Drawing Bloodlines (6 page)

Silently, he read the text again. He could feel his face and ears burning red. “Are you ki
dding me? Now, Lafonda’s speaking for me!”

Frustrated, Nathan started to type furiously on his phone. He didn’t know whom to text first, Leah or Lafonda, but suddenly, he stopped moving. Nathan thought he heard voi
ces again, but this time it sounded like it was right outside his window. “What the…” he uttered, his heart quickening against his chest.

Cautiously, he reached for the handle to the window; his face inching forward until it was almost pressed up against the glass. “Who’s out there?” he demanded. Without war
ning, the palm of a red hand appeared smashed against the glass.

4

CONCERT AT LYNN FIE
LD

“Aaah!” Nathan yelled, dropping his cell phone.

Frightened, Nathan cowered away from the window. His heart pounded rapidly against his chest. Over the sputtering sound of the engine, he could hear laughter, and his terrified face soon became a frown. “Grandpa!” he groaned, rolling down the window. “You scared the heck out of me.”

Nathan shook his head, while Roy continued to laugh heartily. “Oh, Nathan,” he said. “Could you scream any louder?”

“Ha-ha,” mocked Nathan. “There were these loud noises — bangs, and the lights are out.”

“That probably was me,” chuckled Roy. “Somehow Bo
bby managed to trip the circuit breaker to half the house. I had a flash light, but I still managed to make quite the ruckus getting to the main power switch located on the back of the house.” 

Incredulously, Nathan stuck his head out of the window. He had to squint after acciden
tly looking directly into the driveway lights above. “Well, even the driveway lights were off,” he said, defensively. “And with this fog….”

“Yeah, the fog’s getting really bad out here,” interrupted Roy. He had a look of concern on his face. “The lights are back on now, but you be careful out on the road tonight.”

For a second, his gaze fixed out on the main road and Nathan leaned out further to see what he was looking at. “Yeah!” yelled another voice abruptly, and Nathan jumped back.

“Bobby!” yelled Nathan, his heart pounding against his chest.

Roy laughed again. “What’s gotten into you?” he asked, with a chuckle. “Why are you so jumpy tonight?”

“Ugh,” Nathan groaned while clenching his shirt. “I’m not.”

“Ha-ha-ha!” laughed Bobby. He placed his hands on the rolled down window and stood on the tip of his toes to lean inside the truck. “You’re not going to wear that are you?”

“Bobby!” moaned Nathan, pushing his head back through the window. “Get — your — head — out of the truck.”

“Now, now, Nathan,” said Roy, crossing his arms. “Don’t be mad at Bobby.”

Bobby smiled and then Roy motioned with his head for Bobby to head back into the main house. “Oh, man!” griped Bobby. “What the heck am I supposed to do by m
yself?”

Both Roy and Nathan grinned as Bobby grudgingly walked away. “So,” said Roy, with a lingering smile. “I heard what ha
ppened between you and Lafonda.”

“Grandpa,” whined Nathan, while r
olling his eyes. “Don’t start.”

“You don’t have to be family to care, Nathan,” he le
ctured.

“Ugh!” protested Nathan. “I know, gran
dpa….”

“Uh, no you don’t,” interrupted Roy. He had a stern look
on his face. “You don’t know.”

“Really?” griped Nathan.

“Really,” said Roy, forcibly. “When your father found out that your mother was pregnant, he promised her that he would do everything in his power to make sure that you were born — and to make sure that you were safe.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” asked Nathan. He frowned.
“To make sure that I was born?”

“Look, Nathan!” blurted Roy. There was a brief silence. Roy opened his mouth to speak and then paused. “Your f
ather,” he choked. “After he died — I took on that promise.”

The tears in Roy’s eyes began to swell and Nathan found it hard to look at him. “Grandpa,” he said
. “Really, you don’t have to….”

“Now, now, let me finish,” he stuttered. Roy drew silent again and then swallowed hard before speaking. “The Dev
aro’s — they have been really good to us. And this has been our home for many years.” He paused, but a look of resolve returned to his face. “I know that it’s been hard for you, growing up without your parents. And I know growing up around those who are more privileged than us hasn’t been easy.”

