Halflings (34 page)

She needed to be in that house. She needed to put some laundry into the washer and straighten the garage. It always made her dad proud when he’d come home and she’d straightened the garage.

But he wouldn’t come home this time. If they were dead, truly dead, they’d never see what she’d done for them, though she would do it anyway. She’d scrub and clean and polish until her fingers were sore and until she couldn’t move, then she’d stretch out on their bed and sleep, smelling their pillows and dreaming they were beside her. Yes, that’s how Nikki would spend her first day as an orphan.

That’s how she would say good-bye.

She dressed in the clothes she’d arrived in, ones she didn’t even remember stripping off to sleep. She had no vehicle, so she’d walk. It wasn’t far, maybe four streets away. The sun shone mercilessly. Stinging from the glare, her swollen eyes focused at the bottom of the hill. She pushed herself on. Though when she rounded the corner onto her street, nothing seemed right.

There was a semi truck just pulling out of the driveway.
No, a moving truck.
Nikki grasped her hair with her hands. Even as she yelled, “Hey, hey, this is my house!” and ran after him for a few steps, the truck continued on, not even bothering to slow down.

When it was evident he had no intention of listening, she ran toward her front door, and found it ajar. The remnants of
Nikki’s heart sank as she pushed her index finger against the door and watched in horror as it opened … to an empty house.

Nikki stepped inside and the very house seemed to groan with loneliness. She didn’t know how long she wandered through the barren rooms. Every piece of furniture, every painting, every bit of clothing had been stripped. The house she’d known since she was a child was a weird empty hole she scarcely recognized. Even the refrigerator had been emptied. Her finger traced the tape outline of her school schedule that had been ripped from the door. She slung a cupboard open, hoping, praying her mother’s pans would be inside. But the space was as vacant as a discarded box. She pulled a breath through her nose and could still smell the faint scent of her mom’s baking. That was the only remnant of her world.

Nikki meandered upstairs. She braced herself against the doorjamb and stared into her room at the carpet-flattened indentions where her bed had been. Inside her parent’s room, the same. Only dust remained to keep her company. She sank onto their floor and pressed her face into the carpet. This room still smelled like them. A lump of raw emotion rode to her throat and expanded until she thought her breathing would fail. She entered their bathroom and caught sight of her reflection in their mirror. And for a moment, she hated herself. For being alive when they weren’t, for not protecting them, for being confused for so long. Nikki slammed her fist against the glass and felt it bend, then break beneath her hand. Cracked and splintered sections of her face stared back through the mirror’s image. Her eyes fluttered with tears. “I don’t believe in bad luck,” she uttered. In fact, the shards represented a fairly fitting picture of herself. Broken, jagged, yet somehow still alive.

Dazed, she left the room and traversed the stairs with each
footfall pounding in her head. She wandered outside and did what she knew to do. Walk. One foot in front of the other. Take a step, then again. Nikki paused at the edge of a playground by the wide parking lot that separated her neighborhood from the one where the Lost Boys lived. There, she was caught between heading toward the Victorian or the opposite direction, where her feet would carry her back to Damon. Her body and mind were equally at odds. When she began to step one way, she stopped as if hitting an invisible barrier, and when she began to go the other direction, some different part of her prohibited movement.

So Nikki stood very still and watched the swing where a squirrel had perched. Even from the distance, she could see the small, round nut he protected in his tiny hands.

“Better find somewhere to bury that,” she mumbled. “Winter’s coming.”

The screeching of tires drew her attention away. It was Damon. His car had stopped in the parking lot and he was jogging — no, running — to get to her where she stood at the halfway mark between his home and where the Halflings lived. And that stupid gold bracelet he always wore caught the sun and twinkled happily as if it had a right.

“Nikki, thank goodness you’re all right.” He grabbed then hugged her.

But her limbs hung loosely at her sides. For once, she didn’t feel totally comfortable in his embrace. “Someone emptied my house, Damon. Everything’s gone. I … I wanted to clean it, but —”

He leaned back to look at her. “Clean it? What are you talking about? Nikki, you just lost your parents — the last thing in the world you need to be doing is cleaning.”

