Tempest (13 page)

“You know the place
in your dream?”

“Marie said it
sounded like Lafitte and maybe she’s right.”

“Then let’s go.”
Luke stood up grabbing his keys off the kitchen counter.

I followed. “Wait,
what? What do you mean ‘let’s go?'” Adrenaline was rushing
through my body at the thought.

“You keep sitting
here, beating yourself up about what you see. You want to help, you
want to change the future but you’re afraid to do anything about
it.”

“I’m…I’m not
afraid. I just thought it was too dangerous. You know, the whole
protecting me bit?”

He raised his eyebrows
at me, answering all my questions at once.

“You really think I
can change what I see in my dreams, to stop it from happening?” I
was getting more and more excited at the thought of him believing in
me, believing that I could do something about it.

“Well not
just
you. But you and me? Hell yeah.” He was smiling and I couldn’t
help but return the look. “C’mon.” He grabbed my arm, sending a
numbing sensation throughout my body as he pulled me toward the
garage.

Inside Hayden’s black
sports car, I was second-guessing myself. “What are we doing? I
mean, really? Who knows when this is going to happen? It’s only
after nine, we could be waiting all night.“

“What are you afraid
of?” His hazel eyes met mine and my chest immediately constricted.
I held his gaze only briefly before the smell of autumn caught in my
nose.

“Let’s do this.”
I shifted in my seat and turned up the volume knob on the stereo.

He smirked as he thrust
the gear in drive.

What was I afraid of?
That wasn’t an easy one to answer. Sure, I could pretend that I
wasn’t afraid at all, and that is surely the face I would be giving
Luke. But that was a lie. Was I afraid of whatever kind of animal it
was that attacked the passerby? Was I afraid that I wouldn’t be
able to stop it? That I would be too late? Or finally, maybe I was
afraid of the feelings that were developing in me as a result of
Luke’s unconditional faith in my abilities.

It was a thirty-minute
drive to the national park, and with the stereo loud, there was
little room for talking and a lot of room for thinking, or rather,
second-guessing.
What was I doing?
The closer we came to our
destination, the more anxiety I had. I was coming up with a million
different excuses to turn around and go back home but when we got to
the entrance, I didn’t need any.

“Oh, it’s closed.
Too bad. Well, at least we tried.”

“You’re kidding
right?” Luke pulled the car to the side and got out.

“What are you doing?”

“You don’t think we
came all this way to let a little gate stop us, do you?”

When he saw that I
wasn’t getting out of the car he came around and opened the door
for me.

He bent down to face
me. “What’s wrong?”

I looked at my hands,
trying to decide what to reply. “It’s a swamp.”

“And?”

“And I’m afraid of
alligators, okay Luke?” Maybe it was the fear of going into a swamp
at night with hungry alligators that had been ticked off since the
hurricane or maybe it was something more. Either way I didn’t want
to find out.

“You've been hunted
by a ghost and driven eight hours with a gang of Hunters who wanted
to kill you and you’re afraid of
alligators
?”

He was right. I hated
when he was right. I was not the same person I once was. I had become
stronger, I had to be stronger.

“C’mon. Not to
wound your pride or anything but more likely than not, I am going to
be the one that is protecting us here. I am immortal; an alligator is
the least of my worries.”

I nodded once and
willfully got out of the car. It took Luke only a second to open the
gate. His nonchalance about it gave me just a glimpse into his world.

“You said you dreamt
of a jogger?” Luke asked as he stepped through the gate.

I followed close
behind. “Yep.”

“That’s weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“It’s weird that
someone would go jogging in a state park after hours, especially one
that you claim is filled with alligators.”

“Hm. I guess I never
really thought about that. I never said this was the exact place, I
couldn’t be sure. It’s just what I saw, ok?”

“Ok, ok I believe
you.”

The lights on the car
went off automatically. I jumped forward, almost knocking into Luke.
My heart sped up and I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. Luke
laughed.

“Will you stop
listening to my heartbeat?” I barked at him.

“I can’t help it;
it’s so loud I could hear it from Terrytown.”

“Ha-ha,” I mocked.
My eyes were adjusting to the complete darkness. The moonlight was
not enough for me to see where I was walking.

