“They are trying to flush you out.” He had to know this too. In a way, she already knew he did.
He told her that much too. “I know.” He turned back towards the kitchen door and rushed his hands to his face. “I don’t have the choice.”
This time, she felt he was wrong. “You have the choice Jimmy. You always did.”
“I already made it. She told me that too.”
Casey came to both of them. “Will you please explain this to me? What does all of this mean?” He wanted to understand this. He wanted to help. He would do anything to know what in the hell was going on.
Jimmy admired him for this. He saw himself in him. He saw his eyes. He saw his strength too.
They were right. He is stronger than I thought he was.
“Along time ago, I learned that when a choice was made, no matter by whom, the future sets itself. You can’t change it. You can’t fight it. You have to accept it.”
Rachel nodded.
Casey still looked confused.
Jimmy didn’t have the time to explain this to him, so he kept it simple. “A Wanderer once lived back then, a long, long time ago, who could see the future. She could see what would happen before it did happen. She taught us how it worked.” He looked to Rachel. “Sima and Kenny told me that this is happening because of a choice I already made.”
She nodded, understanding this.
He saw her, and turned back to his son. “I don’t expect you to understand all of this Casey. Sometimes, I have trouble understanding it too. I have to trust in this and I have to trust what they told me to be true. If I have something to do with this, if I am responsible for this happening to Kenny, I have to help him. I have to go and find out what this is all about.” He rushed his arms back to his sides as he spun back around and faced them. “I need you to stay here and watch over him.”
She nodded. “I will.” She didn’t like any of this. It scared her to her very core. “Are you sure about this Jimmy? Are you absolutely sure?”
“I am. I can’t leave him to face this because of me.”
She knew he was right. He was his friend, and with Sima now brought up in to this, she knew he had to go.
“If you’re going to do this I want you to promise me that you will be careful James Walls. I want you to come back to me.”
He agreed. Who wouldn’t? He also shared her fears. “I want you to contact your brother. Let him know what is happening here. Tell him about Kenny. Tell him where he can find me. He may be able to help me with this.” It sounded like a great idea, so he went with it.
She nodded. “If I do this, he will be drawn into this too.” She wasn’t sure if she could do it. She hadn’t talked to him in months, but it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t try. She had to be sure of everything. The choice would be made for him too. She knew that much.
He moved to her.
They took each other in to their arms and embraced so tightly that they seemingly blended together in to one single person.
Casey watched them. One thing he never doubted about his parents was the love they felt for each other. No, he would never doubt such a thing. As for what was going on, he needed more.
“Who is this Kenny anyway?”
Jimmy released his embrace. He accepted the question. “He is someone whom I have known for a very long time. He is a friend that sacrificed so much to help me.” He kept Rachel in his right arm with it wrapped around her shoulders. “He is my friend.”
She caressed her face in to his chest.
“I must help him.”
Again, Casey would never doubt his father when it came to such things. They never had friends. He knew his father. He wouldn’t call him something like that lightly. He left him no choice. He had to accept this so he nodded emphatically.
“Okay.” He looked at his mother and nodded to her too. He then looked back to his father. “Be careful.”
Jimmy watched his face. Rachel was right. He was a lot like he was. He only wondered how far that would go. He has a gift to take away things from those who have it. He can also give to those that don’t. He didn’t know if he had that right, but Sima knew many things. He respected all of them, even this.
“I need you to stay here with your mother. I don’t know what is going on right now, but I do know that it’s dangerous. You have to promise me to stay together, side by side, until I have answers. Stay with her and help her until I come back.”
Casey again nodded with this. He saw the worry in his father’s face. He saw the same fears flaring through his mother’s eyes. He knew they feared this, but as for him, he felt nothing. In fact, he felt more powerful. He felt confident. He took it as them finally confiding in him with what they knew, and that drove him to everything he felt. It meant more to him than he realized. It just felt really good to be told the truth and treated as an equal when it came to this.
Jimmy looked back to his wife. “I’m going to go and pack some things. Can you call George and tell him to get the plane ready?” He released her. Before he did, he gave her one final long kiss. He needed it. He wasn’t sure how long it would be until he got another one, so he took it for all he had.
Casey heard this and had to ask, “You have a plane?”
Rachel chuckled some with this. She couldn’t help herself. “Of course we do.”
Since their roaming began, they kept many things close to them. They would never know when they would need certain things like this. George and his private plane were just one of those things. He of course didn’t have a clue of who they really were, and they rarely used him, but when they did, they paid him through the teeth to have him on the ready standby for them. It was a nice thing to have. Living for as long as they have, it brought them many things. They had resources. They had more than that.
Casey just shrugged. He knew none of this. He obviously had a lot to ask them. The secrets went deeper than he ever thought before now.
Jimmy headed up the stairs, and she went for her cell phone in the kitchen.
