Destinata (Valguard) (10 page)

Yea, let’s just hope I find her alive.

The rancid odor that hit their faces when the small closet door opened was worse now than on their previous trip through, and they all wondered what could have been causing such a putrid smell. Having no other option, they breathed through their mouths while making their way through the small crawl space.

About half way through Charlie – who was up front – felt her hand brush past something cool which she didn’t remember from the way in. She stopped short and reached to her back pocket for a
light; curious as to whether whatever she had skimmed past was causing the stench that surrounded them.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she found as she flicked the
flashlight to life. A cold hand boasting the deepest of blue veins was protruding from the darkness.

Oh god! Please no!

Charlie knew before moving the lighter further up the body that it was her mother’s corpse laying left alone in the darkness. Her lifeless eyes stared into Charlie’s own deep blue ones, a look of terror and pleading on Eva’s face that she was sure was mirrored on her own tear-stained one now. How could he do this? She was emaciated, her skeletal body bruised from head to toe. Burns from what looked like a cigarette covered her face and shoulders and the body that was once so well-tended looked as if it would no longer be able to hold itself in an upright position. She wouldn’t have even had the strength to yell for help let alone fight back. How can anyone kill a being who was so helpless?

With that thought something snapped inside Charlie that she didn’t even know was there and before she could stop herself she had turned her back on her mother’s limp body and tried to make her way back through the tunnel.
She was met by the bulking from of Ford who held her back and managed to turn her around. He wasn’t letting her get past and although he hadn’t seen the body, he knew from Charlie’s anguished screams and sudden anger what she had found. He pushed her through the tunnel and out into the light of day grabbing her by the arm and twisting her into a hug before she could go any further than a few feet from the edge of the building.

“
Shhh. It’s going to be ok.”

“It is not going to be ok Ford! My mother is dead! How can you even
think
things are going to be ok? I’m going to kill him! Let me go. NOW!”

“Killing the Mayor isn’t going to bring your
mom back. And besides, he’s already dead. There’s no way he could have survived that blow”

“
Dead or not, he deserves to be mutilated the same was she was and it would sure as hell make me feel better.”

“It won’t. Even if he was alive for you to kill again, y
ou wouldn’t be able to live with yourself Charlie, even if he deserves it, you aren’t a killer. You’d never survive the guilt, if you survived at all. David Reynolds isn’t who we thought he was, he killed your mom in cold, and if he’d had the chance he would have killed you too.”

She turned away from Ford disgusted by the fact that he wouldn’t help her exact revenge for her mother’s death.

“Let me go Ford… I’m not going anywhere just let me go.”

He did as she wanted but stuck close in case she decided to make a break for it, his hand hovering near her arm when she suddenly turned towards the side of the building where they had just exited. Zane was clambering out and in his arms they saw the lifeless, slight form of Eva Dawson. The anguish Charlie felt at that moment was unbearable. She broke, unaware of anything going on around her, she sank to her knees and wept harder than ever not only for the loss of her mother but because in that moment, she knew with certainty that there would be a war and she would be the one to start it. It was obvious that the Mayor was working with some, if not all of the Valguard in Tole and she would be the one to bring the Valguard and anyone associated with them to their knees. She would be the one to strike at the heart of them and bring them crumbling down to kneel before her. She could feel the power
coursing within her veins and as she looked down at her mother’s face one last time she saw the power within her reach every nerve in her body, her eyes alight with the glow that the Valguard DNA brought forward, her muscles rippling and growing before her eyes and right then she knew exactly who she was and what she needed to do. She looked at Zane ready to tell him what she was about to do but his shocked gasp made her thoughts crash down around her in a dizzying frenzy of worry, shock and desperateness to get away.

“What?”

It was all she could think to say. For some reason Zane was frightened of her and she wanted to know why.

“Your eyes…”

“What about them, they’re only glowing like before, what’s the big deal.”

“Charlie, they aren’t just glowing. They’re purple…”

“What? Why? My eyes are blue not purple! What’s going on Zane?”

“I think I know but we need to get out of here first. I’ll explain at home.”

“Yea, one problem with that. How are we going to walk home with mom? Don’t you think it will raise a bit of suspicion walking through town with a dead body hauled over your shoulder!”

“I got it covered.”

Ford pulled his cellphone from his pocket and dialed a number that looked familiar to Charlie but he couldn’t be… could he?

