Take My Breath Away

  Chapter 22

  The park was deserted when I arrived. The water was still cold, so that made the air feel much colder than I had anticipated, especially since Antietam Creek was surrounded by mountains that trapped the cold air. Fortunately, no rain yet. I parked, grabbed my fishing rod so I didn't look like a vagrant and headed toward the water. If Izzy was here, she'd be somewhere out of sight, but she'd know I was here. I scanned the woods on the opposite side of the creek, hoping to spot her. This side of the creek, the sandy point was too sparsely wooded to provide decent cover, and given her nervousness, it didn't seem like she'd want to be out in the open. The dam to the left was also out in the open, so I headed toward the bridge. I broke into a jog as I got closer, brimming with anticipation.

  Thump. And there she was, standing right in front of me. I didn't hesitate—dropped my gear and wrapped her in my arms. Our kiss was everything I'd been expecting.

  Finally she edged back.

  "I see you got cleaned up?" I teased. "Got to love jeans and a tee shirt."

  She slapped my shoulder playfully and then sniffed the air. "You too. That's the cologne your mother gave you at Christmas, right?"

  "Yeah."

  "Humph, it masks your natural scent too much."

  "Probably a good thing—at least for now, right?"

  She laughed. "I suppose you're right."

  "Glad you lost the creek mud smell—just kidding." I didn't want to talk, and pulled her lips back to mine. She didn't resist. It was incredible—like drinking in sunshine only better—I could feel my entire body being recharged, like an adrenaline rush on steroids.

  Suddenly she tensed and forced me back. I glanced over my shoulder in the direction she was staring, where the road paralleled the creek.

  "What is it?" It was obvious she could hear something not yet within my human range of hearing.

  "Fish," she said, stepping back toward the creek.

  "What?" Then I heard the rumble of motorcycle engines and it all clicked. "From Georgia?"

  "Yes."

  "How?"

  "We don't have time." She took another step and I knew she was about to leap the creek. I quickly glanced over my shoulder again. The lead bikes were just entering the far end of the park, beyond the dam. "They'll see you—here, take my line—I'll tug on it if I need your help. Go, get in the water." I grabbed my rod, pulled out a few feet of line and handed her the sinker. "Hurry."

  Izzy hesitated. She knew the potential danger if they connected me with the bar in Georgia. This was probably the very thing she had been trying to avoid. I could see she was trying to decide whether to stand and fight.

  "I'll pull on the line if I need help."

  The bikers were too close now and she had no other choice. She vanished into the water, the drag on my real squealing as she went. Fortunately the current was toward the bridge and the cloud of sediment disappeared in the dark shadow under the bridge. Now I just had to hope they didn't stop. Really, why would a biker gang of vampire hunters stop for a guy fishing, right?

  I hadn't realized I'd stopped breathing until I let out my breath as the first bikes started over the bridge. The stonewalls along the side of the bridge muffled the sound so that I could hear another group behind them coming through the park.

  "Come on, come on, keep going." But as they passed, I heard tires in the gravel parking lot. "Great." Should I pull the rod? No, these guys were in the back so maybe they weren't even in Georgia and they wouldn't recognize me. I pulled my hood up around my head. The engines shutoff—two, maybe three it sounded like. I took a quick peek and they were already off their bikes—three, like I thought although two of them had passengers. Five on one, not the best odds even if two of them were girls. From where I was standing, I could see no sign of Izzy. By the direction of my line, she was on the far side of the creek, close to the piling. She could probably launch herself out of the water like a cruise missile or something if I needed her, but not yet, I could handle this.

  "Hey, look, down there," a distinctly female voice said.

  When I looked back, the two girls were walking toward me—the guys were urinating on the tree next to where they'd parked. I turned back to the creek and whispered. "It's cool, I got this, just stay put."

  "Hey, fish bitin'?"

  "No, was just getting ready to hang it up—still a little early in the year." I turned toward them being careful not to pull on the line.

  They were both bleach blondes, probably thin, but it was hard to tell under their heavy clothing. The one who had spoken, was chomping on a piece of gum.

  "What ya catch up this way?"

