Forsaken (21 page)

The next time I woke up, a single candle flickered on my dresser but the rest of the room was dark.  The deafening silence made me wonder how late it was, but the soothing dancing light of the candle across the wall had me hypnotized.  The pounding in my head had died down some, but it felt like it had been stuffed with cotton.  I felt the back of my head and found a large knot that hurt to the touch.  The slightest movement caused excruciating pain down my neck and the whole left side of my face.  I must have fallen backwards off the bench we were sitting on.  My back felt like it was one big bruise.  The last thing I remembered was Willow’s face spinning and then I woke up on that beach. 

I saw
movement out of the corner of my eye and sat straight up in bed. 

“Hello?” I whisper
ed, my voice scratchy.  A figure materialized near the window and my chest tightened with fear.  He stepped into the light of the candle. 

“Hi
,” Finn’s grin was laced with mischief as he sat down on the side of the bed. “How’re you feeling?” He shouldn’t have been allowed to look that good.  He was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but the way he moved and the confident vibe he carried with him made my heart race.

“I think I
got run over by a truck,” I attempted a smile and my cheek throbbed.

“
So that’s where the tire marks on your back came from…” he smirked at me.  I started to laugh, but pain exploded in my head.

“Don’t make me laugh
,” I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples still smiling, “It hurts.”  He watched me for a moment and I was suddenly self conscious of how appalling I must look.  Had he been watching me the whole time I was asleep?  What if I snored?  Or drooled on my pillow?

“How long have you been here?” I ask
ed him.

“Since about 5:00
this evening.  No one knows I’m here though, it’s after hours.  I’ve been cloaking myself when someone comes in.”  He winked at me and grinned at his own cleverness.  By the lack of light outside, I’d have to say it was past 9:00pm.  The hottest guy on Earth has been in my bedroom all night and I’ve been lying in bed unconscious the whole time.  There’s nothing like a bruised body and a little concussion to impress a guy.   

“How did you know where our suite was?”

“I saw Phoebe coming back this afternoon, so I cloaked myself and followed her up here.  I slipped in through the door before she closed it.”

“Had a lot of experience in the stalking department?” I tease
d him. 

“I’m going to h
ave to plead the fifth,” he grinned at me.

I sa
t up on my elbows and eyed him curiously. “Have you followed me before?”

“Only a couple
-“

“Finn!” I push
ed him playfully.  I immediately ran through everything I’d said and done in the last week and a half.  What if he heard me talking about him?  I was going to have to be more careful.  Leave it to me to fall for the one guy who can make himself invisible.

“
I just…wanted to see you.” He looked down at my hand and rubbed his thumb across it, sending tingles up my arm.  I waited for him to explain further, but he didn’t.

“And….” I prompt
ed. 

“
Well, the first time, I saw you from my balcony.  You were going out in the ocean the weekend you got here.  I was curious and a little worried considering it was raining and I’d pulled you from the water the day before,” he continued, rubbing my hand and watching me as he spoke. “I saw the turtles.  I could tell they recognized you.”  At least I didn’t do anything too embarrassing that day.  Maybe since he seemed to know everything about me, he could clear something up for me.

“Phoebe thinks
I have an affinity for sea turtles.”

“She’s right.  The turtles could
sense that you were nearby, so they came to say hey.”

             
“When I touched one of them I could see into his mind.  It was wild.”

             
“It’s different for everyone, but my affinity is like that too.  I can see into their mind and feel what they feel.”  I completely forgot he would have an affinity too.

             
“Which animal do you have an affinity for?”  Visions of dolphins or seals came to mind, but that didn’t seem right.

             
“Are you sure you want to know the answer to that?” No.

             
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” I cracked a smile.

             
“They aren’t as…likeable as sea turtles.” Of course not.

             
“How bad could it be?  There aren’t that many scary things in the ocean.  Except for electric eels.  Or jelly fish.  Or sharks – they can rip you apart just for fun.”  He smiled again and nodded his head.  My eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped.

             
“Sharks?!” I gaped at him. “You have to be kidding me.  Of all the creatures in the ocean, you have an affinity for sharks.”  I shook my head disbelieving.  A mental picture of Finn swimming with a great white shark popped in my head. 

             
“They aren’t all bad, just misunderstood.” he defended his affinity.

             
“You can’t convince me they aren’t scary as hell.  I saw Jaws.”

He laughed
at me, “So does that mean you don’t want to go swim with them?”

“Uh, I’d like to keep
all of my body parts.  And my life.  But thanks for the invite.” Sharks?  Unbelievable.  But, I had to admit they were a perfect match; sleek, silent, and deadly.  He kicked off his shoes and turned to me.

“Move
over,” he instructed.

“Excuse me
?”

“How can I lay down if you’re taking up the whole bed?”

“Who says you’re getting in my bed?”

