Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (12 page)

While t
he twins and Nana were busy in the kitchen, baking up something for snacks. I was with Adrien in the living room,
thoroughly engaged
in
nursing his wounds.

“
Adrien, thank you for what you did. You didn’t have to, but you did anyway. And
f
o
r
someone you clearly have
repulsive
feelings with.
”
I
murmur
ed immediately before I lost my courage. I could feel my cheeks flaming as I was squeezing water out of a towel
, letting it
fall
straight
to his wounds. I refused to look at him and focused on taking calm breaths instead.

I was shocked when he stopped my hand from continuing on with what
it
was doing
, sending those all too familiar electrical currents
flowing through me
. I looked at him then and saw that his eyes were filled with hesitation
.

“Skylar, I don’t hate you,” he started. “I didn’t have any choice. I
had
to
,
”
he said with conviction.

I blinked
, staring
at him
as I registered what he just said
.
He
had
to? What does that mean? Was he feeling obligated to do that? Was he forced?
Rage rushed through me as several thoughts ran through my head. I immediately pulled my hand away from his grasp and stared darkly at him.

“Well, next time you won’t
have
to,” I snapped.

Right at that moment, Nana came out with Cole and Elise. They
su
re picked the perfect timing to come out of the kitchen.

Adrien just looked at me sadly.
He looked like he was battling with himself over something
as
h
e looked away from me, clenching his hands as he did so. I felt my eyes water up because of the anger that cloaked me.

“Gran, it’s so nice of you to bake for us,” Elise said as she hugged Nana.

“But we really have to go,” Cole interrupted,
affectionate
ly holding both my Nana’s hands.

Understanding was clear on
Andrea’s
features. “Yes, my dears. Please come back soon,” she said as she both patted the twins
on their
cheeks.

I didn’t even get to look at them. I just sat there, clenching the towel as hard as I could
, completely ignoring the pain
it brought
t
o my hands.
Elise went and patted me on my shoulder. I could only nod at her and Cole as they headed out of the house, pulling Adrien with them.

As soon as they were out, Nana rushed over to my side, gently taking the towel from my hands and wrapped me in her arms as the tears slowly started to flow. I don’t know how long we stayed like that, but Nana was extremely patient with me, rubbing my back and just leaving me to cry my eyes out. After what seemed like hours, I finally managed to
stop
the tears from falling
.

“Thank you, Nana,” I said silently as I kissed her on the cheek. “You’re simply the best.” I settled down on the couch as she placed my head on her lap. We stayed like that for a few minutes. I just let
her
stroke
my hair until I was completely calm enough.

“Skylar?” she cooed. I knew then that she wanted to ask what happened. She only used my name in
rare
situations like this.

“Hmm?” I hummed as she continued on patting my head.

“You know you can talk to me,” she started. “I’ve never seen you act like that.” She
whispered as she
kissed the top of my head.

“I know. I just…
h
e confuses me.” I
frowned,
struggl
ing
to get the words out. Just the thought of him and his fascinating
silver-
grey eyes set my anger and confusion back. I sighed, taking calm
, deep
breaths to sooth me.

“Give it time, dear. You’ll figure it out.” Nana didn’t say anything else after that. She just continued on
stroking
m
y hair
.

As the night continued on, I just stared at the ceiling of my bedroom. It was really disturbing how much it upset me that he said that.

What did I expect him to say anyway?
I rolled over. I’
ve been doing that a lot i
n the past couple of hours. I still couldn’t get myself to sleep despite my deprived state
of that luxury
last night.
I sighed and finally gave up.
I changed my position and moved all my pillows
to
the
o
pposite
end
of the bed as I comfortably settled myself there, my head completely gazing at the masterpiece on the wall.

I just stared at it for a few moments, hoping that it would work wonders for me like it did last time. It wasn’t long before I finally dozed off. I did, however, feel that familiar aura cover me in what seemed like a warm
, comforting
embrace
.

I was suddenly swathed
in a thick fog. I couldn’t see anything beyond the
packed
cloud of smoke.
I willed myself to move until I could
see something clear enough.

