Book of Life (10 page)

I was surprised by the direction his thoughts were going, and fast, too. “Is there any way we can find Max?” I tried to go with what he was thinking, hoping this would take the heat off how disappointed he was in me.

Wes brought his attention back to me. “I’m not sure. I’d have to ask Jake.”

“Then we should go see Jake.” I know he hated it when Jake and I were even in the same room, but . . . “He can help,” I reassured.

Wes shifted the car back into gear and turned away from the shoulder to make a quick u-turn. “As much as I don’t want to, I have to agree. I want to help Max even if he won’t let me. I can’t pretend that our world isn’t facing something big.” He sighed, gazing at me speculatively. “School can wait, for now, but if all this turns out to be useless, then come tomorrow, we’re both going to back school. Got it?”

I rolled my eyes. He was so by-the-book, but that’s why I loved him.

“I can’t believe I’m pushing this, but
are
there more pills?” he asked again, though our conversation already pointed to the fact that there were.

“A few. At home.” I felt bad about the fact that I had replaced them to the drawer I found them in instead of flushing them down the toilet where they probably belonged.

He took a deep breath. “Then we’ll stop to get those first. You’re mom is already gone to work. She doesn’t have to know about this.”

I agreed. Even though my mother and I had grown close since Jane’s death—sharing what we knew of my father—I wasn’t ready to tell her about everything.

STELLA:

After a long drive through the woods where Jake attempted to convince me that we really were headed somewhere and,
no
, he wasn’t going to kill me, we arrived at a gate. On either side stood two tall, stone obelisks, weathered and aged over many years—though the wood of the gate seemed almost new. I looked at the strange symbols adorning the wood. For some reason, I was able to make sense of them and read it as I had many other things in the hunter’s cabin. It read: Winter Wood.

“There you go. See, you can read. We just need to teach you how to speak.”

I felt calmer now, trusting Jake more and more with each moment that passed in which he didn’t attempt to murder me. I looked back at the gate. There were more than just the words I recognized. Looking at it as a whole, I felt like I’d been here before.

Jake nodded. “If you’re who I think you are then yes, you have been here before.”

I crunched my brows, wishing I could keep some of my thoughts to myself.

“I’ll teach you. You seem to get the concept but your follow-through is poor.”

I must have looked overly relieved because he laughed when he saw my face.

“It’s good. You need to learn this now. You have to delineate your thoughts. It’s all about learning to think before you think, if that makes sense. You need to indicate to yourself the actual boundaries of what’s in your mind. I’m explaining it to you in a far more complex way than I had to explain it to my friend Wes,” he joked. “I’m glad you seem to be intelligent.”

Wes?
Wes sounded familiar.

Jake nodded, smiling a little as though he knew something I didn’t. “Might be beneficial for you to learn to hide your thoughts before you meet Emily, too. I have an inkling that a problem may arise, just based on what happened before.”

Before? What happened?

“It’s not worth mentioning. Just do yourself a favor and avoid irritating Emily when I introduce you to her.”

Now that name, Emily. That definitely struck a chord each time he said it—an angry chord. Why, I wasn’t sure, but I assumed it had something to do with Jake’s vague suggestion that she could read thoughts and was going to dislike me if she knew what I was thinking. What would I be thinking and how did he know I’d think it?

Jake pressed something on his dash as the gate before us opened mechanically. “The more I read into your thought the more I am beginning to believe you really are who I think you are. I can’t wait for you to meet my friends—should be sufficiently entertaining.”

I was frustrated and found myself having to remind him of the training he was giving me about hiding my thoughts. The point was that I didn’t want him reading them anymore.

He drove on through the gate. “Right. Like I explained to Wes, imagine your mind as a house and in that house there are rooms, each room represents a different topic of thought. Perhaps the kitchen is for thoughts about food, the bedroom thoughts about being tired,” he laughed. “Or being in love.” He wiggled his brows offensively.

I leaned away from him, trying to portray disgust in my thoughts and with my expression.

“Now take all those rooms and shut the door tight. There you have it. Your thoughts are now your own. Just simply being aware of the possibility of someone breaking into your home of thoughts will make your thoughts instinctively more wary and hidden.”

I tried to imagine my mind as he instructed, closing each door one at a time.

Jake began to bob his head. “There you go. You’re getting a hang of it.”

I didn’t really feel much different, but I took his word for it. I began to think mean things about him that weren’t necessarily true—he didn’t seem to react to them, meaning he didn’t seem to have heard them at all. I felt freedom again, a feeling I had missed since leaving the forest. Looking out the window I was content within my own head.

“Well, this is no fun,”
he murmured.

I looked at him inquisitively.

“I can’t read your thoughts anymore,” he divulged. “It’s too quiet.” He reached for another button on his dash, pressing it as melodic sounds began to emanate from every corner of the car.

I felt unease again, not able to pinpoint just where the noise was coming from. I wasn’t able to understand what was happening—at least the animal part of me couldn’t.

Jake didn’t seem to care about my noticeable discomfort, now reaching for another device that was stashed in the area between us. It lit up when he touched it. His fingers slid across the smooth surface, then he held it to his ear.

“Oh, hey. Didn’t expect that you’d pick up so fast.”

Was he talking to me?
I narrowed my gaze at him, willing him to look at me but he didn’t. Again, a part of me wanted to accept what he was doing while another part of me still didn’t understand. My self was at war.

“Really?” He sounded and looked suddenly surprised. “Wait,
what?
I’ve never heard of that before.” He paused.

Who was he talking to?