“Ford, you can’t ring Eloise! She has no idea what’s going on, she’s going to take one look at my eyes, see my
mom and freak!”

“Give her a bit of credit Charlie. We were raised in hell
house, she’s tougher than you think.”

“Fine, go ahead. But you get to explain everything to her.”

Standing defiantly with her hands on her hips and her mouth pulled down into a pout, she suddenly felt like a little kid brooding over not being allowed ice cream. She straightened up and pulled her face into something that resembled normality and waited to see if El’ would answer Ford’s call.

She did and without so much as an explanation as to why she agreed to pick them up from their hiding spot behind the second hand book store just down the road from Town Hall.
They heard El’s station wagon pull up out the front and waited for Zane to check the coast was clear before making their way around to the entrance. Charlie knew the screaming had started before the door of the car was even opened, she could see El’s hands flying animatedly around the car, her face contorted with anger and worry.

“El
’! Cool it. We need to get home A.S.A.P, can you just shut up and drive!”

“Cool it?
Cool it?
You’re carrying around a dead body Ford! Don’t tell me to cool it. What’s going on?”

“We’ll explain when we get home but we need to get out of here now.”

“That smell is never going to come out of my car.”

El’ looked over her shoulder at Charlie, nothing but fury on her face for her best friend. Charlie pinpointed the exact moment that El’ had noticed her eyes, her voice changing from pure rage to one of discomfort and unease. She did well to ignore it for the most part; facing forward and concentrating on the road in front of her as they drove slowly down the still deserted roads of their home town. They arrived at the big house on Oak Street and drove straight into the back garage where Matt was waiting in the pouring rain to pull the rolling door down before they got out.
Ugh! Matt doesn’t know anything either. Great, two people to explain everything to! Why today?

Charlie wanted nothing more than for her thoughts to stray to a happier time when her
mom was still alive and well and looking after her daughter but the only images it seemed able to conjure at that time were gruesome ones of her mother being stabbed repeatedly, helplessly laying in the dark of the tunnel awaiting her death.

Slamming the car door, Charlie didn’t bother stopping at the protests coming from her friends, she ran through the blinding rain not really knowing where she was headed or what she was doing, just knowing that she needed to get away, even if it was only for a short time. The time was coming when she must fight and inspiration suddenly struck, she knew exactly where she was headed now.

If it was a fight they wanted, it was a fight they were going to get.

Making her way through the dark eerie woods by herself was not something Charlie had anticipated but it was necessary. About half-way to her Grandmother’s house she realized just how foolish she had been in running off by herself. Surely the Mayor
’s body would have been found by the early morning cleaner who would have alerted the town officials of what had happened at Town Hall. The Valguard would know who had done it without a doubt. She didn’t much care about herself but she had left all of her friends alone with the corpse of her battered mother back at the Oak Street house. All she could hope for now was that they’d had the sense to stay put and hide the body for now.

Hide the body? Ugh! What am I now some sort of thug?

Closing her eyes Charlie tried to make a connection with Kara to let her know she was coming but she felt nothing. Who knows maybe it didn’t work that way for her. Kara had said their abilities differed because of her Valguard blood but surely she should still be able to sense her grandmother at this close range. There was only one way to find out and the sooner the better.

“Kara? Kara are you here?”

Nothing.
Not even the sound of the old grandfather clock ticking in the corner met Charlie’s ears as she entered the faded cottage.

Where is she?

“Kara?”

Please be here.

Charlie stepped through the piles of discarded memories and collectibles that littered Kara’s home and walked into the small living area. She found her sleeping in her rocker by the window, the breeze blowing through her thin hair making it move lightly across her face. Leaning down to gently wake her Charlie realized something was wrong. A memory flashed before her eyes of being in the dark and brushing passed her mom’s cold dead hand.

Oh no.

Lifting Kara’s hands in her own, something fell to the floor with a quiet ‘tink’. She looked down to see what had fallen and found a small uncorked vial and a piece of paper with her name carefully written on the front. For being blind, she had excellent penmanship. She unwrapped the small note and read it carefully and aloud.

My Dearest Charlie,
The time has come for my passing. I am sorry for what you are about to endure, I know the passing of your mother will be harder than that of my own and I am sorry for adding to that disquiet in your life.