“I’
ll be good, I promise.” He grinned, but I wasn’t sure if I believed him. “It’ll make me feel better if I can be close to you and make sure you’re alright.”  He batted his dark blue eyes at me.  The thought of Finn in my bed made me all jittery.  I just wished I wasn’t black and blue with a headache the size of Alaska.  He pulled off his shirt in one quick motion and I almost passed out at the sight of his bare chest in the candlelight. I picked my chin up off the floor and pulled back the covers.  He slid underneath them and I snuggled up next to him, resting my head on his bare shoulder.  I closed my eyes and breathed in his intoxicating scent.  The heat coming off of his body wrapped around me and had me moving closer.  His bronzed skin felt like silk, but the taught muscles beneath it made me want to touch every part of him.  

“Kira came by
to see you earlier.  She didn’t wake you up, but she whispered to you how sorry she was for not being closer when it happened.  She really cares about you.”  My vision came crashing back to me.

“I had a vision
that Kira was kidnapped when I blacked out.”

“I know.”

“You do?” I looked up at him in surprise.

“I heard your roommates talking about it earlier.”

“It’s not the first one I’ve had.”  I told him and hoped he believed me.  I knew they weren’t dreams or reveries.  They were different.  I just didn’t know how to explain it.

“I know that too
.”

“So
, I do have foresight.”

“Of course you do.”
  It felt so good to have someone validate me, I wanted to hug him.

“Nobody else will believe me.”

“It’s just hard for them to accept.  It’s an extremely rare ability,” he smiled down at me.

I prop
ped myself up on my elbow. “Okay.  How do you know so much about me?  You knew I could breathe underwater and I’m pretty sure you’ve known I had foresight for a while too.”

“I
can’t tell you.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Can’t,” his eyes pleaded with me, “but you can trust me, Stasia.  I promise.”  I was too tired to argue.  I sighed and lay my head back down on his shoulder.

“Is there anything else you know about me that I should be aware of?”
Maybe he could tell me about any other random abilities that were going to show themselves soon.

“How beautiful you are?”
  He looked down at me adoringly.  If he thinks I’m beautiful right now, he might need his eyes checked.

“That’s old news
,” I snickered at him and pain shot through my head again, “Ow.”

“That’s what you get.” He leaned down and kissed
my forehead.  My bedroom door opened.

“Stasia!  Y
ou’re awake!” I immediately glanced over at Finn who had promptly disappeared.  It was going to take a while to get used to that.

“Hey Willow
!” I was happy to see her, but a little distracted knowing Finn was somewhere in here without her knowledge.  I felt like I should let her know.  She came and sat beside me on the bed.

“I’m about to
go to bed, but I wanted to come in and do a little magic on you.  I didn’t want to do it until you were awake, so you wouldn’t freak out when you woke up completely healed.  I did that to someone else.  It wasn’t pretty.” She wiggled her fingers.  “Now lay back and enjoy.”

“I have to admit
, having a healer as one of my best friends is pretty awesome.” I’d honestly never had best friends before, but if I had to choose three to have in my life, it would be my roommates.   They meant the world to me.  I closed my eyes as I felt her hands cover my head.  At the first touch, the knot on my head screamed, but then all I felt was tingling. I could actually discern the pain being taken from my head and neck, replaced by a slight numbness.  She lifted her hands. 

“Better?”

“Much.” I smiled up at her, suddenly lethargic.  I felt like I’d just had a two hour massage in two minutes.

“
Your body still needs to heal and regenerate its cells so don’t get any ideas about getting out of bed.  Or going to classes tomorrow.  Kira’s already talked to your teachers.”

“That all sounds good except
for one thing.  My stomach is eating my gall bladder as we speak.”

She laughed
at me, “I thought you might be hungry.” She left and returned carrying a plate overflowing with pasta. “Its baked ziti and it’s hot, so give it a little time to cool down.”

“You rock.” I close
d my eyes, exhaustion washing over me.

“Sleep good and yell if
you need something.” She squeezed my hand, and then shut the door behind her.  The baked ziti on my night stand was the best thing I’d seen all day (except for the definition of perfection laying beside me) and my stomach growled at the delicious aroma.  Before I could even reach for the plate, the fork lifted on its own and dug into the cheesy pasta.  Finn reappeared just as he took a big bite.

“Hey!  That’s mine!” I grab
bed the fork from him.  He licked his lips and made a big production of swallowing, then crawled back under the covers with me. I devoured the rest of it like I hadn’t eaten in years.  With my belly full and Finn’s arms around me, I couldn’t fight off sleep any longer. 

“Sweet dreams Finn
,” I whispered.

“Sweet dreams
, Pasha.”

              A lullaby.  It eased the drums pounding in my head. Not just one voice was singing to me though, it was more of a chorus made up of multiple voices.  My eyes flew open.  It was still dark.  Maybe it wasn’t too late.

