Grief overtook me, and I closed my eyes and found myself back in the truck. The light had changed, and Aden had moved forward a few feet and was waiting at the next light.
“Well...?” he asked as he glanced at me.
“Dad’s a solider, defending our country and trying to be a dad at the same time.”
Aden nodded and smiled slightly. “Never assume anything; make sure you see it.”
I nodded and looked down at my hands. I let my thumb trace the pick on the broken necklace. The whispers calling my name became calmer, but their pleading was still as intense.
I mumbled, “show yourself” as I looked out the window.
All at once, the Hummer was surrounded by shadowed figures.
“Warning next time,” Aden said firmly as Monroe all but leapt into the front seat with us. Aden began mumbling random words as I looked to my side at the shadow next to me. What I saw was no different from the other shadows I helped: lives that were dark and lived with despair. I shifted through the thoughts of this image as I held tight to Draven’s necklace. “Pumpkin pie,” I whispered as I relished in a memory that was full of that aroma. That shadow vanished, and another took its place. With this one, I shifted through an endless life full of abuse until I found a sunset that would make any soul cry. “Shades of Amber washed across the sky as he whispered, ‘I love you’.” That shadow faded as another came.
Honks from around us caused us to move forward, even though we couldn’t see past the front of our truck. I wanted to prove to Aden that I could handle anything at that school, so I started searching the memories of the dead faster, saying the first the thought I saw that gave the emotion of unconditional love. My efforts were in vain, though – they kept multiplying. Monroe had climbed between me and Aden and was gripping my arm for dear life. I knew she couldn’t take much more of this.
“Enough.” I said sternly. “Let me pass; be patient.” As soon as the words left my lips, they all vanished and it was silent.
Aden looked across Monroe at me with an awkward grin. “The girl that commands the dead.”
Monroe’s grip tightened on my arm. I reached for her hand and looked into her eyes. “I don’t think fear helps much – at least, that’s what I was told today.”
She smiled slightly and let go of my arm. I looked past her at Aden. “I swear, the dead are easier; the living have too many layers.”
“There has to be a reason why we can do both,” Aden mumbled as he pulled the Hummer to the side of the road and parked parallel in front of the coffee shop. “We’ll stop here. This traffic is insane.”
I stepped out and let Monroe climb out on my side. We then leaned against the side of the Hummer, waiting for Aden to come around. I let my eyes settle on people that were passing by. Aden came to my side and would glance from me to whoever I was looking at, and I’d mumble what I thought. He’d either tell me to look deeper or nod to tell me I was right. After almost an hour, my head started to hurt.
“I need a break – coffee?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Fair,” he mumbled as he stepped forward to go into the shop. Monroe started to follow him, but when she saw I was staying there, she leaned against the truck beside me. Down the street, I saw people I could go the rest of my life without seeing. It was Anna, a girl that went to Madison’s school and had had a huge crush on Draven; I despised the sight of her. With her were two other girls and four guys. I recognized a few of the guys as people that Aden and Draven had played with in the past.
“You know what, Monroe?” I mumbled. “Sometimes, I think I hate girls.” She looked nervously up at me. I smirked. “Not you; just ones that don’t know when to back away.”
Anna had spotted me and leaned into the girl next to her and whispered something. They both looked at me and giggled. My face flushed with anger. I had no idea how Madison dealt with them on a daily basis.
Aden came out of the shop and handed me and Monroe steaming cups of coffee. “Draven’s buddy is here,” I said shortly. Aden looked down the street at all of them approaching. He ignored Anna and nodded to the guys with her. When they got closer, the tallest one shouted, “Wait right there, man. I wanna show you something, but I’m gonna get coffee for them first.”
Aden nodded, then leaned up against his truck beside me. Anna, with her two friends flanking her, walked over to us, flipping her long, curly blonde hair over her shoulder. “Charlie, Charlie – now you’re out with the wrong brother...does that mean Draven’s on the market?”
I moved my head from side to side as I stared coldly at her. Between my fingers, I gripped Draven’s necklace. I was about to step into this stupid girl’s memories - and without a doubt, I wanted a way out.
Instantly, I saw her with that tall guy at her house. He was whispering into her ear, and she was giggling in the most annoying way. I wanted to figure out what he saw in her, so I focused on him in her memory; to my surprise, I saw him whispering the same thing into another girl’s ear just before he kissed her passionately. I was so amused at what I was seeing that I didn’t even have to try to bring myself out of the memory; I was back in an instant.
“Doesn’t matter anyway,” Anna said as she smiled smugly. “I have my own musician now. Todd and I are together.”
I leaned closer to Aden. “Is Todd the guy getting coffee?” he nodded as a look of dread washed over his face.
A wicked grin came over my face as my eyes moved back to Anna and the girl next to her – the girl that I saw with Todd. “So, how does this work? I mean, do you guys just take turns – have assigned nights?”
Anna’s eyes grew wide with confusion.
“Oh, I see; you have no idea that he’s talking to her, too - well, if you wanna call that talking,” I said, looking at the girl next to Anna.
Anna’s face flushed with anger as she looked at her side. The girl raised her hands defensively. “We just hang out.”
