Crimson Echo (16 page)

“I’m trying, just give me a minute. Who did this to you, do you know?” I tried to get answers as my hands darted in and out of the flames.

“I don’t know.
I couldn’t see their faces. They were too fast.” She cried.

“I can’t get to the ropes,” My cries joined hers. “I’ll go get help, just hold on.”

“No! Please don’t leave me! I don’t want to die alone.” She screamed hysterically.

I nodded, accepting her request as I dropped to the wet grass and pleaded with her to stay with me. She couldn’t hear me over her own pleading.
            

            Faith’s screams grew louder and louder as the flames sizzled and sparked all around her.
It was the worst sound I’ve ever heard and probably will ever hear. She had been my best friend all my life and I couldn’t even muster up enough courage to save hers, like she’d done for me so many times over.

            I stared up at Faith
and blinked through the tears that poured like a dam breaking and then turned away. I couldn’t bring myself to look up at her again. In that moment I felt more helpless then I had ever felt. Her cries died down until the only thing that could be heard was the crackling of the fire and my own weak sobs.

“Tristan, Tristan?” Kane called from somewhere behind me. I could hear his footsteps approaching and then his arms wrapped around me, pulling me to my feet.

“It’s faith. It was Faith.” I screamed, frantic now.

“Shh,” He tried to soothe me. “It’ll be alright.”

“It won’t be! I watched her die, I watched her burn! I couldn’t even help her.” My voice was muffled by the tears.

“This isn’t your fault. Y
ou can’t blame yourself for this.” He sank to the ground with me and held me while I cried.

“Kane, what should we do? We have a whole school full of… students.” A man’s raspy voice whispered in an even, controlled tone.

“Keep everyone inside, seal the exits if you have too.” Kane instructed like a drill sergeant. “No one is to be let out until it’s safe. Are we clear?”

“Everything’s being taken care of as we speak Mr. Evans
.”

“Good, now go!” He shouted and the man took off without saying another word.

“Is she… gone?” I whispered.

“She’s in a better place now.” He assured me as he rubbed my back. “But I need to get you inside where it’s safe. You can’t stay out here.
”

“She asked me to stay with her. I can’t leave her alone. She needs me.”

“Faith isn’t here anymore, just her body. We’ll take care of her, I promise.”

            I painfully watched over Kane’s shoulder as a group of men put out the fire and cleaned up the debris that surrounded Faith’s lifeless body.
The smell was worse now. I began to cry again as they released her from her shackles.

          
Four men carefully removed her from the wooden plank and gently placed her on top of a white sheet. Not a single one of them could bring themselves to look at me. They picked her up and started to take her away when I screamed.

“Wait! I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye!” Kane held me tighter and tried to calm me. “I have to tell her bye.”

            When she was close enough to see, I was startled by her appearance and pulled away, but Kane was right behind me holding me steady as usual. I closed her eyes, like you always see people do in the movies and tried to keep myself composed as I stared down at my best friend. I started to think back at all the plans we had made and the adventures we would go on after we had graduated high school and now it was all pointless without her.

          
I unhinged the bracelet from around her wrist and rubbed the black ash away. On the inside of the silver bracelet inscribed were the words ‘Have Faith’ and I held it to my chest as the tears streamed down my face. Without any warning Faith’s eyes shot open.

“It was the hunters, they’re here and they know!”
Her voice was cold and to the point.

“Hunters did this to you?” Kane stepped towards her and hid me behind himself.

“It’s a warning. They want vengeance! Cut your losses while you can!” She eyed me.

“How long do we have, oracle?”

“It could be days or years. Their plans aren’t concrete.”

“
Thank you. You have been a true ally.” Kane nodded.

“Farewell my friends, blessings to you and yours.”
With that her eyes closed and she fell silent.

“What the hell was that?” I looked to Kane for an answer as they carried Faith’s body away.

“She had to deliver one last message before she moved on.” He informed me.

“
Who are these hunters and what do they want?” I demanded.

“They’re the same people who are after my family and
I, but the playing field just wildly decreased.”

“So what’s our next move then? Do we run?”

“
We
aren’t doing anything. You’re staying put and so are we for that matter. We’re safer on our own turf.”

“It never stops, does it? When it rains, it pours!” I thought that I would be out of tears at that point, but they continued to come against my best efforts to keep them at bay.

“Come on, I’ll take you home. It’s been a long night.” He pulled on my arm.

“No, I can’t go home. There are too many memories, it’s too soon.”

“You have to go home sometime. I can’t let you roam the streets of Echo.”

“I’ll go home tomorrow. Can I stay here tonight?” I pleaded.

“You want to stay at the school?” He looked confused and horrified by the thought of spending the night in a school.

“Do you have any better ideas?”
I wiped the tears away from my eyes.

“Just leave it to me, I’ll think of something.” He gave me an understanding smile.

            Kane snuck me through the back entrance of the school and kept me far away from the dance. He disappeared and reappeared with a stack of clothes for me and waited outside the door until I had changed into them. After I was in the borrowed street clothes we got into his car and drove.

           
I had no clue as to where we were going— I was just happy to be going somewhere and getting away from it all. I tried to keep my mind off of Faith and it worked for most of the drive as I watched street lamps pass by one after another.

“How are you feeling?” Kane broke the silence.

“Better, I guess. Where are you taking me?” I asked curiously, watching his face in the moonlight.

