Awakening (22 page)

He pulled off his shirt and took off
his pants and stood in front of me in a pair of gray boxer
briefs.

I lowered myself onto the hay, and he
lay down next to me. He opened his arms, and I rolled into them.
After he settled me against him, he pulled the hay until it covered
us.

I rested against him, my head just
below his chin. He rubbed up and down my back.

“
Do you feel any warmer?”
he asked.

“
Yes.” I enjoyed the heat
of his body next to mine and snuggled closer. “How did you get
away?”

“
I wouldn’t have survived
it wasn’t for your mother.”

“
My mother?” I
gasped.

“
Her spirit--she helped me.
She must have had extremely powerful magic when she was
living.”

“
She’s… She
was
the strongest healer
my kind had ever seen.”

“
Her spirit attacked the
banshees. She gave me time to get away. Without her help, I’d never
have escaped.”

What had happened to my
mother
, I wanted to ask. Was her spirit
still out there, reeling in despair over the deaths of my father
and my brother? I wanted desperately to know more, but I was scared
to hear his answer, so I asked the next question that came to mind.
“How did you find me?”

“
I’m not sure. Something
drew me to you.”

“
Sarah,” I
whispered.

His hands rose over my back to my
neck, and he stroked my hair. “The girl who was murdered up at the
lake?”

“
She was in the well with
me. There was something…” I shuddered at the memory. “Something
down there with me. It tried to drown me. Sarah saved
me.”

His hands tightened around me. “You’re
safe now.”

But for how long.

“
Close your eyes. See if
you can get some sleep. It’ll be light soon, and then we can see
our way out of here.”

“
Where will we go?” The men
no doubt remained at Pagan’s house. They’d found us first at the
magic shop, and then his cousin’s. How were they tracking
us?

“
We’ll find somewhere
safe.”

“
And your sister?” Was
Darla still alive? So much time had passed.

Luke sighed, “I haven’t given up
hope.”

I whispered against his chest, “I’m
sorry I couldn’t help. I’m sorry my mother couldn’t help us
more.”

“
Your mother saved me. I
wouldn’t have gotten out of there alive if she hadn’t helped
me.”

“
What are we going to do?”
I couldn’t help it, my voice broke.

Luke said softly, “We’re going to
sleep, and tomorrow we’ll come up with a game plan.”

What else could we do but wait for
dawn? Hopefully, something would come to us then. Some brilliant
idea that would help us locate Darla. I closed my eyes and focused
on the warmth of Luke’s body as it pressed against mine.

* * * *

“
Whatever you seek, you’ll
find.” The words whispered on the wind. I stood in a meadow. Storm
clouds filled the sky above me.

“
Revenge will be yours,
but it will come with a price.” This time the words vibrated
through me.

“
What price?” I called
out. “What do you mean?”

To avenge my family’s
death, I was willing to pay whatever price asked. I’d do whatever
needed to be done to see the men who killed my family brought to
justice.

“
So be it,” called out the
voice. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder shook the
ground around me.

A loud crack sent me
sprawling to the ground. Not a gunshot. A tree branch snapping?
Another crack, this time closer. I pushed myself out of the dirt
and ran. Ignoring the branches tearing at my face and hair, I kept
running. My chest burned, my heart pounded in my ears, but I pushed
on.

Just when I thought I
couldn’t go a moment longer, the dark waves of the lake glittered
in the moonlight. I’d made it.

Finding help was my only
thought. I ran again, but in a moment of horror, I realized bodies
surrounded me on all sides.

How many were there? A
dozen? How had they found me? I realized that the noises sending me
off in one direction then another had been intended to herd me
toward the lake.

A flashlight switched on,
and the sudden light after so much darkness blinded me. I raised a
hand to shield my eyes, and rough hands grabbed me. Before I could
protest, a body pinned me to the ground. I opened my mouth to
scream, but they stuffed something into it.

The light turned away, and
someone bent down. A face appeared inches from mine.

I tried to scoot away, but
I couldn’t move, still pinned down.

A man whispered, “Now,
now, no screaming. We wouldn’t want to wake anyone. They might ruin
all our fun.” He stroked my cheek. “Don’t worry. It will all be
over soon. No use fighting and making it harder on
yourself.”

The man stood up, and as
he did, he moved into the light. He held a long, thick rope. He
turned and gestured with the rope toward the water. “Let’s get her
ready.”

When he turned back, the
light bathed him full in the face. It was the man who’d murdered my
father. I met his gaze. Insanity blazed from his eyes. Terror
filled me, and I shook all over.

He jerked me to my feet,
forcing my arms behind my back and binding my hands together. The
rope dug into my flesh.

I struggled, and as I did,
someone hit me on the side of the head. Dizzy, I slumped forward,
half conscious. I was barely aware when they tied my legs together.
A slap in the face brought me back, and I blinked to see the
water’s edge nearing.

They dragged me closer.
Too close…

From behind me, a man
said, “It’s your lucky day. Not everyone gets the chance to be
tested.”

They pulled me upright by
the rope, and as if in slow motion, they pushed me back and forth
between them before letting me go. I flew through the air and then
slammed into the water.

I struggled to stay
afloat, but I couldn’t move my confined limbs. I started to sink,
and as the water edged over my face, someone from the shoreline
yelled, “Welcome to judgment day.”

I sank. I struggled to get
free, but the rope bound me too tightly. I took a deep breath
before the water crawled up my cheeks and washed up and over my
face. Now completely submerged, I sank in the cold, dark water. The
desire to scream, to open my mouth and shout was strong, but I held
my breath. Time passed. There was no one to save me. No one to come
to my rescue. I was going to die.

