The Crystal's Curse (25 page)

Once home, Helen parked the car in the garage. She checked on Sara who was upstairs in her room. Then she called Joseph. “The Watchers have lost contact with Erik. They believe that he disabled his locator because he suspects that someone is helping Lrence. He is probably watching your house, so make sure that neither you nor Joshua goes to Lrence. For the safety of everyone, Kafra insisted that Sam and Maria leave. They said to tell you goodbye and asked you to take care of Joshua.”

“What of Joshua’s treatments? Joseph asked.

“The brainwaves were stabilized this morning, so even if Erik scans him, it should be okay. He will need to come here to my house each morning so that I can take blood and urine samples, which I will pass on to Lrence and Kafra to test. If his levels suddenly drop then I will have Sara call him and ask him to come over in the evening so I can administer the serum. Their past relationship should provide the perfect cover.”

“How does Sara feel about that? Joshua tells me she isn’t speaking to him.”

“I haven’t told her yet, but I know that she will still want Joshua safe. She’ll do whatever she has to
do to protect him.” At least she hoped that were true. Sara walked into the front room just as Helen was finishing her conversation with Joseph. Putting the phone down and turning to Sara, she asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Mostly empty. At least I seem to be all cried out. Did I hear you say that Joshua will be coming here every morning?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?” She explained that there was a good chance Erik was here watching his house. “With Erik here we can’t chance his going to Lrence, and he still needs treatment.” When Sara didn’t answer, Helen went on,   “Remember you’re the one that begged me to help him.”

Sara shrugged. “No, it’s not a problem. I’ll just leave before he gets here.”

Helen shook her head and took her by the shoulders. “No, you won’t. The whole excuse for him coming here is to see you. You’ll need to ride to school with him or it’ll look strange. I hear that you refused to talk to him today, but you’re going to have to get over that. If he needs treatment, you have to be the one to contact him and ask him to come over so I can administer it. Unless you don’t care anymore if Erik kills him or he goes insane?” She said it brutally hoping to shake Sara out of the lethargy into which she had settled.

Sara colored. “Of course I still care. Fine, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Joshua safe.” She stalked out. Seeing Joshua every day would be agony. She wasn’t sure she could trust herself not to crawl back into the safe cocoon of his arms, but she knew if she did, it would only make it that much more difficult when he finally decided to move on.

Joshua wasn’t any more thrilled with the plan than Sara was when Joseph explained it to him. Not seeing her was difficult, but having to endure her rejection face to face, every day seemed impossible. Actually being killed by Erik or going crazy seemed like acceptable alternatives, if it didn’t mean putting his folks or Lrence in even more danger. Of course, Erik wouldn’t do him the favor of just killing him; he would more than likely torture him for information to retrieve the stone. Since he hadn’t been trained to withstand torture, it probably wouldn’t take much to break him. It seemed he had no choice. Going insane would be a dead giveaway as well.

Chapter Twenty-Six

When Joshua knocked on the door the next morning, Helen let him in. She told him Sara was still getting ready. After Helen had obtained the samples, Sara came downstairs.

Without looking at Joshua, she followed him to the car. He held the door as she got in. He didn’t try to touch her. Neither of them said anything on the ten
-minute trip to the campus. Almost the minute Joshua parked the car, Sara sprang out and proceeded to class. Joshua didn’t have a class for another hour so he went to the library to study for a test he had that day.

For the next three days, they followed the same routine. Sara didn’t come down until Joshua was ready to leave, and then they rode in silence to school. Once there, they separated to go to class. Joshua didn’t bother trying to meet her for lunch or walk her to class. After school, they each made their way home separately. Sara hadn’t looked at or spoken to Joshua since coming home from the hospital. Since Joshua’s levels remained high, there was no need for Sara to call him to come over in the evening.

When Rachel commented that Sara looked tired and had lost weight, she admitted that she hadn’t been sleeping well. She refused to talk about Joshua and if Rachel mentioned his name, Sara walked away.

Nathan confided to Rachel that Joshua was increasingly irritable and short-tempered. When Nathan had mentioned Sara’s name, Joshua had told him to shut up and slammed his fist into the locker.

On the fourth morning when Joshua parked the car as usual, Nathan and Rachel were waiting in the parking lot. Rachel stood next to the door on the driver’s side holding on to it so that Joshua would have to knock her down to leave.

Nathan position himself on the passenger side facing Sara.

Rachel looked at both of them. “You two still not talking?” When no one answered, she went on, “Oh for pete’s sake. Joshua, Sara broke up with you because she thinks that you’ll be better off without her.”

Sara looked horror stricken and screamed, “Rachel!”

Rachel refused to look at her. “She thinks that somehow it is her fault that Frank drugged her and that you’ll never be able to forget seeing her lying on his bed.”

Joshua looked
at Sara, who had her head down said, “What? How could you think that?”

Nathan chimed in speaking to Sara, “Joshua thinks that you blame him for not getting to the house sooner. He thinks it’s his fault.”

Now it was Sara turn to look at Joshua, “It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I’m the idiot that let him in.”

Rachel interrupted her. “The only person at fault here is Frank, and right now he’s winning. He set out to split you guys up.”

Joshua walked around Rachel to the other side of the car and stood in front of Sara. Nathan moved out of his way. With one finger, Joshua tilted Sara’s head up so that she had to look at him. “How could you think that I would be better off without you? These last few days have been the worst days of my life. Without you I’m miserable.”

She looked at him then. The disgust and pity that she had expected to see in his eyes were not there. She couldn’t believe it. He still loved her. Nothing had changed. When he put his arms around her, instead of resisting, she reached around him to hug him tight to her. With her face buried in his chest, she began to cry.

