Falling (The Soul Collectors Series Book 1) (14 page)

“Almost kiss. Everett put an end to it before it started, remember?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen Everett react that way about anything before, not that I think he’s in love with you. I just think he felt the need to protect you. We all do really. It’s strange. I see you, and you look strong, but I feel this compulsive need to protect you. Does that bother you, me saying that?”

“Bother me? No. It makes me chuckle a little. I have never needed to be protected before, so it’s a strange feeling. A feeling that’s not all that unwanted, I can say, just different. Everett seems nice. I will try to find a way to let him know that if he has some interest in Sadie that he can be free to hang out with her this evening.”

“Hoping to get a chance to see Declan again? Maybe finish what was started?” She waggled her eyebrows at me, causing me to blush. “Your face says yes.” She grinned.

“I don’t want to kiss Declan. He makes me feel powerless when I’m around him.”

“I get it. Gray takes my breath away, and I feel giddy around him, still.”

“You two are so sweet together.”

“Thank you. We’ve really fought to get to this point. We had a lot of miscommunications in the beginning, but we made promises to each other to always put in the effort to stay together. It’s worked for us, so far. I can see myself marrying him, having his babies, and just growing old together.” Wherever she was in her mind right now was light years away from my messy bedroom.

I felt jealous at her hopes of a future but was happy that I knew I was going to be someone who was going to help her get to that old age. If I got to go back home, I was going to have to show Aniston all the new things I had learned. She would find it funny, me acting so girly. I knew she would be happy too, though. She was always interested in Earth and the humans. I got lost in my thoughts wondering how she was doing. I wished I could tell Aniston I missed her now, and could tell her goodbye somehow, in case I failed my mission. That I could somehow let her know that I did miss her, and would miss her if I failed. I could write her a letter, I suppose, and place it somewhere in Hadraniel’s things so that he would find it. I was plotting where I could hide it when I heard honking

“Looks like they have good timing. I just finished. How do I look?” Hannah raised her arms out to the side and did a quick twirl for me.

“Marvelous.”

She giggled. “Ditto”

They honked a second time.

“Let’s go. Our very charming princes await.” Hannah rolled her eyes. Sarcasm from her was something new. I found it completely hysterical, and I fell into a fit of giggles that took a minute to get over.

Everett had graciously gotten out of the Jeep to open my door and even had a single rose for me. Gray, on the other hand, was just chilling, waiting on us. Hannah faked being annoyed, but couldn’t help but giggle when he leaned over to nuzzle her into forgiveness for not opening her door or having flowers for her. The drive into town was fun. We were getting close, and I was still struggling, trying to figure out how to broach the subject of Sadie to Everett. Gray opened the topic up, like one rips a band aid off, quick with little pain.

“Everett, dude, have you heard that Sadie is mad crushing you right now?”

Everett looked at Gray, eyes widened, then to me and back to Gray again, unsure if he was allowed to respond, or even how to respond.

“It’s okay. I already know. If you have any interest in her, and the chance comes up, please take it. I appreciate you talking to me and taking me tonight, but I don’t want you to feel obligated.”

“I don’t feel obligated at all.” He furrowed his brows. “Have I made you feel like you’re an obligation, Bayla?”

Realizing I must have said something wrong, I quickly tried to recover. “Not at all. You have been more than kind to me. I enjoy hanging out with you. I just didn’t want you to feel stuck with me if you wanted to be with Sadie.”

“Okay, because you are not an obligation. I like you, and I like hanging out with you too.” He smiled timidly.

I returned the smile, turning his into a full-blown grin. I could have fun tonight. I could do this dating thing. There was nothing I could do tonight to change the fates for any of us, so I might as well let loose and have some fun.

“What’s this movie about, the one showing tonight?” I asked to no one in particular.

“It’s some old black and white movie. I’m not really sure. I’m more excited for the food trucks that are going to be out.” Gray responded.

“Gray is always more excited about food than anything.” Hannah laughed. She placed her hand on his arm, in such a nonchalant way, you could tell it was more of a habitual act than one of purpose.

“Not true, I love music more than food.”

“Yeah, until you’re hungry again.” Everett winked at me as he joined in on the banter.

