Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (16 page)

As I turned the corner onto my street I heard a terrible screeching and looked up just in time to dive back onto the sidewalk
.
A red mustang convertible was rounding the corner onto Main Street at such a speed I swear the car was only on two wheels
.
The top of the convertible was down
,
revealing what looked like a teenage girl
with wild red hair
driving, while heavy metal
music blared from her speakers
.
I attempted to calm my racing heart and unconsciously rubbed my elbow that I had smashed into the sidewalk leaping out of the way of t
he car and its crazy driver
.

“
Give all teenage drivers a bad name why don’t
ya
,” I mumbled under my breath
.
I turned and continued to walk home
.
I wasn’t going to let a near death experience side track me from my mission
.

I burst through my front door slightly out of breath
.
I had rushed home even though I knew right where my Mother would be all day, and surely enough there she sat in front of the television watching what looked like a group of ridiculously attractive housewives cat fight
.
I took a deep breath and attempted to calm my racing heart
.
I walked over to the sofa and flopped down on the opposite end
.
I looked over at my m
om and she continued to stare blankly at the television
.
I was at a los
s
; I wasn’t sure how to go about this.
It
h
ad been so long since I actually attempted to h
ave a conversation with the woma
n
.

I took another deep breath and just jumped right in
.
“Mom, I need to talk to you
…
a
bout what you said last night,” I paused
,
waiting for a response
.
She turned and faced me
,
looking directly into my eyes and for a moment I was transfixed
.
I had inherited my m
other’s hair color, but even though my eyes were technically classified as green
,
my m
other’s eyes were a green so bright and crystal clear they actually resembled emeralds
.
She blinked several times, but continued to stare at me saying nothing
.
I shook myself and continued on
.
“What if I believe you
?
What if I know that something is going to happen, something bad
?
What do I do?
”
I watched as her gaze seemed to clear, and her eyes filled with a focus I hadn’t seen in years
.

“Michelle, my b
ell
e
,” she started
.
This caught me off guard; she hadn’t called me by that affectionate title in years
.
“I’m glad to see you
’
r
e
still wearing your necklace.”

I decided not to question her sudden lucidness, and just make the best of
it,
however long it lasted
.
“Speaking of my necklace
,
Mom, where did Aunt Karen get it?” I asked.

“She didn’t get it,” she stated flatly.

“No, Aunt Karen is the one who gave it to me
.
I remember
it was for my
seventeenth
birthday
.
” I was starting to doubt how lucid she was
.

“No, I gave it to Aunt Karen to give to you
.
I knew you would like it better if it came from her.”

“Where did you get it
,
Mom?”

“Someone gave it to me to give to you
.
Som
eone special
.
Someone you’ll meet soon
.
”
She began to get that far away look in her ey
es and I thought I was lo
sing her again
.
Then she visibly shook herself and her eyes cleared
.

“Who, Mom?” I asked.

“Oh, that doesn’t matter now
.
Just wear it, and keep it close
.
It has a powerful history and it will protect you.
”
Although the answer
was still cryptic it was better than her usual ramblings, so I decide to press my luck and continue asking her questions
.

“Mom, what do you know about the apocalypse?
”
I ventured.

She took
a deep breath and square
d
her shoulders
.
“I know a lot and very little all at the same time.
”
I thought that was all of the answer I was going to get, but she continued
.
“
I know that many people believe that it will be God
’
s last
Judgment
.
That
it will be the second coming and
the
righteous
will go to heaven and the rest to h
ell, but I believe something a little different
.
I believe that perhaps the apocalypse is a chance, a warning
.
God is unhappy with the
course of human action, but he is not a hateful God
.
He wants us to succeed
.
I think God will give humanity a chance to save itself
.
Perhaps the vast majority of the world will never know how close they came to destruction, but if the small section of humanity succeeds
,
humanity’s existence will remain the same
.
If you fail it will
condemn
us all,” she finished
.

