Catalyst (Forevermore, Book Two) (23 page)

With a shaky breath, I wrapped my fingers around the doorknob of Mathias
’s room. I twisted it and it clicked open without resistance. When I peered through the crack in the door, I saw only one person in the room — the silver-haired boy I’d met on Halloween night. The boy who had saved me on more than one occasion.

“
Mathias?” I said as I pushed the door further open.

He was
lying flat on his back, eyes transfixed on the blank ceiling. The force field around him was barely visible, translucent like a bubble but firm and impenetrable like thick glass.

“
Madison,” he said in a weak voice. His head turned slowly in my direction and I gasped loudly, slapping my hand against my mouth.

The bones in his cheeks were prominent
and visible as if his skin were becoming translucent; his eyes were sunken and underlined in purple. He looked like a fragile porcelain doll. I shuddered and stepped closer until I was right up against the surface of the barrier.

“
You look ...” I paused. “You probably know how you look.”

“
Like death, I suspect,” he said with a forced smile. His eyes were liquid pools of silver, staring at me and beckoning me to come nearer, but I couldn’t. “You’re lucky Tobias stepped out for a drink.”

“
How do you feel?” I asked, pressing my hand against the cool exterior of the shield.

“
I feel like I look,” he said with sigh. “And bored out of my mind. There is only so much one can do when bedridden.”

“
I’ve tried texting you ...”

He smiled faintly.
“Thank you ... but Tobias has kindly left my phone on the other side. Probably afraid you would try to text me to come save you or something and I would use up all my remaining energy to attempt to force myself through this shield.”

I eyed the device on the table beside his bed, which was not in the force
field.

“
How are you, though? I heard —” He coughed and winced, gripping the sheets tightly as his body shook.

“
Mathias —”

“
I’m fine,” he said and shut his eyes, a tear trickling slowly down his pallid cheek. “I heard that you’re gifted even more than previously thought.”

Once he said that, I had an idea.
Maybe the force field was impenetrable by people, but what about
magic
? My eyes were once again on the phone and I pictured it clearly in my mind, hovering above the table and towards Mathias. With a pleased grin, I watched it float upward and for a moment I was sure it would pass through. To my dismay, it smacked into the barrier, then fell with a loud thud beside my foot on the floor. Of course the shield would have prevented magic from going through it — that was its sole purpose. I sighed and picked the phone up, wishing I could just hand it over to him. I set it back on the nightstand.

He looked up at me in disbelief and awe.
“It’s true, then?”

“
Yes,” I said with a confident grin, despite my failed attempt.

He began to cough again. His body contorted
as he rose then slammed back into the bed.

“
Mathias!”

Again he rose. A hand flew out and smacked hard into the force field. His body began to fade as if shimmering, then came back. As sudden as the fit had come, he was still.

“
Mathias ...? Please…”

“
I-I’m alright.”

“
No, no you’re not!” I slapped the impenetrable bubble forcefully. “Damn it!” I couldn’t even go inside to comfort him as he lay in pain. “Artemis … has he figured anything out yet? Has he told you anything?”

He shook his head.
“No. Not yet. I’ve not even seen him in a day or two ... maybe more, maybe less. Time sort of blends together when you’re in solitary confinement.”

“
I’m going to find the answers myself, then.”

“
No,” he said firmly. “Artemis knows what he is doing and he told you not to get involved for a reason.”

“
Ugh! Of all people, I thought you’d agree with me — you’re the one laying here … laying here dying!”

“
Madison. Just leave it alone,” he said as he tried to sit up. A shudder of pain slipped between his lips and he fell back against the mattress again, his body seemed to waver again for a second.

“
I can’t just sit around and watch you waste away, watch you disappear. I’m going to find out something, whether you or Artemis or anyone else agrees or not!”

“
W-wait,” Mathias choked out in protest, but I was already turned around and shutting the door behind me.

Once outside, I leaned against the wooden door and shut my eyes tightly; tears streamed down my cheeks. Regret and guilt swelled inside me. The way I’d spoken to him … I was supposed to be making him feel better, not worse. Deep down, I knew that I was right, though; I had to do something … anything. But I didn’t know
what.

I
left my spot and headed for my room. As I stepped into the lobby on my way, I was unsurprised to find Noah in there — why was it that he always seemed to be in the lobby? Maybe it was the huge TV, the video game systems … I had no idea. But there he was with his feet propped up on the coffee table and remote in hand. I tried to turn around and head back down the hall, but he must have heard me or sensed my presence.