“You got me there.”

The looks they shared were very deep and sincere. It was fun to watch. On all of my other missions, I never got to observe a couple so in love. It was good research for me on human emotions. Father Paul would be pleased that I was getting such knowledge when I returned. The thoughts came out before I could stop them. I wouldn’t be telling Father Paul these things. He would never know how much I had grown. He was another one I needed to write a note for Had to give to when things were all over.

“Do you like funnel cakes?” Hannah had shifted in her seat to talk to me.

“I can’t say that I’ve ever had one.”

All three were gawking at me incredulously.

“This is something we have to remedy as soon as we park. It’s a tragedy that you haven’t had one before now. Deep fried, doughy, powdered sugary goodness. It’s like a taste of heaven. You’ll be sad for the chances you could have had them before, and didn’t.” Hannah looked to be off in some far away land, and there was such conviction in her voice it was borderline hysterical.

“Okay, Hannah. Bayla, you’ll need to excuse this weirdo over here. She may or may not be a sugar fiend.” Gray said between laughs.

“It’s true! I’m in Sugarholics Anonymous.”

“Guess you’re not anonymous anymore, huh?” Everett was proving to be somewhat witty.

“It’s okay. I’ll have a new member after tonight.” She sent a very pointed look in my direction.

“Let’s hurry and park so we can go get these tiny pieces of heaven.” Just as we were parking, Sadie and Had pulled in beside us. On the other side of them was Declan and Alissa. Declan’s ignoring of me continued which was fine with me. I didn’t need him distracting me from the fun I was planning to have.

“Bayla! You look great.” Sadie sounded shocked.

“She always looks great.” Declan said in passing, almost as if he was bored with the whole situation already.

“Thank you. Everett, I believe we have a mission to complete with Hannah.” I wrapped my arm around his and allowed him to lead me towards the food truck that had the funnel cakes. The smell that was coming from the direction of the truck was intoxicating. Rounding the corner, I saw Mr. Whitstock in line for the funnel cakes too.

“I see someone has a sweet tooth.” I winked.

“Oh, yes. I must say, these may be one of Earth’s greatest inventions.” Mr. Whitstock closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Do you want a plain one or one with a topping?” Everett asked.

“I’m not sure. Should we get one plain and one with a topping of your choice?”

“I knew we were going to be good friends!” Hannah came up from behind me. She put her hand up for a high five at my suggestion of getting two.

The four of us gathered at a picnic table with our four funnel cakes. We got a plain one, one with strawberries on top, one with chocolate on top, and what Hannah declared as her favorite, one with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on it. I tried a bite from each. They really were as good as Hannah had described. The amount of sugar I had in me was going to make for even more fun. I started to get giggly by the time I had finished my last bite.

“We need to go back to the Jeep and grab our blankets. The movie will be starting soon.” Hannah was clearing the table while hustling us up and away from the table.

Hannah had brought two large flannel blankets for us to use. We spread them out directly behind where the rest of the group had picked to sit. We had a great view of the screen that had been erected just for the event. It seemed as if most of the town had come out for the evening. I noticed Gray’s parents and shot them a quick wave. This atmosphere was something I had never witnessed. Everyone knew each other. Each person seemed to be enjoying the opportunity to spend this evening with their community. I was caught up in the mood when the first small tremor occurred. I barely noticed it. No one else seemed to either...except for Declan.

“Bay, did you feel that? How sure are you of the timing?”

“I am certain of the timing, you should know that. But that doesn’t mean there might not be other smaller ones beforehand.”

“Should we be concerned?”

I was shaking my head, about to answer, when the next tremor began. This one was not as small as the first. The screen began to shake. Declan realized at the same time as I that the screen was going to come down. We took off in full sprint towards the front to warn the people to move back. The others caught on quick and were yelling for people to move away. The quake continued for longer than it should have and moving was getting more and more difficult. We barely got the last of the people away when the screen collapsed. The jolt of it hitting the ground was barely felt with the continuous tremor. Finally after a good five minutes, the earth settled. Everyone was in an uproar. The local cops got everyone together in order to take a head count. After several failed attempts, the sheriff suggested people just take their own counts to ensure everyone in their group was safe, and if not, to report to someone from his office.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen.” I whispered to Hadraniel.

