Witness (10 page)

Then all at once, every single time Britain had asked me what color Draven’s eyes were, all the times he asked if they glowed or were the color of honey - suddenly came rushing through my memory….was this the person he seemed to fear, the person he was trying to protect me from? No, it couldn’t be…this person was pure, innocent, beautiful.

“Silas,” Britain said coldly, pulling me from my racing thoughts.

“Britain,” the boy holding me said grimly. Silas...Silas...I said over and over in my mind, trying to see if there was a memory of him just beneath the surface, but there was nothing. All I had was a feeling, one that said he was safe, that I could trust him with every part of me - that I needed to do just that.

“Charlie, tell your friend goodbye,” Silas said to me.

“Bye,” I mumbled, looking at Britain in utter confusion.

“Not so fast,” Britain said in a demanding tone. “I want my book back – and tell your boyfriend he owes me for the phone.”

“Seriously?!” I said callously. “I bet you own the company.” I reached in my pocket and pulled out the ripped photo of me and him. “This was in your book. I’ll give the rest back when I’m done with it.”

Britain smirked and refused to take the photo. “You keep it. I forgive you…at this point, I have no other choice.”

Before I could question what he meant by that, Silas’s arm tightened around my waist. “Come Charlie,” he said quietly. “Monroe,” Silas said as he reached his other arm for her. Monroe came willingly, and I wondered how she knew him. Was he affecting her the same way he was affecting me? I looked across his strong chest at Monroe on his other side. She looked calm, but what I was feeling…this peace…was nowhere in her expression.  I let my eyes fall to the ground, and for the first time in a long time - a really long time - I felt calm. I wasn’t anxious, scared, confused, or even angry. The emotion was so foreign to me that I was struggling to comprehend it. The anxiety I should have had for not understanding it never surfaced; the peace was just too strong.

“Who are you?” I asked, quietly looking up at him as we stepped onto Main Street.

He smiled slightly, and it all but took my breath away. This guy was...he was like...angelic.

“A friend,” he answered.

“Have I met you before?”

For some reason, my question seemed to dim the glow he had about him; it was like I made him sad.  He let his arm fall, taking the numbing sensation with him.

“How do you know Britain?” I asked, hoping I could get him to say something, anything. I had to figure him out.

Silas let his hand run slowly across Monroe’s shoulder before he let his arm fall from her as well.

“Old friends – enemies.”

“You can’t be both,” I said, looking up at him.

He nodded for me to cross the street. I could see Aden’s Hummer parked there with him in the driver’s seat. Aden; his twin image always made me feel closer to Draven. I hesitated before I crossed the street, not sure that I wanted Aden to meet Silas…it felt dangerous to me – like I was about to collide two different worlds that didn’t belong together. I felt Silas’ hand on the small of my back, urging me to walk, and I somehow found the courage to step forward. As I got to the Hummer, I looked to my side to find Silas gone. I looked across the street, but he wasn’t there. Down – up the street...he’d literally vanished.

“Where did he go?” I asked Monroe. She didn’t say a word; she just reached for the door on the Hummer and crawled in.

“Where did who go?” Aden asked as he rolled down his window further. I ignored him as my eyes rushed from person to person – how could he just vanish? I swear, I could still feel him…his energy...it was like it was all around me, but he was nowhere in sight.

“Charlie,” Aden said as he climbed out of the Hummer. “Who?”

I shook my head, knowing for sure that I didn’t want Aden to see what I just felt – how Silas made me feel. If Draven ever saw that, he’d be furious – and fury brings nightmares to life. I can’t let that happen to him. I had no other choice but to lie. I pushed the way Silas made me feel deep inside and focused on the one that had caused all hell to break loose in my life.

“Britain’s here.”

Before I could say another word, Aden had his arm around me and was pushing me to climb into the truck on the driver’s side. I didn’t fight him; I was confused and almost sure I was insane. I couldn’t get over how amazing peace felt…I did what I could to hold on to that emotion, but it was fading every second.

