Destined (16 page)

“I’m right here,” Laura said, stroking his hand gently. “Right beside you. I’m here for you now when you need me most. As you were for me.” She felt a tear form in the corner of her eye, and let it fal . It slid down her cheek, hanging for a moment on her chin, and then fel , through the air to splash onto Alexander’s hand. He didn’t react.

She looked at him, lying there in front of her. He had been so magnificent once, not very long ago, and was now so vulnerable, so defenseless. So weak. And it was al her fault. If it hadn’t been for her, the arrow would not have come. If it hadn’t been for her, he wouldn’t have taken it in his shoulder, and wouldn’t have been poisoned beyond healing. If it hadn’t been for her, he would stil be with the woman he loved, the woman he cal ed for so many times in these dark hours. He would stil be with Madison.

She shuddered, and let more tears come. She was overburdened with emotion. Logan had abandoned her. She had left her family behind. And now Alexander, who she promised to take care of, was hanging by a thread to his hold on life, and death beckoned him from below. In the darkest hour, where uncertainty ran rampant, she let, for the first time in a long time, her emotions completely take hold. She needed to feel something; she itched for warmth. For the same touch, the same electricity she had once had with Logan.

Suddenly Alexander’s hand bolted out to grab her wrist. He pul ed her close to him, until his face was only inches away.

“Don’t… let… me go,” he whispered to her. It was so quiet, she thought she imagined the words. Laura saw his pain, and for a completely irrational moment, forgot everything. She was in the moment. And the moment dictated… cal ed for…
warmth
. Hesitantly, Laura looked at his face. Her gaze wondered from one of his eyes to the other, then down to his lips, and back again. He looked so fragile, but so… beautiful. The candles flickering idly nearby added depth and shadow to his face, to his gaunt cheeks, to his elegant jaw.

Slowly, unsurely, Laura closed her eyes. She yearned for warmth, and for that jolt of electricity. In a single uncertain moment, amid the darkness outside, she moved closer until she could feel his breath on her lips. Hesitantly, she parted mouth just enough to kneel down, and let her lips brush delicately against his. And she felt… nothing. No electricity, no warmth, no extra feeling like with Logan.

Alexander gasped, and Laura broke out of her spel . She jerked away, gripped by fear and uncertainty over what just happened. Alexander fel back down, eyes stil closed.

A single tear trailed down Laura’s cheek as she moved to place a kiss on his forehead. “Get wel ,”

she whispered to him unsteadily.

~A Restless Night~

That night was restless, and long.

Laura couldn’t stop thinking about Alexander. About whether the herbs would help, about whether he would get better. About that brief, meaningless kiss. Laura desperately wished for a reprieve from everything. Even sleep, with the nightmares that constantly haunted her dreams, would be a welcome respite from the world.

But her body told her no. There was no need for sleep after taking vampire blood, and she didn’t know how much longer that sensation would last. So she paced the area within the barn, every anxiety-ridden moment worse than the last as she prayed for Alexander’s condition to improve.

At the start, she could get by checking on him every ten minutes. At the start. Soon, that devolved into every five minutes, then two, and not long after she was by his side every thirty seconds. When a thin rain started outside, Laura went to bring Gray inside, which gave her mind a welcome break from worrying about Alexander. But it was unfortunately short-lived. Gray fel asleep immediately under a blanket Laura provided for him, and she was back to being on her own, worried sick about Alexander’s wel being. Soon after, the rain picked up, and so did the heavy winds, shaking the barn’s foundation with every gust. Thousands of raindrops pounded the tin roof like exploding bombshel s, amplifying the destitute atmosphere.

And Laura couldn’t do anything but wait. And because of that, she didn’t know
what
to do. She paced the barn, running over to Alexander every time she thought she heard him stir. And every time, she found that he hadn’t moved since she… shared… that il -advised kiss.

What was she
thinking
when she did that? She couldn’t believe it real y happened. Was she real y so desperate for warmth, for companionship? For romance? Or had it been the pressure and uncertainty of everything that was happening that final y got to her? The pressure of being away from home, of being al alone? Of caring for the only person left on earth who seemed to care about her?

The pressure of being unable to contact her family, and her friends, no matter how much she wanted to?

It was a dark time. Laura’s mind swarmed with possibilities of what might happen next, and each one progressively got worse than the last. And more depressing. Laura didn’t have the capacity for optimism anymore.

