The Touch (Healer Series) (32 page)

    
It
wasn’t that long ago that you imparted some wise and useful advice on me, and I
can only hope that you will follow your own words for a second time. You told
me that we’ve all had bad things happen; that we’ve all experienced heartaches
that will be etched for the rest of our lives onto our hearts. While those
won’t go away, the new friends we make and the new love we find will serve as
the stitches that repair our souls and allow us to carry on.

    
You’ve
been my stitches, Helen, and I’m a better man because of you. I hope knowing me
is stitches for you, and that your heart will be stronger because of our
friendship.

    
Love,

           
AJ”

  
He folded the paper in half twice, tucking
the picture of him and Helen inside. She could put it in her album to look at
when she needed to remember.

  
He heard a car pull up and slam on the
brakes, skidding in the street. As he looked out the window, he saw Joseph’s
truck with a clearly inebriated Joseph stumbling out of it. Max had been out of
the yard and looked up at AJ’s window, willing him to stay put.

  
“Addie!” Joseph screamed, tripping himself on
the curb as he struggled to get into the yard. “Addie, get your ass out here!”
he yelled again.

  
AJ wanted to save her, wanted to run to her,
and if Joseph touched her he would. He had to hope that she could save herself
because running out there would give them away if Devin was snooping near.

  
“Addie, I’m telling you to get over here
woman!”

  
He had made it as far as Addie’s truck and
she stepped out from in front of the hood.

  
“Go home, Joseph!” she yelled. She was
shaking. Everything about today felt wrong, felt off. She couldn’t place it,
and she was scared. She felt her body begin to shake even more with every step
Joseph took.

  
“I’m not goin’ anywhere. You owe me.”

  
“Owe you what?” she hollered back, ready to
give him anything to make him leave. She couldn’t handle this today. It was all
too much for her to handle.

  
“Everything!
I took
you in when no one wanted you. I bought your food and everything else you ever
needed. You can’t get rid of me for some bum who thinks he’s so good-looking
and smart, who slinks his way into town!”

  
“You’re drunk, Joe,” she argued, her voice
changing to a pleading tone. “Please go. Please just go. I don’t want to do
this today.”

  
He took another step towards her, placing him
within reaching distance of her.

  
“I’m not goin’ anywhere,” he said, taking a
step as if he would go up into the house.

  
“Joseph!” she screamed, knowing she was no
match for him. She wouldn’t be able to stop him. For a moment she thought about
just letting him go in since she would be gone anyway. She was scared he would
do something stupid to seek revenge.

  
He lifted his hand as if he were about to
belt her and Addie turned her head and braced herself for the impact. Instead
of the burning and crushing sensation she was used to, she instead felt an
echoing in her eardrums as Matthew fired his shotgun into the air from his
porch. It reverberated through the air, forcing all attention on Matthew.

  
Matthew stood still, as tall as he could, the
gun pointing up in the air. He didn’t need to speak; the look on his face told
Joseph that if he took another step towards Addie or her home, the bastard
wouldn’t have the chance to again. And Joseph was smart enough to know that no
one would give a second thought about him, because they all loved Matthew.

  
Joseph screamed and threw the keys to his
truck as far as he could before realizing what he had just done. He stumbled
back to his truck, slammed the door, and took off in a swerving walk as fast as
he could back towards town. AJ made his way to the screen door and Matthew turned
to look at him. He nodded, and AJ nodded back before looking back towards
Addie. She was shaking, tears flowing from her eyes. She was trying to speak
although no words came out. She was losing it quickly and AJ had had enough. He
bolted through the door and over to her before she had a chance to object. Max
followed after him, surveying the area for any signs or sense of Devin, feeling
nothing.

  
AJ wrapped his arms around Addie and carried
her into the barn. He set her down and rubbed his hands along her arms, trying
to calm her down with the sound of his voice. If she was this upset over what
had just happened with Joseph, he couldn’t imagine what she would be like while
having to lure Devin into the woods. Or later that night when she learned that
AJ had given his life. The guilt set in even stronger than before, reaching to
the very bottom of his soul.

