The Watchers

by Lynnie Purcell

  “Yes. Information travels fast in our world. Even those not involved in the war, hear about things that affect it,” he said.

  “Won’t that make it more dangerous…for everyone? I could go…”

  I was back to running.

  His hands slid from my face and gripped my shoulders. He fought the urge to shake me again.

  “No! Absolutely not!” I leaned away from him, startled at his vehemence. “You pride yourself on your strength, correct? You think of that strength as the one great asset you have that no one can take. Take away all the variables, all the dangers, and what is the strongest thing you can think to do?”

  “Fighting to protect the ones I love,” I answered sullenly. He had trapped me. He had obviously also seen more in our joining than I had thought. I didn’t want to think about how much.

  His lips lifted into a satisfied smile. “I’m glad you see the light. Now, come over here and sit down.”

  Daniel turned gracefully and sat down on our rock. He laid back and waited for me to join him. Looking past him, I saw we were at a lake; beautiful, dark water lapped lazily against the edge of our rock, which overhung the water. The dull roar I had sensed, but had been too worked up to fully notice, was coming from a waterfall on the opposite side. The waterfall was laughing happily from the moonlight playing across it as it streamed into the dark lake. Dark trees surrounding the water only heightened the beauty of the spot. The full moon looked very big here, almost as if I could reach out and touch it. There was a sense of utter stillness in the air. I felt if I concentrated hard enough I could connect with every other living thing in the universe. I lay down feeling a curious sense of déjà vu.

  After a moment, I asked, “What does this mean for Alex?”

  He ran his thumb over my hand he had claimed and said thoughtfully, “I honestly don’t know. I’m not even sure how she’s able to move between the Nightstalker and her human self. After we change, we stay changed. It’s part of our curse. She shouldn’t be able to just transcend that barrier.”

  I thought about it. “Maybe, it has something to do with me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s just a feeling, but I think I may have given her a part of myself. Maybe, my talent includes being able to change shapes or something?”

  He thought about it. “Maybe. But how did you create that fire? How can you do any of this before the change?”

  “Good point. I don’t know. You know what that fire was like, right?”

  “Yes.”

  Neither of us had to say it out loud: The fire at the pool.

  “I think Gavin Nichols had my blood. I think they were giving it to him, but I don’t think it was working very well. I think he wasn’t really trying to figure out how to capture me, but how to get me to give my blood to them willingly. I doubt Mr. Nichols knew it was my blood that made him able to create fires and turn invisible and stuff.”

  “But how did they have your blood in the first place?” he asked.

  “Ellen.”

  It instantly clicked for him. “The attack.”

  “Yes.” I shook my head, frustrated. “I don’t get why I have to give it willingly, though. That doesn’t make any sense. What am I saying? None of this makes sense.”

  He started laughing. I made a face at him. “I’m sorry it’s just…I knew from the day I met you, you were different. I just didn’t know how different. This explains so much, even if it explains so little.”

  “It also doesn’t explain how they knew my blood was capable of turning people.”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “No…it doesn’t.”

  We were silent for a long minute lost in our separate thoughts. I assumed Daniel was going over what he had witnessed in the cellar. I certainly was. I replayed what had happened before I’d lost my mind and went super-Rambo. My thoughts kept returning to the people I had killed. Thomas’s expression when he died flashed in front of my eyes over and over again. It was the death that felt the most personal.

  “How’d they capture you anyway?” I asked not wanting to think about Thomas anymore.

  “The woman made it look like she had captured you and was running off. I gave chase and we fought. I underestimated their strength, though. They overwhelmed me.”

  He picked up a small pebble, and chucked it into the dark water, disturbing the dark, liquid surface. His agitation at the memory was obvious.

  “It took three of them?”

  “Yep.”

  I smiled slyly, a thought occurring. “You’re not embarrassed that a girl saved your angelic butt, are you? Especially the girl who happens to be your…girlfriend.”

  His face was full of macho superiority. “Of course not. But I would have gotten us out of there eventually.”

