Foretell (6 page)

“Did you see anything?” I asked.

“Nope. Nothing. Did you?”

I shook my head. “Negative.”

“I don’t know why you were all worried,” Rex said. He gestured to me. “She told us how to get what we wanted before we boarded.”

“It doesn’t always work right,” I told him. “This thing, it’s tricky. If one of us had lifted our heads for even a split second, we wouldn’t have been following my exact directions. We could’ve seen something and screwed everything up.”

“Well it’s a good thing everyone knows how to follow directions,” he retorted dryly.

I opened my mouth to say something,
then
decided against it. Instead, I ignored Rex and settled more comfortably into my seat. Pulling my legs up, I sat Indian style, and then leaned against the window. I yawned tiredly.

“I’m hungry,” Lola declared. “I noticed a snack cart a few rooms down. Are you hungry, Estelle?”

“No, just sleepy.”

Gabe escorted Lola to head towards the food cart while Rex stayed behind to look after me. Still determined to ignore his presence, I plugged my music back into my ears and snuggled into my little corner. Closing my eyes, I let the pulsing music drown out the high volume of my anxiety. Somehow, I managed to fall into a deep slumber, forgetting about the madness that had taken over my life these past few hours.
At least for a little while.

The soft hues of daylight shined into our room, waking me. The rumble beneath my feet indicated our train was still moving. According to my cell, it was 7:00 a.m. Way too early to be awake under normal circumstances.

The cell phone was also testimony to dozens of missed calls from my mother and a few from my sister. At least I’d thought to silence the ringer. I toyed with the idea of listening to the voicemails, but honestly, I wasn’t interested in hearing my mother’s frantic voice displaying a mock portrayal of concern over my welfare. She would only be upset that the goose that laid her golden eggs finally flew the coop. She could no longer use me. That was as far as her distress truly went.

“You should break that,” Lola said, pulling me out of my contemplative state. She was staring at me cautiously. Her fingers loomed over strips of her hair where she’d been braiding it. “If your family contacted the police, it could be used as a tracking device.”

I looked at the phone again, debating. I supposed there was no point in keeping it. I snapped it in two, surprised by how easy it had been to break.

“The guys went to get breakfast,” Lola mentioned.

My last connection to home.

Broken.

“I’m about to join them,” she said. “Do you want to come with me?”

I shook my head. “No, thanks.”

“You should eat,” she suggested, eyeing my figure. “You’re already too skinny.”

I raised a brow. “Gee, thanks.”

She grinned. Then, more seriously, she warned me, “Don’t go anywhere, okay? It shouldn’t take long.”

“I’ll be fine,” I reassured her.

I found myself completely alone in the cabin. It was quiet, too quiet. The pieces of my broken phone plunked loudly against the wall of the metal wastebasket as I tossed them in. Their echoes made the room sound emptier, smaller.

I knew I couldn’t let myself dwell on what was happening back home. I needed to put myself back together and move on.

That was no longer my life. Not anymore.

There was a small mirror in the bathroom. I looked myself over in it, and grimaced. My hair was in an array of tangles, and my ashen skin looked as if it belonged to a ghostly being.

I turned on the sink faucet and scrubbed at my face and hands. The icy, cold water helped to wake me up. Afterwards, I combed my thick hair back into a twisted bun, tying it up with a black ribbon.

Typically, I didn’t wear much makeup, but I felt like it was necessary today. I dabbed on some concealer, some blush and swooped one thin line of black liner across the upper lids of my eyes.

After I was done, I looked myself over again.

Better, I decided. Much better.

I sat back down in my seat, bored now. These trains should really come stocked with televisions.
Or at the very least some magazines.

A bound leather book sat across from me on the opposite seat. Intrigued, I picked it up and was surprised by its heftiness. I eyed the doorknob, listening to hear if anyone was coming. It remained very quiet. Too curious to put the book down, I leafed through it. The pages were thick and textured. It was an artwork portfolio.

Emotion was the prevalent element on each of the pages.
Raw, unbridled and passionate emotion.
The lines were detailed and elegant. The colors were rich and deep. Some of the art were mere sketches. Some were paintings. Some were printed copies of digital art. All of it was beautiful.

I flipped through the pages hungrily. My love for art had found a feast.

Curiously, many of the images were of the same blurred woman. The emotion was more tangible within those images. Her eyes held some sort of power. She was lovely, too. Her hair was blonde, flowing in tight ringlets down her back. In most of the portraits, she wore gowns that weren’t from this century. Most of them matched the shade of her dark blue eyes.

Strangely, I noticed the girl’s lips pouted in almost every image. It was as if she were unhappy. There was one, however, towards the end of the portfolio of her laughing. She held a toddler in her arms, swinging him around. They were playing together. Happiness protruded from that painting. The blonde woman practically glowed with it.

I sighed while looking over that piece. It was perfect, inspiring and I wished I could own it.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Rex stood before me, mad as all hell.

I fumbled with the portfolio, trying to close it. I hadn’t heard him come in, too wrapped up in the painting. “Nothing,” I said, much too quickly. “Sorry, I was curious. Is this yours?”

He snatched the book out of my hands and stuffed it into his suitcase. “Weren’t you ever taught not to snoop through someone else’s things?”

“You left it on the seat,” I pointed out. “I was curious. I didn’t realize it was private.”

Well, at least not until I opened it anyway. But there was no need for him to know
that.

“I left it on my seat-accidentally. That wasn’t an invitation for you to snoop through its contents.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled awkwardly.

