They? Who else was here? She heard footsteps coming from the house. Her first thought was it could be Lucas. Her heart gripped at the possibility of seeing him. The pain of his disloyalty weighed heavy on her heart and still tasted bitter. Yet as those footsteps grew closer, she could not turn away any more than she could stop breathing.
Looking back she saw Burnett James, one of the camp leaders. Not Lucas. Disappointment swelled in her chest, but she refused to believe it was due to Lucas not being there. She didn't want him to come.
Didn't want to see him, not now and maybe not ever. Even as the thought whisked through her mind, she felt her heart race with the lie.
But she knew that at least some of the disappointment she felt was about Burnett. She hadn't said goodbye because she knew he would have tried to stop her from leaving. Now she wanted to go to him and embrace him. Apologize for neglecting the courtesy of a simple good-bye.
"Kylie." Her aunt spoke again, and gave her hand a slight tug. "Your grandfather knows what is best.
Listen to him. We must go."
Kylie inhaled and tried to not let her emotions control her. But it seemed almost too late. Her head spun as too many feelings swirled inside her. Loneliness, regret, and anger at being lied to. "He knows what is best for him, but maybe not so much for me."
"You must trust him," her aunt said, her grip on Kylie's wrist tightening. "Come, please. We only want to protect you."
"I don't need protecting from Burnett or Derek." She spoke calmly. "And it appears my grandfather needs to trust me, as well. I didn't tell anyone where I was. I gave you my word and I didn't break it." She heard the hurt resonate in her voice.
"That's not important," her grandfather said, but Kylie disagreed. Before she could voice her feeling, he continued, "What is important is that they will try to force you to go back. If we leave now, we will avoid a confrontation."
"She's around here somewhere," Derek called back to Burnett. "I can feel her. Seriously, she's here somewhere."Kylie focused where she thought her grandfather stood. "No one will force me to do anything that I do not want to do. Not them ... or you," she added. "My plan all along was to go back to Shadow Falls. I told you that from the beginning."
"A plan that I also told you I do not agree with." Her grandfather's voice rose slightly.
Kylie, lured by the sound of footsteps, looked over her shoulder again. She watched as Burnett drew closer. Proud, strong, a bit too headstrong. In so many ways, he reminded her of her grandfather. Inhaling, she glanced back to where she'd heard her grandfather's voice earlier. "I came here of my own free will and when I choose to leave, I will."
"You are too stubborn for your own good." Her grandfather's voice boomed from nothing.
"And I fear I might have inherited it from my grandfather," Kylie snapped. Then she glanced back at Derek and Burnett.
"Come with me, Kylie," her aunt pled, and she held tight to Kylie's hand.
"No," Kylie repeated, and watched as Burnett drew closer. He stopped beside Derek, only fifteen feet away from Kylie. She longed to run to him and throw herself in his arms.
"The pizza in the main house was still warm," Burnett said. "Are you sure she's here?"
"I'm certain," Derek answered. "And she's upset about something, too."
Not seen or heard, but still felt, Kylie thought. How odd was that? Her aunt started patting Kylie's hand as if the gentle touch would convince her. But Kylie was beyond convincing. "Please let me go," she told her aunt. But her aunt held on.
"Is she in danger?" Burnett growled.
Derek closed his eyes as if internally trying to touch her emotions. When he opened his eyes, he looked at Burnett. "I don't think so," Derek answered. "She's frustrated and I sense ... loneliness. And ... she's feeling ... something ... something like being torn between two loyalties."
Tears welled up in Kylie's eyes. Leave it to Derek to always get her emotions right. She knew her grandfather and aunt cared about her, knew they only wanted what was best for her, but how could she not make herself visible to Burnett and Derek? Why did she feel as if doing so would be seen as disloyal to her grandfather?
She'd tried to play by their rules, she had. But enough was enough.
Burnett looked around and Kylie would swear he looked right at her. "Are there others here?"
"I'm not sure," Derek said. "I can only sense Kylie because..." He didn't finish, but she knew the answer. He could sense her so well because he loved her.
Burnett stood a little straighter. "Mr. Summers, I need to speak with you. Now!"
"How do you know he's here?" Derek asked.
"If Kylie's here, he's around." Burnett shifted his vision back and forth. "Show yourself."
Kylie heard her grandfather move in beside her.
"You belong with us, child. Just let them leave," her grandfather said.
His invisible shoulder brushed against hers. Even though she was angry at him, his touch and the tenor of his voice reminded her of her father's. The ties binding them to each other could not be denied. "I can't," Kylie said.
"Let them leave and we will talk about this in a rational manner later," her grandfather offered, and she could hear in his voice that he tried to temper his mood."I am being rational," she said. Her aunt's hold on her hand tightened and Kylie had to fight not to jerk away.
"No, you are not," he said.
Suddenly, Kylie's own mood was beyond tempering. Maybe he hadn't actually lied to her when he'd claimed it had been the FRU, but no doubt he had planned to get her away so she wouldn't know who had arrived. Since when did he feel he could decide who she could and couldn't see?
The answer came no sooner than the question whispered across her mind. Since I came here. She hadn't missed how limited her connection to the outside world had been since she'd arrived. No phone.
No computer. And it wasn't just her. The chameleon lifestyle encouraged isolation.
"No." She touched her aunt's hand. "Release me." She spoke slowly but in a tone she hoped they understood was serious.
"Do as she asks," her grandfather said, and he sounded defeated. Kylie had only blinked when his image started appearing before her eyes. It wasn't like a ghost materializing. It was somehow different.
As if the air parted and he was pulled back into the world.
Her aunt released Kylie's wrist and she felt a slight tingling in her feet and she looked down and watched as her feet and legs became visible.