Hidden Close (Jr. Year)

Chapter 14

Part 14 Of The First Draft

“Oh, and what is that, Grace? I forgot that one such as you has her talents......”

Grace sat down in the middle of the room, and told all of us, nonchalantly,

“If I use a certain incantation, this entire property and all that is in it will not appear to anyone. There is just one thing that we have to remember.”

Carlita, perhaps fearing Becky's safety, asked,

“What must we remember, Grace?”

Grace continued on,

“Ones going in and out of here will compromise the spell. None of us are to have any guests until this is all cleared up. Are we all aware of what is at stake and what precautions we must take?”

We all nodded, and Carlita, in an act of desperation, said,

“What am I to do? They'll kill me.....”

Grace reassured her,

“Oh, come now, Carlita. You are too tough to kill. If you really must, you may come here to stay, just please, make sure no one follows you.”

This seemed to lift Carlita's spirits once more,

“Alright. Ben and I will hold off as long as possible on the outside. If we become threatened, though, we are coming here. The resistance cannot survive if we die. Please,  Grace, take good care of Becky. She means more to me than you will ever know....”

Grace nodded, and gave Carlie her word,

“Carlita, I will protect her with my life. You have nothing to fear.”

Carlita then started to leave, and right before she could exit the door, Rebecca caught her from behind with a giant hug. Carlita held her, and slit open her wrist with her nails. Becky drank of her blood eagerly, and when Becky was done feeding, Carlita quickly vanished. Becky returned to us as if nothing strange had happened, and many of us seemed baffled by her ghoulish nature. Perry, who is never the coward, told us all,

“Everyone, we are all so different from one another. Let our diversity be our strength.”

Grace had totally forgotten one glaring hole to her idea,

“We have one major weakness to our plan. Many of you have to go to school still. Renee, leave with Lana each day and also return at the same time. The rest of you, please do the same. Also, I have one thing to ask of the strongest of all of us....”

Grace turned to me, and smiled. She asked me,

“Mindi, you have to find out why these watchers are trying to hurt us and the resistance. With Becky's help, you must find a way to save us from final death. Without you, we have no hope at all.”

I was astonished.

“Why me? I'm just a girl....”

Grace hushed me, and said in the most dire of all tones,

“You’re more than just a girl, Mindi. I have seen a rough fortune of us ahead in our vision. If you want go grow up and claim my son as yours,  then you must defeat the corrupted watchers and many more foes. You will never be free, but you will always be loved.”

It was too much to take in. The only thing I could manage to ask Grace was,

“Will things ever be the same?”

Grace laughed, and replied the only way she could,

“No. You'll be given all sorts of strength yet you will always fall privy to your own humanity. You'll never overcome your depression. You're the chosen one and that means there will be many days where the tears will come pouring down...”

As they did now. I wiped at my tears, and ran to the bathroom. Neither my mom or dad came after me, and I sat there, just bawling. After about fifteen minutes Perry came into the bathroom. Instead of fighting him I asked only this,

“Promise me you'll never give up on me, no matter how much I cut or cry. Promise me you'll always love me, for the darkness is too much to bear on my own.”

Perry didn't hesitate or waver in showing me just what I needed. He took me up in his arms,  and pointed towards the mirror. He told me this,

“Take a picture.”

I scoffed at him, although I was mildly amused,

“Why? We have plenty of pics together. Why take one where my makeup has came off?”

Perry’s reply was the sweetest thing I have ever heard,

“Because this will be the first photo of us while we are engaged. I can't give you a ring, and you can’t tell anyone. I want to marry you right when we are both eighteen. We are almost mated, so why pretend that we will ever not be in each other's heart?”

I smiled, and snapped a mirror pic of the two of us before even more tears could fall and stain my face. I cried with joy for almost a good five minutes more before I could tell Perry this,

“Baby, I'm going to be your diamond and stick with you forever. I know that we still have a little over a year to wait, but that is nothing to me. I would wait a thousand lifetimes if I knew that I was to be your diamond.”

I uploaded the mirror pic of us together, him holding me from behind and I pulling him in by his collar, placing it on my profile with the caption,

“Forever”

“Let’s go and join the rest of them. They are probably really worried about me.”

When we rejoined the main group, we found that Becky, Lana, and my parents were already asleep. Renee, who was wearing long pants and a tight top, both of them green, was at the back window, staring outside. Renee’s a tough girl, being a high level blackbelt and Perry's tough as nails older sister. Something was troubling her, though. I put a hand on her, and asked,

“What do you see?”

Renee hung her head down, and gave us a dark omen,

“Uncertainity. I see all of us dead. The only way I feel we can survive is to expose the corrupted watchers and their still silent leader. My mother was right. It will really come down to you and that Becky girl. You both have a knack for finding danger, and now, you two will have to learn how to conquer it, as well.”