Haeven (36 page)

"I will," I kissed his cheek.

Ares was beside himself that I was leaving
without him and after I hugged and kissed him he whined and
strained so hard against his leash that both my parents had to hold
him while I got in the car and drove away. I watched the three of
them in the mirror for as long as I safely could then sped up and
rounded the bend that would take me out of the cul-de-sac and onto
the main road.

I started smiling. I was alone. My mother
wasn't popping her head in to check on me wherever I happened to
be. Ares wasn't trying to get my attention so I would take him
outside or for a run or to give him something to eat. My father
wasn't playing mediator between me and my mom whenever we disagreed
about how much or how little I should be allowed to wander on my
own. The drive to Evan's campus was absolutely liberating. I felt
like my entire life, even the parts I didn't remember were under
surveillance and that I was finally free from the suffocating sense
that I was constantly being watched.

I felt so carefree and at ease that I didn't
even bother to call Evan for an hour or two after I arrived. I
checked into the hotel and went to my room where I did absolutely
nothing but luxuriate in the peace of solitude. I knew Evan was
expecting me though and the last thing I wanted to do was worry
him. I called my parents first and let them know that I had
arrived, safe and sound. Once that was out of the way I called Evan
who jubilantly stated that he was already on his way.

"New club opened up near the campus and we're
all going to check it out tonight! I hope you're dressed and ready
to go," he teased, "I'll be there in 15 minutes."

"Oh, really! Well, I hope you don't mind
waiting because I'm going to need a little longer than that!"

"Get a move on then!" and laughing Evan
abruptly hung up.

Hardly three minutes later Evan called back
to let me know that he was waiting for me in the lobby.

"You'd better just come up, I'm still going
to be a while!" I grumbled.

"Are you sure? I have someone with me."

"Yes, it's fine...I'm decent," I giggled.

This time I was the one to hang up. I went to
the door and used the bar on the security lock to brace it open so
Evan could let himself in then headed back to the bathroom to
finish my hair and make-up. A few minutes later I heard him come in
and called out letting him know that I was almost done and would be
right out.

While fastening my earrings I walked into the
room and saw him and...

"Oh!" I said in surprise. I had expected to
see him with one of his college buddies but there was a young woman
sitting beside him on the edge of the bed instead.

"Hey, Em," Evan hopped up and the girl slowly
moved to join him. She stood at his side and wrapped his fingers in
hers. "Sarah, this is my sister Emily. Emily this is my girlfriend
Sarah," he motioned to each of us respectively as he made the
introduction.

"Sarah...Sarah..." I thought to myself and my
mind seemed to shudder as he said her name. "It's nice to meet you
Sarah," I held my hand out.

She shifted her purse to her opposite
shoulder and took just the tips of my fingers in hers, "It's nice
to meet you," she smiled.

There was something odd about the way she
said it, like it wasn't sincere or maybe she was disappointed or
felt sullied by my touch. I bit my tongue and turned to Evan
without saying anything further.

"Well, I guess we can go. Let me just grab my
purse," I pointed.

Evan's eyes followed my gesture and he
noticed the charm sitting beside it on the nightstand. "I see you
found your necklace," he smiled.

"Yeah," I picked it up and ran my fingers
over it. "I thought about wearing it but I wasn't sure if it would
look good with what I've got on."

"Actually," Sarah seemed awed as she gazed at
the necklace from where she stood, "it's very...interesting. Where
did you get it?" she took a step towards me hoping to get a better
look.

I shook my head and shrugged, "I don't
know."

She tentatively reached out as if to touch
it. Though I hadn't planned on wearing it I hastily looped it over
my head and tucked it beneath my blouse before she had a chance to
inspect it. For some reason I couldn't bear the thought of letting
her put her fingers on it.

She frowned at me and I was sure there was
some understanding lurking in her eyes, "Ah, yes! Evan told me
there was a bit of a gap there," she said referring back to my
earlier statement that I didn't know where I had gotten the
charm.

