Two Halves Series (40 page)

She moved away to see his face. “Tomorrow, we’ll have a picnic. Xander told me about a place south of here.”

William narrowed his brows. “I’m not sure it’s safe to go out.”

“We’ve been stuck here for two weeks. There are no seekers nearby.” Xela stood and paced the room with her hands on her hips.

“Don’t you think it’s odd the spell isn’t temporary?” William asked.

“Would you prefer it was?” She pouted.

No, William, don’t give in.

“Of course not, but not having our powers feels strange. Doesn’t it?”

I gasped.

“It feels exactly as it should.” She fluttered her lashes.

I saw concern on William’s face, a worry he did not hide from Xela, though she couldn’t read his face the way I could. William wasn’t convinced the new me was all right. He kept his distance. Our magnetic connection disappeared. A spark of hope ignited in my new heart.

“If Mira and Xander are willing to come with us, then we can go and see.”

“I already asked. They will,” Xela said, her tone cocky. “Xander won’t let me out of his sight.” She smiled.

William frowned. “I noticed.”

“Are you jealous?” she asked.

“No.” He pulled Xela to sit on his lap in the chair by the fireplace. “Sarah, don’t you feel odd without your premonitions?”

“Nope. Don’t miss them at all.”

“I didn’t think so,” he said under his breath.

I don’t want to see this.

Then wake up, Sarah. Wake up and they’ll be gone,
the male voice said.

Who are you?

Open your eyes. Don’t be afraid. I’m here to help you,
the voice said in a whisper that resembled the hum of bees.

The smell of fresh water nearby wafted, and I heard it splashing continuously. The smell of peppermint hit my nostrils. I opened my eyes to bright light and squinted, struggling to focus. Strong arms helped me sit up as I pressed my palm to my brow, blinking.

Then I saw purplish sparks in the eyes of a handsome man. “Eric?”

“Hi.”

The last time I’d seen the evil-bender was in the dark alley. His face seemed to glow like an angel’s and I couldn’t find anything evil about it.

“Where am I? Do you recognize me like this?” I swallowed over a lump in my dry throat.

“Don’t you remember? I’m bound to you forever.” The curves of his mouth showed kindness I didn’t expect.

“What does that mean?”

“Here. You’ve been out awhile.” Eric handed me a cup of mint tea. “Sip slowly.”

I touched my cracked lips to the rim of the cup, and as I sipped, I remembered dreaming for a long time—except they weren’t dreams. They were images of my stolen life, of my family and friends. They were pictures of Xela lying to William, who kissed her; of Xela flirting with Xander, who became more and more uncomfortable each time she moved too close, thanking him for taking the witch’s body away; of her scheming to get close to my family so she could ruin the prophecy.

“I’ve been out for two weeks, haven’t I?” When he nodded, I added, “How did you know?” I wasn’t sure whether I should thank him for finding me or for recognizing me inside this body. I didn’t know where to begin—all I knew was that the stranger I’d once feared, cared.

“I can’t interfere too much, but I can guide you to fix things. Enough is enough.” He smiled with soft eyes. The purple glow was gone, but its spark still simmered. “Mira and Xander have done the best they could under the circumstances, and I can’t blame them for what happened to you. Xela’s been very sneaky. She and Aseret have disrupted the balance too much.”

“Why couldn’t you find me earlier?” I asked.

“There’s only so much I can do at a time. I had to pay attention to the bodies. They were being moved.” He ran his fingers through his hair and I saw guilt and confusion flash in his eyes.

“What bodies?” I cracked my stiff finger.

“Bodies of lost souls. Aseret and Xela did too much damage at once for me to keep track of you and your family. Things began to fall out of equilibrium. We decided it was time to meddle as well,” he explained.

“Who is ‘we’?” I asked.

“I’ll show you once you’ve gained more strength.” He shuffled his feet, seeming nervous.

“You’ve been watching out for me,” I realized, remembering Eric in Pinedale when he first bumped into me. I recalled him in the reflection of my own eyes, when purple stars shone, and in my parents’ room in the Amazon when violet light bounced off the crystal figurines. The whole time, it was him.

