Valley Of Glamorgan (4 page)

The following morning I woke up feeling
groggy. I had the habit of rubbing my eyes and throwing the blanket
off me as I woke up. Sitting up I looked around the van, noticing
that Knoll wasn’t inside sleeping. Suddenly I felt panic build up
inside me. What if they had taken him? Despite trying to calm
myself by taking long controlled breaths, I found the only thing
running through my mind was that I could be all alone out here. If
I couldn’t find him, then I would have to go to the coffee shop as
he had instructed me to do.

Sliding the side door of the van open, and
forgetting to slip my shoes on, I stepped onto a huge patch of ice.
I started sliding across the wet ground and before I could catch
myself I slammed down hard with a thud. It seemed that today wasn’t
going to be any better than yesterday but hopefully no one else had
to die. Mumbling to myself I grasped the handle of the van and
hoisted myself back up. Then I heard footsteps crunching through
the snow and swallowed hard; it could be one of the people my
pretend parents worked for. They may have gotten Knoll out of the
way and were on their way to finish what Stephanie and Jack
couldn’t. I closed my eyes, preparing myself for the end.

After a few moments I heard a stifled laugh.
“What are you doing Mina? You are going to catch your death out
here with no shoes on.” I opened my eyes and gleamed with joy, it
was Knoll. I had never been so happy to see anyone in my life;
meaning I wouldn’t have to take this journey on my own, and for
that I was immensely grateful.

He insisted I got back into the van
immediately, so I did as he told me. I would have argued because it
was more a command than a request, but at that moment my feet felt
as if they were on fire. Climbing into the front passenger seat I
reached back and rescued my black, fur boots, quickly putting them
on my feet. My icy-toes welcomed the woolly warmth instantly. Then
I grabbed a blanket from the back of the van and draped it over my
legs; it would keep them from being exposed to the early morning
winter air. The cold had affected my body more than I thought it
would.

As we drove along I looked at Knoll and bit
my bottom lip, trying to build up the nerve to ask him if he would
allow me to go see my grandmother. “Knoll,” I finally stated,
firmly, “I have a favor to ask.”

He looked at me with a curious expression
before asking, “What might that be, Mina?”

I took a long, deep breath and began to ask,
“Well before everything happened, we were heading to my
grandmother’s house for the weekend. So I was wondering if we could
go see her, so that she’ll know that I am okay, and perhaps tell
her the truth about Stephanie and Jack.”

Knoll was silent for a moment, before he
answered, “Mina, I don’t know if that is a good idea.”

I quickly protested, “I know, but she is the
only thing from my life that has a speck of reality in it. I can’t
just leave her without saying goodbye. Please.” And I looked at him
with the best sad, puppy dog eyes I could manage.

Knoll glanced at me once more before
focusing his eyes back on the road and said, “I will do this for
you Mina, because I owe you one for taking so long to find you. You
cannot tell a soul when we reach the valley.” After a brief moment
he continued with, “I could be killed for disobeying your mother’s
direct order.”

I started to protest, as the last thing I
wanted was to get Knoll into any trouble; or worse. I didn’t want
him killed. After all, he had rescued me from the nightmare I was
living in. It was just that wasn’t aware that I was living it at
the time. Everything was becoming too surreal to handle. All I
wanted was to just wake up in my bed back in Palm Springs, eat
breakfast with my parents and take my dog Banksey out for a walk. I
tried to fight back the tears when I thought about his sloppy ears
and his big brown eyes. He would think we had all abandoned
him.

Knoll sensed something was wrong so he
pulled over to the side of the road. Leaning across the seat he
placed his hand on my shoulder and began speaking, by caringly
saying, “Mina, what is wrong?” I looked at him and noticed for the
first time how unbelievably handsome he was. He had hair the color
of rust; his eyes were a deep mossy green with specks of brown in
them and lips were full and plush; yes, he was very handsome.

