Mark of the Seer (16 page)

A few minutes later I was pulling up to my house. The rain stopped as soon as I got out of my rust bucket, the glow of the moon lighting a path for me to follow to my house. I ran quickly to my porch, slipping on the wet steps and falling down. I bit back tears as I tried to get the key in the deadbolt. A curse slipped from my lips as I tried to steady my hand long enough to get the key into the lock.

Eventually I got the key in the lock, opened the door, slammed it shut behind me, and threw the deadbolt. Then I made my way through the house, turning all the lights on. Also I checked and double checked the window locks, and closed all the curtains and blinds.

Running upstairs to my bedroom I locked the door and threw myself inside my closet, hunkering down in the corner. My hand found my hidden bottle of vodka. I unscrewed the top and slung the bottle back, taking three huge gulps. Closing my eyes I tried to clear my head but I couldn't because my mind was in overdrive mode. All I could see behind my eyelids was the demons shiny tar-colored eyes, and all I could hear was their unrelenting voices of evil barking over and over again.

I stared out into the dark recesses of the closet, feeling the total unbalance of my life crash all around me. I took another sip of vodka in hopes that the clear fluid would ease the momentum of my revolving thoughts. Taking slow deep breaths my heart finally ceased its rapid beating. My skin was still cold, raised gooseflesh coating every inch of my chilled body. The tears I had been holding in spilled over my eyelids, plunging down my cheeks.

Everything in my life was just so screwed-up, a big pile of chaotic nonsense that continued to drag me further and further down insanity road. What normal teenage girl can see and speak to an angel, and be attacked by demonic beings that smelled like road kill. I mean s
eriously
? This was all too disturbing.

I stopped my blubbering when a noise from downstairs caught my attention—the sound of the front door opening and closing. I cowered even deeper into my closet as the sound of footsteps started up the stairs. I whimpered, clamping my hand tightly over my mouth. The doorknob to my bedroom began rattling as someone tried to open it. I gritted my teeth and pinched my eyes closed as ice-cold fear slithered down my spine.

“Clarity, are ya in there?”

Extreme relief rushed into me, sending much needed repose to my wound-up brain. Getting up out of the darkness of my closet I ran to the door and unlocked it. Opening the door I threw myself at A.C., hugging her with all my might.

“Whoa!” she cried out, surprised. “What's up with you? Your hair is all wet and you're friggin' cold! And why the heck are all the lights on?” She leaned back, regarding me with concerned eyes.

“I...um...”

I gasped out loud when I saw Sam standing directly behind her.

A.C. jumped. “What? What is it?” she hedged, taking a look behind her. Of course she couldn't see Sam standing there because she couldn't see angels—I was the only one in this town that, for some odd reason, saw angels, demons, and tattoos of crosses, wings, and crowns that sometimes glowed red or green.

Man, I'm totally going cuckoo.

A.C. squeezed my arm. “Honey, I'm worried about you. You look like you've seen a ghost or somethin'.”

No, A.C., more like an angel
.

Sam grinned mischievously, lifting a finger to his lips.

“Shhh,” he said.

Looking at A.C. I said, “I'm fine.”

She raised her eyebrows skeptically. “Ya sure?” I nodded. “Okay. Now then, tell me why all the lights are on and why you had yourself locked in your room.” She walked passed me, suspiciously looking around my room.

I turned around to follow her and almost screamed.

Sam was now lying down on my bed with his fingers laced behind his head and his eyes shut. I stared at him dubiously, my mouth wide open. A.C. snapped her fingers in front of my face to seize my attention. She glared at me angrily.

“Have you been drinkin', Clarity Elise Miller?”

“No!” I exclaimed, maybe a little too fast because she shot me her trademark “whatever” look. Racking my brain I tried furiously to come up with a semi-believable story. Oh, how I wished Kora had been with me! She was the world’s greatest liar.

“The reason all the lights are on is because, uh...when I was driving home tonight I thought I saw someone following me.” I snatched a quick glance at Sam and wished I hadn't, because his mouth had formed into a silent laugh. Wanting so much to walk over and punch the smile right off his face I found, to my shock, my own lips forming a smile.

“I think I was being paranoid,” I continued, shrugging. “I overreacted.” I knew it was a very, very weak lie, but from A.C.'s expression, I knew right away that luck was on my side. For once.

“Oh, wow!” she declared, her eyes bugging out in horror. “I bet you were scared to death!” She pulled me into a bear hug.

“Yeah, I'm OK now,” I assured her, pulling away. That's when I took in her formal attire. “Whoa! Why ya so dressed up?” I was stunned to see her wearing a strapless red dress, lots of make-up, and her hair freshly highlighted and put up in a French twist. Compared to her usual ponytail and scrubs she looked altogether a different person.

“Oh,” she said, her cheeks flushing. “I'm meetin' Doug at this fancy restaurant just outside of town. I was five minutes down the road when I realized I'd left my purse.” She paused, shaking her red clutch. “So, naturally as I drove up our driveway I was a little weirded out by the house being ablaze with lights.”

“Of course you were!” I told her brightly. “But I'm done with my little freak out now so you can go meet Dougie-Doug, and I'll turn off all the lights and get ready for bed.” I gently pushed her out of my room, eager to get her out of the house. Sam seemed content to just be resting on my bed—wait, did angels even need rest?

She grinned. “Thanks, girlie-girl. Don't wait up!” She started to go downstairs but stopped, glancing back at me.

“Are ya positive you're OK?”

No, no I'm not.
“Yeah, sure,” I lied, forcing a smile.

“All right then. See ya tomorrow or the next day!”

