Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (13 page)

I smiled weakly at him. I really didn’t want to talk about it. “It’s okay, Nick. I—” I didn’t get to finish what I
was about to
sa
y
as I suddenly felt that familiar aura again. This time it
was
different, like it was completely engulfed
with
anger. And it was coming fast.

I turned around and saw Adrien furiously
stomp
ing his way towards us.
I glared at him, wondering what’s wrong with him today. He stopped when I stared hard at him
. Cole was behind him, putting his hand on his brother’s chest as if he was trying to
hold
him
back
from something.

I pulled
Nick and Anne towards the dire
ction of the library, which, unfortunately enough, was right behind the
spot
where the Fields brothers were standing.

We walked past them. I smiled at Cole and
Elise, who seemed to
have just co
me from the parking lot.
They both smiled back and pulled Adrien to the opposite direction
to
where
we were going.

“Sky, what just happened?” Anne asked as soon as we were
seated i
n the library
. She was clearly confused and curious from the tone of her voice.

“I really don’t know, Anne. But I don’t want to talk about it,” I
quietly
said both to her and Nick, gazing up at them from the book that I was
currently
reading
.

Nick sighed and shrugged.
Anne, on the otherhand, was obviously disappointed but didn’t press
further on
the matter.

We
went on
studying after that.
I tried my best to understand what Anne was saying
,
but I couldn’t fully grasp
everything
as my mind was
somewhere else
.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I didn’t get to see
Adrien in any of my classes, which was bothering me. I don’t know why, but it seems like I’ve gotten used to his annoying presence always lurking around.

I sighed when it was already the last period of the day and he still didn’t show up.
I guess it
wa
s better this way.

As soon as the bell rang, I waved goodbye to my friends
and immediately left the room
. I was going to visit my parents today since I didn’t get to do that yesterday. I shook my head
as
the previous
day’s events started flooding back to me. Thoughts about everything related to Adrien filled my mind.
I was so distracted with my thoughts that
I
was surprised to already be
standing
in front of my parent’s gravestone.

“Hi Mom,
Dad,
” I
whispered as I
lovingly let my hand trail down the cold stone. I usually start my conversation with them like this.
And I knew that I would be spending long hours with them today. I felt like I had so much to tell them since I last visited them on my birthday.

By the time I was done pouring out my sentiments, I was
definitely
feeling a lot better.
My parents always did know how to cheer me up.
And they still have that magic
,
even after they’re gone.
I
planted a
kiss
on
my fingers and lightly pressed them to the
ir
headstone before
standing up to leave.

I was completely s
urpris
ed to see that it was already this dark. I glanced
at my watch to see that it was
already
seven o’clock
.
I
just
spent more than three hours with my parents.

I pulled out my phone from my bag and typed in
‘I’ll be home soon’ and sent it to Nana as
I decided to take the shortcut to my house
. I
turned
left at
the next corner.

This street looks like it’s neglected. If it weren’t for a few street lights, I would never pass here.
Tonight’s just one of the exceptions since I was already this late in going home.
Nick, Anne, and I discovered the ten-minute
walking
time this street cuts
out
from the cemetery
to my house
when we went to visit my parents a few years back
.

I’ve only been walking
for
a few minutes when I had that strange feeling that I was being followed. I shuddered at that thought and just hurried my pace. I heard footsteps behind me, quickly picking up their own speed as I practically ran towards the end of the street. When I felt that I was nearing the end of the semi-lit street, I stopped abruptly.

My breathing caught up in my throat
,
and my heart started beating like crazy as I saw two men blocking the way.
They sneered when they saw me and started walking towards m
y direction
.
I couldn’t get through that way
,
so I
re
traced my steps
quickly before my mind would be engulfed with panic that it wouldn’t be able to think
sensibly
.

I
thought I would be able to make
good progress
in that direction until I saw two more men coming towards me
.
O
ne was bald and the other one
was
overly
tanned.
I started backing up
away
from them
. I was trapped.

They were only a few feet on either side of me before I felt that
usual
aura running towards me. It carried that warm and strong atmosphere with it
.
A
nd for some reason, my fear slowly started to dissipate.
I felt safe despite being surrounded by four
gangsters.

When one of the men, a stout one, grabbed me by my arm, I glared at him before
kicking
him hard in the crotch. He immediately let go of my arm and dropped to the floor,
shriek
ing in pain.
I didn’t know what possessed me to have that kind
of courage, but I didn’t feel that frightened anymore, even as they all
started
c
o
m
ing
at me at once, causing me to back into a corner.

Just then, a dark figure appeared on one end of the street. I turned to his direction even before he was able to step into the limited light of the street.
I gasped when the light finally hit his face.

“Adrien,” I mouthed out,
but
no voice actually came out of my mouth.
He
viciously
looked at each m
a
n who now turned to his direction.

Without warning
, two of the men charged
at
him.
I lost thought o
f
anything else as I saw him fight them off.
I was shocked t
o see how fast and graceful he was. It almost looked like he was dancing.

The tallest of the
men
went after him head on, but he managed to swiftly avoid him, sidestepping at the right moment before using his knee to kick the man on his stomach
, making him
grumble in pain
. It wasn’t long before he used his elbow to deliver a blow behind that man’
s head, leaving
him to fall limp on the ground
. All at once,
Adrien
quickly
jumped away from the knife aimed at his throat by the
second,
bald-headed thug.
The man charged again,
now
aiming for Adrien’s
side
, but he easily avoided the knife, jumping to the side before kicking the man’s hand, sending the weapon flying into the dark.
Before the
ruffian
could recover,
Adrien
quickly kicked him in the face, sending him falling into the ground.

After
seeing what he was up against, the overly tanned man ran
away into the dark
, followed by the stout
thug
who was
still limping from the blow I gave him on his groin
. And I just stood there, once again awe-struck at the
man
in front of me.

Adrien looked at me then, his grey eyes
that
previously held
that
vicious
glare
were
now filled with relief
.
He slowly went towards me and let his hands
rest on my shoulders.
H
is head bowed down, letting his hair fall
like a curtain
on either side of his face as he stared at the ground.
He
was
actually
too near
for comfort
, but for some reason
,
I wasn’t that bothered by it
this time
.

“Adrien?” I wondered what was wrong. “Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked as I tried to remember if any of the
thugs
might have sneaked in a punch while they were fighting.

“I was afraid they already
did something
.” He said in a shaky voice. I could literally feel the relief
that
he felt wash over him as he let out a few ragged breaths.

“Hey,” I said, trying to think of what to say to
lift his spirits
.
“I can’t believe you
could
move like that! That was awesome!” I cried out, not caring what just came out of my mouth.

He just laughed, shaking me with him as he still had both his hands on my shoulders. I smiled. “
Adrien, I think
two
got away,
”
I
pointed out as I saw t
wo
thugs lying on the ground
.

He sighed and shook his head. “
They
couldn’t have. Cole’s the
re with the car, waiting for us,
”
h
e said in his calm, soothing voice
,
which immediately made my heart race.
I blushed and quickly turned my
head to the side, frustrated with
myself for
observing
trivial things like th
at
after what
just happened
.

He led me toward
the end of the street to where he said his car was
parked
.
Before we even reached the end, I saw the
two remaining
gangsters
sprawled on the ground.
It didn’t take long for us to spot Cole leaning casually against the car, with Elise waiting inside, somehow looking extremely bored.

We were almost near the
m
when
a nagging feeling
in my head
bothered me. Something was
just
not right.
I immediately stopped walking when I was able to point it out.

Why were they
here? And why is it
that whenever I’m in need of saving Adrien always just happens to
show up in the middle of nowhere
?