***
Keegan had a date tonight. A first date with
a new boy in school. She had been surprised when Tom asked her out.
He seemed quite shy. Looking through her closet, she tried to find
an outfit that didn’t make it look like she had tried too hard. She
settled on a pair of skinny jeans and turquoise V-neck tee shirt.
They were only going bowling after all.
Hearing the doorbell, she grabbed her sweater
and walked down the stairs.
“I’ll see you guys later,” Keegan yelled
across the room.
Her father yelled back, “Remember the number
one rule of dating.”
Keegan rolled her eyes, “I’m not going to
walk out if he places his back to the door, dad. Not everyone
believes they need to be on high alert at all times.”
Richard appeared from the living and walking
towards his daughter, he said, “If he’s not able or willing to
protect you, he is not worth your time.” He kissed her on the head.
“Have fun,” he said, “and don’t stay out too late.”
He stared at the door after it closed. It was
hard to believe that she was so grown up. In his mind, he still
pictured her as a little girl with pig tails begging for a ride on
his shoulders. The memories brought a smile to his face.
***
Rourk no longer had to wait for Keegan to
think his name. She was his responsibility now. He watched as a
truck pulled up and a tall guy with dark hair got out and went to
the door. Keegan came out looking happy and was beautiful, as
usual. The guy opened the door for her, and she grabbed his
shoulder to pull herself up. Rourk felt a pang of jealousy.
Once they pulled out, he followed them at a
distance.
Where were
they going, and who was this guy?
Eventually they pulled into the bowling
alley. Rourk groaned.
You have to be kidding me
. He decided not to go in
and watched her from the outside, using his mind.
As he watched her bowl, he laughed to himself
and thought
she is a
terrible bowler
. She barely hit any pins. She seemed to be
enjoying herself though, perhaps a little too much, and he saw her
touch her date’s arm a couple of times. The kid got a strike and
she hugged him. Rourk clenched his jaw. Noticing this, he made
himself relax.
A couple of hours later, the kid drove Keegan
straight back to her house. Rourk watched him walk her to the door.
Don’t do it
.
The kid stood there awkwardly and then turned and waved goodbye as
he went back to his truck.
Rourk needed to pull himself together. He
wasn’t sure if he would have been able to control himself had she
kissed him. He wondered briefly if the assignment was too much for
him. Richard wouldn’t have asked him to do it if it wasn’t
important. He needed to think of her as an assignment and nothing
more. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
***
Thaddeus was beyond frustrated. He had been
working with his mother for weeks trying to shield his gift it
seemed impossible. They finally resigned that either he wasn’t old
enough or his sight was too strong to block. He had been getting
flashes of visions more often. The battle was rapidly approaching,
and he wasn’t sure they were going to be ready. Sometimes he
wondered what it would be like to have a normal mind without
constant visions.
Thaddeus pushed his thoughts aside. He needed
to focus on Keegan; she had gotten stronger and faster. The
training had made a tremendous difference in her skills. He knew
better than to let his mind wander during a fight.
Thaddeus pressed forward with his attack,
forcing Keegan backwards. He immediately lunged forward again, and
Keegan swiftly blocked his sword. In a quick burst, she pushed him
back several steps. With little effort, Thaddeus paired her strikes
and then went after her.
They’d been sparring for over an hour. He
decided to end it now. He drove forward lifted his sword for the
final blow. Just as his sword was about to make contact she was
gone. Thaddeus sheathed his sword with slight smile on his
lips.
Wiping the sweat off his face he grabbed a
drink and he headed for the shower. He needed to talk to his
father. After changing into a pair of jeans and his favorite
Metallica T-shirt he headed in his father’s direction.
Thaddeus stood outside of Richard’s study,
which was more like a library than an office. He knocked sharply on
the door before entering. This was one of his favorite rooms in the
house. It was made entirely from teak. Bookshelves surrounded the
room. Taking a deep breath, he enjoyed the faint scent of wood.