So she paced the barn, going from wal to wal pointlessly. There was nothing else to do. The only option was to wait. But time seemed to grind to a standstil , every minute agonizingly more slow than the last.

A bright light flashed from outside, momentarily blinding Laura, and the heavy crash of thunder fol owed. She blinked, regaining her night vision, and shivered. It was not auspicious weather at al . An hour passed, and slowly, another. Laura kept track by the movement of the moon. But those hours seemed to extend to feel as long as days: restless, horrible days. Nerve-wrecking days.

The candles had long since extinguished, blanketing the entire barn in darkness. Which made Laura’s vision that much better. And her acute awareness of a lack of progress – good or bad – in Alexander’s condition.

Why did she kiss him?
That
question also loomed ominously in her mind. She did not want to think about it. She did not want to think about
anything
. She missed the days when she could go to sleep in her bed, happily knowing that when she woke up, everything would be exactly the same as the day before. Exactly as stable.

She found herself staring through the broken window. Out there, the downpour continued. But she also felt something beckon her from outside. Maybe it was her imagination, or maybe it was something else, but the need to get away from the barn slowly formed in her mind and became clear. Taking one more look at Alexander – and seeing him exactly the same as he was before – she ran quietly out into the rain.

She headed for the forest, away from town. She ran through the trees, angling away from the river. In the forest, the upper canopy shielded her from the worst of the downpour, but she barely noticed it. She just ran. There was no thinking as she raced by the trees, around boulders, and up and down the uneven ground. She let her mind zone out, and just ran. She was going fast, nearly at top speed. Her instincts were good – she didn’t fal or slip once in the wet mud and slick earth. She ran, not knowing where, but at the same time feeling liberated by the run. She knew she was getting further and further away from everything. Al alone, out in the middle of uninhabitable western rainforest, she felt free. Let the
Vassiz
come. Half of her wished they were here right now, so she could face them. In her current state, she would welcome the chal enge. Let them find out what she could do when there was nothing at stake. When there was nothing left for her.

She ran for hours, letting instinct guide her. She ran past howling rivers and trailed up sloping hil s. She ran and ran, until al thought was extinguished, and al that was left within her was a pure, animal instinct that guided her way.

She ran until she saw the first rays of the morning sun. When those peeked out of the clouds, she stopped, becoming conscious of herself again. She didn’t know where she was, but that was only within her mind. Instinctual y, she could point directly to the barn, no matter the hundreds of miles it was away from her. She started back, liberated by her speed.

~Explanations~

Laura burst through the barn entrance, knocking over the piece of plywood that Selaine had set up. She had not stopped for anything on the way back. Quickly, her eyes swept to where Alexander was. And she saw the bed was empty. Nobody was there. Caught off-guard, she looked around. Gray was missing too. The entire barn, in fact, was empty.

“There you are,” a voice said behind her, causing Laura to jump. She looked back, and saw Alexander walking up to her, looking none the worse for wear. Gray was beside him. “I was wondering what was taking you.”

“Alexander!” she exclaimed, laughing. She ran up to him, and jumped up to hug him tightly. She held on for a second, then dropped down, looking him up and down. “You look… you look great!”

He laughed in reply. “Were you expecting anything less?”

“No—I mean, yes… I mean… err… it’s good to see you up!”

“Up?” Alexander looked confused. “You thought I would be asleep al night? Now, I’l tel you what,
I
was surprised when I saw that you weren’t here this morning. But I noticed your bear here, so I knew you weren’t far off. But… you know, I woke up to the strangest sensation. I knew where I was – I recognized the barn – but I hadn’t the slightest clue how I got there.” He chuckled unsteadily. “I guess I was that tired when we got here last night, huh?”

“Last night?” Laura shook her head. “No, Alexander. We’ve been here for two days already.”

“Two days?”

“That’s right. You don’t remember?” He shook his head blankly. “The arrow, the fever, the fight?”

Again, no recognition.

“What arrow?” Alexander asked. “What fever?

And what fight? Is that why you weren’t here this morning? Did we argue over something last night?”

“No,” Laura stepped back. “You truly don’t remember?” Laura took a deep breath and started talking – fast. “You’ve had a horrible fever for the past two days. And this woman, Selaine, the healing woman from the vil age, she made a potion for you, and it’l keep off the effects of the poison, but she didn’t know how long it would work for, or even if it would work, which is why I was so happy to see you, after giving it to you last night, and wondering if you’l live or not, and—”

“Hold on,” Alexander said, raising his hand.

