The Watchers (31 page)

I thought about the man’s voice again. While
it had been slurred from the alcohol, the quality had been the
same. The way the voice had made the hair on my arms stand on end,
and the irrational fear and anger were the same. There was no
mistaking it.

I had to tell Daniel or someone from his
family. Was someone following us? Daniel said they were keeping an
eye on us; maybe, they had heard the voice as well. But had they
connected it to the man in the forest? Had they even shared the
memory? I picked up my necklace and looked out at the trees
flashing past.

Poor Amanda! Her father had caused Ryan
Holt’s death, and I knew for a fact he wanted me dead. What would
he do to his own child? A child, I bet, who reminded him of the
wife who had left him. A child he resented.

“I have to go home and finish my homework or
else I’d come in,” Alex said into the silence.

I looked up and blinked, startled to see we
were home. Her thoughts were less angry now as compassion and
helplessness for Amanda’s situation swirled around in her brain.
She had arrived at the same compassion I felt even though she
wasn’t aware of the true extent of his evil. I unbuckled my seat
belt. “Thanks for driving us.”

“Thanks for coming with me,” she replied.

I got out and waited for Ellen. Ellen stared
at Alex’s reflection, hesitating. “You don’t mind that your dad
asked me out to dinner this Friday, do you?” Ellen blurted out
finally.

Alex started laughing at the question and the
expression on Ellen’s face. It was so fretfully worried it was hard
not to laugh. It relieved some of the tension we had all been
feeling. “No, I don’t mind. Who do you think has been suggesting he
ask you out before some other guy got the idea?” Alex paused
realizing how that sounded. “I mean, he’s been really nervous about
it. He thinks the world of you, and I know he hasn’t really dated
anyone since…” She bit her lip. “He just doesn’t want to mess
anything up.”

Well, that makes two.
Ellen smiled and crawled out of the backseat.
“Thanks.”

“Sure.”

We waved and watched Alex barrel off down the
street like a bat out of hell.

As soon as she was gone all the bad feelings
fell down on me like Dorothy’s house fell into Oz. Knowing who the
human was the others were using to gather information and track me,
didn’t make me feel better; it made me feel worse. I knew Amanda, I
felt sorry for her; I empathized with her. Now, I had found out her
dad wanted me dead. I shivered. Ellen wrapped her arm around my
waist. “Your friends might have some answers to what we learned.
They might know how to deal with this.”

‘Deal’ sounded rather ominous, even coming
from her. There was no escaping what she meant.

My voice was fierce when I answered. “I don’t
want Amanda’s dad to get hurt. I don’t want him near me, but I
don’t want him hurt.”

“Why?”

I hesitated. I saw how much Daniel punished
himself. It was a constant thing. He had half hoped I would leave
when I had learned about the others tracking me, so he could
continue his self-inflicted punishment. It was why he was so
afraid. But, I would protect him. There had to be a solution to
this…somewhere. If I could just understand why they were tracking
me and why they were so interested in studying me, then I could
understand how to protect Daniel. There had to be another way
beyond killing Mr. Nichols and fighting with the Seekers. There had
to be…I just wasn’t seeing it.

Ellen was waiting for me to answer her.
Somehow, we had gotten inside and up the stairs. “What was the
question again?” I asked.

“Never mind,” Ellen said. “I think I know the
answer.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’m going to go upstairs and
pretend I don’t have a target painted on my back.”

“I guess I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
Ellen knew that when I retreated to my lair it meant I was in for
some heavy thinking, and I wouldn’t surface until I’d found some
answers. Before, my lairs had always consisted of deserted places
tucked away in buildings no one ever bothered with, but now I had a
place that was my very own. And it wasn’t trespassing.

“Kay,” I said.

She smiled at me and went into her bedroom
thinking she would run a bath and read a book. It calmed her when
she was worried. I didn’t want to tell her that a bath would do
little to calm what we had to worry about. But to each their
own…

I crossed the hall and shut my door, treading
heavily up the dark wooden stairs, wondering how much more of this
tension I could take. I felt like I had no control. I felt that
despite what I was learning about my life, and my role in this
world I had come to accept, nothing made any sense. Everything felt
flipped on its side.

