Talisman 2 - The Sapphire Talisman (24 page)

“I
. . .
um. Well.” He looked nervously around the gym and cleared his throat.

I tried to convey a little safety his way with my demeanor, but he remained silent. We sat, listening to the scores called out on the girl’s side along with a chorus of grunts, shoe skids and whistle blows from the other.

Then his shoulders relaxed.

“I saw her too,” he confessed quietly.

“You did?” I said, scooting closer so our conversation couldn’t be over heard, except by
Scarlett
, who was now sitting at attention, focused on us intently. “When?”

“Yesterday,” he whispered. “I was taking out the trash after dinner and she was there, watching me. I thought maybe I’d imagined it or something, you know, from being sick, but she gave me this.”

Tyler pulled out a gold locket and opened it up. I gasped. Katie never took off her locket, given to her by her favorite aunt when she turned twelve. She coveted the piece so much; she never showed anyone what was inside. But there they were, a picture of her and Tyler facing each other inside the tiny frames.

“I didn’t know quite what to say when she gave me this, but she’s
different
now.” His voice cracked. “Do you know what I mean?”

Tyler didn’t reverberate fear, only attraction—strong attraction.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding my head. “What did she say?”

“If you even breathe a word of this, I’ll deny it,” he murmured, shifting in his seat, eyeballing Matt Henderson who seemed suddenly very interested in our conversation. I caught Sam gawking at us too.

“Oh, of course.” I pushed a little peace and confidence against his buffer of uncertainty and he relaxed again, bringing down his defenses.

“I thought I saw her the night before too, when my fever was super high, but passed it off ‘cause that’s like weird to see girls staring at you from outside your window at three in the morning.” He looked towards me for reassurance.

I nodded my head.

“So, when I saw her standing in the shadows by the garbage cans, all pale and ghost like, I wasn’t sure what to think, other than I was going crazy. But she smiled.”

“Really.”

“But she’s
. . .
really
. . .
pretty
now. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she was pretty before but now
. . .
um
. . .
she’s just—wow!” His desire sky-rocketed while he cleared his throat. “I wanted to say something, but she only handed me this and said she missed me and that she wanted me to know she wasn’t dead. But when I looked up from my hand, she was gone.”

He closed the locket back tenderly and held it in his hand.

“Yeah, she seemed very
. . .
different
to me too.” My mouth couldn’t form the words
hot
or even
gorgeous
, afraid the admission would add to his crush. “How’s Mandy?”

Tyler looked away, e
xpelling
jealousy, and shoved the locket into his pocket. “Heck if I know,” he said quickly, skimming across the girls in the gym, finding her then skittering his glance away. “Doesn’t matter.”

Mandy had her back to us, serving the ball. She acted as if we didn’t exist but on the inside she crumbled to bits. I didn’t sense it was over Tyler but something else, something that terrified her.

“Hmmm,”
I heard, echoing lightly in my mind.

I glanced at
Scarlett
who apparently had her eyes locked on Mandy as well.
“What do you know?”
I asked.

“There was another Katie sighting
—
with another student.”

“Was it Mandy?”
I already knew and didn’t really need confirmation.

Scarlett
bobbed her head ever so slightly.

Dang it, Katie. What are you up to?

Putting my hand to my head, I pressed inward on my forehead, waiting for
Scarlett
to volunteer something insightful. Tyler needed specific encouragement to mend things with Mandy, and Mandy needed to be told she wasn’t crazy—her guest visit by Katie probably was very uncordial. “I bet she misses you,” I said after momentarily meeting his pained glance to which he rolled his eyes.

“Doubt it.”

“A little help please?”

Scarlett
’s continued silence angered me further. She knew what I could say to help, yet she stayed quiet, only flicking her tail every so often.

“How about
—
” I fumbled as my brain drew a blank, but his attention shifted towards the debacle in the corner of the gym.

Off to the side, Coach Hoffman stooped like a bird on a perch, pointing to
Scarlett
with Principle Brewster in tow. He held what looked like a large fishing net and an aura bubbling over with apprehension
. His
visibly shook
as if he were hunting a tiger instead.
. Unable to help it, I stifled a giggle.

“What is he doing?” Tyler asked in amazement.

“Heck if I know,” I said, trying not to fall on the floor in hysterics.

“Lovely,”
Scarlett
said and bolted like a flash of black lightening out of the gymnasium.

