Catalyst (Forevermore, Book Two) (10 page)

“
Not a single slice.”

I nodded slowly and began thinking of two slices of white cake with strawberry frosting, and willed them into existence. On the small counter space in the kitchen sat a plain white plate with identical desserts to what I had seen in my mind. Two spoons appeared in my hand and I offered one over to him
.

Alan s
miled and stood up from the bed, then followed me to the kitchen area. “I realize you may not believe me when I say this, given what my gift is ... but yours is extraordinary.”

I sh
rugged and took a bite of cake — moist, sweet, and warm, as if it had just finished baking. “It does come in handy. What were you wanting to give me, anyway?”

He set down his fork and withdrew a polished silver object from his
pants pocket; I knew at once what it was. “Now you can officially call this place home.”

He laid the slender
‘key’ in my hand and I admired it. “What
is
it exactly?”

With a shrug, he said,
“Something Artemis had designed in order to keep us safe. No one can enter the premises without one unless they are allowed entrance from inside.”

“
Thank you,” I said with a smile and wrapped my fingers tightly around the key.

After finishing our cake, Alan left the room, apologizing again for being rude to Mathias. I stretched out on my bed and smelled something. It smelled like cooking grease. I sniffed the arm of my shirt and coughed. The breakfast diner had left it’s stench on my clothes. I was surprised, yet at the same time not, that Alan had not mentioned it. I headed to the shower where I rinsed away my stress and smell alike. I changed into a pair of warm pajamas after drying off, then brushed my teeth and rid my hair of any tangles it accumulated throughout the day. With a final glance at my mom’s bed, I laid down in mine with the key tucked underneath my pillow and tried to fall asleep. Willow leaped onto the bed—she’d been curled up on my mom’s bed fast asleep up until then—and began kneading my pillow. Petting her soft fur helped me relax and I was soon fast asleep, only to be dragged into a dream I had hoped never to have again.

Serena sat across from me on the sidewalk outside of Jimmy
’s Pizzeria, scraping a cigarette butt across the asphalt. I went to scold her for smoking, but there was no sense — she did this any time she was upset. She still hadn’t confided in me about just what was wrong, just sniffled and exhaled smoke into the air.

“
Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked, for what must have been the twelfth time.

She shrugged, her strawberry hair blowing in the wind that whistled past us.
“My mom ... she did it again.”

“
Oh, no,” I said with a gasp. “Did Cameron catch them, or ...?

“
Yeah. They were making out on the couch, and he came downstairs to get a drink of water before bed ... Cameron punched the guy in the face, broke his hand ... my dad found out. So stupid. Right there on our couch with Cam home ...”

“
Is he back from his trip?”

“
H-he’s going to jail,” she cried and reached into her bag for another cigarette. I grasped her hand firmly and she went limp.

“
Why? What happened?” I let her go and took her purse, sitting it beside me.

“
He shot the bastard my mom’s been sleeping with. He
shot
him. He’s
dead
.”

Sitting bolt upright, my heart hammering against my ribs, I blinked groggily at my cell phone which was ringing loudly. I was afraid to pick it up — I knew whose name would be displayed on the screen without having to look. I hesitated before lifting the device off of my nightstand and stared at Serena’s name. My finger hovered over the ‘Yes’ button to accept the call, but all I could do was stare. This time the dream was real. No. It was more than that; it was a vision. I knew it had to be. My heart pounded in my chest and my palms became clammy. I hit the button and heard my best friend’s frantic voice streaming through the other end.

“
M-Madison? Something’s wrong. Oh, my God.” I could hardly understand her between sobs and sniffles. “I need you. Please. Meet me at —”

“
Jimmy’s Pizzeria,” I whispered right as she spoke the exact same words. “I’ll be there as soon as I can ... are you okay?”

“
No ... not really. Please, just meet me there.”

“
Okay ... I’ll see you soon,” I said and hung up.

Mom was still away, which made me feel queasier than I alrea
dy was. She wasn’t staying overnight with Jason, was she? Shaking my head to knock the thoughts loose, I extracted the key to Haven from underneath my pillow and quickly changed my clothes into something warmer. I gathered my coat from the closet, pulled it on and stuffed my new key in the inner pocket where it would be safest.

