The Awakening (Entangled Series Book 1) (15 page)

“Listen.” Jacob finally sat down across from him, his elbows propped up on his knees, much like Mike was doing. “I know this is weird, and to be honest, I’m not sure I believe what she says either.” He nodded towards the kitchen door. “But, you have to admit, there’s a slight possibility that you and I are brothers.

Mike sighed and rested back in the chair. “Yeah.” He thought about all the research he’d done, and all the research he still wanted to do. “She hasn’t been wrong once. Not since I’ve met her.”

“You moved into town almost a year ago, right?” Jacob asked.

“Yeah.”

“If it’s okay, I’d like to ask you a few other questions.” He pulled out a small notepad from his back jean pocket.

This time it was his turn to rub at his temple and he desperately wished for a beer. Looking across the room, he noticed the same determined look on Jacob’s face that he saw when he looked in his own mirror every day.

“Shoot,” he said after a moment.

X
tina wasted as much time in the kitchen as she could. She put together a pot of spaghetti and made a shopping list. She even spent some time looking in the laundry room for old socks she could tie up as toys for Rose and played fetch with her in the back yard until dinner was ready.

When she finally walked into the living room to let the two men know it was time to eat, they were both laughing and looked a lot more relaxed around one another. Earlier, they had looked like two roosters stuck in the same hen house.

“Dinner’s ready,” she said, handing Michael a cold beer. She took a sip from the one she’d been nursing for a while.

“Thanks,” he said as Jacob stood up. His eyes moved over the two of them as she sat on the edge of the chair’s armrest.

“Why don’t you stay?” she suggested out of the blue. “I’ve made enough food.”

“No. I should—” He started to say.

“Stay,” Mike broke in. “Unless you have somewhere else to be?”

She watched his eyes and knew the second he made up his mind to stay.

“Good, how about a beer and some spaghetti?” she asked, jumping up from her spot next to Mike.

They moved into the kitchen. She’d set the table and the warmth from the old stove had made the room cozy. It smelled of warm bread and Italian spices.

She set the pan of spaghetti on the table and placed the French bread she’d warmed in the oven in the middle.

“Do you want to tell me about what you found at the silo?” she finally asked after everyone’s plates were full of food.

Mike’s eyes moved over to hers and she could see the warning behind them.

“Silo?” Jacob asked.

“I had hoped to keep our little adventure of breaking and entering on government property off the table while there was law enforcement sitting at it,” Mike said, taking another sip of his beer.

“The one on the property next to the Miller place?” Jacob asked.

Xtina chuckled. “Does everyone in town know about the place other than us?”

“How is it that you were raised here and didn’t know about it? I mean, it’s what… two miles from your house?”

Mike shifted when she nudged him under the table.

“I wasn’t allowed out much.” Her eyes moved to her plate and she felt Mike’s hand wrap around hers.

“Her parents were… very protective,” Mike supplied. Xtina tried to hold in a snort.

“Kids have been sneaking into that place since the seventies,” Jacob said as he finished his plate of food. “My dad had to install new locks back in the day after all the trouble.”

“Trouble?” she asked.

Jacob didn’t have a chance to answer because Rose jumped up and started barking happily as she ran circles around the kitchen table.

“Hello?” Jessie called out as she opened the front door.

“Back here,” Xtina replied.

Rose rushed towards the door to greet Jessie, who stooped down and gave the dog a treat from the box of treats she held in her hands.

A wave of power hit Xtina and suddenly so many things were clear.

“I brought you a few other things for her.” Jessie stood, smiling. The smile fell away when she noticed Jacob sitting at the table. He was leaning back in the chair and taking a swallow of his beer.

“What is he doing here?” Jessie frowned.

“He’s having dinner.” Xtina stood, then took the box of treats from her friend, along with a small box of dog toys. She whispered, “Be nice.”

“Actually, I was just…” Jacob started to say, but then Xtina turned to him and glared until he sat back down without another word.

The room was silent as she cleared the food and empty plates away. Then she turned to Jessie. “Sit. We need to talk.”

