Wish

by Janet MacLeod

  I made a face at him but he seemed genuinely upset so I didn’t say anything.

  “You think this has something to do with Mom being gone?” he asked. His face showed no emotion, but I knew him better. “Nana said not to talk to him if he does. You think he’s crazy?” he asked. “You think he’ll show up?”

  I didn’t want to answer any of those questions.

  We had different feelings about dear old dad, Cody and I. Far as I knew, Cody held onto his belief that someday Dad would be back. I didn’t subscribe to the same theory. Cody wasn’t three anymore and ever since my stupid sixteenth birthday I realized things weren’t exactly what they seemed in my family. I did think Dad might be crazy. Probably driven there by an enchanted chauffer. On a broom. Maybe he’d found out about the witch stuff, lost his marbles and bolted.

  I lifted my shoulder. “I don’t know,” I said to Cody. I didn’t know what to tell him. Nana made me promise not to say anything about my magic. I guessed that also included Mom’s book.

  Cody stared into space. “Nana thinks he’s dangerous. But I don’t believe it. He can’t be. I mean. He used to hold my hand when we crossed the street. And he always read to me before I went to bed. He always told me how much he loved me.”

  Cody had been little, but he remembered.

  I tried, really tried to share his opinion of the man I had no memories of, but it was like trying to love a ghost.

  “I don’t know, Cody. He’s been gone a long time. I mean. I kind of thought he might be dead.”

  Cody frowned at me like I’d said something evil. I wanted to shake him. He’d been gone over fifteen years without as much as a phone call or an email.

  “Who knows what he’s been up to,” I added.

  “He was a good dad.”

  “He left us, Cody. He walked away.”

  “Well. Apparently he’s been sick!”

  “Yeah? Well apparently he still is. And from the sounds of it, he’s a little bit scary sick. He must be if Nana is so worried. Anyhow. It’s not him I’m concerned about. I mean, I don’t even know the guy.” My stomach sort of plunged at the thought of actually seeing him but I tried to block it. The fear created a black pool, surprising me with its depth. “I’m worried about Mom,” I said, trying to convince both of us.

  Cody’s eyebrows pressed together. “Mom? Nana said Mom’s fine. She’s coming home.”

  “Yeah. Fine. She’s been gone for a year, because she’s fine. And Nana was supposed to bring her back, um, yesterday.” Which was still kind of today to me.

  I pressed my lips tight and rubbed my temples. My brain would explode trying to figure all this out.

  If everything were hunky dory with Mom, Nana would have brought her home, she’d be here already. Maybe she was nuttier than a box of Cracker Jacks. Just like Dad.

  Man. I seriously needed to replant my family tree.

  A sense of pure terror vacuumed away my breath. Cody and I were all alone with no one to rely on. Being a witch might help except I didn’t have any idea how to control my powers. I didn’t even know what my powers were. And better, I wasn’t supposed to let anyone know about them. I still couldn’t even remember most of my fast-forwarded day yesterday.

  I so needed to find out what else had happened. “Don’t worry about it, Code. I’m sure it’s all good.”

  Uh huh. Just like turning sixteen was all-good. Except. It wasn’t.

  “So, um, anyway yesterday. Uh, after school - you drove me home, right?” I asked hoping to trigger another memory flash.

  Cody took the last bite of his bagel. “Same as every Monday, Sydney. Right after football practice.”

  I nodded and a flood of images and sounds rushed through my mind. The day’s events zipped by in fast forward. I remembered Stevie buying me a giant pad from the school dispenser. We’d skipped first class and hung out in the bathroom to avoid getting busted. It sucked even in fast motion.

  I cut gym class too, because I could handle the thought of modeling the disgusting but mandatory school shorts the color of puke green and yellow. With a big pad between my legs. Swear to God they were designed to look horrible on everyone except tanned and blonde Jenny Truman.

  All day kids all over school chattered about Mike, Jenny and I. By the end of the day rumors had me either married to Mike and pregnant or beating up Jenny in the hallway. I kept my head down, dreading running into Mike or Jenny, but Mike didn’t even show up for school, which was a huge relief. Jenny stayed clear of me the rest of the day, too. Just as I’d wished.

