Significance - Chapter Ten

I woke with the same aches and pains as the day before. But this time I understood them. Unfortunately for me, it didn't make them better. My head pounded, my back and stomach groaned and pulsed with painful jolts. My legs wobbled when I tried to climb out of bed.

I glanced at my alarm clock; 6:45, pretty early. Caleb said he'd be here earlier than yesterday so all I had to do was wait it out. I went to the mirror on my dresser and saw the same ashen and sickly skin as before as I looked past the stars in my vision. I decided I should change out of my pajamas for when Caleb would be here. But wasn't fast enough.

I heard the doorbell and my legs were wobbly no longer. They propelled me forward and down the stairs as quick as I could make it. I yanked open the door...only to find Kyle. My heart sank painfully at seeing it wasn't Caleb and I collapsed against the doorframe and slid to the floor as the ache in my bones engulfed me.

Kyle came and yanked me up into his arms and held me tight. Then he whispered into my ear.

"Maggie, I'm so sorry. I got here as soon as I could."

"Where's Caleb?"

"Who's Caleb?"

I pushed him away and stared at him incredulously.

"That's not funny, Kyle."

"Here." He reached for me again. "Maggie, I know you're withdrawing. I am too. Come here, you need me."

"What?"

"Maggie, it's just the withdrawals. Touch my hand and everything will be ok."

"Kyle, I am not your significant. What are you doing here? Where's Caleb?"

He looked hurt and shocked. He started muttering to himself.

"Dad never told me about this. I thought you'd need me, right away. I didn't think you'd fight me and hallucinate."

"I'm not hallucinating!" I yelled. "Where's Caleb?"

"Mags," he said more pronounced. "Who is Caleb?"

I started to falter. Had I just imagined it all? Kyle looked serious. He looked startled. He looked hurt and his eyes beseeched me to take his hand. I didn't know what was going on but I held my hand out and let him grasp it. His fingers were cold and rough, not like Caleb's and his touch didn't calm me or sooth me. In fact, it made my skin crawl.

"Maggie, what are you doing? You're blocking me somehow. Let me help you."

"I'm not doing anything. Kyle, come on. Where's Caleb? I need him, he's the one. This isn't right," I yanked from him and pleaded.

Even I heard the hysteria in my voice and I turned away from his betrayed expression.

Kyle pressed his mouth to my ear. "Caleb can't come out and play right now," the voice said but it was no longer Kyle's voice. It was deeper, more menacing and definitely not nice. "Neither can Kyle. Sorry."

I turned, looking around but saw no one. "Who are you?"

"You don't remember? I'm hurt, Maggie, really," the voice sang with sarcasm.

He appeared in front of me from the shadows off the porch and smiled as he saw recognition flash in my face.

"Marcus," I gasped. I backed into the wall. "You scared me. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I scared you? Well, you're scaring me. You see, you're special. Not like in a get-a-big-head special, but special enough for us to be pissed about it. It's not fair that the Jacobson clan gets to start getting their ascensions back when we've been just as patient as they have. They will have the upper hand now, you see? We've had many a discussion about you in my clan. There is a reason for you, there has to be. There's something special about you and we can't let it come to pass."

"What? You can't let what come to pass?" I asked but was afraid of the answer.

"Your ascension. If we take you away from Caleb, you won't ascend and neither will he."

I gasped with pain at the thought.

"You can't do that! I'll die."

He laughed maniacally.

"You won't die, silly human!" He laughed again. "You'll be in agony, but you won't die. Well, not at first anyway. That's a sacrifice we're willing to make."

"No, please," I whispered my plea.

There was nothing else to do. He pointed outside. I saw a black car waiting on the curb for us. "Get in."

"No! No! Please!"

"Too late for that. If only you hadn't saved him. This is your fault, I want to make sure that you see that. He will be in just as much pain as you, you know. He'll writhe in wanting and agony just as you will, with no cure. Now, how's your conscience?"

"What did Caleb ever do to you to make you hate him so much?" I ground out.

"He was born," he growled and then we were standing beside the car and I had no idea how we got there.

He grabbed me around my arm and threw me into the darkness of the open car door.

I screamed and scrambled to get a footing but there was none. I fell farther and farther into a dark place of nothing. I felt nothing, I heard, smelled, nor saw anything. Except the burning black handprint on my arm and when I finally hit the bottom, a loud boom.

I was jolted awake in my bed like I'd been dropped. I was sweating and crying. I reached up to my cheeks and felt the wetness and then the aches in my body pounded into me. It was almost too much. Even though I knew what was happening, I wanted to freak out and cry more from the pain.

