Brightest Kind of Darkness (16 page)

“Are you threatening me?” She took a step back, glaring.

I shrugged. “Take it however you want.”

“Stay away from me!” Sophia said, then stomped off.

“That was just weird,” Ethan commented quietly.

I turned to see him staring at his hand as he rubbed his fingers together. Even though I felt bad he’d gotten shocked, I was also giddy with relief. Ethan wasn’t behind what had been happening. He’d seemed worried and concerned, but he hadn’t tried to stop me. “Sorry about that,” I said, grabbing his hand and rubbing the tips of his fingers with my palm. “I’ve been having major static issues lately.”
Cheap dryer sheets!

“That was more than just a little zap, Nara. It felt like I stuck my finger in a socket while standing in a puddle of icy water.”

How odd. It just felt like a regular static shock to me. “You felt coldness too?”

“Yeah, I thought the air conditioner had turned on, but there aren’t any vents in the locker hall.” He clasped my hand, stopping my nervous rubbing. “What’s going on? You looked really freaked out when you told me to stop. What did you think I was doing?”

“I thought you were trying to stop me from warning Sophia.”

Confusion reflected in his eyes. “But I didn’t touch you or say anything.”

As I tried to think of the best way to explain, one of my teammates rushed past, cleats clacking on the hall floor. “Coach’s in a mood, Nara. Don’t be late.”

I checked my watch. “I’ve got to change for practice. Can we talk afterward?”

Ethan looked frustrated. “I can’t. I have to be at the shelter from four ’til close.” He touched my cheek, his thumb sliding along my skin. “Just tell me
we’re
okay. The rest can wait.”

Ethan deserved an answer to my strange behavior the past couple of days. “We’re okay. I’ll come by the shelter later.”

* * *

When I walked into CVAS, Roscoe lifted his head from his lamb’s wool bed beside Sally’s desk. Sally glanced up from her paperwork and grinned. “Hi, Nara. Came straight from practice, I see. Ethan said you’d stop by. He’s in the back getting a litter ready to go to a rescue group tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Sally.” I squatted to pat Roscoe, then headed back to the kennel area. My shoulders tightened with each step while I tried to figure out the best way to explain to Ethan what’d been going on with me. As I neared the kennel’s main door, my soccer flops must’ve announced my arrival, because the dogs all started barking at once.

With animals, you gave love and you received love in return. The same wasn’t always true with people. I smiled, seeing Ethan clearly now. I was pretty sure I understood why he preferred animals to people. They were a lot less complicated.

When I opened the door, Ethan was just starting to open a cage with three Sheltie puppies. “Great, you can help,” he said, waving for me to come forward. The tension between my shoulders eased as I approached.

We were on even ground with the animals.

“How’d it go at practice?” Ethan pulled out a black and white male Sheltie puppy and set him in my hands.

“Sophia’s nose remains unbroken.” I sighed heavily and cradled the puppy’s rear end, snuggling him close to wash away my disappointment.

“You and Lainey okay? Sophia didn’t cause problems?” he asked, while scooping up the two tri-colored Shelties.

“Sophia’s all bluff and bluster,” I answered as the puppy licked my chin enthusiastically. It loved all that salty sweat from practice. I smiled at his sweet puppy breath.

“She seems the type.” Ethan held the two female Shelties close and nodded for me to go ahead of him. “These pups are very attached, so I figured it’s best to bathe them together.”

Ethan and I didn’t speak while we bathed the puppies. We just shared the shampoo and traded the sprayer as needed. The puppies whimpered when they first got wet, then wiggled and squirmed through the shampooing phase. By the time we moved to rinsing them off, they’d grown braver, playing with and making tiny yipping barks at the spraying water as it washed all the bubbles away. Every once in a while I caught Ethan smiling at them. It was nice to spend time together doing something we both enjoyed; an activity that didn’t require any discussion about our abilities. Something…normal.

As Ethan began to towel dry the black and white puppy, he asked, “Why did you think I was trying to stop you from warning Sophia?”

