Me Without You (28 page)

When the three finally reached the
mansion, Jervais pointed out Jervais' car parked carelessly in the
driveway, which was only a few steps from the door.

Jervais stepped out immediate from the
car and ran towards the oak double-door which was slightly open.
The door was still swinging a little as if somebody had just
entered leaving it ajar.

"Jenssen!" Jervais called out and went
inside.

"Jervais, come back!" Jonah shouted.
Fearful that somebody dangerous could be holding Jenssen inside,
Jonah did not go out of the car yet. However, when she saw Hugh was
quick to follow Jervais inside the house, she decided to run after
them than be left alone.

The foyer was in disarray.
Fliers, brochures and pamphlets bearing the name of
Predators Conservation Foundation
were all over the place. And one of Jenssen's red
ballet flat shoes was lying among her other things. Her phone was
also among the other stuff they found. It looked like somebody has
trampled over it.

They heard a door banging closed from
somewhere in the mansion. Jervais started running towards the
staircase to the upper floor.

"Jenssen!" Jervais called out
again.

Hugh went directly towards the kitchen.
Jonah stayed closely behind Hugh. They both stepped out of the
backdoor.

Jonah led the way to the helpers'
quarters. Three, small, one-bedroom villas, lined up. She began
knocking on Mara's door while Hugh continued to knock on the two
remaining doors.

Mara, who was obviously awakened from
her sleep, was still in her pajamas when she opened the
door.

"We had a break in, Mara!" Jonah
announced urgently.

"My goodness!" Mara
exclaimed.

Just then, Jonah noticed the silhouette
of a man moving through the thick bushes towards the trail that
will lead to the woods and to the pond adjoining both the Lively
and Blood mansions.

Without thinking, Jonah chased after
the figure like mad. She ran and ran into the deeper and darker
part of the woods. Until, she realized, she couldn't see anything
anymore aside from the small space she was occupying. It was total
darkness in front of her, behind her and surrounding her. It was so
strange how the place which was so familiar to her during the
daylight was almost transformed into something frightful at night,
and yet it was one and the same place.

A thought suddenly occurred to Jonah.
If the dark figure she was chasing realized she was totally alone
and defenseless, he could backtrack, hunt her down and even kill
her and nobody will know.

Jonah eased sideways and continued to
move away from her original trail. She then stopped and thought if
Hugh had followed her, he won't be able to find her if he lost
track of her path.

She was lost…and there could
be a hunter on the loose.
Jonah reflected.
Fear shot through with the speed and power of a high wattage,
electrifying Jonah to her spot. She could not move. She could not
think of anything else. She could not even scream or cry or tremble
when she was already doing it from the inside.

Then, a hand clamped over Jonah's
mouth.

The Kiss

Jonah screamed or thought she was. She
knew she was screaming. Only she was not hearing her voice. All she
could do was whimper against the hand that clamped over her mouth.
She tried to wriggle free from her captor. But a strong arm had
seized her around her waist to steady her.

"You are creating too much noise,
Jonah!" It was Hugh. He whispered in Jonah's ear. He slowly removed
his hand on her mouth and breathed out heavily. When he saw her
running through the path toward the woods, he couldn't describe how
he felt. There was a mixture of fright and anger convulsing through
his veins. It was like watching someone cross a very busy street
and any moment or any single misstep would lead to being run over.
When Hugh finally got to her and he did not even know how, he felt
so relieved it was so difficult not to cry.

"Hugh!" It was all Jonah could say. She
turned around and placed her arms around Hugh's waist. She buried
her face on his chest and allowed herself to let go of her own
fears and her tears. She felt she had held them back for so long
that when she finally burst out, she was sobbing and shaking so
hard at the same time.

Hugh also held on to Jonah tightly. He
ran his hand to her hair, to her arms, to her back as if checking
if everything was there. He cupped her face and began kissing her.
He first kissed her on the forehead. Then, he planted little kisses
on each of her cheeks. And finally, he lowered his lips to meet her
lips.

An influx of sensation and emotion
shocked through Jonah's body altogether. Amidst her tears all over
her face which were slowly paving down her mouth, she could taste
both the saltiness and Hugh's soft trembling lips on her own. There
was also the wonderful shaking of her innards and a sense of being
safe and protected in Hugh's arms. And there was the presence of
stripping everything that her mind and her reality held—almost like
an abandonment of her world, only conscious and not-even conscious
of the kiss. It was so unfathomable what they both shared. The
feeling consumed Jonah and it made her impulsively part her lips
and invite Hugh to an even deeper kiss.

But when they parted and the kiss ended
with Hugh holding Jonah a few inches away from him, Jonah felt so
guilty about it, she could not stare into Hugh's eyes.

No wonder horror movies were good
alternative to romantic ones when couples went on a date. There was
something about being scared that urged people to need to be with
someone. A nonsensical idea came to Jonah's mind. But she dared not
tell Hugh about it

"I—I—" Jonah groped for words. Even in
the dark, she could feel the heat of blush rising through her face.
She was sure Hugh could sense it too.

Hugh remained silent and wiped Jonah's
face with his palm. He did not show any signs of awkwardness. He
held her hand and dragged her slowly back to the
mansion.

"Where were you?" Jervais accused Jonah
and Hugh. "Where have you two gone?'

Hugh and Jonah found Jervais together
with their Aunt Judith and Mara in the kitchen. The apprehension
was still hanging too heavily in the air and their faces registered
it as well.

"I saw someone running towards the
woods and ran after him!" Jonah confessed. She took the stool which
Jervais pulled for her. Hugh sat beside her.

"Foolish!" Aunt Judith
reprimanded.

Mara poured in some tea for both Hugh
and Jonah before she hastily excused herself to go back to her
quarters.

