Far Away (Gypsy Fairy Tale Book Two) (6 page)

Chapter 12

I was falling, spiraling through the darkness. I kept waiting for the moment of impact, but it never came. One second I was plummeting to my death and the next I was standing on my own feet.

Looking around, I could see nothing but blackness. I listened, but heard nothing.

Where am I?

Out of the darkness came a sinister whisper. It came from everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.

“Bás an fhealltóir ... Bás an fhealltóir ...”

“Who’s there?” I asked, turning in a slow circle. I was terrified of who or what might answer.

Suddenly, there was the noise of movement. It was the crunching sound of footsteps coming closer and closer. I turned in a circle again, trying to see through the darkness.

“S-S-Show yourself!” I demanded, my voice shaking with fear.

The footsteps were closer, all around me, and echoing in my head.

No...No...Go away...Leave me alone...

It was then that I heard him.

"Harmony... Harmony... Can you hear me?"

I heard the voice coming down to me through the darkness. At first it was far away, muffled and low. I struggled up towards it like I was swimming against the current of the murky river that was trying to pull me down.

I can hear you... But where are you... Don’t go... Say something else...

The voice spoke again, closer this time and no longer muddled.

"Come on Harmony... Open your eyes... Come on Harmony... Look at me..."

I knew that voice. The sound of it stirred my blood, bringing me closer to the surface of consciousness.

You...
You...

"Harmony... Look at me Harmony... Open your eyes and look at me..."

I tried to do his voice commanded and open my eyes, but my lids were so very heavy. This should be easier, right?

"Harmony... Harmony..."

I felt something, and odd sensation that came and went. I would’ve ignored it, but it was more than a little annoying.

What is that...?
Why won’t it stop
...?

The closer I came to the surface, more real the sensation became. I recognized it then, slight sting of gentle slaps to my cheeks.

“Open your eyes... Look at me...”

Fin
e...I’ll look at you... Just stop smacking me...

I struggled to open my eyes. The world was white and filled with a bright light. Above me, blurred shapes moved in and out.

What is this? Where am I?

I blinked again and strained to see what was before me. At first, I could make out nothing more than the bare branches of the trees stretching up toward the sky, but then slowly I could make out the face that leaned above me.

Alec...

My blood stirred again, this time with rage. I couldn’t stand being so close to him. I worked my fingers back and forth in the wet snow until I could make a solid fist.

Without hesitation, I drew back and punched him with every bit of strength that I could muster. My fist made contact with his skin in a loud smack.

Alec fell backwards, clutching his nose.

“Dammit Harmony.”

Still weak, I tried to stand, but I fell back down onto my hands and knees. I crawled away as fast as I could, but Alec grabbed my ankle and pulled me back across the snow.

Why did it have to be winter? Where was everybody? If it was spring or summer, people would be out visiting the old Capitol or at least walking by on the sidewalks. There would be someone around stop this attack.

As it was, everyone was tucked away in warm houses as Alec pulled me back to him.

I slapped at him again and again, but now his guard was up and he avoided my blows easily.

Alec weaved from side to side, “Harmony stop it!”

“How could you!” I hissed, still trying to land another hit to his face. “You know what they did!”

He easily penned my arms to my sides, holding me there on the cold ground.

“Harmony, please.”

“Let me go,” I demanded as I continued to squirm. “Let me go!”

Alec shook his head and held me tighter, “Not until you listen to me.”

I twisted my hands until I broke free, scrambling to my feet and backing away until my back collided with the trunk of the tree again.

“What could you possibly say?” I asked. “These are the same people that tried to kill Kieran and me!”

“I know that.”

“And they hate the Tuatha De Danann and everyone associated with them.”

He nodded, “I know.”

I stared at him dumbly. Why was he being so calm? Why didn’t he argue and at least try to defend himself? “And they chased them from one of the world to the other.”

“I know that too.”

“Then what could you possibly have to say?” I asked as I spread my hands wide. “What else is there?”

Alec stood and took a few cautious steps forward until we were only inches away from each other. He looked down into my eyes and sighed as if he had all the burdens of the world laid at his feet.

“What if they’re right?”

Chapter 13

“Will you at least hear me out?” Alec asked as he dusted the snow off the front of his pants.

I just stared at him. How could he think those people, the same people that thought nothing of shooting me, were right? Did that mean that he thought they were right to want me dead?

He cautiously reached over and wiped some of the snow from my coat, “Let’s go get some coffee and talk about this.”

I let him take my hand and lead me across the lawn to the diner. It seemed ironic that the diner was so close, near enough to walk to, but not a single person came out stop our fight.

No one even looked up when we entered the diner. I glared at each of them as Alec pulled me along. They all went right on eating as we slipped into the booth closest to the door.

It wasn’t until we were seated that I took my coat off that I realized how very cold I was. I shivered and my teeth chattered as I hated him from across the table.

Alec ordered two cups of coffee, keeping a watchful eye on me. I was shivering too much to try to run, but obviously he hadn’t noticed.

