Knight Flyers

by Ann McCune

  “I wouldn’t touch it until we can find out more about it. You don’t want to end up like Gollum.” He half laughed.

  “I was thinking the same thing.” I put everything back in the box and looked at the time. Shawn followed my gaze to the clock.

  “I should get home,” Shawn said, pulling me into a half hug before getting to his feet.

  “Are you on duty tonight?” I asked, getting up and going to the closet to get his coat while he put his boots on.

  “No, I was hoping I could talk to you more about all this later.” He stood and came to me.

  “I don’t think my father would approve of that.” I went to hand him his coat, but he pushed my hand away, took me in his arms, and kissed me. Warmth erupted in my belly as his tongue flicked across my lips asking for admittance.

  I opened them, not really sure what to do, but when our tongues met it was instinctual. “Wow,” I said when we came up for air.

  He took a step away from me, I stumbled and almost fell to the floor. “Whoa, are you alright?” he asked, grabbing my arm to steady me.

  “Yeah, it was just, wow.” I smiled shyly.

  “I’ll see you later.” He let go and went to the door.

  “Yeah, see you later.” I followed him as he opened the door and stepped out.

  “Thank you for a nice night,” he said before turning and walking to his Jeep.

  “Thank you. It was nice. Drive home safe,” I called before closing the door and watching him back out of the driveway. With a little more bounce in my step I locked the door. I turned off the lights and grabbed the tin before going upstairs to my room. My room smelled amazing from the flowers Shawn gave me. I walked over to them and stuck my nose into the blooms, then got ready for bed. Right before I turned out the light there was a knock at my door.

  “Come in.”

  “Hey, we’re home. We are going to leave pretty early in the morning, so you might want to set your alarm,” Mom said, peeking her head in.

  “Okay, did you have a good time at the Andersons?” I snuggled deeper into my bed.

  “Yes, but your dad was nervous about leaving you here with Shawn.” She laughed. “Did you two have a good time?”

  “Yeah, we watched Deadpool, then he left.” I felt bad, lying to them, but they would never believe me if I told them the truth.

  “Good, sleep tight.”

  “You too.” She shut the door.

  I set my alarm, turned off the light, and willed myself to sleep so I could meet up with Shawn in dreamland.

  CHAPTER 23

  I was at work, and nothing was going right. People kept coming and paying with cash and I didn’t have enough change. They were starting to yell at me and pound their fists on the counter demanding their money. The chime over the door went off and I looked over to see my goblin walk in, pick up a bag of chips, open them, and start to eat them. When did I start calling him mine?

  “This is a pretty boring dream,” he said around a mouthful.” Why don’t you come and play with me, Liz, my girl?”

  “Why would I want to do that? Why won’t you leave me alone?” I yelled, putting my hands over my ears, and closing my eyes.

  Because you are mine, I marked you. You are going to be my ticket out of the dream realm and into the waking one. His voice was in my head, I turned and ran for the garage, slamming and locking the door behind me.

  “When are you going to figure out you can’t outrun me? No matter where you go, or what you do, I will be waiting for my chance to eat your soul and become the most powerful goblin in all the realms.”

  I knew he couldn’t hurt me, I had my dreamcatcher over my bed like I always did, but I was so tired of trying to outrun him in my dreams. I opened my eyes and ran at the mare, ready to tackle him to the ground and beat him until there was nothing but mush left. He looked startled at first, then a smile crossed his face. He dropped the bag of chips and held his arms out to me. I jumped when I was two feet away, ready to tackle him, but instead of tackling him, I bounced off an invisible barrier and landed on the hard, concrete floor of the garage.

  “Your protection goes both ways. I can’t touch you, and you can’t touch me.” He laughed long, grabbing his belly, and squeezing his eyes shut. “Why are you even trying? It’s going to be you and me for the rest of your life,” he said, then looked around and shook his head. “I’ll see you later, lamb chop.”

