Found (The Last Watcher Series) Book One (23 page)

The sun was setting soon, and that means my
mother and Zayley will be wondering through the woods not long
after. Whatever sun that was shining through was now disappearing.
Only the tops of the trees were still enjoying light. With every
minute, it got darker, and I knew I had to face the sadness of my
brother’s death once again.

“
It’s time.” Len told me
only opening the house door just a little. It almost looked like he
was scared to come outside. He must have been checking of my mother
was here already. A few seconds after, I saw my mother and Zayley
walking towards me. Good, they found me.

“
Amabel!” Zayley screamed,
and started running towards me. Her eyes were filled with
excitement as well as relief. “Oh I thought you were dead!” She
screamed as she got closer to me. With open arms, she dove in. “You
need to tell me
everything
! I’m so happy to see you!”
She yelled in my ear.

“
Ouch, well I’m happy to see
you too.” I said laughing. “How are you?”

“
How am I? Dude, I’m fine.
How are
you
? You
nearly scared me to death after you just disappeared at the store
and then a no show the next day. Your mother told me you went on
some trip or something. I don’t really remember because all I was
thinking is that you’re alive.” She said laughing. “Wait, no.
I’m
not
okay. You
left me there with Vessa and Arcell. You bitch!” She screamed and
hit me lightly on the arm. I couldn’t help but laugh as I pictured
her rolling her eyes every time they got too close to each
other.

“
Well.. sorry. But thanks,
I’m fine.” I answered her laughing. I looked over at my mother, and
she looked like she was dreading the funeral. I didn’t know how it
looked. I didn’t even know how James looked. Hopefully, we wouldn’t
have to see. A few minutes after, everyone came out of the house. I
caught a glimpse of Tae and Kierce, and my heart melted with just
that simple look. Curelessly though, I didn’t know if it was for
Tae or Kierce. I was still completely lost.

“
Follow me.” Len said, and
started walking deeper into the woods. The rest of us fallowed. We
walked for quite some time until we reached our destination. It was
familiar. As we took the last few steps into the open field, I
notices James’s plane. This was where he kept it while he stayed
with us. Under the plane was his grave. The guys took care of it
and have already buried him. The thought of him laying still in the
ground bothered me. Not as much as if he were out of the ground
though. I was glad the guys took care of it. They knew exactly how
to handle this.

On top of the grave was his tomb stone. The
tomb stone was just a big rock with his name engraved in it. I
looked at everyone, and no one wanted to step closer. Everyone was
within their own minds and feeling sorrow for James. My mother on
the other hand, stepped up and knelt near his grave. I joined her.
As we looked at each other, there was love. Family love. I touched
the name on the rock with a single finger, and let it go back and
forth along the name. At that moment, I felt forgiveness. I forgave
my mother was never telling me, as well as she forgave my father
for not letting him in the family. Right at this moment, we felt
him. We felt his soul and how happy he was. He was with his bonded
love now and there wasn’t a single worry in the air.

Everyone was now kneeling near the grave with
closed eyes. We were feeling his touch in the air. A smile formed
on my face. “You’re free now.” I whispered, and everyone joined
with a smile. Not soon after, it had gotten too dark. For the
lycans' eyes and mine, it was okay. Not for my mother’s or Zayley’s
though.

“
I think we should go now.”
I said, and everyone rose up. We gave one last look at his grave,
and walked into the woods towards the house.

“
So you have a brother?”
Zayley asked and now realized what she had said.

“
Yes.” I answered her.
“I
have
a
brother.”

We approached the house but no one was
anxious to go in. I looked at Len with a smile and he already knew
what I was thinking.

“
Go grab some blankets
inside.” He told one of his brothers, and he started to light the
fire in the fire pit. This was going to be the first time it was
used, and I was glad it was with all the ones I loved.

We circled the fire and kept silent for a
while. I took advantage of it and started up my mind with thoughts.
I was angry at myself for ignoring Tae and Kierce all day. They
didn’t deserve it, not one bit.

