Hidden Wings (5 page)

“Thank you, Emma,” he whispered grasping hold of my hand.

Instant electrical surges pulsed through my fingers, hand, arm, and then through the rest of my body. We both gasped. His bright hazel eyes, stricken with shock, locked onto mine, but he didn’t let go. I instantly became hot, my breathing quickened, my heart pounded wildly. My body pulled towards him. I closed my eyes and tried to fight the urges. I had to keep my mind strong, because my body was too weak to reject him.

His hand suddenly left mine, and again…a cold unsettling feeling took over. I opened my eyes, even more dumbfounded than ever before.

“What the?”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, his eyes carefully studying mine. His knuckles were turning white as he tightly gripped onto the armrests.

“What for?” I breathed.

“I shouldn’t have touched you. I thought it was just a freak thing, the first time. I—” he paused, shaking his head in confusion.

“So, you
did
feel something?” I questioned.

“Yes,” he admitted, looking forward with a vacant look. “And, I promise it won’t happen again.” He turned and smiled at me, but his eyes were filled with sadness. I think his words were supposed to benefit me, but they actually felt more hurtful than anything.

I didn’t understand all the crazy feelings I was having for Kade. Actually, I was completely baffled. They couldn’t be true feelings. They had to be more lustful. I mean -
HELLO!
I only met the guy a few hours ago, but there was something there… something that happened whenever we touched… something that wasn’t natural… something that seemed to pull me towards him whenever he was near. I wondered if it was a good thing or bad thing. To me, it felt good, but then again… that could be a bad thing too.

“Whatever,” I mumbled. I was a little hurt, but I wasn’t going to let that bother me. I wasn’t really sure why I’d be hurt in the first place. He was just a guy, who meant absolutely nothing to me.

Kade reclined his seat and closed his eyes, probably pretending like he was tired so he didn’t have to talk to me. I reached down for my carry-on and dug through its contents trying to find something to kill the time, since Kade wasn’t “at liberty
”
to talk to me.

I found my camera, make-up, and a Twix bar.

I picked out the Twix, placed it on my lap, and then pulled out my Kindle. Reading was a great way to kill time, and hopefully take my mind to a different place. After shoving my carry-on back under the seat, I lifted the bright, orange Kindle cover.

The picture of my parents was staring back at me. I paused, breathless, as I studied their smiling faces. As soon as I grasped it in my fingertips, my heart ached, and my tear ducts switched on.

This was taken just before my seventeenth birthday. We’d spent the day at the beach because both my parents had the day off. I invited Lia and Jeremy, but only Lia showed. Jeremy was busy that day. Lia snapped the picture, framed it, and gave it to me the next day.

My mom was beautiful. Petite and thin with long auburn hair that gently cascaded in ringlets down her shoulders. She had the most beautiful green eyes, and always wore the biggest smile on her golden, porcelain-like face.

My dad was just moderate looking. He had ash blonde hair, which was thinning at the top and baby-blue eyes. He’d always tease me that I got my looks from him, but the truth is… I looked nothing like him. I did, however, look a little like my mother. We had the same shaped eyes, but hers were that beautiful green color. Mine were a dull, dirty brown. I always wondered why I was born with brown eyes, when my parents had blue and green. It just wasn’t fair. I gently traced their faces on the photograph, then… drip, drip, drip. Wet droplets began to fall onto my priceless treasure.

“Oh crap!” I gasped, quickly hugging it to my chest so my shirt would soak up the wet.

“What’s that?” Kade asked in a soft voice. I slowly pulled the picture away, and examined it to make sure it wasn’t damaged.

“My parents,” I breathed, staring at their happy faces. It didn’t even feel like they were gone. It actually felt like I was going on a vacation, and would be home again soon to see them. I couldn’t rationalize that I’d
never
get to see them again. I’d never get the chance to hug them, or tell them I loved them, and would never get that in return.

“May I see?” Kade asked gently, holding out his hand, so I handed it to him. He was silent, staring, studying. “You look happy in this picture,” he noted.

“I was,” I said, my voice shaking. I wanted to curl up and die. I turned my body toward the window, brought my knees up to my chest and buried my face into my folded arms. I couldn’t help but cry, and tried my best to be strong, but the sobs were hard to keep to myself.