“You’ll see. Just sit tight.
I want to take you a place that I used to go to clear my head and gain perspective when I was younger. Maybe it’ll help you some.”

“I remember taking long trips every summer with my mom and dad when he had to work out of town. We don’t do that anymore. I kind of miss it.” I whispered more to myself than to Kane.

“We must cherish the moments we have, while we have them. Life is a lot like a flower, it can withstand rain and wind, but a much stronger storm can uproot it, leaving only a whole where it used to be.”

“I’m so
rry. Who did you lose?” I asked reaching over to hold his right hand as it rested on the console.

“My father,” He frowned. “It happened many years ago. They say time heals all wounds,
but who ever said that was incredibly misinformed.”

“I can’t even i
magine losing one of my parents. I would be lost without them.”

He nodded as he pulled onto the highway.

“What did those men do with Faith’s body? They’re not going to bury her are they? Someone should tell her parents what happened.” I started to panic. I was more upset about leaving my best friend in the hands of perfect strangers.

“Everything is being taken care of. The police
will find her body in a badly burned and wreaked car and think she had an accident. That will be easier on her parents to accept and it will keep attention away from the school. That way she can have a proper burial, closed casket, of course. Did you know the Romans believed that the soul couldn’t rest until the body is laid to rest? Supposedly the spirit would haunt its home because it was unhappy.”

“
Did you know that the human head weighs eight pounds?” I quipped, quoting a line from my favorite movie.

“Technically, it’s entirely dependent on the size of the individual in question. Generally a fully developed adult human head…” He stopped himself. “Sorry.”

“You’re a giant geek, aren’t you?” I laughed and squeezed his hand. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“You know Tristan, there’s a lot we don’t know about each other.”

“What would you like to know?”

“Everything,” He smiled
. “Let’s start at the beginning. How long have you lived here in Echo?”

“I was born
and raised here all of my life, on the same street in the same house for seventeen years.” I knew he was trying his best to keep my mind off of Faith and everything I had just witnessed, but try as he might, I would never forget this night. I would always remember it for the good and the bad memories, it was all so bittersweet.

“And your parents, what are they like?” He asked amused.

“Well,” I paused and gave it a lot of thought before I answered. “My mom likes to stay busy, she’s always running around the house cleaning something and when she’s not cleaning she’s running her flower shop. She taught me to cook and sew and paint. And my dad is more laid back. He keeps to himself a lot— he’s really shy, I get that from him. He works in a lumber yard from sun up until sun down, so I rarely see him for more than an hour a day.”

“I see.” He frowned. “What about your childhood?”

“There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary or special about it. I was the Spelling Bee Champ in fifth grade though.” I laughed nervously.

“
It sounds like you had a very… eventful childhood.” He smirked.

“I’m sure it was nothing like yours, but I didn’t mind it.”

            The questions continued for what seemed like hours. Even with the most boring answer he seemed intrigued. I found it hard to understand why he would think I was interesting at all, especially since I don’t think there is anything special about myself.

           
Not long after, we pulled off of the highway and onto a main street. There wasn’t a car in sight, so we had the whole road to ourselves, but I still didn’t know where he was taking me and he refused to give me any hints. I fought the urge to ask if we were there yet on multiple occasions.

            Ten minutes later we pulled into a gravel paved parking lot and the car slowly rolled up to a collection of
large, russet colored rocks and then we swayed back and forth when Kane shifted the gear into park. The moon was full and bright in the night sky as it reflected and rippled in the shimmering water of Lake Umatilla.

           
Kane stepped out and came around the vehicle, opening my door and taking me by the hand. The air was cool and smelled of moss as the crickets chirped all around us. Everything had happened so fast, I hadn’t noticed until now that he had changed into jeans and a long sleeve, grey pullover.

“Where are we going?” I asked, only half conscious. Everything still seemed foggy, like I was in a daze.

“It’s not far, I promise.” He guided me down to the water’s edge, near another grouping of boulders. The great trees swayed in the night air and the frogs croaked a tune as I stared out over the dancing water. “Here, take a seat.”

           He sat down and wrapped his arm gently around me. I fit perfectly in the curve of his upper body and forearm and felt like this was where I was meant to be. I could hear his heart thumping loudly as I laid my head against his chest and the heat coming off of him made me shiver.

           
He leaned over and pulled a blanket from the ground and wrapped it around the both of us. The blanket was covered in his scent and I inhaled it freely now, before the wind had a chance to carry it away.  The smell of ember and vanilla was just as intoxicating to me as it had ever been, maybe more so now since he was holding me so close.

“What’s going on in there?” His finger
s caressed my temples. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I was thinking about how good you always smell and how you always seem to hypnotize me.” I bit my lip, wishing I hadn’t said that.”

“I hypnotize you?” He murmured in my ear. “Am I doing it now?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “Will you tell me what you’re thinking?”

“I was just thinking that even though this view is exquisite, it could never be as beautiful as you are.”

I tried to thank him for the compliment, but I got choked up and then the tears began to pour
from my eyes.

“Why are you crying?” He caught a tear with the tip of his finger. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, you’re perfect. I just remembered how adamant Faith was about us getting together. The first day that we bumped into each other in the cafeteria Faith said she had a vision that we would be together. I told her it would never happen and I brushed her visions off like they were some sort of joke and now it’s too late to apologize to her.”