The hall outside my room was vacant and dark, save for a single light spreading out from underneath someone
’s door. I didn’t bother to check and see which room number it was, there wasn’t time for making friends right now. My best friend needed me.

Jimmy’s Pizzeria was a red brick building with undecipherable graffiti painted across the side wall, a cracked window on the front, and a ‘FOR SALE’ sign pasted on the door. I couldn’t remember when the owners had shut it down, but Serena and I had stopped there a couple of times in the past after school for a late lunch when the cafeteria menu was unappealing. The scent of smoke lingered in the air and I could see the glowing red ember in the distance before I spotted the pink lips the cigarette loosely hung from.

Please don
’t let this be real, please don’t let this be real, please, please, please.

Serena
’s voice echoed inside my mind. It had been the first time I’d heard a voice since the Halloween party, and I wasn’t expecting it. Her eyes were glittering in the dim light of a street lamp, fresh evidence of newly fallen tears. My feet scraped silently across the sidewalk as I approached her. Strawberry hair billowed behind her in the breeze, flecks of snow mingling into the fluorescent shade. There was little to no snow on the ground surrounding us, but the sidewalk was still chilly and wet when I sat down beside my best friend.

“
Hey,” I said quietly and glanced over at her. “What’s going on?”

Silence. She scraped the cigarette along the asphalt in front of her, just as she had in the dream. My heart began racing and
I struggled to compose myself — I didn’t want her to know that I knew what had happened ... that I had apparently known it would for more than a week. I cupped my hands over my mouth to avoid inhaling too much smoke and repeated my question.

Again, she said nothing. She exhaled the smoke into the air and sniffled.

“Serena ... please. You asked me to come over here. Talk to me.”

Now that the dream was becoming reality, I realized that some thin
gs were developing differently — what was said, how it was said, actions. The future isn’t set in stone and things wouldn’t always happen as I saw them, just as Hannah’s vision of my parents’ child hadn’t been the real outcome.

“
My mom ...” she started to say, then paused and shook her head. Strands of bright pink hair tickled my cheek with the wind’s guidance. “She was with him again.”

I pretended to be shocked
— although, in a way, I still genuinely was. “Oh, no ... what happened? Did Cameron catch them or ...?”

She nodded and tugged absentmindedly at a lock of hair.
“I guess they were making out on the couch when he came downstairs to get a drink of water or something. Cameron punched the guy in the face and broke his hand ... he’s at the hospital. Dad had called the other day and said he probably wouldn’t be home for an extra two more days than he had thought. Mom thought that ... she thought she was safe to … to do it. She’s so stupid! Cam was
right there
. And Dad ...”

“
He came back early?”

“
He’s going to jail,” she cried, wracking with sobs as she reached into her bag for another cigarette. I grasped her hand gently but firmly and she went limp.

“
Why? What happened?” It felt almost like I was lying to her by pretending not to know all of this already. I released her hand and pulled her purse over to me, sitting it beside me.

“
Dad shot him. He shot the bastard Mom’s been sleeping with. He’s
dead.”

I pulled her into a tight embrace, letting her relieve her sadness into the fabric of my coat. All I could do was stroke her hair and whisper reassuring thoughts to her as she wept.

“It’s all — it’s all her stupid fault,” she whimpered and lifted her head. “If my mom wasn’t such a stupid whore, none of this would have happened!”

“
Whoa, Serena ... I know what she did was wrong, but aren’t you being a bit harsh?”

“
No! Imagine if it was your mom! Either one of them!”

I brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear and sighed.
“Where is your mom now?”

“
At the hospital with Cam or with the police, I don’t know. I don’t care.”

“
Okay. Well, you can’t go back ho— … you can’t go back considering ... Just come to Haven with me, you can sleep in Mom’s bed, or share mine — whatever.”

Serena looked skeptical.
“You think they’d let me ... even though I’m just some normal, stupid girl?”

“
Serena, you’re not stupid. Why would you even say that? And besides, my mom is normal and she sleeps in the same room as I do,” I pointed out. “Come on. I know it won’t make things better, but at least you’ll be someplace where you can get away from it all for now. And I’ll be there. You can call Zach and talk to him, I can summon you anything you want — hot fudge sundae with no peanuts? You got it. Slice of cold pizza? It’s all yours.”

