Destiny's Revenge (Destiny Series - Book 2) (12 page)

Two hours went by before I saw Seth’s car. He pulled up next to Max’s truck. I waved to him from the picnic table. He walked over to me a little hesitant, “Lauren?”

I had been running through all the possible scenarios of what was going on with Max and Joe. If they were looking for me, where would they have gone? “Boy, am I glad to see you!” I stood up and threw my arms around him.

“Lauren, what the heck is going on? I got a cryptic voice mail from you asking me to meet you here, begging me not to tell Max where you are - while I was on the phone with Max. He’s in a panic right now. He laid out this really unbelievable story and said he has to find you.”

“You didn’t tell him where I was, right?”

“No. I don’t want you to take this the wrong way or anything, but I think he might be a little unbalanced, and definitely delusional. Is that why you ran away?”

I shook my head, “Seth, I can’t talk about it right now. I just really need a place to go that Max doesn’t know about. I left my wallet at his Grandfather’s house and I can’t go back there.”

“Just come back home with me. Amanda won’t mind. We can get this all sorted out.”

Fighting back the emotion that I was sure was showing on my face, I said, “No, I can’t. I just need to borrow some money and disappear for a little while.”

“If you won’t come back with me, at least go to your mom’s house. She’d love to see you.”

I didn’t have the strength to say another word. I just shook my head.

“Listen, I don’t know what’s going on with you and Max, frankly I probably don’t want to know. He’s caught up in some crazy delusion about demons and evil, and I get why you took off, but you don’t need to run away from me or your family. We were here before Max came along; we’ll all be around long after he’s out of the picture. I was as taken in by him as you were. There’s no shame in caring about him, but he really needs help.”

Fire welled up in my body. Did he think Max was crazy? That’s why Seth thought I took off? Frickin great. That was exactly why I never once told Seth anything. Not about my dreams of Max all those years ago, not about Rewsna, and definitely not about that thing that attacked me and left me for dead on the mountain. Losing my temper here would do nothing but draw attention to me, so in as collected a voice as I could muster, “Seth, I just really need to borrow some money until I can get things worked out.”

He nodded, “Follow me up to the next exit. I’m going to buy you a cell phone so I can call you when I need to talk to you. We’ll get a bite to eat and figure out your next move together. Deal?”

I breathed a sigh of relief, and my stomach responded favorably to the suggestion. I nodded and we both went to our cars.

It was eleven p.m. when my stomach was full, I had a phone and $200 in my pocket. I thanked Seth profusely and promised I’d call him tomorrow. As I got into the truck, I opened my to-go bag from the restaurant and gave Peanut his dinner. We made our way to one of the county parks. The park ranger was gone for the night, but I filled in an envelope and put the $12 dollars in the drop box. As I tried to settle in for the night in the cab of the truck, my thoughts went to Max. My eyes were closed and the familiar tunnel appeared in front of me, so I stepped through and was transported to Joe’s house. Max was pacing the floor of the bedroom looking as distraught as I’d ever seen him. I stepped out of the bedroom to find Joe and Benny asleep in their rooms, nothing awry. I went back to Max’s room, and he was still pacing; he picked up his cell phone, looked at it, and set it back down.

The worry was evident on his face. I couldn’t stand to see him like this. I reached out to touch his hand as he walked by; just like the last time, he couldn’t feel me there. He didn’t see me watching, and for all I knew he thought something terrible had happened to me, again. I pulled myself back to my reality and looked at the cell phone staring back at me from the seat.

What would be the harm in calling? If whatever was in him was still there, it would know my number but that was it. If it was gone, I could at least tell Max that I was okay. I took a deep breath and dialed his number.

Max picked up on the first ring, with a very apprehensive voice, “Hello, this is Max.”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. His voice was normal, and I could feel the relief washing over me as I responded, “It’s me.”

“Lauren! Are you okay? What happened to you? Where are you?”

“Max, I’m fine, I know you’re worried. I just wanted you to know I’m okay.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m safe.”

There was a long pause until he finally said, “I woke up face down in the grass and you were gone. I’ve been going out of my mind. Are you coming back tonight?”

