Talisman (97 page)

Mike ignored her
as he hurried towards us.  He glared at Tanner and then shifted his attention to me.

“I need to talk to you…
Alone
,” Mike demanded.

“About
what?
” I asked innocently.

Oh, I knew good and well about
“what”
.  I supposed I deserved whatever butt-chewing Mike was about to give me.  His nose looked horrible, and I could tell by the way he was standing there wincing that he was still in
a lot
of pain.  I ignored the busted lip and missing tooth guiltlessly. 
That wasn’t “my bad”
.

“You’re going to
explain
something to me,” Mike snapped.

I figured he had the same question that was on Ty’s mind the other night.  Nervous
ly, I began to form my excuse.

“Look, Mike…I’m—
”

Mike cut me off. “You’re
WHAT?
 
WHAT ARE YOU?
”  He jumped back slightly, appearing skittish about something.

D
oes he think I’m going to kick his butt again?
  I looked over at Tanner.  We were both confused by his demeanor.

“
Excuse me?”
I replied.  “What are you talking about, Mike?”

He
let out a caustic laugh.  “
WHERE
do I begin?  I’m talking about you kicking my ass, for starters.  I’m talking about you breaking into our guesthouse and ransacking it! I’m talking about electricity shooting out of your hands, and you killing that guy.  I SAW
EVERYTHING!
THAT’S
what I’m
talking about!”

I was taken aback —
literally
.  My eyes flew open as I staggered backward and found myself propped up against my car.   I couldn’t believe that I’d been more than a little absentminded about what Mike revealed when he’d driven me to the mine after the dance.  But once I’d arrived at the guesthouse, I became so obsessed with searching for the hilt that I didn’t give “them” a second thought.

“The
cameras…
” I muttered.

“
Yeah,
” Mike replied as he pulled out a disc and waved it in the air.

Damn
…

I didn’t even have to look at Tanner.  I could feel his stare singeing the hairs
on my skin.

“Did you show it to the police
?” I asked as calmly as I could.

“I started to…
but I
couldn’t
,” Mike replied in a softer, almost somber tone, as he struggled to hold back his tears.  “You killed the bastard who shot and killed my father.  I owed you
that much
.  But I want some answers, Shiloh!  Why did you break into the guesthouse?  Why did that guy shoot you?  Why did that asshole
REALLY
kill my father?  How in the Hell did electricity shoot out of your hands? 
NOW, SHILOH! 
What in the Hell
ARE YOU?
”

I looked over at Tanner.  He was leaning against his bike, slowly shaking his head as he stared up at the sky. 
Without a doubt, I sensed another “identity” lecture brewing.

“This is
your
mess to clean up,” Tanner insisted with a doubtless point of his finger.

I turned back to Mike, who was still yelling and demanding answers.  I sighed and shook my head.

Well… I did say I was going to heal him before the game.  That will take care of my “identity” problem for sure
.

Anxiously, I weighed my options.  I figured I couldn’t compel him to calm down, so I could heal him
peacefully
.  There were too many emotions involved (though 99% of them weren’t pleasant ones), but frankly — he was too daggone worked up!  I just didn’t know if I could stomach what I had to do.  I sighed deeply and shrugged my shoulders at Tanner.

What the Hell…
At least this way he’ll SHUT UP!
Nothing like killing two-birds with one stone
…

Forcefully,
I grabbed Mike and threw him against my Charger.  I’d thrown him off guard, but he quickly leaned in and pressed his lips against mine.  I ignored the fact that he didn’t even
try
to resist.  I stayed focused on healing his injuries, making sure to only heal them internally, while keeping his outward appearance relatively intact.  The sensation was
so bizarre
.  I could actually feel his bones fusing together.  While one of my hands clutched the side of his chest where I’d kicked him in the ribs, the other one pried the DVD out of his grasp.  Without looking, I tossed it towards Tanner.  Immediately, I heard a sharp
“crack”,
signaling that he had snapped it in half.  After a minute, I sensed Mike’s injuries were healed enough to play and his head was now “clear” —
thankfully!

I pulled my lips away from his to the
shrill sound of my little sister screaming.

“
YOU
BITCH!
” Chloe yelled down at me.  “You
ARE
trying to steal him from me! 
The rumors are TRUE!”

As soon as I’d released Mike from my grasp, h
e went crashing back against my car, slid down its side, and landed ass first on the gravel drive.  I smiled as I thought about Chloe’s “wrong idea”.

Make that “three” birds
.

The humming roar of Tanner’s motorcycle pulsated through my body.  I turned around to see him sitting on his Harley with hi
s shades on, revving his engine and grinning from ear to ear.  I guessed he was pleased with my performance.

As I approached him, he handed me a small scroll of paper
that had been sealed with a regal-looking purple wax stamp.

“Wha
t’s
this?
” I asked.

“Early Christmas present,”
Tanner replied with a grin.  “Later.”

I was both offended and strangely amus
ed by his choice of farewells.

“
Later?
  What no ‘good-bye’, or even one more ‘little girl’?  You know…one for the road?”

