The Wardens Boxed Set

by Heather D Glidewell

  A moment later Nadine came in, wearing her green gown.

  “You look great!” Adam said, admiringly.

  I couldn’t help noticing that there was no spark in his eyes as there had been when I entered. I frowned. He said and did all the right things with her, but I knew he still hadn’t fallen in love with her.

  “You look great, too,” Nadine replied, kissing him on the cheek.

  Adam handed her the corsage he had in his hand. Aaron seemed to take note of this and took my arm to place a three-rose corsage on my wrist.

  “Where’s Kim?” I asked Shawn.

  He looked at his watch. “She should be here shortly. She got held up at the salon.” He smiled at me. It was uncanny how much he looked like our father.

  We waited for twenty minutes before we heard Kim’s clunker coming up the driveway. You couldn’t miss the backfires as she pulled in and parked. When she entered, however, she looked amazing. She was wearing a silver dress that came to her knees. Her brown hair was pulled up in ringlets on the top of her head and her makeup was faint but beautiful. Shawn instantly took her hand and kissed it.

  “My lady, you look enchanting,” he said.

  A smile spread across her lips, but I could tell at once that she didn’t feel comfortable. Her eyes kept darting around the room. I understood her nervousness among these people she barely knew.

  I don’t know why he asked me. He could have asked any other girl.

  I shivered. It was happening again. I was hearing her thoughts. Please, God, don’t let her be one of the possessed! There was no darkness in her smile, however. No sign that she was not herself. She was human; I could sense it. There was nothing sinister inhabiting her body.

  “You look beautiful,” I said, giving her a smile that was as genuine as I could muster.

  “Dawn? Is that you?” she asked softly, as if her eyes were deceiving her.

  I laughed. “Yes, it’s me under all the makeup and hairspray.”

  “You look amazing!”

  “You look pretty amazing as well,” both of us giggled in unison.

  “Pictures!” My mother had entered the room with her digital camera.

  I pulled a face. I should have seen this coming. I swear she took several hundred pictures of us. Just when I thought it was over she pulled out her phone.

  “Shawn, Dawn. Get together. I want to send a picture to your father,” she said, positioning us side by side.

  Shawn put his arm around me protectively. By the way my mother smiled I could see that she was enjoying this. She texted our father the pictures and showed us the note she added.

  Mom: Look at our children. All grown up.

  I glanced at her and saw that her eyes were brimming with unshed tears. I finally understood what Shawn was saying about her being the only mother he had known. She loved him as much as she loved me. Having both of us in the house had given her some hope that everything was going to turn out alright.

  “We need to go if we’re going to get there in time,” Adam said, looking at his watch.

  Shawn and I both hugged my mother and I kissed her on the cheek before leaving the house and climbing into the limo with two of the three most important people in my life.

  ***

  We arrived at the dance shortly after eight-thirty. The place was already packed. Aaron immediately led me to the dance floor and we started bouncing around to the music. After a couple of hours or more of this I realized I was having fun, something I wasn’t expecting what with all the horrible things that were happening in Midvale.

  “How did I get so lucky?” Aaron asked as the music slowed in the latter half of the evening and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. He smelled magnificent.

  “I think you just played your cards right.” I smiled at him and put my head on his shoulder. I couldn’t tell him the truth. That would just be too much.

  “Every day that I see you I fall deeper and deeper in love with you,” he whispered.

  I felt my heart give a lurch. He was such an amazing boy; he had so much to give. Yet there I was, pining over a lost love, while this opportunity was given to me. I looked up at him and kissed his jaw. He gave me a warm smile and planted his lips on mine. I felt the dark yearning return to the forefront and I fought to keep it under control. His kiss was sparking something that I was trying to keep at bay. My eyes began to burn and my fingers started to tingle. I pulled back and looked at him. His face was flushed, his cheeks pink, and he looked amazing.

  “I need some air,” he said. “Come with me.”

