02 Seekers (2 page)

Laughing, I helped her up. “Have you gone crazy?”

“No. I’ve gone yoga! Sam bought me a book,” she said.

“That explains a lot,” I said.

Ellen was a fan of new hobbies and skills. I usually joined her in her new hobbies, but I had been distracted lately. I felt a pang of regret she was practicing without me, but was glad to see her so normal and Ellen-like, especially after the lockdown we had all been under while we – Daniel –

searched for answers.

“I was doing fine until you walked in!” She laughed as she dusted off her the remainder of her ruined dignity.

“Is standing on your head part of yoga?” I asked picking up the book she was referencing. I flipped through the pages curiously, seeing lots of positions I could never fold myself into.

“I skipped to the back,” she confessed.

“Sounds like you,” I said.

“Hey, Daniel.” Ellen said smiling warmly at him.

“Hello.”

“Are you here to stay for a while?” she asked.

Daniel had been staying with us off and on for the last month, to guard us from any Watchers that Marcus – the leader of the Seekers, and an all-around bad guy – might send. He was

relegated to the ground floor at night, not that he stayed ‘relegated’.

When he wasn’t staying with us, Jackson and Margaret were. I was tired of having bodyguards around all the time. Not that I minded Daniel’s company – he made me feel normal and his

banter kept me laughing. It was the idea of constant protection and limited freedom I didn’t like.

Jackson and Margaret didn’t help the feelings of wanting to be alone, though they were less restrictive of my movements. Making eye contact with Margaret was some sort of unspoken

challenge, ‘unspoken’ being the operative word. Getting her to speak was like asking a mime for directions…painful and not the best of ideas. I liked Jackson well enough, when he wasn’t

making fun of me – at least, he knew how to laugh. Too, he didn’t freak out when I went on runs; they both left me alone as long as I left them alone. But there was no denying their bodyguard status. They certainly weren’t staying for fun and made their dissatisfaction about their lack of privacy abundantly clear.

They came down the stairs as we spoke. Jackson’s blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail like normal, his square face illuminated by his usual mocking smile. He filled up the stairs, the sheer mass of his body urging the house to get out of his way to make room for him. He was the

biggest person I had ever met – also the most gentle. Margaret was another story. Though no taller than me, her glare could fell empires, make men weep, and cause a lightning bolt to hit you midstride. Her face was neutral, however, as she walked behind Jackson; it was her default mode. Her beautiful black hair, for whatever reason, was in braids today. It made her look younger and more innocent. I wasn’t deceived. It had to be a trick of some sort, a move to throw me off guard.

“Thanks for keeping an eye on Clare for me,” Daniel said sarcastically as Jackson reached the bottom stair.

“You’re welcome,” Jackson replied, choosing to ignore Daniel’s sarcasm.

“Are you done with your errand?” Margaret asked from behind Jackson.

“Yes.” Daniel turned to Ellen to answer her question. “I’ll be here. Beatrice only needed help for a couple of days.”

“Okay…Oh, I’m going on a date with Sam tonight,” Ellen said. “I don’t want to be followed, so don’t even think about it. I don’t care if Seekers attack us. I need some privacy or I will explode into tiny little atomic pieces.”

“All right. I’ve got my own date to go to,” Daniel said.

Ellen nodded then bent down to stand on her head again. I smiled at the sight and started up the stairs to shower off my run. Daniel pulled Margaret and Jackson into the kitchen as I walked up.

Their conversation was quiet, but the tension of it permeated the house. I assumed it was about my run and its lack of supervision.

When I was done with my shower, I went downstairs again. Margaret and Jackson were gone;

probably happy they didn’t have to hang around the house anymore. Ellen had finished her

attempt at yoga and was talking with Daniel in the kitchen. When they saw me, their

conversation trailed away. I could tell they had been talking about me, their words lingering in the hall, but Ellen switched her thoughts quickly. She smiled and put an arm around my waist, hugging me close.

She has that look on her face again. I wish I could take it away. It makes her look so sad,
her thoughts reached out and brushed mine quietly. “How about you cook me lunch?” she asked

cheerfully, masking her worry.