“I have, but I followed too many rules. Too many lives have been altered at once. Too many spells had been cast. I thought Mira and Xander could take care of you when I couldn’t. Changes, changes . . . all the time, changes.” He lifted a hand to push his hair back and left his fingers tangled in his brown strands as he walked in a circle. Eric lowered his head in disappointment, then as if coming out of a trance, he looked back at me with a determined expression. “It’s time to fix things. It’s time to help you fulfill your prophecy.”

I smiled. Could I be so fortunate to have found a friend in a foe? “Pinch me?” I quipped.

“No need.” He let out a sobering laugh and pointed at my alien body. “If any of them see you this way, they’ll kill you before you get a chance to breathe.”

“I could hold them off. I learned skills. I remember everything,” I said.

“Yes, but not in this human body. Xela’s body is frail compared to yours.”

That’s when I noticed the needle in my arm. A clear tube connected to an intravenous machine pumped fluid into me. The side of my ribcage jutted awkwardly, and bones stuck out from just beneath the skin. I felt weaker—although it was difficult to tell in this body; I wasn’t sure what to compare my strength or health to. The gnarled limbs were pale. I touched the hair. It had been cut to shoulder length.

“Easier to keep,” Eric explained.

“It’s okay. It’s not like I was used to it.” I half smiled, pulling my hand away from my head. The effort to move any part of my body tired me. The new heartbeat was irregular. I only felt it sometimes. Not attuned to the new pulse, I listened but couldn’t hear the rhythm in my chest, nor William’s.

“Sarah.” Eric shifted from one foot to the other. “I’m not sure how to get your body back. We can fix this one a bit, but I don’t know if you can ever be who you were—back in your skin.” He kept his gaze on the floor.

I held back the tears. “I’m still me, in here.” My hand pressed to the middle of the chest where a pinkish scar was visible just above the collar of a cream shirt. I raised my chin. “No matter what happens, they have to believe it.”

“They will.” He smiled.

“Then what do we do?”

“You, rest. I’ll get everything ready.” Eric propped up my pillow and covered my legs with a fluffy blanket. It matched the baby-blue colour of his shirt.

I looked around the room. The few smokeless candles didn’t illuminate the space, but it was bright. A two-storey opening in the wall, about twenty feet wide, provided enough light. It appeared as a white rippling sheer and I realized a waterfall flowed beyond the hole in the wall. We were behind a waterfall. I found it odd not to hear the rush of the falling water as clearly as I thought I should. My new ears were to be blamed for the unified sounds.

I swung my feet down to the plush red carpeting with its gold star border. “Eric? Why now? Why couldn’t you help me in Pinedale? And why do they call you the evil-bender?”

“I change bad things into good things.” He sighed. “I thought the siblings would be fine when I was needed elsewhere. When it became clear your fate had turned for the worse, it was too late. Not only did Aseret ruin the last institution the vampires had good relations with, but he also tampered with the prophecy that can save all kinds. He’s gone too far.”

“You said ‘we’ before. Who’s ‘we’?”

He took a deep breath, then paused to hand me a pea-sized pill. “It will calm your new pulse. You may feel dizzy.”

I swallowed the white tablet. The swirling in my head reminded me of how intoxicated I was when I first met William. When I thought about William, I saw them again:

“Come. It’s not far.” Xela pulled William’s arm. His eyes were closed.

“I smell flowers,” he said, “sunflowers. Sarah, I thought you said—”

“There’s no need to worry. Mira and Xander ran the perimeter. It’s safe here.” She smirked. She was about to ruin the prophecy. She didn’t want William—she’d had her designs on Xander all the time, in all my visions. William was just an obstacle she had to deal with first.

William did not follow, standing frozen at the edge of the golden field. “It’s not safety I’m worried about.”

“What’s the problem?”

“I pinky-swore,” he answered.

“Don’t let some silly, childish game ruin our day. It’s the perfect spot. Look.” She pointed to a small clearing in the field where a picnic basket was set on a blanket.

At the word “silly,” his head jerked up. He stared at Xela, then at the blanket. “Sarah, you know I love you, but this is not the right place,” he whispered.

