Tuesday September 19th, 2000
When Mia opened her eyes in the morning she could tell something was different, it was the light. She could tell that it was brighter, that the fog had lifted. Surprisingly eager to get to school, Mia admitted only to herself that she was excited to see William. Moron, she thought to herself.
The first thing William did when he reached school was look for Mia, trying to convince himself that he was just trying to be prepared. He was embarrassed to reveal that his entire world had suddenly become empty of everything, but her. Mia had not yet arrived, so William leaned against the side of his car to wait. Ella stayed with him while the others went to class. The girl drove slowly into view, eyes intent on something else and parked not far from William.
Mia was completely preoccupied with her thoughts as she made her way across the parking lot.
"NO!" Ella gasped aloud.
Instantly William scanned her thoughts. The vision came just half a second before the reality.
Mia was making her way to her first class when she met Williams gaze, she was startled by the look on his face. Suddenly an adrenaline rush seemed to make her brain work much faster, and she was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once. William was standing several cars down from her, staring at her in horror. But more importantly there was a large truck headed straight for her.
Not her! The words shouted in Williams head as if they belonged to someone else. William launched himself across the lot, throwing himself into Mia. She couldn't have seen him; no human eyes could have followed his flight.
Something hit Mia, hard, but not from the direction she was expecting. Something, rather someone, solid and cold was pinning her to the ground.
William had caught her around the waist, moving with too much urgency to be gentle and pushed her out of the way. The trucks brakes squealed as the driver realized how close he came to hitting someone. It was Sam, shaken and worried; he put his truck in park and jumped out.
"Holy Shit! Mia… William are you guys okay?" Sam gasped.
Mia glanced up at William who was still holding her to the ground and turned to sit up.
"Yeah, Sam, we're fine." Mia whispered, never looking away from William.
Sam ignored her, "I didn't see you… And then… I thought… I was going to kill you!"
William was too anxious to really care about the threat of exposure his little stunt may have provided. He was too mesmerized with her eyes, he was too frightened to have her this close to him, too aware of the heat her soft body was producing. William leaned down to examine Mia's face.
"Mia?" William asked urgently. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm fine," She said, noticing his concern.
Mia tried to stand but William protested.
"Be careful," he warned as she struggled.
"I mean it, I'm fine," Mia insisted.
Not quite convinced, William helped Mia to her feet, keeping a close eye to make sure she wasn't unsteady. Once he saw she was balanced he stepped away, he needed to breathe. Mia was distracted by her classmates, who had now surrounded her to make sure she was okay. Sam was bellowing out apologies and explanations in an attempt to make up for almost squishing her.
"Mia, I am so sorry…" Sam pleaded. "I didn't see you… or William." He turned to apologize to William. "Man I am so sorry, dude. I dropped a CD and when I looked back up…"
William held his hand out in protest. "No blood, no foul." He tried to ignore Sam for a moment to get his priorities in order. Mia was fine, now he had to clean up the mess he made. He searched through every mind in the lot, the witnesses and latecomers, and found nothing dangerous. Many were surprised to see him standing beside Mia but all concluded that they had just not noticed him before the accident. He became confidant that Mia was too traumatized by the event to believe anything different. William winced when he caught his family's thoughts as they arrived on the scene. He would pay for this later.
The parking lot was full, everyone crowding around Mia to make sure she was okay. It was quite unpleasant for her as she fought through the crowd trying her hardest to convince them she was fine. It was Charlotte who insisted she go to the nurse. For selfish reasons of course, Charlotte liked all the attention and wanted to know what it was like to have William save her life. Man why couldn't that have been me, she wished to herself.
Disgusted by her selfish motives and insane fantasies William intercepted Mia from Charlotte.
"I'll take her," William whispered to Charlotte in his soft persuasive tone.
"Oh, yeah, okay, sure," Was all Charlotte could say. So hot!
