Finding Eden by Camilla Beavers Page B

at me, “just promise me you’ll call me
sometime.”
    “ I’ll try my
hardest,” I tried not to make a promise I’d have to
break.
    We sit around Evaughn's
kitchen table, just me, her and Brock, just talking about high
school.
    “ I remember your
first day,” Brock says to me, “you managed to go from
cool to, well, freak in just a couple of hours.”
    “ Yeah, don’t
remind me,” I roll my eyes, “pretty much the worst day of
my life.”
    “ What happened
again?”
    “ I ran into Miss
Queen Bee between classes and made her spill her latte on her
designer shoes. Apparently that’s bad.”
    “ Oh I remember
that,” Evaughn says, “I was in the bathroom when she ran
in cursing your name.”
    “ Yeah, it didn’t
help that I just didn’t care either,” I say, “oh
well.”
    “ I’m sort of
glad it happened,” Evaughn says, “those shoes were ugly.”
    After a few more hours of
reminiscing, I tell Brock and Evaughn that I have to head home. Both
of them give me a hug.
    “ We’ll miss
you,” Brock says, “stay in touch, alright?”
    “ I’ll try,”
again I try not to make any promises, hoping they won’t come
looking for me if they don’t get a hold of me.
    I wave goodbye and smile
as I see Brock twine his fingers with Evaughn's. At least they’ll
be happy. I drive home and try not to be too sad. I’m just too
emotional and nervous to think about anything else. I pull in the
drive way and hop out of my car, contemplating what sort of trip I
will be going on. I walk up the drive when there’s suddenly a
hand on my shoulder.
    I try to scream but it
gets lost in my throat and a hand clamps down over my mouth. I try to
get away, but an arm wraps around my shoulders and lifts me off my
feet. I try to bite, claw, kick, anything, but nothing works. Someone
has me and I don’t know what to do and my heart is studding.
    “ Eden, stop,
relax,” I hear a voice in my ear and I immediately comply.
    The arms loosen and I’m
able to look up at Sahariel's face. He’s on guard, his eyes
darting back and forth in the darkness. My hand gripping my chest
over my heart, I automatically tense and he silently and quickly
carries me into the house. He sets me down just inside the door and
closes it silently behind himself.
    “ What’s going
on?” I ask but Sahariel won’t stay still and won’t
listen to me.
    “ Sahariel,” I
say his name hoping to infuse it with enough authority that he pays
attention to me. He checks the front door and then locks it.
    “ We’re
leaving tonight,” he puts his hands on my shoulders and looks
me straight in the eye.
    “ What!”
    Leave now? Did I just
hear him right?
    “ What’s going
on?” My dad comes out of his office and into the entryway.
    “ He says we have to
leave now,” I say.
    “ Right now?”
    “ That’s what
he said.”
    I’m in disbelief.
    “ Why?”
    “ Because there is
someone out there,” Sahariel nods toward the front of the
house, “and they’re not friendly either.”
    Sahariel looks at me with
a serious expression, “You’re not safe, and as your guard
it is my duty to keep you safe. We are leaving. Tonight.”
    “ What’s out
there?” I can’t imagine who or what could make Sahariel
so tense.
    “ Nobody of
importance,” he says and tries to walk away and pull me with
him.
    “ No,” I yank
back with strength that surprises us both, “it is someone
important. So tell me who.”
    “ I don't know who
exactly, but I can feel they're not too keen on your heart beating.”
    “ Oh my god,”
I’m frozen.
    “ You’re the
one who wanted to know.” He yanks my hand, “now come on,
we have to go.”
    He tries to pull me
toward the door, but I pull back again, wanting to go pack some
clothes.
    “ I can’t go
yet,” I say, “I don’t have any clothes packed. I
need to grab my pills.”
    I stumble up the stairs
and he wordlessly follows me, but as soon as we enter my room he
grabs my backpack, empties is and begins to shove