Arianna watched as Luke caught up with Stephanie near the stairwell. She stared after them, forgetting her newfound ability would allow her to hear their every word. When she heard their voices clearly, she tried to focus on the chatter around her, tried to hum a song, but nothing worked. Nothing she did drowned out their conversation.
“I told you Luke, there’s something wrong with her!” she heard Stephanie argue. “Something weird happened and I’m telling you, her eyes were glowing red in that damn alley. She set that guy on fire and killed him after she messed up his friend.”
“Oh come on, Stephanie! Not this shit again! You were fucking drugged out, and now you’re gonna try to convince me of some crazy-ass story that my girlfriend set a guy on fire with her eyes. Listen to yourself! You sound like a nut, or worse, a druggie. Either way, I’m not listening to your shit anymore!”
“So you’re okay that your girl over there is a freak and a murderer?” Stephanie antagonized him.
“Have you completely lost your mind? Those assholes got what they deserved! They were trying to rape you, and probably would have killed you afterward, in case you forgot. I would have killed them myself had I been there. Shit! I wish your half-baked story were true. I wish Arianna set that scumbag and fire and cooked his ass!
“Do you hear yourself? You’re the one who sounds crazy. It was murder, and we need to tell the cops!”
Arianna wished she could ignore their conversation, ignore Stephanie’s distrust of her, disdain of her. But try as she may, theirs was the only sound she heard in the school. All other conversations had faded. Only Luke and Stephanie’s voices remained.
“The cops? They’ll put you away!” Luke countered.
“Like hell they will!”
“Seriously,” Luke said and sounded as though he’d gained a degree of control over his temper. “Do you really want to bring the police into our lives so they can get a look at mom? They’ll definitely haul her off, I’ll be on my own and you’ll go into the system as a minor.”
Stephanie was quiet for a moment then she added solemnly, “I don’t like her, Luke. She scares me. And I don’t scare easily.”
“Look, you were messed up the other night,” he said more gently. “It was the drugs screwing with your mind, with your sense of reality. Just let it go.”
Stephanie shook her head slowly then continued up the staircase. Arianna waited while Luke jogged back toward her. She tried to smile, to pretend she hadn’t heard what she’d heard. Eavesdropping was as dangerous an ability as mindreading, and one she wanted no part of.
“Sorry about that,” Luke said smiling a bit too broadly, likely trying to compensate for his sister’s low opinion of her. Though he’d have no way of knowing she’d been privy to his interaction with his sister, he still wore a look of guilt plainly. “She was in a hurry and feels bad about leaving like that,” he lied.
“No problem. I understand,” Arianna said and tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat.
“Just Stephanie being Stephanie,” he said and tried to sound nonchalant. But Arianna could see the quick throb in the side of his neck, could practically hear the frantic beat of his heart as he tried to cover for his sister.
“Yep,” she said and felt her words choking with emotion.
“I have to get to my locker, but are we on for after school today? I’ll work on the bike. You’ll make out with me from time to time,” he said and slipped his arms around her waist.
“Um, sure,” she replied softly.
“I was disappointed when you told me your mom was taking you to school today. I would have liked to have had the ride in to be with you.”
“I don’t think Stephanie would have liked that,” she couldn’t help but add.
He held her gaze for a moment then added, “No. I would have stuck her grumpy ass in the back seat and pretended she wasn’t with us,” he said and grinned.
“You lie,” she said lightly.
A look flashed across his face. Perhaps she had hurt him or perhaps he’d been surprised. Either way, the look was fleeting.
“I’m just teasing, Luke,” Arianna said and gave him a squeeze.
“Good. So tell Cathy you won’t need a ride tomorrow morning.”
“I don’t think she’ll ever wake up early enough to drive me to school again. The only reason she did today is she probably thinks it’s my birthday or something.”
Luke laughed then stopped abruptly. “Is it?” he asked and looked worried.
