Ella Awakened (16 page)

“Are you
sure?  Because he’s really good,” Sarah was enjoying making Ella squirm.

“I’m
positive.”  By now Ella’s face was roughly the color of a fire engine.

“Suit
yourself.  Are you going to give me any juicy details about Burke?”

“No, no
details.”  Ella shook her head. 
You wouldn’t believe me anyway.

“Why not?”
Sarah whined.

“Because
though I love you very much and you are my best friend, you have a big mouth.”

“I do not!”
Sarah wailed and stuck out her bottom lip.

“Sarah,
telling you a secret is more productive and less expensive than putting an ad
in the paper.” Ella was trying – somewhat unsuccessfully - not to laugh.

“What a
horrible thing to say.  I just don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive
you.”  Sarah was indignant.

“What if I
buy you ice cream?” Ella tempted.

“Mint
chocolate chip?”  Sarah’s lower lip was still sticking out, but not quite as
far.

“Whatever kind
you want.”  Ella consoled her friend. 

“You’re
forgiven.”  Sarah smiled satisfactorily.

After they
finished their ice cream, they headed back to Ella’s apartment.  “I’m just
going to drop you off,” Sarah said.  “I have a wonderfully lazy professor for my
two remaining classes, and it’s basically self-study with a test online.  I
need to take a test.  He averages your ten highest test grades for your final
score.  I figure I need to take four tests a week, two for each class.  You
know how it is.  If you don’t make a plan and stick to it with this kind of
class, you quickly fall behind and then you’re screwed.”

“I know
you’re finishing up your psychology minor, but what are you taking and what did
you drop?”

“I dropped
Abnormal Psych because he wanted a twenty page paper.  Not to mention he took
five points off your final average if you missed a class.  Come on now, it
is
summertime.  I’m still taking Theories of Personality and Physiological Psych.”

“So you’ll
still have to pick up one more class for your minor later on?”

“Yes, but
it’s no big deal.  I think I’ll see if this professor is offering anything next
semester.  He’s so into his own research he doesn’t spend a lot of classroom
time with the undergrads.  Some people hate it because his test questions are
so challenging, but the tests are open book and you do it on your own time. 
It’s working out for me anyway.  I’ve been able to work more hours at the store
and spend more time doing things you don’t want to hear about with your
cousin.”

“Enough of that
talk!  You have been warned.” Ella teased as they pulled into the parking lot
at her apartment.  “Let’s meet here at six-thirty then we can decide where we
want to go for dinner before the movie.”

“Sounds
good, I’ll see you later.”  Sarah waved as she drove away.

~~

It was still
early, just after two o’clock.  Ella felt a little guilty about giving up on
the throwing knives that morning, so she thought she would head over to Burke’s
house to practice and just shower and dress over there for their date tonight. 
She went into the apartment, got the capris and shoes she wanted to wear with
her new shirt, then grabbed a clean bra, matching panties, and her make-up bag
and curling iron.  On her way down to her car she called Burke.  She thought he
would be busy and had planned on leaving him a message, so she was surprised
when he actually answered.

“Hi,” she
said. “I had planned on leaving you a message saying that I’m going to your
house to practice for a few hours.  I thought you would be in the middle of the
autopsy.”

“I was just
taking a break.  Carl came in to help me.  The police got a confession anyway. 
Now we’re just putting together all of our notes for our official report.”

“So the guy
just walked in and confessed?”

“He was
actually one of the campers.  Three couples had gone camping together.  They
were all under twenty-one, but they had liquor.  Apparently after Danny
realized he’d killed his girlfriend, he went back to the campsite and just sat
down.  He wouldn’t say anything.  One of the other couples headed off in the
direction Danny had come from and they eventually found the body.  Danny is in
custody.  The other four are being charged with underage drinking, and they’ll
be testifying in court.”

“I guess you
see this kind of thing all of the time don’t you?” 
No wonder he’s so
paranoid.

“I do, but
you never really get used to it.  She was only seventeen years old.  Her
parents came in about an hour ago to identify her.  Her mother was hysterical. 
She had to be sedated.”

“I’m sorry
babe.  When can you leave?”

“I’ll be
home in a couple of hours; I have to finish a few things up here.  So you’ll be
at the house when I get home, Hutsool?”

“Yes, I’ll
be there.”  She wondered how many victims Burke had laid his hands on over the
years. 

Ella spent
the next two hours throwing knives in the backyard.  Burke had been right; she
was a lot
better at it than she had thought she was.  By the time she
needed to stop so she could get ready for that evening, she was consistently
hitting the target center mass even while she was running.  She couldn’t wait
to show Burke.

Ella went
inside to shower and change.  She had just finished putting on her make-up and
curling her hair when she heard Burke at the front door.  She came out of the
bathroom to say hello.

~~

Burke
stopped short just inside the front door.  Ella was coming out of the bathroom
wearing pale pink lingerie.  The panties dipped low on her waist and the sheer
lace bra left little to the imagination.  The beautiful silky hair that she
usually had pulled up was softly curled and cascaded in waves half way down her
back.  “I thought we were going out tonight,” he said.

“We are, I
was just getting dressed,” she replied.

“If you
insist on walking around like that, we’re not going anywhere.” Burke said
huskily.  He was at her side in an instant.  He picked her up and headed toward
the bedroom.

“Burke, we
have to meet Sarah and Jeremy in less than an hour.” Ella laughed.  “We’ll have
all the time in the world later tonight, I promise.”

Burke kissed
her, long and deep.  “Okay,” he said. “But for future reference, you can’t walk
around like that and then tell me no.  Come sit and talk to me while I take a
shower, Hutsool.  I missed you today.”

