Fate Changer (The Lost Witch Trilogy #3) (3 page)

Sarah breathed in deeply and pushed harder and deeper. Teresa started making a high pitched humming noise, but Sarah ignored it. She ignored everything but the path she was on. Her energy was pushing towards the frontal lobe of Teresa’s mind and without any warning, it felt as if Sarah was being grabbed and pulled into darkness. She could just barely hear Teresa’s frantic humming as she felt herself falling into a dark empty space. She screamed in her mind and pushed her energy outwards, trying to grasp onto anything she could find to stop her descent into the cavern of Teresa’s mind. But she kept falling. There was nothing to hold onto. Slowly she felt herself settle and knew she was somehow lost inside of Teresa. She could no longer hear Teresa’s humming and she no longer had an awareness of her own body. All she had now was darkness and silence.

Sarah pulled in all of her energy and knew there was one thing she could hold onto and reach out for that would never let her down.
Zane
. She centered all of her energy thinking about Zane and felt her power multiply immediately. She focused on thoughts of him and her love for him and felt herself lift upwards out of the darkness. She felt something grasp onto her power, but she ignored it. She rushed towards the light and awareness as fast as she could, just wanting to be free of the silence that had so completely overwhelmed her.

She pulled herself towards the light, going slower and slower as she felt her strength weaken, but she knew she was close because she could now hear Teresa’s humming again. And then she saw an opening. She gathered all of her remaining power and rocketed upwards and out. As she came fully back into the light and drew herself out of Teresa’s mind and back into her own, she felt so weak she collapsed against the back of the couch.

She closed her eyes and felt shaky as Teresa stopped humming, her hands still clasping hers tightly. It had been too much. Whatever had taken Teresa’s mind, it was very different than what had happened to Agnes. With Agnes, someone had tried to break or tear her mind in two. With Teresa, there was just a blank nothingness. Sarah shivered in fear at how close she had come to being overcome and lost in it.

She waited a few moments, knowing Charlie would be returning any second and slowly opened her eyes. She was surprised to see that Teresa had moved from the couch and was now kneeling on the floor in front of her, staring at her curiously.

Sarah blinked her eyes a few times and then groaned softly as she tried to sit up. She felt as if she had called up the ocean, flew and dug a few tunnels into the ground at the same time. She was completely physically and magically exhausted.

“Thank you.”

Sarah ran a shaky hand through her red wavy hair and stared at Teresa in surprise. “
Excuse me?
Did you just say, thank you?” she asked, her voice sounding like a croak.

Teresa studied her for a few moments before smiling cautiously at her. “You were so bright. I grabbed onto you and followed you up. You opened the door for me. Thank you.”

Sarah rubbed her hands over her face and closed her eyes for a moment. When she was finally able to crack her eyes open again, Teresa was still in front of her, still smiling and still looking grateful.

“Teresa, do you know who you are?” she finally asked, frowning at the woman.

Teresa grinned and nodded. “Of course. I’m Teresa Prescott. I’m a senior in high school. I’m going to college next year on scholarship and I live on Wellington Road. Who are you?”

Sarah sat up slowly and bit her lip. Charlie was in for a surprise. Sarah leaned her head against the arm of the couch and tried to preserve the rest of her strength. She didn’t know how she would be able to walk home in the state she was in. If Charles saw her now, he’d be completely uninterested in her. She felt as weak as a newborn kitten.

She watched silently as Teresa walked around the room curiously. “Did I bump my head again? Am I in the hospital? Last summer during Cheer camp, one of the girls dropped me and I banged up my head pretty bad but I was only in the hospital for a few hours.”

Sarah licked her dry lips and shook her head. “No Teresa, you don’t have a cheer leading injury and this isn’t the hospital.”

Teresa looked over her shoulder at Sarah, waiting for her to continue. Sarah gripped her hands together, trying to figure out how to explain to this woman why she’d been in a facility for almost eighteen years of her life. Teresa obviously thought she was still eighteen instead of thirty-six.

Charlie walked through the door and paused when she saw Sarah slumped on her side on the couch. “Holy crap, what happened to you? You look like you’ve been hit by a truck,” she said, frowning worriedly.