Casey just stood there and didn’t know what else to say. He just waited for them. He just thought about Angel and everything she could give to him too. He didn’t know what to do. He felt odd. He felt strong. He felt worried, and yet he felt relieved.
Jimmy didn’t take long. He packed a single bag of clothes. He put everything in a duffle bag, and came back down stairs with it.
Rachel came back from the kitchen and joined him at the front door. “George has the plane fueled. He’s doing the flight plan now.”
He took her back into his arms. Again, he kissed her. He kissed her with everything he had left.
She accepted him with the same rush.
He released her after a few minutes and grabbed the bag. He looked at Casey. “You keep to your mother. She can protect you. Don’t forget it.”
He wouldn’t. “Be careful dad. I may not know everything, or at least understand everything, but I promise you I will.”
Jimmy felt like crying. His boy was growing so fast that it felt hard to catch up. He was only six, so it was harder for him than most people would ever know.
Feeling this, he went to his son and wrapped his arms over his shoulders. He hugged him as tightly as he could.
Casey actually hugged him back.
After a few seconds, they released each other.
Jimmy now had tears in his eyes.
Casey saw them and nearly started having them himself.
It made Jimmy laugh, awkwardly. “Well. I will see you both again in a few days.” He turned quickly. He opened the door. He stepped outside and closed it behind him as fast as he could. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to leave. He would have just stood there. He had to go so he could go.
Rachel watched the door close. She then turned back to Casey. She saw his eyes burning a brighter blue than she had ever seen before. They looked like they sparkled. It had to mean something. She had to know what that was.
“Are you all right Case
y?” she had to ask him.
He just shrugged. He thought she meant about him crying. Thinking this, he blushed. He was not that emotional. He rarely cried. At least, he thought he shouldn’t.
“I’m okay.” He smiled. “Why?” He wiped his face with the back of his left hand.
The sparkle faded when he did it. She saw that too.
“Nothing.” She didn’t know what else to say. Now seeing him—well normally—she wasn’t sure if she even saw it. Again, she didn’t know what to think.
He wanted to think about Angel. He knew he wanted to see her again. He had to now. He couldn’t think of anything else.
“I think it’s time for me to head upstairs.” He felt himself blush again.
She saw it, but she had other things on her mind. She wanted to get to it. She only gave him a nod that she understood him.
He left her and headed upstairs.
Now with him gone, she moved coldly to the sofa and took a heavy seat.
What just started? Why is this happening again? She didn’t know the answers to this. She just continued thinking along these lines. She had nothing else left. Jimmy was now gone and heading back to the world that they fought so hard to escape. This was the hardest realization she now found herself in.
26
He rode for hours. He slept through most of it but when he did wake up; he realized that he was on a plane. He could tell from the vibrations. He could smell the pressurized air. He could hear the engines humming. He was happy that he still had that. Being blind again, made him feel queasy. He hated the feeling. It wasn’t just his human eyes. Whatever they shot him with, it felt like a needle from his childhood of vaccines; it closed his mind. He saw nothing. He felt nothing. He was just as blind on the inside that he was now outside his mind.
How long he flew, he didn’t know. It had to be a few hours. He could only guess. He didn’t hear anyone with him. When the plane landed, people removed him from the plane. He didn’t know who they were. He did feel them as being human. They had human strength. Walkers had strength beyond understanding. This was different. They struggled to get him to his feet. It was all he knew. They led him down the steps, and continued moving him to a van, or truck. He had to step up into it. He was inside. Again, it was all he knew. They then drove off. It took another hour or so, he still couldn’t tell time, they removed him from the truck and pulled him up several small steps. They led him through a door. He could feel only what he could. They continued until they put him in a room. It had to be. His hands were clasped in front of him so he was able to feel the four walls after they left him alone. He found only one door. He felt it locked. Now alone in his darkness, he waited again for several more long hours. It felt like days.
Who are these people? What did they give me? He truly didn’t know. He had never known of anything that could take away his gifts like this, except of course for another mind reader who could block his thoughts. This confused him. Humans didn’t possess such gifts, as far as he knew. If they did now have something, he feared what this could mean. Will it work on other Wanderers? Will it work against the Walkers? He somehow felt it would. I have to find some way of warning them. I have to find the strength to let others know what they can now do.
After another hour, the door finally opened. He heard the keys turn the lock. He heard the creaking of the hinges. He felt a cool chill as someone entered the room.
“Who’s there?” he asked only to break the cold silence surrounding him.
At first, they said nothing. They just moved to him as he sat on the floor opposite the door with his back against the wall. It felt like the safest place to sit.
“There’s no need to stay quiet. I am blind and have no way of defending myself if you are afraid of me.” Trying to reason with people that would do this to him didn’t seem worth it. But then again, it did. He had to do something, no matter what that was.
“I do not fear you my old friend. I never have.” The person laughed. He could tell it was a woman’s voice.
She had the same voice of the woman that came in to his home. She was obviously the one in charge. He wasn’t sure of this, but it was a hunch that he took to heart.
