Escaped the Night (36 page)

“Ye
s, everything’
s fine.” He didn’t sound very
convincing.

I twisted my head to the sid
e and
looked at him
in disbelief. He was
flat out lying
.
“What aren’t you telling me
?” I pressed.

“
It’s n
othing
.
”

I
decided to
leave it. He’d tell me once
he was good and ready.
So, I figured there wasn’t any point
in pushing
.

We stayed outside
for
most of the day
.
Jayce
stayed
beside me,
though
he seemed a million miles away.
I tried
ignoring
the building tension
and
instead
focused on the clouds floating above. They r
eminded me of a time long ago.
Once my
sisters and I stayed
in the yard for five hours straight
,
watching
as they
pass
ed
by. We made a game
sayi
ng what we saw and
the
n the
others had to point it out. It was our version of hide-a
nd-go-s
eek. You had
to be quick because the
sky was
so
big and the
clouds changed constantly.

An
other day
was coming to an end.
I watched as the sun
dipped
behind the hills. I rolled onto my stomach and looked
at Jayce. “Do you think Daray’s going to come for me soon?”

“
I don’t know what he’s planning,” h
e replied sharply.

“Couldn’t you
connect
, so you could
find out what he’s planning or see what he’s doing?”

“
Is that what you want?” he snapped. “
Fine!” He closed his eyes to
c
oncentrate
.
Two seconds passed and h
e opened his eyes back up. “Nothing.”

“Jayce, come on,
” I said, frustrated by his mood. “
You didn’t even try.”

“You want to know what’s wrong so badly
,
well here it is!
The
elements can’t fight for you.
Don’t you get it? We almost lost Meriel. I
t
’
s
just
crazy, t
here’s more at stak
e here than you. Yet, e
veryone keep
s putting
everything on the line and it
can’t be done anymore. It
has to
stop!”

His words cut through my soul. “I never asked anyone to do this for me.” I couldn’t believe
what
he
just
said. It was heartless and
there was no
need to be so cruel.

I started get
ting
up
,
figuring it’
d be better to leave him alone before anything else hurtful was said and couldn’t be taken back. The house was big enough for us to stay far enough away from eac
h other until things cooled
down
,
or maybe it was better
to
just
go
home
.
I decided that it was better
to leave
. He didn’t seem to want me around right now. I got up.

He
grabbed
my arm
,
holding me there.

“What?
”
I sarcastically shot at him.
“Didn’t you say it already?”

“I’m not sure I’m built to do this. I love you more than anything
in the entire world
, but
you need to
understand,
I can’t have you and keep them.
“ He
let go of me as he
pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping
his arms around
them
.

Suddenly, I
realized
how
badly
this
was
tormenting him
.
I lost my edge and reached over to hug him, hoping
to
help ease some of his pain
. “You don’t need to
choose
Jayce.”

“Yes, I do!” h
e yelled
.

That was enough. I let go of him. This was just pointless. He was too upset and wasn’t telling me the whole story. How was I sup
posed to help if I didn’t know what was going on
?

Kaleb
came out of the house and walked
towards us. I got up and
headed
away from
Jayce. He was so angry
and it tore me apart. I didn’t know how to handle
him when he was like this
. I kept my eyes straight ahead
on
Kaleb. I never looked back
at Jayce as I wal
ked away
.

Kaleb looked over at Jayce
,
but never said
a word to him
. Instead he escorted
me
back into the house.
Everyone crowded around in t
he living room. I looked around, but
didn’t
feel like
be
ing
near anyone. I felt their eyes on me, questioning my worth. I began feeling like an outsider.
Sensing
my a
ngst,
Kaleb led me away. H
e took me up to the room where he
was
staying. I walked
in and sat on the bed while h
e closed the door.

“What was that
all about?” Kaleb asked
.

“I’m not entirel
y sure. I thought maybe you’
d know better.”
For some reason, I thought
he
might have
known something I didn’t.

“I know he’s feeling torn at the moment. He
loves you more than anything, but he’s
also
the keeper of the elements, which isn’t something he can give up easily. It’s a big responsibility that w
as bestowed on him.”

I had to
believe Kaleb when he said
Jayce loved me. I thought that he did
too, b
ut the way he was acting
now,
said s
omething totally different
. It felt
more
like he hated me
.

