Catalyst (Forevermore, Book Two) (26 page)

To my surprise, Alan smiled.
“Magic is a drain on the mind. We have to train our bodies to be prepared to continue on from the point when our energy weakens or if it ever fails us. You cannot always rely on your gifts. It is equally important to strengthen one’s body as it is their mind. Someone that is strong in one aspect and weaker in the other is always more likely to lose than one whose body and mind are equally balanced.”

I blinked.
“I see …”

“
Besides, not all of us have powers that are … shall I say, battle oriented?”

I thought of Alan
’s ability compared to something much more common like a Pyromancer or Telekinetic. He was right in that regard, for sure. Without weapons and shields he’d be worse than useless against those.

He smirked and walked over to the wall of weapons and took down what appeared to be a long piece of smooth wood. He offered it to me and went to retrieve a second.

I looked at him skeptically. “A stick? What good would a stick do me against someone throwing fireballs ...?”

Alan laughed
. It was a pleasant sound after such a terrible day. “It’s called a
staff,
and you would be surprised.”

He gripped the second staff in his hands and stepped over to one of the training mats on the floor that I
’d previously not noticed. He beckoned me forward with a gesture of his hand and I obliged, stepping onto the cushioned material.

“
Try to hit me,” he said.

“
Um, are you serious?”

Alan looked amused once more.
“Go ahead. Try to hit me. You won’t hurt me.”

I scoffed and looked at him incredulously.
“Okay, but remember that you’re the one that told me to.”

I went to swing at him with the staff and he
darted out of the way, causing me to nearly fall forward. The smile he typically wore stretched across his face once again.

“
Hey!” I exclaimed in surprise and tried again. He moved out of the way just as quickly. With an agitated grunt, I thrust the staff in his direction and he dodged it again.

“
I thought you wanted me to hit you?!” I shouted, breathing heavily now.

Alan
grinned and returned to his position in front of me. “I said I wanted you to
try
to hit me. I never said anything about me standing idly while you whacked at me with that ‘stick’, as you call it.”

At that, I swung the staff toward him again, feeling winded
as sweat trickled down the side of my face. I kept pushing myself until Alan had dodged himself away into a corner. I thought excitedly to myself,
I got this, there’s no more room for him to get away
. I went to slice the staff downward at his shoulder but he quickly blocked it with his own stick, and, to my surprise, started smacking at me with it.

Shocked and semi-freaked out by his sudden attack, I nearly let myself get lobbed in the side of the head. I started stepping backward as he smiled
, relentlessly smashing his staff into mine. With a startled gasp, I found myself tripping and falling backward. Fortunately I landed safely on one of the training mats.

Alan stood at my feet and stared down at me.

“You didn’t say anything about hitting back. That wasn’t fair at all!”

He laughed.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t, either. You think an enemy is going to just stay on the defense?”

I smirked and swung my stick hard at his feet and watched the smile on his face
turn to shock as he lost his balance and landed hard against the floor and started coughing.

I jumped
to my knees and rushed over to where he lay. “Are you okay?” I asked, but by the time the words were out of my mouth, he was laughing.

Alan reached a hand up and caressed the side of my face; I was briefly conscious of the fact that Forrest was still in the room and likely watching us, but it scarcely mattered. I leaned down and pressed my lips gently to his, only to be startled away by the sound of my phone ringing. He looked disapp
ointed but stood up, brushed the dust from his pants, and went to set the staffs back on the wall while I answered the phone.

The screen displayed Serena
’s name and I was confused and surprised that she’d be calling me. When I hit the button to accept the call, all I could hear were sobs and my best friend’s muffled voice.

I stepped out of the weapons room and sat on the edge of one of the stairs
I never knew existed before. Phone against my ear, I listened to Serena wailing and muttering — nothing was coherent.

“
Serena, calm down, I can barely understand you,” I said into the receiver. “Are you okay?”

Through the sobs, I could make out her saying
‘No.
’ before resuming her crying.

My mind wandered into the darkest of places as I list
ened to my best friend’s wails — had something or someone hurt her? Did something happen with her mom, or her dad? There was so much going on in her life that it was hard to know what might be wrong, especially when she wasn’t able to tell me. Finally, something legible came through, and my heart sank.

“
Zach ...” she muttered between sobs, “he ... he broke up ... with me!”

Alan stepped through the weapons room door and looked worriedly at me.
“Is everything okay?”

I put my hand over the receiver.
“Yeah ... Sort of. Serena needs me.”

He nodded and went back through the door. Without really thinking, I found myself walking up the stairs and down the hallway while Serena explained to me what had happened.

“I-I don’t know what happened. It was like ... all of a sudden he doesn’t want to be with me anymore. I was asking him when to show up at his place to pick him up for Thanksgiving tomorrow and he was just like,
‘Yeah, it’s not working out. We can still be friends and all but…’.
” Before she could say more, she went back into hysterics.

