Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) (19 page)

“So
these gifts, do all of the Protectors have the same ones?” I asked.

 “Nope,
every Protector is different, though we all have our defenses against the other
otherworldly beings. It makes us harder to fight, especially if you don’t know
our inner strengths. Our attacks can still have the element of surprise. You’d
be amazed at what some of the others can do!” he said excitedly. 

“Oh,”
I looked at my hands. Just when I seemed to feel like I understood even a
portion of what Eli was telling me, I was hit with a jillion more things that
my mind struggled to wrap itself around. “What do you mean by otherworldly? Is
that what you are? Like from somewhere else?”

He
laughed. “No, that is just my word for them. They are just like me, though I
know there are other beings out there that are unlike me and unlike you. But
the ones I am referring to are other Protectors that have gone rogue. They
chose to no longer accept assignments and have intentionally done harm by not
protecting their current assignments. There are a lot more than you would
think. You can choose to stop protecting the right way if you go to the elders
and ask, and they may release you from command—but you lose all of your power
and gifts. I guess some people just don’t want to lose the power.” He spoke so
fast and nonchalant that I think he forgot that I was unaccustomed to his
world. When he realized it, he shot me an embarrassed look. 

 “I’m
not sure how much more I can process tonight,” I said, rubbing my temples.

“Let
me take you home. We can talk more tomorrow after you’ve had a chance to sleep
on it. Abby, I want you to know that this means everything to me that you are
willing to talk to me, to give me another chance. I know it doesn’t mean things
will be the same as before, but I hope that we can get past this and be close
again.” He smiled at me shyly.

Minutes
later, I was home. Mom was already in bed so I went straight to my room. In
spite of getting many of my questions answered, I still had more. With each question
answered it seemed like there were five new puzzles to solve. I felt like I was
never going to get anywhere amidst the confusion. 

I
turned on the radio quietly and sat down at my laptop to check my email. I
thought maybe I could take my mind off of everything by reading an email from
Kelly, but when I opened my email there were no new messages. I hadn’t heard
from her in over two weeks. I was dreading when we would eventually drift
apart; it was inevitable. Now it was apparent that it was beginning to happen.
I vowed to try harder to keep in touch with her at that moment, starting with
an email right then.

I
let the music carry me, hoping it would lift my mood.

Kelly,

               
Hey you! How are you? I'm doing…well
I guess as good as to be expected. Things are kind of crazy right now. I
haven't heard from you in a couple weeks. Do I need to come back there and kick
your butt? Ha-ha! Seriously, you better write me back ASAP! I want

updates missy.
Any new guys hanging around? I'm definitely still warding off any ideas of
getting involved with anyone. I'm way too busy to add that to the mix! Mom has
been almost a ghost lately. Between work and her social life, I think she is
just as busy as me!

               
How is school? Surprisingly, I
seem to be holding my own when it comes to my grades. Even in history! I am
passing with a B! Won't my mom and dad be pleased!?! Ha-ha. Eli is still the
one person I feel like I can talk to. I thought it would be easier for me to
talk to Bailey, but for some reason, she just isn't there like I think Eli can
be for me. It's been really nice having someone that gets me like you do! I
miss you. I should get to bed it's almost midnight!

                                        Love,                                            
                  
       
Abby

           
I re-read the whole email before I hit send. I was
pleased that I sounded upbeat and happy throughout the email. It had distracted
me like I had hoped, but not nearly as long as I would have liked. The music
may have had a small part to do with it as well.

           
I jumped as a flash popped up in
unison with a chime. It was a message from Eli. He was online too.

Eli:
How are you?

               
I quickly typed a message back.
It felt good to be able to talk to him without him seeing my face at every
answer. It gave me time to think, to collect myself.

Abby:
I'm doing okay.

Eli: I'm glad. I
saw you were online and I thought I would see how you were doing. I hate the
idea of leaving you to think everything through. It’s a lot to think about.

Abby:
Thanks. Can't you feel how I am?

Eli: Yeah, I can,
but I don't get to talk to what I feel, and I don't know what you are thinking
that way either. I feel a lot of anxiety coming from you.

Abby:
I guess so.

Abby: This is so
weird. You knowing how I feel. I guess you've known how I felt ever since you
met me huh?

Eli:
Well…

               
It took a moment for him to type
up his next response.

Eli: Actually,
it's been since you were in my dream, the one telling me about you. I didn't
know what the sensations were at first, but I realized it as soon as I met you,
that is exactly what it had been all along.

My
body went limp. For six months before he even knew me he had been feeling my emotions.
Everything I felt those last few months with the divorce, having to move, and
leaving my friends… it was a lot of bad. He must have felt horrible the whole
time. Poor Eli.

Abby: All that time…I'm sorry.

Eli: Abby, it's
okay. It's not your fault. To tell you the truth, I am glad that things are the
way they are, we're connected.
J
I couldn’t have asked for a better person to be
connected to.

           
The smiley face was exactly as I was picturing he
looked now. Only I couldn’t figure out why he would want to feel anything I
felt. I definitely had my moments of moodiness. I was slightly embarrassed to
feel anything now. Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. That was why all
week I felt so calm instead of stressed and worried. It was Eli. He had been
helping me through the whole week, and I hadn’t even known. I got teary-eyed
knowing just how much he was looking out for me, and how much my life was
impacting him. His life revolved around me. It had to stop.