This room gave credence to one of his father’s favorite sayings:
Knowledge is power
not only in warfare, but in life
. He had books on every
topic you could think of.
His father looked up from his book and leaned
back in his chair, giving his son his undivided attention. “I
believe she is ready.”
Richard sighed, putting down his book to rub
his face with both hands, and a look of relief came across it. “I
was worried that you would not have enough time to prepare
her.”
Thad’s first visions as a child had shown
Keegan dying. He must have been about six at the time. He could
still picture the vision as clear as day. Visions were strange in
that they did not always show the whole picture, usually just
snapshots.
She was on the ground, an arrow through her heart.
Blood was everywhere. People screamed. Swords clashed. Blackness.
As quickly as that vision ended, another one started. In this one,
there was a fork in the road. Keegan, laughing, ran to the right.
Behind her came a tall boy with reddish hair, he was also laughing.
He grabbed her by the waist and swung her around.
Although only a boy, Thaddeus had never been
a regular child. Richard had always known there was something
special about his son. He was not surprised to learn his son was
the child of prophecy.
Part of Richard’s job as commander of the
Elfin specialized unit was to oversee the preparation of the young
warriors. The ones who showed promise were taken at a young age and
molded to join their specialized unit. Rourk stood out. He was
noticed even earlier than most. His potential was obvious to
everyone.
After the young warriors were trained and
became of age they had to spend time in the regular human military.
They could choose their branch as long as their end goal was to
belong to the special operations community. It was then their
choice if they wanted to stay in the human military or return to
the Elfin Army of the light.
Richard himself had decided to stay in the
U.S. Army Special Forces until he reached retirement age. Too many
wars were going on for him to leave, and he felt he was of more
value there. Recently, there had been talk of making an exception
for Rourk and allowing him to join their specialized unit without
joining the human military. Because of Thaddeus’ vision and his
relationship with Keegan, keeping him around could change the
outcome of the great battle.
K
eegan tossed piles of clothes on the floor
searching for the perfect outfit to wear to the concert.
Why was it always so
hard to find something to wear?
She looked around her room
and clothes were all over the place.
So many outfits and still nothing to wear
.
Picking up her phone, she texted Lauren to meet her at the mall.
Keegan’s mom dropped her off at Target and she walked the rest of
the way. It wasn’t that far, but she still felt annoyed that her
mom didn’t take her the whole way.
Rourk wasn’t far behind and wondered where
she was headed this time. Since he started following her, he’d
started to notice patterns in her behavior. For instance, she
couldn’t pass a Starbucks without getting a white chocolate mocha
which she bought almost daily.
What could she possibly want or need all the
clothing for?
What bothered Rourk most was Keegan’s phone.
She was always texting and oblivious to what was going on around
her. This left her extremely vulnerable, and at times he wished he
could grab her phone and smash it. Taking a deep breath he reminded
himself that he was there for her protection. In essence, he was
her eyes and ears.
One of Rourk’s secondary gifts was the
ability to detect other creatures, and he noticed an increase in
the amount of creatures of the dark lately. It was as if they were
coming out of the woodwork. He knew they were always there, but
since taking on his new assignment he had a heightened sense of
awareness. He wondered if Keegan knew how many of the kids at her
school were not human. Rourk couldn’t always tell what kind of
creature they were, but he always knew if they were with the light
or dark. So far, he had only seen her have interaction with others
from the light. They were not elves though, that much he was sure
of.
Rourk found it interesting that Keegan got so
much pleasure from something as basic as shopping. He didn’t have
any sisters, and his mother died when he was young so Rourk was not
used to being around the opposite sex. He had never even had a
girlfriend. To begin his training Rourk was taken from school
younger than most. They said he showed promise, and they didn’t
want it to be tainted by being around humans longer than
necessary.