  
“Addie, Addie you’re not doing this,” he said
as Max came in with a blanket.

  
It was ninety degrees outside and Addie was
shivering. AJ wrapped it around her as Max went back to stand watch at the
door.
 

  
“This is done, you can’t do this anymore,” he
said, his voice more pleading than demanding. “You’re not going with us. You’re
staying with Matthew.”

  
“I have to,” she cried between her sobs. She
started to calm herself. “I want to do this.”

  
“Look at you!” he said. “This is too much for
you.
For anyone.
I can do this without you, Addie.
Stay here, stay with Matthew. Devin will follow me. He wants to hurt me. It
will work.”

  
“It won’t work!” she shouted back. “I need to
do this! I need to feel like what I do matters!”

  
He was starting to see that she needed to
feel as if everything in her life had led up to this. By her helping defeat
Devin, it all made sense. The reason Robert left, having to struggle alone –
she needed to believe it had all happened so that she would end up in this
moment at this time, performing a monumentally important task that would make a
difference – even if it was a silent, unknown difference to the rest of the
town.

  
He pulled her into a hug, her shivers fading
and her breathing returning to normal. He rocked back and forth with her and
because he couldn’t help himself, he lifted up her chin. He had nothing more to
lose; today would be his only chance to kiss her, to love her. It would be his
only opportunity to feel the love of another person wholly and completely.

  
He lowered his lips to hers, his hand moving
behind her head. She took a deep breath and dropped the blanket as she wrapped
her arms around his neck. They moved slowly, in unison, as if they’d been
kissing each other for years. As soon as it had started it was over, and AJ
stepped back. Addie was shocked, yet smiling.

  
“Remember that I love you Addie,” AJ said,
heading back towards the B&B.

  
“I love you, too,” she whispered after him.
Max looked back at her.

  
“See you in awhile. If things change Addie,
you call me. Don’t get hurt.”

  
He followed after AJ.

**************************************************

  
AJ didn’t believe that today would become a
war. He knew it would be a battle and that Devin would lose, although as far as
he could tell, Devin was a loner that no one cared about. He would destroy him
and the Healers throughout the world would continue with their jobs to keep the
world revolving.

  
He also knew that if he had chosen to survive
today, the tribunal of elders that oversaw the Healers would arrive sooner
rather than later to revoke from him his powers, having undoubtedly heard by
now that a human had seen him heal another. He wouldn’t have been scared to lose
his gift; he deserved it for breaking the rules. And he would have Addie to
love. Yet he knew he would feel scared throughout any life he had with Addie,
not being able to heal her if she were sick or hurt. He didn’t think he could
bear ever having to watch her go through what his mother did.

  
He returned to his room, packing up his
belongings and tucking them gently into his duffle bag. Everything was folded
neatly, less for the reason of needing to be folded and more because it took up
time and focus for AJ. It would be easier this way for Helen, not having to
clean up a room. She’d be able to simply remove his duffle bag and carry on. Or
so he hoped. He placed the letter to her on top and stepped out into the
hallway.

  
“You ready?” Max asked, meeting him there. He
saw the duffle sitting on the middle of the bed, the note on top, and looked
back at his friend. His heart was heavy about the next steps they would be
taking.

  
AJ nodded, taking a deep breath and moving
down the steps to the car. They’d be driving about an hour out of town to pick
up an elder who would be able to shield them, enabling them to stay close to
Addie as she led Devin into the woods and away from gossiping eyes. The others
would follow soon after, the elders shielding them as well.

  
The men pulled out of the driveway and AJ
looked at Addie’s house for what he knew would be the last time.

**************************************************

  
In the car, AJ flipped through one of the
many books Max had detailing their ancient history. He was searching for
something, perhaps a clue as to what he could do to defeat Devin. He again
studied the history, realizing he’d be taking another life. He wanted to know
what had happened so long ago to make Devin the Grim he had become. Maybe
knowing what trauma Devin might have suffered would allay some of the guilt AJ
felt in taking a life.

