CHAPTER TWELVE
When I wake, it’s after four in the afternoon and I’m alone. Jared’s gone and everything that happened yesterday seems like some far off dream. Telekinetic powers, a quest to unlock the secrets Sam hid in my head, tales of fallen angels who possess the weak, and a weirdly timed pillow fight. That last bit brings a smile to my lips and I roll over to scoop up a handful of feathers from the floor.
For those few minutes when the feathers were flying last night I felt like the old me: the carefree, not a worry in the world me. I want that back. It’s ironic to think that I used to wish for my life to have more excitement and adventure and now that I have it, I’d give anything for my life to go back to the simple and uneventful. But that’s not going to happen anytime soon because whether I want it to be true or not the Fallen are real, Blondie is one of them, and he wants whatever it is that Sam has hidden in his memories.
I blow the feathers from my hands, watching as they swirl back to the floor. The symbol on my wrist shimmers in the sunlight shining through the curtains. It’s amazing how such a tiny little symbol has the power to change my whole life.
“What do you want from me Sam? And what does it have to do with the Fallen?”
The mark stares back taunting me. Somewhere in Sam’s memories are all the answers. I just need to figure out how to find them. I sit up letting the blankets fall to my waist. “Okay Sam, show me something.” My heart starts to pound. Blue light flares up from the symbol under my touch. The world around me melts away in a haze of colors until I’m no longer in my room. Until I’m no longer me.
“Are you sure your dad was talking about your mom?” Her big blue eyes look up at me, doubt written on her face. She’s lying on the floor with her feet propped on the wall, one arm tucked under her head, and the other across her stomach. Her fingers tap against the exposed skin of her abdomen to the beat of the music playing on my iPod. “I like this song. You have such good taste in music Sam.”
I blush at her compliment, my eyes drifting to her full lips. What I wouldn’t give to kiss them just once. She catches me staring and those full lips hint at a smile. I divert my eyes away pretending to be engrossed with whatever’s outside the window. I clear my head of thoughts of her reminding myself to stay focused. “Will didn’t believe me either, but I know that it was my mom my dad was talking about.”
She rolls over onto her stomach propping herself up on her elbows. “Did he say her name?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” She gets up off the floor and stands beside me. “Okay, but if what you’re saying is true then…”
“I know,” I say. It’s one thing to think it; it’s another to hear someone say it out loud. Because when it’s said out loud it makes it real, and if it’s real, then it means everything I thought was true about my mom isn’t.
Sam’s world fades away as my world comes crashing back at full speed. A rush of breath forces itself from my lungs leaving them feeling useless and deflated. Gasping for air, I lean over the edge of the bed which turns out to be a mistake because it only leads to dry heaves. Thinking that water will help, I ease my feet to the floor. The room spins out of control turning my knees to Jell-O. Darkness edges around my vision spreading inward until I can’t see anymore. My arms flail outward searching for something to grab onto as I fall.
Pain throbs through my head as I come to. Tenderly I touch the corner of my forehead, my fingers come back sticky and wet. Using the nightstand for support I climb to my feet. Too wobbly to stand unaided I lean against the wall for balance as I go into the bathroom to survey the damage.
The light is too bright causing little spots to blossom before my eyes so I turn it off in favor of opening up the curtains covering the window above the toilet instead. Afternoon sun floods the small space of my bathroom. It’s bright too, but not as blinding as light bulbs in my face.
I lean against the sink staring into the mirror. Blood runs down my face dripping off my jaw into the sink with little red splotches. I wet some toilet paper under the faucet then bring it to my forehead to clean off the mess. A small but deep gash is already healing at the edge of my hairline.
“Hanna? You in there?” Kat calls from the other side of the door. “I knocked but no one answered.”
“Yeah. I’ll be out in a minute.” I wipe the blood from my face as best as I can in a hurry. Satisfied that my face is presentable, though there’s not much I can do for my hair without washing it, I throw the soiled toilet paper away.
Kat is bent over examining the floor near the nightstand, her long hair covering her face when I come out. “Is this blood?” She stands up, her eyes going wide. “Oh my God, what happened to your head? There’s blood all in your hair.” She takes my face in her hands turning my head side to side. Her face scrunches in confusion. “I don’t see a wound.”