Ella sat on
the bench in the bathroom while Burke showered.  “I’ve been thinking,” she told
him. “This bond between us made me wonder if there was any way I could
experience someone’s last moments through you.”

Burke shut
off the water and flung back the shower curtain.  Ella handed him a towel. 
“What exactly are you asking me?”

“I’m asking
if we can use our bond for you to share someone’s last moments with me when you
lay your hands on them,” Ella said.

“No.”

“No, that’s
it?”  Ella narrowed her eyes at him.  “You’re lying to me.”

Burkes face
got red.  “Ella, my love, why would you even want to do that?”

“Because I
have a photographic memory.  Burke, there has to be something you’re missing. 
Maybe there’s something I can pick up on that will help us end this.”

“No,
Hutsool, I can’t expose you to this.  You have no idea what you’re asking.  You
can’t forget the visions once you’ve seen them.  They become a part of you.”

Burke dried
off quickly and pulled on the underwear he had brought into the bathroom.  He
went into the bedroom to get dressed.  As far as he was concerned the
conversation was over.

“Burke,”
Ella said following him, “you have to stop worrying about me so much.  There
are other things to think about here.”

He turned
his back to her.  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore; it’s not possible
anyway.”

“Seriously?” 
Ella grabbed Burke’s arm, spun him around and studied his face.  “I know you’re
not being honest with me.  What is going on?”

Burke sat on
the bed and put his face in his hands.  “What is going on is that I can’t lie
to you.  No one can.”

“What do you
mean no one can?” Ella cocked her head to the side and looked pointedly at him.

Burke
sighed.  “The warriors are police, judge, and jury.  They are perceptive and
are able to instinctually read facial expressions and body language.  You can’t
lie to a warrior.”

Ella took a
deep breath and held it for a second, silently counting to ten.  “We’ll talk later
about how messed up it is that the fact that you can’t lie to me seems to upset
you.  Now, is there anything else I can do that you haven’t told me about?”

“No, not
that I know of anyway.  The photographic memory was a surprise even to me.  I
told you from the beginning that I wasn’t sure what exactly you’d be capable of
after the awakening.  This is as much a mystery to me as it is to you; you
were
half human, Ella.”

“So is it
possible or not for you to share the visions with me?” Ella was getting frustrated.

“I don’t
know, but it doesn’t matter because we’re not going to try.”

“You have
got to stop treating me like a child!” Ella paced around the room waving her
hands in the air.  “Honestly, think about Willow.  Think about my parents and
about everything you and my father left behind.  Haven’t enough people
sacrificed and suffered?”  She stopped in front of Burke who was still sitting
on the bed.  “We have to end this by any means possible!” 

Burke pulled
Ella into his arms.  “I know, Hutsool, but I’ve only just found you.”

Ella climbed
onto Burke’s lap.  She straddled him and wrapped her legs around his waist. 
She kissed him, then ran her hands through his hair.   “We can’t have peace in
our lives until we figure out a way to stop the Demon.”

“If you want
to try, we’ll try.  But I don’t like it,” Burke whispered into her hair.

Ella and
Burke were a few minutes late getting to the apartment to meet Sarah and Jeremy
for their double date.  From the look of Sarah’s mussed hair, their tardiness
was probably a good thing.  There was no telling what they would have walked in
on had they been on time.

“Come with
me,” Ella told Sarah as she grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the couch. 
“We’ll be right back.  You guys decide where you want to go eat,” she called
over her shoulder as she led Sarah into her bathroom.  “Seriously, Sarah, your
hormones are on overdrive.  Let’s get your hair back in order.  I’m surprised
your shirt isn’t on inside out,” Ella teased.

“I refuse to
apologize!  You guys were late and your cousin is an animal.  That - by the way
- is
not
a complaint.”  Sarah grabbed a tissue to wipe her smeared lip
gloss, then took the tube out of her pocket and reapplied it.

“You’re not
complaining about what exactly?  Us being late or Jeremy being an animal?” Ella
asked as she ran her fingers through Sarah’s unruly hair, trying to smooth it a
little bit before putting it back up for her.

“I’m not
complaining about either fact,” she grinned like the cat that ate the canary.

“No details,
remember!”  Ella finished fixing Sarah’s hair.  “There,” she said, “presentable
once again.”

The girls
went back into the living room. 

“We decided
on Outback, if that’s okay with you ladies.  We men want a steak!” Jeremy
exclaimed.

“Sounds
wonderful,” Ella said. “Why don’t we just take Burke’s truck?  Then we can park
back here at the apartment afterwards and walk across the street to see the
movie.  Oh wait a minute, let me grab some towels for us to sit on.”

“I have a
blanket in the back of the truck,” Burke said, taking her hand and heading
towards the front door.  They all went down stairs to Burke’s truck and drove
to the restaurant.

~~

“Where are
you working this summer, Jeremy?” Burke asked once they were seated and had
placed their orders.

“I’m just
working part time at the hardware store downtown.  I wanted to make a little
spending money over the summer.  My parents don’t really like Ella and me to
work while we’re taking classes.  They prefer us to concentrate on our grades. 
I do want to get involved with the university paper next semester, though,
since I’m majoring in journalism.  I took a lot of photography classes before
transferring here.  I’m interested both in writing and photojournalism.”

“That sounds
exciting,” Burke said.  “Ella told me you enjoyed photography and have taken
some magnificent pictures.  I’d really like to see them sometime.  How about
you, Sarah?  Ella told me you work in a little shop downtown, but she didn’t
mention what you were studying in school.”

“I’m
majoring in political science and minoring in psychology.  I’d like to go to
law school if I can keep my grades up.”