Mia accepted Williams escort, weary but curious. What just happened? Did he just save my life? She questioned, as they walked to the nurses office. William kept pace with her as they entered the nurse's office. The elderly nurse looked up surprised as William explained what had happened.
"Oh dear, please sit down, did either of you hit your head, does anything hurt?" The nurse fused over Mia first, making her feel ridiculous.
"No, really, I'm fine," Mia pressed. She was beginning to get annoyed by the fact that all the attention was on her. She knew that William was fine and that he could easily convince anyone of that but she was okay too and was tired of all the focus being on her. William sensed Mia's frustration and stifled a laugh. Just then the door swung open and Mrs. Johnson came rushing in to get the full report of what had happened and if anyone had been hurt.
"Mia! Oh, my, are you alright, what happened?"
William became tense as he waited for Mia to answer.
"Um…" She hesitated, glancing briefly at William. "I saw the truck coming towards me and then William pulled me out of the way." She gestured towards William in an attempt to make his presence known to Mrs. Johnson.
William exhaled, his breathing began to accelerate he had never heard her speak his name before. He liked the way it sounded.
Mrs. Johnson nodded along with Mia's story, worry in her eyes. "Would you like me to call your parents, dear?"
"No! No, really I'm fine, I would actually just like to go to class" Mia was on her feet now, anxious to leave.
William noticed the intensity of her reaction and wondered why she was so adamant about going to class. Most humans would take the opportunity for a day off, he thought. William's thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Johnson's praise. She had turned her attention to him and commended William for being so heroic.
Heroic, huh, William pondered this for a moment. Somewhere during that short thoughtless second when he'd sprinted across the parking lot, he had transformed from killer to protector. He laughed to himself when he remembered not too long ago being sure that Mia would never need protecting from anything more than himself.
The door to the nurse's office opened again, this time it was Sam, followed by a small group of students who wanted to make sure Mia was alright. William saw this as his chance to exit; he slid out the door while everyone was focused on Mia.
Sam approached Mia with his shoulders hunched in regret, he continued to apologize. Mia just put her hand up to stop him. William scanned the thoughts of the people still in the nurse's office to make sure his exit had gone unnoticed and stopped when he heard Sam.
Huh. That's weird. I didn't see Croft near Mia, I could have sworn… Wow, it was all so fast, I guess. I hope he's okay. William was surprised to hear Sam's concern for his well-being but relieved to see that everyone believed he was standing near Mia. He continued to listen to Sam, as his thoughts turned to Mia. Yeah, she's pretty. I think I should take her out, make up for today, screw Mike, he's taking to long anyway. William was turned around and on his way back to the nurse's office before he realized what he was doing, stopping himself, he ducked into a corner and tried to get a grip.
It doesn't matter that Sam thinks she's pretty, anyone would see that… There is no reason for me to feel…annoyed? Angry? No that doesn't make sense. William stood there trying to figure out how he felt.
After her hundredth attempt to convince everyone she was fine, Mrs. Johnson and the nurse allowed Mia to go to class, under the condition that her fellow classmates keep an eye on her. Great, babysitters, Mia scoffed to herself. Glad to be out of the spotlight for now, Mia took a moment to examine the situation. First and most important was that no one was hurt, least of all William. She had convinced Mrs. Johnson not to call her parents, so she didn't have to worry about explaining her savoir. Unfortunately she did have to deal with the assigned babysitters who were already annoying her, and then of course she needed to figure out why William did what he did.
He was at least four cars away from me… Mia remembered. All this effort to blend in why would he risk exposing himself to save me? She continued to question William's 'heroic' act as she walked to class, followed by Mike and Charlotte, her assigned sitters. His family, their expressions ranged from disapproval to fury…Mia tried to think of a logical solution that could explain what she had just experienced.
When William entered his first class he was approached by his teacher.
"William, I'm surprised to see you, I heard you were involved in an accident this morning?"
"Everyone's fine," William snapped. "It wasn't that big of a deal."
"Oh… Well that's good to hear." His teacher replied clearing his throat to begin his lecture.
