Midnight Rose (completed)

Chapter 20

"Where are you taking me?" The silence had been unbearable, but my mind was muddled and I needed sleep. We had been driving for several hours, and it was dark outside. I wondered what excuse my dad gave my mom about my sudden disappearance.

"Somewhere your dad felt you would be the safest." Elijah's voice was troubled.

"This is nuts. You know that, right?" I stared at him incredulously.

"I haven't experienced anything that slightly resembles ordinary in a very long time, Abby. This is just another day in a world of chaos."

It made me think about his mother's kidnapping. I tried to remember what I was doing when I was six. Probably playing with dolls and dressing up with my friends without a worry in the world that monsters lived under my bed. Or just outside my window. How does a child even process something like that? Having his mother ripped from his arms was bad enough and then to discover it was by an immortal.

"I feel like we could have been friends if things were different." I meant it, too. He was honest and compassionate. He didn't hide behind walls and haunting memories.

"If things were different, the odds are we would have never met."

Shadows moved across his face as headlights from oncoming traffic passed by, highlighting dark circles under his eyes that seemed to have appeared overnight. Working for The Order didn't seem easy by any stretch of the imagination, especially this assignment in particular. Me.

"Can I ask you something?" His eyes veered from the road ahead for a moment to take in my response.

"Sure," I replied. My anger had subsided, and exhaustion was fast setting in. My body relaxed against the leather seat, and my eyes closed.

"What was it like with your father?"

I rolled my head in his direction remorsefully. "I'm sorry about your father, Elijah. Being alone at the age of thirteen must have been hard."

His shoulders tensed and his fingers tightened around the steering wheel, a sign of how uncomfortable this was for him. "It was, but James did a lot for me. Had he not stepped in, I would just be a nameless face working for The Order."

An image of my brother popped in my head. A nameless follower. That was what he was. My bloodshot eyes focused on the road ahead again, the glow of the headlights breaking through the blackness of the night as if it were nothing. My grandpa used to tell me that no matter how dark it was, all you had to do was shine a light and it would overpower the darkness. Of course, I was nine and he was talking about putting a nightlight in my bedroom, but the more I thought about it, it applied to many things. Like now, for instance.

"It was quiet," I said, suddenly fidgeting with my fingers, remembering how empty the house felt when my dad was gone. "Growing up with my dad. He was gone a lot. I used to resent him for it, but I understand now."

Elijah's shoulders rose as he inhaled deeply. "Abby, he was a good man. He is a good man. He talked about you all the time..." His voice trailed off.

"What?" I pressed him. He almost seemed embarrassed.

"Nothing." He blew it off.

Elijah was tough. Almost unbreakable. Almost. It was funny how amongst all the millions of questions I had regarding The Order, missions, and my dad, the ones I wanted to ask the most were about Elijah himself.

We passed a highway sign. "Are we going to Seattle?"

"Yes."

My dad had spent a lot of time in Seattle recently. He knew this was coming. We were going to my grandpa's house. All of the good memories were going to be tarnished. It was disheartening. Nothing was safe anymore. It made me wonder how many happy memories I would have left. Looking over at Elijah again, I knew it wouldn't be long. He was haunted by his violent past, and that overshadowed every good memory he had made with his mom and dad. Maybe darkness could be stronger than light if enough time passed without redemption.