CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Carter was wearing his usual dark jeans and T-shirt under a black leather jacket. He stood out standing in a room full of people in fancy dresses, black slacks, and button up shirts.
“Hey,” he said, sounding rather casual for someone who had deserted me next to an old, abandoned house in the middle of the woods just this morning.
“Hey,” I said, hearing the coldness in my voice.
Jane and Trish came up next to me with curious looks. I hadn’t told Jane about Carter and me because… well there just wasn’t anything to tell. Of course, I couldn’t deny the way I felt about him, but things were becoming more confusing and complex with every passing day.
“You’re leaving?” he said, glancing back at the wide-open door he was currently blocking.
I hopelessly glanced at the exit. I had almost made it. I was so close.
I sighed. “No.”
Jane and Trish’s mouths pulled into a smile before they took off giggling and whispering to one another.
“Good,” he said, closing the door behind him. “I’d hate for you to leave before you have a chance to get recognition for the great deeds your family has done for this town.”
I frowned and he seemed to clue in.
“You don’t know what they’ve done for Burnwood, do you?”
I hadn’t a moment to respond before he was leading me through the crowds of students and down a set of stairs to the basement. It was a finished room with a television set and some sofas. There was a pool table set up and a couple of people had gathered around it with pool cues in hand. I expected him to come to a stop, but he walked directly to a door across from us, and we stepped into a pitch black room.
I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel his fingers linked with mine and that was enough for me. He stopped and I could feel his body shift as he searched for the light switch. He pulled the string hanging from above us, and the whole room lit up. We were in come kind of cellar with a concrete floor and wood framed walls. There were a few shelves holding canned goods and some small boxes; and next to that was a short set of stairs leading to a large wooden door, which angled on a slant.
Carter climbed the stairs and pushed open the door. He turned and took my hand before stepping out from the basement and into the starlit night.
“It’s quiet out here,” he said. “You’ll be able to clear your mind.”
I was so entranced by the stars that it took me awhile to ask the question.
“Clear my mind, from what?”
“Inside you looked… nervous.”
“I don’t know anything about my family. I didn’t even know they were from Burnwood until today, and I most certainly didn’t think that there was any possibility that they could be one of the founding families. Carter, I didn’t even know Burnwood celebrated founding families.”
“But now you do,” he said with the same enthusiasm I had witnessed in Jane and Trish.
I sighed. “I still don’t know what that means.”
“It means you have roots here,” he said. “And those roots are a part of you. You have family history now and a place where you will always be seen as special.”
I smiled. It sounded nice… too nice to be real.
A flashbacks of my uncle packing the back of the SUV full with boxes entered my mind.
I shook the images out of my head, ignoring the pain of every throbbing heartbeat. “How do you know they were a part of the founding families? Kennedy is a common last name.”
He stepped closer and looked at me with his warm hazel eyes. “Isn’t it time you found out?”
Maybe he was right. I had been in the dark for so long that any details of my lost heritage scared me. I wanted to know just as much as I didn’t.
The answers to so many of my questions were at the tips of my fingers. Was I really going to let this moment pass me by?
I nodded. “It’s time.”
He gave my chin a little nudge. “There she is.”
I arched my brow.
He smiled. “It’s the girl that ran into the woods just because she felt like running.”
I rolled my eyes. “In case you’ve forgotten, that didn’t turn out so well.”
He shrugged. “Maybe not, but I’m pretty sure everything happens for a reason.”
I looked at him, trying to gauge his expression, but his face was turned up to the sky. His words were cryptic, but I knew there was a deeper meaning to them.
“So, are you going to let the Landry kid show you to your temporary hall of fame or what?” he said, slinging an arm around my shoulder.
“Hall of fame?”
His shoulders slumped. “It’s like you’re from a different planet or something.”
I laughed. “I know what a hall of fame is. I just can’t seem to connect myself to one.”
We walked back down to the cellar.
“It’s not just you, it’s your family.”
I smiled. I was finally going to know a sliver of my past. After all this time I had completely lost hope, and now that hope dangled before me. I was so close… just a few more steps and I would have all the answers to the incisively lingering questions that had haunted me all my life.