“That sounds fun,” I said dryly.

“It does for me.”

I laughed and started pulling out things for a grilled cheese sandwich.

“Alex is here,” Daniel said, moving to help me with the food.

“Good! She can help me pick out something to wear for tonight,” Ellen said.

“I don’t know if she’s going to feel like it,” Daniel said.

“Why?”

Before he could answer, the front door creaked open and tired feet drug along the wood floor in a very un-Alex way. Seconds later, Alex appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. Her normally happy face was etched with lines of sadness. Unlike Ellen, Alex worked hard to keep her

thoughts scrambled, so the reason behind her sadness was obscured. She was getting better, to the point where I couldn’t hear her unless she let me. Her sadness was obvious, though; no amount of thought scrambling could take away the expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Alex sighed and sat down at our round kitchen table. “I just broke up with Davis.”

Davis and Alex had only been dating for a month, but Alex really liked him. He was polite and quiet, and absolutely adored her. It was enough for any girl to want.

“Why?” Ellen asked.

Alex shrugged and looked down at the table. The tired lines grew more pronounced as she

started tracing invisible lines on the table with her finger.

“Alex…if you don’t tell us Ellen will ‘mom’ it out of you,” I said.

“I will,” Ellen agreed.

“Then I’ll ‘Clare’ it out of you,” I added.

“She will,” Ellen agreed again.

“How are you supposed to date someone when you can’t be honest with them?” Alex suddenly

asked the room in a fit of irritation. “I mean, how? How do you have a real relationship when you can’t tell the person you’re with that you have the ability to turn into a demon? How do you go about mentioning that without putting him at risk? How does that even work? I can’t be

honest with him…ever. It’s useless…Dating is useless.”

Daniel shifted uneasily next to me and turned to keep the bread from burning. He took the

spatula from me and flipped the sandwich. His flip was deft and graceful, but the movement was rushed, awkward, so unlike him. It was strange, but I kept my attention on Alex. Her problem was the more immediate one.

She shook her head in frustration as she continued speaking. “Davis is great, but I can’t lie anymore…he was upset about the breakup, too. I could see it.” Alex shut her blue eyes, eyes that were capable of seeing straight into the heart of a person’s motivation; eyes that saw more since I had given her my blood a month ago.

Not only had I given her the ability to change into a Nightstalker, but other talents were starting to develop. She wasn’t a Watcher like Daniel, but she wasn’t strictly human anymore. She was as much between worlds as I was. It was another thing I had placed on my ‘things to feel guilty about’ list.

“This is my fault,” I said.

Alex rolled her eyes. “God, if we have this conversation again, I’m going to scream.”

“That would be loud,” I said.

“Some things just aren’t meant to be,” Alex said. “End of story.” She turned to Ellen, her face purposefully transforming away from the sadness. “You and Dad are going to dinner tonight, right?”

“Yes…” Ellen agreed.

Alex grabbed Ellen’s hand and stood. I sensed an epic distraction in the making; one that would keep her mind away from her breakup. “Come on. Let’s find you something amazing to wear,”

she said to Ellen. Alex forced Ellen down the hall and up the stairs, their laughter and their conversation filling the house with sound.

Daniel turned off the stove and put three sandwiches on a plate. He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. I leaned next to him on the counter and mimicked his stance. Alex’s

breakup made me sad…I had loved seeing her in a normal relationship. It was proof that normal could exist in my world. As far ‘normal’ as normal ever really was…

“I guess I’d better take this up to them,” I said gesturing at the food, knowing Ellen would forget to eat if I didn’t take her food to her.

“I think I should shower,” he glanced down at his sweaty clothes.

Neither of us moved. Daniel stared at the floor, and I stared at the clock over the kitchen door.

We both remained lost in separate, serious thoughts for a long moment. Then, I closed the

distance between us and put a hand on his cheek. “I’m glad I don’t have to lie to you.” His eyes met mine, full of doubt. “I’m glad…I’m just glad,” I added.

You shouldn’t be.
He realized I could hear his thoughts through our shared touch and cut me out abruptly. To cover for his hasty block, he kissed me on the neck. He started to leave the kitchen to take his shower, another distraction to get away from me. He paused at the door, his back to me. “I promise to try my hardest to make sure you don’t regret feeling that way.”