I paused fluffing and buffing the first female puppy in order to pull the second puppy away from my sock. She’d decided it would make a great tug toy. When I was able to focus on drying the puppy again, I answered, “The cold sensation we both felt today, that wasn’t new. Each time I’ve tried to prevent someone from getting hurt, I’ve felt this cool pressure bearing down on me. Right before I spoke to Sophia, it pinned me to the locker. Sometimes the sensation’s accompanied by other freaky stuff.” I met his expectant gaze. “When you refused to share my dreams with me and then said you thought it was best if I didn’t interfere, I remembered you also tried to keep me on the phone the day I was trying to help Jody.”

Ethan picked the puppy up and rubbed the towel gently around his eyes, then his gaze locked with mine. “You know I never intentionally absorbed your dreams, but I called you that day, because while I was working on the roof, I got a bad feeling, a worried vibe. I don’t know…it’s hard to explain, but since I’d had your dream, I knew you’d somehow get involved with Jody. I won’t lie to you, Nara. I
do
think it’s best to let nature take its course.”

Now the other puppy decided the towel would make a good tug toy. Each time I rubbed her sister’s fur, she tugged on the other end of the towel. I paused my buff/tug routine between the two pups. “Count yourself lucky I didn’t let ‘nature take its course’ or that bomb in your locker
would’ve
gone off.”

Ethan’s rubbing hand stopped over the puppy’s neck. “Er, good point.”

“Anyway, that’s not what sent me over the edge, making me believe you were the cause of the sensations I’d been experiencing.”

“What did?”

I picked the puppy up and dried her sweet face. Setting her down, I gathered her sister and gave her face the same treatment. “Right after I rushed you off the phone so I could go talk to Jody, my car radio flipped around from station to station, saying, ‘Don’t Interfere’ over and over. Don’t you see…that’s the same thing you’d said to me about getting involved: don’t interfere.”

Ethan stilled. “You thought
I
was behind the radio thing?”

“I don’t believe that
now
. It occurred to me later that each time the weird stuff had happened before you weren’t around. When it happened again while you were with me today,
and
you felt it too, I knew you weren’t causing it.”

Realization dawned on his face. He didn’t look happy. “
That’s
why you wanted me there.”

“It was the only way I could think to prove you weren’t responsible for all the other weird stuff.”

“Whoa!” Ethan held his hands up, towel dangling from his fingers. “I’m confused. Slow down. What other weird stuff? And why did you think I was responsible?”

While I finished drying the two puppies, I told Ethan everything about the eerie supernatural events I’d experienced over the past few weeks. When I got to the part about the conversation I’d had with my aunt about him, his eyebrows shot up and his lips quirked in a smile. “Your aunt said I’m powerful and that I have an old soul?”

I threw a wet towel at him. “Don’t get cocky. That was just another nail in your ‘coffin of doom’. For all I knew, my aunt’s gut feelings about you meant that you had telekinesis and could,” I paused to tick off the list on my fingers, “prank call like a champ, fiddle with radios, fog mirrors and block bathroom doors…all from God knew where.”

“What about us, Nara? Did you really think I would scare you like that?”

Ethan was sitting on the floor and the puppies had abandoned me for his lap. All three were trying their best to climb up his body to get to his face. Ethan’s big hands dwarfed their bodies, but he was so gentle with them. Seeing the hurt in his eyes and the puppies’ complete trust in him made my chest feel as if it’d just been sawed in half.

“I’m sorry!” I walked over to sit beside him. “I struggled with that, but I couldn’t deny the fact that after I’d met you, my dreams started disappearing—which kept me from helping people at school who were getting hurt. Not to mention the fact that on the rare occasion that I had a dream, you were never in them.”

Confusion etched his features. “That doesn’t make any sense. I assumed
you
at least saw me in your dreams. All this time I’d been thinking that the reason I couldn’t see myself was because
I
was dreaming
your
dreams, which, in a weird sort of way, kind of cancelled me out of your dream world.”

