Seconds Before Sunrise (The Timely Death Trilogy) Page 3

  He wasn’t a bad looking guy, but his attitude was awful, and I didn’t want to push it if I didn’t have to. Zac, however, was beyond handsome. His thick, black hair shadowed his dark eyes and tanned skin like the midnight sky. He was taller than Robb, but cockier, and he had been pursuing me more since the summer. On top of that, Robb was his wingman, and he was trying to convince me to accept his friend.

  As my teacher, Ms. Hinkel, began talking, I pulled out my notebook and drew a line straight down the middle. I’d make a pros-and-cons list if I had to. I doodled Zac’s name at the top and froze when Eric shifted in his seat.

  His stare locked onto my paper until I met his eyes. His emerald irises sliced through me like the cold wind from last night’s dream.

  “Thought you were taking notes,” he grumbled, turning away as he yanked a pen out of his pocket and positioned his shoulders to me.

  The air left my lungs, but I was filled with the urge to scream at the partial stranger. He didn’t know me, and he had no right to read over my things whether I was taking notes or not. But his glare wasn’t just aggravating. It was confusing. He seemed upset, and I doubted it was over note-taking. His emotional response was the only reason I could hold back. Between Jonathon and him, I’d suddenly turned into a softy over night, and the nightmares didn’t help. I couldn’t even stand up for myself, and I had no idea why.

  Eric

  I wasn’t going to visit Jessica, but I couldn’t stop myself after everything that happened in class.

  Robb talked her into going out with friends, including Zac, and I dwelled on her doodles. She’d written his name down, and the notion struck a maddening match in my heart.

  Once the sun set, I walked most of the way to her house and carefully transported into her bedroom. Nothing had moved. Her bed was against the far wall, and her blinds were pulled up, allowing moonlight in. The silver coloring stretched across her torso, and her dark eyelashes moved when she dreamt. At a distance, I watched her flip over, and I held my breath as her curly hair moved across her pillow. I wanted to wake her up, but I knew I couldn’t. Seconds were enough for me. I had to leave.

  I melted into the shadows, but a hand grabbed my arm and pushed me against the wall. Jessica’s desk shook, and I froze as a boy sprung up from the shadows, his hair as wild as his green eyes. It was Pierce.

  Our eyes locked. “What are you doing here?” we hissed simultaneously.

  I tilted my head toward Jessica. “Are you joking?”

  As the words left my mouth, Jessica mumbled in her sleep and curled up in her blankets. We watched her, holding our breath, but she didn’t wake up. We looked back at each other.

  “Outside, Shoman.” Pierce’s breath seethed between his teeth. “Now.”

  “Fine.”

  He disappeared, but I lingered, glancing at Jessica one last time. Her back rose, and a part of me hoped she would awaken. Another stronger part of me understood that would be the worst scenario.

  I left.

  My body reformed with mist and grace, and I shook my arms in front of myself. Black and blue droplets splattered across the front lawn, and I stared at the unusual scene, remembering how Jessica showed it to me months ago. I still hadn’t figured out how to control the power.

  “I’m up here,” Pierce said, snapping his fingers to gain my attention.

  “I know why I was here.” I waited for his excuse. He was my best friend, but I wasn’t going to trust the fact that he was in my girlfriend’s bedroom.

  The veins on his arms pushed against his skin. “Let’s walk,” he said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. Without my consent, he walked away, and I was forced to follow.

  He crossed the lawn, dipped past the sidewalk, and walked onto a trail that led to our school. His pupils radiated in blackness, and I had to look away from him to keep myself from searching his eyes for something I didn’t want to see. Our silence was heavy, aside from the tapping of our shoes as we strode yards away from Jessica’s house. The tapping was so deafening, it seemed to affect my heartbeat.

  “I’m her guard,” he said. Pierce had taken two steps before he realized I had frozen.

  “What?” I asked, remembering how I’d already heard the information. I knew she was getting one, but I never suspected Pierce.

