The Second Sign (21 page)

Gabby collected her thoughts as Jake drove silently,
waiting for her to begin. But she didn’t know where to begin. What
could she tell him that he would believe? She couldn’t tell him
everything, so she started with what Adler had told her.

“Adler told me what the Second Sign could be
referring to.” She gave him a sideways glance before pulling up her
nerve to go on. “It refers to the miracle Jesus performed in saving
some kid after his dad asked Jesus to save him. Apparently, this
guy didn’t believe in miracles but had to see it.”

Jake shook his head, his jaw tightening in the now
dim light. “I don’t get it. What does that have to do with you? And
why would some old lady blast that info all over her walls before
setting off to kill people?”

She took in a deep breath. “Just bear with me a
little bit. Okay? Stretch your mind and think of what could be as I
tell you this.”

“Gabby, I just saw the bodies of three kids that
were hacked up by some old lady. My mind is open for interpretation
right now.” He shuddered, and she regretted that he had to see
them.

“Throughout the centuries there have always been
battles between good and evil. We’ve seen signs of the end of the
world—earthquakes, tornados, plagues, stuff that people can’t
explain. But there have also been good miracles—births, people
living through remarkable odds.”

She paused and regarded him. She could gauge nothing
by his stoic features, so she went on. “My mom died having Max. I
was stillborn, dead for two minutes before something happened and I
jolted to life. The reference of the miracle must be me.”

“I’m lost, help me here. How is that relevant to you
and what she did to those kids?”

His voice broke, but Gabby didn’t want to lose it.
She needed him to understand without risking Max’s true identity
and hers. She couldn’t tell him everything. Not the truth. He would
bolt, leave her stranded in the middle of the empty highway.

“Heather wasn’t working alone. She had someone
influencing her,” she said the word slowly, drowning it out. She
secretly hoped he would catch her references and deduce what was
real himself. That angels and demons existed.

“Okay, an accomplice.”

Gabby let out a breath. But then again, he
was
human. No imagination. “Yeah, this someone is the true
enemy. She wants to start trouble.”

Jake shot her a look that made Gabby want to spill
all of it. How could he help her if she couldn’t even tell him the
truth? She decided to wing it until she saw an
aha
moment in
his face. “The Second Sign alludes to the birth of someone
important. Someone who wasn’t supposed to have a soul, but does,
and so they are kind of in limbo with no predestined fate. They
haven't chosen a side.” Okay, she confused herself and waited.

“A side in what?” he asked.

“A side in being good or bad, good or evil...” She
paused. “Angel or demon.”

He gave her a sideways glance and shook his head.
“You’re talking about religion. I don’t believe in that stuff.”

“Yes, and that’s your free will. You choose not to
believe it and so it doesn’t exist for you. But for others, like
me...” she trailed off. “I have been born to believe.”

He shook his head. “But wait...so what? What does
all this have to do with the killings of that family, of the kids?
There are enough good and bad people in the world, why would this
one person, soulless or not, tip the scales?”

“Because this person has certain characteristics
that may bring about war.”

“You’re talking about the apocalypse. The Second
Seal refers to the one that will bring war. Does this
sign
have anything to do with that?”

“I thought you didn’t believe.”

He smirked though his eyes were intent on the road,
his face hardened. “I watch movies.”

She laughed. She wished this were a movie.

“So, this person who’s leaving these messages
believes you have some freak power to bring about the end of the
world?”

Gabby bit her lip as he shot her a quick glance
before focusing on the road.

“Help me out here. Give me something.”

Running her hands through her hair, she turned away
from him to look out the window. She couldn’t tell him everything.
He wouldn’t believe her. She felt the heat of his hand on hers, and
she turned to him.

“I get it. It doesn’t matter. I’m here.”

Gabby couldn’t feel more for anyone than she did for
him in that one moment. Knowing nothing, he was still following
her. Helping her.

“But, Gabby, why do you think it’s you?”

“Because I shouldn’t have lived. I died,
remember?”

“That can refer to anyone. It can be me too.”

