Outcast: A Novel Part 18

"It hasn't hurt me or anything, just stands there." Don't get all protective, not right now, Gabe. I turned back to Etta Mae. "It...it's pretty creepy. I don't know what it is, but when it's around I feel so cold, and I know that it could do things."

"What kind of things?" asked Etta Mae.

"I don't know. Powerful things. I thought, though, that maybe you might know about it, or maybe it'd appeared here in the swamplands before and it was another one of those town folks being ignorant things."

"Like I said, Riley, I've never seen anything like what you're saying. But if you want to stay a little longer for the sun to finish setting, that'd be okay by me. I've got to get some dinner ready for the grankids and Mr. Clayton, though."

"Oh well, we don't want to get in your way," I said quickly.

"Not in the way at all."

So Gabe and I hung out for another hour or so and waited for it to get dark. Mr. Clayton and the kids joined us, though the girl in the yellow dress didn't seem to care much for the food and just sat in the corner quietly playing by herself. Finally the sun set, and Gabe, Etta Mae, and I went out onto the front porch to look.

Of course, now I worried the thing would decide not to show. I also worried a bit how Gabe was going to react to it. He hadn't seen the creature since that night in the fall. Somehow, though, I knew it would be there. I wanted it to be there. So that's where it would be.

And I was right.

First I felt a wave of cold wash over me.

And then.

It was standing out in the yard. It looked in our direction, and I know it didn't like Etta Mae standing with us.

"You see it?" I said pointing and feeling a little faint.

Etta Mae shook her head. "Where are you looking, child?"

"Right there, right there, right in front of us." It was standing no more than ten feet away in the middle of her yard. It was pretty hard to miss it.

"On the other side of the road?" she asked squinting.

"Mae, it's right in front of us. It's in your yard," said Gabe staring at her with confusion.

"I can't see anything."

"But...it's right there!" If Gabe hadn't been able to see it too, I know I'd have thought I was going crazy. And then, before I could say anything else it had vanished. "It's gone," I said quietly, defeated and physically exhausted.

I think Etta Mae sensed how I was feeling because she turned to me and smiled. "Maybe it's just not something I'm supposed to see."

It frustrated me so much that she hadn't seen it. Especially as it was clear as day to me. But it was nice she still believed us. There was no reason on earth for her to. It made me feel a bit better.

After a moment we followed her back into the house where the kids and Mr. Clayton were almost done with dessert.

"I guess we'd better go," I said, realizing it was getting late, and Mother would probably be pretty worried by now about where I was.

"Course, Riley. But y'all come back now. It's nice to see you again. I don't wander too much these days," said Etta Mae taking my hand in hers and giving it a squeeze.

"Yeah, I know," I said. affected by our power m felt "I miss seeing you around. I always liked your songs."

"I know you did, child. I remember you, that little blonde creature coming up to me all bouncy and asking about my singing. No other town child had ever done that."

"Really?"

"You are something else, Riley Carver."

"Well, so are you, Mae. I've never forgotten what you said to me, about your songs. You said, 'You sing 'em to remember.'"

Etta Mae smiled. "That you do, Riley. That you do." She pulled me into a soft hug.

"We'll be back, Mae," I said when she let me go. "Thanks for everything."

"You're welcome."

Gabe came over, and it was his turn to be hugged. When they parted he said, "I'll be at the old place a lot from now on. Can I come by, say hi?"

"Beautiful boy, you'd better not just say hi. I've got plans for a gumbo on Friday that'll knock your socks off."

"Count me in!"

"Riley, you'll come too."

"I'll see. I hope."

"Come say goodbye to Mr. Clayton," she said and we walked over to the table, where Mr. Clayton was sitting with the boys, staring out into nothingness.

The little boys jumped off their chairs to give us hugs. The little girl in the yellow dress stayed in her place in the corner but gave us her little wave again. I waved back and noticed Mr. Clayton shift in his seat slightly.

I looked over at him to find him staring right at me.

"Oh, hi," I said softly. He didn't say anything back.

"Mr. Clayton, this is Riley Carver. She's friends with Gabe McClure. You remember what I said about him," said Etta Mae, placing a soft hand on his shoulder.

"Yes." Mr. Clayton's voice came out low and resonate. It had a power that was so totally opposite from his appearance.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Clayton," I said. I felt maybe twelve years old.

"Yes." Mr. Clayton looked at me for a moment longer, then turned to continue staring out into nothing.

I gave one last wave to the kids, and I turned to Etta Mae who was now giving me that same strange look.

"Mae, what is it?" This was starting to make me feel really uncomfortable, Her gaze changed, softened. "Nothing, child. Nothing at all. Just had a thought. You two had better get going."

"Okay."

Etta Mae walked us to the door again, and we stepped outside. I hoped that maybe this time she'd see the creature now, but even I couldn't. Looked as if it was gone for the night. She escorted us out down the front porch and to the edge of the road where she watched after us until we turned round the bend. Then we were on our own, walking quietly back toward Gabe's place, the full moon above leading our way. It was always astonishing to me how bright the moon could be when you got away from the lights of the town.

"That was strange," I finally said breaking the silence, "that conversation with Etta Mae."

"It was great to see her again," replied Gabe.

"Yeah, I know, the reunion thing, but the rest of it...aren't you freaked out by everything?"

"I dunno," he said with a sigh, "I always thought the Church of the < skidd="" angels="" was="" bulls.h.i.t.="" now="" that="" i="" know="" that="" he's="" just="" worshipping="" a="" bunch="" of="" kidnapped="" people="" like="" me,="" it's="" almost="" kinda="" funny.="" almost.="" i'll="" tell="" you,="" though,="" now="" that="" i="" know="" that="" i'm="" who="" i="" always="" thought="" i="" was...that's="" a="" pretty="" big="">

"But why are these non-angels taking people? Why does it happen every year?"

