Keepers of Time

10. Everything Has Changed

10. Everything has changed

I had fallen asleep beside Kimberly’s bed and was woken up when the girls began to get ready for the brand new day ahead.  As I watched Kim gather her things to get dressed, there was a pang inside my chest at the conflicting thoughts my mind had against my heart.  My decision was final and no matter what my feelings were they couldn’t continue.  They were merely going to remain as that: feelings.

She needed someone that was capable of love and a boy who lived up to her expectations.  I was neither of those things.  Lucas was it, and I couldn’t stand in their way of happiness.

Nole and I headed to our room, the afternoon sun beaming through the corridor windows, casting light through the eerie dark hall.  Entering our chamber, we found Gabriel packing.  He was idly tossing all his belongings in his suitcase in a fit of anger.  He was absentmindedly muttering to himself, but was too low for me to hear and guess as to what he was upset about.

 I was concerned about his well-being – my earlier feelings evaporating and were replaced with worry for Gabriel’s sake.  I saw  that he hadn’t fully recovered from his extensive use of magic last night by the weariness in his eyes. His skin was pale and his eyes rimmed with dark shadows underneath them.  He must have rested to recover his strength back but he hadn’t sleep in over twenty-four hours.  He was drained, but also frustrated about something.   

“What’s going on?”  Nole asked.  “Are we leaving?”

“Yes.  Pack your things.  We’re to leave immediately.” 

His voice was hard, as he ransacked the remainder of the closet, tossing our clothes on the bed.  He moved to the bathroom next and began to clear all our belongings.  He dumped the contents onto the bed and took a step to collect more of our effects, but I stopped him.

“What is going on?”  I said, repeating Nole’s question.  “Why are we leaving?  We’ve only been here for a day.  Is it because of the attack from last night?”

“Yes.”  He said. “We aren’t welcomed here anymore.  Dupont wants us to return home to our council.”

“What’s his reasoning?”

“Didn’t give me one.”

I stared at him blankly.  That didn’t make sense.  Why wasn’t anything making sense?  “He just told you that we needed to leave?”

“Pretty much.”  He zipped up his suit case, heading towards the door.  He turned around, dejected as he said, “I’m going to go tell the others.  We’ve got one hour to return home.  I’ve already reached our fathers to tell them the news.  They’ll talk to us when we get home.”

I was going to offer to tell everyone the news, but he was gone before I could utter a word. Nole and I exchanged a concerned look for Gabriel, but left it at that.  There was no need to voice the questions we both had. They were the same questions that plagued our thoughts from the night before.  Something was wrong here.  Things were changing.

***

The council chamber was empty except for Calder, Elder Montgomery, my father, and me.  As soon as we’d arrived back home, Cal and I headed straight to the chamber to meet them and I again informed them of the events that transpired the night before.  There was a brief moment of silence before my father spoke in the quiet room.

“It is not of our concern what the French Council is hiding as you so blatantly put it.  We only get involved when they ask for our help, son.”

“But you can’t deny that something is wrong here.  Demons are attacking in packs.”  Calder said looking at his father and then at mine.  “There is something going on here.  We heard that this has happened centuries ago but there is no record of why and you told us to come to you if we heard of anymore demonic activity.  That is what we are doing and I don’t know why we aren’t taking action to stop it from continuing.”