Witch Ball - BK 3

by Linda Joy Singleton

  "My little babe?" Her wrinkles softened. "Can't be so, not when he barely breathed a few breaths before his tiny body went still."

  "But he loved you for that short time, as much as you loved him," I said, knowing this with a strong certainty. "All you have to do to be with him is go into the light."

  "He's waiting . . . for me?" Her voice was hushed.

  "Yes. He's already been waiting a long time. Don't make him wait any longer." I pointed towards the brilliant light which now seemed close enough to touch. "Go to him."

  "My son," she murmured. "It can't be so."

  "But it is. He's reaching out for you."

  "Yes ... yes! I can see him." Hortense's face glowed and slowly she held out her arms. Then she moved forward. I stood aside, watching her transform; the wrinkles faded to soft luminous skin. Even her drab skirt seemed brighter and her gray hair darkened to a lovely chestnut brown. Light and love enveloped her like a sweet fog. And the last thing I saw was her arms upraised and a child's voice calling out, "Mama!"

  Then Opal was by my side and I was overcome by dizziness. She held me tight, whispering that I had a choice, too. When I looked down I saw the mangled truck, the wheels still spinning. There was a strong smell of diesel. And I thought of everyone I loved-Nona, my mother, father, sisters, and friends.

  Light faded and I was being sucked into a tornado. There was heaviness, enormous pain, and everything was black.

  "Hold on," I heard a voice above me.

  Warm hands grasped me gently, lifting my head. I felt warm lips on mine. Blowing air, expanding my chest.

  "Breathe, damn it!"

  Dominic. I thought. Its Dominic.

  More pressure on my mouth and a pressure on my chest. The pain was so severe, I backed off and started to float away.

  "Sabine!" I saw Dominic's face over mine. "Stay with me ... I won't let you go!"

  He held tighter, the mouth-to-mouth he'd been using to save me deepening into a warm kiss. He caressed my hair, his touch gentle, not letting go. I clung to him, kissing him back, giving into tingling desire. Sinking into him, floating in sweet emotions.

  I whispered his name, other sensations heightened-cold gravel underneath me on hard ground, stinging, cuts on my skin, and a growing ache in my head. Everything blurred and I trembled. Except for the warmth on my lips, the rest of my body exploded with pain.

  There was the sound of sirens and I saw red and blue flashing lights. I thought wistfully of the bright lights I left behind, the homecoming I didn't join.

  Then I blacked out.

  "Saturday," the nurse told me when I woke up and asked what day it was.

  "What?" I thought I was yelling, but the sound that came from my throat was only a small frog croak. My vision was foggy, but after blinking, I could see I was in a hospital room: white walls, white sheets, and a garden of brilliant flowers on a nearby shelf.

  "Sabine honey," I heard my grandmother's voice. She stood up from a corner chair and rushed over to my bedside. "You're back."

  "Was I ... I gone?" I whispered.

  She gave me an odd look. "Don't you remember?"

  It seemed strange, this question coming from her. But I knew what she meant, although my memory of Opal, Hortense, and the others was already fading; like a dream slipping away upon waking. I just nodded.

  She told me it was very early on Saturday, so she was my only visitor. "But it's been crowded with everyone who cares about you. Your doctor joked about selling tickets. Your parents and sisters had to go back home but will return later. And your friends should show up soon."

  I had so many questions but Nona had moved over to the shelf with flowers and was reading off the "get well soons" and other messages. When she came to a small, glass vase with wildflowers, she withdrew an attached envelope and handed it to me.

  "This came from Dominic. He acted quite mysterious, telling me not to open it until you were awake, and said it was a surprise for both of us."

  I pushed myself farther up against the pillow and weakly ran my thumbnail against the sealed flap. I lifted out a folded paper. It said: Thirds is a charm. And it was signed simply "D."