Abby: Your life
is centered around me. I can't let you give up your own life because of me. It
isn't fair.

Eli: This is far
bigger than me and you and frankly I don't have a choice. You are stuck with
me, like it or not.

Eli: Stop trying
to find a way out of this, I was raised knowing this day would come. I don’t
know anything else. Trust me I'm not missing anything.

Abby:
Fine. We're stuck like glue. Now what?

Eli: Ha-ha, well
now we go back to normal and move on. 

Abby:
Just like that?

Eli:
Yep.

Abby:
I would love that.

Eli:
Have plans tomorrow?

Abby: I have to
work at 4, but other than that nothing.

Eli:
Go to bed, I'll see you in the morning.
J

Eli
has signed off.

           
I sat there thinking for a few more minutes before
closing my computer to get ready for bed. He was such a great friend. Now I
felt like I could trust him with anything. He was so understanding of anything
that I brought to him. He accepted me for who I was, no questions asked. He
made me feel at ease in ways I never thought possible. Well, of course he did;
he could change my feelings. We were going to have to talk about that one. I
didn’t want him to be changing them unless I wanted it, but did I ever want
that? Yes, I was sure at some point I would. I didn’t know how I was supposed
to know if he was changing them. I needed to ask him that too. For now, I
decided to just be content with where we were. It was better than where we were
a few days ago.

           
For once that night, I had an
amazing dream. My dad was in town, and we were going to the Grand Canyon.
Driving up was beautiful, and mountains full of pine trees surrounded us. We
saw deer and elk standing tall grazing in meadows. Their antlers seemed to
reach the trees. The sky was as blue as blue could be without a cloud to be
seen. I woke up when my dad and I were standing beside the Grand Canyon
admiring its beauty. The Grand Canyon was something my dad and I were planning
on for a summer trip. My dream only made me want it to come quicker.

I
rolled over to see the clock, which said that it was only 8 a.m. Normally, I
would have preferred to sleep in, but right then I felt unusually refreshed. I
wasn’t used to that. Plus, I was excited to actually get to have breakfast with
my mom. She’d been gone so much lately and I had been working so much that I
really wanted to catch up, especially now that things were better between Eli
and I. I felt better than I had in weeks, and I was ready to enjoy the weekend.

           
Mom was just getting up and she hadn’t
started breakfast yet. I helped by starting the bacon, and it sizzled loudly as
it hit the pan. Mom finished making coffee and began mixing up blueberry
pancakes, my favorite. We maneuvered effortlessly through the kitchen,
finishing the breakfast of eggs, bacon, blueberry pancakes, coffee and orange
juice.

Just
as we were about to sit down to eat, the doorbell rang.

“I'll
get it,” I said heading out of the room.

I
briefly wondered if it was Eli standing on the other side of the door, but if I
was really honest with myself I already knew it was.

“Hey
Abby!” he greeted me as I opened the door.

“Hey,
we’re just sitting down to breakfast, want some?” I asked.

“Sure,
thanks,” he said walking into the dining room.

“Mom,
its Eli you don’t mind if he joins us for breakfast, do you?”

“Not
at all, how are you Eli?” she asked him.

Before
I even left the room to get Eli a plate, he and my mom were engrossed in a
conversation about plans for the day. When I returned Eli had already worked
out with my mom that he and I were going to the lake for a few hours.

I
was grateful; it felt like things were back to normal again. I hated when
things were strained and awkward. Eli had made himself at home to ensure that
there would be no tension remaining. He  always knew just the right things
to do to make me feel better, and I knew he wasn’t altering any moods that
time. He was just being himself.

“You
guys can make a picnic,” my mom suggested, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“There is enough food in the kitchen for a banquet,”

“Okay,
thanks mom, guess we should go get started.”

We
were already finished eating, but I had no idea where the time or my breakfast
went. I must have been so engrossed in my thoughts to see anything going on around
me. I began wondering what conversation I missed in my daydreaming, but quickly
pushed it aside figuring it probably wasn’t anything to worry about.

We
packed ham sandwiches, pretzels, and red licorice with cans of soda to drink,
as well as water bottles. After such a long lonely week, it was nice to finally
have something to look forward to. I didn’t know that many people went to the
lake in January, but Eli assured me that even though we wouldn’t be going
swimming, we would still have fun.

Eli
decided to take me to Saguaro Lake instead of any of the others because it was
so close. It only took about 45 minutes to get there, and the scenery on the
drive consisted of rocky desert full of cactus and shrubs, instead of the
pretty pine forest I had seen in my dream the night before. We didn’t see any
wildlife other than a few birds here and there, but I wasn’t sure what species
were in the area anyway. Maybe I was simply looking in the wrong places.

“There
isn’t much color in the desert,” I commented.

“You
should see it in the spring, everything blooms and there are flowers in so many
colors. It’s gorgeous,” he said.

I’d
heard once that when the desert bloomed it was supposed to be very pretty, but
I had never experienced it myself. Our conversation mostly revolved around the
scenery and school the whole drive out. Surprisingly, it never veered towards
the one topic that I still wanted more of. I knew it was only a matter of time
before questions began slipping out of my mouth, and I was sure that it wouldn’t
be graceful at all.