“Are you my friend?” He kept this polite. That too didn’t hurt.
She was just now in front of his face. She had to be kneeling down to him too. He could feel her breaths on his face.
“I would not necessary go that far.” She laughed again. “I just know you well.”
A cold hand now took his left arm at the forearm and pulled it away from his chest. She now held it out in front of him.
“What are you planning to do?” He didn’t expect her taking his arm. It made another chill to flare its way down his spine.
He felt his arm turn over so that his palm was now facing up.
“The drug should be wearing off soon. We cannot have you talking so easily.”
He felt the sleeve on his arm now pulled up to his elbow. His dress shirt’s sleeve went up rather well. As for what she said, he was filled with questions, and he could never help himself but to ask when he did.
“What drug is that?”
She laughed again.
He now felt a pricking feeling come to his arm. It burned. It flowed.
“I think you know the answer to that already Kenar.”
He heard the name. Hearing her voice he tried to place it but couldn’t. He still didn’t think he knew her. It did sound familiar though. He just still wasn’t sure.
“You know my name?”
“Your real name, yes.”
The prick vanished. She obviously removed the needle. As for what she injected him with, he felt really nothing.
“So we have met before?”
She laughed again. “We may have.” He felt her breaths now gone from his face. She must have stood back to her feet.
He felt somewhat panicked with this. He thought she was leaving him, and he didn’t want that yet. He had so much more to ask her.
He had to keep her there. “I am no threat to anyone. My gifts have so little to offer the Walkers.” Hearing about her possibly knowing him, which he believed she did, how else would she have known about his birth name, he knew that she had to be a Walker. Humans died so young. Wanderers wouldn’t do this. He knew most of them, and with using his gifts, when he had them, he could see who they were. He kept track of them after all. As for Walkers, only one of them would know who he really was. “I am no threat to you.” It just made sense.
He heard the door open to his empty little room.
“We did not take you because we fear you Kenar.”
She didn’t deny who she was or wasn’t. He picked up on this easily.
“Then why do this?”
“We intend to use you.”
He shuddered with that. “Why? What can you use me for? You took away the only thing I have.”
“It is not the time for your gifts. Soon.”
“Too soon for what?”
He heard the door close. He even felt the air it caused strike his face softly.
He was alone again. He had nothing but his thoughts, and they turned in to a thousand different directions.
They intend to use me. There are Walkers here, and they are working alongside the humans. I felt both of them. This thought boggled his mind. Everything he had ever known about the two species, every pain and with all of the blood spilled between them, he never saw them doing this. It didn’t fit them, or their fears of each other. They are keeping me in the dark to prevent me from warning my friends. He thought of Jimmy. He thought of Rachel. He thought of their son. They are trying to use me to get to them. It makes sense. Why else would they keep me blinded? He now didn’t know what to do and this made his mind quiet with the questions rather quickly. In fact, he now felt like crying. He felt more helpless than he had ever felt before in his life.
Left with nothing, he leaned back to the wall. He felt the blackness come too fast to stop him from falling back in to
it.
It’s the drug. It makes me tired…
Before he knew anything else, he fell asleep.
He didn’t even dream.
27
“She is on the plane. She should be here in a few hours.” Gloria Sharlia moved away from the large and picturesque window, and walked to the center of the room. Saying what she did to the others, she felt relieved but still felt somewhat worried. She was in charge when Lady Sharlia left home. She was responsible. She took her job with full respect. She also took it with full dread. With everything going on, she knew everything; she feared what it meant. She didn’t like humans—like was too good of a word for it—she didn’t trust them. They were too emotional. They were too impractical. They were too undeserving of the place they held in the world. As for her family, Drew was too young and not fully disconnected from the human world to help her much. He didn’t understand how dangerous they were. He still trusted them. It would take time for that to change as he learned what the world really was. Amanda was as old as she was, so she didn’t worry about her. Marcus Drake was new to her family. He was with another family before he grew tired of them and decided to join theirs. He did it because of their strength. Being with the family of the head of the Elders gave him prestige. He knew his place. As for everyone else outside, they were likewise similar to the three of them. They were a mix of young and old. They were a mix of the strong and the not. But in the end, she trusted all of them. They were her family.
Marcus stood by the second sofa closer to the window. Between the two sofas was a brown oak made coffee table. On each end of the table were two large casual end chairs. Drew and Amanda sat on the chairs.
“Then it shouldn’t be long for her return.” Marcus Drake watched Gloria casually as he stood there patiently. He was always calm. Since coming to the Sharlia clan, he was more so than not. Finding your place in the world always helped. It did with him.
Gloria nodded quietly to herself as the sound of a large bang echoed from just outside the window behind her. It shook the glass. It blasted the air. It trembled through the walls. She turned back to the window with a blur.
The Puppets and the Strings (A Werewolf's Saga Book 7) Page 17