Again, gym started with the classic line up — guys on one side, girls on the other. A volleyball net stretched across the gymnasium. Coach Johnson separated the kids into teams by alternately pulling one guy and one girl from each line.
Maddie mentally counted, hoping to be on Chase’s team. In the few days he’d been a student at Coal Creek High, they had developed a friendship. Being in his presence made her feel comfortable, and it didn’t hurt that he was drop dead gorgeous.
The die was cast and Maddie found herself on the team opposite Chase. It figured. Before she could reconcile herself to it, moist hot breath struck her naked shoulder.
“Loving the tank top,” said Dougal as he jogged to his position on her team.
Heat flushed her cheeks and she tried to ignore her heart, which had just kicked into overdrive. The situation was absurd. How could she be absorbed with Chase one minute and then with Dougal the next? That had to be what happened when a girl used to zero attention suddenly was inundated with it. Maddie had no idea how to react. But she wouldn’t blame herself for being fickle; instead, she was going to enjoy every minute of it while it lasted. No doubt the sun and planetary alignment would change soon and she would return to being just Maddie the Dork, with no catcalls, whistles, or hot breath against her neck.
Maddie shook, jumped up and down on her toes, bent over, and stretched her elbows down to her knees. She was ready to play.
A sudden, jerky movement caught her eye through the net’s webbing. On the opposite team and huddled next to Marley, Stephanie frowned, a vein throbbing in her forehead.
A slow smile spread across Maddie’s lips. She tried to control the internal gloating, but why should she? Didn’t she deserve, if just that once, to be on top of the world? She certainly thought so.
The first serve, and it headed right for her. Sudden pounding in her chest. She could handle it — of course she could. But her overly long shoelaces caught under her feet. She reached for the ball, tripped, and landed face down on the shiny wooden gym floor.
Two shadows cast over her. Two hands jutted in front of her face. Instead of choosing between Chase and Dougal, she pushed up herself. Red rashy burns covered her thighs, but it was nothing to the heat scorching her face. She’d just dorked herself again, in front of the entire class, including both guys.
“You should sit down, Maddie. I’ll get you a towel,” said Dougal.
Chase wrapped his arm around hers and tried to escort her, but Coach Johnson stepped in their way. “Where are you two going?”
“She was hurt, sir. I thought I would help her to the bleachers,” replied Chase.
“Miss Clevenger, are you hurt?”
Maddie bit her lip and shook her head.
“That’s what I thought. Now get out there and play.”
Maddie limped back onto the court.
Chase caught up and whispered, “Why didn’t you tell him you were hurt?”
“Because if I did, then he would make me write a five-page report on volleyball or something stupid like that. I would rather stumble through the game than be tied up in my room all afternoon, slaving over a paper.”
Chase sighed and assisted her to her spot before slipping back to his own side. Dougal had already resumed his spot behind her; a dark brooding frown tightening his forehead.
For the rest of the game Chase purposefully struck the ball away from her. Chase’s teammates weren’t as generous, but her other guardian angel picked up the slack. When it headed toward her, Dougal jumped in front of her and returned the ball.
Coach narrowed his eyes and settled his hands on his hips, but he didn’t comment. Gym over, Maddie shuffled to the showers, ignoring his posturing.
****
Maddie vanished into the girls’ locker room. Chase watched her go, but didn’t head for the showers right away. It was time for that confrontation he’d intended in chemistry class. Dougal tried to pass him, and Chase called, “Hey?”
Dougal ignored him and kept sauntering.
Jerk. Chase raised his voice. “Dougal, I’m talking to you.”
Dougal turned and Chase closed the distance. When he was near enough to see the jerk’s eyelid twitching, he asked, “Why don’t you leave the girl alone?”
Dougal narrowed his eyes. Their amber color morphed to black and Chase’s heart rate doubled. He hadn’t just seen that. No, he really hadn’t; it was the coming confrontation that got his blood up.
A smile twitched at the corner of Dougal’s lips, but didn’t quite reach his eyes. Casually leaning against the end of the bleachers, he crossed his legs at the ankles. “I fail to see how this is any of your concern.”