“
So.. at least James will
always be with us.” Len said, trying to cheer everyone up. It
didn’t work for me though. It was all my fault. Everything was.
James’s death, Tae’s scars, and Kierce’s separation from his
father. It was all my fault, and they paid for it. They paid for
the things they should have never been involved. I knew they wanted
to protect me and wouldn’t have it any other way, but it was wrong.
At this very second, I was more lost than I ever have been before.
All of my emotion have caught up with me and suddenly hit me in the
face. It felt like a brick was stuck in my throat and wouldn’t let
me spit it out. I wanted to scream and tell everyone to go, but
couldn’t. I sat there silent as everyone around me had small
conversations. Staring at the fire didn’t make me lose a train of
thought, but only gain more. I saw the faces of the ones I hurt
just passing by and nothing made sense anymore. My mind was nothing
but a chaotic mess.

“
Hey Amabel.” Dakota spoke
out. He was the first one that even tried to break my train of
thought.

“
Yeah?” I answered him,
still staring at the fire.

“
So.. what’s up with your
abilities? I know you can do things that.. well.. are sick. But
aren’t you supposed to be able to tell the hunters to stay
away?”

“
Well, yes. I should be able
to.” I then looked over at Kierce real quick.

“
How come you can’t though?
Or have you not tried?” Dakota continued asking me about
it.

“
Well, I don’t think I have
actually tried. It’s just.. every time something happens, that’s
not one of the things that come to my mind.”

“
Maybe you should try next
time. That’s what you’re supposed to do. Well.. that’s what other
watchers have done.”

“
She’s not like other
watchers.” Tae said, coming into the conversation. My full
attention was now on him.

“
No, she’s not. That only
means she should be able to do more.” Dakota said.

“
Listen.” I came in saying,
and now looking away from any faces. “Even if I can. I don’t want
to try. Something tells me I shouldn’t.”

“
It’s your heart.” Kierce
said quickly. No one said a thing after. I knew what he meant, as
well as everyone else. My heart told me not to because if I did,
Kierce would leave. He would be trapped with the rest of the
hunters, unable to break free.

After another few short minute of silence,
everyone started getting up. That was the queue for the night being
over. I agreed. After another few minutes, everyone went their ways
for the night.

Running hunters. No, staggers. I saw myself
running with them, as if I was one of them. I looked down at my
feet, and I knew I was. They were coming with an attack.

“
Staggers!” I woke up
screaming. I felt myself slowly rising with tears. They were coming
to kill us, and if not me, then definitely my loved
ones.

“
Are you okay?” Tae screamed
running into the bedroom. “What happened? Why are you crying?” He
asked me. After all this pain I brought him, I couldn’t believe he
was still worried about my nightmares.

“
No, the staggers are coming
for us. I saw them. It was as if.. I was one of them.” I told him
with tears still running down my cheeks. I tasted the saltiness on
my lips and quickly whipped myself on my sleeve.

“
What do you mean you were
one of them?” Tae asked curiously. I, myself, was
curious.

“
I.. I think I was looking
through one of their eyes. I don’t know how. It was so random, but
I did. As soon as I realized they’re coming for us, I woke
up.”

“
It’ll be okay Amabel.” Tae
told me as he came closer to me wanting to give me closure, but he
didn’t. He didn’t make any other movement.

“
No, it’s not okay. I knew
this would happen, I knew it!”

“
We have more people now,
remember?”

“
Yeah, that means more of my
family will die!” I was furious at Tae. How could he think that it
was a good thing?

“
Listen Amabel. They’re
coming, which means we can be prepared. I’ll go tell Len, and he’ll
call the others. We’ll guard the house while Awan brings your
mother and Zayley was away from here. With that alone, we’re
already one step ahead of them.”

“
Yes, but what if someone
gets hurt again? Or even worse, dies!”