Anna reached up and slapped the girl, then turned briskly to find Todd in the coffee shop. The other girl took off, and so did the girl that was following them.
Aden looked down at me. “Use your powers for good, not evil.”
“What?! That girl is evil. Did you see what I saw?”
“Yeah,” he said shortly, looking in the coffee shop window as Anna screamed at that Todd guy.
“Well, you didn’t say anything – so I did.”
“You took pleasure in that. Besides, it wasn’t my place to say anything,” Aden said as he sighed.
“What is that, some kind of guy code? ‘Let your buddy cheat on as many girls as he wishes’?”
“Not my buddy; we play together. Besides, do you think I care what he does?”
“What if it was Draven cheating? Would you tell me?”
“Yeah, right - like he’d do that...like you wouldn’t be able to see it?”
I elbowed him in the side. “I’ll kill you if you ever keep something like that from me.”
“No doubt,” he mumbled as Anna charged out of the coffee shop. She threw an angry glance at me before she turned and all but ran down the sidewalk.
Todd and the other three guys walked out a few seconds later. Todd looked at Aden. “Girls,” he said, shaking his head. “Anyway, I heard you guys had a place to play now?”
“Working on it,” Aden said, clearly not inviting them to come along.
“That’s what this town needs, man. Come over here; we’ve been working on a new sound, and I wanna know what you think,” the Todd guy said, waving his arm toward his car a few spaces down.
“Stay out of trouble,” Aden said, looking down at me.
“Whoa – Aden, has Charlie switched sides? And who is this?” Todd asked as he looked over Monroe in an alluring way.
“A girl that’s too smart to play your games. Mind your own business,” I said shortly.
Todd laughed under his breath as he winked at me. “Don’t think I wouldn’t be knocking on your door if Draven wasn’t around.”
; “He is – watch it,” Aden said coldly
“Right, right. Just messin’. Come on, man,” Todd said to Aden.
Aden looked down at me as if he were begging for an excuse not to go with them. “Have fun,” I said smugly.
As they walked away, I looked to my side at Monroe. “Let’s walk, see if I got this.”
She walked along my side as we passed through people. I glanced from one person to the next and allowed myself to go a little deeper each time. In a way, it felt like I was invading their privacy – like I was a stalker or something.
“Can you see?” I asked Monroe once we reached the end of the street and decided to pass to the other side and turn back. She didn’t answer me.
“Look, I know talking is overrated, but I wanna know about you. I know this sucks, that we’re different, but we need to stick together.”
As I said that, the door to the cell phone store opened. It was almost twenty feet away, but I could see clearly who was stepping onto the street: Britain. I gripped Monroe’s arm and pulled her back, then pushed her onto one of the side streets.
“I don’t think he –” before I could finish my sentence, Britain stepped onto the side street I was hiding on.
“Charlie,” he said charismatically as his steel blue eyes danced across my face.
“Britain,” I replied flatly.
He stepped closer, and instinctively I stepped back, but the street lamp stopped me from moving any further. Monroe was still a statue with wide eyes as she stared at me.
“I was worried about you,” Britain said as he stepped closer and reached to let his fingertips trace my cheek bone.
“Why?”
“Because…well, because...you know.”
“No, I don’t,” I said quietly as I looked down. My heart was hammering in my chest, and my ears were burning. I tried to hide the fear and find anger, but it was a battle I was losing. I had no idea how close Bianca was, but I was furious that he was with her earlier and that they followed me to Draven’s.
“He knows we’ve been texting…he was rather mad. I had to come out and get a new phone so I could have one when you call me tonight.”
I looked down at the bag in Britain’s hand and remembered that Draven had said he had smashed his old phone with the black book that was now in my hoodie pocket.
“I’m not calling anymore,” I said as I looked up into his eyes.
Britain titled his head and smiled impishly. “I was having breakfast with Bianca to tell her to leave you alone – all of you. I needed a public place to do that if we were gonna both remain calm. I only followed you to make sure you got to a safe place.”
My eyes moved slowly from side to side as I replayed his words in my mind. I almost believed him…I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t completely commit to that thought.
“Listen…I don’t know if I wanna trust you or not. I know she drugged me. I know you were mad – but I also know you told me to forget every man in my life the night of the party…I know that more than likely you had nothing to do with my car crash or her vain attempt to rob my memory once again – but if you’re close, that means she is, too - and I don’t want that demon anywhere near me.”
Britain’s smile grew, and he leaned closer to me. Before I could push him away, he stepped back and looked down at me adoringly. “Now we’re beginning to be honest – took you long enough.”
“You knew...?” I gasped.
“I know everything,” he said in a firm tone that reflected the same disdain I had for Bianca.
“Then why are you still here? What are you waiting to do?” I asked with a growing amount of confidence.
“Waiting for you to understand why I’m so addicted to you.” His eyes slowly moved across my face. “That I’m your servant,” he whispered, almost humbly. When I gave no response to his words, his body tensed and he stood up straighter. “That your little boyfriend is walking on the dark side – away from you and your kind.”
“I’ll bring him back,” I promised.
