Shenandoah, Iowa, America, 2010
Shenandoah High School was not that big as high schools go. Only about four hundred kids went to school there. Aaron was sitting on the roof of the ag building, which provided a pretty good view of the parking lot. He had spent a few days here recently, including the first day of school that year. No one had ever noticed, particularly the kids who were so wrapped up in their post-school-day conversations, it was easy for him to go unseen.
She was not one of the first people out of the building, and he assumed that was because she really wasn’t in a rush to get out of school. She’d always done well, got good grades, and this year she was participating in a slew of extracurricular activities, including cheerleading. Cadence Findley was the all-around American girl.
Aaron saw her friends head into the parking lot first. There was Taylor, the blonde, Sydney, with the short black hair, and sometimes another girl wh
Within minutes, Aaron began to feel a little bit different. While he still found Eliza very attractive, some of the things she said, the questions she asked, were no longer cute or endearing; they were annoying. He realized she was asking basic questions, things she should know by now. Clearly, she wasn’t paying attention while he went over the first part of the meeting, because once the Hunters joined them, she asked about some of the topics he’d already covered. It was too early to admit it, but he realized there was a possibility that Elliott and Jamie might be right.Eventually, Eliza ran out of questions, stupid or otherwise, and the team loaded up and travelled to the zoo. Even though he was beginning to wonder about his relationship with Eliza, she sat next to him as he drove one of the two SUVs full of team members, and when she reached for his hand, he gave it to her, hoping he’d feel different about the possibility he was being manipulated once the
Eliza was crying, apologizing, making excuses. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand. They were sitting at a table in a small storage room just outside the conference room. He had told the rest of the team they could debrief without them, and Elliott was going over things with them now. Aaron was doing his best to stay calm while she tried to catch her breath. As angry as he was that she’d almost caused a disaster during the hunt at the zoo, the important thing was that she learned a lesson from all of this.Her breath catching in her throat so that she could hardly get the words out, Eliza stuttered, “I just… you said we were team one.” She plucked a tissue out of a box near her elbow and blew her nose.After giving her a moment to attempt to settle down, he took a deep breath. “No, I did not say you were team one,” Aaron insisted. “I said you were team two.”&ldquo
Killarney, Ireland, 1837Voices from beneath the loft, off in the corner by the hearth, awoke him, and Aaron stilled himself to see if he could tell exactly what his mother and granddad were talking about. They were whispering, but in his eight years, he’d become an excellent eavesdropper. Though his older sisters and brother snored next to him on the mat they shared, he was closest to the ladder, and so he could easily lean just a bit over the edge, and with some concentration, make out what the hushed voices were saying.“That makes half a dozen this week,” his mother, Bree, was saying as she leaned in next to the elderly man who sat in a rickety chair next to her. Her hair was a dark auburn, curly, and unkempt. Though she was only in her late thirties, she looked tired. Her face was gaunt, and her shoulders stooped, even when she wasn’t leaning forward as she was now. Birthing six children and taking care of the four that survived pa
Killarney, Ireland, 1840Kian O'Braonain was the best friend anyone in the world could ever have. He could run as fast as lightening, climb like a cat, and hit a bird with a stone from twenty yards. While Aaron seldom had a chance to play with his friend now that he was older and had more responsibility, his Ma usually didn’t mind if he walked home with Kian after mass, and the boys would spend several hours running around the base of Torc Mountain, tossing stones in the lake, or running through the village scaring the chickens and the cows.Today was a bit different. Last night, there had been several taken from various homes around Killarney, and though the village was rather large as such towns went, the numbers were starting to dwindle. Not only were people being taken in the night by the Dark Ones, rumor had it that some of those who had been claimed were members of the Order, ones that were supposed to be left alone according to the agreement. Aaro
Over the next several days, the Dark Ones went on a spree that left many homes missing loved ones, a few of whom would return in nights to come to other homes nearby to make their own claims. And as each day went by, Aaron became more and more concerned, not just about the welfare of his own family and Kian’s but of Aislyn’s as well.One afternoon, while working next to his granddad to clean the potatoes they’d just gathered, he decided to broach the one topic he was forbidden to discuss. At this point, it seemed like it just might be a matter of life or death.“Granddad, can I ask you a question?” he asked as he brushed the sod from the brown vegetable.“I think you just did,” his granddad replied, smiling at him through several missing teeth.Aaron laughed only slightly at his grandfather’s attempt at humor. His heart was heavy. “I mean, I’d like to ask you a question, though I’m afraid y
Killarney, Ireland, 1846Aislyn was standing next to the well, the one that most townsfolk used to water their animals when they were out on the commons as her family’s sheep were now. Though he had no animals and no reason to be congregated near the watering hole, he realized he was approaching, and there was nothing he could do to prevent himself from doing so.At fifteen, she was just as lovely as ever. Her hair was longer still, and she almost always wore it in a single braid down her back, though he still liked it best free and billowing in the wind. She had the loveliest green eyes and the kindest smile. Her porcelain skin looked soft and creamy, and though he’d never run the back of his hand down her cheek, he’d imagined doing so would feel like touching fine silk linen.He’d taken to speaking to her whenever he could, and he was beginning to think perhaps she fancied him, though he knew she couldn’t be nearly as fon
It seemed like a thousand years passed before Sunday finally arrived, and while Genty was nearly as excited for Aaron to attend the cross-roads event as he was himself, his mother seemed apprehensive. With Channing off with his new wife and Genty promising she’d only stay at home as long as Aaron was there, Bree seemed in no hurry to see her youngest off and wed.He wouldn’t go far, though. His granddad had arranged for him to rent a plot of land a bit closer to the mountain but within easy walking distance to his mother’s home. The land would need cleared, which would take time and effort, but everyone would join in building a new home and removing the rocks and other debris; in Killarney, they each took care of one another the best they could.“Look at you!” Genty exclaimed as Aaron made his way outside to meet her. “You’ve pressed your trousers and patched your shirt!”Aaron shrugged as if he didn’t feel t
The fiddler had been joined by a drummer and harpist, and the first song was a joyful jig. As they began to do the steps together in sync, the rest of the dancers melted away, and Aaron found himself entranced by those green eyes and jubilant smile. The touch of her hand, the feel of her in his arms, the way she twisted and turned, had him completely enthralled, and as the night wore on, he wondered why he had never attended the cross-roads before. Aislyn was an angel, floating around him on gossamer wings, and he felt as if he were the luckiest lad in all of Ireland, perhaps the world, to have the honor to be her partner for the evening.Though others had tried to come betwixt them, the only time they left each other’s side was when the set called for it, and even then, Aaron kept his eyes interlocked with hers, only losing sight of her in a turn now and again. There were other young men who clearly had their eyes on the lithe beauty, but he was certain now that Aislyn