I blinked hard a few times trying to process what she just said, and as I replayed what she had said something clicked
.
“You said ‘you’! ‘If you fail…’ “ I felt my heart beat quicken
.
“Why would you say that
,
Mom?
”
Just then a knock sounded at the door
.
I was so
entranced
in our conversation that it made me jump
.
I waited for a moment, but she seemed to be waiting for me to answer the door
.
I got up and opened the front door, and on the opposite side of the glass storm door stood Gabriel
.
I
cracked the door and leaned out.
“Hey. What are you doing here?
”
I asked in hushed tones
.
I didn’t need my m
other to
realize
it was a boy on t
he porch, wanting to talk to me
about the end of times
.

“I was curious about what happened with Cami,” he said
,
actually looking a little abash about the fact.

“Well
,
have you ever heard of a phone,” I snapped
,
shocked at my own
callousness
.

“Well, yeah
…
but maybe I wanted to see you again
,
too.”

“
Ohhh
.
” All my previous
aggravation
dissipated
.
“
Well
, come in then.
”
I stepped aside and let him come through the front door
.
I gl
anced over my shoulder, but my m
other’s attention had drifted back to the obnoxious women on the television screen
.
Suddenly I saw my m
other’s head snap towards the door so quickly I thought I actual
ly
heard a crack
.
I felt Gabriel behind me, standing close enough that the small hairs at the back of my neck stood on end
.

“What are you doing in my house
?
!”
my m
other roared
.
“Why are you talking to her?
”

My mouth dropped open and I openly gaped at her
.
I was use
d
to her saying random things, but she had never before shown such rage
.
“Mom,” I squealed
,
trying to embarrass her into behaving
.

“I want you out of my house!” she continued to roar
.

“Mom, this is Gabriel
.
We go to school together,” I attempted to explain
.
Just then she leapt from the couch and started across the living room in Gabriel’s direction
.
I stepped between them, blocking her path
.
“Gabriel, maybe you should go,” I shouted over my shoulder
.
“I’ll call you later,” I added in a rush
.
Without so much as a word
, G
abriel turn
ed and
open
ed
the door
. It slammed shut behind him with a bang
.

It took almost half an hour to calm my mother, but I finally got her back on the couch and settled down
.
It had taken a seda
tive mixed
in a glass of orange
juice, but calm was c
a
lm
.
She had raged and ranted about how Gabriel had no right to enter her home
.
She yelled that it was bad enough her dreams weren’t safe
.
She fought me, trying to force me down the hall to my room
a
n
d screaming not to worry she would protect me
.
It was safe to say that the brief period of lucidity she had experienced earlier was over, but her ranting struck a cord within me
.
I had a dream where someone looking like Gabriel had appeared
to me, so this either meant my m
other was more aware than I gave her credit for or I was spiraling down into insanity with her
.
My f
ather would be left caring for two crazy people who liv
ed in the same crazy delusion
.
Just good, old-fashioned family bonding
.

I took a deep breath and assured myself that I was not crazy
.
I went to the fridge, grabbed a diet soda, and went to the phone to call
Gabriel
.
The phone barely rang once before
he picked up with a gruff
hello
.

“Hey,
I wanted to call and apologize
…
ahh
you know, for earlier,” I stammered
.
“I’m sorry my m
om reacted like that, she’s umm…” I trailed off not sure how to explain her behavior and how much I really wanted to tell this person I barely knew
.

He
clear
ed
his throat on the other end of the phone.
“
No
,
it
’
s me who should
apologize
,” he stated flatly
.
I was surprised by his comment; it had been my m
other who had yelled at him for no reason
.
“I should have
realized
I couldn’t just show
up at your house
.
After all
,
I
’m aware of the situation your m
om is in.”

I took a deep breath and attempted to hide my shock
.
“What situation do you mean?
”
I was completely unwilling to
share any
information about my m
other, especially if he claimed to already know about her “situation”
.

“
Chell
, I know that your m
om has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and her delusions are about ang
el
s and demons
.
I also know that she isn’t schizophrenic.”