He heard the pain in her voice. He saw the worry in her eyes. He understood it, but not by much. He wasn’t gone that long.
“You knew I was going out with Angel.” He slipped off his light jacket and threw it down to the sofa. “It’s not overly too late.”
She watched it as it spilled to the floor with a soft fluff.
“It has been hours. Do you know what time it is? I was worried sick.”
He huffed hearing this. “I’m a grown man mom. I can take care of myself.” He placed his hands on his hips. He felt like hugging himself, but decided against it. He didn’t want to look confused, which he was. But it had nothing to do with her. It had everything to do with—well—her.
She did cross her arms over her chest, and hugged herself with them. She did it to try to keep her anger for what he just said contained. It didn’t work.
“How dare you Casey? There is so much happening that you just do not understand that I can’t have you just doing whatever you want to do. It is dangerous out there.”
He just didn’t, couldn’t, agree with this. “You’re starting to sound like dad.” He growled some. It rumbled inside his chest. He was truly getting upset. Well—he already was—but this wasn’t helping him in the least.
She felt his anger, but that was all she felt. Again, her mind became instantly clouded. She felt completely cut off from the world, and it struck her hard. What was causing it? She didn’t know, but she felt it and it was enough. She grew uncomfortable, and fast.
Casey was too angry to notice it. “You both can’t continue to control my life!” He screamed, as suddenly, the power went off all around them. It was a sudden jolt. The light, sitting on the end table next to the sofa at the corner of the living room went dark. The only light now inside the home was coming from the bay window in the front of the living room. Shadows now crossed the window.
Rachel gasped.
Several more shadows crossed between the streetlights and the house.
Casey grew quiet all too fast.
Fear erupted inside both of them.
“What now?” Casey was the first to break the silence.
Rachel feared all of it. “They’re here.” She heard herself say. It was a quiet acknowledgement of a very simple fact. She didn’t know why she thought this, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t see anything, but she only felt it. Experience—knowing how the world truly worked—told her everything she needed to know. At least she still had that.
Casey winced, as he stepped to his mother’s side. “What are you talking about?” He truly didn’t know anything.
She unfortunately did. “We have to go.” She turned, and grabbed her son by his left arm and pulled him closer. She led him to the back part of the room, closer to the kitchen door, and now from there, she could see several darkly dressed shadows cross the window. She knew what they were, or more importantly, who. People now surrounded them. She didn’t know if they were human, Walker, or whatever, but she could tell they were moving to the front of the house. They may even be at the back door. What she did know hurt her mind. With her clouded state, she wouldn’t be able to fight them, whoever they were, but she did have to do something. They had to escape.
Casey felt shocked beyond words. “What’s going on?” he asked her again. His heart raced. His breathing grew short. He didn’t know what to do.
Again, she did. “We have to get out.” They had planned many things, her and Jimmy, for times like these. Rarely did they ever have to use them. Now seemed like one of those times, so she turned with her son. “We have to get to the basement,” She whispered softly. She pulled him to a door at the bottom of the stairs, just to the right near the half-bathroom off the living room, and opened it without thinking.
She then continued pulling him down the stairs, until they came into the basement.
Casey just went with her. He felt too scared to fight back.
The room was surrounded by cement blocks. A wooden table stretched out along the wall opposite from the stairs. There was nowhere to go.
Casey huffed and puffed.
Rachel did no such thing. At the far end of the room was a door. She knew where it was without seeing it. It looked like just a set of blocks, and didn’t stand out. When she reached it, she pushed one side of the blocks, and the wall, the door, instantly swung open.
Casey watched her with aw. He didn’t know it was there, and it shocked him. Again, he just gasped. His parents obviously kept many things from him. They didn’t tell him anything. What else haven’t they told him—was now on his every thought?
She moved to the door, and pulled him through it first.
“Follow the tunnel. It will lead you to another basement several houses over. Wait for me there.” She turned back to the stairs. She had to make sure they were not following her—following them. She had no idea what to do if they were. Without her gifts, she felt as helpless as she did when she lived as a simple human. She felt just as scared too.
He felt completely stunned. “Why don’t you use these gifts you have? You told me that you could control people through their minds. Why are we running?” He had heard about them over his entire life. If she had such a gift, why not use it.
She shrugged hard. “Just go!” There was no time to explain anything.
She was scared. She was horrified. He noticed all of this and fast. He just huffed again. He didn’t have the choice, he knew that much, so he turned and moved through the tunnel and followed her orders.
When he left her, she watched the door. She then heard footsteps come in to her home above her head. Every board creaked. Every step moaned. Whoever they were, they were now in the living room.