“Okay, grandpa,”
said Nathan, quietly. “I know.”

“But Lafonda and her grandmother … and Amelia and Avery … they are like family,” he explained. “And having the same blood doesn’t necessarily make you family. I know Lafonda cares about you, Natha
n … we all do.”

Both Nathan and Roy fell silent; there was only the sound of the sputtering engine. “Okay. Now, get out of here,” said Roy, a
bruptly. “Before I hug you or something.”

Slowly, Nathan nodded and a small grin crept upon his face. “Okay,” he said
, putting the truck into gear.

“And Nathan,” called Roy, “Are you really going to wear that to the concert?”

“Ugh!” shouted Nathan with a smile. “There’s nothing wrong with my IUCF T-shirt!”

Nathan’s thoughts continued to whirl as he came to the three-way intersection in town that was Lawrence Road. It was evening, and the lights to Lawrence Hall were quite vi
sible now. Lawrence Hall was located at the edge of the IUCF campus and there wasn’t much around it aside from the forest preserve. Nathan always took this route to get to the North Entrance to Lake Charleston, to drive east to Route 7, or to drive west to the Falls.

So
much has changed
, he thought.
I will never think of summer leadership camp the same, or Lake Charleston
. He stared aimlessly at the trees that encircled the road as he drove to Route 7.
Before this summer, I was just me, but now I have powers, and somehow I’m possibly an answer to some old Cahokia Legend?

He shook his head and laughed. “I so hope that the Fir
ewalker in the legend is not me, but Malick.”

It had been weeks since he had been on this road. The last time he was here, he was ru
nning down what seemed like an endless road to save his friends.
Thank God, that angel appeared
, he thought. He shook his head again and sighed.
That is so weird; to think that there are angels and they are real!
Nathan looked down, his pants’ leg was vibrating from his cell phone, and he decided to ignore it.
And what’s even weirder is what he said to me.

“But I don’t want to think about it,” he said, as he slowly turned the old purple truck unto Route 7. “I have enough to think about now that I know the Falle
n Ones will be coming for us.”

Nathan took a deep breath.
I wish I knew where that medallion was, maybe if they had it they would leave the others alone
, he wondered. He released a long sigh.
But I don’t think that would stop the one with the crescent-shaped scar under his eye from coming after me and Malick.

From the road, Nathan could hear the sound of loud m
usic and as he got closer, he could see light coming from Lynn Field. He thought it was odd because Lynn Field was located right next to Grimm Cemetery. Aside from the old monastery, it was pretty much an open field, surrounded mostly by tall dead trees. “This is really taking forever to get there,” he muttered, checking the time in the truck. “We really should start storing gas out at the Devaro Mansion — and not just for the backup generator!”

When Nathan got close enough to see where the sound and the lights came from, his mouth instantly fell open. “What the?” he uttered in astonishment. “This is crazy — look at all the cars and the people. And
where did they get that stage?”

He followed the trickle of cars that pulled i
nto the section of Lynn Field that apparently served as a parking lot. “It’s normally dead silent out here!” he shouted as he parked the truck. Nathan decided to check his cell phone before climbing out of the cab and saw that he had several messed texts from Leah. “How am I going to find them in all these people? This is more people than I saw at last year’s homecoming!”

Grudgingly, Nathan climbed out the truck and texted Leah. Slowly, he allowed himself to migrate away from the pseudo parking lot made by the rows and rows of cars and he started to look for any sign of Leah or the others. He thought it was best to hangout near the truck in case Leah got his text me
ssage and came looking for him. A few minutes passed and he noticed that the crowd of people dancing in front of him had grown until it nearly reached him. “Ugh,” he muttered and headed in the opposite direction toward the trees.

Nathan tried to watch the singer and the band on stage, but soon became blinded by the light show and frowned. “I don’t know what’s the draw to all this,” he said, but sudde
nly, Nathan grew silent. “What is that?” Quickly, Nathan turned his head and then checked all around him. “Is that…? I swear that sounds like crying.”

