by K. R. Bowman
Graham took my hand into his, sliding his arm around my waist and immediately led me into the dance. He smiled widely and winked like we were sharing a secret. We waltzed around and around the room together. He tried to talk to me over the music, but I could barely hear. I took a wrong step and smashed his foot with mine.
I grimaced and mouthed, sorry. He laughed and shook his head, but tightened his hold on me. I couldn’t quite keep up with him. He always seemed to be one step ahead of me. I stepped on his feet several times, but each time Graham seemed to think it was funny, and we would swing around the floor a little faster.
Strange, how I thought that with him everything would glide more smoothly.
Our song ended, and I gave an excuse about my feet being tired so I could return to the table. Graham smiled and tucked my hand into the crook of his arm. He led me back to the table and helped me to sit in my chair. Callum was gone. Graham took Raleigh’s seat next to me. Everyone else was either on the dance floor, talking, or eating.
“So, are you enjoying yourself?” Graham leaned back in his chair with one arm stretched across the back of mine.
“Yes, I am. Are you?”
His mouth rose slightly at the corner, “Yes, I am, except I can tell something is bothering you.”
I raised an eyebrow and watched the dancers. My fingers played with the folds of my dress, and I watched curiously as I tangled the cloth around my fingers. What was bothering me? Graham stilled my fingers. His thumb stroked back and forth across my hand. I gave a small smile, smoothing my dress in the process.
I took a deep breath, “I’m just trying to figure out people and what my role is in this world.” I smiled more brightly, which didn’t help me be more at ease.
Graham nodded and scanned over the crowd, “I know what you mean. Of course, I think you have it a little harder than I did.” His eyes bored straight into me, “Listen, I know everyone says this, but it will all work out just be patient. I’ll help you figure this out, okay? I’ll be with you until the end.”
“Except, you’re leaving in like,” I glanced at my wrist like I had a watch on, “oh, two hours to go fight Nightlins.”
He shook his head and smiled, “I have to go, you know that. Besides, I’ll be back before you even realize I was gone.”
I rested my elbows on the table. Resting my chin in my hands, I turned and looked at him. “Hmm… maybe. Just make sure you come back in one piece, please.” I folded my hands in my lap, “I don’t think I could stand it right now if I lost one of my friends. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t have that many.”
He squeezed my arm, “I won’t let anything happen to me, I promise. And you’re wrong, you have more friends than you realize.” He smiled warmly at me and stood. “I’m going to go say bye to some others.”
“Alright, see you in a bit.” I scanned over the crowd again, picking out Harris and Ashlen slow dancing and very much in their own world. There was no space between them. Raleigh was with a different guy, but she seemed very cozy with a new guy. I continued peeking around the room, secretly hoping that I would spot the dark blue shirt and dark hair; that he would be against the wall somewhere keeping watch like usual.
I felt content and the happiest I had been since I had traveled to this strange world. Taking in the rustic style of the room and all the smiling faces, funny, how this place seems more like home than the one in the Norm.
The party ended all too soon. About twenty Hunters and Protectors began the descent down to the main gate. We congregated around the large gates waving, hugging, and kissing the warriors goodbye, telling them to be safe and that we could not wait till they were home again. Graham was fitted with numerous amounts of weapons, which he assured he would use accordingly.
Tears ran down my face. I don’t know if it was because I was afraid for Graham or for all the warriors or just the realization of having to say goodbye to people that had begun to feel like family. All around me, men and women hugged and kissed goodbye. Relatives gave lucky charms to help keep their loved ones safe.
Graham spoke to a man who patted his back and gave him a warm hug. He saw me standing to the side and released the man. He walked over and stopped in front of me. He brushed his fingers across my face wiping up my tears.
“Hey, don’t cry. I told you everything will be fine. We’ll be back before you know it.” His palm rested on my cheek, bringing his other hand to the other side of my face, he cupped my face. Fuck, is he about to do what I think he’s about to do? He leaned down; our faces were centimeters away from each other. I closed my eyes. His breath tickled my nose. His lips landed on my right cheek by my ear, far from my lips.
My eyes popped open, and I breathed out. Relief flooded through me. His hands slid to my shoulders. He pulled back slowly and winked.
“I’m going to miss seeing your sweet face for the next few weeks.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced around. Callum stood between some people; his eyes fixed on us. I looked away quickly. Heat rose to my cheeks. I took a steadying deep breath to keep my face from burning. I’m sure he wasn’t thrilled about staying here to protect the capitol. I’m sure he would rather be off fighting Nightlins.
“You will? Huh? I guess I’ll miss you too.” I smiled.
His smile broadened, “You guess?” He laughed, squeezed my shoulders, and dropped his hands to his side. His eyes studied me for a few seconds. “Make sure you take care of yourself. Remember, I won’t be here to catch you when you fall.” He winked at me again. My face flushed again. He reached out and wrapped his arms around me. He pulled me up against him, his chin rested on my shoulder. My arms slowly slid around his back. He gave one last hard squeeze and joined the warriors marching out the gates.
