The Watchers (35 page)

“Are you sure? Maybe, it was only a brief
image.” Ellen’s eyes were intense. The part of her that liked
mystery movies was enjoying the hunt. It was a hunt I didn’t have
an answer to.

“
I don’t know, Mom. I’ve seen a lot of
thoughts...”

“There are a couple of places where they
could camp. Or at least places I would camp at,” Alex said as she
studied the map. “If they’re hiding and want a place that is
strategic, one where they could see around them and have a barrier
to their backs, I would think they’d be here.” She pointed at the
Nantahala River. “It’s within walking distance of their house,
about three miles.”

“But what if they were taken against their
will?” I asked.

“Then why would that other dude come and warn
Daniel off?” Alex asked.

“Because they’re tired of playing games?” I
suggested.

“Or their spy disappeared on them, and
they’re out of options.”

“Alex could have a point,” Ellen said
swiveling her head back toward me like the lone audience member at
a very strange tennis game.

“Or maybe, they just got impatient,” I
countered.

“Maybe.” Alex bit her lip. “But last time we
saw Amanda, she acted cornered. I would bet my Jeep she ran
away.”

I sought a compromise. “What if she ran away
and her father went looking for her? That would explain why they
both fell off the grid and matches your theory that the Seekers
have lost their spy and are getting desperate. I got the impression
their boss is putting pressure on them for results.”

“That doesn’t tell us Amanda went,
though.”

“Are there any bridges over the river you
mentioned?” I asked slowly. I did know a place! The mention of a
river helped me remember.

“I think there are four or five major ones
near town and possibly two or three near the preserved land Amanda
lives next to.”

“Any littered with graffiti and next to a
dirt road?”

“Most of the bridges are littered with
graffiti – there’s not a lot for kids to do on a Saturday night
around here – but only two are next to dirt roads. Why?”

I got up and paced next to the chimney. I
thought over an image Amanda had unintentionally left in my brain.
It was during gym, and she was silently asking what the point of
living was. Then she’d imagined that bridge. What if, instead of
running away or being taken somewhere, she’d given up? I stopped in
my tracks. What if she’d decided to do something stupid? What if
her and her father’s disappearances weren’t related? What if they
were two separate things? But that meant… I pressed my hand to my
chest.

“I need Daniel,” I muttered.

What could I do? Was I too late? I hoped
beyond a fool’s hope that I was wrong. Maybe, Amanda had gone there
to gain perspective. Maybe, it wasn’t the place that she was
plotting to…I couldn’t think it. Alex and Ellen exchanged
frightened looks.

Ellen stood hesitantly, twisting her fingers
in worry. “Clare, sweetie? You need to catch us up to speed. We’re
not Daniel, but maybe we can help.”

“The disappearances are two separate things,”
I said. “We know that Amanda’s dad doesn’t care about her, and we
know Amanda has been really depressed. What if they both took off,
but in different ways and for different reasons?”

“I’m still not there,” Ellen said.

“Amanda’s dad might have just gotten tired of
working for those evil people and decided to go his merry way. Or
he got lost on a drinking binge. Who cares? Amanda, though…she’s
lost touch with all her reasons for living. She’s given up. I think
she gave up a long time ago, and now something has pushed her over
the edge.” I glanced at Ellen. “You were right, she does have a
retreat. I saw…I saw one day this place she imagined after thinking
the world was pointless. It was a river with a beautiful view,
surrounded by woods on all sides. It was next to a bridge and an
old dirt road. She went there to kill herself. Don’t you see?”

Alex gasped while Ellen stared at me in
shock. My fear turned to resolution. I wasn’t going to sit here and
do nothing. I would have to find Amanda. “She’s been missing for a
day, but maybe, she’s waiting, maybe, a part of her hopes someone
will come looking for her.” I pointed at the map. “Alex, narrow
down the possible bridges and give me directions.” My authoritative
tone brought her back to her senses. She nodded and poured over the
map. I went and dug through Daniel’s jacket for the cell phone. “I
need to call Daniel, see if we can’t get a ride from him.”

“I could take you.” Ellen said
hesitantly.

