See How She Fights (6 page)

“Mmmhmmm,” he mumbled against my
skin as he began removing the obstacles that were my clothes.

I let him devour me and wash away
the last few horrible hours. I threw myself at the mercy of his body and forgot
all that threatened my shaky sanity. I would get back to the problems at hand
later. For now, I could pretend that all was well. In that moment it was. I
stayed in that beautiful state of ignorance for two hours before my body gave
out. I was exhausted by the events of the day and sated by the events of the
evening.

“I am sorry, Red,” Kennan whispered
as he kissed down my back. “I promise never to lie again, even to protect you.”

“I don’t ever want to feel like that
again. Like I can’t trust you,” I slurred sleepily. I drifted off to the feel
of his scruff moving down my body as his lips traced my contours. Even had I
wanted to, I could not stay awake.

**********

“Psst. Hey, stupid,” I heard
someone whisper from the fog.

“Excuse me?” I asked, insulted
that someone was being so rude in my dream.

“Come here you loon. He is going
to hear me if I keep shouting,” the woman said.

“Where are you?” I whispered
harshly.

“Just follow my humming,” she
said before starting to hum a tune.

“Why can’t you just come to me?”
I was beyond irritated. I had not slept well in ages and this little tart
wanted to play games. I just wanted to dream in peace for one evening.

“I can’t, you moron. You will
see why if you ever get over here,” she said before continuing to hum. I gave
up and tried to find her. I finally made head way and the humming grew louder.
As the fog parted around her figure I saw a woman standing with her back to me.
She was clad in a white dress and had runes carved down each of her arms. I
knew before she turned why she couldn’t see me.

“Who are you?” My heart was
pounding in my chest as I waited for her to turn and face me. I knew what
horror awaited me. I knew where her eyes should be there would be two gaping
chasms.

“You should know, you held my
file earlier today. It sucks knowing when you are going to die and not being
able to do anything about it, by the way. So, I figured if I was going to be
stuck in this stupid place bored out of my skull, I might as well do what I
could to help you. You know, so you can get me unstuck,” she said, waving her
hands about like it was obvious.

“Okay, but how are you… I mean,
what do you…” I was so confused. This must have been just a normal dream.
Surely I was not talking to an eyeless Seer that happened to also be rude.

“Would you spit it out already?
They said you were supposed to be smart. I am starting to doubt my chances of
getting out of this place,” she sniped.

“Okay, I think I’ve got this,” I
said as much to myself as her. I took a deep breath trying to regain my
balance. “Do you know who killed you?”

“Don’t you think that would have
been the first thing I told you? You aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed are
you?”

“If you would stop insulting me
for five seconds, maybe I could catch up. Cheese on a cracker, what is your
problem?”

She motioned up and down with
her hands and I realized suddenly my question had been quite insensitive.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “What do you
remember? You said that you knew you were going to die, so you must have had a
vision.”

“I remember seeing a foggy woman
figure. She had crazy eyes. That is all I could make out. Well, before she
gouged out my eyes that is. When the actual dying happened, I didn’t know what
was happening. Don’t get me wrong, I felt every second of the pain. I think I
was poisoned with some sort of paralytic,” she mumbled, swinging her arms back
and forth.

“Was there more than one person
there or just the foggy woman?” I asked hurriedly. I felt the dreaming start to
fade.

“Shit, he is here. Have to run,”
she said before darting off into the fog.

“More shall fall,” I heard
Xavier whisper from the fog before I was ripped from the dreaming.

**********

I woke up, drenched in a cold sweat
with Kennan pinning down my arms. Ian was standing off in the corner with a
worried expression on his face. I looked over to find Conall standing in the
other corner, looking more irritated than concerned.

“Why do we have such a crowded
room?” I asked, looking skeptically at our audience.

“Because you would not come out of
the dreaming and you locked out your dear Guardian. He freaked out and brought
us in to try and pull you out. But, alas, you gave us the boot as well. You are
a lot stronger than I gave you credit for, lass,” Conall said.

“Shut it, Eye Patch,” I threw in
his direction before locking gazes with Kennan. I heard Ian snicker in the
corner. “I’m fine, can we have the posse leave now please?” I pleaded with my
eyes. I really didn’t like the idea of them seeing me naked. I was just grateful
that Kennan had pulled the covers over my body before letting them in.

“Brother, it would seem our service
is no longer needed,” Conall said toward Ian.

“Alright, let’s bounce, Eye Patch,”
Ian snickered before throwing his arm over Conall’s shoulder. “See ya later,
Pip Squeak,” he threw in my direction before dragging an irritated Conall from
the room. I would probably pay for the new nickname later.

