Coexist: Keegan's Chronicles

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Keegan tossed piles of clothes on the floor searching for the perfect outfit to wear to the concert.

Why is it always so hard to find something to wear? She looked around her room. She’d flung clothes all over the place. So many outfits and still nothing to wear.

Picking up her phone, she texted Lauren to meet her at the mall. If she couldn’t find anything to wear in her room, then she needed to buy something.

Keegan’s mom dropped her off at Target, and she walked the rest of the way. It wasn’t that far, but she still felt annoyed that her mom didn’t take her the whole way.

Rourk wasn’t far behind and wondered where she was headed this time. Since he had started following her, he’d started to notice patterns in her behavior. For instance, she couldn’t pass a Starbucks without getting a white chocolate mocha—which she bought almost daily. And of course there was all the shopping. It left Rourk wondering, What could she possibly want or need all the clothing for?

What bothered Rourk most was Keegan’s phone. She was always texting and oblivious to what was going on around her. This left her extremely vulnerable, and at times he wished he could grab her phone and smash it. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself that he was there for her protection. In essence, he was her eyes and ears.

One of Rourk’s secondary gifts was the ability to detect other creatures, and he had noticed an increase in the amount of creatures of the dark lately. It was as if they were coming out of the woodwork. He knew they were always there, but since taking on his new assignment he had a heightened sense of awareness. He wondered if Keegan knew how many of the kids at her school weren’t human. Rourk couldn’t always tell what kind of creature they were, but he always knew if they were with the light or dark. So far, he had only seen her have interaction with others from the light.

They weren’t elves though, that much he was sure of.

Rourk found it interesting that Keegan got so much pleasure from something as basic as shopping. He didn’t have any sisters, and his mother had died when he was young so Rourk was not used to being around the opposite sex. He had never even had a girlfriend. To begin his training Rourk was taken from school younger than most. They had said he showed promise, and they didn’t want it to be tainted by being around humans longer than necessary.

***

Keegan decided on a white tank top and skinny jeans. Now, on to accessories. There were so many beautiful things in the world and she wished she could have them all.

She’d been shopping with Lauren for hours. They went in store after store trying on hats, sunglasses, shoes, and jewelry. Most of the time they were laughing at each other. Keegan put on a large floppy hat and a pair of oversized glasses, and then walked the aisle as if it were a catwalk. She made a quick spin and turned to Lauren, lowering her glasses, which led Lauren to join in. They were putting on their own fashion show, and people were staring at them, but they didn’t seem to notice or care.

After a while the girls were finally done shopping. Lauren’s mother picked them up and dropped Keegan off at home. Rourk always felt relieved when he knew she arrived home safely. Now, he could go home and get some sleep.

Keegan’s mother was folding laundry when she walked in. Emerald leaned her head out of the door to the laundry room and asked, “What did you get to wear for the concert?”

Keegan smiled and said, “White tank top and skinny jeans.”

Her mother’s face changed so quickly it made Keegan’s head spin.