  
The Great War between the Healers and Grims
had brought a new focus on the rules and guidelines of the two groups. While
the clan of Grims that had staged the revolution went into hiding, the others
were forced to pay for the mistakes of the others.

  
As a result, the two groups were no longer
allowed to associate. Healers would remain skeptical throughout time that the
Grims always had ulterior motives. It wasn’t merely for the protection of the
Healers. It was for the balance of the world.

  
There was also a time of fear, as the Healers
were faced with two choices – watch the human population dwindle and die out as
the Grims had killed so many people, or give up their powers and join the human
race to repopulate the world. In the beginning of time, Healers lived
centuries, with very few giving up their powers to continue the race. One
Healer letting go of their gift could create an eternal bloodline of Healers, keeping
their race alive.

  
As these Healers let go of their powers to
repopulate, to their amazement, some of the Grims who had disagreed with the
revolution did the same. It was an attempt to restore trust in their kind. It
solidified a bond between the two groups, and also created a bloodline of
Grims. With the gift they held in their grasp, it was a recipe for disaster in
that eventually, there were bound to be Grims built partly of human genes and born
into chaotic situations. These Grims would be more easily swayed to the dark
side as they arose from frenzied social situations of neglect and disdain and
realized they could obtain retribution on mankind with their hands.

  
The world rebuilt and the two groups
continued to be leery of each other as they continued with their missions in
life. As the world experienced catastrophes like wars and famine, it was
evident that the disowned group of Grims had arisen from hiding for a time to
inflict such things; the Healers let it go as long as it was contained to prevent
another war.

20 A
World of Sacrifice

Addie
was pacing the floors of her living room, the harrowing grandfather clock in
the corner ticking away the seconds until she was to head into town to meet
Devin. She pondered what had happened an hour ago with AJ when he had kissed
her. Sure, she had been shaken and scared by Joseph. AJ had gone this far
without kissing her - and had always made it quite clear that he had no
intentions of giving up his gift to be together. She couldn’t fathom why, at
the last minute, he would change his mind and give in to what he was feeling.

  
Then it hit her. Just as she had realized why
his wounds were healed a couple days ago, she understood what the moment in the
barn was.

  
A goodbye.

  
She realized that he had no intention of
giving up his gift; he had no intention of coming back at all. He had told her
to remember he loved her. It was the only reason she could think of that he
would have kissed her after everything that had happened. She grabbed the
picnic basket off of the bench in the kitchen and ran to the door, more
determined than ever to ensure that AJ’s life was not lost.

  
She sped into town. Devin made his way there,
arriving just before her.

He
had been momentarily leery about the picnic the day before, questioning Addie’s
sudden change of heart. However, he weighed it against the interactions he’d
seen between her and AJ over the weeks and figured he’d seen her temper run hot
and cold at the drop of a hat. She could just as easily be angry and happy with
him on a daily basis, too. And if she was only using him to get back at AJ,
well that worked just fine for him as well because their goal would be the
same.

As
he arrived in town, he tried to block out the sounds and sense if AJ were near.
He felt nothing other than the faint sense AJ put out, which was normal. Devin
knew AJ was weaker and didn’t have the same control over his powers that the
Grim did.

Devin
figured the newbie didn’t know how to shield his powers either, as was evident
from their past interactions. The Grim let his guard down, fully convinced that
AJ was nowhere to be found and he could use Addie to enact his vengeance.

  
He watched as her truck pulled up. She spent
the drive repeating over and over that she could do this and everything would
be just fine. She wasn’t as scared as she was; she had found a new purpose in keeping
AJ alive. It wasn’t fear for her life anymore. She pulled up to the café and
parked, getting out and leaning against the battered side of her dusty old truck.
She waved Devin over and pointed in the window to the basket.

  
“You ready for a picnic?” she smiled, using
every ounce of strength she had to continue smiling and flirting. She needed to
keep him distracted and it was working.

  
“Sure am,” he replied, his black t-shirt
absorbing the heat of the summer day. His hair was slicked back and still
seemed scraggly and creepy; perhaps Addie just couldn’t stand the thought of
who he was, because days ago when he’d just been Devin she hadn’t been bothered
by him.

