Wish (11 page)

“You can do so much better than a guy like Mike,” Keith
muttered. 

“Not really the point here,” I whisper yelled.

“Anyhow,” his tone changed as he reached to push open the
door. “You’re right. At this point, I think Mike is the least of our worries.”
He pushed open the door, watching over his shoulder. “I’ve been getting some
really strange feelings. Worse since we got to school. We need to get to your
Mom.”

I stopped and he crashed into me. I scowled at him. “My mom?
What does this have to do with my Mom?”

“Don’t ask me how I know. But she’s in trouble. She’s at a
place in the Allendale forest. We need to get her out.”

I stared at him. “You’re getting feelings? I’m supposed to be
the one with powers here. And why are you so obsessed with the damn forest?”

He pushed me out the door, but I didn’t turn from him,
watching him over my shoulder.

I plowed forward, violently smacking into a body.

“Where the heck do you think you’re going, Sydney?” the voice
growled.

CHAPTER NINE

My fingers automatically flew to my throat and touched my
necklace. Keith’s hand pressed against my back, urging me to keep going.

“Jenny. Out of our way. Sydney and I are leaving.”

I tried to squeeze around Jenny, but she blocked me, so I put
up both hands and shoved her hard. Luckily, she weighed about the same as me
and she stumbled in her unstable heels.

“You’re not going anywhere until I talk to you,” she roared.

“Jenny.” I gritted my teeth together, mad enough to yell at
the queen of high school, mad enough to do some black magic if need be. “Get
out of my way.” I shoved her again.

“Where
do you think you’re going?” she growled. She ran behind me, nipping at my heels
like an annoying Beagle. “You know, Sydney, word has it the last place Mike was
seen was at your house.” Her dark eyes flashed. “The police want to talk to you
about that. Is that who you’re running from?”

“I didn’t even talk to Mike.” I stopped. “Listen, Jenny, I
don’t have anything going on with him. I’m not trying to steal your boyfriend.”

Jenny caught up to me and grabbed my arm and her French
manicured nails dug into my skin. A dark cloud fogged my mind. I closed my eyes
from the horror of what I saw and felt. It wasn’t a vision like when Keith or Stevie
touched me. Desperate, horrible emotions swirled around my insides. Fear.
Loathing. Anger. Guilt. Negativity flowed through me as Jenny’s nails dug into
my arm.

I gasped, trying to catch my breath, but it was like a
disease ate at me. My skin. My lungs. My soul. Voices taunted me. Real or
imagined, I didn’t know. My heart struggled to beat normally. I panted, trying
to breathe, but it felt as if someone held their hands around my throat and
squeezed hard. Harder.

Just as everything started to fade, all my senses and
consciousness fled; out of the blue the sensations were stripped away. I
stumbled, struggled to breathe, as if I’d been held underwater against my will.
By someone who wanted me gone.

I bent over panting and glanced up. Keith had pried Jenny off
of me. He held Jenny behind him. My gaze went to her face. It contorted with
hatred. It oozed off of her. I inhaled a deep, quick breath, afraid to see such
dark emotions emanating from normally syrupy, girlish features.

He threw her aside and grabbed me, sticking his face close to
mine, his nose pressed right up to my nose. He spoke but I couldn’t focus on
his words. I struggled to shake off the blackness that had engulfed me.

“Sydney?”

I focused on Keith’s voice. “Are you okay?”

He stood taller and kept Jenny back, away from me. I was
afraid of more than her peppy cheers. 

“She has something I want,” Jenny said in a gravelly low
voice.

I pictured an army of angry black ants crawling out of her
mouth when she spoke. Slowly I straightened, unable to take stop gawking at
her.

“She’s not interested in your stupid boyfriend,” Keith said,
scowling at both of us.

Jenny laughed an eerie, unnatural sound. “Mike? This isn’t
about Mike, Keith. You know that. You and I want the same thing. You and I.”

Keith pushed Jenny away again. She lurched on her heels,
struggling to stand and landed on her butt. “You know you want it, Keith. You
want the same thing I do.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Not
princess-like at all. Her laugh would give Stephen King nightmares.

Jenny Truman? Even though Stevie and I pledged not to date
him, that didn’t mean he was free to hook up with her.

I bent down so my mouth was inches from her face. “You are cold
and mean. I wish you would go back inside the school. Right now. I wish you
would take the long way around, walk around the entire school before you go
inside.”

Jenny growled, but scattered backwards on her hands and her
butt, as if invisible strings pulled at her.

Her eyes squinted close. “You little witch,” she said as she
backed away. “Your Mom will pay for this. And your Nana, too.” She got up and
marched unsteadily away from us.

I turned to Keith. “Oh My God. You heard that. She called me
a Witch! She’s more than an evil mean girl. She’s going to hurt Mom and Nana.”

He grabbed my hand. “No. She’s just a stupid girl. She’s mad
about Mike. She’s trying to scare you. People gossip. She knows your Mom is
gone.”

I shook my head. No way. There was more to it. He was trying
to protect me from her murderous insanity. Or he was fooling around with her.
All of the options made me want to vomit. 

“Come on,” Keith said. “Forget about her right now. We’ll
worry about Jenny later. Let’s go. She’s going to squeal to the police soon as
she reaches the school. We have to get going. We have to reach your Mom.”

Keith grabbed his remote car starter from his pocket and
sparked his engine as we ran through the parking lot. When we jumped inside, he
shoved his key in the ignition and rammed the car into reverse so faster I
worried for his transmission. We screeched out of the parking lot onto the main
road leading out of the school.

