Common Ground (The Common Ground Trilogy Book 1) (32 page)

“Oh, don’t worry; you’ll know most of them! Right now it’s me, Damien, Hope, Sean, Emily, Tyler, Chase and the two random girls they invited,” she said, counting the names off on her fingers. “And, I know you guys still aren’t talking to each other, but we really want all three of you to come. It may be exactly what will fix things!”

“Three of us?” I asked.

“Yeah, you, Annie and Liam of course,” she said in surprise. “Who else would I be talking about?”

My fists clinched in rage at the mention of Liam’s name. It seemed to be a massive couples party and with Liam’s recent betrayal, it didn’t sound very fun to go and sit with Annie and Hope, being the three odd girls out.

“Um, I don’t really know. Annie and I are heading back to Seattle pretty soon after finals so we may not even be around,” I said offhandedly.

“Oh,” Steph responded, sounding disappointed. “Why don’t you and Annie talk about it and let me know as soon as you can. It’s only three weeks away and we’re trying to finalize numbers.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I exhaled.

“We should get going,” Steph finished, looking at her watch. “Our kitchen is empty, so we’re taking a quick trip to the store. You guys need anything?”

“No, we’re fine but thanks anyways. I’ll let Annie know you stopped by and we’ll talk about the trip,” I reassured her.

“Excellent! Hope, let’s rock and roll!” Steph said, giving me a small hug. She bounded towards the door and flew down the stairs.

“See ya,” Hope mumbled, walking past me.

“Are you alright?” I asked concernedly.

Hope just looked at me and smiled halfway. “Yeah, you know how it is with Steph. Can’t ever get a word in. We’ll talk later though. See ya Zoe.”

There was something strange in her appearance. She sounded eerily similar to the first time we met, nervous and quiet. I watched closely while Hope followed Steph down the stairs before I shut the door behind them.

I was almost positive that Annie would not want to go on the camping trip. She would be forced to watch other couples enjoy life after finals while Liam would be far away. Even though Hope and I would go solo, Annie’s attention would be focused on those who had what she wanted. These thoughts all raced through my mind while I headed towards my room to unpack my bags. When I passed Annie’s door, a small ray of sunshine come from the tiny crack the door left open and stung my eyes. I took a deep breath and pushed it open.

Annie was sitting, cross legged on her bed, holding one of her pillows. There was a box of tissues resting next to her, and her eyes were glued to the outside window. Her head snapped in my direction the moment the door creaked open.

“Oh, hey,” she sighed. Her eyes were red and raw again.

“I thought you were going to try and sleep,” I inquired.

“I was, but I heard Steph’s voice so I decided to hear what she had to say.”

There was no point trying to hide anything from Annie. If she heard Steph, then she already knew about the planned trip and who was invited.

“Look, Ann, with everything that is going on right now, the last think you need to worry about is going on some camping trip,” I started. “You’ve got finals to worry about and then we’ll need to pack for our trip home. If you don’t want to go, we don’t have to go.”

She studied me for a moment. There was no expressive look on her face and I couldn’t tell if she was angry or sad.

“I don’t know what I did,” she started to cry. Her sudden shift in emotion caught me completely off guard.

“Oh hon,” I said, sitting down next to her. I placed a reassuring arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. “You didn’t do anything. He’s just not good enough for you. He doesn’t deserve you!”

It felt good to finally say those words without fear of being ripped to pieces.

“I just don’t know what happened,” she said with a sniff. “One minute, we’re on the bed making out, the next minute he’s running out the door looking freaked. Maybe I’m too fat or ugly for him, that’s it. What was I thinking? A guy like that would never want to be with someone like me.”

“Ann, look at me,” I said sharply, handing her a tissue. Her red eyes met my warm face. “You are a beautiful girl. I’m not sure what happened but I guarantee you it wasn’t because you’re too ugly or too fat. You’re perfect and if he can’t see that, it’s his loss!”

She gave a weak smile and blew her nose. I knew that she would be okay and that it would just take time.

“We should go,”” she said suddenly. The tears had slowed with her breathing.