Sarah ignored her comment and motioned towards Teresa. Teresa stood erect, a polite smile on her face as Charlie turned to look at her.

“Hi. I’m Teresa Prescott. Who are you?” she asked curiously.

Charlie’s eyes went big as she realized her mother was looking at her with intelligence and curiosity. Charlie slowly turned back and stared at Sarah accusingly.

“What did you do?” she demanded softly.

Sarah was too tired to respond so she closed her eyes. Charlie looked back at her mom and smiled cautiously.

“Hi Mom,” she said softly.

Teresa blinked in surprise and laughed. “
Mom?
We look like we’re the same age. Is this a joke? Who are you?”

Charlie glanced back at Sarah one last time but realized that she would be no help. “Uh, my name is Charlie Prescott. How are you feeling today?”

Teresa flounced over to the bed and fluffed the pillow and straightened the quilt. “I feel great. Do you know when I’ll be released? I don’t know why I’m here but I feel fine. My mom said she was going to take me to Bangor for the weekend if I got an A on my trig test. I can’t wait. I haven’t had new clothes in forever.”

Charlie swallowed and put her shaky hands in her pockets as she walked slowly towards her mother.

“Mom, um, you’ve been here in this care facility for a very long time. You’ve been here for eighteen years. I don’t want to freak you out but, I
am
your daughter and you’re almost thirty-seven years old.”

Teresa’s head reared back in surprise as if she’d been slapped. “
Are you crazy?
I remember yesterday perfectly. Bryce picked me up after school. We went to McDonalds and then we went back to my house to study. What are you talking about?”

Charlie walked over to the small sink and mirror and motioned for Teresa to join her. “Look.”

Teresa rolled her eyes, looking upset but walked over to Charlie and stood beside her. As she looked into the mirror, Teresa’s eyes went wide in surprise and she lifted a shaking hand to touch her face and the small laugh lines by her eyes. She then ran a hand through her long wavy, golden brown hair, pausing when she touched a few silver threads running through the gold.

“What happened to me?” Teresa whispered, now sounding like she was gasping for air.

Charlie led her mother to her bed and helped her suddenly fragile feeling mother to sit down. “Mom, it’s okay. You’re fine. You’ve just been out of it for a while. Like a
really
long while. Just breathe easy. In and out. Not too fast or you’re going to hyperventilate. I’m going to go get someone, okay?” Charlie said, standing up.

Teresa snagged her daughter’s hand and pulled her back down beside her. “
No
, don’t go. Don’t go. Tell me who you are. You say you’re my daughter. That can’t be true. I’m eighteen. But when I look in the mirror, I see someone old.
What happened to me?”

Charlie looked desperately over her shoulder at Sarah, but Sarah could barely shrug before closing her eyes again in exhaustion.

“Um, I’m not sure what happened to be honest. But my father’s name is Charles Langford. Do you remember him?” she asked, looking into her mother’s face searchingly.

Teresa frowned, her nose crinkling up in distaste. “
Charles Langford
? You have got to be kidding me. I would
never
date him let alone have a child with him.
No
, this is all wrong. I’m dating Bryce Hansen. He’s
so
gorgeous. He has dark brown hair and . . . you’re blond.
Like Charles
,” she said in horror, staring at Charlie in shock.

Charlie closed her eyes in pain and tilted her head down. Teresa, although eighteen in her mind, caught on easily to the fact that she had hurt Charlie by her reaction.

“Oh, it’s not your fault who you look like. I think you’re beautiful, no matter who your dad is. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. It’s just,
Charles Langford
? That guy is the biggest creeper in the world. He would stalk me constantly. Everywhere I went, he was there. I was tempted to get a restraining order but I was lucky because I had Bryce with me all the time. Sometimes I’d catch Charles staring at me and I’d feel so cold. Like I wasn’t safe around him, you know.”

Charlie nodded her head and looked back up at her mom. “Yeah, I know what you mean. He hasn’t been in my life or anything. I just barely met him to be honest. I’ve been raised by different foster families and I’ve been living with your aunt Helen for the last two years.”

Teresa shook her head, still trying to grasp the idea that she was almost thirty-seven and she had a daughter. “I just don’t get it. What happened to me?”

