Valley Of Glamorgan Page 3

  Looking at Knoll I couldn’t help but wonder how it was that I felt so comfortable around this strange man, who had shown up and who undoubtedly, had changed the course of my life forever. I wanted to be angry with him; most people would have felt the same way. Momentarily the thought crossed my mind; would I have been better off not knowing that my parents were really some sort of occult, worshipping freaks. However, I knew more than anything else, that no matter how bad the truth hurt, I was glad that I had found out.

  We rode in silence for about a quarter of a mile west of the cemetery before Knoll turned right onto another dirt path. I was starting to wonder if he could read my mind because he seemed to know most of my questions before I asked them when he announced, “We will have to sleep in the van. I know it’s not a proper place for you to sleep and your mother would not approve, but it is my job to keep you safe Mina and the only way I can do that is by keeping you hidden.”

  I replayed his words over in my mind; proper place for me to sleep? I wasn’t some fragile princess from one of those lame fairy tale movies. But then his words from earlier that night came pouring back to me, as if someone had opened the flood gates to a dam. He had said that Jack and Stephanie wanted to kill me so that I couldn’t take my place on the throne?

  I looked at him in confusion and said, “What did you mean by I was to take my place or whatever?”

  Letting out an exasperated sigh before responding he said gently, “Carmina; I would rather explain the whole story at once but not now as I need to find a place for us to sleep. I give you my word once we stop and you get some rest I will explain everything.” For some odd reason everything seemed so much more real when he used my full name. I rolled my eyes and huffed at him, my patience was wearing thin but, I agreed on the understanding that I was holding him to his word.

  Eventually we discovered an abandoned camp site and Knoll pulled off the road on to it. I was actually relieved that there was no one else camping. Getting out of the van I stretched my arms and legs, searching for a place where I could change into my pajamas. I was thankful that we had been on our way to stay at my grandmas for the weekend, and that I had packed enough clothes to last me. As I hid behind the van I changed out of my stiff, muddy clothes thinking about my poor grandmother and how devastated she would be when we didn’t show up. I wondered if Knoll would allow me to go and see her so I could tell her goodbye. It would be hard to tell her the truth. But of all the people I could tell the true events of what had happened this past night, and have them believe me, it would be her. She was the most wonderful, honest, good hearted woman I had ever known and I made a note to myself to do my best to convince Knoll to allow me see her before we left the area.

  It felt odd as I crawled into the back seat of the van where I had been sitting when everything had first taken place. Eventually exhaustion began to take me over and I could feel my eyes fighting to stay open. The last thing I remembered before falling into a long dreamless sleep, was feeling a blanket being draped over me.

  The following morning I woke up feeling groggy. I had the habit of rubbing my eyes and throwing the blanket off me as I woke up. Sitting up I looked around the van, noticing that Knoll wasn’t inside sleeping. Suddenly I felt panic build up inside me. What if they had taken him? Despite trying to calm myself by taking long controlled breaths, I found the only thing running through my mind was that I could be all alone out here. If I couldn’t find him, then I would have to go to the coffee shop as he had instructed me to do.

  Sliding the side door of the van open, and forgetting to slip my shoes on, I stepped onto a huge patch of ice. I started sliding across the wet ground and before I could catch myself I slammed down hard with a thud. It seemed that today wasn’t going to be any better than yesterday but hopefully no one else had to die. Mumbling to myself I grasped the handle of the van and hoisted myself back up. Then I heard footsteps crunching through the snow and swallowed hard; it could be one of the people my pretend parents worked for. They may have gotten Knoll out of the way and were on their way to finish what Stephanie and Jack couldn’t. I closed my eyes, preparing myself for the end.

  After a few moments I heard a stifled laugh. “What are you doing Mina? You are going to catch your death out here with no shoes on.” I opened my eyes and gleamed with joy, it was Knoll. I had never been so happy to see anyone in my life; meaning I wouldn’t have to take this journey on my own, and for that I was immensely grateful.

