Everlasting Bond (10 page)

“If we’re lucky, he’ll move to
Tibet or somewhere,” Stacy teased. Katrina giggled at the thought. It would be nice for him to freeze his ass off elsewhere. And he definitely wouldn't be able to play football.

That’s when a funny feeling hit her. Brody almost never missed school, but missing football practice was something he never did. Football was his religion, the only thing he even cared about.
Maybe I’m overreacting? I should just be glad he’s not here and forget about it.
Katrina brushed it aside. Brody was hardly worth wasting her time over anyways.

“There’s the bell,” Stacy said. “I know you’ve got your hands full with lover boy, but maybe after school we can hang out?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“See you.” Stacy gave her on
e more tight hug and then left.

Katrina walked back to the table and found it empty except for Cole. He stood leaning against the edge the table with his hands crossed over his chest, waiting for her. They walked to their next class side-by-side and the rest of the day went without any problems.

By the end of her last class, Katrina had grown so used to Cole waiting for her she expected it. He was leaning against the wall and his face lit up when he saw her. “Hey.” He rocked himself off the wall and smiled.

“Hey, yourself.”

“Ready?”

“Definitely.” Katrina started edging towards the parking lot and Cole kept up a steady pace next to her, but his body language was off. He seemed very nervous all of a sudden and she had the fe
eling something was up.

Her thoughts were pushed aside when they met up with Jake and Andrew. The two boys were in deep conversation, but the moment Katrina and
Cole approached they stopped.

“So, where to?” Andrew asked the group as a whole.

“I have to go finish changing light fixtures at Trudy’s,” Jake answered.

“Want some help?” Andrew offered with a smile.

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

“What about you?” Cole asked, turning his attention to Katrina. “Any plans?”

“No, not really. I was just going to head home and study. Why?”

“I thought we might go somewhere and talk.” He hesitated on the last word and Katrina felt that he was debating about something.

“Oh, uh—” Katrina looked back and saw Stacy walking out of the building. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” He followed her eyes. “I have the feeling you wanted to be somewhere else.”

“It’s not that. I just promised Stacy maybe we’d hang out later.”

“She did seem rather excited and anxious today.”

“You have no idea,” she mumbled to herself.

“Would you prefer me to take you home, instead?”

“No.” She shook her head. “We can go talk.” Katrina caught Stacy pulling out her phone as she kept walking past her.

“If you’re sure?”

“I’m sure.” Feeling the vibration in her backpack, she pulled out her phone and slowly read the text: 
Go, but Details L8r!
   She stared down and smiled. Of course Stacy would understand.

“Come on, Kat. Get in!” Jake shouted.

“Coming.” Katrina smiled to herself and put her phone away before she climbed into the passenger’s seat.

Cole was walking around to his side of the car when his demeanor suddenly changed. His body became very rigid and tense. The muscles in his face grew tight as he ground his jaw together and clenched his fists. His nostrils flared, as hi
s eyes scanned the parking lot.

Andrew hissed from the back seat and Katrina turned to see the same strained look on his face. Jake sat still next to him and even though he didn't say anything, she picked up on his apprehension through the bond. A bad case of deja vu suddenly hit her and Andrew looked just as scary as he had the night before. Whatever he and Cole were sensing out there wasn't good.

The slamming of the car door caught her attention. “Is something wrong?” she asked Cole.

“No. We should hurry though.” It was obvious Cole was hiding something from her. He was too quick to answer her, but this wouldn't be the end of it. Katrina was too stubborn to let it go and she'd get it out of him later. He gave Andrew a slight nod and turned the ignition. The two both seemed to be aware of the same se
cret, and they weren’t sharing.

As the car backed out, something shiny caught the corner of Katrina’s eye. It looked like a white car hidden behind a row of trees, but when she did a double-take it was gone. She frowned.
Must have been nothing.
Her over-active imagination was probably causing her to hallucinate, again.

The further away from school they drove, the more Cole and Andrew relaxed. Katrina laid her head back against the seat and did the same. Things were pretty strange the past couple of days and she wondered if it was only
the beginning of more to come.

Katrina felt a sudden chill and slightly jumped. When she looked down she saw Cole's hand wrapped around hers. She chewed on her bottom lip
and suppressed a smile.

His pale skin was a beautiful contrast against her own fair skin. Even the feel of his skin was different. It was smooth and cool to the touch, much like a porcelain doll. Tracing her eyes up his arm, she enjoyed the scenery. When her eyes made it up to his face they stopped. The view was breathtaking. She wanted to enjoy it a while longer, but the car was already slowing down. They made it to Trudy’s
much sooner than she expected.

As they pulled into the narrow driveway, Jake was fumbling with his things. Before Cole could come to a complete stop, he was already pushing on the back of her seat to get out. For some reason he was more anxious than usual
to go inside and get to work.

As soon as the car stopped, Katrina jumped. She didn't want to chance being smashed up against th
e dash when Jake shoved her seat forward. He hopped out and waited for Andrew with his hands in his pockets. Andrew followed out behind him and gave Katrina an odd stare. It was like he wanted to say something, but shook his head and thought better of it.

Then Andrew bent down and turned his attention to Cole. His jaw went taut and his body language was closed off. Neither he nor Cole spoke out loud, but Katrina couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing out on an important conversation.

The silence that followed became uncomfortable. Andrew stood frozen, like a statue glaring back at his cousin. It made every hair on Katrina’s body stand on end. She was about to move away, when Andrew snapped back to reality. He gave her one last glance over and then walked towards Jake.

