Mark of the Seer (23 page)

“Satan is the father of lies,” he told me gently, adding, “He fights dirty. Don't feel bad for falling into their hands. As your powers grow, you will be able to see and feel the difference, determine fact from fiction. One day soon you will see the picture in a clear manner.”

Shaking my head, I pulled my hands from his grasp and took a few steps away from him. “I don't want this,” I confessed.

He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

It all came out in a rush. “I mean earlier, I was happy. So happy thinkin' I'd helped Daria. I felt so good about myself! But this, tonight, has made me realize that I'm not strong enough. I'll never be strong enough. This life with angels and demons, feeling fear, terror, worry, no sleep.” I swallowed down a sob. “I don't want this life. I want to go back to the way it was before. Going to parties, hanging out with friends, dates with Brenton. Don't ya see? I wanna go back to bein' clueless! I'm not cut out for this!”

“Clarity, your
are
strong.” He reached for me but I put my hands up and backed away.

“No, I'm not.”

“Clarity, I—”

“Stay away from me. I don't want to see you again.”

He looked as if I had smacked him in the face. Dropping his hands, he shook his head and closed his eyes. Then he disappeared.

Staring at the place he had just stood, I broke down, tears pouring down my face. What had I just done? I had just told my guardian angel to basically get lost. Is that what I really wanted?

Walking back to the movie theater, I spotted Kora and Janey in deep conversation. When they saw me, they ran to me.

“Where the heck have you been?” Kora demanded.

“Sorry,” I told them quietly. “I just needed some air is all.” Thankfully they believed me, not questioning me any farther. We decided to get some ice cream before heading home.

Making our way to Granny Mae's, I could not help but feel empty inside, like there was a hole in my heart where Sam was suppose to be. I was not sure if I had done the right thing but I'd already made up my mind.

That day had made me realize that whatever life threw at me, that whatever happens in the future, there was absolutely no
way
I would be a Seer. I wanted to be clueless once again, be in the dark. I didn't want to think about heaven or hell, good or evil, God or Satan. I just wanted to be free from it all.

That was the day I decided I would never succumb to my Seer abilities.

Chapter Seventeen

Excited voices sounded throughout the halls of Garlandton High the whole week before the Thanksgiving dance. Girls were buzzing about hair appointments and manicures, while guys were trying to figure out the best way to impress their dates. Posters adorned the walls announcing the date and time of, in my opinion, the lamest of all dances.

Discussions on where to have the after party was now the topic of the hour on this Friday. Most likely the top dogs of school would choose either an abandoned house or barn to party in, whatever they thought would be most private. Alcohol and pot would be among the party favors, and old couches would be available for those who were hoping to get lucky.

Yes, a magical fun-filled evening where every teen’s dream would hopefully come true. All I was hoping for was a normal night with my friends. It had been a week since I had seen a demon—a week since I had seen an angel. My angel.

Sam.

Slamming my locker shut I told myself not to think about Sam. He was gone. I had told him to go away; I had told him to leave me alone. That was what I had wanted. He knew where we stood—no way was I going to be a Seer; so what was the point of him hanging around?

So six days pass and no sign of anything supernatural. I was getting exactly what I wanted. My life was going back to the way it was before, back to when I was a clueless, carefree teenager who knew nothing about the invisible world around me. My mind was cleared from the faces of hideous demons and the beautiful faces of glorious angels.

Only that wasn't reality.

The truth was I knew about the invisible world around me. The truth was I knew about hideous demons that lurked in the darkness, waiting to devour the souls of the lost. The truth was I knew there were glorious angels watching over mankind, ready to battle the evil forces of the dark.

The truth of the matter was that I knew too much. I would never be free of the images in my head and the knowledge I had earned. There was no going back—and that totally ticked me off.

Walking to my car after school I felt more weighed down than ever, and the hole in my heart ached with a loneliness so profound that only a celestial being could cure.

* * * *

“Boo,” a voice whispered in my ear.

I let out a gasp of surprise, dropping the cans of green beans I was busy stocking onto the floor.

“Brenton!” I shrieked, punching his arm. “You scared the crap outta me!”

Laughing, he grabbed me by the waist.

“Sorry, sorry, I was just tryin' to surprise ya.”

Relaxing, I gave him a crooked grin. “Well, you did a good job of it. You also caused me to dent these cans.”

He bent over and picked up the cans, shooting me a curious look.

“Since when do you stock shelves?”

“Since Casey decided to skip work,” I answered, rolling my eyes. “He told Mr. Baker that he had
urgent business
to take care of.”

“And Janey?”

“Janey didn't answer the phone when Mr. Baker called her to come in.” I pushed wild strays of hair behind my ears. “I've been alone all night, which is fine—we haven't been busy anyway.”

“You should have called me,” he said. “I would've came right over and helped ya out.”

“
You
needed to work at the garage tonight,” I scolded, wrapping my arms around him. “Besides, I'm pretty sure you'd have been a distraction.” I kissed his chin, and in return I got his dimpled smile.

“I've gotta surprise for you,” he announced unexpectedly, reaching into his back pocket.

“What is it? What is it?” I asked eagerly.

He grinned coyly. “Hold out your hands and close your eyes.” I did what he said, grinning from ear-to-ear. Something light weight and square rested against my skin.

“Open your eyes,” he whispered.

Opening my eyes I was shocked to see a small black jewelry box occupying my hands. My heart skipped a beat and my legs turned to Jell-O. What was it? Immediately I was afraid to open it, afraid of what was in it.

Please oh, please don't be an engagement ring!