“No. My birthday passed a couple of months ago. I just don’t think she knows that,” Arianna laughed.
“Gotcha,” Luke replied. “All right, I’ll catch up with you later,” he said and pressed his lips to hers.
The feel of his lips and the clean minty, scent of him made her temporarily forget the bizarre state of her life. Her heart ached and the lump returned to her throat when he let go of her and moved down the hall, away from her. She watched him leave, and an instinctive presentiment pervaded her thoughts. In the darkest recesses of her mind, she knew she’d witness him leaving her again, but not for his locker or to go to class. He would be leaving her forever.
Chapter 16
After a school day that had dragged at a pace so slow it had bordered on cruel, Arianna had spent the remainder of the afternoon in Luke’s garage. She’d watched admiringly as he’d labored and toiled with parts she couldn’t name, parts that belonged to her motorcycle, all the while, his hands had worked expertly, skillfully. He was undoubtedly talented at repairing anything with a motor. She’d been impressed with his level of expertise. Moreover, the confidence with which he’d moved had struck her. Until that point, she had only seen him as the person he was with her, and with his friends. He had been relaxed and funny, and quick to flash his warm smile. In his work space, however, he had been intense, focused. Neither his lips nor his eyes had smiled. He had hovered over her bike, his mouth pressed to a hard line, his brow furrowed, and had worked passionately while she’d sat and listened to music. Of course he had stopped occasionally, and had allowed the Luke she knew to return long enough for a kiss. But for the most part, he had concentrated on her bike.
She hadn’t been annoyed by his concentration on her bike rather than her. In fact, she had been thankful for his distraction. She had enjoyed watching him work inasmuch as she could, enjoyed the way the ropey muscles in his arms flexed and bulged, but did not feel like her normal self. She supposed she would never feel like her normal self ever again. Not with the changes that had occurred, and continued to occur. And certainly not now that she knew what she was. She was the Sola, whatever the hell that meant exactly. Her new title seemed to mean she’d be acquiring new powers at warp speed. The most recent had been her heightened hearing. She wondered what would come next. The ability to hear the slightest of sounds had made for an equally draining and revealing day. Mr. Davis and Mr. Smith’s conversation had been the tip of the iceberg. She had been involuntarily privy to enough gossip, information and meanness to last her a lifetime. The only power she could have imagined being more stressful and consuming would have been mindreading. And she prayed that would not come next.
Interspersed between the nasty and conspiring whisperings she’d been able to hear, the fragments of lectures she had been able to actually pay attention to and the general freaking out she had been doing about the chaotic condition of her life, she’d thought about Lily and Desmond. She’d thought about them in the quiet of Luke’s garage and thought about them still.
Home and alone in her cramped room, Arianna dug out her cellphone from her bag and decided to try Lily’s number again. She punched in the ten digits and waited. When she was met with the same set of nearly a half-dozen rings followed by a voicemail recording, she hung up, not bothering to leave yet another message. Frustrated, confused and exhausted, she sat on her lumpy bed that did not smell as bad as it had when she’d first sat on it, and allowed herself to fall back. She stared up at the yellowed water stains on the ceil
ing still clutching her phone. Her muscles yearned for rest, for revitalization. But questions swarmed in her mind and prevented her from relaxing long enough to drift off to sleep. The question of Lily’s whereabouts was chief among them. Ordinary people did not simply stop answering the phone call of friends; they did not disappear as Lily apparently had. Arianna and Lily had been close when she had lived in Rockdale. She had been drawn to the pale, fair-haired girl two years her junior, had felt protective of her even, though she, herself, had been the new girl. In the months after their initial meeting, she had become close to Lily. Lily had been the closet a person had ever been to holding the title of best friend in Arianna’s recent past. They had spent almost every day together, had confided in one another, and had gained each other’s trust. Now, Lily was gone. No fight or falling out had occurred and no indication of their friendship ending when Arianna had moved had been suggested. Arianna could not think of a logical reason why Lily would suddenly sever all contact with her; unless something else had happened, something far more nefarious. The fine hairs on the back of her neck rose at once as awareness slithered up the length of her spine with serpentine deliberateness. She became convinced that something had happened to Lily. She could feel it shiver through her. And with that shiver came panic.
