Second Sight (21 page)

“
What I had to.” He gives
me one last look. “Just remember the truth isn’t always obvious,
Lizzie, but its edge can set you free—if you have enough
faith.”

That said, he turns and disappears, leaving
me with Griffin. I rush to him and lift his head, immediately
hating the way his face is so pale and sweaty. He’s weak, and his
breathing is so shallow it frightens me.

“
Griffin?” I whisper,
touching his cheek. “Wake up!” His eyelids flutter, but he does not
open them. Stillness seems to settle on him, and I can’t help but
wonder if he’s dead. I lower my face so I can feel the barest hint
of breath caress my cheek, telling me I still have time to save
him. My phone doesn’t have much charge, but there’s enough for an
emergency call. I’m in the middle of relaying the information to
the dispatcher when I remember how Lev warned me about my friends.
If I understand one thing, it’s that whatever mission Lev might be
on, Evan is somehow in on it as well. That means anyone I know
right about now is probably in some kind of danger from the angels
I once trusted my life with.

I hear the ambulance siren squealing toward
us, and I softly run my hand across Griffin’s face. My whole body
trembles, and I know I have to leave. I can’t save him, even if I
linger. His life is not in my hands, but there are others I can
save. I can shield them somehow from Evan because for some reason,
he won’t destroy me. Maybe because since I found out about the
truth behind Lev, it really doesn’t matter anymore.

I run to the Jeep and get in, my fumbling
fingers dropping the keys once before I can start the engine and
back out. My heart is racing, and I don’t know where to go first.
Who else would Evan target that desperately? Sarah, perhaps?
Something about her frail form suggests I need to get over there.
She and Jayzee were friends, and she sure can’t hold her own
against a vengeful angel like Evan.

Although it’s just a handful of moments that
pass during the drive over to Sarah’s, it seems like forever. I
keep glancing at the speedometer, thinking I should go faster, but
the swerving country road keeps my speed in check; if I drive off
the shoulder and wreck, I won’t be able to help anyone.

No matter how I try not to think about Evan’s
words, they swirl around me, and I can’t stop shaking. I don’t
understand what’s going on or why. I turn into the neighborhood
where Kane lives and head down the street toward Sarah’s, but even
as I see the house just ahead of me, I also spot an ambulance with
flashing lights, bathing the world in a red and blue blur. My foot
stutters on the gas pedal, and I stiffen, forcing myself to park
the Jeep.

I can’t be too late. It’s not possible. Once
I’ve pulled to the curbside, I throw the door open and rush toward
the house. The front door is open, and two EMTs are rolling a
stretcher out the door. Even from a distance, I can tell the woman
lying there is Sarah. I’d know her blonde hair anywhere. As the
stretcher rolls down the drive toward the ambulance, the front door
opens again, and a haggard Colin exits, one hand raking through his
hair. He looks shell-shocked.

“
Colin?” I run up to him.
“What happened?”

For a moment, he doesn’t look at me. It’s the
shock, I think. But when he finally meets my gaze, he says, “You’re
Lizzie, right?”

I nod. “Yeah. What happened to Sarah?” My
voice is breathless, as though I’ve been running much longer than I
really have. My whole body hurts from everything I’m holding
inside.

His shoulders slouch, and he keeps shaking
his head in disbelief. Although there’s plenty of personal space
between us, I realize I stand just below his shoulders, and while
black normally makes things appear smaller, now he looks huge. He
swallows hard and stares at the ground distractedly.

“
Colin?” I prompt. “What
happened?”

“
I don’t know. I just found
her like that. Somebody attacked her.” He slowly sinks down on the
step and rests his head in his hands. “There’s no reason anybody
would want to hurt her. She didn’t have any enemies.”

The EMTs shut the ambulance door and look at
Colin before getting into the vehicle and driving away. He leans
back and closes his eyes, trying to ignore the flashing lights as
they dwindle with the racing ambulance.

“
How bad is it?” I ask
softly.