Kade’s muffled voice caught my ears. He was talking to someone, but I was too far gone into my world of sadness to care.

A few minutes later I felt a blanket drape over my shoulders. Kade whispered into my ear. “Come now, Emma. You’ll get through this. I promise.” The warmth in his voice and his touch tugged me slowly from the darkness.

I was a mess.

The stewardesses were coming down the aisle with their beverage carts, so I kept my back to the aisle.

“Would you like something to drink?” the lady asked Kade in a sweet voice.

“Just a water for me and… do you happen to have Dr. Pepper? Kade asked.

I gasped.

How’d he know I liked Dr. Pepper?

“I’m sorry, I don’t,” she replied. “But I do have Root Beer or Coke?”

“Root beer or Coke,” Kade whispered, tapping my back.

“Coke, please,” I answered. My brain was on the verge of exploding, and I had an insatiable need for something sweet and carbonated, with loads of caffeine.

I took a deep breath and settled back into my seat. Kade had our drinks in glasses on his tray.

“Your Coke,” he chimed, handing me my glass.

“Thanks,” I said, carefully taking it without touching his skin. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was. The ice-cold, carbonated, liquid sugar never tasted so good.

“Feeling better?” Kade chuckled.

“Much,” I breathed. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” he shot me a strange look.

“For dragging you on my emotional roller-coaster ride. I’m a complete wreck.”

He shook his head. “You’re much stronger than most people I know. I don’t know what it’s like to lose a parent, and you’ve just lost both at once. I think you very much deserve to be a wreck.”

He handed back the picture of my parents and I carefully tucked it back into my carry-on.

“Well, the only thing keeping me from falling apart right now is you,” I said glancing into his big, bright eyes. It was true and I admitted it, but I just couldn’t believe I’d said it out-loud.

The cutest grin grew on his face. “Thanks, but-,” he paused.

I wasn’t in the mood to hear any more negative words, so I smiled, shook my head, and quickly changed the subject.

“So how old are you anyway?” I asked, tipping my cup to get a piece of ice. I wanted to see how much information I could get out of him before he shut me down.

“Um… nineteen,” he responded unsure. “And you’re seventeen?”

“Yes. Just turned seventeen. A few days ago, actually,” I muttered. “So, do you live in Alaska?”

“I do right now,” he answered. My heart fluttered.

He lived in Alaska. That was a good thing.

“Were you born there?”

“No.”

“Then where are you from?”

He didn’t answer but pointed up to the sky with a crooked smile. “Well, that’s original,” I responded, rolling my eyes. So he had a sense of humor. “Okay… so, where did you live before you moved to Alaska?”

“The Midway,” he answered.

“Where’s that?”

“It’s central. But I’ve actually lived in many different places around the world. I’ve had to move a lot,” he answered.

“Army brat?” I questioned.

“Something like that,” he shrugged. He was so vague, it was irritating. Ugh!

“So, how long have you known my aunt?”

“About ten years.”

“Ten years?” I said much too loudly. Ten years was a very long time to know someone. He must have detailed information about her.

Malachi, loudly and deliberately, cleared his throat. Kade sighed and twisted back to face him with a wide smile and a wave. I didn’t want to look back and see the expression he had on his face, because I knew it wasn’t a good one. I also knew that if looks could really kill, I’d already be dead…and so would Kade.

Kade turned back and faced me. “I promise you’ll get your answers soon.”

I knew that meant that I needed to stop questioning him.

“Fine. Well, can you tell me if we are flying directly to Alaska, or do we have any stops?” I huffed.

“We’ll be stopping in Seattle first. From there we will have about twenty minutes before we board our next flight to Anchorage,” he answered.

I could see that he felt bad and wanted to tell me more, but someone had tied his tongue, and I was guessing it was my aunt. But why? I had a feeling I was in for something I probably wasn’t ready for.

Okay… if no one would talk to me, then I’d try and figure it out myself. I was pretty good at deciphering things. I went over all of the facts and details that I’d collected.

First, I was in a horrible accident which took both of my parents’ lives. Acid raced in my stomach at the thought of it. It still didn’t seem real. I’d leave it at that, because I knew that if I continued to linger on the thought of them for too long, I’d lose it big time.