Rex zipped his bag up in quick, heated motions. The muscles in his back appeared tense. I didn’t know what to say to make the situation better. I didn’t know if I
could
make it better.

Say something, you idiot,
I inwardly yelled at myself.

“You’re really talented,” I said quietly. I was partly hoping to calm him down, but the other part of me meant what I said. “Your art is amazing. Some of the best I’ve ever seen.”

“I don’t care what you think, babe. Save your compliments for someone else.”

My eyes widened in shock over his rudeness.

I didn’t give out compliments like that lightly, and wasn’t expecting it to be returned with resentment. Yeah, I shouldn’t have been snooping. It was safe to say that I was out of line. But his comments were uncalled for.

“How dare you!” I spat out angrily, unable to rein in my growing temper. “I was simply attempting to praise your work. Are you really so low of a person to speak to a woman that way?”

“First off, I don’t see a woman. I see a child. Secondly, I’m here to do a job, not to care about hurting your feelings.”

I actually laughed. “You think you hurt my feelings, do you? Well you can guess again. It would take a lot more than that to do some damage. You simply shocked me, is
all.
But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. That portfolio
there
sheds some major light on just how screwed up the inner workings of Rex Constantin’s mind truly is.”

“Don’t pretend to know me, girl. You don’t know anything about me.”

“Pul
-
eez.” I waved my hand in the air. “I can sum you up in about sixty seconds.”

“I doubt that.”

I sat up straighter, more confidently, crossing my legs.

“Wanna test me?” I asked.

“Okay,” he sighed, sounding more annoyed than anything else. “Enlighten me, babe.”

I moved even closer, straightening to my full height. He was about to play a game that I was fail proof at. I had years of training by watching people from afar, sizing them up and figuring out what made them tick.

He was going down.

“I don’t mind if I do. Let me see if I can guess this right. For one, you’re cynical. You used to be happy and carefree, but that was a long time ago and the world has jaded you since then.”

“You’re stating the obvious,” he told me. “I’m a gypsy, we’re all a little jaded.”

I smiled. “I’m not finished. Just getting started, as a matter of fact.”

He motioned for me to go on, crooking his head to the side in that cocky manner I hated.

“You treat people, especially females, as if they’re beneath you, because deep down you’re bitter. You’re bitter and you’re angry. Some cold-hearted, she-wolf did you dirty, and you’re making everyone else pay for her mistakes. You’re the type of person who pouts and holds grudges for a long time. For you, maybe even several lifetimes.”

Rex’s amber eyes narrowed on me. They lost their warmth, turning into a cool shade of brown.

I knew I was onto something.

Spitefully, I continued the onslaught. “You wear simple and understated clothes, but everything has to be name brand, possibly even tailored. You keep your appearance up, not because you want attention. Oh, no. You couldn’t care less for the attention you receive. You do it because every time
some clueless female gets shot down by you
, it makes you feel smug. You leave their beds, knowing that they’ll probably cry their eyes out over the fact that you didn’t call them, that they couldn’t change you-that they weren’t the
one
for you. You eat this stuff up, but not because you want to hurt any of them. It’s because they’re all her to you.”

I was going out on limb with some of the stuff I was saying, but it was obvious I was striking close to home. I smiled, realizing I’d guessed right about the girl. My words had pierced into Rex like arrows. He held his hands in tight fists at his sides. His jaw tensed, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“The sad truth is, you feel all alone,” I said. “Inwardly, you’re just really pissed off because she’s off living her life or lives, whatever, while you’re miserably remembering her for the rest of yours. I’ll bet you don’t even want to go by the name Stefan anymore simply because it’s attached to the life you shared with this woman.”

I sat back in my seat, out of breath. I felt wicked, but satisfied. I was sure I was glowing, witnessing that bastard’s arrogant grin wiped clean from his handsome face. It was replaced by a furious anger. He was trying to hide it, but he was failing miserably.

I was playing with fire.

Truthfully, Rex’s anger was a little frightening. But I was determined not to let him intimidate me. I’d won this battle. And I felt good about
it.
. .right?

After a few moments, Rex swallowed. His fists loosened.

“Are you done?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “Mind if I take a shot at this game?”

I shrugged. “I don’t care,” I said. And why should I? What could he possibly say to me that could hurt my feelings? I wasn’t the self-righteous, egocentric pig in this scenario.

“For one, you’re complacent,” he began. “In fact, most of the things you do are done purposefully to stay unnoticed. You let your ability act as your excuse to keep yourself on the sidelines. And don’t kid yourself, it’s because you want to be there.

“You wear your clothes in dark colors and in loose fabrics, partly because it’s trendy, but mostly because you prefer to go overlooked.”

I looked down to see what I was wearing, hoping I’d worn something light or colorful. I wore a simple black blouse with dark blue jeans. I crossed my arms over my chest, forcing myself to believe he was only making the obvious observations.

He continued his attack. “You use big words every now then because it makes you feel superior and more intelligent. You probably do this because
it’s
one small way to feel like you have control over people, but it will never compare to the way your mother and sister have control over you. Or for that matter, it won’t compare to the way anybody who finds out about your ability can control you. I bet you even have Abby as a pet because you don’t have any friends.

“You’re a loner, a recluse and have been terrified for most of your life about the things you’re capable of. You probably could’ve used your ability to do some real good in this world. But you’re just selfish and scared enough to keep it all to yourself because you can’t deal.”

Rex sat back in his seat now.

I think he had more to say, but something made him shut-up. I felt the wetness at my eyes just then, and realized my lips were slightly parted.