Between (36 page)

“
Let’s go in here.” Kristina walked in first and strutted between the racks of shoes, and headed straight to the back where all the high heels were neatly lined on rows of shelves. It was one of my favorite stores, Brand Name Shoes For Less. As much as I loved to shop here, I was turned off by the size of this place; too many shoes to look at and not enough time. Kristina picked up a bright orange colored one.

“
Seriously?” I arched my brows in disapproval.

“
I’m just joshing,” Kristina said, placing it down. “I just wanted to see that look on your face,” she giggled.

“
Hello ladies,” the sales lady greeted, strolling towards us. “My name is Vickie. Let me know if you need any help.”

“
Thanks,” we said in unison and giggled.

“
It’s slow today,” I commented.

“
Yeah, slow for a Friday night. But it happens. Well, let me know if you need anything,” Vickie said and walked away.

“
Joshing?” I asked, redirecting our conversation.

“
You know…it means joking,” Kristina explained.

“
I know what it means. I can’t believe you used that word.”

“
Why? Just because I’m book smart doesn’t mean I don’t like to use those ‘in’ words.” She made quotation marks with her hands and picked up a black high heel with sparkles on top.

I flashed a smile. “Now, that I like.” I snatched it out of Kristina’s hand as Kristina’s eyes followed the direction of the shoe, going straight to my feet. “Hmmm…I don’t need another pair of heels, but these are so pretty,” I commented. “I love the bling on them. So shiny.”

“
Hey…I thought we were shopping for me,” Kristina pouted and smiled. “We can have the same pair of shoes.”

I gave a guilty smile when I looked at the price tag. “Nope…I can’t afford it right now. Plus, I already have a pair of high heels. They’re simple, but they will do. Anyway, you can’t even see my shoes. Try them on–they’re gorgeous! Maybe someday.” I let out a heavy wistful sigh.

Kristina headed to the sales lady. “Size 7 please.”

“
I’ll be right back,” Vickie said, then she was gone, into the storage room.

Without warning, my hands felt like they were on fire. Though it wasn’t painful, the heat enveloping them was extremely uncomfortable. As I pressed the palms of my hands together, I hoped it would feel better, but it didn’t.

“
Claudia, are you okay? Do I need to get help?” Kristina asked, panicking.

“
I’ll be okay…give me a second,” I mumbled, barely making out the words as I plunked onto the nearest chair and leaned over.

“
Claudia, why is your necklace black?”

I didn’t feel the vibration from the necklace because I was slouched forward.
Oh no, oh no, not now
, I thought, feeling petrified. “We gotta go.” I gripped onto the first thing I could placed my hand on, Kristina’s left arm. Pulling her towards the door, I didn’t take time to explain. Right as we reached it, the metal bars came crashing down and scraped my sweater. Heaving in shock by what could have happened and what had happened, I stood there for a brief second to gather myself and turned swiftly. My back against the metal bars, I examined the room.

“
What the hell is going on?” Kristina grunted, feeling bewildered.

There was no time to explain. The shoes started rattling on the shelves. It started from the back of the room and rippled toward us, getting louder by the seconds.

“
Oh my God!!!” Kristina bellowed. “It’s an earthquake! We gotta hide somewhere. But where?”

I grabbed Kristina and headed towards the cash register I’d spotted earlier. The counter was tall enough to give us just enough shielding from the shoes I knew would be flying towards us. Panting, we ducked down, thinking we were safe, but the counter started shaking too.

“
Where’s the sales lady when you really need one?” Kristina ranted. “She’s probably left the building. She didn’t care about us trapped in here.
She just took off!”

“
It’s okay, Kristina. I’ll get us out of here, alive.” I felt horrible. This was my fight, not Kristina’s. If something were to happen to her, I would never forgive myself. When the rattling stopped, I peered to the right, looking for any exit sign.

Thinking all was safe, I motioned my hand to tell Kristina to wait. As I slowly stood up, sliding my back against the wall to steady my shaky legs, I realized how cold it was. When I breathed heavily from fear, I saw the cold mist puff out of my mouth. Then I knew it had just begun. With Kristina still on the floor, I snapped my head toward the voice that had just called out my name.

“
Claudia, we meet again.”

It was Vickie, but her voice was not her own; it was a man’s voice that was very familiar.

Kristina pulled herself up and saw Vicki. “Thanks a lot for leaving us behind. We were scared out of our minds. Isn’t there a policy where you are supposed to take us with you in case of emergency? You really ought to find out. I mean who leaves their customer behind and just hides in the back? We could have been…”

Kristina didn’t get the chance to finish her words. Vickie was quite annoyed with her rambling. “Enough,” Vickie said with her manly voice.

“
What the heck?” Kristina blinked twice, wondering if she’d heard correctly. She jiggled her ears, but by the time she registered that something wasn’t right, shoes were flying towards us.

Kristina had no clue one was flying straight for her head. At that moment, I knew she couldn’t duck fast enough; I’d have to move Kristina and me out of the way. Instinctively, something inside me guided my hands to block the black high heeled shoes from hitting Kristina on the head. Instead of impacting on the palm of my hand, they flew away before they ever touched me. I felt the heat again, but this time it didn’t feel uncomfortable, it felt warm and comforting as I whole heartedly welcomed it. Shocked by what had happened I tried again. The more I tried, the better I was at it.

Suddenly, the shoes started coming faster and faster. Knowing I couldn’t handle the numbers of shoes flying toward us, I grabbed Kristina and started to run between the racks of shoes.

