The Reaping of Norah Bentley (33 page)

“I can’t hold this physical form much longer,” he said. “It’s fading, and I don’t think I can make it stop. And all these people are making it worse. And the hospital…all the souls coming and going in that place…” He shook his head. “It would be torture right now.”

“But you can’t stay here by yourself. You just said Sam isn’t far, you have to get away from here, we both do—”

“I was never planning on leaving.”

His words hit my chest with an incredible force. Suddenly even whispering took a ridiculous amount of painful effort.

“I’m staying with you, then,” I said.

He’d already started shaking his head, but before he could utter his protest, we were interrupted by the concerned lady from before. I smelled her smoky lilac scent before I even turned around.

“Norah, right?” she asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded.

“I think they want to see you too,” she said, looking back toward the ambulance. “They want to talk to you about what happened exactly, and maybe get you hooked up to some fluids and help calm your nerves.”

She reminded me of Helen, the way her every sentence had an underlying command in it; she gave me Helen’s expectant look too, like there was no questioning whether or not I’d follow her back to the ambulance. She didn’t even hesitate in her step when she turned around and started to walk away, didn’t even look back to see if I was behind her.

I looked back at Eli. He took my hand, but seemed afraid to hold it too tightly. So he held it flat in his instead, his thumb tracing circles across my palm.

“She’s right,” he said after a few seconds. “You should go.”

“Not without you.” I tried closing my hand over his, but he just pulled away. “I’m going wherever you go.”

“You can’t follow me where I need to go.”

“We’ll see about that.”

He sighed.

“Luke will be worried about you if you leave,” he said.

He’d found my weak spot, and I hated him for it. I wanted to be angry, but I knew he was right—about this, at least. I couldn’t just leave without saying anything to Luke. Especially not after he’d just helped us get away.

“Fine. I’ll go talk to him, then,” I said. “But I’m coming right back. And you’d better still be here. Or else.”

“Norah—”

But I was already running away, hoping that if I didn’t give him a chance to say goodbye, he couldn’t really leave me.

The EMT—who I’d decided definitely looked like a Zach— was talking to Mr. Fisher, and they both had their backs to me. Mr. Fisher was gesturing back towards the park, recreating the scene, making part of it up judging by how animated he was getting. I snuck by the two of them and stepped quietly up into the back of the ambulance

Luke’s eyes were closed, but they shot open the second he heard my voice say his name.

“I should probably get an academy award for this performance,” he said, yawning.

“That’s probably true.” I smiled weakly down at him as I squeezed through the narrow aisle and crouched down by his side.

“You riding with me?” he asked, gazing over at the bench built into the side of the crowded compartment.

I don’t know why that question was so hard to answer all of a sudden, after I’d just been so sure I wanted to stay behind. But for some reason I found myself hesitating, staring into Luke’s expectant eyes and wishing I could just say yes. Of course I was going with him. I even opened my mouth, felt the word forming in my throat. But it never made it out.

“I don’t think so, Luke,” I whispered instead.

“You’re going to follow in your car, then?”

Again, I thought about saying yes. But then I shook my head. I couldn’t lie to him.

“Well you can’t stay here.” His smile became unsure. Then it disappeared completely. “Norah? What’s going on? Do you need to go home? Helen’s probably freaking out about how late it is, isn’t she? If you need to—”

“Eli can’t go to the hospital,” I blurted out. “He…he has to get away from all these people, he’s losing it, and all this—”

“I don’t give a shit about Eli,” Luke said. “What about you? There’s no reason you can’t go someplace safe.”

“I can’t just leave him.”

He nodded, almost like he understood. But his voice was scathing, far from understanding when he said, “I guess you’ve got no trouble leaving me though, huh?”

It wasn’t true, but the accusation still stung.

“Of course I do,” I snapped.

The smug look never left his face. Stupid Luke. Why did he have to make me feel guilty right now? Like this wasn’t hard enough already.

“Look,” I sighed. “It’s not like I’m leaving for good. You’re crazy if you think I’m not coming back after you—you’ve still got way too much explaining to do.” I tried to keep my voice light. I could hear the EMT just outside the ambulance now, and I didn’t want to leave Luke behind without some kind of peace between us.

“Where does he plan on going?”

“I don’t know I—”

“He needs to get away from Earth, doesn’t he?”

Luke’s voice was rising again. So much for peace. I shot him a look, and then nodded outside. The EMT had one hand on the door, but he was still looking back over his shoulder, talking to someone I couldn’t see.

“He has to go back,” Luke said. “He knows that. So does Sam—why do you think he left so easily? This is all just a game to him. And he knows he’s going to win.”

I stared at the flashing monitors all around us, at the oxygen tanks, at the blood pressure cuff wrapped around Luke’s arm. I didn’t say anything.

“Because he knows there’s nowhere for you to go,” Luke answered for me. “Now get back here and sit down.” He was whispering now. “Stop acting crazy.”

I shook my head. If my mind hadn’t been made up before I came in here, now it was. The thought of Eli leaving Earth—and maybe never coming back—was more than I could take. What if he’d already left? Why was I still in here, and not out there trying to stop him?

“I came in here to let you know I was leaving, so you wouldn’t worry,” I said. “I’ve got to go now.”

“Norah—”

I took another step toward the door, and almost collided with Zach the EMT as he sprang up into the ambulance..

“You Norah?” he asked. He sounded bored, and he wasn’t really looking at me as he spoke.

I tried not to think about the glare Luke was probably giving me as I shook my head.

“No, I’m—I’m sorry I’m in your way,” I said. “I was just about to leave.” He gave me a funny look, and lifted his arm, almost like he was thinking about stopping me. But then he just jerked his head toward outside.