I heard the doorbell in the back of my mind, heard voices. I lay on my bed and tried to catch my breath, but it felt like I was suffocating as the stars danced in my vision.

Then I felt a hand on my forehead and wanted to sigh until I realized it wasn't the hand I needed. It wasn't Caleb. I opened my eyes to see Dad looking at me with clear worry, the stars bouncing in my vision behind him.

"Honey, Caleb's downstairs, but I'm gonna go tell him you're sick. You're burning up."

"No, Dad! I need him!" I yelled and kicked off the covers.

"Maggie," he scoffed and held me down. "Look, I know you like this boy, but he can wait a day to see you if you're sick."

"No. Please. Caleb," I breathed painfully.

"I'm right here." He actually pushed my father aside to get to me. Pushed!

His hands were on either side of my face and I almost cried with relief. Everything felt normal and right and I could breathe again. Except for when I opened my eyes and saw how pissed my father was.

"Excuse me, son, but I think you need to leave, right now," he boomed.

"Dad, wait. Listen-"

"You be quiet. No boy is coming into my home and pushing me around while he jumps into my daughter's bed in the morning like it was completely normal. What have you done, Maggie?"

"Nothing-"

"Sir," Caleb butted in as he set me and him up on the bed beside each other. He kept his arm around me for contact and I felt his protection seeping out. Even though this was my dad we were dealing with he was pretty red faced. "I'm really sorry. I just heard Maggie so upset and I panicked. I shouldn't have pushed you."

"You're dam- darn right you shouldn't have! I don't know who you think you are, but-"

"Dad, he said he was sorry," I begged and he looked at me finally.

Then he cocked his head and pressed the backs of his fingers to my forehead and then down my cheek. "What happened to your fever? You looked like death warmed over when I came in here."

"I feel fine," I said and shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Hmmm." He looked between us. "You can go with Caleb today, but he is not to come over so early in the morning like this anymore. Understand?"

"Dad-" I started to argue, but Caleb squeezed me and interrupted me.

"That's fine, sir. Thank you for understanding. I am sorry."

"Fine. Whatever. You be careful with her on that deathtrap of yours." He turned to go, but then pointed his finger at him. "And if I ever catch her on it without a helmet, so help me-"

"No, sir. Never. I promise you that."

"Fine," he said and huffed out of the room.

I turned to Caleb and reached my fingers around his neck just to have the contact and then started to protest about his non-protest.

"How can you say you won't come over in the mornings?"

"I will, he just won't know it," he whispered and smiled conspiratorially.

"Oh."

He pulled me close to him, hugging me to him and inhaled deeply from my neck, his nose grazing my skin.

"Wow, you smell good," he muttered and nestled closer. My heart rioted in my chest. My hand was still on his neck and I felt my fingers pulse with need to bury them in his hair. "And you look very cute in pajamas."

"Oh, yeah." I pulled back bashfully and crossed my arms over my chest. "I forgot."

"It's ok." He laughed. "You do look cute. But, something's not right. What happened this morning? That wasn't a normal withdrawal. You were terrified."

"I had a dream. It was so real." I rubbed my arm absently, remembering Marcus and his hateful grasp.

Caleb turned his head slightly. He looked concerned and then wary. He pushed my short sleeve up. I gasped as I saw a burned black handprint on my arm. But it was a dream right? He growled beside me. "I'm gonna kill him."

"But I was dreaming. How is this possible?"

"We need to go see my father. I wish you could show me what happened," he muttered.

"But I can can't I? Just like you did me?"

He shook his head.

"You can try but everything is harder for humans."

I turned to him, laying my knee on his leg. I pulled his face close and I saw a flash glimpse of a kiss. I realized it was him imagining me kissing him. I held my gasp in check and pushed that aside. It was good to know he at least wanted to since he hadn't done it yet. I was curious as to why. But now that I could see that in his mind, I wanted to smile but it wasn't the time. I pressed my forehead to his, just like he had done to me in the restaurant, immediately feeling his heartbeat unsteady and slightly faster, and remembered the dream.

It was just as real. Unlike any memory I've ever had and I guessed that it was just as real for Caleb as me when we memory transplant. I heard his fast intake of breath and knew he was seeing it too now, so I let it all flow between us.

His breaths sped up as he saw me in pain, getting out of bed. Then when I yanked the door open to find Kyle instead, he grunted in annoyance. And when Kyle told me he was my significant and Caleb didn't exist I had to grip Caleb's head harder to hold him in place.

Then we got to the Marcus part, he growled and huffed all the way through it. When I landed forcefully in my bed at the end of the dream, I pulled back and looked at him expectantly. But he surprised me by not talking about the dream right away.