A single tear escaped my eye when I told him, “No. I just didn’t want you to worry. Stop pacing; you’ll wear out Joe’s floor.”

Max exhaled deeply, “You were here? You were watching me?”

“Of course, I was. I wanted to make sure it was safe to call you. You seem to be back to your old self.”

“Lauren…I don’t know…I mean…what happened?”

“It doesn’t matter, but it isn’t safe for you when I’m there.”

“Lauren, what happened?”

“Max, I don’t want to talk about it. I knew you were worried about me, so I wanted to call and let you know I’m fine. Nothing happened.”

“If nothing happened, then come back.” I could hear the urgency in his voice.

“Max, if I come back that thing will know. I can’t risk anything happening to you or Joe.”

“Lauren, where are you? I’ll come to you. Just tell me where you are, I’ll leave now. We can go wherever you want. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. We can run away - just you and me, we never have to see anyone or anything again. You pick the place: the beach, the Midwest, Disneyland, wherever you want.”

“Max, I can take care of myself. You’re safer there with Joe. I’ve got Peanut. I need to take care of some things.”

“No! Just tell me where you are. Rewsna said we needed to stay together, remember? Just tell me where to meet you. Lauren, I can’t lose you again. The last time I thought I lost you I went to a really dark place. If you leave again, I don’t know that I’ll survive. Just tell me where you are. Lauren, don’t leave me behind.”

“I’m sorry, Max, I love you. I’ll call again soon.” I disconnected the call and powered the phone off. Peanut was looking at me as if he had understood the entire conversation. I reached into the back seat and petted him, telling him we would be okay. He must have known how much I hurt right now. He laid his head on my shoulder and whined slow and steady.

I thought back to the very first time I met Max in my dream. He told me we had to meet, and we had huge obstacles to overcome. I guess it’s a good thing he didn’t tell me we would be fighting demons and beasts, or I might have run the other way. No, nothing could keep me away from Max, at least until today. Today I had been lucky. Max and his family were all possessed, probably by the same thing that had attacked me in the nursing home. When I left, so did they. Joe’s heart couldn’t be that strong. I was lucky that one of those things didn’t accidentally kill him in the process. That look in Max’s eyes - that dead look. I couldn’t risk one of those demons taking up home in him.

I was doing the right thing. As long as I stayed away from Max, there wouldn’t be any reason for them to possess him again. It would have been easy to look back in on Max and make sure he was okay, but I knew that seeing him would just make me want to call him again. I needed to stay far away from him. Some people go their whole lives without knowing real happiness. I had known pure undiluted passion, a love so strong my heart hurts at the possibility of not seeing him again, and a chemistry that no two elements on earth could ever achieve. I just needed to be content with the fact that I was lucky enough to have more love in a few weeks’ time than most people were allowed to have in whole lifetimes.

I contemplated the prospect of being alone, not just living alone, but not having any interaction with anyone because I’d only put them at risk. My parents, my friends, everyone I’ve ever known could be attacked at any time. I couldn’t let that happen. It’s much better for them not to know whatever happened to me, than it is for something horrible to happen to them and it be my fault.

As I reflected on and savored the moments we’d shared this last month, I could feel my passion for Max morphing into steely resolve. I wouldn’t let this beast ruin the life I was rebuilding. I wouldn’t remain content to have had those few weeks with Max. I would do whatever it took to get my life back.

I still had Max’s truck. I would worry about how to get it back to him tomorrow. Once I found another way to get around, I would just leave it somewhere and mail him the keys.

While still petting Peanut I said out loud, “Looks like it’s just you and me, boy.” Peanut gave me one final whine and stretched out in the back seat.

“
Lauren, are you well
?” I could hear Rewsna’s voice in my head. “
Lauren, Max found me today. He wants to see you
.”

“
Rewsna, stay out of this one. Tell him I don’t want to see him. Tell him to stay away from you and to not think about me
.” I had no sooner pushed the thoughts out telepathically before a memory from three mornings ago of Max freshly showered wrapping his arms around me appeared. The wetness of his towel dried body, the scent of clean and Max all swirled together in my mind before I could stop myself.