“You’re going way too fast. A fever? How would I possibly get a fever? And you were worried whether I would
live
or not?”

“That’s right,” Laura said quickly. “You took an arrow to your shoulder. There was poison coated on its tip.”

“My shoulder?” He frowned. “What do you mean?” He pul ed down the neck of his shirt to reveal his right shoulder.

“The other one,” Laura said. Stil frowning, Alexander pul ed on his shirt to look at his other shoulder. Laura gasped. There was a minor scar wound in the spot the arrow struck him, but that was it. There was no discoloration, nothing else at al .

“Wow,” she breathed, brushing her fingers over the scar. “It’s healed.”

“But that scar wasn’t there before,” Alexander said seriously. “Tel me what happened.”

Laura started explaining everything, starting al the way back at the fight. Alexander remembered bits and pieces of the last few days, but none of it was coherent. He remembered coming into town, finding the barn, and remembered the layout inside the barn. But it was al blurred together, and he was convinced al those memories had been formed on the same day. Laura explained otherwise. She told him about finding Selaine, and how she did it on based on his instructions. She told him about the old mine she’d gone down, and how the vital ingredient for the poison’s antidote only grew there. He didn’t recal any of it. There were… holes in his memory.

“And that’s why,” Laura said, finishing the explanation, “we have to find the mushroom. It wil rid your body of your poison. What I gave you last night was just a…
mask
, Selaine cal ed it… and it hides your symptoms. But it won’t hold. They’l return, unless you get the antidote. So the danger is not over yet.”

“You gave it to me last night? Hmm…” he paused, thinking. “You know, I think I do remember a little bit of that.”

Suddenly, fear rose up in Laura’s chest. She wondered if he meant the kiss…? She looked at her feet, careful not to blush.

“Ah… no, it’s gone now.” Alexander laughed nervously and swept a hand through his hair. “So, it looks like we have to go find this ‘Selaine’ of yours.”

Laura exhaled with relief. If he didn’t mention the kiss, she would not, either. “I can show you where she is,” she said. “She has a smal shop hidden away in the middle of town.”

“We should do that, especial y if my condition was as serious as you said.”

Laura nodded, and knelt down to look at Gray.

“Gray, stay here. We’l be back soon.” He crooked his head at her, but sat down. “You can go run around in the woods, if you want. Who knows, maybe you’l find some food in there.” He got back up, and twisted around to run to the edge of the woods.

“He listens extraordinarily wel ,” Alexander mused. “It’s like he can understand everything you’re saying.”

“Oh!” Laura realized she hadn’t told Alexander about her emerging talent. But… doing so would mean admitting that she took vampire blood earlier. And she wasn’t ready to have the conversation yet. She changed what she was going to say. “He’s been with me for a while, I guess.”

“That’s right,” Alexander said. He seemed to be considering something, but then shook his head slightly. “You know, going into town means being exposed to al the people there. But I realize that if you’ve seen Selaine, it means you’ve already been there.” He barked a laugh. “You have extraordinary self-control to have restrained yourself so.”

“Oh. Right. Thanks.” She smiled shyly. It wasn’t
lying
if she just avoided mentioning her feeding, right? “Come on, I’l show you where to go.”

“Sure,” Alexander said as Laura led the way.

“Here it is,” Laura announced as they turned the corner to the al ey that led to Selaine’s shop. “Straight up ahead.”

“Up there?” Alexander asked. “I thought you said she was also a shopkeeper?”

“She is,” Laura started, but then her eyes fel on the building she motioned to without looking moments earlier. The storefront that she remembered was gone, and the windows were boarded up by large pieces of plywood. “What the…?”

She ran up to the front of the building where she first met Selaine. The front entrance was closed, and there wasn’t any sign that a shop had ever been there. “She must have… not opened up today,” Laura said quickly. “That’s fine, there’s another way in. Around back.” She started around the building, but Alexander stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Wait. Something… doesn’t feel right.” He looked around cautiously. “Take a breath in.”

Laura stopped, and inhaled the air. It smel ed…

empty. Not empty like a clear space would be, but empty as in completely vacuous, as if… as if the spot they stood in didn’t even exist.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Laura said. Had it been this way before? She had been too preoccupied to real y notice, earlier. “It’s the same building I’ve been to before. We’l go around back.”

“Let me go first, then,” Alexander said. “Be on your guard.” Laura nodded.

