Touched by Darkness (25 page)

advised, and he couldn't allow it to become a habit.

He got back to Zorro around ten and decided he'd

have a beer at Jim's Tavern. It was another good

place to hang out and possibly hear some useful

information. Besides, he needed some time to

digest all the food he'd eaten. The bar was

relatively busy for a Sunday night, with about ten

cars in the gravel parking lot behind the building.

Damien parked and got out of his car. He saw a

man and a woman standing beside an oversized,

king-cab pickup truck, but it looked like they were

just talking, and he didn't give them much thought.

He was headed around to the front when he heard

the woman's voice hitch up. The tone alerted him,

and he turned back. With a Belian loose in Zorro,

he had to be aware of any possibility. His super

human hearing made it easy enough for him to

eavesdrop.

"Matt, you're too drunk to drive," the woman said.

The voice was familiar—he'd heard it before. She

had her back to him, so he couldn't see her clearly.

"Let go of me," the man said, his words slurring.

He shook the woman's hand off his arm. "I didn't

ask for your company tonight."

"What's wrong with me joining you for a drink? I

shouldn't have to wait for an invitation from you."

A faint accent, a slightly husky voice... Luz. It was

the
curandera
who worked for Kara.

"And a man shouldn't be bothered when he just

wants to have a drink with the guys." The man

grabbed the door handle, tugged on it, but it didn't

open. "Son of a bitch!"

"It's locked," she said. "Let me drive you home."

"Leave me alone!"

"Give me the keys, Matt." She reached for his

pocket.

"Fuck you!" He shoved her, and she staggered

back. Damien started toward them.

"How dare you talk to me like that?" she hissed.

"¡Cabrón!"

She lunged at him, and he slapped her hard, the

sharp sound of the physical contact carrying across

the night air. The white haze descended around

Damien, throwing him into Sentinel fight/protect

mode. Power, and the instinctual need to protect

this female human, roared through him.

Luz let out a screech and drew back her fisted

hand. Damien was already there. He stepped

between her and the man who'd hit her. He

backhanded Matt, sent the man flying against the

truck. Matt slid down to the ground in a crumpled

heap. Reaching for control, Damien called upon the

Light to sweep the haze away, to focus on his vows

that he wouldn't harm innocents. Although he didn't

know how innocent a man who would hit a woman

could be.

"Jesús."
Luz knelt by Matt, ran her hands over him.

"He's never acted this way before, even drunk. It's

like he's possessed." She made the sign of the cross

over her chest.

Matt groaned, looked toward Damien, his eyes

unfocused.

"You have no business striking a woman," Damien

growled. "You want to pick a fight, you do it with

someone your own size. And next time, I won't be

so gentle." He turned his attention to Luz. "Are you

all right?"

"Soy bien."
She shoved her hand into Matt's coat

pocket, pulled out a set of keys. Rising, she faced

Damien, her attitude anything but grateful. "You

didn't need to interfere. I can take care of myself."

She glanced down at Matt, her expression

hardening, her eyes glittering fiercely in the

moonlight. "He will be sorry he treated me this

way,
el pendejo"
Pivoting, she threw the keys out

into the field behind the parking lot. "I don't want

him to kill himself or anyone else trying to get

home tonight. I want him alive so I can make him

pay."

She straightened her red coat, bent to retrieve her

purse off the ground. Without another word, she

stalked to a white Ford pickup truck, got in, and

drove away.

Damien stared after her, sensing barely restrained

fury and other emotions that had nothing to do with

healing. He also felt a flare of power. He

considered her words about Matt acting possessed.

Interesting.

He pulled out a small notebook, wrote down the

make, model, and license tag of Luz's truck, and

then did the same for Matt's vehicle. He watched

impassively while Matt struggled unsteadily to his

feet. Satisfied that, for now, the man was no danger

to anyone but perhaps himself, Damien headed for

the bar entrance.

He'd have that beer, and maybe pick up some new

tidbits of information, but he had already learned a

lot today—and tonight.

#

Alex didn't mind going to school, and he usually

liked Mondays, because he had his two favorite

subjects, math and art, on Monday. But he was

having trouble focusing today. He kept thinking

about stuff—the ghost on Wednesday, then going

into Mrs. Burgess's house and that awful feeling

inside it. Then there was all that neat stuff Mr.

Morgan was showing him.

He'd been thinking so much about the ghost and

Mr. Morgan, when he should have been doing

math, Mrs. Miller had given him a demerit, so now

he had to sit out two recess periods. He was glad

when the final bell rang.

As he gathered up his things, he did his shielding,

pleased he didn't even have to close his eyes to 'see'

the box. It was getting easier, and made him feel a

little bit safer. He walked over to Michael

Thornton's desk. "Hey Michael! Wanna walk out

with me?"

Michael was stuffing wadded papers into his

backpack. He was a little older than Alex—he'd

already turned seven—but he was small for his age,

and even skinnier than Alex. He looked up and

smiled shyly, his shaggy blond hair almost covering

his eyes. "Sure. I just gotta get my books."

He was Alex's best friend, and they played soccer

together and sometimes shared secrets—although

Alex hadn't told anyone about his powers—not

even about the ghost. Besides, Michael had lost his

dad earlier that year, and Alex figured ghost stuff

might upset him.

