Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (10 page)

I
immediately
stopped
with my inner battle when
I
realized I
was looking
directly at a town
, frowning
when
understanding hit me.
I was in Rattford Cliffs. The cliff
where I was right now
was the highest one in our town.

What
am
I doing here?

Suddenly, an array of lightning appeared followed by
several
successive,
loud sparring of thunder.

‘Rattford Cliffs.’ I heard someone say, making me jump.
Where did the voice come from?

‘This is the place where that girl is
hiding
..
.
t
he girl with dark hair and
distinct
eyes of blue-green—the mark of royalty in our world.
’

I gasped.
He’s talking about me.
But wait.
I frowned.
How am I royalty? I was puzzled and scared at the same time.

I
was
abruptly
alarmed at
how long I
have been
standing here,
wasting valuable time
listening to someone talking
about
crazy things
.

Just then,
a heavy
downpour
hurriedly
fled down
wards
. I watched as Rattford Cliffs soon transformed into a
dark
blurry canvass, the intense rain swallowing what little detail my eyes could make out of the darkness.

I suddenly felt my lips stretch out and my eyes widen, and I froze. I wasn’t intending on doing any of these things, but I felt my lips turn into what could only be a sinister smile, and my eyes w
ere
ablaze with crazed madness.

Horror
completely
struck me when I realized that the hooded figure wasn’t coming. He was already here
,
w
ith me. And I felt my mouth dry up in intense terror as I realized I was trapped inside his head.

I willed myself to wake up, but I couldn’t. What was happening? Why couldn’t I wake up
when I wanted to
?

Lightning struck again as h
e let out a bel
l
owing
cry of
triumph
,
drowning my
horror-struck
scream
.

I screamed as I woke up. I was freezing and yet I felt myself sweating at the same time. Lightning struck
outside my windows, and a series of thunder suddenly roared to life afterwards. I’ve never experienced fear like this before. Why did I feel like I was still inside that
nightmare
? And why did it have to rain this hard just like i
t was then
? I tried to calm myself down, hugging my knees and rocking myself back and forth.

I
was jerked awake
.
Skylar.

I immediately lifted my legs off the bed, cradling my head in between my hands as I rested my elbows on my knees, trying to calm my breathing so I could think clearly.
When my heartbeat slowed down, I walked to my bedroom window, resting both my arms on the window frames.
They would come knocking on my door soon. I clenched my hands into fists.

It won’t be long now. I punched the wall beside my window, clenching my fists harder until my knuckles turned white.
I closed my eyes when I heard hurried steps in the hallway
followed by
hasty knocks
at my bedroom door.

“Adrien,” Elise said breathlessly.

“He’s here,” Cole interrupted, his voice a bit strained.

“I know,” I sighed as I turned to face them. “Get ready. You’re both coming with me starting tomorrow.” I said, trying as hard as I can to control the situation. “Be on your guard at all times.
She should
n’t
be left alone
at all cost. We’re not taking any chances.” I grabbed my jacket and hurriedly went outside my room, racing for the garage where my car was parked.

I just need
ed
to be sure.

It was a long time before I was finally able to sleep. I managed to calm down just after I felt a distinct presence, that same strong, soothing aura that seemed to make itself known recently when
ever
I’
m
distraught.
This time I could have sworn I could almost touch it, like it was in the same room with me.

I woke up with the nastiest headache I’ve ever experienced. I couldn’t really swallow anything that Nana served on the plate. I forced a few bites down just so she
w
ould stop fussing over me.

I needed time to think. So I told Nana I was going to school early.
Too
early. It was only
half past six
in the morning when I started walking outside. I sent Nick a message, telling him not to pick me up.

I started trudging the thirty-minute walk
to school. On my way, I could vaguely feel someone watching me.
I paused every minute or so just so I could look behind me.
No one was there.
I shook my head and grabbed
my
jacket closer to me
before I
started walking again
. I was just being paranoid. That nightmare’s going to ruin my day. I can feel it.

I groaned. My days just keep getting better every
day.
I sighed and paused at a park bench. It was still drenched from last night’s stormy weather. I opened my shoulder bag and grabbed a few tissue
s
, wiping them on the spot where I was going to sit. T
hey got soaked almost immediately
. I shrugged
off my jacket
and
placed it on the bench. I already look bad today so a damped jacket wouldn’t do that much damage.

