Intuition: The Premonition Series (27 page)

I catch the shirt. It has a silhouette of the Upper Peninsula on it with a caption that reads: “If Ya Ain’t A Yooper, Ya Ain’t Shit!”
Is that right? What the hell’s a Yooper?
I wonder to myself as I shrug into the shirt. It is tight on my shoulders and biceps, but otherwise fits me okay.

Pickin’ up my shirt and jacket from the floor, I take one last look ‘round the bathroom, decidin’ to leave the whiskey on the counter. I keep my head down when I leave the bathroom. Makin’ it outside, I breathe deeply. I notice that Red is sittin’ in the driver’s seat of the Cherokee with the engine already runnin’. After I climb into the passenger side, I have to stop myself from leanin’ over and pullin’ her in my arms for another kiss. She doesn’t look at me as we pull out of the gas station without a word.

“Thanks,” I say.

She glances at me briefly, and then her eyes dart back to the road. “It was either that shirt or the one that said: ‘Say Ya To Da U.P., Eh?’”

She is deliberately misinterpretin’ my thanks. “No, I mean, thanks for yer help back there. I know it wasn’t easy for ya to go in there,” I say, seein’ that she is really tryin’ not to fall apart.

She shrugs to try to fool me, and replies, “You would do it for me.”

“Yeah, I would,” I agree, wishin’ she didn’t look so fragile. “Can I ask ya a question?” I ask, and see her cringe. She doesn’t want to talk about our kiss in the bathroom. That is glaringly obvious. It dawns on me that the only reason she did it was so I would be able to get my wings to go back in and the disappointment is crushin’. But she had responded to the kiss. I can tell she started off like she was sacraficin’ herself to the situation, but I wonder if it was like that the entire time I was kissin’ her.

Her grip on the stirring wheel tenses. “What?” she asks.

“What’s a ‘Yooper?’” I ask.

Red’s face transforms from tense, to relief, to humor. “A Yooper is someone from the Upper Peninsula, the U.P.” she explains with a ghost of a smile.

“Are we gonna be Yoopers then?” I ask, wishin’ that she would keep on smilin’.

Her smile deepens just a little. “Not exactly. People up here will probably consider us ‘Troopers.’ Here’s the thing: anyone who is from below the Mackinaw Bridge is considered a ‘troll.’ So, when a troll moves to the U.P. to live, they call them troopers,” she clarifies.

“Is that right? It’s kind of like that when all of the tourists flock down to live in Asheville. We call them ‘snow birds,’” I say, laughin’.

“Yoopers have other names for tourists… let me think, uh…‘trunk slammers, 313ers, fudgies…’” she says, until I interrupt her.

“Fudgies?” I ask, grinnin’. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They make the best fudge up here…Hank. I’ll buy you some, you’ll love it,” she says. I have to look away from her ‘cuz the sexy smile she gives me makes me want to touch her again.

“What else do you know about Yoopers?” I ask, attemptin’ to distract myself.

“Not much more. I learned most of what I know from the Internet when I was researching towns,” Red says. She starts frownin’ again, so I try to think of somethin’ to ask her.

“So, are there a lot of Lions fans up here?” I ask, and by the look on her face I see that she is amused again.

“No. We are closer now to Green Bay than to Detroit, so most Yoopers cheer for the Packers.”

“Really? This is cheesehead country?” I ask in surprise and watch her nod her head. “I’ll get ya one of those cheesehead hats, Red, ya’ll love it,” I tease her ‘cuz I know how she feels about Detroit.

“You will never get it on me, trust me,” she replies, wrinklin’ her nose at me.

“Red?” I say, lookin’ at her again.

“Yeah?” she asks.

“I know ya didn’t want to kiss me back there at the gas station,” I say in a gentle tone. Her face grows sad again. “But I want ya to know that if ya ever do want to kiss me…it’ll be alright with me,” I add, tryin’ to make what I am sayin’ less awkward somehow.

She glances at me then and her eyes are so sad that I can tell she is thinkin’ she is never gonna heal from the scars that are torn open inside of her. “Don’t hope for it, Russell. I can’t give you what you need… what you want. I just can’t,” she says, and there is true regret in her voice as tears escape her eyes.