“Put on your seatbelt,” he said.

I crossed my arms, glaring at him.

He glanced at me. “Are you actually mad at me?” He put both
hands on the wheel to make a sharp turn and we skidded around a corner. “Put
your seat belt on Sydney. I’m not that good of a driver.”

“You’re in love with Jenny Truman? Jenny Truman?” I snorted.

 “I am not in love with Jenny Truman.”

“Well you ‘both want the same thing.’” I did my best
imitation of Jenny’s crazy voice.

Keith shook his head. “I don’t want anything that Jenny
Truman has to offer.” A car horn honked at us as we sped towards Allendale,
outside the city.

He glanced over at me and then back at the road. “I took her
out once a long time ago because she kept bugging me to. She asked me to sketch
her. Nothing happened. We never went out again. She thinks I’m in love with her
because she thinks all the boys are. She’s a big tease. She does that to
everyone.”

I slapped his leg and hoped I left an imprint of my hand.
“You took her out and you sketched her and you didn’t even tell me or Stevie.”

Keith kept his eyes on the road and his lips pressed
together. “I don’t have to tell you two everything.”

“Well. You’re supposed to,” I shouted. “You’ve never even
asked to sketch me.”  I pouted, angrier than I should have been.

He didn’t answer. “Put your seat belt on, okay Sydney. You’re
getting a little hysterical, which under the circumstances is probably normal.
But I’m driving like a maniac so why’re we even talking about this now?”

I pulled on the seatbelt and checked the road behind us for
cars. “Well. No one is following, so slow down.” I had to bite my lip not to
use my newfound powers to make a wish about Keith. A mean one.

Something moved in my peripheral vision.

“Oh my GOD?” I yelled.

“What?” Keith yelled back sounding panicked.

Magic lay on the floor in the backseat of the car, curled up
in a ball, licking his paws. He looked up at me and blinked as his little pink
tongue flicked in and out.

“My cat is in your back seat.”

Keith whipped his head around. “Oh, No. My mom is going to
kill me,” he mumbled before looking back at the road.

“What does your mom have to do with this?” I shouted at him
as he turned down a back road I’d never been down before. 

“She’s allergic to cats. She doesn’t want any dander around
the twins, in case they’re allergic too.”

“Keith.
It’s your car. And your mother being mad at us is the least of our worries
right now,” I reminded him.

He pressed his lips into a straight line. “Your Mom may be
gone but my mom is sleep deprived. Believe me, it’s not pretty either. Besides,
I drive the twins around when they won’t go to sleep sometimes, so it does
matter.”

I stared at him. “You do? You drive the twins around? Aww.
Keith, that’s so sweet.” 

“Sydney! It’s not sweet. We listen to tunes and they fall
asleep.” He frowned at me. “This is completely beside the point.”

“Okay, okay. I just didn’t know you did that.” Inside I
giggled. “How about this? I wish Keith’s mom won’t get mad at him if she finds
out he had a cat in his back seat.” I clapped my hands together. ”There. Witch
stuff. Done.”

He didn’t say anything, but pushed out his lips thoughtfully.

“You know what’s bizarre,” I asked.

He didn’t answer.

“I can’t even tell if my wishes are working or not. I don’t
get a sign or anything. They just do. Don’t you think they should come with
directions? My powers?”

Magic jumped up to the top of the seat back and leapt into my
lap. “And then there’s this cat. He walks through doors, he appears in cars.
This is not a normal cat.” 

“You are not a normal girl.”

“Hey.”

I was about to defend myself, but Keith interrupted.

“Sydney. We’re here.”

CHAPTER TEN

I’d been so distracted I barely noticed the changed scenery.
But now my eyes were wide open. Keith pulled his car into a clearing. A
clearing that led to a forest. A forest of trees. Big, tall branchy trees.

“Ouch.” Magic kneaded my skin with his claws. “What are we
doing here?” I demanded.

Keith cut the engine. “This is where we’re supposed to be.”

“What are you psychic? I’m the witch here; you’re supposed to
be the sidekick. How come you knew and I didn’t?” He undid his seat belt. “I
can’t explain it any more than anything else that’s happening. It’s a feeling.
Very strong, Sydney. This is where your Mom is.” His chin stiffened as if he
were grating his teeth together.

“My Mom’s here?”

I didn’t move, but Keith opened his door to get out of the
car.

“Where are we? Where are you going?” I didn’t want to get out
of the car. My mind clouded over and seemed to slow with fear.

My shoulder throbbed and I lifted up the sleeve of my
t-shirt. The whorls on the Celtic knot tattoo seemed to be shifting around.

“We have to go in, Sydney.”

“You go ahead. I’m good.”

“No. You have to go with me. I can’t do it alone.”

“Why?” I demanded.

He looked around as if someone were going to call out an
answer for him. “I’m not sure, exactly.”

He held out his hand to help me out of the car. I glared at
it. “And suddenly you’re Mr. Chivalrous?”

“Sydney. It’ll be okay.” He put his hand down and sighed.

“And I’m supposed to believe you because?”

“I’m on your side, Sydney. You know you can trust me. I’m
going to help you get your Mom out.”

I undid my seatbelt but I didn’t budge. “You know. Nana is
with Mom and she failed to mention anything being in a forest. And I think she
would have mentioned that. And you know how tough Nana is. I bet she can handle
Mom just fine on her own. She did say she’d bring her home.”

“Well. How come she’s not home then?”

I didn’t answer since I pretty much wondered the same thing
myself. Something had stopped Nana from getting Mom out and I didn’t have any
idea what it was.