Hey everyone! I wanted to share with you the first chapter of the first book that I published. Amber is near and dear to my heart and I hope you will check it out to see why.
Happy Reading!
1
Broken Promises
The sun will be rising soon. I can
always tell the exact moment the dawn will break. When I was a child, I would
hate to see the sun set, but was excited to wake to a new day. Those days have
long since past. Those around me are still sleeping. In the next few hours, I
will hear the noise of traffic picking up on the expressway-which is about five
miles away from where I live. I am already restless. I am ready to leave the
quarters of the place most would call a home. I choose not to call it that. I
have heard the saying over the years, ‘home is where the heart is’; however,
when your heart is as cold and dark as mine, you tend to struggle with that
idea.
As
the sun climbs into existence for the new day, I stretch and move toward the back
door. I have exactly two hours, thirty-nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds
until it is time for work. That will be
plenty of time for a jog. Yes, that is what I will do. Perhaps on my jog, I
will pick up a quick breakfast. I am hungry, and I have found it best not to go
to the office with an empty stomach. I am able to concentrate a great deal more,
without worrying about that nagging beat of hunger pulsing in my ear.
Stepping
outside, I inhale deeply. My surroundings have the fresh scent of the morning
sunlight. Smiling to myself, I set off for my jog. I need not run for exercise; my body is fit
on its own. I run for the pure enjoyment of refreshing wind flying in my face,
and the smell of the morning dew on the trees and grass. The dew falling from the
leaves is such a wonderful thing to see, when the sun hits it just right. Of
course with eye sight like mine, there are a lot of lovely things in this world
that most just walk right by, and will never notice.
I need to slow my pace, as I have picked up on
approaching company. I am about four miles away, and do not want them to see me
moving too quickly. Ah, yes, I see her now. It is a woman out walking her dog.
She is not very happy with her nine month old puppy. Today was her day to sleep
in, but the dog would not stop barking. So she decided to finally get up and
out of her warm bed to walk him. I owned a dog and cat as a child, and miss
being able to have a small companion. Now, most animals do not come near me, so
pet ownership is not an option.
As
I come closer to the owner and pet, their scents
become more intense. An aroma of ginger with a hint of mango and peach encases
the sleepy woman. Her small companion smells of dried beef, peas and rice.
Smelling them has reminded me that I am in need of breakfast. Something in the back of my mind tells me to
keep going, so as I come near the pair, I smile and do a little nod of my
head. The puppy stops, and I notice the
hair on his back has begun to rise. The woman is startled by the reaction her little
ten pound ball of fluff is having toward me.
She tugs at his leash and tries to get him to keep moving, apologizing
for his unfriendly behavior. I chuckle “That’s okay, I'm used to it. You wouldn’t believe how often that happens to
me. Enjoy your walk, maybe you’ll be able to sleep in next week.” I chuckle, again;
my young friend has a surprised look on her face. She is wondering how I knew that.
I do not give her a chance to ask, as I slowly start picking up my pace again. I am thirteen miles into my jog; it will take
me another three minutes to get back to my living quarters. I have one hour,
twenty-nine minutes and ten seconds before work.
Since nothing caught my interest, I return to
the house with an empty stomach.
Hopefully this will not be a big mistake. I do not feel like relocating
again. It’s bad enough I have to move every six years or so. I have lived here
for two and a half years, and adjusting to this town has come easier than I
would have expected. I would rather not move before my time is up. I usually
try to live in smaller towns, but decided to give a larger city a chance. Although
I like the different variety of food that is offered here, I am still uncertain
of the closeness I share with others. In
the smaller towns, I need not worry so much about making many mistakes that
will be noticed. Here, I am always watching my back-which is funny if you think
about it.
What shall I wear for the day? I have the
worst habit of throwing clothes away after wearing them once, no more than
twice. Then again, after little jogs like this morning, I end up wearing
through a lot of my clothes. I know I should consider giving my clothes away to
the homeless only that is not always safe. What if my scent is picked up from my
hand-me-downs? The poor soul wearing those clothes would be a sitting duck. Hmm,
duck, not a top pick for sustenance; nonetheless, it makes my mouth ache just
thinking of it. I give my head a slight shake. I need to try to stay on track.
