The Watchers

by Lynnie Purcell

  “Yeah, well…” What could I say to that? “I can’t live my life in a box. I had to be sure Amanda was okay. You should know that I won’t let injustice stand, even if it means my personal safety. And, at least we discovered who is working for them.”

  “Maybe.” Daniel shook his head. Even in the dim light, I saw how upset he was. “It’s just…Something doesn’t feel right. He might be working for them, but it doesn’t feel like enough. I feel like…like…there’s something else.” Daniel’s frustration spilled out as he hit the edge of the bed. “And I’m missing it. I wish I could see everything! This stupid gift doesn’t feel like one…”

  I reached out to caress the side of his face. “You’re not perfect.” He snorted in agreement. “I didn’t mean it like that! Despite being an angel, you’re still human. We’re not made to catch everything, see everything, we’re just made to do the best we can with the tools we’ve been given. We’ll figure this thing out, not because we’re half angel, but because we’re half human, and our human half knows that when we miss something, or mess up, we get right back up and try again.”

  He looked at me and touched the hand that was caressing his face. “For a tough talking girl, you sure can be inspiring.”

  “People are never just one thing,” I said loftily.

  His lips lifted into a boyish smile. “No, they’re not.”

  He took my hand and laced his fingers with mine. His face became serious, and I knew something else was bothering him beside my ‘dangerous stunt’. He was blocking me from his thoughts, so I didn’t know what. “Clare, why did you really ask me here?”

  “What ever do you mean?”

  “Don’t start that,” he said wearily.

  “I’m not trying to seduce you, if that’s what you think,” I said indignantly. “I just want you near. It’s hard for me now. It’s hard to be separated from you. When you’re not around, I feel like something is missing…I feel lonelier than I’ve ever felt before.” I frowned at the words, which sounded so unlike me. “You have no idea how hard that was for me to say.”

  “I might,” he said. “You like me then, huh?”

  “A little bit. When you’re not being such a superior, pretentious assh…”

  He put a finger on my lips. “I love you.”

  I felt my stomach drop. The way he said it was so unlike him. There was fear and uncertainty. It had taken a lot for him to admit it. I could see it. Daniel’s eyes told me I didn’t have to say it back; he knew how hard the admission was. But I wanted to. It would be lying not to say it.

  “I love you back,” I whispered.

  He grinned. “I’m glad.”

  Feeling slightly overwhelmed, I leaned against the headboard, turning my face away for him. He moved next to me without a sound. I curled my knees to my chest and started playing with my necklace again. “I have a question,” I said trying to cover my awkwardness at admitting how much I really depended on him.

  “When don’t you have a question?”

  “When I have answers. You said you could sneak in here, and no one would ever know.”

  “Right.”

  I peeked over at him and saw his face confusion. He didn’t get what I was aiming at.

  “Have you? Snuck in here, I mean?”

  I waited. When he didn’t answer, I peeked over at him. His face was indignant. “I would never sneak in here without your explicit permission. It’s ungentlemanly. Besides, what would I do? Stand over you as you slept; creepily watch you from a hole in the wall? That would feel too much like that movie…”

  “Psycho?” I offered.

  “Exactly!”

  We started laughing.

  “You definitely have permission provided you stay away from rocking chairs,” I told him.

  “Done.” He wrapped his arm around me, and I snuggled in close.

  “What…” I hesitated, not wanting to ruin the moment but needing to ask. “What are we going to do about Amanda’s dad?”

  He took a deep breath and his face hardened. “Tomorrow, I am going to go have a talk with him.”

  “I’m coming.”

  “Absolutely not!”

  “Fine.”

  He looked at me, incredulous. “You’re giving up just like that?”

  “Nope,” I said calmly.

  “What does that mean?” He was fighting a smile.

  “I’ll just find another way to tag along. I know where he lives, remember?”

  “I could tie you up!” he threatened.

  “That’s just not a polite thing to say to a lady, Daniel, and even that wouldn’t stop me.”

  “You are the most stubborn person I have ever met. You know that, right?” he asked irritably.

  “How on earth could I possibly know that?” I retorted.

  “Point made.”

  “It doesn’t change the fact that I’m coming along.”

  “Is it so wrong that I don’t want you to get hurt?”

  “No, but if we are going to be a team like you said we are, we actually have to act like a team. That means dealing with dangerous things together and being completely honest with one another about those things.”

  He was silent as he thought about my words. Finally, he said, “You’re right. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if I try to smother you, even to protect you, you’ll just push me away.”

  “So…tomorrow?”

  He nodded. “After school. I’m bringing Jackson and Margaret.”

  “The more the merrier when you’re checking up on homicidal maniacs.”

  He chuckled darkly. “I have a question,” he said.

  “Is it a life threatening, ‘angels are out to get you,’ kind of question? Because I’m hanging those up tonight.”

  “No. I was wondering what you wanted to do for our project in literature.”

  I made a face. “I don’t know. Whatever you want to do. I’m not thrilled with the topic she gave us, so it doesn’t really matter…”

  “You don’t like Romeo and Juliet?”