I stood in the middle of my room for a moment
trying to decide what to do about my tension. If I sat up here and
dwelled on what I had just learned, I would get angry. If I got
angry, I might be tempted to do something stupid. Or I would be a
complete nervous wreck when Daniel arrived, which wouldn’t make our
time together fun. I needed some peace and that meant…the
usual.

I went to my window seat and started digging
through the books I had stacked around it. From the outside, the
books looked like a moat defending the window seat from
trespassers. I shifted the last book, but what I was after wasn’t
there. I dug around on the window seat itself, and was rewarded
when my fingers hit something plastic. I pulled my music player out
with a triumphant grunt, happy I hadn’t broke it like I had the
last one. I selected the song I wanted and instantly felt myself
relax.

Singing with the music, I took Daniel’s
jacket off and changed into a t-shirt and plaid pajama bottoms.
Once I was comfortable, I picked Daniel’s jacket back up and went
over to my bed to wait. I had a long evening and night to get
through, but I had music, and Daniel’s jacket, and a feeling of
expectation to keep me company. I hoped it would be enough to keep
the bad thoughts and the fear away. Maybe, this time, time would
cooperate with me.

*

Hands lightly brushed against my hair and
removed the ear buds from my ears. I woke with a start, wondering
what had happened and why it was dark outside. I pushed the hands
away in panic, Amanda’s father’s voice rushing into my head. His
voice had been in my dreams, haunting me through endless corridors
of darkness; the sort of darkness that was a direct result of
murder and fear.

“Shhhh!” Daniel whispered. “Your mom is still
up reading.”

I put a hand to my chest and took a deep
breath. He had come. A part of me had doubted he would. I looked
around the dark room for an answer to the oddness in which we were
seeing each other. “I must have fallen asleep.”

“Really?” He smiled. “I thought you were
snoring for another reason.”

I sat up. “I don’t snore,” I said
halfheartedly, knowing I did.

“Sure, you don’t…And horses are green.”

“Hey, man, I’ve seen The Wizard of Oz like
ten times. I’m pretty sure those horses were green.”

He chuckled quietly and sat down next to me.
“I’ve never seen anyone as happily unconscious as you just were
especially when listening to music that loud. It was kind of
hysterical.”

I made a face as I shifted to give him more
room. “Music helps me relax. The louder the better.”

“You were listening to one of my favorite
songs,” he admitted.

“You like Eric Clapton?”

“Yep.”

His eyes left mine and looked around the
room. We were silent for a moment, but it wasn’t an awkward
silence. It was the kind of silence I had come to expect when I was
around him – peaceful and familiar. Daniel tensed and his mood
shifted. When he spoke, he sounded worried and a little angry,
“Jackson said you went to Amanda’s house this afternoon.”

“I did,” I said.

“I thought we agreed: no more dangerous
stunts.”

“No, we agreed I wouldn’t go in the woods.
Besides, it wasn’t dangerous. Ellen and Alex were with me.”

“Do you realize how little that means? Do you
have any idea how easily I could kill them, kill you? Those Seekers
were out there distracting Beatrice and me. What if they have more
allies? Seekers or humans we can’t see? They could have overpowered
Jackson and taken you right then and there. We’re not your typical
human, but we do miss things. We have limits.”

“Yeah, well…” What could I say to that? “I
can’t live my life in a box. I had to be sure Amanda was okay. You
should know that I won’t let injustice stand, even if it means my
personal safety. And, at least we discovered who is working for
them.”

“Maybe.” Daniel shook his head. Even in the
dim light, I saw how upset he was. “It’s just…Something doesn’t
feel right. He might be working for them, but it doesn’t feel like
enough. I feel like…like…there’s something else.” Daniel’s
frustration spilled out as he hit the edge of the bed. “And I’m
missing it. I wish I could see everything! This stupid gift doesn’t
feel like one…”

I reached out to caress the side of his face.
“You’re not perfect.” He snorted in agreement. “I didn’t mean it
like that! Despite being an angel, you’re still human. We’re not
made to catch everything, see everything, we’re just made to do the
best we can with the tools we’ve been given. We’ll figure this
thing out, not because we’re half angel, but because we’re half
human, and our human half knows that when we miss something, or
mess up, we get right back up and try again.”