She
tried to smile but it only half emerged from her tear-stained face. “You’re the best, Madison ... you really are.”

Says the girl who I technically just lied to. Could I have prevented this from happening? Had I gone to Mrs. Dupont and warned her about the consequences of seeing this guy, would she have listened? No. She never listened to her husband
’s threats before, why would she listen to a teenager? Even if I had been her daughter’s best friend for the majority of her life, my opinion would be irrelevant. I helped lift Serena up from the sidewalk and hung her purse over my shoulder.

“
You’ll be able to meet Mathias,” I said as further incentive for her to join me.

“
Oh,” she said, trying to perk up, “in
that
case, I guess I have to go.”

We shared a
feigned laugh before walking back toward Haven.

Mom was awake on her bed, staring blankly at her cell phone screen, when Serena and I entered my room. She gasped loudly and leapt from the bed. I was shocked to the point of freezing up completely when she embraced me tightly. Relaxing, I hugged her back; she was obviously worried.

“
Where have you been? Why weren’t you answering your phone? What’s wrong with Serena? Are you two okay? Are you hurt?” Her questions came out in one long breath of panic.

Despite the circumstances, I
laughed and pulled myself free from her arms. “You definitely sound like a mother now. There was an emergency,” I answered and looked over at my best friend who had sat down on my bed. She nodded at me, giving me permission to explain. “Serena’s dad was arrested for … for killing someone. And I was so caught up with what was happening that I didn’t even realize you called. I’m sorry. I should have called you or left a note or something, but it was urgent.”

My mom looked over at Serena and str
ode across the room, sat on the bed beside her, and draped an arm over her shoulder. “Is everything okay? I mean, of course it isn’t but ...”

Serena
’s lips twitched. “My mom ... she was cheating on my dad. He found out. He killed the guy she’d been with. It happened before, but she swore it never would again ... but my brother caught them and told Dad and he rushed home early and ...”

She began bawling again. Mom consoled her and I brought over a box of tissues before sitting down on my bed.
“I’m so sorry, Serena. I’m glad you called and had Madison come and get you. You need someplace safe and comforting to stay right now.”

“
Thanks,” she said with a sniffle. “I-I need to make another phone call ... can I go outside?”

I knew at once
that she was going to call Zach. “Just go outside the door, or you can sneak into the bathroom for a minute. You could even just call him in here if you want; I don’t care.”

She nodded and went through the bedroom door. Only a few minutes passed before Serena came back in wearing a disappointed look.
“I forgot he’s out of town ... staying with his grandparents or something so his parents can have a weekend
alone
.” She shuddered in disgust.

“
You can stay here,” Mom suggested. “And not just for the night, either. Stay until you feel comfortable enough to go home. You can have my bed.”

Serena grimaced and climbed
back onto my bed. “I’ll never feel comfortable at that place again.”

“
Besides, where would you go, Mom? There’s only so much space in this room. I mean, sure, I could summon another bed, but we’d be so cramped —”

“
Madison,” Mom started and frowned. “I can find someplace else to go.”

“
What? No!” I shouted louder than I had intended. “There’s no way! We’ve barely seen each other since you got released from Littlehaven thanks to school and you ‘searching for a job’ all the time. If anything, I think we should both just quit those things and spend more time together.”

My mom looked mildly amused
, but I could sense the hurt inside her at the subtle accusation of not wanting to be with me more. “You need to stay in school. We already talked about this.”

“
None of the other witches go to school! They dedicate their time to magic and stopping the Nefastus. That’s what I should be doing!
This
should be my school.”

She frowned.
“Be quiet, Madison,” she said and pointed to Serena who was fast asleep on my bed behind me.

Quietly, I walked to Mom
’s side of the room and sat next to her on the bed. This close, I could see the worry lines forming in her forehead, and the dark circles below her eyes; she hadn’t been sleeping well, but I already knew that. The picture was still lying turned over on the nightstand and my heart ached at the sight of it.

“
What was he like?” I asked, trying to think of something to discuss aside from school. “Dad, I mean.”

“
He was ... brilliant,” she said with a gleam in her hazel eyes. “Sophisticated. Well-versed in different subjects. Quirky, to a degree. He was an amazing man, and I hope that you have more of his genes than mine.”