“You have no idea
what it does to me knowing how close you are to me right now, but
could you stop stepping on my heels?”

“I am a human
remember? I can’t see anything in the dark.”

“Oh yeah, woops.” I
heard the rattling of a key chain and then a small flashlight turned
on.

I grabbed it from him.
“Thank you.” I shone it on the scenery around us, hoping
something would spark a memory of familiarity. We walked about ten
minutes in and the smell of swamp hit me. It was probably all around
us.

“Anything look
familiar yet?”

“No, for the last
time.” I was ready to give up, until I saw a bench. It was just a
small resting place for walkers but it looked like one in my dream.
“Maybe this bench? I don’t know I can’t be sure.”

“OK, well at least
that’s a start.” He sat down.

“What are you doing?”

“Waiting.

I shone the light in
his face, looking at him incredulously. This was not the Luke I knew.
“You really have that much faith in me to sit here and wait
who-knows-how-long for who-knows-what?”

“Don’t you get that
already, Ana? Yes. I do.”

I shrugged and sat down
next to him. Gooseflesh covered my arms; it was the cool November
air. I had barely managed to grab shoes in the excitement as I left
the house. I looked at Luke; he looked perfectly comfortable in a
black t-shirt. Impossible. I tried to rub my arms to produce heat by
friction. My cold hands only chilled me further.

“You’re cold?” He
asked surprised.

“Uh , yeah? It’s
like 40 degrees out here!”

A unique expression
came over his face; it was of confusion, then pain. “Oh, I’m
sorry. I didn’t realize…”

“Aren’t
you
cold?” I shone the flashlight over his t-shirt for effect.

“No, Ana. I don’t
get cold. Or hot.”

“Oh. I hadn’t
thought about that.” He still held the same expression, thinking. I
continued, “I guess there is a lot I don’t know about Hunters.”
There was hint of sadness to my comment, which I tried to hide from
him.

He suddenly stood up,
taking off his t-shirt.

“What are you doing?”
My back straightened.

“Keeping you warm.”
I moved the flashlight abruptly off his torso. If he thought my
heartbeat was loud before…

“Here, put this on,”
he handed me his shirt and I obeyed. It was still warm when I put it
on and gave his autumn scent a stronger, more home-like feel.

“Thanks. Are you sure
you won’t be cold?”

He laughed. “No,
Ana.”

“Okay…” I wished
he would have just kept the shirt on, which would have been less
awkward than knowing he was shirtless beside me.

“So, what’s the
plan?”

“You’re asking me
the plan? I thought you’d have one.”

“It’s your dream,
you know all the details.”

The beauty of his
facial features in the moonlight distracted me. “How’d you get
that scar?”

He pulled his eyebrows
together and turned away. “It’s nothing.” I tried to reach out
to his face and touch it with the tips of my fingers.

He exhaled a jagged
breath. “It’s from the night my parents died.” I pulled my hand
away and placed it on top of his not forcing him to say more about
how his parents were killed, but hoping he would. He turned his hand,
palm up, entwining his fingers in mine. A tingling sensation shot
through my body.

“Something’s
coming…”

I jerked my hand away
at his comment. “I don’t hear anything?”

“Shhh…”

I turned off my
flashlight, my hands shaking in the process.

A minute later I heard
quick footfalls on the leaf-covered pavement. Adrenaline rushed
through my body; the shot of blood to my head caused it to spin. My
heart pounded against my rib cage; anxiety and joy took over as I
realized I was going to witness my dream coming true first-hand.

A couple things
happened simultaneously. The man approached us, Luke stiffened, and I
turned the light on and jumped up to stop him.

“What is this?” The
jogger skidded to a stop. His postured erected like he was ready to
defend himself.

Luke got up with me,
standing to my left. His eyes were scanning the darkness around the
jogger. Upon seeing a shirtless, and muscular Luke, the jogger
started to run in the other direction.

“Wait!” I yelled
after him. Luke held out an arm to stop me. I shined the light on
him, his chin rose and his gaze narrowed in the opposite direction of
the jogger.