After 1st period, William saw Christopher waiting for him.
I hope you have a good explanation for what happened today, Lizzy's on the war path.
William rolled his eyes without looking at his brother. Actually he had come up with a perfectly sound explanation for his behavior. If he hadn't done anything, he recoiled at the thought; Mia would have been mangled and bleeding. The red fluid spilling onto the blacktop, fresh blood pulsing through the air, he would not have been able to restrain himself and would have exposed them all in a much more shocking way. It was a perfectly good excuse, but William would not use it, he was too ashamed by its accuracy.
Look out for Wesley, Christopher continued, oblivious to William's trance. He's not as angry… but he's more decided.
William saw what Christopher was talking about, and for a moment the hallway swam around him. His rage became all consuming that he thought he would choke on it.
GET A GRIP WILLIAM! Christopher shouted at him in his head. EASY! He ordered. Wesley's not going to do anything until we talk, I just thought you should know the direction he's headed. Damn kid you're a mess, Christopher added, sympathy in his tone.
"Bite me," William muttered under his breath, causing Christopher to chuckle. William skipped the rest of the day; he would wait to face his family & Mia later.
Mia spent the rest of her day telling people she was fine, struggling to keep her annoyance in check. She noticed William's absence from lunch and then again in class, this didn't help her confusion. She couldn't wait for the day to be over; she wanted nothing more than to be alone.
Christopher walked silently with William to the car when the last bell rang. He was worrying about William and Elizabeth. He knew whose side he would have to choose and it bothered him. The others were waiting for them in the car, silent, only William could hear the shouting.
Idiot! Lunatic! Moron! Jackass! Selfish, irresponsible fool! Elizabeth kept up a constant stream of insults at the top of her mental lungs. Christopher was right about Wesley, he had made his decision. Ella was worried about Wesley. No matter which direction Wesley went towards Mia, Ella could see William there, blocking him.
Stop that William! It can't happen this way, I won't let it. Ella screamed in her head. William did not answer her.
The entire way home the charged silence did not lift. William parked in the big garage and was pleased to see that Phillip was home, he knew this silence would end explosively and he wanted his father there when it happened. They all went straight to the dining room. The room was, of course, never used for its intended purpose. But sometimes it was necessary to discuss things in a calm, seated manner.
Phillip sat in his usual seat, Katherine was beside him. Katherine's eyes were on William, full of concern, her only thought was, stay. William sat on the other side of Phillip. As everyone else sat you could see the lines being drawn. Elizabeth sat directly across from Phillip, never looking away from William. Christopher sat beside her. Wesley hesitated and then stood against the wall behind Elizabeth; he was decided, regardless of the outcome of this conversation. Ella was the last one in, without thinking about it, she sat beside Katherine.
William took a deep breath to begin, "I'm sorry." He paused to look at each of them. "I did not mean to put any of you at risk. It was thoughtless and I take full responsibility for my hasty action."
Elizabeth glared at him. "What do you mean 'take full responsibility'? Are you going to fix it?"
"Not the way you mean," William replied. "I'm willing to leave now, if that makes things better."
"No," Katherine murmured. "No, William."
"It's just a few years." William replied, trying to sooth his mother's worry.
"Katherine's right," Christopher said. "You can't go anywhere now. That would be the opposite of helpful. We have to know what people are thinking, now more than ever."
"Ella will catch anything major," William disagreed.
Phillip shook his head. "I think Christopher's right William. The girl will be more likely to talk if you suddenly disappear. It's all of us or none of us."
Elizabeth's palm smacked down on the table with a loud bang. "We can't allow the girl a chance to say anything. Even if we decided to all disappear, it's not safe to leave stories behind us. We live so differently from the rest of our kind; you know there are some who are just waiting for the chance to point fingers. We have to be more careful than anyone else!"
"We've left rumors behind us before," William reminded her.
"Just rumors and suspicions, not eyewitnesses! This doesn't have to be a big production, every human goes to sleep with the chance of never waking up."