My mind is not focused today. I will need
to work on this before I enter my office for the day.
I make my way into my walk-in closet, and try
to think about what I will wear today.
Gazing at my tops, I reach for my teal blouse. I can imagine this top
one of my many pairs of black pants working well as an outfit. You can never
have enough black pants. Black is my favorite color, but lately, I have tried
to add more color to my dark wardrobe. Next,
I grab a cute pair of open toe pumps that are teal with yellow stripes. A yellow scarf for my hair, gold earrings and
necklace will complete my look. Looking
in the mirror, I like what I see. My long wheat-colored hair is pulled back using
the yellow scarf as a headband. The teal looks nice against my pale cream
colored skin and the yellow helps bring out my light hazel brown eyes. I quickly
dress, giving myself one last look before I head to the car. Although I still have an empty belly, I think
this will be an all right day. Settling into my car, I now need to figure out
what to listen to on the way to work. I go through this every morning; radio or
CD. At least with the CD, I can hear my favorite artist, but then I may miss
out on something interesting being talking about on the radio. I guess I will
try the radio first.
“You’re
listening to 98 PXY. The number one hit music station. We are here in the
studio discussing why some women lie about their age. Ladies, do you lie, and
if so, why? Let’s go to the phone lines to see what the callers have to
say.”
Hmm.
The age old question. Where is my cellular phone? This shall be fun.
“Hello,
you’re on the air with Mac in the morning. What’s your name?”
“Good morning Mac, this is ummm …Heather”
“Well
top of the morning to you, Heather. Tell me, why do you think women lie about
their age? And, do you lie about yours?”
I
suppress a chuckle, and clear my throat before responding. “Mac, I think most
women lie about their age because they are afraid to admit what they have
become.” Mac finds this funny; I hear
him and the other announcers laugh before he speaks again.
“So
Heather, tell me. Do you lie about
your age?”
Now it is my turn to laugh out loud. “Why yes,
Mac, I do, but I do not do it because I am afraid of becoming old. I do it
because most people would not believe me if I told the truth.”
“Tell
me then, Heather, why will people not believe how old you are? Is it because
you don’t look your age?”
I know where this is going, but it is okay, I
am not using my real name and he will not believe me even though I am telling
the truth.
“Mac, I lie about my age because I'm two
hundred and twelve years old today.” Now there is silence on the air, but not
for long. I bet all listeners are all thinking the same thing ‘this woman is crazy.’
Mac
clears his throat, “So you’re trying to tell me that you're two hundred and
twelve years old and still alive. Ha! Please tell me Heather, how is this
possible, because the last time I checked that just is not possible?”
I hear it in his voice, he thinks I am pulling
his leg, but I am not. What I say is true. “Mac, I am two hundred and twelve
years old and it is possible. It's possible because I am a vampire.”
Now I have done it. I know this conversation
will end shortly.
“Okay,
let me get this straight. You are trying to tell me that you're a vampire? Look sweetheart, I know we have some pretty
strange questions and comments going through here, but you by far have rocked
the air this morning! Ha! Rochester, New York, we have our very own vampire on
the line. Let me ask you this before we move on to the next caller. If you are
a real vampire, shouldn’t you be sleeping in a coffin right now?”
Oh these silly, silly humans, they all believe
what Hollywood tells them. If they only knew the truth about what could be
living next door, or working in the office next to them. Such simple minded
things they are. “Well Mac, I suppose you would be right, if we were following
along in a book or watching a movie. For your sake, I will say yes, I should
be. I will go now before the rays from the sun burn me.” Hanging up the phone,
I wonder if this will be the talk of the morning at work, as most of my
coworkers listen to this station. If they only knew the truth, I am sure they
would not think it was that funny. Placing
my phone back in the cup holder, I shake my head. I do not know why I just
opened up to those strangers. I guess I should have stuck to the CD player this
morning.
