"Anne… Anne..."
A familiar voice broke through the clouds that Anne seemed to float on. She did not want to leave the warm space she was in so she tugged away from the voice. It was so nice in these clouds, so warm and comfy. Why would she want to leave? Why would anyone want to leave? She drifted across large bright, light-filled fields, wandering aimlessly.
"Anna-Lorraine Grace Faysher, you wake up right now."
The voice was back, stronger now and it pierced the stillness. Anne grumbled as she felt strong hands on her shoulders jerking her out of her place of quiet.
"Garrett?" she asked foggily. She opened her eyes to see the black haired, blue eyed young man leaning over her. His glasses were slightly askew. "What-what are you doing in my bedroom?"
"Anne," Garrett said as he arched an eyebrow, "I'm not in your bedroom. Do you know what happened?"
Clueless, she gazed at her friend then let her eyes rove around her surroundings. Gip's Goods? What...? How...?
Then she remembered.
Robbers, pain, gunshot… gunshot!
Her green eyes snapped back to meet Garrett's very blue ones. "I'm not dead am I?"
"No…" Garrett said slowly, reaching up to fix his glasses so they were no longer crooked.
Anne sat up, noticing her wrists were untied; the string that had restrained her lay in pieces a few feet away from them while the handkerchief that had prevented her from speaking was missing altogether. Garret sat back on his haunches, watching her. "But I thought the thief shot-"
At me…she did not want to finish the sentence. Instead she asked, "What happened? What did you do? H-how-"
"Anne-" Garrett tried to stop her outburst of questions, but she kept going.
"One minute the man was swinging a crowbar at your head and the next- Oh, my gosh. I need to call the police-" She moved to stand up, but fell back when her head throbbed and her vision seemed to blur.
"Anne, don't get up yet," Garret ordered, placing a restraining hand on her shoulder, "You don't have a concussion, but at the very least, you've had a hard fall and you should stay down for a while longer."
"Move, Garrett, I'm fine," she responded shrugging his hand off, "I know you want to go to medical school, but who made you the doctor here?"
She pushed herself up, ignoring the pain that resounded in her head. Holding on to the register counter, she managed to stay standing, but just barely. She received a surprise though when her vision cleared enough for her to look for her bag. Her bag's contents which were previously spilled across the counter were all back in the canvas tote. Surprised she grabbed it and dug through her things looking for her wallet. Anne reached for the billfold and brought it out only to succeed in dropping it because her hands were shaking so hard. The wallet slid across the counter and onto tile floor. Anne was about to brace herself to bend over, but Garrett was already there reaching to pick it up.
She was about to say thanks when something caught her eye. A bright red stain the width and length of her hand, stood out on the back of Garrett's light gray shirt.
"Garrett…" She said slowly and looked closer. He glanced up at her as Anne reached out towards the mark. There was a small hole in the middle of the redness, the size of a…
Bullet.
"Oh my- Garrett you need to get to the hospital!"
"What-" he asked standing up next to her, her wallet clutched in his hand, but she charged on, "I need to call an ambulance! I need-need to call my boss!" She reached out to pick up the phone next to the register and dial the numbers.
"Anne!" Garrett exclaimed moving to press the switch hook and cutting off the dial tone. She wasn't sure how he managed it, but he grabbed the phone from her hands and held it out of her reach. "I don't need to go to a hospital."
"Uh- Garrett, news flash. There is a bullet hole in the back of your shirt with blood surrounding it! How are you still alive let alone talking?! No, wait. I don't care right now, reality has already gone to the dogs, but I need the phone!" She made a grab for the receiver, but he lifted it higher.
"No Anne I'm fine. Look…" Garrett put the phone down in its cradle before he turned around so his back faced her. Not waiting for her to say anything else, he lifted up his shirt.
"Garrett what the hell-" Then she stared, speechless.
His back was unmarked except for a small, raised scar on his shoulder directly under the stain and bullet hole in her shirt. His otherwise smooth skin was white as porcelain, muscles stretching as he held his arms above his head.
