A Brown-Eyed Girl

Chapter Seven (I)

Authors Note:  I won't normally do this, but since you all have waited so long, I am going to post Chap 7 in parts. So it's shorter than normal (for me), but I am still tweaking the second half. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but that was the best place to cut it off. Second half will be up in next two days! In the mean time, enjoy and thanks!!!!

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Chapter Seven (I)

 

He had wanted Kelsey to call, but he had expected to have to wait a lot longer for her to reach out to him. The way it turned out, he had found it difficult to summon up all the reasons behind that desire. It was after all, seven in the morning. On a Sunday for plant’s sake.

Peter had never been a morning person. It took rather obscene amounts of coffee to bring him to the point of functioning once he actually dragged himself out of bed. That or a cast involving a rather excessive amount of espresso beans. He never woke up happily, quickly, or easily. And even though he wasn’t one of those who spent large amounts of time gelling and primping, he still tried to leave an extra half hour in the morning before interacting with anyone or operating heavy machinery.

When the unexpected call came in, he had had to suppress the urge to bite Kelsey’s head off. Control had come easier as she had rambled and stuttered on. The fog shrouding his brain had lifted completely when she reached the part about almost dying. He had been swamped by inexplicable worry and anger instead. So he had ended up being harsher than he meant to be anyways.

Wincing at the memory, he tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel impatiently.

Best as he recalled, her voice had been shaky as she had admitted to needing training. Her words had come through the phone in uneven spurts.

“I don’t want this to keep happening…No where’s safe – do you any idea how much dirt there is?”

He had swallowed a remark about how few people had a tendency to fall asleep near dirt.        

Thankfully, she had continued quickly. “I cannot keep doing this. Seeing him hurts-“

There was a dull thud, which sounded suspiciously like a head banged against something in frustration. “I just mean…it’s too dangerous.”

That was the first logical thing she had said. It was indeed too dangerous for her to be left alone at this stage. Especially, if she was going to continue to act so rashly. From what he had been able to gather, she had accidently fallen asleep outside while sky-watching with friends. He was amazed that she had been that careless. He thought he had been clear about Transporting, if nothing else. Kelsey could have easily died, especially if she was traveling into the world he thought she was.

Something in his gut twisted sharply, and he had finally cut her off. “I can be at your house at ten.”

“Ooo-kay….?”

“And whatever you do, stay the away from dirt. Wear gloves, climb a tree, duct tape yourself to the couch, anything to make it work.”

“I’m not stu - “

Peter had hung up before she could finish protesting.

He regretted that now. But, damn, he had been half-asleep, scared for her, confused why he felt that, and worried about how he was ever going to handle the whole screwy situation in the first place. It had just been too much at not even seven-thirty in the morning. On a Sunday!!

The staccato beat of his thumbs on increased in pace. Whether from the guilt or a warped sense of responsibility, he felt an overwhelming urge to get to her house. All the waiting was making him edgy.  Unsettled, he considered three different ways to tamper with the streetlights, all of which would probably cause numerous car crashes. He dismissed them all and the tapping grew faster still.