  "Trout, bass, like that. Must be cold riding."

  "Ain't too bad, I just tuck in behind Carl. If nothin' else, he's a great windbreak." They both laughed.

  "Hey, you coming?" One of the guys yelled.

  "That's Carl. Keep your pants on—be right there." She turned back to me. "So you from around here?"

  "Yeah, just outside Boon—Middletown."

  "So like you know folks who live around here and all, right?"

  "My mom grew up here, I think we know just about everyone."

  "You know anyone named Faulkner?"

  I laughed to cover my gasp. "Kind of a southern name for around here. Might be a Faulkner or two in the old Civil War cemetery, but no one I recall by that name."

  They nodded. "Yeah, guess that's true."

  "Come on!" One of the guys yelled. "It's starting to rain." The bikes rumbled to life.

  "Nice talkin' to ya. My dad used to say the fish bite better when it rains—good luck." They turned and scampered back toward the bikes.

  I leaned back against the tree behind me. "Whew." My rod tugged gently and the line started to move upstream, against the current. Suddenly the drag pulled and a fish jumped. "What the—" I grabbed the handle, thumbed the drag and started reeling. From the pulsations, it was a fish. The bikers pulled away, but stopped at the edge of the bridge where they could watch. I eased down to the bank and landed a nice smallmouth bass.

  "Whoo who!" The one blonde yelled. "I told you!"

  The guys gunned their engines and dropped their bikes into gear leaving the park quiet behind them.

  As I stood with the fish, I spotted Izzy walking up out of the water under the bridge.

  "Nice fish," she teased. "Figured you'd need something to show your mom. How is your mom?"

  "How's my mom? Are you kidding me? Do you know who that was?" Then I noticed her wet tee shirt—yeah, I was distracted. "Come on, lets get out of here." I motioned her up out of the water.

  "They're not coming back—at least not for now."

  "Still, this place is too open." I started to put the fish back.

  "Seriously? You know how hard that was to catch?"

  "Mom knows—"

  "You told her?"

  "Na, she kind of guessed." I motioned toward my face. "It was kind of obvious."

  Her smile lit up the dreary surroundings. "Still, she likes fish doesn't she?"

  "Oh, okay, I'll keep the fish. Come on." We raced up the bank to my Jeep.

  "Give me your parka." Izzy said as I opened the tailgate to put the fish in the back.

  "What?"

  "Just give me your coat—and no peaking."

  "Right." I pulled off the parka and tossed it to her. When she pulled it over her head, it went almost to her knees. I slammed the tailgate and just stood there gawking like some kind of perv. She'd already slipped out of her jeans and was ringing them out.

  "I said no peeking," she teased, glancing over her shoulder with a seductive smile.

  I folded back against the side of the Jeep. Jeez, I hadn't seen her in weeks and now, there she was half naked under my coat—or maybe completely naked for all I knew. The passenger's door slammed as my coat came flying over the top of the Jeep. I grabbed it and hopped in behind the wheel.

  "Where to?" I asked, fumbling with the keys.

  "Go back the way they came,
toward the dam—there's a fire trail on the right—there's a quiet place there, alongside the creek."

  "Quiet's good."

  After a few minutes, I pulled off into a secluded wooded area and right up to the creek bank.

  "Jason—"

  "Not now." The fish flopped in the back, but I ignored it and kissed her.

  She scooted closer and I wrapped my arm around her cold clammy tee shirt.

  "See, I didn't want to get you wet." She reached down and flipped the heater fan to hi.

  It was incredible being back together—everything just fell back into place like nothing had ever happened. She had to take a break every once in awhile, and the heater—well I didn't need it for long. There was no doubt we could have stayed there all night, but there were other things—important things to consider.

  "The bikers?" I tested.

  She looked up from my shoulder, her dark beautiful eyes realizing the bliss was, at least for now, temporarily over. She pulled herself up and turned to face me. "I guess we need to talk."

  "They following you, or you them?" I ventured.

  "I'm not really sure. It started out—and then, well—they were after me—and then—"

  "They were after you?"