He waited until the waitress filled our white cups, smiling politely when she talked about watching him play ball back in high school.

How could he stand that? How could he just smile when people reminded him about what is life could have been? And then I remembered that I hated him.

I hope it kills you to hear about how great you were...I hope it eats at you with every limping step...It would serve you right...

When she left us alone, Alec leaned forward. “Are you willing to hear what I have to say?”

I said nothing. I didn’t even nod. I just wrapped my red and frozen hands around the hot cup.

Alex sighed, “You were right, the men you saw yesterday are Mileans.”

“Obviously.”

“The group you saw are member of the O’Leary family, some of the most respected Mileans there are.”

“So why are they here?” I asked.

Giving me a pleading look and he went on, “It took a while, but when my uncle didn’t show up back in Ireland, the Mileans got suspicious. They suspected that he came to an untimely end.”

I nervously looked up, terrified of what he would say next. Would the next person through the diner door be a cop coming to arrest me?

“Don’t worry,” Alec said as he glanced around. “They don’t know any more than they need to.”

I tried not to show how relieved I was, but a sigh I managed to escape my lips. “Thanks.”

“I wouldn’t betray you like that.”

I glared across the table at him, “Then what are you doing with them?”

Alec spooned some sugar into his coffee, careful to avoid meeting my eyes. “They want me to represent my family and join them.”

“What?” I asked, confused. Why him? Why did his family need to be represented? None of it was making any sense. “I don’t understand all of this just because your uncle was part of their little group?”

“Do you know when your family came to America?”

“No.”

“Well, I do,” Alex said with a sip of his coffee. “My family came during the potato famine like a lot of other Irish immigrants, but back in Ireland, the men in my family represented one of the bloodlines of the sons of Mil. There has always been a select group, made up of each of the bloodlines, sworn to protect all of us from...”

“The Tuatha De Danann,” I said since he faltered.

Alec nodded, “Right.”

“But the Mileans tried to kill me,” I argued. “And the Tuatha De Danann never hurt anyone.”

He looked at me and shook his head, “Really?”

“Yes, really,” I snapped. “All they want is to be left alone.”

He smirked, “Do you really believe that?”

“Of course.”

Alec sat back in the booth and crossed his arms, “That's what they want you to think. They tempt mortals with the disguise of innocence and the promise of immortality, but it's all a lie.”

“A lie?” I asked innocently, not wanting to reveal the secrets Kieran shared about their long lives and lack of aging.

See... You don’t know everything Mr. Big Stuff...

He motioned for a refill, “We know that the Tuatha De Danann are damn near immortal, so you can lose that smug look, that’s what they promise the humans that they take. You see, humans aren’t meant to live forever. The ones that do try to live with them eventually go mad and –“

“Kill themselves,” I blurted out, remembering Kieran’s story about his mother.

“Yes,” Alec said as he stared at me with eyes that burned with determination. “And I won’t stand by and let that happen to you.”

My heart sank, “So you joined and then?”

He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “No, but I’ll do what I have to do in order to protect you.”

“I don’t need your protection,” I snapped and slid out of the booth. I blinked back the angry tears that wanted to fall. “And you don’t know it yet, but you chose the wrong side...And now I’ll hate you forever...”

I left him there before he could say anything else and ran home, crying the entire way.

Chapter 14

CLOSED DUE TO FLU.

That is what the sign said that I hung in store window. I taped it to the glass in the wee hours of the morning so not be seen. I didn’t even use a flashlight for fear someone would see the beam.

The words on the sign weren’t exactly a lie. After that day at the diner, I came home and took to my bed, only coming out to affix the sign and collect the mail in the predawn hours.

How could I have been so stupid as to trust Alec again? He already betrayed me once and then I go and let him do it again. What was I thinking?

Fool me once...

Alec called my phone at least a dozen times, but I always let it go to voicemail. I tried to listen to the first few, but I ended up deleting them all. I didn’t wants to hear what he had to say.

“Harmony,” he said on one of the message. “You have to believe me...”

Oh do I really? We’ll see about that...

I spent New Years Eve alone watching television. When the clock struck midnight, I was all by myself with no one to kiss.

Is this how it’s going to be? Is this what my life is going to be like?

I twirled my necklace between my fingers as I watched the celebrations, it was my only reminder that anyone in the world cared about me.

Kieran where are you? Why did I let you leave me?

Days passed that way with me not doing much more than watching the shadows on the wall. I was lost and not sure of where I even belonged.

Everything about my life just seemed to be on hold. I didn’t want to have anything at all to do with my old life and there was no way for me to know for sure that Kieran was even going to return in spring. After all, I only received the one package and letter since he left me last summer. No other letters...No calls...

My depression swallowed me. I didn’t even turn on the lights in the house anymore. When it got dark, I just went to bed. It didn’t matter if I was tired or not.

Actually, sleep became an escape of sorts. My sleep was filled with dreams of Kieran and me walking hand-in-hand through a beautiful emerald green forest.