“Um, it’s probably just covered up by my hair.” I step back before she gets a better look and sees that I’m lying. Kat doesn’t know about the rapid healing, or anything else for that matter, and I want to keep it that way.
“What happened?”
I search my room hoping to find a hidden excuse tucked away somewhere. My eyes land on the tangled mess of my blankets. “My foot got caught in the sheets when I was getting out of bed and I hit my head on the nightstand.”
“My aunt broke her ankle once when she got it caught in the sheets. Who knew beds could be so dangerous.” She hands me a large Styrofoam cup from Lola’s café. “Brought you a latte.”
The cup is hot, warming my hands. “Thanks.”
Kat pushes my blankets aside on the bed making a spot to sit down. She crosses one leather-covered leg over the other.
“What’s with all the black leather?” I ask, taking in her outfit. Leather jacket over a fitted blue t-shirt, leather pants, leather stiletto boots that zip up to her knees.
She waves her hand over herself like she’s on display. “Oh this? I’m hoping to run into a hot guy on a motorcycle.”
“Let me guess, Will?” Leave it to Kat to dress the part. She’s never afraid to put herself out there and go for what she wants. I wish I could do that. My M.O. is to deny myself what I want and then be tortured by it.
“Yeah. He’s so hot.” She looks me up and down. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up so you can come boy hunting with me without frightening people off with all that blood in your hair.”
***
With the top down on Benzie, the wind whips Kat’s brown curls back perfectly. My hair on the other hand only slaps me in the face repeatedly until I have no choice but to confine it in a hair tie. “So, do you have any ideas where to find Will so you can accidentally on purpose run into him?”
“Nope. I’m hoping that if we drive around town long enough we’ll spot him somewhere.”
I need to find Will myself to see if he’s come up with a name or anything useful that’s going to help me find whatever it is, or whoever it is, that Sam’s wanting me to find. And I need to figure out a way to ask him about it without arousing suspicion from Kat. I don’t want her to get involved in any of this. It’s bad enough that I have to worry about Jared’s involvement; I don’t think I can handle hers too.
“Earth to Hanna. Did you hear anything I just said?” Kat’s hand waves in front of my face.
“What? Sorry I must have spaced there for a minute. What were you saying?”
“I said, after you left last night, and Will disappeared on me saying that he had something he forgot he had to do, I ran into Jared outside of Lola’s. He was hanging out with Amber Bradford. Can you believe that? Anyway, I gave him a snotty look as usual, went inside to get a latte, and when I came back out, Amber was all over him.” Kat crinkles her nose in disgust. “It was so gross. How Jared could kiss her is beyond me.”
Sharp claws dig into my chest ripping my heart out.
He kissed her? So much for his I wasn’t flirting with her statement last night. He lied to me. Of course, it’s my own fault because I pushed him away. I’m the one who’s insisting that we remain just friends. So I guess technically he’s free to kiss whoever he wants. I just didn’t expect it to be so soon, or with Amber of all people. And I definitely didn’t expect it to hurt so much.
I sideways glance at Kat under the cover of my lashes wondering if she has some ulterior motive for telling me this. When I told her about the kiss between Jared and I, I suspected that maybe she still had feelings for him so maybe this is her way of trying to hurt me. Of course, I could just be reading too much into it and she really doesn’t still have feelings for him at all and she’s just telling me this because she’s trying to be my friend and warn me that he’s kissing other girls. Or maybe she’s telling me because she lives for gossip. I don’t know.
I look at her now slightly dancing in her seat singing along to some song on the radio. Nothing about her seems menacing. She probably has no idea that what she said about Jared hurt because I did tell her that my kissing him was a mistake.
“Oh look. I think that’s Will’s bike.” Kat slams on the brakes making me glad I wore my seatbelt and twice as glad there was no one behind us. Backing up a few feet she maneuvers Benzie into a parking space beside a black Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle outside of Frank’s Pizzeria. A black helmet hangs from the handle bar, another balancing on the seat. If it is Will’s bike, he isn’t alone.
Kat pulls out a tube of lipstick from her bra. Adjusting the rearview mirror she covers her lips in a dark red that’s reminiscent of dried blood. Once her lips are satisfactory she blows herself a kiss then conceals the tube back in her bra. “Ready?”
