Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (20 page)

He left me speechless. I don’t know what to s
ay to that. All this time he’s been wishing a different life for me.
How thoughtful.
I smiled to myself. Was all his nastiness just an act, then? I was itching to ask him, but decided
that
now wasn’t the right time.

“Thank you,” I
mumble
d
. “Thanks for not leaving.” I sighed and allowed myself to lean back on the couch.

“No problem,” he replied and I felt him smile as the words left his lips.

“Can I ask you a few more questions?”

“Go ahead,” he
quietly sai
d, stretching out his legs before him.

“Can Cole and Elise see my visions, too?”

“
If
it’s related to your safety, yes. Otherwise, they can’t. It’s just me who can see every vision you’re having,” he explained. “Must have something to do
with
the
uh
… connection,”
he said in a slightly strained voice.

I nodded, glad that he didn’t turn to look at me at that m
oment because my face actually felt
like it was burning up.
“Even that dream about my parents?” I asked him softly.

He nodded. My eyes widened. That’s why he looked so sad that time at Father Reynolds
’
service
.
I sighed
,
searching through my brain for a much less
depressing
topic.

“All those times you saved me, were they all Alastor’s doing or were they just because of my luck?” I
decided to ask
,
nodding
to myself. That topic was safe enough

.

He chuckled. “Well, the volleyball incident was entirely on you,” he turned to me as I threw a pillow on him, hitting him right on the face. He just laughed and picked it up where it landed on the floor.
“Other than that, the other incidents were all Alastor’s doing,” he continued on, slightly crushing the pillow in his hands as I saw his jaw clenched.

“How did you know it was him?” I was curious how they all
seemed to be so certain about
that. Maybe it could all still be blamed on my luck.

“Those men had a dazed look when Cole and Elise checked on them. Alastor must have placed them on a spell to do his bidding,” he explained as he placed the pillow
on the
back o
f
his head. There goes my last bit of
hope of
blaming
everything
to
coincidence. I sighed.

“So that’s why Cole and Elise
stayed behind that dark street that night? And why Elise asked the driver of that speeding car to roll down his window?
”
I asked, trying to piece some of the weird things the twins did.
He nod
ded but still didn’t look at me.

I finally understand why he
seemed
so
furious
during those times.
That time when he drove me home after saving m
e
from those thugs, one of
the twins
must have called him t
o
let him know
what they found out.

I shuddered when one last thought struck me. I saw Alastor twice in my visions. I was actually in his head
the second time
. Then the day after that awful nightmare was the time when Adrien, Cole, and Elise were
act
ing so strange at the cafeteria, tensed at every l
it
t
le
thing, especially when that coffee machine broke down, how they almost
expected
it to happen.
I shuddered again, shaking off the fear before it could
completely
numb me.

“Adrien,” I called out to him.

“Hmm?”

“My visions… t
he second time I dreamt of Alastor
,
I was in his head… that means he’s already here, right?” I tried to keep my voice calm, but he saw right through me.

“Sky, nothing’s going to happen to you. I’ll make sure of it,” he looked back at me then, assurance
clear i
n his eyes.
I smiled,
nodding
at
him
.
I was
trying to swallow my fear as I made myself believe that he was
capable of doing
that.
I took deep breaths while staring at the ceiling. I was
barely able to calm myself when I remembered something else.

“On my birthday, were you there at the cemetery?”

He nodded. “Yes, I was. I wanted to see for myself if you were the one we were looking for.”

“And the one on my bedroom? Every time I felt distraught and was having a hard time going to sleep, I felt your aura there. How did you do that without actually being in the same room?”

He stiffened and arrang
ed
himself in a sitting position so his back was
completely facing me this time
. “It’s that prophec
y…the
uhm…
the
connection we have,” he said in a meek voice.

“O-of course,” I stuttered.
I just made things awkward for the both of us. Goo
d
going, Sky! “Why didn’t you come with Elise on Jess’ party?” I asked randomly, hoping to regain the calm atmosphere back.