Looking down, I could see the moss covered path and the old-fashioned long dress swirling around my legs. Everything seemed to shimmer as if covered in glittering dust. It was...Magic.

Kieran pulled me to him and brought his lips down on mine. I clung to him even as he moved his kisses down to my throat. Through my half closed eyes, I could see the world around us spinning and spinning.

I wanted to ask Kieran what was happening, but my words made no sound. I wasn’t afraid though, not while Kieran held me against his chest.

Whatever worries I had disappeared as Kieran eased me down onto the soft grass next to the path. Our clothes melted away as they can only do in dreams and then it was just the two of us skin to skin as the world spun around us continued to spin.

None of it mattered. I cared about nothing other than the feel of his hands on my body and the taste of his lips on mine. I wanted only to pull him closer to me, through me even, until there was nothing between us.

Kieran...Kieran...

After we made love, I lay with my head on Kieran’s chest, listening to the sound of his breathing as if hypnotized. I just lay there and watch the blur of the motion.

Suddenly the spinning stopped. It was so abrupt that it startled me. I sat up and looked down at Kieran sleeping.

When I looked up again, all I saw was ruin. The forest that we were in was nothing more than a scattering of smoldering trees and stumps. A few yards away, stood the blackened ruins of a church.

Where did that come from?

My normal clothes appeared back on my body as I stepped toward the church. I could just make out the charred cross on top of the steeple. In the rubble stood an old man, staring at the mess and shaking his head sadly.

In that strange soundless dream speak, I asked him what happened as I touched his shoulder.

The man turned and oh – I recognize those blue eyes! I had seen those eyes looking at me in the snow begging me to understand. That old man was Alec!

I screamed a silent scream and turned to run back to Kieran, but now everything was different. The entire forest was burned, without a single trace of the lush green grass where my lover should be sleeping.

Panic swept over me. Where was Kieran? How was it possible that he just disappeared?

Up ahead there was a single tree that still had most of its branches as opposed to just being a naked trunk. I ran across the scorched ground and scrambled up the soot covered tree thinking I could get a better view and find Kieran.

Kieran...Kieran will make sense of all this...

I made it to the top, covering myself with black ash. I looked out over the bleak landscape and I could just make out Kieran near the edge of the ever-expanding forest. He was sitting up and looking around as if he was searching for me.

“Kieran!” I shouted, but my words died in the air not far from my face.

Why couldn’t he see me?

The forest continued to grow and multiply, separating us more and more. Determined to get his attention, I shouted again and waved.

One minute I was clutching the tree and the next I was falling through the air. I felt my necklace moving and tightening around my neck, but then it became a noose and I was hanging.

I called it my neck, but it was so hard to bury and the rope was so tight.

I don’t want to die... I don’t want to die...

There was a loud knock. It vibrated up the tree and down the rope. I struggled looked down and there was Alec, now young again, chopping at the tree with a crystal axe.

Knock.

Knock.

I struggled against the rope, trying to breathe. I looked down at Alec, silently pleading with him to hurry, to save me before it was too late.

Knock.

Knock.

My eyes opened and I was safe in my bed and the knock was at the front door. I looked at the clock; it was just past two in the morning.

Seriously?

“Who is it?” I shouted as I stumbled down the stairs in the dark even though I already had a pretty good idea it would be.

“It’s me,” Alec whispered against the door.

“Go away!”

“Harmony please! I shouldn’t even be here”

“Go away!” I shouted again and sat down on the bottom step, “We have nothing to say to each other.”

“I’m not leaving,” Alec said softly, again speaking right up against the door.

Frustrated, I pulled myself up from the stairs and opened the door. I glared through the darkness at him, “What?”

Alec stood on the porch in the darkness, looking over his shoulder.

“I need to talk to you,” he said.

I shook my head, “Just go home –“

He held his arms wide, “You were right.”

“About what?” I snapped, ready to go back to bed.

Alec stepped a little closer to me so we stood in the dim light shining through the living room from the kitchen. He looked down at me with pleading eyes, “I picked the wrong side.”

I opened the door wider, “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” he said with another glance over his shoulder. “That’s why had to come.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked with a yawn. “And why should I believe anything that you say?”

Alec flinched, “Would I be here otherwise?”

“Maybe you’re setting me up.”

“If I was,” he said. “I wouldn’t do it at two in the morning.”

I hated to admit it, but that made sense. “So what was so urgent?”

“The Mileans are going to attack the Tuatha De Danann.”

I yawned again, “Isn’t that what they do? Isn’t that your sworn duty or something?”

“This is different,” Alec said with a shake of his head. “This time they want to exterminate them.”

Fear pushed the air out of my lungs. Kieran was in danger and I had no way to warn him. The world began to spin, just like in my dream.

Kieran...Kieran...

“But no one knows where to find them,” I said weakly, trying to convince myself that there was no real threat. “
I
don’t even know where they are.”

Alec glanced over his shoulder again and then leaned in close.

“The Mileans do know,” he whispered.

“Where?” I asked, barely able to form the word.

Alec looked at me and sighed, “Ireland.”