"Very different?" I clip back, hoping he'll keep talking.
"Yes." he reaches around me and opens the driver's side door. "Go back to the motel, Kate."
I can already tell he's not going to elaborate; he's practically shoving me in the car. "Wait, if you're my protector, why are you letting me drive alone. Hell, why are you letting me do anything alone?"
His lips curl up slowly, as if he's genuinely amused. "You are never alone." he gets out.
I shoot up my arm so he can't shut the door. "What? You magically appear in my bedroom or something?"
He stops and locks eyes with me; his smile completely gone. "I am everywhere you are."
Gulp.
We stay glued at the eyes for another second until he looks away. I'm still trying to grasp what he just said when I hear a faint scream. Or maybe it was a high pitched growl, I can't be sure. Whatever it was now has his full attention. His hand pushes my shoulder all the way inside the car while his other slams the door. Suddenly, he disappears right in front of me.
Disappears...
In thin air...
My hands are now shaking as I try to start the engine. Light from the console catches my eye and when I look down I see it's my iPhone, in the same place I left it. It's a text from Skylar, asking where I am.
Wait...
Skylar and I already had this conversation.
Oh.
My.
God.
I tap the toggle and see that it's 2:16 in the morning. The exact same moment he originally sent the text. Or I should say, the only time. The Watchman told me that time would be somehow back to normal. Clearly, I dismissed it or more likely, I didn't believe it.
Until now...
Shifting the gear into drive, I hit the gas a little harder than intended. Gravel tumbles underneath the tires, keeping me from moving for a second before the Volvo takes off. I manage to turn around, easing up on the gas and finally hit pavement when I pass the cemetery gates. It's still pitch black outside but I'm beyond positive it shouldn't be. I've been gone for hours.
This is insane. Nothing makes sense.
The Watchman, my dead brother (at least I think it's him) coming back from the dead, things vanishing before my eyes and now this. Time standing still. Or I should say, reversing.
How can any of this be real?
What's even more insane is, I'm no closer to understanding any of it. And why is that? Why are they keeping me from the truth? Zack said he was targeted. Hell, even said that our parents were too. But why? Last time I checked none of us has superpowers. The Watchman talked about me having my brother's bloodline. But isn't that kind of obvious?
In what seems like seconds instead of minutes, I'm turning into the Holiday Inn and sure enough, it looks exactly they way it did when I left. The lighting, the cars, the night sky.
I pull into the same parking place, pushing the gear shift into park before turning off the engine. I'm still taking everything in when an intense, warm sensation floods my body and I catch something from the corner of my eye. Instantly, I know exactly who it is.
The Watchman.
Somehow, It's different this time because I could actually feel him before I saw him. And the crazy thing is--now, I know he can feel it too...