Bound

Chapter NINE

Rebecca



She was standing on the beach, staring out at the ocean. She looked different from the last time I had seen her - older, heavier, more filled out. She was wearing a tight black turtleneck sweater and a pair of jeans, sunglasses over her empty eyes, her feet bare in the sand. She had cut her hair short, into a simple bob that really brought out the planes of her face.

I saw her head flick over towards me for just an instant, but she dismissed me as anything but another passer-by. Right now, I was. I kept my eyes forward, looking at her from the edge of my peripheral vision. The last thing I needed was for her to suspect me of anything.

She didn't move, or turn to watch me once I had gone by. She was looking out at the ocean, just another human contemplating their position in the universe, except her position was of more importance than any of theirs. I walked another fifty feet or so along the sand and then turned and sat cross-legged, keeping my own vision on the water and waves. I couldn't see her from here unless I brought my eyes all the way to the edge of the socket, but that meant I could get a glance over from time to time.

I'd have to keep track of where she went, and follow behind. There was no way she had the Box on her, since her clothes were too fitted to disguise its size and shape.

The wind was cool on my face, and it raised so many emotions in me. Sorrow, regret, loneliness, anger. Regret was foremost. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty, but I never should have betrayed Landon in the first place. Looking back on it, I felt like I was someone else, trying to understand a person that I couldn't recognize. I only realized I was crying when I felt the sting of the air on the tears, and had to blink them away.

"Are you okay?"

I was surprised to have had someone sneak up on me. I had to resist the urge to reach for a weapon, and instead just slowly turned my head. Sarah was kneeling down next to me.

"Uh. Yeah. I'm okay." The words were quiet and forced. I felt my heart race. I was terrified.

"Do you mind some company?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "You want to sit with me?"

She shrugged. "You look like you could use it."

I didn't know what to do. If I turned her down, she might leave and I would have trouble following without raising suspicion. If I accepted, she might figure out there was something off about me.

"Uh. Okay. Sure. My name is Elyse, but you can call me Elle." I put out my hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Elle. I'm Sarah." She sat down on the sand next to me, leaving a few inches of space between us. "What are you doing out here?"

I had to close my eyes to catch myself. I felt the power of the Command even though it couldn't compel me. Elyse had been right about her not trusting anyone.

"I just came to think. I did something I wish I hadn't and now I have to deal with the consequences."

She smiled. "I know what you mean."

Of course she did. "You do?"

"I thought I knew what I wanted, but a good friend showed me how selfish I was being." She looked out at the ocean. "But not before they got hurt because of it."

"Are you sure you aren't talking about me?"

"I've come to discover that making mistakes is pretty normal. The difference is in how hard you try to be different, and to make up for them. It's really hard sometimes, but I wake up every day and try to do the right thing. To make the people who love me proud."

I could sense the sadness in her voice. I had expected Sarah to have suffered beneath the weight of the Box and what Landon was going through. I expected that it would have broken her. It seemed she was holding up fine. Maybe Elyse had been wrong.

"That's what I want," I said. "I'm not always sure I'm doing the right thing."

"Just do your best. That's all anybody can expect."

I nodded, staring out at the waves. Was taking the Box from her the right thing to do? What if she was trying to get Landon out, too? Had Elyse misjudged her, or was she just having a moment of lucidity that would crumble as soon as the real pressure was on?

"Do you... see things, Elle?"

The question brought me out of my head. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry. I know it's a weird question, it's just that... well... I have this perception, like a sixth sense about people. The ones that are different, anyway."

I could have kicked myself. Of course she would be able to tell that Elyse was Awake. That was why she had tested me.

"You're saying I'm different?"

"Are you?"

I wasn't sure what to say. "I..." I sat in silence for a moment. "I have delusions."

"Where do you live?"

It was a strange question, and she didn't Command the answer. "I don't have a home."

"Do you want one?"

She had taken in the Awake before. I decided to play along. "Of course... I mean... why wouldn't I? My family thinks I'm crazy. They don't understand... the monsters. I've seen them."

"I know you aren't crazy, Elle. I've seen them too." She lifted her head, and then turned around. "I have to go now. If you need somewhere to stay tonight, there's a small house about half a mile down. It has white shingles on it. That's where I live, but I'm going out of town for a few days."

Going out of town? I was only going to have one shot at the Box. "Why would you let me stay there? How do you know you can trust me?"

She smiled. "Can I trust you?"

The question was a Command.

"Yes."

"There you go. That's good enough for me." She pushed herself back to her feet. "I'm meeting someone now. If you want to stay at the house, just come by after nine. I'll leave it unlocked for you."

She reached out and patted me on the shoulder, and then turned and headed up the beach. I risked a quick glance back, and then whipped my head towards the ocean.

She was meeting Ulnyx.