“No. It’s too dangerous.” I spoke crisply to
hide my fear. It reminded me of Daniel when he had ordered everyone
about. Maybe, he’d been more scared about those Seekers than he’d
let on. I looked at Ellen apologetically realizing she wasn’t
geared the same way Jackson and Margaret were. “Sorry…”

She waved a hand. “I get it. What can I
do?”

“Call Sam, and go over to his place for the
night.”

“Excuse me?” Her face turned bright red.

“Alex and I are going to be leaving to look
for Amanda. I don’t want you here alone. Not right now.”

“Will that make looking for Amanda easier?”
she asked huffily. “Me being with Sam all night?”

“Please, just do it? As a personal
favor?”

“Fine.”

She started to stomp away, her embarrassment
making her regress to adolescence, but stopped immediately. I
stared at her back wondering what she was doing, wondering why her
thoughts sounded cut off as if she had shoved them into a black
hole.

“Mom?”

Ellen turned. It reminded me of a thousand
horror movies where the victim slowly turns, and you find out
they’ve just been murdered or they were actually the bad guy all
along. When she looked at me, I didn’t recognize her. I took a step
back. “Clare?” she said.

“Yes?” I exchanged a worried glance with Alex
who had finally looked up from surveying her map.

“Clare, Daniel has disappeared. We can’t
contact him.”

I frowned at Ellen. Her voice didn’t sound
right. I realized it was because it wasn’t Ellen’s voice, it was
Beatrice’s. I gulped. She could do that? I remembered my
conversation with Jackson earlier this afternoon. He hadn’t been
lying… I froze as her words registered.

“What do you mean he’s disappeared?” I
asked.

“He was out hunting for the Seekers. Margaret
was hunting in a different part of the forest. Jackson was hunting
the human. The others have called me, but he hasn’t. The only
reason he wouldn’t is if something has happened.”

“He can’t have been gone that long,” I said.
“He only dropped me off two hours ago.”

Ellen smiled sadly. It was creepy, because it
was Beatrice’s smile.

“Our time does not flow like yours. When we
set out to accomplish something we do it very quickly. In a second,
we could have changed a lot or changed little, but, either way that
second would have meant something.”

“Our bodies slow down, so everything can
speed up. Nice,” I muttered.

“Besides, I can feel something is wrong…I
know it like any mother would know if their child was in danger. We
are coming for you. It was wise to tell your mother to stay with
Sam. We can only leave one behind, and even that is dangerous.”

“What are you planning? We’re going to look
for him, right?”

“Yes, but first, we must protect the girl you
were talking about. I know Daniel would want it.”

I cursed my inattention. If I had just
listened to what my gut had been telling me, and had insisted he
stay with me, he wouldn’t be in this predicament. This was my
fault.

“I will release your mother now. Tell her she
must come with us.”

“When will you be here?”

“Now.” The doorbell rang right on cue. I
jumped at the unexpected sound.

Ellen blinked several times as her eyes
cleared. Her eyes focused on my face. “What’s wrong?”

I started towards the door. “Daniel’s gone
missing, you were used like a puppet, and apparently, we have to
save Amanda, if she’s still alive, find Daniel, if those Seekers
haven’t killed him already, and save the world before
midnight.”

Ellen gapped at me, dumbfounded, as I headed
down the stairs. A cool blanket of reason wrapped around me as I
walked. I just needed to think about this logically, like a math
problem or a science experiment. What was the next step in the
process to get the desired outcome?

My eyes narrowed dangerously, and I bounded
down the remaining stairs. Forget reason. My next step was to find
a way to get rid of those Seekers; to end this reign of terror.
Even if it meant a fight. There was no way on earth I would let
them take my family from me. They had messed with the wrong
person.

Chapter 18

I jumped the last three stairs and threw back
the door. As I did, a gust of icy wind rushed into the house. The
sun had finally fallen beyond the tall mountains, but even without
the sun to let me know what the sky was doing, I could tell there
was a storm brewing; the kind of storm that ripped through the
world and left mayhem in its wake. Beatrice stood on the porch, her
beautiful face illuminated from the light pouring out of the
hallway. Her auburn hair moved with the wind.

“Sorry for using your mother like that,” she
apologized as soon as the door was open. “Cell phone calls are too
easily traced, and we are running out of time.”