“What was that?” Kennan asked as
the door closed.

“What, it was just a nickname. I
didn’t mean to upset him.” I was confused by his tone.

“Not the damned name, Izzy. You
locked me out of your head. Why did you do that? I couldn’t get in to pull you
back.” He ran his hand down his face in frustration, finally getting off of me.

“I didn’t even know that I was
doing it. For all I know, it wasn’t me that blocked you out. Xavier was there
and the dead Seer, so it could’ve been either of them.” I didn’t like the
thought of him being unable to come in and pull me back from the insanity. It
scared the pants off of me. Not that I was wearing pants at the moment. Where
were my pants?

“What do you mean the dead Seer was
there? Which one? What did Xavier say? Is he still alive? Did you find out what
is happening?” He bombarded me with questions one after another. My tired brain
tried to keep up but failed miserably.

“Whoa, guy. Slow down. I need a
second to catch up. The Seer from the file, I think her name was Ren. She was
not very nice either. I guess if I had my eyes cut out I wouldn’t be in the
best of moods. But really, it is not like I did that to her. She kept insulting
my intelligence,” I said, glancing up to find Kennan growing impatient. Right,
back on task. “Xavier was there at the end. I’m not sure if it is really him or
not. Whatever he is now, Ren was frightened of him. She told me about being
paralyzed when the runes were carved and that some foggy woman was responsible.
She foresaw her death, Kennan, but knew she couldn’t do anything to stop it.
How sucky is that?” I sat up, tucking the sheet around my body. It was sort of
the same thing as putting clothes on. Who had time to find pants?

“So, the person responsible is a
woman. There is a very real chance she is the same woman from your vision
yesterday.” He started pacing the room as he mulled over the new clues.

“It feels like such a long time
ago. It is hard for me to believe that it was only yesterday the world tilted
again.” I threw myself back on the pillows dramatically. Life just kept getting
better and better. It seemed my dreams were now to be infested by a snarky,
restless spirit. I would solve this just to get rid of her. She was not nice.

I was surprised by the door
suddenly flying open. A tear stained Molly sprinted straight for me.

**********

CHAPTER SEVEN

“What the….” Kennan twirled to
protect me from the unknown menace.

Molly looked at him for a moment
before moving to sit on the bed with me. Her face was drawn in misery.

I looked up at Kennan and nodded
toward the door. I figured he could guard me just as well on the other side. I
didn’t expect any wall-scaling ninjas to launch a full-scale attack this early
in the morning. I suspected even God knew I couldn’t handle much more today.

“What is it Molly? What happened?”
I wondered if her dreams were also being haunted by Ren. If that snarky spook
had hurt Molly I was going to punch her sightless face next time I was in the
dreaming. I ran my hand down Molly’s back trying to comfort her. I should
really try and put some clothes on. If I was going to keep having visitors at
night, I would need to start going to bed fully dressed. Maybe with multiple
layers.

“I saw her,” Molly said through her
sniffles.

“Who did you see Molly?” I wondered
if she had started having visions again. Since we left the lab and she quit
getting injections they had sort of died off. Now, as she approached her
birthday, they seemed to be resurfacing.

“I haven’t been in the dreaming for
so long. I thought at first it was just a normal dream. But then, there she
was, talking to me as if everything was fine. Like she hadn’t disappeared on me
and left me to fend for myself.”

Ah, so she had seen her mother. I
was struck by the realization that her tears weren’t because she was sad. Molly
was pissed.

“What did she say?” I asked. I was
curious how any mother could just leave her child to fend for themselves.
Especially Molly’s mom, who had done so much to protect her while they were at
the lab. I remembered that first exam and how sweet her mother had been. Yet
she also threw me to the wolves. I didn’t blame her, but she hadn’t earned my
undying loyalty either.

“She talked to me like everything
was fine. She said that she had seen that my place was here with you and that
she needed to step aside and not interfere with my destiny. How could she just
leave without telling me? I don’t understand.” The rage dripped from her every
word.

“I don’t know, Molly. You know that
we see things sometimes, things that can’t be changed. Perhaps she saw your
destiny and knew that if she was here, things would not turn out as they should.
I’m not trying to condone what she did. She could have at least said goodbye.
But maybe there is more to it than we are able to see now,” I said, wrapping my
arms around her and praying that the sheet would stay in place.

A hesitant knock sounded at the
door.

“Come in,” I hollered as the door
began to open. So much for waiting for an invitation. In walked Ian for the
second time that evening. I don’t know how I had missed it before but he was
clad in Superman pajamas.

