Cursed (Book 1, The Watchers; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (29 page)

    
Brand took a long time to
respond.  I thought he was going to ignore my question.

    
You need to stay away from him.  He
can’t be trusted.

And he closed his
notebook effectively ending our conversation.

The bell rang and
I quickly made my way out of the room to go to English comp., not wanting Brand
to stop me and berate me about going out with Malcolm.

I told Tara about my conversation with Brand when I got to class.

“Lilly Rayne,
you’re gonna have to make a decision,” she said in all seriousness. “You either
need to go to him and be honest about your feelings or forget about him.  Which
one can you do?”

“Neither,” I said
covering my face with both hands in frustration.  “I guess if I knew whether or
not he really loved me I could go to him, but I’m scared to do that and have
him completely reject me again.  It hurt too much the first time.  Maybe you’re
right.  Maybe I need to forget about him completely.”

“I don’t think you
can do that.  Personally,” she said leaning toward me in her desk.  “I think
you need to see this thing through.  I don’t want to see you miss out on love,
girl.  Not when it’s this close.  I think he just freaked out that day because
he felt responsible for Michelle trying to kill you.  Take a chance, Lilly.  If
you love him, take a chance on him.”

I skipped lunch
and physics class that day and went directly to Dr. Barry’s so I could go home
early that afternoon.

When I got home, I
found Malcolm sitting on my futon flipping through the channels on my TV. 

“How do you watch
this drivel?” he asked stopping on a channel which was playing one of those day
time soap operas.

“I don’t.”  I laid
my books down on the table and turned to him.

Malcolm stood up. 
“I thought you might like to see my new house.”

“What continent is
this one on?”

“It’s about a 10
minute drive away.”

“You actually
bought something here in town?  Why?”

“Appearances
mostly.  Plus I wanted a place to go when you were busy so I could at least be
close by.”

“Ok, let’s go,” I
held out my hand to him.  He took it but pulled me toward the apartment door.

“Why are we going
outside?” 

“I bought
something else to make me look a bit more normal.”

I’m not sure how I
missed it when I came in, but sitting on the far side of the parking lot was a
red and black sports car I’d never seen before.

“This is supposed
to make you look normal?”  I asked walking around it.  “What is it?”

“It’s a Bugatti
Veyron.  Do you like it?”  He leaned against the driver’s side with a Cheshire grin on his face.

“It’s one of the
most gorgeous cars I’ve ever seen.”  The term ‘sex on wheels’ came to my mind
but I decided to keep that to myself.

“Hop in!”  Malcolm
sounded like a kid on Christmas morning.

“For someone who
never needed a car you seem to be enjoying this one,” I said slipping into the
plush black leather bucket seat.

“Oh, I’ve had cars
before but nothing like this baby.”

 I could tell he
was having trouble going the speed limit when we got on the highway.  He kept
one hand on the wheel and put one hand on my thigh.  Before I knew it, we were
somewhere else.

“Did you seriously
just transport us and the car?”  I asked staring out the window in astonishment
at the change of scenery.

“Yep,” he said,
revving up the engine.  We were going 200 miles an hour before I knew it.

“Where are we?”

“We’re on the
Autobahn in Germany.  Did you see how quickly this baby hit 200?”

The glee on his
face made me want to laugh, but I was having a hard time controlling my fear of
hurtling into space.  After about five minutes, Malcolm noticed how tightly I
was gripping the bottom of my seat.

He slowed down to
45 and we were back on the highway in Lakewood.

“Sorry, I didn’t
mean to scare you.  I thought you would enjoy it.”

“Well I didn’t,” I
admitted finally unclenching my fingers from the fine black leather and
pointedly taking his hand off my thigh.

“You need to tell
me when I do things that make you uncomfortable, dearest.  I’m new at trying to
please a human.”

“Haven’t you ever
had a human friend before?”

“No.  It’s hard
enough to have business dealing with them.  Do you make a pet out of a cow
before you eat it?”

“Do you mind me
asking how many people you’ve killed?”

“Too many.  It’s
not something I’m proud of, but I’m not going to sit here and try to make
excuses for the things I’ve done in my past either.”

