Rising (15 page)

         
“Goodnight,” I said.

         
“Goodnight.”

***

CLARA

         
I lay awake for
some time after hanging up with Gabe.
 
I
couldn’t help poring over the entire day in my head.
 
It went from good to great to
amazing
to downright depressing.
 
Somehow, I was able to slow my racing
thoughts.
 
I began to drift into that
place between dreams and awake.
 
As my
mind pushed Theresa
Miguez
away and pulled Gabe’s
face to mind, which was a very pleasant sight, I heard a slight noise at the
foot of my bed.
 
Thinking my silver tabby
cat, Misty, must have jumped up, I murmured to her in a fuzzy haze.

      
“Misty,
go to sleep.”

      
There
was no mewing response or tiny, soft footfalls leading to my pillow as usual.

      
“Misty?”

      
I
rolled over and looked at the foot of my bed.
 
A panicky flood of spine-tingling fear jolted through my body.
 
A black figure stood there, watching me.
 
Though the room was dark, this shadow was
darker.
 
I froze, utterly petrified.
 
My heart threatened to beat right out of my
skin.
 
It didn’t move, but continued to
watch me.
 
A faint smell of something
like burnt hair passed over me.
 
I
realized it wasn’t a transparent shadow at all, but as solid as I was.
 
It lifted an arm to point at me, and I
noticed the dim light from the curtained window glimmering on its scaly, black
skin.
 
I could not make out the features
of its face, but the eyes, those glaring, menacing yellow eyes bore through me.
 
It hated me.
 
I could see its aura.
 
It flowed
out over its entire body like a black sheet of powdery soot.
 
There was no transparent light at all like I
see around other people, but the substance of ash hovering all around this
shadow man.
 
Then, it spoke in a throaty
whisper.

      
“
Setti
.”

      
What
did this mean?
 
It continued to point at
me as if accusing me, damning me.
 
Of
what, I didn’t know.
 
A faint hiss slid
from its invisible mouth, making every hair on my body prickle.
 
Then, it took three quick strides toward the
wall and vanished through it.

      
I
still couldn’t move.
 
A cold sweat
dampened my skin.
 
What in the world had
I just seen? What did it say to me?
 
What
did it want? When my senses calmed and I realized it wasn’t coming back, I
fumbled on the bedside table for my iPhone.
 
It had been over an hour since I spoke to Gabe, but maybe he was still
up.
 
I let the phone ring until I got his
voicemail.
 
Remembering that he had
probably put his phone on vibrate or silent when I called him earlier, I put
the phone down, leaving no message.
 
What
was I going to say?
Good morning.
 
I know you just got up, but I wanted to let
you know that an evil entity stared at me from the end of my bed tonight and
I’m in fear for my life.
 
See you soon.
 
No, I’d tell him as soon as I saw him
tomorrow.

      
I
trembled at the dread of that thing I’d just seen coming back through my
wall.
 
It seemed like forever, but was
probably only a half an hour, then I finally crept from under the covers and
down the hallway.
 
There on the living
room sofa, I found what I needed—Misty.
 
She
was curled into a tight ball, sleeping soundly.
 
If only I could do the same.
 
She
purred softly in response, which I found more comforting than usual.
 

I tip-toed back down the hall and
stopped at my parents’ door, which was cracked open.
 
I had a sudden fear that the shadow man might
have gone into their room.
 
Very quietly,
I poked my head in the door.
 
There was
no shadow, no black aura anywhere.
 
Dad
slept on his side, wheezing slightly.
 
Mom slept on her back with one of those ridiculous satin, eye shields
like rich women wear on those stupid soap operas.
 
I still couldn’t get how the science geek and
the beauty queen ended up together.
 
Dad
always said he had dazzled her with his knowledge and intellect, but somehow
that didn’t make any sense to me, even as a joke.

I crept back down the hall and slipped
into bed, cuddling Misty to my chest.
 
Her purring increased.
 
I listened
to the rhythmic sound which lulled me into a safe place.
 
I didn’t remember falling asleep, but I was
relieved the next morning when pink sunlight shone throughout my room and I
didn’t remember having any dreams.
 
There
was only the stinging memory of that shadow man.

***

GABE

         
As
soon as Clara stepped off of her porch, I felt a wave of anxiety pour over
me.
 
The expression on her face matched
the emotion.
 
I instantly tensed.

         
“What’s
wrong?” I asked her when she belted in.

         
“Just
drive.
 
I’ll tell you.”

         
Her
appearance matched the angst-ridden emotions she was sending out.
 
Her face was paler than usual.
 
She left her hair down, which kept sliding
forward to hide her face as she stared into her lap.
 
At the first red light, she inhaled deeply
and looked up.
 
I still had the top down.
 
It was a cloudless, blue sky, which for any
other teenager would’ve brightened their day.
 
Clara wasn’t any other teenager, with nothing more than a Chemistry test
to worry about.
 