  He led me outside, where he leaned up against the wall, resting his head on the bricks.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “I’m fine. It’s just a little crowded in there.” He smiled at me, then reached for me and pulled me to him. “Besides, I just wanted a little alone-time with you.”

  He gave me a long, slow kiss, far hotter than the one we had inside. The dark urge inside me started to scream for the darkness to consume me. It wanted him. I already had a claim on his soul so I didn’t understand what this part of me wanted now. Aaron’s kisses were needy and his hands were wandering up and down my body, sending sparks of excitement into my core.

  “Aaron,” I said breathlessly.

  “Yeah?” He pulled back and looked me in the eyes.

  “What’s going on here?”

  He looked at me and blinked.

  “I am just having some alone-time with my girlfriend,” he said, looking confused. “I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to.”

  “Oh, I know you won’t. I just don’t have an urge to be deflowered against a wall,” I said, laughing.

  He laughed, too. “I think you and I both know that we are past the deflowering stage.” He paused. “Listen, my dad offered to get all of us a hotel room in the city tonight so that we don’t have to go back to Midvale in the middle of the night.” He rubbed his fingers up and down my bare arms, giving me goosebumps. “If your mom will let us, you and I could spend the night together.”

  I sighed. This was something that I had been trying to avoid. Yet, at the same time, I wanted him. I needed him. So I nodded and he handed me his cell phone to call my mother. She seemed hesitant at first, but then gave in when I told her that Shawn and Adam would be in the same room with us, along with Nadine and Kim. She added that it was a great way for us to keep safe, but to get home as early as I could in the morning, when it would be time to put our noses to the grindstone and figure out how to get Wesley back and save the world from a hybrid attack.

  “She said it’s fine,” I told Aaron as I gave him his phone back.

  “Great. I’ll call my dad and have him set everything up for us.” He leaned in and kissed me again. “God,” he groaned, “you have no idea how hard this is right now.”

  “How hard what is?” I asked, cocking my head to one side.

  He laughed. “How hard it is not to just ravish you right here.”

  The darkness in me squealed, but the light was trying to maintain control.

  “We should probably get in and tell the others,” I said, touching his face.

  His eyes were smoldering and his lips were ever so inviting, but I had to get away before I did something I was going to regret.

  “Yeah.” He looked crestfallen, but he kissed me on my cheek and escorted me back inside. “I’m just going to run to the bathroom,” he said, squeezing my arm affectionately.

  “Okay. I’ll find Adam and Shawn.”

  I watched him walk away, then said hi to a few people before going into the dance hall and scanning the floor for my brother and Adam. Shawn was standing in a corner with Kim, talking. She had a huge smile on her face. I still wondered if she thought this was a set-up, or if she had now accepted the fact that my brother had really wanted to ask her. I spotted Nadine next. She was sitting at a table with a very pissed-off look on her face. I scanned the room a little m
ore and found Adam talking to one of the girls from our choir class.

  I took a few steps toward him when suddenly I started to feel dizzy. The room was spinning about me, my feet quit working, and I went down like a ton of bricks.

  Adam was at my side before my head hit the floor, cradling me in his arms. There was concern in his eyes as he looked down at me. His face was in focus but I could see nothing else around him clearly; it all kept spinning out of control.

  “Dawn?” I felt him squeezing my hand.

  “Adam,” I gasped, “something’s wrong. Get Shawn.”

  He caught Shawn’s eye and motioned for him to hurry over. My brother threw himself down on the other side of me. I motioned for both of them to come closer.

  “The possessed are here,” I said in a weak whisper.

  “How do you know?” Adam asked me, his eyes narrowing.

  “This is what happened with Miss Masters. First when it took form and again when it left.” The dizzy feeling was decreasing and the boys helped me to my feet. “Keep your eye out. Don’t antagonize it. I just have to find out who it is so we can help the person it’s possessing.”

