The Watchers (24 page)

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.

His lopsided grin was sarcastic. He plopped
down next to me with casual indifference to the furniture and
surveyed the view. “I’m mad at you,” he said.

“I figured.”

“Want to know why? Or do you care?”

His implication hurt.

“I know why,” I said tartly. “Whatever
attacked Susan found us. There was this darkness…and something was
inside it.”

He grabbed me again and double checked for
injuries. “You saw it? Did it hurt you?”

“No. Why were you out there?” I asked as he
released me again. If I hadn’t of known better, I would have
thought he kept trying to find reasons to touch me.

“The same reason Susan was. To find what
attacked Ryan. We got hints of it last night near…after you were
attacked…Um, we encountered it in the woods when you saved Susan,
but I didn’t think…I thought you just got lucky.”

“You ran into it?” I asked, remembering the
ripping sound and the yell.

“Let’s just say it won’t be a problem
anymore.”

I shied away from the darkness of his tone.
Did he mean what I thought he meant? “What was it? Why was it so
dangerous?”

He stretched his long legs out, placing his
feet on the coffee table. He settled deeper into the sofa, his mind
working through an explanation. He bent his head to his chest as he
thought.

“I can’t start in the middle. Everything will
get muddled. We never got to have our talk this morning so…”

“Yeah, cause you didn’t show up,” I pointed
out.

“Which I explained,” he replied. “I was out
stopping a murderer before it killed again.”

“Fine. Start at the beginning,” I said
putting my feet on the coffee table as well.

“What do you know? How much did Ellen tell
you?”

“She told me my father was a fallen angel…it
sounds weird when I say it out loud. She told me the others like
us, other half-angels, were out to get me because of some war. Each
side hunts for recruits for that war…if you don’t get recruited,
you die. It’s why we move so much.”

“Wow. So you’re saying you know nothing?”

“I know the first pop video was ‘Bohemian
Rhapsody’ by Queen,” I said tartly.

He chuckled. “I mean about you, us. What do
you know about our world?”

“I know at seventeen we change from human to
angel. We become wild and crazy with the desire to kill,” I said
softly. “Ellen said my father was very clear on that point.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” he disagreed.
“We have a hard time controlling our lust for death, but we do
manage to suppress the feeling. Like with the joining, we have a
choice.” His face was a strange contradiction of honesty and
doubt.

“How do you control it?” I asked
skeptically.

“With practice. You’ve noticed my eyes change
color.” It wasn’t a question. He knew I had noticed. “You learn to
control the anger that is the…gateway into the murderous urges. You
learn to hold it at bay.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said. “If we can
control our anger, we can stop the killing?”

“Yes…You don’t want to make me angry,
though.”

“Oh, no. Really? That’s was horrible. I get
that you like the comics…but…Worst. Impression. Ever.”

He was smiling. “I try.”

I eyed him carefully. “Seriously…if we find
the strength to control our anger, we don’t lose control and go on
murdering rampages, destroying whole towns and chomping up
babies?”

“Yes.”

I let out an explosive breath at his words.
He looked at me, understanding the feelings running through my
body. His eyes still held doubt, however. Control must be harder
than I was imagining.

“Go on with the story,” I said. “I’m
fine.”

The fear I would turn into a crazy killer had
been haunting me since Ellen had told me the truth. It had followed
me as much as the danger of being found. His eyes lingered on mine
in concern as he started again. “So, the beginning…We’ve been
called lots of things, but most refer to themselves as ‘Watchers’.
Sort of a misnomer...but it stuck. The war Ellen mentioned is very,
very, real. Two brothers, Lorian and Darian, are fighting for
power. They want control of all our kind…they simply want the
humans dead. There is a legend that the brother who wins this
ridiculous war will have more power than any other Watcher before
him. They have been fighting for a very long time; longer than most
can remember. They call it a ‘civilized war,’ but honestly, I’ve
never seen a war more brutal and bloody. The brothers don’t care
who dies. They just want to win…

A long time ago, a man saw a way to make a
lot of money off of the war. His business was human
trafficking…Watcher trafficking, really. He started a guild he
calls ‘Seekers.’ Their whole purpose is to hunt down people like
you and me and turn us over to the brothers for profit. They have
no allegiance beyond money. Those three, the brothers and the
Seeker’s master, have killed thousands, maybe millions, of
Watchers. It is a threat we must constantly be aware of. It is a
threat that does not go away no matter how far you are from
civilization…”

“And what was that darkness in the woods?” I
asked sensing a double meaning in his words.

