Wraithsong (13 page)

Olaf frowns. “If she wants
to reveal it to you, she will. Now, behold, the valley of life, or
in other words, the valley of our pure heritage as it used to be.”
Olaf gestures to it. The valley is deep, green and gorgeous with
trees, rivers and flowers throughout. Soaring mountains surround
the valley on either side, making it breathtakingly
beautiful.

“
It’s lovely,” I
gasp.

“
Yes, it was lovely once,
wasn’t it?” Olaf lets go of my arm and kneels down in the grass,
looking as if he is praying. “All of this can be yours if you want.
Look at it, Sonia, it was so beautiful before!” His hands lift up
above his head, glorifying the valley, and when he lowers his hands
to his sides, clouds appear in the heavens. “This is what the
valley of our heritage looks like now!” He begins to sob. The trees
and plants shrivel up and leave nothing but a desert with sand and
rocks and skeletons of trees. I get the feeling that his tears are
not genuine, only fabricated for a performance tailored for
me.

Even so, I mourn the
destruction of the valley, seeing how destitute it has become.
“Oh.”

He composes himself and
speaks again. “Take courage, Sonia, it can all be yours and be
beautiful again just like before.”

“
Mine, what do you mean?” I
ask, growing curious now about the power I might acquire and almost
forgetting that I’m dreaming.

“
It is symbolic, Sonia. If
we do not care to restore the order of the pure Huldras, it will
all die just like this valley of life died.” Olaf’s stare cuts
through me like a razor.

“
Sorry, I don’t know
anything about restoring a valley or our heritage.” I look
away.

He grabs my arm and
squeezes it so hard that it hurts. “Yes, you do. It will all become
very clear once you commit. We are not after your current
abilities, we are after your future, for we know who you can become
because the Almighty Huldra has seen it in a vision.”

“
Let go of me.” I pull my
arm away.

“
I am sorry. I did not
realize you were only a girl and not a mature Huldra yet. Mature
Huldras are much stronger, you will learn. I did not mean to hurt
you.”

Wait, how does he know that
I’m a Huldra in the first place?

“
All Huldras know their
kind. We can see it as plainly as black on white.”

Again, I forgot that he
could read my thoughts. I don’t like him being in my
head.

“
Get over it. The sooner
you do, the sooner you can learn and become as powerful as you were
meant to be.”

“
How will I learn?” I ask,
testing to see if he knows about—I restrain my thoughts.

“
Yes, dear Sonia, the
Huldra Academy. I know about it so there is no need to shield your
thoughts from me. You are but a caterpillar, still not ready to
enter your cocoon, still not realizing that there are other ways to
receive the training you need. You are not just forced to train
with the Dynasty at the Academy, though your mother wants you to
believe that that is the only way. You can train with us, with me,
with the Almighty Huldra.”

“
Why would I want to train
with you? What’s in it for me?” I ask.

“
If you train with us, you
will learn more. Not only will you learn how to control your flair,
you will be able to acquire more power and more control than if you
trained with the other Huldras. That is something the Huldra
governesses do not want you to know because they want to maintain
the control and the power over all Huldras and Huldus.”

Governesses? Another new
term. “What would you want in return?” I know there has to be a
catch.

“
Your loyalty and
commitment to the Almighty Huldra, that is all, and the promise
that you will use all of your gifts to promote her cause. It is
only a minimal sacrifice on your part.”

“
Why does she want to train
me?”

“
Because she wants you to
become all that you can be. The governesses stole the Almighty
Huldra’s fifth Huldra gift, and now she cannot use her powers,”
Olaf says. “She is afraid they will do the same to you, but I
cannot say more. It will all make sense once you meet the Almighty
Huldra. All you need to do is say you will come, and we will take
care of the rest.”

“
It sounds like you’re
asking me to become my mom’s enemy.” I scowl.

“
Oh no, nothing of the
sort. If your mother knew that the Almighty Huldra was alive, she
would side with her—I am certain of it. But, you must not tell her,
of course for it could lead to dissension within the Dynasty, and
we do not want to cause that.”

I don’t know if my mom
would side with the Almighty Huldra, and now I’m feeling pressured
into doing something I don’t want. Then I catch myself. What am I
thinking? It’s just a stupid dream anyway!

“
No, this is a visitation,
not a dream,” Olaf says.

I don’t believe
him.

“
Read the black birthday
envelope that arrived for you. In it you will find the invitation
to what we have discussed. Just mail it back to us to let us know
you wish to join. The return address is inside.” Olaf
smiles.

This is crazy. Well, maybe
it’s not so crazy. I’m dreaming. Of course this guy would know
about the envelope because he’s in
my
head, in
my
dream.

“
Olaf,” he says.

“
What?”

“
You said ‘this guy.’ My
name is Olaf, remember?”

Just then I wake
up.

Chapter 14

I glance over at my alarm
clock and it reads 5:56 a.m. It’s still dark outside and the only
sound is that of the rain pounding on our ceramic tile roof. That
was the strangest dream I ever remember having. What was his name?
Olaf? Thinking about it, I realize it was more than a mere dream,
though I don’t quite believe it was a vision, like Olaf said.
Considering all the new information I’ve learned in the past few
days, I grow increasingly overwhelmed. I’m also confused because
although some of the information is congruent, some of it isn’t. I
want to believe my mom, but it seems she’s trying to keep as much
information from me as possible and not enlighten me, and if what
Olaf told me is true, then I have many options moving forward, not
just the one she’s trying to sell to me.

Being unable to make sense
of it all, I try to fall back asleep, but when I can’t, I hop into
the shower and get dressed instead.

