Imprint (27 page)

Drew nodded, but he looked despondent at the thought. “I know, I’ll take her to the kennels tonight.”

“Are you sure you can manage it? Will it break your little heart?”
Sean quipped. “What’s your deal with dogs, anyway? You turn into such a sap
around them, it’s
weird.”

Sean had meant it as a joke, trying to start another argument to prolong this light atmosphere he had missed so much. But
Drew’s face lost its smirk and suddenly became more serious.
“I u
sed to be a dog-walker
, when I was alive,” he explained.
“It was o
ne of my many jobs.
I guess dogs just make me feel nostalgic or something.
”

“You had more than one job?”

“Oh yeah, I was a dog-walker, baby-sitter, worked shifts in a café too. I didn’t have much choice, since my parents were quite poor. I was saving up for University.” There was a distant look in Drew’s eyes as he said this, something Sean remembered seeing in Brian.

“So what was the plan, then?” Sean asked. “
Let me guess, company manager? Banker? Dentist?”

“I wanted to become a doctor.”

“A
doctor
?” Sean’s eyebrows shot
up
in disbelief
.
“Are you telling me that you, ultimate prat and Mr. I-don’t-care-if-you-fade-out-or-not-as-long-as-i-get-to-keep-your-body, wanted to
help
people?”
Sean had hoped that his tirade would spark an amused grin, or a snarky response. But it seemed that j
ust as quick as it had come, the light-hearted mood had gone again and that horrible haunted look was back in Drew’s eyes. He didn’t even acknowledge the comment. Sean couldn’t stand it. He just wanted those moments of normalcy to last, for whatever was coming to never arrive, because no matter how crap being an Imprint was he had a feeling that there was worse to come. “Now why are you being moody? Is it your
time of the month?” He tried again to
joke,
to break the horrible silence,
but it fell flat like a pancake in a frying pan.
Something had shifted in the air, and that oppressive feeling was back again, stronger than before.

“I wanted my life to mean something,” Drew suddenly admitted, his voice startling Sean out of his thoughts. “I wanted to do something special, you know, save people’s lives.”

“Is that why you were so deter
mined to come back?” Sean asked quietly.
“Is that what drove you to steal my body like this? To have another chance?”

Suddenly Drew snorted, as if he found something amusing about Sean’s question. But his eyes were still dark and churning, like a brewing storm. “I don’t need another chance,” he said. “I’ve already saved one life, you see.”

Sean
opened his mouth to ask what he meant. He
desperate
ly wanted to make Drew explain. For some reason, he had a feeling that this story was somehow important, the key to
unravel this web of secrets that Drew had built around them. B
ut before he could begin to
interrogate him Drew
got up and scooped the dog into his arms, storming out of the room in a flurry of
black fur and unanswered questions.

Friday was the coldest day of the year.
In a rare show of parental
concern, Sean’s mother bandaged Drew into a scarf, hat and overly large coat before he left for school, which he promptly stripped off as soon as he got on the bus complaining that ‘he wasn’t scared of a little frost’.
Drew had started to act a little more normal, but it still seemed fake.
It made Sean wonder what was real about him nowadays.

Ali wasn’t on the bus, but strangely she turned up at the same tree during the free period that they both shared. It was as though she had been avoiding Drew for some reason. Sean was tempted to believe Drew’s story now though, about her being sick, because her face was even paler than usual and there were dark rings around her eyes. Her hair hung limp around her shoulders and settled there, a bloody red that matched her winter coat.

When she first caught sight of Drew, she seemed frightened
and tense
. But
in spite of this
she sat down beside him, shivering, and Sean wondered if it was because of the cold or something else. Drew leaned in and whis
pered something in her ear that Sean desperately wished he could hear. Her dull eyes widened and she looked shocked, but then just as quickly the look was gone to be replaced by a smile.

“Oh, you crack me up,” she started laughing, and Sean was confused by the sudden change of mood.

“Like an egg?” Drew grinned,
grinned.
Why was he suddenly grinning?

“Yeah, like a boiled egg. Like humpty dumpty.” Sean was past confused. Everything about their smiles, their laughter, seemed real but at the same time how could it be? Ali had looked so frightened when she first approached Drew, but now they were suddenly having inside jo
kes about bloody
boiled eggs
.

“So, are you feeling better now?” Drew asked. “I k
now you were sick these past few
days, sorry I didn’t come around to see you.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine now
. Just a cold.”

“Okay.” Drew looked her up and down, then frowned. “You’re looking skinny.”

“Like a model
with my eyes all painted black
?”

The frown deepened. “Don’t joke about this,” he said, pulling out a sandwich and beginning to unwrap it.

“I wasn’t joking,
” she chuckled.
“
I was just finishing off the sentence. It’s a lyric from my favourite song.”

“Which is?”

“Lua, by Bright eyes. Ever heard of it?”

“Sorry, nope.”
He finished unwrapping
the sandwich and forced one into her hands. “Lunch.”

She pouted. “Tuna again
, can’t you be a bit more creative?”

“Sorry it’s not up to your standards, princess,” he rolled his eyes, biting into his own sandwich. “Come on, eat. We’ve been over this.”