“OK. See ya.”
Yeah, about a week from now.
We rarely saw each other since school had started. The only times we spoke was when I was leaving for school and she was getting in from work.

As soon as A.C., left I hurriedly went in every room and turned off the lights. The only light that blazed now was in my bedroom. My thoughts rolled over one another in a disjointed chaos as I mentally took inventory of the nights events. Questions swirled in my head, questions that hopefully Sam would or could answer.

What happened after I left?

What was that powerful light that came out of you?

Did you kill Lukus?

Did you kill them all?

Just how do those wings fit inside ya?

Seriously—those things are gigantic!

Even with questions clouding my mind, they all vanished when I walked into my bedroom, thoughts disappearing into the deepest, darkest void in my brain. I closed my door and leaned back against it, taking in the heavenly being laying on my bed with his blue eyes closed. He looked so peaceful lounging on my bed, his features soft and relaxed on his flawless pale face. Though he was wearing very mundane clothes, any human could tell there was something about him that was extra special. His beauty was simply angelic.

“You're not a very good liar,” he murmured, his soft voice causing me to shudder. He opened his eyes, appearing amused.

I cleared my suddenly dry throat. “That's a good thing, right?”

He grinned.

Slowly I walked over to my bed, lowering myself onto its corner. His eyes stared unblinkingly at me as I tried to sort out the storm that was raging in my soul. My eyes scanned over him, searching for anything that would suggest that he was hurt from fighting the demons, but I found nothing. The only change I could find was his normally bright blue eyes were dulled down tremendously, and dark circles were hovering under his eyelids.

My brain still could not comprehend that I was in the presence of an angel; my angel. Even after all that I had been through, I still could not grasp the perception that angels and demons were at war with each other, battling over souls. The reality of it all, though, was that heaven and hell were real, and my angel was laying on my bed talking to me. My
angel
.

An angel that had just saved my life.

“So. Do you believe now?” He stared at me with seriousness.

I nodded. “Oh yeah.”

Relief shadowed over him. “Good.”

“Did you get hurt?” I blurted out, biting down hard on my bottom lip.

“No”, he answered smoothly, sounding a bit exhausted. “Only drained.”

I grimaced, pushing back tears that were stinging the back of my throat.

“I'm sorry.”

“For what?” he questioned, his eyebrows raising.

“It's my fault,” I specified in a whisper. “You're drained because of me.”

He sighed, shaking is head. “I already told you—I'm your guardian. You are my job, and if I get drained for protecting you, then so be it—you're worth it.” He looked at me with so much devotion that I almost burst out in tears.

“How can you even feel that way about me? I've been such a hard a—”

“Stop, Clarity,” he interposed with such a firm authority, I immediately shut my mouth. He sat up, reaching out and taking my hand, giving it a squeeze. “It takes time to truly understand what's happening to you.”

I felt a tear slip down my cheek, and he softly wiped it away with his thumb.

I glanced at him through tear-filled eyes. “What's happening to me?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you ready to listen?”

“Yeah, but I've got loads of questions.”

He observed me, a look of eagerness covering his features.

“OK,” he breathed out. “We'll work together on this.” He grinned. “First things first—let's talk about your hands.”

Chapter Twelve

“What do they mean, Sam?” I asked urgently. “Why do I have tattoos on my hands?”

His eyes fell to my hands. He flipped them over, lovingly stroking the crosses. I winced at the sight of them.

“They are not tattoos,” he answered in a bare whisper, his eyes still admiring them. “They are marks, marks that have appeared on millions since the fall.”

“Why do I have them?” I asked again.

His gaze eventually drifted back to me. “They are the marks of the Seer. You are a Seer, Clarity.”

I stared at him in paralyzed shock. “That's what Lukus called me! But I...I don't...”

I was totally floored and speechless. His proclamation had hit me like a thunderbolt falling from the sky, striking me and then leaving me numb from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

Seer
. Lukus' voice echoed in my head—the demons had called me a Seer. The problem was that I had no idea what a Seer was.

As if reading my mind, Sam leaned closer to me, just inches away from my face, his eyes burning with fired-up serenity. The smell of lavender circulated around us with a calming intoxication of pure love.

“You can see into the spirit realm. Not only can you see what's in front of you, but you can also see what other humans cannot. As your gift matures you'll be able to fight the forces of the wicked alongside me.”

“How is this even possible?” I challenged. “Out of all the billions of people on the planet, why am I the only one who can see supernatural...
things
?”

“You're not the only one,” he confessed. “In Garlandton you are, but not the only one in the world.”

I looked at him, blatantly puzzled. My head pounded as I tried to grasp his words that sounded like they were blended together in a glass of absolute disarray. I was still trying to wrap my mind around angels and demons existing, and to add Seer to the whole mix was just plain irritating.

“What does
Ra'ah
and
Chozeh
mean?” I inquired, knowing very well I was butchering the pronunciations of the strange sounding words. The way they came out of my mouth didn't sound at all like how the demons had sounded.

Sam chose not to point out my brutal massacre of the words. “Those are just other ways to say Seer.
Ra'ah
basically means that you are able to see.
Chozeh
means that you're an observer of visions.”

“Visions?”

He nodded. “Most visions come to you through dreams, but sometimes they can happen while you're wide awake. Being a Seer you may be able to see something that will happen years down the road, or you will be able to see something just moments before they happen.”

Stupefied I asked, “I'll be able to see the future? How crazy is that!”

“No, no, no,” he replied ruefully. “Don't get your gift from above confused with fortune telling—those are two very different subjects. Your visions will come directly from the Father, whenever and wherever you are.”