Revelations (The Revelations Series Book 1) (13 page)

Alex gripped her shoulders and helped her up off the muddy ground. “Come on, Jenna, it’s time to go,” he told her as he slipped his arm around her waist.

“Forgive me, Mom,” she whispered over her shoulder as Alex led her away from the grave.

Jenna knew her mother’s death had been her fault. She was sure they had come for her and had killed her mom when she’d refused to tell them where she was. And, even worse, someday she would have to face the evil monster that had taken her mother from her.

“There’s nothing to forgive. This wasn’t your fault and you know it,” Alex tried to reassure her as he opened the Jeep door and guided her into the passenger seat. “Let’s get back to the house. Your mom’s friends from the diner insisted on meeting us there for a small get together.”

As Alex gave her a sympathetic smile while they drove back to the house a terrifying thought washed over her. What if Alex had no intention of staying with her when this was all done?

Suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. “Pull over, I’m going to be sick,” she yelled.

Alex pulled the Jeep over and Jenna jumped out. Her face went pale as a jolt of panic ripped through her and her whole body began to shake. Now that her mom was gone, Alex was all she had. She wouldn’t survive without him.

“Jenna, what’s wrong?” Alex asked coming up beside her.

Jenna flung her arms around Alex’s neck and started to cry. “Please, don’t leave me.” she begged as she gripped him tight.

“Jenna, what are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere,” Alex assured her. “Why would you think that?”

Jenna let go of Alex and took a step back. “I don’t know. I just know I wouldn’t be able to handle it if you left.”

Alex put his hands on Jenna’s shoulders. “I can’t believe you would even think I would leave you all alone. You’re like family to me, Jenna, and it’s important that we stick together, especially now. There’s no way I’ll let whoever killed your mom come between us. I’m sure that’s what they want. It would be easier to kill us if we weren’t together.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking,” Jenna replied.

“I know you may not believe this, but it will get easier. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or even next week but one day you’ll wake up and things will seem a little better. We can only count on each other right now. I think that even though we’re Nephilims, we can’t even trust God to help us.”

Jenna had forgotten about what had happened to Alex’s mom. “Have I ever told you how much I appreciate you helping me? Without you, I’m not sure I would have learned how to control my abilities so quickly.”

Alex smiled. “The way I see it, you’re the only other person I know who knows what it’s like to be me. My life would be a lot more difficult if it wasn’t for you. It’s important we stick together. The only way we can survive is to have each other’s backs. As soon as this is over, we’ll talk about what we’re going to do. We can’t stay here, it’s not safe.”

Jenna shook her head and headed back to the Jeep. He was right; they needed to stick together. It was what her mother would have wanted. She stared out the rain-slicked window the rest of the ride back to the house. She took a deep breath and released it as Alex turned the Jeep down the driveway to their house just as it stopped raining. She was in no mood to deal with her mom’s so-called friends telling her how sorry they were and that it would be okay. She didn’t even know what they were supposed to do now. Alex was right; they couldn’t stay here. They had to leave, and soon. The question was; how were they supposed to do that with Stan around all the time? She was sure he had people watching them. So figuring out how to get packed and out of town without him finding out wasn’t going to be easy.

Alex pulled up alongside Stan’s Suburban and parked. They both sat silent for a minute watching Stan unload tins of food and bring them into the house.

“I know this isn’t what you wanted, but these people want to help us. We have to let them think we’re willing to accept the help or they could tell CPS that we’re still not staying at Stan’s, and that won’t be good. Can you handle it for a while longer?” Alex gently gave her knee a squeeze. “Then as soon as they’re gone we’ll figure out how to get out of town without Stan finding out.”

Alex climbed out of the car, walked around to Jenna’s door and opened it for her. “It’s almost over, I promise,” he told her as she climbed out of the car. “If it gets to be too much for you come and find me.” Alex closed the door behind her, put his arm over her shoulder and guided her to the porch.

Jenna laid her head on his shoulder as they slowly walked up the stairs and into the crowded living room. Jenna took a nervous step backwards immediately regretting being there. She didn’t know half the people in the room, who were all now looking at them. She was sure that some of them didn’t even know her mom but had come to see where the murder had taken place.

“It’s okay, Jenna,” Stan said as he came up beside her. “I know it’s overwhelming, but these people all loved your mom. Just take a deep breath and stick together. It’ll be over before you know it. Then we’ll discuss moving the two of you out of here and into my house.” Stan guided them into the kitchen where he had set up a long table filled with food. “Here, eat something,” he told them as he handed them a plate. “You have to keep your strength up.”

Jenna stared at the table. She couldn’t believe they had set it up in this spot. She took a step backwards and could clearly see the blood stain on the floor where her mom had died.

Alex took a step closer to her. “I’m sure they were trying to cover it up,” he whispered in her ear. “Stan is right; we should eat something.” He put his hand on her back and guided her closer to the table then made sure she took enough to eat that people wouldn’t be telling her to eat more. The less people they had to talk to the better.

When their plates were full, they headed for the living room and sat on the couch. She kept her head hung low and let Alex talk as the guests took turns telling them how sorry they were. By the time the tenth one had come over, all Jenna heard was a bunch of babble.

