A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) (15 page)

“
The plus side is, he’s
heading in the wrong direction,” Catherine uttered. A small,
hopeful smile played on her lips.

“
Well we are not leaving.
We are not running this time. We will continue to live life as
normal. We’ve made some good connections here. People like us, they
trust us. We’ll be informed if somebody starts poking around into
our business. Then, and only then, will we make a move,” James
spoke with strong determination.

“
Live life as normal,” I
repeated.

“
I go to the medical
center, Catherine goes to the shop, and you go to school,” James
continued. “Although immediate danger does not seem imminent,
precautions should be taken. I’m always partnered with another
health care worker, so there is little chance of the Lords trying
to confront me at work. Catherine, I think you should hire one or
two part time employees. You should never be alone in the shop.
Charity, please stay with your group at school. I don’t want you
wandering off or exploring on your own either.”

“
I will be with her... the
moment she steps off campus,” Link spoke up.

“
You don’t need to do that
Link. What if the hardware store doesn’t want to alter your
schedule?” I immediately responded. It seemed like such a trivial
thing to say.

“
I told you, I don’t
need
to work,” Link said
as he grasped my hands and held my eyes with his own resolute
stare. “I just do it because of Grandpa and his whole ‘productive
member of society’ thing. Right now I
need
to be with you. Your safety is
my priority.”

“
Thank you, Lincoln, we
appreciate your help. You have expressed your desire to remain with
Charity as long as she is willing. But you must be aware of what
you are entering into. This family always has a looming danger,
lurking just around the corner it seems. We do get some spans of
time to live in relative peace, but that peace will never last
forever. Please keep that in mind,” James gave Link his
warning.

“
I will, but it won’t
change my mind. I’m here to stay, as long as you all will have me,”
Link resolved.

“
Thank you, Lincoln,”
Catherine spoke softly, resting her head on James’s shoulder. “I’m
glad you are here for Charity.”

My eyes brimmed with tears that I refused to
let fall. I would remain strong – for James, for Catherine, and now
for Link as well. I had something new to worry about though, Link’s
well-being. “Thank you,” I whispered, and buried myself into his
willing embrace.

Now his safety was my priority.

There was one thing that we decided upon,
that was decidedly contrary to normal. Link needed to temporarily
move into the house. He would occupy one of the guest rooms. I
liked the thought of having him under the same roof. We belonged
together. I felt it in my bones. But I had promised Catherine I
wouldn’t rush into anything. I intended to keep that promise.

I drove him back to his apartment. He packed
up his clothes and essentials and returned within the hour. We
would do our best to keep this information as private as possible -
more lies – but at least I was very good at telling them.

Link and I watched movies in my room until
his eyelids started to droop, heavy with the need for sleep.

“
Come on sleepy head.” I
nudged him. “I’ll walk you to your room,” I smiled.

“
I’m fine,” he
protested.

“
You are falling asleep –
on my bed,” I reminded him.

“
Is that so bad,” he
grinned and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on my
lips.

“
No, it’s not so bad,” I
smiled, kissing him back, “but it
is
time for you to go to your room,”
I commanded, pulling my face away from his. To emphasize my point,
I jumped off the bed, seized his hand, and led him down the hall to
the guest room.

“
What... should... we...
do... tomorrow?” Link breathed into the nape of my neck, a heated
kiss marking the end of each word.

It was becoming harder to concentrate. The
words in my head could not find their way down to my mouth.

“
Mmmm that feels good,” I
whispered. “tomorrow...,” I let the word dangle, lost in the
feeling of his warm lips on my skin. I stepped back and shook my
head. “I have an idea and I’ll tell you in the morning. Sleep
well,” I murmured as I backed away from him, returning to my
room.

I barely slept that night, it was almost
impossible to. Link was merely a few feet away from me.

I was waiting in the kitchen, in my usual
morning gear of pajama pants and a tank top, when he woke-up and
came downstairs around six thirty in the morning.

“
I thought you’d never get
up,” I teased as he walked toward me. His outfit mirrored my own,
pajama pants and a white tank. “You look so cute,” I
smiled.

“
I could say the same to
you,” he flashed that brilliant smile and kissed my
forehead.

“
Eat,” I instructed,
placing a stack of pancakes in front of him. “Then we’ll meet James
and Catherine in the Game Room.”

“
The Game Room?” Link
questioned.

“
You’ll see... eat,” I
repeated.

As soon as Link placed the last syrup laden
bite into his mouth, I grabbed his arm and led him down a flight of
stairs to the Game Room.

“
The previous owners had a
bowling alley put in. We saw no use for one, so we had it converted
to this,” I said as I opened the door and spread my arms open
wide.

The heavy clang of metal hitting metal
immediately rang through the air. Link’s jaw hung open as he
watched Catherine and James sparring, swords in hand. His eyes
swept the room, taking in the open floor where they stood, the
target wall (with knives and throwing stars haphazardly protruding
from it), and lastly the shooting range.

“
This is a Game Room unlike
any other,” Link whistled.

James and Catherine stopped their match,
swords in mid-swing, as we entered the room.

“
James is an excellent
swordsman and Catherine is a willing partner. I, on the other hand,
tend to stay away from swords and lean toward daggers, stars, and
guns,” I explained.

“
I thought you said you had
a fear of knives, scalpels, whatever,” Link looked at me
incredulously.

“
Yeah, doesn’t make sense,
I know. I found out I have remarkable aim with a gun, any gun, so I
decided to try my hand at throwing daggers one day. Well, it proved
to be quite gratifying and that led to the throwing stars as well,”
I said, pointing to the wall of weapons.