Shaking my head I came back to reality; by
which point I found Knoll staring at me with a look of great
concern spread across his face. My cheeks felt red hot. I was
embarrassed by the thoughts that had been running through my head
so I said, “I am just realizing that I’m leaving a lot more behind
than I originally thought,” then I burst into the tears that I had
been fighting.

Knoll was silent for a moment. Looking at me
with genuine concern he said, “I can’t possibly comprehend what it
feels like to sit where you’re sitting right now. I can only offer
you my company and my ears and tell you once again, I am so sorry
for not finding you sooner.”

I smiled and this time I patted his shoulder
as I wiped away the tears, deciding it would be better to change
the subject by saying, “So earlier, you said you were my guardian.
What exactly does that mean; aside from the obvious that you are to
protect me?”

“Well Mina,” he proclaimed, breathing a sigh
of relief, “It means a lot more than just protecting you. I am not
a security or body guard. You see I have taken an oath to protect
you with my own life. I was born and raised to protect you.”

I stared at him awe struck, not knowing what
to say. Why would he give his life for mine? He didn’t even know
me. Laying my head back against the seat I sat in silent thought
questioning his response. I couldn’t comprehend that someone who,
well for the lack of a better word, was as gorgeous as he was,
would devote their life to me. Suddenly I felt goose bumps cascade
over my body. What had I gotten myself into?

Thinking for a few more minutes I turned to
look at Knoll and declared, “I don’t know why you have devoted your
life to me yet I know that I am asking a great deal of you by
risking your life in taking me see my grandma.” He raised his hand
and began to interject but I shook my head and continued before he
could say anything, “It’s just that I wanted to say thanks.” And I
bit my bottom lip again, taking a deep breath to calm myself. It
felt odd to thank this man for coming into my life even though,
within a matter of hours, he had destroyed everything that I had
known, yet somehow I felt it had needed to be done.

Knoll shook his head replying, “Please do
not find offense in what I am about to say but I cannot and will
not accept your thanks.”

My head immediately shot up and I glared
sternly at him before literally screeching, “Don’t get offended?!
Do you know how hard it was to thank you for killing my parents and
making my life a mess?” And I slammed my fist down on the console
to make the point before turning to look out the window, furious
with myself for even thanking him in the first place. The van was
filled with an eerie silence that lasted minutes. ‘I wish we could
just get back on the road,’ I thought.

Suddenly Knoll turned and unbuckling his
seat belt he turned his body towards me. I watched him in the
reflection of the window refusing to acknowledge or look at him. I
was so angry that I swear I could see only the color red.

“Carmina,” he announced, not in a scream,
but he definitely projected his deep voice through the van. Slowly
I turned my head, waiting for him to speak again. Finally he
continued, “I cannot and will not accept your thanks because, I do
not deserve it. I have brought you pain and, as you have graciously
reminded me, also nothing but destruction to your life.” He looked
down to the floor, avoiding any eye contact as he slowly ran his
hand across the back of his neck, letting out an exasperated
sigh.

Ashamed I felt horrible for yelling at him
so reaching up I placed my hand gently on his shoulder, exclaiming,
“I am sorry for screaming at you. I am just so freaked out right
now! Everything is such a mess. I mean, my parents tried to kill
me. I will never see my best friend ever again and on top of all
that some secret organization, that you have yet to explain about,
is after me. And this is all because of who I am supposedly born to
be.” I didn’t notice, as all the words came flowing out in a
jumbled mess, that I was shaking rapidly.

Calming myself I continued saying, “I
thanked you because it seems to me either of us had a choice in the
matter. You said it yourself you were born and raised to protect
me. Now, excuse me if I am not so happy to meet a mother that you
speak of, if you’re afraid of losing your own life because of her.”
I managed to stammer out the words before sitting back in my seat,
readying myself for whatever Knoll had to say next.

