Masquerade (47 page)

Sam reached
out.
Let me know how it
goes.

You’ll be the first.
I prayed that this wasn’t going to be a scene. I
prayed that maybe she was just here to make sure I was okay after
the car accident.

Gran was at the kitchen sink rinsing
some baking potatoes. She turned when Mom and I walked through the
door. “Hello, Madeline. Heven, how was school?” The dominant parts
of blue and green in her aura were muffled by a burst of brown.
Clearly, she knew this meeting would not go well.

“
Fine, thanks,” I answered,
as Mom turned to face me.

“
You
are still seeing that boy!” Colors in purple, turquoise and
orange floated around her – but mixed with those vibrant colors was
an ugly one – a mustard shade with tinges of brown. The colors of
worry and anger.

“
Yes.” I crossed my arms
over my chest.

“
You kissed him,” she
practically hissed.

“
I love him.”

She stared at me for long moments.
“Your scar is gone.”

“
I thought Gran told
you.”

She nodded. “But to see…”

“
Guess I’m not as evil as
you thought.”

Her eyes
flashed with pain but then it was gone. “I wanted
to come see you as soon as Gran called me about your accident,
but…” her aura flashed with a mustard color and a strong pink
shade. Worry and love.

But you felt too guilty
maybe? I left your house upset and got into an
accident
. The words were on my lips, but I
didn’t say them. It wasn’t her fault, it was China’s. “I don’t
blame you, Mom.”

“
You don’t?”

“
It was an
accident.”

“
I would never want you to
get hurt.”

“
I know.” It was written
all over her aura. I knew she loved me. It was
something.

“
About that
boy…”

“
Sam is in my life, Mom.
For good. I will not stop seeing him.”

“
Don’t you take that tone
with me, young lady. You’ll move back home.”

A potato hit the sink with a thud. I
felt exhausted. I just wanted to be alone. To not have to see
colors swimming around everyone I looked at. Mom wasn’t going to
change her mind about me. She could force me to go to church, to
camp, or back home, but she couldn’t take away Sam.

“
You can make me move
home,” I said, going for the door leading to the living room, “but
it won’t change anything. This is me, Mom.” I turned to Gran,
“Would you please call me when dinner is ready? I’m going to my
room. I want to take a nap.”

Gran turned to look directly at me.
Respect shone in her eyes. “I’ll call you.”

I didn’t bother looking back at my
mother. I’d said all I had to say.

The barn was quiet, and to
my great relief I couldn’t see the auras of the horses. Actually
I’d learned that I couldn’t see the aura of any animal. I puzzled
over why I wasn’t able to see Sam’s, bec
ause he isn’t what I would classify as an animal. Sam is
human, he was born to two parents, and he is a child of God. Yet I
couldn’t see his aura…the best I could come up with was that it had
something to do with the extra chromosome that he had and that it
somehow threw off his energy.

I took my time currying Jasper,
relishing the fact that it was Friday. Finally. The whole weekend
stretched before me, and I didn’t have to go out and deal with
anyone.

How is work?
I asked Sam, smiling.

Boring. No one wants to
work out on a Friday night.

See you soon. Love
you.

I can’t wait. Love you
too.

I led Jasper
out of the barn and hoisted myself up onto his
saddle. I looked forward to a long, relaxing ride beneath the trees
and amongst the spring air. The trail was exactly as I thought it
would be. I rode for a long time, feeling the week’s tension seep
out of me. School would be out next week, and I couldn’t be
happier. My eyes finally adjusted to my aura ability, and I had no
more eye sensitivity and no more headaches. There was still no sign
of any other abilities, but I was okay with that. I liked the idea
of getting used to this one first before another was sprung on me.
Hopefully, I would be able to enjoy a fun, stalker-free summer with
Sam and my friends
.

I was heading back toward the barn
when Jasper stiffened, his ears going flat. A moment of panic
rolled through me, but I breathed through it, looking around for
anything that might have spooked him.

Out of the corner of my eye there was
movement. I turned toward it, and a streak of black dove behind the
trees. I laughed.

“
Did they let you leave
early?”

Sam peaked out from behind a tree.
Jasper danced. “Easy, boy.” I felt a moment of hesitation at
Jasper’s uneasiness. He was usually much more comfortable around
Sam these days.

Want to race to the
barn?
I asked him, gathering the reigns
and readying myself to urge Jasper forward.

What?

I see you, silly. Want to
race?

Where are you?
There was a feeling of stillness that washed over
me with his words.

Right in front of you,
silly.

Are you alone?

Panic assailed me, and I
realized that I was getting an example of how Sam’s feelings could
bleed to me in intense circumstances from afar.

I’m at work,
Heven.

I looked up to where the
hound had been. It was gone. Crap. Panic pounded through me. It was
China. She was back from wherever she kept disappearing
to
.
There was a
loud thump behind me; Jasper reared up and fled away from where
China stood. I had to grope for his neck just to stay
on.

I dared a glance over my shoulder to
see the hound running after me, bouncing off trees and leaping into
the air. “Run,” I urged Jasper. “Faster!”

Heven!

China’s back.

Get to the barn, lock
yourself in! I’m coming.

There was only one problem.
China was between me and the barn, and Jasper was running as fast
as he could in the wrong direction
.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Heven

She was toying with me.

