“Kara, you can’t just go around saying things like that to people you have just met, especially not your own granddaughter, she knows nothing of the sight, you can’t just go…”
“What go blurting things out the way you do? It seems to be all anyone ever does to me anymore Zane, why start worrying about my feelings now?”
She wasn’t angry and although her head told her to run away from this small strange space, she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Charlie I…”
“Save it Zane, I’m not leaving and I’m not angry, I just want to know what is going on.”
But it wasn’t Zane who started giving her the explanations that she demanded.
“Well, like the boy said, I am your grandmother. Your mother and I had a falling out when you were born. I saw what would become of you, I tried to warn her but she just wouldn’t listen, and now look where we are! Right where I knew we would be… In the middle of a war.”
If everyone keeps talking about this dam war I’m going to go insane!
“What war? What is happening? Why is it happening to me? Why do I have to stop it? I just want to know what is going on… Please.”
The please added on the end was for Zane, she knew he would tell her anything she wanted, she wasn’t so sure about Kara. The old lady came across as sweet and gentle but there was something about her that told Charlie to be cautious when around her and then there was another part that told her that being weary probably wouldn’t help.
It was Zane who answered her questions while Kara stared unseeing out the window to her right.
“You have to stop it because you are the cause of it. You are the cause of it because simply, you were born. There was never meant to be a half being, our races aren’t supposed to breed, no one knows why, just that they aren’t supposed to and most don’t but your mom did. I’ve already told you this but you need to know Charlie that it is all the truth. There is no turning back now, I set things in motion the moment I told you what you really were. Finding out the truth is what has started this war, even if the Valguard don’t know it yet, they soon will. We can’t hide it forever and when they find out, they will not be as understanding as I am. They will not tolerate the fact that your father has let you live this long and this freely. War is imminent and we need to prepare.”
Charlie didn’t move, she didn’t blink, she didn’t breath. She didn’t want to be the one to have to stop a war and she certainly didn’t want to be the one that started war either. It wasn’t her fault! She hadn’t sat there and told her parents to conceive her. Hell she wasn’t even alive but the fact that she was alive was apparently enough to start a war and land her right smack bang in the middle of it.
“Ugh! How can you both sit there and tell me that it’s my fault, that I’m the one that has to fix it? What if I don’t want to fix it? What if I just leave?”
She knew as she said the words that they weren’t true, she knew she couldn’t leave town, bad things always happened when you left town and she couldn’t and wouldn’t leave everyone to fight to death. With a resigned sigh she left the spot next to Zane, turned away and then turned back on them both, the glint of a tear shining in the corner of her eye.
“Just tell me what I have to do.”
“For now, you just wait. Until the Valguard find out who, and what you are, you will be safe enough but we must get your prepared. It’s going to be a long battle and one that you are going to need training for.”
“Training? What kind of training Kara? I’m not even coordinated enough to walk without falling let alone fight!”
“You are part Valguard, the fighting will come naturally with a bit of training from young Zane here, it’s your other abilities we will be mainly focusing on for now.”
“What other abilities?” If there was one thing that Charlie hated more than anything it was people skirting around issues, she preferred the straight up approach, like when Zane had told her Kara was her grandmother (which was a fact yet to be clarified, but would be just as soon as she could find a way to speak to her mother).
“Charlie, you may have noticed that I am blind. But the reason behind the blindness has not yet been explained to you. When I was eighteen, I started seeing things – no I am not crazy – I started seeing images in my head, it was like a de ja vu feeling at first and then the images came more often and stronger and I could no longer ignore what was going on. One day while sitting at the old café on Main Street, I had another ‘flash’, it terrified me. I had seen your grandfather shot, right there in Main Street, only a few feet away from where I sat, sipping my coffee. I jumped from where I was sitting and headed for the road, I saw Bevan running towards me, a look of terror on his face and just as I saw the man with the gun come up behind him, I was too shocked to do anything but stand there and stare, and when I bent to cradle Bevan’s head in my arms and weep over the loss of my love, I was shot. The bullet penetrated my temple and when I came too in the hospital, I had no vision. I still to this day have these images and from what Zane here has told me, one day you will as well. You’ve just turned eighteen so I guess if tradition holds you should start sometime soon.”
“What like visions? Psychic abilities? You’re kidding right?”
But even as the last question passed her lips she knew it was no joke because as she was asking the questions she thought back to that moment of de-ja-vu at the front door when she knew exactly what Kara had looked like before she had ever met her. Her breath hitched in her throat and she ran for the door. She didn’t know what to think of all this. If she did have psychic abilities then that meant that Kara most certainly was her grandmother and that she was probably right about everything else as well.
She ran through the woods giving no regard to the dark canopy she had been so frightened of on the way in. She just wanted to run, it didn’t matter where, anywhere was better than standing around with people she barely knew but who seemed to know absolutely everything about her. If she was stuck with psychic abilities why couldn’t she have the power to rewind time, it would be far more useful.
