Escaped the Night (13 page)

Our f
ood was
served
promptly. We sat
in our booth
and enjoyed our
delicious fish and chips. After we finished up our meal,
Jayce went over to the front counter
to
settle up
the
bill.
I took one more glance out the window at the magnificent view. Picture perfect.

We got back into his car
to continue our touring adventure. We’d driven quite a way
up-island. It took
us
almost four hours
to get back
to Blackwood.
The n
ext thing I knew Jayce had me
safely
back home. Another day
had
raced by quickly
. It was already ten-thirty p.m.
It wasn’t fair
how
fast
time
flew
when I was with Jayce and
how it
stood almost still in situations where I wanted nothing
more tha
n
for
it to pass
more quick
ly. Time was a funny t
hing.

Before I
was able to ge
t
myself
out of the car, Jayce leaned over
and
gave me a
warm lingering kiss
, this time
up
on my cheek and grazing my lips
.
Butterflies filled my stomach and
the biggest smile
spread across my face
. I
felt
so incredibly happy;
it was absolutely impossible
for me
to hide it.
I
didn’t want
him t
o leave, but it was getting late. I fought against every
urge pushing me to stay and
got out of his
car. I headed up to my house;
before reaching the door, I
turned and waved goodnight to him
.

**********************

Over the next few months
Jayce and I beca
me
inseparable. We
saw
each other every day and
spent every waking minute toget
her. He always held my hand while
we were out and e
ach
night
left
me
with
a warm lingering kiss on
my lips
.
Over this
time,
I
beca
me really good friends
with the elements
.

Layla usually
kept her human form around me,
trusting
me
completely
with her se
cret. Every now and then, she’d
shift
into
a house
cat, but it
was
mostly
when we were
down
at
the beach or
around others
she didn’t know very well
.

Terran, Meriel and Layla were
n’t
like
any of
my other girlfriends. We got along very well
,
but on a totally different level. Ther
e wasn’t
gossiping about
cute
boys
we had crushes on
, or
how we spent
too much
on shopping
sprees
.
We talked
more about the environment and simply being alive.
When I was around them, it
felt like I was
experiencing everything for the first time. Nothing seemed the same
and
I had a new-
found appreciation for everything around me.

Aiden and Makan clearly enjoyed
Jayce’s
company. You could
just
tell
they’
d been friends for some time.
It was amusing to watch
them
attempt to roughhouse like normal guys. They danced around with anticipation, trying to get a handle on
each other
’
s moves before lunging
forward
.
Most times,
they
’d go sailing past each other
and land
on the ground.
They’d shake off their misses with laughs and get up to try again.
Jayce always
seemed to have
the upper hand.
Aiden and Makan
would
charge,
but
he
could predict
their moves, so
one quick
move to the side
and down they’d go again.

Even though
these were
superior beings, they were first and
foremost my friends.
It didn’t feel odd
to be
hanging out
with immortals because i
t finally felt li
ke I belonged somewhere. They’
d openly accepted me into their
circle.

Friday afternoon Jayce picked me
up and w
e drove around for a while
.
He
tu
rned the car around and headed
in the direction of Mystic Beach.

“Back to the beach?”

“It’s my favorite place
.” He grabbed my hand
,
holding it tightly
. Once in a while
,
it still caught
me off guard
how natural this felt
. It was as if
my hand
belonged there, the two of us s
pecifically made for
one another
. We fit perfectly. He squeezed
tightly
in agreement
.

I looked out the window
slightly
embarrass
ed
. Here I was fantas
i
zi
ng about this beautiful
man
beside me
and
most likely freaking him
right
out. It would
’ve
be
en
the same as walking up to someone and
blurting out
something along the lines of
,
‘
take me
,
I’m yours
.’

Jayce laughed
. “You aren’t the only
one
feeling this way
,
Shanntal
. We are feeling twice the emotion of any normal person right now. You
aren’t
alone
because
I feel it too, just as much as you do.”

