Son of Sun (Forgotten Gods (Book 2)) (4 page)

Weeks had passed since the episode with Meghan and the clock. I still saw her every day at the barn, but since that day in Spanish class we were cutting wide paths around each other. She still spread her stories about me—I couldn’t call them lies, because she was right, there was something magical about me. And everyday it seemed as though that magic burned brighter.

Some people believed her stories, but most thought they were ridiculous and assumed it was more of Meghan’s predictable tricks. A few of the girls on the team warmed to me, having suffered enough of Meghan’s hateful ways themselves. They weren’t friends like Sam and Mattie, but it was nice to be greeted with a smile when I entered the barn.

One Friday, near the end of October, my future again came into focus. That afternoon, I had finished at the barn early and hurried back to my dorm room, hoping to catch a nap before Mattie finished class. We had stayed up late studying, and I was utterly wiped out.

Our room was mercifully cool that afternoon. I slipped out of my riding clothes and between the cotton sheets, snuggling into the feather mattress that reminded me of my bedroom in Clonlea. It didn’t take long at all for me to fall into an unconscious sleep.

I was sitting beside a little girl, her eyes black as night, but warm and welcoming as they stared up at me. Her round cheeks pulled into a plump smile, revealing a missing tooth, its replacement already popping through her gum in a crooked white line. She held my hand, hot and clammy, in hers. I felt the strangest connection to the little girl, like she held the end of a string that was tethered to my heart. I didn’t want to let her go.

When the dream went black and white I knew it was my future, though I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where the little girl with black eyes had come from, or where we were.

“Faye.” My name echoed in an accent that was completely foreign to my ears. Confusion ruffled my eyebrows and I turned my head to hear her better.

“Faye,” she uttered again in a disconnected voice. Her lips never moved, but the words were definitely hers. When I didn’t answer, her smile stretched back to her ears where two thick black braids framed her round cherub’s face.

“Don’t be afraid for me, Faye,” her words were broken Spanish, barely understandable to my ears, but I knew immediately she was headed for some great danger, and I was the only one who could save her.

“No,” I screamed fearfully, shaking my head and pulling her hand to my chest.

“Let me go, Faye,” she spoke again in her disconnected, broke Spanish, and released my hand. Tears sprang to my eyes and I grasped for any part of her I could hold onto, refusing to let her go. I knew if I let her go, I could no longer protect her from whatever danger she was facing.

“Faye!” My name was different this time, the little girl’s lips moved, but her voice was no longer strange to me. As I looked down at our clasped, black and white hands, the vision began to fade.

“Faye!” Again the second voice came, more urgent and insistent this time. In the back of my mind, I knew the little girl was a dream, but part of me knew I had to stay with her. She needed me to protect her from some great danger.

A violent shaking took over my body, and when I opened my eyes again, I was staring up at Mattie, her hands on my shoulders, jolting me from my dream.

“Faye, you have got to quit doing that!” She half screamed with a glare that was as terrified as it was concerned, bringing her hand up to her heart and sighing with relief.

“Doing what?” I asked, yawning in confusion.

“These dreams you keep having. You yell out in your sleep and I can’t wake you. It’s terrifying. Like you’ve been possessed or something,” Mattie sat down beside me on the bed and began to take off her sneakers.

“I’ve been dreaming a lot?”

“Every night for the last few weeks,” she stood and walked over to the door, removing her shoes beside my boots.

“What do I say in my sleep?” I asked, fearing I may have shared my secrets.

“You mumbled weird things, like another language. And I can’t wake you once it starts. Half the time I sleep with a pillow over my head.” She grabbed a bottle of water from our mini fridge and offered one to me. I nodded my head and held my hands out for her to toss it to me. Grabbing one for herself, she came back to sit on my bed.

“Sorry if I’ve kept you up,” I offered, taking a small sip of water.

“Maybe you should get more exercise. You would sleep better,” she raised her eyebrows in a hopeful way, and gave me a smile.

“Start running with you in the mornings?” I wrinkled my nose as if the thought of getting up any earlier was physically painful.

“Well, since that all your running is on horseback, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be able to keep up with me,” she leaned into me as she joked, which was kind of odd. Mattie was always so focused, she hardly ever cracked jokes.

“Please, I could out run you with my eyes closed!” I snorted as if she had insulted me, and shot a sassy look over my shoulder at her.

“Want to make a bet?” Her eyes gleamed with the promise of a challenge.

“I’ll take you on anytime, Mattie. You just say when and where.” My competitive streak was coming out, and even though I knew Mattie would leave me in the dust, I was enjoying joking around with her. Besides, what was a little foot race between friends?

“Great. Tonight. We’re running the redwoods with Thomas’ friends.” Mattie tossed a victorious smile over her shoulder as she stood up and tossed her black bob in a sassy way, imitating the look I had given her earlier.

“You tricked me!” I yelled at her, totally at a loss how our conversation had gone from me having bad dreams to running the redwoods with her.

“And you walked right into it. Be ready at sundown. No excuses.” Mattie grabbed her shower bucket and robe and headed out the door.

I was still sitting on my bed, wondering how in the world that had just happened so fast. Of course it was totally lame, but I was looking forward to ordering a pizza and watching a movie, my usual Friday night routine. Now that Seth and Sam were together, I hated being the fifth wheel.

But a bet was a bet, and Mattie wasn’t the kind of girl that took ‘No’ for an answer.

At sundown, I was
dutifully dressed in a pair of Mattie’s running shorts, tee shirt and a fleece jacket. The nights were already getting chilly, and the shady forest was always colder than St. Annes campus.

It seemed silly, but the lingering human parts of me were secretly excited about the night’s adventure. Running the redwoods on a full moon was a right of passage for St. Anne’s students, though I had never been invited.