"Gap," I thought to myself and cocked my head
at Evan wondering what else he may have told her. Evan had never
mentioned having a girlfriend and in my mind that meant that their
relationship was somewhat new. That he would tell her something so
personal and private was quite unnerving to me and I couldn't help
wondering what else he may have disclosed. I tossed a look Evan's
way but there didn't seem to be any understanding or guilt in his
expression.

At that moment I decided that I didn't and
probably would never like
Sarah
. Rather than dwell on the
topic of my memory loss or induce a series of questions that I
didn't want to answer, "Well, it's a bit more complicated than
a 
gap
 but unfortunately I can't tell you much more
than that."

Sarah was thoroughly taken aback by then,
"Well, I'm sorry to have brought it up. It seems like a very sore
subject for you. Are you ready?" she tucked her hand in Evan's
elbow and gazed lovingly up at him.

Evan seemed completely oblivious to anything
unusual in the exchange. "When you are," he gave her a quick peck
then motioned Sarah towards the door and I reluctantly
followed.

Though I didn't have the courage to ask any
of them my mind was full of questions. Sarah seemed a little older
than Evan, actually much older than Evan when I really thought
about it. She was pretty, in fact quite beautiful but it was hard
for me to acknowledge the idea when everything else about her
seemed so offensive to me.

It was cooler than usual and turning quite
dreary by the time we left the hotel. I offered to drive but Sarah
recommended that we take her car and Evan seconded her suggestion.
She climbed behind the wheel and since it was a coupe Evan propped
his seat up then helped me climb in the back.

"Comfy?" Sarah looked at me in the mirror
once we were all settled.

"Quite," I assured her and smiled
happily.

I was anything but though. The backseat was
tiny and since Evan was so tall he had his seat nearly all the way
back. I was cramped and uncomfortable and feeling claustrophobic as
well. Not only that but the seats were leather and though I was
buckled in I still slid several inches in either direction every
time Sarah took a turn.

She seemed to be enjoying the fact that I was
at her mercy in the backseat and even managed to get me to bang my
forehead into the back of Evan's seat when she abruptly stopped
short while I was trying to corral my purse between my feet.

"Oops, sorry about that! I thought I saw
something crossing the road," she chuckled.

Evan laughed, too, but graciously concealed
it and asked if I was OK.

"I'm fine," I chirped determined not to give
Sarah the satisfaction of knowing that I did indeed hurt
myself.

Thankfully it was only a short drive to the
club and Sarah was in a great deal of a hurry. Evan hopped out as
soon as we got there and offering a firm hand sprung me from my
rolling torture chamber.

It had started to rain on the way to the club
so we didn't bother with any commentary and hurried towards the
front door where a group of about 5 or 6 people were idling about
under the canopy.

"Evan!" one of them called out as we
approached. "You made it!"

"Yep, we're all here!" he jubilantly
stated.

"Nice to see you again, Sarah," Evan's friend
eyed her appreciatively.

"You, too, Miles," she smiled coyly, almost
invitingly. I liked her less and less by the minute.

"Is this?"

"Yep. Emily, this is my friend Miles."

"Great to meet you," though I couldn't
possibly imagine why, he shook my hand with a great deal of
deference,

"Likewise," I smiled but cringed inside. "Now
why on Earth did I say it like that?"

Suddenly I was completely ill at ease and
questioning everything I said and did while Evan introduced me to
the rest of his friends. There were two more guys and two more
girls. Once I did the math I realized why Evan made it a point to
introduce me to Miles first. It was obvious the two girls were
dating the two guys and Evan was hoping that Miles and I would hit
it off.

He seemed to see the understanding in my eyes
when I turned to confront him with this new knowledge. Without a
word Evan bit his lip as if to apologize and looked at me
hopefully. I knew he was asking me to at least try and make the
most of it.

"Now that we all know one another there's no
sense standing around and letting the night get away from us! Let's
get inside," Evan said then he and Sarah led the way.

The other couples followed while Miles and I
trailed in everyone's wake. "So, Evan told me you were a little
adventurous!" he tried to strike up a conversation.