***
Keegan decided on a white tank top and skinny
jeans. Now, on to accessories. There were so many beautiful things
in the world and she wished she could have them all. She’d been
shopping with Lauren for hours. They went in store after store
trying on hats, sunglasses, shoes and jewelry. Most of the time
they were laughing at each other. Keegan put on a large floppy hat
and a pair of oversized glasses and then walked the aisle as if it
were a catwalk. She made a quick spin and turned to Lauren and
lowered her glasses, which led Lauren to join in. They were putting
on their own fashion show, and people were staring at them, but
they didn’t seem to notice or care.
After a while the girls were finally done
shopping. Lauren’s mother picked them up and dropped Keegan off at
home. Rourk always felt relieved when he knew she arrived home
safely. Now, he could go home and get some sleep.
Keegan’s mother was folding laundry when she
walked in. She leaned her head out of the door to the laundry room
and asked, “What did you get to wear for the concert?”
Keegan smiled and said, “White tank top and
skinny jeans.” She saw her mother’s face change and thought
uh-oh
. Her
mother had a quick temper.
Calmly, Emerald said, “Keegan, go up to your
room and pick out your favorite pair of jeans and top.” Puzzled,
she went upstairs and did as she was told. Her mother glared when
she returned and said, “Now throw them in the trash.”
A look of shock crossed Keegan’s face.
“What?”
Her mom went back to folding the clothes.
“You have at least a half dozen white tank tops and skinny jeans
upstairs. You are so spoiled, Keegan. You don’t even appreciate all
you have.”
Keegan stomped up the stairs and slammed her
door. She was so mad at her mother. It was ridiculous; if she had
said she got a blue shirt none of this would have happened. Now,
she had lost her favorite pair of jeans. Her mom got so mad over
the stupidest things. At least she got to keep the outfit for the
concert. What made no sense to her was the outfit she had to throw
away cost twice as much as the new one.
***
When Rourk walked in, his father, Greg, was
sitting in the living room with the lights off. Rourk sank into the
oversized leather chair across from his father, putting his feet on
the coffee table. They sat in silence for several minutes.
“So, how was your day, Dad? Anything of
interest going on?”
“Not really, just the usual.”
They lapsed back into silence. His father
never had much to say. Ever since Rourk’s mother died, his dad had
closed himself off from everyone, and Rourk missed the days when
the man had been filled with life. They used to spend so much time
together.
Staring at his father, he thought,
we look nothing
alike
. Rourk took after his mother’s side of the family. His
dad looked like he could be a movie star. He had dark hair graying
at the temples, intense blue eyes, and a strong jaw line. At work,
his nickname was Fisher. The guys like to tease him saying he
looked like the live version of Sam Fisher from
Splinter Cell
. Even with age,
the lines just seem to give him more character. Rourk was always
amused at how women practically threw themselves at his dad. No one
stood a chance though; he was altogether indifferent toward women.
Rourk’s mother had been the only one for him.
His father didn’t bother asking about his
day, even though Rourk was sure he must have heard about his new
assignment. Like Richard, he was retired military, and now they
worked together. He wouldn’t say they were friends, but they
unquestionably had a mutual respect for one another.
Rourk stretched and yawned, “I’m headed to
bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight.”
Tomorrow was the concert Keegan would be
attending. It was going to be a long day, and he needed his
sleep.
***
Keegan woke up to the sound of a little hand
knocking on the door yelling, “Kee-kee-kee!”
Ugh. She pulled the blankets over her head.
Why had she taught Warrick how to knock on doors? It was funny when
he was doing it to Thaddeus. He sounded so cute, though, that she
couldn’t resist, and it didn’t take long before she gave in and
opened the door.
Her little brother ran in and crawled in bed
with her. He was always so happy in the morning, and it was
impossible to stay angry at him. Reaching over, she grabbed her
iPad and selected
30
Seconds to Mars
to play. She was already excited about the
concert even though it was still ten hours away.