Fae (30 page)

This was the only night that I had intentionally stayed away. I had decided to spend more time near the water, searching for any sign of the Kelpie. When I left the waterfront, I decided to drive by the diner because I had actually missed her. I wanted to see her and just be in her presence. And now, I knew that I should have never even left her alone.

The only thing that caught me off guard was the Kelpie's sudden departure.

He actually stood up and left. Without a word and without a fight? Surely he must have known.

Surely.

Was he going for help? Was there the slightest chance that he didn't know who she was?

It was impossible.

I was going mad. How could I go on like this?

“I'll get your food. Do you really want it to go?” she asked in a soft voice, breaking my chain of thought and completely unaware of the wrath I was moments away from unleashing upon her.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and tried very hard to temper my anger. But I was at my boiling point.

“What were you thinking?” I demanded softly.

“What are you talking about?”

“You just let anyone in here and at any hour?”

“Yes, Devilyn. This place is called a restaurant. We normally serve food to perfect strangers.” I could hear the amusement in her voice. “Imagine that!”

“Who is that guy and why is he following you from Plymouth?” I continued, ignoring her sarcasm. “Doesn't it strike you to be a bit odd that he would come here.”

I searched her face, demanding an answer. I could see I had ruffled her feathers but I didn't care. She meant too much to behave any differently.

“Why is it
odd,
Devilyn?” Her eyes lit up angrily. “Odd because he's taken a sudden interest in me, that he might actually
like
me?”

“You are missing the point.”

“And what is that exactly?”

“He's strange, and he doesn't give me a good vibe.”

“Strange?”

“Yes. And weird.”

“He's cute, and he's a gentleman.”

Cute? If possible she was making me even angrier.

“If you like men who resemble animals, I guess you could call him cute.”

I heard her gasp. I didn't care. How could she think he was cute?

“That couldn't be further from the truth.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

I couldn't stop myself. I was furious. With her. Myself. The Kelpie. Caroline for thinking he was attractive. I stood up and reached out and grabbed her hand, pulled her close across the bar until we were just inches apart.

I needed to calm down. This conversation wouldn't end well if I continued down this path. I wanted to warn her, but I didn't know how. How could I tell her that she had spent the past hour or so in the presence of someone who desperately wanted to kill her?

To take her life.

To feed her to the sharks and watch as they ripped apart every part of her body, leaving her remains behind without thought or concern for the innocent loved ones she would leave behind. How could I tell her these things, when telling her would either cause her to panic or worse yet think that I had some ulterior motive and ultimately hate me.

When I pushed the rage I felt aside I became acutely aware of the woman that I had just dragged across the counter.

She was staring at my lips.

“You need to listen to me, and you need to stay away from him,” I said in a much lowered voice. Our mouths were practically touching.

“Why?” she asked softly. My hand was suddenly rubbing her arm, and the sensation was so incredible I knew I wouldn't be able to stop.

“Tell me why.” I knew what she was asking.

“He's no good.” I closed my eyes because I couldn't meet her gaze. I knew if I did, I'd be lost.

“Maybe the person I should stay away from is you,” she said as she pulled herself away.

I felt cold all over.

“Don't be so overdramatic,” I muttered.

“I think you should leave, Devilyn.”

I knew she was mad now.

“I'm not leaving until you lock up and I know that you are safe and in your car.”

“I don't need you to watch over me. Frank is here, and he can protect me from your imaginary danger man,” she said, practically rolling her eyes at me.

The notion of the overweight sous-chef doing anything remotely similar to protecting her was laughable.

“You need to go.”

“I will leave, but you will text me when you get home.”

“Text you?” she said as she placed her hands on her hips. “I'm not your girlfriend, Devilyn. I don't know why you keep showing up, or why you have been saying the things you've been saying or doing the things you've been doing lately. I just don't know what it is you want from me. But this, whatever ‘this' is, has to stop.”

I knew what I had to say. I just didn't know how to say it. I shook my head and looked down, accepting defeat.

I slowly got up and began making my way to the front door. I couldn't let this be the last thing we said to each other tonight. When it came to Caroline, nothing ever went as planned.

“I know you're mad, and I guess you have a right to be.” She made me so infuriated. I took a deep breath and continued. “I'm only saying these things to you because I care, and maybe I have a ridiculous way of showing it. But I do care”

“You need to leave.”

She wasn't going to listen. Especially not now. So I left, but I stayed in my car a distance away and made sure she got home.

Safe and sound.

“We are only falsehood, duplicity, contradiction; we both conceal and disguise ourselves from ourselves.”
—Blaise Pascal

I barely slept. In fact, I didn't sleep at all. Not for a minute. Every second played in my head over and over again.

Every word.

Every moment.

I was obsessing. I had been obsessing since the moment he stepped on the stage of the Manteo High football rally. But things were different now. Devilyn was acting so strangely with me. The touches. The words. I wanted to believe him. I wanted so badly to believe that he cared about me. That he desired me. But I didn't trust him or myself. What if I was imagining it all? What if I was reading into it?

I shook my head. I didn't want to be vulnerable. I couldn't allow myself to get hurt.