“Are you well, Molly?” he asked,
moving towards her. His concern carved a deep valley in his brow.

“I’ll be fine. I am just mad, is
all. She didn’t even say goodbye, Ian,” she said through her sniffles. Her
anger was beginning to ebb and it left her looking empty and alone. Just as I
was about to throw my arms around her again Ian swept in and embraced her
tightly.

“I know, my love, I know. She
should have told you. I’m so sorry I’ve been such a pain. I should’ve seen how
much this was bothering you,” he said, breathing in her hair and pulling her up
against his body. I wondered how Molly could be so blind to the way he felt for
her. It was written in his every move.

“I’m fine. Really, I just needed
some girl talk,” she said, trying to pull out of his embrace unsuccessfully.
“Let me go, you big buffoon.” She beat on his chest trying to get free.

“No need to get so feisty, tiny.
Let’s get you back to bed before you miss your beauty sleep. No one needs to
see that,” he said, tucking her under his Superman clad arms. He pulled her
along beside him as if she weighed nothing. She looked at me, disgruntled, and
waved before being swept out of the room.

Kennan reentered the room slowly.
His every step echoed in the quiet room. I drug my eyes up his body to rest on
his face. My gaze settled there, and I longed to reach out and smooth the
lines. I didn’t want him to worry about me.

 I still didn’t know where in the
heck to get the manuscript, but perhaps with Ren’s help, I would be able to
find some clues. My world kept expanding every day. I shook my head, thinking
of the absurdity of a shade helping me to discover something. Surely I should
be medicated. This couldn’t be healthy.

Kennan moved toward the bed. He
sank down to the edge and lifted his hand to brush the hair away from my cheek.
I was sure said hair looked like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket.

“Are you really okay?” Kennan asked
barely above a whisper.

“I am really okay. I promise. I
didn’t mean to block you out. Maybe Isadora can help me figure that bit out. I
have a feeling I am going to need to spend quite a bit of time with her if I’m
ever going to get a handle on what is happening to me. But, at least I know the
killer is a woman. That narrows it down by at least fifty percent,” I said
hopefully. Kennan’s eyes looked haunted and I wondered what could possibly be
going through his mind. As usual my curiosity got the best of me. “What’s going
on?”

“This whole thing just reminds me
of that sect from years ago. I hope to the gods that we don’t have to go
through that again,” he said as he lay down next to me pulling my body against
his.

“Can I see? I understand if it was
a painful time for you, but there may be clues back in your memories that can
help me sort out what is happening now.”

“Understand that what you will see
is not at all pleasant. There were things from back then that I don’t even wish
to remember, Izzy. I had to be a person I don’t like to be. Just remember that
I am still me when you are sifting. Promise me you will try,” he pleaded with
me.

I was suddenly afraid to even
attempt this. What if he was right? What if what I saw changed the way I
perceived him? Regardless of my personal emotions, I knew that I had to do
everything in my power to protect the Seers in any way that I could.

“I will do my best,” I promised. I
refused to lie to him just to appease both of our nerves. It wouldn’t serve
either of us for me to be dishonest.

“So be it,” Kennan said as he
unfolded his past before my mind.

**********

I was surrounded by a towering
inferno. All around me were the burning remains of what once were buildings.
The air was thick with smoke and ash. I could hardly see anything through the
dense wall of smoke.

  My attention was drawn by a
clash of swords in the distance. I made my way towards the sound, hoping to escape
the swirling ashes. What I saw when I arrived served to confuse me more than
anything I’d ever seen. There were a group of men, at least I thought they were
men, circling what could only be described as a monstrous beast. It was as if
every last one of my nightmares was conjured to create the abomination. I
looked away from it with a feeling of dread spreading through my body and tried
to focus on the men.

I could make out glimpses of
them from time to time, but then they would shimmer and shift as if they were
turning into something else altogether. The more I tried to focus, the more
amorphous the shapes became. I breathed deeply trying to focus my
concentration. Surely I would be able to pick out someone. This was Kennan’s
memory after all. I caught a glimpse of him with rage-filled eyes before he
shifted out of focus once more. Then there was Conall. He shifted in and out of
focus more quickly than Kennan had. One second he was there with both eyes, the
next his eyes were a vibrant yellow and he was hazy once more. 

I turned my focus back to the
monstrosity they were fighting. Its skin, black as night, vibrated with an
otherworldly energy. It slipped from one space to the next in the blink of an
eye, causing the men to have to readjust their stances. I moved closer,
snapping something underfoot in the process. In a swift motion, the monster
turned its eyes in my direction. Impossibly, it knew I was there. Its
yellow-green, goat eyes assessed me and weighed my worth before it returned to
the men at hand. I got the distinct impression of being told, “We shall meet at
another time.” 

