Connor (15 page)

I rested my head on his shoulders and closed my eyes. We sat there for a minute. He eventually started stroking my hair causing my heart to race. I raised my head to face him, and we started kissing. The butterflies in my stomach were racing as fast as my heart, if not faster.

For some reason, he pulled away quickly and walked to the window, keeping his back to me. “I can't do this with you. Not because I don't want to, but because I won't be able to stop myself,” he said.

I sat there listening to him talk. In such a short time, I have come to care for him. We have done so much since we have known each other, but there is a lot going on. I thought back to what Selene said, “Feelings get in the way.”

I walked over and stood next to him. I explained my feelings and what I thought about our… whatever you call it. Also, that advice Selene gave me and why, making sure to explain our aging process so he could understand it better.

I suggested maybe we should go out and do the normal thing like date, then see where it goes. He reluctantly agreed. I don't know why he was reluctant and didn't ask, but I was not ready for anything too hot and heavy. It feels like I'm already having adult emotions in a teen's body and unsure how to handle them yet. I guess that was a part of the change, but I already had a lot on my plate. We both did.

“I'm crazy about you, and I don't want to do anything to lose you, okay? Just remember that,” Tony said. I heard him, and it felt good I had someone who not only knew me, but also is here for me as I am for him.

I woke to a vibrating buzzing sound next to me. My eyes slightly opened to light, daylight, but I was still tired. I quickly closed them again and rolled over. Someone was shaking me and telling me to move over. I managed to open one eye and saw it was Tony, well, okay then. I must have fallen asleep while we were talking. I don't remember crashing or inviting him to stay.

“Connor, move over. It's probably my dad. I've got to get it.” Oh, it was his phone disturbing my sleep. I said sorry, moved, then rolled over, drifting back to sleep.

He woke me up to explain. “It was my dad. He was upset I didn't tell him I was crashing out last night.”

“Is everything okay?” I asked, hoping he wasn't in too much trouble.

“Yeah, he will be fine, but he wants me to head out soon to do some errand for him. It's just his excuse to get me home.”

“Do you have to go now?” I asked.

“No, I have some time. It's still early,” he said, crawling back into bed, making himself cozy. I was amazed how comfortable I was with him. If only my parents could see me now.

Sometime later, we woke to raised voices in the hallway. It was Ebony once again, voicing her opinion about something. Does she ever stop?

“What do you mean I can't go out because of some car accident last night, Dad?” Ebony said.

“I feel it's best that everyone stays in today, okay? It's rainy and nasty out. Besides, it's Sunday. Remember, we always had fun family Sundays?” My dad was trying to be understanding, but I knew he had his limits, and she usually found them.

“Yeah, Dad, when I was a kid,” she said in her high-pitched annoying tone known as sarcasm. She was always difficult, only seventeen and already bitter. Where there no other rooms in this house they could have this conversation? Now it was time for Tony to roll out. I didn't want a repeat of last night's family dysfunctional playtime in front of him.

“Hey, I think it's about that time,” I said, sitting up to yawn.

“That's fine. I need to head home anyway.” He was already up, searching for his shoes.

“Sorry again about my family dispute last night,” I said from the bed, watching him fumble around. He was clearly not a morning person either.

“Like I said, don't be. I enjoyed it.” He was putting his sneakers on without untying them. Keeping his back to me, he asked, “Hey, you think it would be okay if I come back a little later, maybe around one?” As he said it, his tone was off, not the usual jovial one.

“Please don't tell me you are worried. I am fine,” I said. “I'm sure you are, but I just want to make sure, and maybe I like hanging out with you, all right?” he said, hunched over, tying his shoes after he had already squeezed them on to avoid eye contact with me.

“Yes, I would like that,” I said holding back any sarcastic remarks I so wanted to say.

“Besides, I'm not a 'love 'em and leave 'em' kind of guy,” he said, then jumping out the window before I could toss a pillow at him.

I rushed over to peer out, hoping he didn't fall to his death. Just as I thought, he didn't execute it quite right. He lay sprawled out on the ground, not moving a muscle.

