“I know you have concerns about Serena and yourself being safe away from the houses, Logan,” she eyed me, “but I have been assured that you will absolutely never be alone. I’ll resume my student teaching, so I’ll be there, and you’ll never be far from the dogs.” Charlie and Zena barked their assent. “You can be assured; I’ll keep my eyes on my little sisters.” She sounded fierce and defiant.
“How are we going to handle the whole Jade and Sully thing?” I asked Eden.
“We have been planting suggestions in Sully’s parent’s minds as well as the school officials. They in turn have been sharing the information with the school.” Elizabeth took up the explanation.
“The story is this: Jade and Sully were in a car accident with you and Serena. You were cut off by an unknown driver and went into a ditch. You two weren’t injured as bad, but that’s been the reason for your recent absence. Jade and Sully were more severely injured and remain hospitalized up north, in a rehabilitation center you can’t remember the name of because they just moved them there. You have no idea when they might be home. You only know they are improving daily.”
Serena and I exchanged looks. Wow. We were going back to school. “You know Tamera is going to start asking me to do things with her after school. She’s already started planning her wedding and before, well, all this,” Serena waved her arms around the room,
“with the Council started, she kind of asked me to be in her wedding.”
I bent toward her, surprised.
“She did?”
Serena got shy.
“Yes. Is that alright?”
“I think that’s great! You know, Dave never got around to it, the whole kidnapping thing went down so soon after we learned about the wedding, but I’m pretty sure he’ll want me to be his best man. We’ve known each other our whole lives. He’s my best friend, Serena.” I thought of something. “He might want me to plan his bachelor party.” Suddenly, I got a little excited about going back to school too.
Elizabeth put a hand on both of our shoulders. I thought she would say we couldn’t go anywhere or do anything. It took me by surprise when she didn’t.
“Eden and I thought that if you and Serena went about your business as if nothing happened, it might throw Christophe and the Council off. We’ll continue to train at night and on weekends, but most of the coven agrees, with you Serena,” she indicated her sister, “we just need to fine tune you. But, you Logan.” Now she and Eden both trained their eyes on me. “We’ve been thinking it may be time to bring you into the fold and begin some serious instruction.”
“Yes,” agreed Eden. “Especially since it appears you have begun to demonstrate some new talent.” It became apparent to me Elizabeth had shared my mindspeaking and jumping abilities, at least to a point.
“Well, I just started. It happened without me even realizing it,” I explained to Eden. Serena seemed proud of me.
“That’s usually how it works the first time,” sang out Tabitha, as she skipped into the room.
“Hey, Tabby,” I said. “Excited about going back to school?”
“No. I hate the idea of going without Jade. She made it bearable. Those other girls are so mean. If you wear the wrong thing, you are dead for the whole school year!” And with that she flounced out of the room. I watched her go and wished with all my heart that Jade would flounce out after her. As usual, Serena felt where my heart went and slipped her hand into mine. Just that small amount of contact from her spoke the words she didn’t say.
Eden and Elizabeth seemed to feel the change in the atmosphere as well.
“Logan, Prudence is sure something is coming for the Spring Equinox and that’s more than two weeks away. We’re not letting our guard down and we’re not forgetting about Jade or Sully. If anything, consider us sending you and Serena back to school a smokescreen. You two could use a little normalcy in your lives. It has been a challenging few weeks. Wouldn’t you agree?” All we could do was nod yes.
Chapter Twenty-‐‑Four
LOGAN
Serena shivered, visibly nervous even before we got to the school. We hardly spoke on the drive there. She held my hand in a bruising grip.
I pulled into the parking lot and immediately spotted the old gang congregating in our spot by the wall. The group appeared strangely small without Sully’s hulking figure.
I parked farther away than usual, then leaned over and kissed Serena on the cheek. I squeezed her knee. “Showtime, baby.
Let’s go.”
We got out of my car and walked over to where our friends were standing around. Dave spotted us first. I watched him catch sight of Serena’s beautiful long hair first, then me, then both of us, walking toward them, holding hands and smiling, like we had just walked out of a storm. His mouth stopped moving mid-‐‑sentence.
He pointed, and then yelled.
“Hey! Hey! Logan! Serena! Hey!” When he waved, the whole crowd responded. Dave stood there with Tamera. Patty hung nearby, with a couple of other girls I knew, but not well, and close behind them were a bunch of my baseball buddies. He suddenly thought about playing baseball. It seemed like so long ago to me. Curiously, I even missed Nicole.
“Hey guys.” I waved back. Next to me, Tamera had already broken free of Dave and run up to embrace Serena. They were giggling and hugging like long lost sisters. Even Patty seemed happy Serena had returned.
“Oh, Serena, we’ve all been so worried about you guys.”
Tamera dropped Serena’s hands and stood back to examine her.
“You don’t seem any the worse for wear. She checked me out as well. “You’re looking great too, Logan. You’re both looking so great!” She gushed and I didn’t even care. It felt good to hear her voice. I grabbed her in a big hug.
“It’s great to be back. Even to be back at school.”