When I was with Devilyn everything about him felt so right. When he wasn't around, I craved him, wished that he would appear. And when he did, I couldn't imagine what it would be like when he left. It was in the moments in between where chaos would erupt. Where we would say things to each other that would wake me up out of this fog-like state and make me realize that in the end I would be the one to suffer.

I would be the one that would be pained. And right now, I couldn't handle that.

I knew myself. If I allowed myself to feel, it would be over.

I lay in bed and began to relive the details yet again. I don't know why I overreacted when he told me to be careful around Patrick. I had sensed that something was off as well, but I just felt like disagreeing with him. I felt as if he was only saying the things he said because Patrick seemed to like me. And why was that so unbelievable? Why should I have to stay away from anyone and everyone who showed any interest in me?

My phone rang, and I picked it up quickly. It was Teddy.

“This is early for you,” I teased him. “It's Saturday. Isn't this the day you sleep until three?”

“Very funny. I would have, except I had to get up and feed Tommy. My mom left early today for work. She picked up a shift.”

“You must be tired.”

“Yeah, definitely tired,” he replied as he yawned into the phone. “So what are you up to?”

“Not much,” I replied with a sigh.

“What's wrong? You don't sound like yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“You sound down.”

“No, not down—just cranky from working late last night.”

“You close up again?”

“Yeah.”

“So how was the Westmoreland mansion? You haven't really told me about it,” Teddy asked in an obviously bored tone.

“Uneventful. Their grandfather is really sweet,” I replied. “The house is exactly what you'd picture it to be.”

“Like out of
Gone with the Wind
?” Teddy asked, suddenly curious.

I giggled. “Kind of, but way nicer.”

“And how was Mr. Football?”

“You mean, Devilyn,” I corrected him.

For some reason I didn't want Teddy to make fun of him; it felt disloyal.

“Sorry. Devilyn,” Teddy replied after a moment of silence.

“He was nice. Actually very welcoming.”

Silence again.

“Hmm…welcoming. That sounds evasive,” he chided with a hint of laughter in his voice. “So have you fallen for him like all the other girls at the school?”

“No!” I practically screamed into the phone. “Are you crazy?!”

I am
, I thought. Crazy head over heels.

“Are you sure?” he continued, goading me on.

“Yes!” I knew I probably sounded guilty of all of the above, but what could I do? I didn't want Teddy to know I was obsessed. He would be so disappointed in me. “How's your genealogy project coming along?”

“Nice change of topic,” Teddy said through his laughter. “It's fine. I mean, talk about burning brain cells. Every time I'm around that cheerleader my IQ goes down.”

I was cracking up. “You just made my morning.”

“I'm glad I'm good for something.”

We spent another few minutes discussing school projects, and then I told him I'd call him later. After a couple more hours wasting away the morning, lying in bed with Famous by my side, I finally managed to drag myself out of bed and down the stairs. My stomach was growling, so I thought it might be best to join my parents for a very late breakfast. I reluctantly walked down the stairs in a zombie-like state. I wasn't even halfway down when I heard the words that would forever change the course of my life.

Maybe I was imagining it.

Maybe I was still sleeping.

I pinched myself to make sure. No, I was awake, alright.

This
was not a dream.

I was not imagining any of these words.

Even though they were words that I wasn't expecting. Words that I never anticipated. But deep down, they were words that answered so much.

“At some point we have to tell her, David,” my mother said as she poured my father another cup of coffee.

“Why now?” He was running his hands through his thick blond hair.

“Because she's been asking me a lot of questions lately.” She was obviously distressed.

I took a seat on the stairs, thankful that Famous had crawled into my lap. I didn't dare move because I wanted to hear what they were about to say. I knew I shouldn't eavesdrop, but something compelled me to stay where I was and listen. I wondered what was causing my parents such agony. I could only assume that we were in some deep financial trouble. I ran through the ramifications of that situation in my head. So we would sell the house, maybe the business. Move to a smaller place, maybe an apartment. Or perhaps we would be forced to move out of Roanoke.

To a bigger city? With more jobs?

I closed my eyes and envisioned my life somewhere else. I had always known that I would move, I just didn't expect to leave my school or my life here this quickly. I had always assumed it would be for college. I shook my head, trying not to freak out, letting the possibilities all sink in. Whatever it was, and wherever it took us, we were a family and we would survive.

Together.

“She's been working on a history project about her lineage, David. She keeps asking me about her background. About her family, her grandparents. What am I supposed to tell her?”

Or maybe not.

My heart stopped.

Where was this conversation going?

“Lie.”

My mother's voice rose and shook with anger, “I have
never
lied to her. And I will not start now.”

“She's going to be devastated.”

“Why?” my mother pleaded. “Why would she be devastated? We are a family, and her background will not change that. Not now. Not ever.”

“What are you talking about, Lisa,” my father was practically frantic. “
Everything
will change.” His voice shook with anguish.

“You aren't giving her any credit.”

“She'll want to find her real parents, she'll want to know who they were and where they are,” he continued. “The questions without answers will never stop. And what will we do then?”