“So you do talk.”
Dougal straightened in a graceful rush. They stood toe to toe, eye to eye, nose to nose. Chase wasn’t backing down. He’d faced intimidation tactics before. The only way to beat a bully was to stand up to him.
He narrowed his eyes. “It’s my concern because I’ve made it my concern.”
Dougal reared his head back and roared with laughter. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Fury roared through Chase and he clenched his fists. “What do you want with her?”
And suddenly Dougal no longer looked like a teenager. His face stayed the same, his hair, his stupid black T-shirt and the way he stood — only his eyes changed. But the effect sent a startled shiver racing down Chase’s spine. No high school kid, not even the toughest gang member, had such flat, dead, ancient eyes.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
With a bored sigh, Dougal waved him away. “You wouldn’t understand. Now run along and find yourself another lass. Maddie is mine.”
Aghast, Chase stared after Dougal’s retreating form. The guy was a total egomaniac. But the wrongness extended deeper than that. Chase didn’t know what that wrongness was, but he intended to find out.
He hurried to the locker room, showered, and changed. He waited outside the girls’ room, Dougal’s flat black stare etched in the air before him, until Maddie exited. Then he straightened. “Are you ready?”
Startled, she jumped and placed a hand over her chest.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’m okay.”
“So, are you ready to go?”
“Sure. Just let me get my backpack.” They walked to the bleachers, and she grabbed her pack and hoisted it onto her shoulder.
“Can I carry that for you?”
“I’m okay.” They entered the emptying hallways. “I’ll have to grab my bike. You don’t mind if I put it in the back of your truck, do you?’
“That’s fine.”
They reached the bike rack and he insisted on rolling the bike to his waiting truck and lifting it into the bed. They settled in the cab amongst creased vinyl. Foam stuck through the sun-cracked dash. For the first time in ages, Chase critically examined his truck. Stephanie’s insistence that she wouldn’t date a guy with an ugly truck came back to him. What did Maddie think about such things? Did she think his truck was ugly? He hadn’t thought about it for a long time.
The vehicle had belonged to an elderly gentleman who’d lived on their street in California. The man had treated the truck like it was a baby, his prized possession. But he grew too old to drive and finally needed to get rid of it. Chase’s father had purchased the truck for a steal. Although the body wasn’t in great shape, with only 50,000 miles on the odometer it would last Chase for a long time.
The engine at least sounded good and Chase drove from the parking lot. He needed to find a subject to discuss. Something other than the worries — Dougal, his truck, Dougal, did she like him, Dougal, the weird stuff going on, Dougal — racing through his mind.
As casually as if she hadn’t had a worry in her life, Maddie asked, “How are you adjusting?”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, I guess.”
“Is it really different from what you’re used to?”
“Not as much as I thought it would be. I guess being an Air Force brat and moving around a lot helped prepare me for the change in routine.”
“I used to live somewhere else, too.” She studied her hands.
“Oh. I didn’t know that. So what do you think of Coal Creek High?”
She shrugged. “Pretty much like my old school. The popular kids rule and the nerds get picked on.”
“And what are you?”
She laughed under her breath. “I can’t believe you have to ask.”
“I thought it would be rude to assume.” She playfully slapped his arm and he smiled. Good, she was relaxing and so was he.
“My driveway starts right up here.”
He took the next right and hit a rut. She grabbed the dash and grimaced.
“Sorry about the road.”
“Don’t worry about it. That’s why I love my truck; you can’t hurt it.”
The sun glinted off a two-story wooden house. Patches of dried grass dotted the landscape. Untrimmed hedges created an imaginary fence along a cracked sidewalk.
The truck shuddered to a halt and he got an even closer look. White paint chips littered the ground, creating gray splotchy areas. Alternating planks, running the length of the porch, sported large gaping holes.
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and scratched the bridge of his nose. Maddie lived here? The house reminded him of something from a horror movie. Before he lost the courage, he blurted, “I was wondering, would you like to study for the chemistry test together? I could really use the help. Joining a school after the year’s already started makes me feel so far behind.”
