I can still recall the sound of her labored breathing—and how my only thought at the time was desperately wanting to be able to get up and put the mare out of her misery. She’d been a staunch ally, my constant companion through the hell I’d been living in for more than a year.

  I figured someone would eventually find me, or I’d just die out there alone with my horse. It didn’t really matter—I was just so very tired. The sound of a Whip-poor-will calling nearby was comforting when I’d closed my eyes. It seemed as if I laid there in a semi-dream state for quite some time. Images of blood and gore and the faces of my friends who had fallen played in my mind. I had been ready for death. I wanted the pain and the pictures to stop.

  In that state of mindless darkness, I’d been startled to feel hands on me, probing my neck and head. Then there was a face, inches from mine, hovering, and I’d thought how strange it was that the person was sniffing me.

  I had wanted to tell the man to please shoot my horse, but I couldn’t get any words out when I opened my mouth. For a minute or two, there was no sign that the man was there at all. I started to think that I might have dreamt him. I was brought back to consciousness suddenly when his mouth latched onto mine. It felt as if my guts were being sucked up through my throat. Just when the realization hit me that my soul was literally being taken from my body, the pain stopped, and I was drowning in darkness.

  I had woken a couple days later in a shack hidden deeply in the wooded hills, lying on a lumpy mattress. To this day, I can still remember the sharp musky smell and the rough fibers of the old woolen blanket that covered me.

  Then I saw the four pairs of eyes watching me in the dim morning light. They glittered out from their faces, distracting me from seeing the features of the people. I’d shivered, remaining still as a stone. I’d been unsure of my own voice, nervous—no, frightened. I’d been damn scared of those shimmering eyes.

  At last, one of the men had walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, causing my body to tilt. I had grabbed the edge of the mattress with my hand, holding myself away from the stranger. He had appeared to be middle aged, with light brown, wavy hair, and he smiled in a fatherly way. In that moment, his eyes appeared normal, and I’d relaxed.

  With a strong English accent he had said, “I am Garrett Hammond.” He motioned to a waifish, blonde haired woman in the corner. “This is my lovely wife, Sarah.” He paused, and then pointed towards the other two people. “This is Charles Remington and his wife, Mary.”

  They had stayed in the shadows, rendering it difficult to make out their features.

  “This is the first day of a new and higher existence for you, my son. I have awakened your inner spirit and now you are one of us, reborn,” Garrett said in a silky voice.

  With all the effort I could muster, I’d whispered roughly, “Us—what are you?”

  “You will understand in time,” he promised.

  The same chill that had swept through me that day so long ago at his strange words lifted the hair on my neck, once again.

  Later, I learned that when Garrett was attempting to consume my soul, something unfurled inside of me that had been dormant my entire life. Something that would have stayed locked away if he hadn’t found me that night on the edge of the battlefield. I was the first one Garrett awakened, but more followed. When he realized his ability, he sought out others like me and that’s how our family began.

  My fate was sealed. There was nothing I could do about my own bad luck, but I might be able to help the humans. If I made a good argument, perhaps Garrett could be persuaded. It would be difficult though, now that the hunger was up in the compound.

  Over and over, I practiced the dialogue I might say in my head while I drove into the steadier stream of traffic entering the town.

  I’d been nominated by the others to transport Ivan since I was one of the few in the compound who wasn’t bothered by human contact. For the most part, I just ignored them, but today might be more problematic since I hadn’t fed for a while.

  I shook away the creeping emptiness that pained me for an instant with a toss of my head.

  I’ll just pick the kid up, and we’ll be back on the mountain in no time at all, I convinced myself. I took a deep, shuddering breath.

  With only a trembling grip on my hunger, I pulled up to the usual place where I waited for Ivan. Feeling very old, I watched the youngsters bustle by the vehicle.

  I had been nineteen, not much older than these kids, when Garrett had found me.