Back in the day, Frank’s used to be a bar/pool hall/game room before the owner had his liquor license removed for serving to underage kids. Now it’s a pizza place/pool hall/ game room. The inside hasn’t changed much from its former life except for a few more added booths. An unused stage still sits empty in the corner, band fliers are still plastered over the windows, the far wall is still lined with arcade games, and the pool tables are still located in the back room.
Kat stands on her toes stretching out her neck. “Do you see him?”
“Nope.” Not with the dim lighting and the constant fog of cigarette smoke seeping out from the back room, I think to myself. Plus, the backs of the booths are so high it’s too hard to see if anyone is in them without actually getting close enough to look inside.
Kat links arms with me as we search the booths up front. We find the majority of them empty. “Maybe he’s in one of the booths in the back. Or in the game room,” she says.
Kat takes the lead and because our arms are linked she pulls me along with her. She sweeps aside the red hanging beads that adorn the backroom entrance causing a cloud of cigarette smoke to puff out and sting my eyes. I cough as someone calls my name from somewhere behind me. Kat gives me a dirty look as she lets the beads fall away at the sound of his voice. I turn around to see Will and some girl with short black hair sitting in a booth along the wall.
Kat shoves my arm away leaving me there to wonder what the dirty look she just gave me was for. As far as I know I haven’t done anything to deserve it, unless of course she’s angry because Will called my name and not hers.
Kat does her best sexy walk over to Will’s table. I imagine she’s also giving him her best steamy eyes and seductive smile too. She flips her hair over her shoulder with perfect finesse and in a lusty voice says, “Hi Will. I was hoping that I’d run into you today.”
Will smiles. “Really?” Unfazed by her flirting he flicks his eyes in my direction. A move that Kat doesn’t miss because the next second she’s glaring at me. She flips her hair some more trying to regain his attention. He grins, but whether it’s for me or for her, I’m not sure.
“Don’t just stand over there Hanna, there’s room for you too. In fact, you can sit by me.” Will slides over patting the seat beside him. I can’t see Kat’s face, but I can tell by her ridged stance that she’s beyond mad he asked me to sit beside him and not her. She sits down on the opposite side of the table by the girl with black hair. Put on the spot, I hesitantly sit down beside Will knowing full well Kat and I will fight about this later.
Playfully nudging me with his shoulder, Will smiles and says, “Hanna, this is my twin sister Zoe.”
She looks so familiar. I know I’ve seen her somewhere before, but where? Suddenly Sam’s memory from this morning pops into my head. Zoe was the girl Sam was talking to. Her hair is different now, but it’s definitely her. She looks at me strangely with deep blue eyes similar to Will’s, probably because I’m looking at her strangely. Feeling like an idiot for staring I say, “Hey,” with a small wave.
“So, you’re the Hanna that had my brother out to the wee hours last night,” She says.
I stiffen, slowly looking from Zoe to Kat—who kicks me—hard—under the table. Pain throbs in my shin bringing the sting of tears to my eyes. What the hell are her boots made of; lead? I rub at the spot as discreetly as I can.
Kat smiles sweetly for show. “Why didn’t you tell me that Will was at your house last night?” She says through clenched teeth. Her eyes briefly flick to Will then back to me.
“Um…” I have no idea what to say. I probably should have told her earlier, but I didn’t because when Kat likes a guy she gets territorial and if I’d told her that Will was at my house, I knew she’d read more into it than necessary and she’d get mad. I was hoping it wouldn’t come up before I got a chance to tell Will not to mention it. But it’s too late for that now and I’m sure I’m going to pay for it in someway.
Zoe looks back and forth between Will, Kat, and me. Catching my eye she mouths ‘sorry.’
“I need to go to the bathroom.” Kat announces, standing up. She grabs ahold of my arm squeezing it harder than necessary. “Why don’t you come with me Hanna?” She smiles brightly at Will and Zoe. “We’ll be right back.”
Struggling not to limp, I let Kat drag me to the dingy bathroom. Once we’re inside Kat checks the two stalls making sure we’re alone. Satisfied that we are, she locks the outside door. “Why was Will at your house? You know I like him, so what was he doing there?” Without Will and Zoe around Kat lets loose her full fury.
