Destiny (Vanish Book Four) (7 page)

“Get out.”

“Dante,” I cried.

He didn’t say anything else. I reached for
the handle, and slowly got out. As soon as I shut the door, he
raced off, not to his house, but to the entrance of the
neighborhood.

I stumbled over to the private spot on the
lake; somewhere no one could see me. To be more specific, it was
where Dante and I came back to life. I fell to my knees on the
shore, and let myself fall face-first into the water. My screams
came out only as bubbles, rising to the surface of the water, my
pain escaping me, never to be heard.

I pretended the tears weren’t there as they
flowed into the water. I kept my head under water. I thought about
not coming up for air, but before I could make that decision,
someone had grabbed my shirt and pulled me out of the water—it was
Dante, he came back. He realized he couldn’t do this either. I
turned over to face him.

No. I was wrong—it was Skylar.

“How did you know?” I cried.

“I just did,” he said as he pulled me
closer.

I grabbed him back and wrapped my arms around
him, burying my head into his chest. The tears streamed down, and I
couldn’t stop them, but he didn’t care. He backed up, still keeping
his arms around me, and looked at my face.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I know how you
feel about him; I never consciously wanted to ruin that for you. In
fact, I’ve tried to find some way around this, but I haven’t, not
yet anyway.”

I pulled him closer to me. With his strength,
he didn’t have to let me, but he did. I stood there in his arms and
cried until the tears ran out. I heard a car speeding down the
street and looked over the bushes—it was Dante.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” I said.

He grabbed my hand; he didn’t want me to go.
His grasp loosened, I could tell it took a lot, and finally, he let
go. I knew my face was red and covered with tears, but I needed to
talk to him. I ran over to him and grabbed his hand, I didn’t need
to say how I was feeling; I knew he felt it too. I kept my eyes
patiently focused on him, waiting for him to say what a mistake it
was.

“I’m leaving,” he said.

“Don’t go, I need to talk to you.”

“I don’t mean it like that.”

“Wh—what do you mean then?”

“I’m going to my aunt’s house; she needs help
with… something.”

“Where?”

“A few states away.”

“Please Dante, no. You can’t leave me; I need
you.”

“No, you need him.”

“When—when are you leaving?”

“Tonight. Good-bye Scarlett, I hope you can
be happy.”

He walked inside the house and shut the door.
I collapsed on the porch, and just cried. I heard the door open,
and I looked up, anticipating seeing his face, possibly for the
last time, but it wasn’t him.

“You need to leave,” his mother said. “Can’t
you see what you’re putting him through? I never thought you two
would end well.”

“What?” I could barely speak.

“Please just leave him alone.”

I got up and left the porch. I stumbled back
to Skylar, who was waiting for me next to the water.

“He’s leaving,” I said without emotion. “It’s
really over.”

“I’m sorry, Scarlett. If it helps, I’m here
for you.” That tiny part of me that jolted awake last night, was
growing stronger by the minute, I think I might have been letting
it. I needed to know if Dante and I would ever have a chance
again.

“I need to talk to him once more before he
leaves, I’m sorry.”

I got up, turned invisible and ran for the
house. I climbed up on the garbage cans under his window; it was
open, and I could hear music blaring. All I needed to do was lift
the screen up and try to climb inside. There was a tiny ledge that
I could stand on, I got the screen up, but it seemed like climbing
inside would be an issue. I peeked up to see if he’d noticed the
screen opening, he didn’t. I got half of my body inside the window,
and the rest of me came in with a thump on the floor. He jumped up,
alarmed, and I became visible.

“It’s me; it’s me.”

He turned off the music, and did not look
amused. He turned toward me, there wasn’t a hint of emotion in his
eyes; they looked dull.

“I told you I didn’t want to see you, isn’t
it obvious? I’m leaving the state; I can’t do this Scarlett. It’s
just too hard.”

“I don’t want to be with Skylar; I want you.
I would leave the state with you; I would leave everything
behind.”

“Now that you know, now that you’re starting
to feel something for him, it can’t be reversed. You will never be
truly happy with me.”