She looked up from her lap and the corner of her lip twitched. “I’d like that.”
An elderly woman stepped onto the porch and yelled, “Is that you, Madelyn?”
Maddie opened the door and climbed from the truck. “Yes, Grandma Draoi, it’s me.”
“Who brought you home, deary? Tell him to come meet me.” The old woman turned and waddled inside.
She turned back to the truck. “Come on and I’ll introduce you.”
Chase stepped down and tugged on his shirt. He dusted his hands on his pants and smoothed his hair. Hey, that old woman looked tough.
The porch steps sagged under his weight and he tiptoed across the unstable planks. Inside the foyer, Chase blinked.
Through an open door on the right, he could see the living room walls were lined with rich mahogany paneling. The vestibule was painted a soft blue. In the corner, a spiral staircase led upstairs. In both rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows covered in thick drapes blocked prying eyes. Decorative tapestries dotted the stairwell. A giant chandelier, with swagging crystals, hung from the foyer ceiling.
Chase looked left and right. Maddie lived here? Relative to the outside, the inside appeared huge, and much better cared for. He did a double-take before following Maddie to the kitchen.
The old woman shuffled her feet and prepared glasses of iced tea. Without prelude, she asked, “Okay sonny, who are you? Where do you come from? And what are your intentions toward my great-granddaughter?”
“Grandma!” said Maddie as fiery red color mingled with her freckles.
Chase held his hand out and grasped the old woman’s firmly. “I’m Alexander Chase Donavon, or Chase to my friends. I’m a military brat, so I come from a little bit of everywhere. And Maddie and I are friends.” At least for now.
“If you say so,” said her grandma, cocking a brow.
Maddie breathed a sigh of relief and Chase smiled. She wasn’t so tough.
“Grandma, Chase asked if I might be allowed to go home with him tomorrow and study some for a test.”
Her grandma glared again. “Will you two be alone?”
He laughed. “Hardly. I have four younger brothers. Plus my mother is always home.”
“Okay, Maddie can go. But I expect her to be returned in the same condition you found her.”
“Grandma!”
The old woman cackled. “I’m just playing with you, sonny. My name is Draoi Casey-Brennan. I’m Maddie’s great-grandmother, on her mother’s side.”
“Do I detect an Irish accent?”
“Aye, laddie, ye do indeed.” She thickened her accent and Chase smiled. With a wave, she said, “You better be gettin’ home. Your parents might be worried.”
Chase thought about explaining that they knew his whereabouts, but she seemed eager for him to leave. Maddie escorted him to the porch and he asked, “Would it be okay if I pick you up tomorrow morning?”
“I’d like that.” She twisted her hands. “And Chase?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks.”
“It was my pleasure.”
He skipped down the steps, stopped at the truck bed and hauled out her bike. He rolled it to the porch and propped it on the kickstand before climbing into the cab and rolling down the window to yell, “Bye, Maddie.”
“Bye, Chase.”
****
“He seems nice.”
“He is,” replied Maddie.
“Do you not want to talk about him?”
“Oh, Grandma, I’m sorry. It’s not that. I’m just very distracted.”
“Did something happen at school?”
“I guess you could say that,” said Maddie, gnawing her lip and twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
“Tell me about it.”
Maddie hesitated, but Grandma Draoi had a way of dragging information out of her and she found herself saying, “There’s this guy.”
“Another one?” Grandma Draoi asked in a shocked tone.
Heat flushed her cheeks and Maddie wished she could hide her head in a hole like an ostrich. “No, not like Chase. He’s new to school, too, and we have similar classes and he, well, he stares at me and flirts with me, like all day. He follows me to class. He offers to carry my books. Just normal stuff, I guess.”
“Hmm.” Grandma stalked around the kitchen stacking clean dishes. Over her shoulder, she asked, “What’s his name?”
“Dougal Lachlan.”
A plate fell and splintered on the shiny tile floor. Maddie drew her bare feet up in the chair and covered her head with her hands. When the shards settled, she stood on the chair, took a big step, and reached her flip-flops. Feet protected, she joined her grandma. Silently they cleared up the broken pieces. A strange look settled on Grandma’s face.