“Bye.”
My face sprouted an over-enthusiastic grin. “Stray, I guess,” I shrugged, trying to look unimpressed just as the bell rang.

“Yeah.” Then Tyler looked straight into my eyes. “Thanks.”

I melted, giving him a consoling smile. “Anytime.”

He nodded and walked off to Calculus alone. I stayed in a daze, watching him and everyone else leave for class, wondering where
Scarlett
fled to. But before she had a chance to return, I darted to History, hoping
Scarlett
would accidentally get locked out of the classroom. An hour of reprieve was exactly what I needed to process everything.

Chapter Twenty
-
Eight

“
W
hat were you talking to Tyler about?” Sam leaned over and whispered while we acted like we were listening to Mr. Marshall as he droned on about the Battle of the Bulge.

“Oh, nothing much.” Sam’s huge brown inquiring eyes wouldn’t let me leave it at that; I growled at myself while my conscience caved. Unwilling to pull a
Scarlett
on her, I divulged more details. “I asked him about Katie and how he and Mandy were doing.”

“And?”

“He and Mandy aren’t talking, and he’s not sure he really saw Katie, just like you said,” I lied, per his request.

“Oh, really?”

Mr. Marshall stopped talking and gave everyone a menacing stare, to which the class became silent. We both innocently looked down, pretending to scribble some notes. After a minute, he started again.

“Did you see that huge black cat in the gym earlier?” she whispered once Mr. Marshall turned his back.

I withheld my sarcasm, wanting to scream out the truth. “I did. And what’s with Mr. Brewster and the net? Was he trying to catch it?”

“I know. What a dork,” Sam chuckled. “I guess that cat’s been seen all over the school today. But she’s like
. . .
gorgeous. Did you see her fur? It’s amazing
. . .
almost iridescent.”

“Yeah, amazing,” I echoed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mikey Leibos sneak into class and a black streak of light shot from between his feet to some boxes in the back of class. Internally, I clung to Sam’s aura for solace.

“Fancy meeting you here,”
I spoke in my mind with a forced exhale to which she didn’t reply.
“I see you’ve avoided capture.” Dang it.

She still remained quiet, somewhere behind me. I pursed my lips in frustration that I couldn’t inconspicuously crane my neck around to see what she was doing.

“I don’t get you,”
I finally said, always feeling like I stood on the fringe of every conversation we had, practically begging for any type of information whatsoever.
“I could have used a little help with Tyler just now. What’s your deal anyway?”

“I tell you what you need to know, all else is trivial
. . .
and frankly none of your business,”
she said curtly.

I snorted and kept my eyes straight ahead, aggravated beyond words. Possible detention and dire embarrassment were the only two things preventing me from standing up in the middle of class and revealing her location, feigning I had a deadly cat allergy.

Visions of a sneezing attack seemed like a good idea until I imagined Nurse Nancy sticking me with an epi pen or worse, call
ing
911. Dad would reveal the truth immediately and the whole event would make me the laughing stock of the school.
Scarlett
would get a huge kick out of that one.
I just had to ignore her and pretend she didn’t exist or else I’d go crazy. I decided I’d stop reacting to her and block out her conversations. But that might require enacting mental earplugs to block out her interrupting voice.

“You already have an advantage reading their feelings. You don’t need me to tell you anything more.”

I bit my tongue, reminding myself of my pact.

“Besides, I do not use my abilities in that manner. I’m respectful,”
she continued.

Ooof. That’s it!
“I’m in History right now, and you aren’t shutting up. How is that respectful?”

Silence followed. I smiled, finally getting
a
reprieve, until Mr. Marshall’s beady eyes met mine. I unplugged from Sam for a minute to feel his haughty contempt.

“Julia?” he asked caustically, apparently repeating himself. “The answer please?”

The heat burned out from my cheeks like hotplates as the time slowly passed. I had no idea what to say.

“The answer is Baltimore,”
Scarlett
said, her voice exuding sympathy.

“Baltimore,” I blurted out, hoping she wasn’t purposely trying to embarrass me more than I already was.

He squinted, slightly shocked. “That is
correct
.”

Disappointed, he resumed his place at the board, pen in hand, blathering on. When I looked at Sam, she blinked back at me, astonished as well. I shrugged.
In fact, everyone seemed surprised. Whatever question I answered, no one knew, making me appear smart for once.

“Thanks,”
I said.

Scarlett
didn’t say anything more for the rest of the period. The bell rang and I collected my books and headed for English. By fourth period Chemistry my chest ached with the unknown plaguing my mind.