Her heart slammed into her. “What’re you talking
about?”

He looked at her as if considering whether to tell
her. His face a bustle of emotions she couldn’t comprehend. Pain
filled his eyes.

“When I was six I drowned. I was dead for four
minutes before the paramedics revived me.” He turned to her, and
quickly turned back to the road.

She shook her head. “No. It can’t be you.”

“My mom stood beside me. She had told me she prayed
for my life.” He gripped the steering wheel so that his knuckles
turned white.

Gabby couldn’t help but to wonder who she had prayed
too.

“When did your mom die?” Gabby asked.

“Three years ago,” he replied, his voice
cracked.

“How did she die?”

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, his
face a wheel of emotions blending with an energy she tried to
decipher.
What was he?

“She hung herself.” His lips were a thin line, his
voice steady. “I found her. My dad told me to keep it from Jenna.
He told me that my mother loved me and that she was sick. It was
the only way to explain why she would have left us.”

Gabby reached for his hand and he squeezed it hard.
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

It couldn’t be him Naite was after. But the fact of
the matter was that Jake’s mom was in Hell. Suicide led to a
one-way trip to the dark side. Which meant Jake had a weakness that
the demons could use. Based on the first half of Adler’s
explanation, the Second Sign wasn’t about saving a life. It was
about the request of an unbeliever to save his son. To save Jake.
No one prayed to save Gabby. She looked away from him. It couldn’t
be. Kind and gentle, Jake loved his world. He loved his mother,
Jenna, and his father. Gabby had felt it. He would never allow
anyone to turn him. Gabby wouldn’t allow it.

“Hey, you okay?” He squeezed her hand gently. “We
were talking about stretching the mind, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

They arrived at a small nursing home. “And why are
we here again?” He kissed the tips of her fingers, sending warm
tingles down her spine.

“I just want to talk to him, see how he’s
doing.”

Jake cocked a brow and then nodded.

The small two-story building held about forty
separate rooms. A young girl sat at the reception area, the only
way inside the individual rooms. There was no passing her without
notice. Gabby had to come up with something quick.

“Now what?” Jake whispered from the side of his
mouth.

She didn’t think it through. She couldn’t influence
anyone to do anything for her, but it didn’t stop her from trying.
The receptionist glared at her, but smiled at Jake.

“Flirt with her while I go in,” she whispered
back.

“Huh,” he managed, but they were already upon the
girl with the brightest blue eyes and, springy hair.

“How may I help you,” she offered with a twang and a
sly grin.

“We’re here to see Kyle Turner.”

She looked at her roster. “Room 215, but only
relatives are allowed.”

Jake leaned over, flexing his muscled biceps and
giving her a very heartfelt pout.

Gabby almost smirked if she weren’t so mad that the
girl actually bought it. Jealousy came to mind, and she couldn’t
help but to wonder if Jake wasn’t better off without her. Who was
she fooling? He
was
better off without her. She was pulling
him toward the unknown filled with evil.

Jake met her gaze and cocked his head, warning her
to move it. Gabby did.

“May I use the restroom?”

The girl pointed around the corner without so much
as a glance her way.

Way too easy to get around, Gabby assumed not much
crime happened in a small community hospice center. Reaching the
corridor to his room, she paused, suddenly losing her nerve. What
was she going to tell him? How was she going to explain things?

The night of the fire, Marty had left to find a
blanket, leaving Kyle and Gabby alone.

Kyle seemed shaken by Gabby’s disaster with Pat. He
sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Here, I got you
something.”

Gabby didn’t know how to feel and without even
thinking, she leaned and kissed him. It was an innocent kiss. He
smiled when Marty’s scream broke them apart. Fire and smoke sprung
all around them. Kyle was the first to run to Marty, but Gabby had
paused. She didn’t run after Kyle because deep down she had wanted
to know what her purpose in this life meant. Max was an angel and
she was a freak. Maybe staying behind she would’ve forced the
powers at be to give her wings, or to kill her. Either way, she had
been tired of being alone and hadn’t been able to see what was
right in front of her—Kyle.