"Elizabeth, this girl is innocent." Phillip said.
"Its not personal Phillip," Elizabeth said through her teeth. "It's to protect us all."
Phillip nodded, "I know you mean well Elizabeth, but… I'd like very much for our family to be worth protecting. We risk loosing the essence of who we are by murdering an innocent child in cold blood."
Elizabeth scowled. "It's just being responsible."
"It's being callous," Phillip corrected.
Elizabeth sighed heavily and her lower lip pouted out.
"The question," Phillip continued, "is whether we should move on?"
"No," Elizabeth moaned, "we just got settled; I don't want to start on my sophomore year of high school all over again."
"Well, we certainly don't have to decide now. We can wait and see if it becomes necessary." Phillip replied.
William was no longer worried about Elizabeth; he could see that she would go along with Phillip's decision. Wesley on the other hand remained unyielding.
"Wesley," William said. Wesley met William's gaze, expressionless. "She won't pay for my mistake. I won't allow it."
"She benefits from it then? She should have died today, William, I would only be setting that right."
William repeated himself, emphasizing each word. "I will not allow it."
Wesley's eyebrows shot up, he wasn't expecting this reaction, he had not imagined that William would ever try to stop him. He shook his head, "I won't let Ella live in danger, even slight danger. You don't feel about anyone the way I feel about her, you don't understand."
"I'm not disputing that Wesley, but I'm telling you now, I won't allow you to hurt Mia."
"Wes," Ella interrupted.
William saw what was in Ella's mind and his mouth fell open with an audible gasp. He stared at her, shocked, only vaguely aware that everyone besides Ella and Wesley was now eyeing him.
Ella spoke directly to Wesley, "I know you love me, but I would really appreciate it if you didn't try to kill Mia. First of all, William's serious and I don't want you two fighting. Secondly, she's my friend. At least she's going to be."
"But…Ella…" Wesley gasped.
"I'm going to love her someday Wesley, and I will be very displeased with you if you don't let her be."
Wesley's determination floundered in the face of Ella's unexpected request. His indecision had cleared a new future.
"See? Mia's not going to say anything. There's nothing to worry about." Ella said confidently.
"Ella," William choked. "What…does this…?"
Suddenly Ella locked her jaw; she was trying not to think about something. She focused very hard on Wesley; she did this sometimes when she was trying to keep things from William.
"What Ella? What are you hiding?"
She shook her head, trying not to let William in.
"Is it about the girl," William demanded. "Is it about Mia?"
Ella had her teeth gritted in concentration but when William spoke Mia's name, she slipped. Her slip only lasted the tiniest portion of a second, but it was long enough.
"NO!" William shouted, throwing his chair to the floor as he jumped to his feet.
"William!" Phillip was on his feet with his hand on William's shoulder.
"It's solidifying," Ella whispered. "Every minute you're more decided. There's really only two ways left for her. It's one or the other, William."
"Will somebody please let the rest of us in on the mystery?" Christopher complained.
"I have to leave," William whispered to Ella, ignoring Christopher.
"I don't see you going anywhere William," Ella said. "I don't know if you can leave anymore." Think about it, she added silently. Think about leaving.
"Why are you doing this to me?" William groaned as his head fell into his hands.
I love her too. Or I will. Ella thought.
"Love her…too?" William whispered.
Ella sighed. You are so blind, William. Can't you see where you're headed? Can't you see where you already are?
William shook his head, horrified. "No." He tried to shut out the visions Ella revealed to him. "I don't have to follow that course. I'll leave. I'll change the future."
"You can try," Ella said her voice skeptical.
"Oh come on!" Christopher bellowed.
"Pay attention," Elizabeth hissed at him. "Ella sees William falling for that girl."
"What?" Christopher said startled. Then his booming laugh echoed through the house. "Tough break, William."
"Fall for a human?" Katherine repeated in a stunned voice. "For the girl he saved today? Fall in love with her?"
