Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (42 page)

“I guess,” was all I could think to say
.

“Not to ment
ion
the seven deadly sins are alive and well in high school
.
Sloth, check.
Envy, definitely
.
Lust, absolutely
.
Gluttony, in more ways than one;
gluttony for consumer goods, gluttony for popularity, gluttony for well eve
rything
.
Pride, in athletic ability, pride in academics.
Greed for money, greed for success, greed for things and
friends
.
Rage, I think after tonight you have that one covered all by your
self,” he finished
.

“
Is it really wrong to be ang
r
y
when someone hurts those you love and care about?
”

“No
, of course not,
we are all human
.
Me more newly so than you, but nonetheless we are human
.
To be divine is to not have those feelings
.
All I felt when I was an angel was forgiveness and acceptance
.
Well until I involved myself in the apocalypse and was cast from heaven.”

“You were sent to help me, not cast out,” I countered
.

“I have met Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, David and Goliath, but you are the most amazing person I have ever met
.
I don’t regret the d
ecisions I made, for one moment.” A
nd then he reached over and kissed me
.
I felt all the love he had for me in that moment and I again felt reassured
.
We had made it this far; we could do this, as long as we stuck together
.

I tossed and turned all night
.
I kept waking up and seeing Principal Black or Ale
x
leering over me as I slept
.
Finally
,
as the sun peeked through the curt
ain
s, I threw the blankets off and began to get ready for school
.
Today was the last day before winter break
.
After today Gabriel and I had ten whole days off from school
.
I had toyed with the idea of taking the time and going out and
visiting
Cami and my m
other, but Gabriel had talked me out of it
.
He reminded me it was a risk we couldn’t take, we could lead Alex straight to them
.
I had agreed, but this was the first year I would spend without my family and Cami around
.
It made it all feel like it wasn’t
really the holidays
.

I show
er
ed and dressed in jeans and a gray sweater with black reindeer knitted into the pattern
.
I braided my hai
r down my back, and headed down
stairs to make coffee
.
I woke Gabriel up on my way past the bed
.
He still looked exhausted, he must have had as bad a nights sleep as I did
.
I leaned down and kissed him
,
morning breath and all
,
and then headed down stairs
.

We arrived
at school half an hour later, just in time to see Mr. Kelley’s avocado green Dodge Colt being towed out of the faculty parking lot
.
I guess word was out. H
e was at
least presumed missing, but I was sure Alex and Principal Black had figured out what had happened
.

I straightened my spine, held my head high, and prepared to walk into what I was figuring was my impending doom, with Gabriel at my side
.
As soon as we walked through the main doors of the school I could feel something was different
.
I couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but it seemed like a weight had been lifted off the entire school
.
Gabriel and I began our walk into senior wing, and fo
r the first time in a long time
I saw students standing along their lockers talking
.
Teachers smiled at students as they passed
.
Just the other day the entire school had been rushing to their destinations, head and eyes down, with not a word spoken
in the halls
.
I glanced in Gabriel’s direction as we walked and he arched an eyebrow back at me
.
Something was definitely different.

As we rounded the corner headed for homeroom, I almost ran directly into Mrs. Still as she rounded the corner headed in the opposite direction
.
I couldn’t contain my shock; I dropped my books and threw my arms around her, squeezing her in a tight hug
.

“Easy there
,
Cross, what’s all
this
about?” she questioned stiffly
.
She stood
with
her arms straight at her side, rigidly accepting but not returning my embrace
.

I
recovered my composure quickly.
“Oh, sorry
,
Mrs. Still
. I just
…
uh
…
had a dream last night that something terrible happened to you, and I’m so glad to see you
’
r
e
okay.
”

She stepped back and stared at me
.
She leaned in lower
,
her voice a
whisper
when she said
, “That
’s
strange
, because I don’t remember how I got home last night
.
Last thing I
remember I
was chaperoning
the dance, and then I woke up in my bed this morning, no idea how I got there.
”

“That is strange,” I replied
,
trying my best to look innocent and concerned all at the same time
.

