Heather Terrell - Eternity (v5)

Rainwater pooled at my feet as I slid my cel back into my bag. I wiped off my face and hair as best I could with a dry T-shirt from my bag, and looked around the kitschy general store, The Maine Event. In summertime, when the tourists flocked to the beaches and even the locals became regulars at the seaside hangouts, this place swarmed with visitors. Now, manned by a single attendant, it didn’t exactly have the comfort of crowds.

But I didn’t spot a lot of other options as I skirted this isolated stretch of highway, especial y once it started to storm.

Trying to look occupied, I strol ed around the store. I spun carousels of postcards and examined shelves with seashel s and local preserves. The attendant gave me a curious once-over, so I hoped that I looked more appropriate—and interested—than I felt. My mind whirred with the horrors I’d seen through Ezekiel’s eyes and the narrowness of my escape.

After exactly twenty minutes, I heard the bel over the front door ring. My stomach lurched. I wasn’t sure whether it was my savior Ruth or my persecutors.

Thank God it was Ruth.

She raced over. “Are you okay? You look terrible.”

“I’m fine. Real y I am.”

“Did Michael do something to you?”

I knew that would be her presumption; after al , she’d looked reluctant to drop me off with Michael at Ransom Beach less than two hours ago. In formulating my reason for the emergency pickup, I had decided to play on that assumption. “We just had a fight. And I didn’t trust him to bring me home straightaway.”

“I understand.” She gave me a hug and pul ed me toward the door. “Come on, I’l take you home.”

Home. I wished I could go home, but I couldn’t. I would have to enlist Ruth’s unwitting aid once more—to protect myself and my parents. And her, for that matter.

We drove in silence until I asked her about Jamie. Her face lit up as she described how smart he was and how helpful with her homework. I kept her talking until we neared the Til inghast town green. When we pul ed alongside the whitewashed town church, I asked her to stop the car for a minute.

“Ruth, I’m going to ask for an enormous favor. The biggest favor I’ve ever asked of you. And I’m not going to be able to tel you why.”

“Okay,” she said hesitantly.

“Can you please take me to the train station? And not tel my parents or Michael. Or anyone else who might ask.”

She paused, weighing very careful y whether or not to utter her next words. “El ie, I know.”

“Know what?”

“I know about you and Michael—and the flying.”

I was stunned into speechlessness.

Ruth looked down at her hands, almost embarrassed by what she’d said and how she knew. “I told you earlier that I just didn’t understand the whole Facebook thing. It seemed total y out of character for you, and you acted so different afterward. So I started eavesdropping here and there. I overheard you saying to Michael that you’d see him later that night—even though you were grounded. It got me wondering whether you two were sneaking out, and whether Michael was the reason you changed so much. So I began to fol ow you—at night. That’s when I saw you fly for the first time.”

“You saw us.” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Yes.” She smiled despite herself. “It was real y amazing to watch.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

“El ie, does the trip to the train station have something to do with your flying?”

“Yes, in a way.”

She paused again. It was strange for me to watch my best friend of seven years acting so uncomfortable around me. “What are you, El ie?”

I didn’t have an answer, although I wished desperately that I did. “Would you believe me if I told you that I honestly don’t know?”

Reaching out toward me, she clasped my hand. “After seeing you two fly, I’d believe anything.”

I didn’t want to push her along, but I knew I was running out of time. “So you’l take me to the train station?”

“Do you real y need to go? I don’t know what I’l do without you, El ie. Especial y now that you are back. The real you, I mean.”

Tears started wel ing up in my eyes at the idea of leaving my poor parents behind. And Ruth. And Til inghast. But I knew I couldn’t stay. Ezekiel had warned me.

“I have to go. It’s in everyone’s best interest,” I said, knowing that Ruth couldn’t possibly comprehend—or believe—the danger I’d be thrusting upon Til inghast if I didn’t leave.

“Take me with you, El ie,” she said suddenly. Although I could tel she’d been mustering up the courage to make her request.

“You don’t want to be a part of this. I promise you.”

“El ie, I don’t know what you are, but I know you are more than human.” She started to cry too. “I’ve seen up close what it means to be human. With my mom’s death. And I don’t want to end up like that. I’d rather be like you.”

Watching Ruth cry made me cry harder. “Oh, Ruth, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t turn you into whatever I am. And anyway, I don’t think my differences make me immune from dying.”

We hugged each other for a long time. Ruth broke away first, and turned the car back on. “I guess I should take you to the train station.”

Chapter Thirty-four

I walked into the back entrance of the sleepy Til inghast train station feeling more alone than ever before. It wasn’t because the station was empty except for a lone ticket agent or because I was uncertain about my destination. It was because I was truly on my own.

I didn’t know when—or how—my solitude would end. I couldn’t see or even contact my parents until I could be certain I wouldn’t cause them harm.

The same applied to Ruth. As for Michael, wel , he had chosen Ezekiel over me; he was gone. And there was no one else.

As I stared up at the train destination board, a tear ran down my cheek. For a split second, I was glad to be alone. I didn’t want anyone to see my weakness. I needed to be strong to face the coming days.

Wiping the tear away, I concentrated on the board. I scanned the list of trains slated to leave the station in the morning, but immediately rejected those as departing too late. I couldn’t chance staying overnight in the station. I didn’t doubt that Ezekiel could descend upon me if he so chose, but I did not want my parents to find me and suffer Ezekiel’s wrath.

Then I noticed that one last train was due into the station that night, just after eight P.M. Cal ed the Downeaster, the train stopped at the Til inghast station in fifteen minutes. It would arrive in Boston in about three hours—Boston. I had my destination; it couldn’t have been more perfect if I’d planned it.

I waited until the station agent stepped away from his post to buy my ticket from the ticket machine with cash. Purchasing it from the automated tel er rather than the agent seemed wiser. I’d gain some lead time if Ezekiel and Michael changed their col ective minds and fol owed me, instead of waiting as Ezekiel initial y instructed.

Ticket in hand, I headed into the ladies’ room to wait until I heard the train pul into the station. I didn’t want to give the agent any additional time to identify me. I paced around restlessly, listening intently for the train and making a few critical internet searches before I tossed my cel phone. I didn’t want anyone to trace me that way either.

As I jotted down the vital pieces of information from my research, I heard the chug of the train. Then I threw my cel into the trash.

Peering out the bathroom door, I didn’t see the agent anywhere. I darted from the bathroom into the train, quickly grabbed a seat, and buried myself in a book I snatched from my bag. I didn’t want to look as if I’d just boarded, in case the Til inghast agent peeked in.