Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (39 page)

“You look amazing,” I complimented
.
“Just like James Bond
.
I should have gotten you a flower
,
too
.
What do they call them, boutonnières?
”

“Getting to stare at you all night and make all the other boys jealous is way better than any flower.
”
His eyes shined as he smiled at me with his perfectly charming grin, his black curls cascading into his eyes
.
He slid his tux jacket on, and he manag
ed to look even more amazing the
n before
.
The jacket made his broad shoulders look even broader in contrast to the tailored waist
.
He reached over and held my jacket out towards me
.
It
didn’t match my gown, but it was far
too
chilly to go out in the
cap-sleeved
dress without anything
.
I slid the jacket on, and Gabr
iel held out his arm towards me.

“Shall we?” he questioned with a grin
.
I smiled back, took his arm, and we started our short walk to the school
.

As we walked into the gym, I almost didn’t recognize it
.
It still smelled like sweat and that rubber they use to make basketballs, but it looked amazing
.
The place had been decorated to look like a winter wonderland
.
The floor was sprinkled with
ir
i
descent
confetti, piled in some places to look like snow drifts and it twinkled in the low lighting of the thousands of white twinkle lights
.
The lights were strung from the ceiling rafters and completely concealed the basketball backboards
.
Silver streamers hung in the doorways, and white
poinsettias
were grouped and gathered in the corners and on the
refreshment
tables
.
The place looked amazing,
much better than the under the sea theme last year
.

“See
,
I told
you everyone would be jealous. A
ll eyes are on you.
”

I looked around but I didn’t see anyone so much as notice us walk in, but if Gabriel wanted to
think that other people noticed
then I wouldn’t correct him
.
I smiled at him and a flash went off
.
I turned an
d saw one of the yearbook staff
standing with a small digital camera
.
“For the yearbook,” the guy
said,
shrugged and walked off
.
Although all clubs had been eliminated, a small group of students had volunteered their time and their own cameras to document senior year
.
If a student wanted one it was available for the low-low price of $150
.
I guess it was impressive that even with all the oppression and misery around school that
some
of the students cared to document it
.

We made our way over to the refreshment table and Gabriel offered me a glass of punch
.
I took it
gratefully;
I loved the combination of Sprite, fruit juice, and orange sherbet
.
As silly as it was
it brought me back to the happy memori
es of my childhood, before my m
other’s illness
.
For a
while w
e
just
stood sipping punch
.
Suddenly the music faded from some obnoxious
Ke$ha
song into Nat King Cole’s “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”
.
The transition
between songs was rough to say the least
.

Gab
riel reached for my hand and dra
g
ged
me out onto the dance floor
.
I had loved this song for years
.
When I was younger, maybe six, and my f
ather’s mother was still alive, she would play her Nat King Cole record for months leading up to Christmas
.
Between the music and the punch, tonight was turning out to be a walk down
happy childhood memory lane
.
Gabriel twirled me out onto the dance floor, sending iridescent confetti swirling in small clouds around me
.
I laughed as the confetti sparkled in the white lights, and glittered along with the beading at the bottom of my dress
.
Gabriel slid his arm around
me and pulled me close, s
o close that our bodies touched from
chest to thigh
.
He began to turn in small
circles around the floor. I laid
my head on his shoulder, breathing in his rich, spicy smell
.
I felt safe, content, and happy for the first time in a long time
.

Gabriel leaned
over and whispered in my ear, “
Jesus was born in April, not December
.
The early Christians chose December because of the Pagan’s Winter Solstice Festival
.
I find it interesting that the sav
i
or of humanity has a birthday on the same date as the Winter Solstice
.
I have found there is no such thing as a coincidence
.
“

I leane
d back and looked into his eyes.
“What are you saying?
”

“I’m just trying to say happy birthday.
”
He again spun me
out, sending the bottom of my dress twirling around me, and then pulled me tight against him once more
.
I had always found Gabriel breath tak
ing, but tonight, in the lights
and that tux
,
he was spectacular
.
I leaned in and kissed him
.
I had meant it to be a simple kiss to show him how much I appreciated tonight, but I soon lost control
.
I melted into his arms and he responded passionately
.
Soon w
e found our
selves alone in the middle of the dance floor as the music changed yet again to some bass pumping rap song
.