Link remained still, thoughtful. His eyes
rested on a dummy, with daggers jutting out from various body
parts. I waited.

“
We may be Immortals, but
we have only the conventional means of protecting ourselves. Our
luxury is that we have had years to perfect our skills and our
senses tend to become more finely tuned as time passes. Practice
makes perfect,” James smiled.

“
So, the lesson for the day
is don’t mess with an Immortal,” Link gave an awkward
laugh.

“
No, the lesson for the day
is – teach Link how to use a weapon,” I corrected. “As a means of
protection only,” I quickly added.

“
If you are going to remain
with us, we need to know that you will be able to protect
yourself,” Catherine put in.

“
Okay, I’ll be the student.
What’s my first lesson?” He asked with a steady voice.

“
Guns or sharp objects?” I
presented his choices.

“
Sharp objects I guess,” he
answered, with forced nonchalance.

“
Goody! Let’s start with
the daggers,” I bubbled with excitement.

“
That’s kinda weird,” Link
said. “You are giddy... about daggers.”

“
Stand back and watch,” I
ordered.

I preferred to throw at a simple archery
target. Yellow was the central color followed by rings of red,
blue, black and white. I removed five daggers from the wall and
walked across the room, stopping about thirty feet from the target.
With five swift, consecutive movements I hurled the daggers toward
the target, aiming carefully. A low whistle escaped Link’s lips and
he walked over to the target, examining my work. The first dagger
had hit the yellow part of the target - dead center, the second in
the red ring, third in the blue ring, fourth in the black ring, and
fifth in the white ring. All five daggers made a perfect horizontal
line across the target.

“
Impressive,” was all he
could utter.

“
I’ve got powers,” I
smiled.

“
Awesome powers,” Link
smiled back. “Teach me.”

We spent hours in the game room. First - an
education on the types of daggers, swords, and knives that we
preferred to use. Next - practical application - which instrument
was best in a particular situation. I preferred the “boot dagger”
in most situations. James was partial to a sword or a cutlass,
being well trained in both. Catherine held no preferences, she was
devastatingly good at everything.

Finally - I handed the knives to Link. I
showed him how I held the dagger, where I placed my thumb and
fingers. I tried to explain the flick of my wrist, but told him it
may be different for him. He flung the first one, hitting the
target at seven o’clock in the black ring.

“
Not bad, for a first try.
Keep practicing,” I encouraged.

“
I keep thinking it will be
like throwing a dart, but it’s completely different. I have to
approach it with a unique mind set,” he sounded
frustrated.

“
Practice, Link,” James
said. “Later, after lunch, I’ll show you the basics of sword
fighting.”

“
Do you think swords are
really necessary?” Link asked.

“
It takes a good sized
blade to remove a person’s head. Swords are necessary,” James
answered.

“
You know, last night you
said we should all just act normal. This is decidedly
not
normal,” Link
concluded, and then threw another dagger.

The following week of school was harder to
get through than I thought it would be. It was finals week and I
was in no mood to study. Math was the only subject that I really
needed to review, everything else would unlock from the recesses of
my memory as soon as I read the test question. But math, never
seemed to come out on its own. It required hours of cramming
information into my brain. Link proved to be a skilled study
partner. He quizzed me on formulas and gave me sample problems to
solve. Math was his favorite subject in school, he said.
Masochist.

Summer and Delilah were desperately trying
to find out what was going on with me and Link. The fact that he
was waiting on Colorado Ave., every day after school, just added
fuel to their fire. During every spare minute of school time they
were grilling me with questions. “Why is he there every day?” “Is
he even working anymore?” “What is going on with you two?” “Are you
in love?”

I answered the last one with complete
honesty. “Yes,” I said to Summer and Delilah. “I think I am.”

“
Wow, Emily, that’s so
cool,” they chorused.

“
It’s like he was put on
this earth just for me,” I added, giving away more information than
I was used to.

“
That’s really intense,”
Summer responded. “I don’t think I could say the same about Rusty.
I mean – I love him – I do. But to say he was made just for me,
that’s really saying a lot. I’m happy for you though.”

“
Oh, me too,” said Delilah.
“I think I’ve got Burke convinced to apply to colleges in
California with me. I really want to go back to living by the beach
and Burke keeps saying he can’t live without me. How sweet is
that!” Delilah gushed.

“
That’s great Delilah. I
hope you find a school you can both attend,” I encouraged. Burke
would likely cross an ocean just to be by her side.

On Friday, our last day of school before
Christmas Break, I gave them each a silken jewelry bag that
Catherine had sewn for me. Inside the bags I had placed the leather
bracelets. They loved them, especially after I explained how I had
found them in an antique shop in Montrose, on a shopping trip with
Link.

They gave me a sparkly red box tied up with
a big gold bow. Snuggled inside the box was a little silver, heart
locket. I opened the locket to find a picture of me on one side and
Link on the other. I stared at the pictures, wondering when they
were taken, and then remembered our first ski day. Burke had pulled
out his cell phone at lunch and had snapped a few pictures – then
handed his phone to me so I could take one of him and Delilah. The
sight of my smiling face almost startled me. I had become unused to
seeing candid shots of myself. My posed, fake name, identification
pictures (that were later deleted from whatever system they were
in) were all that had existed for many, many years.

My eyes misted over. “Thanks guys,” I
sniffled, “This is really great of you. I love it.”

“
See,” Delilah said, taking
the locket from my hand. “When you close the locket your faces are
touching each other. You are kissing - forever!” she squealed,
opening and closing the heart for emphasis.