“He feels
like
he
needs to choose
right now
. The
elements aren’t safe when you’
re involved… no offense
.
Until Daray is destroyed and peace can be restored, he will remain torn.
”

I didn’t respond. I
just
sat there waiting for him to finish his theory.

“They want to protect
you and they will fight
. The problem is
,
every single being on this planet depends on them. So basically
,
what it
comes down to is
,
they can’t risk themselves
again
for the sake of you.” He
tried
to break the news gently, but his words still cut like razors.

“I never asked them to do anything like that for me. I never asked
anyone,
” I
snapped
. I
didn’t want to cry, but
I
could feel the tears coming
.

“We know you n
ever asked. That’s why we
want to
help.” He patted my shoulder.
“You are so stubborn and
you
can’t see the big picture yet.”

I knew he was trying to support me
,
but I was past the babying pa
rt. Just pull the
Band-A
id off and l
et me have
it.
I stood up
,
put
my hands on my
hips
,
and paced back and forth
.
What was I going to do? If I left here I wouldn’t be as safe.
Although, they were p
retty much
saying
they didn’t
really
want me h
ere anymore. Or at least, that’
s
what I was getting out of these
conversations.
Then I had an idea.
“Kaleb, I want to go to t
he beach. Will you come with me
?”

“The beach?”
By
his expression
, it was apparent
he didn’t think it was a good idea.

“Yes, just the two of us. Maybe there’
s some way to negotiate with Daray and the others. You'll
be safe with me. They know we’r
e conn
ected so they won’t harm you.”

“Won’t harm me? Meh!” He folded his arms in disapproval. “Just like
they wouldn’t hurt
Garrison
. You’
ve
got
a blind spot for that parasite.”

“Kaleb!
I’ve got to try something. I can’t sit by while
everyone else battles for me.
I love Jayce; I wo
n’t stand by and let him toss me aside
,
especially over something like this. He shouldn’t have to choose. It’s not right.”

“I don’t know,” h
e said
,
with a shrug
.

“Whatever Kaleb. Forget it,
I’ll go by myself!” I started towards the door
. In
a qu
ick flash
,
Kaleb pressed
himself up against the door
,
blocking me in
.

“Did
anyone ever tell you that you’
re to
o hot-
headed? Geez man!”

“Kaleb, I’m warning you. You either get out of my way now or I’ll make you move.” I braced myself for impact.

He did
n’t budge.
“P
retty tough
talk
for a girl.”

I rolled my eyes and smirked.
He was right.
My mouth
sure did tend to run off
sometimes.
I let out a sigh as I headed back towards the bed.

“How do you suppose
we get past everyone else? It is
getting dark
,
you know
,
and they’re keeping watch
.”

“Oh,
so you’re in
,
are you?” I turned around and grinned
.

“Can’t let yo
u have all the fun, now can I? Besides, I’m in the mood to
punch a few parasites.” He
smashed
his fists together the same
way
Kael always did.

“Oh my!” I said, feeling
like I was standing beside a clone.
I turned
around
deciding
to sneak a pee
k out the door
. We needed to make sure it
was clear
so we could make
our escap
e.
I stuck my head out and saw Kael
walking
down the hall towards the room.

“Kael’s coming,” I said
,
closing the door quietly. “He can’t come
,
Kaleb, it’s too risky.”

Right on cue, Kael knocked on the door.

“Got it?” I asked
.

He rolled his eyes and shoved me aside as he opened the door.

“What’s up?” Kael asked
.

“Not much. Just hanging with Shanntal right now.” He moved aside so Kael could see me.

I
waved.

“Oh, hey Shanntal. What’s going on
?” Kael said
waving
back.

“She
and Jayce are experiencing some
,
umm…
friction, so we thought we’d hide out in here.” Kaleb filled his friend in on
some of
the details.

“Cool, but not cool. Friction isn’t cool. Hidi
ng out is cool.” Kael
pushed
his way into the room. He walked
straight
over to the bed and sat down
,
making
himself comfy.

Kaleb and I looked at each other
,
speechless.
Then,
he
abandoned me to si
t down beside his buddy
.
They both folded their arms
and peered
at me.