  He insisted I got back into the van immediately, so I did as he told me. I would have argued because it was more a command than a request, but at that moment my feet felt as if they were on fire. Climbing into the front passenger seat I reached back and rescued my black, fur boots, quickly putting them on my feet. My icy-toes welcomed the woolly warmth instantly. Then I grabbed a blanket from the back of the van and draped it over my legs; it would keep them from being exposed to the early morning winter air. The cold had affected my body more than I thought it would.

  As we drove along I looked at Knoll and bit my bottom lip, trying to build up the nerve to ask him if he would allow me to go see my grandmother. “Knoll,” I finally stated, firmly, “I have a favor to ask.”

  He looked at me with a curious expression before asking, “What might that be, Mina?”

  I took a long, deep breath and began to ask, “Well before everything happened, we were heading to my grandmother’s house for the weekend. So I was wondering if we could go see her, so that she’ll know that I am okay, and perhaps tell her the truth about Stephanie and Jack.”

  Knoll was silent for a moment, before he answered, “Mina, I don’t know if that is a good idea.”

  I quickly protested, “I know, but she is the only thing from my life that has a speck of reality in it. I can’t just leave her without saying goodbye. Please.” And I looked at him with the best sad, puppy dog eyes I could manage.

  Knoll glanced at me once more before focusing his eyes back on the road and said, “I will do this for you Mina, because I owe you one for taking so long to find you. You cannot tell a soul when we reach the valley.” After a brief moment he continued with, “I could be killed for disobeying your mother’s direct order.”

  I started to protest, as the last thing I wanted was to get Knoll into any trouble; or worse. I didn’t want him killed. After all, he had rescued me from the nightmare I was living in. It was just that wasn’t aware that I was living it at the time. Everything was becoming too surreal to handle. All I wanted was to just wake up in my bed back in Palm Springs, eat breakfast with my parents and take my dog Banksey out for a walk. I tried to fight back the tears when I thought about his sloppy ears and his big brown eyes. He would think we had all abandoned him.

  Knoll sensed something was wrong so he pulled over to the side of the road. Leaning across the seat he placed his hand on my shoulder and began speaking, by caringly saying, “Mina, what is wrong?” I looked at him and noticed for the first time how unbelievably handsome he was. He had hair the color of rust; his eyes were a deep mossy green with specks of brown in them and lips were full and plush; yes, he was very handsome.

  Shaking my head I came back to reality; by which point I found Knoll staring at me with a look of great concern spread across his face. My cheeks felt red hot. I was embarrassed by the thoughts that had been running through my head so I said, “I am just realizing that I’m leaving a lot more behind than I originally thought,” then I burst into the tears that I had been fighting.

  Knoll was silent for a moment. Looking at me with genuine concern he said, “I can’t possibly comprehend what it feels like to sit where you’re sitting right now. I can only offer you my company and my ears and tell you once again, I am so sorry for not finding you sooner.”

  I smiled and this time I patted his shoulder as I wiped away the tears, deciding it would be better to change the subject by saying, “So earlier, you said you were my guardian. What exactly does that mean; aside from the obvious that you are to protect me
?”

  “Well Mina,” he proclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief, “It means a lot more than just protecting you. I am not a security or body guard. You see I have taken an oath to protect you with my own life. I was born and raised to protect you.”

  I stared at him awe struck, not knowing what to say. Why would he give his life for mine? He didn’t even know me. Laying my head back against the seat I sat in silent thought questioning his response. I couldn’t comprehend that someone who, well for the lack of a better word, was as gorgeous as he was, would devote their life to me. Suddenly I felt goose bumps cascade over my body. What had I gotten myself into?

