Redemption (Night Marchers #2) Written by: Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels (15 page)

His eye brows furrow together as he says,
"Emma, you ran away yet again! How do you expect me to react to
your every other day disappearing acts?"

"Ouch Tristan!" I say seriously cut by his
words. "I wasn't trying to
disappear
. I ran away yes, I
don't know how to process all of this." I make a huge circling
motion with my arms. "We keep fighting, I feel like everything is
all my fault and that I'm having to apologize all of the time
Tristan. There's just too much going on right now. I can't handle
it!"

Tristan's features soften a bit. "I know it's
a lot Emma, but I'm trying to help you and keep you safe at the
same time."

"Ha! You obviously aren't doing the best
job." Kao chimes in from behind me. I turn around to see Kao
staring smugly at Tristan with his hands crossed over his
chest.

Tristan's eyes lock onto him, his jaw
clenching in anger. He looks like he's just now noticing Kao's
presence. "And you are?" Tristan says in a disgusted tone.

"I'm the one who did keep her safe this time.
My name is Kao, it's a pleasure to meet you." Kao says cockily.

Tristan nearly knocks me over when he lunges
at Kao. I jump back in surprise and watch as Tristan punches Kao in
the face then pushes him to the ground. They end up in a jumbled
mess of flailing limbs on the forest floor. Tristan and Kao
matching each other blow for blow.

Kaylee and I both yell out in unison, "STOP!"
To our surprise they both comply, rolling away from one another. I
run over to Tristan who has the makings of a black eye forming. I
don't even look back at Kao. To be honest, I think he deserved
anything he got, goading Tristan like that. I grab Tristan's hand
and help him up from the ground.

"Seriously boys?" Kaylee says looking back
and forth from Tristan to Kao. "Let's play nice okay? He helped
Emma, we don't need to be pummeling Kao now even though his comment
certainly deserved a good WWF brawl."

"Oh yeah? He helped Emma before or after he
tried to kill her? Huh?" Tristan spurts out pissed off.

"After." I say a little incredulously. A
hysterical laugh bubbles up at the absurdity of the situation. I
break out in all out laughter as everyone turns to look at me like
I lost it.

Kaylee doesn't stare at me for long until she
breaks out in a full out cackle. "Yeah, it does sound pretty
ridiculous when you say it out loud."

Tristan and Kao don't join in though, they
continue giving each other the stink eye. I decide it's best to
just go ahead and pull Tristan to the side and explain what
happened to him privately. "Let's talk," I say grabbing Tristan and
pulling him towards the picnic bench away from Kaylee and Kao.

I eye Kaylee as we walk away, silently asking
her if she's okay with being alone with Kao. She nods back to
me.

We sit down across from each other on the
bench. I figure it's best to put a small bit of distance between
the two of us. I start in on telling him what happened. I tell him
every detail except how I truly felt when I saw Kai. I don't know
how to explain that to Tristan without hurting him. How do I tell a
man that bared his heart to me and told me that he loves me that I
may very well be in love with someone else? What I feel for Tristan
could be love, I care so deeply for him. What I feel for Kai seeps
deeper filling in all of the crevices of my broken heart. Just
seeing him again confirmed for me that what I feel for him is not
an infatuation or a simple crush. I felt something big and having
him torn away from me once again made my heart feel as if it had
collapsed in on itself. No, I can't explain that to Tristan right
now. I know that eventually I will have to, but right now I have
too much going on to go there. I will however place more distance
between us, at least until I sort everything out. I will not lead
Tristan on.

After I finish telling Tristan almost
everything he asks, "So he's coming after you? The man that took
your place?"

I nod carefully. "He doesn't want to Tristan,
but I don't think he can help himself. He expressed so much control
but it wasn't enough. For every move the curse made him make, he
countered it with his own desire not to harm me."

"Yeah, I get that Emma, but you have to stay
away from him. It's not safe." He says concerned.

"I know. That's why I also need to stay away
from Kaylee and you. I don't want you both to be in danger because
of me. I‘ll find a way to correct this." I say determined.

"Not a chance! We are in this together and
you will not run away." He says sternly.