“How often did you
feed?”

“In the
beginning?  As much as I could.  But, sometime in the last century or so I came
to realize I didn’t like myself much anymore because of what I’d become.  So, I
tried to limit myself to one feeding every few months.”

“How long’s it
been since you fed last?”

“It’s been a
while.  Over a year I think.  That might be another reason Justin chose me to
take care of you.  He knew I would be eager to feed again and by killing you I
would be doing him a favor too.”

I noticed we were
heading down to Lake Serenity.  We passed Brand’s driveway and turned on the
next driveway off the highway.  I started to laugh.

“You bought the
house closest to Brand’s?  Why?”

“I was hoping it
would annoy him,” Malcolm stated with a small amount of satisfaction. 

“Oh, I have no
doubt it’ll do just that.”

Malcolm’s home
looked like one you might see featured in Southern Living.  It was an
antebellum era reconstruction complete with tall white pillars and a veranda. 
Scarlett O’Hara would have been proud to call it home.

It felt funny
being so close to Brand yet not seeing him.  Malcolm made us some tea and we
sat out on the veranda to watch the sun set across the lake.

“Malcolm, would my
mind if I asked you a question?”

“You can ask me
anything, dearest.  I’m an open book for you.”

“The creature you
were with the first night we met.  What was it?”

“My son,
Sebastian.”

“When Will and
Brand were explaining things to me, Brand did mention that the children of the
Watchers were cursed but he didn’t say how.”

“It wasn’t only
the children but their mothers too.  No mother has survived the birth of one of
our offspring.”

“Why?”

“The child drains
the life out of the mother, almost literally.”

“How?”

“Something happens
very early in the gestational period.  Even before we know they’re pregnant. 
By the time we know they’re with child, it’s too late.  Somehow the outside of
the womb grows extensions which wrap around every organ in the mother’s body
completely incapacitating her.   The child basically takes the body over and
treats it like a cocoon.  The mother’s are lost early in the process.  It’s the
child who keeps the body alive until it’s ready to be born.  Then it simply
claws its way out of the mother’s womb which is usually just an empty shell by
that point.”

“Do they all look
like Sebastian?”

“Sebastian is
actually a very handsome boy.  They only change into that form when the moon
rises, but he can’t control that.  We have to restrain him most nights.”

“Restrain him from
doing what?”

“Killing.”

“People?”

“Yes.”

“Has he ever
killed anyone?”

“No, I won’t allow
that.”

“Seems a bit hypocritical
doesn’t it?”

“If he were to
ever kill a human and drink their blood, he would be as damned as I am.  I
can’t let that happen.  It’s not his fault he’s the way he is.  It’s mine.”

The determination Malcolm’s
voice to keep him son’s soul pure surprised me.

“When he dies, I
intend to make sure he has the best chance possible to reach heaven.”

“Do you miss it?”

“More than you
could ever possibly imagine, dearest.”

Seeing Malcolm so
sad seemed strange.  It was definitely yet another side to my complicated new
friend.

“I’d like to meet
him again one day if I could.”

“I’ll make the
arrangements.” Malcolm seemed pleased with my request.  “I know he’d like to
see you again.  When he changed back to his human form he said he felt drawn to
you for some reason.  But I’ll have to take some precautions before he can stay
here safely.”

Malcolm talked me
into playing a game of chess with him on the veranda for the rest of the
afternoon and into the early evening hours.

It was almost
seven when I got a call on my cell phone.

“Hey girl, where are
you?  I got supper cooked.”

“Tara, I’m so
sorry.  I’ll be home as soon as I can.  Malcolm wanted to show me the house he
bought here in town.  I’ll get him to bring me home.”

“He ain’t tried to
show you his bedroom has he?  I heard what he said last night to Will and
Brand.”

“No, he’s been a
perfect gentleman tonight.  We were just playing some chess.  I’ll be home
soon.”

Malcolm was behind
my chair before I closed the phone to escort me out to his car.  Once I was
back at the apartment, he leaned in towards me and kissed my cheek.