“I know.”  He was leaning towards me to continuing telling me whatever he was thinking when I saw Mr. Whitstock trying to get my attention.

“Hold that thought...I need to go check on Mr. Whitstock.” I made my way through the crowd to where he was standing waiting for me.

“What was that?”

“I have been told to let you know that things have changed. You have this week to rearrange plans. The earthquake will happen this Saturday evening, seven days from today. Now, go Bayla. Go do what you do best, plan and succeed. I’m leaving tonight.” He gave me a quick hug and was gone.

Hadraniel had a funny look on his face as I made my way back to him. The crowd was beginning to thin as each group reported to the Sheriff. I grabbed Hadraniel and Declan and pulled them off to the side to let them know what I had been told. I was going to have to out Father Paul to them. I just didn’t know any other way around it.

“Father Paul just told me that something went wrong. We have until next Saturday night. That’s when the earthquake is going to happen. We need to come up with a plan, and soon, for how to change the camping trip. Let’s get back to the group. Declan, just come by tomorrow so we can talk about this more?”

“Yeah, I’ll come by first thing in the morning. Someone said the church got damaged, so you won’t be attending anyway.”

I started to walk back to the group with Declan when Hadraniel put his hand on my shoulder.

“Has Father Paul been Mr. Whitstock this whole time?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t think to share that with me?”

“He strictly forbade me. He is my commanding angel when I am on a mission. I had to obey.”

“The secrets just have no end with you do they?”

His words caught me off guard. I couldn’t move as I watched him stomp back towards the group. I wasn’t sure what other secrets I had kept from him that made him react that way. He couldn’t know about my plan to get Meph alone, and I had already apologized for the trek to the valley. With nothing to say to him, I made my way back to the group too. Hannah had calmed down and was trying to help keep Alissa calm. Everett was beside Sadie, calming her down and looking very content beside her. Declan was scanning the crowd almost as if he was expecting to find someone else there.

“Do you have your entire group here?” someone from the Sheriff’s office asked as he passed me.

“Yes sir. We are all here.”

“You all can leave the area then.”

“Thank you.” I turned towards the group. “Hey, we can go home now.”

“I don’t think I can go home just yet. My nerves are just a little shook up. Can we just go hang out at the cottage for a while?” Hannah’s voice cracked a little.

“That’s fine, but maybe you should at least let your parent’s know you’re okay first.” Hadraniel spoke before I could.

“I spoke to mine already.” Gray said, and the rest of the group murmured something along the same lines.

“Well then, let’s pile into the cars and head over.”

“Declan, are you coming?” Alissa looked hopeful.

“Nah, I have an early morning. You all have fun.”

Everett rode over with Sadie, leaving Hadraniel in the back with me. I could feel his anger rolling off of him. I still could not even imagine what he was so mad at me about. Before I could get my emotions under control, tears started rolling down my cheeks. The stress of this mission, and now with Had mad and Father Paul gone..., it just got to be too much. The slow tears soon came faster, and before I knew it, I was sobbing. Hadraniel wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer. He was rubbing my hair trying to calm me. Somewhere in the fog of my break down, I heard him giving Gray and Hannah some explanation of adrenaline and being scared. They seemed to understand and allowed me to have my break down while Hadraniel soothed me.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered between sobs.

“It’s fine, Bayla. It wasn’t fair for me to get mad. There are things I can’t tell you either. However, it would have been a significant asset knowing he was here and could have helped us.”

“I know, but he made me promise.”

“I know. Just calm down, you don’t want the others to see you upset. We’re almost to the cottage now.”

I nodded, wiped my face, sat away from Had and took a few deep breaths. My body would still shake every few breaths, but I was calmer now. Hadraniel was really someone I had learned to rely on without even realizing it. He had been there for me since the mission started, and he was really making great strides. He would make a great Blue Angel one day. I had a feeling his graduation to full Blue would come sooner than expected once he returned with a successful mission under his belt. Everyone else was in their cars waiting for us by the time we pulled into the driveway.