  She sighed. "That night—that dreadful night when I hurt you, I—"

  "Stop right there," I interrupted. "Get this through that pretty head of yours—you are not responsible for what happened."

  Her gaze sank to the console between us. "We both know that's not true."

  "Listen, Izzy." I slipped my hand into hers. "I made you dress like that—I made you stay with us even though I knew how hard it would be for you—I came on to you—and I attacked you."

  "But I should have—"

  "I knew the risk. I knew the danger. I knew the boundaries, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to be with you. You hear that? I—I—I, that's what was wrong, I didn't stop to consider what you wanted, what you needed."

  She kissed the back of my hand and then gently cupped my cheek. "I wanted it too, but it's not that simple—"

  "I know."

  "No, you don't, I could have killed you. Do you understand what that would have done to you mother—to me? I know you think it's some kind of magical, romantic transformation and then you're an instantaneous immortal, but it's not like that at all. I won't do that to you—I could never do that." She leaned forward and kissed me.

  I scrunched up my nose to break the tension—I didn't like the way this was sounding.

  "What?" she said, pulling back.

  "Creek mud," I joked.

  "Not funny. Seriously, I love you, and for whatever reason, you love me, so lets just accept that—for however long that is."

  "Okay, for now," I said.

  She kissed me again, closing the topic.

  "So, back to that night," I said, "what happened after I checked out?"

  "Your mom came home."

  "I gathered that."

  "She saw everything—the way I hurt you—my strength. She was terrified and then, well, her heart stopped. I—me—I scared her to death."

  "But you saved her life."

  "I thought you didn't know anything?"

  "The paramedics said someone gave her CPR and that Mom's lips were ice cold—they assumed she'd been outside, but I figured it must have been you. At the hospital, the doctor's said that whoever gave her CPR saved her life."

  Izzy shook her head. "No, I almost killed her."

  "No, listen to me, the doctor said there was a problem with Mom's heart and that if there hadn't been a professional around when the inevitable happened, she would have died—that was you. Don't you get it, you saved her life."

  "I didn't realize—I just reacted."

  "Well, that's behind us and Mom's fine. So, tell me what happened after that."

  "Your blood—then giving your Mom mouth-to-mouth—I can't even believe I did that in my condition. I ran—I had to. It was bad—not quite like the first time—but I needed distance, to protect you from me. I was in one of our hunting grounds, up on the ridge, before I slowed. I was feeling ashamed, and very much alone, when I got this uneasy feeling."

  "You have nothing to be ashamed of."

  She tried to smile, before continuing. "As I stood there, listening to the woods, I heard something else, in the distance."

  "Motorcycles?"

  "At first I thought it was just me, you know being paranoid, but as they got closer I became more certain. They were headed east on Route 70, so I traversed the side of the mountain and ran along the edge of the woods next to them. I can't be 100% sure, but now, after the park, I think there can be little doubt why they're here. What worries me the most though, is why are they here. Where is my family?"

  "I've been to your house a few times, and I don't think they've been there recently."

  "I know, I don't think so either. So, where are they, or are they?"

  "You can't think like that, I'm sure they're fine."

  "No, you're not, but thanks for saying it. I don't know what to do. I'm afraid to leave you here alone in case they recognize you, but I need to find the Faulkners."

  "It's stopped raining," I said, opening the door, "let's take a walk." I ran around to her side of the Jeep before she got out and offered her my hand. She stepped out cautiously and it was obvious she was probing the area with her keen senses.

  "Just a little ways." She took my hand and we started down the bank, weaving in and out of the trees along the shore. We hadn't gone far when the moon snuck out from behind the clouds turning the black water into a ribbon of sparkling diamonds.

  "Reminds me of you in the sunlight," I said.

  Izzy leaned her head against my shoulder.

  "I'm such an idiot," I groaned.

  "An idiot?"

  "Yeah, a stupid, pathetic idiot. I thought you hated me—that I'd never see you again—I hated me."

  "Jason, I'm so sorry you had to go through that." She reached up and kissed me, but changed the subject back to the current dilemma. "I don't know what to do, I can't win no matter—"

  "I know exactly how you feel. When I was in a similar situation, well Coach said I had to go with my gut and—"

  "Gut?"