“Well get out of here, then,” he said, trying to sound important now.

I fought the urge to turn around and say one more goodbye to Luke. Then I dropped my gaze, slid past the confused looking EMT and back outside. I could feel his eyes following me as my feet hit the pavement in a run.

Someone said my name; a voice I didn’t recognize, and I was too busy searching to stop and figure out who it belonged to. Too busy searching for someone who wasn’t even there.

No. He was here. He had to be here somewhere, he couldn’t have left—he
wouldn’t
have just left.

Right?

I was feeling lightheaded, panic gripping at me and making my steps shake as I darted through what was left of the crowd. They gave me funny looks as I moved around them. Shook their heads at me. Shrugged, and then finally continued to wherever they’d been going before we’d interrupted them. The show was over, and the ambulance pulled away a few minutes later, lights flashing but siren silent. The thought of how dangerously alone I was close to being brought Eli’s name to my lips, and I was about to start shouting it when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“What are you still doing here?”

He sounded angry. I didn’t care. He could’ve shouted every curse word he knew at me, and I wouldn’t have cared—as long as he was still here to shout them at me.

Now I just had to keep him here.

“I told you to leave.”

“I’m going to,” I said. “I mean I…I told Luke I would meet him at the hospital. They wouldn’t let me ride in the ambulance though, so…” I glanced across the street to my car, where it was parallel parked in front of the gray-faced Sutton Bank and Trust building, “I was going to follow them.”

My words had the exact effect I was hoping for. His eyebrows lifted, the anger in his eyes shifting into anxiety instead.

“…Driving alone?”

“It’s not that far.”

“It’s on the other side of town,” he said, frowning now.

“And Sutton is such a huge town, right?” I smiled, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

He didn’t pick up on my relaxed tone. His eyes were on my car, his expression torn. Giving me just the opening I needed.

“You could go with me, you know,” I suggested quietly. “If you’re so worried, I mean. You wouldn’t even have to go into the hospital or anything, you could just…”

For a second I thought he was going to get angry again. But then he just shook his head in a defeated sort of way, reached over and took my hand without speaking. For a long while I didn’t speak, either. What do you say to someone you’re so close to losing? I love you? Even if I could have managed those words, they didn’t seem like enough now. And I don’t think they’re what he wanted to hear, anyway.

“I’m not ready to say goodbye,” I said, staring at our tangled fingers. Something told me I’d never be ready. “Just give me this last car ride, okay?”

I heard my name again. I looked up and saw Mr. Fisher jogging toward me, his dog straining against the leash. Eli glanced up too, and suddenly he seemed even more nervous; he moved behind me, out of Fisher’s sight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him lifting his hands into the little bit of streetlight my body wasn’t blocking, turning them over, studying them. Making sure they were still solid.

“We should probably get going,” he said softly.

I got rid of Fisher as quickly as I could, telling him the same lie I’d told Eli—that I was going to meet Luke at the hospital. As he walked away, I tightened my grip on Eli’s hand and started toward my car, dragging him behind me. There was no traffic to dodge now. Nothing but the few hushed voices of the straggling joggers to disrupt the silent streets.

My thoughts were anything but silent, though. I had decisions to make, plans to think through. What was I supposed to do next? I turned scenario after scenario over in my head, followed their twists and turns as far as I could. But they all ended in uncertainty, in a place too far away for me to see.

I pulled the keys out of my pocket, and Eli automatically reached for them. But I was quicker, and I managed to secure them in my fist and side-step out of his reach.

“You can’t drive,” I said. My voice sounded a lot more certain than my thoughts. But it was still quiet, almost lost in the wind whispering around us. “Your physical form is fading, right? What if you lose it while we’re driving down the road?” I hated saying that out loud. It made what was happening seem so much more real. So much worse.

Eli still looked like he might argue, so I threw open the door and climbed into the driver’s seat as fast as I could. I locked the door behind me, endured the glare Eli was giving me long enough that he finally gave in and went over to the passenger’s side. Because this much I knew: I had to drive. To wherever I could, to however far I needed to go to make him safe. He wasn’t going to be a martyr for me.

And we weren’t going to the hospital.

We went north, like two slaves fleeing to freedom without looking back—if freedom even existed for us anymore. For him.

I didn’t know, but if it did I was going to find it. I told Eli that. Not in so many words, but that’s how I promised it to myself. My plan—my hope— was that there
had
to be a place where Sam couldn’t reach us. I knew the earth was divided into regions, and I knew Sam was only in charge of the Sutton Springs one. But did that mean he wouldn’t follow us outside of it?
Could
he follow us outside of it?

Eli didn’t know. He said he didn’t know what would happen to himself, either, if he tried to force his way outside of it. He’d heard stories, warnings about it—but he’d never tested it. That struck me as odd, almost out-of-character for him, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was lying. But if he was, I didn’t want to hear the truth.

Other than that, he didn’t really say much else—besides muttering something about reporting me for abduction to the local police department; for the rest of the ride he’d been quiet, pensive, leaning back against the headrest with his eyes closed, his dark hair fanning out behind him. I knew he was pissed at me, so I didn’t try to press conversation. I didn’t want to make things worse.

I flew through back roads, pushing my piece-of-crap car so fast that the steering wheel shook in my hands. I didn’t bother to read speed limit signs; the fact that I was already breaking the laws of the universe made the risk of getting a speeding ticket seem sort of trivial.

I’d followed Highway 17, all the way to the point where it crossed the Chowan River, when Eli finally opened his eyes. He still didn’t speak for a minute, too busy reading the small green and white sign we were passing.