Not that getting engaged to Brenton was a bad thing, it was just that I wasn't ready yet. Plus getting engaged in Baker's Supermarket was absolutely not the way I'd imagined that special moment.

“What are ya waitin' for?” he asked, breaching into my thoughts. “Open it.”

With shaky hands I lifted the top—and blew a sigh of relief. What I had thought was in the box was,
thankfully,
not in the box.

Lifting the dainty gold chain from the box, I stared in awe. A beautiful golden sunflower pendant dangled from the chain. It was simply the most amazing piece of jewelry I had ever laid eyes on, not just because it was my favorite flower, but because it was from the most important person in my world.

“Oh Brenton, it's...it's...” Momentarily speechless, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

When we broke apart he asked, “So, ya like it?”

I nodded, still admiring it. “You did good, Sparks. You did good.” Now I'll admit I'm not a big jewelry wearer. To me, stuff like that is just a waste of hard-earned money. However, I would treasure this piece of jewelry because it was from Brenton. I was sure he'd worked real hard to pay for it.

“I was thinkin', ya know, if you didn't already have something, you might could wear it tomorrow night.”

“It will go perfect with my dress!” I exclaimed.

A look of pure satisfaction conquered his handsome face. “Great. I take it you are ready for tomorrow night?”

“Are ya kiddin'?” I replied with mock sarcasm. “I've been waiting my whole life to go to a school dance decked out with paper mache turkeys, streamers, and spiked punch!”

Picking up on my witty satire he rolled his eyes. “Clare—”

“It's just a dance,” I interposed, shaking my head.

“It's more than just a dance,” he said, his tone turning serious. “It's our first dance.”

“So?”

He shrugged. “It's special.”

I laughed. “Brenton, there's a whole list of first things that totally suck. What if tomorrow night is one of them?”

He grinned. “Yeah, OK, I know it's lame, but could you be a little more excited—for me?” He flashed his trademark puppy dog eyes that always turned my insides to mush.

I sighed. “Fine. I'll get real excited...for you.”

“Thanks!” he expressed, kissing my cheek. “Oh, gotta jet. I'll be at your house around five-thirty tomorrow.”

“Five-thirty?” I questioned. “Why so early? The dance don't start until seven-thirty.”

“It's a surprise,” he told me with a wink, and then he walked out the doors.

Laughing and shaking my head, I placed the necklace into the front pocket of my work smock. With a sigh, I started stocking the shelves once again, bored out of my mind. The dull music that Mr. Baker tortured everyone with had turned off, so the only sounds that could be heard were the clink of cans hitting the shelves and the hums of the freezers.

All was quiet until a voice cut into the silence—a voice that wasn't Brenton.

“That was so touching.”

Startled, I dropped another can onto the floor for the second time that night. Turning around, I saw Nick standing at the end of the aisle, hands in his pockets. He was staring at me with dark, vacant eyes. The last time I'd seen him was the night I went to the movies with Kora and Janey, almost a week ago. Thinking on that night caused shivers to flow down my spine.

“Nick, where did you come from?” I glared at him as I inwardly racked my brain, trying to remember whether or not someone walked in during my conversation with Brenton. “How long have you been here?”

Totally ignoring my questions he said, “Must be nice to be going to a dance with someone you love. Someone who means everything to you and someone that you would do anything to be with.” His tone was flat and soft, very unusual for him. He was wearing all black clothes, which was also weird, considering he always dressed in preppy designer labels.

“Nick, I'm really busy here,” I told him. “What do ya want?”

Something about the way he was looking at me caused my heart to thump madly in my chest from a fear deep inside me. His face was the palest I had ever seen, and his eyes had darkened to almost black, with dark circles underneath them.

He continued his strange jabbering.

“Taking that special someone you love to a fancy restaurant, filling a limo with rose petals and a bottle of wine. Taking pictures so the folks will remember the special night. Dancing with friends and dancing some more at an after party—”

“Nick, really,” I interrupted, hoping to completely stop the conversation. “I've got so—”

“Then when the after party is over,” he continued on, “you take the one you love to your house and up to your bedroom where you make all their dreams come true.” He paused, narrowing his eyes at me. “Truly a night to remember.”

Suddenly my hands began to tingle. Looking down at them I'm relieved to see that they are not glowing. I was not in any danger. Still, why the tingle?

“Are you OK?” I questioned, regarding him with suspicious eyes. “Have ya been drinkin'?”

He gawked at me, like I had offended him. “No! I stopped drinking a month ago—hey, you think Kora would be happy about that? That Davis guy don't drink, so I figured if I stopped then she'd dump him and take me back.” He waited for me to answer, a thirsty expression clearly evident on his face.

I stared at him wordlessly, not believing that he was still carrying a torch for Kora. I also knew that I had better not push his buttons, especially since demons had recently surrounded him.

Even though I had decided to turn my back on being a Seer, I could not turn my back on my cognition. I still had information that real evil,
supernatural
evil, existed in our world.

Swallowing my heart that had jumped into my throat, I forced a smile.

“That's great that you stopped drinkin'. You...you should be proud of yourself.”

For a second I saw a flicker of hope in his eyes, but then it quickly faded back into deep sadness. He sneered, shaking his head at me.

“Princess, you are such a bad liar.”

Not knowing what to do or say, I watched as he walked quickly away from me and out the front doors, the bell clanging loudly. Confusion matted thickly across my brain.

Why was Nick still stuck on Kora? He had moved on to Daria, who had already dumped him. Anyway, why would Kora care that he had quit his drinking? She had moved on to Kevin, who was the exact opposite of Nick. Plus, she was the happiest I had seen her in a long time.