Mrs. Still shook her head as if trying t
o dislodge some thought or idea. “O
h well, off to class with you two,” she said as she began to walk away
.
“A
nd
,
Cross
?
M
ile run today in class,” she shouted back over her shoulder
.

“I’ll be there,” I shouted back
.
I couldn’t even pretend to hide the smile on my face
.
I turned to Gabriel and asked the question that had been burning in the back of
my mind since I saw Mrs. Still.
“Are you think
ing
what I’m thinking?” I asked
.

“Mr. Brown?” was all he said
.

We turned and bega
n walking back the way we had co
me
.
As we approached his door, I slowed my pace
.
I was in such a good mood; the news of Mrs. Still being okay raised my spirits, what if Mr. Brown was really gone forever
?
Then I reminded myself that whether or not I
opened that door, if he was really gone he was really gone
.
I stepped up and turned the handle on the door
.

There
, standing at his desk and
wiping it off with a Clorox wipe
,
was Mr. Brown
.
He turned when he heard the door open
.
“Michelle, Gabriel, what can I do for you?” he asked cheerfully
.
“I was just cleaning up a bit, seems the substitute they had in for me was a bit of a slob.
”

I couldn’
t help but grin from ear to ear.
“We were just wondering where you’ve been these past couple of months?
”

“
Ahh
, yes
.
Well the official story is that I was volunteering at an inner city school system
.
Helping them establish their English department according to state standards, but between the three of us
.
I can’
t
remember a thing
.
I remember being called into Principal Black
’
s office
,
him reprimanding my behavior and demanding more professionalism from me
,
and then nothing
.
Like I’ve been in a coma for the past two months
.
All I know is I woke up in bed this morning and
I knew I had to come here to work, and go about business as usual,” he finished with a shrug
.

“Well
,
wherever you’ve been
w
e are sure glad to have you back,” I beamed at him
.

“Thank you, thank
you both
.
Now off to class before you’re late to homeroom.
”

“See you in class,” I called back at him as we left his room
.
Could the day get any better?
I thought to myself
.

I shuffled into ho
meroom, having left Gabriel
at his class
.
The morning procedures went the same as usual, flag salute, lunch menu, and then school announcements
.
The first announcement was a
surprise to say the least
.
“Principal Black has resigned from Shady Lane High School and until a replacement can be hired, Vice Principal Andrews will be acting principal
.
On a related note, all after-
school clubs and sports have been reinstated, Go Shady Lane Devils!
”
A
cheer erupted from the students and you could hear it echoing down the hall
.
The teachers even had a hard time not looking pleased that Principal Black was no longer in the picture
.
I turned in my seat to ga
u
ge Alex’s reaction to the announcement, but he was missing as well
.
Of co
urse it left me wondering, if they were
n’t here, then where had
t
he
y
gone?

I immediately rushed out of homeroom with the bell, and dug deep into my messenger bag
.
I found my cell phone
deep down in a corner pocket
.
I flipped it open
,
attempting to find a signal
.
Finally, standing as close to the emergency exit
as I dared without being accused of trying to make a break for it, and called Cami
.
I rarely used my cell, it was really just for emergencies, and I barely had a charge
.
It rang
four times before Cami finally picked up on her end
.

“
Chell
! Hey what’s up
?
Did you have a good birthday
?
Did you go to the dance
?
Did you and Gabriel, well you know?
”
 

“Cami, Cami! Focus,” I shouted into the phone
.
“Principal Black is missing, I don’t k
now about Alex yet, but he might be coming for you!
”

There was a long silen
ce on her side of the phone.
“Then let him come, I’m ready.
”

“Wrong response, Cam
.
I need you to run, get
out
of there, hide, run, something!” The panic in my voice was met with a loud beep and then my phone shutting down
.
“
Ahhh
!” I yelled
into the phone, and
turned and threw the phone down the hall
.
It abruptly hit a locker and the pieces fell at Gabriel’s feet
.

“Umm, what happened
in the twenty minutes we’ve been apart?
”

“Well I
was trying to call Cami, I figured if Principal Black and Alex weren’t here they would most likely be looking for her, and then I got her on the phone, and then the stupid piece of crap’s battery dies bef
ore I can finish talking to her.
”