  I was puzzled, until I realized there was something else in the envelope. When I looked inside, I gave an excited cry. Then I lifted up a tiny, silver charm-very old, finely hand-crafted-and shaped like a tiny fish.

  Nona was thrilled, full of hope that the remedy book would be found soon. And I was thrilled, too, for many reasons.

  I wanted to ask which friends had come, flashing back to that kiss with Dominic. I couldn't pretend nothing was between us. He'd breathed life into me; a deep kiss that told me more than I wanted to know. Yet it filled me with joy, too. And I had to admit, finally to myself, that I enjoyed it.

  So what did it all mean? Was there something serious between us? We were different, but he understood about my gift and I couldn't deny the chemistry beween us. My relationship with josh was over anyway. He'd been angry with me for standing him up and Evan would have told him about my weirdness by now, so he wouldn't want anything to do with me. Without Josh, school would be lonely. But with Dominic, after school could prove very interesting.

  My head started to throb again, and soon a nurse appeared with pain pills. I sipped some juice, swallowed the pills, then fell back asleep.

  When I woke again, Nona was gone. But I had another visitor-the last person I expected to see.

  "Josh! You ... here?" I said hoarsely, surely I must've been hallucinating.

  He stood up from the uncomfortable-looking plastic chair, and came over to my side. "Sabine! I've been so worried."

  "You have?"

  "What do you expect? You're my girl." He reached out to squeeze my hand. "I freaked when I heard about the accident. And I felt terrible for treating you so rough. I didn't know about your sister running away. I should have trusted that you wouldn't have ditched me without a good reason. Can you forgive me?"

  "Me? Forgive you?"

  "I jumped to the wrong conclusion. Thank God you're okay." He reached out to squeeze my hand. "And we're together. That's all that matters."

  "But ..." My throat tightened, so I took a sip of water. "But Evan ... didn't he ... tell you?"

  "Oh, that." Josh rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he showed me a newspaper clipping and told me some stuff about you."

  "Are you mad?"

  "You bet I am! At all those stupid people at your school-and at Evan. No wonder you kept this a secret. It must have hurt."

  "You don't ... mind?"

  "It's not your fault that other people are ignorant. I know what it's like to lose someone closeyou want to blame someone. But those people had no right making up those lies about you."

  "Lies?"

  "Yeah, sure. Only an idiot would believe you have the power to predict the future."

  "Yeah." I laughed shakily. "It's crazy."

  "Although right now I can predict a great future for us." He looked down at me with such a tender expression, my heart swelled with gratitude.

  Then the door opened and Manny and Thorn burst in.

  Josh said he'd leave so they could visit for a while, but he promised to come back later. Then he bent down to gently kiss me. A very sweet kiss that should have made me feel wonderful. Instead I ached with guilt for betraying him ... and an uncertain longing.

  I laid back against my pillow, weary yet glad to be alive and surrounded by friends.

  I listened while Manny and Thorn filled me in on everything that happened since my accident. Thorn had indeed found K.C.'s car, only it had been stripped and most of his stuff was gone. So Thorn had taken him home to her minister mother-and he was staying with them while he sorted out his life.

  Penny-Love and Nona showed up next. PennyLove was excited to start working with Nona, and I could tell Nona was relieved to have someone help with her business. Nona didn't say much, just held my hand, while Penny-Love went on with school gossip and the newest on her latest love. I didn't have the heart to tell
her Jacques was really plain Jack and might be dealing drugs. Maybe later ...

  By the time they left, I was so exhausted, I only ate part of my bland hospital lunch, then sank into a deep sleep.

  It was almost dark out my window when my eyes opened. The visitor chairs were empty. I was alone. And I found myself wondering why Dominic hadn't come to see me. Thinking about him brought a sudden insight. When he thought I was dying, he'd told me he loved me. In fact, according to the doctor, I had died for a few seconds. All the predictions had come true.

  But now what would happen? Josh was still my boyfriend-then there was Dominic. I couldn't believe two great guys cared about me-and I had absolutely no idea what to do about it.