“I was truly happy with you this morning,
Dante. Why don’t you believe that?”

“No, I don’t. I believe you were happy with
me yesterday, but I don’t think we can ever be like that
again.”

“Why are you being like this? You’re saying
that there will never be another chance for us?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head, and
then he opened them. “Maybe, but for now, I want you to just go
with what you’re feeling and not worry about me. If you really are
meant to be with Skylar, if it really would make you happier then
fine, it won’t change anything. I’ll still love you, and you will
always have loved me, and I can live with that. I have forever, and
so do you.”

“Please, tell me what you’re feeling. Tell me
what you’re thinking,” I begged. I needed to know if there was some
detail that I was missing.

“I’m feeling lost and alone. I’m also feeling
the guilt slowly fading away; I’m not keeping you from your
destiny, not anymore.”

“You don’t have to feel guilty; I’m choosing
you. Right now, I’m choosing you.”

“Then when the time is right, I hope you can
feel that way again.”

He bent over to zip up the suitcase I hadn’t
noticed on the bed. There was a small red box on top of the
clothes.

“What’s that?” I asked, curious.

“When the time is right you will know,” he
answered as he picked up the suitcase and grabbed a second one by
the door. “Good-bye Scarlett,” he smiled, but it was forced,
fake.

I ran over to him, closed the door and pushed
him up against the wall. Then, I stood up on my tiptoes and
struggled to reach his lips. He looked up pulling away. He acted
like it was crucial to avoid this kiss. The kiss I so desperately
wanted to remember, for who knows how long. I put my hands on his
shoulders trying to pull myself up further, but he was too tall,
and I couldn’t reach. I buried my head in his chest and began
sobbing.

“I need you,” I cried. “You are the one for
me, and I haven’t ever doubted that, not seriously, not in the real
world.”

“What do you mean?” he turned his face down
to look into my eyes.

“I mean the way I used to view things like
this. Now it’s all pre-decided. I don’t have a choice or some major
thing will not happen or go wrong or whatever. In the real world,
you love someone because they’re so perfect for you, it makes you
crazy to think of how your life was without them. When they look
into your eyes, no matter how many times they’d done so before, it
makes your heart stop. It’s a love so real that you would rather
jump off a cliff than be without them.”

The whole time his face was lowered so that
he could look me in the eyes, and it remained there even after I
was finished. I had caught him off guard and now was my chance. I
looked up into his eyes and rose up onto my tiptoes again. I put my
hands behind his head feeling his silky hair. Next, I moved my hand
to his smooth freshly shaven cheek—he let me. I took a deep breath.
The smell of his cologne filled my nose—and my mind, a familiar,
amazing night. I slowly moved my lips to his, but I was still a
little short. He brought his mouth down to mine, and our lips
touched ever so slightly. I could feel the pain in his kiss. In
that moment, I knew he was still going to leave, but I didn’t care.
I grabbed onto the back of his head and forced his lips into mine;
he gave in, and soon we were on his bed.

In this moment, I was thinking of nothing
other than Dante. Taking in his smell, feeling the softness of his
skin, and taking in the perfection of his face. I couldn’t lose
him, but if I would, then I would need one hell of a night to
remember. I pulled his shirt up and took my lips away from his for
a moment; I pulled the shirt over his head and threw it onto the
floor.

“Wait,” he said as I went to kiss him again.
“I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want you to go, please don’t leave,”
I was crying like a little kid. I needed to do something to get it
across to him that I didn’t want anyone else.

“I need to Scarlett,” his voice was like
velvet, and his hand was on my back comforting me, but it didn’t
help.

“Why? I don’t understand this. For a while
when I first came back to the past, I was smarter than you; I knew
more about this than you. I was the one with answers. And now you
remember what happened before, you know everything you knew, and
you’re back to keeping things from me and doing what
you
think
is right.”

“Scarlett, this has to be right. I don’t know
why, not yet, but everything could depend on this.
Our
future could depend on this.”