“
What’s wrong?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at me.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets and glanced at the TV screen
— something animated and flashy was playing on the screen. “I … shouldn’t you be off somewhere chasing my friend around and drooling?”

He scowled then shrugged as I came around from behind the couch to where I could see him clearly. He had a calm exterior now.
“She left.”

“
Left? Where did she go?”

Noah looked around me at the TV and lifted his shoulders once more.
“Dunno. She said she had to go meet someone.”

“
Zach,” I stated simply.

His eyes narrowed and the scowl returned, then he quickly composed himself again.
“So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong or what?” he asked.

Huffing, I said,
“You know what’s going on with Mathias, right?”

“
He’s practically my brother, of course I know.”

“
Well … Artemis is supposed to be looking for a cure or something. I don’t know what exactly … but it’s been days and he hasn’t said or done anything yet. He’s just letting Mathias die!”

Noah shook his head and muted the TV. I was shocked that he was paying attention to my problems
at all. “He won’t let Mathias die, trust me. He’s always been his favorite.”

And I knew exactly why that was, but I wasn
’t about to tell him that. It wasn’t my place to say anything …

“
Not that he’d let any of us die, though, favorites or not. What did Artemis say he was looking for?”

I shook my head and sighed, sitting on the sectional and staring down at my feet.
“I don’t know. He hasn’t said much of anything … just that he didn’t think this was true or possible, that he didn’t think it could happen. He said that there aren’t many Shimmerers alive today because of … whatever it is. He said he only knows of two witches with the ability.”

“
Just two?” He seemed intrigued.

“
Yeah.”

Noah rubbed his chin, where slight stubble had grown.
“Well, if that’s true … I know where number two is.”

I nearly leapt to my feet, but kept myself steady. Of all the places I thought of to look for help or answers, Noah was last on my list.
“Are you serious?”

Noah looked amused.
“What? You think I’m just all good looks and nothing else?”

He smiled, but I only rolled my eyes in response.

“Well … where is this person, then?” I asked, unsure if he was being serious any more or not. And even if he was, knowing my luck, it was likely someone too far away for it to matter.

“
You won’t like the answer.”

“
Why?”

He looked me
straight in the eyes and said, “He’s a Nefastus.”

“
A Nefastus …? Are you sure?” My fingers anxiously searched for something to tug at, but the material of the couch cushion beneath me wasn’t grippable.

He nodded.
“One hundred percent.”

“
How do you know?”

A shrug.
“I just know. I’ve seen him.”

“
You’ve
seen
him?” I asked dubiously.

“
That’s what I said, wasn’t it? Look, all I know is that there is a Nefastus guy with that same power and he is old, well, not
old
, but older. Way older than Mathias, anyway. Probably old enough to be his dad.”

A thought suddenly crept into my mind
— what if this guy was his dad? Was that possible? It would explain why Artemis was trying so hard to keep Mathias safe, and what he was afraid of. I dismissed the thought for the time being.

“
And he didn’t look sick the last time I saw him,” he added.

I arched a brow in his direction.
“The last time you saw him? And when was that?”

He looked slightly uncomfortable.
“I don’t know … a while.”

“
And how does that help me or Mathias at all?”

“
Well, it lets you know that it is curable … or preventable, at least.”

“
Yeah, but that still doesn’t
help
. I can’t very well just walk up to their place and start asking questions or favors.”

“
Well, you could,” he said.

I laughed darkly and shook my head.
“Sure, if I wanted to get myself killed! I wouldn’t even know the first place to look for them, anyway.”

“
Just because there are witches that choose the other Clan over ours doesn’t necessarily make them all evil killers.”

“
Every single one of them I’ve met has tried to kill me.”

“
Well, it’s like I said … that’s all I know. There is another Shimmerer, older, and definitely not dying, and he is with the Nefastus. Don’t know what you can do with that, but there you go.” He looked at the windows as if thinking about something. “I’ve got to go.”

“
Wait, where are you going? Is that all you know?” I asked in surprise.

“
Out. And yeah.” He set the remote aside and stood up, glanced at me one final time, and went through the front door.

