A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) (2 page)

“
Fine, how was
yours,
Emily
?” She
matched my tone.

“
Ugh, why did you pick
Emily? I spaced it in first period and everyone was staring at
me.”

“
You’ve had weeks to
prepare for this. You will be fine.”

“
When do I get to be
Charity again?” I whined. I knew I was being
unreasonable.

“
When everyone who knew
Charity is dead,” she said plainly.

“
I think they all are by
now,” I whispered as tears welled up in my eyes. The mood in the
room had suddenly changed.

“
Next time, I promise,”
Catherine soothed and then crossed the room to hold me in her arms
as I cried.

I sank to the floor. My legs had turned to
rubber and were unable to hold me up anymore. Catherine followed
and I rested my head in her lap. The frustration of change and the
memories I’d tried so hard to suppress consumed me. Visions of my
“original” life flashed before my eyes, but they were just
illusions. I tried not to think about the past. There was nothing I
could do to change it. I had the future in front of me and I needed
to make the best of it.

“
Sorry, Catherine, I don’t
know why I do that so often.” I stumbled over the words as I tried
to force myself to stop crying.

“
It’s okay dear,” she
soothed. “I picked out a location for the boutique today. It’s
right on Colorado Ave., the main drag, same as the high school. You
can meet me there tomorrow after school to help me remodel and
redecorate. We need to paint right away.” Catherine changed the
subject and tried to brighten the mood. She was the perfect aunt,
mother, and friend.

“
I’ll be there,” I promised
Catherine and then excused myself to my suite of rooms. I needed to
lie down and watch a movie, an action picture. My three favorite
genres were romance, action, and sci-fi. I absolutely hated horror.
I could never stand to watch as people were sadistically injured
and killed. Tonight it was fast paced, mind blowing action that I
needed.

I did my homework while the movie played on
my extra large, wall mounted, flat screen. The surround sound made
me feel as if I were in the room, with the hostages, in the bank,
as the bomb exploded. I jumped, startled by the debris flying
toward me on the screen. I could never seem to get over how much
things had changed since I was a little girl. Everything was
bigger, brighter, and louder now. Except computers, they got
smaller as the years passed. I loved it all... hi-def DVDs, MP3
players, laptop computers, cell phones. I’m a technology junky.

I fell asleep sometime after two a.m. - once
I had watched the requisite number of car chases, fight sequences,
and explosions to push my memories back into the corners of my
mind, where I needed them to stay. I woke early and went downstairs
for a cup of the coffee I could already smell brewing in the
kitchen.

“
Morning, James, or should
I say Jason,” I yawned as I poured myself a large mug of coffee,
then added tons of vanilla creamer. I guess it was coffee flavored
vanilla creamer at that point, but that’s the way I like
it.

“
Morning, Emily,” James
smiled at me. “It’s not such a bad name. You’ll get used to it
soon, you always do, and you know you can always call me James at
home.”

“
I know. How was your first
day at the medical center?”

“
Good, I met Summer Paxton.
She came in after school to pay a quick visit to her mom. She told
me that you guys will be seeing a lot of each other. Really small
school... Sorry, that is the one thing I seriously overlooked.
Guess we all should have known though, looking at the size of the
town.”

“
It
is
less than one square mile,” I
mused. “Summer seemed really nice, for a teenager. When is my
birthday again? I hate being seventeen.” I grabbed my purse to
answer my own question and fished out the well paid for driver’s
license. “February tenth,” I sighed. “I guess I can live with that.
It’s only four months away. What’s your plan for today?” I asked
James, trying to lighten my voice, willing myself into a good
mood.

“
Same as yesterday. I’m
still getting to know my way around the center, and the urgent care
facilities. They tell me that business really starts picking up
once ski season hits and the populations of the town skyrockets. So
until that time, I plan on taking it easy and just enjoy spending
time with my two best girls. There are so many trails for hiking
and ranches with horses for horseback riding. There’s a lake nearby
that is supposed to be just breathtaking. We need to do some
exploring.”

He really looked handsome when his face lit
up that way. His jet black hair fell into his eyes as he studied a
trail map on the kitchen counter. He loved the outdoors which is
another reason he and Catherine were so well suited. She always
seemed drawn to water and could spend hours exploring her
surroundings. When she wasn’t doing that, she was busy
creating.

Catherine designed clothes and was happiest
when she had a boutique to showcase her work. I planned to arrive
at the boutique promptly when school ended, so I could help her get
it ready to open. I owed them that much. I don’t know where I would
be without the love and support of these two people, who had once
rescued me when I was alone and broken. They took me in and became
the family that I needed. They mended my spirit and were a constant
source of strength.

“
Why do you keep working,
James?” I asked. “We have more than enough money. You could stop
anytime you want. We could just live like the super rich and travel
the world. If we moved every few months no one would ever suspect
anything about us. It might be safer.”

The question had popped into my head so many
times over the years.

“
Catherine and I tried to
be nomads, before you joined the family, but neither of us found
happiness in that lifestyle. A person needs a place to call home.
At least I do. As far as work goes, I like helping people. Being a
doctor is all I have ever wanted in life since the age of twelve. I
am not completely happy unless I am doing it. Plus I think that one
of the reasons I am on this earth is to use my skills to heal.
Catherine creates, I heal... you have a purpose too, we all
do.”

“
I guess I understand. Have
a good day, James. I’m going to get ready for school now. Thanks
for the pep-talk. I’ll be fine. Love you,” I called back over my
shoulder as I ran upstairs to prepare myself for another day of
high school.

“
Love you too, Charity. Be
safe, nothing dangerous today,” he warned as I walked into my
room.

Ha, safe... he knew me too well. When I was
alone, out on my own, I took risks I shouldn’t. There were a lot of
trails to get lost in out here. I was looking forward to it.

