Splinter (Whisper Walker Series) (14 page)

I got back and cooked up some rabbit meat I’d been saving for a special occasion, like making up to Kelsie. Then I headed to the Development facility with the Sticky Root and dinner.

“Drake! Back so soon?” Rebecca said, eyeing the pack I dropped onto her desk. “My, you are extremely efficient, aren’t you?”

I grinned with pleasure at her praise. Rebecca had always been a little of a mother figure in my life, from an early age, and any praise from her felt like winning an award.

We arranged payment, and I excused myself in a hurry, claiming I wanted to get dinner to Kelsie while it was still hot.

“Hey, Kelsie,” I said quietly from the doorway to the room she was working in. I didn’t want to get in trouble for startling her again. I saw movement by one of the workbenches in the dark. A flicker of shadow by the light coming up from whatever project she was working on.

“Nice work, didn’t scare the crap out of me this time! You learned your lesson.”

I could actually hear the smirk in her voice.

“I brought dinner! But if you’re going to be a jerk to me, I guess I could go share it with Rebecca instead.” I faked like I was turning around to leave.

Quicker than I knew she could move, Kelsie was standing next to me with a smile, having nearly ripped the dinner bag out of my hands. I’d been able to see her darting towards me and making a reach for the bag. So I’d jerked it away just in time. Now it was my turn to smirk.

“Ha! You snooze, you lose.”

“This, coming from the lazy bum that sleeps in later than me all the time?” she demanded, snickering.

“Whatever. Come on. I don’t have all night.” I tried to be snippy, but it came out far too smiley for that to happen. She was just too cute when she was being snarky. I wrapped her up in a tight, one-arm hug.

“Whas dis fo’,” she mumbled from where her face was squished against my chest.

“Sorry for messing up your project earlier,” I said, letting her go.

“It’s okay. You’re making up for it.” She grinned, snatching the bag out of my hand like lightning. “You stink, by the way. Like saltwater and sweat.”

I grunted a response. “Just got back from a harvest.”

Kelsie led me in to a clear spot at the end of the long bench, hopping up to sit on it. “What were you doing? Swimming in the ocean? If you were, I hope you washed your hands very well before cooking this.” She held up a leg of rabbit.

“No, Kelsie, I climbed right out of the super-polluted ocean and got right to cooking you dinner. In fact, I made sure to immerse the rabbit in the ocean before cooking it.” I rolled my eyes.

“Well,” she said like she was actually considering it. “That would explain the super-salty flavor of it. If I grow another set of arms or an extra eyeball, I’m going to get even. Just be warned.”

I rocked into her shoulder. “Right, uh huh. You’re so weird.”

“I’m not the one that saw…” Kelsie trailed off before staring at the rabbit leg like it was all-important.

With a sigh, I set the bag next to her and headed home.

I went to bed soon after, finding myself uncharacteristically tired. At some point, I felt the bed move as Kelsie climbed in and snuggled up to me.

I tried to pull away, but she clung to me like a lifeline. Soon after, I settled into a restless sleep filled with dreams of my attackers as well as my savior. The more I thought about it, the more I thought the girl looked like the one I’d seen disappear on the street the other day.

DEEP INTO THE NIGHT I started dreaming. I found myself in the woods, rapidly approaching the tunnel to the pit. But I wasn’t walking, I was floating, sort of. Over fallen trees and boulders, around holes and hills. Perfectly effortless. I instinctively tried to duck as I was steered into the small tunnel opening, but found I didn’t have to. I seemed to just fit. I surprised myself by not even flinching when I dropped over the edge into the pit. I never actually hit the bottom, but resumed my normal size and stopped a little above the bottom.

I looked around in wonder. There, surrounding me, were the Magistrate; the man from the woods the other day that had tried to attack me, Jonathan; and a couple council members I didn’t really know. Well, they were there, but not. At first they seemed solid, but then the Magistrate moved towards me, and he seemed to flow.

“Kelsie,” the Magistrate’s form said. “I’m glad you came. This is of the utmost urgency. I’m glad you can see us, though I wish you wouldn’t have let Drake throw my skull at the wall. That was dreadfully uncomfortable.”