“Sweet dreams,
dearest.  I’ll see you sometime tomorrow if that’s all right.”

“Would you mind
calling me before you just show up next time?  It’s a little disconcerting to
just find you in my apartment without warning.”

I gave him my
numbers and went into the apartment.

Tara was setting
the table.

“Hey, didn’t you
invite him in?”

“No, I didn’t want
to give you the chance to tear into him about the whole bedroom thing.”

“Now why would I
do that?” Tara said obviously disappointed she wouldn’t get to set Malcolm
straight in her own delicate way.

“Because you love
me more than anything,” I told her giving her a kiss on the cheek.

When I went to
sleep that night, I had dreams about Malcolm again.  At one point in the dream,
he was holding me in his arms and asking me to tell him I loved him more than
anyone else.  My mind rebelled against what the dream me was about to say. 
After I professed my undying love to him, I forced myself to wake up, rejecting
what I had dreamt.

I sat upright in
my bed trying to calm my racing heart.  How could I say that I loved Malcolm? 
Even though it was a dream, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d betrayed my
feelings for Brand in some way.

I heard a deep
moan come from beside me.  My head jerked toward the sound and I saw Malcolm
sleeping on the other side of my bed.  I jumped out from beneath the covers and
turned on the ceiling light to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming.  As soon as
the light came on Malcolm’s eyes opened.

“Hmm, I guess you
finally caught me,” he said raising himself up on an elbow, yawning.

“What do you mean
finally?” I asked suspiciously.

“I’m sorry, I
couldn’t help myself.  You look so lovely when you sleep.  I didn’t think I was
harming anyone by resting beside you.”

“How long have you
been doing this?” I asked.

“Since the night
we made our bargain.  Please don’t be upset with me, dearest.  I didn’t think I
was doing anything that bad.”

I sat back down on
the bed staring at him, understanding dawning.  “Do you dream Malcolm?”

“In a way,” he
said.  I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it so I pressed on.

“What aren’t you
telling me?” I prompted.

“Well, we don’t
really
need
to sleep but if we do, we can control what we dream.  It’s
like having your own little fantasy world where anything you can imagine is
possible.”

“What have you
been dreaming since you started sleeping here?”
     I didn’t think it was possible but I saw a hint of crimson blush Malcolm’s
cheeks.

“I’d rather not
tell you that, dearest.  You probably wouldn’t like it very much.”

“Oh my God,” I
said putting my hand to my mouth.  I sat there thinking quickly.  “Malcolm, I
need you to be completely honest with me.  I’m going to try to describe what
you’ve been dreaming and I need you to tell me if I’m right.”

“How could you
possibly know what I’ve dreamt?”  He asked as if I wouldn’t be able to guess
the fantasy world he’d been dreaming about in a million years of trying.

As I described the
dreams I’d had the past few nights, Malcolm’s face became redder and his eyes
wider the more I described my own dreams.

I decided not to
tell him what he had dreamt just a few minutes ago.  I thought I would save us
both the embarrassment of reliving it.  When I was through telling him about
his own dreams, he rolled over onto his back, covered his face with his hands
and groaned.

“How could you
possibly know all that and in such excruciating detail?”

“I don’t know,” I
was as bewildered as he was but my heart was racing at what I had figured out. 
“Maybe it has something to do with how close you were to me when you dreamt. 
At least I’m hoping that’s the reason.”

I jumped out of
bed and rummaged through my closet.  I pulled out a pair of jeans, blue jacket
and sneakers.  I decided to just leave the T-shirt I had on. 

“Turn around,” I
ordered Malcolm. 

He didn’t have to
be asked twice.  I think he was secretly relived to not have to meet my eyes.

“What are you
doing?” he asked.

“I have to see
Brand,” I said breathlessly.  I thought my heart was going to beat out of my
chest.   I knew what I had to do now.

“Do you realize
how late it is?”  Malcolm said rolling back over when he knew I had my jeans
on.

“I really don’t
care at the moment,” my face felt flushed with excitement.  I grabbed my keys
off the nightstand and headed toward the door.