Dave laughed and said, “Yeah, you must have hit your head, man.” He gave me the guy-‐‑hug and soon all the girls were hugging again and laughing.
Tamera and Patty took no time getting Serena in their grip.
“Serena, you have to catch up on all the wedding plans.
We’re already planning the engagement party, and choosing the colors and the dresses and the flowers and everything! Good thing you got back in time or you would have missed it all!” Patty barely breathed while she caught Serena up.
“Yeah,” I teased, “good thing.” Dave and I both rolled our eyes. “Oh, you.” Tamera pretended to be annoyed with Dave, but she appeared amused.
The morning bell saved us all. So began our first day back to school.
****
We got through our morning classes without incident. I met up with Serena at lunch and we both noticed Zena and Charlie prowling around near the back of the school. It made me feel comfortable and Serena agreed. I had a couple of things running through my mind I wanted to ask Serena before the gang joined up with us.
“Hey Serena, why do you think everything seems so normal here at school and its so whacko out on the other side of town where I took my drive the other day?”
She seemed to consider this.
“You know, I thought about that too, Logan. I’ll have to ask Eden about it. The only thing I can think of is that the coven may have put another spell of protection on the school.”
“Why wouldn’t they tell us? Or you?”
“Maybe they thought we would be more afraid of coming back here if we knew?”
“Or maybe they thought we would refuse to?”
“Possibly.”
“Hey, young lovers. Can’t stay apart even for one school day?” Dave lumbered up, loud and boisterous as usual. Tamera tagged along behind him, Patty following her. Tamera admonished him.
“Dave, can’t you let them have some privacy? I bet you didn’t get any in the hospital, did you?”
Patty chimed in.
“Yeah, in the hospital, people are always barging in and out of the room all the time. You don’t even get any rest when you are t
here. Like when I got my tonsils out.”
“Patty. You were like, nine. It’s not the same thing.” Tamera uncharacteristically dismissed Patty and turned to talk to some other girls. I felt bad for Patty, but Serena stepped in. She reached for Patty’s hand.
“I’m sure it was just like that, Patty. Thank you for sharing with me. You understood it perfectly.” Patty turned her face up to Serena’s in gratitude and I watched one more person fall a little bit in love with my wonderful twitch. I knew it wasn’t just me.
I caught the tail end of a conversation Dave and some of the guys were having.
“You think it’s right to still have it, what with Sully being laid up and all?” Dave questioned.
“Right to have what?” I said
“The annual St. Patrick’s Day party, man. What else? You think we should be doing it without Sully? I mean, that’s his thing, ya know?”
I did know. Sully lived for that annual party. It helped that he was a true blue Irishman. At our school, Sully and that party were legendary. Tamera’s parents let her throw it every year. Her uncle had this old barn on the outside of town and we were allowed to first transform it, and then, pretty much, trash it. Tam’s mom and dad were a little different than most from Lancaster. That barn was the best place to hold the shindig and it qualified as the greatest party of the season. Prom paled by comparison. With everything going on, I couldn’t believe I had forgotten all about it.
The party of the season. I sought out Serena, who wore a worried expression on her face. I squeezed her hand in a lame effort to ease her concerns. I responded to Dave’s question about Sully.
“I don’t think Sully would mind. In fact, I think he would want us to party on, Wayne.”
“Yeah! Party on, Garth!” Dave seemed way too pleased with himself. Serena, on the other hand, needed some convincing.
“So, is it this Saturday, then?” I asked Tamera.
Tamera glanced up from a stack of bridal magazines and finally tuned in to the conversation.
“Ohmigosh! I almost forgot about that stupid party. I swear, I only have it anymore because you guys love it so much.” She told Serena. “It’s just an excuse for them to them to spray Silly String all over the place and throw up green soda in my mother’s flowers.”
Serena and Tamera laughed out loud. I didn’t think it all that funny because I kind of remembered some of that from last year. She addressed me. “Yes, it’s this Saturday. My dad cleared the barn out last weekend and said it’s ready for us to decorate it any way we want to. I figured we could go there a couple times at night this week and spend most of Friday night there getting it ready.”
Dave added, “Me and Tam’s dad and uncle are picking up the tables and chairs Saturday afternoon and then the party gets going about seven o’clock.”
Serena still appeared worried. I knew she had concerns about our safety and the safety of our friends, but I also knew a thing or two about myself. I knew I couldn’t spend my life rearranging it because of something that may or may not happen.
Whatever lurked out there that meant to do us harm, I wasn’t going to hide from it, and I wasn’t going to stop living my life because of it. We were going to this party. Heck yes, we were going, and we would make it the time of our lives. Serena peeked up at me and I knew she must have mind-‐‑heard what I was thinking. I tried to reassure her with a smile, but she appeared so unconvinced. I knew we would be talking about this more, away from the normalcy of our friends.
****
I didn’t have to wait long for Serena to voice her concerns.
Our last class of the day over, we headed for the parking lot. We hurried so we could make a hasty escape without running into anyone. Mission accomplished, I navigated my car out of the lot and we headed down the street. About two blocks down the road, along the baseball field, I pulled over to the side and opened the door. Charlie and Zena bounded out from the back of the far bleachers behind the school and leapt into the back seat. Passengers intact, Serena launched into me.