  There was a knock on my door, and I was surprised since visiting hours had ended. I called out a weak "come in." It was my mother.

  "Good evening, Sabine," she said, her words formal but there was a warmth in her tone that was new.

  "Hi, Mom. Are Dad and the girls here?"

  She shook her head. "Not this time, but they'll be here tomorrow."

  "Good."

  She pulled a chair close to my bed. "I purposely came alone, because there's something important I want to tell you."

  "What?"

  "I've done some soul-searching lately. The shock of Amy running away, and then your accident, made me rethink a lot of things."

  "I'm fine now," I told her. "I'm bruised and cut up, but nothing serious. You don't have to worry about me."

  "But I do worry. I'm sorry for everything, Sabine. I realize now that I made a horrible mistake."

  "Mistake?" I asked, puzzled by the anguish in her voice.

  "Yes, dear." She reached out and grasped my hand. "That's why I've made a serious decision about you."

  "What decision?"

  "I was wrong to make you leave home. It's time I made amends." She peered close into my face and tightened her hold on my hand. "Sabine, as soon as you're well enough to travel, you're moving back to San Jose."

  The following is an unedited excerpt from The Seer 4, Sword Play by Linda Joy Singleton.

  Waking up to find a cute guy sitting on your bed might be a dream come true for some girls.

  But not me.

  Especially when the guy was dead-and some people think I killed him.

  Normally ghosts don't scare me. Coming from a long line of psychics, I'd been weaned on Ghosts, Spirits, and Angels 101. I've had visions of the future and long chatty conversations with my spirit guide. But this was different. This was Kip.

  Seeing him so alive and real-only six months after his death was beyond freaky. Terror sliced through me like a sharp blade.

  "Go away!" I shouted, then ducked underneath my pillow, my eyes shut tightly and my heart pounding furiously.

  Please let this be a bad dream. Yeah, that must be it. I was having a nightmare or maybe a reaction to the pain medication. I remembered falling asleep, relieved to be out of the hospital and back in my own familiar quilted bed. After surviving a deadly road accident, it was logical that I'd dream about car crashes-including the tragedy that would always haunt me. But that was all in the past. I mean, this could not be happening. No way was Kip Hurst in my room.

  But when I peeked out, there he was, decked out in his #17 football jersey (which was odd since he'd died in a formal prom tux). Energy flickered around him, making his face seem unnaturally pale while his legs were so transparent that when he stood it looked like he was floating over my bed. A football appeared in his hand and he spun it on his fingertip, grinning at me in that arrogant way I always detested.

  "Go away!" I tried again.

  With a tilt of his head, he regarded me with wry curiosity.

  "Get out of here!"

  He tossed the ball so high it disappeared into my dark ceiling.

  I stared up, waiting for the football-and my own sanity-to return. Long moments stretched on in eerie silence; then the ball slowly sailed into his hand. Only his energy flickered and his hand wasn't there. The football balanced on its pointy end in empty air. I pinched myself, just to check if I was, in fact, dreaming. Ouch! Definitely not a dream.

  Kip's hand may have vanished and his legs were see-through, but his grin flashed with a mega-watt cocky attitude. Clearly he was not going away.

  Gathering my blankets around me, I scooted upright in bed and faced this ghost from my past. Kip had been a star football player with major league expectations and he'd also been a three-time homecoming king.

  At my old school, Arcadia High, where sports ruled and had more funding than any other department, Kip was truly royalty.

  I wasn't one of Kip's fans. It just seemed to me that jocks were overrated. I mean, what was so great about pummeling players on a field? I hadn't even known Kip, except by reputation ... until The Vision.

  Then why was he here so many months later?

  Unless he blamed me ...

  I swallowed hard, then forced out the question I knew I had to ask. "What do you want?"

  I could barely make out his shadowy hand pointing directly at me.

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