“And how many did Emily take?” Another pause. “Uh huh. Just one. Does she have more?”

Was this magick?

“Okay, well, bring them when you come. I have a guest with me I had wanted you to meet,” he finally looked at me. “But, I think your dilemma comes first. I’ll see what I can do about finding Max.”

He dropped the device from his ear and slid his finger across the surface once more. He dropped it back into the area between us.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the device. I wanted to try it. Perhaps it could connect me with the one I was supposed to find.

Jake looked amused by my curiosity. “I’m still taking you to my house. I don’t want you going anywhere but something came up. I’ll set you up in my room and I want you to stay there for now.”

I tried to look upset but my attention still peaked with the illuminated device between us—I wanted to touch it.

“Leave it alone. It’s just a phone.”

I tried to ignore it.
A phone?
I felt I should know that.

“Hell-o?”

He snapped me out of my trance, forcing me to think about what he’d said instead. He had promised me he’d take me to these people he knew,
why was he delaying that?
I allowed him to hear the question.

“It’s not the right time for you to meet them, unfortunately. I have to do this delicately. Besides, it’s Max I really want you to meet and he’s not here right now. I’ll try to get him to come. When he shows up, then I’ll introduce you to everyone, okay?”

I looked outside. I suddenly wanted out of this car. I didn’t have the time to waste waiting for Jake. If he wasn’t going to help me right now then I could do it on my own.

He touched me, a burning touch that make me jerk away. “Please trust me. Whatever you’re looking for isn’t going to be found any faster on your own.”

I clenched my jaw, finding I had to give in. What was I really going to do, anyway? Open the door and jump out?
I need to meet this guy,
I expressed.

Jake nodded with a discreet roll of his eye. “I know. I get it. You will, okay? What happened to patience? I
swear
. . .”

I pouted and stomped my foot.

Jake shook his head. “Really? Was that warranted?”

I ignored him, thinking I’d let him take me as far as Winter Wood, but from there I wasn’t keeping any promises. I was going to find this man, and I was going to do it today.

WES:

When we arrived at Jake’s house it had begun to snow. Emily looked noticeably upset as a gust of cold wind whipped over her when she opened the car door. I shut off the engine, watching for a moment as the snow fell and melted against my windshield.

Emily reached for her backpack. “Are you coming?” she asked with a frantic pitch to her voice.

I looked at her. She had one hand clasped around the collar of her fake, fur-lined pink plaid jacket that clashed with the pink striped sweater she wore underneath. Snow fell into her auburn hair, melting just as it had against the windshield. Her face was pale and drawn, looking the way it did before I’d convinced her to get off the prescription drugs. How easily that sad look had returned after just one pill. I nodded, placing my hand on the door handle and pulling the keys from the ignition.

I popped out of the car, looking at Jake’s red Audi in the parking spot beside mine. His engine was still ticking and the hood warm as the snow melted immediately off of it—he’d just gotten home. We stepped up onto the sidewalk. There was a line of cars all as nice as Jake’s parked in front of the five row houses on this block of Winter Wood. Across the street five more identical row houses faced us. It was well known that this particular block was something like vampire row. It was a hit during Halloween, or that’s what I’d heard from others in town.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked briskly to the red door of Jake’s house. Emily followed behind me. I knocked once, jumping up and down to retain warmth as I quickly shoved my hand back in my pant pocket. A few moments passed and no one answered. I tried the handle this time, finding it unlocked. Pushing the door open, I poked my head in, met with a gush of warmth I couldn’t pretend to hate.

“Hello?” I looked into the living room but no one was there. I opened the door wide enough to step in. I knew Jake well enough to ignore manners and invite ourselves in. Besides, the warmth of his house felt good and I was certain Emily longed for it, too.

“Yes,
please!
” she replied behind me, answering the thought on my mind. “It’s freezing out here! I’ve been locked in the warm house for weeks; I’m not used to the cold.” She was rubbing her arms and shivering dramatically. I could tell she was trying to act like her old self, but I sensed her weakness all the same.

“Hey!” I heard Jake’s voice from upstairs.

“Hey! What are you doing?” I asked, grasping the railing and setting one foot on the first step.

“I’ll be there in a minute!” Jake replied. “Don’t come up.”

I thought to go on up, anyway, and see what he was up to, but then again maybe I didn’t want to know. I turned to help Emily instead.

Emily shut the door behind her and reluctantly removed her coat to hang it on the hooks in the entry. I could hear mumbling from upstairs. It was all Jake’s voice, as though he were talking to himself, but my animal instincts sensed more than one person— a female. Perhaps he’d found a girlfriend, but I doubt I was that lucky, it was likely some freaky vampire cousin, and I couldn’t handle another one of him around. I removed my own coat and hung it next to Emily’s, noticing the perplexed look on her face as she, too, seemed to be distracted by what was going on upstairs and who Jake was talking to.

“Can you hear who’s up there?”

Her brow creased. “Not quite. The pill still seems to be fogging my long distance abilities. I just hear what you do, I’m guessing?”

I shrugged. “Mumbling?”

She nodded, “Whatever. I’m sure it’s not my business anyway.” She seemed to let the whole thing fall off her shoulders as she looked too exhausted to care. She shuffled into the living room and plopped down on the red velvet couch. I followed and sat on an identical couch facing her.

“
Where did you put the pills?” I made idle chit chat while we waited.

Emily sighed and pointed back at her bag in the hall. I reluctantly stood once more and went to retrieve them, just as Jake descended the stairs. “Sorry. I just have a friend in town and wanted to get them situated.”