I stood up suddenly, but I could barely stay upright. My legs were shaking so badly, I couldn't move back up the stairs. Slowly, one-by-one, step by never-ending step I finally reached the top. I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. This couldn't be happening. When I finally made my way back to my room, I carefully grabbed the doorknob and shut my door quietly. Given the magnitude of what I had just learned I was relatively calm. But I was just overcome with shock.

“I am adopted,” I said the words out loud. I wanted to feel them. Know exactly what it meant in every way. Adopted. A child whose biological parents didn't want her. Or couldn't keep her. Adopted.

How could it be? Why?

The tears started flowing down my face so quickly that I couldn't make them stop, no matter how hard I tried. I didn't want my parents to hear me sob, but I needed someone to console me. Everything about my life, about my identity, was a myth.

Everything.

How could they have lied to me for so long? I would have never lied to them. They could have told me. They had so many opportunities. So many chances to say, “Caroline, you are ours, but you once belonged to someone else.”

It would have hurt, but I would have understood. It would have taken time, but I would have gotten over the questions. But to wait all this time. It just didn't seem right. And to think the only reason they were even contemplating telling me now was because of this stupid history project?

I couldn't believe it.

I crawled back into bed. Vowing to never get out. I no longer had my direction. I no longer had a real foundation. Everything about my life was a façade. Everyone in my life was there for the wrong reasons. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I couldn't believe my parents would do this to me. Why would they hide something like this from me? Why?

From now on, I would walk down the street looking deep into the eyes of everyone I passed by and would wonder if they were part of my family. If my blood is similar to theirs. Is the person my brother, my sister, or my mom or dad? And if they were, then why had they given me up so easily? Was there something wrong with me? Something so unappealing that I would just be given away?

Discarded.

And never thought of again.

I wiped the tears and stared down at Famous. The only real part of my life. I could tell he was distressed. I wish I could explain to him the things I had heard. I wished he would be able to understand. Be able to truly console me as I so needed someone to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be alright.

A few moments later my cell phone rang. I looked at the number and immediately recognized it as Teddy's. I was in no mood to talk to anyone. I don't think I had anything left to say. I hit the ignore button and put my phone on vibrate. I didn't want to talk to anyone.

I closed my eyes and hoped that when I woke, everything I heard would just be part of a bad dream.

It had to be just a dream.

Monday.

Tuesday.

Wednesday.

And still no sign of her.

I started the week simply worrying. Worry had turned into concern, and by Wednesday I was frantic. I knew that she was home. I had driven by so many times and had seen her parents come and go with no obvious sign of distress that she had to be there.

There is no way they would have been so calm.

Unless.

I immediately rose from class and asked to be excused. I don't even remember what I said, but I remember it had been convincing. Just as I had many powers, so did
he
. Perhaps he had worked his
magik
on her family, causing them to act calm and collected, even if their daughter had been taken.

Perhaps.

I practically ran to my car and started the ignition in a state of fury, driving unthinkable speeds down the small streets until I reached hers. She had to be home. She had to be safe. I wouldn't rest until I saw her for myself.

I tried to calm myself as I got out of the car. I would have known, I kept telling myself. I would have known if she was taken into the forest. Someone would have told me. Everyone was watching. Everyone was on the lookout.

There would have been a sign.

I would have felt it. Known it. Heard her cry for help. I would have felt something.

Something.

She had to be home.

There was no other logical explanation.

I ran up the stairs and took in a breath before I began ringing her doorbell.

One ring became two, two became three, three became four and still no answer. I stepped back from the stairs and looked up at her room. Where could she be? Maybe she was in the shower and didn't hear the doorbell ring. I walked up the stairs again and pressed my finger against the ringer and didn't let go.

If her mother answered, I was sure she'd think I was a lunatic. But it didn't matter. None of it mattered. I knew that if someone didn't open the door within five minutes I would break it down and search the house myself. I was past caring.

And that's when I began using the knocker on the door. One pounding sound after another after another, until finally, the door opened.

And there she was.

I reached out and touched her face.

Was she real?

Or was she planted here by Alderon to fool me? Had he gained knowledge of some other great dark magical art?

It had to be Caroline.

I looked her over and couldn't believe my eyes. Standing before me was not the girl I had left days earlier. She looked disheveled and distracted. Her big, beautiful eyes were swollen and puffy. Gone was her school attire, replaced with a large grey robe. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. Like she was in great mourning over a loved one.

Her fury and anger I could deal with.

Her pain I could not handle.

“What are you doing here?” she finally said, as she wiped her red nose with a napkin she pulled out of the pocket in her robe.

“Where have you been?” I demanded. I could not control the trembling in my voice.

“Home. Here.” And then the tears started flowing. She wiped at her face with the crumpled napkin.

“What happened? What's wrong?” I vowed I would destroy whatever had made her cry like this and given her so much pain.

“Nothing.”

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the things I said to you,” I suddenly blurted out. What if I was the cause?

“What things?”

“At the diner. I didn't mean any of it.”

“You think I'm upset over that?”

I shook my head. What else could it be?

She laughed between her tears.

“Look, Devilyn. I appreciate that you came here. I really do. But I'm honestly not in the mood to talk,” she told me softly. “I have some personal stuff going on, and I just need to be by myself.”