  He pushed at his nose as if his glasses were still in place. “I was assigned to keep an eye on her since I can in both worlds. We have class together—”

  “Why does she need a guard?”

  She was safe, wasn’t she? That was the entire point of erasing her memory − so she couldn’t activate her powers and figure out the situation. She would be entirely human, and Darthon would have no one to chase. It had been the perfect plan, but Pierce’s responsibilities insinuated a flaw.

  Pierce remained silent, and an owl’s hoot echoed through the trail. I tore my eyes away from my friend and searched the branches for the bird. It was nowhere to be seen.

  “You’re supposed to stay away from her, Shoman,” Pierce said.

  “She was doodling Zac’s name in her notebook today.” Now that I was confessing it aloud, my actions felt selfishly ridiculous.

  “Ouch.”

  “I know it’s a stupid excuse—” I began, but Pierce waved his hands in the air.

  “I’m not reporting you, Shoman,” he said. “I’m just reminding you of your duties.” His lip pulled into a smirk on his right cheek. “I was kind of expecting you to show up one of these nights.”

  I chuckled. “That obvious?”

  He nodded, but he didn’t have to. “I need to show you something.”

  He pulled out his cell phone and the screen blinded my eyes. I blinked, and he turned the brightness down, tilting it my way. “Look familiar to you?” he asked.

  Lightly drawn over a canvas was a sketch of Hayworth from the sky. I recognized it immediately as the night Jessica flew for the first time. I reached up to grab it, but Pierce pulled it away.

  “Where’d you get that?” I asked.

  “Class.” He returned the phone to his pocket. “It’s Jessica’s work.”

  I sucked in breath, and my ribs pushed against my lungs. “She remembers?”

  “No,” he corrected. “She’s having dreams.”

  “She’s dreaming about me?”

  Pierce swayed from foot to foot. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “She didn’t tell me much.”

  “You talked to her?”

  “I’m her guard,” he said with a hardened voice. “And we have class together.”

  I tried to picture Jonathon Stone approaching Jessica Taylor in painting, but I couldn’t. The timing was too perfect.

  “Luthicer tweaked my schedule,” Pierce added.

  I folded my arms. “Maybe if Luthicer’s memory swipe worked, he wouldn’t have to do that.”

  “It technically worked, Shoman,” he said. “She’s not aware it’s a memory or she’d be right in front of us.”

  I kicked the crumbling pavement. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  “Why do you think?” He tapped his forehead. “You blocked me, remember?”

  I did now since he brought it up, and I rubbed my temples, ridding myself of the heavy barrier I’d put up days before. “Sorry about that,” I muttered.

  Pierce whistled low. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

  I refused to respond because the truth wasn’t worth hearing. “Do the elders know about this?” I asked, studying Pierce’s reaction. He didn’t flinch, and I knew the elders were aware. “Of course they know.”

  “They thought it would be better if you didn’t.”

  “And look at the success their decisions have had,” I spat.

  “Exactly why I’m telling you now,” he said.

  “You’re telling me because I broke the rules.”

  “Which is something I enjoy advocating,” he agreed, adjusting his stance. “But you can’t see Jess again,” he said. “You have to trust in her safety, especially with me around
.”

  I craved an argument but held back. “You have her bedroom sealed?” I knew how he found me. I used the same spell to keep Noah out of my things.

  He folded his arms across his chest in response. “Can we go now?” he asked, jumping up and down. “It’s starting to get cold.”

  “Sure, princess,” I joked, unable to feel the chill from the upcoming winter. It was only August, and nighttime still felt nice out to me. But it didn’t to Pierce, and that was enough to remind me of the upcoming battle ahead. I didn’t have time to worry about Jessica’s personal life. I had to concentrate on defeating Darthon − killing him. Even if I didn’t want to, he had to die, and I was the only one who could do it.

  Jessica

  I couldn’t get their words out of my head.

  What are you doing here?