“We don’t have to,” I said slowly.

“No, we should. Who cares if he won’t be there? It’s the end of finals and we should celebrate!” she said while her voice started to sound more stable and normal.

“Okay, we can go, but if you change your mind, I won’t care,” I said reassuringly.

“Deal,” she said. “I think I’m going to really try and get some sleep now.”

“Okay, sleep well,” I said.

I started to walk towards the door when she stopped me.

“Zoe?” she said weakly.

I turned as she was climbing into her sheets.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For everything. I’ve been such a bitch to you and you were there with me every second. I don’t deserve you,” she said.

“It’s nothing,” I said. “You’d do the same for me.”

I gave her a soft smile and closed the door behind me. Even though it didn’t happen the way I expected, our friendship had finally started to get back where it used to be.

Before I knew it, night had fallen. Annie remained in her bedroom all afternoon and evening with the light in her room fading along with the sun. Most of my day was spent checking my email every minute for any possible reply from Professor Woodward, but with no success. The black mystery medallion was still resting on the desk, and I kept trying to figure out a way to get quicker answers.

There was a creepy darkness to the medallion and the more I looked at it, the more hypnotized I felt. Without even realizing where I was going, I picked it up and headed out of my bedroom. I didn’t feel tired at all and there was nothing else I wanted to do but keep studying the medallion more. I snuck my way out of the front door and took a seat on the top step of the staircase in case Annie woke up.

I couldn’t help but continue thinking that the coin had something to do with Common Ground. If mostly everyone I had grown close to, one way or another, on campus was part of it, it made sense that maybe the medallion was too. But who had sent it was the biggest mystery of all. While my mind ran through possibilities, the light above me started to flicker. After a minute, it turned off completely, leaving me alone in the dark. Just before I stood up to head inside, a startling voice came from behind me.

“I see you made it back safely,” a dark but resigned voice sighed.

I leaped up with a mix of surprise and anger, the medallion barely hanging on in my grasp. The sound of Liam’s voice brought back all of the rage that built inside. I spun around and saw a shadowy figure sitting on one of the rod iron bars. The whites of his eyes were the only visual sign he was there, but almost immediately, his figure started to become as clear as day to me.

“How dare you show up here,” I said angrily while I cautiously approached him.

“Zoe, relax before you do something you’ll regret. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I know exactly what I’m talking about,” I hissed. “Do you think I’m stupid? I’ve been spending the last three days thinking about what I’d do to you the next time we met. But now that you’re here, all I want is for you to leave and never bother either of us again.”

“I’m sorry,” he started, “I can’t do that.”

“Oh you can’t?” I replied, my voice gaining strength while I walked towards him. “Why don’t I help you leave then?”

At that moment, my hand opened up to slap him. Forgetting what was in it; the medallion fell quickly out and made a hard landing on the concrete floor below. I bent down and picked it up immediately.

“What is that?” he asked, as a dark shadow crossed his face.

For the first time since I’d known him, a real sense of fear was clear in his voice. There was no doubt in my mind he was a demon, and the fact he seemed to recognize the medallion confirmed that it was somehow part of the world of Common Ground, just like I feared. The anger I felt towards seeing him died away immediately, only to be replaced with an unquenchable thirst to find out the truth. Not thinking twice about it, I opened my palm.

“Can you explain this?” I asked, tossing the medallion directly at his chest.

He jumped back instantly and caught the coin like it was on fire. He looked at me and then flipped the coin over in his hands. The moment the image on the front of the coin reached his eyes, his face turned a ghostly white.

The darkness that had engulfed us disappeared while my eyes finally adjusted to the night. Everything around us slowly started to shine from a hidden light source. There was no moon in the sky, but yet I could see perfectly well. The dark staircase and Liam’s shadowy figure both gleamed softy in silver light.

Without warning, he grabbed my shoulders forcefully and pulled me close. The familiar scent of roses overtook me again but before I could get lost in his gaze, the coldness of his voice brought me back.

“Where did you get this?” he whispered curtly in my ear.

“It was on our doorstep when we got back today,” I said in a weak attempt at regaining my composure.

