Trapped (5 page)

When Hayden returned, he
didn’t seem any happier. I could tell
he failed again last night
. I walked over to him quickly.

“Good Morning
Hayden
!” I said
as I wrap
ped
my arms
around his
waist. He tilted his head slightly and slanted
his eyes.

“Good Morning Natalie. Are you feel
ing alright?” he asked cautiously as he placed his hands
gently
on
my shoulders.

“I’m
okay. I
’m
feel
ing better today. Hayden, I
want to say
I’m
sorry for being so difficult. I appreciate your help
so much
, I really do.
Will
you forgive me?” I ask
ed
,
staring into his eyes. He smiled and pulled
me close
r to him
. I fe
lt
my body tremble
as he slowly kissed
me
, it has
been too long since I felt this
.

A
fter I dressed and ate
Hayden grabbed his keys and stared at me with a grin on his face.
I glanced at him as I put the dishes
away, wondering why he looked
at me like that.

“Are you going somewhere?”
I asked
curiously
. I walked over to him and
slid my hands slowly up from his waist to his
chest and rested them on his shoulders.
I didn’t want him to leave me today.

“We are
going somewhere
darling. I am going
to teach you to dri
ve today
like I promised
. I
know you’ll need to
know how
to
soon
enough,” he sm
iled as held me
close
.

“Really
, you’
re goi
ng to let me drive
your convertible
? No-
way!
”
I shriek
ed. This
seemed too
good to be true.
I needed a
distraction
and this would do
perfect
ly
.

“Of course I am
going to let you drive my car. I am taking
you out of town for a few hours
of lessons
. We’ll start slow
, we’ll go at you’re pace
. It’
ll be fun.
What do you think? Are you ready
for this
?”
he asked, already aware of my excitement.

“Wow, I’m speechless. Thank y
ou,
I think I’m
ready
to drive
. Just let me grab my coat.” I race
d
into the den and reached for my coat in
the closet. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of somethi
ng fall to the floor.
A
n old photo, black and white with frayed edges
lay on the rug
. I haven’t seen a picture like this in a
long time. Years ago
I used to love looking at my grandmothers old photos hanging on her walls. I couldn’t help but take a closer look
at this one.

A
young
man
and woman
appeared to be walking hand in hand down an old city street
.
As I looked at the
man, his
dark hair and
the
set of his shoulders, I re
alized the man in the picture i
s Hayden.
This must have been taken a few years be
fore he met Clive
, because he only seemed slightly younger than he is now
. I
was curious about the woman now. I
stared at the girl in the photo, intrigued
by how much she resembled the w
oman in the painting
hanging in Hayden’s bedroom. As I looked closer at her
a shiver went through me as i
t occurred to me that the woman
in the photo
looked
a lot like me.

I
quickly
placed
the photo
down
on the desk.
Ha
yden
will have to talk
t me
about this
later. I tried to shake off the eer
ie feeling as I looked back at it again.
I
t must just be a coincidence
, I thought
.
‘
I’m going drivin
g now
’, I smiled
as I
raced out to Hayden waiting
patiently by the door. He reached for my hand
as he led me out.

Once we reached the outskirts of town, Hayden gave the wheel over to me. We were on a back road and not a single car had driven by in the last ten minutes as
Hayden
gave me a quick lesson on steering and speed. I remembered driving my d
ad’s truck around our long driveway in the country
and on back roads
years ago
, during one of his crazy highs
.

I slowly crept on to the road and lightly pressed down on the gas. Hayden helped me for a few minutes
, until I felt comfortable with
the steering
wheel. He let me know if
I veered
too
far
over to the right or left
of the road
. I trembled with excitement
. His car steered
so smooth
ly
and
it’
s
so much ea
sier
than my father’s
old truck
.

