The Watchers (27 page)

Daniel!
I
yelled in his mind, frightened of how close he was to the
edge.
I don’t care what he thinks about me
or you. What matters is that we know the truth!

He struggled for a moment more then he
nodded. The darkness and the scenes of death disappeared. I
released his arm. He took another deep breath and uncoiled his
hand.

“You look much better when you don’t have
murder on the brain,” I said, trying to hide my fear at seeing him
that close to losing it.

His grin was tainted by guilt as he went back
to shooting arrows. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed
our strange exchange. People had started up their own
conversations, and were ignoring us.

“Hey, I wanted to ask you about…you know…what
happened yesterday. About Susan.”

“Nobody came around. I guess they knew I was
there. I got to…talk to Susan some. I’ll tell you everything I
found out at lunch.”

“You mean I get to see where you magically go
every day?” I asked with false excitement.

“Yeah. But you’ll have to ride on a rainbow
and put up with some really angry leprechauns to get there.”

“Sounds fun.”

“All right! Everyone back to the lockers!
Leave your bows and arrows where you found them. Adams! Michaels!
Get over here.”

We turned and walked shoulder to shoulder to
get our penance for finally getting Mark to leave me alone.

*

Time has a funny way of messing with your
head. When you are most eager for it to fly by, you notice it the
most, and that’s when it slows down to the point where it feels as
if it’s not moving at all. It definitely wasn’t moving now. I
tapped my pen on the desk in front of me in agitation, knowing
where Daniel had picked up the habit. He was always waiting for
time to catch up with him. I could hear each tick of the clock.
Tick. Tick. Tick. It was driving me insane.

“Clare? Do you know the answer?”

I looked up at the Spanish teacher, hearing
the proper answer in her thoughts. “Vivo, Vives, Vive, Vivimos, and
Viven.”

Huh. I could have sworn she
wasn’t paying attention. Maybe, next time…
“That’s
right, Ms. Michaels.”

Her lips clenched over her large front teeth.
She kept trying to trip me up, not impressed that I always had the
answers. It was annoying. I went back to staring at the clock.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

*

I wonder if she really
kissed Daniel this morning. Jennifer said she just attacked him.
That doesn’t really seem like her. I may not talk like the others
do to her, but I wouldn’t think she would just attack someone.
Sounds to me like Jennifer was just jealous.
Davis was
walking with me to lunch. We always walked together from Spanish to
lunch, though he rarely spoke. I chuckled at his thoughts and
shouldered my bag to hide the sound.

“Did you see that movie I was telling you
about?” I asked him.

We maneuvered our way through the swarming
people breaking apart and coming back together again.

“No. I was sort of…” he paused
shyly.
Wanting to ask Alex to
it.

An idea formed. An idea that was as beautiful
as it was simple.

“I was thinking about taking a bunch of
people to go see it this Friday. Would you want to come?”

“Who were you thinking of inviting?”

“Daniel, Alex, other people. What do you
say?”

His eyes lit up. “That would be cool.”

We walked into the cafeteria, and our
conversation cut off as the swarm of thoughts battered at me. I
felt an instant migraine threatening. I had been so intent on
playing cupid that I had forgotten to prepare myself. Not that my
preparation ever did a lot of good. I resisted the urge to put my
hands over my ears, but only just. Davis gave me a funny look,
wondering why I suddenly looked hurt. Before I could form an
excuse, the sound cut off. An arm was thrown over my shoulder by
way of explanation.

“Hi,” Daniel whispered in my ear. “Penny for
your thoughts?”

I laughed and looked over at him. “My
thoughts are worth a quarter minimum.” He laughed as I added, “Did
you know that you whisper in my ear a lot?”

“Yes,” he whispered again, tickling my
neck.

“I’m going to go and…” Davis gestured vaguely
toward the lunch line. He walked into the milling crowd that was
standing around waiting to be fed and watered.

“You’re for sure coming Friday, right?” I
called after him.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

Davis ducked behind a line of seniors,
disappearing from view. I wondered if he was embarrassed, because
he had seen through my scheme to get him on a date with Alex or if
we were being too affectionate for his tastes. I knew he harbored a
minor sort of crush on me, nothing compared to his Alex crush, but
the feelings of jealousy lingered.