“A Nightstalker,” he replied.

“Yeah…‘cause if you say it in that tone of
voice I automatically know what you’re talking about…” I said
irritably.

“It’s easier if I show you.”

He held his hand out. I hesitated, not
wanting to be overwhelmed again so soon after our first shared
vision. He urged me with his eyes to touch him, asking that I trust
him. Our fingers met, and I felt overwhelming pressure similar to
Margaret’s mind. He kept the pressure contained, however, not
trying to crush me as she had. I saw flickering faces and places
rush past in a dark wave.

“What was that?” I asked as the visions
died.

“Nothing…Possibilities…Watch.” A scene
appeared in my mind.

I saw a dark, rain-drenched street. Two
lonely figures walked down the street, gas street lights fluttering
in the cold wind. I looked down at the figures from my perch high
up on one of the many buildings surrounding us. Then, I looked to
the left, and saw another figure on top of a building, one the two
people had not noticed. It looked like a dog, but a dog pulled from
a person’s worse nightmares. Its ears were pointed like a dog’s and
its eyes, which were a malevolent red, were framed by a mass of
scales. Its massive body was thick with those same black scales.
Large claws gripped the roof. The creature resembled an old
gargoyle as it perched on its shadowy ledge.

Sniffing deeply, it caught the scent of the
people. Its dreadful eyes lit up with happy expectation. That was
enough for Daniel. I felt a downward movement in the memory as
Daniel jumped from his perch to intercept the creature before it
attacked the people. The memory cut off, and I knew he didn’t want
me to see what had happened next.

“Hell!” I said.

“Yes,” he agreed.

“That demon…dog…thing was what was in the
darkness?” I asked, my voice squeaking in fright.

“Yes. See why I’m mad?”

“Yes,” I said. “But why was the demon
Nightstalker thing I saw surrounded by darkness? Is that something
all Nightstalkers can do?”

“It’s his power,” he said.

“Power?” I asked.

“All Watchers have a power, sometimes more
than one. It happens with the change. I can see the future, for
instance. Not very well I’m afraid, but well enough.”

I ignored his strange admission. I was too
caught in the meaning of his words. I popped off the sofa. “That
thing was like us!”

“I said you have a choice. Some choose to
cave into the monster and kill. That’s the result.”

“We change into that?”

“If we kill too often and start liking it,”
he replied. “It’s a curse no one really understands…but it’s there
all the same.”

“Right. No killing then,” I said
sarcastically. “Let me get this straight. If I can survive the
Nightstalkers and Seekers, and the war, I still have to deal with
losing control and turning into a demon?”

“Excellent nut-shelling.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Not really. You were almost killed today,”
he said. “Nothing about that is easy.”

“But you killed the Nightstalker first?” I
asked to clarify.

“Yes.”

“I thought that was bad?”

His hands clenched. As they did, I remembered
something from the first vision we had shared. The vision of him
turning into a Nightstalker.

“It’s not going to happen to you,” I said
trying to clear the image away. “I won’t let it happen.”

This was the purpose I had been searching
for. It was suddenly obvious.

He kept his eyes on the view beyond the house
and didn’t reply. I tentatively reached out and took his slender
hand, lacing my fingers around his. He looked down at our joined
hands then back at me. His eyes were still sad, but he smiled.
“Does this mean you like me?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Liar.”

“I never lie,” I said.

“Sure you don’t…” The smile faded. “I need
you to tell me more about what happened in the woods. I have to
understand. How did you get away from the Nightstalker?”

“I was hiking back with Susan when I saw it
come out of the woods.” I touched the diamond at my neck. “Then
this started to glow and that thing acted afraid, like it didn’t
want to come any closer. I ran with Susan while it was
distracted.”

