Page 10 of The Fallen

?He circled back around the block and with one leap, he was perched in the tree outside of Marie's house. He already knew what room belonged to her. He visited her often after he found out she had blacked out.He blamed himself for that. He shouldn't have tried to gauge her. Why was he so stupid, trying to impress and scare her all at once; mad that he found her and she was a neutral. He was hoping this one time, his luck had changed. All he could think about now, was how Micheal and the others kept saying they told him so. Even his dad was skeptical about the whole situation, telling him it was the only possible reason he couldn't see her like the others saw their other half.

?He had planned on this being the last time he looked for her; and was almost certain his dad was going to be against him leaving again anyway. He had been going out on his own since he was twelve. After four years, he was tired of searching; but something lead him to this small town and he felt like it was fate. They needed to be together.

?Still, she was complacent in this human lifestyle and it would be a challenge to get her up to speed in time. Especially since she wasn't connected to him. Not yet anyway. Her hands should have at least caught fire when he grabbed her wrist or she should have felt something, but there was no spark at all.

?He had only been around her for a few days and already his strength was increasing. He could do tricks he wasn't able to do before, like shadow travel; which made it easier for him to check on her and protect her if he needed to. Either way, he wasn't leaving without her. He couldn't. This was the only way they would make it.

?He watched as Marie's mother followed her into her room and closed the door behind her. Marie was right when she said they looked exactly alike. There was no mistaken that. The only differences were the worry lines her mom had, the fact that she was taller by a few inches and her hair was longer. Other than that, they were a match.

?Brenton closed his eyes and imagined he was in the room as a shadow on the wall and he was there, seeing the conversation up close.

?“Mom, I was fine. I just wanted to get some air and think about things. Nothing was going to happen,” Marie said.

?“I asked you not to do this, not to make me have a heart attack and you know what,” her mom grabbed her chest, “I think I'm about to have a heart attack.”

?Brenton smiled. He knew this exaggeration bit all too well; she was baiting Marie. He had to admit, she was good.

?“Seriously? A little over the top, don't you think?” Marie said with a snort.

?“Okay, look,” her mom said, composing herself. “It was over the top, but it is a possibility that I could, at my age, have a heart attack. If you leave the house and not call me, I will have...”

?“A heart attack. I heard you the first time,” Marie finished her sentence.

?“This is serious Marie, I am worried about you.”

?Brenton knew this could go on for hours. He honestly didn't want to intrude on their mommy and me time. He wanted to see if he could pick up on signs of Marie's mom being a descendant.

?His eyes glazed over as he searched her mind and looked into her past. He pushed his feelers out trying to tap into her soul, anything that would give him a clue. He kept hitting a brick wall and stumbling back.

?He tried once again, with more force this time and still came up empty. He saw nothing, just darkness. He pulled back and settled back into his shadow on the wall.

?Marie was looking around the room. She must have felt him reaching out. Marie's mom was concentrating on something in front of her. She finally snapped out of it and searched the room as well. They both felt it, he was sure. Her mom was intentionally blocking him.

?“Mom,” Marie broke the silence, “did you feel that?”

?“Feel what?”

?Brenton eased back. Marie could sense something and he didn't want her to know he was there. That would be creepy with a capital C. She would never trust him again and he needed things to fall into place.

?He closed his eyes once more and was back outside on the tree branch. Through the window, he watched as Marie put her head in her hands. He wanted to talk to her tonight. He wanted to explain what was going on and comfort her, too.

?“Marie, this is important. We need to talk,” he said out loud, certain she would hear it only in her mind.

?He saw her look around the room. She said something to her mom and she walked her to the door. Her mom left, but she stood outside the door with her hand on it. She had to know that something was changing in Marie and the only way for her to survive what was coming, was if she knew the truth.

?Marie reached out to him mentally and asked where he was. He didn't want to just appear in her room and scare her, especially with her mom on the other side of the door.

?“I'm going to do something and I don't want you to freak out, okay?” he said.

?“Okay.”

?He eased back into his shadow on her wall and waited. He felt her mom's presence walking away. He wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but it was too important for them to wait.

?“Look at the wall next to your closet,” he said.

?She slowly turned, waiting for something to happen. Brenton finally appeared through the shadow, hands up, in defense mode. Marie's hands quickly covered her mouth to stifle the scream that he was waiting on.

?“Please don't,” he said.

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