  Wish.

  I needed to test my powers, so I might as well wish for something to make me feel better. In times of stress there’s nothing like massive carbohydrate overload to send my brain into numb oblivion.

  “I wish I had a big cinnamon bun for breakfast,” I said out loud. “With lots of icing.”

  Cody wiped the corners of his mouth. “Dude. I brought some home from school yesterday, remember? Fundraising for football. We had to buy a box to support the team. They’re still in the kitchen. Have one.” He looked like he wanted to bolt.

  As soon as he said it, I pictured Cody bringing them home, complaining about empty calories in cinnamon buns.

  “You want me to take you to the doctor or something?” Cody asked, watching me stare into space with wonder.

  I chomped a finger nail like it was a sticky bun.

  “You look pretty stressed. And you’re chewing your nails off.”

  I pulled the finger out of my mouth.

  “A doctor can’t help me.” General practitioners couldn’t handle this. Even I knew that.

  “Maybe a different kind…”

  “I’m not crazy.” I chewed my lip. Or was I? Was I losing my mind like the rest of my family seemed to be doing?

  “I wish I had a million dollars.”

  There. I waited.

  “Money wishes are out of the question. Rule number 497. At no time will a witch be permitted to wish for money, unless it is an emergency situation, and the wish is only for the amount to get out of a pickle. Material wishes must be cleared by the Institute,” Cody recited in a monotone voice as if quoting a source and then his face went blank.

  “A pickle? The Institute?” I asked. “What are you talking about Cody?”

  His chin slackened and his mouth opened. He stared at me as if I’d been the one spouting off nonsense. “What?”

  “What you just said,” I yelled. “You just told me about some stupid money rule.”

  He gawked at me. “I didn’t say anything.”

  He actually stared at me, wide eyed and freaking out, as if I were the crazy one. He didn’t remember his little speech about rules? Well. If I was getting being led away by men in white coats, Cody was definitely coming with me.

  Carb craving forgotten, I held in a horrified screech and turned and scrambled back upstairs without another word to the brother. I had to get to Mom’s book. Maybe it could tell me what was going on. Why Cody had spouted out a witch rule and then couldn’t remember speaking. And while I was at it, why I was reading his mind sometimes.

  Maybe the book would have answers. I hoped so, because I needed them. I rushed into mom’s room, slamming the door behind me. A gush of blood exploded between my legs and I groaned wondering how long the period thing would last. So not what I needed on top of everything else.

  “Sydney,” Cody yelled up the stairs. “I’m leaving for school in five minutes.”

  “Good for you,” I yelled back. “I’m not coming.”

  Silence. And then his feet clomped up the stairs. He reached the hallway.

  “What?” he called. “Sydney? You have to come.” His voice sounded muffled through the door but his apprehension was almost tangible.

  “Sick. Staying home,” I yelled. “Female problems. Aunt Flo.”

  Geez. Too much information.

  I heard his voice right inside my head.

  Get out of my head, I screamed in my thoughts.

&nb
sp; “Whatever, I’m not in your head,” he yelled. “I’m out of here.” He clomped back down the hallway.

  I made a face. Having a conversation with my brother without opening my mouth was not my favorite way to communicate.

  Why couldn’t I have gotten a normal sister? Of course I couldn’t. Not in this family of nut job women.

  I rubbed my head trying to get his voice out.

  Dad probably took off to get away from the crazy. If he does come back he’ll take off as soon as Sydney opens her mouth.

  My eyes snapped open. Hey! Not nice! The door slammed behind him as Cody ran out of the house to his car.

  Another noise I didn’t recognize startled me.

  I grabbed at my throat and whipped around.

  Eyes peered at me from the bed.

  “Oh my God, Magic. You scared me.”

  He purred.

  “Insolent cat.” I grabbed him and he squirmed but I carried him to the door and dropped him in the hallway.

  I shut the door behind me, marched back to my mom’s walk-in closet and got down on my knees. I found the latch in the floor and pulled open the door.

