A Way (The Voyagers Book 1) (25 page)

CHAPTER 51

“I’m coming with you,” Jessie said, her tone left no room for argument.  She already had her shoes on and was standing in the front entrance, her hand ready to twist the brass doorknob.

“Jessie, please, stay here.  I’ll be back in less than an hour.  I know why he needs help and it’s nothing to worry about.”  Dex ran his palms up and down her arms, like he was chasing away a chill, and looked her straight in the eye. His eyes said he wasn’t worried, the trembling on the edge of his smile, told her something different.

“Fine, if it’s no big deal, then let’s go.” She shook free from his grasp and yanked open the door.  Driving rain blinded her, as the gale force wind slammed it into her face.  Dex caught her when stumbled back, sputtering.

“Seriously, you don’t need to come.  Go back inside.”  He pushed the door shut, against the storm, and turned her around so she was facing him.  “Will you stay, if I promise to text you every five minutes?”  Dex pleaded.

“Not if you’re driving.”  She bit her trembling lip, so hard, she could taste blood.  Jessie didn’t like being separated from him, not yet.

He hugged her close, weaved his hand through her hair, and twisted a curl around his index finger. “I won’t be long.  I need you to stay here, where I know for sure, that you’re safe.”  He could feel her relenting.  “I’ll bring back some burgers from the diner.” 

He was bribing her with food; she smirked at him. “You really think the promise of a burger will let you get away that easily?”  Standing on her toes Jessie gave him a kiss to match the one they had shared on the steps.

“Please, be careful,” she whispered.

“I will.”  He tucked another curl behind her ear and tugged the lobe, kissing the top of her head, as he moved past her.  They held onto each other’s hand as long as they could, before distance and the closing door, broke them apart.  When he looked back to see her, watching him through the window, he was transported back to the day after a different kind of storm; the day his life changed forever.  She blew him the same kiss.

********

Sammy tried to distract Jessie from staring out the window and checking her phone every minute with a game of Crazy Eight’s.  Duke was curled up beside her on the couch. Dex had left, exactly thirteen minutes earlier. 

“How long has he been gone?”  Jessie asked Sammy, again.

Sammy made no motion to look at her watch.  “Thirteen minutes.  Pick up two.”  She slapped the two of hearts down on the lopsided pile.  Jessie considered her cards, then picked up her phone again, and willed it to vibrate, beep, do anything than just sit there, inanimate.

“He’s fine, Jessie.  Gerald probably just needed some advice about the gateway and he was too embarrassed to ask about it, in front of us.  He likes to think he’s as much of an expert as Dex, but he’s not even close.” Sammy laughed lightly.

A streak of lightening streaked across the sky, temporarily illuminating the dark room.  Over the non-stop pounding rain, Jessie could just make out the music the guys were listening to, at the other end of the house.

“I thought he would’ve text by now.”  She knew she was being ridiculous. On a good day, it was half an hour, into town.  He was in a lose/lose situation.  If he used his phone now, she would be upset that he text when he was driving, if he waited, she would be anxious.

Had he really travelled through realm after realm to find her? 
It was her sarcastic devil again.  She flicked him off her shoulder, over the back of the couch.  Dex was fine.  He had to be fine.

Adam appeared in the door way, giving Jessie the moment of distraction she needed to take her turn in the card game. 

“Hey, Sammy, do you have any more of that raspberry beer?” he asked.

“On the bottom shelf of the fridge,” Sammy replied, without looking up from her cards. Jessie played one of her own to make her pick up four.

That was what Jessie needed: a drink.  “That sounds like a good idea.  Do you want something, Sammy?”  Ignoring Duke’s protests, she unfolded legs, to stand.

“Nope, I’m good,” Sammy replied.

Duke followed Jessie to the kitchen and scratched at the back door, demanding his release. 

“Are you sure, buddy?  It’s nasty out.”  She opened the door, just enough that he could fit through. Deterred by the waves of rain, the dog sniffed the air tentatively.  His bladder made the decision for him and he ventured out into the weather.

Jessie watched him spin in circles in the back yard while she reached for a glass above the sink and opened the fridge to dig out the ginger ale, from behind a few stray beers.  She just finished topping off the pop, with some wine, when she saw Duke dart around the corner of the cottage and headed towards the front yard.  The racket of the storm blocked out his distressed bark.

Jessie peeked into the room where Peter and Adam were sitting, then headed back to her card game.  She thought she saw a shadow pass over the ceiling above her, like a car had pulled into the driveway and for a second blocked what little light the menacing clouds were allowing.