I petted the black and white puppy, who’d moved over to settle in my lap. “You’re never in them.”

Ethan touched my chin and I met his gaze. “You knew I had your dreams because I touched you. But as far as why I’m not in them, honest to God, Nara, that’s news to me. I have no idea why I’m not in them. I wish I were.”

“After everything I’ve told you, you have to understand how I came to the conclusion I did.” I hoped he heard the sincerity in my voice.

“I guess I can see how it all seemed, and for the record, I don’t have telekinetic powers,” he said with a snort.

Ethan had experienced some of the weirdness too, which meant there was no denying that my experiences were very
real
. A freaky kind of real. The black and white puppy began to suckle on my finger. I rubbed his soft head. “Who or…
what
do you think is doing this to me?” I whispered, trying not to let fear take over.

Picking the female puppies up, Ethan stood and waited until I did the same with the other pup. “This just proves what my gut has been telling me. Interfering is dangerous. All these strange things happened when you used your knowledge to try to help someone.”

I followed Ethan out of the bathing area. “I don’t understand. Why is this happening now?” Opening the cage, I set the puppy inside. “I’ve intervened in the past…well, okay not very often.”

Ethan set the other pups in with their brother. After he shut the cage, he looked incredulous as he turned to me. “Not very often? Nara, that’s
all
I’ve seen you do since I met you.”

I shrugged and spread my hands wide. “When I was eight, I tried to help a girl and it backfired. Since then, I’ve mostly avoided getting involved with others, until the recent school bombing. It’s not like I could just ignore
that
dream. But lately, so many things have been happening, I can’t seem to stay uninvolved.”

Ethan blue gaze searched mine. “Did you feel these odd sensations back when you tried to help that girl in the past?”

“No, they’ve only happened recently.”

His lips set in a thin line. “Then something has changed. Do you remember when it happened the first time?”

“Yeah, it was when I called the police about the bomb.”

“Hey, guys.” Sally poked her head inside the kennel door. “All done?”

“Just about,” I said.

“Great,” she said with a nod. “If you could put the towels in the wash, I’ll take care of the rest and close up the shelter for the night.”

As I sprayed the dog fur and suds down the drain in the bathing area, Ethan cleaned up the towels. Holding the bundle in his hands, he paused, looking thoughtful. “What if all the weird stuff you’ve been experiencing was Nature trying to fix the imbalance you’ve created by acting on your powers?”

I grabbed the laundry bin and rolled it over to Ethan. “I don’t understand how helping people is a bad thing.”

He tossed the towels into the bin, then moved closer. “I know you have good intentions, Nara, but each time you’ve used your knowledge of the future to help someone, you’ve changed the natural course of their lives.”

I shook my head slowly. “The stuff that’s happened to me has felt eerie and purposeful, like it was trying to scare me into not doing anything.” When my hands on the bin began to shake, Ethan slid his fingers down my ponytail and I met his gaze. “How is terrifying me in any way balanced or natural?”

Cupping the back of my neck, he pulled me close and murmured, “It’s not.”

Chapter Fifteen

Knowing the future was overrated
, I decided after several days of peaceful normalcy. It was nice to finally be able to walk into school on Wednesday without tense anticipation crawling along my spine. As I turned down the locker hall, I automatically moved out of the way of the “back brace” girl to give her space, when I almost ran into Kenny.

“Watch out! Coming through,” he said as he led a blond guy by his elbow away from a locker.

The blond guy wore dark sunglasses and had medical gauze taped over his eyes underneath the shades. I glanced at Kenny. “What happened to him?”

“Jake’s a dumbass.”

“Eye doctor said I wore my contacts too long, called it fatigue syndrome or something.” Jake shrugged. “I didn’t though. I have no idea why my eyes got all messed up.”

I couldn’t stop staring at the gauze peeking beneath the shades. “Will you get your sight back?”