  Thinking for a few more minutes I turned to look at Knoll and declared, “I don’t know why you have devoted your life to me yet I know that I am asking a great deal of you by risking your life in taking me see my grandma.” He raised his hand and began to interject but I shook my head and continued before he could say anything, “It’s just that I wanted to say thanks.” And I bit my bottom lip again, taking a deep breath to calm myself. It felt odd to thank this man for coming into my life even though, within a matter of hours, he had destroyed everything that I had known, yet somehow I felt it had needed to be done.

  Knoll shook his head replying, “Please do not find offense in what I am about to say but I cannot and will not accept your thanks.”

  My head immediately shot up and I glared sternly at him before literally screeching, “Don’t get offended?! Do you know how hard it was to thank you for killing my parents and making my life a mess?” And I slammed my fist down on the console to make the point before turning to look out the window, furious with myself for even thanking him in the first place. The van was filled with an eerie silence that lasted minutes. ‘I wish we could just get back on the road,’ I thought.

  Suddenly Knoll turned and unbuckling his seat belt he turned his body towards me. I watched him in the reflection of the window refusing to acknowledge or look at him. I was so angry that I swear I could see only the color red.

  “Carmina,” he announced, not in a scream, but he definitely projected his deep voice through the van. Slowly I turned my head, waiting for him to speak again. Finally he continued, “I cannot and will not accept your thanks because, I do not deserve it. I have brought you pain and, as you have graciously reminded me, also nothing but destruction to your life.” He looked down to the floor, avoiding any eye contact as he slowly ran his hand across the back of his neck, letting out an exasperated sigh.

  Ashamed I felt horrible for yelling at him so reaching up I placed my hand gently on his shoulder, exclaiming, “I am sorry for screaming at you. I am just so freaked out right now! Everything is such a mess. I mean, my parents tried to kill me. I will never see my best friend ever again and on top of all that some secret organization, that you have yet to explain about, is after me. And this is all because of who I am supposedly born to be.” I didn’t notice, as all the words came flowing out in a jumbled mess, that I was shaking rapidly.

  Calming myself I continued saying, “I thanked you because it seems to me either of us had a choice in the matter. You said it yourself you were born and raised to protect me. Now, excuse me if I am not so happy to meet a mother that you speak of, if you’re afraid of losing your own life because of her.” I managed to stammer out the words before sitting back in my seat, readying myself for whatever Knoll had to say next.

  Shaking his head and leaning more towards my side of the van, he said, “Carmina, I appreciate your thanks. I will not lie to you or tell you that I wanted this for my life. My father was and still is a guardian to your father. My grandfather was a guardian to your grandfather, and so on. I am not ashamed to follow in my father’s footsteps. I just needed time to remind me of who I was, and I have a feeling the same will happen to you. Now, if you don’t mind I would like to continue driving, we still have a few hours until we reach your grandmother’s home.”

  Agreeing with his suggestion I relaxed back in my seat, letting the conversation that we had just had, play over in my head. Finally I decided that I needed a distraction; even if it was a simple one, so I turned the radio on and let the music fill the van. The music carried me away; it was the only thing that ever calmed me down. I was about to change the station when the song, ‘I Hope You Dance,’ by Martina McBride filled the car. I couldn’t help myself but sing along.

  I only realized I had started singing along out loud when I noticed Knoll staring straight at me smiling sheepishly. I went to turn the radio off. “Sorry,” I exclaimed, “Music and singing helps calm me down.”

  Laughing he replied, “No need to apologize Mina; you have the most beautiful singing voice I have ever heard.”

  My cheeks turned a rosy red, but I snorted in response, which only deepened the blushing, so I rolled my eyes and simply said, “Thank you, but I know that’s not true as I sound like a screaming cat,” and I started laughing at my own joke.

  Shaking his head Knoll replied, “No, not even close.”

  I thanked him, reminding myself to keep the music low in future, and the singing to a minimum. Turning the radio back on I was glad to hear the song was still playing. Suddenly I remembered how I had listened to this song hundreds of times, even having it playing at every one of my dance recitals.

