Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (17 page)

I was finally feeling better
the more time
I spent outside. I guess all I needed was fresh air. I was enjoying Elise’s company, too.
She stayed with me the whole time, humming a sweet melody that was really soothing.
I closed my eyes and rested my head against the
metal
chains
of the porch swing
as I continued listening to her hum
.
This was the first time I felt this relaxed ever since that night
at the shortcut
.

Maybe th
is relaxed feeling
was the reason I felt a different aura, that same one that was similar with Adrien’s but had a milder nature to it. I suddenly opened my eyes and turned to her.

“You,” I whispered.

She smiled warmly at me, not giving me a hint if it was actually her presence I felt last time. I
distinctly remember feeling someone following me the day after that awful storm and that appalling nightmare. I know it wasn’t Adrien because it lacked that strong
, dominating
characteristic to it.

“Sky, I know you find my brother hard to deal with sometimes,”
she started. Then she
instantly
laughed when she looked at my reaction. “Okay, he’s always hard to deal with,” she grinned.
She didn’t mind that I have strong
feelings against him? “But you should know that he has reasons for how he’s acting towards you. He always has reasons,” she
murmur
ed, suddenly carrying a serious expression.
I’ve never seen her like this before. “And they’re usually good reasons.” She turned to look at me, covering my hand with one of her own. “Trust me,” she said as she smiled sweetly at me.

I couldn’t help smiling back at what she said. “Thank you,” I replied as I placed my other hand on top of hers. She didn’t give me
the
answers to any of my questions, but she managed to ease some of the damaging feelings
I
h
ave against Adrien.

I would’ve liked to stay like that for a lot longer.
I
was
enjoy
ing taking in the cool breeze
when that awful
, heavy
feeling struck again. I felt my body break out in
a
sweat.
I was still
trying to catch my breath again when
my phone
suddenly
vibrated in my pocket.
I swallowed, hoping the difficulty of breathing would subside soon.
I pulled
my phone
out to see Nana’s message.

‘Dear, could you please pass by that herbal store near Jessica’s place? We don’t have
any Valerian root at home
.
’

“That’s odd,” I said as I read Nana’s message again.

“What is?” Elise asked curiously.

“Nana just asked me to go
get some
Valerian root. She
probably
can’t sleep,” I replied. “It’s been years since she last needed that herb, though. That’s strange,” I frowned.

“Why don’t you call her and ask if she’s alright,” Elise
smil
ed, but I could tell that something was bothering her. She seemed to have tensed up a bit.

I nodded and called Nana. I couldn’t get through the first time
,
so
I
pressed the call button again
. After five tries,
I still couldn’t connect the
call
. “I can’t get through
,” I
silently announce
d.
“
I should probably head to that store.
I’m sure
Nana already
call
ed
the owner
,” I was
certain
she did just that. She was close friends with
Maria
, the
kind-hearted, Spanish
old woman who
own
s
the herb
al
store
.

“I’ll go with you
j
ust
to make sure you’re okay
,” Elise said suddenly when I stood.

“Okay. Thanks,” I replied, grinning at her.
It was sweet of her to offer, but I felt that she was somehow anxious all of a sudden.

The walk to that herbal store wasn’t that far. It was just two blocks away from Jessica’s house.
So, I didn’t feel the need to
ask
Nick or Anne to accompany me.
I was thankful
that
Elise went with me
, though,
because the street lights in that area weren’t
working
well. They kept on flicking on and off, which made the place look suddenly creepy.

I inched closer to Elise
, grabbing hold of her arm
,
as
all
the street light
s
unexpectedly
turned
off at the same time.
All at once,
that awful feeling came
rushing to me in warped speed.
I couldn’t breathe at all.
Then as sudden as it came, it was instantly gone
as well
.

I felt Elise stiffen beside me as the lights went back on, and we were suddenly surrounded by six
dark-clothed figures
with strange, ghoul-like, eyes.

Elise immediately stepped in front of me. I didn’t know what she was doing. I
was terrified
for her when two of the strange men
prompt
ly came launching forward, aiming straight for her. I ga
sped when she suddenly crouched and
stretch
ed
her right leg before
quickly
swinging it
in a
round,
fluid
motion,
successfully hit
ting
both their legs. They immediately lost their balance and fell backwards.
She then jumped in the space between them and brought her fists into their stomachs.

