Instead of brightly colored circus tents or rides and concession stands, one lone, massive white tent sat in the middle of the empty space. A trailer was parked off to the side near the brush, but other than that, the space was a ghost town.
Mark shut off the engine and we both cautiously climbed out of the vehicle. Mark grabbed my hand pulling me slightly behind him. I was grateful for his protection, as I suddenly became assaulted by several mixed emotions from the tent in front of us. The emotions ran the spectrum from animosity all the way down to the deepest of despair. I took in a shaky breath as I studied the makeshift structure. I couldn't place what was going on here, but something was definitely off.
"Do you want to wait in the car?" Mark asked me, with concern laced through his words.
"No, I'm fine. Let's get a little closer and see if I can pick up anything useful."
"Okay, but stay behind me."
Nodding my head, I trailed behind him as he approached the tent cautiously. Peering into the dim interior, we saw that several rows of benches made from wooden planks and cinder blocks lined the center of the tent, while a makeshift pulpit of sorts stood near the far wall. We spotted a handful of people working at a table on the far side of the tent, but obviously unaware of our presence, they never looked our direction.
Mark took a cautious step inside, but pulled back quickly when we heard an engine behind us.
Tuning around, we took a step away from the tent. I gripped Mark's hand tightly in my own as we faced the oncoming vehicle in front of us.
Chapter 7
"Can I help you with something?" A man that looked to be a couple years older than us, covered in tattoos, asked, getting out of the passenger side of the vehicle.
Mark took a casual step in front of me blocking me partially from view.
"Yeah, we got this flyer over at the farmer's market," Mark said, holding up the orange flyer.
I let out a relieved breath that he had remembered to grab it out of the Navigator.
"I see we mixed up the days when we looked at it," Mark added.
"I'd say the times too," The man said with sarcasm lacing his voice.
"Yeah, that too," Mark said laughing to ease the mood, but I could feel the tension flowing off of him.
"Why don't you come back tomorrow," the driver said in a friendlier tone. "Alan's a real visionary," he added, lowering the tailgate of the pickup truck to unload the supplies piled up in the back.
"Sounds good," Mark said mimicking the driver's laid-back manner as he scooted me toward the Navigator. Opening the door for me, he used his hands to propel me into the seat and closed the door behind me in one swift movement, taking me away from any possible threat.
I watched through the window as Mark shook their hands and came around to his side.
"You okay?" He asked, still smiling for their benefit as he put the SUV into drive and pulled out of the dusty lot.
"Yeah," I said, glancing out the rear window. I was relieved to see both men hard at work unloading the truck. It's not like I had expected them to be following us, but seeing them disregarding our visit made me feel much better.
"Did you get anything from them?" he asked.
"Well, I was scared to let their feelings in, but they both had a similar vibe to the girl from the market," I said. "What are we going to do?" I asked after a few minutes.
"First thing we're going to do is sit down with Haniel and the others. This is a prime example of what we were created for."
I nodded my head in agreement, glad that we were both on the same page.
We arrived back home a half an hour later to an empty house. I had to swallow back my disappointment when I realized all my friends were gone. I was anxious to hash out what we had seen and what I had felt with our group.
"Why don't we go for a swim," Mark suggested, picking up on my disappointment. "Our day isn't quite over and we can still make it fun."
"That sounds good," I said, agreeing with him.
I headed to my room to change and put away my treasures. I left the surprises we had purchased for Lynn and Sam on the coffee table on my way to my room with Feline following behind me. I opened one of the bags and tossed the catnip mouse I bought him on the bed and watched as he happily rolled around with it. I laughed as he dragged it under the bed looking loopy. "Great, I'm like your dealer," I said, watching him disappear.
Mark was already in the pool when I joined him on the patio. I stood in the doorway for a moment watching him swim laps across the pool. The muscles in his biceps and shoulders rippled as he pulled his long lean body through the water. My mouth dried watching the water glistening on him. Seeing him in the water half-dressed was enough to make my palms sweat and send my racing heart into overdrive. Sure, over the last few weeks we had done a ton of swimming, but that was with all our friends around. The pool was always crowded and noisy with plenty of splashing.