Maddie gnawed her lip before whispering, “Grandma?”
Her expression changed and her lips lifted, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Yes, dear?”
Maddie’s heart hammered against her ribs. Something didn’t feel right. “Do you know him?”
Maddie thought she wasn’t going to answer, but she said, “I once knew a man named Dougal. But he lived a long time ago.”
“Then it couldn’t possibly be the same guy.”
“Of course not.” Grandma’s tone held a hint of skepticism. She stood and carried the full dustpan to a cardboard box.
Maddie sat back on her haunches, confused.
“That was a good supper. Wasn’t that a good supper? I think I need to go check on the garden. Don’t wait on me.” Grandma vanished out back, holding up one hand in passing to keep the glass door from slamming behind her.
Maddie rose to her feet and dusted off her pants. She scrunched her face at the door. Beyond it, Grandma paced the squash patch and mumbled under her breath. Occasionally she would lift her hands to the sky and close her eyes, then she would lower them and start pacing again. It was a good thing no one was watching; they might have thought her grandma had lost her mind. Maddie kind of thought that was the case herself, but she let it go. Old people did weird things, right?
Turning her back on the odd scene, Maddie climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Sitting at her desk, she finished her homework, then stared at the bed. She hated going to sleep. The shrink had said the dreams would fade with time, but after six months they were no less vivid. The sparkling tower, the smell of smoke, her parents’ death… nothing had changed.
She sighed. She was blessed to have a home with Grandma, but sometimes it was so boring. There was no cable, no computer, and no car! A friend took Grandma shopping once a week. Other than that, Grandma Draoi never left the house. The place was not the ideal environment for a teenage girl, even if she did think so herself.
Sketchpad spread out on the table, she held her pencil aloft. Visions of Chase and Dougal danced before her eyes. The first stroke of the pencil felt awkward. She dropped it and palmed her chin. She just wasn’t in the mood to draw.
Maddie grabbed a book and sprawled across the bed. She would just read a little. Her eyelids grew heavy and she shook her head. Words blurred before her…
****
Dougal swooped onto a nearby tree. Branches filled with evergreen needles hid him from view. Wings tucked to his sides, he shuffled back and forth like a bird. The branch wiggled beneath him and he tightened his grip.
Chase had left in his ancient truck and Draoi and Maddie had settled down to dinner. Potent aromas had drifted through the open window. He had salivated; the acid drool dripped onto his talon and he’d grunted.
Moving closer to the tree trunk, he kept watching. Maddie spoke, but he couldn’t make out her words. What he had noticed was a brief expression of fear that passed across Draoi’s face. Moments had passed and then Draoi excused herself.
She paced in the meager garden. The once beautiful druid had aged considerably. Her bright fiery red hair had changed to a stunning silver, and her formerly lithe body carried extended girth about the middle. However, one thing hadn’t changed… her power.
Grace and poise oozed from her ambling form. Words of incantation were almost visible as they left her wrinkled lips. The invisible blue veil, more a suggestion of color than something he actually saw, thickened its coating around the house, yet he could still see through it. Serena’s own spell kept him from being locked out.
Why would Draoi be strengthening her protection spell? What could Maddie have said to worry her grandmother? Had she mentioned him? Even if she’d said his name, how could Draoi possibly remember him? Their one chance meeting had occurred years ago when her own daughter had been born.
He’d hidden then, too, behind the doubly thick glass windows, and sought a glimpse of the newborn Casey. She’d been beautiful, with dark hair and bright green eyes. A blue aura of protection had glowed around her. He’d touched the glass and it had practically hummed.
His heart had hammered in his chest when the door to the nursery had opened and a shadowy figure had entered. In the dark, an unrecognizable creature had hovered above the child, a dagger in hand glinting in the nightlight’s glow. Dougal had screamed and banged against the window until the creature became scared and fled.