  “Hey, princess,” Shawn said, wrapping his arms around me from behind. I jumped and turned around, relieved it was Shawn and not the goblin. “Are you okay? You’re shaking.”

  “Don’t call me princess.” I leaned back into him, enjoying the feel of my back resting on his chest. “You just missed the goblin.”

  “Did he hurt you?” Shawn asked, wrapping his arms around me, and pulling me tight against him.

  “No, I tried to hurt him, but my protection goes both ways. He can’t touch me, and I can’t touch him.”

  “Let’s go to the padded room,” he said, pulling away from me.

  “Good idea.” I gave him a smile. I always felt safe in his padded room.

  I closed my eyes and thought of Shawn’s safe place. Moments later we were there. “What am I going to do? I can’t take much more of him tormenting my dreams. When you aren’t with me he is always there, and I wake up more tired than when I went to bed.”

  “We’ll figure something out. My dad will be back tomorrow, and I will talk to him about it. I just hope he will help.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “He can be weird about Knight Flyer stuff. We are a secret organization, but if you can do what we do, he should be excited.” He took my hand. “Hey, you never showed me your dreamcatcher. Will you show it to me now?”

  “Sure.” I closed my eyes and pictured my room. I opened them and walked to the head of my bed. “It’s right there.”

  “Was it blessed by a Shaman?”

  “No, I bought this one from the gas station, I liked the colors and the feather. We buy them in bulk, I think there was a ‘Made in China’ sticker on it.”

  “This is the only place I’ve been where something so simple works to keep the mares out.”

  “Yeah, no one knows why they work, or even who found out they work, but they do.” I sat on the bed, not really sure what to do. I didn’t have any of the answers I needed, and neither did Shawn. I didn’t know what to do besides be relieved that when I was with him the goblin would leave me alone.

  “What are you doing the rest of the weekend?” Shawn sat next to me.

  “I’m going dress shopping in Denver with my mom tomorrow, we are getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to get to the stores before they get busy. I have to work on Sunday morning, then I will spend the rest of the day studying. What about you?”

  “I’m on duty tomorrow night, then training and studying I guess. I want to see you again this weekend though.”

  “We might be able to study together on Sunday as long as Billy doesn’t show up and kiss me again. The jerk.”

  “Okay, maybe we can go to my house this time? There will be less of a chance of Billy showing up.”

  I laughed. “Good plan, as long as it’s alright with my overbearing father it should be fine.”

  “He really cares about you.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his chest. “I do too.”

  “I care about you too.” I wrapped my arms around his midsection. My alarm started to sound through the room and I groaned. “See you later,” I said before waking up in my room alone.

  CHAPTER 24

  I hated shopping, I was never comfortable stripping in a tiny cubicle and putting on clothes with tags and anti-theft devices poking me. Mom made me try on twenty different dresses before we finally settled on one. It was black, with a strapless, fitted top covered in sequins, and a long chiffon skirt. Mom liked the cut, I liked the color. She wanted me to get a pastel color, but I had to put my foot down, I was not a pastel kind of girl and we found a
pair of black kitten heels since no one would see my feet.

  We got manicures and pedicures, the lady who did my nails was able to get all the grease and oil off my hands and gave me some special soap to use to keep them clean. After, we had lunch at our favorite café then we started back to Twisted Pines.

  “Have you kissed Shawn yet?” Mom asked, as she swerved around the traffic on I-70.

  “Mom,” I groaned, looking out the window and feeling my face turn red. “Didn’t you and Dad see him kiss me goodnight last week?”

  “I did, but I wanted to hear it from you.”

  “Yes, we have kissed a few times.” I kept my eyes on my window. It was not a conversation I wanted to have with my mother.

  “Is he a good kisser?” she asked, giggling.

  “I don’t know, Mom. I haven’t really kissed anyone before. How do you know?” I looked at her for a second then turned back to the window.

  “He’s a good kisser if he gives you goosebumps and you never want it to stop.” Her voice sounded far away as she spoke.

