Redemption Read Online Free Page B

druggie?”
    His eyebrows
rose at her bluntness, then he nodded and looked away.  It was an ugly thing to
know about someone.  Like walking in on them when they were using the bathroom
or something.  She couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling right now.  Shame,
maybe?  He looked embarrassed, but there was a shade of defensiveness there
too.
    She gave a wry
laugh.  “I’m in no position to judge, believe you me.”  She turned away and
started down the path, giving him some space in the hopes that his
defensiveness might wear off.  
    The soft sound
of footsteps followed her, but she didn’t look back.  “So, what do you suppose
this key will look like anyway?  I mean- will it be an actual key, do you
think?”
    “I don’t know,”
his deep voice was already losing its edge.  She thought he was the sort who
forgave easily.  “I suppose it could be.  We keep seeing these doors after all. 
But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something symbolic instead.”
    Rebecca nodded,
looking around at the bright forest.  “Right.”
     She was amazed
at the rich detail of her dream.  Little vividly colored birds hopped from
branch to branch as they passed, and once or twice a squirrel darted across
their path- one of them a bright, startling green color.  The breeze on her
skin carried the cool, delicious dampness of the forest canopy, very unlike the
cold chill on the beach.  Even the colors of the landscape were vibrant and
alive- lush greens and browns and golds, a world on the brink of fall.  She
never would have thought herself capable of such vivid imagination.  But then,
she was sharing this dream with an artist.  He eyes lingered on a tree with
flaming red leaves that were just a shade too bright to be found in nature.
    They walked on
and on along the wooded path, which began to take more solid shape as they went. 
Rebecca glanced at Isaac, feeling the need to fill the silence.  “Where are you
from?” she asked hesitantly. 
    He glanced at
her and gave her that soft, boyish smile.  “I was born outside Detroit.”
    Rebecca smiled. 
“I grew up in Birmingham- not too far away.  But now I live closer to Sterling
Heights.”
    Isaac’s eyes widened
and he let out a low whistle.  “Ooh, Birmingham.  I didn’t know I was in the
company of a princess.”  He winked at her to let her know he was only teasing.
    She shrugged. 
“My parents were pretty well off.  Me, not so much.”  She gestured at him,
wanting to deflect the conversation from herself.  “You said you were born near
Detroit.  What about now?  Where do you live?”
    He shrugged and
didn’t meet her eyes.  “I don’t know.”  He stuffed his hands in his pockets and
kept walking, eyes on the path.  “I’ve moved around a lot.  But…I can’t seem to
remember anymore.”
    ~~~~~
    The sensation of
being watched prickled along Rebecca’s neck.  She spun and her eyes landed on
the hooded figure emerging from the trees.  “Very well done back there,” the
hooded thing rasped. 
    “What do you
want?” she demanded, feeling jumpy and suddenly on edge.  She wished Isaac were
there.
    The dark figure
strode along the wooded path, tilting its hood this way and that as if taking
in the scenery, its long hands tucked out of sight within the voluminous
sleeves of its robe.  Darkness was beginning to fall, and Rebecca wished
fervently that the sun would come back and drown her chills.
     “Dangerous
things, lies,” he commented airily.  “You tell one little lie, then another,
and another… and soon you’re surround by them.  One lie breeds more.  Just like
the heads of the hydra.”
    Rebecca crossed
her arms and tapped her toe impatiently.  Was he lecturing her?  “Look, how am
I supposed to find this key, or whatever, when I have no clue where to look?”
    The hooded man
came to face her and her skin prickled in warning.  Deep in the recesses of his
hood, she thought she glimpsed a wooden mask.