After that he had covertly watched the young Casey. He’d waited in anticipation of her maturity. For a time when he might be able to convince her that her role as the key was beneficial to all, but that time had never come. Before he’d been able to succeed in his mission, she’d given birth to a girl of her own and transferred her powers.
A whistling sound reached Dougal’s hearing and he peered through Maddie’s window. The curtains fluttered and he caught a glimpse of her sitting at her desk. He would love to fly over to her window, hang from the frame, and get a closer look, but with Draoi in such close proximity and so worked up, the idea seemed riddled with flaws. Perhaps another time.
When Draoi turned her back, Dougal jumped from his position and flew into the sky.
****
She turned around and around in the dark wood. Sounds — a growl, the flap of wings, the hiss of hot air. Her heart pounded. A creature landed before her. Wings flared on either side. Venom dripped from pointed fangs. She gulped and ran.
Branches smacked her face, cutting her skin. Her long flowing white dress billowed behind her. Tree limbs snagged her as she raced to escape.
The hot putrid breath of her pursuer closed in. She looked over her shoulder and screamed…
“Maddie, wake up!”
She struggled to open her eyes, clawing the air around her. A cool hand caressed her forehead and it slowly drew her back. She fluttered her lids open. Grandma Draoi stared down with a face full of concern. Behind her, the window still showed the night.
Maddie gulped and rubbed sleep from her eyes. “I’m okay. It was only a dream.” Of all the nights for Grandma to keep her hearing aids in place…
“Yes, only a dream.” Grandma paused. “Why don’t you go wipe your face and then lie back down?”
Maddie managed a nod. She felt Grandma’s stare on her back all the way to the bathroom, and she couldn’t quite bring herself to close the door between them. But the mirror — it reflected a harrowed young girl. Auburn hair lay in a mass of tangles above her shoulders. Rounded jade eyes stared back at her. Maddie shook her head, and her hair moved. It showed… She touched her face and gasped.
A thin moist line marked her pale cheek. She was bleeding.
****
Chase awoke in a cold sweat with his father shaking him.
“Chase, are you okay?”
Breathing heavily, he stared at the ceiling and tried to calm his racing heart. For a moment longer the white-clad form fled into the forest…
“Chase, talk to me.”
He shook his head, shook it off. “It was only a nightmare,” he croaked.
“It wasn’t just a nightmare. You were screaming.”
“I was?”
“Yes. What were you dreaming?”
“I’m not sure.” A figure in white, a forest… he held onto the dream’s last vestiges but kept them to himself. Dad had enough on his mind already. Chase rubbed his eyes and struggled up, sitting on the side of the bed.
Mom stood in the doorway, her face white as a sheet. “Alex?”
“Carissa, he’s fine. Go back to bed.” She left and Dad asked, “Do you remember anything?”
He shook his head again.
Dad pulled up a chair and handed him a glass of water.
Chase took it gratefully. The cool liquid soothed his dry throat. “Thanks.”
“Do you feel better?”
“Yeah.”
Dad patted Chase’s shoulder. “Okay. Why don’t you lie down and see if you can go back to sleep? I’ll see you in the morning.”
Chase nodded and handed over the empty cup. The door clicked shut, and Chase pulled the covers to his neck. He closed his eyes and willed the nightmare to stay at bay.
****
“Do stop jumping,” crooned Serena from a pallet on the opposite side of the cave.
Dougal sat up and wiped sweat from his brow. The dream of Maddie had been so vivid, he wasn’t sure it hadn’t been real. He’d landed before her in his transformed state and she had run. She had fled like a scared rabbit being chased by a hay baler. He’d pursued. He’d wanted to stop her, to explain, to tell her he wouldn’t hurt her, he couldn’t hurt her. He needed her. But she’d awakened before he could.
He ran a hand through his hair and dropped his elbows on his knees. He wasn’t a saint, but he wasn’t a monster, either. Well, maybe he was. He’d done some terrible things, very terrible things. If only he’d…
There was no need to rehash old memories. What was done was done. The dream was just a small indication of how much harder he would have to work to make her comfortable before they could claim her help. Somehow he would convince her that, by helping them, she was doing the right thing. She would see. They all would.