The Secret Keeper

I waited for over an hour.

In that hour, I managed to make two cups of hot chocolate and two cups of coffee, screw up the pillows on the couch, and pretty much rub my hands raw from wringing them. I fidget when I’m nervous.

But then Bo and my parents walked in.

Well, just my parents. Bo was using the two of them for support, his chin to his chest. I could see cuts and bruises forming on every part of his skin. I gasped.

“What happened?!”

“There were some… unruly Creatures in the forest. Bo did his best to get rid of them all,” my mom said.

I stared in horror at Bo. He didn’t look like he was dying, but he sure as hell didn’t look good.

“Here, Eve, can we let Bo lay down on the couch?” Dad asked.

I nodded hastily and put the pillows back on the couch, in an attempt to make it comfortable. My parents brought him over.

He looked worse close up. His skin looked pale, paler than usual. He had a few bleeding cuts on his face, and one right below his eye. And his clothes were soaked, no doubt from the snow.

“Eve, do you think you can clean him up? We would help, but in light of these recent events, Ivy and I have some things to do,” my dad said. “Do you think you can handle that?”

I nodded. I took a course in first aid a few years ago; I could do it. “There’s coffee in the kitchen,” I informed them.

My mom smiled kindly. “Thank you, Eve.”

And then they were gone. I turned my attention back to Bo. He looked peaceful in his sleep, I noted. His chest was rising and falling at a normal rate, so he was fine in that sense.

I knew I had to get those clothes off of him somehow… He’d get sick. I grabbed a blanket and set it down next to me. Carefully, so as not to wake him up, I slipped his shirt off his body, revealing a very nice set of abs. Bad thoughts, Eve. Throwing the shirt behind me, I grabbed the blanket and threw it on top of him. This was the part I hated. I slid my hands under the blanked and unbuckled his jeans, slowly slipping them off, too. My face was glowing.

Once that was done, I stood up and headed into the bathroom to grab some bandages. When I got back, Bo was sitting up and looking around, confused.

“Eve…”

I hurried over to him. He smiled, and then winced. “Are you ok? What hurts?”

He chuckled. “I’m fine. Just a few bruises, that’s all. Why… what happened to my clothes?” He asked, looking down at himself.

I blushed deeply. “I took them off. You were soaked.” He raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t see anything, I swear!” I assured him.

He smirked wickedly. “You would’ve like to, though. Right?”

I rolled my eyes. “You wish. Now let me clean up those cuts.”

As I did so, Bo stared at me with an intensity that took a while to get used to. I took great care while cleaning his face. When I was done, I rested my hand on his naked chest, staring into his eyes. The fire roared in the fire place, casting the entire room in a warm glow.

“What are you thinking?” he asked quietly.

“I’m thinking…” I hesitated. How do I put this into words? “I’m thinking about how weird all this is. I mean, what the heck are we supposed to be doing?”

He chuckled. “I know. It all seems so surreal, huh? Like this is all some sort of dream…”

I winced, thinking about the earlier events. “Interesting choice of words.”

He cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” I bit my lip. “Today… what happened, that was all part of one of my Nightmares. Until you showed up. I didn’t know what was happening…”

He sat up straighter at that. “That was one of your Nightmares? Then Ivy was right…” The last part seemed to be more to himself than me.

“Right about what?”

“Ivy. She was talking about these Powers –“

“Powers?”

“- that both of us supposedly have. All Secret Keepers do. Ivy can read minds, Arkarian can detect Presences, I’m a shield – whatever that is – and you can supposedly predict the future.”

I held up a hand. “Wait. Back up. Ivy can read minds?”

He nodded grimly.Powers? I thought to myself. We had Powers? Since when? And what did Bo mean, I could predict the future? Was that… my Nightmares? Were those visions?

“Ow…” I whimpered, holding my forehead. Too much thinking…

“What?” he asked frantically. I could see the panic in his eyes. “What’s wrong? Is it your head?”

I was about to say no when a searing pain erupted under my fingers. I choked back a scream. It felt like knives were slicing my head open, over and over again. Bo’s eyes widened.

“Eve?”

I winced. The sound made it hurt even more.

Carefully, he flipped me over and knelt over me. My head flopped back on the couch. It didn’t help the pain.

I screamed as the biggest wave of pain hit, drowning out all my senses. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear… Nothing. All there was was pain.

-[-]-

I was in that damn clearing again, standing behind Bo. He was tense in front of me, in a protective stance. Evan was on the other side, in Creature form, with a gun pointed at Bo’s chest.

My blood ran cold as I realized that this was the Nightmare – or Vision – that Bo died. At least, I thought he did.

“Aw,” Evan sneered from his position. “How cute. The bastard who stole my girl is trying to protect her.”

My heart was pounding in my ears. I knew what was coming, and I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

But then I noticed something. Unlike last time, Bo’s hands… They were glowing. A faint blue glow emitted from his palms, which were facing Evan. The glow was gradually getting brighter as I stared at it.

That must be his Power, then: a Shield.

Bo’s lip curled into a snarl and he growled softly. He didn’t say anything, but shifter so that he was covering me better.

I got an idea.

If Bo could shield me until I got close enough to Evan, I could kill him, easily. But he would have to shield me from behind, or else it wouldn’t work.

“Bo,” I whispered in his ear. “You have to Shield me.”

“What do you think I’m doing?” he hissed. I could tell this was straining for him.

“No, you have to Shield me while I get closer to destroy him. When I’m close, then deactivate it and I will.”

His eyes widened. “No, Eve. You can’t. What if he gets you when the shield’s down? Then what?”

I stared into his eyes. “You just have to trust me.”

-[-]-

“Ahh!” My eyes flew open as the pain suddenly went away. I was panting hard, like I had been an hour ago when I had run.

Bo was sitting next to me, looking panic-stricken. I gave him a small smile before flopping my head back down.

“What was that?” he asked breathlessly.

“I don’t know,” I gasped. “I’ve never had a Night – Vision – while I was awake before. At least, that’s what I think it was…”

His face relaxed considerably. “I think you should get some sleep. It’s after midnight.” With that, he crawled next to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“How am I supposed to sleep now?”

He chuckled, and I blushed after I realized what he’d said. “Does my being half-naked bother you?”

I rolled my eyes but snuggled into his warm, bare chest. My eyes suddenly weighed more than usual, and I was asleep.