Crimson Echo (8 page)

“You’re scaring me, stop this!
” I tried to make my voice sound rough, but instead it sounded meek.

“Keep quiet!” His voice was low and his teeth clenched.

“Please Kane,” I could feel the tears welling up behind my lids and the hysteria taking over my body. “Please.” 

“
Tristan, you need to listen to me. This is serious and I don’t have a lot of time. Do what I say and don’t ask any questions.”

“I’m listening. What is it?” I shuddered
, wiping the moister from my cheek.

“Everything you saw in the library,
everything I said, you need to forget it. Take your necklace off and hide it. Don’t wear it again until I can figure this out and don’t tell anyone anything!”

“Figure what out?”

“No questions!” His hands slammed against the wall on either side of my head. “Take it off!” The only thing I could concentrate on were his pink lips only inches away from mine and the cinder smell that swirled around me, making me light headed.

“Okay!” I shouted ba
ck. The panic started to make my knees quiver as I yanked the pendent from my neck. “Now what?”

He scribbled something down on a piece of notebook paper
, faster than I could read.

“This is my number, if you have any problems I’ll be there as quick as I can. Don’t talk to
any strangers on your way home. Don’t answer the door to anyone. Go home, lock the door and stay inside.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you into this. I think we should keep our distance for awhile. They’re after me, not you. Go on, get out of here. You can’t be seen with me.” With that he pushed me out into the hallway and locked the door behind me.

“Kane, you
can’t just say that and then shut me out!” I beat on the door. “Let me in!”

          
He wouldn’t unlock the door. I knocked until my palms were red. Everyone eyed me like I had just escaped from a mental institution. They all snickered and whispered as they watched me fight to get on the other side of the door. I busted half the blood vessels on the side of my hand and finally gave up and went to class.

           
It was torture sitting through forty five minutes of mind numbingly boring science lectures. I couldn’t focus for the large lump in my throat or the scenarios that replayed in my head. I tried to figure out on my own what could have upset Kane so bad, but I came up empty handed. All the while Mrs. Cruise droned on in her nasally voice about the life cycle of a frog. The subject didn’t interest me enough to take my mind off of the way Kane had acted.

         
I watched the second hand as it ticked closer to the twelve. It seemed like an eternity. I reminded myself of what Kane had said as I waited. I already had my back pack slung around my shoulder ten minutes before the bell rang. The folded up piece of paper Kane had written on was balled up in my fist.

          
Every few minutes or so, I would unfold and read it and then fold it back up again. I had it memorized long before the bell rang. When class was finally dismissed I rushed through the halls bumping into several people with reckless abandon. I knocked over a ninth grader and her books slid across the floor, I barely stopped long enough to apologize and then continued through the gymnasium on my way to the parking lot.

           I waited until the parking lot had thinned out enough that I could ma
ke sure I wasn’t being followed. I didn’t know if this was his way of telling me to leave him alone or if something bad really was going on. The only thing I was sure of was that since I’d met Kane nothing made sense. He was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, cloaked in secrecy. The black Range Rover still sat in its spot by the fountain and I felt my stomach churn as I passed by it. I wondered what he could have gotten himself into and how I played into the equation. 

            Once I pulled into the driveway I hurried up the steps and onto the porch. I was so nervous that I dropped my keys twice before I actually got the door to open. I was rattled and to top it off I was home alone. It was much too quiet when the house was empty. Every groan and crack the house made I jumped. I hid upstairs for a few hours working on my homework when I heard a beating on the door.

            I crept slowly down the staircase and peeked out of the side window, but I couldn’t see anyone. The beating became louder and I jumped as I pulled the curtains closed. I reached for the door and my hand trembled the whole time. The knob began to jiggle and my pulse increased. I pulled back and hid in the coat closet, like the coward that I am. The front door opened, slammed against the wall and creaked as it closed. I shuddered as the intruder’s loud footsteps searched the living room. The heavy padding of his feet got softer as he disappeared into the next room.

“I know you’re here!” He yelled in a rough voice.
“Come out!”

I
cupped my hand over my mouth and froze.

        
                                                     Chapter Four

                                                                     Gabe

            I felt my pockets, searching for my cell phone and then remembered I had left it upstairs on my bed. My heart pounded in my ears as I tried to figure out how I would get out of the house without being noticed by the intruder. His footsteps came down hard against the wood floors of the living room.

           
He was searching for me and I prayed he wouldn’t find me. I knew he wasn’t coming here to rob the place or he would have already sacked the joint. Was this what Kane was afraid of, I wondered. I pushed myself farther back into the coats until I was concealed by a mass of fleece, wool and fur.

          
I sighed a hushed breath of relief as I heard the footsteps grow more faint as he climbed the staircase and then as luck would have it a set of golf clubs in the corner of the closet came crashing out into the entry way. The tinkling of the irons echoed through the entire house and my breath hitched in my throat as I held back a scream.

            The footsteps came back and stood in front of the
opened closet door. He picked up the clubs and sat them carefully against the wall. I could see the man’s feet from where I hid. I cringed back even farther into the wall. The intruder’s breathing was heavy and his stance assured. My hand still cupped my mouth for fear of being heard now.