"What do you see Ella? Exactly," Wesley demanded.
"It all depends on whether he is strong enough or not. Either he'll kill her himself," She turned to meet Williams gaze, "which would really irritate me, William, not to mention what it would do to you," then she turned back to face Wesley, "or she'll be one of us someday."
"That's not going to happen!" William was shouting again. "Either one!"
Ignoring him Ella continued, "It all depends, he may be strong enough not to kill her, but it will be close. It will take an amazing amount of control. The only thing he's not strong enough to do is stay away from her, that's a lost cause."
The room was still, William stared at Ella and everyone else stared at William. After a long moment, Phillip sighed.
"Well this…complicates things. But I suppose our plans remain the same. We'll stay and watch and obviously no one will harm the girl."
Wesley nodded, "I will agree to that, if Ella only sees those two ways…"
"No!" William's voice was a combination of shout, a growl, and a cry of despair. "No!"
William had to leave, to get away from the noise of their thoughts. Elizabeth's self righteous disgust, Christopher's humor, Phillips never ending patience… Worse Ella's confidence or Wesley's confidence in her confidence, but worst of all, Katherine's joy. William stalked out of the room and was running before he was out of the house. He raced through the forest until he was all alone. Finally he made himself look at what he had done, a mutilated future.
Ella's first vision, clear as day, Ella was smiling with her pale white arm around Mia's fragile waist. Mia was smiling, too, her arm around Ella's shoulders. The trust of friendship was so obvious it shouted from the image. What did this mean? How much did she know? But more importantly what did she think of me? William questioned to himself.
Then the second image, so much the same just colored differently. Ella and Mia, their arms still wrapped around each other in trusting friendship, but now there was no difference between those arms, Mia's face, cold and immortal. William shuddered, what did this mean? How did this happen and what did she think of me now? William answered the last question, she hated me…
But there was one more horrifying image, worse than any image William had ever held in his head. His own eyes, deep crimson with human blood, the eyes of the monster. Mia's broken body in his arms, drained, lifeless. William couldn't stand to see this; he tried to banish it from his head to no avail. He writhed in agony.
There has to be another way, William insisted.
Mia decided to go to bed early that night. She was sore from the hard hit she took from William so she took some Advil and drifted to sleep. This was the first night she dreamt of William Croft.
Mia opened her eyes, conscious in some fashion that she was dreaming, and found herself in a giant field. She did not recognize the field but knew that she was still in High Point, thanks to the woods surrounding her. She was not alone; she could smell the sweet smell she had grown too loath, she scanned the field and stopped when she saw William. Rage in his eyes, he let out a growl in protest, yet he wasn't looking at her. She followed his line of site to another figure in the field. It was him, his blond spiked hair, his blood red eyes, that villainous smile creeping up the corners of his mouth, there was no doubt it was him. Mia gasped at the site of him.
"Hello, Emily, miss me?" He snarled, glancing for a split second in her direction.
"How did you find me?" Mia whimpered in response.
"Mia get out of here!" William hissed, still glaring at his adversary.
Mia watched as William and his opponent dropped down into a crotched position. She had seen this before, they were about to attack. William launched himself across the space between them, pushing Mia out of the way. She hit the ground harder than she expected, when she looked up she saw him soar towards William, teeth exposed in pure fury, just as the two collided Mia screamed, wrenching herself upright in bed.
"No!"
Still shaken by fear she scrambled to turn on the light in her room. She sat on her bed, shaking from the after shock of her dream. She looked at the clock, it was a quarter to five, and she knew sleep was no longer an option. She laid back and covered her face with her pillow, eyes burning from the lack of sleep and sudden adjustment to light, muscles tight from the adrenaline surging through her body. Unconsciously she began to cry, slow and painful; the tears burned her cheeks as they flowed down them. Why am I crying? She thought to herself. She couldn't understand her reaction, she was exhausted and her body ached for sleep but her mind wouldn't allow it. So she sat up and decided to start her day, however early it was.