SURPRISE! I've decided to spend my time with this intense chapter instead of doing my homework. You should all thank me. Haha (:
INeverSawAnotherButterfly – Hmm… paranoia isn't always a bad thing. And as always, an interesting story has its ups and downs. I intend to give Elsie and Nick their fair share of bad days (don't hate me.) As for names, I really liked Alexandra and Daniel! Thanks (:
The Significance Series belongs to Shelly Crane.
Chapter Twelve
"No."
"But –"
"I said no, Elsie." Royce shook his head at me. "When did you become so dense?" He shouted, throwing his crumpled paper towel down on the table. Nolan, like he always was when it came to Elsie-Royce arguments, stayed silent. He liked to claim that he was completely objective. I highly doubted that he was claiming to be on no one's side this time around, yet he still didn't say a word.
"When did you think you could decide what I can and can't do?" I shot back. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm eighteen. I'm legally allowed to live wherever I want!" I was getting extremely annoyed with my brother. I'd always prided myself on being a woman that could fend for herself. I could make educated decisions on my own. It sort of felt like Royce was trying to take that right away from me.
Royce had left Nick out of the argument so far, but it didn't take him long to turn to my significant. "What did you say to her?" He demanded sharply, standing up from the table. He hit the edge of it, making the whole thing shudder. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, but I had the feeling that he wouldn't hesitate to start swinging them. I sidestepped in front of Nick, thinking that he would have to go through me first, and Royce, no matter how angry he was, would never hit me. Nick put a protective hand on my waist, and that seemed to set Royce off. He stepped forward menacingly.
"Royce!" I called out, reaching for his arm. "He didn't say anything to me, Jesus!" I stepped back against Nick, pushing him into fridge behind me. Nick grunted from the force, teetering a bit, but he quickly regained his balance.
"What did you say to her to completely brainwash her?" Royce's voice was getting louder. He was practically pushing both Nick and me against the fridge. He pointed his finger at Nick, who towered over me. I tightened on hand on Nick's wrist, fingernails digging into his skin. I reached out and slapped Royce's other hand away.
"I'm not brainwashed, you idiot." I told him brashly. Royce's eyebrows were still drawn together as he heaved with his anger. "Why is it such a shock to you that I would try to find someone I cared about? Did you think that I was going to stand here and take care of you and Nolan for all eternity?"
"Don't even go there, Elsie. I gave up everything I had to come home and make sure you and Nolan were okay." I knew that was true, but I still didn't appreciate him playing like he was my father. Royce had the protectiveness, but he didn't have the understanding. As far as I knew, Royce had never really been in love. He hadn't even had steady girlfriends for the past few years. He was completely clueless.
"I know you did. But I clean the house and I do the laundry and I cook food most of the time!"
"You've known him for what, a few days? You've been dating him for how long?" Royce demanded. He'd moved off the topic of me staying around the house because he knew I was right. And I had openly agreed to him being right about him coming home. But that was in the past. Nolan and I were old enough that we could take care of ourselves now. Not only was it time for us to step up and play the part of adults, but it was time for Royce to stop pretending to be our father.
"Does that really matter?" I asked.
"Of course it does! If you've only been with him for a little while, how do you know who he is?" Royce asked. "He could be some sort of serial killer or something!"
"I know him better than anyone," I shot back defensively. And it was true. Nick was mine. Everything that he was belonged to me.
"How do you know for sure? And Elsie, think about it! You're moving in with him and you're only eighteen. And I have the feeling that you've only known the guy for a little while!" Royce yelled. He moved forward again, and Nolan was suddenly standing up. He reached out and grabbed a hold of Royce's arm. Nolan wasn't as big as Royce, but he was well-muscled from lifting weights and working on cars.
"I love him!" I yelled out. My eyes immediately started watering. Nick's hand tightened on my hip, but I was too worked up for his touch to work its magic. Nolan stared at me, his hand going slack on Royce's wrist. Royce pretty much froze. His eyes were wide as he stared at me. He took a step back and wiped his hand on his forehead.