Daniel picked up the diamond with his free
hand and looked at it carefully. “This isn’t a diamond. Well, it is
a diamond, but it’s more. It’s the tear of an angel. If I’m right,
it’s your father’s.”

“My father’s?”

He nodded. I looked down at the necklace at a
loss. This had been my father’s tear? Had Ellen known when she had
given to me?

“I thought these were a myth,” Daniel
said.

“Is it an anti-Nightstalker weapon?” I asked
pushing aside all my other questions.

“I honestly don’t know what it does,” he
said. “I don’t know everything.”

“Do you know why the Nightstalker was hanging
around?” I asked. “Why it killed Ryan Holt…or even if it killed
Ryan?”

“I have a theory.”

“Care to share?”

“Well…Nightstalkers can belong to Seekers. I
think Ryan saw something or overheard something he wasn’t supposed
to, and he got killed for it. Nightstalkers prefer cities, because
people are less likely to notice disappearances there. Having
Seekers in the area, who are controlling the Nightstalkers, makes
sense.”

“Seekers are here?”

“I think so,” he replied.

“Why?” He didn’t reply. He didn’t need to.
His face said it all. “Oh. Me.”

“They won’t mess with us, though,” Daniel
said. “They fear our powers, and last time we had a run in, it got
messy. They leave us alone as long as we leave them alone.”

I knew what I had to do. “I should go. Ellen
and I should go.”

“I can’t stop you, of course, but I don’t
think that’s a good idea. They would just follow you. They are
serious about money, and you mean money to them.” His fingers
tightened on mine. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.
Or Ellen.”

He was keeping his thoughts behind a cloud of
darkness, but a vision of him protecting me forever rose in front
of my eyes. My eyes lingered on his lips as the thought caressed my
brain. I hadn’t gotten to enjoy our other kisses, not the way a
kiss should be enjoyed. We were very close; a couple of inches more
and our lips would meet. He started to lean forward.

“Get your feet off my coffee table! Really,
Daniel! You know better!” Beatrice barked from the hallway.

I hurried to take my feet off her table.
Daniel did the same, our moment lost. “Sorry,” he said.

Beatrice gave him a mom-look then took a pile
of papers off the dinner table. She disappeared back upstairs with
a glare at her son.

“She’s very serious about her furniture.”

I laughed and looked out the window. Then I
frowned. Why was the sun going down? Hadn’t I passed out sometime
around ten or eleven this morning? I released Daniel’s hand and
jumped off the sofa again. I started searching for my keys in
frazzled anxiety. “Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!”

“What?!” he exclaimed, trying hard not to
laugh at the look on my face.

“I promised to pick Ellen up after work. I
borrowed her car and….”

“Taken care of. I called her after I found
you and er…did a little bit of lying.”

I looked at him suspiciously. “What did you
say?”

“Well, I told her who I was – she seemed
excited to talk to me – and that I wanted to take you out to dinner
tonight. I told her I ran into you in the woods while you were
hiking, that we had both been searching for the missing Ranger. I
also told her I would have Jackson bring her car over if she agreed
to the date. She seemed willing to agree. Very willing.” His face
melted into a grin. “Did you talk to her about me?”

I ignored his question. “So, she’s okay? And
she didn’t have to worry about me passing out or getting attacked
by Cujo?”

“Nope.”

I bent down and hugged him. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.”

“What time does Ellen expect me back?” I
asked.

“Not a minute after ten o’clock. You have
school tomorrow.”

I settled into the cushioned seats again and
threw a leg over his lap, suddenly feeling completely at ease with
touching him. “You got any zombie movies?” I asked picking up the
remote to the television. He tried to take it from me, but I
slapped his hand away.

He laughed. “Tons.”

He gently pushed my leg aside, got up, and
started digging though the large entertainment center. I smiled
over at him. I hadn’t gotten all my questions answered, but at
least I had gotten some…even if they were disturbing. I would worry
about the other answers later. What mattered now was that we were
together, not as Watchers, or kids with a terrible secret, but as a
boy and a girl totally crazy about one another.