"But-" she tried to say something. Instead she walked around Garrett to study the front of him. With his shirt still raised, Anne only saw the pale and unblemished planes of his chest. Managing to avoid staring too long at his rather distracting and alluring physique, she saw only two more scars that were whiter than the rest of his skin. One was on his shoulder again; the other was just above his heart.
With all the times they had gone swimming in Anne's pool, she had seen the scar near his heart before. When she asked him about it he told her it was from an accident when he was a child. The scars that were on his shoulders, the ones that were on both sides of his torso, were new.
"But the gun… and the blood… what-" Anne was unable to form a coherent sentence. Then she glared at Garrett and smacked him in the arm with the magazine she had been reading earlier. "You jerk! You idiot! You-you could have been killed Garrett! You should be dead! I should be dead! Why didn't you run when you had the chance to get the police? And what in the world was the whole 'no fun' crap? You're not indestructible!" She broke away from his gaze and made to pick up the phone again only for Garrett to reach out and seize her wrist to stop her.
His grip was surprisingly strong and, with the only protection between his tight grip and her skin being the thin sleeve of the jacket she wore, it also hurt. Anne gasped, "Ouch! Garrett, let go!"
Immediately, Garrett released her from his hold. Wincing, Anne pushed back the sleeve of her sweater to find a deep red and purple ring winding its way around her wrist. Garrett flinched at the sight of the fresh bruising and took a step back, a shocked expression crossing his face. Anne missed his reaction for she was staring down at the colorful injury.
Must have happened when that robber grabbed me, she thought to herself as she rotated her wrist, grimacing as the movement sent a dull pain up her arm.
"Anne," Garrett's unsteady voice caused her to look up from where she examined her wrist. She watched as he raised pleading, blue eyes to look at her, "maybe it's better if you just forgot this night ever happened."
She blinked, caught off guard by his words. She could have sworn she heard him wrong. "What did you say?"
Garrett took a deep breath before letting it out and saying, "I'm telling you to not call the police."
"That's what I thought you said." Anne absentmindedly rubbed her wrist as she stared at him. "Garrett, I have to call the police. Those men were going to rob the store. They were going to steal the money-" she turned her head and saw that the briefcase, gun, and crowbar were all gone. The only thing on the counter was the register, her bag, and the magazine. "Where did it all go? Where did they go?"
Garrett watched her wearily. "The men are gone. Long gone. After I made sure you were okay, I put the money back in the register. The briefcase is in the garbage behind the store along with a disassembled and broken gun. Also, the cereal you knocked over is back on its shelf, the boxes you emptied out in the recycling pile."
She glanced at him then looked at the register. Its drawer was closed, looking the same as it had before all this happened. "How long was I out?"
"About three minutes," was his abrupt answer.
Anne felt her jaw drop. "You did all that in three minutes?" He didn't react to her disbelieving question, just watched her with eerily calm eyes. Anne shook her head in disbelief then stopped immediately when she felt a wave of vertigo hit her. She grabbed onto the counter in order to steady herself as the world tilted in her vision. "Ugh, I don't feel too good."
"You need to go home," Garrett told her swiftly.
"I can't," she said between trying to take deep breaths and not pass out again, "I still need to call my boss and that means the police will get involved."
"Anne just trust me," Garrett told her vehemently and she found herself swiveling her head to meet his gaze, "it's better if you forget this all happened. Forget that there were robbers and forget what I did."
"Garrett-"
"Anne, do this for me." Garrett looked at her with his very blue eyes and she shut her mouth. "I rarely ask for favors, but now for both of our sakes, don't ever mention this night to anyone. If someone asks, please tell them the night shift was boring and quiet."
She was finally able to get a word in when he paused. "Garrett Redfern, why would you want me to forget this and lie to everyone?"
"Anne, believe me. It's better if we don't remember tonight," Garrett went on before she could say anything, "Forget it and go home."
She stared at him. "You are telling me to not report a crime."
"Yes."
"And if my boss ever found out, I-I could lose my job or something."
