Chapter 78: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Brad looked as bad as he sounded. His normally tanned and handsome face shone pale in the bright light of the overhead, eyes sunken with dark circles making it worse. He looked like he'd just come down off a drug binge and was detoxing.
I immediately grabbed him and hugged him. When I did, I felt something at my throat warm and tingle as power passed between us. I heard him sigh and when I pulled away he looked instantly better.
"It's great to see you," he said.
I reached up and touched the necklace, his birthday present to me, and finally understood what was going on.
The jolt I felt, the one that ran through me when he put the heart on me, was the same as when I hugged him just now. Something about the necklace linked us together. And was keeping Quaid and I apart.
Before I could explore the understanding any further, Brad put the truck in gear and drove off, leaving me scrambling for my seatbelt. I was so enraptured by my realization I didn't pay attention to the direction we were headed.
"Brad," I said, "we really need to talk." Even more now, I knew I had to end our relationship. I was making him sick. After feeling around inside him I saw the truth. The energy he had, the thin and weak power of his latent talent, poured into the bond between us with the necklace as its focus. Why hadn't I seen it before? I guess I was just too wrapped up in what was going on with the family. And his touch was so light it took me looking for it to find it there.
"I know," he said. "I've been thinking. About Notre Dame. You were right."
Thank goodness. He was coming to the realization on his own.
"I'm going to take the scholarship," he said, "and you can come with me."
Um. What?
"You can finish high school in South Bend," he said. "I was offered housing as part of my scholarship. It means we could have an apartment together. It's perfect!"
What?
"I talked to Dad," he went on, rushing over his words. He sounded a little feverish, even. "He's cool with it. Especially after meeting you and your mother."
Oh dear. I just bet he was.
"Brad," I said. "This is crazy."
"No!" He spun around to look at me, the truck swerving into the next lane. Thank goodness no one was coming. I shrieked and he looked back, jerking the truck into the right direction. "Sorry," he whispered. "Syd, look, I can't explain it, but I need to be with you. I don't want to lose you. And you coming with me to school... solves some problems."
"What problems?" I wanted to be angry. Should have felt my fury rising. But even my demon felt sorry for him. I should have listened to my instincts in the beginning.
"Moromond." Brad said it like Quaid was the Devil and planned to steal my soul. Or me away from him. Of course. Paranoia made total sense.
"Quaid has nothing to do with this," I said.
"I see how he looks at you," Brad said. "The way he watches you all the time." He did? He does? Quaid? "It makes me sick." Brad looked at me again, but kept the truck under control so I didn't argue. "I want to protect you, keep you safe. And I can do that if you come with me."
This was so out of hand. And as much as Mom warned me to be gentle, I knew the only way Brad would let me go at this point was to rip the bandage off and see if the wound bled.
I counted on a gushing river, but I'm a pessimist.
It wasn't until then I realized where we were. Brad pulled into a dark lane, down to the end and under the trees. I knew this place. Alison said the kids used it for a particular kind of privacy. It was quiet and dark and far too familiar.
It may have been the local lover's lane, but it was also within yards of the entrance to the party site.
This was definitely not good. I slammed up a shield around us and hoped I was in time to avoid detection. The last thing I needed was my mother showing up and adding to the mess. Or the creature. Not sure which would be worse.
Before I could tell Brad we had to go, he turned off the ignition and pulled the keys free, tossing them out his open window. He turned to face me, seatbelt unbuckled, face hidden in darkness. I knew he would never hurt me, but he was so creepy my guard went all the way up and my demon shrieked her fury.
"I love you, Syd." His voice sank low in the quiet of the cab. "I want to show you how much."
I couldn't use my power to hold him off, but my hands worked really well. At least, to a point. He may have been weaker than normal, but he was still heavy and stronger than me. I snuck some magic in to reinforce my position and looked in his eyes.
They weren't angry or crazy. Just desperate and full of love. My heart broke as I crushed his hopes.
"No," I said. "I'm sorry, Brad. But I don't love you."
He cried out like I punched him in the guts and fell back away from me. I let go of my clenched power and tried to figure out the right thing to say while stumbling over words tumbling out of my mouth.
"You're so sweet and handsome and I really like you. Ever since I met you. But we can't be together anymore. It's not right for either of us and you have university to look forward to. Football. Cheerleaders." I forced a smile even though tears coursed down my face. "Thank you for loving me," I whispered. "But this has to be over."
"Why?" There was so much anguish in him I wanted to hug him and cradle his head in my lap and take it all back, but I needed to be strong. "We belong together, Syd."
"I'm not good for you," I said. "My family could up and leave any time. We move a lot. And you need stability. You have such a great future ahead of you. You deserve more than I can give."
Wow. I sounded so adult in my own ears. And hated myself for every word. It was getting harder to say no to him and I knew it was because of the necklace.
"This is because of that bastard, isn't it?" Brad slammed both hands against the steering wheel. His rage was horrible partly because I'd never seen him angry and partly because it was my fault. "I'll kill him!"
"This has nothing to do with Quaid." I had to end this. And get us the hell out of there. I poured more power into the shield, worried his intense emotion might break through. My control wasn't the greatest even yet so I knew we were on limited time. Sooner or later the protection would collapse and we'd be exposed.
"I don't believe you."
"You don't have to." His attitude wore on me all of a sudden. Maybe because I was sweating from the concentration it took to protect his sorry ass. "But it's final." I reached up and undid the clasp of the necklace and pulled it free. The line of power stretched out toward it from me, thin and wavering as I held it up to him. "I'm done." I set the chain on the seat between us and let go.
The power stretched further and snapped. My own recoiled back to me, but I was ready for it. Brad wasn't so lucky. I felt the truck rock as he slammed back against his door.
"No!" He reached for it, held it out to me. "Please, Syd! I need you!"
It was so hard to say no. So hard. I forced my arms across my chest and looked away from him.
And jerked my head around as the truck door slammed. Brad ran off into the darkness, puncturing my shield as he went, the necklace clutched in his hand.
Oh crap. What did I expect? He'd just drive me home and it would be done with? I hesitated one more moment. I had to go after him, but my family was out there. The vampires. And the creature. For all I knew, he was running right toward it.
Damn. Damn! Mom was going to kill me.
I jumped out of the truck and went after him. It was hard to see, the path he took at least clear of stumps and roots, but I finally had to augment my vision a little so I wouldn't fall. Why didn't I practice more? It kept flickering in and out like a flashing light and I rapidly developed a headache from it.
"Brad!" I hissed into the dark. "Stop!"
I found him at a bend in the path, bent over, hands on his knees. "Brad!"
He looked up at me. Straightened. Took a hesitant step in my direction.
The creature rose up behind him and snarled at me over Brad's shoulder.
He was gone in a breath, swept away by the evil being, dragged off into the black. I reached for him, tried to follow, but I was way too late.
Brad was gone.
***
