Beyond (28 page)

It was a picture of a guy and…her. She was looking straight at the camera, but his eyes were beaming with devotion as they lay loving ly on her. She wasn ’
t absolutely sure, but the guy looked like Michael. It had to be him. He had the same soulful eyes, the dark hair. She closed her eyes and retraced his thick brows, strong cheekbones, and soft as a rose petal skin in her mind like when she had done it with out his permission.
Heat rushed through her veins from the mere thought of him. Bu t how?
They were not allowed to have relationship s in that way .

Claudia unclipped the trinket and placed it in the pocket of her jeans. Just then she had another flash back , a quick snip p e t of her giving the trinket to someone. It faded as quick ly as it came and she couldn ’
t hold onto it .

Since
s he found a picture of herself, then this back pack was hers.
T
hat mean t this room was hers. If this was her room, then she had lived in this house, but with whom? She grew dizzy and felt like her stomach was filled with acid. Claudia cuddled her face into the palm s of her hands , trying to calm herself.
She didn ’
t know if she was angry , scared or enlightened. Pa nting, she t ried to control the deep gasps that squeezed her heart so tight ly , she thought it would burst , and at the same time she wanted to vomit .

She looked up and gazed around, looking for something to help her remember.
Feeling l ike a th ief , she rampantly rummaged through the drawers and closet, desperately l ooking for something—anything. After searching through the books and everything on the desk, she still found nothing and sighed disappointedly. Wearily she rested her head on the computer and closed her eyes.

The computer!
If they were going to hide any evidence of her past, they would hide the material things that c ould be easily seen, but angels were not good with technology, she ’d observed. Anxiously, she pushed in the button to power the computer on , sat down, drummed her fingers on the desk , and shook her legs as if the computer could sense her urgency.
Come on. Come on.

The computer ran its course and then wanted a password.
Oh crap!
Claudia thought for a second and typed her own name. It only made sense, she guessed.

Denied.

Hmmm…
she typed Gamma.

Denied.

She knew it was a long shot
, but she typed M i c h a e l.

It opened.

Claudia couldn
’
t believe her eyes. Flabbergasted, she had to give herself a few seconds to gather herself. Maneuvering the mouse, she went into the picture file.

Nothing.

She clicked on other files.

Nothing.

“
Ahhh…
, ”
she groaned loudly and rested her head on the computer again.
Think. Think. Think.

She raised her head as her eyes lit up with a smile, as if she had finally seen the light.

Deleted file.

Click
.

Thumbnail copies of hundreds of pictures appeared before her, and she eagerly began to view them all. S
he saw the girl who work ed at Fashion Wear, the girl she ’d almost bumped into trying to enter the restroom. There were tons of pictures of the both of them together , and other pictures of them together with people she couldn ’
t recognize. Then she clicked several files down and saw the same lady from the picture with her and Gamma, the picture she ’d found in Gamma ’
s house. And not just that picture, there were many more. Could she have been her mother or someone who took care of her?

Afterward, she scrolled down and clicked away as fast as she could. She stopped on the last file. There weren ’
t many pictures, but they were of Michael and her , and some with Davin and two others. She suspect ed they were alkins too. This was one piece of many pieces of evidence they ’d had something between them , not only that, but without a doubt, she ’d had another life before she became a venator. Claudia froze. She couldn ’
t breathe. After she was able to breathe again , she gulped a lump back down her throat as she felt the threat of tears.
How could this be possible?

S
he ran her fingertips over the screen , tracing Michael ’
s facial features. It was the same picture as on the trinket, but this was a larger version. She could clearly see how much he cared for her, the girl that was her, the girl that was hard to identify. This was her other life, the life that was taken from her.

Then she spot
ted a necklace. It was a clear b eaded crystal butterfly pendant looped with a silver chain. It was beautiful.
She couldn’t recall how she got it or who gave it to her, but she sensed that the necklace had been very special .
With her fingertips, Claudia brushed the area on her skin where the butterfly would have rested.

They kept this life from her. Everyone she trusted had told her lies ; Austin, Katherine, Holly, maybe even Michael , and who else?
Desperately, she fought back her tears again. She wasn ’
t going to cry. She wasn ’
t going to shed a tear because of them, but she felt so alone, so empty. Her life was a lie, a big fat lie.

The room started to spin. Her head pounded
from processing too much information i n one day. She felt like she was losing her mind. It was too much to bear. Needing to steady herself, she sat on the bed and crawled inside the blanket. Her eyes began to well up and she couldn ’
t control the tears any more. They streamed down her face like a waterfall as all the hurt and anger poured out of her.

Her whole body
pa ined as it shuddered from rage and sadness, but mostly from loneness. Never had she felt so alone, so empty , and so afraid. If she couldn ’
t even trust her guardian angel, who could she trust? With her heart being ripped apart and lots of question that could not be answered, she cried harder.

Her tears were also from betrayal
, and most of all she knew that the life she had could never be what it once w as . Whoever her friends and family were, she was almost certain they had no memories of her.
Why was this done to me ?
Bawling , g asping from trying to catch a breath in between, she cradle d the T-shirt for comfort, curled herself into a ball , and cried herself to sleep.

Michael
flatten ed himself ag ainst the structure of the building near the window. He had been concerned how their kiss affected Claudia.
He disappeared just long enough for her to turn away , and came back when Davin warned him she had jumped out the window and escaped. Immediately, he went searching for her. He thought she would go to Gamma ’
s house. Never did he imagine she would find her way back to her home.

Seeing her cradle
d in the comforts of his T-shirt brought many happy memories, but he was deeply pained to see her this way.
Michael wanted to wash away her pain.
He fought the urge to comfort her, to wrap his wings around her and whisk her away to the clouds, a place she felt so serene, but he couldn ’
t. All he could do was watch her cry herself to sleep.
As if it was his pain , tears rolled down his face. He could only conclude she ’d found something, but what? Surely, Caleb and Vivian had taken everything , or ha d they? They ’d missed the T-shirt, but what else had they miss ed ?

Knowing he was responsible for her grief, he heaved a deep , sorrowful sigh. This was not the way it was suppose to happen. He would have to find a way to be with her and soon, if she would even consider taking him back. His heart and soul felt so heavy from being responsible and for seeing her t his way, he wished he could take back what he had d one and do what he thought of doing in the first place …
run away with her. As these thoughts circulated in his mind, he watched her chest rise and fall , gasping now and then, the sound that can only be produced by someone who had been crying with an immense broken heart.

Chapter
1
6

I was walking
, and noted I was wearing a white dress. All I could hear was the sound of my black heels contacting the dirt road. For no apparent reason, I took them off, holding them i n my right hand as I sw u ng them to the rhythm of my steps. The warm breeze brushed against my skin , and the smell of the surrounding vibrant flowers awaken ed me.

Then out of nowhere,
he stood behind me. My heart skipped a beat from his sudden proximity and I dropped by shoes.
With my back still toward him , he extended my arms with his. I could feel his firm chest and his heart thumping, synchronize d with mine.

Out of the wild flower
s butterflies appeared.
First there were just a few, but then there were more and more by the second. Thousands of butterflies fluttered , creating a tunnel where we stood. It was surreal , and I was so mesmerized by the magic of this moment that all I could do was smile as my heart was filled with elation.

The butterflies spiraled up and disappeared into the sky. I turned to see him , but his hands cupped my head. My eyes were closed from the bright light and the pain from his touch.

“
Stop, ”
I pleaded.

He didn
’
t stop and he didn ’
t respon d . The pain intensified.
“
Please. You ’
re hurting me. Don ’
t do this to us.
”