Charlie sighed and shook her head. “I really don’t know. But my guess is, it had something to do with Charles Langford. You lost your mind before I was born, sometime when you were pregnant.”

Teresa looked down at her stomach and back up at Charlie, looking newly horrified. “I was
pregnant
. Oh my heck, this is freaking me out,” she said, sounding just like any typical eighteen year old.

Charlie smiled at her mom. “I’m going to go get the director and see about getting you out of here. I think you’ve been here long enough.”

Teresa grabbed onto Charlie’s arm before she could move. “Has Bryce been in to see me?” she asked hopefully.

Charlie winced and shook her head. “Not that I know of, but we can ask.”

Chapter 3 – Eighteen Again

Charlie rushed out of the room, leaving Teresa and Sarah alone again. Sarah was now curled up in a ball on the couch, feeling cold and drained and just wanting to go back to the house and get into a big bubble bath. But most of all, she wanted Zane.

Teresa wandered over to Sarah and stared curiously down at the girl, tilting her head to get a better view of her face.

“You did something to me. I remember what I said to you. I said, I followed you through the door and into the light. Who are you? You’re not another daughter are you?” she asked, sounding distressed.

Sarah sighed but had to smile. “No. I’m not another daughter, but yes, I did help you come back to yourself.”

Teresa smiled in relief at not having another daughter. “Okay, well, cool. I can’t wait to see my mom. She must have been so upset knowing that I’ve been in here.”

Sarah frowned, closing her eyes. If Charlie had had a kind and loving grandmother to take care of her, she’d never have been in all the foster homes she’d grown up in. Something had happened to Teresa’s mother. And Charles most likely had something to do with it.

Charlie walked back into the room holding a few files in her hands and smiled brightly. “It’s all taken care of. Let’s pack up what you have and we’re out of here.”

Sarah cracked an eye open and looked at her suspiciously. “You didn’t just use a special talent to facilitate our exit? I can’t imagine that a doctor or nurse doesn’t want to look Teresa over and give her a few tests or something.”

Charlie shrugged and pulled open the drawers to the dresser. “We all have our skills Sarah. Yours came in handy today, so I won’t hold it against you that you’re being a witch right now.”

Sarah smiled and tried moving her legs. “I don’t know how I’m going to get home Charlie. I’m too exhausted to move,” she said, sounding worried.

Teresa looked at her curiously. “You do look bad. Maybe you should stay here for a while? I hear it’s quite restful.”

Sarah didn’t even bother to answer her. Charlie ignored her while she packed up. She was so focused on her mother she didn’t realize she had an invalid on her hands.

As Charlie grabbed the last dress out of the closet, Zane and Lash walked through the doors, looking grim and worried. Zane scanned the room and then went straight to Sarah, kneeling down in front of her and putting his arms around her.

“I could barely feel you. What happened? You had me worried,” Zane whispered into her hair.

Sarah didn’t feel like talking, so she used her mind.
I brought Charlie’s mom back. She was so lost and so far gone that it took a lot out of me. I almost didn’t make it back. For a while I was lost in the darkness, but you saved me Zane. I thought about you and you gave me the power to find the light again.

Zane closed his eyes and leaned his head against hers as he drew her in close to his chest. She felt his power wrap around her and she sighed in relief. She immediately began feeling better. Zane stood up with her in his arms and looked at Lash.

“You take care of Charlie and her mom. I’m going to get Sarah out of here,” he said, walking towards the door.

Lash nodded with a frown as he stared at Sarah’s limp form. He looked at Charlie with a glare, but she was too busy pushing clothes in his arms to notice.

“Take these out to the car for me and then come back for the next load. We need to be gone in approximately three minutes, okay?”

Sarah heard a murmur of voices fade away as Zane carried her outside into the fresh air and towards his jeep. He opened the door with his mind, since his hands were full and gently placed her on the seat, grabbing the seat belt and clicking it into place.

Moments later they were driving away. Zane held her hand as they drove, not saying anything as he poured warmth into her body from the contact. Ten minutes later, they were on a quiet, deserted pier. Zane turned the jeep off with his mind, pushed his seat back as far as it would go and then pulled Sarah into his arms.