"Please, Aunt Judith!" Jervais said in
defense of Jonah.

"What do you all think? You can fight
these people off?" Aunt Judith asked. "These people mean business.
Haven't you learned from Jemmah's accident? And now, they took
Jenssen."

"How do you know they took Jenssen?"
Jervais demanded.

"I saw them—" Aunt Judith
said.

"And you didn't—" Jervais
began.

But Aunt Judith cut her off in
mid-sentence, "Fight them off? Call the police? Another stupid
girl!"

"But you could have done something
other than hide in the basement," Jervais said angrily. "Unless you
wanted them to get Jenssen!"

"Impertinent!" Aunt Judith cried out
loud and stared at Jervais long and hard. "Alert the police and
tell them that your sister has been kidnapped by a bunch of healers
or hunters who are after your mother's great power and immortality.
Then, tell me what they think of you." She stood up from the low
chair she was occupying and stormed towards the corridor that will
lead to her room.

When the last of Aunt Judith's steps
faded away with the slamming of a door confirming she was inside
her domain, Jervais flared up, "Oh, I hate her! There's no doubt
she's one of them. She even put all of us in danger by spreading
that rumor we all had a hand in your mother's death! Now everyone's
after all of us!"

"Please, Jervais, calm down!" Jonah
said and rubbed her hands through Jervais' arms to appease her.
"Jane needs to know about this. And Jerone too. We can all plan our
next move without Aunt Judith knowing about it. Although, I think
she's right about the police. I don't think they can do anything to
help us. They won't believe a word of our claims. It's
preposterous!"

"I've called Jane and told her what
happened. She's probably on her way here now." Jervais said. "What
else can we do now? We can at least ask the police for a search
without telling the reason why. For goodness sake, there are
missing people everyday."

"Of course, we can do that!" Jonah
said. "And then perhaps, we can go on hiding!"

"What?" Hugh and Jervais said out loud
in unison.

"Jane had the same idea," Jonah said in
a low voice.

"Leave and hide," Jervais said. "That
will not solve a thing!"

* * * * *

A few minutes later, Hugh was back on
the road towards his own home. However, his mind was not on his
driving. The way his train of thoughts was going, one image coming
after another, he could just drive endlessly entertaining
them.

For one thing, he was distraught
thinking about Jonah leaving and hiding. He agreed with Jervais.
Hiding will not put an end to any of their problems. But it may be
what the Blood siblings will eventually resort to in the end. And
he may never see Jonah again.

The kiss…
Another image occupied his mind. It was a vision
that he was willing to dwell on again and again. It was the kiss
which sealed him to Jonah. He had bound them together because of
one stupid and wonderful kiss. He belonged to her no matter
what.

But
Xavier…
It was the image in his mind which
he could not clearly see and yet he knew was ever present at the
back of his thoughts. There was nothing he could do about Xavier,
who was a very strong presence in Jonah's life and his own from the
past, the present and the future. Xavier will always be in the
background or was it him?

He didn't know! He didn't know how
Jonah felt for him after all. And it mattered to him to know. And
yet it did not matter at all. He could not reconcile it within
himself. It was crazy.

Hugh banged his hands on the steering
wheel which gave the car a sudden swerve to his right almost
hitting a man who suddenly emerged, coming out from the woods. Hugh
instantly veered back the car to the left and hit his
brakes.

Hugh looked back at the man, who was
just as shaken as Hugh. The man looked familiar. Hugh got out of
the car and saw that it was Damian, the Blood's family
driver.

Damian's hair was tousled. His white
shirt was torn in various places and his matching pants were wet
just below his knees. His face still registered the shock he got
from barely escaping Hugh's car. However, upon seeing Hugh, Damian
backed away slowly. Then, he broke into a wild run retracing his
steps in the direction of the woods.

At first, Hugh was shocked to see
Damian running away from him. But his instincts made him run after
the man. While he was chasing after Damian, it occurred to him that
the driver was probably the figure Jonah saw back in the woods.
Determined not to lose the guy, Hugh quickened his
steps.

Hugh did not give Damian the chance to
go even farther into the deeper part of the woods. The moment he
outrun the man, he grabbed him by his shirt and placed a hard blow
on the man's face, knocking the older man on the ground. Without
giving Damian the opportunity to regain back his strength and his
wit, Hugh dragged him by the collar back to where they came
from.

Exhausted and resigned to being
captured, Damian went back the trail without a fight stumbling and
rolling, with Hugh following closely behind him.

"You're the one Jonah was chasing back
there—" Hugh concluded angrily.

"I was scared. I panicked. But I don't
know anything I swear!" Damian said, volunteering the information
heedlessly. "Ma'am Jane just asked me to pick up a few stuff. When
I arrived, they were already there. They took Ma'am Jenssen. I saw
them."

"Them, who?" Hugh asked.

"The men—old and wrinkled people but
they were stronger than anybody else I know. And they were
strange!" Damian said.

"So why did you have to run away like
that?" Hugh asked.

"I said I was scared. I didn't know
what to do. I should have called the police. But fear got the
better of me," the driver replied. He was quivering and on the
verge of tears. "Those men—they scared me."

"You will have to explain all these to
the police, you know!" Hugh reminded him.

"Please no! No police—" Damian pleaded.
Hugh could hear the terror in his voice. "Bring me back to the
Blood household and I will tell them what I overheard where those
men were taking Ma'am Jenssen."

Recalling Aunt Judith's warning about
involving the police, Hugh agreed to bring back Damian to Jonah's
place. He was considering that it will be up to the Blood family to
press charges if they wanted to. Without wasting any more time,
Hugh brought Damian back to the Blood mansion.