I stare him down, hoping I can convince him
with my eyes to let me go, but he doesn't give. "What about Kaylee?
We need to keep her safe." I say.

"We can send her back to Texas." Tristan says
simply.

"Ha, no way!" Kaylee chimes in from behind
Tristan. I don't know how long she’s been standing there. "I'm not
leaving Emma."

"Kaylee, please. I just need to know you’re
safe. If you want to stay on the island we can get you a hotel
room." She doesn't let down her glare so I continue, "Or a room at
one of the resorts. You know, the ones with one of those fancy
spas. You can meet a nice cabana boy..." Her glare turns harder and
she throws her fisted hands on her hips. "Fine, but you have to
stay back!" I say defeated. It's funny how Kaylee can win an entire
argument without chiding in.

"Fine I‘ll stay back, after all you are the
superhero Emma." Kaylee chimes in happy that she won the argument
so quickly. There is, however, a slight hint of sarcasm in her
voice.

I look around and thankfully don't see Kao
anywhere nearby. I turn my glare towards Kaylee because of her
blurted out statement. I hadn't told Tristan about my healing
ability.

She covers her tracks quickly catching on to
why I was glaring at her. "I mean you obviously keep escaping these
crazed Night Marchers."

Tristan thankfully doesn't question her
declaration. He chides in, "Well, she may have escaped but she's
still not safe. We need to find a way to break the curse, and
quickly." He looks around and continues, "Speaking of crazed Night
Marchers, where is Kao?" He spits out Kao's name as if the word
tastes like bile on his tongue.

Kaylee looks behind her, "He said he had to
go. I'm not sure where he went."

"Well, hopefully he won't come back." Tristan
says.

I nod in agreement. We all lapse into a
moment of silence as the night's emotions catch up with us. During
that silence I hear an odd chain of noises not too far off in the
woods. The only way I can describe it is that it sounds like rocks
being clicked together in some sort of Morse code. Both Tristan and
Kaylee look around as well so I can tell that I'm not the only one
who is hearing the odd clicking.

"What do you think that is?" Kaylee asks a
little unsure and nervous.

"I'm not sure." Tristan says. He holds up his
index finger for a moment while straining his ears to try and hear
it better.

The clicking starts to intensify. "I think we
should go check it out," I say.

Tristan looks at me worried, "I’ll go check
it out. You two stay here."

"Absolutely not! We’re coming along." I say
stubbornly. When Tristan opens his mouth to argue I cut him off
saying, "It's just some clicking noises Tristan. I doubt any big
evil spirits are trying to lure us into the woods. Plus, we are
better off sticking together."

My last addition seems to satisfy him and he
gestures for us to head out in search of where the noise is coming
from. We start making our way into the woods. Tristan holds back
branches as Kaylee and I make our way forward through the overgrown
brush.

The clicking sound is not very consistent so
it's hard for us to get our bearings on which way to go. It's as if
the source of the clicking is getting tired at certain points and
then at other points there's a burst of energy and the clicking
intensifies. We continue walking, sometimes changing directions,
when one of us thinks we here it get louder.

"Wait." Tristan whispers holding up his hand.
We all stop walking at once and listen.

"It’s stopped." I say quietly. We stay silent
for what seems like several minutes and right as we are about to
turn around and try to make our way back to camp we hear a guttural
wail. The ground shakes ever so slightly as if the earth itself is
crying out. The cries sound like they are coming from a woman and
whoever it is must be in complete agony. With a sickening feeling
in my stomach I start running in the direction of the tormented
howls. I can hear Tristan and Kaylee struggling to keep up behind
me. Tree limbs scratch at my face, but I don't notice them much. My
mind is too focused on the gut wrenching cries emanating from
someone that is now only yards from me. I break out into a very
small clearing to find a Menehune leaning over something weeping so
hard that their whole body shakes in agony.

I hold my hand up to Tristan and Kaylee
asking them to stay back as I move into the clearing. When I
approach the Menehune she turns around. I gasp in shock. "Eve!"