Aden peeled out of his spot and turned left on the next street – the one I was just on. The street light was beaming brightly, and there was no sign of Silas or Britain.

“Did he see you?!” Aden yelled as he pressed the gas.

“Yeah, we had a little talk – he knows I’m awake.”

“You told him? You got that close?” Aden asked, seething with anger.

“Close enough,” I mumbled as I stared out the window, wondering who Silas was, and how he knew Britain; how Britain knew he was coming for me.

Chapter Six

Aden sped through roads, not saying another word. I glanced over my shoulder to Monroe; she was leaning forward and holding on to my seat as Aden turned into the curves. I was gonna get her to talk one way or another. I wanted to know how Silas knew her name – was I crazy to think I knew him? I decided to wait until I was alone with her to ask. I had a strange feeling that Aden and Draven unknowingly made her uncomfortable.

Aden turned into my driveway and circled to the back, where the garage was. Once he threw the truck in park, he reached for his cell phone and started texting.

“Who are you talking to?”

“Who do you think?” he said through gritted teeth.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to tell him about Britain?! This morning didn’t work out too well – you’re antagonizing him.”

“Me?!” he said as his eyes quickly glanced to his side at me, then back to his phone’s screen. “I wasn’t the one that wanted to go to town.”

“Seriously, I’m not a prisoner in this house - or yours, for that matter.”

Aden sighed. “Don’t worry; I sent a group text to Dad, Grayson, Madison, and Draven. They won’t let him do anything crazy.”

“Like they could stop him,” I said shortly as I reached for the handle and charged out of the truck.

My car was parked in my spot. I glanced in the window as I passed by and saw my bag. I halted, then turned around to get it. As I climbed back out of my car, I found Monroe waiting on me.

“Oh yeah,” I mumbled. I was so mad at Aden that I forgot to ask her in. “Come on…you get to meet Kara – fun,” I said with a forced, fake smile. She looked down and waited for me to lead her.

When I opened the back door, the guitar sound was blaring in one of its angry tunes. I shook my head. Looks like everyone’s mad at me.

Kara was walking down the stairs that led to my room. When she saw me with Monroe, a warm smile filled her face.

I looked over my shoulder to see Monroe looking all around – almost as if she were looking for the sound. I raised my eyebrows. “Hear something?”

She looked at me nervously, then down at her feet.

“Monroe, it’s so good to see you,” Kara said as we met her in the entry hall.

“Did Nana call you?”

“Mom did – this morning. Madison helped me get everything ready for Monroe to stay with us.”

“So I guess Nana just asked me to be polite?” I said shortly, knowing it wouldn’t have mattered if I said yes or not.

“Well,” Kara said bleakly as her eyes moved across my face. “She’s the only one you still listen to.”

I glared at Kara. It wasn’t that I listened to Nana more than her or Mom; it was just that I felt Nana was calmer – and never made rash decisions or chose to push an issue she didn’t understand.

“None of you thought to tell me they were here – that Evan was back?”

“Maybe if you came out of your room once in a while, you’d know things. Seriously, mom is thinking of putting a kitchenette up there. She thinks that way, you may eat more – but I told her you’d never come down if that happened.”

“Well, if the company downstairs wasn’t so interested in telling me to run away and never look back, I might. Did you ever stop to think that if I leave with Austin – I may never come back, see you again?” I choked on those last words. I couldn’t believe I actually said that aloud. It was my second fear of leaving; the first was taking my demons to another world – and I’d chance both if it meant saving Draven from whatever he was fighting.

Kara’s eyes glassed over, and she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. “I just want you to have peace - even if that means I can only see you in my dreams,” she whispered in my ear.

I hugged her back and let an angry tear race down my cheek. “Truce,” I whispered.

“Truce,” Kara said as she let me go. “Have you guys eaten?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled.