“
Bad. Somebody bashed her
head in with a bat or something.”
He
forces himself to rise. “Look, Lizzie, I’m not trying to be rude or
anything, but I should get to the hospital and be there for Sarah
when she wakes up. God knows her aunt won’t be.” He takes a deep
breath and pulls his keys from his pocket. He looks at the sky
which is still a light blue. Dusk is another couple of hours away,
but already the darkness is so palpable I can feel it pressing down
on me. “I’d like to know why. But I guess I don’t rate an answer,
do I?”

It takes me a moment to realize he’s speaking
to the heavens, waiting for God’s response. Nothing. Then he shakes
his head and walks away, heading toward his blue Silverado as I
stand on the walkway, trying to put the pieces together. I know he
didn’t see anything, but I have a feeling I know who the perp was.
Evan. I’m beginning to think he had to have attacked her before
Jayzee, or the ambulance wouldn’t have had time to get here and
take Sarah to the hospital. But I’m not really struggling with the
who. I agree with Colin. I want to know why. Why are angels doing
this, and how do I stop them?

The world feels like it’s spinning, and I
slowly sit down, wondering what to do next. I start rocking back
and forth, my body chilled from what should be a warm wind. I can’t
guess what Evan is doing or why. I do know that the longer I sit
there, the more the panic builds until I can’t take it anymore. I
have to do something because watching my whole world come tumbling
down around my head is just too much. So I pull out my cell and
rise from the step. As I flip the phone open, I realize there isn’t
enough battery to call Jimmie and warn him about Griffin. I’m going
to have to go over there. Still, with everything that’s happened,
facing Jimmie hardly seems like the worst of it.

Forcing myself to rise, I make my way to the
Jeep, aware that one police officer is cordoning off her house as a
crime scene, and there are more inside, working the actual site. I
shake my head, wondering how they plan to catch a rogue angel. What
prison could hold Evan? A chill sweeps down my arms, and I get into
the Jeep and turn around, heading back to the house.

I try to imagine how things will be when I
arrive. Will Jimmie totally freak out as he usually does? My
stomach cramps, probably from the acid eating away at it. Right
now, I just want to run away and never look back, but there’s
nowhere for me to run to, and no matter how angry I might be at
Jimmie, I need to check on him. I don’t think Evan would hurt him,
but then again, I’m not even clear on why Evan is doing what he’s
doing, and I can’t ask Lev. I don’t trust him.

My body tenses as I drive home, and it’s only
when I see the driveway is empty and there are no police cars or
ambulances in the driveway that my body actually relaxes as I
slowly exhale the breath I feel I’ve been holding forever. I pull
into the driveway. I know Jimmie’s not here. He’s probably with
Theresa. Still, I want to look around and make sure nothing seems
out of place—as if I’d know.

I stride up the front walk and slip my key in
the lock. Even as I open the door and look around, I realize just
how normal things seem, and how much I wish I could go back to that
because right now it feels like nothing is normal in the slightest,
and I have no idea when it will return.

Forcing myself to head down the hallway, I go
to my room, pausing at the doorway to survey things, but from what
I can tell, everything is as I’ve left it—everything but me. Before
I left, Griffin wasn’t hurt and Sarah hadn’t been assaulted. Two
people I considered friends are now in the hospital. Is that a
coincidence? I don’t think so.

I push that thought away and step to the
dresser, where my phone charger lies. I pick it up and go to the
closet to grab a duffle bag so I can pack some clothes. I try not
to think about anything while slipping a few t-shirts and jeans
into the bag. I collect some other stuff and zip it shut, as if
that is all I need to get me through for a while.

Then again, the truth about all of this would
be nice. But one thing I’ve learned is that the truth often changes
in the telling or hearing. It all depends on what we want to
believe or ignore.

I pick up the bag and head for the door,
stopping only to pick up a picture of me with Jimmie as I head to
the kitchen to scrawl a short note and let Jimmie know Griffin has
been taken to the hospital and I’ll call soon. Even so, I don’t
have a clue what I’m going to say to him, I realize, setting the
note against the half-empty fruit bowl. I grab a banana and shove
it into the bag before heading out the door. I haven’t a clue where
I’m going. I just know I can’t stay here. If I thought having it
out with Jimmie was bad last time, this is much worse.