  “Yeah, okay. Let’s get you to a table. You need to sit down,” Adam said as they led me to a seat.

  I took Nadine’s hand and lay my head on the table. “I’ll be okay,” I assured her. I lifted my head and looked at the boys. “Aaron’s dad is getting a hotel in town so that we don’t have to go to Midvale after dark. Mom said it was okay for you and me, Shawn. Adam, you’ll have to call your dad.” I rubbed my forehead with my free hand.

  “I was already planning on staying at your place,” Adam said, putting his hand on Nadine’s shoulder. “Will your mom be okay with it?”

  Nadine looked up at him and frowned. “I told her I was staying at Dawn’s, so I think it will be okay.” She looked at me and winked. “You feeling okay now?”

  “Yeah, low blood sugar probably,” I lied.

  Aaron joined our little group, looking anxious. “What happened? Is she okay?”

  “Yeah, she just needs to eat something,” said Shawn, glancing at me.

  I mouthed a surreptitious thank you to him and he smiled.

  “Did she tell you what my dad is organizing?” Aaron asked.

  “Yeah, everything’s cool. I just need to ask Kim,” Shawn said, walking away from us and over to the girl in the corner. She looked uncomfortable by herself.

  I leaned to whisper in his ear.

  “Is anyone looking at us?” I questioned.

  His eyes shot around the room at the faces of our classmates. “Looks like Debbie Moreno is somewhat amused by all this,” he replied quietly.

  I glanced where he was looking and identified the small round face of one of the girls in my Physics class. She was staring at us with the suggestion of a smirk in her expression.

  I noticed Nadine had observed our little exchange and gave her a smile.

  “Am I missing something?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

  “I was wondering if anyone was looking at me, after I collapsed. You know I don’t like to be looked at,” I lied.

  “Oh, honey,” she said, looking sympathetically at me.

  “No, it’s fine. Really.” I shook my head and glanced at Adam.

  “I’m just going to go talk to Debbie,” he said unexpectedly, getting up from the table and walking towards the girl.

  I sat and watched as Adam struck up a conversation with my classmate. She gave him a twisted grin, but I noticed that she kept casting sly glances in my direction. The last thing I needed was a visit from the possessed. After a few moments Adam returned to the table and sat down.

  “You were right,” he murmured, running his fingers through his hair.

  “Right about what?” Nadine interrupted, overhearing him.

  “Nothing, honey.” He kissed her on the cheek.

  “Let’s get our pictures taken and get out of here,” Aaron said shortly afterwards, kissing my forehead. “My dad has everything set at the Marriott.”

  “Okay.” The dizziness had worn off and I felt more like myself again.

  I looked around the dance hall trying to see if anyone else was paying close attention to me. I spotted nothing out of the ordinary, but that didn’t mean anything really, just that the possessed might be well hidden. I glanced back at Debbie just as a blank expression appeared on her face. It seemed she had been let go.

  I kept looking to see if the possession had passed to someone else. But everyone just seemed to be enjoying themselves. I could see no cruel smile, no unusually black eyes, nothing that told me that a spirit was present. No one was looking in my direction. This one was either very stupid or extremely smart. But it would doubtless make itself known sooner or later, and when it did I would be there to cast it from the host’s body.

  We had our pictures taken rather quickly and found ourselves back in the limo. Aaron handed me a candy bar from the snack table and told me to eat it. I did as I was told, just to keep up the ruse that my problems were caused by low blood sugar. Shawn sniggered as I took a bite. I wasn’t shocked that he found this amusing; he knew that I had to appear human to my friends.

  “That was so much fun,” said Nadine, squeezing Adam’s hand. She had apparently got over whatever she had been pissed about.

  “Yeah, it was.” Adam leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

  “My dad got us a two-bedroom townhouse for the night,” said Aaron. “The living room has a couch that pulls out into a bed so one couple can take that one.”