  The sounds of their voices pierced the steel of the truck, carrying to me visions of the long hazy days when life had been simpler. The teenagers were happy, without serious thought or dilemma. They didn’t have to work the land each day to provide food for their bellies, or watch their favorite little sister die slowly from an infection that an antibiotic would cure nowadays.

  Nor did they have to raise a rifle to their eye and send a bullet flying across a field on a cool autumn morning, piercing the skull of a person they didn’t even know, a person who had his own family and friends waiting for his return.

  I blinked. I tried hard not to let the thoughts of the war invade my mind, but sometimes they came trickling in and for the oddest reasons.

  These kids are nothing like I was.

  As I observed them through the tinted windows, I felt the sharp stab of envy. What I wouldn’t give to be one of them. Garrett was wrong about the humans. The fact that their lives were shorter and more fragile didn’t make them less than us. It made them more.

  At that moment, the desire to have died in that Tennessee field hit me like a bullet. My muscles became weak and my bruised heart began beating wildly. The unfairness of it all had caused a thick layer of hardness to cover my soul many years before, but sometimes the cocoon tore a little. First, I had to experience the war-between-the-states, and then I had been unlucky enough to be found by one of my own kind.

  Now, fourteen decades later, I was still breathing, still existing in a constant state of depression, and never moving forward.

  The worst part of it all was having nothing to anticipate. The usual cycle of growing up, marrying, raising children and eventually becoming an old man was stolen from me. It didn’t matter how pathetic the lives of some of the teenagers who passed by the truck were. At least they would experience the seasons of life.

  A light flashed near the school and my gaze was drawn to the front doorway. I spotted Ivan, but immediately I dismissed him, focusing instead on the creature walking beside him. She was completely different than the other youngsters milling about her.

  There was brightness around the girl that none of the others possessed.

  The light seeped into me, erasing all the previous thoughts of self-pity at my circumstances. I was mesmerized by the girl.

  As her steps brought her closer, my eyes skimmed over her. Her hair was long, a shiny chestnut color, the same as a horse’s coat. She walked with the confident strides of a panther, matching the wolf at her side.

  My heart quickened and my breathing matched it. It was a shock to be reacting this way to a human. My kind wasn’t attracted to humans. We ate their souls. That was it.

  Seconds ticked by until Ivan and the unusual girl were near enough that I could see her satiny skin and luminous sky blue eyes. Against all good sense, I lowered the window. My first inclination was to use my power on her, to will her to come closer to the truck.

  I desperately wanted to touch this strange girl.

  She stopped a few feet away. Her eyes captured mine first. They were flashing, and oh, so alive. I initiated the pull from my body, the way I would attract prey. She was faltering, about to come to me, when suddenly she jumped back.

  The girl broke the connection on her own accord. I held her gaze as warm desire swelled inside of me.

  I found myself speaking without thought, “So, Ivan, who is your pretty friend?”

  Before he could re
ply, the girl’s posture changed. She was angry and openly glaring at me. She jerked away from Ivan’s touch, choking out, “Bye,” before turning briskly and marching into the parking lot.

  Why was she trying to escape me? She couldn’t have known what I was. But

  then again, she shouldn’t have been able to break my trance either.

  Ivan slamming the truck’s door snapped me back to myself. “What are you doing, Sawyer? You should have left her alone.”

  Ivan was upset, and he didn’t hide his emotions well.

  He was right. I wasn’t any better than the others in the compound. Sure, I wasn’t interested in her soul, but did that really matter?

  Undeniably, there was something about the girl that pulled at me. Even now, with her out of sight, I felt the invisible strings winding through the parking lot to her.

  For the first time in forever, I experienced the flutter of anticipation, blood coursing through my veins in a sudden surge of life. The thought that happiness was truly within reach lifted my black spirit, making me feel as if I was an innocent human teenager all over again.

  Without much thought, I drove to the back of the lot and watched the girl’s pickup pull onto the roadway. I slid out behind several other cars, keeping my eyes locked on the red truck.