I hardly noticed that I was walking through the lobby and Lydia and Noah were in there
until Noah sprang up from the couch.

“
Is that Serena? Do I hear Serena? Is she crying? Is something wrong?” He looked genuinely concerned and upset.

I s
cowled at him and shook my head, then tried to turn back in the direction I’d come from. He followed after me, repeating himself and asking if she was okay, where she was, and if he could have the phone. Throughout him asking me questions and Serena bawling hysterically through the phone, I couldn’t make sense of what anyone was saying anymore. I clasped my hand over the receiver and turned sharply around to face him.

“
Would you just shut the hell up?!” I yelled.

In a blink of a second, Noah had reached out and grabbed the phone and jerked it out of my hand. He started running toward the front of the motel while placing the device against hi
s ear. “Hello? Serena? It’s me, Noah.”

I chased after him as he pulled open the door and stepped outside.
I ran out after him but he was already gone. I saw footprints in the snow heading around the corner and again took off in pursuit.

I couldn
’t believe that he wasn’t in sight. The footprints on the ground now mingled with dozens more; I couldn’t find him or get an idea of where he’d gone. Furious and out of breath, I leaned against the side of a building and thought of how right Alan was — I definitely needed to get in better shape if I wanted to stand a chance against more seasoned witches.

I stepped forward into the snow, glanc
ing around for any sign of Noah. After a few minutes I heard the unmistakable sound of his laughter. Speeding up, I ran down the nearest alley and spotted him standing at the end of it behind a dumpster. He seemed to either be ignoring me or was oblivious to the fact that I had found him.

The ground was slick with slush and puddles of melted snow and I had to carefully step through it to ensure that I didn
’t slip and fall. I got closer to Noah and saw him smiling, my phone still against his ear.

“
See you then, bye,” he said and hung up with a grin. He finally looked toward me and tossed the phone in my direction. “Here you go.”

I caught it
— barely — and glared at him. “What the hell are you doing? Don’t you EVER grab my phone again or I’ll … I don’t know what I’ll do! I was trying to figure out what was wrong with Serena and help —”

Noah looked triumphant.
“
I
helped.”

“
The hell you did!” I shouted and set the phone to redial Serena’s number.

“
Hey,” she said, sounding a little snuffly but otherwise calmer.

“
I’m so sorry about that,” I said, continuing to glare at Noah as he walked back toward the motel with a satisfied grin on his face and began to whistle some tune I was unfamiliar with. “He just snatched my phone and ran off with it.”

To my surprise, she laughed.
“It’s fine.”

“
What? No, it isn’t ...”

“
Really, Madison, it’s fine.”

“
What exactly did Noah say to you ...?” I asked warily.

“
He offered to come to Thanksgiving as my replacement date.”

“
Oh, God, you have to be joking ... and you said yes?”

Serena seemed taken aback, if not annoyed, by my comment.
“Yeah, I did. Do you have a problem with that?”

“
No ... it’s just that ... I don’t know. It’s Noah. I don’t trust him ...”

“
Why not?” She sounded angry and offended now. “He’s never done anything to you or anyone else!”

“
I don’t know,” I muttered uneasily as I made my way down the alley way. “There’s just something about him that I don’t trust. I get this bad feeling ...”

She sighed.
“Whatever. He’s coming as my date.”

I sighed in defeat; there would be no talking her out of this. As stubborn as my aunt and everyone else thought I was, Serena was twice that
. I wasn’t even sure what it was about Noah that made me so uncomfortable. There was silence between the two of us, which only made the walk through the slippery alley even more nerve-wracking.

“
Look, I have to go, I —”

“
Serena, I’m sorry,” I interrupted. “I shouldn’t have acted like that. It’s just ... I don’t know ... you’re sure you’re okay?”

“
It’s okay. I’ll be okay. I just need some time.”

“
Okay …” I said, although I wasn’t sure if she meant that she needed time to heal from the breakup with Zach or time to forgive me about Noah. Possibly both.

“
See you tomorrow,” she said and hung up.

The motel was cozy and warm when I re-entered the building and shook the snow from my shoulders. The lobby was still occupied, only Noah was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Lydia, Forrest and Elijah now filled the space. It had been a while since I’d seen Eden around Haven, but I assumed she wouldn’t be around much until she became completely initiated into the Clan. I paid little attention to any of them, scarcely bothering to wave in their direction as I passed by and headed toward my room; I wanted the day to be over with already, although I wasn’t entirely looking forward to the upcoming holiday, either. It was going to be tense and weird. My family was a total mess and I wasn’t sure how my mom and Eila were going to get through the day without tearing at each other’s throats – if she even came – not to mention the strangeness of adding Serena and the other witches to the mix.