It all seemed to happen so fast. I was shocked to see her like that. Her sweet demeanor
total
ly vanished
as if it was never there, and it was
entirely
replaced with a girl carrying a serious
and focused
expression
who completely moved like an alley cat
.

“Sky, run away as fast as you can,” she ordered in a tensed voice.

When one of the dark figures suddenly stepped closer to me, she immediately blocked his way and stepped in front of me again. He started running towards her, his arms outstretched and his eyes filled with revulsion. Elise sidestepped him,
grabbing both his arms before turning around, pulling him on her back and haul
ing
him over her shoulders as if he didn’t weigh anything at all. “Go, now!” she cried as she pulled me towards the direction where that
man
was just standing a few moments ago.

A dark street welcomed me. I immediately started running, picking up my pace the farther I got. “Don’t turn back! You won’t be alone soon!” she continued to cry out as I got farther away from her.

My brain wasn’t working properly. I had a strong urge to go back to her.
I shuddered at the thought of something bad happening to
Elise
.
I ordered my feet to stop, but they still pushed forward as I
sank in deeper into the darkness.

I suddenly have that awful feeling that I’ve been here before, even if I ha
ve
no idea where I was. The heaviness of my feet as they still pushed forward and my unexplainable reason to keep on moving was painstakingly familiar as if this already happened
in the past
.

Suddenly, I felt my breath catch
i
n my throat as that crushing feeling consume
d
me.
I wobbled on my steps, causing me to slow down, but I still forced myself to keep going.
In all the confusion that I was currently caught up with, everything immediately stopped when I saw a ray of light dash over my head.
I
instantly
froze.

This happened in one of my dreams. That’s why it was all too familiar to me.
And
just
like what happened in that dream, my feet didn’t move despite my insistence as I waited for that beam of fire carrying the girl with
the
raven hair crash before me. When it did, she was in that exact same position as I pictured her to be,
half-
kneeling
with
her long hair cascading around her.
When she looked up at
me
, I had goose bumps all over my skin at the slit-like golden eyes
that
carried
intense outrage and loathe in them
.
She sneered
at me.

It won’t
be long now. She stood up and stretched out her arms. I knew then that it was going to be over soon.
Without even waiting for her to start shooting out fire from her hands,
I stepped back and immediately covered my face with my arms. I heard her l
augh before I smelled the fire
and heard the
spurting sound
coming
from her
direction.
I knew then that she already discharged those bolts of
flame
towards me
.
I let my mind go blank
as
I
prayed
hard
that my dream
would
continue until the end.

I knew he was coming, and I instantly felt relief as I waited for the moments to tick by. ‘You won’t be alone soon
!
’ That’s what Elise meant back then.

Despite the situation I was in, I managed to smile. That familiar rush of air appeared before me, and I immediately looked up before I even felt his strong aura. A
robust
series
of lightning struck as he outstretched his hands before
him
. His face was the exact image I saw in my dream. It was strange how magnificent he looked with that intense concentration on his f
eatures
.

“Stay down, Sky!” he ordered me as I expected him to. I did what I was told without taking my eyes off of him. When he was done with the barrier of lightning, he turned to me. I smiled at him as I saw that
his features
completely
revealed
the exact image
I imagined
them to
display
—dread and worry.
He knelt before me and
very
slowly but hesitantly took me in his arms.

My heart soared as I felt tears stream down my face. I’ve never felt this happy at seeing anyone before. And of all people, it was Adrien.

I cried softly as he stroke
d
my hair, trying to calm me down. Even in my
mystified
state, I felt another presence approach us
. I immediately stiffened.

“Shh
…
It’s just Cole and Elise,” he cooed.
I waited, and he was right. I felt that milder aura that was similar to his. Only this time, I felt them twice.
Out of the blue
, Cole and Elise were standing
before me. It looked like the wind brought them in, and they just appeared.

“Adrien, she’s gone,” Elise quietly said as she bent down to caress my cheek.
I smiled at her, feeling relief wash over me that she was safe.

All of a sudden, Adrien stood, pulling me up with him.
I turned to the direction of the barrier he just made. I stepped back as I realized the size of the shield he did. It covered the
whole
area, looking like a wall that was entirely made of
azure
light. I felt my jaw drop as I saw him move his hand in a small swiping motion, and the blue wall was gone.