Accordance (17 page)

“You said he touched you and then you saw visions and then he was feeling your heartbeat and he’s like a drug to you. That’s the gist of all this isn’t it?”

Crap, we were going to have to hash this out in front of Caleb’s family. I pulled him to the edge of the kitchen to have a little bit more privacy.

“The day Caleb touched my hand and I saw all those things, I was excited. Yes, a little freaked but excited more. I felt like...everything I ever needed was right there. I still feel like that. It’s not something you can just turn off and I wouldn’t want to. I
want
him more than I
need
him.”

“Maggie, being addicted to someone isn’t the same thing as real true, pure love,” he said softly like this was an intervention.

I shook my head and felt my breath leave me in a rush. Even Peter was thinking of saying something now, still being able to hear us from across the room. They all could. Dad was infringing on all our relationships at this point. I thought I saw a few energy ribbons bounce in the air by the window but when I looked there was nothing.

“Dad, you have no idea what you’re saying,” I said. “I’m going to get ready to go.”

I expected Caleb to follow me but he didn’t. I figured he wanted to either talk to my father or his but I didn’t care. I needed a shower and he couldn’t come with me anyway.

As I reached for the doorknob to the bathroom, Bish was coming out. He snorted and crossed his arms over his bare chest. The towel wrapped around his waist.

“No Caleb? This must be a record.”

“Shut up!” I yelled, suddenly furious and spent from the morning. “I am so tired of you lately. Why are you always on my case?”

Oh? She wants to fight, huh?

“Someone has to try to look after you, though I question the point now. It’s obvious you are so completely different than before and Caleb is just...I don’t know but whatever this is that you won’t tell me, I can handle it.” He braced his hands in the door frame and stood over me with a menacing sneer on his lips. “What can it be? It can’t be that bad if we’ve ruled out marriage and babies. I don’t get it and it does nothing but insult and piss me off that you feel the need to be petty and lord over me some secret that I’m not allowed to be privy to.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” I tried to go but he moved over a bit to block me.

Oh I think I do.

“
Answer me, Maggie. Just answer me already and stop this stupidity. I have racked my brain for answers; drugs, joining some cult, moving to China?” I stayed silent looking at the doorjamb behind him and he exploded with anger and cursed loudly, his voice booming. “This is ridiculous! I’m just gonna leave and go home. There’s no point in my being here. You don’t want me here and I don’t want to be either. I can’t stand liars and manipulators. You’ve become a master of both.”

His words cut and I couldn’t say anything in response, not that he gave me time to. He stomped off and slammed his door behind him making me jump. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and didn’t wait to see who had come to witness the show.

I went in the bathroom, still steamy and hot from Bish’s shower. I wasted no time. I pulled Caleb’s hoodie and clothes off me and stepped into the huge shower in one of the guest rooms. I let the water be hot, as hot as I could stand it, as I quickly washed my hair and shaved my legs. Then I sat against the wall, closed my eyes and just cried. So many things going on and I didn’t have a straight forward answer nor a response to any of them. It seemed that this Visionary thing just sort of winged it. I had no prior idea or knowledge until I got a feeling and then just went with it. It was annoying.

I took a deep calming breath to slow my heart so Caleb wouldn’t come but it didn’t help at all.

And Dad, what had all that crap been about? Now he was back to resenting Caleb and feeling sorry for me again? And Kyle with his stupid fling and making moves on me, thinking that was somehow going to help things. Bish was a jerk, nothing else to say about him.

I felt the pressure for all these things....an uncontrollable sob was so close to breaking loose...

Then the shower stall suddenly started to rattle. I looked around and the water got even hotter it felt like, but I didn’t touch the knob. It was scalding my skin but wasn’t actually hurting me and the fog swirled. I could see a faint haze of energy ribbons starting to shimmer and dance. I wondered what was wrong but felt all the breath leave my chest as the mirror above the sink shattered, blowing glass all around the floor, tinkling on the tile.

I shook, my heart pounding through my chest, wondering what was happening. Then I heard loud quick banging and I realized that the cabinet doors were rattling. The shower stall door shook so hard it was a miracle it stayed on the hinges.

“Maggie?” Caleb asked through the door. He then banged his fist. “Maggie, open the door!”

I was so scared I could only stare at the door, afraid to move. There was nothing I could do. The more scared I got, the more noise everything seemed to make, the rattling and shaking louder and vibrating the air. The energy ribbons were blinding and writhing all around me until they hummed so loud, my ears hurt. I covered them with my hands and squeezed my eyes shut.

“Maggie!” Caleb yelled and banged again, jarring the door. “Open the door, baby.”

I could hear other voices and thoughts outside with him; Peter, Bish and Dad. They heard Caleb’s banging and now wondered what was going on.

“Maggie!” Caleb boomed. “I’m coming in.”

Their worry, my fear, Caleb’s frantic need to reach me, it just was too much for whatever was happening to me.

The glass shower door shattered around me. I screamed as the glass pelted me and that was all it took for Caleb. He busted the door down with his shoulder. I felt the stinging pain in my shoulder from his pain, his eyes wide at what he saw; me sitting naked, my knees drawn up, on the shower floor with glass and blood around me.

“Maggie,” he breathed and ran to duck in front of me. He pulled me to him and covered me with his arms as I sat on his lap. “Maggie.”

Talk to me, baby.

“Get out,” I heard Dad say as he reached over and turned the water off, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from the bloody glass shards on the floor. “Bish, get out, now! She’s ok.”

