Trapped (27 page)

“I’m sure he’ll be here as soon as he can,” she said, trying to cheer me up. “Are you hungry? I can run down to the caf
e
and get you something,” she stood
up, turning to get her wallet.

“No
Louisa
, thank you,
I’m fine. I’m just going to wait in my room, your right
, I’m sure he’ll be here any minute
now
,” I turned and walked back.

Two hours
passed since I first tried to call Hay
den.
Each time it was the same thing, straight to voicemail.
His battery must be dead.
I tried to rationalize this.
It
seemed so strange because
all week he has shown up
just after
breakfast but
the day I can g
o
home he’s a no show. I called Carlos
, hoping h
e might have heard from Hayden. H
e wasn’t in th
e city but I still hoped he might know
something
.

“Hello,” he answered.

“Carlos, it’s
me Nat, do you kn
ow where Hayden is?” I blurted.

“Natalie, calm down. I’m on my way, I’ll see you soon,” he said before he hung up
on me
. I am
so confuse
d now. How did Carlos know
that
I’m
being released
this morning and why i
s he coming to get me
instead of Hayden
?
When did he get here? Where i
s H
ayden?
I felt like screaming.

             
I paced the hall a
gain a
s I waited
for Carlos
to arrive
.
Louisa
look
ed worried about me
I could tell by the way she watched me
pace
. She
eventually
walked o
ver to me and began to pace beside
me.

“Natalie, I
’m not sure what’s going on
, but I do know you were given strict orders to rest, remember? I can call the doctor and tell
her that you’re not ready to go,
” she
said as she
stopped pacing and waited f
or me to respond. She’
s right.
I have
to hide my an
xiety in front of her. There is no way I’m
staying another night in this hospital. I would have taken a cab home if Ca
rl
os didn’t say
he’s coming to get me
. I smiled and turned
to
ward
her
.

“You’re
right
Louisa
, I will calm down.
I promise.
I’m just so excited to be going home and restarting my life
, finally
. I
just thought that Hayden would
ha
ve been here
this morning
.
I’m
sure I’ll see him soon
, he must just be working
. I’m sorry for getting all crazy, I’m
good really,” I tried to convince
her. She finally smiled and gave me
a
hug jus
t as Carlos snuck up behind me.

“Hi Sweetie
,” h
e greeted me excitedly. As soon as
Louisa
released me he had me in his arms, giving
me
such a big hug, he lifted me off the floor and twirled me around.
I loved his excitement.

“It’s so good seeing you up
, moving and awake. Y
ou were starting to get a little boring
Nat, just lyi
ng there
, all limp and stuff
,” he said laughing.

“I’ve missed you too
Carlos
, thanks for coming
to get me
,” I said as I reached for my bag. Carlos grabbed
it before I could
and gave
Louisa
a hug.

“Thanks so much for all your support and care of
our precious little
Natalie,” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulle
d out a card Hayden had asked him to
deliver
. I am well aware of
Hayden
’s
generosi
ty, I’m sure
there would
be
some type of gift
in it.

“Bye
Louisa
and thank you again for all your support and care
,” I said as she gave me
another hug.

“Take care and remember to rest. Oh and make that doctors appointment for next week,” she ordered as she walked down the hall
all business like, but I knew she just didn’t like good-byes
.

“I will
Louisa
,” I
said as I grabbed Carlos’ hand.

“So where is Hayden?” I asked, knowing he wouldn’t tell me.
He squeezed my hand and we
walked silently to his car.

             
I sat calmly, patiently
, as I waited
for him to start talking to me, but he didn’t. He started the car, turned on the radio and began to drive. I couldn’t handle
this. I just about
erupt
ed
when Carlos looked over at me and raised his finger to his lips, motioning me to be quiet. I scowled at him but he shook his head, mouthing the words “just wait”.
“
Fine,
”
I mouthed ba
ck. An uneasiness
about all this
began to make my stomach hurt
. I
leaned back and looked out the window as we drove. I eventually began to
recognize where we were, almost home
. I heaved a sigh of relief. I would see Hayden soon.