  
He opened her door for her and she was
careful to keep distance between them without being blatantly obvious she was
avoiding his touch. She looked around carefully and watched as he walked around
the truck to the passenger seat. She kept the picnic basket in between their
seats as a barrier. She had made sure it was the largest picnic basket she
could find in town.

  
“You mind if I run an errand first?” she
asked, heading over to the shop. Bob was there and gave Devin a menacing stare.
Bob hadn’t trusted the guy since Devin had touched him because it just felt
off. He got a bad feeling every time he saw the newest stranger to town and
only rented the house to him to keep him on the outskirts of where everyone
else lived. There were plenty of houses closer that Devin could move into, and
Bob wanted to avoid that.

  
“Hi Bob!” Addie said, popping out of the
truck after popping the hood. “How are ya?”

  
She continued in her usual chipper mood,
performing like she was a Hollywood starlet. She liked Bob. He was one of the
few that had ever been nice to her.

  
“Hey Addie, what can I do for you darlin’?”

  
“I need you to check my oil real quick.
Truck’s been making a crazy sound and while I would never admit it out loud if
someone asked me, I haven’t had the oil changed in about 15,000 miles.”

  
“Tell me you’re kidding,” Bob replied. “There’s
no way even a girl as ditzy at times as you would let that be true.”

  
She smiled coyly. “Ya can’t spend money you
don’t have, right?”

  
He shook his head, laughing. That is, until
he remembered she’d just been in last month.

  
“Addie, wait a minute – you were just here
last month,” he said, completely assured now that she really was loopy.

  
“No, I wasn’t,” she said, shaking her head
for being so stupid. Of course Bob would remember. There weren’t that many
vehicles to service around here. And if there was one thing Addie did well, it
was stand out.

  
“Yes, you were.” He wasn’t backing down.

  
Addie felt stuck. She had been trying to buy
time, ensuring the Healers were set before she brought Devin to the spot. She
miscalculated Bob’s memory. Trying to salvage her lie before Devin grew
suspicious,
she played the part Bob was alluding to.

  
“Aw, shit, you’re right Bob!” she said.
“Don’t worry about the oil. Can you just check and make sure everything’s tight
in there? I have a guest, and I don’t want the damn thing to break when we’re
out on our picnic. Be awfully rude to make my guest – my date – walk all the
way back from where we’re going!”

  
Bob shrugged his shoulders and bent over the front
of the truck, pushing and pulling on wires and hoses. When he was satisfied it
was all running perfectly, he closed the hood. Devin raised an eyebrow, the
hair on the back of his neck standing straight up. A lurking feeling crept up
on him, signaling that something wasn’t quite right.

  
“It all looks fine. Bring it back next week
and we can have AJ look at it. That kid’s a mechanical genius,” Bob retorted.

  
“Yeah, he’s something all right,” Addie said,
looking at Devin and rolling her eyes as if to suggest her complete dislike for
AJ. “Can you put it on my tab?”

  
“Pretty ladies don’t get a tab around here.
They only owe me some veggies when their crops come in.”

  
“Sounds like a fair trade,” she said with a
wink, walking back to the driver’s side. She could see Devin was growing
impatient, which was her intention. She wanted to give AJ a fair fight and any
amount of distraction she could rile up in Devin’s head she would use to their
advantage.

  
“Alright, you ready?” she asked with a smile.

  
Inside, her stomach turned with anxiety. She
wanted him out of her truck and as far away as possible. His very existence
made her skin crawl and she was thankful to only have today to deal with him.

  
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he said, his arm
against the window frame as the truck started to roll away. He looked at the
shops and buildings as they drove past on their way out of town. He could get
used to this.

**************************************************

  
They pulled onto a dirt road that twisted
through the trees and into the forest that surrounded the town. About a mile
down the road they came to a field that exposed the afternoon sun in all its
glory. Bright orange, it cast a light over the grass that seemed to make the
blades glittery. It was one of her favorite spots growing up, and one of her
favorite places to sit with Robert and relax. They’d come and have a picnic,
taking turns reading a book out loud or discussing their plans for the future.
It was where Addie went into labor; where Robert had picked her up and carried
her a quarter mile to the truck before speeding her off to the hospital.