“Doc says I will after a few days.” He grinned. “In the meantime, I’m soaking this ‘teachers-taking-it-easy-on-me’ shit up!”

Kenny rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and now
I
get to ‘help-a-student-out’.”

He sounded so inconvenienced I couldn’t help but snicker. “Payback’s a bit—” I paused when I saw Kristin open her locker to my left. The word
payback
echoed in my head over and over. Dread shot through me. “Where’s your locker, Kenny?”

He pointed to the one next to Jake’s. “Why?”

I scanned the set of lockers on either side of the hall, trying to remember. Jody’s was two doors down. And the screaming guy from a couple weeks ago, Aaron, his locker was in this area somewhere. Wasn’t there some guy who’d complained of vertigo? Alan something? I turned to see him opening a locker behind me. And I’d just passed the back brace girl leaving this area.

Kenny waved his hand in front of my face. “Why’d you ask about my locker?”

I mumbled, “No reason,” even as my gaze darted across the blue doors, looking for Ethan’s old locker. Some jerk had taped a drawing of an explosion on it, making it easy to spot. A sinking feeling hit my stomach. Ethan’s old locker was in the center of all the injured students’ lockers. Suddenly Lainey’s comment from the day I’d called in the bombing rushing back in vivid clarity. “
Dad said that anyone within fifteen feet of that locker could’ve been hurt
.”

I spent the next couple hours checking my watch and was so stressed waiting for Ethan outside his Chemistry class, that my palms had bloody half moons from my nails. The bell finally rang and as I waited for him, I rubbed my stinging palms on my jeans. I could barely contain myself when he finally appeared. “Let’s go out for lunch.”

His eyebrows shot up. “This isn’t your lunch hour.”

“I need to talk to you,” I said in a low, urgent voice.

“What’s wrong?”

I waved to the front of the school. “I’ll tell you once we’re alone.”

As soon as Ethan’s car rolled out of the school parking lot, he glanced my way. “You look worried.”

“Remember when I said that the first time I felt the cold heaviness around me was when I called in the bombing?”

Ethan nodded.

“Well, you had the supernatural part right, but I don’t think this is about Nature trying to maintain balance. I’m pretty sure it’s more about keeping score.”

His dark gaze cut my way. “That’s doesn’t sound good.” Pulling into a neighborhood side street, he cut the engine, then turned to face me, his arm resting on the steering wheel. “What makes you think this?”

“Seeing Kenny in the hall this morning.” I explained how seeing Kenny with the blinded guy, trigged a memory of the people I’d helped or seen, whose lockers were in that area of the locker hall. “Ethan, all the injured people in school lately? Their lockers fall into the section of lockers near where the bomb was found—your old locker.”

Ethan frowned. “I agree with you about the pattern, but why do you think ‘keeping score’ is the cause?”

“Because of something you said to me last Friday. ‘By interfering and trying to save people, you’re changing the outcome of their lives’. I think the ‘score keeper’ is, well…I think it’s fate somehow intervening. It all makes sense now
why
I started experiencing the eerie stuff when I did. Ever since I prevented the bomb from going off, a presence has been there.” I shoved my hands through my hair, getting more and more worked up. “After that, whenever I saw someone get hurt in my dream and tried to prevent it, that chilling presence used all kinds of crazy scare tactics to prevent me from intervening. I—I think it was Fate, Ethan.”

Ethan pulled my hand from my hair and rubbed his thumb along my palm. “That must’ve been what I felt the day I called right before you talked to Jody. Something felt off, like things were out of whack.”

“I think Fate’s trying to make sure all the people that I saved from the bomb get hurt anyway. If you had opened your locker that day, you would probably have been killed.” I folded my fingers around his in a tight grip. “We have to stop Fate before it finds a way to make your intended fate reality.”

Ethan shook his head. “We’re not doing anything.”

My eyes widened. “What? Why would you say that?”

“It’s too dangerous. Plus, I don’t think Fate will come after me.”