There was something more
on her mind.
  
I grew impatient.

         
“Well?”

         
She
paused for only a heartbeat.

         
“I
saw one of those creatures last night.”

         
“What?
 
In your dreams?”

         
“No.
 
It was standing at the end of my bed.”

         
“What!”

         
I
punched the brakes.
 
The car behind me
nearly slammed into the bumper.
 
It
veered around me, and I barely registered the driver cursing me and making a
vulgar gesture as he passed.
 
I pulled
along the side of Main Street.
 
I
couldn’t focus on the road and digest what she was saying at the same time.

         
“Say
that again,” I said gruffly.

         
“One
of those shadow men, the ones that come to me in the dream and no one sees them
but me.
 
It was there, in my room.”

         
“Okay,
do you mean you saw a shadow flicker at the foot of your bed and when you
looked, it was gone?”

         
I
was thinking how this had happened to me several times in the past few
weeks.
 
I’d figured it was stress,
causing me to see things when nothing was there. Maybe Clara was having the
same problem.

         
“No.
 
I heard something near my bed.
 
At first, I thought it was my cat, Misty, but
when I looked, it was that creature.
 
Oh,
God, Gabe it was horrifying.
 
It had
black, shiny skin.
 
And, it stared at me
as if it wanted to kill me.
 
Then, the
freakiest part was that it said some word to me that I’ve never heard before.”

         
“What
word?”

         
I
felt her fear spreading through me, mounting my own.
 
My heart sped up quickly.
 
It was her emotions causing this, not mine.

         
“It
said, ‘
Setti
.’
 
Do you know what that means?”

         
“No,
I’ve never heard it before either.
 
But,
you really actually heard it speak?”

         
“Do
you think I’m making this up?” she asked defensively.

         
I
heard her voice crack.
 
There were bags
under her eyes and her cheeks were even paler. I felt kind of insensitive, but
it was just so hard to wrap my head around this.

         
“I’m
sorry.
 
Of course, I don’t.
 
I just, I just can’t get over the fact that
this is happening.
 
I mean, what are
they?
 
What do they want?”

         
“I
don’t know,” she murmured, staring into her lap and twisting a loose strap from
her backpack around her finger.
 
“But,
it’s not good.”

         
There
was a sickening feeling stewing in my chest.
 
I realized it was Clara’s quickly increasing anxiety.
 
That gentle, fuzzy tranquil sensation that
I’d come to long for was nowhere to be found.
 
I took her hand and closed it in both of mine.

         
“Don’t
worry.
 
We’re going to figure this out,”
I assured her.
 

As I said the words, I truly meant it.
 
I pushed her anxiety away from me, thinking
only of how to soothe her.
 
Lifting her
chin with one hand, I leaned in and gently kissed her.
 
The growing adoration I had for her filled me
with hope.
 
I couldn’t help but wish that
she could feel this, too.
 
For the first
time in what seemed like forever, I pulled down that wall I always held tall
and strong; the barrier to prevent other emotions from coming in.
 
As I kissed her again, she inhaled sharply as
if she’d been shocked.
 
I pulled back
quickly.

“What happened?” I asked.

“What did you just do?”

“Uh, I thought it was kind of obvious.
 
I was kissing you.”

“No, Gabe,” she said seriously, “I felt a kind
of shock, like a vibration when you kissed me.”

“Wow, I didn’t know I had that kind of effect
on you, but what can I say.”

I know.
 
It was a bad joke, but I thought a little humor might help if my
affection didn’t have any effect on her.
 
I hadn’t realized that it had had more effect than I imagined.

“Gabe.
 
I’m being totally serious.
 
It
wasn’t like when you brush your feet on the carpet and shock someone.
 
It was, it was really,
really
strong.
 
That wasn’t
normal.”

I pulled back slowly.
 
I wasn’t sure what she was telling me, but I
knew the look on my face showed my shock.
 
I was at a loss for words.

“And your aura, it’s changed.
 
It looks like ropes, mostly purple and blue,
all tied together around you.”

I thought about what she’d said.
 
This was the first time I had pushed my
emotions out instead of walling my own in as I’d done my whole life.
 
I couldn’t imagine what that would mean if I
was able to force my energy onto Clara, or onto anyone else for that
matter.
 
What kind of power was I
releasing?
 
This was beyond weird.

“Your gift is changing, Gabe.”

When she said it, I knew it was true.
 
I felt it somewhere deep inside.
 
A slight vibration burned in my chest.
 
While the warmth of Clara’s kiss still hung
on my lips, I knew it was more than that.
 
It was like my power was willing me to draw it out again. I smiled
confidently, not knowing exactly what this meant, but knowing it was good.

As I maneuvered back onto Main Street and
shifted into high gear toward school, I grabbed her hand and held it
tightly.
 
She was still staring at me
with what seemed like awe.