I
know we should not tell others who we are or what we can do, but sometimes it
is just so hard to resist the urge. Some of my family members would not be
happy with my little announcement on the air. It is a good thing that they have
been living out of the country for over fifty years. I have found, when you do tell a human what
you are, most will not believe such a thing. Then again, I often wonder if I
would have believed it myself, if I had not become a vampire. After all of these years, I have chalked it
up to the fact that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But then again,
I have found that most things that end up as life altering situations come at
the wrong time. Sometimes when I sleep, I relive that late afternoon, even
though it was so, so many years ago, it still feels like yesterday.
***
It
was a nice fall afternoon. Fall was my favorite time of year. I know most people
when asked why, will tell you that they love to see the leaves changing, but
for me it was the weather. The spring was always too wet, summer was hot and
muggy, and I could never seem to be warm enough in the winter. Fall, back then,
was just right. I could be comfortable during the day and have a nice quilt to
curl up under at night.
On that
fall day, Mother sent me to bring a plate of food to an elderly neighbor, who
was no longer able to cook for herself. I generally did not walk that distance
alone, but my walking partner, William, my younger brother was sick, and Father
and my oldest brother, James, were working late on the dam that broke a few
weeks before. “Do not worry, Mother, I will be fine. I will run up the road and
be right back. I promise it will not take me long.” Mother had that worried
look on her face, but she knew I was right, it would not be the first time I
went out alone. “If it makes you feel better, I can wait for Father and James
to come home and have one of them walk with me.”
“No dear, I am sure you will be fine, just
please hurry back.”
I
smiled and kissed her on the cheek as I left the house. I truly enjoyed the nice quiet walk alone. It
was not dark yet, and I knew if I hurried, I would make it back before then.
On arrival to Mrs. Leavers’ house, I thought I
saw something out of the corner of my eye. I decided it was just my mind
playing tricks on me. Even though I wanted deliver the meal, it was getting
dark faster than usual, and I was starting to get worried. I shook the feeling
off that someone was watching me, and knocked rather loudly on the huge wooden
door. Mrs. Leavers’ husband died about ten years before, and their only son had
taken ill and died when I was a baby. I believe my father and their son were
good friends and about the same age. Because of this, my parents were always
very close to the family. I used to come over as a child and help pick apples
in the backyard. The Leavers always let me keep all the apples I was able to
pick. When the couple became too old to take care of the apple trees, they paid
James and some friends to cut the trees down and sold the wood. My mother
bought some, and would use it in the stove to bring an apple smell to her
baking.
It took Mrs. Leavers a few minutes to get to
the door. When her frail frame opened the door, she was very happy to see me
with the food.
“Come in child, I do not want to leave you
standing out in the cold. Where are your brothers? You know it is not safe for
you to be out alone?”
Even
in her old age she was very thoughtful. “James and father are still working,
and William is sick again. Mother is
worried, he has not eaten anything all day.” I did not mean to upset the old
lady, but I could see after all these years it still worried her to hear about
a young child sick.
“I
hope your mother has called for the doctor to come see him.”
“Yes, she has, he will be over first thing in the
morning.” This answer seemed to make her
happy. “That’s good. Now let’s see what wonderful things your kind mother has sent
over for me today. Do not tell the
others, your mother's cooking is my favorite. I am sure anyone that has ever
tasted it will agree.”
I always thought Mrs. Leavers was sweet, but a
little crazy. Every time I brought a plate over, she would tell me the same
thing. I wondered if I would be that way when I became old. “Today’s meal
consists of chicken, corn on the cob, a buttermilk biscuit, and a slice of
cherry pie. Everything is fresh out the oven and should still be warm.”
“Oh,
thank you, dear. And please thank your mother for such a wonderful meal. Now
run along home before it gets dark.”
“Yes, Mrs. Leavers. Is there anything I can do
for you before I leave?”
“No,
thank you, I should be fine for the evening.”
As
I turned to leave, I saw she was already getting settled at her table for
dinner. “I will see you next week Mrs. Leavers.” I did not hear her reply, but
I am sure she did not hear my last statement.