He can’t be back yet,
she thought.

Sammy flew out in front of Jessie, pushing her forcefully, back down the hall and into the room under the stairs

“Sammy, what are you doing?”  Jessie was surprised, at the strength, the tiny girl possessed. 

She put her finger up to her lips, “Shhhh…”  Her eyes were round with an emotion Jessie was scared to identify as terror.  “Did you lock the front door?”  Sammy whispered, urgently. 

“What are you talking about?  What’s going on?”  Jessie asked, looking around at Adam and Peter.  They had both stood up when they heard Jessie’s panicked cry and were moving towards the hallway.

“Wait!”  Sammy released Jessie and grabbed both of their arms.  Thunder rolled again, the power flickered and went out.  For a moment, everything was deathly silent and then it was interrupted by Duke’s scratching at the back door.  Jessie pushed past Sammy to let him in, but Adam stopped her from leaving the room.

“I’ll get him.  You stay here.” He exited, before Jessie argue. 

“Sammy, do you want to tell me what happened?  What spooked you?”  Duke bounded into the room and jumped on Jessie with his wet paws.  He was whimpering.  Looking at him closely, she could see a mark on his shoulder. 
Has he been bitten?

“Oh my god, he’s hurt.”  Jessie bent down to get a better look; it wasn’t a bite mark, something had hit him.  They were miles from the nearest road; they were all alone.  The fear she glimpsed in Sammy’s eyes dropped into her own stomach.   She was about to suggest they all get into her rental car and leave when a pounding rumbled through the house.  This one didn’t come from the sky.

“She found us.”

Jessie didn’t have to ask Peter who he was referring to. 

CHAPTER 52

Heavy rain added an extra ten minutes to Dex’s trip into town.  Approaching the diner, he saw the red convertible parked outside.  The space beside it was empty, as were most of the spots lining the main street.  There wasn’t much activity in the small town, today.  The storm had trapped the long weekend revelers inside their rentals.  He wished he was back in the cottage, with Jessie.  He hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be to leave her.  The connection between them was even stronger than he remembered.  He wondered if it was the gateway, sending a signal to the five, that things weren’t as they should be.  He was confident with his decision that they should leave today.  If the gateway’s pull was getting stronger, he wouldn’t be the only voyager that would feel it. 

Thoughts of Jessie reminded him of his promise to text her.  He dug the phone from the depths of his jacket and noticed he missed another text from Gerald.

Hurry up dude…it’s about Rebecca.

Dex frowned at the message.  Three hours earlier, Gerald had assured him Rebecca wasn’t going to be a problem, but the more texts he received from his friend, the more leery he felt.  Something wasn’t right.  Instead of replying, he was sitting outside the place they were supposed to meet, anyway, he typed a quick message to Jessie.

In town, be back soon x

He tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and braced himself for the onslaught of rain.

The comforting bell rang when Dex ran through the door, dripping the storm onto the diner’s scuffed floor. Gerald was sitting at the counter, his hands wrapped around a coffee mug.  He was talking to the server and hadn’t noticed Dex yet.

Must be a big emergency
, Dex thought, sarcastically, and crossed the width of the restaurant to his friend.

The last time he had seen Gerald he was a voluptuous blond, now he was flirting with one.  Gerald felt Dex’s approach and spun around to greet him, with a wide smile, so much like his sister’s, that it made Dex angry.

“What’s going on, Gerald?  Why the hell am I here?  I thought Rebecca was clueless.”

The smile faded from Gerald’s face and was replaced with a bewildered smirk.  “I was going to ask you the same question.  Couldn’t wait to see the old me?” 

The server who was so attentive just a few moments earlier, backed away from the negative energy that passed between Dex and Gerald. 

“You sent me a text, three actually, telling me to meet you here.”  Dex snapped.  “I got one, just five minutes ago.” 

Reaching for his phone, he remembered he had carelessly, left if in the car.  Gerald mimicked his actions and searched his pockets, looking for his own; he checked the outer and inner pockets of his coat and front pockets of his faded jeans.  He looked at Dex, his expression holding more of a storm than the sky.

“I don’t have my phone.  Where the hell is it?”  He yanked his jacket off and spread it on the counter, nearly toppling the full mug of coffee.  He patted the coat down thoroughly, confirming the results of his previous search. “It’s not here.”

Thunder crashed above their heads and the lights dangling from the ceiling swayed in its wake.  The wave of light threw shadows over Dex’s face, accenting the rage that was spewing from his eyes.  “Where did you go today?” he asked, through locked teeth.