“Are you feeling Puckish?” Daniel asked,
steering me toward the line.

“How do you mean?” I asked innocently as I
played with the hand draped over my arm.

“You’re trying to get Alex and Davis
together.” It wasn’t a question.

I looked away, embarrassed at being caught. I
wasn’t one to stick my nose into other people’s private lives – I
had enough of everyone’s private lives, thank you very much – but I
wanted to share the love.

“Yeah, well, it would be selfish for me to
find happiness and not share it with my best friend. I’m certain
that’s a friend rule. Number sixteen, I think”

“Share what with your best friend?” Alex
asked, catching my last words as she came up to us. “Hiya,
Daniel.”

“Alex.” He smiled and gave her a nod.
“Keeping everyone in line today?”

“I’ve been trying.” She smiled back then
turned to me. “Share what with your best friend?”

“A movie. This Friday,” Daniel answered for
me. “We’re going with some people.”

She looked between the two of us. “At the new
theater in Asheville?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

“All right. I could use some city living for
a night.”

Jennifer came bouncing up, bubbling with good
humor. “Guess what!”

“Banana Republic is having a sale?” I asked
sarcastically before I could stop myself. Daniel smiled.

“The Jonas Brothers are coming to Asheville
on their tour?” Alex grinned at me.

Jennifer made a face. “No! Mark just asked me
out!”

“That’s awesome!” I said, glad I didn’t have
to feign enthusiasm.

She started talking a hundred miles a minute,
going over all the details, and Alex took pity on us. She started
guiding Jennifer back to their normal table, nodding occasionally
and offering words of encouragement whenever Jennifer paused for a
breath. I felt a surge of affection for Alex as she walked away,
glad that I had her on my side. Glad, too, she had picked up on the
fact we weren’t going to be sticking around for lunch. I picked out
the first things I touched and paid without caring what it was. I
ate my food as we walked back out into the hall.

His lips tickling my ear Daniel said, “Alex
really is a cool girl, but I’d like to figure out how she sees so
much.”

“No kidding.”

“She was trying to tell you things with her
thoughts by the way.”

I’d forgotten that she’d figured out I could
read minds. Everything else that had happened had distracted
me.

“What was she saying?” I asked cautiously,
worrying what his reaction would be.

“‘
I told you so,’ and my name, figured
quite prominently.”

I rolled my eyes. “What…” I started to
ask.

“I know that Alex won’t say anything,” Daniel
assured me. “She hasn’t said anything about me yet, and she’s known
I’m weird for a long time.”

“I thought we talked about you blocking out
the other’s thoughts,” I said.

“I forgot.”

“Buying a pet rock is the sort of thing
people try and forget...not this.”

He laughed. “I’m sorry! Call it instinct, but
I can’t help but want to protect you from…all that. You can’t get
mad at me because I care!”

“I bet I can,” I said in a combative voice.
He laughed, and I made a face. “It’s helpful, I admit, but…I just
want to take care of myself as far as that’s concerned.”

“You want to take care of yourself as
far as
everything
is
concerned.” He shook his head in exasperation. “Are you done
eating? We need to go.”

“Yep.” I threw my banana peel in the trash
can. We were next to a large door that led out into the woods.
“We’re going outside?”

“Yes.”

He pushed open the door. Tall pine trees were
across a short, empty, gravel lot. I wasn’t sure of the lot’s real
purpose, but it was certainly useful. I could hear the thoughts of
kids who had sneaked out back to smoke, and Coach, who was hiding
in his car, so he could drink his whiskey. Daniel’s feet were
silent on the gravel. I tried to be just as quiet but failed
miserably. Luckily, the others were too interested in not getting
caught to be curious about the noise. It took only seconds to reach
the safety of the woods.

“I thought I wasn’t allowed in the woods,” I
said as the shady branches arched above us. They were a canopy of
protection against the bitter blue sky.

“Alone,” Daniel clarified.

Pine needles created a thick carpet to our
steps, allowing us to pass virtually unnoticed. Daniel set the pace
for our walk, his long legs eating up the distance. We walked for
about five minutes, but it was five minutes too long. Even though I
was with Daniel and knew I was safe, I couldn’t stop my sense of
fear. My eyes scrutinized every fallen tree and odd limb for the
dog-like shape of the Nightstalker I had learned was every
Watcher’s worst nightmare. My encounter with the living nightmare
was still too fresh for comfort.