What an idiot
, I thought, quoting one of my favorite female characters. Please tell me he didn't break his neck.

He slowly got up, checked his limbs, then limped off, smiling with two thumbs up. I had to laugh.

“What are you laughing at?” Ebony asked. I was laughing so hard tears ran down my face that I hadn't noticed Kane and Ebony watching me from my bedroom door.

Neither appeared happy. I figured it had something to do with fun family day. Like Kane has anywhere to go other than the backyard.

Ebony, on the other hand, never stayed home. I'm sure she hung with her cheerleading crew. I always and still feel they are a front for some sort of secret cult that lures little children to their master to eat.

I was in such good spirits I ran over and gave them both a hug at the same time.

“Hey, get off me,” Ebony squealed as she wrinkled her nose, stepping back.

“Eeeww, you're a girl. Don't touch me,” whined Kane, then I kissed him on the forehead. “What was that for?”

“You called me a girl for the first time today,” I said.

“I meant alien head,” he yelled, running off, pretending to shoot me with his toy gun as his dirty red cape flapped in the wind.

“Why are you in such a good mood, and what happened to your lip?” Ebony asked, sounding every bit the miserable being she strives to be. She focused only on my lip crinkling her face, touching hers. I'm sure she would die if she ever had a blemish on her face.

Trying to ignore her, I started cleaning up the mess she made last night as an excuse to walk away.

“Didn't you hear? We're on lockdown today, and what happened to your lip, I said,” she repeated as if I didn't hear her the first time.

“I heard you loud and clear, Ebony, when you woke me up yelling from the hallway, and as for my lip, I tripped up the stairs, okay. Now let it go,” I said, throwing stuff back into my closet, not caring where they landed.

“Well, I figured if we band together, we can change their minds. Make sure you cover up that lip,” she said for the third time. She is so shallow sometimes, I could punch her face.

“Ebony, why can't you stay at home? Family day might actually turn out to be fun, and don't worry about my lip,” I snapped at her for sucking my good spirits away.

Remembering what Tony said, I took some deep breaths to calm myself. “Why don't you invite Robert and the rest of the cult, I mean some friends over? Besides, it's raining out. We can throw on some comfortable clothes and play some games. It can be us against the old people,” I said, smiling so hard my face was about to crack.

I could tell it was sinking in, but right before she agreed, she gave me an ultimatum. “Okay, but only if you invite your friend, you know, the one you don't have,” she said with her arms folded.

“What friend?”

“Oh please, close your mouth, or flies will get in. You have been all smiles lately. I know you better than you think,” she said.

I quickly shut my mouth. “Fine, he's coming around one,” I said.

“I knew it. You little she-devil. I hope he's a cutie,” she said as she hurried away. “I have got to call the gang.”

If her voice could go just a wee bit higher, she would shatter glass. I ran to the bathroom to do a quick washup; the shower will come later. I was so hungry my stomach was eating itself, which has become the norm lately. It was Sunday morning, which meant some good cooking, Mama style.

I ran down to see what was for breakfast. My mom made enough for an army. She already started making waffles, pancakes, bacon (my favorite ever), sausage, ham, and eggs with fresh-squeezed orange juice. Oh, how I love this woman.

I was beaming from ear to ear. “Geez, Mom, you sure went all out,” I said, surveying the spread, salivating.

She popped her head out from inside a cabinet. “Oh hey, honey. Your sister said she had some friends coming over. You too, from what I gather,” she said, eyeing me. That meant she expected some elaboration on my part as to who my company might be. Saying nothing, I walked over to the fridge to grab some juice.

“Is it Angie?” she asked.

Does the snooping into my life ever stop with this family? “No, Mom, it is a guy,” I said, not believing I said it, but hey, she was going to find out eventually, like when he showed up.

“Oh, is it Tony, the one we met the other day? Is it getting serious? Because that's cool, no biggie.” Her attempt to be laid back while trying to extract information out of me was comical.