She heard enough. She saw nothing coming down the stairs, so she turned in to the tunnel and shut the door behind her. She made sure it was secured and flushed. She had to. It would blend back into the wall. Sure that it was, she followed her son down the tunnel. After several yards, fifty to be exact, she came upon him in the other basement. When they bought this home, like all good Walkers, they made sure to buy a second house, several homes away from the one they lived in. They also made sure that a tunnel was dug between them. Jimmy did it himself. It took him a few days. He always moved fast when he felt determined, as he always was with doing things like this.
Casey did wait for her there. “What in the hell is going on? Who are those people?” He was filled with questions. He was still filled with rage. He wanted to know everything, and he wanted it now.
She huffed with this. “I’m sorry Casey, but you have to listen to me. We have to leave this place. We have to go.” She again grabbed his arm, and again, she pulled him to a set of stairs at the front of the basement, and led him up the steps. They then came into another living room.
He saw the room. It looked well furnished. It looked like a normal home. The lights were even on, casted by two lamps on both ends of the sofa. It looked just like his home that they just left. Seeing it, he was a loss for words.
“Whose place is this?” He found this, so he asked it.
“This is ours.” She moved to the bay window at the front of the living room, and looked out. She saw nothing. She saw no one. The plan had worked, or so it looked.
He didn’t share it. “We own two houses. What else haven’t you told me? What do we do now?”
She turned back, and saw the look in his eyes. She heard the longing in his words. She understood all of it.
“I know you don’t understand this Casey. I know this is confusing you, but I ask you that you trust me.”
Quite frankly, he didn’t. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what is going on.” He thought about the home he just left. He thought about all of his stuff, his jacket, his books, his movies, his—everything else. He thought about everything that he was leaving behind and he didn’t like it. Angel came into his head next.
She took a deep breath. “We have to leave here Casey. They are coming here for us.” She felt for him. She
felt his unease. She felt his needs. She couldn’t do anything about them. She hated that the most. A mother was supposed to make a good and safe home for her family. She was supposed to give them a life, and here she was not doing any of it. It burned her like it would with any mother. She just didn’t know what else to do.
Angel’s face flew through his every thought. “What about Angel?” he bluntly stated this next.
Rachel felt shocked with this. “She has nothing to do with this Casey. If we’re lucky, she will be safely anonymous. They won’t know about her.”
He didn’t like the sounds of this. “What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t have the time to explain all of this to you Casey. I really don’t. We have to get out of here before they find out where we went.” She was right about this. They had a car in the garage, gassed up and ready to go. If those that broke into their house go down to the basement, they will eventually find the door. They would find the tunnel. They would find them. It was only a matter of time.
He now hugged himself with everything he felt. “I’m not going anywhere until you explain this.” He felt like he was pouting, and he was. He felt determined to get his way on this, like it or not—grown up or not—he didn’t have the choice. He was giving up too much not to have this answered. He wasn’t going to do that again—ever.
She now pouted too. She saw the determination all over his face. She would have to be completely blind not to see, and she wasn’t blind so she did see it. She felt it.
“Whoever took Kenny, your father’s and my friend might be coming after you next.” She looked back to the window; still saw nothing, so she looked back to him again. Thankfully, they hadn’t found them yet. They still had time. She hoped.
He shook with this. “Me? Why me?” He didn’t believe any of this. “I’m nothing special. How could I be?”
“Your father is a wolf, you know that, but what you don’t know is fully what that means. He is the son of a very powerful being called a Blood Walker. They ruled over this world thousands of years ago back before this age became what it is now. Because of this, because of what he was and where he came from, they hunted him down. Humans and Walkers alike feared him for it. Your father continues that legacy. He is his father’s son, and that made them fear him too. The fact that he is also of human blood makes it worse.”
He already knew some of this. Again, “What does that have to do with me?”
She huffed again, shook her head, and continued, “You are his son.” She felt a cold chill race down her spine. She hoped that by waiting like this it wasn’t making this worse. It was taking too much time—time she didn’t think they had. She had to get him to move, and the only way she figured she could get him to do it was by telling him everything, so she continued. “Because of this, they will always come after you. They will always fear you, like they fear him.” She looked back to the stairs. “Like they are doing right now.”
He swallowed hard with this, and didn’t know what to think. He did fear it suddenly.
“Why, I’m nothing.” He couldn’t get this one major part out of his head.
She huffed again, before continuing down this path. “You are not nothing to them Casey. You are the son of a wolf. You are the grandson of a Blood Walker. They will always come after you because of that.”
“Why now?” He bowed his head.
“I don’t know that.” She didn’t. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. They found us, I’m sure of that.”
He thought he understood. “Will they ever stop? What if you’re wrong?” He hoped this was just that. Maybe this was something else. She didn’t have to be right about it, but then again, he knew better than that, didn’t he. He felt it deep inside his soul. He knew she was.
She saw the pain in his eyes. She reached up to his face and caressed him with both of her hands. She rubbed his cheeks.
“I’m so sorry Casey. We hoped this wouldn’t happen to you. We did. We so wanted to keep you out of this. Now, everyone you come across will be fair game to them. You will never know who is who. You will never again live a normal life.”
