Tested

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

The atmosphere was stony at first, but after a few days, some of the others in the safehouse were happy to share their stories with us.

“Came in on a boat in the dead of night,” an older man whispered. “Exiled for years, but now I’m back, ready and waiting for the word.”

“What word?” I blurted.

“That it’s time to rise up. The word went out that now’s the time to regain everything lost. You wouldn’t understand, you young things, but this country went to hell a long time ago. So many of us were robbed of power and fortune. If people are fighting back against the injustice, then I want to join them.”

“The Guardians have been taking humans,” a woman said. “Plucking them from their homes for no reason at all. And the stories running around would give you nightmares."

"That's awful," I said, wondering what the Guardians wanted with humans.

The woman nodded at me. "Where did you two come from?”

“The UK,” Dad answered for me. “We kept moving north, trying to outrun the trouble, but we got turned around a lot. Eventually found boats taking people from the country for a price. We didn’t have the money, but the village came under attack, and we were able to flee with the boat as it escaped from the mayhem. Got taken by the Guardians when we came ashore. There was a fire, and we escaped, but a woman, some kind of witch, tried to take my daughter. We were helped and managed to get away, but… she seemed to really want my girl.”

“I’ve heard there’s a building full of children,” Gerard said,entering the room to join us. “Special children. That they were stolen from their families to work for the highest bidder. Makes me sick to think of it.”

“Maybe that’s where Parker is,” I whispered to Dad. I looked back at Gerard. “We saw videos of the fighting over here.”

“Nobody sat down and took it,” he said, beaming proudly. “And the UK is supposed to be clean now, too. It’s in the papers, humans and all, fighting back.”

“It was bad there,” I said. “We were in what we thought was a safehouse, but a man there was selling the girls to the vampires, to fight each other, fight vampires and those monsters. The place was full of them, watching us fight, and then the werewolves came.”

“You saw the werewolves?” somebody asked.

“Just for a minute. They’re kind of terrifying.”

“She was burned from the fire,” Dad said, speaking loudly in a hint that I was supposed to shut up. “Does anyone have something I can put on it to ease the burn?”

That got them moving. Gerard beckoned Siobhan, the one who took care of injuries. Since we arrived, another three had come for help, one of them badly injured. She looked exhausted from taking care of that problem, but she cleaned up my arm wtih a foul-smelling paste and warned me to let the air at the wound if I ran out of clean bandages.

I nodded, barely listening. “Can we leave?” I asked. “Go outside during the day? I need to look for my friend. We got separated.”

“This isn't a prison," she said. "You can leave, but be back before dark, and if you see any trouble, run the opposite way.” She held on to my wrist and looked me steadily in the eye. “And whatever you do, don’t lead the trouble back here.” 

***

 Dad and I spent the next day looking for Parker, but the hostel building had burned to the ground, embers still burning, and the place was covered with Guardians and police and fire trucks. We couldn’t hang around without being seen, and we couldn't afford to be remembered.

“We should go back to that shop,” I said. “See if he went back there.”

Dad frowned. “I doubt… okay, we’ll look.”

We found the old woman in her shop. She looked up expectantly as we entered, but her face paled. “You can’t stay here,” she said immediately. "They're looking for you."

“We found a place to stay,” I said. “I just wanted to find out if my friend came back here.”

“The boy?” She shook her head. “I think he went with the Guardians willingly. He didn’t put up a fuss, but I was paying more attention to the fire. It seemed like it would come this way. We’re lucky it didn’t.”

"If he went willingly," I said. "Is that a good sign?"

She gave me a pitying look. "He started the fire, didn't he?"

I nodded, somehow ashamed. He had done it to help us.

"They take those with power," the old woman said after a moment. "We've all heard the rumours. If your friend is that powerful, then I'm sure they have a use for him." She nodded at me. "It's not too late, pet."

“Thank you for your time,” Dad said.

We left and headed back toward the building we were now calling home.

“Why would he go with them willingly?” I asked.

“Because he was afraid? He couldn’t keep burning forever. I’m sure he’s safe. The Guardians probably aren’t the bad guys here, Jess. We just look like we’re on the wrong side for now, but we'll figure it out. As long as we keep out of this mess, we'll find a way to survive.”

“Do you think she meant Seth?” I asked.

“Who?”

“That witch. She said an important man wanted to see me, but she didn’t call him a vampire. Why call him a man?”

“Maybe she meant somebody else, but Seth's followers are fanatics. Does it matter?”

“What if it is somebody else, and he could help us. She acted as though she knew me. What if Seth has powerful enemies, too? What if we made a mistake running?”

“What if we didn't? What if this person just wants to take you and use you, too? What if it’s just some nasty wretch intent on taking advantage of people’s fear? You can’t take the chance.”

“What about the redhead?” I asked for the umpteenth time. “What if she’s the one we’re meant to go to? What if she’s supposed to teach me, help me figure out how to fight Seth? What if that’s—”

“It’s not,” he said, sounding exasperated. “Stop fixating on her. I thought you were over this.”

“We’re so close to her. Everything we've done, and we wound up here after all. We might bump into her some day or—”

“Jess, please. We’re supposed to do this alone. She’s in the public eye. If you go to her, you might as well publish your photo in the newspaper. If she’s truly like you, he’ll be after her, too. Staying away from her pretty much assures your safety.”

“What if she doesn’t realise he’s after her and needs our help? We could warn her. What if that’s what—”

“Stop it!” he said sharply, gripping my shoulders and shaking me. “Stop making your life more complicated than it needs to be. We’re going to leave this wretched hole of a country, and you’re going to leave behind all of these relationships you’ve been so keen to develop. Parker, Sonia, all of the others, they’ve forgotten you already, Jessica. You’re nothing to them. They’re safer without you. You’re old enough to understand that. You can’t be weak. Weakness kills us.”

But I couldn’t let them go. I wanted friendship and love and affection and companionship. I wanted all of that, but Dad kept telling me I couldn’t have it, so what was the point? Sometimes I wished Seth would come, just to get the end over and done with.