             
“Finn! “ I whispered loudly as I shook him. “Finn, wake up!”

             
“Mmm?”

             
“Come on, I have to check on the turtles.”  I shook him one more time and hopped out of bed.  My body felt heavy and sluggish, but it was moving better than it had earlier tonight.  My head still felt like it was stuffed with cotton and my tongue had turned to sandpaper, but I couldn’t ignore the pull of the hatchlings.  I could tell they were…waiting on me.

             
I pulled some sweatpants on over my boy shorts and a t-shirt over my tank top.  The thought of Finn cloaked in my room while my roommates changed my clothes brought heat to my cheeks, but I tried to push the thought away. 

             
“Please tell me the turtles are in the living room,” Finn rubbed his eyes sleepily.

             
“They’re on the beach and it’s time for them to go to the ocean. I need to be there.”  I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living room, then out the door. 

He reluctantly followed
after me. “Damn.  I was really hoping for the living room. Much closer.”

I gave
him a warning look and he grinned innocently at me.  Down on the beach, I ran over to the nest and fell to my knees.  My muscles were screaming and my head hurt, but that was the farthest thing from my mind.  I placed my hands on the sand and felt the familiar electric spark in my fingers.

“
They’re still here!  I didn’t miss it!” Finn sat beside me as excitement pulsed through me.

“Is this where th
e nest is?” He peered at the undisturbed sand with doubt.

“Yep.” I
was thrilled be to sharing this with him, “Just wait.”  I scooted closer to him and rested up against him. 

“
The nests aren’t usually this close to campus,” he surmised.

“These weren’t either until a couple days ago.  We moved them right before the hurricane hit so they’
d be protected by the shield.” I told him about my vision and how we had relocated the eggs.  I started to tell him about Phoebe’s almost-drowning fiasco but the look on his face stopped me.  A mixture of overwhelming pride and astonishment sparkled in his eyes.  Without a word, he reached up and rubbed my cheek.  I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand.  The feel of his lips suddenly on mine created a domino effect of sensations running down my neck, cascading over my body. I felt his arms wrap around me, but all I could think about was how soft his lips were and how they fit with mine so perfectly.  I felt something nudge my leg and looked down.  A smile spread across my face and an unexpected feeling of pure joy filled my heart.

“Hi there
,” I greeted the squirming hatchling.  I picked it up and set it on Finn’s palm, “This is Finn.”  The hatchling tried to scurry back to my hand. “He won’t drop you.  If he does I’ll kick his ass.”

“You shouldn’t use that kind of language around the
baby,” Finn retorted in a parenting voice as I swatted at him. 

“You just concentrate on not
dropping
the baby.” I patted the turtle on the head with my finger.

“They’re so little
,” he said as he marveled at the miniature creature in his palm.  Movement in the sand drew our attention back to the nest and we watched as the rest of the hatchlings made their way out.  Finn returned the hatchling to me and I kissed it gently on the head, before placing him back on the sand with his siblings.  They were frantically crawling over each other and bumping into me. I stood, giving them a straight path to the ocean.  The moon above was almost full and it shone down on the water, lighting the way. Their flippers working overtime; they scooted over the sand as fast as they could.  Even large shells were obstacles for them.  I watched for any hungry crabs or dive bombing birds looking for a snack.  As the first turtle hit the surf, it was hit by a small wave and tumbled over and over.  Pure instinct was the only thing pushing them to endure whatever it took to reach deeper water where they could swim. Watching their struggle, I felt tears spring to my eyes.  Finn embraced me in a hug as they spilled over.

He
rested his cheek on the top of my head and I felt him smile. “They’ll be fine, Stasia.  They know what to do.”  Several hatchlings were swimming on top of the waves before disappearing beneath the surface.  I looked on like a proud mom as each and every one made it safely to the ocean and began their journey out to sea.  I knew the statistics weren’t in their favor, but I felt like I’d done a small part by making sure they found the water safely.

Finn
looked down at me with concern. “It’s time to get you in to bed.”

I
put my hands on my hips and gave him a cynical look, “Oh really.  And you’re going to be the one to get me in to bed?”

He turned
toward me, “That’s an honor I don’t deserve,” his eyes softened and he ran a finger over my lips, “but I’ll spend every minute of the rest of my life trying to earn it.”  What was left of the walls around my heart melted away, collecting in puddle at my feet.

Once we were
back inside of Maren, exhaustion made it hard to keep my eyes open.  I leaned up against the sink in the bathroom and took inventory of my reflection.  Surprisingly, I didn’t look as bad as I felt.  My hair was a complete disaster, but the rest of me had fared pretty well.  I had a feeling Willow’s magical hands had everything to do with that.  I tried to stand upright, but my legs gave out and I grabbed the counter for support.  The bathroom door cracked open.