"You going to join me or are you going to just stand there gawking?" Mark asked, breaking into my reverie.
"Um, I choose stand here and gawk," I said, making him laugh.
I dropped some towels on the chair and headed toward the deep end of the pool so I could dive in. I was a huge baby about cold water and took the "all or nothing" approach. I felt creeping into cold water slowly only prolonged the inevitable.
Taking my normal stance, I stood at the edge of the pool on tiptoes and placed my arms above my head, well aware of the fact that Mark was checking me out, much as I had done to him. Smiling briefly, I bent my knees and pushed off the side off the pool, cutting through the cold water in one movement. I swam the length of the pool and kicked off the side, propelling me back toward the other end of the pool. My lungs threatened mutiny as they burned for oxygen, but I pushed forward, finally reaching the point I had started from. I broke through the surface, gasping for breath, no longer feeling the cold water as I completed my ritual. I had learned long ago that by escalating my heart rate, the chill of the water would dissipate quicker and I could enjoy myself.
Mark swam to my side. "You look like a porpoise swimming under the water like that," he said huskily, wiping a drop of water off my forehead with the pad of his thumb.
I wanted to make a joke out of his comment, but his hand slid down my cheek, circling around underneath my hair until it rested against my neck. I sighed against his lips as he placed them on mine. Releasing the side of the pool, I wrapped my arms around his neck, anchoring myself to him. Our legs tangled together under the water as Mark deepened the kiss. We began to sink beneath the surface when he took his own hand off the side of the pool. Kissing him with the water surrounding us was a sensation like no other. My lungs craved air while my heart craved even more contact.
After a few moments, my lungs won and we finally broke the surface. "Wow," I said, looking at Mark.
"Yeah that was pretty wow," he said in a strangled voice.
"Race you to the other side," I said, laughing at his expression. I felt extremely powerful knowing my kisses impacted him so intensely. I surged away from the side of the pool and smiled under the water when I felt the water move behind me indicating he was close on my heels. My hand reached the wall on the shallow side of the pool a fraction of a second before his.
I broke the surface, gasping for air and laughing at the same time.
"You cheated by distracting me like that," he said, mock growling at me as he started to stalk me across the shallow end.
Giggling uncontrollably, I backed away from him. I climbed up the steps backwards as he closed the distance between us. My feet hit the patio a split second before he could reach me as I turned and raced around the pool, cautiously trying not to slip. Mark's hands reached out of nowhere and grasped me around my ankles, sending me sprawling back into the water and his waiting arms.
"I see how it works. You entice me with your mermaid-like-allure and flee when the water gets a little warm," he whispered in my ear, making goose bumps pop up on my arms.
"Mermaid allure? Being an Angel isn't enough? You need a mermaid too?" I teased sliding my arms back around his neck.
"Well, mermaids are pretty hot," he teased back, dropping his head in for another kiss.
"Cannonball!" a voice screeched out seconds before water cascaded over us as a huge weight dropped in the water right beside us.
"Shawn!" I sputtered, spitting out the mouthful of water I had ingested from the wave he had created. "You're such a dork," I added, heading for the steps to get out of Dodge while Mark and Shawn tried to dunk each other under the water. Robert joined the fray doing his own version of a cannonball as I exited the pool.
"Boys, you gotta love 'em," Sam said, handing me a towel so I could wipe the water off my face.
"How right you are, though it's a good thing they're cute," I said, trying unsuccessfully to sound disgruntled.
"I'm going to go take a quick shower. See if you can corral everyone together, Mark and I have something to talk to you guys about," I said, heading into the house.
I took a quick shower, taking only a few minutes to wash the chlorine out of my hair. I was anxious to talk to Haniel and my friends. The images I had received from the unknown girl had haunted me the entire afternoon. I yearned to erase them from her memory and replace them with new ones that would give her peace.
Within ten minutes I was dressed in a pair of comfy cut-off sweats and one of my favorite hoodies. I walked out to the living room barefoot and was pleased when I saw my friends waiting for me.
"What's going on Sis? Mark wouldn't tell us anything until you were done," Shawn said, sounded stressed.