He turned away from her and gazed out the front window. "If anyone found out, a lot more would be at stake than just your job."
Anne studied the eighteen year old in front of her. His eyes reflected the florescent light of the store and for a moment they almost appeared silver. She discarded that thought and was about to open her mouth to argue when she abruptly lost the will to fight him. A small voice in her head was telling her to drop it, to not get into an argument. She didn't want to listen to the voice, but with Garrett looking at her with his captivating blue eyes the color of melting ice in the moonlight, Anne felt herself relax and the tension in her body disappeared.
Garrett turned to walk to the door, leaving a suddenly passive Anne standing there. "Just lock up and I'll drive you home."
"Really?" Anne called after his retreating figure, a little disconcerted by her abrupt change in attitude, "Because from the look on your face you'd probably prefer I walked."
"Anne," Garrett briefly glanced over his shoulder, "I'm not about to let you walk over five miles alone on the streets of Rockford. You've tempted fate enough for one night." He stopped talking for a moment as they stared at each other across the store. Then he said gruffly, "I'll be in the truck."
And he walked out the door, leaving Anne in silent confusion. She stared after him then closed her eyes, shocked at what the night had become. Opening her eyes, she glanced at the clock.
Looking at her cell phone's screen Anne saw it was 12:04.
"Feels like forever ago I was bored out of my mind and stocking vegetables on a shelf." With that she grabbed her bag and the store keys from the register counter and walked to the front entrance. Flipping off the lights, she left the store. After locking up, she turned and went down the sidewalk, blind to the commercial buildings and stores around her. She glanced up at the sky and saw that the usually present stars were completely hidden by thick storm clouds. "Great. Rain."
Just then Anne heard an engine roar to life next to her. The growl of working machinery caused her to look and see Garrett sitting in his black truck. Swerving on her path, she stopped at the truck's door. Opening it and pulling herself up into the passenger seat, she immediately told him, "I forgot to say thank you-"
"You're welcome," Garrett responded without letting her finish the sentence.
"I'm not done," Anne snapped as she hastily buckled the seat belt. He remained silent and she took a breath, bracing herself. "You shouldn't have come out of what just occurred unscathed; you and I both know this. I-I shouldn't have survived either. But, whether magical or science based, the fact that you're still living and breathing in front of me is... is all that matters."
"Again," he stated, appearing unmoved by her admission, "you're welcome. Now don't mention it. And I mean that," he swiveled in his seat to look at her with gleaming eyes, "don't mention it. To anyone."
Anne sighed, but Garrett ignored her and began to drive down the surprisingly empty streets of Rockford. Before she could say anything on the previous topic, something caught her attention. "Where did you get that shirt from?"
It was true. Garrett no longer sported the grey T-shirt with the bullet holes and blood stain on it. He had changed into a different one. This new shirt was white with a black iris on the front.
"Is it supposed to be a band's logo?" Anne asked curiously, "I've never seen it before." Then she shook her head, "No, don't distract me. I want you to tell me what is going on."
Garrett rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Why can't you just drop it?"
"I've known you long enough to know that something is wrong. And it's not just tonight," she added for measure, "You've been acting strange for the past several weeks- scratch that- months."
He stayed silent and stared at the road in front of him. Then he shifted and replied gruffly, "I told you it would be better for everyone if you just forgot this. We graduate from high school next week, you'll be off to Julliard for your piano and I'll be off to Stanford for medical school."
"Wait, what?" Anne asked, distracted by this new information. She saw Garrett grimace and realized he hadn't wanted that to slip. "Stanford? I thought you had set your sights on Columbia University. You didn't stop talking about your acceptance letter for weeks after you got it last October. Your dad is the one wanting you to go to Stanford, not you. What-"
"Anne," Garrett interrupted her questioning. "I told you, just leave it alone."
"But—" she tried to ask but was interrupted again.
"Anne, stop."
"Why?" she demanded to know.
"Because it's dangerous!" he exploded, losing control of his temper. She jumped, startled at the ferocity in his voice. "It's dangerous for you, me, our families and anyone else caught in the crossfire. And I'm not just talking about amateur robbers. No, it gets worse than that and you don't know what I'm up against!"