I
t turned out to be
a
n amazing
day. We stopped at a
beachfront restaurant for dinner
once I felt
I needed a break from the road
. We held hands as
we walked along the beach. W
e were
a
new couple again
, without any secrets or pain
ful memories haunting us
. I
had to get close
r
to him
as we walked. I felt
desperate
to touch
him
. When he smiled at me I melted
,
just like I used too. I couldn’t look away fr
om his eyes when
he spoke to me. My enchantment
with him
consumed me. I w
ould
not let him out of my site
, now or ever, I told myself as I held his hand
. I believe
Hayden
felt the need to be close to me as well.
H
e always reached for
me
if I strayed too far ahead
.
I felt protected and safe
with him
.

We did
n’t talk about the job that would be
awaiting us ev
en though i
t lingered on the edges of our thought
s. The s
u
n began to set
as Hayden drove
back into the city. The
humid
air and warm breezes reminded me that
a storm would be arriving shortly
. I open
ed my eyes and looked
down the streets as we drove
back home.
I wouldn’t be
able to go out seeking alone until my brother and my
father wer
e
captured. I
t frightened me to imagine
what would happen if they met
up with each other
, in this
w
orld they both happened to be trapped in
.
Anxiety overcame me
, my heart
started to
bea
t faster and my hands began to
shake
. My senses seemed to be on high
alert.
I could hear
conversations as we drove pa
st people on the street. I
hear
d
sirens from the other
side of the city. I heard
the flurry
of spirits as we sped past them.
T
hey w
ere out there
waiting for me.

C
arlos
left a number of messages on my
cell phone
.
O
bviously
he’s
worried abo
ut me
. I kind of blew him off, which I feel horrible about
. While Hayden checked
his own mes
sages and made
calls I quietly
called Carlos
from the den
.

“Natalie? Where have you been
all day
? Are you okay?” he asked
before I could even say hello.

“I’m fine Carlos,
I’m sorry I didn’t answer your calls, I haven’t been in town.
I
’ve
recently
heard so
me unsettling news
. I think Hayden has to go out
again
tonight. Can we meet
somewhere
close to my place?”
I asked.

“Yes, that would be
good. I need to talk to you
too
. I have
more ‘unsettling
’ news for you,” he said cautiously
.

“Great, just what I need. I’ll call you back soon.” I hung up and
stretched out on the floor.
Looking up at the ceiling,
I wondered if I’m
still
safe here in this apartment.
Hayden had explained his defenses but I still didn’t know how to use them.
I needed
to know more about that.
As I tried
to remember exactly what he
had said,
he appeared,
standing over me.
He held his hands out to me, to help me up. I smiled and place
d my hands in his. He kissed me as I stood in front of him.

“
Did you fall?”
he asked smiling.

“No
,
I’m fine. Are you okay?”
I asked him, h
e seemed
distracted.

“No
not really
Natalie
. I have to go out
soon
. Clive
has
sent out a distress call. I really don’t want to leave you but I sti
ll don’t think it’s safe for you to go out
.”
I stopped him from continuing. I placed my finger on his li
ps.

“
I’ll be fine here tonight. I know what you have to do and who you are looking for. I
trust you. Don’t worry about me,
”
I didn’t want him to be thinking about me when he’s out there. He
nodded as he grabbed his coat. He looked
back at me
with his beautiful tired eyes as he tried to force a smile
. I began
to think he wasn’t just
worried about me but about us.

“Hayden, I love you,
”
I said before he had a chance to leave.
His face relaxed and he quickly held me i
n his arms
again
.
He kissed me deeply.

“I love you too,” he whispered, then turned and walked out.
As the door closed and I heard the elevator r
ise and fall, I knew the time had come to call Carlos and make my plans
.

“Hi Carlos,” I breathed heavily in to the phone, feeling nervous.

“Hi Nat, I
need you to meet me at the coffee
shop on your block. I am down
here now. I just
saw Hayden’s car go by. H
e will be late tonight
, I’m sure
. I’ll tell you
more
when I see you,” he said, the
n
hung up.

I quickly grabbed my keys and
jacket. I locked up an
d
headed for the elevator. I’m
so
nervous
after hearing from
Carlos
. H
e seemed too
serious
, not like his usual self
. I had hoped
that when he arrived we would be able to just have fun like we did in Ar
gentina. I knew that that wouldn’t
happen anytime soon
now
.