“Golly gee, Mom, you should be a detective because your interrogation skills are very smooth.”

She sucked her teeth at me. “Fine, I was just trying to make small talk. Just help me with breakfast, smarty pants,” she said. “Ooohh, you're so fresh.” She rambled on, throwing flour on me.

“You're so mature, Mom, real mature.” We went back and forth, tossing the flour at each other when Kane came in with my dad, wanting to help.

They got to work, and before we knew it, Ebony had joined in, shocker. Yesterday's events seemed to melt away. This was the family I knew and loved. Okay, that was corny, but so am I.

The doorbell rang, and that was my cue to run up and take a shower. First, I called Angie and invited her to come over, who was all for it. Sadly, Hope was away on some family retreat this weekend, getting rained on. Better her than me.

Before hopping in the shower, I noticed my lip virtually healed, and most of my bruises were gone just since last night. Now that I can live with.

After the best shower in the world, I headed back down to a kitchen full of people I knew from school. That included half the cheerleading squad and the football team. Okay, maybe only a few people but didn't expect that many.

They were taking up the kitchen and the dining room. My mom loved every bit of it though, and it showed on her face because she was grinning from ear to ear. She always wanted a big family, although my dad put a stop to that. Besides the loudness, all you heard was clinking plates and “More please.”

Tony, Angie, and Bobby didn't even see me; they were knee-deep into some good home-cooked food like I'm about to be in two seconds flat.

“Hey, honey, come on in before the food is gone,” my mom said loudly over the noise in the kitchen. She was dishing out more food to the wolves.

“I see that.” There were only scraps of food left. I was disappointed, but worst of all, the bacon was gone, all gone. A dark cloud engulfed my heart, causing me to sink into a hole of despair; my body felt cold, numb—well, until my mom pulled more food from the oven and the microwave. The cloud dissipated, my body warmed up, and all was right with the world again. I told you, I love me some bacon.

“I love you, Mom,” I said, eyeing the fresh bacon. I grabbed a plate, filled it up, was accepted by the pack, and dug in.

We were all stuffed and the kitchen was a mess, but my parents came to the rescue. “Don't you worry, guys, your dad and I have it,” Ebony, Kane, and I made a mad dash for the den. You don't have to tell us twice. I pushed Ebony and shoved Kane out the way. Ooops.

We set up the games, divided into teams of girls versus boys. The girls ruled, of course. There was fun, more food, and a lot of laughter plus some major cheating going on.

Ebony even gave me a wink of approval regarding Tony. I nearly fell out of my seat, one for the cheese factor of the wink and two for the approval. It turned out to be a fun day even for Ebony. Who is she kidding, she is a little geekette at heart too.

I was sitting on the edge of the couch when a sharp wrenching pain stabbed my stomach. I eyed Tony who was watching me. He was squinting as he squeezed his temples. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.

“Connor, Connor, I know you can hear me, and I know Tony is with you. You two need to find an excuse to leave, now. Meet me around the corner,” It was Selene, and she sounded worried. “Hurry. I will be waiting in a black SUV.”

I repeated what she said to Tony from across the room and hoped he got it. He hopped up, grabbed his phone, pretending to get a call. I guess he did.

He came back into the room. “Sorry, guys, something just came up, and I have to go. Connor, you want to take a ride?”

When I asked my parents, they nodded, waving me off, forgetting to ask any questions.

I ran upstairs and changed into some jeans and my favorite black Wonder Woman T-shirt. I hurried up and ran back down.

I yelled to my parents and Angie that I would call them later, but as expected, Angie gave me a puzzled look. I did the phone hand gesture, and she nodded. I was not feeling too guilty for leaving Angie behind; she spent most of her days here anyway. I will figure out what I will tell her later. She has a sixth sense about things, so it had better be good, but no time to think about that now. I met Tony by the door, then we left.

We hopped in Tony's car and parked it around the corner behind Selene's SUV to make it look like we took his car to go somewhere. She sped off as soon as we got in.