"Maggie, I'm so proud of you for being able to do that. Everyone told me to warn you, to make sure that you understood how hard it was going to be and what a struggle it was for humans but you have blown all those theories out of the water. You are so amazing."

I blossomed under his praise. I tried to hide my smile but failed. He smiled too and cupped my cheek, bringing his face to mine, our noses touching, our lips so, so close.

But no kiss.

We sat like that, sharing air and listening to each other's thoughts as we allowed them to be open and tangible for the other about the dream, about each other, about everything. I could feel what he felt in his thoughts, like they were my own. It was amazing and breathtaking.

Too soon, he pulled back and sighed forcefully. "Can't put it off any longer. Let's go see my father."

"Ok," I said anxiously and practically jumped from the bed.

I wanted to know what had happened as much if not more than he did. I almost forgot Caleb was still here as I began to pull my shirt over my head. When the hem got to the edge of my bra I stopped, realizing what I was doing. I peeked at him and he was staring at me with a sort of gaze I'd never seen directed my way before, which is sad since I had a boyfriend for three years.

You see, I'm a virgin. Yes, Chad and I dated for three years and yes I loved him, in some way, but now all that has been questioned. I never longed to see him without a shirt, I never sat in bed at night thinking about kissing him, I never got butterflies or goose bumps, ever in my recollection of being with Chad. Our being together was like an arrangement or agreement from day one of high school and it was just implied from then on. We kissed some, we wrestled, we played just like any other couple, went on dates, snuggled watching movies. But it was more for comfort I think.

He felt more like a really good friend and someone who I was comfortable being with more than someone I was in love with. He was someone who'd known me forever. I didn't have to let him see anything in me he didn't already know. He was safe.

Just like my father had said, he was right. There was no way I would have ever gone too far with Chad because he was always one foot out the door and I was too complacent with being stuck on first base. And neither of us had any intentions of changing that, before he decided to end it.

How had I not seen this?

I loved Chad but I wasn't in love with him. I missed him because I could talk to him about anything because he'd hug me and tell me it'd all be all right whether it really was or not. I had wanted him because he was my home base, my safe zone, my constant. And now, I could never go back to something like that. Not after having passion for someone, after seeing what it's like to want and feel something in your bones, after blushing at the way someone looks at you, like I was blushing under Caleb's hot gaze, right then.

I pulled my shirt down swiftly but his eyes stayed fixed on my stomach, then jerked to mine.

"Sorry," he said gruffly and shook himself.

I wanted to giggle at him but I was still too shaken myself. I'd never had someone so fixated on me before. It was fascinating and exhilarating and terrifying, in that order.

"It's ok. Sorry. I almost forgot you were here."

"I'll wait downstairs while you get dressed. And try to avoid your dad and his wrath," he joked before rubbing his chin as he left, shutting the door.

I sat on my bed in a daze. Caleb had been in my room. I wonder what he thought of it.

I felt like I was crammed so tight. So much had happened in the past couple days, more then than ever, to change my life. I took a breath and went to my closet to pick something out, preferably something with sleeves to help cover the handprint. I was glad Dad hadn't seen it. He would never have believed me that Caleb hadn't put it there.

I dragged on a pair of jeans and a coral tank with a white cropped cardigan. Then I slipped on my flops and went to the bathroom to do the rest.

When I creaked down the stairs a few minutes later, I heard Caleb and Dad talking in the kitchen, so I stopped on the stairs and listened.

"Yes, sir. I understand all that, but I'm not some frat guy trying to take advantage of your daughter. Yes, I'm in college and I live in another city. but we'll make it work."

"How long have you even known my daughter?"

A hesitation. "A few days."

"So how can you possibly feel-"

"She saved my life."

"What?"

"She didn't tell you? I would have been hit by a truck but she pulled me out of the way."

I heard Dad grunt and pause. "So, that's what this is? You feel indebted to her?"

"No, sir. I feel very grateful to her for what she did but that's how we met, that's not why I want to be with her."

"Then why, son?"

"Forgive me if I'm being too bold, sir, but don't you know your own daughter? Don't you know how amazing she is? It can't be that hard to see why I'd be interested."

"I know she's cute-"

"I'm not talking about her looks."

"Look, she's only ever been involved with one guy and it was for...what, three years at least. But it wasn't serious. She's inexperienced about everything. She's too young to be so intense about you, and I see it. She's gonna get all crazy about you and then you'll be gone and who knows what silly notion she'll get then. Follow you to college or whatever but I won't have it. I don't care that she graduated, that doesn't mean-"

I'd had enough of this conversation so I bounded down and interrupted them.

"Hey. Ready?"

"Yeah. Good talking to you sir but I promise you have nothing to worry about with me."

"I hope so, Caleb."