  “In pieces,” I muttered. “They’ll come again won’t they? This isn’t the end of it.”

  He sighed like Atlas shouldering the world. “Yes. A marker of our kind is our resilience and determination. Beyond that…I know Marcus will send others. He does not give up easily. You mean a lot of money if he can sell you. That is also something he does not give up easily.”

  “You sound like you know him personally.”

  “I do.” His admission wasn’t encouragement. I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it. I wasn’t in the mood to push him.

  More would come. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my days fighting, but I knew I would if it meant having the things I wanted…like Daniel. Did that make me selfish? I sighed and shook my head. That was a question for another night.

  “Before we go to your house, can we run by Alex’s? I want to make sure she’s okay.” And that she didn’t hate me for what I had inadvertently done to her.

  “Of course.” He sounded glad for the excuse.

  I looked out at the lake wondering if I had lost Alex as a friend. I wondered how Amanda would cope, and what would become of me, the killer. I looked down at my soiled clothes feeling dirty for a million reasons. I wouldn’t feel better for a long time, but right now, I really wanted to be clean, to wash away the silver blood that was encrusted on my skin, hair, and clothes. I needed to wash away the night. I stood abruptly and kicked off my shoes then peeled away the socks that were already drenched from my dive into the river. I started on my shirt.

  “What are you doing?” Daniel asked nervously as he watched me strip.

  “Shut your eyes, and don’t you dare peek,” I warned. I didn’t care that he was there. The desire to be clean, to get the blood off of me was too overpowering.

  “Clare…” he started then slapped his hand over his eyes as I peeled away my shirt.

  I started laughing at the expression on his face. It was nice to know I could make him so jittery. Nice, because he spent all his time doing that to me.

  I went to the edge of the large rock we were sitting on and dove into the water with a clean slice. The water was breathtakingly cold. But, I felt better. Cleansed. I treaded water and scrubbed at my arms and neck to wash the blood away. Without any soap it was tough, but it came off, little by little, exposing my pale skin.

  When I was done with my cleansing, I floated on my back and stared up at the moon. Long moments passed where the only things I was aware of were the sound of my heart beating, the crickets chirping, and the moon hanging low in the sky.

  “I just realized something,” I called to out to Daniel as I stared at the sky.

  “Can I open my eyes now?” he asked, his voice laced with laughter.

  “Nope. I just realized that the answers we’re looking for don’t matter nearly as much as moments like these. All the bad stuff…” I held my arms up toward the moon, trying to embrace her, “can’t compare to this.”

  I heard an unexpected splash come from the direction of the rock. I swallowed water as I dunked beneath the surface to hide my body. Daniel came towards me doing a slow breaststroke, his eyes playful.

  With everything but my head beneath the water I said, “What do yo
u think you’re doing?!”

  “Swimming.”

  “This is my lake,” I said.

  “You can’t own a lake.”

  “Well, just stay over there. That’s your side. This is my side.”

  Ignoring me, he swam right up, his bare chest reflecting the light of the moon.

  “You’re right. It’s moments like these that matter. Everything else…peripheral.” He touched my neck, cupping it gently. “And Clare?” I looked at him questioningly. “I totally peeked at you.” He smirked.

  “That’s because you’re a cheater.”

  “No one is perfect.”

  I rolled my eyes. Then, because he was so conveniently close, I kissed him. He felt great, solid and real, continuity in a life that felt like it was being overrun by too much random weirdness.

  I broke away from him, all too aware of how easy kissing him was, how easily getting lost in the moment would be. Now wasn’t the time for that…not when I was so emotional and confused.

  Feeling slightly awkward with the emotions pounding inside my chest, I shoved Daniel under the water and swam towards the waterfall, daring him to catch up. Laughing, we raced each other there, not as half-angels, not as murderers, but as two people embracing the moment.

  We tied.