Once
outside, I noticed that the temperature had dropped a little. Wishing I had brought my heavier shawl, I
picked up the pace to get back home. I still felt as if someone was watching
me. It was such a weird feeling that I could not shake. As I passed a cluster of bushes and trees, I
heard the leaves rustle. I stopped and looked up, thinking it must be some
small animal. I watched in terror as the tree branches began to bend in a way
that no small animal could do. My heart beat quickened, and I turned to run. Behind
me, I heard a thud as something heavy hit the ground. Before I was able to take two steps, I felt a
hand grab my shoulder. I was just about to scream when I heard a light laugh, a
familiar laugh. I turned to see Robert standing there grinning.
I
knew Robert my whole life. We were the same age.
“Oh,
Amber, you scare so easily.”
“Robert, how could you! I do not find that
funny at all.” My words stammered from my lips and I yanked my shoulder from
his grip. “Why are you out so late, and why are you following me?” The smile
dropped from Robert’s face. He saw that I was not happy with him, and knew he needed
to fix things. I knew he liked me; my parents talked about us marrying one day.
When I thought about it, I could see him being my husband; however, that did
not excuse him from giving me such a fright.
“I
stopped by your house to see if you wanted to take a walk with me before it was
too late. Your mother told me where you were. I decided to wait for you to come
from Mrs. Leavers’ house, so I could walk you home. I only wanted to surprise
you, not scare you. Please forgive me, I meant no harm. May I walk you home?”
I
took a deep breath and thought about telling him ‘no’, but I did enjoy his
company, and had not seen him all day.
“Yes, Robert, it would be nice to walk home with you.” The smile spread
back across his face as we turned to head toward the house. Sometimes when
Robert smiled really big, I was able to see all of his perfectly sharp white teeth.
His teeth were sharper looking than anyone I had ever seen before. Still, there
was something about his smile that warmed my heart. Those last few months, I
had found Robert to be more attractive. He stood at an even six feet, with
sandy blond hair, brown eyes and a dimple on each cheek. He had a paler
complexion compared to mine, it was rather strange. He helped out on his parent’s
farm, but his skin never seemed to reflect being kissed by the sun. As we walked back to my house, he joked about
the look on my face as he jumped of out the tree. I did not find any of it very
funny. I reminded him of Judy, a girl we also grew up with, who was missing. She
disappeared two months before. She told her mother she was going for a short
walk and never returned home. Remembering that, Robert became more serious.
“Do
not worry Amber, I am always watching out for you. I promise I will not ever
let anything happen to you.”
He
stopped walking and grabbed my hand. I stopped as well, to look up at him. He
flashed another toothy smile at me, and then he slowly brought my hand to his
lips. I was startled by this and began to pull my hand back, worrying that
someone would see us. I removed my hand from his grasp just in time. From the
bushes, I saw this fast moving blur. In the blink of an eye, there was a tall
man holding Robert by the head. He gave me with such a scary look that I did
not know what to do. Should I run, scream, pass out? I looked into Robert’s
eyes as he struggled to no avail to get away from this man.
“Run, Amber!” was all I heard, all I needed to
be told. I turned to dart towards the closest house. It was a few hundred feet way. That is when I
heard the awful cracking noise. To this day, I still have not forgotten what
that noise sounded like-the hair raising sound of something breaking, something
that was not supposed to break-rang loudly in my ears. It made a frightful snapping
and grinding noise, like a limb of a tree breaking, and then being ground into
a stone all at the same time.
I
stopped and turned back to look. What I saw was something my eyes just would
not let my brain process. That man, the one who had just rushed out of the
bushes, and was just holding Robert with such a tight grip, had broken his
neck. From where I stood, it appeared to me as if he was biting Robert's
neck. I started to scream when I felt
this cold hand cover my mouth,
“Shh
child, it is too late for him.”
I
was unable to turn around; the grip over my face was too tight. All of a sudden
it felt as if I was flying, everything around me was moving very quickly.
I
was not flying though; I was on someone’s back. It appeared to be a woman. She
had long brown hair that was tangling itself around my face from the speed at
which she was running. I was unable to see her face and too scared to ask any
questions. I had many questions like: what did she mean by it was too late for
Robert? Where was she taking me? How was she moving so fast? Instead of asking
I just held on. Soon we came to a clearing.
There appeared to be a small cave. The woman slowed her pace, but before
she could come to a complete stop, two other individuals emerged from the cave.