“We’re not alone.”
He let out what sounded like a growl. Luke pulled me closer with his
arms. “You ready?”

A tried to force a
swallow and nodded.

“Whatever it is,
we’ve disrupted its plan, and it’s not happy about it. The jogger
is no longer its target. Listen to me, Ana. You need to go back to
the car immediately. I’ll take care of whatever
it
is. Go
now.” Luke disappeared beside me and I didn’t hesitate to think
about how I was alone in the dark swamp. My legs took off under me,
faster than ever before. The adrenaline pushed me harder and faster.
‘Whatever
it
is?'
That can’t be good. That definitely can’t be good.
My heart
was racing but my breathing remained steady. Should I be worried
about Luke? No, surely he can handle whatever’s out there. I
stopped running, looked in both directions, not sure which path to
take. I had to listen to him this time. To stay out of trouble and
meet him at his car. But the energy that was flowing through my veins
told me otherwise. I felt like I could take on whatever was out
there. But I didn’t want what happened last time at Club Skye to
happen again. There would be no Hayden or his parents to bail me out
this time. I was still wearing Luke’s shirt and it saddened me. I
looked one final time in the direction Luke went and started running
toward him. I ran for a few minutes with the darkness enclosed on me.
Fear prevented me from stopping, a high kept me going. Luke’s black
t-shirt clung to the sweat forming on my body and I slowed to a fast
walk.

“Luke?” I whispered
knowing I didn’t need, or want to, yell in order for him to hear
me. Seconds passed with nothing but the sound of locusts and
bullfrogs. But then even those quieted and it was pure silence around
me. I whispered his name again. I heard footsteps behind me. My heart
was frozen in my chest.
Luke.

“There you are! I
have been looking for you, are you all right?” I turned around to
try to find him, shining my flashlight in every direction. There was
nothing. Nothing but dead silence. I turned in each direction, always
hearing footsteps behind me. Maybe I just didn’t know from where
they were coming. “Luke, it’s not funny.” The sound of the
footsteps got closer. My ears were ringing and skin burning from a
painful chill. “Luke!” I yelled tearing my vocal chords as I
started to run. Yes, I definitely had to run. I ran as fast if not
faster than before, the footsteps trailing me, getting faster,
catching up to me getting louder and louder as they hit the ground,
sounding like a horse trot on hard pavement. Something stung my back
in one sharp movement and I fell face first to the ground. I turned
on my back ready to face whatever was after me. I felt the ground
around me with my hands, hoping by some stroke of luck that the
flashlight had just turned off but not broken. Warm liquid dripped
down my face. It was too thick to be sweat. Blood. I sat up feeling
the gash on my forehead and cringed at the pain. My breathing heaved
as I waited for whatever was in front of me. Nothing was there until
all-at-once something dark and heavy was on top of me. I kicked it
off me with such force I heard its friction against the ground. I
should run but I didn’t. I knew it would just come after me again.
I had to kill it but how? Was it man, animal or something other
entirely?

I stood up preparing to
find something I could use as a weapon. The shadow rose taller than
me
and seemed to split in two?
There were now two things, one
on either side of me, surrounding me. In what felt like hours
passing, not seconds, I flashed back to Halloween night at Club Skye.
I pictured the Hybrid, a pig’s head and a man’s body, even more
disturbing than I remembered. The pig-head craned its neck to the
side, its black, empty eyes boring into mine. The corners of its
repulsive mouth drew up into what appeared to be a smile. A satanic
smile. My whole body shuddered. Luke was there. He pushed me forcibly
behind him. His body was tensed and positioned in a crouch. His broad
shoulders blocked my view of the hideous creature. He was protecting
me that night but I had no one to protect me now. Luke was prepared
to fight then.
How could I let this happen? I was supposed to save
his life but he ended up risking his to save mine. Something wrapped
tightly around my neck, choking me as I was lifted into the air. My
feet were set on top of the bar, but the tightening around my neck
was not released. I felt the blood start to pool in my face. There
was only one person pressing against me from behind, but too many
arms imprisoning my body. One around my neck, each arm and leg, my
waist… Luke turned around and looked up at me, determined. My vocal
chords didn’t work as I tried to call out his name…