             
Carlos pulled in and parked in Hayden’s spot, not
the visitors, which meant Hayde
n wasn’t here. I felt hot tears begin to flood my eyes. I tried to s
top them from coming but this i
s no
t the homecoming I had planned.
Carlos
looked over at me and
saw my rising despair but decided t
o ignore it.

“Let’s get you settled,” he quickly said as h
e opened the car door and reache
d
for
my bag. I silently followed him up to the apartment. He unlocked the door and I walked in
behind him
.
I couldn’t handle this. I turned toward Carlos
and placed my arms around him
.
He held me close and kissed my forehead.

“Please tell me why Hayden isn’t here. Please tell me why he didn’t come to get me. Please tell me why he isn’t answering his phone or calling me,” I could feel the tears pouring down my cheeks but I didn’t care anymore. Carlos nodded as he put down my things. He reached for my hand as he led me to the couch.

“Natalie, I need you to take a deep breath and be the seeker I trained you to be. You can’t worry about
Hayden now, he is working. You should know that the a
ct
ivity in the city has
increased dramatically
since you were taken from us and we believe Stella and Beth are to blame
,” he paused, waiting for me to compose myself.

“
How is that possible?
” I wh
ispered.

“
With the help of a group of s
eekers
Clive sent over
we
have
discovered that a
number of
these new ghosts have an interesting
power
. They
are capable
o
f
conju
r
ing
up
curses. They have learned how to use these curses to send the livi
ng and the living dead into
re
a
lm
s similar to the one
you were in
. It seems this curse doesn’t work
on just any
one
though
. I
t has to be someone that is sensitive to their powers, someone that can sense them
almost as much as you can
.
Since it worked s
o well on you
,
they
have tried it on other
seekers, unfortunately with success
. It has
turned into
a war between us
and them
. Stella has
been rumored
to be teaching this technique to other
ghosts in her following. She needs
to be stopped so th
at is what we have been doing, i
n between one of us always being at the hospital to take care of you
, we have been fighting this battle
.
I didn’t want to leave for Argentina last week but I had to oversee a
large
delivery for Clive.

We were thrilled when Clive found
Louisa
, a fellow seeker to watch over you. She has b
een protecting you since we transferred you from
the hospital downtown, whic
h we couldn’t keep you safe
in
,” he paused again
, stood
and walked to the
kitchen.

I thought about
Louisa
. T
hat would explain why I never felt any ghosts in my room or down the ha
ll. She must have put her defens
es up. I
t’s her ward, just like Hayden i
s able to keep this apartment protected.

             
Carlos returned w
ith some snacks and water for me
. I ate a little the
n sat back, waiting for him to continue. I r
eally needed to know that Hayden is safe and will
be arriving
home
any time now, but something
told me this was
not
to be.

“Natalie, Hayden has taken this a step too far,” he said as he leaned over and held my hands
in his
again.
I stared at him, knowing this is the part I needed to hear but didn’t want too.

“He has
decided to
travel into Stella’s other realm
.
H
e
consciously
went into it. H
e need
ed t
o
find out how she managed to do this to the living
in order
to stop her. You know Hayden, he always has to go too far,” he said as though I should know this about him.
I always saw Hayden as completely in control, never careless.

“I don’t understand Carlos, what do you mean h
e always goes
too
far?” I asked regardless of
the real question
s I should be asking
right
now, like w
here he left his
body
and who is taking care of him?
Carlo
s
looked up at me
, looking nervous.

“Natalie, didn’t you know that Hayden had been
ordered to capture Adam and
to
leave you
alone
. It should have been
a
simple
job
for him
to accomplish, but because he knew
you in the past and he believes
the two of you have spent other lifetimes together
,
he couldn’t leave you
alone
. He co
nvinced Clive that you could be tamed. He convinced him that
you cou
ld be a S
eeker even though you were so unstable
. Hayden refused to capture
Adam
,
which would have saved us a lot of anguish
, as you know
. I’m sorry Natalie, but
it’
s the truth. Hayden wasn’t in
good standing when he brought you to Argentina
to meet us
. He is disobeying orders again by trying to satisfy his own curiosity about the realm you were in and how
you got there. Clive just wants
them
captur
ed,” Carlos seemed
frustrated as he released my hands and sat back
. I knew about Hayden hunting Adam but the idea
of us together in another life
sounded unreal.