Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (35 page)

“Cami, don’t be ridiculous
.
He was the Anti-
Christ
,
I don’t think you had much power against him
.
He set his sights on you and that was it.
”

“Was it though,
Chell
?
Did he set his sights on me or did I throw myself at him?” she asked accusatorily
.

“None of that matters
,
Cam
.
What’s
done is done
.
He’s evil and I have to kill his as
s, but first I need you and my m
other far away from here.
”

“What
?
!”
Cami’s voice was shrill with surprise as she jerked her head back and looked into my face
.
“There is no way
I’m leaving you
.
I helped start this and I’m seeing it through to the end.
”

“That’s a terrible idea
.
Don’t you see what he’s capable of
?
He killed my f
ather and made it look like a
suicide
, nobody would believe me if I tried to tell the truth.
”
I sighed and shook my head
.
“You have to leave, I can’t focus on what needs to be done if I’m distracted, watching and worrying about you guys.
”

“I want to stay and help,” Cami all but whined
.
She knew she was l
osing this argument and she didn’t like it
.
“Where would we go anyway?
”

“I called my Aunt Karen in Colorado
.
She’s expect
ing you and my m
om
.
I didn’t give
her a reason for the visit, and I didn’t tell her who you
were
.
May
be you should pretend to be my mom’s nurse or
something
.
Tell Karen that my m
other insisted on seeing her sister, and you thought it was a good idea
.
Whatever you have to say, just make it work
.
You can take my d
ad’s truck
, he won’t need it anymore
.
Oh,
and
take
this.
”
I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the wad of hundreds
,
shoving it into Cami’s hand
.
I then reached into the back of my jean’s waistband and pulled out the 9millimeter Browning
.
I laid it at Cami’s feet.
“And this, just in case, for protection.
”

Cami paused
,
glancing at the money in her hand, the gun on the floor, and finally a
t my m
other curled up in the corner
.
“I understand,” was all she said
.

I reached out and clasped my hands on either of her shoulders an
d stared straight into her eyes.
“This is a big responsibility
.
I trust
you to keep
my m
other safe
.
I trust
you to keep yourself and my a
unt safe as well
.
You know better than anyone what we’re up against, and I
’m
giving you the job of keeping my family safe
.
If anything else happens to any of you, I don’t know what I would do.
”

We sat l
ike that for a few seconds, staring
into each other’s eyes, letting the information and events of the day sink in
.
Cami finally leaned over and hugged me
.
“I wont
let you down
,
Chell
, I promise,” she whispered the words into my hair
.

“You better not
, I lost you once I don’t want
t
o lose you again,” I whispered back into her shoulder
.
We held the hug for a moment longer and then reluctantly let each other go
.

Gabriel came over and extended his hand
,
helping me up from my place on the floor
.
I grasped
it
and let him pull me to my feet
.
He then turned and helped Cami to her feet, giving her a reassuring nod
.
“Well
, if we are going to get your m
om and Cami out of here, the sooner we move
the better
.
Alex probably thinks you
’
r
e
still distracted dealing wi
th your father’s death. T
he sooner we move the less likely Alex is to expect it.
”

We began shuffling out of the house to the truck
.
I felt numb,
too
much had happened today, I was emotionally drained and I couldn’t comprehend the good-byes I was about to say
.
I was about to send my recently possessed
best friend
off, out of sight with my certifiably
crazy m
other
.
As I was about
to follow Cami and
Mom
out of the house, Gabriel reached over and grabbed me by the elbow
.
He held tight and stepped closer
.
He leaned in close so there wer
e mere inches between our faces.
“Michelle, I’m so sorry
.
I’m so sorry this happened
.
I should be doing a better job of protecting you
.
I shouldn’t have let this happen.
”

I stood my ground and stared into those ice gray eye
s I love so much.
“I appreciate that, but
I don’t have time to fall apart right now
.
In a few hours I’m going to need you, but right
now I need to get Cami and my m
other on the ro
ad
safely.
”

He stared into my eyes a moment longer and then released my elbow and stepped aside, lett
ing me make my way to the door.
I walked out into the night
.
The mid-Octob
er night was no longer crisp, i
t
was now
cold
,
and I pulled my sleeves down over my hands
.
I was cold, but it was the kind of cold that radiates from inside of you out, it was more than the weather that had me shivering, and I didn’t think any amount of layers would warm me
.
Cami was helping my m
other back into the truck and working on latching her seatbelt
.
I stood at the bottom of the farmhouse stairs and watched
.
I feared for their lives, I was afraid that neither of them could manage on their own, I doubted that they could truly fend for themselves
.
I heard the steps creak behind me and turned to look at Gabriel
.