A sense of dread forced her to her feet. Another matter pressed her, made the notion of sleep impossible. She wondered whether she was responsible in some way for Lily’s disappearance. The question burned inside her, seared her to her core. She needed answers. She needed to find out what was happening with Lily. She needed Desmond.
Unable to be still a second longer, Arianna grabbed her coat from her closet and slipped into her boots.
“I’m going out,” she called to her mother to be sure Cathy Rose was not the last to know about it.
Her mother did not reply and she assumed the woman was either too drunk to answer or did not care. Either way, she was not waiting around to find out. She dashed down the hallway and out the front door.
Outside, the temperature had fallen considerably. She pulled her coat closed and wrapped her arms around her waist. She looked left then right, undecided about where she should go exactly. She just knew she needed to move, to be away from her trailer. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but needed to find Desmond. If he had been with her for her entire life, he would not be hard to find. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the crisp night air. As she exhaled, she decided she would walk for a mile or so to an open field she’d passed on her way to school, before her motorcycle had been totaled, and summon him. She wasn’t sure how to do it, if there was some special witch way of doing it, but was confident she would figure it out. She had to figure it out. Lily’s life could depend on it.
With a plan in place, Arianna began moving. She walked out of the trailer development and on to the main road. Her feet crunched rhythmically on the gravelly shoulder of the street, the faint whoosh of the occasional passing car, a soothing sound. Dried leaves rustled and stirred and a faint but chill breeze blew. Overhead, the stars, abundant and gleaming against the blackened night sky, looked as though they quivered rather than remain fixed, shuddering with the same nervous energy Arianna possessed. She would get answers, answers she might not be ready to hear, but answers, nonetheless. She picked up her pace and walked more quickly, determined to get to the clearing as quickly as possible. Beyond the clearing was a wooded area. No houses skirted the clearing or the woods. As far as she knew, it existed as undeveloped land. She pictured it in her mind, willing her legs to move faster. She would go to the woods and call for Desmond.
After nearly twenty minutes of walking, Arianna’s lungs burned. Despite the burn, however, she wanted a cigarette. But she would not smoke before calling to Desmond. She crossed the clearing and stepped into the woods. Around her, barren trees reached skyward with skeletal branches, piercing the navy heavens with their blackened limbs. The crunch of fallen leaves gave her pause. She quickly scanned her surroundings, checking to see if anyone lingered near. She stilled herself and listened, every muscle frozen, for the sound of movement, human movement. When none was perceived and she was confident she was alone, she spoke Desmond’s name aloud.
“Desmond!” she called and felt foolish for a fleeting moment.
A section of the air before her became visible, quivering and shimmering like heat radiating off pavement on a sweltering summer day. She instinctively stepped back, away from it, and waited. She knew she should have been afraid, that anyone else would have been afraid, but felt fearless, her need for answers superseding any fear. Light burst briefly from the shimmering air, creating a phenomenon similar to a camera flash. The flare had been unexpected, her eyes hadn’t been prepared for it, and she was blinded briefly. But when the dark shapes subsided from her field of vision, Desmond stood before her.
“Hello, Arianna,” he said in his soothing voice.
The sight of him stole her breath. She’d forgotten how tall and broad-shouldered he was, how strong he looked. How beautiful he was. His fair skin, golden hair and brilliant blue eyes shined against the moonless night and Arianna had to remind herself to breathe.
“Hello, Desmond,” she replied and her reason for calling to him came rushing back with her breath.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“No. Nothing is okay. Everything has changed,” she said honestly.
Rationally, she knew her changes had not been his fault, that whatever defective DNA she possessed, or birthright she was heir to, was responsible for it all, yet could not halt the accusatory tone in her voice.