“Don’t cry, Red. Yer a Yooper now and they’re supposed to be tough, right? What are we lookin’ for now?” I ask, grabbin’ the map and findin’ our position on it. “Do y’all want to head toward Marquette or Iron Mountain? It looks about the same distance either way,” I gauge, lookin’ at the map.

“We have to stay away from Marquette. It’s dangerous for us,” she replies quickly.

I look up from the map with a frown. “Why?” I ask, ‘cuz there is somethin’ in the way she said it that has goose bumps risin’ on my arms.

“There is a prison in Marquette. The Fallen love prisons, it’s like a candy store to them. We have to stay out of Marquette,” she explains, wipin’ her tears away.

“Okay. We’ll head toward Iron Mountain and we’re gonna spend the rest of the time on the road talkin’ ’bout everythin’ ya know ’bout angels and dangerous stuff for us in general. This is gonna be an intel session,” I order, and then I listen while Red spends the next few hours goin’ over everythin’ she has learned in the last few months. I feel sweaty and irritated when she pauses to take a sip of water she bought back at the gas station for us. “Fairy tales are real?” I ask, and I can’t hide how annoyed that makes me.

“Reed was pretty adamant about Seraphim, that when we are evolved, we will be the most powerful creatures out there…but, so are the fallen Seraphim, so take that into consideration,” she says as a warnin’. Then, she looks at me and adds, “Listen, I researched Houghton the best way that I could. I employed all the resources I had available, which was mainly the Internet and the library. I analyzed the town, the school, and the surrounding area. I tried to think like my enemy and envision them there and everything points to the fact that it should be safe. It should be, but I don’t know for sure. I have no spies to check it out for me. I have no way of knowing for sure if we’re heading into something awful.”

She seems almost apologetic, like she hasn’t just pulled off the most amazin’ feat of evadin’ four ancient, highly intelligent angels with a brilliant plan, which has been workin’ like clockwork since we left. “Once we get there, we’ll find the apartment Ryan rented for us near the school. We’re going to stay together until we feel comfortable with our surroundings.”

“Believe me, I plan on bein’ the gum on yer shoe,” I say in a serious tone. I have a feelin’ I won’t feel comfortable at all unless I can see her, at least for a while.

“There is one more thing I have to tell you,” Red says with a solemn expression. “I’m putting some of the money into a joint bank account, but we will keep a stash of the majority of the cash somewhere safe. If there is trouble, take the money; find a small town that’s less than ten thousand in population and nothing exciting that will attract the Fallen. I want you to research it on your own, but don’t tell me where it is. If something happens, take the money and leave if you can. If you need an ID, make inquiries on the Internet, don’t go to Ryan again.”

My eyebrows pull together in a frown. “Whaddaya mean, Red?” I ask, feelin’ sick as I grab the water out of the cup holder nearest to me. “Why can’t I tell ya?”

“I mean if something happens to me, you should leave immediately. Don’t hang around, especially if I go missing,” she replies in a monotone voice. It’s like she’s numb, just operatin’ on autopilot. “I don’t want to know where you will go, so no one can make me tell where you are. If there is enough pain, I may talk… I would try really hard not to, but the less I know about your strategy for evasion, the better.”

“I’m not gonna leave ya. We go down together. You and me,” I say, clenchin’ my teeth to keep from shoutin’ at her.

“Russell, if one of the Fallen gets me, what are you going to do?” she asks in a dull voice. “You have to run. You can’t save me, not now,” she says evenly as she watches the road.

“Red, believe it or not, I’m not completely useless. I can at least call in the cavalry,” I reply, reasonin’ with her.

She immediately snaps out of autopilot then, her face growin’ dark. “There is no cavalry, don’t you get it?” she yells at me and I have never seen her so angry. “What if I’m taken by Pagan? If you call Reed, he will go to war with his own kind to save me and it will destroy him,” she says, runnin’ her hand through her hair in agitation. “We are on our own now. No safety net. Do you understand?” she asks, starin’ at me like I haven’t heard a word she’s been sayin’, and maybe she’s right, maybe I haven’t. Maybe I’ve been livin’ in denial, thinkin’ I could just call for help.