She stopped short of leaving the woods, choosing instead to sit on a rock beside the entrance to the dense forestry that surrounded her. She wasn’t sure why she just didn’t go on home but she had the strangest feeling that she shouldn’t leave yet and after what she had just been told, trusting her intuition was high on her priority list, she definitely didn’t want to end up in a situation like Kara had with her grandfather.
It seemed like an eternity and a bucket-load of tears later that she heard someone moving through the dark forest where she sat waiting, but it wasn’t who she had thought. She assumed it would be Zane coming after her but instead she was greeted with an image of Kara in her mind and she didn’t look at all as friendly as she had been in the cottage. The overwhelming feeling to run took a hold of Charlie but instead of fleeing she turned to face her grandmother.
Chapter Five
Kara stormed through the forest better than anyone one with 20/20 vision would be able to, she obviously knew the layout of the immense greenery like the back of her hand. Charlie stood ready in anticipation for the moment when she would face the wrath of her grandmother, sure that she was going to cop a tirade similar to that of which her mother used to give her for breaking curfew or for leaving bread crumbs in the margarine.
“Charlotte Ann Dawson! Don’t you ever walk away from me like that again!”
“I’m sorry, I just needed to get away. You have no idea what’s it’s like to have everyone know more about you than you do!”
Kara’s face melted into something that resembled tenderness as she placed herself elegantly on the rock which only a few moments before Charlie had been so comfortably sitting upon.
“I do. More than you know. I have lived under scrutiny from everyone who has ever got wind of my abilities. It’s mostly the reason I moved into the forest you know. Not many people like to come out this way often. Not even your mother visited after
…”
“After what? Why did she maintain for eighteen years that you were dead?”
“I told Eva not to get involved with Mikal. I could see what would become of you and that you should never have been born, I wouldn’t agree to understand her point of view. You must understand Charlie that she never lied to you, from that moment on, in her eyes, I was dead to her and dead to you. As it turns out, I’m sorry for what is coming for you but I am so glad that Eva decided to go against my wishes. You have turned out to be a wonderful, strong-willed young woman. Nothing less than I would expect from a Dawson.”
She ended her emotional pour-out with a proud smile that reached her eyes. There was so much more that Charlie wanted to know, about her parents, her grandmother, the war but it could all wait. For now she really needed to get home, it had to be close on dinner time and being late two nights in a row would certainly raise more questions from her housemates. Questions that couldn’t be answered yet and answers that she would rather keep to herself for now. She needed to focus on getting her mom out of the prison she was being held in and apparently she needed to start training for the impending war. Thankful that for the time being that time was on her side. Charlie returned Kara’s smile and headed for the border of the woods and towards home.
About half way there, she realized with a start that she was being followed. Her pace quickened, her feet pounding on the sidewalk, her heart rate increasing, her brow sweating. Normally being followed in Tole wouldn’t have worried Charlie in the slightest – ok maybe a little – but today she got the distinct vibe that whoever was following her wasn’t merely going to keep on walking past her. No the feeling of dread that had passed over her the moment she knew she was being followed was the kind that threw your stomach up into your mouth. She tossed up whether to turn to see if she could see the culprit or to just keep walking in a straight line towards home, it was only two blocks from here, she could run that distance easily but then again, if she started running her pursuer would know for certain that she knew they were there, which could end up being potentially more dangerous.
Charlie turned the corner to her street, finding relief in the fact that she could now see her large house looming in the distance. It wasn’t far now, and quite obviously the person behind her also knew this. She heard their pace quicken, the harsh rattling of breath so close that she could almost feel it on the back of her neck. Charlie herself hastened, hoping beyond hope that she could reach her door before they reached her. She was at Zane’s drive now and inspiration suddenly struck, she knew he wasn’t home but if she went to his door and knocked whoever it was behind her might think twice about following her.
She made a detour towards the stained-glass double doors on the front porch.
Please work! Please work!
Charlie didn’t even get to knock on the door, she was only on the second step when Zane opened the front doors, smiling widely, obviously happy to see her. His smile slowly faded from his face though when he saw the terrified look of Charlie’s features. He looked over her head towards the center of the street and his worried look became one of anger and determination.
Knowing she was safe now, she turned to see who it was that had followed her but to her surprise, whoever had been there was gone. She ran to Zane, tears of relief filling her eyes. She fell into his arms and for the briefest of moments, when he put his hands on her shoulders, she thought he was going to push her away but he didn’t. He slipped his hands down her arms and wrapped his own big arms around her waist pulling her in close and leaning her forehead against his chest. She looked up at him, tears still welling, grateful that he had somehow managed to make it home before her. She wouldn’t think of the ‘what if’s’ right now, she couldn’t. There was already too much to think about, she didn’t need this to dwell on as well.
“Come on, let’s get you inside.”
She followed him up the rest of the porch steps and through the still open double doors; he let her go to close them and started to move away. She called him back before he got too far though.