"Bye, Dad," I shouted as I pulled Caleb from the kitchen.

"Helmet!" he yelled back as we shut the door.

"I'm sorry about him. He's a psycho or something."

Caleb laughed as he buckled our helmets and I noticed he was wearing a Hawksley Workman t-shirt. I loved them.

"He's just worried about you. It's better than him not worrying about you, right?"

"Debatable. Where are we going?"

"To my house. My dad had to work today so we'll catch him at the home office."

I was thrilled to be going to Caleb's house. He put the jacket on me again and I climbed on behind him as he cranked the bike. I grabbed on tight and held on as he pulled away from my house. I saw Dad peeking out the kitchen curtain and wondered why Caleb was going so slow. Then, when we hit the end of the street, I realized why. My dad had been watching.

"All right, all clear," he said. "Hang on."

He revved it up and sped away as soon as the light turned green. I squealed but this time it was excitement, not fright. He laughed as I squeezed him around the middle.

"I'm glad you like it. I was worried you'd hate it and I'd be forced to drive something else when I'm with you," he said through the headset in the helmet.

"No, I love it. What do you do when it rains?"

"Well, I have a truck, too. I just prefer to drive this."

"Oh." I wondered how he could afford two automobiles when he was only nineteen. "So, I heard you and my dad talking in the kitchen."

"Mmhmm. About Chad?" he said. "Yeah, Kyle actually told me some about him too," he said in a flat tone.

"He did?"

"Yeah. I asked him about you, he said you and this guy had gone out for a long time and that it was pretty intense."

"It wasn't really. I mean, I thought it was at the time but...he was just the only guy I'd ever known, ever been out with, you know?"

"So, what happened?"

"Kyle didn't tell you?"

"He did, but Kyle's a little begrudging on the details."

"Well, Chad has wanted to go to Florida to play football since... forever."

"The Gators," he said incredulously.

"I know, right? Anyway his dad went there and it's what he's always wanted. So I always knew he was leaving as soon as he graduated. He decided the beginning of senior year to end it then, that it would be easier that way on both of us."

"Ok," he said dragging out the letters. "So he dumped you senior year after three years of dating because he didn't want to hurt you?"

"Yep. And he did it just days after my mom left so...but he didn't know that she left, it just really sucked for me."

"Hmm. That's some logic he's got there."

"Yeah."

"So, if he hadn't done that you'd still be with him."

It wasn't lost on me that he didn't phrase it as a question. So, I answered truthfully.

"Yeah, more than likely. He was the only thing I knew. We've known each other since we were babies. He was my friend."

He nodded. "I'd hate to think what would have happened if we'd imprinted while you were still dating him."

"We wouldn't have imprinted," I mused. "I would have been with him instead of waiting for Kyle. Which means, you wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have pulled you back."

He nodded again and then spoke slowly.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way and I know it sucked for you this year but...I'm glad you aren't still with him. And I'm glad you were at that red light."

I squeezed his chest. "Me, too. It was worth it."

I felt a rush of hazy warmth from his mind at my words. He drove silently the rest of the way and safely but fast, I enjoyed it all the way.

We reached a long street and he began to slow. I saw the houses we were passing and wondered if he was turning down another street. Those houses were insane. They all had gates out front, like the people who lived there were important. I started getting a bit anxious. I mean Kyle's house was really nice, but it was nothing compared to these.

"Don't freak out." He chuckled reading my thoughts. "We share our house with family a lot of the time, plus Jen and Maria still live there. So we have to have a big place to have room for everyone, but we're not snobs. Promise."

"I know. It's just a little overwhelming compared to what I've seen before."

He pulled up to a big black double gate with a J in silver on each one and a half circle centered in the filigree work along the top of the gate and fence. Just like his tattoo on the inside of his wrist. He pressed a red button on the voice box.

"Yes? State your business here," a pompous British voice answered.

"It's me, Randolph. Cut the British crap."

"Oh. It's you, Caleb," a now normal American voice said. "I was trying it out. No good?"

"Nah," Caleb laughed. "I'd stick with the Aussie if I were you."

"Oh, well. Come on in, your father's in his study."

"Thanks."

"What was that?" I asked.

"Our butler slash security slash maintenance man, Randolph. He's a guy we keep around to handle all the house stuff since we're always in and out. Plus, he's a hoot."

"You have a butler?" I asked incredulously.

"A butler, as in one. And he's a jack of all trades. We don't have maids or chefs or groundskeepers, we do all that ourselves. We just need someone here all the time for safety reasons. Plus, he really needed a job at the time so my dad helped him," he explained. "And you're already on the list to come and go when you want, just in case you're ever in the neighborhood."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said with a smile.