We went back upstairs where an entire room full of people met our arrival with pondering gazes. I felt like I was on display, my whole life waiting to be uncovered. Part of me enjoyed it. The feeling of being a part of something, of being valued and of belonging, even for that brief moment, made me feel invincible.
“Are we ready to begin?” asked a thin boy with glasses and slicked back auburn hair.
Carter gave me a quick nod of encouragement. “She’s ready.”
“Very well,” said the boy and he turned to face the large crowd of students gathered in the ballroom. “As you know, or most of you,” he paused and gave me a quick glance over the rims of his glasses. “I’m Kendrick Landry, a descendant of the founding Landry’s.”
I glanced at Carter who gave me a subtle shrug. I could only assume that Kendrick’s theatrical flair was something he was all too familiar with.
Kendrick cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “Today, we celebrate the return of the Kennedy family. With us are the seven founding families. Our circle is now complete.”
I followed the eyes of the crowd as the slowly moved from Jane to Trish and then to Alec and Carter and Kendrick, and then to a boy I had never seen before. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He was tall and dressed in all black with a look of indifference upon his face, as though he was here only because he had to be. Finally, the crowd’s eyes shifted to me.
“Annabelle Kennedy is the final member of the founding circle,” said Kendrick.
The crowd cheered and shouted, breaking into a mass hysteria as they shot back shooters and chugged beer. Even Carter held his beer high and smiled wildly.
“Why is being a founding family member so important?” I whispered to him.
“You’ll see,” he said nodding at Kendrick who was quickly approaching.
“The guesthouse has been set up with the displays,” he said to Carter. “We should start there.”
Carter nodded and took my hand. We moved through the room with ease, the crowd parting like drapes being pulled open. Kendrick followed us to the back door and with him everyone else, but when we stepped out onto the porch the cheering died into incomprehensible silence.
I stopped and stared at the mass of flames engulfing the sizeable guesthouse. The fire burned unnaturally, almost vengefully. I blinked as if to dislodge the image, but it remained deadly and all too familiar.
I could feel the blood drain from my face and a sickly paleness set in, but I couldn’t move. My hands tingled and my feet felt heavy, like they were weighted down with sand. I heard screaming and shouting, but it sounded faint and muffled as though I was emerged in water and watching the chaos from afar.
“Annabelle!”
I snapped from my trance as Carter screamed my name again
and wrapped his arms around my waist as he pulled me backwards. I hadn’t realized how close the flames had spread, except only they hadn’t.
No, it couldn’t be. The fire seemed to be stretching out towards me as though it had a life of its own.
I looked at Carter and his eyes glowed red like embers.
“Call the fire department and get out of here,” he said guiding me away from the fire that all of a sudden seemed normal again, taking on the properties that fire usually exhibited.
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine,” he called over his shoulder as he raced towards the burning building. Alec flanked him and they both disappeared from sight. I started for them, but a hand caught my arm.
“No,” Jane said. “You have to get away from here.”
“But I can’t leave him,” I said.
“Annabelle, I promise you he will be fine.”
Trish ran up to us and took my other arm, and she and Jane hauled me away from the burning structure. I looked back, but all I could see was red, orange and yellow flames centering the thick layers of smoke puffing into the sky.
The fire truck arrived several minutes later, but by that time the fire had miraculously calmed. It was now smoldering rather than burning. I heard one of the firemen say it must’ve been a damp night, but it didn’t seem that damp to me.
I sat on the curb with Jane and Trish as the crowd dissipated. We were asked twice to make our way to our cars so they could clear the scene, but I wasn’t leaving until I saw him. So we waited.
I pretended not to notice the looks Trish and Jane shared, but they were becoming more frequent and nervous with every passing minute.
Finally, Carter and Alec were escorted to the front yard by two firemen, who seemed both irritated and annoyed. Alec and Carter, on the other hand, grinned wildly at one another as they tried, unsuccessfully, to hold back their laughter.
Kendrick and the dark haired stranger emerged from the house and joined Alec and Carter.
