The Legend of the Light Keeper (The Light Keeper Series Book 1) (11 page)

Just as I was about to walk home to plan my own night, Hunter made a suggestion. “Hey, why can’t we see if Lily can go?”

“Mom would never let me go camping with three guys, silly.”

Hunter motioned between the three of them. “Uh, we’re not just three guys; we’re family. We’re just two cousins and a soon-to-be brother.”

“Step-brother,” Talon and I both interjected. Owen rolled his eyes.

“Exactly, step-brother,” said Hunter. “Whatever. The point is —how can your mom refuse? We‘re family.” He had a point, but I still wasn’t convinced that Talon or Owen wanted me in the middle of their campout, and I was actually surprised that Hunter had suggested I come. Remembering that I needed to tell them about Alyssa made me wonder if I wanted to go. I needed to tell them soon, I just wasn’t sure how to explain it or what it meant.

“Would you care if I came along?” I asked them both. Talon smiled a devilish grin and Owen shrugged.

“I only have one request,” Talon said. I gave him a curious look. “You’re asking Cate.”

SURPRISINGLY, CONVINCING
MOM
wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Having Tom’s approval clearly helped. He said he didn’t see how it could hurt anything and why should I have to be left out?

I ran out to tell the guys. Talon was thrilled. Owen was not happy that Talon was thrilled and Hunter was just happy as usual that he had more time to pick on me. It was going to be a long night.

Since the guys wanted to head out before dark, we had to get ready right away. I wasn’t sure what to bring, so everyone made a few suggestions.

I brought my pillow and Tom loaned me a sleeping bag. Mom insisted that I take my phone in case I got scared, and Hunter suggested I bring my own toilet paper. I hadn’t thought of that.

Talon reminded me that I really didn’t need too much since I was just going two miles up the road. If I needed anything, he’d bring me home to get it. Owen said the same thing and I was surprised by his offer.

Granny made us a batch of brownies to take along for breakfast and packed us enough food and drinks for the night. We were all set.

I climbed on the bike with Talon and we rode out with the brothers, once again, taking the lead. Their four-wheelers were loaded with all of our stuff that we put inside the little shack. It would be safe there while we rode out to the hunting club for our night ride.

The sun was just setting when we got to the land that Hunter said belonged to the hunting club. We rode the trails for about an hour, and Talon took it easy. No big bumps or jumps, and he kept asking if I was okay. He was concerned about my fear of the dark, and he may have been a little frightened that I would see Shadows or the Ghost Light. The Light, and Alyssa, could come at any moment.

Guilt crept over me as I remembered how upset Talon had been about the night out with my cousins: that they had taken me out to find the Light and that I had been so scared. He was angry with me for not telling him. I had only held back the information so it wouldn’t ruin his trip. I also hadn’t told anyone about Alyssa. Not how I’d seen her in the Light or how the diary said she had powers. There had to be some importance there for Gram to leave me that book. I doubted it was a coincidence, not with my ability to see the Shadows. I couldn’t keep this to myself much longer, and every minute that passed with me not sharing, Talon would be more and more upset. Perhaps my cousins would be angry as well. They had every right to know if strange powers ran in our family.

After a few hours, we went back to the little shack to eat. While we snacked on hotdogs that Hunter cooked on a portable grill, the guys were planning something. They kept the details very vague in my presence, so they must have thought I wouldn’t approve, or maybe they weren’t going to include me.

“You bring the two-ways?” Owen asked Talon.

“Yeah, fully charged and spare batteries, just in case.” He took them out of his bag and tossed one to Owen.

“Why do you need those? Are we splitting up?” I was curious what they had in mind.

“Only if we need to, and only in pairs,” Talon said. “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of you. You’re stickin’ with me.” He winked.

“Why would we need to split up? What are we doing?” I asked.

“We might get some visitors,” Hunter said, before scarfing down his second hot dog.

“Visitors?”

“Yeah, light lookers. It’s Saturday night, Lily,” Owen said. “People still come around to see the Light. Of course, some just come out here to make out, but they’ll see it regardless.” They laughed.

“Yeah, they sure will,” Hunter said, patting the huge hunting spotlight next to him.

“Wait, you’re going to fake the Light?” I asked. “Why not let them see the real one?” Alyssa had been showing the Light to visitors for decades. I thought of her lingering there for all those years and felt sorry for her. I wondered just how many people had seen her face. Was that just me? Well, and my Gram.

“It doesn’t always come out when you want it to, Lily. Besides, this is more fun for us,” Hunter said.

