{"id":763,"date":"2011-10-14T00:00:26","date_gmt":"2011-10-14T04:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=763"},"modified":"2011-10-12T10:52:57","modified_gmt":"2011-10-12T14:52:57","slug":"day-18-chapter-11-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=763","title":{"rendered":"Day 18 – Chapter 11 – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cJay sent me back,\u201d Carolyn said a few moments later as she approached the fire, arms full of wood from the pile at the other end of the tent.\u00a0 Thom looked away from the flames and toward the slender woman, arching a brow.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sent her back?\u00a0 He\u2019s been protective as all hell of her lately.\u00a0 Hell.\u00a0 We\u2019ve all been a little more protective lately, of everyone except ourselves.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cDid he say why?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She dumped the wood near the fire and crouched to feed a few smaller sticks into the flames.\u00a0 \u201cJust that he wanted you two to get the fire burning big and hot.\u00a0 He thinks we\u2019re going to need it.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBecause the Shadow Man is coming,\u201d Angie whispered, pressed into the crook between Matt\u2019s chest and arm.\u00a0 \u201cIt won\u2019t stop him, Miss Carolyn.\u00a0 He\u2019ll still come.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carolyn stared at the girl for a long moment before her expression softened slightly.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t think it would, Angie, but it\u2019ll help the rest of us feel safe.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Angie hesitated before nodding.\u00a0 Matt squeezed her gently.\u00a0 Thom set aside his mug and struggled to his feet, limping over to start giving Carolyn a hand with the fire.\u00a0 He watched Angie out of the corner of his eye, watching the little girl as her gaze flicked to something he couldn\u2019t see before returning to Carolyn.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMiss Carolyn?\u201d\u00a0 A tremor went through her voice.\u00a0 \u201cWhen\u2019s Paul coming back?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom winced, turning away to heft a log so Angie wouldn\u2019t see his expression.\u00a0 Maybe we shouldn\u2019t have let him volunteer to go look for Leah.\u00a0 <\/em>For a brief moment, he thought that maybe they shouldn\u2019t have sent anyone looking at all.\u00a0 He glanced toward the sky as he settled a log into the flames.\u00a0 Lightning licked through the sky in the distance, somewhere over the lake.\u00a0 The sound of thunder reached them as Carolyn shook her head slightly.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know, Angie, but probably really soon.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think he wants to be out in the woods when that storm hits.\u201d\u00a0 Carolyn pointed west, toward the gathering darkness there.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Angie smiled weakly.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t know my brother.\u00a0 He likes storms.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But from indoors or outdoors?<\/em>\u00a0 Thom shook his head grimly, acutely aware of how much his healing ankle and ribs were aching, and not because he was abusing them, either.\u00a0 \u201cThis looks like it might get bad.\u00a0 I think he\u2019ll be back soon, Angie.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He hoped they\u2019d all<\/em> be back soon.\u00a0 After feeding another log into the fire, he looked at Carolyn.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s Jay?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHe stayed out by the well to wait for the others.\u00a0 I think he\u2019ll come back when the rain starts.\u201d\u00a0 The way she didn\u2019t look at him when she said it spoke volumes.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom suppressed a sigh.\u00a0 Well, if that\u2019s the way they want it, that\u2019s the way they want it.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Talk to J.T.<\/em>, his cousin\u2019s letter said.\u00a0 That wouldn\u2019t do him much good if J.T. didn\u2019t want to talk to him.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, Kira was also fighting a fight that she and Marin had both all but lost a few months back.\u00a0 He glanced at Matt, the only one who knew why.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matt\u2019s brows knit, but he kept his mouth shut.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom limped over to retrieve his crutches.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll go out there, then.\u00a0 You guys stay here with Angie and the rest.\u201d\u00a0 There were others, of course, some of them out in the storage and barn tent not too far away, and Greg Doyle had taken a dozen people with him earlier that morning to harvest whatever was ripe in the greenhouses across 45.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A shudder went through him as he picked up the crutches, a chill.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSomeone just walk across your grave, Thom?\u201d\u00a0 Matt asked.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019d have called it that before, yeah.<\/em>\u00a0 Thom nodded, numbness nibbling at his fingers and toes.\u00a0 \u201cSomething like that.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced toward Carolyn.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m about to ask this question.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cDo you know if Kellin walked those wards of hers before she left?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She blinked at him, as surprised as he was that he\u2019d asked.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2026I don\u2019t know, Thom.\u00a0 It might\u2019ve slipped her mind after you guys told her about Leah.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What if they really <\/em>do work?\u00a0 What if they really do something and they\u2019ve been\u2026broken or something somehow?<\/em>\u00a0 He maintained the deep urge to deny it was all real, but the crawling sensation along the back of his neck and down his spine was making that hard.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Never going to understand any of this.<\/em>\u00a0 He got his crutches beneath him, shaking his head.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lightning flashed, still distant, but the thunder was loud enough and near enough that it rattled everything around them and shook the ground beneath their feet.\u00a0 The mist still pressed inward, toward the edge of the tent, feeling less natural than the coming storm.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom shivered again.\u00a0 \u201cI hope it didn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 Placebo or not, I hope she didn\u2019t forget them.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYeah,\u201d Carolyn said softly.\u00a0 \u201cMe, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cJay sent me back,\u201d Carolyn said a few moments later as she approached the fire, arms full of wood from the pile at the other end of the tent.\u00a0 Thom looked away from the flames and toward the slender … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-11","category-day-18"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-cj","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=763"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":766,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions\/766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}