“Oh, shut up, Duncan. You can’t even feel that kind of thing. Stop giving her a hard time and cut to the chase. I’m sure she wants to get back to bed with Drake,” Jonathan said, giving me a knowing look.

“Hey!” I said, my voice echoing. “That’s not what it’s like. Never mind. What is going on?”

The Magistrate pulled his scowling face away from Jonathan and back to me. “Well. Frankly. The best we can figure out. You can see ghosts.” He paused for dramatic effect, letting that sink in.

I frowned. “Really? Ghosts? How am I seeing your ghosts if you’re all alive?”

The “ghosts” all shared a look. “We don’t know. That’s what we need you to figure out.”

My frown deepened. “So, you want me to figure out why your bodies are walking around while your spirits or souls or whatever are chilling here? Oh yeah, your bodies have whacked out personalities, by the way.” I looked directly at the Magistrate.

They all nodded in agreement.

I was curious. “Hey, why don’t you guys just go find out what’s going on yourselves? I mean, if Drake and I are the only ones that can see you, it shouldn’t be hard.”

Jonathan finally spoke up again. “You don’t think we’ve tried? We’re confined to this smelly pit. We can’t leave.”

“Well, that sucks,” I said. “So, what else is going on? Do you know why I can see you?”

They all looked at each other, sharing some sort of look. It was Jonathan again who spoke. “We aren’t sure why you can. But, there are rumors about Drake.” He paused.

Now I was just growing impatient. I could feel a small tug on me. I could tell I didn’t have much longer. “Hurry up, guys. I’m almost gone.”

Jonathan continued. “The rumors are that his ancestors could see spirits, too. His dad only could on occasion, I guess, but I know he had some sort of book or manual that he mentioned to me once. It had been his great-grandfather’s. Maybe that says something.”

I felt myself being tugged – pulled back up towards the tunnel. My face must have reflected it because they started stumbling over each other trying to tell me other information. I heard Jonathan above the rest.

“Kelsie. Every day that we are here, the more substantial we become.”

By then I was halfway back down the tunnel, being drawn backwards against my will. Called back to bed. That was the last thing I knew before I woke up in Drake’s bed. It was still dark, and he was still sleeping. I backed up in front of him and wrapped his arms around my waist, his breath tickling my neck.

He mumbled something in his sleep and settled into me. I closed my eyes, trying to salvage the rest of the night.

I woke the next morning to find Drake on his side, facing me and pressed close. He had the palm of his hand under his head and was staring at me intently. I blinked open my eyes, trying to get the sleep out. Looking into his eyes first thing in the morning reminded me of how incredibly beautiful they were. Deep, sparkling blue.

“What?” I asked him, grimacing as I tasted my morning breath.

He didn’t answer for a second but kept staring at me. “Kelsie? Are you okay? Is everything all right?” He stretched out his arm and placed his hand on my shoulder.

I gave him a confused look. “Um. Yeah? I think so. Why?”

“Well, last night, you got icy cold for a few minutes. I had to scoot away from you because you were so cold. You were like a block of ice. And,” he paused, “you were talking in your sleep, a lot. Mainly when you were super cold, but afterwards too, though it was mostly gibberish by then. You almost never talk in your sleep.”

I guess what I had hoped was a figment of my imagination was real. Something on my face must have said something was up. Or Drake just knew me too well.

“Something did happen!” he exclaimed, looking apprehensive.

I didn’t respond other than to roll onto my back and let out a sigh. I laid there in the soft bed and remained silent thinking about it. Besides, it was crazy. Finally I got a light slap on the shoulder.

“Come on, Kelsie! Out with it. You’re acting weird, and you know it.” He let out an exasperated sigh.

I kept staring at the ceiling, wondering how best to put this to make it seem more believable. As I thought about it, I realized there was nothing I could do to make it sound plausible, or even possible.

“Well, remember those bones in the pit?” I said. I felt weird saying this. Only the other day I had thought he was the crazy one. Now I was in the same boat. At least he hadn’t mentioned holding a conversation with them.

“Yeah. The ones that you couldn’t see or touch but I swore were there?”

“Uh-huh. Well, they are there, sort of anyway. I had a dream, a very weird dream last night. It was probably when you felt me grow cold. I had kind of an out-of-body experience.” I paused, turning over to look at him. “Good thing you’re laying down already. Because this is crazy.”