  Chapter 3

  Time, and the miles, soon passed but we sat in silence; me listening to the radio whilst Knoll focused on the road ahead. I didn’t mind the silence and it seemed neither did Knoll. When we finally came to a stop it was at a small gas station with a small diner inside. Relief flooded through me as I knew my growling stomach was ready for food. Going inside we found an empty table.

  “Do you think that you could tell me a little about me and my history? Or maybe where we are going,” I asked, having remembered to finally take him up on the promise he had given me the day before.

  Nodding his head he replied, “I suppose now is as a good of a time as any; but first you should order some food.” As he finished speaking, a waitress came and stood by our table. She wore an orange dress with a white collar and a white apron. Her grey, greasy hair was pulled back into a lazy-bun. When she spoke, her teeth were as yellow as a cigarette butt; which didn’t surprise me really because she reeked of dingy cigarettes.

  I ordered my food quickly as the smell coming from her was hurting my stomach. I told the waitress, “I will have a cheese burger on rye, with a small order of onion rings.”

  She looked at me seemingly annoyed that I hadn’t specified a drink of choice, asking sharply, “What to drink with that?”

  Thinking for a moment, I replied, “I will have a diet coke please.”

  I tried to remain calm with the women, even though I was on edge from everything that had happened over the last twenty four hours. If I could have reached out and clawed her glossy eyes out, which I knew was a little harsh, I might just have done it. Why I felt like this I wasn’t sure but I was stressed to my max and was deemed ready to explode at anyone before the night was over. The waitress wrote my order down on her ‘handy, dandy notebook,’ which seemed to take forever for such a simple order. I laughed in my head at the blues, clues reference, knowing best friend Katelyn, would have loved the remark.

  When it came to taking Knoll’s order, the woman plastered a smile across her face before asking him in a raspy voice, “What will it be honey?” I sighed, thinking, ‘Well at least she isn’t being a witch to him,’ but it was hard to believe that any woman could have looked at him and not appreciate his beauty.

  Knoll responded quickly. “I will have an omelet with bacon on the side.” Then he looked at me and winked, before saying, “For my drink, I will have…….” And he paused, put his hand on his chin as if he was thinking very hard, waited a good thirty seconds before telling the waitress that he wanted a black coffee. I couldn’t help but to giggle when she snatched the menu out of his hand and briskly walked away.

  I smiled a wide and rare smile and laughing I looked at Knoll before proc
laiming, “That was so funny!”

  He smiled back, responding with, “Well, I thought she was being rude to you and needed to know her place.”

  “Well thank you,” I told him. “It was funny and you have no idea how bad I needed that. I am just glad she will not be making our food.”

  Knoll nodded in agreement and said, “We would definitely have some nasty spit in it.”

  I laughed before my face turned serious. Quickly I said in panic, “You don’t think she would have someone do that to us do you?”

  With a wide grin he reassured me, “No Mina, I do not. If I did think so, I wouldn’t have made her angry.” We both laughed and I breathed a sigh of relief; but secretly making a note to check my burger for any weird, added condiments that I hadn’t ordered.

  “Now, back to the topic in hand,” announced Knoll shifting in the booth across from me. He looked as if he was uncomfortable in his seat, or maybe it was the topic; which undoubtedly made me feel uneasy. Doing my best to steady myself I waited to hear what he was about to say. He began, “Well for starters, I must tell you that you’re not human.”

  I swallowed hard and looked at him, eyes wide, before asking, “What do you mean?”

  He sighed; appearing a little agitated but he continued, “Mina, if you want me to tell you the story, you have to try not to interrupt me every time I speak.”

  I smiled and agreed to keep my comments and questions to myself, at least until he was completely finished; no matter how bizarre or far-fetched the conversation grew. Somehow I had a feeling it was going to get a whole lot weirder. Clearing his voice, Knoll continued, “As I said before, you are not human. I am not human, that is how I managed to crumble the lock on the shed. You too have an incredible gift. Although you will not have access to that gift until you reach your seventeenth birthday!”