It finally starts hittin’ me then just how lost and alone she is fee-lin’. She knows I’m not gonna be helpful to her in a fight for a while. In her mind, she has to take care of me, but there is no one who can take care of her now. I don’t have the strength yet to beat another angel. “Yer right, I can’t call them. I get it. That doesn’t mean I’m leavin’ ya,” I say, not wantin’ to argue with her, but not lettin’ her think I will sell her out like that. No way.

“Do me a favor,” she says, holdin’ out her hand to me and I reach out immediately to take it in mine. “Do the research on a town. Just in case there is no reason to stay…if I’m dead, you won’t be selling me out and I want you to survive—I need you to survive. Okay, please?” she asks, squeezin’ my hand.

My throat closes up immediately and I have to look out the passenger side window.
There is no goin’ on without her,
I realize. But, I nod to her anyway, not trustin’ my voice to speak.

She squeezes my hand harder. “You have had to go on without me before. What do you do when I die first?” she asks me in a soft tone. “What did Leander do?”

“I do what I always do. I pick a fight I know I can’t win,” I say, lookin’ at the stars outside my window, feelin’ like I have a noose wrapped ‘round my neck, chokin’ me. Shootin’ pain courses up my back, and in a fraction of a second, my wings shoot out of my back again. Fear and sorrow are a lethal combination when it comes to wings, I’m learnin’ quickly, as I lurch forward into the dashboard in front of me. “SON OF A…” I shout, but I manage to stifle the rest of what I would have said at the last second.

Breathin’ in shallowly, tryin’ to get my lungs to decompress, I push my wings back with my hands, leanin’ against them more comfortably. “Damn. I left all the whiskey back at the gas station. I guess I’m just gonna have to settle for part two of gettin’ my wings back in,” I say, rubbin’ my forehead that had hit the windshield when I was brutally thrown forward.

Red immediately squares her shoulders and her tone changes from desperation to one of determination. “You are right, Hank. I am an ass kicker and we’re going to be all right. The first thing we are going to do, after we find our apartment, is figure out where we can train without raising suspicion. Then, we have to get creative. Maybe you can teach me some plays from your football handbook. Start thinking about anything that will give us an edge in a fight. We can download some movies, too, like Bruce Lee or sports clips like Mohammad Ali.”

“Ultimate fighter,” I chime in, thinkin’, “oh—Scarface.”

“Scarface?” she says, wrinklin’ her nose at me.

“We have to get weapons too and whatever we can’t get, I’ll make,” I say, thinkin’ strategically.

“What are you going to make?” she asks me with curiosity in her tone.

“Red, I have been makin’ weapons for thousands of years. Y’all would be surprised what ya can do with a sling and a little rock, especially now that yer stronger and quicker than before,” I reply.

“Well, Hank, we’re going to need every single trick you have up your sleeve. Our biggest issue is time. We have to buy time somehow. The more time we get to train and evolve, the better off we’re going to be. Time is going to make us or break us,” she murmurs in a contemplative way.

“Then, I believe it’s time to get me in the game. No more red-shirt bullshit. I’ll get started on it right away,” I say, makin’ mental lists of things I can make right away and things I’ll need to look for.

Red looks surprised for a second, like she wasn’t expectin’ that I would be much of an asset to her in the defensive strategy part of our life together. Pickin’ up her hand, I press it to my lips briefly and say, “I know you don’t understand this yet, but I’m not eighteen…I have had so many lives that some of what I know doesn’t even have translatable lexicon. My knowledge base keeps gettin’ broader, and the more I meander through my memories, the more I study them, the more I recall. I have infinite knowledge stored inside of me. It’s like your instincts, but my knowledge is conscious now.” Her eyes leave the road as she studies me as if she is seein’ me in a new light. “I
will
have your back, I just need to develop my strength and I’ll be an ass kicker too, trust me.”

“I trust you. You are my best friend,” she says without a hint of doubt.

“As you are mine, always,” I reply.

CHAPTER 9

Houghton

To say that the first few days in Houghton have been dark for Red would not be a very good description. It is more accurate to say that there has been a complete absence of light for her. She tries to hide it from me, doin’ all the things that need to be done to establish a new life, but there is absolutely no light in her. We arrive at our new apartment in the middle of the night, which turns out to be a good thing ‘cuz it is less disgustin’ in the dark than in the bright daylight. I doubt Red sees it that way ‘cuz her eyesight is fierce in the dark, but it is better for me.