My sister p
assed on at the tender age of sixteen and I watched my own mother go through the agony of outliving one of her children, she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders to her death bed and I swore that I would never outlive my own children, if they were to die, I would die right along with them. So as I am writing this to you I am preparing a vial of poison that will carry me off into a deep sleep that I shall never awake from. Please forgive me for what I am about to do.

You are in safe hands with
Zane, remember that no matter how much you find out about him, he is one of the good guys. He will guide you in the right direction and he will fight for your life and alongside you for as long as you want him there. I’ve left instruction with him for in the event of my passing that he shall teach you everything you need to learn before the war is started. As for your sight, it will come more naturally with time. Just remember to always trust your intuition.

I am leaving my cottage and all of its contents to you and Zane for you to do as you wish.

I love you.

Kara.

Charlie hadn’t even realized she was crying until a small tear dropped onto the note
, smudging the ink on the crumpled paper. She fingered the second small note that was addressed to Zane and decided against opening it. Whatever was written in there was obviously meant for Zane’s eyes only and she wasn’t about to intrude on his privacy.

Walking home Charlie thought about nothing. She was numb. She still felt the tears roll down her cheeks but she stopped taking notice of the tickle that was left behind when the cool wind dried the salt-water droplets. What was the point in feeling anymore when all she felt was sadness and loss? Behind those emotions she felt a flicker of something else but couldn’t place her finger on what it was and wasn’t sure if she really even wanted to know, it wasn’t a feeling she was accustomed to and not one she wanted to become familiar with so for now she pushed it to the back of her mind and continued the slow journey home.

Charlie had never thought of herself as one of
those
girls. You know the ones that retreat into a catatonic state after the death of a loved one, in fact she had despised reading a book once where for months on end after the death of a boyfriend all the girl could do was sit in an abyss of self-pity and despair. At this moment though, the loss of her mother and her newly-found grandmother on the same day was weighing down on her chest like a lead weight and suddenly she could understand why people retreated into themselves. For a short time anyway. Charlie had no desire to see or speak to anyone but in the current situation there was no way she could avoid anyone either.

Dripping water from her rain soaked clothes over the front entrance to her home Charlie couldn’t bring herself to move any farther forward. She slumped to the ground, her head hitting the floor with a resounding crack. She felt the vibration of the floorboards as footsteps ran towards her, heard the whispering voices, saw the worried faces and lastly felt the warm hands of Ford enclose around her and move her away from all
of the too loud sounds and into the silence of the bathroom.

“Charlie? Are you ok?”

Looking into his eyes but not answering, she tried to convey as many of her emotions as possibly through her expression, certain that if she spoke she would break.

“No, of course you’re not. Come on let’s get you warm and dried.”

She complied when Ford lifted her damp shirt over her head and stripped her down, any trace of dignity and modesty that she once held disappeared in that moment. Trying not to make eye contact with her friend was impossible at the distance they were standing and more than once she caught Ford’s eyes flickering to parts of her body she would have rather kept covered.

The warmth radiating from the water was a welcome shock to her cold body and starting to relax immediately she didn’t bother protesting whe
n Ford started to wash her down. The grime – figurative and literal – from the day started to wash away down the drain. Ford allowed her the task of getting dried while he stood in the corner making sure this time not to make eye contact with any part of her body, before moving through to the far end of the house into Charlie’s room where she scavenged through the baskets of clean clothes in the corner for something to wear.

“What happened out there Char? Where did you go?”

“I need to speak to Zane.”

Ford was hurt, she could feel it radiating from him but there was no need to
apologize. As hurt as he was he understood her need to speak with Zane first.

“Ok. Just promise me you aren’t going to run off again… Please.”

“I can’t promise you that Ford. The way things are at the moment, I have no idea what is coming or what I’m going to do next.”

He didn’t like it, but he didn’t argue the point and taking that as a truce Charlie moved to make her way back down the stairs.

She found everyone else sitting, scattered around the lounge, seemingly not wanting to sit too close to each other. Charlie rolled her eyes at the lot of them as she entered and cleared her throat to let them know she was there. Zane jumped to his feet and was on her in a heartbeat giving her a bear hug to end all bear hugs and cutting off her air supply at the same time. El and Matt on the other hand sat arms folded, clearly still not happy with the situation.

“Did you explain to them?”

“Yea, they took it rather well but I don’t think they are too happy about having to bring your
mom back here.”

“El’ I’m sorry. I couldn’t leave her there like that, I just couldn’t.”