“Don’t worry
,
Michelle, they are going to be okay.
”

I glanced back over my shoulder.
“How can you be so sure?” I whispered
,
more to myself then to him
.

“Your m
other protected you for twelve years from evil that no
one
else believed
existed
, and Cami has fought her way out of the grasps of the Anti-Christ
.
I think they can find their way to Colorado.
”

“I hope you
’
r
e right,”
I said
.
As I approached the truck, Cami finally got the seatbelt firmly la
tched across my m
other’s lap
.
She looked up at me through a mass of tangled blond
e
curls, her pink highlights now faded
.

“I packed you each a bag, the
y’
re in the back of the truck
.
I had to pack your
bag
out of my closet, Cam, so don’t expect anything too great
.
You’ll need to make the money last, gas, food, any supplies I didn’t pack, so spend wisely
.
If you need to pull over and spend the night in a motel make sure it’s a small family owned business, no chains
.
Use a fake name on check-
in and don’t give them your credit card.
”

“L
ook both w
ays before you cross the street
and don’t open the door to strangers,” Cami finished with an eye roll
.

“I know you
’
r
e
teasing me, but please don’t open the door to strangers,” I added.

“So you packed the ba
g
, huh
?
I guess you didn’t think to pack mascara or lip gloss
,
did
ya
?
”

“Make-up should be the least of your concerns right now, Cam,” I replied with a
headshake
.

“What
?
Just because it’s the end of days doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look your best.
”

I didn’t want to laugh, I wanted her to take this seriously, but I couldn’t help it
.
Even in the face of impending doom the girl had a pretty good sense of humor
.
I
smiled at her.
“I’ve missed you.
”

“I’ve missed you
,
too,” she replied
.

“Call me when you get there
.
I love you, be safe.
”
There was so much more I wanted to say, but I couldn’t find the words to tell her
.
It was probably for the best because I was on the verge of tears, and I didn’t want to lose control
.

She reached out and hugged me.
“
You watch your back, I’ve got this,” was her reply
.
She turned and walked around the back of the truck and climbed into the driver’s seat
.
I stood staring at my
m
other;
her eyes
were
still glassy from the medication the hospital had given her
.

“Mom, I love you
.
Thank
you for trying to keep me safe, now it’s my turn to try to keep you safe
.
You’re going to go live with Aunt Karen for
a while
.
She’s looking forward to seeing you.
”

She turned her head and looked at me, her eyes clearing for a split second of what looked like clarity
.
“I’m sorry this happened to you.
”
Then she turned and looked at Gab
riel who was standing behind me.
“And you b
etter keep her safe,”
she said
to him
.
Then her eyes again regain
ed
their glossy, unfocused look and she blinked heavily
.
I reached into the truck and hugged her
.
I had wished for years that she would just disappear and stop embarrassing me, and now that she was leaving I didn’t want her to go
.

I stepped back away from the truck, slamming the
passenger’s
side door
.
Cami
revved
the truck to life, and sat with it
idling
for a few seconds, just staring over the steering wheel at me
.
Finally she turned in her seat and started to back the truck up
, she slowly turned it around, and with a final wave from the driver’s side window she drove off down the dirt lane back towards the main ro
ad
.

As I watched the taillights fade off into the distance the tears began to stream down my face
.
They had to leave, I had to keep them safe
, is
what I kept repeating in my mind, but it was of little consolation to my breaking heart
.
My knees gave out and I felt Gabriel’s arms around me as he helped lower me to the ground
.
I
began to sob, and he simply
sat on the cold ground and held me
.
Finally
,
after I have no idea how long, he scooped me up and carried me over to Cami’s old station wagon
.
He lowered me into the passenger’s seat and I simply sagged in the seat like a wet rag
.
He walked around the driver’s side door and climbed in
.
He started the car and drove away from the dark, abandoned farmhouse
.
I didn’t car
e
where we were headed
.
I didn’t car
e
much about anything at that moment
.
Gabriel pulled into his driveway and parked the car
.
He walked around to the passenger’s side door and opened it, unhooking my seatbelt he scooped me up and carried me into the house
.
I clung to him like he was my last connection to this life, and in many ways he was
.