I felt left out, unsure of the plan Phil and
Scarlett
devised to conquer Alora. If there even was one. And in the quiet moments, my mind always wandered to Nicholas’ well-being. Pretending everything was okay and walking through my day like a zombie exhausted me.

I crumpled on the inside, not paying a ton of attention to the make
up Chemistry lab I rushed through, one of the many I’d missed when out sick. My astute lab partner, Jessica, happened to be home sick, along with half the class. According to the board, she’d already completed this lab without me. Even still, all I could think about was that
Scarlett
knew what Nicholas really was feeling, mixing inside me jealousy and despair.

“Stop,”
Scarlett
said abruptly.

I froze, holding the two flasks of liquid in my hands, just about to combine them in the beaker in front of me.

“What?”
I yelped, instantly agitated, thinking I was going to blow up the joint.

“If you mix those together, you’ll
. . .
”

A shriek from the corner put everyone on high alert. Mr. Walentine ran over and mopped up the foamy mess, consoling Emily who’d burst into tears, holding two empty flasks. Her lab partner was apparently out sick too. I set down my containers and retraced my steps, realizing I’d measured my liquids incorrectly.

“Thanks,” I mumbled
out loud
.

Wiping the sweat from my brow, I readjusted my goggles and paid more attention to the chemicals in front of me. Twice she’d saved me today and didn’t need to.

“So is there any kind of plan at all?”
I finally asked after moving to the next lab, a less messy PH testing assignment.

“We have been discussing alternative methods.”

“Like?”

“Apprehending Alora isn’t feasible and neither is exterminating her. We’ve agreed a “shock therapy” type of treatment would be
e
ffective.”

I turned and caught her icy-blue eyes staring back at me from under Mr.
Walentine's
desk, the only thing shimmering outward to alert her location. Alora getting a nice jolt of electricity put a smile on my face.

“Really? Is that possible?”

“Not with electricity.”
My disappointment turned my lips to a straight line.
“We believe a healthy dose of Alora’s future might sober her up, like it’s done to Phil and the others I’ve recently enlightened. Phil’s obviously been inspired to make some new life decisions based on the grander scheme of things. Though, I’m unsure how long her conversion would last, since our session could only be for minutes, not months.”

I let the idea sink in and trembled.
The thought of Phil trapped in Hell for months sounded horrific. But he had mentioned Alora wasn’t keen on reading his past and avoided mental interactions ever since he’d given her a glimpse. And the incredible reaction from the thugs in the alley made them beg for forgiveness instantly.

“How would you do it?”

“Through touch I could open the gateway of his mind and channel the memories, forcing Alora to see, live, and experience Hell as Phil remembers it. But the experiment wouldn’t be isolated. Phil and Alora would experience his past simultaneously in a very real way, which could create emotional distress on Phil.

“He’s all for trying it, but his past is very debilitating to him. The vision could be so real, he could believe he’d returned and forget the scenario is only a simulation. If someone could talk to him during the process, it might help him stay grounded long enough to endure it.”

“I could do it,”
I volunteered quickly.

“Yes, but you’d need to stay disconnected. The feelings could pull you under as well.”

“Okay,”
I said, feeling a burst of excitement. If the treatment worked, we could bring Alora to her knees, repentant to only serve the good side. Then Nicholas hopefully would be more inclined to do the same thing. No one would need to die.
“And, what about Katie
. . .
oh, and Mandy?”
Controlling Katie seemed like another important thing to worry about.

“She needs to comply, or else.”

“Or else what?”

“She’s not bound by any bloodlines we are aware of, being the newest vampire. She’ll be exterminated if she’s a liability.”

I gasped. Katie selfishly wreaked havoc with her inappropriate appearances, but that didn’t deserve her death. She’d only been drinking from blood slaves as far as I knew and was actually a victim in this whole debacle.
“Whoa, we need to discuss this.”

“I’ll need to alter Mandy’s mind too,”
Scarlett
interrupted, ignoring me completely.
“She’s crippled with fear and it’s wearing on her sanity.”

“She is? What did Katie do to her?”

“Threatened to hunt her down if she even goes as far as to look at Tyler,”
Scarlett
said somberly.

Oh crap! “Then we need to do a Hell mind-meld with Katie too.”
And quickly.

“We’ll see about that,”
Scarlett
replied.
“First things first.”

And that we will do.
Finally in the “know” of their plans, I could figure out what I needed to do.