What the hell just happened!
was what she wanted to scream out loud, but kept it to herself.

Instead, she let it roll off her back and focused her attention back on her brother. Jake’s long legs took larger than normal strides towards the shop. His agitation was coming through loud and clear, but she couldn’t understand what had him feeling that way. Then Andrew followed right behind, leaving no space in between and realization dawned on her. After Andrew followed him inside Trudy’s, the entire town would know about the two of them. That was inevitable, since her shop was the main artery of the town gossip. As happy as he was to be with Andrew, his body language spoke volumes of his uncertainty about the whole town finding out.

“Bye Kat. I’ll see you at home!” Jake shouted over his shoulder, without looking her in the eye.

“Yeah, see you at home.”

Katrina turned back to Cole and found him staring at Andrew. He nodded to him in agreement about something. She shot her head back in Andrew's direction in time to catch him grinning at her. He didn't speak much so far, but the looks he gave were sure odd. Then he grabbed Jake’s hand and the two of them disappeared into Trudy’s.

Once the door shut behind them, Katrina stared back at it. Through the bond she reached out to Jake and sent him reassurance that whatever happened she had his back.

“You ready?” Cole asked.

“Yeah.”

Pulling onto the highway, Cole turned away from town. Katrina tapped her foot against the leather seat and wondered where he was taking her. Every place she could think of was the other direction. He was heading out of town and towards the forest. Being someplace isolated and so far away from civilization with just him, made her feel a bit uncomfortable; Katrina's inner voice warned her to be careful.

The car turned and Katrina realized Cole was heading into the
Morgan Springs Cemetery. She hadn’t been back there since her father’s funeral. That was a day she wished she could forget. The pain was of his loss was slowly starting to heal, but she knew it would leave a horrible scar on her forever.

She shivered as they passed through the big iron gates. Cole kept going till he came to the parking lot. He pulled into a space and turned off the ignition then paused. As he played with his keys, he seemed to be struggling with something. Tension was emanating off of him in large waves. He opened his mouth to speak a few times, but stopped himself. Then, without a word, he climbed out of the car. Seconds after he shut his door, Katrina was s
tartled by the opening of hers.

“Where are we going?” she managed to ask.

“I want to show you something,” Cole said. His voice carried a somber edge to it.

“Way out here?” Katrina felt a bit uneasy, but Cole simply nodded and held his hand out to her. Without hesitation she took it.

He gently tugged on her arm to follow him. Katrina stared at the newer headstones they passed and grew sad. With their monotonous rectangular shapes it was hard to mistake them for anything else. Barely visible in the sea of grass, they were meant to blend and go unnoticed from the everyday eye of onlookers. Death, it seemed, had become a mass production of the same conclusion.

The scenery changed from the tidy, well kept greenery to clumps of russet soil complete with overgrown wild flowers. Katrina felt a lump of uncertainty in her throat. Cole was taking her further into the cemetery. This was a place not many people came to anymore. It was where some of the oldest graves were kept. Countless cracked and ancient headstones marked the final resting place for many of the earliest settlers in
Morgan Springs. Katrina never had any desire to be so far inside the cemetery walls before. It was soundless and vacant. Goosebumps started to run up her arms as the haunting landscape grew dark and dreary.

Passing headstone after headstone, Katrina wondered how far Cole planned on going. She was sure they were going to reach the end soon. It seemed like they had been walking for hours before he finally stopped in front of a simple looking gravestone. Katrina felt his icy hand pull her in closer and gesture for her to lo
ok down at it. It read simply:

Caroline Reinhardt

1864-1880

“Who’s that?” Katrina asked.

“That was someone I knew a long time ago.” His voice wavered and Katrina could see the pain behind his eyes returning. Watching him fidget with his keys, Katrina knew whoever Caroline was, she must have been of grave importance to him.

“Was she someone close to you?”

“Closer than you might think.”

Sitting next to the gravestone, Cole retreated into his own world. He went very quiet and she could see the longing in his face. Katrina stood and watched him play with the weeds nearby. She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Instead, he reached out his hand and gently pulled her down next to him.

“How did you know her?” She tugged on his hand forcing him to look at her.

“She’s
someone I met—a lifetime ago.”

“Who was she to you?”

As the words left her mouth, Cole’s face went blank. He stared back down at the ground and squeezed his fists around the violet weeds. He clenched them so tight, Katrina felt sorry for them. They looked like little specks of dust crumbling under his abnormal strength. She watched him grasp at the poor defenseless vegetation and waited for an answer. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he looked into her eyes and gave her one.

“You.”

“What? No. That’s impossible,” she argued, shaking her head wildly. “She’s dead.”

“I could try to explain, but it’s easier to show you.” He dusted his hands of
f and reached for her. “May I?”

“What are you going to do?” Katrina inched back, feeling the poking of the weeds into her shirt.

“Do you trust me?”

Katrina stared into his eyes debating. She did trust him, but she wasn’t sure to what extent. However, her curiosity beat out her uneasiness. “Yes, but—”

“Shh, shut your eyes.” He leaned into her and she opened her mouth to protest, but he spoke first. “Please?”

She exhaled a deep breath and nodded. Shutting her eyes, Katrina was startled by Cole’s cold touch. Even though his hands were firm, they cradled her face gently. The soft touch sent
shivers of warmth up her spine.

With her eyes closed, Katrina was suddenly aware of the different smells around her. The earthy smell of eucalyptus mixed with a hint of spice permeated her senses. Without a doubt, she knew it was Cole. Katrina was so lost in his smell that she almost forgot where she wa
s and what she was waiting for.