It
was two males, and they did not look happy to see me with her. The woman came
to a full stop and dropped me. I fell hard on my backside. I bit down on my lip
to resist crying out from the harsh landing. I contemplated running, but thought it may not
be wise, considering how fast the woman was able to run. I looked around and
had no idea where I was or how long or far we had traveled. Whispers of a broken conversation brushed by
me, and I noticed the group was walking. I was unable to hear what the three
were saying; however, it gave me a chance to get a better look at them. The
female who carried me, looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties with
long shiny, brown hair. She was about five foot five-close to my height, maybe
an inch shorter, very slim and pale. It seemed that she had bluish-gray eyes,
but it was getting dark, so I was not too sure. The man on her left was taller,
maybe six feet, with shoulder length black hair, and was also slender and pale.
He appeared to be the oldest of the group. He had fierce looking black eyes
that matched his hair. The other man on
her right looked to be about nineteen, not much older than me. Out of the
three, he seemed to be calmest. He was about five foot ten, short red hair and
freckles that covered his face. His eyes were a bright green and his complexion
too was pale. Their voices rose and I wondered what they were arguing about. I started
to move forward to hear what they were saying. I tried to be as quiet as
possible, but for some odd reason, all three heads turned and looked at me at
the same moment.
I will never forget the looks they gave me.
Those three sets of eyes staring back at me stopped me in my tracks. It felt as
if their eyes could burn right through me. My body froze and my mind went blank
for a second. Then I suddenly thought about Robert. Were they about to do to me
what that man did to poor Robert? Before
I could think to move, the woman moved very swiftly toward me. She grabbed me
by the front of my dress and pulled me to my feet. She started towing me toward
the cave the others had disappeared into. I do not know what came over me, and
before I could stop myself I started talking. “Where are we? What is going on? What happened to Robert?” I was trembling and
tripping over my own two feet, as she hauled me further into the dark cave.
“Please let me go. Please!”
She stopped, her eyes seemed to be glowing red
around the outer ring of her pupils and a slight snarl slipped from her lips. “You
fool. Did you not see what he did to your friend? Surely he will do the same to
you, if I let you go. He will find you. He will hunt you down, along with any
and everybody you are near. I have caused enough trouble by bringing you here. If
that boy did not care for you the way he did… I might have just left you.”
Taking a breath, she tried to calm herself.
Her face softened slightly. “The look in his eyes is the only reason you are
still standing here.”
I
had no idea what she meant by ‘the look in his eyes’. My face must have had
confusion written all over it.
“You
silly little girl, come along.”
I felt the tears running down my face. I had
not cried since I was a little girl being carried in the house by Father, after
falling and scraping my knees; however, more tears were to come as the night
went on.
Once
in the cave, I had trouble seeing as it was very dark. I wondered how the woman
dragging me by my arm knew where to go with how dark it was. I tried to take in
my surroundings, I could not see anything. I could hear a light wind blowing
behind me in the entrance, the sound of flowing water, and a weird fluttering
noise. It was much colder in the cave than outside, and I tried not to chatter
my teeth, it was a useless attempt. Between the cold and my nerves being on
edge, I could not help myself. Soon I heard voices. I was not able to hear what
they were saying, but there was harshness in their tones. As we moved closer, I was able to pick up on
what they are saying.
“She is no use to us. If we leave tonight we
can head back home.”
“Do
you really think that will stop him? He knows we are here now. We should not
leave until we find and kill him.”
“What
about the girl? She has already seen too much.”
As we entered a small tunnel off to the right
of the cave, the two men stop talking, and it seemed as if they turned to face
us.
The
woman pushed me down ordering me to stay put. I was still unable to see any of
their faces but she said to one of the men. “She’s cold, light a fire.” Once
again I heard what sounded like a snarl, then movement. In an instant there was
a fire glowing a few feet away from me. That gave me a chance to look around.
The fluttering noise I heard earlier was coming from bats flying over our
heads. The walls of the cave were black and in some spots there was water dripping
down the sides. The woman and two men
were standing on the other side of the fire talking quietly to each other. I
was still cold, so I tried to scoot a little closer to the fire. The moment I
moved, all three of my captors made a circle around me.