Ellen’s Beatrice face popped into my head,
and I shivered. “It’s okay.” Another surge of wind billowed, and
thunder boomed deafeningly around the mountains. “Is this natural
or is…”

“Margaret is creating cover for us, to
distract the others and throw them off our trail, which is why we
must hurry and help the girl. She will not last long in this
weather.”

“All right,” I said. “What’s the plan? How
can I help?”

Beatrice smiled, although I could tell it was
to calm me rather than from any sense of pleasure. In her eyes, I
could see her worry. “You will go with Margaret.” She gestured
behind her, and I saw the others standing on the porch, blending
effortlessly into the dark. “Jackson will take your friend. I
gather she will refuse to be left behind?” I nodded. “Han and I
will take your mother to Sam’s. I’ll join the search later. Where
should we start looking for the girl?”

“Have you got the bridges narrowed down?” I
asked Alex as she reached the hallway, her steps slower than mine
had been.

She looked at her map, her thoughts grateful
I wasn’t leaving her behind. “It has to be the Wright Bridge where
Fulsom Creek merges with the river. It’s the closest bridge to
Amanda’s house. If I remember correctly, it’s a really pretty spot.
Dad and I go there to fish sometimes.”

“Do you know how to get there?” I asked the
group on the porch.

Jackson stepped forward and held out his
hand. Alex handed him the map. He glanced at it and said, “Point it
out.” After a second of consideration, she pointed to a spot.
“Okay, I’ve got it,” he said.

“Once Han and I get your mother to safety,
I’ll look for Daniel’s trail,” Beatrice said. “It might give us a
clue as to what happened… Please be safe out there. If anything
remotely strange happens, get out of there and contact us. I don’t
want you to go missing as well.”

Jackson put his hand on Beatrice’s shoulder.
“We’ll be fine. Margaret’s meaner than all of us put together…and I
can take care of myself.”

Margaret almost smiled at him. Beatrice took
a deep, calming breath. I knew it wouldn’t be enough to lessen her
worry. Her worry was a mother’s fear for her child.

Ellen bounded down the stairs fully dressed,
pushing her hair back into a ponytail. She looked at the group,
slightly uncomfortable. She was used to running from Watchers, not
trusting them. Walking down the steps toward them instead of
running away took a lot of willpower.

“You have to go with Han and Beatrice, Mom.
They’re going to take you to Sam’s and make sure nothing happens to
you,” I told her.

Ellen bit her lip as she nodded. Han held the
screen-door for her with a kind smile lighting his face. Looking
into his eyes, her fear dropped a couple of degrees. “Be careful?”
she said turning back to me.

I knew she wanted to tell me a million
things, like not to go, or to let the others take all the risks.
She knew me better than that. She knew I would do what was right.
To ‘be careful’ was a reminder that I was still human.

“I will.” I touched her face.

“We should go,” Beatrice said.

Ellen, Beatrice, and Han got in a red car and
disappeared down the street. I squared my shoulders when they were
gone, preparing for what lay ahead. Jackson noticed and grinned
mockingly. He probably thought I looked silly trying to be tough;
that my darkness was nothing compared to their kind of dark. I
rolled my eyes at him.

“Come on,” Jackson said. “We’re wasting
time.” He headed to the curb where their black motorcycles were
parked. I had been so consumed in my worry for Amanda I hadn’t
heard them drive up. It was a wonder…

Margaret threw me a helmet off the back of
her bike. I caught it and tried to act cool about our means of
transportation even though I was scared out of my mind,
particularly with Margaret driving. Jackson handed Alex his helmet
and waited for her to climb on behind him. I was intimidated to do
the same with Margaret. She looked at me and told me with her eyes
to hurry. We were running out of time.

Margaret’s motorcycle roared to life as soon
as I was on the back. I gripped her lightly, so she wouldn’t hit
me, or hold true to her promise of breaking every bone in my body.
My grip tightened as she swung us around the cul-de-sac and
followed Jackson down the road. Alex yelped at the speed and put
her head against Jackson’s back, so she wouldn’t have to look at
the road. My reaction was quite different. As Margaret blew through
stop signs, ignoring most traffic laws, I felt exhilaration. I
liked the wild ride. I liked the freedom of the wind and the
possible danger of falling off. I could understand Margaret’s
attraction to the motorcycle. It was liberating. It was fun. I
didn’t want the ride to end.