Nathan turned to where he thought the sound was coming from, but it was hard to pinpoint its location, due to the loud music. “It sounds like its coming from the forest,” he mu
rmured. Cautiously, Nathan inched forward until he noticed a cloud of greyish white smoke swirling around the base of the trees. It slowly filled the air. “Looks like the fog is rolling in….”

Nathan stood motionless, trying to hear the sound, and shivered when a cool breeze rushed past him. “It must’ve been all in my head,” he murmure
d, but then he heard it again.

Quickly, Nathan turned in the direction he thought he heard the sound and a few feet in front of him, amongst the trees, he saw a wisp of what looked like a white flowing dress. It moved swiftly through the embankment of fog, g
oing deeper into the forest. “That looks like a woman!” he uttered.

Carefully, Nathan moved forward, paying special atte
ntion not to trip over any tree roots or fallen branches. He paused to try to catch a glimpse of her again. “I’m pretty sure that I saw someone.”

He was about to take another step forward, but stopped. In front of him, in the foggy mist, he saw what looked like a face and a pair of beady red eyes staring back at him. I
nstantly, Nathan gasped. There was an uneasy feeling in his stomach as he started to walk backward. The pair of red eyes continued to stare back at him and then, Nathan tripped. “Where did she go?” he stammered, restoring his balance and looking up again.

He still had an uneasy feeling in his stomach as he looked for any sign of her or the beady red eyes. “That was creepy,” he said, but suddenly, Nathan heard the sound of a branch snap behind him. Before he could turn around, there was an
ice-cold grip on his shoulder.

“Oh my, God — Samantha!” he yelled. His heart poun
ded against his chest. “You just scared the heck out of me!”

“Sorry, Nathan,” she said with a laugh. She had a smirk on her face. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn
’t know you were so … jumpy.” 

“Well, I’m not,” he said, feeling slightly e
mbarrassed. He attempted to straighten his shirt and then quickly ran his fingers through his hair. He grinned. “It’s just been one of those days.” Nathan remembered the woman in white and the red beady eyes and quickly turned his attention back into the forest. “Did you … just see….”

Samantha squinted, trying to follow N
athan’s gaze. “See what?” she asked.

“Umm, nothing,” said Nathan, slowly sha
king his head. He took a deep breath. “I thought I saw something. But it’s nothing.”

Suspiciously, Samantha stared at him and then tucked a loose strand of wavy brown hair behind her ear. “So, you were just bored and figured you would head out into the creepy, foggy forest instead of hanging out at a concert?”

Nathan turned to look deeper within the trees again. The fog had become denser now and he could barely make out the base of the trees. “Uh … yeah,” he said with a shrug.

Samantha laughed. “Come
on, Nathan, really?” she asked.

Nathan’s face turned red as he tried to resist searching the forest. “It is creepy, right?” he asked with a laugh. “But then
again, it is Justin Bloomer.”

“He can’t be that bad!” she chuck
led.

Carefully, they made their way back into Lynn Field and Nathan cupped his hand against his ear. “I’m sor
ry, I can’t hear,” he smirked.

“Oh, stop it!” she said with a smile and Nathan smiled back at her. “I know this isn’t exactly your thing, but I a
ppreciate you for coming.”

 
Nathan surveyed the crowd, taking note of the many IUCF T-shirts, and then frowned. “I just didn’t expect all these people!” he said. “I mean — is like, the whole town here?”

“I know, right?” responded Samantha. “This is so cool — and for my birthday!”

Nathan continued to look around; he had a displeased look on his face. “Umm, punch?” he asked, pointing to the sea of hands that held red cups. The florescent wristbands they wore easily illuminated them.

“What did you expect?” she laughed. “It’s a concert.” She watched as several people tossed their cups to the ground. “And yes, I’m sure a few people probably added a little som
ething extra to their drinks.”

Nathan smiled and then turned again toward the forest. He had a worried look on his face. “Okay,” said Samantha. “What’s up? I know you’re hiding something from me.”

“Umm, nothing,” said Nathan, trying to divert his eyes.