The
tall man with dark hair leaned forward. “She does not listen very well, does
she?”
The
woman smiled. “No she does not. She also is not very thankful, and she has too
many questions.”
With
the three of them around me, it seemed as if the temperature had dropped. “I
was not going anywhere. I just wanted to be a little closer to the fire.” This
came out of my mouth like a whisper, which surprised even me, as I was not
known for having a quiet voice. They
moved away from the fire and I could feel the warmth start to seep in.
“Maybe
we should just drink her blood. She is only going to get in the way, and as you
stated, if she tries to go back home, he
will surely kill her. I am sure he is out looking for the both of you right
now.”
I was cold and scared, but I thought I was
having trouble understanding what one of the men just said. I could not comprehend why the three of them
would drink my blood, or why the other man would want to kill me. I could not
speak, I gasped for air and I felt the tears running down my face, again.
The
redheaded boy came to stand over me again. “Hmm, the scent of your tears makes
you smell even better.”
The
woman stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the redheaded boy.
“Enough Christopher, she is already scared and
we need to figure out what to do with her.”
Again
I looked up and had three pairs of glowing eyes examining at me.
“I already told you what we should do with
her. I am really hungry.”
The
taller man stepped forward and yelled, “Stop! You know this is no time to be
joking. We are running out of time and options.
We need to think of what our next steps will be and quickly.”
I was
wondering at that moment, how I could have thought that the younger redheaded
boy could have seemed to be the nicer and calmer one out of the three. The look
on his face did not depict the stare from his eyes. If looks could kill, I
would have died right then and there.
There were so many questions still running
through my brain. Before I had a chance to let any of them slip from my lips,
there was a loud crashing sound that came from the opening of the cave. The
three captors took off running. The woman stopped and turned around to look at
me.
“If you move before we get back, I will kill you myself.”
She
then took off after the two men. The next few minutes went by very slowly. I
did not hear anything besides the dripping of the water, and a few bats flying
over my head. I am sure my mind was playing tricks on me, but after a while
everything grew eerily quiet. I wondered if my three captors had decided to
leave, but I was also too scared to move, just in case they were testing me.
Finally I heard a noise, it sounded like fast moving feet coming toward me.
Panic shook throughout my body. Was it my captors? Could it be that man that
hurt Robert? Should I try to hide? I did not have a chance to react. My redheaded
captor came back into the cave. I was not sure if I should have been relieved
or even more worried. He must have seen the stress on my face because he slowed
his pace.
“Olivia and Isaac have gone after Jackson. I
think he had a far enough lead once again for them not to find him. They have
instructed me to stay here with you and to behave myself.” He snickered at the
last part of his statement.
I noticed the way he was looking at me. It reminded me of an animal
watching its prey, with its head cock to the side just before it pounces. I
started to slide backwards on my hands and butt. I only moved an inch or two
before he spoke again.
“Do not be afraid, I gave my
word to the others that I will not hurt you. I am not quite sure why Olivia
decided to save you, but I guess I will leave you in one piece until she gets
back. What is your name?”
I was unsure of what to think
about the redheaded boy. Once again he was looking calm and relaxed unlike the
person I saw before me a few moments prior.
I was wondering how he could go from one extreme to another so quickly,
then I realized I had not answered his question. “My name is Ambrosia, Ambrosia
Wilson. Why do you want to kill me, and
why did that man kill Robert?”
The redheaded boy laughed, and I
wondered what I said that could be so funny.
“You are a bold one aren’t you?
I was the one asking the questions. Ambrosia? That is an unusual name. I do not
believe many people use that name anymore. Do you know what it means?”
“No, I do not, it is a family name. I was named after my great-great
grandmother. Everyone calls me Amber for short.” He seemed amused by my answer, I watched as
he lips twitch as if he wanted to smile.
“I believe Amber is a suiting nickname for you. Your hair and eyes both
seem to be an ocher color.” Moving swiftly, he placed himself in front of me.
He leaned forward and reached out to brush one of my stray hairs behind my ear.
I jerked back ever so slightly. He noticed my movement and sighed, then dropped
his hand.