I closed my eyes, praying that he wouldn't recognize Elyse, or her scent. He had been part of Landon when he had seen her, but I knew weres well enough to know he wouldn't forget a face, body, or smell like hers. Were the dirty clothes and salty sea air enough to disguise me?

I held my breath and waited. When half a minute passed and I hadn't been confronted, I turned my head again. They were gone. It had been four o'clock when I had abandoned the squad car. That gave me about three hours to get into the house, find the Box, and get out of there. Depending on what her plans were, maybe less. It meant I had no time to waste.

There was no sign of them along the beach as I meandered in the direction Sarah had indicated. Every once in a while I would stop, stare at the ocean for a minute, and then continue on. Each time, I couldn't help but find myself drawn back to the same contemplative thoughts. I wanted so much to do the right thing, to do right by Landon, and to honor the grace that I had been granted.

It took me about half an hour to reach the house. It was easy enough to spot, both due to its more diminutive size, and the white shutters flanking each of the windows. Not for the first time, I wished that I could See.

Instead, I approached the house slowly, crawling up the side of a nearby sand dune that peaked about twenty feet from the foundation. I could see into one of the rooms from there, a living room with an old television, a leather couch, a coffee table and two end tables. There was also a rocking chair in the corner.

I slid back down the dune and circled to the front of the house. There was a long gravel driveway that headed out to a cross street and ended in a circle there. I didn't see any cars and it still looked deserted, so I ran across to the other side behind an outcropping of brush.

Fairly certain that nobody was home, I walked up to the front door, keeping every cell of my eyes and ears attuned to signs of life. I had seen Sarah leave the beach with Ulnyx. I didn't know where they had gone, but I did know they would be here eventually and I didn't want to still be nearby when they returned. I guess I could have passed myself off as too stupid to know the difference between five and nine, but the last thing I wanted was to make Sarah more suspicious than she already was.


I twisted the handle on the door. Locked, as expected. Elyse had come prepared. I turned my hand so that one of the rings pressed against the handle. From the outer edge it was a simple wooden ring, made of teak and stained a deep maroon. The runes were all on the inner edge, and I felt the warmth of them against my finger while I activated the ring's power. The lock clicked. I turned the knob and entered.

I was in the living room I had seen from the window, and now I could see a set of stairs against the back wall before an archway that led into the kitchen. The was no one else here. I closed the door behind me and locked it again. I was in. Now I just needed to find the Box.

It had to be upstairs in one of the bedrooms. I ascended slowly, staying alert to anything that would signal the arrival of anyone. At the top was a tiny hallway with a bathroom over the kitchen and the two bedrooms splitting the rest of the space.

The doors to the bedrooms were open. The one on the left looked lived in: an unmade bed, some clothes on the ground, books littering the floor. The other was neatly organized, and had a musty smell to it that told me it was rarely if ever visited. Not that I had expected Sarah to be shacking up with anybody, but I had no way to know if I was the first wayward Awake she had extended herself to.

I entered Sarah's room. I didn't know how I was going to find it. I only knew that I was as sure as I could be that it was here somewhere. I went over to the closet, which was nothing more than a curtain hung over a cut-out in the room. I pushed the curtain aside and was greeted with neatly stacked piles of clothing, but no Box.

It was at that moment that I wondered how she could leave the Box here, unguarded, and be sure that no one would try to grab it while she was out. I hadn't seen any demonic runes or angelic scripture etched into the walls or the door frame. I hadn't noticed anything that would indicate the house was defended at all.

My heart began to race. The fact that I hadn't seen anything made me suddenly sure that I had missed something. I moved the curtain back into position and closed my eyes, listening.

A minute passed. I didn't hear anything. Maybe I was overreacting, being too jumpy. I knelt on the floor and looked under the bed. It was clean. I pulled back the pillows, opened her dresser, and rifled through her underwear. She left the house unguarded because the Box wasn't here.

I knew that had to be the reason. This was going to be harder than I expected. I needed to be here, or nearby when Sarah returned. I needed to find out where the Box was. I closed Elyse's eyes, letting go of control and allowing her back in.

"You need to get out of here," I said. "I'll stay behind. They're bound to show up sooner or later. Hopefully they'll say or do something to help us find it. Come and get me when they leave."

I wasn't sure I could maintain myself in one place, separated from a body. I had been able to do it when Landon was nearby, but his energy was the energy I was bound to. There was no other way.

"You need to get far enough away that Ulnyx won't smell you."

"I'll go for a swim. The salt and damp should disguise me well enough."

"The water is freezing."

"I'll survive. If I have a shot at the Box, I'm going to take it. Be ready."

"Okay. Good luck."

"You as well, Rebecca."

I focused my desire on finding Landon and then let go completely, feeling myself evaporate through her, my mind reduced to little more than a whisper. I needed to know where the Box was. I needed to stay in the house, because that was the way to find out.

Elyse could see me with the Eye. She waved at me, and then made her way out.