The Watchers (23 page)

I scoured the surrounding landscape, cursing
the trees and undergrowth which obscured my view. The growl sounded
again, closer this time. I stopped and listened to the sound,
trying to understand. It was as if the creature, or thing, was
snuffling through the undergrowth. I looked to my right where I
thought the noise was coming from and saw an inky darkness swell
slowly out of the trees. It undulated across the leaves like a very
big snake blackening whatever it touched. The darkness slowly moved
across the bed of leaves in my direction. The sound I heard, the
snuffling, sounded like a dog searching for a bone it had lost.
This thing was searching for something. I looked at Susan. Was it
her? Was it coming to finish her off? Was it the thing everyone had
been tracking?

Resolved, I tightened my grip on her knees.
The vision of Daniel protecting a thousand people flooded through
me, adding steel to my backbone. What would he say if I failed?
Would he think less of me? It wasn’t just what he would think that
had me determined. Susan deserved to live. Life was meant for
people like her. Not creatures like this thing. Not like me. This
thing, the darkness, whatever it was, wouldn’t stop me from saving
her. As I tightened my grip, my resolve to protect Susan warmed my
stomach and my necklace grew hot against my skin. Trying not to
react to the burning against my chest, or my fear of dropping
Susan, I looked down. My necklace was glowing with a light so
brilliant it was blinding. The warmth I felt carried over to the
warmth of the glow.

The darkness stopped. The growling started up
again like a furnace blasting into life. Whatever was inside the
darkness had sensed or seen the light of the necklace and didn’t
like it. Instinctively, I turned sideways, so the necklace was
facing the darkness then started sidestepping my way along the
path. The thing started alternating between whining and a growl at
my retreat. I walked faster. I didn’t know how long the necklace
would burn; I just knew I didn’t want to be around to find out what
happened when it stopped. I hurried away, my heart in my throat,
questions and fear dancing through my head.

Chapter 11

The problem with running away from a scary
blob of utter darkness when you’re carrying a hundred and fifteen
pound woman is that you have to stop. Often. And if you don’t stop
often, because adrenaline and fear are making you panic, you start
to operate on desperation alone. I was at my breaking point.

I stumbled on the slick leaves, almost
dropping Susan twice as I ran down the hill. I knew I was on the
right track from the rocks I had tucked into the trees, but that
hardly mattered. I just wanted to get away. My panic had put me in
fight or flight mode, and I was definitely fleeing.

As soon as the creature was out of sight, the
necklace stopped glowing, but I didn’t stop to worry about it. I
had bigger issues. Was it following me? I couldn’t hear anything,
but that meant nothing. My feet were creating so much noise that a
whole herd of horses could have been behind me, and I wouldn’t have
noticed. If it was following me, could I fight it off? My body
screamed ‘no!’

I did know one thing. Whatever was happening
was the explanation for what had happened to Ryan Holt and all
those animals. It was an explanation for Susan’s condition. Only,
it explained nothing. How did a scary blob of darkness kill
people?

I wasn’t far down the path when I heard a
different sound. It wasn’t growling, but it still scared the crap
out of me. It was the sound of metal tearing into metal, and it was
coming from the direction I had just fled. Rip! Screech! Tear!
Rip!

A terrible yell reached to the sky, a keening
sound of sorrow. I stopped, exhausted and terrified, the yell
tearing into my soul. I leaned against a tree, gasping for breath,
fighting against the fear. Tears welled up in my eyes. When I had
planned this rash act to find purpose, I hadn’t thought I would
find so much of it all at once. How could I compete with things
that didn’t make any sense? Should I turn back and make sure no one
else was in trouble? The tearing metallic sound abruptly cut off
then I heard a yell of rage. It roared across the mountain, echoing
back to me in triplicate. I shouldered the woman and scrambled
towards the car, more afraid of that human sound than the inhuman
growl. As I stumbled over unseen roots and rain slicked leaves, a
wickedly cold wind sprung up, bringing with it the smell of smoke
and a very disgusting stench; like something evil and dead was
being burnt. I choked on the smell.