“
Lauren, I can see Max is on your mind. You need him as badly as he needs you. Tell me where you are and we will come to you
.”

“
Rewsna, send him away and stay out of my head
.” I purposely started concentrating on the periodic table of elements, at least those that I could remember from freshman Chemistry.

She somehow blocked out my review of elements, and said loudly, “
Lauren, what happened? Max’s mind is blank, as if it were erased. Show me what happened.
”

I did as she asked, from the moment Max had come into Joe’s house, until Peanut and I had sped away down the road. “
Satisfied? Tell Max to go away. I don’t know what happened to him, but whatever had a hold of him seems to be gone. If Max doesn’t know where I am, maybe it won’t come back. Just get Max away from all this!
” I concentrated harder on the periodic table, anything to keep my mind from wandering while I knew Rewsna was paying attention. I had gone through the entire chart one element at a time when I listened and realized she was no longer there.

I decided I would use my talent to listen in on what she was doing. I closed my eyes and thought of her: the tunnel appeared instantly and I stepped in. On the other side I saw her in a very nice house on the beach. Max was with her. He looked terrible, like he hadn’t slept all night.

“She won’t talk to me, Max. She told me to get out of her head and blocked me. I can’t make her listen.”

“She will listen to you; she always does. Just try again. Tell her I’m sorry. Tell her whatever I did, I won’t ever let it happen again. Tell her I need her to come back, or just to know where she is. Just….make her listen.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Max. Her fear has nothing to do with being fearful of you. She fears
for
you. Whatever attacked you could come back. I know you think you are invincible, but once you have been possessed, it marks you in a way that the demon can come back whenever it chooses. She was right to run away from you. She was also right not to tell you where she’s hiding.”

“Rewsna, I have to find her. I know you know.”

“Truthfully, Max, I do not, but if I did, I would not tell you. You need to keep your distance. You need to go on about your life right now. The Council will help Lauren. You have been marked by a demon. This mark will only draw the Beast to her. Stay away.” I could see Rewsna all but shoving him out the door.

I was right. If it happened once, it could happen again. Marked? So the demon could find him, and now the Beast could, too? That idea sent shivers up my spine. What if the Beast decided to go after Max? Max had to be okay. I couldn’t let something like this happen to him again.

****

I checked on Max several times throughout the day. He went back to his house instead of Joe’s. He sat on his front porch for hours, never moving. In four hours time he hadn’t moved once. Initially it looked like maybe he had dozed off in the rocking chair, but his eyes were open, and I saw him holding his cell phone.

I told myself it was just the shock of everything. He would be fine. He just needed to get back into the swing of things. When darkness fell, I looked in on him again. He had left the porch and was inside lying on the couch, the cell phone still in his hand. No one was anywhere. He was alone in the house. I heard him say, “I know you’re watching. Lauren, I’m so sorry – I don’t even know what happened. Just come home.”

My heart froze. He couldn’t be talking to me? He continued, “Lauren, I know you can see me. Just come back, I can’t stand not knowing where you are.”

I pulled myself back to reality and flipped on my cell phone. I started to dial Max, the phone flashed, “Twenty-four new messages.” I stopped, knowing that I wasn’t strong enough to keep telling him no. I sent him a text instead that read, “Yes I C U. Get some rest U look terrible.” I pushed send and powered the phone off.

I was getting ready for my second night in Max’s truck when I thought of the impossibility of the entire situation. My courage brought me to him. In meeting him and nearly losing him I felt unfettered passion. From our initial meeting there were three more things I had to achieve: Empathy, Trust and Virtue. Though I had never talked to Rewsna about any of this in any detail, now might be the opportune time to ask her some questions.

I closed my eyes and rather than look in on her when the tunnel arrived, I called to her telepathically, “
Rewsna, are you there?
”

I waited a minute and wondered why she was the only one I was able to share a clairvoyant connection with, when she answered, “
It is I, who share my connection with you, Lauren. Where are you?”