I ignored her and re-focused on the prophecy. “So we have to go on a Journey down a path to … the Shadows.” I paused to take a bite of my burger, and to think. What could that mean? It still didn’t make any sense.
We sat in silence, eating our food and trying to come up with ideas. Everyone else seemed to be drawing a blank, too.
“Sophie!” Chris yelled, waving his arms in the air and zapping me out of my thoughts. “Hey.”
A large woman with a huge, toothy smile walked towards us. She looked about my grandmother’s age, with wrinkly skin and a few brown spots on her face. Her gray hair was pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, and she wore a long blue dress that made her look like she’d stepped right out of an old village.
“Chris,” she greeted him. “It’s good to see you again. It’s been … two days?”
“I can’t resist the burgers,” he said with a laugh. “Plus Nicole just moved here, and we all know that eating at Sophie’s is a must in Kinsley.”
“Nicole.” Sophie looked at me and smiled. “Victory of the people.”
“What?” I scrunched my eyebrows and tilted my head.
“The origin of your name is Greek,” she said. “It means ‘victory of the people.’”
It was a strange thing to say, but I nodded, assuming she was just a quirky older lady. “Are you from Greece?” I asked.
“I was born there, yes,” she replied. “I moved here with my family about thirty years ago, and we opened the diner together. Been running it ever since.”
“I’ve never known the town without Sophie’s.” Chris shook some hair out of his eyes and turned back to her. “Hey, maybe you can help us out with something. It’s homework for our Greek mythology class.”
I took a sharp breath inward, ready to stop him from showing her the prophecy. But maybe it wouldn’t be bad to get an outsider’s perspective. Sophie was from Greece, and we were descended from the Greek gods. She might be able to help.
“I can try,” Sophie said. “But not for long. I do have other customers to tend to.” She winked, and even though the diner was packed, it looked like there was enough staff to handle it.
Chris passed the paper to her. “We’re trying to figure out what this means,” he said. “We think we have the beginning figured out, but the last sentence has us stumped. Do you have any idea why Journey and Shadows would be capitalized?”
Her eyes turned serious as she read it over. “I have no idea what most of this means,” she mused, holding a chubby finger to her chin. “But ‘journey’ translates to odyssey in Greek—like the book. The name Odessa, like Odessa Road, stems from that word.”
“The main street in town…” I said, the pieces starting to fall into place.
“It’s just an idea.” She shrugged and handed the prophecy back to Chris. “But I’ve got to get back to work. Good luck on the homework.” She turned and headed to another table, not giving us a chance to ask any more questions.
I grabbed the ketchup and squirted a large amount onto my plate. “If Sophie’s right, then we need to go east on Odessa Road,” I said, dipping a fry into the ketchup and eating it. “It sounds like a long shot, but it’s all we’ve got.”
“You really think an ancient prophecy is talking about a street in Kinsley?” Danielle sneered. “That makes no sense.”
“The prophecy was written three hundred years ago, which doesn’t make it ‘ancient,’” Blake pointed out. “Kinsley’s been around for longer than that. And Odessa’s one of the oldest roads in town. So it’s possible.”
Danielle huffed, stabbed a piece of lettuce with her fork, and popped it in her mouth. Blake imitated her by doing the same thing with his ravioli, but ten times more exaggerated. She glared at him and continued eating, although she stopped stabbing her food.
They were so familiar with each other. Who was I to think that Blake might be interested in me—someone he’d only known for a week? He was interested in my abilities—not in me. The sooner I accepted that, the sooner I could focus on the things that mattered. Like the prophecy and learning how to use my new powers.
“So we have an idea about what Journey could mean,” I said, picking up the paper and skimming it again. “But what about Shadows?”
“It sounds foreboding.” Chris laughed and finished his last fry.
“It does,” I agreed. “Maybe we should just go east and see what happens.”
Danielle rolled her eyes. “What a solid plan.”
I dropped the prophecy on the table and sat back in the booth. “Do you have any better ideas?” I asked.
She scowled and concentrated on eating her salad, which I guessed was a no.
“Should we get started on this ‘journey’ now?” Blake broke the silence.
I looked out the window, the sight of the night sky sending a sinking feeling through my stomach. Without the sun shining overhead I felt … unprotected.
“It’s late,” I said, glancing at my watch. 10:30 pm. “I have a midnight curfew. So we should wait until tomorrow and go during the day. We’ll have more time, and we’ll be able to see better.”
“Are you afraid of the dark?” Chris raised his hands into makeshift claws, wiggling his fingers in my face. “The scary creatures of the night are going to get you!”
“I’m not afraid of the dark.” I swatted his hand away, laughing. “It just seems like a better plan.”
“We should listen to Nicole,” Kate said, so serious that we stopped laughing. “She’s had good instincts so far.”
“I say we go now,” Danielle argued. “I can’t imagine that a drive down Odessa Road will take longer than an hour. If it does, we’ll stop so you can get home in time and resume tomorrow. It’ll be more efficient.”
“Maybe.” I looked out the window again and shivered. “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain, but I feel stronger during the day. Do any of you feel that way, too?”