Eating my cinnamon sugar
oatmeal breakfast, I can’t help but think about the black envelope
resting in the drawer. Dare I read it? After I finish my oatmeal, I
inch toward the drawer, open it as quietly as possible, and lift
the dark envelope out. “Could the dream have been real?” I say out
loud. I flip the envelope over, feeling its smoothness in my
fingertips.

“
My, you’re up early. Good
morning,” my mom says, dragging her fuzzy black slippers across the
surface of the hardwood floors so they make a swooshing
sound.

I turn around and maneuver
the envelope to my back. “Yeah, just had a hard time sleeping.
Strange dreams, I suppose.”

“
Oh? Anything out of the
ordinary?” she asks.

“
Not really.” My mom’s hair
looks even crazier than it did last night. “You all right, Mom?” I
ask.

“
Yes, why?”

“
Your hair…” I gesture to
my own hair, waving my hands erratically across it.

She touches her hair and
steps into the hallway, probably to go check in the mirror. I hear
her laughing.

I slip the black envelope
back into the drawer. Perfect timing. When my mom returns, her hair
looks more manageable.

“
Better?” she
says.

“
Much.” I smile. Phew! I
was almost caught.

“
Maybe it’s time for your
old mother to get a hairnet.” She giggles at her own statement
while filling the coffee pot with water. “Want a cup of warm
latte?” She sets the pot to brew.

“
No thanks, I think I’ll
head to school a little early instead so I can study in the
library. I need some extra time to catch up on my
homework.”

“
Can I pack you some
lunch?” she says, pulling out the eggs from the fridge.

“
It’s okay, I’ll just get
cafeteria food.” I put my empty oatmeal bowl in the sink and go to
my room. Grabbing the backpack off my bed, I consider asking my mom
if she knows anything about Olaf. No, I decide because if she does
know him, and knowing him isn’t a good thing, I’ll probably have to
suffer through even stricter rules than the ones she has already
laid down.

I race to school and head
for the library. All morning I try to think of ways I can sneak out
with Anthony tonight. There has to be a good and believable reason
why I need to go somewhere tonight for a few hours. Something my
mom would believe, something necessary. The answer comes to me
during my social studies class. I need new shoes to match my prom
dress. Perfect!

At lunchtime, I ask Ashley
to cover for me. She isn’t too thrilled about being the shield
between my mom and me because she still doesn’t think Anthony
treats me the way I deserve, but after plenty of explaining and
begging, she finally agrees.

Before I leave for the two
last periods, I remind Ashley about our plan. “If my mom calls,
remember, we’re shopping at the Outlet Mall. If she demands I come
home immediately, she’ll know not to expect me home for at least an
hour. Remember to text me if she calls you.”

“
Fine,” Ashley says. “But
you owe me big time, and I’m just letting you know that I still
think Anthony wants to use you, so be careful, and if he treats you
like crap again, pulling the ‘I have another girlfriend’ card on
you, or something ridiculous like that, I’ll stalk him and slash
his tires.”

I laugh, but then I think
maybe Ashley is seriously considering it.

* * *

“
Think of this evening as
an early birthday present,” Anthony says, handing me a single red
rose before I get into his car. He looks very handsome in his crisp
white dress shirt and pinstriped navy slacks. I told him to come
pick me up at Ashley’s house where I had dressed for the date. I
couldn’t get ready at home since Mom would have been suspicious as
to why I was dressing so nicely just to go to the mall.

“
You look beautiful.” He
gazes into my eyes, immediately sending me into a state of
weakness.

“
Thanks,” I manage to say
coolly. I picked up my dress from home right after school while my
mom was out on an errand. I haven’t worn this dress in ages because
I rarely go to events that require semi-formal dresses. The
sleeveless piece is just large enough to cover up the silver
markings on my back, it accentuates my tiny waist and shows off my
long, slender ballerina legs. Midnight blue looks great against my
pale skin; I chose to wear the dress because I think it might be
Anthony’s favorite color.

“
Are you excited?” Anthony
says as he opens the car door for me. A huge bouquet of red roses
rests on the seat.

“
Wow!” I smile at him.
“Yes, I’m very excited.” He moves the bouquet to the back. Sitting
down in the front leather seat, I pull my legs in.

Anthony closes my car door
and curves around to the driver’s side. Getting in, he says, “We’re
early, so do you want to grab a bite to eat first?”

“
Sure.” I place my purse on
the floor.

“
How does Christopher’s on
East sound?” He briefly adjusts his rear-view mirror.

I’ve only been to
Christopher’s on East a couple of times and have been impressed
enough to want to go back. “Sounds great.” I’m starving.

Anthony hand grazes my knee
as he shifts gears, and my whole body tingles from his touch. Our
eyes connect for a moment and then we smile at each
other.

He revs up the engine and
speeds out of Ashley’s subdivision. He’s treating me so well now,
but in the back of my mind, I wonder if he’s being genuine or if he
just wants something from me like Ashley thinks. Are there any
other surprises? I hope not, but something tells me that I haven’t
seen anything yet.

When we’re well on our way,
he says, “I feel kind of bad that I’m part of the
rebellion.”

“
Rebellion?”

“
I’m co-conspiring with you
to go against your mother’s wishes.” Anthony smiles
crookedly.

“
I think you’re more than
the co-conspirator; I’d say you were the mastermind.” I laugh.
“She’ll be mad no matter what happens from this point on. I think
the only way she’d be content is if I stayed in my room all day and
studied.” Sad, but true. “Don’t worry, she’ll be upset with me, but
she loves me. I’m more concerned about you since she has promised
to torture any illicit date of mine until he vows to never come
back.”

“
That makes me feel a whole
lot better,” he says sarcastically, “having the wrath of Hedda
after me.”