Cautiously, Alexander made his way around the building. There was nobody else around, but his building. There was nobody else around, but his discomfort made Laura feel uneasy as she trailed behind him. The rear door was closed, and when Alexander tried the knob, it was locked.

“Maybe she’s away,” Laura said slowly. But Selaine
knew
that Laura would be coming here today, which is why it didn’t make any sense. Where could she have gone?

Abruptly, the loud noise of snapping wood broke Laura out of her thoughts. She looked to Alexander, who was holding the doorknob in one hand, with splinters of wood coming off it. He had ripped the lock right off the door!

“Why’d you do that?” Laura demanded.

Alexander looked at her for a moment. “You said this is the place, right? I’m worried something may have happened to your friend.”

“And so we break into her home?” Laura asked

indignantly. Never mind the smal voice in the back of her head that said
she
had broken into a shop only a day ago. But that was different!

“She won’t be alarmed if she sees it’s you.”

Alexander pushed the door slowly open. He poked his head in, first, and then went inside. Laura fol owed.

There was no light inside, but Laura’s eyes were sharp. It took a moment for them to adjust to the dark, nonetheless. And when they did, Laura’s jaw dropped.

“I… don’t understand,” Laura said as she surveyed the first floor. Al the things that had been there only yesterday – al the shelving and tables, al the various trinkets and ornaments and garments for sale – al were gone. There was not a single thing left. The entire thing lay barren, abandoned. It was as empty as the barn.
More
empty, in fact. “This place was
packed
only yesterday!”

“But not anymore,” Alexander said. “It seems Selaine chose an odd time to clear her inventory.”

“Upstairs,”

Laura

said,

regaining

some

composure. “She lives upstairs. That’s where she’d be, if she’s stil here.”

“Let’s go up, then.”

The stairs creaked as Alexander ascended them slowly, and Laura trailed after him. Laura stil couldn’t believe that everything on the first level was just
gone
. She had been here only last night, ran up these very stairs last night, and the lower shop was absolutely fil ed to the brim with al types of items. As she fol owed Alexander, a sinking feeling started to develop in her stomach that the upstairs level would look the same as the first floor.

Alexander topped the stairs, and came up to the door at the end of the hal . It was closed. “Through here?” he asked. Laura nodded. Alexander reached out, took the door handle, and twisted it open. Then he very careful y pushed the door forward.

Laura inhaled deeply as the door swung open. This level – the upstairs level – had also been wiped clean. Some of the desks and shelves that Laura remembered were stil there, but they were completely empty. Even the thick layer of dust that had coated some of the unused portions of the top surface was gone. And the light bulb – the single, hanging light bulb that swung from the middle of the ceiling – was gone.

Alexander looked back to Laura. “You said she lived here?”

“That’s right,” Laura said. She walked into the room, to the far window where the blinds had been drawn. She didn’t open them – there was no need to.

“I… I don’t understand. I was here only last night.”

She walked over to the desk that Selaine had sat behind when she gave Laura the flask with the brown liquid. “Right here,” Laura emphasized, “was where she sat when I spoke to her.”

“An old woman couldn’t have done al this on her own,” Alexander said. “The question is, where did she go? And why?”

“I don’t know.” The realization of what this meant was starting to sink in. With Selaine gone, it meant that even if they
did
get the mushroom, they couldn’t make the antidote that Alexander required. And without it, there was no way Laura knew of that Alexander could return to ful health. The sinking feeling in her stomach grew much stronger.

Alexander walked around the room slowly, eyeing everything careful y. He brushed his fingers against the tabletop and looked at them. “Nothing,”

he said. “Not even a speck of dust remains.” Laura lowered her head into her hands. What was going to happen now? What would they do, now? How long would the remedy from last night be able to mask Alexander’s symptoms?

She watched, solemnly, as Alexander picked his way around the room, examining al of it. But there wasn’t much to examine. Eventual y, he came beside her, in front of the window. “Don’t worry,” he told her bravely as he started to lean against the windowsil ,

“everything’s going to—hey!” He jumped, turning around suddenly. “What’s this?” Laura watched as he pul ed aside the blinds. The light blinded her temporarily, but when her vision returned, she saw what caused Alexander’s exclamation.

There, sitting on the windowsil , was a smal wooden box. No larger than a regular jewel casket, real y. And beside it was a yel owing piece of paper. Laura saw letters scribbled on it. A note?

Alexander picked both items up slowly. He looked at the paper for a second, then handed it to looked at the paper for a second, then handed it to her. “It’s addressed to you,” he said.