  I felt my face burn even hotter than before. “Then, yes. He’s a really good kisser.”

  “Then I am glad your first kiss was from a good kisser.”

  “Um… Thanks?” I wasn’t really sure how to respond. “Hey, Mom, you know when Billy and I were cleaning out the stuff from my old Jeep in the garage?” I needed to tell her I found the tin with my bio-dad’s stuff. Being trapped in the car with her was probably the best time to bring it up.

  “Yes, dear, I meant to thank you and Billy for putting the Christmas decorations away.” She looked at me for a second then back at the road.

  “No problem, but while we were putting the boxes on the shelf I found this really old tin…” I trailed off.

  “You did? What was in it?” she asked, not taking her eyes from the road.

  “A bunch of Victor’s stuff.” I let the sentence hang as I watched her face change from relaxed to tight with anger. “I’m sorry I looked, I just wanted to know a little about him.”

  “It’s fine, sweetie, really.” She gave me a tight smile. “I was going to wait until you graduated to give it to you. Your father was into some pretty strange stuff.”

  “Did you read his journal?” I asked, wondering if she would understand half of what he was talking about.

  “Journal? Oh, you mean the novel he was writing? Yes, I read it. I loved him so much, but he was not a fiction writer.”

  I gaped at her. She thought his journal was a novel? I loved my mother and I thought she was pretty smart, but how could she think his journal was a novel. I wanted to talk to her about it, but before I opened my mouth I thought about it. Maybe it was best she didn’t know what Victor, or I, was. She tended to worry too much as it was.

  “Yeah, not a very good book,” I finally said, and looked out the window. “You don’t mind if I keep it?”

  “No, of course not, like I said, I was going to give it to you next year.”

  “Thanks, Mom, you looked beautiful in your wedding dress,” I said in a quiet voice right before my phone started playing Come Out to Play, by the Offspring. I clicked the answer button. “Hey, Billy, what’s going on?”

  “Just hanging out, where are you? You sound like you are in the car.”

  “Mom and I went shopping in Denver. We are on our way back.”

  “Nice, hey are you hanging out with Shawn tonight?”

  “No, he has to work why?”

  “Do you want to come over and play Call of Duty?”

  I thought about it for a second. Billy and I needed to get back to normal, but I was afraid Shawn would be mad if I hung out with him. Then again, I could not let a guy dictate who I hung out with. “Sure, I’ll call you on my way over.”

  “Okay, later,” he said before hanging up.

  “You and Billy made up?” Mom asked as she got off on our exit.

  “I think so, but we have a ways to go. He needs to get used to me having a boyfriend.”

  “So, it’s official?”

  “Yes.” I was embarrassed but proud that Shawn was mine. I loved my mom but talking about boys with her was not something I thought I would ever be comfortable with. I picked up my phone and sent a text to Shawn. I’m going to play Call of Duty at Billy’s tonight. Just an FYI.

  “Are you asking Shawn if it’s okay?” Mom asked.

  “No. I’m letting him know I’ll be with Billy. I don’t want to have any more misunderstandings with him about my friendship with Billy.” My phone buzzed, and I clicked it on.

  Great, have a good time!

  “Good, don’t ever have a man who tells you who you can, and cannot, hang out with.”

  “I don’t plan to. They both need to deal with me having them in my life. If they can’t, then one of them will have to go.”

  “I’m proud of you, sweetie, and don’t worry about your dad, he just wants you to be happy and perfect. He sees a lot of bad stuff at the clinic, he doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

  “I know, but I’m not going to do anything to mess up my future.”

  We lapsed into silence for the rest of the way home, but it felt good talking to my mom about Billy and Shawn. She listened and understood better than Dad did.

  “Why did you knock?” Billy asked, when he opened the door a few hours later. “I thought you were one of the church ladies for a second.”

  “I don’t know. I thought I should is all.” I looked down at my feet. I wasn’t mad at him anymore, but it was still weird being around him.