  “What are you doing now?” Ivan demanded.

  “I’m going to apologize to your little girlfriend for my bad behavior.”

  “Ember is not my girlfriend.” Ivan was angry, if the crimson color on his face was any indication.

  “So that’s her name.” I murmured, “Ember.” It was an unusual name for an unusual girl.

  “You had better leave her alone or I will hurt you,” Ivan threatened. His lip curled up and his eyes were blazing.

  I didn’t want to push the kid too far. He had his own abilities, which I shouldn’t take lightly. Even though the girl was a few years older than him, he obviously had a crush on her. How could he not, given my own crazy reaction to her.

  “Listen to me. Don’t get your hair up kid. I’m not going to hurt her. But didn’t you notice that there’s something really strange about that girl? She broke my trance with no trouble at all. I’ve never heard of that happening before. Your Ember has got a secret and I aim to find out what it is.”

  “She said she lives on Raven Mountain. And that she passes by the compound each day,” Ivan volunteered.

  So he does trust me.

  “She must be staying with the old woman.” I worked the information through my mind, not coming up with any reasonable explanation about her ability to shield from me.

  Ember turned into the gas station. I slowed, following at a distance. Why was I bothering with a human girl? I already knew the answer—I had to follow her. I needed to be near her again.

  When I opened the door, Ivan gripped my arm to stop me. The kid was strong.

  “You better not hurt her. Do you hear me?” Ivan growled.

  “Don’t worry about it. I won’t hurt her. I promise,” I tried to convince him. I wouldn’t use mind persuasion on him though. It didn’t work well on his kind.

  I slipped out of the Hummer, walking silently up behind the girl. I could feel the heat coming off her skin. She was abnormally hot, as if she had a fever. But she didn’t appear ill. Her scent reached my nostrils. She smelled especially sweet, comparable with warm cinnamon sprinkled onto summertime wild flowers. I breathed in deeply before I found my voice, apologizing to her, and introducing myself.

  She jumped and whirled around. I extended my hand to her, hoping she would grasp it. But she ignored it. Instead, she looked over at Ivan in the Hummer.

  Trying to get her to turn back to me, I said, “I’m sorry I scared you back at the school. I didn’t mean to frighten you. My name’s Sawyer McCrae.”

  After an awkward moment, she finally spoke. “I’m Ember O’Meara.”

  Her voice was low and sensual, although I doubted she knew it. She had the movements of someone who was unaware of her attractiveness to the opposite sex. She hadn’t learned to use her charms yet.

  “I know. Ivan told me about you.” I studied her beautiful face, memorizing the high cheekbones, perfectly spaced eyes and small, straight nose.

  “What did he say?” she demanded.

  Her anger was irritating. Why was she so hostile towards me? She didn’t even know me.

  I shrugged, “Just that you live up on Raven Mountain with the old woman.”

  She hesitated for a second, but then recovered and called out to Ivan, “I have to get going. I’ll see you tomorrow in school.”

  In order for her to pay the cashier, she could either walk between the pumps and myself or go around her truck. I wondered what she’d choose. There was no doubt that she was strong willed, but I was betting that she’d take the long way to avoid getting close to me. I extended my legs to force her to go around. I was probably being childish, but I couldn’t stop myself from teasing the girl. It was as if I was twelve again and didn’t know how to handle a crush on the pretty girl at school. I wanted her attention squarely back on me, even if she was angry.

  She turned the tables however, when she started to squeeze by. Our close proximity sent a shock wave though me. She was unbearably hot, in a literal sense. And her scent overwhelmed me. I wanted to grab hold of her and crush her against my chest, right there in the station and in front of the other humans. I was teetering on the edge of doing just that, but a warning pulsed in my head.

  I would get burned if I did.

  I shied away from the impossible creature with a breathless, “Excuse me.”