“
You can run, but you can’t hide!”

Where are the watchers
? I thought.

As if he could hear my thoughts, he answered. “It’s just you, your friend and me tonight. Your other friends were sent away. We should have lots of fun. Do you like this one?” A pair went darting straight for us.

We safely ducked. “What is she or he or whatever it is?” Kristina asked, flabbergasted.

I didn’t answer. What could I say? I was trying to figure a way to distract him, in hopes to run towards the storage room, though I didn’t have a clue what was in there besides shoes. I was hoping there would be another way out. Then suddenly, Kristina started rambling, but I was only half listening.

“
Things like this don’t exist in real life. Am I dreaming? I bet if I start walking, those shoes won’t even hit me. They would go right through me. I am dreaming and you’re in my dream, protecting me. By the way, you’re my hero,” Kristina reasoned.

Kristina stood up so quickly that I didn’t realize she was standing. She was incredulous to see Vickie with wings, gliding towards us. Just as I tried to pull her down, a boot hit her on the head, knocking her out cold.

Trembling, I held Kristina in my arms; knowing we were defeated, I surrendered. Unexpected tears streamed down my cheeks, and I felt hopeless. Where were the watchers, venators and the alkins? Then I recalled Vickie’s words saying the watchers were sent away. But why?

“
Looks like your friend is tired of shopping.”

“
Please…don’t hurt my friend. I’ll go with you,” I pleaded.

“
How noble of you,” Vickie smirked.

“
Are you Nicholas?”

“
Yes,” he said proudly. “I am Nicholas Cain, grandson of Cain. When Aliah takes your soul, I will have my own flesh back. I’m tired of hopping from body to body. Mortal bodies are weak and useless. Now…you can drop her and come to me; or shall I lift her up?”

“
No. I’ll…”

I stopped speaking when Nicholas eyes filled with rage.

“
Claudia, stay right there,” Michael commanded.

Michael’s voice came from behind me. As relief rushed through me, I desperately wanted to turn to see him, but I did as told. I closed my eyes, shield
ed
Kristina’s body with mine, exhaled deeply and got ready for a battle. But it didn’t happen. When I opened my eyes, Nicholas disappeared with a defeated look.

Before I got to blink, I was safely tucked inside Michael’s wings. A small beam of light glowed around us as he held me tenderly and every fiber of my being tingled in relaxation. Lost in his embrace, my quivering stopped, but I didn’t want to let go.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

It was the night before the Valentine’s dance. I felt nervous and excited as if thousands of butterflies were fluttering inside me, ready to burst. Tossing and turning, I tried to find ways to calm my nerves so I could get a restful sleep. I even tried meditating; watching a bit of television and reading a book, but it didn’t work. Finally, I fell asleep, but images of Gamma flashed throughout the night, waking me up with tears in my eyes. Though I hardly slept, I was so eager for the night that I was wide awake.

Startled by my cell phone, I reached over and answered. “Hey Patty.”

“
Good morning sleepy head. You’re awake. I was going to leave a message.”

“
What time is it?”

“
It’s almost nine. You ready to spend the day with me?” Patty asked.

“
Sure,” I said with a smile. “I feel so lazy this morning, but I’m so happy to spend some time together. I haven’t seen you in months.”

“
It hasn’t been that long,” Patty giggled, knowing I was exaggerating. “Well, I can’t wait to make you over and see you in that gorgeous dress. I’m so glad we both took the day off. I really need a break from work. I’m coming over with some coffee.”

“
Thanks. Don’t forget hazel nut, soy milk with whipped cream.”

“
Yeah, yeah, I know. You don’t drink real coffee. You might as well drink sugar water,” Patty teased. “See you in a bit.”

Patty and I spent the afternoon catching up. We chatted about my mom and how long she had been gone, but the conversation was mostly about Andrew and Patty’s friends. Patty hinted several times she’d never gotten to meet Michael. I reminded her she would meet him tonight. But from our conversations, I knew she thought he sounded too good to be true.

The day was nearly over and it was getting close to the time when Michael would pick me up. I carefully placed my dress on the bed and pulled out my black high heels. The heels were wearing thin, but I knew no one could tell since my dress covered my shoes.

“
I thought you went shoe shopping?” Patty asked, focusing her eyes on the tips of the heels.

If only you knew
, I thought, thinking of that dreadful shoe shopping experience. “Yeah…I thought I’d wear this pair one last time,” I shrugged.

Patty must have gotten a weird vibe from me or realized she made me feel uncomfortable. “Don’t worry. You won’t be able to see them. I wore mine till you couldn’t see the heels anymore.” She laughed out loud. “Let’s do your hair and makeup first.”

After the makeup was done and my hair was curled; I put on my clear crystal earrings and slipped into my dress. Though Michael had seen me in this dress before, the dress he bought for me for Christmas, I wanted to wear it again. To me, it was the most perfect dress, one that I planned on keeping forever, for sentimental reasons.

“
Wow, you look…amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look this good.” Patty smiled from ear to ear, eyes beaming with delight.

“
It’s your magic touch, Patty,” I said sheepishly.

“
I love your crystal earrings. They go so well with your butterfly crystal necklace. Your taste is improving,” she teased. “I always see you with the necklace. You never take it off, do you?”

“
Michael gave it to me. It means a lot to me.”

“
Of course it does. I didn’t mean anything bad.”

“
I know, don’t be silly.”