I stared at him as if he’d sprouted horns. “That’s crazy talk. Too many people from the same locker area have already gotten hurt. Why do think
you’ll
get a free pass when no one else has?”

Ethan shrugged, unconcerned. “Like you said, I’m not in your dreams.”

“That’s your brilliant logic? Because you’re not in my dreams?” I touched his face as panic set in. “You might not be in my dreams, but you’re real. You’re flesh and blood and you can be hurt or worse, killed. We can’t ignore this!”

His jaw hardened under my palm. “No, Nara! If what you say is true, that Fate is causing all this, then it has already zeroed in on you. Think how much your gift must piss it off. You have the ability to screw up
all
its carefully laid plans. The last thing you should do is openly challenge it. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Tears burned my eyes and my stomach roiled. In my mind’s eye, I kept seeing Ethan in some horrible freak accident that tore him to shreds, just like the bomb would’ve done, had it gone off. More than anyone else, he had the most to lose. “Ethan, please!”

He traced his knuckles along my cheek. “Let it go, Nara.”

“But—”

Ethan cupped my jaw with both hands, his gaze focused on mine. “We have other things we need to do.”

The screeching fears in my head instantly shushed to mere whispers. I was surprised that he’d talked me down, but I suddenly felt less worried. “Like what?”

“Like heading over to the CVU’s library to get research books for our History paper. Can you go after practice?”

At least we’d be together and I could keep an eye on him. “Yeah, can you pick me up around five-fifteen at my house?”

He started to speak when a loud rapping hammered on his window, startling us. An old woman in a floral housecoat stood scowling, her white hair bound in spongy pink curlers as she pointed her broom’s handle toward the glass like a spear. “Find somewhere else to do the nasty or I’m calling the police.”

As we drove away, Ethan shook his head and chuckled. “Do you feel dirty? Or is it just me?”

* * *

At the end of the day, I was pulling my backpack out of my locker, when Lainey brushed past, zipping down the hall at breakneck pace. She came to a sliding halt in front of a locker and spun the combination with swift precision. My heart ramped, hammering hard and fast and I suddenly felt lightheaded. I’d forgotten that Lainey’s locker was right next to Ethan’s old locker. She’d been sharing Jared’s for a while now.

I closed my locker, panic clawing my chest. Ethan wasn’t the only one. Lainey was in danger too. Why had I listened to him about staying out of it?
Because he touched you on purpose to calm you down.
I had no idea he could be so sneaky.

This was all my fault and I needed to fix it. But without my dreams, I didn’t know when something was going to happen. And now that Ethan knew about Fate, I was afraid he might not warn me. What I needed was the element of surprise, something Fate wouldn’t be expecting from me. Then maybe it would leave Lainey and Ethan alone.

Lainey had just pulled her soccer bag out of the locker and was about to close the door. I couldn’t stand by and wait for her to get hurt.

“Lainey,” I called before she could walk away.

Tugging the bag’s strap onto her shoulder, she waited for me to approach. “Hey, girl. How’s your Gran?”

I smiled. “Chipper as ever. So, um, I’m doing this skit for the Central Virginia Animal Shelter. Can you be a stand-in for a sec?”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

I surveyed the hall, floor and ceiling, then spoke in a clear voice, “I know you’re here, lurking” Static popped in my jacket with my small movements. The sensation sent fear jolting through me, but I keep my face composed. “I want you to
back off
. No more accidents!”

“Am I supposed to be responding?” Lainey stage-whispered, her gaze darting around furtively.

I shook my head. My back was so tense, a light breeze could’ve snapped my spine.

She gave me a “thumbs up”. “Love the fierceness.”

“Fierceness is required,” I said, still scanning.

“Oh, I get it! ‘No more accidents!’ Your skit’s about ‘tough love’ dog training, right?”

The frigid air had dissipated and my body began to relax. I laughed at her interpretation. “Uh, yeah, that’s it. Thanks for being my guinea pig.”

