Amaranthine

Chapter Twenty Three

  © Copyright 2011
All work is property of Leah Crichton, any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal.

Prescience: (presh-uh-ns)

knowledge of things before they exist or happen; foreknowledge; foresight.

Could I even measure time in things like minutes, hours, or days when time was frozen, suspended by Orion's hand? I didn't suppose so but when I woke some time later, I wished it were all still a dream. As soon as my eyes opened, my mind began to work overtime, trying to digest everything. It was so far beyond reason, beyond explanation, I considered maybe somewhere along the line I had become deranged.  That had to be it. My brain had been damaged so badly that everything and everyone, including Orion, was a figment of my imagination. It seemed like the most justifiable explanation of any of them. 

Yet there he was in front of me. My eyes could see him, my nose could smell him, my ears could hear him, my hands could touch him. It was real, as real as it could be. I didn’t want to talk anymore and he seemed to sense it, allowing time to pass in silence. When he thought it was going on too long, he said so. “Listen, I don’t want to rush you or anything, but we really should go see Alicia and Alex. You need to see them.”

“What are they going to do?”

“They're seers,” he said, like I should know what that was. “They can help you.” 

Fear about what could be lurking in the shadows wound its way through me and I shuddered. “I don’t want to go outside.”

“We can’t very well stay here.”

“I can.” I told him. “Quite easily.” 

He sighed. “I know you’re scared, but I won’t leave your side, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You're pretty sure of yourself.”

“I told you, I’ve never had anything worth fighting for until now. C’mon, let’s go.”

Orion promised to keep me safe. I wanted to believe in him, but my confidence in his ability to do so was barely skimming the surface.

We made our way through the abandoned house and our footsteps echoed, causing me to jump, unable to shake the intense fear that Damien was lurking around every corner. I didn't know where Luke and my mom were but I was glad it wasn’t here. In an effort to calm my nerves, I reasoned with myself that Orion had to be right. Damien didn’t know anything at all. As far as he was concerned, he dropped me off and I had gone to bed.

Orion led me outside with his arm wrapped protectively around my shoulder. Even though he tried to appear confident, his eyes darted around the yard to see if there was any sign of his rival.

He drove fast, too fast, to Alicia and Alex’s place. Why he chose the car rather than travel the way we had earlier confused me. Maybe there was some sort of limitation to how often he could do it the teleporting thing. Surely it had to take a lot out of him.

His body was stiff with tension and his eyes danced around in a predictable routine: he’d look from the rear view mirror to the side mirror and then at me, then he would start the process all over again. I sat there, numb to any more emotions, and the look on his face was horrendously somber. 

Alicia waited for us on the porch, twisting her hands in her lap.  As we pulled up, she lunged to open my door and threw her arms around me. “Oh, Ireland, I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”