“I know Char. I’m not angry with you about that. Why didn’t you just tell us what was going on? We could have helped.”

“
I didn’t tell you for that reason El’. I couldn’t stand to see you hurt.”

“But you could take Ford? Does he mean that little to you?”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that! Ford already knew mostly what was going on before he came back to town. Do you really think I could have stopped him? Ughh! Why is this so dam hard to explain! I love your brother and I always have, if there was any way I could have got him to stay here with you, I would have done it in a heartbeat!”

Charlie was so rushed to explain her apparent lack of care for Ford that she hadn’t realized that she had admitted the one thing she had kept a secret for so many years now, but El’ didn’t miss a beat.

“You love him?”

“Ahh.
That’s not… I mean… El’ that’s not fair I…”

Charlie felt the burn rising in her cheeks as she turned and saw Ford standing not a foot from where she stood, arms folded. Closing her eyes and wishing to take her words back to save this embarrassment, she stomped out of the room before she could say or do anything els
e to further humiliate herself, running into Zane, who had walked away to give them all some privacy, in the hallway as she did.

Shit!

“You love him?”

“Out of everything I just said did
anyone
actually hear anything other than those words? Seriously, my mom is dead, Kara is dead, my eyes are freaking purple and the only thing that anyone can fixate on is the fact that I love Ford! Yea I can see the logic in that!”

“Kara’s dead?”

“Shit! Zane, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for it to just come out like that I…”

“How?”

“She… She left a note for you. I’m sure it’s something along the lines of the one she left me explaining. Here…”

She handed him the note which she had transferred from the pocket of her wet jeans to her dry ones and left him to read it alone.

Finding Ford sitting in the dining room on the opposite side of the house to the lounge Charlie went to sit across the large table from him. They would have to find a quieter place to talk properly eventually but for now this would have to do.

“Ford, I’m sorry you heard that the way you did. I didn’t mean for you to ever… I mean, I know that you don’t and I shouldn’t have said anything. El’ just gets me so worked up some times, it just blurted out.”

“You love me?”

“For god sakes, I thought the whole house had established that already. Yes, I love you. I always have. I’m embarrassed enough, can we just let it go and move on. Please.”

“Why?
I’ve loved you since I was five Charlie. Now that I know you love me too, why on Earth would I want to let it go?”

“You… Ah… Jesus Ford! Why didn’t you say something?”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Good point.”

Charlie giggled for the first time in what felt like days and moved around to sit next to Ford but he grabbed her wrist before she could sit and pulled her onto his lap. Her stomach fluttered at his touch and she moved her lips forward to meet his. They were interrupted by a red-faced Zane who was clearing his throat in the door way.

“Sorry but we need to go.
Now!”

“What? Where? Why?”

“Back to my place. We have training to do.”

Waving the sheet of paper with Kara’s writing on it in front of them as if in explanation, he moved towards the front door clearly expecting everyone to follow.
Ford shrugged his shoulders and gently moved Charlie off his lap to stand up and follow, but Charlie refused to move from the dining room.

“I’m not going anywhere yet. In case you have all forgotten, my
mom’s body is currently residing in the backseat of El’s Impala and Kara is still sitting in the chair in the cottage, do you really think I’m going to do
anything
before they at least have a proper burial?”

She w
as astounded by the lack of caring from all of them and more than a little angry, she felt her blood pulsing and by the flicker of everyone’s eyes to her own she guessed that her eyes were pulsing along with her blood.

“Charlie I’m so sorry, I completely forgot. Kara’s letter was urgent and…”

“Well I’m glad that you were able to forget so easily, but I can’t. No matter how urgent Kara’s letter is, I’m quite sure she wouldn’t want you to let her sit and rot in that chair forever!”

Her words were meant to make the others – particularly Zane – feel at least a small amount of the hurt that they had just afforded her in her time of grief and by the look on his face it had worked. He didn’t seem to be able to say anything, only to stare at Charlie’s eyes for longer than usual and she wondered briefly w
hether they had changed color yet again.

“Right then, my
mom first.”

Zane and Ford dug a whole deep enough to block out any smell that might permeate from Eva’s decomposing corpse and laid her to rest under the Wisteria in the Oak Street house yard. Charlie felt it was too much of a goodbye, too final and before she could speak tears broke through her stronghold and she collapsed into grief at her mother’s modest graveside. Ford stepped forward to speak for her and she was grateful as ever at his presence.