Frustrated and once again at a loss, I finally made it to my room. When I opened the door, I wasn
’t entirely surprised to see my mom was missing. For the briefest of moments, I thought that it was a waste having gotten her out of Littlehaven, that she barely made any time for me in her life, and it was like she wasn’t even around at all. I instantly regretted the thought and tried to force it away.

I stepped further into my room and spotted my backpack leaning against the side of my bed, slumped over and bloated with books. Groaning, I wished I could
do some old-fashioned magic and make them disappear … but I knew that I needed to catch up in order to make it through the rest of the school year without failing. First, I needed to eat, though, then there’d be time for schoolwork. Instead of summoning up a pizza, I decided I would order a fresh one and share it with whomever I might find in the lobby. It was the most self-convincing way to continue procrastinating the work.

Elijah and Forrest were in the lobby alone, Elijah with his head resting against Forrest
’s shoulder. I cleared my throat as I entered the room so that my presence was known and they both looked over at me in surprise. Iris came in soon after, looking exhausted and completely out of it — she didn’t stay long, only enough to say that she hoped her practice with me the other day had been worthwhile, and I assured her that it had been. The boys chipped in for pizza — I used what little remained of my last allowance — and we waited for the delivery man to show up, only to get a phone call about fifteen minutes later saying they couldn’t find the address and were parked outside an abandoned motel. The three of us shared a laugh at that, then Forrest ran out to pay him.

Throughout the meal, the TV was turned off, and we sat and talked. Elijah
proudly told me the story of when he broke his arm, the same tale that Mathias and Noah had shared with me not long ago. Forrest grimaced the entire time and seemed to lose his appetite, setting down his pizza slice more than once, before returning to it once the subject changed. I asked them how they met, and they said it had been here at Haven. Their decision to date didn’t go over well with either of their families, so they spent most of their time at the motel and avoided people outside of the Clan. I didn’t blame them. If my family had shunned me away for whom I chose to be with, who I loved, I would have done the same.

I asked if that meant they had no plans for Thanksgiving and they
’d both given me strange looks. Elijah explained that witches didn’t really celebrate the holidays, not the way that ordinary people do. Some still honored the traditions, but for the most part, they focused on magic and training. They both offered to help me with training for physical fighting sometime, and I said I’d think on it — there was someone else I hoped would be well enough soon to fill the position of my trainer.

Forrest suddenly sat up, gripping at his throat in shock. I thought at first that he was choking or something, until he pulled a radiating red amulet from underneath his shirt. With a frown, he glanced down at Elijah.

“Looks like someone’s in trouble,” Elijah said. “Either that or there’s a Nesfastus nearby.”

I shuddered involuntarily.
“Does that happen often …? Enemies coming here, I mean.”

Forrest shook his head.
“No. It’s rare. And when they do, they don’t usually realize they’re even in Castus territory.”

“
How not?”

“
We’re hidden from them, so to speak. Look, I’d love to fill you in sometime, but we’d better head out and see what’s up. Thanks for the dinner.”

“
Yeah, sure, of course. Thanks for chipping in,” I said and looked at Elijah. “Why didn’t yours go off?”

He smiled at me and stood up.
“I don’t have mine on me right now. I pretty much depend on him to have his. Not too fond of the thing.”

I heard a door shut and Iris came back into the lobby smiling.

“You two get it too?”

“
Yep.”

“
Well, what’re you waiting for?”

And with that, the three of them vanished out the door. I sighed
, cleaned up the mess from dinner, and went back to my room to begin the tedious task of finishing my homework.

Thoughts and images of Mathias crept into my mind countless times throughout the next few hours, and I yearned to go see him again, but I knew I shouldn’t. I sent him a quick text to ask how he was, but slapped my hand against my forehead when I remembered he couldn’t use the phone. With a heavy sigh, I resumed reading and writing and filling my brain with knowledge that I knew would be of little to no use to me in the future. My phone chimed and my heart leapt with excitement.

Even if it was just a simple
“Okay”, it was relieving to know that we were able to communicate with each other and that Tobias must have finally gave in. I stuffed my books back into my bag and shut off the lights, climbed into bed and pulled the covers over me. I thought again of Hannah and her nightly visits back at Eila’s house. Did she still attempt to visit me now, here? I doubted it. She had gotten what she wanted from me — the promise that I would do anything she asked of me if she helped get my mom out of Littlehaven.

The boy with the blood-red eyes flashed through my mind
as I shut my eyes and struggled to fall asleep.