I noticed the way he’d said
it
, but it wasn’t an
it
. The Light was Alyssa, a person, or at least her spirit. “What if the real Light comes when we’re out there goofing around? What if something bad happens?”

“Nothing bad is gonna happen,” Hunter assured. “Owen and I have done this before.”

“Yeah, lots of times,” Owen said. “But maybe you should stay here if you’re scared.”

“No, she can’t stay here,” said Talon. “She’s riding with me and she’ll be fine. I’m not leaving her here alone in the dark.”

I was scared. We’d have to hide from the visitors with no lights as they approached. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if the Shadows came for me then. Would the guys see them? I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort.

“You want me to take you home, Lily?” Talon asked. “I will if you want, but if you stay, I promise I won’t leave you alone.” My whole body tingled as he put his hand on my waist to hold me close. I felt safe in his arms. Suddenly the thought of darkness was pushed aside by other thoughts, and they didn’t seem bad at all.

“Are you sure it’s safe, though? What if someone tries to shoot at the Light or run it over? Someone could get hurt.” I wondered if that had ever crossed their minds. I couldn’t stand the thought of some fool running them down or shooting them by mistake.

“Nothing is going to happen. Live a little,” Hunter said. I didn’t want him thinking I was a chicken, and if I didn’t go, not only would I never hear the end of it, but I would miss spending time with Talon. I decided to let it drop and prayed that nothing terrible was going to happen.

We sat in silence for a while in front of our little grill, watching out for visitors who may or may not show. Owen played with his radio, Hunter wiped the front of his spotlight with his shirt and Talon sat next to me snapping a twig.

I reached down to tie my shoe but Talon brushed my hand away and did it for me. I leaned against his legs and looked up at the stars. He stared down at me, smiling and caressing my hair with his fingertips, until Owen coughed and he looked away. It was an obvious distraction by my new, overprotective and completely annoying cousin.

Night creatures chirped and the breeze picked up occasionally, stirring the trees. The wash of the wind was almost hypnotic as it blew across us. We had gotten so quiet and still that I was totally relaxed. So when Hunter suddenly jumped up and screamed “Yahtzee,” I just about leapt out of my skin.

The approaching headlights told me that he wasn’t talking about dice games. He quickly reached out and closed the lid to the little grill and it grew dark around us. The boys went into stealth mode as we crept to their ATVs and waited for the guests to pass. I stood next to Talon, not sure what to do, my eyes trying to focus in the dark, scared of what I might see.

“No regrets, Lily. It’ll be fun!” Hunter said, mounting his four-wheeler.

“Come on, Lily, we gotta move fast.” Talon scooted up on his seat and I climbed on back.

We rode out into the darkness, staying far enough behind the car so they wouldn’t see or hear us and we didn’t use our headlights. I kept my eyes closed and held onto Talon.

“They’ll turn around and we’ll get them on their way back,” Hunter yelled over the motors and then turned into the pipeline to wait. Everyone usually came back the way they entered, but they also took their time while trying to see the Light, and if they stopped to make out, it was no telling how long we’d have to wait.

“You take that side, we’ll take this one.” Hunter motioned to Talon to go across to the other side of the road where the pipeline continued its path. “Looks like we have to wait a while.”

Talon drove us to our side and parked pretty far off the path, so their headlights wouldn’t shine on us when and if they came back. We were still in a perfect line of sight with my cousins if we needed them, but it was too dark to see across the road.

As we waited, Talon kept his hands on my knees at his sides. I was getting tired so I laid my head on his back, eyes still closed, burying my face against him.

“Are you comfortable?” He seemed amused.

“Yes, I could go to sleep right here and now.” I yawned.

“You can’t, you’ll miss all the fun.” He peeked back over his shoulder at me. “Come here.” I let him guide me off of the bike to my feet as he slid back on the seat. He pulled me to him and I climbed on, facing him, my feet crossing his, my face pressed close to his chest. It felt nice to be in his arms, to be so close and feel his heat, to breathe in his scent. I pulled my legs up and over his thighs, drawing in even closer.

His touch was soft as he stroked my hair. Then he held my chin in his fingertips and brushed his thumb across my bottom lip. I ran my hand up his back, feeling his taut flesh and guiding him closer as he leaned in to bring his lips to mine. He kissed me softly, as if he was unsure how I would take it. Then he pulled back and rested his cheek against my head.