“Alright,” Kara said, reaching her arm around Monroe. “Let me show you where you’re staying.”

I followed her and Kara up the stairs, sure that she’d stop at the guest room - but she didn’t; instead, she kept climbing the stairs to my room. I was shaking my head, ready to argue. Madison was already sharing my room with me – even though it was huge, intended to be a living room but changed to my room at my request; I didn’t want to share it with two other girls, especially if there were perfectly good rooms that were empty.

When we reached my room, I saw that it had been invaded. My double bed was gone; now, there were two twin beds on opposite sides of the room. In the center were a black bean bag cushion and two big leather chairs. Across the floor and one of the beds were Madison’s sketch books, and images I couldn’t comprehend were on each of them. Some were of demons that kinda looked like monkies. There were ones with Ankhs on them, and others with eyes. Some were dark and captivating, and others were emerald and mesmerizing, like Madison’s. There was even one that looked very much like Britain’s steel blue eyes.

“What’s going on? Where’s my bed?” I asked, completely confused on how my room could be transformed so much in the course of one day.

“Upstairs,” Kara said, nodding to the short staircase that led to my father’s studio.

“You’re kicking me out of my own room?!” I all but yelled.

“Listen,” Kara said as she turned and put her hands on my shoulders. “This is for your own good. Apparently, what you can do - what your friends can do - has raised some concerns. Mom’s first idea was for you to just move in with Draven, but I told her you needed your space and that you wouldn’t want to be away from us, or…the sound I know you hear here…before you had to be.”

I glanced around at the thin air at the sound of the guitar that was still scolding me. “What do you mean? What concerns?”

Kara let her hands fall from my shoulders. Monroe nervously walked to the bed that didn’t have any sketches on it and sat down. It was clear she was uncomfortable with mine and Kara’s argument.

“I don’t understand them,” Kara said in a calm voice. “But from what I gather, once you see a place or go to a place, you can go back there. Apparently, that’s what Draven is doing now, and they think that the reason you saw the illusion of Draven arguing with you in this room on the night of your accident is because we let Bianca in this house; she was in this room and was able to come back to it.”

“I saw Draven, not her,” I said, looking down.

“Like I said, I don’t understand it,” Kara mumbled. “Ask Madison to explain it. If you wanna stay at Draven’s, that option is on the table.”

“No, I’m staying in my own house.”

“See - I still get you,” Kara said as she tried to smile. “But I’m gonna warn you,” she said as she looked around the room. “If a certain someone says it’s time to go – Mom is gonna make you.”

It was like she didn’t want to mention that my father haunted this house in front of Monroe, but it was clear to me that she already sensed that. “He doesn’t talk,” I said, crossing my arms. “At least not when you’re awake.”

“Mom says he does…maybe you need to stop looking for words and just listen to the emotions of the room…I would think that words are for the living, not the dead.”

“Well, I’m alive and he’s dead, so I guess we have a language barrier.”

Kara’s expression grew dim. “K…maybe you’re right….maybe mom is. I don’t know; I’m just doing the best I can right now with what I have. Your bed is upstairs…I hung drapes on the window to give you privacy.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled, clearly not caring anymore.

“Let me know if you need anything, Monroe,” Kara said as she glanced at her before going down the stairs.

“I guess I’m gonna check out my new room,” I said blankly as I walked to the stairs that led to the studio.

They had put my bed and a night stand on the left wall. The black leather couch, guitar stand, and amps were still in the same place. In a way, I was surprised I hadn’t thought of this before. When I did sleep, it was usually on that couch with a guitar in my lap.

There was an area rug beneath my bed that matched the new maroon drapes across the window. I liked how it matched my fluffy black bedspread. I walked over to the bed and sat down and pulled my phone out of my bag. I saw the cord for my charger on the night stand and plugged it in. There was no life in my battery, so I had no idea how many texts from Britain were waiting on me.