"Is Haniel here?" I asked, ignoring my brother's question for the moment.
"I haven't seen him," Sam said, looking at us curiously.
"We can at least fill them in and when Haniel shows up we can get his input," Mark suggested.
"That works," I said, agreeing with him. So for the next fifteen minutes, Mark and I took turns filling our friends in on what had transpired while we were at the outdoor market. Everyone remained quiet as I told them about the awful images I had gleaned from the girl, and how bad it left me feeling when I didn’t have the chance to help her.
"It was different than when we train with Haniel. You know how the images fade as soon as he pulls back?" I asked them. They both nodded their heads. "Well, hers didn't. They seemed to have pierced my soul and I can still feel them there," I said miserably.
"That is because you did not filter them," Haniel's voice said from behind me. "If a Guide does not filter the emotions appropriately they can fester in their soul, proving to be quite painful," Haniel stated in his no-nonsense way. "Untrained Guides are advised against accepting the emotions of forgotten souls inside them for that reason."
"So, she was a forgotten soul?" I asked.
"It would appear so," he said.
"So, when do we go in and save her?" Sam asked in an excited voice.
"You will not be going in."
"What? What do you mean we're not going in?" Shawn asked incredulously.
"You are untrained and unprepared for dealing with a situation such as this."
"That's crazy. Mark and I faced worse than this less than a month ago and you didn't care how untrained or unprepared we were then. Why the sudden concern now?" I asked angrily.
"Krista, we cannot interfere in matters that concern The Dark One. This law was written thousands of years ago. We had no control over that situation, but this one we do. You are not ready to use your gifts," he said, turning on a heel and leaving us abruptly.
No one said anything for a few minutes after his departure.
"What are you thinking?" Mark finally asked me while I paced back and forth.
"I think it's crap. We were created for a reason. Sure we've just started training and its tough filtering a soul appropriately, but are we supposed to just abandon that poor girl?" I said, still pacing restlessly in front of them.
"Then let's go do something about it," Shawn said, jumping to his feet.
"What?" I asked, looking at him surprised.
"You're right. You and Mark managed to outwit Mark's dad a couple weeks ago which makes me believe that you both have mad skills. Who's to say Haniel is right about this?"
I looked at my brother incredulously. Was he joking? Defying Haniel just didn't seem like the best idea. It wasn’t like we would be able to hide it from him after all since he had access to our every thought.
"No, but we could avoid him before we go and he wouldn't know until after the fact," Mark said, picking my doubts thoughts out of my head as he stood up to join Shawn. "I don't see why we can't go to the revival tomorrow night and try to find that girl. You guys can work your magic on her and we can be out of there before anyone knows. We can deal with Haniel when we get back. Besides what's he going to do? We're just trying to do our job here," he added defiantly.
"I'm in," Lynn said, still sitting on the couch.
"Me too," Sam piped in.
I sat back down on the couch, astonished at how quickly all my friends had jumped on board. "What do you think?" I asked Robert who had remained quiet during the whole conversation.
"Well, I agree with Haniel that we're probably not ready for a mission. You're the only Guide so far that has been able to filter the emotions somewhat," he said.
"That's true," I said, agreeing with him.
"But…," he continued on. "I do think if all three of you work together, you should be able to filter one girl's emotions. You three won't be going up against a powerful Archangel like you do during training."
"So we're going to do this?" Shawn asked, sounding excited. I shouldn’t have been surprised at his enthusiasm. I knew he had been itching for some action since Mark and I had been held captive. The training with Haniel had only intensified it and I knew he was ready to go out and prove his worth.
I perched on the couch, listening to my friends as they hatched out a plan for the next day. It was decided that we would head to the farmer's market first thing in the morning to avoid Haniel and maybe, if luck was with us, we would run into the girl also.
"If we don't run into her, we can hang out at the market until the revival thing starts at four," Sam said.
We discussed our plans during dinner and by the time I headed to bed I was convinced we could do it. The guys were right. With three Guides filtering her emotions, it would be a piece of cake. I felt relieved that by this time the next day we would be able to give the poor girl some relief from her torment. Not to mention the fact that there would be one less forgotten soul that The Dark One could prey on.