  “I don’t think I could hate a play more.”

  “Why?” he demanded.

  I answered without thinking. “I just hate the hype that surrounds the story. Everyone gets all moony-eyed about two people who, in my opinion, didn’t really know each other that well. And once they knew their love was forbidden, they got all dramatic. As soon as you forbid people things, especially kids, they find a way to do exactly what you don’t want them to do. It’s human nature. I’ve done it. I still do it.” Daniel made a funny sound of agreement. I ignored him. “Their drama felt ridiculous, though. I think the strongest thing a person can do is live on after the person they truly love is dead. The strongest thing anyone can do is to live past that heartbreak and endure. If you can do that, you honor the memory of the person you loved. You honor their life. Plus…suicide? I’d rather go out fighting for a cause. Fighting for the person I loved.”

  Daniel’s eyes were wide. “I think if I live a million years I will never be able to predict the things you say.”

  “I hope you don’t,” I said smugly.

  “I think you may be overthinking the play. Shakespeare was just trying to prove that love is worth dying for. The length of time they knew each other doesn’t matter.”

  “I suppose so,” I replied. “I just prefer scary stories. Poe or Stephen King. They have morals to their lessons but are less preachy about it.”

  “You just like to be scared,” he said.

  “That too.”

  “Freak,” he teased.

  “Most days,” I agreed.

  “I don’t think you’ve ever really seen scary.” He paused then added, “Not the real kind.” He was talking about the other Watchers, and the deaths and murders he had witnessed and taken part in.

  “Your face is scary enough,” I joked.

  I knew reality was scary. I knew plenty.

  Daniel rolled over so his body pinned mine and looked into my eyes. “Real
ly? So, you don’t want me to kiss you then?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  He kissed me anyway. I didn’t want him to stop, but he did. He rested his forehead on mine for a moment. His body trembling almost as much as mine he rolled away and we both stared at the ceiling. There was another moment of silence then, less peaceful silence. Why was he so scared of kissing me like that? To break that tension filled silence, I asked the first question that popped into my head. It was a question I had been curious about for a month.

  “Daniel?”

  “Mhhh?”

  “Why did you run down that street naked…you know, that time when the nuns saw you?”

  He grinned sheepishly. “I lost a bet to Jackson.”

  “Oh…What was the bet?”

  “You know…I don’t even remember.”

  For some reason, I found this hilarious. I started laughing at him. When he shushed me, to keep Ellen from hearing us, I started laughing harder. The more exasperated his face got, the harder I laughed. Giving up, he started laughing as well, the bed creaking with our poorly concealed chuckles. We kept shushing each other, and each time we did, we laughed even harder. Our laughter led to other stories of his past, other funny moments, and I felt my fears relax. There would be time enough to worry later. The world stopped as our laughter and our stories became the only real thing in the world.

  Chapter 16

  “I don’t like this. I don’t like this one bit,” I said pacing in nervous agitation in front of the cabin.

  “Will someone please shut her up?” Margaret said from where she was lounging lazily on the back of her black motorcycle.

  I stopped pacing and glared at her, not caring how dangerous that was. “Sorry for having emotions. I forgot…you don’t like them.”

  She looked away from the woods and stared me down. As our glares met, her irises turned completely black. It was like seeing the wild woman from my shared memory. It was enough to send a shiver down my spine. The air around us hissed and crackled with electricity. All the hairs on my arm and neck rose at the alive feeling in the air.

  “Margaret.” Jackson chided her. He didn’t seem worried or upset, just bored as he leaned against Daniel’s black Audi. At the sound of his voice, Margaret’s eyes cleared, and she went back to staring at the woods, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. I started pacing again, too worked up to be worried about what could have happened. Jackson moved so he was blocking me. “I’d be a little careful about making Margaret angry.”

  “I know that anger is bad for us. We lose control. Daniel told me. It’s just…”

  Jackson cut me off. “It’s a little more than that.” Even though his face was serious, his voice was laced with laughter, which made it hard to take him seriously. The next words he spoke, though, I took very seriously. “The last person she got really mad at was hit by a lightning bolt on a perfectly clear day.” His hands enacted someone blowing up. I felt my eyes widen. “Didn’t Daniel tell you what her particular gift is?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  “She can control the weather.”

  I remembered Daniel mentioning talking to a person who controlled weather. It was the first day we worked on cars together. I also remembered the way Margaret’s thoughts had reminded me of a storm raging out of control. Suddenly, it made sense.

  “What can the others do?” I asked as I looked around the dilapidated cabin we were waiting in front of, searching for Daniel. He had promised to be right back, but that was ten minutes ago. I was definitely in need of a distraction

  “Well, Daniel can see the future. He can’t see it all the time, which is kind of annoying, and he can only see a couple of minutes into the future with any certainty.” I rolled my eyes. Jackson knew I knew what Daniel could do. “Beatrice can control people. She can get a whole army to waddle like a duck or kill each other, though she doesn’t like to do that. It works best on humans, because they don’t know how to block us out. Han can control energy. He has to have an energy source like a fire or a generator, but he can take that energy and do really cool things. He can cause power surges or kill people with pure energy overload.”