Okay… where was I? …A lost aunt, who I’d never heard of until yesterday, mysteriously claims guardianship over me and wants me to move in with her. She must have known about me, but how could she have known about the accident so quickly? She had to be closely connected somehow. The fact that she’d gotten all the paperwork from the State approved, have a ticket, and send escorts… in less than two days???

I glanced over to Kade who was leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed.

And what was with these escorts? One is unearthly gorgeous, and drives me crazy with his presence and touch, and the other looks like a pissed-off WWE wrestler. They’re somehow connected to Watchers and —
Oh my God! My life is starting to feel like a cheap sci-fi flick.
All that was missing were vampires and werewolves. Wait…Vampires? Kade sure looked like a vampire with his pasty white skin.

Oh hell!
There goes my ridiculous overly-active imagination again. He couldn’t be a vampire. He was warm and the sun didn’t affect him at all. No sparkles… nothing! I hoped he couldn’t read my mind, cause if he could; he’d probably have me committed, or worse… start laughing hysterically. Ugh! My mind started to ache. I don’t think I could piece this one together even if I tried. I just hoped I’d get some real answers soon.

I decided to attempt reading, so I opened the bright orange cover to the Kindle again. A yellow, sticky-note was on the screen.

—————

Hey Emma,

Hope you have fun with the reading list. We’ll miss you. Take care of yourself and keep in touch!

Jeremy

—————

Jeremy. I already missed his goofy face.

The first book on the list was, of course,
The Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien. Figures. That was his favorite. I scanned down the rest of the list. The whole first page was of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Sheeze! The list seemed never ending. A few were by Shakespeare, which was definitely a prank, and then I noticed the Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling. I’d never read the Harry Potter series, but I’d seen the movies and they were awesome.

I needed an easy read; something that would take my mind on an adventure, because it was already under way too much stress. I decided to read,
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
, by C.S. Lewis. I really enjoyed that one. I clicked on it and chapter one loaded onto my screen. I settled back into my seat, wrapping the blanket around me, and began reading…

Once there were four children…

“What’s that?” Kade interrupted.

“My Kindle,” I replied. I kept my eyes on the screen. I didn’t want to get into a conversation again, only to have him tell me that I’d have to wait for answers.

“What are you reading?”

“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis.”

“Nice,” he said softly.

“Yep,” I replied, trying to get past the first line, which I’d already read four times. Would I be able to read anything with him sitting so close to me? I could feel his eyes staring, but I didn’t want to look. I finally sighed, turned off my Kindle, and tucked it back into my carry-on.

“I’m sorry. Have I distracted you?” he asked.

“No,” I lied. “I just can’t focus right now.”

“Have you ever been to Alaska, Emma?” he questioned, attempting to make a safe conversation.

“Never, and I’m not really looking forward to it,” I exhaled loudly. “I don’t care for places where the wildlife eats people.

“I think you’ll like it. And, it’s better than a place where people are killing people.”

“Good point,” I agreed. “So what’s there to do in Alaska anyway?”

“Well,” he said leaning back in his seat, crossing his hands over his chest, donning a wide smirk on his face. “During the winters we usually go ice fishing, snowmobiling, snowboarding, skiing, ice skating, and sledding. I’ve been known to make a killer snowman. But the summers are beautiful too. The sun stays out for long periods of time and everything is the greenest green. That’s when we do a lot of hiking, river rafting, fishing, boating, and camping. It’s a never ending cycle of fun.” He turned and winked at me.

“Well I guess if you put it that way.” It actually did sound like fun. Maybe the year I’d have in Alaska wouldn’t be too bad after all.

“And what did you do for fun?” he asked.

“Um, mostly go to the malls and shop, watch movies, talk on the phone, text, surf the web, and have sleepovers. You can’t really hike in the city and there’s no going out after dark. It’s a concrete jungle, and wandering alone is forbidden. Sirens from police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks would lull me to sleep at night, and honking horns, people yelling, and passing cars were my morning alarm clock. You get numb to it after a while. But once we moved to the new home near Malibu, it was different, a lot quieter.