The last time I saw Eve, Adam's wife, she was
walking me home sharing all of the town gossip. She was always so
full of spunk and character when I saw her. This Eve looks a
thousand times different. Her delicate frame looks haggard and
tired. Bags appear under her eyes and her light brown hair is
frayed all about around her face. Tears stream down her tiny cheeks
as she looks up at me.

"Emma..." She looks down again sniffling,
"He's...He's gone." She breaks down and falls to the floor, her
body so small and delicate like a doll.

That's when I see him. The world seems to
tilt on it's axis and an overwhelming feeling to either faint or
throw up overcomes me as I look at Adam's lifeless body lying on
the forest floor next to Eve's shaking torso. I run over to put my
arm around Eve. I feel like a giant touching her. I try my best to
focus only on her and not on Adam's vacant eyes and tattered body.
I had made a decision to try and not cry anymore but this is not a
moment that I can hold true to that decision. I weep with Eve. I
stay there by Eve for a long while, just hoping that by being near
her comforts her. I don’t ask questions and I don’t say a word. I
just let her cry and mourn her loss.

Eve sits up several minutes later just long
enough to pull two sticks out from her pocket. She hits them
together making a rhythmic clanking sound. When she finishes she
allows the sticks to fall from her hands, as if they were too heavy
for her to hold any longer. She then sinks back down and buries her
face in Adam's breathless chest. She cries silently and I sit
behind her stroking her back and her hair trying to provide a small
ounce of solace.

A moment later I hear some rustling in the
woods up ahead and I move in front of Eve ready to protect her from
whatever is coming. I see Tristan tense up from the corner of my
eyes. I hold my hand up stopping him from revealing himself as a
group of three Menehunes push through the limbs of the forest. They
stop in their tracks when they see Eve on the forest floor next to
a lifeless Adam. I see that one of the Menehunes is Paul, and the
other one I don’t recognize. Paul removes his hat and places it
over his heart in reverence.

I watch as Eve dries her eyes blinking back
the rogue tears that continue to try and escape. She sits up from
the forest floor and turns towards me. Her expression has changed
from that of agony and despair, to one of conviction and anger. I’m
a little startled by this sudden change, but I figure if that’s the
way she grieves, then more power to her.

“Paul, I need you and Tom to gather up Adam.”
She chokes slightly when she says his name. She musters up her
strength and continues. “I need you to take him back to the cave
and prepare his body. Right now, I have some unfinished business to
attend to.” She looks back down at Adam one last time and runs her
finger along his cheek then kisses the top of his head and squeezes
his hand gently. She closes his eyes making him look more peaceful.
She leans into Adams ear and speaks words only meant for him to
hear and then with restitute she stands. “Emma, I want to ask what
you’re doing out here, but I don’t have the strength. I need to go
and meet with the Elders to discuss what just took place. It seems
like I have some pieces to the puzzle, but some things just aren’t
clear as of yet. Regardless, we haven’t had a Menehune die in
several hundred years and this is not something we take lightly.”
Eve nervously rubs her hands together as she continues. “I would
like to meet with you tomorrow to discuss some things. With Kai
being…gone…I don’t have a human to help. We are in the midst of a
war brewing and I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.
You just might be the link we will need to be able to avenge Adam’s
death.”

I nod my head in acknowledgement even though
I'm not sure how I can possibly help or what Eve means by a war
brewing. Eve nods back at me satisfied that I‘ll help.

Paul steps forward to join the conversation.
“How can I help?” He asks Eve directly.

Eve rubs Paul’s shoulder. “I know this must
be hard for you too. Yes, he is, I mean
was
my husband, but
he was your friend as well.” Eve allows time for a short pause
before she continues. “I do want to ask you a favor though.
Tomorrow, will you bring Emma to the Āiwaiwa cave before dawn? We
have some things we need to discuss.” Eve reaches for my hand and
gives it a light squeeze before she turns away and heads into the
forest.

It kills me when my eyes catch Paul’s
depleted stance. He is barely standing and his head is hung low. I
can hear him inhaling through his nose and see him wiping moisture
from his eyes. “I’m so sorry Paul.” Is all the comfort I can come
up with. It’s hard to know what you should say in times like
this.