I stopped when I suddenly walked into
what looked
like
a room
. I continued on walking until I could distinguish what else was inside. I could only make out chairs and desks…
a
classroom? I wasn’t sure. The fog was still following me everywhere.

All of a sudden, I almost bumped into someone. I was shocked when I realized that I did bump into him, but I actually went through his body as if he was also made of the mist that surrounded me. I stopped on my tracks
and turned back.

I could make out four hazy figures, but I couldn’t be sure. It was still hazy everywhere. I went closer,
near
enough so I could try
to
make out their faces. I could make out two individuals with fair heads, standing beside someone with a darker head in between them. It looked like they were discussing or arguing with someone.

I turned my head around to the far end of the room. The fourth figure stood there, leaning against what looked like a window
or was it a wall?
This figure looked trapped as the three
appeared to be coming
closer to her.

S
udden
ly
, a loud, explosive sound went out. I could only cover my ears in time to block out some of the sharp sound. When I turned to look at the figures,
the first
three were on the
floor
. I turned to look at the fourth figure and saw something extensively bright behind it. The light was too dazzling that I had to shield my eyes a bit.

Was it possible that she was the one responsible for that intense light? I got really curious as I stepped closer to her.

Just then
, I saw
what
appear
ed like
a pair of arms
enclose
her. They came from
within
that light and almost looked like snakes as they wrapped themselves
around
her
,
pull
ing
her along into the bright ball of
heat
.

Everything
was
much fogg
ier
after that
.
T
hen
it got
extremely
warm
as
I felt myself being hauled away,
my eyes g
iving
into the heaviness
as the
heat
swallowed me
.

I sighed as I dragged my feet down the stairs
, making my way to the
kitchen.
I had a weird dream again. At least it wasn’t like that nightmare. I stopped myself as I shuddered at the re
minder of that awful nightmare.

Nick and Anne would be here any minute to pick me up. We had planned on going early today so we could have Anne tutor us on some of the Calculus problems we didn’t understand.

When I reached the kitchen, Nana was still busy frying up bacon. I went and hugged her from behind, sn
atching a piece of toast as I went away to sit on the table
.

“Good morning
,
”
I called out as I heard the front door of the house close. They were here.

“Good morning, Andrea,” Nick said and sauntered over to Nana to give her a peck on the cheek.
Nana just laughed and smiled at him.
“
Oh, and you, too, Sky,
”
he said as he settled himself down beside me.

I rolled my eyes at him.

“What’s for breakfast?” Anne excitedly c
ried out
as she made her way to the
chair
on my other side.

“Bacon and eggs, Dears,” Nana replied in a singsong voice.

Anne clapped her hands in a giddy way that made
us
laugh.
She just rolled her eyes and picked a toast from the pla
te o
n the table.

“Hey, guys. Jessica’s having people over her house
this coming Saturday.
Can we go?” she
asked
before she started munching on
a small
piece of
the
bread.

I thought about it.
“
Sure. That seems like fun. Nick, you’re coming, right?
”
I turned to look at him.

He shrugged.
“
Do I have a choice? Both your parents
,” he started. “…and guardian,” he said as he thoughtfully glanced at me.
“
…
won’t let you out that late unless they know you’
re with me,
”
h
e said cockily, but we let it slide. What he said was definitely true. Nana and Anne’s parents wouldn’t let us out
late
at night
,
unless they were sure that Nick was coming.
They
formed a special bond
with the guy and left both me and Anne to his care
, knowing full well that Nick would
always be there
for
us
if ever something went wrong.

Nana patted
Nick’s head as she happily placed plates of bacon and eggs in the middle of the table.
We
gladly
ate our breakfast
and drove
off
to school after that.

A
s much as I would like to be in school every single day, I wasn’t feeling that happy about it today. School meant classes
,
and classes meant having to see Adrien every single hour.
I groaned.

“Sky?” Nick draped his
arm
over my shoulder
s
. “Are you feeling alright? You seem
ed
out of it since yesterday,” he said as he placed his hand on my forehead, checking to see if I have a fever.