This put me at ease. He
felt
the same way about me. Now
, I was
utterly
ecstatic. I turned
around with a big smile and watched
as
the trees and rocks flash
ed
by
as we travelled
along
the curving road.
We
pulled
into our parking spot
and
walked over the same path as we always did
. O
ut of habit,
I turned
and looked down the beach to see our friends
.

We were alone
today.
This
scared
, yet
excited me all at the s
ame time.
T
his
was my chance to find
more
things out about Jayce. In the few months
we’d known each other we had
really only discussed
my past,
the island,
and
his friends and
their importance
. Today
, I w
as hoping
to know
more about him.

M
ystery surrounded
Jayce. He’d totally
captivated
me
with his deep brown eyes an
d smile. W
ith
the
romantic
tension
evident
between us
,
he
’d
somehow managed to
remain
partially
dis
tant. I
knew nothing about him other tha
n the bas
ics. It was time to get
past
all
the small chat
.

We walk
ed a
ways down the beach
,
m
y h
and
cradled
in his
.
This was nice, just the two of us.
I was enjoying our
alone time so much that
I forgot
for a few moments
that
I wanted to interrogate him.
Jayce le
d the way over to a
flat rock shaped
like a bench along the shore and we sat down.

“I’m the keeper of the elements,” h
e stated
,
looking at me
cautiously. “Do you know what that really means?”

I thought
for a minute and
shook my head. “No, I’m not exactly sure.”

Letting
go of my hand
, he
got up off the
rock. I sat
and watched
as he
pace
d
back and forth
,
looking
nervous
.
“
Where
do I start?”

“From the beginning,
” I said
, unsure if I wanted
to hear what he was about to say.

He squared his body off in front of me
.
“Alright, I’m
an
immortal. There’s no other way
to say it. I
am the
keeper of the elements
and
connected
to certain minds. What you don’t know is
…
” He fidgeted around for a moment and then steadied himself. “I’m
the reason
that the elements function together as a whole and not against each other. I came to th
em a very long time ago. I was three years old the night m
y parents
were
killed
by
werewolves. I was tiny and
managed to escape.
Meriel found me alone, wandering down by the water. She took
pity on me and brought me home
to the others
.
Th
ey’ve taught me everything
I know
.
With my gifts, I was able to
keep peace between them
.
They were having
some real
power struggles and
I
figured
it was the least I could do
after they
’d
treated me so well
. A
nd it’s how I became their keeper
.”

“Jayce,” I
said
. “It’s okay
, that’s
a wonderful thing
,
and you’re a survivor.
As for
being immortal,
well,
it
means you ca
n live forever
.”

He
kept his stance firm
and
spok
e
more hesitantly than before.
“There’s more…
it gets
worse. There’s a fight brewing amongst the immortal world and for some unknown reason
, I’ve got a
feel
ing
you’re right in the cent
e
r of it. I don’t know which side
’s
going to prevail. Immortals are talking and some of them
are
say
ing
the outcome will
basically
be
up
to you.
They
beli
eve you’
ll be our savior and
think
you’re
the key to keeping peace
in
the immortal world.” He paused
and looked at me, waiting
.

I sat quietly for a minute. I’
d been introduced to some odd things throughout my life. Especially within the pa
st few months,
the odd things just seemed to multiply
and get more
unimaginable.

I
’d
met people who
resembled
the four elements and apparently that was because they were
in fact
the elements.
Not to mention, house
cats
shifting
into large wild cats and then into people right before my eyes. So sure, this could be believable, why not? After all, I’d seen so many things that made
“
normal
”
jump right out of my head. What was normal anyway? Surely
,
I no longer knew.

“I believe
you, and we’ll figure this out,
”
I said
,
walking towards Jayce.
“I’ll figure this out.”
A
million questions
raced
through my mind
, but
were quickly dismissed when I saw Jayce st
anding
there with his dark eyes
penetrating
me
.

I
was unable to
deny him, I longed for him. I couldn’t bear to be away from him for even a se
cond. This was nothing like I’
d ever experienced. I needed him, in every way possible.