"Elsie," Royce said, shaking his head. "Do you even know what love is? Look at your relationship with Paul. You told him that you loved him."
Nick tensed behind me. He probably didn't like being reminded that I'd had a boyfriend when we'd met. He probably hated the fact that I'd still considered myself Paul's girlfriend for a week after we'd imprinted. I shook my head. "I did love Paul. But I loved him like I love you and Nolan. I loved him like he was my brother. But Nick… I can't imagine my life without Nick." Tears raked down my cheeks, and Nick's hand touched my elbow. Royce's eyes followed my significant's gentle touch. "I want nothing more than to be with him."
Nolan flicked on the sink and washed out his cup. Royce rubbed his eyes with his fists. "What about you, huh, kid?" He said to Nick. He glanced at me, and then reached out and took my wrist. Immediately, Nick latched onto my other hand. Royce glared at him and gave me a gentle pull. He sent me in the general direction of Nolan, and said, "Let me talk to you. In private."
Nick glanced at me and tapped his forehead. He wanted me to open my mind to him, just like he would to me. That way I could keep tabs on him while he was with Royce, and he could look after me. Nick and Royce stepped outside, and my heart thumped in my chest. I leaned against the counter and waited, my eyes staring down at the little speckles on the countertop. I heard Royce ask Nick what he was thinking, and how he felt about me. He told Nick that he should just be honest, because if he didn't have those feelings for me, then the two of them could smooth things out for me. Royce was grasping at straws. He knew that he had no control over where I was or who I spent my time with. I didn't want to create a rift between us, but when it came to Nick, I would alienate my family. It felt both wrong and right at the same time. But it was something that I needed to do, and Royce would not win this.
Nick shook his head. His voice practically echoed in my head. "Royce, man… Elsie is the most perfect thing that's ever happened to me. I love her." He said. Royce asked him another question, and he said, "I'm going to college, and I want her by my side. I've never wanted anyone next to me but her." Nick took a deep breath. "I asked her to move in with me, because I love her more than anything. I would die for her. It's like she's constantly with me." I had to stifle a giggle, because it was so true. He had my heartbeat in his chest. "But it's not the same as having her right next to my physically. And I know it seems sudden, but… I'd like to make her my wife one day."
Royce was silent. I could see him the way Nick saw him. It was weird because I was closer to eye-level with my brother, who'd shot up when we were younger and who I'd never even come close to being the same height as. Finally, he said, "I think you need to wait a little longer before you go proposing to her." He shook his head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but fine. We'll see how well this works out. She better have her own bedroom away from yours." He said sharply.
"Dude, it's my parents' house. At least until I go back to school." Nick's nonchalance hit the lie well.
Royce shook his head again. "My parents would kill me." He said it quietly, but I still heard it through Nick's ears. Nick opened his mouth to say something, but I was drawn away by a hand on my arm. I glanced up from the countertop, immediately severing my connection with Nick.
It was Nolan. "Elsie, are you sure about this?"
"I love him, Nolan. I've never wanted to be with anyone else the way I want to be with him."
Nolan gave me a smile. "Look at you, all grown up." He laughed and hugged me as the front door opened. My brother and my significant stepped inside, and I nearly ran to get to them. I wasn't sure what happened after that, but I didn't think Royce had given him a beat down. Still, I catapulted myself out into the hallway and into Nick's arms. He caught me, his arms holding me tight as I kissed his cheek.
Royce watched from behind Nick as he set me down gently. He touched his cheek with the back of his hand, and Royce cleared his throat. "Fine, Elsie. You can move in with him. But if there are any problems, any at all, it's okay to come back. It's okay to admit that moving in with him wasn't the best idea." I could tell that Royce was practically begging me to change my mind. I hugged my brother, and told him that I wouldn't be moving back in, no matter how much he wanted me to.