  The girl continued on her way to the cashier’s window without breaking stride.

  I had to get away from her before I did something stupid. Damn. I wasn’t used to feeling out of control and it irked the hell out of me. I jumped back in the Hummer and waited for Ember to get into her own truck. Without a glance in my direction, she drove over to the store and parked.

  I watched her enter the store before I revved the engine, peeling out of the parking lot with a screech that attracted the looks of the humans who were still pumping gasoline.

  Ivan and I were both silent until we were out of town and on the mountain road. Ivan was the first to speak.

  “You are right. There is something different about Ember. But I will not allow you to harm her.”

  Ivan didn’t have to worry about the girl. The mad beating of my heart and the warmth in my belly said it all.

  I was the one who was going to get hurt.

  Matthew 26:53

  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more

  than twelve legions of angels?

  Ember ~ Eighteen

  He looked as if he was in his late teens, but it was hard to tell. The hair that hung loosely around his face caught my attention first. It was longish and shiny dark brown, not exactly the jet black locks he had in my dream, closer to the hue of polished coffee beans.

  He removed his sunglasses, exposing the same obsidian eyes that had looked at me with sadness and later curiosity in the dream world. His lips were perfectly sculptured and full.

  He was as beautiful as an angel. The irony of the comparison didn’t escape me.

  I was compelled to walk over to him, to touch his face with my hands, to press my lips against his. I began to take a step forward and was almost lost, when my stomach did a somersault, warning of danger. I stepped back, breaking eye contact with the young man.

  I was dizzy. Ivan’s hand was on my shoulder.

  “I’m fine,” I snapped, flinching from his touch.

  Unable to stop myself, I glanced back at my dream guy. His eyes were still locked on me. Even though Ivan stood close by and stragglers continued to pass by us on their way to the parking lot, I felt completely alone with the apparition from my dream.

  Was he really here, or was I still dreaming? Maybe I hadn’t even woken up yet.

  He asked in a smooth drawl, “So, I
van, who is your pretty friend?”

  His voice was low and husky and it sent a pleasing tingle down my spine.

  Before Ivan could answer, I told him, “Bye,” and spun on my heels. I continued down the sidewalk as fast as I could walk, without slipping into an all-out run.

  The infatuation I’d had with the sweet boy who had guarded me while I slept disappeared.

  He’s real.

  When I reached the truck, I jumped in, took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Gradually, my heart slowed and my breathing became normal. As if seeing an image from a dream come alive wasn’t bad enough, he’d used some kind of hypnotic magic on me.

  Sudden embarrassment heated my face. I’d almost acted like a complete slut.

  When I peeked toward the curb, I was relieved that the Hummer was gone. I fumbled with the keys before getting the truck started. I pressed the gas pedal a little too hard, causing my head to hit the headrest with a whack when I moved forward.

  As nervous vibrations still rocked me, I drove through the town hardly seeing the stores, restaurants and buildings that I passed. I almost missed the grocery store and had to break suddenly. I turned off the road and pulled up to the gas pumps first.

  The tank was almost full when the husky voice slithered up behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin, whirling around to see Ivan’s friend standing there.

  “I’m sorry I scared you back at the school—I didn’t mean to frighten you. My name’s Sawyer McCrae.” He held out his hand.

  I looked past him at Ivan sitting in the Hummer. He smiled, lifting his shoulders apologetically.

  I ignored the hand, but being conditioned to respond to someone introducing themselves, I answered, “I’m Ember O’Meara.”

  “I know. Ivan told me about you.”

  I was tightening the gas cap, trying to avoid his gaze, when I became brave and chanced a glance at him. He was taller than Preston by a couple of inches, and he was muscled as if he was an Olympian. He wore a snug, gray t-shirt that outlined his chiseled chest, faded denim jeans and black biker-type boots. I couldn’t remember what he’d worn in my dreams, but it definitely wasn’t what he had on now.