I drove to school with the radio cranked up
as loud as my ears could stand it. I sang along to one of my
favorite Nine Inch Nails songs. Another day, another town, another
high school... but every day was the same. I stayed in the driver’s
seat after I parked and waited for the song to end. When I finally
forced myself to exit the vehicle, I immediately spotted Summer.
She was standing in the parking lot with a blonde girl and two
guys.

“
Hi, Summer,” I called out,
greeting my new friend.

“
Hi, Emily!” Summer waved
me over. “This is Rusty, Burke, and Delilah.” Summer introduced her
three friends, when I reached her side.

I recognized each of them from several
classes yesterday. Summer was holding hands with Rusty, a tall,
lanky guy with a shock of unruly red hair. He had that free
spirited skater look that was so popular. Delilah, a head shorter
than Summer, was a petite version of a runway model. Her long
blonde hair was styled to perfection, expertly applied make-up, and
a funky outfit completed her look. She definitely stood out in this
crowd. Burke was the muscular athletic type, a typical high school
jock. I’d seen him a hundred times before. He looked sincere
though, not the usual smug face I was used to seeing on a jock.
From the way he kept looking at Delilah it was obvious he was
completely smitten with her. She wasn’t quite as taken with him it
seemed.

“
Hi, guys, it’s good to
meet you,” I greeted them nervously. I wasn’t used to the friendly
small town thing. I usually tried to disappear at a school. I was
pretty good at it too.

“
Emily’s uncle is the new
Doc over at the medical center. He works with my mom. I met him
yesterday,” she explained to the group. “I haven’t met your aunt
yet,” she turned to me.

“
Aunt Rachel is opening a
boutique, down the other end of Colorado Ave. I’m headed there
after school, to help with the set up of the shop. Lucky me,” I
told them.

“
You ski or board?” Burke
directed his question to me.

“
Neither, but I do want to
learn to ski.”

“
I’ll teach you. I’ve lived
here all my life and started skiing before I was three. It’s easy.
I prefer to snow board though. I’ll teach you that too,” he smiled,
happy to offer his services. “I already promised Dee I would teach
her when the time comes, you could join us,” Burke continued,
smiling at Delilah – aka Dee.

It sounded like he was trying to cinch the
instructor’s position with her by making it a group thing.

“
I’m Delilah. I moved here
last school year and just caught the end of ski season, but didn’t
get to try it,” Delilah explained.

“
Where did you move from?”
I asked her, grateful that I wasn’t the only new girl in
school.

“
LA, my parents were tired
of the big city thing. This is a really huge change for me. I’m
used to malls and clubs and beaches. Where did you live in Canada?”
she asked me, seemingly well informed of my back-story
already.

“
Oh, an incredibly small
town there too. So, this is not so different for me,” I lied
convincingly. I was awfully good at it. I’d had years of
practice.

“
I miss the sunny, sunny
days. I miss tanning at the beach. I fake bake here just for some
good overall color,” Delilah pouted, and any fool could see that
Burke was in love with this little fashion diva. He walked over and
put his arm around her tiny shoulders.

“
Yeah, not much of a
tanner, as you can all see,” I laughed at the sight of my pale skin
compared to Delilah’s bronzed version, or even Summer’s lightly sun
kissed tones.

“
Oh you look great,” Summer
chimed in, “the pale skin looks good with your dark hair and pale
blue eyes. You look a lot like your uncle, same hair, same skin
tone...”

“
Let’s get to class,” Rusty
broke in, clearly bored, and started walking, pulling Summer along
with him.

As soon as the bell rang, releasing me from
the confines of Telluride High School, I sauntered down the length
of Colorado Avenue, slowly making my way to the storefront
Catherine had rented for her boutique. This little town, surrounded
by mountains, has remained little touched by time. The cars and
trucks parked along the street were the only blaring evidence of
the true year.

If I squinted my eyes and pretended to see
everything in sepia tones, I could be viewing a photograph taken
over a hundred years ago. As I passed the New Sheridan Hotel, I
tried to picture it as it was on its opening day. The colorful
storefronts and many hand painted signs were a refreshing change
from the ultra modern world in which we all find ourselves.

My time-warp was broken by the sight of
Catherine, standing on the side walk just up-ahead, waving at me.
She was sporting a glorious grin, eager to show me the location.
She seemed to thrive on our new beginnings.

I worked with Catherine every day after
school. James joined us after he finished work. It was during our
first night of painting that we discovered the Chinese restaurant
across the street. I ran over at six o’clock and picked up some
take-out for our dinner. We were immediately hooked and it became a
nightly routine. The three of us would sit on the floor, for our
Chinese picnic dinner, and talk about our hopes for life in this
town. Side by side by side we painted, set up displays, and
generally worked our butts off until after midnight every night. It
was an absolute asset to us that we needed less sleep and could
push our bodies harder than the average person.

Seven days later
A Step in Time
opened its
doors.

chapter two

TIME FOR MAKE BELIEVE

“
What do you want to
be,
Charity?” Catherine
repeated her question. I had spaced her out the first time. She was
getting angry. I knew this because her original Scottish accent,
which was nearly unperceivable to most people, would thicken and
reappear whenever she was irritated.

I still couldn’t get over the fact that we’d
been in this town for just a few weeks and already I was getting
sucked into the “community.” There was a Halloween Parade down the
main drag on Saturday, in two days, and then a big Halloween Party
later that evening. All my new friends were pushing for my
attendance at both. James and Catherine were adding to the pressure
so I felt boxed in, forced to comply.

“
Oh, just give me one of
your dresses from the early eighteen hundreds, one of the ball
gowns. I’ll go as English royalty,” I huffed, not happy with the
situation. I wanted to stay at home and watch movies, like I always
did.