The Secret of Ka (35 page)

The djinn must have realized we were back in control.

They both began to slowly dissolve.

Yet I heard Lova say one last sentence inside.

One day, Sara. You will be mine.

Then they were gone, and Amesh was shaking me.

"Get on the carpet!" he said.

"My mother..." I stuttered.

There was more loud banging on the door. It splintered.

"She's already lying on the carpet! I've disconnected all the tubes and wires! We have to go! But I need you to fly the carpet!"

"You need bandages," I gasped, stuffing the gauze and tape I was still holding into my pockets. I grabbed some bottles of pills as well.

"Sara! Dammit! Fly the carpet!"

"I love when you curse," I said, and jumped on the front of the carpet. My mother lay behind me. Amesh climbed on the rear. "Where to?" I asked.

"Anywhere but here!" he yelled.

I smiled. "Carpet. Take us to where you think is best."

The door broke open at our back. But we were already floating above the bed and shooting out the open window. Fortunately the carpet understood me even when my mother was not speaking through it.

Just before we split, I caught a glimpse of the doctors, the nurses, and the guards. Their expressions were priceless.

T
HE CARPET TOOK US NORTHWEST
, far out of the city, to an isolated home in the country, beside an unkempt farm. There were acres of grass and trees in every direction. The house itself was huge but old, made of red brick. It was four stories tall. A relic, probably, from the turn of the previous century.

Tracy told me where to find a key—under a pot on the wooden porch—and soon we were inside. Despite the home's neglect, the electricity still worked and we were able to turn on the lights. I still had tape and gauze in my pockets. I insisted that Amesh sit while I bandaged his side. He was a poor patient. He kept trying to push me away. But I was able to stop his bleeding.

Tracy rested on a nearby couch. She said she could move her limbs, but it was as if her brain was not sure how to use them. She could not walk without help. But she was so thirsty, she drank three glasses of water without pause.

"I think I've been dehydrated for the last five years," she said.

I should have been in shock, overwhelmed at least. I guess I was both of those things, and yet, as I sat near Tracy, my mother—it was going to take time to get used to calling her that—I felt at home. Indeed, I felt as if I finally knew what the word meant. Maybe it was because I was with the two people I loved more than anyone else in the world.

I finished with Amesh's side. "How does it feel?" I asked.

He grumbled. "Tight. You used too much tape."

"You need pressure on the gauze to keep the bleeding from restarting. Later, we can loosen it. For now, take a pain pill." One of the bottles I had grabbed back at the hospital was Vicodin.

"I don't need any pills," he said.

"That sword cut like a razor. It stings now but it's going to burn later. You'll end up taking plenty of pills."

"How do you know so much about wounds?" Tracy asked.

"You should know. You were there when Trakur Analova Ta impaled me."

"Ah. I saw that through the carpet, yes. It was like watching a drama on TV"

"It didn't feel like TV to me," I said, sitting next to her. "How are you feeling ... Mom?"

She brightened. "Is that hard for you to say? Would you prefer calling me Aunt Tracy?"

I shrugged. "It's up to you."

"No, the choice is yours." She turned serious. "I know you have a painful question to ask. And I know you're afraid to ask it. But there's no reason to worry. What I did, leaving you with my sister, I'd do it again."

"Why?" I asked. I felt a stab in my heart.

Tracy sighed. "You're beginning to see that the world we live in is much more complex than you imagined. There are many forces at work on this planet. Some are here to help mankind, others are here to destroy us. And others still ... they haven't made up their minds."

"You're talking about the djinn," I said.

"I'm talking about many things you have no names for yet. Suffice to say we have a significant role to play in the days to come. I turned you over to my sister because I had work to do. And you would have been targeted and killed because of my work."

I struggled with her answer. "I guess you had to prioritize."

Tracy stared at me. "You were always my number one priority, Sara. You cannot imagine how devastating it was to give you up. To pretend you didn't belong to me."

"You were trying to protect her from the bad guys," Amesh said.

"Yes, Amesh."

"You never explained how you landed in a coma," I said.

"That's a story for another day." She paused and pointed a finger at me. "But let me make one thing clear. As important as my work is, yours is more important. Many people—and many who are not even human—are hoping you can help us."

I shook my head. "I'm fifteen years old! I have to go back to high school. I have to graduate. When we woke you up, I was relieved. I assumed you would take over now."

"I cannot 'take over,' Sara. I was never in charge to begin with."

"But can't I return to a normal life?"

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes. I mean, the last few days have been exciting, but I don't think I can keep it up. I'll crack."

"No, that's one thing you'll never do. You can have a normal life, but it will mean turning away from your destiny."

"That's what the carpet said."

"That's what I said." She studied me. "This isn't a decision you have to make tonight. I merely bring it up because you need to start thinking about it. But understand one thing—you cannot go home to my sister. Your father will be waiting for you."

"What about me?" Amesh asked, worried. "Can I go home to Mira and my Papi?"

"If you do you'll put them in danger. They'll use your family to get to you, and the Anulakai will use you to get to Sara. Either way, there's no going back."

"But, Mom, you just said I can have a normal life if I choose."

"If you want it, you can choose it right now. You can decide once and for all never to find the carpet."

"I found the carpet by accident," I replied. "I was just sitting there, at the edge of the pit, and I saw it sticking out of the mud. It was not a decision on my part. I didn't even know what it was."

"No one finds the Carpet of Ka by chance. It only comes to those who are led to it. And the person who leads them to it is always the same."

"That woman at the pit?"

"Yes."

"She was strange. Who was she?" I asked.

"You."

I blinked. "I don't understand."

"Time is not a constant. It will take more time for you to fully understand the meaning of that phrase. And when you do you will take the carpet and travel back through time and give it to yourself." She paused. "You see, you can decide whatever you want. But destiny is more powerful than our personal desires. You were that woman who led you to the carpet. At some point in the future—I'm not saying when—you will lead Sara to it again."

This was so hard to understand, to accept. If I couldn't go home, I would never see my mother again. And even though she's not my real mother, she loves me. And I love her. To just disappear on her seemed so cruel. How could I do that?

Tracy sat silently, watching me. "I'm so sorry," she said.

I lowered my head. "So am I."

She moved closer to me. "Sara, look how much you've accomplished already. I, for one, am grateful. You rescued me from my endless sleep. You have given me back my life." She reached out and squeezed Amesh's hand. "You were very brave to face such a powerful djinn."

He blushed. "I'm just glad I was able to help."

"But will you stay with me?" I asked, suddenly panicked. I needed at least that to survive.

"I'll stay with both of you as long as I can," she said.

"What about Harry? Your boyfriend? Do you know where he is?"

"I know where Harry is. You do, too."

"I do? I don't think so. He's my father, isn't he?"

"Harry is your dad. But you might know him by the nickname I used to call him—Hara."

It was my turn to smile, and to cry.

"Who is Aleena?" I asked.

For some reason, my mother burst out laughing.

She hugged me and pulled Amesh closer.

"I'm afraid the answer to that question will have to wait," she said.

Christopher Pike
is the bestselling and popular author of more than forty teen thrillers, such as the Remember Me and Chain Letter series. He also wrote
Thirst No. 1
and
Thirst No. 2,
both
New York Times
bestsellers.

Jacket illustration © 2010 by Odessa Sawyer
Jacket design by Christine Kettner

HARCOURT
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
www.hmhbooks.com