"Hurry up, Mikey," he said. "I don't want to miss

the bus."

"I'm ready." Michael grabbed his jacket, dragged

his backpack off his desk. The two boys lugged

their things out into the hallway.

"I've been practicing soccer in my back yard. My

mom got me one of those special nets," Alex said

as he followed his friend through the main entrance

to the covered area where the bus waited. "Hey,

maybe you can come over one day after school this

week, and we can practice together."

"Maybe," Michael replied, but he didn't look too

hopeful. "It depends on my mom. She's been kinda

sick since—" He stopped, looking stricken.

Alex felt a flare of sadness, and suddenly realized

he was sensing his friend's emotions. Way cool.

Maybe he could pick up more from Michael.

Concentrating, he thought of a pretend screen, like

Mr. Morgan had told him. He imagined a window

lowering—just a little bit—and stuff coming inside,

so he could 'listen'.

He felt it then, something bad. Something
really

bad. It was dark and scary and made him feel sick,

like he'd felt at Mrs. Burgess's house. He froze, fear

racing through him. What should he do? What

would Mr. Morgan want him to do? He thought

hard, remembering that Mr. Morgan said Sentinels

had to listen.

Trembling, Alex knew he had to try, 'cause he was

a Sentinel. Very carefully, he lowered his guards

and tried to listen.

"Hey Alex! What are you staring at?" Michael's

voice distracted him. "My mom's here. I gotta go."

"Okay. Bye." Alex looked around, trying to see if

there were any strangers or people who looked bad

hanging around. He didn't see any odd people, so

he tried to listen again. It hit him—a feeling so

scary, he dropped his backpack, and his books

spilled out. Panicking, he stooped and frantically

tried to cram his things back in.

He had the sudden sense of something dark coming

closer. Looking for something, looking for...
him.

Scrambling to his feet, he glanced around, but

everything seemed like a crazy blur.

The darkness moved toward him. He was terrified.

He wanted his mom. He wanted Mr. Morgan.

It was coming after him. And he didn't know what

to do.

Kara left examining room two and went to the sink

in the lab area to wash her hands before going to

the next patient. She felt a little more rested today.

Damien hadn't called yesterday, and she and Alex

had spent a quiet Sunday, going to church in the

morning, working in the yard through the

afternoon. They spent a nice evening watching
The

Incredibles,
which he loved. Something about the

superpowers the family members possessed really

appealed to him, and perhaps now he even

identified with them.

She wished Alex wasn't so enamored of being a

Sentinel. Yet, she had to wonder if his fascination

with his powers and with Damien was instinctual,

like birds migrating hundreds of miles to an

invisible lure. Two things Damien had said ran

through her mind:
Some of that is pre-patterned

before we 're born
...
Alex chose this. His soul had

free will, and came into this Earth plane, choosing

the path of a Sentinel.

"Dr. Kara, you have a phone call," Bonnie called

out from the reception area. "It's Luz, and she says

it's urgent."

Trepidation shot through Kara. She tried to repress

her alarm as she strode toward her office. But the

word
urgent
filled her with foreboding. That and

the fact she knew full well what a Belian was

capable of. She closed her office door, picked up

the receiver and engaged the line. "What is it,

Luz?"

"It's Alex." Panic laced Luz's husky voice. "He is

missing. I can't find him anywhere."

"What?" Kara braced herself against the desk, a

burst of fear jolting her heart. "What do you mean,

you can't find him?"

"I decided to pick him up at school today, so we

could run some errands. But when I got to the

school, he was not there."

"The bus. He must have taken the bus."

"No, he didn't. I thought the same, so I followed the

bus most of the route. He didn't get off at the house,

and I flagged the bus at the next stop. Alex wasn't

on it, and Mr. Meyers said he hadn't seen him. I

thought maybe he'd gotten a ride and I went back to

the house, but he is not here."

Suddenly unable to breathe, Kara pushed away

from the desk. "Maybe he went home with—"

"No!" Luz's voice rose. "I called everyone I could

think of—the Roberts, the Kirklands, the Libbys,

the—"

"The Thorntons. Michael's his best friend." Kara's

voice shook. "Did you call them?"

"
Sí.
Michael said Alex walked out with him, and

headed toward the bus. Michael said he didn't see

Alex after that, because he got in his mother's car

and they drove off."

"There's got to be an explanation. Maybe he went

home with someone else." Kara pressed a hand

against her mouth.

"I don't know who." Luz let out a little sob. "All I

know is my little man is missing, and I don't know

what to do."

Blood was everywhere, almost iridescent in the

flashing lights. Richard's body lay in a pool of it,

broken and bent like a rag doll carelessly thrown

aside. The Belian stalked toward Kara, its soulless

eyes radiating a malevolent darkness. She stepped

back, slipping in blood and almost falling. In a

moment, he would reach her, and it would be over...

Alex! Thoughts of her son snapped her back.

Surely the Belian hadn't found him.
Oh please,

God, no!

"Kara, are you there? What should I do?"

She battled back rising hysteria. Losing it now

wouldn't help Alex. She had to think. Damien. She

had to find Damien. "Call 9-1-1 and tell them Alex

is missing," she told Luz. "I'll meet you at the