“Here we are,” he said releasing my hand.

I looked around. The trees had thinned, but
this part of the forest looked like every other part. What was
special about here? Rope stairs descended from a tree almost in
response to the thought. I looked up. Oh… Jackson grinned down from
an artfully concealed structure. “A tree house?” I asked. “Do I
need a secret password?”

“No. Passwords are too easily learned. We
have retinal scanning up here,” Jackson said.

I squinted up at him, trying to decide if he
was serious.

“He’s kidding,” Daniel said. “Jackson likes
to think he’s funny.”

“He’s about as funny as getting hit in the
knees with a baseball bat,” I replied.

Margaret appeared behind Jackson, her
beautiful face bland and unemotional. She didn’t look at me. “Did
you tell her?”

“I was about to.”

Daniel held out the stairs for me to climb. I
clambered up feeling as if my childhood dream of having a tree
house was falling short. I could have never imagined a tree house
this cool looking. Jackson helped me up on the platform then held
the wood door open for me. Daniel followed quickly, walking on my
heels as I entered. My jaw dropped at what I saw inside. The tree
house was beyond ‘cool’. It was elegant. It was expensively
decorated, complete with a small sofa and two chairs. There were
paintings on the walls and thick carpets on the ground. The roof
was tin and arched over the decorations with a strange grace. This
was the Better Homes and Gardens of tree houses.

Daniel laughed at my stunned expression.
“Impressed?”

“Totally.”

“I figured if I was going to come here every
day, I might as well be comfortable.”

He gestured for me to sit on the couch.

“Does this make Margaret and Jackson the
angry leprechauns?” I asked as I sat.

He snorted with laughter as they followed us
in and sat down. The room got warmer as they sat, like someone had
turned up the sun. I relaxed into the sofa, the tension from
clenching at the cold leaving my body.

“Thanks, Margaret,” Daniel said.

She nodded at him and took Jackson’s hand.
Thanks for what? Glaring?

“I think I have some answers about who is
tracking you,” Daniel said to me. “Some answers and infinitely more
questions.”

My eyes stopped roaming around the room. “Are
you sure they’re not after one of you?” I asked hopefully.

“Gee, thanks,” Jackson said dryly.

“Definitely, you,” Daniel answered
quietly.

“Oh, just show her,” Margaret said. “She’ll
just keep asking stupid questions until you do.”

“Sixty years old, and she still hasn’t
learned patience,” Jackson joked, kissing her hand. I watched as
all Margaret’s irritation melted, and I knew that she didn’t have
to learn. He was her patience.

Daniel moved closer to me and put out
his hand, palm up, as he’d done yesterday. I took a deep breath,
still a little uneasy with the visions and thoughts I had
encountered so far. They seemed so foreign and vast, like a whole
ocean, compared to the baby tide I was used to dealing with. I
placed my hand on his and closed my eyes. His thoughts were
immediate.
This will look funny, because I
saw it through her distorted memories, and she was on pain killers
at the time
, he warned me.
Just…Just try not to freak out about what you hear.

Okay.

Everything went dark then blurred with
color.

I was in the forest. I could feel the wind,
which was crisp and bitter as it beat against my face, but
everything was slightly distorted as if I was looking through
cellophane or water. There was a moment where I felt separated from
Susan then there was a strange merging of thought.

She bent down and touched a leaf that was
dripping with slime and drool. Next to the leaf was a footprint, a
human one. She investigated it closer and realized there were more.
Next to the human footprint was another print. It looked like a
cougar, but it was too big, the toes too far spaced, the claws too
large. She followed the direction they were pointing, noticing two
more tracks on the bed of the forest about five hundred yards away.
They were the same and were very obvious, like whoever had made
them didn’t care if they were seen. She bent down to examine the
tracks further, and as she did she heard the sound of arguing. She
froze, and I could hear her thoughts of interest and curiosity.
Setting her pack down, she started to creep forward, her first
instinct one of caution. She stopped at the crest of the mountain
she had been climbing.