“
Amabel my love. Please calm
down. I know you care for all our health, but with the more of us
there is, the less of a chance someone will get hurt or die.” He
told me calmly. He had a point, but it wasn’t enough to calm me
down. “Do you know when they’ll be here?” My mind then started
skimming though what I had seen. I tried to remember anything at
all, but the only thing I knew was that there were a lot of them,
and they were impatient to get here.

“
Wait, I remember. It was
night time. Obviously it was! How can I be so stupid. I wasn’t
dreaming, I was in one of their minds. That means they were running
through the night time. They’ll be here soon!” I screamed. My heart
started racing as I sat in the bed trying to take it all in. “What
are we going to do?” I asked Tae, but it was more of a frightened
statement than a question.

“
We’re going to be ready.
Don’t worry about a thing. For now.. just focus on your abilities.
Can you do that?”

“
I’m scared, not five.” I
told him angrily. How could I even focus on my abilities right
now.

Tae left the room and I heard him warn the
others. A few minutes later, the house was empty. I knew my mother
and Zayley would be safe, as well as Awan. For the rest of us, not
so much. I quickly got out of bed and got changed in my most
comfortable clothes. A gray long sleeved top, along with a pair of
black skinny jeans. Followed by my leather boots and leather
jacket. I brushed my hair and looked in the mirror. “Just a girl.”
I whispered to myself, and walked out of the room. As I came
outside, I noticed all the brothers were around the house. They
were watching every direction.

“
Where the others?” I asked
Len.

“
They’re on their way.
Hopefully they’ll make it… Although I hope they don’t.” I
understood why he said that. They were the ones already bonded to
someone and it would be a terror if one of them died. Again, it
would be all my fault. “Staggers.” Len added. With that simple yet
terrifying word, everyone ran over to him. I saw Dakota, Tae,
Kierce and all the brothers that I have gotten so close with.
“They’re coming from there.” He added, as he pointed towards a part
in the woods. I was glad that it was the opposite of where my
mother went.

The staggers were now fully in our sight.
They ran quickly and soon were only a short distance away from us.
They stopped.

“
Ahh, and you must be
Amabel.” One of the staggers said. It sounded more like a dragged
out whine. “And these must be your puppets. How sad that they will
all die.” The stagger added with a smile on his face. It disgusted
me. I felt my body fill with anger. I watched dozens of staggers
staring back at me. Their slimy looking skin was light today, and
their veins were a bright red. They were either new, or just fed
really good. Again the anger flowed in. The thoughts of them
tearing apart humans filled my mind.

“
You fucks. Leave me alone!”
I screamed, feeling my eyes starting to get heavy.

“
We don’t listen to you!”
One of the staggers almost growled back. I looked over at Len on
one side and Tae on the other. As well as the rest of my family. I
gave them a head shake, and each one of them transformed. Their
sizes as lycans were almost the same as humans, but larger. Each
one of them started growling, and the staggers didn’t wait any
longer. They attacked.

I turned the connection on
with everyone I could think of, not sure if it worked. Now it was
just a matter of time until I felt the energy within me. I felt my
eyes get more heavier and without able to keep them open, I closed
them and tried to read within me. I felt the pain all the lycans
felt. The pain from the staggers attacking them. I heard the howls
from their blood escaping their new wounds. “Come on.” I whispered
to myself. I felt the familiar tremble of my body.
Kierce!
I heard someone
think. I quickly looked up and noticed him losing to a stagger. He
wasn’t as strong as them. No regular hunter was. I heard his cries
and suddenly my mind froze. I felt the rage come within me. Without
taking any energy from outside sources, it arose in me with an
ease.

There was a now a blue glow coming from my
eyes. All I saw was the shapes of the body. Soon after, I had a red
radiant orb around me. I felt the power, the power of a watcher.
There was one thing on my mind, and it was to kill what wasn’t
supposed to be out. The staggers. The weather changed drastically,
and I noticed all the attention on me. I knew I wasn’t the only one
who saw the red escaping my body. Without thinking, my mouth
started talking with fury and demand.