“Who sent it to you?” he demanded, still in a whisper.

“I, I don’t know,” I stuttered. The force of his voice and strength of his grasp had started to frighten me. “I thought it was you.”

“I didn’t send it,” he said. “Was there anything else with it? Who was it addressed to?”

“Do you know what this is?” I asked cautiously.

“I do,” he said softly, releasing me from his air tight grip. “But, you didn’t answer my questions.”

“But,” I started.

“Damnit Zoe, this is dangerously important. Answer the questions!” he said, still not raising his voice. It remained very strong and forceful, but quiet.

“Um,” I stuttered. “There wasn’t anything else with it, and the only thing on the box was Annie’s name.”

The coin fell from Liam’s hand and he stared at me with horror. Even though I didn’t know what he was talking about, the fear etched in his face told me enough.

“Liam, what’s going on?” I asked, barely able to get the words out.

“She’s been marked,” he whispered, not taking his eyes off of me.

“Who? Annie? Marked with what?” I asked.

“She’s been marked for death.”

Chapter 15: Secret Meetings

“Marked for death?” I gasped. “How do you know?”

Liam’s face looked nervous. He pulled me even closer to him and I felt strangely protected. His eyes squinted and he scanned the darkness that encompassed the cul-de-sac.

“We need to move,” he said quietly.

He grabbed my hand and quickly pulled me down the staircase and away from the apartment. I felt uncomfortable leaving Annie alone, knowing that she had been marked for death, but Liam appeared unconcerned while we crossed the street to campus. He didn’t slow down until we passed the Pit and a dark, empty and quiet campus surrounded us. Once we reached the Quad, Liam finally released my hand and took a step back.

“What’s going on Liam?” I asked quietly, not sure it was safe to speak normally yet.

“Is Annie alright?” he asked, ignoring my question.

“Yeah, she’s fine, she was sleeping when I left,” I responded. “Should we go and get her?”

Liam stood there for a moment looking around, studying the dark and deserted campus.

“No, she’ll be okay,” he said after a minute, in his normal voice. He then let out a huge sigh and relaxed his tense shoulders. Any fear or nerves he had minutes ago had dissipated completely. But, every second he looked more relaxed, I felt more anxious and irritated. Telling me Annie was marked for death without explanation was unacceptable.

“What the hell is going on?” I lashed out.

“We should walk,” he said, slowly starting to walk away. “Are you coming?”

My feet felt cemented into the ground. “I’m not going anywhere until you start giving me some answers!” I shot back.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Just come with me, you’ll get all the answers you want, but we should keep moving, it’s safer that way.”

My feet hesitantly started to move towards him and my body followed suit. When I came level to him, a friendly, not cocky smile spread across his face. It looked similar to his expressions at Thanksgiving, which had made me feel a little more comfortable. Feeling a little more at ease, we started to walk in the direction of Professor Woodward’s building, avoiding all the lit sidewalks.

“What is that medallion? How do you know what it means?” I asked, pointing to his pocket.

“How much do you know about Common Ground?” he asked. His eyes continued to alertly study the empty campus around us, but nobody was there.

“Liam, we’re not going to get far if you keep answering my questions with a follow up question,” I said frustrated.

“Humor me,” he smiled.

“Professor Woodward told me it’s the place where angels and demons live with humans,” I sighed.

“Okay, what else?”

“I remember something about the three rules. He told me about the connection that formed between humans, angels and demons because the rules were broken. I also remember him talking about the different philosophies between both sides,” I finished.

“Wow, Woodward really overloaded you, didn’t he?” he chuckled. “Did he tell you anything about what our main purpose is now?”

“Not really. All he told me was that when the rules were broken, some demons turned violent against everyone,” I trailed off.

The memory of Professor Woodward’s earlier warning sent shivers down my spine as we passed his building and continued on in the dark. I hadn’t forgotten the demon he’d told me about, or what he was known for. A part of me knew where Liam was going with his questions, but I couldn’t accept it. It was too depressing.

“So he told you about him?” he asked, his smile fading quickly.