I couldn’t hold my breath
any longer. I opened my mouth and choked on the black water as it
poured down my throat. I was drowning. I frantically looked out
into the murky darkness, but nothing but blackness stared back at
me. I’m dying--the words screamed in my mind. And then there was
only silence and a void that filled my mind.

“
I can help you find her,”
a voice came into my mind.

“
Sarah?” I asked. I was in
that place again--that dark corner of oblivion I’d inhabited when
Wanda had taken over my body.

“
They killed me. I just
showed you what they did to me.”

It was Sarah’s death I had just
witnessed in my vision, my dream. She had been chased, captured,
tied up and then thrown into the lake by a group of mad men. They
had drowned her.

Her voice whispered, “But
before they hunted me down…I’ll show you...show you where to find
her.” Images flashed through my mind. I was no longer me this time
I was Sarah.

I was me but not me as I
stood in front of a big house. No, not a house, a mansion. My hands
were bound behind my back, and I’d been forced to my knees in the
gravel. Then hands grabbed me, and two men dragged me up the
driveway. I couldn’t scream past the gag in my mouth.

I looked around for help
in desperation. Lights blared from within the house. Loud noises
came from the open front door. Around the door, a group of people
mingled, dressed in long dark cloaks. The people turned in unison,
quieted as they watched the men drag me. No one stepped forward to
help. No one cried out in protest at the way I was being treated.
They just stood there, watching in silence.

The men stopped suddenly
and threw me to the ground. I lay there staring out into the
darkness, and I saw the mansion above the tree tops. I could also
just make out water sparkling in the moonlight. We weren’t far from
the lake-- we were on the mountain above the lake. With that
realization, a chill shook me.

They picked me up again.
The crowd parted as I was tossed onto the front steps. They pulled
me to my feet and then shoved me through the front door. Down a
hallway I went, and then through another set of doors to a set of
stone steps leading down. I tottered on the top step before someone
pushed me and down I went. I tumbled down the stairs and fell hard
against the stone wall. With a groan, I wrenched my shoulder. But
my forward momentum was too much. I didn’t stop until, finally,
with a loud thud, I hit hard against the ground below.

I lay stunned. The pain
from my shoulder shot through me. I moaned and struggled to rise,
but they wouldn’t let me. More rough hands pulled me up and dragged
me down another hallway. They shoved me through a set of large
wooden door that slammed loudly behind me.

The room I’d entered was
dark. I slumped to the ground, trying to catch my breath through
the white hot pain in my shoulder. I took one deep breath and then
another, and then I sensed another presence. My eyes grew
accustomed to the darkness, and I made out forms huddled
nearby.

“
She’s one of the captives
now. His sister,” Sarah’s voice whispered in my mind, “The men
killed me. Hunted me like an animal,” her voice wailed.

Then suddenly I was no
longer Sarah, but myself. Trapped in the water, drowning all over
again. The cold surrounded me--my lungs seized, and my body floated
further down, no longer mine to control.

There was a rush of light
and a pain so strong it made me gasp. Air rushed into my lungs as
strong arms pulled me from the water--
from
my dream
. Luke leaned over me, his face
hovering just above mine. The fingertips on his left hand lit up
the dark room.

“
Colina.” He caressed my
face.

“
What…?” My throat burned.
I tried again. “What happened?”

“
You were choking. I tried
to wake you, but I couldn’t. You were struggling like you couldn’t
breathe.”

I’d been drowning. Or rather, Sarah
had been. I sat up.

“
Take it slow.” He wrapped
his arms around me.

“
It was Sarah. She came to
me. She showed me what happened to her. I was her. I
became
her…” My words
came out stilted, “I died.”

“
You relived her
death?”

“
I did. Men chased her
down, hunted her and threw her in the lake.”

His hand reached for mine. “Did you
see the men? Did you see or hear anything that would help us
identify them? Help us track them down?”

“
Luke, I saw
everything.”

Chapter
Eleven

I woke alone. Light was streaming in
through the weathered boards of the old barn. I sat up and pushed
off the hay covering my body. It was cold out, and I shivered hard
in the chilly morning air. My clothes lay in a pile on the loft
floor a few feet away. They were still wet and cold, and I couldn’t
bring myself to put them back on. I carefully made my way down the
ladder and stood in the middle of the barn not sure what to do
next.

I rubbed my hands up and down my arms
for warmth. Where was Luke? Better yet, where was I? I didn’t know
the area--the last thing I wanted to do was start wandering around
in the light of day in my underwear.

Were the men still around looking for
us?

The barn doors gave a loud creak as
they swung open. I spun around not sure what I was about to face
and found Luke standing in the entrance. His arms were full--he was
now wearing an oversized blue and black flannel shirt and a pair of
faded jeans.

He gave me a wide smile. “I have
supplies.” He walked over and laid his bounty on the floor in front
of me.

I crouched down on the floor next to
him.

“
I found some clothes,” he
rifled through a couple of plastic bags, pulled out a white t-shirt
and handed it to me.

I quickly pulled it over my head, and
when I stood up, the shirt came all the way down to my
knees.

Luke handed me a blue flannel shirt. I
put the flannel on over the t-shirt. It felt good to be warm
again.

“
How…”

“
I broke into a house not
far from here. I took what I needed. Desperate times call for
desperate measures.” He handed me an orange.