Free Dark Calling by Cheryl McIntyre Page A

whispers die down once again.  As they start for the third time, Keely slowly looks around the room.  She is alone.  She scrambles out of the tub.  Wraps the towel arou nd her and escapes the bathroom leaving the voices behind.
    Nick is sitting on the futon when Keely bursts from the bathroom.  Sh ampoo is dripping down her face threatening to trickle in to her eyes.  She swipes her hand at the soapiness on her forehead. 
    Nick is on his feet and in front of her immediately.  “What’s the matter?”
    “In there,” Keely says, nodding toward the bathroom.  Nick pushes past her.  Looks inside the room.  “What was it?”  He peers over his shoulder at her.
    “Voices.  Whispering.  Rhyming.”  She shivers.
    Nick comes back to stand beside her.  “ Sussurro D emons.  They’re gone now.  Don’t worry, they’re harmless.   They aren’t strong enough to do anything more than insinuate.”  Nick frowns at her.  “What did they say?”
    “That I should trade myself for my mom if I’m brave enough.”  Kee ly wraps her arms around her elbows .  “Where is everyone?”
    Nick seems distracted.  “They left.”
    Obviously .   “I’m going to rinse my hair in the kitchen sink.  I am not going back in there.”
    “They’re gone.  I promise.  They gave you the message, that’s all they can do.”  Nick begins to pace.  “What I find amazing is that they knew you were here.  That they found you this quickly.”
    Keely can barely hear him.  She h as her head under the faucet, b ut she decides when she’ s finished, she is going to get some answers from Nick Wallace. 
    Her Guardian.
    “Hey, do you have a towel?” Keely asks loudly.  Nick quickly hands her a kitchen towel and she wraps what she can of her hair.  She turns around and he is very close.  “Uh, thanks,” she says quietly.  “I need to get dressed.”
    “Keely, they’re gone.  You can go in there.”
    She shakes her head.  “I really don’t want to.”
    He sighs.  “What are you going to do when you have to use the bathroom?   I mean really need to go?  Besides, they can do that anywhere.  It has nothing to do with the room.  That’s just where you were when they came.”
    Now Keely sighs.  “Are you positive?”
    “I wouldn’t lie to you,” Nick replies seriously.  
    Keely laughs without humor.
    “I have never lied to you, Keely.  Don’t forget, until today, I’ ve never spoken to you.”
    This is true now that she thinks about it, but does it mean she can trust him?  As if hearing her thoughts, Nick says, “You can trus t me, Keely.  My only intention is to keep you safe.  I promise you, those things are gone.  And if they were to come back, I promise they cannot hurt you.  And I am here if anything else comes.”
    Right here would be the perfect time to delve into her hundreds of questions, but she’s naked.  Well, under the towel anyway.  So she pulls clothes from her bag and goes back to the bathroom.  She doesn’t close the door all the way, just in case.  She looks around before dropping the towel and dressing.  Exchanges the kitchen towel for the big bath towel that can actually hold her mass of hair and goes to sit by Nick on the futon.
    “O.k.  I’m ready.”
    “Ready for what?”
    “The part where you tell me everything.”
    “Everything?”  He says the word as if it burns him.  As if it was harmful to him in some way.
    “Everything,” Keely confirms.  “Or I walk,” she adds firmly.  Nick smiles, finding her amusing .  And o.k. , she’s totally bluffing.  Like she’d go anywhere after the crazy whispering poets.  She narrows her gaze and crosses her arms.  Nick becomes serious again.
    “All right.  Where do you want me to start?”
    “The beginning.”
    “Of time?  Be cause that could take all night and it is getting late.”
    “You’re stalling.”
    “You’re perceptive.”  He chuckles.
    “This is my life.  My parents lives.  And