I nodded. “He sent the medallion, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“But what is it?” I asked immediately. “Why did Annie get it?”

“This medallion” he said, pulling it from his pocket, “is Ignacious’ calling card so to speak. Every time he marks an angel or demon for death, he sends a medallion to their human to pass judgment. It’s a sick game to him and his followers, which he named the Brood. The human gets it, has no clue what it means, and before they can find out, they and their link are both dead.”

“This has to be a mistake,” I said, shaking my head feverishly.

“He doesn’t make mistakes,” Liam replied gravely. “Believe me, Annie was meant to get this.”

“BUT IT’S NOT POSSIBLE!”I bellowed.

Liam jumped back at my sudden outburst.  He stood there for a moment staring at me, looking concerned. He then turned and headed back towards the lit sidewalks next to the Pit, which I barely noticed had appeared to our left.

“Calm down,” he urged. “Just relax for a minute. Why isn’t it possible?”

I had to take a few deep breaths to calm down before I answered. “From what Professor Woodward told me about links, it’s not possible for someone like me to have a link,” I paused.

Liam’s eyebrows raised in anticipation.

“Yet,” I finished.

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks in an instant. Even under such dire circumstances, talking about my sexual relationships to Liam made to feel faint. He knew exactly what my comment meant, but continued to walk next to me in silence, looking deep in thought. I’d never seen him so tense.

After another second, he stopped suddenly.

“That only means one thing then,” he finally said. “Annie’s not your link.”

Without responding, I turned and started walking away from him. The one thing I wouldn’t accept was hearing Annie wasn’t mine to protect. I didn’t care what everyone thought they knew about the system, it wasn’t right.

“Where are you going?” Liam yelled after me, ignoring his earlier fear of being overheard.

“I’m done talking about this,” I said, not stopping.

“Will you wait a sec?” he asked, grabbing my elbow from behind. He spun me around and had both hands on my waist.

“What?” I snapped, unable to push myself away. 

On normal occasions, I would have been fighting to get away. But at that moment, under the dim street lamp that lit up the sidewalk, I found myself inexplicably drawn to his energy.

“Talk to me,” he said softly. “What’s the problem? Shouldn’t you be happy that it’s not you he’s targeting?”

“You just don’t get it do you?” I shot back. “I don’t care what you, Simi, Professor Woodward or anyone else thinks you know about Common Ground. Angels, demons and links mean nothing to me, you got it? Annie is my link, I know it. We have something that you couldn’t possibly understand, and to imply that I’m not supposed to be responsible for her safety shows how dense you really are.” 

Instead of looking angry, he stared back at me with empathy in his eyes. The anger that had exploded out of me was repressed the moment our glances interlocked. My legs got weak and my stomach began to tingle. Then, without warning, he pulled me close and pressed his smooth and cool lips against mine.

All of my repressed frustrations and confusion from everything that had happened to me since I got to school boiled over in that instant. For a moment, I returned his embrace passionately and any thoughts of medallions and death faded away. It wasn’t until Annie’s picture flashed in my mind when I pushed him away.

“What’s the matter?” he huffed.

“This was a mistake,” I panted. “I can’t do this to Annie.”

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this,” he said, stepping towards me. “Believe me; it was bound to happen eventually.”

“Liam, stop it,” I said, stepping back. “Annie’s in danger. We should be figuring out how to protect her, keep her safe.”

Something I said got through to him because he stopped dead in his tracks. His chin dropped into his chest and he stared at the ground. The entire situation had gotten out of control and Liam’s odd behavior wasn’t helping.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling agitated.

Without answering, he walked directly past me, away from the safety of the lights, into the dark field of grass that ran along Spartan Stream. I turned and looked for him but before I could see what happened, he was gone. I ran into the grass and looked in all directions with no luck. I was alone again.

“Liam!” I shouted. “You can’t just leave me like this!”

But again, there was no answer. He was gone and I was left alone to my racing thoughts. We had been walking for so long that I had lost track of time.