Back at the Jeep, I start the engine,
wondering where I can go so maybe it doesn’t seem like everything
is falling apart. The only thing which comes to mind is the
cemetery. I know I should go see Griffin and Sarah, and I will, but
right now, I can’t. I’m too shaken, and I need someone to make
sense of all this madness, and the only person who is impartial is
Bob. He has no reason to deceive me, and he doesn’t want anything
from me, so he’s as close to a safety zone as what I have right
now.

I drive to the cemetery. As usual, the
parking lot is empty—save for one vehicle, probably the old man’s
so I don’t pay much mind to anyone else who might be around, at
least until I get out of the Jeep and look over toward Bess’s
grave. Bob stands there, his withered hand braced on a cane to keep
his balance. But he isn’t alone. Lev stands with him.

My stomach knots. I don’t know why. But Lev
shouldn’t be here. As I start to run, two things happen. First, Lev
quickly grabs the old man’s shoulders and starts violently shaking
him. Again, the bright light fills the air around him.

“
No!” I scream, running as
fast as I can. One of the headstones trips me, and I spill to the
ground. When I rise, I see Bob’s frail form wobble and slowly sink
to the ground, one hand clutched to his heart.

Lev hears my cry. His hands dangle uselessly
at his sides, and his head slowly swivels toward me. Unblinking
blue eyes regard my face, and in that moment, when I see his hard
expression and unnatural blue eyes, I realize what it means for him
to be a supernatural creature: he is just as dangerous as Evan.
Still, I gasp and pitch forward until I reach the old man’s body,
where he lies barely breathing amid the green grass. His face is
pale, and he sweats profusely, rather like Griffin.

“
Bob,” I whisper, trying to
shake him into consciousness. “Can you hear me?”

His body rocks with my frantic motions, but
his eyes remain closed, and he looks so frail. Suddenly one thing
is clear, one horrible thing: I’m the only thing all these people
have in common, and if they hadn’t met me, they wouldn’t be
fighting for their lives against these angels who should be here to
help us.

“
Elizabeth?”

Lev steps toward me, but I scurry back. “Get
away from me!”

I tell myself I don’t know those eyes. Maybe
I never did. But half of me wonders if he’s going to kill me
now.

Chapter
Sixteen

“
I know what you’re
thinking and how this looks,” Lev says, gesturing to Bob. “But you
have to listen.” He shakes his head and suddenly looks tormented as
he steps toward me.

“
Stay away from me!” I
shriek, backing up. My foot catches on a tombstone, tripping me.
Lev reaches for me, but I dodge his hand. “It doesn’t matter how it
looks, only what you’ve done.” Tears prick my eyes, but even so, I
see Lev shift so the Scott form vanishes and the boy I fell so much
in love with appears. My mouth parts, and an anguished groan
escapes my lips.

“
Elizabeth, I know this is
hard. I know you’re scared, and I’m trying to help.” His hand
inches toward me, and some part of me wants to fall against him and
believe once again he could be my salvation, but he’s not. I know
he’s not.

“
No!” I scurry to my feet,
trying to get away from him. “I’ve seen your kind of help. I’ve
seen what Evan does to help.” My head is really throbbing now, and
my vision blurs unpredictably. I raise my hand to it, wishing the
pain would go away. Could it be there is something wrong? Is that
why it hurts so much just to keep breathing?

“
Come on. Just give me a
chance. I can explain.”

That’s it. Headache or no, I start running
back toward the Jeep. I almost make it when Lev entangles his arms
around me and pulls me snug against his chest. No matter how hard I
fight, I can’t get loose.

“
Let me go!” I scream, over
and over. I’m no match for his strength. The panic builds until
that’s all I can feel. It consumes me so completely I can’t think.
How long have I waited to feel his embrace? But not like this. Not
after all of that’s happened. It’s impossible to go back. The hope
has been shattered beyond form.

The screaming turns to crying—violent,
wordless cries that cripple me. All the pain I’ve been holding back
rips through me, and I can’t see anything but blurred colors. I
can’t see anything. I just feel this rush of white heat and my
vision suddenly goes into squiggly lines. The pain is
excruciating.