TWENTY-FIVE

That had been the day I hadn’t heard from Hunter.  I did think about calling and telling him what had happened.  I just hated how I became so dependent on his help, so I didn’t call or look for him.

I did go shopping with Jessica and Emily as an attempt to get my mind off things, not that it worked.  The first mention of Ashley gave me chills as I instantly thought of Benjamin.

After leaving Ashley’s house, it crossed my mind that I should have tried to summon Benjamin and to find out what he wanted, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I wanted to know what he wanted, but not as much as I wanted him away from me.

Turned out that Emily and Jessica already knew about Ashley moving away, which meant that by that time, everyone knew.  Apparently, Emily’s mom had heard about it at the spa.

“So, what was the deal with Justin the other day?” Emily asked, eager to hear all of the details.  Honestly, I was surprised it took her that long to ask me.

I told them nothing happened, that he was still the same jerk and was probably never going to change.  Emily made a comment about how she didn’t mind him being a jerk, but I just ignored it.

That night we all slept at Emily’s house.

As sad and pathetic as it was, I missed Hunter.  It was just so…different hanging out with him.  He made me feel safe and I hated having to depend on him for something so simple as feeling safe while I slept.

After Jessica and Emily finally stopped babbling and went to sleep, I just lay there, unable to sleep and unable to get Hunter off my mind, no matter how hard I tried.

I barely got any sleep that night. 

When I finally got up, I went to check my phone and there was a text from Hunter.  “We need to talk.  Can we meet somewhere?”

I figured he either didn’t want to take the risk to go to my house or he knew that I wasn’t home and had not tried to find me.

“What are you smiling about?”  Emily asked as she watched me reply to the text.

I hadn’t even realized that was what I was doing.  I shrugged.  “Nothing.  I need to get home soon though.”

I got dressed and rushed out of there.  I had texted Hunter that I would meet him at his house, but he asked me to meet him at a park near the school instead.

When I parked my car, he was already there, waiting for me.  For the first time, I noticed how much I was fighting against the way I was feeling for him.  ‘This is never going to happen…’I took a deep breath before getting out of the car.  ‘No expectations, no disappointments.’  I reminded myself.

I walked over to where he was sitting and sat on the other side, across from him.

He avoided even looking at me.  On the table, there was an envelope with my name on it.  Only it said Kayla D…  His hand covered the rest of it.

“What is up?”  I finally asked.

“I found your file.  You know, with information about your biological parents.”

I stood up.  “I told you I didn’t want to know.”

“There is not much that I can tell you anyway.  There wasn’t much in there…. “

I turned my back to Hunter, so he wouldn’t see that I was shaking and afraid to find out anything about my real parents.

“Look, I will go.  There were some pictures of your parents…  The envelope is sealed, so you can do whatever with it.”

I stood there, motionless.

“I – I will just talk to your later, Kayla.”

I wanted to ask Hunter not to leave, but the words didn’t come out.  When I turned around, to watch him go, he stood right in front of me and pulled me into a hug.

It was amazing how just a hug made me feel so comforted.

I didn’t need to ask him to stay while I opened the envelope or even say that I wanted to look at the pictures.  He simply stood there, next to me.

My biological parents were actually older than I would have ever pictured.  My mom was tall, slim, long blond hair and brown eyes…. but something about her wasn’t right.  I couldn’t feel anything.  Then I looked at my dad’s picture and I couldn’t hold back the smile.  Unlike me, he had brown hair, green eyes, and looking at him, I felt sad… I remembered him playing with me outside.  Somehow, that one distant memory made me miss his presence.

Hunter sat down.  I sat next to him, still staring at the picture.  “So, what all did you find out?”  I finally got the guts to ask.

Hunter sighed.  “Nothing really.  Just family history background.  Your… umm… mom had another kid years before you, but something went wrong.  There were no other details other than he didn’t make it.”

“You don’t think Benjamin is--?”

“No.  I mean… the child didn’t even get a chance to grow up.”

I didn’t say anything to that.

“I know this is a lot to take in.”

“Did you find out anything else… any reason why Benjamin would have a connection to him?”

I noticed Hunter had been staring at my dad’s picture, which I was still holding.

“Nothing at all.  Seems that we are running out of time.  There may not be any other options except going directly to my mentor.”

“But you can’t… you said… What about that someone you said was helping?”

He avoided my gaze.

“It is complicated.  We need to get rid of Benjamin before the baby comes.  Both your mom and Ashley’s”

“Why?  What does he want?”

“Benjamin…what he is… well, I told you before he can feed off that kind of energy.  He is already getting stronger.”  I could feel Hunter was hiding something… having trouble choosing his words.  “Certain young souls… well they are unprotected.  Things like Benjamin can take advantage of that, especially when… never mind.  Our options are to get rid of him somehow, or find a spirit, even a trapped one like Carolyn, to reincarnate.  She can protect that baby’s soul.  Only, you will have to find a way to release her first.”

To say that I was confused was an understatement.  Before I could even process anything, I got a text.

‘Mom went into labor.  Meet us at the hospital.’

Speechless and more afraid than I had ever been, I showed Hunter my phone.

He cussed and told me to get in the car, that he would drive while I tried to focus on getting Carolyn.