In front of Kyle’s room, she took a deep breath and
opened the door. Kyle sat in a chair looking out the window. He
wore a white tee shirt and shorts. Burn scars marred every inch of
his body, from his hands to his arms and some crept out of the
collar of his tee. His unblemished face held no hint of pain. His
sandy blonde hair fell around his face. His brown eyes seemed to
look through her as if wondering if she was real, or a ghost. She
felt his gaze tear through her, forcing her pulse to quicken and
permeate energy that filled the space between them.

She wanted to touch him but didn’t want to cause him
pain. He seemed to steady himself, blink, and then a smile curled
his lips, reaching the depths of his eyes.

“Kyle, I thought you were dead.” She stepped closer
to him, but still far enough so that they couldn’t touch. She
needed to explain why she hadn’t come to see him, why she didn’t
thank him for saving her life.

“I know,” he said, pain evident in his expression.
“My mom preferred not to see you.” He shrugged and a grimace spread
through his face.

She swallowed hard, not sure what she meant to say.
“I’m sorry about your mom.”

He broke from her gaze and shrugged.

“Kyle, thank you for saving me.”

He looked up and something grazed his eyes, a
bewildered look, almost as if he just remembered that he did save
her life. And regretted it. She shook it off.

“I need to know why. Why did you do it? Why did you
come back?”

He gave her a sheepish look and she remembered the
Kyle she knew. He hadn’t been tainted or damaged inside. He was
still there beside all the pain and sorrow of his being.

“I can’t explain it, Gabby.”

She cringed when he said her name.

“I was scared. Really scared and I didn’t want to do
it. But then I remembered...” His voice trailed off and his eyes
lowered to the floor.

“What? What did you remember?”

“Our kiss.” His face flushed. “I remembered how your
lips felt on mine.” He touched his lips with his fingers and his
eyes stared at the blank, white wall. “I knew that if you died
there, I would die with you. And before I knew what I was doing, I
went back inside.”

And saved her life.

“Trust me,” he added with a sly grin. “I wouldn’t do
it again.”

Love and hate were two of the strongest emotions,
and the most easily influenced by demons. Kyle had a crush on Gabby
since the third grade, sure. And whoever had led him to save her
had exacerbated that feeling, which led him to risk all for her. It
was the only thing that made sense. Why else would he have gone
back for her?

Gabby approached him. “Kyle, I’m so sorry.” Her
chest tightened, but she didn’t allow herself to cry.

“It’s not your fault. I’m getting out of here in a
couple of weeks. Maybe you can come by.”

Gabby smiled. “I’d like that.” She would visit him,
if she survived with her soul intact, but she would send Max and
his healing powers first. Max owed her.

She leaned into him and kissed him softly on his
forehead. He leaned into her and sniffed. A flutter of emotions
rimmed her conscience, like looking through tempered glass where
the image, distorted, showed tiny individual reflections of the
same person. As she pulled away from him, the image disappeared,
but a feeling of foreboding crept along the ridge of her mind. Kyle
would die and soon.

“I have something for you.” He jumped off the bed
and walked toward his dresser. He opened it and took out a charred
gift box.

The moments of that night curled around her, and she
wanted to take it all back. She wanted to return Kyle to who he had
been, to relieve his pain. He didn’t deserve this. He was her
friend, a real friend. He handed her the box.

“After I pushed you out, I went back for the gift.”
He shrugged as if it didn’t mean the world to her. “I don’t blame
you,” he said as she took the box and put it inside her jacket
pocket.

“Thank you.” She gave him a lopsided smile.

“Get out of here before the nurse finds you.”

She went to tell him she couldn’t care less, but he
was already climbing into bed and drawing the sheets up to his
chin. She turned and walked out.

Max had betrayed her. He had sent her to the lake
house to face the demons alone. Adler, whom she had little contact
with over the years, must have known. And her father, whom she’d
never met, had probably ordered it. Anger crushed her chest,
pressing against her.