She looked around the room. She couldn’t explain it, but suddenly, there was more energy in the room than she’d ever felt in her entire life.

When she sat down at the table, she took Mike’s hand in her own and reached for Jessie’s. To her friend’s credit, she didn’t hesitate and took her hand in her own.

She nodded towards the empty hands until everyone completed the circle. When the last hands were connected, a jolt rushed through her entire system and she felt a bolt of lightning spread behind her eyes. She must have cried out in pain, because suddenly Mike was there, holding her. “NO!” she cried out. “Don’t break the circle.”

“What the hell?” she heard from Jacob.

She’d been flooded with so many images she had to find out more. “Please.” She kept her eyes closed as she held out her hand once more.

The room was silent as Mike sat down again and took her hand. She felt his hesitation, but then his fingers wrapped around hers.

This time she braced for it. Her eyes opened upon the connection and before them stood the woman, floating softly above her kitchen table. In broad daylight.

***

Mike watched in horror as all the color drained from Xtina’s face. Her eyes grew bigger, greener, and became unfocused.

He was pretty sure they were the only ones seeing the figure until his eyes moved around to Jacob’s and Jessie’s faces. They too were pale faced and wide-eyed.

“You can see her?” he asked softly.

Both of them nodded in unison.

“The time is near,” Xtina said. Everyone’s eyes moved to her. “Time to make things right. Time for the payment you promised.”

“What payment?” he asked after a moment of silence as the air around them crackled.

But Xtina was not responding. Her eyes focused on the image before them. Suddenly, the figure pulsed and blinked until it was gone.

“Two more are needed,” she whispered. He watched in horror as she slumped over.

He caught her before she hit her head. “Take her upstairs,” Jessie said, rushing to her side. “She’ll need water.” She moved over to the sink and followed him upstairs.

When he set her gently on her bed, Jessie set the items down on the nightstand.

“Wow, I like what you’ve done up here.” She glanced around.

“Is she going to be okay?” Jacob asked from the doorway.

“She’ll be fine.” Jess turned towards him, her eyes narrowing slightly. “You can wait downstairs.”

Mike turned to her. “We should all let her rest.” He felt her steady heartbeat under his fingers as he ran his hand gently over her wrist.

“She’ll sleep for a while.” Jess rested a hand on his shoulder.

They left the room, and Mike shut the door behind them quietly.

“She’ll be okay.” Jess touched his arm again. He watched Jacob’s eyebrows shoot up at the tenderness Jess showed him.

Without saying a word, he moved back down the stairs.

“Now, will someone please tell me what the hell just happened?” Jacob said at the base of the stairs.

For the next half hour, he explained what had taken place since he’d moved here. He filled them both in on what he’d found in the silo, then Jess pulled out the yearbook and showed him the photo of her parents and Xtina’s. He was shocked to see his own parents in the mix a few pages later.

“They must have all been friends,” Jessie said, smiling. “I guess that explains a lot.”

“Yeah? Like why we all just saw a ghost floating in the kitchen?” Jacob broke in, taking another sip of his new beer.

“It’s not a ghost.” He chuckled when he said it, then walked to the fridge and got himself another beer. The cold liquid hit his dry throat.

“Then what the hell do you call that?” Jacob motioned to the table.

“I think Xtina called it an entity,” Jess stated.

“Same thing.” Jacob glared at her.

Just what was between the pair was beyond him, but he was starting to get a headache and wanted to go upstairs and check on Xtina.

“Look!” Jessie shouted, causing him to jump. Her eyes moved up to his. “Byron.”

“Byron?” he asked, then remembered the name she’d changed the night of Xtina’s parents’ funeral. “Byron?” He pulled the yearbook out of Jessie’s hand and looked down at the image of his parents, Xtina’s parents, and another couple, a blonde woman with silver blue eyes and a young man, a lot taller than his own father.

Underneath the photo it said
Byron Garrett
.

“Who is Byron Garrett?”

“I don’t know.” Jessie frowned over his shoulder.