Shaking his head and leaning more towards my
side of the van, he said, “Carmina, I appreciate your thanks. I
will not lie to you or tell you that I wanted this for my life. My
father was and still is a guardian to your father. My grandfather
was a guardian to your grandfather, and so on. I am not ashamed to
follow in my father’s footsteps. I just needed time to remind me of
who I was, and I have a feeling the same will happen to you. Now,
if you don’t mind I would like to continue driving, we still have a
few hours until we reach your grandmother’s home.”

Agreeing with his suggestion I relaxed back
in my seat, letting the conversation that we had just had, play
over in my head. Finally I decided that I needed a distraction;
even if it was a simple one, so I turned the radio on and let the
music fill the van. The music carried me away; it was the only
thing that ever calmed me down. I was about to change the station
when the song, ‘I Hope You Dance,’ by Martina McBride filled the
car. I couldn’t help myself but sing along.

I only realized I had started singing along
out loud when I noticed Knoll staring straight at me smiling
sheepishly. I went to turn the radio off. “Sorry,” I exclaimed,
“Music and singing helps calm me down.”

Laughing he replied, “No need to apologize
Mina; you have the most beautiful singing voice I have ever
heard.”

My cheeks turned a rosy red, but I snorted
in response, which only deepened the blushing, so I rolled my eyes
and simply said, “Thank you, but I know that’s not true as I sound
like a screaming cat,” and I started laughing at my own joke.

Shaking his head Knoll replied, “No, not
even close.”

I thanked him, reminding myself to keep the
music low in future, and the singing to a minimum. Turning the
radio back on I was glad to hear the song was still playing.
Suddenly I remembered how I had listened to this song hundreds of
times, even having it playing at every one of my dance
recitals.

Chapter 3

Time, and the miles, soon passed but we sat
in silence; me listening to the radio whilst Knoll focused on the
road ahead. I didn’t mind the silence and it seemed neither did
Knoll. When we finally came to a stop it was at a small gas station
with a small diner inside. Relief flooded through me as I knew my
growling stomach was ready for food. Going inside we found an empty
table.

“Do you think that you could tell me a
little about me and my history? Or maybe where we are going,” I
asked, having remembered to finally take him up on the promise he
had given me the day before.

Nodding his head he replied, “I suppose now
is as a good of a time as any; but first you should order some
food.” As he finished speaking, a waitress came and stood by our
table. She wore an orange dress with a white collar and a white
apron. Her grey, greasy hair was pulled back into a lazy-bun. When
she spoke, her teeth were as yellow as a cigarette butt; which
didn’t surprise me really because she reeked of dingy
cigarettes.

I ordered my food quickly as the smell
coming from her was hurting my stomach. I told the waitress, “I
will have a cheese burger on rye, with a small order of onion
rings.”

She looked at me seemingly annoyed that I
hadn’t specified a drink of choice, asking sharply, “What to drink
with that?”

Thinking for a moment, I replied, “I will
have a diet coke please.”

I tried to remain calm with the women, even
though I was on edge from everything that had happened over the
last twenty four hours. If I could have reached out and clawed her
glossy eyes out, which I knew was a little harsh, I might just have
done it. Why I felt like this I wasn’t sure but I was stressed to
my max and was deemed ready to explode at anyone before the night
was over. The waitress wrote my order down on her ‘handy, dandy
notebook,’ which seemed to take forever for such a simple order. I
laughed in my head at the blues, clues reference, knowing best
friend Katelyn, would have loved the remark.

When it came to taking Knoll’s order, the
woman plastered a smile across her face before asking him in a
raspy voice, “What will it be honey?” I sighed, thinking, ‘Well at
least she isn’t being a witch to him,’ but it was hard to believe
that any woman could have looked at him and not appreciate his
beauty.

Knoll responded quickly. “I will have an
omelet with bacon on the side.” Then he looked at me and winked,
before saying, “For my drink, I will have…….” And he paused, put
his hand on his chin as if he was thinking very hard, waited a good
thirty seconds before telling the waitress that he wanted a black
coffee. I couldn’t help but to giggle when she snatched the menu
out of his hand and briskly walked away.