“Logan, about this party…”
“Serena, I already know what you’re going to say and I am way ahead of you.”
“Then I won’t waste my breath. But you have to know how dangerous going to a party like that, way out there, could be.”
“Yeah. Maybe. But I’m serious. I don’t want to live my life like that, Serena. Hiding all the time? Never going anywhere?
When I got stuck in the houses, even for that short period of time, I thought I might lose it. I’m used to being active all the time. I play baseball, basketball, I work out, hang with my friends. Man, I want to take you places. We’ve never even had a real date. At least not one where demons didn’t rudely take it over.” I stared at her with pleading eyes. “This may seem like a stupid party to you, and maybe it is, but to me it represents my independence. If I let these unseen forces, or whatever they are, take away even a small part of who I am, then they’ve beaten me already, even before the first punch is thrown.” I gazed deep in her eyes. “Does any of this make sense to you?”
In response, Serena lifted her right hand and caressed my cheek. Then she held my face in both hands and gently kissed me, sweet and tender, little butterfly kisses all over my face that made my breath come in short huffs.
“It makes perfect sense to me, Logan. We ask you to be something you are not. We tell you you’re something you never thought you’d be. Deep down who you are is always there. It shines through. And I am constantly reminded that that is the Logan I am the most in love with.” She sat back and regarded me with a knowing smile. “I’m sure the party will be wonderful. I can’t wait to go.”
“Serena, I don’t know what might happen. I just need you to know one thing; I will do everything in my power, whatever power I may have now or learn from the coven, to make sure you are safe.
You are the most important thing in my world. You’re my future.”
“I know, Logan. You’re mine, too.”
We sat like that in my car until Charlie barked, reminding us that we had to get home. I drove us home holding Serena’s hand in mine the whole way. As before, on our moonlight walk prior to the dance, I felt as though we had reached another level in our complicated and challenging relationship. While it wasn’t like any other I had been in before in my life, I somehow knew it would be my last one. The only thing I didn’t know? Would it be my last one forever because someone or something would kill me?
Chapter Twenty-‐‑Five
SERENA
Needless to say, Elizabeth and Eden were not at all thrilled when they got wind of the St. Patrick’s Day party. Logan had dropped me off because he wanted to spend some time with his mom across the street. That was his story anyway. I swear he knew my sister and Eden were lying in wait for me and wanted to escape the wrath. He practically raced across the street!
As for me, I barely got the front door open. Tabitha bounced up and down in front of me.
“Sis and Eden are in the den waiting for you!” She sang the words while she practiced turning bits of paper into butterflies, and then into confetti she threw into the air and made disappear.
“Is that right?”
“Yep.” Tabitha took a bite out of an apple and stared at me.
“And they did not look happy.” She stretched the last syllable out.
“Gross, Tabby.” I waved my hand toward her apple and instantly it cored and sliced itself into nice, manageable slices.
“Take smaller bites, please. It’s unpleasant watching you cram food in your mouth.”
“Um, ‘kay.”
I walked down the hall to face the music. I could pick out Eden and Elizabeth chatting with Prudence, Cordelia and Finola.
Great, I thought. It would be five against one. I entered the den with a smile.
“Hi, everyone. What’s up?”
Five pairs of eyes rested on me. I realized however difficult I thought this conversation might get, clearly it would be much harder than tha
t.
Elizabeth started it off.
“Serena, we have to talk.”
I tried to save everyone from anything unnecessary.
“I know. It’s not a great idea. I know that. But he doesn’t want to lose his independence and change his life or hide because of who he is, well, mostly because of who we are, I mean the two of us. Gee, I’m messing this up. What I mean is…” Eden saved me from my rambling.
“Serena, what in the world are you going on about?”
“The party. Isn’t that what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“No. We know about the party and yes, in theory we certainly do not approve. But Logan made a compelling case. We have discussed it and beyond all that is reasonable, we actually agree with him. You cannot continue to hide. It is the same reason we sent you both back to school.
But that is not what we want to talk to you about. We have another pressing matter to discuss. Can you sit?”
Elizabeth scooted over on the sofa and patted the cushion next to her. I noticed that Aisling and Echo had silently drifted into the room and Libby, Rochelle and Eve had taken places in the back of the room as well. Only Raven and Logan’s mom hadn’t arrived.
Now, I got curious and not just a little frightened. Cautiously, I took my place beside Elizabeth. Clearly, there had been a development.
Eden started again.
“Prudence has been seeing visions of something big occurring for the Spring Equinox. Now that that date is less than a week away, we have all been on alert, waiting for something, anything to occur. There hasn’t even been a sign of anything. Until today.” She peeked over at Prudence, who had moved closer to me.
Elizabeth made room for her on the sofa.
“Is it Jade, Prudence? Is she hurt? Is it Sully? What is it?”
Prudence took a long time to speak. She addressed first Eden, who nodded, then at her witch sisters, seated around her.
Next, she included Elizabeth, who took her hand and patted it.
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