“Don’t you mean thanks for being your ‘dog’?” She smiled, then continued, “The only critique I have on your performance is: Turn those fierce eyes
on
the dog. You looked everywhere but at me.”

I cleared my throat so I wouldn’t laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

“No problem. You know I’d only let a
close
friend treat me like her bitch.”

I smiled at the reminder that I’d said something similar to her. “See you at practice.”

Exhaling a heavy breath, I waved after her and hoped my preemptive strike with Fate had worked.

* * *

After practice, I checked voicemails when I got home and had a message from Gran.

“Inara!” She sounded muffled and raspy, like she was talking into the phone with her hand over the mouthpiece so no one would hear. “You’re brilliant! Clara has been hounding me, trying to find out who my secret admirer is.” She snickered, then continued, “I even told her that’s where I was, drinking it up and seeing my man. I feel like such a floozy. Haven’t had this much fun in years! Well, I need to get ready for game night. Just wanted to say thank you. Come see me sooner than a few months, young lady!” And with that final dig, she hung up.

Smiling fondly, I erased the message, then sat down to eat a small bowl of strawberry oatmeal. I’d just finished eating when I saw Ethan standing at my front door, raising his hand to knock.

I glanced at the microwave clock in confusion. It was almost five and I was still grubby from soccer practice. “You’re early. What’s up?” I said as I opened the door.

Stepping inside, he shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “I thought we could get an earlier start.”

His shoulders were stiff and the muscle in his jaw popped in and out. I knew that look. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just wanted to give you something.” Ethan pulled his hand from his pocket, then slid a small pair of rimless sunglasses with light peach-colored lenses on my face. “Perfect,” he said, nodding his approval.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, touched by the gift.

A small smile lifted the corners of his lips and he slid his fingers down my hair. “Now you don’t have to hide behind dark shades any more. At least not from me.”

All I could do was stare. So maybe the sunglasses collection on my car dash looked a little over-the-top, but other girls bought shoes or purses. “I don’t hide behind my glasses.”

“Yeah, you do, because you
always
take your glasses off as soon as you get in your car.”

I shrugged and his eyebrow shot up. “That’s usually when most people put them on, Nara.”

Oh, duh!
When my powers first appeared in elementary school, I’d been worried that my gaze would give away the fact I knew stuff I shouldn’t have known, at least not ahead of time. Sunglasses had been my answer. Over the years, my obsession faded, turning into a kind of hobby. I touched the edge of my new shades. “They’re perfect. I love them.”

Looking pleased, Ethan stepped close and dropped a kiss on my sweat-dried forehead. “No more secrets between us.”

Guilt twisted my stomach. Ethan would flip if he knew about my experiment in the hall today. “Eww,” I said, backing up. “I’m all gross.”

“She tastes like chicken.” He winked, then swiped his tongue hungrily across his lips.

Even though he was joking around, my heart fluttered. “Let me get a quick shower and then we’ll go.”

After my shower, I towel-dried my hair and had just slipped into a pair of worn jeans and a pullover sweater, when I heard my Irish music tape playing and the sound of wood tapping against wood, rapping to the beat in perfect rhythm.

Opening my bathroom door, I stared at Ethan in amazement.

When I was little I’d helped my father sand the intricately carved headboard he’d created for my bed frame. While the wooden headboard dried from the layers of stain he’d applied, he said to me, “As a reward for your help, I’ll make anything you want next. Just name it.” I’d clapped my hands and excitedly asked,” Can you please make me a musical instrument?”

Dad’s answer had been Jack-the-jolly-jigger.

“Since you can’t read music, Jack here will be your instrument,” Dad said as he held up the long stick with a wooden man attached on the end. Jack had jointed arms, legs and knees that swiveled, swung and bent with the slightest movement of the stick.

My dad sat in a chair with a long, thin piece of wood three inches wide underneath him. Holding Jack so his legs hovered on the end of the flexible “plank”, Dad nodded to an old tape player he’d set on the table. “Turn the music on and I’ll show you how Jack works.”