Awakening (21 page)

He had magic. I could see spirits,
talk to them, but that was all I could do. I didn’t have any way to
protect myself, not yet. No way I could help him in a fight. There
was no weapon around I could grab. Those men were coming. Luke was
going to stand against them, and there was nothing I could do to
help.

“
Run.” This time he
pleaded.

I took a step, and then
another, until I stood in front of him. I reached up, touched his
cheek, and then I rose up on my toes and kissed him. His lips were
soft against mine. He caressed my hair. I kissed him again, and
then forced myself to move away. He was standing there, facing the
house. His hands were clenched into fists. I couldn’t help him. I
turned and headed into the darkness. I ran.

Chapter Ten

I pushed through bushes and stumbled
across tall grass. Crossing several fields, I could still hear
voices shouting behind me. The rain poured, and lightning streaked
across the sky. I had no idea where I was going as I made my way in
the dark, and every time lightning flashed, I tried to take in as
much as I could of the landscape. I climbed over a wooden fence,
crossed another pasture, and kept moving forward. A noise sounded
close by, and I dove behind a bush and threw myself on the ground.
I held my breath waiting to be captured. Nothing. No sound of
footsteps, no sign of flashlights. The night was now silent, except
for the occasional crash of thunder overhead. I didn’t know how far
I’d gone, but I was sure I wasn’t far enough from the house to be
completely safe.

I forced myself back on my feet. The
rain was now coming down in sheets. Drenched, I pushed my hair from
my face and wrapped my arms around myself for warmth. I was cold,
scared, and worried about Luke.

Was he still alive? A sob
escaped. He’d be facing three, maybe four men. And who knew how
powerful their magic might be? An image of Luke flashed before my
eyes. His body lying lifeless on the ground. I shook my head and
forced the dark thoughts away. He
would
survive. I refused to consider
any other possibility.

More lightning raced across the sky. I
pushed through a thick row of thorny bushes that scratched my face
and arms, and as I made my way into another pasture, suddenly the
ground gave way beneath me.

I reached out, grabbing for
anything, but there was only empty space. I fell a long way before
slamming hard against the surface of…water? I plunged down into
cold, wet darkness. The shock of the cold forced the oxygen from my
lungs. My head went under, and my momentum carried me down. I
kicked my feet, my lungs near bursting for air. I struggled to go
up, to break the surface. When I didn’t think I could survive a
moment longer, I found myself bobbing above the water’s
surface.
I could breathe again.
I sucked in oxygen, sweet oxygen and frantically
moved my arms, trying to stay afloat. I did my best to swim as my
clothes, heavy with water, pulled me back down.

I looked up and saw lightning
zigzagging across the sky. How far had I fallen? Ten feet? Twelve
feet? I kicked forward, reached out, and made contact with smooth
stone. My fingers followed the stone around. A perfect circle--I
had fallen into a well. I looked up at the sky again as I brushed
against the smooth rock. There were no handholds. No way to climb
up and out. The water was cold. A chill seeped into my bones, and I
began to shiver. I forced down the panic and tried to stay
calm.

And I realized I wasn’t
alone.

An unnatural chill ran down the back
of my neck. A breeze moved past me, and I had the sense that
whatever hovered near me wasn’t of this world.

I heard a whisper. My ears strained to
make out the words, but there were none, at least none I could
decipher. More noises that didn’t sound human. Then a growl to my
right.

I spun around in the water. “Who are
you?” My words were forced out between chattering teeth.

Another growl, this one louder and
closer.

“
What do you want?”
Desperately, I tread water, trying to keep my head above the
surface.

“
You
” echoed in the darkness, and as it rang out, something
grabbed my foot and yanked me under.

I kicked hard, forcing myself back up.
I broke the surface and sucked in a mouthful of air only to be
pulled under again. Whatever had me was strong. I kicked and
struggled, frantic to break free from its grip. I couldn’t breathe.
I did a couple of hard scissor kicks and for a moment my head
bobbed above the water again. I sucked in another lungful of air
before it dragged me under.

Whatever had me was going to drown me,
just like the girl in the lake. Suddenly the image of Luke standing
at the edge of the lake filled my mind. His head cocked to the side
as he listened for the murdered girl. What was her name?
Sarah.

As her name floated across my brain, I
heard a small voice in the corner of my mind say, “I’m
here.”

I opened my eyes, and in the dark
water I saw a flicker of light. A face appeared before me--the face
of a pretty girl about my age.

“
I’m here.” The words were
louder this time. As I heard them, a light expanded and encircled
me, and I felt warmth fill my body. And with it, a surge of
strength.

I kicked, and I was free. My arms
moved like windmills as I frantically forced myself up past the
surface. I gasped and sputtered for I’m not sure how long when I
heard another growl. Fear ran through my body. I knew the thing
would try and drown me again. I had nowhere to go, nowhere to
run.

Then a voice shouted my name.
“Colina!”

I realized the sound came not from
within the well, but from above.

The voice grew louder.
“Colina!”

I looked up--lightning lit up the sky,
around a shadow this time.

Luke stood there calling my
name.

I frantically shouted back, “I’m down
here, but I can’t climb out!”

He disappeared.

“
Luke!” I cried, but he
didn’t answer. There was nothing but silence.

I kept treading water, so cold now I
could no longer feel my face. My limbs were frozen, and I was
having more trouble forcing my arms and legs to cooperate. But I
had to keep moving. I had to stay afloat.