Royce just laughed, although it was clearly forced. I hugged Nolan and Nick and I went to grab my bags. My brothers were blown away by the fact that I already had my stuff ready to go. I promised them that I would be in touch, and then Nick and I climbed into his car and left.
I turned in my seat to look at the house as we were leaving. It had been my home for the majority of my eighteen years, and now I was moving out. Nick's home was my home, now. It didn't matter if we were living in a cave or in a tree or in a mansion. He was my home.
# # #
Nick's mom, Alexandra, had been extremely excited the moment Nick and I stepped into the house. He'd insisted on carrying my suitcases inside, but I'd managed to at least keep a hold of the smaller one. Alexandra grabbed my hands and kissed both cheeks. "Oh, it's so good to have you with us." She crooned. "Daniel will be so pleased." She said. "And don't worry about a thing, dear. We're family."
I thanked her as Nick and I made our way down the hall. He put my suitcase onto the bed and motioned towards the closet. "If you want, you can unpack your clothes."
"Or I could live out of my suitcase for the next few months." I teased. "Since I'll be packing up again to move to an apartment in August." I told him. Nick smiled and leaned forward to kiss me quickly on the lips.
"Or you could unpack, so I really feel like you live here with me and you're not just playing sleepover." He said. He leaned forward and rubbed his nose against mine. It was brief, and no one had ever done that to me before, but it was so perfect. I let out a sigh, and Nick gave me a smile. "Go on, go ahead." He motioned for me to unzip my bag. "I'll get a dresser in here so you can unpack some of your other stuff that won't fit in the closet."
"Thanks," I said, turning to look away from him. He gave me a kiss on the side of my neck and went to find me a dresser. I opened my smaller suitcase and turned to the bookcase. It had a few books, but some of them were textbooks, and some of them looked like they wouldn't ever be read again. I dispersed my photographs there, along with a few of the small stuffed animals that I couldn't bear to leave behind.
It only took a few minutes for Nick and Rodney to pull a dresser into the room. I laughed as they struggled to fit it in the doorway. Finally, they'd managed to fit it into the room. It ended up being just in front of the door, so that when it was opened it was only a mere inch away from touching the furniture. The two of us staying together meant close quarters, obviously, but we weren't exactly complaining about it.
Nick and Rodney wanted to go ride horses and race like they used to. I gave him a quick kiss and willed him to go. Besides, I figured that it was time that I called Hanna and let her know that I'd moved out. I couldn't even begin to guess what her reaction would be.
I wanted to be able to take a nap, but it would've been dangerous without Nick there to keep away the echoes. Instead, I just pulled back the covers on his – our – bed and climbed in with a book and my cell phone. I needed to formulate what I was going to tell Hanna before I actually told her. I pulled the covers up to my chest.
Just as I was trying to figure out what to say to Hanna, my phone rang. Sometimes I thought she had some sort of telepathy to me, because she always knew what I was thinking or when I needed to talk to her. I could always depend on her to call whenever something was going on in my life. I was surprised that she hadn't already called because of Paul, but when I looked back on it… I'd only really been dating Nick for a day, though I'd been imprinted with him for nearly two weeks.
"Han?" I answered the phone.
"Good God, Elsie. I thought you'd fallen off the face of the earth or something. I was about to come over to your house and booby trap your bedroom."
Hanna, whether she knew it or not, had just given me the perfect way to drop the bomb. "Well it's a good thing you didn't, because I don't live there anymore." I said.
"What?" Hanna sounded incredulous. "Did you guys put your house up on the market and get it sold in a day or something?"
"No, I moved out." I told her, running my hand over the cover of my book.
"Oh, my God. You got an apartment? I'm going to be so offended if you got a roommate, because remember when we were in ninth grade and we made our five-year plan and I told you that we needed to get an apartment together after high school?"