  “It doesn’t matter. Come on I have the game ready to go.” He moved back from the doorway and he let me go in before him. I took my coat off, then my shoes, and hung my coat on the hook I had claimed when I was six.

  “How was shopping?” he asked, as I followed him down to the basement where the game room was.

  “I hate shopping, but I found a dress for prom, so it wasn’t a complete loss.”

  “I thought you didn’t want to go. If I recall you said, ‘prom wasn’t your thing.’”

  “Things change. It sounds like fun now.” I sat on the couch and picked up a controller and headset. “Come on, let’s play. Did you order pizza yet?”

  “Yeah, we have at least thirty minutes before it gets here.”

  We stopped talking about life and got into the game until the pizza showed up. Billy got us plates and napkins while I opened the pizza box on the coffee table.

  “Do you know if Jo has a date for prom?” he asked, sitting down across from me, and putting a slice of pizza on his plate.

  “Jo? I have no idea. You want to ask her?” I took a bite of my pizza. I felt a little hurt he was already over me. How could he be so quick to change his affections?

  “I was thinking about it. She seems really cool, and you like her, which says a lot.”

  “How so?” Why did what I think matter?

  “You don’t like most girls, and you like her, so I figured she would be more my type.” He picked up his slice and took a bite.

  “Then go for it. I don’t know her well, but she’s nice. I don’t think she will put up with any of your bullshit.”

  “Good, finish your pizza, let’s go kill those guys from California.”

  “Do you want to spend the night?” Billy asked, as I stood to stretch, we had been playing for hours and it was already past eleven. “We could make a night of it?”

  I let out a groan as my joints popped. “No, I don’t think it would be appropriate anymore, Billy.” I turned and started up the stairs.

  “I wasn’t trying to put the moves on you or anything.” He followed me up the stairs.

  “I know, but we are growing up. I have a boyfriend and you are going to ask Jo to prom. How would it look to them?” We reached the top of the stairs and I bent to put my shoes on.

  “Yeah, I get it. If we were both guys, or girls, it wouldn’t matter.”

  “But we’re not. It’ll be okay, we just have to find a new normal.�
�� I put my coat on and went to the door.

  “It’s going to be hard.”

  “I know, but we will make it through. You are my BFF.” I opened the door and turned to look at him.

  “You’re mine too. Drive safe, alright?”

  “I will, see you Monday.” I left, thinking about how quickly things changed between Billy and me. It made me sad, but it was bound to happen eventually.

  It was late, and I was tired as I drove home. The sky was clear but there was no moon which made it so dark it felt like my headlights were on dim even though I had the high beams on. I was turning around the corner where I had met the moose when a deer picked its head up from the middle of the road.

  My mind jumped back to the moose. I tried to remember everything I was supposed to do, but I couldn’t get the image of the moose landing on my hood out of my head. I shook my head, slammed on the brakes, and blared the horn. She tried to run but the road was too slick. She fell, regained her footing only to fall again. She was not going to get out of the way in time.

  I pushed my foot harder into the brake pedal, and squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for impact, but none came. I opened my eyes; the Jeep had stopped less than a foot from the deer. She blinked at me then walked to the other side of the road. I blew out a breath and forced my fingers to release the steering wheel. After I regained the feeling in them, I put the Jeep in gear and drove the rest of the way home, relieved I hadn’t killed the deer or wrecked my Jeep.

  Mom and Dad were already in bed, so I made sure the lights were off and went up to my room to sleep.

  I was back at the mineshaft. The wind was blowing me away from it this time. The voices called out for me to save them, but the wind was keeping me from getting to them. I tried to call Shawn with my mind. I wanted him to see what was going on in my dream, but he was either busy or he couldn’t hear me.

  I wanted to help them but there was nothing I could do. “Aren’t you going to help them, Elizabeth? Isn’t that what your kind do?” The cracked voice of the goblin said from behind me.