“I know, and I still don’t like it,” she made a face. “I wish you wouldn’t force me to do this.”

“
I wish I didn’t have to.”
She sighed, but gave in and reluctantly nibbled on the bread.
“See? It’s not so bad.”

“How long do you plan to keep this up?” she asked instead.

“As long
as it takes.
And if you still refuse to cooperate, I’ll invite myself round for dinner as well.”

“Every night?”

“If I need to.”

She giggled. “That wouldn’t be a bad thing, you know.”

“I think you’d get tired of me after the first week or so,” Drew replied.

“I don’t think I could ever get tired of you,” she murmured.

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence and a cold gush of wind filtered through the leaves overhead, creating a quiet percussion like an army of toy soldiers all beating their drums in time. The field lay in shades of silvery opal, the frost that dusted the grass glimmering in the weak sunlight. Sean’s mind reeled as he took in the setting, the people, and how wrong it all was. Compared to the chaos of the previous few days something this normal seemed out of place. He had little ti
me to think however, before
Drew
broke the peaceful quiet.

“
So, what happened with your ghost stalker?”

Ali
playfully hit his arm. “Next time you get haunted I’ll just watch and laugh,” she joked, and Sean couldn’t help but grin at the irony of it. “It’s okay now though. I don’t know why, but that presence I felt seems to have disappeared lately.”

“I’m glad.”

“The funny thing is though, I don’t think it was bad.”

“You mean the ghost?”

“It wasn’t a ghost, more like a…”

“What? Guardian angel?”

She laughed. “I think that’s the closest I’ll ever get to describing it.”

“Right,” Drew smirked. “So after all that drama, you’re sad that it’s gone now?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Drew shook his head, but there was humour in his eyes that chased away some of the shadows that still remained. “Can I ask you for something?”

Ali smiled. “Anything.”

“If I need your help, will you come?”

“Come where?”

“Wherever I am.”

She paused, as if she was considering, but then nodded. “Anytime, an
ywhere, anything,” she said.
“
But I’m limited to England, sorry, and I’d rather do between nine and five if possible.”

“That so
unds pretty f
air,” Drew agreed, smirking
.

“Hey, if I promise you that then I want you to do something for me as well.”

“What?”

“When it gets warmer, come fishing with me again. Like we used to.”

“Okay, I can do that.”

She shook her head. “I want you to promise.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is it
really that important to you?”

“Just promise me you’ll come.”

He let out an over-exaggerated sigh, but relented nonetheless. “Okay, okay. I promise.”

“You’d better mean it.”

“
You don’t have to worry, I won’t forget.”

There had been something wrong about that conversation,
something bittersweet,
some deeper meaning hidden in their words, Sean mused during the last period of the day. It was only in hindsight he realised that despite her smile, Ali had had those same shadows in her eyes as well.

Home. The house was particularly cold, no warmer than the freezing air outside, and it was dark. Sean had always hated Winter. He never knew why, but this time of year made him feel uneasy. The driveway was empty; his mother must have left early for work, or gone shopping. Drew seemed tense as he unlocked the door and made his way through the empty house, up to his bedroom. His lonely footsteps echoed loudly in the eerie silence and for once, Sean found himself wishing that his mother had not left the house. He would never admit it but he didn’t like being alone when it was dark and cold and the shadows played hopscotch across the barren walls.

Drew pu
shed open the door to their room, and stopped.

Hayden was sitting on the bed, his posture slumped, and his face deathly pale. Bedraggled, dark hair framed gaunt eyes that were glazed over and void of reason. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. Honestly, the sight of his brother in th
at state scared Sean. Hayden had
always
been
sensible, logical, but now he looke
d nothing like the boy Sean knew.

“Hayden, are you okay?” Drew edged closer warily, looking just as shaken as Sean felt at the sight. But the older boy stood up suddenly, his hair obscuring his eyes.

“Don’t come any closer,” he croaked quietly, voice hoarse, and it was then that Sean finally realised that there was something clasped in his hand.

“What are you holding?” Drew asked, having noticed as well.

Hayden swayed dangerously on the spot for a moment, and Sean knew there was something horribly wrong. Was he under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or was it just sleep deprivation? The truth though was worse
. Upon closer inspection, Sean realised what his brother had found, and with this realisation came fear.

The pack of spare blue contact lenses.

“Tell me,” Hayden whispered. “What colour are your eyes, really?”

Drew was rooted to the spot, stran
gely quiet
, his whole body frozen
. “Do you know?” he asked.
“Do you know who I am?”

“I don’t care who you are, but I know what you did.” Hayden was still speaking in that uncannily calm voice
, like he was just stating facts and noth
ing else, but there was a
gleam
of anger
in his eye. “You took my brother from me; you killed Sean and stole his body.”

“What?” Drew asked, confused. “I didn’
t kill Sean. Not permanently, anyway.
His soul is s
till here, in this room. I can get him back.”

“I don’t believe you,” Hayden sneered. “Don’t treat me like I’m stupid. I’ve done my research, I know what happened. You ripped my little brother’s soul to shreds and then stole his body.”

“So this is what you meant by worse conclusion,” Sean muttered. “
Dammit, if I just make
myself
solid I could show him…”