  I shivered, realizing how often Jackson came back to killing people. Watchers really were geared towards murder and mayhem. I wondered what my talent would be. Would my power be just as destructive? It seemed inevitable it would be.

  “What about you?” I asked.

  “I never get mad.”

  “Ever?” I asked.

  “Not enough to lose control like the others.”

  “So, you never have to worry about turning?” I asked.

  Jackson shook his head and glanced at Margaret. He didn’t have to worry about turning, but I knew he worried about her. It was obvious she was a lot to worry about as far as that was concerned.

  “He warned us to back off.” Daniel said as walked out of the woods with his hands tucked in his pockets.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. When we had arrived at Amanda’s house after school, we had found it deserted. Even the dogs were gone. Once we’d arrived, Daniel had gotten a vision of the brown-haired Seeker coming to intercept us. He had left to meet him, aware that it would be better for everyone if the Seeker didn’t see me.

  Daniel smiled at my sigh, but he was preoccupied with the news he had brought. “He said, and I quote, ‘Back off, and we will spare your family. We respect your strength, but if you do not back away from our mission, you will force our hand. You have been warned.’ Then he left.” Daniel’s jaw tightened. A vein throbbed in his temple.

  “Sounds rather old-fashioned,” Jackson said. “‘You have been warned!’ What a jackass.”

  I ignored Jackson. “He didn’t say anything about what their mission was?”

  “No. But, I definitely think something has changed. They’re not trying subterfuge anymore.”

  “They must really want you,” Jackson said to me.

  “Or they have something else planned. Something I can’t see.” Daniel said.

  “What?” Jackson, Margaret and I asked in unison.

  Daniel’s mouth twitched with a smile at our demanding tone. “I keep getting blocked from seeing what they have planned. It’s like the plan is somehow…” he gestured with his hands looking for the word, “malleable.”

  “A plan is malleable?” I was skeptical.

  “Good point. It’s probably the person orchestrating all this.”

  “The blonde woman…Cassandra?”

  Daniel lifted one shoulder. “I can’t tell.”

  “Why can’t we just kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out?” Jackson asked.

  “Because we need answers,” Daniel said.

  “I think it’s a good solution,” Jackson replied. “We know they’re a threat. And it’s not just because of Clare anymore. The others have been hungering for a while now to get us out of the picture. We scare them. Maybe, this is an attempt to do that, and they’re using Clare as an excuse.”

  “Not to make this all about me, but I don’t think so,” I said. “There’s something about me they want. Something I have. Maybe, it’s tied into the time when Ellen was attacked. They took her…my blood when she was pregnant with me.” Everyone looked at me in shock, but I ignored them. “Or maybe it’s tied to this!” I said as I picked up my necklace. “The way it acted around that demon…it could be a weapon!”

  Daniel shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. We don’t need the aid of a weapon. ” He held up his hands. “These are dangerous enough.”

  He shook his head again in frustration and started pacing. He clasped his hands behind his back as he paced, and walked the length of the cabin several times. With his serious expression and purposeful walk, he looked very much like an old scholar trying to solve a physics problem. All that was missing was the pipe and tweed jacket.

  “What are you thinking Danny?” Jackson asked.

  “I think Clare’s ability to read minds has something to do with all th
is. If someone looks too hard to capture, or kill, they don’t get this excited. And they certainly don’t study one two years before the change. The longest I’ve known them to track a young one was three months. Remember the girl in Jersey? She had already changed too…It has to be connected somehow.”

  What they were discussing was serious, but I couldn’t help but ogle Daniel a little bit. He was radiating such an aura of command. He looked completely different than the boy I had encountered on my first day here. The dark brooding face I had come to love wasn’t any different, but I felt the shields, he had kept up for so long that he wasn’t even aware of them anymore, were gradually sliding away. This was Daniel without the filter. The power, the grace, and the intensity were almost frightening. But, I knew humor was just as large a part of his personality. He loved to laugh. There were so many sides to him – sides I wanted to know better. Refocusing, I slid back into the conversation.

  “How does the attack on her mother relate to now?” Margaret asked.

  “It could be the same people,” I said. “Ellen said my father scared them off before they could do anything else….then he left us.”

  Margaret spoke to Daniel as if he had been the one talking. “But, what could be so important about her blood? And why didn’t they follow her sooner? With her father gone, they would have an easy time of it.”

  “If I had those answers, I wouldn’t be standing here asking you,” Daniel growled.

  “It’s not my fault you picked one with so much baggage,” Margaret said, her voice rising a little.

  “No, you’ve made your opinion very clear about how you think I should run my life,” Daniel snapped back. “Sorry, but some of us can’t live like humanity doesn’t exist.”

  “I’ve protected just as many humans as you have!”

  “Yeah, and how many more have you killed?”

  I stepped between them before the darkness I saw in their eyes could spread to a fight. I couldn’t imagine how horrible it had to be to worry about a silly argument getting out of control, but I saw how close both of them were. I knew Daniel would never forgive himself if they fought and he hurt her.