  Something brushed against my leg.

  I screamed.

  Magic rubbed against me, circling my leg.

  “What the heck? Do you walk through doors?” I snapped at the cat.

  Magic prowled around me kneading the carpet with his claws and mewing. I glared at him and then shrugged. “I guess there’s no use throwing you out again.” I ignored his protests and grabbed the book from the crawl space. I put the door back down and carried the book to the bed and sat, staring at the cover. Magic purred and padded on top of my bare feet.

  “Yup. That’s you all right,” I told him as I looked at the picture of the cat.

  I flipped the book open to the picture of my necklace. Chills ran down my neck. I reached up and rubbed the jewels and a light pulse hummed under my fingers. I closed the book and studied the spine. The pendant. I lifted my shirt and touched my shoulder, my fingers lightly tracing the identical symbol etched into my skin.

  I lay it flat on my lap and opened it again. The pages were thick and soft under my fingers. I turned past the first page. A single sentence was etched into the top of the next page.

  “FOR EVERY GRANT WITCH THERE IS A SENTRY.”

  The letters were fancy with lots of loops and flourishes. I peered closer. I saw images imprinted into the paper in black and white, pictures of men. The images seemed to go in and out of focus.

  “Sentry?” I said out loud.

  Magic screeched.

  I jumped up to my feet and then shot him a dirty look and sat, turning the page.

  The Sentry is the Witch’s Guardian, a male who possesses powers. The powers may be dormant, but he may choose to activate them. The Sentry protects his Witch without prevaricating.

  I glared down at Magic. “Goobledy gook. So, where is my Sentry?” I asked him.

  I held my breath, hopeful Magic would answer. “You know Sabrina’s witch could talk?” I told him.

  I couldn’t help feeling peevish. What was I expecting? A talking cat to give me answers? I glared at Magic. He hissed. Figured. Non-talking cat with attitude. I turned back to the page with the shifting images of men.

  Spooky was an understatement. Some of the faces were young, some very old. Some looked friendly, some scary. My fingers traced over the features of a handsome man and then I pulled back as if the photo had reached out to grab me. It was a picture of my dad.

  Cody kept a picture in his room, a shot of the two of them. It was the only framed picture of him in the house. A few pictures float around in photo albums in the china cabinet but none were on display.

  I shivered, seeing his face in the book. Goosebumps scurried across my arms. I thought of Nana’s words. Warning me to be careful if he showed up.

  She didn’t say he’d turn up in the book. I wondered where he’d disappeared to after I was born. And if I had something to do with his going. Or the picture.

  I flipped pages.

  KINDREDS are sources of energy for Grant Witches. Witches channel powers through KINDREDS. Kindred’s are faithful navigators, never betraying the witch or each other. Regeneration is part of their reward for life with the witch. Kindred’s stay together in every new life.

  I remembered Nana calling Cody Kindred. Stevie, too.

  “Nana?” I said out loud, hoping she would somehow hear me and answer.

  Magic cleaned his fur with his sandpapery pink tongue. No other sound filled the air.

  I flipped over a few more pages in the book but I couldn’t read the writing. It seemed to be a different language, with flourishes and letters I didn’t recognize.

  “It’s official,” I said to my cat. “I’m a witch.”

  An overwhelming urge to lie down on the bed and pull the covers over my head seized me. At least until Nana got home. I didn’t have any desire to face this on my own. I put the book down and curled up into a fetal position on the bed.

  “I wish there was someone sane to help me figure this out,” I whispered out loud.

  “Sydney?” A voice called my name from the hallway.

  CHAPTER SIX

  I jumped to my feet.

  “Keith? Oh My God. I almost peed my pants. What are you doing here?”

  “The front door wasn’t locked,” he called through the door. “Are you okay in there?”

  Just friggin fine. Under my breath I whispered the first outlandish thing I could think of. “I wish Keith was wearing a blue denim shirt.” Ha. That should mess him up. Keith never wore anything other than black t-shirts with his jeans.

  I crept to the door and opened it. Keith stood in the hallway, wearing a denim blue shirt. He smiled at me with his usual half grin.