We all gathered at the edge of the road watching the warriors. They gathered next to the portals along the mountain wall. A portal in the middle glowed a soft white. One at a time, they stepped through, disappearing immediately. Graham looked back one more time and waved as he stepped through the shimmering skin of the portal wall.
I headed back toward the main building with everyone else. My arms dropped to my side. My eyes focused on the ground before me, as my legs propelled me forward. I gathered the bottom of my dress up, so it wouldn’t drag on the ground. As I followed the path, people went inside their homes. Food wafted out, and laughter erupted from open windows.
A crunch sounded behind me. I turned, thinking it was some more people heading to the main building, but it was Callum. He stopped in mid-stride. Our eyes locked. My mouth slowly spread into a smile. He ran his hand through his hair and looked away. When he looked back at me, a ghost of a smile was on his face and shining from his eyes. He walked toward me and stopped an arm’s length from me.
“Caught you,” my smile grew even bigger.
“You did.” He shook his head, gave a crooked smile, and shrugged, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” His eyes examined every line of my face.
“I’m fine.” I tried waving off my emotions.
He glanced over my shoulder and up to the main house. “Well, do you mind if I keep you company or I could go back to stalking you in the shadows?” He smiled coyly at me.
“Oh, my goodness, did you just make a joke? Or do my ears deceive me?”
He narrowed his eyes and walked around me. I watched him for a moment then jogged to keep up with him. The night breeze blew in our faces swirling strands of my hair around my shoulders. We continued on in silence, but it was a comfortable silence between two friends.
“Your hair is longer.” He tugged on a long strand that had escaped from the pins. I felt a rush.
My head jerked up to look at his face. I pulled a few strands across my shoulders to play with the ends. The ends just met the inside of the bend in my arm. “Yeah, it has. I mean, I haven’t had a hair cut in over two months, which I’m sure isn’t a good thing.” I flipped my hair back over my shoulder, trying to stick the fallen strands b
ack into the chignon and glanced at him. He was staring straight ahead at the path in front of us. “Your hair hasn’t grown at all it seems, why is that?”
“I use my knife to keep it short.”
“Oh, how very manly of you. Have you not heard of scissors?”
He glanced at me and shook his head again. “You’re awfully sassy tonight.”
“And you don’t like it?” I baited him, and I had no idea why. Maybe it was the mixture of emotions that coursed through me. I don’t know. But I was trying to get him to react. To something.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” His voice was low and gentle. It reminded me of the voice he had used the first night we had met.
The anger that, for some reason, was building up deflated. I brushed my fingers down his arm, “Hey, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m acting all snippy.”
His eyes traveled down his arm to where I had touched him. The corners of his mouth pulled slightly. “I wasn’t taking your snippiness as bad. You’ve had a hard couple of months. I would be a little snippy too.” He glanced at me, and his stride got faster. “And then well tonight having to say goodbye to…” He didn’t finish the sentence, and the unsaid words were left floating in the open air.
I tried to study his face, but I couldn’t read his expression. I grabbed his arm to slow him down, “I tend to have trouble with goodbyes. I’ve never had many people in my life, so it’s hard for me to just let them go, especially if there is a chance that they will be in danger.”
He finally turned to me. His expression was a mixture of confusion, thoughtfulness, and maybe amusement. He walked straight to the door and held it open for me.
When we got inside, people were cleaning up from the party. We took the hall to our rooms and continued on in silence. I wasn’t exactly sure what to say or if what I did say had upset him in some way. So, I kept my mouth shut. My eyes would sneak a peek at him in my peripheral vision, but his attention was focused down the hallway. His hands clenched at his side.
We reached my door, and I stopped, preparing to say goodnight.
He stopped and studied me. His eyes roved from my head to my toes. My heart thundered in my chest. Sweat threatened to appear.
Was he going to kiss me? I wished he would.
His hands were shoved in his pockets again. His shoulders rounded, he leaned in a tiny bit, and his head bent forward. “I’ll see you later.”
He turned on his heel and continued down the hall to his room. He opened the door and shut it behind him, without looking back at me.
I stood in the hall outside my door for a good minute, just staring at the closed door to his room. Fucking Men.
10
The next morning, I went to find the library. It was quiet and still in the main building. I guess people were still resting from the late-night festivities. I had to travel to the very back of the building through the rough stone hallways using light from torches to find my way. Tall skinny windows lined the whole room of the library. Large wooden bookcases were lined up in the middle of the space with ten rows and numerous columns. As I strolled through the bookcases, I came to a big heavy wooden table with several large candles sitting around the edge; the melted wax pooled all around the candles. A small, frail man with huge glasses bent over the table. Papers and books were spread out all over the table, and some chairs were stacked on the floor. He was so close to the table that his nose almost touched the paper that was laid out on the surface.
My shoes scuffed the stones as I walked toward him. He jerked his head up. His eyes were magnified through his thick glasses.
“Can I help you?” His voice was gravelly and quiet; it made me think of my grandfather.