          
A hand reached in and pushed all of the jackets to the side and with his other hand yanked me from my hiding place. His face was worried and his eyes showed strain. His hands trembled as he held me out in front of him. He shook me and then pulled me into his chest and I could smell ember.

“Why didn’t you answer me?” He asked in a low tone.

I looked up at him and the tension left his face. I was too startled to answer him.

“You had me worried. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“You nearly had a heart attack? What about me? I thought a stranger was breaking into my house!” I yelled into his shirt.        

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. That was foolish on my part.” He stroked my hair. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“What happened to us staying away from each other?” I pulled away and stared at him. You had me worried sick!”

“I know I did, but I thought it was the only way. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you because of me.”
He grabbed my hands. “I need you to understand that.”

“I don’t understand any of it Kane.”

“Do you still have your necklace?” He asked, pulling his from around his neck.

“Yes, but why?” I pulled the moon pendant and chain from my back pocket and handed it to him.

            He took the two necklaces and snapped them together. They sparked again like they had in the library and fused together. The two pendants that were now one emitted a radiant golden yellow light. He put it around my neck and the glow dissipated.  His hand lingered at my collar bone and he smiled.

          
The places where his fingers traced left a burning sensation and gave me chills all at the same time. He said nothing, but his eyes were filled with so much more. Even through the smile he looked pained and I wanted nothing more than to take that pain away, if only I knew what caused it.

“Don’t take this off, no matter what. Got it?” He asked in a demanding tone.

I shook my head and dropped it down the collar of my shirt. “Are you going to tell me what all of this is about?”

He walked to the couch and patted the cushion beside him. I sat down and turned toward h
im, waiting for an explanation I wasn’t sure I would get.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” he started. “And I don’t think you’re ready for all of it. Knowing only puts you at risk, but I don’t like lying to you.”

“Okay, whatever it is, I’m sure we can figure it out.”

“It’s not that black and white Tristan.
It’s not something I can just divulge. Though if I told you maybe it would make everything easier… but it didn’t last time.” He mumbled to himself. I was sure he wasn’t talking to me anymore. He was arguing with himself now. “There are people after my family, people that want us dead.”

“Why do they want you dead?” I tried to keep my face smooth.

“That’s not important. What’s important is your safety and I’m afraid you being anywhere near me could put you in danger as well.” He shook his head. “I had to come back here and ex
plain things a little better than how I left them. I knew you would be too curious to leave things alone.”

“Give me some credit. I came straight home and I didn’t talk to anyone.” I felt my temper flaring.

His head jerked toward the door and a maddened look painted his expression. “I remember specifically telling you to lock the door. How could you have forgotten that?” He waited for an answer and frowned when I didn’t have one. “I don’t think you’re taking this as seriously as you should. This isn’t a game, Tristan.”

“You’ve sprung a lot on me all at once, do you think you could give me some time to process it all before you critique my reaction? How do I know this isn’t just some ploy to get me to stay away from you? If that’s what you wanted all you had to do was say so!”

“I would love nothing more than your company, but that’s not what this is about. I’m fearful that you being in my presence will be used against us.”

“Against you how?”

“These people aren’t good, they know that saving an innocent will come before all else. And we can’
t take the risk of having you around. Do you understand?” He sighed.

“Not entirely, no. But I have the feeling that’s the point.”

            He rose fluidly from the couch and stood by the window now, his shoulders hunched as he stared out into the sunset. “Time, it seems like such a silly thing. No matter how long you think you have to prepare for something or how hard you work at something it still ticks on. It’s never ending. So we wait it out until the moment comes and then we make our move.”

“I’m not following you.”

“Tristan,” he rushed to me, kneeling in the floor and held my hands in my lap. His ember scent swirled around me and I had to hold my breath to stay focused on what he said. “There may not be a threat, but I need you to stay away from me. I should never have come here, I can see that now.”

“But I don’t want to stay away from you.” My face showed all the horror I felt.

“I was afraid you would say that.” He hung his head.

“Do you have to leave?” I could feel it coming, the knife in my gut dragging its way around inside of me.

            I knew he was too good to be true. No one could be as perfect as he seemed. I wanted to run up to my room and cry. I wanted him to leave and never come back and at the same time I wanted him to stay and tell me everything would be alright. I felt the knife dig deeper. The butterflies he had once given me were now daggers.

“I don’t want to, but it may come to that. If these people who are after us are actually here
, we will do what we have to do to keep what is rightfully ours.” He brought my hand to his cheek and inhaled.

“What is it they are after? You’re still being very vague.”

“I’m afraid I can’t say. The less you know the better off you’ll be.” He looked up at me and his eyes sparkled with hope.

“Does this have anything to do with the lady in the cafeteria?”
I asked out of mild curiosity.

“What lady?” His body went rigid.

“There was a lady today in the cafeteria serving food. I could’ve sworn her eyes were black. She was trying to warn me about something.”

He moved so fast
I had to do a double take. He pulled me to my feet and held me until I regained my balance again. “This lady, what did she say? You have to remember everything exactly the way she said it, word for word.”