  I can’t believe I’m doing this. I can’t believe my mother said it was okay. Then again, I’m with Dawn if the rumors are true. That’s the safest place to be.

  I winced and looked at Kim. She was staring out the window watching the buildings go by. It was weird how I could only hear what was in someone’s head when I didn’t want to, but that the moment I tried to read their mind I got nothing. She turned her head and smiled at me.

  She’s not scary. She’s just a girl. Why do all those kids say such mean things about her?

  I was touched by the sentiment and returned her smile. What had happened with Kim that had made her an outcast? She was such a nice girl.

  “So, did you have fun?” I asked her as she looked at Shawn. There was still awe in her eyes, as though she was amazed that this hadn’t turned out to be just a cruel joke.

  “Yes, thank you,” she replied.

  I waited for more but nothing followed. One thing was for certain: she wasn’t much of a conversationalist.

  “That’s great,” I said, unable to think of anything better.

  I want to tell her my secret but I fear she will not believe me.

  My head shot back to Kim and then I glanced at Shawn, who gave me a tiny nod. He’d heard it as well. He was like our father, able to pick up thoughts without even having to try. I found that so irritating.

  Why did he get all Dad’s cool traits?

  “When we get to our room, Dawn, I’m going to order something for all of us to eat,” said Aaron. “I messaged my dad about your issue. He wants you to come into his office on Tuesday and get checked out. He thinks there is some underlying condition that caused your blackout.”

  “I really don’t do well with doctors,” I said, startled. I had only met his father on a few occasions and the last thing I needed was an appointment with Dr. Matthews.

  “Well.” He laughed. “My mom is one, too. So I can get you an appointment with her if a woman makes you feel safer.”

  “Well, isn’t that… convenient,” I said, taking a bite of the candy bar and chewing it slowly. I had never been a huge fan of chocolate.

  “He isn’t going to charge you if that is what you are concerned with,” Aaron said, pushing a strand of stray hair from my face.

  “No, no, that’s not the concern,” I said, trying to sound bright. “I just… don’t like doctors.” I chewed another bite an
d smiled.

  “Most people don’t like doctors but, seriously, he thinks that something could be wrong.”

  “Alright, tell your dad that I’ll come and see him on Tuesday,” I said, inwardly cursing my luck.

  “I only do this because I love you,” Aaron said, kissing me on the cheek.

  “I know,” I said, with a mouthful of candy.

  I glanced at Adam and saw he was watching me, but he looked away before I caught his eye.

  Things were obviously going to change after the night was over. I had fulfilled my mother’s request and I had done the one thing that everyone said I would regret if I didn’t. Now, because I had, everything looked set to fall apart. All hell was going to break loose. I just prayed that I didn’t lose a single one of these people in the limo with me.

  Chapter Twenty: Prom Night

  “Oh, my goodness!” Nadine gasped as we entered our hotel room. “This place is huge.”

  “My dad will do just about anything to accumulate points,” Aaron said, taking his jacket off. “He’s also sending someone with some night clothes for us. Ladies, I assumed your sizes so please don’t kill me if I got them wrong.”

  “Man, your dad must be loaded,” said Shawn, inspecting the living room.

  “Actually, my uncle owns the place. My dad pays a percentage for the rooms but not full price, and the room service will be on the house. My father said it was my graduation gift from my uncle.” He laughed.

  “|Now that makes more sense,” I said, pulling my shoes off my feet and groaning with relief at the feeling of my flat feet on the carpeting. “My God, I want a shower.”

  “But you look so pretty,” Nadine protested as she followed my lead and took off her shoes.

  “Fine, I’ll wait a little bit then,” I groaned, smacking her on the arm.

  Kim was standing next to Shawn, just staring at us with an odd smile on her face. I could tell she wanted to say something but she was too scared to say it.

  “Kim, join us in the barefoot brigade,” I suggested.

  She seemed to loosen up for a second and took her shoes off. “That feels so much better.”