He bro
ke away first and grinned at me.
“You better be careful, or I’ll be dragging you home and we just got here,” he teased
.

“Perhaps we should go sit down,” I suggested with chagrin
.

We walked over to the bleachers and took a seat on the first row
.
I looked around at the other students as they gyrated to the bass heavy music
.
Many girls were dressed in vivid hot pinks, purples, and reds
.
I looked down at my dress
and felt comfortable, for the first time
I was
dressed like myself
.
I wasn’t trying to be like everyone else
. 
I was happy being just me, and I had Gabriel to thank for that confidence
.
I reached over and held his hand, smiling
,
and he smiled back
.
I continued to scan
the room
.
I spotted Mrs. Still separating a couple that was grinding far too close
.
I spotted Mr. Kelley hacking into his handkerchief over by the boys locker room entrance, and Principal Black blocking the entrance into the main school hallway
.
I was looking for Alex, but he appeared to not be in attendance.

I squee
zed Gabriel’s hand and stood up.
“I need to use the ladies room
.
I’ll be right back.
”
He gave me a wary look
.
“I already looked, I don’t see Alex anywhere and you can’t follow me everywhere.
”

“Okay, but if you
’
r
e
not back in five minutes I’m coming looking for you.
”

“
Ok, you’ve got a deal,
”
I
agreed
.
I stood and
made my way towards the girl’s locker room
.
Once inside
,
I checked my hair and make-up in the large mirror over the sink
.
I went and used the facilities
and washed my hands,
and as I
turned from the sink and mirror dryin
g my hands under the hand dryer
I thought I caught motion out of the corner of my eye
.
I turned
,
expecting to see another girl coming into the locker room
, but i
nstead I saw no one
.
Strange
, I thought, but
turned and went back to drying my hands
.

Suddenly I felt a hand wrap around my mouth and a voice whisper, “Don’t scream, you’ll interrupt the song I requested for us.
”

My cross began to glow and
I tried to struggle, but I couldn’t get away
.
I recognized the
voice;
it was full of
phlegm
and had a slight gurgle to it
.
It was Mr. Kelly
.
I knew I had taken an instant dislike to the man, but I hadn’t guessed he was part of this
.
He dra
g
ged
me towards
the door as I tried to fight to not leave the room
.

“Listen carefully, I requested it with you in mind,” he whispered
.
Shielding himself from the cross, keeping my body between him and
it
.

I could make out the mumbled lyrics as R.E.M. sang, “It’s the end of the world as I know it, and I feel fine.
”

“Catchy tune
,
isn’t it
?
A little dated, but catchy none the less.
”
He coughed onto my shoulder
.

“Let me go, you asshole!” I shouted into his hand wh
ich
was clamped over my mouth
.
Unfortunately the words came out muffled and muted
.
My skin was crawling; I wanted his disgusting, germ-infested hands off of me
.
He had to be the Pale Horseman
.
Well at least that made four
.

Chapter 21

Revelation 6: 7-8 “When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hell was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the
earth
to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the
earth
.”

I struggled
,
kicked
,
and fought to no avail
.
I wanted to get away, I wanted
his
hands off of me, and I
wanted to kill his ass
.
As he dr
a
g
ged
me down the hall, with m
e
kicking and fighting
, it occurred to me
that there was no
o
ne else around
.
Not one student in the hall, not one janitor waiting to clean up after the dance, no one
.
Principal Black had been blocking the doors for a reason
.
No wonder Alex wasn’t here tonight, he had sent his henchmen instead
.

I felt Mr.
Kelley struggle to open a door
and still control me at the same time
.
Finally the door gave and he pushed me into
a
room where I unceremoniously landed on my butt
.
It was the main office, and I lay
at the foot of the secretaries’
desk
.
Of course it was empty
,
because everyone who was here was here to chaperone or attend the dance
.