“I can’t do this; I don’t know what everyone
expects from me. I’m supposed to be super powerful and all knowing;
I’m supposed to be able to get over the love of my life and make
myself fall in love with someone else and for what?”

“I don’t know, but maybe we should,” he said
as he grabbed the book from his drawer. He flipped the page and
began to read. “It doesn’t say.”

“What? What do you mean it doesn’t say? What
if there is no reason at all, what if this is a mistake?”

“You can feel it; I know you can. That’s why
you couldn’t take your eyes off him.”

“When will I see you again?” I asked.

“I don’t know. My ride is waiting
outside.”

“What? Already? You’re leaving right now?” I
cried.

I felt hopeless, and desperate, but that
desperation gave me no ideas. There was nothing, not a chance that
I could change this.

He looked at me, his eyes burning through my
soul. I closed my eyes, and a single tear escaped. This seemed like
the end. I felt like I wouldn’t see him for a hundred years—which
would be possible as long as neither of us were murdered or had a
horrible, tragic accident. I had the future that I’d dreamt up burn
down within the course of a day. I had my heart break over someone
who I thought would never do such a thing. The world had taken back
my happiness and replaced it with something so forced, so
unnatural. I wasn’t sure without Dante here, that these feelings
wouldn’t morph and grow, and if they did, there would be nothing
that I could do.

I realized I’d fallen to my knees, and Dante
had left me. I ran down the stairs and out the front door. His
mother stood on the porch waving good-bye, she seemed confused, but
I had no time to listen to her. I ran out to the car. I couldn’t
beg him anymore, I was only torturing myself, and he wouldn’t even
look in my direction. The next thing I knew, they were off.

I went back to the lake. Skylar was still
sitting there waiting. I felt horrible. I couldn’t give in to my
feelings for him because I was afraid they would replace what I
feel for Dante.

He put his arm around me, and we watched the
sun set on the worst day of my life. He understood, and he felt
responsible; it was all there in the way he said nothing. He cared
about me, that I could tell. He wanted to heal my broken heart, he
just didn’t quite know how.

“I’m sorry Scarlett,” Skylar finally
said.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” I said,
staring out into the faint line of sunset that hadn’t yet been
consumed by darkness.

It wasn’t normal, or healthy to feel this
way, but there was something much stronger than my emotions tearing
my heart to shreds. With every breath, my heart ached more. I felt
like the sun wouldn’t rise tomorrow or ever again.

“To be honest,” Skylar said. “Neither do I,
it’s obvious how much you care about him. I wish I didn’t feel the
way that I do.”

“I wish I knew why we were meant to be
together, it doesn’t even say in the book. What is so important
that we need to feel this way? I guess the best thing for me to do,
is just forget about Dante for now. I can’t obsess over him until
he returns.”

“I’m here for you,” he whispered.

It was innocent. I could tell he wouldn’t try
to push me into doing anything I didn’t want to do. At least for
now—while I didn’t want that—but when the wounds start healing for
Dante, when he has been gone so long, that it’s hard to remember us
and how we were, I wasn’t sure it would stay that way.

We sat on the shore and stared at the sky all
night. Once the sun started to rise, I felt—alive. I still missed
Dante. My heart still ached for him, but I was starting to realize
that the world was going to continue. I still had my friends, and I
had made a new one. He reminded me of Dante in the way that he
didn’t leave when I needed him, though Dante did just that last
night.

“I’m sorry I kept you up all night, sometimes
I forget that people need to sleep more than just once in a
while.”

“It’s okay, I would never sleep again if I
could spend all my extra time with you,” I looked away from him. I
couldn’t look into his eyes while he said things like that to me.
“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, and I’m not
promising anything, but you have to give me some time.”

“Okay, so what do you want to do today?”

“Do you want to go check something out with
me?”

“Sure,” he said.

I led him to the hole in the fence, and I
climbed through before him. I needed to know who lived there and
why. Who would want to live so close to the Alliance? I had an odd
suspicion about that place, like no matter what we found, no matter
who lived there, it would be a clue, or at least something
significant. I went down the path, and in no time, we were standing
in front of the vine, and bush covered fence.