He held her, kissing the top of her head, her eyes, and her nose and telling her how much he loved her. Finally, their lips met.

Rachel decided it was time to leave. She came around the car and took hold of Nathan’s arm. “I think our work here is done”

Walking arm in arm to class, Nathan said, “You know what I love about you?”

“Besides my fabulous figure and quick wit?”

“While I adore both those things, it’s your ability to solve problems with simple logic and common sense that really astounds me.”

Rachel laughed snuggling closer to him, “You smooth talker.”

Joshua and Sara stood holding each other for several minutes. Then Joshua smiled and said, “Get in. It’s time we had some fun.”

She ducked back inside the car and when Joshua got in, she asked, “Are we ditching?”

He pulled out of the parking lot racing the engine, “Yes, I can’t let you leave and just go to class; I need to spend some time alone with you. We need a stress free day just the two of us.”

Erik watched the entire exchange between both couples. He had gotten out of the black car and stood near a light post in the parking lot so he could hear what was going on. Dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, he looked like any other student. Seeing them leave, Erik ran back to the car. He pulled out to follow. Joshua’s car slipped into traffic. For a moment, he couldn’t see it anywhere. Spying the silver Porsche turning left, he gunned the engine, staying several cars back.

Sara laughed catching Joshua’s enthusiasm, “Where are we going?”

“How about a drive and lunch in the country? We’ll just drive north until we come to a nice spot.”

“Sounds perfect.” She sat back in the seat and turned her head so that she could watch him, a smile on her face for the first time in a week. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. His dark hair blew in the breeze from the open window. Although there was a smile on his face, she could see the dark circles beneath his eyes. She realized that he hadn’t been sleeping any better than she had.

He reached over and caught her hand in his. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. Once they left the freeway, Joshua stopped and put down the top. He leaned in and kissed her for several minutes before starting up again. The black car parked in the shadows a block away.

They drove leisurely through the countryside enjoying the warmth of the sun. They stopped for lunch at a small inn situated next to a stream and bordered by tall trees. The hostess showed them to a table by a window that looked out on the stream. Sara ordered a Cobb salad and Joshua had a club sandwich. Holding hands across the table, they watched a squirrel scamper up a tree.

Erik watched as Joshua and Sara left the car and went into the restaurant. He called the station. Unable to get the answer he wanted, he disconnected, swore, and flung the communicator across the seat. He got out of the car, and entered the restaurant. It was small with only a few tables. Deciding that no matter where he sat, he would be able to see them, he let the hostess lead him to a table for two against the wall. Joshua had his back to him. Sara sat facing him, her eyes never leaving Joshua’s face. Erik wasn’t close enough to be able to overhear their conversation, but he decided that it didn’t matter. They were so engrossed in each other, that he doubted they would even notice him.

The waitress stood next to the table cutting off his view. “Have you decided, or do you need a few more minutes?”

He glanced at the menu. “I’ll have a roast beef sandwich and a cup of coffee.” When Joshua left school and headed out of town, Eric had hoped that he would lead him to his parents. Two days ago, he managed to bump into Joshua to scan him, so he knew that Joshua’s brain waves were normal. After searching the house where Joshua was staying, he’d gone on to search Sara’s house. He found nothing, no crystals, no portals, no trace of Joshua’s parents and no indication of an insurgent. Still, he was sure Joshua was the key. The only way Joshua’s parents could have escaped is with the help of an insurgent, someone who had access to and knew how to use a crystal. What Erik couldn’t figure out is why they were willing to expose themselves for this particular family.

After lunch, Joshua and Sara walked hand in hand alongside the stream until they reached a little clearing with a fallen log. They stopped there. Sara sat on the ground with her back propped up against the log watching the water cascade over the rocks. Joshua lay prone with his head in her lap content to watch her. When she ran her hand through his hair, he clasped it and brought it to his lips. She leaned down and kissed him. They hadn’t talked much. It seemed enough just to be together. It had been a perfect day.

When Joshua and Sara left the restaurant, Erik paid his check and returned to the car. As he waited for them to return, he made his decision. He was through waiting and hoping Joshua would lead him to his parents. Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen. He would have to take a more direct approach.

When the sun finally went behind the clouds and a breeze sprang up, they decided it was time to head back. Reaching the car, Joshua put the top back up. Relaxed and happy, Sara dozed once they hit the interstate. On the drive back, Joshua noticed a black car behind him. However, when he turned on to Sara‘s street, the black car drove on past. Joshua woke Sara when he pulled in front of her grandmother’s house.

Stretching she said, “You might as well come in, and see what the latest test results are before you go home. Although I would be willing to bet they haven’t changed.”

“Why is that?” He said with a smile, getting out of the car and walking her to the door.

She smiled up at him. “Somehow you’re just not looking very depressed.”

Joshua had his arm around her and they were both laughing when they walked into the living room. Helen was just coming out of the kitchen. She smiled when she saw Sara laughing again. When they asked about Joshua’s most recent test results, she replied, “Your levels are still high. Lrence thinks that they should have come down by now. He can’t explain it. We don’t have a base line for you so he is beginning to wonder if your levels haven’t always been above normal. As long as you aren’t experiencing any manic behavior, we’ll just continue to monitor you. By the way, Kafra said to tell you that your folks called to say hello. They’re having a great time playing tourist, but your mom has had a hard time keeping your dad out of the museums. She’s afraid they’ll run into too many old friends.”

Joshua chuckled. “Dad banned from the museums must be torture for him. I‘d better get home. Grandpa tends to worry lately if I‘m not there when he comes home.” Sara walked him to the door and he kissed her goodbye. “I’ll call you later.”

Joseph hearing Joshua whistling when he walked in the door, said. “I take it you two finally made up.”