Tanner lowered his shades and flashed his smolder
ing violet eyes one more time.  “I don’t say ‘good-bye’. 
It’s too final
.”  He leaned back and glanced at Mike who was still dazed, trying to get up off the ground.  The seductive Talisman locked his eyes with mine and shook his head.  “And I’ve
never
seen a ‘little girl’
kiss
like
that
.”  He winked as he gave his Harley one final rev and then like a shot, zoomed off down the country mountain road.

“THAT WASN’T A KISS!”
I screamed out.

He ignored my declaration, either because he couldn’t hear me, or he just wanted to get under my skin. 
It wasn’t!  It was simply a “means to an end”! Nothing more!
  I turned to go inside once the last roar of his engine could be heard trailing off in the distance.

I passed Chloe as I ran up the porch
steps.  She didn’t say a word.  She just charged towards Mike — stomping, snorting, and grunting.

Whatever
…

Once insid
e, I paused in the foyer and peeked out the window.  Chloe was cursing at Mike for kissing me, to which he replied,
“Shiloh who?”
  Chloe got so mad she slugged him in the face herself.  She left him hunched over by his Camaro with nothing but a “Go to Hell” and a “Screw you”.  I was pretty sure she re-broke his nose too.

Well, I’m not fixing it
, I thought to myself.  I hurried away from the window when I saw her about to enter the house.  Charlotte was coming down the stairs, just as Chloe came storming through the front door.

“I
told you
Shiloh was trying to steal Mike away from me!” Chloe yelled and slammed her hand down on the table in the foyer.

Before I coul
d say a word, Charlotte cut in.

“CHLOE!”
my new & improved mother bellowed. “Your sister would
NEVER
do something like that to you.  How could you ever think such a horrible thing? 
Apologize to Shiloh
. 
Right now!”

Chloe was utterly stupefied by Charlotte’s reaction. 
It took her second to respond.

“But
, Mom she was—”

Charlotte threw Chloe an icy glar
e and shook her finger.  “No ‘buts’!  Apologize to your sister!”

Cluelessly, Chloe started patting Charlotte’s head like she had a fever.  “Mom, are you feeling
okay?
” she asked in an uneasy tone.

Charlotte swiftly brushed Chloe’s hands from her face and responded with a gruff,
“I’m
WAITING!”

Chloe turned and looked at me like she was stuck smack dab
in the middle of a bad dream.

“I’m
uh
…uh…
I’m
sorry
,” my stunned little sister mumbled.

I thought
Chloe was going to pass out when Charlotte leaned over to kiss me on the cheek before she bounced out the room
humming
.

Chloe
kept staring at the empty space Mom had occupied before she left.  I took my hand and gently lifted her bottom lip back up —
to close her mouth
— before I trotted up the stairs.  No one could have removed the smile plastered on my face.  Not even with a lit stick of dynamite…
or a carnelian!

As soon as I stepped
inside my bedroom, I gently closed the door and laid the scroll down on my dresser. 
It’s not even Thanksgiving yet.  I can wait.  At least, I think I can.  Hmmm…? I wonder if there’s a stone that gives you patience?

I sat back down at my vanity.  Still doubting if I could
even look at it, I slowly pulled the diamond pendant out of its velvet pouch.  A single tear ran down my cheek.  I took a long, deep breath as I fastened its clasp.  It fell against my chest gently.  My fingertips caressed the dainty gemstone’s gold setting while I watched the sunlight reflecting off the diamond’s facets.  At that moment, my thoughts were only of Katie.

Tanner was right. 
I can feel her in my heart
, I thought as gazed at the necklace’s reflection in the mirror. My thoughts of Katie seemed to intensify the longer I stared at the diamond.  It was odd in a way.  At one point, I could have sworn I smelled her perfume.  I scanned all around my vanity, trying to locate the source of the scent.

Weird
…
It must be coming from the chain
.

S
uspiciously, I looked at the stone again and strangely enough, the sound of a faint, familiar voice echoed in my head.  But what was truly “bizarre” was that the voice sounded like
Katie’s
.

I laughed. 
“I’m missing her so much I’m hearing things,” I remarked out loud, as I rose from my chair.

“
WHO’S THERE?
” a scared female’s voice cried out.

I dropped back onto
my stool like a ton of bricks.

“
KATIE?
” I mumbled skeptically as I stared at my reflection like a spotlighted deer.

“
SHI?  Shiloh, is that
YOU?
” the voice asked frantically.

Still w
ide-eyed, I gazed at the diamond pendant that was now swirling with ominous streaks of light and vibrating.

My hands flew up to my mouth. 
“
Um
…
Yeahhh
,” I muttered.

“
W—Where
are you?” Katie called out, her voice sounding shaky.

“In my
bedroom
,” I replied in a daze.

“
Oh
…That’s nice,” she replied offhandedly.  I heard her clear her throat.  “Where the Hell am
I?
” she snapped nervously.

There was no beating around
this bush.  I
had
to tell her.

“
Katie
…I’m not one-hundred-percent sure, but
um…I think…
you’re
um
…in your
diamond pendant
,” I replied hesitantly.  I still couldn’t believe this conversation was actually happening!

Katie was silent for a moment.

“
Really?
” she replied in a subtle, yet clearly jaded tone.  Katie continued calmly (at first), “Shiloh, I don’t know what the heck happened to me, but…GET ME OUT OF THIS PLACE —
RIGHT FREAKING NOW!”