The following day he sent a carriage to collect me from the manor I was borrowing for the time being. I had one of the old servants accompany me as a chaperone. Once we were inside his fine home, I pretended to be impressed with the many beasts displayed on his walls. He had hunted each of them himself and loved to give me a full detailed account. He loved to brag about many things, especially the sports he played. In those days, hunting was one of the biggest sports around, the bigger the game, the better the man.
Over the next few days, Edward sent for me and showed me a new piece of his land each day. I could see how proud of himself he was, but this pride was pure arrogance. To him, his possessions were the key to his popularity. He boasted about having the biggest house, the prettiest flowers, and the greenest pastures. I also noticed one other thing he had more of than the other nobles, his hatred towards his servants was far beyond all the others. While he ate roast lamb and fresh vegetables, his hired help ate rats and moldy bread.
Throughout the tours of his manor, I had been taking a special interest in his windows, doors, and possible exits. I needed to come back at night and see for myself if anything was happening. I didn’t want to dish out undeserved punishment.
Finally, Edward introduced me to his daughters. He rested his hand on their backs as I curtsied towards them, showing my respect. As I wasn’t as high in society as they, I had to be respectful to those higher born than myself. If only these people knew the true origins of my birth, they would be kissing my feet. He left his hand on their backs as I lowered myself to the ground to pay my respects. I tilted my head up. Each daughter cringed as he touched them. The oldest shook in fear.
That evening as soon as I reached the manor I was staying in, I changed into stable hand clothing, pulled up my hair, and left the estate on the back of a jet black stallion. This beautiful creature was powerful and fearless. I pushed him as fast as he would go, he didn’t falter. I had a special connection with this stallion, we possessed the same wild spirit. I tied him to a tree a few kilometers away from Edward’s estate. He stamped his hooves and snorted loudly, disapproving of our sudden stop.
I neared the house and moved towards the side, looking for the window I thought would make a good point of entry. I pushed the top as hard as I could until it moved slightly within the frame. I pulled it out and sat it against the house. Pulling myself up through the gap, I was glad of my clothing change. I found myself on the first floor in a poky little corner, all was still.
I moved silently up the stairs towards the living quarters. I could hear whimpering in one of the front rooms. I headed towards the sound on full alert.
“I suppose you will have to do tonight. Your sister is having her monthly bleed,” said Edward.
He moved towards the youngest daughter, who was no older than thirteen. She cowered in the corner. Edward grabbed her arm and flung her onto the bed and pulled up her dress. I threw myself on his back and king hit the left side of his skull. He shook from side to side in an attempt to slide me off, it wasn’t going to work. I punched him again, but this time in the side of the face with a hard impact. Now I had his full attention.
“Run!” I yelled at his daughter.
My hair fell out of my hat and he realized who I was. Now he had other thoughts on his mind than fighting. He attempted to get me onto the feather mattress. I slammed his head into the wooden post of his bed repeatedly. Edward had a tough head. After the fourth time, he fell down and managed to mumble a few words which I understood as being what did I want.
“I want you to leave town, your fortune, and your daughters.”
“That’s not going to happen,” spat Edward. He was recovering faster than I expected.
I got up and kicked him in the balls. Edward responded perfectly by turning a beautiful shade of crimson.
“Now I want you to pack what you can carry and get out of here, never to return. If you do come back, I’ll be waiting for you.”
“No,” Edward responded.
I stood up and stomped hard on his left hand, breaking each bone. He screamed out in pain. I came back towards him and he crawled away from me. I kept on coming at him till he was out of the room. The servants had a horse saddled up and waiting; someone had alerted them to what was going on. One of the farm boys hauled him onto the horse and slapped the animal’s rump, sending him flying away. Edward barely held on with his one good hand.
The servants cheered with happiness as he left the manor for the last time. I had to leave England shortly after this episode. My legend was born. Whoever heard the tale repeated it far and wide. It quickly grew to mythic proportions, which would eventually change my description to that of a demon. This is where Nate got his initial first intel on me.
Too many stories were circulating about the white-haired woman who beat the nasty nobleman.
I danced around the tennis courts with a big smile on my face, remembering back to one of my earlier rehabilitation encounters. The wonderful feeling I felt in my muscles that night drove me to fight for women who needed a saviour.
Chapter Ten
Nate
The two female teachers clumsily danced around the room. They weren’t the best instructors to teach a bunch of rowdy teens how to dance. I counted each step they took to gain the rhythm in my head, 1, 2, 1, 2. Forward, forward, side, side. I think I could do this if Indy didn’t totally suck. I pushed her back and she willingly complied. The more I continued, the better I became.
I had underestimated Indy. Her dancing skills were remarkable. I didn’t have to watch the teacher, Indy knew the steps so well I sort of learned from her. With an experienced partner, this task had become as easy as walking.
We quickly became the new teachers in the class. Indy wasn’t paying much attention to us; instead, she was looking at Mark and Corrina.