I hurried across the lawn and threw myself into Carter’s opened arms. I held him tightly as the scent of smoke heavily saturating his shirt wafted into my nasal cavity. When I finally released him, I noticed that not one person, but myself, looked at all concerned. Jane and Trish were smiling at something Alec said, and Kendrick was dusting off the tiny pieces of ash covering his pants.
“It’s just such a shame,” Kendrick said. “I’m going to have to track down the originals and have additional copies remade.”
I looked questionably at Kendrick who rolled his eyes and continued, “The copies of the founding family history.”
“The guesthouse was set up to display the history of the town and the founding families,” said Carter.
“In particular, your family history,” Kendrick added.
“At least they’re just copies and not the real things,” said Alec.
Everyone nodded in agreement except Kendrick, who was looking down at his shoes and kicking a single blade of grass back and forth.
Carter stepped forward. “Kendrick, what did you do?”
Kendrick’s pale face turned a slight shade of red. “I wanted to give her something. It belonged to her family anyway. I thought she should have it.”
Jane threw her head back. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I didn’t think it would be a big deal,” said Kendrick.
“What was it?” said Alec. “What heirloom did you just burn up in that fire?”
“It was just a bracelet,” said Kendrick. “There was nothing in the books that said it even had a purpose.”
“A purpose that we know of,” said Jane.
Carter shook his head and began to pace. “Those books aren’t complete, Kendrick. There’s still so much we don’t know.”
“He knows that,” said Trish.
Kendrick’s eyes began to well. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said.
“It’s not,” Trish shouted. “He shouldn’t have touched it to begin with.”
“You really don’t understand,” Carter said to me.
I narrowed my eyes on him and stepped out from under his arm.
“No, you don’t understand,” I said. “Kendrick said it was mine anyway, right?”
“Yes, but…” started Jane.
“Then if it’s mine then I am the only one who has the right to be upset that it was destroyed.” I turned to Kendrick who looked sorrowfully at me. “I said it’s okay. You were trying to do something nice, and it’s not your fault it turned out this way. Thank you anyway. It’s the thought that counts.”
Kendrick smiled, but I didn’t bother taking in the rest of their expressions.
It was just an old bracelet!
I walked over to the opposite side of the front lawn and took a quick look at the burned down guesthouse. It was completely destroyed and still smoking.
Carter followed me, leaving the scowling group behind us. “Annabelle.”
I turned to face him. “You didn’t have to be rude.”
His face dropped and he tucked his hands into his pockets. “Heirlooms are very important to us.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why is this ‘founding family’ thing so important to all of you?”
“The displays were supposed to show you everything. You were supposed to see it for yourself.”
“Can’t you just tell me?”
He shook his head. “It’s complicated. The history of Burnwood was going to be the first step, but it’s gone now.”
“Kendrick said he can order replacements.
“It will take months for those to come in. That’s too long.”
“Too long for what?”
He sighed. “Too long to wait for you to know.”
“You know what I want to know?” I said, shifting my weight onto one leg as I crossed my arms over my chest. “I want to know why you ran towards that burning building. You could’ve been killed.”
He smiled, as though the idea was amusing to him.
“And I want to know why your eyes glow red.”
His smile quickly faded as he locked eyes with me. I held his gaze and watched his emotions flatten. He shook his head ever so slightly and looked away.
“Annabelle, it must’ve been the reflection of the fire you were seeing.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but then I heard someone call my name. I turned around to find Alec behind me, his tall frame forcing me to bend my neck to look up at him.
“Jane and Trish are waiting for you at the car,” he said.
“Just a second.” I turned back to Carter, except he wasn’t there.
I looked around, spinning in circles. “Where did he go?”
Alec smiled. “You better hurry up. It’s getting late.”
I nodded and slowly made my way across the lawn to the car. Jane and Trish arrived shortly afterwards.
“I was wondering where you guys were,” I said.
“We were waiting for you exactly where you left us,” said Jane.
I arched my brow. “So you didn’t send Alec to tell me you guys were waiting at the car?”
Jane and Trish exchanged confused looks. “No,” they replied simultaneously.
I sighed and shook my head ever so slightly. “Of course you didn’t.”