He heard this and it struck him hard. He even started shaking some because of it.
“Angel?” His mind exploded. His thoughts turned raggedly sharp. Her face flashed over him like a bright light shining in your eyes. He even squinted some because of its sharpness. “Do you think they’ll go after her?”
She shrugged. She also nodded. She did both without even thinking about it much.
“I don’t know.” She lied. She did. She knew how this worked. If they wanted him, if they wanted him for whatever reason she didn’t know, they would use others close to him to get to him. They always did before and she didn’t doubt it now from happening again.
He had heard enough. “Then we have to help her.” He moved, looking around the room for a way out. Luckily, the house looked just like theirs, so he found the front door quickly. He ran to it even faster than that. Inside him, he saw the worst. He didn’t know what any of it meant, but he no longer cared about such things. All he had was her beautiful face on his thoughts. All he could see was evil coming for her. He saw her in danger. He saw himself having to rush to protect her. He didn’t have the choice either way.
Rachel couldn’t let him go. “Casey wait.” She tried to reach for him but just missed his arm, and instead watched him run out the door before she could even move. “Casey you can’t go to her, it’s dangerous.” She tried to follow him. She raced after him and stepped out to the front porch. He was already running down the street. She was about to shout to him, but kept herself from doing it. She couldn’t alert them to them. She had to stay quiet.
Now is the time to use my gifts. She thought, but couldn’t do that either. She couldn’t feel him in her mind. Without her gifts, he was stronger than she was, and now she knew it. She feared it. She would have to find another way. The car—I’ll take the car.
She turned to her right, ran down the small sidewalk running along the front of the house and made her way to the garage. She opened the side door next to it, and ran inside. She climbed inside behind the wheel, took the keys out of the visor above it, and started the engine. Thank God, they kept it ready. She roared the car to life.
Now, where in the hell am I going? It suddenly dawned on her that she didn’t know where this girl lived. It made her feel defeated. It made her feel lost.
Go out and to the right. She then heard this in her mind. It was a woman’s voice. She didn’t recognize it right away, but it didn’t matter to her. She heard it, felt its confidence, and decided to follow it. Follow Maple Street, and then turn left. The voice said again.
Who are you? She used the garage opener, also clipped to the visor over her, and opened the door. The car’s headlights shined down the driveway to the road.
The voice, calm and collected, came again. You do not have the time Rana. You must go now.
You know my name.
The voice sounded rushed. You must go Rana. You must hurry. There is no time for this!
She didn’t need to hear anything else.
She put the car into drive.
She pulled down the driveway and turned right. She followed the directions that she was now forced to go.
She had to find her son. Nothing else was more important than that.
36
Casey ran as fast as he could. His legs fought the burning he felt. He used the feeling to run faster. He had to get to her. He had to get to her before it was too late.
He ran to her place.
He ran up the driveway without breaking his stride.
He jumped up the front concrete steps, and only stopped when he was standing in front of the front door.
He knocked on it as hard and as loudly as he could without breaking it. Hell, he didn’t even care if he did that or not.
“Who is it?”
He heard her voice. She didn’t sound rushed. She didn’t sound afraid. She sounded normal.
He breathed. Oh, thank God!
“It’s me Casey.” He leaned against the wooden door. He bowed his head, letting the feelings of thankfulness overflow through him. It warmed his heart and mind.
“Come in Casey.”
He now felt even better. Now, not only was she all right, but she was letting him come in. He felt better than better, he felt downright relieved.
He opened the door.
Everything he felt disappeared just as fast.
Angel wasn’t alone.
Four people wearing all black—what looked like swat gear the police would wear in movies—were surrounding her. They flanked her arms, and looked like they were even holding her to them. They looked like they were armed. They carried rifles. They wore masks. The look on her face was worse.
She looked terrified. She looked pale. She looked frightened beyond words to describe it right.
“What in the hell is this?” he barked. He took a step to them, but then suddenly others must have come up behind him, because he felt them grab his arms.
They took him tightly, and held him still. They stopped him dead in his tracks.
“Let me go.” He tried to break free from them but couldn’t. They were firm enough. They were stronger than he was.
“I’m sorry Casey.” Angel bowed her head some to him.
He could feel that she was. She didn’t want to see them do this to him. She didn’t want this, but they left her no other choice. He felt it all.
37
Rachel did what the voice told her to do. She followed the directions, and when she reached a small neighborhood, the voice told her to stop.
It is here Rana. Here, stop here.
She slammed on the breaks.
He’s in the house. He needs you now.
She threw the car into park, and hurriedly opened the door. She ran from the car and headed up the empty driveway towards the house.
She ran to the front door.
The door was open, so she walked inside.
She saw her son’s back.
The Puppets and the Strings (A Werewolf's Saga Book 7) Page 23