My face burned; I could feel the heat washing over me and my heart getting lighter, as if it had sprouted wings with tickly feathers that fluttered inside my chest. It beat so fast that I thought it might just bust out and fly away. I took a deep breath and pulled him back to me, kissing him harder, letting him know I wanted it. I wanted everything, anything, with him.

I had to try, I had to be with him no matter what my mom or his dad or anyone thought. I only hoped that he wanted it, too. That he would be willing to stand up to anything for me. I hoped this wasn’t just something that was in the moment, that he wouldn’t change his mind about us later.

I broke the kiss and brushed my lips against his neck before nuzzling back into his chest. I’d never kissed anyone this way. Certainly not my old boyfriend from the beach. We didn’t speak; Talon just held me and caressed my back softly. I turned my head to the side and gazed off into the darkness. And then I saw it.

Just out in front of me, there was a dark, flowing mass forming. It hovered there, its changing form making the night seem to swirl and thicken in a patch of shadows. As I screamed, a Light formed above us. It flashed so quickly that I was blinded for a second; spots cluttered my sight as I tried to focus, and then the Shadow was gone.

“What the hell?” Talon jumped in his seat. “What just happened?”

From across the road, Hunter cried out, “What was that?” He hit us with the spotlight. It took Owen all of a second to realize what was going on with us. Our position left nothing to the imagination. Hunter turned the light away.

“What the hell?” Owen said. Their light started dancing through the sky as they struggled over it.

“Lily, are you okay?” Talon rubbed my chilled arms as I tried to catch my breath.

“Did you see it?” I was shaking. It was dark again, and I was sure another Shadow would come for me at any time. Would the Light chase it off again? Was Alyssa with me now, watching over me?

“See what? I had my eyes closed when you screamed,” Talon said.

Hunter called from across the road. “Everything all right?”

Talon cupped his mouth and hollered back to them, “Yeah,” and then turned to me for an explanation.

“It was a Shadow. The Light—it was—you didn’t see it? It flashed and made the Shadow go away. Like before in my room and in the bathroom that day.” I wasn’t sure what to think. Talon hadn’t seen the Light that flashed so fast, but it was enough to scare the Shadows off.

“I never saw a thing.” He held me tight. In his voice I heard the doubt. He always doubted, though he wanted to believe.

I could hear the guys still arguing across the road and I was sure it had something to do with what Owen had seen. Hunter raised his voice and told his brother to “stay here.” At least I thought that was what he was saying, because before I knew it, Hunter was crossing the road without him or his four-wheeler. He had just about made it across when the headlights came on in the distance.

“It’s them!” Hunter screamed.

“Lily, you better get on back.” Talon pulled me away and scooted forward. We had to be ready.

We watched as the car came closer and cut its lights off again. They must have seen the lights: Hunter’s
and
Alyssa’s. The car was about 300 feet away when Hunter stepped out with his light ready. He turned it on, dim at first, and then put it up to full power. It got quiet and then all of a sudden the car’s engine revved. It took off speeding toward Hunter, who froze.

“Run, Hunter!” we screamed. Hunter turned off the light and darted off the road toward his four-wheeler. The car was approaching fast. It sped past us and then skidded to a stop about a hundred feet away. We took off down the road, further away from home and the little shack, and Owen led us to another trail where we hid. The car turned around and came back after us, but they couldn’t find us, so after several passes they gave up. We waited to make sure they were gone.

Owen pushed his four-wheeler up beside Hunter. “Those people were pretty pissed off, Brother,” he said.

“Yeah, I didn’t think I was gonna make it,” said Hunter. “I haven’t run that fast in ages.”

“I didn’t think anyone
could
run that fast,” Talon said, laughing, his hand resting on my knee again.

“I think it’s safe. They probably gave up,” Hunter said, starting up his four-wheeler. “Let’s get back to camp before that El Camino decides to come back.” They all laughed, but I was much too scared. It was too close a call for Hunter. I’d just met him and found out he was my cousin and I already knew I never wanted to lose him.

I was glad when we got back to the shack; back to the fire light and to safety. We were lucky we didn’t get caught or killed. The more I thought about it, the more upset I got. “Those people could have had guns,” I scolded. “You never know about people these days.”

“Oh, man,” Hunter said, giving me a wink and nudge. “Next time the baby girl here stays home.”

“I’m not a baby,” I said. “I was worried about you.”

Hunter’s expression changed. “Thanks, Lily,” he said. He opened the grill and rekindled the fire. “What was the screaming all about? Talon bite your lip or something?”