My mind immediately jumped to the worst
possible interpretation, "What?" I frowned and asked somewhat
angrily.

"Yeah, he said you went skydiving together
over the summer," his words came out hesitantly.

"Oh! Yes...yes we did," I said completely
relieved. "I'm sorry. I...I don't get out much and I'm a little
nervous around new people. I didn't mean to sound so...so
snappy."

Miles held his hands up as if to ward off
another attack, "No worries, just as long as you don't bite!"

I laughed in confusion. It seemed like a
strange thing to say.

"So what else do you like to do, I mean when
you're not jumping out of planes?" Miles and I showed our ID's and
he paid both our admissions.

Now that I could see him under the light he
didn't seem quite so foreboding. Miles was handsome in a studious,
nerdy kind of way with dark hair and dark eyes. He had a quirky
smile and it seemed like he knew he wasn't movie star handsome but
believed that what he lacked in looks he made up for in
personality. There was a conscious confidence and an easy-going way
about him and I had the sense that Evan purposefully chose Miles so
that I wouldn't feel pressured to consider our evening together as
anything other than a friendly, get-to-know you event.

We were given wrist bands which was somewhat
surprising since Evan, and I suspected all of his friends, were
under 21. I didn't say anything but raised my brows in
acknowledgement and followed Miles and the others into the club.
Evan gave me a quick wave then he and Sarah melted into the throngs
of people on the dance floor. The other two couples did pretty much
the same while Miles and I just stood there shifting awkwardly.

"Do you want to dance?" he raised his voice
and I could just barely hear him over the music.

"No. I'm not much of a dancer," I looked
away, "actually I don't think I've ever danced."

"Never danced?" Miles stepped back and
studied my expression as he attempted to discover whether or not I
was telling the truth.

I looked longingly over his shoulder and
sighed, "No. No...I don't think I can."

"That's too bad," he glanced around and for a
moment I thought he was considering whether or not to just leave me
there and find another partner. "Do you want a drink?"

I shrugged, "Sure." He led me to the bar,
ordered for himself then turned to me and asked me what I wanted.
"Um...uh..." I didn't know how to answer.

"Don't tell me you've never had a cocktail
before?" he said it jokingly not really guessing the truth of it.
My face fell. "Oh, my," he said once he realized, "have you been
hiding under a rock?" he gave a confused, unbelieving chuckle.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "This was a
mistake."

I started to walk away. My heart was pounding
and I felt so ashamed. I cursed Evan for thinking that taking me
out and letting me meet his friends was a good idea. I never
realized how hard it would be to interact and engage with people
because I just couldn't remember, didn't know anything or hardly
anything at all about myself. I started to cry.

I couldn't see where I was going through my
tears and I inadvertently bumped into someone standing on the edge
of the dancefloor watching the crowd.

He turned and faced me, "Whoa, there,
sweetheart," he reached out and kept me from stumbling any further.
He was smiling brightly, his eyes flashing with humor, "Hey, do I
know you?" his expression changed dramatically as he stared
directly down at my chest. I was flabbergasted and almost wrenched
myself away but then he cautiously reached out and curled his
fingers around the charm. "How do you know Daemon?" he bent down
and looked into my eyes. I couldn't pull my gaze away. "Wait," he
looked absolutely puzzled, "
do
 you know Daemon? Do you
know 
anyth
..." he suddenly stopped speaking and his
eyes darted from one section of the club to the next to the
next.

I felt a little dizzy and my mind went
completely blank for several seconds. Then I thought I heard a
voice calling my name from behind. I peered over my shoulder
imagining that it was Miles but there was no one there. I started
to turn back to the stranger so I could offer an apology and excuse
myself but then I caught a glimpse of someone staring at me from
the opposite end of the room. Everything I was seeing seemed to
waver before my eyes like it was somehow translucent or surreal and
during those few short seconds both the stranger I had bumped into
and the person who was staring at me across the room seemed to
vanish.