A snapping noise and the sound of feet on the
leaves behind me made me freeze again. The blackness had caught up
with me. I couldn’t run anymore. I was too tired. This time the
necklace wasn’t glowing, protecting us from the darkness. I would
have to fight. I set the woman down behind a tree and covered her
with leaves. If I didn’t find help soon, she would die, but if I
didn’t fight off whatever was after us, she would die regardless.
Maybe, if whatever it was killed me first, it would lose interest
in Susan and the hunters could find her. I found a branch and
hoisted it, ready to die fighting. The sound of running got closer,
and I prepared to defend the two of us. Fear made me braver than I
felt.

“Get back!” I yelled.

The feet slowed, but didn’t stop.

“I mean it! Stay back!”

Daniel and Jackson appeared around a bend in
the trail. Their shirts were covered in silver liquid and their
faces were grim. I saw violence etched into their faces. When he
saw me, Daniel’s face changed from violent to surprise. Then he
switched to angry. “I told you to stay out of the forest,” he
said.

I felt a wave of relief and all my adrenaline
drained away. The slick stick dropped from my trembling hands.
Darkness tried to take me under so I could rest, but I resisted.
Daniel started to rush forward to help me, but I flinched at the
movement. What was he doing here? He stopped two feet away and
lowered his hands.

“You should have known better,” I told him.
“Hospital.” I pointed at Susan.

Daniel’s eyes flickered to her then back to
me, like he hadn’t noticed her lying there. Jackson went to her
without a word, his feet silent on the forest floor.

“You carried her down the mountain?” Daniel
asked incredulously.

“Yes. You didn’t have anything to do with
this right?”

“Of course not!” he said, his voice
indignant. His green eyes told me he was telling the truth.

“Good.” A swirl of dots appeared in front of
my eyes. “Daniel….”

“Yeah?” Daniel was watching Jackson check on
Susan. I saw the inky dark flashing against the green.

“I think I’m going to pass out now.”

I fell forward and felt him catch me before I
lost consciousness.

*

“She should be awake by now. Why isn’t she
awake?” I heard Daniel say in an agitated voice.

“She spent all of her energy carrying that
woman, son. She’s exhausted, and rightly so,” a warm, rich voice
answered soothingly. I felt calm just listening to it.

“I know that, Han. I just need to know she’s
okay, that the Nightstalker didn’t touch her. If it hurt
her…I’ll…I’ll…” I imagined him clenching his hands in rage as he
paced.

“She’s fine, Daniel,” I heard another voice
say. This voice was light and perfect, tinted with a British
accent. “She’s just resting.”

“Maybe we
should
take her to the hospital. They have
equipment there that we don’t have…”

I groaned and pushed away the peaceful sleep.
“God! You’re such a pain in the ass, Daniel! I’ll wake up when I
feel like it.”

I opened my eyes as I said it, the irritation
making me instantly alert. Above me was a very high, elegant,
ceiling decorated like pictures I’d seen of the Vatican in Rome. It
was unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. I instantly felt
attached to whoever’s hand it was that had created the painting.
Dark woods and expensive fixtures accentuated the elegance of the
ceiling.

I heard melodic laughter and a sigh of relief
at my words.

“You’re okay!” Daniel said in my ear.

I turned my head and saw him crouched down,
his face close to mine. “Am I?”

I looked down. I was lying on a large
comfortable sofa with an afghan thrown over my legs. The only thing
that was off about my appearance was my lack of jacket. As soon as
I thought of the jacket, I remembered Susan. “What happened to the
Ranger? Susan. Is she okay? Did I save her?”

“Yes, you saved her, although we’re going to
have a talk about that.” His face turned dangerous. I scowled back
at him, not sorry in the slightest. He relented after a moment,
seeing that I wanted an explanation. “After you passed out, Jackson
and I managed to get you both back to the road. We found some
hunters there who agreed to take the woman in their truck. I
figured it was faster than your mom’s station wagon. They wanted to
take you as well, but I didn’t know if that would be such a good
idea.”

“Why?”

He gave me a funny look. “Have you ever been
to the hospital? Even for a checkup?”

I frowned, thinking about it. “No.”