"Now that you mention it, I do remember. But no, I'm not in an apartment. And I guess you could say that I have a roommate."
There was a pause and then Hanna said, "I hate you." She laughed as she said it, and then said, "So who is it?"
"My boyfriend," I said.
"Whoa, hold up. First of all, you moved in with a guy? I bet Royce wanted to kill you for that. And second of all, you moved in with Paul?"
"Nope. I moved in with my boyfriend."
"Holy freaking cow, Elsie! Are you telling me that you broke up with Paul and landed a new guy already? And you're telling me that you moved in with him?"
"Yes and yes."
"Are you insane? You're acting like me!" She laughed. "So, what's so good about this guy that it made you want to move in with him?"
"I love him," I told her.
"Holy. Cow." She breathed. "So how long have you been dating him?"
"Officially? Not long. I sort of… well, I sort of fell in love with him while I was still dating Paul."
"No." Hanna said, sounding so excited. "I'm so excited! How come you never told me?" Her voice changed from one filled with enthusiasm to one that accusing.
"I think I was just trying to hide the fact that I was falling for him. I didn't want to admit it to myself, much less you." I told her. "But when I broke up with Paul… I realized that I was so in love with this other guy that I couldn't live without him," I said.
Hanna giggled into the phone. "That's so romantic." She said, laughing. "I never would've thought that you would do that, but hey, I guess I've learned something today. And you know that I'm happy you and Paul are over. He so wasn't the right guy for you. And, lastly, I need to meet this new man of yours."
I laughed and leaned forward, elbows resting on my knees. "You'll meet him eventually." I told her. I let out a sigh just thinking about him, and she seemed to know what I was thinking.
"Honey," she said, "You are so over your head."
"I know." I told her.
"And I love it. Well, happy new home or whatever, and I'll be calling again sometime soon. We need to get together and get some things done before I go off to college." She said. I sighed again. Hanna was going out of state, to Georgia. I was going to miss her more than she knew. But then again, it would be helpful to have her out of my life. She would be one less person to constantly lie to.
"Okay. I promise we'll do something soon."
I could practically see Hanna smiling in my mind. "Love you. Buh-bye," she said. I waited until she hung up before hitting the red end button on my phone and tossing it on the bed next to me.
# # #
I was in the room I shared with Nick. It was usually pretty bright in here, but today it seemed darker somehow. After a moment, I realized that it had to be the white mist that seemed to hang around the edges of the room that was different. It made the room seem more mysterious. I looked around for Nick, wondering what had changed since I'd hung up with Hanna.
I climbed out of the bed and brushed off my jeans. I headed towards the window and leaned forward to open the blinds, hoping that it would let in a little more light and wash away the creepy white mist. There was a low laugh behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin, whirling around to see the guy that had attacked Nick on my street. Marcus.
I backed up against the desk, my hip shaking the table. The plants wavered where they sat. I reached out to steady one of the containers, and Marcus just laughed again, like it was the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen. "So tell me, where are you?"
I cleared my throat. I suddenly realized what was happening. This was an echo. Nick had warned me about it. I was sleeping, but I was here. And whatever Marcus did to me would end up being real. If he hit me, I might come out with bruises or broken bones. If he decided to slit my throat, I'd be dead. It scared me to no end. How was I going to get out of this? I looked around me, wondering if there was a way to wake myself up. Would pinching myself work? Or would I just bruise myself?
"Nuh-uh, don't panic. We wouldn't want Nick coming here and destroying our fun, now would we?" He asked. He looked around the room and then stepped towards me. I inched away, and he smirked at me briefly before reaching to pluck a leaf from one of Nick's plants. Immediately, I reached out to stop him. Him touching anything in this room, even if it was a dream, felt like a violation. Marcus shook his finger at me and brought a thin, silver pocketknife from his jacket. "Let's talk." He said, flicking the knife open. My body stiffened, and I withdrew my hand. He had me cornered.