“Yes, that would be great if you could. I’m searching for papers about my father, my family, and maybe do some research on some of my… anomalies?”
He tilted his head and scratched behind his ear. He shuffled around the table to stand in front of me. “Who is your father?”
I hesitated for a moment, about to respond with Jacob Sloane, but corrected myself, “Jacob Sullivan.”
His eyes grew slightly larger, which I didn’t think was possible. His bushy eyebrows disappearing under the worn fedora perched on his head. His eyes fixated on the floor. He scratched his chin then shuffled down one of the aisles of books. I’m guessing that means I’m supposed to follow him.
Surprisingly, I had to rush after him. He disappeared around one of the many corners. I ran around a few of the corners and caught a glimpse of him shuffling by one of the bookcases. I finally caught up with him in the farthest corner of the room. The space had a moldy wet dog smell. My nose immediately wanted to retreat.
He leaned over to examine the row of books and papers near the bottom of the case. He pulled out a dark blue book that was tattered around the top and bottom of the spine. He pushed it into my hands and then started stacking more books, papers, and scrolls into my arms. He turned a toothy grin in my direction and then gestured for me to follow.
We came to a long table that was a few feet from the table that he had been working at. He gingerly took the materials from my arms and set them out on the counter.
“Here are the majority of the materials that are about your father and that may be able to help with your anomalies.” He coughed and cleared his throat, “But if you will tell me about what has happened then I may be able to provide some more illumination on the meanings.” He smiled sheepishly at me.
I smiled sweetly at him, “Yes, of course, umm, well, my eyes at one point had changed white...”
“Hmm… Come over here to the light so I might see better,” he scurried over to the narrow window and waited for me to stand before him.
I walked over and stood in the moonlight for him. He leaned in close so he could examine my eyes.
“Hmmm… let’s see what we have here.” He stared unblinkingly at me.
“What’s your name?” I decided to ask while he was staring intensely into my retinas.
“What?” He blinked several times, trying to recall, “Oh, it’s Clifford Robertson.”
I inclined my head, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Clifford Robertson. My name is Sloane.”
He grunted in, I guessed, what was an acknowledgment. He stayed silent for several minutes and then went over to the table to pick up a green paperback book. He started leafing through the pages.
“Did you see anything?” I asked.
He looked at me for a second, “Err no. What have you learned so far?”
“Patrice said that I’ll become a Hunter, but I’ll have to pay a price, and my heart will break.” My face and my body cringed as I said the words. “Also, she read my palms. She said my story had started already,” I held out my hand for him to see. “This long line is supposed to mean a continuance.”
“Humph, she did a palm reading, huh?” he set the book down and ambled toward me. “Let me see.” He took my hand in his, but instead placed his other hand on top of it, encasing my hand between each of his own. He closed his eyes and bowed his head.
“Well, that is mostly what I have discerned as well.” His large eyes looked up at me, and he scratched his chin again, “But you will have powers that have not been seen in a very long time. Your palm says that you will have to overcome abandonment and deceit.”
“What? Abandonment? Deceit?”
His eyes looked curiously at me, “Yes… some other meanings are mixed in, but we will have to,” he shuffled through the loose pages and books, “find those meanings somehow in these old pages.” He picked up one of the books and handed them to me. He tapped the cover of the book, “Why don’t you try this one first.”
I sat at the stool that was pushed up under the table and pulled the book across so it rested in front of me. I traced the edge of the paper with my fingers, feeling the coarse flakes of wood that had made it. The writing on the page was in long cursive penmanship. The ink was a deep black. The ink wa
s from a quill pen because of the strokes and how specks of ink blotted the page.
The first page I read was from my grandfather, who, in the Norm, would be considered a general in his army. From what I could tell, my grandfather was a very abrasive and stern man. Though, most of the people said that he was a great Leader and enforcer. He was the Leader for fifty-seven years. One of the books was a journal written with his hand. The pages were filled with accounts from different battles against the Nightlins. Every date was recorded, and every detail about each Nightlin was rehashed and examined.
I spent several hours at that table reading each loose piece of paper and noting in each book, something that might reference my odd white eyes. Clifford moved back to study at his table, so I assumed he was studying something because he would read then scribble furiously on a notepad beside him. His thick glasses would slide down his nose every ten seconds, so he was constantly fighting to keep them perched on his nose.
By the time I had gone through maybe an eighth of what had been laid out on the table, it was time to eat; my stomach rumbled in affirmation. I passed by Clifford without him noticing me. His focus was so intent on what was before him.
I trudged through the hallways to find the dining hall. My back and bum were sore from sitting and leaning across the table. The luscious smell of warm bread, meat, and veggies wafted down the hall and straight to my nose, warming my insides. I walked swiftly into the dining hall and scanned the large crowd of people trying to find my friends. I spotted Raleigh in the corner of the room, snuggled up close to a dark-haired stranger. That woman loved a new man every night. I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head.
Would I ever be so carefree, and let go of my fears, or would I always be stuck in my head? I continued trying to spot Ashlen. Fingers wrapped around my elbow and guided me forward. It was Callum.