Witness: See Series (Volume 1)(43)
“Why is it quiet?” I whispered.
Madison swallowed harshly. “Calm before the storm. I know it sounds crazy, but…I think I miss them.”
My eyes met hers. “When was the last time you heard them?”
“On my way to your house last night…they stopped without a warning and haven’t been back since.”
“I told them to be quiet, but that was long before you could have heard them stop.”
“They’ve gone somewhere. Someone or something has their attention…or power.”
My shoulders fell as I leaned back into my seat. It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I couldn’t think; I couldn’t move.
“Come on, we’re late,” Madison said quietly.
“No…I’m not going in. I need to think.”
“Charlie, this could help us.”
“Then you figure it out. I’m not going in.” My tone was final, yet weak.
“Alright,” Madison said as she reached for the door handle. “Mom is meeting me here, and we’re eating at the diner – are you still not coming to that?”
I shook my head no against the seat.
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere...here…maybe a walk. I don’t want to go home…I need to think.”
“K,” she mumbled as she crawled out of the front seat.
I don’t know how long I sat there, staring into thin air. I wanted to call my mom right then and get her to confess every secret to me, but I couldn’t find the courage. I thought about using the new aspect of seeing that Draven had taught me and just appear in her office, show my power and demand she confess - but I was too scared to try it. I reached down and fumbled with my bracelet, I turning it so I could see the tiny rock and thinking about going home and getting my dad to tell me everything, but I couldn’t find the will…I didn’t want to think of him as a dark person…I didn’t want to think of Draven as a dark person. I felt myself falling apart, crumbling right when I needed to be strong.
I reached for my phone and scrolled through the names until I found Draven’s. Right now, I wanted to be held; I wanted someone to tell me we’d make it out of this - even if that was a lie.
Just as I began to text, something odd happened….calm….an addicting calm spilled over me. In a grateful daze, my eyes raised to the street, and just in front of my car I saw the source of that calm. My lips slightly smiled as I stared into Silas’s honey hazel eyes.
Chapter Nine
I let my phone fall from my hands and slowly got out of my car. Silas smiled slightly, then turned and began to walk away. With each step he took, I felt the calm around me grow weaker. I didn’t want that to happen; I wanted to feel that peace, so I began to follow him.
As I walked, I studied every part of him. He was tall, lean, yet strong. His dark jeans were loose, and his button up black shirt was playing the part of a light jacket as it remained un-tucked. He wasn’t anything like Draven or Britain. Draven’s style always reflected the musician in him – the edge to his sprit – and Britain always looked like a wealthy businessman, even when he was dressed down…but Silas, he didn’t fall anywhere near them…he had his own style, one that was comfortable…certain.
I never walked faster to catch up with him. I kept my distance as I followed him. It was as if we were both blending into a fall day on the streets of Salem. He never looked over his shoulder to see if I was behind him as he passed another block, leading me out of the common traffic of town.
I tried to focus on him, ask the simple question of who he was, how he knew me, but I couldn’t see him. When that happened with Britain – when he blocked me or only showed me a mirror image of myself - it scared me, but it didn’t with Silas. It was like I knew he was safe – almost a guardian.
I followed him for another block, then he crossed the street. I hesitated; he was walking into one of the town’s historic graveyards. It was on the south side of one of the oldest churches. I knew every part of this town from my childhood here. I’d even been to church there, but I’d never once stepped into that graveyard. A graveyard is the one place that a girl who can hear the whispers of the damned avoids.
The further away Silas got from me, the more anxious I became. I took in a deep breath and crossed the street to follow him. I thought at the very least that I’d hear my shadows again – Madison wasn’t crazy for saying she missed them…I missed them, too. They were the one thing in this world that gave me purpose. If you took away the aspect of saving the lost souls from me, there would be nothing left beyond a girl who loved music and had no idea what she wanted to do with her life – I didn’t want to be that girl. I wanted to save the lost sprits with the music I loved. I wanted to leave this world brighter than how I found it.
The wide, black rod iron gate was slightly ajar. I passed through it, then weaved around the headstones that were over six feet high. I glanced at the years and the names as I passed the almost gothic stones that seemed too close to one another. I could feel an odd, old energy surrounding me…I knew the ground I was walking on had seen more tears that I could imagine…the echoes of an historic past were so silent, I could hear it screaming at me.
I couldn’t see Silas in front of me anymore; the stones were blocking him. I blindly followed the calm I felt and let it guide me in his direction. On edge of the graveyard, just before the path that led into the back of the church, there was a gazebo. Vines covered every part of it, and flowers that only bloomed in the shadows were among these vines. Inside, I could see Silas sitting on a long swing. I held his gaze as I climbed the three steps leading to him. In my mind, I kept asking the simple question, Who are you?, over and over, finding no answers. He wasn’t letting me see him.