  Epilogue

  There’s something about funerals I hate. Beyond the dead bodies, I mean. What made this one worse was the fact that Amanda was angry, hurt, and only there because her aunt had forced her to come. You didn’t have to be a mind reader to see it. It was written on her face and every impatient shift of her body.

  Daniel had his arm draped around my shoulders as we walked across the spongy ground towards his car. The sun, which had finally broken the pallor of winter’s grip, beat down at us warmly. A trickle of sweat rolled down my back as I walked. It was the first day I hadn’t had to wear Daniel’s jacket. Spring was here at last.

  Amanda walked with her Aunt Colleen, two or three people ahead of us, the pastor finally releasing us from his droning monologue. Her head was bowed as she struggled with overwhelming emotions; emotions she couldn’t make heads or tails of. I could clearly hear her thoughts over everyone else. They were too loud and too angry to ignore. I knew what I had to do. I had been contemplating it ever since we arrived. I stopped Daniel, and Alex, who was walking with us.

  Alex not only forgave me for changing her into a Nightstalker but was handling the whole thing stoically. She’d said a part of her had known the possible consequences and hadn’t cared. She couldn’t remember much beyond feeling called to the bunker and the overwhelming rage, but she knew she was glad to have helped. She was an amazing friend. One I was glad to have.

  “I need to talk to Amanda…do you mind?” I asked as I faced them.

  Daniel smiled and shook his head. His green eyes told me he knew what I was doing. “We’ll wait by the car.”

  Alex looked at Ellen and Sam, who were talking to a short man standing near the casket. When they walked away from the man – through the gravestones, deeper into the cemetery – Sam’s hand rested on the small of Ellen’s back. I watched them, sensing Ellen wanted to pay her respects to my grandfather. Although Ellen’s face was solemn with the idea of what she was about to do, she was glowing at Sam’s touch. “Actually, I need to talk to Dad about something before he leaves,” Alex said.

  “You need money for clothes for your date.” I smirked.

  Davis had finally gotten up the nerve to ask Alex out. With everything that had happened, that simple act had given me the most hope. Life wasn’t all about pain and heartbreak, it was about the little things, like a boy finding the courage to ask a girl out.

  “When don’t I need money for clothes?” Alex asked with a smile.

  “When you’re asleep, I suppose,” I said.

  “Not always,” she said.

  She waved a brief goodbye and hurried to catch up with Sam before he got too far away. I kissed Daniel on the cheek and ran to catch up with Amanda in the other direction.

  “Amanda!”

  Amanda and her aunt turned at the call. The pair was almost carbon copies of each other, the only difference being that Amanda had dark brown eyes and Colleen’s were blue. Colleen was dressed in an expensive looking suit that matched her salon-styled hair perfectly. I remembered hearing that she was a big book editor in New York City. Despite having a no-nonsense face, and a keen knack for business, her thoughts told me she was compassionate, a feeler, totally opposite from her brother.

  “Can I talk to you for a second?” I asked Amanda, catching a curious glance from the aunt.

  Amanda was still rather pale from her near-death experience. The way she had looked at the bottom of the river flashed in front of my eyes. It made it hard to look at her, but I kept my eyes trained on her dark one’s, knowing I had to tell her the truth. She had to know that the reason for her anger wasn’t as justified as she thought.

  Her first thought was angry. Someone else who didn’t know how bad a person he was telling me they’re sorry. Sadness, guilt, and gratitude swept over her as she remembered what I had done for her…how I had also kept her suicide attempt to myself and not spread it to the school. Her eyes softened. But for her, I’ll endure the platitudes. “Sure.”

  I pulled her out of her aunt’s range of hearing. “How are you feeling?” I asked.

  “Oh…okay…you know…” She shrugged, uncomfortable.

  “Good…” There was a moment of awkward silence before I blurted out the reason I had stopped her. “I don’t know how much you really know about how your father died…”

  Her eyes grew wide, not expecting that. “It was an animal attack. That’s what Chuck said.”

  “Not…not exactly. I can’t go into details, but he was helping out some people who weren’t very nice.”

  Figures. Must have been that creepy man who kept coming around.