I heard a commotion overhead, loud
voices shouting. I started to shout back when I realized it wasn’t
Luke. A flashlight shone down against the wall of the well a few
feet above me. I watched the light start to slide down the wall. I
knew what I had to do but I didn’t want to. My mind and body
rebelled against the idea of forcing myself back down into the dark
water. The light was only a few inches above me now. I took a deep
breath and allowed myself to sink. I kept my eyes open, searching
for what? To my surprise, I realized I wanted to see the reassuring
face of Sarah, but there was nothing but ink jet blackness before
me. I held my breath. I had to stay under as long as I could, but I
felt so cold I didn’t know if I’d be able to move my limbs again to
swim to the surface. My thoughts began to slow down. I felt as if I
huddled in a cocoon, wrapped in bubble wrap. It would be so easy to
just let the water in and end it all.

Just let the water
in,
the whisper suggested in the corner of
my mind.

Horrified, I realized the thought
hadn’t come from me. Something else was talking to me, trying to
lull me into doing the one thing I shouldn’t do. It wanted me to
die, but I refused to give in. Luke needed me; Darla needed me. I
forced my legs to move, to kick. I pushed through the water with my
hands, willing the surface to appear. One more stroke, another
kick. I was almost there. I held my breath and swam upward. Finally
I broke the surface. I looked up into quiet darkness. Only thunder
rumbled in the distance.

I treaded water and waited. If it had,
in fact, been Luke calling my name, he knew I was down here. He
wouldn’t leave me to die. Time passed, and my whole existence
narrowed to how cold I’d become. I’d never been so cold in my whole
life.

There was a loud splash, and then
something brushed against the back of my head. I immediately
thought of that thing that had pulled me down earlier and
envisioned it touching me now.

“
Grab the rope,” Luke
ordered.

I turned and reached for it. Or at
least, I tried to. “I can’t climb up…too cold… I’m so cold.” I
barely managed between shakes.

“
Tie it around you,” he
shouted.

I knew about knots. My brother James
had loved to climb. He’d taken me with him on a few adventures over
the years. Thanks to him, I knew how to repel down a cliff, how to
tie different knots.

I could do this. I grabbed the rope,
but I could barely feel my hands. My fingers fumbled, and it took
me a half dozen tries before I got the rope around my chest and
made a half decent knot.

“
I’m ready!”

The rope jerked, and slowly, I began
to rise.

When I approached the mouth of the
opening, Luke rasped, “You have to climb out the rest of the way.
Can you make it?”

I grabbed at the dirt and grass while
pushing with my feet against the stone. Somehow I pulled myself out
of the well.

I collapsed onto the
ground.

Luke fell next to me, breathing hard.
He touched my shoulder. “Are you all right?”

“
I’m cold,” I said between
tremors. The shivering had grown worse, far more violent now that I
lay in the open air.

Luke rose to his feet and
pulled me up into his arms. “There’s a barn about a quarter mile
from here.
It’s where I found the
rope.”

I tried to walk, but my legs wouldn’t
work.

He swung me into his arms. “I got
you.”

I rested my head against his
shoulders, closed my eyes, and let him carry me toward
shelter.

* * * *

It was dark inside the barn, so dark I
couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. Luke gently lowered me to
the ground.

“
Give me a minute.” He
muttered a few words and light appeared. A bluish light glowed at
his fingertips.

“
Handy trick becoming a
human flashlight.” My words ended in a harsh, long
cough.

Luke moved around the barn. At the far
corner, he came across boxes piled against the wall. He rummaged
through them and held up an old lantern. “This will
work.”

He lifted off the glass covering and
placed a fingertip inside. When he touched the wick, it burst into
blue flame.

The lantern and its unnatural glow lit
the entire room. “I didn’t have a match,” Luke explained. “This
won’t last very long.” He walked toward me.

I finally saw his face and gasped.
There were bruises on his face, blood oozed from a gash in his
lower lip, and a deep burn mark had seared across the right
shoulder of his shirt.

Before I could ask any questions, he
gestured upward. “There.”

There was a loft maybe ten feet above
us. In the loft, I could see bales of hay stacked.

Luke walked to a wooden ladder. “I’ll
be right back.” He made his way slowly up and out of
sight.

I sat on the floor, shaking and
shivering with cold. I heard movement overhead, the sound of male
grunting and things being shoved and pushed around. I closed my
eyes, hugged my knees, and tried to think about anything other than
the terrible cold piercing through me. I tried to imagine sitting
in front of a roaring fire, tried to picture myself on a sandy
beach on a hot day.

A hand clamped down on my shoulder,
and I jumped at the contact.

Luke gave me a smile. “I can’t carry
you up. Do you think you can make it? I’ll be right behind you. I
can help push you up and make sure you don’t fall.”

“
I can make it.”

I took his hand, and he pulled me up.
I moved on unsteady feet toward the ladder, grasped the wood
railings, and started up one foothold at a time. It was slow going.
My body didn’t want to move, and I had to force myself forward. The
shaking grew uncontrollable, but I kept going, climbing until I
reached the top. I let go of the ladder and hopped to the floor of
the loft.

Luke stood beside me, the light on his
fingertips extinguished, and the light in the lantern started to
fade.

He motioned to a pile of hay on the
floor. “We can lie down over there. I know you’re freezing. My
magic can make light, but I can’t make a true flame, so I can’t
start a fire. I’m soaked through, and you’re drenched. We need get
out of these clothes. I suggest we lie on the hay and huddle
together for warmth. I’ll pull some of the straw over
us.”

I tried to take off my sweater, but my
fingers weren’t working.

“
Here, let me help.” He
pulled off my top and helped me wiggle out of my skirt and
leggings.

I stood there feeling self-conscious
in my bra and underwear.