“Who the hell cares,” Jacob added, causing Jessie to frown at him.

“Listen, I’m kind of beat.” His eyes moved to the ceiling where he could hear the shower running upstairs. “I’d like to go check on Xtina.”

Jacob nodded. “How about we meet later this week?” he asked Mike.

“I’ll come into the station.” There were a few other things he wanted to talk to Jacob about and he figured he’d make it professional instead of personal.

Jacob nodded, then glanced over at Jessie. “Night.”

Jessie waited a few minutes. “I’ll leave this here.” She set the yearbook down on the table and then glanced over at the door.

“I’m sure he’s gone by now,” Mike supplied

Jessie rolled her eyes. “The man is arrogant.” Mike’s eyebrows rose. “Long story. Night. Tell Xtina I’ll call her tomorrow.”

He nodded, then watched her leave. He looked down at Rose, who had been sitting by his side for a while. “I suppose you want out.” He glanced at her empty food and water bowl. The dog had quickly wolfed down a large bowl of food as they had talked. Walking over, he opened the back door, then refilled her water bowl. When he heard a small scratching noise from the back door, he opened it and Rose walked in. She took a few laps of water, then made her way towards the stairs.

He locked the doors, then climbed up the stairs to join Xtina.

When he walked in the bedroom, she was just coming out of the shower.

“Did everyone leave?” she asked. Her coloring was back. She had a soft white robe wrapped around her as she used a towel to dry her hair.

“Yes.” He walked over and wrapped his arms around her. “You okay?”

She nodded into his shoulder. “Much better.” He felt her shiver just before her arms wrapped around her. “She’s angry. She’s never been angry before.”

“At us?” he asked, moving her back a step so he could see her eyes.

“No.” She slowly shook her head. “I don’t think so. It was more at… the circumstance.” She sighed. “How about some ice cream?” she asked out of the blue.

“Maybe later. I’m going to head in and shower.” He felt the layer of dirt and grime from climbing inside the silo suddenly. Not to mention the sore muscles from all the tension of the day.

“Shower.” She smiled. “Then we can enjoy some dessert.” She leaned up and kissed him quickly, then escaped his arms and disappeared out the door.

He peeled off his clothes, tossed them in the hamper, and climbed into the hot shower. When he stuck his head under the water, images of today passed through his mind.

What did the silo have to do with the woman? What debt needed to be paid? Was it something to do with their parents?

There was no doubt in his mind that the three couples had known one another. After all, they were all in the same high school together.

He groaned when he realized it was time he called his parents. He groaned even louder when he realized that if he mentioned Jacob, they would probably move their visit up.

When he climbed out of the shower, he could hear Xtina and Rose downstairs and picked up his cell phone to make one of the most awkward phone calls of his life.

His father answered on the third ring.

“Hey, son, we were just talking about our trip out there.” His father sounded excited. “We haven’t been back since our twentieth reunion a few years ago.”

“Dad, can you put Mom on too?” he asked. His father’s voice was now tinged with worry.

“Sure, is something wrong?”

“Just put me on speaker.” He held his breath as he heard his father moving the phone around.

“I’m here, Michael.” His mother’s voice sounded close. “What’s going on? You haven’t heard from Ethan, have you?”

“No. But I have to ask you…” He took a deep breath. “Did you guys have a baby boy before us?”

The line was silent.

“Mom? Dad?” He checked his phone to make sure the connection was still good.

“What’s this all about?” It was his father who asked.

“Just answer, yes or no.”

“Michael.” He could tell his mother was crying and knew then that it was true.

“Why?” he asked, his heart breaking slightly.

“We…” his mother started, but then his father broke in.

“We were young.” He took the phone off speaker and he could hear his father comforting his mother. “We were too young. Back then… our parents thought it was best if we gave the baby up for adoption.”

“Did you know he was raised in Hidden Creek?”

“No.” His father’s voice sounded sad. “We didn’t know anything about the adoption family. Our parents took care of everything.” He sighed, then spoke to his mother. “Why are you bringing this up now?”