“You okay in there?”

“At the moment my bed seems really far away.” I heard him chuckle as he came in to the bathroom.  He gently carried me back in the bedroom and laid me down on the bed. 

“You’re staying aren’t you?” I
looked up at him through droopy eyelids. 

“Of
course,” he smiled and kissed my forehead, then slid beneath the covers.  In the safety of his arms, the entire world could blow up around me and I’d never know the difference. 

“Good
,” I smiled, closing my eyes and immediately giving in to sleep.

~Ӂ~

The following morning, I found a pink hibiscus flower in Finn’s place.  I plucked it from the sheet and smiled to myself.   Finn actually slept in my room last night.  In my bed.  I had slept like a baby wrapped in the shelter of his arms.  I rubbed my head and besides some tender skin, it was completely healed.  Speaking of blacking out, I still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Kira and warn her.  I picked up my phone hoping she was awake.

“Hello?”

“Hey Kira.”

“Hey
Stasia!  How’re you feeling?”

“Much better thanks to Willow.  I’m still a little sore, but for the most part, I
’m better.”

“That’s good to hear.  You didn’t look too good when I came by to see you last night
.”

“I heard you came by.  Did my roommates tell you about my vision?”
I had a feeling she wouldn’t believe me either.  I was right.

“They said you had a vision of me being kidnapped?
” She sounded skeptical, “If that’s true, that would mean you have foresight.  No descendent that I know of has ever been gifted with that ability.”

“No
descendant has ever had my trace either, but it’s right here on my arm.  I know I saw you get kidnapped.  It was awful!  Isadora dragged you in to a house-“

“Isadora?
” she sighed, “Stasia, why would she do something like that?”

“I don’t know, but it’s what I
saw.  I know it was real!” I said exasperated.

“I
t was just a dream.  I’m completely fine!  Nothing’s going to happen.”

“You don’t know that!  I
know what I saw, Kira.”

“I’ll be fine I promise.” 

“But Kira-“

“I have to go, but I’ll call you later to check on you, okay?”

“But-”

“Get some rest and promise me you won’t worry about me.”

“Okay.” I resigned myself to the fact that she wasn’t going to believe me.

“Promise me.”

“Okay, I promise.” Unfortunately I’m getting pretty good at lying.  I grabbed my IPod and put in my ear buds to drown out the world.  How was I going to keep her safe if she didn’t believe me?  I know what I saw, and Finn even confirmed that they were visions.  I was right about the hatchlings, and I knew I was right about Nicolet being murdered and Kira being kidnapped. I just didn’t know how I was going to make anyone else see that. 

~Ӂ~

“Time to wake up!” Carmen was suddenly on top of my bed. “Are you ready for Extreme Makeover: Stasia Edition?”

Saturday arrived
quicker than I thought it would and I couldn’t believe I was going to an actual Ball that night.  It seemed surreal.  Thursday went by in a blur since I had slept most of the day and Friday was spent trying to catch up on what I’d missed during the last two days of classes. Of course word had gotten around campus that I had blacked out, had a seizure, and suffered from hallucinations. There was nothing like embellished rumors to boost your self-esteem. Whispers and wide eyed looks followed me wherever I went.  My plan to blend in was coming along nicely.

“I don’t need an extreme makeover.  I’m fine just the way I
am,” I grumbled at her.  I started to pull the covers over my head but she seized them first.

“You promised,
” she pouted dramatically. “Are you going to deprive me of my dream?”

“If your dream is to give me a makeover,
we need to find you a new one.”

“You’
re just my first client.  Soon people will be knocking down my door wanting my services.”

“Right now I need your serv
ice in the kitchen,” Willow peeked her head in the door and smiled at me, “Morning.”

“A true artist’s work is never done.” Carmen
sighed tragically and tossed my comforter completely off my bed. “Now get up before I send in reinforcements.” She stopped at the door, “And by reinforcements, I mean Phoebe.  She was so batty when she woke up, I had to sedate her.  And the beast is beginning to stir.” She flashed me a smile and disappeared.

With
Carmen doing our hair and makeup, Willow had demanded to oversee her work to make sure she didn’t go too far.  I was secretly glad.  I still wanted to look like myself when she was done, just a prettier version.  It was tradition for all of the girls to travel to the light station on the Son’s yacht, where they were escorted in to the Ball by their dates.  I’d been contemplating how we would get from the boat to the top of the light station.  I didn’t get a good look, but I didn’t see any elevators the last time I was there.  If I was expected to climb ten flights of stairs, I wanted to know ahead of time so I could bring some tennis shoes and a tank of oxygen.  The boat was leaving promptly at 9:00pm and rumor had it there was a meteor shower at midnight.  It sounded like the stage was set for a magical night.  My stomach squeezed with nervousness.