A bold smile spilled across his face as he shook his head. He looked to my side at Monroe. “Where’s Madison?” he asked.
“Stay away from her.”
“Jealous much?” he asked as his eyes moved back to me.
“Are you toying with her dreams?”
“The question is – is she toying with mine?” Britain said as he raised his eyebrows.
“Answer me,” I said as loud as I could.
At that moment, the street light went out and the lights on Main Street dimmed. I felt an arm go around my waist, and I went to push it away, thinking it was Britain - but there was a calming emotion that came with this touch that all but paralyzed me.
The lights came on again, and I saw Britain a few feet in front of me. I looked to my right, to where I knew the person holding me was standing - and saw a strong, lean, young man. His complexion was flawless. His light brown hair was swooshed to the side, and beneath his bangs I saw the most alluring color of hazel…they almost looked like honey because behind them I could see a beaming light, one that seemed not only to empower this stunning being holding me, but also…me. I felt a confidence, a determination to end all evil, swell in my soul; it was as if I felt myself waking up, really waking up. I could swear I knew this person…he felt so familiar…it was like an empty piece of my existence was returned. He smiled slightly at me as he read the wonder in my eyes, then his eyes left mine and he stared fiercely at Britain.
Then all at once, every single time Britain had asked me what color Draven’s eyes were, all the times he asked if they glowed or were the color of honey - suddenly came rushing through my memory….was this the person he seemed to fear, the person he was trying to protect me from? No, it couldn’t be…this person was pure, innocent, beautiful.
“Silas,” Britain said coldly, pulling me from my racing thoughts.
“Britain,” the boy holding me said grimly. Silas...Silas...I said over and over in my mind, trying to see if there was a memory of him just beneath the surface, but there was nothing. All I had was a feeling, one that said he was safe, that I could trust him with every part of me - that I needed to do just that.
“Charlie, tell your friend goodbye,” Silas said to me.
“Bye,” I mumbled, looking at Britain in utter confusion.
“Not so fast,” Britain said in a demanding tone. “I want my book back – and tell your boyfriend he owes me for the phone.”
“Seriously?!” I said callously. “I bet you own the company.” I reached in my pocket and pulled out the ripped photo of me and him. “This was in your book. I’ll give the rest back when I’m done with it.”
Britain smirked and refused to take the photo. “You keep it. I forgive you…at this point, I have no other choice.”
Before I could question what he meant by that, Silas’s arm tightened around my waist. “Come Charlie,” he said quietly. “Monroe,” Silas said as he reached his other arm for her. Monroe came willingly, and I wondered how she knew him. Was he affecting her the same way he was affecting me? I looked across his strong chest at Monroe on his other side. She looked calm, but what I was feeling…this peace…was nowhere in her expression. I let my eyes fall to the ground, and for the first time in a long time - a really long time - I felt calm. I wasn’t anxious, scared, confused, or even angry. The emotion was so foreign to me that I was struggling to comprehend it. The anxiety I should have had for not understanding it never surfaced; the peace was just too strong.
“Who are you?” I asked, quietly looking up at him as we stepped onto Main Street.
He smiled slightly, and it all but took my breath away. This guy was...he was like...angelic.
“A friend,” he answered.
“Have I met you before?”
For some reason, my question seemed to dim the glow he had about him; it was like I made him sad. He let his arm fall, taking the numbing sensation with him.
“How do you know Britain?” I asked, hop
ing I could get him to say something, anything. I had to figure him out.
Silas let his hand run slowly across Monroe’s shoulder before he let his arm fall from her as well.
“Old friends – enemies.”
“You can’t be both,” I said, looking up at him.
He nodded for me to cross the street. I could see Aden’s Hummer parked there with him in the driver’s seat. Aden; his twin image always made me feel closer to Draven. I hesitated before I crossed the street, not sure that I wanted Aden to meet Silas…it felt dangerous to me – like I was about to collide two different worlds that didn’t belong together. I felt Silas’ hand on the small of my back, urging me to walk, and I somehow found the courage to step forward. As I got to the Hummer, I looked to my side to find Silas gone. I looked across the street, but he wasn’t there. Down – up the street...he’d literally vanished.
“Where did he go?” I asked Monroe. She didn’t say a word; she just reached for the door on the Hummer and crawled in.
“Where did who go?” Aden asked as he rolled down his window further. I ignored him as my eyes rushed from person to person – how could he just vanish? I swear, I could still feel him…his energy...it was like it was all around me, but he was nowhere in sight.
“Charlie,” Aden said as he climbed out of the Hummer. “Who?”
I shook my head, knowing for sure that I didn’t want Aden to see what I just felt – how Silas made me feel. If Draven ever saw that, he’d be furious – and fury brings nightmares to life. I can’t let that happen to him. I had no other choice but to lie. I pushed the way Silas made me feel deep inside and focused on the one that had caused all hell to break loose in my life.
“Britain’s here.”
Before I could say another word, Aden had his arm around me and was pushing me to climb into the truck on the driver’s side. I didn’t fight him; I was confused and almost sure I was insane. I couldn’t get over how amazing peace felt…I did what I could to hold on to that emotion, but it was fading every second.