The Prophecy (18 page)

Caleb
grabbed my hand as I started after him and jerked me to a stop. “Let him go.”

I tried
yanking my hand free, but Caleb only held on tighter. “But he thinks—”

“If
this is how he’s going to treat you, then maybe he’s not worth it.”

“How
can you say that? He’s your friend!”

“And so
are you, and right now we need each other more than we need him.” He finally
let go of my hand. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong,” he said, more subdued.

A
strange look came over his face all of a sudden and he wrapped his hands around
his head. “I have to go,” he said.

“But we’re
just getting started!”

He shook
his head, wincing and seeming to shrink in on himself. “We’ve done enough for
today. It’s getting late.”

“Don’t
go. Not yet. I’ll . . . I’ll get it right this time. I promise.”

My eyes
stung with tears. Not only was my boyfriend mad at me, now Caleb was refusing
to help me. Just when I thought we were getting along and making progress.

“It’s
getting dark. I’ve got to get home. I’ll, I’ll . . .”

Caleb’s
eyes went suddenly blank and he sank to the ground, convulsing like a fish out
of water.

“Caleb!”
I knelt by his side and reached out to him. But I drew my hand back suddenly,
afraid of somehow hurting him more than helping.

“Omigod.
Caleb. Don’t do this. Not now. Someone help us!” I yelled. “Adrian!” But there
was no one around to hear.

After
what felt like the longest minute of my life, Caleb at last stopped convulsing.
He lay on the ground, blinking as he tried regaining focus.

“What
happened?” 

“You
had a seizure,” I said, on the verge of tears. “It looked pretty bad.”

He sat
up slowly, grimacing. “But not quite as bad as the one I had yesterday.”

“You
had one yesterday?” I said, shocked.

“In the
school bathroom. I felt it coming on and was lucky to get away in time.”

I
stared at him in disbelief. “You should have gone to the hospital!”

He
stood, a little wobbly at first, and brushed off my concern. “I’m fine.”

“You’re
not fine! Here, let me help.” I tried taking his arm but he shrugged away.

“I need
to be alone.”

“But—”

“Just
leave me alone!”

Caleb
loped away, disappearing at once into the shadows of the forest. He had left me
alone, feeling scared and confused above all else. I dug my cell from my pocket
and held it up, checking for reception. One bar, and hopefully that was enough.

“What’s
up?” Priscilla said when she answered.

“Can
you come over to my house? I need to talk to you.”

“Are
you crying?”

I
sniffed. “No. Can you come over or not?”

“Sure. My
dad’s home. I’ll tell him we’re working on a project.”

“But we’re
not.”

Priscilla
snorted. “God, you’re such an amateur liar. He doesn’t have to know that.”

“Fine.
Tell him we’ll feed you.”

“Will
do. See you soon.”

Ending
the call, I sank to my knees, my tears coming fast and hard. I felt sick about
Adrian, yes, but I was very worried about Caleb. Why had I let him go off by
himself? What if something happened to him and he had another seizure while
driving home? I would never forgive myself if he got into an accident.

Nothing
could be accomplished by crying, however, so I dried my eyes and started for
home. The days were growing shorter, and it was already getting dark. We were
in the in-between, that hazy, insubstantial moment when it’s no longer day, but
not yet night. I picked up my pace, not wanting to get caught in the woods
after dark.

There
was a rustling in the dense brush to my right, and my heart shot in my throat
as I skidded to a halt. Months had passed since Victor attacked us in these
woods, but the memory was fresh in my mind.

I
sucked in my breath and called out tentatively, “Adrian?”  

Perhaps
he was spying on me, maybe even trying to catch me doing something with Caleb, despite
the number of times I had told him nothing was going on between us.

“Adrian
is that you?” I called out again, bolder that time.

A lone
form emerged from the shadows and I felt my legs quiver and start to buckle. A
scream lodged in my throat, but all I could do was stand frozen in place and
stare at the great black wolf looming in front of me.

My
mouth went suddenly dry and I licked my lips to wet them. Putting out a hand in
front of me, I took a slow step back, my eyes locked on the wolf’s the entire
time.

“Stay,”
I said stupidly, as though it were a dog trained to obey commands. “Don’t come
any closer.”

The
wolf lowered its nose, its lips pulling back to reveal a hungry jaw of massive
teeth. It took another step toward me and I screamed.

Adrenaline
flooded my veins. Turning to run, I crashed through the trees, only dimly aware
that I’d got turned around and was now running in the opposite direction of
home. I could hear the wolf’s heavy footfalls and panting close behind, and I
screamed again as I imagined, only too well, the wild animal lunging and
tearing out my throat.

Where
did it come from?
I’d been surprised by wild turkey before, and
there were more deer than you could even keep track of. Sometimes at night I heard
the hoot of an owl or yippy cries of a coyote pack traveling through. There’d
even been a few bear sightings over the years. But a wolf?

A wolf
. . .

I
intentionally slowed down, and so did the animal. Risking a glance over my
shoulder, I was surprised to see the wolf running alongside me, rather than
after me. It wasn’t chasing me at all, but instead keeping up. I stopped
suddenly, and so did he.

The
wolf whined and took another step closer as it considered me. My hands shook at
my sides. “Shoo!” I said, my voice shaking and lacking any sort of conviction. I
had a feeling about something, but what if I was wrong?

The
wolf continued to inch closer, its hairy belly nearly scraping the ground. I
squeezed my eyes shut tight in fearful anticipation of sharp teeth. “Just
please go away. Please!”

Something
cold and wet touched my hand. I jumped back, my eyes flying open, but the wolf lay
down at my feet and turned its eyes to me. As my heart began to beat a more
normal rhythm, I saw there was something very human-like about those eyes.

I took
a deep breath as I fought back the overwhelming urge to either scream some more
or pass out.

“Who
are you?” 

The
wolf whined again and rose on its haunches. Licking my lips, I cautiously held
out my right hand and tried not to yank it back as the animal stretched forward
and sniffed.

“Who
are you?” I said to it again. “Because I know you’re not really a wolf.” And
then something occurred to me. “You’re the one who was watching me at school
today, aren’t you?”

The
wolf tilted its head and howled, making the fine hairs on the back of my neck
stand on end.

“I’ll
take that as a yes.” I swallowed hard. “Okay then. So who are you?” I said,
more to myself this time than the wolf.

The
wolf continued to stare at me, shifting on its paws.

“I suppose
you can’t really answer that, can you?” I gave him a narrow look. “You’re not
going to hurt me, are you?”

The
wolf whined and sauntered around my body, nudging my side with its head.

I
hesitated, but I had to know. “Are you . . . are you my dad?” The wolf stared
at me, making no motion whatsoever. “You aren’t, are you? But do you know who
he is?”

The
wolf whined and dipped its black, furry head. Stars danced in front of my eyes
and I sank to my knees. To think that this wolf, that was somehow also a man,
knew who I was and knew who my father was . . . To know that there was this
tangible connection to my father, standing right in front of me . . .

But
before I could ask more questions, the wolf turned and shot off into the
shadows, disappearing into a world that was unknown to me.

SEVENTEEN

I
stumbled from the woods, too stunned to walk a straight line. My legs felt like
jelly, and I tripped and rolled my ankle repeatedly.

“Shoes!”
Meg shouted as I barreled through the back door.

I
looked down, realizing that I’d made it halfway across the kitchen floor shedding
clods of dirt from the bottoms of my sneakers. I slipped them off where I stood
and kicked in the approximate direction of the mat.

“Sarah!”
Meg gritted her teeth. She shoved the broom and dust pan into my hand as she sighed
at the mess. “And I just mopped today.”

“Sorry.”

“Who
wants mushrooms?” David said, poking his head around the corner, the phone cradled
against his ear.

I looked
up from what I was doing, preoccupied by thoughts of Caleb and the wolf. “Huh?”

“We’re
having pizza for dinner,” Meg said, still tight-lipped.

“Oh.
Cheese for me,” I said.

“Well
I’m getting mushrooms,” David said. “You all can pick them off.”

I finished
sweeping up the mess and hung the broom and dust pan in the pantry.
“Priscilla’s coming over. We’re going to do homework.”

“That’s
fine,” Meg said, giving salad preparation the better part of her attention.

“I’ll,
um. I’ll just be in my room. Send her back when she gets here.”

Meg finally
looked up. “Have you been crying?”

I gave
her what I hoped was a convincing smile. “No. It’s been a long day, I guess.
I’m just tired.”

In my
bedroom I flopped on my bed, clutching my pillow. I desperately needed to tell
someone about the wolf, but who? Not Charley, despite the fact she was Head of
Council. I didn’t think the wolf was a threat, but Charley would no doubt have
a different opinion on the matter. Knowing her, she would get the rest of the
tribe involved and they’d hunt the poor creature down as retribution for what
my father had done seventeen years ago.

I sat
up, clutching the pillow. It wasn’t a wolf they’d be hunting down, but a man. The
man I had seen at school, flesh and blood. But who was he? Would he show
himself to me in human form again? And, if so, could he lead me to my father?

Priscilla
came barging in a few moments later, scaring me so much that I yelped in
surprise. She tossed her bag on the floor with a solid
thump
, although we
had no intention of studying.

“Why do
you look like you’ve been to hell and back?”

When I
first called her, I had intended to vent about Adrian and how he was being a
jerk, and then swear her to secrecy about Caleb’s seizure. But none of that seemed
to matter now.

“I saw
a wolf in the woods,” I blurted out. “On my way back from the creek. Right
after I called you. It was chasing me.”

Priscilla’s
eyes widened as she plopped down on the bed. “
Chasing
you? Are you sure
it was a wolf? I’ve seen a coyote but never a wolf. Maybe you only thought it
was a wolf. It was probably just someone’s mangy dog that got loose.”

I shook
my head. “I know what I saw. I touched it.”

“You
touched
it? You could have been killed. It could have ripped off your arm! Or worse,
given you rabies.”

I
leveled my gaze at her. “Remember when you first found out about how I was . .
.
special
? Remember the stories I told you about how the seven tribes
came to be?”

Priscilla
squinted as if trying to recall the precise details. “Something about the sun
and the moon and . . .” she waved her hand, at a loss for words. “Good versus
evil and all that.”

“Two
earthly children, Kamut and Kai, were born of the Sun and Moon. And from them are
descended the seven tribes. I am from the Katori tribe, the first descendant of
Kai.”

“Katori
is your Goddess, right? Or something like that.”

“Or
something like that,” I echoed. It was as good an explanation as any.

Having
grown up of no particular faith or conviction, I had hardly gotten used to the
idea that there was some Higher Being guiding the events of my life. But I was
Spirit Keeper of our tribe. I could do things that defied logic or explanation,
not to mention every practical law of science. If that wasn’t the result of some
enigmatic power, I didn’t know what was.

“Anyway,
the other tribes are descended from this really awful guy named Kamut. He was
more than just a man, though, and did such terrible things that the Sun and
Moon cursed every one of his male descendants to walk the night as wolves.”

Priscilla
was staring with rapt attention, and yet I knew she hadn’t made the leap and
grasped what I was trying to tell her. I widened my eyes and enunciated my next
words.