“What is it? I know it’s been a big day for you, let’s get a drink or something and…”
“Shhh… I don’t want a drink.”
“Then what do…”
“Shhh…”
Charlie hushed him with a slight finger pressed to his lips, closing the distance between them as she did. Like most people, she liked to be comforted after a fright, whether that be a tight hug from a friend or a chat with her mom or even on the odd occasion, sex. And considering who she was standing with right now, that definitely seemed the easiest way to go.
Pushing Zane roughly against the entry wall, she kissed him long and deep, shocking him enough that it took him a few moments to catch up on what was going on and return the kiss with more passion than Charlie could have imagined was possible. Her body started to tremble, not with nerves but excitement as she ran her cool hands under the hem of his shirt moving it up slightly, feeling the firm soft skin underneath. His stomach rippled in all the right places providing the edge she needed to continue. She pulled his shirt up over his head revealing what was underneath to her eyes and to say it was pleasing would be an understatement. The man was perfect! She took a moment to appreciate his form before moving back in, this time his hands sitting on her hips, causing a warmth to run through her body that she had longed for. Ever so slowly he moved his hands up along her sides, sending shivers down her spine, causing her eyes to close in bliss. He grazed the side of her body as his mouth moved from hers along her jawline and then placing soft kisses on her earlobe before giving it a slight, gentle bite. Charlie groaned as Zane grabbed at the edge of her shirt, ripping the buttons from the material effortlessly. Still moving down with his mouth her breath started coming in and out rapid and ragged. Reaching around, he freed her from the confines of her bra letting out a groan of pleasure as he did. She ran her hands up the smooth skin of his back and breathing in the sweet scent of his cologne. There was something about that smell that had Charlie squirming with lust and she couldn’t wait any longer. Now naked, he pushed her across to the other side of the entry into the wall and once again kissing her hard and fast. Charlie had been waiting for this moment since she walked in the door and she wasn’t disappointed. She had never felt such passion before and the heat between the two urged them on, both lingering and hanging onto every sensational moment.
Their bodies a tangled, sweaty mess, she felt the shudder resonating from his body signaling the epitome of pleasure and let herself climax, heat rising from her tingling toes through every nerve ending in her body. They collapsed to floor, exhausted and panting, still planting soft kisses over each other’s now salty tasting body.
“Wow!”
“Yea… Total agreement.”
“You want that drink now?”
“Please… Ahh and a shirt if you have one.”
Zane laughed as he pulled his jeans back into place fastening his belt a lot quicker than Charlie could unbuckle it.
By the time he was back she had fastened her own pants and bra and was wandering what to do with the now tangled mess of her hair. She finger combed it quickly before he could reach her and see just how bad she looked but no amount of finger brushing was going to help her haggard appearance now.
With shirt and water in hand he leaned in to kiss to Charlie once again and she let him, there was no point denying that there was fire in her belly that could only be quenched by the young man standing in front of her. Thinking about his age Charlie realized she had no idea how old Zane even was.
“How old are you?”
“You’re asking me now? It’s a bit late don’t you think?”
“It’s never too late, I know you are legal and so am I. I just wondered is all.”
“I’m twenty-four, I’m the youngest of our race, no one knows where I came from or who made me. Hell I don’t even know, I don’t remember anything from before my parents adopted me and then five years ago I b
lacked out or something and I lost a whole year of my life. That’s when I stumbled into the woods here in Tole and I met Kara. And she’s been looking out for me ever since.”
“Kara? You’ve known all this time and you didn’t tell me before now? You didn’t think to introduce yourself to me earlier and say hey, you know your mom’s not really crazy, she’s being held prisoner, Oh and your grandmother lives in the woods right here in Tole? How can you not tell someone something like that?”
“I’m sorry, Kara said it was for the best, she knew you couldn’t find out who you really were before your eighteenth birthday. The results would have been catastrophic.”
“As opposed to what Zane? The fact that at eighteen I am going to be responsible for causing a war and then will be the one held responsible to end that war? What could be worse than that?”
“Not being able to stop that war.”
His eyes were pleading, he really had thought he was doing the right thing, it didn’t make Charlie feel any better about what was going on but she knew now that yes, things could have been a lot worse.
“Right. I need to wash up before I go home, I know where the bathroom is.”
She strode passed and grabbed the shirt out of his still clenched hand and headed up the corridor towards the stairs. It was incredibly rude of her but she didn’t want to talk about the war anymore, she just wanted to get washed up and get home.
Walking back down the stairs after a quick wash of her face and using the toilet she suddenly remember her stalker. Her pace quickened, walking briskly through the big house to find Zane to ask him what he had seen earlier outside.
“Zane?!... Zane?!”
His voice came from a distant room at the back of the house that in her house was used as a study, in his house was used as an art room. The hundreds of paintings that adorned the walls of this room were magnificent. Very Van Gough-esque. For a moment she stood mesmerized by the sight of the bright colors and the swirls that she almost forgot what she had come looking for him for.
Destinata (Valguard) Page 5