“How can I help?” he said, unbothered by her harshness.
“Well, you could start by answering one of the, I don’t know, thousands of questions I have for you,” she huffed.
“Okay, shoot,” he replied.
“When you told me that the Carl thing was a catalyst to get me and my mom out of Rockdale because someone was getting close, who did you mean? Who was following me?”
“Howard Kane. Howard Kane was, and is, following you.”
“Who is Howard Kane? I’ve never heard that name in my life. Why would he be following me?”
“Because he wants you dead,” Desmond stated as matter-of-factly as he would have said it was nighttime.
“What? Why?” Arianna spluttered. “Why would he want me dead?”
“He knows the Sola is near, is drawn to her, to you, though he does not know your name or what you look like, and he will not stop until he finds you. He is the leader of an organization, a church filled with followers who hunt people like us.”
“Hunt people like us,” Arianna echoed his haunting words. “Like what, like we’re game or something?”
“Yes, just like big game. Only unlike Bengal tigers or a pride of African lions, we have supernatural powers.”
“With our powers, how does he manage to kill anyone?”
“He is a very skilled hunter. He and the hundreds of supporters he has get us by targeting the ones whose powers are not yet fully developed, or by surprising us.”
Us, she thought. Desmond used the word so casually to refer to her and the witches of the world, so nonchalantly. She still struggled with the fact that she was part of a supernatural order of beings. Not just one among them, she was their paranormal prophet, designated to unite them in their fight to exist.
“I don’t understand, how does he find us in the first place?”
“I don’t know how he is able to find us, but he does. He’s been waiting for your arrival. He’s been following you for months now.”
“So he was in Rockdale, this Howard Kane,” Arianna thought out loud. “And right behind me, on my trail. Lily was left behind.” Emotion collected in her throat and constricted it. She tried to swallow against it, to speak, but her words came out in a hoarse whisper, “Was Lily one of us? Did this Howard Kane, did he kill Lily?” she asked, afraid to hear Desmond’s answer.
Desmond was quiet, pensive,
his face unreadable.
“Did something happen to Lily?” she screamed, her voice suddenly strong.
“I don’t know,” Desmond replied. “I left with you, remember. My mission is to protect you.”
“So you let something happen to her,” she accused more than questioned. “You let them hurt my friend!” She lunged at him and pounded her fists against his hard chest. He did not flinch, just stood stoically, unmoving.
“How can you just stand there? Don’t you care that a sixteen year-old girl could be hurt, or dead?”
“Of course, I do. But my goal is to,” he began, but she cut him off.
“I know! Because your goal is to protect me; I get it! But she’s innocent! She’s never hurt anyone,” Arianna said as tears welled then spilled down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Arianna, for all of this,” Desmond tried to comfort her.
“Good for you! Good for you that you’re sorry! ‘Cause I didn’t ask for any of this! I didn’t ask to be the Sola or whatever the hell you say I am. Life was hard enough before. Now I’m some fucking freak that’s supposed to save others like me when I can’t even save the only true friend I ever had!”
“Arianna,” Desmond attempted.
“No! Lily’s probably dead because of me! Just for knowing me!” she cried and took several steps backward, the need for distance between her and Desmond overwhelming.
“You don’t know that anything has happened to your friend, Arianna,” he tried to assure her.
“And neither do you,” she accused. “I thought you were some all-knowing warlock, but you can’t even tell me if one girl is okay!”
“First of all, I am not an all-knowing warlock,” he said shedding his calm tone of voice for a more commanding one. “I have powers that are limited and will someday pale in comparison to the ones you will possess when the transformation is complete. And second of all, I needed to get you out of that town before Howard discovered that you’re the Sola. I didn’t have time to check in on your friend, who, by the way, may very well be a witch herself given that you felt drawn to her and protective of her. Had you ever felt that way, an inexplicable pull toward another?” he asked.
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