I swallowed nervously. "What do you want to talk about?" I asked, leaning against Nick's bookshelf. I didn't know if I could head out into the hallway, or if I was stuck here in the room. I would still have to catapult myself over the bed and to the door, and I didn't know if I could beat Marcus there. He had a knife, for God's sake. My heart was pounding in my chest. I wondered if Nick heard, or if it was all hidden by the echo. Nick, I pleaded, Please come get me. Marcus twirled his knife around. Oh, God, Nick. He has a knife. I was practically screaming the words in my head. Surely he had to hear me.
Marcus twirled the knife again and then stabbed the blade into the soft wood of the desk. The heavy thunk it made was very real. A chip of wood skittered across the floor. I swallowed again, trying to put on a façade that would say that I wasn't scared in the least. I didn't want Marcus to think that he was able to instill fear in me, even though he could. It would give him a sense of power that I didn't think he deserved.
I glanced at the knife and then back to Marcus's face. He gave me a smile and put up two hands, like he was surrendering. Except I wasn't the one with a weapon. He was. I took another step back, the wooden shelves digging into my back. I bit down on my lip. I didn't want an offense mark from him. It hurt me, and Nick had told me that it drained my energy when it was still on my skin. I had the feeling that even though it hurt Marcus, too, he wouldn't hesitate to put a few hundred of those on me.
"Elsie, Elsie," Marcus clicked his tongue at me, like an old grandma does to warn her grandchildren away from the antiques. "All I want to know is where you are."
I shook my head. Nick had told me what he and his family did to Maggie and Caleb. They'd separated them. The withdrawals had to be the most painful things in the world. I had a feeling that since they hadn't won with Maggie, they'd try to go after the next one – me, since they didn't know about Lynne. I figured that Kyle had done a grand job at keeping her hidden. I couldn't help but feel briefly jealous of her. She didn't have to worry about having Marcus haunt her dreams.
"Here's the deal, Elsie," Marcus said, pulling the knife out of the desk. He ran a finger along the blade, speaking without looking at me. "They want to keep more Jacobsons for ascending. And I'm all for it. Why should their family get their imprints and the ascensions back when my family has been just as patient? We've gone just as long without an ascension. And as you know, they're important to us, too. Nobody wants to be weak." I bit down on my lip to keep from replying to him. He wanted the imprints so he could get his ability. He didn't care about love. Marcus smirked at me. "And I figured, since our last attempt at keeping an ascension from happening failed, I would take the steps to get it done… permanently. You do know what that means, right?" He asked.
"You're going to try to…" I glanced at the knife. Marcus smiled and drew a finger across his throat. "You're going to kill me?" I asked.
Marcus grinned. "Yes, and see, here's where the interesting thing is. Sure, it'll destroy you. You'll be dead. But Nick… he'll lose who he is without his significant. I've heard some say the pain of those withdrawals cause death in the other significant. So don't worry, you might be seeing him soon. Of course, some of them can learn to live without them. An everlasting pain, I guess." He admired the knife again and then stepped forward to me. I realized too late that I'd missed my window of escape.
Nick, I pleaded in my mind, trying to keep from shaking. Nick, please come. Oh, God, please come. Could I wait for him? Or would I die in a dream? If he killed me here, would it look like I'd died peacefully in my sleep? Or would by blood run across the mattress? Marcus lifted the knife, and my eyes immediately focused on the blade. I wondered if it could really kill me. It was a pocketknife, hardly big enough to do major damage unless he hit something important. But it still could hurt me, and since a silver blade wasn't supernatural, it meant that I would have to heal the old-fashioned way.
Marcus glanced up suddenly, and I followed his gaze. He was looking at the door. I didn't know what he'd seen or heard, but I could only hope that it would save me. Marcus glared at me, called me a few choice words, and then leapt at me, knife bared. I screamed as he flew towards me, ducking against the bookcase.