I gave him the mash-up of my dream/experience over the next five minutes or so. It had been a very short experience in the first place, so it didn’t take long to cover. Especially once I cut out the crap. I saved the part about the book or some object for last. By the time I finished, Drake seemed to have unconsciously scooted away from me. Not far, but enough that I noticed.

“So,” he started, after a moment of silence, absorbing it all. “You believe me now? Huh?” It wasn’t so much a question as a statement.

He gave me a look of concern. Underneath it, I saw something else in his eyes. There was a faint tinge of something. Fear? I understood kind of where he was coming from. Still, it had all seemed real; I couldn’t even think that it was anything but real. I had to know.

I slid out of bed, not really making eye contact with him anymore.

“Where you going?” he asked, sitting up.

I paused in the doorway, turning a little but not enough to face him. “To get ready and find your family book thing, if it exists.”

“Do you know where it is?”

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? If I knew where it was, I would know that it exists which means that I would have figured out whatever the hell is happening to you…us. So, NO! I have no idea. Besides, it’s your family book. Not mine.”

I left then, feeling a little bad for snapping at him. I knew that it was probably because he was voicing all of my fears. Things that I was already battling with, and somehow him saying them out loud made it worse. More real.

I turned up the water temperature in the shower, basking in the purifying warmth and steam. It was so hot it nearly scalded my skin, but it was worth it. I tried not to think of any of the events of the last few days. I had to get relaxed and ready for tonight’s little excursion with Drake to my old Guild.

He needed me tonight. I knew that for sure. He had never set foot in the Briln town before and had no idea what to expect. All he really knew was that they were more strict and military than the Sven.

I was halfway through my soak, relax, and wake up routine when I felt the, now common, brush of the curtain against my thigh. I didn’t even open my eyes as Drake entered the bathroom, bringing a burst of cool air to interrupt my steamy soak.

Still with my eyes closed and intent on finishing out my relaxation, I said to him, calling over the noise of the shower, “Making this a habit now, are we?”

He didn’t respond for a second, long enough that I opened my eyes and looked out around the curtain at him. I saw him staring at where my chest was behind the curtain for a second before he looked up at me and realized I had noticed. I grinned in spite of myself, but didn’t say anything. I waited to see if he would.

“What?” he asked, flushing.

“Nothing. I want to relax right now. We can talk later if you want.”

He nodded.

I continued my shower while he did who knows what out in the bathroom. I didn’t think he’d left since there’d been no cool air blasting into the shower. After a few more minutes, I finished and was about to shut off the water.

“Hey, just leave it on. I’ll get in now.”

I shrugged and reached out for a towel to wrap around me. One was placed into my grasp by Drake. I wrapped up and stuck a leg out, starting to climb out. As I did, a very naked Drake brushed up against me in between the shower wall and me. He did it in a split second, but it still left me feeling awkward and my heart racing at a million kilometers an hour.

“Whoa, Drake,” I said self-consciously as my cheeks burned. I hurriedly jerked the shower curtain back into place and turned to face the mirror.

“What? I didn’t want to get a towel wet.”

“Still, it’s just…I don’t know. Weird,” I said, flustered. I cleared my throat as I wiped a spot clear of condensation on the mirror.

“Hmm,” was all Drake said. “Jeez, this water is scalding! I think I got burned!”

“What?” I asked.

“The water! It’s really hot! It burned me!”

“Hot? Are you kidding? Don’t be such a lightweight!” I said.

“Really? Wow, you’re calling me a lightweight? You know I have sensitive skin.”

I snorted. “How’s this?” I asked, darting my hand in and twisting the knob all the way to cold.

“Ahhh!” he cried out. “What the hell? That was just mean!”

I laughed. “I know.”

I was using the humor to cover my true feelings and confusion that being around him lately had brought up. We cuddled all the time; it was nothing unusual. But I was starting to want more. Something different. I wanted him to take me in his arms and give me a hug that meant something else entirely. Something so much more than comforting each other. I wanted,
needed
to feel him pressed against me where I could look up into those vivid blue eyes. To get lost in the way they made me feel.