“Are you going to ask me what my name is?”
He still had not answered my
question about Robert. I questioned if he was playing a game. I decided to play
along, hoping it would give me the answers I need. “I overheard the woman call
you, Christopher. I assumed that was your name, is it not?” Before answering me
he moved to sit down next to me. Not too close, yet close enough for me to see
his face a little better. His eyes were mesmerizing, not only were they a
brilliant green, but they seemed to have flecks of gold in them. I was certain
it was just the light from the fire, although, it was very hard to break eye
contact with him. It felt as if I was being pulled toward him. He must have observed
me staring so intently into his eyes because he broke contact.
“Do not do that, it can be very dangerous.”
I was confused, what could be
dangerous? He did not give me a chance to clarify as he continued talking.
“Yes, my name is Christopher, and you can say that I am nineteen. At least I look nineteen, so I guess we can
work with that.”
I was shocked that he knew I was
attempting to guess his age. I tried to speak again, except he began to talk
first. “Like I said, I do not know why Olivia brought you here. Once she comes
back we will hopefully find out. Jackson will most likely run them out east. I
am hoping Olivia and Isaac will not go too far before they decide to come back.”
He paused and I used that time to finally speak. “How did you know that
I was trying to guess your age?”
He smiled, “Because when you
looked into my eyes, I was able to make a connection with your thoughts. I did
not see too much because I broke eye contact. It can be dangerous for me to
pull too many thoughts out of a humans head at once. It can cause memory loss
if I am not careful.”
This was not something I
expected to hear. However, I also was not expecting to be sitting in a cave
talking to someone who referred to others as humans--like he was not one himself.
I thought this was very silly. “Are you trying telling me that you can read my
mind?” My misunderstanding must have
been upsetting him, I heard him sigh.
“No, I am not able to really
read your thoughts. I can pick up on things that you are thinking when I make
eye contact with you. It is like if
someone was trying to talk to you from a distance and you only hear a few words
out of the conversation. Though, if I stare too long into your eyes, I am able
to pull the thoughts out more clearly, which like I said, if I am not careful,
I can leave you with memory loss of that thought. Olivia said that you and a young man were out
walking late. Why would a girl your age be out so late?”
He was confusing me, again. He changed the subject without making sure I
had a good understanding of what he was telling me. I decided to just try to
keep him happy, and attempt to answer all of his questions.
“Mother sent me to drop off a
plate of food for one of our elder neighbors who is unable to cook. One of my brothers
normally goes with me, but one was working late and the other was sick.”
That is when it hit me. I was so worried about where I was, and what happened
to Robert, that I did not even think about my family. “I have to go, I must go
now. My parents will be very worried. What if that man, Jackson, hurts them
too? I must leave.” I stood up and started to move toward the tunnel when I
felt a cool hand grab me by the wrist.
“Amber, I’m sorry but you cannot go home. Ever.”
I spun around with tear running
down my cheeks. “What do you mean? I do not understand. Who are you? Why did he
kill Robert? Why can’t I go home? What about my family?” I started shaking
uncontrollably. In response to my
questions, Christopher pulled me into his arms and let me cry.
I sobbed until the others rejoined us. I did not hear anyone coming,
but Christopher must have, because he started talking before the other two
figures appeared out of the tunnel.
“Did you catch him?”
The man and woman came toward us. I turned my head while still in
Christopher’s arms to see them come from under the shadows.
“No we did not. We lost his
trail approximately forty miles out. I believe he might have crossed the lake.
We did not want to waste more time trying to follow him through the water.
Olivia was worried he would backtrack this way to find the two of you.”
Olivia grinned as she moved
closer. “It is nice to see that you two are becoming fast friends.”
I felt Christopher’s green eyes
searching my face. Before I had a chance to meet his gaze, he let me go and
walked to the other side of the fire.
“Your new friend has a few questions for you, Olivia.”
She walked over to me and placed
her cold hand on my cheek. “I know that this may be hard for you, but I will
try to answer all of your questions to the best of my ability. Sit down by the
fire, I know you must be cold.”
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Teardrop-Chronicles-Amber-Harris-ebook/dp/B0087IIUFY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1402181682
