Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn by authors_sort Page A
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Nonny," Sarah whispered as she clenched the steering wheel, jamming her foot on the accelerator, knowing that she had no time to grieve. She had to get to the fountain, or Nonny's sacrifice meant nothing.
Ruthlessly shoving aside her tears, Sarah kept driving, right through the center of town. Most of the stores were boarded up now, and the pots of flowers in the town green were just old, dead strands of flowers from last summer that no one had bothered to repot.
The white church was silent, the bells no longer pealing the hour, plywood nailed up over the stained glass windows she'd loved so much as a child. There were a few people gathered on the front porch of the Spur & Cask, the general store that had once been the focal point of the bustling eastern Oregon town. Today, it was the only place still open to get groceries or news, but just walking inside gave the aura of a past dying out. One that would be completely destroyed once Sarah was dead.
This was her town, the place she'd grown up with friends and family, a place that had survived near destruction hundreds of years ago, and clawed its way back into the living. The town had been rebuilding piece by piece until the last ten years, when the cycle had begun again.
Now, it was almost dead again. Sarah was the last angel still living there, and there were so few people who even remembered what the village had once been.
Loneliness aching through her, Sarah drove past the closed-down theatre and down the dirt road to the older section of the village, the one no one bothered to go to anymore except her. As she passed one of the outlying cabins, she saw a door open. Out onto the sagging porch came Javier deLeon, one of the old guard who had once patrolled the streets at night to keep everyone safe. She'd heard stories about his legendary strength from the days before she was born, but today he was simply old, gray, and wrinkled. He was the man who spoke to no one and who lived on the outskirts. People left food on his porch, but it was never touched, and no one knew how he managed to feed himself.
But onward he lived, year after year, never faltering over that precipice of death that he'd seemed to be on for decades.
Javier's long hair was split in two braids which trailed down his back in gray and white ropes of gnarled mess. His skin was dark, as if he'd spent years in the Oregon high desert sun and paid the price. A cold chill rippled over Sarah as he watched her pass by, his black eyes riveted to her Jeep.
He always watched her. Never spoke. Retreated when she reached out.
She raised her hand in greeting, and to her shock, he gave her a single, solitary nod, not taking his eyes off her. The chill immediately shifted to a cold that went all the way to the marrow of her bones. Why had he acknowledged her now ? What had changed?
But as she glanced down at the hairline fractures fissuring over her skin, she had a bad feeling she knew: it was because Javier sensed she was dying.
Crap!
Her hands shaking now, Sarah pulled the Jeep up beside the crumbling mound of rocks that had once been the center of the village, a majestic fountain of life and hope. The tires skidded on the dusty earth, too dry for this time of year. Coughing at the billows of dust, Sarah yanked off her seatbelt, grabbed the door frame and pulled herself out of the seat. She landed on the parched earth, and her legs gave out instantly, her knees crashing to the rocky ground.
Sarah gritted her teeth as she braced her hands on the earth, her palms burning from the impact. "Come on, Sarah," she muttered. "All you have to do is get over to the fountain. It's really not that difficult."
Almost glad that Nonny wasn't there to give her grief for letting herself get this weak, Sarah crawled over to the fountain. She grabbed what was left of the crumbling stone wall, heaved herself over the two-foot barrier and landed in what used to be a pool at the base of the fountain.
Ten years ago, it had been
Ruthlessly shoving aside her tears, Sarah kept driving, right through the center of town. Most of the stores were boarded up now, and the pots of flowers in the town green were just old, dead strands of flowers from last summer that no one had bothered to repot.
The white church was silent, the bells no longer pealing the hour, plywood nailed up over the stained glass windows she'd loved so much as a child. There were a few people gathered on the front porch of the Spur & Cask, the general store that had once been the focal point of the bustling eastern Oregon town. Today, it was the only place still open to get groceries or news, but just walking inside gave the aura of a past dying out. One that would be completely destroyed once Sarah was dead.
This was her town, the place she'd grown up with friends and family, a place that had survived near destruction hundreds of years ago, and clawed its way back into the living. The town had been rebuilding piece by piece until the last ten years, when the cycle had begun again.
Now, it was almost dead again. Sarah was the last angel still living there, and there were so few people who even remembered what the village had once been.
Loneliness aching through her, Sarah drove past the closed-down theatre and down the dirt road to the older section of the village, the one no one bothered to go to anymore except her. As she passed one of the outlying cabins, she saw a door open. Out onto the sagging porch came Javier deLeon, one of the old guard who had once patrolled the streets at night to keep everyone safe. She'd heard stories about his legendary strength from the days before she was born, but today he was simply old, gray, and wrinkled. He was the man who spoke to no one and who lived on the outskirts. People left food on his porch, but it was never touched, and no one knew how he managed to feed himself.
But onward he lived, year after year, never faltering over that precipice of death that he'd seemed to be on for decades.
Javier's long hair was split in two braids which trailed down his back in gray and white ropes of gnarled mess. His skin was dark, as if he'd spent years in the Oregon high desert sun and paid the price. A cold chill rippled over Sarah as he watched her pass by, his black eyes riveted to her Jeep.
He always watched her. Never spoke. Retreated when she reached out.
She raised her hand in greeting, and to her shock, he gave her a single, solitary nod, not taking his eyes off her. The chill immediately shifted to a cold that went all the way to the marrow of her bones. Why had he acknowledged her now ? What had changed?
But as she glanced down at the hairline fractures fissuring over her skin, she had a bad feeling she knew: it was because Javier sensed she was dying.
Crap!
Her hands shaking now, Sarah pulled the Jeep up beside the crumbling mound of rocks that had once been the center of the village, a majestic fountain of life and hope. The tires skidded on the dusty earth, too dry for this time of year. Coughing at the billows of dust, Sarah yanked off her seatbelt, grabbed the door frame and pulled herself out of the seat. She landed on the parched earth, and her legs gave out instantly, her knees crashing to the rocky ground.
Sarah gritted her teeth as she braced her hands on the earth, her palms burning from the impact. "Come on, Sarah," she muttered. "All you have to do is get over to the fountain. It's really not that difficult."
Almost glad that Nonny wasn't there to give her grief for letting herself get this weak, Sarah crawled over to the fountain. She grabbed what was left of the crumbling stone wall, heaved herself over the two-foot barrier and landed in what used to be a pool at the base of the fountain.
Ten years ago, it had been
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