  
She looked around as she opened her door and
got out. Devin noticed her look as the memories flowed through her. She had
obviously taken him somewhere special.

  
“Beautiful,” Devin said. “Is this one of your
so-called secret places?”

  
“It is,” she said, smiling because of the
memories and forgetting about the future for a moment.

  
Devin watched her, absorbed in the way she
stared out at something and could see so much more in it. He had heard around
town the rumors about her and knew she must not have had an easy life. It was
part of what made her such an easy target – her incessant need to feel loved.
He’d studied people like this while he was in school and knew exactly what to
do to manipulate them. It was how he had played with many of his victims, and
he was preying on Addie with the same mindset. If she would let him get close,
he thought, he could have some fun for awhile before it was time to close the
book on AJ.

  
As he looked at her, he felt a twinge in his
heart and he momentarily felt a surge of guilt run through his body. She
reminded him of the girlfriend he had lost. She had been stubborn and fierce as
well, although he recalled the moments when she would look out the window and
find the beauty in the everyday wonders of the world outside. He forced the
memory down, not wanting it to foil his intentions. Addie was not his
girlfriend; no one was. Addie was a pawn in a very thoughtful chess game.

  
Devin grabbed the picnic basket as Addie
grabbed the blanket, heading out into the field. She tried to imagine that
Robert was with her. She couldn’t think about AJ – it might give it away. She
was still unsure exactly what Devin could do with his mind and she didn’t want
to feed him any thoughts. He seemed to be comfortable with her. She watched him
to see any indications he thought something was going on. Her eyes continually
darting across the field raised a concern in the Grim’s mind and he set himself
on high alert.

  
She spread the blanket out as Devin watched,
slowly and very carefully smoothing out the wrinkles and allowing the blanket
to cover as wide a space as possible. She wanted to give them plenty of room.
She didn’t want to sit any closer to him than she had to.

  
Devin sat down on one side, placing the
picnic basket in the middle. He opened it up, the fresh scent of a home cooked
meal escaping from inside. Helen had made it for them at AJ’s request; he
wanted everything to seem as authentic as possible.

  
Addie forced herself to eat something,
putting a little of everything on her plate. She wasn’t hungry, and having to
down even small bites was wreaking havoc on her stomach. The smiles were
getting harder and harder to fake as she fought the urge to throw up with every
smile Devin threw at her.

  
Devin was watching her pick at her food,
wishing he could read her. Every time he went to touch her, she pulled away.
The way people talked about her, he wasn’t surprised; she was seen as a loner,
someone who wanted and needed no one. He was going to have to be patient and
work hard to get near her.

  
As he finished eating, Addie offered him a
glass of wine.

  
“I made it myself,” she said, smiling as
proudly as she could. “Grapes right from my little vineyard!”
 

  
It was true; she had made it the year before,
by hand, from the best crop of grapes she’d ever had. She felt ashamed to have
to waste it on such a lowlife. It was part of her ultimate plan – she had
slipped something inside of it before she left. From her grandmother’s
explanation, both Grims and Healers were part human. She figured if a human
could get drunk or drowsy, Devin could, too.
 

  
She wasn’t going down without a fight.

  
To keep it from being obvious, she poured
some in her own glass and drank it, sip by sip. If she was drowsy, it didn’t
matter. Her goal had been to get him there and throw him off. She would have
done her part and the rest would be up to AJ.

  
Devin watched her, seemingly enjoying herself
and relaxing. The wine was delicious, he thought. As he took his last drink,
Devin sat upright, snapping his head in the direction of the forest. He stood
up and in an instant had Addie in front of him, his arms around her, pinning
her to him.

  
“I can feel you,” he growled, scanning the
trees for AJ. “I know you’re there AJ! Are you here for your precious girl?
You’re a little late…I’ve already touched her!”