Selene explained the physical pain we felt. “Your senses are
crand
(craund), heightened, now that you have come into your
renad
, so your body experiences it more intensely. In this case, I am sure you felt impending doom or trouble—the worse the situation, the more severe the physical manifestation.”

Tony popped his head up front from the back. “What do you think is going on?”

“We are not fully sure yet. We do know that Byron is still missing and that no one has seen or spoken to him since late last night,” Selene said.

“Didn't Bynder speak to him last night? No, I'm sure of it because Khan was following him home after he dropped Willow off,” Tony said.

“Yes, en route to his house, but he never made it home. After last night's attack, we have to believe Connor and I was not the only target. We do know everyone else is fine,” Selene said.

“So, zilch on Khan either?” I asked.

“No, nothing. Bynder has been trying all night.” She swallowed hard when she answered, gripping the steering wheel tighter. She appeared calm, but I could tell it took all she had to hold it together. I hope Khan did not betray us for both her and our sake.

“Have the
feelers
discovered anything?” I asked.

“It's complicated, but their trail ended at Mr. Conway's house,” Selene said.

“What's complicated, and what's a
feeler
? I never got to ask last night,” Tony asked. I explained what a
feeler
was, what their purpose was, and that Bynder had them search for Khan last night. As far as the rest, I didn't know.

“We are regrouping in the woods at his house to figure out our next move,” Selene explained.

“Our next move.” She said it so matter of factly. This is all happening so fast, what has my life become? Connor, this is the real you, the one you always felt deep down inside, so embrace it. I took a deep breath to relax and told myself that whatever happens, happens.

We drove the rest of the way in silence except for the rain drumming on the car roof and cars splashing by. What would normally take a pleasant thirty-minute drive felt more like a three-hour paint-drying contest.

We went from seeing houses sitting side by side to open space of land surrounded by cast iron gates. The houses now were at least a mile apart from each other and set far back from the road.

Eventually, we pulled up to a remote road filled with gravel and dirt. If you blinked, you would have missed it. You definitely needed to know where you were going to find it.

About five miles in, we parked near some tree brush and walked the rest of the way through the woods. I normally love the rain but today, not so much. It felt cold, gloomy, and dismal, but I wasn't sure if that was from the weather or the circumstances.

The coolness of the wet leaves hanging from the trees stung as they hit me in the face. The little squirmy things in the ground decided to come out and play, enjoying nature's shower. I cannot believe after all I've been through, bugs still bother me, but they do.

The rain was turning into more of a mist the further we walked in due to the densely packed trees. We did not talk, just followed. It was quiet except for the rain's patter and the crunch of the leaves below our feet. The leaves were an array of yellow, green, and red, spreading across the ground like a blanket. How pretty it was, unlike our situation.

We stopped in front of a shed that had seen better days. It looked old like it sat abandoned for some time. Still, it provided adequate shelter for what we needed.

And this is how I came to stand in front of an abandoned shed not knowing what lay ahead. My life has changed so much but I have no choice but to accept it.

Walking in, Shak stood in the middle of the room, explaining some of what Tony and I already knew. Of course, Scott didn't show up. I'm not surprised.

“Great, everyone we expected is here. This is what we have gathered so far. After Khan and Byron went missing, Bynder put
feelers
out. They sensed Khan and Byron ended up here early this morning, but something went wrong. They sensed a grave impression upon this place. It is no longer a safe haven for our kind. We don't even know how Mr. Conway is doing or if he is still with us. So we told the
feelers
to stand down,” Shak said.

“So what does this mean?” Tony asked Shak exactly what we all wanted to know.

“None of us
Keepers
can sense them, our kind. That means things have turned for the worse. We have unwelcome visitors here. This change occurred too rapidly, and only a few have the ability to manage that,” Shak said.

“How is that possible not to sense them?” I asked “Some of us are taught certain magic but for defense

purposes only and not to be used in a manner of deceitfulness such as this. Khan was not one of those taught with me. He clearly acquired it under falsehearted methods. He will no doubt pay a grave price,” Tanzia explained.