Corrina was a bit of a slut. She thought the way she danced was sexy and alluring when it was repulsive. That girl had no respect for herself and needed to grow up. It was a sad truth, but Indy would one day be fighting for her if she didn’t pull her act together. She attracted the wrong kind of men and paraded around like she was an easy lay. Women never deserved to be raped, and nothing they wore ever warranted a man copping a feel, but Corrina pushed that boundary as far as she could. I could see the large cracks within the young couple’s relationship and knew for a fact that Mark had his eyes on someone else. Someone who didn’t push him into sex and manipulate his feelings. Corrina had once mentioned that she thought Mark might have been gay because he wouldn’t have sex with her. That single remark had cut him deep. He wasn’t gay he just wanted a woman with morals.
Indy was off in her own world dreaming of her past. She had a beautiful faraway smile resonating on her lovely face. She didn’t need complete attention to pull off dancing, and with me holding her in my arms, I would make sure it was all good. I looked around for the rest of our friends. Brandon and Nessa were attempting to dance—they weren’t bad at all. Nessa was a dancer and taught the littles after school. I don’t think she was familiar with this dance, but on the whole she was a natural and gave the dance the respect it commanded. My gaze drifted over to Casey and Connor. They were having a rough time. They were both stumbling over and treading on the other’s toes, but they were having a lot of fun. They weren’t taking this lesson seriously and were making the most out of it. This is where Connor was vastly different from me. He could see the fun in life and expose his inner self for everyone to see. I was too competitive and scared of failure.
The lesson ended and we all headed to our next class. Indy was back in the present and feisty as hell.
Mark yelled out for us to slow down so he could catch up. We were off to Careers in practices, another class which made me question myself and my motives.
We all took our seats and waited for further instruction. The teacher handed out manila folders to some students and university enrollment forms to others. Mark was handed the questionnaire due to his absence in the last class
. Indy and myself were handed folders. I opened mine up while the teacher hovered.
“Indiana, I gave you pamphlets on several jobs because your answers of ‘great right hook’ and ‘jaw breaking uppercut’ didn’t really fit into any category. It would have been nice if you could have taken this seriously.” The teacher wasn’t too happy with Indy, I expected the scolding.
“Nate, I have two careers that I thought you would be perfect in. I know you struggled with answering the questions, but I appreciated your honest responses.” This same teacher who has yelled at Indy was calm and polite towards me.
I opened up the folder and pulled out two pamphlets. I was a little shocked but also pleasantly surprised. I was expecting law enforcement or the army. Staring up at me was a man in a fire fighter’s uniform and a rescue squad. Both of these options were exciting and I could picture myself running into a building engulfed in orange flames saving trapped children. A life with real risks and rewarding outcomes—if only I could.
“Mate, what did you get?” said Mark. He was already finished with his form.
I held up my package for all to see. One of the girls was giggling at the front of the classroom. Shortly after, the rest of girls in class turned around looked at me, then began to whisper. What the heck was going on? Why were they looking at me like this? One of the girls licked her lips in my direction. I was flabbergasted as to what that was for. Indy sat beside me laughing her head off. I gave her a filthy look and started to read my own information.
Indy leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Most women dream of sexy fire fighters. You’d fit that bill for most girls in this room.”
Now the way the girls in the class were looking at me made total sense. “I don’t fit that bill for you, Indy.” I knew what she was going to say, so I stood up.
“No, why would—”
As Indy was speaking, I stretched up as high as I could, showing off my six pack. I usually wasn’t vain, but I wanted to see if I had any effect on Indy at all. Her sudden speechlessness was enough for me, despite the fact I had a collected sigh from the rest of them girls and I think one guy. Oh well, whatever rocks your boat.
***
School was over and I was really keen to go to the skate park with Indy. She would complain and whinge about the idea, but she needed to come for her own safety. She had plans with Nessa; with a little persuasion from Connor and I, she was following us to the skate park. Nessa went her own way and vowed to ring Indy tonight. I got the impression that Indy didn’t really want to go with Nessa, anyway. She didn’t complain afterwards and followed like a little sheep.
Brandon was going to meet us there after he walked Nessa to her appointment. Mark was walking with Indy a few yards away. They were chatting about Mark’s sister, Cindy. I was well up to speed on her slow progress. If she had received proper help shortly after the event, I think it would have made a difference. Poor Cindy deserved a good life without the copious amounts of medication she consumed.
As we reached the skate park, I dropped my board and jumped on it, heading for the highest pipe. I concentrated on the task ahead of me. I wanted to forget all of the other things going on, Indy’s careless decisions, which wasn’t hindering my increasing attraction to this beautiful, deadly angel, then factoring in Bernie coming to kill her. I could see all hell breaking loose.
As I rode down the first incline, I let go of all of my problems and dreamed of a future with no hassles. The love of a certain angel in a world where there was just us to roam doing as I pleased aroused me—hopefully dreams do come true, as the saying goes.
I couldn’t get enough of this amazing feeling—abundant weightlessness wrapped around my body like a comfy blanket. This was my safety net; where I felt most at ease. Nothing could get me up here.
Below I could see the admiration from all my peers. I wondered if they would respect me if they really knew all of the horrible things I’d done. There was a voice in the back of my head that said Max had forgiven me and Indy tolerated me, of course they would understand. I was riding high on the belief that these people cared about me, they were my real family and you fight with your life for family.