  The two boys were in my bedroom, and then they were shadows, disappearing into a black vortex of misty ash. When I woke up, I could barely breathe, and I still couldn’t, even though it’d been hours. I was in homeroom, and the dream owned my every thought. My mind was about to burst.

  “You okay?”

  The sudden whisper couldn’t tear me from my thoughts, but I did freeze when I realized who was speaking to me. Eric Welborn.

  “What?” I asked.

  He gestured to the pen in my hands. Ink splattered over my notebook, and I realized I’d been tapping it. I tore the ruined page out. Pieces of paper sprawled across the desk, and I swiped them off. “I’m fine,” I said, but my voice shook.

  “You seem a little jumpy,” he continued.

  We were in study hall, and our teacher was gone. Everyone was talking, including the guy who’d hardly talked to me since the semester started.

  “How was your summer?” Eric changed the topic. He looked different, more rested, and his stare was concentrated on me.

  “It was good,” I stuttered through my surprise. I wasn’t expecting him to talk to me at all. “It went by too fast.”

  “It did,” he agreed, pushing his long sleeves up. “Go out of town or anything?”

  “No.” I swallowed my nerves. I’d spent most of the summer looking for more information on my biological parents, but I couldn’t even find where they were buried. “Did you?” I followed the script of back-to-school talk.

  “We always stay in town.”

  Our conversation halted, and I turned back to my notebook. As much as I wanted more friends, I wasn’t sure what else to say. He sat next to me, but he didn’t seem to be the socializing type, and I doubted he would talk to me again.

  “That’s really annoying, you know,” Eric said.

  I glanced back at him. For the second time, he gestured to my hand, and I realized I had done it again. My pen was emptying out on my paper. I sighed, apologized, and flipped the page over. I didn’t need to fill up our desk with ripped up pieces.

  “What’s going on with you, Jessica?” he asked.

  A blush rose to my cheeks. No one used my full name, but he said it in a way that comforted me. It felt personal.

  “Rough night, I guess.” I pushed my seat back. I would not touch my pen again.

  Eric’s stare relaxed, and the space beneath his eyes smoothed over. “It couldn’t have been that bad,” he spoke quietly.

  I half-laughed. “I feel like I haven’t slept in weeks.”

  He hesitated. “Nightmares?”

  I gripped the table, unable to look at him. Even my closest friends hadn’t been able to guess. “Yeah.” I fought my embarrassment from crawling over my skin. “I know it sounds childish—”

  “What kind of nightmares?” he interrupted with more questions. “Just curious,” he added.

  I dug my nails into my hands. I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about something I didn’t understand with a stranger.

  “A lot of them,” I finally admitted, feeling the heaviness on my chest lift. Eric was surprisingly easy to talk to.

  “Do they repeat?” he asked.

  “Are you an expert or something?”

  His lip pulled up into a smirk, but he didn’t say anything.

  “They’re all different,” I clarified.

  His smirk faded. I expected for him to respond, but he collected his things, tediously placing each notebook in the order he had taken them out in. He repeated these motions every day, and I knew what they meant − the bell was about to ring.

  “Hope you sleep better,” he said, and the classroom erupted with the shrill ring of our transition bell. He stood up, put on his headphones, and was gone as soon as he had started talking to me.

  I watched him leave, still wondering about the strange conversation. Unlike Robb, I didn’t feel as if Eric judged me. He listened, asked questions, and remained attentive − like we had been friends for years − and I had yearned for a connection with someone ever since school began. I didn’t care that he was Eric Welborn, the social outcast. He seemed nice enough to me, and I made a mental note to talk to him again.

  “Jess,” Crystal called out from the doorway. “Are you coming or not?”

  I grabbed my bag and threw my pen out as I passed the trashcan. “Can we ditch?” I asked.

  Crystal popped her gum. “Is that even a question?”

  She looped her arm through mine, and we left. I didn’t care about breaking the rules for one day. I needed a distraction, and school obviously wasn’t working. Crystal, however, would.