I knew this because I knew
that she could run faster than Jasper. She could have taken us down
the minute she came upon us, but she didn’t. She simply ran behind,
chasing us, scaring Jasper and scaring me. My heart raced at a
speed I never thought possible, and I struggled to get air into my
lungs. Why was she delaying? Was she so vile that it wasn’t enough
to kill me but she had to torture me before I died? Visions of the
car crash filled my mind and so did flashes of the newly discovered
memories of the attack that left me disfigured. I wanted this
torture to stop; yet, at the same time, I knew I should be
grateful, because the more she played, the longer Sam had to get
here.

Heven? Are you all
right?

She’s still chasing us. I
don’t know how much longer Jasper can run like this.

I’m almost
there.

Hurry.

I was deep into the woods and knew
that we should be nearing water. Grandma owned a lot of property
that backed up to a small lake. I wasn’t familiar with this part of
the property because she didn’t own the lake, and I’d never
ventured this far in. I dared a glance behind me and earned a smack
from a low-lying branch for my effort. I put my hands up trying to
protect myself, but nearly lost my balance. I buried my hands in
Jasper’s mane and bent over him, trying to stay on. If I fell
off…

She’s getting
closer.

Use your
whistle!

Of course! I’d forgotten! I fumbled
beneath my shirt and pulled out the small, silver whistle. With
shaking hands I put it in my mouth and blew as hard as I
could.

I heard nothing.

But the horse sure did. He reared up
and I fell off, hitting the ground and rolling. Pain rocked my
body, but I kept rolling and pushed to my feet. I looked back in
time to see him stomp down right where I fell. I shuddered,
thinking how close I came to having a broken bone and giving China
even more of an advantage.

Heven!

Jasper heard it, too. I
fell off.

Are you hurt?

No.

My legs were shaking as I
tried to quickly calm Jasper. It was no use. I looked around for
China, frightened that, because I was no longer running, she would
decide just to end things now. My anxiety grew the longer I went
without a glimpse of her jet black form – maybe I should be
thankful for the lack of her presence, but I knew how cunning she
was. I couldn’t let my guard down. Just because I couldn’t see her
didn’t mean that she wasn’t there and ready to pounce. I made a
feeble attempt to get back on Jasper, but he wasn’t having it; he
was too upset. After a few tries I gave up trying to mount him, and
instead I got him to turn toward the house
.
I hit him on the rump, hard. He
took off without looking back.

Then I was alone.

China slithered from behind a large
tree.

We stared at each other.

She sank down low and
prepared to jump.

I blew the whistle again
and she dropped down, cringing. Taking advantage of the moment I
looked around for something to use as a weapon. There was nothing I
could use against a large, angry hellhound.

She stood, shaking her
head. I placed the whistle against my lips and she lunged. I blew
it and she fell out of the sky onto the ground. The noise didn’t
appear to hurt her, it just seemed to stun her enough that she
couldn’t think.

Climb a tree!
Sam told me urgently.

Just my luck, there was a tree nearby
that I thought I might be able to hoist up into. I blew the whistle
as I ran toward it, keeping China back. I scrambled up about
halfway. Perched on a teetering branch, I looked down. China was
growling and pacing at the bottom.

I put the whistle back to my
lips.

I’m here.

I let the whistle fall, not wanting to
hurt Sam with it.

I’m up in a
tree.

I can smell you. Stay
put.

China put her big paws up
on the tree and tried to shake it. When that didn’t work she tested
her claws for climbing. My breath caught in my throat as I looked
down in panic. Could she climb this tree?

A streak of black shot out
from behind the tree and came around the side, barreling into her
and knocking her to the ground. The two animals went rolling, and I
bit my lip to keep from screaming. I watched as the two went at
each other again and again. They were so tightly wound together
that I could barely distinguish where one began and the other
ended. It was beyond maddening. The angry howls and snarls that
they were making would echo through my nightmares forever. I
watched as razor sharp teeth gnashed together and white, angry foam
filled their mouths and pooled around their lips. They were
fighting to the death.

I bit back yet another cry
when China sunk her teeth into Sam, and he let out an enraged yowl.
Tears pooled in my eyes and blurred my vision. I swiped them away
and looked for something, anything that I could use to help. I
shouldn’t hide up here like this, I should help – or at least
attempt to help myself and Sam.

My eyes landed on a branch
not far above my head; it was bare, and the leaves hadn’t grown on
it. The branch looked angry and stark against the greenery of the
other branches. The end of it was pointed and sharp, emphasizing
its lack of fitting in amongst the others. I reached for it, my arm
not long enough, and the branch remained out of reach. I let out a
frustrated sound that mixed with the snarling below, and I glanced
down. China was charging Sam, leaping off a tree into mid-air, but
Sam met her half way and sent her body spiraling back and into a
large, mature tree. It shuddered with the force of her hit but it
stood tall and strong. Seeing the way the tree held its ground
inspired me.
Don’t give up.

On trembling knees I
raised myself up to balance of the shaky branch, pausing only long
enough to reach out to steady myself against the tumultuous ledge I
perched on. Then, pushing past my fear, I leaned up and grasped the
dead branch in my hands and pulled. It wouldn’t give. Sure, it
bowed to me. It bent. But it refused to break. I felt it mocking my
weakness.

I heard another scream
below, and I saw China take Sam by surprise and tackle him to the
ground. She lifted her claws and made a motion to slash open his
belly. I screamed and grabbed up my whistle and blew long and hard.
I blew so hard that my lungs seized for air and I felt lightheaded.
China collapsed on the ground next to Sam and neither of them
moved. I took my chance and quickly stood, ignoring the way the
branch bowed and sagged beneath my weight. Then I grabbed that dead
branch – my only available weapon
–
and I yanked as hard as I could.