None of them showed any emotion, just rigidity. How are they so composed at a time like this? It must affect them, but you would never know it by their demeanor. Instead, they were all dressed in a plain black from head to boots, ready for combat like soldiers.

“So what about Byron, are you saying he's inside held captive or dead because that's not…,” Willow asked, trailing off, staring at Shak.

This time Bynder answered. “Unfortunately, Willow, we cannot say. Bottom line it is up to us to investigate what is going on inside that house. I can promise you it is nothing you have ever seen before. We sheltered you for too long, but no more. No matter what we find in there and no matter what happens, we handle it. It is what we do.”

“Anything for Byron, man,” Tony said.

“I hope so because this is the best teaching you could ever have. Stay alert, stay smart, use your instincts, and never let your guard down,” Bynder said.

“What should we expect inside?” Cheyenne asked. “Maybe we shouldn't go? I mean, us
yougows
may be

more of a hindrance than a help,” Willow asked with a shaky voice, and her eyes practically bulging out their sockets. Now I actually wished Scott cared enough to show up. He may be a pain, but he could fight.

“We can only guess, but we won't know for sure until we investigate. You're better off with us inside than on your own outside. This here is how you learn to survive and the weak gets weeded out. I do not have to tell you we may all not make it out. Truthfully, we all won't,” Bynder finished, and that was it.

Tanzia said something in
SanI
, and the
Keepers
repeated it. Probably a ritual chant they do for times like these. A flow of energy passed through the room, filling it with serenity. I don't know how, but I felt more energized. The
Keepers
' eyes changed colors for a second, then back to normal. After that, we left.

It was wicked.

Jogging toward the house felt like an out-of-body experience. I knew my legs were moving, but I don't recall telling them to. For once, Willow made sense about us staying behind, but after last night, I really don't think we had a choice. I wanted to, no, I needed to, help.

I knew there was a lot more going on than what they told us. This felt more like a trap than a rescue, but this is what we do, right?

We made it to the house right as the rain started to pour. The back door was locked, and we didn't want to break it down, alerting anyone of our presence. Shak jumped up effortlessly and landed on the second-story ledge. He tried a few windows and finally found one that was open and crawled through. A minute later, he unlocked the back door.

We entered using the same back door Byron took us through the night we researched the basement. Once inside, Tanzia and I both listened to make sure we didn't hear anything or anyone close by. We agreed that no one seemed to be around or even home and expressed that to the others.

We had already discussed splitting into groups as soon as we left the shed. Bynder grouped with Tony, Tanzia, Willow, and Tochia, who would take the main level, while I grouped with Shak, Selene, and Cheyenne to cover the basement.

It was the oddest thing, heading down to the basement. We had to be careful since the cement stairs were damp or still wet even in some spots. The cast-iron railing was of no use if we needed support. It had rusted in certain areas, making it no longer safe to hold our weight.

The basement hallway seemed dimmer and narrower than before. The few lights that were on kept flickering on and off, threatening to go out. I needed to remove my jacket, since it was incredibly warm, not like the last time we were here. Maybe I didn't pay that close attention before. I was rushing to get it over with and annoyed with Cheyenne when we came, but I don't remember water on the stairs.

No, it's changed because there definitely wasn't an odor; it smelled more like pines trees. It was actually clean. Now, a smell of foulness hit me, and the deeper we went in, it reeked of mildew and rotten eggs.

I noticed brown stains on walls, small puddles of water on the floor, and cracked water pipes, forming brown puddles underneath them. It was odd that this much damage could have occurred in such a short period. How did this place get so bad?

Cheyenne and I kept shaking our heads in confusion and glancing at each other, stunned at the drastic changes. The once-beautiful, decor-filled rooms were a mess. All the furniture and decorations were stacked to the ceiling in each room and pushed off to the side.

I stopped to check out the damages, letting the others walk ahead of me. Once I got past the stench, I relaxed a bit after realizing things were not as scary as the
Keepers
made it out to be. Nobody was even here. Besides, Cheyenne could see through these rooms all by herself.