"Sweetheart..."

"You said you'd help me with the Chris thing. Well, now we have all this new information, we should try to answer those questions."

Gabe shook his head and sighed hard.

"What?"

He stopped walking and turned to me. "I know what I said about helping you with the Chris thing, but I'm starting to think it might be time to stop. I'm thinking we ain't ever getting any answers. I'm the closest thing you've got to a lead. I was one of those things that took him, and, h.e.l.l, I don't even know what happened. I think...you need to just get over it."

"Nice. Real nice, Gabe. Thanks." I started to walk again and heard him coming up behind me. "You think I can just forget someone like that? Someone I think about every single day?" Fighting back tears now.

"Actually, I don't think you think about him every day."

"Sorry?" That made me look over at him. He was keeping pace with me now. He didn't look back.

"I think this is all habit. I think you don't even know why you're doing it. Look, Riley, I've helped you out, done what you wanted me to do, gone to that stupid Commune. I tried, I really did. Can't I just live my life now?"

"Sure. Go ahead. Live your life. I don't care. You haven't been much help anyway. So we'll live together till you graduate. Pa.s.s each other in the halls. Doesn't matter to me. I always have to do everything myself anyway."

"Riley, what do you want from me?" He stopped again and grabbed my wrist to make me stop too.

"Nothing!" I wrenched my wrist away from him as I kept walking, causing me to trip a little. I recovered in a huff and just kept going. "You're right. You are so right. Nothing. It's just I don't get why you don't care anymore, like none of this has anything to do with you. Say what you will about my obsession with Chris or whatever, you're just an unfeeling son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h."

"Don't start with me, Riley. I didn't even know the guy."

"Yeah, no you didn't. Why on earth should he matter to you? You didn't even know the guy. Well, forget about caring about other people even if you don't know them. G.o.d forbid you should have empathy for someone that has nothing to do with you. That's just crazy. Forget about Chris. What about Deke? P"> "What about him?"

"Well, you were both taken, right? So that obviously means he's one of those non-angel things like you were. I turned you back into a human. We could probably do the same with him. We could probably do the same with all of them. Get some other people on our side. Our own little army, shoot those fake angels down. Just like with you. You're totally missing the bigger picture."

We were back at his place now and I had to stop. So I tried to do it as indignantly as possible, placing my hands on my hips and staring right at him with what I hoped was a hardened expression. The tears in my eyes probably weren't helping much.

"I affected by our powerth, felt ..." Gabe looked fl.u.s.tered. I hoped he was actually fl.u.s.tered. Though I had to admit, I didn't like seeing Gabe unsure. Whether he liked it or not, the main reason I still wanted his help was that he calmed me, made me confident in my actions. Knowing he was there with me...

"You...?" I mimicked. He didn't respond. He was still thinking about my argument. It'd been a good one. I could understand his shock. To be honest, I was actually shocked myself. It was a really good idea, actually, one I hadn't even thought of until I was desperate to convince Gabe to stay. Moments of desperation producing inspiration. Crazy. But it was pretty brilliant. I could get Chris back. We could stop all the Angel stuff. Stop Pastor Warren. All we needed were some people with good aim.

Really, really good aim.

"It's a good idea," said Gabe finally.

"Took you long enough to realize it."

"Okay, you c1d;

I was nuts. Clearly I was nuts. I was nuts to think that recruiting a priest as part of our sharp-shooting team was a good idea, and I was certainly nuts sitting outside on the swinging chair later that night waiting for a ghost-creature-thingy to appear again. I'd never been able to control when it showed up and when it didn't in the past. And I certainly had no control over it deciding to talk with me. But after it had shown up just as I thought it would at Etta Mae's, I'd started thinking that maybe things weren't as out of my control as I thought. That maybe I could make it show up places if I wanted it enough.

And tonight, I really wanted it to show up.

But there was something else, a realization. I'd wanted to have a conversation with this thing for months, to just ask it about the Circle of Seven point blank, to ask it more about Gabe. But there was something different tonight. Something deep inside me that was different. I felt like...I felt like I could do it. Before, even though I'd wanted it in theory, I hadn't really wanted to talk to it for real.

Man it was so weird, so hard to explain. So hard for me to understand.

It just felt right. And I knew it would show up. And I knew it would talk with me.

Still it wasn't exactly warm out, and it was getting pretty late, and it was a school day the next day. Plus even though I knew I was ready to talk with the thing, it still totally freaked me out. So I was starting to seriously regret my decision as I swung gently back and forth.

Riley.

I turned to the left and saw the ghost thingy on the edge of our property, standing by the tree line. I hadn't sensed it coming as I was already pretty cold and it startled me.

"Oh, hey." I stared at it for a moment. I really wished it didn't look how it did. It was amazing how it didn't do anything, barely moved, and yet everything about it sent shivers up my spine.

I took a deep breath then stood up and crossed over to it.

You want to ask me the question.

"Uh, yeah, I do. What's Gabe?"

Oh.

"Yeah, I know now. I know he can't be an angel, but see, I'm confused 'cause you said he belonged to the Circle of Seven, and from what I understand only angels belong to the Circle of Seven."

Angels don't belong to the Circle of Seven.

"They don't?"

No, they work for the Circle of Seven. They are not owned.

"Oh. Okay. So what's Gabe, then? Is he..." I thought back to my conversation with Father Peter, to my research. "Is he one of the Nephilim?"

No.

No? That took me aback. I'd kind of thought at Etta Mae's that maybe that was the right answer. I'd actually been kind of proud of myself that I came to that conclusion. affected by our power IidDJ"So he's not an angel, and he's not a Nephilim...how many more things are there?"