Xela came back to his side. She stood on her toes to kiss him. The kiss increased in intensity, and she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. William closed his eyes again and followed her to the picnic blanket.

“No!” I screamed, shooting to my feet. The body I had dropped to the plush floor.

Eric picked me up, propping me down on the bed and sat at my side. “What you’re seeing is not happening.”

I felt my forehead crease. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been having nightmares, talking in your sleep.” He handed me the peppermint tea.

“They’re not nightmares, Eric. They’re real.” I sipped.

“I know they’re real, but their timing is off. I’ve been listening in.”

Listening in?

Yes, listening in.

“How did you do that?” I placed the steaming cup on the side table.

“It’s part of being bound to you. I can hear your thoughts and you can hear mine.”

“All the time?” I asked.

“No, only when it’s needed. What you’re seeing is real, but it won’t happen until a week from now.”

“A week! We only have a week to stop them!” My hands trembled; their veins pulsed thicker.

“Sarah, calm down.”

“This
is
calm. How do you calm down in this body? My family is gone, my friends are gone, my life has been stolen!”

“Take another one.” He handed me a second pill.

I felt like a druggie—first the serums, now pills. Would I ever control my body through my own will?
Of course not—I don’t even have my body!

We’ll help you fix things. I promise.

“Who is ‘we’?” I demanded.

Eric cleared his throat. “Hold my hand and close your eyes.”

I placed my hand into his.

Now concentrate. Think about your loved ones and open your eyes,
he instructed.

I did as he asked. Then I brought the new hands to my eyes to wipe away the fog. I still wasn’t used to this new blurred sight.

“Hello, Sarah.” The familiar voice didn’t resonate. I shook my head from side to side, in case I was dreaming. The hushed voice felt comforting. Mira’s cat purred with love when its kitten suckled its milk. This voice purred. It was a voice I’d heard as an infant, then later in my dreams—or what I thought were my dreams.

“Mom,” I said. The new body collapsed. Eric caught me from behind and supported my back. I was glad to remain sitting. The new legs were numb and weren’t responding to my desire to run and hug the ghostly figure standing in the doorway.

My throat ached, not from thirst or hunger, which felt different now, but with the hoarseness I remembered after I’d cried all night, when I’d found out I was the reason she was gone: as if I’d swallowed sand. I realized how much I missed not having her in my life to share secrets, wipe my mouth when fresh blood dripped off a vermin I sucked, tell her about my dreams, cry and laugh at the same time.

I realized how much I loved her.

I wanted her to be alive, and hold me, brush my tears away and whisper that everything would be all right. I wanted her to place a band aid in the spot where I injected my first serum, even if it healed instantly, and kiss my forehead good night. I wanted to know that when I woke up, she’d be there in the morning—not dead.

My mother floated like a dandelion’s parachute toward me. “Darling, I’m sorry you’re in so much pain.”

How?

She’s a ghost for now,
Eric answered.

For now?

I’ll explain later. Just know that she’s always with you. So is your Aunt Helen.
He nodded to the woman behind my mom. She wore her favourite flower-printed dress.

“Hello, Sarah.”

Happy for the first time in this body, I expected a premonition, but nothing happened.
I don’t understand
, I said to Eric.

Stay still. Spirits are fragile, especially ones whose destiny has not been decided.

I didn’t pretend to understand. Even if I wanted to, this body was too shocked to move. After sucking in a quick breath, I let it out slowly. The pills were working. The intoxicating feeling returned.

So did William and Xela.

“So, when do you plan to fulfill the prophecy?” Xela didn’t bite her lip or blush the way I would have.

“I haven’t seen you hunt in two days. You’ve lost your colour.”

“I just like the human food better.”

“But you’re only half human. You need to hunt. You need to be you.”

“I’ll just take the serum.” She shrugged, then winked, looking hungrily at William. The gesture reminded me of our motel hostess. “Prophecy?”

“Soon, I hope.” William kissed her nose.

I don’t want to see this,
I thought.

Then stop thinking about him for a moment,
Eric said, breaking my concentration.
Your mother’s ghost cannot appear often. The spirit can only do so when it’s safe in their realm.

What do you mean she’s a ghost for now? How is their destiny not decided?