He looked at me and touched the hand that was
caressing his face. “For a tough talking girl, you sure can be
inspiring.”

“People are never just one thing,” I said
loftily.

His lips lifted into a boyish smile. “No,
they’re not.”

He took my hand and laced his fingers with
mine. His face became serious, and I knew something else was
bothering him beside my ‘dangerous stunt’. He was blocking me from
his thoughts, so I didn’t know what. “Clare, why did you really ask
me here?”

“What ever do you mean?”

“Don’t start that,” he said wearily.

“I’m not trying to seduce you, if that’s what
you think,” I said indignantly. “I just want you near. It’s hard
for me now. It’s hard to be separated from you. When you’re not
around, I feel like something is missing…I feel lonelier than I’ve
ever felt before.” I frowned at the words, which sounded so unlike
me. “You have no idea how hard that was for me to say.”

“I might,” he said. “You like me then,
huh?”

“A little bit. When you’re not being such a
superior, pretentious assh…”

He put a finger on my lips. “I love you.”

I felt my stomach drop. The way he said it
was so unlike him. There was fear and uncertainty. It had taken a
lot for him to admit it. I could see it. Daniel’s eyes told me I
didn’t have to say it back; he knew how hard the admission was. But
I wanted to. It would be lying not to say it.

“I love you back,” I whispered.

He grinned. “I’m glad.”

Feeling slightly overwhelmed, I leaned
against the headboard, turning my face away for him. He moved next
to me without a sound. I curled my knees to my chest and started
playing with my necklace again. “I have a question,” I said trying
to cover my awkwardness at admitting how much I really depended on
him.

“When don’t you have a question?”

“When I have answers. You said you could
sneak in here, and no one would ever know.”

“Right.”

I peeked over at him and saw his face
confusion. He didn’t get what I was aiming at.

“Have you? Snuck in here, I mean?”

I waited. When he didn’t answer, I peeked
over at him. His face was indignant. “I would never sneak in here
without your explicit permission. It’s ungentlemanly. Besides, what
would I do? Stand over you as you slept; creepily watch you from a
hole in the wall? That would feel too much like that movie…”

“Psycho?” I offered.

“Exactly!”

We started laughing.

“You definitely have permission provided you
stay away from rocking chairs,” I told him.

“Done.” He wrapped his arm around me, and I
snuggled in close.

“What…” I hesitated, not wanting to ruin the
moment but needing to ask. “What are we going to do about Amanda’s
dad?”

He took a deep breath and his face hardened.
“Tomorrow, I am going to go have a talk with him.”

“I’m coming.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Fine.”

He looked at me, incredulous. “You’re giving
up just like that?”

“Nope,” I said calmly.

“What does that mean?” He was fighting a
smile.

“I’ll just find another way to tag along. I
know where he lives, remember?”

“I could tie you up!” he threatened.

“That’s just not a polite thing to say to a
lady, Daniel, and even that wouldn’t stop me.”

“You are the most stubborn person I have ever
met. You know that, right?” he asked irritably.

“How on earth could I possibly know that?” I
retorted.

“Point made.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that I’m coming
along.”

“Is it so wrong that I don’t want you to get
hurt?”

“No, but if we are going to be a team like
you said we are, we actually have to act like a team. That means
dealing with dangerous things together and being completely honest
with one another about those things.”

He was silent as he thought about my words.
Finally, he said, “You’re right. It doesn’t take a genius to figure
out that if I try to smother you, even to protect you, you’ll just
push me away.”

“So…tomorrow?”

He nodded. “After school. I’m bringing
Jackson and Margaret.”

“The more the merrier when you’re checking up
on homicidal maniacs.”

He chuckled darkly. “I have a question,” he
said.