Mom was on her bed with Willow nestled on her lap when I reached my room. It was relieving to see her in there
. I ran to her bed and without even a second’s hesitation, laid down next to her, and rested my head on her shoulder. A smooth, gentle hand came up and caressed my cheek and Willow looked grumpily at me for taking away the attention she’d been getting.

“
Is everything okay?” Mom asked and shifted to where she could put her arms around me.

I told her all about Mathias and how much it was stressing me out not being able to help him. Then I filled her in on the situation with Zach and Noah and how I thought it was weird. She didn
’t seem to find it as weird as I did, though.

“
Are you going to be there tomorrow?” I asked hesitantly, almost certain I knew what she’d say.

“
I don’t think it’s the best idea if I go. I know that Jason thinks it’ll be okay, but I really think it’s smartest if I stay out of it. And besides, I’ve kind of shunned holidays and pretended they don’t exist for a long time now. After being unable to spend them with Salem ...” She paused and I was certain I’d heard her sniffle. “It just doesn’t feel like anything to celebrate to me anymore. That’s all.”

“
But I’m here now …” I mumbled. “But I understand.”

“
I can’t even remember what holidays are like,” she said lightly. “Being surrounded by the people who love you, creating treasured memories with them ...”

“
You know what?” I said, sitting up and grinning, “I have an idea.”

I summoned a spread of t
ypical Thanksgiving food — just enough for the two of us. A platter of sliced turkey, a bowl of cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, rolls, and a pumpkin pie. She came over to the table and sat down across from me and looked both unhappy and joyful at the same time.

“
You are so similar to your father that it is like looking into the past,” she said sadly, then smiled. “He really would be proud of you.”

We
both dug into our food without another word. I had very little appetite but forced myself to keep eating and making the moment feel as pleasant and peaceful as possible for my mom. It was my way of giving her a Thanksgiving holiday with me without the craziness of the next day. I could definitely understand why she didn’t want to spend the day with Jason and Eila, it would have been beyond weird; it probably would have set back any progress those two had made, also. I was just glad that I could selfishly enjoy the time alone with her now without any interruptions.

After we ate and I cleared the mess of empty dishes, I fed Willow and readied myself for bed. As I lay down under the covers, I glanced at where my mom was on her own bed, reading an old-looking copy of
Moby Dick
, and found that the photograph of her and my dad was back in its original spot. I smiled, and for the first time in a long while, fell into a peaceful sleep.

When I got up the following morning, Mom was still asleep in her bed. I quietly went to the bathroom and got ready, deciding that my first choice of a pale blue long-sleeved velvet dress was a little too much and settled for just a casual black skirt and crimson top and black tights. I put on a layer of light makeup and set my hair in a messy bun before heading out of the room. My first destination was Mathias’s room. The door was locked but I used the Telekinesis trick Alan had pointed out and forced my way in. He was asleep and looked paler than he had before — if that was even possible — and all I could do was stare at him through the translucent shield that protected him from himself. With a frown and the fear of possible tears, I stumbled out of the room and headed to find Serena.

I knocked, but when no one answered, I tried the knob; the door was locked. I assumed she was probably showering
and getting ready, but at the same time I had a bad feeling that Noah could be in there with her and I was disgusted by the thought. Shaking that idea from my head, I contemplated opening the door the same way I had Mathias’s, but thought better of it. Next, I checked Artemis’s room, and was disappointed yet not entirely surprised that he was still away. His absence made me remember Hannah’s promise. She had one more night.

I found Lydia coming out of her room and said hi; she only waved, which was more than I expected from her. She likely was only going along with us to vicariously have a family during the holiday, which was perfectly fine by me. She needed
it; I could see it just by looking at her. We walked in silence together into the lobby and found Alan with his back facing us as he looked out the windows. He was dressed impeccably of course — a black thermal shirt tucked neatly into his dark jeans and a navy blue wool scarf wound around his throat. He turned toward us and smiled, then seemed to realize we were short two people.

“
Where’s Serena and Castus Palmer?” he asked.

I shrugged.
“I don’t know. Let’s just go ahead and go. Maybe they’ve already left.”

He nodded and opened the door, holding it for us as we passed through. Snow covered the driveway again in a thin layer, but thankfully
nothing new was falling and the air wasn’t ungodly cold. Serena’s car was still parked in the lot and it made me even more suspicious that she was in her room with Noah. Alan had offered to drive us there, but we all agreed that with the weather conditions, it would be safest to walk.

When we got to Eila’s house, I reminded Alan and Lydia to not use their magic — that Eila may freak out about it. They said they had assumed she knew that I was a witch and I explained that she did but it wouldn’t stop it from reminding her of what’s going on with how I’d left the house, her teetering marriage, my mom, and everything else that came along with it. They silently agreed and followed me inside.