A few seconds passed in silence.
“Not really,” Blake finally said. “But I’ll trust you on that.”
“We should vote,” Kate suggested. “Who wants to go tomorrow?”
She put her hand up, followed by Chris’s, mine, and eventually Blake’s. The unsettled feeling in my body calmed down. The majority of the group trusted my instincts. And I couldn’t help but smile at how Blake had taken my side over Danielle’s.
“Four to one,” Chris said triumphantly. “We go tomorrow morning. Let’s meet back here at ten. The sun will be high in the sky, and we’ll need some breakfast before our perilous journey.”
“Perilous journey?” I repeated, arching an eyebrow.
He shrugged. “It sounds more adventurous.”
While I agreed with him, I hoped the journey wasn’t as dangerous as he’d made it sound—or at least not so dangerous that someone would end up getting hurt.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Falling asleep that night was impossible.
My mind buzzed with everything that had happened since my first day at Kinsley High—learning I’m a witch, seeing the comet, reading the prophecy, and knowing that tomorrow I would embark on a journey that may or may not be dangerous.
I was staring at the ceiling with a million thoughts running through my mind when my cell phone dinged with a text.
Are you up?
It was from Blake. I read it a few more times, my fingers hovering over the keys. What should I text back? Should I text back at all? I’d already resigned myself to the fact that nothing was going to happen between us. Replying now, so late at night, would just blur those lines and give me hope. Hope that I shouldn’t want to have.
It would be easiest to ignore the text until tomorrow and pretend like I’d been sleeping when he’d sent it. That way, no one would get hurt.
But if I didn’t reply, I would toss and turn all night, unable to fall asleep because I would be so curious about what he wanted to say.
So I had to text him back. It would drive me too crazy if I didn’t.
Yeah, I typed. I’m trying to sleep, but it’s not working well.
I sent it, and his response came in seconds.
Wanna hang out? I can come pick you up.
My heart jumped into my throat. Because yes, of course I wanted to hang out with Blake. I wanted to see him—just the two of us, alone—more than anything. I wanted to know if whatever I was feeling for him was just in my head, or if he felt it, too. Because if he was reaching out to me like this, it had to mean he was interested. Right?
Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple, no matter how much I wished it could be.
What about your girlfriend? I asked.
I watched the text bubble move as he typed, so nervous that I could barely breathe.
Things with Danielle are … complicated. It’s too much to explain over text.
Hope rose in my chest, and despite knowing that “complicated” didn’t mean they were broken up, now I definitely wanted to see him. I needed to know the full story.
Of course, to see him I would have to sneak out, which I’d never done before. But my parents were sound sleepers and had been in bed for hours. They would never know I’d left. And if they did catch me, I could always put blue energy into their morning coffee so they would be calm and relaxed about it tomorrow.
Sure. I typed quickly so I couldn’t overthink what I was doing. I didn’t want time to talk myself out of this. I’m on 404 Cypress Street.
I kept my phone in my hand while I waited for him to reply, staring anxiously at the screen.
Be there in 10.
I dropped the phone on my bed and got up to change out of my pajamas. As I decided on an outfit, I couldn’t help second-guessing my decision to see him. He had a girlfriend. And despite things being “complicated” between them, I would bet that Danielle would be pretty angry if she found out that Blake had texted me to hang out tonight.
At the same time, I wanted to learn about whatever this “complication” was. Seeing him tonight didn’t mean that anything was going to happen between us.
Of course, this was under the assumption that he was interested in me at all. Maybe he really couldn’t sleep and wanted a friend to spend time with, and I was the only one awake. Or worse—maybe he wanted to ask me for advice on his relationship with Danielle.
Not wanting to over-analyze the situation, I returned my attention to getting ready. As I dabbed on concealer, I noticed that the dark circles under my eyes were terrible. In addition to the lack of sleep, the stress of everything I’d found out recently must have been getting to me more than I’d realized.
Once ready, I paced around my room, waiting for Blake to text me that he was here. Finally my phone buzzed.
I’m in front of your house … I think. Blue with the gabled windows?
I peeked through the blinds. A black Range Rover was parked on the street, with Blake in the driver’s seat.
I see you, I wrote back. I’ll be out in a minute.
I walked out of my room and into the hall. My parents’ room was on the first floor, so the second floor of the house was small—only the bathroom and the steps separated my room from my sister’s. Light shined from underneath her door, and I heard the tapping of computer keys as she talked with her friends online.
I hadn’t expected her to still be awake. This would make things trickier.
My door creaked loudly as it closed—stupid old houses. I only made it one more step before Becca’s door opened.
She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, a smug smile on her face. “Where are you off to right now?” she asked, glancing up and down at my outfit.
“Nowhere.” My voice shook, and I placed a hand on the top of the railing.
“Come on.” She brought her dark, curly hair in front of her shoulders and combed her fingers through it. “You’re totally sneaking out.”
“No, I’m not,” I said, although I sounded far from convincing. “I was just going downstairs to get a snack.”
“And that required you to get dressed and put on makeup?” She smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Just because I’m younger than you doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
“I know that,” I said. “I never said you were.”