He cleared his throat
. “Well, you were becoming
too
suspicious for
my
comfort
,
and I didn’t want you to
be bothered
with
any of this
just yet
,” he began as he looked like he was able to relax a bit.
“
Then again
,
maybe it would’ve been better if you knew about everything right from the start
,
”
h
e mu
s
ed
.

I was astounded by his answer again. “Adrien
,
”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for saving me again tonight.”

He turned
back to look at me.
There was still a tinge of pink on his cheeks
. “You’re welcome.
You weren’t surprised about it, though
,
”
he stated, creasing his eyebrows a bit.

I grinn
ed
and nodded
at him. “
I knew you would come
,
because
I saw
you saving me
in my dream
.
I didn’t know you back then,
and
i
t wasn’t even my birthday yet,” I frowned when tha
t realization sneaked up on me.

“
I was only able to
start
see
ing
your
vision
s
when you turned eighteen. That’s
how
we knew you were here.
Your dream must’v
e been trying to tell you that you were going to meet me soon
,” he
ponder
ed
.

I nodded.
“
I’
m
going to bed now. Where’s Elle’s room?” I asked.

“Elle?” he replied, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded. “She told me to call her that.”

“I should
ha
ve known,” he mumbled
,
shaking
his head. “Her room’s upstairs by
the end of the hall.”

“Thanks.” I turned to leave but stopped immediately when I forgot something. “Good night,” I mumbled as I continued on walking, leaving him
alone
in the
living room
.

I immediately found Elise’s room. Before I
even
knocked, she already opened the door.

“Come in, Sky,” she chirped happily.

“You instantly knew it was me?”

“Yes. We’re attuned to an Imperial’s aura. It’s part of the job description. But it’s not as strong as Adrien’s familiarity with your aura, or how you’re accustomed to his aura, though. Those are two entirely different things,” she narrated.

I sighed, blushing again at what was coming out of her mouth. I immediately stopped
walking further
as I took in the beauty of her room.

It was a
slightly large
room with
cream-
colored walls and dark wooden tiles. Right across the
bedroom
door was a queen-
size bed made of
the
light
est shade of
w
ood. Th
e covers and pillows on it
were all white
, completely
giving
the
entire sleeping haven
a peaceful
ambience
. A light brown carpet accented with black swirls was directly under the bed
, giving the room more character
.
A
bedside table stood on e
ither
side of the bed,
and
both were adorned with small lamp shades with glass stands.
D
ouble casement window
s
w
ere
located just above
each
bedside table.
A large abstract painting of royal blue,
deep
rose,
light
brown, and lime green comfortably hung on the wall above the headboard of the bed
, drawing you into the room as soon as you set your eyes on it
.

A wooden dresser with six
,
square
compartments was located on the right si
d
e of the bed. Right beside it was a desk holding a flat screen computer monitor.
S
mall, separate, wooden shelves were securely attached to the wall, surrounding all sides of the monitor. A large closet equally divided into three-mirrored panels was situated a
long
the wall on the left side of the bed.

Right across the bed, directly beside the bedroom
door was an average-sized flat-
screen television with a long, light-colored wooden stand holding it securely. Three, separate oil painting
s that
formed a single sunflower
,
once
they’
re joined,
w
ere
hanging on the wall above the flat
-
screen television.

“Elle, who did all of these paintings?” I inquired, stopping in front of the television
to
gaz
e
up at the
masterpiece. They were beautiful art pieces, so much like the ones on their living room.

“Adrien did. He loves painting sunflowers because they were my mom’s favorite,” she said as she walked up beside me, staring at them, too. “My mom died when the Scheols attacked your grandmother,” she mumbled in a soft voice. I turned and held h
er hand. I knew exactly how she felt
.
L
osing a parent was unbearable, much more
if you lost
both
your parents
at the same time.
She smiled warmly at me before leading me to the bed.