Mission Park closed at sundown. Luckily for us, the park was always open to St. Anne’s campus, even though we weren’t supposed to enter after dark. Breaking this one rule earned you entry into some secret society that was only ever talked about in whispers—or got you kicked out of school.

Nerves somersaulted around my belly as we carefully made our way across campus to the designated meeting point. If we were spotted wearing running clothes by faculty, they would know what we were up to and the night would be ruined. But the secrecy totally added to the fun.

Darting from oak to oak, I followed Mattie like a shadow. We popped out from behind an overgrown hedge to see about thirty students, silently milling around one of the paths into the forest.

“Is Sam coming?” I whispered to Mattie. She nodded her head, and pointed ahead, where Sam was jumping up and down in silent celebration.

“Yay!” she whisper-screamed as she threw her arms around me. “I knew Mattie would be able to get you out of the dorm. It’s about time!” Sam was whispering, but even though she was barely making any noise, Mattie put her finger to her lips to shush her.

Sam rolled her eyes and fell in line between Seth and me. I waved hello to Seth and looked around for Thomas, knowing he would not be far from Mattie.

“Glad you could make it, Faye,” Thomas said as he handed me a glow necklace with a smile.

“Thanks,” I said, taking the necklace from his hand.

“Don’t break the glow thingy until we’re in the woods, okay?” Mattie instructed, pulling my hair away so Sam could secure the necklace around my neck. Everyone had a glow something or other. Some guys had them over their heads like bandanas, others wore them looped around their wrists as bracelets. A few brave souls were already in the tree line, spraying themselves down with fluorescent paint.

“This is insane,” I whispered excitedly to Mattie.

“It’s so much fun. Everyone has a glow stick so we can keep up with each other and not run into one another. We run to the river and back. Last one back has to buy everyone’s pizza.” Mattie squatted to double-knot her shoes, which looked like a really good idea, so I joined her on the ground to do the same. “Oh, and stick to the path. You’re on your own if you get lost. I refuse to buy pizza for this bunch!”

“Are you ready, Faye?” Sam asked, bending to knot her shoes as well.

“Yeah, I am,” I said, standing and taking a deep breath as we walked into the cover of the woods. Overhead, trees limbs hung like thick drapes, blocking the moon’s glow. Mattie took one hand and Sam grabbed the other. All the students formed a line, hands linked, as we stepped through the tree line to the nearest trail that sliced through the woods.

A guy who looked like he was in charge jumped up on a tree stump when we neared the trail.

“Remember, to the river and back.” He raised his hands to quiet everyone. “Ladies and gentlemen…” He said with a ceremonious flourish. “Break your glow sticks.” A giggle drifted up from the crowd and the popping of a hundred glow sticks sounded like a kind playing with bubble wrap. Suddenly, the woods were aglow in the neon hues of glow-in-the-dark jewelry.

Mattie, Sam, Thomas, Seth and I all wore purple glow necklaces. Up and down the line, similar colored necklace were grouped together, suddenly making the whole necklace thing make sense.

“On you mark,” the guy whispered. “Get set,” again he whispered and line stirred with restless energy. “GO!” he yelled so loudly I was sure the dean heard him, but I was pretty sure no faculty members were brave enough to go running into the darkened woods after us.

Once we were on the trail the moonlight lit our path in a beautiful silvery ribbon. Thomas was in front, striding like the track star he was. Mattie was second. I ran in the middle and Sam and Seth were pulling up the rear, neither of them seasoned athletes like the rest of us.

Thomas set an easy pace that put us in the middle of the group, but was slow enough for Sam and Seth to keep up with. At that point, I don’t think it really mattered what kind of shape you were in. Adrenaline could have carried me around the world twice. Something about running in the woods at night when you weren’t supposed to with a group of people was exhilarating, and I found myself pulling even with Mattie and then playfully running ahead.

“You sure you want to race me, Faye?” Mattie questioned, not the slightest bit winded by our pace.

“I thought that’s the reason I was out here?” I shot back at her, unable to keep the smile off my face.

“You think you can handle these two, Thomas?” Mattie asked, pointing over her shoulder to where Sam and Seth were already panting.

“No problem, babe,” Thomas waved her on. “You go show Faye a good time,” he encouraged, his smile tinted purple by the glow necklace around his neck.

“Start us off, just so it’s fair,” Mattie looked over her shoulder at me in a pitiful way. “I hope you don’t mind losing, Faye.”

“I hope you don’t either, Mattie. I hate to embarrass you in front of your boyfriend!” I joked with her.

“All right you two. On your mark. Get set. GO!” Thomas yelled as we continued his easy pace. As soon as he barked go, Mattie and I took off, passing the other runners like they were standing still.

Mattie weaved through the crowd like a sharp needle, while I seemed to catch every elbow that swung my direction. Mattie had told me to stay on the path, but she was beating me, and it wasn’t because she was faster, it was because she was meaner and didn’t mind pushing people out of her way.

There was a break in the trees ahead, and I ducked off the path so I could run unobstructed for a few strides to hopefully get passed an especially thick group of runners.

It was pitch black on the opposite side of the tree line, and for a moment I was running completely blind. With the lose of sight, my other senses heightened, alert to what was around me like I had been the night Dayne found me in the woods. My ears pricked to the sound of running feet to my left and the sounds of forest creatures scurrying away from the intrusion to my right. I inhaled deeply, and smelled the familiar evergreen scent that always made me think of him.

Maybe that’s why I hadn’t come in these woods before. I told myself it was because the green was just too close to Ireland’s fields, a memory that would inevitably bring the entire summer crashing back over me. In the dark, the green was gone, but Dayne’s familiar scent lingered as if he had just passed by.