  “What the heck are you wearing?” I demanded.

  He looked down at his shirt a little puzzled and then his features crinkled up. “It’s a shirt. What’s wrong, Sydney? Are you the fashion police? You sound pissed off.”

  I shot him an evil eye. “You never wear denim shirts.”

  He rubbed at his chin. “Today I did.”

  “And, how’d you know I’d be in my mom’s room?” I didn’t let go of the door.

  “I saw Cody on the way to school. He flagged me over to tell me you were in your mom’s room. Freaking out. He asked me to check on you. What’s going on?”

  Tears gathered at the back of my eyes. I leaned against the door. A girl can only take so much. Throw in hormone imbalance and who wouldn’t want to cry?

  I thought of Nana’s warning. Not to tell a soul. Well. Where was she when I needed her? Besides, Keith was my best friend.

  “I’m a witch,” I blurted out.

  He scratched his head and sort of grinned. “Um. You’re not so bad. This have to do with what Stevie wrote on the back of your shirt yesterday?”

  “No. I mean it. Witch. As in Magical. Potions, cats, Wicca stuff, you know. Do you believe in Magic?” I didn’t breathe waiting for him to answer.

  “You mean your cat?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. He gently pushed me and the door aside, and took a few steps into the room. I backed away and bent down to scoop up Magic, but he gave a meow of displeasure and jumped out of from my arms.

  “I’m serious.” I stared at Keith, trying not to cry.

  “I know. It’s okay.” Keith stepped towards me.

  I took another step back but he reached out and touched my shoulder.

  As soon as our skin connected an image zapped into my head. This time it was a blurry vision of Keith, as if I were spying on him from a distance, but he looked right at me, even though I knew I wasn’t seeing the guy in my Mom’s room. The boy I saw appeared to be Keith, but it wasn’t the friend I knew. Instead of calm and casual, his eyes blazed with hatred. Keith never looked at me that way.

  I must have whimpered or cried out in fear because instantly the vision vanished. I blinked at Keith. His fingers had left my shoulder. Th
e image of him in my head was gone.

  He examined me with his gentle eyes. My Keith again. “Sydney? You okay?”

  “No.” I stepped back from him and rubbed my arm. “Something really weird is going on.” My unexplained tattoo throbbed. My necklace tingled on my neck.

  “I know. You told me yesterday.”

  “Yesterday? We had this conversation yesterday?” The sensation of a fast-forwarded video played in my head again and I remembered talking to Keith after school before Cody drove me home. “You told me you were open to things you didn’t understand,” I remembered. “You said you got feelings about things.”

  He nodded.

  “I told you I thought I might be losing my mind. That it turned out I was like my mom after all.” I lifted my finger to the side of my head and made the circular motion.

  Keith didn’t say anything.

  “Well.” I took a deep breath. “I’m not.”

  Keith raised his eyebrows.

  “Crazy,” I clarified. “I am like my mom, but I’m not crazy.”

  Keith’s mouth twisted upwards, an imitation smile. “I’m glad. I wasn’t really worried that you were, but I’m glad you know it too.”

  I grabbed his hand, ready to pull back if I saw scary things again. There was nothing. Relieved, I held on.

  “I mean. She’s not crazy either. She’s not really at the Looney Bin. She’s at the Institute, just like Nana said. Only it’s an Institute for Witches. Not crazy people.”

  “In the forest,” he whispered.

  “What?” I asked. “Focus, Keith. I’m serious. I think she’s in trouble. And. I think my Dad has something to do with it.”

  “Your Dad?” Keith gave his head a little shake and looked like how I felt when I tried to figure out a Rubik’s cube. Completely baffled.

  “God. It’s so complicated. Nana said he might show up. And that he’s the one who’s crazy. And I saw his picture,” I told him. “My Dad’s picture. I saw it in the book.” I cringed for a second. Nana would totally kill me for telling him all this and about the book, but again. Where was she when I needed her?

  “What book?” Keith pulled his hand back, hesitating as if he wanted to run away, like a postal worker about to deliver mail to the house with the Pit Bull. I sympathized.