“I went to Jessie’s to feed Sam and pick up some of her stuff, just like you asked me to.  The cat’s in the car, what a pain in the ass it is, being on a road trip with that….” Dex moved closer to him, anger radiating through his body, forcing Gerald to focus.

“I went to her apartment, was there less than ten minutes and came back to the car.”

“Did you send me the text that you were on your way, before or after, you went to her apartment?”  Dex knew, Gerald left his phone in the car.  Just like he had done before he ran into the diner.

“Before,” Gerald barely got the word out.  Everything was on that phone, including the address of the cottage.  After receiving the mysterious message on Friday night, Jessie had sent the address, by text, to her friend, Ger.  Rebecca had stolen his phone, she knew where to find Jessie, and she made sure Dex wouldn’t be there, when she arrived.

“We have to get back there, now!” 

In four long strides, Dex made it to the exit and bolted to his car.  Gerald left his jacket on the counter and sprinted after him.  He was about to get into the car, with the cat, when Dex blew the horn and swung the passenger door swung open, soaking the interior.

“Get in!”  Dex yelled, above the howling wind. 

Gerald could see the phone in Dex’s hand, his thumbs vigorously typing out a text message.  He ran to the far side of the car and pulled open the door that was then slammed shut by the wind.  Dex had already put the vehicle in reverse and was backing out of the spot, nearly ripping the handle out of Gerald’s grasp.

“Geez, Dex!  Give me a break here.”  Gerald struggled into the wet seat and removed his stomach from his throat.  “Are you trying to kill me?”  The glare, Dex shot him, wasn’t very encouraging. 

“You told me she had no clue, Gerald!  Those were your exact words. Rebecca. Has. No. Clue.”  Dex tried to direct his anger where it belonged.  He placated himself, with thoughts of all the sacrifices Gerald had made, to help him find Jessie.  His hands were starting to cramp, so he loosened his grip on the steering wheel, before it snapped in two. 

“Jessie hasn’t texted back yet.  I sent her a message right before I walked into the diner.”

“Jessie puts her phone on silent a lot.”  Gerald tried to soothe, both their fears, with information he had learned about his sister during his time as Ger.  He knew his input was useless.  No one knew Jessie better than Dex; she would be sitting at the cottage, clutching her phone, waiting for his text.  He had another suggestion.  

“What did the read receipt say?”

Dex lifted the phone, trying to keep his eyes on what little road he could see, between the wash of the wipers and the accumulating stream of water.  “It says, read.”  He pointed the phone towards Gerald.

“Well that’s good….” Gerald couldn’t finish his thought, nothing about their situation was good.

“Dex, it’s only Rebecca.  Sammy, Peter and that other guy are all at the cottage.  What’s she going to do?  She’s just obsessed with you, not completely insane.”  He almost added –
at least I don’t think she is
- but left the thought unfinished.

“You sound like Sammy.” 

“Did you show Jessie where our passage is?” Gerald asked. It was an unnecessary question.  Even if Dex didn’t have time to show Jessie where their secret entrance, to the gateway, was, Sammy and Peter knew its location.  They would get her there, if they encountered any danger.

“I didn’t have time.  I was going to do that as soon as I got back.  We already decided to leave today.”

Dex kicked himself, for not firming up their plans, in case something like this happened.  He only found out that morning that Sammy and Peter wanted to come with them, but if they were forced to leave before he got back, they wouldn’t know which realm to choose.  He knew which one Jessie would pick, but he wasn’t sure if she knew, yet.

“Today?” Gerald was taken aback.  “Is Jessie ready?”

“We told her as much as we could last night.”  Dex flashed him a sidelong glance. “I was going to wait to tell her about you, but she figured it out.”

Gerald wanted to be the one to explain to her, what he did.  “Of course she did.”

The road to the causeway appeared through the torrential rain and Dex jerked the car, so quickly, Gerald’s head rang off the window. 

“I deserved that,” he said, rubbing his head.

“No, you didn’t.  I’m sorry,” Dex apologized. “Without you Jessie wouldn’t even be here.  You’re a good friend, Gerald.  You’re a good brother.  Jessie is lucky to –SHIT!”

Dex slammed the brakes, so hard, the car lurched sideways and narrowly missed sliding into the ditch.

Gerald swiped his hand over the condensation on the glass, to see what caused Dex to stop, so abruptly.  He felt the blood rush from of his face.  The causeway was gone.