I was still screaming when I opened my eyes. Nick was right above me, his hands on my face. He was heaving, as if he'd just run a mile to get to me. He cursed under his breath and rested his forehead against mine for a minute. I was breathing roughly, too, except I was panicking because I had nearly become a sort of disproportionate kabob. I heard the trample of feet and looked over towards the bedroom door. Rodney was standing in the doorway, hands on his knees as he heaved. He and Nick must've run here from the stables or something. Alexandra and Daniel appeared in the doorway.
"Nick!" Alexandra said. She sounded a little peeved about something, and that's when I realized that he was practically laying on me. His torso added a comfortable weight to my chest, like I was being squeezed in a hug instead of squished onto a mattress.
"Chill out, mom," Rodney said to her. He shook his head, cowboy hat in hand. "I think she had an echo attack."
Alexandra touched a hand to her mouth as Nick pulled away from me. He pushed himself up with his elbows, one hand on my neck. He took my hand and pulled me up. "Are you okay?" He asked, his hands running down my arms, his eyes checking my face. "Oh, my God, Elsie, please tell me he didn't hurt you." He brushed my hair off my neck, looking for some sort of sign of my peril.
"I'm fine." I said, throwing my arms around him. I pulled him against me, squeezing my eyes shut as I buried my face in his neck. Nick held on to me, and I heard Daniel telling his wife that maybe they needed to give us some privacy. The door snicked shut, leaving us utterly alone. Nick's arms tightened around me.
"I can't believe I was stupid enough to leave you here."
"Don't blame yourself." I told him. I wasn't in danger anymore, but even with Nick here the fear hadn't left. Frustration - mostly with myself - followed. My eyes teared up. I was so stupid. "I'm the one who fell asleep."
Nick pulled away to look me right in the eyes. "You shouldn't have to worry about when you can sleep. You should be able to sleep whenever you want with having the likes of the Watsons haunt your dreams." He pressed his forehead to mine, eyes closed. "I heard you calling out to me. At first I thought it was just because you were having withdrawals, because I started to feel them, too. But when you said he had a knife…." He shook his head. "I took off running. I pushed the horse into a gallop right up to the house, jumped off, and ran in here to find you screaming. Who was it? What did he say to you? What was he going to do?"
I felt a single tear fall down my cheek. Nick's thumb brushed it away. "Marcus said kidnapping had failed when it came to Maggie and Caleb, and they don't want us or anyone else to ascend. They wanted to permanently get rid of me." I said. Nick's hands tightened on my arms. I pulled away from him and lifted his chin, so he could look me in the eyes. The anguish in his eyes was partially my fault. "But I'm fine. Let's just agree to not fall asleep alone, okay?"
Nick shook his head, like he disagreed with me. I leaned forward and kissed him. He just sat there for a moment, and then he finally kissed me back. When neither of us could breathe correctly, we pulled away from each other.
"We'll be fine," I whispered to him.
"The Watsons aren't going to get out of this without some trouble from us." He told me, his voice low. I attributed it to the fact that he was just angry.
"Just leave them be. Obviously you can't fight them with brute force." I said. "Besides we don't want to be as bad as them. We'll just have to outsmart them." I pushed the warm comforter off and tied back my hair. I tugged on the back of my jeans and smoothed out the front of my shirt. It was wrinkled from me sleeping in it. Nick rolled out of his bed, still wearing his shoes. He kicked them off and ran a hand through his hair.
"I have a feeling you've got that handled."
I reached for the bedroom door, fully recovered, physically, from my near-brush with Marcus. I leaned forward and kissed the side of his neck, something that I'd never done to anyone else before. It felt strange but normal, if that made any sense. He was so tall that I had to stand on my tiptoes. "You've got that right."
I decided to spare you reader(s) the cliffhanger this time around. But now you see the dilemma with Nick and Elsie. Marcus and the Watsons have reached a whole 'nother level….
Leave me a review! Peace (: