The Prophecy (19 page)

“I saw
a wolf in the woods.”

She
finally understood. Her eyes widened, and she snatched the pillow from my lap
and whacked me across the head with it, nearly knocking me off the bed.

“No
way! Do you honestly believe there are men out there,” she said, throwing her
arm to the window, “who become wolves and vice versa?”

I had
asked Meg that same question when she first told me the story of our tribes, so
I couldn’t fault Priscilla’s skepticism now. “I know it seems implausible, but
you have to—”

“Implausible?
Try impossible.”

“And
this should be impossible, too.”

I
sucked in a deep breath and blew as hard as I could, intending to create a
miniature whirlwind in my bedroom, but all I managed was to ruffle Priscilla’s
hair.

Her
forehead creased as she wiped a droplet of imaginary spit from the corner of
her eye. “My point exactly.”

“I’m
still working on that,” I said, chewing my bottom lip. “But you’ve seen what I
can do with your own eyes!”

“I
know.”

“Then
why is it so hard for you to believe that the man I saw at school today was the
wolf in the woods?”

She held
up a hand. “Hang on a minute. You never told me there was a man at school
today.”

“Remember
that Shyla and I stayed after to run the mile for Coach Wally?” Priscilla
nodded. “He was there,” I said. “In the parking lot watching me. He had a
motorcycle.”

Priscilla’s
face blossomed in a broad grin. “A motorcycle, huh? Was he cute?”

This
time I was the one who snatched the pillow and whacked Priscilla across the
head with it.

“It was
a perfectly acceptable question,” she said, laughing.

“He was
from one of the other tribes,” I said. “I’m sure of it.”

“And
how can you be so sure?”

I bit
my lip again. She would never believe that it was because the wolf and I had
had a conversation, one-sided though it was. “I’m just sure of it.”

I
didn’t wait around to see if Adrian would pick me up for school the next
morning. A small part of me hoped he would drive by as I was walking and insist
that I get in the car—just so I could refuse him—but I had bigger things on my
mind than holding grudges.

Making
a beeline for the locker room and changing clothes in a hurry, I rushed outside
to scan the parking lot before any of my classmates could join me. But there
was no sign of the man on the motorcycle. I waited until the rest of the class
came out and then reluctantly joined them when Coach blew his whistle.

Jasmine
sidled next to me. I took a small step to the right, purposely turning my back
on her. She didn’t get the hint.

“Guess who
called last night,” she said under her breath as Coach started in with his
daily dose of monotony.

“I’m
not in the mood, Jasmine,” I said a little too loudly. Coach turned a
threatening eye in our direction.

“Adrian,”
she hissed, with obvious relish.

Even
though I’d anticipated this, it still took me by surprise. I was glad I had my
back turned to her. There was no way I could have hidden the anger on my face.
I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders before finally turning to
face her.

“So?”  

“So he
asked me out.
On a
date
.”

“You’re
such a liar,” Shyla said beside me. “It’s called wishful thinking.”

“He
did,” Katie butted in. “I was at her house when he called. I heard the entire
conversation.” She ended with a brilliant flash of white teeth.

I
clenched my fists at my sides. Not only were my two nemeses
best friends
forever
, but my boyfriend had apparently gone over to the dark side.

“Adrian
is free to call whomever he wants.”

Jasmine
snorted at my attempt to be diplomatic. “
Whomever
,” she mocked. “It’s no
wonder your boyfriend is calling me up. You’re so uptight. I bet you haven’t
even—”

Before
I could even think about what I was doing, I launched myself at Jasmine. Her
eyes widened in surprise as she threw her hands up, startled. We rolled on the
grass, each of us scrabbling and grunting and shoving each other. Her fingers
clawed my left cheek and I screamed. I lashed out at her and connected with
something hard.

I was dimly
aware of Coach Wally’s incessant whistle-blowing and Shyla’s prying hands as
she tried to yank me off Jasmine’s chest, but there was a red-hot fury burning
in my fingertips. I raised my hands and—

“Sarah!”

Shyla
yanked hard on the back of my shirt, choking me and pulling me off balance.
Jasmine scrambled to her feet and backed away several paces. She was breathing
heavily. We both were.

“Redbird!
Moon! Hunt! Cunningham! To my office!” Coach barked. “The rest of you start
running laps.
Now!
” His face was crimson and puffed up like a blowfish.
I’d never seen him so angry.

“What
did I do?” Katie complained. “I’m just an innocent bystander.”

Jasmine
wiped a trickle of blood trailing from her nose and turned on her heel without
a word. I, on the other hand, was so mad I was shaking and on the verge of
tears.

“Do you
realize what you almost did?” Shyla hissed in my ear.  She grabbed my elbow and
jerked me along next to her. “You almost hurt her. Like,
really
hurt
her.”

I
looked down at my feet, my eyes welling with tears. “So what? She deserved it.”

“No one
deserves to be physically assaulted, Sarah.” The tone of her voice was biting.
“Jasmine likes to get under your skin. You know that. So why do you let her?”

Tears
spilled down my cheeks. I thought Shyla would have understood, but apparently
she didn’t. I wiped the tears away, but they were falling too quickly now to
even try to hide them. I shrugged helplessly, unable to speak.

Shyla’s
steps slowed, and her voice was more sympathetic when it came out. “What’s
going on with you and my brother, huh?”

I
shrugged again and sniffled. “I don’t know. He’s being a jerk.”

“It’s a
two-way street,” Shyla said.

I
looked at her, my mouth hanging open in shock. So much for sympathy. “How can
you say that?”

“He’s
pissed off because he thinks you and Caleb are hiding some secret from him. He
even thinks you’re cheating on him.”

I
half-laughed and almost asked if she was serious, but I could see just how
serious she really was. “Well, that’s just asinine,” I said, throwing my hands
in the air.

“Is it?
What
is
going on between you and Caleb?” she insisted again, and this
time I realized she wasn’t inquiring simply out of concern for her brother.

“I told
you. It isn’t like that between us!”

Shyla
continued staring at me as if she didn’t quite believe the words coming out of
my mouth. She pointed an accusing finger at me. “There’s definitely something
going on, Sarah. I’m not blind and neither is Adrian. Or anyone else. I see the
way he looks at you, and I don’t like it. So quit being naive and just grow up already.”

I
stopped in my tracks, shock completely rooting me in place. “That’s so
mean
and . . . and completely
unfair
!”

Shyla huffed
with impatience and grabbed my hand, towing me the rest of the way to Coach’s
office. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

Ten
minutes later, after a lot of finger-pointing and name-calling, we trudged back
to the field. Almost everyone else had given up on their laps and was randomly spread
out on the field or in the bleachers, taking it easy. Coach Wally sighed
heavily next to us.

“I’ll
see you two after school,” he said to Jasmine and me. “You got off lucky. I
could file a report on both of you, but I won’t since neither of you has been
in trouble before. Just—” He looked at us harshly. “Knock it off.”

He’d
made Jasmine and me apologize and shake each other’s hand in his office. The
man was totally clueless.

“You
could have been suspended,” Shyla said.

“I
know.”

“Seriously,
fighting? Since when do you fight?”

“I
know
!”
I stalked off and stood away from the group, counting down the minutes until class
was over and I could make my escape.

But
there was no escape today. Everywhere I went, people were talking about the
fight that I, a senior, had gotten into with a sophomore.

In
second period I made the mistake of meeting Adrian’s eyes as he walked by me and
had to quickly look away. I had never seen him look so disappointed.

Caleb,
however, sat down and offered me a huge grin. He held his fist out. “Come on,”
he said when I refused to bump it. “She deserved it. Everyone knows it. I’m
surprised she made it this long without someone whipping her—”

But I
just turned away, effectively silencing him, and stared at my desk the remainder
of the class.

When I
saw Priscilla at lunch, she held up her hands in mock fear and said, “Don’t hit
me! Please, don’t hit me!”

“Ha ha.
Very funny,” I said.

I
budged in line behind her, but the girl I had gotten in front of didn’t say
anything at all. She just looked the other way, as if maybe she was scared I’d
deck her, too.

We got
our food and took it outside. I started shivering, even though it wasn’t all
that cold, but it was better than being inside where everyone could stare.

“Any
sign of the mystery man?” Priscilla said. Thankfully, she had decided to drop
the subject of Jasmine’s and my fight for more important matters.

“Nope.
I was sure I’d see him this morning, but he wasn’t there.”

Priscilla
licked a blob of mayo oozing from the side of her turkey sandwich. “Maybe he
was just a figment of your imagination.”

“He was
not
a figment of my imagination!”

“Yikes.
Just kidding.”

I
pushed my tray aside without eating anything and hugged my legs to my chest,
burying my chin in the crook of my knees. “Sorry. I’m just really on edge about
everything.”

“He’ll
turn up again,” she said, forgiving me at once.

“How do
you know?”

She
rolled her eyes. “I just know. So be patient, all right?”

But
getting through the rest of the day, and then the hour-long detention with
Coach Wally and Jasmine that afternoon, was easier said than done. I walked
home as quickly as I could once my hour was up and, ditching my bag in the kitchen,
tore out the back door. If the wolf appeared again, it would be in the security
and relative privacy of the woods.

I cast
my eyes to the sky. Although the day was grey with the threat of rain, it
wasn’t yet true twilight. Hopefully it was dark enough already.

I ran
to where I had last seen the wolf, but of course it wasn’t there. I sighed
heavily, my hope fizzling like a dying balloon. I was stupid to think that the
wolf would be waiting for me like a faithful dog. After all, it wasn’t man’s
best friend. It was Man, himself.

Resigned,
I turned to go and at once came face to face with him. I gasped and stumbled
back, my arms wind-milling to regain my balance as my heel caught the edge of a
rock. I went down hard on my butt, biting my tongue in the process and tasting
blood.

“It’s
you,” I said stupidly through the pain and awkwardness.

When he
didn’t respond, I slowly got to my feet and then reached out a hesitant finger to
touch him, just to see if he was actually real.

“What
are you doing?” he said, his eyes looking pointedly at my finger.

I took
back my hand as though it had been scorched. “Uh.”

The
man’s dark eyes bored into mine, but there was a hint of amusement on his lips,
as though he thought something was very funny. “I’m Sebastian.”

I don’t
know why I had been expecting him to speak with some sort of accent—probably
another television-inspired stereotype—but he spoke perfectly understandable
English. I narrowed my eyes. “And just who
are
you, Sebastian?”

He was
definitely smiling now, and it grew larger. “I would be your uncle, Sarah
Redbird.”

Of all
the answers I thought he might give, that one was nowhere on the list. After a
few moments in which my mouth worked wordlessly, I managed to say, “You’re my f-father’s
brother then?”

“I’m
certainly not your mother’s.”

“Why
are you here?” I asked, when what I really meant was
why hadn’t my father
come instead?

“Why is
not important at the moment.”

“The
hell it’s not!” I yelled, which was met with the slow rise of a pair of very
black eyebrows. “You’re here for a reason,” I said more calmly, “and I want to
know why.”