“Then stop lying to me.” She pouted and leaned against the doorframe. “Because all I’m wondering is … who are you going to see?”
Relief flooded my chest at how she sounded amused by the situation, and not like she wanted to stop me. “A friend from school,” I said quickly, hoping I wasn’t taking so long that Blake thought I was standing him up. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad, okay?”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “But you owe me.” She stomped to the bathroom and shut the door, closing it with more force than necessary.
I made it downstairs and out of the house without any more trouble. The front door shut quietly, and I took a deep breath before walking towards Blake’s Range Rover. I couldn’t believe he was here, and that I was actually doing this.
Trying to will my hands to stop shaking, I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat, smiling in a way that I hoped looked casual. “Hi,” I said softly, keeping my eyes locked on his as I clicked my seatbelt into place. His hair was a bit messy, and he also had circles under his eyes. But he managed to pull it off so he looked more like a rock star than a sleep deprived teen.
“Hey.” His voice was smooth, and he smiled in a way that made me believe he was truly happy I’d come out. “You look good for not being able to sleep.”
“Thanks. So do you.” My cheeks heated, and I glanced down at my hands. I wanted more than anything to ask him about Danielle, but I didn’t want to push it too quickly. “Where are we going?” I asked instead.
“There’s an old playground at the Hemlock Center.” He put the car into drive and headed down my street. “We could go there and hang out.”
“What’s the Hemlock Center?” I asked.
“It used to be a house, but the state bought the property and changed it into a school in the early 1900’s. It was a school for people with … behavior problems, you could say.”
“Like an institution?”
“Exactly.” He nodded, his gaze fixed on the road. “But it closed a few years ago because of problems with safety codes. Now it’s just a bunch of abandoned buildings.”
I eyed him cautiously. “And you go there to hang out a lot?”
“I used to with friends,” he said. “Usually it’s used by freshmen who want a private place to drink. It’s late enough now that it should be quiet.”
I nodded and looked out the window. There were practically no cars on the road at this time of night. Most people were asleep—like I should have been.
Then again, most people weren’t worried about fulfilling a possibly dangerous prophecy tomorrow.
Blake turned onto a dark winding road, and I spotted a three-story stone building with large white columns. The roof had a sharp slant, like the Haunted Mansions in theme parks, with gabled windows on the third floor. A bare tree curved around the side, its looming branches standing guard against unwanted visitors.
He parked the car near a sprawling wooden playground, and I brightened when I saw it. Now I understood why he wanted to come here. The playground must have had ten small platforms on all different levels, some bigger than others. The highest ones had roofs in the shape of fairy-tale towers. Narrow steps and bridges connected each platform to the next. Each platform had different ways of getting onto them—logs, ladders, tires, steps—and the one on the furthest end led out to a set of wooden monkey bars. It reminded me of the Robinson Treehouse.
Nearby was an old merry-go-round—metal, with bars to hold onto, and a thick pole in the center. It looked like it had been built in a different decade than the rest of the playground.
I walked to the merry-go-round, skimming my hand along the rail. Blake followed close behind. “I haven’t been on one of these since fourth grade,” I said, smiling at the memory. “I fell off the side f
rom trying to make it spin too fast.”
“I can picture that.” He laughed. “This time, how about I spin it and you stay in the center so you don’t fall off?”
I tilted my head, like I was unsure, even though there wasn’t a chance I would say no. “Okay,” I finally said. “But if I do fall, it’s your fault for talking me into it.” I climbed onto it and smiled at him, tossing my hair over my shoulders and situating myself in the center.
“I won’t let you fall.” He grabbed the outside rail and started to run before I could say anything more. The playground and the surrounding buildings blurred around me, and it was like I was back in elementary school enjoying recess with my friends. My hair flew in all directions, and even though the wind rushed past my face, the cold didn’t bother me. I laughed and looked up at the stars spinning overhead, shining in the cloudless night. They looked like sparkling diamonds.
Blake jumped on to join me, sitting so close that his arm brushed against mine. Even though we were both wearing jackets, my skin tingled at the proximity to his. We admired the stars in silence, and the merry-go-round spun slower and slower, creaking a few times before going still.
“For a moment I forgot about the prophecy and what we’re doing tomorrow,” I said, running my hands through my hair in an attempt to untangle it. “It all seems so surreal.”
His eyes filled with intensity, and he leaned closer, leaving barely any space between us. “Everything’s been that way since you moved to town,” he said. “Surreal.”
My breath caught, and I was trapped in his gaze. “What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“Nothing’s been normal since you got here,” he said. “After all, if you weren’t here, I might not be able to do this.” He took out his lighter and flicked it on, shooting a fireball into an arc above our heads. It looked like a meteor, dying out before reaching the ground. Then he shot up four more. The sparks of light reminded me of a fountain show, but with fire instead of water.
I watched until they went out, amazed that all of this was real. My world had gone from normal to magical in only a few days. Everything I’d once believed to be true had been turned upside down, and even though it was crazy and possibly dangerous, I loved every second of it.
Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows Page 9