“She is not ok!” Bish yelled back. “What the hell is going on here, Dad? What happened? Did she do this? How could she break the door like that?”

“Go, Bish.”

“I’ll call 911.”

“No, don’t, just go, I’ll be there in a minute.”

I heard him grumbling and shuffling. I heard the hard bang of fist on wood as he made his way out.

I saw my dad over Caleb’s shoulder. He handed Caleb a towel and then knelt beside us as Caleb covered me with it.

“Maggie, what happened?” Dad asked insistently, his eyes wide and searching.

Maggie. Look at me, baby.

I tore my eyes slowly from the mess in front of me and looked up to Caleb’s blue worry sick eyes.

“Are you ok?” he asked softly and I noticed how Caleb hadn’t asked me what happened, he was concerned about me first.

I looked down at myself and opened my mouth to speak but no words came. I looked at him at a total loss and then felt him focus and the scrapes on my arms and legs started to burn and fade away to my normal smooth skin. I heard Dad’s swift intake of breath and mutter behind us.

“God, help us.”

“I don’t know what happened,” I croaked and wrapped Caleb’s t-shirt front in my fingers. “Caleb,” I rasped and took a deep shuddering breath.

“Shh,” he murmured in my hair and tightened his arms around me. “Shh now, I’ve got you.”

Caleb’s questions were floating around in his mind, but more than anything else, he was upset. Seeing me with blood all over me had done something to him and he was shaken.

I heard Peter come in behind us and he was baffled as well.

“Maggie, are you alright? I checked the house and no one was here.”

“It wasn’t someone else,” I answered softly. “It was...me. I don’t know what happened. I was just so upset…”

I pressed my forehead to Caleb’s and decided to show him everything that had happened instead of trying to form words with my trembling lips. I felt the energy humming around us. The vision started with us on the beach for some reason, me on his lap and then Kyle and Amber, then coming inside and the whole bit with Dad, the hall with Bish as he berated me in the doorway and finally the shower scene. I couldn’t even blush or be embarrassed as he saw me take my clothes off and get in and shave. Then the weirdness started and he burst through the door.

Caleb pulled back and sighed as he looked at me with sincere concern. He looked me over, pulling my arms up and then examining my legs for any more cuts. Then he looked back to my face.

“I think it was you. Just like the moving things and telepathy stuff, they were tied to your emotions too. It was just too much, all at once.”

“Telepathy?” Dad mumbled under his breath.

“I think so too,” I said. “I’m so sorry,” I cried and felt the tears burning my cold face. “I didn’t mean to.”

“No, no, no,” Caleb crooned and pushed my hair back from my face. “Don’t you dare.”

“What about the door and the mirror?”

“That’s just stuff, Maggie. Don’t you worry about any of that,” Peter assured. I felt so embarrassed that I was naked, had busted up the bathroom and everyone was just standing around.

I heard Peter picking up pieces of glass behind Caleb and the metallic clinking of it hitting the bottom of the trash can.
“What’s going on?” Dad asked.

“Jim, I think we should leave them alone for a minute,” Peter suggested, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Maggie, are you ok?” Dad asked ignoring Peter.

“I’m fine. Please just go so I can get up and get dressed,” I asked and he grimaced looking at Caleb.

Aha, right, no clothes and Caleb is gonna help her naked self get dressed, huh?

“Dad,” I protested with tightly shut eyes,
“Please.”

He huffed in defeat and took off down the hall.

“I’ll get Rachel and Jen, we’ll get Bish and Jim out of the house,” Peter suggested.

“Good idea, thanks, Dad,” Caleb said, his eyes fixed to mine.

“Take care of her, Caleb.”

“Dad,” he looked at him over his shoulder, “I know, ok? I’ve got her.”

“I know, son.” He put his hand on Caleb’s shoulder and then turned to walk away.

Caleb lifted me immediately in his arms with the towel still wrapped around me, and carried me to the guest room with my stuff in it. He set me on the bed after kicking the door closed and knelt in front of me. He secured the towel around me and continued to look at me closely.

“I’m fine,” I said finally, hearing his thoughtful concerns in his mind, “really.”

“I know you are. You’re strong enough to handle anything but I hate that this is happening to you. How am I supposed to protect you from something that’s in you? Or something that’s happening to you?”

“You are protecting me right now. This is what I need. You.”

“You know it’s not the same thing,” he said softly.

“It is to me.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close to me, between my knees. His arms were warm and soothing around my skin as he pulled me close, crushing me to him as I breathed in the familiar smell of his neck. I felt his calm invading me and I sighed in respite.

“You are still surprising me,” he said into my hair. He pulled back to look at me. “You’re still amazing.” He placed a warm hand on my cheek. “We’ll figure this thing out. It’s just like everything else we’ve been through. We’ll do it together. I’ll always be here.”

“I’m scared,” I whispered my admission and felt him wipe a tear from under my eye with his thumb.

“I’m not. I know that we’ll be fine. You are my life and I won’t let anything happen to you.” This reminded me of the extra sensitive protective barrier in his mind. I asked him the silent question. “It’s just something my dad said. He thinks the council might try to take you from me. Hide you away somewhere for your protection, because you’re so important.”

“But...they can’t do that-” I said in a panic but he covered my lips with a finger as he leaned in close.

“No, they can’t because I won’t let them. I’d have to be dead first before I let them take you from me.”

“Caleb, don’t say stuff like that,” I groaned.
“It’s true. I will never let them, you’re mine. I didn’t say anything to you because you already had so much going on, but you don’t have to worry.”