“I can’t take it anymore,” Jenna said to Alex. “I’m going upstairs to lie down.” She didn’t wait for an answer; she just stood up and walked away making sure to keep her head down so she wouldn’t have to talk to anyone.

She quickly climbed the stairs, pausing at the top. Instead of going into her own room, she went into her mom’s, closed the door and looked around. No one had been in here since her mom’s death and all her things were still out like she would be home at any moment.

She walked over to the dresser and picked up a gold bracelet with tiny hearts on it. It had been her mom’s favorite piece of jewelry. She slipped it on her wrist and thought back to the first time she had seen it.

She was about five-years old playing in her mom’s room when she saw it on the vanity. She’d put it on just as her mom had walked into the room. Her mom made her take it off and told her she could play with anything else but that bracelet because it had been a gift from her father.

Jenna made her way over to the closet and she pulled a silk scarf off the door handle. She brought it to her nose and sniffed it, inhaling the scent of her mom’s perfume. Slowly she walked around the room ending up at the bed where she laid down. She smelled the scarf one last time, held it tight in her hand and let the day become a memory as she drifted off to sleep.

JENNA
came down the stairs as Alex was closing the front door. He turned around shaking his head.

“Let me guess,” Jenna asked stepping off the last step. “Stan.”

“Who else,” Alex replied. “He wants us to move into his house tomorrow. He says he can’t hold off CPS any longer.”

Great
, Jenna thought. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with today. “Are we actually going to move over there?”

“Not if I can help it.” Alex started towards the couch.

“Do you have a plan to get us out of town?”

“That’s what we need to talk about.”

Jenna walked around the couch. “What’s up?” she asked as she sat in the armchair.

“Early this morning I got a call from a woman named Arlene Connors. She was a friend of your mom’s in college, and she knows
all about us
. And, I mean
everything
. She even knew your birthday, and where you were born.”

“Wait,” Jenna said, “I’m lost.”

Alex leaned forward and rested his arms on his legs. “What I’m trying to say is your mom had a back-up plan in case anything happened to her.”

Jenna sat speechless for a moment. She couldn’t believe her mom didn’t tell her about this. “Are you sure she’s for real?” she finally asked.

Alex sat back and ran his hand through his hair. “I wasn’t so sure at first, but she knows things about us that only your mom would know. It convinced me she’s who she says she is. Besides, we really don’t have a choice.”

“Well,” Jenna said. “If you believe her, it’s good enough for me. What did she want?”

“Get this,” Alex smiled. “Your mom knew that we’d need a safe place to go and that going to live with anyone in her family wasn’t an option. That’s the first place they’ll look. Arlene is a friend of hers and she’s agreed to take us in as her niece and nephew. So, we have a place to go now.”

Jenna couldn’t believe it, even after her death her mom was looking out for her. “That’s great,” Jenna exclaimed. “But, we obviously can’t tell Stan, he’d never let us go. He seems hell bent on us staying with him. How are we supposed to leave town without him finding out?”

“I explained everything that was happening with Stan to Arlene, and she suggested that since he wants us to move in tomorrow that we sneak out tonight. It’ll be the only chance we get.”

Jenna shook her head as she glanced around the house. “Okay,” she mumbled.

“Listen, Jenna, I know this is hard for you. I mean I do understand that this is where you feel closest to your mom. After I escaped the Densen Institute, I went back home because that’s where I felt safest. But, I soon realized it wasn’t safe there. If they found me there once, they would surely come back and look there again. If we stay here we are putting everyone in this town in danger. It’s not fair to them and I think deep down you know that.”

Jenna sighed. “I know,” she mumbled. “So, what time do I need to be ready?”

“Arlene is on her way. She’ll be here about four in the morning. That way we don’t have to worry about anyone spotting us leaving and calling Stan to tell him. I think we both know he has this whole town watching us.”

“I know. It’s creepy isn’t it?” Jenna cringed just thinking about it. “I’ll go start packing.” Jenna got up and headed for the stairs. Sometimes she hated who she was. It was the kind of life she would never have chosen if given the choice. She wanted to be able to return to her old life, the one where she had friends and could go anywhere she wanted without worrying about people hunting her. She wanted to make permanent friends, maybe even get a boyfriend, the way normal teenagers did.

She walked into her room and sighed. She flicked her wrist and the door closed. She was going to miss this room. Her mother and she had spent so much time decorating it. And, now she was going to have to leave. Her life seemed to be becoming a bitter battle and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

She gently touched the light purple walls bringing back memories of them painting it. She smiled as the image of her mom covered in paint came flooding back. Then there was the trip to the local thrift store where they had gotten lucky and found a four-post bed to replace the old squeaky one that had been there when they had moved in. The only thing they had paid full price for was the pink comforter that matched the walls perfectly.

Jenna could still see the smile on her mom’s face when it was finished. They had planned to do the same to her mom’s room, but of course that would never happen now. Her eyes darkened in pain as she thought about what to keep of her mom’s and what she would have to leave behind.

Jenna took a deep breath as she left the room and headed into her mom’s room to start packing. She made her way over to the vanity and picked up the bracelet her dad had given her mom. She closed her eyes willing herself not to cry.
I don’t understand how you could let this happen?
She thought to her father as she slipped on the bracelet.