He stepped down the hall and up my stairs without another word. I picked up the sandwiches and followed him up, hearing him start the shower, and went to Ellen’s room to help pick out a dress.

Alex was sprawled out on Ellen’s bed, her feet dangling over the edge. She was talking to Ellen as Ellen changed in her closet.

“Daniel and I were going to go to a movie tonight, but I’ll stay home instead,” I told Alex setting the food down on the nightstand.

“What for?” Alex asked, grabbing one of the sandwiches.

“‘Cause you just broke up with a guy you like, which has made you sad, which, in turn, makes me sad.”

Alex shook her head at my offer. “Thanks, but no thanks. It’s not like Davis is my first breakup or anything. My first breakup, now that was hard…Andy Henderson. He had the best smile too.

Man…you could swim in that smile. You could swim laps around that smile…laps and laps.”

“That’s a visual…” I stared at her, doubting she was as okay as she was trying to make me

believe. “We can watch one of your horrible reality TV shows and binge on Rocky Road.”

“Oh, you do know how to tempt a girl, but I’m fine. Honestly,” she said.

“Swear you’re not just being selfless,” I commanded, holding up the thumb I had cut to give her my blood; the blood that made us sisters.

She touched her thumb to mine. “I swear.”

“All right, but when I get back we’re going to talk about it,” I said.

“That sounds so ominous. Oh! I love that one, Ellen!”

Ellen stepped into the middle of the room and twirled around in a dark blue dress, the dress beautiful against her pale skin, and smiled. The room brightened with her smile and some of the negative emotions I had been harboring dropped away. Alex was right. It was perfect. I joined Alex on the bed and felt myself unwind as I joined in on their conversation. It was a feeling that couldn’t last.

Daniel and I got into the car in silence. His dark mood spoke a thousand times louder than any words ever could. He had been introverted since our conversation in the kitchen. ‘Introverted’

was a word Daniel didn’t know most days of the week.

“What’s wrong?” I asked over the music he had playing.

“What makes you think something is wrong?” he asked.

“You’re showing symptoms of keeping things from me. Minor symptoms include avoiding my

eyes. Major symptoms include trying to touch your nose with your eyebrows.”

His scowl faded, and he laughed. “Is there a cure?”

“Truth,” I said pointedly.

His answer was immediate. “I’ve been in contact with an old friend, who seems to think there’s a way of finding out what Marcus is planning, and why he has spent so many resources in tracking you down.”

“Shouldn’t that be a good thing?” I asked.

Daniel made a face and looked out at the sky.

“Is that what you were doing these past couple of days? Seeing your friend?” I tried again.

“Can we talk about it later?” he asked.

“Define ‘later’,” I said.

“Not now.”

“I can handle ‘not now’,” I said slowly.

“Me, too,” Daniel said.

“But it’s not the end of it,” I tacked on.

He smiled crookedly in response, knowing I wouldn’t give up.

We sped to the lonely interstate out of King’s Cross talking about other things then, things that felt real on the surface, but were starting to unravel the further we got from home. Around us, over the blue mountains of my home, dark clouds started to form, a summer storm barreling

towards us. I knew it would reach us soon.

Chapter 2

The movie Daniel took me to see was gory, horrible, and absolutely hysterical. I wiped away tears, which had leaked over from laughing so hard, as we walked out of the theater. Daniel smiled at my laughter, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. I could tell he was trying hard to act natural for my benefit. I wasn’t fooled. Even as he smiled at me and my laughter, I sensed the tension in his body.

Outside, rain poured down in great sheets of noise, the storm having released its furious power while we were inside. The sheets of water were so thick I couldn’t see two feet in front of me against the dark evening. The transition from the light we had walked into the theater in and the dark of the storm we had walked out to, made me feel as if we had went in during one life and had come out during another.

I was willing to run to the car with Daniel, not minding the rain, but he stopped me. “I’ll bring the car around. No sense in both of us getting wet.” He kissed my neck and ran out into the storm before I could argue.