Paisley woke up while he was putting on his shoes. He looked over his shoulder at her. He didn't have to say anything. She already knew.
"We knew this day was coming. Are you sure it's just her?"
"Yeah. She wants me to come alone."
Sighing, she sat up so she could kiss his bare shoulder. "Then you should. You'll be safe?"
She wasn't happy about it and she wished he could deal with one of the others, but she trusted him, and she knew he'd put this off as long as he could.
"I will."
"You'll hurry back?"
"Always." He kissed her and reached for his shirt.
He had put this off as long as he could. He knew that as well as he knew his name, but he still dragged his feet.
Everything in him told him to stay in bed with Paisley but the pull was getting stronger and he knew he wouldn't be able to deny it forever.
Hands in his pocket, he walked down the darken road to where he knew she was waiting.
She sat at the elementary school on the swings, a full bottle of vodka in her hand. Seeing him she took a drink.
She looked different. Her hair was in a messy bun and she had no makeup on. Her sweatpants were big and baggy, but her shirt was still tight and short.
His girlfriend was right once again. This girl was not taking his relationship with another girl well at all.
He sat in the swing next to her and shook his head when she offered him a drink.
"I'm not the enemy."
"Then why am I out here in the middle of the night when I should be with her?"
Mack kicked at the dirt at her feet then finally looked at him. "Yeah well, you made your choice. There's nothing we can do about that now." She took another drink then wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand. "I'm not here about that. AJ says that it will be any day now, and I know that you know it too. She says we won't have any choice but to heed the call. Don't you want to know what's ahead of you before that happens? I do."
"What has AJ told you?"
"She doesn't say much except for she's a prophet and she has all the answers but not all of us need all the answers. The twins are some type of finders. They can find others like us. Jake and the new guy are hunters. Jake is all right, and he knows even less than me, but the new guy causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. There's something about him I don't like and it's not just because he's all gun ho about all of this shit. He acts like we're all a part of some giant cult. Dude is freaking crazy and I'm not talking about like me. I can't read everybody like you can. Just others like us, which apparently doesn't include prophets and hunters."
She took another long drink. "Doesn't include you either, but since we are supposed to be together, I can pick up on your vibes pretty easy. I can tell you don't like this shit any more than I do. She says you just need to be awakened by touching one of us, so why don't you touch me already and tell me what in the hell we are."
"Tell me what I am first."
"AJ says you're an Adam. One of the first of your kind. She says you're not even supposed to be here yet. It's some kind of major accident and somebody's head will roll."
Her words rang true inside of him. An Adam. Stronger than the rest. Stronger than anyone. Especially when they were together.
When you're with Mack?
No. He answered Paisley because he knew that much, but he didn't know who else he could be referring to.
"AJ says that they will never accept her."
"They can't tear us apart."
"She said that too." Mack took another long drink then she dropped the empty bottle at her feet. "If that's true then why are you so worried about it? Your worry about that keeps me up at night. It eats away at me every time you close your eyes and it's getting worse."
"All I know is that for the first time in my life I have something good and you and your people threaten that."
"They're your people too."
No, they aren't.
All three of them felt his strong reaction to her statement. They were not his people. He was different. The same but different too. Human but not human too.
If it was just him, he'd run. He'd run, and he'd find a way to fight this pull. Find a way to break this connection, but he wasn't alone. He had Paisley to think about. This pull was inside of her now too and he would do whatever it took to keep her safe.
He offered Mack his hand.