I looked back to the men
fighting and realized this was later than I needed to be seeing. I needed to go
further back. I needed to see what had been done to bring about the great, dark
beast with its vicious maw and claws made for destruction. The moment I thought
it, I was pulled back through memories. They flipped before my eyes as if they
were on rewind.

**********

I was standing in an open field
at night. The moon cast an eerie light on the scene, illuminating everything
with a spectral glow. I moved forward toward the raised platform. Circling the
platform were a group of hooded figures, chanting something in a language I’d
never heard yet my soul responded to the words. My spirit writhed inside of me
as if drawing itself away from what was being done.

When I got close enough to see,
I wished that I’d not come at all. On the altar was a woman lying in a white
dress. She was held down with tight, leather straps. Her screams echoed across
the barren landscape, finding no refuge. No one was coming to her aid. No one
would rescue her. One of the figures broke out of the group and moved toward
her. He raised the knife and began to draw runes down her arms. I moved even
closer to see what was being done. I needed to know if these were the same
runes that were being carved now.

As soon as I got close to the
altar, I saw that they were not the same. My stomach dropped, yet I was still
relieved to know that whatever was happening now was different from what
transported the beast from a separate plane to ours. I gazed down at the Seer
and my eyes filled with tears. I longed to reach out and comfort her somehow.

She locked eyes with me
stubbornly and spoke directly toward me. I couldn’t understand. I was just
sifting through memories. There shouldn’t be any way for the things involved to
interact with me. First the beast and now the Seer.

“You must not be here,” she
spoke in a whisper. I was suddenly ripped away spiraling through a barrage of
meaningless images.

**********

I broke contact with Kennan, trying
to take deep breaths. I felt sick and wanted to get out of there. I needed air.
I needed space. I jumped up out of the bed and threw on clothes as quickly as I
could before heading for the door.

“What the hell, Izzy? What just
happened?” he asked as he raced after me in just his boxer briefs.

I made it down the stairs and out
into the garden before I was able to find my voice. “She talked to me. She
talked to me and the beast looked at me. What the hell is happening to me,
Kennan?” I asked as I bent over and put my head between my knees. The world
wouldn’t stop spinning. Why couldn’t it just hold still for a moment while I
got myself back together?

“What did you see? Why won’t you
talk to me? I told you that I had to be someone I don’t like back then,” Kennan
said worriedly. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized he had no idea why
I was freaking out. He thought I was upset with him. The fact was, I had not
seen anything of him except when he fought the beast and even then it had been
hazy.

“It isn’t you, Kennan. I really
didn’t see much of you. You were weird and hazy with angry eyes. But that’s it.
That felt more like a vision than memory sifting. Except then it was sort of the
dreaming at the same time. It was as if the beast monster thing and the Seer
could both tell I was there, yet no one else could. What is happening to me?” I
lowered myself to the damp grass, trying to keep my world from fully spinning
out of control.

Kennan squatted down in front of me
taking my face in his hands. He looked hesitant, as if he did not want to say
what must be said. “I promised I would not lie to you again. I think that your
powers are growing faster than they normally would because you are going to
take over for Isadora. Remember earlier, how you had a vision inside the
dreaming? I think the same sort of thing happened when you went tromping
through my memories. Only this time, the things that were no longer of this
plane could recognize you as not belonging. There was a Seer, one of the first,
who could traverse the planes. She could see things that were beyond our own
realm. If what Isadora suspects is true, then you are the same.” He finished
before giving up and plopping down next to me.

Tears began to fall down my cheeks.
I was not prepared for this. A year ago I was just a simple bike messenger in
Chicago. Now, here I was with the fate of the Seers, and thus the world,
resting on my shoulders. I couldn’t take it. I was just one person. One,
completely ill-equipped, person. I wanted my life back. I wanted to be normal.
Yet, it seemed the universe had a different plan for my life. I thought that
fighting Xavier would be the hardest thing I ever had to face. It seemed God
had more faith in me than that. It seemed He believed I could handle far more.

“Why am I like this, Kennan? Why
are there Seers at all?” I asked. It wasn’t the first time the thought had
crossed my mind. It was just the first time I’d dared to verbalize it.

“Can we maybe go inside? I am not
exactly dressed for a dawn outing,” Kennan said, looking down at his bare skin.
I nodded as he pulled me to my feet and we made our way back inside. He began
telling me theories that had been passed down for generations. “When the world
was created, the gods needed something here on this plane to assist in keeping
things in balance.”