I rack my brain trying to think of what to say. I can’t tell her the truth and I’m horrible at having to lie on the spot.
Kat crosses her arms over her chest, her foot tapping rhythmically against the dirty tiles that make up the bathroom floor. “I’m waiting.”
“It’s not what you think. He just gave me a ride home and we got to talking. That’s all.”
She shifts her weight from one side to the other, staring me down. “What did you talk about? And if it was so innocent, why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“Um…” My mind goes blank. Obviously I can’t tell her that Will and I were talking about fallen angels, possessions, and quests from the grave. She wouldn’t believe it and it would only make her angrier.
“First, you steal Jared, and now you’re stealing Will. What is it about you they find so appealing?” She looks me up and down, assessing my worth. “It’s not like you’re even that pretty.”
Her words slap me across the face. “I didn’t steal anyone and I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t even like Will like that.”
“Whatever. Don’t bother coming back to the table.” She knocks into me with her shoulder shoving me to the side. At the door she pauses to look back. “Oh, and you better find another way home.”
The door closes behind her and I’m left alone in a state of shock and hurt. How could she be so mean? If she liked someone I would never stand in her way or try to steal that person away. I know that having Will at my house and not being able to explain looks bad, but if I say nothing happened then she should trust me because that’s what friends do.
Watery gray eyes stare back at me from the mirror. Her ugly comment hurts just as bad as her accusations. I know I’m not super model pretty like her, but I’ve never considered myself ugly either.
The longer I stare at myself in the mirror trying to understand what just happened between Kat and I, the angrier I become, triggering something volatile inside of me. My hands clench at my sides as an intense energy builds in my gut. All the mirrors on the wall start to vibrate. I close my eyes trying to calm myself down because I know it’s me that’s causing it, but the more I try, the more I lose control. I crouch down covering my head with my arms as every mirror on the wall shatters. Shards of broken glass and sparkly powder rain down onto the floor to crunch under my feet as I flee.
Sunlight blinds me as I burst through the door leaving Frank’s Pizzeria behind. Shielding my eyes I pause not sure where I should go. Kat’s car is still parked beside Will’s bike, which means that they’re still inside. Fresh anger surfaces at the thought of what she could be saying to them about me. Kat can be very vindictive when she’s angry with someone and right now she’s pretty angry with me. Energy starts to build again with more intensity than what I felt the first time in the bathroom. All the storefront windows on the street begin to quake.
Suddenly Will is in front of me, taking my face in his hands. “Hanna, look at me. You have to calm down.” His eyes are a deep blue reminding me of the way the sky looks after the sunset. It’s oddly comforting. Some of the energy raging through me starts to ease. “That’s it. Just breath. You can control it.”
I take a deep breath, keeping eye contact, letting everything but us fade.
I can control this.
“Will?”
At the sound of Kat’s voice all the calm I’ve achieved is gone. Anger and hurt rise back to the surface with so much force I know I won’t be able to stop what’s about to happen. Will’s arms wrap around me pulling me to the ground. His body molds to mine protecting me from most of the blast.
I force my eyes open as Will helps me to my feet. Glass liters the sidewalk going half way out into the street. Kat’s back is pressed against the heavy wooden door of Frank’s, a look of horror on her face. Both windows beside her have blown outward leaving huge gaping holes in the face of the building.
On the outside I’m still as stone, on the inside, I’m completely falling apart at seeing what I’ve done. Will takes ahold of my hand leading me to his bike. In my state of shock I let him. Kat’s eyes weigh heavy on me with a mix of fear, confusion, and betrayal.
“Put this on.” Will thrusts a helmet into my hands. Time drags. Everything moves in slow motion as I look from the helmet in my hands to Kat. She glares, her eyes daring me to defy her by getting on the bike. I look back to the helmet contemplating what I should do. Will’s voice echoes out slowly, “Hanna, we have to go.” I look at him and that’s when I hear the sirens wailing.
Time speeds back up at my decision to put the helmet on. I climb on the back of the bike with one last look at Kat. Her face says it all. I will not be forgiven. Will revs the engine, the front wheel momentarily coming up off the ground and then we’re gone, leaving everything behind.