  "I went after you."

  "Oh no, mister, you are not ditching school again to go traipsing around the country with me looking for the Faulkners."

  "So then, what?" I asked.

  "I don't know—I need to find Benjamin."

  "I can see that. You have no idea where they are?"

  "No. You remember, they were supposed to lead them away, but now—I mean could the biker gang have destroyed them? Is that why they're here, because I'm the last one?"

  I had nothing. She was hurting and I had nothing. It was odd in a way, I could still remember how hard she tried to get away from the Faulkner's—even hated them, but here she was longing for them—for her family.

  "Didn't you once tell me you had a more intense connection with Benjamin?"

  "Don't you think I tried that? He taught me, but it only works with touch."

  "I get that, but maybe there's a way to boost it—like if it were more than one—combined somehow."

  "I don't know how."

  "I know, it's a long shot." The clouds eclipsed the moon cloaking us in darkness.

  "What long shot? What are you talking about?"

  "Nah, it was a dumb idea anyway."

  "Jason." Izzy grabbed my arm. "We're talking about my family—their safety."

  "Yeah, of course. You remember Cathy?"

  "Sure."

  "She uh, well had some sort of relapse while we were on the West Coast."

  "I know that, that's why she's not in school.

  "Right. Well, Alex and I were talking—just guy stuff—and I asked him how Cathy was doing. He told me she was pretty heavily medicated because she kept babbling on and on about vampires."

  "Oh!"

  "That was my reaction—you did your thing on her, right
? For the first time?"

  Izzy just nodded.

  "I had no idea where you were, or if I'd ever see you again—I was desperate, I thought maybe—maybe it worked both ways and she could help me reach out to you. Problem was, she was crazy, right?"

  Izzy shook her head. "I was only trying to help her."

  "So, anyway, during our last baseball tryout, Cathy came to the fence. She had this kind of wild, weird look in her eye, but I felt drawn to her. She had her fingers through the fence kind of beckoning me to touch her, so I did. You know what she said?"

  "No."

  "She said, 'You're human.' And—I don't know, something changed. She started talking, and well, acting normal—well, for Cathy."

  "What does that mean?"

  "I'm not exactly sure, but the way I see it, it's no coincidence your mind thing didn't completely work on her—there's something special about her."

  "Special, like what?"

  "Later that Friday, after tryouts, she came over to the house."

  "Your house?"

  "Yeah. She made her mom leave and then in the kitchen, when we were alone—she got this kind of thing going—not a trance or anything like that, but there was definitely something going on inside her. So, she took my hands and I could feel this electricity like at the fence, and then there you were. It startled me and when I pulled back you started to fade—I panicked—I thought she was trying to erase you from my memory." I took a second to catch my breath. "Cathy said she thought that maybe she was some kind of conduit or something and that we should try to connect with you. She took my hands, stepped close and then well, I was holding you, kissing you."

  "You kissed Cathy?"

  "I thought I was kissing you."

  Izzy was quiet for a moment. "Friday?"

  I nodded, not sure what she was looking for.

  "I felt you then—you never left me, but Friday afternoon was different—more intense."

  "Like maybe Cathy boosted it?"

  "I don't know." She looked at my watch. "It's late, you need to get home."

  "Maybe she can connect you and Benjamin—I mean the three of you—it has to be possible."

  "I don't know—I don't know." She pushed back her hair. "She's not supposed to know about us—"

  "You mean vampires."

  "You have no idea how dangerous just knowing that is." She tugged at her hair. "I've put you both in so much danger."

  "But it has to be for a reason—I mean you can't think this all just happened, right?"

  "I need time to think." When we got back to the Jeep, she opened my door. "Your mom will be worried."

  "You going to be okay?"

  "Sure."

  "Think about it?"

  She nodded. "Okay."

  I bent her beautiful face toward mine and kissed her. "How will I know—"

  "Guess we'll have to rely on Cathy." She stepped back and closed my door. "Don't worry, Jason."

  "I can't help it."

  "I'll be okay." Izzy winked and then waded out into the water and disappeared beneath the surface—always covering her tracks.