“It’s all gone. Even my clothes. Everything.”
If I keep saying it, maybe I’ll believe it. Everything
encompassed her karate trophies, artwork, her mom’s china, every remnant of her life. Maybe he didn’t understand. He didn’t look shocked. In fact …

“It’s not all gone, sweetheart. I had everything packed up this morning.”

She jerked from his grasp. “You what?”
No, I couldn’t have heard that right. It would be too cruel, too evil.

“Nikki.” She heard a bit of that authoritative tone he’d used on Captain Gump. It blended nicely with condescension. “A seventeen-year-old girl has no business having to go through her parents’ things right after their deaths.”

“There’s no proof they’re dead!” she screamed. Fury blinded her. He was talking again in that soothing tone that made her want to lash out, repeating words like
bullet holes in the car
,
blood on the seats
,
robbery
. Why wouldn’t he stop? As if she hadn’t been hearing those ghost phrases all night. As if she hadn’t ran a thousand scenarios in her mind about her parents and the likelihood of escape.

“I know you’re upset. But try to understand.”

Her voice steeled. “A man I barely know has no business moving my stuff.” Anger boiled inside her. Righteous anger. “Who do you think you are? Those were my personal belongings.” And he’d stripped them from her. Never, ever had anyone so violated her. “You stole from me.”

He moved to her and reached out.” I was trying to protect you.”

You do not have the right to be within ten feet of where I stand.
“You stole everything from me. You stole my good-bye.” She realized her voice was rising, and panic and fear and fury were all rising with it. She was very close to showing her weakness.

“Nikki,” he continued, now softer toned. “We’ll say good-bye together.”

And that’s when she knew they were there. She turned her head, ever so slightly, to watch as Will touched down across the parking lot, just behind the row of trees.

Damon didn’t seem to notice; his focus was intently on her, a display of alarm and uncertainty skating over his features. He knew he’d crossed a line.

Her shoulders twitched, and again she felt the power of the Halflings and Will, her heavenly angel, waiting. Mace and Raven would be there. In her mind’s eye she could see them standing on either side of Will. Mace, her invitation. Raven, her broken pot. And she’d already destroyed them both, would keep them waiting forever, because … because she was poison. It wasn’t fair to keep putting Mace and Raven through that. They deserved so much more, yet because of their heritage expected so much less. She was horrid. They’d done nothing but help her and she’d done nothing but hurt them. And being anywhere near them, the pain she created would only intensify. For in her heart, she loved them both. A horrific revelation and a sickening truth she’d have to live with — and the most awful thing she could do to the ones sent to protect her.

Nikki swallowed and took a tentative step toward Damon. Really. It was the only way.

He exhaled a sigh of relief. “That’s right, sweetheart.”

As she moved, she felt the Halflings tense.

“You’re not alone. I’ll be your family now.”

Nikki stopped while voices echoed in her head. Warnings, encouragements, all from the people who truly had loved her. “I already have a family,” she uttered, then with the speed of a racehorse, she spun and bolted. Hard ground battered her
feet again and again with each step, though she felt no pain. She zoomed toward Will, whose arms were outstretched and waiting for her.

Behind her, she heard Damon screaming, “No!”

He could scream until the end of the universe: her focus stayed forward, tightly fitted to Will’s approving gaze. On one side of him was Raven, whose face came into focus as she neared. On the other side was Mace, whose hand was stretched toward her like —

Like an invitation.

And Nikki ran. She ran so fast the pain in her heart couldn’t keep up. She ran toward her future. She ran toward her destiny. And in a few pounding heartbeats, she found herself in Will’s arms.

Though Nikki didn’t know what would happen to her after this, she knew with vivid certainty she’d found a safe place to land. Will and Mace and Raven and even Vine. The Halfling females who’d pledged allegiance to her, even Zero with his alternating sneers and looks of admiration. Yes, this was definitely a safe place to land.

Now, maybe it was time to learn to fly.