I touched the ground after doing a totally awesome 360. I held my board in my hand and headed to where everyone was waiting. Mark and Brandon slapped my back in praise; I gave a few pointers before Brandon attempted a small jump.
Brandon took down the half pipe, sailing up the other side, then with some considerable speed, he shot up the other side and pulled up the bottom of the board in mid-air. He easily soared three feet high. I could see that while I had been absent, he had been practicing and it was paying off. Everyone cheered loudly, giving Brandon the glory he truly deserved.
The feeling of being watched started to creep up on me; it felt like eyes were boring into my back. I didn’t want to turn around and scan the area, I didn’t want to suggest to Bernie our awareness of her. At this point in time I wasn’t sure if she thought we knew of her or not. I wanted the upper hand here and had to work for it.
I acted as normal as I could and moved away from the group to climb the side of the ramp. Once I reached the top I could see everyone and everything but I couldn’t see her. I could feel her intense stare burning into my body. I was now feeling what Indy had been feeling for weeks. I looked at Indy and she returned my gaze. She was annoyed and looked like she wanted to kick someone’s front teeth out. Her mouth started to form the name Bernie, but she was asking more than affirming my suspicions. I simply nodded my head.
Indy’s mood plummeted from sweet roses to exhaust fumes in seconds. I wasn’t ready for the instant change and started to cough loudly and gasp air in an attempt to clear my lungs.
Chapter Eleven
Indy
I was very happy not to accompany Nessa to her appointments; I thought she needed to do this on her own. It was a good step for her to talk to this counselor, she didn’t seem traumatized from her experience. Cindy Houghton, who was Mark’s sister, was on the other end of the stick. The poor girl needed some serious help and I was going to ensure she received it. I couldn’t believe Nate didn’t think of this before—maybe he had. We had an angel living under our roof who could heal a lot of the emotional and mental damage that Hopwood inflicted. I knew Max would do anything he could to help anyone who needed his special gift.
I walked with Mark as he filled me in on his sister’s schedule. She received two intensive sessions a week with a psychiatrist. In addition to this she was on one type of anxiety medication and an anti-psychotic drug which made her a zombie most days. Those drugs were bound to stuff her up even worse if she used them long term.
“Mark, I have a friend who is a specialist in his field and has a very high success rate—would your parents mind if he met Cindy?” I asked.
Mark thought this over, then he exhaled loudly. He seemed defeated.
“Why not? She’s seen so many people, been on so many drugs, and nothing is working.”
He paused for a while longer. I knew he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to say it. I gave him the time till he was ready to speak again.
“No offense, Indy, but I won’t tell my parents you suggested this. They don’t listen to me at all and our ages hinder our experience.”
I touched his hand softly. “This will work, I promise you.”
Mark looked deep in my eyes, searching for something.
“There’s so much about you I don’t understand, but for some reason I believe you more than all those professional white coat doctors.”
We walked in silence till we reached the skate park. Everything had been said in the past and he didn’t want any sympathy. He just wanted her to survive; I could understand.
The boys lined up to show off what they thought was totally mad skate boarding skills. I didn’t know if I could sit here every afternoon; Nate and I would have to work out some sort of roster or this wouldn’t happen. I’ll lose him somehow and do what I do best.
&nbs
p; Nate went first. He stood at the top of the half pipe with his board in his hand, looking at the course. He was piecing together in his head what he was going to do. Then off he took, I wasn’t paying too much attention. I was watching but not taking any of it in. After a few simple jumps, something in Nate snapped and he became this skate god. He looked really good up there jumping through the air. He was picking up speed to make a high jump. I couldn’t look away, he was mesmerizing. He jumped at a perfect angle that positioned the sun just behind his back. The mustard rays shone bright behind him, for a moment he looked like the angel he craved to be.
Nate landed beautifully on the ground and headed to his friends, unaware of the epic stunt he had just pulled.
Brandon went and did his thing. I wasn’t looking now. I was over it; I was bored, hungry, and needed to use a toilet. Everyone started to clap loudly; I looked around and decided I had better join in. As I clapped I tried to not look dumbfounded, like a change in the wind paranoia swept aside my emotions and sat uncomfortably in the forethoughts of my mind. The source of my sudden change of emotions was no other than Bernie, the replacement for Nate sent to kill me. That bitch was back and toying with me, it was true what Nate had said. Bernie loved to play with her prey, teasing and taunting was her preferred style.
I wanted this confrontation soon, but not necessarily now because my friends could get hurt in the crossfire. I’m positive there will be a real fight, not the catty hair pulling kind. Bring it on, bitch.
Nate had been watching Brandon; he moved away from us and walked towards the course. He stood at the half pipe waiting; this wasn’t normal Nate behaviour, he never took the limelight from others. As he turned I could see through his superb acting skills and recognize the same feeling I felt, paranoia. I mouthed the source of my emotions and his simple nod confirmed he thought the same. I should have gone to that session with Nessa, for my own personal reasons.
Heavenly Hunted Page 5