It was nice just sitting like this, just feeling the cool breeze prickle my skin
and leave goose
bumps
all over it
.
It was far too chilly for my taste, but the coolness of my skin was a nice reminder that I was awake and perfectly in control of my body. I took deep, slow
breaths to calm my
throbbing
heart, an effect clearly brought on by a reminder of that
terrible
nightmare.

When I opened my eyes,
that weird feeling
instantly came back
again, the atmosphere of being watched.
I could instantly tell that this presence was not like the previous ones, but they both ha
ve
a sense of calm enveloped in them. This one, on the other
hand, was of a milder
nature. I shook my head slowly so I wouldn’t trigger another headache
.

Yes. This was the worst headache ever.
It’s obviously giving me free
control
to study and compare various auras that were naturally nonexistent.
I sighed and stood up, grabbing my jacket and starting the remaining twenty-minute walk to school.
I could still feel that strange aura, but I ignore
d
it.

It was only a few minutes past seven when I reached the school parking lot. I noticed a familiar car parked right in the middle of the lot. I immediately
frowned
at the thought of him being here this early.
I hurried my pace and went straight to the hallway where the lockers were located. I was in the middle of getting the things I needed for this morning’s classes when I felt that all too familiar presence. It was
to
o
close, too strong this time
.

I hurriedly closed my bag and turned around only to get smashed into a hard object, instantly making me step back a few steps.

My world whirled
instantly
.
T
hen I felt strong arms steadying me by my shoulder
s. I held my forehead
, trying to stop my
head
from
spinn
ing.

“Sky?” The voice asked. I
could easily tell he was tired with
the way his voice sounded. I looked up at him and saw his
penetrating
silver-
grey eyes. Unlike most usual days, he
actually
held a trace of genuine concern in them this time. I also noticed that he had dark circles under his eyes, confirming my notion of him being tired. I wonder what he did to look this exhausted. I shook my curiosity away.

“You look awful.” I said, finally feeling the nausea subside.

He laughed, dropping his hands from my shoulders as he shifted back to his annoyingly amused expression. “Thanks. You look great yourself,” he replied.

I waved a hand to him, dismissing the topic as I walked away,
desperately trying to leave a respectable distance between us
before
a
different
kind of nausea starts
develop
ing.
I headed
right to the
direction of the school grounds where several benches were located.
I was positive that he would
ha
ve left by then
, but I was sadly disappointed
. When I was able to sit on one of the wooden benches, I was surprised to see him actually there. He sat on the same bench I
was comfortably sitting
on
. I frowned, thoroughly planning on
tell
ing him to sit on another bench
when I saw him resting his head on the back of the
wooden material
, his eyes closing slowly.
He looked really worn out that I couldn’t make him leave no matter how annoying he was.

I sighed when I realized that I don’t have the energy to bicker with him today. I mimicked his action and was about to close my eyes when I saw
a
movement in the corner of my eye. I immediately opened my eyes and turned to that direction.

I saw two
golden haired
individuals slowly making their way to us. I immediately recognized the blonde girl. She was the one sitting beside Adrien during the mass, the same girl at that restaurant. I frowned, wondering what she was doing here.

When they were both standing in front of us, Adrien suddenly spoke, making me jump.

“Skylar Matthews, my twin siblings,” he lazily said, waving his
hand
at all of us.
I turned to glare at him, annoyed at how he did the introduction. Twins? I suddenly
digest
ed
what he said
and looked at the people in front of us. They don’t look like twins at all. Maybe that’s always been the case with fraternal twins.

I have to admit that the three of them together would make a stunning sight. The girl was lovelier than the last time I saw her. The boy, on the otherhand, had a boyish charm to him despite his s
tylishly
tousled
short
hair. They all had
silver
eyes. I blinked, amazed by that fact. It was rare for
all
siblings to actually have the same eye color.
I did notice that Adrien’s eyes had a darker shade of
silver
than the ones his siblings had
, though
.

I stretched
out my hand to his sister first. “
Nice to meet you
,” I smiled warmly at her which I knew she would return, judging by how she smiled at me back at the church.
I was surprised when she ignored my
extended
hand
and
suddenly hugged me.