“Ellen was probably told your blood was
different,” the woman with the song-like voice said. “Which in your
case…might be true.”

I looked over for the owner of the voice and
saw two others just behind Daniel looking at me with smiles.

“Sorry,” Daniel apologized. “This is Beatrice
and Han, my parents.”

“Hi,” Unable to stop myself, feeling slightly
giddy, I added, “Han as in Han Solo? Do you have a Millennium
Falcon?”

Another round of laughter.

“And you made fun of me for liking science
fiction!” Daniel said indignantly.

“Well, it was funny,” I told him, sitting up
so that I wasn’t the invalid patient anymore.

I blinked to clear the dizziness then looked
around. Everything about the room was open and bright. The sofa I
was on sat perpendicular to a fireplace large enough for me to
stand in. Large windows and a sweeping view of the forest drew my
eye beyond the other sofa. I looked back, wondering if that view
would be mirrored on the opposite side of the house. It was even
more spectacular. The windows framed a view of a large clearing
backed by mountains. A small lake lay in the distance. Trees and
hedges were everywhere in a pattern of organized growth.

To my left were a small kitchen and a short
hallway with several doors. Beyond the hallway and kitchen was a
large foyer. The foyer framed a massive front door and contained a
set of stone stairs that curved around to the second floor. I
looked up again and noticed that the second and third floors were
exposed to the living room.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Clare,” Beatrice
said.

I looked at her shyly, instantly struck by
her beauty. She was the woman from the vision. Her auburn hair
framed her round face, and her smile was exactly as beautiful and
kind as I remembered. The man beside her was the one that had been
teaching Daniel the Periodic Table. His smile was kind, but even
more wonderful than I remembered. His brown eyes sparkled as if he
held the secret of life. They looked young, twenty five at most,
except for their ancient eyes, which was weird. They didn’t look
any older from the memories I had shared with Daniel.

“It’s nice to meet you, too. I’ve…” I didn’t
know how to finish. I hadn’t really ‘heard’ a lot about them except
that they were scientists and studied genetics, but I knew how much
Daniel loved them. I had seen all the wondrous and amazing things
they had done for him over the course of his life. I glanced at
Daniel, feeling awkward. How does a person convey that much emotion
to someone they’ve just met?

“Han, Beatrice, do you mind if Clare and I
talk alone for a minute?”

“Not at all, dear,” Beatrice answered. “We’ll
be in the tower if you need anything.” They disappeared down the
hall and through one of the many doors on the right.

We looked at each other for a moment when
they were gone then I put my head in my hands. I was tired, but it
was nothing like yesterday’s exhaustion. This was more
manageable.

“Can I get you something?” Daniel asked
anxiously.

“No. I’m just trying to think straight for
our argument.”

“Are we going to argue?” he asked with a hint
of laughter in his voice. I looked up at him in disbelief. “Point
taken,” he agreed, the laughter spreading to his eyes.

I groaned. “I don’t know where to start,
though. There’s so much, and I feel so…”

“Overwhelmed?”

“Yes,” I agreed.

He reached out and cupped his hand on my
cheek as if he had touched me that way forever.

“How about we start with the good things and
work our way to the…less pleasant ones.”

“Okay. The vision?” I questioned. “Or should
I say the ‘joining’?”

His eyes got hard, and he dropped his hand.
“Who told you it was called that?”

“Margaret. I…uh, I guess it was talking. I
talked to her this morning.”

“She let you share her thoughts?” he asked,
figuring out what I meant.

“Yes. Mainly, because she wanted to threaten
me with pain and suffering if I hurt you.” I could see him working
overtime to figure out what she had told me. “So, what is the
joining?” I asked.

He took a deep breath. His foot started a
slow beat on the floor. “It only happens to our kind when we
encounter the person we’re meant to be with.”

“We don’t have any choice in the matter?” I
asked.

“We do,” he said carefully. “There’s always a
choice.”

“You don’t sound certain,” I replied.

“Ever been in love?” he asked. I didn’t
reply. “You haven’t. I saw that much. It’s a hard choice. Matters
of the heart always are.”