Defeated, but not tired, I headed home. The walk seemed to last a lifetime. No matter what Liam said, or did, I knew that Annie was my link and both our lives were in danger. The worst part was that I had no idea how to stop it. For a moment, all I wanted to do was scoop Annie up and fly away from all of the new problems that had sprouted, to get away from the insanity. Between the overwhelming information intake Professor Woodward and Liam had given me, I felt completely and utterly lost. To make matters worse, the tender kiss we shared made things even more complicated. The last thing I needed was for Annie to find out what had happened. If she did, there was no telling how much longer she’d survive.

Annie’s innocent body was sleeping peacefully in bed when I arrived back home. She was cuddled up to a pillow and her mouth was slightly agape, sleeping soundly. I sat down in her desk chair and watched her sleep. While the hours ticked away, my mind became more and more troubled. Even with Liam’s new and helpful explanations, the secret world of Common Ground was still hard to believe. My mind had accepted there was something different about me, but my heart just couldn’t accept being a part of such a powerful and different world. While I continued to sit there and watch her sleep, the emotional rollercoaster of our vacation started to catch up to me. I leaned my arm on her desk and softly rested my head on top of it. Slowly but surely, the comforting sound of Annie’s light snores filled the room which in turn helped my eyes start to close.

A crystal clear day was painted overhead when my eyes opened again. I gazed around and realized where I was standing. Seattle was scattered all around far below and I could see the rest of the Puget Sound area extend far off into the distance. There were a lot of people standing on the same platform as me, but they were all dressed in overcoats and scarves, not shorts and a tank top.

It took another minute of looking around before I finally saw them and it was exactly as I remembered. The younger me was standing at the edge of the platform, gripping a protective steel wired fence. She was gazing out in awe at the beautiful scenery while a gust of wind blew her long hair all about in the air.

“Annie! You have to come and see this!” young Zoe squealed, turning around to find her best friend.

I glanced over and saw young, teenage Annie, blond curls and all, standing as far away from the ledge as possible.

“I can see it all from here,” she said, her voice cracking nervously.

“Oh come on,” young Zoe pleaded. “It’s beautiful!”

“I’ve been up the Space Needle before Zoe. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“You’re crazy. There’s nothing like being up here with the fresh air,” young Zoe said, pushing away from the ledge and walking over to Annie.

I followed her and stood just feet away while the two of them found a bench and stared out at the perfect winter morning. Annie was bouncing her feet nervously and gripped the bench tightly through her fuzzy, cream colored mittens. Young Zoe sat next to her, looking cool, calm and collected.

“I don’t get you,” Annie said. “How can you not like the water but have no problem with heights?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged back. “My parents and I have traveled a lot so I’ve gone on a lot of airplanes. I guess I just like thrill of being up high.”

“You’re nuts,” Annie replied.

“I’m crazy, I know,” young Zoe replied, smiling. “Where did our parents go?”

“They’re around here somewhere,” Annie said, turning her head around.

I followed her lead and looked around too. At first, I didn’t see anything. There were a lot of people clumped together on top of the Space Needle and it was hard to differentiate between people. Then, I saw my father’s lanky frame towering above everyone around him. There they stood, my four parent figures all at once. Giving one final glance at my younger self and Annie, I headed over to the adults.

When I approached, I noticed something odd. The four of them weren’t talking cheerfully and loudly, but instead appeared to be having a secret meeting. They were standing closer towards the ledge of the Space Needle, huddled together. Their faint voices were almost impossible to hear, but the closer I got, the stronger they became.

“So, you’re still being watched?” Marie said to my mother. “Is it him?”

“It’s hard to say,” my mother replied. “We don’t think it’s him specifically. But he’s got spies everywhere. It could be anyone.”

“And you guys think they’re watching us now too?” Mark chimed in, looking around at the other people on top of the Space Needle.

“I’m sorry to say, but yes,” my father said calmly.

“Is Annie in danger too?” Marie asked nervously. “Do you guys think they’re connected?”

“It’s too early to know,” my mother said sternly. “Zoe doesn’t even know anything about this yet. Until Zoe gets exposed to our world, you won’t see any changes in her. But, it’s very possible that Annie may very well end up being her link someday.”