  Slightly startled by the vision of Thomas she had forced on me, I continued, “The whole story doesn’t matter, what matters is that at the end he was trying to save you. The bad people were using your suicide attempt as a way to draw…others out, and your father didn’t want any part of that. He tried to stop them, and they killed him for it. His last act was to try and save you.”

  I don’t believe her! “How could you possibly know that?” she demanded. Her brown eyes burned into mine. Their intensity reminded me of Sheriff Cobb.

  “I just do. It’s the truth.”

  Amanda looked at me skeptically. I kept my eyes on hers, facing her skepticism with stubborn determination. It was important she believe. I heard her thoughts fight their way to the conclusion I was telling her the truth. Maybe, subconsciously, she realized I had powers beyond the normal, or maybe she wanted to be able to believe in her dad again. Either way, her eyes filled with tears.

  “You’re not lying to me are you?” she pleaded.

  “I swear to you on my mother’s life, on my life, I’m not.”

  “I…My father wasn’t a good man. Nothing will change that fact, but…thank you for telling me.” She hesitated. “And thank you for saving me. There are things I still need to work out but…you’ve given me so much.”

  She hugged me, startling me with the action. She would never forgive her father for the things he had done to her, the abuse he had inflicted, but she had the knowledge that, even for a brief moment, he had loved her enough to die for her. I figured a person could go far with that kind of knowledge. She released me, her sadness taking away her voice, and walked over to her aunt, who was waiting by the car. I watched her walk, thinking over her future.

  She would be moving to New York as soon as all the arrangements were done – a move that provided her with new opportunities and endless possibilities. I hoped her future would be better than what her past had given her.

  Daniel appeared at my side and took my hand. We walked to the car. “That was a very kind thing you just did,” he said.

  “It was the truth.”

&
nbsp; “It was kind all the same.”

  He smiled at me, his eyes impossibly soft. He opened my door, and I slid in as he walked around to join me. I watched him walk, feeling strangely happy, as if a weight had lifted off of me. We didn’t have the results from all the tests Beatrice and Han had done. We didn’t know what my future held, or what kind of creature I was, but we had each other. I figured, like Amanda, I could go far with that.

  “Would it be inappropriate for me to tell you how amazing you look?” he asked, starting the Audi and maneuvering around the parked cars.

  “Yes,” I said, looking at the black dress, heels and jewelry Alex had forced on me.

  “I won’t say it, then.”

  “That qualifies as saying it,” I retorted.

  “I was never one for the appropriate.”

  “That’s the truth…” I turned to talk to Alex, but the backseat was empty. I looked at the side of his face questioningly. “Did we ditch Alex?”

  “No. She left with Sam and Ellen. They’re going out to lunch…I asked her if we could be alone for a little while, because I have a surprise.”

  “What surprise?”

  He laughed. “You can’t ask about it in that demanding tone, Clare. It won’t make me tell you what it is.”

  I made a face. “Do you think she’ll recover?”

  “You or Amanda?” he asked pointedly.

  “Don’t start.”

  He thought about his answer. “I tried to look through all the possibilities, as much as I could, and I feel like Amanda is going to flourish in New York. It’ll be good for her.”

  “I hope so.”

  He made another turn, and I realized we were headed towards his house. I hoped his surprise didn’t involve needles. I couldn’t handle any more of those. They had been my mainstay for the past two days. Oddly enough, though, his place had become my refuge. Even though the tests happened there, it was the one place that was unassailable. It was my castle in the woods.

  “Clare…I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

  “What?”

  “When’s your birthday?”

  I stared at him, peeling my eyes away from the trees which were encroaching on the road as we drove up his mountain. We had been trying to keep the weird things at bay, concentrating on being together as a couple, but I knew in spite of that, or maybe, because of it, that the weird things couldn’t be put off forever. My throat was suddenly dry. Did my birthday even mean anything anymore? Did it matter that I would turn seventeen? I thought I had jumped that barrier when I had killed.