  “We could meet up with Robb,” she suggested, knowing he had taken the day off.

  “What’s he doing?”

  Her lip ring flashed beneath the fluorescent lights. “He’s at Zac’s house,” she said. “With Linda.”

  I rolled my eyes, but Crystal was adamant about it, and I gave in. Ever since the summer, Zac hadn’t been as domineering. He was fun, and Linda was lightening up. They were starting to feel more like friends, and friendship was all I needed.

  Eric

  “What’s an eleven-letter word for fate?” Jessica asked, twirling her pen as she stared at her crossword book.

  I glanced around the classroom as if there were a chance she was speaking to someone else. She hadn’t attempted conversation with me since we had talked last week, but she looked up at me, and I held my breath.

  She pointed her pen at the white boxes. “I need an eleven-letter word for fate.” I didn’t respond, and she rolled her eyes. “I’m stuck.”

  “Preordained,” I said.

  She blinked her blue eyes. The color reminded me of the sunrise over the river.

  Her pen bobbed up and down. “You’re right,” she said, scribbling it in. Even her handwriting was perfect. “Thanks.” She filled in a few more before pausing.

  I read over her shoulder. “Silver,” I said.

  “Which one?”

  “Five down.”

  She leaned back. “Looks like I need your help more often.”

  I couldn’t help my grin. The moment was like old times, and I would live in the lie if it were only for a second.

  “Jess.”

  I scooted back as Robb pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. Girls stared at him from across the room. I didn’t understand what they saw in him.

  “I need to talk to you,” he said, but Jessica didn’t speak until Crystal sat on the desk next to ours.

  If it were the previous semester, we would’ve been lectured, but our teacher had lightened up for our senior year. Her change in behavior was dramatic, and I wasn’t the only one to notice. Ms. Hinkel rarely lectured, and I wondered if she were involved with the Marking of Change, nervous for her children or, perhaps, herself. It was impossible to know.

  “We can’t talk at lunch?” Jessica eyed the room full of curious stares.

  “Lunch starts in two minutes.” Crystal pointed at her sparkling wristwatch. “We can start now.”

  Jessica sighed. “Fine.”

  “The date,” Robb spoke so suddenly my insides twisted. “Zac and Linda are meeting at my house, then we’ll come pick you
up.”

  Zac. How I hated Zac.

  “What about you?” Jessica asked Crystal.

  She lit up. “I’ll be at your house, silly,” she said, tapping Jessica’s arm. “We have to get ready.”

  “Get ready?” Jessica squeaked. “It isn’t that big of a deal.”

  “It’s a date,” Robb said, and the word reverberated my aggravation.

  “No, it’s not,” Jessica clarified slowly.

  “But Zac—”

  “I don’t like him like that.”

  I turned away so they wouldn’t see my grin. I shouldn’t have been listening, but it was hard not to when they were inches away. Jessica didn’t like Zac, and I was positive my week was made.

  Her friends started to argue, but the lunch bell rang, and they stopped. “Usual place?” Crystal asked. They always sat outside.

  “Go ahead of me,” she said.

  I froze. I sensed Robb’s eyes on me, but he didn’t say anything. Crystal grabbed his arm, and the two filtered out with the class. Jessica and I hung behind, and she exhaled a shaky breath when she met my eyes.

  “Ever feel like people are making decisions for you?” she asked, and the Dark flashed through my memory. Shades and lights from a hundred years ago dictated my entire life, and there was nothing I could do but obey if I wanted to live.

  “All the time.”

  “I bet you do, Eric,” she said, lingering on her words as if she didn’t understand them herself. Her eyebrows pressed together, and she shook her head as she grabbed her bag. “See you later,” she finished, walking out of the room.

  I wanted to talk to her, to listen to her, but I knew I couldn’t. She didn’t know what her words meant to me, and I wondered if her subconscious part was aware of what she’d said. A part of her, no matter how small, recognized our fates, and I was forced to fight that as much as I was fighting myself.