"And what are you up against?!" Anne exclaimed just as fervently as him. "What has you so terrified that you won't tell me what's wrong?" she paused, her words sinking in and her anger simmering. She leaned back into the passenger seat, watching the streetlights flash by. "I'm in the dark here Garrett, and I'm just as scared as you are if not more so. But if we're both going to be in the dark, scared and alone anyways... why can't we be scared together? Be each other's support? Even as kids we knew-"
"That's just it, Anne," Garrett interrupted her, never taking his eyes off the road in front of him, "we're not kids anymore. We need to grow up and stop living in the past."
She could find no response to his cold advice; she could only watch him silently as she felt her heart start to break. Something was shifting between them and she wasn't sure what it was or if she could stop it. As he turned his vehicle into the Faysher's driveway and put his truck into park, the silence between them grew. Anne turned to gaze dully out the dashboard window, looking at her family's house. As the two of them sat waiting for the other to make the next move Anne's eyes traveled across the large two-story home in front of them. With Garrett's headlights switched off, only the porch lights of her house provided any illumination in the dark night. The only sound audible was the constant growl of the truck's engine.
"Please," Anne's sudden plea broke the silence, "tell me how to help you."
He only sat there, motionless, staring at his hands as they gripped the steering wheel. "Anne, I... I just can't."
With those final words, she let out the breath she did not know she was holding. "What's happening, Garrett? To you? To us?"
"Anne... I don't know," he whispered, his voice soft and shaking. He glanced up from where he stared at his hands to look out the front window. "But I do know that it's time for you to leave. You're dad expects you to call him when you get in."
"How do you know that?" Anne arched an eyebrow.
Garrett shrugged. "That's always been your dad's rule when he travels out of town. So, you better go." He released his hard grip on the steering wheel and rubbed his eyes. His next words were slightly muffled, "Our conversation was finished anyway."
"Garrett..." Anne whispered, reaching out a hand in a fruitless effort to get through to him.
"Anne-" he looked up at her with sad eyes, but when he saw her reaching out to him, he exclaimed. "Wait, Anne, don't-!"
His warning was not fast enough. Before he could stop her, Anne's fingers grazed his arm...
Time suddenly stopped with that small brush of skin against skin. Somehow the world took on a golden glow and Anne could feel a thrilling shock go up her arm, raising all the small hairs on it. Anne's heartbeat accelerated and her breath caught in her throat while a warm feeling saturated her entire body. She found herself drawing closer to Garrett who watched her with wide, gleaming silver eyes.
Wait, silver…? His eyes were supposed to be blue…. With a gasp, she jerked her hand away from where it touched his.
What the hell? She glanced at Garrett with wide eyes and saw her shock reflected in his expression. Anne could tell whatever just occurred, he'd felt it too. Mystified, she rubbed her fingers together trying to dispel the tingling sensation she still felt.
Anne jumped when she heard Garrett's voice. "I knew it would happen someday. I just wish…it hadn't."
His lips seemed to not even move as he said those words. Actually, Anne was almost positive that they hadn't moved at all. Garrett's lips were pressed tightly together with an expression of disbelief, awe, and pain on his face. Anne tried to say something, but no sound came out.
"Here." Garrett's voice was loud and it made her jump again. He quickly hit the unlock switch and the sound of the truck's doors unlocking reverberated around the vehicle.
She took a breath in order to calm her racing heart, figuring it was just static electricity that sent the odd shocks up her hand when she touched Garrett's arm. Determinedly, Anne reached over to open the truck's door and step out. Without saying goodbye or even saying 'thank you' again, she shut the door and hurried away. She made it to her family's front door and had her hand on the knob, her key in the lock, when she found herself glancing over her shoulder.
Garrett was pulling out of the driveway, but before he drove down the road, he too found himself glancing back. For a brief moment their eyes met and Anne could have sworn Garrett was looking at her with shining, silvery eyes.